Misfortune in the Fortune Cup

"Kaiiii!" Zeiya shouted as she wrapped her arm around his neck. "Good luck! and don't you dare lose!" she said.

The stage opened slightly and the red haired duelist, Aki Izayoi slowly ascended onto the Tournament floor. She was already getting boos and hisses from the crowd as she had been rumored already to be the Black Rose Witch. She glared up at them, before turning to where her opponent would be, but wasn't at the moment.

"Don't sweat it, Zeiya-chan." Kai grinned cheekily as he turned away and walked into the arena, his eyes narrowing as he gazed upon the rather pissed off crowd, his form coming to meet the opposite standing placement of Aki Izayoi, the one he was about to duel. The Black Dragon Duelist versus the Black Rose Witch?

That announcer dude needed new speeches. It was kinda corny.

The pigtailed duelist stared at the red haired girl and then scratched his cheek "Sorry, I got lost on the road of life. Tough crowd, eh?" He blinked, suddenly noticing something. Why did this girl look so much like him? It wasn't noticeable at first, but they had a few certain features that stood out all the same. Shrugging it off as pointless plot holes, he crossed his arms and glanced at the on watchers

"Huh, I'm glad they don't allow food in this place. Crap being thrown is all we need..."

Aki simply glared at the man before him and said, "You... from the preliminaries. You've seen my monsterous power and come to face me anyway?"

The MC raised his mic and exclaimed, "Everybody's here now! Based on Dueling Records, Aki Izayoi will make the first turn! So let the match begin! DUEL!"

Aki closed her eyes as she drew her card. "I place Dark Verger in defense mode on the field..." Aki said as a small sprout with an eye on each of its two leaves appeared on the field. (LV2 Def:1000) "I set two cards face down and end turn..."

Shuho looked over at the screen and couldn't help but remember Aki's duel with Seiki. "That Kai guy's got a real big road block huh? If he wants to win this, be can't hold anythhin' back."

"Monstrous power? Heh, you don't get it, do you?" Kai bowed his head and took a step forward, drawing as he began his turn in a flash "Everyone in this place is filled with fear when they look at you. Me?" The edges of his lips began to twitch into a smile, his hand coming up to place a card a down "..I'm feeling something else..."

"First I'll start with a simple card face down, then I'll activate a Spell Card from my hand, Ancient Rules. With this card I can Special Summon one level five or higher Normal Monster from my hand. I choose the Red-Eyes Black Dragon! (2400/2000)" Suddenly an expansion of dark light began to flicker over the area, two crimson red eyes snapping open.

In a thunderous roar a large beast stood standing before Kai, flames licking a clenching maw. Black skin and huge wings, followed by the dark crimson glare of its signature sinister eyes. Without another second, the Red Eyes Black Dragoon flared into the field, letting out a second roar that shook the air.

It was issuing a challenge to the girl.

"Do you get it now? I'm filled with excitement. Don't hold any of your 'power' back! Hit me with all you have." His fist snapped out and the Red Eyes Black Dragon threw back its head, summoning up a torrent of flame in a blink of an eye. The Blackdragoon grinned as he spoke the statement "For I'm not holding anything back. Red Eyes Black Dragon, attack with Inferno Fire Blast!"

"Hey Yusei." Zeiya said as she watched the duel. "You really think Aki is as mean as she acts? She was worse with Seiki back in the preliminaries..." she said, frowning.

"I can't say..." Yusei said as he watched the duel. "This is my first time seeing that person, but something..." He held onto his arm lightly with a wince of pain, causing Shuho to turn to him confused.

"Trap Card... Rose Blizzard activate," Aki said as her card flipped face up. "When the opponent's monster declares an attack, this card negates the attack and switches the monster's position to defense..." A frozen chill of rose petals shot out from the card, engulfing the dragon's attack before hitting the Black Dragon itself. "Don't try lying to me... You only speak as you do because you haven't experienced my power first hand. That will change soon, though."

Kai never said a word, only grinning as he gazed at Aki with a strange fire in his blue depths. He shook his head and chuckled, speaking lightly "You know how to certainly make a guy happy, don't you? Come on, cutie, show me your strength!" His hand snapped out and he finished with a facedown "I'll end my turn."

