WRGP: Start Up!

Shuho's Runner started to shake as the blast powered up and hit his monster with full force, destroying it. "I can't believe you destroyed that... Fine, I'll just have to make up for it in my next move." ~Still, what WILL be my next move?~ Shuho thought as he began to realize what kind of duelist Shirei was. ~Was she really this strong when I fought her that time? I was so focused on winning the battle that I didn't have time to notice. Shirei's at a pro level. Was Light and Darkness Dragon the only reason I beat her?~

The man placed his hand on a single card his had face down. "I activate... Inter-dimensional Matter Transporter! This allows me to remove Grannel from play for this turn, meaning your effects won't work against it." As he said that, the Blue Eye's 4000 attack point strike was more than enough to finish him off. His life points fell to 0 as his Runner started to smoke from its defeat.

The red haired man grinned and revved his Runner. He took off in an instant, speeding past Harley as he was moving to the corner of the Hospital. "First one to that corner gets the first move! Sorry kid, but you snooze and you lose. There's no rule saying we have to start at the same time!"

"Hey! I-" Harley stopped himself but took off after the red-haired man. He rode just behind him as the speed of his runner began to increase. Wind tunneling, a trick he had heard of in other races. He grew faster and faster, using the runner infront of him as a shield, then shot out, launching himself past the man to the corner. Thinking always beats acting. Or so he thought. The short distance wasn't enough to build the force, allowing the red-haired man to pass him again. ~Ouch, whatever then.~ Harley still remained focused.

"What's wrong? Looks like you've seen a ghost! Kahahahhhah!!!!!" she laughed as she spedup to Shuho. "That pathetic one type deck was just a test...THIS is my real deck. Notice something...familiar about it, boy? Ah well...I end my turn!"

"Eh?" Zeiya wide her eyes as she saw the attack go through. ~Did...he purposely lose?~ was her first thought as she stopped her runner next to him. "Now will you tell me who you are?!"

The man looked back, somewhat surprised as he saw Harley coming at him fast. He was using an advanced technique, but it quickly became obvious that he had yet to master it. The man took his chance and pressed down on his accelerator, passing Harley and turning the corner not even a second before he did, but still first. The man drew his cards and said, "I'll just place three cards face down and end my turn. Don't need to show a kid like you my real stuff yet!"

Shuho looked down to her cards, his eyes starting to widen as he noticed what the cards all were together. "This is... Zeiya's deck! How do you... Ahh!" He drew his card, looking at it with a gleam to his eye. "Since the monster I sent to the graveyard last turn for Destiny Draw was Destiny Hero Dasher, I can use its ability to summon the card I just drew. I play Sphere of Chaos in attack mode!(Atk:1600) With that, I'll preform my normal summon. I call Dark Resonator to the field in attack mode! (Atk:1300) Now I can combine the power of these two creatures into one. I can transcend my limits... and Synchro Summon..."

The two creatures disappeared as Shuho started to increase his own speed. He gripped the Runner as he yelled out, "Dark End Dragon!" (Atk:2600)

The man looked at Zeiya, not taking off his helmet in any way. He pressed a button on his Duel Runner as its systems started to reboot. "You will see me again, Zeiya," he said calmly. "This isn't common knowledge, but the WRGP qualifiers are on a Round Robin basis, meaning that the teams with the most victories after the teams in each block battle each other advance. You'll have at least one more battle to fight. Just be sure not to let the light Kariya Marco died for go out so easily..." With that, the man rode off, leaving Zeiya there as Darren started to run towards her.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk...close, but no luck!" Shirei said with a grin. "Did the blue squirt have a Cyber Dragon and Armored Bee?" Her grin grew wider as she saw the Synchro monster. "NOW you're getting better!"

Zeiya stood there, watching the man ride away. She bit her lip as her eyes started to tear up ~He knows Kariya...and what happened to him....~ she thought, shaking her head as she got on her runner. "Darren....do you know where Shuho is? I wanna tell him something."

"Dark End Dragon's ability activate!" Shuho said now with fire in his eyes. "You're right about one thing. I have seen this deck before, and I know that if you don't have a monster on the field, especially now, you're gonna be in big trouble. By losing 500 of its own attack and defense points, Dark End Dragon will send your Dragon to the graveyard. Reaper Black Hole!" The beast opened its large mouth on its body, revealing a gaping black hole that started to suck in the Cyber Dragon. When it was in, the mouth closed and Dark End Dragon weakened to 2100 attack points. "Even though its a little weaker, its still enough to win with one direct attack! Go, attack her directly!"

