Skraku: This chapter lets you know, since you asked.
Lumen: I might point out that if I were to write a trilogy or a series, a contract with a publisher would last longer and I would make more money that way. So I'll keep that avenue open for consideration.
Wolf: So what else is new? But thanks for reading anyway. I know watching it go against official TCG rules is kind of tough, but bear with... Battle City approacheth!
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Kyle hadn't been able to sleep well for many days now. The point of origin seemed to be the day he'd won the tournament at the local card shop.
The day he'd received the Millennium Golem card from Zack.
He had memorized its every feature. Every line, every curve, every color... if someone was to ask him to reproduce the image exactly, he could do it.
It scared him to be that obsessed with one card. But on the other hand, the card itself was something he found no less frightening, after the incident in Egypt. He found himself wondering if this was how Seto Kaiba, over in Japan, had become so obsessed with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards... some sort of experience with them, or images like them, that led him to collect three of them for his deck.
Millennium Golem. (2000/2200) Earth attribute, Warrior-type.
In his morbid curiosity, he'd done research concerning the strange eye symbol that adorned the face of the Golem, as well as the pendant about his neck. It was known as the Eye of Horus, and it apparently had royal significance in ancient Egypt.
His dreams were disturbed with images of the sandy dunes of that place, but the dreams were not taking place in the setting of present day – rather, they were of the distant past, and they revealed to him great a great shoreline, along which reeds and fertile grass and the occasional fern grew. Egyptians clad in robes and loincloths of simple white made their way through the bustling streets of the capital city, and towering above them was the palace where the pharaoh and his royal family resided and ruled over these people.
Every night, he was tormented with the same images. It all seemed to move so rapidly that he could barely take it in at once, as if time was somehow being accelerated. One moment, there was the living city, full of the people's own comings and goings, uncaring about the differences between them and instead working to achieve their own goals.
Then the skies would darken... first to a dark blue, then to black. Holes would open in the sky, and from these holes would appear hordes of terrifying creatures. Some were shaped like men, but they were clearly not of this world.
There was the Egyptian standing army, positioned just beyond the gates of the palace. A man stood before them, a man wrapped in shadow. Another man, also hidden in the darkness, approached the first and spoke in a tongue Kyle couldn't interpret. Whatever he spoke, it moved the army to cheer enthusiastically.
They flooded the streets, then, and the Egyptians who huddled scared in their homes were encouraged by the sight of their brethren there to protect them... gratified that their king still cared for them, even in times as dark as these.
For not even an instant, there was the image of another figure, standing just beyond the great pillars of the palace. This one was distinctive, but every time Kyle tried to remember what the distinction above the others was, the image would elude him, and leave him to grasp at the cobwebs of his memory.
And every moment he remained in this dream, a foreboding voice spoke a single word that resounded throughout the atmosphere... the word rebounded off the walls of the dwellings, be they houses or hovels... it echoed through the streets and moved between the soldiers attempting to ward off the nightmarish creatures.
...danger...
His mother had once awakened him from his sleep, asking if he was okay. She'd heard him groaning.
He'd been embarrassed and mumbled his reassurances to her, but in all actuality, he was anything but fine.
What's happening to me? And moreover, WHY is it happening to me?
Whoever – or whatever – the voice was, it did not disturb him while he studied for school, and it did not offer any warnings to him when he was out at the card shop, buying new Duel Monsters paraphernalia... mostly consisting of cards and strategy guides. As soon as he had discovered these correlations, he set to spending nearly all of his time doing one of these two things.
His homework and test grades had already been high, though his participation grades had been understandably lacking up to this point. He began to change that by getting himself actively involved in class studies, offering his opinion and his suggestions – much to the delight of some teachers who'd been sure all along he had a good person in him, and to the consternation of others who thought he was trying to pull off some major hoax – and generally contributing just as much to the class as any 4.0 student.
Kyle's parents began to receive glowing reports from the teachers, much to their surprise and delight. Thus his father, for the time being, relented on the speeches about the medical profession, his required hours with Dr. Dawson were cut in half, and he was given a little more leeway in how he used his time – not that they'd ever been able to place a proper restriction on that, anyway – so he was usually found sitting at the card shop or Chubs' house.
The card shop was making plenty of money from Kyle's pockets. So was Zack's business... not that it wasn't booming already, but Kyle was beginning to figure out for himself what combination of restricted cards he would need in his deck to make it more powerful than before. Ready to take on the second tier.
