IMPORTANT:
'Normal thoughts'
"Mind link talk"
"Normal Talk"
Electrical Television actions "That is speaking".
This is a flask back "That is speaking."
This is a vision with " talking".
Location: Kaiba Tower - Top floor – 10:25 AM
"Witnesses say he did it to himself, sir."
The tall male sat down as a cold sensation enveloped him. "Did it to himself… Explain." He held the phone tightly as he quickly typed in a few commands on his screen.
"According to eyewitnesses, he began acting oddly after his opponent went to retrieve their rare card."His free hand began to pull at his turtleneck. "He started screaming before stopping. Some of the witnesses say a strange light formed on his forehead."Blunt fingernails scratched at the exposed skin of his neck.
The grey-haired male's jubilant tone echoed in the room. "Kaiba boy, I presume you are aware what it means to lose a game. The loser loses everything." Hair parted as a golden glint of an eye greeted him. "What is precious to them… and even themselves." A glow enveloped his sight.
"I doubt the credibility of that statement, Sir, but he continued to speak with his opponent before he placed his hands on his own face and snapped his own neck."Angry red lines decorated Kaiba's neck as he continued to listen to the security. "My squad has evacuated the area and informed the hospital of the body, but unfortunately, Detective Taylor will be here to survey the scene."
"Don't hinder him." Hissed the dragon user. "Just let the man do his job but tell him I'll be unavailable till tonight." The CEO stood up from his seat before walking towards the table that held his deck and duel disk. "Inform the rest to keep a sharp eye out for anyone acting out. I don't need another incident today."
"Yes Sir!"
The call ended with a click. With a snarl of frustration, Kaiba threw the phone at the couch on the opposite end of the room. 'Fantastic, now that damn man is going to be barking at my heels.' He clicked his tongue in annoyance before grabbing his duel disk and placed it on his arm. He needed to inform Mokuba that he was heading out and to meet up with him after he is done with his current round.
He stopped as he heard a small, consistent sound of beeping on his computer. Curiosity won as he stepped over to his desk. ' A High levelled monster is in play. ' He had placed a small software bug in his system that would alert him to any High-levelled monster that was higher than a level eight, but only if it wasn't already in his vault.
He had no idea what the card data signatures of the god cards were, so he couldn't isolate them to his alarm. It was annoying, but to find them was necessary. Normally he wouldn't care, but he had no doubt that Pegasus was aware of the God that was in play. Being the petty, long-haired baster he was, he had decided to release new cards after being inactive for nearly six months.
These new releases would no doubt be a desperate attempt to hinder the god-users.
Seto felt his mouth twitch before a smirk formed on his mouth. New cards meant new strategies, tactics, and of course new additions to his collection, but the one aspect that made his skin tingle with excitement was the prospect of a challenge.
Right now, something else had his attention.
'Mmm, Domino City, North, Block C.' He rubbed his chin before typing more commands in. 'Duellist 0127 and 0138. One containing a White level rare card and the second containing level Red.' His eyes slightly widened at the sight of a White rarity symbol on the screen.
Azure eyes narrowed as he leaned further in the screen and quickly typed in the serial numbers. He barked out a laugh as he gazed at the two profiles in front of him "What do you know, the cheerleader against Pegasus' old mercenary PaniK oh this should be fun."
'Maybe I should go and see this train wreck now that she finally realises how worthless those little speeches of friendship are.' With a slight chuckle, he grabbed the small wrist computer on his desk and attached it to his right arm before pressing the small communicator at the side of his collar. "Mokuba, meet me at the coordinates I'm sending you once you are done."
'In this world, in this tournament, the only person you can count on is yourself. '
"Right, Meet you there." A click was heard as the communication closed. The thudding of his boots echoed in the room as he walked closer towards the steel doors of the elevator.
'Friends can't help you make decisions in a battle. There is no Heart of the cards nonsense to help you.'
Steel doors close behind him.
'So, you either swim or you drown.'
X
Location: Domino City, North, Block A – 10:30 AM
"I feel the energy in the universe… Ooohhmmm." The ancient being heard a slight cough next to him. "Flowing through my body… becoming one with me." Sputter and a muffled sound. "Oohmmm… At this time, at this space…" The Pharoah sighed in annoyance as he listened to his partner's muffled laughter. "Ooohhmmmm." His own mouth twitching in response to his hikari's weak attempt at composure. "This duel was prophesized by the great force of cosmos."
"Yugi… I can't listen if you keep laughing like that." Scolded Yami as he turned to look at his other half, who was currently doubled over in a fit of giggles.
"I'm sorry it's just Joey, look at his face… I can practically hear his thoughts: This is some weird mind shit happenin' here."
' This is some weird mind shit happenin' here. ' The blonde thought as scratched the back of his head as he stared at the… moaning(?), let's go with chanting, brat.
"This duel was prophesied by the great force of cosmos." The boy hummed again as his fingers trailed through his light green hair. Roba's eyes snapped open before pointing at the blonde duelist's direction. "The universe has shown me. It showed me all your pathetic cards in your hand. "There is no way you can defeat me."
Joey felt his eyebrow twitch in anger. 'Pathetic Cards? ' He gritted his teeth as he felt anger burn through his veins before finally snapping. He shook a fist at his opponent's direction, "I DEALT WITH PEOPLE THAT SAID THEY WERE PSYCHIC BEFORE, AND GUESS WHAT?"
He thrust a thumb against his chest. "And I still won."
"If insultin' people and their cards is the only thing you got, then let me tell you..." He grabbed three cards from his hand, "You'd be a terrible duellist… So instead of insultin' people and their cards, let your duelin' do the talkin'."
A chorus of awe's erupted from behind him, causing his face to flush a bright red, before rubbing the back of his head. "Aw that was pretty inspirational wasn't' it?" His grin faltered as he looked at his opponent and the crowd behind him, which were adorning the same surprised expression. ' What's with the gawking? '
He blinked before turning around. His eyes widened to an almost comical size as he stared at a large see through orb appearing or squeezing through a hole in the sky. "WHAT THE-!" The thing was enormous to tower over even the tallest building in the city as it cast a shadow over the duel area he was currently preoccupied with, despite its slightly see-through completion. 'That is one heck of a Duel-monster.'
Noticing the reaction of the crowd, the Pharaoh looked at the direction they were facing. His scarlet eyes widened at the sight that greeted both of them. Yugi felt his excitement rise at the sight of the behemoth.
The creature was towering over an area not too far from where his Yami had duelled the Exodia user. Yugi felt a small chill at the base of his spine that he knew that didn't belong to him. He turned to look at the ancient with a reassuring gaze. "Lucky for us, that's not an Egyptian God Card. Still, that card is no joke." The pharaoh turned to look at his hikari with a slight tilt of his head, waiting for him to explain.
"That's Worm Zero, a rare Level 10 monster card that's been recently released in a unique archetype class called Reptile 'Worms'." A small grimace formed on the spirit's face. "This thing has multiple effects depending on the amount of fusion materials."
Honestly, he wouldn't know what to do without Yugi's intimate knowledge of duel monsters. If only his hikari could realise his true value. "They are mostly based on Flip effect monsters but depending on how well you play the cards it can really cause problems. I don't envy the duellist dealing with that and to be honest I'm happy it's not us."
"True, but it would be a duel to behold." He turned his gaze back at the duel below him. "For now, let's see how well our friend fares in this duel. He had given himself quite the handicap without his dragon."
"This is Joey. He's not afraid of trying, and I know he's going to win."
Joey felt his mouth widen with excitement as he stared at the creature.
"Hey Psychic Boy." The kid looked at him in confusion. "How about we get this duel started. There is a duel that demands my audience." He grinned as his eyes narrowed in determination. "And I'm not gonna miss it!" He placed a card in his spell and trap card slot. "I'm starting it off with a fusion card, Polymerisation!"
The image of the spell card appeared as a small vortex danced around the image of the card. Signalling its readiness to its owner.
"I'm fusing Flame Manipulator and Masaki the Legendary Swordsman". The two silhouettes of the monster appeared before getting sucked in the whirlwind. As the shadows dissolved, the vortex took on a brighter shade of yellow before it slowly started to darken to a near orange, and small flickers of flame splattered out of the spiraling form.
"To bring in one of my favourite monsters, Flame Swordsman!"
An orange blade speared through the vortex flame. It slashed downwards, causing it to dissipate, revealing a towering figure underneath. The large male had an incredible helm with sharp blades on the sides adorning his head as well as shoulder pauldrons with blades placed on top for additional protection, both doused in the colour of fire. Cloth torn in strips adorned his waist, coloured the same as his armour. Under his glorious armour, he wore a dark blue full bodysuit and grey cloth boots.
"Oh, I aint done yet. His real power is shown when I use his signature card." Smirked the blonde gambler as he grabbed another card. "Activate the equip card 'Salamadra'." A bright flame envelope the swordsman blade turning it from orange to a silver colour but the symbol on the blade, meaning fire, glowed a bright gold. "This baby gives my monster an additional 700 attack points. Which means my warrior has an attack power of 2500!"
