I only own the OC's used in this story. Yu-Gi-Oh is property of Konami, Kazuki Takahashi, etc. This story is made just for fun snd entertainment. Please support the official release.
Nothing but the sound of the fresh Domino City's breeze whistled through the air. Both Lucas and Jacob were feeling a bit ominous about the atmosphere that surrounded them. The two just tried to get their mind off of it by talking over the duel they had.
"So that second Face-Down you had was a bluff?" asked Lucas carrying his brand new, unopened Duel Disk System ™ in his left arm.
"Nope," Jacob responded, "I had 'Return From the Different Dimension' set. If you didn't use the 'King of the Swamp' you had in your hand for your Ritual Summon, I could've survived one more turn".
"Using the trap to return 'Gemini Elf' which was removed from play onto the field to protect you from me supposedly having one monster on my field," Lucas continued, "Even though you couldn't draw for another two turns, you drew your third 'Reckless Greed' and you would've relied on the next two cards you could've drawn in order to summon 'Exodia'," Lucas stated. "You are getting so much better with your deck Jacob. Hopefully by the time the tournament comes around, you'll be able to use Exodia nonstop".
"And once I get my Duel Disk the day after tomorrow," Jacob responded, "You and I are gonna keep training until I've become the Exodia Master. I kinda like that". Jacob stood on top of a garbage bin and yelled out proudly, " I, Jacob Den, am the Exodia Master!"
Lucas started laughing for Jacobs "humor" was too much for him to handle. "You have to summon 'Exodia' first before calling yourself the Exodia Master. You still have a lot to practice on".
Jacob got down and continued talking, "Well what about you? You still need more training to do so that you won't make any misplays".
"What do you mean 'misplays'?" Lucas asked baffled. Lucas is perfection. If he did make a mistake, he would perfect it to the maximum possibility possible.
"You could've ended the duel earlier if you had attacked me with both 'Battle Ox' and 'Neo', leaving me at 100 Life Points and boom. That'd be game".
Of Course Lucas had the capability in order to do this. With a mindset as incredible as Lucas's, he would know every strategy he should take in order to assure his victory…. But in this case, his response was:
"I didn't even think of that. You know how I feel about Jackal not getting any action. I saw the opportunity to Tribute Summon Jackal and attacked with him instead".
...Lucas why?
"Well it's great that you have the kind of admiration for Jackal. Now more than ever from what's happened to you recently," Jacob continued, "But you gotta be careful with that. This tournament is gonna have duelists from all over. I can bet you a 'Gold Sarcophagus' they won't hesitate to go for the win".
"Yeah, you're right," said Lucas as he glanced toward a dark alley. He came to a pause. Jacob noticing this walked over to Lucas to see what had happened.
"Whoever you guys are, you should come on out," exclaimed Lucas as his crimson, red eyes paid close attention to the dark alley. Jacob looked towards the alley but could not see a thing. After a couple of seconds had passed, and two shadowy figures appeared from the alley and into the illuminated sidewalk. These two characters wore shadowy, purple robes, covering everything but the bottom half of their faces. There was a golden chain in front of their chests, most likely a chain meant to hold the robes together. The thing that seemed to have ticked off Lucas the most was the image of an Egyptian eye was placed on each of the strangers' robes, located on the front of their heads.
"You have quite the sight there boy," one of the strangers began to speak, "How about you make this easy for us and hand over your rare card?"
Could these people be working with Jellal? Thought Lucas.
No, responded Jackal, These men are under the influence of a different power. They have no connection to Jellal or the Ancient Gods whom seek for my trial.
"And what might this rare card be?" asked Lucas, Jacob looked at him with a look of confusion.
"Come on, Lucas," said Jacob, "We don't have time for these guys' games. Your brother will get worr-" as Jacob attempted to walk away with Lucas, numerous of other shadowy figures appeared to block their way. "Hey! What's the big idea?!" exclaimed Jacob.
"The rare card we seek boy," the first man said as he pointed at Lucas, "Is that rare 'Masked Beast' you hold in your deck". Lucas let out a sigh of relief. This had confused the shadowy figures, but they continued to explain who they were and what they did.
So these are the Rare Hunters Ishizu told me not to worry about Lucas thought to himself as he unboxed his brand new Duel Disk and attached it to his left arm, Who would've thought they would actually have an interest in me. "So from my understanding, you defeat your targets in a duel and steal their rarest cards as a trophy. Basically you guys took it upon yourselves to start the Battle City tournament ahead of time". Jacob looked at Lucas, His eyes are shimmering, he thought to himself, Is he actually excited at the thought of risking one of his rarest cards?
