Welcome back everyone, I hope that you'll enjoy this chapter here! Just reminding anyone who hasn't been here in a while that I'll still try to answer as many reviews as I can. I just ask that you try and keep them constructive.

In some good news, my exams are all done, and I was able to pass them all! University awaits! In the meantime, I'll have some more availability when it comes to writing. But this story will still take quite a bit of work to do, not to mention I do have another story to update frequently.

Sigh… I went ahead and started to write the first few Duel's of this story, and it's definitely hard work. Yet, I find it rather fun as well, looking through all the different card that were released years and years ago. I'm hoping that I make no mistakes.

Also, I state the rules of Dueling in this chapter. Spoilers; I made small changes for my own convenience. I hope it doesn't bother you that much.

—

Guest - Thank you! I'm glad that you are enjoying the story so far. (even though it's only two chapters as of right now).

—

Anyways enough rambling from me, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, or it's spin-off anime's. I do however own the OC's of this story, as well as any custom cards. Do NOT steal them.

-Yu-Gi-Oh: Dimensions in Disarray-

Chapter 2: Domino Walk

It didn't feel as weird as I thought it'd be to walk through Domino City. Maybe it's because it's like nearly every other city I've been in before arriving here. There're still apartments, cars, bikes, and people obviously. Hell, if I woke up and never discovered that I was now called Eric, I might have gone a bit longer without knowing where I really was.

You always see isekai MC's being overwhelmed by this 'new world' they're walking around in, yet I'm stuck in the most basic city in the entire Yugiverse. A shame. From what I can remember, only the pre-destroyed future in 5D's and the Original Dimension in Arc-V had severe upgrades in technology. I wouldn't count VRAINS as that's literally all virtual, and Zexal threw all the development into robots. I mean, seriously, humanity basically peaked in technology and then the people decided to make Zarc into a monster that wiped it all away! What were you all thinking?

I don't think I had passed by any major or important landmarks as I was walking. Domino High School should be wrapping up for the day, so I might run into Joey and Tristan, and I know that Yugi and Tea are hanging out today. But meeting Yugi is an encounter I'd rather delay if I'm being honest. To put it simply, the Pharaoh absolutely terrifies me! He literally threw people into games of life and death, for fun! I get that he's mellowed out by now, but he still unnerves me. The possibility of somehow making him regress back into his Season 0 self is a terrifying one.

Other than the Pharaoh, I doubt I'll run into anyone else that's possible bad news. I'll admit as I've been walking through Domino, the thoughts about the other villains have been crossing my mind every now and then. It doesn't help to be a bit prepared for the next few months, right?

Marik and the Rare Hunters shouldn't have proper interest in Domino, as the tournament hasn't been announced yet. As long as they're away, that's good enough for me. The only other villains that could maybe be in Domino City right now is Bakura and Aigami.

If I somehow run into Bakura, I'm running in the opposite direction. The Pharaoh was dangerous in Season 0, but Bakura was possibly even worse! I doubt he'll have an interest in me as I don't have a millennium item, but he was still fine throwing innocent people into the Shadow Realm. Who the hell knows how much power that spirit of Zorc has. Still, Domino City is huge, and I think I'm miles away from the High School, so I doubt I'll even see him.

Aigami is interesting, as because the Pharaoh isn't sealed away yet, he shouldn't have access to the Plana right now, but he'll definitely still have the Quantum Cube. Crazy thing is, I don't think he can do… anything really until the Pharaoh is properly set free. Still though, the guy was absolutely fine killing Scud, so it might be best if I stay away from him if I somehow bump into him or his friends. I think it'd be better for me if he doesn't know who I am or where I really come from.

As for the other villains? Pegasus is out of commission until Waking The Dragons. Noah, The Big Five and Gozaburo are locked in the Virtual World, so they'll be doing jack shit until they highjack the blimp. Dartz and his goons are probably just waiting for the Pharaoh to get all three Egyptian Gods so he can drain their power. I doubt he'll do anything until Battle City is over. Zigfried is barely a threat compared to the others, so I won't even worry about him. Anubis is just a pain in terms of whether he'd even exist or show up. King Alexander probably won't even exist, seeing that the Capsule Monsters special was literally made by 4Kids for money. The only other character that could possibly show up is maybe Paradox… and that's a headache to even think about. Yugi, Jaden and Yusei all defeat him in the end, so I don't think I need to interfere in that whole debacle.

