Chapter 9: Suffer The Little Children
V was coming out of the store when he saw her.
It was a day after he had bested Weevil and Rex in the duels, and he had gone back to it, refining his strategies and throwing games now and then. He knew this would rapidly start to become tedious though. Playing with people who played for fun was great, but V needed a challenge. Weevil and Rex had had some skill, but they had been done in by their own arrogance and their assumption that he wouldn't be a thread because he used "fake" cards.
As well as a challenge, V had another problem: liquids. The D-Arena, via the huge amount of machines and the giant crushes of people, tended to be very hot, and the coat V wore to disguise his unusual outfit didn't help. Hence, he found he was consuming a large amount of liquids, and that was starting to eat into even the considerable funds he had stolen from the drug dealers. And not knowing how long he would be here, he wanted to conserve SOME money, so he had finally bit the bullet and purchased a "special" cup from one of the restaurants that also sold souvenirs. (And V only wished that struck him as strange, but in a world where people were so lazy they might actually get mad if someone suggested they eat at one place and then walk down a flight of stairs to buy some gifts, it only made too much sense). In any case, the cup allowed you to get unlimited refills at cheaper prices, or just fill it with water. Also, it claimed to be "practically indestructible", which V had thought was a marketing gimmick when he bought it to actually justify the price. But to his mild shock, it had actually proven to be just that, resisting his attempts to break it. Not a bad deal.
In any case, he had the cup, and he was walking out of the store when he saw her.
It wasn't a full on glance, but something caught V's eye about it, and he turned and took a look for the two seconds before the girl and the man with her went around a corner.
And this was not a couple. This was a man and a child of about nine, most likely his daughter (though he couldn't see a resemblance, their backs were to him), but something in the girl's walk caught his eye.
That, and the way she was holding her (assumingly) dad. She wasn't just holding his hand, she seemed to be attempting an act where she was literally super glued to him. Her body almost seemed to time the strides he made so that she would never lose her connection to him.
Clingy, a less observant person might have said, but V was no normal person. He could read people well even without his useful talents, and he knew this girl wasn't clingy. It was almost as if…she was…afraid…
And then the two turned the corner. V stood there for a few seconds and then quickly walked over. But he was too late: by the time he had gotten around it the two had disappeared into the crowds.
Puzzled, V turned and headed off in his own direction. Something was nagging at him, but exactly what wouldn't form. He figured he would duel a bit: maybe his brain would manage to pluck the thought from his subconscious if he didn't focus on it.
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Most readers might have assumed that V had seen one of the Yu-Gi-Oh females and this was the beginning of a Gary Stu romance. Well, you were wrong (CRASH!) and if you pardon me I have to go fix the forth wall again.
In any case, I will note, one of those females who some may have suspected the Gary Stu romance (CRASH!), oh forget it, Mai's in the D-Arena. Now if you excuse me, I have some repair work to do.
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Mai had a reason to be in the arena as well, except it had proven to be a non-factor: she had been stood up. She wasn't on a date, she had made an appointment to meet with someone regarding a modeling job. As much fun as dueling was, tournaments where you could earn something serious had become few and far between these days. She had racked up a pretty good record until she had entered Duelist Kingdom. They it all came tumbling down: Joey figured out her tricks and beat her, and then that blasted Panik, and then she threw a duel for Tea after Yugi beat Panik for her, and then she lost to Yugi in the finals, and just when she was getting back together in Battle City she wandered into a plot involving ancient Egyptian spirits and resentful tomb keepers and all sorts of nasty supernatural stuff that had not only cost her the duel but had some other unpleasant repercussions. Now she was trying to make a living, and she would walk on hot coals before she went back to being a blackjack dealer.
But, as mentioned, the guy had never showed. Feeling a bit depressed, and now having nothing to do for a few hours, Mai wandered around the D-Arena. She caught a showing of the previous' month's "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge" on one of the large screens in a quieter section of the D-Arena, and it had cheered her up a bit (the comedians calling the show replied a BIT too much on sexual innuendo jokes, but besides that they were pretty clever). It had announced the next "MXXC" event would be held the next day, and Mai contemplated coming back and seeing it live as she walked on the higher levels of the arena that held the mass of dueling arenas. Occasionally, she stopped and watched one.
And eventually, she came to an arena that had a large crowd around it. Mai stopped and looked down. On one side was a young boy of about twelve with green hair, and on the other side was an older man with long black hair and a long coat. The two were engaged in a heated duel, with the crowd firmly on the side of the child.
