I'm not quite sure what happened, but for some reason this story was really messed up when I reread it. So I decided to just redo it and repost it. It let me change some things. Hopefully it's better now.
This is part of my "Descendants" Series, where I explore the future of our favorite fictional universes. This is supposed to be the next series of Yu-gi-oh, sometime after Zexal. I based a lot of it on the 5-D's ideas, with turbo duels. This is pretty much all my own ideas, except the general themes and some cards aren't mine. They're Konami's I think. There will be an ancient, evil force trying to take over the world, leaving the fate of mankind in the outcome of a children's card game, but not in this chapter. Tell me what you think of the ideas, and also if this should be in a different category. I'm not sure if it should be here. A lot of the cards are my own design. The unpronounceable ones are based on Kanifan mythology.
Just as a note, I named the protagonist Yuri before I knew what that meant. I just picked a Yu- name to go with the Yugi, Yusei, Yuma idea. But now that I know what Yuri means on a site like this, you know what, maybe I'll go with it…
Freedom!
The temporary bliss rushed through the cyclist as she sped down the freeway, the wind blowing the red hair that snuck out from under her helmet. The roar of the wind overpowered the sounds of the rock/metal music blaring from the radio. Her bike was decked out with self-designed dragon decor. With the decorative wings on the sides and with the speed she was going, no one would be surprised if she had started to fly off the freeway.
From behind her, she heard the familiar sound of the police siren and the blue and red flashes in her rearview mirror.
"Fudge monkeys!" she cursed to herself, "Not again!"
The bike cop pulled her over slowly. The officer took off his helmet as he approached the cyclist, revealing a worn face with a large scar on one side.
"Geez Yuri, this makes what? Your 3rd speeding ticket this month?" the officer asked sarcastically.
"Hello to you too, Dad," Yuri replied as she pulled off her helmet, revealing a beautiful face topped with deep red hair. "I know what you're going to say, so you can skip the speech. I'm grounded for a month, right?"
"You always were a bright girl," her father replied. As he began to write up the ticket, a group of motorcycles raced by him. The cyclists all wielded paintball-guns, which they fired at the officer before they sped away.
"That darn Pain Gang! Aaaarrrggghhh!" the officer raged, his uniform covered in red paint. "I'm gona get those guys if I got-Yuri! Go straight to school!" he said as he sped off after the gangsters.
"Well it wasn't like I was going anywhere else," Yuri replied to herself as she sped off down the streets of Mahoning City. This town was once known as Crime City because of the huge poverty levels and the things people did to survive because of that. The Pain Gang was the last vestige of that forgotten era. More of an annoyance then any real threat though. At least they kept him from checking my ride, Yuri thought, remembering the contraband she had in a secret compartment, underneath her schoolwork.
Cut to the Mahoning Academy. As she parked, her eyes caught sight of a duel runner she hadn't seen here before. A rather plain looking one, white with strange black swirls that looked like it might mean something in a different language. She had heard there was supposed to be a new kid coming to school. Maybe (s)he could be the duelist she was looking for?
When she entered the school, she saw Jordan, the local bully (whose bright red hair was styled into large spikes that could easily be mistaken for fire), was harassing some boy she didn't recognize (the new kid?), holding his deck just out of reach.
"Now let me explain how things work here. I'm in charge here. What I say goes. You give me what I want when I want it, no one gets hurt," Jordan ranted to the unidentified kid. Behind him, a fist hit a locker, making a loud noise. Jordan turned to see Yuri with a very determined, and annoyed, look on her face.
"Give the kid his stuff back, Jordan!" Yuri demanded.
"Or what? What'ya gona do 'bout it?" Jordan queried.
"Me? I probably couldn't do anything against you. You could beat me up pretty bad," she responded, "but you know, my dad is a cop, and if someone was to hurt his precious little girl, that someone would probably get into big trouble."
Seeing he was beaten; Jordan started to concede, when he came up with an idea to save his skin.
