Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Children of Shadow ❯ Time to Duel ( Chapter 5 )

Me: Hi! Back with chapter- what chapter is it?

Isis: *sweatdrop* Five…

Me: Yeah! Chapter five! ^^

Marik: Actually its chapter six if you count the prologue.

Me: Yah, well I don't.

Kaiba: I want skittles!

Me+Isis: NO!!!

Kaiba: I WANT SKITTLES!

Marik: Yeah well I want to get revenge on all those stupid authors and authoresses who made me gay but it aint happening bud! Live with it!

Kaiba: Well yeah, but what about my skittles?

Marik: I give up….

Me: ok…. do the disclaimer and I'll give u skittles.

Kaiba: AMK owns nothing mentioned in this chapter except Cassie and her deck.

Me: Good.

Kaiba: Skittles!

Me: Uh- no.

Kaiba: What!

Me: I had my fingers crossed! ^______^

Kaiba: So I did the disclaimer for nothing? DAMMIT! I WANT MY SKITTLES!

Isis: Look at it this way- she would have made you do the disclaimer regardless.

Kaiba: Oh right……… BUT I STILL WANT MY SKITTLES!!!!!!!!!

Me: Ugh.

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Every step to school the next day felt to Cassie like she was walking to her execution. The bulge of her deck in her jacket pocket only reminded her that today she would face the king of games in a duel. Oh yeah. She was t- fucking- oast.

"Hey Ryou?"

"Yes?" Ryou turned his head to look at his cousin.

"Do they really call that Yugi kid the king of games?"

"Who told you that?"

"Otogi."

"Ah." Ryou considered the question. On one hand, he didn't want to make Cassie nervous. On the other, it was better she knew what she had gotten into. "Yes."

Cassie groaned and kicked a rock on the sidewalk. It flew into the street, skittering between the wheels of a parked car. Ryou decided to change the subject. "So- what do you think of the gang?" He had meant to ask her earlier, but he had been busy with homework- Mrs. Utama had really been coming down hard on them lately.

Cassie thought a moment. "They're okay I guess…. except- well, that Jounouchi kid?"

"Yeah, Jou?"

"Yeah, him. If you ask me, he needs a haircut."

Ryou laughed. "Mai was just telling him that a little while ago."

Cassie paused. "Is Mai the brunette?"

"No, that's Anzu."

"Right." Cassie suddenly remembered what she had wanted to ask. "Is she related to Kaiba at all?"

The question surprised Ryou. "What?"

"Anzu. You know- they kind of look alike."

"I guess they do." Ryou shrugged. "I never thought about it before."

"Obviously." Cassie bit her tongue as soon as she said that. She couldn't help it, sometimes hard words just flew out of her mouth, like at the airport. She hadn't meant to get mad at Ryou just because he asked to carry her suitcase. Partly it was because she rejected the idea that girls were weak and helpless, but partly she just couldn't control her vocal cords.

'I get angry too fast', she thought. 'That's my problem. One of them. I can't afford to let my anger control me.' But sometimes it was hard to keep her temper in check.

Cassie walked the rest of the way to school in silence, brooding over the upcoming duel. After her little outburst last afternoon she had tried to pull herself together and concentrate on a strategy, but her thoughts kept drifting to what had happened earlier.

The only problem was, she didn't know what had happened earlier. As much as she had tried to convince herself it had all been an illusion, she just couldn't. Questions were buzzing around in her head. Who had spoken to her through the necklace? Who was that 'she' they had mentioned, whoever they were? And who did those eyes belong to? Most of all, why had the necklace done that in the first place? Cassie was still going through all this when she and Ryou arrived at school.

Morning zipped by. Time was a great pain in the rear. Whenever you wanted something to happen, it took forever to get to it. And when you didn't want something to happen, time sped up to reach it. All to soon, Cassie found herself sitting at a desk, facing Yugi, with her deck shuffled and in front of her and her hand drawn. There was no way around it. She had to duel.

Cassie decided to go first. She drew and looked at her hand. Let's see: Dark Hole, Aqua Madoor, Waboku, Change of Heart, Stop Defense, and Garuda the Wind Spirit. "I'll place two cards face down-" Stop Defense and Waboku- "and one monster face down." Aqua Madoor.

Yugi drew. "I'll also play a monster face down, and one other face down card. Back to you, Cassie."

