~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~&&~Hikaru no Duel Monsters~&&~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Where are we?" Akira asked looking surprised at his surroundings. Everything looked so real even though he was sure it was not. So this is what a virtual reality game must be like? He never expected something computer generated to look so real and to….feel so real too. He closed his eyes for a moment to enjoy the breeze that was carrying the smell of spring wild flowers to him.
"This is the beginning" stated Mokuba pushing the green button on his bracelet. The holographic screen appeared in front of him and on the screen there was a map. "We're over here…" he continued as he pointed his finger towards a red dot on the map. Akira went closer to him so he could see the map better.
"And what are we supposed to do now?" he asked.
"The only thing we can do now is go through this forest and enter the castle on the other side" explained Mokuba showing Akira the said places on the map. "In this castle we'll have our first challenge."
Akira sighed and wondered how did he even allow himself to get into this. He didn't even notice that the rest of the group had started walking towards the forest until he heard Hikaru's voice.
"Come on Touya! Hurry up" Hikaru shouted as enthusiastic and energetic as ever "you don't want to get lost do you?" No, that was the last thing Akira wanted especially since he wasn't so sure he could handle the mini computer on his wrist and since he could definitely not handle a duel.
They entered the forest and gasped at the eerie atmosphere. From the outside the forest looked normal but now that they were inside they could see that it was pretty dark since the tall trees would not let them see the sky. They would barely be able to see a few sun rays here and there where the branches would allow them to enter the otherwise vast space. Strange animal like noises, heard from every direction, gave them chills on the back.
Akira started doubting again that he had made the right choice to follow Hikaru in this strange world. He wasn't the type of person who liked adventures and traveling. He had always preferred the safety of the familiar places: his street, the go Institute, the go salons. He didn't even like to go in certain parts of Tokyo where he felt not so safe.
Sure, he liked a good challenge but even that only in a territory he knew well, the go board. He had never played other games in his life, not even as a kid, and he never had any interest for them.
He wondered if Hikaru liked other games….and if he did, then what games.
Akira knew well that Hikaru was different from him. The bleached boy was more outgoing and he seemed to enjoy this strange world they were currently in, just as much as he enjoyed playing Duel Monsters with Yuugi.
Suddenly a dragon appeared in front of them, flapped its wings as it roared in Akira's direction.
"Blue eyes come forth" shouted Seto as he raised one of his Blue eyes white dragon cards. The Blue eyes came out of his card and roared at the other dragon "Attack now" ordered Seto as the Blue eyes white dragon obeyed his command. As soon as the other dragon vanished the Blue eyes returned in his card and Seto put the card back in the deck pack around his waist.
"Please be more careful next time. Keep your decks close, we're not on vacation here" he said to no one in particular.
Akira had managed to regain his composure after the fright from before and turned red with anger.
"You never mentioned that we were going to be attacked in this forest. I thought the first duel was going to start after we reached that castle" he shouted and Hikaru looked at him surprised. The only person Akira ever shouted at was him. He always managed to hide his emotions from others.
The game only started but could it have already been too much for the go prodigy?
"The first duel is going to be in that castle" started Seto unimpressed with Akira's fit "but I don't remember mentioning that we're not going to be attacked on the way too."
That was the last straw for Akira. This had nothing to do with go. Go is a game played with a board in front of you while you are sitting in a comfortable chair. It doesn't involve walking through creepy forests and being attacked by creepy creatures. He wanted to be out of there and he was going to tell that to Seto.
"I want out of this game now!" he ordered on a calm but stern voice.
The only answer he received was "You can't" before the taller boy started waking away followed by Mokuba.
"I told you that you won't last for five frikin' minutes in this game…" Ryuji laughed before he followed Seto too.
"Don't mind him Touya" began Jonouchi, coming closer to the angry and slightly confused boy "that's just how Ryuji is. Ever since Dungeon Dice Monsters became a huge hit he's been so high of himself."
"What does Dungeon Dice Monsters have to do with him?" Hikaru asked confused.
"He's the one who created the game" Yuugi filled in. "Now let's go and catch up with the others." They all started walking again, a little faster than before, so they would catch up with the others.
"I feel a bit relieved now that I know that Touya and I are not the only beginners at Duel Monsters here" Hikaru had a smile on his face.
"I hate to break the news to you but you are" Jonouchi said "Don't worry though, Yuugi and I will take care of things around here. Right Yuugi?" The smaller boy nodded.
"Dungeon Dice Monsters is a game based on Duel Monsters. Only a good duelist could have created it. Mokuba himself is not a bad duelist either although his skills are far from his older brother's. Mokuba's strength is in Capsule Monsters though, where Seto is a complete beginner."
"Get your decks ready" said Jonouchi as he took a defense position "I think we have company again."
