Yu-Gi-Oh! Reborn Arc 1: Our King [IC]

[JessicaMuddy]

 

 

An Electrifying Battle!

 

As the sun lowered gently over the horizon, the city of Seadown descended into darkness. However, being dark doesn’t mean being quiet. In the centre of the coastal city, a large crowd gathered on uncomfortable plastic seats to watch the enticing duel happening before them. The stadium glowed brightly, its light extending outwards and brightening the illuminating area around it.

 

“My turn, draw!” An almost valiant figure stood before its foe, its pale blue-eyes staring down the opponent. He glanced at the card in his card, and laughed heartily, something you wouldn’t expect to hear from his slim figure. “I activate Dark Hole, the card that destroys all monsters on the field.” A black vortex appeared between Tendra Thunderham and his opponent, and sucked in the four creatures between them. “With this, your field is open!”
“Does that matter? You’ve only got one card in your hand, and your field is open too!”
“Not quite, because White-Lightning Striker’s effect activates!” The crowd roared with excitement to the game-ending play they knew so well.

 

Tendra’s LP: 2400

Challenger’s LP: 6300

 

Once more the crowd cheered, this time turning it into a chant, one that they loved to scream in every one of Tendra’s duel. “THIS DUEL’S OVER!” A flurry of claps. “THIS DUEL’S OVER!” More claps. As the claps and chants continued, a bolt of lightning struck the field, and an enormous silver and blue dragon appeared in the same place as the electric shock, screeching as it was freed from its containment in the card Tendra possessed. The beast owned two wings each coloured a deep oceanic blue, and the majority of the creature’s body followed a similar scheme, except its silver-bellied torso, and two rod-like horns, which were a sun-like yellow.

 

“As you may know, Gateway Dragon’s effect is as follows. When I Special Summon it from the Extra Deck, its ability allows me to banish two Thunder-Type monsters from my Graveyard. Doing this grants my beast an extra attack this turn! I banish White-Lightning Striker and Thunderclap Skywolf, and give my dragon one more strike!” As Tendra declared this, the dragon began flapping its wings, and slowly lifted off the ground, its blue appendage wrapped solidly in equally blue lightning. It flew higher and higher into the air, until its commander pointed at his enemy, focused on making sure he ended this. “This duel’s gone on long enough! Thunderclap Gateway Dragon, Electric Jet Storm!”

 

The dragon suddenly snapped its head down, and began nose-diving towards its target at a rapid speed. The man taking the attack didn’t stand still however, and leapt from his position onto a bright pink platform, which slowly began to fade out of view, and existence, at that. The man then jumped onto another identical platform only a couple of metres away from the first, and as he dive rolled to land, picked up a card with a fancy “A” on the back. “Sorry, Duel Champion, but this duel is over. Next turn I’ll wipe out your remaining Life Points, and it’s all thanks to this Action Card!” The man kissed the card before placing it into his Duel Disk, and dropped back down to solid ground as he stood upright, hands on hips.

 

The awesome dragon before the man suddenly stopped mid-flight, and roared in anger – just as the crowd did – as it attempted to zap its enemy with lightning, only for the electricity to fizzle away just inches from the man’s face. “Action Magic: Close Call negates an attack that would wipe out my LP.”
“Talk about cheap.”
“Eh? What is that, champ? You end your turn?” The opponent cackled after taunting his foe.
“Quite the opposite, my challenger!” Tendra said in a way that was threatening, yet as polite as possible. “I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Thunderclap Stormburst Rampage! This card can be used when a Thunderclap monster attacks or is attacked, and increases its attack points by 500 during this battle!” The Duel Champion smiled with intensity as his dragon moved ever so slightly closer to his opponent.
“That still does nothing, ‘O great one, because if you recall, I negated the attack entirely.”
“I know you did, that’s why I’m using this card. The secondary effect of Stormburst Rampage negates the effects of all your Spell and Trap cards!”

 

And before Tendra’s opponent even had the chance to mutter a “Wha?!” he was flat on the ground, with Thunderclap Dragon circling around him high in the sky. The crowd cheered, whistled, and clapped, the sounds getting louder and louder as Tendra walked over to his opponent, head held high, one fist up in the air. However, the duel was not over. Looking down on his opponent, he smiled, a hint of warmth in his expression.

“Care to give up yet?”
“Just finish me off! I get it, you’re the champion, and you always will be, blah blah blah! I’ll take losing over giving up to someone like you.”
“Very well. Prepare to say goodbye, Dillon Jackson.”

 

Before making his last move, Tendra looked up at the crowd of thousands upon thousands cheering for him, and spoke. “Ladies, gentlemen, and all duelists alike! I give you the man that is, and always will be the Duel Champion of Seadown City! The one, the only-” The victor didn’t need to finish this sentence, but rather just smiled as he let the two words wash over him from all sides like a tidal wave.

“TENDRA THUNDERHAM!”

 

 

“Just hours after the victory of the Duel Champion, Tendra Thunderham, in his latest exhibition match, there was some more big news. This time, however, it was uncovered several hundred metres underground. The ancient kingdom of Calisdo has been a mystery for hundreds of years, and even though we live right on top of it, we know almost nothing about it. However, at approximately two this morning, Seadown archaeologists found a rare piece of literature deep in the coal mines. How rare? Well, there’s only one copy of it.” The reporter stood in what appeared to be a library, people going about their daily business behind her. She walked to her right, the camera panning across to follow her, and stopping when an elderly man came into view, holding a very clearly old, brown book. It looked so old that anyone who was watching the morning news could smell its awful scent through their televisions.

The man delicately turned through the pages, attempting to make it look as if he hadn’t been studying it for the last 5 hours, and had only just picked it up. “It’s uh… Remarkable, really, the things that they speak of in this book.” The man said. His voice was dry and quiet, making it hard to make out the words he muttered through his cracked lips. “Judging by the content it uh, may even be the journal of the uh, the king of the… former kingdom.” The constant pauses didn’t faze the woman beside him, who only got even more curious.

