Episode One: Two Turns

For the rest of the day, Leo was hailed as some kind of schoolyard hero, and although he did what he did because it was right, he rather enjoyed the fame that came with it.

"Leo! Good job on trouncing that bully."

"Hey Leo, thanks for putting that guy in his place."

"Dude, good work. Mad respect."

"Hey Leo. What you did back there... Well, I think it was really cool."

Eventually the bell rang, signalling students to make their way back to classes. Leo picked his way through the hall, eventually finding his locker. He drew the combination code on the front panel and the metal slid open, revealing his things, few as they were: two exercise books, a pencil and a pen, his timetable, and a brown paper bag with yesterday's lunch in it. He took off his duel disk and put it in the locker, swapping it for the books and the writing tools. He checked his timetable and groaned loudly.

"English," he said to himself, looking up to the ceiling. "Nothing ruins my day like English..."

He kept his eyes fixed to the ceiling for some moments before a smile split across his face.

"Eh, it could be worse."


When he got to the classroom he took his seat and slammed his head down on the desk. Students were standing around and gossiping since the teacher hadn't arrived yet, some shooting sideways glances his way.

He heard the scuffling of someone sit down in the desk in front of him, and the noise of the chair brushing against the carpet as it was turned around.

Leo looked up at met the blue-eyed gaze of his long-time friend.

"Oh. Hey Hikari."

Although the two both had black hair and blue eyes, that's where the similarities ended. Where Leo's was short and spiked with a red highlight in his fringe, Hikari's was long and straight and went down to the middle of her back. She was shorter than Leo by about five inches, and over her school uniform she wore a black hoodie.

"Leo, what were you doing at lunch?" The girl in front of him asked. "Everyone's saying that you thwarted a bully in a game of Duel Monsters."

Leo grinned and leaned back in his chair. He put his hands behind his head. "Well, everyone would be right."

Hikari gave a slight smile and shook her head. "Sounds like you, alright."

A group of girls in the corner of the room giggled, and Leo noticed they were looking in his direction.

"Friends of yours?" He asked Hikari, gesturing to the group with a nod of his head.

She looked behind her at the girls and looked back, visibly angrier. "No. They won't stop spreading dumb rumours." She glowered at them and the group immediately shut up and made their way to their desks sheepishly.

The power of the glare, Leo thought with amusement. I have been a victim of that glare.

"I tried talking to them but they just don't listen to anything," she said.

"Maybe I could duel some sense into them."

"It's always duelling with you, isn't it?" But she said it in good humour.

Leo laughed.

"LEO!"

The shout silenced everyone in the room. The door burst open, and standing there was a gangly kid whose glasses sat crooked on his face. His dirty blond hair hung in shambles in front of his eyes, but despite his decrepit appearance his uniform was the epitome of neatness. He had a satchel slung over his shoulder and a phone clung tightly in his left hand.

"Travis?" Leo was surprised, to say the least.

The newcomer - Travis - fixed his glasses and spied Leo in the room. He bounded over to him, unaware of the eyes of everyone else following his movements.

"Two things," Travis began, thrusting his phone into Leo's face. "One: someone caught the best part of your duel with Brant on camera."

"What? Who?!" Leo demanded.

"I don't know, but it's been circulating. Look."

Leo took the phone off of Travis and pressed play on the video. The quality of the video was pretty good, but the audio was a little distorted. Nevertheless, Leo knew what was going on. It was him, after all.

"What are you laughing at, jerkstain?"

That was Brant and his colourful insults.

"Two turns," video Leo said.

"What?"

"In two turns I'll win this duel."

Leo watched as, true to his word, two turns later Brant was resting on a not-so-healthy 0 Life Points.

"Wow, Leo," Hikari was looking over his shoulder at the video. "That was a pretty bold prediction."

Leo shrugged away the statement just as Travis snatched the phone away.

"My Dad's gonna hear about this!"

"I'm not scared of your Dad, Brant. Now make amends for what you did. You know how."

Cheering.

"How good is that?" He said. "I need to send this out."

"Do you have to?"

"Sorry, already done." Travis' tone indicated he wasn't sorry at all. "Thing two," he continued, "is that Raiden Technologies has just announced an upcoming Duel Monsters tournament like nothing we've ever seen before! It's being run by Alastair Raiden. The ads are all over the New Domino CBD since it was announced, like, twenty minutes ago."

