Tea's Time to Shine
Magicman: I'd like to apologise, particularly to BECA. I tried to get this chapter up before New Year, but my computer crashed. Twice. It's like the computer itself is against me. Sigh…
Smokegirl: He was going at a good pace too.
Magicman: Anyway, whenever this gets out, I'm dedicating this one to BECA and hopefully it will make up for the late delivery. I hope you like it.
IIIIIII
The great hall where Pegasus was holding the duels hadn't changed since his last tournament. As usual the finalists would be battling upon a span that hung over pit that looked almost bottomless. Like last time, Pegasus observed the proceeding with glee from a chair on a balcony, high above the proceedings. It was the best view in the house, and even the second floor viewing area couldn't compete with it. And so when the finalists entered the hall at five minutes to nine in the morning, he had the perfect view to examine the faces of the competitors.
A trait that the girls seemed to have in common was that each had an air of smugness radiating from their persons. Keiko Toshiro for example wore a broad grin as she strode confidently at the front of the pack. Right behind her, Akumu Kino's smile was downright evil looking. It gave some spectators the chills just looking at her. On the other hand, Mai was looking particularly cocky, grinning as she snuggled into Joey's side. Zev's smirk was a mixture of Mai's cocky grin and Akumu's evil smile. The combination was made even more terrifying by a scowling Bakura, his hand wrapped possessively around her waist and glaring at every boy in sight. Even Tea wasn't free from a cocky little smile that played about her lips as her fingers toyed with Yami's. Only Julia Nesbitt who had no expression whatsoever and Ishizu who looked worried were free of smirks and smiles.
When all the girls had filed in, Pegasus stood up and spread his hands grandly. "Well my dears, you are all that's left of the hundreds of participants. I've followed your progress with interest and I can see great futures in store for you all. But for now, the championship of this tournament awaits, and I look forward to performances worthy of the word duellist. Good luck to you all!" Pegasus bowed and gestured. Croquet cleared his throat.
"Will all spectators please move to the observation area? The first duel will commence immediately after."
The duellists said farewell to their various retinues. Ishizu shooed Marik along as Zev forced Bakura into a kiss while Ryou sighed. As for Tea, she smiled at Yugi and Yami as they wished her luck. Her eyes lingered with Yami as Yugi watched gloomily.
"Hey Yugi! I've been looking for you!"
Yugi turned, curious. "Akki? Is that you?" Akki smiled. "Yep! I'd wondered if you'd show up at the finals. I guess Tea's done pretty well for herself."
"Oh yeah! Tea's become really good! All of these girls are really good." A thought occurred to Yugi. "Did you make it to the finals too? I didn't hear your name announced last night."
Akki shook her head ruefully. "No, I lost my last star chip a couple of hours after we split up. I was running after Akumu when we got split up and I ran right into Julia Nesbitt." She rolled her eyes. "As you can imagine she's not one for small talk. She challenges me right away and then things get epic. To be honest, I really didn't stand a chance."
"Nesbitt is that good?"
"And then some! Have you ever played chess against a computer set on a really high difficulty? You know how they know what you're going to do before you do, have the perfect plan to counter it, never make a mistake, and never panic when you've taken the lead?" Akki gestured dramatically to Julia who stood patiently, waiting for Croquet to announce her match. "She's even worse."
"That bad?" Yugi watched the other girl with trepidation as Akki nodded vigorously.
"Akumu managed to get me in the castle anyway, but if Tea has to duel her she could be in trouble."
Croquet interrupted their thoughts by clearing his throat. "The first duel will commence in one minute. Miss Julia Nesbitt and Miss Keiko Toshiro, please step intot he duelling ring."
Keiko grinned and snapped her fingers as Julia. "It's time to lose slinger!"
Julia didn't answer. She merely walked calmly to her side of the arena and shuffled her deck. After a moment, Keiko snorted and did likewise. After a few more seconds of waiting, a buzzer sounded and both girls drew their starting hands.
"Here we go" a girl on the side murmured.
Julia won the coin toss and elected to go first. She drew her first card and then eyed Keiko dispassionately for several seconds. Finally she made her move. "I play Mechanical Chaser (1850/850) in defence mode. Then I set two cards facedown and end my turn."
All the girls watching knew what Nesbitt was trying to do. Julia had played the offensively strong machine in defence mode to goad Keiko into an attack. She was waiting to see what her opponent would do. Whether or not Keiko knew her opponent's intentions was hard to tell, because she attacked full on with a Berserk Gorilla (2000/1000). This opening move set the pace for the whole game. The duel went swiftly as both players unleashed their decks upon each other. It was clear what Keiko's strategy was. She had based her deck upon many varied themes, combining life gain, attack, hand destruction, and lockdown techniques. She was trying to come at Julia with an attack so varied that her opponent would be unable to thwart it. For the first part of the duel her strategy was successful. Her attack had forced Julia back into an all out defence, and their lifepoints were disparate. Julia's were nearly cut in half with 1050, and Keiko had actually increased hers to 3400. But Nesbitt wasn't finished. She was just getting started.
