A/N: I know that this is short, keep in there this is a transition to the
tournament. From here on out I try to fit in at least one duel per chapter.
Most of the chapter names will be the name of that duel, a couple are named
for the main point of the chapter. Just hang in there!
Chapter 4 The first night
"Here are your sleeping bags. They will keep you warm until morning when you can start working to get your rooms," A security guard said shoving the bags at Patrick. Patrick barely restrained the retort he had ready before he went back to the others.
"Stupid security, wish they'd just do their job and shut the hell up," Patrick grumbled. Paul took his bag wisely not asking for an explanation. Jeffery looked at him quizzically but decided to go with his better judgment. They set up their sleeping bags quickly without much trouble. "This is going to be just like our first camping trip huh Paul?"
"You mean when me and Dad moved into the car because you were snoring so loudly?" Paul quipped.
Jeffery only laughed as Patrick retorted, "Yeah well I never threw my toothpaste out of the tent because I was afraid of the bears!"
"Low blow Patrick lets just go to sleep," Paul muttered. Jeffery was near hysterics.
"Excuse me, but can I join you guys?" a female voice cut through the laughter. All the men immediately tensed up. Patrick was the first one to look up from where he was crouching to see the Venus Flytrap standing there holding a rolled up sleeping bag.
"Um, yeah sure, we were going to turn in for the night anyways," Patrick stammered. Paul only nodded.
"Thanks, the others guys can't seem to get past gawking. It really stinks to be one of the only female eliminators on this Island," She sighed unrolling her bag.
"Uh really? I thought he would have hired more since they seem to do better under pressure," Patrick said quickly. His confidence was growing but he wasn't sure if that was a good thing.
"You'd think that, but in reality he's just as much a pig as my ex- boyfriend," She grumbled.
"Your ex-boyfriend? You aren't with anyone?" Patrick asked confused.
"Yeah, we broke up about a month ago. He's probably in this tournament knowing him," She said kicking off her shoes before entering the sleeping bag.
"Who is the guy?" Paul asked.
"Just a jerk that I don't ever want to see again," She said cutting off further questions. "How about you guys, you got any attachments?"
Paul laughed in spite of himself, "Me and Pat haven't had an 'attachment' yet. It's scaring our parents too; only thing they have left to blame it on is our gaming."
"Nice job dueling Para and Dox by the way," She grinned. Both men blushed and turned away to hide it. "How about you.sorry I don't know your name."
"Jeffery, I'm married, been married for about a year. Met my wife at our regionals," He replied.
"How romantic," she cooed.
"How perfect," Patrick replied. He was in his bag eyes closed.
"Where do you come up with that assessment?" The Venus Flytrap replied.
"It takes one to put up with one," Patrick replied. He tipped his hat so it covered his face.
"What is that supposed to mean?" She replied again. It was getting to be an interrogation.
"In our circles many of my friends have said it takes a Gamer to put up with a Gamer. It's that simple, didn't think it needed any extra qualifiers," Patrick replied.
"That is simply the most unfair assessment of the female creature I have ever heard!" she retorted turning to face him.
"Prove me wrong, I'd be interested to hear about a girl who did no game playing what-so-ever have a healthy relationship where she did not feel that the games were getting in the way of the relationship," Patrick replied. The hat still did not move from its perch as he waited in silence.
"Well, um that's easy my friend dated a Gamer and.." She was abruptly cut off.
"Dated? That's past tense what happened?" Patrick said dissecting her argument.
"Well they weren't meant for each other that's simple," She replied.
"Well if they weren't meant for each other then that mean there is an external explanation, what was it?" Patrick replied.
The Venus Flytrap looked down for a second before she replied, "He played too many games.." She replied grumpily.
"The prosecution rests," Patrick replied. Jeffery and Paul were chuckling much to her annoyance.
"Alright, so that was a bad example, let me think I can come up with another," She replied off balance.
"Take as much time as you want, I'm resting," Patrick said. He rolled over putting his hat next to him.
"You just enjoy your little victory I'll prove you wrong yet," She mumbled before they all went to sleep.
~*~
The next day they woke up to find they were once again being filed into the building. Tiredly they rolled up their sleeping bags and walked over to where the duelists were gathering.
"So what's going on?" Patrick managed to choke out in his morning haze.
