My friends and I were on our way. We were each graduates of Duel Academy Island, each one of us having made it to Obelisk Blue by our final year and graduating in the top ten of our class.
Oh, I should probably introduce myself. I am Erick Howitzer. I'm an eighteen-year-old duelist who graduated as the third-best of my class. I'm an average five foot ten guy, and I have long brown hair and green eyes. I also style my hair to have my bangs cover one of my eyes. I'm aware of how edgy and tryhard this makes me look, but it's just to match my deck's theme of dark-attribute fiend-type monsters. Primarily I use the Dark World cards, but I have plenty else mixed in there to bring out the best it has. While I'm somewhat reserved, once I actually get to know people, I can really come out of my shell and give them the best friend possible. In addition, I've been told that I tend to be rather patient with others, and am able to mediate pretty well.
Having proved ourselves during our formative years, each of us had been invited to participate in a truly amazing tournament. A tournament that, for better or worse, would change our lives forever.
Leaning on the safety rails of the ship, I looked out over the ocean and marveled at its beauty. I treasured any short moment of peace I could get to admire the world, and this was no exception. Such a view really helped to take the edge off of what was coming tomorrow.
In truth, though, this was no pleasure cruise I was on. Myself and all the other top ten Duel Academy graduates had been invited to participate in a Duel Monsters tournament alongside hundreds of others for the chance at huge cash prizes for the top eight finalists.
On the deck behind me, dozens of other duelists mingled, goofed around, and played practice matches with each other. A few others were like me and enjoying the view, but most had other ways they'd prefer to spend their time. A fair amount of the other duelists were around the same age as me or younger, but the majority of the pro duelists had a few years on me.
Honestly, for myself and most of the other top ten from Duel Academy, this would be our first real step into the professional dueling scene. The number one, number two, and number six all had gotten involved in events that allowed them to duel in public competitions before graduation, but the rest of us lacked such an experience. As such, while most of my friends and I came here wanting to win, we weren't expecting to and were mainly interested in having some fun.
A few more moments passed, and as I began to get truly lost in thought, a familiar voice shouted, "Hey, Erick! I've been looking for you, man!"
Turning away from my view of the ocean, I smiled as I saw Justin approaching me.
Justin is a pretty open and fun-loving guy, which helped us become friends almost immediately within our first week at school. He's a few inches taller than me, a bit buffer, has short blonde hair and brown eyes. He graduated as the seventh-best of our class and actually uses two decks. First is his Six Samurai deck, and second is his Dragunity deck.
"You have? Sorry."
Making his way over to me through the crowd, Justin halfheartedly complained, "Man, after lunch you just bailed on us. Where'd you go?"
"Yeah, like I said, sorry. I just went to walk off the food and then I decided to relax for a bit."
Putting his hand on my shoulder, Justin told me, "Well, come on back to the room. We're gonna arrive at Duel Monster Island tomorrow, so the gang's decided we should spend the rest of today practicing. Let's go!"
"Oh, sure. That sounds like a plan."
Without needing another word, the two of us started making our way back to the cabin provided for the Duel Academy graduates.
On our way there, a few of the veteran duelists gave us condescending looks and chuckles at our optimism. During our week-long cruise, we'd grown used to this. It helped that I'd expected these attitudes ahead of time. We were new arrivals to the pro-scene while these guys had made a living off of playing this game, so them looking down on my friends and me was to be expected.
Even later, Justin and I arrived at the cabin. It was a pretty large and nice room with lush carpeting and individual beds for all ten of us. There were a couple of portholes to let light in, a couple of couches for us, and even some fully stocked mini-fridges.
All throughout the room, everyone was practicing against each other on duel mats, having no room for everyone to use the holograms of the duel disks.
Almost everyone had paired up with someone else by now. Two of my other friends, Tanya and Diego were dueling each other, while the number nine and eight duelists, a couple by the names of Frank and Jessie, were using each other for practice. Meanwhile, the second and first best duelists, Brie and Michael, were in the middle of an intense match. The only ones without partners yet were me, Justin, Elsa, and the number six duelist, Veronica.
Diego is a stoic and intelligent man who is typically only relaxed when chatting about hobbies with me and the others in our friend group. When dueling, though, he's a dead-serious individual with no time for jokes. When Justin and I met him, he helped us to study for our science and math courses and we simply stuck together ever since. He's a little on the shorter side, with spiked-up dark black hair and blue eyes. His deck matches his dueling persona, relying on the overpowering might of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards. This allowed him to end his time at Duel Academy ranked as the fourth-best duelist.
Additionally, there's Tanya. We all met Tanya when she was struggling to make it out of Slifer Red by the end of the first year. She was a bit short-tempered at the time due to her situation but has since become more relaxed, only getting angry when the situation calls for it. We were able to help her practice more and build a stronger deck with the Amazoness cards. Tanya's even shorter than Diego, has red hair to match her hidden temper, and blue eyes to go with them. By the end of her time at Duel Academy, Tanya was ranked as the fifth-best duelist there.
"You'd think Frank and Jessie would want to practice dueling other people. Those two are all about their tag-team game after all," I commented silently.
"Yeah, but what're ya gonna do?" Justin responded to my muttered critique.
Pointing ahead, Justin told me, "So, I told Veronica I'd duel her before I went to go get you, so I guess that means you're left with Elsa. Have fun, man."
"Alright. Same to you."
Parting with my buddy, I approached Elsa while she was sitting on her bed and muttering to herself as she tended to do.
Elsa is the last person here that I'd consider as actually a part of my circle of friends. She is a sweet girl with a big artistic passion who I and Justin bonded with pretty quickly after we chased off some punks trying to steal cards from her. She's developed a more strong-willed personality with time, matching how she almost grew to the same height as me by the time of graduation. In addition to her height, Elsa has hair she's partially dyed silver and brown eyes. Despite having only come to Duel Academy to become a card designer, Elsa managed to graduate as the tenth best of our class with a deck based around the Ojama cards.
"Hey, Elsa. I guess it's you and me against each other," I spoke up to get her attention.
Looking up from her hands, Elsa smiled at me and replied, "Not just us. Our spirits will be competing too."
"Oh, right. Of course."
One thing I forgot to mention about Elsa is that, for the entire time we've known her, she's claimed to be able to see the spirits of our duel monsters, their Duel Spirits, as she calls them. Though none of us have ever been able to see them, her uncanny ability to sometimes know secrets about others that she has no business knowing has at least been able to convince me that there must be something going on with her. Justin claims to believe her too, but I think he's just placating her. As for Diego and Tanya, neither of them believe a word of what she says and chalk up her knowledge of their secrets to simply forgetting that they told her stuff.
"So, we playing on the floor, or do you wanna stay sitting on the bed?"
Pausing for a moment as she looked to her side, Tanya eventually answered, "Ojama King says we should duel on the ground. The bed's his after all."
"Right. That makes sense."
Looking to my right, Elsa seemed to be observing something else before giggling.
"Hm? Are you hearing something else?"