Chubs' mother seemed to be enjoying Kyle's company more and more each time he visited. Chubs heard nothing but praise from her about his new friend, and admissions about how she'd been wrong about Kyle, and how he seemed to be one of the best choices Chubs could have made. This, in turn, only made Chubs more proud of himself for sitting down at the table no one else would dare seat themselves.
Monica had not even bothered to set her eyes, much less her words, on Kyle since she'd revealed she was in possession of a Blue-Eyes card. As far as he knew, she was still attaining consistently high marks in school, and she was still taking the yellow roses he randomly left in her locker to find. Several of their classmates had seen him doing this by now, but they simply chuckled to themselves and made it fodder for gossip later on. A slightly amusing report of Monica carrying out a bunch of the flowers to her car reached Kyle's ears; apparently she was seen by one of the teachers, who did nothing beyond raise her eyebrow at the girl, but Monica had still blushed hotly and scurried to her car double-time.
Then came the first weekend of March, and Kyle knew he was ready for the next level of dueling.
--
Kyle strolled into Zack's card shop after school that Wednesday afternoon, as had become his routine for every weekday, now. He was a bit later than usual, and he had a slight grin on his face. Zack scoffed at the look. "And just what are you so happy about today?"
"Couple things. First off, it looks like I'll finally be getting my own wheels."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Motorcycle. Not an expensive thing, by any means, but it'll get me from place to place. And since the weather's just starting to warm up, it's a great time to get one."
"Well, you did say you got a motorcycle license on Monday. Not too much of a stretch to assume you plan to use it."
Kyle cast a sour look in Zack's direction. "Har har. I'm getting one. So there."
"Cool. What's the other news?"
"Signed up for the second tier this Saturday."
Zack leaned forward on his stool and laced his fingers on the countertop. "You sure you're ready for that level?"
"Course I'm sure. I made it through first level, and my deck's a lot stronger now, thanks to both you and Chubs."
"I suppose you already knew that Chubs and I are planning to participate in that same tournament."
Kyle blinked in surprise. "Chubs told me he was going to. Didn't realize you were going for it, as well. What, are you going to close the shop that day, then?"
"Hardly. Boss'll be in. I can't have every Saturday as a work day, after all." Zack smirked.
"So I'm going to get to see you duel, then, hm?"
"Don't count on it. You'll be a bit busy with your own games." Zack harrumphed in amusement. "As will the rest of us. But if I were you, I'd keep my eyes peeled. Take a look at everyone at that tourney, make sure you know their faces. I honestly think chances are you'll be meeting them again."
...meeting... again...
"Sure," Kyle scoffed. "On the third tier, maybe, assuming I skip a couple weeks."
"Don't get overconfident, Kyle," Zack addressed his junior, his tone frank. "Confidence is good, make no mistake. It's healthy that you have some, but don't let that one tourney win go to your head. Better duelists than you have lost the second tier. You've got the money to buy the cards you want and the brains to formulate strategy, and so far you've also had the luck to combine the two into some formidable saves. What you need to do every once in a while, though, is take the offensive, and hang on to it. Don't try to save yourself; make your opponent try to save himself."
...save... save...
"If you say so," Kyle shrugged. "If I lose, it's no skin off my nose. I can always try it again."
"That you can." The cashier grinned. "Now... what can I do for you today?"
"Get me more cards," Kyle answered simply.
"Building up quite a collection, there."
"My deck's going to be only the best, my friend. That way I can duel the best and get away with a win."
Zack raised an eyebrow. "What about your parents? They know you're spending this kind of money?"
"Course not. I conduct my own transactions." Kyle smirked. "But I don't think I'd care even if they did find out. It's a much healthier hobby than smoking, I'll tell you that."
"I wouldn't know anything about that."
"Good. Now... cards?"
Zack chuckled and turned to the shelves where the store kept their various stocks of cards. "You're officially obsessed. Packs or individuals?"
"Individuals. Out of your stockpile."
"You love giving me money, don't you?"
"You love getting my money, don't you?"
Zack scoffed as he pulled out his various card binders. "Can't argue with that. You're becoming a preferred buyer, at this rate."
"Nice to know. Get an invoice ready, this is going to be a major impulse purchase."
--
Saturday
--
Kyle left his new motorcycle in the garage in favor of one of the family cars, since there had been forecasts of bitingly cold weather. He reminded himself that it was still relatively early in the year, and that spring hadn't officially arrived yet.
His drive to Chubs' house was a short one, though not necessarily uneventful. He found himself arguing silently with the voice that continued to echo through his mind.
...danger... save...
