Author's Note: As I looked over it, I realized I what I wrote down didn't really fit what I really wanted to do, so I scrapped the later part and did something different. Details of the original may float up later on, but that's for another day.

Oh yes, Yu-Gi-Oh! and all it's characters are (C) Kazuki Takahashi. Johan S. Alain, Stella Mitraille, Luc Oscurita, and Jason Fushi are (C) ME!!

Yu-Gi-Oh! EX

Turn One – Hard Times for Duel Monsters, A New Tournament Begins!

"Mr. Pegasus, sir, your morning paper has arrived," reported the slow-but-steady Croquet. He knew that his employer, Maximillion Pegasus had not been in the best moods of late, so he was trying his best to no do anything to agitate him.

Pegasus had a good reason to be in his current state of mind. Ever since the Nightshroud incident, even though peace had returned, people were kind of skeptical of Duel Monsters. Not that he could blame them, the incident did scare a lot of people. He just wish they could understand and move past it, not just for his company's sake, but for everyone. As he flipped through the paper looking for his comics, he noticed the stocks page. 'Hmm, looks like I'm not the only one suffering because of this. Kaiba-boy's taking a big hit, too.' He continued on, still looking for the comics when inspiration hit him. "Eureka! Why didn't I think of it sooner? Croquet!" The man forever wearing sunglasses runs into the room quickly to see what's gotten into his enigmatic boss.

Seto Kaiba was working in his office when Roland called him on his intercom, "Mr. Kaiba, Mr. Pegasus has just arrived and wishes to speak with you, sir." 'Oh great, what does the clown prince of Duel Monsters want with me now?' asked Kaiba in his mind. He calls her back and says, "Show him in." Pegasus walks in to be greeted with Kaiba's usual gruff, indignant tone, "What brings you here to see me, Pegasus?"

"Why, Kaiba-boy, you've hardly changed. How do you keep those good looks of yours?" asks Pegasus rather inquisitively and playfully.

"Flattery will get you no where, Pegasus. Now answer my question, why are you here?" Kaiba restates with a little anger in his voice.

"Ah well, maybe you'll tell me after I tell you about my idea to save both our companies, hmm?" asks Pegasus slyly.

Kaiba's attention was grabbed. "What is it then? Spit it out!" he semi-yells.

"It's rather simple, Kaiba-boy. Industrial Illusions and KaibaCorp will sponsor and create a new tournament. I've already had some partnership papers drafted and have begun assembly of the tournament location. The main parts that are lacking is many pieces of your newest generation of duel projection technology and the funding from outside sponsors, but once our partnership is confirmed we can begin getting into those details," Pegasus states rather sternly, which comes as kind of a shock to Kaiba.

"Let me see these papers, first," Kaiba requests as Pegasus takes an envelope from top coat pocket and hands it to him. Kaiba opens it, pulls the papers out and quickly thumbs through, finding no faults in the terms. "You surprise me, Pegasus. I would've never thought you to be so serious."

"Although I may have my eccentricities, I would never do anything that would jeopardize my company or those that work for me. I would never be that careless," Pegasus said. Kaiba can't help but smirk at the thought of him actually being considerate of others. It wasn't that long ago when he tried to deal with Pegasus's darker intentions back during the Duelist Kingdom tournament.

"Alright, I'll sign the partnership agreement. It's not like I really have much of a choice, if one of us fails the other suffers," says Kaiba while he's signing the necessary sections of the documents. Once he finishes, he looks up at Pegasus, with only a single question in mind. "So what rules do you have in mind for this tournament, Pegasus?"

"Why, Kaiba-boy, I have a wonderful new system worked out, if you care to listen to the details . . . "

Two months later . . .

"We welcome you all the Senmoka Conference!" announced Croquet through the loudspeaker to the gathered crowd of Duelists standing by to board the ship. "In just a moment Mr. Pegasus and Mr. Kaiba will speak to you all about the unique new rules of this tournament."

