Author's Note: There probably won't be any established Yugioh characters appearing in this fic, though some will be mentioned. I wanted to tell my own story set in the world of Yugioh. For reference, the cards and decks used by characters are based on roughly the late DM-early GX era.
Chapter 1: Thugs and Bugs
A boy stood before a large, decrepit looking building. It had once been some kind of corporate office, but the company had gone under several years back, and now it was mostly abandoned, or so the public thought. The gold-red of the sunset reflected off the cracked and broken windows lining the side of the building, casting tons of glare onto the dirty streets below. In truth, it was now inhabited by a group of thugs and lowlifes who banded together to establish a Dueling League of sorts. The idea was to create an environment where they could all sharpen their duel skills in an effort to one day make it onto the Pro Circuit and lift themselves out of their impoverished lifestyle. Thus far, no one in the gang had managed to accomplish this goal.
This kid aimed to change that. Deck and Duel Disk in hand, he strode into the building with utter confidence. Well, as much confidence as a seventeen year old boy who was about to confront a gang of known criminals could have, which, truthfully, wasn't much.
"Excuse me?" he called out as he entered the main lobby, sounding much more sure of himself than he actually felt. "If any of you punks are around, I'm here to become the newest member of your little gang, so come on out."
Across the room was a set of stairs leading to the upper floors. Three men dressed in dirty, tattered clothing descended from the staircase bearing smug expressions.
"A kid like you wants to join the Breakers?" began the one in the middle, a tall man with brown eyes and a bald head.. "Cocky little punk, aren't you?" The man looked the slender newcomer up and down.
He was dressed pretty neatly; a tucked-in black dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to just below his elbows and the top three buttons undone, revealing a white tank top underneath, dark blue skinny jeans with a studded belt, black low-cut Chuck Taylors on his feet, a silver chain necklace around his neck with a sapphire pendant, a white-trimmed black paracord bracelet on his right wrist and a well-worn silver-plated watch around his left. On his right index, right ring, left middle, and left pinky fingers were several valuable-looking silver signet rings. His standard-issue Kaiba Corp Duel Disk was almost as well-worn as his watch, indicating large amounts of time spent dueling. The relatively pale boy stared back up and the hardened criminal with icy blue eyes.
"You come into a place like this dressed like that, and you think you can join us?" the man continued. "What makes you think we won't just beat you up and rob you blind?"
"The whole point of this place is to become better Duelists to make it as professionals and escape this life, right?" asked the boy as he brushed a few strands of his spiky shoulder-length black hair out of his eyes. "Sure, you could mug me and probably get a pretty penny out of my clothes and effects, but that money won't last long. Trust me, if you guys wanna seriously get better and make the Pro Circuit in the long run, you'll want me around. If you're smart, you'll forego the short term gains of robbing me in favor of the long term gains of having me around as a training partner."
"Oh, yeah? You talk a big game, but let's see you prove it. How about you duel my subordinate here?" He motioned to the man on his left. He was slightly shorter than the bald man, but still taller than the kid, and had a head of shaggy, unkempt dark blonde hair. "You win, and you'll become the newest official member of the Breakers. You lose, and you hand over everything you have, even down to the shirt off your back. How does that sound, boys?"
"Sounds fine to me," said Manda. The other one remained silent but nodded to indicate his approval.
"I'll take that bet," replied the boy with a snide smile.
"By the way, you cocky little shit, what's your name?"
"Tatsumaki. And since you referred to this guy as your subordinate, then you must be Enzo, the leader."
"I see my reputation precedes me," replied Enzo. "Show 'em what your Insect deck can do, Manda."
"With pleasure, boss," replied Manda, brandishing his Duel Disk.
Tatsumaki brandished his Duel Disk, engaging the Hologram System.
"I'll be nice and let you go first," said Tatsumaki.