Who knows, maybe I can get a good reputation by Dueling in the Grand Championship? Perhaps Kaiba would want me to take part in that arc whenever that happens. It certainly sounds like the best way to avoid messing with canon in a way that disrupts everything. The arc was filler after all, so unless I did something really bad, then I doubt much would change.

Since leaving the house, I have been thinking about the future… or rather my future. Can't keep mulling over it, I have to at least try and think about what the long-term plan is here. Do I go pro as a Duelist?

Honestly… that sounds like a good plan to me. When I was online back home and looking through articles, I saw a few people that were a bit over their heads, saying that Duel Monsters was just some new trend that would faze out in a few years, and going pro would be a waste of time. I know, clear as day, that is completely untrue, and that we have at the very least, thirty years of continuous Dueling, with even the police eventually taking it up in 5D's. So going pro knowing the future state of the game could be very beneficial for me.

I saw the number that pro Duelists can make here. You could earn millions upon millions for just showing up and competing! As long as you keep winning of course, but that can't be too hard as long as you have your trusty credit card to get the most recent cards. By going pro, I'm sure that I can set myself up for the future quite comfortably.

The other anime's are causing me to occasionally stop altogether and think things over though…

I've tried to put GX out of my head, as I can't really do that much until Duel Academy is actually formed. Not only is the academy not even built yet, but a good seventy-percent of the cast are still ages four or five! That's not saying I can't do anything… to help anyone… Everything is just really risky… I guess I could try and interfere with Jaden putting Yubel on that rocket that Kaiba sets up. But if I stop that from happening, Yubel may stay a bit more… aggressive when it comes to 'protecting' Jaden. Bit of a big risk there. Similar sort of thing goes with Aster Phoenix as well. Not sure if having his father saved will completely shift his character. Now THAT'S risky. Really, until Duel Academy is formed, there's barely anything I can do in terms of helping the GX side of things. And that's IF I decide to help them.

I can't really think of a way to determine how far away 5D's is from now… so currently, that's going on the back burner. If I do find a way to determine how long I have, then I'll start to think about it some more. As for Zexal, Arc-V and VRAINS? Well, they're way too hard for me to figure out right now, especially as there isn't a clear connection to previous series of events. They'll be put on the shelf for now. Hell, I don't know if those three shows are a part of the main timeline here! Zexal may just be a good one-hundred years into the future, ARC-V is a headache with the splitting of the Dimensions, and VRAINS doesn't even acknowledge previous events!

I rubbed my face, as I made it out into what looked like Domino Plaza. Tonight, Kaiba would be announcing Battle City here. After that, things will get dicey. Despite the years of chaos that will follow in the Yugiverse, the idea of joining Battle City is something that I am really struggling to decide.

Battle City is like… one of the most important arcs in all of Yu-Gi-Oh.

From Joey getting key cards like Jinzo, to Yugi winning all three Egyptian God cards, this arc was crucial to the development of the main cast. Nearly every Duel was important. If I joined, even the slightest divergence would potentially end up causing great shifts in events to come. Something as small as Dueling Rex Raptor, could result in insane changes like Bonz becoming King Of Games, or Bandit Keith somehow obtaining all three Egyptian God cards! Perhaps those were too extreme of examples, but the idea of how risky this was remained present in my head.

There was the possibility to maybe join up and just immediately scoop to an opponent who ends up being taken down by some guy who never makes it to the finals… But that would be humiliating and embarrassing for me… Who knows how Kaiba would react as well.

By the end of the day, I'll have come to a decision.

Moving through Domino Plaza, I came out into a rather nice street that had what I was looking for: A game shop.

I had actually looked for Yugi's house so I could maybe try and buy some cards there. The Pharaoh wouldn't be there, as Yugi would be with Tea. Also I'd get to meet Solomon Muto, which would be cool. Unfortunately, I found that the game shop was closed that day, as Solomon was out getting a hospital checkup. I knew the guy would be ok, but I was still a bit disappointed at not being able to meet him. The next logical area to go was Duke's game shop; Black Clown.