Jonouchi and Yuugi took down all the monsters that appeared in front of them in the forest, just as they said they would but Akira and Hikaru knew that they could not expect to be protected by the others all the time.
They got out of the forest in one piece and with their lives barely scratched and decided to take a small break before entering the castle. That was when Akira decided that it was time to learn a little about Duel Monsters since he couldn't get out of this world. He didn't really understand why but he couldn't build the courage to ask Seto. The older boy had something in him that reminded Akira of Ogata Jyuudan and Akira found that something scary.
"So….Yuugi…" he began a bit shy, afraid to ask a question that might sound stupid to the others "How did you know what monster from your deck would defeat the monster that attacked us?" Even if his question was stupid the others didn't show it. Instead Yuugi answered on a calm voice as if he were explaining the basics to a 5 year old.
"Did you notice the holographic number in front of the monsters that attacked?"
Akira looked at him surprised. He had been too scared and surprised by the attacks to notice something like that but he could vaguely recall seeing a number at the last monster that attacked them.
It was by the time they were almost out of the forest and he kind of got used to the presence of all the monsters and to the idea that they could be attacked at any time.
"Somehow…" he said "what about it?"
"That number represents the monster's attack points. The monsters in our decks also have attack points" Yuugi got his Dark Magician out of his deck "See? My Dark Magician has 2500 ATK points and 2100 DEF points. If my monster's attack points are higher than my opponent's then I win and the other monster is destroyed."
"So…" Akira looked confused "Is this what dueling is all about?" he raised an eyebrow. Is this what he had been afraid of all this time?
"No" stated Yuugi "This was not a duel. It was more of an additional challenge in the game."
"Yuugi is right. It seemed to me that this game was just testing our reflexes so far, ne?" asked Hikaru and Yuugi nodded in agreement. "But I guess it would be boring otherwise" he continued.
"Don't worry Touya I will explain everything at the first duel."
The break time was over and Seto came to tell them that it was time to leave.
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After opening the large wooden gates they entered a hall. The place was decorated with weapons, armors and coats of arms, nothing special, just an ordinary medieval castle that you would find in games or comic books but what got the boys' attention the most was the fact that it was quiet. Too quiet.
They opened the door on the other side of the hall and noticed a man wearing a black cloak, with the hood covering his eyes.
"I've been expecting you." He said.
"Do we have to fight you?" asked Jonouchi, expecting something else from a duel opponent.
"That depends" came the answer.
"On what?" Jonouchi asked again raising an eyebrow at the vague answer.
"What do you seek?"
That was a good question. None of the boys seemed to know what they were looking for, maybe except for Seto and Mokuba, so they all looked at each other confused.
"What are our options?" asked Yuugi.
"You can continue your journey and be left unharmed or you can choose to fight me and open the door behind me."
"And what is behind that door?" asked Jonouchi.
"Behind that door begins the journey that reveals the secrets of this world" explained the man.
"Then let's duel" Seto started taking his deck out, but was interrupted by Jonouchi.
"I'll take care of this" he said "I need a warm up."
"Fine, but don't lose." Seto put his deck back and crossed his arms on his chest getting ready to watch the show.
"It's my turn. Draw" said Jonouchi with a stern voice taking a card out of his deck. He was definitely determined to win this duel no matter what.
Jonouchi couldn't compare himself to Yuugi as a duelist but since they became friends they were inseparable and they've been through a lot together. He had learned a lot about the strategy of the game from Yuugi and even though he liked to rely on luck more than his friend, his cards were well played.
"Now I play Gearfried the iron knight in attack mode, place two cards face down and end my turn" the black armored monster came out of the card and rested in attack mode in front of Jonouchi, then the number 1800 appeared in front of him. Behind the monster were two large face down cards.
Akira realized that this game resembled the duel he saw in the street a few days ago, except that this time there were no duel disks. He assumed there was no need for them since this was a virtual world.
"Isn't he going to attack?" he asked Yuugi who was right beside him.
"He can't. The game's rules don't allow a player to direct attack the opponents life points on the first turn." Yuugi patiently explained just as he said he would. "Duel Monsters is more about strategy than you think. See those face down cards?" Akira nodded "They are trap cards. It might take Jonouchi some time to call a high level monster so he got a back up plan to protect his monsters until then."
"You mean he can't just play any monster right now?" Akira asked a bit surprised, but before Yuugi could say anything he heard Hikaru sigh right behind him.
"I told you not to underestimate this game countless times didn't I? but you just wouldn't listen. Winning a duel might be even harder than winning a game of go."
"Shindou is right. Since this game was created by Seto and Noah your go opponents may not be very strong but the duel monsters opponents can not be taken lightly especially since Seto is testing the game on expert level" explained Yuugi.
