You're Only Deceived Once
by SariaSubi-kun
SariaSubi: Heyo, everyone! Sorceress Vanessa has been so faithful to my story, so I'm reading her stuff now, and it's good! All of you, go read it, NOW! (haha, but read MY stuff first) Anyways, here's another chapter. Sorry it's taken so long to update, but I've been working on my original fiction at fictionpress.com. My penname there, btw, is Serotamus. Go read my story "The Straight Line." It's getting a very good response!
* = means "shit" in Arabic
kuso means damn/shit, chikushoo means oh fuck and kuso o taberu na means eat fucking shit
urusai means shut up or be silent in Japanese
One more thing, at the beginning of the next chapter, I'll tell you what cards I made up and which ones are real
Chapter 11
"Zarba*!" Matsu hissed. She stormed down the street of Battle City, an aggravated pout on her face. She had her hair up and her glasses on again, but she wore a long, long black trench coat that covered her whole body with only her boots on the bottom showing. She grumbled, pushing through the non-duelists who were in her way.
The spirit of Krita floated on her shoulder. "Matsu, can I ask why you swear in Arabic when you're Japanese?"
Matsu growled. "Alright! You want me to swear in Japanese? Kuso! Chikushoo! Kuso o taberu na!"
Krita sweatdropped. "Now I'm glad I'm Egyptian and have no clue what you just said."
"You don't wanna know."
She tried to pat Matsu's shoulder for sympathy, but of course being dead, her hand passed right through. She groaned in agitation. "Well, still, Matsu, this is the first day of the tournament, and you need to pick up some innocent flesh to slaughter, if you know what I mean!"
The navy-haired girl sighed and hugged her black coat to her. "A little later, maybe. I need to meet up with someone I know first."
"Oh, and who?"
Matsu shrugged. "Seto maybe, or possibly that other group." She closed her eyes happily and clasped her hands together. "Oooh, and I might see Bakura-kun again!"
Some past her, hitting her in the shoulder hard. Matsu growled and turned around, roaring, "Hey, some people are walking here, ebn el metanaka!"
The guy turned around. "What the hell did you just say?" he snarled.
She grinned wildly. "I said, son of a bitch, though I shouldn't say that, it's disrespecting to your mother, who I'm sure tried to raise you halfway decently. That's what your son will be, the son of a bitch!"
This guy was huge, black leather vest, black bandana tied around the back of his head, baggy jeans with tiny tears. People started backing away. He clenched his fists and grit his teeth, but then his eyes noticed something and he stood upright, a smile spreading on his thin lips.
Matsu's eyebrow twitched. "What are you smiling at?"
He chuckled. "Well, pretty girl, I just noticed that you have a Duel Disk on, and that means," he extended his arm out, revealing his own Duel Disk, "that you're my first opponent in this tournament!"
Matsu studied him for a moment, but she scoffed. "Ch, I don't have time for this." She turned her back and started to walk away. "My time wasn't meant to be wasted on you," she grumbled.
The guy rushed forward, angered. "Hey! You're gonna duel me now, girlie, or are you too afraid?"
Matsu whirled back around. "Don't you know who I am?" she warned him. "If you had any common sense, you would know what you were getting yourself into and you would stop embarrassing yourself. Now leave me alone!"
The crowd, slightly awed at the outburst, backed away as Matsu hugged her coat closer to her and stormed off.
Farther off, Yami was walking through a small park in Battle City, scouting for new opponents. He had just helped Joey defeat a freaky Rare Hunter who had stolen Joey's Red Eyes Black Dragon. Even after he had won it back, Joey refused and asked him to put the card in his deck. The two friends warned the Rare Hunters they had better be ready, and set off to find ones to duel.
But he was on his own again, and seemingly, there was no one around that was clearly visible. Then, out of nowhere, he heard some angry shouting. He looked to his left and saw a crowd gathered across the street, and saw them move as one of the arguing figures stalked away. Yami narrowed his eyes, which soon widened when he recognized her.
Matsu!
Matsu grumbled, pulling on her coat collar, which wouldn't seem to come any closer to her body.
Krita still floated above her. "You know, dear, you are going to choke yourself doing that."
"Urusai, Krita," she snapped. "Besides," Matsu lowered her voice, "I don't need someone seeing me talking to my invisible friend."
"Oh, that's
right," Krita rubbed her chin, "people can't see me."
Matsu rolled her eyes. "Oh, now you get it."
