Yu-Gi-Oh! Cyberspace [Episode 22/52]

[TotalObelisk]

 

[spoiler=characters]

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Name: Ai Sakeru (Aye-ee Sa-keh-ru)

Age: 15

Deck: Spell Girls

Info: Along with her father, Ai is obsessed with dueling. She and her family moved to Neo-Domino city recently and Ai thought it a great oppertunity to become part of the dueling world because of Neo-Domino's reputation for dueling. However during duels Ai tends to get nervous and messes up easily, meaning despite her powerful strategy she lacks the skills to pull it off.

Trivia: Ai's personality is similar to that of Misaki from Angelic Layer. Ai's monsters are based on the anime genre of mahou shoujo or magical girl while a lot of her synchro cards are based off actual magical girls.

 

 

Name: Izo Geru

Age: 15

Deck: Cyberspace

Info: Izo moved here from China as his dad works for Kaiba Corp and moved to Neo-Domino to work on the Cyberspace project. Izo is eager to teach Ai the true spirit of dueling and even follows her around within the Cyberspace, offering her encouragment and wisdom. He is also the story's resident 'pretty-boy'.

Trivia: Izo's appearance is based off Fate from Negima, although he is a bit more cheery. The appearance of his data monsters are based off Tron.

 

Name: Lex Haru

Age: 17

Deck: Hammer King

Info: Lex is Germen and is friends with Izo within Cyberspace. He believes himself to be one of the best duelists on the server and will challenge anyone and everyone. His deck is a beatdown deck with lots of hammer/mallet and destruction cards. He duels simply for the thrill of destroying his opponent's cards and doesn't take it very seriously.

Trivia: Lex is based off Lavi from D.Gray-man, right down to the giant fire snake he summons.

 

Name: Ryuga Kenza

Age: 16

Deck: Crystal World

Info: Ryuga's grandfather is the chairman at the head of the Cyberspace project. Since an early age Ryuga had lost his parents and was living with his grandfather. His grandfather taught him duel monsters but however eager Ryuga was to duel his grandfather believed him a lost cause, driving Ryuga to become a stronger duelist. Ryuga is still desperate to prove his worth to his grandfather.

Trivia: Ryuga's appearance is based of Wizard from angelic layer. His Crystal World Dragon is based of the original image of a dragon which has the head of a deer.

 

Name: Aoi Sian

Age: 16

Deck: Unknown

Info: Aoi is a fairly energetic and cheerful girl, although she has a tendency to tease Ai from time to time. So far she is the only character to own a D-wheel (Duel Runner) and likes to flaunt that fact as well. She is best friends with Yue Atara.

 

Name: Yue Atara

Age: 16

Deck: Fire Bird / Burn

Info: Yue is unique in that she is blind and yet still manages to duel without problems. She uses a fire bird deck which relies on her monsters getting destroyed in order to activate effects. Ironically enough her favorite card, Kachua the Fire Keeper, also seems to be blind.

Trivia: Yue is based partially of Toph from Avatar.

 

Name: Komori Dark

Age: Unknown

Deck: Warwolf FTK

Info: A mystery Duelist at the Cyberspace Trophy that Ai has been warned to be wary of. He is the third character is Cyberspace to own a D-Wheel.

Trivia: Komori's name is similar to the the word 'Koumori'...

 

Name: Lukon

Age: 29

Deck: Eternal Halloween

Info: A duelist employed by the head of the Cyberspace project to aid Ai's development as a duelist, his deck is based off symbols of Halloween including Jack-Lanterns. His main card is based off the poem 'The Raven' by Edgar Allen Poe.

 

 

Minor characters:

 

Ai's father: A duel obsessive and the first to suggest they move to Neo-Domino.

Ai's mother: Unlike Ai's father, her mother dissaproves of dueling and believes it to be a waste of time.

The Chariman/Ryuga's Grandfather: The head of the Cyberspace project. He is in control of a secret base researching the occult and its connections to duel monster.

Wings: A mysterious figure in white that has been following Ai and has the power to summon spirits.

Baru: A tall youth who believes himself to be king of dueling and looks down on everyone who can't beat him. He used a Black Reaper/Doomsday deck.

Yuu: One of Baru's henchmen. Uses an Obsidian deck.

Maran: One of Baru's henchmen. Deck is unknown.

Koru Geru: Izo's father. Works on the Cyberspace project. Deck is unknown.

Joshinyu Tenshi: Recently promoted to Seto Kaiba's assistant and right now is probably the most important person working on the Cyberspace project. He no longer duels but previously used a powerful Dark Magician / Spell Counter deck.

Shura Kimiro: A high ranking employee of Kaiba Corp also working on the Cyberspace Project, however he appears to have some motives of his own.

 

 

[spoiler=Prologue]

The room was dark save for the light of a few holo screens floating around the room. A single long black table was set in the middle of the room six men sat around it, their faces hidden in shadow, all staring at the man seated at the head of the table, his form silhouetted against the large white screen behind him. A man nearer the far end of the table spoke

“It seems all preparations are complete,” he said.

“And the errors we encountered before?” The man at the head asked.

“There have been a few…Difficulties, but we have overcome them,” was the reply.

“Good, our very fate rests on this project, without it we could all die,” he stood up and clasped his hands behind his back, his face illuminated by the faint glow of the holo screens. He looked old and worn, his skin was the color of parchment and looked like it was melting, he had deep, sunken eyes that were the color of the very room they were in and he wore a solemn expression, as though the weight of his mouth was too great for him to smile. His short grey hair was tied behind him in a short pony tail.

“Gentlemen,” he said “It is time to begin the Cyberspace project.”

 

 

 

 

[spoiler=Episode 1] New story, new home, new destiny.

 

 

“Ai!”

Ai gave a murmur and turned over in her sleep, muttering something about sushi.

“Ai, wake up!”

Ai opened her eyes and sat up, glancing around stupidly. Her bright pink hair was messy from being slept on and her deep blue eyes looked dead. She glanced around her room, suddenly remembering what had happened.

“Oh yeah,” she muttered “We just moved here.”

Ai’s room was small and rectangular with her bed set in the corner. The door was at the end of the bed and there was a window just next to the head. There was a small cluttered desk with a rather thin laptop on it at the other side of the room. Ai stifled a yawn and slipped out of bed. A few moments later the door opened and a woman with long pink hair stepped in.

“Ai, are you awake?” She asked.

“I think so,” Ai replied, blinking stupidly.

Her mother sighed and crossed over to the cupboard at the other end of the room and began tossing Ai’s clothes over to her.

“Come on,” she said “It’s not the holidays any more; you can’t afford to sleep in, especially when you’re going to a new school.”

Ai rubbed her eyes and suddenly gave a start.

“Ah! I forgot,”

Ai’s mother heaved a sigh as Ai struggled out of her pyjamas and into her clothes, putting on a yellow shirt with a red jacket over the top. She slipped into a dark blue skirt before pulling on her socks.

“Honestly, you’re hopeless,” her mother said, walking out of the room.

Ai watched her go as she tied a yellow ribbon around her neck. She stretched and stood up, looking over to her desk to see a small black case and a duel disk lying there. She gave a smile and picked them both up, grinning broadly.

“Let’s go guys,” she said cheerfully.

She clipped the box onto the back of her belt and shoved the duel disk into her bag. She wandered down stairs where her father was already at the breakfast table, pretending to read the morning paper while having a volume of Duellists Monthly hidden behind it. He was quite tall, unlike Ai, and had the same long strand of hair that seemed to stick up at the back and reach all the way over to his forehead.

“Morning,” he said cheerfully.

Ai ignored him and sat down, muttering something before starting to eat.

“So, new school, huh?” Her dad said “You exited.”

“I guess,” Ai replied through mouthfuls “I just hope I fit in.”

“Ha, you will,” her dad said “This city is where it all happens, there’s no way we’ll leave here empty handed.”

“Anything interesting in the news dear?” Ai’s mother asked.

“Kyle Rode won his fourth riding duel in a row the other day,” Ai’s father replied “Not surprising, his opponent was a…”

He trailed off, biting his lip. Ai had also frozen with food halfway to her mouth, both staring at her mother as she laboured about the sink. Both of them knew she didn’t approve of duelling, to her it was just another dangerous sport that people could get hurt over.

“That’s nice,” she replied, revealing that she hadn’t even been listening.

Both Ai and her father heaved a sigh of relief and unfroze themselves.

“Hey, this is interesting,” Ai’s father said as he turned the page.

“Hm?” Ai blinked and looked up at him.

“They’ve released something called the Cyberspace project to the general public,” he explained “Apparently it’s designed to unite young duellists around the world and find new talent.”

Ai immediately abandoned her food to read over her father’s shoulder, both of them ignoring Ai’s mother completely.

“Wow, maybe I will become a pro duellists with this,” Ai said.

Both her and her father seemed to go into a daze at the mere thought of Ai duelling on the television. However both were soon snapped out of it by a harsh whack around the back of the head by Ai’s mother.

“Ow,” her father looked around “Aw come on Hara.”

“I’ve put up with this for nearly thirty years now,” she said “Li, you’re far too old to duel and Ai you’re far too young.”

“I’m only one year away from being able to enter a duel academy,” she said “You can’t call that young.”

“As in you don’t understand the world properly,” her mother said “The sooner you realize that the sooner you can start chasing a proper career.”

She turned around and Ai stuck her tongue out at her. She looked up at the clock on the wall and gave another start.

“Ah, I have to go!” She said.

She ran out of the kitchen and into the hall.

“Have a nice day,” her father said.

Hara reached over and pulled the copy of Duellist Monthly out of his hand.

“Hey!”

 

About an hour later Ai was looking around at a room full of people she didn’t know, her new class. She swallowed hard and forced herself to smile.

“Hello…Um, I’m Ai Sakeru,” she said “Err…Well we just moved here recently and well….N-nice to meet you.”

“Well, welcome to the class then, Ai,”

Ai looked up at her teacher, a tall woman with neat brown hair, green eyes and horn rimmed glasses. The door slid open and a boy with short white hair and deep green eyes walked in.

“Ah, sorry I’m late,” he said.

Ai blinked and stared at him, unsure of what to say.

“Ah, you must be Izo Geru,” the teacher said “You were transferring here today too right?”

“Correct,” Izo said, giving a slight bow “Nice to meet you.”

He looked up at Ai, smiling softly. Ai gave a start, her face going red.

“Well, since you two are new you can take the empty desk at the back,” the teacher said.

Ai followed her gaze to a seat next to the window at the back of the class and she and Izo made their way there. Ai sat down on the window side with Izo next to her.

“So, err….You’re new too, huh?” Ai asked, as a way to create conversation.

“Yeah,” Izo replied “My family moved here from China.”

“C-china?” Ai stared at him “Why?”

“My father works for Kaiba Corp,” Izo explained “He came here to work on the Cyberspace project.”

“Oh, that thing,” Ai replied “Err…So what is the Cyberspace project?”

“It’s kind of like an online video game,” Izo replied “Only this one is another world entirely, it’s virtual reality.”

“Huh? Didn’t Kaiba Corp already have like three virtual reality games?” Ai asked.

“Well yeah,” Izo replied “But none of them could connect to the whole world, this one is worldwide, anyone can access it anytime from anywhere, well except of course the moon. Also big duelling companies are using it as a way to scout for promising duellists, much easier than going half way round the world to a duel academy to look at hundreds of students.

“Wow, cool,” Ai said.

“So, I take it you duel then,” Izo said.

“Huh?” Ai was taken by surprise by the question “Well…Yeah.”

“Hehe, excellent,” Izo replied “I’d hoped there would be at least one person in my class who duelled as well, after all this city is the heart of the duelling world.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Ai replied “That’s probably why my dad wanted to come here in the first place, he’s a duelling nut.”

“Would you two pay attention!” The teacher called.

 

“Wah, amazing!” Ai exclaimed.

Ai and Izo were sitting on a bench in the school yard. Classes had finished a few minutes ago and most students were going home, however Izo had offered to show Ai his deck.

“I’ve never seen cards like this,” she said.

“Well, my father does work for Kaiba Corp,” Izo replied “So I get access to lots cards.”

“Huh?” Ai looked over at him “That’s not even fair!”

“Haha, don’t worry, it’s not like they’re overpowered,” he said “In fact I’ll show you first hand if you like.”

“Eh?” Ai stared at him “Wait, you don’t mean a duel do you?”

“Sure I do,” Izo replied, shuffling his deck “You don’t just use your deck for the look of it do you?”

“Well, no,” Ai admitted.

She took her duel disk out of her bag and slipped it onto her wrist. She looked up at Izo and saw he had a rather expensive looking duel disk whilst hers was a cheap prototype duel disk.

“Aw, no fair,” she said.

“Hey, it’s not like the duel disk will affect play,” Izo replied.

“True, but it’s just showing off,” Ai said “Besides, if you’ve got more money than me you’ve obviously got better cards than me.”

“Stop being so Negative,” Izo said “Lighten up, it’s just a game.”

Ai heaved a sigh and stood up, standing a few feet away from Izo.

“You ready?” Izo asked.

Ai nodded but didn’t reply.

“Then let’s duel!”

Izo and Ai raised their duel disk, the hologram generators whirling into life and lighting up the fields and screens. Both player’s life points set to 4000 and they drew five cards from their deck.

 

****

 

“I’ll go first,” Izo said, drawing a card “But I think I’ll go easy on you, so I’ll just set a monster face down and end my turn.”

A face down card on its side appeared in front of Izo and he lowered his duel disk.

“Your move Ai,” he said.

 

Ai looked down at Izo’s field and bit her lip.

“I don’t know what that thing is but it can’t be good,” she muttered, she looked down at her hand and her face brightened slightly “If I can switch it to attack mode I can destroy it and damage his life points,” she thought “All right.”

She took a card from her hand and placed it on her field.

“I summon Spell Girl – Sola!” She declared.

A girl with pink hair, a white hat and cloak and carrying a staff with a star at the end rose up on Ai’s field.

“Ah, a Spell Girl deck,” Izo said “I don’t see those often.”

“I play Spell Girl – Sola’s monster effect,” Ai said “By sending a spell card form my hand to the graveyard I flip your monster face up.”

Ai took Pot of Greed from her hand and sent it to her graveyard slot. Sola raised her staff and fired bunch of small stars towards Izo’s field, it hit his monster and it flipped up, revealing a humanoid creature with a circuit pattern over his body.

“Now since there’s a spell card in my grave, Sola gains 100 ATK,” Ai said.

Sola glowed slightly and her ATK rose to 1400.

“Go Sola,” Ai ordered “Attack!”

Sola raised her staff and fired another ball of stars towards Izo’s monster. Izo merely grinned as the attack drew closer.

“Hard luck,” he said.

“Huh?” Ai stared at him “But you don’t have any face downs.”

Sola’s attack shot straight through Izo monster hit him instead, causing the stars to burst and fall around him, reducing his life points to 2600.

“Huh! But why?” Ai exclaimed.

“That’s simple,” Izo said “My monster is Virtual Crusader, a Data monster.”

“Data monster?” Ai asked.

“It’s simple really,” Izo replied “Data monsters act like data in a computer, as in you can only attack it with more data.”

“I don’t follow,” Ai said.

“Allow me to break it down to you,” Izo said “A non-Data monster cannot select a Data monster as an attack target, however that allows the opponent to attack me directly, and I can’t attack your monsters with my Data monsters.”

“Doesn’t that give you a huge disadvantage?” Ai asked.

“Well, it’s not the cards you use but the way you use them,” Izo said “And I’m using Virtual Crusader’s monster effect.”

The Virtual Crusader raised his arms and began typing on the air, buttons flashing for a second beneath his fingers.

“When I take battle damage to my life points, Virtual Crusader allows me to counter attack,” Izo explained “And he lets me draw a card for every 500 points of damage I just took, so I take two.”

Izo picked up the top two cards of his deck and showed them to Ai.

“There’s more,” he said “One of the cards I drew was a trap card, and thanks to Virtual Crusader’s effect, you lose 500 life points.”

“Eh?”

Virtual Crusader pressed a large holographic button in front of him and a blue pillar of light suddenly surrounded Ai and her life points dropped to 3500.

“Hehe, pretty neat, huh?” Izo asked.

“Those cards have got to be broken,” Ai moaned.

“Hehe, sorry, they’re perfectly legal,” Izo laughed.

Ai heaved a sigh and looked through the rest of her hand.

“Well, if it lets me attack you directly then I guess they’re okay,” she said “I only need to attack you twice more and I’ve won.”

Izo merely smiled and didn’t reply.

“Okay, your move,” Ai said.

 

“Don’t mind if I do,” Izo said, drawing a card.

He looked closely at his hand and grinned.

“I summon Virtual Sniper in defence mode,” he said.

A blue light flared up on Izo field and several white lines and numbers flashed within it as his monster appeared, it looked exactly like Virtual Crusader except he had a long sniper rifle in his arms.

“You’ll have to be careful around this one,” Izo said “Each time a normal trap is activated, you lose 500 life points.”

“Eh, oh dear,” Ai muttered.

Izo took a look at the rest of his hand and took out three cards.

“I’ll set these three cards face down and end my turn,” he said.

Three face down cards appeared behind Izo’s monsters.

“Your move,” he said.

 

“Huh? Oh, right,” Ai said, drawing a card from her deck “Um…”

She bit her lip as she examined her hand and Izo’s field.

“I can’t use Sola’s effect to power her up any more,” she thought “And I don’t have any other monsters on my field. Well, I guess I have no choice then.

“Sola, attack his life points directly,” Ai ordered “Shooting Star!”

Sola raised her staff and fired her sphere of stars at Izo. Izo merely smiled as the attack drew closer and didn’t look the least bit phased.

“Reverse card, open,” he said, pressing a button on his duel disk.

One of his face down cards flipped up, revealing the continuous trap card, Spirit Barrier.

“Spirit Barrier!” Ai exclaimed.

“I’m sure you know what this card does,” Izo said “So long as a monster exists on my field I take no damage from battle.”

The attack hit Izo and exploded, however Izo’s life points didn’t drop any more.

“The only downside to this combo is it does nullify my Crusader’s effect,” he said “But then I can’t risk letting my life points get too low.”

“Err, I guess so,” Ai muttered.

She heaved a sigh and looked up at Izo field.

“So basically I need to take out his monsters before I attack him,” she thought “But I can’t destroy them because their effects won’t let me.

“I end my turn,” she said.

 

“Very well then,” Izo said, drawing a card “You don’t have to be so down about it, after all it’s only a game.”

“Well, yeah,” Ai muttered “But it’s just that I always seem to lose.”

“Ah, I know what you’re missing,” Izo said.

“You do?” Ai asked.

“Yeah,” Izo replied “Spirit, you need spirit to get better at duelling.”

“Huh?”

“Look at me,” Izo said “I’ve got plenty of spirit.”

“Spirit has nothing to do with it,” Ai retorted “You’ve got lots of money and you can get new cards before other people.”

“But I couldn’t use them if I didn’t have spirit,” Izo replied “Now let’s continue, I play my other two face down cards, Jar of Greed.”

Two Jar of Greed trap cards flipped up on Izo’s field.

“With these two cards I can draw once for each,” Izo explained, picking up two cards from his deck.

“Please say you’re done,” Ai sighed.

“I’m afraid not,” Izo replied “Because thanks to my Sniper’s effect, you lose 1000 life points.”

“Huh?”

Another pillar of light lit up around Ai and her life points dropped to 2500.

“Next I play Hand Destruction,” Izo said, showing Ai the card.

“Hand Destruction?”

“With this card’s effect we both draw two cards and then ditch two,” Izo explained.

“I see,” Ai muttered, looking down at her hand.

Izo picked up two cards from his deck and sent Wobaku and Virtual Hero to his graveyard. Ai did the same and sent Spell Mirror and Enchanted Flute to her grave.

