Yu-Gi-Oh Inner World [IC]

[Tinkerer]

The huge hall was filled with Duelists. Dr. V smiled, eyes twinkling in boyish excitement as he stood at the podium at the front of the hall. Behind him, the entire wall was one large machine, culminating in a large green and orange swirling portal guarded by a serious-looking man and woman. Between him and the back wall stretched a taut red ribbon used for Grand Openings.

Dr. V cleared his throat and spoke into the microphone. "Welcome duelists and honored friends. Today marks a new era, no, not for the mere card game, but for mankind..."

His speech dragged on. Benefitting those people who could or would not read about the Inner World before coming, he explained the Inner World, its denizens, and his discoveries regarding how to get there and experience it.

"...we have people standing by 24/7. If you wish to go somewhere within the Inner World, you merely need to tell them where you wish to go and upon entering the portal, you will be sent there. My associate, Director Genesis, (a tall pale man in an ash grey suit stepped forward from a side wall and made a small bow to the assembled crowd) is in charge of portal transportation as well as the emergency evacuation devices inside your Inner Disks."

"This new world is the next great frontier! I am glad that I can share this dream with all of you. Best of luck in your endeavors within the Inner World!". In one fluid sweeping motion, Dr. V brought his cane down on the ribbon which snapped and parted, allowing access to the portal to the Inner World.

Everyone was now free. The sleeping quarters and dining halls were open. The library and lounges too had only a few people, but what hooked people's attention most was the portal, whose outside frame began to glow a dark blue.

[spoiler OOC]Based on your Type/Attribute preferences and Spirit Monster, there are recommended areas within the Inner World to go. Of course, it's your choice as these are simply recommendations, but if you want ideas on where to go first in the Inner World, just ask in the OOC thread/pm me.

 

[Dova]

Steven glanced at the portal, then called out after the retreating doctor, "Hey, Doc V? I don't know about the rest of these people, but I wasn't given a map to the Inner World with the other Terms and Conditions and whatnot. You don't happen to have one on hand, do you? I mean," he continued, gesturing towards the portal, "I know where the action's happening, but if I want to explore, getting lost would not be on my list of priorities. You could just tell us, I suppose, but I'm sure there's a lot to say. And," Steven added, grinning, "some of us might not have the greatest memories."

[Wind Rider]

"Hey, I got an extra one if you need it," Zyro says as he runs to Steven's side. "I was so excited to go to the Inner World that I grabbed more than one." Zyro hands Steven a map. "Oh and hey Dr. V it's really awesome to finally meet you." Zyro offers the Doctor a handshake.

[Tinkerer]

Dr. V turned to the youths. They were brash, both the one that did not have a map as well as the one with the extra, but it was a kind of endearing brashness.

 

Returning to the podium, Dr. V started speaking, which cut the buzzing chatter of the crowd. "If you need an extra map or detail about locations, you can speak with Charles. He swept one hand toward the back of the room where a young thin guy with a large headset and the shadow of a beard was sitting at what looked like a turntable. "He is the location manager.". The Doctor continued, "Talk to him directly and he'll be able to transport you within 3 ft of where you wanna be!" Charles blushed and began looking extremely busy fiddling with dials.

 

Dr. V, formal stuff done, walked around the podium and off the crescent-shaped stage. The crowd began buzzing with conversation again. He moved up to the two youths still standing together.

 

Addressing Zyro, "Sorry if I came off as rude. It is a pleasure to meet you too Zyro." He turned to face Steven "and you, Steven." The Doctor shakes hands with both youths. "It is good to have some young blood helping out with this. My granddaughter is also helping, but I don't think she appreciated being on an island alone with us old scientist types." He gave a small laugh. "Anyway, if there is anything either of you boys need or want to know, you may always come by my study."

 

[spoiler OOC]Just a reminder, posts should be approximately four lines/100 words at minimum.

 

[Dova]

"Thanks Doc, but I think I can manage for now." Steven turned towards Charles, then hesitated, before looking back at the doctor, "I must say though, kudos to you for setting this whole operation up. I can't imagine the amount of work you would've had to have done in order to get this prepared."

