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Chapter Three: Proving One's Worth
Richard led her to what would be the dueling arena, a gigantic wasteland field. In the middle of it was a small lake.
"Oy! Richie!" Kiera nudged the nobleman in the ribs. "What's up with the pond in the middle of a dump?"
The future king contemplated his new nickname, deemed it satisfactory, then turned to the young duelist. "It's a bit of a 'handicap' for Keith. The wasteland increases the power of his machine monsters, while the water diminishes it."
"My lord," Seto was jogging to catch up with Richard's swift strides. "Must we use this field? It gives Keith an enormous advantage, to the point where he could actually. . . win."
"Seto," Richard flashed a knowing smile, "I am well aware of this. And that's exactly the point. If we held the duel on a normal field, that would make things too easy. If this girl is to become a Rose Crusader, then she must be able to overcome whatever the enemy throws at her." He turned to Kiera. "That and if you positively massacre Keith, then maybe you can earn some respect from the others." He jerked his head in the direction of the other Rose Crusaders, who were whispering to each other and glaring at Kiera.
"I feel no need to earn the respect of those fools," she told him bluntly. "But publicly humiliating Keith would be fun. She pulled out her deck and shuffled through it. Damn. Mostly spellcasters. Her deck, strong as it was, may have difficulties against the sheer offensive strength of Keith's machines. 'Did they even have machines in this day and age?' Kiera thought to herself. She chuckled at the thought of being attacked by a wooden horse and buggy, but managed to focus on the task at hand.
"Hey Richie. Could I have a few minutes to change around my deck a bit?" Kiera asked in a way completely devoid of sarcasm, except for the fact she called an English lord 'Richie'.
"Certainly."
She reached into another pocket for her cards, but her hand found nothing but air. "Fuck!" Kiera swore under her breath. Her other cards were in her backpack, which had been left at. . . Stonehenge.
"Is something the matter, Lady Kiera?" Seto asked.
"Yeah. My cards were in my bag, which is at Stonehenge, miles away from. . ." She stopped her tirade and stared as Seto ran off to the castle. When he returned with her bag, Kiera was at a loss for words.
"But. . . Bag. . . You. . . Stonehenge. . . " Kiera sputtered incoherently.
"Actually, I picked it up before we left. I was going to give it to you sooner, but . . ."
"It's all good. Thanks." She grabbed her bag, and dug a pile of cards out of the front pocket. After a few minutes of switching cards from her deck, the 'crowd', if it could be called that, being only about seven or so people, began to get restless.
"Hurry up!" Panik bellowed. "I didn't come here to watch some little urchin shuffle cards." Kiera glared at him and he started trembling.
"All right, all right. I'm done," Kiera stated, taking her place on a raised platform across the field from Keith. A panel in front of the pedestal was a board, similar to a chess board, but only 7x7and the squares were rectangles.
"Allow me to start things off," Keith declared.
"Ladies first, I suppose," Kiera retorted. Seto and Richard snickered. Keith didn't get it. The Rose Crusaders were getting irritated.
"Can someone get this brat to stop shooting her mouth off?" Rex asked. "I came to see Duel Monsters, not a battle of wits!"
"A battle of wits? I wouldn't mind that." Kiera commented. "Then again, it'd really be unfair to Keith. He has no weapon." Seto and Richard couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing.
"Grrr. . . Enough!" Keith yelled. "Let's duel!" Keith's deck leader, the Slot Machine, appeared on the field, as did Neo the Magic Swordsman. He drew a card and placed it face down in front of him. A larger card appeared on the field. Then the card moved one space forward. "Your turn brat!"
Kiera blinked several times, wondering what had just happened. Finding no newly acquired comprehension in blinking, she jumped down from the platform and walked over to Seto.
"Hey! Seto!" Kiera barked at the aforementioned noble.
"Something wrong, milady?" he asked.
"Yes, something is wrong!" she exclaimed. "McMoron never got around to teaching me about the new rules cuz you showed up and cast him off into oblivion!!!"
Seto winced at the anger in her voice. "So you'd like me to tell you the new rules?"
"Yeah, that's kinda what I was getting at!" she snapped.
"It's pretty simple, Kiera," Seto began. "It's similar to dueling in your time, except the cards can be moved across the field like pieces on a chess board. The cards can move one space up, down, left, or right, unless it gets a field power bonus. Then it can move two. You know about field power bonuses, right?" Kiera nodded. "Good. And the only way to inflict direct damage to Keith's life points is to attack his deck leader." He was about to leave when he remembered something. "Oh, and you can play your cards any way you like," Seto added.
