Chapter II: A Gift From a Friend
Among the swirling smoke around him, master duelist Chris Anderson stood confidently with a look of determination on his face, with a good reason too. While hey may be losing this duel at the moment, he was rated to be one of the top twenty duelists in the world. The crowd let out a loud roaring cheer and, Ryan Herriman, Chris' opponent, bowed a few times to the crowed and let out a laugh.
"What a fool! While his dueling skills made be very good, his immature and rude attitude would prevent him from holding a position like mine for very long. It doesn't matter at all anyway. He has to beat me and win this tournament if he wants to hold such a position in the world rankings, and that won't happen." Anderson thought to himself as the crowd cheered on for what seemed like minutes. When they noise died down, Anderson drew a card from his deck.
"It's a pity Mr. Herriman, a lot of people here seem to wish you would beat me. But you know as well as I do that it won't happen, am I right?" Anderson asked in a cool, calm voice. He didn't wait for an answer as he put down a magic card on his duel disk.
"Shut up Chris, you're going-" Ryan yelled out, but was interrupted by Anderson. "I activate Reborn the Monster, and I bring my Gemini Elf back to the field!"
The Gemini Elf, who had previously been destroyed by Ryan's Hayabusa Knight, reappeared in front of Chris Anderson.
"I destroyed that card last time Anderson you moron. What are you try-" Ryan shouted out again, and again, was interrupted by Chris.
"I then sacrifice my Gemini Elf to bring out my psycho shocking android, the Jinzo." Anderson said, in the same cool and calm voice he always used in duels. "Now Mr. Herriman, I believe my Jinzo has negated the effects of your Mirror Wall. That Knight of yours doesn't look so strong now, does it?"
A crushed look spread across the face of Herriman. This was it. He had come all this way, and now had made a stupid mistake, and underestimated his opponent. Now, a black orb of energy was being hurtled at the Hayabusa Knight by the mechanical monstrosity known as Jinzo. The orb created a large explosion that not only eliminated the Knight, but the rest of Herriman's life points as well. The arena erupted with shouting and clapping. Chris Anderson had defended his position as being among the top 20 duelists, and showed Herriman he needed a lot more practice.
Many many miles away, James Frostfell was sitting on his bed watching the duel on his television in awe, for several reasons. One being the high caliber performance in which the two had just given. James hoped that one day, preferably sooner than later, that he would have the skills and knowledge to duel that good. The second reason for James' was not how good they Anderson and Herriman dueled, but how they dueled. They dueled using the Super Expert rules, a set of rules in which James had very little knowledge of. Ever sine two weeks ago when he first learned to play Duel Monsters, he had learned to play by a simpler set of rules. But the biggest tournaments used these Super Expert rules, and if James wanted to win one of those tournaments, he would need to learn the rules.
Next to the bed on which James sat was a small table where Leon and Tim were playing a game of Duel Monsters. In the time since James had defeated Jesse, Leon had really started to get into the game. He went back to the shop and took Tim with him. Leon bought many, many cards, and had even talked Tim into buying a lot. Solomon was so happy from all the business he was getting from those three; he even gave Leon a small discount (much to Joey's dislike). A commercial break had interrupted the live broadcast of the Duel Monsters tournament, and James started listening to the duel.
"Ok, I will summon Whiptail Crow in attack mode, and then." Tim said, looking at his cards. He studied them for a second, and then picked one out and put it on the table. ".and then I play this magic card, Stim Pack. It increases my monster by 700 attack."
James began to zone out of the conversation, even though he hadn't been listening for very long. The television had once again grabbed his attention. A picture of a large dueling arena appeared on the screen, with some words on it while music played in the background. James read the words in his head. It seemed a smaller tournament which was sanctioned by the Duel Monsters League was being held here in Fenton, tomorrow morning. This was his chance to begin his career as a duelist.
James walked over to the bookshelf in his room, and picked up his deck from a shelf. He turned his head to where Tim and Leon were dueling.
"Ah, now your Whiptail Crow has been weakened by your Stim Pack, and can be destroyed by." Leon paused as he put a monster card on the table, "my Armored Zombie. Now, my Zombie will attack your Crow."
