SS3Vahn

"I'll set one monster in defense mode and end my turn." Yugi said. He laid the card on the duel disk and watched as the hologram image appeared on the field in front of him. "Ok. Seth, allow me to make the first move." Hiro said, drawing his card. 'Man, what a crappy hand.' he thought to himself. He took two cards from his hand and placed them on the duel disk. "I'll summon Gear Fried the Iron Knight in attack mode and set one card. Your move, Kaiba." Everyone watched as the black knight arose from the hologram card on the field. It floated in the air for a second, and then came down in front of Hiro (1800/1600). The set card appeared behind the Gear Fried. Kaiba smirked. "What a pathetic first move. I draw." he said drawing his card. "I'll set a monster and two other cards." The face down cards appeared on the field. "Your turn, but before you draw, I'd like to make this duel more...exciting." He said with a twisted smile. "What are you getting at?" Hiro asked. 'It may be risky, but it does sound pretty intriguing...' "Well, this duel is pretty meaningless, wouldn't you agree? So you want to beat me. Is that your so called 'revenge'? I just want to put some high risks in it." Kaiba replied. "So, what did you have in mind?" Hiro asked again, growing more and more curious about what he had planned. Kaiba walked over to his desk and pulled out 4 little bug-like devices. He pushed the buttons on each of them, and the numbers 20:00 appeared on each of them. After messing with a few more buttons, he threw one to Yugi, Seth, and Hiro. "Put them on your duel disks." He said, and then put the one he had on his disk. The rest did the same. "These are hai-pai grenades, or time bombs, as Americans call them. You place them on something, and when the timer hits zero, BAM, your blown to hell and back. But the way I've just set them up, when any of our duel disks' life point monitor hits zero, it too will set them off. Now, all of you place the import switch on the bottom part of your duel disks in the port on the grenade." "Kaiba, do you know what you're doing? You're risking your life on this duel. I wouldn't underestimate Hiro or Seth if I were you. It wouldn't be wise to challenge them like this." Yugi warned Kaiba, a tone of concern in his voice. "Don't worry about us, Yugi. Let's just finish this duel. You haven't seen what I've prepared for these fools...and once I'm done with them, you're next! All three of you are going to die today, and there's nothing you can say or do to stop me!" He said, laughing a very evil laugh. He pulled out a remote and pushed a button on it. "The timer has started, let the real fun begin!!" "Seth, if you want to back down now, that's fine...I wouldn't blame you. If I were you, or I didn't have a grudge against Kaiba, I would've backed down. But I do appreciate that you came this far with me. And if we make it out of this alive, let's make a vow to not face each other until the finals. So what do ya say? Partners?" Hiro said with a slight grin on his face, holding his hand out toward Seth.

"What the hell was that?!" Otogi exclaimed. He got up and dusted himself off, then went over to help Yugi up. "Oh no....the elevator stopped. If we can get out, we can walk the rest of the way." Yugi told Otogi. He looked over at him and saw a look of disappointment and anguish on his face. Yugi knew that he really didn't want to walk some more steps. "Aww come on, it's only 10 more floors. You can make it." They pushed the 'open' button on the panel and waited. At first nothing happened, but after about 10 seconds the door slowly made its way open. Although it only opened halfway, Yugi and Otogi squeezed their way through. They then started climbing the stairs, Yugi taking 2 at a time, then stopping at the top for Otogi, who could barely make it up the stairs at all. Yugi grew impatient and made Otogi keep up with his pace. It took them about 15 seconds to make it to the 47th floor. When they reached the top, they both hurried down the hall to Kaiba's office. Otogi opened the door and ran in, but bumped into Serena, who was also heading out, and fell down. Serena was knocked back a few steps, but regained balance and looked down at Otogi. Hiro turned his head and saw Yugi standing there with a big look of confusion on his face. "H-Hiro?!" Yugi exclaimed, feeling really faint. "Yugi, what do you want?! Whatever it is, I don't have time for it! Just get out of my way, Yugi. I have no problem with you. It's just this dirtbag over here...." Hiro pointed at Kaiba. "...that's my problem." Seto gritted his teeth and clenched a fist. "Just shut up and duel. Since I'm such a nice guy, I'll let you go first!" "Wait, Hiro. Please reconsider. I don't know what problems you have with Kaiba, but he's my friend and I won't let you do this to him. If you wish to duel him, you'll have to deal with me." Yugi said closing his eyes. He walked up beside Kaiba and turned on his duel disk. "I've got a better idea." Seth spoke up. He walked beside Hiro and activated his duel disk. "How about a tag team match? Hiro and I against you two." "Fine by me. You'll still lose nevertheless." Kaiba said. Hiro looked down. "Fine." he said. "Seth, could you take Yugi? I can take Seto." "Sure." Seth replied. "Just shut up and duel!" Kaiba said.

