Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Note: 2/06/07 I made one small change, instead of eight duelists making up the finals, I changed it to thirteen.

Episode One

Good Luck

Alex exited the bright yellow taxi cab that had driven him here, to Kaiba Corp. Headquarters in New York City. Alex couldn't believe he was here, in New York, in America. Alex suddenly felt so small surrounded by the tall sky scrapers lining fifth avenue, Kaiba Corp. was by far the biggest.

The steel giant gleamed in the sun, the steel walls glittered, new and strong. Alex looked ahead as he walked through the large revolving door. The anticipation in his stomach was building up; he wondered what would lie beyond.

The white lobby was huge, the marble floor sparkled, there was a Starbucks in one corner and a deli in the other. Employees bustled about, eating lunch and going up the many elevators neatly placed on all sides of the lobby.

Alex approached the receptionist; she was a neat looking girl with blond hair, wearing a blue uniform with the letters 'KC' stitched in the corner. The girl looked to be about twenty-three. "Hello welcome to Kaiba Corp, my name is Kristen how may I help you?"

Alex smiled, "I-I'm here for the tournament."

Her eyes lit up and she beamed, "Oh you're a duelist. Wow you must really be excited; I heard this year's tournament is going to be a blast. May I see your invite?"

Alex quickly grabbed a slip of paper from his right jean pocket, he handed it to Kristen who smiled and quickly verified it was legitimate. She typed on the computer for a bit, staring intently at the screen. "Ok you're all set Alex Honem all duelists will be received by Kaiba for the Opening Ceremony downstairs. I'll get one of the guards to escort you downstairs."

Kristen beckoned to one of the solemn guards in gray uniform standing post near the bathrooms. She quickly whispered to the tall man, and waited as he nodded affirmatively.

He smiled and beckoned for Alex to follow him. Alex, luggage-less as instructed by the invitation, wearing only a pair of jeans, white sneakers, a red shirt over which lay a light blue denim jacket, entered one of the five elevators marked 'Down'.

The security guard and Alex were the only ones in white marble lift. There were five buttons; marked 'B-1' through 'B-5', and the elevator required a key card for activation.

The security guard, who Alex learned was named Mike from his key card, swiped the card and pressed 'B-5'. Alex gulped as they descended farther and farther down into the basement, this was quite a reception.

The doors opened, and Alex stepped out into a long white hallway, there were about twenty doors on either side. The security guard pointed to the large white one at the end of the hall. Then the doors closed, taking Mike up and leaving Alex down here. Alex managed to catch the words "Good luck," uttered from Mike's mouth as the elevator doors snapped shut.

Alex, nervous as hell, proceeded down the hall. He stopped in front of the big metal door and opened it, leading him into a large room.

There were hundreds of duelists piled into one of the biggest indoor spaces Alex had ever seen. At the other end of the room was a large black podium, matching the black walls, and above the podium hung a large sign "World Tournament 2015". Nobody stood up there yet, but Alex knew who would, in time…

Alex scanned the room; he felt so out of place here. Alex didn't even feel like he belonged here, he ended up here by chance. Alex hadn't even meant to get into Duel Monsters. As a child Alex had been the quiet type. He was bullied all through Elementary School, and Middle School. Then, in his freshman year of High School, one bully pushed Alex way too far. But Alex knew he would lose in a physical fight, and Alex knew the only way he would get any respect was if he beat the bully in a game of duel monsters.

After school Alex stopped into a game store he passed every day on his way home, it was called "Turtle Game Shop", inside a mysterious old man had given Alex the deck he was using today. The old man said Alex and the deck were meant to be, that their destinies were intertwined. Alex didn't really understand what he meant, until the next day when Alex had beat the bully, and became his school's champ. Alex and the deck had connected. Next year, during Alex's sophomore year Alex entered the Japan National Tournament…and had won! And now, in Alex's summer year, he was competing in the World Tournament! Alex knew he would most likely lose, but he was honored just to have gotten in!

Alex spent the next few minutes eating the food Kaiba Corp had kindly set up along the walls. He felt hundreds of eyes watching him as he ate, he felt the competition analyzing him, looking for faults in him, some way they could beat him if they should come face to face in the tournament.

Fifteen minutes later, the Opening Ceremony began.

Seto Kaiba and Yugi Muto stepped onto the black podium, and the crowd went wild! Yugi and Kaiba had aged a bit, Kaiba had a brown beard and his face was tougher then ever. Yugi's eyes were wise, and his hair was down and short, his faced had aged, but in a good way.

