Click this. You know you want to. Come on, click it already!

[Guest Star]

Those who search for darkness may find that they're getting themselves into something far more dangerous than they could ever imagine."

 

It was cold. So cold that he could let out a miniscule breath and see it right in front of his face, seemingly ten times larger. He didn't know where he was, and from what he could tell he was still dressed in the outfit he had put on earlier that day. Just a generic t-shirt, khakki shorts, and casual sneakers. Not exactly great gear to be walking in a forest with, which was what the surrounding area appeared to be. While their seemed to be nothing to be afraid about - other than the whole "being lost in a forest at God-only-knows what time of night - there was a feeling of nervousness that was slowly overtaking him. A rare occurence, but one that gave him a bad feeling at that.

 

He had to be dreaming; there was no guarantee, but it seemed like just five minutes ago he had clicked off the television and went under the covers, going to sleep to get ready for work the next morning. There was no way he could've just up and left, appearing in a forest five minutes later. Not when you live in the middle of the city. He felt around his left pocket, and there was nothing there, which in a sense, well, made sense. In his right pocket he felt two things; his Deck Box holding the Duel Monsters Cards he had come to know and love, and a single card. He reached for the card and wisked it out of his pocket, only for it to seconds later become enveloped in light and vanish. It took him by surprise and he stepped back, but he tried to keep his cool. This whole thing was a creepy, half-dream, half-nightmare. It was at the point where one thing could go wrong and it'd be full-fledged one way or another.

 

That feeling of nervousness was still lingering. It was nothing, he told himself. A dream, a nightmare, was just an illusion distracting one from the reality that was real life. Yet part of him felt, deep down inside, that it wasn't a dream. Even so, nothing had happened to indicate that he should be afraid. Just on guard. Yeah, that seemed about right. In the instance that something could be wrong, he'd be alert. But who was he kidding? All he had was a Deck of Duel Monsters Cards. What was he going to do? Pretend they were ninja stars and hope to give any attackers a paper-cut? Provided he was in real trouble, there wasn't much he could do. When you're five feet, seven inches tall and one-hundred and thirty pounds - a very scarce amount of muscle - your best hope would be that a magical banana peel falls from the sky and whoever's chasing you slips and falls like in some kind of three-year old preschool show.

 

As he looked around, examining his surroundings a little better than before, he started to feel almost dizzy. The trees in the outlying area seemed to be circling around him, getting smaller and smaller until there was no space, nowhere to breathe, no air, what was going on? Just when all hope seemed lost, he sat up in his bed, beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. Everything was just as he had left it; he breathed a sigh of relief. That was good at least, right? It had just been a dream. As he started to get out of bed, figuring maybe a drink of water would calm him down a bit, he heard a drop of liquid hit the floorboard. He jumped - not literally - back. A couple of more drops hit the floor, in succession. He turned his gaze to the window for a moment; the street lights outside showed clear indication that it wasn't raining. Immediately he felt a razor-sharp pain in his arm. He turned his attention to it and shifted his arm so he'd get a better view at the back. A three-inch cut had somehow found its way onto his arm, and it was surrounded by blood, both dry and new. The more he looked at it, the more the pain began to sink in. What in the world had just happened?

 

He closed his eyes, the pain becoming worse and worse by the second. After a good minute, he opened them to find that the cut was gone. There was no blood on the floor, and everything looked as it had before this whole sherade - yeah, that's what it was - even got underway. It seemed as if this whole thing had just occured in a timespan of five minutes, yet it felt like he had been sitting there for days. Taking a glance at the clock, he realized that it was only 11:30. He had gone to bed five minutes ago. So he was right on that, but there was no way that this whole thing had been a dream. He was awake, and he felt that pain. You don't feel pain in a dream; hence the term illusion. It wasn't something to focus on now. He had to get up in five hours and get ready for his flight; the first day of Duel Academy was tomorrow. Ugh, he'd just sleep this off and forget about it in the morning.

 

Yeah, like that ever happens.

[Weather Report - Stand]

It looks intriguing, and I don't say that often around here.

[schyshter]

it was semi-interesting, until i got to the Duel Academy part =/

 

bah...!

[Guest Star]

It looks intriguing' date=' and I don't say that often around here.

[/quote']

 

Thanks; yeah from what I've seen a lot of the current writing around here is far from sub-par, but I did learn from Umbra and I pride myself in creativity so I hope I'll be able to impress some of you.

 

it was semi-interesting' date=' until i got to the Duel Academy part =/

 

bah...!

