Disclaimer: Getting warmer...but still no Yu-gi-oh.
Chapter Four: Battle City Approaches
Yawning, Drake flopped down on his bed without even getting undressed and started to fall asleep. Of course he quickly noticed an annoying pain in his side that told him he had forgotten to remove his deck from his pocket. Sighing, he rose from the bed and took his wallet out of one pocket and set it aside, then took his deck out of the other and put it next to his wallet. Then he returned to the bed to get some much need and well deserved sleep. "Drake! Something was left for you earlier today!"
Drake groaned at being kept from sleep by his mother's call. He didn't want to get up, and whatever it was could wait for tommorow, even though it wasn't night yet he felt exhausted for some reason. So, he ignored his mother....for roughly a minute. "DRAKE! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"
He groaned once more and pulled himself out of bed and made his way downstairs to where his mother was making dinner. "Yes mother? What is it?" She rolled her eyes at his supposed formality and handed him a little letter. He glanced at it quizically and then took it up to his room to check it out. Once he sat down he opened it up and looked inside. The Kaiba Corporation symbol on it told him immediately that he was in trouble...or at least that was his first reaction.
"Daisuke Ihachi, your presence is requested in Domino Square at 9:00 p.m. sharp for a special announcement by Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corporations. You are invited not as a Kaiba Corp. employee, but as a highly skilled duelist." Drake's eyes lit up as he finished reading the letter, instantly he realized what it meant. The rumors that had been circulating through Kaiba Corp. were true, Kaiba was going to hold a tournament...and it was going to be announced in twenty minutes! Feeling lucky that he had been too tired to undress he hurled himself out the door, down the stairs, and onto the street at a dead run. It took twenty-five minutes on foot, even running, to get to Domino Square from his house!
******************************
He ran as fast as he possibly could, probably faster then he ever had before, but still it wasn't fast enough. Unconsciously he ticked down the seconds and minutes until the announcement was supposed to be made, only three minutes and nineteen seconds left. His feet ached with the pounding he was giving them as he hurtled across the black top. Thirty seconds left!
Kaiba's voice booming over the whirring of a helicopter was the first sign that he was nearing the square, but he was still too far to be able to hear what was being said. If anything this made Drake put on a sudden burst of speed, making his leg muscles burn with the strain. His body just wasn't used to this kind of all out running, it wasn't made for it. "IN ONE WEEK THIS CITY WILL BE A BATTLE CITY!"
Drake came to a skidding halt dropped to his knees, panting for breath, sucking desperately at the air around him. His lungs were on fire...and to make it all worse, Kaiba's copter was rising up and away...he had already finished his announcement! "No...wait..." A few people gathered around him to see what was wrong and to help him up.
"Are you okay?" Drake blinked his eyes and refocused them on the people in front of him. One, by the height and hair, was most definitely Yugi Motou, then there was Mai Valentine, who Drake recognized from his previous defeat. There was another girl with them, but he didn't know who she was, there was also a lanky fellow with blond hair and green eyes. Drake managed a nod and took in a few more deep breaths before he felt that he was ready to speak.
"I'm fine. Thanks for helping me...but could any of you tell me what Kaiba said? I missed the announcement because I only saw my letter twenty minutes ago." The four of them grinned, and the blond boy gestured for the others to tell them. With that decided they proceeded to tell him about a rule about betting your rarest card at the beginning of a duel, and the new duel discs that everyone would be using. According to them he had one week to prepare himself and register for the tournament.
"Thanks, I know I probably would have found out eventually, but knowing now is a lot easier on me. Now I just hope I can tune my deck and my dueling skill enough to make a fair showing in Battle City...this time you better hope you don't run into me Mai, otherwise you'll find yourself in a duel you just can't win." The blond laughed at his comments, and told him he'd lose just as badly as he had in their first duel. Yugi and his friend, Tea, wished him long, and the three headed off. Now it was just him and the blond boy.
"So...who are you anyways, you don't exactly look like you're from around here." The blond boy grinned and spoke in a very thick accent, thick enough that Drake barely recognized the words as Japanese in origin, translating their meaning was something completely different, because the words were so garbled.