"Alright then, fine!" shouted Manda, drawing his hand. "Draw!" Manda studied his hand and quickly decided on his opening move. "I activate Pot of Greed to draw two new cards! Next, I'll Set a monster and Set two cards, and end my turn!" As he placed his cards, the Holo System displayed them on the field
"My turn! Draw!" exclaimed Tatsumaki, grabbing his sixth card. He checked his hand. He opened up with Thunder Dragon, Mystical Space Typhoon, Bazoo the Soul Eater, Airknight Parshath, and Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive. His sixth card was Call of the Haunted. He took a moment to consider his options, then made his play.
"I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, allowing me to destroy one of your Set cards!"
Manda's Set Ring of Destruction was unceremoniously removed from the field.
"Next, I activate the effect of Thunder Dragon! By discarding it, I add two more copies of it from my deck to my hand! Now, I Summon Bazoo the Soul Eater [Level 4/EARTH/Beast/ATK1600/DEF900]. Now, Bazoo will attack your monster!"
"Your attack activated the effect of my Set Man-Eater Bug [Level 2/EARTH/Insect/ATK450/DEF600]!" exclaimed Manda. "When he's turned face-up, he destroys one of your monsters! He'll go down, but he's taking your Bazoo with him!"
"Not bad," mused Tatsumaki. "I'll Set a card and end my turn."
"Before your turn ends, I activate my other Set card, Dust Tornado which will take out the card you just Set!"
Tatsumaki smiled. At last, a proper challenge.
"Now, it's my turn!" shouted Manda as he drew a card. "I Summon Pinch Hopper [Level 4/EARTH/Insect/ATK1000/DEF1200], and attack you directly! I end my turn."
Manda: 8000 Life Points.
Tatsumaki: 7000 Life Points.
"Draw!" Tatsumaki checked his draw. Magical Merchant [Level 1/LIGHT/Insect/ATK200/DEF700]. Looking at the contents of his hand, there weren't too many options at that moment.
"I'll Set a monster and end my turn."
"Not so cocky now that I have you on the back foot, huh?" taunted Manda as he drew a card at the start of his turn. "Well, just you wait! I'm just gonna keep putting on the pressure! I Summon Insect Knight ]Level 4/EARTH/Insect/ATK1900/DEF1500]. Now, I activate Insect Imitation! By Tributing Insect Knight, I can bring out an even stronger bug from my Deck! Say hello to Millenium Scorpion [Level 5/EARTH/Insect/ATK2000/DEF1800]! Now, Scorpion will attack your Set monster, and whenever it beats a monster in battle, it gains 500 ATK!"
"You've triggered my Magical Merchant! Like your Man-Eater bug, its effect goes off when it's flipped up! Now I send cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard until I hit a Spell or Trap card, and add it to my hand!" Tatsumaki began turning over the top cards of his deck, sending Dark Magician of Chaos, Magician of Faith, and Sinister Serpent to the graveyard before hitting his own copy of Pot of Greed.
"Whatever, so you have a Pot of your own! Pinch Hopper, attack him directly! I'll end my turn here."
Manda: 8000 Life Points.
Tatsumaki: 6000 Life Points.
Tatsumaki drew a card to begin his turn. "What a perfect card to get me out of this," he smirked. "To start with, my Sinister Serpent [Level 1/WATER/Reptile/ATK300/DEF250] returns from my graveyard to my hand. Next, I activate Pot of Greed to draw two new cards! Now, I Summon Tribe-Infecting Virus [Level 4/WATER/Aqua/ATK1600/DEF1000], and activate its effect, discarding Sinister Serpent to destroy all monsters on the field of a type of my choice! Naturally, I choose Insect!"
"Oh, damn, this ain't good," gasped Enzo. "That Virus is pretty rare, and extremely powerful, especially against duelists like Manda, who focus on a single type of monster."
"You might have destroyed my Scorpion, but Pinch Hopper's effect activates when it's destroyed, allowing me to call forth another Insect monster from my hand! Come out, Swarm of Locusts [Level 3/DARK/Insect/ATK1000/DEF500]!"
