Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or any of its affiliates.
Warnings: Hint of blood and violence in this chapter.
Chapter 1: Modern Day Samurai
Neo Domino City. The city of the future.
Located on mainland Japan, it was described to be the most ideal place to live in the world. As a result, the city became reserved for more of the upper class, with the middle class barely able to gain a foothold in the city.
Ironically, the riches Neo Domino bought with its citizens also created one of the poorest areas of the world, Sattelite. Even with the opening of the Daedalus Bridge, the ruined sector still remained below world society norms.
While it is true that Sattelite was now actually habitable and somewhat better due to investors, the bare fact is that the region still remains an underprivileged area, with Yugioh the only true escape route. Perhaps that's why the game is so popular in Neo Domino city…
But nonetheless, this isn`t a documentary on Neo Domino. This is a story about a group of unlikely friends, about a mixing of personalities, about a team of determined duelists who had the power to change the future. The most interesting part? All of them were pretty much minors.
The fate of the world in the hands of young people. Sounds legit. Let`s begin!
O O O
The store keeper was busy wiping down the countertop, trying to clean all the filth off the cheap plaster. Despite the furious effort, the dirt and whatever else was on the surface refused to come off. Just like everything in Satellite.
The aging man gave up and tossed the rag onto the practically empty cashier. Even though he still had faithful customers like the blue haired boy in the back, the store keeper found it harder every day to believe that his store would survive. Crime was going up, so prices rose as well. Some of his fellow colleagues had already succumbed to the pressure and left for a better life somewhere else.
However, the store keeper could not bear to move away. He was the only one who could help the people in this area. So, he stayed for the sake of pity.
"Hands in the air! Nobody move!" A trio of masked men with duffel bags barged into the store, guns blazing.
On second thought, maybe it was a bad idea.
"Don`t hurt me!" The store keeper cried, dropping to his knees. "Please, just take anything you want and leave!"
"That`s Draco`s plan." While one of the robbers pushed the elderly man against the wall, the other two started exploring the store, taking a look around.
"What the- There`s only food here!" One of the men shouted, taking a box and stomping on it in frustration. "Dammit!"
"Don`t!" The store keeper gasped. "That food is for the- ARGH!"
"Shut it!" The boss of the robbers cocked his gun. He was ironically the least disguised of the three: wearing only a small mouth mask to cover his scarred face, blue eyes, and black hair. "There`s one thing Draco knows all shops sell: cards. Keep looking!"
"Right boss!" The two eventually struck jackpot: a shelf in the back with a few card packs. Only one problem: somebody was already at it.
Meet Shizaru Oda. The Samurai Duelist.
Shizaru was trying to remember which pack the card was in: Samurai Assault or Storm of Ragnarok? Packs with Six Samurai cards were hard to come by these days, and he had already checked several stores in Neo Domino city to no success. Damn Illusionary Industries for keeping them out of production!
Lucky for him, he spotted this old shop. Unluckily for him, he didn`t even notice the robbers and was wearing his Neo Domino outfit: a white samurai robe with a matching white slacks but with a stark black shirt.
An outfit that practically screamed "I HAVE MONEY, COME ROB ME!"
"Dammit, which one?" Shizaru growled, comparing the two packs.
"Hey you! Hands in the air!" One of the robbers slammed a gun barrel into the back of Shizaru`s short blue hair. "This is a robbery!"
"Excuse me, but- what?"
"A robbery! Give me your wallet and phone now!" The robber pressed his gun harder against Shizaru`s head and caused the 17 year old boy to scowl.
"You are robbers? As in people who steal stuff from others?" Shizaru casually asked, dropping both card packets back onto the shelf.
"What are you, deaf?" The robber pulled back his gun and prepared to pistol whip Shizaru. It never carried through.
The minute Shizaru felt the gun barrel pull away, he made his move. The blue haired boy slid his left foot backwards in an arc, dropping his height and knocking down the robber behind him. At the same time, Shizaru placed his left hand into the back of his robe and took out a hidden bamboo sword sheathe, drawing an elegant sapphire colored katana. Without any mercy, Shizaru slashed downwards at the robber, careful to make it only a shallow wound.