“By Spell Girl – Sola’s effect she gains 100 ATK for each spell card in my grave,” she said “Since I just sent two she now has 1600 ATK points.”

Sola glowed again and her ATK rose.

“Oops,” Izo replied “I guess I forgot about that one.”

He chuckled slightly.

“Well, I’ll lay this card down end my turn there.”

A face down appeared in front of Izo and he lowered his duel disk.

 

“Hm,”

Ai drew a card from her deck and looked down at it, her face lightening up.

“I’ve got it!” She cried.

Izo raised an eyebrow.

“I’ve got a way to beat your Data monsters,” Ai said “Go, Spell Girl – Luna!”

A silver pillar of light rose up on Ai’s field and a girl with long silvery blue hair tied in two pigtails and a black jester outfit rose up on Ai’s field, she opened her cold grey eyes and stared towards Izo’s field. As soon as she was fully summoned her ATK rose to 1600.

“I play Spell Girl – Luna’s monster effect,” Ai said “By sending Double Spell and Training Mage from my hand to my grave, I flip your two monsters face down.”

“Huh?”

Izo looked down as Luna shot two orbs of silver light at the Data monsters, replacing them with face down monsters.

“Ah, I see,” he said “Data monster’s effects don’t activate when they’re face down.”

Ai grinned as both monster’s ATK rose to 1800.

“Go, attack,” she ordered.

Both Sola and Luna raised their staves and fired their separate attacks, both hitting Izo’s monsters and destroying them.

“I just have to keep doing that and the way to your life points are clear,” Ai exclaimed.

“Very clever,” Izo replied “My Spirit Barrier will only work so long as I have monsters, you with Luna’s effect I guess I’ll be finished by your next turn.

“If I hadn’t already set up the key to my victory,” Izo though, casting his gaze down to his graveyard “Get ready, Virtual Hero.”

“I did it, I did it,” Ai cried in excitement.

“Okay, okay, I get the picture,” Izo replied.

“Huh? Oh yeah, I end my turn,” Ai said.

 

Izo grinned and drew a card from his deck.

“Perfect,” he said “Ai, it’s time to end this duel.”

“Huh?”

The field spell slot on Izo’s duel disk opened up and he took a card from his hand.

“I play my field spell, Cyberspace!” He declared.

He placed the card in the field spell zone and the slot closed. Instantly a grid of green lines spread from the spot he was standing and shot past Ai, climbing up behind her in a perfect vertical form and then shooting over her head to form a roof. The squares in between turned black and the pair found themselves within a huge cube created from the green grid of Izo’s field spell.

“Welcome to Cyberspace,” Izo said “Here all my Data monsters lose their effect of only being able to battle with other Data monsters, essentially, you’re monsters have become data as well.”

“Huh, but you don’t have any monsters on the field,” Ai said.

“Not yet,” Izo said “But the key to my victory is already in my grave.”

“Huh?”

Izo looked down at Virtual Crusader and Virtual Sniper came out of his graveyard and his picked them up.

“I remove Virtual Crusader and Virtual Sniper in my graveyard from play,” he explained “In order to summon Virtual Hero from my grave!”

A large pillar of light appeared on Izo field and a tall figure with the same circuit pattern all over him but wearing a helmet, shoulder pads and arm pads as well as having a large back pack behind him rose up on Izo’s field.

“My Virtual Hero is my best monster,” Izo explained “Oh, and thanks to Cyberspace he gains 300 ATK.”

Ai looked up at Izo’s monster as his ATK rose to 3200.

“Go, Virtual Hero,” Izo commanded “Attack Spell Girl – Luna!”

The Virtual Hero raised his fist and threw a punch at Ai’s monster, hitting it head on.

“I play Virtual Hero’s monster effect,” Izo said “By sending Spirit Barrier to my graveyard, Virtual Hero’s ATK rises by 1000.

“What?!” Ai exclaimed.

Spirit Barrier vanished and Virtual Hero’s ATK rose to 4200. Luna shattered into infinitesimal pieces and Ai’s life points dropped to 100.

“Whew,” she sighed “I survived.”

“Oh, did you?” Izo said “Sorry, but I’m not done here.”

“Huh?”

“I play my face down card,” Izo said “Data copy. With this card’s effect, whenever a Data monster I control destroys one of my opponent’s monsters in battle, so long as another monster exists on my opponent’s field he can attack again.”

Ai looked over at Sola.

“No way,” she moaned.

“Looks like we’re done here,” Izo said “Virtual Hero, attack Spell Girl – Sola!”

Ai looked on in horror as the Virtual Hero threw another punch at Ai’s monsters, hitting Spell Girl – Sola and destroying her. Ai’s life points dropped to zero and her duel disk shut down automatically. She heaved a sigh and sank to her knees and both Virtual Hero and the Cyberspace field vanished around them.

 

“You see,” she said “I always lose.”

Izo smiled and walked over to her, offering her a hand to help her up.

“Like I said, it’s all about spirit,” he said “Your spirit is weak and so your cards can’t draw strength from it, my spirit is strong so my cards always come through for me.”

Ai looked up and took Izo’s hand and he helped Ai to her feet.

“I don’t believe in all that spirit stuff though,” she said.

“Well, I’m sure I’ll make a believer of you in time,” Izo said “Which reminds me, here.”

He fished in his bag and took out a small plastic case, and handed it to Ai.

“Call this a present from me,” he said.

Ai stared at the box for a moment before taking it from Izo and examining it.

“Cyberspace,” she read “Wait, this is the program for that Cyberspace project!”

“Yup,” Izo said “I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”

“Err…Well, thanks,” Ai replied “But I’m really not that good a duellist, there’s no way I’d…”

“Hey, don’t stress about it,” Izo said “It doesn’t matter how good you are, this game is made for fun, there’s nothing serious about it. You can duel with lots of people around the world and make friends with people you’ve never even met.”

“I see,” Ai muttered “Thank you.”

She smiled softly, her cheeks turning slightly red. Izo gave a smile and picked up his bag.

“I guess I’ll see you later,” he said “Oh, and use server five, that the one I use.”

“Sever five?”

“You’ll know when you get to it,” Izo replied, smiling.

Ai watched him go and then glanced down at the box, she shrugged and stowed it away in her bag next to her duel disk.

 

Elsewhere, several people in a white room were monitoring several computer screens with data flowing in, in a room next to them separated only by a glass wall a tall boy was seated. He had sky blue hair and a solemn expression on his face. A set of what looked like earphones were plugged into him and his eyes were closed. The doors slid open and the man with gray hair tied behind him and a serious expression entered. He took one look at the boy before turning his attention to the two people monitoring the screens.

“How’s he doing?” The man asked.

“This data is fascinating,” one of the researchers said “His brain waves, his pulse, his breathing is all perfectly normal and yet his adrenaline levels are racing.”

The man looked up at the boy in the glass room, his expression softening slightly.

“It seems it has begun then,” he muttered “The Cyberspace project.”

 

 

[spoiler=Cards played in episode 1]

 

Name: Virtual Crusader

Attribute: LIGHT

Level: 3

Type: Warrior / Data

Lore: This card cannot be selected as an attack target except by another Data monster. This card cannot declare an attack on a Non-Data monster. When you take battle damage you can draw card for every 500 points of damage and show them to your opponent. Inflict 500 points of damage to your opponent for each Trap Card drawn by this card's effect.

ATK: 800

DEF: 1300

 

Name: Virtual Sniper

Attribute: LIGHT

Level: 3

Type: Warrior / Data

Lore: This card cannot be selected as an attack target except by another Data monster. This card cannot declare an attack on a Non-Data monster. Inflict 500 points of damage to your opponent each time a Normal Trap card is activated.

ATK: 1000

DEF: 1000

 

 

 

 

Name: CyberSpace

Type: Field Spell

Lore: All monsters are treated as Data monsters. Increase the ATK of all Data monsters you control by 300.

 

 

Name: Data copy

Type: Normal Trap

Lore: Activate only when a Data monster you control destroys one of your opponent's monsters by battle. If your opponent controls another monster you may attack once again with the same Data monster.

 

 

 

 

[spoiler=Episode 2]Episode 2: Into Cyberspace. Flaming Crown of the Hammer King.

 

“Let’s see,” Ai muttered, opening the box.

Inside was a small disc and a set of headphones as well as an instruction booklet. She opened up the book and began to read it.

“Thank you for purchasing the Cyberspace project,” She read.

She thumbed through the introductions and went straight to the setup.

“First plug the USB port from your duel disk into your computer and insert your deck,” she read.

She picked up her duel disk and examined it, not having used the USB adapter for it before. Eventually she found a small compartment underneath it and pulled out the cord. She looked down at the computer tower and plugged it into one of the ports at the bottom. She looked back at the manual.

“Then plug in the USB from the headset,”

She blinked, confused. She looked down at the ear pieces and noticed they ended in a USB plug rather than the regular pin like one. She took them out and unrolled them before plugging them in and positioning the pieces over her ears. She opened her disc drawer and inserted the Cyberspace disk. Almost immediately the install program flashed up on the holographic monitor screen.

“Aw man, this is gonna take ages,”

She sighed and took the ear pieces out and began to start up the installation. A knock sounded at her door and her father came in.

“Yo, Ai,” he said “Good day at school?”

“I guess,” Ai replied, not really listening.

“Ooh,” her father crept closer and leaned over her shoulder “That’s the new Cyberspace program isn’t it.”

“Dad, please don’t read over my shoulder,” Ai said.

“I bet you blew your whole pocket money on this,” he chuckled.

“No I didn’t,” Ai replied, her cheeks turning red “It was a present if you must know.”

“Oh? Got a boyfriend already?”

“Shut up!” Ai exclaimed “Stop badgering me.”

“Hey, can I have a go on this later?”

“Dad!”

 

Seconds later Ai’s father found himself being pushed out of the room by Ai and left in the hallway, he looked behind him as Ai slammed the door.

“Was it something I said?” He muttered.

 

“Honestly,” Ai sighed, sitting back down in front of her computer “I can’t believe him.”

She looked down at her duel disk with her deck inserted in it and a smile crossed her face.

“Still, I guess I can’t blame him,” she muttered “I can’t wait to start this.”

She spent the next few minutes clicking about as the program installed. About half an hour later she sat back in her seat as the installation finished.

“Finally,” she sighed, taking up the ear pieces again and plugging them into her ears “Let’s begin.”

She moved her curser over the blue ‘C’ icon for the Cyberspace program and double clicked it. A box came up displaying a list from Server 1 and counting up.

“Ah, so this is what Izo meant,” Ai muttered.

She scrolled down and found server five and selected it, she then moved the cursor to the large gray button in the bottom corner marker ‘enter’ and clicked it. Almost immediately she felt like she’d just been dropped and the scene in front of her seemed to scramble into pixels.

 

Ai’s mother walked up the stairs humming to herself when she saw Ai’s father with his ear pressed up against Ai’s bedroom door.

“Li, what are you doing?” She asked.

“Shh,” he replied.

Ai’s mother shrugged and walked through the door to her own bedroom, closing it behind her.

 

Ai glanced around her. Her vision was blurred and everything seemed like a rush of color and lines. Eventually it seemed to slow down and Ai found herself in the middle of a city square. The floor beneath her was made up of white bricks making up the path with a few patches of grass dotted about here and there. There were a few tall skyscrapers that seemed to be made of nothing but windows.

“So this is Cyberspace, huh?” She muttered.

She looked around and saw somebody materialize in front of her. First their feet appeared and then the rest seemed to build itself with a bunch of lines and shapes until a person appeared, looked about and wandered off.

“Freaky,” Ai muttered.

“Ai!”

She looked around and her face brightened up as she saw Izo waving at her. She ran over to greet him.

“So this is Cyberspace, huh?” She asked.

“Yup,” Izo said “We’re currently at the starting point or the Spawn District as people like to call it.”

“I see,” Ai replied.

She looked down and saw that she had a strange device on her arm, it looked like a duel disk right down to the life point screen and her deck, but there was no field. She also noticed a small mobile phone attached to her belt. She unclipped it and opened it up. Like a normal phone it had a D pad, but apart from that only four buttons, logout, PM, Options and view stats.

“What’s this?” She asked.

“Well that thing on your wrist is called a D-Wing,” Izo explained “It’s like a more portable duel disk. And that is a D-Cell.”

“D-Cell?” Ai looked at the phone.

“Yup,” Izo nodded “With that you can PM someone, logout, view your stats and change your settings.”

“What do you mean PM?” Ai asked.

“Oh, excuse me,” Izo said as his own D-Cell began vibrating.

He picked it up and opened it, holding it to his ear.

“Ah, Lex, long time no beat,” Izo said.

“I get it,” Ai muttered “Just like a real phone.”

“Err, I’m kind of with a friend of mine and she’s new here, she can’t go there yet,” Izo said.

“Huh?” Ai stared at him.

“Kay, see you in a bit then,” Izo said.

He closed the phone and stowed it back away in his pocket.

“What was that about?” Ai asked.

“Lex is one of my friends on here,” Izo said “I’ve never met him in person but I know he’s German.”

“And you said something about me not being able to go somewhere?” Ai asked.

“Well, you’ve just started so you’ve got a grand total of 0 wins,” Izo explained “And there are certain areas where only duellists with a certain number of wins can access, so we can avoid having newer duellists outclassed when they begin.”

“Oh, I see,” Ai replied, not entirely sure about everything Izo had said.

“Well once you spend a while here I’m sure you’ll get used to it,” Izo said.

“I hope so,” Ai replied “I tend to pick things up rather slow.”

 

“Yo’, Izo!”

Izo looked round, grinning. Ai followed his gaze and saw a tall youth with ginger hair and jade green eyes jogging towards them. He stopped just next to Izo and proved to be at least a foot taller than him.

“Ah, this’ll be the newbie then,” he said, noticing Ai.

“N-newbie?” Ai replied “I have a name you know.”

“Ai, this is my friend Lex,” Izo explained “Lex this is Ai.”

“Hey cutie,” Lex said.

Ai’s cheeks flushed slightly and she looked away.

“Didn’t know you were the sort to pick up girls,” Lex said.

“I’m not ‘picking her up’;” Izo replied “She’s from the school I just transferred to.”

“Sure she is,” Lex replied, patting Izo on the back.

“Well, I guess this is a good time to give Ai a bit of tuition,” Izo said “Lex, let’s duel.”

“Oh? This is sudden,” Lex said “Normally you try to find an excuse to turn down my offers to duel.”

“Well Ai needs to see how things work here,” Izo said “Call it a lesson.”

“Aye, aye teach,” Lex said, raising his arm.

The two of them stood several feet apart and looked each other in the eye.

“Duel,” the both said in unison.

At once a beam of light shot from their D-Wings and seemed to draw in mid air until a field seemingly made up of lines of light had grown from their D-Wings.

“Wow, cool,” Ai exclaimed.

“Time to lead off,” Izo said “I summon Virtual Crusader in attack mode.”

A circle of light appeared in front of Izo and several white lines shot up from it and began to draw the monster in place, only this time when it was finished color faded into it and it became solid.

“Heh, those old monsters, huh?” Lex said “Damn those things are irritating.”

“I’ll lay this card down and end my turn,” Izo said.

“Don’t think I don’t know what that is,” Lex said “I know perfectly well that face down is your Spirit Barrier, and since I can’t attack your Data monsters it’ll mean your life points are untouchable.”

“Well, I guess you saw right though me,” Izo said.

 

“Heh,” Lex grinned and drew a card from his deck “It’s Hammer Time.”

“It’s what?” Ai asked, staring stupidly at Lex.

“Ignore him,” Izo said.

“I summon Marauding Captain in attack mode!” Lex said.

The same thing happened again, a circle of light opened on Lex’s field and began to draw his monster till it fully emerged.

“Generic strategy aside I now play my monster’s effect,” Lex said “I now summon my Armor Breaker.”

Another circle of light opened and drew Lex’s monster onto his field.

“Ah, clever,” Izo said.

“Let’s go,” Lex said “I equip my Armor Breaker to my Marauding Captain!”

Lex’s Armor Breaker seemed to fold up, becoming a giant green mallet which his Marauding Captain grabbed hold of.

“Go Marauding Captain,” Lex said “Attack!”

The Marauding Captain charged forwards and raised his mallet, bringing it down on Izo’s monster. It fell straight through and hit the floor, sending a beam of energy towards Izo which shot straight through him, reducing his life points to 2800.

“Now both our monsters have effects to play,” Izo said “So I think I’ll start the chain with my Virtual Crusader.”

Izo’s monster began typing in mid air, keys appearing for mere seconds as his fingers touched them.

“Since I just lost 1200 life points, I can now draw two cards,” Izo explained “And for each trap card I draw you lose 500 life points.”

Izo picked up the top two cards of his deck and showed them to Lex, they were both trap cards.

“So now you lose 1000 life points.”

“Not good,”

Virtual Crusader pressed a large button in front of him and a blue pillar of light surrounded Lex, dropping his life points to 3000.

“Heh, I’m still in the lead,” he said “Now for my Armor Breaker’s effect. Since I just did battle damage to you, your face down card is destroyed.”

Izo looked down as his trap card shattered.

“So much for your Spirit Barrier,” Lex said.

“Ah, but that wasn’t my Spirit Barrier,” Izo said.

“Huh?”

The pieces of Izo’s trap flew back together, revealing a completely different trap card to the one Lex had assumed Izo had played.

“This is my Decoy File card,” Izo explained “Basically, when this card is destroyed by one of my opponent’s card effects, I can inflict 500 points of damage for each Data monster I control.”

“Oh snap,”

Another pillar of light surrounded Lex and his life points dropped to 2500.

“Hehe, you walked right into that one,” Izo said.

 

****

 

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Lex said “I’m predictable, who cares? Your move.”

Izo smiled and drew a card from his deck.

“Now I release my Virtual Crusader,” he said “And Advance Summon the level six monster, Virtual Interceptor!”

Izo’s Virtual Crusader warped into a ball of color which opened up and a new Data monster flew out, this one with a pair of wings with a circuit board pattern covering them.

“Virtual Interceptor has a pretty useful effect,” Izo said “When my opponent plays a trap card, they lose 500 life points.”

“Man, you and your trap cards,” Lex sighed.

Izo merely grinned and set two cards down.

“Your move,” he said.

 

Lex smirked and drew a card from his deck.

“Time to smash those monsters,” Lex said “I un-equip Armor Breaker to special summon him to my field!”

Lex’s Marauding Captain let go of the Armor Breaker and it opened back up into a small chibified person.

“Now let’s go,” Lex said “I release my two monsters in order to summon a level seven monster.”

Lex’s monsters both collapsed into a multi-coloured blob which opened up and revealed a large bulky creature with blood red skin, iron shoulder pads, a horned helmet and leather trousers. He was also carrying a large mallet in one hand.

“Say hello to my Ogre Mallet,” Lex said “When he’s Advance Summoned, I can destroy up to two monsters on my opponent’s field, so smash him Ogre Mallet!”

Lex’s Ogre raised his massive weapon and brought it down on Izo’s monster, destroying it.

“Heh, now your Spirit Barrier is definitely useless,” Lex said “After all, it only works when you have a monster, and my Ogre Mallet just smashed your Data Interceptor.”

Izo shrugged, giving a slight smirk.

“Go, Ogre Mallet,” Lex said “Attack Izo directly!”

Lex’s monster growled and raised his mallet to attack.

“Trap card, activate,” Izo said.

“Huh?” Lex looked genuinely surprised “Come on, you don’t have any monsters to use with your Spirit Barrier.”

“Lex, Spirit Barrier isn’t my only combo you know,” Izo said “This trap card is my Program Freeze.”

“What?”

Lex’s Ogre Mallet stopped, his image shaking slightly.

“What’s happening?” Lex asked.

