After their meal, the party returned to the tournament. Back in the dome, Kyara headed towards the nearest registration desk.
"Excuse me," she asked the woman seated in the chair. "But are there going to be tag duels here?"
"Oh, you mean those team battles? Why yes."
Kyara grinned. "Really? Is it too late to enter?"
The woman pondered over this thoughtfully. "A bit. You see, the tag duels start in less than an hour. Registration for those ended about ten minutes ago."
Kyara groaned. "Dang..."
Upon seeing Kyara's crestfallen expression, the woman sighed. "Tell ya what." she said with a wink. "If you can find a dueling partner within five minutes, I'll be more than happy to register you for the duels. Okay?"
"Really? Thanks! Oh, I already have a partner. Just a sec." Kyara turned to her friends. "Mai! Come here for a sec!"
* * *
Less than sixty minutes later, Kyara found herself standing before a pair of doors, which led to the dueling arena. Behind her, Seto and the others, having already said their farewells and good lucks, hurried off to find seats.
"You ready, Kyara?"
Mai's tag partner grinned as they stepped through the doors. "Always."
"Good. Then let's not keep our opponents waiting."
"I'm so glad that woman let us get in at the last minute. And we're in the first match! That's even better."
"Totally."
The pair strode over to the dueling station. Unlike the previous ones they had dueled on, this one was outfitted for four duelists to stand on rather than two. By the station, two people were already waiting. To Kyara's dismay, one of them Toshiro.
"Well, well." the boy said slowly as the two women approached them. "If it isn't the lovely Kyara herself."
"I didn't come here for your jeering, Toshiro." Kyara countered as evenly as she could. "I came here to duel."
Toshiro's partner, a tall boy with shaggy black hair, intervened before Toshiro could speak again. With a smile, he held out a hand to Kyara. "The name's Ray." he greeted cheerfully. "It's an honor to meet the two top female duelists."
Mai smirked. "Now this guy knows how to turn on the charm." she murmured to Kyara as they shook Ray's hand.
Kyara nodded. "Tell me, Ray, how is it that you know Toshiro?" she asked.
"Toshiro? Oh, I met him at a local competition a few months back."
Mai rolled her eyes. "Enough with the chatter already." she declared. "Its time to duel."
The four competitors climbed onto the station. A judge approached them as they shuffled their decks. "This will be a regulation Duel Monsters match." he shouted to both the duelists and the audience. "Each duelist shall have 2000 LP each. However, if just one of the pair loses all their LP, then both shall lose. Please show your bottom card so that we may decide who will go first."
Mai nodded at Kyara. "I'll show my bottom card." reaching over, Mai lifted up her shuffled heck and revealed the last card. Harpie Lady.
On the other side, Toshiro revealed his. Gaia Power. (A/N: Gaia Power is a Field Card.)
The judge nodded with satisfaction. "All right then. The team of Toshiro and Zane shall go first, since Gaia Power comes first alphabetically. The turns shall proceed as follows: Toshiro, then to Kyara, then Ray, then Mai, and then back to Toshiro. Duelists ready? Then let the battle begin!"
Toshiro drew six cards and pondered over them closely. After a few moments, he picked up two cards. "I'll place one card face down and throw Gyakutenno Megami out in defense mode. Your move...Kya."
"That's Kyara to you." his opponent answered curtly. "For my turn, I'll lay two cards face down and throw this out in attack mode. The Dark Witch!"
A purple-haired, winged, spear-bearing woman appeared on the field. An artificial wind jostled her smooth yellow dress from side to side. Kyara nodded with satisfaction. "That'll do it for now. I believe it's Ray's turn."
With a nod, Ray threw a card down onto the card recognizer. "I'll just place my Prevent Rat card out in defense mode. It's defense is 2000."
Mai's nose curled slightly in disgust at Zane's Monster. "Ugh, a blue porcupine...Oh? Is it my turn? All right then!" she slammed a card down. "Harpie Lady, in attack mode! Oh, and one face down card to finish my turn."
With an unearthly screech, a beautiful half-human, half-bird woman emerged. Toshiro snorted, as if insulted at the Harpie Lady's mere 1200 offensive points. "That's pathetic," he commented. "But if that's what you want...I switch my Gyakutenno Megami to attack mode and attack the Harpie Lady!"