James looked throughout his deck. He had improved his deck since he created his original one, and now it was stronger then ever. He had taken out some weaker monsters and added in some stronger ones. His strongest monster was still the dark and creepy Summoned Skull, but he also had another powerful card. He had some leftover money and decided to buy a pack of Duel Monsters cards one day while walking by a hobby shop. When he opened it, he saw it. The magic card Monster Reborn. It was a card that was not only extremely powerful, but pretty rare too. All of the top duelists used this card, as he saw Chris Anderson use it in the tourney just minutes ago. The ability to bring back one monster from either player's graveyard allowed for amazing comebacks. James knew that his Summoned Skull and Monster Reborn cards would be his greatest ally in tomorrow's tournament.
"Wow, 2200 attack? Argh" Leon mumbled as he moved his Armored Zombie to the graveyard. "I believe," Tim stated pleasantly, "That you have 200 Life Points left. And I have. let's see... ah, still at 1500."
"You mean I only did 500 damage to you?" "That's right." "And I only have 200 points left?" "Correct" "That's strange, it's almost like I have some really powerful card I am holding back." "Huh?" "I will draw, and then summon Barrel Dragon" Leon said, a grin spread wide across his face. "Now I flip these three coins and. there we go! I flipped two heads, so your Fiend Megacyber is destroyed. I believe my Barrel Dragon will demolish the rest of your life points."
By this time, James had zoned back in to everything around him and stopped thinking about his cards. "Hey, guys, did you see that thing on the TV?" James asked.
Tim mumbled a "No" as he reshuffled his deck, wanting a rematch. "It said there is going to be a small official Duel Monsters League tournament here in town tomorrow. This could be our chance to start off our dueling careers."
Leon and Tim shuffled their decks and seemed to think about and process what James had said. Leon finished shuffling first and drew his hand, so he spoke first. "Hmm, Duelist League huh?" "Yep" answered James. "Well." "Well what?" "To be honest, at first it seemed that the only reason you bought any Duel Monsters cards was to prove you were better then Jesse. "Well, as long as we are being honest, it really was. But I don't know. This game just." James paused for a few moments and looked at his deck. "I can't really explain it. I enjoy this game, I guess."
Leon nodded and glanced at Tim who had drawn his hand, and they began their next duel. Leon went first and played some cards, then turned and looked at James. "I'm in. This is a great game, as you said, and I would like to play against some different people besides you two for once. I just hope everyone there is ready to taste the power of my Barrel Dragon!"
James smiled. Good, he would have some company at least. "How about you Tim? What do you think?" "I dunno," Tim said. "I would like to, but you see." he stopped as he set a card on the field. "Sounds like good fun and all, but I wouldn't even be able to compete. You have your Summoned Skull, and Leon here has his powerful Barrel Dragon. I myself don't have very many cards, much less any powerful ones. I like playing Duel Monsters, but I don't think I am good enough to even start playing it competitively."
James thought about this for a bit as Tim and Leon continued dueling. This went on for several seconds, and then James started looking at his deck. After spotting the card, he tossed it to Tim.
"Here, take my Summoned Skull." James said.
Leon and Tim both looked at the Summoned Skull card on the table, and did a double take. After a few seconds of an awkward silence, Tim finally blurted out a "What?!".
"Yes. Take my Summoned Skull." James repeated. "You're right. You don't have any extremely powerful monsters. I have my Judge Man and my Monster Reborn cards." "Are you. sure about this?" Tim questioned. "C'mon now, I said you can have it. I will be fine. trust me." "Wow, thanks a lot. With this I actually stand a chance now. Thanks man."
James held up a hand. "Don't mention it."
***
It was early Saturday morning, and James was awake making breakfast. The tournament would start in four hours. James took his plate of french toast from the stove to the table and started eating. His backpack sat in another chair next to him, with a copy of Duel Monsters Master Rules: Volume 1 in it, among other supplies. His deck sat on the table next to his bag, and James glanced at it.