“Program Freeze is a continuous trap card,” Izo explained “That stops one of your monsters from attacking or changing its battle position for a number of turns equal to the number of Data monsters in my graveyard during the turn its activated.”

“Eh, so that means,” Lex began “He’s frozen for three turns?”

“Pretty much,” Izo replied.

“Argh, you and your trap cards,” Lex growled “Fine, I’ll end my turn but mark my words this won’t last forever.”

“I don’t expect it to,” Izo replied, drawing a card.

 

He glanced sideways at the card he just drew and placed it in his hand.

“Virtual Sniper in defence mode,” Izo said.

A circle of light opened in front of Izo and his Virtual Sniper emerged, crouching down.

“Virtual Sniper’s monster effect allows me to inflict 500 points of damage each time I play a normal trap card,” Izo explained “So now I activate my Jar of Greed.”

Izo’s trap flipped up and a red jar with a large grin on its face materialized in front of him before it shattered and Izo drew a card. Lex looked about him warily as a blue pillar of light lit up around him, reducing his life points to 2000.

“This trap burn strategy of yours is really annoying,” Lex muttered.

“Hehe, true, but it is tricky to get out,” Izo said “That’s why I use a lot of drawing cards.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Lex replied “You done with your turn or what?”

“Far from it,” Izo said “I’ll lay this card down and end.”

A face down appeared behind Izo’s monster and he lowered his D-Wing.

 

“That’s gotta be his Spirit Barrier,” Lex thought “Wait, no. Maybe he’s trying to trick me again. Yes, there’s no sense for him to use that card just yet, my monster’s frozen and can’t attack.”

He drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand, his grin widening. Izo raised an eyebrow.

“Hehe, Got it,” Lex grinned “Time to win this duel.”

“Huh?” Ai stared at him for a moment “He can end this duel now?”

Izo’s smiled only seemed to increase as he waited for Lex to make his move.

“My monster may be unable to attack but I can still use him for tributes,” Lex said “So say hello to my Ash Seal Ritual!”

“A ritual spell?” Ai gasped.

Izo looked down calmly as his Program Freeze shattered. A yellow circle drew itself around Lex’s monster and began to rotate, then a red fire symbol appeared beneath it and absorbed the Ogre Mallet within it. Ai gasped as a great pillar of flame shot up from the symbol and into the sky.

“Amazing,” she gasped.

“Let me show you my ultimate card,” Lex said “Rise from the ashes, Hammer King Ash Serpent!”

The Pillar began to twist and turn and eventually the end opened up and turned into a great fiery snake. It curled round and coiled around Lex’s field, resting its head just behind him to glare at Izo’s field, letting out a mighty hiss.

“Ah, that’s a nice monster,” Izo said.

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Lex said “My Hammer King has 2800 ATK, and how many life points do you have left?”

Izo pretended to think about it for a moment before replying with a wide smile: “2800.”

“Exactly,” Lex said “Which means you’re finished.”

“Wow, he really is gonna win,” Ai exclaimed.

“Go, Hammer King Ash Serpent,” Lex said “Attack.”

Lex’s flaming snake uncoiled itself and launched itself towards Izo, passing his monster and opening its mouth wide, consuming Izo within it.

“You’re done,” Lex laughed.

“Am I?” Izo replied from with the flames of the snake.

“Huh?” Lex looked confused.

“Reverse card open,” Izo commanded “Spirit Barrier.”

“Heh? You’re kidding me,” Lex exclaimed.

“Oh I see,” Ai said “He led Lex into a false sense of security so he’d waste his best card, clever.”

Izo merely grinned as a pearl orb surrounded him and broke free of the belly of the fire snake. The remaining half fell to the ground, writhing before flying back over to Lex’s field, coiling around him.

“That was cheap,” Lex said.

“Well it worked, didn’t it?” Izo replied.

“Bah, whatever,” Lex sighed “Your move then.”

 

“Don’t mind if I do,” Izo said, drawing a card “It’s time to end this for real now.”

“Eh?”

Izo grinned as he saw what he’d drawn.

“I play Graceful Charity,” he said “With this card I can draw three cards from my deck and then ditch two.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know how it works,” Lex said.

Izo picked up three cards and then sent Virtual Hero and another Virtual Crusader to his graveyard.

“Next I discard Virtual King,” he said “With this card’s effect I move the Cyberspace field spell from my deck to my hand.”

A card slid out of Izo’s deck and he picked it up, still smiling.

“I think I know what’s coming,” Lex moaned.

“Ah, it’s this combo again!” Ai exclaimed.

“Field Spell, Cyberspace activate,” Izo said.

His field slot seemed to draw itself in place and he placed his card there. Instantly the scenery changed into the green grid pattern set onto black. Lex looked around him as the field changed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“He played this card,” he muttered “Then that must mean.”

He looked at Izo to see him taking Virtual King and Virtual Crusader from his graveyard.

“Ah, he’s summoning it!” Lex cried.

“Show yourself,” Izo said “Virtual Hero!”

A massive pillar of light opened up and Virtual Hero emerged from the ground and onto Izo’s field, breaking out of the pillar with a roar of power.

“Heh, looks like it’s a showdown between our ultimate monsters,” Lex chuckled.

“Yep,” Izo said “But mine has more ATK thanks to Cyberspace, and an effect. When he battles I can send my Spirit Barrier to the graveyard to increase his ATK by 1000.”

“This is bad,” Lex muttered “But I’ll still have life points left afterwards.”

“Not quite,” Izo said “I play my spell card, Data Recycle. This increases my Hero’s ATK by 300 for each Data monster in my graveyard.”

“Hey, wait a minute,” Lex said, counting on his fingers “You’ve sent Virtual Crusader and Virtual Interceptor to your graveyard, so that means…Ah! 600 ATK?”

“Yup,” Izo replied as his monster’s ATK rose to 3800.

“Gah, that’s 1000 ATK more than my Hammer King,” Lex said.

“And he’s still got another 1000 to gain from his effect,” Ai finished.

“Gah, don’t remind me!” Lex yelled.

“Go, Virtual Hero,” Izo said “Attack Hammer King Ash Serpent!”

Izo’s Spirit Barrier vanished and Virtual Hero’s ATK rose to 4800. He flew forwards and raised his fist to strike.

“Digital Fist!”

Virtual Hero threw all his might towards Hammer King Ash Serpent, hitting the beast just below the head. The flames flew apart and vanished and Lex’s life points were reduced to zero. Virtual Hero and the Cyberspace field spell vanished and Lex fell to his knees.

“Tch, I can’t believe I lost in front of a girl,” he muttered “What a way to show off.”

 

“That was a good duel,” Izo said “I guess that makes us even.”

“Heh, for the moment,” Lex said, standing up “Next time I’ll uneven the score again.”

“Eh? You mean you’ve lost to this guy?” Ai asked.

“Of course,” Izo replied “We’re pretty much even, sometime I win, sometimes he wins. We even have the same lose/win ratio.”

“Wow, amazing,” Ai gasped.

“Hey, it’s not that impressive,” Lex said “I’m sure you’ll have plenty of wins under your belt after some time here.”

“Err…Well, yeah…I guess,” Ai muttered.

“What’s up with her?” Lex asked.

“She has a confidence problem,” Izo muttered.

“Oh, well easy solution,” Lex said.

He patted Ai hard on the back, causing her to jump.

“How about I give you a crash course in duelling?” He said “Come on, I’ll go easy on you.”

“Err,” Ai’s face turned red “No, its fine…I…Err…”

“Ah don’t be shy,” Lex teased “Come on.”

“No, really I’ll be fine,” Ai said “But thanks for the offer.”

“Well, have it your way,” Lex shrugged “But you’ve gotta duel sooner or later, you can’t just be a spectator all the time.”

“Well, I guess you have a point,” Ai replied, looking around.

“After a few wins you should be able to move beyond the Spawn District and challenge some better people to get stronger,” Izo said “You’ll get used to it soon enough.”

“Yeah, what is this thing about districts?” Ai asked.

“Well this virtual world is divided into districts,” Izo explained “This is called the Spawn District; it’s where every player starts off no matter which server they’re on.”

“I see,” Ai replied “So after I win a few duels I’ll be able to go to other places.”

“That’s it in a nutshell,” Lex said.

“Yeah, first I have to win though,” Ai muttered.

“Aw, cheer up;” Lex said “I’m sure there are people who suck more than you.”

“Lex, that’s not very encouraging,” Izo pointed out.

 

The six men seated in the black room had gathered once again, viewing the data displayed to them by the holo screens. The man at the head of the table was pressing some buttons on his, moving through the different profiles within the network, Ai’s face briefly flashed up before he moved on.

“It seems the project is running smoothly,” he said “The tests run on my grandson have shown positive results with no negative effects on his mind or body so far.”

“True,” another man said “But the goal of this project has not been achieved.”

“Be patient,” the chairman said “Did you really think this would be over instantly?”

The man fell silent, muttering something.

“This project is worldwide,” the chairman continued “It will take months to search through everyone on it and double check everything.”

“There is also the possibility that some duellists may not even use the Cyberspace project,” a man near the back of the table cut in “How can we be sure the one we’re searching for will even use it.”

“The likelihood that they will use it is over 80%,” the chairman replied “However I will not deny there is room for error within this project; however it is our best chance. It is 40% more likely to succeed than our other options, and in the least amount of time.”

“You and your numbers,”

“Science and war both need statistics,” the chairman said, his tone growing serious “In order to preserve the peace of this world this project must succeed.”

He stood up and the holo screens vanished.

“This meeting is at a close,”

 

Later, the chairman walked through a set of electronic doors into a brightly lit room. He looked around to see the blue haired boy the experiments had been carried out on standing in the centre of the room. It looked like something from a museum; there were glass cases around the walls displaying strange objects, black candles, voodoo dolls, sketches of spell circles and other occult objects. The boy in question was staring at a large case that stretched from floor to ceiling and held a worn black stone, rather like an obelisk. The carvings upon it were just visible due to the corrosion and seemed to be made up of letters consisting of a single square dot in the centre and short lines that extended from the sides at random, appearing to make letters with different arrangements.

“Good evening, Ryuga,” the chairman said.

The boy turned round to look at the man, a bored expression on his face.

“Hey gramps,” he muttered then turned around to look at the stone.

His grandfather walked up beside him, his arms clasped behind his back.

“Quite a wonder this stone,” he sighed “It crashed down nearly a year ago and we’ve only recently fully translated it to find its meaning. And thus we have the Cyberspace project.”

“Grandfather,” Ryuga said “I want to help search with you.”

The chairman looked down at his grandson.

“I want to go into Cyberspace and search for you,” Ryuga said “I just feel like I have to.”

“Ryuga my boy,” the chairman chuckled “Our systems can search more than ten times faster than you. You’ve done your part, now leave it to us.”

He turned to leave, however Ryuga spoke again.

“I don’t want to be a spare wheel anymore, grandfather,” he said.

The chairman stopped, looking over his shoulder at Ryuga.

“I’m going to search for her,” Ryuga said “And I’m going to find her faster than your computer.”

The chairman smiled, however it wasn’t a happy smile.

“Good luck with that,” he said, walking out of the door.

Ryuga watched him go, a serious expression on his face.

 

[spoiler=cards used in episode 2]Name: Virtual Crusader

Attribute: LIGHT

Level: 3

Type: Warrior / Data

Lore: This card cannot be selected as an attack target except by another Data monster. This card cannot declare an attack on a Non-Data monster. When you take battle damage you can draw card for every 500 points of damage and show them to your opponent. Inflict 500 points of damage to your opponent for each Trap Card drawn by this card's effect.

ATK: 800

DEF: 1300

 

 

 

Name: Decoy File

Type: Normal Trap

Lore: When this card is destroyed by an opponent's card effect, inflict 500 points of damage to your opponent for each face-up Data Monster you control.

 

Name: Virtual Interceptor

Attribute: LIGHT

Level: 6

Type: Warrior / Data

Lore: This card cannot be selected as an attack target except by another Data monster. This card cannot declare an attack on a Non-Data monster. Inflict 500 points of damage to your opponent each time they activate a Trap Card.

 

Name: Ogre Mallet:

Attribute: FIRE

Level: 7

Type: Fiend

Lore: When this card is Tribute Summoned successfully, destroy up to 2 monsters your opponent controls.

ATK: 2500

DEF: 2100

 

Name: Program Freeze

Type: Continuous Trap

Lore: Select 1 monster your opponent controls. As long as this card remains face-up on the Field, the selected monster cannot attack. Destroy this card after it has been face up for a number of turns equal to the number of Data Monsters in your Graveyard when this card was activated.

 

Name: Virtual Sniper

Attribute: LIGHT

Level: 3

Type: Warrior / Data

Lore: This card cannot be selected as an attack target except by another Data monster. This card cannot declare an attack on a Non-Data monster. Inflict 500 points of damage to your opponent each time a Normal Trap card is activated.

ATK: 1000

DEF: 1000

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name: Virtual King

Attribute: LIGHT

Level: 4

Type: Warrior

Lore: You can discard this card to the Graveyard to add 1 "Cyberspace" from your Deck to your hand. If this card is on the field but "Cyberspace" is not on the field, destroy this card.

ATK: 2100

DEF: 800

 

 

Name: CyberSpace

Type: Field Spell

Lore: All monsters are treated as Data monsters. Increase the ATK of all Data monsters you control by 300.

 

 

Name: Data Recycle

Type: Normal Spell

Lore: Increase the ATK of 1 Data Monster you control by 300 for each Data Monster in your Graveyard until the End Phase.

 

[Καsτοr]

Awesome Total! The Data Monsters rocked!

[Seth]

The same length chapters as your old ones I see...

Good job so far though.

[TotalObelisk]

Page 1 updated with episode 2...

[TotalObelisk]

[spoiler=Episode 3]Episode 3: Second Stage. The Almighty Crystal World Deck.

 

“Go, Giant Orc, attack Spell Girl – Sola!”

Ai recoiled as Sola was destroyed by a massive bone club and her life points dropped to 2300.

“At the end of my battle phase, Giant Orc switched to defence mode,” Ai’s opponent said as his monster crouched down “However I play my Stop Defence spell card and flip him back up.”

No sooner had the Giant Orc settled down than he stood back up again, growling fiercely.

“Eh?” You’ve got to be kidding me!” Ai exclaimed.

“Your move,” Ai’s opponent said.

“Right,” Ai nodded “My Draw!”

It had been almost a week since Ai had met Izo and started using Cyberspace, she’d had a few duels, won some, lost some, but she still wasn’t feeling very confident in herself. She looked at the card she’d drawn and a smile crossed her face.

 

“I summon Spell Girl – Luna,” she said.

Luna emerged from a circle of light in front of her, rising up onto Ai’s field.

“Since I have two spell cards in my grave, Luna gains 200 ATK,” Ai explained as Luna’s ATK rose to 1500.

“So what?” Her opponent asked “My Giant Orc has way more ATK than her.”

“Because now I’m playing Luna’s effect,” Ai said “By discarding Spell Girl Summon from my hand, I flip your monster face down.”

“Say what?”

Luna fired a beam of silver light towards the Giant Orc and it vanished to be replaced by a face down card.

“Now Spell Girl Summon activates,” Ai said.

“Huh? But you just discarded that.”

“That’s because its effect comes into play when it’s discarded,” Ai explained “And it allows me to special summon Spell Girl – Sola in attack mode!”

Ai’s field lit up and Sola emerged onto the field, her ATK rising to 1600.

“Uh oh,”

“Finally I play Fairy Meteor Crush,” Ai said “And equip it to Luna.”

“Ah, not that card!”

“Luna attack,” Ai ordered “Moonlight Flash!”

Luna raised her staff and fired a beam of silvery light towards Ai’s opponent. His Giant Orc flipped up and shattered, reducing his life points to 1600.

“Now it’s your turn, Sola,” Ai said “Starlight Flash!”

Sola raised her staff and fired. Her attack flew through the air and hit Ai’s opponent, exploding into a shower of small lights, reducing his life points to zero.

“I did it!” Ai exclaimed “I won.”

 

The holograms faded and the duel disk on Ai’s field seemed to shrink back into her D-Wing.

“This thing is neat,” she said, walking off.

She looked up and saw Lex standing to one side as he watched Izo duel. She walked up next to him to watch.

“Yo,” Lex said “You been doing okay?”

“Well, I haven’t been doing that badly,” Ai said.

“Ah get over it,” Lex said “You’ve been winning, haven’t you?”

“Well, sometimes,” Ai replied.

“Well there you go then, you’re not a complete waste of space after all,” Lex grinned.

 

“Virtual Hero, attack Insect Queen,” Izo ordered.

Ai looked up to see Izo’s monster destroying Insect Queen and reducing his opponent’s life points to 800.

“Now Virtual Crusader, attack directly,” Izo said.

It was all over in a flash as Izo’s Virtual Crusader attacked Izo’s opponent, reducing his life points to zero.

“Looks like I win again,” Izo said, cheerfully.”

“Tch, this means I need to win one now or he’ll overtake me,” Lex muttered “Hey, Ai…”

“No way,” Ai said quickly.

“Spoil sport,” Lex grumbled.

“Hey, you doing okay,” Izo called, walking over to them.

“Heh, she’s doing great,” Lex said, patting Ai hard on the back and causing her to jump “She’s got a handful of wins under her belt already, just like I said.”

“I’ve still lost some,” Ai pointed out.

“Hey, everybody wins and loses,” Izo said “Here, let me see your D-Cell.”

“Hm?” Ai unclipped the D-Cell from her belt and passed it over.

Izo pressed a few buttons until his face lit up.

“Seven wins and five loses, a total of 12 duels,” he read “Not bad, I guess you can move out of the Spawn District now.”

He handed to D-Cell back over to Ai.

“I’m not sure,” she replied “I mean I’m okay just sticking here.”

“Hey, don’t be nervous,” Izo said “Follow me.”

Ai sighed and resigned herself to tailing after Izo and Lex.

 

After a while they found themselves in what looked like a city square with a large round fountain in the middle.

“This is the Fountain District,” Izo explained “People with five wins or more can come here.”

“Pretty,” Ai muttered, walking over to the fountain.

Lex was already scouting around for opponents to challenge, his face a picture of eager overconfidence.

“So, what do you think?” Izo asked.

“I like it,” Ai replied “But why is there a fountain if this is a virtual world?”

“Well, it’s made to look like a real city,” Izo explained “This place is made to look real, feel real and be real. It enhances the duelling experience.”

“Wow,” Ai exclaimed “This place is great!”

“I thought you’d see it that way,” Izo muttered.

“Aha, that looks good,” Lex said.

Ai looked up at him and followed his gaze, noticing Ryuga in the middle of a duel with a blond haired girl.

“I’ll duel whoever wins this duel,” Lex said eagerly.

“Assuming it doesn’t end in a draw,” Izo muttered.

 

At the moment Ryuga’s field was empty and his opponent had a Wingweaver on hers.

“My draw,” Ryuga said, taking a card from his deck in a fairly careless manner “I summon Crystal World Beast.”

A lion made from white rock emerged onto Ryuga’s field, letting out a mighty growl.

“Crystal World Beast’s monster effect allow me to special summon Crystal World Knight from my hand,” Ryuga continued.

The beast howled and another creature, this one looking like a statue of a knight made of white rock, emerged on Ryuga’s field.

“Wow,” Ai exclaimed “That’s cool.”

“Hm, that’s Ryuga Kenza,” Izo said.

“Ryuga Kenza?” Ai looked at Izo “You know him.”

“He’s one of the top ten duellists on this server,” Izo explained “Rumour has it that his win/lose ratio is 50 to 0.”

“Wow, he’s amazing,” Ai gasped.

“Like I said, it was a rumour,” Izo replied “That and he’ll only ever challenge girls.”

“What?”

Ai blinked stupidly.

“Yeah, all I’ve ever seen him do is walk around and duel girls all the time,” Izo said “I think he may be a stalker.”