The robber`s scream of pain echoed throughout the store as the steel sliced through the skin with no effort. No organs damaged, but plenty of pain and bleeding. Good, no lawsuit.
"What the heck!" The other robber aimed and fired repeatedly. Since bullets can`t really be sliced mid-air like the movies, Shizaru rotated to his right, effectively dodging the projectiles and moving close enough to his target. With a single slice, Shizaru`s blade shattered the handgun. Another slice brought the robber down screaming and clutching at his bleeding arm.
"Hmph. Too easy." Shizaru flicked his blade, cleaning it of blood before putting the sharpened steel back. Not one drop of blood on his clothing. Excellent.
He carefully made his way towards the front of the store when the boss ambushed him.
Hearing another click, Shizaru turned and drew back out his katana, its tip barely reaching the final robber`s neck.
"Give up and Draco will let you go," The boss whispered, emerging from the right. He had heard the gun shots and screams (who wouldn`t?), creeping up to Shizaru. His own hand gun was now aimed directly at Shizaru`s head.
"Return the goods you have stolen and you can go," Shizaru icily responded, holding his katana tip over the robber`s neck.
The stalemate lasted for another minute before both of them pulled away, keeping their weapons trained on each other.
"I say we decide this over a duel," Shizaru offered, his eyes never blinking. "Loser will have to comply to the winner`s demands."
"Do you think that Draco will lose?" The robber sinisterly grinned. "Draco is more skilled then his men. Draco will win quite easily against you boy."
"You`re the boss then? That`s good." Shizaru motioned to the gun. "Drop that and I`ll put away my sword."
"Does it look like Draco was born yesterday to you?" The robber snapped at Shizaru. "Drop your weapon first!"
"I can`t; however, I swear upon my honor as a samurai that I will not attack."
"…hmph!" Draco placed the gun on the floor and rummaged around in a duffel bag. He took out a battered looking duel disk and placed it on his arm. "Draco is ready!"
Shizaru, true to his word, sheathed his sword. However, he took the wooden sheathe and held over a weird metal brace on his left hand before twisting the sword inwards. Immediately, the sword sheathe extended itself and formed a semicircle, five card slots clearly appearing. The strange contraption attached to the metal brace and stuck on, firmly on Shizaru`s left arm. Lights blinked on as Shizaru activated his custom duel disk, his deck already placed in the middle of the semicircle.
"That must be worth a lot of money…" Draco greedily said, already eyeing the custom duel disk. "Draco wants! Draco will have!"
"I doubt it."
"DUEL!"
Draco: 8000
Shizaru: 8000
"Draco is first!" The robber drew and grunted in annoyance when looking at his hand. "Set three cards, one monster and two defenses. End."
"Hm...draw!" Shizaru looked at his new card and looked at the facedown cards. "An unknown ambush or a clever bluff…I`ll find out what it is! I activate the Six Samurai United!"
The area in front of Shizaru distorted and mist formed, floating in the air as a weird symbol. "Now, I activate the effect of my monster. Since I have no monsters but you do, I special summon Elder of the Six Samurai in defense mode!"
Shizaru placed the card on a monster slot and pixels appeared on the battlefield. The pixels grew closer together and bonded with each other, forming the image of a machine. The machine was easily a few years old and there looked to be an aging elder man inside the box (ATK/400 DEF/0).
"0 defense? Draco is amused! Draco can smash!"
"Well, first of all, he adds a Bushido counter to Six Samurai United!" As Shizaru spoke, the mist distorted and twisted, eventually forming a single line in front of Shizaru. Ichi, the Japanese symbol for one. "Then, I normal summon the Legendary Six Samurai- Kageki in attack mode!"
The field shook as digital lightning struck down onto the floor, causing a mighty boom as it collided with the hard surface. As the flash of light died away, a man with four arms- two organic, two mechanical- stood in the blast area, wielding two katanas (ATK/200 DEF/2000).
"Effect monster, so Draco activates Pulling the Rug!" A facedown rose up and revealed itself as a counter trap as Draco flipped the card over on his battered duel disk. "Monster is negated and destroyed!"