The Megami rushed forth to strike, but was abruptly halted as a crystalline collumn shot up in front of the Harpie Lady. Mai giggled. "You fell right for my trap. The Mirror Wall! It cuts any attacking Monster's attack in half, so Gyakutenno Megami's down to 900."
Kyara nodded. "That's right. You made a sloppy move, Toshiro, and now you're about to pay...with your life points, that is. So...I'll power up my Dark Witch with Malevolent Nuzzler! Now she's up to 2500. Dark Witch, attack!"
The winged Witch swung her red spear in a semi-circle. With a shriek, she sliced its blade deftly across Gyakutenno Megami.
Toshiro's LP was down to 400.
Ray sighed. "This might be over sooner than I thought..." he said. "But that was nicely done, you two."
Mai placed her hands akimbo and winked at Ray. "Well, I appreciate the compliment. Your move, hon."
"All right then. Let's see, I think I'l lay another card face down and activate Dian Keto, the Cure Master to reinforce my partner's LP by 1000 points! So, he's back up to 1400."
"A cautious play..." Mai commented as she set a card down. "I'l stengthen my Harpie with Cyber Shield. So, that totals up to 1800. Oh, and then I'll play another card face down. I won't attack this turn."
Kyara frowned. "But Mai, if you had attacked Toshiro's LP directly, we would have won!"
"I know, I know, but I want to draw this out a little longer. Besides, you know very well we could have won this within five minutes, right?"
"Fine." Kyara folded her arms across her chest. "Go already, Toshiro."
"As you wish, Kya-"
"Stop calling me that."
Toshiro smirked. "But I prefer Kya, Kya." he said playfully. "It makes you seem so much cuter."
Mai groaned. "My, he's got it bad for you, hon." she said to Kyara.
Her tag partner seemed angered by Toshiro's words. "It's not that, Mai. Toshiro likes to aggravate me, that's all."
"If you say so."
Toshiro drew a card. He sighed sadly when he saw it. "I'll just play this face down in defense mode." he declared. "And also I'll lay another card face down."
Kyara bit her lip. A defense Monster. Should she attack it or not? Decisions, decisions...
Eh, what the heck.
"Dark Witch! Attack that defense Monster!"
Toshiro flipped over his defense card. "Hah! You fell for m bluff! What you attacked was my Trap Master!"
Kyara gasped. "Oh no, when the Trap master if flipped over, it gets to destroy any Trap card on the field!"
"That's right. So, I'll have my Trap Master destroy your Mirror Wall!"
Mai groaned. "There goes our defense..."
Kyara bowed her head. "I'm sorry."
"Its okay, hon. But, you better have a back up plan."
"Don't worry, I do. But it's Ray's turn now..."
On the other side of the station, Toshiro's companion reviewed over his hand thoughtfully. "Let's see....I think I'll just activate this magic card...Eternal Rest!"
Mai gasped. "The Eternal Rest card...it destroys ALL Monsters powered up with equipment cards!! My Harpie Lady and your Dark Witch will be sent to the Graveyard!"
Kyara frowned. "Not so fast!" she cried, and reached over to her one face down card. "You forgot about the card I set down earlier, Ray! It's the Mystical Space Typhoon! And, it's a Quick-Play Magic card, so it counters you Eternal Rest card!"
Ray shrugged. "Oh well, so your Harpies and Witches are spared for this turn..."
Mai, however, was grateful. "That was nicely done, Kyara." she said. "I don't have anything that could have countered his Eternal Rest card."
"You're welcome!" Kyara cried. "But still, without Mirror Wall, we've lost part of our edge..."
"Don't worry," Mai picked up a card. "Let's see those two boys deal with my next move." Mai threw them down. "Okay, boys, let's see how you like this! Go, Elegant Egotist!"
On the field, the Harpie Lady glowed and then split into three pieces. The Harpie Sisters had arrived. Mai grinned. "Even though my Mirror Wall is gone, very few Monsters have been able to stand up against my Harpie combos."
With a frown, Toshiro took his turn. "I'll just play this card in defense mode."
With a sigh, Kyara drew a card. She smiled when she saw it. "All right, boys, I'll also throw one Monster face down."
"My turn." Toshiro declared. "I'll throw this in attack mode, Neo the Magic Swordsman! And, he'll attack that face down card you have, Kya."
Gleefully, Kyara turned over the card she had thrown down. "Magician of Faith!"
"What?!"
"That's right, Toshiro. The Magician of Faith's flip effect allows me to retireve one card from the graveyard. And the card I choose...Mirror Wall!"
