Reaper of Despair
03-21-2005, 05:15 PM
Episode 41: Place of the Finals
The sun started to peek out from beyond the darkened horizon, giving the sky over Domino an orange tint. A few birds flew overhead and called out with their sweet songs, adding to the tranquility that could only be called the calm before the coming storm.
The alarm went off with a loud, shrill ring that almost made a certain blonde fall out of his bed. Jason reached over from under the covers and pressed the button to make the ringing stop. He sat up and yawned, then, spotted his DD3 at the foot of his bed, where he placed it so he wouldn’t forget about the finals.
“Today’s the day. This is where I discover whether or not I have what it takes to run with the big dogs, and save the world in the process. It’s going to be a busy day.”
He jumped out of bed and walked into the bathroom to wash and dress for the day ahead.
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And in another part of Domino, Yugi made the finishing touches to his deck and slotted it into his DD3, then, slipped the device over his arm. Atem appeared next to him in his usual transparent form and crossed his arms as he looked down at the DD3 on Yugi’s arm. “Yugi, a lot is riding on our victory at the finals of the Stairway to Destiny. We cannot fail,” the pharaoh said.
Yugi sighed and looked up at his aibou. “I know, pharaoh. And I know that we need all the help we can get for this. So I can only hope that Joey and Jason made it to the finals,”
The boy walked over to the chair in the corner of his room and pulled his blue jacket off of the back of it. Then, he and Atem switched places as the boy swung the jacket over his shoulders. The two departed the room, just as the golden rays of sunlight entered through the window.
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And yet another duelist made plans for the finals, in an abandoned warehouse on the edge of town. He looked down at his DD2 and laughed with a seething malice. “Soon, the finals will start, and I will have my revenge on the pharaoh, just as I had planned,” Kilam said as he clenched his fists.
“Now, now, don’t be foolish. You didn’t plan any of this. You were just a part of the greater design,” came the strange voice from the shadows.
Kilam looked around the warehouse until he stared at the person who spoke. He rolled his eyes and sighed. “Oh, it’s you. I’m well aware of your plans for the finals, but my revenge is still the only reason why I’m here.”
The figure chuckled silently and wagged its finger through the darkness. “Again, don’t be foolish. You’re only here because I willed it so. If it weren’t for me, you’d still be wandering around through the darkness.”
Kilam growled at being reminded of his obligation to the mysterious figure, but he gave up and turned his back to his visitor. “Fine, just as long as you remember to hold up your end of the bargain, I’ll perform your little task.”
The figure sighed and uneasily shifted its weight to one side. “You forget, it is not I who is in debt to you, but it is you who owes me the service. So don’t screw up.”
With that, the strange figure left Kilam just as he was not but a minute ago: alone and in the darkness of the abandoned building, plotting against the pharaoh and his new friend.
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And in yet another part of town, in a large apartment building, Niesha looked over her cards and prepared a few new strategies. But she, too, received a visit from a stranger who was deeply interested in the events of the finals. The red haired girl could feel a presence in her apartment as she looked at her deck. She turned and glanced around, but could see nothing out of the ordinary. She slid into a defensive stance as she continued to look around.
“Alright. Whoever you are, you need to show yourself, right now,” Niesha demanded. An eerie silence filled the room as she could definitely sense someone’s presence. “I know that you’re here. I can feel you, as ridiculous as that may sound. So I’ll say it one more time before things get messy. Show yourself.” Her voice remained firm and demanding despite the tingling feeling that surged up and down her spine.
More silence was the only thing that met her ears. Suddenly, almost out of sheer instinct, Niesha whirled around and snapped out with her left hand, which was now tightly balled into a fist, with a quick left hook. The fist was caught before it could make contact, and Niesha’s eyes went wide as she stared into the deep brown eyes of her “guest”.
“Oh, a thousand pardons, master. If I had known that you were coming, I wouldn’t have been so jumpy,” she said as the stranger released her hand. She immediately bowed down on one knee.
