"I'm merely, a collector."- Collector from Poke'mon the movie 2000

The Duel Masters Tournament

Aaron opened his eyes, and he found himself lying in the middle of a dirt road. "Man, I got to remember to fasten my seat belt on the way back." He grumbled as he pulled himself together.

He looked around, the place was remarkably realistic, he could feel the sand that made up the road, he felt the warm of the noon sun, and the cool breeze of the wind. He got up, and saw he was on a hill with a neighboring forest, he looked down the hill and saw an endless expanse of grassland.

"I guess this is where I start, but what the heck am I supposed to do?" He asked himself.

Just then, a Duel disk appeared on his arm, it started to hum and whine and an image appeared in front of him, a hologram of Jargon, "You're task is to win five duels, and also You are also assigned to be a bodyguard"

"What?" Aaron asked.

"A Bodyguard to the royal family of the Sloano plains, but first you must make it there and prove yourself worthy. Good luck." And with that the image vanished into pixels.

"Well that was informative," Aaron remarked, sarcastically, "I guess I should hit the road."

He followed the road up hill, trying to admire the great view of the fields. He liked the sounds of nature, and the living world, stuff he couldn't get in Domino.

He continued along his path, until he heard a bit of commotion, "What do mean I'm unworthy!?" The sound was coming from around the bend in the road.

Aaron climbed up into the woods and hid behind a tree, he looked around it and saw a small hut that seemed to stem into the side of the hill. Outside it was a sign, Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu, The smith of mighty weapons.

Also outside were two figures, one had to be the blacksmith, his bulging muscles were a dead sign of hard work and steadfast work ethics, he had black hair tied with a red ribbon, he wore only a green hat, and the same color robe around his waist. His figure resembled a human, but the stripes on his arm were that of a tiger.

The other was defiantly a human, he was tall, pale complexion, shady eyes, and blonde hair that stood up like a broom. He wore red pants and a bright red shirt, a purple head band, brown boots, and a duel disk on his arm.

"You haven't proven yourself worthy of one of my weapons, a duelist must be worthy in battle if he is to hold one." Said Kotetsu, who stood a full foot taller than the blonde.

"So what? I want one and I'm going to get one!" The guy ranted, as he motioned for his duel disk.

"HEY!!!" Aaron shouted.

The two turned to see him come from the forest, "What do want?" Kotetsu asked.

"If that guy wants whatever he's after, he can face me in a duel, and see if he is worthy. You game?" Aaron asked the blonde.

"Sure, It works for me, Chou, the Swordhunter." He said, as his duel disk unfolded.

Aaron recognized the name, he was a big shot duelist from overseas, he was reputed to be a deadly swordsman who had mastered every art, and had every variety of sword on earth.

"Well my name is Aaron, and I'm going to wipe the road with ya broom." He said, as his disk activated.

Just then, a tree nearby exploded into splinters, a Skull Guardian stepped onto the road, "Challenge is accepted, what is form?" He asked.

"Form?" Aaron asked, still confused that the ref had just popped out of a tree.

"Duel, Deck Master, or Duel Master?" It asked.

"Deck Master." Chou said, a big grin on his face.

Aaron nodded, agreeing to the terms, although he didn't know any of the monsters in his deck abilities.

"Agreed, What cards are you wagering?" The ref asked.

"I choose my Freed the Matchless General." Chou said.

"My Black Luster Soldier and Ritual Card." Aaron said.

"You have a Black Luster Soldier!? Maybe this duel is going to be more fun than I thought." Chou said, with hunger practically drooling out of his mouth.

"Choose your Deck Masters." Skull commanded.

"I choose my Sword Hunter." Chou said, as a guy of just about equal height appeared behind him, draped completely in swords!

Aaron reached into his deck and looked through his monsters, "Well, it hasn't let me down yet, I chose Gearfried, the Iron Knight." His card flashed, and his knight appeared beside him.

The Guardian stepped onto the middle of their paths, "It is settled, This is an official Deck Master match. The rules are simple, Duel until victory is achieved through means of dueling or Deck Master destruction, the loser must then summit the wager, and be minus one match in the tournament. Are we in agreement?" He asked.

"Yeah." Aaron said.