Leo perked up. The Duellist Broadcasting Network normally had videos of local tournaments or reruns of big events from years and years ago. If a new global tournament was coming, that made for exciting television, and the Duel Monsters hype train would be making a stop at every single persons house, which meant - for Leo - he'd have a lot of chances to duel a lot of people in the future.

"It's like an island survival thing," Travis was saying. "You get dropped on an island with rations and equipment and stuff, and you have to survive, basically. But when you meet other duellists, it's gloves off. It's like Raiden Technologies just took these two mediums and smashed them together into this one awesome television cocktail."

"Well do we know what island it is?" Leo asked.

"No. But, it was built specifically for this tournament. And hopefully a whole bunch of tournaments like it in the future."

"They just built an island?" Leo said, dumbfounded. "Whoa..."

"Do we know who's participating in this tournament?" Hikari asked.

"Anyone," Travis said.

Leo almost jumped out of his chair with excitement. "What do you mean anyone? Anyone like you? Anyone like me?!"

Travis was nodding furiously. "Yeah, anyone! Twenty-eight of the worlds best have been invited to the tournament, but there's another one-hundred invitations that are being distributed openly to anyone who can prove themselves."

"That hardly seems fair," Hikari looked thoughtful. "We'll just end up seeing the worlds' best duel each other. And we've seen that hundreds of times."

Travis was already shaking his head. "Alastair Raiden made a formal statement alongside the announcement. He says there are safeguards in place to ensure that the elite and the unheard of both have an equal chance of coming in first place."

"I'll believe that when I see it..." Hikari muttered to herself, then flashed a grin at Leo. "But if there are a hundred places open, then I don't see why you can't get an invite Leo!"

Leo rocked back on his chair. "Yeah... Imagine that. I wonder how long I'd last in a competition like that. Wouldn't be anything like the competitions at the Card Shop, I can tell you that much. Hey, what's the day?" Leo added, breaking his train of thought.

"It's Wednesday," Hikari said patiently, as if it she'd answered this question a few times already today.

Leo perked up. "That means there'll be new cards in stock tomorrow! I wonder if Bruno will have any more cards for my Phoenix Fighters..." And as if on cue, Leo procured the metal box at his side and clicked it open. Inside it held cards - one compartment for the main deck and another for the extra deck. Leo's extra deck only housed a few cards, unlike some of the other kids, but he didn't care. His main deck was where he shone.

Even though it resembled a simple deck box, the Raiden Technologies Deck Reader (or ) was a device that functioned in unity with their signature Duel Disk. When attached to the Duel Disk, the scanned a deck and fed that information into the Disk, which then used a computer to shuffle the deck and project the hardlight holograms used as "cards" in the game of Duel Monsters. The was also fitted with a fingerprint scanner as simple biosecurity, so that the owner of the box was the only one who could open it. It was a basic idea that took off at release, and even though the was relatively cheap to manufacture and sell, it earned Raiden Technologies a pretty penny to this day.

"Anyway," Travis said, eyes fixed to the screen of his phone. "I better go before I get busted by your teacher. And mine."

He left the room in a scuffle.

Hikari couldn't help but shake her head. "That boy. Always in such a hurry to get somewhere. I wonder what he does all day?" She looked at Leo, who still thumbed through his cards. She sighed. "You're as hopeless as he is," she said quietly, although she knew that there was no chance Leo had heard her. Once his head was in the game of Duel Monsters, it took a miracle to get it out again.


When the bell that signalled home-time rang, students were rushing out the door in a matter of seconds. Like most school days, this one came to an end. As Leo and Hikari walked down the steps of the main building Leo spied kids setting up Duel Disks in the yard and on the street already, a full afternoon of both intense and casual competition guaranteed to follow. There seemed to be more duellists than ever today, meaning that Alastair Raiden and his announcement had thrown the city into a Duel Monsters frenzy.

"It's basic marketing," Hikari said as they were walking. They'd made their daily pitstop at the open-air foodcourt that had been built between the city and the neighbouring suburbs.

"The company needs to create public interest in their tournament so that it will increase business," she continued between bites of her sushi. "A tournament like that costs a lot of money to start, let alone run and promote and air on TV. And with competitive tickets available to anyone - free tickets, even - it would cost even more! That's why they need to appeal to the public. The excitement is what drives them towards a profit, if not a break even point."

