Chapter 13: Complications Arise
The audience stared at the duel arena in utter shock. Namia had just over come an opponent with over 3000 more LP than she. All by the use of the Phoenix cards, most people had never heard of. After a shocked silence, there was a small clapping noise from Shisei and Kou that reverberated throughout the whole of the auditorium. Other people seemed to come to their senses and started to applaud a leaving Namia.
"OKAY!" once again, the announcer's voice showered through the stands and arena, where Stopper was leaving, having no shame in lost his match. "Our next order of business is a special announcement." he told them, unfolding a post it note. "Would a Mr. Kouichi Nandao meet Higentaka Osmos in the Entrance Hall to discuss your being moved into the semi-finals without a duel." he read. It took a moment for the words to sink in for most. A lot of people hadn't even paid attention, but others turned around, especially parents or friends of aspiring duelists, trying to see this Kouichi boy who was to good for the next round.
"What was he talking about?" Shisei asked Kou. Kou looked at him bewildered and Shisei knew he didn't know. Then Osmos himself arrived, wearing a pale white suit this time, and standing on the stairs of the stands. He motioned for Kou to come over to him. "Go, I have my match next, or I'd come with you." Shisei told him, pointing at the chart that posted the last round of the Quarter-finals. Kou nodded and got up, a determined look on his face.
"I'll be back, just make sure you take the lead." he flashed the thumbs up and left toward Osmos in his sickly pale suit. As he left, he saw the match that determined the semi finals and paled.
Shisei vs. Weevil
Namia was looking for Kou in the stands. Or Shisei, heck, she'd take anyone. And, just as she thought this, none other than Mai Valentine walked up behind her. "I saw your match." she whispered. Namia jumped and turned to see the Harpy Lady duelist. Mai laughed as Namia scowled.
"Alright, enough!" she said, it was one of those moments where Kou would have hit Shisei. "Have you seen the two boys I was with before?" she asked. Mai stopped laughing and stood up straight.
"Of course, I mean, everybody's going to be seeing one of them in a minute." she pointed to the duel field, where Weevil and Shisei were preparing to duel. Namia looked down at the field in shock. "And your boyfriend is going to get his butt kicked by angry duelists. He is the one that got into the semi-finals automatically, right?" she asked.
Namia's eyes widened suddenly. "Oh my god, Mai!" she looked at the other woman in shock. "Mai, Kou was the one!" she said. She then rushed away to find the blue haired boy.
"HEY!" Mai shouted after her. "AREN'T YOU GOING TO WATCH SHISEI'S MATCH?" she received no response, as Namia disappeared into the crowd. 'Oh well."' Mai turned to do what she questioned of Namia, which was watch Shisei duel.
Kou found Osmos waiting nice and patiently in the hallway, the older man smiled as Kou approached. "What the hell did you do?" Kou jumped straight to the point. It was his hypothesis that Osmos wanted to humiliate him and to that effect, automatically skipped him forward in the tournament. "Why am I in the semi-finals automatically when others had to duel?" he questioned with just as much force.
Osmos leaned against the railing of the large entrance hall. The hall itself was beautifully decorated. It depicted the strongest or most rare duel monsters. There were chandeliers and red velvety carpet. Osmos seemed to take all of this in. "You proved yourself, you went against a literally dead man, for that, I requested you be admitted directly to the semi-finals." he sounded like a robot, responding this.
Kou bit his bottom lip. "What is with you!" he exclaimed. Kou looked at the form of the quiet Osmos in a way he never had before. He had a hard time holding on to his anger. Before, Osmos seemed like a cold, cruel, antisocial man with no respect for human life. Now, he looked as though some sort of secret had long been eating away, and he was at the point closest to revealing it. He looked to be at the end of his rope. He looked pitiful, not harmful and cruel.
"You shall report to the semi-finals, if you wish to, if not, Namia will lose her soul." he said. Kou felt his anger revive as he saw the Osmos get up and head out towards the special stands. Whatever he had been thinking about Osmos, was most definitely not true. But still, a small piece of him told him it was.
