"Kids, are you ready for another action-packed half an hour with your favorite Hero of Justice!?" The voice of the announcer on the television asked with excitement dripping all over his words.
Sitting far closer to the TV than should have been healthy was a brown-haired dog-eared boy that couldn't keep still no matter how hard he tried, fidgeting excitedly while watching the screen with wide and amazed eyes.
At the back of the living room a red-haired young man that could only have been the boy's father grinned widely at the excited cheers of his son. Pulling out a small golden H-shaped pendant from under his shirt, he let it dangle while going over to sit next to the overly-excited boy.
-------------------------
"His origins unknown, this masked warrior from beyond the stars fights for truth, justice, and the freedom of innocents everywhere across the galaxy!" The voice of the announcer came from another television in another household now, this one cluttered with dozens of different articles of clothing, papers, and other such things.
Her black-haired head poking up from under a pile of bundled shirts, a wolf-eared little girl watches the television eagerly with the head of a little action figure poking up out of the mound next to her. Giggling while her father goes running by in a frantic attempt to clean the house up before his wife gets home, she gives the action figure a hug before laying back against the couch to enjoy the show.
----------------------------
"With his mighty Shining Buster, Shining Lance, and gallant space-robot Helios he rides throughout the cosmos like a comet!" Once again the scene changes, the television located now in a spacious and otherwise quiet office. Sitting on a black leather couch and dressed in a stylish private school uniform is a spiky black-haired boy with intense dark eyes, his legs crossed and a focused look on his face.
Sitting at the desk at one end of the office, a golden-haired man in a business suit looks up from his paperwork and smiles proudly as how disciplined his son is.
--------------------------------
"Forever a loner, his real identity that of a man fighting a shameful past," The blurry image on the next television flickers momentarily before a shoe is thrown at it, a purple-haired little girl rushing over to retrieve the thrown article before banging on the screen to try and make the reception clearer.
----------------------------------
"A compassionate man who wishes to overcome the demons inside himself." Ancient speakers crackle now, a dirty-faced black-haired boy sitting with his legs pulled against his chest, while around him the sounds of bombs going off can be heard. Dirt sprays the top of his head, but he tunes his full attention onto the radio clenched tightly in his hands. Anything to ignore the gunfire and the sounds of guerrillas being slaughtered.
------------------------------------
"I will fight to my last breath!" The amplified voice of the hero comes from the speakers, and atop them from a third speaker, this one a young green-haired boy wearing a fairly realistic-looking suit of cardboard armor, brandishing an empty cardboard wrapping paper tube like a lance, and wearing a towel tied around his neck. "No matter what happens, I will always fight with hope in my heart and with the knowledge that the lives of others are resting on my shoulders!" Swinging the cardboard tube around, he slipped and fell off the television amidst the laughter of a tall brown-haired girl watching him and the show.
-------------------------------------
"I am Celestial, Knight of the Universe!" The radio crackled quietly, spitting out sparks as it reaches the end of its lifespan. Its owner, a small skeleton of a boy with dirtied brown hair, reaches out to grasp the device and shake it in a vain attempt to keep it alive. Coughing loudly, he drops the radio and wordlessly gasps as its breaks on the cold stone floor of the alleyway. After a few moments his potential tears fade away and he opens the broken casing of the radio, trying to reassemble it like he had before.
---------------------------------------
The Infinity Chronicles Movie 1; Seven Infinities
A black wind blew across the sandy desolate wasteland, revealing two lone beings. On one side stood a blue-haired girl dressed in a suit of body armor that was two-toned, dark blue and light blue, a similarly-colored Duel Disk resting on her arm. In front of her hovered a vaguely-humanoid being made of pure fire. (1000/100)
In her hand rested a single card, and across from her stood a shadowed armored form, her opponent. Whoever it was had one monster face-down on their field and one card face-down on their field. "It's my turn, draw!" Pulling a card from her deck, she glanced at it and grinned. "Alright! From my hand I activate the magic card Infinity Pulse! From my hand one Infinity-named monster can be special summoned, but at the end of the turn it is shuffled into my deck!"
The bleak sky was lit up with dark blue light, a ball of the energy falling to her field and forming into an animated dark blue powersuit. "Final Shadow Infinity Chaser is special summoned!" (2000/1000)
The shadowed form, only its red eyes noticeable, narrowed those glowing slits in surprise at the monster summoned.
