Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Silenced Legacy ❯ The First Match ( Chapter 11 )

Episode #11- The First Match

I was comfortable under all of the blankets until I felt a sharp, cold chill run through me. I flinched and shot out of bed. 'Hey, did it turn winter already?!' I thought while standing against the wall face first, huddled in the quilt.

"Good morning, Miranda." Yami Marik greeted. His image was at the window looking out. He still had that demonic tone in his voice, but for some reason I got used to it.

"Oh, just you." I muttered and looked to the clock, eight thirty-one a.m., "Couldn't sleep, could you?"

"No, a being like me cannot sleep when there are God Cards to capture." Yami Marik announced to the both of us. I just gave him a questionable look.

"Whatever, I trust you with my Deck?" I asked and looked to the Duel Disc.

"Packed with the best Dragons. Including your Cyber-Stein technique." Yami Marik replied and look to that, too. He shook his head and tossed the black cloak to me, "Time isn't exactly on our side. We only have three hours before the choppers leave for the tournament."

"Yeah, yeah, I hear." I rolled my eyes and pulled the cloak on, "Hood or no hood?"

"No hood, now move it." Yami Marik replied and his image stood behind me in the mirror. I left the hood hanging behind me as I equipped myself with my sword and the SR Duel Disc. I exited out the door and treaded down the hallway with the binder hidden from sight.

Ten 'til noon as the Finalists made their way to the two choppers in front of the Kaiba Corp. building. Kaiba waited with is arms folded as he saw the Finalists coming forward. First a group including Mai, Yami Yugi, Joey and MG came forward.

"Say Yugi, shouldn't there be three more?" Joey asked.

"Yes. Marik, Miranda, and Ashley." Yami replied as Ashley came up with her bowling ball. Minutes later I came up with Marik beside me. I trusted Yami Marik with my Deck, and he wouldn't dare screw it up for both of us.

"So all the Finalists are here?" Kaiba asked. Yami Yugi looked around and saw me in my black outfit.

"Miranda." He greeted with Slifer in his hand.

"Yugi, hey. You still have Slifer?" I answered and Yami handed it over. I could feel Yami Marik rising on my 'sixth sense' when I got it. "Good luck at the tournament, Yugi."

"You too, Miranda." Yami returned.

"Cuz, you made it!" Ashley ringed my neck.

"Hey Ash, it's been way too long." I replied and hugged her back.

"Alright, let's move." Kaiba grew impatient and the eight of us move into the two choppers. His interruption seemed like a good idea because no one mentioned the cloak or the Duel Disc. Kaiba, Yugi, Mai, and me climbed into one chopper while Joey, Marik, Ashley and MG rode in the other. Mokuba boarded the second one. The choppers began to start and hover up off the ground.

"OK, here are the terms of the Final tournament." Kaiba began the explanation, "It'll be a bracket with rounds of Duels up to the Final battle. The usual process of elimination to test who among all of us is the strongest Duelist."

"God Cards may be used for those who have them. That will include my brother, Marik, and Miranda and the starting Life Points will be 8000 and by tournament rules, the loser will forfeit their rarest card to the winner." Mokuba explained on the other chopper, wording with his brother by radio, "As for the place we're Dueling, Seto has marked the Final Battle on an aircraft docked at the port. Once everyone is aboard we will be Dueling at approximately four thousand feet above sea level. This will be televised so the eliminated may view what they would have come up against. I wish luck to one and all."

'Miranda, nervous?' Yami Marik asked from my mind.

'I'm just hoping the first match doesn't involve me.' I confessed in thought and breathed deep. Yami Yugi looked at me while I watched out the window.

'Miranda looks worried about the tournament, she's deep in her thoughts.' Yugi thought in mind.

The choppers landed about ten miles from Kaiba Corp. to an under construction stadium. We all gazed out to the open arena. Amazed that Kaiba would pick such a deserted area to Duel out the Finals. We drew out of the choppers as they lifted themselves and headed out. There was silence amongst the group until the pounding rudders of the choppers faded. Kaiba made one of his speeches.

"All right, we now stand as eight Finalists for the Battle City Finals and only three of us holds Egyptian God Cards." Kaiba began, "But that's besides the point. As of now, we are not in the area we're going to Duel."

"Then why bring us all the way out here, Kaiba?" Joey barked.

