Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!
Now, onwards to the tournament!
Three months passed and it was just becoming summer when the World Tournament was announced. Ryo watched the screen as Kaiba announced the rules for this tournament.
'Alongside Battle City rules, duelists will now have eight thousand life points, and if two opponents meet anywhere within the parameters of Downtown Domino, they must stop and duel. If you defeat one of the finalists from the Battle City finals, you will be given a pack of rare cards as a bonus to their rarest card. But if they defeat you, you're disqualified from the tournament.
'In exactly five minutes, Japan's round of the World Tournament will begin!'
Ryo looked at the clock and saw it was five to twelve. Everyone had their eyes on it until it chimed, and Ryo's duel disk lit up as she engaged her first opponent.
'I didn't think I'd duel you Bakura Ryo, but here goes!'
The guy drew a card and announced, 'I play Gemini Elf, in attack mode, and set two cards! I end my turn.'
She drew a card and glanced at her hand before telling Bakura, /I play Gravekeeper's Servant, which now means every time you attack, you must discard from the top of your deck.\
As she activated the card, Bakura's voice repeated what she said, from a speaker on the headset she wore. Her opponent jerked in surprise and demanded, 'Who's that talking?! You haven't even moved your lips!'
She pointed at her headset, then continued her turn. /I set two cards and then play Cost Down, which allows me to summon the Summoned Skull without sacrifice to the field. I'll attack your Gemini Elf!\
'Not so fast! I activate my trap card, Negate!'
She nodded and glanced at her last card before announcing, /I end my turn.\
'I sacrifice Gemini Elf to summon Amphibian Beast! I'll upgrade its attack by equipping Axe of Despair to it, making its attack points rise to thirty-four hundred! I attack your Summoned Skull!'
She let it die and lost nine hundred life points. Gravekeeper's Servant activated and he discarded the top card of his deck to the graveyard. She waited for him to end his turn, so she was surprised when he commented, 'That card's bugging me already, so I'll activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the face down card closest to Gravekeeper's Servant!'
She grinned and pressed the button to activate that card. /I activate my trap card, Judgment of Anubis! I discard the only card in my hand to negate the activation of Mystical Space Typhoon and then its second effect comes into play: your Amphibian Beast is destroyed and you lose thirty-four hundred life points!\
/Very well done, Ryo.\\
/Thanks. I got that tactic after I saw Rishid use it in his duel against Jonouchi. I knew he'd try to destroy my cards eventually, but I never thought it would be as soon as his second turn.\
'I end my turn!'
She drew a card and smirked. /I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn.\
'Is that all? Are you scared now that I've proven that I have strong monsters in my deck?'
She shook her head and waited for him to make his move. He drew a card and grinned. 'I play Luster Dragon, in attack mode! With its summoning, I activate United We Stand! Its attack is raised by seven hundred for every face up monster on my side of the field! I attack your face down monster!'
He lost another card off the top of his deck, so she chained his declaration to attack with: /I activate my trap card, Magical Thorn! As long as this card is on the field, whenever you discard cards from your hand to the graveyard, you lose five hundred points per card. Now that that's in play, my monster flips face up, revealing that it's a Morphing Jar! We now discard our current hands and draw five cards!\
He lost five hundred life points and was now down to forty-one hundred. He growled and looked at his new hand. 'I end my turn.'
She drew a card and nodded. /I set one card and a monster in defense mode. Now I activate Card Destruction! We discard our hands and draw the same number we had before!\
He gritted his teeth as he lost twenty-five hundred life points, bringing him to sixteen hundred. 'Another one of those cards and I'm finished.'
/I end my turn.\
He drew a card and leveled her with a glare. 'I summon Mad Dog of Darkness in attack mode and equip Twin Swords of Flashing Light - Tryce to my Luster Dragon! Sure he loses five hundred attack points, but he's gained fourteen hundred with United We Stand and the second ability he gains by this card is that he can attack twice in one turn!' He grinned and pointed at her. 'You're about to lose forty-seven hundred life points to a direct attack, Bakura! Luster Dragon, attack his face down card!'
She smirked. /In your lust to damage my life points, you forgot all about my face down card, and it's about to cost you the duel. Activate Magic Cylinder! Your attack is redirected to your life points!\
His eyes widened as he lost the rest of his life points. 'You…your deck is totally different from before! It's like dueling a completely different person!'