 

Steven quickly turned back towards the occupant of the turntable, before a response could be given to his statement, and walked forward determinedly. He hadn't expected to compliment the doctor so soon, but it was all about impressions, and he didn't want to give off the wrong vibes. It only took a few steps, and then he was standing over the complicated series of dials in front of Charles.

 

Resting his hands on the side of the table, Steven looked down at the busy man, and commented, "Man, you look like you haven't had a day off in years!" He smirked briefly before continuing. "You enjoying working down here? The Doc said that I needed to come to you if I wanted to go somewhere, or to even find out where to go. I had an idea for somewhere on the more Reptile type of things, but you seem to have your hands filled already. I can come back later, if you prefer."

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

Standing at the back of the room, away from most of the group of gathered duelists, was what appeared to be a young woman with long silvery hair, pale skin, and one eye that was an icy blue while the other had an eyepatch with faint scars around the rim of the eyepatch. She was wearing a black cap on her head that had several pins and badges, most notable being an official KaibaCorp lapel pin usually won by high-ranking executives and representatives of the massive conglomerate. She also had on a black track jacket with a white stripe down each arm, and what appeared to be some sort of rubbery bodysuit beneath that, the lower half visible as a replacement for pants, while the gloves and the neck lining emerge from the jacket. This bodysuit seemed to be white with silver accents and blue designs, and complimented a backpack made of the same material at the ground next to her feet. But both the suit and the pack have clearly seen better days, being scuffed and patched in a few places. In fact, the vibe of this woman seemed be that of someone who has been around a long time, and been in a lot of adventures, despite her apparent youth. She thought about the invitation she received, and whether or not it was truly worth yet another journey into a place she had never been, going back into the darkness of the unfamiliar to see what was out there. But she had to. She had an inkling of what was to come, and wanted to be there to see what was on the other side. So she waited.for something to happen, and maybe strike up some casual and even intelligent conversation.

[Wind Rider]

Zyro, thinking of where to go in the Inner World, noticed the silver haired girl in the back. He wondered why she was standing alone instead of talking and getting to know the other duelists. He felt an unusual aura around her, yet it didn't feel bad or anything. Zyro, feeling the urge to make new friends and to meet new and amazing duelists, walked over to the silver haired girl.

"Hi," Zyro said wanting to strike conversation. "I noticed you were staying away from the other duelists, I don't know if your nervous or something but..." Zyro stopped as he noticed the appearance of the girl, mainly what appeared to be a strange suit underneath her jacket. Not wanting to come off wrong, Zyro introduced himself. "My name is Zyro, Zyro Tekashi, what's yours."

[Tinkerer]

Charles smiled and shrugged at the newcomer's initial comment, rubbing the bags from his eyes.  Tapping a couple keys into an open laptop next to his dashboard, the computer spoke:

 

"Hello, I am Charles.  It is no trouble at all."

 

Typing into the laptop quickly and thoroughly, the computer spoke again after a few moments:

 

"No one has enteted the Portal so my job has not really started yet." a couple more quick clicks... "I meant, entered"

 

Charles wasn't looking at the youth but was engrossed in scrolling through notes before seeming to copy and paste a large chunk of text for his computer to narrate.

 

"Reptiles do not seem prevalent in the Inner World.  They appeared to be shunned by most types as they were closely related to Dragons before the Millennium War and did little to help the winning side.  Thus, a lot of innocent Reptiles were murdered and were banished to inhabitable regions of the Inner World.  Even now, with the war over, they are still very widespread, with the greatest known concentration of Reptiles located in Mother Spider's domain in the Swamps of the Southeast..."

 

As the computer continued speaking, Charles jerked up in his spindly chair as voices could be heard from his oversized headphones.  Nodding once, he pressed a ton of buttons and dials on his dashboard and then hit a big green button on the side.  With that, the sides of the Portal in the front of the room, instead of glowing blue, took on a bright white hue.  A determined-looking girl with short leggings and a small pack strode through the gateway.  As she walked through, the swirling insides shown brighter and brighter.  The girl was merely a silhouette and then... she vanished.