Pointing behind me, Elsa explained, "Sillva was saying that your team should claim Ojama King's bed for Dark World after you win, but Belial told him to knock it off. He always keeps your other Duel Spirits in line."
Turning to look at the empty space next to me, I said to it, "Uh... Yeah, guys. Belial's right. We're all friends here."
Tilting her head from side to side, Elsa went on, "Even the monsters with higher attacks and better effects listen to Belial. I guess Duel Spirits can just tell when one monster is their duelist's favorite. They always seem to treat that one like the boss just behind their duelist themselves."
"Really now...? So, you ready to play then?"
Jumping to her feet, Elsa answered, "Righty-roony! Let me just grab our duel mat."
"Cool. I'll go get mine too."
Within just a minute or two after that, we'd both grabbed our duel mats from the cupboards next to our beds. We'd unfolded them next to each other as we sat across from one another on the floor. Without needing to say anything, we both began shuffling our decks, each of us making sure the other seemed satisfied with the job we'd done before setting them down in their proper spots on the mat.
"You wanna flip the coin, or should I?"
"You go ahead," Elsa replied.
Pulling out my duelist coin from my jacket, I quickly flipped it into the air with a satisfying ping noise. Grabbing it out of its freefall as it descended, I slammed the coin onto the back of my left hand and waited for Elsa's call.
"Tails!" She shouted enthusiastically.
Pulling my hand away, Elsa pouted when she saw it had landed on heads.
"Guess that means I go first."
(Life Points: Erick: 8000. Elsa: 8000)
Nodding, Elsa replied, "Right... Well, look out! My team's feeling pumped up, and we're sure to beat you this time."
"Well, enthusiasm only gets you so far. Let's see if you can back it up." As I said this, I drew my opening hand and was satisfied with the results.
For monsters, I'd drawn Goldd, Wu-Lord Of Dark World, and Broww, Huntsman Of Dark World. For spells, I had Dark World Dealings and Gateway To Dark World. Finally, my fifth card was the trap card Dark Deal.
"Alright, first off, I activate the spell card, Dark World Dealings. This card's effect allows us both to draw a card and then discard one from our hand."
Both of us drew our cards, and I was happy to see Trance Archfiend.
"Okay, I'll be discarding Broww, Huntsman Of Darkworld."
"And I'm discarding Ojamagic."
"Well, since he's been discarded to the graveyard, Broww's effect activates, allowing me to draw another card."
Rocking in place, Elsa added, "Also, Ojamagic's effect goes off, allowing me to bring Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, and Ojama Black to my hand."
As Elsa searched her deck, I drew my next card and saw Foolish Burial.
After I waited for Elsa to get her cards and reshuffle her deck, I continued with my turn. "Next up, I'm setting two cards in the spell and trap zone. After that, I summon Trance Archfiend(ATK: 1500. DEF: 500) and activate his effect. Once per turn, I can discard one Fiend-Type monster from my hand and give him an extra 500 attack points until my end phase. And I discard Goldd, Wu-Lord Of Dark World. This activates Goldd's effect, where if he's discarded to the graveyard by a card effect, I can special summon him from the graveyard(ATK: 2300. DEF: 1400). Now I activate the spell card, Foolish Burial. This card lets me send one card from my deck to my graveyard, and I choose Grapha, Dragon Lord Of Dark World. Now that Grapha's in the graveyard, I activate one of his effects. If Grapha is in the graveyard and I have another Dark World monster on the field, I can return that monster to my hand and special summon Grapha from the grave. And I choose to return Goldd to my hand and bring out Grapha in attack mode(ATK: 2700. DEF: 1800)! And with that, I end my turn."
Chuckling, Elsa told me, "Man, you always take so long to do your stuff. Alright, I draw... Okay! First, I set one card in the spell and trap zone. Next, I play Ojama Red(ATK: 0. DEF: 1000) and activate his effect. This allows me to summon up to four other Ojama cards from my hand, and I summon Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, Ojama Black, and Ojama Blue(ATK: 0. DEF: 1000. ALL). Now, with the main three on the field, I play the spell card, Ojama Delta Hurricane! With this card, if Yellow, Green, and Black are all on the field, I can destroy every card on my opponent's side of the field! So now-."
Cutting her off, I flipped over one of my face-down cards and counter, "Sorry, but I activate the trap card Dark Deal. With this card, by paying 1000 life points, I can change one of my opponent's normal spells cards' effects to 'your opponent discards one random card from their hand.' Seeing as all I've got in my hand is Goldd, he'll be the one going to the grave. But since he was discarded by an opponent's card effect this time, now I get to activate both of his effects. Not only does he get to come back to the field again, but I also get to select two of the cards you have on the field and destroy them. And I pick Ojama Yellow and your face down card."
(Life Points: Erick: 7000. Elsa: 8000)
"Tch...! Okay, fine," conceding to my counter, Elsa put both her cards in the grave, revealing her face-down card as Fusion Reserve.
"Well, it's still my turn. Since you stopped me from being able to get a fusion monster out anytime soon, I'll go with an XYZ monster instead. I use Ojama Black and Ojama Green as materials and XYZ summon Ojama Dragon(ATK: 1400. DEF: 2800)! After that, I activate the spell card, Terraforming. This card lets me bring one field spell from my deck to my hand, and I choose Ojama Country. And now I activate it. With Ojama Country on the field, so long as there are any Ojama monsters on the field, all monsters have their attack and defense points reversed. With that, Ojama Dragon is now the strongest monster on the field. Ojama Dragon, attack Goldd!"
(Life Points: Erick: 5600. Elsa: 8000)
As I moved Goldd to the graveyard, Elsa went on, "Now, Ojama Red, attack Trance Archfiend!"
(Life Points: Erick: 5100. Elsa: 8000)
Once I put Archfiend in the grave, Elsa made one more move, "Finally, Ojama Blue, attack Grapha! This'll send Ojama Blue to the graveyard, activating his effect. When he's destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I get to bring two Ojama cards from my deck to my hand."
(Life Points: Erick: 5100. Elsa: 7200)
After grabbing her two chosen cards and shuffling her deck again, Elsa rocked in place and told me, "That'll do it for my turn. You're up!"
Without a word, I looked at my next card and was relieved when I saw The Gates Of Dark World.
"Alright! I'll activate my field then, The Gates Of Dark World. While this card is on the field, all Fiend-Type monsters on the field gain an extra 300 attack and defense points each. With that in play, I'll switch Grapha to defense mode and end my turn."
Drawing her next card, Elsa nodded and declared, "Okay, first I summon Ojama Green in attack mode. After that, I activate Ojama Country's other effect. With this, I can discard one Ojama card to my graveyard and then summon an Ojama Monster from my graveyard. The monster I'm sending to the graveyard is Ojama Pink, and the monster I'm bringing back is Ojama Blue. And now Ojama Pink's effect goes off. When he goes to the graveyard, we both get to draw a card and then discard a card of our choice from our hands."
With that, we both drew a card. Elsa frowned when she saw the card she drew. Meanwhile, I was excited when I saw the card I drew was Snoww, Unlight Of Dark World.
