The battle was brief but fierce, the four monsters struggled briefly and the end of the skirmish was punctuated by twin explosions. Mai's field was empty.
Ryu: 7300 Mai: 7600
"Now I'll be ending my turn." Ryu spoke as his end phase passed.
Mai was in shock. With Ryu's Metal Dragon taking out one of her Harpies his Luster Dragon was more than powerful enough to wipe out the other. Unless she drew the magic card she needed he'd have open reign to really tear into her life points when his next turn came up.
Closing her eyes Mai drew her card and slowed her breathing. 'One in Thirty four chance, here it goes.' She though as she brought the card up before her face and she opened her eyes.
Ryu was feeling confident his deck change had been right. The amount of power on his side of the field was more than enough to take Mai down to nearly half of her total Life Points, the odds that she could draw the card she needed from her deck to protect her the next turn were slim.
"I summon, Harpie Lady Number One!" Mai called out as she slid the card onto her Duel Disk, the winged beast type monster appeared on the field as the others had, in a flurry of feathers and a sharp cry.
"Haven't we been through this already Mai? You're repeating yourself. I guess that's what happens when old age sets in." Ryu tossed off glibly.
"There's something else that comes with age Ryu. Experience." Mai spat back as she played the magic card she'd just drawn.
"I play the magic card, Pot of Greed!" Mai called as the huge green grinning piece of enchanted pottery appeared on the field followed shortly by the floating holographic message "Mai Mizaki, Draw two." .
Mai drew her two cards and smiled prettily at the result.
"Here's where experience comes into play Ryu. I play the Magic card Elegant Egotist to special summon one of my most powerful harpies. Harpie Lady Sisters!" Mai said as three streaks of light flew through the arena.
The three forms blew by Ryu and left trails of feathers in his face. Slowing they took up their place on Mai's side of the field shrill calls piercing the late day air.
"And, thanks to my field card and Harpie Lady One my Sisters are at twenty four fifty. But here's the fun part sweetie. A little something I picked up from a friend. I play the magic card, Black pendant. A beautiful piece of Jewelry that boosts my harpie lady number one by five hundred points for an attack of twenty one hundred." Mai's turn had been fast and focused.
'DAMNIT! She's got more Firepower than me already.' Ryu's mind was raging, first she'd ridiculed him in front of his friends and the girl he liked and now she was humiliating him in front of not only them again but more than five hundred spectators.
"Now my Harpies, get rid of those ugly dragons for me." Mai asked the floating creatures, who promptly responded with a shrill cry and propelled themselves forward at the two dragons.
The Sisters met Ryus Rare metal Dragon Head on and in a flurry of claws and Talons the powerful dragon was torn asunder, sparks flying off of its thick steel like hide. Ryu's Luster Dragon had a slightly less equal opponent in the Harpie lady number one, though it was still out matched it did what all dragons do, fought fiercely even though it knew it wouldn't win the blue crystalline dragon fought as hard as it could.
Both dragons were wiped out, their battles, while ferocious, were in vain.
Ryu: 7050 Mai: 7600
"Ryu, you should never do anything in anger. It clouds your judgement." Mai spoke as she ended her turn.
"Now I'll set my last card and end my turn." Mai slid the card into one of the vacant Magic and Trap slots on her Duel Disk.
Ryu drew his card and sighed.
"I'll lay two cards face down and end my turn." He called out as the two magic or trap cards appeared face down floating in the air a foot off of the ground before him.
"Not much of a turn Ryu. Maybe changing your deck around wasn't such a hot idea after all huh?" Mai asked s she drew her card. Eying the field carefully she slid the card into a magic slot.
"I play the card, Monster Reborn to bring back my Harpie Lady Number One!" Mai called out as the magic of the card washed ove the field. a hazy golden glow centering on the very middle of the Dueling area. The ground began crack and shake as something tried to force its way out from where it was buried.
The tremors could be felt even in the stands as the hydraulic systems installed throughout the Colosseum created them, immersing the audience in the Duel they were watching.
"Thinks of everything doesn't he?" Kelly asked Robert In reference to Kaiba as they watched Mai's Harpie burst up out of the ground between the two Duelists, a shower of dirt and rock spraying into the air as the winged female monster flew into the air and descended onto Mai's side of the field.
As the new harpie took up its place on the field all three monsters attack shot up yet again.
The feathery trio of monsters flexed their talons and claws as power coursed through them yet again.
"Now my Harpies, End this Duel!" Mai ordered initiating her attack, a whopping total of seven thousand four hundred and fifty points of Damage.