"And now Infinity Traveler Inferno Brawler and Chaser…" She snapped her hand up to point at the sky. "Contact Fusion!" The two monsters launched high into space, and then a fireball slammed onto her field, revealing an orange and red version of Infinity Chaser. "Inferno Brawler is summoned!" (2000/1000) "Battle!"
The monster sprayed a jet of steam from its back and roared across the field, crashing into the set monster and shattering it in a burst of fire. "When Inferno Chaser destroys a monster in battle that monster's attack is deducted from your life points! Take this!"
A grunt of pain came from the shadowed form as the fusion monster locked it in a tight and red-hot embrace.
Starlight Savior- 500
????- 100
The heroine smiled confidently while her monster floated back over to her field. "End turn. Let's see you recover…" Her eyes widened as the form's face-down card flipped up. "Infinity Contact? You get to add an Infinity Traveler from your deck to your hand that is a lower level than the monster I destroyed…"
The shadowed form removed a card from its deck and then drew. Adding the drawn card to its hand, it grasped the card it searched for and threw it down; a bright blast of light blew away the gloom. From the sky a being made of glittering light floated down onto the form's field. (1000/1000) - (1500/1000)
Shielding her face from the painfully bright light, Starlight realized why this wasteland felt familiar. Off in the distance were ruins that were far too easily recognized. The buildings were damaged, but still recognizable. This was Duel Academy. "What happened here!? What did you do!?"
The shadowed form's eyes narrowed darkly and it held up its own Infinity Pulse magic card. Up above the lit sky became light blue in color and a comet of same-colored light fell down to crash on its field, forming into something so bright that the heroine couldn't identify its form. (1800/1400)
"Infinity monsters…like Chaser?" Starlight's eyes widened as the humanoid of glittering light and the other creature launched high into space. Moments later a halo of pulsing light fell over the field, a new form lowering into play. (1800/1400) - (2800/1400)
Inferno Chaser made a loud metallic growling noise before it launched itself in unison with the charge of the opposing monster, the two colliding with enough force to blow away all the sand surrounding them. In the distance, Starlight felt her horror multiply exponentially as the impact from the two monsters completely disintegrated the Duel Academy buildings. "NO!"
Starlight Savior- 0
????- 100
--------------------
"Here I go…" Cleats slashing through the grass underneath him, Griff snapped his leg back as he took aim on his target. "Eat this, my patented must-kill five hundred foot range…"
Eri rushed by him, her white hair blowing behind her while she kicked the soccer ball away and began moving it in the other direction. "Only Saviors are allowed to take a long time introducing their special attacks. It's a privilege afforded by being forced to fight evil monsters all the time, Mohistava!"
"That's good to know!" Brown ponytail fluttering behind her, Teruha bum-rushed the demoness from the side, the size difference making it easy for her to kick the ball away from the glaring wolf demon. "Sorry Eri-sempai, but heroes have to get used to fighting against the odds, right?"
"Yeah, but she's not alone!" A slim leg shot in and kicked the ball forcefully away from Teruha. "Heroes have to work together, after all." Chris grinned and brushed back a few locks of her purple hair, watching the ball bounce wildly across the field until it was intercepted by a streak of brown and white. "Hey, no fair Krieger! I was aiming for Eri, not you!"
"All's fair in love and war, as they say!" The half cat demon's crisp German accent increased the strength behind those words while he wound up his leg to kick the ball full-force in the direction of the opposing team's goal.
"That's exactly right, and if all's fair then you won't mind me doing this!" His spiked black hair closely resembling the blades of grass being trampled underfoot, Adriel leapt in and hooked his foot to Krieger's, stopping the potential kick cold. "And now…"
"Masami-sama Style Kick!" Despite the heavy goalie gear he was wearing, the green-haired self-proclaimed genius ran up with surprising speed to kick the soccer ball full force, sending it flying high into the sky. "Whoops, I overextended myself."
"You idiot," commented Teruha dryly from off to the side, while everyone else watched the ball arc into the branches of a tree, striking something with a solid thud. It fell down to the ground with another object, this one person-shaped. "Oh, that's where Ichigo was hiding."
