Chapter 4

Fenris sighed as he woke up in bed with a smile on his face. He then headed out to the dining room, where breakfast was being served, while Keith chatted with Rebecca about their conversation yesterday.

"Wait, so you fought Yugi Moto as well? I fought him and that Joey kid when he was still on the island. It took a lot of courage for the guy to drop out of the tournament and leave his partner hanging with that wannabe duelist chick," Keith said, which Rebecca giggled at before responding.

"You're not wrong since I checked out that Tea Gardner girl and could tell that she's good at playing in the schoolyard but hasn't been in an actual tournament before; however, her skills are better than that blowhard," Rebecca said before Issei joined in the conversation.

"Hey, that's what I called him. Can you believe he bought my whole act? Oh man, seeing his shocked face was the cherry on top of kicking his butt. Aha!" Issei laughed in amusement while Keith and Rebecca laughed at the video. Fenris chuckled at the three chatting until he saw Sona on her computer again before joining her.

"Mind if I sit here?" Fenris asked, initially getting no response from Sona before Fenris tapped her shoulder, causing her to look a bit startled as if she had been taken from the zone.

"Huh? Oh, it's you."

"Hello again. Mind if I sit here?" Fenris asked.

"Do as you wish. Just don't disturb me while I'm researching," Sona said, going back to her computer. Fenris joined her and sat across from her before he started eating some food. Fenris could tell that Sona loved to plan with calculated strategies and get the upper hand on her opponents.

After he had eaten his fill, he asked her what she was working on, causing Sona to glare at him slightly before sighing.

"It's the live feed of the tournament. I've been watching the other duelists on the island who are closer to completing the challenge before entering Duelist Castle. So far, for the sixteen sports, fourteen of the spots have already been claimed by the victors before the second part of the tournament."

"And who are they?" Fenris asked, having only seen the others from yesterday. Sona looked at Fenris's eyes for a moment before turning her computer towards him to show the ones already in the Top Sixteen.

Duelist Kingdom Top Sixteen:

Issei Hyoudou.

Vivian Wong.

Sona Sitri.

Ishizu Ishtar.

Mai Valentine.

Rebecca Hawkins.

Bandit Keith.

Fenris.

Weevil Underwood.

Rex Raptor.

Seto Kiba: VIP

Duke Develin: VIP

Maximillion Pegasus: Counts as two contestants.

Two spots remaining.

"Wait, Seto Kiba and Duke Develin will be part of the tournament? That's unbelievable! Will Pegasus be part of the competition as well? But why?" Fenris asked, causing Sona to smirk at his surprise before closing the laptop.

"Seto Kiba and Duke Develin were personally invited to the top sixteen since both of them are very skilled. Looking at the final duelists, Pegasus has a suspicion about who will be the last two duelists in the top sixteen. However, he wishes to participate in the tournament to show his one-of-a-kind deck. Pegasus has mentioned it's something unlike other decks since it's very unique and a bit kid-friendly." Sona explained this before Fenris asked the Water Deck user for her opinion.

"So, who do you think will be in the last two spots?"

"Oh, definitely Yugi Moto and the wannabe dancer," Sona said as she already had them on the roster, much to Fenris's surprise, before Sona explained her reasons.

"Well, Yugi Moto may have been having trouble for now, but I believe he and this Tea girl'll be the next two since Yugi may not be any Seto Kaiba, but he has some skills," Sona explained. At the same time, Fenris was surprised by this before recalling hearing about Yugi Moto. Still, more specifically, that strange puzzle that Yugi had on his necklace worried him since he could tell there was something strange about that puzzle and not just because it was an old rusty piece of junk.

'Something about that puzzle box is concerning. It almost reminds me of the time I met the spirits of my Norse cards.' Fenris said before pulling out his deck and looking at his four ace monsters.

'Loki. Fenrir. Thor. Odin. Is it possible you know more about that strange puzzle box than we humans do?' Fenris said in his mind before Odin's head smiled. He nodded his head before Fenris gasped as he was given an image.