"Thanks, Seth." Hiro said. He pulled out his deck and slipped the card in. Kaiba wheeled around in his chair to face them. He had his eyes closed and his arms crossed. A confident smile crossed his face as he slowly opened his eyes. "I presume you wish to duel me, eh?" He said, still keeping that confident smile. "I underestimated your intelligence, rich boy." Hiro replied. His hatred for Kaiba was clear in his eyes and his tone as he spoke to him. "But yes, I came to beat you. You'll soon pay for what you did, you monster." Seth was stunned. In all the time he had known Hiro, he never saw him angry or heard him talk like that. 'Man, what did Kaiba do to make Hiro so angry?' The smile faded from Seto's face and soon became a frown. "You dare to mock me? Fine. I accept your duel. YOU'LL be the one to pay for even coming up here!" "Yea, we'll see..." Hiro said, and then activated his duel disk. "Duel!" They both shouted. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yugi was coming closer to the 47th floor. He sat there calmly with his eyes closed and arms crossed, waiting to arrive and face whoever was causing this. The elevator then stopped while on the 26th floor. Yugi opened his eyes and saw who was coming through the door. He was rather shocked to see that it was Otogi, breathing very heavily and leaning on the doorway. "Yugi...*huff*...there...*huff*...you...*huff*...are..." He said, looking up at him. "Otogi, what are you doing here?" Yugi asked him. He helped him into the elevator and pushed '47' again. "Nothing gets....by me..." He said, still trying to catch his breath. "Oh, so you saw me running off, huh? Well, I got this strange feeling that Kaiba's in trouble, so I decided to check it out." Yugi said. "Yea....I brought my duel disk though, so I can help in a duel, too!" Otogi said rather cheerfully. "Good, I could use your help in a duel. Well, thanks for helping me out." Yugi said, closing his eyes again. Suddenly, Otogi and Yugi shook back and forth for a few moments, both falling down, and then felt the elevator stop.

Hiro was running up the stairs 3 at a time. He was starting to fatigue but was otherwise ok. A drop of sweat rolled off of his head and onto his duel disk. Hiro glanced down and wiped off his duel disk. 'Kaiba...' He continued until he came to the 47th floor, where he stopped and glanced at the sign before a door. It read: 47th floor: President Seto Kaiba's office- 4701 Vice President Mokuba Kaiba's office- 4702 Marketing- 4703 Hiro opened the door and slowly walked down the hall. He glanced left and looked at the door that said '4701' on it. He turned and stood in front of the door. 'This is it...' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Looking down at the city from his room on the 47th floor of the Kaiba Corp. building sat President Seto Kaiba. He snickered to himself and took a drink of his wine, and then grabbed his duel disk off of his desk. He slipped it on and stood up. "Little do you realize young Hiro is that I've been watching you this whole time. I had my receptionist call me when you entered the building. I watched your little encounter with Bandit Kieth and now know your meager strategy. And now, when you arrive at my room, you will be taught a lesson. Just like your father...." He picked up his duel deck and placed it in the deck slot in his duel disk. He then grabbed his white trenchcoat on the back of his chair and slipped it on, waiting for Hiro..... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Yea! I win!" normal Yugi said, jumping in the air and collecting his cards from the loser(which just so happened to be the ever-so-lovely Mai Valentine). "Oh shut up, Yugi. I merely let you win that one." Mai said, shutting off her duel disk and walking over to Yugi. "Awright! Good goin Yuge!" Joey said, walking over to Yugi and congradulating him. "How many tournament cards do you have now?" "That was my 3rd one! Just one more and it's the finals for me! How about you, Joey?" Yugi said happily. "Awwww, man! I've only got 2! I'll just have to catch up to ya." "Man, Yugi never ceases to amaze me." Tristan said. Yugi had his group with him, which was Tea, Joey, Tristan, Mai, Serenity, Bakura, Otogi, and himself. Also with them was Mako Tsunami, but he was in the arcarde getting a soda. 'Yugi, I have the strangest feeling that something bad is going to happen at Kaiba Corp.....I think we should head there.' Yami Yugi said. 'Yea, I've got that feeling too. I'd better go alone. It would look pretty wierd for a group of kids to run into Kaiba Corp. looking for Seto.' Yugi replied. While the others were talking amongst themselves about Yugi's win, Yugi slipped out and went into an alley. He then went through the alley and down the next street onto the street Kaiba Corp. was on. 'Don't worry, Kaiba. We're coming to help.' Yugi thought as he entered the building. He went inside of the elevator and pushed the '47' button. 'Yugi, I think you'd better let me take over for now. We might come across a duel up there, maybe even with Kaiba himself. But you never know, we may end up teaming up with Kaiba this time. Nevertheless, I think it may be best for me to take over for now.' Yami Yugi said. 'Yea, good idea.' Yugi siad. His Millenium Puzzle then flashed, and when the light faded, Yami Yugi stood there. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hiro reached his hand out for the door. Just before his hand touched the handle, he heard someone call out "Hiro!" He looked to the door and saw Seth standing there, nearly out of breath. Behind him was Serena, also out of breath from the loooong trip up the stairs. "Really, now's not the time Seth! I know you want to beat me and all, but I have more important things to do right now than wor-" "No, that's not it. I'm waiting for the finals to face you. Right now, I'm here to help." Seth said, finally catching his breath. "I hate to be rude, but the only help you can offer right now is morale support. I have to do this alone." Hiro said. "Well, let's do this already." Serena said. The three of them entered the room.