"I am Lucas Braunham, Germany's Champion, I wish you well in Battle City." With those words Germany's Champion Duelist turned and walked away, becoming lost in the crowd. Drake grinned, it had been a very interested few days, and it looked like everything was going to get even more interesting.
**************************
"I attack with Parrot Dragon which ends the duel." The young man casually brushes his brown hair out of his eyes, eyes that are an icy blue color, eyes that can chill you to the bone. He rises and gathers his deck together and calmly slips it into his pocket. The boy he had been dueling was one of his...friends. One of his few friends. That didn't bother the young man in the slightest, he wouldn't let it. It hadn't bothered him before he changed, and it bothered him even less after the change.
He was what most would call, an outcast. At least in popular society. And while he remembered having been an outcast all through his time in school, all through life, he also remembered being extremely well thought of, or at least thought of a lot, and with a great amount of fear. He remembered people begging him for their lives right before he snatched it away. He remembered being practically worshiped, but the people of this age didn't remember him at all, there was no worship, no fear, and it disgusted him. Not many people thought of what he used to be at all, it was as if all memories of his existence and the rest of his kind's existence had been destroyed.
Or maybe it was what he was...there was no way to be sure. But he was certain on one thing, he had been given a new lease on life, a lease that none could take back. And he would use his second chance to succeed where he had failed before. He would use the magic of ancient Egypt to accomplish his goal, the same magic that had once thwarted him, and once he had succeeded, he would have revenge against the ones who had brought this change upon him in the first place. He would have the ultimate revenge, for when he succeeded, they would all cease to exist.
Once he was out of range of his so called friend he pulled a cell phone from his pocket, and hit the six for a speed dial. The phone rang a few times before a deep, somewhat raspy voice answered. "Yes?"
"Have I been registered into Battle City?" There was a brief pause, and a quake in the man's voice before he responded. This one at least knew to fear him, and well that he did.
"Of course sir, everything is as you requested it."
"Perfect. And the cards I requested to be sent with the package?"
"They have been sent as well, they are waiting at the set location." A small smile crossed the young man's features, a smile that did not touch his cold eyes. He remembered showing far more joy, joy at the pain and death's of thousands of mortals, but things had changed since those days, he no longer had luxuries of the old.
"The gods?"
"Obelisk is with Seto Kaiba, the other two remain with the second Ishtar. There was silence for an extended period of time, finally the person on the other end spoke once more, daring to hope that his master wouldn't be displeased with this news.
"Is there anything else you wish to know sir?" Taichi Nobuki, the new Taichi Nobuki, clicked the phone shut and slipped it into his pocket, alongside his deck. There would be a few modifications to take care of, and then he would walk out into Battle City, a three star duelist who would be 'easy prey' for any heavier hitters.
"Everything is going exactly as I foresaw." Taichi stepped through the door of the place that for the moment he called home, or at least part of him called home. The other part of him called it a drab apartment not worthy to house his greatness. In a way he thought that both sides were right, but only one opinion really mattered.
A voice called out from somewhere in the apartment, a female voice that one part of him called mother. The other called her nothing, he had no time for this woman. "Taichi, you've been out too long, you should have called in to tell me you'd be late from school."
"It slipped my mind."
"Well as long as your back, I better let you know. I package came for you while you were at school, it said strictly not to open. What kind of packages are you getting young man? If its anything that I wouldn't like then you will so be grounded!"
Taichi rolled his eyes and walked into the 'kitchen' where his 'mother' was making dinner. On the counter was the package. "It's nothing mother, just a dueling disk."
"Dueling disk? Don't tell me you've entered yourself into this new tournament! And without my permission?"
"I'm going to be in the city the whole time anyways...and besides, we're off school now. I was with friends." Taichi hated having to tell this woman things, hated having her pester him. But if he removed her, then things would suddenly get suspicious, and even his connections couldn't keep things totally silent. Eventually something would get out, eventually...
Several minutes later Taichi sat down on his bed and opened the package, careful not to ruin the contents. He made sure that his hands were clean before handling what was inside. Within the box was the box with his duel disk and locater card, the card that was like the star chips of duelist kingdom. A smaller package was also inside, something small enough to be a box of duel monsters cards. Smirking he opened the box and looked through the cards. Everything he needed was there. It didn't take him more then an hour to perfectly assemble his deck, and then he was prepared to crush every duelist he faced. There would be no challenges to his skill except for one, that one he would leave for last.