“Is that so? Who knew that even centuries after the fall of the kingdom, we’d still be finding possessions of the king.”
“Well, it’s only a theory that this was the king’s, and uh… this theory has little evidence supporting it. If that was the case, it would uh… we would need to find out why it was so far underground.” The man closed the book, and after nodding at the reporter, left the frame of the camera.

 

 

 

"Ahh, now I'm awake!"

 

Hayato stepped out of his father’s suburban house, smiled a wide-mouthed smile, and looked up into the sky. There was a large blimp many metres above the boy, and on it a large monitor displayed bolts of deep blue lightning, before a large flash, and a blonde-haired man stood in front of those bolts, arms crossed. Below him, some text appeared.

 

“THE DUEL CHAMPION, TENDRA THUNDERHAM”

 

The text remained like this for a while, and Hayato began to look away, but his attention was quickly brought back by another flash on the monitor and more text.

 

“CHALLENGE HIM TONIGHT, BY ENTERING THE CALISDO KING TOURNAMENT”

 

This quickly brought back the boy’s smile, and he fist pumped the air. “I can’t believe I actually have the opportunity to duel the best of the best!” The boy began walking down the street with glee, but was quickly stopped as he saw a familiar face on the other side of the street. The rather… gigantic being slouched over as he walked down the street, but stopped just as Hayato did when he saw the puny boy. Then again, anyone was puny when they were compared to Big Ben. The giant lazily glanced both ways before crossing the street, and Hayato could do nothing but stand in fear and the straight-F student approached him.

 

“Oi, kid, were you seriously looking at that blimp? What an idiot you are, huh? Everyone knows I’m bringing home the crown after I’m through with that scrawny champion everyone always talks about.” Ben gave a wicked smile as he began to look through his Deck. Everything about the guy invoked fear in Hayato.

“I-I don’t know, Ben, Tendra is p-pretty powerful. Last night, he took out one of the best Action Duelists without even moving from his starting position.” Hayato tried to avoid looking the curly-haired beast in the eye.

“Oh, shut up, will you?” Ben then pulled out a card from his Deck, and shoved it in Hayato’s face. “You see this guy? Overlord of the Underworld will crush that uptight a-hole, and if you even think of entering, it’ll crush you just as easily. I bet no-one is that stupid tournament will have a card whose attack points are even close to my Overlord’s. Sorry twerp, but it’s useless to fight against me.” And with those being his parting words, Big Ben exited just as he had entered. Lazily.

 

The blimp continued to fly throughout the city.

 

 

[spoiler=OOC]

So, just introduce your characters, preferably without dueling, and if they're entering the tournament, you can talk about the blimp featuring Tendra, if you'd like. Aww damn, this is real! Have fun!

 

 

[Dova]

The blimp wasn’t exactly difficult to see. The flashing lights of Tendra’s Profile and the announcement of the Tournament, combined by the jingle that was just loud enough to annoy the people beneath itself, made sure everyone looked up to follow it. Some people looked away, not interested in Dueling, but many remained fixated, entranced by the chance to take on, and possibly win, against the great Tendra Thunderham.

Steven was among those who could not get enough of it. Arms folded on his windowsill, he watched as the floating advertisement floated slowly away, lost among his own thoughts. He’d been avoiding this tournament for many years now, but his friends had finally made him promise to enter this time. After all, a tournament might not be his thing, but it wouldn’t hurt to try something new. What was the worst that could happen? Him appearing on TV?

Steven grimaced and got up from his vantage point in his room. Maybe getting slaughtered in a Duel while everyone he knew watched wasn’t such an attractive prospect, but that probably won’t happen, he consoled himself as he picked up Duel Simulator Headset, he would practice more than ever. And maybe, just maybe, he might come out on top. Grinning, Steven flicked the headset on, and began to prepare.



“You feeling alright?”

“Yeah, yeah...I’ll be fine.”

Another house was being treated to a visit by the blimp, and its occupant, while having glanced at it, now sat lying on his bed, simply staring upwards.

“I just...don’t know if I want to do this or not.” Ryuu added softly, tilting his head slightly towards the cards sitting on his mantlepiece.

“I wouldn’t want to manipulate you, but it might be a good experience for us. We would get to test our skills, and improve even more.”

The other voice was heard by none outside Ryuu’s room, as it was his Duel Spirit, Shaddoll Herald. While the room appeared empty other than him, Ryuu could see the transparent glow of his companion standing by his card, looking at him intensely.

Ryuu turned back to the ceiling, his arm moving across his leg. “I... I guess that works… but do you really, really think I can do it?”

“Of course,“ Herald responded, his purple eyes softening somewhat as Ryuu’s eyes caught a flicker of many more dark beings around him, “We’re all here for you.”

Ryuu’s mouth twitched as he twisted his body to get off his bed. Grabbing the one deck from above his bed, he stood up and put on the jacket hanging on the edge of his door. With one last look behind himself at the blimp, floating off to another part of town, Ryuu stepped out of the door. Herald’s eyes lingered on the blimp for a slightly longer period, his eyes hardening again, but then he too stepped out the door, walking after his Duelist, being sure not to leave him alone.

[0PxPz0]

After seeing the blimp pass by his classroom it had been all Sota's students had talked about the rest of his lecture, although he hadn't stopped them for sheer curiosity. On his way home it passed him again reminding him what some of the excited students had said

 

"Whoever's able to beat Tendra could change the dueling scene entirely!"

"Is it true?" He thought

"Could this finally be my chance?"

 

When Sota arrived home he quickly set down his things and went straight to his "workshop", at least that's what he called his bedroom, he quickly began sorting the wires and motherboards strewn about until he saw it sitting neatly on his computer desk.

 

"Of course"

 

He muttered as he walked over and picked up the black dueldisk decorated with sharp green lines, Sota looked in the deck holder and grabbed it's contents, quickly going through his deck.

 

"I could use these again."

 

He thought as he passed each monster, spell , and trap.

