1- Boredom is a powerful motivator.
Pegasus' dreamscape was a wonder on its own.
The obsession of the man with his Toon monsters was patent even in his dreams, making the entire place looks like an animated version of Domino City and several other places that he visited during his quest to revive the love of his life.
Personally, the intruder in his little dream had nothing against the poor sod. With years; eons; come experience and calmness that permeated all the actions and decisions that an individual could make. After all, with time, little surprises you anymore.
Pegasus' dream was something out of a Loony Toons marathon; Pegasus was running, as if he was some kind of rabbit thief/prankster whatever, from a doggy like Seto Kaiba that was constantly fuming, unable to catch the slippery rabbit.
The intruder sweatdropped at the image, this was something new, to be honest; and considering that he had all the time in the world, the intruder, allowed himself to be entertained by the shenanigans of Pegasus´s mind.
It was like seeing a live episode of Loony Toons but with Pegasus and Kaiba as main stars. Also, it was a bonus that Kaiba was the "bad guy" in all this and was pretty much dragged by the nose around all the scenario, growing increasingly frustrated by all that happened around him and how the Pegasus rabbit was blowing raspberries at him with impunity.
It has been a while since the intruder had a good laugh and discretely taking a seat on the corner of the dream, summoned a bag of popcorn and a cold beer, and enjoyed the spectacle. Other Toon monsters joined him at some point. Toons are pretty much the duel spirits of Pegasus, and he loved his cute pranksters to death.
Pegasus´s nowadays deck was pretty much built around the Toon cards, and from the intruder´s perspective that was a good thing. Pegasus was a child at heart, even if he did have a dark phase; the grief over the loss of a person that he loved deeply could do that to a man, and the Toon cards felt at home with the man.
Industrial Illusions was also responsible for the maintenance and update of the Duel Monsters cards and Pegasus always took personal pride in making sure that his cards are up to the top quality. Pegasus took personal honor in making sure that his cards are always attractive to the eyes, no matter how weak the Game Designers made them be.
With the pass of years and the different cards, boost decks, and all that jargon of the game, the intruder saw how the cards changed, reflecting the new appearance of all the Duel Spirits. Even he and his brothers felt a bit of envy at the fact that they would never change.
Perhaps that was one of the reasons why the intruder was in Pegasus' dreams, to make the creator of the game redraw them into something more accord to their magnificence. However, do not mistake pride with arrogance. The intruder and his brothers were some of the tops of the Duel Spirits, very few could measure against them.
Without any real hurry, the intruder enjoyed a bit of chill-out time with the Toons around. Exchanging spells with Toon Dark Magician Girl, sharing a barbecue with Toon Alligator, or flirting with the Toon Gemini Elves. It was nice, to interact with the Duel Spirits like this, most of the time they are utterly freaked out by his presence, but in this dream Toon World, he was far from his usual appearance.
Still, everything has to come to an end, a lesson well learned during all the ages that he has lived, and the intruder grow bored of the wild goose chase that Pegasus was doing and with a loud sigh, walked behind the Woof-Woof Kabia Mcdog and punted him in the ass so hard that he became a new star in the sky.
Paying rendition to one of the classics of painting, Pegasus-Rabbitt put his hands at the side of his face and made a curiously; if not a cartoon; an accurate impression of The Scream painting. It was remarkable and not all that unexpected, to be honest.
Waiting patiently, the intruder let Pegasus recover from the shock, but the rabbit-Pegasus just continue becoming paler. The intruder expected such reaction, although the Toon world has been a bonus so far, it has been a while since he had such an entertaining evening.
"Pegasus, I am not going to hurt you", sighed the intruder.
Pegasus curled into a fluffy ball and tried to muster his best puppy dog eyes; well, tiny rabbit eyes, with teary, big, eyes, and flopped ears included. It was a very powerful weapon indeed, but against the intruder in his dreams, totally useless.
"I promise you, I am not going to hurt you", repeated the intruder. "So far, this Toon World of yours has been quite welcoming and I have come to ask you for help, not to hurt you".
Pegasus uncurled from his fluffy ball position and looked at him with, blinking a pair of times and expressing total confusion and curiosity.
"Well, err, sorry but I am quite shocked by your presence here", nervously played with his flopped ears Pegasus, "in fact, I wasn't aware that none of you were able to communicate in such manners; only a handful of duelist has ever controlled you and none of them said anything about something like this".
"Let me tell you something about us, me and my brothers?", started the intruder, "we bore a lot, the recent battle against Malik and Zorc? that has been the most fun that we had in ages, and after that, everything grows bored".