The prospect of taking the rarest card off of any duelist he beat was amusing to him. He had all the rare cards anyone could possibly want and more, except for three cards that should be in his hands. Deck ready, and Duel Disk on his arm he left his 'home' and entered the bulk of Domino City. Or rather, Battle City. His wave of victories had just begun.
************************
Ryu woke up to the familiar sound of his alarm clock. After getting up and dressed, he walked out into the living room to see Hinata half awake, watching TV, "Morning..."
"Morning," Ryu walked over to the closet were Hinata had put her two swords, one metal, one bamboo. He picked up the metal one and put it under his overcoat. He glanced over at Hinata who hadn't taken her eyes off the TV. He was about to go out the door when she spoke, "That's my sword, so if you plan on doing anything with it… I suggest you don't."
"What makes you think that I'd do anything with it?"
"There are two things a tired person can think of to use a weapon for…killing and selling…I suggest that you use your sword for that…" Hinata yawned when she was finished.
"I don't have it anymore. The landlord told me to get rid of it or I'd be back on the streets," replied Ryu as he tried to leave again, "Wait…" Hinata got up and walked over to him, "You're insane enough to go around with a sword?"
"Oh… I…uhh…hadn't thought of that…I guess I'm still tired,"" Ryu handed her the katana and went for his bowie knife, still crimson from embarrassment. After he left, Hinata grabbed the bamboo sword and went after him.
Outside, she caught up to him when he was about to get on a bus, "What's been up with you lately? You seem…stressed," Ryu lifted an eyebrow, "Okay, that's normal for you…you just…just seem more stressed."
Ryu got off the bus and it drove away. After a few seconds, he handed her his deck, "Look through it, do you see a Blue-Eyes anywhere in there?"
"Of course not, there's only four…and Seto Kaiba has three of them, the last one is rumored to have been destroyed or something," she replied.
"I came across the print used for the Blue Eyes in an abandoned Industrial Illusions factory, so I set the machine to running and managed to make myself one before the machine went totally caput. It was mine…mine until some kid got to it. I need to find it, and I have no clue where the hell to look, so I might as well start now."
"Just don't do anything stupid, okay? I don't want you to end up like my brother…At least let me help you."
"The people who took it…they have powers…I can't explain it well. The guy who took my card took me to some place he called the shadow realm…we dueled there…Then after it, he…they split apart and one of them brought the card to life…it attacked me…I blacked out…when I woke up my card was gone. It's dangerous, and you don't have the years of experience I have," replied Ryu.
"Well, I'm experienced enough to beat you," argued Hinata, "Remember last week?"
"Luck…"
"What do you mean 'luck'? I've been taking Kendo since I was eleven!" replied Hinata. Ryu turned around, "And I've been on the streets, fighting for my life for more than eight years."
Hinata looked down as Ryu spoke, "Just stay here, okay?"
Hinata nodded her head, "How are you going to find them?"
Ryu sighed and gestured to the deck in the slot of his Millennium Gauntlet. "I've got other rare cards in here, so I figure I'll snag a duel disk, and do some dueling. Hopefully those guys will hear about it and come after me, I'll work my way from there. That's the best plan I've been able to come up with."
Ryu blinked at the card that was shoved in his face. "What are you doing? This Jinzo...its your best card...your rarest card. Why are you giving it to me?"
"Don't be stupid. If you're gonna take on these guys who beat you before you're gonna need all the good cards you can get, and I want to help you out in any way that I can. Since you won't let me come with you, I'm just gonna have to settle with giving you my rarest card to duel with."
"Thank you Hinata, but please, stay here, and stay safe."
*************************
Dalin Imaki Sumatin wasn't quite certain how he was where he was. However he did know that he owed Malik Ishtar quite a debt, though at the moment that wasn't particularly important. He needed to find...Dalin stopped in thought. He could no longer remember who he needed to find, that memory had slipped away like so many others before it. Now he only knew that he was searching for someone, and that Malik had made him quite aware that the person he quested for he could find in Domino City.
