Stronger Than Death
Cairo sat in his bus on the way to the airport. He closed his eyes and the tattoo on his forehead started to glow behind his long hair. 'Master Flare, I have succeeded in passing the preliminary rounds. I'm on my way to the finals as we speak'.
'Excellent Cairo, I never doubted you once', a voice responded. 'And what of the keeper of the book, has he been eliminated yet?' the voice asked.
'No, I haven't had a crack at him yet. And he hasn't been put up against any of our men. Speaking of which, who else has made it to the final rounds?'
'Besides you and myself, only Talon and Eddie'. Cairo's eyes tensed and he nodded.
'I see. Well if all goes well, we shall have his soul by the end of the tournament'.
'After five thousand long years, I shall finally have what I desire', the voice said. Cairo opened his eyes and looked at the large airport out his window.
At the same time, the other voice of the conversation looked across the small plane he was sitting in. His crimson eyes locked on the other duelist. 'It's about time'.
Darren stood up and stretched. He looked around at the other duels still going on. 'I figure I still have a little time left, so I can slip off to my room for a second', he thought. He grabbed his duel disk and the large sword from Vandal and walked out of the building. He ran across the street to the hotel and up to his room. He packed his stuff up and opened a drawer on the bedside table. He pulled out a label and a stamp. On the label he wrote his home address and stuck it along with the stamp on the sword. He went down to the ground floor's postal office and mailed the sword to his house. He left the hotel and arrived at the building just as the last life point meter hit zero.
Darren looked up at the monitor to look for his information about the next city he was going to. But the monitor was blank. Instead, two men in suites were standing on the stage looking quite cheerful. "Ladies and Gentlemen, may we have your attention please. We know it has been an interesting week for all of you. You've been to three different cities to duel people of your own level. And you're all level five duelists. You've proven that with your six wins. But now, the time for the finals rounds is upon us", one of the men stated.
Darren looked around confused. 'Finals, with this many people. Are these the only duelists left in the tournament?' he wondered.
The other man stepped forward. "We're sorry to inform all of you that not all of you will be competing in the finals though. You see, not only have we been watching if you win or not, but how well you do. So we have decided to take the thirty-two of you and pull two out to go on to the final rounds. We're sorry, but every other group of duelists has already found their two duelists. So without anything else to say, here are the two finalists", he stepped back and let the monitor display the two qualifying duelists. The first picture to show up was a familiar one.
"Number one is Darren Fantasy", said the first man. Darren smiled as he did everything he could from jumping out of joy. Then the monitor showed another face Darren recognized, that of the Harpie duelist. "And number two is Eric Flyleaf". The man announced. The other duelists didn't look at all happy.
"We're terribly sorry", the second man apologized. "Now if you will, there are buses outside to take you to your home cities. Darren, Eric, can the two of you please come with us. Both of the boys followed in silence. They came to a long limousine parked outside the building.
"Now", said the first man, "we have prepared a private flight for the two of you to Moscow, Russia. This will take you to the airport. We hope you excel in the final rounds". The two boys climbed into the limo and the long car drove off.
"So Darren, what are competing for? I mean, why are you in this tournament? I suppose I'm asking why you duel?" Eric asked. Darren looked at him and thought for a moment.
"I don't know", was his only answer. "I'm not sure. Why do you?"
Eric smiled out of amusement. "How do you no know? You have to know why you duel, otherwise you wouldn't do it. What makes you love dueling?" He looked at Darren for a response before continuing. "Well, I duel for myself. You see, in my family there is a set of cards that we all use. My father has forbid us from becoming professional duelists unless we use that set, otherwise we're removed from the family. But the only way we're allowed to use the set is to win our school's class tournament. It's nothing interesting. Each grade holds a tournament and in my family, winning that tournament grants you the privilege to use the set of cards".
Darren nodded his head. "I see, so why exactly do you duel for yourself?" he asked. Eric slouched down as he relaxed in his seat.
"Well like I said, my entire family uses a set of cards, but my father is the best in the family. Before I was born, there was a tournament that my father entered and the prize was a card that compliments the set. You could almost say it's the set leader. But there's only one and my father has it. And the reason I'm in this tournament is because I want it. My father told me when I was young that if I ever wanted it, then I could have it. But I would have to defeat him in a duel. So I'm in this tournament to get some extra experience with my deck so I can defeat him".
