And here we are my friends, my first ever Yu-Gi-Oh fanfic. I certainly hope you'll all enjoy it. :D Like Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh is another franchise I hold very close to my heart. Alongside Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh was one of the anime shows I was most regularly watching as a kid and I would just love it from all the various monsters we'd see to the cool card game and the enjoyable characters that would tell these stories. I recently got back into Yu-Gi-Oh after being out of it for years and...a lot's changed, that's for sure. XD This fanfic will take place between the original series and Yu-Gi-Oh GX so don't expect any modern Yu-Gi-Oh duelling here. This fanfic is meant to be from a nostalgic fan's perspective and how he remembers playing the game. In the meantime, enjoy the story! :D
Chapter 1: Deck Building
Domino City was the kind of bustling metropolis that seemed to be defined by one thing. And that one thing was Duel Monsters. Arguably the most popular card game in the world, Duel Monsters seemed to be the very lifeblood of the people of Domino City. Nearly everyone played it, both young and old, and Duel Monsters tournaments were the equivalent of a major sporting event. All of this was made further possible thanks to KaibaCorp and its technological advancements that enhanced the gameplay of Duel Monsters, taking what was originally a simple card game and making it seem even grander. Holographic stadiums or Duel Disks were able to make the card game feel almost real and full of life thanks to holographic technology that allowed for any Duel Monsters card played to seemingly come alive and launch real attacks. Some may think it looked ridiculous watching two people standing face-to-face and attacking each other with monster cards that were enhanced by holographic projections to add more excitement to the matches but for the duellists, it was fun and worth every penny spend on Duel Disks and Duel Monster cards to make their decks and have a shot at proving themselves a Duel Monsters master.
The competition was especially high with the major victories of one Yugi Muto who was notorious for winning the Duellist Kingdom and Battle City tournaments. He was viewed as the "King of Games" and now every duellist playing today seemed to want a piece of the pie, duelling their way to greatness to try and prove themselves the next King of Games. Two people were engaged in a duel at this very moment. One was a boy dressed in sports gear and sporting long blonde hair and the other was a girl dressed in a red leather jacket with her dark hair held up in twin ponytails. The boy was playing with a Dragon-themed deck while the girl was using a Machine-themed deck. The duel seemed close with both players down to a few Life Points. The duel could go either way for them and it could be anyone's game. The boy seemed confident while the girl looked cool and collected as if she knew she could win in spite of the boy's confidence in himself.
The boy had no cards in his backrow and the only monster he had on the field was a mighty dragon known as Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End. With 3000ATK points, it looked invincible and the girl didn't have anything that could stand up to it. The girl only had Machine King (Level 6 2200ATK/2000DEF) protecting her and it was no match for the Chaos Emperor Dragon, but she did have two face-down cards for additional protection. The boy didn't seem worried about them. Whatever puny face-down cards the girl had, she could forget about them!
"If you think you can stop my dragon with your face-downs, you're mistaken!" the boy gloated, "I activate Chaos Emperor Dragon's special ability! By paying 1000 Life Points, I can destroy every card on the field and inflict 300 points of damage to you for each one destroyed!"
"I'm aware how your stupid dragon works. I'm NOT an idiot." the girl retorted, "Too bad for you, you won't get to activate it. Go Skill Drain!"
A hologram of one of her face-down cards flipped up to reveal a Trap Card, Skill Drain. The boy felt his heart stop as he saw the card flip up. Skill Drain was a Trap Card that negated all monster effects on the field. While it didn't stop effects from activating, the girl had chained the effect of Skill Drain to Chaos Emperor Dragon so it was able to negate its effect. The boy had wasted 1000 Life Points for nothing. Undeterred, the boy continued.
"So what if I can't use my dragon's effect? You had to pay 1000 Life Points to activate it! Now you're down to 500!" he sneered, "I can destroy your pathetic tin can and win the duel regardless! Chaos Emperor Dragon, destroy Machine King now!"