 

"...after the Capital, the third main location to find Reptiles is in the southern end of the Valley of Haze.  Dragons, though few, still survive here and intermingle with the Reptiles in this location.  Although frowned upon, this action is not prohibited among the residents of the Valley of Haze but these Reptiles tend to be watched closely by the leading figures.  Despite our preliminary research, we have yet to explore a fourth region, said to be inhabited exclusively by Reptiles.  That location we have called..."

 

Charles, suddenly realizing how much was being said, stopped the laptop with a quick click.  He grinned sheepishly at the young man before hitting two more keys on his laptop.

 

"Sorry, that information is classified.  Do you know where you wish to go?"

[King K. Azo]

Akira had arrived on the hall, listening to the speech Dr. V gave. Honestly, he was ready to go to this Inner World already, having consulted a map and was now just waiting for permission. 

 

"I'm so excited...," he said to the two ghostly apparitions of robots that floated next to him. "We'll finally get to meet face to face!"

 

"Yes, it will be exciting to see you as well!... I could just write a whole song about it!" A purple robot commented before blowing on his flute.

 

"Yes, but for our sakes, do not be reckless as usual," the other robot commanded. "We want you to survive in that world," 

 

"Ah, when am I ever reckless, Coral?" the boy asked with a chuckle. Superheavy Samurai General Coral raised a nonexistent eyebrow before starting to rattle off a long list that quite honestly baffled the young man. He knew this sort of thing was important to the General, but he really didn't expect him to actually record each and every time he had ever done something recklessly. And from childhood too. Really, the robot was too much. Flutist just sat there, playing on his flute as the speech went on.

Eventually though, the speech ended as Dr. V cut the ribbon, and the first thing Akira did was rush over to the portal, Coral still listing off things as Flutist just followed the excited boy.

"... And the one time you dipped yourself in tar and stuck yourself on the backside of an angry waterbuffa--- what are you doing? Come back! You should at least get to know people!" Coral said as he floated after the two. Akira walked up to the assistant and grinned. 

 

"Take me to the Scrapyard!" His grin never felt as he said this.

"Are you INSANE?!" Coral yelled. "That's no place for you! It's too dangerous!"

"Well, we'll be there with him, and I'm sure we can get him to meet the others...," Flutist pointed out. 

"That's only if he doesn't anger anyone else!" Coral snapped. He turned to where Akira was standing. "Please... reconsid---," He stopped short when he saw Akira's face. He was not going to budge. Ra-darn it, it was going to be one of those days, wasn't it?

[Dova]

"Yeah, I gotcha. I think I’ll try the Swamp just now. Thanks for that!" Steven stepped away from the busy man and his monitors and took the opportunity to glance around the room once more.

There were many unfamiliar faces scattered in the large area, chatting away or just simply being there, but a few stood out. Standing apart from the main crowd was a woman with an eye-patch, wearing a strange bodysuit that Steven didn't recognize. Her appearance struck him as odd, and he felt a weird feeling while he looked at her. He was tempted to break through his nature and have a conversation with a random stranger, to find out what her deal was, but fortunately a brown-haired boy had gotten to her first, so Steven breathed a sigh of relief as he smiled and continued looking over the crowd. Another time, another place.

Eventually his eyes came to rest on another guy wearing a grey hoodie, whom Steven had definitely never seen before. This person seemed deeply engrossed in a conversation with thin air-

Squinting his eyes, Steven thought he saw a flicker of color around the yellow-haired youth. Guess this boy wasn't too afraid of talking with his Duel Spirits out in the open. Then again, this wasn't out in the open, was it? Everyone else here was like Steven, with their own interest in Duel Monsters, and their own companion from the cards.

"They certainly look friendly."

Steven would've jumped if he didn't recognize the friendly, if accusing, voice of his own partner. One tends to get used to the voices coming from where no one was before. Instead, he smiled, and turned to see his best friend in any dimension or world, Gagagigo.

 

“What?” Steven asked in mock surprise, “It’s not like either of us are social butterflies. Were you expecting me to discuss what clothes to wear for this occasion?”