What the hell are you babbling on about, now? Where did you come from, anyway? Are you just some figment of my imagination? Am I going schizophrenic? What do you want from me, anyway? What danger? Save what? Tell me more than that, if you're going to say anything at all!
...danger... great... danger...
Oh, goody, now it's GREAT danger. What great danger are we talking about here? If you're talking about the tournament, I've got nothing to be afraid of there. It's just a bunch of people getting together and playing a game.
...game... Shadow...
What ARE you talking about?! Why won't you just give me a straight answer for once? What shadow?
...Shadow game...
Kyle blinked. The voice had said many things to him before, but had never chained two word together at once. And they weren't really words... but they were the closest words he could use to define what the voice was saying. It spoke to him silently, and didn't give him actual words to work with, but it gave him a positive, innate feeling that game and shadow were the words it was trying to say.
Shadow game? What's a shadow game?
...great danger...
Kyle rolled his eyes. You... are impossible, you know that?
At this, the voice also seemed to grow frustrated, and its nonverbal entreaties became more frantic. ...danger...! Shadow game... great danger...!
"What the hell is a shadow game?" he asked aloud.
"Huh?"
Kyle was jerked back to reality, and noticed that without processing conscious thought, Chubs had ended up in the passenger seat of the car and was just buckling in his seat belt.
Kyle frowned, blinked several times, and looked at Chubs. "What? Did I say something?"
"You asked, 'What the hell is a shadow game?' If you're asking me, I've got no idea what the hell a shadow game is. Unless you're talking about this..." Chubs crossed his hands together in front of his face and pressed his thumbs together. "Look! It's a bat!"
"Uhh..." Kyle shook his head. "Sorry. I don't know what got into me. I don't even know where that came from."
"You okay? Your parents bugging you about the medicine bit again?" Chubs asked, his voice turning slightly sympathetic.
Kyle shook his head once more. "No, it's not that. It's just..." He sighed. "Eh, it's nothing. My imagination's running wild."
"Good. Then you can think up some killer strategies for the tourney."
Kyle took a couple of deep breaths and nodded. "Right. Tourney. Let's get going."
"You sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine." Kyle kicked the car into reverse, backed out of the drive, and zoomed up the street, eager more than ever to arrive at the tournament.
--
Kyle felt slightly apprehensive, walking into a different card shop filled with duelists he really didn't know. His consolation was that Chubs was there with him, and Zack had apparently already made the trek and was waiting for them near the door.
"Glad you decided to show up. I was getting worried," he joked. "They're about to post a bracket. You guys paid for your entry?"
"I did that when I registered," said Kyle.
"Crap, I didn't," Chubs muttered. He hurried over to the cashier to do just that.
Kyle crossed his arms and stared into the crowd of faceless duelists. He tapped his foot, though from impatience or anxiety, it was hard to tell. Zack watched the repetitive movement and couldn't help but smile slightly. "You're pretty eager, huh? Still confident?"
"You know it," Kyle responded automatically. "I'm ready to get this thing on the road."
"All right, everyone," the cashier announced, just an instant after Chubs had made his exchange. "Gather 'round and take a look at the bracket. Find your name, then find your opponent, take a table, and start playing. Winners approach the counter after their duel and wait for the next round."
Before Zack could even take a step toward the counter to check the bracket, a girl looking to be about his age stepped in front of him, hands on her hips. Her shoulder-length brown hair was bound into a tight ponytail, her blazing green eyes bore directly into his, and she wore several silver necklaces of varying size that were tinkling lightly against each other.
"You're Zack," she said definitively.
"And you are?" he responded.
"Your opponent this round. Let's get to it."
"Hm. Well, when you put it that way..." The two stepped away from Kyle and seated themselves at the nearest open table.
Kyle scoffed. Nice. Very nice. Hope you can take your own advice, Zack, that woman has the look of a vulture in her eye... He made his way to the counter and looked at the bracket.
Justin. Who's Justin?
"Hey, where's Kyle? Is there a Kyle here?"
Kyle stood up straight and looked around for the voice that had uttered his name, at the same time responding, "That's me, I'm Kyle."
"Over here."
Kyle glanced to his left and saw a grown man even more round than Chubs beckoning to him. His hairline was receding slightly, he had a double chin – which obviously hadn't been shaved this morning – and there was a patch of sweat on his shirt... though from what activity, Kyle wasn't sure he even wanted to guess. "I'm Justin. Let's have a seat, shall we?"
"Sure."