OOC: Sooooooooo sorry guys. I jus moved into a new house and couldnt get online for a while. -------------------------------- "It's my turn now, and I draw." Hiro said, placing the newly drawn card into his hand. 'Hmmmmm.....I can't break the defenses of his Shogun yet, but...' Hiro thought. He bit his lip, then nodded to himself. He took a card from his hand and put it on the duel disk. "I tribute my facedown card to summon the Chaos Magician!" The facedown card disappeared, and a new magician appeared in a flash of light. He opened his eyes and smirked at the Shogun, ready to strike (6/2400/1900). "Now I activate one of my facedown cards, Monster Reborn!" Hiro said, pushing a button on his duel disk. The Skilled Black Magician that he tributed appeared back on the field. "And now the other, the Big Bang Shoot! It increases one of my monsters attack by 400 points. I choose my Chaos Magician, who will now destroy your Shogun!" The magician looked up lazily, with an evil smile on his face. He quickly lunged at the shogun and destroyed it. "By the way, due to Big Bang Shoots other effect, the difference between my attack and your defense is inflicted to your life points." Hiro: 4000 Kieth: 2300 "Now I'll finish you with my Dai Greyfar and Skilled Black Magician!" Hiro said triumphantly, pointing at Kieth. Kieth said nothing, just standing there blankly as the two creatures lunged at him. They both struck, and the force sent him flying back through the big window behind him. He landed on the ground unconsious, his cards flying everywhere. Hiro turned to the two with the guns and said, "You two had better leave, if you don't want to be in serious trouble with the law." The two looked at each other, then took off down the corridor. Hiro smirked, then walked out the front door. He kneeled next to Bandit Kieth and took his tournament card and Total Defense Shogun. "I believe these belong to me....." He said, walking back into the building. He walked up to Serena and his mom and untied them. "Are you guys Ok?" He asked, helping them out of their chairs. "I...think." his mother slowly said, checking herself for injuries. "Anyway, what the heck was that all about!? I was baking cookies for when you got home today and the next thing I know, I'm waking up in this dark storeroom..." "I think I know what's going on, but I don't have time to explain. I have to find Kaiba. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you guys will slow me down." Hiro said, starting to walk up to the reception desk. The woman there was cowering behind the desk, shaking in fear. "Call the cops. I need to find Seto so I'm going up." Hiro said. "O-ok." the lady said. She picked up the phone and pressed a button. Hiro turned away and started up the stairs, a look of anger and hatred on his face. 'I'm coming Seto Kaiba, and this time I will avenge my father's death with your own!'