"Well, Yuri, why don't we settle this like gentlemen," said Jordan. He quickly realized that that sounded awkward talking to a female, "Err, gentlepeople. Since we are arguing over a deck, why don't we duel for it?"
"Why would I do that? What could be in that for me?" Yuri asked.
"If I win, I get his deck and go free. If you win, I give his deck back and go to the office quietly," Jordan bargained.
"And you have to be Carrie for a whole day," Yuri added to the list of conditions. Carrie was the school mascot, a big fluffy red cardinal. While Jordan obviously wasn't happy about the last one, the terms were accepted and the match begun. They both happened to have their duel disks on, so they just dueled were they stood. Being real life, they activated their disks and gazers without any flare, or narrating their motions every second. They agreed to use the old 4000 life point system to save time because first block was only in 6 minutes.
"I'll go first," Jordan said. He drew a card, and did not exclaim that he was drawing a card. Seriously, you can play the game without talking at all if you had to. Why do they all narrate their motions on the show?
"I summon 'Tao Taurus' (1700atk/1200def)," exclaimed Jordan. So he had to narrate a little. A large red bull with cartoonish sized horns appeared in the hallway between the two duelists. He equipped the bull with 'Malevolent Nuzzler' and 'Mage Power' and placed the rest of his hand face down, allowing the numbers to express themselves (4900atk/1200def).
Yuri was unphased. She drew and activated 'Supermassive Dark Hole' without a word. She took off her duel gazer so the bright light of the card would not hurt her eyesight. Everything on the field was utterly devastated. Jordan freaked out at the sight. Both of their life points were reduced by 3000, as per the effect, leaving each with 1000 points. She then simply placed a card on the field, summoning 'Alpha Draco: Titanium Arm' (1700atk/800def). The creature that appeared was a medium sized dragon with hammers instead of hands. She signaled the attack by pointing at her opponent, which sent the dragon into a frenzy as the hologram swiped at Jordan, reducing his life points to 0.
"Could you please hand that man his deck back?" Yuri asked her defeated opponent. He was stunned enough to concede and hand the kid his deck back, then walked to the office to turn himself in.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" the kid thanked his savior at the return of his possessions.
"Don't mention it," replied Yuri, then smiled, "I just like to annoy bullies."
"I have to make it up to you somehow, uh," he paused, "um what was your name again?"
"Yuri. Seriously don't worry about it," she replied, "and what was your name?"
"Alex. But there has to be a way I can make it up to you for helping me out like that. Something. Anything?" Alex begged.
"No you really don't need to-" she began, but then 2 and 2 put themselves together in her head, "Wait, was that duel runner out there in the parking lot yours?"
"Yeah," Alex replied, unsure where this was going.
"Well, then, you can thank me with a turbo duel tonight at the stadium," Yuri suggested as the bell rang for class.
"Wait! When? And how do I get in? It's closed!" Alex asked as Yuri sped off to class
"Met me in the parking lot at 9. I'll find a way in," Yuri called over her shoulder as they both went to class. Class was boring, as usual. In case you were wondering, this is not a duel academy. Just an ordinary school. How can you even have a duel themed school anyway? Is Yu-gi-oh really that complicated that we have to send kids to a specialized school for them to learn how to play?
First block was history. After getting lost for a moment, Alex came into a small class room to see Yuri gossiping intently with a rather buff girl. They stopped talking abruptly when they noticed him standing in the doorway. He could tell by their expression that they had been talking about him. Somewhat awkwardly, he made his way to the only empty seat, which happened to be right in front of Yuri and right next to the buff girl. Said girl decided to introduce herself before Alex was able to ask Yuri the questions he wanted to ask.
"Hey, I'm Cora," she said cheerfully, "You must be the new kid. Alex, right? Welcome to Mahoning City! Yuri told me what happened with Jordan" she took a pause to move a long lock of her raven-black hair, much darker than Alex's, out of her face, then her voice changed from compassionate to annoyed, "That kid's a bastard. I hope they expel him, like the rest of his Pain Gang have been." All of that came out before he could even reply with to the hello.
