AN: This is probably the weakest chapter I've Written this year, but I wanted to get 12 chapters out this year. So, I hope you enjoy.
Jason and Kazutaka were walking into the Arcade when they were almost trampled by a bunch of kids. Instead, they were pushed forward by the wave of kids until they were standing in front of the Dance Dance Revolution Game.
Ryder and Tina were dancing on it until Tina made a mistake and Ryder won.
"Who's next?" Ryder asked.
Kazutaka's pushed Jason towards Ryder who just smiled. He took out his coin and flipped it. He smiled at the result and motioned Jason forward.
"Nah thanks. I'm good."
"You scared you'll lose?"
"Bot particularly, just don't want to dance."
"Please." Kazutaka begged with her hands folded and she was doing puppy dog eyes at him.
"Damn it Kazu." He said taking off his jacket and tossing it to her.
"YEAH!" The crowd cheered.
Jason stepped onto the dance pad and scrolled through the songs until he hit the bottom of the screen and found the most difficult song. "Are you scared?" He asked Ryder.
Ryder flipped his coin and caught it. "Nope." He said looking up from the result.
Jason hit the song and the screen counted down.
Ready...
Set...
Go!
Jason and Ryder began moving to the song, and the air was filled with singing as Kazutaka, and Tina began singing "Holding out for a Hero" on Karaoke.
Jason and Ryder picked up speed as the game did, and the crowd began cheering.
"W'ere's everyone?" Joey asked pushing through the crowd. Then he heard Kazutaka and Tina singing.
"They must be at the Dance Dance Revolution Game." TéA Said.
"Let's go." Yugi said as they pushed through the crowd.
When they got to the front, they saw Jason and Ryder... dancing? If you could call how fast they were moving dancing.
"I can't even see their feet." Tristan said.
"I can't believe it." TéA said. "They Are dancing to "There can only be one winner.". It's the most difficult song in the world."
Something hit TéA and she pulled it off to see that it was a jacket. She could barely hear ringing, pulled Jason's phone out of the pocket.
"Hello?!" She yelled to be heard.
"Gardner? What are you doing with Todd's phone?"
"Jason is dancing to Dance Dance Revolution at the Arcade and Kazutaka is singing! Can I help you?!"
"Yes. Come get Mokuba. He's at the entrance and tell Todd not to let anything happen to him!"
With that Kaiba hung up.
"Tell us who Wins." She told Joey and Tristan before she grabbed Yugi and dragged him out front.
Joey and Tristan watched Jason and Ryder tore up the floor in amazement. The luckiest guy in their group of friends was dancing against the guy who had the best instincts, and they were evenly matched.
TéA and Yugi met Kaiba and Mokuba up front.
"You said that Todd and Ryder were Dancing?" Kaiba asked, looking personally offended by the very thought.
"Yeah." Yugi said. "When we left, they were doing really well."
"I don't care. Tell Todd to take care of Mokuba and not to let anything bad happen to him or it's his ass!" Kaiba said before he slid into his Limo, the biggest of the three, and drove off.
"Jason is dancing?" Mokuba asked.
"Yeah." TéA Said.
"I want to see!"
"The let's hurry." Yugi said.
The trio ran through the crowd, pushing their way through the front, unaware that a figure was watching them.
Jason and Ryder looked at each other, then back at the screen, then back at each other.
They were evenly matched and had one minute left.
"So?" Jason asked. "You feeling tired yet?"
"A little." Ryder said. "But I have danced twice now."
"Huh. Okay. Good luck. You're going to need it."
"I don't think so." Ryder said.
The screen flashed:
3...
2...
1...
and the tempo increased for the last 30 seconds.
TéA, Yugi, and Mokuba pushed through to the front of the crowd just in time to see the game go into overdrive.
"Who do you think will win?!" Montgomery asked.
"I don't know!" TéA Said. "I didn't even know Jason could dance!"
The countdown timer hit ten and the crowd watched in absolute amazement as Jason and Ryder picked up speed again for the final push of the game.
TIE!
The screen flashed.
"What?" The crowd asked. They had never seen such a perfect tie before. They Both passed the game and scored the same:
Jason Todd: 130242700
Ryder Furukawa: 130242700
"They cheated." A man with dreadlocks, wearing a red shirt walked up to them. "How else could they have tied?"
"Cause they're Just that good!" TéA defended.
"Doubtful." The man said. "My name is Johnny Steps, and I'm the best dancer in the world."
"Doubtful." TéA snarked. "I haven't heard of you until today."
"That's your problem not mine."
"I challenge you to a dance off." TéA challenged. "If I win then you have to apologize to my friends!"
"Fine, but when I win then you have to tell everyone that I'm the best dancer ever."