Yugi had changed though in more then just his physical features. Yugi was now Co-President of Kaiba Corp. It happened five years ago, Pegasus retired from Industrial Illusions, and thought it fit to leave the company to Yugi. But Yugi didn't know how to run a company, he was too busy looking for (And still is looking for) the next King of Games. Kaiba came to Yugi and proposed a merger of their company, Yugi agreed, and here they are.

Yugi cleared his throat, "Welcome duelists, of all races, colors, sizes, to the World Tournament 2015!" The crowd boomed alive, and Alex cringed from the noise.

"You are truly the best of the best, and Kaiba and I are proud to be standing here in front of you, announcing that one of you will be, the next King of Games!"

The crowd cheered even louder, and Kaiba waited for them to calm down so that he could speak. "I know you all are itching to duel so I'll try to make this quick. This year's tournament will be a bit different from previous years." The crow was dead silent, hanging on to every word.

"Instead of a normal clash until one duelist is left standing, and one loss means you are automatically out of the running, this year, the first to thirty Dueling Points will go on to the finals!"

Yugi picked up where Kaiba left off, "Each duelist will be assigned a number, a ranking number depending on your duelist level within this competition. The numbers will be one to five, one be the lowest five being the strongest. Now just remember, you're all fives compared to the rest of the world, we're doing this so that you can test yourselves, and get a better sense of your opponents."

Kaiba picked up, "And of course for points. When you defeat your opponent you will get the number of points as the ranking of that person. You will start with the same amount of points as your ranking. So if I were a level four, I would start with four points, and if I beat a level three I would then have seven points. Once you get all thirty, the location of the finals will be revealed, the first thirteen duelists to get there will be able to compete in the finals, and the winner will become King of Games!"

Kaiba paused and Yugi continued, "Once your Dueling Points hit zero you will be eliminated, and ejected from the game."

Yugi stopped and Kaiba finished it off. "Oh, and did we forget to mention, you will playing in a virtual setting, good luck and will everyone proceed out into the hallway."

The entire room was in an uproar, Alex was so excited, this tournament would be virtual! Alex was one of the first outside of the room. Kaiba Corp. employees were directing duelists into the forty rooms branching off from the corridor.

Alex got into the fifth room on the right; in there were twenty blue virtual-simulation pods. Alex was amazed, it was happening so fast, but he couldn't wait to be apart of it. An employee in a white suit came up to him, "Welcome, what is your name?"

"Alex Honem," the man quickly jotted some things down on a clipboard and lead Alex to the first pod as the room began to fill up with duelists. The blue top of the pod opened and Alex got in, sitting in the chair-shaped pod.

"Place your deck in this slot" the man instructed. Alex did so as the man hooked him up to a bunch of wires. "While in the virtual setting you will be monitored by doctors and you will be feed and watered everyday, all your needs will be taken care off. If you wish to leave and your Dueling Points have not dropped to zero then all you have to do is hit a red button on the underside of the duel disk you will be wearing once in "Dueling Land", that's what we call the virtual setting. Good luck."

Alex still couldn't believe how fast this was happening, the doctor shut the pod and counted down from five…four…three…two…one.

Alex closed his eyes, but it didn't matter; a strange sensation was occurring in his brain. A blur of colors consumed Alex as he was plunged into "Dueling Land". Suddenly everything went black, Alex panicked but Kaiba and Yugi appeared in front of Alex.

"Welcome duelist to the World Tournament 2015," the champions spoke in usion. "You will have learned the rules from us in the real world, and as we speak you are being transferred into "Dueling Land'".

A large map appeared marked "Dueling Land". Yugi and Kaiba continued to speak, "Dueling Land has many different terrains, which may have an effect in the game. Some terrains are deserts, forests, jungles, towns, cities, oceans…" The map lit up as each area was mentioned. "Remember to do your best and keep your Dueling Points from hitting zero. While in Dueling Land you can summon your monsters to help you fly through the land or cut down barriers, but you can not attack other players. You can not turn down a challenge and you will be playing with standard dueling rules."

Suddenly the words "Good Luck" flashed, Alex had arrived at Dueling Land.

All round him Alex saw blue; Alex was wearing the same clothes he was wearing in the real world, as he plunged through the sky down towards Dueling Land.

Falling through air was exhilarating, the wind tickled Alex, as Dueling Land became bigger and bigger. Everything was so clear and beautiful; it was a perfect replica or reality. Alex suddenly became soaked as he passed through a cloud, this was a blast! Alex then noticed other duelists coming along, soaring through the sky like a shooting star in the bright day light. Alex could start to make out a city in the distance, and a large volcano to the East. Alex looked down, there was a large lake below, but it looked like he'd land a few miles away from the lake, in a forest.