A security guard held up his hands before answering his question unknowingly, "My name is Crochet. I am the head of security on this Island. This room is the Eliminator's Den. On that wall you will see an electronic board; on that board is your name. Next to your name will be a number and Letter. The letter is consistent with your world wide duelist ranking. If you are unsure of your ranking a tally of your win loss record can be found at the computer. Simply enter your Name and Country of origin. The number is a room number. To treat everyone fairly your room will correspond with your rank going into this tournament, and will change accordingly with your victories."
"Nice, genius here just told us where we get to sleep if we meet quota," Patrick muttered.
"There will also be a tally of win/losses on the board next to another number. That number is the number of Star chips you have. On the board it will show the number of Star chips needed per day to obtain a room. Next to the total is the number earned per day," Crochet continued to drone on. Paul yawned causing an epidemic of yawns to go unchecked through the room.
"You will turn in your star chips to the collector after entering your room number. This will produce a card if you succeed in meeting the quota. The card will fit into a reader allowing you access to the room until noon the next day. The card is kept in the reader and will be retrieved while you work for your star chips. Any questions?"
There were none as Patrick grumbled, "Stupid lying bastard, he had enough rooms he just wants to create competition to get rooms."
"I'm sure there is a good explanation Patrick," Jeffery replied patting his shoulder.
"Damn Skippy there better be one," Patrick grumbled. The Venus Flytrap disappeared from beside them as Patrick and Paul walked up to the boards. "Lets see, we are rank...C?"
"Yeah, I guess that disqualification dropped you down some, I'm rank C but I'm only behind you by a couple of wins," Paul responded.
"Let's work at getting rank 'B' at this place, while we can," Patrick said softly.
"Hey at least we aren't rank 'F' that's bottom of the barrel," Paul said smiling.
"Yeah, at least we get points for every 'A' Rank duelist we defeat. Isn't it triple points for high rankers?" Patrick asked.
Paul nodded, "'A' ranks is a three point victory, and 'B' ranks is a two point victory at this point."
"Whatever lets get to work, we have a bunch of momma's boys to teach the lessons of true dueling," Patrick responded.
"Bro, you know I hate it when you talk like that," Paul said grinning.
"Why's that?"
"Because, then you start to grow on me," Paul said grinning wider. Patrick only grabbed his deck heading out into the sunlight, and out of the castle.
Chapter 4 The first night
"Here are your sleeping bags. They will keep you warm until morning when you can start working to get your rooms," A security guard said shoving the bags at Patrick. Patrick barely restrained the retort he had ready before he went back to the others.
"Stupid security, wish they'd just do their job and shut the hell up," Patrick grumbled. Paul took his bag wisely not asking for an explanation. Jeffery looked at him quizzically but decided to go with his better judgment. They set up their sleeping bags quickly without much trouble. "This is going to be just like our first camping trip huh Paul?"
"You mean when me and Dad moved into the car because you were snoring so loudly?" Paul quipped.
Jeffery only laughed as Patrick retorted, "Yeah well I never threw my toothpaste out of the tent because I was afraid of the bears!"
"Low blow Patrick lets just go to sleep," Paul muttered. Jeffery was near hysterics.
"Excuse me, but can I join you guys?" a female voice cut through the laughter. All the men immediately tensed up. Patrick was the first one to look up from where he was crouching to see the Venus Flytrap standing there holding a rolled up sleeping bag.
"Um, yeah sure, we were going to turn in for the night anyways," Patrick stammered. Paul only nodded.
"Thanks, the others guys can't seem to get past gawking. It really stinks to be one of the only female eliminators on this Island," She sighed unrolling her bag.
"Uh really? I thought he would have hired more since they seem to do better under pressure," Patrick said quickly. His confidence was growing but he wasn't sure if that was a good thing.
"You'd think that, but in reality he's just as much a pig as my ex- boyfriend," She grumbled.
"Your ex-boyfriend? You aren't with anyone?" Patrick asked confused.
"Yeah, we broke up about a month ago. He's probably in this tournament knowing him," She said kicking off her shoes before entering the sleeping bag.
"Who is the guy?" Paul asked.
"Just a jerk that I don't ever want to see again," She said cutting off further questions. "How about you guys, you got any attachments?"
Paul laughed in spite of himself, "Me and Pat haven't had an 'attachment' yet. It's scaring our parents too; only thing they have left to blame it on is our gaming."