"Alright, I discard Baby Raccoon Tantan," Elsa lamented.
"And I discard Snoww, Unlight Of Dark World." Elsa visibly winced at that, understanding how her gamble backfired as I went on. "This activates both of her effects. First, since she was discarded to the graveyard, I get to take one Dark World card from my deck and add it to my hand."
Going through my deck, I picked out another copy of Grapha to add to my hand.
After reshuffling my deck, I continued, "Now her secondary effect goes off. Since she was sent to the graveyard by an opponent's card effect, I get to pick a monster from your graveyard and summon it to my side of the field in defense position, and I pick Ojama Black."
As I said that, I reached over to Anya's graveyard pile, but she stopped me and whined, "No! I'll do it!"
"Oh, right. Okay."
Anya was always very particular about not letting others handle her cards. I believe she said once it was something about her Duel Spirits not liking it otherwise.
After summoning Ojama Black in defense position on my side, Elsa pleaded with her card, "Look, I'm sorry, Black-. Yes, I know I messed up there, but I-... Right, I'll try to keep this from hurting."
Taking a breath, Elsa picked her hand back up and said, "Okay, back to business. Sorry about this, Black. I move onto my attack phase and have Ojama Green destroy Ojama Black. After that... I guess I have to end my turn. Tch! Grapha's defense is too high now for me to do anything about it right now! Dang."
"My turn then. I draw." The next card I drew was Dragged Down Into The Grave.
Figuring I'd take a gamble as well, I placed the card on the field and exclaimed, "Now I activate Dragged Down Into The Grave. With this card, we both draw another card and then let our opponents choose a card in our hand to send to the graveyard."
Once we drew our cards, we showed each other our hands. As Elsa was looking at my cards, I saw that she had Ojama Duo, Ojama Delta Hurricane, and Tri Wight. I doubt she'd have forgotten to set it, so she must have just drawn Ojama Duo. Out of those cards, I chose to send Ojama Delta Hurricane to the graveyard.
In regards to my hand, I had just drawn Ceruli, Guru Of Dark World. Unless Elsa remembered what Ceruli can do, this could turn out even better for me than I had planned. Unfortunately, it seemed as if her memory wasn't failing her, as she still went with my second Grapha to discard.
With both our cards in our graveyards, I went on, "Alright, well, now that Grapha has been discarded to the grave, I can use one of his other effects to destroy one of the cards you control, and the card I pick is Ojama Country."
"Why must you be so cruel?" Elsa asked jokingly as she moved her field spell to the grave.
"Well, with that gone, I normal summon Ceruli(ATK: 100. DEF: 300) from my hand. With him on the field, I activate my other Grapha's effect, return Ceruli to my hand, and special summon my second Grapha. And now I activate the other effect of The Gates Of Dark World! By removing from play one Fiend-Type monster in my graveyard, and discarding one Fiend-Type card from my hand, I get to draw another card. The card I remove from play is Trance Archfiend, and the monster I discard is Ceruli."
Once Ceruli was in the grave, I was satisfied with my next card, another copy of Broww.
"Now that Ceruli has been discarded, his effect activates. He gets summoned to your side of the field in face-up defense position! Now that he's there, his next effect goes off. His next effect forces his owner's opponent to discard one card of their choice. And since he's on your side of the field, that makes me the target. Seeing as he's the only card in my hand, I'll be sending Broww to the graveyard. Now, since he was sent to the graveyard by an opponent's card effect, I get to draw two more cards, instead of just one. Here I go."
With that, I ended up adding Beiige, Vanguard Of Dark World, and Dark Smog to my hand.
"Alright, now I set one of my cards in the spell and trap zone. With that, I'll have one Grapha attack Ojama Dragon!"
Countering me, Elsa proclaimed, "Hold it! I activate Ojama Dragon's effect! By removing one of his materials, I can change his attack position. I'll use this to change him to defense position to negate the damage."
"Alright, alright. Well, with that, I'll have my other Grapha attack Ojama Red!"
(Life Points: Erick: 5100. Elsa: 4200)
"With that, I'll end my turn. Your move."
Drawing her next card, Elsa nodded to it before making her move, "Okay... First off, I set one card in the spell and trap card zone. After that, I'll have Ojama Blue attack Grapha!"
(Life Points: Erick: 5100. Elsa: 1200)
"Now I'll use Blue's effect to search for two more Ojama cards from my deck... Okay, now I activate the card, Tri Wight! With this card, I summon three level 2 or lower normal monsters from my graveyard! I choose-!"
Flipping over Dark Smog, I cut Elsa off a told her, "Hold it. I activate Dark Smog. With this, I target one card in your graveyard; then I discard one card from my hand. I discard Beiige, Vanguard Of Dark World. After that, the card I targeted, Ojama Yellow, gets removed from play. And since Beiige was discarded from my hand to the graveyard, I get to special summon him to the field in attack mode."(ATK: 1600. DEF: 1300)
"Gah! Great... Okay, with Ojama Yellow gone, I'll be summoning Ojama Black and two copies of Ojama Green to the field. After that, I'll activate another Ojama Country and use my two Ojama Greens to XYZ summon another Ojama Dragon! Gehehehahaheh. Ahem. Now I'll switch Ojama Black to defense position and have Ojama Dragon destroy Beiige!"
(Life Points: Erick: 3900. Elsa: 1200)
Once I put Beiige in the graveyard, Elsa finished, "With that done with, I end my turn."
"Okay, I draw." I then pulled out Sillva, Warlord Of Dark World, from my deck.
However, before I could make a move, Elsa flipped her face-down card, revealing Ojama Duo.
"Slow down there! I activate Ojama Duo! With this, I summon two Ojama tokens to your side of the field in defense position(ATK: 0. DEF: 1000. BOTH). They can't be used for tributes, and if they're destroyed, you take 300 points of damage for each one."
"Hmm... Okay. For my next move, I'll perform an XYZ summon! I use both my Graphas as the materials and XYZ summon Colorless, The Chaos King Of Dark World(ATK: 3000. DEF: 1800). I summon him in defense mode and end my turn."
Making a show of sulking, Elsa exclaimed, "Oh great... Okay, well, I draw... I guess, for my turn, I'll summon Ojama Yellow in defense mode. Next, I'll have Ojama Dragon destroy one of your Ojama tokens! And... that'll do it. You go."
(Life Points: Erick: 3600. Elsa: 1200)
"Not quite. Before you end your turn, I activate my other face-down card, Gateway To Dark World. With this, I can special summon one Dark World monster from my graveyard, and I choose to bring back Goldd!"
"Oh... Now is it your turn?"
"Yep. I draw." The next card added to my hand was Eradicator Epidemic Virus.