If there was one word that could be used to describe Julia Nesbitt, it would be 'analytical'. She never made a move without knowing what the consequences would likely be. And so she sacrificed her lifepoints without regret to discern exactly what Keiko was trying to do. Soon enough she knew the strengths of Keiko's deck, and its weaknesses. While its varied attacks were difficult to contain they were too varied. It was vulnerable to a single, sustained, focussed attack. With that strategy in mind Julia unleashed her strongest cards she had been saving. A Swords of Revealing Light bought her the time she time she needed to play her cards, and then she proceeded to take Keiko apart. She diced through Keiko's facedown traps with Cybernetic Sniper (1000/1000) and Blowback Dragon (2200/1300), blasted her monsters off the board with the Moving Fortress (1000/2400), and readied a Perfect Machine King (2700/2400) to steamroll her lifepoints.
Before ordering the final attack Julia paused and allowed a small smile to decorate her face. "Game over 'slinger'. Perfect Machine King, I command you to attack with Ballistic Missile Barrage."
The ultimate machine monster let fly from its shoulder-mounted rocket boxes. The barrage hurtled across Keiko's barren field and ploughed directly into her lifepoints, instantly dropping them to 0.
Croquet cleared his throat. "This match goes to Julia Nesbitt." The audience let go of a breath they weren't aware they had held.
Keiko sighed as she left her box. "One turn. I had a Dark Hole coming up, but it all came down to one turn. Ah well. We all lose eventually." She smiled and laughed it off. Going to join her friends on the sideline she waved carelessly to Julia. The machine duellist ignored her and leaned up against a wall.
Yugi blinked, still in shock at the end of the duel. "How did she do that?! Keiko had her backed into a corner all through the match!"
"It's like I told you Yugi" Akki said. "Julia Nesbitt never loses control of a duel. She's always the one who ends it. I even heard that she makes Kaiba Corp's best duelling computers look like a joke."
Their thoughts were interrupted again as Croquet announced the next match. "Miss Ishizu Ishtar and Miss Ami Ryuta please enter the arena. Your duel will begin in five minutes."
"Yay! Just me and Miss Spooky!" Ami cart wheeled enthusiastically to her side of the ring. Ishizu followed at a more leisurely pace. From the balcony Marik yelled "Don't embarrass me by losing!" Ishizu pretended not to hear him and got into position.
Tea was looking forward to this match. She knew firsthand how good both of the girls were, and she was sure this would be a hell of a match.
This time Ami won the coin toss. She drew and giggled at the cards. "One for me! And then one more for me!" Ami set one monster facedown and followed up with a facedown trap.
This duel was slower going than the previous match, but it was still thrillingly intense. Rather than a brutal head on attack, this was rather a duel between support cards. Ami's traps and magic cards ruthlessly crushed down Ishizu's ability to attack her, and Ishizu was trying to lock up Ami's deck to keep her from drawing any cards. Eventually though the slow process of the draw phase worked to Ami's advantage. The crazy girl had drawn her fourth piece when Ishizu played her trump cards. As Ami drew Ishizu activated her trap card Soul Purge. By paying 500 lifepoints, she could force both players to discard their hands and draw an equal number of cards to form a new hand. Ami scowled blackly as she discarded her Exodia pieces, including the head. Then Ishizu went on the attack with Heavy Storm, which her trap had allowed her to draw. With Ami's Gravity Bind and Level Limit Area B destroyed, Ishizu was able to attack her with powerful monsters like Gravekeeper's Chief and Gravekeeper's Assailant, backed up by the magical Necrovalley, Ishizu quickly forced Ami back into a corner. Ami even had to sacrifice her last Exodia piece as a blocker.
That was when Ami switched to plan B and sprung a trap of her own.
That trap was a magic card called Contract with Exodia, and it needed all five pieces in the graveyard to work. By giving up half of her lifepoints Ami was able to summon Exodia Necross (1800/0), a monster that was virtually indestructible and that would only get stronger as the game progressed. The beast quickly began to smash apart Ishizu's Gravekeeper armies. Even powered up by Necrovalley they were no match for the avatar of Exodia and traps and magic cards couldn't kill it either. Soon Ishizu had only a few hundred lifepoints left and it was looking grim. But then she pulled a lucky draw. She played Block Attack to force Exodia Necross into defence mode and then attacked it with her one remaining Gravekeeper Spear Soldier. Ami had made of point of destroying these monsters, but Ishizu had kept this one in her hand until now. The spearsoldier's special ability was akin to Fairy Meteor Crush and took full advantage of Exodia Necross' nonexistent defence. Ami's life points dropped to zero, while Ishizu's managed to stay at 300.
