Yu-Gi-Oh! DT

by dtaoa

This is an original story with OCs and original cards that takes place a century after Yu-Gi-Oh! 5d's. Eric Lambert is a duelist who dreamed of becoming a professional duelist until his fateful encounter with an evil organization. With the help of new friends, Eric joins the battle to save the earth, discovering his own self-identify and unveiling a sinister plot with dark roots.

7. Chapter 7

Yu-Gi-Oh! D.T.

Chapter 7: Ascending Moon, The Dark Road Paved by Light

November 26, 3050 6:53 AM

The man in the dark cloak hid in the shadows of an abandoned building, observing a duel between the plant duelist Hailey Rose and the insect duelist Torri Reynolds, both notorious duelists in the underground gambling world. It initially appeared as though Rose was in the lead, but no sooner had she set up her field than a Trap card activated by Reynolds destroyed it. Then, on his turn, Reynolds managed to summon a high-leveled monster and used it to attack her directly, depleting her remaining Life Points. Rose slumped to the ground, clearly shocked that she had lost so miserably. But it wasn't the loss itself that had broken her. It was the fact that this duel was an ante-duel, in which the loser had to forfeit their rarest card to the victor.

In this dark age where poverty was abundant, underground dueling was a quick way to make a living. For underground duelists who were short on money, rare cards were commonly used as wagers because they had equal, if not more value. The stronger a duelist's deck was, the more likely they would win and the more money they would earn. Such was Hailey Rose's reasoning as she dueled Reynolds. However, the man in black had guessed from the way she dueled that she hadn't earned the cards she played with; most likely, she had stolen them. Having lost the duel, Rose reluctantly handed Reynolds her rarest card, Black Rose Dragon, the legendary Signer Dragon the man in black had come to retrieve. As Rose fled with tears on her face, he revealed himself and challenged Reynolds to a duel, wagering the Stardust Dragon he had just obtained. Tempted by the man's offer, the insect duelist accepted immediately, making the same mistake as he opponent he had just defeated: he thought the Black Rose Dragon he'd just won made his deck invincible. The man in black smiled diabolically, knowing that this duelist had no chance of winning.

November 26, 3050 8:49 AM

Eric marked an X over the current date on the calendar hanging in his apartment room's wall. To both his glee and dismay, this date happened to be Eric's birthday, his twenty-first. He used this day every year as an excuse to indulge in whatever he desired, from large meals to new clothes. Eric had good reason to do so, for a birthday was typically a joyful event where the birth of an individual was celebrated by friends and family, but in Eric's case, he had neither. This was the source of a terrible grief that hung over him every year on this day. No matter how materially happy he was, there was no substitute for the love of those he cared most about. It was perhaps this grief that had spurned his hatred towards the material wealth of the rich, who seemed to be so satisfied with just flaunting their expensive belongings.

But on this day, Eric faced the risk of becoming a hypocrite, for on this particular day, he was ecstatic over the thought of finally obtaining something essential for achieving his long-time dream. Since he graduated from Duel Academy four years ago, he had worked odd jobs here and there to make a living, spending only what was needed on living costs and saving the rest for this very day. After his last paycheck, he had counted up his savings and found that he had finally amassed enough cash to purchase a decent duel runner.

Wearing a prideful grin on his face, Eric stepped out of his apartment and walked two blocks to Gaige's store, where he planned on celebrating his accomplishment with a nice, cold drink. However, when he made it to the refrigerated section of the store, what he saw surprised him.

"Three credits!" Eric exclaimed out loud.

"Something the matter?" Gaige grunted as he approached.

"This iced tea is a whole credit more expensive than it was yesterday!" Eric shouted. "What's the deal?"

"The deal," Gaige frowned, "is inflation. The price of Dynasium went up again, so I've gotta up the prices if I want to actually make a profit."

"But still," Eric said, "three credits?"

"We all gotta eat," Gaige shrugged.

"At least charge me the usual price," Eric pleaded. "It's my birthday you know?"

"Your birthday huh?" Gaige groaned. "I haven't celebrated my birthday in 10 years!"

"Think of it this way," Eric smirked. "If you pay it forward, good things will happen to you later."