"You got it." Chou said.

"Okay, First turn to Chou." The ref said, and stepped off the road.

Chou drew his cards, and said, "I summon M-Warrior #1 to the field in attack mode. And two cards facedown." He said, as a Monster shaped like a human appeared, with a gold helmet and blue skin, and carried a green lance. (1000/500).

Aaron raised an eyebrow, This has trap written all over it, I'll have to wait for an opening. He thought, as he drew a card, but his life points caught his attention. "What the!?" He demanded, his life points were double what he normally had.

"To insure the best and most entertainment, your gracious host has decided to increase your lp." The ref said from the sidelines.

Aaron wondered for a sec, then shook it off, "I summon Celtic Guardian to the field in attack mode, but I won't attack, Instead place one card facedown. And that's it for me."

Chou drew his next card, and said, "First I play my facedown Polymerization, and fuse my M-warrior with the one in my hand, and Summon Karbonala Warrior, And summon Sasuke Samurai to the field." The blue warrior on the field was swept up in whirl of energy, and in it's place, was warrior had in purple armor, carring a sword and broad shield with the resemblance of a lion, (1500/1200). And appearing along side it was a small samurai that looked like he belonged in a comic, but carried with him a red hot blade, (500/800).

Aaron gritted his teeth, He was out gunned.

"Now I attack with Karbonala, destroy his Celtic Guardian!" Chou shouted.

The knight lunged forward, and slashed the guardian and blew him to digital bits.

Aaron braced himself, although the Knights attack was only 100 more than his monster, he knew what was coming. "Now I attack his lifepoints directly!"

The tiny samurai charged forward and knocked him to the ground, "Ouch, that hurt." Aaron said, as his life points were down 600, while his opponent hadn't been touched.

"My turn," He said, 7400/8000.

He drew his next card, Throwstone Unit, good card, I can place it in def, I don't know what he's planning, but at least my life points will be safe.

"I summon a monster in defense mode. And I end my turn there." He said.

"Fine." Chou said, drawing his next card, "I attack with my samurai on your face down card." The little minion lunged for Aaron's monster.

Perfect, with a def of 2000, my unit will inflict 1500 points of damage, Aaron thought as the monster charged. Just then, the samurai sliced, and the card burned up!

"What the hell?" Aaron demanded.

"You didn't know? Sasuke Samurai's special effect allows him to destroy facedown monsters without any trouble." He said.

"Oh great," Aaron groaned, his defensive monsters were as good as gone.

"And now I attack you again, Karbonala go for his life points!" Chou said, as the purple knight lunged forward and slammed him backwards.

"This is getting old! I got to do something to stomp his monsters." He said to himself as he climbed to his feet. He looked at his lp, it was down to 5700!

"Hey! What's the deal? That attack shouldn't have lowered my life points by that much." He said, just then he looked at the knight, the sword he had in his right hand wasn't his, it looked like Aaron's Celtic Guardian weapon. He then looked at the samurai; it had a chest plate that looked like the armor from his Throwstone unit.

Aaron checked his graveyard, his cards were gone!

He looked to Chou, with a toothy grin, and his Deck master was shining!

"It's him, your deck master's ability." He growled.

"Oh, you figured it out. Yes, my Sword Hunter changes the monsters my monsters defeat into equipment my monsters can use against yours by raising their attack by 200."

Aaron knew he was in trouble, Chou's monsters would get stronger for every monster they destroyed.

What I need is a monster that can defend against that Purple blonde while being able to with stand that bobble head samurai, let's see what I get. Aaron thought as he drew his next card, and flipped it over to see what it was.

"I'll start my turn by summoning this to the field," He said as he placed the card on the disk, the card appeared and changed into a small warrior clad in blue armor, a dark cape, wielding a shield and sword, with many wing symbols covering his form. "Little Winguard, attack mode." (1400/1800).

"That's your best move?" Chou asked.

"Yep, watch as my monster pokes a hole in your life points." Aaron said, as he pointed to Chou's field, "I attack your Sasuke, with Wingblade!"

The little warrior took off and charged the samurai, the little toy monster's eyes bulged as the knight clopped off his bulbous head! Chou didn't lose his cool, as his life points dropped to 7300.

