I know Ive said this by far, but this really is the best chapter so far. Sad, but the best. Its late, Ill add some notes as well as the next chapter preview tomorrow
Pro League Circuit!
Chapter 7: The Trouble with the Past (1)
It had been a long day. Kawari wasn't used to sitting behind a desk for an entire day. She was more interested in being in the field, in the line of fire, and leaving paperwork to cabinet members who were more suited for working at a desk.
Kawari was intently focused on her computer screen as she came close to finishing her report. She turned to her right to look at a paper that she was copying off of. She was about to turn back to her computer when suddenly a coffee cup filled with coffee was placed on the paper. Kawari casually looked up to see a tall, black haired man smiling down at her. He wore a black suit and a bright red tie, and his face was sharp and handsome.
"Can I help you?" She asked coldly. "I'm Tansei Jin, my office is right down the hall from yours. I just thought I'd stop by, say hi, bring you a cup of coffee." Kawari rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah right. Get lost, loser." Tansei laughed as Kawari turned back to her computer. He walked to the front of the desk and put a hand ontop of the monitor, causing Kawari to look up at him.
"Something bothering you?" Kawari glared at him. "What would give you that impression?" He chuckled slightly. "Well, "get lost loser" isn't much of a greeting."
Kawari bit her lower lip and let out a low growl. "Well, it seems like a fitting greeting when someone is snooping into your business." Tansei gave her a puzzled look. "Snooping? All I did was say hi."
"The affliction of your voice suggested that you were being overly casual, which in most situations is used because the speaker is looking for information and doesn't want to offender the person who knows what you want to find out. If you came in with your guns loaded you might put me on the defensive and make me reluctant to share with you what you want to know, so your being overly casual as to not be confrontational and straightforward."
Kawari slammed the enter key on her computer twice and looked up at Tansei, giving him a fake smile. "I have no interest in speaking with you in any way, shape, or form. Goodbye." Tansei laughed loudly. "Alright then, that's fine. Thank you for your time, I think my questions been answered anyways."
Tansei waved a little. "I'll see you around. Oh, and that cup of coffee is for you." He said, pointing at the cup he had set down on her paper. Kawari looked at it as Tansei began walking out of the room. "Wait." She called as he reached the door. "It worked. You've piqued my curiosity. What exactly did you learn from this encounter?"
Tansei put his hands in his pockets and slowly turned around. "Weeeeell, I came in here to ask you if you got this fancy office because your amazing at your job, or because of the incident that happened two months ago with the director. But, like I said, I got my answer."
Kawari looked around at her office. She spent so little time here she didn't even think of such a possibility. It was a very nice office. Her desk sat across the room from two large, glass doors with her name printed on the front of them, and her desk stretched across the entire wall. There was enough room on the floor for a very decorative Japanese-themed rug. Her walls were filled with shelves of plants, and pictures. She even had enough room for a large filing cabinet and two large potted plants. It was much more spacious then her old office, which was probably less then half the size of this one.
"I hadn't noticed how big it was." She said rather calmly. "I just thought that it was due to lack of space or something of that matter." Tansei nodded. "Well, I'll be going then." Kawari groaned. "Hold on again. What answer did you get?"
"That you got this place because your good at your job." Kawari genuinely smiled. "I never really put too much faith in the rumors going around here anyways. I'm not like those other guys who're threatening resignation or whatever over what happened with the director. He got what he deserved, they're just a buncha whiney babies…" Tansei said.
"Go ahead and finish." Kawari said. "What?" Tansei asked. "You trailed off. People commonly do that when they have more to say but they're afraid to say it. I want to hear what you have to say."
Tansei tapped a foot nervously and crossed his arms. "Well…..I….. I mean, it seems stupid now of coarse. Buuuut… I was going to tell you that if you were getting any heat from the guys around here you should let me know. But I think you can take care of yourself."
Tansei gave a little wave to Kawari and walked out of her office. At first she was angry, but her anger quickly subsided. She let out a frustrated sigh. "I can't believe I'm going to do this." She walked out of her office and waved a hand to Tansei. "Hey! Wait up."
Tansei turned around and stopped as Kawari caught up to him. "Although your motive to "protect" me was chauvinistic and ignorant, it was sort of sweet at the same time." Tansei grinned. "Really? Thanks." Kawari looked back at her office then turned back to Tansei. "Look, I'm almost done with that report, and I can finish it tomorrow. Do you want to go and get something to eat?"
Tansei rubbed the back of his head nervously and blushed. "Really? Right now? I dunno, I-" "It was a yes or no question." Kawari interrupted. "Of coarse!" Tansei said happily. "I had some things to take care of before leaving, but I can take care of it later." Kawari smiled a little. "Good, then lets go."
A few hours later, Kawari and Tansei stumbled out of a diner, laughing loudly. Kawari was laughing so hard that she actually tripped over Tansei's shoe and fell. This caused them both to laugh even harder. Tansei grabbed Kawari's hands and pulled her to her feet. She wobbled and leaned against Tansei's side to balance herself.
Tansei blushed a little as he and Kawari continued walking down the street with her pressed against his side and his arm around her. As they both began to calm down, Kawari spoke first. "Listen, its getting late. I should get going." Tansei looked at his wrist. "My watch says its only 10:30. That doesn't seem late to me."
Kawari smiled at him. "I know, but I have to get back to work early tomorrow to finish up that paperwork." Tansei groaned. "Awww, come on, just another hour!" Kawari's smile widened. "You seemed pretty reluctant to go out with me in the first place, why is it that now you suddenly don't want tonight to end?" Kawari stepped in front of Tansei and put a hand on his chest. "I hope your not looking to get me back to your house Tansei." She said as she drew her face closer to his.
Tansei blushed. He put a hand on Kawari's wrist and pulled her hand off of his chest. "I don't want tonight to end because I feel like I've finally gotten you to open up. At work your always so closed off and quiet." He leaned down a little so that his eyes met hers. "I just want to know more about you. And I feel like if we both part ways now, that'll never happen."
