Yeah, I know, this episode got a pretty weird name, but it does makes sense
with what shall be coming a bit later, which is why I chose the name. I'm
thinking about changing the title name for this fic. 'Duelists of The
Future' just doesn't sound that great to me. It was always a tentative
title, anyway. I don't know what I'm going to change the title too; I'm
thinking of possible title ideas. Since it is an altenate universe fic, I'm
thinking about renaming it to 'A New Reality' or something similar to that.
It is a more fitting title that 'Duelists of the Future' by far. The main
tournament is finally about to begin! Not in this episode, though, but it
is getting close! Well, let's get this started!
Disclaimer: I don't own characters from Yu-gi-oh, Cardcaptors or Pokemon. I'm simply borrowing them for my fanfic. These cartoons belong to 4 Kids Entertainment, Kids Wb, and whoever else.
-----------------------------------------
Duelists of The Future - Season 1 - Episode 16, 'The Winds of Change Are Blowing' (8/1/2003)
-----------------------------------------
It was 21:35 hours, and the sky had darkened to a dark, midnight blue like color. Stars illuminated the sky radiantly, and cricket chirps rung throughout the entire island, giving it a peaceful, serene, and quiet feel. Most duelists had retreated into their campsites for the night, but there were still a few wandering around, gazing at the sights. At Mai's camp, Geoff and Mai were inside her tint, laying beside each other naked (there is cover over them, in case you're wondering). It had been a sexy, ravenous evening for both of them, and after hours was constant, non-stop action, the two had finally tired out.
"So... was it.. good?" asked Geoff between breaths.
Mai nodded in response to his question. "Yeah... it was great. Some of the best sex I ever had, and definitely a memorable night," she replied, taking in breaths of air herself.
"Same here, the sex was really great," added Geoff. "I didn't know you had that much strength. I mean, the way you were moving... it was incredible! You know, I've never had a woman give it to me that way before. It was fast, intense, raucous, hot, good action."
"I appreciate the compliment," Mai said.
"Well, uh, I need to go turn in. I've got a big day ahead of me tommorrow," Geoff spoke with a bit of reluctantless in his voice. He slowly began to sit up, looking around for his clothes in the process.
"Do you have to go now? I was kinda hoping we could lay up and talk to each other, maybe get to know each other more. After all, you seem like a nice guy."
Geoff smiled, a bit flattered. "I appreciate the compliment," he spoke, making a smile spread across Mai's face. "Anyway, if I didn't have things to do, I would gladly stay, but I've gotta run, unfortunately. Perhaps we can catch up with each other another time," Geoff offered, and Mai smirked.
"Count me in," she then winked at Geoff, who grinned afterwards.
-----------------------------------------
The next morning, down at Misty's camp, Misty and Joey were inside her tint, laying beside each other. Both were fast asleep. Misty had been crying uncontrollably all last night, and Joey had to stay there and try comforting her. It didn't really stop her from crying, but Joey didn't want to leave the distraught girl all alone, so he sat up with her all night, trying to encourage her that everything would work out. She eventually cried herself to sleep with her head resting on his abdomen, and not long afterwards, he fell off into dreamland himself. Misty slowly began to stir. Her eyes opened slowly as she rose up into a sitting position. She sighed heavily as she started crawling her way out of the tint. Opening it up, she covered her eyes to block the sun's blinding light. She crawled out of the tint, then got to her feet. That's when she noticed something. There was a small, white bag sitting on the ground outside of her tint. A note was attached to the bag. She stooped down and opened the bag, and was surprised to see fifteen stars and three cards sitting inside.
The note read: iTo Misty and Joey... From beloved friend, Geoff Okasinski... You guys are not out of the tournament. Inside this bag you'll find fifteen stars. I believe nine of them belonged to you, Misty, and six of them belonged to Joey. I located Mai Valentine and, after a lot of persuasion, she agreed to duel me. If I won, she would give me the fifteen stars and Joey's three cards. It wasn't easy, I'll admit, but I beat her and earned back the stars. Now, I know what you're thinking. So what if I earned the stars? You can't use them anyway. Once a duelist loses all their stars in the tournament, they are not allowed to engage in duels anymore. I won the stars, which means they are mine. Even if I gave them to you, they would still be registered under my name, because I won them, not you. Not to worry: I did a little hacking with each star, accessed the security features, and changed the owners of the stars from me, to you and Joey, meaning you're back! I told you I could beat her, Misty, but nooo, you wouldn't believe me. Anyway, best of luck in the tournament, both of you./i
Misty's eyes widened in shock. She couldn't believe what she was seeing... Geoff won the stars back? When did this happen? Now that he had won the stars, hacked into their mainframe and made them the owners of the stars, her and Joey were back in the game again! They wouldn't be leaving today! Misty immediately crawled back inside the tint, with the bag in tow. She began shaking Joey vigorously.
"Joey! Joey! Joey, wake up! I have something to show you! Wake up!" Misty yelled while shaking him, but he wouldn't stir. Misty couldn't help but look dumbfounded. She had forgotten just how deeply Joey sleeps. When they used to have sleepovers, it was hard to wake him up, but she remebered how she could get him to wake up almost instantly. Pulling up his shirt, she began to tickle Joey's abdomen furiously. Within a few moments, he was awake.
"Hey, hey, cut that out!" he exclaimed while laughing.
"Joey, look!" Misty then presented to him the bag.
"Look at what?" mused Joey.
"Look inside the bag," Misty told him.
"This is what you woke me up for, to look inside a bag? I'm goin' back to sleep," he said in a sleepy tone of voice. He rubbed his eyes, then started to lay back down.
"Joey! Just look in the bag, okay? You'll be surprised, trust me."
He looked at her skeptically. "Fine, okay," Joey took the bag from Misty and looked inside it. His eyes also began to widen. "There's stars in here! And... my Duel Monsters are here too!"
"I know! Geoff won them, and he gave them to us! He did a little hacking into the stars to change the owners of the stars from him to us! Do you realized what this means, Joey?!" Misty asked.
Joey looked up at her, a huge smile on his face. "We're back in the game! And now you have another chance at the 100 million dollars! There is hope for your sisters!" he exclaimed.
"I'll have to give Geoff a huge 'thank you' the next time I see him."
After freshening themselves up and completing their morning necessites, the two dumped the stars out of the bag. Small stickers were attached to each star, and the sticker had the first initial of their names on it. The stars that had a 'J' on it were Joey's, and the stars with a 'M' on it were Misty's. They collected the stars which belonged to them, pulled the stickers off, and inserted them into their dueling gloves. They looked at each other with huge smiles on their face. "We're back!"
-----------------------------------------
Tristan was still in the waiting room of the medical facility. He had fallen asleep in the chair overnight. The doctors were still trying to figuring out what was happening to Brock, and if they could stop whatever it was. So far, they hadn't made any progress in figuring out his condition. They had been on the case all night, but to no avail. One of the doctors decided to go tell Tristan the news. He approached the sleeping teenager, kneeling down beside the chair. "Uh, Tristan Taylor?" he called while shaking. It didn't take long for Tristan to start stirring.
"Oh..." he groaned sleepily as his eyes opened. He was staring in the face of a man. Confused, he started straightening up his position. Tristan realized that it was a doctor, and that he was still in the medical facility, then quickly deduced that he must've fallen asleep overnight.
"Tristan Taylor? I'm Dr. Andrews and I'm here to fill you in on the condition of a Brock Mowry. That's his name, correct?"
"Uh, yeah, you're correct. Is he all right?" asked Tristan, but the doctor shook his head.
"Unfortunately, no, he isn't. He's slipped off into a deep sleep, a coma, basically. We've been trying to find out his medical condition since you brought him in sometime yesterday, but we haven't gotten much progress. We ran several tests, but they are showing the weirdest things I've ever seen in all my years as a doctor," he spoke.
"Do you have any idea what's wrong with him, using the information you've gotten from the test results?"
Dr. Andrews cleared his throat. "Well, the test results indicates that he's.... mutating somehow," he announced, and Tristan's eyes bucked.
"Mutating? What do you mean, mutating? He can't mutate."
"Well, that's exactly what his body seems to be doing. In just a few hours, the insides of his body has changed tremendously. Several organs has merged together, becoming one, some have relocated. There are also some strange, new organs that seem to be growing inside him. It's really weird, and we're surprised the boy is still alive after what's been happening to him."
"Can you do anything?" Tristan inquired.
"We are trying all that we can, sir. I have the best doctors here working on it, right now. I'll get back in touch with you in a few hours to tell you the latest news, okay?"
Tristan nodded slowly, still in shock from what he just heard. Dr. Andrews walked away, leaving Tristan to his thoughts. What was wrong with Brock? How on earth could he be... mutating? How was it possible? He was growing new organs and stuff, and others were merging together. What kind of disease did he have? Was it a disaease, or was the mutating the side effect of being exposed to some kind of harmful substance, such as radiation, or mustard gas? Maybe some kind of poisons like cyanide mixed with uranium was doing this to him? It wasn't natural, and he was certain of that. Is it possible that someone infected him with some strange, deadly chemical? Who would do such a thing and why? Brock didn't have any enemies, as far as Tristan knew. He was a nice guy, he never started strife with anyone, and he was easy to get along with. Who would infect him with a deadly chemical? Maybe it was... Tristan's eyes widened as realization hit him like a bolt of lightning striking the ground. It had to be none other than Surge Crusher. Surge might've did this to give him some form of punishment for not giving him the Egyptian God Cards he possessed.
(Flashback)
Tristan picked up Surge and threw him onto the counter. Surge fell onto the dishes, which made them fall onto the floor with him and break. Surge slowly got up, and looked at Tristan. Both of them were full of bruises and breathing heavily. (This is from Episode 06)
"This isn't over, Tristan, I will be back!" Surge said and darted out of the back door.
(End Flashback)
He came back once, trying to take his cards from him with brute force. That didn't work out to well, though, and it was Brock that rescued him from drowning in the lake. Maybe this was Surge's revenge. He probably infected Brock with some kind of lethal chemical that caused him to start mutating. He was going to pay... Tristan got out of the chair and headed toward the exit of the medical facility. He was positive that Surge was behind this, and he wasn't going to rest until he had put the fucker in the ground.
-----------------------------------------
It was now a week later. The Sub-Competition was winding down more and more, with eaching passing day. There weren't many duelists left, and most duelists who remained had enough stars to register into the main championship, therefore making them contestants. At the Central Palace on the Crystal Kingdom island, Pegasus had been spending the last week researching the Millenium Key, and torturing Morty. Even with the Enhanced Voodoo Doll, he wasn't getting any results from him. Pegasus was beginning to get absolutely fed up with Morty. He just wouldn't give him the key! Pegasus was not about to let some blonde dick stop him resurrecting his true love. He was currently in the middle of a frivilous torturing session with Morty. Using the magic of the Enhanced Voodoo Doll, he turned Morty's blood into lava, and made his heart pump it out. He made him throw up huge blue whales. Morty was screaming out in sheer pain.
"Now, listen up, punk, I can make it go away. I can stop all the hurt, all the pain, all the torture and abuse. I can set you free and let you go on living your life. All you have to do is hand me the Millenium Key. Let me have it, and I'll end it all and release you," Pegasus offered. He stopped the magic transmission in order to let Morty speak. The pain abruptly ended, and Morty slowly began to collect himself. The pain of the Voodoo Doll was excruiating, and it easily disorients one who experiences it. He breathed deeply for a while, then looked up at Pegasus.
He started to speak, but it was slow, and his voice was weak and somewhat raspy. "I... won't give you a thing, you sissy," he stated.
"Arrggh!!!!" Pegasus hollered in frustration while grabbing his hair and his forehead. He began to shake his head vigorously. "What does it take?!!!" he suddenly punched Morty across the face. "I've tried everything: hot grease, cutting, magic tricks, the Voodoo Dolls! I'm running out of patience!! What the fuck does it take to get this damn key?!!!" Pegasus yelled in frustration. He punched Morty in the face again, then punched another time. He hit him in the nose, then whacked him across the face again, angrily.
"I won't waste my time doing this, forever, Morty. Since I'm not getting anywhere, I might as well go ahead and kill you! That might the secret to getting it off your neck! Sure, there's that risk that it might still cling to you even if you're dead, but I'm not getting the results I want anyway, so what do I have to lose?"
"The secret," Morty answered calmly. "Kill me, and you'll never find out how to get it."
