Yami no Game: Dark Saga
Chapter 33
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"Battle City, hmm?" A voice hummed in the darkness as another before the person nodded. "Yes, Lord Malik. Duelists from all over the country has gathered in Domino City for the tournament. It's being hosted by Kaiba Corp." The messenger spoke. Malik nodded, a small smirk spreading across his face. "How fun to know that all of the prey is gathering into one spot." he spoke as he looked up, calculating lavender hues gleaming with interest. "Now, my Rare Hunters...unleash the Ghouls! Our next target is Domino City and the Battle City tournament!"
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"Battle City! You mean startin' tomorrow, there's gonna be a mass amount of duelists fighting in the streets?!" Jou questioned excitedly as he and the others were gathered on the roof during their lunch break, Yami there to spend the little time he had with his small lover along with Shui who decided to tag along. Jou growled, gritting his teeth. "How can Seto not tell me, Domino City's No. 2 duelist, that such a big tournament was happenin' and not invite me!" he grumbled. "Jou, don't tell me you're thinking of entering?" Kaiser questioned and he nodded. "Damn right I am! I'll talk to whomever in charge of running the tournament beside him and force them to let me in! They surely can't deny the lover of Seto Kaiba after all!" he said, determined to go through his with plan. He even looked up to Yami. "You're entering too, right?!" The demon nodded and Jou smirked. "Great! Between us two, we'll rule the tournament!"
"Jou, if you are going to enter, you're gonna have to be careful. Yami told me that the tournament has an ante rule." Yugi piped.
"Ante rule?"
"Yes." Yami answered as he hopped from his perch on the gate surrounding the roof. "We have to absolutely win every duel we get into cause we're gonna have to bet our rarest card in order to begin." he explained and Jou gulped at the idea of losing his precious Red-Eyes in a duel. "Are you sure you wanna risk that, Jou?" Honda asked as he looked over to him. "I mean, that's a very valued card of yours and to lose will pretty much mean you're out of the tournament." he added. "I'll still do it! I'll just have to win a bunch of duels and get me more rare cards to stick in." Yugi nodded, smiling at his friend's determination before remembering another thing. "Oh! There's another condition to enter the tournament, Jou-kun." he said and Jou looked over to him. "You're going to need Seto's latest duel disk model to use." he explained. "Our store doesn't carry it but I heard it's already on sale at card specialty stores in town. Yami is going to pick up his when I get out of school." he continued as Yami nodded.
"Well, if I'm gonna enter, I'll go too..."
"Do you even have the money?" Honda quipped. "No but I'll get one through sheer willpower! You'll see!"
"Good luck!" Jou huffed before looking back to Yami. "Hey Yami, after school can you take a look at my new deck. I made it last night but I'm not too keen on a few things."
"Sure, Jou."
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After school was done, Yami met the gang at the gate before they all headed out to go pick up their duel disks. "Hmm, I thought the store was around here somewhere..." Yugi murmured as they looked around. "I never been to this side of town so I'm kinda lost on where it is exactly."
"Hmm, I think I have an idea of where it might be." Keara spoke as she walked ahead of them a bit before pointing it out. "There." she said as the others followed behind her. "How'd you know?" Yugi asked. "Yami and I were here yesterday and if it's around here, then this must be it." she explained. Yugi nodded before looking over to Yami who was passive as they conversed. He knew his demon lover wasn't too keen over the whole tournament and the rules Seto placed down. Every card in his deck was precious to him and he hated the idea of risking them on a wager or taking another's valued card. This wasn't the only reason however and when Keara looked down to Yugi's inquisitive gaze as the others headed into the card shop, she knew that the smaller teen knew what Yami and Aqua were here for. 'Yami's dueling for the memories that he and Aqua lost. Yugi knew of this long beforehand. While he hates the idea of losing his new-found mates, he's ready to accept it should the time come for them to pass on peacefully.' she thought before the two headed in as well and she followed behind them.