Ryu's hand shot forward and activated one of his waiting cards, flipping the reddish purple card up te reveal three robed women.
The Waboku trio appeared ont he field reducing all of Mai's not so insignificant firepower to little more that an impressive light show.
"Nice try Mai, but if you think I'm going to roll over and die you're SORELY mistaken." Ryu tossed off. His words and posturing hiding the fact that his mind was screaming for a good draw.
"You're only delaying the inevitable here Ryu, I brought my A game to this and you're just playing a game. That's the difference between us Ryu, You play. This is my life! I live off of the money and fame I win by Dueling. I'm going to wash you out of this Tournament and then I'm going to beat the others too." Mai called out, the last portion she was looking out at the stands, pointing her finger at the spectators.
The crowd went wild, Mai was putting on a great show.
"Take your Turn Ryu, your stall tactics won't save you for much longer." Mai warned.
Ryu drew his card and his face lit up. "I play the magic card Pot of Greed!" He beamed as he slapped the card down into his Duel Disk.
"Not so fast Ryu, remember my face down card?" Mai interrupted and activated the waiting card.
"Magic Drain!?" Ryu called out in shock, he knew the effect and he couldn't meet the requirements to keep his Pot of Greed active. The huge green pot slowly turned a grey weathered color and shattered.
"Take your turn Mai!" Ryu was looking at the ground. His eyes hidden in the shadow his hair was casting over his face.
"With pleasure hon." Mai replied as she drew her card.
Mai's smile widened into a Cheshire grin.
"I play my favorite magic card, Hapies Feather Duster!" Mai announced as the card slipped into her Duel Disk, a huge feather fan appeared over the field and blew away Ryu's last remaining card.
"And now my Harpies will finally end this. Sorry kiddo." Mai spoke, apologetically.
Mai's three Harpies tore into Ryu. The small white haired Duelist thrust out his chest and threw his arms out, his face lifted to the heavens. The sun reflected off of the tears streaming down his cheeks.
In less than a second Ryu was covered in Harpies, the sounds of their shrill cries and the beating of their wings filled the Stadium as the Life Point counter above the field rapidly shot Ryu's life points down to zero.
Mai: 7600 Ryu: 0000
The Dueling system shut down leaving Ryu kneeling on the ground, his head hanging in shame. The Audience was deathly silent as the Winner was officially announced.
"What a spectacular Duel! Our most heartfelt thanks go out to Mai Mizaki and Ryu Drakar. Ryu you fought hard and lost, there's no shame in that. We hope to see you at the next Tournament." Antony spoke as he walked to the center of the field to meet the two Duelists. Ryu slowly made his way to Antony and Mai's position, his head still hanging in shame.
"Now for the awarding of the card." Antony spoke to both Ryu and the audience.
Ryu reached up to his Duel Disk to remove his deck only to have Mai's hand stop him.
"It's okay, keep your card Ryu. You're a great duelist and I look forward to facing you again. i can't face you at your best if your deck's been compromised now can I?" Mai spoke softly, smiling at the young man.
"Thanks Mai." Ryu said, wiping the tears from his eyes with his free hand.
As
the massive Colosseum emptied a message was broadcast over the PA
system. "Attention all attendee's Tomorrows Duel format has been
Reversed. The Match between Seto Kaiba and Robert Marcus has been
pushed back to the second position. Willem Spring and Joseph Wheeler
will take the first Duel of the day. That is all." The speakers cut out
abruptly.
"Well that's annoying." Robert complained. "I was looking forward to shutting that pompous windbag up." He added as Ryu and Mai approached.
"Oh calm down you'll still be facing off against him tomorrow." Sammantha replied rubbing Roberts back with her left hand.
"Not the way Joey Duels. He takes forever." Robert joked giving Joey a shove.
"Hey I wasn't the one posturing and tossing off all those card descriptions." Joey joked back.
"In the mean time we've got three friends that are more than deserving of a Celebration." Kelly announced as she pulled Yugi, Mai and, Ryu into a big hug.
"Yeah, let's really live it up tonight. Kaiba's paying for the Contestants meals so lets see if we can put a dent in his bank account!" Joey shouted rubbing his stomach.
"Hey I'm starving so I'm in." Robert added.
"Yeah it's a great idea, you all deserve a chance to relax and celebrate for coming as far as you did." Kelly affirmed.
As the seven Duelists made their way to the nearby Resort hotel Willem stepped out of the shadows followed by Claire.