Darren nodded his head again. "Oh, well I suppose I duel for myself a little. You see, I never knew my father. He died before I was born. But my mom tells me he was a duelist. Also, I recently moved from my hometown and left all my friends who taught me to duel behind. So I duel to be with them in spirit. When I duel, I feel as though I'm with my friends and it's the only I can feel as though I have a father". The limo pulled up to the airport. The two boys picked up their things and climbed aboard the plane. The door shut and the two duelists were on their way to Moscow.
"Well Darren, that sounds very sweet but I was out very late dueling last night so I'm gonna take a nap". The lounge the two duelists were situated in had couches against the wall. Eric laid down on one and fell asleep. Darren sat down in a chair and looked out the window. Before long, his eyelids became heavy and he drifted off to sleep.
Darren was shaken awake a few hours later by Eric. "Huh? What's up, what do you need?" he asked.
"Come on, we're here". The two duelists stepped off the plane and were confronted by a tall man in a black suite with an eat piece.
"I trust you two are Darren Fantasy and Eric Flyleaf", he said. He reminded Darren of the Secret Service.
"That's us", Eric said proudly. The man smiled.
"We're honored to have you with us. The other finalists have already arrived. Please follow me to the main hall". The two of them followed the man across the landing strip, but instead of an airport, the two of them saw a tall building, taller than any other Darren had ever seen. Darren couldn't believe his eyes. There was the entire city of Moscow behind the building, but this monster towered over the urban jungle. Darren shivered for a second.
"You alright?" Eric asked.
"Yeah, just cold. Don't worry, I'm from New York so I'll get used to it. This is nothing". Eric laughed.
"I understand. Don't worry, it won't get much colder than this if any".
"How do you know?"
"Let's just say I've been here before". The two of them entered the building. The front room looked like the lobby of a royal hotel. There were loads of people sitting and standing. Most of them were photographers and reporters.
"Just walk fast and don't look at them", the man said. The three of them picked up their pace.
"Hey look, it's the final duelists", one of the reporters shouted. The man grabbed the boys and ran for an open set of heavy double doors. They made it inside and the man shut the doors. He turned around smiling.
"We don't need any of them bothering you guys before your tournament". He held the wire in his ear and mumbled, "Get the media off the premises". Darren and Eric looked around the room, surveying it. It looked like a miniature ballroom filled with paintings and plants. On the other side of the room were identical double doors. There also happened to be fourteen other people in the room. Darren figured they must be the other finalists.
The first was a young man, about nineteen years old. He had spiky red hair and dark crimson eyes. He had a bright red T-shirt and black jeans. His duel disk was situated on his right wrist. And dangling from his neck was a strange piece of jewelry. It was a square piece of gold with two rounded Ls sticking out.
The next was a tall man with graying hair that war balding on top but hang down his back. He wore long red robes. A duel disk was lying on a table next to the chair he was sitting in. Sitting across from the man was a young, pretty girl. She had short blonde hair that fell a bit past her left ear and was longer as it went around the back of her head so that it was almost to the base of her neck on the other side. She wore a hooded sweatshirt and tight blue jeans. He duel disk was sitting on her lap.
Standing in the far corner was a man dressed in a black suite with an earpiece. He had short black hair and dark mirror sunglasses blocked his eyes. His face bared no expression. In fact, his mouth was so straight it was almost not there. A duel disk was on his left arm. The next person was a skinny boy with long brown hair. He had oversized glasses and clothes. He was building a house of cards with his duel monsters deck.
There was a man sitting on the floor against the wall. He had wild black hair and wide eyes. He wore a leopard skin vest with black shorts. Around his neck was a string necklace with what looked like animal teeth in it. He was eating from a tray of food and scratching his hair every couple of seconds. His duel disk lay next to him, forgotten. The man in the suite was staring at him.
Sitting on a couch was a boy about Darren's age with long dirty blonde hair. He wore a faded gray T-shirt and faded jeans. There was a bored look on his face. His duel disk was on his right arm, which was tapping on the couch's arm. On the other end of the couch was a young woman. Her body was covered by a robe like dress. Her duel disk sat next to her.
