Lumen: Methinks you're starting to analyze my tactics, m'friend! But you'll have to see for yourself, now, won't you? *grins*
Skraku: Hm. Well, tattoo removal takes time. He wouldn't get them all taken off at once, it doesn't work that way. At least, not here, it wouldn't. Meanwhile, yes; as with Chubs, Zack is here to stay.
Monica: The story's moving in leaps and bounds? This is chapter 13 and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface! I must be doing a good job or something. Who'd have thought? And since you asked, Chubs' real name is Cody Smith, as mentioned when he and Kyle first met. Hope you enjoy this chappie!
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Kyle rolled his eyes. Good lord, she has to make an entrance into a low-key card shop, too?
Zack came shuffling back with another binder, quickly opened it, and shoved it under Kyle's nose.
Kyle raised an eyebrow at the cashier.
"Something else I've heard about you involves your intense distaste for her presence, and I'd really hate to have to kick either of you out of the store." He looked pointedly at Kyle.
Kyle chuckled. "Why? You can go ahead and kick her out right now and just be done with it."
"Can't. She hasn't done anything wrong yet. She'd raise hell and have some idiot lawyer walk in here demanding I be fired. Then I won't be in a convenient location for you to buy your cards. And I don't want to kick you out either, since you're a prospective buyer. Frankly, I'd just as soon avoid the hassle and make life easier for everyone else. But if you two get into a catfight, I don't care how many lawyers stroll in here... you will be out of here."
Kyle snorted. "Yes, sir." He glanced down at the cards that had been put before him. "So what the hell are these for?"
Zack scoffed. "What, you think I'm stupid enough to allow her the opportunity to see what I've got? No way. A lot of work went into that folder. She'd want the entire thing just to make sure no one else had it. Sure, she'd give me any amount of money for them. But the investment would be bad for me in the long run."
Kyle shrugged. "If you say so. I don't know much about business."
"Well, I do say so." Zack glanced back at the stashed folder. "My folder, my cards, my rules."
Kyle rolled his eyes. "Back to my question, why'd you lay these cards out?"
"Two reasons. One, they're less expensive. Two, while you're looking through them, you can avoid eye contact with her."
"You could have told me that in the first place."
"I could have, but I didn't."
The bell next to the cash register began to ring repeatedly; somebody was playing with it, and it didn't take either Kyle or Zack two guesses to know who.
"Come on, hurry up! I've got my entrance fee out and my deck ready and you're sitting there ogling commons! What do you get paid for?"
Zack rolled his eyes. "Look through them. They have more worth in a deck than people like her think they do." He straightened up and approached the speaker.
Kyle knew that nobody in the store would be able to escape the sound of her voice, least of all himself. He stared through the folder he'd been given and tried to focus, wondering to himself if Chubs hadn't been right after all, and giving her flowers had been a bad idea.
"Monica Zocallos. Good to see you here today."
"You've kept me waiting long enough," Monica grumbled. "What're you so busy staring at, anyway, that you'll take away as soon as I walk in the door? Pornography?"
"I'll give you five bucks to come back here and see it for yourself."
"Pervert. Don't insult me. I don't need your ripped bills. Got some nice crisp ones for that deprived cash drawer of yours."
"Why not use the money to buy some nice crisp clothing? Or did K-Mart run out of the decently-cut tees that say 'Wench!' across the chest?"
Kyle couldn't help but snort at this. He glanced at Chubs, who had sauntered back to his side. "He doesn't sound too worried about her complaining to his boss."
Chubs chuckled. "Oh, they've been exchanging words like those for a long time. It's part of their routine."
Monica sneered at Zack. "Don't like my clothing? Didn't think you would. You hate everything that doesn't come from the Salvation Army."
"Of course I do. The Salvation Army is the only respectable furnisher of clothing left that doesn't publicly display and offer thongs made of dental floss."
Kyle glanced back at Chubs. "Jeez, she's being awful nasty today. How can he just let comments like that roll off his back? There once was a time I might have slapped her silly for it."
"He's had a lot of time to practice. He lost his ability to care about her opinions of him, because he knows it's only going to make him feel worse in the long run." Chubs raised an eyebrow at Kyle. "You ought to think about that. Might do you some good."
Kyle snorted. "What, so I can be more sociable?"
Chubs shrugged. "Not necessarily. Just for your own good."
How is it that everyone else seems to think their ideas for my own good are better than mine?
... duelist...
Kyle snapped to attention. "Huh?" he said aloud.
... long... so long... how long...?
Kyle looked down at his left hand. Mysteriously, it had drifted up to the outline of the shield-shaped pendant beneath his shirt.
He rolled his eyes and snorted. Great, just great. I'm becoming delusional.
... dreaming...
He clenched his eyes shut. Man, I need more sleep.
He looked over at Chubs, who was giving him an odd look. "You all right?"
"Yeah." Kyle nodded. "Just peachy."
Chubs raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more to indicate any belief to the contrary.
