Yu-gi-oh!
THE Tournament of the Winged Man
Chapter One: The New Tournament
Chaos: I've never written a Yu-Gi-Oh fanfiction before, and I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Kazuki Takahashi, Konami, Upper Deck Entertainment, 4Kids, etc… own it. But I do own many of the characters in this here tale. So bear with me.
Anyway, this, as you would obviously be aware, is a Yu-Gi-Oh story. If it wasn't, then it wouldn't be posted in the "Yu-Gi-Oh" category, would it? Well, the basic plot is that there's a new tournament, a new evil, a whole new cast (even though some characters from the anime will be involved) and a hell of a lot of fictional cards made up by yours-truly. If you want to know more, read the story.
Comments of any sort are welcome, although constructive ones are preferred.
He took everything that I had from me…
A man in billowing purple robes walked along the street outside KaibaCorp HQ in Domino City, illuminated only by the streetlights around him, but cast into shadow at the same time.
He sentenced me to eight millennia of imprisonment within the core of the Earth itself!
A scowl crossed his dark, shadowed face as he remembered events from long ago… a gigantic, dark-skinned man with wings… armies of men and beasts…
I had it all! I had a civilization trembling at the very mention of my name! I had servants! Armies! But he took it all away!
His scowl turned into a smirk as he gripped at the left sleeve of his robe.
But, finally, I know how I can lure him out into the open…
Pulling back his sleeve, he revealed a device attatched to his left arm – a Battle City model Duel Disk.
… And, finally, fulfill the prophecy…
He reached into his robes and pulled out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter. He grinned as he pulled out a cigarette and raised it to his lips.
First… I'll need a favour from Seto Kaiba…
He struck the lighter and drew back on his cigarette. Breathing out a cloud of smoke, he finally spoke. "And, then, I'll have my revenge!"
"Perfect!" Seto Kaiba smirked, looking at his three Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards. He then placed them in his deck and shuffled it. "Finally, a strategy that can defeat Yugi's God Cards!" He placed his deck on the table after he finished cutting and shuffling it. "He won't have any idea of what I have in store for him!" He turned to his brother, Mokuba, who was sitting in a chair, watching him. "Mokuba, go and start up the Duel Machine, and program it to use Yugi's deck, God Cards included!"
"Right away, Seto!" said Mokuba, jumping to his feet and running out of the room. As Kaiba put on his Duel Disk, he sniffed the air.
"What's that?" Taking another sniff, he recognized the smell of burning tobacco, which he remembered from countless long business meetings. "Where's that smell coming from?"
"May I provide you with an answer?" asked a deep, Australian-accented voice, which Kaiba did not recognize. Kaiba turned to see a robed man standing in the doorway with a cigarette in his mouth. "Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Kaiba, but I'm wondering if you could do a favour for me?"
"How did you get past security?" asked Kaiba, a scowl forming on his face. "Who are you?"
"I'm sorry, where are my manners?" asked the man, pulling back his hood to reveal the face of an African-American man. His face was somewhat sunken, and it was framed by grey hair that descended to his chin, although there was none on top of his head. His friendly smile did not contrast well with his facial features; in fact, it made him look more sinister. "My name is Rakid. I think you may have heard of me before?"
"As a matter of fact, I have," said Kaiba. He glanced at Rakid's cigarette, scowling even more as he did so, and grabbed an ashtray off a nearby desk. "Put out that cigarette. You're Pegasus' new business partner. Now, tell me, how did you get past security, Rakid? And what do you want?"
"Well, I have many ways of getting past security," said Rakid, his sinister smile still plastered on his sunken face as he extinguished his cigarette in the ash tray. "I must say, it's not too hard, for one with as much… experience as I have. If you must know, I have come to make a request."
"And what might that be?" asked Kaiba, still scowling at Rakid. "I don't give donations, if that's what you're here for."