"Hello there, do you have the new duel disks?" Yugi asked as they reached the counter where the shopkeeper was, looking at his stock before turning at the sound of the bell over the door ringing. "Ah, you must be here for the tournament. I have a few left. Day's been busy with so many people coming in." he murmured. "Please, give me your names, if you will."
"Motou Yami."
"Katsuya Jounouchi."
The shopkeeper nodded as he typed in their names starting with Yami and he nodded. "Ah! Here you are. Level 8, how excellent!" he praised and Yugi blinked. "Really? How so?"
"I'm looking him up through the duelist database. KaibaCorp. collected data on duelists all over the country and put it into their systems to send through card and hobby shops for events just like these. Yami's duelist level is eight stars, the highest level that you can get." The shopkeeper explained. He turned to grab a box from behind him and handed it off to Yugi. "Congratulations, this is for free for such a high duelist level." Yugi smiled as he took it. "Thank you! Are you sure it's ok though?"
"Actually, per KaibaCorp. regulations given to us by adviser Jewelstone, only duelists level 5 or higher can obtain the duel disk for the tournament." Yugi nodded to that and Jou smirked. 'Sweet, if it's Ruby who's makin' up the rules for who gets in and who's a sucker, I'm a shoe-in!' Jou thought. "Hey! Look me up next!" Jou exclaimed and the shopkeeper nodded. "Ah yes, Jounouchi, right?" The shopkeeper hummed as he tapped the keys, entering Jou's name and brought up his information. He tsked softly before looking to him. "I'm sorry, but you're only level 2 and therefore not qualified to enter."
"What?!" he screeched before looking to Kaiser. "Kaiser! Do you know anythin' 'bout this?! Ya hang out with Ruby more than I do!"
"Hey! Don't get on me! I couldn't see him since he called and told me Seto had him busy doing this stuff for the tournament!"
"Then it was him! Damn it all! When I see that rich bastard, I'm gonna kick his ass! Even after givin' him this chance, he's still treatin' me like I'm a lame-ass duelist!" Jou growled. While he raged on, the shopkeeper glanced back at the computer and his eyes widened when he saw what Jou's rare card was exactly. 'The Red-Eyes Black Dragon! How can such a low level duelist obtain such a rare card?!' he thought, revealing himself as one of the secret sect of Ghouls that roamed through Domino City at this time, using card and hobby shops to locate targets with the best rare cards that they would obtain throughout the tournament. "Calm down, Jou. Maybe Seto isn't trying to go against you but looking out for your well-being. Remember that you have only one rare card and you really don't want to lose her." Kaiser tried to reassure. "He's trying to prevent me from becomin' a true duelist at this rate!" With Jou providing the proper distraction, the shopkeeper did a few quick keystrokes, changing Jou's level from 2 to 5. "Oh wait! I'm terribly sorry but there was a tiny bug in the system. Katsuya here is actually level 5, just barely making it into the ranks to join the tournament." he said with a smile as fake as his disguise, taking another duel disk from the shelf and handed it over to Jou.
"Really! Sweet! I knew Ruby wouldn't let me down!" he said with a cheer and Yugi smiled. "This is great!" he commented happily although both Yami and Keara were just a bit skeptical about the situation but decided to pass it off for now. After the group left, the man dropped the facade and picked up the phone, dialing a private line and smirked.
"I've found your first target."
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After an extensive lesson and a few quick modifications to Jou's deck, he and Kaiser left the game shop, thank Yugi and Yami for their advice and help before they two started making their way home. "You know, bro, we really need to invest in a car. I know we're only walking distance from the apartment but I hate walking sometimes." Kaiser mumbled. "Well, if we had the money, we would." Jou replied with a pout. "That's where Seto and Ruby come in, I'm sure they'll buy us one to share. It will make it easier to get to them too should we need solace from that drunken bastard." As the two walked through the alleyway, from the corner of Kaiser's eye did he see a shadowed figure and was about to tell Jou but ended up being too slow as three eventually surrounded them. "Hey, who are you guys?!" Kaiser demanded.
