The Jackson twins wake up one morning and find an empty Arcade. The source of the mystery seems to be a game plugged recently. And when they try to seek help and a young human girl is sucked into the gaming world through the mysterious game, the three will have to learn about the world of dueling monsters to save the Arcade, all of it's characters and their own lives. Alongside with new friends from the game, they'll face an enemy from their past, with new powers and who wants revenge.
Yu-Gi-Oh: Virtual Duel
Chapter 1: An Empty Morning
Clarion opened an eye and slowly turned her head to focus on the clock on her bedside table. Ten in the morning. She had slept so much! Opened both eyes and looked at the calendar. Sunday. Oh, so that's why everything was so quiet.
She stopped a moment to listen. Too much silencer to a Sunday morning. While her twin wasn't one who did so much noise in the morning, and often her parents were so tired that get up early wasn't an option. She knew, because she had days like that too. Yesterday was one of them. But what about Crystal and Erick?
Body still sore she slipped out of bed and crawled to the kitchen, where she hoped to find her father preparing breakfast, or even her twin brother, but everything was deserted and silent.
Concern starting to wake her, the girl ran into the her parents' bedroom, only to find the place empty, not even tidy, which was strange.
She checked under the bed and found her mother's gun. Feeling more safe she checked her brothers' room, which was also empty but with a difference, it was tidy.
She saw this as a sign to go to their laboratory/workshop where the twins had lived before adoption and now shared to activities. On the way she noticed how Niceland was eerily empty and silent.
James was in the lab, as she expected. The girl went without even warning, although she knew she shouldn't, and was just wondering.
"Jay, you know where is everybody?"
"What you mean by everybody?" He asked, without even looking away from the machine he was working on.
"Did you see anyone since you woke up?"
"Like..."
"I don't know. Daddy, Mommy, Ralph, Gene, Q*Bert... Someone" she replied.
This time James dropped what he was doing and thought a bit.
"Now that you asked, actually not. But I woke up very early, it is Sunday and maybe they were all asleep."
"Maybe. But just I didn't saw anyone as I came down here, and our parents aren't at home."
"What do you mean? That everyone disappeared and let us here?" James finally turned his chair to face his sister.
"I don't know. I was thinking we could try to go check at in Tapper's. If have a place for us to find something, this place is there."
"Alright, but I guarantee, it must be nothing." He replied, standing up. "We have time for breakfast, haven't we."
"What about Crystal and Erick?" The girl asked.
"Upstairs. Not sure why, but I had the impression that it should bring them with me."
The two took the children and returned home. On the way they passed to take Tory too. As they espected, the wasn't anyone else home.
Clarion prepared a quick breakfast for them, luckily she was used to take care of her siblings and 'cousins'. When they finished eating and the girl was washing the dishes, they heard the door open and a hooded figure entered the house.
The children remained hidden, just watching as the figure made its tour by the house, here and there looking for something, but didn't appear to have found what it was looking until Clarion decided to leave her hideout and approach, the loaded gun in hands.
"Who are you and what do you want here?" She asked firmly.
"Well, well, the girl I wanted to see!"A female voice answered. "Where is your brother?"
"Here!" James stood behind his sister, accompanied by Cristal and Tory.
"Just who I wanted to see! Nice to meet two kids as special as you! And I see that almost all the little ones are here too, it's my lucky day!"
Almost all? Clarion wondered if confused, then remembered, Nick.
"I'll repeat, who are you?" The girl insisted.
"Oh, my name isn't of your concern, little brats. I came here at the behest of my master to extend to you an invitation to join us."She gave each of the twins a deck of cards. "A little gift, for your consideration."
"What is it?" James studied the deck with some curiosity.
"I have something special for you, if you accept my offer, of course." She showed a group of six cards, face turned back to them. "The invitation extends to littlest ones too. We really needed new blood in the corporation."
"We don't want anything from you or anyone else." Clarion replied, handing her the back deck.
"Stay with them." The woman refused to take the deck of the girl's hand. "You'll need it to survive in our world. Going to be the only place that you will have left in the morning."
She began walking toward the door, but the Clarion stopped, gun pointed at her chest.
"Brave little girl." She sneered. "But I think it would be more useful otherwise."
She pulled out a gloved hand outside her cloth and touched the girl's gun, which shone and suddenly she found herself holding another of those play cards. It was green and had an exact replic of the weapon as drawing.
"Special present for you. You'll need a little help and a lot of luck if you want to see your friends back. And if you want to survive. Let's meet again, brats, and I guarantee that our next meeting will not be so friendly."
And with that she left the house. Clarion threw herself on the couch and put Erick on her lap.
"What did she mean by: it is the only thing that will be left in the morning?" James asked confused.
"I don't know. But I think what happened here, must have happened in the rest of the Arcade as well."
"Then why..."
"We're still here? Because I believe that whatever has happened, reached the codes within each game, as ours aren't plugged in anywhere, we weren't affected."
"But what do you think happened?" James sat beside her with Tory in his lap and Crystal sitting beside him.
"I have a theory."
"Bad?"
"Very bad." She murmured, studying carefully the card in her hands.
James understood the line of thought of his sister, was shocked.
"Do you really think..." He couldn't finish the sentence.
"She was here for some other reason, not only for us."
"Dark magic?"
"A Nightmare."
"But if it's true, what do we do? We have no clues or anything, just two useless decks of cards. And what are them?"
"Part of the new game that arrived on Friday. Children play with decks like this, real or virtual, but don't know more than that. Sugar Rush isn't the best place to watch the Arcade and has a time I don't go out." She sighed deeply. "I don't know Jay, I have the impression that if we don't react, we will be forced to flee again, this time on our own and with four younger children to take care. We'll end up in an orphanage and end up separated..." Clarion sighed again, putting the card in the deck and putting it in her pocket.
"What happened?" Crystal asked, didn't like the tone of her sister.
"Where are our parents?" Tory asked.
"I don't know, little ones." Clarion forced a weak smile for bot and hugged Erick, who was still too little to understand what was happening.
"We have to do something!" James determined. "But what?"
"At the moment I only know one person who can help us. But we'll have to leave Arcade."
"You're the boss, led the way!" He joked as he followed her out of the house.
"Let's get Nick and find someone to take care of the four first."
"We can't go with you?" Crystal asked.
"Not this time, baby. But we will come back to get you all soon, I promise!"