His thoughts drifted to a conversation coming from around the corner. Somehow it had reached his ears and he soon realized its importance. "...They have powers…I can't explain it well. The guy who took my card took me to some place he called the shadow realm…we dueled there…Then after it, he…they split apart and one of them brought the card to life…it attacked me…I blacked out…when I woke up my card was gone. It's dangerous, and you don't have the years of experience I have."
That stopped Dalin. The rest of the words flowed past him as his thoughts dwelled upon some of those words. The words 'Shadow Realm'. Words that meant a great deal to him. "Malik was right, the games do continue. Then I suppose the cards I possess may come in handy."
The last few words drifted to his ears, the words of a woman. "I gotta help him." Dalin walked around the corner and stopped beside the woman. He did not look directly at her, women were not important and held no true status unless of noble birth. Or at least they hadn't. Not from what he remembered.
"Do you truly wish to help him?"
The woman looked up at him and replied cautiously, "Yes..."
"Then follow me." And he began walking off after the bus that had carried the man away, this was a lead that he had to follow. If he didn't, he might never find who he was searching for. Even if he didn't remember who that was.
Hinata followed the mysterious man through Domino city. She knew that it wasn't a smart move, following someone she didn't know and all, but she was desperate. If anything happened to Ryu she wouldn't be able to cope without him, "How do you know where he is? How do you know who I'm looking for?"
"I don't know where he is," he replied, "I was just following the bus."
"Don't you think I could do that myself?" came her reply.
"No."
"So, why do you care?" she asked.
"...I know where your friend's card is," he lied. He didn't want to reveal his true intentions. That he didn't truly want to help, but to find out what Ryu knew.
"Oh... Well, he did say that he was going to Kaiba Land to get in a duel," she said, still not trusting the man who stood before her, "Maybe we should wait there. Then when he's done we can follow him."
"I suppose that will have to do."
_____________________________________________
Next Time: The first Battle City duel of our series explodes into action, and meanwhile Ryu starts searching and another duelist does battle with astounding skill...
Chapter Four: Battle City Approaches
Yawning, Drake flopped down on his bed without even getting undressed and started to fall asleep. Of course he quickly noticed an annoying pain in his side that told him he had forgotten to remove his deck from his pocket. Sighing, he rose from the bed and took his wallet out of one pocket and set it aside, then took his deck out of the other and put it next to his wallet. Then he returned to the bed to get some much need and well deserved sleep. "Drake! Something was left for you earlier today!"
Drake groaned at being kept from sleep by his mother's call. He didn't want to get up, and whatever it was could wait for tommorow, even though it wasn't night yet he felt exhausted for some reason. So, he ignored his mother....for roughly a minute. "DRAKE! GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"
He groaned once more and pulled himself out of bed and made his way downstairs to where his mother was making dinner. "Yes mother? What is it?" She rolled her eyes at his supposed formality and handed him a little letter. He glanced at it quizically and then took it up to his room to check it out. Once he sat down he opened it up and looked inside. The Kaiba Corporation symbol on it told him immediately that he was in trouble...or at least that was his first reaction.
"Daisuke Ihachi, your presence is requested in Domino Square at 9:00 p.m. sharp for a special announcement by Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba Corporations. You are invited not as a Kaiba Corp. employee, but as a highly skilled duelist." Drake's eyes lit up as he finished reading the letter, instantly he realized what it meant. The rumors that had been circulating through Kaiba Corp. were true, Kaiba was going to hold a tournament...and it was going to be announced in twenty minutes! Feeling lucky that he had been too tired to undress he hurled himself out the door, down the stairs, and onto the street at a dead run. It took twenty-five minutes on foot, even running, to get to Domino Square from his house!
******************************
He ran as fast as he possibly could, probably faster then he ever had before, but still it wasn't fast enough. Unconsciously he ticked down the seconds and minutes until the announcement was supposed to be made, only three minutes and nineteen seconds left. His feet ached with the pounding he was giving them as he hurtled across the black top. Thirty seconds left!
