A/N: I'm writing a thing. Yay. Okay so a few things should be known about this.
-Takes place a year after the end of the yugioh anime, starts in US and will go to Domino City
- incorporates elements of manga because I felt that the manga making some really strong connections and bonds between characters that was left out of the anime was bullshit
- Will involve quite a few OC characters because I have a few of the original characters going off to things and the original group close to graduating

and no, there will be no random millennium item inserts or god card stuff or anything like that in case you were worried

Yeah so this chapter is also really just an introduction to the characters and building up to start things. Hope y'all enjoy the slice of life stuff just a little bit

Here we go haha

Chapter 1: The Den Opens

"When you enter the lion's den, it's best not to go empty-handed or you'll probably leave that way."

-Josh Stern

Outside a small rancher home on a porch swing in Ipswich, Massachusetts, a couple of teens were rocking back and forth to the gentle early summer breeze. With the ranging temperatures anymore, it was surprisingly a nice day, and they wanted to take full advantage of that. People who had misconceptions about the northeast being cool in the summer deserved to be sprawled out on a highway to bake like an egg.
Peeking up from her notebook laptop and notepad on her lap, the brunette eyed her friend focused in on her work. "You know how my mom used to live in Delaware right?"

After working for quite some time, the red head looked up from her school book and binder littered with papers. Pushing her bangs away the girl chuckled. "Yeah, she always talks about it. Why?"

"I was just thinking about what she just told me of when it used to be really hot out, and I mean bad, her and my aunt cracked eggs on a little metal plate and sat them out on the sun right on their driveway. It cooked."

Brow raising, her friend tilted her head. "Did they...eat it?"

"Not sure, but knowing my mom I wouldn't put it past her." The two laughed before the brunette folded her laptop closed and swung her legs off the swing. "How much do you have left to do?"

A blush covered the red headed girl's cheeks as she adjusted her ponytail. Before she could pull her knees up to hide the binder resting in her lap, her friend had swiped it. Instead of the notes and brainstorming she was supposed to have been working on of the last leg of world war I for their presentation, a picture had taken up the full notebook page.
The dark magician girl, in her cute pose, covered the page along with hearts and bubble letters spelling out the magician's name.
"Really Chloe? Really?" She couldn't help but laugh. "This is really good though. I like the touch of cleavage." Leaning forward she tried to stop the giggles. "Ah hell, Pegasus knew what he was doing when he designed her. The boob level is off the charts."
Before another word could be said the two glanced at each other, "not that we're complaining." Laughter took them over again as their combined line made them snicker, derailing from their project yet again.

Chloe had shook her hair out as she pulled out the pony tail, a deep rich dyed red falling down at her shoulder blades. "I don't want to do this now Cas." Pushing her legs out to nudge her friend's thigh she groaned even louder than she already had. "We're at the end of the year, it's senior year for pete sakes, and look at us. Rushing to finish a project so we can pass. Not cool."

Cas had looked over before taking all their supplies and moving them to the large white whicker table right in front of the railing. She had also kicked her legs up, smacking Chloe's thigh with her foot multiple times. "I'm not happy with it either, but hey, we get it done, we pass, and then we walk the stage. College here we come."

"I was worried for a bit..." Chloe whispered. "That we wouldn't be seeing each other after college. But Penn State! We're both going to Penn State!"

A smile had taken over Cas's lips. She watched her best friend for a second with a warm gaze, admiring her happiness for them. "I know it's going to be expensive." Biting her thumb nail she frowned at the hang nail on the side, it had annoyed her all day while typing, and when her mom got home to unlock the door the first thing she'd do would be to grab a pair of nail clippers. This thing had to go and if she had to rip it out with pliers, she was going to! Back on her train of thought Cas continued, "But still, the school has so many clubs, I can get my history degree and you can figure out what you're really gonna do when you get there. The food and the clubs though...I'm so excited."