Before he could make any reply, the teacher got up and scolded them for talking, and began the lesson with a reminder about a field trip to the local history museum later that week. Alex tried occasionally to look behind him and ask Yuri questions, but every time he turned around her head turned a different way, blatantly avoiding his gaze, occasionally cheeks blushing as red as her hair. Alex's teenage, hormone-filled mind construed this as her attempt at staring and trying to not be detected. His ego got a good boost, but he never got his questions answered.
Well the day went on and 9 o'clock rolled around. Alex left for the stadium with only a little taunting from his sister about getting a date on his first day of school, which he assured her it wasn't, to which she replied with a sarcastic "Sure." Alex's face was red with blush as he left. Yuri was able to sneak out past her father very easily; out the window and walk the bike down the block before staring it. Cora and some more of Yuri's friends showed up to watch, which added to the awkward feeling Alex already had.
"So how do we get in?" Alex asked the assorted kids.
"Right through the front door," replied a blonde girl who wouldn't get off her bike (a white and yellow streaked trike), whom Yuri told him was called Alicia.
"Relax, man," said a guy, Doug, who looked like he hadn't bathed in a month, with a bike to match, "it's not that obvious."
"It is that strait forward, though," said Cora, her face and exposed arms smudged with what looked like engine grease. Her bike looked almost hand-made, with some steam-punk stuff thrown on for flare, although some parts looked integral to the operation of the machine.
They approached what looked like an old alley near the stadium. One of them pushed a pile of garbage cans, revealing a hole in the wall.
"Secret passage for the motorists to enter without the fan mobs," explained Yuri
They went through an area that slightly resembled a sewer tunnel in the darkness but eventually opened into the team garage in the stadium. The locals immediately moved to a corner of the garage decorated with team colors, red and yellow, and a symbol that was an 'R' with angel wings on it. Alex also noticed then that all the other bikes had the same symbol on them.
"Wait a sec. Are you guys a duel team?" Alex asked, putting the clues together.
"You figured it out," said Yuri, feigning surprise, "Yup. We're the Redeemers. Still want a duel against a pro?"
"Do you think I would miss this opportunity," Alex replied, convincingly feigning confidence, although his heart beat quicken as he wondered what he had gotten himself into.
They moved their bikes to the starting line and started the duel software and visors, though leaving the stadium lights off, dueling by headlight instead. The 'Speed World' field spell spread its psychedelic colors over the tract. Count down: 3…2…1…They sped off, starting the duel.
"You go first," offered Yuri, over the roar of the wind.
"Alright," Alex accepted. He drew and stared at his cards, trying to keep them from flying out of his hands (speed counters: 1 each). He set a card and summoned 'The Undefeatable Karid' (1250atk/1850def) in attack mode. A cardinal stylized with the same kind of pattern as on his bike appeared flying next to him.
"I'll end my turn with that," Alex said, "but since I end my turn, Karid's effect activates and it gets an Omega counter. Your move." An Omega sign appeared over the cardinal. He breathed the wind in heavily and finally started to ask the questions that had been nagging him since he met her, "So can I ask why you wanted to duel me, even when you barely know who I am?"
Yuri shrugged and then answered without much emotion or thought, "Test out the new kid, give you a warm, Mahoning City welcome, you know that kinda stuff." She drew and planed her move (speed counters: 2 each). She summoned 'Alpha Draco: Copper Claw' (1400atk/100def), a smallish dragon with orange claws. To be courteous, she explained her next move.
"Since I normal summoned an Alpha Draco card, I can now special summon 'Alpha Draco: Tin Plating' (400atk/1000def) from my hand" she explained. The dragon was smaller and less shiny than the first one. "And because of its effect, we both take 500 damage." Metal shards seemed to erupt from the dragon, showering both players as their life points ticked away (Both 7500). "Copper, attack!" She commanded, as the dragon jumped at the cardinal.