The Samurai gave the blade an experimental swipe, allowing it to form a flame arc. The arc flew over the crowd before dissipating. The children in the crowd screamed in glee at the show that was being given to them.
"I'm down four cards." Said Joey as he stared at the single card in his hand before looking up with a flame in his eyes as bright as his monster's. "But for this bad boy it was worth it so for now that's all. I end my turn."
The sea green haired boy blinked in surprise before smirking. "Fine. I'll show you I'm not someone you can brush aside." He drew a card from his deck, his grin widening as he placed the card among the others in his left hand before grabbing one. "Tell me, have you heard of the new monster type that Pegasus had released?"
The tall male blinked in surprise, "Wait… there is a new type? Since when!?"
"You're doomed." Groaned Rex as he looked at his old opponent. "Really you don't even check the duelling news?" The male face palmed as the idiot gave him a sheepish grin. 'How the hell did I lose to this moron.'
Espa Roba grinned "Well you're about to find out! I summon Serene Psychic Witch in Attack mode!" He slammed the card on his disc. The card appeared on the floor of the duelling arena showing the image of his monster. "A Psychic Type Monster!"
' Wait a minute… A psychic type monster?! ' The blonde duellist mentally groaned before scratching the back of his head. ' Gramps is goin' to have a field day with dis. '
Green bolts of electricity slithered over the card as small white and pink flecks appeared. A female figure floated from the surface of the card. Her red pinkish coloured hair shifted as she floated in the air. Her body was covered in a futuristic armour and head gear. She for a tailed coat and skin tights pants. In her hands held to hand blades connecting by wires that lead from the head gear she was wearing.
"She may only have 1400 Attack points and 1200 Defence points, but don't let that fool you." He grabbed another card from his hand. "I got just the thing to help her increase her attack power."
Joey grinned as he clenched his fist and brought it close to his face. "Well, bring it on! Let's make this a memorable duel!"
"Psychic Monsters?" Mutter Ryou before turning to look at the elderly male. "I wasn't aware there were such types."
"It's due to the increasing popularity of Duel Monsters." Solomon felt the confusing stare of the young child. "They have started to modernise and increase further difficulty to the game by adding additional card types. To make it more 'suitable' to younger audiences."
"Was that why they were created?"
"It was due to new strategies that are being created and certain monster types are being tailored to these strategies." Answered the Muto Patriarch as he continued to observe the duel.
"What makes them different?"
"Psychic monsters' effects range from the use of banishment and Special Summoning. If Joseph is not careful he can be overruned." Answered the grey-haired male.
' Unfortunately Joey has a terrible tendency of getting overconfident. ' Ryou mentally sighed at that thought. ' As long as he keeps a level head I'm sure… Crap. ' The dungeon Master pressed his face in his hands. ' This man plays as a Paladin Orc. Ptah, save his soul. '
X
Location: Domino City, North, Park – 10:35 AM
Duke Devlin, creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters and owner of the Black Clown Game shop, who really needs to get its name changed, was bored out of his mind. At the very least, craved excitement or something entertaining at least to help stimulate his creativity. As exciting as it was to have his game approved by Industrial Illusions it was also infuriating as any developments he made also had to be approved by his superiors.
For the last week, he did nothing but worked on a few bug fixes and additional content for his game. Waiting for approval, waiting for the next round of bugs to crop up and repeat. That is what this had turned into… a game. A big waiting game.
So that his Dungeon Dice could one day be published… One day was not getting here quick enough.
' At least it is moving forward. ' He hummed as he sipped his banana blueberry smoothie as he observed one of the matches from the park bench, he was currently sitting at. The temptation to join it was there, though, he doubted he would get far with big shots like Seto Kaiba and Yugi Mutou guarding the goal posts. Still Kaiba had really upgraded the Solid Vision to an incredible degree not to mention he made it portable. ' Mmm a portable Dungeon Dice… The Copyright fee is going to be murder .'
Duke flinched as the annoying sound of a straw and empty smoothie cup filled his ears. ' That didn't last long.' He frowned as he looked down at the cup in his hands, already lamenting the void it had once filled. He sighed before standing up to walk to the nearest trash can. He kicked the empty cup into the trash bin as he flicked his black curly hair. He smirked as he heard giggling, at least there is something else to fill the void, albeit temporarily.
He saw a gaggle of cute girls wandered past him, giggling, before shyly waving at him. He graced them with a charming grin before pulling his hand up and forming the ever-classic finger guns. He winked at them as he playfully mimicked the sound of a cocking of a gun. This gesture caused the girls to swoon at him and continued to ogle at the dice player as he walked past them – the old charm never fails. Too easy.
He looked down at his phone as the time flashed a big 10:40 on the screen. ' I should probably get back to work. Now where…?' The punk male looked around as he found himself at the park's exit.
' I could go from here, then I-. ' His train of thought was cut off as a large shadow had started to slowly stretch over the park. "Is there an Eclipse going on?" He muttered as he attempted to shield his eyes from the rays of the sun. Emerald eyes widened at the sight of the object blocking the sun, but the object was no moon.
'What the hell?' He took a step back as gazed further at the towering beast. It moved and wriggled, much like a jellyfish in the ocean. There were translucent strands connecting it to the various buildings in a large section of the city, but what disturbed him most were the small crawling figures in the blob.
"Woah! That's a big monster!" Duke turned to look at the child that was tugging at an older teen's shirt.
"That's not just any monster, that's a Duel Monster!" Corrected the teen as his face donned the same excited look as his younger brother. "Let go! There must be a heck of a duel going on! Come on!"
The dice enthusiast pocketed his phone with a smirk. He's got nothing better to do so why not enjoy what the tournament has to offer. Besides, it's not often you see a billionaire pull out all the stops in an event.
X
Location: Domino City, North, Block C – 10:50 AM
'Okay… That thing looks even worse up-close.' Thought the game designer, his face grimacing as he stared at the gelatine monster. The closer he got to, what he assumed, the area the duelling had been taking place the more nauseating it became for him.
See-through tendrils were wrapped around various part of the building, dripping snot coloured gunk falling to the floor with a loud splash. Lucky for he hadn't stepped in any-
He spoke too soon.
A shiver crawled up his spine as he heard a loud wet splat of his foot stepping in something. Looking down, he felt a sliver of panic crawl up his leg, along with the slime and goo that was currently clinging to the underside of his boot.
"Man, Kaiba, this is supposed to be a hologram. You know the seeing but not touching kind" More sloshing was heard as he continued. "If this is some real-life goo shit... I'm going to be severely pissed off." He cursed as he walked closer towards the improvised arena.
The few people he passed stood either on various makeshift pedestals, and the children were currently hoisted up on either their parents' hips or piggybacked by their siblings. "Man, I take it back. I'm glad I'm not in this tournament." He looked before finally sighing in relief as he saw an open spot on a small person outside one of the buildings.
The dark-haired male had expected to see a well-known duellist or heck even Yugi facing this monster, but no it was two duellists he didn't recognize. One consisting of a demonised version of Ronald McDonald and the other…
He narrowed his eyes as he attempted to make the other duellist's face. The figure wore a ripped sleeve hoodie with a pair of sweatpants and a face mask covering most of their face. A smirk formed on his face as his eyes danced over the figure's form. They might be able to hide their identity, but SHE can't hide the slender form of her arms and legs.
' Now who's winning? ' The lanky male looked around before grabbing the nearest bystander.
"Who's currently winning?" The Anpanman looking male turned to look at him "For a while it looked like the girl was winning but ever since the guy" He pointed towards the opponent "started going on the offence she appeared to be barely holding her own."
"What's their life point count?"
"The Guy has 2200 life points while the other one has only 100 life points left." The fat male placed his hand in the pockets of his pants as he started to walk away from the area. "It's kinda obvious who's going to win."
"Thanks for the recap." He crossed his arms as he stared at the hooded figure. ' Still you never know- ' Duke's eyes widened as he spot a familiar figure exiting the alleyway. ' Seto Kaiba… Out here? ' He watched as the CEO looked around before walking to one of the nearest café tables. The male quietly sat down as one of the waiters came to him, presumably to take his order.
"Here to order some Jitter juice, I take it." Muttered Devlin as he quickly walked in the billionaire's direction. ' If he's here to watch the match, then he'll probably…' He smirked as he saw the brunette place a large stack of paper ¥ in the server's hand. The young male nodded with a large smile before running to the front of the café, shooing the crowd away to make a gap large enough for a clear view of the duel.
' Well that makes things easier. ' He winked at one of the female waiters that slightly stumbled over her words with a large blush decorating her face before guiding him to one of the empty tables to his seat. The dice enthusiast thanked her and quickly ordered a double shot espresso.
Now to sit back and enjoy the show.
