TK and Sakura sat in the private restaurant that Kaiba Land had for the duelists in this competition. It was a very quaint little place. The walls were lined with posters of Duel Monsters, from Blue-Eyes White Dragons to Dark Magicians. As the two friends were going over each other's decks, Sakura brought up a topic that she had been wondering about for a while now.
"Hey TK? I was thinking, this Kari you're trying to save. What's she like?"
TK paused in the middle of his hamburger. He was getting so caught up in his dueling that the one he was dueling for had almost slipped his mind. Upon swallowing, he answered the question. "She's…a very sweet girl. She's always around when someone needs a friend to talk to, and she thinks of everyone but herself. In fact, she's a lot like you, Sakura."
"She's very dear to you, isn't she?" asked the girl.
"She's my best friend," the blonde answered quietly.
"You want it to be more, don't you?" the card captor inquired. TK remained silent. It was true; he did realize that he cared for his best friend more than he originally believed. Could it be love? Or was he just concerned about his friend? Realizing he probably didn't want to talk about it anymore, Sakura decided to drop the subject. "I wonder what Li and the others are doing right now?" she thought aloud.
"Matt should be taking them out right now," TK told her, relieved that he didn't have to think about his painful topic any longer. "I wonder how he's holding up…"
****************************
A fine breeze blew over the Odaiba District of Tokyo. The sun was shining and the air was clean (well, as clean as Tokyo air could be), and a certain group of children sat at a local Pizza Hut, waiting for their food.
"Why are you in Tokyo, Meilin?" asked Madison.
"Well, I kind of came because I won some contest back in Hong Kong," shrugged the Chinese girl. "Since I'm old enough, I could come alone. I had no clue that you two would be here. Especially without Sakura. Where is she?"
"Um, she's gone with a couple other friends to another city," Li told her.
"Without inviting you? That wasn't very nice," huffed Meilin. Li rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'm starved. What's for lunch?"
"Here it comes," drooled Joey. "Oh man! I love Tokyo!"
"Hey, I called first dibs, remember?" yelled Davis. Everyone sweatdropped as the two began fighting again. After they stopped, they both saw Meilin casually eating the first roll.
"Hey, ugly! That's mine!" shouted Joey. A vein popped on Meilin's forehead.
"UGLY?! I AM NOT UGLY, YOU STUPID MONKEY!"
"MONKEY?! WHY I OUGHTTA…"
"Wow, I never thought I would meet a girl who would match Davis in temper," snickered Sora.
"Looks like we've found you a girlfriend, little bro," Jun giggled.
"Girlfriend? Her?" he demanded. "No way would I want to be boyfriend to that pig!"
"PIG? Come here and say that to my face, goggle-boy!"
"Aw, I think you'd make such a cute couple," snickered Joey.
"Shut up, Monkey!"
"This is going to be a long day," muttered Téa. Matt, Tristan, and Sora all nodded in agreement.
**********************************************
"I'm sure they're doing fine," said Sakura. TK sighed and finished his burger.
"I still feel kinda bad for leaving Matt with five guests on such short notice," he told her.
"Hey, it's for a good cause, right?" the card captor tried to comfort the digidestined.
"Yeah, for a good cause," the Child of Hope whispered to himself. 'Kari, I don't know why, but I just can't stop thinking about you. I really want to go back to the Digital World and take you back from that evil Dark Magician, but…if I can't even duel correctly here, how can I possibly take you back?'
"I'm sure Kari is still fine," Sakura told him. TK stared at her. "I guessed what you were thinking about," she shrugged. "Come on, we'd better get back to the tournament. You're up next, you know."
"Yeah, let's go," said TK.
***********************************************
TK soon found himself facing off against duelist Jeremy Virus. The guy looked about eighteen, had green hair, and wore a White T-Shirt with a pill in the center.
"So, Takaishi, ready to face off against a true duelist?" he snickered.
"I'm ready whenever you are," he smiled. "It's time to Duel!"
TK: 4000Jeremy: 4000
"For my first monster, I shall play Bean Soldier, in Attack Mode!" shouted Jeremy. The sword-wielding bean with legs appeared in the first slot on the field.
