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CHAPTER 9: Round One [Fire]

"Okay, everyone, settle down!" Prince Seto announced as he looked over the amazing crowd of teenage girls in the grand ballroom. The whole place had been decorated for the event. Flowers lazily hung about pillars and the floor was painted with pictures of Dragons. The girls in the ballroom squealed silently when they saw Seto, and then quieted down as he cleared his throat.

"Now, before we get started in the next twenty minutes, I want to quickly explain some rules." Seto looked around as if he expected everyone to shudder at the word. "To begin with, I have assured that there are exactly 127 maidens here. Now, with myself, that would come to a grand total of 128. There will be - at the most - seven rounds in this Tournament. Every round, half the participants will be retired to be an audience. At the end, there will be two people, which one of them will be me. The program will go according to that, unless by some twist of fate, one of you manages to defeat me in the earlier rounds. Then… you are the automatic victor of the tournament." Seto looked around again at the girls as they whispered amongst themselves excitedly.

"Obviously, you Duelists already know that the victor wins my hand in marriage." Everyone nodded in response. Téa and Mai, among the Duelists there, nodded to each other with a grin. Serenity just smirked to herself. She had no interest in winning his heart or marriage with him. She wanted to win the satisfaction of out dueling him.

"Now, in each round, upon conquering it, you will receive a special stone. Each round except the last has its own color stone. Shortly, you will receive both a glove and a Duel Disk. Those will be yours to keep." Seto paused briefly as another murmur rose among the girls. "Who will be dueling this first round will be announced in a moment by Yugi Motou, the Announcer, who will also help compromise any problems that arise. Now, you all may go and get your Disks and Gloves." The girls all rushed to the back of the ballroom immediately. In ten minutes, everyone had gotten his or her equipment. Serenity was one of the last to get hers. A woman was waiting for her.

"Okay, this Duel Disk and Glove is for you," she said, handing it to Serenity. Serenity gave the glove back. She revealed her own, the one that DMG had given her.

"That's strange!" the woman remarked. "But still……… Well, I will need to know your name." Serenity blanched. She couldn't give her real name, and she couldn't use her real voice. She pondered what to do.

"Excuse me, Miss, your name?" Serenity snapped to attention.

"Shi - Shi - Shizuka! Shizuka Jounouchi," she replied, using the heaviest British accent she could muster. The woman gave her a sideways glance before nodding.

"Well, Miss Jounouchi, you are going to face the last person who came to get a Disk. Since we made the matches as the Duelists come, I hope that all the people invited are here. There was no time to check. Well, I did manage to get all 128. You will be facing Flarina Pyrotech." Serenity sighed, not being able to face Seto at first. The longer she was delayed, the less the chance was of even making it the round to face him.

Oh well, at least the first round hasn't filtered out the easy Duelists. I'm sure to survive this one at least. Wait… the name Flarina is familiar. Oh, right. Téa was the one who commented on her hair.

After five minutes, after the pairings had been announced, everyone was positioned to Duel. Each pair faced each other in one section of the ballroom. So far, only a few lingering boys were the audience. It was already crowded enough anyway. Serenity faced her opponent. It was a girl about her age, with fiery red hair and deep brown eyes. She had a matching brown gown with sheer frills. The sleeves totally covered her Deck as she shuffled it. Serenity took out her own deck and shuffled. Flarina slid her Deck into the card recognizer and looked up with a smirk.

"Well, well," she said in a slow tone. "What do we have here? Mysterious Princess, is it? Are you the Shizuka I am to face?" Serenity nodded. She decided to use as little of her voice as possible. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Seto was to be Dueling diagonal from her. Across from him was his blonde-haired opponent, who was laughing vivaciously at something Seto said that had been meant to be threatening. In his mind, this proved how overly happy girls could be. For Serenity, she almost laughed at someone else laughing at his threats. Seto looked up from his shuffling and eyed Serenity. With a silent gasp, she whipped around to face her own opponent.

"Now, let us begin," Flarina declared. At that moment, the clock struck seven. Yugi announced the start of the Tournament. Serenity noticed her Duel Disk's Life Points went up to 3000. She looked back up at Flarina.

"Let's Duel!!"

………

"Come on, man, hurry!" a brown-haired boy called to Joey Wheeler. The two students of Domino Academy had snuck out to watch the Tournament.

"Doya' think my sis' is in 'der?" Joey queried.

"Sure! Don't you trust your pal, Joseph?"

"Stop callin' me Joseph!"