Leo was nodding along. "Interesting. Now the real question is how I get me one of those tickets. I guess I should've asked Travis how they were being distributed. If anyone would know it'd be him. Hey, is your dad going to get an invite?"

Hikari shifted on her feet a little bit. "It's... hard to say. He's technically retired, but not... officially, I guess is the word I'm looking for."

"So, maybe?"

"Maybe."

Leo chuckled to himself. "Imagine if I scored an invite and ended up duelling your dad."

"You have duelled my dad," Hikari reminded him. "And he beat you. Three times in a row."

"Yeah, but that was years ago."

"It wasn't that long ago."

The two laughed.

"Well if it isn't Akida and his ditzy little fangirl." The voice cut through the foodcourt like a knife. Students, workers, and casual passerby's stopped dead in their tracks.

Leo and Hikari turned to see Brant and his gang of lackies on the far side of the foodcourt. The bully wore a cap on backwards, and a heavy wool coat. The smug smirk on his face only magnified when his grunts behind him giggled like toddlers. A Duel Disk sat on his arm, the deck ready to go.

"You better take that back," Leo called. "Or is one beating too few for you today, Brant?"

All of Brant's grunts started to make "Oooo" sounds, but Brant shut them up with a glance.

"Just leave us alone, Brant," Hikari said.

"You better keep your bitch muzzled, Akida. Dogs don't like it when people bite back."

"That's enough Brant." Leo's expression grew dark. "It's one thing to go after me, but it's something else to go after one of my friends. If you have a problem, we'll settle it between the two of us."

Brant raised his hands in mock surrender. "Of course. I forgot you were the noble type." His goons snickered. "You see, there is a problem, Leo. Today, at lunch, you made a fool of me. Took my pride," he activated his Duel Disk and raised his arm in challenge. "I'm here to take it back."

Leo was already retrieving his own Duel Disk from his bag. He slipped it over his left forearm and loaded his deck box. The technology flickered to life, the green hardlight platform materialising. Nodes around the foodcourt lit up as they recognised a game about to commence, and the computers in the cities' electrical grid scanned the area where it would project the holograms of the cards in play. Leo blinked twice fast and then hard once, activating his Duel Lens.

"Hikari," he said, handing her his backpack. "Keep this safe for me. Make your way home. I'll catch up to you."

"But Leo -"

"Hikari." The word was laced with urgency. "Please."

His friend nodded and took the backpack, and turning on her heel, she began to make her way through the streets that would lead first to Leo's house, and then later to hers.

Leo took a deep breath, the anticipation of the duel building in his gut. "I hope you're ready, Brant."

The words LEO and BRANT were projected in red above the arena. The computers in both Duel Disks buzzed as they scanned the two boys decks for any illegal cards. As the decks were accepted, the names went from red to green, and the number 4000 was projected under each of them.

"The duel between LEO and BRANT may now commence," the computerised voice of the Duel Disks said in unison. "Begin."

DUEL START - (Leo LP: 4000) (Brant LP: 4000)

"I'll take the first move," Brant said, and five cards surrounded by a bluish hue materialised into his hand.

"Suit yourself," Leo muttered.

Brant smirked. "I'm going to start strong. I summon Giant Orc (DARK/Level 4/Fiend/Effect/ATK 2200/DEF 0) in attack mode!"

White light formed around a hulking figure. When the light dissipated, a gargantuan grey orc wielding an equally large bone as a weapon was on the field. It hefted its bone club and unleashed a guttural snarl.

"I think that'll be plenty enough," Brant said. "I'll end my turn there." (Brant hand: 4)

Leo was shaking his head. "You're making the same mistakes as last time. I draw!" He made the motion of drawing from the top of his deck and a card materialised in his fingertips. "Let's see here..."

"By all means, take your time," Brant jeered. "I don't mind waiting to beat you."

"Yeah yeah, we'll see," Leo studied his hand for a few moments before a plan solidified in his mind. "Too easy," he said to himself. "I summon Phoenix Fighter - Virtue (FIRE/Level 3/Winged Beast/Effect/ATK 1200/DEF 1500) in defence mode!"

