Part I: Kintaro Reborn!

A small apartment in downtown Domino City

The morning was uninviting. Crisp, cool, spring air stung Kintaro's lungs. Waking up with a start, he looked around. Did I fall asleep again? He had been watching the Duelist Network, a new station dedicated to dueling and everything related to it. The blonde reporter on the screen was reading off the new restricted list, he had heard it a hundred times already. His short black hair offered no bed head as he stood up and looked into the mirror. A tall, built, and shaven man stared back. He wore a white sleeveless top and black jeans. Scratching his neck, Kintaro felt the silver chain around it. A memento from his father. A small sword pendant hung from it. Always fight to the end, that was dad all right. Walking towards the small kitchen, he looked down at the floor. Comic books, shirts, and a candy wrapper. I gotta clean this place up. Kintaro then stared at a small silver box on the counter. His dueling deck. It had undergone too many changes to remember. However, one thing remained. His love for the game. Ever since the end of his dueling days, around age 17, Kintaro had struggled in life. Finding a steady job had become a major problem.

After a shot of whiskey, he sat at the couch again. Kintaro had fallen into a hole in life. Once, he had been a duelist on the rise. He never felt he got much attention, but ever since Kaiba Corp. had started the International Dueling Circuit, he had wanted to participate. He had only been in the Tiger League, a league for duelists between the ages of 10 and 14. The younger duelists didn't get much attention, seeing as most of them were ignorant fools who copied professional's decks. With so many cards out there, there was almost no originality anymore. People just wanted to win to gain fame and money. Apparently, enjoying the game out of the question.

The IDC was simple. Pay the $50 entry fee, get the new Duel-Disk, and find someone to duel. You could bet or ante anything you wanted, the only thing that mattered was winning or losing. The new system of progressing was Dueling Credit. Each person had a small bag of six credits, small coins about the size of an American dime. If you were in the IDC, you had to wage at least two credits. Three strikes and you're out. At the end of each round (one month), a bracket was made to determine the winner of the round. The winner received a promo card and additional credit. The top duelists were always invited to the now annual Duelist Kingdom (now run by a new host seeing as Pegasus decided to disappear) and Battle City.

Kintaro had plans to join in the IDC until his father died. Then he fell off the map. The dizzy funk that the alcohol put Kintaro in separated him from reality and put him in a mood he enjoyed. Only twenty-two, Kintaro had much more in life ahead of him. Heh, it's a little early to make getting wasted a routine. You're supposed to get a job first, remember? Then you'll have something to be upset about. Staring at the screen, he watched duels in the city and out. People were getting sloppy and unoriginal. Ever since Chaos Monsters were released, great controversy had raged about whether or not they should be banned. It didn't bother Kintaro. It was just another strategy to overcome. Although he hadn't done it, Kintaro knew the exact deck to counter it and how to build it. He was just as skilled as his father. As the sun poured into the third floor apartment like a river and Kintaro slowly awoke more and more. Like a spring, Kintaro shot off of the couch he had been sleeping on. Looking at his watch (displaying 8:32 A.M.) Kintaro put on his red, short sleeved, button-down shirt and stared into the mirror floating on the wall again. He wandered around his apartment, looking for ways to pass the time.

Kintaro looked at a picture on the wall of his father. A jolly and very happy man who enjoyed life. Until it was stolen from him. He had cheered Kintaro in everything he had done. However, they both shared a common love for dueling. His father had once participated in the Battle City event. He almost made it to the finals if it hadn't been for several hooded freaks that stole his deck. Amazingly, the man who stole his deck returned it, claiming he had been under some kind of mind control. The recollection of events between him and his father encouraged Kintaro to pick up the deck on the counter. Dad would never let me quit. What are you doing Kintaro? You've ruined yourself. Time to change. Staring down at his father's signature card, The Unbreakable Warrior, Kintaro grabbed his one-shoulder knapsack and walked out the door.