With that in my hand, I stated, "Okay, now I activate The Gates Of Dark World again. I remove a copy of Broww from play, discard Sillva, Warlord Of Dark World, and draw another card. And now that Sillva has been discarded, his effect goes off, and he is summoned to the field in attack mode(ATK: 2300. DEF: 1400)! Now, I'll use Sillva and Goldd as materials to XYZ summon Adreus, Keeper Of Armageddon in attack mode(ATK: 2600. DEF: 1700)! After that, I set the card I drew in the spell and trap zone and switch Colorless to attack mode. Now, I activate Adreus' effect and detach one of his materials, specifically, Goldd. With that, I can target one card you have face-up and destroy it, and I'm getting rid of Ojama Country again!"
After quickly moving Ojama Country to the graveyard, Elsa told me, "Well, I activate the second effect of Ojama Duo! The turn after I put it in the graveyard, I can remove it from play, and special summon any two Ojama monsters from my deck! And I pick Ojama Blue and Ojama Green. I summon them both in face-up attack position. See, I also got stuff I can use on your turn."
Chuckling, I responded, "Right, well, my turn ain't over yet. With Ojama Country gone, all the monsters' attack and defense go back to normal. With that, I'll have Adreus attack Ojama Dragon."
"I activate his effects and switch him to defense mode!"
"Right, right. Well, next, I'll target your Ojama Yellow with Colorless and destroy it. With that... It looks like I'm ending my turn."
"Okay. I draw... Now I-."
Flipping over the card I'd just set, I told Elsa, "Hold on. I activate one of my face-down cards, The Forces Of Darkness. Now I select two Dark World monsters in my graveyard and add them to my hand, and the cards I pick are gonna be Goldd and Snoww."
Scratching her head, Elsa complained with an overdramatized tone, "Alright... Let's see what I can do... Well, I didn't want to do this, but I think it's the best decision. I use Ojama Black, and Blue as XYZ materials and XYZ summon Number 64: Ronin Raccoon Sandayu. After that, I activate his effect. I target the monster on the field with the highest attack points and summon a Raccoon Token with attack points equal to it. So, that means I'm targeting-!"
"Hold on. I counter that with Colorless' effect. By detaching one material from him, I can change one card effect in play too, 'Your opponent must discard 1 card.' With that activated, I'll discard Goldd from my hand. Now he gets summoned once again and I'll get to select up to two of your cards to destroy. Since you only have the one, though, it'll just be Sandayu who gets destroyed."
"Wha-?! Agh! Dang it! I forgot Colorless' effect...! Gah, fine. I activate the spell Dark Factory Of Mass Production. This lets me target two normal monsters in my graveyard and add them to my hand. Naturally, I'm bringing a couple of Ojamas to my hand. Now, I'll set one of them in defense mode and end my turn."
"Alright, I draw again then... Hmm. Okay, since you've got nothing on the field for him to target with his effect, I'll sacrifice Adreus as well as Goldd to tribute summon Belial-Marquis Of Darkness!"
Smiling, almost in a trance, Elsa told me, "Oh... You don't get to do it often, but it's always such a beautiful display when you summon Belial."(ATK: 2800. DEF: 2400)
It's times like these that I wish I could see what Elsa sees.
"Thanks. Now, first off, I'll have Colorless attack your face-down monster."
Tossing her card to the graveyard pile, I could see she had summoned Ojama Yellow once more.
"With nothing else in the way, I attack directly with Belial and end the duel!"
(Life Points: Erick: 3600. Elsa: 0)
"Good game, Elsa."
With the duel over, I picked up my cards as Elsa leaned back and sighed. As she looked at the ceiling, Elsa suddenly made a comment that worried me.
"Well, at least lobsters and crocodiles can't die of old age. Know what I mean?"
"Wha-... I'm sorry, what?"
Looking directly at me now, Elsa went on, "Well, crocs and lobsters can't die of old age. They both just keep growing and getting bigger until they get too big to feed themselves, something else comes along and kills them, or they get too big to move under their own weight."
"Uh... Okay. So... What exactly does that have to do with what we were talking about?"
Tilting her head, Elsa frowned before telling me, "Seriously? What don't you get? Isn't it obvious?"
I paused for a moment, making sure to measure my answer, before replying, "Oh, right. I get it now. Sorry, just... took me a sec."
Shaking her head with a smug smile, Elsa rhetorically asked, "I swear, where would you guys be without me?"
"Yeah, I know what you mean... Say, are you feeling thirsty? Why don't you get us some waters."
Jumping to her feet, Elsa exclaimed, "Oh! Yeah! Water sounds great right now!"
As Elsa went over to the fridge, I began to scan the room. I felt I needed to talk to someone about what just happened and was thusly looking to see if my friends had finished their duels. Unfortunately, Justin was still busy, but Tanya and Diego had just wrapped up and were both available.
About as quickly as I'd expected, Elsa came back with the water bottles.
Once she handed me mine, I told her, "Hey, Elsa. I just remembered something important I need to tell Diego and I don't want to forget later. You mind waiting a second before we have our best of three?"
"Oh, sure. No problem," Elsa answered as she unscrewed her bottle.
Nodding to her, I quickly got to my feet and trotted over to Diego and Tanya. Fortunately, the two had wrapped up the first round of their duel, so I wasn't interrupting anything.
"Hey, can I talk to you guys?" I whispered while taking a seat next to them.
"Hm? What's up?" Diego asked.
"Sure, I guess we got the time," Tanya added.
"Well, uh... I think Elsa might be going crazy."
"Huh... I suppose it was only a matter of time," Diego remarked.
Chuckling, Tanya asked me, "Hahahe. Did you really just notice?"
Okay. Maybe I should've talked to Justin about this.
After letting out a sigh, I explained, "Come on, guys, that's not cool. Just listen for a second. After I beat her, she started talking about crocodiles and lobsters out of nowhere and expected me to know what she meant. I'm just a bit worried. You guys have any ideas?"
"She was probably just trying to make some sort of weird joke with you. I wouldn't worry."
However, Tanya commented with a grin, "Maybe all that Duel Spirit stuff finally got to her."
I could tell from her tone that Tanya was just trying to be sarcastic, but it didn't stop me from getting more concerned.
"Alright, well, just keep this in mind, okay? I don't know if something's wrong with Elsa, but I'm going back over to her."
Nodding, Diego told me, "Right... I'll keep an eye out for any odd behavior."
"Right, if you're really worried, then I'll see if I see anything weirder than usual with Elsa," Tanya said with a more sympathetic tone.
"Thanks, guys... Oh, hey! Either of you want to duel me after I duel Elsa?"
"No thanks. I think I'll take Elsa on and see what I see with her," Tanya answered right away.
"I'll take a crack at you," Diego replied with the smallest smile.
Leaning back, Tanya remarked, "Of course you would. You're the only one of us who's ever beaten him."
"That's not true. Justin beat me once," I chimed in.
Waving her hand dismissively, Tanya responded, "That doesn't count. He got lucky."
"Whatever you say," Diego snarked as he began shuffling his deck again.
"Hey! I've at least beaten you! Come on, next round!"
As Diego and Tanya got back to their game, I smirked at them before I went back over to Elsa.
After guzzling down all her water, Elsa looked up at me from the floor, smiled, and asked, "Got all your talking done?"