"Ngh!" Shizaru shielded himself as the newly summoned samurai fell through a fake trap door that suddenly appeared, bracing as the monster exploded into pixels. "An unfortunate sacrifice, but I still get a second Bushido counter!"
The mist shimmered and distorted once more, this time forming two straight lines. Ni, the symbol for two in Japanese. The mist seemed to glow as it hovered in the air.
"By sending Six Samurai United with two bushido counters to the graveyard, I can draw two cards!" The mist in front of Shizaru dissipated and Shizaru added two more cards to his hand. "I now activate the spell Asceticism of the Six Samurai! I choose one Six Samurai on the field and bless it, summoning another samurai with an identical attack to the field!"
A jug appeared and poured water over the machine on the field, causing it to shine. The water then took the form of a kneeling foot soldier, the water dissolving as a real warrior was revealed underneath the liquid. However, if one were to peer closely at the new monster, they would see it lacked luster unlike its counterpart (ATK/400 DEF/1800).
"I summon Kagemusha of the Six Samurai in defense mode!" The Samurai Duelist announced. "Now, go my Shadow! Tune up Elder of the Six Samurai!"
The kneeling warrior nodded and disappeared, leaving behind two glowing white rings. The rings then surrounded Elder, turning the man and machine into three glowing white stars. "With the honor and power of your brethren, arise! Syncro summon, Legendary Six Samurai Shi-En!"
The rings and stars disappeared, replaced with a tall man in full samurai armor. However, he had mechanical wings on his back and circuits crisscrossed his bamboo armor. The masked man then drew his weapon, an elongated and elegant katana, raising it high above his head in a rallying manner (ATK/2500 DEF/1400).
"Such power…Draco wants!" The man`s eyes seemed to glitter with malice as he looked at the armored warrior on the field. "Draco will get!"
"Don`t count your chickens before they hatch! Shi-En, attack!" The warrior shouted approval and dashed towards the facedown card, using his wings to accelerate faster.
"Hah, another trap card activate! Sakuretsu Armor!" The facedown monster suddenly grew spikes on the back of the card, threatening to impale Shi-En. Just before they struck, a blast of power from Shi-En`s blade struck the spikes, disintegrating them instantly. "WHAT?"
"Shi-En will not allow such cards to activate without his approval!" Shizaru grinned. "Thus, he will negate Sakuretsu Armor and destroy it…along with your facedown monster!"
"Argh!" Draco grunted as the blade of Shi-En sunk through the card, easily destroying it and sending it to the grave. "Draco activates card effect! Needle Worm! Sends top five cards of your deck directly to the graveyard, out of your reach!"
"Hmph." Shizaru watched as five resources from his deck disappear, noting the loss of some samurais. "I`ll end my turn with two facedown cards! Your move!"
"Draco is pleased!" The man drew his card and glanced at his hand. "Book of Moon! Shi-En will now be in facedown defense position!"
A small book appeared on the field as Draco played the spell card, opening up. Immediately, holographic words spiraled out of mystical book and circled Shi-En, whispering words of how one should protect the weak.
"Do not bow down to these lies! Negate that card!" Shi-En raised his blade and sliced easily through the magic, his royal power silencing those who opposed him.
"Hah, you lose now! Lightning Vortex!" Draco revealed another spell card in his hand. "Draco will discard Flying Kamakiri #1 and destroy all face-up monsters on the field!"
"!" Shizaru covered himself as lightning came down and struck Shi-En directly, blasting the powerful syncro monster into smithereens. "Dammit…"
"Draco has two Insect monsters in the graveyard! Remove two! Special summon Doom Dozer in attack mode!" The robber took out the only two monsters in his graveyard and placed them in his duffel bag, never intending to use them again in the duel.
On the field, pixels formed to make it look as though the ground was cracking apart, letting a giant centipede-like creature to emerge from wherever it burrowed. The bug type monster screeched and rose up on half its body, its mandible ominously biting the air with no reason (ATK/2800 DEF/2600).
"Squash puny duelist! Attack Doom Dozer!" The man directed the creature and successfully got it to charge at Shizaru, biting him in the arm. While it was all digital and there was no actual monster, the mind believed there was something biting and thus, perceived pain.
"Argh!"