“Just as long as your are prepared, apprentice. As you know, the finals are coming, so we must prepare for the arrival of the greatest dark force the world has ever seen,” the stranger said.
Niesha stood up from her bowed position and placed one hand on her hip. “Why do we have to prepare? Didn’t you say that the pharaoh was destined to save mankind from the impending darkness?” She knew that the pharaoh was going to need help, but she didn’t think that it would have to be her help.
The stranger simply continued to stand stiffly, like a statue, as Niesha waited for a response. “Apprentice, have I not taught you that destiny can be altered by those who master it? Should the pharaoh and the boy fail, we must be the last line of defense against the creature of incredible evil.”
The stranger reached up and touched the golden object hanging from around his neck on a simple brown cord, then, closed his eyes, as if in deep thought. He, then, reached into his long, almost floor-length robe and pulled out another object, then, extended it toward Niesha.
The red head dropped down on one knee again and bowed her head. “Master, are you sure that I can handle this now? Am I ready to hold it?” Her voice trembled slightly as she asked.
“You must be, for the fate of mankind may very well depend on it,” the stranger said as he continued to hold the object, his arm very stiff and never wavering.
Niesha looked up and took the object carefully in both hands, then, stared into it. When she looked back up, the stranger was gone, leaving no trace that he was ever there, save for the golden object in Niesha’s hands. “Yes, master.”
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Jason stood in front of a behemoth assortment of cards. They were all neatly arranged in ten rows of ten on the table near his window. He turned toward the stereo and pressed the ‘ON’ button, then, tuned the CD player to his favorite song and turned the volume up to maximum. “I’ll need to revamp my deck for the finals so that it’s at it’s best. Plus I’ll get a chance to have another look at some of the cards I tossed aside because I couldn’t use them before,” Jason said to himself.
He walked over to the table and the song began with eerie vocalizing, which was soon joined by a gentle strumming of a guitar, then, blasting rock from a bass guitar. The chorus was sung gently at first, then, screamed with such vigor, that the walls and windows vibrated.
Jason assembled most of his monsters and traps easily. Then, he turned to the largest and most complicated group for his type of deck: the spells. He had a massive assortment of spells, but only fifteen could go in his deck if he wanted to keep it at forty cards. After careful consideration, or at least what he thought was careful, Jason completed his collection of spells and he shuffled his new deck. The blonde slipped on his white shirt and a pair of jeans, then, placed his DD3 on his right wrist and slid the deck into the holder as the final chorus of the song sounded.
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The bus came to a stop at the large terminal where several people were standing outside. Yugi stepped off of the bus, being careful not to get his DD3 stuck in the door, and looked up at the large, mostly glass building. “So, I guess this is the place,” he muttered to himself.
[Yes, according to the piece of information that we got from the Duel Disk’s decoded message, we are supposed to come to this boating terminal and wait for further instruction,] Atem said from his mental link. He and Yugi decided that it would be best to use the mental link, since Yugi talking to himself would look a little weird to the other competitors who didn’t know him.
The boy walked into the large building where a man in a black uniform suit and tie, white dress shirt, and dark sunglasses, that Yugi recognized as one of Kaiba’s employees, automatically greeted him, if that’s what you could call it.
“Mr. Kaiba has informed me to tell all duelists to wait by Pier number nine for further instructions regarding the finals, Mr. Mutou,” the man said without bothering to look down at the shorter duelist.
Yugi grumbled something about people not saying ‘hello’ anymore and headed toward the specified pier. When he got there, he found eight others waiting already. Some of them were already engaged in conversation, and a few just stood alone watching the water. At first, Yugi only recognized one of the duelists, Bandit Keith, who he hadn’t seen since before the start of Battle City. ‘Hmm, I didn’t know he was in the tournament. I wonder who he beat to get here,’ Yugi thought.
“Hey, Yugi! Glad to see that you could make it!” came the voice that belonged to none other than Jason.
The boy looked over and saw Jason, along with his friend Akira, waving at him. He walked over to the two and said hello. “Jason, I can’t believe you made it. To be honest, I didn’t think you had enough time to qualify.”
