West and Tatsuya stood across from each other, facing off in yet another duel. West had a little time to work on his deck with the help of Tatsuya. After giving West some of his old cards from his binder, West was more than pumped for their duel. It was an even match and it was now Tatsuya's turn.
Tatsuya - 1800 LP
West - 1800 LP
"So, how do you like your new deck?" Tatsuya called out to West as he drew his next card.
"Are you kidding!? I wish I could make a deck this good. These machines are incredible!" West exclaimed excitedly.
"I'm glad you like it. Genex monsters are pretty useful for Machine decks. And with your new deck, it's more than enough power to make a good impact," Tatsuya smirked, staring down the Genex Ally Triforce that West had on his field.
"I love it! It's really helped me out! And I have a feeling that this deck is going to help me take you down!" West beamed.
"We'll see about that West. It is my turn after all," Tatsuya grinned.
West gave Tatsuya a determined look as he watched his friend draw his next card. Meanwhile, Klaus and Nico stood on the side, simply observing.
"You know, it's hard to believe how quickly West learns. He's like Tatsuya in that regard," Nico observed.
"Hmph!" Klaus said gruffly. "Tatsuya may be good, but he has the potential to be even better. The strategies that he prefected took his parents years to hone. Yet he's done it in a much shorter time frame. His only problem is, he's a bit lazy. For instance, in this duel, he had a few plays he could have made. His reasons for not doing them don't make any sense," Klaus replied.
"I can think of a few," Nico said as she took a look at Tatsuya's field.
Fabled Raven was out and Tatsuya had three cards in his hand. Then again, he always had a small hand. A cost of his Dark World deck no less.
"Okay West, it's time to get down to business! I activate Fabled Raven's special ability, allowing me to discard a card from my hand to have him gain a level and 400 attack points!" Tatsuya declared.
"Bring it on Tatsuya!" West exclaimed, dawning a serious expression.
"With pleasure," Tatsuya smirked. "I discard a card to activate its effect. Come on out, Sillva, Warlord of Dark World!" Tatsuya cried out.
The powerful dark lord rose from the ground with a hiss and a snarl, brandishing his lethal blades before the mechanized menace before him.
Sillva, Warlord of Dark World - (Dark/Fiend/Effect) - LV 5 (ATK/2300 DEF/1400)
"Uh-oh!" West recoiled, knowing what one of these types of summons meant.
"Uh-oh is right. But I'm not done there. I activate Dark Scheme! Forcing us to discard two cards after we draw two," Tatsuya declared.
"Not so fast! I discard a card to negate the effect of that card!" West declared, getting a grin out of Tatsuya.
"I see you caught on to what I was trying to do. You've gotten better West, but I'm afraid you're going to have to do better than that to stop me. Because of that, you've discarded the only card left in your hand. Which means I can activate this!" Tatsuya roared, raising his hand over his second trap card which was revealed to be a second Dark Scheme.
"Another one!?" West exclaimed.
"It's a precaution in case my opponent decides it doesn't like the first one," Tatsuya smirked. "And now, I'll be discarding two cards, and the cards I'm choosing, are Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World and Dark World Dealings!" Tatsuya stated, discarding the cards to add two more to his hand.
"And since Kahkki was discarded, well...you already know his effect don't you?" Tatsuya replied with a smirk.
"It...destroys a monster on the field! Oh no!" West shouted, backing up as his monster suddenly exploded in a burst of violet light.
The smoke cleared to reveal that West had an empty field and was wide open.
"You wanted to see my new Synchro in action right West? Well, here's your chance! I tune Fabled Raven with Sillva to form Fabled Valkyrus!" Tatsuya bellowed.
Surging onto the field in a burst of light was none other than Valkyrus himself. With a powerful battle cry, he expelled a shockwave from his body in a display of raw power. He looked hungrily at West, ready to tear his Life Points apart.
Fabled Valkyrus - (Light/Fiend/Synchro/Effect) - LV 8 (ATK/2900 DEF/1700)
"Whoa! So cool!" West beamed as the armored fiend burst out of the light.
"If you like that, wait until you see his attack," Tatsuya declared, pointing imperiously at West. "Finish this now Fabled Valkyrus! Ray of Destruction!" Tatsuya ordered.
Valkyrus stretched out his hand and gathered distorted light into the center of his palm. Cocking his hand back he thrust it forward and released a blast that shattered West's Life Points, reducing them to nothing. West looked up with a humongous grin and laughed.