"Wait, what?", blinked Pegasus again. Was he saying what Pegasus thought he was saying?.
"Point is, even if my lazy brothers are content where they are, I am not", snorted the intruder. "I know that something is cooking in the Seal of the Light, that Yubel is screeching about her beloved King and that the Sacred Beasts of Duel Academy are growing bolder each day. I will be dammed if I am not there to punch all of them back to the hole they crawled out".
"By the Gods", muttered Pegasus and the intruder smiled widely with his fanged mouth; even in his actual Toon style, he was freaking intimidating.
"Exactly", pointed out Obelisk the Tormentor, Egyptian God, and a very bored deity these days.
"The point is, that the rest of the Egyptian Gods are happy as they are, we are in the hands of a worthy duelist; for the record, I agree; Yugi keep us and plays us with mastery so I had no complaints but the Light is coming back and those mangy mutts of the Sacred Beasts are starting to get on my nerves".
"Also, I know for sure that Yubel is scouting the earth, looking for the reincarnation or place holder of her bloody Supreme King of the Gentle Darkness, and even if I had nothing against the lad, I am a big fan of his work; the damages that, that bloody yandere is capable of unleashing would be a nightmare on their own".
"I...", the last thing Pegasus expected was for an Egyptian God to knew terms like Yandere.
"Yes, I know, I could always tell Yugi about my suspicions", nodded Obelisk.
"But that would be boring, I would be relegated to be a simple card in the deck, waiting to be called, no, no; not this time, I followed the advice of my brothers, looked out for a worthy holder and play it low, helping only when I was called".
"To hell with that, I believed that Kaiba was perfect and as soon as he could, he kicked me to the curb and went back to his little Blue Eyes Dragons. Not anymore, this time I am going to build myself a nice body, a nice deck and do things my way".
"Gods protects us", paled Pegasus in front of what he was hearing.
"Pretty much the idea, yes", smiled widely Obelisk.
"Yes, I am the blood Tormentor, Obelisk the Tormentor, but that was a title that the old Egyptians give me because I tended to beat my opponents to an inch of their lives, leaving them in a battered and bruised shape, their moans of agony and torment were the reason why I got the nickname".
"My old pal Exodia and I got like a house on fire because we both tend to crush the opposition completely; and this time, as much as I am sure that the King is not going to let us down, I am going to be there. Just in case, some serious wrecking and smashing are needed".
"Also, and possibly the most important reason so far", Obelisk continued explaining his ideas to Pegasus. "Is because I am freaking bored, and I don't want to drag Yugi into an adventure when he has already built a very good life here in Domino City and the Pro-Leagues".
"For a being called the Tormentor, you are nothing like you should be". Commented Pegasus, with the brain to mouth filter disabled by the conversation.
"Mortals and your perspective on things", huffed Obelisk, "you are the ones that painted me like a giant of the apocalypse; so that´s what the old civilizations expected from me, and such views slipped into the Dual Spirits".
"Only powerful spirits had the guts to actually speak to me or even get close", admitted Obelisk with a sad shook of his head. "But compared to Exodia, I had it easy, the poor sod was feared by everyone, even other gods and Archfiends tend to scoot far from him and he is a very cultivated and wise soul".
"Fucking fascinating and fucking terrifying!" shouted Pegasus inside his mind.
"Well, my Lord, all that is good and well, but I don't understand what I have to do with anything".
"I am going to build myself a body", explained Obelisk, "a mortal body, so I can walk around freely, but I need a background and a deck. That´s where you come in, you can provide me with both".
"I am honored, but why not Kaiba?", curiously questioned Pegasus. "He also had the resources and cards to help you with your plan and he is proud of the fact that he was your holder during the Battle City Tournament".
"I am going to punch him or kick him in the bollocks or kick his ass to the next century", growled Obelisk.
"That´s...unusual", blinked Pegasus. "You choose him after all".
"Yes, yes I did, and believe me, I should not have chosen him, but my brothers insisted and he is an astonishing duelist no matter what I opine about his rotten personality". Sighed Obelisk. "At the beginning, it was all that good and well, he was a pro, he knew how to play my card perfectly, but let's be honest here, how many times did he summon me and why did he use me for?".
"No idea", confessed Pegasus.
"Three times", informed Obelisk.
"The first one in a lab to see if I was the real deal, the second one against some chumps on the street to show off and the third to sacrifice me to summon his Blue-Eyes White Dragon, now, don't get me wrong, I like her a lot; the Blue-Eyes White Dragon I mean, but Kaiba grinds my gears".