"Let the situation sink in deeper. You have no monsters on your side of the field, a single useless trap card, no other set cards, and the saddest part of it all is that the next you're going to draw is a useless equip card." Snickered the painted figure before his tongue kept flicking out, much like a snake, to try to taste the air that had been doused in fear.
"While I have one of the largest Duel Monsters ever seen, on my side of the field!" laughed the maniac "Even if you were to put up a pathetic attempt at a defence, my Worm Victory will destroy all your monster with its flip effect and of course there is its main ability" Spit practically dripping from the corner of his mouth as he continued. "I have twelve monsters in my graveyard and with its effect it will gain 6000 attack points and there is not a single card in the duel monster registry that can destroy it!"
"Let's not forget, I have many more surprises in store for you with my deck. If you survive long enough to see it." He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, though his gaze never wavered from his prey. "I end my turn… Your move, but be careful… it might be your last."
'Stop crying.' She gritted her teeth as she, with trembling fingers, drew the equip card 'Stop it stop it.' She placed the magic card among the other cards in her hands. 'You're not out yet! Pull yourself together.' Téa quickly wiped her face before looking down at the cards in her hand.
' Okay, as Tristan would say, it's the bottom of the ninth of two outs. ' She narrowed her eyes before grabbing the spell card, Swords of revealing light. Luckily, she was cautious enough to keep it as a backup. ' This card will give me three turns to think of a way to turn this duel around. '
"I activate the spell card Swords of Revealing Light!" She placed the card in the slot to activate it. "This card stops your monsters from attacking me for three turns." She pointed towards PaniK's face down monster. "One more thing, Swords of Revealing Light forces all face-down monsters on the field to be flipped up, and with no monster on my side of the field makes your monster's effect useless."
As she said it the Worm Victory's face down card slowly shifted before a clawed appendage stuck out, scraping against the ground, a second appendage appeared before the rest of the large red form of the reptile climbed out.
Shining blades landed on the creature. Some of the swords pierced the creature's limbs, causing it to screech out in pain and rage in its desperate attempt to wiggle out of its bind. Failing miserably. As for the Titanic Fusion monster, three large weapons, almost as large as some of the buildings, dug into the gelatinous orb as the tipped blade speared through the creature before plunging in the earth. Binding it and preventing any further actions from the worm creature.
"Yes! YES!" Clapped the sadistic male, "Fight, struggle! It will make your defeat all the more delicious." His expression was twisting into a frightening wide grin with his tongue, wriggling much like a worm, stuck out to show his glee to his opponent and the crowd that had slowly gathered to watch the match that was taking place.
Despite the sight of a large eldritch abomination and slime decorating the field, the bystanders that had been watching were enjoying the duel. As there were whispers of amazement and horror. The scream of children filled with glee and terror as they witnessed the clash between the two duellists.
'That's it, Téa. Keep fighting. ' Mai kept her expression neutral as she continued to observe the duel. 'Your bag of tricks isn't empty yet.' A small smirk appeared on her face. ' There is still a way to win this. '
' This man is an idiot .' Kaiba's eyes narrowed as he continued to observe the duel. A small computer laid out in front of him showing him the start of the duel. ' He could have won if he didn't play around with his food. Gardner can win if she draws a simple trap card… unless he summons the king. '
His finger tapped against the table's surface as he looked down at his computer. ' Mirror force would easily dispatch these monsters unless he summons Worm King.' His focus shifted from his screen towards the ridiculously dressed clown. ' He can easily summon it by tributing a single worm monster instead of two and with the unique ability to destroy any card on the field as long as he has something to tribute it. He would be virtually untouchable .'
' She is on borrowed time.' He took a sip before frowning at the drink. Light. Weak. Lovely Berry had ruined his taste for any other coffee.
He placed the cup back on the table. 'If Gardner doesn't pull her head out of the clouds she's going to lose.' His eyes focus on the cards in her hands 'Out muscle Victory and Zero is not possible. If she is as much of a beginner I think she is then her best bet would be to use typical cards such as mirror force or Change of Heart.'
"I draw." Announced the player eliminator as he grabbed a card. "I place this card face down in defence and activate Worm Zero's effect." His teeth glinted in the light as he grinned. "I bring back a monster from my graveyard face-down in defence mode."
A large slimy water drop slowly formed from the large gelatinous sphere before finally dropping with a nauseating splat against the ground next to Worm Victory. The slime slowly formed in the shape of a face-down card. "Unfortunately, my Worm Victory loses 500 attack points, leaving him with 5500."
"Next, I use its effect to draw one more card." His grin dropped at the card he drew from his deck. Clearly displeased it wasn't the card he wanted. "Unfortunately due to your Swords I can't attack, so I have no choice but to end my turn." The moment he mentioned the swords of light a few blades appeared and embedded in the two face-down monsters. "Your turn."
"Your turn Téa" She blinked, finally able to look away from the graceful form of Hinoko Kusakari. Right her turn… The try-out for the role of Odette. She took a deep breath and walked towards the middle of the room. She gazed across the lacquered wooden tiles and, with a sudden burst of courage that she hadn't known she'd possessed, stepped onto the dance floor. As the thrumming rhythm of classical music whispered into her ears, she began to dance.
"I draw." The brunette grabbed a card from her deck. She brought the card up to her face. Level 4, spellcaster monster. Not what she needed. If it was mirror force, that might have given her a chance at winning, but she still has two turns left to think of something. "I place one monster face down in defence mode and end my turn." She placed the card in the monster and pressed the small button on the side of the disc, signalling her turn.
"Out of options?" Tisked the large male as he drew a card. His grin widening at the card and his hand. "My turn will be your end, little fairy. I flip over my face down monster card! Welcome back, Her Majesty!" The card flipped over, showing the Worm Queen's card as it began to glow.
Spindly legs appeared from the gateway as it slowly widened. The mutant looking drider slowly emerged from the glowing entrance. Spit dangling from its bottom head as it towered over the other creatures on the field easily except for the floating behemoth of course.
"Now I activate my monster effect once again to draw an additional card." He grabbed a card before placing it with the other three in his hand. "I remove from play one reptile monster to destroy your monster card!" A slime tendril slithered down towards the arena and with its whip-like appearance slashed the card in half, showing the cracked form of her star shaped fairy monster, Hoshiningen.
With a sorrow filled cry, it broke apart.
Pain stabbed at her legs, but she kept going.
Sliding her right foot back and the other one forward, she dropped low so that her dress brushed the ground, then sprang back up again, so bending to a near unnatural degree. She threw her arms out and waved them from side to side, perfectly in tune with the beat, before jumping into the air. She just needed to stick it to the landing then she…!
Her dress spun around her and for a moment it felt like she was flying … then the ground was beneath her again. The same pain now in her calf… It couldn't hold… She fell.
"That's the end of that star." Laughed PaniK as he pressed the side of his disk, ending the torment for now.
' Yeah ' Téa stared at the top of her deck. 'It was the end. ' She drew from her deck as before placing the card in her hands. 'The Condemned Witch. Her mouth trembled as the familiar sensation of drowning filled her chest. Condemned. Fallen. A failure like she was. Her hands started shaking. She was only relieved her friends weren't here to see her fail, unfortunately for Mai she is here to see her hard work go down the drain.
"Is there even a way to win this?" Muttered Duke as he continued watching the match. A few people had taken leave thinking the outcome was obvious, but many stayed behind.
Honestly, he took a sip from his small cup, he wouldn't know how he would get out of such a situation. It looked impossible, but so did his dungeon match with Yugi and the guy was still able to pull a win out of his ass.
At that thought, he pulled out a small object before staring at the black game dice in his hand, the same one that had contained the dark Magician. ' A game is never over until the final move is played. ' He looked over to the girl. 'Do you have any moves left?'
"I'm here!" Duke slightly jumped as he heard footsteps behind him. A boy with long black hair carrying a suitcase passed him before grabbing a chair to sit next to the forever scowling businessman, "What did I miss?"
"Nothing of importance. I just wanted us to meet up and go from here." Answered Kaiba as he pushed the cup away from him. Boredom laced in his tone. "Let's leave."
"We're not in any rush, besides, I want to see how this duel ends."
"Mokuba…"
"What are the chances we're gonna see another duel monster of this size again? This is a good chance to see how well our engineers did." Countered the puffball, his face slightly scrunched up in a pouting expression. "You practically made them work day and night."
The tall duellist sighed in irritation as he returned his gaze to the duel. 'Not that it matters but if she is going to use that card in the manner I'm deducing she has one last turn to draw the right card. ' His eyes turned to the small computer in front of him. 'None of the other cards in her hand can help her. He has everything he needs to win in his turn if she allows it.'
' Hun, don't give up now .' Teeth nibbling on her thumb as Mai stared at her charge. She could cheer her but Téa needed to realise that she doesn't need to hear words of encouragement to have the confidence to duel. That no matter what she was rooting for her.
Even her friends were cheering for her in their hearts. It didn't matter if they didn't know she was duelling. They knew she was busy with something important to her. ' So snap out of it Téa' .