"Hey, someone is in a bad mood."
Matsu rolled her now fully-green eyes. "That minor idiot is a waste of time. I mean, seriously! What do you think everyone back in LV will think?"
"Um, 'Master Duelist Kicks Another Idiot's Butt'?"
"No," she narrowed her eyes at the apparition, "it'll be 'Master Duelist Picks on the Little Guy and Crushes His Dreams' despite the fact he's a jackass. But you know how the press is."
"Matsu!"
The girl turned around and Krita quickly vanished as she turned around to see Yami standing there, and, just as she suspected, a Duel Disk strapped to his arm.
She smiled warmly. "Ah, Ya—er, Yugi." She frowned at her own mistake, but quickly recovered, "Make anyone sorry yet?"
Yami smirked. "Yep. I just defeated one of those Rare Hunters." He fell into step with her and they walked down the sidewalk. Silently behind them, Krita reappeared and discreetly floated behind them.
"Yeah, well," Matsu said lazily, "I haven't kicked anyone's butt yet, but I'm bound to soon. As you've seen, I'm a magnet for bad news."
Yami nodded and the two continued walking, but were interrupted when they heard a shout from behind them.
"Hey, you! Get back here!"
Yami stopped and looked behind him. "Who is that, Matsu?"
Matsu frowned in disappointment, but shrugged. It was the guy from before. "Eh, someone who obviously doesn't like me," she said plainly. "As I said, bad news."
The large guy stormed forward. "Oh, now you have a friend with you. Well, I don't care! You better duel me now, or I'll make you both sorry!"
Yami furrowed his brow, getting a little angry at this guy. "Let me deal with him, Matsu."
"No," she retorted strongly, stepping in front of Yami. "I'm sick of you, you know that? You're getting on my nerves."
The guy laughed bitterly. "Look, princess, I don't know who you are, but even if you're the Empress of China, you're going to duel me now!"
"Alright, then! Shut up and let's get this done with!"
Matsu extended her arm and let her Duel Disk assemble, and the guy did the same. She then smirked. "Can I ask my brave opponent's name?"
"It's Giruku. And yours?"
She smiled, turning her nose up with pride. "Matsu." The guy blinked for a second, but she didn't want to wait any longer. Now, she dropped her arms and let her coat open. It didn't reveal much except a blood red sleeveless and black jeans that looked identical to the kind Yami was wearing. She opened one side of the jacket, and Yami was shocked when he looked inside.
There inside Matsu's jacket were tons of pockets, each holding a Duel Monsters deck.
Yami gasped. "Matsu! How many decks do you have in there?!"
Matsu pulled one out and thought for a second. "Hmm…seventeen I think. Yeah, that sounds just about right."
The guy was a little taken aback, nonetheless, he was growing impatient. "Seventeen, seven, none, just get a deck out and let's duel already!"
"Jeez, keep your pants on, Giruku." She studied her cards closely and grinned. "Alrighty then, let's duel!"
"I go first!" Giruku announced. He drew the sixth card and grinned. "Now I put Robotic Knight, in Attack Mode!" The mechanical soldier, 1600/1800, appeared in front of the large man, roaring on appearance.
Matsu rubbed her chin. "Mmmhmm, well, then," she puckered her lips, drawing a card. She raised her eyebrows, and then looked back at Giruku. She was acting just like she did in her duel with Seto: plain and indifferent.
"I put my Nightmare Horse in Attack Mode as well." She placed the card down on the disk, and in an array of pixels, a horse of blue fire wrapped in mummy bandages appeared. It was, however, an extremely weak monster: 500/400.
Giruku laughed. "That is your monster? Hah!"
Matsu bit her lip. "If you were a wise duelist, you would realize there's a catch to this." She waved her finger at him. "Always ponder the meaning of a weak monster." She then looked at her hand again. "I place this card face down, and now I'm going to attack your life points directly."
Giruku's face fell. "What?!"
"It's called a special ability." She pointed to the Robotic Knight. "Now my demon horse, attack his Life Points!" The horse galloped forward, bypassing the Robotic Knight and hitting straight on into Giruku, knocking him back and taking a 500 point bite out of his Life Points.
Giruku eased himself up straight, groaning in irritation. Matsu only gave a short, sly grin. "You see," she adjusted her glasses and folded her arms, "my Nightmare Horse was weak, but its special ability allows me to attack your Life Points directly, regardless of your monster." She signed, pushing the button on her disk. "And now I reveal my face down card, Dark Hole, which removes all our monsters from the field." Giruku grimaced as both his Robotic Knight and her Nightmare Horse were sucked into the black hole.
