To please or not to please, that is the question.
Because they think back to that first tournament often—the one where Quattro found favor with the crowd, and Shark lost it.
A/N: Big thanks to all who commented last chapter :) they made my day
So these next three chapters cover the tournament where Shark and Quattro first meet, and they focus on the crowd's influence on their rise to the top. As always, I don't own Zexal; these are only my thoughts on what I think could've happened.
Part 1 goes from the start of the tourney up to the semifinals, and this one is definitely more uplifting than not :)
It starts with Thomas and ends with Reginald.
Enjoy!
He was so nervous. So, so nervous.
It's not like there's going to be tons of people, his brothers assured him. It's only the first duel of the tournament. People always come in late; you'll be fine.
That didn't stop the butterflies from threatening to tear him apart from the inside, though. Nothing he did seemed to make them go away—not the pacing; not the deep breaths; not the smiles and confident words he offered his siblings before they left to support him from the stands. They fell too easily for his false bravado this time, and Thomas felt a new wave of panic because it was his turn too soon, too soon—
He was nervous. After all, it was his first duel in an actual tournament in an actual duel circuit where there were actual duelists. Not that he was freaking out or anything.
But if he was being honest with himself, he was also excited. He played with their rings and ran through strategies in his head in an effort to calm himself as he waited, but his nerves and excitement kept his thoughts racing in a flurry of possible outcomes and last-minute questions.
At least there probably wasn't going to be a lot of people, so he could concentrate on the duel. It was a middling fourth duel of the first round, nothing super special. The opening duel probably had tons more people, anyway.
But then he was winning. He was excited and alert and did you see that he just stopped his opponent's attack like it was nothing—
And then he actually won, remembered his puppet's special ability activated even from the graveyard, pulled off one of those dramatic "is he still standing when the smoke clears?" moments. He had definitely been standing, but at the end of the turn, his opponent had not been.
The crowd went wild. They were so, so loud but that was okay. It was okay. He did it. His brothers cheered and laughed with him and he was so happy. He won. He actually won!
His smile was big and genuine as the announcer praised his flawless win, and he waved enthusiastically to the crowd as he left. He felt awesome, on top of the world.
He hoped the nerves would leave him once the duel actually started; he couldn't afford to lose early because of something as stupid as nerves. Nope, anxiety was not the way to go. Although he was still a little jittery as he took his place on the field, he felt a sharp calm settle over him as soon as he drew his first card. From there, it quickly became obvious that he was the better duelist here.
So he… he actually won. He did it. It was just… everything felt strange and painfully empty without Rio next to him. He knew his victory would really sink in some time later, but for now he let his smile be a little plastered, a little small as he just basked in the crowd's cheers. Wow, could they cheer.
He kept his chin up and back straight as he left, waving and smiling as he left, out of courtesy if nothing else. He knew that somewhere out there, Mom and Dad were proud.
He kept winning duel after duel, and though the duelists got better, he did too. He kept training, kept improving, developed his own show-stopping style. His puppets were starting to win him fame (in the least creepy way possible). And a cool thing? The announcer had definitely taken a liking to him.
And then he was a semi finalist. He knew he could win it all, too, the way he'd been dueling. He would be more than just the middle child, the reckless in-between of his talented brothers. He was closer to making his father prouder than ever.
Reginald gave his heart to dueling; it was the only way he could beat his opponents and reach the top. He kept training hard, playing the computer and tinkering with his burn deck. His monsters, especially trademark Big Jaws, were earning him a special place with the crowd. The announcer had even called him a favorite to win.
Before he knew it, he was a semi-finalist. He was closer to winning and beating Quattro than ever, and he felt great. On top of the world. His duels had been gaining momentum, matched by an ever-larger crowd. He felt that he could win it all. Soon, he would avenge Rio.
A/N: I will follow with two more chapters of the semifinals and finals :)
Constructive criticism welcome!