27 – Regionals Part 4: The First Duel

"Everyone, please, return to your seats and calm down!" Jerry Hooper, the announcer for this round, calls out in a panic. 

When I had taken off my mask, one of the two judges, Gwendalin Petrovich, had done a spit take and drenched her microphone in the water she had been drinking. That led to the power shorting followed by all of the microphones on the judge's table not working. 

As sparks flew, techs had scrambled to fix the broken equipment as Jerry did his best to shout over and settle the crowd...but it was no use. 

5 minutes later, they had been given new microphones and a very red-faced Gwendalin was bowing while apologizing profusely to the tournament production coordinator as the manager tried her best to stay professional and not chew out this woman who had just ruined several hundred DP worth of equipment.

A few minutes after that, order had finally been restored...for the most part. 

"*Ahem* What an incredible reveal! Gwendalin, Hassan, what do you think of it? I have just been informed that the live broadcast has been delayed for 5 minutes so we have a bit of time before we get this duel started." Jerry says with a smile toward me. 

It was a very fake smile, and his eyes were narrowed in accusation.

'Uh Oh. If the broadcast was delayed...I might have gotten someone in trouble or pissed off some network execs!!!' 

I smiled brilliantly right back at him.

'Huh? Expecting me to apologize? Nah, I'm good.'

"Hohoho! I, for one, was not expecting it." Hassan Valsindor says as he twists his already perfect handlebar mustache with his thumb and forefinger. "He is certainly eye-catching."

"A bit too eye-catching, if you ask me." Gwendalin comments, her face still red from embarrassment. "Are you trying to show off, Anubis?"

I tilt my head at her in mock confusion. "Why would I need to show off? I am here to duel, not for a publicity stunt. I had no intention of causing a commotion with my reveal," I lie straight to her face.

It appeared Snow and my microphones were reenabled, as my voice bounced off the quickly quieting arena walls. 

"If that is the case, maybe you could put the mask back on for the remainder-" Jerry tries to say, but is drowned in boos the next second. "Nevermind, I guess..." He finishes with a sigh.

He then touches an earpiece on his left ear and nods before addressing the audience once more. 

"We are ready to begin! The live broadcast will be starting again in 3...2...1... Ladies and Gentlemen, I am terribly sorry for the interruption! We had some technical difficulties, but we are all set now! Are you excited about this duel? I know I am! Both competitors Anubis and Snow are ready to begin! Judges, are you ready as well?"

"Yes," Gwendalin and Hassan say simultaneously.

"Excellent! Duelists, please cut each other's decks once more for the folks at home!"

We do so, Snow with slightly shaking hands as she kept glancing up at me, and then we hand the decks back to their original owners. 

"Alright, without further ado, let's begin the 17th match of the preliminaries! Duelists, judges, lovely people here and at home, are you ready!?!"

A roar of applause and shouting erupted once more as Snow and I brought our fists above the table.

'God, I hate this part.' I think with a long, suffering sigh.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors!" The entire arena yells without a hint of the cringe they all should be feeling.

I went with paper - Paper Gang! - and Snow went with rock. I was very happy with that result as I needed whatever edge I could get. 

"Anubis wins RPS and has motioned that he wished to go first! Everyone, one more time, with feeling!" Jerry hypes the crowd once more while I roll my eyes.

"3, 2, 1, Duel!" Everybody in the arena, with the exception of Snow and I, yells out and then applauds briefly before quieting down almost at once. 

I sigh and draw 6 cards as Snow draws her 5.

'Hey, at least if I lose I won't have to hear that again...for a while, anyway...'

I look at my hand and smile smugly at the girl across from me.  

"Hng..." Snow makes a sound, but I ignore her as I focus on my side of the board. The time for teasing was done. It was time to win me some system-approved prizes. 

The table in front of us was a classic style for this world, only much more extravagant. It had a green felt on the surface with painted rectangles for the spaces each type of card could be put on. In the middle was the logo for the Regionals Tournament, a hand holding a blank card in the air with the words "Duel Monsters Regional Tournament" written at the top and bottom. The border of the table was raised half an inch and was black. On our left-hand side, the opposite side from our Deck and Graveyard was a built-in screen with no inputs that displayed our Life Points: 8000 each. 

I take a deep breath and focus. It was time for my first step into the Pro Duelist realm, and I was feeling good. 

"I will set one monster card and one Spell or Trap then end my turn," I announce after a few seconds of consideration. 

Snow draws her card and the announcer takes the time she is contemplating to say a few things.

"Anubis starts his turn off rather blandly for someone so flashy, wouldn't you say?" He goads with that same professional smile. 

"He is taking this seriously and acting cautiously. That is wise. Snow has 57 professional wins, so he is right to respect her prowess." Hassan answers the question from his side of the table. 

"Agreed. He is attractive, but can he really duel? Many will be asking that question as they watch, me included." Gwendalin nods along from hers.