She nodded as her duel disk rotated back into its portable position and the holo-projectors shot back into the sides. /It's vital for a duelist to keep their deck updated with the newest cards and tactics. If not, I would've lost to you. My old tactics were nothing compared to what I have now. So you should go home and rebuild your deck to try another day, should you want to.\
'Fine! I'll find you after the tournament and we'll duel again!'
/I'll be ready for you.\
The teenage boy walked away, and she sighed. /That was rather easy, I hardly had to think about my tactics.\
/These duelists are a joke. They're dropping like flies.\\
/Wow. They must've had their decks geared towards certain finalists but encountered the wrong ones with the new rule of having to duel whichever finalist you meet first, and they didn't think that all of them had updated their decks with brand-new cards.\
/Simpletons.\\
/My thoughts exactly.\
She began walking down the closest street, since she saw that everyone else that had a duel disk on was engaged in a duel. If her tactics kept working, she'd keep this deck until the end of the tournament.
Ryo defeated her opponents just as easily in the next ten duels when her duel disk flashed the message: "FINALIST APPROACHING". She turned tail and ran, even as she felt her stomach clench.
/Blech. Why do I have to have evening sickness? It's slowing me down when I have to avoid a finalist.\
/Well, you'd better—urgh—find a place to spew your—\\ Bakura paused as the nausea overtook him. /—guts… Ryo, just do it already!\\
She picked a trashcan in an alley and puked, her knees shaking as she stood up straight. /This is the only part I hate. Did I lose them?\
When she looked down, she almost wailed when it said, "FINALIST APPROACHING, 10 METERS AND CLOSING".
/I guess it's time for me to intervene.\\
She yelped when Bakura grabbed her by the back of the shirt and pulled her up onto a fire escape. They climbed to the roof, just as Rishid passed by the mouth of the alleyway. She sighed in relief and leaned against her dark half. /Whew…that was too close. Thanks, Bakura.\
/If I hadn't helped you, you would've had to duel Rishid, and that would've been marked as a finalist loss on the system. We can't have that, even if you can't be disqualified.\\ Bakura unscrewed the top of a thermos and poured a steaming hot drink into the cup. /Tea?\\
Ryo took it. /Thanks. This blend really helps with my nausea.\
/That's why I always have it on hand. We'll have to get a snack after this, so you don't pass out from hunger.\\
She perked up. /Giant tuna sushi?\
/Why is you're craving always that?\\
/I dunno. It's good?\
/You're insufferable. I crave whatever you do when we're linked.\\
/Should we go?\
/Yeah, before another duelist shows up.\\
They entered the restaurant just as two duelists closed in. They had to duel each other, because duelists weren't allowed to activate their duel disks inside eateries. Ryo plunked herself down on a stool in front of the bar, Bakura ordering for them.
She jerked when she felt someone pat her back. Kaiba sat next to her, ordering and turning to her.
'This is the only place I can talk to you without having to duel you. I'm starving,' he signed.
'You're starving?' she signed back. 'You're not eating for two.'
He gave her back a hard pat. 'I'm thankful I'm not. You do it just fine.'
Bakura snickered as he put the giant tuna dish in front of Ryo, who snatched a piece up with her chopsticks.
/Slow down, I don't think Kaiba would like it if you choked to death under my watch.\\
/I don't care, I'm hungry.\
/Suit yourself. Choke, and I'm doing the Heimlich here, in front of everyone, and you'll blow chunks all over yourself.\\
/I won't choke.\
She ate several dozen orders of giant tuna, before she was satisfied. Kaiba stared as the last plate was put down.
'You're amazing. Is your appetite always like this when you're pregnant?'
She shrugged. 'Not always, it calms down once I get to the second trimester.'
She got up and stretched. Kaiba got up with her and patted her head. 'Be careful out there.'
Bakura said something behind her back that had him nodding, going up to the cashier, and pulling out his credit card. She questioned, /What'd you say?\
/I won't let anything happen to you while under my watch. He decided to foot the whole bill because of that, including ours.\\
/Well, he is my husband. He should be nice every once in a while, even if we're pretending to be friends.\
She touched her mid-chest and walked out with Bakura to duel again.
How was it? I tried my hardest to make the duel good, but at the same time showing that her opponent was unlucky to come up against her.
Please review!