Warren Davis was an accomplished man, he had graduated from Duel Academia nearly two years ago, ignoring his father's request that he take over the family business. He had triumphed in the Pro Leagues, and even though he'd had to depart early due to his father's heart attack, he had still been considered a famous duelist. Now he controlled Davis Inc., a Japanese boat company, and he hadn't duelled in years, and yet somehow, people kept sending him offers to duel in tournaments.
Warren slammed the letter down on his desk and let out an exasperated sigh, "Why won't these people leave me alone," he said to no one in particular. He rubbed his temples in pain and shoved the shipping invoices into a corner of his desk, he needed a distraction. Snatching the remote off his desk, he clicked on the television, and turned his chair to face the large flatscreen mounted on one of the office walls.
A handsome male news anchor was speaking animatedly, and as Warren increased the volume, he noticed a man on stretcher being moved into a hospital.
"And the injured person has been identified as Kouji Walan, a former Pro League Duelist."
Warren's eyes widened in surprise, he knew that name.
As the anchor continued to describe how Kouji had been found lying injured in an alley, Warren sifted through his memories of his old classmate. Kouji had been a student at Duel Academia just like him; only he'd been less wealthy and had difficulty getting a sponsor for the Pro League. Warren hadn't seen him since he had left the Pro Circuit.
"Based on his injuries, it is believed that Walan was involved in Underground Dueling, which is known to be much more extreme than the regular style."
Warren's eyes narrowed as he heard the announcer mention those words, Underground Duel.
He had fought those same battles for a few dark months. After his father had died, Warren had been consumed by guilt and had attempted to drown his emotions in the mindless violence of the Underground Circuit. Jiana had saved him from the darkness and he'd put down his Duel Disk, vowing never to duel again.
"Doctors are unsure as to the cause of Walan's injuries, but one thing is clear, they are not the product of the electrodes normally used in illegal duels."
A commercial cut on, and Warren clicked the TV off, but his mind was still pondering the anchor's last words. If Kouji's injuries weren't the product of electrodes, then what could have caused them?
He pondered it for a few more moments, and then he picked up the phone, he knew someone who might be able to help with this.
Across town, a phone rang, and a figure picked it up.
"Yes?" she asked
"It's me," said Warren, "I've just seen an old friend on the news, he's in critical condition."
"I see," said the woman, "While I'm sorry for your friend, I don't know how this affects me?"
Warren laughed, "I'm getting there, Reiko, you're just as impatient as always."
His tone became serious, "He was participating in Underground Duels,"
Reiko's breath caught in her throat, and her grip tightened on the phone, "I understand, Warren, give me his name, and I'll see what I can do."
"His name's Kouji Walan," said Warren, his voice full of relief, "But there's one more thing you should know," and his voice tightened again, "His injuries weren't caused by any normal means."
Reiko hissed under her breath, "Thanks for calling me Warren, and don't worry, I'll get to the bottom of this very soon."
Warren thanked her and then hung up, a feeling of relief flowing through his body; Reiko would know exactly what to do. He shivered at the thought of those dark days, and he quickly stood up from his desk, he needed to find Jiana, she was the only one who could chase those dark memories away.
This arena was different from the last one, thought Hasam, the fat promoter; Asamiya had told him that locations had changed. He wondered why they had chosen to do so, and then shrugged; their affairs were of no concern to him. Asamiya had paid him for his duel with Walan and had invited him to return, stating that the crowd liked to see a new face from time to time.
Hasam had accepted, using the money to pay for a cheap motel. He had tried his hardest to search for the name in the three days that had passed since his last duel, but he had come up with nothing.
Mai
How did that name relate to him? It certainly wasn't a Japanese name, but neither was Hasam, and the amnesiac duelist knew that he didn't look Japanese in the slightest.
He paced his green room in anxiousness, the money he'd made had been more than enough for food and clothing, and he was only dueling to find more answers.
A sharp rap sounded on the door, and Hasam threw it open, causing the flunky outside to jump in shock. He pushed the fool out his way and strode towards the ring, his newly acquired cape flapping in the air behind him.
Hasam entered the ring, a heady sense of anticipation building in his limbs. He grinned at the sound of the cheers as the announcer called out his name. This was going to be fun, he thought, he would enjoy crushing whoever his opponent was.
The power inside me has been released, with every soul I sacrifice to the darkness, my strength grows.
Hasam clutched his head in pain at the sudden memory, but he had no time to recover, as his opponent was ready.
This opponent was strikingly different from his last one. This man was well muscled, with collar-length black hair and a dark leather jacket. His eyes shone with righteous anger, and his duel disk was pitch-black with green orbs.