In a swirl of candlelight, a humanoid figure wearing a white cloak and a gold necklace, with red-feathered wings and talons appeared on the field. It held its arms out in front of it, palms facing outward, as if to prepare for an oncoming attack.

Brant laughed. "Please, that thing will be turned to mincemeat against my monster."

"Probably," Leo agreed. "But Virtue follows a noble cause. She's taken the Oath of Fire and Rebirth. Her intentions are pure and her magic renowned. Should she be sent from this earth, her sacrifice should not be in vain. See, when Virtue is summoned, I get to add the card Phoenix Fusion Fire from my deck or graveyard to my hand. I'll take the one from my deck."

Leo's monster drew an arcane sigil in the air in front of her, and a new card materialised in Leo's hand.

"I'll set two cards face down in my spell and trap card zone, and end my turn there." (Leo hand: 4)

Brant scoffed. "What a pathetic excuse for a turn. I draw." A card appears in his hand. "Giant Orc, attack his Phoenix Fighter!"

"In response to your attack, I activate a trap card: Parting Gift!" Leo called.

Giant Orc plowed across the field and swung its club. Virtue raised her hands to meet the blow, but was destroyed in a shower of golden sparks.

Brant broke out into laughter. "Wow, your trap card did nothing. What a waste. Your deck is really that awful, isn't it?"

"I'd hold my tongue if I were you Brant, because a few things are about to happen."

"Excuse me?"

"First: Parting Gift has a few effects. One, it reduces the damage I'd take from that battle to 0, but since Virtue was in defence mode that effect is kind of pointless. But two, since my monster was destroyed, we both take 1000 points of damage."

"What?!"

A spectral Virtue reappeared on the field and flew skyward until she was just out of view. At last she turned in the air and began to plummet towards the ground, dispersing into a storm of fire that ravaged both duellists when she hit the floor. Both Leo and Brant's life point counter decreased. (Leo LP: 3000) (Brant LP: 3000)

"And second," Leo continued, "I have a friend who wants revenge. Since a Phoenix Fighter monster I controlled was just destroyed, I can special summon Phoenix Fighter - Vengeance (FIRE/Level 3/Winged Beast/Effect/ATK 1000/DEF 0) straight from my hand! And I'll summon him in attack mode!"

In the aftermath of the explosion, another white-robed figure with red wings stood on the field. He was shorter than the last, and wielded scimitars in each hand.

"So what?" Brant sneered. "You have another crappy monster on your side of the field. It's no big deal. Now if you're done I'll continue on with my turn."

Leo gestured for him to go ahead.

Brant grunted. "When Giant Orc attacks, he's changed to defence mode. But that's nothing to be worried about. In my second main phase, since I didn't summon a monster this turn, I'll now summon Second Goblin (DARK/Level 1/Fiend/Union/Effect/ATK 100/DEF 100)!"

A small, pink humanoid with tiny horns and an eyepatch appeared on the field.

"Weak on his own, so let's put him to good use. I can equip Second Goblin to my Giant Orc as an equip spell card, and using his ability while equipped, I can change my Giant Orc back to attack mode."

Second Goblin climbed on top of the sitting Giant Orc and fanned it with a cloth. It leaned down into the beasts ear and whispered and pointed to Vengeance, and in a rage Giant Orc stood once more.

"I'll set a spell or trap card, and I think I'll end my turn there," Brant said smugly. (Brant hand: 3)

Leo swallowed hard but raised an eyebrow. "You have very rudimentary duelling skills, don't you Brant?"

The bully went red with rage as his goons tried, and failed, to suppress laughter.

"I'll draw," Leo drew his card and immediately grinned.

"Something you'd like to share, jerkstain?" Brant called.

"Only that I'll win this duel in two turns," Leo retorted. "Now let's go to work. I summon to the field my Phoenix Fighter - Justice (FIRE/Level 4/Winged Beast/Effect/ATK 1800/DEF 1500) in attack mode!"

Another white-robed, red-winged figure wielding a spear and adorned with a golden breastplate flew onto the field in a ring of fire.

"Then, I'll activate my other face down. A continuous trap card: Phoenix Inferno Formation! This trap gives my Phoenix Fighter monsters 200 attack points for every Phoenix Fighter I control. Two monsters means 400 extra attack points."