Hiro looked to the side and saw Serena getting pulled away by the men that took his mom. They threw her into a chair next to his mom and tied them to the chairs with rope. "Serena!" Hiro yelled and started to run towards her. "Not so fast, Hiro!" the man dueling him shouted. "If you take one more step towards them then this duel is over, and that means you're out of this tournament!" Hiro looked back at the man and frowned. "Fine, then, I quit. Just let them go and I'll back out of the tournament." "No, you see, it doesn't work that way. Why do you think I accepted this job from our boss? I wanted to duel you and see if were worth the money boss paid us for. I accepted this job to beat you personally. Now if you don't continue this duel...." he said, and pointed to his mom. The men grinned and pulled out their guns. "Jus tell us when, Kieth." "Keith? Bandit Kieth?!" Hiro said, frowning. "Yup. That's me." He replied. He grabbed his (fake)hair and pulled it off, revealing his real hair, which was a golden blonde. He then pulled a bandanna out of his pocket and tied it around his head. "I had to go undercover for this job because I didn't want to be distracted by others." he said calmly. His mood quickly changed and he grew angry. "OK enough of this get over here and finish this duel!"

The man in black smirked slightly as he saw the card he drew. He placed it on the duel disk and crossed his arms. "I offer my Blood Vors as a tribute to summon the Total Defense Shogun in attack mode!" He said. His Blood Vors then glowed brightly and formed into a bright ball. The ball took the shape of his new monster, which seemed to be covered in nothing but armor, with two swords on his back and one in its hands(6/1550/2500). The creature then kneeled down on one knee, as if in defense mode. "Why is it in defense mode instead of attack mode like you said?" Hiro asked, frowning. "Because of its effect. When it's summoned, I place it in defense mode. While in defense mode, he can still attack as if in attack mode!" the man replied, laughing viciously. "Now, Total Defense Shogun, attack his facedown monster!" The creature stood up straight and then threw it's sword at the card. Hiro smirked. He pushed a card on his duel disk and his facedown card went face up. "I activate my facedown card, Magic Cylinder!" The sword that the monster threw went through a cylinder that appeared before the facedown monster. It came out of another cylinder behind the Shogun and hit the man in black. "Magic Cylinder negates your attack and redirects it at you!" Hiro said. Hiro:4000 ????:2450 The man growled and placed another card on the duel disk. "I set one card facedown. Your turn."

Hiro drew his card, looked at it, and then added it to his hand. 'Man, who is their boss and why does he want the grand prize? Well, whatever the reason, I've gotta beat this guy and find Seto. If it weren't for this guy holding my mom hostage, I'd probably be facing Kaiba right now!' Hiro thought. "Are you going to play a card? Hurry up!" the man said, getting rather impatient. Hiro took two cards from his hand and slid them onto his duel disk. "I set one card in facedown defense mode, and one more for later." Two facedown cards appeared on the field. Hiro pulled a piece of gum out of his pocket and stuck it in his mouth. "Your turn." he said.

OOC: Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been really busy ------------------------------ They both drew 5 cards. "I'll go first." The cloaked man said, drawing another card. He then took a card from his hand and placed it on the duel disk. "I'll summon Blood Vors in attack mode." A giant creature carrying a big axe appeared on the field.(1900/1200) "I'll also set one card facedown. Your turn." He said.

When Hiro entered the Kaiba Corp. building, he was approached by another duelist. This one was wearing a big light blue trenchcoat with jet black pants. He had brown hair, but Hiro couldn't see his eyes due to the glasses on his face. The man approached Hiro with a suitcase in both hands. He smirked and lifted one of the suitcases. The man then pushed a button on the top and the suitcase flew open. Inside was a duel disk and a small black box. "Let's duel." The man said as he took the duel disk out of the suitcase and slipped it on. He grabbed the small black box and opened it. There was a Duel Monsters deck inside of it. The man pulled it out and slipped it in the duel disk. "I don't have time for this. Maybe when I get back." Hiro said walking past the man. The man turned around and smiled. "I didn't say you had a choice! Now duel me now or she gets it." He said pointing down the hall. Hiro looked in the direction of the man's finger and gasped. There was his mother down the hall with a gun held to her head. The man started laughing and said, "Now duel me! If you win, I lose my card and you all go free. But if you lose..." He said with an evil smile on his face. Hiro knew where he was going with this. "OK, I accept your challenge. But first, answer my questions. First, why are you doing this?" Hiro asked, activating his duel disk. "I have nothing against you personally. It's just business, that's all. Me and 4 others were hired to put you out of this tournament, because our boss doesnt want you to get the grand prize!" The man said. "And what is the grand prize?" Hiro asked. "Enough! It doesn't matter anyway, because you're going out right now!" The man said, veins popping out of his forehead as he screamed at Hiro. "Duel!" They both shouted, drawing 5 cards.