[/quote']

 

If you're neive enough to believe that Duel Academy will have much to do with this for more than five episodes, perhaps this isn't the right Fan-Fiction for you.

[schyshter]

touchy, much? i said semi-interesting, so it may turn out to be something to watch. as it is, it aint too bad, but not very good either...

[Guest Star]

touchy' date=' much? i said semi-interesting, so it [i']may[/i] turn out to be something to watch. as it is, it aint too bad, but not very good either...

 

Yeah, sorry ^_^;

 

Well it's hard to make a decision on whether or not it's good because you haven't gotten even a glimpse of the storyline yet. My apologies.

[schyshter]

nah, forget it. i wasn't expecting the intro to reveal much (IMO, it never should), and a mysterious event is always a decent start. it's just the writing style that bothers me, that's all...

 

and oh, i do so hate the thoroughly done-to-death Duel Academy approach, which should explain my initial reaction. so i'm glad you're not gonna go that route :D

 

i'll be keeping my eye on this...

 

good luck...

[Guest Star]

nah' date=' forget it. i wasn't expecting the intro to reveal much (IMO, it never should), and a mysterious event is always a decent start. it's just the writing style that bothers me, that's all...

 

and oh, i do so hate the thoroughly done-to-death Duel Academy approach, which should explain my initial reaction. so i'm glad you're not gonna go that route :D

 

i'll be keeping my eye on this...

 

good luck...

[/quote']

 

Alright then, haha. Hopefully I'll get the first episode posted tomorrow.

[bury the year]

It's charade, not "sherade."

 

The setting's a bit ill-defined, and it seems to flux around too much. Try being a bit more concrete in saying where everything is located.

[Guest Star]

It's charade' date=' not "sherade."

 

The setting's a bit ill-defined, and it seems to flux around too much. Try being a bit more concrete in saying where everything is located.

[/quote']

 

Yeah, I'm not great with spelling. What did you mean by "ill-defined"?

[bury the year]

It's charade' date=' not "sherade."

 

The setting's a bit ill-defined, and it seems to flux around too much. Try being a bit more concrete in saying where everything is located.

[/quote']

 

Yeah, I'm not great with spelling. What did you mean by "ill-defined"?

 

Well, from what I've gathered, he's in bed one second, then in a forest. But at points, you make it seem like he's in a city, and back in his bedroom... It's a bit dizzying.

[Guest Star]

It's charade' date=' not "sherade."

 

The setting's a bit ill-defined, and it seems to flux around too much. Try being a bit more concrete in saying where everything is located.

[/quote']

 

Yeah, I'm not great with spelling. What did you mean by "ill-defined"?

 

Well, from what I've gathered, he's in bed one second, then in a forest. But at points, you make it seem like he's in a city, and back in his bedroom... It's a bit dizzying.

 

Alright; I'll work on making it more clear. He was dreaming when he was in the forest, though.

[Guest Star]

"Memories can fade...but scary-ass dreams can last a hell of a lot longer..."

 

"Caw! Caw!" The crow sat atop it's perch, the sun slowly inching it's way into the sky. All around the country, people were pulling back the covers and angrily stepping out of bed, so not in the mood to start the day. For some, it meant going to work, others, going out with their parents maybe, but for a group of four-hundred kids, today was a great day. Rather than a mocking call suggesting that "I'm up, now you have to be too" the crow's call was an alarm, a reminder, making sure the four-hundred kids that would receive tryouts to get into the prestigious Duel Academy were up and ready to go. The rules were simple, you duel an instructor who used a generic, not-even-better-than-average Deck and "tested" your skill.

 

Or that's what they said. Following the trend, perhaps, Christian sat up. He pushed back the covers like he did every morning, except this morning he did it with a smile on his face. He had waited years for this opportunity, and now that he was seventeen years old, he was finally old enough to try out for a spot in the greatest Duel Monsters College in the world, Duel Academy. It was a good five-hour flight from his home of Tokyo to the Academy, but that didn't bother him. He was moreso worried about the anxiety; would he even be able to make it five hours knowing what was awaiting him? He joked to himself, making light of the situation. Anyway, wasting time wasn't going to get him anywhere. He hopped out of bed and threw on a new outfit, similar to yesterday's with basically some different colours in some different places.

 

His parents weren't home--he didn't think. They had come upstairs an hour or two while he was sleeping and said their good-byes, wishing their son the best of luck in the future ahead. He'd miss his parents, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. After taking a minute to freshen up, he darted down the stairs and went to run out the door, before he remembered something. His Deck, right. He had completely forgotten to take his Deck with him. That would've been cool, huh? Going to a Duel Monsters Academy and forgetting the Main Reason you're going there in the first place? Eh, no big deal. He ran upstairs and grabbed it; one check-over revealed that he was all set.