 

"Whoever can beat Tendra can change dueling, i want to be that person."

 

He said decisively, as if to assure himself, Sota took one last glance at the lines of coding on his computer making up his life long goal.

 

"And when i do" he thought 

"I can finally show you to the world." 

 

With that he placed his deck back into the dueldisk and walked out the door.

[Wind Rider]

Sitting on the roof of his apartment, Akira was listening to one of his more quiet tracks when the loud announcement from a blimp in the sky caught his attention. "Heh, looks like Tendra managed to beat another challenger, man I feel sorry for anyone who duels him," Akira stretched his arms as he got to his feet, the announcement on the blimp continued on about challenging Tendra at the Calisdo King Tournament, "I'm not one for showing off, but I guess this would be a good way to meet some other skilled duelists." With that said, Akira walked to the edge of the roof and looked down at an open window, his room from where he got on to the roof. Climbing back down into his room was no problem for Akira as his athletic form allowed him to climb, run, and swim very well for that matter.

 

Once in his room, Akira moved to his dresser and took his deck from the top of it, he looked through to make sure everything was in place, he paused however to look at one monster in his extra deck, grinning he said, "Let's Rock, Hyper Burst," he put his deck into a pocket on his trench coat and proceeded to leave his room before turning to a picture on his dresser, the photo was of a young girl in a wheelchair with a younger Akira standing beside her both smiling for the camera, beside the picture laid a music disc with the name Harmony on it, Akira took the music disc and put it with his others in a booklet and put it back into a large pocket, "Might as well bring this, with this tournament I'll need to stay really calm," he looked one last time at the picture before leaving his room for the upcoming tournament.

[JessicaMuddy]

 

Ignoring the turbulence of the aircraft, Tendra returned from the bar, a tall wine glass in hand, and sat at the table, his stiff leather chair not budging an inch. After taking a sip of the sparkling alcoholic drink, he placed the glass on the light wooden table, and reclined into his chair, waiting.

 

Moments later, a fellow in a pale grey suit approached the city's strongest duelist, and sat at an identical brown chair across from him.

"What business does your company want with me?" Though this was a question, Tendra expressed it like a statement, making the man listening shuffle uncomfortably in his seat, an expression of weariness already set on his face.

"Well, as you know, every time you host one of these tournaments your title of-"

"My title of Calisdo King is put in jeopardy, correct?" The businessman flinch as Tendra voice rose, but was glad he didn't have to be the one explaining the insurance policy to the champion.

"I'm sure your silly little group knows that both times I've put my honor on the line like this I've signed with them, so why would I not this year?" Tendra's expression was to be taken absolutely seriously, his arms now crossed and his face frowning. The businessman, who looked like no fighter, re-adjusted his glasses and averted his eyes from the Duel Champion for a brief moment, before mustering up the courage to speak again.

"W-Well, you know," He began. Tendra's look remained unaltered. "Things can change, a-and we were just wondering..."

"Did I not just give you my answer?" Tendra said, once more interrupting the suited man. "Well, where do I sign?"

 

 

 

"SOOOOO CUUUUUTE!" The sight of a fangirl was common around the southern shopping district, and that was because Sam, the 25-year old woman, was fawning over a chibi of one of her favourite monsters, Dark Magician Girl's most recent "Super Girl Mode". The model donned a blackened version of the original DMG's outfit, with the back of the torso piece extending like a cape, down to her feet.

 

As the eager girl slammed the model's containment on the front desk, a rather soulless looking man scanned the barcode on the back of the box, and held out his hand. Rather boringly, he said:
"That'll be 29.99, please."

"Are you kidding me?!" The girl started. She hadn't even pulled out her wallet, and already knew something was wrong. "That's all you say?! This new mode hasn't even appeared in the anime yet! It's only existed in black and white in the manga, but now that you've got a sneak peek of it at your store, all you have to say it how much it costs?! This is special! A relic! You disappoint me, good sir." After finding the correct amount of change, Sam let it drop into the glass bench top, took her Magician Girl, and left.
 

After returning to the crammed apartment she happily called home, Sam flopped onto the couch, and tore open the box, then placed the Magician Girl on her stomach. She reached her hand into the box once more, and pulled out an almost flat plastic wrapper, and looked at one of the cards inside. Suddenly, a brown-haired girl stepped out into the lounge room.

"You got the new one?" The girl was Alice, Sam's roommate. Both were massive anime nerds, but that was the number one reason their relationship was still intact.

"Yeah, but the stupid dub called the new Super Magician Girl a Heroine Magician Girl again. Hey, at least I get another Heroine's Crest."

"Man, localization sucks. At least we know two of the forms now. What'd the dub call it?"

"Heroine Magician Girl Incredible Illusionist."

 

[ChampionZero]

In a small, "abandoned" inn near the outskirts of town, Drago stood, one foot raised, hands together, meditating in the garden/hot spring. He wore a robe, but not on his upper half, letting the sun warm his chiseled chest. In his mind, he stood in a different place; A hill, a grand cherry tree, with the pale petals swirling around him. The tree split into two broad sets of branches, and he stood on a third protrusion, shaped oddly like a head.

 

Something troubles you, Drago. The tree said, the branches shifting with the wind.

 

"You're correct, Mu Long."  Drago noted calmly. The Wood Dragon creaked loudly, a sort of sighing noise.

 

I would like to know what it is.

 

"I haven't had a challenge in ages. I mean a real one, where we had to earn our victory, not just take it like we were picking up an order at some to-go restaurant. I need something new."

 

Suddenly, the warmth of the sun was cut off, and Drago stood in a shadow. Opening his eyes, he looked up to a blimp. The screen told of the Calsido King Tournament, and a chance to fight Tendra Thunderham! Drago planted his other foot and folded his arms. Finally, the blimp passed, the sun struck his face and chest again, and he allowed himself to smile.

 

"Huh." He said aloud, though no one could hear him. "Wish granted, much?"

 

***

 

Within minutes, his robe was hung up in his closet, and the dark-skinned boy was running out the door with a bag over his shoulder and a grin so wide you'd need a bridge to cross it.