In a chair, sat am older boy with long, blue-gray hair. His eyes were icy blue. He wore a black T-shirt and blue jeans. A duel disk was strapped to his left wrist, but no deck was in it. Stuffing his face with food was the eleventh person in the room. His brown hair was cut short and he was dressed in military clothes. His duel disk was on his muscular arm. Darren looked at him and thought to himself, 'That guy's more of an animal than that guy on the floor. I'm getting sick just watching him stuff his ass'.
A very young girl sat on the seat of another chair. She had long dark blue hair and dressed in black robes. There was a red headband tied around her head. Her duel disk was sitting in the chair. Standing behind the young girl was a young woman. She had a cold face and long black hair which was tied back into a ponytail. She was wearing the same kind of clothes that Bulma was wearing at the end of the first season of Dragonball.
Then against the wall was a boy with a frightening face. His skin was tight so it showed the details of his face. And his long hair was almost white. He wore a black T-shirt and black jeans. And then the final person was in a chair in the very middle of the room. Staring directly at Darren with a huge grin on his face, forehead glowing away was Cairo.
'It's so nice to see you again Darren. I see you've done well to stay in the tournament. Let me just say I look forward to crushing you in the finals and making the book my own', echoed the voice in Darren's mind. The tattoo on his head dulled out. Just as Darren and Eric finished surveying the room, the doors on the far side of the room opened and in walked a man in a very fancy tuxedo walking in. He was a portly man and his dark brown hair was receding.
"Ah, I see all of the finalists have made it. We can finally move on with the selection for the final rounds. Now then, the first duel will begin tomorrow morning at nine. To decide who will be facing who we have written numbers one through sixteen on pieces of paper and we'll have you draw them from this box right here. He pulled out from behind him a perfectly square box with a hole on the top. "Now, I think we shall go in alphabetical order. That means your first Agent Smith".
The man in the corner with the earpiece walked up to the man with the box and reached his hand in. He pulled it out and looked at the number. "I've got five" he said. He pocketed the slip and walked away.
"Okay then, next is Alpha". The man eating on the floor jumped to his feet and picked out his number.
"Fourteen", he said and ran back to his food.
"Alright then, next I need a Mr. Cairo". Darren watched as the creepy man stood up and pulled out a number.
"Eleven's my number". The man wrote down his number and looked up.
"Cardinal Supreme", he called out. The man with the long red robes quietly picked a piece of paper.
"Mine would be thirteen". The man nodded his head.
"Okay, we have Cardinal and Alpha in the first round. Now I need Dale Laney". The young man with crimson eyes stepped forward.
He picked his slip of paper and said, "One", and returned to his seat.
"Alright, let's have Darren Fantasy". Darren gulped and took a step forward.
"Get a good one", Eric said from behind him. Darren nodded. He reached into the box and pulled out his own paper.
"I picked fifteen". The man smiled him and marked it down.
"Um, Eddie", The skull faced boy went up to the box. He revealed the paper marked with a seven. "And now Eric". Eric passed Darren on the way back.
"I got twelve".
"And it seems Cairo will be facing off against Eric Flyleaf. May I have Kiri". The young girl with blue hair scampered up. The man had to lower the box so she could reach. She pulled out her piece.
"I got ten", she said excitedly.
"Very good", the man said. "And now Kurt Cobain". The bored looking kid with the dirty blonde hair slowly got up and picked out his card with a look on his face like it was a waste of time.
"I have eight".
"So Eddie and Kurt will fill our fourth round", the man said. "Now we have the Overlord". The girl in the hooded sweatshirt stood up and walked over to the box. She looked down at her feet the entire time. When she looked at he sheet, she glanced at the man and merely said, "Three". She turned around and went back to the couch.
"Alright, Let's have Prime next". The boy with glasses grabbed a piece of paper, which turned out to be six. "Uh, huh. Sarge?" The man in the army clothes stepped up and stuck two fingers in to get his number.
"Sixteen's mine", he said.
"Next is Sirius Canine". The blue-grayed hair boy pulled out a slip.
"I drew number two". He returned to his seat.
"Please step forward Spirit". The woman in the dress came up and pulled out nine.