So, my wandering had led me here. In front of Black Clown game shop. It was certainly a big shop, that's for sure. No wonder Solomon was frustrated at the opening of Duke's shop, this shop could eat up his little store!

Choosing not to ponder out here, I headed into the shop to try and see about getting some new cards.

Upon entering, I did feel like I recognised a few areas of the shop. I saw a bit of the interior in the anime, so it did feel familiar in some way. There were dozens of people moving around looking at board games, dice games and of course, Duel Monsters cards. The shelves were stacked with booster packs and even basic structure decks that were all available for purchase. I moved around the shop to try and see if I could maybe get some individual cards instead of buying dozens of booster packs. I was disappointed to see that wasn't the case.

I found myself roaming through some packs that were on some shelves, looking at the back to see if they had some cards that I wanted.

I was mainly looking cards that would be banned for years to come. Things like Delinquent Duo, Confiscation, Snatch Steal… mainly all the cards that messed with your opponent's hand. They raised many different red flags in my previous world. Sadly, I couldn't see any of them there. Perhaps they haven't been released yet? Agh, I should have looked up what cards have been made by Industrial Illusions before leaving the house.

"Need help with something?" Came a voice from behind me. A voice that I recognised.

I turned around and saw the owner of this game shop. Wearing the exact same clothes as he did in the anime, with the dice braiding in his hair, it was easy for me to recognise this person at first glance. Also, I heard his voice before actually seeing him. That definitely helped.

"Help? Nah, I wouldn't say that." I answered to Duke Devlin. "I was just looking to see if there's any cards in particular over here. Who knows when you'll need them."

"Oh, I see." Duke replied casually. "You just looked like you were in some deep thought in what you maybe wanted to purchase here."

"Well, there is a lot of options here. It's quite an impressive store." I complimented Duke. Seriously though, this place way was nicer than the anime gave it credit for.

Duke gave a smile, looking happy by that compliment there. "Thanks. I do try my best around here."

"Thanks? What are you, the owner of the store?" I asked, wanting to try and get a proper introduction between the two of us.

"Why of course I am." Duke gave a low smirk. "I thought everyone in Domino knew about the newest trending game store around as well as the owner."

"Oh I remember now! You made the news just recently." While Duke had a face that was difficult to read, as that news was essentially broadcasting how he lost at his own game, I made sure to lighten the mood. "Dungeon Dice Monsters looks like a major player in the world of holographic gaming!"

That seemed to make Duke happy. "Yeah, it's always been a dream of mine to see my own game make it this far. I'm sure in the future, everyone will be playing Dungeon Dice Monsters just as much as Duel Monsters!"

'…Don't think I should reply to that one…' I thought, keeping my mouth shut. Eh, who knows. Maybe DDM actually does rival Duel Monsters, and some other countries have their own world ending events based on that game. The thought nearly made me chuckle, before realising that this sort of stuff could still happen to me. That shut me up.

"So, who are you then?" Duke asked with small interest. "I get quite a few regulars in here, but I don't think I've ever seen you before. You live in Domino?"

"The names Eric Yuriko." I introduced myself. The first time I had done that since arriving here.

God it felt… weird to not introduce myself by my own name… was I just supposed to forget my old name…?

Could I forget it…?

No. I couldn't do that. I may be in a new life with a new face and identity, but my old name had value and importance to me. I wouldn't forget it.

Remembering that Duke was still talking to me, I redshifted my focus back to him. He seemed interested hearing my name. "Huh, Eric Yuriko… that's not that different of a name to a friend of mine. Funny coincidence." He said as he took out some dice from his hand and began to spin them.

While I was boggled by how he did that, I caught onto what he said there. 'I guess my name IS similar to Yugi's… and the other protagonists… does life want me to be the main character here? Cause if so, then they can shift focus back onto the actual main character around here.' I thought, disturbed by the idea.

"Your friend huh. That wouldn't happen to be Yugi Muto, right?" I asked plainly, already knowing the answer. I wonder if it will get old, having to keep hiding things like this? Hopefully not. I always liked hiding secrets with my brother when I was young.

"That's right." Duke confirmed, as he flicked the dice up into the air, before catching them all in between his fingers. He didn't look that distracted by that, in fact, he probably does this everyday. "Me and Yugi had a rough start, but we became good friends in the end. Now I feel like he's someone I can really count on."

