Chapter 12
An Unlikely Duo
Jaden placed his hand upon the cold, metal wall. Syrus collapsed behind him. "We only have 15 minutes before time is up..." Jaden said aloud to himself. He had hoped to meet someone at the gate who was as desperate to gain entry, but no such luck.
Syrus replied weakly, "If we hadn't spent time watching that duel..."
Jaden turned to his buddy, "But it was sweet right? And I think it was worth it if we had fun." Syrus couldn't help himself as he watched Jaden's innocent face. His nonchalant attitude has made everything seem okay, like it would be all right. However, this time, things are different. He faced the facts and decided only one option was open. "Jaden, I challenge you to a duel."
Sy's voice was, to Jaden, unusually steady and serious. He would love to duel Syrus, but now was not the time. The loser would not be able to proceed. Wait, does Syrus know that? Does Syrus plan on having only one of the two proceed? Jaden, reluctantly, agreed.
Silently, a tear fell on Sy's face. He did not have the confidence to beat Jaden, even if he drew the perfect hand. He would mess up. Nevertheless, he would try hard. He knew he had to play his best so that Jaden will be ready for what lies ahead. And for Syrus, if he were lucky, he would triumph. He closed his eyes, took a deep breathe, and steadied himself.
"Get your game o-" Jaden's line was interupted by a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey Jaden," came the familiar voice of Alexis, "What's happening?"
"OH! Alexis... we are each missing a duel for our card, so we decided to duel each other to see who would advance."
"Really? What a coincidence." Her hair reminded Syrus of Kaiba. Suddenly, the idea of a family tie between the two seemed plausible. "Chumley and I are in the same pickle. I wanted to duel Zane, but when I arrived here, he was walking in the building."
Syrus chimed in, "My brother made it in!?!?"
"Of course, he does hold cards that most people here have yet to face. Supposedly, not even the King of Games has faced the Cyber Dragons yet. I am willing to bet Zane might beat Yugi."
"The Cyber Dragons are really rare," Syrus noted, "The only cards rarer than them is Exodia's head and the Blue Eyes White Dragon. I belive there are only 70 or so Cyber Dragons, and very few people have three."
"Wow Sy," Jaden said with mild shock in his expression, "You really know those cards."
Sy turned his face to the ground replying, "My brother encouraged me to study those cards because he wanted to give them to me. However, after he saw how I used Power Bond, he thought I would never be able to use them."
Jaden tried to distract his friend by saying, "Hey Sy cheer up! We have the matter of 12 minutes left and no one to duel us."
Chumley appeared from no where, which is quite a feat considering his size. Chumley was fairly round, and had the face of a koala. His cards also reflected that appearance, as did his personality. He was lazy and enjoyed eating. "Alexis, we are the only ones here. Oh, hi guys!"
"Really," Alexis stated, "Then that leaves us no choice. We will have a tag team duel. Chumley and I versus the two of you!" She pointed at Syrus and Jaden. Syrus quivered a bit, but Jaden confidently balled his hand into a fist.
"Alright, I like it! Get your game on Alexis, Chumley!" Syrus quietly started his duel disk and whispered to himself words of comfort. Suddenly, all of the boy's confidence seemed to gather with every word. He placed himself into the comfort zone.
Chumley and Alexis were also ready, and to decide turn order, Alexis and Jaden played a game of Ro-Sham-Bo. Alexis won, and took the first turn. She be followed by Jaden, then Chumley, and finally Syrus, who also had first attack. She drew a card, and announced her play: "I set two cards face down and Blade Skater [1200/1500 in defense mode"
Jaden replied with in a similar manner. His monster was set in face down defense mode, but with only a single face down card. On Chumley's turn, he simply place a face down defense, and passed.
Syrus picked up the momentum by summoning Gyroid in attack mode [1800/1000?. "Now, Gyroid, attack the Blade Skater!" As the train like creature charged, its attack points went up by 500 points. With the increased power of 2300, he blew the bald, purple creature away and returned to his master. "Next, I set a face down and pass."
Jaden smiled inwardly at the strength Sy was showing in his moves. Jaden realized that Syrus, deep down, was probably still terrified, but if even for a moment, Sy was strong. And, he is getting stronger. Maybe...he will be like Zane. Not cold, but compassionate.