Rubbing the back of his head sorely, Ichigo stood up and kicked the soccer ball back out onto the crudely marked field forcefully. "Be careful." Picking up his backpack off the ground, he slung it over his shoulder and trudged off solemnly.
"What was that all about?" Intercepting the ball with his heel, Griff noticed that Erian was following him. "Maybe it's a Savior thing? Normally Ichigo would either yell at us or smile stupidly and join in."
"He must be having a bad day, nothing to worry about." Eri shot by and kicked the ball away from the Egyptian boy while the element of surprise was hers. "Game's still on!"
-----------------------
The heavy liner howled again as it pulled up to the dock and dropped anchor, setting up to unload its cargo.
"Hurry up and unload, we need to head back to dock after this!" The captain of the ship glanced over the side of the hull and down at the groups of workers unloading heavy wooden crates. Amongst those crates one in particular stood out to him, a giant unmarked one that appeared to have been assembled with numerous different kinds of wood. "What's that cargo down there? Who's it marked for?"
"There are no delivery markings on it!" One of the workers yelled back up at him, before hefting his crowbar. "We'd better get it open to check the contents."
Before he could begin taking the box apart though, he was thrown backwards as the whole thing exploded into a spray of splinters and wood chips. "What in the…"
"OH YEAH!" The clouds of dust cleared to reveal a trio of forms standing in perfect poses.
"Who's there!?" The Captain motioned up to the crewman closest to the radio. "Signal Academy Security!"
"There's no need for that, my good man!" The middle of the three stepped through the dust and tugged on the collar of his black leather jacket. "After all, if there was any threat around then I'd be at the helm of the effort to stop it. I'm no threat, because as you can see I'm not stopping myself."
"That's right!" A female voice yelled from within the dust cloud. "Big Bro's a hero!"
"The greatest of heroes!" Another female voice yelled from inside the cloud, which was starting to disperse.
"You heard them," Running his hands through his slicked brown hair, a boy no older than fifteen glanced up at the Captain and grinned while he extended a arm and gave a thumbs-up. "Everything's A-ok!"
"Hold it right there!" A voice yelled from the direction of the island, a pair of unarmed security guards running towards the trio.
"It looks like we gotta do the heroic escape plan, you two!" The boy smirked and rushed at the two guards. "Get outta my way!"
----------------------
Ichigo sighed and walked through the forest aimlessly, preferring being lost for a little while as opposed to troubling everyone with his how depressed he must have seemed. ("What's the matter with me? That dream didn't mean anything…it's not like there's another Infinity Chaser out there.")
"Ichigo!" The multi-colored form of Erian came crashing through the brush off the half demon's side, panting for breath before collapsing to his knees. "Jeeze, why'd you run off like that?"
"Just have stuff on my mind, that's all." Ichigo glanced away, ears perking slightly as he heard multiple voices in the not-so-far off distance. "Hm?"
"Outta my way!" A brown and black blur exploded out of the brush, slammed into Ichigo, and sent the half demon flying skywards as if he hadn't been there.
"AH, Ichigo!" Erian had his eyes bugging out of his head at the sight of his friend who was currently spinning in mid-air before crashing into the branches of a tree. "Are you okay!?"
"Excuse us!" Two girls, dressed in t-shirts and shorts one pair pure black and one pair pure white, flew past the still-baffled Erian like a pair of rockets, their hair of the same colors flowing behind them. "Oh, hi brother Erian!" They said this in perfect unison before disappearing in the brush in the same direction the blur which had made Ichigo air-born disappeared into.
"Hi…guys…" Rubbing the back of his light green-colored head of hair, Erian frowned and tilted his head to the side in a vain attempt to remember who they were.
"Darn it, what was that all about!?" Dropping out of the tree branches, Ichigo blew a lock of his hair out of his eyes and started plucking little bits of wood from his clothes. "Did you know them, Erian?"
"I think…so…" The Traveler rubbed his chin and started pacing. "Black and white…black and white…" Stopping suddenly, his face lit up with remembrance. "Oh yeah, that guy grabbed your pendant too."
"Huh?" Ichigo reached under his black undershirt, found nothing there, and snarled angrily. "Are you sure!?"
