YuGiOh: Spirit of the Books [Episode 5 Posted! NEW!]

[Guest Star]

 

Legend speaks of a time where all that we know, all that we are, and all that we will someday be will cease to exist, leaving nothing but cold remnants of faint emptiness. It speaks of people who will be responsible for such things, but it also speaks of people capable of preventing them. Millions of years ago, it's said that the spirits of five guardians were sealed away, never to be seen again. The force behind these actions is unknown, but it is believed by many that by unlocking these spirits, this forthcoming apocalypse will be stopped. Then of course, there are the vast majority who believe it to be nothing but rumor. But to those people the question is posed; what if it isn't?

 

Ugh, the stuff that people come up with nowadays never fails to amuse me. Let me just place this book on the shelf, give me a second, alright, here we go. Just doing some reading again. Hey there, the name's Leon. Leon Stevens. I live here in Sky City. People here just call it "Sky" generally, as it's a pretty crappy name to begin with. I'll spare you the details, but summarize and say it's a pretty small city, mostly crowded with buildings where companies strive to build new cards, new technological advances in dueling. Yeah, I'm a Duelist. Been playing for fifteen years, since I was five years old. I like to consider myself good, but then I go out there and lose and realize I'm not on such a level. One thing about me you're going to need to know is I'm not the most outgoing person. I don't have too many friends, but that's because I've either blown them off for a chance in the spotlight or just haven't introduced myself to too many people. Dueling nowadays has become much more competitive, so if you're dueling against your friends and you win, people tend to get pretty pissed off. But hey, what can I say, it's what I do, and I'm going to do the best I can.

 

I'm twenty years old if you couldn't work out the Math. I'm not big into fashion, either, so I'll generally just throw on some jeans, a t-shirt, some worn-out sneakers, and my leather jacket if the weather calls for it. Aside from that, I'm not a very interesting person. I've spent most of my life waiting for something big to happen and as the days go by I get the feeling that I'll never have the chance to experience it. Occasionally I have these weird feelings, these shocks of pain that I can't explain and thus choose to ignore. I don't know about you, but I want to make something exciting out of my life, and when no opportunity presents itself, you're pretty much screwed, right? That brings us to this book I was reading. It's called Legends of Time, and it basically chronicles myth after myth, whatever people have collected over the years and thrown together to make a couple of bucks. What amazes me is just how ridiculous, to what lengths people will go to make a couple of bucks. But then I get the idea that, what would life be like to experience something like that? To have that mindset, to know something big is going to happen and to actually have the chance to do something about it. Instead I just spend day after day trying to duel my way to the top. Entering tournament after tournament with the hopes of winning, but knowing that it's not going to happen.

 

I'm told people are destined for greatness, whereas others are destined to do other things. Well my question is, if greatness isn't in my future, what the hell is? Five guardians? Spirits sealed away? That's all a bunch of crap if you ask me. See--excuse me just one second. [The telephone rings faintly.] I just gotta get this. And this, this is where my story begins.

 

"Hello?" I held the phone to my ear. As I waited in silence, i took a brief glance at the clock; it was 10:30 PM. Who calls that late? Still I waited, and still there was no response. Must have been the wrong number. I went to hang up the phone, but then I heard a voice.

 

"Come outside." I feel a slight chill as the voice spoke. It sounded like the voice of an older person, maybe even a voice that was not his own, but I couldn't be sure. Whoever this person was, what kind of call was this? It was probably a prank call. Maybe some kids just in the mood to have some fun and piss people off, so they're dialing random numbers. Idiots.