A car horn shocked them as they looked at the short drive way to see a gray suburban pull in and the driver wave at them. Engine turned off the two saw the door open and a tired woman in scrubs emerge.
"Hey mom!" Chloe waved. "Cas forgot her key!"

"That's what I thought." Cas's mother Mary was a middle aged woman, tanned skin from running around on her old farm as a kid, and brown hair tied back in a short pony tail. Now she was working at a retirement home, and while she worked until after Cas got home from school, Cas usually made dinner for them and the two would relax for the evening. "That's why..." Popping open the back door she slid out her purse over her arm and two pizza boxes emerge. "I bought dinner!" In her other hand was a brown paper bag, darkened at the bottom most likely by grease. "I got french fries and cheese sticks to! Cas come here and get the keys out of my pant pocket."

"Alright!" Cas had lunged out of her seat, rocking Chloe as she hung on for her life to the swing before Cas had snatched the keys and ran back to the door to unlock it and shove it open. "Mom you rule, I love you you know that?"

Rolling her eyes Mary had poked her tongue out at her daughter. "Blah blah you say that cause you didn't have to cook. Grab your stuff and come in. Chloe do your folks know you're here?"

"Wouldn't be anywhere else-I mean..." Chloe brought a finger to her lips. "I mean I'm totally not here, just doing drugs and shooting up and whatever else kids do."

"Smooth." An elbow hit Cas in the ribs before she fell dramatically to the couch. Inside the house was somewhat small, a wrap around tan leather couch had a decent sized coffee table and a large tv mounted on the wall with some speakers and a book case underneath filled with dvds. "Now that I can breathe again...what time is it?"

"3:48." Mary replied, pointing to the clock on the wall. "Maybe if you used your surroundings you'd know-"

"Mom!" Cas whined, "I just finished a day at school and working on this freaking assignment for a podcast. I have no attention span."

Hand shooting up, it mocked someone talking as Mary brought over the pizza and paper planes and ran back to the kitchen to bring over a case of orange soda. "Wah wah wah. I just spent the day dealing with bitchy nurses and all the dumbass people I think I could tolerate for the day."

"Then how are you dealing with Chloe?"

"Smartass!" Chloe barked at her friend, growling. "Okay, so if it's almost four then we got like an hour until the announcement. Mom you got the hook up set up right? Do you need me to check anything?"

Ever since Chloe and Cas had become friends their eight grade year, Mary had encouraged Chloe to call her mom, and it took until sophomore year when that finally was solidified. They had been building their pillow fort and Chloe asked for more pillows. In a split second the whole house had went silent before Mary just smiled and grabbed more to give them. After that it was basic and that was all Chloe had called her.

Peering over at the laptop sitting on the bookcase she waved for Chloe to join her as Mary knelt down and opened it. "I don't know how to function these still really besides my work email...since a certain daughter doesn't know how to teach-"

"Bull!" Interjecting she stood up. "Bull! I object to that statement! I tried dang it, I even used the online tutorials, nothing works for you! You are technologically inept! Ain't my problem!"

"Chloe you are my favorite daughter, remember that." Mary shot her birth daughter a smirk as Cas fell back on to the couch and took out the french fries. "Bacon, ranch and cheese with sour cream."

Smelling of grease, Cas took a deep inhale and and pulled out a heavily decorated french fry. "Heaven, will soon be hell before bed time."

"Ew." Chloe groaned, but soon remembered she was spending the weekend there since it was a friday. She'd be dealing with it throughout the night. "I am not going near the bathroom tonight."

For some reason, Cas had issues with eating certain foods. If it was super greasy or made with tons of preservatives, she'd get sick. Sometimes that wavered, and they had medicine always ready just in case. Even if she ate fruits and vegetables or lean proteins, nothing was fully safe every day. "You can use the one in my room if you have to sweetie I'll leave the door open a little. Medicine is in the kitchen cabinet, I just got fresh stomach relievers."