Kawari's entire face turned red. "Well, I guess I don't have to go home just yet… how about another hour?" Tansei's face lit up. "Alright then! I want to show you this really great place, its just a few blocks down!"
"Its beautiful." Kawari said in amazement.
The two of them were standing in front of a fountain in the middle of a park. Lush, green fields surrounded them on all sides, and smooth sidewalks formed paths all around the edges of the park, each one eventually traveling to the center, where the fountain was.
Water was shooting off in all directions from the enormous fountain. It was surrounded by a ring of varying fish and sea-serpents, all of which sprayed water into the center of the fountain, where a large winged dragon spat water straight up into the air. Lights surrounded the entire fountain, illuminating the water as it shot into the air.
Tansei sat down o the edge of the fountain between two statues. He scooted over a little as Kawari sat down next to him. "This is a really popular place, I'm surprised you haven't been out here before." Kawari looked down at her feet. "I don't really get out much." She mumbled.
Feeling as though he hat hit a bad spot, Tansei decided to change the subject. "You know each one of these statues is a duel monster, right? I always thought that was kind of funny." Kawari took her eyes off her feet and gave Tansei a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I know that some people are really into it and stuff, but I never really caught on. It always felt really childish to me. I just don't get why someone would make statues after monsters from a card game." Kawari scowled at him. "You know, there's a huge problem with psychic duelists right now. People getting hurt doesn't seem very childish to me."
Tansei froze. "Oh, that's right… that's your department, isn't it? Look, I'm sorry Kawari, I didn't mean it like that, I just… I think I don't like Duel Monsters because I was always bad at it as a kid." Kawari's expression softened. "What do you mean?"
Tansei looked away. "Well, you know. It was the big scene even in high school, and I was probably the worst player out of my entire school. Its hard to fit in when you don't follow the trends and stuff."
"I don't believe in changing yourself to suit others or certain conditions. The rules of Duel Monsters are laid out just like the law. They're straightforward and resolute. No matter what happens, you have to stick to those rules. That's why I like the game, there's nothing to change about you or how you play it. Its also why I hate cheaters. There's nothing worse then a cheater."
"So that's why your such an independent woman huh? Unwilling to budge even a little for anyone." Tansei said with a smile on his lips. "I'm guessing that's why you joined the cabinet too?" He asked. Kawari nodded. "And what about you? What made you choose this career path?"
Tansei looked up at the sky. "I guess because I like to help people. By solving murders and crimes and catching criminals, I give people closure, safety, peace. I feel like it brings people together, and unifies them. If there weren't any criminals in this world, we'd live in a much happier, unified place." Tansei looked down at the ground. "I just want to bring people together. Were all humans after all, right? We should all be able to live, and work together."
Tansei looked over at Kawari. He lifted a hand and went to put it on her hand, but he hit her pocket instead. "What is that?" He asked as he felt a large, square lump. Kawari jumped and moved away a little. "Um, its nothing…" Tansei laughed. "Don't try and fool me Kawari, I know what that is! I cant believe you brought your deck with!"
"Tansei, its not like that! Its Cabinet protocol to carry your deck with you-" Tansei put a hand on Kawari's shoulder and a finger on her lips. "Calm down Kawari, I'm just pulling your leg. C'mon, I wanna see your deck. Show me what kind of rare cards the Cabinet's given you." Kawari bit her lip nervously. "Alright I guess…"
She reached into her pocket and handed her deck box to Tansei. He opened it and took her deck out and began flipping through her cards. "I think another reason that I never liked this game is because I'm terribly unlucky. There's no way I could pull off some of the stuff the guys in the pro league do."
"What do you mean!" Kawari exclaimed suddenly. "Duel monsters isn't a game of luck!" Tansei was surprised by her outburst. "O-oh? Really? I didn't know that. Its just that sometimes I would need a certain card, and I wouldn't draw it, and-" Kawari snatched her deck out of his hands.
"A deck is supposed to represent who you are as a duelist. By modeling your deck after yourself, you project yourself into your cards. A duelist who's one with their deck doesn't rely on luck, but pure and undeniable skill. This deck is just as much apart of me as any of my other body parts are. But its more important then the rest of them. It speaks about me as a person, and tells people exactly who I am."
Tansei slowly and carefully pulled the deck out of Kawari's hands. "I see." He said as he began flipping through it again. "Well, it seems like you've got a lot of cards that are focused on earth, water, fire, and wind monsters in here. But the overall focus is clearly summoning and supporting Desert Twister, and Frost and Flame Dragon."
"That tells me that you're the kind of person who can weather anything. No matter what the conditions, no matter how drastically things change, you stand your ground, focusing only on the goal ahead of you." Kawari snatched her deck back again. "M-maybe you're a little right." She said as she put the deck back into its deck box. Tansei grabbed her hand. "I really respect that about you."
Kawari blushed and calmed down. "Thank you." She said quietly. They both sat in silence for a few minutes. "It's almost 11:30." Tansei said as he stood up. "I'll walk you home." Kawari got up and grabbed his hand. "Oh no you wont. I asked you out, I paid for the food, now I'm going to be the one to walk YOU home." Tansei laughed. "Alright, I wont argue it."
It was only a 10 minute walk back to Tansei's house, but Kawari walked as slow as possible. It took them 30 minutes to reach his townhouse a few blocks away.
"Well, I guess I'll see you at work tomorrow." Tansei said as they reached is front door. He gave Kawari a hug and unlocked the door. He was about to open it when Kawari put her hand on his. "Wait a minute. Aren't you going to give me a tour?" Tansei gave her a questioning look. "That look on your face tells me that your up to something." Kawari smiled innocently. "I'm just curious, that's all."
Tansei smiled back and opened the door. "Alright, a quick tour. But that's all."
"And, last but not least, my room. I was kind of hoping you would want to skip this one, I didn't have time to tidy up or anything." Tansei opened the door and ushered Kawari into his room. Despite what he had said, it was nearly spotless. One large, king sized bed sat against one wall, and across from it was a large dark brown dresser with a TV sitting on top of it.