 

"Look, I'm not going to play your--"

 

"Leon, this is not a game." My eyes widened in shock. This guy, person, whoever he was knew my name. How was that possible? I'd never been in any major tournaments, I wasn't really well known at all here in my little apartment. As I stood for a moment, thinking of how to respond, I felt a surge of pain run through my body. Trying not to cringe at the pain, but eventually giving in, I walked over to the window and peered through the blinds. "You do not know me, nor do you need to. What matters is that you come outside; behind your building in the open field. It's about a three minute walk. And bring a coat, it could be a while." I went to respond, but then I heard a click. This was just great, just freakin' great. Some weird-ass guy just called my phone, knew my name, and then asked me to go out to the field behind my house? A duel was the first thing that came to mind, but at 10:30? I can't go; I mean I know that. It sounds like a set-up of some sort. I sat down on my bed, and put my hands to my forehead. After sitting in silence, I looked up at the clock. It was 10:32. What was I going to do, just sit here? Continue to sit here? We all know I'm going out there eventually. No point in wasting any more time. I grabbed my duel disk, threw on my coat, and walked cautiously out the door. Well, here goes nothing.

 

It was colder than I thought. One of these days I need to invest in a warmer jacket. I walked down the street in front of my building, then took a left turn and walked up to the field. It was pretty quiet, and the cold was really dry. No wind, the grass wasn't moving. The silence outside due to the lack of cars on the road made this a more creepy situation then it normally would have been. There I stood, in the middle of the grassy field, looking around like an idiot for the mystery caller, and there was no one in sight. The moon shone brightly and that calmed me a little, but hell, if you were in this situation you'd probably feel the same way. Right?

 

"Good, you decided to show up." Upon hearing the voice, I literally whipped around, doing a full one-eighty spin, and saw a tall figure standing about twenty feet away from me. He was intimidating, that much I could tell, but he was surrounded by a veil of shadows, which made it impossible for me to make out much about him. "This is not the time for questions. From what I understand you're an inquisitive person, and to that I'll tell you not to worry, all questions will be answered in due time. Right now, we must duel." Well that proves my first instinct right. He did want to duel. A duel with a shadowy figure near midnight in a field behind my apartment? That sounds normal. Well I was here, what else was I going to do. Apparently he wasn't going to wait for my answer as I heard his duel disk activate. I saw a light shine through the shadow veil, but I couldn't actually see the disk. Something told me this guy didn't want me to know who - or what - he was. "I will make the first move."

 

Well he was in a rush. I didn't respond, simply activated my duel disk as I awaited his first action. He said all questions would be answered in due time, which hopefully means once this game is over. I didn't have much of a choice now; it was game time. "As I said, you're confused, and rightfully so. But before I talk, we must duel. Consider this a test of sorts." A test? Oh, that made things better. I felt completely comfortable now. "I will begin by playing the Spell Foolish Burial. A skilled duelist like yourself must know that by playing this, I'm allowed to send any monster from my Deck to the Grave." I knew, and so he did. He shuffled through his deck once or twice before selecting a card and inserting it into the Grveyard slot. Or at least I assumed. I'm basing this on what I could hear, because it was pretty hard to see anything he did. "I shall follow it up with this, the Spell Card Premature Burlal" His Life Point meter beeped until stopping at 3200. Yay, advantage me! In seriousness, this wasn't a good start at all. He obviously knew exactly what he was doing as a large white dragon emerged from the ground, joined by a white palading wielding a large lance who took his seat atop the creature. "With it, I shall revive my Paladin of the Cursed Dragon (1900/1200)!"

 

The creature let out a heinous roar as it stood there, the only thing on the field, making it's presence known. "I shall place two-cards face-down." Two face-down cards appeared vertically behind the not-at-all friendly-looking zombie. "It's now your turn, but I will advise you to take this duel very seriously. Many things depend on it."

 

Here we go. No pressure.

 

To be continued...

[cyborg878]

Pretty good, not much of a YGO fan, but this was pretty good.

[Guest Star]

Pretty good' date=' not much of a YGO fan, but this was pretty good.

[/quote']

 

Thanks, I appreciate it. I got a plot idea and I want to write it, see how it'll play out, but I'd like to get some opinions first, you know?

[Umbra]

Well, this turned out quite good! Since it's just one chapter, I can't tell much about the plot so far, but the premise is interesting. However, Leon seems like a typical protagonist, and of course the villain runs Zombies. What I liked most about this was the writing style from this POV.

 

You should definitely continue this one.

[Guest Star]

Well' date=' this turned out quite good! Since it's just one chapter, I can't tell much about the plot so far, but the premise is interesting. However, Leon seems like a typical protagonist, and of course the villain runs Zombies. What I liked most about this was the writing style from this POV.