Justice and Vengeance mimic each others' stance and immediately become wreathed in flame. (Justice ATK 2200/Vengeance ATK 1400)

A look of worry briefly crossed Brants' face, but he wiped it away with a smug grin. "A few extra attack points doesn't make your monster stronger than mine."

"No," Leo agreed. "It doesn't. But I'm not done. See, the good thing about Phoenix Fighters is that they work together. They're bound by the same creed, and they bring out the strength in each other. For example, when there's another Phoenix Fighter on the field, other than Vengeance, he gets to attack you directly."

Brants expression fell. "Excuse me?"

"Go, Vengeance! Attack!"

Vengeance flew across the field, nimbly dodging the Giant Orc and Second Goblin separating him from his foe. He slashed twice with his scimitars and then returned, the fire around him intensifying with the hatred for his adversary. (Brant LP: 1600)

"Justice, follow suit! Vanquish his Giant Orc!"

"Not so fast, Akida, I activate my face down card," Brant called, but nothing happened. "What?" Confusion gave way to fury. "What is this?!"

"It's a benefit of Phoenix Inferno Formation. While I control two or more Phoenix Fighter monsters, you can't activate trap cards during the battle phase."

"Whatever! You still lose your monster."

As Justice thrust with his spear Giant Orc swung with his club. The spear jammed straight into the Second Goblin on the orcs shoulder, but the club found Justice right in the face. Both monsters shattered into golden sparks.

"The benefits of a union monster," Brant said. "It's destroyed in place of my Orc. You've changed nothing."

"Not quite," Leo responded. "From my hand I activate the quick-play spell, From the Ashes. When a Phoenix Fighter monster I control is destroyed, I can Special Summon it directly from the graveyard."

In a burst of flames, Justice returned.

"Unfortunately, since he did leave the field for a bit there, my Phoenix Inferno Formation is destroyed. But that's not a worry. It's about time we met the man of the hour. I activate Phoenix Fusion Fire to use my Justice and my Vengeance as fusion materials so that I can summon the Swordsman of Red Feathers (FIRE/Level 6/Winged Beast/Fusion/Effect/ATK 2500/DEF 2000)!"

Both Justice and Vengeance turned into tongues of flame, and by some mystical force were drawn into each other, forming a whirling column of fire. The tornado spun and spun, a golden light breaking through the flames as the being within emerged. The tornado dissipated, and hovering in the air in its place was a masculine figure adorned in dark purple armour with a red trim. Broad, red-feathered wings flapped with force, keeping the figure in the sky. It wore a helmet reminiscent of the head of a hawk, and in its hand it wielded a katana, tongues of flame dancing up and down the blade. The Swordsman lowered gently and landed on the ground, and with a flourish of its blade took an offensive stance.

"Let me remind you," Leo said, rebalancing himself on his feet. "If you don't beat me in this turn, you're going to lose this duel." (Leo hand: 1)

Brant drew a card without words. Sweat fell from his brow. He didn't know why he was so nervous - there's no way this kid could pull off the same trick twice, let alone twice in one day. But regardless, he needed a plan, and he needed one soon.

"I summon Phantom King Hydride (DARK/Level 3/Fiend/Tuner/Effect/ATK 1500/DEF 300) in attack mode," Brant started.

An armoured warrior on a gruesome black stallion appeared on the field.

"Now I can use my level 3 Hydride and my level 4 Giant Orc to synchro summon Scrap Archfiend (EARTH/Level 7/Fiend/Synchro/ATK 2700/DEF 1800)!"

The two monsters on Brant's field converted themselves into seven balls of stark white light. The balls lined themselves up and throbbed as they resonated with each other. They began to merge, forming into something that was entirely different. The light faded, and a giant, mechanical demon stood towering over the field.

Brant's goons' eyes went wide, and they scuffled away to seek somewhere out of the creature's shadow.

"I mightn't win this turn, but there's no way you can defeat me now," Brant yelled. "I activate my trap card: Kunai with Chain! I can equip it to my Archfiend to increase its attack by another 500 points!" (Scrap Archfiend ATK 3200)

"Now, Scrap Archfiend, destroy his Swordsman!" Brant commanded his creature, pointing out the target on the other side of the field.

The metal demon swung the chained blade in its hand and released, the blade soaring through the sky toward Leo's Swordsman.

