Author Notes: I know that I have not updated for a while, and I can take the hit. The holiday period and other things going on in my life have made it difficult to write something up to the standards that I expect. The good news is that I have been able to study some more sports business stuff and think about how I want to package this work. This chapter will see the start of the duel, and some interesting things to ponder for our heroes. Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh GX, and will not profit off this work in any way.
Chapter 4: Walking Knife's Edge
What makes a star? Does a star have the natural talent alone? Does the star get a crack marketing team to convince people? Does a star have to win consistently at the top level? Does a star have to be a crossover star? Can there be multiple stars? Is a team a star? Is the league a star?
Those questions were simple to say, but difficult to define. Sports in America have been based on the idea of having a star to bring in the revenue needed to survive, and leagues and teams had fallen because they lacked the star power in the eyes of the fan and viewer. Today, the viewer interested in sports has plenty of choices fighting for a scarce entertainment dollar and different subscriptions that promised various things. For one league, they were going to find out if they had a star in the making on primetime network television, the single biggest way to reach the American public.
It was a chilly night in New York City, and the Theater at Madison Square Garden had gotten 5,000 patrons to pay 25 dollars to be part of the television audience. Syrus had convinced both Harrington and Alexis to wear microphones in order to make sure that both the television audience in the theater and watching on television had the ability to hear the live audio. During the walkthrough two days prior, Syrus had made sure that both duelists could position themselves in a way that the audience could see both duel fields.
Harrington was confident coming into the match. He was 29-11 in his most recent season, and he was the lead duelist of the two-time defending champion New Jersey Generals. This was a chance to expand his brand and consider a possible increase in salary from the Generals. He knew that Alexis was good enough to make it into Duel Academy and had been involved in some strange things back in the day. The only problem in his eyes from winning this duel was that he was facing someone who had broken his duels down and taught other duelists he competed against, so she was not going to be some pushover or rookie duelist that he beat up on in match duels every week.
Alexis was going into the great unknown, and there was a lot of pressure. Yes, she did not have a professional record to defend. She had the reputation of her school to defend. The New York School was positioned as one of the best dueling schools in America and was a very good school on the college dueling circuit. If Alexis got humiliated, it would make her look like someone who could not teach, and would paint her employer in a very bad light. So, her preparations were undertaken with a sense of urgency. She kept her Cyber Angel deck, because it was the one that she had built for years and was successful when she had dueled at a high level back in the day. She sent one of her students to every local Generals match duel to observe Harrington's style.
The dueling media in America was interested in this, because it was rare to have an exhibition duel in America between two figures who were as respected. Alexis and Harrington both had different styles befitting their deck archetypes. Alexis needed to get her best monsters on the field after playing a more defensive game, while Harrington relied much more on getting his monsters out quickly and gambling that he could hit hard before he got hit back. Combine that with the fact that Alexis was one of the rare Obelisk Blue students to not attempt to duel professionally in some league. Most experts had Harrington winning because he was more used to a high profile environment, though some old classmates of Alexis had other thoughts.
The clock struck 8 in the East, and the primetime broadcast began. After Fox ran the disclaimer saying that they had chosen to present a time buy program, Syrus had his taped announcement ready to go.
In the taped segment, Syrus was sitting in his office. He had a warm smile on, and looked into the camera. "Good evening, and thank you for tuning in. Dueling has been increasing in popularity in America for the past 12 years, and most people think of this game as something that the best of the best go to Japan to duel. Well, my name is Syrus Truesdale and I am here tonight to point out that is not true. I am the commissioner of the American Dueling League, and we are presenting an exhibition duel between one of our brightest stars and one of the best teachers in this country."
As the taped announcement was going on, Alexis and Harrington were on the stage and looked each other over. Harrington was a slender young man who was wearing his trademark green headband over his red hair pulled into a ponytail. He was taller than Alexis and offered his hand. "I understand that you have never dueled professionally despite being a top student yourself. I can't wait to see how you stack up." Alexis nodded her head, and shook her hand back. "You are correct. I'm doing this because I want to challenge myself, and show my students that I still have game. Syrus is a friend of mine, and I always help my friends out."
The intro finished, and a technican fitted microphones onto each duelist. Syrus walked to the middle of the stage, and said "I would like to thank everyone at home and here in New York for watching this duel tonight. The rules are simple, and agreed to by both our duelists. Each duelist has 4000 Life Points, and gets 40 cards. By agreement, Alexis gets the first turn, and each duelist will draw 5 cards. Both Alexis and Harrington will be microphoned, and have agreed to explain card effects. Monster cards will be flashed onto the large screen in front of you and on the television screen for those watching us at home in addition to damage calculation. I would like to wish both duelists luck, and may the outcome be fair."