"I haven't found it out, yet! You haven't told me anything, and you simply refuse to speak up! So I don't have anything to lose! You're alive, and I'm not getting anywhere! You might as well be dead!" Pegasus reared back and punched Morty again. His lip began to bleed a little as he grunted upon getting hit. "This isn't over, bitch. I've some other important issues to address as of now, but I'll be back. And when I do, I'd better get what I want from you, or else... it's lights out for you, Morty-boy," Pegasus threated, then walked out of the cell.
Moments later, he arrived at his bedroom. Walking inside, he slammed the door behind him and sat on the plush bed. What was he going to do? That bastard downstairs wouldn't give in to anything. It's almost as if he had no breaking point. What would it take to make him give up his Millenium Item? Pegasus sighed dejectedly, then decided to check on the status of the Sub-Competition, something he had been forgetting to do as of late. He got off the bed. Walking over to a sleek, desktop computer, Pegasus took a seat on a chair in front of the computer. He turned the computer on, then began to access his files. He located the folder which consisted of files related to the tournament. He accessed it, then began skimming through them. He clicked on the latest tournament update and began to read the file. Most duelists had earned their fifteen stars and registered. There were still a few left trying to complete that feat, but there weren't many.
"Hmm... it seems as if the Sub-Competition is winding down faster than I thought it would. It won't be long before the main tournament begins," he mused quietly.
-----------------------------------------
"A lot of time has passed by, and I still haven't gotten my fuckin' cards from that motherfucker yet. But, before this tournament comes to an end, I'll have 'em," said Surge. Him, Vicki, and Jason were walking through the forests of the island. Since Surge failed to retrieve the God Cards from Tristan as quick as he thought he would, he decided to start winning stars so he could proceed to the main shindig, and keep up with Tristan. "Mark my words, before the end, I'll have Slifer the Sky Dragon back in my hands, and Obelisk the Tormentor will also be mine!"
"So, how do you plan to get the cards? So far, nothing you've tried worked," chimed Jason.
"I'll get the motherfuckin' cards, I promise you that."
"But how will you get them? I hope you're not gonna try assaulting him again, because that gets you nothing but bruises," Jason spoke. "You see, in order to succeed with something like this, you gotta be cunning. You gotta use your head. You gotta figure out Tristan's weak spots, and use them to your advantage."
"Weak spots? And these weak spots would be..." Surge trailed off in order to let Jason finish.
"That's what you have to figure out, Surge, I don't know!" Jason admitted.
"I'll think about it later. Right now, I need to hurry up and collect some more stars. It won't be long before we're off to the Crystal Kingdom." Surge walked off in search of more duelists, with Jason And Vicki following him.
-----------------------------------------
Sakura handed over her fifteen stars to a man in a black suit. The man started typing on a computer keyboard. He was verifying Sakura's success and entering her into the main tournament. After a few moments passed, he pressed one last key, then looked up at Sakura calmly. "Congratulations, ma'am, you have successfully passed the test required. You are officially a contestant in the tournament."
"Thank you," she spoke softly, then turned and walked away, heading back to her campsite. In just a few days she would be meeting up with her old lover. She would find out if that skank-bitch had him drugged up, or if it was something he willingly did on his own. Sakura wanted to believe that Cecilia drugged him, but she knew it was possible that he cheated on her with Cecilia without the aid of a drug. She hoped for the latter...
"Hi, Sakura!" someone called her. She looked around, and her eyes rested on Li, who was walking toward her. He waved at her, and she waved back.
"Li, hey," she returned. "How are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm great. And you?" he asked while approaching her. The two then began to walk side by side.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Sakura replied.
"Well, that's good. So, have you won enough stars to enter the real tournament yet? I would hope so," he said.
"Yeah, I have. I just got done being verified," she told him.
Li smiled and said, "That's great! Congratulations!"
"Thanks again. I couldn't have done it if you hadn't taken time to give me a few pointers. The duelists I faced were easy, inexperienced duelists like me, though. What about you, did you make it?"
"You bet I made it! I think the cruise ship is supposed to be picking us up to take us to Crystal Kingdom sometime this week. Isn't this exciting, though? We made it into the championship!"
"Yeah, it is. I wonder how good we're gonna do... I wonder how tough the other duelists are gonna be?"
"Well, they're gonna be pretty good. I mean, all the duelists that made it must be pretty good. There will be nothing but serious duelists in the main competition, though. I wonder just how good they are? Ah, they couldn't be better than me. I'm one of the best duelists!"
"Uh, Li, could I ask a favor?" Sakura spoke softly. Li looked over at her, a bit curious as to what she wanted to ask.
"Yeah, shoot."
"Could you help prepare me? I mean, I have a little knowledge of Duel Monsters now, but it still won't be enough to help me win the tournament. I appreciate the few pointers you gave me, and I was wondering if you could continue training me for a little awhile. Please, Li, could you?" she inquired.
Li pondered this for a moment, then sighed. "Well.... I guess I can. It's not like I'm really doing anything," he replied.
"Oh, thank you, Li! Thank you," Sakura said, relief and happiness in her voice. "For a moment there, I thought you were gonna say no."
"So, when do you wanna get started?"
"Would now be a good time?"
"Yeah, now is fine. C'mon, let's go back to your campsite," Li suggested, and the two headed that way, discussing Duel Monsters along the way.
-----------------------------------------
Tristan had been searching for Surge all week long, but didn't have any luck in finding him. He was now on his way to the medical center to see how Brock was doing. Tristan was positive that Surge had something to do with Brock's condition. It all made sense. Surge seemed like the type of guy to do something like this in order to get Tristan's cooperation. But, there was one factor that seemed kinda weird. Surge wouldn't be hiding the fact that he did it. He would find Tristan and tell it to his face, so that Tristan would give up the God Cards. Tristan wouldn't have to look for him, because he'd find him first. Maybe Surge was using a different tactic. Tristan eventually arrived at the medical center. Walking inside, he immediately began searching for Dr. Andrews. He found him after a few minutes of looking.
"Dr. Andrews?"
"Hello, Tristan," Dr. Andrews returned the greeting with a small smile on his face.
"Um, I here to ask you about Brock Mowry's status. How is he doing?"
Before Dr. Andrews could respond, another doctor suddenly appeared. Running up to Dr. Andrews, he stated, "The boy's awake! Doctor, the boy, he's awake!"
"Awake? Impossible," Dr. Andrews mused as he headed toward the room, Tristan following. Arriving at the room, they walked inside. A few doctors were around the bed, and Brock was lying there, his eyes opened slightly. He moaned as he started looking around in confusement. "When did he wake up?" Dr. Andrews asked while approaching another doctor.
"Just a few seconds ago, sir," she replied. Dr. Andrews pulled out a scanning device and began to scan Brock. His vitals were functioning, although they were functioning in a weird fashion. His pulse was a little stronger than before. The organs were still out of place and such. Brock started to sit up, but the doctors gently pushed him back down.
"No, sir, you need to lie back and rest," one of the doctors told him.
"But... I.. need to see Tristan..." he muttered. His speech was somewhat slurred, but they could still interpret what he was saying with ease. Tristan approached the bed, kneeling down beside it.
"Brock? Brock, I'm here," he told him, smiling slightly. Brock looked over at Tristan; his lips formed into a little smirk.
"How... how did I... get here?" he asked him.
"You uh, you started convulsing, and I rushed you to a hospital," Tristan explained.
"How long... was I asleep?"
"You were out for a week," Tristan replied.
"Okay, sir, we're gonna have to ask you to step out for about ten minutes while we run some more tests. After we're finished, we'll allow you to visit him for about thirty minutes, all right?" Dr. Andrews said.
"Yeah, okay," Tristan answered while getting to his feet. He looked down at Brock and said, "I have to leave, but I'll be back, all right, Brock? The doctors need to examine you some more, and I can come back when their through," he told him, then turned and started walking out of the room.
-----------------------------------------
Misty and Joey spent the entire week winning stars as fast as they could to get into the tournament in time. They noticed that there were much less duelists with stars. Most duelists had turned their stars into the administrators, therefore getting into the main competition. The two walked side by side, on the lookout for duelists. Misty looked down at her dueling glove with satisfaction. "Wow.... I can't believe I finally won the fifteen stars needed."
"Well, believe it, because you did it," Joey said in his usual, cheery manner. "I'm only three stars away from gettin' into the main tournament. I just need to find one more duelist and get three stars from them, then I'm set!"
"I know. Every day it gets harder and harder to actually find someone with stars. Most duelists around here don't even wear dueling gloves anymore, because they've achieved the goal. They're simply waiting until its time to go. Well, I should head down to the shore so I can turn in these stars to the administrators. Good luck, Joey. And one more thing: Don't lose," she warned him sternly, then ran off.
"I won't!" Joey yelled after her, then went on to mutter, "I know what I'm doing."
Joey walked casually through the grass plains, glancing down the dueling glove. All he needed were three more stars. Just three more, and he was tournament bound! Joey couldn't believe that he had gotten this far. He never expected to get this close to getting into the real tournament. But, here he was, doing what he firmly thought he couldn't. He only wished he could show Yugi just how much he had progressed... Speaking of which, where was Yugi? He hadn't heard from him in a long time. Where did he dissappear to? Joey had been so busy rushing to earn the fifteen stars that he hadn't thought much about Yugi, until now. Where was his little buddy?
"Hey, Joey!" a voice called. Joey saw Yugi approaching him in the distance, then sighed a sigh of relief.
"I shoulda known nothing had happened," he spoke to himself.
"How are you?" asked Yugi as he approached Joey, panting slightly.
"I'm good, very good. In fact, I'm on my way to gettin' into the tournament! Can you believe it Yugi?" Joey exclaimed in joy, then showed his dueling glove to Yugi. Yugi observed the glove, quickly taking note of the twelve stars sitting inside.
"Joey, you have twelve stars, that's great!" he returned while smiling. "Just three more stars and you're ready to set your sights on the real competition! I knew you could do it," he said.
"So, Yugi, are you in yet? Have you earned enough stars?"
"Yeah, I've been taking it easy for about four days now. I won all the fifteen stars neccessary long ago," Yugi replied.
"Well, that's good..." while Joey was speaking, another voice of a masculine nature interrupted him.
"Hey, dork! I want a rematch!" it shouted. Both Yugi and Joey turned, and their eyes rested on Devon (remeber him from Episode 08?). Joey gasped slightly, a tad bit surprised.
"Devon? What the heck are you doin' here? I thought you'd be gone home by now! But, you're still in the tournament, surprisingly."
"You shouldn't be too surprised that an excellent duelist like myself is still in this thing! I'm surprised that you're still walking around here! Guess you got some help by crushing toddlers, hunh?"
"Hell no! I beat some of the fiercest, toughest duelists around here!"
Devon burst into laughter. "You expect me to believe that? You couldn't win a duel if your sorry life depended on it, punk!" he remarked.
"I don't expect you to believe anything, and I don't give a damn about what you believe! What you think don't mean shit!" Joey returned.
"Oh no, see now, you've just cussed at the wrong guy. I only need a few more stars to get into the tournament, and I'm gonna get them from you!" he yelled while pointing at Joey.
"Dream on. When we get through, I'm gonna be the victor, and you... well, you'll still be a big heap of horse shit like your are now," Joey laughed afterwards.
Devon growled in anger. "You're gonna pay, you ass! Mark my words, when this duel is over, I'm gonna be the winner, not you! Whip out your dueling device, and let's get it on!"
"As you wish," Joey retorted while grabbing his fiery red portable dueling console. Strapping it on, he watched Devon strap his on, then they powered them up. "Time to duel!" shouted Joey.
"You're gonna lose!" yelled back Devon.
***** Joey: 2000 LP | Devon: 2000 LP *****
The duel had started. Both duelists drew their first five cards, forming their hands. Devon got the first move. Looking over his cards, he started to think on the best course of action, then started to pull up a card. "I'll play this one monster card, face-down," he said while doing so. Within a few moments, a holographic face-down card appeared in front of him.
It was now Joey's turn to move. He wondered what Devon could've been hiding under the face-down card, but he wasn't about to be intimidated by the card. He pulled up three cards, then started to place them on the card slots. "Two cards face-down (in magic/trap zone), and one monster card in attack mode!" Joey yelled. The three cards appeared on the field, and the monster was Flame Swordsman.
ATK: 1800 DEF: 1600
"Attack Devon's face-down monster with Flaming Sword of Battle!" Joey commanded. The monster lunged toward the card while flames started to eminate on the sword. He reared back and sliced through the card, setting it on fire. The card burst into the pieces, and the monster turned out to be a Mystical Elf.