"Yep. You want to get to the next round?"
Sitting up straight, Elsa answered, "Heck yeah! Ojama King wants to get on the field this time to wreck shop!"
Smirking, I shot back, "Well, let's see what my monsters think of that... Say, are you doing alright?"
As she shuffled her deck, Elsa asked me, "Huh? Yeah, I'm good. Why do ya ask?"
"Just curious if your Duel Spirits have been bothering you more than normal recently," I explained while beginning to shuffle my deck.
"Hahaha! What? No! They're my friends. They're fine."
Scratching the back of my head, I replied, "Oh, okay. That's good to hear."
Nodding, Elsa reassured me, "Yep. So long as cheese can be cut into cubes, I'll be fine."
I paused when Elsa said that. I held my cards for a moment as I tried to process what I'd just heard and how, or if, I should react to it.
I really hope Diego's right and this is all some kind of weird joke.
After that, I sped through shuffling my cards and asked, "Right, well... Do you wanna flip the coin this time?"
Everyone in the cabin spent the entirety of the remainder of that day conversing and having practice duels with each other, the only breaks being for meals or to use the bathroom. By the time everyone was heading to bed, I had dueled all of my fellow former students multiple times, only suffering losses against Deigo, Brie, and Michael. Admittedly, though, against Michael, while I did manage to win three of our practice matches, I lost the other eight.
We all went to bed at reasonable hours that night, each of us getting a full night's sleep. Fortunately, it seemed that mentally exhausting ourselves overpowered any anxiety we'd be feeling about the coming tournament. For reasons aside from the obvious that none of us could have predicted, having clear heads would prove to be a heavenly blessing for that first day.
When the next day arrived, we were all attending our last breakfast on the cruise ship. Justin, Elsa, Diego, Tanya, and I shared a table just as we did back in school and were discussing what we thought our chances for victory could be.
"Having confidence is important, Justin, but the only ones amongst us who have a chance of victory in the double digits are me, Erick, Tanya, Michael, and Brie," Diego said while balancing a fork full of salad on his finger.
After scarfing down a bite of his eggs, Justin shot back, "Why? Just cause you guys're our top five?"
Finishing her orange juice, Elsa remarked, "Yeah. That's probably why."
"Well... Yes," Diego replied.
"Yeah, duh. What else did you think it'd be?" Tanya added.
Looking at me as I munch on my bacon, Justin pleaded, "Aw, come on, Erick, back me up!"
Swallowing my food, I gestured to the dining room around us and said, "Well, guys, I honestly don't think any of us from Duel Academy are gonna win this. I mean, we're up against pros who've been at this for years. Don't get me wrong, I wanna win and I'm gonna do my best. But as far as I can tell, we all have the same chance at victory, and that'd be zero."
Raising her eyebrows at that, Tanya replied, "That's a pretty bleak outlook."
Spinning his fork in his hand, Diego commented, "Honestly, I'd say it's realistic more than anything... That doesn't mean I agree with it. I still think I've got plenty good odds of victory."
Perking up a bit, Justin stated, "Well, I think Erick's right about one thing. We should all try our best to win! Screw the odds!"
"Yeah. That's a pretty good way to look at it, I guess," I replied.
Rocking in her chair as she looked at the ceiling, Elsa commented, "Honestly, I don't care about winning this at all. I'm just here to have fun with ya'll. I'm gonna stick to making card art after this is all said and done."
"Heh. Hey, that's fair. It's what you went to school for anyway," Tanya responded.
"Actually, ya know what? I think Tanya's the one with the right idea. First and foremost, let's all make sure we have fun while we're here," I stated.
"Heck yeah! I can get behind that!" Justin replied.
Setting his utensil down, Diego smirked and said, "I don't think so. I'm here to win... But having fun can be a secondary goal, I suppose."
"Eh, that's fair," I remarked with a shrug.
Just as we took the last bites of our meals, the ship's horn went off, silencing everyone who'd been talking in the dining room.
After a full thirty seconds, the horn went quiet as a voice spoke over the P.A. system, "Attention, Duelists! This is your captain speaking! We are soon to arrive on the docks of Duel Monsters Island! Be sure to gather your belongings, because we only have twenty minutes until we get there! That is all."
Seconds after this announcement was made, hundreds of our fellow participants jumped to their feet and started trying to push each other out of the way.
Letting out a sigh, Diego stood up and asked, "Okay... Justin, can you get us through this?"
Standing up as well, Justin stretched out his arms before responding, "Yep! Everyone grab on and form the chainlink!"
As he said this, Justin leaned forward and got into a linebacker stance. Without needing to say anything to each other, as we'd already done this move a number of times to get to new cards early, we all got in a line behind him from tallest to shortest. Once we were lined up, I grabbed onto the back of Justin's jacket; as Elsa grabbed onto my free hand, Diego grabbed onto Elsa's hand, and Tanya locked hands with Diego. With us all in position, Justin started running, and we all did our best to keep pace with him.
Within moments, we'd pushed our way through the crowd and escaped the insanity that the dining room had devolved into.
"Alright, let's go grab our luggage and get ready, gang," I said enthusiastically once we were in an open hallway.
Following my instructions, we all ran back to our shared room and quickly got our stuff together. Meanwhile, most of the other duelists were barely able to get ready by the time the boat was pulling into the dock. Honestly, this had to be one of the better benefits to having such a large and closely-knit friend group when in a public place.
Shortly after everyone who was going ashore had readied themselves, the ship had pulled up to the docks. Thanks to getting ready so quickly, my friends and I were near the front of the line to get on dry land.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed as a few of the other passengers were vomiting over the side of the ship. They were individuals who'd been seasick throughout the entire voyage. I pitied those guys but also couldn't help feeling a sense of relief that none of us from Duel Academy had that problem.
"Geez. Those guys should've packed some medicine for this trip or something," I remarked to my friends.
Glancing over at the people puking their guts up, Diego postulated, "Many of them are likely first-time seafarers and didn't know this would happen. Fortunately for us, our trips to and from Duel Academy during our time attending there made us all aware of our oceanic constitutions."
"Yeah, besides. Those guys probably would've puked up anything they tried to take to calm their stomachs," Justin added.
"That wouldn't be very good stomach medicine then, now would it?" Tanya asked sarcastically.
"Ha! Guess not."
A minute after our conversation was done, the walkways leading off the ships and to the docks connected. In contrast to the mad dash out of the dining room, everyone got off the boat in a fairly organized manner. If I had to guess what caused this, I'd assume everyone collectively wanted to avoid falling off the side of the ship on the way off.
After about a half-hour of getting off the boat, myself and the thousands of other competitors had gathered in front of a stage with some men in business suits and masks on. We should have taken the masks as a red flag, but the fact that all the masks were based on various duel monsters must have caused us all to collectively assume this was some sort of gimmick for the tournament.
Speaking of which, something else I found odd was how there were no camera crews to film us during this whole time. This was a tournament with over two thousand competitors in it, so I assumed that it would be televised at least somewhat. However, my confusion was put to rest when I noticed some automated cameras hanging from, and on the roofs of various buildings around the pier.
