Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the original characters. They belong to Konami (who are in the pits right now). Hanako, Taro, and Mickey were all taken from the prima card game rule book. I DO own all the original locations and characters though.

New Cards on the Block

In America, within the suburbs of Gamecom city, there was a Volvo, most likely used given the quality, speeding towards the local game store Mouser's Game Palace with the two passengers bickering all the while. "It's your fault we're late!" exclaimed the 17 year-old girl, "We only ended up sleeping in cause we had to finish that history project you kept putting off." "We could have just done it on Sunday." said the 16 year-old male, "It isn't due till the school week starts." "You're only proving my point." The girl replied. These two teenagers were best friends that attended the same school. Hanako is a Japanese-American woman who has been living in the city since she was a baby, she likes to wear jeans, longed sleeved shirts (with no midriffs) and usually wore a jacket along with it, she had fairly long black hair which she liked to keep natural, was a bit taller than normal for a girl her age. Taro is a Japanese boy whose family moved to America when he was only 6 years old, he had short brown hair, and his attire consisted of T-shirts, jeans, and was usually wearing a cap of some kind.

"I just hope there are still a few booster packs left," Hanako sighed. Hanako and Taro were best friends who were both really into gaming. Whether it was tabletop, video, cards, and even board games they were all into. One game that was quickly gaining steam at the time was Duel Monsters, a trading card game that skyrocketed in popularity ever since the Death Theme park event that was broadcasted on TV worldwide. For the first time since the card game started, there were brand new types of cards announced that would change how the game was played. Naturally, a lot of people were itching to play them and OF COURSE both teens just so happened to sleep-in on the very day.

"Well, we're here." Hanako said as she parked the car. Mouser's Game Palace was a rather small store, but it was THE hang-out spot they went to ever since they were in high-school. It always had some cool obscure game they never heard of, as well as whatever was popular at the time. It was roughly 12:00 PM, several hours after the store opened. The place was deserted but if they were here just a few hours later the place would have been packed. I think we're too late. Ah well, wouldn't hurt to take a look. Hanako thought to herself as she and Taro walked through the door. "Yo, Mick. Are they any packs left?" Taro asked entering the store.

Behind the counter was a fairly young man who had short black hair and wore a buttoned shirt alongside a pair of trousers. Mickey is a 24 year-old who opened up shop back when he was 20, 5 years ago. He was good friends with the teens and would often hang out with them when he wasn't working despite their age difference. "Well, if you wanted one in mint condition I'm afraid you're out of luck." The teens started to look let down by the news, then he continued, "Buuuut, I had a feeling you two would be held up by something, so I decided to take some of the cards from the packs I bought, gather them up, and give you twenty each on what I thought you'd like."

The teenagers immediately looked up and their expressions quickly switched to one of excitement. "Really!" Hanako exclaimed. "Sure. Here take them." Mickey put the two decks he constructed on the table which the teens quickly snatched. "Cool. Wait, don't we have to pay for these things?" Taro asked. "Don't worry, it's on the house." Mickey replied. Hanako asked, "But doesn't that break the rules of business?" Mickey then shortly replied, "Screw the rules, I have money."

Notes: A few things to get out of the way. The cards featured will be based of the original cards and the synchro cards, the story will be based much more off of the manga then the anime, and I will be using the dub names for the original Yu-Gi-Oh characters, but I will be paying attention to the original Japanese story. (Ex. There will be no Shadow Realm, but there will be death.) I will also be bringing in elements of later Yu-Gi-Oh series. Also, wow this first chapter was way longer then I expected.