 

You should definitely continue this one.

[/quote']

 

Well that's great coming from you. xD. The writing style is sort of similar to the one I used for Land of Nightmares, but I changed it a little bit to make it more, cool, down-to-earth. Yeah I know the Zombies are cliche`, but hopefully it'll make sense in one respect or another once we really get into the story. Thanks again.

[Skarlet]

I must say, this is excellent, the lack of description I had previously complained about [MSN] Is pretty much nullified by the use of the first person, and the fact that we actually see the world you've created through the eyes of the character. personally, I can't write like that, and I'm impressed. The story it's self seems intriguing, if not a little bit too typical Yu-Gi-Oh! But that's perfectly fine. Given ofcourse that this is a Yu-Gi-Oh Fan-fic. :p So yeah, I have no actual criticism that isn't completely ignorable.

[Guest Star]

I must say' date=' this is excellent, the lack of description I had previously complained about [MSN'] Is pretty much nullified by the use of the first person, and the fact that we actually see the world you've created through the eyes of the character. personally, I can't write like that, and I'm impressed. The story it's self seems intriguing, if not a little bit too typical Yu-Gi-Oh! But that's perfectly fine. Given ofcourse that this is a Yu-Gi-Oh Fan-fic. :p So yeah, I have no actual criticism that isn't completely ignorable.

 

Thanks, and yeah like I said I wanted it to seem like you're standing there and the guy's telling you the story. Obviously someone with that personality wouldn't stand there and use giant detailed words. Again, thanks!

[Sander]

The chapter itself was a bit mehish, but the stile you wrote it in was what got me interested in it.

 

Other than that, I have nothing more to say. Eh, keep up the good writing I guess?

[Guest Star]

The chapter itself was a bit mehish' date=' but the stile you wrote it in was what got me interested in it.

 

Other than that, I have nothing more to say. Eh, keep up the good writing I guess?

[/quote']

 

Thanks. Well I guess it's the type of plot where like, it depends on your taste. I hope the style will be interesting enough to keep people hooked for a second round.

[bury the year]

Normally, I'm iffy when it comes to first-person fics, but the faux-present narration style really peaked my attention. You pulled it off well, although some of the names and type-casting (as pointed out by Umbra, villain doesn't always equal DARK) could be improved upon, as they are somewhat cliched in their current state. However, this is quite good, and I look forward to seeing this continue. :3

[Guest Star]

Normally' date=' I'm iffy when it comes to first-person fics, but the faux-present narration style really peaked my attention. You pulled it off well, although some of the names and type-casting (as pointed out by Umbra, villain doesn't always equal DARK) could be improved upon, as they are somewhat cliched in their current state. However, this is quite good, and I look forward to seeing this continue. :3

[/quote']

 

Names I'm terrible at. Umbra actually helped me with the names and said Leon was better than decent XD. He wouldn't let me use Jonah. :(.

 

Anyway, I happen to like the style myself as I find it's a much more casual storytelling style. You really get connected to the character that way, at least in my opinion.

[bury the year]

Normally' date=' I'm iffy when it comes to first-person fics, but the faux-present narration style really peaked my attention. You pulled it off well, although some of the names and type-casting (as pointed out by Umbra, villain doesn't always equal DARK) could be improved upon, as they are somewhat cliched in their current state. However, this is quite good, and I look forward to seeing this continue. :3

[/quote']

 

Names I'm terrible at. Umbra actually helped me with the names and said Leon was better than decent XD. He wouldn't let me use Jonah. :(.

 

Anyway, I happen to like the style myself as I find it's a much more casual storytelling style. You really get connected to the character that way, at least in my opinion.

 

Jonah would've been better, IMHO. xD

[Guest Star]

Normally' date=' I'm iffy when it comes to first-person fics, but the faux-present narration style really peaked my attention. You pulled it off well, although some of the names and type-casting (as pointed out by Umbra, villain doesn't always equal DARK) could be improved upon, as they are somewhat cliched in their current state. However, this is quite good, and I look forward to seeing this continue. :3

[/quote']

 

Names I'm terrible at. Umbra actually helped me with the names and said Leon was better than decent XD. He wouldn't let me use Jonah. :(.

