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Another car passed him by as Raymond stood there on the side of the road with his thumbs up.
Contrary to popular belief, Canadians weren't that nice. Proof? That was the fifteenth car that ignored the hitch-hiker who was packing a large camping backpack, filled with snacks, drinks, his folded bed, a tent, and so much more. All the stuff from his family camping trip to the Jasper National Park weighed him down more as more as the hours went by while Raymond took no rest. He couldn't take a rest, not when the tournament date was so close on the calendar.
To be fair, that was a family car. Nobody sane was going to put their family in needless risk by picking up a hitchhiker, potentially some psychopathic murderer. Of course, he's not one, but how would they know? His physic looked like a rough fighter who could withstand a series of heavy, metal, baseball bats beating on him.
Because he did. And that's how he first learned how to counter melee weapons during the fights after that.
It was bright and hot out too; a consequence of the coming summer heat. So, there he was, out walking in the clear sky with no shade and sweating profusely, cause his body odor to be noticeable, even by his nose. Considering how desensitized to body odor he was due to using the locker room each time after he finished a fight, it must be really worse than it smelled like.
Ironic, because Quebec was usually pretty chilly, even in the summer. It's like the weather itself today decided to screw with him by changing the normal pattern and prove the forecast predictions wrong.
He overestimated himself. He didn't do so at first, he planned to ride a bike all the way from Montreal to the American border. But when he remembered he sold it to cover Reynalda's expenses, he figured that he was at least fit enough to simply walk all the way. He wasn't arrogant to think it would be effortless.
Needless to say, that was way easier said than done. Sure, he knew that it would likely take the whole day, but the feeling of walking in his mind versus actual walking as far too detached. Fighting and running had almost nothing to do with each other, and for him to have thought that just because he was in shape, didn't mean he could do something he never bothered practicing before.
There were some roads he had to tirelessly climb, other roads he thankfully dived right down without much effort. This was neither; a completely flat surface. A stallion he was, to have made it this far and not needing to take a rest. His backpack weighed as much as a person riding him, as the extra provisions were as the armor knights wore that weighed down their horses even more.
Now that he thought about it, how did horses support the cavalry? Not only did they needed to be extremely fast for use in combat, but they suffered the same problem he was having: not getting tired by the weight on his back. It'd make much more sense if knights rode chariots instead, as all the horses needed to do was pull, easier when it was on wheels.
By that logic, he really should've bought or asked for a wagon. But every penny count, and it wasn't guaranteed he would even win the first match, let alone the tournament. Everything he was carrying was either something his family already owned, or he took it from charity.
"Mommy, why can't I get it?"
"Because it's to help those in need, Raymond. God would want that, don't you think?"
"But there's always going to be poor people, Mommy. Why can't God just do it Himself?"
"Because then we'll never learn how to be good people, sweetie. You'll understand when you get older."
Understood he did. When he finally swallowed his pride and went to his mother's church, they remembered who she was and did what they could to help out. Her former friends still attended to this day, and none of them refused his plea.
Maybe most of them did it because they feared Hell and wanted Heaven, but that didn't change the fact that they did good things. The kids his mother helped in third-world countries didn't care if she had an agenda to spread Christianity or wanted to do it out of the goodness of her heart, and Raymond didn't care if her congregation helped it out of obligatory to God or to their ego.
That would probably the closest way he'd admit he was wrong about church-goers.
The checkpoint was within sight. The forest was blocking the view, but he could still see part of it. Not the mention the two flagpoles waving furiously in the wind. For a second, he thought that was impossible, but then it clicked in him that the other trees were blocking the wind from ever touch him. He must be so worn out to forget such simple thing.
And then he fell.
The knowledge that his first destination was close enough that it zapped his strength out of his legs. It kept telling him that he could rest for a little now. Five minutes at most; five minutes was something he could afford in the grand scheme of things, was it? Didn't need to pick himself up, just lying on the dirty and empty road, disregarding the potential passing cars who may think he was dead.
Five minutes turned ten. It was amazing how time slowed down whenever he was walking or doing anything he didn't like, but the second he tried to do something he did like, time sped up like it was on caffeine. Ten minutes though, it still wasn't that long of a rest time, was it? He could afford ten minutes.
Maybe he should add just five minutes more. After all, five extra minutes couldn't possibly—
Raymond slapped himself.
No. He was not doing this. This was exactly how it would start. Little things always grew big; it was a fact of life. One more drink of alcohol, one more joint of marijuana, one more syringe, they all shared the common source. Could not, would not, let the source control him. He must control it.
He was doing this for her. Never forget that.
By sheer willpower, he carried himself and his backpack up and continued walking. Just one more mile.
America looked just about the same as Canada, only with some minor differences. Trees were the same, the mountains looked the same, roads were the same. One of the two must've ripped off from the other.
A key component, however, was that he actually managed to get a few people to hitchhike with. Of course, he didn't expect to share the same destination the drivers were, but he was thankful nevertheless that they got him as close as possible.
If he could remember correctly, the last person had dropped him off in Albany, New York's capital. That was around five hours ago. It's now should be around five in the morning; he had to camp out for a few hours of sleep, hoping no one would report him to the police. American must be different in some way. Again, he was on the road, looking for another person to hitchhike with.
Would it have it been better and easier to just have bought a ticket and skip this entire ridiculous process? Yes. No arguing about that. But being a cheapskate was an inherent part of his life, even if it sometimes clouded his judgement. For example, overestimating the amount of generous people. There may be a little here and there, but compared to the thousands, they were almost insufficient.
