Yu-Gi-Oh XT Origins

Chapter 1 - Genesis

This fic is basically a prequel to Shadow Koba's Yu-Gi-Oh XT series which he is in the process of writing and I highly suggest you check out (thanks for letting me do this by the way)!

Enjoy!

Surrounded by several dozen of my fellow Duel Academy students, all staring at me intently with bated breath, I withdrew the card they had been waiting for from within the recesses of my jacket. In unison my audience gasped, astounded by the revelation that the card I held aloft was indeed the Blue Eyes White Dragon. I couldn't help but smile as a chorus of "awesome", "no way" and various other phrases expressing amazement broke out around me. I basked in the attention of my peers, many of them Ra Yellow students like myself, people who so often avoided or ignored me. Before I joined the academy I had been a fairly outgoing and outspoken person, but since joining I had become more reserved, avoiding social interaction if I could.

It didn't take me long to realise that it was being separated from my sister, Ria, that had caused this change in my personality. Since she was born I had always been by her side, the brotherly instinct to protect her developing early in me even when I was just a toddler. As we grew up it became more than that, we were each other's best friends and we were there for each other through thick and thin. When the opportunity arose for me to join Duel Academy she was the first to encourage me to accept the placement, though I could tell she would miss me greatly. Reluctantly I accepted the offer, knowing it was the only way that I could eventually support Ria and myself without having to relying on grudging support of our relatives. Despite being so far apart from the first time, we kept in constant contact with one another sharing lengthy phone calls and chatting on IMs whenever we had the chance. It had been during one such session that she had jokingly suggested that it was my plain appearance that was causing me to blend into the background. The remedy, Ria confidently declared, was to change my style. Being isolated on the island and with nowhere to buy anything new Ria had sent over a box of supplies for me to use including several bottles of red hair dye and a pair of ski goggles. I questioned her judgement of style, but she had assured me that dying sections of your hair a different colour was cool and that all the fashion conscious men in Japan were wearing unnecessary headwear. Not wanting to upset her and willing to try anything to be noticed I followed her advice, but despite my new mixture of red and black hair propped up by orange and black goggles I still remained a nobody.

This moment was perhaps the first that I had been the centre of attention since enrolling as a student, but my moment of fame was short lived. The crowd began to part as two behemoths of Obelisk blue students muscled their way to stand menacingly before me. The brawny pair glared down at me before moving aside to reveal the one person I despised the most, Charles Murdoch. No matter what school I went to there always seemed to be some spoilt little rich kid flanked by oversized flunkies looking to make everyone else's life a misery. Charles came from an incredibly wealthy family and he wasn't afraid to show it, his clothes overtly expensive though annoying tasteful. His thin face was bordered by straight finely combed blonde hair which emphasized his general dandy-boy appearance. Holding his hand out expectantly he spoke impatiently.

"Hand it over to me. Now!"

"What?" I dumbly replied, taken aback by Charles's abruptness.

"The card. Give it to me. It's a fake. I want to prove it." His sentences were always short and choppy as if he was saving his breath not wanting to waste it on those he deemed beneath himself (which was, of course, everyone but himself). Without thinking I moved the card I held towards Charles which he promptly snatched from my hand. Shaking my head as if suddenly realising what I had done I tried to reach out to retake my card, but I was quickly pushed away by his henchman, the impact knocking me to the floor. After a few seconds of intense appraisal of my supposed Blue Eyes White Dragon, Charles snorted in derision turning it to face the crowd so all could see his revelation that the card was indeed a phoney.

"See. It's fake. The serial code. It's wrong. It doesn't even have the hologram in the corner," he said pointing to where the metallic stamp should be. "A shoddy attempt to imitate the real thing. Fitting really. A wannabe with a wannabe card." Charles gave a satisfied smile turning to his dull-witted henchmen in expectation of their amusement at his quip. Slowly their brains processed what his expression meant and the two let out half-hearted chuckles which were slowly echoed by the assembled crowd who laughed with equal enthusiasm. Apparently satisfied with his audience's response, Charles's face creased into a vile sneer as he held the card up in front of him. "Well now. I can't let you keep this fake. It might give you delusions of grandeur," Charles cackled as he easily tore the card into pieces, throwing the remnants on me like ignominious confetti. "Later. Loser," he said turning, his henchmen pushing a course for him through the gathered students.