"I'm sorry I didn't do better sir." Claire spoke, her head bowed.
"Nonsense Claire I had no doubt in my mind that the Pharaoh would defeat you. But thanks to you I've seen his deck and his strategies. Adding what I've learned today to what we've already learned about him I feel confident that I can create a deck that will put him off balance long enough to give me an insurmountable lead." Willem spoke, resting his left hand on Claires shoulder and gripping her chin gently with his right, raising her face to look into her eyes.
"Now, find out if our little gopher completed his task and if he did bring me the cards." Willem smiled warmly at Claire and walked away.
Claire stood there for a moment, numb with shock, Willems eyes had taken on a dark appearance. Gone were the warm golden eyes she'd always know. In their place were two orbs of total blackness. No Iris, nothing but Black.
Several hours Later
The table looked like a bomb had gone off. Empty dishes lay everywhere on its surface. Small scraps of food rested in sauces and the occasional near empty bowl of soup.
"Oh man, I couldn't burp eat another bite if my life depended on it." Joey commented as he sat back in his seat. and rested his hands on his slightly distended stomach.
The rest of the group weren't in much better shape, Yugi and Ryu both looked like they were about to pass out Robert was leaning his chair back against the wall with his eyes closed and his hands clasped together , index fingers touching and facing up in a meditative state.
Sammantha, Kelly and Mai seemed to have fared the best as they had actually shown some restraint when the food had arrived.
"Can you believe these guys?" Kelly asked rhetorically.
"I know, I thought Yugi was going to tear that poor waiters arm off when he brought out those ribs." Mai replied
"Uhhh, no more Ribs." Yugi moaned in his half asleep state.
"They look a little like puppies don't they?" Sammantha asked as she eyed the four males of the group. Eyes closed contentedly, their stomachs swelled ever so slightly. Every once in a while one would either rub his nose or twitch a leg or arm.
The other two women looked at Sammantha and then looked back at the guys, raising an eyebrow Mai processed the mental image and burst out laughing.
Willem Springs Room
"Sir?" Claire called as she entered the room, a massive change from the previous night, House keeping had fixed what Kelly was unable to do. The room looked almost back to normal.
"Out here Claire. On the Balcony." Willem called from outside, the curtains on either side of the sliding glass doors were partially closed and the night sea breeze was moving them about.
"Our friend at Industrial Illusions was able to procure the cards you requested." Claire informed him as she handed Willem a small manila envelope containing the aforementioned Cards.
"According to him it wasn't easy, another play tester attempted to stop him. He got away but he feels he'll no longer have a job and has requested..." Willem cut Claire off.
"He wants more money, yes I know. You did the right thing by giving it to him. What these cards can provide is worth more than money. They can provide power absolute." Willem explained as he looked at Claire, his black eyes were still very unsettling to her.
Dinning Room
"Well, I don't know about you guys but we're turning in for the night." Robert said as he and Sammantha stood up, the others followed suit.
"That sounds like a great idea, I feel like I could sleep for a week." Joey replied as he, Yugi and, Ryu pushed in their chairs.
"You'd better not. We wouldn't want you to lose by default no would we?" Robert called back as he was rounding the corner to the hall leading to the Elevators. His arm around Sammanthas waist as hers was around his.
As the others made their way to the elevators Mai pulled Ryu aside briefly, shoo'ing Joey on ahead so she could talk tot he younger Duelist.
"Kelly told me what happened, Ryu I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to insult you sometimes my mouth just fires off whatever it wants before my Brain can edit it." Mai said softly, her right hand on Ryus left shoulder and a warm smile playing on her lips.
"It's alright Mai, I'm just a little lacking in the confidence department. I over reacted a little." Came the younger Duelists response.
"So are we okay? I mean no hard feelings right?" Mai asked, concern showing on her face. Since her first encounter with Yugi and his friends she'd become more and more comfortable with the idea of relying on her friends, and Ryu was shaping up to be a good friend.
"Yeah. You know, My Brother has a huge Crush on you." Ryu mentioned.
"Really?" Mai inquired as she and Ryu began walking towards the others who had waited for them to catch up before taking an elevator.
"Yeah, his Duelists of the World Desk Calendar has been on February fourteenth for like two years now." Ryu affirmed as the doors closed and they began their trip up to their rooms.