"Think that was something? Well bring it on Syrus! It's my turn now." She pulled her card from her deck. "I play the spell card, Pot of Greed. Now, I draw two more cards." She looked at them and smiled, "I summon Cyber Tutu(800/600) in attack mode!" The feminine robot, dressed for the ballet made her grand appearance onto the field.
"I am sure you remember my Tutu's effect? Since all of your face up monsters are tougher, she will dance right by, and hit you directly." Almost playfully, the robot twirled past the Steamroid and landed a kiss on Syrus which caused a current of electricity to zap him.
Syrus (3200 lp) rubbed his cheek and began blushing, "I think that was worth it..."
"To end my turn, I set a face down card."
At that, Alexis' turn ended, and Jaden drew his card. "Sweet, looks like an easy shot." On Jaden's arm, the duel disk opened a slot for the field card, which Jaden filled. Buildings surrounded the players as Jaden announced, "I play Skyscraper. Now, when an E-Hero attacks, the monster will gain a thousand attack points. So, I flip summon my creature, Elemental Hero Avian. Next, I activate Feather Shot! Since Syrus and I have two monsters, my creature will attack twice at two thousand points per shot. Go, attack."
Alexis took a cursory glance at Chumley who shook his head. Despite her face down card, she allowed that attack to take down her Tutu, decreasing her life points to 2800.
Jaden continued, "I can't attack you directly with Avian, so I will use his second attack on Chumley's facedown."
The bird hero drew back his hand and threw a piercing feather at the face down creature. The koala appearing Chumley announced, "You feel for a trap Jaden!"
Chumley's monster revealed itself to be Des Koala (800/1800). The monsters effect was powerful, and Jaden already regretted his attack. Unable to call it back, the koala was destroyed thanks to the increased points given to Avian by Skyscraper.
Chumley explained, "With Des Koala, the both of you lose life points equal to the number of cards in your respective hands times 400. Jaden, you have 3 cards, so you lose 1200 points. And for you Sy, that is 1600 points because you have four."
Each duelist lost the life points as Chumley predicted. So, Jaden end his turn, gritting his teeth. Syrus could break down mid duel since he is already uncomortably close to losing before his second turn. Jaden looked at Syrus, but something seemed wrong... He was not despairing. He was...smiling, a confident smile. What was Syrus thinking, could he have...a plan to win already?
While Jaden had contemplated Syrus' thoughts, Chumley had already drawn his card and announced his play. "I activate Polymerization!" The spell card appeared over his head. The holgrams of the monsters he wished to fuse flew from their cards in his hand. A kangaroo went up along with an enormous grey koala. This could only mean the stronger card in his possession. The fusion monster who Jaden had given him.
Chumley took the purple card and placed it upon his duel disk. "I summon, Master of Oz(4200/3700)!"
Alexis gasped at the unbelievable might of Chumley's monster, and Jaden and Syrus both said, "No way!"
The Master of Oz held a great presence on the bored, with a deep green fur and the appearance of a large Koala. The creature had a scar vertically down his left eye, and like a true champ, the monster sported giant red gloves and a purple cutoff sleeves jacket. To finish his attire, he wore red shoes with the same hues of his glove.
"Oh yeah, Chumley's eating big tonight!" The Chumley announced, "Now my beast, attack Jaden's Avian and wipe him from the game!" The monster's enormous hand drew back before thrusting forward at the brunet duelist. Jaden began to activate his trap when Syrus came to the rescue.
"You make this too easy Chumley. Reveal trap, Magic Cylinder."
Simutaneously, Chumley and Alexis yelled, "What!?"
"With my early set trap, it appears I get to take you out myself." Jaden, like the other two, were completely shocked at Syrus' brilliant plan. Or, was a fluke? Has Syrus really become that good so quickly? Jaden's head was riddled with questions.
"I think that makes it my turn," Syrus [1600 said with an air of hidden confidence and potential, "And without Chumley to stop me, I think I will beat you now with a fusion of my own. But first," Syrus drew his card and activated the spell he drew, "I play Mystical Space Typhoon destroying you face down, your last defense."
