THE ENCOUNTER OF LOST SOULS
Chapter Two: The Duel for Retribution
Kaiba Mokuba was still sleepy.
He and his older brother, Kaiba Seto, had been waking up extremely early for the past week. The siblings were busy preparing for their business trip and the opening of Domino Arena where Alexa's first concert and public appearance would be held.
Although the concert was sold out months ago, the CEO wanted to ensure that tonight's concert would be a good beginning for Domino Arena.
The younger sibling knew that his elder brother's nerves had been on edge about Domino Arena's first concert. As much as he loved Alexa's songs, he knew that his big brother had good reason to worry about this venture. No one had really seen the singer. Secondly, Kaiba Corporation took a huge gamble in highlighting a performer who had not been publicly tested in the looks and showmanship departments.
To energize himself, the younger Kaiba walked around Kaiba-Land. He then noticed two tall, rough-looking, muscular men laughing maniacally inside one of the arcade's duel arena. The thugs' faces were familiar with the younger Kaiba since he had seen them loitering around the arcade and upsetting patrons for the past weeks.
This time, however, the two thugs have gone too far.
The first ruffian repeatedly stabbed and relentlessly slashed through the duel arena's padded leather wall with his switchblade. The second goon tore the damaged leather and caused the padding to fall on the marble floor.
Mokuba looked around. His slate blue eyes widened as he saw that two-thirds of the duel arena's walls were already damaged. The boy screamed, "Hey – stop that!"
"Well, well... What do we have here?" the second goon commented as he ran towards the boy and grabbed him by the collar. He lifted and flung a kicking and screaming Mokuba against the wall.
Before Mokuba's body made contact with either concrete or marble, someone caught him upon his descent from midair. The force from catching him made that person stagger backwards until the stranger's back hit the padded wall.
"Are you all right?" the young stranger asked after she barely managed balancing the boy's weight with both arms.
After the boy nodded and she helped him up to his feet, she angrily turned to the two troublemakers. "Apologize to him!"
"Stay out of this, bitch!" the first thug retorted.
Hazel-brown eyes burned in anger. "You're both despicable!"
"Keep your opinions to yourself!" threatened the second goon.
She glared at the thugs. Noticing that they had leather deck holders looped at the belts, she pointed at them. "Put your money where your mouth is. I challenge one of you to a duel!"
The first thug laughed. "You don't stand a chance against us!"
The young stranger and the first thug stepped up to their respective platforms. The arena's computer activated both counters to 4000 life points.
"What's going on here?" a familiar and booming voice demanded.
"Ni-sama!" Mokuba pointed at the thugs. "Those two clowns vandalized this arena and he threw me against the wall. She helped me out and she just challenged one of them to a duel."
The elder sibling glanced at the stranger. Afterwards, his eyes landed at the vandals. "No one lays a finger on my brother and gets away with it!"
"If you know what's good for you, Kaiba Seto, stay out of this!" spat the second goon.
An irate Kaiba looked at her and barked, "Get down from there! No one insults my family and gets away with it!"
The stranger glanced sideways and snapped, "I challenged him, not you."
Kaiba's azure eyes gave her dagger looks. "Get down from there – now!"
Deliberately ignoring Kaiba, she then glared at the first thug. "If I win, you two will apologize, pay for the damages, and never set foot at any Kaiba-Land ever again."
The first thug and the stranger's eyes met as they declared, "Duel!"
"Shit!" the outraged CEO said through clenched teeth as his fists bunched up.
Slate blue eyes looked up as their young owner requested, "Can we just see what happens next?"
Eventually relenting to Mokuba, the azure-eyed duelist relaxed his fists. However, his eyes still burned from the thugs' vandalism and the young stranger's lack of respect.
The stranger drew her first six cards. "I activate Pot of Greed – allowing me to draw two new cards. I place a card face down. I set a monster face down as well." After doing what she stated, she ended her turn.
The first thug drew his five cards, plus another one for this turn. "Activate Ground Collapse! It makes two of your five monster slots unusable while this card's in play. I also summon Hibikime!"
The Hibikime hologram appeared on the duel ring.
Smirking, the first thug ordered, "Hibikime, attack the face-down monster card!"
Hibikime followed her master's order.
Because of the monster's attack, the young stranger's Cyber Jar flipped up. Cyber Jar's effect activated – wiping out both Cyber Jar and Hibikime, and forcing both players to draw five new cards.
The duelists placed their respective five cards face up on the panel.
Based on Cyber Jar's effect, the young stranger did the following:
· · Summoned Koumori Dragon (attack: 1500; defense 1200)
· · Set two monster cards face down, defense mode
Based on Cyber Jar's effect, the first thug did the following:
· · Set one monster card, face down, defense mode
The thug was not yet done with his turn. "I activate Sogen and I lay one card face down."
