ALL ABOARD THE ST. CHARLESTON
Pistris City Harbor was one of the largest ports in the region. Capable of housing over five hundred boats and ships, from small sailboats to luxury cruise liners to the largest cargo ships, it connected the southeast coast of the region to the ocean via the Lesotho Bay, a body of water set into a horseshoe shaped culvert of land nearly twenty miles wide. Water from the bay fed into the various rivers of Pistris City, filling the city's pools.
Yuka and Hugo ran as fast as they could, following Shelly as she sprinted down the sidewalk to the docks. They'd been running for the last half hour; it was almost three in the afternoon at this point. Even with their hearts pounding in their ears, they could hear the various sounds of the harbor - captains shouting orders; forklifts running and backing up; crane winches rising and lowering; seagulls squawking as they flew about; water crashing against the piers; tourists chatting and snapping photos.
"So which ship are we looking for?" Hugo asked.
"The St. Charleston is right over there," Shelly answered, pointing to a ship resting at a nearby dock. The ship's pearl white paint glistened in the mid afternoon sun, as did the hundreds of windows dotting the five decks. The ship was knife shaped at the very front of the bow, with the decks ascending into a trapezoidal shape, making the ship more streamlined for easier travel through the water. From bow to stren it was nearly six hundred feet long, one hundred feet tall from the top of the upper-most deck to the bottom of the hull.
"It hasn't left yet, so we might still have time," Hugo observed. "Come on; we got those tickets from Alice, so let's get on board."
As they approached the gangplank leading up to the ship, they were stopped by the two guards. One of the guards held up a hand, signalling them to stop.
"We're going to need to see some tickets first."
"Sure," Yuka said, pulling the tickets out of her pocket. "And before you ask, Alice Perkins gave us those tickets."
The guard looked at the tickets. He was quiet for a moment as he scrutinized them.
"You said Alice Perkins gave these to you?"
"You can call her and ask yourself if you don't belive us," Shelly said.
The two guards shared a glance. One of the guards nodded to the other, who pulled a phone out of his pocket and dialed a number.
"Hi, I'm calling for Alice Perkins? Hi, yes, I'm at the St. Charleston, and I have three teenagers here who claim that you gave them tickets for the ship. Yes, two girls and a boy. You did? Okay, thanks for clearing that up; sorry to bother you. Have a nice day." He turned the phone off and put it back in his pocket. "It checks out; Alice gave these kids these tickets."
"Told you," Yuka said.
One of the guards used a hand scanner to scan their tickets before handing them back and letting the tree on board.
"All that fuss over some paper," Hugo huffed.
"To be fair, they're just doing their job," Yuka said. "As far as they were concerned before making that phone call, we could have stolen those tickets."
"Yuka's got a point," Shelly chimed in. "They've had incidents of stolen and counterfeit tickets in the past. Anyway, I think we'd better find our rooms before the ship takes off."
"We're just going to Salamandra City; it can't take that long, can it?" Yuka asked.
"Well, from what I remember from when I would go on this ship with my mom and dad, It would spend a day going to the islands out in the Ozmit Sea, and then another day going to Salamandra City," Shelly replied. "So the trip might be a couple of days."
"Fine by me," Yuka said as she gave Hugo and Shelly each a ticket. "Hey, I took a quick look and it looks like our rooms are going to be right next to each other."
"Convenient," Hugo smirked.
Their rooms were located on the third deck. The hallway was warmly lit with amber colored lights; coupled with the mahogany walls and doors, and the velvet red carpet, the hallway had a dark yet comforting atmosphere to it.
The tickets also acted as the keys to the doors; they worked by swiping them over the sensor on the door, unlocking it and swinging it open. Yuka took a moment to look around her room. Unlike the hallway, this room had a much cooler color pallet, being painted white with flourescent lights fixed into the ceiling. The floor was covered by a velvet blue carpet, matching the view of the sea outside the large rectangle shaped windows. Looking out the window, she could also see one of the walkways and the railing, designed to keep people from falling overboard. The room's furniture consisted of a king sized bed, a mahogany desk with a spinning computer chair, a leather sofa, and a matching leather chair. A sixty inch television was fixed to the wall, currently turned off.