"Hahaha, you fell into my trap, fool! Mystical Elf's defense power is 2000, and your puny swordsman only has an attack power of 1800. You lose 200 life points!" he announced.
Joey's Life Points- 1800
"Damn," Joey muttered to himself.
"Now its my turn to move again," Devon said while drawing a card from his deck. He pulled two cards out of his hand. "I'll throw another monster onto the field, in defense mode, and I'll put down two face-down cards," he spoke while applying the cards to the console. The cards materialized onto the field in front of him, and the new monster was a Cannon Soldier.
ATK: 400 DEF: 1300
"Go ahead, ass, make your next move."
[I was expecting Devon to sacrifice his Mystical Elf to power up his Cannon Soldier, then order it to attack my life points directly! That's the logical thing any duelist would do. Guess Devon is still as airheaded and dense as ever,] Joey thought to himself. "Ha, I'm gonna take advantage of your stupidity and wipe that Cannon Soldier off the field! Flame Swordsman, attack it, now!" Joey snapped. The swordsman charged for the purple robot, ready for action. The sword was engulfed by fire, and Joey's monster prepared to strike Cannon Soldier full force.
"Not so fast! I'm invoking the magic of Mirror Force!" Devon shouted as he activated his card. A magical barrier appeared around Cannon Soldier, and when the swordsman's flames struck, it began to reverse the attack right back into it.
"Good try, but I also have a Mirror Force out on the field, and I'll invoke its powers now!" Joey announced while activating the magic card. As the flames headed back toward the Flame Swordsman, another magical barrier appeared around Joey's monster, ready to repel the flames back at Cannon Soldier.
"(imitates Joey) Good try (stops imitaiting), but I figured you might have something like that waiting, so I'll activate my other face-down card, Magic Jammer!" Devon stated.
"What?!" Joey was surprised. Devon discarded one card from his hand, and in turn, Joey's magic card, and the magic barrier shattered into pieces, leaving Flame Swordsman wide open to attack. The flames engulfed the swordsman and set him on fire, causing him to scream out in pain before bursting into pieces himself. "No! My swordsman!"
"Is toast, to put it simply," Devon smirked. "You're gonna learn yet that I am not a pushover. When this duel is over, I'll be the winner, and you'll be the loser," he said, then pulled a card from the top of his deck. He looked at it, and his smirk grew bigger. "Just what I needed. I'll play this magic card, Rush Recklessly, to increase the attack and defense power of my Cannon Soldier by 700 points!"
ATK: 1100 DEF: 2000
"And now, I'm gonna sacrifice my Mystical Elf, and use her energy to power up my reinforced Cannon Soldier!" Devon yelled in glee. Joey was caught off guard by Devon's tactic. That's why he didn't sacrifice Mystical Elf right away, he wanted to wait and power up Cannon Soldier with a magic card! And now that Cannon Soldier was stronger, it would pack a bigger punch! And there was nothing he could do to stop this!
Metal spikes jarred into the elf's body, killing her off. Her lifeforce flowed into the Cannon Soldier's cannon, powering it up. "And now, all 1100 attack points of my Cannon Soldier will be used in a direct assault on you! I switch my Cannon Soldier to attack mode, and now, I'm gonna attack you with it! Cannon Soldier, take him down!" Devon screamed, and the soldier fired a yellow beam out of the cannon on top of its head. The beam struck Joey in the chest and knocked him to the ground.
Joey's Life Points- 700
"Oh no! My life points are down to 700!" Joey acknowledged as he got to his feet.
Devon laughed. "And we haven't even been dueling for five minutes, prick! The only reason why you won our last duel is because of sheer, blind luck. This time around, luck's got nothing to with it! It's just me vs. you, and without blind luck, you don't stand a chance against me," Devon taunted.
"You're wrong. This duel's just gettin' started. You may have won that last exchange, but I promise you, you won't be winning for long," Joey retorted.
"Oh, I'm shakin' and quakin' in my boots! I'm so terrified! If Joey said it, it must come true! He's the ultimate duelist! He's always right!" Devon burst out into more laughter. "Please! You wouldn't know what shit was if you fell in it face first."
"Enough!!" Joey hollered out. "You're going down!"
"Bring on the fight!!" Devon dared him. "I can take anything you throw at me! C'mon, give me your best shot!"
"And that I will do!" Joey exclaimed in a valiant fashion.
-----------------------------------------
"Okay, hand me your stars," stated one of administators at the shore. Jasmine ejected the stars out of her dueling glove and handed them to the man. He took them from her and sat them on the desk beside his computer. He started typing in a swift manner, accessing various pages.
"Um, just wondering, how long does this verification process take?" asked Jasmine while she doing a common head motion we often see girls with long hair doing.
"Not long. All I have to do is scan the stars to make sure they're yours, find your life, update it with the new information,, then enter your file into the tournament roster, therefore getting you in," the man explained, then continued with his work. The scanning acknowledged that the stars belonged to her. Jasmine waited patiently while the man updated her file with the new information, then uploaded it into the tournament roster. "There you go. You're in," he told her.
"Thank you," Jasmine replied, then turned away from the man and started walking away.
"Best of luck in the tournament," the man spoke, and she grinned. He watched her figure grow smaller and smaller as she walked further away from his small station. When she was gone, he reached into his pocket and grabbed a cellphone. Dialing a number, he put the phone up to his ear waited for someone to answer.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Pegasus, Jasmine Cortez has won fifteen stars. This means that she will be heading to the Crystal Kingdom when the cruise ship gets here. She will no doubtedly search for your castle and try to rescue Morty when she gets there," the man informed him.
"Yes. But whether she's successful or not is still undecided. Actually, come to think of it, Jasmine's arrival could actually play right into my hands and give me an advantage I've never had before..." Pegasus's voice trailed off as the phone clicked off.
-----------------------------------------
Ash had already earned his fifteen stars and took care of the process necessary to gain entrance into the main tournament. Now, he was simply waiting for the Sub-Competition to end. He was closer than ever now. In a few moments, he would be getting his revenge, which was something he had been anticipating for a long time now. The thought of giving Pegasus a horrific death brought an icy smile onto Ash's face. He killed off his mother, and it wouldn't be long before he was killed off. Ash swore on his mother's grave that he would fuck Pegasus up for stripping her of her life, and taking away from him the very thing he loved most. He walked into his tint, and sat down. Pulling his deck of cards out of his pants pocket, he began to look through the cards.
-----------------------------------------
The doctors had finished running their scans and tests on Brock, and were gone to examine them in detail. They allowed Tristan to sit with Brock and keep him company, and that's just what he was doing. He sat in a chair beside Brock's bed. Brock was conscious, and the slight slurring that was in his voice before had dissappeared by now. His speech was clear. "So, how do you feel?" Tristan asked him.
Brock shrugged weakly. "I feel pretty weak, and I'm definitely not feeling my best. I feel really different now," he responded.
Tristan adjusted his position in the chair. "Uh, Brock? Did you know about this medical condition of yours before hand? Were you aware of it, but you wouldn't tell me or anybody else?"
(Flashback)
Brock propelled himself into the room and carefully scanned the walls. Nothing was on them, so he scrutinized the pedestal. After close examination, Brock found a small inscription on the pedestal. Perhaps this could shine some light on what happened to him! Brock began to read it aloud.
"Disturb not the ancient artifact within, For the cursed object will only bring complications to him who touch. This warning goes out to all people who seek the artifact, Do not listen to your greed, But, instead, take heed."
(End Flashback)
"Uh..." Brock wasn't sure if he should lie or tell Tristan the truth. However, he decided to follow the fundamental moral his father drilled into him while he was a child. "Yeah... I knew," he stated slowly.
"You knew? (Brock nodded his head in confirmation) Well, then, why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you say anything? This could've been avoided if you had said something to me! Why didn't you?"
"Because I was afraid!" Brock replied. A small moment of silence filled the room before he continued. "I was afraid of what you would think of me if I said something. I thought you might've considered me some kind of freak or something, and you would stop hanging around me. I was scared to say something."
"Brock, you should know better than that. I'm your best friend, I'm not gonna abandon you because something 'out of this world' happened to you. I'm not like that, and you should know that. Why would you even think that?"
"Why wouldn't I? It happens all the time. Someone thinks that they have a good friend, then when something happens to them, the friend runs off, never to return. If you was me, and I was you, I'm sure you would've got scared and tried to hide it. If I offended you with my actions, I'm sorry, but I couldn't help it."
"No offense taken," Tristan answered. "But, what happened? How did you get this... disease?"
Brock sighed heavily. "Remeber that day when I went for a good swim to help relieve and relax my mind? (Tristan nodded) Well, I simply swum about under the surface of the lake, watching all the harmless species of aquatic life when I stumbled upon something. There was a plane, an old plane which had apprently crashed and sunk down into the lake. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to turn this simple swim into an underwater excursion. After using an Oxygen Infuser to give myself a good dosage of oxygen, I swam into the wrecked plane, looking about. There was a lot of old suitcases and stuff in the plane, nothing special. But, I noticed a trapdoor in the floor of the plane, and there was a small lever attached to it. So, I pulled the lever, and the door opened, allowing me passage to the room below. It was a treasure room. There was lots of gold and plenty of jewelry in the room. I started to head back to the surface to get you, because I knew you loved gold and would be blown away by the vast amount of genuine gold in the room, but I changed my mind at the last moment and swam back. Going back into that room, I noticed something I hadn't noticed before: another lever attach on the wall. I pulled it, and it opened yet another secret door. More curious than ever, I swam inside and saw a glass container holding an object inside. So, what I did was, I threw the container onto the floor and burst it into pieces, and something rushed at me. It thrusted itself into me, and that's where things get a little hazy..." his voice trailed off.
"What do you mean, something thrusted itself into you? Was it an animal of somekind?"
"No, I don't know what it was. But, what I remeber is that I was in pain, and that I passed out. When I woke back up, that's when I noticed that I felt differently inside. Actually, the first thing I noticed was that I was still underwater and I thought that I needed to get out of there, but then I realized that I could breathe in a submerged enviroment, something that no ordinary human could do without some kind of technology wokring on their side. I mean, sure they could try taking in some breaths while underwater, but they would breathe in a bunch of water and drown, not air. But, I could breathe air out of the water, like a fish. And to add to it, water wouldn't flow through my lungs and mouth for some reason. I could talk underwater."
"Whoa..." Tristan's voice trailed off. "This must've been when your mutations started," he deduced.
"Yeah. That's basically how it happened, and I don't know if its reversable or not. I just hope nothing else happens to me. I just remebered, I need to get out of here and continue my quest to win that money for my father," Brock said.
"Brock, you're in no condition to be dueling. The doctors aren't going to let you out of here anyway, and even if they said you could go, I wouldn't let you go. You need to stay here, under constant observation. There's no telling what could happen to you. In the mean time, I'm gonna go search that plane for answers," Tristan spoke while rising out of his chair.
"No, there's no reason to do that. I looked already, but I didn't find anything," Brock told him.
"There must've been something in that plane that you missed, something that can help you. I'm not about to sit around and watch your body go awol without doing something," Tristan argued.
"But, there's nothing down there, I looked already. There's no sense in running off looking for something that you won't find in that plane. Look, I appreciate that you're trying to help me, but there's nothing down there. But there is something you can do for me, okay? I want you to go on and try winning that tournament for me, all right? Since I'm in no condition to duel, try to win the money for my father, please? He deserves it."
Tristan didn't say anything for a while. He simply stood in place while looking at the floor. "Tristan? C-can you do that for me?" Brock requested, and Tristan slowly nodded after about a ten second pause.
"Yeah, I'll do it for you. I don't want to leave you alone, though."
"I'll be fine, all right? If you tried winning the tournament for me, I'd feel much better. One more thing: Don't call my family and tell them about this. I'm not so sure if they need to hear this, yet, okay?"
Tristan acknowledged this, then walked out of the room, his head hanging.
-----------------------------------------
*** Joey: 700 LP | Devon: 2000 LP ***
Joey sighed while drawing a card from his deck. That last move Devon executed really put the hurt on him, so he would now have to be extra careful. He couldn't lose now, not after he had gotten so close to achieving the goal of getting into the tournament. Now that Devon's Cannon Soldier's stats were back to normal (400/1300), it wouldn't take much at all to defeat it. "I know just the way to tie our scores in a single move."