Must be what happened with the raiders getting to me. I'll bet just about anybody who's been shot at probably has had a few weird voices go through his head...
... raiders... must... protect...
I had to protect myself, that's why I took the shield. God knows why it turned into a pendant. Something crazy happening there; an inanimate object can't suddenly gain and lose mass for no reason. But... I saw it happen. With my own eyes.
Kyle shook his head. Must be losing my mind. I ought to get a CAT scan soon.
... cats...?
Kyle blinked. Man, I REALLY need more sleep.
"Kyle, man, you need to sit down," said Chubs. "You look like you've seen a ghost. Just take the folder and grab a chair."
Kyle nodded. "Maybe you're right." He closed the folder, straightened, and glanced about for an empty corner table with a convenient seat.
"McCraine?! What the hell are you doing here?"
Kyle rolled his eyes, but otherwise didn't answer. He took a seat at a table and opened the folder.
"Fine, ignore me. Not like I really care, anyway. But you certainly couldn't be here for the tournament."
"Actually, he is," said Chubs.
Monica turned around and looked at the rotund teen through half-lidded eyes. "Consorting with the enemy, Chunky?"
Chubs narrowed his eyes. "To you, everyone's an enemy. Get over yourself."
"Oh, but it's so fun to be self-absorbed." Monica grinned. Her smile was a dazzling one, and that simply disgusted Chubs even more. "Besides, I can afford it. You can't beat me at this game. Nobody can."
"Want to place a wager on that?"
"I've already placed my wager with our esteemed host." Monica glowered at Zack, who was busy writing something on a sheet of paper. "It's the only wager I'll need to place. I guarantee you I won't lose." She looked back at Kyle and snorted. "If you really are here for the tournament, you're wasting your time. You don't have the desire or the brainpower to play this game. Why don't you go huddle in some alley with an infected needle?"
Hnh. I probably would do that, too... but for the first time since I can remember... I don't want to hurt myself.
Chubs growled. "I guarantee you'll pay for that one, Monica. Bring it on."
"Oh? Defending the gothic maggot, are you? Since when did you decide he was a fine, upstanding citizen of society?"
"The same day I decided you weren't."
Monica glared. "Let's get on with this disgrace to the word 'tournament', fat boy."
"Yes, let's," Zack interjected. He stepped out from behind the counter and tacked a piece of paper onto the bulletin board. "Here's the bracket. Find your opponents; the dueling will begin in five minutes."
--
Kyle wove his way through the duels taking place. The setup was simple enough; the starting bracket had 16 contenders, with eight one-on-one battles. The eight winners would be placed in subsequent brackets of four, then two, then a final match, and the winner of the last duel would be the winner overall. Unlike the mid-level tourneys, there were no matches here; these duelists were given one shot and one shot only.
The only duelist he much cared to watch was Chubs, but Kyle already knew half the cards in his deck. Chubs's strategy was rather straightforward anyway: beat down the opponent with direct Life Point attacks through use of either monsters or magic cards. Chubs seemed to particularly favor magic cards that had the ability to destroy Life Points directly, whenever beating down the opponent's defenses wasn't a viable strategy.
What I need to do is find something that will stop the use of magic cards. My problem isn't getting monsters to the field; it's protecting my Life Points from his burn cards.
"Activate Imperial Order!" a random duelist announced. The kid was smirking. "Stops your Pot of Greed in its tracks. And any other magic card you play, for that matter. All for the cost of 700 Life Points per turn."
Chubs's burn cards are all magic cards. Maybe I'll talk to the cashier about getting one of those.
.... imperial... empire...
That's it. After this tourney, I'm taking a sleeping pill, and I don't care where I conk out, just as long as I can get my sleep.
... sleep... slept so long... dream...
Maybe have some of those, too. Nice ones. Haven't had a really good dream in a long time.
The duels moved quickly. Chubs, much to Monica's announced surprise and apparent dismay, rose through the brackets and placed himself as one of the final four. Kyle wasn't surprised by this; he knew Chubs was a decent duelist, and after all, the man had told him several times of having placed first in the scrap tourneys before. The problem was the higher level tourneys, where Chubs got busted within the first two rounds.
But, to the dismay of most of the others in the store, Monica also placed in the final four. No one was surprised, not even Kyle. They all knew of her reputation.
The duels lasted somewhere between five and ten minutes. They were fought out at the same time. As expected, Monica won the duel against the person she'd been set up with. Admittedly, the guy did put up a good fight; Kyle looked forward to whoever Monica's competition would be.
What did surprise everyone (with the possible exception of Kyle) was that Chubs made it to the final round alongside Monica. His duel ended up being a lot closer than hers; he only had 100 Life Points left to work with, but it was enough for him to play Ookazi, an 800 Life Point burn card, when his opponent was at 750 Life Points.
Neither finalist was happy to see the other had made it that far.
Chubs and Monica seated themselves at the card table set up in the center of the store. Several of the losing duelists were gathered around the table. Kyle was in their midst; specifically, he was standing over Chubs's left shoulder.
