Silver Dragon: Hey everybody! We're BAACK!!!
Devil's Wyrm: Sorry it took so long, had a bit of writer's block.
SilverD: We thank Mina-chan AMD and Sdrive for reviewing our work.
DWyrm: Yes, freshly slaughtered hog for everybody!! *Tosses several dead pigs into a crowd*
SilverD: Hey dumb ass, *gives the before mentioned a nasty uppercut with his handy mace* humans don't eat raw pork, usually. Eat this crap yourself; save these poor people the indigestion.
DWyrm: All right, if you insist, WISE ass. *Jumps into the crowd and retrieves the bloody swine and begins wolfing them down*
SilverD: *Looks at DWyrm with disgust* Sorry about that folks, he's got weird tastes.
DWyrm: *Nods horned head enthusiastically then shoves another mouthful of steaming pig viscera into his maw. *
SilverD: We hope you enjoy this chapter; it was a tough one.
DWyrm: *Nods again in agreement and waves a gory hand*
Disclaimer: We don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, the plots, characters, or cards; but we do own the Zenbushi family, Sebak, and any other characters you don't recognize.
/ . . . \ : Nabe mind speaking to Sebak.
//. . . \\ : Sebak mind speaking.
( . . . ) : Yugi mind speaking to Yami.
((. . . )) : Yami mind speaking.
Italics: Dreams, visions
' . . .': Speaking to self.
*: Original cards.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Ch. 4 Calm Before the Storm
Consciousness slowly crept back over Nabe's mind as he awoke from his slumber the next morning. Glancing at the bedside clock, he started, flinging the sheets from him.
It was past eight, and they were late for school! The frantic teen leapt into his uniform and pounded on his brother's door. "Katsuro, get up!" Nabe hissed through the keyhole, not wanting to wake his father. "We're late, get your but out of bed!"
He was answered by multiple exclamations that Katsuro was not supposed to use. Growling at his brother's slowness and language, Nabe entered the darkened room. Looking agitatedly around the mess, he could not locate Katsuro. The annoyed brother turned, muttering about how strange his little brother could be and was met with a fountain of freezing water. "You little RAT!" yelled Nabe after the retreating boy. "I'll KILL YOU!"
Peals of laughter echoed through the house, waking Mr. Zenbushi. But neither of the brothers knew this as they chased each other 'round and 'round. Finally, Nabe caught up to his rambunctious sibling and subdued him with a running tackle. Pinned to the wall, Katsuro screamed more from laughter than pain as his brother tickled him into submission. "UNCLE! UNCLE!" screamed the boy, relinquishing his water gun. "I give!"
"Good," replied Nabe, wiping water and sweat from his face, "now get ready for school, we are VERY late."
"School? It's Sunday stupid. Besides, today's registration for Battle City, aren't you gonna sign up?"
"Sunday! Arrg!" Nabe exclaimed, slapping himself on the forehead. "I am such an IDIOT!"
"Damn right you are," replied Katsuro, "since you so rudely awoke me, I'm goin' back to sleep."
"Hold it, hot-shot," said Nabe, grabbing his brother by his shirt, "remember what dad told you about cursing?"
"I know, but I-"
Just then their father opened hi bedroom door, by which they were so conveniently adjacent to. Rubbing his eyes, Mr. Zenbushi spoke, "What are you two doing up this early on a weekend?"
"It's all HIS fault," sneered the younger brother, pointing accusingly at Nabe. "He thought there was school today an' woke me up."
"You thought there was school today?"
"Yeah, sorry Dad," stammered Nabe. "I just, uh, got distracted."
"Distracted? Did you find yourself a girlfriend?"
"Ah, no. Today is registration for the Battle City Tournament, I'm going to register."
"Well, all right," yawned their dad, "I just thought, oh never mind. Take Katsuro with you; I'm going back to bed."
With that they were left alone. Nabe gave Katsuro a poisonous look and shoved him to his room. "Get dressed; I'll make some breakfast then we are going."
****
An hour or so later the two Zenbushi brothers were walking towards the nearest Battle City registration booth. The elder brother was clad in a close fitting, red sleeveless T-shirt that showed every muscle in his body; which was covered by a light, black coat with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows; black baggy tube jeans attired his legs and a double-holed, metal rimmed black leather belt kept them from falling to his ankles; his shoes were plain, made of black leather and closed by a large buckle on each; a large black metal chain hung around his neck while a smaller version dangled on his left wrist; the other arm was captive to a large golden manacle, a huge contrast to his otherwise dark style, that went about halfway up his forearm. This fore mentioned arm was now running its hand through his black, naturally spiky hair that was presently streaked blood red to celebrate his release from school. To top off his look, Nabe wore a pair of reflective, black, face-hugging sunglasses. Katsuro was pretty much the opposite of his brother in style; he loved bright, neon colors, particularly orange. Because of this, the younger of the brothers was wearing orange cargo shorts, sneakers, and shirt. The only things not orange were his white socks. He trotted next to his brother, his orange Meteor Black Dragon imprinted T-shirt flapping in a cool breeze.