Hiro smiled while Seth was talking. "It's nice to see you're as arrogant as ever. Well, good luck!" Hiro said stretching out and putting his hands in his pockets. He then started walking towards the game store, because Yugi's Grandpa was coming out of the store. Everyone there grew silent when Sugoroku came out with a clipboard in his hands. "Ok. Here are the preliminaries, which will decide which of you will make it to the actual tournament. They will take place from 10:00 to 5:00 all around the city. You will all be given a duel monsters card. You cannot use the card you are given, because it doesnt have any stats. When you lose a duel, you must hand over your card to your opponent. In the case of a tie, a rematch is played. When you have 0 cards, you are out of the tournament. All duelists must report back here at 5:00. Whoever has 4 cards at the end of day 1 will gain acess to the actual tournament. Oh yea, there's also the ante rule. When you lose, you also must give up the rarest card in your deck." He said. Yugi was handing out the cards to the duelists. When he came to Hiro, he smiled and said, "Hey. Good luck. See ya in the tournament." Hiro nodded and looked at the card. It looked like a normal duel monsters card, only it had no words in the text box and no stats. It had a picture of the Kame Game Store on it. "Now, onto the card rules. You will all get an official duel monsters rulebook, which you will follow for rules reference. Many of you all ready know the rules, but if you dont, I suggest you read them in a minute. Well, that about covers it for now, I'm hoping to see some of you in the tournament, so good luck! Let the tournament begin!" Yugi handed Hiro and Aidian a rulebook. Hiro pocketed his for later in case he needed it. He looked over and saw Seth throw his rulebook to the side and cross his arms. Yugi gave him a dirty look and continued to pass out rulebooks. 'Man, the only people I see here I know are Aidian, Serena, Rio, and Seth. Well, I guess that adds to the excitement, seeing new people and what strategies they can come up with. Well, I'd better get crackin!' Hiro thought. "Hey guys, I'm gonna go by myself for a while. I'll meet up with you guys later!" Hiro said, waving them goodbye and running down the street. He turned left and slowed his pace down to a walk. 'Yes, that's right. I'm coming for you, and you'd better be ready!' He thought and started heading for the Kaiba Corp. building.

Hiro warmly greeted Serena and Aidian with a slight smile and a wave. "Hi. Who else is here?" he asked, looking around. "I dunno, I just got here. But I DO know that Seth will definitely be here. He said it himself yesturday." Serena said, slightly blushing when she remembered Seth walking her home yesturday. Hiro snickered to himself. 'If I'm not mistaken, I'd say that Serena kinda likes Seth.' he thought while he was pulling a small sandwich bag full of chips out of his pocket. "Well, I'd beffa go sin up befo it starts." Hiro said while he was chewing his chips. They all barely made their way through the crowd on the way to the registration desk. When they finally got there, they were greeted with a smile by Yugi's Grandfather, owner of the Kame Game Store. "Hello Hiro! Are you here to register?" He asked. "Yea. Me and my friend Aidian are here to register. How much?" He asked pulling out his wallet. "Ok, for both of you itll be 1000 yen." Yugi's grandpa said writing their names down on the sheet. "Alright, here ya go." Hiro said giving him the money. He turned and faced his friends. "Ok the preliminaries will begin in about 10 minutes." He said as he started walking out. On his way out he noticed Rio standing there, with his back and one foot against the wall. He had his arms crossed and was looking down. "Oh, hey Rio! Are you entering the tournament? If you are then good luck. I've never seen you duel before and wanna see what you've got. Well, see ya around!" Hiro said, closing his eyes and waving. They then walked across the street to wait for the preliminaries to begin.