"I know the saying," Gaige sighed, "but I also know that investing in you won't get me anything in return."

"Now don't say that," Eric laughed. "I might remember who I bought my iced tea from when I become a pro duelist one day."

"Pro duelist my butt," Gaige sneered. "You couldn't even beat that nasty businessman the other day."

"S-shut up!" Eric stuttered. "I just made a little mistake."

"Yeah yeah," Gaige said. "But since today is your birthday and you did try to help me out the other time, I guess I have no problem charging the usual price."

"Wow," Eric snickered, "the usual price? Don't tell me you're getting soft, old man?"

"Don't misunderstand," Gaige scoffed. "It's to comfort you when your dream to become a pro duelist fails."

"My dream's not going to fail," Eric smiled. "Because today, I'm gonna get my own duel runner."

"Duel runner!" Gaige exclaimed. "How did you get the money for that?"

"I've been saving up," Eric grinned proudly.

"Heh," Gaige snorted, "so you kids still know how to save nowadays."

"Yeah," Eric said as he twisted his face. "Don't underestimate us kids, old man."

"I overestimated you," Gaige jeered. "If I had that kind of money, I'd do something more practical with it."

"Like what?" Eric asked suspiciously.

"I'd buy some stocks," he replied. "And make a profit."

"I knew you'd say something boring like that," Eric sighed as he sipped his tea.

"Cheeky brat," Gaige snorted. "If I knew you had that much money, I would've charged you double for that."

"Too little too late!" Eric laughed as he dashed out the door to the bus stop across the street.

November 26, 3050 10:02 AM

On the bus ride to Muto City, the metropolitan area closest to Truesdale Town, Eric reflected on how true it was that duel runners cost a lot of money. Duel runners themselves were already expensive due to the large amount of material required to build them, but were made even more so by the fact that Momentum energy was no longer used to operate them. He was taught in history classes that the Momentum Reactor had provided unlimited energy to cities via the mechanism of Perpetual Motion, spinning endlessly to meet their exorbitant needs. However, as society's energy expenditures gradually increased, the Momentum Reactor showed signs of instability. With the knowledge that the astronomical amounts of energy contained in the reactor could destroy continents if released, every world power unanimously agreed to shut the reactor down.

However, this solution led to even more problems. After the Momentum Reactor was disestablished, the world witnessed a massive slump during which economic depression caused a sharp decline in industrial output and an exponential increase in business foreclosure. For the next several years, people attempted to find a new energy source that matched Momentum but mostly resorted to other, less-efficient sources such as fossil fuels and electricity.

Power plants that had closed centuries ago re-opened as cities were once again introduced to power stations and electrical poles. Houses and buildings were physically hooked up to the power grid and had generators installed. Cars and other vehicles that used to rely solely on Momentum energy to run began to use diesel fuel. Unfortunately, despite society's best efforts, none of these measures kept up with the lifestyles that people were used to and civil unrest grew to massive proportions. Crime rates increased in conjunction with worldwide protests, as entire governments were ousted due to their inability to pacify or repress their people. The only nations that were able to maintain peace were those that either had a compliant population or exercised military force. All at once, the world had descended into a dark age.

Then, a miracle happened. Over twenty years ago, a new metal alloy was discovered on the Pacific Coast. This alloy, termed Dynasium by its discoverer, had unearthly properties: a high specific heat, high malleability, high ductility, low density, and the uncanny ability to conduct electricity without corroding. These properties were great for creating cheap, long-lasting batteries, but were not what revolutionized society. It wasn't until someone had created a duel disk powered by a Dynasium battery that the world discovered another unusual property: the ability to store and recharge ample amounts of electrons from duel energy.

Even today, no one completely understood what duel energy was. Some theorized that it was the spirit of the cards, while others suggested that it was the soul of the duelist, but no one knew for sure. In fact, no one cared. All they cared about was the fact that that they had discovered a revolutionary new resource that had the potential to provide a nearly infinite supply of energy. After learning of the alloy's composition, a new industry arose focusing on refining and selling Dynasium, which had officially became the world's most prominent energy source. Because duel energy was the source of Dynasium's power, Duel Monsters became the center of industry, economics, and politics. To live in a world where everything was operated by duel energy, all one had to do was play Duel Monsters. The stronger a duelist was, the more influence they had and the more they thrived within this society.

