Chapter 2: The Tournament Begins

The next week, the group of six boarded the boat and set sail for Ragnarok Island. They found the ship surprisingly full with people they knew. Hunter Pace, Gil Ransborg, even Trudge, much to their disbelief.

"Man, sure am seeing a lot of familiar faces here."

"Yeah, a bunch of loser faces! I thought this was supposed to be a gathering of the strongest trainers in the world, but all I'm seeing is a bunch of losers!"

"Jack, be nice."

"I was."

Yusei tuned out Jack and Crow's squabbling, and instead focused on the rest of the guests. Just then, he thought he saw a familiar face.

"Is that...Kalin?"

Sure enough, his former friend was leaning against the railing, looking out forlornly into the open sea.

"Kalin!"

The former Enforcer glanced towards Yusei, but said nothing, turning away and walking off.

"Kalin, come back!"

But Kalin was already gone, leaving Yusei wondering what had gone wrong.

"Yusei, are you okay?"

"I saw Kalin, but...its like he's avoiding me."

"You don't...think he remembers, do you?"

"I don't know. I'd hoped that maybe I could make proper amends, but after he came back it feels like he's been avoiding me. I...I just wish things could go back to the way they were."

Jack placed a hand on Yusei's shoulder in understanding.

"We all do, Yusei."

Just then, the ship's horn tooted, announcing that they were approaching their destination. All at once, the gathered duelists crowded to the bow to catch a glimpse. Ragnarok was a large Island, bigger than New Domino City and Satelite combined even. No distinguishable landmarks coulfd be made out, save for a very large tower that loomed over the Island.

"Not much in the way of features, is it?"

"I don't know, maybe they're going for a less is more approach?"

"I've got a bad feeling about this."

At last, the ship docked. Greeting the duelists were a pair of heavily armored guards, to the point where they couldn't see their faces.

"Welcome, duelists. Please make your way to the tower. Any luggage and Duel Runners will be shipped there."

A little worded out, the participants disembarked, a few of them shooting the guards weird looks as they left. But as Luna walked past them, she couldn't help but sense a weird energy coming from them.

"Move along!"

Startled, Luna walked off, Leo taking notice of her hesitation.

"Luna, something wrong?"

"Its those guards. Something feels...off about them. Something unnatural."

"You think they might be spirits or something?"

"Maybe. But whatever they are, they're not human!"

After a while, the large crowd gathered at the tower. A middle aged man with spiky silvered hair in a blue trenchcoat stepped out, smiling.

"Welcome, chosen duelists! I am your humble host, Surtr, and welcome to the Island of Ragnarok! Here we will settle once and for all who is the true king of duelists!"

Every competitor eyed their competition. It was going to be a long road to the finals, the was certain.

"Now then, the rules. The entire island is your battlefield, and everyone your enemy. Like the legendary Duelist Kingdom, you must seek out your opponents, and a duel can break out at any time!"

"And how will you keep track of the duels? This a big island, and you're just one man?"

"I'm glad you asked, the answer is simple. With this!"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a PDA, which each competitor then received from the guards.

"Your progress will be tracked by these PDA's, which you are required to have on your duel disk at all times. Each time a duel is completed, the progress will be reported back to me. 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. The duelists with the most points in 3 days will move on to round 2, which I will explain in more detail when that time comes."

"That's good," Akiza said. "Even if you lose once or twice, you can still make it to the next round."

Jack just scoffed, raising his duel disk to accept the challenge.

"It doesn't matter to me, because the last person standing at the end of this will be me!"

"I'm glad to hear it. Any further questions?"

Silence filled the crowd.

"Very good. One last thing. Those of you that are Turbo Duelists were told to bring your Duel Runners. You may pick them up from the garage when we're done here. Turbo Dueling is allowed, but only on the highlighted path. And you'll find that this island has many...surprises."

"What kind of surprises?" Yusei shouted, skeptical.

"Now now, if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it? The tournament starts in one hour. I suggest you use it to make final preparations on your decks, strategize, and find the best place to scout out your competition. May the odds be ever in your favor!"

With that, Surtr disappeared into the tower, leaving the participants to disperse. Jack, Yusei, and Crow obtained their duel runners, then met everyone back at the starting point.

"Alright guys, I say we split up. We'll cover more ground that way."

"Yeah, and if there is something fishy going on, that way they can't pick us off all at once!"

"Precisely, good luck everyone."

Nodding, the group went their separate ways. But before Jack left, he turned to Yusei.

"Don't you dare lose. Tournament or not, I will have my title back."

Yusei smiled, and gave Jack a thumbs up.

"Count on it."

Jack smiled, returned the gesture and sped away to find an opponent. Yusei stared down at his birthmark, thinking to himself.

"Be safe, everyone."

Deep in the tower of Yggdrasil, Surtr watched on the monitors as everyone got into place. Smirking, he rested his head in his hands, shaking with anticipation.

"And so it begins. The fools don't realize they're playing right into the palms of my hands..."