Draco: 8000
Shizaru: 5200
"Doom Dozer effect! Mill top card of your deck!"
"Not again…" Shizaru watched another one of his prized cards disappear into the graveyard, cursing at the inability to use it.
"Draco needs no defense! Draco ends!"
"About time. Draw!" Another Asceticism? I just need one more card then! "I set a facedown monster and another facedown card before ending my turn!"
"Weak! Draco draws!" Thinking that Shizaru was too stressed to notice, Draco drew two instead of one card. Why?
Well, I`m sure four facedown cards would make any rogue duelist a little antsy. Or determined.
"Draco summons Chainsaw Insect in attack mode!" The ground next to Doom Dozer erupted, revealing an ant-like creature scurrying out of its little hole. Instead of normal mandibles, it had a chainsaw for a mouth (ATK/2400 DEF/0).
"Chainsaws. Great," Shizaru muttered, carefully scanning the field.
"Attack!" Draco ordered and his minions responded. Chainsaw Insect was first, and it tore apart Shizaru`s facedown monster, a kneeling samurai in purple armor (ATK/1500 DEF/1500).
"Thank you for your sacrifice Shinai!" Shizaru called out, drawing a card due to Chainsaw Insect`s effect.
"Doom Dozer, attack directly!"
"This biting will seriously get old soon…" Shizaru complained as the monster bit him again.
Draco: 8000
Shizaru: 2400
"Draco sets a card! Draco wins!"
"Wait…another card…?" Shizaru mentally counted the turns and moves and immediately found a serious problem with the card number. "You have one too many cards! You cheated!"
"So what? You still lose to Draco!"
"You have no honor!" Shizaru shouted, furious at the lack of sportsmanship. "For that, you will suffer a most shameful defeat! Draw!"
It`s over!
"I activate Gateway of the Six!" Shizaru announced, slamming the card into the spell/trap slot.
Gateway of the Six
Continuous Spell Card
Each time a "Six Samurai" monster(s) is Normal or Special Summoned, place 2 Bushido Counters on this card. You can remove Bushido Counters from your side of the field to activate these effects.
● 2 Counters: Target 1 face-up "Six Samurai" or "Shien" Effect Monster; that target gains 500 ATK until the End Phase.
● 4 Counters: Add 1 "Six Samurai" monster from your Deck or Graveyard to your hand.
● 6 Counters: Target 1 "Shien" Effect Monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon that target.
On the field, a massive wooden gate emerged from the ground, chunks of dirt falling as it rose to the ceiling of the small store. It was huge, appearing behind Shizaru to allow room to see. On the entryway was an electronic lock, emblazoned with the mystical crest of the Six Samurai.
"That`s…huge…big money value…" Draco said in a trance.
"Yes, but it`ll never be yours! I summon Hand of the Six Samurai!"
The gates did not open, but it reacted to the summoning. A hooded women clutching a dagger appeared on the field, flames flickering around her (ATK/1600 DEF/1000). A gong sounded and the electronic lock glowed, not brightly, but it was a start.
"Two Bushido counters! I activate one of my facedown cards, another Asceticism of the Six Samurai!" Shizaru pointed to a facedown and it revealed itself as a spell card.
A jug of water appeared once again and poured its contents over the hooded woman. As the flames around her grew brighter, the water took form of a samurai with two sickles. The liquid soon evaporated as flames ignited from within the water, a red armored samurai bearing two curved blades appearing on the field (ATK/1600 DEF/1000).
"A…girl?" Draco gawked at the new monster on the field and laughed. "Impressive last stand! Draco likes!"
"Oh, I`m pretty sure you won`t like Legendary Six Samurai- Mizuho." Shizaru grinned evilly and pointed at his Gateway of the Six. It was now glowing brighter than last time, but not as brilliantly as it could`ve. "Four Bushido counters now! But the numbers aren`t done yet. Since Mizuho is on the field, I special summon a Legendary Six Samurai- Shinai onto the field from my hand!"
A samurai in purple armor appeared again on the field, acting as if it never died the first time. Water gathered in its hands and formed two items, the liquid falling away as it revealed duel studded clubs. The monster swung them experimentally and threateningly before nodding with approval.