The walls were painted a simple white, and off in the corner Kawari could see a closet. A small nightstand with a lamp on it sat next to the bed as well.
But the thing that caught here eye most was the bed. It was decorated with what must have been silk red sheets and golden pillows. "You liar, this place is spotless." Kawari said as she continued to look for any sign of filth.
"Well, I would have liked to vacuum and dust a little." Kawari took a few steps into the room and looked at Tansei's dresser. "You were talking to me earlier about opening up, but what about you? This house has some nice furniture and decorations, but it doesn't say anything about you."
"Unfortunately in the world of adults there isn't much freedom. People usually just laugh at you for putting up posters and stuff like that." Kawari stopped focusing on the dresser and turned around to look at Tansei.
"What's wrong with you?" She asked suddenly. Tansei almost jumped at the question. "Um, what?" Kawari shook her head. "I mean, why are you always so concerned with what other people do or think? You should think about what's important to you, and what you want to do. That's the only way you can be happy in life."
Tansei took a step forward towards Kawari. "Heh, sorry. I know its pretty silly, but I cant help it. I like helping people, and making people happy. You know, its not always a bad thing to let people help you. It means that they care about you." Tansei put a finger on Kawari's chin and lifted it so that her eye's met his. "You don't have to close yourself off just because your worried about getting hurt."
Kawari gazed deep into Tansei's eyes for a minute. Before she knew what she was doing, she leaned up and kissed him. Tansei was surprised at first, but after a few seconds he began kissing her back. Kawari reached behind him and turned the lights off. In the dark Tansei lost his footing and fell backwards onto his bed, with Kawari on top of him.
Tansei pulled away from her. "Look, it's late. Do you want me to give you a ride home? Bec-" Kawari put a hand on his mouth and silenced him. "I don't want to go anywhere. This is where I want to be right now. And I don't think anything in my entire life has felt more right."
Two Years Later
"I cant believe I'm stuck behind this desk two days in a row." Kawari mumbled to herself. Her head frequently went from looking at her computer, to reading the paper next to her. She was in the middle of typing when suddenly everything went black.
"Guess who?" Kawari laughed and pulled the hands off of her eyes. "Tansei you jerk, you messed me up." She hit the backspace key several times as Tansei pulled up a chair next to her. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "So, what're you working on today?"
"Nothing, I'm just filling out the report on that last psychic duelist we put away." Tansei nodded. "I see. We'll your probably too busy for good news then." Tansei said as he stood up. "I'll just be go-" Kawari grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back into his seat. "Don't even try it! You know I hate it when you do that. Besides, I have good news too."
Tansei gave her a questioning look. "Oh really? Who goes first then?" Kawari stopped typing and turned towards him. "I doubt that your news tops mine, so I'll go first." Kawari grabbed Tansei's hands and began rubbing the backs of them with her thumbs. She stopped every time she reached his ring, enjoying how cold and smooth it was.
"Are you ready?" She asked him excitedly. Tansei nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be!" "Ok! I went to see the doctor this morning like you said I should…. And I'm pregnant!"
All of the color drained out of Tansei's face. "Wha- your…. that's great!" Kawari's excitement died. "What's wrong? Aren't you happy?" Tansei shook his head. "No, it's just- of coarse I'm excited! This is incredible." Kawari gave him a stern look. "Don't try that on me. You know you can't lie to me." Tansei stuttered for a minute before letting out a deep breath. "Ok, fine. I am uncontrollably excited. But I'm scared too."
"What's there to be afraid of? Listen, I promise you that your going to be a good father! And nothing is going to change between-" "No, that's not it." He interrupted. Tansei got up and started pacing. "My good news was that we got the psychic duelist you caught to talk, and he spilled the whereabouts of a hideout with more then 30 incredibly advanced psychic duelists. I wanted to let you know that they're sending in a team tonight to catch them and that they wanted you in, but now I don't think that it's a very good idea, I me-"
Kawari got up and grabbed one of his hands. "Calm down, calm down. Listen, nothing is going to happen to me. I'm only a month and a half pregnant, I'll be fine." Tansei refused to look her in the eyes. Kawari put a hand on the side of his face and gently turned him towards her. "Nothing is going to happen to me, ok? I'll be fine." Tansei smiled. "Your right, your absolutely right. But I'm going with you. I'm going to talk to the chief about putting me on the team." Tansei gave Kawari a kiss and turned to leave. "Wait, hold on a second!" Kawari caught up with him and grabbed his hand. "You don't have a duel disk, a deck, and even if you did you're a terrible duelist."
Tansei laughed. "That's why I'm going in armed. I've come across very few problems in life that a gun can't solve." Tansei gave her another kiss and walked out. Kawari walked followed him. "Were both going to be sticking together tonight!" She yelled to him as he walked down the hall.
Tansei had made it just in time to the directors room, and after explaining the situation he was more then happy to let him join the unit going after the group of psychic duelists.
And so, Kawari and Tansei had spent the entire night being debriefed, and coming up with their own plan with each other in case things went bad. The group left at 7:00 in an armored van, and arrived at the deserted warehouse at 8:00.
"Now, there's always a chance that this is a setup." The team's leader announced. "It's especially risky considering that were short quite a number of men. While they have at least 30, we have only 15. Its going to be dangerous. And no, we wont be able to catch them all. But we do have a few prime suspects."
The team leader pulled a paper out of his pocket and passed it around. "Brutus Cespice, and this man, who's name is unconfirmed. He goes by the King." Kawari and Tansei looked at the two faces on the poster. One was of a dark, apparently African man. Only his face and some of his shoulders were visible, but they could both see that he was enormous.
The other was a thin, old man with a tussled head of grey hair. He was very thin, and his face had black grease smudged on it. "They don't look too bad." Kawari whispered to Tansei. Tansei passed the paper on to the next person.
