THE FIRST DUEL GYM
From what they were told, the Equus City Duel Gym was once a car lot, where transactions were made for the purchase of new vehicles. Judging by the size of the parking lot, that wasn't a lie. The parking lot was huge, capable of holding close to a hundred vehicles - if not more - and the building itself was longer than it was tall, white and blue, with the imprint of a vehicle brand still above the doors.
Of couse, Yuka and Hugo could only see that thanks to the city lights that were lit up along this long strip of street. The gym was located on a several miles long strip of road that was clearly the business district, judging by the various stores, offices, and restaurants that lined this part of town; it was across the street from a gas station, and on the opposite corner of an intersection from a jewelry store.
And if the sign on the door was anything to go by, the gym was closed for the night. Not surprising; it was close to eleven by the time they found it. It wouldn't be open again until tomorrow at nine.
"At least we know where it is now," Yuka said.
"Yeah, and there's a hotel about a mile and a half from here," Hugo said. "We can shack up there for the night and come out here tomorrow after breakfast." He turned and started off, Yuka following behind a second later.
"Great, but, I still have to ask, what's all this 'we' talk?" Yuka asked. "Not that I don't appreciate the company, but you really don't need to be doing all this for me."
"I know. But I want to. Like you said, the company's nice. That and if we bump into more thugs like the ones from earlier..."
Yuka stopped walking, putting her hands on her hips in indignation. "Are you trying to imply that I can't take care of myself in a duel?"
"Of course not. What I meant was, if two or more decide to gang up on you, it'll be nice to have a friend who's got your back."
Yuka shrugged as she continued to follow him. "If you say so."
An hour later, they had arrived at the hotel; they got checked in and made their way to the room. Yuka was first in the shower; it was nice to get clean after a day and a half of walking through the woods, on top of that unwanted dip in the river before she met Hugo. Twenty minutes later, she was cleaned and now wearing a long t-shirt and pajama shorts.
Hugo was next, coming out ten minutes later still in the same black t-shirt and jeans he was wearing earlier, only now his messy black hair was slightly combed.
"It's actually nice to get a real shower for once," he said as he sat down on his bed.
"It's been a while for you, hasn't it?" Yuka asked.
"I think the last one was about a month ago, and I ran out of wet wipes the day before I pulled you out of the river."
"Thanks again for that, by the way," Yuka said. She picked up her duel pad from where she'd set it down on her backpack, which was now leaning against the wall, and booted it up. "Let's see here."
"What are you doing?"
"I'm looking up some information on this gym leader so I know what I'm dealing with," Yuka explained. "Let's see here...Flynn Hartmann; uses Drytrons; his ace monster is Drytron Meteonis Draconids, a Level 12 Light Machine-type Ritual monster with 4000 attack and defense points. It can't be targeted with card effects, and if any of the monsters used to Ritual Summon it are Level 2 or less it can attack all my Special Summoned monsters; that's great, said no one ever. And during my turn it can banish cards from the Graveyard with a total of 2000 or 4000 attack points and send one of my cards with that many attack points to the Graveyard." She turned the duel pad off. "That's kind of broken."
"It's a boss monster; what were you expecting?" Hugo asked. "And besides, he's a Duel Gym leader. They're supposed to be the best of the best. I know you've got Blue-Eyes cards, but if you're not careful you're going to have your work cut out for you."
"That reminds me: During our duel with those goons, you kind of zoned out when you saw my dragons. What was that all about?"
"Oh, well...Those cards are legendary. The last time anyone really saw them was with Seto Kaiba."
"But that was almost a century ago, and there are hundreds of Blue-Eyes cards in circulation now; they're not exactly rare."
It's just that, you're the first one I've seen use them outside of archival footage, so it kind of caught me off guard." He rolled over and lay down on the bed. "Anyway, better get some sleep. It's gonna be an early start tomorrow."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Yuka said as she set the alarm clock for half past seven in the morning, before rolling over and going to sleep.
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He sat at his desk, footage from the night's earlier duel playing. Several people in Equus City viewed the duel, many of them capturing photographic and video footage with their mobile devices. He couldn't help but feel midly embarrassed at the poor performance and lack of teamwork his two men showed, especially in a duel against two children. All he had asked them to do was spread the word of their mission, but now, with that loss and their incarceration, that mission had failed, seemingly. But even a failure was a success, given that people were now aware of them thanks to this footage.