"No, my good man, I'm not seeking any donations," said Rakid. "I am merely here to ask if you would like to host a Duel Monsters tournament with me."
"And, why, exactly, would I do that?" asked Kaiba, his scowl not faltering. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind. A tournament? This would be a great opportunity to get back at Yugi! But, then again, I better watch out… This Rakid could be up to something.
"Well, then," said Kaiba, picking up his deck. "I'll take you up on your offer… But, first… You'll have defeat me in a duel! I'll give you half an hour to construct a deck from the cards in my inventory."
"No need," said Rakid, showing his own Duel Disk to Kaiba. "I have my own right here."
"Very well," said Kaiba. "That will save us a lot of time. Follow me."
Kaiba walked out of the room, followed by Rakid. They eventually entered the Duel Room, where Mokuba was working on a computer.
"Change of plans, Mokuba," said Kaiba. "I won't be needing the Duel Machine any more. Set up the dueling field so that Rakid and I can duel!"
"Alright," said Mokuba, typing in commands on the computer. "Okay… Duel mainframe is online. Holographic projectors are online. Duel Disk safeguards are online..."
"Activate your Duel Disk and plug it into the console in front of you," said Kaiba, as soon as he and Rakid were at opposite ends of the dueling field. "And, then, this thing can begin!" They inserted their decks, triggering the Duel Disks' activation sequence, and then they plugged their Duel Disks into the consoles in front of them.
Kaiba – LP: 8000
"You first, Rakid."
"Thank you." They each drew five cards, and Rakid drew a sixth.
"I place one Spell or Trap card face-down," said Rakid. "As well as a monster in face-down Defense Position. My turn is over."
"That all?" asked Kaiba, drawing a card. "I activate the Dark Hole Spell Card, destroying all monsters on the field!" Rakid's smile did not falter, on the contrary, he looked very pleased. "And now I activate Heavy Storm, destroying all Spell and Trap cards on the field!"
Little does he know that my destroyed monster's effect will be his downfall, if he's doing what I think he is, thought Rakid.
"Now," said Kaiba, holding up a card in his hand. "I summon Cyber Stein!" A blue-skinned, Frankenstein's Monster-esque cyborg appeared in front of him.
He fell into my trap. Rakid's smile turned into a savage grin, although Kaiba did not notice.
Cyber Stein
ATK: 700
"Now, I activate Cyber Stein's effect, paying 5000 Life Points to Special Summon a Fusion Monster!" said Kaiba. "And the Fusion Monster will be… Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Behind him, a vicious, three-headed white dragon appeared, towering over its master.
Kaiba – LP: 3000
Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon
ATK: 4500
"Now, let's end this!" yelled Kaiba. "I activate the Equip Spell Card, Megamorph, doubling the Attack points of my Dragon!"
Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon
ATK: 9000
"Now, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack his Life Points directly with your Neutron Blast!" Kaiba smirked as his Ultimate Dragon reared back its heads, each of them breathing out beams of energy.
"A clever, but predictable strategy," said Rakid. "You topdecked your whole one-turn-win combo… just as I expected. And I have a strategy to counter it, and to send all nine thousand points of it back at you! I activate a Trap Card from my hand, namely Magic Cylinder!"
"You can't play a Trap Card from your hand!" said Kaiba. "Unless… your monster… no!"
"Makyura the Destructor," said Rakid, ejecting the card from his Graveyard and holding it up, thus confirming Kaiba's fears. "During the turn that Makyura is sent to the Graveyard, its owner can activate Trap Cards from their hand. Sorry, Kaiba, but, due to my Magic Cylinder, your attack is negated, and you take damage equal to the Attack points of your attacking monster!"
"No!" Kaiba was struck by the redirected attack of his own monster, and he fell to the ground, surrounded by holographic smoke.
Kaiba – LP: 0
"Looks like the tournament is going ahead, then," said Rakid, reassembling his deck and shuffling it. Kaiba, rather shakily, got to his feet.