Before I could find anything else to be curious over, the lead individual on the stage, who was wearing a Slifer The Sky Dragon mask, began speaking, a microphone carrying his voice across the crowd.
"May I have your attention, please! Until the tournament has reached its conclusion, this island, Duel Monsters Island, will be your home! You will all be escorted to the structure where the finals shall take place momentarily! There, Jude Alexander, our tournament's host, will explain the full set of rules that you must follow while here! First off, though, if you would all please turn in your duel disks to receive our tournament's standard models!"
As he said this, Slifer gestured to numerous vendors waiting in front of the stage.
A number of us started to get confused at this until Slifer explained, "There will be times while you're here that you will be allowed to explore the island freely! These duel disks will allow us to keep track of your locations and vitals in order to make sure that we'll be able to locate you in the event that you get injured during your stay! Do not worry! Your duel disks will be marked and returned to you at the end of the tournament or at any other point in time in which you are eliminated from the contest! Now, everyone, please form lines and cooperate!"
While there was a bit more muttering of discontent over this turn of events, everyone followed directions and got into lines within a few minutes. Unfortunately, me and my group ended closer to the middle of our line than we would have hoped, but the lines were moving quickly enough that it didn't matter too much.
Soon enough, our old Duel Academy duel disks had been replaced with new ones. While our old disks were fairly basic in design and had the Obelisk Blue color scheme, these new ones were much sleeker in design and were colored gold and black.
For some reason, when the tournament staff gave us these new duel disks, they immediately attached them to our wrists and told us not to remove them until given permission to do so. When I tried asking for an explanation, I simply got told that I would be disqualified if I tried to take it off.
Making my way aside from the stalls alongside my friends, I asked, "Anyone else think this place is kinda weird so far?"
"Whataya mean?" Justin asked back.
"I don't know. Just, something seems off, I guess. Also, the weird rule about not taking off the duel disks."
Resting her head on her hands, Elsa remarked, "Hey, I'm sure it's okay. We're all just anxious and jittery, I bet."
"Indeed. It's likely just a policy they have in place to make sure no one goes wandering off before things even get underway," Diego added.
Scratching my head, I replied, "I hope so. It'd be better if I'm just being paranoid."
Walking over and patting me on the back, Elsa told me, "No need to worry. So long as our Duel Spirits watch our backs and tomatoes are fruit, we'll be okay."
When Elsa said this, everyone gave her the same kind of looks that I gave her yesterday. When the others turned to me for an explanation, all I could do was shrug at them.
"Uh, Elsa... You know that thing about tomatoes doesn't relate to our situation, right?" Tanya asked.
Nodding, Elsa replied, "Yeah, I know. Why do you bring it up?"
"What?! You're the one who mentioned it in the first place!" Tanya shot back.
"Oooookaaaay? And?" Elsa inquired.
As Tanya fumed more, I spoke to everyone, "Okay, guys. I think Elsa might just need a break from dueling for a day. I'm sure we won't have to start the tournament immediately, so I'm sure she'll get it."
Stretching slightly, Elsa closed her eyes and remarked, "Yeah, all that dueling yesterday did get a bit tiring after a while."
Walking over to me and whispering into my ear, Justin asked, "Hey, bro. Did she get enough food and water yesterday?"
"I made sure of it, yeah. Diego suggested this could be some weird joke on her part, and I pray he's right."
"Yeah, no kidding," he replied.
Walking up to Elsa as Jason and I conversed, Diego told her, "Just make sure you rest and relax for now."
"Aw, thanks for the concern, but I'll be alright," Elsa told him.
Shortly after we'd finished this conversation, Slifer's voice rang out again, "May I have your attention again! At the pier's exit, you'll find guides waiting to escort you through the forest to Master Jude's castle! Everyone, please organize yourselves accordingly!"
When Slifer gave this instruction, we all made our way around the stage and saw the guides he spoke of, more men and women wearing masks.
I had somewhat noticed this when the ship pulled up to the island, but what Slifer said was true. Past the pier, there were no buildings, only forest. Admittedly, there were dirt roads that would make traversing the woods easier, but this was still odd to me.
Regardless, my group went up to follow a woman wearing a Red-Eyes Black Dragon mask. A few hundred others also chose to follow Red-Eyes. Amongst these people, the other top ten from Duel Academy were present.
As Red-Eyes told us, "Alright, everyone. Follow me." Michael approached me and started pushing me away from my friends.
Michael was always an interesting individual. He's about the same size as Justin and has blond hair to boot. The difference was that, while Justin kept his hair cut short, Michael's hair was long and flowing. Combined with his green eyes, all-around good looks, and status as the top student, Michael was always very popular with the girls in our school. Due to us both having a status in the top three, Michael started fixating on me as his rival, not that I really ever was able to compete with him too much. Honestly, Brie would make a better rival in regards to overall capabilities, but I think he focuses on me due to our clashing styles. Both in regards to our appearances and our decks. While I had my Dark World cards, Michael primarily used a Lightsworn deck. As such, I believe the whole concept of light and dark clashing appealed to him. Although, I'd be lying if I said I didn't get some enjoyment out of our competition and opposite styles.
"Hey, Errick. You've noticed it too, right?"
"It? What's that?" I believe I understood what he meant, but didn't want to presume.
As we started walking through the forest, Michael gestured at the general area and said, "This whole place! There's something weird about it. The security cameras in place of television cameras, the people in masks, the new duel disks. You've noticed all that, right?"
Nodding, I told him, "Yeah, I brought it up with my friends, but we jotted the feeling up to being anxious about entering a tournament."
Smiling at me, Michael reassured me, "Don't worry. I've already competed in the pro scene a couple of times, and I can say for certain that you're on this level. But, anyway, my point is that if something goes wrong here, I want all of us from Duel Academy to stick together. Brie's agreed with me on that, and I'm going to ask the others too, but I was hoping you could talk to your posse about the idea."
Smiling back at him, I told Michael, "That sounds like a plan. I'll let the gang know."
Patting my shoulder, Michael responded, "Goodman. Hopefully, nothing actually comes of this, but better to have a plan and not need it than to need it and not have one. Well, see ya around."
"Right. See ya later."
Once Michael left, I maneuvered back towards my friends and greeted them, "Hey, guys."
"Was Michael giving you a hard time again?" Justin asked.
"No, nothing like that. He was saying the same thing I was about being suspicious of this place. He was saying that if anything happens here, then all of us from Duel Academy should look out for each other. I said that sounded good to me and that I'd run the idea by you guys."
Shrugging, Justin told me, "I mean, if you're really that worried, then sure. I'm game."
"I doubt anything'll come of it, but sure," Tanya answered dismissively.
"Better to be ready than not. I'm up for it," Diego told me.
"Heh. That's the same thing he said," I replied.
The only one not to answer was Elsa, who had her hand to her chin.