"And that leaves Talon with number four. Okay, it seems as though we have the pairs all figured out. The first rounds of the finals will be Dale Laney and Sirius Canine, The Overlord and Talon, Agent Smith and Prime, Eddie and Kurt Cobain, Spirit and Kiri, Cairo and Eric Flyleaf, Cardinal Supreme and Alpha and finally Darren Fantasy and Sarge". The duelists all looked around at their opponents. "Now since the tournament doesn't continue until tomorrow, the rest of you are free to wander the city. As for your rooms, they are upstairs". The duelists all gathered their things and were escorted to their rooms. Darren through his stuff on his bed and left the room. On his way to the elevator, he ran into Eric.
"Hey, I know of a place that's pretty close that has some really good duelists. You wanna go?" he asked. Darren smiled.
"No thanks. I'm getting pretty tired of dueling. I just want to go out and relax. But thanks for the offer. Hey, how do you of anywhere around here?"
Eric looked unnerved. "Um, just hearing about things", he replied. The two of them rode the elevator down. And parted ways. Eric walked off into the city. Darren looked in the opposite direction. It was still urban, but a little more spaced out than the other way. Darren took a deep breath. When he exhaled, he could see his breath. He smiled and blew a big puff of smoke and laughed quietly to himself until he stumbled forward from a force from behind. He looked over his shoulder a the Sarge standing in his green military outfit, looming over Darren.
"You'd better watch out little man or else you might just get crushed", he said in a drill instructor's fashion. Darren turned around and looked up into the face of his opponent. He was clearly the size of almost three Darrens. Darren smirked.
"Yeah, you'd better watch out, too. Otherwise you might get your ass handed to you in the first round of the finals", he responded. The Sarge ground his teeth together.
"Why you little maggot. Listen up, I'm winning this tournament and nobody is gonna beat me, including you. GOT THAT?" he shouted. He picked Darren up by the collar of his shirt. "I ASKED YOU A QUESTION, DO YOU GOT THAT?" The smirk on Darren's face grew.
"Put me down big guy and run along or I'll have to deal out a smack down right now and then there will be no surprise tomorrow", he said. The Sarge's face became beet red.
"I'd enjoy beating you now shrimp, but it's against the rules and then I'd be disqualified, too. You're off the hook for now. But tomorrow, you're mine. 'Cos I'm winning this tournament, got that?' he asked and got up in Darren's face.
"That's a nice dream. Maybe if you hope real hard then maybe, just maybe, it'll come true", Darren said smartly. The Sarge roared and turned around and stormed off. Darren felt a sense of pride and walked off. He came to a small park with old fashioned metal structures like a slide, a merry-go-round, a jungle gym, and a small set of swings. There were a bunch of kids spinning on the merry-go-round and forming a line for the slide. No one was playing on the jungle gym. Darren also noticed there were several kids engaged in duels of all kinds. There was the standard one-on-one, the ever exciting double duel, and the rarely seen but much enjoyed five way. Darren shook his head.
'I guess I can never truly get away from Duel Monsters', he thought. He crossed the park to the swing set and sat down on one of the rubber swings. He looked out across the park at the different duels going on.
"I haven't seen you around here before. Are you in the Kingda-Ka Tournament?" piped a small voice. Darren looked to his side and saw a young boy sitting on the swing next to him. The boy had short curly blonde hair and very dark red eyes. He was wearing a light blue turtle-neck and a pair of black snow pants.
"Huh? Oh, yeah I am. Why aren't you dueling?" Darren asked, noticing the boy had a duel disk on his left wrist. The boy looked down at the thin snow on the ground.
"Um…I don't feel like it right now", he said. Darren nodded and looked into the gray sky. Snowflakes began to fall from the clouds. The delicate, white tears fell to the ground and began to pile up. A snowflake passed in front of Darren and one of those anime flashbacks where everything is paler.
//Flashback//
A twelve year old Darren ran across a more modern park with all the colorful plastic structures. He had a heavy jacket and boots on with his jeans. His hands were covered by royal blue gloves. He dove over a mound of snow. Blaine was already behind the pile. He had a thick red jacket on with matching gloves. A dark brown hat covered his dirty blonde hair. A snowball was packed tightly in his hand. Darren nodded to him and made one of his own. The two of them looked up over the small hill at another one close by.
"Hey Luke, we're calling you out", Blaine called. Luke stuck his handsome face over the other mound. His blonde hair stuck up with powdery snow in it. Next to him Brandy Dream poked her beautiful face out. At the time, her golden hair was short. She wore a blue and pink Alpine-like hat with the strings atop her head.