"Let's talk business, Rakid." Kaiba was scowling, but Rakid had a triumphant look on his face.
Turtle Game Shop, Domino City,
One week later…
"… After seven months, these strange weather patterns have not disappeared…"
Yugi Moto was barely paying any attention to the news report on the television. He was entirely focused on reconstructing his deck. "Maybe… Goblin Attack Force and Vorse Raider instead of these two Giant Soldiers of Stone… Finished!"
Yugi put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair. "Finally, my deck has a little more brute force. Maybe I'll see if Joey wants to help me playtest it tomorrow."
"… The ill effects of the weather seem to be heightening as the mid-year comes closer. Our sources from the Bureau of Meteorology say that the weather may reach dangerous levels by June…" The reporter drawled on, and Yugi watched absently, taking in only a small amount of what was being said. A bolt of lightning flashed outside, illuminating a black car that had pulled up outside the Game Shop.
I sense something… Something dark… Yugi looked out the window and saw the car in the street below. One of the doors swung open, and a shadowed figure stepped out. His heart racing, he grabbed his cards and Duel Disk and ran out the door.
Yugi ran down the stairs and entered the shop. Four hooded figures in robes were standing on the other side of the door. One of them pulled back their left sleeve, revealing a Duel Disk, which was then smashed into the door, showering the doormat with shards of glass.
"Hello, Yugi," said the person who had smashed the door. He had an Australian accent, and his voice has a slick sound to it. Pulling back his hood, he revealed the slightly tanned face of a teenager, surrounded by curtains of untidy red hair. "Name's Julius. Didn't expect you to be awake." He walked through the closed door, tearing his robe on one of the shards of glass that was still stuck in the doorframe. "Aah, I just got this thing washed, too!" He looked at the rip in his robe, and then turned back to Yugi. "Alright, we're here for something of yours, Yugi."
"And what might that be?" asked Yugi, although he already knew exactly what they were after. "Let me guess – the three God Cards?"
"You're a fast learner," said the tallest of the four, walking in after the other two. He had a greasy-sounding Australian accent. "And, we're prepared to take them by any means necessary." He pulled back his own hood, revealing the face of a middle-aged man with a receding hairline. His robes seemed to bulge, showing that he was very masculine. "I'm Donald. You've met Julius, my cousin. This is Kase, my nephew," he gestured to a teenage boy with long blonde hair, "And my daughter, Daisy." He seemed to sneer as his daughter pulled back her hood, revealing long, brown hair and a very pretty face. She looked somewhat scared, and it was clear that Donald didn't like her too much.
"Now, Yugi…" Donald smirked as he revealed his own Duel Disk. "As I mentioned just then, we'll take the God Cards by any means necessary. Even if it means defeating you in a duel, if that's what you wish."
"Very well then," said Yugi, attaching his Duel Disk to his arm. "Let's step outside then, Donald." They walked out of the store and onto the deserted street. The rain had stopped, although their surroundings were still wet.
"I think…" Donald seemed to be considering something. "Daisy will duel you. Then, if she loses," he gave a look that suggested that he expected her to lose, "you'll face Julius. Then Kase, and, finally, myself. Now, get on with it." He glared at Daisy, who seemed quite shaken as she shuffled her deck and activated her Duel Disk. Yugi shuffled his own deck and put it in his Duel Disk, which then activated.
"Daisy will go first," said Donald, the look on his face clearly showing that Yugi didn't have a say in the matter. "Then, if she loses, you'll duel against Kase, then Julius, and finally me."
Daisy – LP: 8000
Yugi – LP: 8000
"Okay…" Daisy's voice quivered as she drew a card. "I'll place two cards face-down and summon the Luster Dragon in Attack Position. That's all."
Luster Dragon (ATK)
ATK: 1900
"My turn," said Yugi. "I play Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards from my deck." He drew two cards. "Now, I'll summon the Goblin Attack Force in Attack Mode!"