"We are the Ghouls. Jounouchi, I challenge you to a duel right here." One spoke, duel disk already on his arm and deck in hand. 'Ghouls...I heard about these guys...' he thought before growling as he opened the box with his new duel disk and took it out. "Wait a second, Jou! You're not really going to challenge these guys?! We can get out of here no problem!" Kaiser said, rustling his wings to remind his brother. "I can't, Kaiser. Ya know I can't back down from a challenge. As a duelist, it's would ruin that pride." he murmured as he pulled out his deck and placed it into the duel disk. "Alright! Let's do this!"
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Back at KaibaCorp., Ruby was tapping away on a computer, looking through card and hobby shops all over town to make sure that progress was going according to plan for the tournament tomorrow. When he got to the card shop that was downtown, he blinked as he looked at the recent information done that day. "Jounouchi...level 5! What the hell, I put him at a low level so he wouldn't be accepted!" he growled as he tried to figure out what happened. 'Seto's going to kill me if he finds out. Jou can't lose that Red-Eyes...it's his most treasured card...'
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Back in the alleyway, the duel went on, Jou sending out Panther Warrior and the Ghoul starting off with Hannibal Necromancer in defense. "Trounce that monster, Panther Warrior!" Jou called as the feline warrior charged in and attacked. The monster was taken down easily by the 2000 attack monster and Jou grinned. "How ya like that! One swing and that thing's dead!" The Ghoul only smirked beneath his hood as he drew his neck card. "I play Graceful Charity. I draw three and discard two." he spoke, doing said action before sending out Three Headed Geedo in defense. "Take it out, Panther Warrior!" With a growl, Panther Warrior went in for the attack again, taking out another weak monster. "Come on now? You guys are weak! And I hear ya always get your rare cards!" Jou jeered. But the Ghoul was still smirking and Kaiser didn't like it in the slightest. 'I think they got Jou right where he wanted him. It isn't a matter of weak defense but an even stronger monster that he isn't expecting...' Kaiser thought as the Ghoul took his turn. "I'll draw...and play another Graceful Charity."
'What is with this guy? All he's doing is changing the cards in his hands using that Graceful Charity card...what is he up to?' Jou thought but didn't let his guard down otherwise as he sent out Red-Eyes next on his turn after the Ghoul ended it with another weak monster. She gave a roar before glaring down at her opponent "Go! Black Fire Bullet!" he called and she roared once more before unleashing the attack and destroyed the monster. "Your arm must be heavy with burden but don't worry, I'll lighten it soon." The Ghoul whispered as he drew his next card and grinned. "I win..." he said before his hand was revealed to Jou and he gasped. 'No way...' he thought as he saw all five pieces of Exodia were in his hand. "All five pieces of Exodia are rare cards...it's difficult to find even one. But in this deck, I have three!" The hunter spoke as the holograms faded and the other two went to grab Jou before he could escape. "Jounouchi!" Kaiser cried before rushing in to help but was promptly kicked away. "We Ghouls can reproduce any rare card we wish. And with these, no duelist will last." he whispered as he walked forward. "Now...your Red-Eyes is ours!"
"No!" he growled as he elbowed one of the hunters to get an arm free. "Kaiser! Get up and get me out of here!" Kaiser nodded as he went to stand but yelped as he was downed once again by a nasty hit from the dueling Ghoul's duel disk. Before Jou could get away to help his brother, he was knocked in the back of the head hard and fell, his deck spilling out onto the ground. The first Ghoul walked over to him, picking up his Red-Eyes from the scattered cards. He smirked as he gazed at the cards before they all started walking off. "See how tonight's prey shines in the moonlight. And by sunrise tomorrow, the town will be swarming with duelists. A good hunt indeed. But our biggest catch is the one with Obelisk the Tormentor."
'We already have Osiris and the Winged Dragon of Ra...if we Ghouls get the God of the Obelisk...the invincible god cards will be ours!' The trio of hunters laughed before they were gone from sight. Jou groaned as he tried to block the reeling in his head. Kaiser was already out for the count and he groaned softly. 'Yami...they're here...the Ghouls...' he thought as his mind faded into the darkness.