The reptilian humanoid shrugged. “At least they’re doing something. I’m ready for some action. There’s a whole new world to explore, for crying out loud!” Gagagigo stopped, considering what he had just said. “Well, new for us, at any rate.”

Steven chuckled quietly as he responded. “Well, I hope you agree with my decision. Birds of a feather, yes?”

“I resent that!”, Gagagigo responded, attempting a frown, although his sharp face made it difficult, “We predate birds, as you very well know!”

 

His friend punched him on the shoulder, or he would’ve, if Duel Spirit shoulders could actually be punched by material objects. Smiling, the two of them headed towards the portal, glad of each other’s company.

[Tinkerer]

The chatter in the hall had died down slightly when the girl made her way into the portal.  However, the portal was turning back into its regular orange and green swirled pattern, and the chatter in the room began picking up again with a renewed vigor and a slightly excited undertone.  Some duelists began heading towards the front, ready to take off into the Inner World.

 

The female guard to the left of the Portal nodded at the male guard whom Akira had addressed.  "Lady Vandermann has successfully landed outside the Capital," she said briskly.

 

The male guard nodded before addressing Akira, "You wished to head to the Scrapyard, correct?" then, before he could answer, he said "just a reminder.  You should have read this before, but your Inner Disk can be traced back here.  If you wish to return, all you need to do is press the button on the side."  He pointed at a small red button on the side of Akira's disk.  "It'll alert whoever's on duty that you need to return here.  The transport won't be instantaneous though so don't do anything stupid like jump off a cliff and expect Scotty to beam you up.  Got it?"

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Steven, headed for the portal and still joking with his spirit, didn't notice the large guy in a dark hoodie headed for the front as well.  They collided mid-stride, and the big guy, miffed, whipped around to see who'd got in his way.  His eyes were pale and his shoulder length hair was silver and wavy.  "Hey!" he barked at Steven, "Watch it kid." then, pulling his hand out of his pocket, he shoved Steven out of his path and walked off.

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

The woman glanced back at the kid with her sole remaining operating eye, scanning him over. There didn't seem to be much to his appearance. He was rather lanky, with brown hair that had gold highlights at the end, and similar brown eyes. He was just a young, cocky kid that was kinda cute, but otherwise not much of a looker. He introduced himself as "Zyro", and wondered if she was nervous as to why she was alone in the back of the room instead of chatting like an idiot with the others. So she replied to him in a soft, calm voice. "Yuki. Yuki Fudo. And I am not nervous. I just prefer to observe people from a distance instead of run up to them and try to garner their affection like some lost puppy." She stated all of this very matter-of-factly, without any sneering, sarcasm, or malice in her tone of voice. After that, she began to walk towards the waiting portal, having had enough of watching the other people assembled not know what to do. "Maybe, if we're lucky, we'll meet each other on the other side and I'll see if your bite is better than your bark." She then strode forward through the crowd, completely ignoring the others around her and the turn order, and vanished through to the Inner World.

[Dova]

Steven stared curiously at the retreating figure as he brushed off his jacket.

“Someone needs to teach that guy some manners,” he muttered as he continued forward.

Walking towards the glow, Steven noticed two other people walk into the portal, with it flashing a different colour each time. He glanced at his floating friend, mouth open to voice a comment. but the grin on Gagagigo’s face silenced him. At this point, there wasn’t much to say, really. After all, what more does one talk about when the adventure of a lifetime is a few steps away?

As he neared the guards by the portal, Steven called out, “Hey, I’d like to go to that Swamp in the Southeast if you guys are alright with that. Don’t bother,” he added, waving his hand, as the closest one opened his mouth, “I heard what you said to our previous adventurer. I get how the Disk works.”

Arms raised, he stepped forward into shining gateway, and then Steven and his friend vanished from this dimension.

[Wind Rider]

"Well I didn't mean to sound rude," Zyro said to the girl as she disappeared into the glowing portal. "Some duelists are different, Zyro," said a voice Zyro knew as his partner Silent Swordsman. "Some prefer to size up other duelists, others like yourself, prefer to converse, maybe even to befriend those they talk to."