“What a jerk,” Ai muttered.

“Yeah, I thought you’d say that,” Izo replied.

“That’s it,” Lex said “He’s too chicken to duel us guys because he thinks girls aren’t as good as duelling! So I’m gonna duel him and expose him as the fake he is!”

He ran over to Ryuga as the holograms from his duel faded. He looked up to see Lex glaring at him with a wide grin on his face.

“Ryuga!” He said “Duel me now.”

Ryuga took one look at him and walked past, ignoring Lex completely. Lex span round, glaring at him.

“Hey, did you hear me!” He yelled.

“I heard you,” Ryuga said “And I decline your challenge.”

“Say what?”

Ryuga glanced about, his eyes falling on Ai for a few moments. Ai immediately looked away, determined not to make eye contact.

“Oh, so you’re afraid of me, huh?” Lex said.

Ryuga ignored him.

“I know why you challenge girls all the time,” Lex said “It’s cause you’re too scared to face a real duellist.”

At this Ryuga turned round to glare back at Lex.

“What did you say?” He asked.

“You heard me,” Lex said “You’re too chicken to face me.”

“Lex, you’re going too far,” Izo called.

“Fine, if you insist,” Ryuga said, raising his D-Wing “I’ll beat you quickly and move on.”

“Heh,” Lex smirked and raised his own D-Wind “Time to break your winning streak.”

“Duel!”

 

The holographic fields lit up and both players’ life points set to 4000.

“I’ll start off,” Lex said, drawing a card “And I’ll set a monster in defence mode…”

A face down monster card appeared in front of Lex.

“I’ll end my turn there,” Lex said.

 

“Very well,” Ryuga said “My draw.”

He took a card from his deck and placed it in his hand without even glancing at it.

“I summon Crystal World Beast,” he said.

The rock beast he’d played before rose up on Ryuga’s field, growling fiercely.

“Crystal World Beast’s effect now activates,” Ryuga said “If he’s the only monster on my field when he’s summoned, I can play another Crystal World monster from my hand.”

He picked a card from his hand and showed it to Lex before placing it on his field. As soon as he did a circle of light opened in front of him and his Crystal World Knight rose up beside the Crystal World Beast.

“Crystal World Beast, attack,” Ryuga ordered “Crystal Fang.”

Ryuga’s monster bounded forwards and pounced on Lex’s monster, it flipped up to reveal red, topless man with huge muscles, an iron hammer in one hand and bandages over the other appeared briefly on Lex’s field before it shattered.

“I play Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu’s flip effect,” Lex said “He allows me to add one Equip spell from my deck to my hand.”

A card slid out of Lex’s deck and he picked it up, grinning.

“Crystal World Knight, attack,” Ryuga ordered.

Ryuga’s monster drew a crystal sword and charged forwards, taking a swipe at Lex and reducing his life points to 2300.

“I’ll lay one card face down and end my turn,” Ryuga said.

 

“Heh, not bad,” Lex said “But you haven’t seen anything yet!”

He drew a card from his deck.

“Say hello to my Hammer Goblin!” Lex said.

A small red goblin carrying a large red hammer that was larger than he was emerged from a circle of light onto Lex’s field.

“800 ATK isn’t enough to take out either of my monsters,” Ryuga pointed out.

“True, but when my Hammer Goblin inflicts damage to you, I get to destroy any card on your field.”

Ryuga didn’t show any signs of reacting.

“Next I play the equip spell I added to my hand before,” Lex said “My hammer toss. I equip this to a Fire attribute monster and he can attack you directly.”

A small flaming ball on a chain appeared in the Hammer Goblin’s hands and he cackled.

“Go, Hammer Goblin,” Lex said “Attack Ryuga directly!”

Lex’s goblin began to spin round, holding the flaming hammer out in front of him, getting faster and faster. All of a sudden he let go and sent the hammer flying towards Ryuga. It hit him and exploded, flying back to Lex’s field where the goblin caught it and Ryuga’s life points dropped to 3200.

“Now for Hammer Goblin’s effect,” Lex said “Destroy Crystal World Knight!”

Lex’s goblin picked up his giant red hammer and jumped into the air, raising it above his head.

“Reverse card open,” Ryuga said “Shift.”

“Huh?”

“By the effect of this card, your effect now targets my Crystal World Beast,” Ryuga explained.

Lex’s goblin turned in mid air and instead brought his hammer down on the Crystal World Beast, destroying it.

“Heh, I guess you want to keep your knight then,” Lex grinned “Thanks for the tip.”

Ryuga didn’t reply.

“Well, I’ll just lay this card down and end my turn,” Lex said.

“Very well,” Ryuga said “My draw.”

He took a card from his deck and glanced at it, however no smile crossed his face.

“I release my Crystal World Knight,” he said “To Advance Summon my Crystal World Golem!”

A massive creature of rock rose up on Ryuga’s field, groaning as it did do.

“Next I play the equip spell, Crystal World Tower,” Ryuga explained “For each Crystal World monster in my graveyard, my Golem gains 200 ATK.”

A pillar of light shot up in front of Ryuga and solidified, forming a great white tower. Ryuga’s monster roared as its ATK rose to 2500.

“Ah, not good,” Lex muttered.

“Crystal World Golem, attack,” Ryuga ordered.

 

****

 

Ryuga’s monster raised one of its mighty fists and threw a punch towards Lex’s monster.

“Ha, you’ve fallen for it,” Lex said “I play my trap card, Sakuretsu Armor!”

Lex’s trap flipped up and a viscous wind blew from it, threatening to destroy Ryuga’s monster.

“So much for your Golem,” Lex laughed.

“I play Crystal World Golem’s effect,” Ryuga said “By removing one Crystal World monster in my graveyard from play; I can negate an effect that will destroy him.”

“What?”

The holographic image of Crystal World Beast appeared behind Ryuga before shimmering and fading out of existence. The wind died down and Lex’s trap shattered.

“You’re kidding me,” he muttered.

Crystal World Golem’s ATK dropped to 2300 and it threw its fist forward, hitting the Hammer Goblin and destroying it, reducing Lex’s life points to 800.

“Tch, that bites,” Lex muttered.

“Still think I’m chicken?” Ryuga asked.

“Heh, that was just a lucky shot,” Lex said “You won’t get lucky next time.”

“He’s overdoing it,” Ai moaned.

“Oh let him be,” Izo said.

 

“My draw!” Lex said “I activate the spell card, Hammer Shot!”

“Hammer Shot?” Ai asked.

“Ah, that’s his favourite card,” Izo said “Just like the rest of his deck, its mindless destruction.”

“Hammer Shot destroys your Crystal World Golem,” Lex said.

Ryuga looked up as his Golem Shattered.

“Now I summon my Mallet Man,” Lex said.

A circle of light opened up in front of Lex and a mallet with large cartoon eyes and a pair of arms and legs rose up from within it.

“Ordinarily I can give up Mallet Man’s attack to destroy one card on the field,” Lex said “But since you have no cards, I’m just gonna attack. Go Mallet Man.”

Lex’s Mallet Man jumped forward, spinning through the air and heading towards Ryuga. It fell down and smacked Ryuga over the head with a very cartoon whack.

“Ouch,” Ai muttered.

Ryuga barely even reacted to the attack and continued to state at Lex, unimpressed, as his life points dropped to 2800.

“Are you done?” He asked.

“Man, you couldn’t get any stonier,” Lex muttered “Fine, I’ll lay this card face down and end my turn.”

A face down card appeared behind Lex’s monster and Ryuga drew a card from his deck.

 

“I summon Crystal World Steed,” he said.

A white horse made of stone jumped out of a circle of light and onto Ryuga’s field, galloping for a bit before coming to a halt.

“Crystal World Steed is a Union monster,” Ryuga explained “Ordinarily, I could equip him to my Crystal World Knight; however since he’s not present on the field my Steed will have to do. Crystal World Steed, attack Mallet Man!”

The white horse charged forwards, swerving till it had its back to Lex’s monster and kicking out with its back heels, destroying Lex’s monster.

“Trap card open,” Lex said “Guard Block.”

“Hm, cheap,” Ryuga muttered.

“Guard Block reduces the damage I take to zero,” Lex said “And allows me to draw a card.”

“Very well,” Ryuga said “I’ll end my turn there.”

 

Lex drew from his deck and bit his lip.

“This could be a problem,” he muttered “I need to hold off until I can summon my Hammer King.”

He looked up at Ryuga’s field.

“Vorse Raider, attack mode,” Lex said.

A circle of light opened in front of Lex and a Vorse Raider rose out of it, growling softly.

“Go, Vorse Raider,” Lex ordered “Attack Crystal World Steed!”

Lex’s monster raised his mighty weapon and brought it down upon Ryuga’s Crystal World Steed, destroying it and reducing Ryuga’s life points to 2000.

“You’re beginning to bore me,” Ryuga said.

“Heh, I’m not half done yet,” Lex said.

He looked down at the remaining cards in his hand.

“Guess it can’t hurt to play this,” he muttered “I’ll set one card face down and end my turn.”

A face down card appeared behind Lex’s Vorse Raider and Ryuga drew a card from his deck.

 

He took one look at the card he’d drawn and summoned it to the field.

“Tuner Monster, Crystal World Egg,” he declared.

A tree grew out of the ground in front of Ryuga, a large white egg clutched within it.

“Crystal World Egg?” Lex muttered “But it has zero ATK.”

“I activate Crystal World Egg’s monster effect,” Ryuga said “And Special Summon Crystal World Knight from my graveyard.”

The egg glowed and Ryuga’s Crystal World Knight rose up, crouched down next to the egg.

“Wait,” Ai said “If his Crystal World Egg is a Tuner monster, which means.”

“I tune Crystal World Egg to my Crystal World Knight,” Ryuga said.

The Crystal World Egg split into four green rings which fell around the Crystal World Knight which in turn became four orbs of light. Then a green pillar of light crashed down onto Lex’s field.

“The weak shall become food for the strong,” Ryuga said “Only the strongest fighter will survive to claim his throne. Synchro Summon, Rise up, Crystal World Dragon!”

Lex looked up as a shadow passed over him and a massive white, serpentine dragon with a white mane and short stubby horns emerged from the pillar of light to coil around Ryuga’s field, letting out a mighty roar.

“I’m not done yet,” Ryuga said “I play the spell card, Crystal Shard. I remove Crystal World Egg from play, and summon a Crystal World Shard Token for each level star it has.”

Ryuga’s Crystal World Egg appeared and rose up into the air before it shattered, four shards of white rock hammering themselves into the ground around the Crystal World Dragon.

“Crystal World Dragon, attack Vorse Raider,” Ryuga ordered “Crystal Flare!”

Ryuga’s monster let out another roar, opening its mouth wide and unleashing a wave of white flame towards Lex’s field, consuming his Vorse Raider and destroying it. Lex covered his face with his arms as the flames washed over him, reducing his life points to 100.

“That’s one nasty dragon,” he muttered “I’m lucky I still have life points left.”

“I activate Crystal World Dragon’s effect,” Ryuga explained “It can attack once for each Crystal World monster I control, and since I have four Crystal World Shard Tokens, that means he has four more attacks.”

“S-say what?” Lex cried.

“Attack, Crystal World Dragon,” Ryuga ordered “Crystal Flare!”

Ryuga’s dragon roared again, firing another stream of white flames.

“Looks like it was a good idea to deck this after all,” Lex said “Face down card, Scapegoat activate!”

Lex’s face down flipped up and four sheep tokens appeared on his field.

“This ought to keep me safe for now,” Lex said.

The dragon’s flame reigned down and destroyed Lex’s four tokens; however his life points were untouched.

“I suppose you escaped for now,” Ryuga said “Very well, I end my turn.”

 

“Good,” Lex said “My draw then. I play Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw twice.”

A green pot with a hideous smile on it rose up on Lex’s field and shattered as Lex drew two cards.

“Next I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hand,” Lex said, summoning his monster to the field.

Ryuga looked down as Lex’s monster rose up from a circle of light in the ground.

“Thanks to Manju, I can add Ash Seal Ritual from my deck to my hand,” Lex explained.

“Ah, I see what he’s planning,” Ai exclaimed.

“Let’s go,” Lex said “I play Ash Seal Ritual, sacrificing Manju and Armor Breaker from my hand, for Hammer King Ash Serpent.”

Armor Breaker appeared beside Manju and a yellow circle drew itself around them before the fire symbol appeared and drew both monsters in. Ryuga watched calmly as a pillar of flame burst from the symbol and formed into a giant fiery snake.

“Say hello to my Hammer King, Ash Serpent,” Lex said.

Lex’s Ash Serpent opened its mouth wide, letting out a mighty hiss in the direction of Crystal World Dragon, which replied with an equally loud roar, both monsters appearing to be trying to out yell each other.

“Time to get rid of your monster’s pesky effect,” Lex said “Hammer King, attack!”

Lex’s monster slithered forwards, opening its mouth wide and consuming one of Ryuga’s tokens. He followed the snakes progress as it over shot him.

“You’ve only destroyed one token,” Ryuga said “Crystal World Dragon still has four attacks.”

“Guess again bubblegum head,” Lex said.

Lex’s monster curved round and lunged again, consuming another of Ryuga’s tokens.

“What?” Ryuga looked over at where his monster once was.

“That’s my Hammer King’s effect,” Lex explained “When he’s the only monster on my field, he can attack all monsters on my opponent’s field.”

Ryuga’s eyes narrowed as the snake made one final turn and swallowed up his final two tokens. He barely even flinched as the snake shot passed him, creating a harsh wind that blew his hair about his head. The snake curled round and settled back on Lex’s field, hissing fiercely.

“Too bad our monsters have equal ATK,” Lex said “Otherwise I’d blow him up too.”

Crystal World Dragon roared angrily at Lex’s monster who replied with a loud hiss.

“Your random strategies don’t amuse me,” Ryuga said “Is blasting your opponent’s monsters at random all you ever do?”

“Pretty much,” Lex shrugged “After all, it’s most fun when I’m smashing everything in sight.”

 

“Then, allow me to end your blind destruction,” Ryuga said, drawing a card “I activate the magic card, Premature Burial.”

Ryuga’s spell card flipped open on his field and his life points dropped to 1600. Then the card glowed and Ryuga’s Crystal World Knight emerged out of it.

“Gah, now your monster gets another attack,” Lex said “Good thing it has the same ATK as my monster.”

“Maybe so,” Ryuga said “But I have one final card to play.”

“Heh, seriously?”

“I play the continuous spell card, Kishido Spirit!” Ryuga said.

“Aw nuts,” Lex muttered.

Ryuga’s spell card flipped round and glowed briefly.

“Now, when my monsters attack a monster with the same ATK, it won’t be destroyed,” Ryuga said “Go, Crystal World Dragon, attack Hammer King Ash Serpent, Crystal Flare!”

Ryuga’s Crystal World Dragon roared and fired its white flame towards Lex’s Ash Serpent. Lex’s monster hissed and lunged forwards to meet it, becoming a solid pillar of flame. The two fire attacks hit each other and exploded. Lex raised his arms above his head to defend from the shockwave, Ryuga merely stood still.

“Oh, this is not good,” Lex said.

“Since my Crystal World Knight is still on the field, my Crystal World Dragon still has one attack left,” Ryuga explained.

“Ah, Lex is gonna lose,” Ai exclaimed.

“Crystal World Dragon, attack!” Ryuga ordered “Crystal Flare!”

“Oh snap,” Lex muttered.

Ryuga’s Crystal World Dragon opened its jaws wide once more and let loose a stream of white flame. Lex vanished beneath it as the attack washed over him and his life points dropped to zero. The attack ceased and the monsters faded from sight.

“Bah, overkill,” Lex muttered.

 

“You okay?” Ai asked, running over to Lex.

“Yeah, except for one thing,” Lex said.

“What?” Ai asked.

“Now I’m behind Izo on wins and loses!” Lex yelled “I can’t believe this.”

“Oh….Right,” Ai replied.

“Pathetic,” Ryuga said, walking up to them.

“What’s your problem anyway?” Lex asked “You challenge nothing but girls and then you treat your opponents like scum.”

Ryuga didn’t reply and continued to glare at Lex. Lex glared back, expecting an answer that didn’t come.

“Now, now,” Izo said, walking between them “Lighten up guys, it’s a game, no reason to get worked up over.”

“Sorry, I just get worked up easily,” Lex said “I just want to know what’s wrong with this guy.”

“Well, I’ll admit I’m curious too,” Izo said, looking over towards Ryuga “So, why do you go around challenging girls?”

Ryuga stared down at Izo for a moment, completely silent.

“I’m searching for someone,” he said.

“And you need to duel them?” Lex asked “Wait, you’re not searching for a girlfriend are you?”

“No,” Ryuga replied.

“Ah, don’t be shy,” Lex said, patting Ryuga on the shoulder “Come on, lighten up.”

“My reasons are my own,” Ryuga said “I’ve already defeated you; now get out of my way.”

“Yeesh, you could try smiling just a bit,” Lex said.

Ryuga ignored him and looked over at Ai, his solid glare causing her to recoil slightly.

“And you are?” He asked.

“Eh?” Ai looked slightly surprised “Ai, Ai Sakeru.”

“Eh? You’re not even going to ask my name?” Lex exclaimed.

“Ai Sakeru,” Ryuga began “My next opponent, is you.”

“Huh? Eh!”

 

 

[spoiler=cards used in episode 3]

Name: Crystal World Beast

Attribute: LIGHT

Level: 4

Type: Rock

Lore: When this card is Summoned, if you control no other monsters you may Special Summon 1

level 4 or lower "Crystal World" monster from your hand.

ATK: 1600

DEF: 1300

 

Name: Crystal World Knight

Attribute: LIGHT

Level: 4

Type: Rock

Lore: When this card is Summoned you may reduce the ATK of 1 "Crystal World" monster you control

to 0 to have this card gain the same amount of ATK lost.

ATK: 1700

DEF: 1200

 

 

Name: Hammmer Goblin

Attribute: FIRE

Level: 2

Type: Fiend

Lore: When this card inflicts battle damage to your opponent you can destroy 1 card on your

opponent's field.

ATK: 800

DEF: 200

 

Name: Hammer Toss

Type: Equip Spell

Lore: This card can only be equipped to a level 2 or lower FIRE monster. The equipped monster

may attack your opponent's life points directly.

 

 

Name: Crystal World Golem

Attribute: LIGHT

Level: 6

Type: Rock

Lore: Remove 1 "Crystal World" monster in your Graveyard from play to negate the activation

and effect of a Spell, Trap or Effect Monster that destroys 1 monster and targets this card and

destroy it.

ATK: 2100

DEF: 1600

 

Name: Crystal World Tower

Type: Continuous Spell

Lore: Increase the ATK of all "Crystal World" monster by 200 for each "Crystal World" monster in your Graveyard.

 

 

 

Name: Mallet Man

Attribute: EARTH

Level: 2

Type: Warrior

Lore: You may Tribute this card to destroy 1 card your opponent controls.

ATK: 400

DEF: 200

 

Name: Crystal World Steed

Attribute: LIGHT

Level: 3

Type: ROCK / Union

Lore: Once per turn, you can equip this card to a face-up "Crystal World Knight" you control,

or unequip it, and Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a

monster by this effect the equipped monster gains 500 ATK and DEF. (A monster can only be

equipped with 1 Union Monster at a time. If the equipped monster would be destroyed by

battle, this card is destroyed instead.)

ATK: 800

DEF: 1000

 

Activate only during damage calculation during your opponent's Battle Phase.

Reduce all Battle Damage to 0, then draw 1 card.

 

 

 

 

Name: Crystal Shard

Type: Normal Spell

Lore: Remove 1 "Crystal World" monster in your Graveyard from play. Special Summon a number

of "Crystal World Shard Tokens" (Rock-Type/LIGHT/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0) equal to the removed

monster's level. These tokens cannot be used as Tribute for a Tribute Summon or Ritual Summon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Seth]

Excellent, the 3rd chapter is awesome too!

