Chapter 1

"WHAT?!?? Is that card for real?" my opponent said with shock as I slid my Black Skull Dragon into attack mode. (3200/2500) "I've never seen one of those in my life! Where'd you get it?" he demanded, not daring to steal it.

"I got it in a booster pack. The metal raiders kind," I replied as I took out his face down defense monster. "Hah! Labyrinth Wall? I've got one of them too. Anyway, it looks as if you've lost your last reliable defense. I bet you're mad that you agreed to play by the Duelist Kingdom rules, only with 8000 life points." (By Duelist Kingdom rules, you can summon any level monster without tribute. You can even summon a fusion monster without having any of the cards needed to acquire it.)

"The score is 5600- me to 3800- you. My Black Skull Dragon appears to have taken over the field. It's your turn," I said with an uneasy smile. I hadn't dueled against this individual before. Who knows what cards he could have? I looked down at my 3 face down magic/ trap cards. I knew that one or two would come in handy if he played certain cards that would hinder me. But the third was just there. Anyway, he drew a card, smiled a sigh of relief and looked up at me.

"Here we go! First, I summon my Jirai Gumo into attack mode. (2200/100) Next, I flip over this trap card- the Dragon Capture Jar! You're Black Skull is in defense mode now," he said as I slapped his hand away from my card so I could switch it perpendicular to his Jirai Gumo. "Next, I equip my monster with Invigoration. His attack is increased by 400 points to 2600," he said as he slapped down the green card with a picture of the sun with plenty of brilliant colors emitting from it. "And now I attack!" he said smuggly as he lifted up his card and placed the edge of it under the corner of mine to flip it over, signifying an attack. But I interrupted him.

"HEY! Don't forget about Jirai Juno's effect. You have to flip a coin and call it. If you call it wrong, you lose half of your life points.

"Fine…" he said as he let his card float to the ground as he stuffed his left hand in his pocket to search for a coin. "Okay, I found one. I think it will be heads!" he said as he flipped it. A soft ding sound could be heard and we both watched it plummet to the carpeted floor in my living room.

"HA! It's heads!" he said. "And NOW I attack!" But then I silently flipped over my Castle Wall card, and my dragon's defense rose by 500 points! So, his attack failed and he lost 400 life points because of the change of power.

"I KNEW you'd have something planned!" he said to me as he put his card back in its former position. So now it's 5600- you to 3400- me. And it's your turn. Have any way to win? This duel is still far from over. And Castle Walls's effect lasts for only the battle phase you use it in," he said to me as I picked up a card from my draw pile and examined my hand.

"Far from over, huh? Alright then, watch this," I said as I motioned to put down a few cards.

"I'm equipping my Black Skull Dragon with Sword of the Deep-Seated which increases its attack AND defense by 500 points! I place one more card face down, and this little thing in face down defense mode. And that'll be it for me!" I said with a smirk.

My opponent quickly drew a card and thought out his next move. He looked at me with a small degree of discomfort, then performed his next move," Fine, then… I'll play Cannon Soldier in attack mode and place this one card face down on the field. And I think I'll attack your defense monster, too."

"Knock yourself out! But don't forget to flip the coin!" I said with a smile. As he flipped the coin, he announced that he thinks it will be heads again. I couldn't believe it when he was correct AGAIN! But it didn't matter, when he flipped over my defense card with his Jirai Gumo, I could see his face turn pale.

"The Dragon Piper! NO! Another one of your comebacks!"

"That's right! Its effect destroys all Dragon Capture Jars and turns all face up dragon monsters into attack mode!" I said as I rotated my holographic, gold foil, 1st edition card into attack mode.

"My turn again!" I sang as I drew a card from the top of my deck, happy with the outcome.

"Now I'll play Tribute to the Doomed! It's one of the rarest magic cards in the whole game! I discard one monster card from my hand to the graveyard to destroy one monster one your side of the field!" So I tossed my La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp into the graveyard on top of the recently added Dragon Piper as I told him to put his Jirai Gumo his own graveyard.

"And now I attack!" I said as I flipped over his Cannon Soldier about 5 times with my Black Skull Dragon. "You lose 2300 life points," I said as he tapped away at the buttons of the calculator I lent him.

"Pretty good! Pretty good…" he said as he looked at the card he just drew. I could tell by the way he said, "Pretty good! Pretty good…" that it wasn't a very GOOD card. But whatever it was, I will never know because the next thing I knew, I saw my hand placed on top of my deck.

"What are you surrendering for? You're winning!" he yelled at me in shock.

"I don't know!" then all of a sudden, the Black Skull Dragon came to life and used its molten fireball assault on me.

…then I woke up.

"Crap! I was winning, too! Why do all my good dreams end in catastrophe?" I asked as I opened my nightstand, still seeing my deck there, my prized (but not my favorite) card ,the Black Skull Dragon, as the 13th card.

"The tournament begins today. I hope I studied their rules well enough," I mumbled to myself as I drifted off to sleep again. The last thing I remember seeing was the clock reading 1:34 am, in it's bright red LCD.