Zyro turned to his partner. "I'm just so excited for this, a way of seeing the world of duel monsters, a way to meet other duelists and their partners, it just doesn't seem real," Zyro says to Silent with glowing eyes. "That girl, there was just something off about her, I don't know what but," Silent broke Zyro's sentence. "I know what you mean, it didn't seem like she was even communicating with her duel spirit, oh well, no need to worry about it now, its time we departed," Silent said hefting his blade on his shoulder.

"Right lets go," Zyro said to his partner. He walked over to the attendant by the portal. "Could you take me to the Capital please, and I heard you talking to the last duelist, I know how the disks work." Zyro watched as the portal began to change colors and he prepared himself for the new world he was about to enter.

[Dova]

The sun rose on another calm morning over the Swamp, the silence only being broken by the croaking of frogs, rustling of trees, and the moans of visitors from another dimension.

“Typical,” muttered Steven, rubbing his eyes to get rid of the lingering lights from the Portal as he waded through the murky waters of the marsh, “Why would I need any other sorts clothing to take to a Swamp? It’s not like it’s wet or anything, or dirty.”

Gagagigo sighed as he stepped alongside him. “No point complaining now, is there? You’re wet, I’m wet, and I don’t care. Just let’s go ahead, alright? Where did they say-”

Steven stumbled as his foot caught on a root lying under the surface of the water, and he quickly grabbed the nearby reptilian to make sure he didn’t tip over and plunge face first into the dirty swamp. There was a moment of silence as both of them looked at each other, then Steven gave a weak grin.

“It’s weird feeling, having you physically, like...here,” Steven commented, letting go as he maintained his balance, “Anyway, assuming you were talking about where the hub of your kin are. I believe Charles mentioned something about a Spider’s domain? Spiders’ doman?” He winced. “Ah well, we’ll probably know when we’re close. It’s not like our kind of spiders are hard to miss.”

Steven stopped, thinking about what was ahead. Even though he had been with Duel Monsters for most of his life, he couldn’t ignore the niggling feeling of fear of meeting some of the more...dangerous creatures in that world.

[Wind Rider]

As Zyro stepped out of the portal he looked to find himself on a grassy hill overlooking a large city. He turned to face the portal as it slowly faded away, revealing a peaceful grassland behind it. Zyro looked over the hill towards the city, his eyes glowing with excitement.

 

"I never thought something like this would be real," he said in amazement. "Believe me, it's as real as it gets," said the familiar voice of Zyro's partner. Zyro looked in the direction of the voice, the familiar, transparent form of his partner was now more solid and even casted a shadow. "So I'm not dreaming... This is amazing!" Zyro said to Silent Swordsman.

 

Silent let out sigh, not out of annoyance, but out of amusement. "Just wait until we go down into the Capital, you'll begin to miss the peace and quiet." Silent hefted his blade over his shoulder and began walking down the hill. "Well let's go, I overheard from the lab that the Knights are recruiting, we'll show that Yuki person how skilled you are," Silent said to his duelist. "Right behind ya!" Zyro said following Silent down the hill.

[Tinkerer]

The sounds of the swamp seemed to pause as a portal opened up and deposited a youth and a lizardman in its midst.  The interest of every creature within a tenth mile was piqued.  Was this youth to be predator or prey?

 

Many hidden eyes followed the youth as he complained loudly about being wet and muddy.  When he stumbled over a protruding root, there was no doubt.  This kid was definitely prey.

 

A bipedal, red, armored alligator rose from the shallow and sidled over to a chameleon with stars on his back.  They duo were hidden well, blocked from the kid's sight by some gnarled trees.  "Whaddya think?" the gator asked the chameleon in a low rumbling voice.

 

"The boy looks as though he has never been in a swamp a day in his life!" the chameleon responded, voice high-pitched and grating, though kept low to prevent the youth from overhearing.  "The boy's companion though... he looks familiar..."

 

The gator gave the chameleon a curious look before climbing halfway up the tree and squinting at the pair through the brush.  "HA!" the gator gave a huge bark of laughter and jumped down from the tree.  Giving a toothy alligator grin to the chameleon, he pushed through the slimy undergrowth and burst into the clearing where the boy and good ol' Gagagigo were standing.  "Jiga!  Byte-man!  Pal!  It's been forever!"