Lucas raised his Duel Disk towards his opponent. In a quick second, two smaller devices shot out from the sides of the Duel Disk and landed in tangent of the field. Lucas placed his deck into his Duel Disk and in a second, the Duel Disk activated, creating a platform on Lucas's wrist in order for him to play his childish game. "So if I win," continued Lucas, "I'll get your rarest card right?"
"As if you could defeat us," spoke the Rare Hunter, "We Rare Hunters acquire the most rarest of cards into our decks. Our decks are filled with Rare Cards. You won't stand a chance". The Rare Hunter activated his Duel Disk as well. With everything already in place, the two shouted:
DUEL!
(Round 1: Lucas 4000 Rare Hunter 4000)
Now then Rare hunter. Show me what your rare deck can do.
Lucas, I fear as though you are getting a bit too excited about this duel.
"I shall begin the duel," said the Rare Hunter, "I draw! First, I set one card Face-Down. I then Summon my 'Shining Abyss' in Attack Mode". At this moment, an angelic like creature appeared in front of the duelists. A card appeared face down behind the Shining Abyss. "I end my turn".
(Round 2: Lucas 4000 Rare Hunter 4000)
"It's my turn. I draw!" Lucas drew his card. "I set a monster in Defense-Position," a card appeared on the field in a horizontal position. "I will also set two cards Face-Down". Two more cards appeared before the Face-Down monster in a vertical position.
"I activate my Quick-Play Spell: Mystical Space Typhoon!"
Lucas's eyes widened as the Rare Hunter's Face-Down card flipped up, revealing a Spell Card with the image of a tornado taking up most of the image. "With this, I can destroy one Spell or Trap Card on the field". A tornado emerged from the card and directed itself to one of Lucas's Trap Cards. Once the Typhoon made contact, the card's projection shattered into a million of pieces.
Lucas used his right arm to shield his view from the flying pieces of his destroyed card. "I end my turn".
(Round 3:Lucas 4000 Rare Hunter 4000)
"I draw!" The Rare Hunter placed his monster on his field into a little hatch in his Duel Disk, "I tribute my 'Shining Abyss' in order to Tribute Summon 'Caius the Shadow Monarch'!"
As the Rare Hunter's monster disappeared into a bright, yellow glow from the ground, a projection of flashes and radiances emerged, which then quickly turned into a great shadow as the Monarch took the field.
"Caius the Shadow Monarch?" exclaimed Jacob, "But the Monarch Archetypes aren't suppose to be out for another few months!"
"Well you could just say," The Rare Hunter stated, "We were fortunate enough to have a sneak peek of what the new set held".
"This is crazy," Jacob continued.
Lucas ignored Jacob and admired the Monarch's presence. I definitely need one of those in my deck.
"Now my Monarch's effect activates," the Rare Hunter continued, "When Caius is Tribute Summoned, I can remove from play one monster on your side of the field. Therefore I shall target your one and only Face-Down monster".
The Shadow Monarch raised his hand; in that instant a shadowy hole appeared from beneath Lucas's monster position and sucked it in.
"And since my Witch of the Black Forest was removed from play, I can't add any monsters to my hand". Lucas exclaimed.
"Not only that," the Rare Hunter continued, "But when my powerful Monarch removes a Dark Attribute Monster, you take 1000 points of damage". At this point, a shadowy portal appeared again over Lucas's head, from here, out came the Witch of the Black Forest and striked Lucas. "Gah".
"Now my Caius. Attack this young boy's Life Points directly!" Caius raised his hands together, creating a shadow ball and launched it at Lucas, "Argh!"
"I will set one card Face-Down. I end my turn". Even if he were able to summon monster more powerful than my Caius, my Mask of Weakness will weaken his monster by 700 Attack Points. There's no way he could defeat my Monarch.
(Round 4: Lucas 600 Rare Hunter 4000)
"I draw!" Lucas drew his next card. Lucas closed his eyes after he saw the card he had drew. Maybe if I can stall long enough, I can get the other monster. "I set another monster Face-Down and I end my turn".
(Round 5: Lucas 600 Rare Hunter 4000)
"I draw!" the Rare Hunter drew and placed his card onto the field, "I summon the 'Rogue Doll' in Attack Mode. Is that all you can do? Where was all the confidence you had earlier when you were excited to duel me? I attack your Face-Down Monster with Caius!" Caius prepared another Shadow Ball to launch at Lucas's monster.