"Tonight's competitors are the Mighty Hasam vs. the Incredible Akira."
Akira glared at Hasam, 'You may have beaten Kouji, but that was just a fluke"
He slammed his deck into his disk, "You're going down, Hasam."
Hasam chuckled darkly, "Say what you want, before the darkness fills your mouth. H-ha ha ha."
(H: 4000) (A: 4000)
"I'll begin," declared Akira, and he snapped a sixth card off his disk, and then he glanced at his cards.
"I summon Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts in attack mode." (1500/1200)
A large gazelle appeared, his dark-furred body tense for battle, his sharp horn gleaming.
Akira set another card face-down and gestured to end his turn.
Hasam's face twisted in a toothy smile, and he drew a card.
"I summon Dark Jeroid, in attack mode." (1200/800)
A strange Fiend appeared; it had blue skin and four legs, with a pair of pincers protruding from its shoulders and a sickly mouth on its lower torso.
Dark Jeroid opened its mouth and exhaled a dark mist in Gazelle's direction.
The King of Mythical Beasts gave a pained howl as the mist surrounded it, and its attack score fell by 800 points. (700/1200)
"My Jeroid weakens one monster on the field by 800 points as soon as it's summoned."
Hasam pointed and Dark Jeroid leapt forward and slammed it's pincers into the weakened Gazelle.
The beast gave a pained howl and exploded into pixels, and Akira cringed.
(H: 4000) (A: 3500)
Hasam fitted two cards into his disk and gestured, ending his turn.
Akira's eyes narrowed and he drew a card, and then slammed another one onto his disk, "I summon Phantom Beast Cross-Wing." (1300/1300)
A great golden eagle appeared; it had two sets of wings and emitted a loud screech.
"Now I activate my trap, Next to Be Lost."
Akira's face-down card lifted up, to show a Happy Lover falling from the sky.
"This card lets me select a monster on my field and then send a monster with the same name from my deck to my graveyard."
"Not so fast," shouted Hasam, "You triggered my trap, Coffin Seller."
The card showing a cloaked man in a graveyard lifted, and suddenly a dark aura began to surround Akira.
"What the hell is this?" he asked
Hasam smirked, "Thanks to this permanent trap, every time a monster goes to your graveyard, you lose 300 life points."
Akira frowned, "A mere inconvenience, and now my trap card takes effect."
He took another Cross-Wing from his deck and slid it into his graveyard, "And my Cross-Wing has a special effect, when it's in the graveyard, all Phantom Beasts gain 300 attack points."
The dark aura around him intensified and Akira gritted his teeth in pain.
(H: 4000) (A: 3200)
Cross-Wing screeched with power, (1600/1300), and then it dove from its lofty perch directly at Dark Jeroid.
Hasam tapped a button on his disk and one of his face-down cards lifted up, and Dark Jeroid suddenly vanished.
Akira blinked in shock, "Wh-what happened."
"I activated my Relieve Monster trap card, this card allows me to return a monster from my field to my hand, and then I can summon any Level 4 monster in my hand to the field."
Hasam grinned and placed a card back on his disk, "So I summon Dark Jeroid again."
The fiend reappeared and exhaled its black mist, causing Cross-Wing to shriek in agony as its attack points fell. (800/1300)
Akira blinked in shock, and then glanced at his hand again. He slid another card into his disk and ended his turn.
Hasam drew and threw a card onto his disk, "I summon Newdoria in attack mode."
The gangly Fiend appeared, "Now attack his Cross-Wing with Death Grip."
Newdoria charged at the great eagle.
"I activate Horn of the Phantom Beast," shouted Akira as his set card lifted, "This card raises a Beast-Warrior's attack points by 800."
Phantom Beast Cross-Wing suddenly glowed with renewed strength and took flight, swooping towards the Fiend.
Cross-Wing's talons raked across Newdoria's belly and the Fiend groaned in pain before shattering into pixels.
(H: 3600) (A: 3200)
Hasam laughed in delight, "That was pointless; you fool, since Newdoria was destroyed in battle, I can destroy one monster on the field, and I choose your Cross-Wing."
"Not until my Horn's other effect kicks in, whenever the equipped monster destroys a monster in battle, I get to draw one card."
Akira drew a card, and then cringed as Phantom Beast Cross Wing exploded and Coffin Seller drained his life points even more.
"And now," ordered Hasam, "Dark Jeroid attacks you directly."
The four-legged fiend sprang forward and plunged it's pincers into Akira, drawing an involuntary scream from the young man.
(H: 3600) (A: 1700)
Hasam glanced at the remaining three cards in his hand, and then set two more of them face-down.