"Not so fast!" Alex countered, as they turned a sharp bend, "I activate my trap, 'The Undefeatable Skerv.' It's a trap monster so it special summons itself in attack mode (250atk/1050def)." A stylized squirrel appeared.
The squirrel did not stop the attack, however, and the cardinal hologram was shatter into little pieces and Alex's life points decreased by 150 to 7350.
"Fat lot of good that did," Yuri chuckled.
"It was useful," countered Alex, "Cause now Skerv gets Karid's Omega counter." The Omega symbol moved to over the squirrel's head.
"Uh, ok," responded Yuri, not sure of the point of that, "still, Tin, attack the squirrel." The other dragon slashed at the squirrel, and although the attack did reduce Alex's life points by 150 (to 7100), the squirrel still stood after the attack. "Huh? Why's it still there?"
"Skerv cannot be destroyed in battle as long as it has a counter on it," Alex explained.
"Well, ok. I'll set a card and my turn's done, then," Yuri replied.
"My turn, then," Alex said. He drew and studied his hand (speed counters: 3 each). He tributed 'The Undefeatable Skerv' to summon 'The Undefeatable Mohmorahn' in defense mode, per its effect (1050atk/2250def). A large dog appeared running on the tract next to his bike.
"Now I discard my 'The Undefeatable Zhar' to place an Alpha counter on Mohmorahn." An Alpha symbol appeared above the dog. He set two cards and ended his turn, causing the dog's effect to activate, making an Omega counter appear over it (in case you are lost, most 'Undefeatable' monsters get an Alpha counter during the Standby phase and an Omega counter during the End phase). "So, um, your bike looks cool," Alex tried again to spark a conversation.
"Cora makes custom decals for the team," Yuri answered, then went straight back to the game. She drew (speed counters: 4 each) and clicked the button to activate her trap, 'Dragon's Heart', and let Alex read the card before the cool effects started. There was weird whirlpool-like thing that sucked up her monsters. They fused, fusion summoning 'Alpha Draco: Bronze' (1200atk/2500def, level 5) in defense mode, a much larger dragon, with bronze wings that looked like shields.
"Since Bronze was summoned successfully, he summons a 'Bronze Token' (0atk/1900def) in defense mode." The dragon looked like it barfed up an egg, which then hatched into a little baby version of the parent. "Now I tribute the 'Bronze Token' to summon 'Alpha Draco: Silver Soul' (2450atk/1350def, level 5)" The baby dragon disappeared, replaced by an oriental, silver colored dragon.
"To finish off the move, I overlay my two level 5 's to Xyz summon "Alpha Draco: Technetium (2100atk/1400def, rank 5)!" The two dragons started to glow, enveloped in the light, compressing into small spheres that started to orbit. A portal seemed to form from the whirlwind created by the orbiting monsters, out of which a much more fearsome, fire-spewing dragon emerged. "I'll just boost up Technetium by using an overlay unit," the dragon ate an orbiting sphere and grew in power to 2600atk, "And then attack!"
The battle raged, the tides turning back and forth constantly throughout, casual conversation forced in in between turns as Alex attempted to learn more about this new town, and the new people. Yuri won in the end, but just barely, a counter move turning a sure defeat into a victory, as in she played 'Magic Cylinders.' As they braked into the garage, the bystanders were discussing something, but shut up as Alex came in. Yuri huddled with her friends and discussed something, leaving Alex without a clue.
"Alex," Yuri said after the group un-huddled, "Have you heard of the World Dueling Championship?"
"Yeah, it's supposed to be in this town this summer, right?" Alex answered.
"Yeah," Cora responded, in her usual fast pace, "Well, we want to join the competition."
"But it sounds like there is a problem," Alex conjectured.
"We have 4 people on our team," Doug answered, raising 4 fingers as a visual, "But we need 5 people on a team to join." He raised a 5th.