Croquet raised one hand impassively. "The winner and advancing to the semi-finals is Miss Ishizu Ishtar.
Ami scuffed the floor forlornly. "Ami lost…" She sighed sadly. Then she cheered up instantly. "Oh well!" She skipped merrily over to Ishizu who was just getting down from her box, then grabbed her hand and shook it fiercely. "Fun game! Fun game! You play games well!"
Ishizu couldn't help but smile as her hand was nearly torn off.
Croquet was prompt to announce the next match. "Miss Akumu Kino and Miss Tea Gardner please step into the duelling ring. Your match is about to begin."
Tea and Akumu glared at each other. It seemed as though little sparks were shooting from each other's eyes. From the balcony Yugi waved. "Go get her Tea!" he shouted.
Akumu heard Yugi and grinned. "It seems the little twerp has a thing for you. Isn't that sweet? It's just too bad that he's missed his chance and you're with that washed up pharaoh now."
The thought made Tea unaccountably angry. "Oh shut up and get ready to duel" she snarled. "I'll teach you to regret picking on my friends!"
"Try me" Akumu invited.
The two girls entered the ring. Both were totally psyched; they'd been waiting for this match all night. They shuffled their decks and waited for Croquet to declare the match on. Tension hung thick in the air.
At last Croquet cleared his throat. "This semi-final match begins now. Duel is on."
Tea drew her starting hand. "I think I'll start off this duel if you don't mind."
Akumu nodded, also drawing a hand. "Be my guest. It's not like it will matter in the end." She waited impatiently as Tea made a big show of considering her cards. After almost of minute of this she finally growled out "Did you learn how to delay your turns like this from Yami?"
"Oh no. I'm just deciding what the best move would be. Gemini Elf (1900/900) in attack mode." The twin elves materialised, ready for battle as Tea continued talking in a smooth voice. "Yami is good at duelling, but he does some other things even better. Take last night for instance…" She waved a hand dismissively. "But that's not important. It's your move."
But Tea had grabbed Akumu's attention. "What? What about last night? Tell me!" she barked angrily.
Tea raised an eyebrow and waggled it up and down suggestively. "You're his ex-girlfriend" she taunted sweetly. "I'm sure you'd know."
Akumu's face flushed a dark, angry red. Her clenched fist slammed down hard onto the duelling board. "You little bitch" she cursed in a low voice. "You'll regret that, I swear it. I'll make sure that you lose everything right here in this duel, just like I did five thousand years ago!" She slapped down a monster. "I summon Maha Vailo (1550/1400) in attack mode! And now I'll add this equip card Butterfly Dagger Elma, to increase his attack points by three hundred. With his special ability that brings his attack up even further to 2350!" She pointed accusingly at Tea. "Now destroy her monster with Sacred Lightning!"
Maha Vailo imitated his master's snarl and twirled the famed Butterfly Dagger in one hand. A nimbus of crackling blue energy powered up around the whirling weapon, and when he thrust it out a bolt of lightning flashed. The Gemini Elf was utterly destroyed and Tea's lifepoints dropped to 1550.
Tea shielded herself from the blast then straightened again, smirking. "Testy, are we?" she taunted. "You really should get a hold on that temper of yours. It's going to get you into trouble." She drew and her smirk widened. "Well isn't this ironic? I summon my own Maha Vailo in attack mode."
"And then" she continued when her monster had appeared, "I'll equip him with Axe of Despair. Unlike Butterfly Dagger, my axe raises my monster's attack by a decent number. Combined with his special ability, now he has 3050 attack points; more than enough to crush your monster" Tea added condescendingly. "Maha Vailo? Do me a favour and make your clone disappear, would you?"
Tea's spellcaster snorted contemptuously at his weaker counter part. Then he flicked back a strand of blonde hair and gathered the lightning to him. Channelling the magic through his axe, he swung the weapon hard. The shockwave crashed into Akumu's Maha Vailo with devastating force. The dark-haired girl was blasted back in her booth as her lifepoints dropped to 1300. She glared hatefully while Tea daintily selected one card to play facedown on the field before she ended her turn.
"Alright then. You have a stronger monster. Big deal." Akumu drew and decided her move. "I summon Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700) in attack mode. Then I'll play two cards facedown. Go."