Aki gave a glare as she drew her card. She looked at it and said, "Very well... i summon Twilight Rose Knight in attack mode!" With that, a white haired knight in black clothing appeared. (LV3 Atk:1000) "Twilight Rose Knight's monster ability... when summoned, I Special Summon a Plant monster from my hand. Appear, Ivy Wall! (LV2 Def:1200) Now, Level 3 Twilight Rose Knight, Level 2 Dark Verger, Level 2 Ivy Wall tuning!" The monsters went into the air, the knight begoming three green rings while the two plants each became 2 stars. "Chilling Flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom!" In a blast of green light, a large dragon with a body mady entirely of rose petals appeared on the field. "Synchro Summon, Black Rose Dragon!" (LV:7 Atk:2400)

Yusei's arm started to glow red. He winced and said, "That dragon! I feel something about that card..."

"Y-Yusei!" Zeiya asid as she looked at him. "are you ok? Why i your arm glowing? does it hurt?" She turned back to the dragon."What do you mean you can feel something abou tthat dragn?"

"Huh, something tells me I pissed you off...." Kai rubbed his chin as he stared up at the large dragon with blinking wide eyes, gazing at the beast before looking straight at Aki with almost smiling blue eyes "Black Rose Dragon, eh? Heh, this is gonna be fun. Let me guess, 'prepare to feel my power', right?"

Yusei held onto his arm as he turend to Zeiya and said, "In the Holding Center, I heard a legend about 5 "Signers" that were tied to the Dragon Birthmarks..." He lifted his sleeve and moved his gloge to expose his arm. "This mark is proof that I am a Signer, but for it to appear now..."

Aki gave the Black Dragon duelist a deep cold glare as she took the Ivy Wall monster from her graveyard. "Black Rose Dragon's monster ability activates. By removing a Plant-type monster in my grave from the game, I switch the position of a defnse monster the opponent controls and reduce the attack to 0." The Rose Dragon saw the large thorned wall appear before it. The beast opened it mouth and chomped the plant in one bite. Afterwards, the creatures black vines started to glow as they shot out and wrapped around Red Eyes Black Dragon. "Battle... Black Rose Dragon, attack the Red Eyes! Black Rose Flare!"

"Nyeh! I discard my lil' pal, Kuriboh." Kai grinned and a small brown puffball like creature phased alive before himself, an explosion rocking the area. Though his monster took the hit, his lifepoints still stood at the beginning rate of the match. The pigtailed duelist didn't have a mark on him as he smiled "It ain't really a famous card, but Kuriboh can make the Battle Damage inflicted to my Life Points zero."

He grinned.

"Yeah, I know, I'm a bastard. Don't you just love me?"

"Sig...ners?" Zeiya said, tilting her head as she looked at Yusei's mark. "If its glowing...could it be reacting to the duel? Does taht mean Aki's a Signer too?"

Shuho blinked as he listened to them. He turned back to Yusei who was silent from not knowing how to answer Zeiya. Shuho broke the silence by saying, "Black rose musta been the card Aki almost played against Seiki. Without that Kuriboh, he woulda took a massive hit. I hope your pal knows what he's doin' by talkin to her that way."

Aki's glare deepened as she called out, "I set one card face down, turn end..."

"Then...Seiki knows something?" Zeiya said, turning to Shuho. "Maybe she knows something about the Signers too? I'm not sure anymore..." She looked at the ground. "I hope she's ok..."

"Heh.."

Kai took a step forward as he began, throwing out his hand "First I'll activate the Trap Card, Royal Decree. While this card is face-up on the field, it negates the effects of all Trap Cards on the field except itself. Next, I'll activate the Spell Card, Brain Control on your Black Rose Dragon. This card, for a mere 800 lifepoints, is mine for now." He chuckled deeply as he continued.

"You know what that means? Its time you met one of my monsters. Seeing as the monster that I took control of is mine now, I can use it as a tribute. A special kind of tribute. You see, this certain monster can be summoned by simply removing from play a Dragon-type monster. Guess where your Black Rose Dragon is going?"

The air turned thick in a blink of an eye, and a cracking light began to howl down upon the area. Surprisingly, this didn't seem like a mere hologram. Crimson eyes flashed, a mighty form phasing into view. Its body was steel-like, painted in a cold darkness filled black, with streaks of blood licked crimson flowing over it. Its wings towered over the area, huge and casting shadows over all who dared to be before it. Its maw was deadly, drooling and snapping open, letting out a chilling roar that sent a shiver down Kai's spine. A dragon. A dragon that was a large and deadly as the Black Rose itself.

"Guess who? Hey, Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, nice to see you old buddy, you hungry?”

It roared in reply, as if it was very much alive.

Aki's eyes widened as she saw her dragon disappear so easily. Her glare returned to Kai as she was now angrier than ever at him.

Shuho looked at his deck as the Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon appeared. He blinked lightly and said, "Huh... thought I heard somethin..."