"Wait a second," Alex figured it out, "You guys want me to join your team?" nods from the group, "Why me? I'm just some random kid you just met today."
"For one: you held your own against Yuri," Alicia answered, still on her duel runner for some reason, "You have to be a pretty good duelist to keep up with her." Yuri seemed to like the compliment.
"And also, the only other turbo duelists around here are all in that stupid Pain Gang," Cora chimed in. Alex still seemed a little skeptical.
"All right, we're going to have to convince him," Yuri said, "Alicia, do you think you could show him why we are trying to win?" Alicia moaned slightly in annoyance at being used as a bargaining chip, but started to move off her duel runner, revealing that her bike concealed a wheelchair. Alex was surprised to say the least.
"I got into accident a while ago," Alicia explained, "There is a surgery that can fix it, though."
"But we don't have enough money," Doug added.
"The prize money from the championship would be enough to pay for it," Cora added.
"And if we don't win, we all promised to sell our duel runners to help pay for the surgery," Yuri finished.
"Wow," Alex said, eyes moving over the united team, "You guys must really be a team. I think I would be honored to be a part of your team."
"Wahoo!" and similar cheers rang from the old members of the team. The team was now complete, and they could now fully chase their dreams, and hopefully help their friend gain back what had been lost.
"This is just great!" Yuri exclaimed, draping her arms over the shoulders of Cora and Alex, "We ought to celebrate! Doug, Music!" Doug complied, back-flipping over his bike to get to the controls, just 'cause. A few buttons and dials hit, and music that was somewhere between Rock and Metal started blaring out of the elaborate sound system built into his bike, hidden by decals that could easily be mistaken for moss or pond-scum. His bike really looked like he found it at the bottom of a swamp.
Yuri moved toward her own parked bike, swaying in time to the music. As she bent down to take something out of the storage compartment, her rear happened to be pointed directly at Alex, who, being a teenage boy, could not pull his eyes away from the sight. The action quickly earned him a slap from Alicia as soon as she noticed, nearly knocking him over. "Don't you dare stare at her ass!" she almost screamed at him.
"Don't yell, Alicia, it's alright," Yuri said calmly, thankful the blush on her face couldn't be seen by the rest of the team. She then added, as a joke, yet partly seductive, "He can look, but don't touch." Alex instantly blushed, while Alicia just fumed. Yuri finally pulled all the mystery material out of her bike and displayed the glass bottles to her team proudly. "Tequila! Got it from my dad's cabinet this morning. It's pretty good." They could see one of the bottles was less than half-full.
The other Redeemers just stared at her, unsure what to do. Finally Doug stepped up and said with disappointment in his voice "Dude, really? You know you should know by now that you shouldn't mess with that stuff." He held his hand out, seemingly asking for the bottle. His cold eyes stared into hers; she returned the gaze with a longing puppy-eye look, hoping to break his stance and make him relent, but his gaze never faltered.
"Oh, Fine!" Yuri finally relented, albeit angrily, handing Doug the bottles. He casually tossed them over his shoulder into a well-placed trash can. Doug took a big breath and yelled, "Now let's get this party started!" in such a comedic fashion that was almost the opposite of his behavior just moments before. As a new song came on, Doug started break-dancing in a wild, would-humiliate-anybody-to-death-except-that-guy way.
Alex silently observed the teammates party, each of their quirks very prominent, the whole time, his thoughts echoed one main question, What have I gotten myself into?
The party lasted a few hours. They setup a training schedule to meet every day to practice. They all went home around midnight, got scolded by their parents for being out so late (Yuri was officially grounded for the rest of her natural life), and slept and dreamed of the upcoming tournament.
So, what do you think of the new Series? Questions? Comments? Ideas? Anything? Please review. And be specific. I don't want, "That was good," or "That was horrible," or lame stuff like that. Tell me exactly what you liked about it or if you didn't like it, tell me what I can do to improve.
Thanks for reading!