- - -

The lobby of the Kaiba Corps Visitor Center was large, spacious, and very gray. Smooth lettering and plaques of the Kaiba family's achievements were everywhere, even a tall statue of Kaiba. Just like Kaiba himself, an idiotic stiff and cold as fuck. Ever since Kaiba had taken over card manufacturing and distribution, the game had been different. Kaiba himself though, found new greed, keeping rare cards to himself. Kintaro decided that he would come out of the shadows, find new joy in this game, and gain a title he deserved. Duelist King. As he approached the counter (the lobby was surprisingly absent) the guy there stirred, as if he had been asleep. Slapping fifty bucks onto the table, Kintaro said,

"All right, I'm in, get me a Duel Disk."

The suit stared at Kintaro but seemed to ignore his rudeness. He handed Kintaro an application, took the fifty, and stuffed it in his pocket. After filling out the short paper, the suit said,

"What's your rarest card?" The man said in a tone that spoke more like 'get me out of here'.

Kintaro smiled and said "The Lonely Sniper."

As if it were a disease spreading, several of the other suits that were being "productive" sniggered and laughed between themselves. A few of them sat up from a table where they had been playing cards.

"How about we give you the disk, and you show us the card?" The suit to his left said.

The one at the counter then pressed a button that obviously locked the front doors. Feeling a bit tense, Kintaro looked around. There's one in the front, two on the left, one behind me. It was fairly obvious that the guards wanted more than a simple gawk at Kintaro's card. Kintaro wouldn't have been surprised if Kaiba had given the guards authority to confiscate cards. Prick.

"Hey there take it easy, we just want to see a duel" the Kaiba Corps grunt said in his low, dull voice.

"And which one of you apes wants to dance?" Kintaro said loosening up. Now they were getting uptight.

"I'll take you on. Prepare ta duel!" Said a large man standing behind the others.

DUEL 1: APE VS. KINTARO

He slid on a slightly larger Duel Disk. "If you lose, I get that Sniper card of yours!" He said in his ape-ish tone.

"Sure, if you agree to give me your deck when I win," Kintaro said smoothly.

"Hmph, have it your way," the suit huffed.

He was a stout man with an ape-ish appearance. Long arms and a sloping back were his most dominant traits. The disks slid apart into their dueling frame modes and made a small click, indicating a deck wait light. They both slipped in their decks and watched as the hologram ports shot out little whirring discs that glowed a rainbow light.

"Since I'm the challenger, I'll go first. I summon Battle Ox in attack mode! Then I'll place one card down and end my turn," Ape, as he started calling him, finished.

"Wow, I'm impressed. I didn't know they taught grunts how to play cards. What's next? Eating with a fork?" Kintaro smirked.

If he was going to be forced into a battle, he was going to enjoy it as much as he could.

"I'll place two face down magic and traps, one face down monster, and end my turn." Kintaro was very calm for a man living day by day.

"That's it? What a joke! I Summon Gemini Elf! My Battle Ox, attack!" He roared.

A small round gray ball appeared hovering over Kintaro's face down monster. As Battle Ox slashed it, it shattered into thousands of pieces. However, the pieces quickly formed two more small orbs on the field.

"What's this trickery? You know cheating is forbidden!" He said calmer than before.

"And you should know that Kaiba Corps has an anti-cheating control center that instantly deactivates any disc showing signs of illegal play, but I'm sure you knew that. Actually, I played a card called Polymorph. When it's destroyed, I get two Polymorph tokens that each have 1900 defense. Only downside is they have no attack." Kintaro said.

"You . . . fine. I end my turn." Ape completed.

"Good, now I'll draw. I play Pot of Greed to draw two new cards. Then I'll play Graceful Charity to draw three and discard two. I discard two-"

"Yeah, yeah get going already," Ape interrupted, obviously upset.

"Fine, I'll set one face down m/t card. Then I'll set one more monster. You may go," Kintaro replied.