From beside Toshiro, Ray chuckled appreciatively. "Very nice! Once again you've outwitted us!"
Toshiro whirled upon his partner angrily. "Hey! Whose side are you on? Mine? Or theirs?"
At his question, Ray laughed again. "Your side, of course. I'm just critiquing as the duel progresses. Oh, and I'll just place one card face down for my turn."
"Critiquing? You're barely putting up a fight!"
Mai groaned. "Will you two shut it? It's my turn. And boys, I want you to meet a very special friend of the Harpie Lady." she raised a card. "Go! Harpie's Pet Dragon!"
There was an explosion on the field. A enormous, maroon-scaled dragon appeared. Toshiro winced as the Dragon bared it's fangs at him. His Swordman wouldn't be able to withstand this next attack.
"And that's not all." Mai said. "The Harpie's Pet Dragon gains 300 extra attack points for every Harpie Lady on the field! And would you look at that? I have three! So that means my Dragon's attack gets raised all the way up to 2900!" Mai now pointed at Neo. "Dragon, attack! Fearsome Fire Blast!"
With an earth shattering roar, the Harpie's Pet Dragon released it's attack, which took the form a herculean blast of flames. Toshiro's LP had been dropped to a mere 200.
"All right!" Kyara jumped up and down excitedly. "That's the way to do it, Mai!"
"Thanks. But it's Toshiro's turn once again."
Toshiro closed his eyes tightly and drew a single card from his deck. At about the same speed, he raised it eye level. He gasped when he saw what it was. "Go! Sanga of the Thunder!"
"Not so fast!" Kyara cried. "Since you just summoned that Monster, I counter his arrival with this trap card, Trap Hole!"
The mighty Sanga, only half emerged on the field, shattered to thousands of digital shards. Toshiro could only gape at the Monster Card zone his Sanga should have been standing on. "No!"
"And now...I believe it's my turn!" Kyara threw down a Monster card. "Go! Wingweaver!"
The field itself was now aglow with a sudden flood of golden lights. A moment later, a tall, six-winged fairy emerged. It smiled serenely at it's opponents and allies alike. Kyara sighed and pointed at Toshiro's part of the field.
"Wingweaver, attack!"
"Excuse me," she asked the woman seated in the chair. "But are there going to be tag duels here?"
"Oh, you mean those team battles? Why yes."
Kyara grinned. "Really? Is it too late to enter?"
The woman pondered over this thoughtfully. "A bit. You see, the tag duels start in less than an hour. Registration for those ended about ten minutes ago."
Kyara groaned. "Dang..."
Upon seeing Kyara's crestfallen expression, the woman sighed. "Tell ya what." she said with a wink. "If you can find a dueling partner within five minutes, I'll be more than happy to register you for the duels. Okay?"
"Really? Thanks! Oh, I already have a partner. Just a sec." Kyara turned to her friends. "Mai! Come here for a sec!"
* * *
Less than sixty minutes later, Kyara found herself standing before a pair of doors, which led to the dueling arena. Behind her, Seto and the others, having already said their farewells and good lucks, hurried off to find seats.
"You ready, Kyara?"
Mai's tag partner grinned as they stepped through the doors. "Always."
"Good. Then let's not keep our opponents waiting."
"I'm so glad that woman let us get in at the last minute. And we're in the first match! That's even better."
"Totally."
The pair strode over to the dueling station. Unlike the previous ones they had dueled on, this one was outfitted for four duelists to stand on rather than two. By the station, two people were already waiting. To Kyara's dismay, one of them Toshiro.
"Well, well." the boy said slowly as the two women approached them. "If it isn't the lovely Kyara herself."
"I didn't come here for your jeering, Toshiro." Kyara countered as evenly as she could. "I came here to duel."
Toshiro's partner, a tall boy with shaggy black hair, intervened before Toshiro could speak again. With a smile, he held out a hand to Kyara. "The name's Ray." he greeted cheerfully. "It's an honor to meet the two top female duelists."
Mai smirked. "Now this guy knows how to turn on the charm." she murmured to Kyara as they shook Ray's hand.
Kyara nodded. "Tell me, Ray, how is it that you know Toshiro?" she asked.
"Toshiro? Oh, I met him at a local competition a few months back."
Mai rolled her eyes. "Enough with the chatter already." she declared. "Its time to duel."