The holographic image of Chaos Emperor Dragon opened its jaws and prepared to blast Machine King into dust. But the girl was one step ahead of the boy once more. She pressed a button on her Duel Disk and another holographic image of her face-down card flipped up to reveal another trap had been laid. The boy screamed in horror as the terrifying image of Mirror Force loomed in front of him. It was a Trap Card that redirected attacks and destroyed all Attack position Monsters the opponent had. His dragon was blasted by its own attack and the hologram disappeared as the powerful monster was sent to the Graveyard. The girl just smirked as if this had been her plan all along and the boy had walked right into it.
"And that, little boy, is why you ALWAYS be careful of face-down cards." she sneered, "If you think you can win against opponents with brute force alone, you're NEVER going to be able duel worth a damn in this city!"
"No fair! That was my strongest monster!" the boy wailed.
"Too bad. Now get ready as I finish you off." the girl sighed, drawing another card from her deck. She didn't even bother to look at it as she didn't need to use it.
"Machine King, attack directly and end this duel!" she commanded.
Machine King drew its huge, metal fist back and punched directly at the boy. The boy only had 1000 Life Points left thanks to sacrificing some of them for his dragon's ability that he didn't get to use in the end and with 2200 attack points, Machine King had more than enough to finish the game. The boy wailed as the hologram of Machine King punched at him. Despite being a hologram, KaibaCorp's immense technological prowess made the holograms seem and feel very real to make the game feel that bit more intense and exciting. The boy really did feel as if he'd been punched by a metal behemoth despite it being an illusion. The boy stared in despair as the Life Points on his Duel Disk flickered down to zero. He was defeated and the girl was victorious. The boy wasn't taking it well at all, jumping up and down like a toddler throwing a tantrum.
"Nofairnofairnofairnofairnofairnofairnofairnofairnofairnofairnofairnofair!" he ranted, "How could I lose to a girl with a bunch of machine cards?! Dragons are the best! Dragons rule over everything!"
"Clearly not because you lost. HARD." the girl sneered, "Now why don't you stop making an ass of yourself and do something more productive with your time? Like improving your duelling skills and fixing your temper issues?"
The boy just huffed and stalked off, feeling personally insulted by what his opponent had said. The girl just shrugged and walked away, feeling her work was done. The boy had been too arrogant for her liking and she'd enjoyed putting the little brat in his place. Hopefully that would teach him a lesson in humility.
"That girl owned him big time! I don't know what was funnier, how she won or that boy's pathetic reaction to losing!"
Someone else had been watching the duel, someone who was also hoping to be a duellist one day. Her name was Amy Spears. She was a student at Domino High School and lived with her parents and her older brother, Jack Spears. Jack had inspired her to get into Duel Monsters and as of now, she was preparing herself for the big moment where she'd build her very first duelling deck. Amy was 16 years old and considered very attractive by many boys at Domino High. Even the occasional girl sometimes complimented her looks. She had a beautiful head of red hair that she had up in twin ponytails held in place by purple hairbands. She had dazzling green eyes and liked to dress casually. Her usual clothes consisted of a purple crop top with a lightning bolt logo that left her stomach exposed, grey shorts that gave a generous view of her legs, red and white trainers and a blue jacket that she always wore open with the sleeves rolled up. She wore one black wristband on her right wrist. Amy had been cycling home before passing by the duel she'd just witnessed and she'd stopped to watch the whole thing. Cycling was one of her favourite hobbies and she enjoyed riding around the city on the weekends when she had no school to bother about.
Her face had been a mask of delight as she watched card after card being played. Why did Duel Monsters never stop being so awesome to watch?! Like the girl, she'd hated the boy's attitude and was glad he'd lost. Arrogant brats like that boy didn't deserve to be duellists in her eyes. Why even play the game if you're going to constantly act like a total arse and throw tantrums for losing? SHE would never act like that if that had been her!
"I'll show that punk how a true duellist acts." Amy declared, "I'll be gracious in defeat and I won't act full of myself! Though it'll still be more fun winning than losing but hey, that's how games work. I think now will be a good time to finally build my first deck! I'm sure I've got a good enough idea on how to play Duel Monsters to be able to do it for real now. I know Jack's going to be very proud of me…"
She smiled tenderly at the thought. She loved to make her brother happy and seeing his little sister all grown up and duelling would make him VERY happy indeed! Remembering her brother made Amy suddenly realize something. What time was it? She whipped out her phone and flipped open the screen to see the time. She was sure a good hour or so had passed since the duel started! Her eyes widened in shock as she saw it was nearly five o' clock.