"It's your move! Tick Tock!" The brunette flinched as the male known Yamitsukai yelled at her. "If you can't even put up a fight then I suggest giving up."'
Sadly I couldn't put up a fight even if I wanted to. ' Blue eyes looked up towards the towering Worm. 'I could end my turn and hope for the best on my next turn but what if he has something up his sleeve? '
Too bad she couldn't draw now and beg the heart of the cards to give her something to help. ' Sorry guys no heart of the cards here… but I guess I never really believed in it anyway.' She reached over to press the small button on the side of her disk. ' I always believed it was skill and brains that got Yugi and the Pharaoh through his fights .'
' That they could do anything. Even- '
Her eyes widened before dulling as she caught sight of the familiar, brooding face of the CEO of Kaiba Corporation. 'Here to see me fail. I guess he was-'
"You say people's struggles are a game." Her hands trembled as she looked at her friend's weeping form. "That's wrong." A sneer formed under the intensity of Kaiba's blue eyes. "Facing yourself no matter how tough things get…" She looked up at him with tears streaming down. "Keeping up the fight... that's what games are really about!"
'I can't give up… not now.' She pulled her hand away from the small button, 'I haven't even begun to fight. There is a way…' She looked back down at the card, 'There is a way for light to shine through this darkness.'
X
Location: Domino City, North, Block A – 11:15 AM
"Now Jinzo! Attack his scapegoat with Cyber Energy Shock!" The mechanical being donning a mask and a metallic helmet brought its gloved hands together. A dark sphere with sparks of electricity formed in the creature's hands. It shot its hands outward causing the ball to be launched at one of the floating sheep.
The small sheep exploded in a small puff of smoke as the attack made contact with it.
The boy grinned before pointing towards the third scapegoat monster. "Now Silent Psychic Wizard it's your turn."
The monster was clearly humanoid in appearance but donned itself in a futuristic garb of a jumpsuit that was mainly coloured in white, dark blue with yellow trimmed ends. A unique helmet rested on the wizard head, covering most of his face except for his mouth. A white cape decorated his shoulders. For the monster weapon, it held a bladed staff that had two wires that were connected to the Psychic monster's armour.
"Attack his pathetic token with Decibel Crash!"
The wizard raised a hand to its mouth and with a loud whistle that caused the crowd to press their hands to their ears due to the high-pitched, airy sound. Even the machine monster next to the sorcerer pressed its gloved hand against the sides of its head. The small puffball started to shiver and shake as the sound continued to assault it before shattering into small specks of reflective fragments.
The blonde duelist pulled his hands away from his ears, sweat dripping from the back of his neck as he looked at his current predicament. ' Crap, this isn't lookin' too good .' Hazelnut coloured eyes flickered over to his opponent, who laughed at his predicament.
"Your future is looking more pathetic by the second." Snicker Roba "Two scapegoats are done and if my extrasensory perception is correct the other sheep will suffer the same fate."
A bout of laughter erupted from the short male, clearly enjoying the predicament his opponent was in. "Sorry I don't mean to laugh at you Wheeler, losing like this must be painful, but I'm afraid it's going to get worse because of my prediction for my next turn is" He lifted three fingers "I'll have three monsters on the field and " He turned the three into a thumbs down. "your life points will be gone. What a pathetic way to end your battle city experience" He jeered, "You couldn't even make your way out of the first round."
Joey gritted his teeth in anger and frustration as he attempted to figure any potential way out of the predicament he found himself in, but… so far he couldn't think of anything ' I can't lose like this, but what can I do? Damn it! ' He had no cards and only two scapegoats left.
His eyes looked up to the towering mechanical being that was enjoying his torment. 'With 3200 attack points, nothing in my deck can defeat this guy and even if I could draw a high level monster, Scapegoats can't be used as tribute!'
What was he going to do?
' Come on, Joey… now is not the time to doubt yourself. ' Thought Ryou as he softly chewed on his bottom lip. He turned to look at the short elder next to him, "There is a way for him to win right?"
Grandpa Mutou nodded, "I've seen a few of the strategies that he and my grandsons put together. From what I'm aware, there is one card that could help him now, but it's risky."
"Risky"
The elder nodded, "If he wants immediate victory, there is a one in three chance for him to win using that card."
Ryou's eyes widened at Grandpa Mutou's words. 'That's less than 35%!' He turned back to look at the blond duelist. 'Joey… We're rooting for you. Téa… Serenity… They are cheering you on!'
"Come on, Wheeler, face the facts." Hissed the sea coloured hair boy. "With those cards, your future as a duelist is bleak and getting bleaker. You will lose to me!"
The lucky duelist could only clench his eyes, trying to block the taunting words of his opponent. ' Sorry buddy. I may not be able to keep my promise after all. '
"Joey." Whispered Yugi as he continued to watch his friends duel. "Don't give up. There is still a chance you could win." His heart ached seeing his friend in such despair. A far cry from the optimist he last saw nearly an hour ago.
He turned to look at his darker counterpart, "I wish Téa was here. She would probably yell out some words of encouragement or tell him what an idiot he's being. Joey is the type that needs to hear someone's voice to know he's not alone in his duel." A small spark of resentment temporarily formed as he said these words before being immediately doused. He could and would never blame her.
"Yugi." A gentle Baritone reached his ears. "This is a test for Joey and also for Ryou himself."
"Ryou?"
The ancient being smiled as he continued to observe the duel. "Keep Watching."
"Why don't you give up and just hand me your card now!"
'I'm starting to wish this brat would shut up, but… he's right.' Joey felt his trembling hand hover over his deck. 'I've played my best cards, and they weren't good enough, but If I lose I'll lose my only locator card, and he gets my time wizard. I'll be out of the tournament.'
He slowly began to lower his hand. ' I guess it is over. '
'Don't give up… please.' Ryou mentally pleaded, seeing how his friend was about to place his hand on his deck. 'There must be something… Anything I -'
"Me?" Pointed a sweating white-haired male at himself. "Cheer? Are you bloody mad? I can't even do public speaking that well. I just freeze up and-"
"But when you are DMing you seem fine then." Argued Téa as she placed her books in her bag. "I can't be there during this tournament. I need you to be there for them as often as you can."
"That's different, I'm among my friends, a safe spot-"
"You are rooting for your FRIENDS." Countered the brunette. "I know it's scary and easy to stay quiet while everyone else speaks for you, but Ryou you are their friend." She placed her hands on his shoulders and gave him an encouraging smile. "This is a fight that they have to do, and as much as I don't want them to go through with this tournament nonsense, I can't stop them." Her eyes glistened as she said that, but she still kept the smile on her face.
"Ryou I know your voice will be the loudest in that crowd the moment they hear you. You are strong in your own way and for me knowing you are cheering them sets me at ease." A lump formed in his throat as she said that.
"But… What can I say?"
She smiled "You can say-"
"JOEY WHEELER, YOU TWAT!
He yanked his hand back in shock. He looked up to his right seeing Ryou standing in front of a crowd donning a bright red blush on his face. ' Ryou? '
"Don't you dare place your hand on that deck. You are not a quitter-"
"Do you mind!?" Snapped the self-proclaimed mind-reader, "We are in the middle of a duel, and you are-"
"Oh Shut Up you wanker!" A chorus of laughter erupted from the crowd, causing the ESP user to bite his tongue in embarrassment. "You are not the type to give so easily. You fight till the very end." Shouted The Dungeon Master. "Your sister never gave up on you."
The lanky duelist eyes widened at his sister's name. ' Serenity '
"Tristan is at the hospital with her. He's watching the duel with Serenity. They're both cheering you on." Ryou took a deep breath trying to calm his racing heart before continuing "Téa she…" He slightly faltered before quickly regaining his composure, "She says don't forget about the mark that binds you together!"
Joey looked down at his hand, ' The mark? ' He frowned before his brown eyes widened.
"The ink of the marker will fade…" The brunette looked up with fondness in her blue eyes. "But in our heart the ring will always be there! We'll always have each other in our hearts"
"So pull your head out of your arse and win the bloody duel!" Ryou felt his own heartbeat ring in his ears as he finished before hiding his face behind his hands ' I mucked up… I completely butchered what Téa wanted me to say. ' He was about to run to get away from the embarrassment he clearly caused. "Hey Ryou."
He looked up to see a bright grin on his friend's face. Joey lifted a thumbs up in his direction. "Thanks man… I needed that."
"Enough stalling!" Yelled the Jinzo user. "I gave you ample time to talk, but the time of talking is over." He thrust his finger towards the blonde duelist "Are you going to give up or what?"
"I don't think so." This caused Espa Roba's eyes to narrow in anger.
"Well done Ryou." The elder clapped on the striped shirt back of the young man. " Look at his eyes. Joey's eyes are burning with determination." cupped his mouth as he shouted "That's right Joey you can still win this duel, you just have to believe in yourself and in the heart of the cards."