"Awesome. Want me to call the others and get them over here?" Cas pulled out her cell phone, an old pay as you go one that needed cards with minutes to work. Having one of those fancy cellphones served no purpose to her, as her mom also had one of the same phones.

Finger pointed for a second Mary turned the finger to the computer. "I just want to make sure this is going to go through. I never did anything like this before. Do you two have your decks as well?"

Cas nudged her foot to their bookbags and gave a thumbs up as she ate another french fry. "Of course!"

Behind the tv, Chloe had began attaching the cables and logged on to the official website of the announcement countdown and blew up the video. On it was a countdown with just a little under an hour to go. Some light music played in the background while some duel cards spun and showed their pictures before they faded out to the bottom of the screen. "Alright now you can call them all, we're all set! I knew and HDMI cable would be perfectly fine once I set it up correctly!"

Tech-savvy was too simple to describe Chloe's expertise in handling computers. Since childhood she had tinkered with many computers and laptops. In fact she had gotten started fiddling with them after she downloaded games so many times she'd crash the entire drive in the system. Paying for the repairs was something her family couldn't afford, so she checked out books, read magazines at the convenience stores, and learned as much as she possibly could.

Chloe wasn't one for school clubs, and kept most of her knowledge to herself. Only fixing her close friends' computers and her own families, they usually tried to pay her with money or even some food. It was the least they could all do as friends for one another.

"Nerd~" Cas sang, thumbs pressing on the number pad to send out a mass text. "Alright, in about twenty minutes I say this house is gonna get loud. So damn excited for this announcement!"

Back on the couch the three women had taken their pizza and watched the counter slowly tick down. "Mickie, Blake and Riley should be here really soon. What do y'all think this is gonna be about?"

"I heard Kaiba Corp is launching a new duel disk in the US as a test out and certain cities would be carrying them, mainly along the east coast. But I don't know because of Industrial Illusions being on the west coast."

Cas looked to the duel disk sitting on the windowsill. "That thing is busted. I can't wait if it's a new system. Kaiba always designs some cool ass shit."

"Stop kissing his ass Cas!" Chloe laughed. "Hey mom, your other...weird daughter is fawning over the CEO-"

"Shut up I am not! I admire his smarts though. You're not going to find people that educated and dedicated really anywhere."

Mary sighed, taking a large bite of her pizza. "At least not in this country." Glares shooting at her from the two girls she gave a small smile. "Of course besides you two and the few kids that have any idea what the heck is going on in this world."

"But in all seriousness, he is an interesting dude when you think about, so is his little brother. They both took over a company from a dude who killed himself, and now look at them. Seto Kaiba is a great leader, and his little brother is probably being primed to take over when the older one steps down."

Chloe watched her friend go on about the older Kaiba brother. She could tell when Cas admired someone versus having a crush on them. This girl admired all that he had done, and she could tell that she wanted to learn more about him and how to become a bigger person. Cas had told her of what she wanted to do. It wasn't to be rich or super famous, but to better understand and record all of what she saw.

"I really hope Seto Kaiba puts out a book one day. Just something that even talks about the psychological warfare of what went on in the takeover or coming back from Schroeder trying to take him down. I'd kill for that!"

"And get Seto to sign it, I can totally imagine it." Chloe stood up, knees bent and hands clasped she hugged her cleavage and pouted her lip. "Seto Kaiba sir, can you please sign my book? Oh Seto~ I admire you so much, you're so handsome-"

"What the hell is this shit?" An all too familiar voice barked, calling attention to the door as three figures came in. "Hey ma we're home!"

Three students had come in, setting their bags with the girls' bags before falling on to the couch and grabbing paper plates. "Thanks for the food momma!" A blonde girl smiled, waving at her before looking at Cas. "Have you guys heard anything at all for updates?" The two friends shook their heads. "Dang nab it I wanted at least a hint!"