The duel arena produced a hologram that changed the field to a meadow while a holographic card appeared at his side of the arena.
The young stranger took a few minutes to assess the situation, pondering, "Two of my monster slots are useless. I'm relying on my next draw to fix the jam I'm in."
"What's taking you so long?" Kaiba hollered at her, eliciting a short but angry glance from the latter. As their eyes met, the CEO's glare intensified.
Choosing to ignore Kaiba once again, she closed her eyes, made a wish, and pulled a card from her deck. She looked at the card and declared, "I'm placing one card face down. I then activate De-Spell to eliminate your Ground Collapse!"
The De-Spell and Ground Collapse holograms disappeared – freeing up her two monster slots.
"I now summon Maha Vailo. I equip her with Black Pendant!"
The monster counter calculated Maha Vailo's new attack and defense statistic. She normally had 1500 attack and 1200 defense points. With the 500-point increase from Black Pendant, as well as the 500-point increase given due to her special effect, the monster now had 2500 attack and 2200 defense points.
"Maha Vailo –" the young stranger ordered her monster, "Attack his face-down card!"
"Stupid bitch!" the first thug howled in delight.
Maha Vailo's attack flipped the first thug's face-down card – Princess of Tsurugi – and activated the latter card's effect: the opponent would lose 500 life points for every magic or trap card in the opponent's side of the field. Since the young stranger had three cards in her Magic and Trap slot, Princess of Tsurugi made her lose 1500 life points.
Her overall life points dwindled down to 2500.
Slightly taken aback, but not discouraged, she smirked. "You're wide open." She raised her right arm and pointed at the opponent's side of the field. "Koumori Dragon, direct assault!"
With the direct attack, her opponent's life points dwindled down to 2500 – making the score even.
"You think you can scare me with one direct attack?" the first thug mocked. He drew a card for his turn. "I activate Germ Infection and use it against your Maha Vailo."
A hologram of the Germ Infection card appeared on the duel ring and attached to Maha Vailo. Germ Infection's magical effect would decrease Maha Vailo's attack power by 300 points at each standby phase.
The thug then placed a monster face down. Sarcastically delighted from the recent turn of the duel, he declared, "I end my turn."
Analyzing the entire duel, she pondered while staring at one spot, "I have a bad feeling about that face-down card of his. I have no choice but to attack, if I want to made headway in this duel."
Due to Germ Infection, Maha Vailo's attack points decreased by 300 points – now lowering the monster's attack by 2200 points.
She then drew a card for her turn, added it to her hand, and ordered, "Maha Vailo, attack his face-down card!"
"You never learn do you?" the first thug scoffed.
The thug's face-down monster card, another Princess of Tsurugi, appeared before the field.
Mokuba gasped, knowing fully well the consequences of the young stranger's attack: she would lose 2000 life points.
Before Princess of Tsurugi was destroyed, holographic swords once again flung towards the stranger and drained her out of 2000 life points. After the monster's work, her overall life points became 1000 while the thug had 2500 life points.
In utter disbelief, Kaiba blurted out, "How could you fall for the same trick? Even brainless monkeys duel better than you!"
Glowering hazel-brown eyes met azure. "This is my bloody duel, so zip it!"
A seething and dagger-eyed Kaiba retorted, "Idiot! If you did as you were told, I'd be winning this duel and you wouldn't be in this stupid mess!"
Glowering at her opponent and ignoring her mocker, she declared, "I end my turn."
Kaiba pointed at the dueling thug, yelling, "He's right – you are stupid! We'll see what happens to losers at the end of this duel." Afterwards, he kept his silence, crossed his arms over his chest, and kept his eyes glued at the duel arena.
After the thug looked at the card he just drew, he placed a monster face down in defense mode and ended his turn.
With nerves on edge, she mused, "It must be another trap." She then glanced at her deck. "I can't afford to make another mistake. I need the right card to turn the duel in my favor..."
Drawing a card from her deck, that very card was placed on the field with her declaring, "I activate Raigeki!"
The hologram produced a thunderbolt and eliminated the monster on her opponent's side of the field.
The thug slammed his fist on the platform. "What did you do to my Princess of Tsurugi?"
If she had not drawn Raigeki during her turn and had attacked his face-down Princess of Tsurugi, she would have lost 2000 life points and the duel. Thankfully, because of Raigeki, her life points remained at 1000.
Smirking, the young stranger said, "My turn's not yet over. I sacrifice my Koumori Dragon and Maha Vailo to summon Tyrant Dragon!"
The hologram projection of Koumori Dragon and Maha Vailo disappeared. They were replaced by the horrifying figure of the Tyrant Dragon. The new monster, with an attack of 2900 and defense of 2500, could attack twice if the opponent had another monster on the field.
"What?" he exclaimed as he saw and heard the counter reduce his overall life points down to 3500.