Joey nodded in gratitude before turning to look at her deck. 'I know I can do dis'. The odds are against me, but my friends are with me. I gotta have faith.' He touched the card with his fingers, preparing to draw. ' I know there is a card in my deck that can help me. A card that can turn this thing around now I just gotta draw it so I can finish off this punk.'
"I draw." He yelled and brought the card up to his face ' Yes! This is exactly the card I needed! '
"I place this card face down." A face down card appeared in front of him. "Since you have Jinzo on the field. You don't have to worry about trap cards on the field."
"I know that Wheeler! What's the matter? Already forgot how cards work?" Taunted the Psychic user.
"No I'm just statin' the obvious. If I were to get rid of your monsters with a spell card I'd activate it now, but I can't since it's not that type of card." He looked up with a frown on his face. " And if it were a trap, Jinzo prevents me from using it." He brought his hand up in a shrug. "I'm outta moves, but I won't surrender I'd rather go down fightin." He pressed the small button at his side. "I end my turn, your move."
' What is this idiot up to? ' Roba drew the top card from the deck. 'He basically admitted that it's a quick' spell card… unless he's bluffing .' He looked down at the card in his head as he contemplated if he should summon an additional monster. ' He uses a gambling deck, so he's bluffing trying to prevent me from attacking . I'm not gonna fall for that. '
"I summon Telekinetic Shocker , this monster has a special ability." Smirked the young male as he slammed the card down. "If a Psychic-Type monster on the field would be destroyed, I can pay 500 life points and destroy this card instead.
A being that was roughly half the height of the trap destroyer Jinzo appeared. They donned a helmet similar to that of an astronaut and its back held a device that reminded Joey of a Jetpack, but it was missing the signature wings to indicate flight. Unlike the Psychic spellcaster the being's outfit consisted of vibrant colours such as yellow and red with its lower garments being coloured black.
"Now Telekinetic Shocker, Silent Psychic Wizard attack his scapegoats!"
'Dammit! I had hoped he would start off with Jinzo.' The gambler brought his arm in front of his face as his creatures were destroyed and spread out into small fragments of fur and data. 'It lowers my chances but there is still a way for me to win.'
"You have no monster left, Wheeler." Roba thrust out his hand in the symbol of a thumbs down. "Your life points and your career as a duelist is about to go down. Now…" He pointed in the blonde's direction, "Jinzo finish him off with Psychic Wave!"
Electricity coursed through the being as he crossed its arm, preparing for one of its signature attacks.
' Now's my chance! ' With a grin he pointed at his face-down card, "Thanks for that, I activate my quick-spell card! Roulette Spider!" A small robot spider crawled out of the card. Six of its legs were decorated with suction cups, while the front pair had white gloves similar to that of a typical cartoon character. Attached to the spider's abdomen was a red arrow.
"Roulette spider do your job, little buddy." With frightening agility, the small robotic arachnid scurried over the ground before jumping to one side of the arena then leap to the other side. The monsters attempted to follow the creature's quick movement, failing miserably as they attempted.
Seeing the confusion, the spider jumped on the Psychic astronaut helmet. Noticing the creature had now pounced onto one of his comrades, the wizard grabbed his staff and in an attempt to get rid of the creature smacked his bladed staff on the smaller being helmet.
Unfortunately, the spider sensing danger had jumped right before the moment the weapon made contact.
"Ooh!" Winced Joey as he sees the cracked helmet of Telekinetic Shocker. "That's gotta hurt. Better hurry, he's getting away." Laughed Joey before his eyes widening seeing the shaking form of Jinzo. "Uh Roba? Your monster doing okay?"
The boy couldn't answer him as he continued to look on in bafflement at his monster… running away from the scurrying spider. As if the machine had a fear of creepy crawlies. The others were unfortunately preoccupied with attempting to prevent further damage to the smallest being's cracked dome.
"Jinzo! Pull yourself together!" The robed figure ran past the green-haired male "This is stupid! And embarrassing!"
"The guy is terrified of spiders. There's nothing embarrassing about that." Reasoned Joey, "I mean, I'm terrified of ghosts and stuff and there is no shame in that." The male grinned hearing the crowd's laughter, "Besides, the people seem to be lovin' it."
"Ghosts?!" Ryou frowned in shock before turning to look at the older gentleman, "Is that why he refuses to duel with my occult deck? Or play the Call of Kassogtha with the group?"
"Joseph was always a bit… careful when it comes to the paranormal, magic and supernatural." Laughed the grey-haired male, which caused the occult enthusiast to sulk in annoyance.
"Right, little buddy, time to finish this." Using a mighty leap, the spider launched itself against the psychic android face. With a terrified muffled scream, the machine figure grabbed at the spider's arms, attempting to yank the offending multi limbed figure off. With no such luck
"So, what's that supposed to do?" Espa Roba's eyes widened, seeing a web pattern forming on the floor as his monster stumbled towards the middle of it. "What's the point of all this?"
"Playing this card is one of the riskiest moves in all duel monsters. It could destroy me or win the duel for me." He pointed to one of the sharp points of the spider's web. "See those numbers"
' Numbers? ' Frowned the mind reader before looking at the sides of the web, seeing floating numbers. "What are they for?"
"Hold your horses, I'm gettin there." Grin Joey, a drop of sweat forming on his forehead. "Roulette spider activates when one of your monsters declares an attack."
"Why didn't you activate when Wizard or shocker attacked?"
"Their attack points weren't high enough for what I'm planning." He pointed towards the struggling figure, "I needed the strongest monster on the field to attack me because this card has six special effects. All depending on the number it lands on."
He pointed up with one finger, "One causes my life points to be cut in half." Another finger up "Two makes your monster a direct attack, not that matters much since I don't have any monsters on da field." Now three fingers."Three doesn't help either, but it allows me to choose one monster I control and change the attack target to it."
Joey's grin widened, "Now comes my favourite numbers of this little game." He lifted four fingers, "Four allows me to choose…" He pointed to the small creature, then to the wizard. "Anyone of your monsters as the attack target and you take the damage." He smirked, seeing a panicked expression form on his opponent's face. "3200 is a pretty big number, Roba."
"Five is one of my favourite numbers; it negates the attack and inflicts damage to your life points equal to that monster's attack points." Sweat now dripping down his neck, "And I'm feeling Lucky."
"What about six." Espa turned to look at the floating number six. "What does that do?"
"It's handy, but not the effect I'm hoping for. It destroys that monster… So…" He placed his finger over the small button ready to activate the card. "Ready to place your bets?"
'Dice rolls, coin flipping and now roulette. Does this guy specialise in gambling?' Though Rex Raptor as he looked at the field. 'He has a higher chance of losing than winning. Why throw it all to chance?'
"Now Roulette Go!" At its master's command, the struggling form of Jinzo began to spin. Faster and Faster to the point the figure became no more than a blur.
"Now the rest is up to you Psycho Boy."
"Me?! Why?"
"For a guy with ESP, you ask a lot of questions. All you have to do is yell, stop, and the rest is left to fate."
'Four and Five spells doom for me but six destroys Jinzo which allows him to use trap cards again… but he still has no card in his hand, the chances of drawing a card with high enough attack points is slim.' He raked his fingers through his hair. 'This guy is an unknown and without my brothers warning me of what he's drawing I don't know what his next move is.'
"Roba your poor monster is gotta get sick if you don't yell stop soon." Taunted Joey, "I rather not be covered in monster barf, so how about-"
"FINE! Jinzo stop!" Shouted the Esp user.
The spinning monster became slower and slower before finally stopping… at the number in front of Jinzo's master… Number Five!
"Oh Yeah!" Whooped The blonde duelist "Bad Luck for you Roba because Five means the attack is negated." As he finished, a small energy ball appeared in Jinzo's hands. "And you take damage equal to Jinzo's attack points. That 3200 if ya forgot." The energy sphere shot out from the trap destroyer's hands straight towards Espa Roba. A tiny explosion happened as the attack made contact.
"That's all folks." Said Joey as the smoke slowly cleared. The remaining monsters slouched in misery at the loss they faced.
He slowly walked towards the kneeling form of the child. 'Wonder if I could convince him to give me that amplifier card too.'
"I knew he could do it." Smiled Yugi, his expression practically radiating relief and happiness at his friend's success. "You gotta admit the way he duels with these gambling cards is pretty thrilling, but I'm definitely glad we don't use those types of cards."
"Quite." Agreed the Pharaoh. His grin widened as he turned to look at the towering monster. "Seems like the Worm Zero duel is still going on." He turned to look at Yugi with a smirk decorating his mouth and eyes filled with mischief. "Want to go and see?"
"As much as I want to. We won't make it in time" Yugi said as he turned to look in his partner's direction. "It will be finished by the time we get there, especially if we use the stairs.
"Indeed, but I think I know a way for us to get there. Quickly."