He paused the footage and zoomed in on the two children, the boy and the girl who had dueled his men. He didn't know the boy, the dinosaur duelist, but the girl with the Blue-Eyes monsters...He didn't know who she was either, but for some reason she seemed familiar. It was like a small part of him knew who she was, but couldn't pin down an identity.
"Master Serafino."
Serafino Temura looked up from the footage as his second in command, Arkhan Fizban, stepped into his chambers. Like Serafino - like everyone in the Cultrua Mortis - he was wearing a black cloak designed to resemble the wings of a raven and a white face mask that lacked emotion.
"I see you've been watching the footage from Equus City," Arkhan observed. "Allow me to extend my apologies, Master. It was my idea to send those two. The fault is mine."
"They knew the risks," Serafino said. "Though I'm sure they would prefer execution over incarceration." He stood up from his desk, shutting off the device as he did. "No matter. The plan moves forward as scheduled. Have you prepared your team?"
"I have. We're starting with Simia City. I've put Hanaka in command of that team."
"Very good, Arkhan. Despite the loss of our two in Equus City, we move forward as planned."
"There's one thing that bothers me, though. The two who defeated our men...What if our little runaway encounters them?"
"It's a possibility. A possibility that has one of multiple outcomes. But let's not worry about those two, or the deserter, for now. We have more important things to worry about at the moment. Now go."
Arkhan gave a light bow of the head before turning to leave. Serafino closed the door behind him and got ready for sleep - he hadn't had any in close to twenty-four hours and was feeling mentally drained - but as he did, he found it difficult to get the image of that girl with the Blue-Eyes out of his head.
Just who was she? And why did he feel like he knew her from somewhere?
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After a short breakfast consisting of some eggs and a bagel, the two of them made their way back to the gym. Yuka had to force herself to eat; she was surprised at how nervous she was feeling. And as they stepped up to the doors of the gym, she felt her nervousness growing; her stomach was tightened into a knot, and she was finding it difficult to breathe.
Hugo put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey. You okay?"
"I want to be," Yuka answered. "Is it normal to be nervous?"
"Of course. There's nothing wrong with having the jitters. Just take a deep breath, go in there, and do your best."
Yuka closed her eyes and took a deep breath, in through her nose and out through her mouth. "You're right, Hugo. Thanks. Are you going to be coming in too?"
"Sure. I'll cheer you on."
Yuka smiled, before taking her steps closer to the door. "Well, here we go."
As they entered the building, the first thing they noticed was just how warm it was - not only in terms of temperature, but also the color. The walls were a rich blue in color, matching the linoleum tile floor. The color of the walls absorbed the light coming from the in-roof LCD lights. Lining the walls were various car hoods, many of which they could tell dated back to the mid-twentieth century. Each one was in pristine condition, and had placards underneath with a description of what they were and what year they were manufactured.
Hugo let out an admiring whistle as the two of them looked around the large, spacious room. "Someone's a fan of the classics," he mused.
"They're not just classics, they're mirrors into the past," a voice said.
The voice belonged to a tall, half-Asian man in his mid-thirties, who was just coming out of a back room, dressed in mechanics overalls with his face and hands covered in grease and dirt. He walked over to one of the hoods; it was cherry-apple red, with a notch near the front.
"This one's one of my favorites, the hood of a 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk. I've actually driven one of those. It may be an old car that still runs on gas, but man can it go." He turned to the two of them. "Anyway, what can I help you two with?"
"Well, we were looking for the gym leader," Yuka said.
"Oh, looking for a duel? Give me a minute; I gotta go wash up." He disappeared into another room, coming back out a few minutes later, the greese cleaned off and now changed into a white t-shirt and blue jeans, with an orange duel pad strapped to his arm. "So, which one of you two is the challenger?"
"Wait, hold on, you're Flynn Hartmann?" Hugo asked.
"That's me, kid."
"Why were you so dirty earlier?" Yuka asked.
"I was in the garage in the back," Flynn answered. "Radiator on the dad's car is going the way of the dodo, so he asked me to help fix it. I'm a mechanic; when I'm not dueling, I'm fixing cars. And I'm just going to take a shot in the dark and say that this is for an official Duel Monsters Championship League badge. So I'm going to ask again, who's my challenger?"