"You mean, like I can play a trap in defense mode, then when he attacks, it activates?" Kiera asked.
"Exactly like that," Seto replied.
"All right. I'm pretty sure I can get the hang of this thing. . . eventually." Kiera climbed back up onto the platform. She drew a card and placed it in front of her deck leader, then gestured for Keith to go.
"My turn, brat!" Keith drew his card. Then he put a different card face down next to his deck leader. In defense mode.
'What the hell is he up to? There's nothing to protect his deck leader from. Probably a trap then. But which one?' Kiera thought about this one long and hard. Keith didn't play many traps in his deck. He was also only in two duels on the show, which meant she hadn't seen all the cards in his deck. There was only one trap that came to mind, Magic Jammer. Meaning that playing a good magic card would be a bad idea.
"Hey! What are you doing over there?" Keith yelled, getting her attention.
"It's called 'thinking'. Maybe you should try it sometime." Kiera retorted. Seto and Richard snickered quietly. "All right. I play the magic card Red Medicine."
"Oh yeah? Well I activate Magic Jammer!" Keith declared as his trap card activated automatically. The Red Medicine card was destroyed and Kiera moved it to her graveyard. "Take that!"
"Consider it taken," Kiera replied coolly. "You played right into my hands, Keith. I had to play that shit magic card to waste your trap so I could play this! I activate the magic card, Yami!" Kiera flipped the card over and most of the wasteland spaces on her side of the field were turned into dark spaces.
"What the. . . I'll make you pay for that!" Keith swore.
" Sure ya will. Any who, I believe it's your turn," Keith drew a card.
"I summon Pendulum Machine in attack mode! And power it up with Machine Conversion Factory!" Keith yelled, slamming the cards down. The futuristic monster appeared in front of his deck leader, then moved forward two spaces. With the field power bonus and the power up, its attack points were at 2750. Kiera let out a low whistle, then drew a card. She played a card with a power up, then moved the powered-up creature forward one space.
"Wait. . . What was that?" Keith asked.
"I recall nothing in the rules saying I had to tell you what my monster is," Kiera answered. "It's your turn." Keith moved his Pendulum Machine another two spaces, to the point where it was on the edge of the lake, then passed to Kiera. She drew a card, and played it face up whilst grinning evilly. "Activate Aqua Chorus!" The already powered up monster received yet another boost. She moved to the space next to Keith's Pendulum Machine, then ended her turn.
"Well whatever your monster is, my Pendulum Machine can destroy it. Pendulum Machine, attack her face down monster!"
"Idiot." Kiera muttered under her breath. The face down monster was revealed to be the Water Magician. Adding the field power bonus plus Aqua Chorus and Spring of Rebirth (the power up), it had a grand total of 3000 attack points. And to make matters worse for Keith, the water rusted his machine monster and lowered its attack power to the original 1750. So he was getting bashed for a grand total of 1250 points.
"Damn it!" Keith yelled as his life points dropped to 2750. Kiera simply smirked, then drew a card.
"My Water Magician is the least of your worries. For I summon Skull Knight to the field, powered up by Black Pendant!" She played the cards face up on the field. "And with 3650 attack points, there's nothing in your deck that can beat it. Trust me, I know." Keith stared nervously at his deck. 'Does she know something I don't? Maybe she is the one. . . Of course she isn't! Don't be an idiot!'
"Good luck with that," Kiera snapped. Keith jumped. The Rose Duelist even had comebacks for his thoughts. 'Can she read minds?' he thought, sweat dripping down his face.
"You were talking out loud," Kiera explained, noticing his surprise. "It's your turn, by the way." Keith drew a card and snickered.
"You're through kid," Keith declared, playing two cards face down. He moved them both forward a space and ended his turn. Kiera drew. She kept her Water Magician in the small lake, since aqua monsters were weak on wasteland. She played a card face down and ended her turn. Keith sniggered evilly. "I play the magic card Wasteland!" Keith yelled flipped the card in front face up.
Kiera's eyes widened in shock. 'I can't believe he has one of those! He's not as dumb as I thought. . .' The Wasteland magic card turned the entire lake into wasteland, decreasing the power of the Water Magician down to 2000.
"But that's not all! Now I attack your Water Magician with Slot Machine, powered up with 7 Completed!!" The Slot Machine's attack strength was now at 3200, which was very bad. The Water Magician was annihilated and Kiera's life points were now at 2800.