"So if the police challenge you to a duel you'll call Yugi for help?" I joked.

Duke let out a rather happy laugh at my joke. "That's a good one! If the police ever did come for me, I'd make sure to handle it myself." He stated as he flicked the dice off his fingers one at a time, causing them to fly and land in a promotional jug that was at the shops window.

"Wow, not bad. My bro – er, I mean, I knew a guy was pretty good at throwing cards. He used to teach me how to do it when I was younger." I complimented, almost slipping up.

"Really?" Duke looked interested by that. He seemed to think about something. "How about we make a little bet? If you can a land a card to hit the picture of Dark Magician up there, you can get a discount on any of the booster packs in this aisle." Duke proposed, gesturing his hand to an image of the Dark Magician that was up on the wall away from us.

That grabbed my attention. Duke was one for making bets occasionally, but I was still surprised. "A bet huh? What exactly do I have to do if I miss and end up losing…?"

"Nothing." Duke answered with a laid-back shrug. "I don't demand anything from my customers. Especially not someone who complimented my store… Not to mention I learned recently that you shouldn't overstep your boundaries when making bets. They can come back around to bite you."

'I'm sure Yugi would be proud to hear that.' I thought. 'And I bet Joey would recoil in remembering how he nearly became Duke's servant for a week and stay dressed up as a dog.'

"Alright then, game on dice boy." I agreed, raising an eyebrow. "If I hit the Dark Magician, I get a booster pack here for half the price."

"Agreed." Duke said. "Now let's see how well this person taught you."

I smirked as I reached into my deck box and pulled out Gogiga Gagagigo. "This card will do." Eric's ace monster. Why not give it a shot? It had been a few years since I last did this, but I was in an anime world. I'm sure that some of Newton's law could be ignored here.

"Nice card." Duke complimented. "But just because it has higher attack points than the Dark Magician, doesn't mean that you'll land the shot."

I smirked as I took aim, pulling back my hand, and adjusting the card juuuust right. Pulling back my fingers, I spun the card, sending it flying upwards to hit the Dark Magician. It spun for a few seconds, flying upwards rather epicly and…

It hit the Dark Magician square in the face.

"Hell yeah!" I grinned, happy that I hadn't lost my touch. As I went up to collect the card, Duke congratulated me.

"Not bad Eric." Duke gave me a small applause. "I wonder if that means your Gogiga Gagagigo will defeat a Dark Magician one day."

"Who knows..." I mused. Actually, that was kinda unlikely seeing as there's only a few Dark Magician cards in the world, at least as far as I'm aware. Arkana has three, and I'd rather not go near him seeing as he was fine either using literal buzz saws or 'dark energy disks' for shits and giggles. It's hard to imagine if I'd ever end up Dueling Yugi one day, but who knows? Maybe in the Grand Championship Arc if it ever happens… "But either way, I did end up winning that little bet there…"

"Yes, you're right." Duke nodded. "So, take a booster pack here and I'll get it to you for a half price discount." He said, holding up his end of the bargain.

"Alright then, let's see here…" I muttered as I looked around the shelf's near here, looking for any good packs. There has to be some good cards here, Mirror Force, Yata Garasu, Chaos Empire Dragon… come on, let me see something good. As I was looking, I could suspect Duke looking over my shoulder, interested in what I would be selecting here. My eyes skimmed the shelf's, looking behind the rows of packs.

After a minute or so of good looking, I came across a booster pack that was literally at the very back end of the shelf, it having nearly fallen behind the gaps in the shelfs. Curiously, I pulled it out to examine it. I was surprised to see that it was a booster pack that wasn't actually here in this aisle.

Duke seemed to notice this before me, and tried to grab it. "What the-? What's that doing here?" He tired to reach and take the booster pack from me. "That booster packs not meant to be in this aisle. I don't recognise it."

I held the pack back. "Uh uh uh. Anything in this aisle I could get for half price. This technically counts for that. It still has a price tag." I argued. Duke was a little irked by this, but to my surprise he backed off.

"You know what? Fine by me." He raised his hands a little in defence. "That pack isn't even meant to be here anyway, it looks like one that's a few months old."

Few months old? That got my attention. Either way, there's nothing else like this here, so I'd be taking it.