Mai watched. She had come in at about the middle, and she watched as the older man mounted an offensive (which he got booed for) and then watched as the child caught the man via a trap card and started a counter-attack. The older man staved off the final blow, barely, and dug in his heels, and the two stalemated each other before the kid finally got a ritual together that allowed him to summon Zera the Mant and finally finish off the older man. The whole crowd applauded, and seemed on the verge of carrying the kid off on their shoulders. The older man just collected his cards and left, giving the kid a salute as he walked off. Well, at least he understood sportsmanship.
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V didn't much mind losing. He hadn't planned on using his special card (didn't want to attract too much attention), and while he had played well, the kid had played better. He was good, but he wasn't a Worthy.
Sipping from his drink, V walked around looking for another empty arena. None were forthcoming, and V hated waiting in lines, so he continued to walk. He finally found one at one end that had broken down and was being repaired. V sat down near it, and sure enough not ten minutes later the arena was fully fixed and fired up. V walked over and claimed one side, and then looked around for an opponent.
"Excuse me…"
V turned at the voice, and then his eyes widened, just a tad, in recognition. It was the man he had seen before: he recognized the clothes. Now, finally face to face, he noticed the man, who was in his mid-thirties and wasn't bad looking, looked tired. Not tired in "I need some sleep" way, but tired in the way that spoke of hardship. V wondered what that was.
"Yes?"
"My daughter would like to…uh, play with you."
"You mean duel?"
"Yeah, that's it." The man said. His tone showed V that he had no real idea how Duel Monsters was played, but not in a way that showed ignorance. Rather, one that showed he seemed to have no time or energy to learn.
"Ok, sure. Let's fire up the arena and…"
"Sir?"
"Yes?' V asked.
"My daughter is a bit…shy…so I was wondering if…" the man said, and then he just stopped. He looked defeated, though V hadn't said a word.
"…I'll see." V replied, and turned. He stepped on the platform that lifted him up to his section and found himself looking at the same girl he had seen from the back before. She was clearly the daughter of the tired man, who had stepped back and was watching the duel with the interest parents could muster for anything their children did. Yet it was still tainted by exhaustion. V wondered why the man seemed so tired, almost…broken.
As mentioned, the girl was clearly his daughter: she had his hair and eyes. But while he was tired, she seemed to be scared. V had no idea why, but it looked like the girl was just scared to be away from her dad. He wondered if he should call down and tell the man he could join her up on the platform if he wanted.
"Ok, let's duel." The girl suddenly said. Her voice was quiet, much like a mouse. V only heard her because he had good ears.
"You want to go first?" V asked.
"Ok." The girl said. She hesitatingly went through her drawn cards, as if she was worried the cards might suddenly come to life and bite her. V's brow furled. He had been right: the girl wasn't clingy. Something was wrong.
He pondered taking a deeper look, as only he could, and then decided to try something else first.
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Mai saw V as she walked by, and she stopped. Looked like the man had gone and found himself a weaker opponent, possibly to beat on. Mai frowned and stopped to watch. She would see how this man played, and if he tried to bully this girl because he had just lost to another child, she would go down there and give him a piece of her mind.
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"I play…Bone Mouse (400/300) in attack mode." The girl said. A skeleton mouse appeared.
V looked at his hand, and decided to try something to see just what the girl suffered from.
"Not the best card to put in attack mode. Here's why." V said. "I play Monster Egg, in attack mode." An egg with legs (600/900) appeared. "Send the mouse back to the graveyard."
The egg rammed into the mouse, destroying it and dropping the girl's life points to 3800. However, she acted as if V was about to strike her physically, cowering away from the podium. V felt rotten, but he pressed on.
"Um…ok…I play Wretched Ghost of the Attic, in attack mode." The girl said. What looked like a zombie Karibou appeared. V sighed. He hated to do this.
"Like I said, not the best idea young lady! The best offensive is a good defense, and just to drive that home, I play Hinotama Soul, in attack mode. Send the ghost back!"
The Hinotama Soul (600/500) appeared and killed the Ghost, dropping another 50 life points from the girl, leaving her with 3750. She cowered a bit, but it was also clear to V that she wasn't happy with these attacks.
"Your move child." V said.
The girl drew, and then her tiny face got some anger in it.
"I play a monster card face down and I also place another card face down." The girl said.
V appeared to ponder his options.
"Ok, I'll bite! Hinotama Soul, attack the face down monster!"