Kariya's eyes widened from the back as he saw that dragon and its reactio to Kai's words. "A THIRD spirit?" he said as he gripped his chest slightly. "Now I have no choice but to win the entire tornament to get to them all..."

"Guess what, his effect is a doozy! I can bring a single Dragon-Type monster from the graveyard, and ya know what I'm choosing? Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Kai announced as he threw out his hand, a flare exploding across the field as the beast returned in a flash, phasing next to its seemingly more powerful counterpart. With the Red-Eyes Black Dragon (2400) and Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon (2800) on the field, Kai cut a pretty imposing image

The pigtailed duelist suddenly turned to his Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon and then grinned "Hey, big guy, time to hammer home." With that said he threw out his hand once again and announced his intention, his eyes glowing with excitement "Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon, hit her hard with all your might! Don't hold anything back!"

In a flash of motion the great black dragon threw back its head and began to gather a large ball of pulsing black energy, its eyes glowing darkly as its growl echoed over the area. Without moments to spare the Dragon roared and then snapped open its maw, letting the massive wave of raw power howl down upon the enemy.

Aki's eyes widened as she saw the attack, she couldn't do anything to prevent it. She was struck, losing 2800 life points. As she was, her body smoked lightly and she looked at her hands for a moment. "This is... a power like my own? You... you think you understand me with something like that? A creature like you would never understand my pain!"

"....Kinda. I'd be lying if I said my life has been easy. Me and ol' Red have been through thick and thin, hated by pretty much everyone. You think a kid who lived alone in the slums of Satalite gets off easy? Especially with a Dragon that can hurt people? Still, I'm not looking for pity, I'm just some dude who you probably wanna slap" toned Kai with a grin as he shook his head, bringing up his hands "Look, I'm sorry for everything I've said so far, but its just a game to me. Nothing but a strategy to throw you off."

He continued, slowly walking up to his two dragon monsters as his eyes gazed at her "I don't fear your power, hell, I don't even see your power to be a threat. You know who I see? Not the Black Rose Witch, not even an enemy. All I see is a cutie who can kick some major ass." He toned as he chuckled, shaking his head as he glanced at the crowd

"These people don't get it yet, but they will." He turned back to Aki and narrowed his blue eyes firmly "I'm no good with words, but I'll say this. Stop hiding behind a shell, a pathetic mask of cowardly intent. Your a beautiful woman, a person that has a special power to do some good in this world. I don't get you, hell I don't admit to ever knowing what you feel or have gone through. Yet, I just wanna say something.."

He held up his hand to the air and spoke, grinning cheekily

"I'm Kai Blackdragoon, and I had fun dueling you, Aki-chan! Nice ta' meet yah!”

With that, his final dragon struck.

Aki looked down for a second at his words as the attack came crashing her way. Her eyes changed from the sad expression to the glare of a determined duelist. "Activate, Enemy Controller! By this effect, your monster is switched into defense position, negating your attack!" The flaming force of the Red Eyes stopped cold as Aki looked at the man, her eyes slightly teared as she went into her jacket, taking out a white mask. "A mask... you say..." Aki said. "I've hid behind this mask for a long time, hiding my true feeling of dueling, of harming others...in truth..." As she spoke, the roller in her hair became undone, falling to the floor. Her hair rose slightly as she put the mask over her face. "I have no shame in what I do... Now, conclude your turn..."

"Somehow I knew that was gonna happen. For a girl who can kick ass, you were going down way too easily." Kai toned as he gazed at her with a slight smile "You know, your words would be much more effective if you weren't crying." He almost rolled his eyes as he stepped forward, continuing his small rant "Why do you continue to run away?"

He shook his head in frustration, his eyes snapping open as he gazed at Aki

"Enough! Another wall thrown up, another persona to match. I'm not a freakin' psychiatrist! I'll end with a simple face down. Come, show me who you really are!"

"It's my turn... draw," Aki said in a now monotone voice as she drew her card. "From my hand... Mark of the Rose acivate. This Equip Card equips to an opponent's monster, giving me control over it until this turn's End Phase... The monster I choose, Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon!" A red mark that resembled a rose appeared on the Metal Dragon's body, causing it to waver between Aki and Kai.

Shuho turned to Zeiya as he watched what was happening. "If Kai loses that monster now, he might as well pack it in. Who knows what that Aki girl's gonna do with his ace dragon."

"Don't start doubting yet, Shuho!" Zeiya said. "Kai has his facedown. He can't lose! There's no way he can make a stupid mistake like that so easily!"