Chapter 8: A New Player Enters The Game
As Alexis began her duel in Alaska, there was interest in her sudden interest in professional level dueling. Industrial Illusions was the company that created Duel Monsters, and was forever famous because of that. But the world of entertainment was a cutthroat one. For as much credit as Yugi Moto had gotten for being the de facto face of the sport, Seto Kaiba was arguably the one who had found his niche in the business. Kabia Corporation had been able to successfully take the raw materials that Industrial Illusions had given the game, and create an infrastructure that helped increase the popularity of the game, and a platform for the game to grow in Japan. The Pro League and Duel Academy had been a masterstroke for Kabia, and he had directly had a hand in the battles between Jaden and his friends and the supernatural.
But the Pro League was not the only professional outlet in the world. Industrial Illusions had run tournaments at the lower levels of the game. These tournaments were generally regional and often focused on up and coming duelists who wanted to play their way onto the Pro League stage. But even those regional events were not where the stars wanted to be. The Pro League was where the big dollars were, and not even Pegasus could use his status as the inventor to get the best pros in the world to play in his events.
Complicating factors for Industrial Illusions was that Syrus had gotten a major leg up in the United States market. His deal with Fox to televise an exhibition match had been the catalyst to slowly increase streaming numbers and attendance. It turned out that maybe a match duel might not be a bad entry point, and he had been watching events in Alaska with great interest. There had to be a duelist somewhere that would be able and willing to be the face of the newest venture of Industrial Illusions.
That plan was a new dueling league. What the league would be based on was a hybrid structure that took elements from both the Pro League and American Dueling League. There would be both an individual competition that would involve the regional events to build up to a championship event held the week of Christmas in San Francisco. The team component would be a new addition to the regional championships. But there needed to be the right duelist who wasn't already tied into one of the camps.
Alexis was the first choice of Pegasus for a multitude of reasons. First, she was someone who had been active in dueling after the events of Duel Academy in the time of spiritual disturbances. She had always been someone who had the best interests of the game, and was familiar to the duel loving public in America through her work in the New York School. She hadn't really dueled professionally, and had not attached herself to any sorts of investors and sponsors who would have guided her into specific events. She would be tied to Duel Academy, and the news of the spiritual disturbances would be used in the marketing around her.
But all those plans would be for naught unless things went his way. Although Alexis had been entered in a pro event, she was still tied to the New York School and had not shown any desire to get back into the game before. It was known in the past that Alexis was more interested in teaching the next generation than becoming like the duelists who she analyzed. Plus, her first inclination might be to join a team in the ADL. After all, Syrus and Alexis had been through things that most people couldn't fathom. But Pegasus was willing to try. So, he watched on television, wondering if this idea would work.
Author's Note: Well, American Dueling is back. This chapter is a little more of a business focused one. I realize that it might not be the most interesting thing to add into a work on here. But after all, dueling is a business in part because the show shows it is profitable enough to have schools dedicated to it, and at least some of the Duel Academy graduates would try and get involved in the business end. Thanks for reading. If you are a returning reader, welcome back. If you are here for the first time, hopefully this fic was worth the click and time you spent reading.