Presently, they located a registration office and entered without delay. Inside they found some old acquaintances yet new friends. "Hey Nabe!" yelled a small teen, trying his best to wave at them while also trying to hold a large box.
"Well look who it is," said the addressee to his brother, "isn't that the famous Yugi Muto?"
Laughing at Nabe's joke, Katsuro replied, "You know what, I think it is. Let's go talk to him."
The two crossed the small space and soon realized Joey was there too, he had been fighting with the clerk and had not noticed the brother's entrance. After snatching a Duel Disk from the poor clerk, Joey turned and finally saw the two staring at him. "Hi Nabe and, uh . . . Katsaru; right?" said Joey, glancing at the boy for clarification.
"No, it's Katsuro, but that's okay," returned the so named boy.
"Hello Joe," said Nabe, "You're all set for the tournament?"
"Almost, I just gotta see my sister Serenity. Ya see, she has this eye problem and needs a special operation so she can see well again. The operation's tomorrow and I'm gonna see her before she goes in."
"Well isn't that sweet," teased Nabe, "I'm sure you care a whole bunch for her."
"Lay off him, I'm sure you would feel the same if your brother was in her place," interjected Tristan who had been watching from a corner.
"True, sorry Joe. I guess I can be a little too sarcastic."
"Nah, that's just who you are."
Nabe smiled back to them then approached the man behind the counter. He looked at him through his round shiny glasses and asked. "Are you registering for Battle City as well?"
"Yes, my name is Nabe Zenbushi."
The clerk typed in the name into his computer, and Nabe's file appeared on screen. "Let's see, you have four stars, more than enough to qualify," he said. "You're in luck, I have only one Duel Disk left."
"Thank-you," replied Nabe, accepting the box from the clerk's hands. Turning to the others: "Look's like we're all set."
"Yeah, let's get out of here," said Tea.
As the six exited the small building the clerk picked up his cell phone and dialed. "Yes sir, that is correct," said the clerk into the receiver, "the owners of the rare Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Apocalypse Flame* have entered the Battle City Tournament. Their names are Joey Wheeler and Nabe Zenbushi, respectively. I suggest the Rare Hunters take Wheeler first, since he is the weaker one."
Outside the group was oblivious to the plotting against them. As they walked down the street, Tea remembered Kaiba's announcement a few days ago and did not see Nabe there. "So Nabe," she said, mostly out of curiosity, "how did you learn about this tournament, I don't remember seeing you at the announcement last week."
"I received a personal invite from Seto Kaiba himself."
"Really?" said Yugi. "All I got was an anonymous invitation to the announcement."
"What! NO FAIR!" yelled Joey. "I didn't even know till Yugi told me about it and I decided to enter!"
"That is strange," said Nabe, unaware of Joey's outburst, "I got a signed invitation but you got a nameless invite and Joe didn't get one at all. Wait, if Joe didn't get one, how did he enter, I thought only invited people could enter."
"The clerk let me enter, he said his computer messed up so that I didn't have enough stars to enter."
"Computer glitch, eh? That sounds fishy to me."
"Fairs fair and I'm in da tournament," said Joey, boastfully."
Tristan, trying to move to another subject, pressed Nabe some more, "Why did you get a signed invite while everyone else got unsigned ones?"
"I really don't know," replied Nabe, "I just got one, I was never a very publicized duelist. I stayed underground most of the time. I was surprised he knew about me."
"Kaiba knows whatever he wants to," said Yugi. Suddenly, the previous night's vision came to mind, the flash of light, the symbol. Curious, the teen glanced at Nabe's right forearm and sure enough, there was a golden manacle around it, complete with the Millennium emblem on it. Nervously, he contacted his yami.
(Yami, did you see that?)
((Yes, aibou, I did. That manacle has the Millennium symbol on it. This is very disturbing.))
(Why, is it another Millennium Item?)