 

Anyway, I happen to like the style myself as I find it's a much more casual storytelling style. You really get connected to the character that way, at least in my opinion.

 

Jonah would've been better, IMHO. xD

 

I thought so too with the whole 'spirit' References and everything, but he was like "Y'all can't be stealin mah Fan-Fic ideas" or something like that, so I went with Leon instead.

[Weather Report - Stand]

Yo, yo, yo, it's time for a Weather Report, requested specifically by Da' Miz himself. So, let's go.

 

Legend speaks of a time where all that we know' date=' all that we are, and all that we will someday be will cease to exist, leaving nothing but cold remnants of faint emptiness. It speaks of people who will be responsible for such things, but it also speaks of people capable of preventing them. Millions of years ago, it's said that the spirits of five guardians were sealed away, never to be seen again. The force behind these actions is unknown, but it is believed by many that by unlocking these spirits, this forthcoming apocalypse will be stopped. Then of course, there are the vast majority who believe it to be nothing but rumor. But to those people the question is posed; what if it isn't?[/i']

Hmm, so we begin with an intense mythological-style passage? Sounds melodramatic! Just like mama made 'em... which isn't bad, if you want it to sound 'how dumb! That'll NEVAR happen'... but then it does! Or you could throw a curveball at us... which you might not... But what did these five guardians do, exactly? What did they guard? When is the apocalypse scheduled? What will they do to prevent it?

 

Ugh, the stuff that people come up with nowadays never fails to amuse me. Let me just place this book on the shelf, give me a second, alright, here we go. Just doing some reading again. Hey there, the name's Leon. Leon Stevens. I live here in Sky City. People here just call it "Sky" generally, as it's a pretty crappy name to begin with. I'll spare you the details, but summarize and say it's a pretty small city, mostly crowded with buildings where companies strive to build new cards, new technological advances in dueling. Yeah, I'm a Duelist. Been playing for fifteen years, since I was five years old. I like to consider myself good, but then I go out there and lose and realize I'm not on such a level. One thing about me you're going to need to know is I'm not the most outgoing person. I don't have too many friends, but that's because I've either blown them off for a chance in the spotlight or just haven't introduced myself to too many people. Dueling nowadays has become much more competitive, so if you're dueling against your friends and you win, people tend to get pretty pissed off. But hey, what can I say, it's what I do, and I'm going to do the best I can.

Yay! He's talking to us... or himself! It's first-person! Leon Stevens is a pretty normal name, but hey! At least it's not Joe Brown. I like how he just kinda explains the entire environment to us in a short paragraph. Sadly, I don't have much more to say about this one...

 

I'm twenty years old if you couldn't work out the Math. I'm not big into fashion, either, so I'll generally just throw on some jeans, a t-shirt, some worn-out sneakers, and my leather jacket if the weather calls for it. Aside from that, I'm not a very interesting person. I've spent most of my life waiting for something big to happen and as the days go by I get the feeling that I'll never have the chance to experience it. Occasionally I have these weird feelings, these shocks of pain that I can't explain and thus choose to ignore. I don't know about you, but I want to make something exciting out of my life, and when no opportunity presents itself, you're pretty much screwed, right? That brings us to this book I was reading. It's called Legends of Time, and it basically chronicles myth after myth, whatever people have collected over the years and thrown together to make a couple of bucks. What amazes me is just how ridiculous, to what lengths people will go to make a couple of bucks. But then I get the idea that, what would life be like to experience something like that? To have that mindset, to know something big is going to happen and to actually have the chance to do something about it. Instead I just spend day after day trying to duel my way to the top. Entering tournament after tournament with the hopes of winning, but knowing that it's not going to happen.

I like how he describes himself without saying 'I have brown hair and blue shoes', it's a refreshing change from increativity. And then he brings us back to the book! The plot-relevant book! I bet it'll be important--I should just let that go now.