Hiro sat up. 'Wha? What time is it?' He thought looking at his alarm clock. He frowned when he saw that it displayed no numbers. "Dammit!" He said jumping out of his bed. He ran downstarirs and saw that his mother was asleep on the couch. "Man...what time is it?" He whispered to himself while walking into the kitchen. The clock displayed 3:13. "Oh crap!" He said running back upstarirs. He picked up the phone and turned it on. He listened but there was no dial tone. 'Electricity must've knocked out the power last night! I'd better hurry!' He went into his dresser, picked out his clothes, and hopped in the shower. When he was done he got out, out his clothes on, and fixed his hair. He was wearing his school uniform, which consisted of a white T-shirt with a light blue jacked over, light blue dress pants, and white socks. Hiro slipped on his duel disk and grabbed his deck box. He tucked his shirt in and put on his belt. Then he put his deck box in his pocket and went downstairs. 'Well, I'd better get going. Even if I'm late for the tournament I can still see some great duels.' He thought going out the front door. He walked for the first few blocks, and then picked up the pace as he got closer to Yugi's shop. On his way, he saw someone coming out of a doughnut shop. "Uum, excuse me sir, but do you know what time it is?" Hiro asked him. The man lifted his watch and said, "9:45. By the way, what're all of you children doing up so early. When I was your age, I wouldn't wake up 'til near noon." "Thanks. Bye!" Hiro said running down the street. 'Man, it's about to start! I hope everyone's here!' He thought as he turned the corner. His jaw nearly hit the floor when he saw Yugi's shop. Hundreds and hundreds of people were standing in front of his shop, all probably trying to sign up. "Yes! Now let's have some fun!" Hiro said, running to the crowd.

Hiro layed back on his bed and sighed. 'Yugi said the winner would recieve a special prize. I wonder what it'll be. It could be money, cards, or whatever. I could use some money right now to buy the new upgrade for my duel disk.' Hiro sat up and reached over and grabbed his clock. He set it to go off at 5:30 AM. He then went downstairs and grabbed an apple. He bit into it and walked into the living room. "Oh, so you're finally eating something healthy." His mom said with a smile on her face. "Yep. Well, I'm going to bed. I've gotta get up early and get to Yugi's so I can prepare for his tournament." Hiro said biting into the apple. "But it's only 10:00. You usually don't go to bed until about 3:00. Oh well, I guess I'll never understand you." she said getting up and giving him a kiss on the forehead. "Mom! Stop that!" Hiro said wiping off his forehead. His mom started smiling and forced him onto the groud and started kissing him on the forehead. "MOOMMM!!! STOP!!!" Hiro said squirming trying to get out of her grip. :mad: Hiro's mom started laughing as she got off of him. "I'm sorry. I know you hate that. All I've got to say is that you'd better embarass me in public again or I'll do that in front all of your friends. Good night." She said still chuckling. "See ya tomorrow. I'll proly be at the tournament tomorrow when you wake up, so I'll be back at about 5:00. It starts at like 10:00 and we're expecting a lot of people to show up." Hiro said, finishing up his apple and throwing it away. "Well good luck. Have fun." his mom said turning on the tv and flipping through the channels. Hiro went upstairs, took off his shirt, and got in his bed. He turned and looked out his window, then sighed. It was starting to rain. He shook his head and layed back on his bed. He turned his back on his window and slowly fell asleep. Around 3:15 in the morning, it was storming heavily. A huge bolt of lightning came out of the sky and hit the power lines near their house. At this time, Hiro's mother was watching tv and talking on the phone with her mother. Then all of the power in their house went off. Hiro's mother looked around and sighed. "Figures." She said under her breath hanging up the phone. "Oh, well, it's probably down for a minute." She layed down on the couch and accidentaly fell asleep. :sleep:

Hiro showed Aidian his cards: Sinister Serpent, Fusion Sword Mursame Blade, Warrior Dai Grayfar, Gilford the Lightning, and Wreckage Detonation. He added the cards to his hand and waited for Aidian to show him his cards. "Is it my turn yet" Hiro asked putting the Sinister Serpent in defense mode and Dai Grayfar in attack.

Hiro looked at his hand after he drew. With Aididan's Buster Blader on the field there was no cards in his hand to do anything, except... Hiro smiled. "I play the magic card Reload. It allows me to shuffle my hand into my deck and draw cards equal to the number I shuffled into my deck." Hiro shuffled his hand into his deck and drew the amount he shuffled in. Hiro laughed. "Thank you for helping me out. Now it's time I unleash my deck's ultimate monster. First, I activate Monster Reborn and revive my Dark Magician." He put his Dark Magician back on the field. "Now I activate Brain Control and take your Buster Blader." Hiro said and grabbed his Buster Blader. He put it on his side of the field and played one more card. "And now I'll play Fusion Sage. It lets me get a Polymerization from my deck and add it to my hand. He took the card out and put it in his hand. "Now I fuse the Buster Blader and Dark Magician with Polymerization and create my decks ultimate monster, the Black Paladin!" He put the cards he used in the graveyard and put the Buster Blader in Aidian's graveyard. Then he took his Black Paladin from his fusion deck and placed it on the field. And now my Black Paladin and my Apprentice Magician both attack your Life Points for 3300 life points of damage. Aidian:700 Hiro:3900 "I also set the last card from my hand facedown for later. Your turn." Hiro said smiling.