 

Tendra Thunderham, we are taking you down!

 

[cardgameking]

---

In a small, sparse apartment, Ken was trying to remain asleep. After years at Cyber Dojo, where waking up at 5 in the morning was mandatory, he wake up automatically a half an hour before that. It was something Ken kept trying to beat out of himself, but to no avail. He had lay awake in bed, pretending to be asleep, for nearly five hours before cursing and getting up.

"I swear, if I ever encounter anyone from the Dojo..." he muttered, rolling onto the floor. The apartment, a 'gift' from a rich kid with a stutter who Ken had helped with bullies, was sparse, and Ken only really used to sleep in. He usually ate at a cafe nearby, where after he had had a discussion with the manager, he got breakfasts free. Grinning with the though of the scrambled eggs and toast awaiting him, Ken opened the curtains, spilling light onto his red hair and the carpetless floor. He turned, and changed into a tanktop and jeans before glancing at the window again, and frowned. He stared for a moment at the blimp outside, before shaking his head.

"Didn't I say I was going to enter that...? Tch, I better before someone ups me one and does it first..." Before this point, he had avoided joining tournaments, only because it might draw Cyber Dojo's attention to him and that it'd piss them off if they knew he wasn't using their training as intended. However, boredom and the occasional snips from people he though cowed told him that joing the tournament may be for the best. With new resolve, Ken headed for the door, pausing momentarily to pick up his deck and duel disk. The duel disk was of a modern make, replacing the metal blade with a solid blade version, in this case bordered in gray. The disk also had a number of other features, such as keeping a timetable and as Ken flicked through it he noticed he had intended to sign up, as he had made a note to that effect.

Leaving the building, Ken decided to forgo breakfast for the time being in favour of an early lunch after signing up. With that in mind, he headed to where his GPS told him there was a sign up point, and he knew he was likely to encounter at least one of the various bullies, thugs and general asses who had to pay him if they wanted to continue picking on others. Cracking his neck, Ken walked down the road, ignoring the occasional angry grunt as he simply pushed people out of his way.

Tendra's going to be toast...

[SpasmicUnitato]

In a small park near his house, Takao laid on a bench, throwing a plain blue ball into the air and catching it. He had woken up an hour ago and still had some sleep in his eye. Takao caught the ball then his arms dropped to the sides of the bench.   "This got real boring, real fast, didn't it..." Takao let go of the ball, and it rolled down the pavement of the path, as it jumped little bits over cracks. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the sun, although it failed.

 

 

Takao used his forearm to cover his eyes while the sun started to glare a little more for him. This glare of the sun was starting to cut off, curious, Takao raised his forearm to see a blimp. He read the screen. "This could seem interesting...", Takao sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes "Huh, looks like there is something to get ready for now." Takao stood up and ran up the pathway to his house. He could imagine himself in a big stadium, dueling a champion. He wanted to make that a reality.

[Yui]

---

"You should really start working here full-time," a young man said to Morgan. Around her were buckets, gloves, and boots. The room smelled heavily of fish, which could be seen in large barrels throughout the room. "You're really good with the animals, and they seem to like you."

 

"Just getting to see the penguins is enough pay," Morgan simply smiled in response. "The way they waddle around is so cute!" Indeed, Morgan was in one of the staff rooms of the local zoo, having just finished up volunteer work for the day. It was pretty simple work, to be honest. Clean up after the penguins and feed them some fish. The flightless birds had grown a fondness of Morgan over the last few months, and the feeling was very much mutual. "Rocco's getting fat by the way," she added, referring to one of the penguins. "Is he exercising?"

The unusually bright and cheery air about Morgan had faded away by now, but the fish smell was still lingering. Morgan didn't mind; it was one she enjoyed, in fact. Looking up to the skies above Seadown, she took into consideration what she should do next. And while she'd been having a hard time finding what to do, fate seemed to determine that what to do would find Morgan instead. Up above was a blimp, advertising the champion Tendra Thunderham. One could challenge him by entering the Calisdo King Tournament.

 

Well, not like she had anything better to do. Now then, where were sign-ups supposed to be for that again? If Morgan remembered, it would be...

 

That way.

[JessicaMuddy]

 

Tendra continued to sit where he was, now alone in the lounging area of the slowly moving vehicle. After remaining by himself for quite some time, the man stood up and walked over to a window, and looked down at the Seadown City Duel Arena below, the mid-day sun glaring onto his pale face that desperately needed it. The Colosseum below looked like the commonly used metaphor of an ant, with the crowd standing outside it only a tiny speck.

 

A man stepped into the spacious room, his face unknown to Tendra because of the always worn tinted black sunglasses. "Sir, the opening ceremony starts in an hour. It would be wise to begin preparing."

"Thank you."

 

 

 

Sam stood among the insanely huge crowd, waiting in the ludicrously long line, which don't appear to move for a good ten minutes, even though many were making their way inside the arena. Suddenly, a loud crackling caught the attention of many in the line, and a woman's voice started to speak loudly and clearly.

 

"Would all contestant please make their way to the secondary line!"

 

A good fifty people stepped out of the swarm of people, including Sam, and all made their way to the side entrance, just to the right of the main one. As Sam walked over, her mind flashed back to mere hours beforehand, where her anime viewing was rudely interrupted by her roommate.

 

 

"Dude, you have to enter this thing going on tonight!" Alice shouted from another room. Sam only responded with a loud grunt as if to say "No thanks". The brunette then approached her BFF and paused the newest episode of "St Joan the Holy Legend", just as the duel monster dug her sword through the enemy's gut.

"No dude, you don't understand. You remember that hottie, Tendra Thunderham?"

"Oh you mean that duel champion? Yeah Tendon Lightningbacon isn't one I'd call hot-"

"Shut up you. He's got a tournament going on tonight! You should totes enter with your new Magician Girls and show him what you're made of!" Alice had stars in her eyes, begging her roomie to enter on behalf of her.