"GAH! Shit, I bet the Kame Game shop will be closing any minute now!" Amy screeched, "I gotta get moving double time!"
She clipped her helmet back on and pedalled off as quickly as possible. Amy's bike was blue in colour and custom built for speed and stability. She'd have no trouble getting to the shop in a hurry. She zoomed through the streets as if she was in a drag race, the entire city becoming a blur to her as she raced by. Several people had to jump out of her way before she could crash into them.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!" Amy yelped every time she missed someone and received an angry yell in response.
The red-haired girl rushed over a crossing and just avoided being sideswiped by an incoming taxi. The taxi blared its horn furiously at her. Amy turned another corner and pedalled furiously up another avenue towards the game shop. She cycled down an alleyway and shot out into the open where she saw another road leading to her right-hand side. She followed it and found herself greeted with the view of the Kame Game shop just up ahead. Amy clamped down on the surge of excitement she felt. She could still be too late. As she sped towards the shop, she could already see the shop owner sweeping up outside and preparing to close up for the day. She had to get there in time, she just had to! Amy pedalled harder and harder. The old man didn't seem to notice anyone coming towards him. He was just about to go back inside until Amy called to him.
"HEY! WAIT UP! DON'T CLOSE UP YET!"
The man looked up in surprise and gasped as he saw this red-haired teen whizzing towards him at top speed on a bicycle! He jumped to one side and Amy squeezed hard on the brakes. She braked so hard that she suddenly lost control of her bike and it wobbled crazily side-to-side as she tried to stop. Eventually it twisted to one side and Amy found herself getting a face full of asphalt as she hit the pavement. She'd stopped just at the doorstop of Kame Game itself. The old man cried out in alarm and ran over to Amy.
"My goodness young lady! Are you alright?!" he exclaimed.
"It's OK! I landed on my face! Nothing too important!" Amy grunted weakly.
The old man helped Amy back to her feet and quickly ran his eyes over her to make sure she wasn't badly hurt. Aside from a few minor scrapes on her face, Amy was mostly alright. The man sighed with relief.
"Thank goodness for that young one." he said gruffly, "You really should ride more carefully. That's dangerous going at speeds like that!"
"Sorry sir." Amy said sheepishly, "I was running late and worried I'd be too late to get here. I'm sure you're about to close up for the day."
"Well I was but I don't see the problem with letting you look around before I close." the man said kindly, "If anything, I could treat you with whatever you desire to make your rush here worth it."
"Thank you sir." Amy said appreciatively, "Say, is your grandson around at all? I'm gonna build my first duelling deck soon and I would love to get some duelling advice from the King of Games himself."
Amy knew the man of course. He was Solomon Muto, Yugi's grandfather and the owner of Kame Game. Ever since Yugi had become the Duellist Kingdom and Battle City Champion, his shop had grown in popularity and now it seemed nearly every duellist in the city came to him for Duel Monsters cards. Solomon shook his head.
"I'm afraid Yugi's hanging out with Joey, Téa and Tristian for now. You'll have to try again some other day if you want to meet him." he said.
"OK then, never mind." Amy said casually, "I'm sure he could do with a break from being swamped by fans anyway."
Solomon chuckled. He led Amy into the shop. Her eyes sparkled at the sight of all the games the shop had to offer. There were video-games, dice games and of course, card games. Her eyes were drawn to the Duel Monsters selection. She could see packs of cards on display all wrapped up in sparkling foil wrappers. Anyone purchasing these packs could get a bunch of random cards inside and the fun of buying them was seeing what you would get. Amy put a finger to her lips in thought. Which ones should she buy? Solomon could see the teen girl was struggling to make up her mind.
"Any particular card you're looking for, madam?" he asked.
"I just wanna good place to start for building my first deck." Amy answered, "But I'm also looking for the Black Luster Soldier. My brother wants that card for his deck and I think it'd be really nice if I could buy it for him."
"Then maybe you should try those packs there." Solomon suggested, pointing to a pack of cards that had an image of various Duel Monsters and some Ritual Spell cards printed on the wrapper. It said "Ritual Booster Pack". Amy nodded. What better place to look for a Ritual Monster than in a pack like that?
