Chapter 1 - Haven City, the Metropolis of Dreams
(A preface before we begin. When a new important character or original card is introduced, their name will be in bold, followed by a short description. 'Apostrophes' signify inner thoughts, while "quotes" are dialogue. Summoning Chants and Visions will be in italics.)
Haven City. A place know around the world as the "Dueling Capital" or, more commonly, the "Metropolis of Dreams". A sprawling futuristic society, lit neon by the billboards and signs across the city, advertising everything from game stores to the pride of Haven, the Havenia Dueling Academy. It is at this advanced facility that the best and brightest duelists are trained in the arts of Fusion, Synchro, and XYZ Summoning Methods in hopes of creating the next World's Greatest. It's even rumoured that the headmaster himself is developing a new Summoning Method, behind the scenes...
However, this story is not about them. This story is about a young girl, a drifter in a new place, looking for greater and greater challenges. This story is about a girl enamored with the glow of the city, and who must learn that bright lights simply hide darker shadows….
0_0
Haven City - Central Park
"And with that, Haven's own Cyber Micah has won his 65th consecutive duel and earned his place in the Haven Grand Tourney! Up next, we will show-" The girl switched off the transmission on her Duel Disk and leaned back, stretching against the bench she was sitting on.
Marie "Rei" Shirogane
15
5'
Waist length, messy dirty blonde hair, topped by a short ahoge. Wears a light blue "Alice" style dress with a short black jacket on top. Also sports black knee socks and tattered black high-top sneakers. Around her neck hangs a pair of goggles, with a star on the right lens.
"Man, what I wouldn't give to duel a star like that… 3 days in this city and there aren't any strong duelists! So much for the 'Dueling Capital'…" She sighed, thinking back on her circumstances.
0_0
3 Weeks Prior
"Eh? You want me to go to Haven City?" Rei looked up at her parents in shock. "That's right. We've even arranged for you to stay with a family friend while you're there," her mother smiled at her. "B-But why? What's the special occasion?"
Her father laughed and ruffled her hair. "C'mon kid, you've beaten every duelist in town five times over. I think it's about time you broaden your horizons. They call Haven City the "Dueling Capital" for a reason y'know. With your win streak, I bet you'd even qualify for the Grand Tourney!"
Rei's eyes widened in excitement. "Really? You think so?" "Of course," her father said with a smile. "You're ready to take on the world, kiddo."
0_0
Rei sighed, emerging from her thoughts. "And yet here I am, with no one strong enough to put up a good fight." She hung her head and closed her eyes. "Rrrgh, it's just so frustrating!"
"Oh yeah? If you think there aren't strong duelists here, you're obviously looking in the wrong places. Why not try dueling us instead, missy? I'm sure we'll be plenty challenging for a girl like you."
Rei opened one eye at the group that had surrounded here. '5 guys, some kinda school uniform… Wait, HDA?' She blinked a few times. Sure enough, the school uniform the boys were wearing had the letters "HDA" sewn into the chest pocket. 'That means….'
"You're all from Havenia Academy?" She finished out loud. The boys laughed to each other as she stood up. "That's right, we're from HDA. And if you don't mind, this park is our turf, so either duel us or scram."
Rei sighed and hopped off the bench. "Haven't you heard it's not nice to harass a defenseless little girl like this?" She smiled at the group. "Why don't I teach you a few manners?"
0_0
As the last of the boys ran off defeated, she sighed and deactivated her Duel Disk. "Seriously, what kinda scum gangs up on a girl like that? And to think, they couldn't even back up their words."
"That was quite the show you put on, miss." A voice called to her.
She yelped, before turning to the voice. "W-Were you watching me then?" The boy smirked and walked over to her, speaking without really looking at her, "Yes, and I've got to say, you do have talent. What school do you attend? You've got an outdated C-Model Duel Disk(*), and I've never seen that… "uniform" before." He gestured to her clothes.
She giggled and put her hands behind her back. "I don't actually go to any dueling schools here. I'm from out of town, visiting for the tournament." The boy's kind expression turned into a sneer. "HDA students were beat by some… drifter punk?" he spat, causing Rei to back off a bit in surprise. "H-Huh?" The boy cleared his throat, regaining his composure, before saying, "Well this just won't do. It seems it lies to me to clean their messes for them yet again. Feel honored, girlie, because you're going to be beaten by Cyber Micah himself!"
Micah "Cyber Micah" Miyamoto
16
5'9"
Stereotypical rich anime boy-styled blonde hair. Wears the Haven Dueling Academy uniform, black pants with a white dress shirt that has HDA emblazoned on the chest pocket.