"Mickie we ain't gonna find out shit till we see this!" Riley, the junior of the group, nudged his upperclassmen friend before biting into his pizza and snatching a can of soda. "You guys got your decks right? We need to go over what the heck we're gonna do for the town tournament this month! I mean after all..." Turning his head to Cas he shot a wicked grin. "We got a win at the last quarter's tournament."

"Cas wiped the floor with the town! Why didn't you go to State?"

"Cause that costs money man. Expenses for travel, stay, food, souvenirs, all too much junk for me."

Blake shook his head, annoyed at her shrugging off such a big chance many times before. "You know damn good and well we could have all chipped in-"

"But then I'd be relying on you guys taking me there. I don't want that. As much as I appreciate the offer, I'd never accept it. You know that."

Silence had overtaken the group rather quickly for a short time. They all knew while Mary herself could afford to send her, it'd tighten their monthly budgets. Cas had been saving up to head down to college working at random places for a couple years. Hopping around from italian ice stands to restaurants, then she had gone to work in a sub shop, a gas station, then to the mall. All the jobs had been usually for just filling in spaces and part time, but she had pulled in quite a bit of change. Shopping at thrift stores had heightened her eye for deals, and she had become quite the cheapskate.

But that sweet nest egg she was sitting on was slowly growing, and her current job at the lingerie store in her mall had been her best paying yet.

"Fine, but I'll keep annoying you about it until you actually go to one. Are you still gonna duel in college?"

Cas looked over at her duel disk and the pink and black striped deck case that Chloe had made for her. It was gaudy, and wasn't exactly her style, but she wouldn't pass up anything that she made. Hell half the clothes she wore, more specifically the dresses, were all made by her friend. While she had wished the university she'd be attending had a fashion major, she would be perfectly fine enjoying herself in the club as she continued to make a mess of outfits for her cheap friend.

Thinking about dueling in college put some form of uneasiness in Cas's stomach. "I don't know..." Sighing at her admission she leaned back on the sofa as she tucked her calves under her thighs. "I mean, I have to think about my priorities."

"Is there a duel club there on campus? Or at least in your area around the campus?"

Replying with a shrug Cas had taken a sip of her soda. "Don't know. I'll look into that a bit more pretty soon. I'd be sad if I didn't really duel anymore but still, I gotta focus on classes. I'm not even fully decided on my major yet." Lips pursed she threw her hands up over her face, groaning at the reminder that her future was quickly approaching. "Can we stop talking about this? I don't wanna think about it at all!"

Another piece of pizza on his plate, Blake gave a small smirk to his childhood friend. "Right, we have a couple months before school is out. Let's just get really damn amped cause apparently this news is supposed to be huge as hell!"

The timer continued to count down on the television, and the food had dwindled on their table. When it had gotten to ten minutes Mary had been almost pushed out the door by the group of kids to pick up some dessert since the pizza and cheese curls were almost done.
By the time she had gotten back, the counter was just about up and when they all had sat back down, a blue screen had come on with the kaiba corp logo.

"Ladies and Gentlemen..." The voice was japanese with english subtitles. "We are very proud today to announce on a global stage the latest buzz and news from Kaiba Corporation with a surprise at the end that will shock you all!"
Cameras had flashed and the intercom voice spoke again. "Here to announce the latest in games and technology, it's the Vice President of the company, Kaiba Mokuba!"

Applause had filled the room for a brief bit before Mokuba had taken the podium and glanced at the crowd of press in front of him. The young boy had seemed to show signs of puberty taking effect. He was looking older in a short time since the last time he had been on television at the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix.