"Anyway, if every young maiden was invited, then Serenity is bound to be in there. Talking about Serenity, why won't you let me date her?" If Joey weren't army crawling under the windows of the castle, trying not to be heard by the guards, he surely would have killed his friend.

"Listen, Ian. Tristan an' Duke are already askin' me fo' 'dat! Thee answa' is NO! Hands off ov' ma' sis!"

"Oh fine. Hey, look, I think I see someone!!!"

"Duck!"

………

Serenity looked down at her hand. It was Flarina's first move, but Mr. Motou had taught her to always start forming a strategy. Then, you can flex it as you go. Serenity had a plan up her sleeve, but she needed to know what kind of monster Flarina was going to play. From the grin on her face, it wasn't going to be a small threat.

"I play Enchantress from the Flames!" {} Serenity narrowed her eyes as a red haired, red appareled fairy flew up from a flower of flames. With a small chuckle, she sat down on the blossom and casually flipped her hair.

"It has an affect," Serenity stated simply, in her British accent of course. Flarina nodded.

"Yep, the Enchantress takes away 500 of your Life Points for every turn, including mine. It starts after your first turn of the game. So, you can go now." Serenity nodded and pulled out a card. She tried to act as calm as possible, as if to become Shizuka. In her mind, Shizuka was a calm, shy Duelist. Inside, though, Serenity was freaking out. It was her first ever real duel, and she had never thought she would be in danger so fast.

Serenity inhaled and exhaled deeply as she looked at the card she drew. It was a normal magic card, Drawing Energy. At the moment, she had no use for it. She slid it behind the other five cards and thought deeply. So far, she had been developing a theory of trying to use Flarina's attacks toward her as a weapon with high defense monsters. That strategy might work, but the gradual decrease of Serenity's LP might not give enough time. Still, she had no other choice.

"I place one card in defense mode," Serenity announced, in her fake accent. The card glowed on the field and appeared as a card. Flarina smirked as Serenity ended her turn. She watched on her own Duel Disk as her LP went from 3000 to 2500. I have a plan. So far, I've 2500. But if Flarina falls into my trap, I'll still have close to hers.

"Any ideas on how to get rid of this mess? My monster has an attack of 1600. There are not too many low level monsters that can beat it. Now, I have something else planned for you." Serenity tried to tell herself not to freak out. Flarina drew a card and slipped it into her hand. Then, she took another card and placed it on the field.

"Girl of Fire Woods! Attack that nasty Defense monster!" Serenity watched as a small girl in a red dress rose up from the card. She flew into the air and threw down a shower of fireballs. Serenity smirked.

"Thanks, you have just helped me." Serenity pushed a button on the Duel Disk and the card she had was revealed. "Mistletoe Mistress. She has a defense of 2100. This means, due to your monster's low attack power, you lose nine hundred Life Points!" Serenity watched as Flarina frowned down at her Duel Disk, which now displayed 2100 Points. But, she looked up with a smile. Serenity raised her eyebrows, though no one could see it. Her Mistletoe Mistress was crouching on the floor, holly all over her hair.

"Still, my monster isn't destroyed. I have two while you have one. I think you are still outnumbered." Flarina motioned for Serenity to draw. She did, and looked down at her Duel Disk to see five hundred points go away. To her amazement, she went down a thousand.

"Hey! No fair!!!" she exclaimed, forgetting her accent. She bit her tongue and kept going with her fake accent. "I don't get this. I'm only supposed to lose five hundred." Serenity mentally shuddered as Flarina laughed.

"Oh? Didn't you know that Girl of Fire Woods also has the same effect?" Flarina replied innocently. Serenity growled as she looked down at her Duel Disk, which had 1500 LP left. She was already half way to the bottom. She turned to look over at Seto dueling. She could see him grinning maliciously as his partner trembled in fear at the sight of his Mystical Genie. With a sigh, she turned back. She couldn't give up. She had to face Seto. She had to!

"Fine!" she muttered. She looked down at the card she drew. It was Magic Shield. This will buy me some time, but only some. Since it is a trap, I can only use it after her turn. Still, I'll be able to retain at least… five hundred LP. Great, this is just great! I'll never win - No! I mustn't say that. I must always believe in the heart of the cards!

………

"I saw you guys!" Joey and Ian groaned as a blonde haired girl towered over them. She looked to be the perky type, with a short pink outfit and a matching staff to her helmet. She crossed her arms. The two boys sighed as they got up. To their surprise, she was actually a head shorter than them.