This cultural revolution allowed countries around the world to prosper for several years, until the economy stagnated and declined once more. For unknown reasons, the Dynasium that had recharged from duel energy became less potent and people found that Duel Monsters was no longer sufficient to keep up with the amount of energy they were expending. This created a huge demand for Dynasium batteries to hold more energy, a demand that was met by an increase in supply. Dynasium companies began to abuse Duel Monsters cards, absorbing their duel energy and discarding them afterwards to collect more energy to store in Dynasium batteries. Of course, this resulted in a price increase, and as the demand increased, the price followed, creating a rate of inflation that ultimately caused an economic recession.

Thus was the state of the world in which Eric lived. Yet, despite these unfavorable circumstances, Eric insisted on making it to the top, and his plan started with purchasing a duel runner and slowly climbing his way to the pro league. At this moment, however, his first step was a bus ride to Muto City, a bus ride on which Eric shook with excitement over the thought of traveling the road towards progress, towards his future.

November 26, 3050 10:19 AM

And when he stepped off the bus, his future looked brighter than ever. Having lived in the ghetto of Truesdale Town for years, Eric was mesmerized by the towering corporate buildings, the flashing lights, and the bustling streets filled with all sorts of different vehicles zooming by. He had always dreamed of living in such a city and the fact that he now stood in the center of one took his breath away.

When he had fully taken in the feeling of city life, Eric took a deep breath and proceeded with completing his original task: to purchase a duel runner. In the world he lived in, Duel Monsters was so big that one could find card stores anywhere, even in ghetto cities like Truesdale Town. Duel disks were more expensive, so there were probably only two or three stores that sold them where Eric lived. Duel runners, on the other hand, were so expensive that they were rarely seen in the ghettos and could only be purchased in wealthy areas like Muto City. And what a wealthy city it was. Every other block, Eric noticed shops that sold the rarest cards and the latest releases, along with fancy embroidered duel disks of all shapes and sizes. Just the sight of these luxuries made Eric think about how happy he would be to live here.

After walking several blocks, Eric finally located a duel runner store. The exhilaration he felt from being so close to something he had waited so long for was like that of a child at a toy store. Blood rushed through his veins as he nurtured the thought of dashing in and witnessing first-hand the treasures he could only dream of previously. But ultimately, he decided against it, fearing that such behavior would be too uncivilized in this fancy locale. Taking a deep breath, Eric pushed open the glass door and opened his eyes to behold the most marvelous sight he'd ever seen. All around him stood duel runners of even greater variety than the duel disks, lined up to form rainbows of colorful beauty.

He was in paradise.

Yet, something felt off. He felt like there was something wrong with him being who he was standing where he was, and he realized the problem once he met the hostile eyes around the store, all aimed at him. Eric's shoulders sulked as he felt a sense of shame run down his spine. The other customers were all well-groomed and clothed in expensive-looking attire, while he stood there in a simple white T-shirt and faded jeans. He was like a sheep inside a den of wolves. It was then that he remembered another reason why he disliked the rich: because for whatever reason, they disliked him.

"Sir," a uniformed worker said as she approached him, "do you happen to be lost?"

Eric heard snickers throughout the store.

"No," he said, his face burning from anger and embarrassment, "I'm here to buy a duel runner."

"Oh yes," Eric saw her roll her eyes, "which model are you interested in?"

"I've got 5000 credits on me," Eric said. "What can I get with that?"

"Let's see," the worker said as she looked at the catalogue, trying unsuccessfully to mask her condescending smile. "I suppose these are within your price range."

She turned to the last page of the booklet which showed all the cheapest duel runners, half of which had been used. Eric shook with embarrassment at having to buy the lowest quality duel runners for the lowest prices. None of them appealed to him, not even the used ones. They were all shoddy-looking pieces of junk that reeked of poverty. Ugly frames with old peeling paint, engines that barely reached a torque of 50 rpm. He winced at the thought of having to drive something so embarrassing around. He then considered saving up more money until he could purchase a higher quality one. However, he soon remembered what he saw that morning in Gaige's store and realized that the prices would likely inflate faster than his savings. He felt like the situation was hopeless, like he had no choice but to buy one of the most revolting duel runners he'd ever seen. Eric's hands shook with frustration.