"That's fine. As long as I have cards in my hand, I can knock down as many bugs as you set up! I discard one of my Thunder Dragons to once again destroy all Insects on the field! Now, I activate Premature Burial, paying 800 Life Points to revive a monster in my graveyard! Now, my Dark Magician of Chaos [Level 8/DARK/Spellcaster/ATK2800/DEF2600] is finally here!"
"This kid has a card like that?!" exclaimed Jo, unable to suppress his shock. "DMOC is incredibly rare! I've only ever met one other duelist who has one."
"Not only is it rare," added Tatsumaki, "It's got an incredibly powerful effect! When DMOC is summoned, it lets me add a Spell card from my grave back to my hand, and I think I'll go with Pot of Greed, which I'll immediately use to get two fresh cards!"
"Damn, he's racking up cards now," remarked Enzo. "At this rate, he'll have more threats than Manda has answers."
"Now, I'll move to attack you directly! First with my Virus, then with DMOC!"
"You really reversed this on me, huh, kid?" noted Manda. "You're pretty good."
"More than good; I'm the best duelist you've ever met, guaranteed. Now, I'll Set a card and end my turn."
Manda: 3600 Life Points.
Tatsumaki: 5200 Life Points.
"Best I've ever met? Yeah right, kid. That honor goes to Enzo without a doubt. Now, my turn!"
Manda checked his drawn card and smirked. "Now, I activate Graceful Charity, drawing three cards and then discarding two. Next, I activate the Mystical Space Typhoon I drew to destroy Premature Burial, and send your DMOC back where it came from!"
"Not quite," corrected Tatsumaki. "When DMOC would leave the field, it's removed from play instead."
"Even better. Now I don't have to worry about it coming back. Next, I Summon another Insect Knight, and it'll attack your Virus!"
"Sorry, but you've activated my Trap card, Ring of Destruction! With this, your monster is destroyed, and we each take its ATK as damage!"
"Well, that's not good. I'll have to end my turn here."
Manda: 1700 Life Points.
Tatsumaki: 3300 Life Points.
"Well, if you don't have anything left on the field for me to worry about, then I'm sorry to say, it's over." said Tatsumaki with a snide smile. "Draw! First, Sinister Serpent comes back to my hand. Next, I Summon that Serpent. Even though its ATK is pathetic, your Life Points are low enough that it can finish you off. First, Tribe-Infecting Virus attacks you directly. Then, Sinister Serpent finishes the job."
Manda: 0 Life Points.
Tatsumaki: 3300 Life Points.
"Damn, he got me!" laughed Manda. "Good game, kid."
"Good game, Manda." The teenager turned his head towards Enzo. "Guess that means I'm in?"
"So, Tatsumaki was your name, right?" asked Enzo as he approached and extended his hand "I guess a deal's a deal. Welcome to the Breakers, kid. You definitely proved your worth to our team."
"Thanks, but that was nothing, really," replied Tatsumaki, shaking his had. "I'd like to take on the infamous Enzo at some point and see what you've got."
"Maybe some other time, kid. Truth be told, you came in right as we were about to go out and round up some dinner."
"Well, you guys are a pretty famous crew. There's no way you got your reputation with just three members. How many do you have?"
"Counting you now, we have a total of seven," replied Enzo. "Me, Manda, Kiri here, and then upstairs we got Jo, Taza, and Ryo."
"I'm kinda feeling like a good burger," replied Tatsumaki, turning towards the exit. "It's all on me, so round up the other guys and let's go."
"What? Are you serious? A kid like you has the money to feed six other people?" asked Manda incredulously.
"Yeah, of course I do," replied Tatsumaki. "I would have thought my clothes and accessories you guys wanted to rob me for would have made that obvious."
"Just who are you, kid?" asked Enzo.
Tatsumaki stopped in the doorway leading outside, sighing. His tone of voice became more somber as he answered the question. "I'm Tatsumaki Adachi, son of Rin Adachi."