"Yup," The Traveler was nearly blown over as Ichigo rushed past him, creating a blast of air pressure from the sheer speed he put into it. "I'll let you know when I remember who those two are."
--------------------------------
Standing atop a cliff overlooking the beautiful crystal-blue ocean, the trio didn't seem to be out of breath at all despite the fact they had run from one end of the island to the other.
"It looks like we lost them!" Throwing his hands up above him, the brown-haired teen laughed long and hard before suddenly stopping. "This view..." His shoulders started trembling, arms dropping to his side.
"What's the matter, Big Bro'?" The white-haired girl asked worriedly, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"It's too dramatic!" The boy twirled on one sneaker and stopped in a perfect heroic pose, his arms arched over his head in a flexing motion, legs bent, and fingers out to form a V. "Ladies, back me up!"
"You got it, Big Bro'!" The two girls leapt to his sides, each of them bringing their hands up in an almost gameshow host style of presentation, framing him perfectly while he threw his head back to let the meager amounts of wind move his hair as much as possible.
They held the poses for the longest time, until Ichigo came flying in and they were forced to jump out of the way while the half demon skidded off the cliff shouting "Give me back my pendant, you jerk!"
Brushing himself off, the teen lifted one eyebrow at the cliff the random runner had disappeared over. "What was that all about? Maybe a day jogger that forgot he lived on an island?"
"Actually Bro," The black-haired girl said, "That was the guy you took that pendant off of."
"Oh really?" Pulling the golden H-shaped trinket out of his pocket, he held it up to the sun to let the light shine through the two dark blue crystals set into the metal of the pendant. "Meh, well if he's going to go and throw himself off a cliff then what's the point? I guess I'll keep this."
"No you won't!" Ichigo pulled himself up from over the edge of the cliff, panting for breath. "Give me back my pendant, you jerk! What did you take it for!?"
"I took it because it reminds me of my father's pendant." Flipping the golden H into his jacket pocket, the teen frowned at the half demon. "You want to make something of it?" Pulling a pair of sunglasses out of his pocket, he slipped them onto the bridge of his nose calmly. "Or are you gonna back down like a damn tool?"
"What's your problem?" Ichigo pointed at the boy, a vein bulging from his forehead. "I've met some pretty messed up guys but never somebody who just randomly steals something from someone because…" His eyes widened as he realized the teen was rushing at him. "What are you doing?"
"You went and said the wrong word, pal!" Cocking a fist back, the teen got ready to strike Ichigo as hard as he could.
"You're going to break your hand," Ichigo warned. "I'm a demon, my body is like…" The rest of his sentence was ended prematurely as he took a fist to the stomach and was left breathless. ("What was that?") Dropping to one knee, he craned his head to look up at the boy. "What…what are you?"
"The name's Pro, as in Professional, Productive, or maybe even Proactive. But it certainly ain't Problem!" The teen wound up and socked Ichigo right between the eyes with a punch, sending him hurtling backwards through a couple of trees. "Jerk, callin' me a problem…"
"Big Bro'…" The two girls sweatdropped and waved their hand dismissively at such an idea. "That wasn't it."
"It doesn't matter anyway, that guy is down for the count." Pro turned and shoved his hands into his pockets. "He's got even more nerve wearin' a pendant like dad's."
"Now I'm mad!" Ichigo came rushing in and tackled Pro from behind, the two of them crashing through another tree. They landed in a pile, rolling around as one attempted to get on top of the other frantically. "What makes you think you've got the right to steal my property!?"
"I've got the right because I'm me!" Pro's right hand latched onto the half demon's neck as he tried to break away. "Plus you're really weak!"
"A duel!" Ichigo shouted out loudly, bringing their scuffle to a halt.
"What was that?" Standing up, Pro tugged the collar of his jacket indignantly before walked over to join his two ladies. "What about a duel?"
Rolling to his feet, Ichigo rushed over to where he had been punched. "That pendant was given to me by a great duelist, my late father." Opening his backpack, the half demon pulled the nigh indestructible frame of his Duel Disk. "If you want it so bad then at least honor his memory by taking it from me through a method that makes sense."
One of Pro's eyebrows rose inquisitively. "Yo bro, what makes you think that I even know how to duel?"