As another car passed him by, he gave up another little bit of hope. The same hope was what was giving his legs some stability. They were begging to rest, already showing signs of fatigue and shaking profusely as they tried to continuously support his upper body. Funny how he could trick his legs into thinking the destination was closer than it actually was. Guess it was true when people say an inch most definitely would become a mile.
With each single step he took, he began thinking more and more on how this was a mistake… counting on the generosity of other people. He should've just bought a ticket. This would be all for nothing if he wasn't going to make it to the tournament in the first place. How stupid for him to think he could make this journey on foot.
Wait… was he repeating himself? Didn't he just have the same thoughts a few seconds ago? The stress must be really getting to him.
He gave into his legs and fell face-forward. Not completely however, as he was more kneeling than laying. In the perfect position, in fact, to grovel for more help. Almost as if this was an intentional move from an invisible hand.
Raymond sighed. He hated doing this again.
"Oh God…" Raymond prayed. Think he might've bitten his tongue for a second. "Send me a little bit more of help here…"
"Hey!" A man rode up to Raymond on a motorcycle. "You alright?"
Raymond lazily turned around, inspecting the man who called out to him.
Where the hell was this direct line to Heaven all this time!? Why wasn't it working before in his life!?
First thing Raymond noticed was the brown leather jacket the man was wearing and the black gloves that was on the handles. He was wearing a helmet with goggles over it, so Raymond couldn't pick up any distinct facial features except his unprotected mouth. The man had his own backpack, which looked to be stuffed to the fullest extent possible.
At a better look, it was more of a scooter than a motorcycle. The wheels were smaller and there was enough room of two people to ride on it. A medium-sized tail trunk attached to the, well, tail.
"I'm fine." Raymond replied.
"You don't look so fine." The man said before Raymond could add any more. He was definitely right about that part, however. "Where are you going? Maybe I can hitch you a ride there."
Speak of the devil… or maybe praise the LORD. Whichever was more appropriate for this situation. "You happen to be heading towards New York City?"
"Holy crap!" The man bellowed. "You're going to New York City and you plan to walk there!?"
"No!" Raymond quickly defended himself to make himself look less of an idiot. Wait, he shouldn't care; they're both going to forget each other after a day. "I was planning to hitchhike there."
"I didn't see you trying to flag anyone down or anything."
Which shouldn't matter by now. It already got the man to stop. "I was only tired of having my arm hanging in the air, that's all."
"Well… I guess hop on!" The man said. He was cheerful, which was not a bad thing on its own, but it also tended to come with pointless and intrusive questions. But the man's voice sounded like a young person though, so Raymond doubted he could hold a conversation for long. Everybody in his generation was so accustomed to their smartphones.
"Sure." Raymond agreed. He tried to get up and… it… uh… didn't budge. Raymond tried again. Close, but no cigar. Raymond turned his head to the man, lips tightened. "This is embarrassing…"
"What is?" The man was oblivious.
"My legs… they're too tired to get up." Raymond covered his face. "And I've got a heavy backpack…"
"Oh…" The man realized. He parked his scooter and got off, right after he double checked he stayed clear out of the road. Then, he took his helmet and goggles off. He was indeed a young man, someone who looked even younger than Raymond himself. He was high school aged, but neither freshman or sophomore.
There was something about him that set Raymond off, something in his eyes. He didn't want to feel this way towards a man he just met, and a man who was at this time helping him, but Raymond couldn't resist it. It was as plain as day, the one thing reflecting off of the man's eyes.
Naivety. Goddamn naivety.
Raymond hated naivety.
"Oh boy, you're a heavy guy!" The man grunted as he knelt down besides Raymond and tried picking him up from under his shoulder. Probably the hardest grunt Raymond had ever heard somebody trying so hard for such a long time. It became clear to Raymond that this man was not somebody who liked working out, if the struggling wasn't obvious enough.
"You know what? I'll just lift your bag so you can walk." He gave up so soon, but not unexpected because he was trying to carry the weight of both Raymond and his backpack; that wasn't very smart of him. That wasn't to say that lifting his backpack was easy either. "Geez, what do you have in here?"
"A lot of camping stuff." Raymond answered, slowly walking towards the scooter as the man carried behind him.
"Camping?" Raymond could feel the man raising an eyebrow. "In New York City? Wouldn't you want to stay more upstate for that?"
"I just like to be prepared." Raymond crossed his leg over to the other side as his backpack sat on the tail trunk while still strapped to his person. He hoped it was not empty, because otherwise it'd be a lot of pressure pushing down on the empty case. "First time going to the city."
"Well, okay…" The man shrugged after putting his helmet and goggles back on, then reversing his own backpack to wear on his front. "I can tell you that you don't need that much stuff, but okay."
Raymond squeezed himself as much as possible up to the tail trunk, leaving a comfortable amount of space for the driver. If he gotten ruder than he already was, that'd be an insult to both his mother's teachings and his sister's face.
"You don't have to tell Mom! Please keep it a secret!"
"Raymond! This is unacceptable! Just because Mom's distraught, you think you can do bad things behind her back! Give me that cigarette, young man!"
"Damn bro, too bad your hot sister's such a bitch."
"And you shut up! I don't ever want you close to Raymond ever again! And Raymond!"
"The hell you slapped me for!?"
"Is this what Mom raised you as!? Is this what I raised you as!? You are never going to be friends with the likes of this moron ever again! Or do you want to be even worse than Dad!?"
