"The Appearance of the Masked Duelist"
By: Baron Von Stupor
Another day, another duel is the basic formula for an average day in the life of a duelist during the big Battle City tournament. Duelists come and go, some with bright smiles that emitted a visual taste of victory, while others, heartbroken, ran to their homes and in a violent rage, cursed the heavens for their lack of skill. Obviously, Battle City explodes with emotion. What the polarity may be, however, depends solely on the outcome of the duel.
Joey Wheeler, a veteran duelist who placed second in the recent Duelist Kingdom tournament, boasts of his victory over Espa Roba, a self-proclaimed psychic who turned out to be anything but psychic.
"I'm tellin' ya, I knew the freak show was a fake from the very beginning!" he bragged.
"Yeah, the look of fear in your face really convinced us," replied Tristan Taylor, close friend of both Joey and Yugi, the first ranking duelist in the world.
"What's that supposed to mean, huh?!" Joey growled and locked eyes with Tristan.
"Who cares what it means now? All that matters is that Joey is still in the tournament, as well as one locator piece closer to the finals," Téa chimed in.
"Hey guys," interjected Yugi. "What's over there?"
Yugi pointed towards a rather large group of people looking in towards the center. Perhaps a duel was about to begin.
Yugi and friends hurried to the crowd and fought their way to the center so as to get a better look. Over everyone else's voice, Yugi could hear the two people in the middle having an argument.
One of the people was wearing a uniform that was a bit big for his size. He appeared to be about Yugi's age. He was scrawny, but held a mean look on his face. He had two goons to either side of him.
The second duelist looked much stranger. To the best that Yugi could tell, the second duelist looked and sounded a little older than the first. He was slim, but still a bit thicker than the boy. He appeared tall, while sporting a blank white T-shirt that hung over his pants. He wore bright white shoes, obviously new, and had a large slate colored winter coat attached around his neck, like a cape. Perhaps his oddest feature was a strange mask he wore that covered his entire face. It had large, piercing yellow-orange eyes and a culmination of pink and purple stripes. It had spikes placed decoratively around its edges. It looked rather intimidating.
"Whatever!" shouted the uniformed boy. "Just because you're older doesn't mean you can beat me in a duel! I'm the best in my school! Heck, I'm the best, period!"
"You speak lies!" replied the masked duelist. "No one can ever say they're there the best, for there is always someone better."
"Do you really think you can come from out of nowhere, wearing your stupid coat/cape thing—"
"You dare insult the coat of Baron Von Stupor?!" the masked duelist shouted. The coat must be a dear possession, as he was offended quite easily.
"Is that your name??? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! What person in their right mind would name their kid that?!"
The boy, as well as the rest of the crowd, began to laugh.
"Enough!" Baron Von Stupor bellowed. Everyone was quiet. Von Stupor pointed to the boy and said, "Have at thee, big headed, loudmouthed duelist of unskill!"
He marched over to the boy, pulled out a glove, and promptly slapped the boy with it. The glove's impact returned five echoes and everyone's jaws dropped, even Yugi's.
"I challenge you to a duel!"
When the boy recovered from the smack, his face burned with a deep hatred.
"I accept," he said with great despise. "It's time to teach this minor leaguer a lesson about respect."
Once they were ready to duel, Von Stupor offered the boy a handshake, but the boy shot a look of hate at him in return.
"Expected," Von Stupor chuckled.
"I'll let you go first," the boy sneered. "I'll show you I'm ready for anything you have."
"I'm a bit of a counterattack man myself, but fine, I'll play your way."
Von Stupor first began by drawing and then setting two cards in his magic and trap zone. He then played "Dian Keto the Cure Master" and increased his Life Points to 9000.
"That's right, Von Stupid. Gain as many Life Points as you can," gloated the boy. "It will make your pain last longer."