"Gladly." Tea cheerfully drew. As she looked at the card she continued her earlier line of conversation. "He's a great kisser, isn't he? Has he ever done that thing with his tongue to you? You know, it's like he's rolling his R's but in your mouth? Doesn't that just send you straight to heaven? Oh, I pass this turn." She placed a hand on her hip and grinned cockily, her monster imitating the stance.
Akumu's eyes narrowed with fury. Meanwhile, in the audience Yami's face was turning several different shades of red as most of the spectators turned to look at him. As Mai chuckled amusedly and said 'you dog!", and Yugi glared at him, he devoutly wished he could just vanish into the Millennium Puzzle to escape. Sadly the spectators kept him from it.
On the field things were heating up again as Akumu's anger continued to get the better of her. "I activate my trap card Collected Power! It draws all equip cards on the field to my monster, boosting him up to 2900 attack points, while yours is weakened."
A flash of power blinded all present. When the light cleared, Maha Vailo looked confused as his opponent spellcaster wielded his weapon.
"Next" Akumu continued, "I summon Mystic Caller (300/1800) in defence mode."
Tea blinked curiously. The spellcaster sat cross-legged on the floor of the holo-field. A strange glowing mask, half white and half black with two narrow eye slits adorned his face. He waved his hands mysteriously over a small fire. "What does that thing do?" she asked.
"You'll find out sooner or later. Now you have my Skilled Dark Magician to deal with though, so concentrate on him while he attacks your stinking Maha Vailo! Attack with Dark Lightning!"
Twin black lightning bolts blasted forth from Skilled Dark Magician's three pronged staff. They streaked jaggedly toward the weaker light monster. Maha Vailo faced its demise boldly, with hands outstretched to confront the attack. Then he suddenly wasn't alone. Three blue-robed sages appeared around him, blocking Akumu's vicious attack with their holiness. Tea grinned as her opponent swore angrily. Her favourite trap had come through for her again.
"Damn it!" Akumu pounded her fist onto the computer panel. "You can't dodge my attacks forever!"
"The way you're flailing around, I won't need to." Tea drew a card and considered her options. "I switch Maha Vailo into defence mode, play one more card facedown, then summon Fire Princess (1300/1500) in defence mode." The brunette popped up next to her colleague, knelling in defence. She high-fived Maha Vailo and then they faced Akumu's stronger monster with grim stoicism. Tea grinned. "Aren't they cute? I think they like each other."
"THEY ARE JUST CARDS!" Akumu's scream shook the building. "They can't like each other, and they can't have feelings! Skilled Dark Magician, get them! Destroy that Fire Princess and make her shut up! Dark Lightning attack!"
Tea shrugged. "You really had this coming. I activate another trap. Mirror Force!"
Akumu swore again as her monster powered up. "Hold your fire!" she yelled. "If you attack you're finished!"
It was too late. Skilled Dark Magician fired his magical attack at Fire Princess, only to have it reflected back by a magical wall. Caught unaware, the dark monster was eliminated by his own attack.
"You see what I mean? When you're mad, you flail without strategy or even thinking things through. You're no challenge like this." Tea shrugged helplessly.
Akumu breathed hard. Her pupils dilated. The breath snorted through her nostrils. Her fist clenched until her knuckles were white. And then she stopped. Slowly she managed to calm down and forced herself to think. As much as it pained her to admit it, Tea was right. There was no way she could win like this. She closed her eyes, held them shut for a few seconds, and when she opened them they were clear again. She smiled wryly. "Clever" she acknowledged. "You deliberately tried to get me too mad to fight. Well I'm on to you now. I won't let you win, no matter how cunning you are."
Tea smirked. "So you did catch on. Now I guess I'll have to start getting serious."
"Yes." Akumu settled back to plan her moves carefully. "Round two starts now."
IIIIIII
Magicman: Good God, that took way too long to finish. I'm so sorry. I've been really uninspired and short on time, or depressed about things.
Tea: There, there. You did get the chapter finished. And I thought it was pretty good. You managed to get to my duel without neglecting the others'.
Magicman: Aw thanks. I only hope you readers out there liked it too. And now to explain some cards I invented. Pegasus?
Pegasus: Of course.
Cybernetic Sniper (1000/1000)
Earth, Machine. This card lets you destroy one magic or trap card on your opponent's side of the field by discarding one card from your hand. You can do this as many times per turn as you wish.
Moving Fortress (1000/2400)
Wind, Machine. This card lets you destroy one monster on your opponent's side of the field from the game by removing one machine on your side of the field from the game. Do this as many times per turn as you wish.
Mystic Caller (300/1800)
Dark, Spellcaster. You'll find out its effect next chapter when Akumu uses it. Hope that didn't cause you all too much suspense, but I have to keep some secrets.
Tea: Ciao for now!
Joey: And keep watching the skies!