The shorter male lifted his eyebrow in confusion, " Really… How? "
His darker counterpart gave him a wink as he quickly took the makeshift cape from his shoulder and placed his arms through it. The ti-coloured male zipped up the coat and pulled at his sleeves. Making sure he had ample breathing room. He made sure his shoes were probably tied. Safety was an important factor in this… attempt.
" Yami… What are you doing? "
"Yugi remember our deal… about the gym." He cracked his knuckles as he mentally began to psych himself. "I'll help you pass as long as you do regular exercises." Yami's grin widening as he saw a look of terror on his Aibou's face. "I hope you kept it."
"Yami, that's a really bad idea! AAHH!" His plea turned into a scream as the spirit took off and jumped down to the lower, where Espa Roba's brothers were not too long ago. He sprinted into the direction he knew was taking place and luckily for him most of the buildings were flowing in that direction
"You're insane!"
The chase had begun to take its toll on him, but he couldn't slow down. He wanted to be there. Something told him to be there!
The behemoth of a duel Monster looked much larger now, meaning he was getting closer!
There was one last wall ahead of him and a garden on the other side. Then he should have a good view of the duel. They may not be unable to hear their words and commands clearly, but the monster and cards they are playing should be easy to see.
"I'm going to stuff you in Tristan's Gym bag when we get back…"
Taking one final step up the wall with one leg and springing up from there, the ancient being's frenzied momentum translated into a vertical jump. He gritted his teeth as he reached towards the top of the wall with his left hand, and soon he was pulling himself up over the wall. He carefully jumped into the garden on the other side and rolled off into a bedlam of leaves which cushioned his endeavour.
Panting, he quickly jogged over one of the balcony edges of the garden. His smile widening as he still saw the match in progress. "I…told…you…to…trust…me." He panted, looking at the curled up form of his hikari . "I can't believe you just did that." He whispered with his eyes stretched wide to a comical degree, causing his darker half to slightly chuckle at the sight of him. "My body is going to be in so much pain later…"
"Come now… Yugi." He laughed as he rested his elbows on the handrailing. "Let's enjoy the match. Now…" His eyes flickered trying to see the contestants before his own mauve coloured eyes widened. "PaniK!?"
"PaniK?" Yugi Blinked in surprise before floating a little over the railing, trying to see the identified player killer. "It IS him! He's a worm user?... That actually makes sense." Muttered Yugi now turning his attention to the other duelist. "I see the other duelist, but I can't tell who they are, but from what I can see… They are at a severe disadvantage with him."
Yami nodded in agreement, 'Four monsters on the field while his opponent has none and no traps or spells either, but neither does PaniK.' His eyes widened as he remembered they had a phone. 'The match should be on the internet!' He pulled out Yugi's phone before giving a look of pure annoyance at the brick shaped device.
"Yugi…"
"Heheh." Nervous laughter. "Yes dear wonderful half of mine?"
"We are getting you a new phone… I refuse to be so inconvenienced." The king said with a slightly irritated growl before focusing back to the battle at hand.
"I summon the Condemned Witch in Attack mode." A robed figure appeared in a flash of lightning. Horn growing from its head and shoulders. The black wings flapped weakly behind the figure before feathers started falling off, revealing a dark red frame underneath with black tips at the end. Red eyes filled with disgust glowered at PaniK's direction. The woman had a sickly complexion with grey hair giving it a more demonic appearance.
"Her special effect activates when I summon her to the field." She grabbed her deck before shuffling through it to find her desired card. "She allows me to add one 'forbidden' quick play spell card from my deck to my hand." She placed her deck back in before grabbing her desired card and sitting it in the slot.
"I set one card and end my turn." She clenched her fist as she finished her sentence. 'I'm going to win. I'm going to win this duel!'
"My turn." Announced the Worm user as he drew a card. "Now I flip over one of my monsters to activate its effect. Here's Big Eye!"
As the card flipped over, a, relatively small, monster jumped from the image of the card. It had three clawed fingers with gold manacles wrapped around its wrist and green slacks decorating its legs.
"This little beast has a unique effect." A multitude of eyes appeared on the creature's body before glowing a bright red. He pulled a few cards from his deck before holding it out, showing five cards. "It allows me to take the top five cards from my deck and rearrange it in any order I want." He spit dripped from his mouth before he wiped it away, and he placed the cards back. "I placed a card on top of my deck that will allow me to destroy your Swords of Revealing Light."
' Which means he'll use Zero's ability to draw the card!' A sly smirk formed behind her mask as she flexed her fingers, preparing herself for the callout.
"I use Worm Zero's effect to-"
'NOW.' She pressed the button. "Not so fast, PaniK! I activate my Quick-Play Spell Card, Forbidden Chalice!" Her face-down card flipped over, revealing an image of a brown-haired female drinking from a gold Chalice. Frighteningly, the witch's face had a similar appearance to the maiden in the card's image.
"This card allows me to target one face-up monster." She raised her hand towards the floating orb, "And I choose Worm Zero. It gains 400 Attack points but," She tapped her finger against her mask in an attempt at being coy. "It negates your monster effects."
"Smart. Despite re-arranging the five cards, he still couldn't draw it." Commented Yugi. "Their monster is also safe for this turn, along with the swords protecting their life points."
"But PaniK's next turn will mean that Zero's effects will return." Stated the Pharaoh as he continued to watch the battle.
"Wha… haha!" The ex-player killer started laughing. "Clever! That won't allow me to draw the card I need." He rubbed his chin as his grin widened, "That's all I can do this-"
"Hold it, I never said I was done, PaniK." The male frowned as he looked at the small fairy user in surprise. "I now activate Condemned Witch's second effect." Téa pointed towards the hooded figure, "By tributing her, she will allow me to special summon one level four Fairy monster from my deck."
As the brunette finished, the robed figure kneeled and pressed its hand together in a praying stance. Small whispers started echoing in the arena as the fallen began a prayer.
'I wish I brought popcorn. ' pouted Duke before grinning as he stared at the duel, he felt his leg shake in anticipation ' Come on sweetheart what's your plan? ' He was getting excited just watching the fight, but the idea of someone winning at this impossible situation was exhilarating. He had a decent knowledge of duel monsters, but not a single card he knew that was a fairy type could help in this situation.
'What are you up to, Gardner?' Kaiba sat up as hearing the sudden confident tone in the girl's voice. 'A single Level four fairy type monster won't be able to defeat these beasts. Some of them may be able to buy her time, such as Shining Angel, which would allow her to summon a monster when it's destroyed.'
He typed a few words in a search bar. 'Dark Valkyria can destroy Worm Zero but what about Worm Victory and its Matriarch?' He clicked and typed a few commands before an image of various card images appeared on the screen. 'She only has Winged Dragon, King of the Swamp, Neo the Magic Swordsman, and the Horn of the Unicorn card in her hand. There is nothing in her hand that can help her here.'
The dragon user leaned forward as he kept his gaze on the girl. ' How are you going to win? '
Feathers that once decorated the ground lifted and with a gentle sway placed itself back on the creature's back. As more feathers returned, large angelic wings began to form on the robed figure back. The small echoing prayer continued, the wings stretched out, showing its unnatural size and length it had grown to.
"Any ideas on what they will bring-." The spirit gently hushed his light side, his concentration fully enraptured by the turn's potential outcome. A shiver of pleasure coursed through his arms as he mentally went through a few possible strategies and outcomes to this turn. Despite the little knowledge he had of his past, there is one aspect of him that he had no doubt was himself.
He adored strategies. The potential to win and lose. To see if fate was guiding your hand. He loved games, but what he loved most of all was seeing someone shine and rise from an impossible situation.
The prayer finally stopped, allowing the arena to be filled with silence. The witch stood up from its kneeling position and the large wing wrapped around it. Encasing its entire form, the feathers ruffled as if the very winged appendages were devouring it.
The feathers glistened as it began turning into the signature coloured white that angels were known for except at the tip of the feathers. The tips had changed into a variant of colours of gold, honey and a gentle colour red.
The wings slowly unfurled, showing the hidden figure. What once was female had been replaced with a male figure. The figure had shoulder-length honey coloured hair with a coronet decorating his head. He wore a vivid blue coloured tunic with an orange sash decorating his hips, as feathers decorated his lower arms and shins.
"So pretty but…" Mokuba turned to look at his older brother, "What can a level four monster… Seto?" He frowned in confusion, seeing his brother's shocked expression. His eyes weren't just wide, his mouth was slightly ajar as he stared at the winged figure. ' I haven't seen Seto like this since…ever.' He turned to look back at the angel. ' What makes this monster so different? '
"That's what you're betting on?" PaniK said with disbelief etched on his face. "A simple fairy with 1100 attack points?" He started laughing to the point of holding his stomach. The angel monster clearly didn't find this amusing, as his yellow eyes narrowed and his weathers bristled to show his displeasure. "You've really lost it! In that case, I end my turn. It's your last move little girl because in my next turn it is the end for you!"
