Alright guys, I've been working on this story and I can proudly say that I can now kill two birds with one stone by posting a double update and concluding the Tournament Arc AT LAST! Finally, we get to the Finals, and then the duel against Kaiba! But who will win this duel? Robert? Jacob? Only one way to find out: Let's Duel!
Chapter 12
Jacob sat with his family and friends in the food court, staring at his fries. The others had already finished halfway through but Jacob had barely touched his. He kept thinking about the vines and Black Rose Dragon. 'Those vines, they were real. Does that mean that Black Rose Dragon was real as well? What about Kurigoh? It wasn't even on the field or in my hand, but he appeared in front of me and told me how to stop it.' Jacob pinched the bridge of his nose, catching the attention of everyone else around him.
"Hey, you feeling okay?" Blake asked.
Jacob didn't respond and Jillian said, "Come on, you're in the Finals. You should be happy, excited, at least nervous."
"Yeah, man," Jarred said, pushing Jacob's shoulder, "you've made it where we couldn't and if you beat this one last guy you'll get to face Seto Kaiba. You could be the next King of Games." Jacob picked up one of his fries, slowly, and began picking at the other fries with it.
"It's the Black Rose Dragon, isn't it?" Jacob stopped and looked up at Yusei. "You're still thinking about when it appeared."
Jacob was silent for a moment but said, "The guy who checked my cards was a psychic duelist." Everyone at the table suddenly stopped, "He told me the Black Rose Dragon had a wild spirit, and that I probably wouldn't be able to control it without losing my sanity." Jacob pulled out his side deck and pulled out the Cemetery Bomb card. "He also used my cards like tarot cards, showing me past, present, and future." He tossed the card to the middle of the table, where everyone could see it. "That was my third card, the one that represented my future."
Yusei picked the card up and examined it. After a few moments, Yusei handed it back, "As far as I can tell, it's just a card." Jacob looked at the card, still thinking it held some weight.
The tone sounded and Kaiba's voice, once again, sounded, "Attention, the Finals are about to begin. All spectators must return to their seats. Will the finalists please make their way to the stadium." Jacob stood and began to walk back but was stopped when someone placed a hand on his shoulder.
He turned around to see his father, "Good luck, son." Jacob nodded and Blake let him go. Once he got back to the waiting area, he saw Robert standing there. Robert noticed Jacob and smirked.
"You ready for this?"
"As I'll ever be."
"Good luck to you out there."
"Same to you." A cough interrupted them and they turned to see Mokuba waiting for them.
"Come on you two, let's hurry along." The two nodded, exchanging another glare before walking over to him. The doors opened and the stadium filled with cheers. Mokuba walked in front of us and held up a microphone, "Ladies and gentlemen, this tournament began with 32 duelists from around the globe: from Japan to England, South Africa to Russia, they came to this tournament to compete for the next generation of Duel Monsters and the chance to battle Seto Kaiba. 30 duelists have been knocked out and sent packing, and these two are our finalists!" He pointed at Jacob and Robert, and the crowd cheered loudly, with audible chants of their names.
"First up, we have Robert Mantz from Bolton Landing, New York!" Cheers for Robert followed, and Robert raised both fists into the air. The screen lowered and began showing highlights from his previous duels. "Robert has been having a streak of good luck, defeating his opponents in a short amount of time and leaving them not knowing what hit them." The crowd cheered louder, and Mokuba continued, "And our second finalist, from right here in Grand Veil City, California, Jacob Yudara!" The crowd cheered very loudly for Jacob, surprising him a bit, he had never heard a crowd cheer this loud for anyone before. As the highlights from his duels played, Mokuba continued, "Jacob has also surprised us time and time again as he climbed the ranks to reach the finalist spot. His biggest victory was of course against Yusei Fudo, who lost in a major upset." The video from his duel replayed, and Jacob felt lightheaded just watching it.
"Now, these two duelists will now compete for the chance to duel against Seto in one final match! Duelists, to your positions!" Jacob and Rain went to opposite sides of the field and faced each other. They began assembling their duel pads and equipping their duel gazers, and Jacob saw their two pictures clash together in a shower of sparks.
"Let's duel!"
Robert: 8000
Jacob: 8000
"Ha, I'll start things off," Robert shouted, drawing his first card. "First, since there are no monsters in my Graveyard, I can special summon two Guardian Eatos from my hand (ATK/2500)."
The same two portals of light appeared and the two Guardians appeared on the field. "Next, I discard one card from my hand in order to Special Summon The Tricky from my hand (ATK/2000)!"
The jester-like monster appeared next. "Now, I banish the Dark Door card I discarded in order to Special Summon Spell Striker (ATK/600)!"