"I'll end my turn there, let's see what you got." Aaron goaded.

Chou reached for his deck, and drew his card, looked at it and grinned at Aaron, "You're thinking that your little stab at my monster hurt me and I'm going to attack in anger over my samurai. While that monster was very useful, I'm not going to over look your facedown card, so I play this," He said, as a monster of similar style as the last appeared beside him, holding a giant short sword, "Sasuke Samurai #2." (200/300).

Aaron raised his brow, "And you called my monster pathetic."

"Not once I use his ability, but first I power him up with United We Stand, raising his attack to 1800, and now I activate my monsters ability, I pay up 800 life points, and prevent all magic or traps from being played till the end of my turn, so Your life points are open to my monsters once I clear the field of your 'pathetic' monster. I attack with Karbonala destroy his tiny guardian!" Chou commanded as it longed for Aaron's monster.

Karbonala reared back his sword as he was about to strike down the little monster, but the Winguard charged and knocked the other warrior back!

"What the hell happened?" Chou demanded as his life points dropped 6400.

"Obviously you were to busy trying to keep a straight face to notice what happened last turn." Aaron said, crossing his arms. Chou looked at his disk, his monster was in def mode!

"But how?" He demanded.

"The Little Winguard allows me to switch the mode of my monster during the end of my turn. You're not the only master of warriors in this tournament, and I'm going to chop u down to size, one life point at a time." Aaron stated.

Chou growled, "I end my turn." He was out of moves.

Aaron drew his next card, and grinned, "I got you now, I summon D.D. Warrior Lady to the field," He said as he placed his new monster on the field. A blonde woman, covered in a silver material, carrying a glowing sword, (1500/1600).

"What you expect to do with that?" Chou demanded.

"You'll see, I attack your Karbonala, and watch what happens." Aaron said as she lunged at Karbonala. The warrior parried her attack, but then, a swirling vortex swallowed up them both.

"Where'd my monster go?" Chou asked angrily.

"Out of play, I used my monster's effect, I may lose one hundred lifepoints, but It sends both our monsters out of play." Aaron said, "And it's time to clear the field, I switch my winguard to attack mode and I go after your monster!"

"Oh no! Without another monster on my field, my monster loses 800 attack points!" Chou gasped.

"Making him vulnerable to my attack!" Aaron said, as the Winguard dismembered the samurai like the last one.

Chou couldn't believe it, his monsters were gone!

"And before I end my turn, I play this card, I hope you can handle the heat, Tremendous Flame!" He said, slamming the card down on the disk, a mighty burst of red flame engulfed the playing field. Aaron, remained with an Iron Will, as his life points dropped to 5100, while Chou could only brace against the flames as his life points dropped to 5000.

"I end my turn." Aaron said, as the flames vanished. He had taken the lead.

Chou looked like he was about to kill, but then he cooled down, and said, "You're an impressive duelist Aaron, you built a surprising defense, sacrificing your own life points to give you a slight upper hand. I don't know how you're doing this, but I'm Chou the sword hunter, my deck is loaded with many deadly warriors and blades. I've collected some of the best warriors in the game, and Intend to take your Black Luster Soldier, and nothing stops me from my goals."

"Chou, my deck was built by one of the greatest duelist in the world, and I will not let you take any of my cards, so I hope you aren't too attached to your general cuz I'm coming after it!" Aaron said with vigor.

"We'll see." Chou said, as he drew his next card, He snickered, "I think you're still in the dark about what my deck can do, show let me so you, Swords of Reveling Light!" He said, slamming the card into the disk.

Aaron watched as his Winguard was surrounded by the blades of light.

"Three turns, I hope your ready for the onslaught of my ultimate force!" Chou said.

But Aaron kept his cool, and said, "Bring it, I am ready."

To be continued.

Next Time: Aaron finds himself in a bind, as Chou's monsters continue to grow stronger. But Aaron soon discovers the way to victory. However, when Chou's anger forces the duel to continue, Aaron will have to face the Swordhunter in the ring, with his future in the balance. What will the Senva of Defense do?

Next Time at The Duel Master's Tournament

The Impenetrable Iron Shield