Chubs leveled a determined glare at Monica. "Want to take back your rude comments now or when I beat you?"
Monica snorted. "Whatever you think will happen, Chubby, I guarantee you, won't. You have no idea what I've got in store for you." She shuffled her deck. "And I didn't even need it to beat the others."
"Beat that girl down, Chubs."
"Yeah, man, show her you don't take no crap!"
"Just like you showed me, man, show her!"
Kyle couldn't help but grin at the comments that were springing up among the gathered duelists.
Monica, for her part, snorted at the barbs. "Asking someone else to do the dirty work you couldn't accomplish? Pathetic. You earn what you get."
"Yeah, well, some of us actually did earn what we got," said Chubs. "We didn't have anyone giving us a million bucks just 'cause they felt like it."
"Pity. You could have gotten better cards."
"Criticizing my deck already? Bring it on."
"Ready when you are."
Zack set up the duelist calculator and input their starting 2000 Life Points.
And in unison, they said, "Let's duel."
Chubs made the first move. "I place one magic/trap and one monster in face-down defense mode, then end my turn."
"Hmm." On the field, she placed a magic card whose picture contained a feather duster. "I play Harpie's Feather Duster to destroy your face-down magic/trap, and then play Maha Vailo (1550/1400) in attack mode."
Maha Vailo was not a Dragon-type monster, but a Spellcaster-type instead. The picture showed a blue-robed sorcerer sitting cross-legged in midair, his eyes closed in meditation.
Chubs sighed as he discarded his face-down trap. "I coulda used that Trap Hole."
"Maha attacks your face-down."
"UFO Turtle (1400/1200) is destroyed. Activate his special effect; I special summon Lady Assailant of Flames (1500/1000) from my deck to the field in attack mode."
Monica snorted. "Bait for my Maha Vailo? I place two magic/traps face-down and end my turn."
"Just you wait." Chubs drew. "I play Garoozis (1800/1500) in attack mode and attack your Maha Vailo."
Monica put her monster in the graveyard, but she didn't lose the smug look on her face, even as her precious Life Points were reduced to 1750.
She drew. "I play The Dragon Dwelling in the Cave (1300/2000) in defense mode and end my turn."
Chubs shrugged as he drew. "Have it your way. I play Flame Cerebrus (2100/1800) in attack mode and attack your dragon."
Monica apparently was not fazed by this turn of events. She put her dragon in the graveyard, then drew her next card. "I place one monster in face-down defense mode and end my turn."
"You can only defend yourself so long." Chubs drew. "Flame Cerebrus attacks your face-down."
"Skelengel (900/400) is destroyed, and I activate his effect to draw a card." Monica drew her next card.
Chubs rolled his eyes. "I'll end my turn. You looking for something?"
"Maybe." Monica drew. "I play the magic card Raigeki to destroy all monsters on your field."
Chubs sighed and sent his monsters to the graveyard.
"Then I play Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1 (1400/1200) in attack mode and equip him with Dragon Treasure to increase his attack and defense by 300."
"Joy."
"Winged Dragon attacks your Life Points directly."
Chubs made a growling noise in the back of his throat. Kyle wasn't the only one who could hear it, but it was tough to pick out among the assorted moans and groan of the gathered duelists. In one turn, Monica had nearly wiped out Chubs's Life Points. Of course, Chubs still had 300 LP left, but that wasn't much to work with.
"May as well draw your next card, chunky, 'cause you're not getting any thinner."
"And you couldn't get any thinner if you tried." Nevertheless, Chubs drew.
Kyle fought the urge to grin. That one'll get her back for sure.
"I play Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500) in attack mode and attack your Winged Dragon."
Monica never lost her confident grin, despite the fact that her Life Points were descending to 550, nearly as low as his. "Fine by me."
Chubs crossed his arms. "I dunno what you've got waiting, but nothing you have can beat my Tyrant Dragon."
"That's where you're wrong." Monica placed a monster card face-up, in attack mode, and waited several moments for everyone to recognize it.
The other duelists gasped and emitted low murmurs of disbelief. Kyle peered over Chubs's head and spied the picture.
He recognized it, as well... and he couldn't help but gasp in amazement.
I was right...!
"Not only that," said Monica, grinning like a maniac, "but I play the magic card Riryoku, which cuts your Tyrant Dragon's attack power in half, and adds that lost power to my monster.
"Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500), now with 1450 extra attack points, attacks Tyrant Dragon."
"Unbelievable," Zack breathed, barely remembering to perform the suddenly unnecessary calculation.
Monica smirked at Chubs. "There. I put my money where my mouth is. Never ever underestimate my cards."
--
And this is where we end, for now. I'll bet you're wondering what happens next, right? Well, you'll just have to find out for yourself, when next I update the story! And for those duelists / YGO loyalists out there, you'll notice I was using the Duelist Kingdom rules. Battle City has not yet taken place. But it will, soon enough. Next up, Kyle tries his luck in a tournament of his own. Stay tuned!