"I thought the best offense was a good DEFENSE?" the girl said. "I activate my trap card: Just Deserts! This inflicts 500 points of damage on you for every monster you have on the field!"
V flinched as he lost 1000 Life Points.
"Oh well." He muttered. He still had 3000.
"I end my turn." The girl said.
"Alright then." V said, as he drew. Ah, this would help.
"I play Polymerization, and I fuse my Monster Egg and Hinotama Soul into Charubin the Fire Knight!" V said. His two monsters vanished and were replaced by a knight with a fiery chain. (1100/800)
"I know fusion monsters have to wait a turn before attacking…so I'll reveal my face down monster: Goddess of Whim!" the girl said. She had gone from mouse to rabid rat as V had prodded at her, and V finally had an idea what her story was. A woman card appeared. (950/700)
"This card allows me to flip a coin when it appears. If I call it right, I get my attack points doubled!" the girl said as she produced a coin.
"And if you call it wrong?" V asked.
For a moment the fearful expression was back, but it quickly faded as the girl tossed the coin up. V watched it spiral through the air and come back down.
"Tails!" the girl said. When the Goddess of Whim card had been played, a small extension had come out of the computer in front of the girl, and it recorded her voice. She caught the coin and slapped it over onto her palm, and then put her hand under a small reading device so it could read the result. She lifted her hand.
"…YES!" The girl said. Apparently she had gotten tails. V looked distressed as the Goddess's attack points jumped to 1900. "Goddess, attack!"
The Goddess did, blowing away V's knight and dropping his life points to 2200.
"Ow." He said, and began looking through his deck.
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Mai didn't have the best eyes, but she was in a good enough position that she could make out the rough outlines on the cards the man had in his hand. Specifically, what stood out were the dots, or "stars" that each card had to represent, and she noticed that the card near the end of V's hand had a lot of dots on it. She couldn't tell what the card was or exactly how many dots it had, but it had a lot. Surely enough that V could destroy anything the girl, who was clearly just someone who played a little for fun, threw at him.
And the way he looked at the girl, and then his fingers passed over the card as he drew another from his deck.
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"I play Earthbound Spirit, in defense mode." V said, the Spirit (500/2000) appearing and protecting his remaining life points. What to do…
"I play Fireyarou in attack mode." The girl said, as the Fireyarou (1300/1000) appeared. That was all she did. V drew another card. If he put another monster down he would…
No. Not for this.
"I end this turn." V said, ignoring the Shadow Spell card he had just drawn.
"I play Fire Princess, in attack mode." The girl said. V was noticing a theme as the Fire Princess (1300/1500) appeared. For a moment V wondered…nah.
V drew again. My my, look what was here. Played in the right order, the cards he held could wipe the girl out before she knew what hit her.
But V had long realized the point of this game wasn't to win, it was to find out what was wrong, what had caught his eye. And now he knew.
And he was faced with a new problem, as he ended his turn while looking at the card he had just drawn, pretending to be cross. He wasn't, or at least not at the card. He was cross about his new problem: he had no idea how to help the girl.
The girl drew, and her eyes lit up.
"Yes! I play Defense Paralysis, which forces all of your monsters out of Defense mode." The girl said. V pretended to be horrified as his Earthbound Spirit went from being a mighty guard to a weak pawn.
"Goddess of Whim, attack!" the girl ordered. The Goddess was back down to her original 950, but that was all she needed as she destroyed the ES and reduced V's life points to 1750.
"And finally, I sacrifice Fireyarou and Fire Princess to bring out Flame Cerberus!" the girl said, holding up a card. The two fire monsters disappeared and were replaced with a flame-spewing three-headed dog monster. V had no defense, and was helpless as the girl attacked his life points directly and sent them down to 0.
"I won! I won!" the girl said, as V gathered up his cards. He saw the girl hugging her father as the platform lowered him down.
And it was the look in the man's eyes that hurt him most of all. For while he was happy, behind the happiness was a kind of resignation, like the man knew all too well how temporary this was. Almost as if he knew this moment was just that: a moment, and it would quickly pass, and then real life would come back and exert its crushing force on him.
But what made the man this way? What weight was on his shoulders, and how was it connected to how the girl had been terrified of him at first but quickly become vicious when pushed into a corner? The manner rather reminded V of either a wounded animal or someone attacking a scapegoat…
"Hey. Nice work."
V started at the sudden voice, nearly dropping his cards all over the place. He turned to look at the blonde woman who had spoken them.
"Uh thanks. I did lose though, you know."