 

There were tons of them; kids as far as the eye could see as he walked past the security line and into the boarding dock, where they would get on the plane and take the trip to what could be the best years of their lives as Duelists. Christian didn't really speak to anyone; he was more of a loner and it didn't bother him much. He had himself, and he guessed a couple of people that he was hesitant to call friends but could provide a nice conversation every once in a while, but no one he could trust. Trust was a key factor to life and there was no one in the world he trusted aside from himself. He'd help other people, sure, but when it comes down to the wire you need to trust your own instincts because people can screw you over without even thinking about it.

 

"Kid, come on!" He looked up; he must've gotten lost in thought because he found himself standing at the bottom of the stairs, just a split second away from stepping onto the plane.

 

"Huh? Oh, right." He apologized and began to climb. He got one foot in the door of the plane and bam!. A shock ran the entire course of his body and everything flashed for a second. When the world returned to normal he put his hand to his head in an attempt to take the focus away from the throbbing pain in his head. No idea what had happened, yet he couldn’t escape what felt like a familiar feeling. People behind him were talking quietly, but there were many of them so it sounded like a commotion of voices, something that wasn’t helpful when you had a bad headache. “M..my bad, slipped on the top step.” He let out a fake laugh and made his way to a seat. There was no one next to him on the plane, but he was used to it. Once everyone had boarded, the pilot announced liftoff, and he laid back, closed his eyes, hoping to get some sleep.

 

Christian opened his eyes. He looked around, trying to remember what exactly was going on, and saw that he was still on the plane. It appeared to be night time, but what time exactly he wasn’t sure. He assumed he still had a headache, and it almost felt like it had evolved into more of a migraine. That and the blur spots in the right hand corner of his left eye sent the message. He thought back to the weird flash of light as he was entering the plane, and much of what happened was completely blank. He couldn’t remember any of it, yet there was still the feeling that it had happened before.

 

He reached into his pocket and shuffled around. There it was; his Deck Box. He pulled it out and shuffled through the cards twice, just making sure that they were all there. He quickly counted and got a total of fourty, which is what he was looking for. He sat for a moment, deep in thought. Duel Academy; he wasn't popular and despite the statement that "a new school is a new beginning" has rung true at times, he doubted that he'd make more than one or two friends, if that. It wasn't so much that he couldn't make friends, but more like he didn't want to. He put his hand to his forehead and it was warm. His head was still killing him and a fever on top of it was far from pleasant. Whatever, it was still dark. The Pilot said they'd be there around dawn the next morning, so he might as well try and get some more sleep. Yeah...he drifted off, slowly fading in and out of consciousness until he shut his eyes and all the pain went away. For now.

 

"THE PLANE WILL BE LANDING IN APPROXIMATELY FIVE MINUTES. PLEASE ENSURE YOU'RE PREPARED FOR LANDING." The message repeated itself twice over the loudspeaker, having no trouble waking anyone who hadn't woken up already. "Sheesh," he thought as he yawned. "I almost prefer the crow." As the plane began to descend toward the ground, Christian looked out the window. There it was, clear as day; Duel Academy. It looked awesome from pictures, but it was a marvelous behemoth up-close. At least the place he'd be staying in was cool. There something positive about this. It didn't make sense to think that way; this whole trip was supposed to be positive, and enjoyable, yet he couldn't help but feel this whole thing was a terrible idea.

 

They landed minutes later, and crowd of students hurriedly exited the plan, running toward the Academy Building where they would participate in tryouts. Christian new he himself had a tryout as well, and unfortunately he knew it would be one of the first. With a last name of "Ayoto", you're going to end up being tested relatively early. As the students entered the Academy Building, they were handed a Duel Disk by one of two large, bulky men who looked like they hated their jobs but had no problem enforcing discipline. Christian received his disk and walked out into the arena, feeling a bit more comfortable being a good distance away from Mr. and Mrs. Angry.

 

The arena was as breath-taking in person as it was in the photo. You never realize how big something is until you're standing two feet away from it. A half-dome area held a good five-hundred seats, and another half-dome area did the same on the opposite side. Two Duel Fields - back-to-back - took up the center. He took a seat in the second row from the ground; if you're gonna be one of the first called, you might as well be close. He didn't want to draw any more attention to himself than was absolutely neccessary.