Yuka removed her pack from her back and set it on the chair before sitting on the sofa. She booted up her duel pad and brought up her stat sheet to check her progress. At this point, she'd been invovled in three duels - the tag duel with Hugo against those two cultists, and her gym matches against Flynn and Alice - all of which ended in a victory. Coupled with her two out of eight gym badges, Yuka was on a winning streak. Looking at it, she felt her confidence growing.
"The rest of these gym matches are going to be a breeze," she said as she shut off her duel pad and pulled her deck out of the deck slot. She flipped through her cards. Each card was valuable to her, not just as a duelist but also because of the sentimental value they held. Even during a duel, she never forgot how much these cards meant to her; they were a gift from her late father, after all.
A voice came over the speaker system. "Hello everyone, this is your captain speaking. We'll be shoving off in about forty-five minutes, but until then, feel free to spend some time on the top deck, where various duels are already taking place."
"At least I won't be sitting here being bored," Yuka said as she put her deck back into her duel pad and left the room. Shelly and Hugo were already in the hallway, making their way to a nearby elevator. "You guys heard that too, huh?"
"Yeah; we're heading topside now," Shelly said.
A short moment later, the elevator doors opened, letting them out onto the top deck. There were already close to a hundred people up here, many of them in the middle of a duel. They could hear cheers and shouts from the duelists and the spectators, all various ages. Some duels were starting, some were ending, some were still in progress.
"All right, let's find some challengers," Hugo said.
"Or, a challenger might find us," Shelly said, indicating the older man approaching them. Unlike everyone else out here, who were dressed more casually, this older man stood out in his navy blue business suit.
"Pardon me, youngsters," he said, "but I couldn't help but hear that you were looking for a challenger? Well, as it happens, I am as well." He held up his diamond white duel pad. "I'm something of a duelist myself, I'd like to duel one of you, if you'd be so inclined."
Shelly stepped forward. "Sure; I'll take you on."
"Splendid. Though I would like to know the name of the person I'm dueling."
"It's Shelly Cavanaugh."
"Ernest St. Germain. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Cavanaugh."
They stepped away from the elevator to a free space on the deck, activated their duel pads, set their Life Points to 8000, drew their first five cards, and said "Let's duel".
"I'll go first, if you don't mind," Ernest said. "I'll begin by summoning Guldfaxe of the Nordic Beasts in Attack Position." The monster that appeared was a horse with jet black fur and a purple mane and tail, with red markings on its face. It neighed at Shelly and scraped at the ground with a hoof. "I'll then set one card face down and end my turn."
"It's my turn," Shelly said as she drew a card. Her hand consisted of three monsters - Shaddoll Zefranaga, Shaddoll Zefracore, and Naelshaddoll Ariel - one Spell Card - Pot of Avarice - and two Trap Cards - Subterror Succession and Sinister Shadow Games. "I'll begin by setting the Pendulum Scales with Scale One Shaddoll Zefranaga and Scale Seven Shaddoll Zefracore." Two monsters appeared in her furthest most Spell and Trap Zones; Shaddoll Zefranaga was donned in white, gold, and black armor with feathered wings protruding from the back of its shoulders; Shaddoll Zefracore had half its body in white knight's armor, half its body resembling a red and black demon.
"Next," Shelly continued, "I'll set a monster in Defense Mode, then I'll set two cards face down and end my turn."
"Before you do end your turn," Ernest said, "I shall activate my Trap Card, Nordic Relic Gungnir. I must first banish Goldfaxe to activate this card -" Goldfaxe vanished from the field - "but doing so will allow me to destroy one of your cards, so I'll destroy your face down monster." A golden spear flew out of the sky and pierced Shelly's face down monster, destroying it. "Goldfaxe will return on the second End Phase after Gungnir's activation, but for now, it's my turn, so I draw one card. I'll set one card face down, then summon Tanngrinsir of the Nordic Beasts in Attack Position." The monster he summoned was a fluffy white mountain goat. "Tanngrinsir, attack her Life Points." The goat charged for Shelly, slamming its horns into her gut and dropping her Life Points to 6800. "My turn is done."
Shelly took a few deep breaths, trying to dull the pain in her stomach from the goat's attack. She drew a new card, Super Polymerization.
