Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / Hamtaro Fan Fiction ❯ Return of the Duel Hams ❯ last wording ( Chapter 48 )

With the end of the second round, the final four duelists have been chosen. Each of these duelists are skilled in their own unique ways and have their own unique dueling styles, and each one was quite something: A world champion who could care less about the other three and a weilder of the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon; a duelist that weilds dragon cards and earned a worthy title of "Dragonlord"; then there are two newcomers, one who went from setting monsters of various types to rampaging with dinosaurs; and the other who was once a card collector turned predator with the sole purpose of destroying his opponent's deck. The quartet that made up the final four was quite the strange one, weren't they?

 

Cappy was in his room fiddling with his cards whena knock came to his door. "Come on in." he said.

Boss had walked in on Cappy. "Hey, sport." his gretting was normal, more like disdainful.

"You okay?" Cappy asked his hero.

"Fine." Boss sat next to Cappy. "I feel bad about not being able to avenge you against Oxnard, I really let you down today."

"Nonesense, you made me proud the way you dueled against that Deckbreaker." Cappy gave Boss a smile.

"Still..."

"Don't be so down about it." Cappy turned to his cards. "In a sense, he is right, I need to really improve my deck big time, it just has way too many flaws to it."

"Even so, you still managed to hold your own... give or take you ended up crying after you lost."

"True, I did cry because I was horribly outmatched, but it's fine. Oxnard has a lot to prove in this tournament, he's probably acting this way for Pepper. I'm just glad I managed to be able to duel on your level for once."

 

Boss was confused. "On my level, heke?"

"You always seem to do well in tournaments, you even get far. Me, this is the first time I battled in tournament finals. Sure I got canned with a malicious intent, but at least I got to duel with the big guns for a change instead of not being able to and have to simply watch the big guns have all of the fun."

That's right, this is the first tournament that Cappy made it to the finals. Boss thought.

"Seeing you, Stan, Dexter and even Jam and Bijou duel like you do in one thing, but to actually be able to duel with you guys.... that's like having that honey flavored sunflower seed. A beginner like me, and Oxnard for a change, did pretty well getting this far. And even though I'm still between rookie and intermediate duelist level, I enjoyed being able to duel on your level for once.."

"That's good to hear, Cappy. Might I add something, that Rampaging Rhinos you have is quite the card. You always did seem to have quite the unorthadox monsters in that deck of yours."

"Thanks. As future sets come out, I will find a way to have more of a variety of monsters in my deck. But a novice like me managed to proove that I could hold my own given the time being."

"Why do you consider yourself that?"

"Well, I'm not new to dueling, but I'm no expert at it either to be somewhat formidable. And there are two rookie duelists in our team, Penelope and myself. She held her own against you quite well in this tournament, I'm amazed at how she fared against you."

"So am I, but then again..."

"But then again what?"

"Jam was the one who gave Penelope her deck, so it's only fitting that she would do well."

"True, Penelope is Jam's protégé after all..."

"So, how would you like to be my portégé?"

"I would like that, but I'm not ready just yet. Keep the spot open for me, maybe?"

"Sure. When you finally decide, tell me."

"Thank-q Boss, that means a lot."

"Anytime, Beastmaster."

Boss and Cappy shake paws, knowing that their mutual respect still remains true.

 

Hiei went to Jam's room and simply barged in, only to be shocked that Kerin was sitting on his bed. He was at a loss for words. "What trickery is this?" he questioned.

"No tricks, Hiei. That's really her sitting on my bed." Hiei turned around to see Jam. "She is in suspended animation at this time, but she's otherwise unharmed."

"What is this about?"

"It's about you, and your lifestyle. All this time, you've been acting like a soldier, treating duels like war... a terrible thing to influence on young children. Yet you've put this influence not only on Petal, but Kerin as well. As a result, they miss out on a lot of values that come from fun and enjoying life."

"So how did you judge her?"

"I chose to let her redeem herself, I never intended to take her life at all, Hiei. But I wanted you to realize that you've been going at this role model stick all wrong."

"Don't tell me how to raise my own."

"Someone should tell you, because you're taking a lot away from from those girls. You may have had a terrible upbringing, but that doesn't mean that Kerin should go through what you went through, Hiei. I may not be able to save Petal, but I can give Kerin back to you. So long as you promise that you won't have her lead a soldier's life, and that she should enjoy herself when dueling. Duels aren't about wars anymore, they should still be done with strategy, but at least be able to have a bot more enjoyment from them that has nothing to do with wars, or conquest, or nonesense like that.