Cassie felt an unpleasant squirming in her stomach. She didn't like the feeling. Nervousness didn't suit her. Having everyone watching didn't help matters either. She drew her Reinforcements card and played it face down. "Done."

Yugi drew and grinned. "I play a monster face down, and sacrifice my other face down card to summon Dark Magician Girl!"

Cassie had faced Dark Magician Girls before- back in Cairo it had been the favorite card of a girl named Ivy. And she already knew Yugi had a Dark Magician- of course he was planning to bring it out and power up his monsters attack points.

"Now," Yugi continued, "I attack your face down card!"

Cassie exhaled and flipped over her Aqua Madoor. "Sorry, but your attack has no effect! Now it's my turn." She drew her Monster Reborn. "I play Monster Reborn to bring back your Giant Soldier of Stone and place it in defense mode." She would need all the defense she could get. Somehow she knew if Yugi got to her life points, she was dead.

Yugi drew and placed a card face down. It was back to Cassie. She drew her magic card Block Attack. Nothing to use that for. "I'll pass this turn." The butterflies in her stomach were settling down, but every muscle in her body was tense. No way would she let her guard down. She was going to lose, no question about it, but she would go down fighting. Back to Yugi.

He drew and grinned. "I activate my Just Desserts trap card!"

Damn! Cassie had two monsters on the field- Giant Soldier of Stone and Aqua Madoor. So she lost 1000 life points.

But Yugi wasn't done yet. "I also flip summon my Princess of Tsurugi and activate her effect!"

Swell. 1500 more life points down the drain. Cassie had 1500 life points left- at this rate Yugi would wipe her out without ever attacking. She drew. How ironic. Her own Princess of Tsurugi. Cassie looked over her hand. Wait! She saw a strategy!

"I play Change of Heart!" Yugi winced and handed over his Dark Magician Girl. Cassie took it and switched her two monsters to attack mode. "Now Aqua Madoor will attack your Princess of Tsurugi, and my other two monsters will attack your life points directly!"

Cassie heard shocked murmers from everyone, but she had to be the most surprised of all. Yugi was down to 700 life points. Could she actually win this? "Finally, I play Block Attack." Now Yugi couldn't attack next turn, giving her time to switch her monsters back to defense mode.

Cassie should have known Yugi had a plan. He played his Dust Tornado to counter her Block Attack. Then he got his Dark Magician Girl back and also summoned Beta the Magnet Warrior. "Now attack her monsters!"

However, Cassie had a backup defense too. "I activate Waboku, protecting my life points!" But this still left her with no monsters on the field. She drew. It was one of her favorite cards: Man-Eater Bug. Might as well. "I place one monster face down."

Yugi drew. "Dark Magician Girl, attack her monster!"

Thank Ra he hadn't summoned a monster, Cassie thought. "You've attacked my Man-Eater Bug! Now I destroy your Magnet Warrior!" Her life points were safe one more turn.

As it turns out, Cassie shouldn't have made assumptions. Yugi smiled and summoned his Darkfire Soldier. "Now attack her life points directly!"

Final score: Yugi= 700 LP. Cassie= 0 LP.

Yugi gathered up his cards. "Great duel. You're really good."

"Thanks," Cassie mumbled, picking up her own deck. What was her problem? She knew she was going to lose all along, so why did she feel so bad about it? She needed to get a grip. Was she going to be a sore loser over one stupid little duel? Why was she depressed?

"Told ya Yugi would stomp you!"

Oh yeah. That's why.

Yugi turned to Jou and muttered something quietly. Jou looked as though he had just been reprimanded. "Sorry Cass."

"S'okay." Cass? Where had that come from? She didn't mind though. It made her feel accepted. Somehow she thought that if she had beaten Yugi they wouldn't be so friendly. In a way it made her feel good she had lost. She was only human after all.

Maybe life in Domino wouldn't be so bad.

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Me: Finished! I wanna give a big thank you to my sister for reviewing and for helping me plot out the duel.

Isis: You're thanking your sister? Next thing you know, pigs will fly and Bakura will start doing trigonometry.

Me: watch out Isis- when I get what I asked for, you'll be the first to go.

Isis: ???

Marik: Believe me, you're better off not knowing.

Me: Kaiba!

Kaiba: No! Not until I get my skittles!

Me: Fine. Please review! If you took the time to read all this, you could at least let me know what you think. Please?