Disclaimer- For the last time I don't own Yugioh! GAH!! Stop asking me!!
Chapter 23: Introducing the contenders
After CJ's defeat of Spark, Team Topdeck had been moved into a large lobby. They had their packs taken to their rooms, and were given their room keys. They had until 7:00 tonight to get ready, and then there would be a special dinner in which they would meet their host.
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Amy sighed as she looked through the closet. It was full of all kinds of exotic dresses and such, but nothing that had the casual charm she loved to show-off. ("Guess I will have to make do.")
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CJ stared at his deck, which he had disassembled and laid out in front of him on the bed. "Alright, now I don't want any of your guys to let up when we duel, alright?"
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Rebecca stared at herself in the mirror. She knew that she was going to have to be ready. If Daniel...didn't make it back in time she would have to take charge and be ready to duel her hardest.
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Deondre sat in front of the window in his room. He looked out at The Asylum and crossed his arms across his chest. "This will be harder than anything I have ever done before. I'm going to have to face the world champion of Duel Monsters." He bowed his head and let his mind wander. He needed to be sure that he could recall every winning strategy his deck had.
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Team Topdeck met in the lobby at 6:30 pm.
CJ had put on a blue-red jersey this time, with a red-blue cap he had found in the closet of his room.
Rebecca was wearing a pair of jeans and a white shirt.
Deondre was wearing his red, black, and white striped jersey, with a white do-rag this time.
Out of all of them Amy was the one who stood out the most. She was wearing a blue dress with silver imprints. The only downside to it was that she had to constantly snap her fingers in front of Deondre and CJ's faces to get their attention off of her body.
They all walked into the dining hall and were beyond amazed. The place had a quality to it that was so unique it was impossible to describe. With the crystal chandeliers, red velvet carpet, and the exquisite paintings on the wall, they couldn't help but feel like they had stepped back in time to the royal dining hall of a king.
The first thing that brought their attention off the beauty of the room was the sounds of an argument coming from the far end of the hall.
"I'm tellin ya Kaiba! I'm gonna be the one to bring this team to the top!" The speaker was a blonde-haired boy in a white shirt and jeans, who was yelling in a Boston accent at a brown-haired man that Rebecca knew all too well.
"Seto Kaiba..." She literally growled the word out. If Daniel was here he would have most likely attacked the young millionaire right there and then.
Kaiba was done getting yelled at by Wheeler. The idiot was wearing on his last nerve. So when the door to the dining hall opened and someone came in, he quickly left his seat to see who it was. He was surprised to see a motley crew of people come in, each of which were wearing casual street clothing, with the exclusion of the woman in the dress. ("Great, most likely a bunch of Wheeler clones.")
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Yugi was already out of his seat and walking up to the new entering group. "Hi there, I'm Yugi Moto." He held out his hand to the staring Deondre.
Deondre continued to stare... ("This is the guy that won the Battle City tournament in Japan? When I saw his picture on the news he looked much more...intense.") He hesitantly took Yugi's hand and shook it firmly. "Deondre Anderson. I'm the second in command of Team Topdeck."
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Joey walked up to CJ and looked him over. Then he clapped his hands together. "Alright ya look skilled enough to be in this tournament, but looking and being are different things."
CJ just glared at Joey for a few seconds, and then tackled him. "I'll show you skilled Blondie!"
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Rebecca and Kaiba spent a few good minutes staring each other down, until finally she broke the silence with, "I won't lose again."
Seto Kaiba grinned. He remembered the girl and her brother all too well. "Yeah right brat."
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The sound of the dining room doors opening again caught their attention. Everyone in the room turned to watch as a two new group of people walked in.
At the head of the first group was long brown-haired young man in a black jacket and jeans. He had a scar across his face that went from his right eyebrow to his right lower cheek. His piercing ice blue sent chills through the spines of almost everyone there, except Kaiba, who just matched his glare.
Right behind him was a girl in a Japanese school uniform. She had long blue hair and green eyes. She smiled warmly to the boys in the room (Kaiba still excluded) as they stared at her.
Stomping in behind he was a brown-haired athletic young man dressed completely in black. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of black sunglasses which covered his face.
The ice-blue eyed man stepped forward and in a distinctly German accent said, "I'm Siegfried Reinhardt, one of the top duelists in Germany. I'm the leader of team Blitz." His tone reflected the same cold tone that accompanied his glare.
The girl bounced past him and bowed awkwardly. "I'm Crystal Simmons!"