"I'll start by activating my Trap Card, Sinister Shadow Games," she announced. "This card lets me send a Shaddoll card from my deck to the Graveyard, so I'll send Shaddoll Hedgehog to the Graveyard. And since he was sent there by a card effect, that triggers his effect, which lets me add a Shaddoll monster from my deck to my hand, so I'll add Shaddol Dragon to my hand. But he's not staying there long, because I summon him in Attack Mode!" The marionnette-like dragon appeared and growled at Tanngrinsir. "Shaddoll Dragon, attack his sheep!" Shaddoll Dragon flapped its wings. The shadowy puppet strings streaked towards Tanngrinsir, wrapping themselves around it and destroying it, dropping Ernest's Life Points to 7300.
As Tanngrinsir vanished from the field, two more smaller sheep took his place. "What are those?"
"Nordic Beast Tokens," Ernest explained. "I summon two of them when Tanngrinsir is destroyed."
"Would have liked to have known that earlier," Shelly huffed. "Your move."
Ernest drew a new card. "I believe I shall summon Dverg of the Nordic Alfar in Attack Position." The monster he summoned was an orange puff of smoke with blue eyes. Some of the smoke that made up its body formed hair, a beard, arms and legs, and a long tail that ended in a spiked ball. "When he's summoned, I'm allowed to perform a second Normal Summon, so this one will be Ljosalf of the Nordic Alfar, also in Attack Position." Another smoky monster appeared, this one made of blue smoke with red eyes. "And now, I can form my circuit."
"Here comes the Link Summon," Shelly muttered.
"The summoning conditions are one Level Five or lower Nordic monster, so I set Dverg in the Link Arrow." Dverg transformed into a tornado of brown energy. "I Link Summon Gullveig of the Nordic Ascendant." The tornado faded away, revealing an orange haired woman in a long white and green dress with golden wings and carrying a spear. "Her effect allows me to banish up to three cards from my hand or field and then Special Summon that many Nordic monsters from my deck in Defense Position, so I'll banish Ljosalf and Special Summon Tyr of the Nordic Champions." His new monster was a tall man in a blue cape and armed with a long, sharp sword. "That will bring my turn to an end, and Goldfaxe returns to my field." Goldfaxe appeared once more, neighing triumphantly.
Shelly drew a card for the start of her turn. "First, I'll summon Qadshaddoll Keios in Attack Mode." Her new monster was humanoid in shape, but with a monstrous mask with sharp teeth and sharp feathered wings in its back. "Next, I'll activate Super Polymerization, using one of my monsters and one of yours as material for a Fusion Summon."
"I'll chain the activation of my Trap Card," Ernest said.
"You can't," Shelly countered. "Super Polymerization can't be stopped. So I'll send Shaddoll Dragon and your Tyr to the Graveyard." The two monsters in question transformed into spirals of energy, hovering on Shelly's field. "Shine the light that casts the shadows, and Fusion Summon El Shaddoll Construct!" El Shaddoll Construct appeared on the field and whipped her strings in an intimidation tactic. "Now, two different effects are going to go off. First is Shaddoll Dragon's effect, letting me destroy one Shaddoll card on the field, which I'll chain the effect of that card to his effect. I activate Subterror Succession! This card lets me send one card to the Graveyard and add a Flip Effect monster with the same attribute to my hand, so I'll send Qadshaddoll Keios to the Graveyard and add Fairy Tail Sleeper to my hand. Now I activate El Shaddoll Construct's effect, letting me send one Shaddoll card from my hand to the Graveyard, so I'll send Shaddoll Beast, and since he was sent there by a card effect, his effect lets me draw a card." She drew a new card, the Spell Card Foolish Burial.
"Next," Shelly continued, "I activate Pot of Avarice to shuffle five monsters in my Graveyard back to my deck." She shuffled Shaddoll Dragon, Naelshaddoll Ariel, Shaddoll Beast, Qadshaddoll Keios, and Shaddoll Hedgehog back into her deck. "Now I'll activate Foolish Burial to send one monster from my deck to the Graveyard, so I'll send Shaddoll Squamata, whose effect lets me send another Shaddoll monster to the Graveyard, so I'll send Shaddoll Beast to the Graveyard, and use his effect to draw a new card." Her new card was Kuribandit.
"Now that I'm finally finished with all that - El Shaddoll Construct, attack his Link Monster! Shadow String Whip!" El Shaddoll Construct attacked, her strings ensnaring Gullveig, destroying her and dropping Ernest's Life Points to 5300. "That'll end my turn."