Kaiba heard the small beeping of an alarm of the software he installed. He slammed his computer shut, turning it off. He didn't need to be told twice what he was currently witnessing. The male placed his hand on his face, his fingers spread wide, so his vision was unobstructed, 'You fool. You absolute fool. If you had an inkling of understanding of the monster in front of you, you'd place your monsters in defence mode.' The monster may have no attack power, but it was the effect that made it monstrous. The strength it provided could even make a card as pathetic as a level one monster topple a god.
'That's my Téa.' Mai grinned, seeing the winged monster. 'You got a chance to win in this turn. You have an equip card and PaniK only has 2200 life points left, so don't be hasty.' Her finger played with one of her hair locks. 'Plan your attack accordingly, and you'll be on your way to the winning circle.'
"Now all that duelist needs is a light type duel monster, and they can attack any of PaniK's worm monsters. " Yugi said, excitement bleeding into his voice. "They need to win this turn or PaniK will draw the card he couldn't before." He turned to look at his protector, "Assuming that was the reason."
"I believe you are correct, Aibou." Answered his taller counterpart, his eyes never once leaving the duel. ' What monster will be the one to bring you to victory? '
"It's my turn! I draw." Téa grabbed the card and placed it in her hand and grabbed one of the other cards. "I summon Neo, the Magic Swordsman, in attack mode!" As she placed the card on the field a humanoid figure appeared.
It was male with long blond hair and xanthous coloured eyes. A knightly suit of armour adorned his body with a sharp blade, hilted at his side and a metal crown adorning his head. The Swordsman unsheathe his blade with a great swipe before pointing the tip at PaniK's direction.
"I now equip him with the Horn of the Unicorn to raise his attack points to 2400." The metal crown around his head disappeared as a white horn extended from the being's forehead. "With your life points at 2200 it's more than enough to finish you off."
The worm user had a dumbfounded look on his face as he heard the brunette declaration. 2400 was a number far too low to do any damage to life points. Even if she targeted his big eye monster it would only deal 1200 damage to him.
"Now I use Honest's effect to return him to my hand." As she said this, a light enveloped the winged being as it slowly formed into an orb filled with light. The sphere shrunk as it floated towards the girl duel disk and phased through the monster's image. Gently, she picked it up in her hand.
"What was the point of that?" Frowned the ex-eliminator, "You summoned it then returned it to your hand. What hope could that possibly bring?"
"More than you realise, PaniK. I now move to the battle phase of this turn!" As she yelled, the swordsman unsheathed his blade from its holder. "Now, Neo attack Worm Zero." At his Mistress's command, the swordsman twirls his blade before grabbing the hilt with both of his hands and takes a running start at one of the building walls. A few screams of excitement left the crowd as the monster flipped over them and headed straight to one of the walls.
The spellsword snapped his finger, before re-adjusting his grip, causing a glowing sigil to appear at the sole of his boots. As his foot connected to the wall instead of falling, he kept running up. Towards the fusion Behemoth.
"Why? Why would you throw your own life away rather than fight on till then?" Shouted PaniK as the feeling of…pa… dread came over him. The creature sensing a meal nearby spouted slime tendrils thrust itself at the swordsman's direction.
'It's one thing when forcing terror and hopelessness on a person, where either giving up or fighting on is their only option. ' Duke twirled the straw in his hand as his gaze followed the running monster. 'It's another when they choose how they lose… or win.'
"Now I reveal Honest's true power!" The card in her hand grew bright before she slammed it in her disk slot.
As the tendrils were about to touch the spellsword, the knight with a twist with his swords slashed them, causing PaniK and his monsters on the arena floor to reel back in shock and horror. "What!? What's going on?!" More tendrils appeared and as they got closer they were suddenly slashed apart by the spellcaster.
"Clean out your ears. I told you it's Honest's effect." Scolded the hooded woman, "During the attack when my monster who is a light type attacks or is attacked, I can send Honest from my hand to the graveyard." She looked up, seeing her monster coming closer to her designated target. "Neo will gain attack points equal to the attack of Worm Zero." Her voice was calm and collected. Almost cold. "Your monster has 3500 attack points, which means." She looked back to him as a gleeful tone etched into her voice… "My monster gains 3500. That's 5900 attack points."
The spellcaster backflipped from the building before a pair of white wings burst forth from his back and with a single great beat of its wings the Knights shot up like a speeding arrow with his blade pointed towards the beast.
"5900 attack points, but that means…" The player killer's voice gave a shaky tone "T-that means I receive!"
"2400 Damage to your life points." She finished his sentence. She pointed her finger upwards towards the slime monster. "Now, Neo Destroy his monster with Feather Ignite Strike!"
A small sparkle trailed behind the duel monster as it flew past the windows of the tall buildings, before the wings suddenly erupted into a bright flame. The tri-coloured duo jumped away from the railing as the monster shot past them. Flames trailing behind the monster as a few landed on the balcony and on the ancient being's arms.
The flame wasn't burning but rather soothing and gentle. A cleansing… The flames were cleansing the area. Violet and crimson eyes followed the winged creature as it flew closer to the beast. The fire wrapped around the knight forming into a sharp point, a flaming spear, before diving in the creature's wet surface and disappearing from sight.
The grey colour of the monster surface where the winged duel monster had delved in began to change as a yellow tone became visible. It slightly darkened to a more orange the a vibrant. The colour spread the slime strands connected to the buildings and streets.
The goo that was once lively had started to harden and crack before shattering into small glowing flecks.
As for the gelatinous orb itself, the sound of a dull thunder echoed the surrounding area as the body slowly hardened and cracks started forming around the orb. Between the cracks appeared a small light as the sound grew before it burst into a bright light that caused everyone to shield their eyes, including the two duelists.
"Kirei…"
The pharaoh's eyes slowly opened at hearing the awe in his partner's tone. Licks and flickers of embers were floating around. A gentle sway in the wind caused them to glow brightly before dimming again. Further, in the sky, dandelions seemed to dance in the air. A smile formed on his face. 'Indeed. ' His eyes flickered over to giggling half. Which had attempted to catch one of the floating dandelions, A bright sun in the background
Childlike laughter echoed around the area of red dunes. The setting sun bathes the area in orange. A bouquet of dandelions in a darkened hand. Rushing towards a towering figure donning a beautiful crown. Magenta coloured eyes crinkling in amusement as she held out her arms.
He blinked. The image was gone, and instead a knight had replaced the image.
A dull ache remained behind. Still, the smile was on his face. "Let's go, Yugi." He turned towards the fire escape. "Let's find an area to rest. Then we continue with the rest of the tournament."
Yugi nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I think that is a good idea."
The armoured being slowly descended to the arena, where his master was waiting.
As for the others…
"Hold still Mokuba." Mirth filled the CEO's voice as he attempted to brush the weed and its seeds from his brother's mane. The young boy muttered curses as he slapped his brother's hand away before attempting to retrieve the offending plants from his hair.
Shaking his head in amusement, Kaiba turned his attention to the two duelists. The swordsman had now returned to where it belonged. At Gardner's side.
Téa felt her heart leap in her chest as the majestic being landed in front of her. She swallowed before nodding at the being in the thanks at his service. The Knight bowed before her as his form slowly started fading before disappearing completely from her sight. 'I… I won.' Disbelief filled her as she stared at the area where her monster once stood.
"What a performance." Muttered Duke as he twirled one of the dandelions between his fingers before blowing on it, causing the little seeds to disperse. He looked back at the masked girl with an excited gleam in his eye. ' Maybe I'll stick around a little longer …' At that thought, he started to clap to show his gratitude. With that, many followed suit to show their appreciation of the duel.
The brunette froze as she heard the gentle hand clapping turn into thunderous cheering and whistles. She turned to look to see a crowd of people standing in front of the café she and Mai had not too long ago occupied. Looking up, she found a few of the surrounding building's windows had opened with one or two occupants waving down at her.
She won. Her biggest duel yet, and she won. Not with luck but with her own talents, practice and intelligence.
Téa's vision became slightly fogged up as tears began to form. Still she smiled, for they were not tears of sorrow, they are tears of joy. She created her own stage; she was her own Prima Donna.
"Téa!" Strong slender arms wrap around her waist. Before she could return the gesture or say something, Mai had effortlessly picked her up and swung her around in a wide circle. "I knew you could do it!" She dropped her back on her feet before placing a hand on her chest, "I truly am an amazing teacher!" Her eyes sparkled as she said it, before looking back at her hatchling, who was slightly swaying on her feet. "Though I do have one thing to say, Téa…"
The hooded girl blinked at her teacher in surprise. "Uh… what."
The blonde grabbed the back of the hood and forcefully yanked it forward. "If I EVER see you play the horn of the unicorn again." She yanked her back up. "I'll make you eat that card."
"B-but Mai it's a useful card!"
"Not the way I was watching it."
"I hate to interrupt such a sweet moment."