The crowd departed quickly after Charles, returning to experience what little remained of morning break. Most left muttering words of disapproval at how I had fooled them into thinking I had a Blue Eyes, some even claimed they had known it was a fake all along though they were the very same people that had been so easily convinced it was real.

Dusting myself off as I got to my feet, I began to consider how I had gotten myself into this mess. Whilst searching online for any information I could about the Blue Eyes White Dragon, the legendary card I desired more than anything else, I happened upon a website that claimed to make copies that looked just like the real thing. Intrigued I clicked on the site, more out of curiosity than genuine interest in buying a fake. After briefly reading through the site's info, detailing how they were genuine copies of the original, I decided I may as well buy one. They weren't exactly expensive and even if it wasn't a perfect copy it could at least act as an incentive to get my hands on the real thing, I didn't plan on showing it to anyone else after all. After it arrived in the post after an excruciating week of waiting I was ecstatic with my purchase. I spent many a night just staring at it, dreaming of the day I would have the real thing. I tried to keep it hidden from any of my dorm mates' prying eyes, but clearly I wasn't careful enough. Somehow word had spread around the academy that I had a Blue Eyes and before long I was confronted by several of my fellow students anxious to see if the rumour was true. I foolishly told them I wouldn't let anyone see it, heavily implying that I had somehow got my hands on a Blue Eyes. This only made people more anxious to see it for themselves which inevitably resulted in the horde of students pestering me to see the legendary card and today's embarrassment.

Just as I was about to move off from the hallway a sharp cough jolted me to a halt. "Shows over buddy, can't you see everyone else's left?" I said cynically as I turned to face whoever was trying to get my attention. Facing him, I immediately noticed the immaculate long Obelisk blue jacket that he wore, left open to reveal the equally neat waistcoat that he sported beneath it. His hair was a darkish brown and parted nearly to side. He looked at me coolly, though I could tell there was an underlying nervousness to it. He gave me an awkward smile before offering out his hand, presumably to shake in greeting.

"Xander Solmon, heir to Solmon Industries and user of all cards divine," he said smiling by means of an introduction. I looked at his outstretched hand raising an inquisitive eyebrow before frowning.

"Look buddy I don't mean to be rude, but I'm not exactly in the mood for cheesy introductions. Just tell me what you need to say so I can crawl under the nearest rock and hope everything goes away," I said impatiently and with a little sarcasm. Retracting his hand Xander continued unfazed.

"Well, I just thought I would introduce myself since we have been paired together in the upcoming 2v2 tournament." I sighed deeply, vaguely recalling an assembly that mentioned something to the effect that there was going to be a team based competition and that all students would be duelling alongside someone from another dormitory. It was supposed to encourage friendships between the rival dorms, or so the Principal had said. I smiled weakly, realising he probably wanted to get to know me better so we could cooperate more effectively when it came to the tourney.

"Fine, I'm Tamas Fletcher, pleased to meet ya. Let's do our best and all that crap," I said not even attempting to feign mock enthusiasm. "Look, Xander, if it's all the same to you I couldn't care less about this tournament, so I'm gonna go now and find that rock I was talking about earlier." I turned to walk away from him, but he grabbed my shoulder spinning me sharply to face him again.

"Sorry Tamas, but it's not all the same to me. I happen to want to win this tournament and the opportunity that comes with it or do you want to continue to remain a failure?" he said sternly before I had a chance to utter my annoyance at being spun round so violently. His face no longer had a hint of patience in it, but was a mask of raw determination. It was apparent he was used to getting his own way and I wasn't about to stop that. His remark about me being a failure stung, but I guessed it was more a remark to get me to listen to him rather than a genuine insult against me.

"Alright! What do you want me to do Mr Solmon? If you wanna talk tactics fine go ahead. I'll even go get my cards if you want." I said resignedly.

"Good, go get your cards, but we're not going to discuss tactics. Not yet anyway," he said eagerly, a steely look in his eyes. "Tamas Fletcher, I have someone I'd like you to duel!"

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