Chapter 2: New Rivals

"So, you're the son of the famous Rin Adachi," said Enzo in between bites of his burger.

The Breakers were seated at a local diner, taking up two booths between the seven of them. The diner was rather small, only able to seat maybe thirty people between the booths and the bar, with black and white checkered tiles and dim overhead lights, giving a 1950s Americana vibe, even down to the old jukebox in the corner which occasionally played songs that sounded like they definitely wouldn't be on a normal Japanese index.

"What the hell kind of interest does the son of a great Pro Duelist want with a little ragtag gang like the Breakers? You could have gotten into the Pro Circuit on your mom's name alone."

"I could, but I don't want to get in like that," replied Tatsumaki in between bites of his burger. "I want to get into the big leagues on my own merit. I don't want anyone to look at me and cry nepotism."

"So instead of riding your ma's coattails, you've decided to blaze your own trail to the top," replied Manda. "I can definitely respect that. Even so, there's plenty of legitimate semi-pro organizations you could have started out in. Why come to us instead?"

As they were talking, a boy and a girl who looked to be around Tatsumaki's age entered the diner and took bar seats.

"True, but joining them always requires an ID and background check. Once they figured out my family name, they'd accept me immediately, and that would just be another shortcut. I want to start out without any unnecessary advantages and work my way up honestly. With that in mind, a less legitimate group like you guys seemed like the best starting point."

"Well, either way, you're a pretty good duelist," said Jo as he munched on a handful of fries. He hadn't noticed a bit of ketchup that had gotten into the end of his blonde hair. "Why not get a fake ID and pass yourself off as someone else?"

"I considered that, but nah. The truth would come out eventually, I think. Not much point in directly lying about who I am. But, approaching people like you guys who had no idea who I was to begin with and don't bother with background checks isn't exactly lying."

"I see," mused Ryo. "So you figure if you forsake all the advantages your name grants you and start from the absolute bottom of the barrel, no one will attribute your eventual success to your mom's legacy."

"Exactly. I want to truly earn my way to the top, even if it means throwing my lot in with people who are considered outcasts," replied Tatsumaki. "That said, I can't exactly ignore the fact that my mom's money is its own advantage. After all, it's the reason I can feed everyone here today. But I know that money won't last me forever, and I still want to make a name for myself in the Pro Dueling world."

"So, wait, are we just a springboard for you to jump off of?" asked Enzo suspiciously. "Are you just gonna leave us behind once you get what you want?"

"Of course not!" replied Tatsumaki indignantly. "I told myself from the outset that whoever I ended up teaming up with, I'd be doing what I could to help them succeed as well. Now that you guys have officially let me into the Breakers, I plan on getting all of us to the big leagues, not just myself."

The boy and the girl at the bar got up and approached. The boy had short red hair and brown eyes, and wore a black metal band t-shirt with holes in the armpits from being worn too much, blue jeans with rips in the knees and a split in the seam towards the bottom of the left leg, and a dirty pair of brown steel-toed boots. The girl had black hair that fell halfway down her back, brown eyes, and wore a gray long-sleeve shirt that looked like it hadn't been washed properly in a week, black leggings with several holes torn in them, and a worn out pair of red-trimmed gray running shoes. On both of their backs were matching black backpacks, both of which looked like they'd seen better days. "Excuse me," said the girl. "Did you guys just mention the Breakers?"

"Who's asking?" asked Enzo suspiciously.

"My name's Emi, and this is my friend, Yoroi. We've been looking for you guys."

"Well, you found us," said Enzo. "You look like normal teenagers, so what do you want with us?"

"We wanna join up, obviously," said Yoroi.

"Seriously? More kids?" wondered Taza. "You realize we're a gang of thugs, right? We're not a daycare."

"Yeah, and besides, can you two even duel?" asked Enzo. "I don't see Duel Disks on either of you."

"They're in our bags," said Emi. "We're not gonna just wear them around like fashion accessories, ya know. They're really bulky and awkward."

"Fair enough," admitted Enzo. "But you gotta show us your skill before we let you join. You gotta duel one of us and we'll decide if you can join or not based on your performance."

Yoroi gave Tatsumaki a once over and sneered. "So this little pretty boy punk was good enough for you guys to let him in? I doubt that. He probably just bought his way in."

"Yoroi! Don't be rude!" chastised Emi. "Sorry about that, sometimes his mouth gets ahead of his brain."