"This is actually the boarding area to where were going to play our Finals. Look up." Kaiba instructed as four spotlights lit up the stadium and flashed upward. We all gazed up and a Kaiba Corp. blimp hung in the air. "We will be Dueling 4000 ft above sea level in the Kaiba Battle Ship 3. Now get on or back down." The blimp lowered itself and Yami heard someone coming from one of the entrances. He turned around and four figures emerged into the spotlights. One had black hair with strands coming out everywhere over and under his red headband and his piercing green eyes, wearing a red vest under a black shirt, black jeans, and cuff bracelets.

Two of them were Tristan and Tea from school. They backed up a young, red- head girl in a pink vest, a yellow T-shirt and jean shorts.

"Duke!" Yami called out.

"Serenity!" Joey followed. The twelve-year old came up to Joey with a hug around his neck. The other three stopped short of the crowd.

"Good to see you again, Yugi." The darker one came up.

"Likewise, Duke." Yami replied. Duke then looked to the crowd behind him, especially at Ashley.

He swaggered up to her past MG and me. "I'm the creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters, Duke Devlin." He introduced in his usual sly technique, "And you are...?"

"I'm the Bowler, Ashley Guinaldo." Ashley replied with a hand extend, "How ya doin'?"

"Very attractive." Duke winked. MG and I knew where this one was going. Duke looked behind him and saw me glaring at him with MG and her arms folded. "And those two are..."

"I thought you'd know Miranda Guinaldo from school, and that's her older sister, but we call her MG." Ashley replied with Duke staring at her again. MG nodded to Ashley behind his back.

"Well, either way, how would you like to be one of my pep squad, I could use another cheerleader." Duke still kept his suave actions.

"I don't think my cousins will be none too happy about that. They hate guys who crave attention in wrong ways." Ashley looked back to us again, we now had a boiling temper just waiting to ravage Duke.

"It doesn't matter what they think, it's what you think." Duke replied. I was ready to go Hiten-Mesurugi on Duke now.

"Well, let me..." Ashley couldn't finish her sentence. A strong WHAM interrupted her and, in a blink of an eye, Duke was down with a blow to the head. I had my sword, still in its holster, up where Duke's head used to be.

"Does it look like I care?" I growled with anger and belted the sword back around my waist. "You better stop hitting on my cuz or the next thing you'll be tasting is solid steel." Ashley sighed in relief.

"My bowling ball and I thank you." Ashley breathed deeply, "I really didn't want to do that anyway. Skirts and pom-poms are not my thing."

"Enough! Everybody on, the Finals wait for no one!" Kaiba burst and got on the blimp first. We followed with Tea, Tristan, Duke, and Serenity coming up the stairs when they were stopped by Kaiba's guards.

"You need I.D. passes." One of them said.

"Aw come on!" Duke seemed to vouch for Serenity. "This is her first time to see her big brother Joey Duel."

"Please sir?" Serenity begged with a quiver in her voice. Mokuba was on the blimp and he stood outside the doorway.

"Let them in." He said.

"But they don't have passes." One of the guards questioned.

"Well, neither do I."

"Let them." Kaiba was heard from the inside and the guards let the four on. No sooner did the blimp take flight off the ground. Through all of this time, Yami Marik was gone from my senses. It meant that it wasn't long until something would come up, something I would--not--like.

__________

Yami Marik escaped his host to the Shadow Realm. In the dark fog, he retreated to the Rare Hunter base. He arrived in the bronze light, as everything stood untouched, including Slifer that was sealed in the glass case. His dark eyes looked around the room with the sense of a presence lurking in its single corridor.

"I see you're here." Yami Marik stated with the same grim tone of voice. He turned around with his black cape following and a figure grew from the shadows. An evil spirit forged of a Millennium Item with brown, fearful eyes and white, ecstatic hair. "What summons you?"

"A beast of great power. If played right, Kaiba's Obelisk and Marik's Winged Dragon of Ra will soon be yours." The newcomer replied with a cold hiss in his voice.

"Go on..." Yami Marik expected more. If anything capable of destroying the opposing God Cards, the King of Thieves of Ancient Egypt would be the first to know.

"First, you do remember that Miranda has come from a line of Swordsmen dating back further than Pharaoh Yami, correct?" He asked, Yami Marik nodded in response, "Well, the sacrifice Mirandragon had to make was worth stealing. For 5000 long years, I have kept the soul of the famous Miko, Tsunami Sinogi. And for that passage of time, learned all of their secrets of the Zodiac Clan. It appears they worshipped a God Monster of their own known as Yin-Yang the Eternal Dragon." Yami Bakura continued.

"I see, but how can you guarantee that this Eternal Dragon is capable of such power that would be stronger than Ra?" Yami Marik questioned the new information.

