YuGiOh: Souls of Shadow

Chapter 3.1

                "I'll go first," he stated. "I understand that you're one that likes going second anyway."

My head snapped up in surprise.

"You think you gain an advantage by watching what the other does, so you can top it. Besides, it is in your nature to stalk and observe your victims. Isn't that right?"

"Y—yes," I answered in the most stable voice I could manage. "How are you getting all this information about me?"

"Oh, stuff that wouldn't be in a Kaiba Corp file?" he smirked. "You'll know all in good time, my girl. All in good time."

I uttered a growl of frustration as we drew our first five cards. It only made his smirk more prominent. I looked down to my hand. I had drawn some of my better cards, or at least some very useful ones. I had three monsters—Dunames Dark Witch with a high attack for a 4 star card, Shining Angel that would allow me replace it with another monster, and Spirit of the Harp to protect my life points with her high defense. My other two were equip magic cards—Elf's Light and Dark Pendant.

"Well then," he sighed, drawing his beginning card. "I suppose I'll start things off by setting two cards then summoning Dark Rabbit in attack mode!" he announced cheerily as a fiendish cartoon character appeared on the field. "And now I end my turn."

"Your rabbit looks like it got dropped on its head when they threw it into the briar patch," I scoffed as I drew my next card. Ocubeam. Not bad.

"Well that's not very nice," he crossed his arms. His rabbit mimicked him, sticking its tongue out at me. "Even these monsters have feelings, you know! Besides, you're one to talk. You look like you just crawled out of an abyss."

I glared. "Technically I did crawl out of an abyss. And then some."

"Well it is certainly apparent. It took me a moment to even realize you were a lady."

I scoffed. "It took me a moment to realize you weren't one."

He growled at my comment. "Enough insults. Just get on with the duel."

"Fine, I summon Dunames Dark Witch in attack mode," I spoke as I placed my card on the board. "And since her attack points are higher than your... thing... I'll attack it."

"Not so fast!" he smiled, holding his hand out. "I activate Negative Energy! It doubles the attack of a dark monster for one turn, so now my Rabbit's attack points are higher than Duname's!"

"What!?" I gasped, watching helplessly as my witch was destroyed on contact, shattering into pieces of light. My life points dropped by 400.

"Surprised, Alice-girl?" he laughed. "Turns out you don't get the upper hand by going second after all... because I already know what you're going to play as well."

"That's impossible! You looked at my cards!"

"Not quite. Let's just say I'm very skilled at reading people," he said as he drew back his curtain of hair to reveal his gold eye to me once more. "It's funny. You're such a ruthless person, yet you play with light fairies. Perhaps you're trying to compensate for the light you lack in your soul?"

"How—" I stuttered.

"All in good time, my girl. I've told you this."

"Stop! What else do you know about me!?"

"Ah, it's a long list..." he sighed dramatically, putting a finger to his chin. "You're very cheap and impatient when it comes to the game. You like to go for the kill ASAP. You don't keep many higher level monsters because you don't like paying for them, unless it's already spent. You don't even have a fusion deck! Why go through the trouble when it's possible to power up the lower levels with equip cards, right?" He paused to smile at me. "Yes, your strategy isn't hard to figure out. If it can even be called a strategy at all."

"You... you had to have looked at my cards. Or spied on me. Or... this is just impossible," I shook my head.

"You know, you might be able to learn a few ticks about me if you were used to paying attention to people. But no. You've never liked learning about others, have you? Then you'd start feeling empathy, and then—" I stopped him with a glare. "Never mind. Let's just continue." He drew his next card. "I summon Parrot Dragon in attack mode."

"Thank goodness it's not another rabbit with rabies," I mumbled.

"And since no direct attacking is allowed, I'll have to end my turn again."

"Alright then," I drew another card, a warm sense of comfort wrapping around me when I saw it was my Soul of Purity and Light. "I summon Shining Angel in attack mode. Since that card is worn out, I know that you won't pull the same trick on me, so I attack Dark Rabbit!"

The angel flew towards the rabbit, destroying it with one hit. It was a relief to see the thing that took my Dunames get kicked off the field, and to see Pegasus's life points drop by 300.

"That's all."

"Poor little bunny. Oh well, my turn now," he chimed, drawing another card. "Ooh! I'll go ahead and set this one. Next I summon Flying Elephant in attack mode! And now, I'll avenge my bunny friend by taking out your Angel with Parrot Dragon!"

Shining Angel was destroyed. My life points dropped by 600, down to only 1000, whereas Pegasus was still at 1700.

"I activate Shining Angel's special effect. When he's destroyed, I can summon another monster in his place, and I choose Ocubeam!" A little fuzzy green creature with a single large eye appeared on the field.

"Ugh, not that thing!" Pegasus shivered.

"What's wrong with it?" I crossed my arms.

"It's hideous! I've always regretted creating that one."

"I think it's kinda cute, actually," I smirked. "And if you're done with your turn, I'd like to go on with mine." He nodded, still cringing from the sight of my monster.

I drew the card Solar Ray. Great, I can do major damage with it! I just need to get a few more monsters on the field first.

"I set one card then summon Spirit of the Harp in defense mode. Next, to protect my Ocubeam, I activate Dark Pendant, which increases his attack to 2050. And now I'll attack Parrot Dragon."

The little creature attacked the mutant bird with a little growl, dropping Pegasus's life points by 50. It wasn't much, but at least it got his monster off the field.

"I end."

"You know that's a really nice necklace, but that thing's appearance really detracts from it. Speaking of monsters with grotesque appearances, I summon Doma the Angel of Silence in defense mode. Though I really do wish I could rid the field of that eyesore, I'll have to wait for another chance. So I end."

I had to force myself to hide my grin as I drew one of my favorite cards, Tremendous Flames. Though it does 500 damage to me, it will do twice that to him. However, I still have Solar Ray which I'm ready to use anyway, so I'll wait.

"Alright, I set one card, then I remove two light monsters in my graveyard to summon my Soul of Purity and Light!"

"Ah, so you got your favorite card on the field," he smirked.

"How... how did you know?" I whispered.

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