"A feeling." Strapping the Duel Disk onto his arm, Ichigo slid his deck into the appropriate slot on the device. "Now are you going to duel me, Pro, or are we going to have to see which of us can take more punches?"
This sent the boy into a fit of uproarious laughter. "You've got spunk, bro. What's your name?"
"Ichigo Pilkington." The half demon wiped some dirty blood from his forehead, wiping it on his red blazer. "You ready?"
"So you're Ichigo…" Pro frowned before glancing back at the two girls. "Ladies, bring them out."
"You got it, Big Bro!" The white-haired girl ran over to Ichigo and held up a metal case she had been carrying with her. "You're lucky; it's not often that Big Bro challenges somebody with this dueling method. I hope you're up to it."
"Dueling method?" Ichigo blinked down at her while she opened and started fiddling with something in the case. "What exactly does it do?"
"You'll see shortly!" She stood up, holding a metal harness with five loops. "Now don't get any funny ideas." Working quickly, she tightened the straps around his thighs, forearms, and neck. "Alright, you're all ready!" Her hand shot out and patted something on his back before she slammed the case shut and made a hasty retreat over to the black-haired girl.
Standing about twenty feet away, Pro was wearing the same kind of harness. "To be perfectly honestly, bro, you're exactly the guy I was looking for when I came here. Ichigo Pilkington, son of Daniel Pilkington…" Pulling the pendant out of his pocket, he tossed it to the middle ground between them. "Let's up the stakes a little, bro."
"And just what would you suggest?" Ichigo noticed that Pro wasn't wearing a Duel Disk, but he decided not to make any mention of it yet.
"If I win then you denounce all connections to your father and your last name." Pushing his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose, Pro smirked at the surprised look on Ichigo's face. "I don't expect you to understand the reasoning, but I expect you to agree. In return, if I lose then I'll give you some pretty important information about the location of a certain spaceship that was carrying an artifact of real importance."
"I don't agree to the second demand, because it's absolutely pointless." Ichigo activated his disk. "Now let's get this duel underway. Bring out your Duel Disk."
"Apparently you think I'm gonna just accept an answer like that." Pro cracked his knuckles and rolled up the sleeve of his jacket's right arm. "However it doesn't work that way, bro!" The sun glimmered off the polished metal where flesh and blood should have been. "Duel Arm online!" With a series of clicks the boy's limb changed shape slightly, becoming a substitute Duel Disk with the necessary slots and all. "Duel!"
("I guess that would explain why his punches hurt so much.") Ichigo drew his opening hand. "Duel!"
Ichigo- 4000
Pro- 4000
"I'll start this off, draw!" Ichigo drew, adding the card to his hand before giving a quick glance over what he was holding. ("No monsters, but that might change depending on what this gives me.") "I activate the magic card Graceful Charity, drawing three cards from my deck and then discarding two." Sliding three cards off of his deck, he inserted two of them into his graveyard. "I place two cards face-down and end my turn." A pair of cards shimmered into place on his field.
"You aren't going to win against me that easily! For this duel I can't be anything but super! Draw!" Pro sneered, his sunglasses adding to the fearsome look he was projecting now. "Well lookit that, a pretty sweet hand. I summon Space Knight Blade in attack mode!" A comet of red light fell from the sky above, stopping before it collided with his field and forming into a white and red-armored mecha-like warrior. (1800/1000)
"Space Knights?" Ichigo's eyes widened at the appearance of the monster. "Hey, wait a second that looks kind of familiar."
Pushing his sunglasses up to his forehead momentarily to reveal his eyes, Pro shot his opponent a smug look. "I get that a lot, and every time I hear it I can't help but feel pride. That's right; these are my special custom-made cards."
"Custom-made?" The half demon pointed at the Space Knight, which was now holding a thin lance in its grip. "You mean they're fakes?"
"Of course not!" Pro shouted, a vein bulging out of his forehead. "What kind of idiotic ideas are going through your head!? These cards were created as part of a prize for my being the best duelist in New York!"
"Really?" Ichigo tilted his head to the side and stared intently at Pro. "Are you sure you're the best in New York? I've never heard of you before."
"Then let me introduce myself formally! Space Knight Blade, direct attack!" The knight bellowed out a battle cry and a pair of jets installed in his back launched him forwards towards Ichigo.