Goblin Attack Force (ATK)
ATK: 2300
"Now, Goblin Attack Force, destroy Luster Dragon!"
"I activate my Trap," said Daisy, who still seemed scared, although a little more confident. "Sakuretsu Armour, which destroys your monster." An energy shield formed around the sapphire dragon, and the goblins were torn to pieces on contact with it.
"I'll end my turn,"growled Yugi, slotting his Goblin Attack Force into the Graveyard.
Daisy drew a card. "I'll play the Spell Card, Hand of the Higher Order, forcing us to both discard every card in our hands and draw six cards." As Yugi drew his cards, he felt three consecutive surges of energy as he drew the fourth, fifth and sixth cards. He looked at the cards he drew, and the last three were Slifer, Obelisk and Ra. "Now, I'll activate my face-down Trap, Mind Haxorz, paying 500 Life Points to see your hand and all of your face-down cards." Yugi's face-down cards revealed themselves to be Mirror Force and Magic Cylinder. "I'll be careful not to attack." She certainly seemed much more confident now. "Your hand?"
Yugi held up his hand, revealing the God Cards, as well as Queen's Knight, Old Vindictive Magician and Graceful Charity. Donald's eyes flashed, and in a split second, Yugi was knocked to the ground, his six cards flying out of his hand. Julius picked up the God Cards and grinned, and then ran for the car.
"Give me the God Cards!" yelled Yugi, although, a second later, he was punched in the face by Donald. He heard Daisy deactivate her Duel Disk, and, as he got to his knees, the car drove off. He picked up his three cards and reassembled his Deck. "I should have known that they would do something like this."
The next day…
Joey Wheeler sat down at the table in his apartment, absent-mindedly watching the news. Swallowing a spoonful of porridge, he looked out the window, the morning sun shining through the glass and illuminating the television.
"… And, yesterday, Seto Kaiba announced that a new Duel Monsters tournament, titled the Tournament of the Winged Man, will be starting in less than a month. We will give you details after this commercial break."
"New Duel Monsters tournament?" said Joey, accidentally knocking his bowl of porridge onto the floor as his mind snapped back to reality. "This is big! I've gotta see if Yugi knows." He picked up the cordless phone next to him and punched in Yugi's phone number.
"Domino Game Shop, Solomon Moto speaking." The voice of Yugi's grandpa, Solomon, came through the receiver. He sounded tired and flustered.
"Hey, Gramps," said Joey. "It's Joey. Can I speak to Yugi?"
"This isn't such a good time, Joey. The police are here at the moment. There was a robbery last night, and they've been over here all morning."
"A robbery?" asked Joey. "Do you know who it was?"
"According to Yugi, there was a man, two teenage boys and a girl. Yugi confronted them when they turned up. One of them dueled against him, but just after the duel began, they attacked him, took the three Egyptian God Cards from him and escaped in a car."
"Not again!" said Joey. "What is it, the third or fourth time that the God Cards have been stolen from Yugi?"
" I think that it's the third time now… Let's see… there was Dartz, then Rex and Weevil… yes, that's right. I've got to make a statement for the police now, so could you call back in about twenty minutes, Joey?"
"Sure, Gramps."
Location Unknown…
"You have them?" asked Rakid, walking across a dimly lit room and sitting down on a squashy armchair. "The God Cards?"
"Yes, my master," said Donald, getting down on one knee and holding out the God Cards. "Slifer the Sky Dragon, Obelisk the Tormentor and The Winged Dragon of Ra."
Rakid took the cards and examined them very closely, just to make sure that they were the real deal. A few seconds later, he lowered the cards from his face to look at Donald once more. "You have fulfilled your mission, Donald, and I thank you for that. Now, I want you to use this." He held out Obelisk the Tormentor, and Donald looked at it in shock. "For the tournament. Use it to eliminate the heir of the king… I trust that he will join the tournament when it opens, even if I have to pull some strings to do so…" He turned away from Donald to face a laptop on the desk beside him. "Defend Obelisk by any means necessary, even with your own life, if you must." Donald's face twisted into a look of utter horror, only to be replaced by a resigned expression a second later.