Yuka stepped forward. "I am. My name's Yuka."
Flynn took a few seconds to look at Yuka and Hugo; something about them was familiar. "Wait, hold on. I saw you two on the news last night. You dueled those vandalizers."
"We were on TV?" Hugo asked.
"Well, people were recording it," Yuka said. "Yeah, Flynn. That was us. Wasn't just going to let them get away with that, you know?"
"You two got more guts than most people; they would have just let those two do their own thing," Flynn said. "Anyway, it's Yuka, right?" Yuka just nodded her head in response. Flynn stepped up to her, hand outstretched. "Nice to meet you."
"Uh...Same," Yuka said, shaking his hand.
"Now that we got that out of the way, let's get official," Flynn said. "This is going to be an official DMCL Gym Battle. It's going to be one-on-one, you against me. If you win, you'll earn the Drytron Badge, which will show that you are an official competitor for the DMCL. It'll be your first step to qualifying for the tournament, set to be held in Domino City in October. Are you ready, Yuka?"
"A little nervous, but as ready as I can be," Yuka answered.
"You got this, Yuka," Hugo cheered.
"We'll find out if you really do, Yuka," Flynn said as he took his place at the opposite end of the room.
The two duelists activated their duel pads, the hard light duel boards being projected from the devices. Their life points were set to 8000. They drew their first five cards.
"Let's duel!" they both called.
"I'll go first," Yuka said. She scanned her hand, which consisted of three monsters - White Stone of Ancients, Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands, and Deep-Eyes Spirit Dragon - the spell card Trade-In, and the trap card Mirror Force. "I'll set one card face down, then summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands," she announced as she placed Mirror Force face down and then summoned her monster, which looked like a monster whose body was made up of many hundreds of hands. "And now I'll use Manju's effect to add a Ritual card from my deck to my hand, and I choose Advanced Ritual Art." She pulled the selected card from her deck and added it to her hand. "That'll end my turn."
Flynn drew his sixth card. "I'll activate Pre-Preparation of Rites to add Meteonis Drytron to my hand, and after that, I'll add Drytron Meteonis Draconids to my hand." He pulled the two cards from his deck and added them to his hand. "Next, I'll activate Drytron Nova, allowing me to Special Summon a Drytron monster from my deck, so I'll summon Drytron Gamma Eltanin." The monster that appeared was a mechanical dragon with two large rocket thrusters attached to its shoulders. Its long tail ended in a spike, and its hands were replaced with repulsor blasters.
Eltanin's effect lets me Special Summon another Drytron from my hand, so come on out, Drytron Zeta Aldhibah." This new monster also apperead to be draconic, and carrying two shields against each arm. "And he lets me Special Summon Drytron Alpha Thuban from my hand." A third mechanical dragon, its arms replaced with two blades. "And with these three Level 1 Drytrons on the field, I can build the Overlay Network." The three monsters transformed into orbs of light that were pulled into a black hole, and emerging from that was a new monster, another mechanical dragon with rail guns attached to its sides. "I Xyz Summon Drytron Mu Beta Fafnir!" The dragon roared at Yuka's monster. "Now, Mu Beta Fafnir, attack her monster!" The rail guns charged up, and fired.
"Not so fast!" Yuka shouted as the rail guns' blasts streaked towards Manju. "I activate my trap card, Mirror Force!"
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," Flynn grumbled as a barrier of energy formed around Manju. The rail guns' blasts hit the barrier and sent the attack back at Mu Beta Fafnir, hitting it square in the torso and obliterating it. "Nothing else I can do now, so I end my turn."
"Great save, Yuka!" Hugo cheered from the sidelines as Yuka drew her card for turn.
"Thanks, Hugo," Yuka said as she looked at her new card, Dragon Spirit of White. "I activate Trade-In, sending Dragon Spirit of White to the Graveyard to draw two new cards." The cards she pulled were the spell card The Claw of Hermos and the trap card Quaking Mirror Force. "I set a monster in Defense Mode." She placed White Stone of Ancients on the board, face down in Defense Mode. "I'll set another card face down." She put Quaking Mirror Force down on the field. "Manju, attack!"
Manju leaped at Flynn, several of its hundreds of hands latching onto him and slamming him to the floor, dropping his life points to 6600.