Alexis' card shattered beneath her and let out a gasp as the card faded away. Syrus continued his move, "I play polymerization to fuse my UFOroid with Jaden's Avian. This brings my monster to the field with each monster's attack points added together. (1000+12002200 attack.)" The UFOroid appeared on the field, and Avian jumped onto the air craft.
"Now to end the duel, Steamroid and UFOroid Fighter, attack her directly." With the assault, Alexis' life points also fell to 0.
"And that's game!" Syrus said, Jaden ran over and tackled Syrus.
"SY! THAT WAS AMAZING!!" Jaden yelled, "I can't believe how well you played!"
Alexis and Chumley came over to them also and helped them up. "Syrus," Alexis said, "I can't believe you can play like that."
"Totally not 'licious though..." Chumley said, "Now we can't play in the finals."
"True," Alexis said, "and even if we are not around, we will be rooting for you." She said turning to Syrus. "Besides, I can't wait to get back. I have so many stories to tell Mindy and the other Obelisk Blue girls."
"I think my dad will be proud of me. I heard some people got the boot surprisingly early." Chumley stated.
"Really, like who?" Jaden asked suddenly.
"Bastion. He played the Yugi early on and lost. I wonder how he did . . . " Alexis said, "I can't wait to find out that story. I wonder what it si like to play him."
"Well, you can always ask me! I will play him and become the King of Games!"
"You know,"Chumley commented, "Don't you think this is odd?"
"What do you mean, Chumley?"
"I mean, the four of us here, two of us going to the Finals...doesn't it seem really unlikely considering the fact the best duelist in the world are here?"
"I dunno..." Syrus said, "Maybe Jaden and I got in on a fluke. Most of our opponents were really easy."
"Maybe,"Jaden thought, "This was merely a preliminary round."
"Then, we aren't moving on the the finals?" Syrus questioned.
"Sure we are Sy, just not yet. Maybe there is a tournament bracket or something in the main building."
"Oh my gosh, Jaden, you gotta hurry inside, this part of the tournament is ending in about a minute, probably less. RUN!"
"OH, uh..., right! C'mon Sy! We may be here, but the door is on the other side!"
Jaden pulled Syrus around the building where a guard stood in pitch black glasses. He held out his hand, "Your duel disk, if you will." Jaden and Syrus each removed their respective decks and handed over their disk. The guard pressed a button on the bottom, and the card released itself from the packet. On the card, read "Syrus Truesdale."
"Mr. Truesdale, stand up to the door." The door was immense in size, colored a metalic gray. The door opened for the blue haired duelist as the guard slid the card in. Syrus walked into the door and in a few seconds, the door slammed shut. The wall, to the right, slid over and covered the door, revealing another door behind it.
"Whoa...that was cool." Jaden whispered under his breath. The guard gestured for Jaden to step up to the door. Following command, Jaden stepped up to door. The guard released the duel disk from Jaden's and slid it into the door. Jaden gripped his deck as he began to walk forward, his heart pounding. Only in his dreams had he ever felt like this. This time, it was real. This time, a fantasy bigger than any he imagined before waited for him. Facing this, he stepped into the darkness. The door slammed behind him, and he heard the wall slid over it.
A/n: MY EVIL CLIFF HANGER!!! Bwahahahahaahahha!!! Okay, this chapter is another tribute to Syrus. Woopie. Please review guys, haven't got on in...well... a lot of chapters. So, the next chapter is titled: "Beyond the Door." Oooo...Yugi Versus Jaden might be close, or will it not happen? Anyway, here is the current list of people in the Finals:
1st: Joey Wheeler
2nd: Bandit Keith
3rd: Ray Dolusgenn
4th: Chazz Princeton
5th: Seto Kaiba
6th: Jaden Yuki
7th: Syrus Truesdale
8th: Yugi Motou
9th: Maximillian Pegasus (See the updated Chapter 2 for details)
10th: Zane Truesdale
11th: Mai Valentine
12th: Lyndon ThompsonThings to know:
(Registration for the Main Building Bracket tournament is closed.)
How the final half done will be revealed in next chapter/sequel (Undecided) (Along with the chapter itself... XDDD)
"I wish this day hadn't come so fast,/you see I truly wanted, your pain to last..."