Stephen Renaud stood opposite Tristan, eyes glimmering, "Well, do you
accept?"
"Fine, let's duel!" Tristan replied angrily.
Stephen smirked, walking calmly to the dueling platform. After shuffling his deck, he drew his five cards. He then awaited Tristan's first move. The sun was setting. Soon the only light would be from the holographic dueling arenas. Spectators who were not sleeping would gather to watch the duel.
Tristan drew, looking at his card. He was a new duelist, he would admit to that. But he'd been watching the best for. . .how long? He wouldn't let some punk beat him. He just played his Giant Soldier of Stone face-down in defense along with his De-Spell as a bluff and ended his turn.
So Stephen drew. He played two magic/trap along with a Darkfire Soldier #2 and then equipped it with a Sword of Deep-seated, raising it to 2200 attack points. It attacked, destroying Giant Soldier of Stone.
'For my first duel in Duelist Kingdom, this could be going a little smoother,' Tristan thought, drawing another Giant Soldier of Stone.
He played his Soldier, along with a Destroyer Golem face-down and ended his turn. Stephen drew, still smiling, and played Guardian of the Throne Room. Attacking, Darkfire Soldier destroyed Destroyer Golem, but Guardian of the Throne Room couldn't defeat the Giant Soldier of Stone.
Stephen: 7650, Tristan: 8000
Stephen played one monster face-down before ending his turn. Tristan drew, tributing Giant Soldier of Stone for Curse of Dragon, then playing Mountain, powering up Curse of Dragon to 2200, equal to Darkfire Soldier. He attacked, defeating Guardian of the Throne Room.
Stephen: 7100, Tristan: 8000
Stephen drew, unfazed by the Curse of Dragon. He merely played his own Mystic Plasma Zone, destroying Mountain and raising dark monsters (even though none were in play) attack by 500 and lowering their defense by 400. Darkfire Soldier #2 attacked, dealing 200 damage to Tristan.
Stephen: 7100, Tristan: 7800
Tristan played Monster Reborn, bringing back Curse of Dragon. He also played Dragon Treasure, raising it to 2300 attack points. He attacked, destroying Darkfire Soldier.
Stephen: 7000, Tristan: 7800
Stephen merely shrugged, playing his Man-eating Treasure Chest and flipping his Man-eater Bug, destroying Curse of Dragon once more and attacking Tristan directly.
Stephen: 7000, Tristan: 5700
Tristan gazed down at his hand. He had a Flute of Summoning Dragon and a Red-eyes Black Dragon. He only had two star-chips. He had only accepted because Stephen had put up four star-chips. He drew his card. His eyes narrowed, preparing to make his move.
"I play Lord of D! I use Flute of Summoning Dragon to play Red-eyes Black Dragon!" Tristan shouted.
Stephen looked quite indifferent as his Man-eating Treasure Chest was destroyed. Stephen's life points fell. Lord of D. attacked, lowering them even more. Tristan looked quite happy as he ended his turn.
Stephen: 4500, Tristan: 5700
"Yeah!" Tristan cheered.
"Tristan!" a voice shouted from below him.
Tristan looked down, seeing that it was Tea who had shouted. The rest of the gang were standing with her, waving, "Hey, guys, when did you arrive?"
"Just now," Joey yelled back, "Why did you run off?"
"If I hung around, people would only challenge the big name duelists like you and Yugi, so Bakura and I left."
"Where is Bakura?" Yugi asked.
"I dunno, I guess he left after I started dueling this guy. Speaking of which, did you see me take out his life points?"
"Don't get arrogant, Tristan!" Tea shouted, "He still has 4500 life points."
Stephen drew. He played Goblin Attack Force, then attacked, activated Reverse Trap, lowering Red-eyes' attack points to 1900, defeating it.
Stephen: 4500, Tristan: 5300
"But Reverse Trap couldn't have affected Red-eyes while Lord of D. was on the field!" Tristan shouted.
"That only works for effects that specifically affect one monster card," Stephen smirked.
Tristan drew. Angrily, he played a Bistro Butcher, raised to 2300 attack from Mystic Plasma Zone. He attacked, destroying Goblin Attack Force and causing Stephen to draw 2 cards. Stephen flipped his other trap, Solemn Wishes.
"What that do?" Tristan asked impatiently.
"Every time I draw a card, I recover 500 life points," Stephen grinned.
Tristan muttered something under his breath that nobody could hear. Stephen drew to start his turn, recovering another 500.