"That'll be the end of my turn."
Flynn picked himself up off the floor and brushed himself off. "The other's not gonna like that," he said softly before drawing his card for turn. "I activate another Drytron Nova, this time bringing out Drytron Delta Altais." It was another mechanical monster, this one resembling a mechanical six-legged gazelle with a longer tail. "And he's in Attack Mode, and he's attacking your Manju." Altais's horns slammed into Manju, goring it and dropping Yuka's life points to 7400. "I'll end my turn there."
Yuka drew her next card. She grinned when she saw what it was. "Didn't think I'd be bringing him out this soon, but here we go. I start by activating Advanced Ritual Art!" A large stone altar appeared behind her, a runic circle etched into the ground at the altar's base. "I have to send at least one Normal Monster from my deck to the Graveyard to activate it, so I send Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck to the Graveyard. From the depths of Chaos, the mightiest of all dragons rises. I Ritual Summon Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon!"
The new dragon that emerged from the ritual circle in the altar was gargantuan, so large that its head scraped against the ceiling. It was a much darker shade of white than any of the other Blue-Eyes monsters, almost electric blue in color. Electricity coursed through its body, from its head to its feet, along its tail, across the feather patterns of its large wings. With 4000 attack points, it was the most powerful monster in Yuka's deck.
Flynn let out an admiring whistle. "That's a big one."
Hugo just stared at the dragon in wide-eyed amazement. "Holy moly."
"Chaos MAX Dragon, destroy that monster! Chaos Blast Attack!" The dragon roared as energy shot out of its wings, slamming into Delta Altais, destroying it and dropping Flynn's life points to 4600.
"Ow! Flynn yelled as he moved the monster from the field to the Graveyard. "I felt that one. Anyway, are you finished? Is it my turn yet?"
"Yeah. Go ahead, Flynn."
Flynn drew a card for turn. He looked at his hand. He only held a Ritual Spell, a Ritual Monster, a Drytron monster that couldn't be Normal Summoned, and...
"I activate the spell card Pot of Prosperity, to banish six cards from my Extra Deck so I can draw two cards from my deck." Six random cards from his Extra Deck were removed, and he drew two new cards - Drytron Zeta Aldhibah and Preparation of Rites. "Well, that didn't work as well as I would have liked." He looked back from his hand to Yuka. "Yuka...I end my turn."
Yuka drew a new card. "I summon another Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands." A second Manju appeared. "Manju, attack!" Manju slammed Flynn into the ground, dropping his life points to 3200. "Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon, finish him off!" Chaos MAX Dragon attacked, its energy beams slamming into Flynn, throwing him against the back wall and dropping is life points to 0.
"Flynn! Flynn, are you okay?" Yuka called as her monsters faded away, the duel pad turning off.
"Yeah, I'm okay," Flynn answered as he picked himself up off the ground. "My pride's hurt more than anything. That didn't go very well." He brushed himself off again. "Oh well. You beat me fair and square, so..." He pressed a button on his duel pad.
Yuka's duel pad beeped. She booted it up, the image of a large mechanical dragon with spoked wings and rocket boosters on its shoulders appearing. Underneath were the words "Drytron Badge, presented by Flynn Hartmann of the Equus City Duel Gym".
"That's a Duel Badge?" Yuka asked.
"Yeah, the Drytron Badge," Flynn explained. "Presented to show your victory over me. Like I said earlier, it's a sign that you're officially starting to qualify for the DMCL tournament. Of course, you'll still need seven more, and I can guarantee the other gym leaders are going to give you a bit more of a challenge."
"I think I can handle it," Yuka said as she turned off her duel pad.
"All I can do then is wish you luck and point you to the next one," Flynn said. "You'll want to hit up Pistris City, which is to the east of here, and duel Alice Perkins."
"Thanks, Flynn."
"And don't be afraid to lie a bit when you tell your wife about this duel," Hugo said with a chuckle.
"My wife?" Flynn asked.
"Well, I heard you keep mentioning your 'other', so I just figured you were married," Hugo said.
"I am," Flynn said, holding up his left hand and showing his wedding band. "But I never said I had a wife."
"Oh - Oh! My bad!" Hugo squeaked.
"Hey Hugo, try not to choke on your foot," Yuka snarked. She shook Flynn's hand again, and the two of them left the gym.