Then, something happened.

"Did you tell him about our economic models?" said a male voice.

Eric turned around to find a young man with a gelled-up head of black hair wearing a blue blazer. His face appeared young and innocent despite his rough, chiseled body.

"I-I forgot," the female worker laughed awkwardly.

"Scumbag," the man muttered under his breath, making Eric aware that she had purposely shown him the worst models.

Flashing a smile, the man signaled for Eric to follow him, walking to a section of the store that showcased several spiffy-looking duel runners, ones that appeared to be different from the others. There was something unique about the material.

"These are our economic model duel runners," the man said with a smile. "If you're low on cash, these are a good investment to make because they perform just as well as some of our higher quality duel runners but cost a whole lot less."

"Why?" Eric asked. "What makes them different?"

"They're made from a steel alloy," the man replied. "Nowadays, duel runners are typically made from lighter but more expensive materials like carbon fiber to lower the energy consumption of Dynasium batteries. Steel is much heavier so it consumes more energy, and it's also susceptible to corrosion, but it's tough and affordable, which makes it the ideal material for duel runners."

"I see," Eric said, nodding his head.

Eyeing the duel runners in front of him, Eric noticed one that caught his attention. It was an ultramarine colored vehicle with yellow trim for decoration, painted over a thin frame. The handlebars were located on two horizontal limbs that extended from the back of the duel runner, which was mounted by a crescent-shaped wing.

It was perfect.

"I'll take this one," Eric said, pointing at the model.

"Great," the man smiled, handing him a stack of papers. "Just sign these and it's yours."

November 26, 3050 11:27 AM

After about half an hour, Eric was finally able to call this duel runner his. He gently placed his hands on the frame, caressing its cool, smooth surface with his fingertips. He sucked in the air and exhaled deeply, taking in the fact that he had finally obtained a duel runner and taken the first step towards his dream. As he laid eyes on it, he still couldn't believe how exemplary his very first duel runner was. He loved the way its sleek design matched his body size perfectly, while its blue paint glistened from the bright rays of sun. He got goosebumps just imagining how beautiful it would look at night under the pale moonlight. He pinched himself to make sure it wasn't a dream and began forming tears in his eyes when he realized that he, Eric Lambert, was now in possession of the most perfect duel runner he could've ever asked for.

"You're an interesting guy," the man said with a pleasant grin. "I remember my first duel runner. Boy were those great times."

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate this," Eric said, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Don't sweat it," the man smiled. "Does it make you happy?"

"Yeah," Eric said, his shoulders heaving as he sniffled.

"Then that's all I need to hear," the man said. "Happiness is the best thing you can ask for in life."

Upon hearing those words, the amount of respect that Eric had for this man became immeasurable. This man, this selfless man who had no reason to offer his time and energy for a random stranger, had pulled him from depths of his despair while expecting nothing in compensation, acting only on the goodness of his heart. Had he not known any better, Eric would have regarded this man as an angel.

"Thank you," Eric said with the biggest smile he had ever made.

Bowing respectfully, Eric exited the store, wheeling out his brand new duel runner. With everything that had happened over the past few weeks, this day alone restored his faith in the good of humanity. He looked to the sky, wondering if he had truly been blessed by an angel from Heaven, if God had heard his prayer and finally rewarded all his hard work.

That was when he met the devil.

"How do you like it?" said Gareth, leaning against his own crimson duel runner outside the store.

"How'd you know I'd be here?" Eric asked.

"Well," Gareth explained, "I knew today was your birthday so I planned on bringing you a present, but when I came down here, it turned out you already came and bought it yourself."

"And how exactly was this your present?" Eric asked.

"Look," Gareth smiled, pointing at the store's sign.

Eric widened his eyes as he beheld the name "D.T. Vehicles" above the front door.

"Your company made this?" Eric exclaimed. "How could someone with your bad tastes design something so nice?"

"Ouch," Gareth winced, cringing at Eric's remark. "It's true that it was me who designed it, but it was you who inspired it."