Bean Soldier – ATK: 1400/DEF: 1300"And I'll lay one card facedown on the field. Your move, Takaishi."
TK drew his card. "I'll play Neo the Magic Swordsman, in Attack Mode!" The blond sword-wielding spell appeared on the field.
Neo the Magic Swordsman – ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000"And I'll use my Mystical Space Typhoon magic card to destroy your facedown card! Now, Neo the Magic Swordsman, attack Bean Soldier!"
TK: 4000 Jeremy: 3700"Impressive, TK, I commend you on destroying my first monster," smiled Jeremy, drawing his next card. "For my next move, I'll play this monster in defense mode, and place another card face-down on the field."
'A defense monster? He must really want me to attack it to have a go at his life points. I think I'll try to find another way to destroy his monsters,' TK thought to himself while drawing his next card. 'I've seen this strategy been done to death against Davis and that Rick Dagger guy. This next card should be of help later.'
"I'll place one card facedown on the field," said TK. "And I'll play Dunames Dark Witch in Attack mode to end my turn."
Dunames Dark Witch – ATK: 1800/DEF: 1050"Is that all?" laughed Jeremy. "Alright then, I'll draw, and play another defense monster. Your move, Takeru."
'This guy is toying with me,' TK thought angrily. 'What's his strategy?' He drew his next card. "Gemini Elf in Attack mode!" TK shouted.
Gemini Elf – ATK: 1900/DEF: 900
"Are you done yet?" asked Jeremy.
"Yeah, your move," TK told him.
Jeremy drew his next card, and smiled. "Ok, I'll play a Pot of Greed to draw two cards from my deck. And now I shall play Swords of Revealing Light, stopping you from attacking me for three turns!"
"Big deal," said TK. "Even with that, I can still beat you."
"Not when I play this monster, Mucus Yolk!" A black blob appeared in Jeremy's extra space.
Mucus Yolk – ATK: 0/ DEF: 100
"What can that piece of slime do against me? It has no attack points!" TK wondered aloud.
"You see, Mucus Yolk is a very powerful card when used properly. It has the ability to attack my opponent directly. I will now play the Magic Card Rush Recklessly to increase its attack by 700 points for the rest of this turn."
Mucus Yolk – ATK: 700/DEF: 100"Oh wow, 700 damage," TK rolled his eyes. "So what's the danger for me?"
"You don't get it, do you?" laughed Virus. "This card has a special Ability. When it deals damage to my opponent, it will increase its attack by 1000 points for the rest of the game!"
"WHAT?!" gasped TK. "And my monsters can't attack?! That's not good!"
"Mucus Yolk! Attack his life points directly!" commanded Virus. The blob made its way past the three monsters on TK's side of the field to hit TK's life points directly.
TK: 3300 Jeremy: 3700"Heh, you're not as tough as that jerk Weevil made you out to be, Takaishi," laughed the green haired teen. "Your move."
'That was a brilliant strategy he played,' thought TK. 'But I'll just have to stick with mine to stall for time.' He drew his next card.
"I play Maha Vailo in Attack Mode!" TK shouted.
Maha Vailo – ATK: 1550/DEF: 1400"And I'll play this card face-down to end my turn," said TK.
"Giant Germ in attack mode!" shouted Jeremy.
Giant Germ – ATK: 1000/DEF: 100
"I'll now play Heavy Storm to destroy all Magic and Trap Cards on the Field," shouted Virus.
"Shit," TK muttered under his breath. "In response, I'll play Gift of the Mystical Elf, to increase my life points by 300 for every face-up monster on the field! There's 5, if I counted right. That's 1500 Life points for me!"
TK: 4800 Jeremy: 3700"So you're up a few points," laughed Jeremy. "Big deal. Now, with my powered up Yolk, I'll attack you directly!"
TK: 3800 Jeremy: 3700"It now has 2000 Attack points, Takaishi, more than any of your monsters," he laughed. "And your monsters are now defenseless against me! Your move!"
"Alright, I'm fine with that," smirked TK. "And thanks a lot for doing all that. It really helped me out."
"What are you talking about?!" demanded Virus.