"Touché Keith. Touché." Kiera drew and moved her other face down card forward. After a few turns of moving their cards forward, the Slot Machine took its first step into the Dark territory, lowering its points to 2700.
"Slot Machine! Attack her card now!" Kiera's card was revealed to be the Illusionist Faceless Mage. Its special ability activated, paralyzing the Slot Machine for three turns. Giving Kiera ample time to move her Skull Knight and destroy it, lowering Keith's lifepoints to 1800. The Rose Crusaders were in shock. Never had they seen a person this young duel so methodically. She hadn't lost control of this duel once. Whenever Keith took a chunk out of her life points, she'd hit him right back by removing an even larger chunk of his. The Rose Duelist drew and placed a fusion monster face down on the field. Then she passed to Keith. He drew, then laughed manically.
"This is it kid!" Keith yelled. "I play Barrel Dragon! And its special ability destroys one card on my opponent's side of the field!" Kiera's Skull Knight disintegrated. "But that's not all. Now I play Limiter Removal! That powers up my dragon by 500 points!" But instead of being shocked or surprised, the Rose Duelist smirked. 'He he. My Barrel Dragon will wipe that smirk off your face.' Keith thought, moving the monster forward two spaces. And much to the surprise of everyone, she moved her monster forward. In attack mode.
"What's she thinking?" Seto muttered.
"Whatever it is, it better be strong enough to defeat Keith's monster," Richard replied back.
"You're crazy if you think that any monster of yours can beat my Barrel Dragon!" Keith yelled. "Barrel Dragon, attack her face down card NOW!!" The Barrel Dragon attacked but was annihilated immediately. When the smoke cleared, the Red Eyes Metal Dragon stood triumphant.
"What . . . is THAT?" Keith yelled. "And how was it able to destroy my Barrel Dragon?"
"To answer your first question, it's the Red Eyes Metal Dragon. And as for the second one, since it's a machine, it received a power up from Limiter Removal and the Wasteland terrain." Kiera shook her head. "Don'tcha hate when your own advantage comes back to bite ya in the ass?"
"This is impossible!" Keith yelled, as his life points dropped to 1600.
"Take solace, for I am about to put you out of your misery. First I play the magic card, Tremendous Fire." The fire struck Keith's deck leader and he lost 1000 life points. "Then I summon Magician of Faith, which allows me to bring back one magic card from my graveyard. So I bash you again and you lose the duel." Keith's cards fell from his hands while his opponent leapt down from the platform.
"Ow," she muttered, wincing from the shock of her landing.
"Well done, Kiera," Seto congratulated.
"Hey! She actually won!" Rex yelled. The other Rose Crusaders murmured. Keith was just sitting there, traumatized by his loss.
"Hey loser," Bones sneered, kicking Keith. He didn't move an inch. "You don't seem so cocky now, now do ya?" After much taunting from Keith about his lack of dueling skill, Bones was dying to get back at him. This pissed Kiera off to no end. So being the kind and decent person she was, she walked over and smacked Bones upside the head.
"You of all people have no right to call anyone a loser," the Rose Duelist snapped at him. She shoved the little freak aside and went over to her distressed opponent. "Hey, snap out of it!" she yelled, smacking him also. "You did great. As a friend of mine once said, 'Half the game is getting the cards you need and the other half is knowing how to use them.' I just got really lucky. Really, really lucky. Now why don't you get up and accept defeat like a man?" Keith growled. No little girl was going to tell him how to act like a man. He sprang to his feet and punched Kiera in the face. Everyone was shocked. Seto looked ready to dismember Keith when Kiera started laughing.
"Now there's the Keith I know and make fun of," she declared. After checking to make sure she still had all her teeth, she walked back over to Richard and Seto.
"So? How'd I do Richie?" she asked.
"You did fine," Richard replied. "Now then. I believe this calls for a celebration. What would you think of a feast, milady?"
"Yay." she mumbled sleepily. Kiera had forgotten to eat breakfast this morning and was starving. The Rose Crusaders cheered upon hearing about a feast, and everyone went back inside to celebrate the Rose Duelist's victory.
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Sorry it took so long to update. I had midterms, and no computer, and then the story got lost, and. . .yeah. Sorry about that. Now then, you must review. Or I will send Kiera after you! And she will mock you relentlessly.
Oh and another thing. I have two YGO questions that have been nagging me for some time now.
1) How do you pronounce 'Ryou'?
-and-
2) Is Jounichi Joey's last name or first name in Japanese?
Answer these if you can please! Thank you! ^__^