"That was awesome! Fabled Valkyrus is so cool!" West exclaimed again.
Tatsuya lowered his Duel Disk and breathed a sigh of relief, looking down as West ran up to him.
"Thanks. You've definitely improved since the last time we dueled. Then again, I helped you make that deck," Tatsuya laughed.
"Yeah, but I tinkered with it a few nights ago," West explained, getting a nod from Tatsuya.
"And it paid off. You backed me into a pretty tight corner with your strategy. Lucky for me, I had a way around it," Tatsuya chuckled.
"Yeah, with that Kahkki card," West grumbled. "I hate that thing!" West growled.
"Oh West, don't be so sore about it. We all hate that card," Nico laughed.
Tatsuya shook his head and ruffled West's hair.
"No worries West. You did well," Tatsuya reassured his friend.
Tatsuya looked up to see Klaus with a smile on his face. It wasn't something he saw too often, but he could tell that Klaus was just as pleased with West's progress as he was. Klaus gave Tatsuya a thumbs up before turning and walking back into the house. Although his expression had slightly changed, Tatsuya knew when the old man had a lot on his mind. They all did. And ever since his parent's died, things weren't exactly the same. West and Nico still had their parents, which was a fortunate thing.
"You okay Tatsuya?" Nico asked, prompting Tatsuya to snap out of his thoughts.
"Huh? Yeah. Just thinkin' that's all," Tatsuya stated, placing a hand on her shoulder, a simple gesture that usually dissolved Nico's worries.
"That's good," Nico smiled.
"Hey Nico! Wanna duel!?" West shouted from a distance.
Nico sighed and turned to face West.
"Is that all you ever think about?" Nico blinked, getting a cheesy grin out of West.
"It's not the ONLY thing, Nico! It's just what I think about most!" West laughed.
Nico sighed and reached to her Duel Gun and activated it, formulating her Duel Disk.
"Ready when you are, West!" Nico declared.
"Duel!"
Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Arc One - Eighth Turn - The Voice Of Horakhty
WRGP WC
The Dark Oppressor
The Card Shop, a place where Tatsuya hung out whenever he needed to take his mind off anything. There, he could escape the troubles of the outside world, even if it was only for a little while. Tatsuya walked through the doors, sounding the bell above the door to alert the shopkeepers of a customer walking in.
The Dark Magician Girl cosplayers both looked in his direction, a smile forming on their faces as one of their favorite customers entered their shop. Tatsuya had been their first customer since they opened. This took place not long after Tatsuya's encounter with Team Satisfaction.
"Welcome back Tatsuya! What can we do for you today?" Iranami inquired, setting down the box she'd been carrying, onto the counter to open.
"New cards perhaps? Tips maybe?" Narumi asked in a persistent manner.
"Just coming to browse around. Got anything new?" Tatsuya wondered.
"Hmmm...well, since you asked," Iranami began, opening the box that was on the countertop. "There are is one new pack, Strike of Neos."
"Neos huh? If I wanted a Hero deck, it wouldn't be so bad. Thanks for the heads up though," Tatsuya stated, getting a nod from Iranami.
"No problem!" Narumi added cheerfully. "So what's on the agenda today?"
Tatsuya shrugged and took a seat at one of the tables inside the shop.
"Dunno. I'm off today, so I have the rest of the day to myself. Toru's watching West and Nico so I get to take a break," Tatsuya explained leaning back in his chair.
"That's new. I never figured your grandpa to be one for giving any time off," Narumi replied.
"He does it every once in a while. Today was just one of those days where he was feeling generous," Tatsuya stated, crossing his arms with a sigh.
"Something on your mind?" Iranami queried, taking note of how exasperated Tatsuya looked.
Tatsuya remembered the dream he had the previous week. The image of the dragon flashed through his thoughts, the roar still echoing in his mind. It was as if it were calling out to him somehow.
"Tatsuya? Helloooo!" Narumi said in a loud tone, waving a hand in front of his face to try and get his attention.
Snapping back to reality, Tatsuya looked up with a confused expression. He was so caught up in the thought that he hadn't realized that Narumi had gotten that close.
"Sorry. I zoned out there for a second didn't I?" Tatsuya said with a nervous laugh.
"You do that an awful lot. Makes me wonder if you ever sleep," Iranami stated with a concerned look, approaching Tatsuya and placing a hand on his forehead.