 

"I too am a firm believer of 'tuff luv' Hiei, that's how I managed to get Penelope into dueling, but I also gave Penelope emphasis on how fun duels can be in addition to improving upon them. Kerin's young, she has her whole three year lifespan to enjoy dueling and other things. Don't ruin it by giving her a soldier's life, she'll never learn to enjoy things if you do."

"So Penelope is your apprentice, just like Stan?"

Jam shook his head. "Let me clear it up for you. Stan had his own dragon deck when the Duel Hams started out. When I came into play, I had my own dragon deck and dueled with him. Sure, I won that very first duel that we had, but we ended up building our decks together as time passed. Side by side we made our cards work for our dragon decks, some of his strategies I took to heart and vice versa. That's how we got the whole Dragon Brothers deal, because I always considered Stan to be that equal to me. As for taking duelists under my wing... that's where Penelope comes in. All of the major hams were dueling, and Penelope, young as she was, didn't have a deck to play with. At that time, cards were scarce because someone cut of the supply, but I managed to give Penelope her starter deck. you know the one... it had the Elemental Heroes in it along with a few other cards.

 

"Penelope, though she had three dragons to play with, eventually stayed true to the Heroes and their cards. As time passed and More Heroes came along, she built on her deck. Then the Destiny Heroes came along and she began to work with them too."

"Does she play with the Neo-Spacians?"

"I don't know, all she's seemed to use was E-Hero Neos. Outside of the Hero cards themselves, she's only used Wroughtweiler and the three dragons that came with the deck: Luster, Luster and Spear, but I removed the common versions of those cards from her deck and replaced them with the original rare versions. So her Luster and Spear is the super rares from their respective series and the other Lust is the ultrarare from its respective series. The bottom line is this, teaching the in-training duelists like Penelope and Cappy how to enjoy the game, in addition to those basic fundamentals, makes them not only better duelists, but also better hamsters. There's so much that you can learn from me, even if you'll never admit it."

After a few moments, Kerin reanimated and noticed Hiei. "D.... Papa...."

"Come Kerin, you are safe now." Hiei said to his daughter.

 

Finally, after so many years and much doubt, Hiei got the chance to hold Kerin again. "Man, I am really way too nice." said Jam as he stretched.

"Perhaps you are, but at least I can attain peace again... somewhat." Hiei said.

"Good, but don't forget about the promise that you have to keep. For those who break their word, so shall their world crumble as well."

"Of course." Hiei nodded. "As for you, I expect you to go down fighting. You'll probably lose to Duelist Ham, you probably won't lose, but you better give him a fight. You're the only one left in this tournament that has a chance at stopping the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, so don't make me look bad."

"Trust me, I won't misplease you."

 

Pashmina went to visit Dexter. "So do you have any words of wisdom for me as I go it alone against the guys?" she asked him.

"Survive." Dexter said. "Survive or perish, those are your only options. Now if you please, I'm going to take a nap."

"Of course." and Pashmina left Dexter's room. As she headed for her own, she ran into Bijou. "Look at you, you're almost at our tournament's mountain top." said Bijou.

"You're taking this pretty well." said Pashmina.

"I'm upset, but I'm also glad zat I lost to you. We were ze first girls of the crew to duel, so it's only natural to face off."

"Yeah, it is, huh?"

"Best of luck, Pashmina.... you will need all zat you can get."

"Yeah." and Pashmina hugs Bijou.

The PTA sounded over the speakers. "Attention remaining duelists, assemble in the drawing room immediately." Croquet's voice was heard.

"Go on, your time is now, Pashmina." said Bijou.

*

 

Duelist Ham, Jam, Oxnard and Pashmina gathered in the drawing room where Croquet and Pegasus were waiting for them. "I brought the four of you here for a reason, that reason being the cards you choose." Pegasus began, "the remainder of the intermission, ten minutes to be precise, is what you will use to make your final preperations to your decks. There will be no changing cards before you duel, so take the remainder of this time to adjust your decks one final time."

"I don't need to adjust my deck, so let's get this show on the road." said Duelist Ham.

"That's all I wanted to point out to you duelists, so have fun preparing your cards."

The four duelists left the room and returned to their individual chambers to work on their decks. This was it, the final battles of the tournament were about to take place, but neither of the three Forbidden Brown duelists had a clue on who would take its championship. Duelist Ham, however, was ready to claim his property... Soon, the final battles will begin.