Snow slaps a card onto the table and says, "Sorry hottie, but I summon 7 Colored Fish (1800/800) in attack mode and attack your face-down monster! Laterz!" She says in a new and totally unexpected bratty tone as she smirks at me. 

I blink as the men in the audience start cheering.

'What happened to little miss bashful? Isn't that a bit too fast of a turnaround!?! I guess this is what they meant about her being the Gap Moe duelist...Well, whatever. It wouldn't have been as fun if I won because she was too busy ogling me.' 

"You destroy my Mystic Tomato (Effect 1400/1100). Would you like me to explain its effect-" I start to ask, but I am interrupted by Gwendalin.

"That is our job, Anubis, but thank you for the offer. Mystic Tomato, for those who don't know, has the effect: When destroyed by battle, it can special summon any Dark monster from your deck with 1500 attack or less in attack mode. It is a very useful card to have, especially on turn one." She explains the card and her opinion on it. 

"I choose to summon Big Eye (Effect 1200/1000)," I announce and Hassan takes his turn to explain this card's effect. 

I wasn't going to be using the effect, since it was a Flip Effect Monster, so I ignored him. Snow shrugs and sends a casual wave at me to let me know she is done with her turn. 

I draw for my own turn and let a beaming smile take over my expression. I can hear more than a few gasps or squeals in the audience, but I am too focused to care about them right now.

"I play Soul Exchange and tribute your 7 Colored Fish and my Big Eye for Dark Magician (2500/2100)!" 

"Wow! I haven't seen that card in a while! It is pretty rare! Soul Exchange lets you tribute your opponent's monster for a tribute summon, but you can't attack that turn, and Dark Magician is one of the strongest spellcaster monsters in the game! Snow is in a pickle!" Hassan explains as he leans forward in his chair...still stroking his mustache...but now faster...

Snow grits her teeth, but that expression quickly turns into a winning smile of her own as she draws her next card. "I set one monster card and one back row and end my turn."

Jerry takes my draw as a chance to engage with the audience, "The turns have been quick, and the battle is raging! Anubis has his Dark Magician on the field, but their Life Points are both still at 8000. Will Snow's facedown cards be enough to turn the tide of battle?"

I draw and set a monster then attack with my Dark Magician to clear her side of the field, only...

"What's this? Snow has activated the Trap Card Spellbinding Circle!!!" Jerry announces excitedly.

"Speaking of rare cards, Spellbinding Circle is a trap card that targets one of your opponent's monsters and that monster cannot attack or change its battle position!" Hassan tells the audience excitedly, "This is turning out to be a much more interesting match than I thought!"

"I end my turn," I say with a slight frown. 

'As expected, Pros are much more difficult to deal with. At least I still had a 2500 attack point wall to protect my life points.' 

"Thanks!" Snow says cheerfully as she draws. She then strikes a pose with a peace sign as she flips her face-down monster that I was unable to kill the last turn. "I flip summon Invader of the Throne (Effect 1350/1700)!"

'Shit. There goes my wall.' I grumble internally as she reaches over to take my Dark Magician and switch it with her card. Gwendalin explains that the card allows the switch, and Snow continues her turn.

"I will summon Axe Raider (1700/1150) and attack my old monster!" She says with a laugh as she smiles savagely at me. "Take that pretty boy!"

I think I get why people like her. She is feisty and cute. I can respect it.

That doesn't mean I won't crush her!

"You done?" I ask with an eye roll.

"Yup!" She announces proudly. 

"Well, this game has turned around fast! Now Anubis faces his own Dark Magician and a high attack 4-star beater! His Life Points have only been reduced to 7650, however, so this is still anyone's game!" Jerry explains, fanning the drama. 

I draw another card and my frown deepens.

'Shit nuggets. This is not going well at all. I have a counter, but it only buys me an extra turn...'

"I play Fissure and destroy your weakest Attack monster, Axe Raider, then I set another monster and put one more card into my back row to end my turn." 

"Anubis has to set and pass, but he is able to take out Snow's Axe Raider! How will he get over his own monster, though? Can those 2 Spell or Trap cards save the day for our unmasked newbie!" - Jerry again

Unfortunately, he was correct. I didn't have a way to get rid of the Dark Magician, at least not at this moment. 

That didn't mean I was out of the game, however. Not by a long shot.

Snow takes her card for the turn and squeals in delight at what she drew as she slaps it down on the table. "I play Pot of Greed!"

...I shouldn't.

I really, really shouldn't...

The judges aren't even explaining it...

"What does it do?" I ask with a straight face.

Snow and the judges look at me strangely, but Gwendalin eventually replies, "It lets you draw 2 cards..."

"O-Oh. Thanks." I say with the slightest hint of a quiver in my voice and a twitch of my lip. 

'I am gonna die laughing about this later.'

Snow draws her 2 cards and starts chuckling. "You did well making it this far, Anubis, but it is over for you!"

'It is the first round of the tournament though...' I give her a confused head tilt.