"OK lemme see a minute…" Amy mused as she reached into her vest pocket and took out her wallet. As she didn't have a job for now, any money she had for herself was just her allowance from her family. She'd been saving for a while to be able to buy a lot of cards to get started. She had $25 dollars overall.
"How many packs can I buy with this?" she asked, presenting the money to Solomon.
"Well booster backs here cost $3 each so…" Solomon paused as he calculated in his head, "That makes eight packs in total."
"Great! I'll buy eight packs!" Amy said eagerly. The more she bought, the more chances she had of getting the Black Luster Soldier.
Amy paid for the cards and she stuffed everything into her vest pockets.
"Thanks again Mr. Muto! And tell your grandson I hope to duel him one day!" Amy called as she ran back outside to get back on her bicycle.
"Ha, ha, I'll be sure to miss!" Solomon said jovially, "Feel free to come again soon!"
Amy laughed. As if she wouldn't! Amy put her helmet back on and cycled away. Now she had what she came for, she could head for home and open up her new packs to see if she had the card she was looking for. Solomon watched her leave before closing the door and putting up the "Closed" sign. He was sure that girl would come back again soon. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of duellist Amy was going to be. With any luck, she would be a great duellist and the cards she'd bought from him would hopefully be a big help to her…
It took Amy about twenty minutes to cycle back home as she didn't live too far from the Kame Game shop. She lived in a two story house with three bedrooms, one for her, one for Jack and one for their parents. While some might consider it average looking, it was the right kind of house for the Spears family. There was room for everyone and it was cosy enough for the family to live in. Amy tugged on the front door. It was still locked, meaning that her parents weren't home from work yet. That was OK as they kept a key in the key safe just by the door. Amy opened up the safe and took out the spare key to let herself in. She put the key back in the safe and walked in. The front door led into the living room of their house. It was the largest room in the house with a sofa, two armchairs, a coffee table and a boxy TV with a twelve inch screen. The Spears family were among the few families in Domino City to still own a VHS player. A cabinet containing the family's collection of VHS tapes stood by the TV with a variety of different movies to choose from including animated movies, comedies or action flicks. Amy preferred it that way, thinking that VHS tapes had more charm to them than DVDs did and they'd had it since childhood so neither she or Jack could find it in their hearts to replace it with a DVD player.
Amy headed on through the room and upstairs to her bedroom. Her bedroom was painted with red walls which had been chosen to match the colour of her hair, had a white ceiling and had a single bed that had more pillows than Amy probably needed. Jack often joked that whenever he came into her room, he'd find his little sister buried under a mountain of pillows. She also had a set of drawers containing all her clothes and on top of the drawers sat a tape player and a collection of music and story tapes to listen to. It was a collection Amy had kept since childhood and she enjoyed listening to some of them before bed every night. On the wall hung a poster of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, one of Amy's favourite monsters in all of Duel Monsters. Amy always smiled at it when entering her room. It was a cool poster with the famous dragon surrounded by white lightning and looking ready for battle. Hopefully someday, she'd have the real thing in her possession one day. Originally there had only been four Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards in the world with Seto Kaiba owning three of them and the fourth's whereabouts being unknown but over time, more Blue-Eyes White Dragons had been printed. It was a common joke amongst fans that the creator of Duel Monsters, Maximillian Pegasus, had done this just to annoy Kaiba so he wouldn't feel special being the only owner of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. This at least gave Amy hope that she'd own a copy for herself one day.
Amy sat down on her bed and fished out the eight booster packs she'd just bought. She gave a soft sigh.
"OK…let's see if I've got the Black Luster Soldier for my bro. And maybe as a bonus, I might get a Blue-Eyes White Dragon for me." she said to herself.
The duelling enthusiast opened up the packs. It felt incredible to her that at this very moment, she officially owned her own set of Duel Monster cards and she might be able to use them to make a solid deck to begin her time as a duellist. Each booster pack had about 9 cards in them, meaning Amy had 72 cards to shuffle through. She opened all eight packs and spilled the cards over the bed. Then one-by-one, she began to sort through them, seeing which ones she'd like for herself and if any of them was the Black Luster Soldier. She picked up the first card. It was a Machine-type monster called Ground Attacker Bugroth. It was a Normal-type Monster card with 1500ATK and 1000DEF points. Most duellists would consider it average and not worth using but Amy decided she wanted it.