"You wish." Sam turned back on the show, cackling as the Hitotsu-Me Giant muttered a rather rude statement under its breath, shriveling up into a green crystal.

 

Alice paused the show again.

"Do it bro."

Sam ignored her and started the show once more, but Alice quickly paused it another time.

"Do it bro!"

"Ughhh... FINE." Although Sam really did love her friend, it was things like this that displeased her, to be put nicely.

 

 

 

There was still another hour 'till the opening ceremony, and about four hours before the qualifying round started, so Hayato relaxed at the local cafe scanning through his Deck. Flame Brothers flooded the set of cards, with only a rare few not conforming to the name of the archetype. "I'll show Ben. Tendra's gonna be nothing more than a loser like him after I'm through with the final battle." Making confidence for himself was a common habit of Hayato, but so was breaking that confidence. Thinking back to that card Big Ben showed him, a shiver ran down Hayato's spine.

 

That Overlord of the Underworld was certainly no pushover.

 

 

[spoiler=OOC]

So, a small timeskip here. You can be at the arena, signing up if you want, or you can still be hanging around doing something else. Just note that after a couple more posts (including Soulfire's) I'll be doing the opening ceremony for the Calisdo King Tourney, so if you want your character to see that, they should be at the arena.

 

 

[Dova]

Standing at the edge of the crowd, just through the entrance, Steven was realizing the futility of having a phone call during such a big event.

“It’s a shame you couldn’t make it!” he almost yelled into the device held next to his head, “It would’ve been nice to see you here, Hitoshi!”

On the other end of the line, Steven’s older friend grinned sheepishly. “I wish it was as simple as me avoiding playing against you on TV, but I am at the beck and call of work!”

“Come on, man, couldn’t you have just used some of that free time that’s so sparingly handed out, especially after you were the one who convinced me to enter?” Steven responded jokingly, managing to enter a nearby cafe and gain temporary relief from the relentless noise of the people outside.

“You know I used that up during our last dueling spree,” Hitoshi chuckled, glancing at the reflection of the road to Seadown in his car’s mirror, “But in any case, I’ll be watching your progress. It’s not like it will be hard to view the stream, not with everyone around here eager to see Tendra stay at the top or be brought to the bottom.”

“Fair enough. I’ll call you back when I have something interesting to tell you!”

“You do that! Best of luck, Steven.”

“Thanks, you too.” Steven hung up the call, then slumped into a nearby chair. After managing to obtain a milkshake, he slouched over the table in front of him, his mind flicking over the many hours spent dueling before this exciting event, practicing combos and contingency plans.

We’ll get something interesting to talk about, he thought, smiling, as he glanced towards the slight bulge in his pocket. Something for all of Seatown to talk about.



“Thank you, have a good time!”

Ryuu nodded at the girl behind the signup stand as he handed her his application form. It shouldn’t have taken much time to fill in, with information like how much dueling experience he had, how many tournaments he had participated in, but he had had kept losing focus as he thought about the duels ahead of him. Or duel, singular. Best not to keep one's hopes too high.

As he sat down, Ryuu looked up the rows of chairs in the room just through the entrance, and taking in the varied entrants. As his eyes swept back the other way, he caught sight of a shadowy figure standing just to his side. Although the sight of people walking back and forwards through his Duel Companion would be weird for some, Ryuu had grown used to it.

Shaddoll Herald knew better than to start a conversation here, as destroying Ryuu’s reputation by having him talk to what appeared to be thin air would not be the best thing to do for him. But Ryuu seemed to be able to read what words Herald had been wanting to say. He smiled for longer this time at the ethereal spirit, and proceeded to nod again. He knew they were in this together.

[Wind Rider]

The stadium was certainly going to be packed with so many people waiting in line. "Heh, I can't even tell who's a duelist or not, ah well I guess I can just wait until the line dies down," At that moment, the crackling of a speaker caught Akira's attention. "Would all contestant please make their way to the secondary line!" Almost immediately, a large group of people moved from the line to the second entrance. "Well, that clears up who's a duelist and who isn't, might as well go since we've got a shorter line," Akira said as he walked into his place in the line.

 

Shorter or not, it'll still take a bit to get into the stadium. Akira took this time to study some of the duelists, a couple caught his eye especially the young lady in front of him in the line. She wore some kind of a hoodie that looked as if it had cat ears or some other animal ears on the hood part. She certainly had a cute look to her and if seemed like a good time to make friends, but as of now they were in a line with other waiting duelists, maybe introductions can be made in the stadium lobby. "Well, might as well pass the time." Akira took his headphones from his neck and placed them on his head tuning his music player to one of his favorite songs. It was loud enough for those closer to him to hear, but Akira didn't acknowledge that as he was drawn into his music.

 

https://youtu.be/2uzRQV0oMHg

[ChampionZero]

"Heh. Look at this place. It's freakin' packed!" Drago laughed, practically shouting. The boy was wearing nothing from waist to neck but a set of bandages on his forearms a nice pair of dark grey jeans, and of course, his waist-length braid was kept back with a set of rings. As usual; he was turning heads all around himself. Then the speakers announced that the duelists had their own line, and he laughed again, stepping into it. "That's better," He groaned, rolling his shoulders in a subtle attempt to show off his muscles to those who were looking at him. Glancing over his shoulder, he caught sight of a girl just behind him, in a cat hoodie?

 

Keep focused.

We may have to face her.

...

Show no mercy.

But remain patient.

 

Drago winced at the onslaught of advice from the dragons. "OK, jeez!" He muttered, shaking his head, the heavy braid swinging dangerously close to the person behind him.

[SpasmicUnitato]

Takao stepped into the secondary line, looking ahead at all the duelists 'They all seem like strong opponents...' Takao didn't expect it to be easy, of course some of the strongest duelists would try to defeat the champion, that was a no-brainer, but he never expected the amount of people that were there. How did they organize this many matches? 'This is gonna be exhausting...'