Stephen: 6000, Tristan: 5300
He played one monster face-down and a Battle Ox in defense face-up. He played another magic/trap and ended his turn.
Tristan drew. He attacked Battle Ox, destroying it. Stephen activated his trap, Michizure, to bring Bistro Butcher to the graveyard as well, and recovered another 1000 life points from drawing 2 cards. Tristan grimaced, then looked at his hand. He had a Thunder Dragon, along with Polymerization. He discarded Thunder Dragon to take 2 more to his hand. He then used Polymerization to fuse them together and bring out his Twin- Headed Thunder Dragon and ended his turn.
Stephen: 7500, Tristan: 5300
Stephen flipped his Hane-hane, returning Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon to Tristan's fusion deck. He then tributed Hane-hane for a Summoned Skull, which attacked.
Stephen: 7500, Tristan: 2300
Tristan stared at his hand. He had no monsters. He could do nothing. The Summoned Skull would destroy him next turn. He sighed, ending his turn.
Stephen: 8000, Tristan: 2300
"Tristan," Stephen grinned, "you owe me two star-chips."
Stephen now had six star-chips. Tristan had zero. He shuffled over to his friends, expecting a lecture from Tea.
"It's okay, Tristan," the familiar voice said.
"What?" he looked up, quite shocked.
Tea stared blankly at him, "What's wrong? At least you just came for fun. It's not like you lost anything important."
Tristan was still puzzled as they walked off to look for Bakura.
~
"I play Neo the Magic Swordsman in attack mode with a Book of Secret Arts. I attack your Armored Zombie, sending him to the graveyard!"
She was quite pleased with herself. She brushed her black hair from her eyes. It was quite dark, but her wisp of purple hair stood out well enough to notice. Her black trench coat covered her white tank top. With her baggy black pants, she was almost invisible in the night.
"It's your turn, Bones," she smiled sweetly."
'This isn't worth two star-chips,' Bones sighed, "I play Dragon Zombie and end my turn."
'Why is it in attack mode?' she thought to herself.
She added a face-down monster to her arsenal and attacked. Bones activated Reinforcements, but she used Fairy's Hand Mirror, moving Reinforcements onto Neo the Magic Swordsman, raising him to 2500 attack for one turn.
Bones: 4200, Yasumi: 6300
Yasumi Shiroko stood, smiling, across from Bones. She drew a card. She then flipped and tributed her Mystical Elf for Dark Magician Girl, powered up by the two Dark Magicians in her graveyard.
"I attack you, that's game," she smiled sweetly.
Bones groaned. He now only had one star-chip left. He wished he had never come to Duelist Kingdom.
'That was quite easy,' Yasumi grinned, looking at her five star-chips.
~
"I'm takin' you down, punk," Bandit Keith taunted.
"We'll see," the eliminator responded blankly.
The shuffled their decks. Bandit Keith went first, playing a Ground Attacker Bugroth in attack mode and ending his turn.
Rathje's drew. He played La Ginn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp. He played two magic/trap cards and attacked Ground Attacker Bugroth, sending it to the graveyard.
Bandit Keith: 7700, Rathje: 8000
Bandit Keith played his Gradius and Oni Tank T-34 face-down and ended his turn.
Rathje merely drew and attacked, destroying Gradius and ending his turn.
Bandit Keith drew, smiling fiercely. He flipped Oni Tank T-34, tributing to bring out Spike Bot. He then equipped Spike Bot with 7-Completed, raising its attack to 2500. It attacked La Ginn, defeating it.
Bandit Keith: 7700, Rathje: 7300
Rathje drew. He then used Fissure to destroy Spike Bot. He played Harpie's Brother and attacked. He then played one monster face-down and ended his turn.
Bandit Keith: 5900, Rathje: 7300
Bandit Keith growled softly, drawing a card. He played a monster face-down and ended his turn.
Rathje drew. He then flipped his Man-eater Bug, destroying Cyber Falcon. He tributed Man-eater Bug for a Summoned Skull. Both Summoned Skull and Harpie's Brother attacked Bandit Keith's life points directly.
Bandit Keith: 1600, Rathje: 7300
Bandit Keith muttered something to himself, drawing a card. He played one monster face-down and ended his turn. He grimaced, knowing what would happen.
Rathje drew. He then attacked with Summoned Skull, destroying Guardian of the Throne Room. His Harpie's Brother then attacked.
Bandit Keith: 0, Rathje: 7300
"Bandit Keith," Rathje declared, "I hope you enjoy being a spectator."
~
Bakura played his Wall of Illusion face-down and ended his turn. This two star-chip duel had been going on for far too long. He had to find a way to end it.
