The day was warm and lone figure began to wander down the streets of Domino City and head towards the park. He was eighteen, dressed in black jeans, tennie shoes and a gray shirt. Over that he wore a black vest that had the "Duel Monsters" logo printed on the back. Under those words was an image of the Jinzo monster card that was his favorite.
His name is John Solaris and he was an excellent duelist.
Though he never actually played in the big championship duels, he had circulated the tournaments that popped up around the city. It wasn't long before he became known as a master Machine Duelist. He and his Jinzo decimated duelist after duelist, but John never got into the real big leagues for some reason. While most loved the big challenge of Duel Monsters, John just played the game for fun. Testing his skills with each duelist that challenged him.
Walking down the sidewalk he ran his hand through his shoulder length, dark brown hair and over his thin mustache and goatee. Dodging the multitude of people he found his way into the local Game Shop and slowly began to wander around the aisles, taking his time to look and see if they had any individual cards that he wanted to purchase and upgrade his deck.
"Ah good afternoon John. How are things?" came a kindly female voice from the behind the counter.
Turning he smiles as he sees the kindly woman behind the counter. "Oh hello Ms. Gardner. How're you today?"
"Now John. I've told you repeatedly to call me Tea." she smiles as she turns around and plucks out a new packet of cards.
"I'm sorry Tea." he smiles as he goes to the counter. "Get any new packets in today?"
"Of course." she smiles as she slides on across the tabletop to him. "Just for you, the very first one."
"Oh that's great!" He grins as he takes the packet and hands her a few bills to pay for it. "I hope I get some good ones to add to my Machine Deck."
Tea laughed as she watched him open the packet. "I do too. You've been doing great among the local tournaments. I'm surprised you don't try to go professional."
"Eh, I just duel for the fun of it. If I get into any tournaments its purely by accident. Besides, I hear the big tournaments that are sponsored by the Kaiba Corporation are tough." he sighs as he opens the packet and flips through the cards one by one. "And I just don't think I'm good enough to- WHOA! Finally! I got a Barrel Dragon!"
Laughing softly he shook her head and gave him back his change. "You just got to have more faith in yourself John. You are a good duelist. You deserve to rank up there."
With a laugh he reaches into his side belt and opens up a small case. Pulling out his deck of Machine cards he slid the new Barrel Dragon into his deck. "Eh. Maybe the next time there is one I'll consider it." Looking down he checked his watch. "Uh-oh. I better get home. Thank you Ms. Gardner!"
Before he could hear her response, John ran straight out of the door just as someone was coming in. He was taller than his 5'10 self with long brown hair and dressed in the best kind of clothes he'd seen. Looking up at him he sees the 21 year old looking down him with a raised brow.
"Umm, sorry. Excuse me." he slid out past her, seeing the limo in front of the Game Shop. "What's money like that doing here?"
Shrugging his shoulders he runs off down the sidewalk and through the park, dodging past people and hopping over fallen things on ground. As soon as he reaches his front door his front door he runs in and checks his watch. He had just barely made it in time so that he would not get in trouble from his parents.
"John? That you?" asked his mother from the kitchen.
"Yeah ma. I'm on time." he says with a laugh as he is about to head upstairs. Her voice follows up after him.
"Not that. There's a letter for you on your bed. And dinner in ten minutes." came her voice before she disappeared back into the kitchen.
Raising a brow he walked into his room which was littered with various things on the floor and a several large posters. Mostly they were of music bands and duel monsters pictures. As he walked in he looked down to the letter waiting for him and knelt down plucking it up off the bed. It was crisp, white and seemed pretty hard yet flexible. His curiosity was of course peaked as he opened it.
Pulling out the letter that was inside he saw it was from the Kaiba Corporation. "What the hell? It's a flier to join their Virtual Reality Tournament. Whoa! The winner will get an Egyptian God card! That's just...wow!" he laughs as he stops and thinks for a moment. "Wait a minute. How did I get this? I never competed in any tournaments that have been big enough to catch their attention?"
Perplexed, John sat down on his bed as he pulled out his Forge deck again. He sighed softly as he looked over the cards, unsure if he was ready for something like this. He was going to have to sleep on it.
* * *
Looking down at the young man that passed him by, the tall gentleman smiled slightly. He turned back around and entered the game shop. The people that were in it seemed to drop silent and just looked at him. He slowly walked up to the counter, his trench coat flapping behind him with his steps. The circlet that adorned his forehead gave off a little sparkle from the light. He approached the counter and found an older, yet still beautiful woman behind it. He nodded his head slightly in respect.