"I don't want anyone to worry about how many guys there are, or how strong they are. Surveillance shows that at least 10 of them are inexperienced duelists, and still incapable of fully controlling their psychic powers. Were going to keep on our toes and watch out for any surprises. At the same time I want you to hit them with everything you've got. Watch each others backs, and stick to the plan."
The back doors to the van opened, and everyone filed out. Tansei and Kawari were to climb up the fire escape on the right side of the building and enter the top floor of the building. From there they were to count the number of people in the building, and signal for everyone to attack.
"You look kind of pale honey. Something bothering you?" Kawari asked Tansei. "I'm fine. I just don't want this to turn out to be a trap." Kawari grabbed his hand. "Don't worry. We're in the least amount of danger out of everyone here. Were going to be fine.
Kawari and Tansei silently climbed the fire escape ladder up to the escape door. Luckily for them, it was already open. They looked around and saw that there were no guards and slipped into the warehouse.
The two stood on a metal walkway that circled the walls of the old warehouse. The center was open, allowing a person to look down at the floor below. Kawari activated her duel disk and Tansei readied his handgun.
They slowly moved to the edge of the railing and looked down. The entire floor below was empty. "This doesn't make any sense. He said that there was going to be a meeting held tonight." Kawari whispered. "I mean, if they're not here it has to have been-" "Kawari!"
Kawari felt her feet leave the ground, and her body flying forward out of control. There was a loud bang, and suddenly there was nothing but air beneath them. Kawari's eyes widened with terror as she felt herself begin to fall.
She braced for impact, but it never came. There was a loud sound, like something smashing into metal, and she wasn't falling anymore. Kawari shakily lifted herself to her feet. She had landed in a dumpster that was in the alleyway. She looked down at her feet and saw that she had landed on a very old mattress, which had cushioned most of the fall. To her left was Tansei. He had one arm outstretched to where Kawari had landed.
Tansei must have grabbed me before… Kawari looked up at the building above them. There was fire coming out of the large gaping hole where the fire escape door once was. Kawari looked back at Tansei. He was unconscious, and there was a small amount of blood trickling down his face.
Kawari felt tears well up in her eyes. She felt his neck. Good, he still has a pulse. "Everything's going to be alright Tansei. Everything's going to be alright…" She whispered as she lifted him up and gently placed him on the mattress.
Kawari pressed a button on the walkie-talkie on her shoulder. "This is Kawari, reporting in that it's a trap. I repeat, it's a set up. Check the surrounding areas, at least 1 psychic duelist has been confirmed." Kawari heard footsteps in the alley. She covered Tansei as best she could and hopped out of the alley with her duel disk ready.
A teenager, probably 16 or 17 at least was standing there, ready to greet her. He had his duel disk activated and a giant monster made of blue flames stood behind him. "I'm surprised you survived that. I put as much power into Frembell devil's attack, just like they told me to." You guys must be strong.
Kawari pressed a button on her duel disk, and a metal claw shot out of it and attached to the boy's duel disk. "An explosive grapple?" He laughed. "You must be mistaken. I have no intentions of dueling you! Frembell devil!" Suddenly blood exploded from the boy's shoulder. His face went pale and he dropped to the ground unconscious. Kawari looked and saw Tansei climb out of the dumpster.
"Tansei" she yelled excitedly. She ran over to him and hugged him. He hugged her back. "Don't worry, that kid'll be fine. The bullet should've just gone through his shoulder. He wont die."
Kawari gave Tansei a kiss. "I'm glad your ok." Tansei gave her a quick hug. "We should get out of here, its not safe now that we know it's a setup." Kawari nodded as Tansei grabbed her hand and began to lead her out of the alley.
"You wont be safe just because you get out of this place." Kawari and Tansei stopped as a shadowy figure stepped out in front of the alley way exit. "You can run, and hide, and maybe you'll feel a little safe." The figure said as it slowly began to step forward. "But the Cabinet is our main target. We will not rest until it crumbles into the earth, until its entirely destroyed. Until the discrimination against our kind is put to an end."
Kawari and Tansei saw a set of pure white teeth appear. They formed a smile on the face of the shadowy figure. "Until were recognized for our superiority."
What's with this feeling? Its ominous, it feels like I'm being sucked into a black void of despair. Kawari shook her head. No, I can't think like that. The second I let up my guard its over.
Tansei raised his gun. "Sir, you are under arrest for associating with psychic duelists. If you have a duel disk and deck, I want them on the ground now." The smile vanished. "Hmph, there you go again, discriminating against us for no reason." Sweat began forming on Tansei's forehead. "Duel disk and deck, now." The smile returned.
"Ohh, you mean these?" He removed something from his arm and placed it on the ground. Tansei squinted and saw that it was infact a duel disk with a deck loaded into it. "Good, now I want you up against the wall with your hands behind your back."
Something isn't right here… Kawari thought to herself. She suddenly turned around and whipped her explosive grapple into the darkness behind them. There was a loud clank and she pulled on the cord, causing a man to stumble out of the shadows into the light of the fire.
The shadow clicked its tongue. "Now now Rokotsu, you weren't supposed to get caught. I told you to keep quiet and wait until they went to arrest me."
Rokotsu struggled with the explosive grapple that was now attached to his duel disk. "Grrrrr, ****! King, get this thing off of my disk! Get off!" The shadow took a step forward into the light and picked up it's duel disk.
"I'm sorry Rokotsu, but its your fault that you got caught. You shouldn't have screwed up like that. Then you wouldn't be in this situation." Rokotsu continued to struggle with the cord. "Settle down over there. The only way to get it off is to remove your disk." Kawari said.
Rokotsu stopped struggling for a minute and looked at her with rage. He then looked down at his duel disk. He went to undo the clasp, then suddenly started struggling again. "DAAAMN BIIITCH!" He yelled as he tugged at the cord. Kawari laughed. "Seems you've still got some pride as a duelist. Let's start then."
Tansei took a few steps forward towards King. "So your King, huh? Your at the top of the list of people we need to haul back with us. Drop the disk, or I'll shoot." King looked up at Tansei. He was leaning down and had one hand on his disk. "Alright then, I'll leave it here." He said as he began pulling his hand away.
