Because of the technological breakthroughs humanity has achieved since its earliest days, human life has become much more simpler and people can live their lives in peace. However, they are unaware that the advances they have made to a certain aspect of their life has opened up the doorway between their world and the Spirit Realm, a world where beings from the widely popular card game "Duel Monsters" reside. With the door between both worlds open, the spirits have begun appearing in our world out of curiosity and for their own purposes.

But for those who know the truth, one question remains. Do we accept these otherworldly visitors with open arms and minds OR do we eradicate their kind before they can do damage to our way of society? For one boy, a Duel Monsters player known as Yuki Yuzuki, his outlook could be the defining factor...

Yu-Gi-Oh! Symbiosis

Episode 001: My Hero - Part 01

~ Rizer City | Downtown Square ~

The setting is Rizer City, a city where many people call home and where dreams are believed to come true for those with strong wills and convictions. But amidst the happy crowds of people, going about their usual day to day lives, we notice a young girl trying to make her way through the waves of people without being noticed. She is dressed in a ratty brown hoodie, marked with many different colored patches from wear. Glancing out from under her hood, she has a light green right eye and orange left eye, indicating signs of heterochromia. Ducking into a nearby alleyway, she panted for a bit as she hid behind a trash can. She looked out at the other people passing the alley.

"Why did I ever come to this world? The humans that live here….are terrifying." she muttered. Thinking back to recent experiences, she remembered how she stole food from a local vendor, hiding her face as she fled to avoid being noticed, being chased with a broom by the owner. She also commited other deeds such as pilfering necessity items from a convienient store and hid them beneath her coat.

"I just wish I could go home….but, without my magic….how can I? I've been stuck here for a year and nothing's changed." she thought. Fishing around in her coat, she took out a partially eaten apple, that had signs of aging on it, before taking a bite out of it with her fang-like teeth. Having lost its flavor a while ago, the taste did not tide over well and the swallow was just as bad.

"It tastes rotten. But…even so…" she thought. She continued eating at it though until it was just a core. Looking around her surroundings first, she threw the core over the trash can she was hiding behind.

"At least I've eaten…." she muttered. But, from outside, she heard someone's voice groan.

"Hey! W-What the…?" the voice said. The girl quickly peeked around the can, gasping at the sight of a group of human teenage boys, all wearing similar uniforms. They were students of the local Rizer High School. One of them, a boy with spiky blonde hair, picked up the discarded apple core at his feet.

"Yo! Did you see that? Someone just threw that at you, Kenji!" one of the boys proclaimed. Kenji rubbed his forehead where the core hit.

"Yeah. Who's the wise guy?" he asked, looking around. Just then, he caught notice of the girl's eyes from behind the trash can and pointed at her, startling her.

"There's the culprit! Grab her boys!" he called. Without a moment to lose, the girl made a break for it down the alleyway, knocking over the can as she fled.

"I-I'm sorry!" she cried, hoping to be forgiven. But the teenagers followed after her, kicking the can out of their way.

~ Meanwhile… ~

In another location in Rizer City, having just come out of one of the many convienient stores, is another teenage boy. This one had dark blue hair, light gold eyes and he was carrying a few packs of Duel Monster cards in his hands with an estatic look on his face. This young man was named Yuki Yuzuki.

"Hoo boy! I can't wait to bust these babies open! But….should I wait until I get home? Nah. Just find someplace nice first…THEN crack them open." he said. Just then, he heard sounds of a struggle coming from nearby, stopping dead in his tracks.

"Huh? What's that?" he asked. Squinting his eyes to get a better look, he saw it was the hooded girl from earlier, having been caught by the boys chasing her. Yuki gasped.

"Hey! What are those guys doing to that kid?" he thought. Without so much as a word, the boys then carted off with the girl, one of them carrying her under his arm while she flailed around. Yuki quickly stuffed his card packs in his pocket before tailing after them. Following after them as quick as he could, the chase eventually led down to Rizer Park as the boys brought the girl and pushed her up against one of the trees, out of sight from anyone else. The girl quivered as she slid down the tree trunk, pulling her hood over her eyes out of fear.

"P-P-Please! I didn't mean to do anything! I-I didn't know you were there!" she timidly spoke. Kenji suddenly grabbed her by the collar, forcing her to look at him in the eyes. He stared at her with a scowl on his face, despite her eyes watering.

"Don't give me that you little brat. No one throws a rotten apple at ME and gets away with it. Do you know who I am? Huh? Do ya?!" he asked. The girl quivered before clutching her hood again.

"N-N-No….I'm afraid I…" she muttered. Before she could answer, Kenji rattled her, trying to get her to look at him again. But she merely turned her head the other way.

"P-P-Please! I…I don't want trouble!" she quivered.

"Too bad kid. You've got it. So…what you gonna do about it?" Kenji asked. As this was going on, Yuki finally arrived on the scene and saw the boys surrounding her. And in no time at all, he saw Kenji's hand clutched onto her coat.

"HEY! What are you jerks doing to that girl?! Let her go!" Yuki yelled. Kenji and the others stopped and looked back, seeing Yuki glaring directly at them. He released his grip on the girl before standing back up, turning straight at Yuki.

