It was midday in Odaiba, and the three visitors from Reedington were sightseeing, enjoying their visit for the week. Sakura kept thinking about her talk with Yugi and TK the night before.
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"The Game Card," Kero had told her, "is one of the most unusual of the cards. It cannot be defeated by the use of another Clow Card straight on. Only by the wit and skill of its opponent in a game can it be weakened enough for capture. However, you must beat it, or suffer the consequences. Otherwise, its power of mind control will become a great threat on mankind."
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"Hey, check it out, Sakura!" Madison pointed to a large Game Shop.
"Hey, it's got one of those holographic duel arenas!" Li exclaimed. "We can watch people play Duel Monsters in 3-D! Maybe we can learn how to play." Sakura nodded. She figured that playing Duel Monsters would be the only way to beat the Game Card, as she had Yugi, the world's best duelist, and TK, whose friend was in need, to aid her in this battle.
As they entered, they saw a crowd of people watching a duel take place between two boys. One was a guy in his late teens with green hair that looked as if it had been gelled for at least ten hours. (A/N: Isn't all anime hair like that?) His black T-Shirt had a picture of a sword on the front. The other was a boy Sakura's age. He wore a dark red T-shirt with a blue dragon symbol on it. On his maroon colored hair there lay a pair of round goggles. (A/N: Heh, guess who it is!)
"Your move, Motomiya!" snickered the older teen. "Although I don't know why you should bother! My Swordstalker is much tougher than that Axe Raider of yours."
Davis: 2200 Rick: 2100'Nice bluff, considering that kid's life points are over his own,' thought Li.
"How come both life points are over 2000?" asked Madison. "I thought that the game started with both duelists at 2000 life."
"These are the new rules of Duel Monsters," explained someone beside them. "Both players start at 4000 life, and you are able to attack your opponent directly if there are no monsters on your opponents side of the field."
"And you have to offer tributes to summon monsters with a power level over 4," another person told them. "This makes the game more exciting and even more unpredictable."
"Wow," gasped Li. "Those monsters look so real!" He stared in awe at the Axe Raider facing off against a Swordstalker. 1700 Attack vs. 2000 Attack.
Davis drew his card. "Okay, I'll play a card face down and Celtic Guardian in Attack mode!" yelled Davis.
Celtic Guardian – ATK: 1400/DEF: 1200 (A/N: Celtic Guardian is also one of my favorite cards. I don't know why.)"And I'll equip Axe Raider with the Black Pendant, raising his attack power by 500 points!" A pendant appeared around Axe Raider's neck.
Axe Raider – ATK: 2200/DEF: 1150"Axe Raider, attack Swordstalker!" commanded Davis. The power-up Axe Raider chopped the dark swordsman into pieces, and the Swordstalker was destroyed.
Davis: 2200Rick: 1900
"Now, Celtic Guardian, attack directly!" Davis yelled. Celtic Guardian sliced down Rick's life points.
Davis: 2200Rick: 500
"How's that, Dagger?" laughed Davis. "Your move!"
"You live up to your reputation, Motomiya," snickered Rick, "as a LOSER!" He drew his card. "I'll play Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards, and discard two."
"Bring it on! My guys can take your guys any day!" Davis yelled.
"I play Mooyan Curry," said Rick. "Raising my Life points by 200!"
Davis: 2200 Rick: 700"And I'll play Raigeki!" he yelled.
"No! That destroys all of my monsters!" cried Davis. His Axe Raider and Celtic Guardian disappeared from the field.
"Black Pendant will deal me 500 damage, but it's a good thing I raised my life points, isn't it Davis?" Davis growled at him.
Davis: 2200Rick: 200
"The game ends now, Motomiya, 'cause Rick Dagger's warriors are unstoppable! I'll play Vorse Raider in attack mode!"
Vorse Raider – ATK: 1900/DEF: 1200"And I'll equip him with my Sword of Dark Destruction, raising his attack points by 400 and lowering his defense by 200!"
Vorse Raider – ATK: 2300/DEF: 1000
"Vorse Raider! Attack his life directly!" commanded Rick.
"Not so fast!" smirked Davis. "You forgot about the face-down card I had. Your attack activated my trap! Negate Attack!"
"Crap!" yelled Rick. "That prevents all attacks made this turn! He's still alive!"
"And with an advantage," smiled Davis. "It's my turn." He drew a card. "What do you know? I'm going to win without playing a monster this turn!" he laughed. "Sparks! It's a magic card that deals 200 damage to my target opponent!" Lightning bolts flew from Davis's card to Rick's life points.
"NO!!!" cried Rick.
Davis: 2200 Rick: 0"How could I lose to such a chump?" he cried.
"Get off the arena!" yelled some guy.
"Yeah, you lost!" yelled another.
"Beat it, loser!" A mob formed around Rick Dagger and dragged him out of the shop, yelling and screaming.