"I tribute my Baron of the Fiend Sword for Beast of Talwar, and attack your face-down monster," Rohit Thomas, his opponent declared.
Bakura flipped his Wall of Illusion, sending it to the graveyard and Beast of Talwar to Rohit's hand. Rohit played a monster face-down and ended his turn.
Bakura drew, and played his Spirit of the Harp and Mystical Elf face-down in defense mode along with a magic/trap face-down. He then played Swords of Revealing Light, flipping Rohit's Prevent Rat. Bakura then ended his turn.
Rohit drew, then ended his turn.
Bakura picked up his card, looking at his hand. He flipped his two monsters and tributed them to play his Wingweaver, his favorite card. He attacked, destroying Prevent Rat.
Rohit drew, playing his Blue-Winged Crown in defense mode, he ended his turn.
Bakura played his Shining Friendship, which destroyed Blue-Winged Crown. Wingweaver then attacked Rohit's life points directly. Bakura flipped his Minor Goblin Official before ending his turn.
Bakura: 6700, Rohit: 2650
Rohit drew, losing 500 life points in his standby phase. He played Insect Soldiers of the Sky in defense and ended his turn.
Bakura drew. He attacked with Shining Friendship, then Wingweaver attacked Rohit directly.
Bakura: 6700, Rohit: 0
Bakura now had four star-chips. He smiled slightly in his own special little way. He walked off, leaving Rohit lying on the ground, sleeping.
~
Yasumi Shiroko sighed. She had done a lot today. She had almost tripled her star-chips. She deserved what sleep she could get.
She had set up a tent at the edge of the woods. It was quite large, but only one person would be sleeping within it. She hummed softly to herself as she unzipped the tent.
She entered, dropping a small bag she had been carrying. A man was standing before her. His head was downcast. He was shadowed. Yasumi could not see his face at all. He wore a trench coat, like her, only his was a dark brown.
"Who are you?" she asked cautiously.
"My name is Rathje. I am an eliminator," he answered, raising his head to see her, "We will compete in an all or nothing match."
~
Author's Note: Well, there's chapter five. Next time: Rathje vs. Yasumi! Will the emerging duelist defeat the most powerful of the eliminators? Find out when I stop being lazy! WHOoo. . .Zzzz. . .
"Fine, let's duel!" Tristan replied angrily.
Stephen smirked, walking calmly to the dueling platform. After shuffling his deck, he drew his five cards. He then awaited Tristan's first move. The sun was setting. Soon the only light would be from the holographic dueling arenas. Spectators who were not sleeping would gather to watch the duel.
Tristan drew, looking at his card. He was a new duelist, he would admit to that. But he'd been watching the best for. . .how long? He wouldn't let some punk beat him. He just played his Giant Soldier of Stone face-down in defense along with his De-Spell as a bluff and ended his turn.
So Stephen drew. He played two magic/trap along with a Darkfire Soldier #2 and then equipped it with a Sword of Deep-seated, raising it to 2200 attack points. It attacked, destroying Giant Soldier of Stone.
'For my first duel in Duelist Kingdom, this could be going a little smoother,' Tristan thought, drawing another Giant Soldier of Stone.
He played his Soldier, along with a Destroyer Golem face-down and ended his turn. Stephen drew, still smiling, and played Guardian of the Throne Room. Attacking, Darkfire Soldier destroyed Destroyer Golem, but Guardian of the Throne Room couldn't defeat the Giant Soldier of Stone.
Stephen: 7650, Tristan: 8000
Stephen played one monster face-down before ending his turn. Tristan drew, tributing Giant Soldier of Stone for Curse of Dragon, then playing Mountain, powering up Curse of Dragon to 2200, equal to Darkfire Soldier. He attacked, defeating Guardian of the Throne Room.
Stephen: 7100, Tristan: 8000
Stephen drew, unfazed by the Curse of Dragon. He merely played his own Mystic Plasma Zone, destroying Mountain and raising dark monsters (even though none were in play) attack by 500 and lowering their defense by 400. Darkfire Soldier #2 attacked, dealing 200 damage to Tristan.
Stephen: 7100, Tristan: 7800
Tristan played Monster Reborn, bringing back Curse of Dragon. He also played Dragon Treasure, raising it to 2300 attack points. He attacked, destroying Darkfire Soldier.
Stephen: 7000, Tristan: 7800
Stephen merely shrugged, playing his Man-eating Treasure Chest and flipping his Man-eater Bug, destroying Curse of Dragon once more and attacking Tristan directly.