"And who the heck are you? This ain't none of your concern. So if I were you, I'd pretend you saw NOTHING and…" Kenji said. But rather than listen to him, Yuki walked straight through them, pushing Kenji out of the way, and approached the girl. Still scared by what transpired, she sat with legs tucked in and her hands gripping her hood, shaking from fear. Kenji scoffed.

"Hey! I was talking to you! You don't just SHOVE people out of the way when they're TALKING to you stupid!" Kenji yelled. Again, Yuki didn't listen to him and crouched down to the girl's level.

"Hey….you okay?" he asked in a gentle tone. Hearing his voice, the girl's quivering slowly stopped as she looked up at Yuki. She saw him slowly extend his hand towards her, surprising her slightly as the tears stopped.

"It's all right. I won't hurt you. Trust me." Yuki said. Her eyes fixated on his hand, shaking slightly. Despite remaining motionless, she soon started to reach out her hand. However, she would duck her hand back several times, still scared by what happened. But Yuki did not budge an inch as everything around them fell silent. Finally, the girl looked once more at him before slowly reaching out her hand again, resting it in his palm this time. Yuki smiled as he lightly took hold of her, helping her onto her feet.

"There we go. C'mon. Let's get out of here." he said softly. Beneath her hood, her eyes began sparkling, amazed by Yuki's sudden act of kindness.

"Is…Is this real?"

Holding tightly to his hand, Yuki and the girl started to walk off together. But Kenji quickly spoke out.

"Hey! Hold up one second! Who the heck are you?!" he yelled. The girl looked backwards as they both came to a stop, followed by Yuki glancing back as well.

"Who? Me? I'm Yuki. Actually, my full name is Yukio Yuzuki. "Yuki" is a nickname I like going by and I'm new to town. My folks and I just moved in a little while ago and I start high school soon." he said. Kenji huffed.

"Oh, so THAT explains why you're showing me such "disrespect". Well, Yuki, my name is Kenji and I'm a pretty big DEAL around these here parts. Wanna know why?" he replied. Yuki shrugged.

"Nah. Not really. So…if that's all, bye." he said, turning away again. But before he could take another step forward, Kenji's posse suddenly stepped in front of him. The girl gasped before ducking behind Yuki's legs.

"Unfortunately, I'm afraid my "associates" won't let you walk away that easily. See…the reason I'm a big deal around Rizer City…is that I'm its local enforcer." Kenji continued.

"Enforcer? Of what? Are you telling me you're some kind of police officer or something?" Yuki asked.

"No. Not a "police officer", per say. Think of me more as….the boss of the "Kenji Brigade", a carefully selected group who rule the streets of Rizer City….meaning you don't just act like I'm no big deal and walk away…not after the way YOU'VE acted. So…we're gonna make you RESPECT me, got it?" he said. Suddenly, he noticed something hanging around Yuki's waist. It was a hard plastic case, full of Duel Monster cards. The sight of it brought a grin to Kenji's face.

"Is that what I think it is? You play DUEL MONSTERS?" he asked. Yuki glanced at him.

"Yeah? So what?" he replied. Kenji started to laugh, as did the other boys.

"Well, let me explain THIS to ya. My boys and I? One of our primary goals…is putting wanna-be "duelists" like you out of comission. So, as punishment for your crimes, we'll be TAKING those cards of yours and tossing 'em into a wood chipper or…maybe we'll use them for FIREWOOD." he said. Hearing that, Yuki's eyes narrowed, surprising the girl as she looked up at him.

"I don't think so. These cards are like a family to me. And NO ONE separates family…especially when that family is a duelist and his cards. YOU got it?" he retorted. Kenji seemed a little surprised by his reply but soon regain his cocky grin.

"Okay then. Tell ya what? How about we have ourselves a duel then? I happen to have a deck JUST for people like you who don't know when to respect my "authority". If I win, you hand over ALL the cards you have…no questions asked. But if YOU somehow win, we'll let ya and the pipsqueak go. Sound good?" Kenji asked. Still making sure to have his grip on the girl's hand, Yuki turned around and faced Kenji with a confident grin of his own.

"All right. Why not? Should be fun." he said "I've been itching to duel someone since I got to town." Kenji grinned.

"I got him." he thought "I KNEW he wouldn't refuse." Suddenly, the girl started to get worried and grabbed onto Yuki's shirt, prompting him to look down.

"Hey. It'll be okay. You just sit back and enjoy the show…okay? I PROMISE we'll be out of here in no time." he said, rubbing her head. Letting go of her hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a cell phone like device. Kenji did the same. This item was known as the "Duel Dialer", a special type of phone that could also double as a high tech Duel Disk. As Yuki turned on the phone, he entered a special key code into the number pad, enabling it to transform into its duel disk form and attach to his wrist. He then took out the deck he had in his case and slipped it inside. Afterwards, he looked down at his deck.

"Don't worry guys. No one's turning YOU into firewood anytime soon." he thought. While Kenji's posse stepped aside, the girl started to run away. But the moment she passed by a tree, she came to a quick halt. She looked back at Yuki, staring silently at him. She then thought back to his words.

"It's all right. I won't hurt you. Trust me."

Growing nervous what would happen, she slowly parked herself behind the tree, peeking out from around its trunk at Yuki. Meanwhile, the duel just about started as Kenji and Yuki drew five cards.

"Let's DUEL!" they shouted.

YUKI: 4000

KENJI: 4000

TO BE CONTINUED…