The next day, Center field
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Duelists of all ages! Welcome back to the second day of the Finals. We've seen four amazing Duelists battle it out in Two sensational Duels. Yugi Muto and Claire Calico battled it out first and what a battle it was!" Antony spoke into his microphone, images of yesterdays Duel flashed on the massive screen on the wall behind him. The screen was surrounded by various Duel Monster carvings that looked to be acting as support structures for the huge jumbo-tron.
"Claire put up a heck of a fight but When Yugi assembled his Dark Magician family and followed up with his Saint Dragon of Osiris God card she lost the battle. Hope we get to see you in the Next Kaiba Corp Tournament Claire, our best wishes to you." Antony held his hand out, palm up to Claire in the special guests section of the stands.
Claire for her part acted very courteously, stood and bowed slightly waving to everyone who cheered.
Our second Duel of the Day was Ryu Drakar against Mai Mizaki, Mai's harpies, as usual, proved a beautiful and dangerous force and took the match for the Duelist who's earned the nickname, the Wild Rose." Again Antony directed the attention of the audience towards the two Duelists.
"Seems even though they were bitter enemies on the field they're good friends off of it. Is that Yugi and Joey? Why yes it is, Ryu's surrounded by some of the finest duelists to ever assemble a deck. With their Tutelage I have no doubt we'll be hearing a lot more from Ryu Drakar in the future." Antony declared, the Jumbo-tron behind him showing Mai, Joey, Yugi and, Ryu all sitting together smiling for the camera.
"Today's first match is Joey Wheeler versus Willem Spring! We'll begin the Duel in fifteen minutes so if you haven't yet, please feel free to get your snacks and drinks at the concession stands or the vendors working throughout the crowd. If the Deck check was any indication this looks to be one hell of a duel!" Antony smiled, bowed and made his way towards an employee only door situated near the main entrance archway for the Colosseums field.
"I'm going to grab something to drink, anyone want anything?" Robert volunteered as he stood.
"Yeah could you get me some popcorn?" Ryu asked.
The others chimed in as well, once Robert had taken down the shopping list he headed off.
Yugi Turned to Joey as the blond haired Duelist yawned and stretched his arms out. "Joey is there something different about you?" Yugi couldn't put his finger on it but Joey did indeed look differently than he did the previous night.
"Yeah, shaved the soul patch." Joey answered stroking his chin.
"Yeah that's it! Why?" Yugi was curious, Joey ahd bragged for days when he'd finaly gotten his facial hair the way he wanted it.
"Because it looked like a mutant caterpillar was fused to his chin." Mai commented wryly.
Kelly and Ryu began snickering at the comment and Joeys reaction.
"HEY! Who asked you!?" As usual he was short tempered
"Whoa Joey, clam down. Shouldn't you be getting down to your position?" Yugi jumped up in front of his hot tempered friend and reminded him that time was ticking away.
"Oh man you're right. 'Kay guys cheer loud as I take this guy down." Joey tossed off as he beat feet towards the staircase that would take him to his side of the field.
As the Two participants took up their places on the field Robert was just taking his seat, arms loaded down with snacks and drinks of all sorts.
"The time has come Ladies and Gentlemen!" Antony spoke, the mid morning Sun shining down upon the field bathing the entire stadium in its warm light.
Antony took another step forward, "Willem Spring versus Joseph Wheeler. This is it folks. the third round in the finals. not long now until we find out who the best Duelist on the planet is."
As Antony made his way off of the field the countdown timer began. The now familiar rotating coin began to pick up speed as the timer dropped to zero.
The golden surface of the coin reflected the sunlight across the field, creating an almost strobe light like effect.
The coin dropped to the ground between the two Duelists and landed, Joeys face was visible on the upturned side.
"AWRIGHT! Looks like I go first Mr. Tall Dark and Gruesome." Joey called across to Willem.
The Black Clad Duelist merely smiled an oily smile and bowed slightly, his black sunglasses reducing the outside worlds view of his eyes.
Joey drew his six cards and moved them around in his hand slightly.
"I'll set a monster in defense mode and two cards face down. My Turn's done." Joey explained.
Willem simply continued to smile as he drew his opening hand. Not even looking at his Cards Willem set four cards face down and one monster in defense mode.
"Your turn Mr. Wheeler. I do hope you'll take it easy on me, you being the second best Duelist in the world and all." Willem spoke, his voice deep and gravely.
Joey drew his card and eyed Willem carefully. 'This guy's up to something. He's either really good or he's just trying to psych me out.' Joey thought.
"Or it could be both Joseph." Willem added aloud.
"WHAT!? How did you?" Joey's eyes were wide in shock as Willem had commented on what he'd been thinking.