Hair still as long as ever he was dressed more casual than his brother like always.
"Today, for Kaiba Corporation, we begin another great push to the future in advancement in gaming technology!" His voice had gotten just a smidgen deeper, and the group watching was sure it'd be all over duel gossip sites in a short amount of time. "Just a few years ago, we had hosted Battle City in Domino City, which also debuted the evolution of dueling, the Kaiba Corporation duel disk system!"
Behind him images had flashed by of the Battle City Tournament, mainly being street battles between duelists. "The winner of that tournament was the King of Games himself, Yugi Mutou." Applause followed with a picture of the winner himself, but the group had pointed out that it had been the 'split personality' that had been buzzing around for a long time.
For a bit now, that face Yugi had worn had disappeared, and his sweet face had matured in it's own way in just a couple years. "Following that, we held the KC Grand Prix, a smashing success for the opening of our eastern seaboard Kaiba Land!"
Pictures were shown again, of course of duels that hadn't involved the buzzing issues of the Schroeders and the CEO Seto Kaiba himself.

"These events had called on a wise group of duelists, all who possessed the talent that Kaiba Corp saw to be the best there was to offer. However...we feel it is time to introduce something new. Here to announce that is the President and CEO of Kaiba Corporation, Kaiba Seto!"

Like a pin dropping, the entire room went silent. Cas was sure that reporters had readied their cameras and notepads...wait...did they still use notepads? More like their touch screen phones and fancy gadgets.

The group watching the television had silenced as the man himself came on to the screen. Seto Kaiba was a stern man to say the least. His eyes were lit in passion and excitement, while his mouth remained tight and drawn, sternly facing the press staring him down. It seemed the press had a love-hate relationship with the man. Biting down on any rumors of trouble in the company or trying to create a love life for the young president, he remained nonchalant and indifferent to any news that had broke of him.

Opening his mouth, his fans bared a quick grin before he raised a hand and pointed to the large screen behind him, images began to appear of different country maps, and then a world map extended over it.
"Starting as of the beginning of May, across the world, Kaiba Corporation and Industrial Illusions will be spanning out throughout the world, and will be on the look out for up and coming duelists who will be victorious in regional and then state competitions. These state competitions in the United States will then go on to Nationals, where each country that is participating will send their top duelists to the battle grounds for the ultimate tournament!"

Cameras flashed at a rabid rate, taking in as much as possible in a short matter of time.

"Yes! Take in as much as you can! For all of you watching at home on your computers, and those of you sitting here today, heed these words! Being at the top of the dueling empire without anyone beneath people of my stature holds little to no entertainment. This tournament will bring the best of the world to Domino City for the finals. They will descend to this city with their best decks and the official badges presented to the winners of national competitions. Each badge will show their country, and those who collect 12 of these badges will head to the finals."

The Kaiba Dome appeared behind the president as he continued. "The details of the finals will be withheld and remain undisclosed to anyone not progressing any further! You all will be subject to watch from your televisions at home!"

Stepping from the podium across the stage to accept a suitcase from his brother and vice president he returned to open it away from the hoards of people all on their toes now more than ever. "For this new tournament, every duelist advancing to the finals in domino city will receive the latest duel disk system, the V2.5 X-System!" Sliding it on his arm, the system activated and shot out a sleeker design.

"The duel disks for each winner will be customized based on their country as well. No one person will be the same, and no one will be able to meddle their way in! Anyone caught competing with a standard V2 system will be revoked of their disk at once!"

"Now duelists sitting at home, you are probably asking yourself or buzzing around online looking for your local tournaments wondering 'when will I find out where to go to compete?'" His lips curled into the signature Kaiba smirk. "You won't find that out. We have already found an elite crop of duelists in countries. To find out if you are selected, you will be receiving an email after this broadcast. You can choose to accept or decline the invitation of competition!"

"How many girls do you think just wet themselves over Kaiba's damn smirk?" Riley cackled, getting a glare from Mickie. "Girl chill out, we don't need you thumping all over the place for him."

Mickie's face burned a deep red. "Shut the hell up you asshat! I'll shove your face in my damn ice cream and you'll be snorting it out for weeks!"

"Both of you shut it!" Blake snapped, watching closely along with Cas and Chloe as Seto Kaiba continued on.

