Author's note, part 1:
Yay! More reviews! Thank you Fifilafemme!! Here's some double fudge cookies. Keep laughing!
JC Maxwell-Yuy. . .IT'S ABOUT TIME YOU SHOWED UP! Merry Christmas!! I don't intend on duelling Amelda. . .that would be far too kind of me. . .hope you enjoy his alternate fate. . .
I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, any of the characters/monsters (and the latter WILL be appearing this time), any classrooms, any universities, any libraries, the King of Fighters or any of its "interesting" characters, any food dishes (except for the peanut butter cookies, which will be mentioned later), any of my friends, the song "Power Dream" (that belongs to Pink Pong), and/or any motocycles. The only other thing I own besides a platter of peanut butter cookies is me (and this time, I shall appear in the fic).
It's time for dj TRACY to take the stage. . .if I can only figure out how to wake Amelda up. . .
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Something gently brushed his hand. Amelda's eyes opened a crack. Perhaps the maid. . .
. . .was actually a palm-sized roach crawling on his hand. Amelda swallowed his scream of terror and quickly ended the offending insect's life. He looked at the illuminated clock, which read 7:30 a.m. The motion sickness medicine (which didn't work), combined with a rough trip over, had kept Amelda asleep for well over 20 hours.
Amelda groggily went through his things and pulled out his usual Benimaru look-alike clothes. He hoped that the weather would clear up a little. The Doom Warriors were in Hawaii to escape the awful weather in California, not to relive it.
After a nice hot/cold shower and room service, Amelda felt a bit more like how he felt he should feel. He opened the door to leave, and immediately stopped. Raphael stood on the other side, poised to knock.
"You're NOT going out in that," the blond stated simply. Amelda looked down. No one had objected much in California. Raphael pointed over Amelda's shoulder. Amelda walked over to the window and took a peek outside.
Sheets of rain flowed against the window. The winds whipped the greenery in every direction that Amelda could think of, and a few he'd never imagined. Lightning lit up the scenery briefly. The rumble of thunder (or Raphael's stomach) followed a breath later.
"So what's a little. . .hey, where'd you go?" Amelda stared dumbly at the now-empty doorway. A gray shirt had found its way into his hands. With a resigned sigh, Amelda changed. Wet T-shirt contests were for girls, anyway.
A note fell out of the shirt. Amelda picked it up, and did his best to decipher the scribbles that passed for Raphael's handwriting. Most handwriting analysts would probably agree that Raphael needed serious therapy. Unfortunately, Amelda was not a handwriting analyst.
The note had a phone number and an address scratched on it. Out of boredom, Amelda tried the phone number. After a few minutes, Amelda wandered out of the hotel and into the storm. It was time to go to work.
The motorcycle that Raphael had reserved rode wonderfully well in the wet conditions. Amelda randomly chose a car, and tailed it. No one would notice if the driver of such an old car went missing.
Many crazy turns, intersections, and streets later, the car wove its way into a street stall and parked. Amelda looked at a nearby sign. The car had stopped at the local university. It was as good a place as any to find souls.
All the street parking was taken. Amelda circled the university several times before driving away. Things might be a little less crowded later. The rain, which had been kind enough to lay off during his ride over to the university, restarted. It had to be a sign. Amelda turned into one of the university parking lots.
His wallet was considerably lighter after the parking lot attendant had requested an exorbitant amount for parking. The parking lot he had chosen was across the street from the main campus. People milled around, and not a single person paid any attention to him. Perfect.
Once at the main campus, he wasn't sure where to start. The buildings all looked the same. Rather than choose now, he decided to go for a little walk. Maybe one of the buildings in back would be a good starting point.
One of the buildings on the busy campus was dark. Amelda took a closer look. Photographs lined the windows. A flood of some sort had washed through the library, and the pictures were from the flood's aftermath. He had remembered seeing something like that in the paper, but didn't bother to read further. Several other people also stared at the photographs, shock on their faces. Who knew that a little water could do THAT to a building?
A not-so-small cafe was stationed within a few steps of the library's entrance. Amelda stepped inside. The air conditioning chilled him to the bone. He'd left his trenchcoat in the motorcycle. The stand right next to the door sold hot things to drink. Amelda ordered one of them, paid for it, and quickly left. The wind outside was much warmer than the air within that horrid building.
Few people populated the open area, probably because of the drizzle that had stemmed from the rain. Instict guided him to a builing with a bamboo courtyard. A duelist awaited him. He discarded his empty cup and prepared a little surprise for everyone in the room he was about to walk into.
A platter of peanut butter cookies sat on the teacher's desk. The class had its full attention on the TV in the back. Almost all the people in the classroom were female. It was his lucky day. Bagpipes droned in the background. Absolutely perfect.
The souls of his unfortunate victims came quietly along. He did a quick head count. One of the heads in the classroom popped up. From the dazed look in her eyes, she had been sleeping through class. Amelda frowned, and tried again.