"Or not." Before Tansei could react he pulled a card off the top of his deck and threw it onto the duel disk. Light began glowing in front of the disk, where Tansei stood. He grabbed Kawari by the waist and leapt backwards as a giant red mechanical dragon appeared.
Fusilier Dragon, huh? Pretty good draw, King." Kawari scrambled to her feet as another voice spoke from behind Rokotsu.
"Ahh, Brutus. Nice to see you. I thought things might get messy with just Rokotsu here. He's not very competent." King said happily
Brutus slowly stepped out of the shadows with a duel disk activated. Enraged Battle Ox walked just as slowly behind him. "Yeah, everyone else is getting caught. I did my best to help them out, but they're panicking. Nobodies sticking to the plan. I figured I'd find you and help you out if you needed it."
Brutus grinned as Enraged Battle Ox began chopping at the steel cord connecting Rokotsu and Kawari's duel disks. "Looks like you've got these guys pinned down. I love cornered prey." Brutus said, licking his lips.
"Yeah, this is shaping up to be a good time. I think we can have some fun with these two now." King said with a laugh, Fusilier roar and began charging the laser cannons on it's shoulders. "Like hell you will!"
King yelled as Tansei punched him hard in the face, knocking him backwards and causing him to fall face first into the ground. He then jumped onto the neck of Fusilier and climbed his way to its head in seconds. He put his handgun away and pulled an AK-47 off of his back, which he pointed directly a the beasts head. He pulled the trigger and held it, letting loose a round of bullets in the machine's head.
The mechanical dragon screamed as smoke began pouring out of the bullet holes. Tansei jumped down to its body and hopped off as its head exploded. Kawari couldn't help but smile. Cocky *******s, they got so busy talking that they didn't even notice Tansei.
Tansei immediately walked over to King and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "Nice try buddy, but all you did was buy yourself even more time in jail." He cuffed one of his hands, but the other was trapped beneath his body. Tansei reached for his arm to pull it out from underneath him.
"Tansei!" Kawari yelled. Enraged Battle Ox had given up on the metal cord and instead charged at Tansei with its axe raised high. Kawari jumped at the beast and knocked it to the ground. It thrashed and raged as Kawari tried her best to keep it down. The point of its sharp weapon occasionally sc***** her shoulder, but she contained it.
Tansei smiled as Kawari pinned the beast. "Nice job, Kawari! Damn, and that thing's at least two feet taller then you!" Tansei laughed as he went to cuff King's other hand.
It wasn't in his hand anymore.
King turned around and slammed another card into his duel disk. Suddenly a large laser gun appeared in his hand. Tansei moved to the right, only to realize that the gun wasn't aimed at him, but behind him.
It was aimed at Kawari.
Tansei grabbed King's hand and pulled it towards him. King's expression of joy suddenly turned to one of shock as he fired at Tansei's stomach from point blank. The blast traveled through his stomach and continued on to Enraged Battle Ox. The monster yelled as the blast traveled through its chest and shattered it into millions of pixels.
Tansei gasped as he fell forward onto the ground. King made a disgusted face and pulled himself out from underneath his lifeless body. Brutus quickly rushed over to him. "King, King! Get up, there's at least 7 more armed men coming this way! We've gotta leave now or were never getting out of here!" King nodded as Brutus helped the old man to his feet.
"Don't think that this is over, woman. The jobs only half finished. We'll come back for you, you can be sure of that." King spat on the back of Tansei's head. "You can count on it."
Rokotsu shrieked. "KING, KING! ME! HELP ME! DON'T WANNA GET CAUGHT! HELP!" Brutus looked back at Rokotsu. "Sorry Rokotsu, but there's no time. Good luck to you." Brutus and King hobbled off as Rokotsu continued to shriek.
Kawari stumbled over to Tansei's limp body. She put a hand on his neck, and felt nothing. Blood continued to pour out of his stomach as Kawari lifted Tansei's lifeless body and held it in her arms.
She didn't cry. She didn't scream. Her face didn't turn red with anger, and her face didn't twist with hate. She simply held Tansei tightly in her arms with a calm expression on her face.
"*****!" Rokotsu screamed. "YOU *****! YOU MADE THEM ABANDON ME! NOW, I'M GOING TO…!" Rokotsu charged at Kawari with a hand outstretched, ready to claw at any part of her he could reach. Kawari gently set Tansei on the ground as Rokotsu charged. He was inches from her when she turned around and drove the bottom of her foot into his stomach.
"UGWAH!" He yelled as he was knocked flying backwards. He continued to skid against the ground until he was snapped back by the metal cord connecting him to Kawari. "How about this then? If you beat me in this duel, you get to walk free." Rokotsu jumped to his feet. "Finish you off in one turn! One turn and your done!"
"Good, come at me with everything you've got." Kawari said as she drew five cards. "After all, I've got a lot of anger I need to pour into you. If you hold back, they'll be throwing you in a coffin instead of a jail cell."
"Desert Twister, direct attack! AVALANCHE TYPHOON!" Desert Twister shrieked as its tornado increased dramatically in size. Rokotsu screamed as the tornado lashed out at him, pelting him with giant boulders and incredibly strong winds. As his life points dropped to 0, his duel disk exploded.
The other members of Kawari's team had arrived on the scene several minutes ago, but waited until the duel was over on Kawari's request. Now that Rokotsu had lost, they swarmed the area like bees on honey.
"One fatality, Tansei Jin…" Kawari heard someone say into a walkie talkie. She heard helicopters in the distance, and even an ambulance had showed up. A member of her team came up to her and walked her over to the van they had arrived in where he sat down and talked to her for awhile.
But even as all this was going on, Kawari felt like everything was silent.
"I told you I wanted to use my own deck god damnit!" Kawari hissed furiously as she walked quickly down the dimly lit hallway.