"Something very simple. Do you realize what you've done by playing Heavy Storm? You destroyed your own Swords of Revealing Light, you numbskull!"
"What? Oh shit, you're right!"
TK drew his next card. "Now, I'll sacrifice Neo the Magic Swordsman and Maha Vailo to summon one of my most powerful monsters, Wingweaver!" A six-winged Angel appeared on the field.
Wingweaver – ATK: 2750/DEF: 2400"That thing is super powerful!" gasped Virus. "And my swords aren't holding it back anymore!"
"Wingweaver! Attack Mucus Yolk!" commanded TK. The mighty angel struck down the black blob with its light.
"Now, Dunames Dark Witch, destroy the first defense monster with your Spellbinding Flux!" The angel fired a beam at the Defense monster, which revealed itself to be a Fireyarou, an ugly low defense plant.
"Gemini Elf, destroy Giant Germ!" commanded TK. The twin Elf monster attacked the Giant Sphere and destroyed it.
TK: 3800Jeremy: 2050
"How do you like that? I've overcome your strategy, Virus! You can't win anymore! There isn't a monster in your deck that can stand up to mine!"
"Is that so?" laughed Jeremy. "You really believe this is over, Takaishi? Think again!" He drew his next card. "Pot of Greed! I get to draw two cards." After doing so, he smirked. "I'll play Graceful Charity to draw three cards, and discard two. Prepare for your demise, Takaishi! You won't be able to beat me now!"
"What are you talking about?" demanded TK. "My monsters can take yours on any day!"
"Or so you thought," laughed Jeremy. "I'll flip over my facedown monster, Sangan!"
Sangan – ATK: 1000/DEF: 600"And I'll play Giant Rat in Attack mode!"
Giant Rat – ATK: 1400/DEF: 1450"And I'll play two cards face-down to end my turn. Your move, Takaishi!"
'What's he thinking?' wondered TK. 'If he expects that face-down card to save him he's got another thing coming!' TK drew his next card.
"I'll play Harpie's Feather Duster to get rid of your face-down card!" TK shouted.
"You've activated my trap card, Takaishi!" laughed Virus. "Activate Magic Jammer! By discarding a card from my hand, I can negate the effects of your magic card!"
"Well, there goes one of his traps," TK said to himself. "But there's that other card as well. If it can destroy my monsters, I'm toast. I'll have to hold back from summoning for now, in case he's got a trick up his sleeve."
"Go, Gemini Elf! Attack his Sangan now!"
"You fell right in!" laughed Jeremy. "Activate trap, Crush Card!"
"Oh no!" whispered TK. "I've seen that card used once before! It destroys all of the monsters on the field, in my hand and my deck that have attack points over 1500 and sends them directly to the graveyard!"
(A/N: Okay, so this isn't loyal to the CCG, but that's how the Crush Card worked on the show, and that's how I'm going to play it in this fic.)
"That means all of your monsters go to the graveyard!" laughed Virus, who watched as his virus destroyed all of TK's monsters. "Now all you have left are worthless monsters who can't do a thing against me! And you're now vulnerable to a direct assault! Giant Rat! Attack!"
TK: 2400 Jeremy: 2050******************************************************
"This looks bad," said Yugi. "The Crush Card Virus is one of the most dangerous cards in the game. TK now only has his weak monsters to support him, and when he's out of those, he's finished!"
"TK can't win now," whispered Sakura. "Normally you'd count on sacrificing your weaker monsters for summoning a stronger monster, but now TK has nothing to summon!"
"I wouldn't say that it's impossible to win," Yugi told her. "It just makes it a lot harder. I think his deck has a few more tricks in it, especially since he has so much to believe in."
"Yeah," smiled Sakura. "He's got Kari."
*******************************************************
'Kar, wherever you are,' TK thought to himself. 'I'm doing this to prove to myself that I can save you. With the Digiports locked, I can only prepare for the inevitable, and that's dueling with your captor. But if I don't win, I won't have the confidence to beat the Game Card and that Dark Magician, and they'll wipe the floor with me!' TK feebly began to draw a card. 'This is it. I have to draw, for Kari!' He drew his next card.
"Make your move Takaishi! You're finished!" laughed Jeremy.