"Thanks, TéA." Jason Said. "But this guys a punk. You don't have to defend us. We were only having fun."
"Besides." Tina and Kazutaka Said in unison. "We know that you could beat this guy in your sleep, so it's not fair."
"No one can beat Johnny steps." Johnny said.
"Then I get to pick the Dance." TéA Said.
"Fine. It won't matter."
TéA picked a song and the game started.
TéA began dancing as if she were on stage performing in front of an entire audience.
"Whoa." Someone said.
"This girl's busting out movies that Johnny can't even do." Another said.
"He's probably saving his best moves for last." A third said.
Johnny tried to trip, shove, and hit TéA.
Ryder, Joey, Tristan, and Jason grabbed hold of Yugi to keep him from attacking Johnny.
"Trust her to win this dance." Jason said. "Then we can Break Johnny's legs after the dance."
"Hey!" A voice called out. "Keep it clean Johnny!"
"Oh wow! She's still beating him!"
"You go girl!"
Johnny slipped and TéA pulled out victorious.
The crowd cheered as TéA gave a little twirl.
Johnny got up and glared at TéA and went to kick her, but someone moved in front of her and took the kick for her.
Jason grabbed Johnny's leg and threw him into the wall. "Congratulations ass hole. You just gave me a good enough reason not to wait."
"Wait!" TéA Said. "Let me Duel him! Loser hast to leave the arcade forever!"
"And why would I agree to that?" Johnny asked.
"Cause if you don't." Jason said. "We'll break your legs and force you to walk home."
Johnny's eyes grew wide with terror. "No. You can't take my legs! Please no! You can't take my legs!"
"Then Duel!"
The group made their way to the Dueling Platform in the back of the Arcade and rose up to the Arena.
"What happened if I win?" Johnny Steps asked.
"Then I'll leave the arcade forever." TéA said. "Same thing goes for you. If you lose, then you have to leave the arcade forever."
"Unless you cheat." Jason said. "Then your legs are forfeit."
"No! I won't cheat!"
"Good."
"Let's Duel!" TéA and Johnny shouted in unison.
TéA Gardner: 2000
Johnny Steps: 2000
"I'll start the show with Sonic Maid in attack mode."
A maiden wearing a pink dress with a shawl made of musical notes and wielding an ax in the shape of a musical note appeared on the field.
"I end."
"I'll draw." TéA said. "Then I'll set a card in the spell and trap zone before playing Awakening of the Possessed. In case you don't know my Monsters will gain a 300 ATK power boost for each monster on my side of the field with a different attribute. It also makes my Familiar-Possessed and Charmers can't be destroyed by Card Effects. Finally, if I play a Spellcaster with an attack of 1850 I get to draw a card and guess what. I play Familiar-Possessed Wynn in attack position, meaning I get to draw a card."
A pale skinned girl with greens hair and wearing a set of robes over a school uniform appeared on the battlefield, a dragon flying around her.
"What the hell?"
TéA drew a card and looked at Johnny Steps field. "Familiar-Possessed Wynn, attack his Sonic Maid! Wind Dragon Charge!"
Ryuran flew at Sonic Maid and Bit down, pixilating her. Ryuran smacked Johnny Steps with its tail as it was returning to TéA's side of the field dealing the remaining damage to Johnny.
Johnny Steps: 1350
"What?!" Johnny asked.
"Yes!" TéA's Friends cheered.
Johnny drew a card and looked at his hand.
"I'll play a card in face down defense position, and I'll end my turn."
"I'll draw a card, and I'll special Summon Ryuran since I control a Spellcaster."
A wind Dragon with green fur, yellow wings, and pink scales underneath appeared in the battlefield letting out a blast of wind.
"But I'm not done yet." TéA said. "I Normal summon Witchrafter Golem Aruru in attack position."
A pale woman wearing white and purple armor with a witches hat on her head, a golden sash around her middle, with a pair of Scissors that doubled as a sworn on her hip. I'm her left hand she wielded twin wands that doubled as needles, and in her right hand she wielded a large staff that doubled as a Warhammer. She wore a glowing jacket to complete the outfits dichotomy.
"What is that!" Johnny Steps asked.
"My Witchcrafter Golem Aruru." TéA explained.
"How do you expect me to beat something THAT strong? I don't have anything even close to that in my deck!"
"So, do you forfeit?"
"Yes! There's no way I can beat that!"
"Well then." Jason said. "I guess that you need to find somewhere else to call home then."
Johnny picked up his deck and ran out of the arcade.
"Way ta go TéA!" Joey and Tristan cheered.
"You did it TéA!" Yugi cheered.
TéA blushed at the praise but collected her cards and was lowered to the ground. "Thanks guys." She spoke. "Though, I wish that I'd have been able to finish that Duel."