"Hmph. Instead of gloating, you should maintain your focus on the duel, for I summon the Sonic Bird! His special effect allows me to search my deck and place any ritual magic card I want into my hand, and the card I have chosen is the "Black Illusion Ritual"! That shall end my turn."
Just then, a thought went through Yugi's head.
The "Black Illusion Ritual"? I've heard that name somewhere before, but where?
"Ha!" scoffed the boy. "A ritual card is useless unless you have the proper ritual monster card with it! I now summon the "Gemini Elf"!"
The crowd gasped.
"Wow!" Yugi overheard Joey shouting. "That's one of the strongest four star monsters in the game!"
"No matter!" Von Stupor retorted. As he said this, The Gemini Elf fell into an unseen hole in the ground and was destroyed.
"What the?! What happened to my Gemini Elf?!" the boy shrieked.
"You poor fool," said Von Stupor, calmly. "You activated my "Trap Hole". It can halt the rampage of even the strongest of monsters."
"But... that's not fair!"
"Halt your childish tantrum and continue the duel, or does someone need to take a power nap?"
The crowd oohed at the boy.
The boy growled, "Your turn."
"Fine then. I draw, and… oh, most excellent. I summon the "Whiptail Crow" and attack you directly with both monsters. Go, my monsters! Whiptail Whip and Sonic Strike!"
Both monsters struck the boy and a magnificent light burst from the impact. When everyone could see again, the boy's Life Points had been chopped down to 4950.
"Your turn," said Von Stupor, smugly.
"I draw," the boy said flatly. Then he cheered up. "Ha! I summon "Gamma the Magna Warrior" and attack your stupid Sonic Bird! Gamma, fix me some chicken with your Gamma Slash!"
Gamma's sword flew through the Sonic Bird in one clean slice, reducing Von Stupor's Life Point count to 8900.
Von Stupor drew a card and said, "Hmmm… Gamma is still no match for my Whiptail Crow, but I think I'll bypass him anyway by playing "Fissure"!"
The ground opened up below and Gamma fell into the darkness, followed by the ground closing itself right back up.
"Next, I summon a second Whiptail Crow, but that's not all! Next, I activate "Call of the Haunted", my other face-down card, and bring my Sonic Bird back from the grave for a little revenge!"
A look of fear shot across the boy's face.
"Wow," said Von Stupor said innocently. "You have no monsters on your side of the side of the field and I have three. I suppose that means I can attack you directly with all three, am I correct?"
The boy simply stared at Von Stupor.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'. Boys, you know what to do!"
All three monsters struck the boy with a deadly force. One would expect him to be finished, but when the smoke cleared, a surprising 250 Life Points remained.
"Come on!" shouted Von Stupor. "I would expect at least half of a challenge out of you! You can do much better than this!"
The boy became angry and clutched his fists.
"The only reason you're winning is because you're cheating!!!" he screamed.
"You dare accuse Baron Von Stupor of cheating? You have a lot to learn about the art of losing if you would expect me to be cheating."
"But you—"
"Finish your turn, weakling."
The boy seemed to have lost hope.
"What can I do?" he asked, hopelessly. "I summon Gamma once more and attack the Sonic Bird…"
Gamma once again hacked through the Sonic Bird and reduced Von Stupor's Life Points to 8800.
"I suppose you're right. What can you do?" said Von Stupor as he drew. "There's really nothing you can do except take your loss like a man, and accept the fact that no one can truly be the best. I play "raigeki", which destroys all monsters on your side of the field. Next, I summon La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp and attack you one final time."
La Jinn flew to the boy and punched away the rest of his Life Points.
"I do believe this duel is mine," said Von Stupor.
Out of the dispute, Von Stupor gained one locator card, as well as the boy's rarest card, the monster known as "The Fiend Megacyber".
This mysterious masked duelist is certainly a peculiar person to be around, but Yugi couldn't tell if this was a good thing or not. One thing is for certain, though; Yugi and friends have not seen the last of Baron Von Stupor.