Matsu smiled. "I had nothing to lose, but you, however, lost a good monster and 500 Life Points! Now we start again!"
Yami was in thought. That was a smart move. It's true, she only had a weak monster, but she used its special ability to hit him directly. And with her Dark Hole card, she didn't lose anything, but he lost a good monster and Life Points. Now they have to start over. I could tell, he looked at his dueling friend, she was planning that move somewhere from the beginning. Hmm…she may be a more clever duelist than I thought.
Giruku grunted. "Fine then, I draw!" He took a card out and placed it in his hand. He hummed in thought for a moment, then looked up.
A smile appeared on his face. "I place this card face down, and then I summon Mystic Clown (1500/1000), in Attack Mode!"
Matsu shook her head. "Oh come on, now! Is that the best you can do? Put a semi-weak monster out, lay down a trap card, and then expect me to attack?!"
Yami's eyes widened.
"Come on, Giruku, I know you can do better than that." Matsu drew her card and slapped it on the disk. "Well, let's activate my card Sand Tornado, which gets rid of your Magic or Trap Card." A sand storm appeared and blew over to Giruku, revealing his card. "Oh gods, and it was Trap Hole!" Matsu chuckled and shook her head as the card was destroyed. "Seriously, that is the oldest trick in the book. I already saw that coming."
Yami narrowed his violet eyes. It seems Matsu has dueled long enough she knew that technique the moment Giruku put down his card! I wonder what else she knows. She probably knows every single basic strategy there is.
Matsu shrugged and looked at her hand. Hmm…I could put my Firewall card down…but it's far too early. She looked up at Giruku, who was busy studying his own hand. But he could have a card that gets rid of Trap Cards, and if that happens, I'm screwed. I only have two of those cards, and I don't even know if the second one is close or at the bottom of my deck. And I didn't take my Tsuki combo deck, damnit. She looked pensively at her cards, tensely at Giruku, then down at her hand again.
Yami's eyebrow twitched. Is she stuck? She looks like she has nothing to do now…but if she does nothing, she'll be wide open for attack!
Krita, unaware to Yami at the moment, floated behind him. Her face was deep in a frown, glancing at the pharaoh every once and a while. It was hard for her to believe that the pharaoh was right in front of her now, but now wasn't the time. Matsu's first duel was happening before both their eyes.
Odeon stood on top of the roof, looking over at the park where Matsu's duel was taking place. He had his usual scowl on his face, but his eyes scanned the crowd, and his dark eyes widened. It's the pharaoh and Krita! Knowing about the Egyptian priestess-to-be for a long time, he was slightly nerved at her appearance by the pharaoh. Did this mean that Yami was aware of the spirit? He didn't seem so, and Odeon was hoping he wasn't just yet. The two person team of Matsu and Krita getting back her body didn't need to increase to Yami and his friends.
Odeon, he heard his master's voice in his head. He snapped back to himself and nodded.
"Yes, Master Malik."
Well, tell me what is going on?
Malik was in his chair on his boat, his eyes closed deep in thought. Everything Odeon was seeing, he saw through his mind's eye. But he wanted Odeon to explain everything to him. He needed to make sure Odeon would be completely honest.
Well, he heard Odeon start in his deep voice, the girl Matsu is right in front of me. Krita is with her…however, she is floating behind the Pharaoh.
Malik's violet eyes widened. "What?!" he hissed. He jumped out of his chair, knocking it over. He gripped the base of his Rod tightly. "Are they talking?"
Odeon seemed to think not. The pharaoh seems either unaware or indifferent of her appearance. Every time he seems to look her way, she disappears.
Malik let out a heavy sigh, picking his chair up and falling back in it, running a hand through his white gold hair. "Odeon, tell me immediately if the two start talking. If that woman tells the pharaoh that I have her body, I'll be meeting with the pharaoh far before I want to."
Yes sir.
Malik rubbed his chin, thinking deeply over everything. He was safe for now. Without her body, Krita could do nothing physically against him, and if she didn't want the pharaoh to notice her, she wouldn't be able to get help in retrieving her body. He wanted to see the pharaoh on his own terms, not Krita's.
He bit his lip. He was curious—"Odeon, how is Matsu doing?"
Excuse me, sir?
He growled in slight irritation. "The duel! How is her status?"
