Two weeks passed like two days and during those two weeks, the four teams trained their hardest to compete against each other. Tokyo International Air Port was the sight of the first duelist competition. Hundreds of people, all wearing duel disks, came from miles around to participate. It was like that all over the world in sixteen national capitals with over two thousand participants, hundreds of teams, and over the next sixteen days they would whittled down to a precious few who would go on to the semi finals in London.It was now late in the evening and Kagome, Yugi/Yami, Joey, and Shippo all showed up at the air port with their bags packed and their decks ready for battle.
"I wonder where everyone else is." Yugi/Yami said looking around the terminal.
"Do you suppose that they're dueling at another terminal?" Shippo asked.
"Probably so. I don't think that Kaiba is going to miss out on the duel of the century. He's been wanting to duel again for a long time and this is the perfect opportunity for him to show up Yugi." Joey said.
"Hey!" Little Yugi objected.
"Sorry Yug, but it's the truth, you and Kaiba both are a little out of practice, where as I've been dueling on and on for a long while now. It's anybody's game this time."
"Yeah but don't forget guys, we're team Higurashi, and we're the best!" Kagome exclaimed.
"The best huh." Came a familiar voice from behind them. They all four turned around to find Mako standing behind them with his duel disk in battle mode and his fingers on his deck, ready to draw.
"Mako." Yugi/Yami said. "I see that you're back once again to duel."
"I am and ready for a rematch against the best duelists in the world. So where's your boyfriend Miss Higurashi? I want to fight the Masked Duelist too."
"We're a little on the rocks right now." Kagome replied. "These guys are my team and we're ready for you. So who's first, or should I say last? Cause we're going to put you out of the tournament Mako."
"I want you first!" Mako declared, pointing to Kagome.
"Me!" She exclaimed.
"That's right, you said that you were one of the best, and I only duel the best. I challenge you Miss Higurashi. Duel or go home." He told her. Mako was obviously not joking around.
"What should Kagome do Yugi? Shippo asked.
"She's been challenged, she must duel, or she should go home. Those are the rules, win, or loose. There is no draw."
"A challenge has been issued!" Cried a man in a dark suit with a microphone. "Team Higurashi VS Team Mako with the prize of their two rarest cards on the line. Who will walk away from this a winner?"
"Who's this guy?" Joey asked.
"I think he's the official Tournament Announcer, Joey." Yugi/Yami replied.
"Fine." Kagome said as she switched on her duel disk and prepared her deck for battle. "I'll take you up on your challenge Mako, and I'll show you that Team Higurashi is the best in the world." Kagome stood across from her opponent and said, "Let's Duel."
"I think it only fair to warn you that I ran into another old friend of ours this morning and dueled him. Remember Merik Ishtar?" He asked them.
"Merik?" Yugi/Yami asked.
"Yeah, he was the runner up in Battle City. I beat him easily and took his rare Revival Jam and Jam Defender cards."
"That's impossible." Joey said, "Mako, you're good, there's no doubt. But there's no way that you could have beaten Merik."
"I did though and I'll prove it." Mako said as he drew his first five cards. "I'll let the lady start things off this turn." Kagome smiled and flicked her hair back behind her head.
"Don't be too confident Kagome." Joey said. "Keep it cool and believe in your deck." Kagome nodded then turned back to Mako and drew her five cards. She looked at her hand, not a good one either, but it was what she'd drawn. She would have to play things from the hip and hope that her faith in the heart of the cards was as strong as Yugi and Joey's.
"Okay, I play one card face down in defense mode and two more cards face down on the field. I activate Pot of Greed, draw two more cards, and end my turn." She said.
"Great, this duel is going to be easy to win is you're playing this weakly." Mako said "I'll play this card face up in attack mode, Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness. I play one card face down and end my turn." Kagome drew and then she flipped up one of her face down cards.
"Offerings to the Doomed." She said. "This destroys your monster and that leaves the way open for my Pixie Knight to attack your life points directly."
"Not so fast." Mako shouted to her. "I activate the trap card Torrential Tribute and that destroys all the monsters on the field. Since my monster is already gone, that leaves yours." Kagome groaned, Pixie Knight was her favorite card and now it was gone. What else did she have in her deck that could do the trick?