"It's fine," said Tatsumaki, nonchalantly waving off both the insult as well as the person who had spouted it.. "You know, between the two of us, I'm the only one who's proven my skill to these guys. You haven't done jack shit yet, my friend, so mindless insults like that don't exactly make a good impression." His attention was intentionally focused solely on his meal as he spoke between bites, a way of getting under the rude one's skin.

"I don't care about what impression I make on you," said Yoroi flippantly. "I'm only interested in the Breakers."

"But I'm part of the Breakers now," countered Tatsumaki, still not bothering to acknowledge the fact that Yoroi was right next to him.. "Whether you think it was by skill or by bribery is of no consequence to me. Fact is, I'm a Breaker, which means my opinion of you carries weight here, so watch your damn mouth."

"Seriously, Yoroi, watch your damn mouth before it gets us in trouble," said Emi.

"I'll give you both a chance to prove yourselves once we finish our meal and head back to the hideout," said Enzo. "You'll both duel one of us there."

"If that's the case, then I want Mr. Pretty Boy Punkass here," said Yoroi. "I'll beat you and prove you don't have what it takes to be a Breaker."

"You'll certainly try," replied Tatsumaki, speaking around a mouthful of milkshake.

"Didn't anyone teach you not to talk with your mouth full? Or are you just trying to annoy me?"

"That depends. Is it working?" replied Tatsumaki with the most smug grin he could manage, which was quite smug considering he was still a teenager, and teenagers were generally better at pulling off smug than adults.

"Since Yoroi wants to be a dumbass and challenge the guy who's paying for everyone's meal, I'll take Mr. Strong and Silent Type if that's okay," blurted Emi, interjecting before Yoroi could dig his own grave any deeper.

"About that," said Tatsumaki. "Kiri hasn't said anything this entire time. Is he mute or something?"

"Nah, he just doesn't have a lot to say usually," said Enzo. "He can speak, he just chooses not to most of the time. Dunno why. And as far as these two kids' opponents go, we'll decide who you duel, you got that?"

"It's fine," said Tatsumaki. "If he wants to get his ass beat that badly, I'll duel the rude one. I accept your challenge."

Kiri nodded, indicating he accepted Emi's challenge as well.

"Fine," said Enzo, "The jackass will duel Tatsumaki and Emi will duel Kiri. Everyone happy?"

"See, Yoroi?" Emi rounded on her friend. "The leader of the Breakers just called you a jackass. Cool your fucking temper before it costs us this chance!"

After everyone finished their meal, they headed back to the abandoned building to get the duels underway. All the Breakers save for Tatsumaki and Kiri stood off to the side to watch.

The match to kick off the night's events would be Emi vs. Kiri. Their Duel Disks engaged and they began, with Kiri going first. He drew his opening six cards, deciding to Set a monster and two other cards. He then motioned to Emi, indicating that he was ending his turn.

"Alright, draw!" Emi checked her hand mulling over her line of play briefly. "Okay, I'll fire off a few Spell cards to open things up! I activate Meteor of Destruction, raining down on you for 1000 damage! Then, I'll drop a second Meteor on you! Then I'll end the assault by activating Tremendous Fire, dealing another 1000 damage to you, and 500 to me! Next, I Summon Gyaku-Gire Panda [Level 3/EARTH/Beast/ATK800/DEF1600]. Panda's effect gives it 500 extra ATK for each monster you control, and it also deals piercing damage to monsters in Defense mode! Now, Panda will attack your Set monster!"

Kiri triggered the ability of the Sangan that was destroyed, searching his deck for a copy of Masked Dragon [Level 3/FIRE/Dragon/ATK1400/DEF1100].

"Next, I'll Set two cards of my own and end my turn!"

Kiri: 4300 Life Points.

Emi: 7500 Life Points.

Kiri drew a card to start his turn. He Summoned Masked Dragon, and motioned for it to attack Gyaku-Gire Panda.

"Nice try, but I activate my Trap card, Ojama Trio! This Summons three Ojama Tokens to your field in Defense Mode, and since you have four monsters total now, my Panda's ATK goes all the way up to 2800!"

Kiri chose to halt his attack, instead activating the Spell card Stamping Destruction from his hand, destroying Emi's Set Nightmare Wheel and dealing 500 damage to her. He then activated Smashing Ground, which destroys the monster with the highest DEF, meaning Gyaku-Gire Panda was taken out, after which he ended his turn.