He could feel the slap on his face as if it were only a couple of seconds as he recalled his regrets. What an entitled punk he was back then. Perhaps he still was.
"So, what's your name?" The man asked. It took Raymond back to the real world and he noticed that the scooter was running, by the speed of the passing landscape. Of course, they were moving as fast as a motorcycle, or even the cars, but it was a fine speed. "Dylan's the name and the ladies like my game! You?"
Dylan tried to laugh at his own joke, in hopes that Raymond would laugh too. It didn't work. It died down moments later.
"Raymond." He answered.
"Nice name." Typical response. A curve forced the scooter to lean sideways, almost dropping Raymond right on the road had he not grabbed onto Dylan's waist before that could happen. It was a forceful grab, jolting Dylan's from his seat; Raymond didn't mean it, but he nevertheless held on until the curve passed. "Oh, careful there."
"Thanks." He wasn't sure if it was polite to maintain his hands on Dylan's waist. On one hand, it'd be safer for both him and anybody driving behind him; on the other hand, it felt like inappropriate touching on another person, especially when that person was another man. Raymond could bet that he was one of the majority of men who felt that way.
"So, where you from?"
Ah, so he was the chatty type. If Raymond counted correctly, he was the fourth person to ask that question. Albeit, a common question. "Canada."
"Oh Canada?" Dylan nodded. At least, that was assuming he nodded from Raymond's angle. It was extremely difficult to move his head out to the side to check when the wind would blow all kinds of particles into his eyes, blinding him. "How is it there?"
"Peachy." Raymond caught himself midway that he was giving off a put-offish vibe and fixed his attitude to be the instigator. "You're probably guessing why I'm visiting."
"Hey! I was thinking that!" Dylan cheered. "You must be a psychic!"
Ha! Now that was funny. Raymond, the absolute skeptic that he was, being a money-grabbing fraud who have no conscious on preying upon the most emotionally vulnerable. Such a shame that people would still believe in hocus-pocus mind tricks. He would rather die than to be one of—
Oh. Right.
He should probably stop digging himself a deeper hole.
"There's a tournament going on in New York City and I like to get in." Raymond said.
"Oh?" The tree was getting more and more spaced out; the both of them could see farther out. "What kind?"
"It's… uh…" Raymond didn't know how to say it without sounding childish. "It involves cards."
"Like… trading cards?" Why did Dylan sound a little hopeful?
"Yes…" God, that was painful to admit.
"Oh my God…" Dylan gasped. "Is it Yu-Gi-Oh!?"
Here it comes. Raymond mentally prepared himself for the mockery. A full-fledged man still playing a children's card game; there was no way to twist it any other way. Heck, he would mock himself if he was any other person.
"I'm a duelist too!"
What?
"What kind of deck do you play?" Dylan's eyes sparkled. Raymond could tell his eyes sparkled because HOLY SHIT HE WAS TURNING HIS HEAD ASIDE TO LOOK AT HIM!
"WHOA WHOA WHOA!" Raymond panicked and shouted, pointing forward. "WATCH THE ROAD!"
"OHMYGODIAMSOSORRY!" Dylan blurted out. Instantly snapped his neck back to focusing on the road. They were a few seconds away from being roadkill when they almost drove off and slammed right into the tree. "Sorry, I just always get really excited that I get to meet a fellow Duelist!"
"Can you not do that when we're riding on a moving vehicle!?" Raymond chastised.
"I'm really sorry about that…" Dylan cringed. "But never mind that; do you have tag partner?"
"A tag what now?"
"You know, a tag partner? The first two days will be a tag team single duel, then the last day will be regular matches. That's why you aren't required to submit a deck list until the final day, because you'll definitely be facing your tag team partner who knows your deck inside out." Dylan slowed down, due to the now increasing traffic as they drew closer to the city. Raymond could see the silhouettes of the infamous twin towers from a distance. "Don't tell me you didn't know that?"
"No…" Raymond admitted. "I didn't."
"Whoa, do you know anything about this tournament?"
"It's more of a spur of the moment; the invitation was passed down to me because the last guy can't make it." Raymond chose his words carefully; it was not a lie, but not exactly the truth either. Judging by Dylan's character so far, Raymond couldn't risk him telling the judges and having him disqualified.
"Well… you want to be my tag partner?"
Raymond raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you already have one if you know you're going to a tag-team tournament?"
"I was planning on the organizers pairing me up with another guy who also doesn't have a partner because… uh… my personal reasons." They were now on a bridge. Not a typical bridge Raymond was used to back in Quebec, but an incredibly busy bridge at that. Cars were surrounding them, no more than a couple of yards apart.
"That seems chaotic for an officially organized tournament."
"With three mill as the prize?" Dylan chuckled. "Got to weed out the people as quickly as possible somehow; not just on who wins and loses."
Raymond had nothing to say on that. Dylan was right, if the first-place prize was three million dollars, then of course there would be a ton of people wanting to try their luck, and he doubted anyone would have the time to duel over perhaps three thousand people in a single day in the traditional fashion.
"We should call each other by our last names." Dylan interjected.
"Why?"
"Because it'll be much cooler that way! You ever wonder why no one calls Kaiba by his first name? Because Seto is a lame name!"
"Are you saying my name is lame?"
"Uh… well… no… it's just… I mean…" Dylan stuttered. "Raymond's a… uh… great name! I'm just sure that a guy like you has an awesome last name!"