"Me?" Eric asked in disbelief. "You designed a new duel runner just for me? Why?"

"Because you're my first and best friend," Gareth said. "It's only natural for friends to do nice things for one another."

"Well," Eric mumbled, "even if you say that, I wouldn't accept your charity. I want to live with my own power without relying on others to help me, even if we're friends."

"But you gave me something more precious than a duel runner," Gareth said. "You taught me what it means to be a true duelist and to live with courage and dignity. That's something I can never pay back no matter how much money I have."

Eric took a minute to gaze into Gareth's eyes, which seemed to burn with a fiery passion. He could tell that Gareth wasn't lying. His words sounded genuine, his feelings were sincere.

"I see," Eric replied. "If that's how you feel, then it would be rude of me to reject your resolve. I'll cherish this duel runner."

"Good," Gareth smiled, "because it took me several all-nighters to make it."

Both of them suddenly burst into giddy laughter as Eric punched Gareth's arm for his last remark. For the first time since they met, it felt as though they were the same friends they were in preschool, joking and laughing together without a care in the world. Whoever the satanic demon he had met weeks ago was, the person standing before him now was not him; it was the friend he had known and loved. Now, Eric felt truly blessed.

Minutes after their laughter had subsided, Gareth tilted his head like he was thinking about something.

"What is it?" Eric asked.

"Have you registered your duel runner yet?" Gareth inquired.

"What does that mean?" asked a puzzled Eric.

"I'll take that as a no," Gareth said as he pressed a button on Eric's duel runner.

Suddenly, the rectangular screen on the front end of his vehicle lit up, playing a familiar jingle as it flashed the D.T. Corporation emblem: a red, upside-down triangle circumvented by a yellow circle. It then transitioned into a window that prompted for its owner's name.

"This is how you register your duel runner," Gareth explained. "It will ask you some questions about your identity and other private information. Once you complete the process, your current location and duel history will be recorded for the government to see."

"But isn't that bad?" Eric asked. "Didn't you say that the Dark Chasers have some influence in the government?"

"That's right," Gareth replied. "That's why I have a method for hiding that information. Once you complete the registration process, your information will be sent online to a government network. However, I can redirect that information to D.T. Corporation's servers instead."

"I don't want you to have that info either," Eric pouted.

"Would you rather have the alternative?" Gareth asked. "Don't worry. You can trust me. Even if my network is constantly receiving your info, you'll have access to other D.T. members' information as well, even mine."

"You're giving me special treatment, aren't you?" Eric frowned. "Even though I'm not one of your soldiers."

"To be honest," Gareth said, "you've been through worse than some of my employees. To that end, even if you're not an official member, you've earned the right to know these things. You can think of yourself as a retired veteran if it will make you feel better."

"Okay," Eric sighed, "I'll take your word for it. So how are you going to do it?"

"I'm going to inject a virus into the program," Gareth said as he plugged something into a port on the duel runner. "This will change the program's command to send your info to my company's computer mainframe instead of the government's."

With that, Eric continued to fill out his information, providing his name, address, government ID, driving license number, and education. Gareth then proceeded to teach him how to attach his duel disk to the duel runner and where to place his deck.

"Most duel runners come with their own duel disks for specialized compartmentalization," Gareth explained. "Yours looks custom-made, so I'm guessing it's special to you?"

"It was my dad's," Eric said. "He left it behind the day he died."

"I'm sorry to hear," Gareth said, closing his eyes.

"It's okay," Eric said. "Please, continue."

"There's a platform slightly below the screen where you can place your duel disk," Gareth explained. "It has a universal port that most duel disks are built with nowadays, which will allow you to sync with the duel runner. Does yours have a port?"

"Yeah," Eric replied, "my dad used to have a duel runner but I don't know what happened to it."

"I see," Gareth nodded. "Just connect the port to the cable and it should work."

Eric did as he was told and his duel disk flashed, indicating that it had properly synced with the duel runner.

"Good," Gareth said. "Now, you place your deck in this slot above your left handle. You can detach and reattach it as you please. After you place your deck inside, pressing this button will automatically shuffle your deck. As it does so, it also scans your cards' ID numbers for things like searching effects."