At the sound of PaniK's voice, Mai had tightened her grip on her charge but made no move of leaving. Téa took a nervous step forward towards her ex-opponent. Much to Mai's shock, the brunette brought out her hand. "Good game PaniK…" To her surprise the large male took her hand in a firm grip, but there was no malice behind it.
"Good Game Tweety… Here." He brought out his locator card. With a grateful look, she took it before pocketing the see-through card. "I assume you want my rarest card. I don't know what you'd do with-"
"Wait." Interrupted Téa "I appreciate your willingness, but I was wondering if I could take something else instead." PaniK tilted his head in surprise at the victor's request. He brought out his deck and placed it in her hands. "Take your pick."
"Thanks… Let's see… Ah, this one!" She plucks the card from the deck before showing it to its previous owner.
"Big Eye huh… I'm fine with that." Shrugged the previous contender. "Maybe we'll duel again. Good luck with the tournament, brat." With that, he took his leave.
The moment the ex-mercenary was out of the way, she brought out the Red Monster and looked down at it with a big grin on her face. She felt her teacher look over her shoulder before grimacing at the card in Téa's hand, "You don't think he licked that, do you?" At that statement and question, Téa did the only logical solution and answer to it.
She smacked it against Mai's Mouth. It resulted in an unwomanly screech emitting from the blonde, causing her to laugh at her teacher.
"Time to go, Mokuba." The dragon duelist didn't wait for a reply, as he had turned around and started to walk back in the alleyway of the street. It was only the first day of the tournament, and he still needed to collect his own share of Locator cards.
"You have to admit, Seto. That was really cool." Said Mokuba as he caught up to his brother's pace, "We need to give the engineers a raise and more vacation days." He adjusted his grip on the suitcase. "Especially if they are gonna make the finals just as amazing as that duel."
"We'll do it on your dime."
"Seto!" Whined the fur ball. He became more annoyed as his brother looked more amused. With a huff, he jumped in front of his brother before walking backward. "Think about it Obelisk is probably twice that thing's size, and the attacks will probably knock the people off their feet and - Wha!." Yelped, the black-haired boy as his back hit a hard surface. He rubbed the back of his head before looking up to see what he had walked into. The frown on his face disappeared and a look of fear replaced it as he quickly jumped to his feet and hid behind his brother, who was currently silent and grabbed his hand.
Kaiba's eyes hardened as he tightly gripped his brother's much smaller hand. What his brother had walked into was not a wall nor an object but rather a person. Rather than looking down, as he was accustomed to since most were shorter than him, his gaze matched the stranger's.
Stranger wore a long black sleeved coat, it was decorated in shoulder pads and had a raised studded collar similar to his own. The man wore a skin tight shirt, but what caught him off guard was the bandages decorating the man's face.
The gauze hid any key features except for his eyes… Acid. His eyes were the colour of acid. Pupils, smaller than the head of a pin, stared at him. Despite the bustling sounds of people around them, nothing seems to break or pierce the suffocating atmosphere.
"Let's go Mokuba." He held his brother's hand tighter, practically forcing him to match his own pace. It was nothing. Just a nobody, probably planning on challenging him later at the tournament.
It was nothing.
Yet an old textbook phrase kept jumping back at him.
The feeling of aggression and the rise of adrenaline will cause your pupils to dilate. A person experiencing emotions of anger or hate is that their body is preparing for an attack and wants to be perceived as the dominating threat.
It contributes to a more frightening appearance.
"If you ever do that again." Hissed Mai as she rubbed her fists in Téa's hair, "I will personally kick you out of this tournament!"
"Okay! Okay!" Winced the brunette, "I won't do it again."
"Good." Huffed the blond as she once again wiped her mouth. "Disgusting."
"Mai." Her teacher looked at her. "Thanks for being my teacher and my friend. The bird incarnate practically preened at the compliment before huffing as deep blush formed on her face.
"Tch I only did it because I wanted to… Besides!" She chirped as she placed her hands on Téa's shoulders. "You know what this means, right? You can go on your own now, since you just showed me that you can do it!"
The brunette blushed at that, "You think so?"
"Hun, I know you can! So let's make a promise." Mai hooked her pinkie around Téa's "We see each other at the finals so you better not lose before then!" Téa stared at their entangled fingers before looking back up with a large smile
"I promise! As long as you keep yours too!"
"You know I will."
As they parted ways, Téa waved at her friend's retreating figure before turning around and continuing off in the opposite direction. The tournament will be going on for a whole week, so she could do another duel before heading home for the day.
"I wonder how Joey and Yugi are doing?" She whispered before settling her hoodie on her head and walking in the direction of Domino City Park. Not noticing the dice enthusiast watch her walk away.
' Téa Gardner? Duelling? ' He rubbed his chin though as he stared at the direction she disappeared into. 'I didn't know anyone from Yugi's group besides Joey was duelling .' He grinned as he walked down the familiar road to his office. ' Things are about to get interesting.'
X
The brunette had settled on one of the nearest benches in the park. A few duels were going on, so this was definitely a type of hotspot, maybe she could find an opponent here. She'll duel one of the victors of the duels around here. By watching them, she'll have an idea on the type of deck they'll have, so she would have a slight advantage.
She looked down at her deck before a slight grin appeared on her face. ' What's the fun in that .' She was still riding the victory high and honestly the adrenaline made her feel light on her feet and she was ready for her next opponent!
"Hey! You! Girl with the hoodie!" Right on time.
"Are you challenging me to a- wait." She blinked in shock. "Are you Rex Raptor?"
The wild haired male grinned before stuffing his hands in his pockets, "Oh, so you've heard of me, well I'm not surprised since I'm the-"
"Second at the Duel Monsters National before being defeated by Joey Wheeler at duelist Kingdom, right?"
"That was just a fluke! The rookie got lucky!" His face scrunched up even more as he heard her giggle, "Anyway, that doesn't matter! You know Mai Valentine, Right?" He grinned as he saw her nodded. "Good! I challenged Mai to a duel, but she told me I can't duel her until I beat her 'protégé' which is you." He pointed at her. "So I challenge you to a duel!"
"Mai really. You couldn't handle this yourself." She mumbled under her breath as she rubbed her face with her right hand. She was now suddenly getting a really bad habit of forcing her friend to deal with her problems. Next time, she isn't saving her.
X
Back at the previous duelling arena, a late comer had arrived at the scene. Albeit at a very… slow pace.
"I knew… I shouldn't have… stopped for… that hot dog…" Said Joey as he panted with exhaustion… a corn dog in one hand. "Or that… taco." He took a bite of the savoury snack. 'Huh' He looked around. "So, where's the duel?" He took another bite as he walked to the middle of the empty street. "I heard there was a heck of a monster!"
He ran to the other side of the street, "Don't tell me it is over!" His shoulders slumped in disappointment before sitting down, "I ran all this way for nothing…great."
"Joey! Finally, I… Oh… We're late huh." He looked up at the Occult enthusiast and with a sad look nodded. "... I told you, eating two hot dogs would be too much."
"My fault! Ya nearly yanked my arm out of its socket because you saw a board game shop!" He pointed s white rabbit as he angrily finished the savoury stick, "You forced me in that shop!"
The two continued to bicker well, accusing the other of whose fault it really was. Knowingly damn well they were both at fault. Mr. Mutou was wise to take leave of these knuckle heads.
X
Notes
Two outs, bottom of the ninth - It is baseball talk. There are (barring ties) nine innings in a game. Each innning has two halves: the top, when the visiting team is on the offense, and the bottom, when the home team has the final chances. There are three outs in an inning. So two outs in the bottom of the ninth means the home team (which is behind or tied in the score) has only a slight chance to salvage the game. One more out and it's over. So ... if we are applying the phrase as a metaphor, someone is down to a last desperate measure to save the day.
The stairs outside buildings are called perrons
Paladin: fanatic, zealot, fundamentalist, integrist. A lot of people in the dnd community don't necessarily consider them intelligent. (Depending on where you look) - My opinion: you do you boo
Orcs get a -2 to intelligence, at least they did before WoTC changed how racial ability score bonuses worked
Ptah -
- One of the first gods ever published in DnD - The Gods of Dungeons & Dragons: First Edition
- Ptah, also spelled Phthah, in Egyptian religion, creator-god and maker of things, a patron of craftsmen, especially sculptors; his high priest was called "chief controller of craftsmen." The Greeks identified Ptah with Hephaestus (Vulcan), the divine blacksmith.
Call of Kassogtha is a reference to Call of Cthulhu.
Kassogtha. This writhing mass of tentacles is said to be Cthulhu's sister and mate (Gross man.)
Coronet: A coronet is a small wreath created from laurus nobilis (bay leaves) that is placed upon the head
Anpanman is a Japanese children's superhero picture book series written by Takashi Yanase - He has a large round head made of anpan, bread filled with sweet red bean paste. He has a large red nose in between his rosy cheeks, and a big smile. Google Senku Anpanman for best results.
The word "Kirei" means pretty in Japanese