"A win is a win." Jason said. "Now. How about we go get dinner?"
The group made their way to the diner and sat down.
"Good." Kaiba Said when he walked in. You're all Here."
"What's up big brother?"
Kaiba took out his phone and sent everyone an email with a link. Everything opened the link and saw the location of the Domino City Shopping Center.
"Be there on July 19th at midnight."
"The last day of School?" TéA asked. "Why?"
"Just be there. You'll find out then."
"Okay." Yugi said.
With that, Kaiba left.
"What do you think Kaiba wants?" Tristan asked.
"Not sure." Jason and Mokuba said in unison.
"What do you think we should tomorrow?" Tina asked.
"We could go to the Museum." Yugi suggested. There's an exhibit on Ancient Egyptian history."
"Sounds like a plan." Jason said. "Want to meet at the Museum?"
"Yeah. Let's hope that it goes better than today did."
It didn't.
While Yugi and TéA were talking to Ishizu; Jason, Kazutaka, and Mokuba walked up.
As soon as Ishizu saw Jason, she put herself between him and Yugi. "Assassin!" She spat.
"Oh, goody goody." The Undying One said taking over. "A Gravekeeper, ready to die. How shall I do so? I could always drown you, I haven't drown anyone since coming back; or maybe poison? It's been so long since I've poisoned someone. Or..." he took out his knife. "I could skin you alive and wear your skin as a cloak!"
Kazutaka grabbed the Undying One and slammed him into the wall with enough force to crack it. "Give. Jason. Back." she demanded.
"You're Lucky that he made me swear not to hurt you or any of his friends."
"Now!"
"Alright alright. Jeez."
Jason slumped to the floor a second later to catch his breath. "Ow." He spoke.
"I'm sorry Jason. It was the Undying One."
"No, no. I get it."
"Whoa!" Tina said. "What happened here?"
"Undying One." Jason and Kazutaka Said in unison.
"I hope you're planning on making Jason feel better when we're done here." Tina said. "On second thought, why not make him feel better right now? I'm sure there's an office you guys can hide in."
"Tina." Ryder said. "We're in public."
"You're no fun."
"No, I'm the one with brain cell."
"Are you calling me dumb!?"
"Did I say that? I don't think I did."
Tina grabbed Ryder by the shirt and dragged him out of the exhibit so they could discuss the topic in private.
Ishizu looked around at the group. "Does that woman have the Undying One under her control?" She asked Yugi."
"Kinda." Yugi said. "Between her and Jason they seem to keep him under control. Can you tell us about The Pharaoh? We don't know all that much about his past, and he really wants to know."
"Unfortunately, I cannot, not yet anyway."
"Why not?"
"If the Nameless Pharaoh were to ever learn his name or about his past before he was ready... I fear that the world would fall into a darkness the likes no one has ever seen."
"Oh. Okay."
"I can tell you that the Pharaoh is necessary in saving mankind from a great evil."
"Will I recognize this evil?" The Pharaoh asked, taking over.
"I know that your memory is faded and that you seek many answers. I know that if you win the upcoming Duel Monsters Tournament you will find answers."
July 19th, Midnight
The group walked into the Domino City Shopping Center and saw several Duelists there.
They saw Rex Raptor, Mai Valentine, and many others they didn't recognize.
"So." Tristan said. "Where's Kaiba?"
The air was filled with the sound of a helicopter as the KaibaCorp helicopter flew over the shopping Center.
Jason looked up as Kaiba's Helicopter hovered over the square.
"Welcome!" Kaiba said into the loudspeaker. "To the introduction to Battle City!"
"Battle City?" Someone asked.
"The Rules to Battle City will be different from other tournaments that you may have gone to. For starters...
• Participants must hold the Rank of King of Games or Higher.
• Players must play with a Deck that has at least forty cards, with at least one rare card in it.
• You will start each Duel with 4000 Life Points instead of 2000 Life Points.
• You can only have up to 7 cards in your hand unless the card "Infinite Cards" or "Finite Cards" is in play on your side of the field.
• Each Duelist will have a maximum of five minutes to think during their turn.
• You can Normal Summon one Monster per player per turn. Monsters can be Summoned in face-up Attack Position, face-up Defense Position or face-down Defense Position.
• Similarly, you can Special Summon Monster's in Face-Up Attack Position, Face-Up Defense Position, and Face-Down Defense Position.
• Level 4 or below monsters can be Summoned during a Normal Summon.
• Level 5-6 monsters need one Tribute in order to Normal Summon.
• Level 7-9 monsters require two Tributes to Normal Summon.
• Level 10 monsters require three Tributes to normal summon.
• When a Fusion Monster is Tributed, that monster is counted as a number of monsters equal to the number of Fusion Material Monsters that were used.
