Chapter Three - Harpy Beatdown
By Seth Oleson
CHAPTER THREE
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The crowd gathered around the Duel murmured in anticipation as James and Mai faced each other down. They had moved from James' room to the main deck, where there was a Dueling arena. A crowd had gathered around them, watching silently.
James himself was not doing so well as he faced down Mai's biggest creature, Harpie's Pet Dragon, with Harpy Lady Sisters on the board. James himself had Sanga of the Thunder out, which was saving him for the time being, but it was only a matter of time before Mai got rid of it and cleared the way. In short, James was losing. Badly.
"C'mon, James," Mai taunted. "The Regional Championship should be better than this!" James looked up at her with a look of anger in his eyes. "All right then! I'll use Cyber Shield to power up my Harpy Lady Sisters and attack!" The Sisters gained new armor, increasing their Attack to 2650. The Harpies attacked his Sanga, destroying it and decreasing James' Life Points to 250.
"I will come back, Mai," James said, gritting his teeth. "I won't lose to a girl! I play Suijin, in Attack Mode!" The master of water materialized on the Dueling field, screaming a battle cry. The crowd murmured to itself.
"Is that all you've got? Fine then! Harpie's Pet Dragon! Attack Suijin!" The dragon reared and blasted James' Suijin, obliterating it and reducing James Life Points to zero.
"NO!" James said as he crumpled to his knees in defeat. He buried his face in his arms, thinking about what he had done wrong. "That duel was doomed from the start. I should have won." James pointed an accusing finger at Mai. "You cheated! You must have! There's no way a girl could have beat me fair and square! You cheater!" Mai walked over to James and smacked him across the face. James' eyes misted and he hung his head and silently wept. "Thank you, Mai," he managed to get out between sobs. "I'm sorry. You won, fair and square. You're a good Duelist." Mai extended her hand to James. Smiling upward, James took it and got up. James held up Mai's hand.
"The winner! Mai Valentine!" James called out as the crowd cheered. Mai looked at him with a surprised look, than smiled and pumped her arms in victory. "Of course, you won't be so lucky next time," James whispered to her. Mai smiled at him.
"I'll be waiting," she whispered back. She gave him a quick hug and left. James' face turned completely red,and he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Some people in the crowd made whistling noises and cat-calls. However, the crowd quickly dispersed as the intercom came on.
"Attention Duelists," the intercom boomed. "We are now arriving at Duelist Kingdom. Please get your Decks and luggage ready, and prepare to disembark." James looked out, and saw the castle of Duelist Kingdom looming on the horizon.
"And so it begins."
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