Kaiba's voice booming over the whirring of a helicopter was the first sign that he was nearing the square, but he was still too far to be able to hear what was being said. If anything this made Drake put on a sudden burst of speed, making his leg muscles burn with the strain. His body just wasn't used to this kind of all out running, it wasn't made for it. "IN ONE WEEK THIS CITY WILL BE A BATTLE CITY!"
Drake came to a skidding halt dropped to his knees, panting for breath, sucking desperately at the air around him. His lungs were on fire...and to make it all worse, Kaiba's copter was rising up and away...he had already finished his announcement! "No...wait..." A few people gathered around him to see what was wrong and to help him up.
"Are you okay?" Drake blinked his eyes and refocused them on the people in front of him. One, by the height and hair, was most definitely Yugi Motou, then there was Mai Valentine, who Drake recognized from his previous defeat. There was another girl with them, but he didn't know who she was, there was also a lanky fellow with blond hair and green eyes. Drake managed a nod and took in a few more deep breaths before he felt that he was ready to speak.
"I'm fine. Thanks for helping me...but could any of you tell me what Kaiba said? I missed the announcement because I only saw my letter twenty minutes ago." The four of them grinned, and the blond boy gestured for the others to tell them. With that decided they proceeded to tell him about a rule about betting your rarest card at the beginning of a duel, and the new duel discs that everyone would be using. According to them he had one week to prepare himself and register for the tournament.
"Thanks, I know I probably would have found out eventually, but knowing now is a lot easier on me. Now I just hope I can tune my deck and my dueling skill enough to make a fair showing in Battle City...this time you better hope you don't run into me Mai, otherwise you'll find yourself in a duel you just can't win." The blond laughed at his comments, and told him he'd lose just as badly as he had in their first duel. Yugi and his friend, Tea, wished him long, and the three headed off. Now it was just him and the blond boy.
"So...who are you anyways, you don't exactly look like you're from around here." The blond boy grinned and spoke in a very thick accent, thick enough that Drake barely recognized the words as Japanese in origin, translating their meaning was something completely different, because the words were so garbled.
"I am Lucas Braunham, Germany's Champion, I wish you well in Battle City." With those words Germany's Champion Duelist turned and walked away, becoming lost in the crowd. Drake grinned, it had been a very interested few days, and it looked like everything was going to get even more interesting.
**************************
"I attack with Parrot Dragon which ends the duel." The young man casually brushes his brown hair out of his eyes, eyes that are an icy blue color, eyes that can chill you to the bone. He rises and gathers his deck together and calmly slips it into his pocket. The boy he had been dueling was one of his...friends. One of his few friends. That didn't bother the young man in the slightest, he wouldn't let it. It hadn't bothered him before he changed, and it bothered him even less after the change.
He was what most would call, an outcast. At least in popular society. And while he remembered having been an outcast all through his time in school, all through life, he also remembered being extremely well thought of, or at least thought of a lot, and with a great amount of fear. He remembered people begging him for their lives right before he snatched it away. He remembered being practically worshiped, but the people of this age didn't remember him at all, there was no worship, no fear, and it disgusted him. Not many people thought of what he used to be at all, it was as if all memories of his existence and the rest of his kind's existence had been destroyed.
Or maybe it was what he was...there was no way to be sure. But he was certain on one thing, he had been given a new lease on life, a lease that none could take back. And he would use his second chance to succeed where he had failed before. He would use the magic of ancient Egypt to accomplish his goal, the same magic that had once thwarted him, and once he had succeeded, he would have revenge against the ones who had brought this change upon him in the first place. He would have the ultimate revenge, for when he succeeded, they would all cease to exist.
Once he was out of range of his so called friend he pulled a cell phone from his pocket, and hit the six for a speed dial. The phone rang a few times before a deep, somewhat raspy voice answered. "Yes?"
"Have I been registered into Battle City?" There was a brief pause, and a quake in the man's voice before he responded. This one at least knew to fear him, and well that he did.
"Of course sir, everything is as you requested it."
"Perfect. And the cards I requested to be sent with the package?"
"They have been sent as well, they are waiting at the set location." A small smile crossed the young man's features, a smile that did not touch his cold eyes. He remembered showing far more joy, joy at the pain and death's of thousands of mortals, but things had changed since those days, he no longer had luxuries of the old.