Darren thought for a moment, then said, "You're duelist C, so he's either at the A or B location. Knowing Shuho, he'd go to the A location, the docks. Its close to where he had his first Turbo Duel, so he must have figured it would be easier for him than a beginner like Harley to navigate the wet area."

"KAHAHAHAAHA!!!!!! either you're stupid or you're not paying attention!" Shirei said. "Activate Magical Cylinder! Now the target's the other way around!"

A shudder went up Zeiya's body at the word 'docks'. Ok...we'll go there..." she muttered. "Come on."

Shuho closed his eyes as he took a card from his hand and placed it onto the field, the last thing he could think to so. "I activate Speed Spell - Shrink! For the turn, my monster's attack points are cut in half, so I only take 1050 damage!" He was struck with the blow, but it wasn't enough to end the match. His life points fell to 150 as his eyes were all but blank. "Her deck... its a Satellite deck..." he muttered to himself lightly. "Can I... not beat something like this..."

Darren nodded lightly and got onto the Duel Runner. He looked down to her and lightly said, "Will you be alright? You seem to be bothered by somethin'"

Shirei grinned as she drew. "Well, looks like I win our bet, kid." she said as she puts down a card. "Another Silver Contrails! Now, Cyber Dragon, attack!" The dragon roared as it launched itself at the synchro.

Zeiya vigorously shook her head. "I'm f-fine." she insisted aw she accelerated her runner. "The docks, right? Let's go!"

Shuho closed his eyes again as he saw another Cyber Dragon on her field. He didn't know what to do at this point. He was at the end. At that moment, a pulse came to his mind. His eyes opened as he went into his graveyard. The attack hit, but when the smoke of the blast cleared, the monster was still standing and another white haired man was in front of it in a transparent form. "When I activated Ryko's effect in the beginning, Necro Gardna was one of the cards sent to the graveyard. Even I didn't know at the time, but something told me I still had a chance, and it looks like I do."

Darren looked outward as he was now worried about Zeiya. He didn't hear a word of their conversation, only saw the duel itself. He had no way to know what had been said or what had happened, especially because the speed of their riding was beyond what his eyes could follow.

"Ho...looks like you're starting to see things clearer."Shirei said. "I'll end my turn at that."

Soon, they arrived at the docks roughly around where Shuho and Shirei started. Zeiya stopped the runner as far away from the water as possible as she looked around. "I don't see him...is he still dueling?"

Shuho placed his hand to his deck, knowing he needed the right draw to make this work. He drew the card as his Speed Counters went up to 2. He looked at it and grinned. "I play the Speed Spell - Pot of Avarice! Now I can return Destiny Hero Dasher, Defender, Ryko, Dark Resonator and Sphere of chaos back to my deck shuffle it and draw two cards!" He did as he said, ending with two cards drawn as he looked at his hand. "I activate an effect in my graveyard. The third card Ryko sent to the grave, Destiny Hero Malicious! Since its in the grave, I can remove it from play to summon another Malicious from my deck!" A muscular man in a dark costume with a D on his chest appeared onto the field. Now I'll sacrifice them both... I Normal Summon Felgrand Dragon from my hand!" The two monsters disappeared in a pillar of light as a large golden dragon appeared in front of him. (Atk:2800)

Darren tapped on her Duel Runner's screen lightly and said, "If he's close by, you should be able to watch the duel through the Duel Network. Its better then trying to find him aimlessly."

"Whar a rather bold move! Shirei said with a smirk. "Now I bet you'll activate his ability, wont you?"

"Yeah." Zeiya said as she started to press buttons on her screen. However, the only thing she received was a surprising spark and static. "H-Huh?"

"Not just yet," Shuho said as he looked at the two remaining face down cards. ~They'll definitely be the end of me if I do things too fast..." he thought to himself as he placed the last two cards in his hand face down on the field. "I'll attack your Cyber Dragon with my Felgrand Dragon, no Boost needed!"

Darren looked down at the screen and said, "What the... why is the screen acting up? Whatever it is, it won't help us find Shuho after all."

"wrong. Choice!"Shirei grinned as she threw out her hand. "Activate Speed Spell - Power Baton! By discarding a monster from my deck, i can raise my dragon's attack by half! I'll be discarding Serpant Knight Dragon!"