The four competitors climbed onto the station. A judge approached them as they shuffled their decks. "This will be a regulation Duel Monsters match." he shouted to both the duelists and the audience. "Each duelist shall have 2000 LP each. However, if just one of the pair loses all their LP, then both shall lose. Please show your bottom card so that we may decide who will go first."
Mai nodded at Kyara. "I'll show my bottom card." reaching over, Mai lifted up her shuffled heck and revealed the last card. Harpie Lady.
On the other side, Toshiro revealed his. Gaia Power. (A/N: Gaia Power is a Field Card.)
The judge nodded with satisfaction. "All right then. The team of Toshiro and Zane shall go first, since Gaia Power comes first alphabetically. The turns shall proceed as follows: Toshiro, then to Kyara, then Ray, then Mai, and then back to Toshiro. Duelists ready? Then let the battle begin!"
Toshiro drew six cards and pondered over them closely. After a few moments, he picked up two cards. "I'll place one card face down and throw Gyakutenno Megami out in defense mode. Your move...Kya."
"That's Kyara to you." his opponent answered curtly. "For my turn, I'll lay two cards face down and throw this out in attack mode. The Dark Witch!"
A purple-haired, winged, spear-bearing woman appeared on the field. An artificial wind jostled her smooth yellow dress from side to side. Kyara nodded with satisfaction. "That'll do it for now. I believe it's Ray's turn."
With a nod, Ray threw a card down onto the card recognizer. "I'll just place my Prevent Rat card out in defense mode. It's defense is 2000."
Mai's nose curled slightly in disgust at Zane's Monster. "Ugh, a blue porcupine...Oh? Is it my turn? All right then!" she slammed a card down. "Harpie Lady, in attack mode! Oh, and one face down card to finish my turn."
With an unearthly screech, a beautiful half-human, half-bird woman emerged. Toshiro snorted, as if insulted at the Harpie Lady's mere 1200 offensive points. "That's pathetic," he commented. "But if that's what you want...I switch my Gyakutenno Megami to attack mode and attack the Harpie Lady!"
The Megami rushed forth to strike, but was abruptly halted as a crystalline collumn shot up in front of the Harpie Lady. Mai giggled. "You fell right for my trap. The Mirror Wall! It cuts any attacking Monster's attack in half, so Gyakutenno Megami's down to 900."
Kyara nodded. "That's right. You made a sloppy move, Toshiro, and now you're about to pay...with your life points, that is. So...I'll power up my Dark Witch with Malevolent Nuzzler! Now she's up to 2500. Dark Witch, attack!"
The winged Witch swung her red spear in a semi-circle. With a shriek, she sliced its blade deftly across Gyakutenno Megami.
Toshiro's LP was down to 400.
Ray sighed. "This might be over sooner than I thought..." he said. "But that was nicely done, you two."
Mai placed her hands akimbo and winked at Ray. "Well, I appreciate the compliment. Your move, hon."
"All right then. Let's see, I think I'l lay another card face down and activate Dian Keto, the Cure Master to reinforce my partner's LP by 1000 points! So, he's back up to 1400."
"A cautious play..." Mai commented as she set a card down. "I'l stengthen my Harpie with Cyber Shield. So, that totals up to 1800. Oh, and then I'll play another card face down. I won't attack this turn."
Kyara frowned. "But Mai, if you had attacked Toshiro's LP directly, we would have won!"
"I know, I know, but I want to draw this out a little longer. Besides, you know very well we could have won this within five minutes, right?"
"Fine." Kyara folded her arms across her chest. "Go already, Toshiro."
"As you wish, Kya-"
"Stop calling me that."
Toshiro smirked. "But I prefer Kya, Kya." he said playfully. "It makes you seem so much cuter."
Mai groaned. "My, he's got it bad for you, hon." she said to Kyara.
Her tag partner seemed angered by Toshiro's words. "It's not that, Mai. Toshiro likes to aggravate me, that's all."
"If you say so."
Toshiro drew a card. He sighed sadly when he saw it. "I'll just play this face down in defense mode." he declared. "And also I'll lay another card face down."
Kyara bit her lip. A defense Monster. Should she attack it or not? Decisions, decisions...
Eh, what the heck.
"Dark Witch! Attack that defense Monster!"
Toshiro flipped over his defense card. "Hah! You fell for m bluff! What you attacked was my Trap Master!"