'A rather impressive turnout,' thought a young man to himself as he looked around the crowd. He looked about the age of 18, he wore a white t-shirt embellished with a symbol for a phoenix on the front with a charcoal gray trench coat over it and washed-out blue jeans frayed at the ankles. His blond hair was styled in it's usual look, cut short and jagged, as if he'd received an electric shock. The most noteworthy thing about him would be the electric guitar-shaped device strapped to his back.

Others looked over at him and started whispering. "Hey, isn't that Johan S. Alain? The rock star? What's he doing here? Should I ask for his autograph? "

Johan grinned and bore the looks, all the while thinking, 'Just smile and hold on a little longer. I just wished they'd hurry up so I can get away from my fans . . .'

In another part of the crowd, a young woman about 17 was wandering around, looking everyone over and pickpocketing what she could from them. 'Heh hee! These fools have left themselves wide open for the great Stella Mitraille! I'm racking up lots of moolah from these suckers!' Why nobody noticed her is really an interesting question, as she was dressed in a bright yellow and blue jumpsuit with hat with mouse ears and face on it. Her Duel Disk was colored in the same fashion as her clothes, strapped on her right arm.

Towards the front of the crowd, two duelists were introducing themselves to each other. The first looked about 21 had platinum blond hair with his bangs curling to the left, he wore a white vest with a black long sleeve shirt and black khakis with white patches sown on at the knees. His Duel Disk was on his right arm and was only a slightly modified version of the Academy version, painted white with gold markings with the card platform altered to look like a wing. "Hello, my name is Luc Oscurita. What's your name?"

The other had green hair with bangs coming down either side of his face, tied up by a rolled up white and black bandanna. He wore a brown leather coat over his green and tan shirt, and had a deck box strapped around his left upper arm, as well as mud brown carpenters. His Duel Disk was worn on the left arm, and was a modified Doma version, painted silver and green instead of blue and black, the card platform was rounded out, and had a touchscreen in the center instead of a usual LP display. "Oh, my name's Fushi, Jason Fushi. Nice to meet you." They shook hands then immediately looked up as they heard a voice boom out . . .

"NOW THEN!" announced Roland, walking out to the edge of the balcony on the ship's side, microphone in hand, followed by Kaiba and Pegasus. "This is it, ladies and gentlemen, the beginning of the Senmoka Conference! Our tournament founders would now like to have a word with you about the new rules!" he continued, then handed the microphone to Pegasus with Kaiba producing one of his own from his jacket pocket.

"This will be the first tournament of it's kind, in fact, one could call it a league due to it's design," began Pegasus. "You see, instead of having you all compete directly, we've set up eight dueling facilities on Duelist Kingdom Island."

Kaiba then spoke, "You will all arrive at the island on boat, but as you depart will be separated into groups that will be given directions to one of those facilities first. From there the order you choose is up to you, but you must travel to each facility because . . ."

"Each one hosts a unique Admin, a duelist with skills incomparable to an average player, who holds copies of the cards you are all playing for, the twelve Tablet cards," Pegasus said holding up an example, continuing on, "These cards are not playable and can only be won from the Admin who holds that card. These cards will act as signs of victory, which you will need as the tournament progresses. As I said earlier, there are only eight facilities, so . . ."

Kaiba picked up again, saying, "There will be four hidden Admins on the island, so you'll also need to hunt down clues to where they are. Once you have all twelve cards, you will be able to enter the Titan's Tower to fight your way through five floors to the top to face the master duelist who will be waiting to duel the first to arrive. The first duelist who can successfully clear the Titan's Tower will be declared the Senmoka Conference Champion, and take home the prize of the Tablet cards and the tournament purse of five million!"

"One last detail, before you begin boarding," Pegasus remarked. "The only change to normal dueling rules is that you cannot play face-up defense monsters, all other rules remain the same. Now, begin boarding for Duelist Kingdom Island and the Senmoka Conference!"

Meanwhile, a group of figures in the shadows watch the illustrious figures give the opening speech.

"They've played the first move, now it's our turn . . . "

TURN END