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The next morning, Sugoroku was out with Azura perched on his shoulder, ready to do his daily sweeping of the front porch. Inside, Yugi, Yami and Aqua were getting ready for the tournament. "Ready, Yami?" Yugi asked. Yami grabbed the deck belt Aqua tossed to him and snapped it on. "Ready, little one. Let's go!" he announced, smiling down to him.
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Zypher: And that's the end of that chapter. Jou lost his precious Red-Eyes and no one is going to be happy. What will happen next shall be revealed soon. Thanks for reading and I'll see you soon. Now, onto some long missed duel monster stories.
-Shadow Realm: Jounouchi's Deck-
It was a grim day as the monsters of Jou gathered with one another. Laito was sniffling softly as he stood with Meneg. /"It's not fair...why that mean man take Akai from us..."/ he whispered. /"Well, as Yikido explained to us, there was a tournament going on where you have to ante your rarest card. Akai is a rare dragon second to the three Blue-Eyes themselves. But the tournament wasn't scheduled til tomorrow so these men making a move now mean that something bad is going to happen."/ Meneg explained. /"But it's not fair!"/ Laito screeched as he leapt from the elder dragon's arms. /"She doesn't deserve to be taken away from Jounouchi! She loves it here and to be taken away just like that is horrible!"/
"Well, we can't do a thing. You saw what that man can do. He has not one set but three of the Exodia cards. No one is a match for that and as long as he has a strategy like using Graceful Charity to refresh his hands and get the pieces in there faster." Fier said. Laito tried to come up with another argument but only sighed as he sat back down. /"I want Akai back. Gula too..."/ he murmured. /"We all do, little one. We all do."/ Meneg whispered as he walked over to his younger counterpart and nuzzled him. They heard a familiar roar and gasped, knowing that Yikido wasn't aware of the unofficial duel and will be in for some depressing news about his chosen mate. /"Akai! Akai, where are you?"/ he called as he landed and looked to the group of monsters that were gathered there. /"What's going on guys?"/ Ohtar rubbed his arm as he moved forward. "Akai...isn't with us anymore..."
/"What, did Jounouchi remove her from the deck?"/ Yikido questioned, unaware that he was followed by Torone who hid behind the dragons' dorm. /"Not exactly."/ Meneg spoke as he stepped forward. /"Your master has you getting prepared for the big tournament, correct?"/
/"Yeah, what about it?"/ Yikido asked. /"Well, Jounouchi-sama wanted to be part of it. When we went to the hobby shop, he was listed in as a participant and got his duel disk. But before he and his brother could get home...they were ambushed..."/
/"Ambushed?! By who?!"/ The dragon snarled. "By Ghouls." Fier replied. "Jounouchi-sama had him on the run but the guy had a bigger strategy in mind...and defeated him with Exodia..." Yikido, growling with unrestrained anger, looked to Fier. /"And what happened after..."/
"If Seto-sama ever spoke about Ghouls, they are men that duel people for their rare cards. And this tournament will be a cesspool of rare cards for them to take. Jounouchi-sama was an unfortunate victim...and lost Akai to them." Ohtar explained and sapphire eyes widened before a cry tore from Yikido's throat. /"No! Why her?! Why Akai?!"/ he roared in anguish. Torone prevented himself from making a cry of his own before leaving, a growl escaping his lips. 'Those bastards will pay for this. She was mine to have but my bastard brother Yikido is getting in too far with her quicker than I have. And now she's gone! If Seto-sama ever finds that man, I will tear his monsters a new one.' he thought with a hiss as he returned to Seto's deck, knowing that Yikido will be occupied being comforted by the monsters of Jou's deck and won't be back for a while.
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Zypher: And there's the end of that little story. Akai is gone, lost to the Ghouls, and Yikido isn't taking it so well. Neither is Torone. Will they ever meet Akai again? Well that shall be seen in future chapters. Hope you enjoyed and now I need to hide before two big shot dragons tear me limb from limb for getting rid of their mate before they even got closer to her [seeing as it has been a while since the last duel monster story dealing with two star-crossed lovers and a jealous third party]. But any who, hoped you like and I'll see you later with another chapter.