Kyara gasped. "Oh no, when the Trap master if flipped over, it gets to destroy any Trap card on the field!"
"That's right. So, I'll have my Trap Master destroy your Mirror Wall!"
Mai groaned. "There goes our defense..."
Kyara bowed her head. "I'm sorry."
"Its okay, hon. But, you better have a back up plan."
"Don't worry, I do. But it's Ray's turn now..."
On the other side of the station, Toshiro's companion reviewed over his hand thoughtfully. "Let's see....I think I'll just activate this magic card...Eternal Rest!"
Mai gasped. "The Eternal Rest card...it destroys ALL Monsters powered up with equipment cards!! My Harpie Lady and your Dark Witch will be sent to the Graveyard!"
Kyara frowned. "Not so fast!" she cried, and reached over to her one face down card. "You forgot about the card I set down earlier, Ray! It's the Mystical Space Typhoon! And, it's a Quick-Play Magic card, so it counters you Eternal Rest card!"
Ray shrugged. "Oh well, so your Harpies and Witches are spared for this turn..."
Mai, however, was grateful. "That was nicely done, Kyara." she said. "I don't have anything that could have countered his Eternal Rest card."
"You're welcome!" Kyara cried. "But still, without Mirror Wall, we've lost part of our edge..."
"Don't worry," Mai picked up a card. "Let's see those two boys deal with my next move." Mai threw them down. "Okay, boys, let's see how you like this! Go, Elegant Egotist!"
On the field, the Harpie Lady glowed and then split into three pieces. The Harpie Sisters had arrived. Mai grinned. "Even though my Mirror Wall is gone, very few Monsters have been able to stand up against my Harpie combos."
With a frown, Toshiro took his turn. "I'll just play this card in defense mode."
With a sigh, Kyara drew a card. She smiled when she saw it. "All right, boys, I'll also throw one Monster face down."
"My turn." Toshiro declared. "I'll throw this in attack mode, Neo the Magic Swordsman! And, he'll attack that face down card you have, Kya."
Gleefully, Kyara turned over the card she had thrown down. "Magician of Faith!"
"What?!"
"That's right, Toshiro. The Magician of Faith's flip effect allows me to retireve one card from the graveyard. And the card I choose...Mirror Wall!"
From beside Toshiro, Ray chuckled appreciatively. "Very nice! Once again you've outwitted us!"
Toshiro whirled upon his partner angrily. "Hey! Whose side are you on? Mine? Or theirs?"
At his question, Ray laughed again. "Your side, of course. I'm just critiquing as the duel progresses. Oh, and I'll just place one card face down for my turn."
"Critiquing? You're barely putting up a fight!"
Mai groaned. "Will you two shut it? It's my turn. And boys, I want you to meet a very special friend of the Harpie Lady." she raised a card. "Go! Harpie's Pet Dragon!"
There was an explosion on the field. A enormous, maroon-scaled dragon appeared. Toshiro winced as the Dragon bared it's fangs at him. His Swordman wouldn't be able to withstand this next attack.
"And that's not all." Mai said. "The Harpie's Pet Dragon gains 300 extra attack points for every Harpie Lady on the field! And would you look at that? I have three! So that means my Dragon's attack gets raised all the way up to 2900!" Mai now pointed at Neo. "Dragon, attack! Fearsome Fire Blast!"
With an earth shattering roar, the Harpie's Pet Dragon released it's attack, which took the form a herculean blast of flames. Toshiro's LP had been dropped to a mere 200.
"All right!" Kyara jumped up and down excitedly. "That's the way to do it, Mai!"
"Thanks. But it's Toshiro's turn once again."
Toshiro closed his eyes tightly and drew a single card from his deck. At about the same speed, he raised it eye level. He gasped when he saw what it was. "Go! Sanga of the Thunder!"
"Not so fast!" Kyara cried. "Since you just summoned that Monster, I counter his arrival with this trap card, Trap Hole!"
The mighty Sanga, only half emerged on the field, shattered to thousands of digital shards. Toshiro could only gape at the Monster Card zone his Sanga should have been standing on. "No!"
"And now...I believe it's my turn!" Kyara threw down a Monster card. "Go! Wingweaver!"
The field itself was now aglow with a sudden flood of golden lights. A moment later, a tall, six-winged fairy emerged. It smiled serenely at it's opponents and allies alike. Kyara sighed and pointed at Toshiro's part of the field.
"Wingweaver, attack!"