Jason simply chuckled, then, shrugged politely. “I guess my luck is better than I thought. Yugi, you remember my friend Akira, right?” Jason pointed toward the black haired teen, and he offered Yugi a small bow.
“Gozai masu, Akira-san,” Yugi said politely as he returned the bow.
Jason’s friend smiled and shook his head gently. “There’s no need for formalities, Yugi. I’m just here to duel and win, just like everyone else here,” Akira replied.
Yugi nodded and looked around at the others. He didn’t see Joey anywhere in the small group of duelists. “Hey, have either of you guys seen Joey around?”
Jason looked up at the glass dome ceiling and rubbed his chin. “I don’t think Joey made it to the finals. I didn’t see his name on the final list.” Jason tried to hide at least some of his disappointment. Ever since the day he first laid eyes on him, he’s wanted to duel Joey. The reason why remained a mystery to him, but he figured that dueling would provide all the answers he needed.
Yugi sighed and looked out at the water. From the looks of things, Jason was going to be his only real help, since there’s no way that Akira would believe that there was an evil spirit lurking in the tournament. And speaking of which…
‘Pharaoh, do you sense any dark presences among these duelists? I need to know if Malik is really here right now.’
Atem delved into the power of the Puzzle for a quick second to see whether anything was out of the ordinary. [No, Yugi. Malik must be concealing his presence from the power of the Millennium Items, so we won’t know until he strikes.]
Yugi clenched his fists, but lost his anger when a ship’s horn blasted clear through the individual conversations of the other finalists. They all looked out toward the water and spotted the massive yacht as it sailed into the harbor. The large Blue Eyes that adorned the bow was an obvious sign that it was Kaiba’s yacht.
The huge cream-colored ship came to a stop, and up on the deck stood Kaiba, in all his usual self-inflamed glory. “Welcome, duelists, to the finals of the Stairway to Destiny tournament! I’ll keep this short, so listen up. The duels will be played on my personal ship, the Kaiba Craft 2 on the high seas of Domino and beyond.”
Most of the duelists on the pier remained stoic, while others cheered and made impressed sounds. “So, I see that Kaiba decided to go all out for this thing and invite us aboard his personal yacht. This tournament is going to be insane,” Akira said as he stared up at the boat.
The CEO made a motion with his hand and a door at the side of the ship in front of the duelists opened. A mechanical ramp slowly descended from the doorway and the duelists made their way up the ramp and into the yacht, where they were all assigned a number by Isono.
After being given a number, everyone was told to make his or her way back to the drawing room, where the tournament would begin. The duelists walked down the carpeted hallway, decorated with paintings and images of Duel Monsters until they reached a large set of doors. “Well, I can only guess that this is it, so let’s go in and see what Kaiba’s got planned for us in the finals,” Jason said.
Yugi and Akira nodded and the nine duelists walked into the room. Kaiba stood by the back wall, waiting on them. Once everyone was in the room, the doors closed and Kaiba stepped forward. “I’ve already given you all the formalities of this little event, so let’s get down to business.” The CEO took a quick glare at Yugi before walking toward the back of the room and pressing a button on the back wall.
A whirring of gears sounded, and out of the floor came a large machine. It was essentially a large glass dome filled with balls on top of a metal shaft that had a long lever at the side. Isono walked up from the back of the room and stood next to the machine.
“The randomizer will now pick two duelists to begin the finals. The next two numbers will not be picked until after the duel, which means you won’t know who your opponent is until its time to duel,” Isono declared.
The man in the suit turned toward the machine and pulled on the lever. The yellow balls spun rapidly in the dome, and all duelists were focused on the machine, except Kaiba, who stood posted on the wall near the side, watching Yugi carefully. Jason periodically looked around at the competition, and eventually spotted someone that he had a little unfinished business with.
‘So, I see that Bandit Keith made it to the finals as well. Good. It should especially fun to pound him into oblivion for making a fool of me,’ Jason thought as he eyed the American duelist.