"This park ain't big enough for the two of us", he called back and laughed. He darted out from behind the snow fort toward Darren and Blaine. Blaine jumped on his mound and hurled his snowball at Luke, hitting him in the stomach.
"Oh yeah, how do you like me now?" Blaine cheered. A snowball caught him in the chest and knocked him down on his butt so he was sitting on the fort.
"That's one down, one to go", Brandy said. Darren stood up and charged at the fort. Brandy jumped out and ran at him. The two of them dove Matrix style at each other and pulled their arms back. Brandy tossed her snowball at Darren who, in response, swung his arm but crushed the snowball in his hand. The snowball smacked him right in the face before the two of them landed next to each other. They sat up and the three other kids laughed as Darren wiped the snow off his face.
"Looks like you guys won", Blaine said. Brandy looked at Darren.
"Darren, did you let me win?" she asked. Darren looked away.
"No, why would I do that".
"You did! Aw, you act like you're not a people person, but you're a big sweety. You're as harmless as a bunny rabbit". Darren narrowed his eyes at her. The three of them knew that calling him a bunny rabbit got under his skin. She laughed and kissed him on the cheek.
"Oooooh, how cute", came a taunting voice. The four of them looked over to a short plastic jungle gym and saw a kid standing on top off it.
"Shut up Jason! Go away", Brandy shouted. Darren stood up with a new snowball in his hand and threw it, but it fell short and sprayed all over the jungle gym under Jason's feet.
"HA! Nice throw", he shouted. Luke picked up some snow and hurled it at Jason, pounding him in the chest. Jason took a step back and slipped on the snow at his feet. He fell backward off the plastic structure, lodging his head in the snow on the ground. The four kids started laughing.
//End Flashback//
Darren was rocking back in forth on the swing. A smile crossed his lips. "Hey, do you wanna duel?" the little kid asked. Darren snapped out of it and looked down at the kid.
"Ok, sure". The two of them stood up and walked to an open space. "Alright kid, I'm not gonna go easy on you just because you're younger", Darren promised. The kid nodded. Darren pulled six cards from his deck. "First tell me your name".
"I'm Darrek Flyleaf. And who are you?" the small boy asked.
"The name's Darren Fantasy".
"Hey, your name's like mine, but with an N at the end", the boy said excitedly.
"Hey, would you look at that", Darren replied. 'Flyleaf, that name's familiar. Where did I hear that name before?'
Darren looked over his hand. "I summon La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp (A1800, D1000). Then I toss one card face down. I end my turn", he declared. Darrek grabbed his opening hand.
"I'll set one card face down in defense mode. Then I drop two cards face down and end my turn". The three brown backed cards formed on the opposite side of the field as the muscular green genie.
Darren drew his next card. "Alright, here's a new card, Veral the Storm (A1600, D1300)". A dark gray-skinned magician appeared on the field wearing a blue cloak. It had long yellow-green hair under one of those wide-brimmed hats (like from Spy vs Spy). The brim was down to cover one of its eyes. A long golden staff was in its right hand. "He has a special ability that I like. When he's summoned, I can draw two cards and instantly special summon any level four or lower monsters". Darren drew two cards and pulled one out. "So go, Boron the Subterranean (A1300, D1900)".
The new monster was a rounder version of Veral. But this one had greasy red hair under a black metal helmet. It was dressed in a red cloak and had dark tan skin. A look of uncertainty had fallen over its face. In its hand was a shiny black staff. "And like his friend, he has a special ability. Whenever he's summoned I get to bring one magic card to my hand from my deck and activate it". Darren lifted his deck and moved some out of the way until he found one. "I activate Polymerization to fuse Veral and Boron into Firestorm Paladin (A2200, D1900)". A tall magician in robes much like that of the Dark Magician, but they were red and blue. Its long, majestic green hair fell down to its back. A golden staff rested in its hand. "And when he's summoned, I can search through my deck for another level four or lower monster to special summon". Darren whipped out another monster. It was a pale blue monster dressed in a green cloak with an Eskimo hood. It had dark green gloves and a very pale blue staff in its hand. "Meet Huros the Blizzard (A1600, D1700). When this little guy is played, I can then summon a level four or lower monster from my hand and I choose Gorgo the Typhoon (A1800, D900)". This monster was a noble, built spellcaster in a dark gray cloak with long hair of the same color. He wore a shimmering silver crown atop his head. In his hand was the long gray staff.