"Once it goes to the graveyard, Black Pendant reduces your life points by 500." Her eyes then narrowed as she said, "It's not over yet. I flip-summon my face-down monster."
After her fiend monster was flip-summoned in the duel ring, she commanded, "Wall of Illusions – attack the player directly!"
With Wall of Illusions' attack, the first thug's life points further dwindled down to 2500.
"Tyrant Dragon – direct attack. Fire of Fury!" the young stranger commanded as she pointed at her opponent.
Tyrant Dragon's 2900-attack power wiped out the first thug's life points down to zero. The attack also gave her the victory with 1000 leftover life points.
"She won, after coming from behind like that?" a surprised Kaiba mused as he glared at her and raised an eyebrow.
The first thug cussed, kicked, and screamed. He was still unable to accept his defeat.
With arms crossed in front of her, she said, "You lose. As to the terms of this duel, you both need to apologize, pay for the damages you caused today, and never come back at any Kaiba-Land ever again."
The first thug seemed to have calmed down. "Okay." He then approached her to extend a handshake. "I'm sorry..."
Tight-lipped and with narrowed eyes, she hesitantly accepted the gesture.
In a quick second, the loser grabbed the victor. He locked her arms behind her and making her wince in pain. He then signaled his companion to join him.
As soon as the second goon rushed to help his friend, Kaiba charged and gave him a sharp flying kick. He rendered the vandal unconscious.
At the same time, the young stranger stamped her heel on the first thug's foot. Her actions caused the thug to loosen his hold on her. Once the stranger fled to safety, Kaiba took action. In the end, he had the first goon in an excruciating arm lock that was much more painful than the one given to the young stranger.
During the commotion, Mokuba summoned security through a silent electronic alarm he carried with him. Kaiba-Land's security personnel and some law enforcement officers arrived at the scene.
"What are you going to say?" an adrenaline-charged Kaiba asked the first thug.
The thug did not respond.
"I can't hear you!" the driven CEO demanded as he further twisted the ruffian's arm.
"We're sorry! We're sorry!" the first thug screamed in pain.
Kaiba shoved the thugs towards security and law enforcement personnel. "Make these two losers rot in jail for vandalism and assault. Aside from paying for damages, they're also banned from any Kaiba-Land."
"Yes, Kaiba-sama," the head of security replied.
The sable-haired duelist then stayed beside his younger brother while the stranger stood a couple of feet behind them as the police handcuffed the two thugs.
Minutes after the dueling arena was cleared, Kaiba glanced sideways and asked, "Tell me your name."
"Emrys… My name's Emrys."
The tight-lipped CEO rested his hand on his sibling's shoulder. "He's Kaiba Mokuba, my brother..."
Emrys grinned and shook hands with the smiling boy. "I'm pleased to meet you, Mokuba."
Kaiba interjected, "Are you new to Domino City?"
"Yes, I am. I'm here for a business trip."
Mokuba's eye lit up. "What type of business are you in?"
She ruefully smiled. "I'm not at liberty to discuss them right now."
"So you know who my brother is?"
"Everyone in the duel monster's circuit knows Kaiba Seto and Kaiba Corporation," Emrys responded to the boy, making the latter beam with pride at her flattering remark.
Azure eyes smoldered as their owner retorted, "So you have the habit of insulting well-renowned people, I suppose?"
"Just as much as you fancy calling me a brainless monkey, stupid, and an idiot, Mister Kaiba," Emrys deadpanned.
"Come on, guys..." the younger Kaiba butted in as he glanced at Emrys and then his brother.
After moments of tense silence and flaring tempers, Emrys looked at Mokuba. Seeing that the boy was upset, she calmed down, raised her hands, and gazed at Kaiba. "I don't want to argue with you. Both of us are at fault today."
The CEO crossed his hands over his chest and then glowered at her. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Closing her eyes, Emrys resignedly sighed. Once she opened her eyes, she then noticed the wall clock and said, "I'm cutting our conversation short. I'm late for an appointment."
Mokuba, no longer upset after Emrys tried making peace with his elder brother, smiled. "Thanks again, Emrys. It was nice meeting you!"
The siblings looked at Emrys as she waved goodbye and then ran out of the duel arena.
"She's cool, isn't she, Ni-sama?" Mokuba asked while glancing at his older brother.
A semi-seething Kaiba remained silent. As he saw the wall clock, he patted his younger brother on the shoulder. "Come on, Mokuba. I have another meeting with Alexa's promotional agents. She had better be as good as these agents say she is. We also have plenty to wrap up before we leave for America."
End of Chapter Two
Normal Disclaimer
Yu-Gi-Oh is the copyrighted property of Kazuki Takahashi. Alexa, as well as this fan fiction, is the property of the author. This fan fiction is written for entertainment purposes only – thereby releasing the author from any liabilities.