Now for the double update. This is where the first of the rule-bending begins, you'll see why soon enough. Anyways, I've decided for this and the next chapter, I will be doing a one month time-skip. Also, new question: for the tournament, should I go through all of the duels (about six) or just skip to the quarter finals? R&R, PM and Enjoy!

Chapter 5

Almost a month had past, and Jacob had been training relentlessly. He had already registered the day before and was currently in a duel with his father, and losing.

Jacob: 1000
Blake: 2400

Blake only had Summoned Skull (ATK/ 2500) on his side of the field, while Jacob had Celtic Guardian (ATK/ 1400) and a face-down. "I think you made a mistake, son. This is where your winning streak ends. Summoned Skull, attack with Lightning Strike!" The Fiend-type monster raised it's clawed hands, causing thunder clouds to form above. A bolt of lightning came down and was caught by the Summoned Skull, who redirected the lightning towards Celtic Guardian.

"I don't think so. I activate my face-down, Magic Cylinder." His face-down flipped over, and two cylinders appeared. One of the cylinders caught the attack, and Jacob said, "When you attack, I can use this trap to negate and redirect it back at you, so you take damage equal to Summoned Skull's ATK." The other cylinder glowed a faint white inside, before releasing the Lightning Strike on Blake. He was zapped and fell to the ground, groaning.

Jacob: 1000
Blake: 0
Win: Jacob

The augmented reality field disappeared and Jacob jumped into the air in victory. "Game, Set, and Match!" he shouted, taking off his duel gazer. His father got up a bit uneasily, and Jacob walked over to him.

"You're getting better, Jacob," he said, coughing a little, "and three times in a row without resetting your own Life Points, not something I could do."

Jacob smiled and helped his father up, "Do you think I'm ready? I mean, it is my first tournament."

Blake placed a hand on his son's shoulder, and said, "Son, I believe you can do it. And if you strongly believe in something and work hard, you can do anything you want." Jacob nodded, and the back door opened.

"There you boys are. Blake, remember my sister is coming over for dinner."

"Oh right, I almost forgot." Jacob ran back inside, but Blake stayed. He sniffed the air, and looked over his shoulder. He saw part of his shirt was smoking, and patted it out. 'That's strange,' he thought to himself, 'just smoke. Could Jacob...no that's impossible.' He checked his watch and saw it was past 4 o'clock, so his sister-in-law would be here in about an hour and a half to two hours. He went back inside and went to help Krystal.

Jacob sat at his desk, his cards spread out before him. "If you strongly believe in something and work hard, you can do anything you want." Those words echoed in Jacob's mind, like a never-ending echo.

'I'm going to win this tournament, runner-up at the very least. I could win half a million dollars, that would pay for the rest of my education, even college! Not to mention all the cards I could buy after.' He had recently counted his cards, and found out he had more than 1,000 cards. He had thought about selling them, but just couldn't do it for some reason. He had them for so long, it was like they were a second family to him. He pulled out the three Kurigoh Cards from one of the card tins he had and studied their pictures. He set them on his desk and looked over them, trying to see if one of them would start blinking like in his duel with John. He looked at each one, especially their closed eyes and waited.

After what felt like a minute or two, he slumped back in his chair and sighed. He looked out the window and saw his mom coming up the driveway. He lolled his head to the side, looking at his clock.

5:58 p.m.

Jacob gasped and became alert, causing his chair to tip back and fall. His head hit the floor first and he clutched it, his head beginning to throb from the pain. Then he heard a small coo. He rolled out, and shot up to his desk. His eyes saw the middle card first and it was blinking its eye. He smiled, 'It wasn't my imagination. It's actually moving on its own.' He picked the card up, and it stopped.

Jacob sighed and heard the door downstairs open and his sisters shout, "Aunt Akiza*!" Jacob looked back at the card and put it in his pocket. He went downstairs and was instantly greeted by his Aunt. She was about the same age as his mother, but had red hair unlike his mother's blonde, and was wearing a doctor's uniform. She had her hair up, held by a large pin, and she smiled at Jacob.

"There's my favorite nephew," she said, giving him a hug.

Jacob returned the hug, and said, "I'm your only nephew, Aunt Akiza." She let go, and sighed.

"I know, but nevertheless." They went into the dining room where the table was already set and sat down. After saying grace, they began to fill their plates with corn, sliced carrots, mashed potatoes, sliced ham, and a variety of other foods. Akiza and Krystal were talking with each other, discussing Akiza's recent medical achievements and discoveries. Jacob wasn't listening to them, but was trying to listen for the coo again. His eyes darted back and forth, as if expecting Kurigoh itself to suddenly appear.

"Oh, my boyfriend is entering the tournament." Jacob snapped out of his thoughts the moment he heard tournament.

"Is that so?" his father asked. "Jacob here is also entering the tournament as well, right Jacob?" Jacob felt all eyes move to him and nodded because he had some corn in his mouth.

"So, Jacob?" He swallowed, and looked up at his Aunt, who was sitting to his right. "Do you feel confident?"

Jacob coughed a bit, and said, "Yeah, I feel pretty confident. Got a lot of new cards for my Extra Deck, like about 30-something."

Akiza nodded, and said, "Well you do know that you're only allowed 15 cards in your extra deck, right?" Jacob went still, and Akiza continued, "Yeah, you're only allowed so many in your extra deck."

Jacob began twirling his fork in his fingers, and Anna said, "Oh no, now you've done it."

"What? Did I say something?"