A short, skinny man in a suit with circular glasses took long strides to keep up with her fast pace. "I put in the request to the Cabinet, but they said no! They said that it would blow your cover! They said that with the odds that have been given to you its incredibly unlikely that you'll lose.!"
"Incredibly unlikely? That's a big fat pile of horse ****! I'm going up against one of the U9 for christ sake!" Kawari attached her neon pink duel disk and adjusted her wig. "If I lose to this ******* I'm going back to the Cabinet with my guns loaded." She said angrily as she stepped out of the tunnel onto the duel field.
"And here she is! The Pro League's NUMBER ONE cute-deck duelist! Brittany Pinkella!" The announcers voice echoed through the tunnel as the man began walking back down it. "Damn she's scary…"
Kawari raised a hand as the crowd erupted in cheers. Instead of her shoulder length black hair, she wore a bright pink wig that only went past her ears. She wore a white and pink mini-skirt, and a bright pink tank top.
"Keep cheering everyone! Your cheers make my deck SUUUUPER happy!" She said in the cutesiest voice she could. Although she had a huge smile on the outside, she was furious on the inside. I hate my alias…
"And her opponent! The self proclaimed human form of the machine kiiing! Lance T. Yonborg!" The crowd erupted in cheers as an old man emerged from the tunnel. Despite his age, his hair still appeared to be a healthy shade of light brown, and his face was wide and rigid.
Kawari kept up her smile in order to keep her alias, but on the inside she was looking at Lance with pure hatred. That *******…. No matter how much he changes his face, or hair, I can still see the person underneath. There's no way I'm going to lose.
The crowd erupted in a series of boos and Lance slowly walked over to the duel platform. He was handed a rigid, square duel disk with tons of shiny bolts and wires attached to it. As Lance stepped up onto the stage people began throwing drinks and food down at him.
Despite this, he had a confident smile spread across his face. Kawari threw a peace sign into the air. "Don't worry everyone! I'll be sure to make this a super fun duel! There's no way my cute monsters will lose to those ugly machines!"
"I see. So this is what you've resorted to after that night, is it? Did you suffer a mental breakdown, or was he holding you back from dueling half naked in front of millions of people?" Lance muttered under his breath, loud enough so that Kawari could hear him.
"Beauty before age!" Kawari giggled as she drew five cards from her deck, and then a sixth. "I summon Agido in defense position! Then I activate Graceful Charity! I'll draw 3 cards, then discard two!"
"Brittany starts the duel with heavy drawing power! What card could she be trying to draw out with these tactics?" The announcer yelled excitedly.
"One card facedown! Your turn, grandpa!" Lance nodded and slowly drew a card. "I summon Fusilier Dragon, the Dual Mode Beast in attack position! When Fusilier is summoned without tributes, its attack points are halved." Kawari's heart skipped a beat as the mechanical red dragon appeared on the field.
"An old favorite of Lance's! But Fusilier Dragon is never alone in his deck! Let's see what cards he combos with it!" The announcer screamed. Lance laughed. "Such a pathetic deck you have, isn't it! I'll spare you the suffering of dragging this duel out and end it quickly! I activate my spell card, Prototype In! By sending Fusilier to the graveyard, I can summon Machine King Prototype from my deck!"
"Machine King Prototype gains 100 attack for each machine type monster on the field, including himself. Next I'll play Junk Workshop! This card will special summon Fusilier from my graveyard with its attack points halved!" (Attack: 1400)
"With these tactics, Lance has already summoned 2 monsters in a single turn!" Lance laughed. "Two? I'll be summoning more then that! Reckless Summoning of Hell, activate! With this card, I can special summon 2 more Fusilier Dragons from my deck to the field. You can then special summon as many Agido from your deck to the field."
"Th-Th-There it is! Four monsters in one turn! Let's all pray that Brittany's facedown card is something that can protect her, or this duel is over!" The announcer screamed in the microphone.
Two more giant red dragons appeared next to the first one as one more Agido appeared on Kawari's field. "With 4 machines, Machine King Prototype's attack increases by 400!" (Attack: 2000)
"Now, my weakened Fusilier will attack Agido! Dual Laser!" The two lasers mounted on the dragon's shoulder's began charging green light before firing at Kawari's fairy. She shielded herself as the monster was blown apart. Wh-whats going on? That wasn't anything like the attack of a psychic duelist. It just felt like the usual solid vision stuff. What exactly is going on here?
"You old dummy! Now Agido's effect will activate! I roll a dice, and then I can summon a fairy with a level equal to what I roll! Here we go! Diiiiiice, roll!"
A shadowy image of Agido appeared above Kawari and exploded, causing an orange dice to drop onto the field. It bounced around for awhile before landing on 6.
"Hurray! If I get a 6, I can summon a level 6 or higher monster! I'll special summon my discarded monster! Come on, Guardian Angel Joan!" The dice began to shine and the field was engulfed in bright light as Guardian Angel Joan appeared.
"Its only the second turn, and Kawari has already summoned the powerful, beautiful, elegant St. Joan! How will Lance respond to this!" The announcer said dramatically. Lance didn't waver. "Fusilier, attack Guardian Angel Joan! Dual Laser!"
The dragon once again fired two laser blasts at Kawari's Joan. Joan raised its wings into the air and they began to glow. The laser's pierced her wings just as she created a flash of light that enveloped the field, destroying Fusilier.
"Joan is gone just as quickly as she came! But with one more Agido left, Brittany still has the chance to summon her again!"
"With one less Machine, Machine King Prototype will lose 100 attack. (Attack:1900) But this is still more then enough to beat Agido. Machine King Prototype! Attack her Agido!"
Once again an orange dice was dropped onto Kawari's field. It bounced twice before landing on 5. Kawari cheered. "Today I'm suuuper lucky! I'll summon Angel of Might -Vac in defense position!
"Fusilier! Attack her Angel of Might! Dual Laser!" Kawari flinched as Vac shattered. "You meanie, I wont forgive you for destroying my cute monsters." Lance ignored her as he played a facedown card. "I place one card facedown. Turn end."