Fenris was shocked as he looked around, wondering where he was before the view cleared to reveal the Legendary Godslayer Dog. Fenrir howled in the air before a massive red dragon appeared and roared down at the dog.

"Slifer the Sky Dragon and Fenrir," Fenris said as he saw how Fenrir wished to destroy the troublesome dragon that tormented his father, so Slifer indulged the Beast, but as the two clashed and shook the heaven and EarthEarth, the two Divine Beasts could never destroy the other but only wound one another.

Fenris was amazed by this before seeing the image around him change to show Odin and Obelisk clashing and exchanging fisticuffs.

The two seemed to enjoy the match as they clashed, as they wished to prove who was stronger. However, even with Orin's all-seeing abilities, he couldn't compete with the power that the Tormentor wielded. The two would change the land with each mighty blow and attempt to destroy the other, but neither succeeded until Obelisk and Odin's final blow destroyed them both.

"Incredible," Fenris said as the ground began to shake and become Egypt. Fenris looked at Hela, a being that cannot be killed except by either the destruction of Asgard or a God. Ra, the literal Egyptian Sun God, clashed with the immortal Goddess of Death, who was trying to destroy the Sun God Ra in battle. However, with the Sun's power, the undead army of the Goddess failed even to reach him.

Fenris then turned to see the image vanish, and Loki appeared before him before speaking to him.

"The skies will shake when the dragon appears from the heavens. The Sun will continue to rise and scorch all of Earth. And the land will be destroyed when the Tormentor emerges from the ground," Loki said before lifting his staff and using the tip to touch Fenris's chest.

"Be ready. Two of the avatars have been chosen to wield them. One remains." Loki said before Fenris was sent back to the world, he came from while Loki looked back at his father.

"Are you sure it was wise enough to inform him of our history with the Egyptian Gods?" Loki asked before Odin replied.

"Yes. In order to help Fenris prepare to face the powers of our rivals, Fenris must be aware of their power. I know you and Fenrir wish to destroy Slifer in battle, while I wish to clash with Obelisk to settle our duel finally. However, the one that concerns me the most is Ra since his spirit partner is someone who knows of our history with the Gods of Egypt," Odin said before sitting on his throne.

"You mean the girl known as Ishizu?" Loki asked.

"Yes. Ishizu is the reincarnation of Priestess Isis. Ishizu wields the Millennium Necklace, a powerful ancient Egyptian artifact that grants her the power to foresee the past and future. From what I was able to learn about her was that she became a museum curator working for the Egyptian government agency, the Supreme Council of Antiquities, in order to lure the wielder of the Pharaoh, Yugi Muto, and Seto Kaiba to her in order to prevent her brother Marik and the Rare Hunters from fulfilling their plans. Despite her brother's betrayal of her family, Ishizu believes that there is still a sufficient amount of good left in his heart."

Odin said this while Loki listened to his father, knowing that his father's powers of foresight were not to be underestimated and that the Egyptians feared Odin's might and power, for it exceeded even the Pharaoh's and even the Millennium Necklace.

"And now that she's here and has sided herself with the wielder of the Millennium Eye, then it's possible she's trying to gain some assistance with trying to gain others to assist her in stopping her brother, correct?" Loki asked before hearing a cackle of a laugh as Hela appeared on top of Fenrir.

"I don't understand why we should even side with the Pharaoh or even his little 'protectors' since they didn't do such a good job in the first place. Why should Fenris get involved with them anyway? I say we should tell those sand people to do it and ask their 'sacred guardians' to protect them." Hela said that she's always had a grudge against the Egyptians and how they insulted her stories, making her sound like some evil witch.

"Because the Millennium Items are dangerous if left unchecked. We should help the guardians to secure the Millennium Items to protect the world and put them back. Especially since if Marik is back, then his alter ego may return." Thor said, appearing in the argument knowing about the items that the Pharaoh and his guardians wielded, but the one he feared the most was Yami Marik, whose goal was to claim the power of the Egyptian Gods and the Pharaoh to not only rule the world but absorb the real Marik and become human.