"Unfortunately," Jillian said, "yes. Anytime Jacob hears about a new rule or restriction in the game, he'll go into what we call 'Thinker Mode'." Jillian made the hand signal for quotations on the last two words. The three looked at Jacob, who was still twirling the fork. Every four turns he would tap the rounded end of the fork like he was clicking a pen. "We probably should have warned you earlier."

Akiza nodded, and tapped Jacob. He snapped out of his trance, and said, "Okay, I think I have a few cards in mind. The others I don't have the fusion materials for or high enough level monsters." Jacob began to shovel mashed potatoes into his mouth, and Akiza smiled.

"So, are you entering the tournament as well?" his mother asked.

Jacob nearly choked on his food as he was swallowing, and said, "You're a duelist?"

"Yeah, but with my job taking up so much time I never have the time to duel anymore."

"Then let's duel right now!" Jacob said. "I've got all my gear upstairs, and you can borrow Dad's gear!" A sudden tone came from Akiza, who pulled out a cell phone.

"Hello, this is Akiza," she said. She listened for a moment, and said, "Okay, I'll be right over." She closed her phone and said, "Sorry everyone, but I've been called to the Grand Veil Hospital. They need my help with a major medical case." She stood and turned to Jacob. Krystal stood as well, and hugged her sister goodbye. Akiza pulled an envelope out of her uniform pocket, and said, "This is for you Jacob." She handed him the envelope, and Jacob saw the words, "Happy 15th!" written on it. "I meant to mail it to you, but thought I should deliver this in person." Jacob took it and looked at it. Akiza smiled and said goodbye to everyone.

After she left, Jacob opened the envelope and looked at the card. On the front was the pattern on the back of a Duel Monsters card, with the words "Happy birthday, to a great duelist..." in white lettering. He opened the card, and saw the writing inside, "...keep on dueling, because someday you will be the best duelist in the world." Then at the bottom, there was more that was hand-written.

"Jacob, at the age of 15, most boys your age would have grown out of Duel Monsters. It is these people, who no longer believe in their own potential, that makes you different from everyone else. You might not have seen me in a while, but I have seen you duel. I have not seen anyone who duels like you in nearly 20 years, who duels with their entire spirit put into it. I can tell that someday, you'll not only be one of the best, but the best. Aunt Akiza."

Jacob smiled, and looked at the envelope. He saw something sticking out, and pulled it out. It was a card sleeve, designed to look like the backing of a Duel Monsters card, and it felt like there was a card already in there. He turned it over, and heard his parents get up. They all looked at it in complete astonishment.

It was a Synchro Monster, Level 7, Dragon/Effect-type, with 2400 ATK and 1800 DEF. He looked at the picture, and at first was confused as to what it was. The card looked like a combination of a plant and a dragon, with rose petals surrounding it. "That's my sister's favorite card," his mother said, "Black Rose Dragon. She loved that card, so why would she give this to you?"

Jacob shook his head, showing he didn't know, and opened the top of the sleeve. The moment he touched the card however, an image that looked like Black Rose Dragon flashed in front of his eyes, and roared. He pulled back, and began to breathe heavily. "Jacob, what's wrong?" his father asked, concerned.

"Nothing, it's..." his sentence trailed off, and he opened the sleeve again. He hesitated, then grasped the card. There wasn't any reaction, and Jacob pulled the card out. He looked at the card and smiled, "Well, I know I'm going to use this in the tournament. Who knows, I might see Aunt Akiza or her boyfriend there." Jacob placed the card back in its sleeve and put it into his pocket, then grabbed his empty plate and silverware and took them to the sink.

"Jacob," he heard his father say. "Can I speak with you outside for a moment?" Jacob nodded and followed his father out the back door.

"What's up?" Jacob asked, stretching his arms a bit.

"Jacob, when you touched the Black Rose Dragon card, did you see anything?" Jacob fidgeted for a moment, unsure if he should say anything.

"No, nothing?"

"Then why did you jerk back when you touched it?"

Jacob was silent for a few seconds, and replied, "Paper cut." He looked towards his father, who was looking at him with hard eyes.

"Let me see."

"W-What?"

"Let me see your paper cut."

Jacob hesitated for a second, and sighed, "I didn't get a paper cut." His father folded his arms, a clear sign he wanted an explanation.

"I did see something."

"And?"

"I saw the monster, but only a flash of an image. It was there and gone, only a second." His father, unfolded his right arm and pinched the skin between his eyebrows.

"In one hour, go to your room." Jacob nodded and he went back inside. His father stayed outside, and he looked up at the twilight sky. 'Of all people, why did it have to be my son?' He continued to stare at the sky for almost half an hour, then went back inside as well.

*-Yes, that Akiza.

Okay, so next chapter will focus more on the tournament itself, and Jacob will meet at least one OC before and during the tournament. I still need at least one more OC, so R&R, PM, and send 'em in!

9/24/13- Okay, so I got a review from zeke905 who asked why Jacob gets a bunch of good cards and no one else does. I don't think my previous update went through, so I'll say it now: I am removing most of those limits, so now you can send in your decks any way you want, BUT I have to approve it first. Cards that are still on the ban list are the Egyptian gods, sacred beasts, Blue-Eyes, and Exodia.

Jacob: Also, yes I do have Black Rose Dragon, but I won't have it for long.

Shut up about plot details! Anyways, zeke905 is also sending in an OC, so I only need one more. You can send in more OCs, but I have to approve of their decks first.