"New Beginnings"
A challenger approaches!
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Drip. Drip. Drip.

.. Drip.

The sound of the sweat hitting the top of my duel disk resonated in my ears as it escaped from the pores on my face. It's about all that I could hear, despite the roar of the crowd around my opponent and I. There he stood, arm outstretched clad in a black sleeve and leather straps. Overshadowing a familiar white trench coat. My eyes met with an intense stare from a pair of piercing sapphire eyes. My gaze didn't catch for long. As the dust around me me began to clear, my sight was burdened by an image even more profound, just overhead. A large, fearsome, white dragon with equally menacing blue eyes.

The next sound I hear is a not-so-familiar sound. The sound of my life point counter dropping to zero. It had been such a long road. Such a difficult trial to get to this point. But I couldn't do anything but smile. I just had the duel of my life, and although he would never admit it, I bet he did, too. The next sound I heard was a roaring cheer from a resilient crowd. All there to cheer on their hero. That hero certainly wasn't me. It was my opponent. For some reason, ever since Yugi Motou vanished off the face of the planet, the world turned to him as its Duel King. A title that I've striven for, ever since Yugi abandoned the title.

Seto Kaiba. The Duel King stood before me, as the holographic images faded to nothing, and our duel disks reverted to their inactive state. Kaiba raised a hand to the sky, and the crowd fell silent.

“Yugi,” his voice echoed through the arena, “You may have fallen off the face of the planet. But, that doesn't mean I'm going to give up until I've beaten you!” The crowd roared again, they really loved him. I didn't really understand why he didn't acknowledge me, even though I almost beat him.

“Every day that you waste away is a day that I grow better, and more determined. Despite the worthless oppositions I face in the finals of every tournament I hold!” This being the third tournament he'd held since Yugi's disappearance. Some believed he did it simply to coax the former Duel King out of hiding, and out of retirement. All to no avail. Though, there I stood, dumbfounded by the fact that he called me 'worthless.'

“Really? If you hadn't drawn that last card, I would have beaten you. Give me some credit,” I said out loud, without even thinking about it. The crowd hushed, suddenly. It was only then that I realized that they hadn't cut out my microphone. There it was, again. That menacing glare. I really stepped in it, this time.

“You,” just that word alone sent a chill down my spin, “You never stood a chance against me. The card I drew wasn't even the card that I played to win. But if you want the bronze metal, and the attention it brings, it's all yours. I'll even give you something else. You put up more of a fight than that two bit duelist, Joey Wheeler. But, that isn't saying much.”

Kaiba wasn't wrong. About the first part, anyways. I was so caught up in the moment, the thrill of the duel, I hadn't even noticed that he placed the card he drew in his hand, before picking up another one. Not only did I look like a fool, but a wrong fool. There's just no love for that kind of failure. But it was still a great duel. To think someone can turn a duel completely on its head with one card. A feat only achievable by Seto Kaiba.

He turned his back to me, and walked off of the arena stage. His little brother was immediately there to greet and congratulate him. As well as mock me for speaking out of term. I turned and left the arena stage as well, I was greeted by my girlfriend, who looked all too disappointed that I lost to the Duel King. I wasn't bothered by it, though. It was my dream to go one on one with the master of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Even if I lost, it was a dream come true.

But now I have a new dream, and that dream is to find Yugi Motou. I'll find him, and convince him to return to the world of Duel Monsters. To see all of his cards in play, again. The Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, the Egyptian God Cards, the Magnet Warriors. I'll help him find himself, and become the greatest, once again! I'll be the reason he reclaims his title of Duel King.

Then, I'll be the one who takes it all away.


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This is obviously a Yu-Gi-Oh! piece. I've been on a bit of a kick with the card game, lately. So, I decided to go ahead and write a little piece on my favorite character, Seto Kaiba. Why Kaiba? Well because he has my favorite card, and he's the only one who has one, in the anime. My real life deck is a Blue-Eyes White Dragon themed deck. All the cards in it are meant to work around that one card, and it does so, beautifully. So if you're a Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan, I bet you'll at least partially enjoy enjoy this.