 

I'm told people are destined for greatness, whereas others are destined to do other things. Well my question is, if greatness isn't in my future, what the hell is? Five guardians? Spirits sealed away? That's all a bunch of crap if you ask me. See--excuse me just one second. [The telephone rings faintly.] I just gotta get this. And this, this is where my story begins.

Here's the plot! Yayz. Not to say I was bored with it or anything...

 

"Hello?" I held the phone to my ear. As I waited in silence, i took a brief glance at the clock; it was 10:30 PM. Who calls that late? Still I waited, and still there was no response. Must have been the wrong number. I went to hang up the phone, but then I heard a voice.

Oops, you said 'i', whoops!

 

"Come outside." I feel a slight chill as the voice spoke. It sounded like the voice of an older person, maybe even a voice that was not his own, but I couldn't be sure. Whoever this person was, what kind of call was this? It was probably a prank call. Maybe some kids just in the mood to have some fun and piss people off, so they're dialing random numbers. Idiots.

Oh no! Stalker!

 

"Look, I'm not going to play your--"

 

"Leon, this is not a game." My eyes widened in shock. This guy, person, whoever he was knew my name. How was that possible? I'd never been in any major tournaments, I wasn't really well known at all here in my little apartment. As I stood for a moment, thinking of how to respond, I felt a surge of pain run through my body. Trying not to cringe at the pain, but eventually giving in, I walked over to the window and peered through the blinds. "You do not know me, nor do you need to. What matters is that you come outside; behind your building in the open field. It's about a three minute walk. And bring a coat, it could be a while." I went to respond, but then I heard a click. This was just great, just freakin' great. Some weird-ass guy just called my phone, knew my name, and then asked me to go out to the field behind my house? A duel was the first thing that came to mind, but at 10:30? I can't go; I mean I know that. It sounds like a set-up of some sort. I sat down on my bed, and put my hands to my forehead. After sitting in silence, I looked up at the clock. It was 10:32. What was I going to do, just sit here? Continue to sit here? We all know I'm going out there eventually. No point in wasting any more time. I grabbed my duel disk, threw on my coat, and walked cautiously out the door. Well, here goes nothing.

And this guy's gonna catapult him into a new life? Cool! And I'm not sarcastic. But will this man be good? Evil? Does he kill people through dueling? Naw, that's dumb.

 

It was colder than I thought. One of these days I need to invest in a warmer jacket. I walked down the street in front of my building, then took a left turn and walked up to the field. It was pretty quiet, and the cold was really dry. No wind, the grass wasn't moving. The silence outside due to the lack of cars on the road made this a more creepy situation then it normally would have been. There I stood, in the middle of the grassy field, looking around like an idiot for the mystery caller, and there was no one in sight. The moon shone brightly and that calmed me a little, but hell, if you were in this situation you'd probably feel the same way. Right?

Nice description here, you make it look pretty peaceful.

 

"Good, you decided to show up." Upon hearing the voice, I literally whipped around, doing a full one-eighty spin, and saw a tall figure standing about twenty feet away from me. He was intimidating, that much I could tell, but he was surrounded by a veil of shadows, which made it impossible for me to make out much about him. "This is not the time for questions. From what I understand you're an inquisitive person, and to that I'll tell you not to worry, all questions will be answered in due time. Right now, we must duel." Well that proves my first instinct right. He did want to duel. A duel with a shadowy figure near midnight in a field behind my apartment? That sounds normal. Well I was here, what else was I going to do. Apparently he wasn't going to wait for my answer as I heard his duel disk activate. I saw a light shine through the shadow veil, but I couldn't actually see the disk. Something told me this guy didn't want me to know who - or what - he was. "I will make the first move."

Really, why is it that in fan fiction, 'hello' is replaced by 'duel me'? It's confusing! Not 'I'm here to give you a special life-changing mission', but 'duel meh or else nuttin happens!!'. I'm picky, aren't I?