A small, armored, humanoid monster appeared, wielding a small wand. "And finally, I summon Mechanicalchaser (ATK/1850)!"
A spherical machine with several arms and weapons appeared next, giving Robert a full field of five monsters. "I end my turn."
Robert: 8000
Jacob: 8000
Just as Jacob drew, a digital X appeared in front of him, with the words "Duel Stopped" on it. More X's appeared and alarms began to sound, making the crowd murmur with confusion. In the middle of the field, a hatch opened and a platform began to rise up. To everyone's surprise, Kaiba was on the platform wearing a white and blue duel visor, the earpieces shaped like dragons.
"This duel is over!" Kaiba shouted. He turned to Robert and pointed at him, "Robert Mantz, you are hereby disqualified from this tournament and have lost your Duel Net console." The crowd went into an uproar and a video feed appeared in front of Jacob. It looked like a security video, and it showed Robert fiddeling around with his duel pad. When he activated, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but Kaiba shouted again, "When a duel pad is activated, the deck is automatically shuffled. However, this video proves that you have been tampering with the equipment and have been stacking your deck this entire tournament!"
The crowd went into an uproar again, but Jacob shouted, "Hang on a sec!" The crowd went silent and Kaiba turned to face him. "Let him duel, I still want to duel him."
Kaiba walked over to him and asked, "Why should I?" Jacob tapped his hand of cards against his open hand and said, "I can handle the pressure." Jacob was smiling confidently, and Kaiba sighed.
"Very well then." He turned to Mokuba, "Reset the duelling field and-"
"That won't be necessary." Kaiba looked at Jacob again like he was crazy, and Jacob said, "I can handle it, trust me." Kaiba still looked unsure, but nodded to Mokuba. The stadium returned to normal and Kaiba walked to the side of the field.
"Alright, then, this duel will continue," he announced. Jacob smiled and looked to Robert, and began his turn.
"I activate the spell Scapegoat, which gives me four tokens in defense mode!" The four small sheep appeared on the field and Jacob placed one card face-down. "I'll end my turn."
Robert: 8000
Jacob: 8000
Robert drew, and smiled. "Alright, I sacrifice Spell Striker in order to summon Ushi Oni (ATK/2150)!" The small humanoid shattered and in its place was a jar. Blue and red smoke began pouring out, and it began to shape itself. The monster had a bull shaped head with a man's torso, but it had no legs. It's hands were clawed and on one of it's arms it had a second face. It wore blue clothing and a gold spiked collar, and had six spikes growing out of it's lower torso. "Now then, all of my monsters will attack at once!" All of Robert's monsters charged, but Jacob hardly flinched. Right before any of them reached any of the goat tokens, they all stopped at once and were shocked with an electric blast.
"What's going on?!" Jacob's face-down flipped up to reveal the Mirror Force trap card, and Rain already figured it out as he watched all five of his monsters cry out and explode into golden dust. "No way, all of my monsters. They're gone."
Robert: 8000
Jacob: 8000
"Now let me show you how a true duelist should battle! I summon Nettles (ATK/1200)!" A small group of plant monsters appeared, laughing as they did.
"A Tuner monster!?"
"I tune Level 2 Nettles with my four Level 1 Scapegoat tokens, in order to Synchro Summon Iron Chain Dragon (ATK/2500)!" A flash of light blinded Robert, and the Iron Chain Dragon appeared. It was a blue dragon with teal wing membranes, and two large chains wrapped around its body. "Alright, Iron Chain Dragon attack him directly!" The dragon sped forward and struck Rain, then returning to Jacob's side of the field.
"Whenever Iron Chain Dragon deals damage, you have to discard the top 3 cards of your deck." Robert grunted and took out the top three, looking at them to see what he had lost. He grunted in anger as he discarded a monster, a spell, and a trap, Sakuretsu Armor. "I'll end my turn."
Robert: 5500
Jacob: 8000
Robert drew his next card, and because he wasted his entire hand on his first turn it was the only card he had. However, he smiled at the card and shouted, "I activate the spell card, Dark Hole!" A black hole appeared in the center of the field, and Iron Chain Dragon was sucked in. "Now you won't be able to mill any more of my cards. It's your move."
Robert: 5500
Jacob: 8000
Jacob drew and smiled at the familiar card, "I set one monster and end my turn." The card appeared on the field, and the turn passed over to Robert.
Robert: 5500
Jacob: 8000
"Alright, I summon Debris Dragon (ATK/1000)!" A dragon appeared on the field that looked very similar to Robert's tattoo, "Now get this, because of his special ability, I can special summon one monster with 500 or less attack from my graveyard. So I'll Special Summon the one your dragon sent to the grave, Turbo Synchron (ATK/100)!" The familiar green machine appeared on the field, and Robert shouted, "Debris Dragon, attack his face-down!"