After letting her think for a moment, I asked, "Elsa? What do you think?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was listening to what my monsters thought of this. I don't know, honestly. Michael's Duel Spirits always seem so... Uncertain? I guess that's the best way to put it. I don't know if I can trust him, so give us some time to decide."
"Hm...Alright, sure. Just be ready to make a decision if something suddenly happens," I told her.
"Right, right."
After walking through the forest for at least an hour, some of the people in our group were starting to complain. I've never been an athlete myself, but I've got good enough natural stamina that the walk didn't phase me. The same applied to Diego and Tanya, whereas Justin was just flat out more fit than the rest of us. The only one who was starting to have issues was Elsa. Due to some surgeries, she had to have before graduation, she was a little more out of shape than the rest of us and was starting to have trouble keeping up. Soon, she was breathing heavy and sweating, and it was clear she couldn't go on much further.
Fortunately for her, Justin approached Elsa and asked, "Need a lift?"
Justin then tapped on his back for emphasis as Elsa smiled and answered, "Desperately."
Without another word, Elsa jumped on Justin's back as he gave her a piggyback ride. Even with the extra weight, Justin's stride wasn't slowed at all as he still remained ahead of the rest of us. This didn't take any of us by surprise, as we couldn't help but laugh at Justin's display of physical fitness.
Only a few minutes later, our group started coming up on a building in the distance that we could see over the treeline.
Once it came into view, Red-Eyes told us, "Okay, everyone, we're about to arrive at Master Jude's castle! The other groups should be arriving at the same time as us! Once we get there, Master Jude will make an appearance to explain the full set of rules for this tournament."
"Ugh, finally. I don't mind the exercise, but this walk took forever," Tanya complained.
Just as Red-Eyes said she would, she led us in front of the castle, with the other groups arriving shortly after us.
Now that I was finally able to get a good look at the castle, I think the term 'castle' undersold just how huge the thing was. It'd be more accurate to call it a temple styled with a Greco-Roman motif. The place was huge, ornate, and looked as if it could easily accommodate everyone brought to this island. Although, I guess I shouldn't expect anything less from a man as rich as Jude Alexander.
One thing that did puzzle me was how, at the top of the stairs leading to the castle's entrance, there was a podium with a number of microphones, as well as a glass wall preventing anyone from gaining entrance.
"Things're getting curiouser and curiouser. Why's that glass there?"
Shoving me slightly, Tanya told me, "Stop trying to scare us, man. Jude probably put that there to keep himself safe. He's rich and probably has a lot of guys who hate him."
"Yeah. That one's not too suspicious, Erick," Diego commented.
Frowning, I conceded, "Okay, yeah. That's a fair point."
A few more minutes passed by as all the staff in the duel monster masks gathered at the base of the stairs.
Once they each crossed their arms into their sleeves, Slifer, who somehow caught up with the group, told us all, "Attention, duelists! May I present to you, the host and benefactor of this contest, Master Jude Alexander!"
Slowly, the gates to the castle opened on their own as everyone watched with anticipation and excitement. Soon after, the man himself walked out from the entrance to his temple.
Jude Alexander was an older-looking man, late forties to early fifties if I had to guess, who was the physical embodiment of refined. His black and gray hair was neatly combed back, his features were rugged yet elegant, the twinkle in his eyes was that of an olden-days king who knew exactly how to talk to his people, and his gold and black tuxedo was not only expertly made, but hid any signs of his body's age. Either that, or he was simply the type of man to keep himself in immaculate shape.
Having approached his podium, Jude cleared his throat before he spoke into his microphones and addressed us, "Greetings, duelists from all around the world! You are, each of you, the best duelists that this planet has to offer! I am blessed with the honor of welcoming you all to what is not only the most important tournament of your lives but the most important tournament of Human history!"
Myself and a few others chuckled when we heard that. Sure, this contest is huge and has some pretty big cash prizes, but saying it's the most important tournament ever is a bit much.
Seemingly joining in with the laughter, Jude let out a chuckle and continued, "Hmm. I'm assuming from your reactions that I should explain the full stakes of this contest! First and foremost, the new duel disks we handed out to all of you are designed to electrocute you to death if you should lose a duel!"
Jude then stopped once again, having evidently expected the stunned reactions mixed in with the concerned murmurs.
The five of us only came out of our stupor when we heard Elsa yelp in pain as Justin involuntarily dropped her and asked us, "I... I didn't hear that correctly, right...? He didn't really say... to death, did he?!"
"That... I thought something was up, but this-." Before I could finish talking, one particularly loud and large man pushed his way to the front of the crowd and started shouting.
"What the Hell is this shit?! You expect us to believe we're gonna die here?!"
Without any falter in his smile, Jude pulled out a touchpad from his suit and began talking once more, "Let's see, who do we have here...? Ah yes! Jackson Machado, quarter-finalist of the Brazillian nationals! The loss of you won't be too awful, so this should make a perfect example!"
Suddenly, as Jude pressed a few buttons on his touchpad, Jackson suddenly started shaking in place. Within a few seconds, though, he started screaming as the arm that his duel disk was on caught on fire. His hair followed suit, with smoke soon coming off of his flesh. After a minute, his eyeballs exploded from his head as his boiling tongue gurgled in his throat and trickled down his cheek.
Once his body stopped shaking, Jackson lifelessly fell to the ground. As the horrid stench of burnt flesh and hair wafted throughout the gathering, it was clear for all to see that this man was dead.
For an endless second, no one was able to articulate at all. However, once the next second came by, various people in the crowd screamed in horror.
I soon noticed as numerous people around me started trying to rip these new duel disks off. To my horror, amongst these individuals was Tanya. Before she could pull too hard on the death trap, I reached out and grabbed her hand away from it.
"Don't!" I shouted, getting the attention of a few others who'd been trying to do the same as her.
"What are you doing?! We have to-!"
Before Tanya could finish, we suddenly heard more screams as all the people around us who hadn't stopped messing with their duel disks were suddenly being electrocuted as well.
As people started dropping, Jude spoke once again, "Now, this might be a bit of a late warning for some of you, but any attempts to remove the duel disks will result in electrocution as well! Once you're all done panicking, I would like to have your attention again!"
While some people silenced themselves after hearing this, hundreds suddenly ran away into the forest, while another group of a few dozen made an attempt to push through the masked workers to get up the stairs. Pulling off the impossible, everyone grew even more frightened as the front row of these people were suddenly gunned down by pistols produced by the workers from their uniforms.
"I've noticed a good chunk of you have attempted to run away already! You're free to leave this assembly early if you wish, but understand that there is no longer any way off of Duel Monsters Island other than what I am about to tell you! In addition, you'll miss the explanation of the rest of this wonderful competition's rules! So, if I could be so bold, I would recommend staying here until I finish!"
Realistically, thinking on pure logic, there's no way that these masked guys had enough bullets to stop us if we all charged them at once. I'm sure a lot of others realized this aside from just me. With that said, that logic didn't suddenly erase the fear of being shot that whoever was at the front would have to contend with. Also, there was the concern of being electrocuted before we could even get up the stairs.