"Go Pot of Greed!" said TK. "I'll be able to draw two cards from my deck. Now, I'll set a monster in facedown defense mode. And I'll now play my Swords of Revealing Light!"
"So you're stalling," snickered Jeremy. "Delaying the inevitable. Pathetic." Virus drew his next card. "Another Graceful Charity. Now, I'll sacrifice Giant Rat to play Queen of Autumn Leaves in Attack mode." An elf with a crown of leaves appeared on the field.
Queen of Autumn Leaves – ATK: 1800/DEF: 1500"Since my Giant Rat was sent to the Graveyard, I get to special summon a monster from my deck with 1500 or less Attack points. And I'll summon Trent!" An old looking tree creature appeared on the field.
Trent – ATK: 1500/DEF: 1800"Two monsters for the price of one," laughed Jeremy. "Now, I'll play the field magic card, Gaia's Power!" The field shifted from its original state to have dirt and plants. "This magic card increases the attack of all Earth monsters by 500 points! So, my Queen of Autumn leaves and my Trent's attack power are raised!"
Queen of Autumn Leaves – ATK: 2300/DEF: 1100
Trent – ATK: 2000/DEF: 1400
"Since I can't attack, I'll leave it at that. Your move, Takaishi." TK growled as he drew his next card.
"Ok, this'll do. I'll set one card facedown, and a monster in defense mode to end my turn."
Virus drew. "I'll pass this turn. Your move, Takaishi."
TK drew his next card. "I'll set a monster card on the field. And I'll flip my second defense monster, Morphing Jar!"
Morphing Jar – ATK: 700/DEF: 600"Activating this card requires us to discard our hands and draw 5 new cards," TK told his opponent. Virus shrugged and did as he was told.
'Sweet,' thought TK. 'If this goes according to plan, I can beat his Crush Card! Now, I just need one more card and this game is over!'
"Your move, Virus," TK told him. "I'm done for this turn."
"I'll draw, and I'll play the Magic Card Vile Germs on my Queen of Autumn Leaves to raise her attack by 300."
Queen of Autumn Leaves – ATK: 2600/DEF: 1400"No monster will stop me from winning this duel! None!" laughed Jeremy. "Once this turn is over, your Swords of Revealing Light go to the graveyard, and my monsters are free to attack you!"
"Your monsters won't ever get their chance to attack me," smirked TK. 'I hope this is it,' he thought to himself as he drew his final card. "Yes! This is the one! Prepare yourself, Virus, because you're about to be disinfected."
"How so?" Jeremy thought curiously.
"Like this. I'll flip my two facedown monsters face up. They're both Shining Angels."
Shining Angel – ATK: 1400/DEF: 800"How are those supposed to help you?" asked Virus. "They're so weak!"
"Now, I'll play the Ritual Card, Novox's Prayer, sacrificing my two Shining Angels!"
"Oh no!" cried Virus. "The Crush Card didn't work on Ritual Monsters!"
(A/N: Not loyal to the CCG either, I know, but for the sake of this story let it pass.)
"That's right, Virus, and my two angel's sacrifices bring forth the mighty Skull Guardian! The twin-bladed warrior of Light!" A large armored fighter with two blades for arms appeared.
Skull Guardian – ATK: 2050/DEF: 2500"Wait, your monster is still weaker than my Queen of Autumn Leaves! Your strategies fail, Takaishi!"
"I'm not done," smirked TK. "My Shining Angels are similar to your Giant Rat. I can special Summon two Light Monsters with attacks of 1500 or less to the field."
"1500 or less?!" laughed Virus. "If you haven't noticed, my monsters have attack points way over 1500."
"There are more ways to win than direct power," laughed TK. "Like giving power to other monsters? I special summon my two Hoshiningen to the field!"
Two small yellow star creatures appeared on the field with Skull Guardian.
Hoshiningen – ATK: 500/DEF: 700"They're cute, but what are those gonna do to me?" asked Virus.
"This treatment too complex for you, Dr. Virus?" laughed TK. "Let me put it simply. Hoshiningen powers up the Attack of all Light monsters by 500 points!"
"Wh-What?!" gasped Jeremy. "Impossible!"