Odin remained silent as he heard his children argue before he had had enough and slammed his staff into the floor.

"ENOUGH!"

The trio froze as Odin then spoke to them all.

"We will support Fenris in his decision, but we can show him our past with them. The boy is the one we chose to wield our powers, so we will not force him to make decisions about the situation. That is his choice, whether we like it or not." Odin said as his three children nodded and left him be. Odin looked into the future to see the choice Fenris made before smiling at the image.

"Heh. Is the Sitri Heiress getting flustered about our partner? Oh, this will be fun." Odin said, smiling as a proud father would before he continued watching the events that would come when the Duelist Kingdom Tournament began for them.

Fenris was apologizing for falling asleep on Sona's chest, making Sona's tinted face look away from Fenris before she replied that she forgave him while hiding the fact she liked him resting on her body due to no man ever having done that to her before.

"It wasn't so bad, but next time, warn me before passing out," Sona said, while Fenris was surprised by this reaction before Keith and Issei flashed him a thumbs up along with Duke Develin.

'I guess that puts me on a high bar since I made her mask crack a bit, ' Fenris thought before speaking to Sona.

"Hey, Sona. Do you mind if I ask you something that might sound silly?"

"Go on," Sona asked with interest before Fenris continued.

"What do you know about Spirit Partners?" Fenris asked, causing Sona's bush to vanish. She then took Fenris out of the room and brought him to her room before locking the door behind her.

"I knew it. You're one of them, aren't you." Sona said as she turned around to see Fenris's deck before looking at his ace monsters. "You, the Norse Factions champion."

"Their champion?" Fenris asked since he was a little confused. Sona pushed Fenris onto her bed, snapped her fingers, and caused a projector to appear. Then, she connected her computer to said projector and tapped a few keys until a PowerPoint slide appeared.

"A Champion is basically a human that was either chosen or a human choosing that special deck that was created by the factions. The Duel Monsters began all the way back to ancient Egypt due to that idiot Pharaoh and his sick idea of a game." Sona said as she began to show the slideshow to Fenris before the history lecture began.

"There is a difference between Duel Monster Spirits and Spirit Partners. The latter, Spirit Partners, are Duel Monster Spirits that have human partners. Their partners and any other humans that possess the ability are the only humans who can see and interact with them. It's also possible to have more than one spirit partner. There have been reports of many people owning or having the ability to sense a Duel Monster in one way or another. However, Duel Monster Spirits are a different story since they can be either friendly, dangerous, or neutral towards humans."

Sona explained before continuing the presentation.

"Duel Monster Spirits, or what is now known as Duel Monsters, is the name given to the magical, spiritual, and otherworldly creatures that a duelist can summon. Ancient legends and carvings of Duel Monsters inspired Maximillion Pegasus to create this popular card game of the same name. They live primarily in the Duel Monsters Spirit World, although their relationships with humans and EarthEarth are sometimes unclear, and yet they are different when around the other supernatural factions."

Sona said as she showed how said cards can summon spirits and how they are either friendly like Kuriboh, dangerous like most Fiends, or neutral like the rare Number cards.

"In some cases, these spirits seem to form a strong bond with a specific human. Back in Ancient Egypt, these spirits were created from Ka but took the form of a person's Ba; in Egyptian mythology, the Ba was the other half of one's soul - one personality. In Egypt, some people could possess multiple Ka spirits, and these spirits could have Ba of their own to varying degrees. If a person's Ba leaves its body, it may join with the Ka of their Duel Monster, fusing the person with their monster, such as this person." Sona explained as she showed a picture of Mahad and Illusion Magician joined to become Dark Magician.

Fenris was amazed by this as Sona continued. "It is unclear how this relationship takes form in the modern age, but when people die, they can pass on into the afterlife, and if, as Mahad and Mana fused with a Duel Spirit, they can take on the form of a Duel Monster. It was highly implied that the afterlife and the Duel Monsters Spirit World are both connected somehow, which I wish to understand better if those angels were willing to talk to us."