That should've offended him. Raymond knew that Dylan had no knowledge that his last name was still the surname of a man whom he himself abandoned. But it didn't. There was something about Dylan's little screw-up that lifts his spirit up. To be fair, it was mostly just an effort to be kind in public.
"You can call me Novak." His mother's maiden name. He refused to be known as the son of an uncommitting bastard.
"Sweet! I'm Trudeau then!"
"The Canadian Prime Minister?" Dylan better not share hypocrisy, the castration, and the idiocy as well. "I didn't know you were related."
"Holy! Your Prime Minister is also Trudeau?" He sounded genuinely surprised. "I didn't know that."
"Well, the more you know." Raymond said flippantly. Most people would call someone like Dylan a moron for not knowing that, but for someone who had no interest in politics, it was a reasonable thing to not know. Raymond himself didn't know any of the names of countries in Africa, except for Egypt and South Africa, and he couldn't care any less to learn them.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Dylan proclaimed. "We're going to be the top dogs!"
Hopefully, they would be. They needed to be. As the two drove deeper into the city of loud traffic, colossal skyscrapers overshadowing any human, and hordes of people going to and from, Raymond readied himself. He took one look at Dylan's back, knowing full well he would eventually need to stab it.
"Welcome to Yu-Gi-Oh, Duelist Kingdom!" The announcer spoke into the microphone, which in turn echoed throughout the entire stadium through the speakers. By stadium, he didn't mean any type of conventional stadium; there were no playfields nor any audience seating. It was just rows and rows of tables and chairs lined up with a stage in the center, where the announcer was standing. It was the sheer size of the interior that made Raymond describe it as a stadium. And let himself repeat himself:
It. Was. Massive.
So, imagine his surprise when he still felt the little space he had as he pushed through the indeed hordes of crowds standing around, waiting for their duels. He didn't say it, but most of them had excess luggage. And by excess luggage for some of the most, he meant how big they were. Not big in the same way Raymond was, who cut an imposing figure amongst almost everyone despite his poor outfit; they were big as in having way too much chips and sodas.
There were some people who were allowed to skip the queues and not worry about all the people fighting for space. Lucky them.
"Please, if you have not received the number to which table you are assigned to, please go to the front deck and receive it now!" The announcer continued. "Duels will be beginning in ten minutes!"
Raymond squeezed through the crowd, pushing around other people with his backpack sticking out like a sore thumb. They were irritated, but once they've saw just how physically outmatched, they would be if they confront him, they backed off.
"So, you excited?" Dylan followed behind. It was now that they were both standing that Raymond found out that Dylan was shorter than him, albeit not that much, but it was still much shorter than he anticipated. One hand was holding a bag of chips, the other was reaching down inside it and grabbing a piece to eat.
"No. I'm nervous."
"Don't fret; I'll be excited for the both of us!" Dylan patted his backpack, trying to infect Raymond with his cheery mood. Laughter was contagious after all. "I'm sure that we'll be able to win our first day!"
Did it make him a bad person when Raymond found himself repulsed by Dylan's optimism? Maybe it had to do with the fact that he brought with him only one deck, and definitely an outdated one at that. Why he even bothered to come here when he knew the chances of him winning were lower than being struck by lightning was a question beyond him. The deck was a fun casual one he used to play with his friends and his family, it was never built to win anything.
After coming all this way, he was having second thoughts. The only reason he even traveled here was because on this fringe chance that the God his mom praised so highly was not only real, but also with him, that He was willing to overlook all of Raymond's utter rejection for his mom's sake. Now, he was even less sure. At best, there was really no God. At worse, this was all one sick joke.
"You want some?" Dylan held out his bag, which were already halfway finished. "I don't plan on finishing it."
He should say no… Raymond had already asked way too much of Dylan; first a ride and then his partnership. But after all this way, he was hungry.
"Sure." Raymond took the bag, reached in, grabbing a handful, and started stuffing it down his face. Oh, how he was so hungry…
Dylan then pulled out his hamburger, packed with double meat, vegetables, and sauce. As he began biting down on it, Raymond felt—only a little—that he had gotten a bad deal. Slow-motion kicked in; Raymond's mind raced with imaginary flavor. The sweet and savory taste of a chicken twisted and crushed with cruelty. Like a carnivore, he carved that delicious, blood mouth, carnist food. His stomach was a graveyard; no living being could quench his bloodthirst. He would swallow his enemies whole, especially when they're Kentucky fried.
"I think this is our table, Novak." Raymond was snapped out of his drooling session. Dylan pointed at the table with the same number as the one Raymond was holding in his hand. There was no one else on the table, unlike many other which already had men sitting across from them, chatting about what normal guys would talk about. They both took a seat on the same side, patiently waiting for their opponents.
There was also a camera attached to the ceiling. In fact, now that Raymond had looked up, there were rows of cameras on top, each aligning to the tables they were assigned to. Those cameras better have some high resolution and incredible zoom distance, because the ceiling was damn high. Damn high.
"You know, maybe we can come up with some awesome tag team combos while we're waiting." Dylan suggested, with his deck already out on the table.
It was easy for him because his deck box was strapped to his belt, like an anime duelist would. Unlike Raymond however, he had to dig through his cluster of a backpack to find his deck. Eventually, he had to empty his stuff onto the table to get his deck. The deck laid on the table as he put things back, but he never took his eyes off of it, fearing it might be stolen.
"I'm playing Cyber Dragons, how about you?"
"Galaxy-Eyes."