Rei's look of surprise turned into one of amazement. "You're Cyber Micah? HDA's #1?" She chuckled before smirking and activating her Duel Disk. "No way I'm turning this down. Let's go!"
"DUEL!"
MICAH: 4000
REI: 4000
"I'll go first! I play my Cyber Dragon Zwei, in Attack!" Micah summoned his first monster, and the metallic serpent appeared in front of him. "Then, I set one face-down and end my turn."
"Alright! I draw! Come out, Defender, the Magical Knight, in Attack mode! Then I place a face-down! Now Defender, strike down his dragon!"
MICAH: 4000 - 3900
"Alright! Now I end my turn!"
Micah glared at the girl. "Tch. I draw! Now, since you have a monster and I don't, I can Special Summon Cyber Dragon from my hand!" Another dragon, slightly different in appearance, came onto the field. "Now I can Normal Summon another monster. So, I choose my Cyber Dragon Drei!" A third different dragon was summoned. "Now, thanks to Drei's effect, I can make all Cyber Dragons Level 5! So I Overlay my now level 5 Drei with Level 5 Cyber Dragon, in order to XYZ Summon! Come, mechanical dragon of blazing flame! XYZ Summon! Rank 5, Cyber Dragon Nova!" A black cybernetic dragon, covered in red fire-like lights, appeared on the field. "How's that for a monster?" Micah declared, arrogantly.
Rei laughed in response. "Not much,thanks to my face-down! I activate the trap Dark Renewal! When my opponent Normal or Special summons a monster, I can target it and a Spellcaster I control, and then destroy them both! Say goodbye to your XYZ Monster!" Cyber Dragon Nova and Defender both disappeared to the Graveyard.
"Good job, girlie, but you missed a spot!" Rei looked up in shock. "W-What?" "When a card effect sends Nova to the graveyard, I can Special Summon a Machine Fusion Monster in my Extra Deck! And I summon my ace - Cyber Twin Dragon!" Micah laughed as a two-headed Cyber Dragon spawned on his side of the field. "Impressive," Rei shouted at him, "but not impressive enough! Dark Renewal also lets me summon a DARK Spellcaster from my Deck! So come on out, Xiangke Magician! And thanks to his effect, I can negate a LIGHT monster's effect! So no double-attacks for your dragon!"
Micah shrugged and shook his head. "Still doesn't save you. Go, Twin Dragon, and destroy her magician!" Rei winced as her Xiangke disappeared in a burst of light. 'Sorry buddy, but your sacrifice was worth it.'
REI: 4000 - 3700
"With that attack, I'll end my turn."
Rei grimaced and drew her next card. "Here goes! First, I set the Pendulum Scale with my Scale 1 Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon and my Scale 8 Odd-Eyes Arc Pendulum Dragon!" Micah's eyes widened in surprise. "Pendulum?! But only elite universities teach that technique! We don't even have courses on it at HDA!" Rei smirked at his surprised expression. "Now, I can summon monsters from level 2 to 7, all at once!" She raised her hand in the air, as the sky above her glowed. "Come! Gagaga Magician, Kiwi Magician Girl, and Odd-Eyes Magician Girl!" With Gagaga Magician and Kiwi Magician Girl, another magician appeared, wearing garb that resembled an Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon.
Odd-Eyes Magician Girl
Level 7
Spellcaster
DARK
2200 ATK
1700 DEF
"My Magician Girl's effect lets me add one Pendulum Monster from my deck to my hand. So I add my Nobledragon Magician, and proceed to Normal Summon it as well!" Rei snapped her fingers. "Now here's where the fun starts! First, I activate my Gagaga Magician's effect to make him a level 7! Then, I overlay him with my Magician Girl to XYZ Summon! Frozen dragon with the different eyes, come forth and show us your grand might! XYZ Summon! Rank 7, Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon!"
The sky grew dark, and from the ground roze up a dragon with scales of ice. It let out a roar, and faced Micah.
"Now, I tune my Level 3 Nobledragon to my Level 5 Kiwi Magician Girl! Let's go! Behold, as the cosmos creates a monster of galactic might! Behold as I Synchro Summon the Stardust Dragon!"
With a mighty roar, Stardust Dragon descended from the heavens to take its place at Rei's side. "Scared yet, mister high and mighty? Well you should be! I attack with my Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon, sacrificing it to take your Twin Dragon down!" Micah swept his hand to the side, revealing his face-down. "Not if Mirror Force has anything to say about it! Sayonara, dragons!" A huge explosion burst out of the card, but when the dust cleared, Absolute Dragon was still standing. Stardust Dragon, however, was gone. "B-What? I don't understand!"