• Fusion Monsters must wait one turn after they are Summoned before they can attack, though the "Quick Attack" card can be used to circumvent this.
• Any monster Ritual Summoned, or Special Summoned from the Graveyard also cannot attack the turn it is Special Summoned.
• If a player has no monsters on their field, their opponent can attack directly.
• Each player must ante at least their rarest card and a minimum of one Locator Card in their possession. The winner of the Duel obtains their opponent's rarest card and Locator Card, as wagered.
• The contents of either player's Graveyards are not public knowledge, or an opponent may not look through their opponent's Graveyard.
• If you have to discard cards from your hand or Deck, you do not have to show them to your opponent.
• You must stick to the tournament's list of forbidden and limited cards. Cards that directly damage players or monsters, such as "Raigeki" and "Hinotama" are forbidden.
• Only one copy of "Monster Reborn" could be included in one's Deck.
• Certain cards that enable players to Special Summon one specific Type of monster(s) can affect both sides of the field ("Dark Magic Curtain" and "The Flute of Summoning Dragon", for example).
• Duelists are not allowed to use two or more Magic Cards of the same name that increase a card's ATK points within the same turn.
• The opponent can activate a card or card effect before the turn player draws a card during their Draw Phase.
• If a monster is offered as a Tribute by the effect of another card while being attacked by an opponent's monster, the enemy's attack is negated. This rule is called "Sacrifice Escape".
• Replays are not an established mechanic. While a direct attack is occurring because the attacked player controls no monsters, if the attacked player adds a monster to their side of the field, that monster intercepts the attack; if a monster is targeted for an attack, but it leaves the field before damage calculation, the attack ends.
• Players can Set Field Spell Cards in their Spell & Trap Card Zones but when they activate them, they get moved to the Field Zone.
• Field Spell Cards can be activated during the Battle Phase.
• A non-Quick Play Spell Card can be activated during the Battle Phase.
• A Set non-Quick Play Spell Card can be activated during your opponent's turn.
• When a Spell or Trap is destroyed by a card effect, it is negated even if the card that destroyed the Spell/Trap doesn't negate its effects.
• A monster that becomes an Equip Card is treated as both a monster and an Equip Card.
• Effects that require the player and the opponent to have cards in their hand can be activated even if one of the players has no cards in their hand.
• Tokens do not take up a Monster Zone.
• When a Token is Summoned, it becomes the attack target instead.
• When a card is sent to the Graveyard, it is sent to the controller's Graveyard, not the owner's.
• Duelists can only control up to 5 cards of any type at a time.
• Duelists have certain restrictions of activating and Setting Spell and Trap Cards.
• One can activate only 1 Spell Card from their hand per turn.
• One can Set only 1 Spell Card per turn.
• One can Set only 1 Trap Card per turn...
... Any Questions?" Kaiba asked.
"Wait. We can attack our opponents directly now?" Someone asked.
"We need to Tribute Monster's now?"
"There's limited and banned cards now?"
The group looked at each other.
"Do you think Kaiba made these rules because of us?" Ryder asked.
"You think he's trying to nerf us?" Tina asked.
"I mean he did watch all of us Duel at Industrial Illusions." Jason pointed out. "He watched us absolutely obliterate those guys."
"Speaking of which?" Tristan asked. "What do you think ever happened to that guy Lucas Dueled?"
Meanwhile.
A home in Domino City.
A woman brought a pair of muffin baskets inside her home. "Huh? Who did these come from."
"Who did what come from honey?" The man asked.
"These muffin baskets."
The man walked inside and saw the logo on the front of the muffin baskets. "No!" He shouted. "No! No! I have to get out of here! We need to move!"
"What? Why?"
"They found me! We're not safe anymore! We need to move away! Far away!"
"Don't know." Montgomery said. "Don't really care."
"I guess that we're going to need to revamp our strategies." Tina said.
"Guess so."
"Oh!" Kaiba Said. "You have one week to prepare for the Battle City tournament. On July 26th we start. It will begin at 10:00 A.M. and go until 10:00 P.M., at which point the Battle City Finals will start. You will need five Locator cards and insert them into your Duel Disk to uncover the location of the finals. Good luck. You're going to need it."
Everyone looked around and saw determination in everyone's faces.
"I guess that Battle City has already begun." Yugi said.
"Looks like it." Montgomery said.
"Then from this point forward we are allies..." Jason said. "...not friends."
The group looked at each other and nodded.
"We'll see you in the Battle City Finals." The group said before leaving the Shopping Center.
AN: next year Battle City will start, and it will be split into at least Two sets. Battle City and the Battle City Finals. Though it could be split into four sets with two of those sets being Battle City and the other two being the Battle City Finals.