"Alright then dice boy, I'll be taking this one. No issues with me paying for it here, right?" I questioned.

Duke shook his head, and we made the purchase then and there. After it was done, I put the booster pack in my jacket pocket. Duke looked confused. "You're not going to open it?"

"Why open it now if it means that I'll have to be carrying the cards in my pocket like that? They'd just get damaged that way. I think I'll open it when I get home. I can wait a few minutes." I replied simply. "Also… I can't see a trash can around here."

"You really are an interesting customer Eric. I mean that in a nice way of course. Most people just tear open the packs as soon as they get them." Duke said, somewhat approved of my decision. That's probably because his staff need to clean all the wrappings up. "And there's a trash can just outside this place."

"I appreciate that." I said, satisfied. "I'll be taking a bit more of a look around the store here. I may see you around."

"Maybe, but I have some business to take care of here." Duke replied. "But who knows, Domino is a small town, maybe we'll run into each other sometime again."

"Maybe so. Be seeing you Duke." I said, holding up my hand in farewell, choosing to explore more of the store.

'Well, that was an ok first encounter with a main character.' I concluded. I wouldn't count Mokuba as he practically barged into my life. 'If all my encounters go that well, then I shouldn't have that much trouble in my future. I'll hopefully end up meeting people that are more kind and not willing to trap me in a Shadow Game… or worse…' I thought, thinking about the fates that befell certain characters in Season 0.

Wanting to try and forget the many different reasons I could be killed in this world, I kept moving around Duke's game shop to try and see any more hidden booster packs. I looked at the back of many different shelves, reaching my hand back as far as I could, but I came up empty handed.

Though my attention was grabbed by the sound of a voice from my right, as I was rummaging the back of the shelves with my hand.

"Hey! Hey you!"

Rather curious as to who this could be, I pulled back my hand and turned around to see who this was. I didn't recognise this voice…

To my right, was a young boy who looked to be maybe sixteen years of age; as for his height, he looked to be maybe one or two feet shorter than me. About the same height as Joey, I reckon. He had black hair that was a bit spikey, not protagonist spikey, but still spiked here and there. His eyes were purple, and he was currently looking at me with some interest. He was wearing the Domino City High School uniform which did catch my attention; I could see a school bag slung over his shoulder. This guy went to the same school as Yugi and the others. But who was he? And what did he want with me?

"Uh, hello?" I responded, literally not knowing who this kid is. "Can I help you with something?"

'…Does he want to duel me?' I thought with curiosity.

"Was that you earlier that did that cool card trick hitting the Dark Magician?" He questioned eagerly, almost leaning forwards.

"Yes it was." I answered, relaxing a little. "It took me a long time to learn how–"

"Whoa! That's awesome man!" He exclaimed with joy, cutting me off. "I've never seen someone do a trick that cool before! What's your name!?"

"The names Eric Yuriko." I answered, surprised by this kids' gusto. Was he just a normal kid, impressed by what I did?

"My names Calian Field! I go to Domino City High School!" He proclaimed as he rubbed his nose with his finger. "My goal is to become the greatest Duelist the world has ever seen! Though I can never seem to find Yugi to duel him… But I won't give up!" He stated proudly. "By the way, your names seems to be a bit similar to Yugi's! Heh, maybe you're a long-lost family member."

'Please no. I do NOT need a connection to Ancient Egypt right now.' I thought with a bit of fear running down my back. 'But as for this kid, he just wants to be the best Duelists there is, huh? He's got guts considering how strong Yugi and the others get later on in the show. I guess he was just impressed by my actions earlier.'

"Nice to meet you Calian." I greeted him properly. "Don't think I'm a long-lost family member of Yugi… definitely would have figured that out by now."

"So, are you a Duelist then?" Calian asked with eagerness. "You see, I need a Duelist to help me with something important that's coming up!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Do you now? Well, yes, I'd say I class as a Duelist if all you need is a deck, but–"

"–So you'll help me then? Please! I really need this!" Calian begged, clapping his hands together, while bowing his head. "It won't take that long, I promise!"

'He gets straight to the point, doesn't he? Well, I kinda like that, though small talk wouldn't hurt before that… Just what is it that he wants help with?' I thought with interest.

"Tell me what it is first." I asked, not planning on moving until I know what this kid really wants from me.