"This will be the day I start my duel monsters career," he thought. "Yes, this will be the day."
***
James dashed out the door and slammed it behind him. Seconds later, the door opened, as he ran back into the kitchen and grabbed his backpack. He ran out the door a second time, slamming it for a second time, and coming back inside the house a second time. He grabbed his deck off the table and ran back out for a third time. He ran out across the yard to Leon's car. Tim was in the passenger seat looking at a Duel Monsters magazine. James jumped in back, and closed the door. Leon took off down the street.
"Are you guys as excited as I am?" James asked with a big grin on his face. "Of course! I can't wait to use my new card." Tim said, putting down the magazine and flipping over the card on top of his deck. "Thanks again James, this will help me win many duels today. James' grin grew even wider.
After about fifteen minutes of Leon's reckless driving, the trio had arrived at the location of the tournament. It was a small building in which about eight dueling systems had been set up. They weren't as big as the ones used at Kaiba Land or the one James and Jesse used in their duel. James walked up to a table that came up to about his naval. It had spaces for the monster and magic cards on them, along with his deck. There was also a little screen on the table above the spot marked "Graveyard". About five yards across from him another table sat facing him, where the other duelist would normally stand.
One by one more and more duelists began showing up. They came in all sizes and ages, experts and newcomers alike, wearing many different clothes. James noticed trench coats similar to the ones Seto Kaiba had been known to wear seemed to be popular among some of them. After about twenty minutes the place became packed. James estimated about fifty to sixty people were in the small building. There was plenty of breathing and stretching room, but you had people moving about you all around. He noticed not all of them were duelists. Lots of them didn't have a deck, but were mainly there to cheer on their friends. Others were there trading cards with each other. James walked around a bit and heard many different conversations.
"That's why I keep a Solemn Judgment in my deck; I can prevent something like that from happening." "I will trade you the right and left legs for all these right here." "Yes, the Dark Magician is a very powerful card. You show great potential. Trust in the Dark Magician, and he will come to your aid."
James looked at the last guy who he heard speaking. He saw an older man wearing dark robes. Sitting down across from a young kid, by his looks in his pre-teens, who was holding a card in his hands. The kid wore a big smile and thanked the man, and walked off while staring at the card. James was going to walk over to the man, when he heard a loud whistle.
A man stood up among the rest. James recognized him quickly as one of the Duel Monsters League's Official Judges. Everyone began quieting down right away, and looked at him.
"Welcome to the Fenton League tournament. I thank you all for coming. I am not much for speeches, so I will make this short. If you are here to enter the tournament, come over to my desk with your strongest monster. We will set the brackets up by pairing off each person according to the strength of their most powerful monster to make a more balanced tournament. I wish you all luck."
The silence died quickly as many people walked up to the desk to begin signing up. James saw Leon and Tim and jogged over to them, and they waited in line together.
They waited a few minutes, and they chatted back and forth about their first impressions of this tournament. As the line began growing shorter, James tapped his foot nervously. Finally, he was face to face with the Judge.
"Name?" the Judge asked. "James Frostfell." James answered quickly and nervously. "What is your strongest monster?" "Judgeman" James said, still nervous, holding up the card. "Thank you for your patience."
James walked moved out of the way for Leon and Tim to sign up. After a few moments, Tim and Leon were signed up, and the before long all the positions were closed. The three walked over to a large board on one of the walls that Leon spotted, in which names and brackets were now appearing. They watched the names flashing and pairing up with one another. James saw his own name paired up with the name "Thomas Janson" at spot 7.
"Good luck you two." James said as he jogged off to the set of tables with the number 7 sign next to them.
James was surprised to see his opponent already waiting there for him. He walked up and shook his hand.
"James is it? I don't think I have seen you before." "Ah, this is my first time here." "Ah nice. Have a lot of experience with the game?" "A decent amount." James lied. "Well then, good luck." "You too."
The two shuffled each other's deck, and returned it to its owner. They both then walked over to the table they chose, and set their deck in place.
On the table, the screen flashed "Duel Begun. Draw Your Starting Hand."
James took a deep breath. "Heart of the Cards, don't fail me now."