Eric inserted his deck and pressed the button above the slot, impressed by the technology that had enabled such specialized actions as shuffling and identifying cards. As he leaned in to observe this, his duel runner suddenly made a sharp screeching noise, causing him to jump back in surprise.

"What's that?" Eric exclaimed.

"That sound means that your deck is illegal," Gareth said. "Did you modify your deck for turbo duels?"

"Nope," Eric sighed. "I don't have any Speed Spells. I blew all my cash on this duel runner, so I don't have enough for them."

"Good," Gareth smiled, "then you can stop by D.T. Corporation and I can give you some."

"Like I said," Eric frowned, "I don't want your charity. I want to work for things myself."

"You still insist on rejecting my help," Gareth exhaled. "Okay, how's this? I'm not giving you these Speed Spells. You're a volunteer who's helping me playtest some new Speed Spells I'm developing."

"Is that so?" Eric sighed. "You have an answer for everything, don't you?"

"There's another reason I want you to come," Gareth said. "I have an indoor duel runner track where I can teach you how to operate your vehicle."

"What's your excuse for giving me special treatment now?" Eric asked.

"It's not exactly special treatment," Gareth said. "My company offers free training for novices, so you might as well take advantage of it. Plus, it's especially important for you to get trained by me because I can teach you how to deal with the Dark Chasers who will be coming after you from now on."

"Oh yeah," Eric groaned. "That might be helpful."

"Good," Gareth smiled satisfactorily. "Since you were able to buy a duel runner, I assume you already have a license and know the basic maneuvers?"

"Yeah," Eric nodded. "I took driver's ed at Duel Academy and I got my license from using a practice duel runner. But it's been a while and I might be a little rusty."

"I guess I'll explain quickly then," Gareth said. "This button is used to start your engine. The handles are used to control your direction and acceleration. Pull back on the throttle to accelerate. When you want to decelerate or stop, pull the front brakes on your handlebars and push the rear brakes on your footrest. You can shift gears manually by using your touch screen or by using voice commands. You turn by shifting the weight of your body and pulling the handles."

"Got it," Eric said, testing everything Gareth explained.

It wasn't until he obtained his own duel runner that he began to noticed subtle differences between various models. Unlike his, which had a small front fairing, side horizontal handlebars, and a wing on the rear, Gareth's crimson duel runner had a large fairing, a pair of overarching handlebars, and a small rear. Whereas his tires were thin and slender, Gareth's were thick and laced with jagged treads. Prior to today, Eric had no idea that so many variations existed among simply vehicles. Noticing Eric's confusion, Gareth smiled and began to explain.

"My duel runner has a larger fairing because it provides a greater impact," he said. "The treads on my tires increase traction at the cost of maneuverability and speed, but my engine makes up for it with more horsepower."

"And those handlebars?" Eric asked.

"They serve that same function as your wing," Gareth explained. "By arching downwards from a higher position, they reduce drag by altering the airflow from my bulky fairing."

"What about mine?" Eric questioned. "What's different about mine?"

"Yours is an economic model," Gareth said. "To reduce the material cost but still maintain performance, the front is smaller and the handlebars are positioned on the side to take up less space. To compensate for the weaker engine, the frame is lighter and more aerodynamic, making the vehicle easier to steer and maneuver."

"But it's not as durable?" asked a concerned Eric.

"Well," Gareth sighed, "it's not really fair to compare with mine in terms of durability because not everyone needs to fight violent Dark Chasers on a regular basis, but the steel composition of your duel runner should give you enough protection from a crash."

"Right," Eric shrugged, trying not to imagine such a scenario.

"Any more questions?" Gareth asked.

"Nope," Eric answered. "I'm good."

"Alright," Gareth grinned, "let's drive."

With that, the pair zoomed down the streets of Muto City, racing towards the tall skyscraper that served as D.T. Corporation's headquarters.