"Hello Mrs. Gardner."
"Mr. Kaiba Jr., what brings you around these parts?" she asked.
"I wish I came for a pleasure trip just for you Mrs. Gardner, but I actually came on business. You see, I have invited a brand new virtual reality game."
All the kids started to get closer to listen in. Mrs. Gardner stood up fully and put her arms right under her breasts, pushing them up slightly. It took Kaiba a lot to keep his eyes on hers.
"Oh really? I remember the time your father had been trapped in his VR game."
"Yes. My uncle has told me. But this, I promise, is completely safe. I've also redone the fighting system. I find my father's rules a bit out dated."
Kaiba smiled at Mrs. Gardner. Kaiba opened up his trench coat and pulled out a roll of papers. He pulled the string off of it and set the papers flat on the counter. It was a flyer to his Virtual Reality tournament.
"Please, hand these out, but only give the shop tournament winners these. "
*He pulled out a couple more pieces of paper and set them on the counter next to the flyers*
"And what are these?" she asked while picking them up.
"Those, Mrs. Gardner, are the invitations for the winners to actually compete."
Kaiba looked at the clock and sighed.
"Well, I have to go Mrs. Gardner. I have, other, pressing matters to attend to."
"Tell your father and uncle I said hello."
Kaiba took one of Mrs. Gardner's hand and kissed it.
"As always."
He let go of it slowly and walked out of the shop, letting all the kids go frantic now. He stepped across the street and got into his limo. As soon as he did, it took off. A sly grin crept along his lips.
"Too bad Mr. Moto never asked her to marry him. What a fool. What a fool."
* * *
After dinner John just sat down at his desk, looking over all the cards that were displayed out in front of him. He had separated his deck into Trap Cards, Magic Cards, and Monster Cards. As he looked over them, he wanted to make sure that the ratios were evenly done. It wouldn't do him any good if his deck was watered down with too many useless magic cards or high level monsters he couldn't summon.
"Hmmm...Okay. I think I was able to adjust this just right." he smiles as he begins to stack his cards back up.
A loud ringing was produced from his pocket that almost made him jump up in surprise. Raising a brow he pulled out his silver and black colored cellphone. Pulling up the antenna he flipped it open and looked down at the bright green screen that showed the name of person who was calling. Rolling his eyes he looked and saw how late it was.
"Sammy. Do you have any idea what time it is? Its Midnight." he said, covering his mouth to stop his yawn.
A female voice from a girl that was about his own age spoke up real perky from the other line. Her named is Samantha Chambers, though to her close friends she is known only as Sammy. "I'm not stupid John, I know what time is. And 'big shocker' you're still awake."
"Hey, I have a very good reason." John laughed as he set his cards back into their carrying case. "I'm going to take part in some kind of preliminary tournament at the Game Shop. If I win then I get a place in the big Virtual Reality tournament that the Kaiba Corporation is holding."
"Oh yeah I passed by the Game Shop earlier and I saw one of those fliers. I heard form Ms. Gardner that Kaiba Jr. was actually there to leave the leave them. I had just missed him." she said, her own voice showing its tiredness. "And I'm surprised. You've never showed interest in joining the big leagues. Why the change of heart?"
"I don't know." He said as he looked at the Jinzo card he held up and laying back on his bed. Looking over the foil image he set it back in the case and put it up on his nightstand. "Just got some sorely needed encouragement I guess."
Sammy laughed on the other line as she spoke into the cellphone. "Well its still great news to hear. Someone finally gave you that swift kick in the pants you needed huh?"
"Ha Ha! I guess so. Finally time I went out there and tested my skills against some duelist of real challenge." He yawned deeply again and lay back in his bed, resting his head on the pillow. "Wait a second. Sammy, why did you wall me so late?"
"I don't know. Was bored and I wanted to bug you." her laughter rung through her line of the phone.
"Oi vey. Go to bed Sammy and leave me my peace!" he laughed softly as he ready to go to bed right there.
"Ooo fine. Party pooper." Sammy chuckles as she prepares for bed. "Sleep well. I'll try and catch you at the game shop to see how your duels are going."
"Okay okay. Good night." he laughs and clicks off his phone and leaves it on the nightstand. Settling in for the night and slipping into a blissful sleep.