Duel Monsters ~Duelist Kingdom~

Episode 1- The Good, The Bad, The Evil

Shiro stood in line at a huge convention center, to register in a Duel Monster tournament. He stepped up to the registration desk, and before he could speak a word, he heard a familiar voice- Kai. He looked over to see Kai registering. Shiro gave a slight smirk, and gave his information to the woman. "My name is Shiro Akiyama, and I use a multi-type deck," he spoke, glancing over at Kai. He noticed Kai looking over at him. As the woman handed him his ID Card, Kai chuckled. "Imagine seeing you here, mysterious stranger," Kai joked, grinning. Shiro gave a slight smile when he saw his younger sister Jasmine. Kai grinned. "You know her, but my other sister, Reiko, is buying her ticket," he said, Shiro held his hand out. "I wish you luck. If we manage to match up in the finals, I hope you'll put up a good fight." Kai laughed. "Oh, you joker, you. I'll launch an all out war if I have to, not that I will, since no one can match up to my skill." he stammered, "Except, the World Champ Seto Kaiba, the top duelist in the world, next to the King of Games, Yugi Moto. Suddenly, Shiro's eyes shrunk. He remembered a small bit of information, concerning someone named Yugi. Shiro tried to figure out where he heard the name before, but couldn't. That's when an announcer came over the loud speaker. "Attention, all competitors, please report to the assembly room, where we will start the tournament off with a small word from Mr. Pegasus J. Crawford him self."

As all the competitors flocked over to the assembly room, Shiro stayed behind. He had a serious look upon his face. "I sense a great evil here," he thought to him self. He then entered the room, where the doors shut behind him.

The large crowd of people quieted down as the lights dimmed. Up on stage, 2 men in black suits and black sunglasses stood. One had a shark-type fin hair cut, while the other had a bushy gray mustache. A man in a red suit walked out on stage. He had long white hair that came down to his shoulders. The left side of his hair covered up his left eye. He walked up to the microphone, and cleared his throat. "Greetings, Duelists! I am Pegasus J. Crawford, creator of the game you have all grown to know and love as Duel Monsters. I thank you for making this one of the most popular games throughout the entire world. Without you, what would this game be but another fad? No matter, I would like to announce that, the person who wins the finals, will move on to face one last opponent, the World Champ, Seto Kaiba! Of course, you have the choice, to either win the finals, and take your $1,000 prize money and special rare card, or you can choose to face our Champ, and wins $5,000 dollars, and a brand new deck full of the rarest and most powerful cards in the game of Duel Monsters. So, if you wish to become the greatest duelist, then I suggest you put your skill to the test. I will be watching you all with great interest," he said, turning. He began walking off, listening to the crowd go wild. His two guards Kemo and Croquet, followed behind him. In Pegasus private viewing box, a guy with bushy brown hair and blue eyes wearing a white trench coat sat. "Did you really have to make it sound like I was that easy to beat?" he asked, glaring at Pegasus. Pegasus chuckled. "Kaiba boy, you know you're the best, and no one would ever be able to beat you. You have the legendary Blue Eyes White Dragon's, no one else has them. Believe me, if they managed to take them out, you'd be beaten. But that's impossible," he said, chuckling.

Hours passed, and the duels commenced. Shiro and Kai both made it into the finals. "I can't believe we've made it this far," Kai said, sitting in a chair, drinking a soda. A man came in holding a clipboard. "Excuse me, Kai, Shiro, you two are going to be facing each other in the semi-finals. You have 5 minutes," he said, walking out. Kai turned to Shiro. "So, you think you can win?" he asked, smiling slightly at Shiro. Shiro let out a small chuckle. "If you win by some chance, you'll need dumb luck beating Bandit Keith. He's going to slaughter his opponent in the semi- finals," he said. Kai sighed. "Well, we'll see whose the better duelist soon enough, won't we?" he said, walking out. Shiro took out his deck. "I've gotten this far, so let's go for the gold," he said, removing his trench coat. He had a black sleeveless shirt with buckles and chains wrapped around him. He followed Kai out to the dueling arena.

There, in the audience, people cheered loudly. Shiro and Kai stepped up to the large Dueling Arena. An announcer spoke out to the crowd over an intercom. "Attention everyone! This is the Semi-Final's match! We are proud to bring you 2 separate duels of intense action! In Duel Arena One, we have Shiro and Kai. In Duel Arena Two, we have Bandit Keith and Jimmy! Let's have a great duel! You may begin!" Suddenly, the Life Points (now referred to as LP) appeared on the side of the Dueling Arena. Both Shiro and Kai started with 4000 LP each.

"I'll go first," said Shiro, giving a devious smile. Kai gasped, surprised to actually see Shiro smile like that. "I play Gemini Elf, with stats of 1900/900, in defense position. And I play a card face down as well," he spoke.