They approached a random table and sat themselves down at it. They shuffled their decks, nearly turning that into a competition in itself, one trying to shuffle more quickly than the other. Kyle kept his eye on his huge opponent. "Who goes first?"
"Allow me," Justin answered.
"Fine."
Justin drew six cards, perused his hand for a few moments, then announced, "I place four magic/trap cards face-down and end my turn."
Kyle's eyes nearly bugged out. Four m/t's? Jeez... I really have to be careful here...
He'd already drawn his first five cards. His sixth one gave him a slight charge of satisfaction. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy that magic/trap card." He indicated the one farthest to Justin's left.
Justin shrugged. "Fair enough."
And he discarded his face-down Fake Trap.
Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me... that trap wouldn't have even done anything anyway! It was MEANT to be destroyed in place of another trap card! He sighed and looked over his hand a little more before announcing, "I play People Running About (600/600) in defense mode and one magic/trap face-down, and end my turn."
"As I said, fair enough." Justin drew his next card. "That will do nicely. I place two more magic/trap cards face-down and end my turn."
Kyle frowned. Now his magic/trap field, except for his field card space, is full. Not a single monster yet, and he's only got one card left in his hand. Wonder what he's up to. But he's not trying to take my bait for People. So I'll just have to try to take the fight to him.
He drew, then declared, "I play United Resistance (1000/600) in attack mode, and one more magic/trap card face-down. Then I switch People Running About to attack mode, and have United Resistance attack your Life Points."
"Fine, I lose a thousand. I can still do a lot with a thousand Life Points, kid." Justin winked conspiratorially at Kyle. "That all for you?"
Kyle fought the impulse to glare. "Yeah, your turn."
"Great." Justin drew his next card. "Well, then. I guess I'll just have to end my turn without playing a card."
You're kidding. You're just going to let yourself get hammered away by a pair of weak monsters?
...danger...
Oh, be quiet! Kyle drew his next card and smirked. "Looks like the end of this duel for you. United Resistance attacks your Life Points."
"Activate trap card, Waboku," Justin informed his opponent. "I'm not so easily taken down that I'll let through another attack like that."
"I'm sure," Kyle scoffed. "My turn's done."
"Good." Justin drew, then scanned the field and declared, "I play Nightmare Steelcage. This magic card prevents us both from attacking for two turns."
"Fine," Kyle scoffed. "You're not attacking anyway, and I can get to your Life Points other ways."
"I'm eager to see what you have in mind. My turn is finished."
Kyle drew his next card without comment, then said, "I switch People and Resistance to defense mode, and then play Launcher Spider (2200/2500) in attack mode. Top that."
"You still can't attack," Justin smirked.
"That'll be remedied shortly. End turn."
Justin drew his next card and sighed in a bored manner. "Nope, doesn't look like I'll be playing anything this turn. Your turn."
Kyle scowled as he drew. There's a reason they call this game Duel Monsters... but playing this way is just as deadly as playing with the monster cards. He looked at the card he'd just drawn.
His breath caught in his throat. It was Millennium Golem.
Oy. Get over it, Kyle, and just play the damn card, would you?
He blew out his breath. "Okay. I play Millennium Golem (2000/2200) in attack mode."
"Activate trap card," Justin announced, and for a moment, Kyle thought Justin was using a Trap Hole. But upon closer inspection of the card the man was turning over, Kyle quickly realized that Trap Hole wasn't nearly as dangerous as this one.
Not by a long shot.
"Just Desserts." Justin smirked. "You take five hundred points of direct damage to your Life Points for every monster on your field. I count four, and four times five hundred equals two thousand, if I'm not mistaken. Which means I win this game."
"Not quite," said Kyle, who turned over one of his own magic/traps. "Activate counter-trap card, Barrel Behind The Door."
Justin's eyes widened in shock. "What?!"
"You heard me. Now you take the damage you tried to deal me, since it's not damage dealt by a monster attack." Kyle crossed his arms and offered a smirk of his own. "So, who wins the game?"
As Justin tried to stammer out a response, Kyle reminded himself to thank Zack for suggesting acquisition of that card. "Useful when you have an opponent who's trying to be tricky or playing burn cards. Never know what he's going to try."
Kyle breathed out a sigh of relief. There you go, Zack. I maintained the offensive. Hope you're proud of me for it.
He gathered his cards together and approached the counter, ready for the next phase of the tournament.
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We've not yet reached the point of no return. But I guarantee that it will arrive next chapter, no matter how long I have to make it to bring us there. And what will happen? Find out next time! Stay tuned!