Keith stood a few people away with his arms crossed in front of his red shirt and black leather vest with studs that adorned the shoulders. A confident smirk was spread across his face as he twisted the cross pendant that hung from his neck between two of his fingers.
The first ball dropped through the hole in the bottom of the glass dome and rolled down the small slide until it reached the platform at the middle. Isono bent over, picked the yellow sphere up, and read it for a short second. “And the first duelist of the Stairway to Destiny finals is…duelist number six, Akira Nobuki!” the official declared.
Akira became slightly startled by the announcement, but he remained steady, waiting for the next ball to drop. When it did, and Isono called out the name, every muscle in Akira’s body twitched and his confidence dropped just a bit.
“And his opponent will be…duelist number three, Yugi Mutou!”
Yugi was also startled by the thought that he would have to face, and eliminate, Jason’s friend. He looked to the blonde duelist, who simply chuckled at Akira’s situation. “Yugi, just go out there and do what you have to do. No resentment or regrets. It’s cool,” Jason said, responding to Yugi’s look of confusion.
Akira, on the other hand, was the very picture of nervousness. But he pulled himself together. ‘Ok, I can’t be afraid just because of his reputation. I’ve assembled this deck with all the strength I’ve got, so I’m sure that I’ll do just fine.’
Yugi, who walked up and extended his hand, shook him out of his thoughts. “Good luck to you, Akira. I’m looking forward to a tough match.”
The black haired teen smiled and clasped Yugi’s hand with his. He gave a firm shake and looked into Yugi’s amethyst eyes. “It’s an honor to face the legendary Game King. And don’t worry; I’ll give you a great match.”
“Participating duelists, please make your ways to the elevators so that we may begin the finals of the tournament,” Isono declared, pointing at the elevators at the opposite sides of the room. “The rest of you must take the spectator’s elevator near the back of the room.”
Kaiba stood straight up from his position leaning on the wall, and spoke up. “Alright, duelists. It’s time to get this started. So let the Stairway to Destiny finals begin!”
And with that, the ship took off from the port, unknowingly headed toward a world of chaos that would make Battle City look like a day at the park.
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The sun started to peek out from beyond the darkened horizon, giving the sky over Domino an orange tint. A few birds flew overhead and called out with their sweet songs, adding to the tranquility that could only be called the calm before the coming storm.
The alarm went off with a loud, shrill ring that almost made a certain blonde fall out of his bed. Jason reached over from under the covers and pressed the button to make the ringing stop. He sat up and yawned, then, spotted his DD3 at the foot of his bed, where he placed it so he wouldn’t forget about the finals.
“Today’s the day. This is where I discover whether or not I have what it takes to run with the big dogs, and save the world in the process. It’s going to be a busy day.”
He jumped out of bed and walked into the bathroom to wash and dress for the day ahead.
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And in another part of Domino, Yugi made the finishing touches to his deck and slotted it into his DD3, then, slipped the device over his arm. Atem appeared next to him in his usual transparent form and crossed his arms as he looked down at the DD3 on Yugi’s arm. “Yugi, a lot is riding on our victory at the finals of the Stairway to Destiny. We cannot fail,” the pharaoh said.
Yugi sighed and looked up at his aibou. “I know, pharaoh. And I know that we need all the help we can get for this. So I can only hope that Joey and Jason made it to the finals,”
The boy walked over to the chair in the corner of his room and pulled his blue jacket off of the back of it. Then, he and Atem switched places as the boy swung the jacket over his shoulders. The two departed the room, just as the golden rays of sunlight entered through the window.
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And yet another duelist made plans for the finals, in an abandoned warehouse on the edge of town. He looked down at his DD2 and laughed with a seething malice. “Soon, the finals will start, and I will have my revenge on the pharaoh, just as I had planned,” Kilam said as he clenched his fists.
“Now, now, don’t be foolish. You didn’t plan any of this. You were just a part of the greater design,” came the strange voice from the shadows.
Kilam looked around the warehouse until he stared at the person who spoke. He rolled his eyes and sighed. “Oh, it’s you. I’m well aware of your plans for the finals, but my revenge is still the only reason why I’m here.”