"Oh really? Enlighten me," Devon spoke. (when I insert this sign, that means Devon is about to open his mouth to say something)
"Oh, I'll enlighten you, allright. You think you're a hotshot, Devon (), but in reality, you're not. I'll give it to you, that was a pretty good move you just performed. But, your move has one giant flaw. Sure, you may have taken out 1100 of my life points in one blast, but you've left yourself wide open to attack. Any good duelist out there would know to put down a magic or trap card that'll protect the Cannon Soldier from attacks after a move like that is executed. And you call yourself a good duelist..." Joey sneered, then continued. "I'll play one card face-down, then play the Axe Raider, in attack mode!"
After Joey slapped the cards onto the console, it didn't take long before they found themselves onto the field. Axe Raider growled viciously upon loading, clutching its blade tightly.
ATK: 1700 DEF: 1500
"You should consider yourself extremely lucky that I didn't get my trump cards like Red Eyes Black Dragon or Summoned Skull when I drew, because you'd be a done deal if I had've. Axe Raider, destroy Cannon Soldier with your Wind Blades!" Joey snapped. His monster roared and charged for Cannon Soldier, delivering two mighty slashes which sliced the robot in half. It shattered into pieces violently, and Devon's life point meter began to drop.
Devon's Life Points- 700
"I told ya'! Tied the score in one move! I'm good, I'm good!" Joey yelled in a sing-song fashion while dancing.
Yugi smiled and commented, "Great work, Joey!"
"No!!" Devon screamed. "How could this happen? How could this happen to me? Everything was going so well! I had over 1000 life points more than Joey, I was winning! In one move, he tied up the score! Oh, why didn't protect my Cannon Soldier? Why was I so fuckin' stupid?!" he asked himself, then quickly regained his composure and sighed. "Not to worry, though. This duel isn't over yet, Joey, and I still haven't released my biggest bag of tricks yet. Celebrate your little short-lived victory while you can, Joey, but mark my words: you won't be dancing when I get through with you."
"And what, I'm supposed to be scared now? Oh no, Devon's coming to get me! What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?! He's gonna get me, Yugi! He's gonna finish me off! AAH!!" he jeered, then laughed hard afterwards. "Dream on, dick."
"Oh, give me a break! Can you be any more of a loser than you already are? You can't even be a little original, for cryin' out loud! Such a sad case you are," Devon quipped.
"I'm just givin' you a taste of your own medicine. Not so good, is it?"
"Please, is that all you can come up with? Not only are you a loser, but you can't even do sarcasm right? Just what kind of case are you? I don't think you're sad anymore, you've surpassed that level."
"Hey, that's not all I can up with, scrawny bitch-ass! Don't tick me off!" Joey warned him.
"Whatever," Devon drew a card afterwards. "Hmm... let's see your Axe Raider stand up to this! It's now time for my trump card, Kazejin, in attack mode!" Devon slammed the card onto the slot, bringing the elemental box into battle.
ATK: 2400 DEF: 2200
"Kazejin, destroy Axe Raider!" Devon commanded. The small symbol on top of the box started glowing, and the monster blew a large gust of powerful winds at Axe Raider. Right before the attack reached Axe Raider, Joey activated his face-down card he had played earlier.
"Negate attack, which I'll use to stop your Kazejin's attack right in its tracks!" Joey yelled. A warp appeared in front of Axe Raider and the attack was absorbed, then the warp dissappeared to wherever it came from. Joey smirked in delight. "Worked like a charm. Now that you've wasted your turn, it's time for me to finish you off," he spoke while drawing a card, getting just what he wanted. He slapped the card down, and out popped the Summoned Skull, which growled fiercely while taking a fighting stance.
ATK: 2500 DEF: 1200
"Heh, c'mon dick, attack me. Show me your worst," Devon dared him.
"And that's just what I'm about to do. You can kiss your Kazejin goodbye! Summoned Skull, attack with Lightning Strike!" Joey snapped. An ominous thunderclap sounded, then a lightning beam struck the demon, who absorbed all the power, then shot out numerous smaller bolts at Kazejin.
"Not so fast, Joey! Kazejin, block the attack!" Devon announced, and Joey let out a gasp. A large tornado descended from the sky and landed in front of Kazejin, and the Summoned Skull's lightning was deflected by it, causing the small bolts to strike the ground and explode elsewhere. Then the tornado dissipated afterwards. Joey was taken by surprise. "Didn't know old Kazejin could defend itself from attacks? I didn't, either, but I found out later. You can get ready to have a good time losing, dork."
"I don't think so," Joey countered. "Just a minor setback, but I promise you, that won't stop me from winning. I have other cards in my deck that can get rid of your little Kazejin."
"You just might, but you'll never get a chance to play them. You'll be wiped out before you can get to them," Devon said confidently. He reached out and drew a card from his deck. Looking at it, he smirked. "Hmm.... just the card I was looking for. I'll play Black Pendant, to raise my Kazejin's attack power by 500 points!"
ATK: 2900
"Think you and your Summoned Skull can handle this? Go, Kazejin, blow Summoned Skull away now!" Kazejin attacked with a strong gust of wind, and though the Summoned Skull tried to take it, it could not. As a result, the monster was sent hurling through the air before it crashed viciously and exploded into pieces.
Joey's Life Points- 300
"Oh, look, only 300 life points left! Things don't look to good for you, do they, Joey boy?"
Joey frowned in disgust while Devon's taunting laugh rang out through his ears.
*** Joey: 300 LP | Devon: 700 LP ***
"Down to 300 life points, and my supercharged Kazejin dominates the field. When I said you were gonna lose to me, I meant it."
"This duel isn't over yet, Devon, as you can see. Your Kazejin may be strong, but I've brought it down before, and I'll bring it down again!"
"In your dreams, moron! Last time we dueled, I didn't know Kazejin could block all incoming attacks. But, now that I do, you won't never be able to attack my Kazejin, because I can simply blocks every last one of your attacks, no matter how strong it is. You don't have a monster in your deck capable of that, or else, you would've shown it off by now," Devon said menacingly.
"You don't know what I have, Devon. You're not psychic," remarked Joey.
"So what if I don't know what you have. It doesn't take psychic powers to figure out that you're gonna lose this match, and I'm gonna win it. Just watch me."
Joey ignored Devon and reached out to a draw a card. [Devon's Kazejin will be hard to take down, I'm sure of that. He's not gonna let it go without a fight. Whatever I do, I'd better get a card that'll make this move count! I've gotta get a good card!] Joey thought to himself while he grabbed the card. Pulling it toward him, he looked to see what he got. [Allright! It's my Kunai With Chain card! All I need to do now is lure Devon into attacking, and he'll be caught right in my trap! But, I don't think its time for it to be used just yet,]
"For this turn, I'll play one monster in defense mode," Joey said while placing the card onto a slot. A holocard appeared in front of him, and on top of it stood Battle Warrior.
ATK: 700 DEF: 1000
Devon chuckled and said, "Is that all you have to offer? You know, all those empty threats really make your already sucky image plummet. Kazejin, destroy Battle Warrior! Solar Wind Blast!" Devon snapped, and his monster shot a powerful blast of wind at Battle Warrior. The card was blown off the holocard; it flew past Joey and exploded into pieces violently. "And here I am, thinking you're gonna show off some of your supposed 'might'. You are a sad case, really," mused Devon.
"Shut up, prick. You'll see soon enough," Joey retorted while drawing another card. This time he got a Monster Reborn card, which he could use later. All he needed was one last card, then he would be set. He placed down another card. "For this turn, I'll play Giltia the Knight, in defense mode!" The monster appeared on the field.
ATK: 1850 DEF: 1700 (DEF ?)
"It's an improvement over that silly Battle Warrior, I'll admit, but it's still no match for my Kazejin. Attack now!" The symbol on the box glowed, signifying that Kazejin's attack was ready. It blew out yet another powerful gust of wind, lifting Giltia off the ground and throwing it up into the air. The monster tumbled back down to the earth and erupted into pieces upon hitting the ground. Devon laughed teasingly.
Joey rolled his eyes and reached out to draw another card. He hoped it would be the card he was looking for. If it was, Devon could consider himself finished! If it wasn't, he'd simply have to find another monster to play in defense mode until the card presented itself. [C'mon, deck, don't fail me now. I need that card on the double!] Joey pulled the card off the deck and looked at it, then his eyes lit up in amazement and happiness. [Yes! Devon is a done deal!]
"Well, are you going to actually fight me on this move, or are you gonna cower behind those weak monsters of yours?" Devon inquired.
"I'm ready to fight ya' now, prick. It doesn't take a psychic to realize that after a minute, your Kazejin will be finished. I promise you, your monster won't be standing any longer," Joey stated confidently. "To start my brilliant move, I'll play two cards face-down, then play Monster Reborn, to revive my fallen Axe Raider, and it'll be played in attack mode!" Joey announced. Monster Reborn successfully revived the previously deceased monster, and it growled while clutching its axe.
ATK: 1700 DEF: 1500
Devon burst into laughter. "You mean, that's what your ultimate move was?! You really are a nutcase! Oh, you're so fuckin' stupid, and I'm gonna blow away your monster. Kazejin, attack Axe Raider now!" he demanded.
"Not so fast, punk-ass prick, I play Kunai With Chain!" Joey announced, catching Devon off guard. The jock was surprise when Axe Raider hurled several chains at Kazejin, which wrapped around the box and paralyzed it. "Ha! Now, I'll activate my other face-down card, De-Spell, which will destroy the Black Pendant magic card your monster is equipped with!" Joey activated his other card, and within a few moments, the magic of the card destroyed Black Pendant. Devon was in shock.
"No!! How could this be happening... to me?!"
"Kunai With Chain raises my Axe Raider's attack strength by 500 points, which makes it's total amount of points 2200. To add to that, I play Rush Recklessly, which will add 700 more attack points and defense points onto Axe Raider!" Joey slapped down the card he drew from his hand, implementing it into the duel.
(Axe Raider) ATK: 2900 DEF: 2200 | (Kazejin) ATK: 2400 DEF: 2200
"Now, Axe Raider, obliterate Kazejin from the field!" commanded Joey triumphantly.
"NOO!!!" Devon screamed as Axe Raider used it blade to cut a huge slice into Kazejin, ultimately cutting the box in half before it finally exploded into pieces. Devon couldn't believe his eyes. His strongest card, taken out just like that. This was the third time Joey managed to destroy his favorite and strongest monster (Joey destroyed it twice in their first duel). How could he keep doing this?!
Devon's Life Points- 200
"Ooh... getting a bit sparse on life points, eh, Devon? And what do you know? I'm actually ahead of you!" Joey exclaimed in glee. "I thought it wasn't possible. Devon said it wasn't possible; he insisted that he would win and that I lose in an embarassing fashion. But, I'm in the lead. I'm winning! Can you believe that, Yuge?!"
"Most definitely. Devon's not the greatest, brightest duelist of all time," Yugi replied calmly. Devon looked at Yugi and frowned.
"Hey, what the hell did you just say, pipsqueak?"
"Wow. I intended for that to be an insult, Joey, but I'm actually right. He's not even smart enough to comprehend what I just said," Yugi added, then began to laugh. Joey laughed along with him, and Devon grew even madder.
"Hey, that's enough!! I thought we were dueling, not having a sarcasm rally!"
"You started it, we're finishing it," Joey retorted and continued laughing with Yugi.
"Ugh, I can't stand to be around you two any longer! I'm afraid I'll catch pipsqueak's syndrome!" Devon yelled, then forfeited the duel. He ejected the three stars he betted on the match, deactivated it duel disk, then suddenly turned and ran away from them. "This isn't over, Joey!! I'll be back!!"
Joey and Yugi laughed even harder as this turn of events. Joey (after deactivating the duel disk) forced himself to pick up the stars Devon dropped, and inserted them into his dueling glove, laughing while doing so. He forced himself to stop laughing, cleared his throat, then held up his arm triumphantly. "I have won fifteen stars! I am officially a participant for the Crystal Kingdom Tournament!" he announced proudly.
"Congratulations, Joey, but you're not officially in yet until you go get verified," Yugi pointed out thoughtfully, and Joey sweatdropped afterwards.
"Ah, you know what I mean, Yuge! I did it!" He and Yugi both slapped hands with each other, then started walking away from the dueling site, headng toward the Administrators's desk.
-----------------------------------------
(Ending Discloser below...)