"Its a good thing that Kaiba had his little brother Mokuba; the real brain of the two; to ground him, otherwise the bastard would be already twirling his mustache and laughing maniacally as he planned world domination or any other stupidity".
"Not a big fan of Seto-chan, eh?", chuckled Pegasus, quite shocked of seeing more humanity in these monsters than in the several humans that had tried to use the power of the Shadow Games for their purpose.
"You could say that", shrugged Obelisk. "The thing is, that you are the only one in this world that could help me with my harebrained scheme to join the world of the mortals, and I want to do it the right way".
"There are other ways?", raised an eyebrow Pegasus.
"None good, believe me", snorted Obelisk.
"All Duel Spirits can try to become solid for a while, it takes a lot of energy, but it can be done. It depends on the spirit, the environment, and the will". Explained Obelisk to Pegasus, knowing that after how he lost his Millennium Item, Pegasus did a one-eighty on his motivations and ideas and become a good man; eccentric as hell, but good.
"Energy that can come from everything around them, especially living beings", detailed Obelisk, "human sacrifices are the best, but the best is dueling energy, that´s why spades of spirits try to possess human and become duelist, to feed on the duelist energies and become corporeal on this side".
"And what is going to be yours then, Lord Obelisk?", there was a slight fearful tone on Pegasus, especially when Obelisk talk about possession. The Eye that Pegasus hold did already that to him and it was not as funny as it could sound.
"First craft a body for myself with my energies", started Obelisk, "then become a duelist and become part of Dueling Academy, all kinds of fools are orbiting there and I pretend to be there to punch them back to the hole they crawled out".
"But will you feed on duelist as well?", Pegasus knew that he was skating on thin ice, but the idea of an Egyptian God gallivanting around was a nightmare on its own.
"Not in the way that you are fearing", waved Obelisk, Pegasus worries. "Look, I understand your worries, but I am not going to kill anyone, neither feed on people like I am some kind of Dueling vampire".
"Shadow Games, are the only place where I draw the line on the sand; whoever is stupid enough to provoke a Shadow Game with me, deserve to have their assess chewed by the Shadows, that being said, I am not entirely heartless, I know that desperation could guide, humans and spirits alike, to very dark paths".
"So….", Pegasus was not entirely convinced but his curiosity was stronger than him and he couldn't but ask. Pegasus need to know what had Obelisk in mind about cards. "What kind of deck do you have in mind?".
"A wrecking crew", laughed Obelisk and Pegasus feel a tear of sweat run down the side of the head.
This was one of the weirdest dreams that Pegasus has ever had.
Something that was echoed by Yugi Moto, the King of Games and current holder of the Egyptian God that was in front of him, drinking from a massive barrel. Yugi was clever enough to recognize that this was some kind of dream, but it was one weird dream.
"Let me get this straight?", rubbed Yugi the bridge of his nose. "You are bored and had sensed that something is going on amiss in the Duel Spirit realms, the Seal of the Light and the Sacred Beast, so you are going to reincarnate yourself and become a duelist in two or three years, to face, head-on, all these challenges".
"Yes", simply answered Obelisk and offered his barrel to Yugi. "Tylenol?".
"Yes please", answered back Yugi taking a long gulp of the anti-stress medicine.
Recovering from the bomb that the Egyptian God has dropped on him like it was nothing, Yugi collected his thoughts together and tried to compose something that resembles an argument.
"I don't even know where to being Obelisk", sighed Yugi. "if there are such problems, I would have preferred you told me, then we could have moved to the place and lookout for a solution".
"Tea would rip you apart if you disappear again for who knows for how long", pointed out Obelisk, "enough that you disappeared with Rebecca for almost four months in that archaeological expedition".
"You had your problems to deal with and the Supreme King of the Gentle Darkness has finally reincarnated, so I´m pretty sure that he is on the case, alas, I pretend to be there, just in case the poor sod chew more than he can swallow or some bastard tries to pull a fast one on him".
Yugi winced at the reminder of Obelisk, Tea and he indeed had a steady relationship but there have been bumps here and there. The moment where Yugi went on an archaeological expedition with Rebecca and disappeared for four months; trapped in a shadow realm and battling an army of zombie Duel Spirits; was one of those bumps. Yugi preferred not to repeat the experience, thank you.
"And how on earth did you pretend to reincarnate yourself?", asked Yugi. "If you are reborn now, you will still be too young to be a duelist".
"I am going to craft myself a body, a mortal body, so I can interact fully with the mortal world completely", explained Obelisk. "I will inhabit the homunculus and keep myself there until I am needed, slowly and carefully feeding on duel energy to never disrupt the balance".