Kai chuckled. "Smart, your trying to start with defenses to see what I have. Well, let's please the audience, shall we?" he said, "I play a card face down. And another card face down. Your turn again. Maybe you can get the ball rolling," Kai spoke. Shiro smirked, and drew a card. "First, I'll command Gemini Elf to attack your facedown card!" he called, "then, I'll play a Magic card face down, for later. Now, Gemini Elf, ATTACK!" Shiro called. Gemini Elf, the twin elf-attack force, charged forth to attack the face down card Kai had on the field. Suddenly, Kai let out a chuckle. As Gemini Elf attacked the face down monster, Cyber Jar appeared. Then, Gemini Elf let out a yelp, then it burst, along with Cyber Jar. Shiro moaned. "Well, surprised by Cyber Jar, eh? Now we both draw the top five cards of our deck." Shiro Kai drew the top five cards from their deck. Kai smiled at the last card he drew. "Now it's my turn! I play Dragon Zombie, with stats of 1600/0, in attack mode! And, with no monsters on your field to defend you, I command it to attack!" As the rotting dragon corpse rose to the field, it let out a roar. Then, it let out a stinking ball of junk. It exploded against Shiro's Dueling Box, and his LP reduced to 2400. Shiro smirked again, chuckled. "No matter, I am going to go ahead and play my face down Magic card. I play Black Magician Curtain for half of my life points to summon my Black Magician. And I summon it now! And I also lay a Magic card face down on the field." A Magician in a black gown and hat with a scepter appeared on the field, and his LP dropped down to 1200. Shiro smiled. "The Black Magician has stats of 2500/2100. Now I command it to attack!" The Black Magician held its scepter out, and let out a blast of magic. Kai gasped as his life points reduced to 3100. "If you want to win, you have to play some stronger monsters than that if you hope to beat me. Kai smiled. "Okay then. First, I'll clear my path with this magic card, Fissure!" Shiro snarled. The ground cracked, and a hand pulled his Black Magician into the abyss. "And now I play, Hayabusa Knight in attack mode. This card can attack twice per turn." A knight in steel armor appeared on the field. It's stats appeared on Shiro's playing board. It had stats of 1000/700. As it charged forth, it swung it's sword at Shiro's LP, once, twice, reducing it to 400. Shiro smiled. "I hope you don't have plans to beat me easily, because this is just the beginning. To help lower your LP, I play the magic card Hinotama, which inflicts 500 points of direct damage to your LP count. Then, I'll play a combo attack- Lord of Dragons and Flute of Summoning Dragon! I am now able to special summon 2 dragon types on to the field, and I choose to summon my ultimate dragon, Red Eyes Black Dragon, and another of my dragons, Curse of Dragon! Red Eyes stats are 2400/2000, and Curse of Dragons stats are 2000/1700. Now, Lord of Dragons, attack Hayabusa Knight!" As Shiro's Dragon summoning Lord of Dragons held it's hand out, Kai covered his eyes. A bright light appeared, and destroyed Hayabusa Knight. Kai's LP reduced to 2400. Kai snarled. "You're doing well, but I have just the- oh no. I already used the trap cards I had. If I don't draw one next, then I will lose no matter what," he thought. He gulped, and drew a card. He gasped. "No, I, didn't draw the card I need." he said. Shiro smiled. "Are you going to make a move or not?" he asked, crossing his arms. Kai gulped. "I play this magic card. It's the best I can do. I also play Jinzo #7. I end my turn." Shiro smiled. "You could have defeated me," he said, "Jinzo #7's effect allows you to attack directly. I only have 400 LP." Kai sighed. "I know. But, Where would the fun be?" he said, "Where would the treat in beating someone who saved my sister be if I did that? I do this out of respect, not greed." Shiro smiled. "Fine. I play a magic card, Raigeki. Destroying all the monsters on your field." Jinzo #7 burst. Shiro lifted his hand, and laid his cards down. "Red Eyes Black Dragon attack!" Shiro called. As the black dragon opened its mouth, a red blast of fire shot from its mouth. It smashed into Kai's Dueling Box, and reduced his LP to 0. Fans in the stands booed as Kai stepped down from the box. He walked back to his rest area as the announcer declared that Shiro was the winner, and he was moving on to the next round. Shiro watched Kai walk away. He smiled, and followed.

"Why did I let him win? Why did I hesitate?" he thought to him self, "Why did I let the chance to beat him and win this tournament fall through my fingers? WHY!" he yelled, punching the wall. Suddenly, he heard a loud cackling. He turned, and saw no one. He rubbed his eyes, and sighed. He saw Shiro's reflection in a mirror on the wall. "Shiro, good luck in the finals. You'll beat Bandit Keith good," he said. The person in the room wasn't Shiro though, but a mind trick.

To Be Continued. Next Episode: Episode 2: Mechanized Monster