"Yes, my master."
"Good," said Rakid, still not looking at Donald. He opened up a duelist profile on the computer and examined it. "Interesting… Bradley Eather… That name reminds me of someone that I met… long ago…" He looked at the image of Bradley Eather for a minute, taking in each of his facial features, and then opened up a screen showing his personal and dueling information. "Eleven year old from Australia. Runs a Warrior Toolbox deck, makes good use of monsters like Exiled Force, Gilford the Lightning and Marauding Captain. Favours the Earth Attribute, and uses several staple Spell and Trap cards. Prefers to use a deck of roughly fourty to fifty cards." Donald threw a puzzled look at him, but Rakid seemed to have forgotten that he was even there.
"This could possibly be a relative of the heir…" Rakid minimized the profile of Bradley Eather. "But I doubt that he is the heir." He searched through a list of duelists, and eventually came across a duelist named Nicholas Sinnett. "What's this?" His hand trembled as he clicked on the mouse button. He examined the photo of Nicholas Sinnett. "That face… Donald, it's him!"
"Who is it, my master?" asked Donald.
"The one that you must eliminate from the tournament," said Rakid. "Of all duelists, Nicholas Sinnett alone must not gain control of the God Cards." He began reading the information on Nicholas Sinnett. "Half brother of Bradley Eather. Fifteen years old from Australia, runs a fusion of the Beatdown and Chaos deck types, and also incorporates elements from other deck types. Favours the extremely rare Envoy monsters, as well as Light and Dark monsters, and Level Four monsters with high Attack points such as Giant Orc, Goblin Attack Force and Goblin Elite Attack Force. Uses many staple Spells and Traps, and prefers a deck built of fourty to fourty-five cards. The only problem is that he has not participated in many major tournaments, so he cannot be immediately invited to participate."
"Do you have a solution?" asked Donald.
"Yes," said Rakid. "I will plan a special Tournament Initiation event, giving eight aspiring duelists the chance to duel for admission to the Tournament of the Winged Man, only two of which will be successful." He sipped from a glass of brandy on the desk. "So, I guess I will need to pull some strings after all. Both Nicholas and Bradley will receive invitations to the Initiation event." He pulled out a packet of cigarettes and put one in his mouth, and then offered one to Donald, who accepted. "The stage is set… and the prophecy shall be fulfilled, at long last…" He lit his cigarette, and then handed the lighter to Donald.
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Four days later…
"…And I'll summon Zure, Knight of Dark World in Attack Position and have it attack your Life Points. Your turn, Katherine."
A young boy was dueling against his teenage sister in the Area 52 game shop. A boy with extremely short brown hair was watching them, his eyes scanning everything – the expressions on the players' faces, their cards, their actions and reactions, everything about them. He watched the look of success in Katherine's eyes as she drew her card, and his eyes narrowed. He crossed his arms and rearranged the sleeves of his red and black jacket slightly, in a futile attempt to get more comfortable.
"I'll Tribute my Warrior of Zera to Special Summon Archlord Zerato," said Katherine. "Since my Field Spell Card, The Sanctuary in the Sky, is on the field, I can now discard Airknight Parshath from my hand to destroy all monsters on your side of the field. And now my Archlord will attack you directly, and I win the duel."
The teenager smirked as he watched the kids shuffle their decks. "You made an illegal move a couple of turns ago." The boy turned to look at him, somewhat surprised. "You can't chain a Quick-Play Spell Card to a Counter Trap Card." The kid looked shocked as the teenager smiled slightly.
"My name's Nick," said the teenager. "Nick Sinnett." He offered the kid a handshake, and he accepted.