"That´s...I don't even know what to say Obelisk, this is odd, to say the least, what does the rest of the Egyptian Gods think about all this?", questioned Yugi, a bit surprised that other Egyptian Gods were not there with Obelisk too.
"Ra and Slifer are comfortable as they are now", shrugged Obelisk. "Technically, I am the weakest of the three gods, so they think that I will not alter the balance much and they understood that the Light and the Sacred Beasts are a bloody danger, but also that the Supreme King of the Gentle Darkness is the one fated to face them".
"Still, we love this world, and we would prefer if it is still standing, just in case the King is not up to the challenge or something screws fate ten times over", detailed Obelisk, "not the first time it happens; so having an Egyptian God in the corner of the King would do wonders for the good going of his quests".
"And you pretend to be a duelist?", raised an eyebrow Yugi. "Not what I would have expected of an individual called the Tormentor".
"I like Duel Monsters", shrugged Obelisk again. "I like dueling, its always a challenge and it provides a steady income of energy without harming anyone; Shadow Duels not included; and I could earn my keeping with an honest job at the same time, its all win/win in my books".
"What kind of deck do you pretend to use?", the professional duelist in Yugi was interested, what kind of deck would a god use?.
"I am already talking with Pegasus about that", revealed Obelisk. "He is all into the project, we even have a name for the deck and everything".
"Pegasus is into this?, why I am not surprised", sighed Yugi drinking another gulp of the Tylenol. "What´s the name and what kind of deck is it?", asked again Yugi.
"The Ancient Wrecking Crew", laughed Obelisk. "Is a very straight forward deck with Ancient Gears and Machines as a base, then perhaps Spellcasters, Fiends or Warriors, is still up to debate".
"A beater combination then; monster with high attack and powerful effects", muttered Yugi. "Its somehow fitting", Yugi commented as the deck kind of mirrored Obelisk, whose card was a powerful monster on itself.
Obelisk Card was a level 10, 4000/4000, monster that was immune to spells, traps, and card effects. The only way to defeat him was to have a more powerful monster ready to rumble. The Egyptian God seems to have created a deck around that concept, but that was a dangerous, one-trick pony. Fortunately, Obelisk was clever enough to add more variety for trickery and versatility, so they would compensate for the flaws of the beaters of the deck.
"Yes, I thought so as well", smiled, or try to smile Obelisk, with his face it was hard to tell. "But I also told Pegasus to prepare another deck, I was thinking of having two or three decks".
"Three Egyptian Gods, three decks?", ventured Yugi and Obelisk raised an eyebrow.
"That´s an interesting idea", nodded Obelisk. "As that song says, "One for the money, two for the freak-show", three decks. The public deck, the show deck, and the Wrecking deck".
"I have to run these ideas with Pegasus", commented Obelisk. "Having all these dream conversations at the same time is kind of difficult".
"How many more are being tipped into this little project of yours?", raised an eyebrow Yugi, that never had Obelisk as a master planner precisely.
"Pegasus, Isis and you, so far", informed Obelisk. "The less knew about me, the better, although, I am sure that I am going to send some ripples as soon as I use myself in a public duel".
"You want to become pro?", Yugi was a bit surprised by the revelation.
"Only for a bit, I need a name so when I got into Duel Academy I am someone that the staff will see as reliable and the students as inspiration". Obelisk answered. "I have no intention of becoming a Pro duelists 24/7, just enough to get a solid name, become part of Duel Academy, and help the King to smash the Light".
"And then?", that was the part that scared Yugi the most. What will happens, once Obelisk has stopped the Sacred Beasts and the Light?. A god among mortals, that never bodes well.
"So many ideas, so many things to do", chuckled Obelisk. "I want to see a Japanese Drum Concert, I want to travel to the Arctic and see glaciers, I will visit the Red Plaza, visit Ayer´s Rock, perhaps become an artist, a healer, heck even find an exceptional woman as you have done, I don't know, that´s it something that lies in the future".
"Your aspirations are way more mundane than I was expecting", confessed Yugi.
"Not a surprise", chuckled Obelisk. "I may be a God, but I have been sealed for a long time, and now I had the chance to experiment with the world to its fullest, that is something that I am eager to do".
"Will you try to renew the faith in the Gods?", asked Yugi, knowing full well, that the question had a lot more layers than it looks.
"No", replied in a second Obelisk. "I will not".
In Yugi´s memories, that dream with Obelisk would forever be one of the most surreal events that he experiments in his life. After all, not all days one could have a chat with a real god and much less a god that wanted to be mortal.
