WRGP First Round! Duel of Spirits?

The man grunted out as his life points reached zero. He grinned as the dark flames parted and Grapha was on his side of the field again. "Not bad kid, but my Contract of Remorse trap card says I'm not going alone. When I take battle damage, this trap equips to a monster with attack equal to the damage I take, and the equipped monster becomes mine. If you'd attacked with your precious Grapha first, I wouldn't be switching from here, but the big guy can take it from here..." He started to chuckle which turned into a big laugh as he turned into the pit area. A large muscular man was waiting for him.

The man grinned as he said, "These kids aren't bad, but that one's gotta be the biggest player. We'll take him down here and then we handle the rest." He rode off, the man grinning wickedly as a dark mist seem to come out from his deck. "Name's Dusk, kid..." he said as he moved to draw his card. "Remember it as the guy who beat ya!"

(To review, upon attacking and finishing off a player, the turn moves directly to the end phase so Harley had no time to play other cards.)

This big idiot was quite right. Harley had no defense, he had 100 life points, and his other monsters were sitting ducks against the force of Grapha. He had held out as long as he could, successfully eliminating two of the three opponents on his own. No bad for a rookie. Logically, though, this was going to be the end.

Didn't mean he needed to back down, though.

"I'm Harley, remember it as the kid who beat your whole team on his own!"

"You've got guts, kid," Dusk called out as he moved two cards in his hand face down onto the field. "I could end this with Speed World 2, but since you've done a good job roughing up my boys, I think I'll let your friend here end it personally. Grapha, attack Gold!" The creature roared out as it started to glow. Chains wrapped around its body and onto the card equipped to it as he prepared to launch an attack.

"Wait... those chains..." Darren said as he clenched his fists. "Damnit, that card isn't normal! I think it can seal the spirit! We've seen it before, remember, Seth?"

Seth said nothing, a look crossing his face that hadn't in many a year. A look of pure hatred. He glared to the field, hands trembling as the dragon crept closer to his partner. He could sense the pain of the spirit, feeling it as his own. Harley wasn't prepared for this, they knew that.

Harley only looked on as his friend and partner let loose a fiery attack in his direction. His body was cold, empty, as if something had been torn from it. His pride, his friend. He took a deep breath, bracing himself, before looking back to the attack with watery eyes, a single tear falling down his cheek before the blast connected, lowering Harley's life points to zero to the eruption of the crowd.

"That mother fucker!" Shane yelled out, pounding one of the armrests on his chair, denting it down. "I'll tear his damn throat out myself!"

"Shut up." Seth's melancholic tone instantly silenced Shane, who knew something was wrong.

From the smoke of Grapha's blast, Harley emerged, but not the same boy who had entered the fray. His runner shook, slowing down slightly to match Harley's thought patterns. It trembled, turned slightly to the left, and then he fell. Seth shot up, Shane rocketing down the stairs to the track. Harley bounced once on the track, rolling across it before sliding to a stop, his runner only grinding on the hard ground just past him. The crowd let out an audible gasp.

He just couldn't handle it, and his body shut down.

Shuho was on his Duel Runner already, prepared to go in and battle. He had a helmet on, a different thing for him, and it covered his eyes making it impossible to see his expressions.

When Harley made it to the pit, Darren started to grab his cards one by one, looking at Harley as he was like a blank soul. "We'll get him back," Darren said with a light smile. He patted him on the back and took the tag from his shoulder as he said, "Ya did good, so let your friends handle it from here..."

Shuho's face gave a light grin as he said, "Yes... you did do well. I'll retrieve what's yours and be back shortly..." His tone, manner of speaking, all of it was different. It was as if he was a different person at the moment. He rode off, his mouth with a small grin as his opening hand was ready with him.

"So, you're the next one, huh?" Dusk said as he looked at the boy. "You're the guy that beat the King, right? I heard you lost in the prelims so it must've been luck of the draw that day. I'll end it quick so you can say the same here."

"Funny," Shuho said as he looked at the man. "I could say the same.... After all... this is your Final Turn!"

Harley said nothing, the injuries from his fall the only proof he was still alive. He stared blankly at the floor, his helmet set next to him. He couldn't pretend he had heard his team mate or that he cared what he said, he just knew that on the inside, he let everyone down. He just wasn't good enough, and now his friend was gone.