"Its myyyyyyyyyy turn!" Kawari exclaimed as she drew a card. "First I'll play Soul Release! Guardian Angel Joan, both my Agido, and your Fusilier will be removed from the game! Bye-bye!"
Lance pulled Fusilier out of his graveyard and put it in his pocket. "And what do you intend to do with such a move?" He asked Kawari as she put 2 of the 3 monsters in her bra. "I'll play my trap, Miracle Arrival! This card will bring Guardian Angel Joan back to the field! Hurray!"
"Brittany's ace returns!" The announcer yelled. "Next I'll activate Court of Justice! When I control a level 1 Fairy monster, I can summon a fairy from my hand. And I have the greatest level 1 fairy of all time! I summon my Guide of Victory Freya in attack!" (Attack: 100)
Lance laughed. "What a useless monster. It seems that it only helps in calling out stronger ones, doesn't it?" Kawari waggled a finger at him. "Dooont underestimate my guys! Freya will give all Fairy monsters 400 extra attack!" (Freya's Attack: 500) (Joan's Attack: 3200)
"Now Court of Justice will specially summon Athena from my hand to the field!" Lance watched as a beam of light shot down from above Kawari and an elegant, giant woman appeared on her field.
"Three monsters in just one turn! With two of them at 3000 and higher, Lance will be in for a rough time!"
"Now I'll activate Celestial Transformation! This will special summon a Fairy from my hand with its attack and defense points halved! I summon Gellen Duo from my hand!" (Attack: 850)
Summon as many trashy monsters as you want, they're powerless in the face of my planet monster. Lance thought as he surveyed Kawari's field. "Such pathetic things. Do you really think that they stand a chance in the face of my mighty machine monsters?"
"We'll see! Athena's effect! When a Fairy type monster is summoned, you lose 600 life points!" Lance remained motionless as Athena shot a beam of light into his shoulder.
Brittany's Life points: 4000
Lance's Life Points: 3400
"Now I'll use Athena's other effect! By tributing Gellen Duo, I can special summon a fairy from my grave! I tribute Gellen Duo to summon Angel of Might - Vac to the field in attack position!" (Attack: 2600) "Now Athena's effect will activate!"
Brittany's Life Points: 4000
Lance's Life Points: 2800
"Brittany has countered Lance's play on his previous turn with three monsters of her own! Will he survive like she did, or is this the end of the duel!"
"Athena, attack his Fusilier! Peace-Bringing Spear!" Athena rushed forward with her spear and stabbed at Fusilier. Lance grinned. "I activate my trap card, Spare Parts Garage!"
Several fiendish looking mechanics jumped out of Lance's trap card and jumped on his weakened Fusilier. They quickly began pulling it apart with various tools, tossing all the pieces onto the ground. They then took the pieces and constructed a giant shield in front of Lance's other Fusilier and Machine King Prototype.
"This card requires me to offer one machine type monster as a tribute. In return, all damage coming from machine type monsters until my next turn is reduced to zero!" Kawari pouted and crossed her arms. "That's no fun, I was going to win. Turn end."
"Lance has survived Brittany's onslaught this turn! But with only one card on hand, this may be his last draw! He'll have to go through all of Kawari's monsters before he can reach Freya, meaning he must summon a monster with over 3200 attack to surive!"
Lance snapped a card of the top of his deck and grinned. "This duel is over. I tribute Fusilier Dragon the Dual Mode Beast and Machine King Prototype to summon my ace monster!" Kawari took a step back. Ace monster? Then, the only monster he could be summoning is-
"The big SATURN!" The crowd was silent with awe as Lance announced the summoning of his strongest monster. The giant mechanical monster appeared on the field with its arms floating high above its head, ready to attack. "I'll activate the effect of The Big Saturn! By discarding 1 card, and giving up 1000 life points, I can increase its attack by 1000!"
The Big Saturn began to transform, revealing an arsenal of missiles and laser as its attack rose. (Attack: 3800). Lance began laughing. "Now, The big SATURN! Attack her Angel of Might - Vac! The End of Cosmos!"
The Big Saturn let loose every weapon in its arsenal at Kawari's fairy. The attack was so strong that she didn't see its destruction. There was a flash of light, a loud bang, and when she opened her eyes, Vac was gone.
Brittany's Life points: 2800
Lance's Life points: 1800
"Baaad idea!" Kawari taunted. "You should have attacked Athena or Joan. Now your out of cards, and on my next turn I can use either one of my monsters to kill Saturn and finish you off! Its my wiiiiin~"
Lance began cackling as Saturn's weapons began to disappear. "Next turn? Don't embarrass yourself! This duel's dragged on for long enough! Its going to end now!" Kawari gave Lance a puzzling look. "What do you mean?"
Lance showed her the trap card he discarded. "When Faulty Engine is sent to the graveyard, its placed in my opponents graveyard." He explained as he threw the card perfectly into Kawari's duel disk. "And now by removing a machine type monster in my graveyard from the game, I can force you to use Faulty Engine's effect! By removing it in your graveyard from the game, you must destroy a monster on the field!"
"What's this old geezer aiming at?" Someone in the audience asked. "This old mans off his rocker, he's putting himself down for the count!" Another person said with fear in their voice. "Just forfeit before you embarrass yourself old man!"
"Oh my! The big SATURN has an effect to deal damage to both players equal to its attack when its destroyed by a card effect! It appears that Lance is going to try and end the duel in a tie!" The announcer said excitedly.
Kawari giggled. "Silly old man. You can't beat me, so you have to resort to such a dirty trick. Your funny, but you still wont win. This will be the first time a member of the U9 didn't win a duel~!" Kawari said happily. She threw up a peace sign. "I win!"
Lance remained calm. "Oh, I don't intend on losing little girl. Did you forget the effect of Spare Parts Garage? I can't take damage through machine type monsters battling, or through their effects." The ghoulish mechanics from Lance's trap card emerged once more and moved the shield in front of him. There was a small opening in the front of the Shield for Lance to look through. One mechanic approached him with a pair of sunglass-like goggles.