"Uh… I'm Joel," said the kid. "I've heard of you. You and your brother both drew in a store tournament recently."
"Yeah, that was pretty intense," said Nick. "There's a major tournament starting up soon in Domino City, over in-" Suddenly, one of the employees that worked at the store walked up to the table.
"Nicholas Sinnett?" said the employee, holding out a letter in his hand. I was asked to give this to you. Someone knew you were here."
"Thanks," said Nick, taking an envelope from the employee. "Hey, it's from KaibaCorp!" He hastily tore open the envelope and pulled three pieces of A4-sized paper, as well as a plane ticket.
Dear Nicholas Sinnett,
You have been invited to participate in a special Tournament of the Winged Man Initiation Event in Domino City, which will be held on February 21st, 2006. We at KaibaCorp have been monitoring your progress at local tournaments, and believe that you are a good enough duelist to participate in the event.
There will be seven other participants from all over the world. There will be two tiers in this event, and the winner of each tier will be competing in the Tournament of the Winged Man, the upcoming Duel Monsters tournament hosted by KaibaCorp and Industrial Illusions. A plane ticket has been included in the envelope, and your plane tickets, accommodation and all other expenses of the sort will be paid for by KaibaCorp, as well as a return plane ticket, if the need arises.
Information on dates, departure and arrival times are listed on your plane ticket. Once you arrive at Domino Airport, you will be taken from there to your hotel after baggage collection.
If you have any further questions, or are unable or unwilling to participate, please call or e-mail KaibaCorp (Phone numbers and e-mail addresses are included on the envelope).
Sincerely yours,
Seto Kaiba,
CEO of KaibaCorp
P.S. You may be happy to learn that the Forbidden list has been completely abolished for the Tournament of the Winged Man and the initiation event, although the Limited and Semi-Limited lists are still in place, and have been customized slightly due to new releases. The reason for this is so that players will have a less-restricted dueling environment, and also to make the Tournament more challenging. Please make sure that you retool your deck to fit in with the current restrictions, if necessary.
After reading the whole letter, Nick re-read it, and then opened his mouth in shock. "I don't believe it." He checked the envelope and letter once again, to make sure that the address and name were correct (it had originally been addressed to his home), and then he put down the letter and examined the plane ticket.
"This is the real deal." He picked up his briefcase off the floor and opened it, revealing a wide assortment of Duel Monsters cards, as well as a Battle City model Duel Disk, which was currently holding his deck. Ever since he had revealed that he was a duelist to the students at his school, an overwhelming desire to prove himself had come over him. And, finally, his thirst for success, and for the title of "King of Games", might be quenched.
Taking his Duel Disk out of the briefcase, he put it on his arm, threw the letter and envelope into the case and closed it again. He picked up the case and walked out of the room, an extremely serious look upon his face. Visions of himself as the King of Games swum through his mind, going in and out of focus. He left the room, his jacket fluttering behind him, as if blown by a soft breeze.
"Hey, aren't you going to say goodbye?"
Location Unknown…
"The seeds have been planted," said Rakid, smirking as he examined the list of tournament entrants. "Now, all I have to do is wait for them to grow." He looked down at the two remaining Egyptian God Cards on the desk, and picked them up to look at them. "It's only a matter of time." He blinked, and could have sworn that he saw some movement in the images of the two God Cards.
"What are you looking at?" he spat, glaring at Slifer and Ra. "Look at me, I'm talking to a couple of freakin' cards." He threw the cards down on the desk and left the room, not aware of the woman that was staring at him from the corner of the room.
Next chapter will come when it comes. I hope you all liked this chapter. It's not too in-depth, as it still leaves you wondering what things like "the prophecy" mean… Well, it's my first Yu-Gi-Oh fic (although that isn't much of an excuse, in my opinion). And, yes, there is some dueling history behind Nick, but that's another story for another time. But, for now, I'm out.