"Oh well, at least I get my Offerings To The Doomed back from the graveyard as per Pixie Knight's special ability." Kagome thought about all she'd learned about duel monsters from her friends, and she thought about all the cards she'd collected Most of them were no good, cause she'd dueled her friends for fun a few days ago, and she lost each and every time. Shippo's deck was better than hers. Suddenly her deck felt cold and far away from her. It was sensing her doubt and she could sense it's doubt in her.
"What do I do?" She asked herself.
"Believe your deck can stand the test, Kagome!" Yugi/Yami said to her, sensing that she was in despair. "Your deck is a good one and together you can win if you only believe."
"Yeah, Kagome, get him!" Shippo cried and leaped up on Joey's shoulder.
"Take him down Team Captain!" Joey shouted.
"Right." Kagome said and then returned her attention to Mako and the duel. "I summon Kelbeck in Defense mode and activate my other face down card, Soul of the Pure, I gain 800 life points and you loose 800 life points for each turn that I summon a fairy monster to the field. Next I'll set one card face down on the field and end my turn."
"That's got to be the most childish move I've ever seen." Mako laughed. "You don't know what you're doing at all. I draw now and I think that I'm going to sacrifice my Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness to summon Mobius The Frost Monarch. I also play the field magic card, A Legendary Ocean, which boosts my 2400 point monster up to 2600. What are you going to do about that?"
"I'll activate my trap card, World Suppression!" Kagome replied. She flipped the card face up and so the Legendary Ocean was destroyed.
"Wow!" Cried the Announcer. "I've never seen such a close duel. This is going to be one for the records as a complete unknown in the dueling world comes up and puts Mako Tsunami in his place!"
"Yeah that was pretty good, but I'm still king of the ocean, so don't get cocky little girl." Mako said. "I attack your Kelbeck."
"Then your Mobius gets a one way ticket back to your hand." Kagome said. "That's what happens when my Kelbeck gets attacked by a monster with higher attack points than it has defense points."
"Impressive, you're not just some push over duelist after all, but you're still no match for me. I lay one card face down on the field then end my turn." This was where it counted, Kagome had to find a monster in her deck that could take down Mako's life points. He'd already lost a few but now she needed a good, old fashioned secret weapon. What could she summon though that could do the trick.
"I play Zola in attack mode to attack your life points!" Kagome said.
"I activate Enchanted Javelin. This card increases my life points by your monster's attack points so I loose nothing as a result of your attack."
"No, but you still loose 800 points because I've managed to summon another fairy type monster to the field." Kagome pointed out. "I play one card face down and end my turn."
"My turn now, and say goodbye to that little trick of yours kid, cause here comes Mystical Space Typhoon." Mako had a card for everything that Kagome could think of. He was a seasoned duelist. "I play Humanoid Slime in defense mode and end my turn." This wasn't good, he was getting ready to play his Mobius again, then he'd have too powerful a monster for Kagome to destroy with anything she had in her hand. None of her monsters were strong enough for that, she had to find a way to destroy the card while it was in his hand.
"I draw and play Graceful Charity," Kagome said. She drew three cards, gasped, then quickly chose two cards in her hand to throw into the Graveyard. "I hope you're ready, fish boy, cause I've got a surprise for you. I play Monster Reborn to Special Summon Marie the Fallen One, and now I normal summon the Forgiving Maiden."
"I've seen this before," Joey said, "My sister used this in the Virtual World. She's gonna win the Duel!"
"And Now, I play Polymerizationm and create St Joan!" The tall woman in armor appeared, and took up a battle stance. "Now I equip St Joan with Fairy Meteor Crush, which means when my monster attacks your defense position monster, you take battle damage. St. Joan, attack that walking drain clog!" Joan charged, and Humanoid slim vanished. "And now, I attack your life points directly with Zolga." Mako's counter went down to 0.
Kagome's team cheered as Mako cried, "Another winning streak comes to an end. Oh, the sahme of it all!"
"Okay," Kagome said, "Hand over your two rarest cards."
"Take your pick," Maok said dejectedly. "I've been collecting them all day." Kagome took his deck, and started looking through it. "Oh, these are beautiful! I'll take these two."