Calian looked a bit destroyed hearing that. His face shifted expressions for a bit, before he spoke back up to me. "Ok, well… I don't need your help… I was asked with seeing if I could find Duelists around here for some little project that some KaibaCorp employees are doing in the next two hours… I was meant to be in school today, but I kinda skipped it today, and I was approached by a KaibaCorp employee asking for the assistance." Calian answered.

"Really now?" KaibaCorp asking the public for help? Well that confirms that this wasn't Kaiba's doing - that was guaranteed. He literally tests the duel disk himself, while raising the damage risk through the roof! This must be the work of some lower employee of the company. "He just needs help with some Duels?"

"Yeah!" Calian nodded. "He said that they're only looking for eight people, and that the testing for some new KaibaCorp item will be the main focus. Apparently, they're looking for results as soon as possible!"

'The duel disk I bet… Hmm… this could be a bit interesting to take part in. Get used to Dueling with my new deck… doesn't seem that bad.'

'And I've always wanted to Duel with an actual Duel Disk.'

"Sure. Just let me buy some booster packs here and we can head to wherever this is happening." I said, going ahead with this. I might be getting to test out a duel disk soon! And I'll be Dueling soon!

"Yeah! That's the spirit!" Calian practically jumped with joy. "I'll be outside, just don't keep me waiting that long, ok!?" Calian wasted no time in running out of the shop, leaving me alone.

After purchasing more booster packs, stuffing them into my jacket pocket, I made my out of the store, feeling like I had been in there for ages. Just on the other side of the street, Calian was standing there, waiting for me. Upon seeing me exit the store, he began to wave frantically, wanting me to follow him.

With a sigh, I moved over to him, and we began the walk to wherever this little experiment was taking place. Wanting to break the ice a little more, I spoke up to Calian.

"So Calian, what kind of deck do you use?" I asked with interest. Actually, upon second thought, that was probably a dumb question. Archetypes are barely a thing yet. Jaden is really the first character to pioneer the whole concept of archetypes, at least in the anime. You could still play cards that somewhat related to one singular card, but it wasn't really a whole archetype – at least not at the same level as the future archetypes yet to come.

"I use a warrior deck!" He stated proudly, holding up his deck. It was backwards, so I couldn't see what the main card at the front was. "You see, I've always liked warriors when I was younger. I always made sure to save up my money to buy as many booster packs as I can. Then I'd rip them open as soon as they were paid for any look for any warrior cards! I've put my heart and soul into this deck!"

"…And your life savings." I joked humorously.

"Hey! It was a completely worthwhile exchange!" Calian argued proudly. "I'd never take back a single card… unless it was being replaced by another warrior card!"

I smirked. "Well, sounds like you got the beginnings of an archetype there Calian."

Calian looked confused by what I said there, but he couldn't reply as we had to cross the road. Maybe it's best to avoid saying much modern-day terms all the time. Wouldn't want to to confuse anyone.

As we crossed the road and kept walking, Calian spoke up to me again. "So what is it that you do Eric?"

"…"

'Good question Calian… Fuck I should have tried to find that out… Like I REALLY should have…'

Knowing that I have to think of something, I just blurted out what came to me best. "Oh, my father actually owns a pretty nice company. They're currently considering a collaboration with KaibaCorp to try and further advance holographic technology. I just help my father with as much as I can."

That seemed to work for Calian. He looked very impressed by my answer. "Nice! That's amazing Eric! You must live a great life wherever you live!"

Huh, now that it was actually being stated to me, I felt that I might be starting to correctly guess things about Eric's life before I got here. I mean, he lived in a pretty fancy house, so he must have been rich. Thing is, it felt like the kind of rich that means that you don't have to work everyday and instead get paid by doing nothing… Maybe his father really did own a huge company? The supposed connection to Kaiba somewhat hinted at possible dealings between KaibaCorp and whatever my father did. Maybe he made games?

I snapped my focus back to Calian. "Oh well, I wouldn't say that… So, erm how about you Calian? What do your parents do?"

Calian looked ahead. "Hey look we're here!"

"Hm?"

I looked ahead and saw that we had came to a huge stadium. In fact… as I narrowed my eyes, and got a closer look at the stadium, I realised that this wasn't any ordinary stadium. It was the one that the Battle City finalists gather at! Why the fuck were we here? Actually, wasn't it under construction when the tournament went ahead? That'd mean that the place would be practically empty.