"So you are a duelist that can see Duel Monsters and have a Spirit Partner?" Fenris asked, making Sona nod her head in response before continuing her lecture.

"These spirits have their societies in each part of the spirit world due to there being several entirely different dimensions, and there have even been conflicts between the spirits of some dimensions, including DARK Fiend-type monsters against LIGHT Fairy-type monsters or Warrior-type monsters against Dragon-type monsters, among others. Duel Spirits were allies of the human world in many ancient societies such as Atlantis, Egypt, and the People of the Stars. Earth has been both aided and plagued by both good and evil spirits, which could explain why this game brings so much chaos and harmony into the world."

Sona explained before Fenris was amazed by the slideshow and the examples shown with the Spirit World.

One section of the spirit world appears to be based mostly on fairy-type and dragon-type monsters, although Dark Magician Girl appears to be their leader. Her presence in this place may indicate that other Spellcaster-type monsters, such as Dark Magician, also live there. The most notable Duel Spirits from this area are the Legendary Knights of Atlantis, Timaeus, Critias, and Hermos, who are its guardians. According to Dark Magician Girl, the spirit world has existed as long as humanity has existed.

Another section is Neo Space, which is the realm beyond Earth Earth in outer space in which many Alien duel spirits live, such as Elemental Hero Neos and Neo-Spacians. They believe in a being with the power to bridge the worlds of the Duel Spirits and the humans called the Supreme King, who's destined to save both worlds from The Light of Destruction.

Another unique section of Duel spirits is the Numbers, whose powers originate from both the Astral and Barian Worlds. Several spirits were even chosen to act as guardians to protect their respected Number cards on EarthEarth.

"But I still don't understand one thing you said to me. What did you mean by champion? How is that any different from the Duel Partners and their Spirit Partners?" Fenris asked before Sona continued.

"A champion is someone who has a connection so strong to the faction of their deck that they can even draw or call upon the power of their ace monsters to not only become them temporally but to clash with those that threaten the balance of the EarthEarth and spirit world. You and everyone that was here are either a champion or have a strong Spirit Partner. If there is one thing I know about tournaments, it is that the many different clans and factions love to battle one another, which is why I am here. To keep an eye on the Spirit Partners and be on the lookout for champions like you." Sona said before extending a hand out to him.

"Which is why I wish to inform you that you, Yugi Moto, Seto Kaiba, Ishizu Ishtar, Issei Hyoudou, Pegasus, and myself are the strongest people here in this tournament. When a champion plays against another champion, the duel will become more real and dangerous as you must be wary of the way you play, for if you lose, you'll lose your status as a champion and your deck." Sona said, much to Fenris's surprise as he looked at his deck before asking Sona.

"So which one are you? A champion?"

"Hah! I wish." Sona said before pulling out a card and summoning a tall lady with a majestic aura around her. She then introduced herself.

"My name is Sona Sitri, heiress of the Sitri Clan, and this is my Spirit Partner: Number 94, Crystal Zero. I wish to ally with you, Fenris, for I need your help in winning this tournament to defeat Pegasus and obtain his Millennium Item." Sona said as Fenris was shocked. A still silence entered the room before Fenris replied to her.

"Huh?"

Scene!

I know some were expecting the Slifer and Yugi battle, but I decided to do a lore chapter to show how Fenris's part will play in the story along with the others.

The Champions are:

Fenris: Norse Faction.

Issei Hyoudou: Fiend/ Dragon/ Spellcaster Faction

Yugi Moto: Champion of Yami Yugi.

Ishizu Ishtar: Champion of Egypt

Weevil Underwood: Champion of Insects.

Rex Raptor: Champion of Dinosaurs.

Keith Bandit: Champion of Machines.

Mai Valentine: Champion of Harpies.

Duel Spirit Partner Users:

Rebecca Hawkins.

Tea Gardner.

Seto Kaiba.

Maximillion Pegasus.

Sona Sitri.

Duke Develin.

Vivian Wong

Let me know who you want to see battle in the first round since the next chapter will have Yugi's entrance into the castle and the first duel of the second part of the tournament.