"And he pulls one magic card from the graveyard back into my hand. But I'll hold onto it for now. Now Gorgo, attack his face down monster with Great Air Waves". The monster held its staff in the air and a violent rush of wind blew toward the brown card, flipping it up.
"It's my D.D. Trainer (A100, D2000). His defense is high enough to withstand your attack", Darrek said. The beast revealed itself to be a gross sized worm with a red back and a yellow underside. But this word had broad blue arms and a small pink goblin dressed in green on its back.
"Be glad my Paladin can't attack this turn, otherwise you'd be in for a world of hurt". Darren crossed his arms. "I end my turn".
Darrek drew his card. "I activate my Change of Heart on your Paladin. This will let me control it for one turn. Next I activate my Heart of Clear Water. As long as its equipped to my Trainer it can't be destroyed. Now Paladin, attack his La Jinn". The magician fire a blast of icy blue flames at the genie, burning it to ashes. "Now I equip it with another Heart of Clear Water. But since it's attack is over 1300, your monster is destroyed". A mournful looking red drop of water crashed on the Paladin, destroying it. "I end my turn".
Darren- 7600LP
Darrek- 8000LP
Darren drew his card. "No more fun and games. Now we kick it up a notch". Darren looked over his cards. I reactivate Polymerization to combine my remaining monsters into Frostbite Paladin (A2400, D1900)". A strong magician with misty-colored robes and a silver staff appeared. Fierce but caring eyes stared out across the field from behind long gray hair. "His special ability will let me reborn a monster with "Paladin" in its name by discarding a card. Rise Firestorm Paladin". The two sorcerers stood side by side. "And don't forget he lets me summon another four star monster, and I call out Breaker the Magical Warrior (A1600, D1000). Next I'll remove Breaker's counter to blast away the Heart of Clear Water". Breaker fired a red bolt into the magic card. "And then I'll sacrifice him for Dark Magician Girl (A2000, D1800)". The cute girl leapt from the card. She swung her baton around and her helmet fell over her eyes. She lifted it up and winked at Darrek before landing. "Firestorm Paladin, attack his monster with Sonic Firestorm". A burst off fire ripped through the cold air and snow and through the worm. "Next I'll attack your life points directly". The two remaining monsters fired off their spells at Darrek. "I end my turn".
Darren- 7600LP
Darrek- 3600LP
Darrek slowly drew his card. He looked over at the other duels and saw the other kids looking at him. He looked back at his hand. "I set one card face down and end my turn".
Darren drew his card. "If that's all you got to fight back with, then this game's over. Dark Magician Girl, destroy his monster with Dark Burning Attack". The Magician Girl blasted a pink wave of magic t the card, slicing it in two. "Finish Paladins". The two monsters covered the field with brilliant attacks. Darrek's life point meter ran out. Darren looked down at the snow and a tear ran out of his eye and into the white ground. "Hey, are you okay?"
The small boy wiped his eyes. "Yes, I'm fine".
"Hey come on. It's just a game, there's no need to cry about it", Darren said, trying to calm the child down.
"It's not that. It's just that I've never won. I've never won a single duel in my life. I want to grow up to be a great duelist like my father and my brother. My father is great, and my brother is looked at like a prodigy. But I'm no good. And I can't use my families signature set of cards if I can't win".
Darren thought for a second. 'Hey that sounds kinda familiar, too'
"And you won't win unless you learn to duel better than that", came a new voice in the conversation. Darren and Darrek looked over to see Eric Flyleaf starring at the two of them.
"Whoa, you're his brother. That must mean you're from around here Eric. That's why you're wise to this city already". Darren said with his eyes wider. "But seriously, don't you think you should take it easy on him, he is your little brother after all".
"Take it easy, that's anyone's ever done for him. And look at him, can't even win a single duel. He's not worthy of using our precious set. It is only after being able to wield the cards in our decks that we are recognized as men in our family. But he has nowhere near as much skill as needed to use these cards", Eric said, holding up his deck. Darrek looked down at the snow again.
"Alright, just leave him be. So he lost, no big deal. He'll win eventually. And until he does, don't you think you should encourage him", Darren reasoned.