However, Yugi could not see fault in Obelisk. After centuries of being pretty much sealed in a tomb, the moment they get their liberty was the moment where they become entangled in a mess of fates and a battle with the destiny of the world in the balance. And Battle City Tournament was only the beginning of the constant battles that they had, with and without Yugi.
A decade later, Yugi could understand that the gods wanted something more than being cards, summoned for a minute the most, and then back to sleep. As interesting the Duel Spirit worlds are, the gods had their problems to travel through them. They are gods, after all, everyone and their mothers would look at them with a combination of fear, trepidation, and caution.
Obelisk wanted something different, and to be honest, Yugi could not blame the Egyptian God for looking out for alternatives, however, his little harebrained scheme was a bit off, even in the best of cases, Obelisk was putting himself at tremendous risk. He would be mortal, with all the consequences and pains that it brings to the table, also, the idea of Obelisk losing a Shadow Duel was something still untested, no one knows what could happen.
Obelisk himself suspected that he would become a dark version of himself, a wicked god, hellbent on destruction, but limited to the homunculus that was inhabiting; push come to the shove, Yugi and the rest of the Egyptian Gods could kick his ass and put him back to his original card and restore him to normal.
The body was crafted in record time, with the help of Isis and the rest of the Ishtar Clan it was an easy matter; even with all the extras that it needs to house a god. Obelisk felt indebted to the Egyptian clan and bowed to come to their help whatever comes to harm them. With a new body and a new identity; courtesy of Pegasus; Obelisk moved to the next part of the plan, building his deck and get to the Duel tournaments.
Pegasus was delighted with the experiment and Obelisk had little problem in allowing the man to indulge in his little passion for art and Toon cards and at the end, Obelisk managed to get two decks out of the debacle and a shit ton of side cards as reinforcements.
The Wrecking deck, the one that would be Obelisk main deck for all of the occasions, supported by the side cards, when something needs to be adjusted, added, or take out of the deck.
As Obelisk told Yugi, his main deck; the one for almost all occasions will be a mixture of powerful monsters; Machines as the main force; with a lot of nasty magic and trap cards. It was a very forward deck that pummels everything in its way and had some nasty tricks, in case brute force was not the way to victory.
The public deck was nicknamed the Wrecking Crew by Pegasus, and it was a fitting name.
The show deck was a homage to Pegasus. A Toon Deck with some unique cards that would make the duel a funny and crazy experience, Obelisk had this deck just for fun, to duel and have some laughs along with it. However, Toon decks are nasty little buggers, and Obelisk has promised Pegasus that he was going to use it to take down arrogant fools like Kaiba down a peg or two.
Armed with the peculiar decks and a completely new identity, Obelisk traveled a bit of the world, before smashing the Pro-duel leagues. It was a completely new world after all, and it was always a good idea to familiarize oneself with the common sense of the era. Being a reincarnated god could be hardcover to maintain.
And he had a bet with Pegasus, if he managed to pass an entire year without his identity revealed, Pegasus would own him one, and vice-versa. It was a bet that Obelisk had all the intention to win of course.
Traveling around the world for a couple of months, Obelisk familiarized himself with the everyday lives of the humans that populated the planet, their wishes, their light and dark moments. Obelisk found the underground arenas quite funny. They played with electrodes so they suffer real damage when they lost life points. It was a cheaper version of a Shadow Game.
Just for the heck of it, Obelisk crowned himself as a champion of the Underground Arenas of South America. It sure was a red ledger on his resume, but to be honest, it was also a very nice way to demonstrate that you can duel like a champ and endure all kinds of pressure.
Also, the Underground Arenas were a place where he met all kinds of interesting females. Obel had little problem in having as many one-night stands as he could, with as many females as he could.
After a dry spell of centuries, it was not difficult to understand why he desired to share pleasures with as many females as he could charm. But Obel was hardly a Casanova, he was direct, perhaps even rude sometimes, but the women around the Arenas were not precisely pampered princess, so it worked well at the end.
It did not sit well with the few that knew his real identity and power, but Obelisk granted them that he had zero intentions of becoming some kind of crime boss or something like that, he did it to test himself against dangerous duelist. If he can beat this underground duelist like drums, then he will be able to face whatever comes his way.
Obelisk's first debut as a Pro-duelist was in Germany, facing against the former Japan Champion Weebil Underwood. The Pro-duelist was a dangerous opponent, with an insect deck that was as nasty as its holder. Underwood has already fared a lot of times against the King of Games and even if he lost each one of them, it was a difficult battle.
Unfortunately for the little man, Obelisk was not in the mood to make it a long duel.