"Wait, I've seen these before," Yugi/yami said, looking over his captain's shoulder. "They belonged to a duelist named Raphael."
"Oh, those two worn out things? I got those this morning. They're what passed for his two rarest after some little kid beat him."
"Little Kid?" Shippo asked. "Did he have long black hair?"
"Yeah, and he was with Mai Valentine." Mako said. "Down at Gate 13."
"Then the other's already came through here," Kagome realized. "Yugi, we're gonna be late!"
"To gate 3 before the flight takes off!" Yugi/Yami cried.
As they pushed past Mako, Kagome, looked over her shoulder and cried, "Hey, you're a really great duelist! I hope we face off again someday Mako!"
"Um- Count on it!" Mako called back, waving to them. "Wow, I guess I was wrong about her. What an amazing girl." he said to himself. Little did he know, a shadowed figure had seen and heard all, and now it too passed by the crowd of people to gate number 3.
"That's just the opening games, Ladies and Gents!" The announcer cried, "Round Two, Hong Kong, begins tomorrow! Teams, hurry for your flights; fans, tune in tomorrow for the incredible World Tournament Adventure!"
-----------Elsewhere------------
Miroku, Sango, and Bakura's plane was taking off and the three teammates anxiously awaited their first next challenge. Sango and Bakura had both already beaten some pretty good duelists and taken their two rarest cards. The only one who wasn't exactly thrilled was Miroku who had yet to test his deck out in battle. He sat in his seat yawning and looking board as ever. When all of a sudden, a young boy from down the isle came wandering up to them. He was dressed all in black and red with bandana on his head.
"Some of the people back there say that you three are all duelists." The young boy said.
"Yes, we are." Sango replied "Is there something that we can do for you?" She asked him.
"My name's little Keith and I'm a duelist too. I want to challenge one of you to a duel, but I'm not exactly sure which of you chumps is the weakest so I'll ask you, who's the weakest duelist on your team?"
"Excuse me little boy, but that's not very polite." Bakura said, offended by this kid's manners, or should I say, lack there of.
"Who cares, I'm not here to make a social call, I want to duel so one of you chumps get up. Come on, Little Keith isn't gonna wait all day."
"Did you say your name was Keith?" Bakura asked.
"Yeah, Little Bandit Keith, just like my dad, so let's go. I've got a family reputation to uphold."
"What a rude little child." Sango said returning to magazine. "I'm not dueling him."
"Nor I." Resounded Bakura.
"Then I shall." Miroku said suddenly.
"What?" They each exclaimed.
"Yes, he's obviously here to uphold the honor of his fathers and that is more important than anything else to him. As it is with me. I shall duel you, young Keith, and let us make it an honorable duel."
"Whatever, Jes, man this ain't some friendly sport. This is Duel Monsters, and like my dad taught me, it's all about skill." Their duel disks lit up and activated their life point counters at 4000. The duel had begun and as a courtesy Miroku let little Keith go first.
"Alright, lets see." The boy said looking at his hand. "I'll play these two cards face down and set one card in defense mode. Your turn, chump."
"Please, there is no need to be rude." Miroku said. "I'm going now." He looked his hand over and wondered exactly what to play. This was Miroku's first duel after all. Well, his first official duel. He'd dueled Sango and Bakura plenty of times by now, and lost each time, but now he was ready. Or at least, he hoped he was ready for this kid, whoever he was. Bakura seemed to know the kid's father quite well, but Miroku would form his own opinions. "I will lay a card face down in defense mode." He said. "Your turn."
"That's it?" Little Keith said. "Man, you are easy."
"You can say that again." Sango stated. "Miroku, you know better than to lay down a card with out anything to support it."
"I have a plan." He informed Sango. "Just give me a moment."
"Well, anyway, here's my move." Said Little Keith, "I summon Guardian of the Thrown Room and I activate my trap card, Compulsory Evacuation Device, which sends that card of yours back to your hand." Miroku picked his card back up from off his duel disk and placed it back in his hand. Then he watched as Little Keith attacked his life points directly with his machine monster. Miroku's life points went down from 4000 to 2350. This was not good for the Monk, he had just lost almost half his life points in the first three turns. This kid was definitely good but Miroku felt that he was better. "I'll lay one more card face down and end my turn." The blond headed little menace was not going to make it easy of Miroku. He had to search his deck with his heart and find the cards he would need to vanquish this foe.