"I activate my Trap Card: 'Magic Cylinder'!"
"What?!" Exclaimed the Rare Hunter. Caius's Shadow Ball flew into one of the two cylinders that appeared in mid-air. As the Ball went through one cylinder, it came out through the other and hit the Rare Hunter. "Grr. I still have one more attack. Go, Rogue Doll!" The Rouge Doll launched itself at the Face-Down monster, however, a green, boxing kangaroo and blocked the doll's attack. "Des Kangaroo?!"
"That's right," Lucas said, "And with a defense power of 1700, your 1600 Attack Point Rouge the Doll's attack is reflected. Not to mention you'll also take the difference between my monster's Defense Points, and your monster's Attack Points as damage".
"Urgh," the Rare Hunter began gritting his teeth.
"Way to go Red! Make sure you finish him off this turn!"
"I end my turn," said the Rare Hunter. I will survive one more turn. Even if he were to summon his Masked Beast, my Mask of Weakness will assure my survival for my next turn. I will summon the Masked Beast Des Gardius and destroy him to take control of his creature, and take away his remaining Life Points.
(Round 6: Lucas 600 Rare Hunter 1500)
"I draw!" Lucas draws, and as he saw his card, his eyes glimmered a bright Scarlet. Forgive me Jackal, Lucas spoke to Jackal, But I won't be able to use you in this duel.
Don't you worry, Partner. Finish this duel!
Lucas chuckled. The Rare Hunter smirked, expecting Lucas to summon his Mask Beast.
"Enough joking, boy," spoke the Rare Hunter, "Bring out your rarest monster!"
Lucas glared at the Rare Hunter, his eyes giving off a shimmer, it was almost too noticeable.
"Hey Jacob," said Lucas as he picked a card from his hand and placed it in the Spell and Trap slot of the Duel Disk, he looked over his shoulder to look at Jacob, "How does Caius in a Beast deck sound?" Jacob looked puzzled as a card appeared on the field, facing the Rare Hunter. All of the surrounding Rare Hunters' expression changed from confidence to discouraged. "I activate my Spell Card: Polymerization!" Lucas revealed the card he just drew to his opponent, "With it, I fuse my Des Kangaroo with the Big Koala in my hand," at this moment, a portal appeared overhead of Lucas, as well as a giant, giant blue koala. Both the 'Big Koala' and 'Des Kangaroo jumped into the portal, "I Fusion Summon: Master of Oz!" The portal bursted in a colorful glimmer, and out came a giant, green koala wearing a purple vest, red gloves, and had the tail of a kangaroo. No comment.
"Master of Oz has 4200 Attack Points!" exclaimed Jacob, "It's a bit over board, but you know, whatever works".
The Rare Hunter was trembling at the sight of this monster. Out of panic, he activated his Face-Down 'Mask of Weakness' lowering Master of Oz's Attack Points from 4200 to 3500.
"Normally I would give you a shot at trying to make a comeback," said Lucas, "But I really want that Caius. Master of Oz! Attack the Rogue Doll! Knockout of the Outback!" Master of Oz raised its fist and through a ferocious punch at the Rogue Doll. The aftershock threw the Rare Hunter to the ground, lowering his life to zero. The other Rare Hunters had fled the moment Master of Oz took the field for they did not want to be the ones responsible for this outcome.
Lucas raised his hand towards the Rare Hunter, had his gun take on the form of a sideways pistol. "That's game!" Lucas said, as he walked over to the unconscious Rare Hunter who laid on the floor. He grabbed the Caius card from the Duel Disk, "Maybe now you and your friends will think twice before trying to mug a couple of High School students in the middle of the night".
Jacob ran over to Lucas and looked at the Hunter. "Hey buddy!" shouted Jacob. "Why don't you get up already? You didn't knock yourself that hard, did ya?" Nothing but silence came from the Rare Hunter. "Tch," uttered Jacob, "Looks like this guy was all bark, no bite". Jacob looked at Lucas who continued to hold the Caius card in his hand. Not to long after, Lucas grabbed the Rare hunter's deck from his Duel Disk and quickly inspected each and every card. Without hesitation, Lucas teared up the Hunter's deck in half.
"Red! What are you doing?!" exclaimed Jacob.
"These cards are counter fitted," said Lucas in a disappointed tone. "This guy's deck was filled with counter fitted cards. He was planning to join this tournament with an illegal deck".