[DarkForce™]

This is an awesome fan-fic. you should keep up the good work but try to describe the scenery and monsters appearence better.

[Guest Supreme Gamesmaster]

Hm.

 

How can I put this delicately...

 

OMGIFRIGGINLOVEDIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

You can get a feel for a character's strengths and weaknesses — both dueling-wise and character-wise — by watching them through a single Duel. I'm still trying to get that down cold. Seriously, this is the best YGO-based fic I've ever read. KEEP. IT. UP.

[TotalObelisk]

Episode 4 up now:

 

[spoiler=Episode 4]Episode 4: Crystal World and the Spell Queen.

 

“Say that again?” Ai said.

“My next opponent is you,” Ryuga said.

“Gah, he’s at it again!” Lex yelled.

“Lex, just leave it,” Izo said.

Ryuga continued to stare at Ai with the same serious expression on his face.

“I’m not sure about this,” Ai replied.

“You’ll have to duel me sooner or later,” Ryuga said “If you duel me now you’ll get it over with sooner.”

“Well…” Ai muttered.

“Beat him senseless,” Lex said “Come on Ai, avenge me!”

“Lex, please let it go,” Izo said.

“Well?” Ryuga said “Will you duel me or not.”

Ai looked back up at him, a slightly concerned expression on her face. Ryuga stared back at her, his stony expression unchanging. Ai suddenly found herself staring at her feet, unable to look at him any longer.

“Okay,” she said.

Ryuga remained silent and walked a few paces away from Ai, turning about and raising his D-Wing. Ai did the same, trying to hide her nerves.

“Duel!”

 

A young Ryuga sat in a nearly empty bedroom, his deck was set on a table in front of him and he sat on his bed, drawing from his deck. He looked up, seeing nobody sitting at the other table.

“Grandfather said he’d be home today,” he muttered, sadly.

He looked down at his field, seeing his Crystal World Dragon sitting there, however Ryuga didn’t cheer up.

“He forgot about me again,” he muttered “Why does he always forget about me?”

 

“Sir,”

Ryuga’s Grandfather, the chairman, looked up to see one of the workers at the computers staring at the screens, the data reflected in his glasses.

“What is it?” The chairman asked.

“Your grandson is in another duel,” the worker said.

“That’ll make his fifth today,” the chairman muttered “What is he hoping to achieve?”

“He did say he was trying to beat the computer,” the worker said.

“Ha, I’ve already told him it’s worthless,” the chairman said “That boy will only end up failing again.”

He looked towards the glass cubicle where Ryuga was seated, his eyes vacant.

“Just like that time,”

 

Lex and Izo looked between Ai and Ryuga as they stared at each other, preparing to duel. Ryuga’s a face of pure calm and resolve, Ai’s a bag full of nerves.

“So, who’s your money on?” Lex asked.

Izo ignored him and carried on watching Ai.

“She’s a bit much just for someone who’s under confident,” he said.

“Hm?” Lex looked down at him.

“Nothing,” Izo replied “Let’s just watch the duel.”

 

“Ladies first,” Ryuga said.

“Oh, okay,” Ai said, drawing six cards.

Ai’s D-Wing activated and the holographic field drew itself in place and her life points set to 4000. Ryuga drew five, his life points becoming 4000 as well.

“Okay,” Ai muttered, looking through her hand “I summon Spell Girl – Sola in defence mode.”

“Spell Girls?” Ryuga muttered.

Ai placed Sola on her field and a circle of light opened up in front of her. Sola rose up, crouched down with her staff in front of her.

“I’ll set this face down and end my turn,” she said.

 

“My draw,” Ryuga said “I summon Crystal World Knight in attack mode!”

Ryuga’s Crystal World Knight emerged onto his field.

“Crystal World Knight, attack Spell Girl – Sola,” Ryuga ordered.

Crystal World knight drew his sword and charged forwards, raising his blade to attack. Sola looked up and raised her staff to defend herself.

“I play my face down,” Ai said “Enchanted Javelin!”

A long decorated Javelin with a pair of small wings at the end appeared beside Sola and shot itself at Crystal World Knight, digging itself in deep. Ryuga’s eyes narrowed.

“Enchanted Javelin activates when an attack is declared,” Ai explained “And it boosts my life points by the attacking monster’s ATK.”

“I see,” Ryuga muttered.

Light danced around Ai for a few moments and her life points rose to 5700.

“But my attack isn’t negated,” Ryuga said.

The lance vanished and Crystal World Knight brought his sword down, slicing through Sola’s staff. Sola fell over backwards and shattered.

“Aw man,” Ai moaned.

Ryuga took two more cards from his hand.

“I’ll lay two cards face down,” he said “And end my turn.”

 

In the control room the chairman was watching Ryuga’s duel with Ai on screen, a grin crossing his face.

“Ryuga’s getting into this pretty quickly,” he said “I’ll admit he has grown considerably as a duellist, but still his efforts are in vain.”

He looked over at the physical Ryuga sitting in the glass cabinet.

“Still, there’s no harm in trying,” he muttered.

He looked back at the screen, the smile still on his face.

“Continue to observe,” he ordered “I want to see how this duel turns out.”

“Yes sir,”

“Oh, and who’s his opponent?” The chairman asked.

The worker typed on a holo screen and a new one opened up beside the chairman, displaying Ai’s information.

“She joined recently,” the man explained “She has an average win/lose ratio and uses a Spell Girl deck.”

“Spell Girls, huh?” The chairman muttered “Hm, if her credentials weren’t so bad I might actually consider her a possibility.”

“Should we continue to observe, sir?”

“Yes, I wish to see how this turns out,” the chairman said.

The holo screen displaying Ai’s information vanished and the chairman returned his attention to the screen.

“Ai Sakeru, huh?” He muttered.

 

“My draw,” Ai said, taking a card from his deck.

“Keep going, Ai!” Lex yelled.

Ai swallowed and looked at the cards in her hand.

“Well, this combo worked last time,” she said “I summon Spell Girl – Luna!”

Another circle of light opened on Ai’s field and Luna emerged out of it.

“Attack mode?” Ryuga muttered.

“I activate Spell Girl – Luna’s effect,” Ai said “By sending Enchanted Flute from my hand to the graveyard, I flip your monster into face down defence mode.”

Luna raised her staff and fired a silver beam of light towards Crystal World Knight, hitting him and replacing him with a face down monster card.

“Crystal World Knight has 1300 DEF,” Ryuga said “I’m afraid your attack would do nothing.”

“Well it’s a good thing she gains 100 ATK for each spell in my graveyard,” Ai said.

“What?”

“And then there’s my Enchanted Flute,” Ai said “Because when it’s sent to the graveyard as cost for a monster effect, I get to increase my life points by that monster’s ATK.”

Ryuga’s eyes widened slightly, but then returned to their original state. Lights danced around Ai and her life points rose to 6100, at the same time Luna’s ATK rose to 1400.

“Go, Spell Girl – Luna,” Ai ordered “Attack Crystal World Knight!”

Luna raised her staff again and fired. Crystal World Knight flipped up and was hit by the attack before he shattered, however Ryuga’s life points were untouched.

“I end my turn,” Ai said.

“Very well,” Ryuga said “My draw.”

 

He took a card from his deck and placed it in his hand.

“Ai’s not doing too badly,” Lex muttered.

“I wouldn’t say she’s a bad duellist,” Izo said “She just needs to work out how best to use her cards.”

“Hm, I guess you’re right, as usual,” Lex said “But then again, she’s got some pretty neat cards already.”

“Like I said, she just needs to learn how to use them,” Izo said.

“I play Premature Burial,” Ryuga said “I pay 800 life points to resurrect Crystal World Knight from my graveyard.”

Ryuga’s Premature Burial card rose up on his field and glowed briefly before his Crystal World Knight emerged from it and Ryuga’s life points dropped to 3200.

“Uh oh, not good,” Ai muttered.

“Crystal World Knight, attack Spell Girl – Luna,” Ryuga ordered.

“Ah!”

Ryuga’s Crystal World Knight charged forwards and brought his sword down on Luna, she parried it with her staff and managed to hold him off for a brief moment before her staff broke in two and Luna shattered, reducing Ai’s life points to 5800.

“That’s a hard loss,” Izo muttered “Luna’s effect can be a valuable asset in any duel.”

“Hey, I’m sure Ai’s got some other tricks up her sleeve,” Lex said.

“I’ll lay one card face down and end my turn,” Ryuga said.

A face down card appeared behind Ryuga’s Crystal World Knight.

“With my Crystal Switch card, I’ll be able to destroy Ai’s next monster and then substitute my Crystal World Knight for my Crystal World Beast,” Ryuga thought “Then, with Crystal World Beast’s effect I’ll summon my Crystal World Knight again and they’ll both attack her directly, it won’t win the duel just yet, but it’ll put her at a disadvantage.”

“M-my draw,” Ai said.

 

“That face down is probably his Crystal Switch,” the chairman muttered.

“Sir?”

“Believe me, I know how my grandson duels,” the chairman said “That Crystal Switch trap is very useful, it can only be used when he controls one Crystal World monster, and it allows him to return it to his hand to summon a different one. Undoubtedly he’ll summon his Crystal World Beast, and then use its effect to summon his Crystal World Knight again; it’s a very powerful strategy.”

“I see,”

“I wonder how this Ai girl will counter it,” the chairman said “It would certainly be interesting to watch.”

He grinned, the muscles on his face stretching out of shape in order to allow the expression.

 

Ai took a deep breath and looked at the cards in her hand.

“I have one spell card in my graveyard,” she thought “So any monster I summon will get 100 ATK, but I need more ATK to destroy his Crystal World Knight, I need an effect to raise my monster’s ATK.”

She looked up at Ryuga’s field.

“I’ve got it,” she thought, a smile crossing her face “I can use his face down.”

Ryuga raised an eyebrow as she saw Ai smile upon seeing his face down cards.

“What’s she planning?” He muttered.

“Right,” Ai said “I summon Spell Girl Krystal in attack mode.”

“Ah, a new one,” Izo commented.

A circle of light opened and a girl with sky blue hair tied in a long ponytail appeared. Her staff had a pointed diamond at the end of it.

“Hm,” Ryuga muttered “Appropriate card to use against my deck.”

“Spell Girl – Krystal gains 100 ATK for each spell card in my graveyard,” Ai explained “Putting her on equal footing with your Crystal World Knight!”

Krystal’s ATK rose to 1700.

“Now for her effect,” Ai said “By sending my Spell Draw to the graveyard, I can freeze your face down for one turn.”

“What?”

Krystal raised her staff and fired a beam of blue light towards the face down. The beam hit and surrounded the card with several solid ice crystals, trapping it inside. Ryuga looked down at the card, almost looking surprised.

“Now not only does Krystal gain another 100 ATK, but Spell Draw lets me draw two cards from my deck,” Ai said.

“Spell Girls,” Ryuga thought “Could she really be….”

 

****

 

“This is getting interesting,” the chairman said “It seems that girl has managed to use Ryuga’s face down against him and has now gained the advantage.”

 

“Krystal, attack,” Ai ordered.

Krystal raised her staff and fired at Crystal World Knight. The attack hit and ice began to spread around Crystal World Knight, trapping him completely before he shattered and Ryuga’s life points dropped to 3100.

“Wow, Ai’s actually winning,” Lex said.

“You’re acting like this has never happened before,” Izo muttered.

“I did it,” Ai said “I’m actually winning this duel.”

“Are you done?” Ryuga asked.

“Huh? What? Oh, yeah, I end,” Ai said.

“Good,” Ryuga said, drawing a card.

 

He looked at the card he’d just drawn.

“Thanks to her move my Crystal Switch combo has been weakened, but isn’t useless,” he thought “I can still use it later.

“I summon Crystal World Priest in attack mode,” he said.

A bearded man made out of white stone with a flowing white robe and staff rose up on Ryuga’s field.

“Crystal World Priest has an effect,” Ryuga said “By removing one Crystal World monster in my graveyard from play I can negate his destruction by battle once, and he and Spell Girl – Krystal have equal ATK.”

“Uh oh,” Ai muttered.

“Crystal World Priest attack,” Ryuga ordered.

Ryuga’s Crystal World Priest raised his staff and fired a beam of white light. Krystal fired her own spell and the two attacks collided, pushing against each other. The Crystal World Knight card appeared next to Ryuga and vanished. Crystal World priest’s attack pushed Spell Girl – Krystal’s attack back and eventually broke through, hitting Krystal and destroying her.

“Next I play my face down card,” Ryuga said “Crystal Switch.”

“Huh?”

Ryuga’s trap card flipped up and glowed, sucking Crystal World Priest into it.

“What’s happening?” Ai said.

“Crystal Switch allows me to exchange one Crystal World monster for another,” Ryuga explained “So now I can summon Crystal World Beast.”

The trap card shattered and Crystal World Beast bounded out of it, growling at Ai.

“Crystal World Beast?” Ai muttered “But that means.”

“I can also summon Crystal World Priest again,” Ryuga finished.

“Ah!”

The Crystal World Beast howled and Crystal World Priest appeared next to him.

“1600 ATK and 1800 ATK?” Ai muttered “That means 3400 damage.”

“This is gonna hurt,” Lex muttered.

“Crystal World Priest, Crystal World Beast, direct attack!” Ryuga ordered.

“Ah!”

Ai was hit by a beam of light and then bowled over by the Crystal World Beast leaping at her. She landed hard on her backside as her life points dropped to 2400.

“Phew, good thing she boosted her life points before,” Izo said.

“Ow,” Ai muttered, getting to her feet.

“I end my turn,” Ryuga said.

 

Ai groaned and looked up at Ryuga’s field, seeing his two monsters glaring at her. She swallowed and drew a card from her deck.

“Damn,” she thought “I don’t have any spell cards in my hand.”

She frowned, looking through her hand.

“I summon Spell Girl – Elda in defence mode,” she said.

A girl with flowing blond hair and wearing a red outfit tied with a rather large bow behind her rose up on Ai’s field, crouched down.

“I’ll lay one card face down and end my turn,” Ai said.

“Very well,” Ryuga said.

 

“It seems that girl is going to lose this duel,” the chairman said “After all, if she’s on the defensive already, when Ryuga isn’t even at full pace, then she’s got no chance.”

 

“Crystal World Beast attack,” Ryuga ordered.

Ryuga’s monster bounded forwards, bowling Ai’s monster over and destroying her. Ai recoiled slightly as the pieces of her monster flew past her.

“Now, Crystal World Priest, attack her directly,” Ryuga ordered.

Crystal World Priest raised his staff and fired a beam of light towards Ai.

“I play my face down,” Ai said “Enchanted Javelin.”

“Another one?”

A new javelin appeared on Ai’s field and was hit by the priest’s attack. It crumbled under the attack with little resistance which then moved on to hit Ai.

“Since the Enchanted Javelin gives her life points equal to my monster’s ATK, it may as well be a negated attack,” Ryuga muttered.

“Phew,” Ai said “That was close.”

“You know, I really thought she was done for a moment there,” Lex said.

“You know, she’ll still have had 600 life points left,” Izo pointed out.

“Yeah, I know,” Lex said “But, you know.”

 

“My draw,” Ai said.

“Now, let’s see what you can do,” Ryuga thought “I have two monsters on my field and you have none, but I wouldn’t like to end this duel just yet. I want to see the limit of your abilities.”

Ai looked through her hand and nodded.

“I summon Spell Girl – Gale,” she said.

A girl with long purple hair rose up on Ai’s field this time, a serious expression on her face.

“Spell Girl – Gale gains 100 ATK for the spell cards in my graveyard,” Ai explained as Gale’s ATK rose to 1900 “Now Gale, attack his Priest.”

Gale raised her staff and fired a sphere of purple magic towards Ryuga’s monster, destroying it and reducing his life points to 3000.

“I play my Crystal World Priest’s effect,” he said “When he’s destroyed, I can add one Crystal World Monster from my deck to my hand.”

A card slid out of Ryuga’s deck and he took it out, putting it in his hand as his deck auto shuffled in his D-Wing.

“I end my turn,” Ai said.

 

Ryuga drew a card in silence and placed it in his hand.

“Now,” he said “I release Crystal World Beast, to Advance Summon Crystal World Golem!”

“Ah!”

Ryuga’s Beast collapsed into a multicoloured blob which opened up and Crystal World Golem stepped out.

“Crystal World Golem can remove one Crystal World monster in my graveyard from play to negate his destruction by way of spell trap of monster effect,” Ryuga explained “Go, Crystal World Golem, attack Spell Girl Gale!”

“This isn’t looking good,” Lex commented.

Crystal World Golem roared and threw a punch towards Spell Girl – Gale. Gale however raised her staff and a violet shield suddenly surrounded her. The punch hit but didn’t go through.

“What?”

“I play Spell Girl – Gale’s effect,” Ai explained “By sending my Spell Girl Summon to the graveyard, I can negate your attack.”

Ryuga’s eyes widened slightly as his Golem was thrown backwards. It staggered slightly before returning to its original position.

“I see,” he muttered “I guess you saved yourself, for now.

“This duel would be wasted if it ended so soon,” Ryuga thought “I must play this to the end, I can’t waste this chance.”

Ai breathed a sigh of relief and Gale’s ATK rose to 2000.

“Next I play the effect of Spell Girl Summon,” she said “Since it was discarded as cost for Gale’s effect, I can special summon Spell Girl – Luna from my graveyard.”

The spell card flipped up onto Ai’s field and glowed as Luna emerged from it onto Ai’s field, her ATK rising to 1600.

“I see,” Ryuga muttered “You’re planning to flip my monster face down and take advantage of its low DEF.”

“Eh? How did you know that?” Ai asked.

“Well, it’s a bit obvious,” Ryuga said.

“Oh, yeah,” Ai replied “I guess it is. Well, my turn.”

 

She drew a card from her deck and looked at it, smiling slightly.

“Great, I play Luna’s effect,” she said “I’ll discard Double Spell and flip your monster face down.”

Luna fired her silver beam at the Golem, replacing it with a face down monster card. Once this was done her ATK rose to 1700 and Gale’s rose to 2100.

“Gale, attack,” Ai ordered.

Gale raised her staff and fired a sphere of purple magic towards Ryuga’s monster. It flipped up, revealing Crystal World Golem in a crouched down position. The attack hit and Crystal World Golem was destroyed.

“Now Luna, attack him directly,” Ai ordered.

Luna raised her staff and fired towards Ryuga. The attack hit him head on, he barely flinched but his life points dropped to 1300.

“Ai’s winning!” Lex cried.

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up,” Ryuga muttered.

 

“Ryuga’s about to play at full strength,” the chairman said.

“Sir?”

“You can tell just by looking at him,” the chairman said “He’s serious.”

 

Ryuga’s eyes narrowed and a slight scowl crossed his face. He placed his hand on his deck and drew from it.

“It’s time,” he said “I summon the tuner monster, Crystal World Egg.”

“Ah! Is he doing what I think he’s doing?” Lex asked.

A white tree grew from the ground in front of Ryuga, Crystal World Egg clutched within it.

“By the effect of Crystal World Egg, I special summon Crystal World Beast from my graveyard,” Ryuga said.

His field glowed and his Crystal World Beast rose up next to his Crystal World Egg.

“Don’t tell me,” Ai muttered.

“Synchro summon,” Izo muttered.

Crystal World Egg glowed and exploded into four green rings which fell about Crystal World Beast, transforming him into an outline and then four orbs of light.

“The weak shall become food for the strong,” Ryuga said “Only the strongest fighter will survive to claim his throne. Synchro Summon, Rise up, Crystal World Dragon!”