"Who shall be my next victim?" Davis wondered aloud. He looked around, and his eyes fixed on Sakura. "I've never seen you before. Are you new?"
"I'm just on a vacation," Sakura told him.
"Do you duel?"
"Um, I have a deck…"
"Then come on up!" laughed the goggle-head. Sakura looked at Li and Madison for support. Li turned to the black-haired girl and smirked. Madison took out her trusty video camera.
"I want a tape of this!" she laughed. Sakura sweatdropped.
"Fine," she muttered. "This will be my first duel, but I'll accept your challenge!"
"What's your name? I'd like to know who I'm dueling before I beat them!"
"The name's Sakura! Sakura Avalon!" she yelled, climbing up the ladder to the arena. She took out her deck. 'This deck is pre-made. I know its contents, but the strategies are just going to have to come to me,' she thought to herself.
"Ready, Sakura?"
"Ready when you are!"
"DUEL!" they yelled at the same time.
Davis: 4000 Sakura: 4000"Since you're the beginner, you go first," Davis told her.
'If I don't beat him, I can't possibly stand against the Game Card. I need to hone my skills as a duelist!'
The two drew five cards each, and Sakura entered her Draw Phase.
"I play Dark Elf in attack mode!" she yelled. A monster similar to Mystical Elf appeared, only with tan skin and dark purple hair.
Dark Elf – ATK: 2000/DEF: 800"Your turn," she told him.
"A monster out in the open with no trap cards on the field," laughed Davis. "It really is your first duel, huh?" He drew his card. "Axe Raider in Attack mode!" The orange Axe-Wielding brute appeared.
Axe Raider – ATK: 1700/DEF: 1150"I'll equip him with Legendary Sword, raising his attack and defense by 300!" A broadsword replaced the axe upon playing that card.
Axe Raider – ATK: 2000/DEF: 1450"And I play a card face down on the field to end my turn. Your move, Sakura!"
"Their attack points are even, so nothing will come of attacking each other," Li whispered to Madison. "But Davis has that card face down on the field. It might be a trap. Attacking would be relentless."
"This is so exciting," giggled Madison, taping Sakura's next move.
"Okay, I'll play a card face down on the field," said Sakura, "and I'll use my Dark Elf as a tribute for Summoned Skull!" The powerful skeletal warrior appeared in front of the crowd.
Summoned Skull – ATK: 2500/DEF: 1200"Summoned Skull, Lightning Strike!" commanded Sakura. Summoned Skull shot electricity from its horns to Axe Raider.
"This is really your first duel if you just attack like that," smiled Davis. "I play my face-down card, Mirror Force! It'll destroy your Summoned Skull, allowing me a direct attack!" A barrier formed in front of Axe Raider, reflecting its lightning back at Summoned Skull.
"Nope, not happening," smirked Sakura. "I'll use my face-down card! Seven Tools of the Bandit!"
"What's that do?" asked Davis.
"It's simple. I pay 1000 of my life points to negate the effects of your trap card. Mirror Force has been deflected back to Axe Raider!" A pocket knife appeared and had its destroy the barrier, while a mirror reflected the attack back at Axe Raider.
"No way!" gasped Davis, watching as the lightning struck his warrior. His monster was destroyed.
Davis: 3500 Sakura: 3000'How could she negate my trap like that?' thought Davis. 'It's almost like she's dueled as much as me and TK before.'
"Alright, Sakura!" cheered Li. "That's it! Keep him on the run!"
"I'll end my turn. Your move, Davis," Sakura smiled.
"I won't be beaten so easily," said Davis, drawing his card. "I'll play Change of Heart on Summoned Skull!"
"What? Oh shoot!" gasped Sakura.
"You have no other Monsters on the field, so Summoned Skull attacks directly!" yelled Davis.
Davis: 3500 Sakura: 500"To end my turn, I'll use your Summoned Skull as a tribute for my Judge Man," smiled Davis. "Your move!"
Judge Man – ATK: 2200/DEF: 1500"He's got her in the same position as Rick Dagger," Li told Madison. "It looks bad for her."
"I don't know if she can make it, either," Madison answered. "He's 3000 life points over her, and she has no monster for defending her life points. She'll probably go for defense, but Davis can probably handle it."
Sakura drew a card. "I play a card face-down in defense mode," said Sakura. "And I'll end my turn."
"That's all you can think of?" laughed Davis. "I was expecting something big, like Raigeki or Fissure or something! Oh well." Davis drew his card. "I play Feral Imp in Attack mode!"
Feral Imp – ATK: 1300/DEF: 1400"Feral Imp, attack her defense monster!" commanded Davis. Sakura flipped the card, revealing it to be…
"Man-Eater Bug! Thanks for activating it for me," she laughed. "Its flip ability is that I can destroy any monster I want to. I think I'll have it kill off your Judge Man."