Stephen: 7000, Tristan: 5700
Tristan gazed down at his hand. He had a Flute of Summoning Dragon and a Red-eyes Black Dragon. He only had two star-chips. He had only accepted because Stephen had put up four star-chips. He drew his card. His eyes narrowed, preparing to make his move.
"I play Lord of D! I use Flute of Summoning Dragon to play Red-eyes Black Dragon!" Tristan shouted.
Stephen looked quite indifferent as his Man-eating Treasure Chest was destroyed. Stephen's life points fell. Lord of D. attacked, lowering them even more. Tristan looked quite happy as he ended his turn.
Stephen: 4500, Tristan: 5700
"Yeah!" Tristan cheered.
"Tristan!" a voice shouted from below him.
Tristan looked down, seeing that it was Tea who had shouted. The rest of the gang were standing with her, waving, "Hey, guys, when did you arrive?"
"Just now," Joey yelled back, "Why did you run off?"
"If I hung around, people would only challenge the big name duelists like you and Yugi, so Bakura and I left."
"Where is Bakura?" Yugi asked.
"I dunno, I guess he left after I started dueling this guy. Speaking of which, did you see me take out his life points?"
"Don't get arrogant, Tristan!" Tea shouted, "He still has 4500 life points."
Stephen drew. He played Goblin Attack Force, then attacked, activated Reverse Trap, lowering Red-eyes' attack points to 1900, defeating it.
Stephen: 4500, Tristan: 5300
"But Reverse Trap couldn't have affected Red-eyes while Lord of D. was on the field!" Tristan shouted.
"That only works for effects that specifically affect one monster card," Stephen smirked.
Tristan drew. Angrily, he played a Bistro Butcher, raised to 2300 attack from Mystic Plasma Zone. He attacked, destroying Goblin Attack Force and causing Stephen to draw 2 cards. Stephen flipped his other trap, Solemn Wishes.
"What that do?" Tristan asked impatiently.
"Every time I draw a card, I recover 500 life points," Stephen grinned.
Tristan muttered something under his breath that nobody could hear. Stephen drew to start his turn, recovering another 500.
Stephen: 6000, Tristan: 5300
He played one monster face-down and a Battle Ox in defense face-up. He played another magic/trap and ended his turn.
Tristan drew. He attacked Battle Ox, destroying it. Stephen activated his trap, Michizure, to bring Bistro Butcher to the graveyard as well, and recovered another 1000 life points from drawing 2 cards. Tristan grimaced, then looked at his hand. He had a Thunder Dragon, along with Polymerization. He discarded Thunder Dragon to take 2 more to his hand. He then used Polymerization to fuse them together and bring out his Twin- Headed Thunder Dragon and ended his turn.
Stephen: 7500, Tristan: 5300
Stephen flipped his Hane-hane, returning Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon to Tristan's fusion deck. He then tributed Hane-hane for a Summoned Skull, which attacked.
Stephen: 7500, Tristan: 2300
Tristan stared at his hand. He had no monsters. He could do nothing. The Summoned Skull would destroy him next turn. He sighed, ending his turn.
Stephen: 8000, Tristan: 2300
"Tristan," Stephen grinned, "you owe me two star-chips."
Stephen now had six star-chips. Tristan had zero. He shuffled over to his friends, expecting a lecture from Tea.
"It's okay, Tristan," the familiar voice said.
"What?" he looked up, quite shocked.
Tea stared blankly at him, "What's wrong? At least you just came for fun. It's not like you lost anything important."
Tristan was still puzzled as they walked off to look for Bakura.
~
"I play Neo the Magic Swordsman in attack mode with a Book of Secret Arts. I attack your Armored Zombie, sending him to the graveyard!"
She was quite pleased with herself. She brushed her black hair from her eyes. It was quite dark, but her wisp of purple hair stood out well enough to notice. Her black trench coat covered her white tank top. With her baggy black pants, she was almost invisible in the night.
"It's your turn, Bones," she smiled sweetly."
'This isn't worth two star-chips,' Bones sighed, "I play Dragon Zombie and end my turn."
'Why is it in attack mode?' she thought to herself.
She added a face-down monster to her arsenal and attacked. Bones activated Reinforcements, but she used Fairy's Hand Mirror, moving Reinforcements onto Neo the Magic Swordsman, raising him to 2500 attack for one turn.
Bones: 4200, Yasumi: 6300
Yasumi Shiroko stood, smiling, across from Bones. She drew a card. She then flipped and tributed her Mystical Elf for Dark Magician Girl, powered up by the two Dark Magicians in her graveyard.