Alex continued, to soar, smiling. It would only be a couple of minutes before he would land, he could hear the screams from the people above him, some excited, some scared, some a little of both. Alex could see he was going to land dead in the middle of the forest. He quickly looked, at the other end of the forest, there lay the big city, Alex should head there, he would probably find a lot of duelists there, but it would take a while for him to get out of the forest, although he could use his monsters to speed up the trip incredibly.

Alex yelled as the branches scratched him on his final descent through the tops of the trees. Alex landed with a thump on the forest floor in a clearing of moss and leaves. Alex stood up and brushed the dirt off, he couldn't wait to get started; he was going to try his hardest, and hopefully surprise himself.

A silver duel disk rested on Alex's left hand, and Alex looked at the red button on the under side…just in case. Alex flipped through his deck and immediately found a card to speed up his journey.

"Go Lava Dragon (2200/1800)," Alex placed the monster on his duel disk, and instantly a skinny, charcoal black dragon, with red piercing eyes appeared in front of Alex. Alex was mesmerized, and Lava Dragon seemed to feel the same.

"H-hey, L-lava Dragon." Alex approached the monster and began to pet it; Lava Dragon was extremely skinny, but extremely fierce. "Ok boy, want to go for a ride?"

Lava Dragon snorted a thick puff of smoke, and Alex took that for a yes. Alex got on Lava Dragon's back, its skin was rough, but Alex didn't mind.

"Ok Lava, get me out of the plac-…" Alex was nearly ripped out of his seat as Lava Dragon took off and speeded towards the thick roof of the forest. Lava Dragon spit a shower of lava at the leaves, hoping to make a parting for which it could fly through. But the leaves would not burn. Alex groaned, as he braced himself, Lava Dragon was about to rip through the leaves.

Lava Dragon should have been able to rip through a couple of leaves, but these leaves were indestructible, Alex groaned, he should have guessed it would not have been so easy to escape the forest.

But Lava Dragon wasn't so ready to give up, it started going forward, but Alex screamed, Lava Dragon was heading for a tree, but when Lava Dragon hit the tree it fell right down, the trees unlike the leaves, were destructible. Alex laughed, but the roof of leaves remained, looked like they would just have to barrel straight through the forest.

Alex lay on Lava Dragon's back as it ripped apart any tree in their way, occasionally sending a shower of lava to do the job for him.

After flying for an hour, with only the sound of breaking trees, Alex was surprised to here a scream. "Stop," he commanded and Lava Dragon did so.

Alex pointed towards the sound of the scream, and Lava Dragon flew slow, looking for the source of the noise.

Alex spotted a girl, surrounded by a group of men, standing a few trees away.

Lava Dragon, scratching its back, as Alex raced towards the girl. She was a tall girl, with fair skin. She had short brown hair and clear blue eyes; she was wearing a brown shirt and a pair of jeans, a duel disk on her arm.

She was surrounded by three boys, wearing alike black leather jackets and tight leather pants.

"Come on, just one duel, please little girl."

The girl, about seventeen, slapped the boy. His friends looked shocked, and he yelled, "I'll get you, you little…"

Alex raced forward, "Hey get off her punk!"

The boy sneered and his friends laughed, "Oh really pretty boy, and who do you think you are."

The boys advanced, and the girl ran to the safety of a nearby tree. Alex knew this was all virtual, but he was afraid of the group of twenty year olds advancing on him, painful memories flooded Alex's brain.

"How, how bout' we settle this in a duel?"

The leader stopped moving, "A duel eh, alright punk, better to humiliate you, then hurt you. What level are you?"

Alex realized he didn't know, had someone forgot to tell him? The boy sneered, and grabbed Alex's duel disk, where the life points would be was the number three.

The boy sneered, "I'm Hunter by the way, and level three is pathetic, I'm a level four. But if you think you can handle me then fine, I can take you on, you're a wimp. This shouldn't take too long, and then…" Hunter's goonies grabbed the gorgeous girl who had been watching this scene from behind a tree. The two boys grabbed her and pulled her into the clearing.

"…I'll have her for breakfast," he concluded.

Alex spoke firmly, "If you win which is definitely not going to happen."

Hunter smiled, displaying a row of sharp teeth, his jet black hair was greasy, and his hands were bony and white, "We'll see, punk. Enough chit-chat, it's time, to duel…"

Alex: 8000

Hunter: 8000

Next Time on World Tournament 2015…

Alex takes on Hunter, but Alex finds he gets more then he bargained for. Not only does Hunter have a nasty personality, his deck is pretty nasty too. Will Alex be knocked out in his first duel, and what will happen to the beautiful damsel in distress? Find out next time on Yu-Gi-Oh!