"What?" said Jacob as he picked up one of the shreds Lucas had torn. "It is fake. So would that mean all of these Rare Hunter creeps use counter fitted versions of rare cards so that they coul beat the tournament?"
"That's how it looks like," continued Lucas, "I can't believe someone would go so low as to make a copy of, not just a single card, but a whole deck of cards. This exploits the game. There's no passion, no joy, no emotions, no nothing".
"Well, how about this," stated Jacob, "When the tournament starts, we will make sure to take down every Rare Hunter we can, and put an end to this organization".
"Although your determination is admirable," said a soft female voice from the end of the block, "The downfall of the Rare Hunters will not be your task to take".
Both Lucas and Jacob turned to see a young lady in white and gold clothing, almost Egyptian like.
"My apologies my lady," stated Jacob, trying to be as humble as he could, "But it's not nice to sneak up on someone in the middle of the night you know".
"I did not sneak up on the two of you," responded this familiar lady. Lucas only stared at this person, filling his eyes with distress and misery. "I was merely passing by as I overheard your conversation".
"It's still not nice to eavesdrop," stated Jacob as he walked over to the young lady, kneeled himself onto one knee and held her hand, "the name is Jacob Den. And who might you be oh so beautiful maiden?"
Lucas quickly ran up to Jacob and pulled him away straightening him up.
"Jacob, this is the curator of the new Egypt exhibit from the museum, Ishizu Ishtar". Lucas explained as he attempted his hardest to not pay any attention towards Ishizu. "Please try to show some decency to a person of high standards as herself". Jacob noticed something was off about Lucas's action. Ishizu had walked up and continued her explanation.
"Thank you for the introduction, sir," Ishizu bowed her head towards Lucas, making it seem as though this was their first meeting. "As this young gentleman mentioned before. My name is Ishizu Ishtar. I am the curator of the Egyptian Exhibit as well as a supervisor of other sorts. I must please ask that the two of you attempt your very hardest to not come into any contact with the Rare Hunters until they have been taken care of".
Jacob stood in surprise. Lucas continued to keep silent of what he is hearing. He lowered his head as though he regrets a terrible decision he made.
"I'm sorry Miss Ishtar," continued Jacob, "But my friend Lucas and I can't sit back while these trouble makers are going around challenging innocent duelists to a duel with not only an illegal deck, but with also an ante on the line where they themselves have nothing to lose".
"The Rare Hunters have so much to lose as well," state Ishizu, "And although their actions are wrong, I cannot allow that young students risk their health. For you see, I am working on a series of events which could lead to the downfall of the Rare Hunters permanently. However," Ishizu raised her finger towards Jacob. Lucas began walking over towards Jacob. "You and your friend must not come into contact with the Rare Hunters anymore".
"Jacob," said Lucas. Jacob, being confused, looked at Lucas, "We should listen to what she says. Don't agree with what the Rare Hunters actions. But we wouldn't know where to start. She may just have more information on them and could be able to permanently stop them. Also, I really don't want to face these Hunters ever again". Jacob was about to argue, but quickly retracted his words. He saw how upset Lucas was. He couldn't argue with Lucas when he was like this.
"Hey, Red," said Jacob, Lucas looked at him. "We gotta get home. Our folks are gonna be upset". Lucas was about to shed a tear at how considerate Jacob acted. "My apologies Miss Ishtar. I promise for the both of us that we will try our hardest to not interact with the rare Hunters whatsoever". Jacob bowed his head, grabbed Lucas and ran home.
Ishizu looked at the boys as they continued to run towards the distance. "That is what you say Jacob. However," Ishizu held her necklace, "You will attempt an encounter once again with te Rare Hunter's".
…
A young man who wears the robes of a Rare Hunter sat in his throne, pondering as to who was that young, crimson red- eyed duelist and what kind of connection did he have with his sister. A much taller character who also wears the robes of the Rare Hunters stepped towards his ruler, kneeled down.
"Master Marik," spoken the follower, "Should I take care of this possible threat of ours. He is obviously a skilled duelist and could fuart our plans if he comes into contact with any of our other Rare Hunters".
"That will not be necessary Odion," Marik responded, rotating some sort of golden rod in his hand, "By the looks of it, Ishizu took care of this gentle man for us. The this young 'Lucas' looked at my sister seemed to have been out of fear or regret. She still intends to have the pharaoh stop me, therefore she cannot allow anyone else to get in the way of her fore-telling. Avice all Rare Hunters to not involve themselves with this youngman unless it is highly necessary. Those who will defy my orders will be punished".
"Yes, Master Marik".
...