((No, I do not believe there is a Millennium Manacle. We know of the Eye, which used to belong to Pegasus but is now lost; the Tauk, owned by Ishizu Ishtar; the Key, which is owned by Shadi; the Ring, which was possessed by Ryou but has been removed because of the evil spirit inside it; and finally our own Puzzle. That leaves two Items unaccounted for; I do not remember their names but neither of them is this manacle.))
(Then what is it? It can't have the symbol without being connected to the other Items in some way.)
((I am not sure, but this band of gold seems vaguely familiar to me, as if I used it some time in the ancient past.))
(What about the power you sensed near Nabe. Is it from the manacle?)
((Yes, that I'm certain of, though I doubt your friend is the one controlling it.))
(You don't think there is another evil spirit in there like in the Ring, Yami?)
((Alas, I think there is but I could be wrong. If there really is an evil spirit he will most likely go after the Puzzle, knowing our luck.))
(Keep trying to find more about this manacle thing, ok. I'll keep this between us for now.)
*****
Later that evening, after an afternoon of window shopping, walking around, and loitering, the group disbanded. Joey left for the hospital to see Serenity. Yugi had to prepare for the start of Battle City the next day along with Nabe. The others went their separate home.
At the Zenbushi residence, Nabe was making the final revisions of his dueling deck. The fifty cards were spread out on the kitchen table, and Nabe checked each one. 'Okay, let's see, I have Darkfire Soldier #1 and #2, Fiery Skeleton*, Blazing Knight*, Ghoul of Dark Flames*, and Hinotama Soul to name a few of my lower level monsters. Then I have Firewing Pegasus, Ryu-Ran, Hell's Spawn*, Ancient Balrog*, and my favorite and strongest monster, Apocalypse Flame to represent my stronger monsters.' The strong hand picked up this monster, and he looked at it for several seconds before setting it back on the table.
'Now on to magic and trap cards: Final Flame, Burning Spear, Ookazi, Axe of Despair, Molten Destruction, Declaration of Fire*, and Magma Shield* for magic. Robbin' Goblin, Ultimate Offering, Fake Trap, Fire Wall*, and Burning Wind* to name some of my traps.'
Nabe stretched after looking over them another time then he stacked them all up and slipped them into his deck holster. Katsuro had gone straight to bed after getting home so the elder brother was alone. Mrs. Zenbushi was home now too and was asleep as well. The floor creaked slightly as Nabe passed over them on his way to his room. There he changed then slipped into bed after making sure his Duel Disk and cards were in a safe place. Nabe closed his eyes and smiled to himself, 'Tomorrow will be an eventful day.'
Inside his soul chamber, the dark spirit silently agreed.
____________________________
SilverD: Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait…. *jumps up and down excitedly*
DWyrm: *burps loudly then starts picking his teeth with a claw* What is wrong with you?
SilverD: Battle City is about to start!!!!!!
DWyrm: I know, why all the fuss?
SilverD: As soon as my school papers are finished we can get started!
DWyrm: Who cares about school, let us start right now.
SilverD: *sighs* You know as well as I do that I care about school and grades as much as if not more than writing.
DWyrm: *growls* Yes, yes, I remember your little speech when we first started, "School always come first."
SilverD: I don't like it either but who cares? As soon as Thanksgiving break starts, we can write a whole lot, ok?
DWyrm: OK.
SilverD: Thanks to our new reviewer: Mina-chan AMD, and another reviewer: Sdrive!
Mina- Thanks for the support; it means a lot. Don't worry, we'll keep writing!
PS: What does "aibou" mean?
Sdrive- We're glad you liked the duel. Thanks for telling us what "hikari" means. Keep reading and we'll keep writing.
DWyrm: Thanks for reading; please review!
Original Cards:
Apocalypse Flame: Fire att., pyro type, 8 stars, atk- 2900, def- 2500
Fiery Skeleton: fire att., zombie type, 4 stars, atk-1800, def-1300
Blazing Knight: fire att., warrior type, 4 stars, atk-1900, def-1600
Ghoul of Dark Flames: dark att., pyro type, 4 stars, atk-2000, def-500
Hell's Spawn: dark att., pyro type, 6 stars, atk-2500, def-1500
Ancient Balrog: earth att., pyro type, 7 stars, atk-2500, def-2600
Declaration of Fire: continual, Only fire and pyro monsters can attack. –200 lp per Stand-by phase.
Magma Shield: equip, +500 def to a fire monster
Fire Wall: trap, Stops magic and trap effects on fire monsters for 3 turns.
Burning Wind: trap, -1000 atk to all opponent's monsters during the turn activated.
(Any similarities between our cards and existing ones are purely coincidental. Sorry if cards make Nabe seem invincible.)