Shane made no attempt to talk to him, taking a look at the duel runner. The paint was ruined, but he could fix that himself right now. He pushed it past Harley, stopping short and looking at him for a moment, before pushing by again to begin repairs.

"Hey, dick! You better hope you don't stop your runner cause the moment you do...!" Yuki clenches her hands into fists, gritting her teeth as she saw what happened to Harley.

"Harley! Harley!!!" Zeiya dashes over to her friend, shaking him lightly with fearful eyes. "W-Wake up, Harley!"

"He's gone........" Harley finally spoke, but he made not reaction to Zeiya's shaking and screams. "I couldn't beat them all, and I let you all down." He tried ot look up to his team mate, but the guilt weighed so heavy on him. "Now he's gone." He couldn't even muster up a stutter in the pressence of a girl.

"Not gone..." Darren said as his arms were crossed, looking at the field. "But... I can't shake this feeling I'm getting over this."

Shuho drew to start his turn. He grinned as he saw that he had a high number of Speed Counters. In fact, his Speed Counters were full, meaning he could do just about whatever he wanted. "I'll activate Speed World 2's effect..." Dusk grinned as he knew he'd try to destroy the trap card, to which he had a plan to inflict damage on him either way. "I remove 7 Speed Counters and draw a card!" He drew his card as he grinned out. "Due to the ability of this monster, I can special summon it if its drawn due to a card effect. I summon Half Soul - Light Envoy!" An almost pure white spirit appeared on the field next to Shuho (Atk: 0) "With that, I can activate my Mystical Space Typhoon Speed Spell!"

Dusk grinned as he flipped over his face down card, Servant's Revolt. Shuho simply smiled lightly and said, "That's a card that inflicts damage to me equal to the monster I control with the lowest attack power when you control no monsters. Its too bad for you my weakest monster has 0 attack." The Grapha was freed, returning to Shuho's field, but the spirit wasn't there. It was still gone. Shuho raised his hand up and said, "Now it's the end! I sacrifice both monsters and summon Light and Darkness Dragon!" The two monster started to glow as a large dragon of black and white appeared on the field in a mighty roar. (2800)

"When did he get that card again?!" Darren called out, remembering that Shuho's Light and Darkness Dragon had disappeared with the deck he lost after his battle with Takuro.

"Light Evnoy's ability. When used to summon Light and Darkness Dragon, if it and a Dark monster were used as tributes, my dragon gains the power of the dark monster for the turn. Its an ability that can't be negated by a card I control. Now, I'll free the soul of Grapha and use its power to get revenge and finish you!" The Dark World Dragon appeared next to Light and Darkness Dragon in a spiritual, astral state, glaring down at Dusk as the two stood side by side. (Atk:5500)

"Harley..?" Zeiya's eyes widen at Harley's reaction. Suddenly, she felt herself tearing away from him as Yuki forces her off of him.

"Leave him be, he'll get over it." Yuki grunts as she picks up Harley, throwing him over her shoulder as she walks back up in the stands. "You scream again, i'll hrow you against the pavement, deal?"

Shuho pointed the two dragons at Dusk who's eyes were wide with fear, his words gone as there was nothing left to say. The battle was over. Light and Darkness Dragon could negate his final card, whatever it was by losing 500 attack points, still leaving him with more than enough to finish the battle Shuho grinned as he called out, "You are something which should not exist! Therefore, I shall restore balance by destroying you once and for all! Spirits, unite and destroy!"

The two dragons shot out a powerful blast of combined power. The shot hit Dusk, engulfing him in Light. His Duel Runner exploded from the computer and the cards within it were scattered, burning from the flames of the destruction. Shuho stopped just at the starting line, removing his helmet to reveal his eyes were glowing, one was white and one was black. "Order... is restored..." he said as he held up both the Light and Darkness Dragon and Grapha the Dragon of Dark World cards.

The crowd was stunned, completely amazed that the battle ended in such a way. Everyone looked down at Dusk, the large man was holding his face as the shattered glass had hit him in his unprotected face, his helmet had no face guard.

Harley caught the glimpse of the final attack, something in him being restored, but no where near the intensity it was before. He felt an emotion again. He felt......irritation. He felt jealousy. He clenched a fist, shaking his head before giving in, going limp again and lulling into a state of sleep.