"Quite the impressive turn, Miss Cavanaugh," Ernest complimented her as he drew a new card for his turn. "I'll begin by tributing Goldfaxe to summon Svartalf of the Nordic Alfar." The horse vanished, a pink puff of smoke appearing in its place. "When Svartalf is summoned, I can add a Nordic monster from my Graveyard to my hand, so I'll add Tyr back to my hand. "Now I have everything I need to perform a Synchro Summon. As such, I'll tune Svartalf of the Nordic Alfar with one of my Nordic Beast Tokens." Svartalf transformed into five green rings that hooked themselves around the sheep-shaped token. A beam of light shone through the rings, and as it faded, a bronze dragon appeared, its long, whiplike tail curling behind it. "I Synchro Summon Coral Dragon."
"That's a cool looking dragon, not going to lie," Shelly admitted. "But unless he's got an effect to deal with it, he's still weaker than my monster."
"He indeed does have an effect," Ernest said. "I send Tanngrinsir of the Nordic Beasts from my hand to the Graveyard to activate Coral Dragon's effect, which will destroy El Shaddoll Construct." Coral Dragon swung at El Shaddoll Construct with one of its sword like fins, cutting the mosnter down and destroying it. "And now I can attack you directly." The other fin swiped at Shelly, dropping her Life Points to 4400. "It's your turn, my dear."
Shelly drew a card. Her hand now consisted of Fairy Tail Sleeper, Kuribandit, and Shaddoll Dragon.
"I set a monster in Defense Mode, and end my turn," she said as she set Fairy Tail Sleeper.
"I draw, then," Ernest said. "I summon Tyr of the Nordic Champions in Attack Position, and then have Coral Dragon destroy your face down monster." Coral Dragon swiped at Shelly's monster, flipping it face up.
"That activates Fairy Tail Sleeper's Flip Effect," Shelly announced, "letting me Special Summon one monster from my hand, so I'll Special Summon Shaddoll Dragon in Defense Mode." As Fairy Tail Sleeper vanished, Shaddoll Dragon took her place.
"Then Tyr will destroy that monster," Ernest said as Tyr cut down Shaddoll Dragon. "I'll end my turn."
The card Shelly drew for her turn was Electromagnetic Turtle. "I'll set a monster in Defense Mode. Your move."
Ernest drew a card. "I summon Vanadis of the Nordic Ascendant in Attack Position." This new monster was a young girl in a white and blue dress, carrying a long scythe. "I'll perform a new Synchro Summon, tuning Vanadis with Tyr to Synchro Summon Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons." This new monster was a long, crimson red dragon with two long necks protruding from its inverted triangle shaped shoulders. "Coral Dragon will destroy your face down card." Coral Dragon attacked and destroyed Shelly's face down Electromagnetic Turtle. "Now, Beelze, attack her directly, if you please."
"I don't think so," Shelly countered. "I banish Electromagnetic Turtle from my Graveyard, ending your Battle Phase."
"Then I shall simply end my turn," Ernest said.
Shelly drew a new card, the Trap Card Necro Fusion. "I set one card face down, then summon Kuribandit in Attack Mode. Kuribandit can't do much, but he can get rid of your other token." Kuribandit slammed its furred body into the remaining Nordic Beast Token, destroying it. "I'll end my turn there, and doing so triggers Kuribandit's effect. I send him to the Graveyard to draw the top five cards of my deck, keeping any Spell or Trap cards and sending any monsters to the Graveyard." The five cards she drew were Instant Fusion, Mathematician, Lost Wind, Nephe Shaddoll Fusion, and Qadshaddoll Keios. "I send Mathematician and Qadshaddoll Keios to the Graveyard and keep the other three. Your move, Ernest."
Ernest drew a new card to start his turn. "Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons will attack you directly."
"I activate my Trap Card, Necro Fusion," Shelly countered. "This card lets me Fusion Summon a monster from my Extra Deck using monsters from my Graveyard as material, so I'll banish Qadshaddoll Keios and Shaddoll Dragon to Fusion Summon El Shaddoll Apkallone."
"Then my dragon will destroy that monster."
"Apkallone can't be destroyed by battle," Shelly explained. Beelze's two heads bit into Apkallone, dropping Shelly's Life Points to 3900. "Of course, I still take the battle damage. But also, upon being Special Summoned, Apkallone negates one of your monsters effects, so your Beelze loses its effects."