 

Takao was pretty impatient, 1 minute after he had entered the line, he wondered when it would start. He was getting pretty bored so he tried to talk to the person in front of him, although they gave a pretty scary stare and ignored him. "This is boring...", Takao eagerly waited for the announcement that the duels were starting, struggling to stay patient.

[0PxPz0]

Sota had been waiting in the duelist line for quite some time, alternating between examining his opponents and polishing his dueldisk with his sleeve, it was an older model that used a metal blade, practically a relic at this point but that made it all the better for his modifications to it.

 

"Hopefully I'll get to show off it's special features"

 

he thought as he looked at the device, making sure all the pieces were in place. Sota glanced at his possible opponents after being satisfied with his examination of his "toy" as he called it, very few people interested him, mostly just kids with wide eyes hoping to make it into the big leagues but there were a few he could easily tell were serious, a girl with a cat eared hoodie

 

"Probably some anime fan-girl"

 

he decided. Then there was the strange young shirtless male

 

"Seem energetic at least."

 

eventually he got bored looking around and just silently waited for the line to move.

[вєgσттєη ιηѕαηιту]

---

 

Their blades were serrated and whooshed loudly through the air as they slashed towards Kyoko's face. She stumbled as she tried to turn and run away, landing backwards onto her bottom. with a wince she frantically scooted herself backwards, away from her pursuers, away from three boys she once considered brothers.

Their jeans were splattered lightly with blood, she couldn't remember whose it belonged to. With each push her legs slipped further and further out away from her, making it difficult to keep her distance from the boys who grinned menacingly at her.

They were toying with her, keeping their distance and slashing their blades only enough to leave her with minor cuts. She screamed-

An abrasive tapping woke Kyoko from her nightmare. Her clothes were damp with sweat, regardless of the fact that the linoleum underneath her was nearly freezing. She wiped the drool off of her cheek and pushed herself to a sitting position.

"Hey! Whoever is in there get out before I call security!"

Kyoko shook her head, she was still groggy from a rough sleep. The bathroom was not by any means clean. There was trash and grime littered all across the bathroom floor and she could feel something sticky on her cheek.

"Yeah, yeah... One more minute," she called out to the aggressive man on the other side of the door. It took only two minutes for her to collect her things into her backpack and splash water on herself. Her hair was tousled, and her eyes had deep dark spots underneath them, but she was alive. That was what mattered.

She unlocked the door to the single person bathroom and brushed passed the man who grunted something obscene about disrespectful teens. There were nearly a hundred people crowding the inadequately sized subway station. The brick and concrete architecture informed her that the building had been built many years before she was even conceived, possibly even before her mother. It was a relic among the advanced technology that surrounded her and distracted many of the patrons.

If it weren't for all of the glowing screens the hollow room would feel like a cellar. A dark, cold, and moist room filled with useless junk that no one knew what to do with. This room, unlike a cellar, was full of life and that life was bustling to get out to the real world. As she walked trough the crowd aimlessly Kyoko heard people talking about the Calisdo King Tournament and how they were ready to take on the current champion Tendra Thunderham.

It only took a moment of consideration before Kyoko decided she was going to compete. She needed to observe the most powerful duelists possible and learn from them. She needed to know true power.

The crowd moved slowly, much too slowly for the amount of energy that the other presumed entrants were spouting. Kyoko kept her head down and flowed with the crowd until she was greeted with a bright, blinding sun that flared up a migraine in the back of her head. It took a while for her headache to settle but once it had she heard a soft jingle off in the distance that was slowly growing louder.

A large blimp with a holographic screen was approaching high up in the air and many people around her groaned as the sound grew louder. She on the other hand found the tune to be rather amusing, almost quaint and calming.

The blimp read "The duel champion,Tendra Thunderham! Challenge him tonight, by entering the Calisdo King Tournament!" in bright flashing colors overlaying the persona of a rather handsome (but abhorrently cocky) male whom she assumed to be Tendra Thunderham. The sight of the current champion only furthered the excitement building within those around her, and after waiting hours to reach the stadium she heard someone over the loudspeaker directing participants.

"Would all contestants please make their way to the secondary line!"

Kyoko stepped out of line, creating a gap behind her that filled quicker than it had been created, and joined approximately fifty others in the second line. She found herself standing directly behind a quirky girl dressed in a stereotypical cat eared hoodie. The girl appeared lost in thought but Kyoko could sense her ditzy nature and instantly regretted hopping lines.

She couldn't wait to get inside the coliseum and away from the dense crowds.

---

[cardgameking]

Ken was going from quite a good mood to an angrier one. He had arrived at the stadium a bit later then perhaps he should have in order to sign up, but a little name dropping had gotten him in the upper half of the line. Unlike further back, most of the people here weren't going to surrender their place and Ken resigned himself to waiting. His stomach growled painfully, adding to his annoyance. At this point, an announcement was made asking contestants to move to the secondary line, for whatever magical reason bureaucrats love to fingle with. Ken's expression visibly darkened as he headed to the line.

I swear, the first I duel is so- he began to think, but was interrupted by some shouting from further up in the line.

"Heh. Look at this place. It's freakin' packed!" Ken craned his neck to get a look at who was shouting. The shouter cut a strange, and for Ken, an unnerving figure. Topless, with arms bound in bandages, and wearing a pair of jeans he would have stuck out even without the weird, braid thing. Ken frowned as he moved into the new line, and the topless man did the same. His appearance was worrying, as it reminded Ken of a couple of his Cyber Dojo sensei. And any of his memories that included the words "Cyber Dojo" weren't ones he would like to even think about. Could he've been sent by the Dojo? To retrieve me?  He guessed the Dojo couldn't keep his disappearance hushed up forever, and that he had the occasional rumour of one of their agents in the city, this was the first one he had himself laid eyes on. The situation grew worse when topless glanced at some girl in a cat hoodie, before suddenly wincing and shaking his head, while muttering. Ken's pulse quickened. He'd seen that behaviour before, in those that could talk to Duel Spirits when their spirits unexpectedly began talking. Let's not jump to conclusions, Ken. He could be anyone, not some supernatural agent. Even so, Ken began to wonder if it too late to back out. To his dismay, he realised it was, as backing down would lower his standing in the city, and he needed the standing to keep up his level of control. Fists tightening, Ken resolved to get in and win this thing but anyone, especially Mr. Topless-Possible-Cyber-Dojo-Agent over there, knew what hit them.