Tatsuya grimaced at the gesture.
"I'm not sick Iranami," Tatsuya muttered.
"So I see. Still, you can never be too sure," Iranami offered, getting a sigh out of Tatsuya.
"Thank you...for the concern. Anyway, how have you guys been doing? The two groups haven't been troubling you have they?" Tatsuya questioned them.
"They're annoying, if that's what you're asking. But when you have a superiority complex and think you're king of the world," Narumi trailed off.
"So that's a yes then," Tatsuya muttered.
"Pretty much. But we've been able to handle ourselves pretty well. They always come around and purchase as many packs as possible, so there's no complaints in that department. Because of that, our shop has more than enough money to support itself," Iranami added.
"The only thing we have a qualm with, is the flirting a lot of them do," Narumi frowned.
"Well...from their perspective, you're dressed as a very iconic Duel Monster that a lot of single (no life) men, dream about. But, that's still no excuse to act lecherous," Tatsuya stated in a tone of disapproval.
"Aren't you single with no life?" Narumi teased, getting a giggle out of Iranami.
"That's my business. I'm not like Toru who has magazines of every female duel icon," Tatsuya murmured.
"He's a rather funny guy, that Toru," Narumi snickered.
"I guess so," Tatsuya shrugged. "He's also almost done with his Duel Runner. He says he's still fixing a few things before he can be fully satisfied with it."
"Does he still plan on getting into the WRGP?" Iranami wondered.
Tatsuya rolled his eyes.
"Are you kidding? It's all he ever talks about," Tatsuya grinned. "He's been going on about it ever since we were kids. And now that he has his own working Duel Runner, he's just about ready for it," Tatsuya said with a faint smile.
"What about you? Aren't you dreaming about it too?" Narumi questioned him, getting an affirmative nod from Tatsuya.
"I'm still keeping that dream alive. I don't plan on giving it up anytime soon," Tatsuya stated firmly. "Regardless of what the old man says, I will become a Turbo Duelist."
Iranami and Narumi exchanged glances and smiled.
"And we'll be cheering for you all the way," Iranami beamed happily.
"Thanks you two," Tatsuya responded, standing up to head toward the door. "See you two later. I'm gonna go for a walk."
"Be safe out there!" Narumi called out as he exited the shop.
The day soon came to a close, and Tatsuya was now sitting outside watching the sunset, sipping on a can of Dr. Pegasus. It wasn't often that he drank soda. But since he was too lazy to make a smoothie, he grabbed a can out of the fridge instead. As he watched the sun descend, he knew it was only a matter of time before the duels between the Malcom Group and Ramon Group were to be waged. Until then, he'd enjoy the setting sun.
"How strange..." A feminine voice said suddenly, prompting Tatsuya to look around frantically.
"Who's there!?" Tatsuya demanded, searching the immediate area for any clues as to the whereabouts of the source of the voice.
"One such as you, who possesses such a dark soul, has a completely contradictory nature. How interesting..." The mysterious feminine voice responded, her tones smooth as silk, sending a shivers down Tatsuya's spine.
"Where are you!? Show yourself!" Tatsuya exclaimed, growing frustrated and afraid at the same time.
"I am afraid I cannot do that. My presence is quite dangerous for mortals such as yourself. But there will come a time when you will be able to see me face to face dear child of the dark," The voice echoed, causing Tatsuya to raise a brow.
"Child of the dark? Like my Dark World deck?" Tatsuya inquired aloud, his body still trembling slightly at the feeling he was getting just from hearing the apparent woman's voice.
"Indeed. You wield the powers of the Dark World, yet are not affected by their influences. And it seems that yet another creature is calling out to you as well," She added, getting a surprised expression out of Tatsuya.
"Wait, you know about my—"
"I know a lot about you Tatsuya. The death of your parents, your ambitions, your friends and family. I know more than you know about yourself. You might even go so far as to say that I know what it is you desire most..."
Tatsuya's eyes went wide. Was he hearing this right. How did this mysterious voice know who he was? And why was it speaking to him? Furthermore, how did it know so much about him? That's when it hit him.
"Y-you're..." Tatsuya stammered, nervousness overtaking him quickly as he fumbled with his words.
"Yes, Tatsuya. I...am Horakhty..."
Turn Eight - The Voice Of Horakhty
End Phase