"Then I shall pass turn to you."
The card Shelly drew for her turn was Lava Golem. She grinned; she had a plan.
"I'll start by putting one card face down," she said as she set Lost Wind. "Next, I'm going to be nice and give you a monster."
Ernest raised an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon? You're going to give me a monster? How so?"
"It's simple," Shelly answered. "I tribute your two mosnters to Special Summon Lava Golem onto your side of the field!" Ernest's two monsters melted into pools of molten magma, which materialized into a large boy made entirely of lava, all as Ernest was locked into a metal cage.
"What is the meaning of this?" Ernest demanded.
"I can only Special Summon Lava Golem onto your side of the field by tributing two monsters you control," Shelly explained. "And that's all I'm going to do this turn."
Ernest drew for his turn. As he did, he felt the heat in the cage rise, and his Life Points dropped to 4300.
"What was that?" he asked.
"Lava Golem's controller loses 1000 Life Points during every Standby Phase," Shelly said.
"That's mildly annoying," Ernest said as he summoned a new monster, and old man in long white robes. "I summon Mimir of the Nordic Ascendant in Attack Position, and then I'll equip him with Nordic Relic Draupnir, increasing his Attack Points from 800 to 1600." Mimir's Attack Points rose as a pair of gauntlets materialized on his arms. "Maybe giving me Lava Golem wasn't your smartest move, Miss Cavanaugh, because I can attack with him."
"Not if I do this," Shelly said as Lava Golem prepared to throw molten stone at El Shaddoll Apkallone. "I activate my Trap Card, Lost Wind, which is good news and bad news for you. Good news, you don't lose 1000 Life Points each turn because Lost Wind negates monster effects. Bad news, Lava Golem loses half its Attack Points." Lava Golem's Attack Points shrunk from 3000 to 1500.
"Then I'll end my turn," Ernest said.
The new card Shelly drew for her turn was the Trap Card, Purushaddoll Aeon. "I set one card face down," she said as she set Purushaddoll Aeon in the Spell and Trap Zone. "Now, El Shaddoll Apkallone - destroy Mimir!" Apkallone fired several pins at Mimir, each pin attached to Apkallone by puppet strings. The pins hit, destroying Mimir and dropping Ernest's Life Points to 3400. "That'll end my turn."
Ernest noted that Lava Golem's Attack Points remained where they were as he drew a new card. Why Shelly didn't destroy that one, he didn't know. Either way, it was a target; if she attacked and destroyed it on her next turn, he'd lose even more Life Points.
"I switch Lava Golem to Defense Position and end my turn," he said.
Shelly drew Reeshaddoll Wendi at the start of her turn. "I summon Reeshaddoll Wendi in Attack Mode." Wendi appeared, her already wavy blonde hair blowing in the ocean breeze. "Next, I activate my face down card, Purushaddoll Aeon, sending Nephe Shaddoll Fusion from my hand to the Graveyard to increase El Shaddoll Apkallone's Attack Points to 3500. Apkallone, destroy Lava Golem!" Apkallone's pins hit Lava Golem, reducing it to a puddle as the cage around Ernest melted. "Reeshaddoll Wendi, attack him directly!" Reeshaddoll Wendi charged for Ernest, her staff hitting him on the head and reducing his Life Points to 1900. "It's your move."
Ernest drew a card. "I'm amazed you were able to turn this duel around, Miss Cavanaugh," he said. "For a time there, you were on the back foot. But I'm afraid I can't let your good streak continue, for I activate Dark Hole."
"No!" Shelly cried as a black hole appeared in the center of the field, pulling her two monsters into it.
"Now I'll activate my Field Spell, the Nordic Lights." The sky's colors changed, going from the deep blue of the late afternoon to a beautiful shimmering display of reds and greens and yellows. "And next, I summon Tanngnjoster of the Nordic Beasts." Another goat apperead, this one with black fur and two tails. "Tanngnjoster, attack her directly."
Shelly gasped as she was hit with another blow to the gut, dropping her Life Points to 3100.
"That's my turn done."
Shelly drew a new card. She smiled as she saw what it was, the card art depicting a man in blue and gold armor with a curved sword resting against his shoulder.
"I take it you drew a good card?" Ernest guessed.