Rei snapped her fingers. "Stardust's effect! I can sacrifice it in order to negate an effect that destroys monsters I control. The attack goes through! Go, Absolute Dragon!" Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon latched on to the Cyber Dragon, freezing both of them together. After a second, they both shattered. "Now, Absolute Dragon's effect activates. When it gets sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon an Odd-Eyes monster from my Extra Deck! And I summon my Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon!" A red, fiery version of the Odd-Eyes appeared in front of her. "And when he's Special Summoned, I can Special Summon a monster in my Pendulum Zone! So I choose Odd-Eyes Arc Pendulum Dragon!" A black dragon with crystals protruding from it joined Meteorburst on the field. "Now, with no cards, you can't protect yourself! Go, my lovely dragons! Attack him directly! Odd-Eyes Twin Spiral Wrath!"
Micah was launched back by the force of the attack, landing face-down a few feet back.
MICAH: 3900 - 0
DUEL END
WINNER: REI
The girl crouched down next to the defeated man, with a joyful expression on her face. "There, that should teach you a thing or two about picking on girls." She stood up, walking away with a bounce in her step. "Some star he was," she muttered, before wandering off.
0_0
3 Hours Later
After wandering around the city, Rei stood outside a building, a scrap of paper in her hand. "This is supposed to be where that 'family friend' lives, but anyway you look at it…" She exhaled sharply and glanced around. "This is obviously just an alleyway bar!"
A chuckle from behind her made her jump slightly. "Heh, well with that kinda reaction you must he the kid." She turned to see a man who looked to be in his early twenties with scruffy brown hair and stubble, clad in a bartender's outfit. He held out his hand to her. "Rei, right? Your folks told me you'd be in soon. Name's Kyo, and I own this 'alleyway bar' here." Rei blushed slightly and shook his hand. "S-Sorry, I didn't mean to insult your place. It's just… not what I was expecting?" Kyo laughed again. "Hey, no biggie. It ain't the prettiest, or the most popular, but it helps me get by. Come on in, I'll show ya your room," he said, opening the door and gesturing for her to follow.
"I own the first two floors of this building, which just happen to be connected. I've got a couple spare rooms I rent out to people, but they're all empty right now so take your pick." He leaned against the bar coutertop, looking at her. Rei bowed slightly, then went upstairs to put her luggage in a room. When she came back down, he was sitting at the bar drinking a can of beer. "S-So…" she stuttered out, "how d-do you know my p-parents?"
Kyo chuckled again and took a swig from his can. "Let's just say I owe your old man for a favor i did him a couple years ago while they were in town." She tilted her head with a quizzical expression on her face. "My parents have… been here?" Kyo laughed this time, not bothering to restrain it to a chuckle. "Been here? The rocked this city! It was the Grand Tourney, five or six years ago if i remember right. They made it to the finals, only to be beat down by a teached from HDA."
Rei stared at him, awestruck. "W-Woah… I never knew that about them!" She bounced on her feet, smiling. "Well! This year, I'll finish what they started!" Kyo looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Well you certainly sound confident." "Of course," she said, putting her hands on her hips triumphantly, "I already beat HDA's number 1 duelist, after all."
It was Kyo's turn to be shocked. "You beat Cyber Micah? No joke? How?" Rei spun on her heels and winked, snapping her finger. "A girl's gotta have secrets! Why don't you just wait til the tournament, then I can show you what I'm all about!" She giggled to herself before running upstairs, shutting her room door behind her.
Kyo chuckled again, downing the rest of his can. 'Interesting kid you've left me with, you old geezer.'
0_0
Havenia Duel Academy - Headmaster's Office
"Please, sir, give me another chance!"
The man behind the desk slammed his fist down on it. "Enough, Miyamoto! Not only did you lose in public, it was to a girl not registered under any school! The way I see it, you aren't worthy to work under project L-1."
Micah slumped in his chair, distraught. "Please, Headmaster. I'll do anything for another chance."
The headmaster placed his fingertips together. "Well… I suppose there is something I could ask of you." Micah's head shot up, a hopeful expression on his face. The headmaster slid a few cards across the desk to his young student. "Take these, find that girl again, and this time do NOT lose to her."
Upon looking at the cards, Micah's face grew into a twisted grin. "Of course, Headmaster."
0_0
(*)"C Model" Duel Disk is a name I'm giving the standard style of duel disk that Yuya uses in ARC-V. In this world it's considered outdated, whereas most use the "D Model", based off Reiji Akaba's duel disk from the early seasons of ARC-V.