"Oh, this is double sweet! I was worried that you were playing some kind of deck where we would have no synergy at all, but not only are we both Light players, but our decks can play as hybrids!"
"No kidding?" Raymond answered flatly.
"So what kind of Galaxy-Eyes? Beat-down? Control? Fusion FTK?" Dylan's eyes were sparkling again. Man, the dude really loved card games, didn't he? "You know, I have a friend that plays Tachyon Dragons; maybe you and him can meet up sometime in the future and duel."
"Uh… I don't know what you're talking about." And by how abruptly shaken the terms off almost like he didn't understand them—because he didn't—Dylan saw more and more just how much of a novice Raymond really was.
"Novak…" Dylan was suspicious and curious. "How many tournaments have you been in before?"
"Two." He lied. Had he said the truth, he would've given away the advantage that he had. Experience implied that he couldn't be tricked, and so Dylan shouldn't even bother. Dylan may seem nice enough, but there was no way he was putting that much trust in a man he just met today. "I just don't bother learning the names of combos or whatever you call it."
"Okay…" Dylan wasn't satisfied, though he didn't press for more. "I was just wondering since there's quite a lot of things you don't seem to know."
"Like I said, I don't bother with it."
Dylan shrugged. "Well okay, not going to judge."
"I think we still have time to strategize before our duel starts." Dylan handed over his deck to Raymond. "Let me see your deck and you can see mine."
Could he? Should he? Wouldn't it just crumble down the lie he just told a few seconds ago? That was right, he—
Dylan's hands moved faster than Raymond anticipated. Of all the times his reflexes failed him, it was this time. Could've been worse, could have been in one of his illegal fights instead and could have gotten him killed. Maybe it was rather a fortune to miss it here than to miss it in the unknown future, a warning for him to sharpen his senses once again.
"You've never been to a tournament, have you?" Dylan said after finishing his analysis on his deck. "No one is going to construct a deck this bad."
"Yeah, this is my first tournament." Raymond sighed. The cat was out of the bag. Raymond's face was downcast. He imagined Dylan disappointed with him, that he lied to get his hopes up. Probably shooting him a look of either disgust or contempt.
What he didn't expect was a smirk.
"It's okay." Dylan patted him on the shoulders. Then, Dylan pulled out a binder out of his backpack and flipped it open. "I have the cards to make it playable—no, competitive."
And thus, Dylan scrambled through his binder, replacing cards left and right with cards Raymond never seen before. He looked on with useless awe, as replacing cards was not a spectator friendly sight and he had no idea what cards Dylan was adding to his arsenal. He sped himself up, as it was a hassle to sleeve the cards back up. Should Raymond stop this? He was basically letting Dylan getting free information about his deck, but there was no way Dylan could make it any less worse. When Dylan was done, he handed the deck back to Raymond.
Raymond hates on blindly trusting people, but this time he had no choice.
"There, it should be great with all the new Galaxy-Eyes support I put in." Dylan dusted off his hands. "Go on, try—"
"Hello." A man greeted, sitting down on the opposite side of Raymond and Dylan's table. Another man followed, sitting by the first man. The first man was overweight, there was no going around that fact. The second man was skinny, like a stickman, except that the lines were bolder. The first man was balding; Raymond instantly felt pity for his inescapable fate. The second man was as hairy as a sheep that never sheared its wool. "You guys our opponents?"
"Well never mind; can't discuss strategy in front of them." Dylan sighed as he patted the table.
"Yes, I'm Novak and he's Trudeau." Raymond greeted back. He almost introduced them by their first names, but Dylan was right, their surnames sounded cooler. Even if it was Trudeau.
"Nice to meet you." The fat man held out his hand for a handshake. Raymond really didn't want to shake it, but out of respect for how low his chances were to carry on his genes to the next generation, Raymond shook it and didn't pulled out until the other man did. "I'm Arnold."
"I'm London." The other man too reached in for a handshake for Dylan. Dylan instantly wolfed down the remain piece of his hamburger. That was an incredible feat.
"Wait, your name is London?" Dylan couldn't help but crack a chuckle as he shook his hand. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh."
"No, it's okay." The other man brushed off. No hint of Britishness in his accent whatsoever. "I get that a lot."
"So, where you guys from?" Dylan asked.
"New Jersey." They both answered. Arnold took the lead in the conversation. "We're from the same college."
College, huh? That meant they were older, which to their credit, Raymond would've never known based on their looks. They looked relatively young and close to his age.
"Nice!" Dylan carried on. "I'm from upstate and Novak here is from Canada!"
"From Canada, eh? How is it there?" Arnold started shuffling his deck. London followed suit and so did the rest of them. They exchange their decks for their opponents to cut and handed the deck back to their respective owners.
"Peachy." Raymond set up the board. Everyone but him had a playmat. What was interesting about the playmats was that it was different from what he remembered it as. All of them had some kind of red and blue backrow zones called 'Pendulum Zone' and a cut-off 'Extra Monster Zone' on the very top while the original monster zones were labeled as 'Main Monster Zone". It didn't take a genius to figure out that now monsters special summoned from the extra deck went to the extra monster zone while regular monsters went to the main monster zones.
It did arise a bunch of questions inside Raymond's mind, but he couldn't ask; he must think he had some experience in competitive tournaments.
"That's the same answer he gave me." Dylan laughed, not picking up the hint.
"Alright! Is everybody at their tables now?" The announcer's voice boomed from the speakers. "If you are not, then we are sorry! Duels will be beginning now!"