The insect crawled onto Judge Man and as it died, so did the club-wielding warrior. Davis stared at her Man-Eater Bug, eye twitching. Her insect with 450 attack points destroyed his Judge Man, all because he attacked it. This kind of thing lowers the morale of a duelist. (A/N: No kidding! I've been duped like that on the GBA game before!)
"Now, it's my move," said Sakura as she drew her card. "Oh wow. I'll play Neo the Magic Swordsman in Attack Mode."
'Hey, I know that card! TK plays with it!' Davis thought to himself. He watched the blonde spell caster appear.
Neo the Magic Swordsman – ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000"And I'll play Monster Reborn to bring back Summoned Skull!"
Summoned Skull – ATK: 2500/DEF: 1200"While I'm at it, I'll power up Summoned Skull with Axe of Despair, raising his attack by 1000!"
Summoned Skull – ATK: 3500/DEF: 1200
"Crap, she's gonna beat me!" Davis cried.
"Neo, attack Feral Imp! Summoned Skull, attack his life points!" Sakura commanded. The blonde sword-wielding spell caster immediately struck down Davis's furry imp, while the mighty Summoned Skull sliced at the boy's life points with his Axe of Despair.
Davis: 0 Sakura: 500"Jeez, this was her first duel?" Davis gaped.
"WOOHOO! I WON!" Sakura exclaimed. Everyone watching cheered, including Li and Madison.
"Wow, that was amazing!" Li exclaimed. Madison smiled as she got the Card Captor's victory on tape.
"We'll watch this at the hotel," Madison told him. "I have to see that again. Card Captor Sakura's first win at Duel Monsters."
"Hey guys! Did you see that?" asked Sakura, coming down from the arena. "I just won!"
"Great job back there, I watched the entire thing," a familiar voice said. Everyone in the area turned and was all, to say the least, shocked at who it was.
"Yugi!" Sakura called. "When did you get here?"
"I was in the neighborhood and decided to drop by. Great duel Sakura," Yugi smiled.
"Who is this girl?" asked Tristan, who just came up behind him along with Ms. Takaishi.
"Oh, I forgot, you don't know her," Yugi laughed nervously. "Tristan, this is Sakura, a girl I met yesterday. Sakura, this is Tristan, a friend of mine. And this is Nancy Takaishi, my interviewer."
"Takaishi?" asked Li. "Are you TK's mother?" Nancy just smiled at the boy and nodded.
"No way!" Davis screamed. "TK knows YUGI MOTO?! How come that dumb blonde never told me?"
"Yugi and his friends are staying with us for the next week," Ms. Takaishi told him.
"HE NEVER TOLD ME ANYTHING! THAT STUPID LYING SON OF A--"
"What do you think of this guy?" Sakura whispered to Madison.
"A bit hot-headed, but actually kind of cute," she answered. The friends laughed and left Davis to his grumbling about TK. Meanwhile, the people in the store watched the group leave, and then looked at each other.
"What just happened?" one person asked.
"We just met Yugi Moto," another guy answered.
"Well, close anyway," a third added. "He's staying at whose house?"
"I think his name was TJ or JB or whatever…"
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"So, how do you know TK?" Tristan asked Sakura curiously after introductions were made.
"We're here visiting from Reedington," Madison explained. "Sakura won this contest, and we bumped into TK yesterday."
"It appears TK has been making many friends since Yugi came to stay with us," Nancy smiled. "I'm glad. He was so depressed yesterday."
"Hey, Yugi!" another voice caught their attention.
"Téa!" Tristan exclaimed. "Joey! TK! You're all here!"
"What are you all doing here?" Li asked them.
"Well, I thought that Joey would like to improve his deck a little while he was here," TK explained. "I just lead them to the nearest game store and found all of you guys here!"
"Yeah, quite a coincidence, huh?" laughed Sakura.
After introductions were all made, Nancy piped up, "Hey! How about we all go out for dinner tonight? I've got enough money to invite all of you to a nice restaurant. What do you say?"
"As long as we go sightseeing afterwards," Madison told her. "I need a tape on our trip here."
"Sounds good to me," said Yugi. Everyone else agreed.
"Alright! We'll meet Sakura's group at the Odaiba Hotel lobby at 5 o'clock this afternoon," said Nancy. Joey's stomach began to growl.
"Aw man! 5? I need to eat now!" he complained.
"Joey, you idiot! It's 11 A.M.! We're going to have lunch before then!" Téa told him. Everyone laughed at the now blushing blonde. As they walked together, Sakura realized she forgot to mention something.
"Hey, did you guys know I won my first real duel? It was against this guy named Davis…"
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End Chapter! School started again, so that's why this took so long. Sorry. Also, if this story appears strange, it's because I tried saving it as an HTML document on Word, just to see if it works. Well, reviews would be nice right now. Thanks!