"The gods?"
"Obelisk is with Seto Kaiba, the other two remain with the second Ishtar. There was silence for an extended period of time, finally the person on the other end spoke once more, daring to hope that his master wouldn't be displeased with this news.
"Is there anything else you wish to know sir?" Taichi Nobuki, the new Taichi Nobuki, clicked the phone shut and slipped it into his pocket, alongside his deck. There would be a few modifications to take care of, and then he would walk out into Battle City, a three star duelist who would be 'easy prey' for any heavier hitters.
"Everything is going exactly as I foresaw." Taichi stepped through the door of the place that for the moment he called home, or at least part of him called home. The other part of him called it a drab apartment not worthy to house his greatness. In a way he thought that both sides were right, but only one opinion really mattered.
A voice called out from somewhere in the apartment, a female voice that one part of him called mother. The other called her nothing, he had no time for this woman. "Taichi, you've been out too long, you should have called in to tell me you'd be late from school."
"It slipped my mind."
"Well as long as your back, I better let you know. I package came for you while you were at school, it said strictly not to open. What kind of packages are you getting young man? If its anything that I wouldn't like then you will so be grounded!"
Taichi rolled his eyes and walked into the 'kitchen' where his 'mother' was making dinner. On the counter was the package. "It's nothing mother, just a dueling disk."
"Dueling disk? Don't tell me you've entered yourself into this new tournament! And without my permission?"
"I'm going to be in the city the whole time anyways...and besides, we're off school now. I was with friends." Taichi hated having to tell this woman things, hated having her pester him. But if he removed her, then things would suddenly get suspicious, and even his connections couldn't keep things totally silent. Eventually something would get out, eventually...
Several minutes later Taichi sat down on his bed and opened the package, careful not to ruin the contents. He made sure that his hands were clean before handling what was inside. Within the box was the box with his duel disk and locater card, the card that was like the star chips of duelist kingdom. A smaller package was also inside, something small enough to be a box of duel monsters cards. Smirking he opened the box and looked through the cards. Everything he needed was there. It didn't take him more then an hour to perfectly assemble his deck, and then he was prepared to crush every duelist he faced. There would be no challenges to his skill except for one, that one he would leave for last.
The prospect of taking the rarest card off of any duelist he beat was amusing to him. He had all the rare cards anyone could possibly want and more, except for three cards that should be in his hands. Deck ready, and Duel Disk on his arm he left his 'home' and entered the bulk of Domino City. Or rather, Battle City. His wave of victories had just begun.
************************
Ryu woke up to the familiar sound of his alarm clock. After getting up and dressed, he walked out into the living room to see Hinata half awake, watching TV, "Morning..."
"Morning," Ryu walked over to the closet were Hinata had put her two swords, one metal, one bamboo. He picked up the metal one and put it under his overcoat. He glanced over at Hinata who hadn't taken her eyes off the TV. He was about to go out the door when she spoke, "That's my sword, so if you plan on doing anything with it… I suggest you don't."
"What makes you think that I'd do anything with it?"
"There are two things a tired person can think of to use a weapon for…killing and selling…I suggest that you use your sword for that…" Hinata yawned when she was finished.
"I don't have it anymore. The landlord told me to get rid of it or I'd be back on the streets," replied Ryu as he tried to leave again, "Wait…" Hinata got up and walked over to him, "You're insane enough to go around with a sword?"
"Oh… I…uhh…hadn't thought of that…I guess I'm still tired,"" Ryu handed her the katana and went for his bowie knife, still crimson from embarrassment. After he left, Hinata grabbed the bamboo sword and went after him.
Outside, she caught up to him when he was about to get on a bus, "What's been up with you lately? You seem…stressed," Ryu lifted an eyebrow, "Okay, that's normal for you…you just…just seem more stressed."
Ryu got off the bus and it drove away. After a few seconds, he handed her his deck, "Look through it, do you see a Blue-Eyes anywhere in there?"
"Of course not, there's only four…and Seto Kaiba has three of them, the last one is rumored to have been destroyed or something," she replied.