Kiri: 4300 Life Points.

Emi: 7000 Life Points.

"Draw!" Emi smiled. This card would definitely give her everything she needed to close out the game. One unfortunate downside to using burn cards like Meteor of Destruction was that once they were used, they were gone, which was great for a quick flurry of damage in the early game, but one could find themselves starved for enough cards to finish the job later on. Normally, this was what Gyaku-Gire Panda was for, combined with Ojama Trio to dramatically boost its ATK, but if the opponent had a way to get rid of Panda, as Kiri did, then things became considerably more difficult. It was essential to have ways to refill one's hand, and thankfully, the card Emi just drew was one of the best ones for that job.

"I'll Set a monster and end my turn!"

Kiri drew his card. He Summoned Spear Dragon [Level 4/WIND/Dragon/ATK1900/DEF0] and attacked Emi's Set monster. Spear Dragon had a similar effect to Emi's Panda, wherein it still dealt damage when attacking monsters in Defense mode.

"Perfect! I might take some damage from that, but you activated the effect of my Morphing Jar! When it's flipped up, we both discard our hands and draw five new cards!"

This was a big swing in terms of card economy. Kiri was forced to discard three cards in order to get a fresh five, whereas Emi's hand was empty, and so she drew five cards very nearly for free. Additionally, Spear Dragon's effect forced it into Defense mode whenever it attacked. Kiri, apparently unfazed, proceeded to attack directly with Masked Dragon. He then Set two more cards and ended his turn.

Kiri: 4300 Life Points.

Emi: 4300 Life Points.

Emi was extremely pleased with the lineup of new cards in her hand, and the card she drew at the start of her turn only made things better. In fact, she believed she saw a way to win the duel right then and there.

"Alright, time to finish this! I activate Giant Trunade, which returns all Spells and Traps on the field to the hand!"

Kiri said nothing, but this action caused his face to tense up. He could sense that the duel would be over soon. One way or another.

"Next, I Summon Giant Rat [Level 4/EARTH/Beast/ATK1400/DEF1450]. Now, I have a couple more Spells to fire off! First, my third and final Meteor of Destruction for 1000 damage! Next, another Tremendous Fire for 1000 more!"

"How is she supposed to win from here?" wondered Taza. "Yeah, that damage from her Spells helped, but Rat can't deal any damage here."

Tatsumaki saw the line, though. "I don't think the Rat is there to deal damage," he replied. "I think it's there to grab something that can."

"Now, Giant Rat will attack Masked Dragon! Since their ATK stats are tied, they'll both be destroyed!"

The effect of Masked Dragon allowed Kiri to Summon from his Deck, any Dragon-Type monster he wanted with 1500 or less ATK. He chose Element Dragon [Level 4/LIGHT/Dragon/ATK1500/DEF1200].

"With my Rat, I'll bring out another copy of Gyaku-Gire Panda! Now, since you have five monsters on the field, its ATK is a whopping 3300!"

"Wait, then that means…" gasped Taza.

"That means it's over now," confirmed Tatsumaki.

"Yep. I've seen her pull this play a few times," replied Yoroi.

"Gyaku-Gire Panda, attack Spear Dragon!" declared Emi. This attack would be more than enough to polish off her opponent's Life Points, and thanks to Giant Trunade, he had no way to stop it.

Kiri: 0 Life Points.

Emi: 3800 Life Points.

"Alright! I did it! I won!" exclaimed Emi, almost jumping for joy.

"Great job, Emi!" said Yoroi.

"So? What do you guys think? Am I good enough to join the Breakers?" she asked.

"Well, boys?" asked Enzo. "Your thoughts?"

"She seems good enough to me, even if her deck isn't the most fun to watch," replied Manda. "Burn decks like that have always bored me."

"Anyone else notice she won even though she only attacked three times?" asked Taza. "I think she'd be a great Breaker."

"I'm fine with it, even though I'm not thrilled with all these teenagers trying to join up," said Ryo.

"Kiri, your thoughts?" asked Enzo. "You're the one who dueled her, after all. Think she's got what it takes?"

Kiri simply nodded.

"Alright, it's official. Welcome to the Breakers, kid!"

"Hell yes! I'm a Breaker!" exclaimed Emi in delight, pumping a fist into the air.

"You're pretty good," said Tatsumaki, approaching and offering a handshake, which she accepted. "I look forward to working with you, Emi."