Among the swirling smoke around him, master duelist Chris Anderson stood confidently with a look of determination on his face, with a good reason too. While hey may be losing this duel at the moment, he was rated to be one of the top twenty duelists in the world. The crowd let out a loud roaring cheer and, Ryan Herriman, Chris' opponent, bowed a few times to the crowed and let out a laugh.
"What a fool! While his dueling skills made be very good, his immature and rude attitude would prevent him from holding a position like mine for very long. It doesn't matter at all anyway. He has to beat me and win this tournament if he wants to hold such a position in the world rankings, and that won't happen." Anderson thought to himself as the crowd cheered on for what seemed like minutes. When they noise died down, Anderson drew a card from his deck.
"It's a pity Mr. Herriman, a lot of people here seem to wish you would beat me. But you know as well as I do that it won't happen, am I right?" Anderson asked in a cool, calm voice. He didn't wait for an answer as he put down a magic card on his duel disk.
"Shut up Chris, you're going-" Ryan yelled out, but was interrupted by Anderson. "I activate Reborn the Monster, and I bring my Gemini Elf back to the field!"
The Gemini Elf, who had previously been destroyed by Ryan's Hayabusa Knight, reappeared in front of Chris Anderson.
"I destroyed that card last time Anderson you moron. What are you try-" Ryan shouted out again, and again, was interrupted by Chris.
"I then sacrifice my Gemini Elf to bring out my psycho shocking android, the Jinzo." Anderson said, in the same cool and calm voice he always used in duels. "Now Mr. Herriman, I believe my Jinzo has negated the effects of your Mirror Wall. That Knight of yours doesn't look so strong now, does it?"
A crushed look spread across the face of Herriman. This was it. He had come all this way, and now had made a stupid mistake, and underestimated his opponent. Now, a black orb of energy was being hurtled at the Hayabusa Knight by the mechanical monstrosity known as Jinzo. The orb created a large explosion that not only eliminated the Knight, but the rest of Herriman's life points as well. The arena erupted with shouting and clapping. Chris Anderson had defended his position as being among the top 20 duelists, and showed Herriman he needed a lot more practice.
Many many miles away, James Frostfell was sitting on his bed watching the duel on his television in awe, for several reasons. One being the high caliber performance in which the two had just given. James hoped that one day, preferably sooner than later, that he would have the skills and knowledge to duel that good. The second reason for James' was not how good they Anderson and Herriman dueled, but how they dueled. They dueled using the Super Expert rules, a set of rules in which James had very little knowledge of. Ever sine two weeks ago when he first learned to play Duel Monsters, he had learned to play by a simpler set of rules. But the biggest tournaments used these Super Expert rules, and if James wanted to win one of those tournaments, he would need to learn the rules.
Next to the bed on which James sat was a small table where Leon and Tim were playing a game of Duel Monsters. In the time since James had defeated Jesse, Leon had really started to get into the game. He went back to the shop and took Tim with him. Leon bought many, many cards, and had even talked Tim into buying a lot. Solomon was so happy from all the business he was getting from those three; he even gave Leon a small discount (much to Joey's dislike). A commercial break had interrupted the live broadcast of the Duel Monsters tournament, and James started listening to the duel.
"Ok, I will summon Whiptail Crow in attack mode, and then." Tim said, looking at his cards. He studied them for a second, and then picked one out and put it on the table. ".and then I play this magic card, Stim Pack. It increases my monster by 700 attack."
James began to zone out of the conversation, even though he hadn't been listening for very long. The television had once again grabbed his attention. A picture of a large dueling arena appeared on the screen, with some words on it while music played in the background. James read the words in his head. It seemed a smaller tournament which was sanctioned by the Duel Monsters League was being held here in Fenton, tomorrow morning. This was his chance to begin his career as a duelist.
James walked over to the bookshelf in his room, and picked up his deck from a shelf. He turned his head to where Tim and Leon were dueling.
"Ah, now your Whiptail Crow has been weakened by your Stim Pack, and can be destroyed by." Leon paused as he put a monster card on the table, "my Armored Zombie. Now, my Zombie will attack your Crow."