Odeon fixed his eyes on the park. "She seems to be ahead, but it just started moments ago. She is right now pondering over what move to make."
Malik hummed and leaned back in the chair, lacing his fingers together. "Alright. Just stay out of sight. I'm going to send some of my mind slaves over there. I need to know Matsu's every move, Odeon. Now that she has found Krita's spirit, she is determined to get her body back from me and stop me from taking over as Pharaoh." He grit his teeth hard, and growled. "I don't know what my sister's been feeding her, but if I lose Matsu completely, things will be turning darker on our side."
He closed his mind link with Odeon and closed his eyes again, folding his strong, tan arms over his chest and his lavender sweater. The last time I talked to Matsu, things didn't go so well. She's also against me for taking her uncle and attempting to steal her bracelet. But I can't have those obstacles in the way. I just wish there wasn't so much she was after me for…I could use her.
Then, his eyes opened wide and an evil smirk touched his lips. Yes. Yes! Use Matsu! He laughed out loud to himself.
"I'm a genius."
Matsu licked her lips and chose one of the cards. I could put all four of those down…but I can keep this one safe here, since it's for later…I just hope that Giruku doesn't play any cards that make us discard our hands.
"Alright then," she looked up at Giruku, "I place these three face down," three cards appeared in the Magic/Trap area, "and then I place this card face down in Defense mode." She let out a slow breath. "That ends my turn."
Yami rubbed his chin. What could she be planning this time?
Giruku looked at his hand closely. Well, obviously the girl was planning something. So he had to duel wisely. He already had a monster on the field…but it wasn't sent to the graveyard yet…he grinned. Matsu made the mistake of not attacking him. He pulled a card up: this was it!
"Well, girlie, looks like you should've attacked me! Now I can summon my all powerful card!" He slammed the card down. "Guardian Airtos!" An fierce angel-looking Wind monster appeared on the field, standing tall with 2500/2000.
Matsu gasped, but then pointed angrily. "Hey! That monster has to have at least seven stars! You have to sacrifice a monster and—"
"—send it to the graveyard?" he grinned. He chuckled. "Well, thanks to my monster's special ability, which you so gratefully told me about before, if no card of mine in our turns has been sent to the graveyard, I can summon this card without scarification. So now," he licked his lips, "I have two monsters on the field, and you have one hopeless monster in defense mode." He saw Matsu grimace deeply. "By the look on your pretty face, I can tell your strategy is squashed."
"Not exactly," she muttered.
He didn't seem to hear her right away. "So now that my Guardian can attack your life points, I use my Mystic Clown to attack your face down monster. Go!"
"Not just yet!" Matsu challenged. The card flipped up, revealing Des Feral Imp, 1600/1800. "My monster's Defense Points are three hundred more than your monster's attack points, so you lose 300 Life Points!" His life points spiraled slowly down to 3200.
Damn, she thought, I'm attacking him very slowly. He has a strong monster on the field, I don't, and he'll be taking bigger chunks of my Life Points before I know it! Errrrr… Matsu bit her lip and looked at her disk. Well, this is the turn to get rid of these cards…then I can play my favorite, and then Giruku won't be smiling for so long.
"Because of the Battle City rules, I can't attack yet, but next turn, oh, I will." He grinned. "Your turn, girlie."
She sighed and pushed the button. "I reveal, Non-Spellcasting Area! This card negates all Magic Card's effects on all monsters except for Effect Monster. And since my Des Feral Imp is an effect monster, he can be unaffected." The only problem was, his Guardian Airtos was also an Effect Monster.
"And now I also reveal Non Aggression Area. I must discard one card from my hand," she put the card she drew in the slot, "and now you cannot summon any monsters your next turn. So now you cannot use the power of any new monsters next turn to add to the power of your Airtos." She looked at her disk. "I will keep my Des Feral Imp in Defense Mode, but activate my third card, Monster Reborn! Now I summon back my other Effect Monster, Nightmare Horse!" The blue fire mummy horse galloped out of a vortex and reappeared back on the field.
Matsu pointed at Giruku. "Now, my steed, attack his Life Points directly again!" Again the horse galloped forward and took 500 more Life Points from Giruku, taking him down to 2700.
Matsu frowned. "I place three more cards face down and end my turn."
Giruku, however, was laughing. "Ha! You shouldn't have put that weak monster back on the field. Despite it's special effect, with my Airtos, I can still swipe that pony to the Graveyard! Because now, I offer my Mystic Clown, adding its attack points to my Airtos, thanks to what you said—"
D'oh!