 

"" "Oohs" and "Aahs" came from the crowd as the first person to be called stood up from his seat. He was tall, perhaps about eighteen years old. Bright blue hair rested on top of his head and he wore glasses. He had a glare in his eyes that instantly gave Christian that feeling. That feeling that you get when you see or hear a person who's more full of himself than humanly possible. In other words, without even hearing him speak a word Christian could tell that he wasn't going to like this guy. Nathaniel strode down the stairs, having been sitting pretty high up. What seemed like a posse` of supporters shouted words of encouragement as he stepped onto the Duel Arena where his test proctor was waiting. This was it, the first Duel of the year. "This is Duel One of the tryouts for this year. If a student is to lose a duel, they will not be accepted and will be sent home on a flight two days from now. I will-"

 

"Save the explanations," Nathaniel stared at the Proctor, almost examining him. "We know how this works. I beat you, then you tell me which dorm I get placed into." Some duelists in the crowd laughed while Christian watched intently; yeah, he definitely didn't like this guy.

 

"Uh...alright then." The Proctor seemed as if he was embarrased, not sure what to say. "Since I'm conducting the test, I make the first move." He picked up his sixth card with confidence. The Proctor's job was to try and win at all costs. The student's responsibility was to overcome the odds and prove that they deserved the opportunity at hand. The occasional trash talking didn't hurt, either. "I play Gigobyte (350/300) in Attack Position." A horizontally placed card appeared on the field, and a green light shot out of it. A small green lizard, having sharp teeth despite it's miniature size, leapt out of the card. It landed on the field and let out a small roar, trying to make itself known. Nathaniel rolled his eyes at the move; that was the best he could do? This was gonna be easy.

 

"Heh. Is that it?" He laughed a bit and the crowd began to talk amongst themselves. Too mixed to understand clearly but loud enough to know they were talking. Christian kept his eyes focused on the duel, watching silently. This was practically a Preview of what he'd be up against. You never underestimate an opponent's Deck, despite the fact that it may look weak.

 

"Is that it? You're a funny kid, aren't you?" Nathaniel glared at him. "I've heard of you, Nathaniel Altere, some of the best grades on both written and dueling exams in the entire country." He continued. "Unfortunately, you're taking exams to get into a school that I already work at as a top Duelist. To even consider yourself in my league is a joke in itself." He was getting to his opponent, and he knew that. The crowd didn't seem to understand what the Proctor was attempting to do, but Nathaniel knew it full-well. Christian picked up on it himself and almost wanted to smile about it. Mr. High-and-Mighty had already been knocked a few steps down his ladder of greatness, and he hadn't even taken his first turn yet. "I activate the Spell Card Stone of Evolution!" A crackly rock unearthed itself from behind where the green lizard was standing. It was large, towering over the Gigobyte with ease. The creature smiled confidently as Nathaniel watched, intent on finding out what this strategy was. "See, when Stone of Evolution comes into play, my Gigobyte gets a bit of an upgrade." Placing the card into the Graveyard, the Proctor took a card from his Deck and placed it onto the field. Gigobyte vanished and a human-sized lizard, completely grey in color, replaced it. "Ooh!" came the surprise from the crowd. “Thanks to the power of Evolution, my Gigobyte has evolved into a much stronger creature! Say hello to Gagagigo (1850/1000)!”

 

"Stone of Evolution? I'll admit, I've never heard of it. I'm not intimidated; it's gonna take a lot more than an overgrown iguana for this imbecile to even damage me." He nodded, remaining silent yet giving a sign of acknowledgement. The Proctor placed a card face-down. "I'll end my turn. And when I do, my Stone of Evolution gets a Time Counter.” A small orange orb materialized above the large stone. Nathaniel took his time drawing his card, perhaps trying to come up with some kind of strategy. He ran his eyes back and forth, scanning the field. There wasn’t much to contend with, although he had no idea what Stone of Evolution was building up to and what the face-down was. Then again, he didn’t need one. “Heh heh.”

 

“I’ll start by playing my Samsara Lotus (0/0) in Defense Mode.” The crowd watched in awe as a lily appeared on the field, before levitating to a higher point in the air. A green plant creature materialized underneath it. As the monster came into play, Christian stared at it. He felt that same weird feeling he had felt earlier, yet it seemed stronger and more noticeable than it was before. A couple of kids looked over at him as he appeared to be in pain, but he looked away and tried to shake it off. Whatever; it was nothing. The Proctor looked at the monster with little interest. Christian could tell right off the bat that it was a mistake. Monsters with zero attack points, and zero defense points, especially by a cocky, stuck-up high-school prep who believes he’s the best thing the world has to offer. “Don’t worry, that’s just the start of what I’m sure will be a very educational game.” He paused. “For you.” He grinned mockingly at the Proctor while some duelists in the crowd laughed. “See, I’m going to follow this up with a Spell; I like to call it Enchanted Cherry Blossom Storm!” Nathaniel placed the Spell Card in his duel disk with determination and a bright pink cloud of cherry blossoms began to fill the entire field.