"Hm! Men!" she scoffed in a high, perky voice. "You two are idiots, and you're taller than me." The two boys looked at each other.

"Wha' does height hafta' do wit' anythin'?" Joey asked. "Ma' sis' is short but she still migh' be smarta'!" The girl, DMG, shook her head.

"No duh! Girls are WAY smarter than men. So, who's your sister anyway?" DMG meant it in a casual, simple way. She looked around with boredom. Joey's reply nearly made her trip standing still.

"Her name's Serenity."

"WHAT?" DMG mentally cried. Then Ian spoke up.

"The two of us are trying to sneak in there to find out if she's dueling. If she is, then the two of us are going to support her!" DMG bit her lip and started to get pale.

"Oh………don't you know?? S-S-Seren-Serenity is at home! Yeah, at home! She, err, she, um, she… she… um…" DMG searched her brain for an excuse. While she tried to think of a reasonable lie, Joey glanced into the ballroom.

"LOOK!" he cried. "MAI!! TÉA!!" Ian and Joey suddenly rushed in, leaving DMG shocked.

"Wait! Come back!"

………

"I play two cards face down!" Serenity declared in her fake accent. She set down Magic Shield and her previously drawn Double Trouble on the field. She nodded for her opponent to begin her turn. Serenity made a quick check on her Duel Disk: 500 LP.

"Well, well. Let me see. You know that if everything was left alone, you will lose at the end of my turn. I believe you are planning something with those two cards. I think then, I shall play Flame Warrior in attack mode and end my turn." A red-haired warrior man rose up from the card and grasped his sword of flame. "It has the same effect as my other two monsters. I end my turn."

"I activate… Magic Shield!! It will block me from whatever damage is due toward my LP. That means, I still have my turn left until my Life Points reach zero!" Serenity looked triumphant. Flarina just sighed.

"You know you're going to lose anyway. Just give up and spare yourself the embarrassment of losing."

"NO WAY!!" Serenity placed her fingers ready to draw the next card. Many thoughts were running through her head.

This is it! This is my last turn. After this, it's either win or lose. This last card decides it all. Right now, my monster's attack power equals that of two of her monsters. The last is too high. If I draw my most powerful card, Dark Magician Girl, then I will have eight hundred more attack points. I have Double Trouble on the field to use, but it still won't be enough! Oh no! What am I going to do? I do not think there's any card that is just perfect for this. Wait, I still have to believe!!

"Come on, draw! Stop stalling!" Serenity squeezed her eyes shut and dramatically pulled out her last card. After all, if it were to be her last ever, it wouldn't be forgotten. Serenity nervously opened one eye and peeked out. Suddenly, every bad feeling inside her vanished.

"ALRIGHT!!!" Serenity exclaimed, slapping her card onto the Disk as it appeared onto the field. She didn't even care that she forgot her accent, though she made a mental note to use it. "I drew Drawing Energy!"

"What?" Flarina gasped with shock.

"That's right! Drawing Energy! This card takes 500 LP from you for every monster you have and transfers it to me." Flarina gasped as her LP went down to 600, and Serenity's went up to 2000. Flarina scowled.

"Still, I won't let you win!"

"Ha!" Serenity said, pushing a button on her Disk. "I activate Double Trouble. This takes the amount of damage I have done to your LP and doubles it."

"But…but…you…y-y-you…"

"That's right Flarina! You lose!!" Flarina dropped the cards in her hand.

"No!" she cried. "This is only the first round! I can't lose already!!!" Serenity smirked, though no one saw, and the cards on the field disappeared. Serenity looked over at Seto, who was still in a duel. She could definitely tell it was going to end very soon. His partner was really trying hard not to cry, by the looks of it. Everyone who ever faced him lost anyway. Well, Serenity was going to change that.

A small click brought Serenity's attention to her Disk. A small red stone appeared in a small slot on the side. She picked it out.

I won my first duel! Cool! Now, there's only going to be sixty-three others. There's bound to be a bigger chance of getting to duel Seto! And I better win! Serenity nodded encouragingly to herself, and then she walked off to join the growing audience. She felt a mixture of excitement and impatience as she waited for all the duels to end so she could figure out her next opponent. Mixed in with that was fear of losing before facing Seto, and even facing Seto himself.

Though she didn't know it, Seto was watching her as his opponent tried to decide on a move. He could have sworn he saw her look at him a couple of times. He had to admit she was pretty suspicious. Seto didn't know what to make of her. He sure wished he could duel her. Maybe then some of his questions would be answered.