"You're a cool looking card. I'll have you." she decided, "I'm sure you'll come in handy even if you're not the strongest monster out there."
She then picked up the next card. And the next, and the next, and the next and the next. After sorting through 63 cards, Amy hadn't found the Black Luster Soldier or the Blue-Eyes White Dragon yet. But she had made a solid start to building her first deck. A duelling deck had to consist of 40 cards and Amy nearly had that many. There were a lot of useless spares she didn't want but the 38 she'd chosen so far she felt were just what she needed. She'd left one space empty in the hopes she'd find the legendary dragon she sought to fill it up and there was a second empty space because she'd had a hard time finding good Spell cards to add. There were nine cards left to sort through. Would any of them have what she was looking for? Amy picked them up and shuffled through them. Her eyes lit up with delight. None of them were the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but two of them were just what she wanted for Jack: the legendary Black Luster Soldier and the Ritual Spell card required to summon it, Black Luster Ritual! Amy was so excited that she leapt off the bed with glee.
"YES! I got it, I got it, I got it! Whoo-hoo! Jack's gonna flip when he sees this!" she hollered.
"Flip when I see what, Amy?" came a voice from downstairs.
Amy nearly jumped out of her skin. Trust Jack to show up unexpectedly! Somehow he always seemed to come home right when she wasn't expecting him to.
"Oh hey Jack! I'm in my room if you wanna see what I've got for you!" Amy called back to him.
Jack climbed up the stairs and came into Amy's room. Jack was two years older than Amy and it was easy to tell that he and she were related. Like Amy, he also had red hair but his looked a slightly more orange-shade of red compared to Amy's. He had brown eyes that easily showed the warmth and kindness he had inside of him. He had the kind of face that looked more "cute" than handsome, complete with freckles on his cheeks. He was more slender than most teenage boys his age, preferring athleticism and speed over muscle, and he dressed in an orange and gold t-shit, green coat that reached down just past his waist, grey jeans and blue trainers. Jack was the kind of boy where niceness came as naturally to him as breathing. Some would say he was a bit of a boy scout and a "goody-goody" but Amy loved him for those reasons. To her, Jack was an example that men should follow when being nice to others and there was nothing wrong with being kind.
"How've you been, big bro?" Amy asked sweetly.
"Fine." Jack said with a shrug, "I just duelled a few civilians while walking around the city and hung out with some friends from school. The usual way I spend the weekend. Pity some of the people I duelled were right jerks but I don't let them bother me. They're not worth the effort." he said dismissively.
"I would've enjoyed watching you get the best of them!" Amy declared.
"Heh, I'm sure you would little sis." Jack chuckled, "So what have you got for me?"
"Well I've been saving my allowance for a while and I decided to make a start to building my first duelling deck so I can be a duellist like my awesome brother." Amy answered, "But also, I was hoping to find that one card you were looking for. And as it happens…I have it!"
She presented to Jack the Black Luster Soldier and Black Luster Ritual cards. Jack's eyes widened in surprise as if he couldn't believe he was actually looking at the card itself. Black Luster Soldier was very rare and now he finally had it! He took the cards from Amy, staring at them as if he was holding the golden ticket to Duellist Kingdom itself.
"Oh Amy, you lucky girl!" Jack exclaimed, "I've been trying for ages to get that card! And yet here you are getting it on your first try! Oh thank you so much!"
"You deserve it Jack. You've been so good to me over the years so I wanna return the favour." Amy said kindly.
The two siblings embraced each other warmly.
"Thanks again little sis. I appreciate this more than you know." Jack said softly.
"Anytime big bro!" Amy said brightly, "In the meantime, wanna see my duelling deck? I'm sure it's gonna be lame given I'm a beginner and all but any advice will be appreciated!"