---

[JessicaMuddy]

 

 

Ben stood impatiently at the front of the line, his tapping foot almost making the ground shake with its weight and speed. Since he towered over most of the others in the duelist line, he surveyed the crowd for anyone tough looking. Noticing that Hayato wasn't there, he was almost displeased.

"Guess I scared him off, huh? That's disappointing." It took only a short time for Ben to get his way into the waiting room for the duelists, and when he did... He wanted out. His opponents making friends, forming truces, and trading cards, all being merry with one another. Under his breath, the boy muttered:

"I cannot WAIT to punish all of you." He gritted his teeth, then let out a nasty smirk as he sat down next to a young-looking kid, dressed in black clothing and with almost white-colored hair covered at the top by a black beanie.

 

 

 

Sam first noticed the colorful characters around her the moment she stepped into line. First, a topless hottie who stood right before her eyes, that every now and again shot her curious glances. Behind her, a beautiful young girl with the most perfect green eyes, wasting her looks on being the most grouchy person alive. For a couple moments she was lost in thought on how she could do something to get the girl hyped, but was interrupted by some blaring rock music behind that girl, coming from a boy with piercing red eyes. She thought he looked quite interesting, maybe someone she could talk to in the waiting room.

 

Turning back to what was ahead of her, Sam had to swiftly dodge the hottie's braid, the giant thing looking heavy for just some tied up hair. After ducking from the beastly hairdo, Sam stood back up to see a silver-haired boy ahead of her, and he appeared to analyzing her. Her face quickly turned a bright red, and she turned away.

 

"TO ALL RESIDENTS OF SEADOWN CITY!" A booming voice resonated out of the sky, high above, making many around the city cover their ears. "It is the current Duel Champion, Tendra Thunderham! I am delivering this message to you to tell you that the opening ceremony is soon, and I am pleased to be able to see all of your faces cheering for myself, or a possible new Calisdo King!" The blimp remained above the stadium for this message, and stayed there afterwards.

 

Clearly something was going to happen with the gigantic aircraft.

 

 

 

With nothing to do for the next hour, Hayato decided to eavesdrop on the man at the table behind his.

“Come on, man, couldn’t you have just used some of that free time that’s so sparingly handed out, especially after you were the one who convinced me to enter?” Hayato waited 'till the boy was over before opening his mouth.

"Interesting, you're entering the tournament too?"

 

 

Within the next 45 minutes, all the contestant in line made their way inside.

 

[Dova]

 

Steven looked up at the question posed by the other boy seated near him. “Well, yeah, I guess so. From your phrasing, I’d say I’m not the only one. Pleased to meet you, I’m Steven.”

“Nice to meet you, man. I’m Hayato. Hayato Hebi. Are you pumped for this thing or what?” The blonde boy bounced up out of his seat and sat down adjacent to his new acquaintance.

“You bet!” Steven replied, grinning, “This is my first real tournament, so I’m really eager to see what it’s like. And dueling against Tendra…” He shook his head. “I wouldn’t imagine I could get that far, but that’s gotta be a dream come true. How long have you been playing?”

Hayato was quick to reply. “About 7 years. I started off with crummy mish-mashes of cards, but now I’ve got my trusty…” Hayato placed the Deck of cards in his hand on the cheap plastic table. “Flame Brothers! These guys are great stuff. What about you? What kind of Deck do you run?”

“Well, I-” Steven was quickly cut off a loud voice coming from the tournament area.
 

“TO ALL RESIDENTS OF SEADOWN CITY! It is the current Duel Champion, Tendra Thunderham! I am delivering this message to you to tell you that the opening ceremony is soon, and I am pleased to be able to see all of your faces cheering for myself, or a possible new Calisdo King!”

 

Steven glanced out through the window at the dispersing crowd outside. “Huh, guess it’s starting soon. We should head off.” He stood up, still smiling at Hayato.

“Agreed. Let’s do this thing!” Hayato grabbed his Deck once more and shoved it into a pocket before stepping out onto the sidewalk. “Big Ben’s gonna flip when he sees me ready to compete against him!”

Steven stepped through the door of the cafe after him, as he responded enthusiastically, “Hell yeah!” He paused. “I would answer your question, but, hey, why not keep it a surprise until our inevitable finals?”

Hayato smiled at the boy’s idea. “Great! It’s a deal. If either of us don’t make it to the finals though… We have to pay the other $50!” Putting a bet on something always made it more interesting.

“Agreed!” Steven extended his hand, only to have it knocked aside by a short guy wearing a tank top, barging past the two boys. The offender didn’t seem to have even noticed, set as he was on his course into the Stadium. Steven, sighed, watching him go, then turned back to Hayato, offering his hand again. “Nothing like a bit of friendly competition to start the tournament.”

Hayato shook it with glee, and smiled at the green-eyed boy. “I hear there’s something big for the opening ceremony, sounds fantastic!” Hayato’s mind drifted off to the duel from the night before, and he temporarily blanked out, mindlessly walking along beside his new companion.

 

[ChampionZero]

 

Within the next 45 minutes, all the contestants in line made their way inside.

 

 

Drago was stunned, really and truly, honest-to-god, stunned by the size of the stadium. Seriously, this place was HUGE, the stands were packed, and he was almost speechless.

 

"Oh my god this place is HUGE!"

 

OK, that's a lie. He was far from speechless.

 

"Seriously, how many duels could you fit in here at once? Jesus Christ!" He looked back and forth across the stadium, eyes full of wonder. He hadn't seen something this cool since he first arrived at the monastery! The giant screens, the thousands of screaming onlookers, the grand arena floor, where they would Duel with all their heart in an attempt to pluck the crown from Tendra's dirty blonde head, but not before a clash of titanic proportions! It could only go up from here!