Raymond raised his head to look around. No one was standing around confused.
"Welcome to the first ever Yu-Gi-Oh tag team tournament, Duelist Kingdom! As it is our first tag team tournament, it'd be better if we go over the rules one more time!"
Oh, thank God, because Raymond needed that desperately.
"First is concerning the extra monster zones ruling! Both you and your partner are allowed to play on each other's extra monster zones and only those zones! What this means is if you want to special summon a monster from your extra deck, you can summon it to your partner's extra monster zone, but only after you zone is already occupied or made unusable by card effect!"
"Second is the graveyard! Although you do not physically share a graveyard with your partner, you are sharing it by gameplay mechanics! This also holds true for your banished cards and your combined field, but does not for your hand, deck, and extra deck!"
"Third! Limited and semi-limited cards are still counted per duelist! Even if you run a copy of Raigeki, your partner can still run one copy!"
"Fourth is sharing fields! Although you have your own five monster zones and five backrows, you can use spell and traps on your partners field as well as your partner's monsters. However, you may not play your own cards on your partner's field with exception to the extra monster zone I have discussed before and also, you may not declare an attack with your partner's monsters!"
"Fifth is life points! Each player will have their own life points! The team whose both players' life points hit zero loses! If your partner's life points hit zero, you can still play cards that are already on their field as well as their graveyard and banished cards but not their hand, deck, and extra deck!"
"The first player cannot draw on their first turn, nor can any player declare an attack on someone who has not had a turn! That means the player that goes last can attack everyone else! In addition, if there is a monster on the opponents' side of the field—in either duelist's monster card zones—then it must be attacked before an attack on their life points directly."
"And please!" The announcer put a lot of emphasis on the last one. "Please explain what each card does when you play them, even if it's Pot of Greed! No one can possibly know every card you are playing!"
"Those are the basics! If you have questions, feel free to call a judge!" The announcer finished off. "And now… IT'S TIME TO DUEL!"
"You guys ready?" Dylan was pumped up.
"Yeah, let's go." Arnold confirmed while London only nodded.
"As ready as I'll ever be." Raymond said.
"Then let's duel!"
[TURN 1 Arnold LP/8000 Hand/5]
"I activate Gold Sarcophagus." Arnold began. "I banish one card from my deck and add it to my hand after the second standby phase."
Arnold waited for Raymond and Dylan. "Do you guys have a response?"
"No." They both said. And with that, Arnold drew two cards. How were they supposed to response when it was the very first turn of the duel? It wasn't like Raymond had any cards on the field to counter it.
"I banish Thunder Dragonroar from my deck. And when it's banished, I can special summon Thunder Dragondark."
[DEF Thunder Dragondark: DARK LV/5 Thunder/Effect ATK/1600 DEF/1500]
"Oh great…" Dylan sarcastically sighed. "Thunder Dragons."
Arnold let out a chuckle. "Tired of seeing them?"
"Yep." Dylan answered. "I'm seeing them everywhere."
Raymond didn't understand anything that was going on, except that he could assume Thunder Dragons were going to be a problem. From his impression so far as he read the text, they were monsters whose primary abilities are most useful when banished or in the graveyard.
"I discard Thunder Dragonhawk from my hand to special summon my banished Thunder Dragonroar."
[ATK Thunder Dragonroar: DARK LV/6 Thunder/Effect ATK/2400 DEF/0]
"During the turn I activate a thunder-type monster's effect in my hand, I can tribute a non-effect thunder-type monster such as Thunder Dragondark to contact fusion Thunder Dragon Colossus."
[ATK Thunder Dragon Colossus: DARK LV/8 Thunder/Fusion/Effect ATK/2600 DEF/2400]
Okay. That was some overpowered bullshit. A twenty-six hundred beater fusion monster summoned with no fusion card and only one material? Give him a break. As he read on the card text, it shocked him even more. He can't add cards from his deck to his hand!? He glanced at his hand once more, not knowing what he was supposed to do with them.
"When Thunder Dragondark is sent from the field to the grave, I can add a Thunder Dragon card from my deck to my hand. I add Thunder Dragon to my hand. Then, by discarding Thunder Dragon, I can add two more."
Arnold was clearly a threat. Not only was he essentially locking Raymond's entire deck out from searching, he was also replenishing his hand with relative ease. All this without the help of drawing a card from the draw phase.
"I activate Instant Fusion to summon Kaminari Attack."
[TURN 1 Arnold LP/8000 — 7000 Hand/4]
[DEF Kaminari Attack: WIND LV/5 Thunder/Fusion ATK/1900 DEF/1400]
"By banishing my second Thunder Dragon from my hand and Kaminari Attack, I contact fusion Thunder Dragon Titan."
[ATK Thunder Dragon Titan: LIGHT LV/10 Thunder/Fusion/Effect ATK/3200 DEF/3200]
"And with that, I end my turn."
[TURN 1 Arnold LP/7000 Hand/3]
This was bad. Everything in his hand was unplayable. If he didn't draw one good card, then this duel would be over before he could even have a chance. He could not afford a loss. His hand had to push through the thick yet imaginary barrier to reach his deck. What if he couldn't draw the right card?
"Novak, do you want me to go first instead?" Dylan said, noticing Raymond's hesitation.
"Yes." Raymond exhausted a tense breath he didn't know he was holding. "Please."
"I won't let us down." Dylan gave him a thumbs-up. "This will be a piece of cake; I draw!"