The duel took place in one of Germany´s arenas, near the capital of Berlin, a place that holds all kinds of European tournaments. Underwood was trying to promote himself back into the World Leagues, a spot that he lost after his defeat in Battle City and his disappearance for a month or so during the Zorc debacle.
The Insect deck user was a good duelist but lacked the will and skill to get up to the World Leagues. However, an exhibition match against an unknown duelist, promoting the next Booster packs of Pegasus was a sure way to make some contacts in the business and promote his career.
The moment that Underwood saw Obelisk in his human form, he knew that something was seriously amiss. It was instinct, born from all the demented adventures that he lived in the Battle City adventures and the horrors of the Leviathan and the Zorc debacle. There was something seriously wrong with his rival, he could tell, but it was a duel that was going to be televised all over Germany and streamed online worldwide.
From the perspective of Underwood, the man in front of him with a very obsolete Duel-Disk in his left was something puzzling. First of all, his physical appearance was a bit of intimidating, it reminded Underwood of a buffed up Marik Ishtar, but with golden eyes and way taller than the duelist that Underwood saw in Battle City Tournament.
Way past the six feet tall, built like a tank on steroids, brown tan and white hair, combed back to his shoulders and two strands that made him look like he had hair horns. The ripped man was not older than twenty would Underwood said, but he was on top physical shape.
The thing that unnerved Underwood was not the sensation that the man was something inhuman, but the fact that he was a total unknown. There was nothing on him, except some rumors that he was the Rey de la Jaula, in South America underground Arenas. No duels, nothing, even his deck was registered as part of the new booster pack that Pegasus put on the market a couple of months ago.
Underwood did not pay much attention to the Booster pack as it did not have any Insect Cards, but as a Pro-Duelist, he did study the cards, to adapt his deck and strategies to the new tricks that Pegasus has put in the game.
In Underwood´s opinion, it was a Booster for brutes, all filled to the brim with beater cards and direct damage spell and trap cards. The latter was something that Underwood could appreciate, but not much of the former.
Also, Underwood was surprised by the outdated Duel-Disk that the man carried, it was one of the models that were released in the Battle City Tournament, but without the hologram emitter drones. It must have been tuned up for the modern hologram tech, it was a curiosity more than anything else, all Pro-duelist tend to have customized Duel-Disks.
The announcer of the arena started to present them to the public; curiously enough, the entrance has been free for anyone that wanted to see the spectacle; they did pay Underwood, of course, he would have not even bothered to appear otherwise; and the Arena was a solid but a bit spartan duel arena.
A massive fifty feet duel arena, more than enough space for most of the monsters of the game, with marbled colored floor and the lines that delimited the arena in black. The arena was surrounded by benches and two VIPS balconies.
Over the arena, a television crew was filming, starting the duel for all the spectators back home. Underwood adjusted his bow tie one last time and checked his Duel-Disk and deck before the referee called him to his side of the arena.
"Now, facing the International duelist, we have a newcomer to the Pro-leagues", presented the speaker of the Arena. "Sponsored by none other than Pegasus himself, we present you Obel Ishtar".
When his name was called, the tall and buffed boy entered the arena. As Underwood has noticed he was a bloody giant, dressed in a blue coat, white undershirt, and jeans, along with some hiking boots. Over his eyes, there were thick sunglasses and his Duel-Disk rested on his left hand.
Obel smiled to the audience, showing his pearly whites; quite the contrast with his tanned skin; and flexed the arm with the Duel-Disk a couple of times, showing the powerful musculature that hides under his clothes. Much to the delight of the female audience.
The referee tossed a coin to the air, as both duelists called their bet, once the coin fall on the hand on the referee, it shows that Underwood will go first.
"Are both duelist ready?", asked the referee and both nodded, activating their Duel-Disk.
"Duel!", said the referee starting the duel.
"As I won the coin toss", started Underwood picking a card from his deck, making it six on his hand. "I will start the duel, I will make it quick, do not worry".
"Take your time", shrugged the man with a voice that made several women melt on the spot, it was a deep and virile voice, he could have doubled Morgan Freeman. "I am not in a hurry".
Underwood seethed under his teeth, this rookie that making fun of him, a newcomer that had zero credibility, that has appeared from nowhere; pretended to play the high leagues?. This was beyond a joke.
"I draw", announced Underwood frowning at the arrogance of the newcomer, when he saw what card has he picked, he smiled widely.
"Allow me to show you how real professional duels", smugly smiled Underwood. "I place a card down and activate the spell card, Insect Barrier". The spell card appeared on the field glowing a bit and creating a set of laser lights in front of Underwood´s field.