"—about special abilities, the attack points again of my Clown are added to my Airtos, making it even more powerful!" Slowly, and torturously, the attack points of the Guardian Airtos rose to 5500.
Yami's eyes widened. Oh no. That monster is now nearly unbeatable! I hope Matsu can handle this. She's been playing her cards wisely, but I'm not so sure she expected this.
Come on, come on, Matsu placed her hand on her deck. I just need this one card in my next turn. What does Yami always say? Heart of the Cards? Well, you stupid heart, put this one card on my deck…
Giruku wasn't finished. "And now, Airtos, attack her Nightmare Horse!" Matsu closed her eyes tightly as she felt the shockwave of her weak monster disappearing, sending her down to—
"Wait!" Matsu screamed. She had her hand tight on the Magic Card button. That would've been a 5000 point loss, and that meant…she would have lost, if not for…
"Reinforcements and Red Medicine!" The two cards sprang up, and she let out a sigh of relief. "Reinforcements adds 500 attack points to my Nightmare Horse, making it's attack 1000 instead of 500."
Giruku grunted. "That is still 4500 Life Points lost—"
"Will you let me continue? Red Medicine gives me 500 Life Points, which makes it a 4000 point hit. But now…" she looked down at her final card and flipped it over, "I play Friend in Need!" The final card stood and shined, depicting a girl falling down a well and holding a rope her friend was holding at the top of the well.
Giruku gave her a strange look. "What the hell is that? I've never heard of this card!"
Yami's eyes narrowed. He folded his arms over his chest. "Neither have I…Matsu, can you explain this card and why no one has ever heard of it?"
Matsu leaned back and crossed her arms and sighed. "Of course no one has; this is a rare card that is practically off the books. That Rare Hunters creeping around here, however," she gave the left and right a cautious glace, "will gladly tell you, because this is their card. I am just, eh…borrowing it." No one in the crowd made a reaction Wow, so there aren't any Rare Hunters watching me? That's strange with someone like Malik after me and Krita. I wonder what's up. Then her eyes darted up. She spotted a figure on top of a roof on a building across the street.
Odeon?! He sent Odeon to watch me?!
Odeon narrowed his eyes. "So," he said to the air, "she has stolen cards from the Rare Hunters. It is just like Master Malik and I have thought. I wonder if she has stolen decks as well as cards…" His eyes became slimmer with suspicion. "There were all those decks in her jacket…although Matsu has acquired a great deal of cards, they can't all combine to make nineteen whole decks."
Odeon sighed. "One more reason for us to be after her…Matsu….this new identity she puts herself in. The fearless duelist that knows no defeat. Yet she constantly puts herself in our way. The moment she sides with the Pharaoh will be the moment she becomes our enemy."
"Friend in Need can only be activated when you are about to lose all of your life points. This card takes all the damage that you receive and gives it back to your Life Points. Meaning, my Life Points go back to 4000."
Yami's eyes widened. No wonder she stole something like that from the Rare Hunters! That card is very valuable.
Giruku couldn't believe it. "You—you little skank!"
Matsu cocked a brow. "Excuse me?"
"You were planning this the whole time, weren't you!" he pointed at her, causing all the audience's attention towards her. Matsu just shrugged, her indifferent front working excellently.
"Well, when I put Nightmare Horse on the field, I knew you would attack that, and my Life Points would be in danger. But I needed a chop on your Life Points, and I had these three babies in my sand, so I said 'What the hell' and slapped 'em down." A grin tugged at her lips. "So yes. In a way, yes I did plan that whole ordeal."
Yami observed Matsu's nature carefully. So…Matsu is a much better duelist than I thought. She plays very wisely, and must have a great deal of experience to think of something like that with such little time given.
"And now, it's my turn, and your Airtos is gonna be no threat to me whatsoever." Matsu smirked devilishly and drew her card.
Perfect! This Heart of the Cards shit really does work! Looking back at Giruku through her specs, she straightened up and began.
"First, I lay this baby face down, and play Card of Sanctity. This allows us both to draw until we have six cards." After playing her face down card and Card of Sanctity, Matsu only had one card left. She was pleased as the five new cards came into her hand.
"And I think I'm going to play this monster in Defense Mode. I'm ending my turn now."