"Trap activate, Big Bang Appearance!" One of Ichigo's set cards flipped up and a bright flash of light blinded them both. "This trap activates when you would land a direct attack against me! From my hand one Infinity named monster is special summoned and battle ends! Come out now, Final Shadow Infinity Chaser!" A comet of dark blue light slammed into his field and formed into his key card, the suit of powered dark blue armor that was his avatar. (2000/1000)
"So that's Chaser…" Pro slid a card into his disk and Space Knight Blade was suddenly riding on a red and blue metal jet. "I activate the effect of Space Mount and union it with Blade, increasing his attack power by 400 points." (2200/1000) "Plus I'll set one card face-down and end my turn."
Ichigo frowned and drew. ("Great, he saved his power-up card until I'd already summoned Chaser to the field.")
"Now what will you do?" Pro sneered at his opponent. "The power of my Space Knights isn't going to fall to your old piece of junk Chaser."
"From my hand I activate the magic card Infinity Doubles, special summoning two Infinity Travelers from my deck to my field if Chaser is in play at the cost of 1000 life points!" Ichigo was surrounded by a red aura of light before a pair of crimson fires erupted on his field, forming into a silver-bodied and amber-eyed female humanoid along with a humanoid made of prismatic light. "Emerge now, Travelers Null Entity and Amplification Maiden!" (100/200) (0/0)
Ichigo- 3000
Pro- 4000
"What can those two do alone? Hmmm?" Pro motioned to his Space Knight. "Everything is kind of not in your favor, after all."
"I discard one card from my hand to activate the effect of Null Entity!" Ichigo's prismatic monster charged up a ball of light that hit Pro's face-down card and enveloped it in energy. "During this turn one card on your field is negated and cannot be chained."
"And now for this!" Ichigo snapped his hand, holding a card in it while his field magic card slot opened. "I activate the field magic card Infinite Castle!" The scenery around them changed to that of a beautiful dark blue crystal castle. "While this card remains in play the original attack of all Infinity named monsters in play is doubled!" (4000/1000) (200/200) (0/0)
"So that's your ploy, huh?" Pro glanced at Chaser, which was launching towards his field rapidly. "It'll hurt but it won't be anywhere near enough."
"Amplification Maiden's effect activates now!" Ichigo's second Traveler started to glow an amber color, which began to emit from Chaser as well. "Once per turn an attacking monster on my field can have its original attack doubled! Since the original attack of Chaser has been changed to 4000, now its 8000! Chaser, attack Space Knight Blade!" (8000/1000)
Chaser slammed into the Space Knight, the two of them locked in a momentary struggle before the suit of powered armor slammed a roundhouse kick into the space hero's head, sending him flying off of his mount.
"Game, set, and match." Ichigo held up his index and ring fingers in the customary V for victory sign.
"Unfortunately for you," Pro held up a monster card from his hand, "I discard this to protect myself. It's called Space Sol Guardian, and when discarded from my hand I can bring any damage I'd take from one instance of damage to zero." He snapped his hand up to point at his Space Knight Blade, which was unharmed. "Also, instead of Blade getting destroyed he just lost his Mount, like any union user would."
Ichigo bit his lower lip before motioning to Chaser, which had returned to his field. "I activate the special ability of Chaser. Once per turn I can return one face-up card on my field to my hand. Depending on that card's type one effect activates." Null Entity faded away and appeared in his hand. "If it's a monster during this turn the power of Chaser increases by 300." (4300/1000)
"And now," He motioned to his two remaining monsters. "The special mechanic of fusion for my Infinity monsters! Contact Fusion!" Amplification Maiden and Chaser launched into the sky, disappearing. Moments later a bullet of amber light zipped onto his field and formed into a silver and amber-bodied version of Chaser with numerous wheels across its body. "Final Shadow Boost Chaser is special summoned!" (4000/1000) "End turn."
"Not bad, but in the end you must realize the truth of the matter." Pro pushed his sunglasses back down over his eyes and drew, pointing the card he had drawn along with his hand at Ichigo. "This duel cannot be my loss, I'm too pumped. In this duel I'm super!"
Though Ichigo still had the field advantage, something about the tone of Pro's voice told him that things weren't going to be easy.
End of Part 1