"It wouldn't be a big duel if it were just one loss. But it's not, it's countless losses. He has my full support, but that's not enough for him to prove to our father that he is a man. A man's determination is not powered by those supporting him, but rather his own strength feeding that determination".
Darren narrowed his eyes. "Those are some pretty strong words. How about we duel right now. It's not for certain that we'd duel in the tournament, so it won't get us disqualified. Unless you're too afraid".
"Suit yourself. I'll give you a taste of what's to come tomorrow in the tournament", he said as he activated his duel disk.
"I'm a bit too brave to be afraid of you", Darren came back as he shuffled his deck. Eric shook his head.
"A man's courage is not proven by not being afraid, it's proven when he faces his fears to fight for what he believes in".
"Yeah enough of that", Darren said annoyed. He pulled out his first hand. Eric responded by doing the same.
"I'll start". Eric pulled out another card. "I start by summoning Birdface (A1600, D1600)". The gold-feathered bird flapped its wings, revealing blue feathers on its chest. "Then I'll lay two cards face down and activate the field spell card, Harpie's Hunting Ground to give Birdface 200 extra points". A light woodland rose from the snow on the ground. Wooden polls also formed amongst the trees. "I end my turn".
Darren drew his card. "I summon Huros the Blizzard". The magician in light blue ran through the woods to take its spot on the field, but immediately fell down a pit fall.
"Since your monster has more than 1000 attack points, my Trap Hole will open up below it and destroy it". The monster burst into pieces and the hole closed up.
"I set one card face down and end my turn".
Eric drew a card. "I summon Harpie Lady 1 (A1300, D1400)". A woman with long pink hair and wings covered in green feathers screeched as she materialized. She had talons for hands and feet. "Her special ability gives all wind type monsters 300 extra attack points. So Birdface is at 2100 and my Harpie has 1800 attack points". The monsters screeched as they flexed their increasing muscles. "Harpie Lady 1, attack him with your talons". The lady flew at Darren and scratched him with the clawed hands. "And now you attack him Birdface". The other monster tackled Darren and bounced back to its post. "And in addition to giving my monsters 200 points, when I summon a Harpie Lady my Hunting Grounds destroys one magic or trap cards on the field, and I choose your face down card". The brown-backed cards shattered into data fragments. "I end my turn".
Eric- 8000LP
Darren- 4100LP
Darren added another card to his hand. "Go Rapid- Fire Magician (A1600, D1200), in defense mode.". The young magician in long purple robes took shape from the particles of light. He swung his twin staffs around as the multi-colored orbs floated around behind him. "He deals out 400 points of damage whenever I activate a magic card. So feel the burn as I use my Monster Reborn to bring back Huros".
"I think not. Reveal face down trap card, Magic Jammer. So long as I discard a card from my hand, I can negate your magic card and destroy it", Eric countered. He slipped a card from his hand into his graveyard slot and Monster Reborn blew to pieces.
Darren looked over his hand quickly. "I'll drop two card face down and end my turn".
Eric drew his card. His expression had remained nonchalant the entire duel. In fact, he looked as if he were wasting his time with the game. "I regret even dueling with you now. It hasn't helped my game at all. I guess you're just not as experience as I am. I've been dueling for as long as I can remember. I'm looked on as the prodigy of my family and sadly, you couldn't even amuse me". Eric looked disappointed at Darren. Darren clenched his free hand and glared at his opponent.
"Oh really, you think you're that good", he contested.
"I know I'm that good", Eric snapped back coldly.
"Well if you really can beat me, then prove it".
"Gladly". Eric picked a card out of his hand. "I summon Harpie's Brother (A1800, D600)". The dark-skinned man in black leather clenched his fist as power from the other cards pumped through his body. He had spiky black hair and bright red wings that matched the claw-like weapon on his right wrist. "Next I remove my Harpie Lady from the graveyard to special summon Garuda the Wind Spirit (1600, D1200)". The might bird-headed man held its fist to Darren and his monster.
"Wait, I never destroyed a Harpie Lady, so how was it in the graveyard?" Darren demanded.
"The Magic Jammer I activated on your last turn required me to discard a card remember. So I threw out Harpie Lady". Darren's eyes widened. "To continue, I activate my Harpie's Feather Duster to blow away your face down cards". A violent gust of wind blew the cards off into the trees. "And now, Harpie Lady 1, attack his monster". The winged woman slashed her claws through the small magician. "And now to finish you off, attack my monsters". Each one of the monsters on Eric's field struck Darren, knocking his life points down to zero. Darren fell to his knees in the snow.