Weevil Underwood glowered at the person standing across from him in the duel arena. He was not one to be taken lightly, and it was obvious that was exactly what was happening. "Alright kid," he began, talking to Sei as though he were a fungus. "I will not lose here today, so just surrender now, or lose in the ring. Your pick." he then smiled widely. "Or you could use that pathetic deck of yours to try to put up fight, yes that will be entertaining!" he howled with that sickening laugh he always had.
Shisei smirked. "I've calculated the error that brought me so close to defeat against Espa." he said quietly, adjusting his glasses. "It turns out my entire strategy was to close to counter reproducing monsters through the effects of his and my own cards." he spoke as though a Nobel Prize winner, something that made Kou's head spin when the two of them studied together. "I won't make that mistake this time." he drew his five cards and motioned for Weevil to go.
Shisei-8000
Weevil-8000
"Okay, put up a fight, that pathetic stack of cards is going to be in the recycle bin when I'm done with you!" Weevil glared nastily and drew his sixth card. "Heh-heh, I'll summon, the mighty Neo Bug (1800/1700) in attack mode!" a giant bug that looked very much as though it was from an outer space movie, glared down at the blond duelist. "And I'll attack you directly!" his mighty monster fluttered its wings angrily.
Shisei raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, sorry, but you can't on your first turn." he condescendingly told the bug duelist.
"Oh, that's right," Weevil made to look like he had forgotten something. "I forgot to use THIS!" he showed his quick attack magic card. "Sorry, kid but you lose 1800 LP!" his bug charged forward.
"You wish!" Shisei pressed two cards into his disk. Suddenly, the insect grew tusks and its attacking power increased (2500/1700). "I'll activate two quickplay spell Rush Recklessly, increasing your monsters attack by 700-" he got cut off by Weevil's laughter.
"YOU FOOL!". the minute duelist howled with laughter. "My bug now gets a greater chunk of your LP!" he giggled so much, it took him a moment to notice his bug was on Shisei's field. "What, my Neo Bug!" he looked at the beast in shock.
"Yeah, notice, I said I'll activate two quickplay spells, the second one was Enemy controller." he pointed to an enlarged video game controller, which was now hooked into the bug's back. "I pay 1000 LP to bring your empowered monster to me." he told Weevil, adjusting his glasses.
Shisei-7000
Weevil-8000
"But why? You still can't attack with my Neo Bug (2500/1700)." Weevil, utterly bewildered, looked at Shisei for an answer.
"Simple my buggy friend, I plan on activating, Mystic Wok!" a thunder bolt struck the Neo bug and it turned into shimmering vapors that increased Sei's LP. "I sacrifice your big and ugly bug, to do something so small, yet so beautiful as increase my LP!" he smirked at Weevil's fuming look.
Shisei-9500
Weevil-8000
"You bastard!" Weevil was outraged that he could lose one of his precious bugs. "I'll set two cards facedown, now go!" he glared at Shisei.
"Okay, I'll activate Card of Demise!" Shisei drew five cards, giving him seven. "I'll then activate, Xing Zhen Hu on your facedown cards." Shisei smirked as a symbol of sealing was set on them.
Weevil looked at his cards and shrieked. "NO!" he realized he was defenseless. Then he remembered hearing that Shisei had only magic and traps in his deck, and a smile of relief spread over his face.
"I wouldn't look so relieved, if I were you." Sei removed three other cards from his hand and set them. "Now I'll activate, Autonomous Action Unit!" slowly, the ground on Weevil's field broke apart as the Neo Bug (1800/1700) emerged from the ground. "Paying 1500 LP, I get to revive your Neo Bug, as you've seen. And I'll directly attack." he smirked.