James looked throughout his deck. He had improved his deck since he created his original one, and now it was stronger then ever. He had taken out some weaker monsters and added in some stronger ones. His strongest monster was still the dark and creepy Summoned Skull, but he also had another powerful card. He had some leftover money and decided to buy a pack of Duel Monsters cards one day while walking by a hobby shop. When he opened it, he saw it. The magic card Monster Reborn. It was a card that was not only extremely powerful, but pretty rare too. All of the top duelists used this card, as he saw Chris Anderson use it in the tourney just minutes ago. The ability to bring back one monster from either player's graveyard allowed for amazing comebacks. James knew that his Summoned Skull and Monster Reborn cards would be his greatest ally in tomorrow's tournament.
"Wow, 2200 attack? Argh" Leon mumbled as he moved his Armored Zombie to the graveyard. "I believe," Tim stated pleasantly, "That you have 200 Life Points left. And I have. let's see... ah, still at 1500."
"You mean I only did 500 damage to you?" "That's right." "And I only have 200 points left?" "Correct" "That's strange, it's almost like I have some really powerful card I am holding back." "Huh?" "I will draw, and then summon Barrel Dragon" Leon said, a grin spread wide across his face. "Now I flip these three coins and. there we go! I flipped two heads, so your Fiend Megacyber is destroyed. I believe my Barrel Dragon will demolish the rest of your life points."
By this time, James had zoned back in to everything around him and stopped thinking about his cards. "Hey, guys, did you see that thing on the TV?" James asked.
Tim mumbled a "No" as he reshuffled his deck, wanting a rematch. "It said there is going to be a small official Duel Monsters League tournament here in town tomorrow. This could be our chance to start off our dueling careers."
Leon and Tim shuffled their decks and seemed to think about and process what James had said. Leon finished shuffling first and drew his hand, so he spoke first. "Hmm, Duelist League huh?" "Yep" answered James. "Well." "Well what?" "To be honest, at first it seemed that the only reason you bought any Duel Monsters cards was to prove you were better then Jesse. "Well, as long as we are being honest, it really was. But I don't know. This game just." James paused for a few moments and looked at his deck. "I can't really explain it. I enjoy this game, I guess."
Leon nodded and glanced at Tim who had drawn his hand, and they began their next duel. Leon went first and played some cards, then turned and looked at James. "I'm in. This is a great game, as you said, and I would like to play against some different people besides you two for once. I just hope everyone there is ready to taste the power of my Barrel Dragon!"
James smiled. Good, he would have some company at least. "How about you Tim? What do you think?" "I dunno," Tim said. "I would like to, but you see." he stopped as he set a card on the field. "Sounds like good fun and all, but I wouldn't even be able to compete. You have your Summoned Skull, and Leon here has his powerful Barrel Dragon. I myself don't have very many cards, much less any powerful ones. I like playing Duel Monsters, but I don't think I am good enough to even start playing it competitively."
James thought about this for a bit as Tim and Leon continued dueling. This went on for several seconds, and then James started looking at his deck. After spotting the card, he tossed it to Tim.
"Here, take my Summoned Skull." James said.
Leon and Tim both looked at the Summoned Skull card on the table, and did a double take. After a few seconds of an awkward silence, Tim finally blurted out a "What?!".
"Yes. Take my Summoned Skull." James repeated. "You're right. You don't have any extremely powerful monsters. I have my Judge Man and my Monster Reborn cards." "Are you. sure about this?" Tim questioned. "C'mon now, I said you can have it. I will be fine. trust me." "Wow, thanks a lot. With this I actually stand a chance now. Thanks man."
James held up a hand. "Don't mention it."
***
It was early Saturday morning, and James was awake making breakfast. The tournament would start in four hours. James took his plate of french toast from the stove to the table and started eating. His backpack sat in another chair next to him, with a copy of Duel Monsters Master Rules: Volume 1 in it, among other supplies. His deck sat on the table next to his bag, and James glanced at it.
"This will be the day I start my duel monsters career," he thought. "Yes, this will be the day."