 

Well he was in a rush. I didn't respond, simply activated my duel disk as I awaited his first action. He said all questions would be answered in due time, which hopefully means once this game is over. I didn't have much of a choice now; it was game time. "As I said, you're confused, and rightfully so. But before I talk, we must duel. Consider this a test of sorts." A test? Oh, that made things better. I felt completely comfortable now. "I will begin by playing the Spell Foolish Burial. A skilled duelist like yourself must know that by playing this, I'm allowed to send any monster from my Deck to the Grave." I knew, and so he did. He shuffled through his deck once or twice before selecting a card and inserting it into the Grveyard slot. Or at least I assumed. I'm basing this on what I could hear, because it was pretty hard to see anything he did. "I shall follow it up with this, the Spell Card Premature Burlal" His Life Point meter beeped until stopping at 3200. Yay, advantage me! In seriousness, this wasn't a good start at all. He obviously knew exactly what he was doing as a large white dragon emerged from the ground, joined by a white palading wielding a large lance who took his seat atop the creature. "With it, I shall revive my Paladin of the Cursed Dragon (1900/1200)!"

As a kid who played a Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower mill deck that was only good when playing with it at Middle School, watching a Zombie duel feels nostalgic. But is Dark STEREOTYPICALLY EVIL?! Maybe, maybe not. We don't even know if this man is really evil or not, to all of you who have jumped to conclusions! And if he IS a bad guy... you can rub it in my face.

 

The creature let out a heinous roar as it stood there, the only thing on the field, making it's presence known. "I shall place two-cards face-down." Two face-down cards appeared vertically behind the not-at-all friendly-looking zombie. "It's now your turn, but I will advise you to take this duel very seriously. Many things depend on it."

Like what things? I'm still confuzzled!

 

Here we go. No pressure.

 

To be continued...

 

Really, honestly, this story doesn't break the mold of YGO fics, except by having good grammar and a good first-person view. You kept your secrets well, at the cost of being as random-feeling as many others. Would I read more of this story? Maybe, but it still needs to develop a bit more and become interesting first. It's alright by me, but not da' best ting' eva' yet. I'll check back on it, so don't despair, though I don't think you would.

[Guest Star]

Thanks for the detailed review, man. It was actually refreshing to have a bit of criticism because it gives me an idea of what to work on. Episode 1 will be a bit better, and I'll let you know when it's up so that you can get an idea as to whether or not you think it's something you'll be interested in.

[Weather Report - Stand]

Thanks for the detailed review' date=' man. It was actually refreshing to have a bit of criticism because it gives me an idea of what to work on. Episode 1 will be a bit better, and I'll let you know when it's up so that you can get an idea as to whether or not you think it's something you'll be interested in.

[/quote']

 

Yay! Even though I'm called overly nice and polite in real life, I'm one of the meanest people on this forum! Well, no critiscism does NOT = mean, but still... I hope that the series evolves well.

[Guest Star]

Bump! I'll be posting Episode 1 tonight, so hopefully people can make their judgement calls.

[Guest Star]

 

Legend…many people call it nothing but fiction, nothing but a couple of stories made up by lonely people who were craving attention. Stories such as Atlantis, the Lockness Monster, whether it be serious or comical, are all believed to be fictitious. But to those who don’t believe, the question is posed; what would happen if the legend proved to be true? Where would your then-proclaimed ignorance get you?

 

The thought ran through my mind again. Oh, hey wait, I didn’t see you there. Sorry, just thinking about how I managed to get myself into this whole situation. Something about it just screams “need for panic”. You know? Anyway, I believe we left off with me taking the ever-so-bold leap and deciding to confront this mystery caller. When I jumped outside and met the guy, he “challenged” – and I use the term lightly – yours truly to a game of Duel Monsters. As for my questions, I’m told they’ll be answered in due time. Boy, I hope this guy’s got patience, because the longer this game goes on, the more I’m going to ask him about it afterwards. I suppose I should mention this. I’m a risk-taker. I feel I live a boring life, so whenever something comes up, regardless of how bad it seems, I’m willing to try it for the sole fact that maybe something good will come out of it. Those of you who live comfortable lives and don’ t want change probably have no idea where I’m coming from, but hey, if you’re in my situation, you’re at a stage where you’re so tired of the way you’re living your life that getting hurt would bring more excitement than your daily activities. Don’t worry though, that’s not my plan at all. My plan is to beat this guy, ask him a couple of questions, and hit the hay. I’m kinda tired, after all. Looking over at his field, it looks like my hidden opponent has decided to throw a curve ball at me from the get go, bringing out the big guns early on with his Paladin of Cursed Dragon, then throwing down a couple of face-down cards to really get me sweating here. Well, it’s time for yours truly to make his first move, so let’s see if I can get things going my way, huh?