The dragon breathed out a white beam similar to the dragon Yusei used in his second round duel. However, before it hit, the card flipped up to reveal Spirit Reaper, which created a barrier around itself to protect it. Once the attack was over, Robert grumbled when he saw the monster. "It's your move."
Robert: 5500
Jacob: 8000
Jacob drew a Level 6 monster and decided to play it. "I summon Windaar, Sage of Gusto (ATK/2000)!" A tornado appeared around Spirit Reaper and once it disappeared a young male adult stood in its place. He carried a silver staff that looked like a combination of wood and steel. He wore green, brown, and tan clothing, and also had green hair. He twirled the staff and slammed it onto the ground, creating a small gust of wind.
"Okay Windaar, attack Turbo Synchron!" Windaar took his staff and leapt into the air. He began to glow with a soft green light and he unleashed a green whirlwind that destroyed Turbo Synchron and blew Robert off his feet. Robert fell onto his back but stood up again as his Life Points dropped. "And just to be on the safe side, I activate Swords of Revealing Light." The swords dropped down around Robert and his monsters and Jacob ended his turn.
Robert: 3600
Jacob: 8000
Robert drew and switched Debris Dragon into defense mode, which ended his turn. Although Jacob couldn't destroy Debris Dragon now, due to its 2000 DEF, he knew he had pushed Robert into a corner. With his hand so limited, Robert could hardly make a move. Jacob drew his next card and saw it was another Gusto monster. "I summon Gusto Egul in attack mode (ATK/200)!" Robert looked on edge, and Jacob thought about his next move.
'Should I Synchro Summon Seven Swords Warrior? He's got enough attack strength to destroy his dragon and eventually win the duel for me,' Jacob looked down at his deck, 'but I have this feeling that something will present itself when the time is ready.'
"Alright, I place one card face-down and end my turn." Robert placed another card face-down, quickly ending his turn. Jacob drew again, and he found his solution.
"First, I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, and destroy your face-down card." Robert's face-down was blown away, revealing itself to be Minor Goblin Official. "Now, I sacrifice my two monsters in order to summon Super Conductor Tyranno (ATK/3300)!" The large dinosaur rose up onto the battlefield, its silver and purple armor attaching onto its body, and roared. "Super Conductor Tyranno, attack his dragon!" Tyranno reared it's head back, the purple sections of its armor beginning to generate electricity like a static ball, and shot out a ball of electricity, obliterating the dragon. The turn switched over to Robert, who passed. The swords faded and Jacob's next turn began.
"I set one card face down, and I attack you directly with Super Conductor Tyranno." Jacob's monster repeated it's attack, this time hitting Robert dead on and sending him flying. Jacob was a bit worried, afraid that the blast had been real just like Black Rose Dragon, but Robert stood back up just as easily. Jacob silently ended his turn and Robert drew his next card.
Robert: 300
Jacob: 8000
He smiled at the new card and set a monster face-down. Then he played a spell card, "I activate my own Mystical Space Typhoon! I get to destroy one of your face-downs, so I'll choose the one on the right." A gust blew away the card Jacob played several turns ago, revealing itself to be Dust Tornado. Rain looked dissatisfied and ended his turn.
Robert: 300
Jacob: 8000
Jacob drew and immediately attacked with his Super Conductor Tyranno. He looked over at Rain and saw he had another smug look on his face. The ball of electricity hit the card, but when it died down the monster was face-up.
'A flip-effect monster?' The monster was a woman wearing white and light blue armor, with red and gold trim along the white. She also wore a fin-shaped crown with a gem in the center.
"Just like your Spirit Reaper cannot be destroyed by battle, my Reese the Ice Mistress cannot be destroyed in battle by a Level 4 or higher monster (DEF/800). So until then, I'm safe until I can draw the right card." Jacob ended his turn.
Robert: 300
Jacob: 8000
'It won't take much to defeat her. All I need to do is draw a Level 3 or lower monster with at least 800 ATK and I can destroy it.' Robert set another monster face-down. 'But something tells me that I may not need a Level 3 to beat him.' Robert's turn ended. 'Just a Level 1.'
Robert: 300
Jacob: 8000
Jacob drew and, sure enough, he heard that familiar coo. He smiled, and without even looking at the card shouted, "I summon Kurigoh (ATK/300)!" The puffball appeared, pulling its hat out from behind it, twirling it on one of its claws, and catching it on its head.