"You take it right, Ernest," Shelly said. "I banish El Shaddoll Apkallone and Fairy Tail Sleeper from my Graveyard to Special Summon Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning!" the Black Luster Soldier emerged on the field. "Black Luster Soldier, attack Tanngnjostr! Luster Blade Slash!" Black Luster Soldier charged for Tanngnjostr.
"He can't be destroyed by battle with my Field Spell on the field," Ernest said.
"But you still take battle damage," Shelly said, "and with the difference between our two monsters, you lose this duel, Gramps." Black Luster Soldier slashed into Tanngnjostr. It remained on the field, but that didn't matter as Ernest's Life Points dropped to 0.
Their monsters faded away as their duel pads were deactivated. Ernest walked over to Shelly and extended his hand.
"Very well done, Miss Cavanaugh."
"Thanks, Ernest. You too," Shelly said as she shook his hand. "You know, I actually like that deck."
"I've been playing Duel Monsters since I was a lad," Ernest explained. "And I've always been fascinated by Norse mythology, so when I learned that there was an archetype based around the Norse stories, I had to have it. I'm a bit of a collector, you see, particularly of Duel Monsters cards. If I see one I don't have, I want it and I'll eventually have it. Through legal purchases, of course."
"I didn't need to know that, but okay," Shelly said.
Hugo joined them. "Can you believe I can't find anyone to duel me?"
"Not a single person?" Shelly asked incredulously.
"No one!" Hugo reiterated. "Yuka found a challenger, though." He pointed over to where Yuka was dueling a boy about her age. She had two monsters on the field, Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon - with no Overly Units left - and one Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Her opponent had no monsters on the field. "And she only challenged him because he wouldn't leave her alone. Said if he won she'd have to go on a date with him."
"Ugh," Shelly gagged as she rolled her eyes. "I know she's cute, but there are other reasons to challenge someone to a duel besides a date."
Their conversation was interrupted by the Blue-Eyes White Dragon launching a direct attack at Yuka's opponent. She joined them a moment later, a disgusted look on her face.
"I came here to duel, not be wined and dined," she huffed.
"Never mind the fact I believe you're all a bit too young yet to consume alcohol," Ernest observed. "By the way, young lady, are you this Yuka your friends were talking about?"
"Yeah, I'm Yuka. Look, if you're looking for a duel, I just got done with one and that guy kind of killed the dueling mood for me right now."
Ernest shook his head. "I had no intention of asking you to duel me," he said. "In fact, I just lost to your friend Miss Cavanaugh here. No, I have another question to ask you, Miss Yuka. I couldn't help but notice that you used a Blue-Eyes White Dragon during your duel."
"Yeah. Blue-Eyes is kind of special to me."
"Well, as I just finished explaining to your friend Miss Cavanaugh here, I'm a bit of a Duel Monsters collection," Ernest said. "But of all the cards I have, one that I haven't been able to find is Blue-Eyes White Dragon. I was wondering, Miss Yuka, if you would possibly consider selling or trading your Blue-Eyes -"
"Let me stop you right there, old man," Yuka said. "None of my cards are up for sale or trade. And even if they were, I can't get rid of any of them. I'm in the Duel Monsters Championship League challenge, and I can't alter my deck in any way. Besides, these cards have sentimental value to me; my dad gave them to me before he died. So again - no, I'm not getting rid of any of my cards. You want a Blue-Eyes so bad? Order one online. Unlike when Seto Kaiba was around, there are more than just four in the world."
"A simple 'no' would have been fine, Yuka," Hugo said.
"It's alright, I fully understand," Ernest said. "Well, I wish you luck on your quest, Miss Yuka. And Miss Cavanaugh, excellent dueling once again." With a polite nod of the head, he walked off into the crowd.
The winds shifted and their balance was knocked slightly off as the ship began to move, heading from the docks and out into the bay.
"Well, Yuka, you might have said you weren't here to wine and dine, but I'm hungry," Hugo said. "Wonder what's for dinner?"
#######################################################
Ernest sat at the desk in his cabin, listening to the sound of the sea outside his window. That girl, Yuka...She had a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and Ernest wanted it. And as a collector, whatever Ernest St. Germain wanted, Ernest St. Germain got.
There was a knock on his door. He stood up from his desk and looked through the door's peephole. There were two men out in the hallway, each one looking gruff and ready for a fight.
"At last," Ernest said as he opened the door. "Good evening, gentlemen. As I said, I have a proposition for the both of you."