"All right, let's get this party started." Ape said as he drew.

He's playing defense, he may be up to something. However, he seems like he's trying to play it cool Ape thought.

"I activate my facedown card, United We Stand! Beef up my Ox by 1600 points! Then I'll play Defense Shatter! It changes one of your tokens into attack mode!" Ape shouted.

The little gray ball then straightened out and grew a tiny sword where its arm would have been.

"Destroy his Polymorph!" In a flash, thousands of little gray shards were scattered.

K: 600

A: 4000

"HAHA! Not so tough are you punk?" Ape shouted.

"Heheheheh . . . " Kintaro laughed.

"What are you laughing at boy?" Ape said.

"It's just pathetic to watch someone duel who's so sure they're going to win when the other player knows that his opponent is going to get pummeled just as quickly," Kintaro said smoothly.

"Huh, we'll just see about that. Go. I end my turn." Ape finished.

"I draw. Then I activate a little doosey I like to call, Dawn of The Dead. It lets me summon two creatures from my graveyard after I've taken more than 3000LP in a turn. Now I'll summon the two creatures I discarded. The two you decided to ignore. I special summon . . . Unbreakable Warrior and Lonely Sniper!"

As Kintaro spoke the words, a tall grave rose from the tile floor that the two had been dueling over. Two shapes rose. One was a tall shadowy man with a dark trench coat, Indiana hat, and a rugged complexion. His face was covered in stubble and sported the look of a lost man, a poet even. Sprouting from the sides of his hat was mangled, matted, and gnarled black hair. Kind of like a character in one of Kintaro's favorite mangas. The man also had a thin, long, and shining rifle. Quickly, he crouched over. The next creature was a scary sight, an eight-foot tall man with an amazing physique. He wore a red and black battle garb that looked like a long dress with a split down the middle. His chest was covered in tattoos and battle scars. He carried a giant sword that looked like a giant butcher knife.

"Are you convinced? Your duel ends here! Now I play Raigeki to clear your field!" A bolt of lightning shot from the high ceiling. It struck the Ox and the Gemini Elves into oblivion. "ATTACK! Finish off this oaf! Go my soldiers!"

The Unbreakable Warrior ran at full charge and swung his giant blade. A large slash noise and Ape fell to one knee. One of Kaiba's new modifications to the Duel Disk System was the shock system. Depending on how big a hit you took, the recipient of the damage received a shock of electricity (Just enough to really jolt you). After the warrior attacked, in less than the blink of an eye, the sniper pulled the trigger on his rifle, which smacked into Ape's chest, knocking him to the floor.

FINAL:

K: 600

A:0

KINTARO WINS

"Had enough?" Kintaro said retracting the Holo-discs into his new Duel Disk.

He walked me right into a false sense of security Ape thought. "I . . . I know you from somewhere," Ape said pointing at Kintaro. He slowly got up and retracted his discs as well.

"Give me your deck. I could use it to ante up some cards," Kintaro said as if punishing the suit for challenging him. After Ape handed him the deck, Kintaro flashed a smug grin.

"Nice playing with you boys. I've got bigger fish to fry. Oh, and lay off the fast food, it's leaking out your face," Kintaro said.

"You take your breathing self outta here before we decide to do something about it!" Ape threatened.

As Kintaro took his ID card from the goon behind the counter, he slipped it into the side of his disk. A picture flashed on the tiny screen on top of the Duel Disk. (Looking good) He chuckled to himself. One last stare and he walked out through the now unlocked swinging doors.

"I know where I saw him now," Ape said to the other guards, still standing in awe of how fast Kintaro beat and outwitted him. "He won the Tiger Rank Division all five years in a row. He was the dueling prodigy that went by the name Riot because of his dueling tactics." Ape finished.

"Riot" All the other guards replied in unison. "No wonder. Anyone else in Kaiba's family should be just as good as the boss himself."