Alright everyone, welcome to the first chapter in the Duel Net Arc! Finally, the Tournament is over and now Jacob is getting ready to go into Duel Net. Before we get started, I just want to say a few things:

Jacob has returned the Black Rose Dragon back to Akiza (for obvious reasons)

Since this is Duel Net, I will be allowing certain cards to be added into a player's deck. They are as follows: Red Eyes B. Dragon, Exodia set (but only 1 of each), the Signer Dragons, and Number Cards (still debating on Chaos Numbers). The Numbers, however, will be an in-game event.

I am still accepting OCs, and I thank xider for submitting an OC.

So without further ado, let's begin. R&R, PM, and Enjoy!

Chapter 14

The moment they got home, Jacob dashed into the house to get his Duel Monsters Network account set up. He inserted the CD into his laptop and he received a shortcut to a website. He clicked on the link and was sent to a page with a black background color. A blue light illuminated a hexagon pattern and some text appeared, asking for a code. He found the code inside the CD case and put it in.

More text appeared, reading, "Welcome JACOB YUDARA and congratulations for your tournament win. You now have access to the Duel Monsters Network site and may create your avatar now." It asked to continue to the site and Jacob clicked the button. He was then brought to an avatar customization page and began working on his avatar. He added black hair, like his but spiked up. He also added some red streaks into the mix, and decided against extra headgear.

Next came the face; he customized the eyes, nose and mouth, but again decided on not adding any extra features. Next came the clothing. He chose a black long-sleeved shirt, jeans, and blue tennis shoes, and this time decided to add some extras: a chain that attached to two of the belt loops, fingerless gloves, and an open vest jacket. Next came the duel disk, and these were completely customizable: the card slots, the arm brace, every part of it. He chose the card slots to be designed like a wing and had a duel pad that stood up with an automatic kickstand.

Finally, uploading his deck. He took the cards out of his deck box and inserted all of them into the scanner, and clicked. It rapidly scanned all of the cards in his deck and showed a complete list of his cards. Next, he began scanning his extra deck, but stopped and looked at his cards. He decided to take out most of those cards, keeping Iron Chain Dragon, Seven Swords Warrior, Scrap Dragon, and Hieratic Sun Dragon seeing as how he didn't really use the others that much. He scanned the cards in and after that he was finished with his character creation. After entering basic information, like any other MMORPG, his character was finally complete and he was ready to play.

He grabbed the helmet and put it on. He laid down on his bed and the helmet activated. "Welcome, Jacob Yudara," the same female voice said, "you and the three other winners of the tournament have special access to the beta version of Duel Monsters Network. Included in the beta version are the following: 5,000 Duel Points, the currency used in Duel Monster Network; a digital version of one rare card; and exclusive avatar gear. When you are ready to enter Duel Monsters Network, say: 'Begin Network Link'."

"Begin Network Link." Jacob's eyes were forced shut once again and the familiar feeling of being sucked through a tube returned. He opened his eyes once the feeling stopped and he got his first glimpse of Duel Net. To his surprise, he was standing in the middle of a desert. He looked behind him and saw an oasis, palm trees and water reeds blown by a virtual wind. Looking back in front of him he saw two rows of tents and merchant stalls, some opened up and some closed. He looked down at his own body and found his new gear on his waist.

He opened his deck box and a virtual page suddenly flew out, opening in front of him. There were menu options like a pause screen and he began looking through them. One opened to show his deck list, another showed his personal stats: Wins, Losses, Draws, Duel Points, and Ranking. A third showed a list of events and sales-the one that caught his eye almost instantly was an event titled "Number Hunt" that would start tomorrow on Duel Net's official opening day.

Jacob closed his deck box, the menu as a result closing, and decided to look around. He stepped off the platform and walked over to one of the merchant stalls. The man standing there had very tanned skin and wore white and khaki robes. He was actually acting like a real person, and when Jacob walked up to the stall the man said, "Welcome friend. May I interest you in what I have in stock?" Jacob looked at what he currently had out: preassembled decks and card packs, as well as single card sets, all digital. He looked around and saw one that caught his eye; the box was yellow and on the front it had a picture of what appeared to be an angel holding a sword and riding a white dragon. The image was actually animated, the angel moving the hand that held the sword and the dragon breathing, and he picked it up.

"Ah," the man said, "that is a structure deck called Realm of Light. It contains Lightsworn cards, a bit of a challenge to control. The price is normally 4,999 Duel Points, however since you have arrived so early the price is half off." A prompt came up that said "Would you like to purchase 'Realm of Light' Structure Deck for 2500 DP?" Jacob answered yes and it showed a subtraction of his current balance. "Thank you sir," the man said, bowing a little. The menu opened again and it showed him a list of new cards. He closed it and the man asked if he would like to purchase anything else. Jacob skimmed through the lists of cards and decks, but nothing else stood out to him.