Shisei-8000
Weevil-6200
"You'll pay for that!" Weevil drew, his grin made his eyes slits. "I'll summon the Petit Moth (300/200) in defense mode!" he smirked evilly. "Then I'll play Remove Trap, on your Xing Zhen-Hu!" a bear trap appeared and crushed the card, then it was foiled itself. "Next I'll equip my Moth (300/200) with Cocoon of Evolution!" his moth was suddenly cocooning itself. "Finally, my face down cards will say hello, Insect Barrier and DNA Surgery!" he smirked at his ultimate combo. "Now even if you do summon another monster, it won't be able to attack, because I'll use DNA to make every creature an insect!" he laughed that annoying laugh again, but Shisei just drew. "You now see true power, my Moth will soon emerge from its cocoon, and when that happens, you'll lose to my ultimate insect!" he smiled widely once more.
"I'll activate one of my facedown cards, Spell Reproduction, and discard these two spell cards, to activate Card of Demise." he drew five cards once more, now he had an eight card hand. "I'll then activate my second Mystic Wok." again, the Neo bug was destroyed and it increased Sei's LP.
"What are you doing, trying to give yourself enough LP to survive!" he asked. Shisei just shrugged. "Oh well, you newbies just aren't duelist enough anymore." he laughed as Shisei played another card.
"I'll also set two more cards, your move." he stated.
Shisei-9800
Weevil-6200
"I'll draw." Weevil did so. "I'll set one card face down. Tick Tock, in three more turns, you'll lose it all!" he laughed even harder than the other times he burst out. Shisei drew and Weevil activated his face down card. "I'll activate my Pyro Clock of Destiny, so you discard your hand, and my Cocoon gets stronger!" he laughed as Shisei nonchalantly discarded his cards.
"I'll play my own remove trap on your DNA surgery." he smirked a bit of his own as that piece of the duel was deleted in digital dust. "End turn."
"Hahah!" Weevil laughed. "Now, in my next turn, You'll lose everything, and I'll be in the finals, you have no hand, and I'll blow all your traps away with my Moth!" he smirked. "But first, I'll set one more card facedown. Now go to your doom!" he laughed as the cocoon split open to reveal the Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth (3500/3000).
"I'll end my turn." Shisei turned the turn over to his opponent, who laughed hysterically again.
"Okay, now the fun can truly begin." Weevil laughed as his monster sent out a screech. "Now, I'll attack your LP directly!" he smirked, fully ready for a trap card.
"You wish, first, I'll activate my own DNA Surgery, this time, though, you'll have machine type monsters to deal with." he smirked as Weevil blinked in confusion. "Next comes Limiter Removal, which will double the attack points of all machine monsters." he smirked wider as Weevil's monster got a huge attack point boost (7000).
"Oh, I get it, you plan to get my monster destroyed by that card's effect." Weevil responded to the move with a smile, fully prepared with a Monster Reborn.
"Not quite, but now that your monster is strong enough, I'll activate Magic Cylinder, directing your attack right back at you." he stated, adjusting his glasses.
Shisei-9800
Weevil-0
It took a moment for the move to sink in, Shisei was already combining his deck with his graveyard and exiting. You wouldn't have been able to tell he was the victor. Unless you looked at the horror struck Weevil.
"NO!" he bowed his head and left as well.
Mai looked at the results of the duel in mild surprise, she new the kid was skilled, but not that skilled. 'Hmm, maybe he will be a challenge."' she thought.
Kou entered the stands just in time to see Shisei's last combo, and was now in complete shock. 'Whoa, he never dueled like that against me, or Espa, was he holding back then?"' he thought, as Shisei met him at the top, smiling happily. "Nice, though you could have let it go on a while longer." Kou told him with a smile.
Shisei laughed and flashed the thumbs up. Then, in a low voice. "So what's with you and this next match?" referring to the automatic jump into the semi-finals from Osmos. "Is it a ploy, or something?" he asked. Kou was about to explain the choice that Osmos gave him, about dueling or losing Namia, but he looked up, then gasped. Shisei looked at him and followed his gaze. He gasped as well, for the semi-final rounds were made, and it didn't look like this would be easy for Kou.
Round 1: Kou vs. Namia
Round 2: Shisei vs. Mai
Next time: Kou steps into the ring in to face one of his newest friends with happiness. But when a very familiar voice sounds in the back of his head, can he focus enough to beat the soul eater in Namia's body? Find out next time on Duel Monsters: Maximum!