"Heh, good move. I was ready for something to that effect." Hiro said drawing his card. He looked at it and put it in his hand. He then took a card and put it on the field. "I summon the Apprentice Magician in attack mode.(400/800) It's effect is that when it's summoned I get to put one counter on a monster that can have counter on it." Hiro said putting another counter on his SBM. "And now I'll set one card." He put the card on the field face down. "Now I'll end my turn playing the card Yugi gave me: Swords of Revealing Light." He placed the card on the field and once again crossed his arms. "Your turn." He said smiling.

Hiro looked at his hand and smirked. He knew that this would not be easy, and he loved a challenge. But for some reason, he didn't like dueling Seth. It made him feel...insecure for some reason. Hiro pulled a card out of his hand and put it on the table. "I summon the Skilled Black Magician in attack mode.(1900/1700) Then I'll set one card facedown and end my turn." Hiro crossed his arms and smiled. "Well, looks like we're like a stalemate. Let's see what you can do now. By the way, are you entering the tournament on Saturday?"

Hiro looked up at Aidian and smiled. This was the first time he had seen his penpal. He was a bit older than he had expected, but what was important was that they were both friends and that they both loved Duel Monsters. "Hi, come in. I was just fixing up my deck." Hiro said bringing him in. They went into the kitchen and got some food out of the refridgerator, then they sat down at the table. Aidian's father was in the living room chatting with Hiro's mother. They then entered the kitchen. "Hiro...why can't you learn to eat something HEALTY for a change? Or something that's not junk food?" Hiro's mother asked him. Hiro sighed and put the snacks back in the refigerator and got out some ramen. "You want some?" He asked Aidian and his father. "No, I'm not hungry anyway." Aidian said. "Well, my son may be shy, but if you don't mind I'd like some." his father said rubbing his stomach. After Hiro and Aidian's dad were done eating they went upstairs to Hiro's bedroom. "So, Aidian, do ya wanna duel until our parents stop talking down there? It may be a while, knowing my mom." Hiro said pulling out his duel disk and deck.

Hiro ran through the front door and threw his backpack in a chair near the door. He then ran past his mom, who has watching tv and eating popcorn. As he was just about to go up the stairs to his bedroom, his mom said, "HOLD IT!" He walked back until he stood in front of his mom. "Where were you when I started dinner?" His mom(who's name is Megumi) asked. "Well, I went to Zach's house, but no one was there. But he left a note saying he was at the docks dueling. So I went there, and you'll never guess who he was dueling." He said. "Who." His mother said boringly. "Seth Niteshade. And then he wound up dueling me, but it was a draw. So then I went to Yugi's house for advice. And then it stopped raining so I ran home." Hiro said really fast. "OK, sounds reasonable to me. Well, your dinner is in the kitchen. Might be cold, though." His mom said still watching the tv. Later that night..... Hiro sat on his bed remaking his deck. 'NO, NO! That won't work! I need something....Oh! I've got it!' He slipped a few more cards in his deck and releaseed a deep breath. "Whew! Done! Now I just need to add in the card Yugi gave me." He said looking for the card. He found it and put it in too. "OK Seth now I'm ready for you!!" He stood up and smiled.

Hiro sat there in his chair looking through the new cards he got today. 'Man, Seth's gotten so much better since the last time we dueled...' "Hey Hiro, what're you doing?" A voice near him said. He looked up and saw Yugi, standing there with his hands in his pockets and smiling. "Oh, hi Yugi. I came here to ask you a favor." Hiro said as he put his cards away. "I need your help." Yugi frowned. "Why? Did you lose or something?" He asked. "No, It's Seth. He's back and he's a lot better than when we last dueled. I faced him just a few minutes ago...it was a draw." He replied looking down. "Seth Niteshade? Man, I dueled him a while back...I won, but not easily. He was good before, but now you're saying he's gotten better?" Yugi said with a strange look on his face. "Well, what do you need help with?" "I need to rebuild my deck. I need for it to be near perfect. I wanna be able to win your tourny this Saturday." Hiro said taking out his deck and handing it to Yugi. Yugi skimmed through the deck, complimenting some of the cards in it. "Well, I see nothing wrong with it. You really don't need to change any of the cards in it." He said handing the deck back to Hiro. "I don't know why, but it just feels...incomplete for some reason. Oh, I almost forgot. I bought some new cards today. Here's what I got." Hiro said pulling the cards out. Yugi put his hand out and shook his head. "No, I think that you need to make this deck for yourself. I mean, you wanna win this tournament with a deck you made yourself, not one I made. And besides, I'M entering this tournament myself, too, So you don't want me to know your strategy. Oh, and I wanted to give this to you." He ran upstairs and ran back down with a card in his hand. "Here. I don't need this anymore. I've changed my deck completely." Hiro took the card and examined it. "Wow, thanks. This'll be a great addition to my deck." He looked out the window and smiled. "Hey, it stopped raining! I'd better leave; my mom's gonna kill me for being late for dinner." He said throwing his backpack over his shoulder. "Bye!" Yugi said cheerfully. "See ya!" Hiro said, running in the direction of his house. 'Thanks, Yugi...man, sometimes it seems like when it comes to dueling, he's a completeley different person....' He thought as his house came into sight.