After a few more minutes passed by, those who had remained assembled went quiet, each of us desperate to hear what this way out that Jude had mentioned was.
Nodding when we all went silent, Alexander started speaking yet again, "Excellent! Now, for the rules! There are a lot of them, so listencarefully!"
Once Jude was sure that no one was speaking, he went on, "As I said before, whenever someone is eliminated from the tournament, their duel disk will electrocute them to death! A person is eliminated when they lose a duel or go a week without dueling anyone! An internal timer is keeping track of this, and said timer is reset to a full week whenever you win a duel! The amount of remaining time you have is displayed on your duel disks at all times for your convenience! In addition, the duel disk will seal shut and burn any cards that are still in the disk when youlose!"
A few people started murmuring when Jude said that, but they stopped when he cleared his throat into the microphone and stated, "Everyone, please. There's still much more to go over."
Once the crowd went quiet again, Jude continued, "Good. Now, where was I...? Ah, yes! If any attempts are made to remove the duel disk, then they will execute the duelist right away! If a participant intentionally attempts to directly physically harm another participant, then they will be electrocuted! If a participant verbally challenges another participant, they must accept the challenge within a minute or be electrocuted! This will be counted as a victory for the challenger! In addition, if a contestant is challenged to a duel and wins, then they are free to reject any other challenges for the next twenty-four hours without fear of execution! Now, the duel disks have two weeks of power within them and must be recharged at the end of each week at one of the provided charging stations on the island! If someone neglects to charge their duel disk, then the remaining power will be used to electrocute them! The timer for this is also displayed on your duel disks!"
So many different ways to kill us... How long has this psycho been planning this?!
"Once I've finished explaining the rules, participants can choose to enter alliances with one another! Simply inform my wonderful staff here of who is in your alliances, and we will make the necessary adjustments! The maximum number of people that can be in an alliance is ten! However, after the first 24 hours have passed, no more official alliances can be made! Those in alliances gain a number of splendid benefits! If someone in an alliance wins a duel, that adds 24 hours, up to a maximum of a week, to the weekly duel timers of everyone else on their team! In addition, members of an alliance can work together to participate in tag-duels! You are even free to challenge individuals to two-on-one duels! With that said, any of their allies have a full two minutes to show up and join the duel as their partner before such a duel can begin! There is a downside to forming alliances, though! If a member of an alliance is eliminated, then all members lose 24 hours on their timer! In addition, there can only be eight finalists, so while it is unlikely that your entire team would survive to the end, if they do, then that would mean members of your alliance will have to eliminate each other, that is for those with more than eight members! Also, members of alliances are not prohibited from challenging each other to duels!"
Once Jude finished the explaining the alliance system, I heard a number of people start to cry.
For Jude's part, he either didn't hear them, or willfully ignored their despair as he went on, "Now, during your time spent here, you will be living on your own in nature! No accommodations have been prepared for you! That said, there are stalls located throughout the island that will have limited amounts of food stocked into them at the end of each week! So, unless you're capable of hunting for your own meals, you'll have to eliminate some of each other to ensure that there's enough to go around! Lastly, your duel disks will also have a counter on them that will show you how many contestants remain in the competition! Keep in mind that two thousand five hundred people arrived here to start with! With all that said, let's have an amazing tournament, everyone! Get out there and give it your all!"
The devil-may-care tone of Jude's voice left us all shocked silent. Not only that but the disbelief, the hope that this was all some sort of messed up nightmare, kept us from speaking or moving.
However, once we all heard some sort of beep go off on all our duel disks simultaneously, did we come out of our trances. Looking at them, some of us fearing that we were about to get shocked, I and everyone else saw two timers with one hundred sixty-eight hours on both begin to tick down. Beneath those was a symbol of a stick figure with the number 2,276 displayed next to it.
As I looked at this, the sudden realization of how many people had to have already died hit me like a runaway train. It took all of my willpower not to puke up my breakfast, as dozens around me failed to do the same.
"Hey! Let me ask you a question, Mr. Alexander!"
My friends and I all recognized this voice as belonging to Michael. He had made his way to the front of the crowd and was standing calmly but confidently as he looked up at our host.
Looking back and forth between his device and Michael, Jude addressed him with another smile, "Ah, let's see. This one is... Oh! Michael Mcneal! The top graduating student of Duel Academy! What can I do for you, young man?!"
Clenching his fists, Michael yelled, "Why are you doing this?! Why are you making us kill each other?! And you said you'd tell us how to get out of here! Well, what is it?!"
Perking up, Jude replied, "Oh, yes! I forgot to mention that last part! So, yes! The eight finalists will be allowed to live at the end of all this!" When I heard that, a rage bubbled up and overtook my fear.
Pushing my way through the crowd, I began shouting, "You sick fuck! You seriously brought thousands of people here just to kill them!? Hundreds of people are already dead! What the fuck is wrong with you!?"
With his infuriating smile still on his face, Jude Alexander replied as he scrolled through his device, "And you are...? Erick Howitzer! Duel Academy's third best! Now now, it's not my fault all those people couldn't stay calm! And as for the why of all this... Well, I'll leave that information as a prize for the finalists to learn!"
"Not your fault...?! You son of a-!"
Cutting me off, Jude went on, "As much of a delight as conversing with you all is, I'm afraid, for your own good, I'll have to cut things short here! You're all on a time limit, and an even shorter one for making any alliances that you may wish to! Have good rest of your day now!"
Without another word, Alexander turned around and went back into his castle, with the doors closing behind him.
"What?! Get back here, you shit bag!"
My shouts fell on deaf ears, though, as Jude was gone, and there were no signs of his returning. Before my rage could overtake me, the crowd of thousands behind broke out into another panic. While half of the people remained here, the other half shouted and stampeded into the woods.
As they did, I noticed on my duel disk that the number of remaining participants started going down. The first conclusion that came to my mind was that some people must have been getting trampled in all the insanity.
When I realized this, I began scanning the crowd for my friends, specifically, the smaller Tanya and Diego. As fear for the lives of my friends began to rush through my mind, the first day of the Duel Monster Island tournament began.
Hello, readers. This is Batty1377. I'm going for a significantly darker story this time around if you couldn't tell. Like with all my stories, I'm open to any and all criticisms. So please feel free to do so.
For those more familiar with Yu-Gi-Oh, you'll notice that the best duelists in this story aren't always using the best possible decks. That is because I am simply trying to tell a story that will be entertaining, and the meta of the game won't matter too much when it comes to deck builds, outside of having actually functional decks, that is. In addition, there won't be any Pendulum or Link summoning in this story. It's just a personal preference of myself and my friends who I play this game with, so I didn't want to bother trying to bring in aspects of the game that I dislike and am unfamiliar with the rules of.
Lastly, I figured that I should mention that there will be some fan-made cards in this story. Again, those of you more familiar with the franchise would've likely already noticed this during the duel between Erick and Elsa.
Anyways, I hope everyone who reads this is able to enjoy this story and has a great day and life.