Giruku growled. Damnit. I almost had her. But now her Life Points are back to normal. But a smirk etched on his face. But hey, there's nothing to lose. She has another face down monster that's probably a last defense. Heh, pathetic. Even with a new hand, her cards are so bad.
"Alrighty then. Airtos, go attack her face down monster!"
Matsu's eyes widened with a maniacal glint. Yes…YES!
"Reveal face down card!" she commanded, lifting her arm in the air. Springing from the ground came a card that's face was littered with flames. The attack of Guardian Airtos hit her facedown card, revealing a mummy, but a wall of fire forced the mighty beast back. Giruku grunted as his monster was forced back to his side of the field with no damage done to Matsu's Life Points.
She grinned, and her shoulders shook as her laughed to herself, her eyes closed. Yami looked at her strangely as if she was mad. "Matsu!" he called.
But her arms were folded across her chest, and she continued to laugh. Giruku looked at her funny as well, and so did the rest of the crowd. From his post on the building across the street, Odeon cocked a brow. After a minute, Matsu calmed down, her head tilted downwards, but her eyes still closed, her lips still in a smirk. She took a deep breath and ran her hand through her hair, eventually coming to the hairband that held her navy blue locks up and let them loose. She opened her green eyes and smirked. Immediately, Yami thought for a second, he did not see Matsu, but Seto Kaiba there, the same expression he always worse when he went for the kill. He shook his tri-colored head furiously, trying to free the image from his mind. When he blinked his eyes back open, the image of Matsu resumed, and the duel continued.
Matsu shook her head, her now free hair waving as her head turned. "Of all the most obvious traps, I thought you wouldn't fall for that. Here you are, with a very powerful monster, almost defeated me, and you fall for the easiest trap. You attack a Defense Mode monster with a trap card laid. And how did I know you'd fall for it? How did I know!"
Yami narrowed his eyes at the flame-riddled card, and Giruku furrowed his brow. "So what is this card anyways?"
Matsu grinned. "I'm glad you asked. However, you are lucky we are in New York, and not in Las Vegas." The grin widened. "They would kill you there if you asked the same question." After a few strange looks, she continued. "Well, Giruku, before we dueled, I warned you that I was an identity you should be aware of. Because, however, I am on the other side of the country, barely anyone here knows who I am, what, with your Seto Kaiba and Yugi Motou to worship. However, the West has me: Matsu. Female Duel Monsters Champion and Duelist Champion of the Western United States." Her eyes narrowed, but were still filled with mirth. "Sound familiar?"
Giruku thought for a moment, before his eyes widened with realization. "Yeah! I heard about you in on of 'dem magazines. Said that you practically have your own stadium in LV!"
She chuckled but shook her head. "That's not my stadium, but I'm, I guess you can say, highly respected there." Inside, Matsu was grinning like an idiot schoolgirl. Shit yeah! They practically worship me there! Wow, bragging about myself if sooo fun! Seto's life must be awesome!
"Anyways," she said, "let's get on with this duel. The card that I drew is what made me famous: the one out of two Firewalls. Firewall is a very special card. This card prevents any monster, whose Attack Points can be from 0 to infinity, from attacking. If your Airtos had one million Attack Points, all it's attacks would be rendered useless. This card cannot be destroyed by De-Spell, Remove Trap, Card Destruction, etc, even if it is in my hand, it cannot be sent to the Graveyard. And another little treat added to it is that every time your monster attacks my side while there is a Firewall in play, your monster receives a burn. Every turn, that burn takes away 100 Attack Points. And if you attack again with a burnt monster, the burn's damage doubles." She raised her eyebrows. "That a good enough explanation?"
Giruku wouldn't believe it. "You're—you're nuts!"
"And indestructible," she smirked. Her eyes narrowed and a torturous glint sparked in those eyes. "Please Giruku, do you want to try and have me receive my first loss? Think of how you'll be honored. I promise you, if you can make me loose, I will hand over my entire deck to you!" She smirked. "Sound good enough?"
Yami couldn't believe what he was hearing. Her whole deck? That's ludicrous to offer! She must be really confident she's going to win to say something like that.
Malik's violet eyes narrowed. Offering her whole deck as the prize, and it's littered with cards she stole from me. That conniving little…I almost wish that fool would win, that way it would be much easier to access the cards Matsu stole. But no…I need her to progress through this tournament. All part of my plan. If I can get her on my side, she'll be of great use to me.