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

As Zyro and Silent Swordsman began heading towards the sprawling city, the portal opened up behind them again.  Silent Swordsman was able to dive at Zyro, knocking him out of the way just as a 2-car train barreled out of the portal.  A kid with wild hair and wide eyes, seemingly no older than twelve, was yelling at the top of his lungs as he rode the locomotive like a skateboard.  The kid leaned to one side so he could turn and stop the vehicle and check out the two people he almost ran over.

 

"Sorry about that!" the kid yelled to Zyro.  He continued speaking very fast, oblivious to whether or not Zyro wanted to speak himself.  "I was super excited, and I've been dying to try this for ages!  My grandpa works with Dr. V and he told me that I would be able to come here once the portal was complete!  Oh, my name is CJ and this is my pal Expressroid!"  Expressroid nodded as only trains can and looked as though it wanted to say something, but was cut off by CJ "Whoa!  Is that the Capital?!  It's HUGE!  My Grandpa told me it was going to be large, but that's even bigger than I thought!"  CJ turned back to Zyro, "Are you headed to the Capital?  It looks like it could be a long walk!  How about you can ride in Expressroid and I'll get you there faster!"  Without waiting for an answer, CJ jumped down from the top of Expressroid and grabbed Zyro and Silent Swordsman's hands, continually insisting that they ride in Expressroid.

[Dova]

Gagagigo squinted at the fellow Reptile, then asked, “Lion? Could that be you? What’s with the armor, and where’d that cool hairstyle go?” He grinned as memories flooded back. “Man, it’s been ages. And it’s not Jigabyte anymore, there was…” The humanoid lizard rubbed his his forehead, “Some...stuff...that happened, and anyhow, now people know me as Gagagigo. New beginning and all.”

He turned to Steven, who was standing awkwardly nearby. “This is one of my old friends, who did I know as Lion Alligator, although,” he added, looking the other Duel Monster up and down, ”It looks like you also went through a change, old friend. And Lion, this is Steven, my companion from the human world!”
 
[spoiler=OOC]Gagagigo is referring to the incident with Eria, which caused him to change.

 

[Kexotero]

Venta Shenyu was curious about the portal. He has seen many mysterious things in this world, including his Duel Spirit, Graydle Cobra, but this portal was completely new and mysterious to him. He decided to ask Charles about the portal.

 

Venta: "Hey, Charles. Dr. V said to talk to you if anyone had any questions. I want to know about the Inner World, and even though I am a bit scared and cautious, I am willing to adventure into the portal. I want to see my favorite type and the type of my Duel Spirit first though, so do you know where to find Aqua-type Monsters in there?"

[Tinkerer]

The reptilian nodded to the human, Steven.  If he had earned the respect of Jyga-- Gagagigo, he couldn't be all pathetic.  Turning back to Gagagigo, he spoke, "Well, you ain't the only one who's gone through changes.  I'm a father now.  I got my own little cubs, so people call me Spawnin' Gator, or just Spawn for short."  Scratching his neck nonchalantly, he continued, "So what brings you back?  You'd been gone so long that...  Well, Almighty leader was killed years ago so now the swamps are heavily contested.  Mama Spider's got the major run of the place, though."

 

Before he could continue, there was a high pitched squeal in the underbrush.  Spawn quickly turned back yelling "O!", but there was no response.  For a moment things were silent, before a figure seemed to materialize.  The figure was very humanoid in stature, its skin red and black, with a black stripe running across his face.  It was also bound in several straps and chains.  It gave a grin as it held up a hand to which it was clutching the little chameleon by the tail.  As they watched, the chameleon began disintegrating, slowly.  "No... Oshaleon..." Spawn cried, paralyzed with what he was seeing.  The figure gave a bigger grin as Oshaleon's tail turned to dust.  In the chameleon's place, the figure was now holding glowing lime-green stone with a single white star.  He turned his hand upside down and the small stone fell with a plop into the murky waters.