Robert looked a little surprised, "Kurigoh may not look like much, but he's won me quite a few battles. Kurigoh has two abilities: the first allows me to Special Summon two more Kurigoh from my hand or Deck, but I only need one for his second effect. Kurigoh, attack Robert directly! Kurigoh Dash!" Kurigoh nodded and zipped past Robert's defense position monsters, hitting him right in the chest and dropping the last chunk of his Life Points to zero.
Robert: 0
Jacob: 8000
Win: Jacob Yudara
The entire crowd cheered as the status of the duel had been confirmed. Kaiba once again stepped between the two, and spoke into a microphone, "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the winner of the Grand Veil City Tournament, Jacob Yudara!" The crowd began chanting his name and Jacob felt really proud of himself. He looked over at Robert, who was removing his deck and putting his duel pad into its compact form.
Jacob walked over to him and said, "Hey, good game man." Jacob held out his hand, and Robert looked at it.
He shoved his hands into his pockets, "Thanks, but I don't do handshakes." Jacob pulled his hand back, and Robert continued, "Just remember one thing: today, you just made a rival. And I promise that our next duel will be an honest one." Jacob smiled at that, and Robert turned to leave. "One more thing, call me Rain."
Rain left the stadium and Jacob turned to Kaiba, who was walking over to him. "Here," Kaiba handed him a briefcase, "as promised, you win the $500,000 prize, all in cash." Jacob held out his hand to take it, but Kaiba pulled back. "However, there's still the matter of our duel." Jacob nodded in understanding, and Mokuba handed Kaiba his microphone.
"The time has finally come, the final duel of this tournament is about to begin!" The crowd went wild with cheers as two officials brought out some equipment, the visor and card scanner for Duel Net and what looked like a dentist chair. Jacob made one final exchange between deck and side deck before they were set up, and he was ready to begin. Kaiba and Jacob sat in the chairs, across from each other, and Jacob was helped with the equipment.
"I hope you don't mind," Kaiba said, "but I've already taken the liberty of creating our avatars for this duel." Jacob nodded and the visor became active.
He heard a female voice, like during his duel with Yusei, inside the helmet, "Welcome to the demo version of the Duel Monsters Network, produced by Kaiba Corporation. Congratulations on your win-Jacob Yudara-and for your participation in this tournament. When you and your opponent are ready to begin, just say 'Begin duel'."
"Begin duel," Kaiba said. Jacob said it as well and his eyes were forced shut. He felt like he was being sucked through a tube, and when he opened his eyes he saw that he was going through a tube. The walls appeared like a combination of polygons and fibers, and at the end was a bright light. It got brighter and brighter until he reached it and he found himself standing in the middle of a large field. He began looking around, amazed by the realism and detail of the false world around him.
"Welcome to Duel Net," he quickly turned around to see a man. He had brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a black shirt and pants, along with a silver jacket and a small, Duel Monsters card shaped pendant. "Quite impressive, isn't it? This small construct was the foundation of Duel Net, and is an actual location within Duel Net."
"Yes it is amazing." Jacob gasped when he heard his own voice, which wasn't his. It was much deeper, more intense sounding, it didn't even sound like it would be his voice when he would get older. He looked down at his clothes and saw he was wearing the basic high school uniform students wore in Domino City decades ago. He was also wearing a weird, upside down, pyramid shaped pendant. He felt his hair, and it was very spiky and pointed. "Kaiba! What have you done to me!?"
Meanwhile, in the stadium, everyone was watching the duel on the monitors and they were just as confused as Jacob was, especially his family. "Hey Dad," Jillian asked, "why does Jacob look like that? He looks weird."
Blake was silent for a moment, but said, "I don't know why he has that avatar, but I do recognize who it's based off of."
"Who?"
Kaiba spoke again, "It's quite simple, I couldn't have possibly known who would have won the duel, and I couldn't spend what little time I had creating digital avatars for all 32 duelists. So instead I improvised. The avatar I'm using is, of course, me back when I was younger and when I was the number one duelist in the world. You should actually be honored to use that avatar, it's modeled after the King of Games himself."
Jacob was surprised, his avatar was the Yugi Muto? "Of course, with that avatar I can take this a lot more seriously."
Jacob growled in anger, and shouted, "Enough talk."
Kaiba smirked, "My thoughts exactly." Kaiba held up his right arm, and a duel disk appeared on his arm. Jacob mimicked this and a duel disk appeared on his arm as well. "We start this duel with 8000 Life Points, first one to reduce their opponent's Life Points to zero will be declared the winner."
"Very well."
"Let's duel!"
I bet none of you can contain your excitement, but don't worry my loyal readers, you don't have to wait. It's a double update, and the final duel of this arc is about to begin! R&R, PM, and "Get your game on!"