"I draw and now I play the Ritual Magic Card, Commencement Dance, and I sacrifice Mind on Air from my hand to the graveyard to special summon Performance of Sword with 1950 attack points which is three hundred more than your monster. But that's not all, I also equip my monster with the spell card Ritual Weapon which raises my beautiful maiden's powers by 1500 points. Now I attack."
"And now I activate my other face down card, Spell Shield Type-8 which destroys your equip spell card and brings your monster back down to 1950, I still loose 250 points but that's all I loose." Said Little Keith smugly as his life points fell to 3750, still well above Miroku's level. "My move, and now let's see what other surprises my deck holds." Little Keith drew a card and smiled. "Sacrifice my Guardian of the Thrown Room to summon my Spikebot, which has 1800 attack points and now that I play Machine Conversion Factory, he'll have 2100 attack points." Keith's next attack brought Miroku down to 2200 points and destroyed his strongest monster. All seemed lost.
"What can he do now Ryou?" Sango asked, watching at Miroku was getting his butt handed to him in a sling. He had one more monster that might do the trick, it was weaker than his Performance of Sword was but with the right magic or spell cards, he might just be able to boost it's strength enough to take Little Keith down another notch.
"I draw." Miroku said, and was shocked to see the card he'd drawn was just what he needed. Maybe there was something to this Heart of The Cards thing after all. "I play Kycoo The Ghost Destroyer in attack mode!" He declared and a masked monk, dressed rather like Miroku appeared with prayer beads in his right hand.
"Oh my." Sango said looking at the monster. "Is that even possible? Could there be card that looks exactly light Miroku?" She was astonished. Little Keith looked at the pair of master and monster and laughed.
"Oh man, you dress like your card, that must mean then that this is your favorite card. I'll take it down and that'll break you confidence."
"Not so fast." Miroku said. "My turn's not over, for now I play the field magic card, Mystic Plasma Zone which boost my monster's attack by 500 points. That' 2300 points vs. 21 hundred points. Now let's see which monster will win." Miroku said as he declared an attack. Spikebot was destroyed and Little Keith's points dropped by another 200. That still wasn't enough though, but it looked now as if Little Keith was running out of cards to play. "I'll lay one card face down and end my turn." Miorku was toying with the child now and that wasn't going to wash with Little Keith.
"Fine, I draw, and I play pot of greed."
"No, I'm sorry, but that activates my spell card, Jar Robber, which negates the activation of pot of greed and allows me to draw one card from my deck."
"Hah, that activates my face down card." Little Keith said. "I activate Null and Void which means that now neither of us can draw cards outside of our draw phases this time."
"That was a good move but ultimately it was futile for now your turn is over and you still don't have any monsters on the field to protect your life points." Miroku's opportunity for victory had come. Little Keith's over confidence and rude mannerisms was now about to be his undoing.
"What?! NO!!!" Little Keith cried when he realized that his life points were wide open and that there was nothing he could do except end his turn.
"My move and I play monster reborn to bring my Performance of Sword back from the grave yard, which means that now I have two monsters to attack your life points with. Go my monsters, finish him!" Miroku cried and they went forth, down the isle, and attacked Little Keith directly. His life points plummeted to 0 and he cried out in shame. The duel was over and Miroku had won. "Okay that was pretty fun." He said smiling at his diminutive opponent. "Now I believe there is the matter of the two cards you owe me."
"Awe fine, here, he's my rare Null And Void, and my Spiritual Energy Machine."
"Hold on, that's not a rare card." Bakura said looking at the Spiritual Energy Machine card.
"It's all I've got so take it or leave it." Little Keith said.
"This is fine Bakura, I like it, and besides this was an honorable match. I enjoyed it. This little fellow is quite a good duelist." Miroku said and patted the child on the head.
"Whatever. I'm going back to my seat now." Little Keith said and got up from the floor of the plane. Soon the trip would be over and they would be landing in Hong Kong. Their next tests were awaiting them there.