"Ah, why thank you." He said as he slipped them on. "Now I'll remove Fusilier Dragon the Dual Mode Beast to force the activation of Faulty Engine!" Gasps were heard throughout the crowd. "This old man is nuts!" "That's an OTK!" "His playing style is brutal!" "I like his style!" "Way to go crazy, old man!"
Kawari's face went pale and she gulped as The big SATURN began emitting large amounts of smoke. It made loud clanking noises before exploding, sending light and fire everywhere.
"Double Impact." Lance muttered as Kawari was knocked backwards of the duel stage.
Brittany's Life Points: 0
Lance's Life Points: 1800
"Th-That's the game! The winner of this duel is none other then Lance T. Yonborg!" The crowd erupted in a series of cheers and boos. The cheers were directed at Lance, while the boos at Kawari. Two men in suits rushed over to her and helped her to her feet.
"The crowd's going berserk, we have go get out of here!" One of them muttered. Already Kawari could hear angry screams and the trampling of feet. She quickly rushed for the tunnel she had entered in, but the angry fans had already rushed over it. She heard screams of money and statistics, as well as derogatory names and swears.
The stadium security couldn't control the crowd. At least one hundred people were rushing after her. The two men pulled out their guns and pointed them at the crowd. Some stopped, but some kept running. Kawari lashed out as she heard gunshots, but there were too many of them, and the crowd overwhelmed her like a sea of rage.
Kawari sat with her head down, her wig now gone, with her disorderly black hair hanging over her face.
"I really did try. I tried and I tried and I tried but they just wouldn't listen! They said that they would know who you were, that it would ruin everything! I'm sorry, I'm really sorry!" The skinny man from earlier said desperately as he paced in front of Kawari.
She was sitting in the locker room at the end of the tunnel with nothing but a towel rapped around her body. Large gashes were visible on her arms and legs, and a few on her neck and back.
"They say that the final move Lance pulled and how hyped the duel was is what made the crowd go wild. At least, that's what they said on the news. I know this wouldn't have happened if you had your own deck, I cant even tell you how sorry I am."
Kawari looked up at him. Both eyes were swollen and black, and she had gashes on her left cheek from where someone had clawed at her. There was dried blood all over her nose, and she had a large bandage on her forehead.
"Do you have any idea what its like to be attacked by one hundred people? Do you know what its like to fight off a wave of human bodies? How about what its like to be beaten senseless, or have your cloths ripped off, or LOSE to the man who murdered someone you care about! HUH! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT'S LIKE?"
The man bit his lower lip as though he was debating whether or not to say something. "Look, they said that they've confirmed that he's not the guy." Kawari angrily jumped to her feet and began pacing, shaking her head the entire time. "They did a thorough investigation, its just a coincidence. There aren't any links between the two, there isn't any proof, its n-"
"No. No no no no no no no no NO! Don't feed me that bull****! I don't want to hear it anymore! That's him, do you hear me! That is him!" Kawari grabbed the man by his tie and pulled his face close to his.
"Listen to me, and listen to me good. Next time the Cabinet tells you I can't use my deck, you burn the one they give me, and you bring me my own god damned deck anyways! And then maybe Ill win! And then MAYBE ITLL BE YOUR ASS ON THE LINE INSTEAD OF MINE! HOW DOES THAT SOUND!" The man shivered with fear as Kawari released him.
She stormed off towards the door. "And tell them that if they're going to give me an alias, to turn me into something besides a DAMN PANSY!" She yelled as she smashed a garbage can next to the door.
The man sat there shaking with fear. It wasn't what Kawari said, or her actions that scared him. It was how she said it. After losing her husband, her baby, losing to the man responsible for her husband's death, and getting beaten to a pulp and stripped of her cloths on TV. in front of millions, she didn't shed a single tear.
He shook with fear, because the only thing he felt inside of her was complete and utter rage. She didn't cry, she didn't break down in shock, or let fear overtake her. She weathered it all, and came out looking sturdy and strong, and feeling incredibly angry.
This week's custom cards
Prototype In
[Normal Spell]
Select and activate one of the following effects:
Tribute 1 Machine-type monster to special summon 1 "Machine King Prototype" from your deck
Tribute 1 "Machine King Prototype" to special summon 1 "Machine King" from your deck
Tribute 1 "Machine King" to special summon 1 "Perfect Machine King" from your deck
Junk Workshop
[Normal Spell]
Special summon 1 machine type monster from your graveyard in attack position with its attack and defense halved. The monster summoned with this effect cannot be tributed for a tribute summon, or be used in a synchro summon.
Spare Parts Garage
[Normal Trap]
Tribute 1 machine type monster on your side of the field. Until the end of your next turn, all damage done to a machine type monster on your side of the field is reduced to 0, and you cannot take damage from a battle involving a machine type monster. All effect damage done to your life points by the effects of machine type monsters is reduced to 0 until your next endphase.
Faulty Engine
[Normal Trap]
When this card is sent to the graveyard, send it to your opponents graveyard. While this card is in the graveyard, you opponent can remove 1 machine type monster in their graveyard from play to force you to activate the following effect
Destroy 1 Machine type monster on your opponents side of the field.
I dunno if I slowed things down any more, but I did mean for it to be sort of a fast-paced flashback type of setting. I didnt want to give away too much because I plan to reference back to all of this later and give a little more information on a few things, so I wanted to write it in a way where it would be moving fast, and still leave many questions unanswered
I know, I know. Vac is a level 6 fairy. I originally intended for Kawari to summon Lightlord Angel Cherubim, but it had 100 more attack then I wanted. I ended up stumbling across Vac with his perfect 2200 attack and adding him, only to learn that he was a level 6 fairy. Still, nothing really would have changed. Lance just wouldnt have attacked, and Kawari would have gotten a different fairy besides Joan with Miracle Arrival, and maybe done 600-1200 more with Athena. Nothing game changing though