The figure chuckled silently and wagged its finger through the darkness. “Again, don’t be foolish. You’re only here because I willed it so. If it weren’t for me, you’d still be wandering around through the darkness.”
Kilam growled at being reminded of his obligation to the mysterious figure, but he gave up and turned his back to his visitor. “Fine, just as long as you remember to hold up your end of the bargain, I’ll perform your little task.”
The figure sighed and uneasily shifted its weight to one side. “You forget, it is not I who is in debt to you, but it is you who owes me the service. So don’t screw up.”
With that, the strange figure left Kilam just as he was not but a minute ago: alone and in the darkness of the abandoned building, plotting against the pharaoh and his new friend.
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And in yet another part of town, in a large apartment building, Niesha looked over her cards and prepared a few new strategies. But she, too, received a visit from a stranger who was deeply interested in the events of the finals. The red haired girl could feel a presence in her apartment as she looked at her deck. She turned and glanced around, but could see nothing out of the ordinary. She slid into a defensive stance as she continued to look around.
“Alright. Whoever you are, you need to show yourself, right now,” Niesha demanded. An eerie silence filled the room as she could definitely sense someone’s presence. “I know that you’re here. I can feel you, as ridiculous as that may sound. So I’ll say it one more time before things get messy. Show yourself.” Her voice remained firm and demanding despite the tingling feeling that surged up and down her spine.
More silence was the only thing that met her ears. Suddenly, almost out of sheer instinct, Niesha whirled around and snapped out with her left hand, which was now tightly balled into a fist, with a quick left hook. The fist was caught before it could make contact, and Niesha’s eyes went wide as she stared into the deep brown eyes of her “guest”.
“Oh, a thousand pardons, master. If I had known that you were coming, I wouldn’t have been so jumpy,” she said as the stranger released her hand. She immediately bowed down on one knee.
“Just as long as your are prepared, apprentice. As you know, the finals are coming, so we must prepare for the arrival of the greatest dark force the world has ever seen,” the stranger said.
Niesha stood up from her bowed position and placed one hand on her hip. “Why do we have to prepare? Didn’t you say that the pharaoh was destined to save mankind from the impending darkness?” She knew that the pharaoh was going to need help, but she didn’t think that it would have to be her help.
The stranger simply continued to stand stiffly, like a statue, as Niesha waited for a response. “Apprentice, have I not taught you that destiny can be altered by those who master it? Should the pharaoh and the boy fail, we must be the last line of defense against the creature of incredible evil.”
The stranger reached up and touched the golden object hanging from around his neck on a simple brown cord, then, closed his eyes, as if in deep thought. He, then, reached into his long, almost floor-length robe and pulled out another object, then, extended it toward Niesha.
The red head dropped down on one knee again and bowed her head. “Master, are you sure that I can handle this now? Am I ready to hold it?” Her voice trembled slightly as she asked.
“You must be, for the fate of mankind may very well depend on it,” the stranger said as he continued to hold the object, his arm very stiff and never wavering.
Niesha looked up and took the object carefully in both hands, then, stared into it. When she looked back up, the stranger was gone, leaving no trace that he was ever there, save for the golden object in Niesha’s hands. “Yes, master.”
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Jason stood in front of a behemoth assortment of cards. They were all neatly arranged in ten rows of ten on the table near his window. He turned toward the stereo and pressed the ‘ON’ button, then, tuned the CD player to his favorite song and turned the volume up to maximum. “I’ll need to revamp my deck for the finals so that it’s at it’s best. Plus I’ll get a chance to have another look at some of the cards I tossed aside because I couldn’t use them before,” Jason said to himself.
He walked over to the table and the song began with eerie vocalizing, which was soon joined by a gentle strumming of a guitar, then, blasting rock from a bass guitar. The chorus was sung gently at first, then, screamed with such vigor, that the walls and windows vibrated.