"Thanks to this card, any Insect monsters you control can not attack me, alas, I can attack at my leisure", Underwood knew that the effect of the card depends on his rival´s deck having insects, but with the trap card he has set on the field, that was a moot question.
"Then I summon Atomic Firely, in defense position", continued Underwood with his strategy, setting in the monster field the Atomic Firefly.
The peculiar monster was a big firefly, armed with a helmet and a nuclear jetpack that looks all but safe, the monster left a trail of nuclear energy behind it, as it flew from his card up and back to his monster slot.
"Now, I play Insect Multiplication*", now Underwood set another magic card in the field. "This magic card, allows me to choose an Insect with less than 500 Attack points and summon directly from the deck all the copies I had of that card".
The spell card took effect and in a bright show of pixels, two new Atomic Firefly monsters materialized at the sides of the original one. The three of them were in defense position; considering that they were 100/200 Atk/Def monsters, it was not a surprise. But the real kick of the buggers was how if they were destroyed in battle, they inflict 1000 life points of damage to the opponent.
"That will be all for the moment", smiled Underwood indicating that he has ended his turn.
Obel nodded without losing his smile, but before he could move his hand to his deck, Underwood interrupted him.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot something", the politeness in Underwood´s voice was fake, but he kept on with it. "I activate my trap card DNA-Surgery". The trap card that he had set at the beginning of the duel revealed itself.
On the card, the picture of a monster doctor ready to operate appeared and glowed, activating its effect over all the field.
"Now, I choose Insect", adjusted Underwood his tie. "All monsters, in both sides of the field, are considered Insect Types now. And that´s how a real pro plays his cards". Underwood mocked Obel.
"Nice combo", smiled Obel, the very picture of calm. Something that made Underwood frown a little. That was not normal.
"Now, allow me to correspond", Obel draw a card from his deck and set it along with the other five that he had in his hand. As he put them in order, his smile widened and started to laugh.
Turning to the cameras, he raised his free right hand and show one finger. That made the audience blink before they understood the gesture, it was a gesture that did not happen all that common in the Pro-Leagues, but when it happened it was sure something to behold.
One finger raised, slang for one turn, Obel was signaling the cameras that he was going to pull off his deck and One-Turn-KO.
There is little need to say that Underwood did not take that gesture kindly and clenching his teeth with rage, he shouted at Obel.
"That´s preposterous!", shouted Underwood. "In case you haven't noticed or you are that slow, all your monsters all Insects now, and even if you circumvent that, you have to destroy my monsters, meaning you lost 1000 for each one of them destroyed in battle".
"Wrecking time it is then", laughed Obel, not bothered at all by the obstacles in his way.
"First of all, I will pick a page from your book and use a spell card called Double Summon, for this turn, I can summon twice". The spell card materialized in the field and vanished in a sheet of white light.
"Then I summon Ancient Gear Gadget", continued Obel, setting the Ancient Gear machine on the field. The contraption twirled and hissed with a mechanical whirl, setting his tiny limbs back into his body and becoming a wall of gears and metal. "And copy for move and call for a Duplication of my own, Machine Duplication".
Another spell took the field and two more Ancient Gears monsters took their side at his fellow machine. Obel had three solid, 500/2000 monsters and thanks to the special effect of the Gadgets, until the end of the damage phase, Underwood would be unable to use spell, trap, or monster effects.
"Another spell card, that I like, is Mystical Space Typhoon", smiled Obel and saw how Underwood paled a little, "and I will use it to destroy your Insect Barrier".
From the card that Obel has played on the field, a tornado erupted and slammed against the Insect Barrier, shattering the spell card to the graveyard of Underwood.
"I will put a face-down card and use my last summon to tribute two of my Ancient Gear Gadgets, to summon, Ancient Gear Hydra".
The level 7 monster took the field, with his mechanical heads roaring in metallic screeching and flapping his mechanical wings, raising quite the windstorm. However, the beast took a defensive position, covering his body with its wings and retreating its heads back to his main body.
"Uh?!", blinked Underwood. "Your monster is in defense position, you idiot", laughed the International Duelist. "After all that boasting, you are nothing but another wannabee, unable to comprehend the basics of dueling".
Obel did not respond, just smile and activate his trap card. Zero Gravity Zone. That shut up Underwood in a second, making him drop his jaw in astonishment and disbelief.
"Now, before I was rudely interrupted", laughed Obel as all the monsters in the Field changed their position to face-up attack position. "Are you ready for the Wrecking?". The Hydra raised its body and all of its head roared in approval.