The man bid him farewell and Jacob began looking elsewhere. He decided to look into one of the open tents and walked in. There was an old man sitting in the center of the tent. The old man hardly moved and Jacob decided to sit in front of him. "I sense you seek knowledge, duelist. I can provide you the knowledge you seek and more." A prompt came up with a list of options. J

acob read through them and said, "Okay, tell me what you know about the world itself." The prompt disappeared and the old man held both of his hands up. A blue flame appeared above both of his hands and joined together to form a single flame. Once it died out, a roll of papyrus fell into his hands. He held it out to Jacob, who took it. Once he had a hold of it, it unrolled and opened to show a map. The desert was actually pretty small, and beyond that were more and more land types. To the east was a mountain range that created a border. To the north the desert ended and changed to a modern city scape. To the west the desert ended and changed again, this time into a jungle. Beyond that, the map was blank.

"As you explore the world, more locations will become available to you." The map disappeared into his deck box and the prompt returned.

"Okay, what can I expect in Duel Net?"

"Hmm, the world is expansive and contains many types of terrain. You must be wary, however. There are Duel Monsters that roam wild and will attack when you least expect it. When that happens, call on your own creatures to defend you. Think of it as a duel, but without a human opponent."

The prompt appeared once more, and Jacob asked, "Any advice?" The man remained silent, and Jacob stood.

Just as he was about to leave the man said, "Help those in need when they ask for it. They may return the favor." Jacob thanked the man without turning and left the tent. Just as he did, he bumped into someone else causing both to fall into the sand.

Jacob grunted and the one he bumped into said, "Oh, I'm terribly sorry!" Jacob looked at who he bumped into and was about to say something when his words suddenly got caught in his throat. The one he bumped into was a girl with very long, wavy gray hair. She also had blue eyes that were absolutely mesmerizing. She wore a blue and green stripe tube top with blue and green arm warmers. She also wore a blue heart necklace, a black skirt with black shorts and finally black boots. Jacob stared at her for a moment and she waved a hand in front of his face.

"I-I'm sorry, what?" he asked, shaking his head.

"I asked if you were okay?" she asked again, giggling a bit.

"Uh, yeah I'm fine. I guess I should be asking if you were alright." She giggled again, and Jacob helped her up.

"I'm fine," she said, dusting off the sand from her clothes. Jacob rubbed the back of his neck, trying to think of what to say next. "So you're a player, right?" Jacob looked back at her, and she said, "I mean, you're not an NPC?"

Jacob laughed and said, "Uh yeah, I'm a duelist." They both laughed and Jacob held out his hand. "My name's Jacob. Jacob Yudara." She didn't shake his hand, but instead gasped.

"Oh my gosh," she said in a realizing tone, "you're the one that beat that Rain guy." Jacob nodded and she shook his hand. "I'm Skyler Beaufort, I was the one who lost in the semi-finals." Jacob nodded his head, remembering her now.

"You use a Harpy deck, right?"

Skyler nodded and replied, "Yeah, it's got a pretty mean kick to it. But if I see Rain again, I'll give him a real duel." Skyler looked at Jacob with an intense stare, almost like a hawk. She smiled again and sighed. "So, Mr. Grand Veil Champion," she said, walking around Jacob and looking at his avatar, "fancy a duel against a real competitor?"

Jacob gave a thoughtful look and replied, "Okay. Let's do it."

"Perfect," she said, "but not here. Let's head out that way." She pointed to the east, where Jacob could see the mountain range. "Unless," she said, looking over her shoulder and speaking in a sweet voice, "you're afraid to lose."

Jacob smiled, "You're on."

"Good." She grabbed a small hoop from her belt and tossed it in front of her. The hoop enlarged into a wheel and metal appeared around it and stretched out until a frame was formed. Metal continued to materialize and stretch until it grew into a full sized Duel Runner. She got on, a helmet forming around her head, and said, "Race you there." She revved up the engine and raced away, kicking up the sand and forcing Jacob to cover his eyes. Once the sand stopped, Jacob looked back up and saw Skyler racing away.

"Be still my beating heart," Jacob quoted. He smiled and began running after her.

Alright, so now we start to get some more character development with Skyler (again, thanks to Chyna Costello). Next chapter will be Jacob vs Skyler, so I hope you all stick around for more chapters and more duels.