 

“What the?” the blossoms began to fly toward the Proctor, who had nothing to block them. “Ahh” he said as he tried to protect himself from the storm of flowers. His Life Point meter dropped.

 

(-600) Proctor’s LP – 3400

 

“You see,” he laughed. “When I control a DARK Plant-Type monster, my Enchanted Cherry Blossom Storm Spell Card inflicts six-hundred damage to your Life Points!” Even Christian was impressed by the move. Taking nearly one-fourth of your opponent’s Life Points in one turn did take skill. Then again, he had never doubted the fact that Nathaniel was good. People who are really full of themselves are usually extremely talented, but they don’t view it as an honor, they think it makes them better than everyone else. That’s where the disappointment comes in.

 

The Proctor himself looked impressed. Not intimidated, or nervous, but a look that suggested he knew what kind battle he was getting himself into. “Well would you look at that? The kid’s not all talk. Just ninety-five percent.” The crowd laughed as the Proctor took a shot of his own at his acclaimed opponent. It frustrated Nathaniel, but he kept his cool. After all, when he won, the insults would be meaningless. “I don’t have all day, kid. If you’ve got another move to make, feel free to do so.”

 

Not wanting to be rushed, but not wanting to start any problems, Nathaniel complied with the request. “Fine, I’ll place one card face-down and end my turn.” There was no need for trouble.

 

At least not yet.

 

TO BE CONTINUED IN EPISODE 2

[Valon25]

I told you my comments on MSN.

 

Bumping for great justice

[Guest Star]

I told you my comments on MSN.

 

Bumping for great justice

 

Thank you sir.

[Guest Star]

BUMP

[Weather Report - Stand]

It's kinda funny to me as to how AWESOME 600 damage is to them. I understand 1000, but the card the kid used was worse than Ookazi! I know a Six Samurai build from the last ban list (I miss you, Reinforcement of the Army) that could beat him by now in the hands of SAM RAI!! And yes, he's an ill-named guy in my ill-named Wild West Bob fic.

[Guest Star]

It's kinda funny to me as to how AWESOME 600 damage is to them. I understand 1000' date=' but the card the kid used was worse than Ookazi! I know a Six Samurai build from the last ban list (I miss you, Reinforcement of the Army) that could beat him by now in the hands of SAM RAI!! And yes, he's an ill-named guy in my ill-named Wild West Bob fic.

[/quote']

 

Lol, well it's a lot of damage I guess. =P

 

Then again, it's a lot more than you'd think.

[Weather Report - Stand]

But I do 4000-point duels all the time. :cry: My feelings are hurt, somehow...

[Guest Star]

But I do 4000-point duels all the time. :cry: My feelings are hurt' date=' somehow...

[/quote']

 

Lol, I mean it's going to play a part in the Duel.

[Ryno Dorcus]

I like this Fic, It has started quite good.

[Exiro]

I was planning to put this on my iPod to read it another time, but then I noticed that it doesn't have a name, so I didn't know what I should name it, so I decided not to read it until it gets a name.

 

Seriously, your attention-whoring thread names got old a long time ago. I'm still ok with it, though, as long as you do have an actual name for the Fan-Fix >.>

[Guest Star]

I was planning to put this on my iPod to read it another time' date=' but then I noticed that it doesn't have a name, so I didn't know what I should name it, so I decided not to read it until it gets a name.

 

Seriously, your attention-whoring thread names got old a long time ago. I'm still ok with it, though, as long as you do have an actual name for the Fan-Fix >.>

[/quote']

 

I had the name up earlier, lol, it just continued to get ignored so I thought something better might get people to click. And it worked. =D

 

The name is "YuGiOh: Throne of Darkness".

[schyshter]

-.O

 

you serious? Gigobyte? Lotus Normal Summoned only to be used in combination with a way-below-par burn Spell? a'ight dawg, i'll check back when you're done with the jokes...

[Guest Star]

-.O

 

you serious? Gigobyte? Lotus Normal Summoned only to be used in combination with a way-below-par burn Spell? a'ight dawg' date=' i'll check back when you're done with the jokes...

[/quote']

 

Lol, you're making a judgment like that only one episode in? To each his own, I guess, but you haven't even started to see how the Duel will turn out. :P