"I came across the print used for the Blue Eyes in an abandoned Industrial Illusions factory, so I set the machine to running and managed to make myself one before the machine went totally caput. It was mine…mine until some kid got to it. I need to find it, and I have no clue where the hell to look, so I might as well start now."
"Just don't do anything stupid, okay? I don't want you to end up like my brother…At least let me help you."
"The people who took it…they have powers…I can't explain it well. The guy who took my card took me to some place he called the shadow realm…we dueled there…Then after it, he…they split apart and one of them brought the card to life…it attacked me…I blacked out…when I woke up my card was gone. It's dangerous, and you don't have the years of experience I have," replied Ryu.
"Well, I'm experienced enough to beat you," argued Hinata, "Remember last week?"
"Luck…"
"What do you mean 'luck'? I've been taking Kendo since I was eleven!" replied Hinata. Ryu turned around, "And I've been on the streets, fighting for my life for more than eight years."
Hinata looked down as Ryu spoke, "Just stay here, okay?"
Hinata nodded her head, "How are you going to find them?"
Ryu sighed and gestured to the deck in the slot of his Millennium Gauntlet. "I've got other rare cards in here, so I figure I'll snag a duel disk, and do some dueling. Hopefully those guys will hear about it and come after me, I'll work my way from there. That's the best plan I've been able to come up with."
Ryu blinked at the card that was shoved in his face. "What are you doing? This Jinzo...its your best card...your rarest card. Why are you giving it to me?"
"Don't be stupid. If you're gonna take on these guys who beat you before you're gonna need all the good cards you can get, and I want to help you out in any way that I can. Since you won't let me come with you, I'm just gonna have to settle with giving you my rarest card to duel with."
"Thank you Hinata, but please, stay here, and stay safe."
*************************
Dalin Imaki Sumatin wasn't quite certain how he was where he was. However he did know that he owed Malik Ishtar quite a debt, though at the moment that wasn't particularly important. He needed to find...Dalin stopped in thought. He could no longer remember who he needed to find, that memory had slipped away like so many others before it. Now he only knew that he was searching for someone, and that Malik had made him quite aware that the person he quested for he could find in Domino City.
His thoughts drifted to a conversation coming from around the corner. Somehow it had reached his ears and he soon realized its importance. "...They have powers…I can't explain it well. The guy who took my card took me to some place he called the shadow realm…we dueled there…Then after it, he…they split apart and one of them brought the card to life…it attacked me…I blacked out…when I woke up my card was gone. It's dangerous, and you don't have the years of experience I have."
That stopped Dalin. The rest of the words flowed past him as his thoughts dwelled upon some of those words. The words 'Shadow Realm'. Words that meant a great deal to him. "Malik was right, the games do continue. Then I suppose the cards I possess may come in handy."
The last few words drifted to his ears, the words of a woman. "I gotta help him." Dalin walked around the corner and stopped beside the woman. He did not look directly at her, women were not important and held no true status unless of noble birth. Or at least they hadn't. Not from what he remembered.
"Do you truly wish to help him?"
The woman looked up at him and replied cautiously, "Yes..."
"Then follow me." And he began walking off after the bus that had carried the man away, this was a lead that he had to follow. If he didn't, he might never find who he was searching for. Even if he didn't remember who that was.
Hinata followed the mysterious man through Domino city. She knew that it wasn't a smart move, following someone she didn't know and all, but she was desperate. If anything happened to Ryu she wouldn't be able to cope without him, "How do you know where he is? How do you know who I'm looking for?"
"I don't know where he is," he replied, "I was just following the bus."
"Don't you think I could do that myself?" came her reply.
"No."
"So, why do you care?" she asked.
"...I know where your friend's card is," he lied. He didn't want to reveal his true intentions. That he didn't truly want to help, but to find out what Ryu knew.
"Oh... Well, he did say that he was going to Kaiba Land to get in a duel," she said, still not trusting the man who stood before her, "Maybe we should wait there. Then when he's done we can follow him."
"I suppose that will have to do."
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Next Time: The first Battle City duel of our series explodes into action, and meanwhile Ryu starts searching and another duelist does battle with astounding skill...