The man in black stayed silent until Siegfried coughed sharply. Snarling he slid off his sunglasses to reveal a pair of crimson colored eyes. "Devan Tenaka."
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The second group was led in by a hardened looking dark-skinned man in Egyptian robes. He looked amongst the gathered duelists and slid out of the way so that his companions could get past him.
The next person to come in was a dark-skinned woman in Indian robes. She swept her black hair back and smiled at the collected duelists.
The last member of the group was a bronze-skinned blonde-haired man in a muscle shirt. He threw the ladies in the room a grin and then walked over to join his companions at the table.
The Egyptian man was the first to speak. "I am the leader of Team Ancient Duelist, Akhmed."
The Indian woman spoke up next. "I am Shiria."
The bronze-skinned man spoke last. "Name's Apollo." He threw that wink at the ladies again.
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A gong being rung caught all of their attention. They all turned to see that someone had occupied the head seat of the table.
Rebecca stared. "Giovan Garlin." ("But if he is here then what happened to...Daniel?")
Giovan smiled to his gathered guests. "I'd like to extend my welcome to you all." The dining room doors opened and food was laid out for everyone. "You must pardon the other teams for not arriving yet. Surprisingly enough no one else has made it past my test. That will be quite unfortunate if we must reformat the tournament to allow five teams to play instead of eight."
Yugi chimed in the same thing that had just crossed the mind of everyone else in the room. "Five teams?"
Giovan smiled and took a sip of his wine. "Of course. I have entered my own team into the tournament. Think of it as an added challenge."
Everyone shrugged at that and sat to eat, though Team Topdeck was on their guard for the rest of the night.
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Later that evening, after everyone had eaten dinner, Giovan led them all into a small theater. When they asked him what he was showing them, he simply said, "A surprise."
As soon as everyone had grabbed a seat in the theater, Giovan walked up to the large screen and spun on his heels, bowing. "My apologies, but there will be no popcorn for this movie." He smiled at his own joke, before snapping his fingers. The lights dimmed and the projector turned on. The screen flickered and then everyone was watching what looked to be like the end of a duel. Everyone, after looking the field over, could already see which of the two duelists was winning.
Rebecca watched, eyes wide. ("It's....Daniel...")
"Now Jinzo, Cyber Shock attack!" The green armored monster built up a dark ball of energy in between its cupped hands, and then when the ball was properly formed, he hurled it across the field.
Giovan started laughing as the ball headed towards him. "It's been a good game boy, but now that your hopes are so high, it's time to bring them crashing down. I reveal the magic card Dark Wall of Air, protecting me from all direct damage this turn." A wall of black air appeared and blocked Jinzo's attack.
As the darkness ball faded, Daniel stared in mute horror. He collapsed to his knees. ("Just like that...I've lost.") His turn ended and all of his machine monsters exploded, leaving him with only the Wolf Demon Lord on his field.
Giovan drew and without even looking at his card ended his turn.
Daniel had no cards left in his deck. Since he couldn't draw a card he lost the duel. He was so numb with shock that he didn't even hear Garlin's approach. All he could feel was the sadness at having failed, and the understanding that he would never see his friends or family again. ("I won't let myself die honor-less though.") He knew that Rikuo must have been rubbing off on him more then the demon would let on. If this had been a week ago he would have run away screaming in fear, like Spirit had done.
Yet he only felt regret...
Giovan stood in front of him, the ex-demon king sneering down at his fallen adversary. "Are you ready to accept your punishment boy?"
Daniel lifted his head up, chin held high. He knew that tears were streaking his face, but it didn't matter. "I'm ready to face my death."
Giovan raised an eyebrow in surprise. He had expected the boy to plead with him, or maybe call upon Rikuo for help. He hadn't expected actually be facing the boy when he inflicted out his punishment. "As you wish." His open-palmed hand came in line with Daniel's forehead. "Your life is at its end."
Daniel felt the energy gathering around Giovan's palm and he closed his eyes, praying that it would be a swift and merciful end. ("I'm sorry CJ....Deondre....you two are going to have to pick up where I left off and win the tournament. I'm sorry Amy, for not getting to know you better. Rebecca...I'm sorry....forgive me....") Then all he felt was flame and death as his body was ripped apart.
Giovan smiled as his opponent was covered in brilliant violet flames. Daniel screamed for what seemed like hours, though in truth it was only a few seconds.
The camera image lingered on the picture of the burning Daniel, and then lifted up enough to show Giovan's face. He threw a wink at the camera and said, "And with that it's back to you Giovan." The image then died.