"My Hydra is a bit tricky", explained Obel to Underwood that has quickly done the math, and even if the beast would destroy one of his insects, the 2600 points of damage were not enough to take him down. "As I tribute Ancient Gear and Gadget, this wonderful wrecker gets two special effects".
"First effect, whenever it battles and monster and this survives, the Hydra can banish it, the Second effect, and this is the one that you are going to love", now Obel was smiling at Underwood with a predatory smile that sent terror shivers down Underwood´s spine. "If Hydra has been summoned with a Gadget tribute, it can attack all of your monsters".
Underwood jaw dropped to the floor and gave a step back, he was going to lose! that was impossible!; not again a newcomer, not again a bloody newbie that has come from nowhere!.
"Wrecking time, sweetie!", laughed Obel to the Hydra and it rose its heads in anticipation, "wreck´em!", commanded Obel and the Hydra did just that.
Several heads attacked the monsters of Underwood, crushing the insects under their jaws, making them explode in pixels. Each attack was a 2700 Attack points, against the 100 Attack of the Fireflies, that means that Underwood took 2600 points of damage for each attack.
Also, thanks to the Ancient Gear Gadget especial effects, no monster effects could be applied until the end of the battle phase, so the special effect of the Atomic Firefly was negated.
Underwood: 4000 -0 (LOSS)
The horn that signaled the end of the duel echoed in the arena and the audience went wild. This was the first one in a long time. A complete unknown has appeared from nowhere and has managed to pull an OTK on an International Duelist in his first turn. No wonder Pegasus sponsored him, Obel Ishtar was, as his theme seems to be, a wrecking crew.
In Duel Academy, several of the students that were seeing the streaming were as astonished as the rest of the present audience in Germany´s Arena. The student soon started to comment and dissect the quick duel that has been a total victory for Obel Ishtar.
"Did you see that?", asked Syrus Truesdale, one of the Slifer Red Students of Duel Academy. "He is using the same card as Prof Crowler, but a thousand times better".
"A licious duel indeed", nodded Chumley, another Slifer Red student, far more interested in art and grilled cheese than in duels.
"Quite the game!", laughed Jaden Yuki; possibly the second-best duelist of the Academy, despite he still had his Slifer Red jacket. "If only Crowler could pull his Ancient Gears half as good as this Obel fellow, I will respect him a lot more".
The three friends continued to laugh and comment on the battles, bowing to look out for the cards that came with the last Booster pack and supposedly, the ones that created the deck of Obel Ishtar.
Meanwhile, Obel Ishtar, not wanting to deal with the press, walked out of the arena and into the shadows of the building. Those that managed to follow for some exclusive interviews were unable to locate him. He did seem as if he has vanished in thin air.
The proper explanation would be a thin shadow, as Obel just walked into the Shadow Realm and use the place as a method of transport. It was a very dangerous method of transportation, except for those that carried a Millennium Item and an Egyptian God, of course, the Shadow-lings that dwell in the Shadow Realm knew better than annoy a God.
Materializing himself into the Mortal World in Domino City; thanks to the time difference, it was midday in Domino City; and entered into the cafe that Yugi and his friends tend to orbit around. As he entered the place, he waved to his mortal friends and asked for something to drink.
"That was fast", laughed Joey Wheeler, "man, the face of that bug, what I would have given for having a camera on that moment".
"It is streamed all over the world", shrugged Obel, "pretty sure, you could download a video easily". Joey's smile widened at that.
It was hardly a secret that Underwood pulled a pair of nasty moves on Joey and Yugi during the Battle City Tournament and the Leviathan debacle, and Joey never let it go of his grudge against the Insect themed duelist.
Seeing him crushed so brutally, quickly, and completely has made Joey´s day.
"Your usual, Obel," said Tea; Yugi´s girlfriend that was helping at her family´s cafe.
"Thanks, you are an angel", thanked Obel before drinking a long gulp from a cold Mocha. Obelisk has grown quite fond of coffee, and Tea´s family makes one mean Ice Mocha.
"So, what´s on your schedule now, big guy?", asked Joey as he started to type on his phone for a video of the total defeat of Underwood.
"Run the circuit a bit and then Duel Academy", said Obel with satisfaction at the drink. "I made the numbers and I had half a year before the Sacred Beasts could make their move. I will be in Duel Academy way before that happens".
"Good luck", smiled Tea, who despite her initial wariness of the monster in human flesh, has grown quite attached to Obel.
Obel smiled and raising his Duel-Disk, an old model that Yugi give to him and that he tuned it up to modern standards.
"I am going to wreak them", announced Obel with absolute conviction.