"First, I will discard the Thunder Dragon (Effect 1600/1500) I just drew to add 2 more Thunder Dragons to my hand!"

She does so and then shuffles her deck allowing me to cut it once more. 

Snow stands up from her chair dramatically and holds a card into the air, only to slam it down onto the table 3 seconds later with a stylish pose. "I play Polymerization fusing my 2 Thunder Dragons into Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon (2800/2100)!!! I'll move to the battle phase and destroy your pathetic defense position monster! How does that feel-"

"I activate Mirror Force," I answer calmly. 

Everyone in the room goes silent at once.

Snow stares at the trap card in disbelief...before crumpling back into her chair with a cross-armed pout. "You're no fun."

The audience explodes into applause and the announcer and judges talk excitedly about the play and its counter as Snow moves everything to the graveyard sadly. 

'It is about to get worse.' I think with an evil smile.

Next turn I use Monster Reborn to summon back her Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon...Then use my second Monster Reborn to bring my Dark Magician. 

Snow has no counter and I see the light drain from her eyes. 

She knows. 

I know. 

The judges know.

This game is over. 

2 turns later...

"What a game! What a twist in the middle! Can you all believe it!?! Anubis, rookie extraordinaire wins his first professional match!"

As the announcer sings my praises to the audience, I shake, the now once again bashful, Snow's hand and gather my cards to leave. 

I put my mask back on, much to the audible dismay of the women in the audience, give one last wave with a bit of extra time waving at a certain box seat, and make my exit. 

Once I am outside the arena, an updated event box pops up before me. 

I look left. No one.

I look right. Not a soul. 

I jump in the air and do several fist pumps.

'Yesssssss! God, what a thrill! That was anyone's game for a second there! Mirror Force is almost never a bad top deck!' I think as I start to do a kind of jig to no music. 

*Ahem*

I freeze.

Seeing who just cleared their throat, I freeze even more. Icicles got nothing on me right now. 

Standing before me, smiling widely, is none other than the red 3-piece suit-wearing, silver-haired, mystical-item-eyed, unabashedly flaming, Maximillion Pegasus. 

"Anubis, my boy! Great to finally meet you. Did you get my package, perhaps?" He asks with a fox-like smile. 

I stand up straight, dust myself off, adjust my mask so it fits right, and held a hand out to him. "It is an honor to meet you, Mr. Pegasus. Sorry, but what package are you talking about?"

He shakes my hand, but it is one of those awkward limp shakes and I just feel weird after...

"Ah...It should have been waiting for you in Kame Game about 2 weeks ago, but it is no matter. I can just tell you now. I am hosting a tournament of my own, one starting at the end of next week in fact. It is located on my very own private island. I do hope you can attend, you are the only interesting person I've seen at this tournament thus far. I'm afraid it simply wouldn't be the same without you..." He says with a smug expression as his Millennium Eye flashes. 

'Package? Did I get a package from-'

Shit. I did. The day I met Yugi's mother. I got distracted by life and never got around to opening it. I thought it was fan mail, so I would just open it when I had the time! 

'Aki...you absolute moron...Wait. Does this mean I don't need to be here at all? I had his attention before Regionals even started!?!'

But...in the end. Dem' rewards made it worth. So I was cool wit' it.

"...Can I take your silence as a yes?" Pegasus asks patiently. 

"Sorry, you just gave me a lot of information to process. Yes. I will be there. I will check for the package as soon as I finish here at Regionals." I say after taking a breath to recenter myself. 

"Good, good. I was worried you were going to say no! I would have had to take more...drastic measures if you had. I simply must have you at my tournament, you see. You're quite the mystery, Anubis. I wonder who you really are..."

The next moment happens in milliseconds and time around me seems to slow to a crawl. 

Pegasus' Millennium Eye flashes once more, but this time it carries with it a wave of dark magic. 

I feel the magic aimed at me as if it is an arrow of pure darkness flying in slow motion. It launches from his eye and over the ground between us, but, just when it is about to hit me, an orange-gold, shimmering, translucent shield appears in front of me. The arrow of darkness slams into the shield and shatters the Shadow Magic before it can even touch me. The shield then explodes into golden particles that slowly drift to the ground.

At the same time, I feel a cold sensation wash over me, and I...somehow...get the impression that one of my necklace's pendants has just become...unavailable? Inert? It isn't destroyed...but it was as if there were 2 candles in the back of my head and one of them had just been snuffed out.

I had no time to ponder this, however, as the cold sensation continues to move up and down my body until it focuses on a point at the center of my chest. It then launches out of me in a...fist?...of orange-gold energy twice as fast and strong as Pegasus' Shadow Magic had been.

Pegasus' good eye widens in slow motion as he felt his Millennium Item's magic fail, but, before he can react further, the fist of glowing orange-gold energy smashes into his chest and sends him flying backward and crashing into the concrete wall behind him where he groans once, then passes out.

...

...

...

WHAT. THE. FUCK. JUST. HAPPENED!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?