"I attack you, that's game," she smiled sweetly.
Bones groaned. He now only had one star-chip left. He wished he had never come to Duelist Kingdom.
'That was quite easy,' Yasumi grinned, looking at her five star-chips.
~
"I'm takin' you down, punk," Bandit Keith taunted.
"We'll see," the eliminator responded blankly.
The shuffled their decks. Bandit Keith went first, playing a Ground Attacker Bugroth in attack mode and ending his turn.
Rathje's drew. He played La Ginn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp. He played two magic/trap cards and attacked Ground Attacker Bugroth, sending it to the graveyard.
Bandit Keith: 7700, Rathje: 8000
Bandit Keith played his Gradius and Oni Tank T-34 face-down and ended his turn.
Rathje merely drew and attacked, destroying Gradius and ending his turn.
Bandit Keith drew, smiling fiercely. He flipped Oni Tank T-34, tributing to bring out Spike Bot. He then equipped Spike Bot with 7-Completed, raising its attack to 2500. It attacked La Ginn, defeating it.
Bandit Keith: 7700, Rathje: 7300
Rathje drew. He then used Fissure to destroy Spike Bot. He played Harpie's Brother and attacked. He then played one monster face-down and ended his turn.
Bandit Keith: 5900, Rathje: 7300
Bandit Keith growled softly, drawing a card. He played a monster face-down and ended his turn.
Rathje drew. He then flipped his Man-eater Bug, destroying Cyber Falcon. He tributed Man-eater Bug for a Summoned Skull. Both Summoned Skull and Harpie's Brother attacked Bandit Keith's life points directly.
Bandit Keith: 1600, Rathje: 7300
Bandit Keith muttered something to himself, drawing a card. He played one monster face-down and ended his turn. He grimaced, knowing what would happen.
Rathje drew. He then attacked with Summoned Skull, destroying Guardian of the Throne Room. His Harpie's Brother then attacked.
Bandit Keith: 0, Rathje: 7300
"Bandit Keith," Rathje declared, "I hope you enjoy being a spectator."
~
Bakura played his Wall of Illusion face-down and ended his turn. This two star-chip duel had been going on for far too long. He had to find a way to end it.
"I tribute my Baron of the Fiend Sword for Beast of Talwar, and attack your face-down monster," Rohit Thomas, his opponent declared.
Bakura flipped his Wall of Illusion, sending it to the graveyard and Beast of Talwar to Rohit's hand. Rohit played a monster face-down and ended his turn.
Bakura drew, and played his Spirit of the Harp and Mystical Elf face-down in defense mode along with a magic/trap face-down. He then played Swords of Revealing Light, flipping Rohit's Prevent Rat. Bakura then ended his turn.
Rohit drew, then ended his turn.
Bakura picked up his card, looking at his hand. He flipped his two monsters and tributed them to play his Wingweaver, his favorite card. He attacked, destroying Prevent Rat.
Rohit drew, playing his Blue-Winged Crown in defense mode, he ended his turn.
Bakura played his Shining Friendship, which destroyed Blue-Winged Crown. Wingweaver then attacked Rohit's life points directly. Bakura flipped his Minor Goblin Official before ending his turn.
Bakura: 6700, Rohit: 2650
Rohit drew, losing 500 life points in his standby phase. He played Insect Soldiers of the Sky in defense and ended his turn.
Bakura drew. He attacked with Shining Friendship, then Wingweaver attacked Rohit directly.
Bakura: 6700, Rohit: 0
Bakura now had four star-chips. He smiled slightly in his own special little way. He walked off, leaving Rohit lying on the ground, sleeping.
~
Yasumi Shiroko sighed. She had done a lot today. She had almost tripled her star-chips. She deserved what sleep she could get.
She had set up a tent at the edge of the woods. It was quite large, but only one person would be sleeping within it. She hummed softly to herself as she unzipped the tent.
She entered, dropping a small bag she had been carrying. A man was standing before her. His head was downcast. He was shadowed. Yasumi could not see his face at all. He wore a trench coat, like her, only his was a dark brown.
"Who are you?" she asked cautiously.
"My name is Rathje. I am an eliminator," he answered, raising his head to see her, "We will compete in an all or nothing match."
~
Author's Note: Well, there's chapter five. Next time: Rathje vs. Yasumi! Will the emerging duelist defeat the most powerful of the eliminators? Find out when I stop being lazy! WHOoo. . .Zzzz. . .