Episode Written By: GateGuardian3500 Well, that's all, folks! Sorry for the wait, but once again, it couldn't help. As I've said before, I'm a very busy guy who's always on the go. I don't know when the next episode will be up, but it probably won't be soon. I will try to get it up as quick as I can, but don't expect anything. Also, before I go, I'd like to thank you all for reading the book and giving it a chance, for waiting on me to successfully update the episodes, and for not filling up my e-mail inbox with e-mails pestering me about when the next update will be. I am glad that you all waited patiently, and I thank you. Now, with that off my chest, I bid you all farewell!
Disclaimer: I don't own characters from Yu-gi-oh, Cardcaptors or Pokemon. I'm simply borrowing them for my fanfic. These cartoons belong to 4 Kids Entertainment, Kids Wb, and whoever else.
-----------------------------------------
Duelists of The Future - Season 1 - Episode 16, 'The Winds of Change Are Blowing' (8/1/2003)
-----------------------------------------
It was 21:35 hours, and the sky had darkened to a dark, midnight blue like color. Stars illuminated the sky radiantly, and cricket chirps rung throughout the entire island, giving it a peaceful, serene, and quiet feel. Most duelists had retreated into their campsites for the night, but there were still a few wandering around, gazing at the sights. At Mai's camp, Geoff and Mai were inside her tint, laying beside each other naked (there is cover over them, in case you're wondering). It had been a sexy, ravenous evening for both of them, and after hours was constant, non-stop action, the two had finally tired out.
"So... was it.. good?" asked Geoff between breaths.
Mai nodded in response to his question. "Yeah... it was great. Some of the best sex I ever had, and definitely a memorable night," she replied, taking in breaths of air herself.
"Same here, the sex was really great," added Geoff. "I didn't know you had that much strength. I mean, the way you were moving... it was incredible! You know, I've never had a woman give it to me that way before. It was fast, intense, raucous, hot, good action."
"I appreciate the compliment," Mai said.
"Well, uh, I need to go turn in. I've got a big day ahead of me tommorrow," Geoff spoke with a bit of reluctantless in his voice. He slowly began to sit up, looking around for his clothes in the process.
"Do you have to go now? I was kinda hoping we could lay up and talk to each other, maybe get to know each other more. After all, you seem like a nice guy."
Geoff smiled, a bit flattered. "I appreciate the compliment," he spoke, making a smile spread across Mai's face. "Anyway, if I didn't have things to do, I would gladly stay, but I've gotta run, unfortunately. Perhaps we can catch up with each other another time," Geoff offered, and Mai smirked.
"Count me in," she then winked at Geoff, who grinned afterwards.
-----------------------------------------
The next morning, down at Misty's camp, Misty and Joey were inside her tint, laying beside each other. Both were fast asleep. Misty had been crying uncontrollably all last night, and Joey had to stay there and try comforting her. It didn't really stop her from crying, but Joey didn't want to leave the distraught girl all alone, so he sat up with her all night, trying to encourage her that everything would work out. She eventually cried herself to sleep with her head resting on his abdomen, and not long afterwards, he fell off into dreamland himself. Misty slowly began to stir. Her eyes opened slowly as she rose up into a sitting position. She sighed heavily as she started crawling her way out of the tint. Opening it up, she covered her eyes to block the sun's blinding light. She crawled out of the tint, then got to her feet. That's when she noticed something. There was a small, white bag sitting on the ground outside of her tint. A note was attached to the bag. She stooped down and opened the bag, and was surprised to see fifteen stars and three cards sitting inside.
The note read: iTo Misty and Joey... From beloved friend, Geoff Okasinski... You guys are not out of the tournament. Inside this bag you'll find fifteen stars. I believe nine of them belonged to you, Misty, and six of them belonged to Joey. I located Mai Valentine and, after a lot of persuasion, she agreed to duel me. If I won, she would give me the fifteen stars and Joey's three cards. It wasn't easy, I'll admit, but I beat her and earned back the stars. Now, I know what you're thinking. So what if I earned the stars? You can't use them anyway. Once a duelist loses all their stars in the tournament, they are not allowed to engage in duels anymore. I won the stars, which means they are mine. Even if I gave them to you, they would still be registered under my name, because I won them, not you. Not to worry: I did a little hacking with each star, accessed the security features, and changed the owners of the stars from me, to you and Joey, meaning you're back! I told you I could beat her, Misty, but nooo, you wouldn't believe me. Anyway, best of luck in the tournament, both of you./i
Misty's eyes widened in shock. She couldn't believe what she was seeing... Geoff won the stars back? When did this happen? Now that he had won the stars, hacked into their mainframe and made them the owners of the stars, her and Joey were back in the game again! They wouldn't be leaving today! Misty immediately crawled back inside the tint, with the bag in tow. She began shaking Joey vigorously.
"Joey! Joey! Joey, wake up! I have something to show you! Wake up!" Misty yelled while shaking him, but he wouldn't stir. Misty couldn't help but look dumbfounded. She had forgotten just how deeply Joey sleeps. When they used to have sleepovers, it was hard to wake him up, but she remebered how she could get him to wake up almost instantly. Pulling up his shirt, she began to tickle Joey's abdomen furiously. Within a few moments, he was awake.
"Hey, hey, cut that out!" he exclaimed while laughing.
"Joey, look!" Misty then presented to him the bag.
"Look at what?" mused Joey.
"Look inside the bag," Misty told him.
"This is what you woke me up for, to look inside a bag? I'm goin' back to sleep," he said in a sleepy tone of voice. He rubbed his eyes, then started to lay back down.
"Joey! Just look in the bag, okay? You'll be surprised, trust me."
He looked at her skeptically. "Fine, okay," Joey took the bag from Misty and looked inside it. His eyes also began to widen. "There's stars in here! And... my Duel Monsters are here too!"
"I know! Geoff won them, and he gave them to us! He did a little hacking into the stars to change the owners of the stars from him to us! Do you realized what this means, Joey?!" Misty asked.
Joey looked up at her, a huge smile on his face. "We're back in the game! And now you have another chance at the 100 million dollars! There is hope for your sisters!" he exclaimed.
"I'll have to give Geoff a huge 'thank you' the next time I see him."
After freshening themselves up and completing their morning necessites, the two dumped the stars out of the bag. Small stickers were attached to each star, and the sticker had the first initial of their names on it. The stars that had a 'J' on it were Joey's, and the stars with a 'M' on it were Misty's. They collected the stars which belonged to them, pulled the stickers off, and inserted them into their dueling gloves. They looked at each other with huge smiles on their face. "We're back!"
-----------------------------------------
Tristan was still in the waiting room of the medical facility. He had fallen asleep in the chair overnight. The doctors were still trying to figuring out what was happening to Brock, and if they could stop whatever it was. So far, they hadn't made any progress in figuring out his condition. They had been on the case all night, but to no avail. One of the doctors decided to go tell Tristan the news. He approached the sleeping teenager, kneeling down beside the chair. "Uh, Tristan Taylor?" he called while shaking. It didn't take long for Tristan to start stirring.
"Oh..." he groaned sleepily as his eyes opened. He was staring in the face of a man. Confused, he started straightening up his position. Tristan realized that it was a doctor, and that he was still in the medical facility, then quickly deduced that he must've fallen asleep overnight.
"Tristan Taylor? I'm Dr. Andrews and I'm here to fill you in on the condition of a Brock Mowry. That's his name, correct?"
"Uh, yeah, you're correct. Is he all right?" asked Tristan, but the doctor shook his head.
"Unfortunately, no, he isn't. He's slipped off into a deep sleep, a coma, basically. We've been trying to find out his medical condition since you brought him in sometime yesterday, but we haven't gotten much progress. We ran several tests, but they are showing the weirdest things I've ever seen in all my years as a doctor," he spoke.
"Do you have any idea what's wrong with him, using the information you've gotten from the test results?"
Dr. Andrews cleared his throat. "Well, the test results indicates that he's.... mutating somehow," he announced, and Tristan's eyes bucked.
"Mutating? What do you mean, mutating? He can't mutate."
"Well, that's exactly what his body seems to be doing. In just a few hours, the insides of his body has changed tremendously. Several organs has merged together, becoming one, some have relocated. There are also some strange, new organs that seem to be growing inside him. It's really weird, and we're surprised the boy is still alive after what's been happening to him."
"Can you do anything?" Tristan inquired.
"We are trying all that we can, sir. I have the best doctors here working on it, right now. I'll get back in touch with you in a few hours to tell you the latest news, okay?"
Tristan nodded slowly, still in shock from what he just heard. Dr. Andrews walked away, leaving Tristan to his thoughts. What was wrong with Brock? How on earth could he be... mutating? How was it possible? He was growing new organs and stuff, and others were merging together. What kind of disease did he have? Was it a disaease, or was the mutating the side effect of being exposed to some kind of harmful substance, such as radiation, or mustard gas? Maybe some kind of poisons like cyanide mixed with uranium was doing this to him? It wasn't natural, and he was certain of that. Is it possible that someone infected him with some strange, deadly chemical? Who would do such a thing and why? Brock didn't have any enemies, as far as Tristan knew. He was a nice guy, he never started strife with anyone, and he was easy to get along with. Who would infect him with a deadly chemical? Maybe it was... Tristan's eyes widened as realization hit him like a bolt of lightning striking the ground. It had to be none other than Surge Crusher. Surge might've did this to give him some form of punishment for not giving him the Egyptian God Cards he possessed.
(Flashback)
Tristan picked up Surge and threw him onto the counter. Surge fell onto the dishes, which made them fall onto the floor with him and break. Surge slowly got up, and looked at Tristan. Both of them were full of bruises and breathing heavily. (This is from Episode 06)
"This isn't over, Tristan, I will be back!" Surge said and darted out of the back door.
(End Flashback)
He came back once, trying to take his cards from him with brute force. That didn't work out to well, though, and it was Brock that rescued him from drowning in the lake. Maybe this was Surge's revenge. He probably infected Brock with some kind of lethal chemical that caused him to start mutating. He was going to pay... Tristan got out of the chair and headed toward the exit of the medical facility. He was positive that Surge was behind this, and he wasn't going to rest until he had put the fucker in the ground.
-----------------------------------------
It was now a week later. The Sub-Competition was winding down more and more, with eaching passing day. There weren't many duelists left, and most duelists who remained had enough stars to register into the main championship, therefore making them contestants. At the Central Palace on the Crystal Kingdom island, Pegasus had been spending the last week researching the Millenium Key, and torturing Morty. Even with the Enhanced Voodoo Doll, he wasn't getting any results from him. Pegasus was beginning to get absolutely fed up with Morty. He just wouldn't give him the key! Pegasus was not about to let some blonde dick stop him resurrecting his true love. He was currently in the middle of a frivilous torturing session with Morty. Using the magic of the Enhanced Voodoo Doll, he turned Morty's blood into lava, and made his heart pump it out. He made him throw up huge blue whales. Morty was screaming out in sheer pain.
"Now, listen up, punk, I can make it go away. I can stop all the hurt, all the pain, all the torture and abuse. I can set you free and let you go on living your life. All you have to do is hand me the Millenium Key. Let me have it, and I'll end it all and release you," Pegasus offered. He stopped the magic transmission in order to let Morty speak. The pain abruptly ended, and Morty slowly began to collect himself. The pain of the Voodoo Doll was excruiating, and it easily disorients one who experiences it. He breathed deeply for a while, then looked up at Pegasus.
He started to speak, but it was slow, and his voice was weak and somewhat raspy. "I... won't give you a thing, you sissy," he stated.
"Arrggh!!!!" Pegasus hollered in frustration while grabbing his hair and his forehead. He began to shake his head vigorously. "What does it take?!!!" he suddenly punched Morty across the face. "I've tried everything: hot grease, cutting, magic tricks, the Voodoo Dolls! I'm running out of patience!! What the fuck does it take to get this damn key?!!!" Pegasus yelled in frustration. He punched Morty in the face again, then punched another time. He hit him in the nose, then whacked him across the face again, angrily.
"I won't waste my time doing this, forever, Morty. Since I'm not getting anywhere, I might as well go ahead and kill you! That might the secret to getting it off your neck! Sure, there's that risk that it might still cling to you even if you're dead, but I'm not getting the results I want anyway, so what do I have to lose?"
"The secret," Morty answered calmly. "Kill me, and you'll never find out how to get it."
"I haven't found it out, yet! You haven't told me anything, and you simply refuse to speak up! So I don't have anything to lose! You're alive, and I'm not getting anywhere! You might as well be dead!" Pegasus reared back and punched Morty again. His lip began to bleed a little as he grunted upon getting hit. "This isn't over, bitch. I've some other important issues to address as of now, but I'll be back. And when I do, I'd better get what I want from you, or else... it's lights out for you, Morty-boy," Pegasus threated, then walked out of the cell.