"That's right," laughed TK. "500 extra for each Hoshiningen!"
Hoshiningen – ATK: 1500/DEF: 700
Skull Guardian – ATK: 3050/DEF: 2500
Hoshinengen – ATK: 1500/DEF: 700
"And, since I special summoned all these monsters to the field, I can manually summon a monster from my hand. Say hello to Shining Friendship!" A small round fairy appeared next to the two stars.
Shining Friendship – ATK: 2300/DEF: 1100"Normally it's just a filler card for my deck," said TK. "But in this case it worked very well, didn't it?" Jeremy was speechless.
"Now, let the Battle begin! Shining Friendship, slice down his Trent!"
The small puffball rammed into the ancient tree, which disintegrated at its touch.
"Skull Guardian, attack Queen of Autumn Leaves!" The mighty warrior took his arms and forced two quick slices through the elf.
"Now, to finish the job," smirked TK. "Hoshinengen, attack his Life Points!"
The two small stars flew in at the doctor's side of the field, lowering his Life points to zero!
TK: 2400 Jeremy: 0"The doctor is out," smiled TK, picking up his cards.
********************************************************
A loud applause came from the crowds of people watching the duel.
"Wow, TK's really becoming a powerful duelist!" exclaimed Yugi. "That Shining Angel combination was sheer brilliance!"
"After all those huge monsters he had in the beginning, it took a couple of tiny stars to finish the job," laughed Sakura. "Even with that Crush Card virus, he still was able to win."
Yugi nodded in agreement. 'Soon, TK, you're going to be able to rescue Kari from the clutches of the Game Card. Just you wait. If you keep going on like this, you'll be able to win in no time.'
********************************************************
The sun was beginning to set over Tokyo. Davis Motomiya was sitting on a bench in the park. Joey and Tristan were arm wrestling in a clearing, and Matt and Sora were enjoying the romantic view. Li and Madison were playing a game of Duel Monsters, and Jun and Téa were talking some girl talk.
"Man, what a day," sighed Davis. "All that yelling wasn't getting me anywhere. I still haven't gotten to meet Yugi Moto."
"Hey goggle-boy," a voice came from behind him.
"Hey Meilin," said Davis.
"What's on your mind?" she asked, sitting on the bench next to him. "Thinking about some girl?"
"No!" blushed Davis. "It's just, I've been looking forward to meeting Yugi, but TS took him away from me, almost like he took away the eyes of…" He stopped. All day, he was busy fighting and bickering about Yugi Moto, he never stopped to think about the Child of Light. He would never forgive himself if she got hurt, and he knew TK wouldn't either.
"So, there is a girl," giggled Meilin. "Did she reject you or something?"
"She was…well, taken away from me. She's one of my best friends, and I've always kinda sorta had a crush on her." Meilin smiled sadly.
"I know what that's like," she sighed, looking over at the boy playing Duel Monsters. "Li and I were supposed to be betrothed if he never found a true love, but he found Sakura. And, well, I really liked him, but it turned out that I couldn't step in his way. The two of them have been together for 5 years now, and are normally inseparable."
"I'm sorry," smiled Davis, who looked out at the horizon. "The sunset's beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Meilin agreed. The two teenagers watched as the light of day slowly passed into night.
*******************************************************
End Chapter! Oh boy, this was long! It was originally supposed to be split into 2 chapters, but for some reason I forgot to do that. Sorry it took a month, but creating decks isn't easy. I'm sorry that I didn't follow the CCG rules exactly but it's not like it's a huge change. Also, can someone give me a place where I can find the attack names of monsters? It's getting kind of monotonous to write "*this monster* attack *whatever*".
Also, I apologize for the messed up bold lettering and stuff. FF.net is a good site, but it still has some bugs to work out.
By the way, I'd like to thank Western Master 3 for his suggestion of yugiohrealms.com's extensive card list. I'd also like to thank TrueMallowMan for pointing out my mistake about Shadow Ghoul. Damn, I hate it when that happens!
Next Chapter: The Duel between Pyra Vulcan vs. Sakura Avalon. Also, anyone wonder what's going on with Patamon and Kero? ^_^