Jason assembled most of his monsters and traps easily. Then, he turned to the largest and most complicated group for his type of deck: the spells. He had a massive assortment of spells, but only fifteen could go in his deck if he wanted to keep it at forty cards. After careful consideration, or at least what he thought was careful, Jason completed his collection of spells and he shuffled his new deck. The blonde slipped on his white shirt and a pair of jeans, then, placed his DD3 on his right wrist and slid the deck into the holder as the final chorus of the song sounded.
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The bus came to a stop at the large terminal where several people were standing outside. Yugi stepped off of the bus, being careful not to get his DD3 stuck in the door, and looked up at the large, mostly glass building. “So, I guess this is the place,” he muttered to himself.
[Yes, according to the piece of information that we got from the Duel Disk’s decoded message, we are supposed to come to this boating terminal and wait for further instruction,] Atem said from his mental link. He and Yugi decided that it would be best to use the mental link, since Yugi talking to himself would look a little weird to the other competitors who didn’t know him.
The boy walked into the large building where a man in a black uniform suit and tie, white dress shirt, and dark sunglasses, that Yugi recognized as one of Kaiba’s employees, automatically greeted him, if that’s what you could call it.
“Mr. Kaiba has informed me to tell all duelists to wait by Pier number nine for further instructions regarding the finals, Mr. Mutou,” the man said without bothering to look down at the shorter duelist.
Yugi grumbled something about people not saying ‘hello’ anymore and headed toward the specified pier. When he got there, he found eight others waiting already. Some of them were already engaged in conversation, and a few just stood alone watching the water. At first, Yugi only recognized one of the duelists, Bandit Keith, who he hadn’t seen since before the start of Battle City. ‘Hmm, I didn’t know he was in the tournament. I wonder who he beat to get here,’ Yugi thought.
“Hey, Yugi! Glad to see that you could make it!” came the voice that belonged to none other than Jason.
The boy looked over and saw Jason, along with his friend Akira, waving at him. He walked over to the two and said hello. “Jason, I can’t believe you made it. To be honest, I didn’t think you had enough time to qualify.”
Jason simply chuckled, then, shrugged politely. “I guess my luck is better than I thought. Yugi, you remember my friend Akira, right?” Jason pointed toward the black haired teen, and he offered Yugi a small bow.
“Gozai masu, Akira-san,” Yugi said politely as he returned the bow.
Jason’s friend smiled and shook his head gently. “There’s no need for formalities, Yugi. I’m just here to duel and win, just like everyone else here,” Akira replied.
Yugi nodded and looked around at the others. He didn’t see Joey anywhere in the small group of duelists. “Hey, have either of you guys seen Joey around?”
Jason looked up at the glass dome ceiling and rubbed his chin. “I don’t think Joey made it to the finals. I didn’t see his name on the final list.” Jason tried to hide at least some of his disappointment. Ever since the day he first laid eyes on him, he’s wanted to duel Joey. The reason why remained a mystery to him, but he figured that dueling would provide all the answers he needed.
Yugi sighed and looked out at the water. From the looks of things, Jason was going to be his only real help, since there’s no way that Akira would believe that there was an evil spirit lurking in the tournament. And speaking of which…
‘Pharaoh, do you sense any dark presences among these duelists? I need to know if Malik is really here right now.’
Atem delved into the power of the Puzzle for a quick second to see whether anything was out of the ordinary. [No, Yugi. Malik must be concealing his presence from the power of the Millennium Items, so we won’t know until he strikes.]
Yugi clenched his fists, but lost his anger when a ship’s horn blasted clear through the individual conversations of the other finalists. They all looked out toward the water and spotted the massive yacht as it sailed into the harbor. The large Blue Eyes that adorned the bow was an obvious sign that it was Kaiba’s yacht.
The huge cream-colored ship came to a stop, and up on the deck stood Kaiba, in all his usual self-inflamed glory. “Welcome, duelists, to the finals of the Stairway to Destiny tournament! I’ll keep this short, so listen up. The duels will be played on my personal ship, the Kaiba Craft 2 on the high seas of Domino and beyond.”