He folded his tan arms across his chest, bowing his head and closing his eyes in thought. His hand gripped the Millennium Rod tightly. If she wants her uncle's mind freed and Krita's body given to her, she'll come to terms with me. She must…
Giruku refused to believe what he was hearing. "Your whole deck! But then—"
"Do you want to continue or not?"
Giruku shook his head furiously. She knows she's going to win. That glint in her eyes…either way, if I go down like this…with that Firewall, there's no way to attack her, even if she has no monsters. But we'll have to continue playing, and if—
--if Giruku keeps on playing yet he cannot attack me, Matsu finished the thought, soon he will have no more cards in his deck, and then he will be forced to forfeit. Either way, I'll whittle down his Life Points with my Direct Attack monsters, or the other way.
Matsu straightened herself up. "Anyways, I believe it's still my turn. Now that you have caused my Poison Mummy to flip face up, I switch him to attack mode and order him to attack your Life Points directly! Poison Mummy! Embalming of Destruction!" The mummy appeared out of the ground, and one of his dirty linen cloths unraveled from his arm and shot towards Giruku and hit him in the chest, taking 500 more Life Points away from him. He now had 2200 left.
"You know, Giruku, I barely attack you, and somehow, here you are with a little over half left. And I will keep taking those small bits away from you, and you won't be able to stop me because you cannot attack!" She threw her head back and laughed, her navy locked falling around her slender neck. She looked down at her cards. "I play Dragon Human (A/N: D. Human…you know, from Kaiba's starter deck?) in Attack Mode, and I end my turn."
Giruku frowned at Airtos' Attack Points ticked down to 5400. He drew and looked at his hand. There's not much more I can do. If I summon a monster and attack, it'll do nothing but worse on my side. And even though I lose 100 Attack Points each turn, Airtos is still very powerful. Might as well…
"I skip this turn."
Matsu mocked him by lifting an eyebrow. "Oh? So sad, really. Might as well go on with my turn, eh?" Yami noticed something. Her tone of voice this part of the duel has been so mocking…she's just like Kaiba. And I even swore for a moment that Kaiba himself was standing in her place. Which makes me wonder…she said the two of them met before. I would really like to know how.
"Now I play Fairy Guardian in attack mode." A small little fairy in purple clothing with a sheave in his hand, and a mace in the other, appeared with a frown on their field, 1000/1000. "The special effect of my fairy is that I can offer it to return 1 Magic Card in my Graveyard to the bottom of my deck." The fairy soon frowned deeper, but disappeared into pixels. The bottom of Matsu's deck flashed. "And now I play two cards. One, Selective Deck Shuffle. This card can allow any card that I know is hidden in my deck to come to the field or my hand, whichever I choose." Her eyes gleamed. "And I choose the field. The card I chose, Monster Reborn, shall now come forth! Monster Reborn!" The card appeared on the field and flipped up. "And I choose to bring back our favorite little pony, Nightmare Horse!" Once again, the blue-flaming mummy-horse galloped onto the field again.
"Nightmare horse! Attack his Life Points directly!" Another more 500 Life Points were taken from Giruku, and now he was down to 1700. He frowned bitterly.
"Oh, but my torture isn't finished. All those who think I'm a bitch are really going to hate me now." Her evil grin returned.
Giruku moaned. "What! Can't you just fucking leave me alone—"
"No!" Matsu growled. Her face stayed dark and serious this time. "I play my other card, Replay of Turnovers." A card turned up that showed a few medieval-looking jesters doing back flips.
"This card is simple. If there are any Special Effects activated by the flipping up of any previously facedown monsters on the field, they are replayed. Simple? Well then, allow me to replay my Poison Mummy's 500 point attack." Giruku braced himself as his Life Points fell again, this time reaching 1200.
He looked up with a grim look. "You already used its Special Effect this turn—"
"Doesn't matter." Matsu sighed and looked at her hand. This time she felt tired. I guess I should go for the slaughter in the next few turns. Make this loser go out of his misery. I guess I've put him through enough today. But her gaze drifted up to Yami. She saw Krita floating behind Yami, and the spirit nodded at her.
I guess Krita really wants to prove herself to Yami, even after death…and this time, it's through me. Well, I might as well. Warn Yami of what's coming.
"I end my turn."
Giruku looked at Matsu, then the small crowd behind him. Then all of a sudden, he felt the muscles in his body tense. His eyes widened, and for a moment, he couldn't move. The capability of breathing momentarily left him. Matsu and Yami seemed to notice this as if on instinct, and as if only them (and Krita of course) could see it, a eerie golden light glowed around the guy. Then, as quickly as the attack came, it disappeared. Matsu took a step forward and bent down to look in his eyes. But when he lifted his head, his eyes were dull and without emotion.