 

“I hope you’re not trying to intimidate me, because it’s going to take a lot more than an overgrown dog and a couple of face downs to get the job done.” I let loose a grin, which seemed to have no effect on the guy as there was no response. Alright then. “But you can feel free to try this one for size! I’ll start by throwing down by Gemknight Sapphia (0/2100) in Defense Mode!” I gave him a second to take it all in as my white knight appeared on the field, no taller than myself, decked out in blue sapphire crystals. As she knelt down, a barrier of ice formed between her hands. A defense we might end up needing sooner than later.

 

“I’m not planning on going on the attack just yet, so don’t stand there shaking in your boots. You’ll need to do that a bit later. I’ll throw down one-face down card and end my turn.” Satisfactory starting hand, if I do say so myself. Let’s see what this guy’s got, because his dragon’s not breaking through this ice barricade.

 

“Interesting,” he spoke quietly yet with a fierce tone as I heard him draw a card from his Deck. “Allow me to combat your move with one of my own. I shall activate one of my face-down cards, known as Remote Burial!” His left vertical face-down card flipped itself up, and a light shone out of it. “With this, I’m allowed to select any monster from my Deck and place it into the Graveyard.” Judging by the feint sound of shuffling, I could tell he was taking a look, although I knew he already had this planned out. “I shall send to the Graveyard my Zombie Master (1800/0)!”

 

“And thanks to Remote Burial’s effect, my Paladin of Cursed Dragon gains attack points equal to half of my Zombie Master’s!” I cringed just a tiny bit as the monster’s ATK meter rose from 1900 to 2800. That, that wasn’t good. “Now then, Paladin of Cursed Dragon, attack his Sapphia with Grave Shock!” The creature rose it’s spear, then fixed it into position so it was pointed straight at Sapphia. It was sounded with a glow of light, then released a thin white beam that resembled lightning. The smoke cleared, and I could tell by the sound of his voice that my opponent wasn’t delighted to see Sapphia still on the field, surrounded by a blue glow.

 

“What’s this?” He spoke with anger in his voice. “My Paladin had far more attack points than your miniscule Warrior!”

 

“That it did, sir, that it did. However it’s with upmost honor that I active my Trap Card, Waboku! See with this, I’m allowed to make any Battle Damage from any of your monsters to any of my monsters zero until the end of this turn!” Never go into battle without a backup plan, seriously. Sheesh, hopefully next time my mysterious creepy stalker guy will have a bit more knowledge on how to play this game. “I presume you’re finished?”

 

“With a face-down, I’ll call this a turn. I see you smiling there, Leon, but I wouldn’t begin to feel comfortable about any of this. We’re just getting started, and arrogance will cloud your mind. Once that happens, you’ll be easy pickings.” Arrogance? Really? And a mystery stalker near midnight challenging me to a card game in the backyard of my apartment complex will make me feel wonderful? Okay then.

 

Still trying to figure out just what’s going on here, I drew my next card. I glanced at my field, then his. So he’s got two face-downs, and I’ve got just my knight out there. She’s tough, but with that thing having twenty-eight hundred attack points, I’m going to need more than a solid defense. This should do the trick. “I’ll start by changing by Gemknight Sapphia into attack mode!” I switched the card’s position and my knight stood up hastily. I heard the man chuckle, but paid no attention to it. “Next, I’m going to activate the Spell Card Shield & Sword!” That’s how you play strategically. Sapphia’s ATK points go from 0 to 2100, while his Dragon’s taking a big hit, going from 2800 to 2100. Yay me.