"I know. But I think you could have won, won rather easily…it's just not often I meet someone who clearly has skill and yet some humility." Mai said. Up close, the long haired man turned out to be rather handsome, even with the long scar on his face that formed a rough V shape, barely covered by the sunglasses the man wore. But Mai didn't much care about that. Scars didn't show what a person was like inside, actions did. And Mai was fairly sure, and impressed, with V's actions.
"What? Oh, do you mean that other…" V said, as he turned back to the way he was facing. But the man and his daughter were gone.
V frowned inside. He had wanted to help. But it was clear that it might not be his task…
Ok then. If he and those two crossed his path again, he would give them a serious look and appraisal, and if he was meant to help them, he was certain he would see them again. Destiny was a funny thing…
"Hello!" the woman was saying, waving her hand in front of V's face. V looked back to her.
"Sorry, zoned for a moment."
"Gee, and you wonder why you lost!" Mai joked good naturally.
"That was a one time thing. I don't zone in a duel."
"Yes, maybe you just plain suck." Mai replied. She wondered why she was teasing this man: she barely knew him, and for all she knew he could get violent. Yet, at the same time, she had a feeling no harm would come to her.
V looked wryly at Mai.
"And if I suck, how did I battle that one very good kid to a near standstill?" V asked.
"I dunno. Luck?"
"Easy for you to say. I bet you couldn't have beaten him."
"Oh yeah?" Mai said, her competitive instincts flaring up. "Are you questioning my dueling abilities?"
"It depends. Do you HAVE any?"
Mai couldn't tell if it was an honest question or a minor diss, but in either case, she knew what she would do.
"Oh yes. The name's Mai. Mai Valentine." Mai said.
V stared.
"Never heard of you." He finally answered. Mai facevaulted.
"Well then sweetie, why don't we step on that platform, and when I'm done, you'll never forget me." Mai said.
"You wanna duel? Fine by me. But believe me, I may not have made the best decisions with that child, but with you, I will." V said.
"Bring it on, big boy. Let's see if you can actually play this game." Mai replied, drawing out her deck.
"Fine then we…" V said, turning around. And then he saw that his platform had been claimed by other duelists. "Ah crap."
"Hey, fate smiled on you. Now you have an excuse to back out." Mai teased. V turned back to her, his face in a wry smile.
"I think not. Come, Mrs. Valentine. I'll pay for a private arena. And then I'll show you that skill doesn't always need to be seen to be believed."
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"Man, sure is quiet in here." Mai said as she rose up on her dueling platform. She and V were in a private arena now, and the calm that pervaded the heavily soundproofed room was in stark contrast to the constant racket outside.
"Indeed, I noticed that myself. How do you want to play?" V asked.
"Battle City. And also…care to make a little wager?" Mai asked.
"Wagers make the world go round." V replied quietly.
"What?"
"Nothing. Sure. What do you want to bet?"
"Ok. If I win, you buy me dinner." Mai said.
"Ah Mrs. Valentine, if you wanted a date you should have just asked…" V said.
"Who said anything about a date? Duels make me hungry. I win, you pay for my food. Hell, I may call a few friends and have them come in as well."
"I hope you do a lot of working out." V said.
"What's that mean?"
"Dueling for food? If you don't work out a lot you won't have that fine figure long."
"Why you! That's it! I AM calling my friends!" Mai said as she pulled out a cell phone. She dialed a number. "Hi Joey! Yeah, it's Mai. Joey, stop sputtering, I need your help. I've got a bet and you would definitely benefit me if I win, and it'll be a benefit to you as well. Sure, bring the gang. The more the merrier." Mai said, and hung up. She smiled slightly. Poor Joey. He had a major schoolboy crush on her and her call had sent him into a stuttering frenzy.
"Are you done?" V said as he lazily shuffled his deck.
"Much like you are. I take my filet mignon medium rare, by the way."
"My, already planning to fleece me at a fancy restaurant. You haven't won yet, Mrs. Valentine."
"Call me Mai. And just what is your name, anyway?"
"Call me V."
"All right then, V." Mai said. Man that's a weird name. "Let's duel! The quicker we begin, the quicker I can eat!"
"Wait a minute. You keep assuming you will win. Might I ask what I get if, god forbid, I win?" V said.
"I dunno. What do you want?" Mai asked. V smirked and took a sip from his drink.
"Oh, I'll think of something." V said, as he completed his final shuffle and looked across the field at Mai. "Alright then, enough betting. Let's duel."
To Be Continued