 

Growling in fury, Spawn shot straight at the figure.  It grinned even wider before opening its mouth where tentacles shot out and bound the charging Gator.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Charles was imputing several coordinates when another youth approached.  He glanced over at the Portal, but no one seemed to be about to enter, so he turned to face the boy.  Upon hearing his question, Charles' eyes widened and he typed excitedly into his laptop.

 

"Aqua monsters are my favorite." the computer said, not seeming to encompass the excitement Charles was trying to display.  "I was able to conduct a lot of personal research into water monsters."  he hit another key before rummaging around under his desk for something.  "Can you wait a second?" the computer said.

 

A moment later Charles' head popped back up.  His big, red headphones were slightly askew but he was grinning broadly and his eyes were sparkling.  He held up a large, strange-looking medallion.  Typing into his computer rapidly and hitting enter, it said, "This is the Yomi Medallion.  I had done a favor for the Yomi Shipping Company when some of their ships capsized.  I helped save their cargo and transport it to its correct location using the portal.  They were so grateful that they gave this to the doctor who gave it to me.  If you show it to anyone from the company, they'll guarantee you free rides anywhere you wish to go."  Holding the Medallion out, the computer continued, "Please take it.  I am not going to the Inner World any time soon, and if you are going to find aqua-types, you need a good method of oversea transport."

 

Leaning back in his chair, Charles typed some more into his computer.  "The Yomi Shipping Company is the biggest sea transport company in the Inner World.  You should be able to find a branch in every major naval city in the Inner World, but if I were to give a recommendation, I would go to Nijius, one of the twin port cities and the trading epicenter of the Inner World." 

[Wind Rider]

Silent Swordsman spoke for Zyro as he still had a shocked expression on his face, " Thank you, the Capital does seem like a long walk so we appreciate your help."

 

As Zyro and Silent Swordsman got on to Expressroid, Zyro overcame his shock and spoke to the Duelist, " So Expressroid is your partner huh? At least you'll be able to get around quickly in the Inner World. I'm Zyro, and this is my partner Silent Swordsman, and uh.. thanks for the ride."

 

As Expressroid was getting ready to go Zyro questioned the enigmatic boy, " So your grandfather works for Dr.V? That's really cool, is he one of the scientists that helped Dr.V or is he friend of his?"

[Kexotero]

Venta: "Thank you Charles. I can't wait to venture through! I'll be going to Nijius to meet some Monsters."

 

Venta was surprised that Charles also liked Aqua Monsters as well, and was very happy to receive a Yomi Medallion. Because of this surprise, not only was Venta able to go meet Aqua-type Monsters to battle and befriend, but he could also sail across the Inner World as well, which is a pretty great risk, but Venta would try it.

 

Venta: "Hey, Cobra, you ready to head out to this Inner World place now? I hope you are, cause while I'm a bit scared, I am also ready and excited."

 

Graydle Cobra: Of course I'm ready, you idiot. I am always ready, no matter if the thing I have to be ready for is a duel, a adventure, or any other thing. To be honest, I can't believe you asked me that."

 

Venta: "I just wanted to make sure, Cobra. Well, either way, let's go to this new world!"

 

Venta and Graydle Cobra, now with a Yomi Medallion and some confidence, headed headfirst into the mysterious portal, knowing that even though that they might not be ready for it, that an adventure was going to be likely.

[Dova]

Both Steven and Gagagigo froze in shock after the new monster appeared, and then disintegrated Oshaleon, but the Duel Companion was first to take action.

“Why you-” Gagagigo snarled as he lunged, claws raised, at their assailant, as Spawn was ensnared by his tentacles. He was determined to do whatever it took to defeat it before it could do any more harm to his friends.

Steven, on the other hand, stood almost perfectly still while his friend attempted to combat their recent threat. He wanted to do something to help, anything, but he also knew he was way out of his league in this new environment. The human’s eyes flitted about, desperately searching for some means to assist.

Then his eyes came to rest on the green glow from beneath the disturbed waters of the swamp.

Hadn’t Dr. V mentioned that monsters didn’t truly die after they had been defeated, but merely turned into stones? And that these monsters could be turned back into cards to be Summoned?