She handed Jack the partially complete deck. Jack shuffled through it. Amy's deck consisted of the following cards:
Monster Cards:
1xGround Attacker Bugroth
1xSummoned Skull
1xRed-Eyes Black Dragon
1xBarrel Dragon
1xDark Blade
1xBeta the Magnet Warrior
1xAlpha the Magnet Warrior
1xGamma the Magnet Warrior
1xDelta the Magnet Warrior
1xValkyrion the Magnet Warrior
1xKoumori Dragon
1xTwin-Barrel Dragon
1xAbsorbing Jar
1xElectric Lizard
1xThe Dragon Dwelling In The Cave
1xTrap Master
1xSpear Dragon
1xPaladin of White Dragon
1xBattle Ox
1xNeo the Magic Swordsman
1xMan Eater Bug
1xKaibaman
1xTwin-Headed Behemoth
Spells and Traps:
1xUnited We Stand
1xShrink
1xAxe of Despair
1xRemove Trap
1xPot of Greed
1xPolymerization
1xWhite Dragon Ritual
1xTrap Hole
1xBottomless Trap Hole
1xSpellbinding Circle
1xWaboku
1xNegate Attack
1xMirror Force
1xFinal Attack Orders
1xWidespread Ruin
Extra Deck:
1xBlack Skull Dragon
Jack handed it back to her.
"I'd say that looks pretty good so far." he said, "You have some powerful monsters, some with VERY good effects no less and a variety of tricky Spells and Traps that could keep the opponent on their toes. I'm amazed you found that Black Skull Dragon in the packs you bought. That's not an easy find either!"
"I really did get lucky." Amy agreed.
"But this deck's missing something." Jack observed, "You only have 38 cards. You need two more."
"I was leaving one space open for a Blue-Eyes White Dragon." Amy explained "And I want one more Spell Card but none of the spare ones I got are any good."
"I see." the red-haired boy mused, "Don't worry, I know just the card for you!"
He took his duelling deck out from his duel disk and shuffled through it. He slipped out one card and handed it to Amy.
"Here, add this to your deck. It'll be more helpful than you can imagine." Jack said kindly.
Amy took the card. She couldn't believe her eyes. What Jack had given her was his favourite card of all time…the Spell Card Monster Reborn. Monster Reborn was a useful Spell Card that could bring back monster cards that were sent to the Graveyard for whatever reason. Amy always admired what the card looked like with an image of what seemed like some kind of ceremonial sword against a blue background. Jack said it was his favourite card because it represented life itself. To him, even though life comes to an end, it never truly does as life goes on and that when people die, they're possibly "reborn" as someone else and living life all over.
"Oh Jack, I can't accept this! This is YOUR card! You can't just give your favourite card away to me like that!" Amy protested.
"Why not? It's my card and I wish for you to have it." Jack said casually, "Besides, I have more than one copy, it's no skin off my bones. That Monster Reborn is my first and oldest copy though and as you know, I've had it with me ever since I started duelling. In exchange for finding Black Luster Soldier for me, I think you should have that card and may it help you in your duels as it has for me."
Amy couldn't keep the smile off her face. What did she do to deserve such an awesome, kind brother like Jack? She slipped the card into her deck.
"I'll treasure it always, Jack. Thank you so much!" Amy said appreciatively.
"Anything for my little sister." Jack said warmly.
The two then fist-bumped. It was their favourite way of showing their love for one another. Amy's heart swelled with joy. Even though she was still missing one card, her duelling deck was almost complete and ready to play! She could hardly wait to get started. She would be great just like her brother and she'd show the duellist world what she was capable of…
The Shadow Realm. It was a world unknown to the mortals of today. It was a world of great darkness and terrible suffering for those that ended up in it. The Ancient Egyptians would play deadly Shadow Games that would often end with those being banished to the Shadow Realm. It was a fate worse than death and those that were truly evil indulged in its dark, twisted power. One such person was already plotting on carrying out this nefarious practice. But he was no ordinary person. Calling him a "person" was even being too generous. A nightmarish creature was a more appropriate description of him. He was the Keeper of the Shadow Realm. Not many knew his name for few lived long enough to call him anything. But to those banished to the Shadow Realm, they knew him only as Lord Hallows.