Giovan smiled and bowed to his recorded image, before the lights came on and he turned to face his crowd.
Everyone stared with looks of horror. Yami (who had taken over for Yugi) glared at Giovan, as did most of the men in the crowd.
The only people who were reacting differently were Amy, who was sobbing uncontrollably, and Rebecca, who had tears in her eyes, though her glare was by far the most murderous.
Finally Kaiba spoke up, "What was the point of showing us that sick little sideshow Garlin!?"
Giovan shrugged. "I felt like showing Team Topdeck what had happened to its captain. Plus Rebecca Pilkington probably should know how her brother had died at my hands." He reached from underneath a pedestal and pulled out a duel disk, throwing it to Rebecca. "This was your brother's girl. I hope you appreciate it." He smiled and bowed once more to his audience. "And with that I take my leave. Sleep well everyone." He walked down the isle, whistling a little tune to himself as he went out the doors of the theater.
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Silence reigned over the theater for at least a minute. Everyone had their eyes on Rebecca, who was looking down at the duel disk and deck within it with the tears in her eyes starting to overflow.
Finally the dam burst and her shoulders heaved as she cried silently.
Yami's face was the first to twist into a scowl. ("I cannot...I will not allow this to happen! Giovan Garlin, you have just earned yourself a new enemy! And by the time I am done you will be wishing that Daniel had beaten you, just so that you could have avoided my wrath!")
Kaiba, for one of the few times in his life, actually felt pity for the girl. ("Giovan Garlin is just like the reports on him said. He's a ruthless killer and twisted soul.")
Joey and CJ as one looked down at their feet. Then as one they hopped up and yelled, "He'll pay!"
The members of team Ancient Duelist and Blitz, while still shocked, understood that they had to take down Giovan if they could.
Deondre's fist clenched so tight that blood dripped from his palm to the red velvet floor. He leaped up in anger and threw his chair against the wall, surprising everyone, even Rebecca. He screamed a couple of times and then looked down tiredly. He whispered, "You said that you could stop him...you said he wouldn't get away with what he did. Yet you blew it Rikuo. Because of you Daniel is dead and that monster still lives." As he spoke his voice rose to an almost screaming tone, "DAMN YOU RIKUO! WHY DIDN'T YOU WIN!?!?!?"
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Giovan Garlin watched all of their respective responses to his little show from his office. He chuckled as he heard Deondre's scream, both on the speakers and from the room itself. ("He didn't win because I was stronger than he was. I am stronger than all of you.") He looked at the cameras that were positioned all across his castle. Still no new teams had arrived. ("They still have until exactly 9:00 am tomorrow though.")
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That evening everyone went to their rooms with a heavy heart and a determined spirit. They were all more than ready to take down Giovan Garlin tomorrow.
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Yugi sat in his room staring at the Millennium Puzzle. ("Do you think we can win Yami?") From within the puzzle he felt his friend's presence nod.
("I'm more than sure we can win this tournament. We are going to have to use our secret weapons though.")
Yugi nodded weakly. ("You mean the Egyptian God Cards?")
("Yes. We must place them into our deck. I know you wanted to try and win the tournament without their assistance, but this tournament no longer just about us anymore. It has gone from a fun, if strange, tournament to a battle. And in a battle you cannot misuse any advantages you have.")
Yugi opened the golden box that had originally housed the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle and pulled free the three monster cards that were so powerful they could kill their opponent, even if they were holograms. ("Obelisk the Tormentor, The Winged Dragon of Ra, and Slifer the Sky Dragon.") He nodded at each one in turn and slid them into his deck.
("You had best get some sleep now Yugi. We have a big day tomorrow.")
Putting his deck back into his duel disk, he laid his head on the pillow of his bed and nodded to the Millennium Puzzle. ("Good night Yami.")
("Good night Yugi.")
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Rebecca looked her deck over and then placed it on her writing desk. She had just finished looking over Daniel's deck and taking it apart. She had put some of his best cards into her deck. Now she was confident she could win this tournament. ("I will not let you die for nothing Daniel!") As she lay down to sleep that night she shed no more tears. Now was not the time to mourn...
Now was the time for revenge...
To be continued...
Next chapter: Team Domino vs. Team.....
Author's notes: I left the end of the next chapter part blank to surprise you. Keep sending in your teams though. As you can see me not getting any more dueling teams is going to affect the storyline. So if you have either a dueling team or just an OC you want to see in the story, please post it in a review or just e-mail me.