"Gateway is up to six now!" Shizaru laughed in anticipation of what was to come. The seal was now shining very brightly, easily at full power. "I activate its effect! By removing four Bushido counters, I can call up a Six Samurai monster into my reserves!"
On cue, the seal lost some power and fell back to a dim illumination, but not before opening halfway. Shizaru was allowed to take his deck out of the slot and fan through it, taking a certain samurai from the deck. "I add another Shinai to my hand!" And with that, the gateway completely closed and sealed itself back up.
"Boring. Draco has already won."
"Not yet! I special summon Shinai onto the field with his effect!" A doppelganger of the purple armored samurai appeared on the field and matched its twin`s actions. "Gateway is back up to four. Now, I activate Mizuho`s effect! By sacrificing one of her comrades, she will destroy a card on the field!"
"What? No!" Draco watched in horror as Hand of the Six Samurai was engulfed in flames…along with his Chainsaw Insect. Both monsters disintegrated, registered as sacrificed and destroyed in the duel.
"But I`m not done yet! I`ll activate Gateway again, bring another Mizuho to my hand, and special summon her since Shinai is on the field!" Shizaru smiled as he picked the monster from the deck and directly summon the female samurai onto the field.
"More women! Draco now likes!"
"Heh, but now I use my new Mizuho to destroy Doom Dozer, and the tribute will be…Shinai!" The two monster disappeared in a burst of fire and all Draco had left now was his facedown card.
"Draco still win. Facedown will devastate you!"
"Then I might as well get rid of it! I activate Shinai`s secondary effect! When tributed, Shinai will give me a last gift of a new Six Samurai from my deck." Shizaru flicked through his deck and laughed. "Since I have two already on the field, let`s get Mizuho number three out with her own effect!"
"Okay, maybe Draco don`t like scary woman now."
"Too late. I`ll get rid of your final card with Mizuho once again!" Shizaru didn`t even bother searching his deck for another samurai with Shinai. The duel was over.
"NO!" Draco gasped as his facedown was revealed and destroyed within the blink of an eye.
"Mirror Force! You little cheat!" Shizaru growled before making his last play. "Facedown activate! Double-Edged Sword Technique! I special summon two Hands of the Six Samurai in attack mode! And before you asked, you gave me my second hand from all that milling!"
"No! This can`t be!" Draco watched in horror as Shizaru`s field was now locked, filled with angry looking warriors.
"Oh, but it is. Like a samurai, a precise strike of 8000 damage." Shizaru gestured once and they attacked without any further order.
Draco: 0
Shizaru: 2400
"Draco is furious! Draco will not give up!" The robber furiously hollered and dove for his abandoned handgun…only to scream as a shallow wound opened up on his chest. He collapsed, unconscious from the incredible stimulus of pain.
"Hmph. That takes care of that!" Shizaru flicked a ruby colored blade up in the air and sheathed it, satisfied that blood no longer stained its crimson beauty. He deactivated his duel disk and placed the two sheathes back in the back of his robe, where nobody, especially Sector Security, would see.
Speaking of which, he heard sirens. The neighbors must`ve heard the gunshots and called the police…
"Dammit! I didn`t get my cards!" Shizaru ranted, quickly stepping over the unconscious body and running to the front of the store….only to get stopped.
"Here." Shizaru turned and saw the elderly shop keeper holding out the two packs of cards he was looking at. "You deserve it. Thank you."
"…ah, it was no problem!" Shizaru replied, taking both packets and stuffing them in his pocket. "Now, I should really get…"
"One last question,." The store keeper firmly said.
Shizaru sighed in exasperation but nodded. One question couldn`t hurt could it?
"Why did you summon all women warriors the last turn to defeat him?"
Sputtering in embarrassment, Shizaru just shook his head and ran.
O O O
"All three robbers successfully detained captain."
"Good, let`s get them back to HQ for interrogation and lock up."
"Yes sir!" Captain Lance Hikari of Sector Security sighed as his subordinate took off, entirely exhausted by recent events. First, the unknown demolition of an abandoned building. Then a break in at a building marked for demolition. Now a vigilante on the loose?
God, he needed a break.