Lord Hallows was a demon straight out of a horror story. He looked like a living skeleton with his skull face and bony hands but curiously enough, his mouth was shaped like a stereotypical jack-o-lantern's like what one might carve in a pumpkin for Halloween. He had glowing yellows eyes in the eye sockets. He was dressed in dark grey robes with large sleeves and a large black cloak with a hood that he always wore up. The cloak had a purple inside. He wore a Millennium symbol on a gold chain around his neck, a skull logo around his waist and he carried a skull-topped cane with him everywhere he went. The cane was what he used to banish his victims to the Shadow Realm. The souls were trapped inside and were his to do with as he pleased. Hallows was sitting on a throne made of bones, a dark mist surrounding him and floating above him as if dark clouds were lowering down from the sky to blanket him. Hallows stroked the top of his cane with excitement. His pumpkin like mouth was curled up in a smile of pure evil.
"Halloween grows ever closer…the very time when my dark powers are at their strongest. Soon it'll be time for me to bring the Shadow Realm to the mortal world." he purred in a voice that echoed as he spoke and seemed to bring fear to anyone who heard him speak, "The world shall be my kingdom and I will rule over it all from my throne! It will be my paradise!"
He got up from his throne and banged the floor with his cane. Five figures concealed with cloaks and hoods came to him. These five were the Fiendish Five, Hallows's right-hand men and women who would carry out his every order without question. There were three boys and two girls in the group and all of them were duellists with each one using their own themed decks. Hallows pointed his cane at them.
"Venture forth my devious duellists!" he commanded, "We must have enough souls for me to power myself up ready for Halloween! Find any duellists and win their souls for me! Do NOT come back empty-handed!"
The figures nodded and they slunk off back into the shadows, moving like spilled ink. The blackness swallowed them up one by one. Hallows himself sat back down in his throne. He would only emerge when night time came. The Fiendish Five could go out during the day and blend in better than him as they were still humans. He would have his own fun in due time. Hallows poked his finger through the eye of the skull atop his cane and pulled out the soul of an unfortunate duellist that had fallen victim to his power. He grinned sadistically as the soul looked up at him with fearful eyes.
"Don't feel too bad little one. You'll have plenty more friends to wail in torment with!" Hallows cackled, "Oh how you delightful souls sustain me so! Ha, ha, ha! No duellist out there will match me or the Fiendish Five! I will banish as many as possible and then I'll have the power I need to bathe the whole world in darkness. The Shadow Realm will eclipse EVERYTHING!"
He threw his head back and erupted into maniacal laughter. The soul shivered and shrunk back into Hallows's cane, too afraid to stick around any longer. The Keeper of the Shadow Realm was confident in his plans. They would work! He would get what he wanted and the whole world would be nothing but darkness, a playground for the shadows to do as they pleased and torture whomever they desired! It was his idea of heaven on Earth and Hallows knew that come Halloween night, his desire for a shadow eclipsed world would finally become a reality…
Amy has constructed her duelling deck. I wonder how well she'll do with it? We'll soon find out as the story goes on. Next time, Amy finds herself feeling "Love At First Duel"...
Trivia: OK...explaining Amy's deck. Her deck here is mostly made up of cards I like and cards I have a nostalgic connection to. Ground Attacker Bugroth is even my overall favourite Yu-Gi-Oh monster card (yes really. Don't judge me!) and Black Skull Dragon is my favourite Fusion Monster. I admit this deck isn't all that great but it makes sense as Amy's a beginner so her deck might seem primitive by today's standards. And also remember this fanfic takes place between the original series and GX so the game hasn't advanced to what it has now yet.
As for the characters, Amy Spears is so called because I really wanted to create a character named Amy but I'm not sure where "Spears" came from. Just the first name I picked really. Same goes for Jack, I'm not sure why I called him Jack in particular. The deck he uses is also based on a deck I built for my brother to use.
And speaking of my brother, the villain of this story is based on a character he created who is also called "Lord Hallows". His Lord Hallows is a Halloween-based villain and for this story, I wondered what Lord Hallows in the Yu-Gi-Oh universe would be like and so, here we are.
Also the early 2000's setting is an excuse for me to indulge a bit in my own nostalgia as I'm someone who grew up during that era (And I miss it terribly. Life was so much better in the 2000's than it is now!). I'm sure some of you reading this might feel some of that nostalgia too. :)