An extraordinary blast of heat broke his concentration. Two large fire dragons sat between him and the Leviathan's appetizer. The girl peeked out from behind the dragons. Her glasses sat crookedly on her near-nonexistent nose. Her oddly-cut black hair stuck out at various angles. The bags under her eyes were magnified by her thick glasses. She looked like she had come straight from some part of Asia. Of all the girls, she was probably the ugliest.
She stood in front of the dragons and looked around. She looked horribly anorexic. The only curves on her body came from her elbows and knees. The green shirt she wore clashed with everything in the room. She must be some sort of high school prodigy.
"I never thought I'd meet such an ugly duelist," Amelda taunted. The girl gave him a confused look.
Though he'd never really seen the dragons that took up half the room, he was confident that he could seal her soul easily enough. He took out his deck. . .
. . .only to feel another blast of searing heat, this time near his hands. The deck he had been holding had been turned into a pile of ash. The girl looked up at the dragons that towered over her.
"Thank you, both of you. And thank you, sir, for getting me out of my English final!" Before Amelda could comprehed what she had just said, she gave him a quick wink and ran out of the door. The two dragons glared at him and followed her obediently. He punched the wall in frustration. Now what was he supposed to do? He'd tie that girl to his motorcycle and deliver her to Dartz himself!
The girl, despite her starved look, walked extraordinarily fast. He followed her up two sets of stairs, and into a dirty-looking room.
The room had been transformed into a Duel Monsters convention. The two fire dragons he saw earlier danced with the Dancing Fairies. The Vampire Lord looked at something interesting at one of the tables. The Chaos Soldier sat off to the side, drinking what appeared to be a soft drink. Peten the Dark Clown juggled several objects including a Marshmallon. The Ultimate Baseball Kid, White Magician Pikeru, Toon Dark Magician Girl, Toon Gemini Elves, Mad Dog of Darkness, and Guardian Kay'est watched the clown's act, in awe. The Sacred Crane ate from a dish on the ground. Jinzo sat in a corner, inactive. In another corner, the Magic Canceller hummed merrily. One of the monsters stared right at Amelda - Thestalos, the Firestorm Monarch.
Several people were dispersed within the monsters, including that ugly girl. This was the perfect place to harvest souls, and he didn't have the right tools with him! The fire dragons growled at Amelda. He glared back.
"Tracy's Prominence Dragons don't like you. What did you do to them?" The speaker was male, but Amelda couldn't see him. If only he had his deck. . .
"Toon Gemini Elves, attack!" another male voice behind him commanded. Amelda turned around, just in time to see the elves trip over a Magic Cylinder. The momentum of their fall caused them to run into Peten, who dropped the Marshmallon, which landed on Pikeru, who began to cry. The Chaos Soldier looked up from his soft drink. He pointed. . .
. . .and Amelda found himself standing in the hotel's parking lot, with his motorcycle right next to him. He sighed and went back to his room, to nurse his burnt hands. He would come back with a deck, and he wouldn't stop duelling until he had the soul of every miserable person in that school!
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Author's notes, part 2:
Well, that's my official introduction. It's precisely how a guy who doesn't like skinny Asian girls would describe me. Of course, that means that I'm going to have to dress a little better (and a little older, because I am NOT a high school prodigy) when I meet Amelda again. . .not that he deserves it. . .
Amelda: The only thing you'd look good in is a body bag.
Me: How badly do you want to appear in the next chapter IN A DRESS?
Amelda: Touchy, touchy.
The title "Power Dream" is my own explanation of what Dartz wants, but will probably never obtain fully. His three faithful minions are simply an extension of that wish. As for my comment about dj TRACY. . .all the titles in this chapter are related to a certain video game. . .I'll elaborate in the next chapter.
I was not exaggerating the size of the roach that was introduced in the second line of the fic. The cockroaches in Hawaii grow to gargantuan size, and they FLY.
Amelda's horrible threads on the series look like they came from another I-look-horrible-but-really-I'm-straight guy - Benimaru Nikkaido, from the King of Fighters series.
The people at the university I attend dress however the heck they want. I wandered around in my underwear (which was a tank top and bike shorts), and no one noticed. Amelda in a t-shirt and shorts wouldn't draw any attention, either.
The photographs in the library's windows were there when I saw them last, and the Hamilton Library still hasn't recovered from the flood that swept through the ground floor of the library on Halloween. The same flood also knocked out the UH servers for one day, which was NOT fun.
The Duel Monsters that were featured were the signature cards of me (the Prominence Dragons, Thestalos, and to some extent, the Ultimate Baseball Kid) and my friends (the rest of the monsters). The person that asked about my dragons is someone who I won't name. The person who ordered the Toon Gemini Elves to attack had best be enjoying his Christmas present.
The fate of my English class will be decided in the next chapter (which will be SHORT). . .which will by narrated by Dartz, of all people. It's going to be a very short chapter indeed. . .