"You forget, the Zodiac Clan relies heavily upon the elements that each Zodiac possesses and that Yin-Yang is all of the elements combined." Yami Bakura continued his lecture, "The element varies upon six different Dragons: Candela of Light, Shadow of Darkness, Fault-Line of Earth, Firo of Fire, Hurricane of Wind, and Submaragon of Water. Yet, they can also merge into two other Dragons as well, Hades Core Dragon of the Earth Under and Sirius Wing Dragon of the Sky Above, believed to be the guardians of their Afterlife."

"So...what can these Dragons do to help me win the Egyptian God Cards I desire?" Yami Marik lost his patience.

"The point is, one of Miranda's earlier ancestors have developed the Dragons into cards which I now possess." Yami Bakura reached the bottom line as he fanned out a handful of cards, "Cards that can bring about the chaos. So I'll make this deal: Through this tournament, I'll allow you to pick the cards you want and slip them into Miranda's Deck to win the Finals. But in return, I ask for the Millennium Items I desire mostly."

"You have a deal. I'll be sure Miranda keeps that end of the bargain myself." Yami Marik agreed and looked through Yami Bakura's hand of cards, "And these five should do perfectly for the first round." He pulled five cards and handed the rest back to Yami Bakura, "Assembling Miranda's Deck while she's here is a simple task. She'll just need to be speech on these cards from her Past. Miranda will win, by Ra I swear it."

Yami Bakura sneered before he disappeared again. Yami Marik turned his back and looked towards the glass case. He smirked, "He's pathetic, and he doesn't realize that the three Egyptian God Cards combined with the power of the Millennium Puzzle are far more stronger than the Millennium Items alone."

__________

Kaiba opened us up to a banquet in a dull, steel-plated room. Three tables stood in the middle with food in its circles. Tristan and Joey headed for the food and the rest of us scattered throughout the room.

"Once we reach four thousand feet, we'll begin with the Finals." Kaiba advised. Minutes into it, I sat alone, sifting through my Deck. All of the cards I saw were recognizable until a certain trap card was revealed to me, Yin-Yang of the Zodiac. 'What the heck?' I felt Yami Marik on top of me again. Shoot! I thought he was gone for good.

'Miranda, now it is time you've heard about some of your Past relating to those cards in your hand.' Yami Marik began one of his speeches, 'Earlier in your generations, one of your ancestors created the Zodiac Clan's God Monster in five separate cards, each of those card holding one element of the Astrological Zodiac-Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire. Though Yin-Yang of the Zodiac holds two elements, Dark and Light. I'll explain more when we're Dueling.'

'You mean when I'm Dueling.' I corrected. Yami Marik pressed hard on my 'sixth sense.'

'I can just as easily control you as Marik did. If you wish to keep your freedom, I suggest you stay your rank below me.' Yami Marik released and disappeared from my senses again.

"Alright, we've reached 4000 ft. Now we'll begin the Finals. Roland." Mokuba got all of our attention. He stood on a platform next to one of Kaiba's guards. Behind them looked like the Buckeye Lottery machine except the base took shape of a Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. The middle head was set inside the sphere.

"Duelists, remember your number. This machine will select two numbers at random. All of you have an equal chance, as all of the balls are the same shape, size, and density. All of you have a fair and equal chance to be selected. Now, selector begin." Roland announced; eight yellow balls flew about in the plastic sphere. Clicks and clunks could be heard as the balls bounced everywhere.

--The numbers: Kaiba, 1; Yugi, 2; Ashley, 3; Mai, 4; Marik, 5; Joey, 6; me, 7; MG, 8.--

"The selector will now choose the first number." He answered as one ball dropped into the dragon's mouth and exited another head into a tray. "The first Duelist is Duelist Number 6. Repeat, Duelist Number 6, Joey Wheeler will Duel first."

"Yeah!" Joey gave himself the little victory.

"Now let's see his opponent. Selector begin." The guard stayed in his referee tone as the remaining seven spheres rolled in the plastic atmosphere. It didn't take long for another ball to land a hit on the dragon's mouth. "And Joey's opponent is Duelist Number 7, Miranda Guinaldo. Miranda Guinaldo will face Joey Wheeler in the first round."

I was afraid of this; Yami Marik won't subside on me for long now that I was involved in the first Duel. I will have to end this Duel and quick, if I prolong the defeat, one or both of us will get hurt-I don't know what true powers Yami Marik is capable of!

'Perfect, Joey Wheeler will be first to fall victim to Slifer, this win will be easy.' Yami Marik took the result in another way.

"The Duel will begin immediately." Roland proclaimed.

To be continued...