 

“Sorry to disappoint, but our monsters’ attack points are equal. Even if you attack, you’ll destroy both of us and leave yourself with an open field.”

 

“Thanks for the dueling 101 recap, but I’m not quite finished yet!” Let’s see how he likes this one. “Gemknight Sapphia, attack his Paladin of the Cursed Dragon with Blizzard Rain!” My knight leapt into the air, and a ball of ice formed between her hands. As she pushed forward, the ball of ice became many small icicles. Small, but sharp. They headed for the Dragon, who – as expected – released another shock of lightning from it’s lance. “One last thing,” I placed the card from my hand into the Graveyard. “I’m going to power up my monster with my Gem Merchant (1000/1000)!” Just as our two monsters neared a collision, a small fiendish gem with bright yellow eyes appeared on the field, firing a beam of red light at Sapphia, and bringing her attack points up to 3100! She swiped the lightning away as the blades of ice gave our Paladin friend an uncomfortable shower, following it up with a pixellated explosion and a trip to the Graveyard. The meter beeped, stopping as his Life Points reached 2200.

 

“I’m impressed. Not only did you take out my Dragon, you did it using a brilliant strategy.” He paused for a moment. A compliment? It never works like that. “However, by no means does that prove you are ready for anything.” Sorry to interject, but I’m ready for bed. This guy’s got no idea what he’s rambling on about.

 

“I tell you what I am ready for, I’m ready to win. So why don’t you take your turn as I place a card face-down. You’re up, pal.” I found it difficult to take down the one Dragon, so part of me isn’t so happy that he’s going to bring out something else, and likely something that’s even bigger. I’m big on challenges. I think I’ve said that already once or twice, but something about this whole situation feels weird to me. That’s not to say it’s not thrilling, the feel of being in a situation that you have to battle your way out of, but I’m curious as to what he meant by “by no means are you ready for anything?”. Not only that, but thinking back to Legends of Time, I find it ironic that I get called by this guy just hours after purchasing the book. I’m intrigued by how all of this could tie together. But who am I kidding? It’s just a book.

 

“Don’t over think anything, Leon, you need to play at your best.” Again with the prophet comments. Come on, pal. “I know you’re looking at me puzzled, you’re confused, and perhaps you should be, but perhaps you already know why I’ve challenged you here.” He placed a card on his duel disk, and a large, dog-like creature begin to emerge from the shadows. Covered in spikes and surrounded by eerie blue smoke, this thing was the exact definition of “Something you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley.” As it let loose a roar, I felt a shock of pain in my lower chest area. There it was again.

 

Just what the hell is going on here?

 

To be continued…

[cyborg878]

Fairly good mein freund. I'm impressed so far.

[StevenBray]

cool couple of pieces; nothing major I can see to pick at, and the story is intriguing. Only thing really is that this 1 duel does seem to be taking a bit long, but maybe I'm jumping to conclusions too soon in it.

 

Nice stuff dude.

[Guest Star]

Fairly good mein freund. I'm impressed so far.

 

cool couple of pieces; nothing major I can see to pick at' date=' and the story is intriguing. Only thing really is that this 1 duel does seem to be taking a bit long, but maybe I'm jumping to conclusions too soon in it.

 

Nice stuff dude.

[/quote']

 

Thanks, but really? You guys always criticize that my duels are too short. xD

[Leon Lonewolf]

Really good, Star.NotasgoodasLegacy, but pretty close :D

[Guest Star]

Really good' date=' Star.NotasgoodasLegacy, but pretty close :D

[/quote']

 

Iseewhatyoudid there, but hey, there's different basises. (Part of me doubts that being a word.) But, realistically, they're different concepts, and writing them is very different too. Thanks!

[legolover09]

This duel is taking a while without any plot revelations, but I shall keep reading.

[Guest Star]

This duel is taking a while without any plot revelations' date=' but I shall keep reading.

[/quote']

 

You haven't picked up on plot revelations? I will say though, that I'm disappointed by the fact that I couldn't advance the duel a bit more. I had to go to work a bit earlier, so I had to leave and figured that I'd post what I had. Otherwise the duel would have been a lot closer to being over. Thank you, though.