Calian tugged at my arm. "Come on! We're nearly there now!" I barely got time to protest, as Calian had near enough dragged me to the stadiums front entrance. There was a huge fence that was blocking the way in – the kind that you see in temporary construction areas. Guarding the fences gate was a KaibaCorp employee. I could tell by the badge he was wearing. He looked down to acknowledge Calian.

"Never thought you make it back here kid." He greeted, raising an eyebrow over those shades he wore. "You're just in time. Head on in, they're about to begin." He looked up at me. "The same goes with you pal."

Calian rushed into the stadium, and I begrudgingly followed him in. As we crossed past the gate, the employee out front closed the gate behind us and locked it, so no one would be barging in. I could hear him following us, which made me suspect that this was a small team operation.

Emerging out into the stadiums main playing field, I saw that there was no KaibaCorp blimp in the middle, and the entire playing field was completely barren, except for a few things that caught my eyes. The first thing was that there were two more KaibaCorp employees here, so I was right about this being a small man operation. One of the employees had four briefcases just like the one that Kaiba had, except I had a feeling they weren't filled with rare cards. What also caught my attention was that there were six more people around Calian's age sitting at foldable chairs. As I got closer to see them in more detail, I saw that they were also wearing Domino High School uniforms.

Me and Calian did make it to the crowd of other people, and sat down at two empty seats. The KaibaCorp employees that was at the front gate joined his two friends, and they began to whisper to each other as discreetly as they could. After a few minutes of terribly bad hidden communication, the employee with the four briefcases spoke up.

"Attention Duelists!" He yelled to grab our attention. "We thank you for coming here on behalf of assisting KaibaCorp! As some of you have been made aware, KaibaCorp have made a brand new state-of-the-art way of Dueling: The duel disk!" The employee hit some switches on the cases and they all opened up to reveal newly made duel disks. They certainly looked brand new. "In a few days time, KaibaCorp will be issuing these out for a very special event that one of you here may have a chance to be participating in."

'Is this event what I think it is?' I pondered internally.

"In a few days, the Battle City tournament will begin across Domino City! In this tournament will be a total forty-eight Duelists. However, one of these Duelists will be unable to make the tournament coming up due an unexpected leave of Domino City. Here, we'll be having you Duelists take part in a small mini tournament for gathering research on the duel disk. Whoever wins this little tournament will be granted access to the Battle City tournament in place of the person who can't make it." The other employee stated.

'That's interesting. I already have a confirmed place in this tournament if what Mokuba told me is true. Technically that reward doesn't matter to me… though the experience would be nice.' I thought. 'If I do win, I guess I can give the position to whoever duels against me in the finals here.'

The third employee raised his voice. "For this duel tournament we'll be using the upcoming Battle City rules, that Mr Kaiba created. Here we have the rules on a sheet of paper. Come and collect them, so you can learn them before the tournament."

While I already knew most of the rules that would be used, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take the sheet anyway. Also it might be suspicious if I don't and play by the rules perfectly. Walking up to collect the sheet of paper, I could hear various whispers of excitement because of the possibility of making it into the tournament. Calian surprisingly didn't speak up to me about it, rather he grabbed the sheet of paper as fast as he could and began to read it as throughly as possible. The kid really was determined to make it into the tournament.

Sitting back down and looking over the rules, I was a quite surprised.

There were no weird anime rules. The entire rule sheet had almost the exact same rules as that of the actual game. No weird shit like Fusions not being able to attack the turn they are summoned or all spells being activated as quickplays. The only two rules that looked the same as the anime, was that all Duelists began with 4000 LP's and that monsters can be summoned in faceup defence.

'So these are the rules? They seem to be very… modern. Kaiba must get nightmares about Duelist Kingdom, with Yugi's asspulls and Pegasus's toon monsters. These are more or less the same rules that I had to play with back in my world. Though I can still see differences.' I thought, looking over the rules carefully.

As I was looking over the rules, one of the employees came and handed everyone a slip of paper with a number on it. "Listen up Duelists. You may have seen that the rules mention a Locator Card as well as wagering your rarest cards. This little tournament here will be voiding those rules, as well as the banlist restriction that was approved by Industrial Illusions. This is so you do not need to worry about changing your decks."

