YuGiOh: Souls of Shadow

Chapter 2.4

                Moments later, I was standing on one side of a dueling arena, one much like Kaiba's in its design. Of course he would have one of these things, and where else but in a room that looks like a theatre—balconies and all? I felt as if I were playing in some kind of tournament. It set a nervous stirring in my gut. But even then, if I really were playing for a title in front of thousands—or millions—of people, the stakes wouldn't even compare to what I'm playing for now.

The sharp sound of hard soles against the mirror-like tile floor echoed from down the hallway opposite of me. Pegasus emerged from the shadows in elegant strides, stopping when he reached the edge of his own platform. He smiled at me, a haughty glint in his eye. It wasn't until then that I realized I was staring at him. I quickly looked down to my deck resting on the corner of my board. I laid my hand on it and breathed in, letting the air rushing through my lungs clear out my anxiety.

"Well then, Alice-girl, shall we begin?" he asked.

I nodded, fixing my eyes on his with a glare.

"Since I'm about to host a tournament, we'll play with the rules that have already been programmed into the arena. We each begin with 2000 life points. Direct attacking is not allowed, and we can only attack once per turn. You do not have to tribute for higher levels. However, if a monster is destroyed by a card effect, the controller takes damage equal to half its attack. If all that sounds okay, then let us get started."

He began shuffling his cards. I did the same, focusing on weaving my cards around each other, straining to keep my mind from racing. I didn't understand why I was becoming so nervous. I'd killed before. I'd looked at men in the eyes as I took the most precious thing they had. But I did that for money, just to feed my own existence, because I had nothing else. Now, even though a card game is nothing compared to the act of murder, I was playing for the only ones I had ever cared about in this world. Worst of all, it wasn't my gun or my physical abilities that I was using—both of which were completely in my control—that would have to save them, it was skill and random chance.