Matsu couldn't believe it. Malik! That slimy…I can't believe it! He's watching me from Odeon up there, and he's controlling this guy now! But I can beat this creep by myself…why is he…?
Then all of a sudden, she heard a voice in her head:
Matsu, defeat this fool quickly and meet Odeon at the building that he is atop of. We have much to talk about. Then his voice faded.
In her mind, she growled, Damn you Malik…
"I pass," the now monotonous and dead voice of Giruku-slave spoke.
Matsu shook her head. "This is hopeless," she muttered, defeated with words. "Alright, alright, I get it." She shook her head and commanded in a bored tone, "I play Oozaki, which takes 800 Life Points away from you, then I make Nightmare Horse attack you," she yawned, "making you loose. I win. Yay." His Life Points spiraled to zero, and the images of the monsters and cards faded from the field. Matsu yawned again and walked over to Giruku-slave.
"Give me your Locater Card and your rare card," she held out her hand.
The slave nodded and handed her a Locater Card and Guardian Airtos. She looked down at the cards for a moment. By the time she looked back up, Malik's control had ended and Giruku had fainted.
Some people from the crowd rushed over to held him. Matsu rolled her eyes and pushed past them, heading towards the building across the street. She had noticed Odeon had vanished from the top.
Yami rushed over to her. "Matsu! What happened?"
She lifted a brow at him. "Want me to honest? At the end of the duel, Malik controlled Giruku, and then he stopped. Now Giruku has fainted. And now I walk away." She turned to leave, but Yami grabbed her arm. When she looked down at him, she saw his eyes desperate.
"You…know about Malik…and the Rare Hunters…"
"And I have a Millennium Item on my wrist, as you can plainly see." He just nodded, but it was obvious there was shock in his eyes. "Listen, I'm sorry I haven't been all clear with you and everything, but I'm wrapped up in this whole conspiracy just as much as you are. I know who you are, Yami." She glanced nervously at the building where Odeon was waiting, then at Yami. She stepped closer to him, there bodies almost touching. Yami could feel his heart start to pound.
Her eyes became lidded and she spoke in a whisper. "I can't tell you everything now, Pharaoh, and much of it I may never tell you, but…" She leaned in to him, her face inches away from his. "Trust me."
Before he could react, she pulled him close and kissed him. He didn't understand it, but he let her lips fall on his and he closed his eyes, returning the kiss. Matsu popped open one eye and noticed Odeon waiting in the alley next to the building across the street. This show is for Malik, Odeon. She saw him frown darkly, but she closed her eyes again. Just as Yami was about to open his mouth to make the kiss deeper, she nibbled on his bottom lip and turned away. Without another word, and just a enigmatic final glace, she turned and walked away.
"Matsu…"
"We'll see each other again
during this tournament, Pharaoh. I wish good luck to you." She spoke to him as
she continued to walk away, not looking back.
"And to you," but he was sure she didn't hear him. He turned away and touched his lips, still feeling hers. I don't understand why I reacted…there's something familiar about her.
He felt Yugi speak. Maybe there's something with that Millennium Item that has to do with your past.
Yami thought. Maybe…
Matsu approached Odeon, who didn't wear a pleased expression.
She smirked, however. "Excuse me Odeon. I had to do something to mess up his image of me."
He just shook his head and motioned for her to follow him. The devilish look on her pale face didn't fade. She fell into step with him, and walked closely.
"One thing, Matsu," he said, still looking forward, his face unwavering. "Must I—"
"Just call me Ayako when the others aren't around. You Egyptians…you know everything."
Odeon raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
Ayako giggled. "Just as long as it's only between you, Malik, Ishizu, and Shadi. If anyone who's been to L.A. finds out Ayako Marisoki is still alive, they're gonna throw me in prison for life you know." Odeon nodded and led her out of the alley to a sidewalk that led to the train station.
"We are taking a train to see Master Malik," he told her, already giving her a ticket.
Ayako looked down at the ticket and leered. "I'm sure you didn't even pay for it, Odeon."
"Ayako, why must you—" but he stopped as he looked up into her gleaming malevolent eyes and saw that she had disposed of her green contacts and wore the blood red eyes only the dead Ayako Marisoki owned.