"Shuho..." Zeiya looked up, hoping to see the familiar runner.

"N...no..." Shuho muttered as he saw the other monster raise in power. There was nothing left he could do. No chance. His creature attacked and the Cyber Dragon answered back, overpowering the Felgrand Dragon and blasting it as well as Shuho to defeat. Shuho's life points hit 0 as his eyes went blank. His hands moved off of the handles and his body flew off of the Runner, making a loud splash as it hit the water they were next to. ~I... couldn't win...~

Darren heard the splash, pointing out in the direction that it came from and pointing out. "Zeiya, I heard something come from over there! That must be where they are!"

"Tch!"Shirei quickly stopped her runner andjumped in the water. A few seconds later, she manages to fish out Shuho as she laid on the ground. "Oi, don't be so down. Last time I only sucked because I used an unfamiliar deck." She turned her head to him and smiled. "Any one else would have lost for sure! Tell ya what, I'll drop the bet and tell you a few secrets!"

Zeiya's eyes widen with fear as she clutched on Darren's arm. "Y-You don't think he f-fell in, right?" she stuttered as she imagined the worst case scenario.

Shuho's eyes were open wide as if he wasn't even there for a moment. As he was in the water, the first thing that he saw was a bright light followed by a deep darkness. When he was fished out he was unmoving, just laying there as if he had died.

Darren shook his head and said, "There's no chance... but just in case, let's hurry there."

Shirei frowned as she saw Shuho's current state. "Oi! Get a hold of yourself!" She hissed, grabbing a hold of him and shaking him. "How the hell am I suppose to depend on you if you're goinna be like this?! Can those two really depend on such a broken boy like you?!"

Zeiya wanted to check, but her body refused to move. "D-Darren, I can't move..."she muttered, clutching onto his arm tighter.

Shuho's eyes were blank, beginning to glow lightly with a dark light in one eye and a bright light in the other. His body started to shake even without her movements as if he were going into a critical state of shock or having a seizure.

Darren sighed lightly as he lightly lifted Zeiya from her legs, holding her as he started to walk to them. "I know you wanna go, but now's not the time to second guess it. I'll help you, but you gotta be prepared for what's on the other side of this path."

Shirei was completey taken aback. "Shit! Hey, don't die on me!" She shouted.

"I-I know..." Zeiya said as she hesitantly followed Darren. As they got closer, Zeiya could see Shuho's body. "Shuho!" she shouted, letting go of Darren and rushing to her friend. "Shuho...Shuho!!!"

"Oi! What the hell is wrong with him?!" Shirei said to Darren. Unlike the two kids, she still had her helmet on and everything. "This wasn't suppose to happen like this!"

"Shuho!" Darren yelled out as he ran to them. He looked down at him, examining his eyes and his body. "What the hell is happening?" Darren said, even he was unsure of what this was.

Shuho's body continued to shake for a moment until it went completely still. The color returned to Shuho's eyes as he looked up at them, but he was too weak to move or speak. ~Is this... did I die?~ he thought to himself, looking at everyone's worried faces. ~I can't move at all... My body... it feels like its being weighed down by something. Is this death?~

"How should I know?!" Shirei said, trying to smack him awake. "One second we were dueling...the next, he was taking a dive in the water and started spazzing out! I didn't think losing was going to take a huge effect on him!"

"Shuho!!" Zeiya continued to call out his name. Her eyes widen with fear at the thought of him dying. ~No...you can't die, Shuho!~ She thought as she continued to shake him. ~I can't lose another one!~

"Even Shuho wouldn't take a loss this bad," he said as he looked down at the boy again. He placed his hand on his head, causing a large spark to jolt Darren's hand and force him back. He held his hand with a yell of pain as he was wondering what could have caused such a thing. ~The power of order is a great but dangerous thing,~ he remembered Kariya once telling him. ~That boy Shuho has the power to negate and destroy most creatures that do not belong in this world. If his power is not controlled, even you would be in danger, as you are not from this dimension.~ "Is this..." Darren said out loud. "We've gotta get Shuho back to the garage! I might understand, but if I'm right, we have to move him now!"

"All right, but you two are gonna have to lead the way!" Shirei said as she picked up Shuho and placed him on the back of her Runner.

"R-Right!" Zeiya said as she quickly got on her Runner. "Darren, come on!"