"...the best of battles will now await the best duelists, and more news will be coming soon on the Kaiba Corporation official gaming website!" Arms extended, Seto Kaiba's smile grew more, leaving an unsettling feeling in Cas and Blake's stomachs. The man couldn't smile normally, could he? "As of now, for those of you believing you have the fortitude to even step into this international tournament, go see if the proof of your 'talent' has arrived to you! It now begins...the sequel in title to Battle City...the World Championship Conference!"

Applause blasted through the room as Seto Kaiba left the stage with his brother. A thank you message appeared on the screen for a few minutes and then faded, replaced with the Kaiba Corporation logo.

On the couch, the entire group, including Mary, was stunned at this news. A brand new tournament, for the first time in a few years, duelists would be covering headlines yet again. "Holy freaking hell, if they're gonna be doing state stuff here in the US, then what if..." Everyone had turned to Cas, who had been the resident dueler of the group. Blake and Mickie had been the other two who had been dueling for quite a bit, but hadn't won every regional event they went to. Mickie had placed in the top ten quite a few times, and Blake had won first once and third place four times, he had been in the top five six times. Cas however had cleaned house quite often in tournaments. She could recall facing Blake one year, and the two didn't speak after for a few days. They were freshman in high school and he had been more than angry for his budding ego to be hurt by losing to a girl. Now, compared to then, he would hit the brat he used to be.

"Do you guys think...you know...any of us were selected?"

"Check the emails!" Getting out their backpacks, Mickie and Blake opened theirs while Chloe had ran outside to get Cas's and returned to plant it on her lap. "You guys have to check now!"

Opening their screens the three all looked at one another and back to the internet browsers. "Alright, everyone go to the email pages. We all do this together." Blake whispered, hands shaking against the keyboard.

When all the pages were loaded the three filled in their information and stopped to look at one another.

"Ready?" Mickie took a deep breath and nodded, followed by Cas. "One...Two...Three."

Opening their mail browsers the three looked to their newest messages.

KAIBA CORPORATION | MESSAGE: DUELIST REGIONAL TOURNAMENT #568019 – MA

"Did you?"

"Oh my god..."

"We all got picked...holy shit."

"Read it out loud dammit!" Chloe barked, reading from Cas's computer. "Fine I will!"

"Greetings Cassandra (Cas) Briner,

Congratulations.

Receiving this email, as of this moment, recognizes you not only as a top duelist in your region, but in your state as well. From previous tournaments affiliated with Kaiba Corporation, you have shown the necessities of what this tournament is looking for in a potential champion.

The following information will be provided as well in a print out form to mail to your state competition headquarters before your local tournament to confirm attendance.

#568019 – Gloucester, MA

April 27-April 28

Time slots are not available yet for early planning, but we recommend you have your duel disks and decks ready an hour ahead of your time and be there at least thirty minutes earlier due to missed times and duels moving quicker than anticipated.

Responding to this email will hold your place for the tournament and a packet will be sent to you including all papers for registration. In this packet, lists of banned cards, rules of the tournament, a map of the location based on the tournament and coupons for the area in dining and accommodations will be graciously provided.

We hope you will attend and shine brightly as a duelist.

Regards,

Seto Kaiba, President, Kaiba Corporation.

Maximillion Pegasus, President, Industrial Illusions"

Stunned at the message, Mickie and Blake nodded, the email basically being a copy and paste of the same thing sans what they believed was the identification number. "What are we gonna do? We have go to school."

"I'm passing my classes." Chloe cheered. "I'm just saying, I'll be more than happy to skip two days. What about you Riley?"

Riley sat up from his lounged position, a warm smile brightening his face. "I don't give a shit. I say we go, but then again, we're just the damn pep squad! Hey mom, what do you think?" Cas could tell that he was poking her buttons, talking as if she already knew what she was going to do.