"My turn…" started the cloaked man "I draw a card and play Dark blade in attack mode. I play one face down card and end my turn." Just like before, the monster came out of the card and his attack points appeared. They matched Jonouchi's Gearfried the iron knight.
Jonouchi drew another card from his deck and stopped to think.
"What's wrong?" asked Akira "He can attack now, right?"
"If he attacks Dark blade with Gearfried the iron knight, then Gearfried will be destroyed too" explained Hikaru.
"What about the face down cards?" Akira asked again. There had to be a way out of this.
"He can only play them during his opponent's turn."
"I draw and then summon baby dragon…" Jonouchi finally said full of confidence. He had a plan in his mind that would definitely bring him to victory, but before that he needed to play one more card and he also needed a bit of luck. He didn't mind that too much though. He had always been a lucky man and most certainly he will draw that card. This card could not let him down since he got it from his friend, Yuugi. "…and end my turn"
"Is that all?" asked the opponent a bit confused. This duel was already won by himself if the challenger played like that. "As you wish" he said seeing that Jonouchi wasn't about to answer. Instead the boy just smirked.
"Indeed, is that all?" Akira asked just as confused. The monster that appeared on the battle field was nothing impressive. With the 1200 ATK points it was the weakest monster on the field. He was sure that Dark blade could wipe him out the field in an instant if Jonouchi's face down cards couldn't protect him. He wasn't sure that they could since the opponent himself had a face down card.
"You have to look beyond the card that was just played" started Yuugi. He already knew his friend's plan since he had seen it countless times before.
"Then I draw and play Alexandrite Dragon in attack mode" a dragon that was shining like a jewel appeared on the field making baby dragon look even more helpless than before. The 2000 ATK matched the impressive image of the monster. "Alexandrite Dragon attack Gearfried the iron knight"
"Compulsory evacuation device will return Alexandrite Dragon back to your hand" Jonouchi said as he turned one of his face down traps face up.
"Not bad but it still is my turn. Dark blade attack Baby dragon." As the monster moved from his place towards Baby dragon Jonouchi flipped his other trap card.
"I play Absolute end" As the card was flipped Jonouchi's life points decreased to 1200 LP.
"What happened to his life points?" asked Akira.
"He saved Baby dragon by taking Dark blade's attack himself so Dark Blade's 1800 ATK are taken out of Jonouchi's 3000 LP" Yuugi explained calmly.
"But why?" Akira was angry by now "Why would he sacrifice so much for a such insignificant monster?" he shouted.
"Tell me Touya…" Yuugi turned to him with a serious face. He felt as if the green haired boy who just insulted the monster insulted the game itself and him too, since he was so fond on that game "Would you say that a stone placed on the go board is insignificant?" Akira's eyes got wider. Suddenly the games he had played with Hikaru crossed his mind. On several occasions Hikaru seemed to make stupid moves, play insignificant stones, but sooner or later, if he wasn't careful, those insignificant stones turned out to be the pillar of a strong fortress. No, he would never dare to call any stone insignificant especially when he was playing Hikaru.
"No…" he said on a calm voice this time "….but I still don't understand"
"Just watch and you will."
"My turn! Draw" Jonouchi looked at the card he had just got from his deck and smiled. He was lucky indeed. "Now I play Time magician" a weird looking red monster with some sort of roulette appeared and the roulette started spinning. The blue arrow stopped on a blue tower on white background and suddenly things changed. Baby dragon was an old, strong dragon, with more ATK points than before. "And now my dragon will attack Dark blade" Jonouchi stated. Dark blade was wiped out and the opponent's life points suffered some damage too, although he still had more LP than Jonouchi. "Now Gearfried attack his life points directly"
But Gearfried's attack was blocked by the opponent's trap card Sakuretsu Armor and was sent to the graveyard.
Jonouchi had to be patient. He could win this duel, he knew he could. His opponent had no monsters on the field while he still had his dragon.
"I end my turn after playing two cards face down."
"You are a good duelist, I give you credit for that, but you can't win this duel. Alexandrite Dragon come forth and now I play Stamping destruction" Jonouchi's LP decreased to 700. "Alexandrite Dragon attack!"
"Oh, no you don't. Bottomless trap hole activate! This will send Alexandrite Dragon to the graveyard."
"I end my turn."
"Then I can give you my final blow and end this game. Ancient dragon attack!"
The game was finally over and Akira just realized that he had been holding his breath. He had to admit that he was impressed of how Jonouchi used his cards. His strategy had a lot in common with Hikaru's strategy in go. He managed to make an apparently helpless creature in a fearsome dragon in just a few well played moves and use that dragon to win the game in a few more turns.
He finally understood how similar Duel Monsters was to go and the unfamiliar game suddenly gained his respect.
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Please R&R.