Moments later, he arrived at his bedroom. Walking inside, he slammed the door behind him and sat on the plush bed. What was he going to do? That bastard downstairs wouldn't give in to anything. It's almost as if he had no breaking point. What would it take to make him give up his Millenium Item? Pegasus sighed dejectedly, then decided to check on the status of the Sub-Competition, something he had been forgetting to do as of late. He got off the bed. Walking over to a sleek, desktop computer, Pegasus took a seat on a chair in front of the computer. He turned the computer on, then began to access his files. He located the folder which consisted of files related to the tournament. He accessed it, then began skimming through them. He clicked on the latest tournament update and began to read the file. Most duelists had earned their fifteen stars and registered. There were still a few left trying to complete that feat, but there weren't many.
"Hmm... it seems as if the Sub-Competition is winding down faster than I thought it would. It won't be long before the main tournament begins," he mused quietly.
-----------------------------------------
"A lot of time has passed by, and I still haven't gotten my fuckin' cards from that motherfucker yet. But, before this tournament comes to an end, I'll have 'em," said Surge. Him, Vicki, and Jason were walking through the forests of the island. Since Surge failed to retrieve the God Cards from Tristan as quick as he thought he would, he decided to start winning stars so he could proceed to the main shindig, and keep up with Tristan. "Mark my words, before the end, I'll have Slifer the Sky Dragon back in my hands, and Obelisk the Tormentor will also be mine!"
"So, how do you plan to get the cards? So far, nothing you've tried worked," chimed Jason.
"I'll get the motherfuckin' cards, I promise you that."
"But how will you get them? I hope you're not gonna try assaulting him again, because that gets you nothing but bruises," Jason spoke. "You see, in order to succeed with something like this, you gotta be cunning. You gotta use your head. You gotta figure out Tristan's weak spots, and use them to your advantage."
"Weak spots? And these weak spots would be..." Surge trailed off in order to let Jason finish.
"That's what you have to figure out, Surge, I don't know!" Jason admitted.
"I'll think about it later. Right now, I need to hurry up and collect some more stars. It won't be long before we're off to the Crystal Kingdom." Surge walked off in search of more duelists, with Jason And Vicki following him.
-----------------------------------------
Sakura handed over her fifteen stars to a man in a black suit. The man started typing on a computer keyboard. He was verifying Sakura's success and entering her into the main tournament. After a few moments passed, he pressed one last key, then looked up at Sakura calmly. "Congratulations, ma'am, you have successfully passed the test required. You are officially a contestant in the tournament."
"Thank you," she spoke softly, then turned and walked away, heading back to her campsite. In just a few days she would be meeting up with her old lover. She would find out if that skank-bitch had him drugged up, or if it was something he willingly did on his own. Sakura wanted to believe that Cecilia drugged him, but she knew it was possible that he cheated on her with Cecilia without the aid of a drug. She hoped for the latter...
"Hi, Sakura!" someone called her. She looked around, and her eyes rested on Li, who was walking toward her. He waved at her, and she waved back.
"Li, hey," she returned. "How are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm great. And you?" he asked while approaching her. The two then began to walk side by side.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Sakura replied.
"Well, that's good. So, have you won enough stars to enter the real tournament yet? I would hope so," he said.
"Yeah, I have. I just got done being verified," she told him.
Li smiled and said, "That's great! Congratulations!"
"Thanks again. I couldn't have done it if you hadn't taken time to give me a few pointers. The duelists I faced were easy, inexperienced duelists like me, though. What about you, did you make it?"
"You bet I made it! I think the cruise ship is supposed to be picking us up to take us to Crystal Kingdom sometime this week. Isn't this exciting, though? We made it into the championship!"
"Yeah, it is. I wonder how good we're gonna do... I wonder how tough the other duelists are gonna be?"
"Well, they're gonna be pretty good. I mean, all the duelists that made it must be pretty good. There will be nothing but serious duelists in the main competition, though. I wonder just how good they are? Ah, they couldn't be better than me. I'm one of the best duelists!"
"Uh, Li, could I ask a favor?" Sakura spoke softly. Li looked over at her, a bit curious as to what she wanted to ask.
"Yeah, shoot."
"Could you help prepare me? I mean, I have a little knowledge of Duel Monsters now, but it still won't be enough to help me win the tournament. I appreciate the few pointers you gave me, and I was wondering if you could continue training me for a little awhile. Please, Li, could you?" she inquired.
Li pondered this for a moment, then sighed. "Well.... I guess I can. It's not like I'm really doing anything," he replied.
"Oh, thank you, Li! Thank you," Sakura said, relief and happiness in her voice. "For a moment there, I thought you were gonna say no."
"So, when do you wanna get started?"
"Would now be a good time?"
"Yeah, now is fine. C'mon, let's go back to your campsite," Li suggested, and the two headed that way, discussing Duel Monsters along the way.
-----------------------------------------
Tristan had been searching for Surge all week long, but didn't have any luck in finding him. He was now on his way to the medical center to see how Brock was doing. Tristan was positive that Surge had something to do with Brock's condition. It all made sense. Surge seemed like the type of guy to do something like this in order to get Tristan's cooperation. But, there was one factor that seemed kinda weird. Surge wouldn't be hiding the fact that he did it. He would find Tristan and tell it to his face, so that Tristan would give up the God Cards. Tristan wouldn't have to look for him, because he'd find him first. Maybe Surge was using a different tactic. Tristan eventually arrived at the medical center. Walking inside, he immediately began searching for Dr. Andrews. He found him after a few minutes of looking.
"Dr. Andrews?"
"Hello, Tristan," Dr. Andrews returned the greeting with a small smile on his face.
"Um, I here to ask you about Brock Mowry's status. How is he doing?"
Before Dr. Andrews could respond, another doctor suddenly appeared. Running up to Dr. Andrews, he stated, "The boy's awake! Doctor, the boy, he's awake!"
"Awake? Impossible," Dr. Andrews mused as he headed toward the room, Tristan following. Arriving at the room, they walked inside. A few doctors were around the bed, and Brock was lying there, his eyes opened slightly. He moaned as he started looking around in confusement. "When did he wake up?" Dr. Andrews asked while approaching another doctor.
"Just a few seconds ago, sir," she replied. Dr. Andrews pulled out a scanning device and began to scan Brock. His vitals were functioning, although they were functioning in a weird fashion. His pulse was a little stronger than before. The organs were still out of place and such. Brock started to sit up, but the doctors gently pushed him back down.
"No, sir, you need to lie back and rest," one of the doctors told him.
"But... I.. need to see Tristan..." he muttered. His speech was somewhat slurred, but they could still interpret what he was saying with ease. Tristan approached the bed, kneeling down beside it.
"Brock? Brock, I'm here," he told him, smiling slightly. Brock looked over at Tristan; his lips formed into a little smirk.
"How... how did I... get here?" he asked him.
"You uh, you started convulsing, and I rushed you to a hospital," Tristan explained.
"How long... was I asleep?"
"You were out for a week," Tristan replied.
"Okay, sir, we're gonna have to ask you to step out for about ten minutes while we run some more tests. After we're finished, we'll allow you to visit him for about thirty minutes, all right?" Dr. Andrews said.
"Yeah, okay," Tristan answered while getting to his feet. He looked down at Brock and said, "I have to leave, but I'll be back, all right, Brock? The doctors need to examine you some more, and I can come back when their through," he told him, then turned and started walking out of the room.
-----------------------------------------
Misty and Joey spent the entire week winning stars as fast as they could to get into the tournament in time. They noticed that there were much less duelists with stars. Most duelists had turned their stars into the administrators, therefore getting into the main competition. The two walked side by side, on the lookout for duelists. Misty looked down at her dueling glove with satisfaction. "Wow.... I can't believe I finally won the fifteen stars needed."
"Well, believe it, because you did it," Joey said in his usual, cheery manner. "I'm only three stars away from gettin' into the main tournament. I just need to find one more duelist and get three stars from them, then I'm set!"
"I know. Every day it gets harder and harder to actually find someone with stars. Most duelists around here don't even wear dueling gloves anymore, because they've achieved the goal. They're simply waiting until its time to go. Well, I should head down to the shore so I can turn in these stars to the administrators. Good luck, Joey. And one more thing: Don't lose," she warned him sternly, then ran off.
"I won't!" Joey yelled after her, then went on to mutter, "I know what I'm doing."
Joey walked casually through the grass plains, glancing down the dueling glove. All he needed were three more stars. Just three more, and he was tournament bound! Joey couldn't believe that he had gotten this far. He never expected to get this close to getting into the real tournament. But, here he was, doing what he firmly thought he couldn't. He only wished he could show Yugi just how much he had progressed... Speaking of which, where was Yugi? He hadn't heard from him in a long time. Where did he dissappear to? Joey had been so busy rushing to earn the fifteen stars that he hadn't thought much about Yugi, until now. Where was his little buddy?
"Hey, Joey!" a voice called. Joey saw Yugi approaching him in the distance, then sighed a sigh of relief.
"I shoulda known nothing had happened," he spoke to himself.
"How are you?" asked Yugi as he approached Joey, panting slightly.
"I'm good, very good. In fact, I'm on my way to gettin' into the tournament! Can you believe it Yugi?" Joey exclaimed in joy, then showed his dueling glove to Yugi. Yugi observed the glove, quickly taking note of the twelve stars sitting inside.
"Joey, you have twelve stars, that's great!" he returned while smiling. "Just three more stars and you're ready to set your sights on the real competition! I knew you could do it," he said.
"So, Yugi, are you in yet? Have you earned enough stars?"
"Yeah, I've been taking it easy for about four days now. I won all the fifteen stars neccessary long ago," Yugi replied.
"Well, that's good..." while Joey was speaking, another voice of a masculine nature interrupted him.
"Hey, dork! I want a rematch!" it shouted. Both Yugi and Joey turned, and their eyes rested on Devon (remeber him from Episode 08?). Joey gasped slightly, a tad bit surprised.
"Devon? What the heck are you doin' here? I thought you'd be gone home by now! But, you're still in the tournament, surprisingly."
"You shouldn't be too surprised that an excellent duelist like myself is still in this thing! I'm surprised that you're still walking around here! Guess you got some help by crushing toddlers, hunh?"
"Hell no! I beat some of the fiercest, toughest duelists around here!"
Devon burst into laughter. "You expect me to believe that? You couldn't win a duel if your sorry life depended on it, punk!" he remarked.
"I don't expect you to believe anything, and I don't give a damn about what you believe! What you think don't mean shit!" Joey returned.
"Oh no, see now, you've just cussed at the wrong guy. I only need a few more stars to get into the tournament, and I'm gonna get them from you!" he yelled while pointing at Joey.
"Dream on. When we get through, I'm gonna be the victor, and you... well, you'll still be a big heap of horse shit like your are now," Joey laughed afterwards.
Devon growled in anger. "You're gonna pay, you ass! Mark my words, when this duel is over, I'm gonna be the winner, not you! Whip out your dueling device, and let's get it on!"
"As you wish," Joey retorted while grabbing his fiery red portable dueling console. Strapping it on, he watched Devon strap his on, then they powered them up. "Time to duel!" shouted Joey.
"You're gonna lose!" yelled back Devon.
***** Joey: 2000 LP | Devon: 2000 LP *****
The duel had started. Both duelists drew their first five cards, forming their hands. Devon got the first move. Looking over his cards, he started to think on the best course of action, then started to pull up a card. "I'll play this one monster card, face-down," he said while doing so. Within a few moments, a holographic face-down card appeared in front of him.
It was now Joey's turn to move. He wondered what Devon could've been hiding under the face-down card, but he wasn't about to be intimidated by the card. He pulled up three cards, then started to place them on the card slots. "Two cards face-down (in magic/trap zone), and one monster card in attack mode!" Joey yelled. The three cards appeared on the field, and the monster was Flame Swordsman.
ATK: 1800 DEF: 1600
"Attack Devon's face-down monster with Flaming Sword of Battle!" Joey commanded. The monster lunged toward the card while flames started to eminate on the sword. He reared back and sliced through the card, setting it on fire. The card burst into the pieces, and the monster turned out to be a Mystical Elf.
"Hahaha, you fell into my trap, fool! Mystical Elf's defense power is 2000, and your puny swordsman only has an attack power of 1800. You lose 200 life points!" he announced.
Joey's Life Points- 1800
"Damn," Joey muttered to himself.