 

I'm amped for no good reason! I wonder what challenges await? What obstacles lie ahead? I can't wait for the Action Duels, filled to the brim with awe and destruction!

 

He stopped staring to note the other people in the waiting room. Turning around, he found a spot on the wall and leaned on it, trying to act casual in a room full of people he had to crush, it wasn't easy.

 

Oh well. Some of the girls here are cute, at least.

[SpasmicUnitato]

Takao was amazed at the size, he knew it would be big, but not this big. "Wow, the wait was worth it..." Takao took out his deck, and looked around "I wonder if this is good enough to compete with everyone..." Takao drew the first card, seeing his favourite monster "... I'm sure i'll be fine." Takao's attention was drawn to the stands, seeing them full, he was starting to get nervous. He hoped he wouldn't embarrass himself, but seeing all the strong duelists got him excited!

 

'The duels will start soon, right?' Takao thought to himself, while still eyeing other duelists, imagining what types of decks they would use. Takao extended his duel disk, placing the deck in... "Well, i'm ready... I hope I don't mess up!"

[Wind Rider]

The line moved along and Akira soon found himself in the enormous stadium, crowds of people cheered in the stands, the excitement for the tournament was high. "Never been in something this big..." Akira placed his duel disk on his arm, it was a newer model than some that the other duelists were using and it had a black coloration with red music notes patterned on it. "Don't know when it will start, might as well get ready," Akira looked to see that most of the duelists were heading to the lobby to wait for the event. "Welp... Time to socialize..."

 

The lobby was loud with the talk of duelists, some didn't look like the types to talk with others, while most were chatting about favorite cards, strategies, and their reasons for signing up for the tournament. He noticed the girl in the hoodie was there, as well as a shirtless duelist who definitely had an intense aura around him, indeed a few of these duelists had an aura about them that set them apart from the others. "Interesting... To say the least, this may just end up being an intense tournament after all..." Akira's eyes flared at the thought of this, but now was the time for friendly conversations, not dueling. Akira walked over to the girl in the hoodie, she didn't seem to notice him so he might have surprised her. "That's a cute hoodie you got there... Man, this tournament sure seems like a big deal, even if it's just a means of dueling that "champion" Tendra, names Akira, and you are?" Akira tried to sound as polite as he could considering he had his music blaring from his headphones behind her.

[ChampionZero]

Drago burst into laughter and doubled over, clutching his sides. He wiped a tear from his eye, saying "You... you put air-quotes! Around the word champion! That's just... Just..." He sank to his knees and tried desperately to hold back the hilarity. Needless to say he failed, and ended up howling with laughter. "AAAAAHAHAHA! That is hilarious, man! High-five!" He holds up his hand weakly.

 

Aaaand, the attempt to look cool and mysterious lasted about twenty seconds.

Well, he's still got his sense of humor. And good looks.

 

"My sides!" Drago has, at this point, fallen into the fetal position and is dying of laughter, while still trying to high-five Akia. "Oh god, my sides!" He giggles, rolling onto his back and wiping his forehead with his bandages. "I'm sweating, man!"

[Dova]

Still sitting, daydreaming, in the waiting room, Ryuu was jolted out of his thoughts by the heavy footsteps coming from the entrance. There were many big people around, true, and loads of footsteps already, but these sounded like they were coming from a new Goliath.

Ryuu quickly looked up to try and find the source of these noises, and caught a glimpse of the best definition of a bully if he ever saw one. Sour expression, dark hair, fit as nobody’s business, with a black and grey theme throughout. Lovely.

What if you just caught him at a bad time? Don’t judge a book by it’s co-

“I cannot WAIT to punish all of you.”

Never mind then.

As the giant sat down next to him, Ryuu stood up without hesitating. Pausing for a minute to glare at the offender, he strode forward, Shaddoll Herald easily keeping pace.

Cocking his head, the Duel Spirit asked, “Don’t tell me you’re leaving just because of that.”

“I won’t then,” Ryuu replied, a little witheringly it must be said, all the while trying to keep lip movement and sound to a minimum, “Far too many people. He was just the last straw. I’ll just stay some where I can actually have some time at least somewhat alone until the tournament is about to begin.”

Nodding at the receptionist again, he continued walking purposefully forward, turning the entrance into an exit. While the chatter of people did not die down in the slightest, the crowd seemed a little less pressing than a few seconds ago.

“Look at this!” Ryuu gestured to the mass of people around him. “Hundreds of people here, and not one looks uncomfortable. You’d think that with so many of them, at least one would think there was a better way of doing things.”

“I beg to differ,” replied the spectral figure next to him, also raising an arm to point. Casting his eyes in that direction, Ryuu caught sight of a person standing in the contestant line who clearly was not comfortable. Wearing a sleeveless hoodie with red - no wait, blonde - hair, the girl, looked like she would rather be anywhere else but here, even as she neared the end of the line.

“Might I suggest that you go over and introduce yourself?”

“What?!” Ryuu did a double-take, staring at Herald. “Why?”

His companion approximated a shrug. “It would be best to not go alone in a tournament like this. An ally could be invaluable, especially one who shares at least one thing with you. Besides,” he added, and Ryuu could imagine him smiling, “It’s not like experience in this sort of thing would be-”

Ryuu scowled, and set off towards the girl. His friend could be a tad irritating at times, but he should’ve gotten used to it by now. And anyway, he was right. Going this alone, while preferable, was not the greatest idea anyone had ever had.

[0PxPz0]

Eventually when the duelists had moved to a waiting room Sota decided he needed to make an ally if he would have any chance

 

"Who to pick?"

 

He looked around and saw the the shirtless guy with the big hair braid and that girl with the cat ears from before

 

"She blushed when she saw me, i suppose it's something"

 

he thought as he walked over and greeted the the girl

 

"At least she's not some kid" he mused.

"So, this place is pretty cool isn't it?"