Steven jumped forwards into the murky liquid, desperate to grab the stone before anything else happened.

[King K. Azo]

Akira nodded at the man's explanation. Okay, so cliff jumping was out of the question. So much for that. With a chuckle, he walked through the portal headed to his great adventure... He was ready for anything!

 

That was a lie. He was not ready for how the portal was actually like. A swirl of colors zoomed past him as he was transported, something that was honestly quite disorienting for the young man. Still, he landed into the world without any... Difficulties. Even if he did land face first in the ground.

 

Standing up and dusting himself off, Akira looked around. The Scrapyard sure did live up to its name. Piles of broken machines... Broken dreams... Lost lives. It was honestly somewhat depressing. The dark sky and oppressive atmosphere did not help in the slightest.

 

"Well, this place is... A downer," Akira muttered.

 

"It's the Scrapyard. What did you expect?" a familiar voice called out. Akira looked over, seeing his two lifelong companions standing there. They were real. Well, maybe that wasn't the right word. They were physical. He could touch them, feel them! And that's what he did. He embraced the two with a giant hug, laughing despite the world around him.

 

"This is great! I finally get to meet you guys!" Akira nearly cried from joy. He was always so lonely in life....

 

"Not so loud! You could attract trouble!"Coral reprimanded. He looked around nervously, just in case that it was too late.

[Tinkerer]

CJ gave a big smile.  "Don't mention it!" he shouted in response to Zyro's thanks and, as though to emphasize that Zyro shouldn't mention it, he climbed up a ladder to the roof of Expressroid, completely ignoring Zyro's questions.

 

However, Zyro and Silent Swordsman weren't left in the dark.  A small television screen opened from Expressroid's ceiling, and a digital face appeared on it.  "I am sorry about that.  CJ is very enthusiastic about all this.  I hardly get a chance to speak for myself."  The face on the screen chuckled.  "In answer to your question, CJ's grandfather is actually an old friend of Dr. V and he owns the entire island where the Summoner HQ lies."  Expressroid ran over a bump and for a second the whole train was airborne.  CJ gave a loud holler that could be heard by the passengers.  "I'm sorry again," the face apologized. "We should be near the Capital soon, though."

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The creature, busy binding Spawn was completely blindsided by Gagagigo.  Crashing into a nearby tree, the tentacles holding Spawn loosened enough for Spawn to break out and dive into the slimy waters, completely submerging himself so that it would be impossible to tell where he'd strike next.

 

The creature recovered itself and bound up the tree, its body composition slowly taking the form of the murky surroundings; its black skin gained a dark green tinge while the red skin was darkening into a brown.  It smiled at Gagagigo before opening its mouth and shooting its tentacles at the reptilian.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It was evening in the Scrapyard but the metal strewn as far as the eye could see made it feel like noon.  No one seemed to be around when the boy and robots fell from a crevice in space and landed on a soft stretch of sand.

 

"Not so loud! You could attract trouble!" one of them said, hoping against hope nothing heard them.

 

They weren't so lucky.  A large pile of junk rumbled before bursting apart and flying in all directions.  A huge mechanical monstrosity with spiked maces for hands appeared from the rubble.  Turning its eyeless face to the trio, it roared "IDENTIFY YOURSELF!"

 

The trio were frozen, unable to respond.  The giant monster continued, "FAILING TO IDENTIFY.  BY ORDER OF MACHINE KING, YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!"  The monster began to head towards them.  Before it could reach them though, an arrow appeared out of nowhere and exploded in the monster's chest creating a huge smokescreen that jammed the robot's sensors.

 

"If you guys wanna live, you better get your exhaust pipes over here."  Atop another pile of junk stood an orange and silver archer.  At its feet stood a hopping brown robo with big ears.  The smaller robo spoke up again, "That bolt won't stop the Spikebot!  Betta get movin'!"  It dived down into what looked like a manhole in the shade of the junk pile.  The orange and silver archer robot jerked his head down toward the hole as though telling the trio to make their way down there.  It nocked another arrow and released it into the fog that still surrounded the Spikebot, exploding more smoke into the surroundings.