Not too bothered by that decision, I looked down at the sheet of paper I was given. "Now on this sheet of paper you've been given is a number that will determine who your opponent will be in this tournament." Came one of the employees. "The matchups will be Duelist One VS Duelist Two, Duelist Three VS Duelist Four, Duelist Five VS Duelist Six and finally Duelist Seven VS Duelist Eight. After that, the winners will move forwards.

Calian nudged me on the shoulder. "Hey, what number are you Eric?" He asked curiously.

"I'm number Two. How about you?" I showed him my paper, also asking him when he would be Dueling.

"I'm number Eight!" He answered with a groan. "Man, I was hoping to Duel you first…"

I smirked. "Maybe if you Duel the best game you can, we'll end up meeting each other in the finals of this little tournament."

Calian looked happy at that idea. "Alright! You're on Eric! I'll beat you and get registered for Battle City! This is the break I've been waiting for my whole life!"

"…"

"So, you're up first right? Can't wait to see what you can do!" Calian grinned.

'Yeah… this is gonna be a crazy experience, one that I'll never forget, that's for sure.' I realised internally. 'I've always wanted to Duel with a Duel Disk before, with the holographic technology to back it up. It feels weird knowing that I'm about to live my childhood dream… Just wish that I wasn't the only one here to experience it.'

"Alright, let's get this little operation underway!" One of the employees said, as he pulled out two of the four Duel Disks from the two suitcases. "We'll be having one Duel at a time. After each duel, you'll be handing the Duel Disk to the other people who will be Dueling next. Now let's get going here. The first Duel is between Duelist One and Duelist Two! Show me your numbers… and maybe give me your names as well…"

I stood up first. "I'm Duelist Two. The names Eric Yuriko."

A boy around Calian's age stood up. "My names Josh, and I'm Duelist number One!"

The employee nodded, as he and one of his colleagues came to me and Josh, and handed us both a Duel Disk. I couldn't help but feel excited for the next few minutes of my life. "Remember. Don't even try and break this." The employee warned me. "You have no idea how much each of them cost."

"Right, right. I got it." I waved his worry aside. Considering that all the pain that people mostly feel in duels is from Shadow Magic and not physical attacks, I'm pretty confident that this Duel Disk here will be as shiny as it is right now after this is all over.

I took a deep breath, as I strapped the device to my left arm. I'd be drawing cards with my right hand and holding any cards in my left hand.

'So. This is what it feels like…' I thought, an incredible feeling running through my body as I equipped the duel disk. It felt super light and comfortable to wear. No wonder KaibaCorp always made huge profits with this sort of stuff.

'Only one last move to make here.' I thought as I reached into my deck box, and pulled out my deck, slotting it into the duel disk.

A perfect fit. Kaiba knew what he was doing making these things.

I looked up and saw that Josh had also equipped his deck and Duel Disk. One of the employees (god it's annoying that they don't have name badges), raised his voice.

"Alright you two, make your way to the centre of the stadium. It's time to begin!"

Not wanting to be kept away from my childhood dream any longer, I smirked as I marched over to the centre of the stadium, with Josh following me close behind. We made sure to get back far enough from each other, and I saw that everyone else was watching from the side. It looked like one of the employees would be refereeing this game. "Let me just say something." I began. "I've been waiting for a moment just like this my whole life. Don't think I'll be going easy on you kid."

Josh smirked. "I won't be going easy either! Now let's get ready!" He shouted as we both held our Duel Disks forwards.

"Here we go! Activate holo-images!" We both shouted as two small parts of the duel disk launched off from the device, and landed not too far away from us, creating a square for the holograms.

"Duelists ready?! Now begin!" The referee shouted.

"Now, let's Duel!"

Yes. I am ditching more or less all Battle City Rules here. We may be past Duelist Kingdom, but BC still had so many weird rules like Fusions not attacking the turn they are summoned. I'll be using the actual rules for this story, with the exceptions of monsters being summoned in face-up defence and the 4000 LP rule.

Next time we'll get to see the Duels! Stay tuned for that!

…Also why can't monsters be summoned in faceup defence? Would it have broken the game in the 2000's?