***
James dashed out the door and slammed it behind him. Seconds later, the door opened, as he ran back into the kitchen and grabbed his backpack. He ran out the door a second time, slamming it for a second time, and coming back inside the house a second time. He grabbed his deck off the table and ran back out for a third time. He ran out across the yard to Leon's car. Tim was in the passenger seat looking at a Duel Monsters magazine. James jumped in back, and closed the door. Leon took off down the street.
"Are you guys as excited as I am?" James asked with a big grin on his face. "Of course! I can't wait to use my new card." Tim said, putting down the magazine and flipping over the card on top of his deck. "Thanks again James, this will help me win many duels today. James' grin grew even wider.
After about fifteen minutes of Leon's reckless driving, the trio had arrived at the location of the tournament. It was a small building in which about eight dueling systems had been set up. They weren't as big as the ones used at Kaiba Land or the one James and Jesse used in their duel. James walked up to a table that came up to about his naval. It had spaces for the monster and magic cards on them, along with his deck. There was also a little screen on the table above the spot marked "Graveyard". About five yards across from him another table sat facing him, where the other duelist would normally stand.
One by one more and more duelists began showing up. They came in all sizes and ages, experts and newcomers alike, wearing many different clothes. James noticed trench coats similar to the ones Seto Kaiba had been known to wear seemed to be popular among some of them. After about twenty minutes the place became packed. James estimated about fifty to sixty people were in the small building. There was plenty of breathing and stretching room, but you had people moving about you all around. He noticed not all of them were duelists. Lots of them didn't have a deck, but were mainly there to cheer on their friends. Others were there trading cards with each other. James walked around a bit and heard many different conversations.
"That's why I keep a Solemn Judgment in my deck; I can prevent something like that from happening." "I will trade you the right and left legs for all these right here." "Yes, the Dark Magician is a very powerful card. You show great potential. Trust in the Dark Magician, and he will come to your aid."
James looked at the last guy who he heard speaking. He saw an older man wearing dark robes. Sitting down across from a young kid, by his looks in his pre-teens, who was holding a card in his hands. The kid wore a big smile and thanked the man, and walked off while staring at the card. James was going to walk over to the man, when he heard a loud whistle.
A man stood up among the rest. James recognized him quickly as one of the Duel Monsters League's Official Judges. Everyone began quieting down right away, and looked at him.
"Welcome to the Fenton League tournament. I thank you all for coming. I am not much for speeches, so I will make this short. If you are here to enter the tournament, come over to my desk with your strongest monster. We will set the brackets up by pairing off each person according to the strength of their most powerful monster to make a more balanced tournament. I wish you all luck."
The silence died quickly as many people walked up to the desk to begin signing up. James saw Leon and Tim and jogged over to them, and they waited in line together.
They waited a few minutes, and they chatted back and forth about their first impressions of this tournament. As the line began growing shorter, James tapped his foot nervously. Finally, he was face to face with the Judge.
"Name?" the Judge asked. "James Frostfell." James answered quickly and nervously. "What is your strongest monster?" "Judgeman" James said, still nervous, holding up the card. "Thank you for your patience."
James walked moved out of the way for Leon and Tim to sign up. After a few moments, Tim and Leon were signed up, and the before long all the positions were closed. The three walked over to a large board on one of the walls that Leon spotted, in which names and brackets were now appearing. They watched the names flashing and pairing up with one another. James saw his own name paired up with the name "Thomas Janson" at spot 7.
"Good luck you two." James said as he jogged off to the set of tables with the number 7 sign next to them.
James was surprised to see his opponent already waiting there for him. He walked up and shook his hand.
"James is it? I don't think I have seen you before." "Ah, this is my first time here." "Ah nice. Have a lot of experience with the game?" "A decent amount." James lied. "Well then, good luck." "You too."
The two shuffled each other's deck, and returned it to its owner. They both then walked over to the table they chose, and set their deck in place.
On the table, the screen flashed "Duel Begun. Draw Your Starting Hand."
James took a deep breath. "Heart of the Cards, don't fail me now."