A pillar of green light crashed down on Ryuga’s field and his Crystal World Dragon emerged from within it, letting out a mighty roar.

“Ah, this is bad,” Lex said.

 

The chairman grinned as he watched the duel.

 

“Crystal World Dragon attack,” Ryuga ordered “Crystal Flare.”

Ryuga’s dragon roared and fired a stream of white flame, completely consuming Gale within it.

“Gale!” Ai cried as her monster shattered and her life points dropped to 1700.

The flames cleared and Ai looked up to see Ryuga glaring at her.

“Great,” she thought “How do I fight that thing.”

“Now then,” Ryuga’s eyes narrowed slightly “What will you do, Ai?”

 

“This duel is over,” the chairman said “By his next turn Ryuga will have summoned enough monsters for his Crystal World Dragon to attack five times in a row and wipe out any hopes she has of winning this duel.”

 

Ai bit her lip and stared down at her deck, her heart pounding in her ears.

“I’ve only got one chance to win this duel,” she though, reaching for her deck “But if I don’t draw it…”

She hesitated, her hand shaking as it hovered over her deck.

“Come on deck,” she thought “Don’t let me down.”

She closed her eyes and placed her hand on her deck, preparing to draw.

“Please,”

Ryuga’s eyes widened slightly as he saw a faint glow dancing about Ai’s hand.

“No way,” he muttered.

Ai took a deep breath and drew from her deck, not daring to look at her card. Izo and Lex exchanged tense looks as they watched. Ai opened her eye a crack to stare at her card and suddenly her face lit up.

“I got it!” She cried.

Ryuga raised an eyebrow, wondering what card Ai had drawn.

“I’ll start by playing Premature Burial,” Ai said “And resurrect Spell Girl – Sola.”

Ai’s life points dropped to 900 and her Premature Burial card flipped up on her field. It glowed and Sola emerged out of it and onto the field.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Izo muttered “Ai had plenty of stronger monsters in her graveyard, why’d she choose that one?”

“Wait a moment,” Lex muttered “Don’t tell me, she’s about to…”

 

“…Synchro Summon?” The chairman muttered.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he watched.

“Keep on observing,” he said “Don’t lose the picture no matter what.”

“Sir?”

“Just do it,”

No sooner had he given the order, however, the screen went blank.

“What?” The chairman barked “What’s happening.”

“It’s gone into hibernation,” the worked said “There was too much data flowing in, and the computer couldn’t process it all.”

“Get the picture back, and hurry,” the chairman said “There’s a chance, there’s a small chance…”

The screen came back on and the chairman stared at it, his eyes widening and his mouth dropping open in surprise.

 

While all this was happening Ai was finishing off her turn.

“I summon the tuner monster, Magical Mascot,” Ai said.

A small ginger cat with white wings appeared between Luna and Sola.

“Of course, now it makes sense,” Izo said “If she’d summoned a stronger monster she’d have had one star too many, Synchro Summoning isn’t like Ritual Summoning, you need the exact level in order to summon it.”

“Which is why Rituals are better,” Lex cut in.

“Now I tune Magical Mascot to Luna and Sola,” Ai said.

Magical Mascot jumped into the air and burst into two green rings which fell over Luna and Sola, transforming them into six orbs of light. Ryuga’s eyes widened as a green pillar crashed down upon Ai’s field.

“Synchro Summon,” Ai said “Spell Queen Maria!”

 

[spoiler=cards used in episode 4]

 

Name: Crystal World Knight

Attribute: LIGHT

Level: 4

Type: Rock

Lore: When this card is Summoned you may reduce the ATK of 1 "Crystal World" monster you control

to 0 to have this card gain the same amount of ATK lost.

ATK: 1700

DEF: 1200

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name: Crystal World Priest

Attribute: LIGHT

Type: Rock

Lore: During damage calculation you can remove 1 "Crystal World" monster in your Graveyard

from play to prevent this card from being destroyed by battle once. When this card is

destroyed and sent to the Graveyard by battle, add 1 "Crystal World" monster from your deck

to your hand.

ATK: 1800

DEF: 1000

 

Name: Crystal Switch

Type: Normal Trap

Lore: Return 1 "Crystal World" monster you control to your hand, then Special Summon 1 "Crystal

World" monster from your hand with equal or less ATK than the returned monster.

 

Name: Crystal World Beast

Attribute: LIGHT

Level: 4

Type: Rock

Lore: When this card is Summoned, if you control no other monsters you may Special Summon 1

level 4 or lower "Crystal World" monster from your hand.

ATK: 1600

DEF: 1300

 

 

 

Name: Crystal World Golem

Attribute: LIGHT

Level: 6

Type: Rock

Lore: Remove 1 "Crystal World" monster in your Graveyard from play to negate the activation

and effect of a Spell, Trap or Effect Monster that destroys 1 monster and targets this card and

destroy it.

ATK: 2100

DEF: 1600

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Tuner Monster + 1 or more non-Tuner Monster(s)

This card gains 200 ATK for each Spell Card in your Gravayard. During battle between this attacking card and a Defense Position monster whose DEF is lower than the ATK of this card, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent. When this card declares an attack send the top card of your Deck to the Graveyard. If the sent card was a Spell Card change the battle position of the attack target monster.

 

[.:|Fallen|:.]

cool fanfic Obelisk

[Guest Supreme Gamesmaster]

Heh. I'm kinda rooting for Ryuga here; it'd be almost impossible for him to live a loss down at this point. Still, the tide has turned often enough to keep me in the dark for the future. Can't wait for the next chapter.

[bury the year]

Quick question: did you make the card pics? (besides the official cards and the Crystal World ones)

 

Otherwise, I love the story, but the writing style seems a bit... rushed. It needs some more description.

[TotalObelisk]

Yeah, the Data and Spell Girl monsters are all drawn by me...

[bury the year]

Yeah' date=' the Data and Spell Girl monsters are all drawn by me...

[/quote']

 

Then, would you mind letting me make some art-based constructive criticism?

 

PS: Your title's wrong; it would be トタル.オベリスク, instead of トたル.オベリスク. The second character you used is a hiragana in a phrase that uses katakana.

[TotalObelisk]

Yeah' date=' the Data and Spell Girl monsters are all drawn by me...

[/quote']

 

Then, would you mind letting me make some art-based constructive criticism?

 

 

Not at all, go ahead.

[bury the year]

Okay...

 

Sola – Move her over to the right a bit.

Luna – Perfect.

Flute – Dilute the pink background a bit, and increase the contrast on the flute itself.

Krystal – The arm without the staff looks a bit… over-bent. If you ever redraw it, fix that.

Spell Draw – She looks a bit stretched.

Elda – Shrink her a bit to show more of the background.

Gale – Move her to the left a bit.

Summon – Same problem with Elda.

Mascot – Perfect.

Maria – Move her to the right, but just a small amount.

 

Why don't you post these on a seperate thread, so I can rate for OCG and balance?

[TotalObelisk]

Well I'll keep that in mind If I ever get round to updating the Spell Girls again...

 

 

In the meantime:

 

[spoiler=Episode 5]Episode 5: White.

 

Lex and Izo stared in awe at Ai’s monster as it descended onto her field, seemingly caught in a flow of slow time. She eventually touched down softly and folded her wings behind her before opening her eyes to stare up at the giant dragon above her.

“That’s Ai’s best monster?” Lex muttered.

“Seems so,” Izo replied.

 

Back in the computer room the chairman was staring at the screen in disbelief, hardly daring to believe it himself.

“To think she of all people,” he muttered.

 

Lex took his eyes off Spell Queen – Maria to look at Ryuga and noticed he had a similar expression of disbelief to his grandfather.

“What’s up with him?” He asked.

“Spell Queen – Maria,” Ryuga muttered, then a slight smile crossed his face “Found you.”

“Now for Maria’s effect,” Ai said “Unlike regular Spell Girls, my Spell Queen gains 200 ATK for each spell card in my grave.”

“200?” Lex repeated “So that’s err….Spell Girl Summon, Double Spell, Premature Burial, Spell Draw, Enchanted Flute…” He counted on his fingers.

“That’s five,” Izo said.

“So then, Spell Queen – Maria gets an extra 1000 ATK?” Lex replied.

“Seems so,” Izo shrugged.

Spell Queen – Maria glowed white and her ATK rose to 3800.

“Go, Spell Queen – Maria,” Ai said “Attack Crystal World Dragon!”

Ryuga glanced up at his dragon, his smiled fading.

“Nuts,” he thought “I forgot to protect my dragon.”

Maria opened up her wings and flew into the air high above the Crystal World Dragon and aiming her staff towards it. The egg shaped orb at the end began to glow and then turned white before a beam of powerful energy shot from the staff towards Crystal World Dragon. Despite the dragon being much larger that Maria it was completely consumed by the expanding dome of light that spread from where the attack hit. It roared in pain as the light consumed it and shattered. Ryuga lowered his arm from covering his face as the light faded and his life points dropped to 2000.

“To think she could put such a dent on my life points with just one attack,” he thought “And I doubt that’s all there is to Spell Queen – Maria’s effect.”

Ai gazed up at her monster with a wide smile on her face as it descended back onto her field, landing silently and folding her wings away. Maria stared up at Ryuga unblinking; her only movement was her hair and robes swaying slightly.

“Such an aura of power,” Ryuga thought “And to think I actually did it, I found her before the computer.”

He looked over at Ai, a grin crossing his face.

“I’ve waited for this duel all my life,” he thought “Let’s make it a good one.”

 

“He did it,” the chairman said, collapsing into a chair “He actually did it, I can’t believe it. He beat the computer.”

“Sir?”

The chairman looked back up at the screen, his mouth closing.

“Cancel the scan,” he said “We don’t need it anymore.”

“Yes sir.”

“To think that after such a short time the Cyberspace project has gone full circle,” he muttered “However this is just the start.”

He stood up, suddenly looking important again.

“Gather all information you can find about that girl,” he said “Now that we know who she is it shouldn’t take long to track her down.”

“Yes sir.”

The chairman looked back at the screen, a smile stretching across his face.

“In the meantime,” he said “I think we’ll enjoy this duel.”

 

“Way to go, Ai!” Lex yelled “Keep it up.”

“Lex, you’re shouting down my ear,” Izo said “Please stop it.”

“Ah, sorry, my bad,” Lex replied.

“That’s a nice monster,” Ryuga said “Didn’t think I’d ever see something like that.”

“You think?” Ai said “I just like the look of her, she’s so pretty.”

“Excuse me?” Ryuga’s smile seemed to fade slowly “You mean that card is….Eye candy?”

“Not exactly,” Ai said “I mean she is still part of my deck. She’s pretty and my ultimate monster.”

“You’re making no sense,” Ryuga said.

“Well that’s the reason why I duel,” Ai said, as though this was obvious “I like the cards.”

“We’re doomed,” Ryuga thought.

“Um, Mr. Ryuga, it’s your turn,” Ai said.

“Huh? Oh, thanks,” Ryuga said, drawing a card from his deck.

“Should’ve known Ai was that sort of girl,” Lex muttered “Most female duellists are.”

“Says the guy who duels for the thrill of blowing things up,” Izo muttered “If you ask me it’s just the same.”

 

“I play my Different Dimension Revival,” Ryuga said “By discarding Crystal World Steed from my hand; I special summon Crystal World Knight from out of play.”

A hole opened up in front of Ryuga and his Crystal World Knight stepped out of it, crouching down.

“Next I play Pot of Avarice,” Ryuga said “I return my Crystal World Beast, Golem, Egg, Priest and Dragon to my deck and shuffle, and then I draw two cards.”

Ryuga’s deck auto shuffled and he picked up two new cards.

“Then I release Crystal World Knight, to advance summon Crystal World Golem in defence mode.”

Crystal World Knight collapsed into a multi-coloured blob which opened up to reveal Ryuga’s Crystal World Golem.

“But I’m not done yet,” Ryuga said “I play the quick play spell, Crystal Revival. When a Crystal World monster I control is sent to the graveyard I can play this card to instantly resurrect it, with the downside of being unable to attack this turn.”

Ryuga’s Crystal World Knight rose up once more next to Crystal World Golem.

“Wait, he’s in attack mode,” Lex said “That must mean…”

“He has an effect,” Ryuga finished “And I’m going to play it. When Crystal World Knight is summoned, I can reduce the ATK of one Crystal World monster I control to zero and have him gain the same amount of ATK lost.”

Crystal World Golem let out a moan and suddenly his colour faded and he looked ready to collapse as his ATK lowered to zero, in the meantime Crystal World Knight’s ATK rose to 3800.

“Whoa,” Lex exclaimed “They’re equal!”

“Seems so,” Izo replied “Too bad Ryuga can’t attack.”

“I’ll end my turn there,” Ryuga said “It’s your move, Ai.”

“Right,” Ai replied, drawing.

 

“Ryuga’s determined to prove himself,” the chairman said “I suppose I can’t really blame him, he’s always been a failure to me anyway. However now he seems to have found himself a use.”

 

“My draw,” Ai said “Now Spell Queen – Maria, attack Crystal World Knight!”

“Eh?” Lex exclaimed “Wait a minute, Ai, aren’t their ATKs equal?”

“Well, Spell Queen – Maria does have an effect,” Ai replied.

“Oh, good,” Lex breathed a sigh of relief.

“Basically when she declares an attack I can send the top card of my deck to my graveyard,” Ai explained “And if it’s a spell card the monster she’s attacking switches modes.”

Lex blinked stupidly and stared at her.

“What?” Ai asked.

“It’s just, you’ve got a one in three chance of getting a spell card,” Izo explained “And right now both your monsters have equal ATK, so if you fail to draw a spell card your monster will be destroyed.”

“Oh,” Ai faltered slightly, biting her lip and staring down at her deck “I didn’t think of that.”

“Well, like I said, as long as you have spirit you can do anything,” Izo replied.

“Well...Yeah, but...” Ai trailed off.

Ryuga stared at her, unblinkingly.

“Looks like she’s still got a long way to go,” he thought.

Ai shook her head and looked back at Ryuga’s field.

“I can’t do anything else,” she thought “Next turn he’s bound to play a card that raises his monster’s ATK.

“Spell Queen – Maria attack,” Ai ordered “Divine Flash!”

Ryuga’s eyes narrowed slightly as Spell Queen – Maria rose into the air and aimed her staff down at Crystal World Knight.

“I activate Spell Queen – Maria’s effect,” Ai said “I send the top card of my deck to the graveyard, and if it’s a spell card your monster switches to defence position.”

“It’s all coming down to this,” Lex muttered “The winner of this duel will be decided by luck.”

“You don’t need to sound so sentimental,” Izo muttered.

Ai took a deep breath and placed her hand on her deck.

“If I’m right, she’ll focus her energy like last time and draw a spell card,” Ryuga thought “Unless of course that was a fluke.”

Ai bit her lip nervously as her hand hovered over her deck.

“Well, here goes nothing,” she muttered.

She gripped the card and prepared to draw it, almost as soon as she did an image flashed through her head, an image of a dark forest and a glowing figure standing in front of her.

“No, not again!”

Lex and Izo both exchanged surprised looks at the sudden outburst and even Ryuga’s eyes had risen. Ai drew her card with her eyes screwed shut tight and her teeth gritted.

“What was that about?” Lex muttered.

Ai stood there is silence, breathing steadily but not moving.

“Um, Ai?” Lex called “You okay?”

Ai straightened up and opened her eyes, staring about her.

“Huh?” She looked over at Lex “Yeah...I-I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine,” Lex replied.

Ai shook herself and looked back at Ryuga.

“As I said, if the card I drew is a spell card, your monster changes positions,” she said.

She looked down at the card she’d drawn and her face dropped.

“What’s up?” Izo asked.

“It’s a trap card,” Ai moaned.

 

Spell Queen – Maria fired towards Crystal World Knight. At the same time the Crystal World Knight drew his sword and jumped into the air, cutting through Maria’s attack and shooting past her with his sword held out in front of him. The two of them hung in mid air for a few moments before both of them shattered. Ai looked up as the pieces of Spell Queen – Maria fell to the ground and vanished.

“Aw man,” she moaned.

Ryuga looked up at her calmly and drew a card from his deck.

“I play my face down card,” he said.

“Huh?” Ai looked up to see Ryuga still had two face down cards on his field “Ah! I forgot about those!”

“The card I play is Crystal Clock,” Ryuga said “When this card is played, it increases the ATK of one of my Crystal World monsters by 100 times for each turn it’s been face down for.”

Crystal World Golem’s colour slowly began returning to him and he let out a roar.

“Wait,” Lex said “How many turns have there been?”

“15 by my count, not counting Ryuga’s first turn that’s......” Izo replied.

Ai stared up at the Golem as it towered over her, its ATK rising to 1400.

“Oh dear,” she muttered.

“Crystal World Golem, attack Ai’s life points directly,” Ryuga ordered.

Ai gulped as the giant golem raised his fist and brought it down upon her. She covered her head with her arms as it fell just short of her, kicking up dust and debris as it did so.

“Ai!” Lex yelled.

Ryuga stood by calmly as the dust cleared, revealing Ai sitting on the floor, completely silent as her life points dropped to zero.

“I win,” Ryuga said.

He reached down and took a D-Cell out of his pocket, flicking it open and pressing a few buttons before he vanished from sight.

 

“Ai, you okay?” Lex said, walking over to her.

“I lost again,” she moaned.

“Aw come on,” Lex said “There’s no need to take it that seriously.”

“Yeah but...”Ai trailed off “I always lose when it matters.”

“Hm,” Lex pondered.

“I think it’s more than just a confidence problem,” Izo said.

Ai blinked and looked up at him as he crouched down beside her.

“Ai, you’re afraid of something, aren’t you?” He said.

“Huh?” Ai turned to stare at him “What? No, I’m not afraid of anything, I just...” she trailed off again, the words dying in her throat.

She got to her feet again and turned away from them.

“I’ll see you guys later, okay?” She replied before running off out of sight.

 

****

 

The chairman was still staring at the screen when he heard the door of the glass cabinet open and he turned to see Ryuga standing in the doorway, a slight grin on his face.

“I found her,” he said.

His grandfather was lost for words, staring at Ryuga’s smug face. He gave a cough and suddenly began looking important again.

“Well, I suppose we should start phase two,” he said “We’ll need all the information we can get on her, understood?”

“Yes sir,”

“Grandfather, wait,” Ryuga said.

The chairman cast a sideways glance at him.

“What is it?” He asked.

“You’re being too hasty,” Ryuga said “From what I can tell Ai isn’t as well developed as we believed.”

His grandfather stared at him, his expression growing serious.

“What are you saying?” He asked.

“I say we wait for her to grow in strength,” Ryuga said “Before we act.”

“That may be a smart option,” he muttered “Yes, I see your point.”

Another smug grin crossed Ryuga’s face as he watched his grandfather think.

“Admit it,” he thought “You need me now, don’t you? I’ve proved it.”

 

Ai stood in a nearly empty area of the Spawn District, leaning against one of the many tall buildings that seemed merely for show. She looked up at the sky to a few clouds rolling across but no sun.

“You look down,”

Ai shrugged and didn’t look down to see who had spoken; she didn’t feel like talking to anyone at the moment.

“You’re afraid of something, aren’t you?”

“I am not,” Ai replied, looking over at the person “Why does everyone think I’m...”

She tailed off, staring at the person who had spoken. He was taller than her by far and was wearing a long white coat with his head hidden by the hood so that Ai could only just make out a chin and mouth underneath. As she looked closer she noticed that he didn’t seem to have a D-Wing.

“Who are you?” She asked.

“That’s not important right now,” the stranger replied “I’m more interested in you.”

“Eh?” Ai stared at him “Why me?”

“That was you duelling just now, right?” The man asked.

Ai nodded, unsure of what he was getting at.

“Well, as I said, you’re afraid of something,”

“Wait, why were you watching me?” Ai asked.