November 26, 3050 4:56 PM

Four hours later at dusk, Eric left the D.T. headquarters with a sense of accomplishment. He had learned how to ride and duel using a duel runner with what Gareth had described to be exceptional proficiency. Wanting to test his new knowledge immediately, Eric decided to drive back home to Truesdale Town, which was 60 kilometers away from his current location. As he maneuvered through the local streets, he gazed at his reflection on glass windows, admiring the luminescent shine that his duel runner maintained even in the darkness. He felt his movements becoming more controlled and more precise, as though he was slowly becoming one with his duel runner. However, it wasn't until he entered the city-connecting highways that he truly felt alive. Pulling back on his handlebars, Eric accelerated into the DR (Duel Runner) Lane, loving the rush of cool wind that blew past him. The numb feeling on his face created the sensation of advancing through a coursing river, riding against the tide with the promise that good things would come when he made it to the other side.

On his right, Eric saw a pair of duel runners fly by in the TD (Turbo Duel) Lane, the monsters flying above them indicating that they were engaged in a turbo duel and their velocity indicating that they already had already accumulated a great number of Speed Counters. Eric watched with great interest as one duelist, a thin mohawked man in a green and black duel runner, declared an attack and destroyed his opponent's monster. Smoke jetted out from the opponent's purple duel runner as both returned to normal speed, signaling that the duel was over and that the mohawk man had won. Eric smiled as he caught up to them, excited by the first turbo duel he had witnessed first-hand. But almost mockingly, Eric's happiness was turned sour by what happened next. No sooner had he discovered the joys of turbo duels than he saw the darker side, as the mohawk man kicked his opponent off his duel runner and caused him to crash against the highway wall. Utterly shocked and pissed off at what had transpired before his eyes, Eric hit the rear brakes on his duel runner and swerved into the TD Lane, yanking on his front brakes to come to a full stop.

"What the hell are you doing?" Eric exclaimed.

"Giving this guy what he deserves," the mohawk man laughed.

Horridly, the mohawk man pulled his opponent's deck from his duel runner and tore his cards apart, inciting the man's absolute despair as he broke down in tears.

"You son of a bitch!" Eric yelled. "Why did you do that?"

"All his cards were trash," the mohawk man laughed. "Trash cards don't deserve to exist."

The amount of hatred Eric had for this man was massive. He clenched his fists, his whole body shaking from unrelenting anger. He was about ready to punch the guy, but then remembered what he said to Gareth about being a duelist: that violence was never okay and that dueling was the only way to settle things. Eric took a deep breath to calm himself and proceeded to confront the mohawk man the right way.

"You have no right to call yourself a duelist," Eric growled.

"And who are you to tell me that?" the mohawk man snarled, clearly agitated.

"A real duelist," Eric replied. "Unlike you."

"Bullshit," the mohawk man spat. "A real duelist has the best cards and always wins. The losers forfeit their right to be called duelists. That's why I tear my opponent's cards up."

"You're wrong," Eric glared. "Someone like you who doesn't respect the bond between a duelist and their deck can't call themselves a real duelist. You're just a bullying wannabe."

"Wanna bet?" the mohawk man said, mounting his duel runner.

"You're on," Eric said. "I'll show you the power of a real duelist."

Both linked to each other's duel runners and initiated a turbo, confirmed by the flashing of their duel disks. On his screen, Eric viewed the duel record of his opponent, his eyes widening when he saw that his opponent had a 90% win rate in over a hundred duels. Even among pros, it was difficult to maintain a win rate above 70%, yet this man had accumulated a nearly perfect record. As he looked further into this man's information, he found something even more surprising. In the top right-hand corner of the screen, the man's single-word name was displayed in bold black letters: Conundrum. Instantly, Eric recognized this as a distasteful codename that was so characteristic of the infamous Dark Chasers. His eyes glared at his opponent as he finally understood why he was so cruel. Now knowing that he was dueling against a Dark Chaser, Eric tensed his entire body, completely uncertain of what dangers were in store for him.

"This is your first turbo duel?" Conundrum laughed as he read Eric's info. "How can you say I'm not a real duelist when you haven't even dueled once?"

Furrowing his brows and trying to ignore those words, Eric raised his head to see a holographic counter appearing with ten dots, slowly decreasing in number. He steadied his grip on his handles, determined to cross the finish line and take the first turn. As soon as the counter reached the tenth dot, a screeching alarm sounded, indicating that the duel had begun.

"Turbo Duel!" both said at the same time as they pulled back on their throttles, charging down the road on which their battle would commence. "Acceleration!"