Alexis and Harrington both put their decks in the duel discs, and yelled "Duel!" Syrus walked backstage and watched from behind the curtain. He wanted to make sure that the television audience focused more on the main event than him. Thankfully, the cameras on the stage were ringed around and focused on the duel, as the production team in the truck made sure that the telecast was looking good.
Alexis drew her cards and took the first draw of the match. She looked her cards over, wearing her old blue fingerless gloves with a black hoodie and blue jeans that had the New York School logo plastered on them. She thought it was good to be back, and she decided on a strategy. "Okay Harrington, I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands in Attack Mode." A dark green fairy with hands coming from every which way popped up in Attack Mode, and glanced at Harrington in a fierce state, looking for a weakness. (1400/1000). "When I summon this card, I get to add a Ritual Monster or Ritual Spell from my deck to my hand. I think I am going to add Advanced Ritual Art." She pulled the card from her deck and shuffled the deck before returning the deck to the duel disk. "I am going to throw down 2 cards face down and end my turn." She put the two cards face down, and then waited for Harrington to make his move.
Harrington was surprised that she would not get a ritual monster out that quickly. She had to know that he was going to aim for a knockout punch after the first few turns. "Is that what they teach at schools these days? Oh well, my draw." He drew a card to add to his starting hand, and glanced it over. "Time to play a bit of offense. I special summon Cyber Dragon. I can do this, because I have no monster on my field right now when my opponent controls one face up monster." A long white metal dragon popped to life and looked over Alexis, probing for weaknesses. (2100/1600). "Cyber Dragon, attack Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands." A yellow bean shot out from Cyber Dragon's mouth and went straight for Manju.
Alexis grinned, and said "Bit hasty to attack with a signature monster, but not good enough tonight. I activate the trap card Quaking Mirror Force! This card forces your monster into face down defense mode, and you can't change that position no matter what." The trap card activated and Cyber Dragon's attack was stopped, and the card flipped over. Harrington was stunned, and he knew that Alexis was as good as her reputation.
Harrington grimaced, and said "Well, I will set a card face down and end my turn." A card went face down and he extended his hand to his opponent.
Alexis smiled, and said "You seem less cocky now. My draw." She drew, and grinned. It was time to summon a big dog monster right now. "I activate the spell card Ritual Cage! When this card is activated, all attacks involving a Ritual monster I control will cost me 0 damage. In addition, Ritual monster cards I control can't be destroyed or targeted by monster effects." The crowd gasped, as they recognized that Alexis was playing an interesting strategy. She knew that she could not win a quick duel based on archetypes alone, thus she needed to slow it down and buy time for her monsters to shine. "Next, I am going to activate the spell card Polymerization to fuse Etoile Cyber and Blade Skater together in order to summon Cyber Blader." A masked blader skated out to the Monster Zone, and readied for battle. (2100/800). "Now, Cyber Blader, attack the face down Cyber Dragon!" Cyber Blader slashed and cut as the face down card was destroyed, and Harrington groaned. "Now Manju, attack Harrington directly!" Manju glided over and then hit Harrington, who said "Nice move, Alexis." (Harrington 2400/Alexis 4000). "I end my turn now", said Alexis.
The audience was starting to buzz. Was Harrington really in trouble, or was this just a blip. Harrington himself shook his head, and said "You are amazing and I can see why you were highly ranked 12 years ago. Of course, this is a different setting. My draw." He drew a card, and then said "Anything you can do, I can do as well. I have my own Polymerization card, and I use it to combine 2 Cyber Dragons to form the Cyber Twin Dragon." A two headed dragon rose from the same spot where the face down was just a moment ago. (2800/2100). "When this monster attacks, it gets two attacks. Looks like I can attack both of your monsters." Alexis raised her eyebrows, and decided to save her trap card. She had enough cards to get a card out that would turn the duel. Cyber Twin Dragon attacked both Manju and Cyber Blader, destroying Manju and enveloping smoke on Alexis. (Harrington 2400/Alexis 1900).
Alexis raised her head after the smoke disappered and said "Nice attack, but since Cyber Blader's effect comes in to play she is sticking around. When my opponent has control of one monster on the field, Cyber Blader will stick around."
"I end my turn."
In the background, Syrus had a big smile on his face watching the live feed. This was an interesting duel, and the studio audience seemed engaged, and both duelists had brought their fastballs to the duel. This would leave a good impression on those who gave his league a chance. That is, depending on the rest of the duel.
To Be Continued.