"Now its my turn to move again," Devon said while drawing a card from his deck. He pulled two cards out of his hand. "I'll throw another monster onto the field, in defense mode, and I'll put down two face-down cards," he spoke while applying the cards to the console. The cards materialized onto the field in front of him, and the new monster was a Cannon Soldier.
ATK: 400 DEF: 1300
"Go ahead, ass, make your next move."
[I was expecting Devon to sacrifice his Mystical Elf to power up his Cannon Soldier, then order it to attack my life points directly! That's the logical thing any duelist would do. Guess Devon is still as airheaded and dense as ever,] Joey thought to himself. "Ha, I'm gonna take advantage of your stupidity and wipe that Cannon Soldier off the field! Flame Swordsman, attack it, now!" Joey snapped. The swordsman charged for the purple robot, ready for action. The sword was engulfed by fire, and Joey's monster prepared to strike Cannon Soldier full force.
"Not so fast! I'm invoking the magic of Mirror Force!" Devon shouted as he activated his card. A magical barrier appeared around Cannon Soldier, and when the swordsman's flames struck, it began to reverse the attack right back into it.
"Good try, but I also have a Mirror Force out on the field, and I'll invoke its powers now!" Joey announced while activating the magic card. As the flames headed back toward the Flame Swordsman, another magical barrier appeared around Joey's monster, ready to repel the flames back at Cannon Soldier.
"(imitates Joey) Good try (stops imitaiting), but I figured you might have something like that waiting, so I'll activate my other face-down card, Magic Jammer!" Devon stated.
"What?!" Joey was surprised. Devon discarded one card from his hand, and in turn, Joey's magic card, and the magic barrier shattered into pieces, leaving Flame Swordsman wide open to attack. The flames engulfed the swordsman and set him on fire, causing him to scream out in pain before bursting into pieces himself. "No! My swordsman!"
"Is toast, to put it simply," Devon smirked. "You're gonna learn yet that I am not a pushover. When this duel is over, I'll be the winner, and you'll be the loser," he said, then pulled a card from the top of his deck. He looked at it, and his smirk grew bigger. "Just what I needed. I'll play this magic card, Rush Recklessly, to increase the attack and defense power of my Cannon Soldier by 700 points!"
ATK: 1100 DEF: 2000
"And now, I'm gonna sacrifice my Mystical Elf, and use her energy to power up my reinforced Cannon Soldier!" Devon yelled in glee. Joey was caught off guard by Devon's tactic. That's why he didn't sacrifice Mystical Elf right away, he wanted to wait and power up Cannon Soldier with a magic card! And now that Cannon Soldier was stronger, it would pack a bigger punch! And there was nothing he could do to stop this!
Metal spikes jarred into the elf's body, killing her off. Her lifeforce flowed into the Cannon Soldier's cannon, powering it up. "And now, all 1100 attack points of my Cannon Soldier will be used in a direct assault on you! I switch my Cannon Soldier to attack mode, and now, I'm gonna attack you with it! Cannon Soldier, take him down!" Devon screamed, and the soldier fired a yellow beam out of the cannon on top of its head. The beam struck Joey in the chest and knocked him to the ground.
Joey's Life Points- 700
"Oh no! My life points are down to 700!" Joey acknowledged as he got to his feet.
Devon laughed. "And we haven't even been dueling for five minutes, prick! The only reason why you won our last duel is because of sheer, blind luck. This time around, luck's got nothing to with it! It's just me vs. you, and without blind luck, you don't stand a chance against me," Devon taunted.
"You're wrong. This duel's just gettin' started. You may have won that last exchange, but I promise you, you won't be winning for long," Joey retorted.
"Oh, I'm shakin' and quakin' in my boots! I'm so terrified! If Joey said it, it must come true! He's the ultimate duelist! He's always right!" Devon burst out into more laughter. "Please! You wouldn't know what shit was if you fell in it face first."
"Enough!!" Joey hollered out. "You're going down!"
"Bring on the fight!!" Devon dared him. "I can take anything you throw at me! C'mon, give me your best shot!"
"And that I will do!" Joey exclaimed in a valiant fashion.
-----------------------------------------
"Okay, hand me your stars," stated one of administators at the shore. Jasmine ejected the stars out of her dueling glove and handed them to the man. He took them from her and sat them on the desk beside his computer. He started typing in a swift manner, accessing various pages.
"Um, just wondering, how long does this verification process take?" asked Jasmine while she doing a common head motion we often see girls with long hair doing.
"Not long. All I have to do is scan the stars to make sure they're yours, find your life, update it with the new information,, then enter your file into the tournament roster, therefore getting you in," the man explained, then continued with his work. The scanning acknowledged that the stars belonged to her. Jasmine waited patiently while the man updated her file with the new information, then uploaded it into the tournament roster. "There you go. You're in," he told her.
"Thank you," Jasmine replied, then turned away from the man and started walking away.
"Best of luck in the tournament," the man spoke, and she grinned. He watched her figure grow smaller and smaller as she walked further away from his small station. When she was gone, he reached into his pocket and grabbed a cellphone. Dialing a number, he put the phone up to his ear waited for someone to answer.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Pegasus, Jasmine Cortez has won fifteen stars. This means that she will be heading to the Crystal Kingdom when the cruise ship gets here. She will no doubtedly search for your castle and try to rescue Morty when she gets there," the man informed him.
"Yes. But whether she's successful or not is still undecided. Actually, come to think of it, Jasmine's arrival could actually play right into my hands and give me an advantage I've never had before..." Pegasus's voice trailed off as the phone clicked off.
-----------------------------------------
Ash had already earned his fifteen stars and took care of the process necessary to gain entrance into the main tournament. Now, he was simply waiting for the Sub-Competition to end. He was closer than ever now. In a few moments, he would be getting his revenge, which was something he had been anticipating for a long time now. The thought of giving Pegasus a horrific death brought an icy smile onto Ash's face. He killed off his mother, and it wouldn't be long before he was killed off. Ash swore on his mother's grave that he would fuck Pegasus up for stripping her of her life, and taking away from him the very thing he loved most. He walked into his tint, and sat down. Pulling his deck of cards out of his pants pocket, he began to look through the cards.
-----------------------------------------
The doctors had finished running their scans and tests on Brock, and were gone to examine them in detail. They allowed Tristan to sit with Brock and keep him company, and that's just what he was doing. He sat in a chair beside Brock's bed. Brock was conscious, and the slight slurring that was in his voice before had dissappeared by now. His speech was clear. "So, how do you feel?" Tristan asked him.
Brock shrugged weakly. "I feel pretty weak, and I'm definitely not feeling my best. I feel really different now," he responded.
Tristan adjusted his position in the chair. "Uh, Brock? Did you know about this medical condition of yours before hand? Were you aware of it, but you wouldn't tell me or anybody else?"
(Flashback)
Brock propelled himself into the room and carefully scanned the walls. Nothing was on them, so he scrutinized the pedestal. After close examination, Brock found a small inscription on the pedestal. Perhaps this could shine some light on what happened to him! Brock began to read it aloud.
"Disturb not the ancient artifact within, For the cursed object will only bring complications to him who touch. This warning goes out to all people who seek the artifact, Do not listen to your greed, But, instead, take heed."
(End Flashback)
"Uh..." Brock wasn't sure if he should lie or tell Tristan the truth. However, he decided to follow the fundamental moral his father drilled into him while he was a child. "Yeah... I knew," he stated slowly.
"You knew? (Brock nodded his head in confirmation) Well, then, why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you say anything? This could've been avoided if you had said something to me! Why didn't you?"
"Because I was afraid!" Brock replied. A small moment of silence filled the room before he continued. "I was afraid of what you would think of me if I said something. I thought you might've considered me some kind of freak or something, and you would stop hanging around me. I was scared to say something."
"Brock, you should know better than that. I'm your best friend, I'm not gonna abandon you because something 'out of this world' happened to you. I'm not like that, and you should know that. Why would you even think that?"
"Why wouldn't I? It happens all the time. Someone thinks that they have a good friend, then when something happens to them, the friend runs off, never to return. If you was me, and I was you, I'm sure you would've got scared and tried to hide it. If I offended you with my actions, I'm sorry, but I couldn't help it."
"No offense taken," Tristan answered. "But, what happened? How did you get this... disease?"
Brock sighed heavily. "Remeber that day when I went for a good swim to help relieve and relax my mind? (Tristan nodded) Well, I simply swum about under the surface of the lake, watching all the harmless species of aquatic life when I stumbled upon something. There was a plane, an old plane which had apprently crashed and sunk down into the lake. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to turn this simple swim into an underwater excursion. After using an Oxygen Infuser to give myself a good dosage of oxygen, I swam into the wrecked plane, looking about. There was a lot of old suitcases and stuff in the plane, nothing special. But, I noticed a trapdoor in the floor of the plane, and there was a small lever attached to it. So, I pulled the lever, and the door opened, allowing me passage to the room below. It was a treasure room. There was lots of gold and plenty of jewelry in the room. I started to head back to the surface to get you, because I knew you loved gold and would be blown away by the vast amount of genuine gold in the room, but I changed my mind at the last moment and swam back. Going back into that room, I noticed something I hadn't noticed before: another lever attach on the wall. I pulled it, and it opened yet another secret door. More curious than ever, I swam inside and saw a glass container holding an object inside. So, what I did was, I threw the container onto the floor and burst it into pieces, and something rushed at me. It thrusted itself into me, and that's where things get a little hazy..." his voice trailed off.
"What do you mean, something thrusted itself into you? Was it an animal of somekind?"
"No, I don't know what it was. But, what I remeber is that I was in pain, and that I passed out. When I woke back up, that's when I noticed that I felt differently inside. Actually, the first thing I noticed was that I was still underwater and I thought that I needed to get out of there, but then I realized that I could breathe in a submerged enviroment, something that no ordinary human could do without some kind of technology wokring on their side. I mean, sure they could try taking in some breaths while underwater, but they would breathe in a bunch of water and drown, not air. But, I could breathe air out of the water, like a fish. And to add to it, water wouldn't flow through my lungs and mouth for some reason. I could talk underwater."
"Whoa..." Tristan's voice trailed off. "This must've been when your mutations started," he deduced.
"Yeah. That's basically how it happened, and I don't know if its reversable or not. I just hope nothing else happens to me. I just remebered, I need to get out of here and continue my quest to win that money for my father," Brock said.
"Brock, you're in no condition to be dueling. The doctors aren't going to let you out of here anyway, and even if they said you could go, I wouldn't let you go. You need to stay here, under constant observation. There's no telling what could happen to you. In the mean time, I'm gonna go search that plane for answers," Tristan spoke while rising out of his chair.
"No, there's no reason to do that. I looked already, but I didn't find anything," Brock told him.
"There must've been something in that plane that you missed, something that can help you. I'm not about to sit around and watch your body go awol without doing something," Tristan argued.
"But, there's nothing down there, I looked already. There's no sense in running off looking for something that you won't find in that plane. Look, I appreciate that you're trying to help me, but there's nothing down there. But there is something you can do for me, okay? I want you to go on and try winning that tournament for me, all right? Since I'm in no condition to duel, try to win the money for my father, please? He deserves it."
Tristan didn't say anything for a while. He simply stood in place while looking at the floor. "Tristan? C-can you do that for me?" Brock requested, and Tristan slowly nodded after about a ten second pause.
"Yeah, I'll do it for you. I don't want to leave you alone, though."
"I'll be fine, all right? If you tried winning the tournament for me, I'd feel much better. One more thing: Don't call my family and tell them about this. I'm not so sure if they need to hear this, yet, okay?"
Tristan acknowledged this, then walked out of the room, his head hanging.
-----------------------------------------
*** Joey: 700 LP | Devon: 2000 LP ***
Joey sighed while drawing a card from his deck. That last move Devon executed really put the hurt on him, so he would now have to be extra careful. He couldn't lose now, not after he had gotten so close to achieving the goal of getting into the tournament. Now that Devon's Cannon Soldier's stats were back to normal (400/1300), it wouldn't take much at all to defeat it. "I know just the way to tie our scores in a single move."
"Oh really? Enlighten me," Devon spoke. (when I insert this sign, that means Devon is about to open his mouth to say something)
"Oh, I'll enlighten you, allright. You think you're a hotshot, Devon (), but in reality, you're not. I'll give it to you, that was a pretty good move you just performed. But, your move has one giant flaw. Sure, you may have taken out 1100 of my life points in one blast, but you've left yourself wide open to attack. Any good duelist out there would know to put down a magic or trap card that'll protect the Cannon Soldier from attacks after a move like that is executed. And you call yourself a good duelist..." Joey sneered, then continued. "I'll play one card face-down, then play the Axe Raider, in attack mode!"