Mother's intuition told her to turn down such a crazy trip for a game. But, when she saw her daughter dueling, it always made her smile. "Well...I do always encourage my children to stay in school, do good, and not be crazy going wherever, but since it's the end of the year, and it's before the finals...I don't see the harm in taking a couple days to go and watch kids pull their hair out. Besides it's a weekend, I'm off weekends thank goodness."

"Then I'm in!" Blake stood up, hand on his hip. Underneath his lacrosse hoodie sat his deck case fixated to his hip, much like Yugi had his. "I don't care about studying and that junk, I wanna head out there and kick some ass! What about you girls?"

Unsure for a second, Mickie looked to Cas, seeing some doubt still on her face. "I know I won't win but..." Arms crossed she gave a light shrug. "I don't see why not! I think it'll be really fun!"

For some reason Cas was still a tad unsure. What if she ended up freezing up, or if she won, she'd have to travel again to the states and then spend money on that. "Cas, honey..." Looking over, her mom had rested a hand on her daughter's arm. "You don't have to try to win if you don't want to. We're all also going to enjoy a little vacation. But dear...we can't go without you!"

Sappy and typical, Cas could feel her chest easing at the jeers and pep talk of her friends and her mother. How this shit really worked she had no idea, but it did, and she was grateful for that.

Standing up she shut her laptop and walked over to her duel disk and deck. Sliding on the disk to her left arm she rolled her shoulder a couple times. "I don't think Gloucester is really ready for my beauty and beast deck. Ain't no way."

"So you're in?" Blake eyed his friend over carefully, holding out a hand.

Taking it with hers, the two gripped into a tight shake. "Damn right."

A/N: There we go. It has that typical yugioh friendship shit and a whole new set of characters!

Cassandra (Cas) Briner – 18
A young lady with her hopes high for a bright, self-paved future. Her passion for dueling is as strong as her love for sports and sleeping. After receiving her invitation to Kaiba Corporation's regional tournament, she's nervous but anxious to see where this could take her. Beauty and Beast being the theme of her deck, she stands out amongst other duelists with deceptive strategies. No one really knows what she's capable of, and many will be surprised of the shocking strengths she holds.

Chloe Glass – 17

Unlike her best friend, Chloe knows little about dueling. But she loves to cheer her childhood friend on and her new friends from high school. An eye for fashion and detail has lead her to be a strong student with a great head on her shoulders.

Mickie Alvarez – 16

Being a sophomore means she's the youngest of this misfit circle of friends, but she is not one to be passed up. Budding as a duelist, Mickie's studying abilities have lead her to begin building a deck people shouldn't overlook. Her dreams to be an attorney could take her in the opposite direction of the carefree life she has now, so she enjoys every second she can to make amazing memories.

Riley Austin – 18

Technology had always come easy to Riley, and with the invention of holographic technology in recent years to upgrade dueling standards, Riley's dreams have become even bigger. He wants to work for Industrial Illusions, to program and set data to compose monsters on the battlefields and see the hard work of Pegasus come to life. Regardless of the fact that he's also using them for data collection and observation, Riley will do anything to protect and care for his friends.

Blake De La Ford – 19

Oldest in the group, Blake has known Cas the longest besides Chloe. Going back to grade school the two would trade dueling cards and learned from one another and what they read in magazines to become better. Watching tournaments and hanging out was all their life until high school. Blake's love for lacrosse and dueling interfere with one another, but he won't be forced to choose. Headstrong and determined, he'll do whatever it takes to reach his dreams and chase the stars he's watched for a long time.

Those are the quick character bios, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, next chapter will be composed of their journey to Gloucester and then to the regional tournament. I thought about continuing the trend of making someone with the letters 'y-u' in their name but then I thought nah, these aren't characters of gigantic stories like GX, DM, 5DS and whatnot. This is just it's own little story and all that good stuff.

I love writing Seto Kaiba as well, and Mokuba to. I might include more of them as it goes on than I had originally planned. A few faces will appear throughout, it wouldn't be yugioh without the old crew, would it?

Fav and follow and all that repetitive junk