Leo flourished. "Swordsman, go! Counterattack with your Full-Circle Slash!"

The Swordsman's blade erupted into fire. It took to the sky and dashed up the chain of the kunai, toward Scrap Archfiend, and with a spin it took the head off Brant's monster. Time seemed to slow as Scrap Archfiend disintegrated into golden sparks from the neck down. The Swordsman landed and turned to Leo, raised his sword in a formal solute, and disintegrated into sparks himself.

"Wha - wha - what?" Brant stammered. "It doesn't make any sense. What just happened?"

"It's the effect of Swordsman of Red Feathers," Leo explained. "When your monster attacked, I had the chance to tribute my Swordsman to negate your attack and destroy your monster."

Brant's teeth were bared in rage. "No! You can't have destroyed my Archfiend so easily. I refuse. You're cheating."

Leo shrugged lamely. "Afraid not."

Brant was fuming. "At least I got rid of your monster. I play a face down card and end my turn." (Brant hand: 2)

Leo drew his card. "The Phoenix is an interesting creature," he started. "When it dies, it is known to be reborn in its own ashes. Its life starts over, and it continues in this cycle for eternity."
"What are you getting at, Akida?"

"What I'm telling you is that my Swordsman isn't truly gone. When he's sent to the graveyard by his own effect, he's Special Summoned back to the field during my next standby phase. That's to say, right now. Swordsman! Return!"

The tornado of fire returned to the field, and the Swordsman of Red Feathers flew from its thrashing tendrils of flame. Brant watched on, wide-eyed with shock as he realised what this meant.

"No way," he said furiously. "I activate my face down. The spell card Fires of Doomsday. This spell lets me summon two Doomsday Tokens (DARK/Level 1/Fiend/ATK 0/DEF 0) in defence mode. You're not getting through to me this turn."

Two tongues of black and blue fire sprung up in front of Brant.

"I'm sorry, Brant," Leo said, lowering his arms. "But I've won this duel. Swordsman of Red Feathers, attack with your Blazing Blade!"

The Swordsman's blade erupted into flame. He launched himself from the ground, directly at Brant. The blade cut through one of the tokens as if it were nothing, and the blade continued on to Brant.

"Piercing damage," Leo explained as the scene played out in front of him. "Your defence position monsters can't protect you against that." (Brant LP: 0)

DUEL END - Victor: Leo

The nodes flickered off and the Duel Disks automatically deactivated. Swordsman saluted once more before fading from existence.

Brant collapsed to his knees, his chest heaving. "I'll get you," he said softly. "One day. One of these days you better believe I'll get you. You'll know shame and humiliation like you never knew before. And it'll be by my hand. Mine..."


The sun was well and truly dipping over the horizon when Leo made it back to his home. Hikari sat on the front porch of his house, holding his backpack close to her chest. She looked up as Leo came up the street, and stood up to meet him.

"Sorry I took so long," he said. "You ok?"

"Yeah," Hikari smiled. "Your little brother invited me in but I decided to wait out here."

"Ollie really offered that?" Leo asked. "Sounds like we have a proper gentleman in the house."

"Took long enough," Hikari joked. "Here." She handed Leo back is backpack.

"Thanks Hikari," he said, slinging it over his shoulder. "It's getting pretty late. Need me to walk you home?"

"I wouldn't mind."

"Consider it done." He began walking up the pathway, stopping after he realised his friend wasn't following. "Uh... your home is this way." He pointed up the path.

"Yeah, sorry, lost in my own thoughts." Hikari jogged to catch up.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing important. Did you win?"

They walked for the next half hour to Hikari's house, Leo recounting the duel up until they got to her door.


A/N: Hey guys. Episode One, done and dusted. What did you think? Hope it was enjoyable. There might be some errors coming up to the end since I finished writing this real late, but that's just the world we live in.

Big thanks to Generalhyna, Not TheScarletDevil, akira45, Infinity Wizard, Zeladious, and Xdestroyer223 for submitting OCs. On the topic of OCs, i'm still accepting them, so PM me those sweet and juicy character profiles.

I'm hoping you're looking forward to reading Episode Two as much as I am to writing it. Any and all feedback is appreciated (as long as it's not just flat-out hate) and I will see you all soon. Catcha! - Neckee