Most of the duelists on the pier remained stoic, while others cheered and made impressed sounds. “So, I see that Kaiba decided to go all out for this thing and invite us aboard his personal yacht. This tournament is going to be insane,” Akira said as he stared up at the boat.
The CEO made a motion with his hand and a door at the side of the ship in front of the duelists opened. A mechanical ramp slowly descended from the doorway and the duelists made their way up the ramp and into the yacht, where they were all assigned a number by Isono.
After being given a number, everyone was told to make his or her way back to the drawing room, where the tournament would begin. The duelists walked down the carpeted hallway, decorated with paintings and images of Duel Monsters until they reached a large set of doors. “Well, I can only guess that this is it, so let’s go in and see what Kaiba’s got planned for us in the finals,” Jason said.
Yugi and Akira nodded and the nine duelists walked into the room. Kaiba stood by the back wall, waiting on them. Once everyone was in the room, the doors closed and Kaiba stepped forward. “I’ve already given you all the formalities of this little event, so let’s get down to business.” The CEO took a quick glare at Yugi before walking toward the back of the room and pressing a button on the back wall.
A whirring of gears sounded, and out of the floor came a large machine. It was essentially a large glass dome filled with balls on top of a metal shaft that had a long lever at the side. Isono walked up from the back of the room and stood next to the machine.
“The randomizer will now pick two duelists to begin the finals. The next two numbers will not be picked until after the duel, which means you won’t know who your opponent is until its time to duel,” Isono declared.
The man in the suit turned toward the machine and pulled on the lever. The yellow balls spun rapidly in the dome, and all duelists were focused on the machine, except Kaiba, who stood posted on the wall near the side, watching Yugi carefully. Jason periodically looked around at the competition, and eventually spotted someone that he had a little unfinished business with.
‘So, I see that Bandit Keith made it to the finals as well. Good. It should especially fun to pound him into oblivion for making a fool of me,’ Jason thought as he eyed the American duelist.
Keith stood a few people away with his arms crossed in front of his red shirt and black leather vest with studs that adorned the shoulders. A confident smirk was spread across his face as he twisted the cross pendant that hung from his neck between two of his fingers.
The first ball dropped through the hole in the bottom of the glass dome and rolled down the small slide until it reached the platform at the middle. Isono bent over, picked the yellow sphere up, and read it for a short second. “And the first duelist of the Stairway to Destiny finals is…duelist number six, Akira Nobuki!” the official declared.
Akira became slightly startled by the announcement, but he remained steady, waiting for the next ball to drop. When it did, and Isono called out the name, every muscle in Akira’s body twitched and his confidence dropped just a bit.
“And his opponent will be…duelist number three, Yugi Mutou!”
Yugi was also startled by the thought that he would have to face, and eliminate, Jason’s friend. He looked to the blonde duelist, who simply chuckled at Akira’s situation. “Yugi, just go out there and do what you have to do. No resentment or regrets. It’s cool,” Jason said, responding to Yugi’s look of confusion.
Akira, on the other hand, was the very picture of nervousness. But he pulled himself together. ‘Ok, I can’t be afraid just because of his reputation. I’ve assembled this deck with all the strength I’ve got, so I’m sure that I’ll do just fine.’
Yugi, who walked up and extended his hand, shook him out of his thoughts. “Good luck to you, Akira. I’m looking forward to a tough match.”
The black haired teen smiled and clasped Yugi’s hand with his. He gave a firm shake and looked into Yugi’s amethyst eyes. “It’s an honor to face the legendary Game King. And don’t worry; I’ll give you a great match.”
“Participating duelists, please make your ways to the elevators so that we may begin the finals of the tournament,” Isono declared, pointing at the elevators at the opposite sides of the room. “The rest of you must take the spectator’s elevator near the back of the room.”
Kaiba stood straight up from his position leaning on the wall, and spoke up. “Alright, duelists. It’s time to get this started. So let the Stairway to Destiny finals begin!”
And with that, the ship took off from the port, unknowingly headed toward a world of chaos that would make Battle City look like a day at the park.
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