"Dammit!" he shouted as he pounded on the ground. His deck spilled everywhere. Derrek rushed over to help pick up the cards.
"I thought I would get more of a challenge out of you Darren, but I guess I was wrong. There's nothing special about you. And if the other duelists are at your level, then this is going to be easier to win than I thought". Darren watched as he turned and started to walk away. Eric was placing his finishing hand back onto the deck when he felt something cold hit him in the back. He turned around to see Darren standing with a snowball in his hand and a grin on his face. "How old are we Darren, five? Can we please grow up?"
Darren threw the other snowball and hit Eric in the chest. Derrek let out a chuckle. "I'm warning you Darren, one more of those an". Eric was cut off as another one hit him I the mouth. Eric spit out the snow and bent over. He quickly formed a snowball and threw it at Darren, catching him in the shoulder.
"Oh, so that's how we're gonna play is it?" Darren asked playfully. He grabbed a mound of snow and threw it back. Eric dove on his side to avoid the snowball. He crawled behind a mound of snow and gathered up a new snowball and threw it across the park. Darren dropped to the ground, just dodging the attack. He too rolled behind a small barrier of the white stuff. He threw a snowball over his shoulder and heard it splat.
"Hey, that one hit me Darren", Derrek cried. He picked up a snowball and threw it at Darren. Darren ducked below the snow fort. He quickly made two more balls of snow and threw one at each of the brothers, missing both of them and taking a hit to the face from Eric. The three boys spent the next few hours hurling projectiles at each other until they were too tired to get up. They just lay sprawled out on the ground as the rested.
'Man, how can I possibly win this tournament if I have to face Eric again. He beat me in just thee turns. I didn't even get a chance at his life points. I don't stand a chance, maybe I should drop out', Darren thought.
'No, you must never do that Darren', Arcturas said to him. 'Just because something's hard, doesn't mean its impossible. Besides, Eric isn't even your opponent yet, you still have to worry about The Sarge'.
'Right, I wonder if I can even beat him', Darren thought.
'Of course you can Darren, if you put your heart into it, you can overcome anything', Arcturas ensured. Darren put on his determined look.
'Right'. He looked over at Eric lying on the ground. 'Next time, you're mine'. He smiled and looked at the sky before closing his eyes.
Cairo sat in his hotel room. He opened his eyes and the tattoo on his forehead quit glowing. "Well, there you have it. Darren can be defeated. Turns out that Harpie duelist is pretty good".
"Just make sure he doesn't defeat you", Talon said. Her Egyptian accent was heavy. "After all, he's your first opponent". Eddie looked from Talon to Cairo with a crazed look on his face.
"Don't worry about me, there's no way I can lose", he said. The tattoo gave a quick flash. A fourth member walked into the room. The member was dresses in a dull black cloak with the hood pulled over his face. A golden ornament hang down in front of him.
"You'd better not lose. There's no plus side to losing a Shadow Game", he said. The three people got down on one knee.
"We are to play Shadow Games?" Talon asked.
"Of course, why not. After all, what would be the purpose of having the ability to call on the Shadow Realm if not to use it".
"Right, Master Flare", Talon said embarrassed.
"I will not fail you my Master, I shall defeat the keeper of the Book in a Shadow Realm", Cairo said as he stood up. He was slightly taller than the hooded man.
"And if you do win, you'll be rewarded most generously".
"There is no if, I can't lose", he said. The cloak moved up, signaling that the man inside was looking at Cairo's forehead.
"You have been blessed with such a gift. But I have seen what the boy wears around his neck, it won't be so easy".
"Don't you worry about a thing, I will make sure that once he enters a Shadow Game with me, he never sees the light of day again", Cairo reassured. The cloak moved to look at Cairo's face.
"That's what I like to hear", he said as two crimson lights burned from under the hood.
Finally finished the next chapter. Sorry this one took so long. There's no real reason, I'm just real lazy. But I worked hard on this one to make it extra special. And sorry there's no scenes with Andy. But just who's under the hood. And who'll win the duel between Cairo and Eric. It doesn't seem like either one will be easy for Darren.