"Brilliant" Seth said, kicking back in his chair. He appreciated the art in the moves Shuho had used.

Yuki sighs, looking at Shuho. "Jesus christ, that took long enough." She says. Zeiya, however, didn't reply to anyone as she sat next to Harley, worried for her friend.

"Awwwww....and I was looking forward on cross dressing you....." Said a familiar voice as Shirei appers behind him.

Shuho grinned lightly as he set the cards down. "I just did... what I had to d..." he stopped at the glow in his eyes faded. His body grew limp as he passed out onto the ground. A deep voice of laughter could be heard in the audience as the man in the mask stood up.

"So, THAT'S the power of Order at work. Such an ability was worth giving those idiots cards to seal spirits. M, we've seen enough..."

"Whoa!" Shirei manages to catch him (kind of) as he was falling. "Jeez...keep passing out like this and I'll just have to force you not to compete.

"OOkay!" 'M' Replies as the girl walks up to the man. "Hey...you think doing this is a good idea?"

Shuho was limp in her arms. His lips seemed to whisper something inaudible as the cards he was using seemed to shine once then fade into completely different cards. The only one that was as it originally was was Grapha.

"I have come too far to turn back now," he said as he was walking forward. "Besides, I have no need to care for this world. As long as I can understand the meaning of the Duel Spirits, I can have what I need."

Shirei saw this, narrowing her eyes befo repicking Shuho up and his cards and walking over to the others. "Please take him off my hands...he's heavy."

'M' looks down slighly before back up to the man. "Welll...I'll still be with you regardless of what you think and do'!"

Harley began to stir again, his endurance showing in the purest form. For a moment, he paid no attention to the world around him, his emotions still stronger than his body, but with a few slow breaths he became master of his nerves once again. He focused, looking over to see Zeiya. He looked away quickly and back to the ground, not wanting to make eye contact with her. "I......" he sighed "I'm sorry, Zeiya. I should've beat them all myself."

Zeiya's eyes widen as she sees Harley stirring before tears started to fall from them. "H-Harley..." She starts crying as she wraps her arms around his neck as gentle as possible. "Harley, you're OK!!! I was so worried!"

Harley didn't react at first, but then allowed himself to return the hug to Zeiya. He tried to calm her, even if he wasn't in the best of mind sets himself. "Hey......hey, don't cry." He winced once in pain but never broke away. "I'm sorry, this is my fault.............don't be sad."

"I-It's not...your fault...!" Zeiya manages to say inbetween her sobbing as she shakes her head. "It's...his fault...Takuro's! If he wasn't in charge...this would never have happened in the first place!"

Harley couldn't stand to see her like this, even if his normal reaction to a hug like this would be complete shock and inaudibility. "It's ok. It's ok." He moved her head just a bit so he could look her in the eyes. The scratches from the fall were visible, but he still managed to smile through it.....no matter how fake that smile really was. "We'll make everything right. A couple of bruises isn't going to change that. I promise."

As the man in the mask left, Darren couldn't help but look at him. Something about him was strange, but what was it. He turned to Shirei as he took Shuho with a small nod, then turned to Harley and said, "I'm sorry if I asked a lot of you. I wanted you to beat all three by yourself, but that wasn't right. You did great. A lot better then probably anyone else in the first round, so don't sweat it, alright?"

Back in the Director's Office, Takuro walked in slowly, adjusting his tie with a small grin. "Oh, Seiki... its time for the show, my dear. Please be a doll and finish it quickly, would you?"

Zeiya manages to calm down, sniffing as she looks at Harley. "O-Ok....Just...don't hurt yourself anymore."

"Tell the kid he owes me 10 bucks as payment for dragging him over here for you guys." Shirei says, puffing her cheeks as she crosses her arms.

"I don't wanna~" Seiki whines. She was slouched on her seat with her arms crossed, having absolutely no intention of getting out of her seat. "You go first."

(I'll wait for Shane's post on the Spirit Callers front)

Takuro walked up to her and lifted her up by her shirt, treating her like a teasing father would a child. "But that wouldn't really MEAN anything if I did it for you. You need to awaken and practice your true potential. I already heard your enemy is already well on his way to mastering his. If he does, your very mind could be in danger unless you can fight back."