“Why not?”

“Good point,” Ai muttered “Anyway, I wasn’t scared of anything so leave me along.”

“Look, I’m not trying to...” The man trailed off, his head turning to look at something beside him.

Ai looked but didn’t see anything there, but judging by the way the man was looking it seemed he was listening to something.

“Um...What are you...”

The man spoke before she could finish, folding his arms as he did so: “Well, if you say so...” he looked back at Ai “Well, you can just call me Wings, for now.”

“Wings?” Ai stared at him.

“So anyway, you would be?”

“Um, Ai,” Ai replied “Ai Sakeru. Listen, what...”

“Ah, I see,” Wings interrupted her “Heh, no wonder.”

“No wonder what?” Ai asked.

“That duel you had just now,” Wings said, ignoring her “Did you sense anything or feel anything?”

“Huh?” Ai stared at him, confused “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Hm,” Wings seemed to ponder something for a moment before looking down beside him again “I didn’t expect her to be such a beginner.”

Ai stared at where he was looking but still saw nobody there.

“Um, who are you talking to?” She asked.

“A friend,” Wings replied.

 

“Ai!”

Ai looked around and saw Izo and Lex walking over to her.

“Oh, hi guys,” she said quietly.

“Don’t look so down,” Lex said “It’s only one game; it’s nothing to be upset about. Besides, Ryuga does have a 50:0 win/lose ratio, remember?”

“I guess,” Ai replied, cheering up slightly “Oh and this is...”

She looked around, however Wings had vanished.

“Huh?” Ai stared at the spot where Wings had been “That’s strange.”

“What’s up?” Lex asked.

“There was a man here, just a minute ago,” Ai said.

“What kind of man?” Izo asked.

“Well, he had a long white coat on,” Ai replied “But he didn’t seem to have a D-Wing.”

“Aha!” Lex yelled, causing Ai to jump “He must be a duel agent!”

“A duel agent?” Ai stared at him.

“Sure, some companies use Cyberspace to scout for good duelling talent, so they send duel agents to look for them, if they find any promising talent then they contact that duellist.”

“I see,” Ai muttered.

She looked about to see Lex leaning close to her with a wide grin on his face, causing her to jump again.

“Hehe...I think one of these duel agents has spotted you,” he said “You lucky girl, you.”

“Huh? Aw come on, that’s impossible,” Ai said “I suck at duelling, there’s no way anybody would want me to...”

“Isn’t that why you moved to Neo-Domino in the first place?” Izo asked.

“Ah, Izo shut up!” Ai replied “I got big-headed and didn’t know what I was doing!”

“Ah, don’t be shy,” Lex teased.

“Guys, forget about it,” Ai said, almost pleadingly.

 

Wings watched the scene from across the street, standing just outside the shadow of one of the tall buildings. Another figure was stood next to him, this one a lot shorter than him but with their features hidden by the shadow.

“So what do you think?” Wings asked.

“I think you’re being way too hasty,” his companion replied in a female voice “Perhaps you should try being a little more discreet next time.”

“Even so, you can’t doubt she does have some skill, you saw it too right? That glow?” Wings asked.

“Yeah, I saw it,” his companion replied “She definitely has something to hide.”

“That’ll be whatever she’s afraid of,” Wings muttered “Hm, she may be a bit of a problem, this one.”

“True, and there are other people looking for her, you know why this virtual world was created, don’t you?”

“Oh course,” Wings replied, his tone growing serious “Those fools don’t realize what they’re doing.”

With that Wings and his companion vanished into white and black mist which slowly faded from sight.

Ai stopped talking and looked over to where Wings had just been.

“Ai? What’s up?” Lex asked.

Ai turned back, shaking her head: “Nothing.”

 

Later that night Ai lay awake in her bed, staring at her ceiling. She thought back to what had happened over the course of the day, her duel with Ryuga and the strange white figure.

She rolled over and stared at her computer lying dormant at the other end of her room.

“My life is so messed up,” she sighed, closing her eyes.

She opened her eyes again and almost jumped as she found herself in the middles of a dark wood in the dead of night. A full moon was shining above through the trees and a faint white mist seemed to hang in the air.

“No,” Ai muttered, backing off, her bare feet crunching fry leafs beneath them “Not this place again.”

She swallowed and stared about her, panic beginning to rise within her as she sensed something moving close by.

“No, leave me alone!” She yelled, hoping it would hear her.

She took a few more steps backwards and then turned about and ran, not daring to look behind her. She could feel it following her, floating soundlessly through the air behind her.

“No, leave me alone!” She yelled “Please.”

The phantom chasing her gave no reply and Ai continued to run.

“Why?” She asked herself “Why do I always have this dream?”

She swallowed hard and slowly turned her head to look behind her, her eyes widening in horror as she watched a pale ghostly figure chasing her, seeming to glide over the floor with a pair of wings that passed through any tree trunks in their way. Ai quickly looked back again and continued to run, jumping over a fallen log and stumbling slightly as she landed.

“Why?” She yelled as if the ghostly pursuer could hear her “Why are you chasing me? What do you want with me?”

“Because,” the figure answered in a faint ghostly voice that sounded female “You and me belong together.”

“I do not!” Ai replied “I just want to be left alone!”

“You must not run,” the figure replied “You cannot run from your fate.”

This only caused Ai to speed up. She looked up and gasped as she saw that the trees about her didn’t seem to be changing but looked exactly the same as the area she’d first arrived in.

“What?” She passed a tree with a broken branch halfway up it then seconds later passed a tree missing the exact same branch “No, stop it!”

She screwed her eyes shut and ran faster, ignoring the exhaustion trying to crawl its way up her legs.

“Please, just leave me alone!”

She then collided with something soft and was immediately halted as she felt an arm wrap round her. She struggled to get free for a second before she was stopped by a hushed: “Shh, it’s me,”

Ai stopped struggling and opened her eyes, looking up to see Wings looking over her.

“What are you...?” Ai began to ask before Wing pulled her behind him and then turned about, staring at the ghostly figure as it drew to a halt.

“Just as I thought,” Wings muttered “You’re the one Ai’s frightened of.”

The figure did not reply, but merely continued to stare at Wings in silence. Ai stared at the figure from behind Wings’ back, far too scared to move.

“What’s going on here?” She thought “This is the same dream I always have, but why is Wings here?”

“Ai, order her to answer me,” Wings said.

“Huh?” Ai stared up at him “Why me?”

“Because it will only answer to you,” Wings explained.

Ai stared up at him, confused. The she looked back at the pale figure and stepped out from behind Wings.

“A-answer him,” she said nervously “Err...Please.”

The ghost looked down at Ai then back up at Wings.

“Ai fears not me, but the powers I possess,” she replied “She is afraid of power.”

“Well scaring her isn’t really the right way to go about getting rid of her fears,” Wings said “If you ask me you’ve gone about this completely the wrong way.”

The ghost remained silent still, Wings gave Ai a nudge.

“Oh...Err...Answer him,” Ai stuttered.

“Only by facing our fears can we overcome them completely,” the ghost replied.

“It’s you who gave her that fear in the first place,” Wings said.

“What do you know of spirits?” The ghost asked.

She raised a ghostly staff and fired a beam of white light towards Wings. Ai panicked and dashed behind him, screwing her eyes shut as she felt the shockwave of the attack pass over her, scattering the leafs strewn across the forest floor. She opened her eyes again and looked up, however Wing’s was still standing. She looked past him to see a figure silhouetted against the light from the ghost’s attack, her coat flapping in the wind.

“Believe me,” Wings said as the light died down and the shadowy figure lowered a black stone staff “I know about as much as you do.”

The ghost lowered her staff as the black figure faded from sight.

“Why should I listen to you?” The ghost asked.

A slight grin crossed Wings’ face.

“Be patient,” he said “Try not to rush things, just give Ai a slow nudge along the right path and when she’s ready, she’ll accept you.”

The ghost remained silent and stared down at Ai who was still cowering behind Wings’ back.

“So be it,” the ghost replied and slowly faded from sight.

 

Wings heaved a sigh of relief and turned to face Ai. Around them the forest was already beginning to change, the night was becoming day, the dead leafs were vanishing and fresh ones were growing on the trees. Birds could be heard chattering to each other as though it were a fine summer’s morning. Ai looked about her in awe as the forest transformed.

“Well, sorry to barge in like this,” Wings said “I normally ask permission before I enter another person’s mind but it didn’t look like you where in any position to answer.”

Ai continued to stare at him, utterly confused.

“Who are you, really?” She asked.

“I told you, I’m Wings,” he replied.

“No, really,” Ai said “Coming into Cyberspace is nothing unusual but now you’re in my dreams too?”

“Perhaps you’ve fallen for me and you’re just having a wet dream,” Wings chuckled.

“I am not!” Ai yelled “Normally I have the same dream every night and you’ve never been in it before, and now you are.”

“Well, you’re sharp,” Wings chuckled “It’ll take a very long time to explain so let’s leave it for another time, excuse me.”

As Ai watched Wings seemed to evaporate into white mist and vanish from sight. She gazed about her at the now lush and beautiful forest, unsure of what to do.

 

Ai opened her eyes, staring ahead of her at her desk which was now bathed in sunlight.

“Morning?” She sat up, rubbing her eyes “Was that really just a dream, or...”

She looked down and found that her hand was clasped around something. She opened her palm to see a small note with rather untidy handwriting.

 

‘See you in Cyberspace....Oh and be careful of people in black.’

 

She stared at it for a moment, confused, before she tossed it in the bin and slipped out of bed.

 

[spoiler=cards used in episode 5]

 

 

Name: Crystal World Knight

Attribute: LIGHT

Level: 4

Type: Rock

Lore: When this card is Summoned you may reduce the ATK of 1 "Crystal World" monster you control

to 0 to have this card gain the same amount of ATK lost.

ATK: 1700

DEF: 1200

 

 

Name: Crystal World Golem

Attribute: LIGHT

Level: 6

Type: Rock

Lore: Remove 1 "Crystal World" monster in your Graveyard from play to negate the activation

and effect of a Spell, Trap or Effect Monster that destroys 1 monster and targets this card and

destroy it.

ATK: 2100

DEF: 1600

 

Name: Crystal Revival

Type: Quick-Play Spell

Lore: When a "Crystal World" Monster you control is sent to the Graveyard you may Special Summon

it to your side of the field. A monster Summoned by this card cannot declare an attack until your

next End Phase.

 

Name: Crystal Clock

Type: Normal Trap

Lore: Increase the ATK of 1 "Crystal World" Monster you control by the numnber of turns this

card has been face down for x100.

 

[Aelsthla-Mental]

I just read through your story so far, and i have to say i enjoyed it very much. In other words, you got another fan :).

 

I hope i'll be useful. But for now i don't have much to say, except my surprise that she didn't draw a spell :O. I was almost sure she would win...

 

Aahh well, good job.

 

I also enjoy the obscure and so far unknown ulterior motive to this "Cyberspace". Can't wait to see what really is going on...

[bury the year]

Umm...

“No, not again!”

Lex and Izo both exchanged surprised looks at the sudden outburst and even Ryuga’s eyes had risen. Ai drew her card with her eyes screwed s*** tight and her teeth gritted.

“What was that about?” Lex muttered.

Ai stood there is silence, breathing steadily

 

Do you mean "shut"? Otherwise, tis an excellent chapter. Can't wait for the next.

[Guest Supreme Gamesmaster]

Reminds me of my original Warmyst storyline. The cards were all portals, and the motive was to build a doomsday army of Warmyst soldiers to conquer Earth...

 

Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The spacing between lines is starting to get on my nerves, but the plot is still genius and partially intriguing. Best part is, I already have a favorite character. :)

[Brendano Harns]

I wish you would make it into a manga. its awesome.

[TotalObelisk]

Thanks for the comments people, they are appreciated ^_6...

 

In the meantime:

 

[spoiler=Episode 6]Episode 6: Darker than Black. School Tag Duel

 

Ai stifled a yawn and looked out of the classroom window at the yard several floors below them.

 

“Something bothering you?” Izo asked.

 

“Well...It’s sort of hard to explain,” Ai replied.

 

“Try me,”

 

Ai bit her lip and pretended to think about it, avoiding eye contact with Izo. Izo frowned slightly and looked back down again, continuing to write down notes in his book.

 

“If you tell me what’s wrong I can help you,” he said.

 

“I don’t think this is the sort of thing anyone can help me with,” Ai said “I don’t know how to explain it but....Well, there’s this guy...”

 

“Ah, I see...” Izo chuckled.

 

“No, it’s not what you’re thinking,” Ai said quickly, her face turning red “Honest!”

 

“Carry on,” Izo said, still grinning.

 

Ai managed to calm down and took a deep breath before carrying on.

 

“Well he’s like some sort of ghost,” Ai said “I met him the other day in Cyberspace, you know, the guy I told you about who wasn’t there?”

 

“Oh yeah,” Izo said “I definitely don’t remember him.”

 

“Well, he was kind of in my dream last night,” Ai finished.

 

“You sure you don’t have a crush on him?” Izo asked.

 

“I already told you it’s nothing like that!” Ai snapped “It wasn’t like any other dream either.”

 

“Explain,” Izo said.

 

“Well, there’s a dream I have every night where I’m...” She looked about quickly to see if anyone was listening and then lowered her voice so that Izo had to lean in to hear her “...Well, I’m lost in a dark wood and there’s this figure chasing me,” Ai whispered “And it usually ends with me getting caught, but this time that guy was there and he seemed to know it was a dream.”

 

Izo was now genuinely interested and had completely forgotten about the lesson.

“So basically you think he’s some kind of dream walker?” He asked.

 

“Something like that,” Ai replied.

 

“Hm,” Izo put on a pondering expression and didn’t speak.

 

Ai stared at him, surprised at the sudden serious expression that had crossed Izo’s normally cheery face. She was about to say something when the bell sounded and interrupted her thoughts.

 

“Okay, class over!” The teacher called “Make sure you remember everything or you’re staying behind...”

 

Her next few words were lost as the students filed noisily out of the room. Izo however remained silent, still thinking.

 

“What’s up with him?” Ai thought.

She looked over at him as they walked out of the classroom, a slightly concerned look on her face.

 

The lunch hall was a massive white, round room supported with pillars dotted here and there and formed the centre of the school with the other buildings either branching off it or situated around it. The tables were also round and seated for about eight people. Once Ai and Izo had collected their lunch they sat down at an empty table, Izo still looking serious.

 

“Izo?” Ai said once they’d sat down “Izo!”

 

“Hm?” Izo seemed to wake up suddenly.

 

“Quit spacing out on me,” Ai said.

 

“Oh, sorry,” Izo said “I was just thinking.”

 

“Thinking about what?” Ai asked.

 

“Stuff,” Izo replied, starting to eat.

 

“What sort of ‘stuff’?”

 

“Just stuff,” Izo replied with his mouth half full.

 

Ai gave up and began on her own lunch, eating it in silence. She didn’t look up until three other people sat opposite them. The boy in the middle was tall and slender with smooth black hair combed behind him. He wore a black jacket over a grey shirt and pants and had a pair of black gloves on each hand. The boy to his left was shorter and had dark green eyes and hair that rose high above his head and wore a cheeky expression and the final one had short blond hair and blue eyes. Izo looked up at these individuals too, the usual grin on his face.

 

“Afternoon,” he said brightly.

 

“Same,” the boy in the middle said, fixing Izo with a hard stare “You two are new, right?”

 

“Pretty much,” Izo replied, still keeping the same smile.

 

“Well, let me teach you newbie’s the rules here,” the boy said “During class the teachers make the rules, during break I make them, got that?”

 

“Ah, so you’re that type of guy, huh?” Izo chuckled.

 

“That’s right,” the boy said “Baru Ion, nice to meet you.”

 

“Likewise,” Izo replied “And your friends are?”

 

“Yuu and Maran,” Baru said, pointing first to the blond boy then to the remaining one.

 

Yuu gave a polite bow but kept his slightly cocky expression and Maran’s smile merely widened slightly.

 

“This place is a little crowded,” Baru said “Meet us outside in five minutes and we’ll discuss things there.”

 

With that Baru and his two cronies left, leaving Ai feeling a little nervous.

 

“Izo,” she muttered.

 

“Don’t worry,” Izo said “I know their type; they never last for very long.”

 

He stood up after finishing his lunch and wiped his mouth.

 

“Well, let’s go,” he said.

Ai looked a little reluctant but stood up anyway to follow Izo. As she walked she noticed most of the occupants watching them and a few even following them out of the lunch hall.

 

“Izo...” She muttered.

 

“Don’t worry,” Izo said again “Everything’s under control.”

 

“I hope so,” Ai muttered.

 

Izo and Ai arrived in the yard. Baru and his friends where already there as well as a sizeable crowd of onlookers.

 

“Okay, here’s how things work,” Baru said “New students challenge me and my friends and we decide what you’re worth by how well you play.”

 

“Thought so,” Izo said “Happens pretty much everywhere these days. So, what happens if we win?”

 

Baru grinned broadly: “You won’t,” he said “So there’s no point preparing a prize.”

 

“I’m not so sure about this,” Ai muttered.

 

“Since there are two of you it’ll be quicker to have a four way,” Baru said, fiddling with something in his ear before flicking it away “So Yuu, let’s get this over with.”

 

Both Yuu and Baru stood apart and raised their duel disks, both staring at Izo and Ai. Izo took his own duel disk out of his bag and slipped it on.

 

“Hm, nice disk pretty boy,” Baru said “How about you wager that on our duel?”

 

“I wasn’t aware we were gambling,” Izo replied.

 

“I make the rules, remember?” Baru said.

 

“Ah, of course,” Izo chuckled “So what are you putting up?”

 

“I don’t need to put up anything,” Baru said “Cause I’m gonna win hands down.”

 

“But, what happens if you lose?” Izo asked, his tone growing slightly serious but still keeping the same casual air to it.

 

“Haven’t you been listening?” Baru laughed “I won’t lose, I’m the best duelist on campus and you’re just dust mites compared to me!”

 

He turned his gaze to Ai, causing her to flinch.

 

“So, you got anything to put up?” He asked.

 

“Huh?” Ai gave a start “No, nothing.”

 

“Hm,” Baru frowned, staring at her as she slipped on her duel disk and activated it “Very well, you can just give me your deck when you lose.”

 

“Ehh?!” Ai stared at him.

“You heard me,” Baru said “Anybody who doesn’t have anything worth dueling for doesn’t need a deck, so when you lose I’m taking it.”

 

“But I...” Ai started.

 

“Okay then,” Izo said.

 

“Huh?” Ai stared at him.

 

“But, it seems unfair that we don’t gain anything from our victory,” he said.

 

“Well, if you insist so much,” Baru said.

 

“How about this,” Izo said “I take it we’re not the first people you’ve won things from.”

 

“Dead right,” Baru replied.

 

“So, if we win why don’t you return all your winnings to their owners?” Izo asked.

 

“What?” Baru stared at him as if he were mad “Are you crazy, there’s no way that’s worth what I’m getting from you.”

 

“True,” Izo said “But you said yourself you weren’t going to lose, right? So where’s the risk.”

 

“Heh, you gotta point,” Baru said “Okay, it’s a deal.”

 

“I’m not so sure about this,” Ai muttered.

 

“Leave it to me,” Izo said as he shuffled his deck “Just remember what I told you, if you’ve got spirit you can win.”

 

“Spirit, huh?” Ai muttered, looking down at her deck.

 

She gave a nod and slotted it into her duel disk, suddenly looking serious.

 

“Okay, I’m ready,” she said.

 

“Good,” Baru said as he and Yuu raised their duel disks “Then let’s duel.”

 

All four player’s life points set to 4000.

 

“I guess I’ll begin,” Izo said, drawing a card “I’ll summon Virtual Crusader in attack mode!”