Akira drew a card, and then placed another on his disk, "I activate Monster Reincarnation, so I discard one card from my hand in order to retrieve a monster from my graveyard."
He held up Gazelle, and then played another card, "Next I activate Polymerization, to fuse Gazelle with Berfomet, in order to form, Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast." (2100/1800)
A two-headed beast appeared, one of its head looked like Gazelle's, while the other had two horns. Chimera's body was long and powerful and it had a pair of white wings sprouting from its back.
Akira played the last card in his hand, "I also summon Phantom Beast Wild Horn," (17000/0)
An ox-like creature appeared; it stood on two feet with sharp antlers and a mighty scimitar.
"And Chimera is considered to be a Phantom Beast, so both of my monsters gain 600 attack points thanks to the two Cross-Wings in my graveyard." (2700/1800) (2300/0)
Hasam laughed, "Don't forget, my Coffin Seller is still in play, and you just sent three monsters to your graveyard."
Akira cringed again, as the dark aura intensified, lowering his life points.
(H: 3600) (A: 800)
He glared at Hasam, "I hope you enjoyed that, because you're about to feel some pain, Chimera, attack Dark Jeroid."
The Flying Mythical Beast pounced, knocking the fiend to the floor, where it shattered.
(H: 2100) (A: 800)
Hasam didn't even flinch, and instead gestured, "I activate another trap card, Rope of Life."
A silver rope fell from the ceiling and into a black chasm that opened up on the floor.
A moment later the rope began to retract and a creature flew back out of the hole.
It was Dark Jeroid.
"This brings back a monster that was just destroyed, and although it costs me my hand, Dark Jeroid gains 800 attack points." (2000/800)
Hasam slid the one card in his hand into the graveyard, "And since Jeroid was summoned again, its effect activates, robbing your Wild-Horn of 800 attack points."
The foul mist appeared again and Wild Horn began to cough in pain. (1500/0)
Akira had no cards left in his hand and so he ended his turn.
Hasam snapped the top card off his deck, but didn't even glance at it, "I win," he shouted, once Jeroid destroys your Wild-Horn, you'll lose 500 points, plus 300 more points thanks to Coffin Seller."
Dark Jeroid flew toward Wild-Horn and plunged its claws into the Beast-Warrior.
At the last moment, there was a flash of light and Dark Jeroid was sent tumbling backwards, its attack unsuccessful.
"What's going on," shouted Hasam, "You had no face-down cards to stop my attack."
Akira laughed, "No, I didn't, but I did have this, Phantom Beast Thunder Pegasus." (700/2000)
"I discarded with Monster Reincarnation, and by removing it from play, I can reduce all battle damage taken by a Phantom Beast to zero."
Hasam blinked in stupefaction, and then looked down at the card he'd drawn earlier. After a moment's thought, he set the card in his Spell Zone and waved his hand.
Akira drew a card and grinned, "I activate Wild Nature's Release."
Chimera glowed with a fiery aura, and his attack points rose, (4500/1800).
"This spell lets me add Chimera's defense points to his attack points, so I can finish you off with one mighty blast. Chimera obliterate Dark Jeroid!"
The Flying Mythical Beast flew into the air, and then screamed in pain as it was suddenly ensnared by a torturous-looking wheel, floating in mid-air.
Akira blinked in shock, and Hasam laughed in glee, "My Nightmare Wheel prevents your monster from attacking, and it also deals you 500 points of damage every time my turn begins."
Akira simply gaped for a moment, then he turned Wild-Horn's card, and the Beast-Warrior knelt in Defense Mode. Then Chimera exploded into fragments, and Akira gestured, "Wild Nature's Release destroys my monster at the end of my turn, but Chimera's effect lets me summon Gazelle from the Graveyard in attack mode, and he's a Phantom Beast as well."
Gazelle reappeared and roared loudly. (2100/1200)
"Yes, but don't forget," said Hasam, "Due to Coffin Seller, you lose 300 more life points."
(H: 2100) (A: 500)
Hasam drew one card and looked at it with a grin, "I summon Drillago."
An infernal machine made entirely of drills appeared, and Hasam laughed, "Dark Jeroid, destroy Wild-Horn."
Dark Jeroid leapt forward, slamming it's pincers into Wild-Horn and it exploded.
Akira winced as Coffin Seller drained him even more.
(H: 2100) (A: 200)
"And now, for Drillago's special effect, when the only cards you have out are monsters with 1600 attack points or more, Drillago can attack you directly."
The infernal machine flew past Gazelle and struck Akira in the chest with its spinning drills.
The young man let out a horrible shriek and collapsed on the arena floor as his life points fell to zero.
(H: 2100) (A: 0)