[TURN 2 Dylan Trudeau LP/8000 Hand/5 — 6]
"I normal summon Cyber Dragon Core which allows me to add a Cyber spell or trap card from my deck to my hand!"
[ATK Cyber Dragon Core: LIGHT LV/2 Machine/Effect ATK/400 DEF/1500]
"Oh shit…" Arnold groaned. "Cyber Dragons…"
"The tables have turned!" Dylan let out a chuckle. "You have a response?"
"Yep." Arnold interrupted. "I discard Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring to negate you effect! Then, I discard Thunder Dragonmaxtrix to give five hundred more attack points to Thunder Dragon Colossus."
[ATK Thunder Dragon Colossus: DARK LV/8 Thunder/Fusion/Effect ATK/2600 — 3100 DEF/2400]
"Then, when a thunder-type monster's effect is activated in the hand, I can destroy one card on the field. I destroy Cyber Dragon Core."
Dylan seemed unfazed by that.
"You do realize that's not going to stop my Megafleet, right?"
"Eh," Arnold conceded. "Worth a shot."
"If I control no monsters in my main monster zone, I can special summon Cyber Dragon Novus from my hand by sending one light machine-type monster from my deck to the graveyard."
[ATK Cyber Dragon Novus: LIGHT LV/5 Machine/Effect ATK/2100 DEF/1600]
"If this card is special summoned, I can special summon one Cyber light machine-type monster from my graveyard, if I do, I can make it become level five. So please welcome the Cyber Dragon Verstarkung I sent from my deck!"
[DEF Cyber Dragon Verstarkung: LIGHT LV/3 — 5 Machine/Tuner/Effect ATK/500 DEF/2100]
"And in turn, when Cyber Dragon Verstarkung is normal or special summoned, I can special summon one Cyber Dragon monster from my deck or grave in defense position, and if I do, I can make it level five! I summon Cyber Dragon Herz!"
[DEF Cyber Dragon Herz: LIGHT LV/1 — 5 Machine/Effect ATK/100 DEF/100]
"And let's not forget that all of my Cyber Dragon monsters' names become Cyber Dragon while on the field or in the grave." Dylan then grabbed the Cyber Dragon Herz and Cyber Dragon Verstarkung and sent them to the grave. A synchro summon? Weren't Cyber Dragons a fusion-based deck? What was a tuner doing in the archetype? "I link summon Cyber Dragon Sieger!"
[ATK Cyber Dragon Sieger: LIGHT Machine/Link/Effect ATK/2100 LINK-2]
"When Herz is sent to the grave, I can add a Cyber Dragon from my deck or grave, such as Verstarkung!" Dylan picked up his extra deck. Arnold sighed and began to move both his Titan and Colossus to the graveyard pile. What was going on? "I contact fuse Titan, Colossus, and my Novus to form Chimeratech Megafleet Dragon!"
[ATK Chimeratech Megafleet Dragon: DARK LV/5 Machine/Fusion/Effect ATK/0 — 3600 DEF/0]
Megafleet was summoned directly under Sieger, which coincidentally, was where one of Sieger's red arrows was pointing at. Dylan didn't use Raymond's extra monster zone unlike Arnold, which gave Raymond the idea that the arrows on link monsters can permit extra deck monsters to be summoned to the main monster zones.
"Megafleet attacks your Dragonroar!"
[TURN 2 Arnold LP/7000 — 5800 Hand/1]
"Sieger attack you directly!"
[TURN 2 Arnold LP/5800 — 3700 Hand/1]
"I set two cards face-down and end my turn." Dylan then clicked his tongue and finger-gunned London.
[TURN 2 Dylan Trudeau LP/8000 Hand/2]
That. Was. Amazing.
Not only did Dylan just cleared out Arnold's field of lock-down cards, but he also baited not one, but two cards out of Arnold's hand and still had plenty of cards to play. Raymond was starting to think partnering up with Dylan was a good idea after all. The free ride, the lent cards, and now skills at his disposal too? It was almost as if he was Godsent.
Maybe he was.
[TURN 3 London LP/8000 Hand/5 — 6]
"I first activate Dark Hole."
Now that was a card Raymond recognized from his days. Would forget a simple effect of destroying all monsters on the field?
"Well, there goes my monsters…" Dylan was still unfazed.
"I normal summon Fluffal Dog, then its effect adds Fluffal Wings."
[ATK Fluffal Dog: EARTH LV/4 Fairy/Effect ATK/1700 DEF/1000]
"I then activate Frightfur Patchwork to add Polymerization and Edge Imp Chain. Then, I activate Polymerization, fusing Wings and Chain, to fusion summon Frightfur Kraken!"
[ATK Frightfur Kraken: WATER LV/8 Fiend/Fusion/Effect ATK/2200 DEF/3000]
"When Chain is sent to the grave, I can add Frightfur Factory to my hand, which I'll activate immediately. By banishing Polymerization from my grave, I can fusion summon again. I use Kraken, Dog, and Fluffal Owl from my hand to summon Frightfur Sabre-Tooth."
[ATK Frightfur Sabre-Tooth: DARK LV/8 Fiend/Fusion/Effect ATK/2400 — 2800 DEF/2000]
"When Sabre is fusion summoned, I can special summon a Frightfur monster back from the grave. Also, it cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects if fusion summoned with 3 or more materials. All Frightfur monsters I control gains four hundred attack."