After Joey slapped the cards onto the console, it didn't take long before they found themselves onto the field. Axe Raider growled viciously upon loading, clutching its blade tightly.
ATK: 1700 DEF: 1500
"You should consider yourself extremely lucky that I didn't get my trump cards like Red Eyes Black Dragon or Summoned Skull when I drew, because you'd be a done deal if I had've. Axe Raider, destroy Cannon Soldier with your Wind Blades!" Joey snapped. His monster roared and charged for Cannon Soldier, delivering two mighty slashes which sliced the robot in half. It shattered into pieces violently, and Devon's life point meter began to drop.
Devon's Life Points- 700
"I told ya'! Tied the score in one move! I'm good, I'm good!" Joey yelled in a sing-song fashion while dancing.
Yugi smiled and commented, "Great work, Joey!"
"No!!" Devon screamed. "How could this happen? How could this happen to me? Everything was going so well! I had over 1000 life points more than Joey, I was winning! In one move, he tied up the score! Oh, why didn't protect my Cannon Soldier? Why was I so fuckin' stupid?!" he asked himself, then quickly regained his composure and sighed. "Not to worry, though. This duel isn't over yet, Joey, and I still haven't released my biggest bag of tricks yet. Celebrate your little short-lived victory while you can, Joey, but mark my words: you won't be dancing when I get through with you."
"And what, I'm supposed to be scared now? Oh no, Devon's coming to get me! What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?! He's gonna get me, Yugi! He's gonna finish me off! AAH!!" he jeered, then laughed hard afterwards. "Dream on, dick."
"Oh, give me a break! Can you be any more of a loser than you already are? You can't even be a little original, for cryin' out loud! Such a sad case you are," Devon quipped.
"I'm just givin' you a taste of your own medicine. Not so good, is it?"
"Please, is that all you can come up with? Not only are you a loser, but you can't even do sarcasm right? Just what kind of case are you? I don't think you're sad anymore, you've surpassed that level."
"Hey, that's not all I can up with, scrawny bitch-ass! Don't tick me off!" Joey warned him.
"Whatever," Devon drew a card afterwards. "Hmm... let's see your Axe Raider stand up to this! It's now time for my trump card, Kazejin, in attack mode!" Devon slammed the card onto the slot, bringing the elemental box into battle.
ATK: 2400 DEF: 2200
"Kazejin, destroy Axe Raider!" Devon commanded. The small symbol on top of the box started glowing, and the monster blew a large gust of powerful winds at Axe Raider. Right before the attack reached Axe Raider, Joey activated his face-down card he had played earlier.
"Negate attack, which I'll use to stop your Kazejin's attack right in its tracks!" Joey yelled. A warp appeared in front of Axe Raider and the attack was absorbed, then the warp dissappeared to wherever it came from. Joey smirked in delight. "Worked like a charm. Now that you've wasted your turn, it's time for me to finish you off," he spoke while drawing a card, getting just what he wanted. He slapped the card down, and out popped the Summoned Skull, which growled fiercely while taking a fighting stance.
ATK: 2500 DEF: 1200
"Heh, c'mon dick, attack me. Show me your worst," Devon dared him.
"And that's just what I'm about to do. You can kiss your Kazejin goodbye! Summoned Skull, attack with Lightning Strike!" Joey snapped. An ominous thunderclap sounded, then a lightning beam struck the demon, who absorbed all the power, then shot out numerous smaller bolts at Kazejin.
"Not so fast, Joey! Kazejin, block the attack!" Devon announced, and Joey let out a gasp. A large tornado descended from the sky and landed in front of Kazejin, and the Summoned Skull's lightning was deflected by it, causing the small bolts to strike the ground and explode elsewhere. Then the tornado dissipated afterwards. Joey was taken by surprise. "Didn't know old Kazejin could defend itself from attacks? I didn't, either, but I found out later. You can get ready to have a good time losing, dork."
"I don't think so," Joey countered. "Just a minor setback, but I promise you, that won't stop me from winning. I have other cards in my deck that can get rid of your little Kazejin."
"You just might, but you'll never get a chance to play them. You'll be wiped out before you can get to them," Devon said confidently. He reached out and drew a card from his deck. Looking at it, he smirked. "Hmm.... just the card I was looking for. I'll play Black Pendant, to raise my Kazejin's attack power by 500 points!"
ATK: 2900
"Think you and your Summoned Skull can handle this? Go, Kazejin, blow Summoned Skull away now!" Kazejin attacked with a strong gust of wind, and though the Summoned Skull tried to take it, it could not. As a result, the monster was sent hurling through the air before it crashed viciously and exploded into pieces.
Joey's Life Points- 300
"Oh, look, only 300 life points left! Things don't look to good for you, do they, Joey boy?"
Joey frowned in disgust while Devon's taunting laugh rang out through his ears.
*** Joey: 300 LP | Devon: 700 LP ***
"Down to 300 life points, and my supercharged Kazejin dominates the field. When I said you were gonna lose to me, I meant it."
"This duel isn't over yet, Devon, as you can see. Your Kazejin may be strong, but I've brought it down before, and I'll bring it down again!"
"In your dreams, moron! Last time we dueled, I didn't know Kazejin could block all incoming attacks. But, now that I do, you won't never be able to attack my Kazejin, because I can simply blocks every last one of your attacks, no matter how strong it is. You don't have a monster in your deck capable of that, or else, you would've shown it off by now," Devon said menacingly.
"You don't know what I have, Devon. You're not psychic," remarked Joey.
"So what if I don't know what you have. It doesn't take psychic powers to figure out that you're gonna lose this match, and I'm gonna win it. Just watch me."
Joey ignored Devon and reached out to a draw a card. [Devon's Kazejin will be hard to take down, I'm sure of that. He's not gonna let it go without a fight. Whatever I do, I'd better get a card that'll make this move count! I've gotta get a good card!] Joey thought to himself while he grabbed the card. Pulling it toward him, he looked to see what he got. [Allright! It's my Kunai With Chain card! All I need to do now is lure Devon into attacking, and he'll be caught right in my trap! But, I don't think its time for it to be used just yet,]
"For this turn, I'll play one monster in defense mode," Joey said while placing the card onto a slot. A holocard appeared in front of him, and on top of it stood Battle Warrior.
ATK: 700 DEF: 1000
Devon chuckled and said, "Is that all you have to offer? You know, all those empty threats really make your already sucky image plummet. Kazejin, destroy Battle Warrior! Solar Wind Blast!" Devon snapped, and his monster shot a powerful blast of wind at Battle Warrior. The card was blown off the holocard; it flew past Joey and exploded into pieces violently. "And here I am, thinking you're gonna show off some of your supposed 'might'. You are a sad case, really," mused Devon.
"Shut up, prick. You'll see soon enough," Joey retorted while drawing another card. This time he got a Monster Reborn card, which he could use later. All he needed was one last card, then he would be set. He placed down another card. "For this turn, I'll play Giltia the Knight, in defense mode!" The monster appeared on the field.
ATK: 1850 DEF: 1700 (DEF ?)
"It's an improvement over that silly Battle Warrior, I'll admit, but it's still no match for my Kazejin. Attack now!" The symbol on the box glowed, signifying that Kazejin's attack was ready. It blew out yet another powerful gust of wind, lifting Giltia off the ground and throwing it up into the air. The monster tumbled back down to the earth and erupted into pieces upon hitting the ground. Devon laughed teasingly.
Joey rolled his eyes and reached out to draw another card. He hoped it would be the card he was looking for. If it was, Devon could consider himself finished! If it wasn't, he'd simply have to find another monster to play in defense mode until the card presented itself. [C'mon, deck, don't fail me now. I need that card on the double!] Joey pulled the card off the deck and looked at it, then his eyes lit up in amazement and happiness. [Yes! Devon is a done deal!]
"Well, are you going to actually fight me on this move, or are you gonna cower behind those weak monsters of yours?" Devon inquired.
"I'm ready to fight ya' now, prick. It doesn't take a psychic to realize that after a minute, your Kazejin will be finished. I promise you, your monster won't be standing any longer," Joey stated confidently. "To start my brilliant move, I'll play two cards face-down, then play Monster Reborn, to revive my fallen Axe Raider, and it'll be played in attack mode!" Joey announced. Monster Reborn successfully revived the previously deceased monster, and it growled while clutching its axe.
ATK: 1700 DEF: 1500
Devon burst into laughter. "You mean, that's what your ultimate move was?! You really are a nutcase! Oh, you're so fuckin' stupid, and I'm gonna blow away your monster. Kazejin, attack Axe Raider now!" he demanded.
"Not so fast, punk-ass prick, I play Kunai With Chain!" Joey announced, catching Devon off guard. The jock was surprise when Axe Raider hurled several chains at Kazejin, which wrapped around the box and paralyzed it. "Ha! Now, I'll activate my other face-down card, De-Spell, which will destroy the Black Pendant magic card your monster is equipped with!" Joey activated his other card, and within a few moments, the magic of the card destroyed Black Pendant. Devon was in shock.
"No!! How could this be happening... to me?!"
"Kunai With Chain raises my Axe Raider's attack strength by 500 points, which makes it's total amount of points 2200. To add to that, I play Rush Recklessly, which will add 700 more attack points and defense points onto Axe Raider!" Joey slapped down the card he drew from his hand, implementing it into the duel.
(Axe Raider) ATK: 2900 DEF: 2200 | (Kazejin) ATK: 2400 DEF: 2200
"Now, Axe Raider, obliterate Kazejin from the field!" commanded Joey triumphantly.
"NOO!!!" Devon screamed as Axe Raider used it blade to cut a huge slice into Kazejin, ultimately cutting the box in half before it finally exploded into pieces. Devon couldn't believe his eyes. His strongest card, taken out just like that. This was the third time Joey managed to destroy his favorite and strongest monster (Joey destroyed it twice in their first duel). How could he keep doing this?!
Devon's Life Points- 200
"Ooh... getting a bit sparse on life points, eh, Devon? And what do you know? I'm actually ahead of you!" Joey exclaimed in glee. "I thought it wasn't possible. Devon said it wasn't possible; he insisted that he would win and that I lose in an embarassing fashion. But, I'm in the lead. I'm winning! Can you believe that, Yuge?!"
"Most definitely. Devon's not the greatest, brightest duelist of all time," Yugi replied calmly. Devon looked at Yugi and frowned.
"Hey, what the hell did you just say, pipsqueak?"
"Wow. I intended for that to be an insult, Joey, but I'm actually right. He's not even smart enough to comprehend what I just said," Yugi added, then began to laugh. Joey laughed along with him, and Devon grew even madder.
"Hey, that's enough!! I thought we were dueling, not having a sarcasm rally!"
"You started it, we're finishing it," Joey retorted and continued laughing with Yugi.
"Ugh, I can't stand to be around you two any longer! I'm afraid I'll catch pipsqueak's syndrome!" Devon yelled, then forfeited the duel. He ejected the three stars he betted on the match, deactivated it duel disk, then suddenly turned and ran away from them. "This isn't over, Joey!! I'll be back!!"
Joey and Yugi laughed even harder as this turn of events. Joey (after deactivating the duel disk) forced himself to pick up the stars Devon dropped, and inserted them into his dueling glove, laughing while doing so. He forced himself to stop laughing, cleared his throat, then held up his arm triumphantly. "I have won fifteen stars! I am officially a participant for the Crystal Kingdom Tournament!" he announced proudly.
"Congratulations, Joey, but you're not officially in yet until you go get verified," Yugi pointed out thoughtfully, and Joey sweatdropped afterwards.
"Ah, you know what I mean, Yuge! I did it!" He and Yugi both slapped hands with each other, then started walking away from the dueling site, headng toward the Administrators's desk.
-----------------------------------------
(Ending Discloser below...)
Episode Written By: GateGuardian3500 Well, that's all, folks! Sorry for the wait, but once again, it couldn't help. As I've said before, I'm a very busy guy who's always on the go. I don't know when the next episode will be up, but it probably won't be soon. I will try to get it up as quick as I can, but don't expect anything. Also, before I go, I'd like to thank you all for reading the book and giving it a chance, for waiting on me to successfully update the episodes, and for not filling up my e-mail inbox with e-mails pestering me about when the next update will be. I am glad that you all waited patiently, and I thank you. Now, with that off my chest, I bid you all farewell!