"Yugi's upstairs in his bedroom. Would you like for me to get him?" Yugi's Grandpa asked Hiro. "Yes, but, umm.. first can you get me three packs of cards?" Hiro replied. "Sure! You want our newest set? We just got it in today." Grandpa said cheerfully. "Sure." Hiro said. He grabbed the packs, put the money on the table and sat down in a chair near the entrance. Yugi's Grandpa put the money in the cash register and went upstairs. "I wonder what cards are in these packs" Hiro said to himself as he opened one of them. Nothing special. "Nothin in here to help me out. Oh well, 2 more left." He said opening the next pack. Again, nothing of importance. "Man, thats 2 in a row. OK, last one. Here I go!" He opened the pack. As he was scrolling through the cards, he noticed that every card in there would help him with his deck. "Hey, this must be my lucky day!" He smiled and put the cards he got in his pocket. 'I'll have Yugi help me with my deck. And then I'll put my new cards in. When the tournament comes, I'll be ready for Seth.'

"Man, he takes dueling too seriously...can't he learn to just have fun?" Serena asked, frowning. "Well, dueling can be pretty serious sometimes.." Rio answered. Hiro was looking down at the ground while they were talking. 'Man, Seth almost beat me a lot of times in our duel...He IS getting better. I'd better be careful at Yugi's tournament.' A few drops of rain started to fall on them while they were walking. "Oh, no! I was hoping to get home before the rain came....now my hair's gonna get wet!" Serena complained. Hiro smiled and laughed to himself. He was glad he had his friends with him. He had even made a new friend, Rio. 'I hope Rio's entering Yugi's tournament. I wanna see how good he is.' He thought to himself. 'A lot of good duelists are supposed to be entering. Yugi even told me that Seto Kaiba himself is gonna be there. And if I'm gonna do good in it, I'd better start rebuilding my deck.' Hiro looked over at the rest of the gang. "Hey I'll see you guys later. I've gotta go over to a friend of mine's" Hiro said, wiping the wet hair off of his forehead. "OK, we'll see ya!" Rio said. Hiro ran off down the street and took the first left. He hurried down that block until he came to a game store. He opened the door and heard the familiar chime of when customers come in. He walked up to the counter and said, "Hello Mr. Mutou, is Yugi here?"

"Well, Seth, it seems that this duel is a draw. Dang, if I would've known we could pull monsters from our fusion deck, I would've beat you with...nevermind" Hiro said with disappointment. "Now I know how to get past that Last Turn card. Well, thanks for the duel! I had fun. I guess I'll see you at Yugi Motou's tournament this weekend, huh. We all meet at his grandpa's store at 10:00 on Saturday. Well, see ya there Seth!" Hiro walked off with Serena, Rio, and Zach.

Hiro slid the card onto the duel disk nervously. 'Man...I thought I had him...well, I hope this will work.' "OK, Seth, I'm ready." Hiro said. "The card I chose was the Magician of Blach Chaos!" He flipped the card face-up and watched as a pale blue creature with long black hair and carrying a large black rod appeared on the field. 'Please don't fail me...' Hiro thought. He wasn't scared of losing, but he'd never lost a duel before and had never actually experienced losing. "Aww, man! The Magician of Black Chaos! Where'd he get such a rare and powerful card?" Rio asked Serena. "I don't know...I think he got it from his father. After all, his father taught him everything he knows about dueling." Serena replied. "Well, Seth, flip your monster face up." Hiro said.