[ATK Frightfur Kraken: WATER LV/8 Fiend/Fusion/Effect ATK/2200 — 2600 DEF/3000]
"Kraken can attack twice, which means the total damage would equal exactly to eight thousand." Dylan pointed out. He was still unfazed; did he have a plan for this? "Nice play."
"Thank you." London said. "I enter my Battle Phase and declare my monsters to attack."
"Too bad you can't OTK me yet." Dylan flipped up his set card. "I activate Cybernetic Overflow! I banish any number of Cyber Dragons with different Levels my hand, grave, and/or face-up on my field, then I get to destroy the same number of cards you control! I banish Herz and Verstarkung from my grave, and the original Cyber Dragon from my hand to destroy your Factory, your Kraken, and your Sabre-Tooth!"
"But I just explained that Sabre-Tooth can't be—"
"Oh, I know," Dylan said. "I just needed them banished to activate Cyberload Fusion! I shuffle into my deck the monsters I just banished to fusion summon Cyber Eternity Dragon!"
[DEF Cyber Eternity Dragon: LIGHT LV/10 Machine/Fusion/Effect ATK/2800 DEF/4000]
"While I have a machine-type, fusion monster in my grave, Eternity cannot be targeted or destroyed by your card effects!"
"Damn." London sets one card. "I end my turn."
[TURN 3 London LP/8000 Hand/2]
It was finally his turn.
[TURN 4 Raymond Novak LP/8000 Hand/5 — 6]
He drew Trade-In. There were two level eight monsters in his hand. Galaxy-Eyes Noble Dragon and Galaxy-Eyes Neutron Dragon, both were cards he had never seen before today. From a quick read, Noble could negate monster effects while Neutron could banish spell and trap cards upon summon.
The last three cards were a trap card, a Polymerization, and a Dragon's Mirror. Why would Dylan leave two fusion cards in his deck? He must've either forgotten due to the short amount of time he had or that there were fusion monsters in his extra deck.
So, he checked. There were indeed a few, but mostly their summoning conditions are not met. The first one that caught his eye was Galaxy-Eyes Supernova Dragon. The sheer absurdity of its effect was diminished somewhat purely by the fusion materials needed to summon it.
[Galaxy-Eyes Supernova Dragon
LIGHT Dragon / Fusion / Effect LV/10 ATK/3000 DEF/2500
Materials: 2x "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon"
Must first be either Fusion Summoned or Special Summoned by sending the above monsters you control to the GY (in which case you do not use "Polymerization"). Cannot be destroyed by opponent's card effects. At the start of the Damage Step, when this card battles an opponent's monster: You can banish both it and this card, then, if it was the opponent's monster that attacked, Special Summon it back to their field at the end of the Battle Phase. You can only activate this effect of "Galaxy-Eyes Supernova Dragon" once per turn. If this card is banished: Special Summon it.]
But the third one… it was just what he needed. The question was to playing Trade-In and risk not being able to bring out a monster at all or forgo further card advantage to satisfy his insured field.
"I play Polymerization!" Raymond began. "I fuse the Galaxy-Eyes Noble Dragon and Galaxy-Eyes Neutron Dragon to summon Galaxy-Eyes Astro Dragon!"
[ATK Galaxy-Eyes Astro Dragon: LIGHT LV/8 Dragon/Fusion/Effect ATK/2500 DEF/2100]
"Once per turn, as a quick effect, Astro Dragon allow me to special summon a Galaxy-Eyes with twenty-five hundred or less attack points from my grave!"
[ATK Galaxy-Eyes Noble Dragon: LIGHT LV/8 Dragon/Effect ATK/2500 DEF/2000]
"When Noble is normal or special summoned, I can reveal any number of Galaxy-Eyes dragon-type monsters with different names from my hand, then I get to target face-up monsters you control equal to the number revealed plus one and negate their effects!" Raymond pointed at London's Sabre-Tooth card.
[ATK Frightfur Sabre-Tooth: DARK LV/8 Fiend/Fusion/Effect ATK/2800 — 2400 DEF/2000]
"Astro attacks your Sabre-Tooth!"
[TURN 4 London LP/8000 — 7900 Hand/2]
"Noble attacks you directly!"
[TURN 4 London LP/7900 — 5400 Hand/2]
"I set a card and end my turn."
[TURN 4 Raymond Novak LP/8000 Hand/2]
Hey… he was doing pretty well for himself. He was starting to see that his chances weren't as low as he previously thought. The nervousness was starting to die down little by little as the veil of perceived mastery fell from his eyes; Arnold and London were just players, the same as him. They had no secret knowledge nor some adept talent. They were human, they could be defeated, and they would be defeated.
Now Raymond was on familiar grounds. Just think of this as another fight, always anticipating whether their next move is either a flinch, a distraction, or a genuine hit. The constant observation for timings and opening. If they—no—when they let their guard down for even a second, was the moment they would fall.
All he needed to do was to crush them with absolute power.
Yep, the duel will continue onto the next chapter. I know, I know, it's kind of a cop-out, but if it went on any further, it would've been over 10,000 words! That's a lot for one chapter.
I just want to make this clear, I have little idea as to how to write a duel in LINK format, officially known as Master Rule 4. Yu-Gi-Oh fan-fictions from Duel Monsters to Arc-V works because the zones where you put your cards don't matter at all. But with Vrains, it suddenly became much harder to dictate how a duel is supposed to write out because zones matter tremendously. So, for the sake of convenience, please just read through this fan fiction with a suspension of disbelief.
12/1/2018