"Nice job dueling Para and Dox by the way," She grinned. Both men blushed and turned away to hide it. "How about you.sorry I don't know your name."
"Jeffery, I'm married, been married for about a year. Met my wife at our regionals," He replied.
"How romantic," she cooed.
"How perfect," Patrick replied. He was in his bag eyes closed.
"Where do you come up with that assessment?" The Venus Flytrap replied.
"It takes one to put up with one," Patrick replied. He tipped his hat so it covered his face.
"What is that supposed to mean?" She replied again. It was getting to be an interrogation.
"In our circles many of my friends have said it takes a Gamer to put up with a Gamer. It's that simple, didn't think it needed any extra qualifiers," Patrick replied.
"That is simply the most unfair assessment of the female creature I have ever heard!" she retorted turning to face him.
"Prove me wrong, I'd be interested to hear about a girl who did no game playing what-so-ever have a healthy relationship where she did not feel that the games were getting in the way of the relationship," Patrick replied. The hat still did not move from its perch as he waited in silence.
"Well, um that's easy my friend dated a Gamer and.." She was abruptly cut off.
"Dated? That's past tense what happened?" Patrick said dissecting her argument.
"Well they weren't meant for each other that's simple," She replied.
"Well if they weren't meant for each other then that mean there is an external explanation, what was it?" Patrick replied.
The Venus Flytrap looked down for a second before she replied, "He played too many games.." She replied grumpily.
"The prosecution rests," Patrick replied. Jeffery and Paul were chuckling much to her annoyance.
"Alright, so that was a bad example, let me think I can come up with another," She replied off balance.
"Take as much time as you want, I'm resting," Patrick said. He rolled over putting his hat next to him.
"You just enjoy your little victory I'll prove you wrong yet," She mumbled before they all went to sleep.
~*~
The next day they woke up to find they were once again being filed into the building. Tiredly they rolled up their sleeping bags and walked over to where the duelists were gathering.
"So what's going on?" Patrick managed to choke out in his morning haze.
A security guard held up his hands before answering his question unknowingly, "My name is Crochet. I am the head of security on this Island. This room is the Eliminator's Den. On that wall you will see an electronic board; on that board is your name. Next to your name will be a number and Letter. The letter is consistent with your world wide duelist ranking. If you are unsure of your ranking a tally of your win loss record can be found at the computer. Simply enter your Name and Country of origin. The number is a room number. To treat everyone fairly your room will correspond with your rank going into this tournament, and will change accordingly with your victories."
"Nice, genius here just told us where we get to sleep if we meet quota," Patrick muttered.
"There will also be a tally of win/losses on the board next to another number. That number is the number of Star chips you have. On the board it will show the number of Star chips needed per day to obtain a room. Next to the total is the number earned per day," Crochet continued to drone on. Paul yawned causing an epidemic of yawns to go unchecked through the room.
"You will turn in your star chips to the collector after entering your room number. This will produce a card if you succeed in meeting the quota. The card will fit into a reader allowing you access to the room until noon the next day. The card is kept in the reader and will be retrieved while you work for your star chips. Any questions?"
There were none as Patrick grumbled, "Stupid lying bastard, he had enough rooms he just wants to create competition to get rooms."
"I'm sure there is a good explanation Patrick," Jeffery replied patting his shoulder.
"Damn Skippy there better be one," Patrick grumbled. The Venus Flytrap disappeared from beside them as Patrick and Paul walked up to the boards. "Lets see, we are rank...C?"
"Yeah, I guess that disqualification dropped you down some, I'm rank C but I'm only behind you by a couple of wins," Paul responded.
"Let's work at getting rank 'B' at this place, while we can," Patrick said softly.
"Hey at least we aren't rank 'F' that's bottom of the barrel," Paul said smiling.
"Yeah, at least we get points for every 'A' Rank duelist we defeat. Isn't it triple points for high rankers?" Patrick asked.
Paul nodded, "'A' ranks is a three point victory, and 'B' ranks is a two point victory at this point."
"Whatever lets get to work, we have a bunch of momma's boys to teach the lessons of true dueling," Patrick responded.
"Bro, you know I hate it when you talk like that," Paul said grinning.
"Why's that?"
"Because, then you start to grow on me," Paul said grinning wider. Patrick only grabbed his deck heading out into the sunlight, and out of the castle.