Chapter 2: The Opening Ceremony.

The five weeks rushed past in what seemed like no time at all, and it was now the opening ceremony of the virtual champions tournament. But, unlike most tournaments, this was not taking place in a specific city, or even in a specific country; but instead, each participant was directed to the Kaiba Corporation offices nearest them. Once they arrived at these offices, and were greeted (their documentation being checked at this time), they were swiftly ushered up to the top floor of the local Kaiba Corp. offices, where they were delivered to a room containing up to five virtual reality pods of the variety pioneered by Kaiba Corporation.

Then, having been quickly briefed on the operation of these pods, they were helped inside, their duelling decks being slotted into the receptacle that was designed for them, and entered the virtual reality of Kaiba Corporation.

They each found themselves in a large hall, perhaps part of a castle, directly in front of them stood their hosts, Seto Kaiba and Yugi Motou, along with some of the older participants in this tournament, among them the blond haired Joey Wheeler and the red haired form of his sister, Serenity. Beside them stood both the white haired Bakura Ryou and the Gaunt faced Bonz, along with many of the less memorable older duellists.

It was at this point that Seto Kaiba began to speak, "Fellow duellists, I welcome you all to the Virtual Champions tournament. Here, you will duel one another for the chance of one of the sixteen places in the tournament's final stage, for which prospective qualifiers will be required to collect five specialist qualifier cards, which will be automatically added to your decks when you defeat a registered opponent, and each winner will also receive a specialist pack of promotional cards, developed specifically for this tournament by Maximillion Pegasus himself. The Standard duelling rules are to be used in this tournament, although the Deckmaster rules can be used by agreement. The tournament will only permit each participant to remain in the virtual world for up to two six-hour sessions per day, and thus the rest of your time is yours to use for such things as eating, sleeping and other necessary human functions. The tournament will commence in one hour precisely, so I would suggest that each of you prepare for the duel of your lives. Now, for a word from the co-organiser of this tournament, Yugi Motou."

Yugi stepped forward, "I wish each and every one of you good luck, and may the heart of the cards be with each and every one of you."

Joey was confused, across the chamber that was in use for the opening ceremony, he could see someone small with light green hair, butt he knew for a fact that none of the Roba brothers were participating, and besides, they'd all dyed their hair blue a few years ago in any case. Still, the face of the green-haired kid looked remarkably familiar, and in his gut, Joey's instincts told him he had met that kid before, although his instincts said he'd met the kid so many years ago that he wouldn't have been alive when Joey thought he'd last bumped into the kid.

The atmosphere of the opening ceremony was electric, with all of the younger generation duellists mixing and mingling with one another, and even with the more friendly of the older generation duellists. But then, abruptly, the hour was up and the tournament due to begin. Suddenly, the scenery blurred as Kaiba's virtual technology sped them to the assorted locales where the duelling would take place, whether it was in the middle of a pitched battle (between virtual duel monsters, of course), at the top of a volcano, in space, or even in such a mundane setting as a simulated city, the locales had been expertly developed, with each being as close to graphically perfect as it was possible to make it. It was also at this time that each player was fitted with a virtual duel disc system, already containing his or her deck.

Joey found himself on top of a rocky desert mesa, no one there except himself and that green haired boy.

The boy spoke, "Its good to see you again Joey..."

Suddenly, Joey was able to put a name to the face that had taunted the very workings of his memory, "Noah," he cried.

"Yes," the boy-like computer simulation sneered, "even self-sacrifice couldn't kill me. Now, finally, I have the opportunity to prove how skilled a duellist I really am, first by defeating you, and then by working my way up to the point where I can defeat Seto Kaiba in a duel. Now Joey, prepare to duel with not one but two Deckmasters, otherwise you shall not leave here to continue the tournament."

End of chapter

A word from the author: Yes, I did deliberately leave you all on a bit of a cliff-hanger (or should I say that I left you all atop some virtual mesa), but the tournament is now underway and you should see some skilled duelling from all the participants (even Bonz, given that you can't really play duel monsters for over sixteen years and not learn anything new), and perhaps even a few surprises.

Anyhow, until next time, this is Mercenary Pen, signing off.