A circle of light opened in front of Izo and his Virtual Crusader rose out of it.

“Virtual Crusader is a Data Monster,” Izo explained “Meaning he can only do battle with another Data Monster.”

“Ha, that’s pretty bold,” Baru laughed “That leaves me a hole to your life points.”

Izo merely grinned in reply and lowered his duel disk.

 

“My turn,” Yuu said, drawing a card from his deck “I summon Mechanical Ghost in attack mode.”

A strange grey robot which consisted of a torso floating in mid air, a pair of skeleton like arms that floated beside it and a head with no face apart from two red eyes rose out of a pillar of light onto Yuu’s field.

“Turn End,” Yuu said.

 

Ai swallowed her nerves and drew a card from her deck.

“My draw,” she said “I summon Spell Girl – Luna in defence mode.”

Luna emerged, crouched down, from a circle of light and onto Ai’s field.

“I end my turn,” Ai said.

 

A grin crossed Baru’s face as he took a card from his deck and placed it in his hand. He took another card from his hand and activated it.

“I activate Dark World Dealings,” he said, a giant version of the card flipping up in front of him “Each of us draws a card from our decks and then ditches them.”

Ai and Izo both drew. Izo took his Virtual Hero from his hand and sent it to his grave. Ai sent Magical Mascot before looking at the card she’d drawn which was Spell Girl – Kokora.

“Next I summon Black Reaper LV 3,” Baru said.

A cloud of smoke rose up on Baru’s field and a small robed figure with child-like proportions and carrying a small bloodstained scythe popped up on his field, only one eye was visible as the other was covered by a hood that looked too big for it.

“During my End Phase, I can remove one Dark monster in my graveyard from play and have my Reaper level up,” Baru said “So I’ll remove Cyber Ouroborus and summon Black Reaper Level 5!”

A transparent image of Cyber Ouroborus appeared in front of the Black Reaper and he sliced it in half with his scythe, absorbing the image and growing into a taller figure with tattered robes, skeletal hands and a face hidden behind his hood.

“Not good,” Ai muttered.

“Now for Cyber Ouroborus’ effect,” Baru said “Since he was removed from play I can send one card from my deck to my grave and draw a new one.”

Baru took a card from his hand and sent it to his graveyard.

“And for my Black Reaper Level 5’s effect, I remove that card from play,” Baru finished.

A card slid out of Baru’s graveyard and he picked it up, showing it to the rest of them.

“And the card I removed was D.D Bomber, when this card is removed from play; I inflict damage to you 300 times the cards removed from play!” He declared.

Ai and Izo where surrounded by a red pillar of light and their life points dropped to 3400, at the same time Yuu was also surrounded by the same light and his own life points dropped to 3400.

“That’s not very team-like,” Izo said “Taking out your friend’s life points like that.”

“He can take it,” Baru grinned “It’s not like he’s going to let himself lose to scum like you.”

“Well, you’re about to see what ‘scum’ can do,” Izo replied.

 

He took a card from his deck and placed it in his hand.

“It’s my turn,” he said “And I summon Virtual Blocker in defence mode.”

A Data monster holding a shield almost as big as himself emerged beside Virtual Crusader.

“Virtual Blocker can negate effect damage to my life points so long as I have a fresh supply of trap cards to discard,” Izo explained “But in the meantime I’ll lay these two cards face down and end my turn.”

“Ha, you should have thrown something out to defend your life points from my attacks,” Baru said “Since both your monsters are data I can just bypass them and attack you directly, I don’t even know why they gave those trashy things ATK and DEF.”

Izo’s eyes seemed to narrow slightly but his smile remained.

“My cards are ‘trashy’ now, eh?” He muttered.

 

“My turn,” Yuu said, drawing a card “I equip my Mechanical Ghost with Power Drain.”

Yuu’s monster seemed to shake and spark all of a sudden before it fell limp, somehow suspended in midair with steam slowly rising from it.

“Power Drain reduced the ATK of the equipped monster by 900,” Yuu explained “Meaning my Mechanical Ghost now has 500 ATK.”

“Why would you do that?” Ai asked.

“Because it lets me activate Machine Duplication,” Yuu said, showing Ai the card “Allowing me to summon two more Mechanical Ghosts.”

Two more ghosts appeared beside the first, these ones perfectly upright with their ATK still at 1400.

“Now then,” Yuu said “I sacrifice my three Mechanical Ghosts, in order to summon Obsidian Guardian!”

A pillar of light surrounded Yuu’s monsters and they shattered, their pieces flying up into the sky. The ground cracked and a massive red creature emerged out of it. It looked like a giant red helmet with one large yellow eye and several black spikes extending from beneath it. It held a massive black spiked club in one hand and had a coil of white rope wrapped around it.

“What the hell is that thing?” Ai gasped as its shadow fell over her and the crowd backed away.

“Obsidian Guardian,” Yuu explained “When a monster is summoned to my opponent’s field, that monster immediately loses 100 ATK for each level star it had.”

“W-what?” Ai cried.

“Obsidian Guardian, attack,” Yuu ordered.

Yuu’s monster raised its massive club and brought it down on Luna, destroying her with ease. Ai covered her face with her arms as the pieces flew past her and didn’t dare look up again until the creature had raised its club once again.

“I end my turn,” Yuu said.

 

Ai gulped and place her hand on her deck.

“My draw,” she took a card from her deck and placed it in her hand “I summon Spell Girl – Gale in defence mode.”

Gale emerged from a pillar of light onto Ai’s field.

“Gale now loses 400 ATK,” Yuu interrupted.

Ai glared at him for a moment as Gale’s ATK dropped to 1300.

“I end my turn,” Ai said.

 

Baru took his gaze off Ai and turned to Izo.

“I’m going to make sure you regret leaving yourself open,” he said, drawing a card “Black Reaper LV 5, attack!”

Baru’s monster raised his scythe and swung it through the air, sending a sickle of energy flying towards Izo.

“I play my face down card,” Izo said “Spirit Barrier.”

“What?”

Izo’s face down card flipped up and a pearl orb surrounded Izo which deflected Baru’s attack, leaving Izo’s life points unharmed.

“Now, what were you saying?” Izo asked.

“Oh a wise guy, huh?” Baru said “Very well then, how’s this.”

He took another card from his hand and placed it on the field.

“I summon Dark Grepher in attack mode,” he said.

Baru’s monster emerged next to his Black Reaper, grinning at Izo.

“Now I play his effect,” Baru said “And by his effect, I’ll send Hunter Dragon to my grave in order to take D.D. bomber from my deck and send him to the grave too.”

Baru sent one card in his hand to his grave then took another from his deck and did the same.

“I’ll lay one card face down. Now, at my End Phase, I remove D.D Bomber from play to level up my Black Reaper!” Baru said.

Baru took out his D.D Bomber and his Reaper grey again, his hood falling back to reveal a gruesome skull face and now gloves had grown over the Reaper’s hands. A pillar of red light surrounded Ai, Izo and Yuu.

“Not good,” Ai said.

Izo remained calm and took a card from his hand.

“What are you doing?” Baru asked.

“Playing the effect of my Virtual Defender,” Izo said “I’ll send my Decoy File to the grave, and negate your damage effect.”

“What?”

Izo sent his trap to his graveyard and his Virtual Defender pressed a button that appeared briefly in mid air. The light seemed to break up and finally vanished, leaving Ai, Izo and Yuu unharmed. Baru glared at Izo, grinding his teeth.

“Don’t expect that to work every time,” he said “You won’t always have trap cards in your hand.”

“I disagree,” Izo said “Because now I play my Trap Repair.”

Izo’s second face down flipped up and his Decoy File slid out of his graveyard.

“What?” Baru stared at him.

“Trap Repair is a Continuous Trap card,” Izo explained “When a Trap Card is sent from my hand to my graveyard I can immediately return it; however I can only use this effect once per turn.”

Baru glared at him for a moment before recovering his composure.

“Not bad,” he said “You’re something else. However I’m not done.”

Baru’s Black Reaper seemed to grin slightly.

“I play my Black Reaper LV 7’s effect,” he said “When he’s summoned by his previous level’s effect, I remove two cards in my graveyard from play, so I choose Black Reaper LV 3 and Hunter Dragon.”

Baru’s monsters slid out of his graveyard and he picked them up, stowing them in his pocket.

“Also, when Black Reaper LV 7 destroys a monster in battle, that monster is then removed from play.”

“Fascinating,” Izo replied.

 

Izo took a card from his deck and placed it in his hand, looking down at it with content.

“I summon Virtual Striker,” he said.

A data monster armed with a pair of dual handguns rose up on Izo’s field.

“What’s the use?” Baru laughed “It can’t attack me.”

“I play Obsidian Guardian’s effect,” Yuu interrupted “And decrease your monster’s ATK by 400.”

Izo merely grinned as his monster’s ATK dropped to 1300.

“Next, I play Hand Destruction,” he said “So we all draw two cards and ditch two cards.”

Baru grinned as he sent two cards to his grave and picked up two new cards. Yuu merely remained content as he did so. Izo sent Virtual Sniper and another card to his grave before drawing and Ai sent Pot of Avarice and Spell Girl – Sola to her grave.

“Because there’s now a spell card in my graveyard, Gale gains 100 ATK,” she explained as Gale’s ATK rose to 1400.

“Next I play the spell card, Data Recycle,” Izo said “Giving my Striker 600 extra ATK.”

Izo’s monster glowed slightly as his ATK rose.

“No point,” Baru said “He can’t attack my monsters.”

“Not yet,” Izo said “But now I activate the equip spell, Digitize.”

Izo’s card flipped up on his field and suddenly Grepher turned the same shade as the Data monsters and gained the same pattern to his skin.

“What?” Baru looked down at his monster “What did you do to my monster?”

“I turned him into Data,” Izo said “Meaning my Striker is free to attack as I please. Striker, attack.”

Izo’s monster raised his weapons and fired at Grepher, destroying him and reducing Baru’s life points to 3800.

“Not bad,” he muttered.

“I guess that’ll do me,” Izo said “Oh and by the way, since the monster equipped with Digitize was destroyed in battle, I can add it back to my hand.”

 

“My draw,” Yuu said.

Ai bit her lip nervously as she watched Yuu.

“I activate the continuous spell card, Black Cannon,” he said.

A large grey cannon rose up behind Yuu’s Obsidian Guardian.

“What the heck is that thing?” Ai asked.

“Black Cannon,” Yuu repeated “Whenever a monster is destroyed in battle, that monster’s ATK is deducted from its owner’s life points.”

“Eh?” Ai gazed in horror at the cannon glaring at her “Not good.”

“Obsidian Guardian, attack Spell Girl – Gale,” Yuu ordered.

Ai gazed up in horror as Yuu’s monster raised its massive club and brought it down upon Gale. However Gale raised her staff and was suddenly surrounded by a violet orb that deflected the attack away from her.

“What?” Yuu’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I play Spell Girl – Gale’s effect,” Ai said “I sent Earth Spirit from my hand to the graveyard to negate your attack.”

Ai sent her card to her graveyard and the Obsidian Guardian’s club bounced off the shield, leaving Gale unharmed.

“You won’t escape again,” Yuu said.

“I play Earth Spirit’s effect,” Ai said.

“What?”

Izo looked over at Ai, an eyebrow raised.

“Since it was sent to my graveyard by Gale’s effect, I can now special summon Earth Union!”

An earth symbol appeared in front of Ai and a small white haired fairy dropped to the ground from out of it, staring up at the Obsidian Guardian which was far taller than him.

“Thanks to Obsidian Guardian’s effect, he loses 200 ATK,” Yuu cut in, desperate to keep the duel under control.

The Earth Union didn’t seem the least bit phased as his ATK dropped to 300.

“I end my turn,” Yuu said.

 

Ai breathed a sigh of relief and drew a card from her deck.

“Since there’s a spell card in my grave, Gale gains 100 ATK,” She said as Gale’s ATK rose to 1500.

Ai looked at the rest of her hand and played another card from it.

“I activate Training Mage,” she said.

A girl with white hair and robes, pale skin and bright blue eyes rose up behind Spell Girl – Gale.

“By the effect of my Training Mage,” Ai said “Whenever a Spell is sent to the graveyard it gains a spell counter, and increase the ATK of all Spellcaster type monsters by 100 for each counter on it.”

Yuu merely stared blankly at her.

“Next I’m going to use my Earth Union,” Ai said “Since he’s a tuner monster; I can tune him to Spell Girl – Gale to perform a Synchro Summon.”

Ai’s Earth Union exploded into two ball of light which flew into the air and came down as a pair of green circles which fell over Gale before she too became nothing but four balls of light.

“Nice going, Ai,” Izo said.

Ai grinned as a pillar of light crashed down onto her field.

“Synchro summoned,” she said “Let’s go, Spell Knight – Terra!”

The light dissipated and revealed a tall girl with neat brown hair, light brown armour and a massive sword slung across her back.

“Thanks to Obsidian Guardian, your monster loses 600 ATK,” Yuu said.

Ai glanced over at her monster as her ATK dropped to 1500.

“I end my turn,” Ai said.

 

“Heh, you might regret that,” Baru said, drawing from his own deck.

He looked up at Izo, a smug grin on his face.

“You’re good, I’ll admit it,” he said “But I’m afraid you’re a long way off beating me.”

He took a card from his hand and activated it.

“I play Lightning Vortex,” he said “So by discarding my Spear Cretin, I destroy all your monsters.”

“Huh?”

Izo looked down at his field as three bolts of lightning crashed down and destroyed all three of his monsters.

“Let’s see you defend your life points now,” Baru laughed “Black Reaper, attack him directly.”

Baru’s monster raised his scythe and swung it towards Izo, throwing a blade of energy towards him. It shot straight through Izo and caused him to stagger backwards, reducing his life points to 1000.

“Izo,” Ai cried.

“I’m fine,” Izo replied “Just a scratch.”

“I’m not done,” Baru said.

Ai and Izo looked up, a look of worry showing on Ai’s face.

“At the end of my turn I remove my Spear Cretin from play and my Black Reaper levels up!” Baru declared.

Baru’s monster slid out of his graveyard and his Black Reaper appeared to burst into black flames.

“What’s happening?” Ai gasped.

“This doesn’t look good,” Izo muttered.

A new monster rose up from the flames, this one with rusted shoulder pads, a long and ancient looking scythe, several severed heads dangling from around its neck and no legs rose up in place of Baru’s Black Reaper.

“I Summon Black Reaper LV 10,” Baru said “When this card destroys a monster in battle, both that monster and a monster in my grave are removed from play.”

“Not good,” Ai said.

“But luckily it’s my end phase,” Baru shrugged “So you get to live another turn, just don’t try anything tricky otherwise you might regret it.”

“Oh don’t worry,” Izo said “I don’t plan on regretting anything.

Ai glanced at the two massive monsters looming over them. On the left, the massive Obsidian Guardian and on the right Baru’s Black Reaper LV 10.

“How the heck are we going to get out of this?” She muttered “There’s just no way.”

Baru’s grin widened as he watched Ai’s panicked expression.

“It’ll all soon be over,” he chuckled.

 

 

[spoiler=cards used in episode 6]Name: Virtual Crusader

Attribute: LIGHT

Level: 3

Type: Warrior / Data

Lore: This card cannot be selected as an attack target except by a Data Monster. This card cannot attack a non-Data Monster. When you take battle damage to your life points, you can

draw a number of cards equal to every 500 points of damage taken and show them to your

opponent. Inflict 500 points of damage to your opponent for each card draw by this effect.

ATK: 800

DEF: 1300

 

Name: Mechanical Ghost

Attribute: DARK

Level: 4

Type: Machine

Lore: Flip: Decrease the ATK of 1 monster your opponent controls by 600.

ATK: 1400

DEF: 1200

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name: D.D Bomber

Attribute: DARK

Level: 3

Type: Machine

Lore: When this card is removed from play, inflict 300 points of damage to your opponent for

each card removed from play.

ATK: 1000

DEF: 500

 

 

Name: Power Drain

Type: Equip Spell

Lore: A monster equipped with this card loses 900 ATK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name: Trap Repair

Type: Continuous Trap

Lore: When a Trap Card is sent from your hand to your Graveyard, you may return it to your hand.

You may only use this effect once per turn.

 

 

Name: Data Recycle

Type: Normal Spell

Lore: Increase the ATK of 1 Data Monster you control by 300 for each Data Monster in your

Graveyard until the End Phase.

 

Name: Level Cannon

Type: Continuous Spell

Lore: When a monster is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard by battle, inflict damage to the

owner's life points equal to the destroyed monster's original ATK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Aelsthla-Mental]

Would you look at that, a normal tuner monster? Meh

 

Heh, looking at "Obsidian Guardian"'s effect, you can tell what's happening next chapter...

 

Anyway, i enjoyed the chapter. So much to gain, so much to lose... But at least it won't be the end of the world, not that the main characters WILL lose. They just can't!

[bury the year]

Like said above, if the main characters lose, we'll be gypped out of a good story. I can knida see how the next chapter's going to go, though. Once again, I think you need to post these cards in their own thread; I'd like to rate them. Otherwise, top-notch story, and can't wait to see the next one!

[TotalObelisk]

Lol, I can see where you're coming from...

 

Anyhow:

 

[spoiler=Episode 7]Episode 7: School tag duel part 2.

 

“So, what are you gonna do?” Baru asked “On my field I have my Black Reaper LV 10, Yuu here has his Obsidian Guardian, you only have 1000 life points left, no monsters and no hope of beating me and your girlfriend over there looks scared enough to soil herself.”

“I do not!” Ai interrupted.

“Calm down, Ai,” Izo said “I’ve got this under control.”

“How?” Ai asked “You don’t have any monsters on the field.

Izo merely grinned and drew a card to start his turn.

“I don’t get you at all,” Ai sighed.

“Don’t worry,” Izo said “Remember what I told you? If you have spirit, you can do anything.”

“Aw knock it off,” Ai moaned.

Izo merely smiled back and took a card from his graveyard.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Baru asked.

“I summon Virtual Hero,” he declared.

A pillar of light shot up on Izo’s field and his ultimate monster exploded out of it.

“What?” Baru stared up at the monster “How did you summon that?”

“Simple,” Izo said, taking Virtual Blocker and Virtual Striker from his graveyard and showing them to Baru “By taking two Data monsters from my graveyard and removing them from play, I can special summon Virtual Hero from my graveyard.”

“Don’t try and mess with me,” Baru yelled “Since when was that thing in your graveyard?”

“Since your first turn if you must know,” Izo replied calmly.

“Since my...” Baru hesitated, remembering playing Dark World Dealings “I see, so it was then.”

“Now, where was I?” Izo muttered “Ah yes, I’ll summon Virtual Princess in defence mode.”

A female data monster rose up next to Virtual Hero, a long cloak and shawl was wrapped around her body and her hair seemed to be split into two pigtails which looked oddly like hands.

“I guess that will do me,” Izo said.

 

“Then I’ll take my turn,” Yuu said, drawing a card and turning to Ai who winced slightly “Obsidian Guardian, attack Spell Knight – Terra!”

Yuu’s monster raised its massive club and brought it down upon Ai’s monster. Terra drew the massive sword from her back and parried the Obsidian Guardian’s attack.

“What? Again?” Yuu’s eyed narrowed.

“Spell Knight Terra can avoid being destroyed in battle so long as I discard a spell card from my hand,” Ai explained “So I’ll send Spell Draw to the graveyard which also allows me to draw two cards.”

“Hm,” Yuu looked sceptical “Fine I end.”

 

A ball of white energy appeared in the palm of the Training Mage’s hand and floated up into the air.

“Now what’s happening?” Yuu asked.

“Since I sent a spell to my graveyard, my Training Mage gained a spell counter,” Ai explained “And with the three spell cards in my graveyard, that gives her an extra 400 ATK.”

Terra glowed slightly and her ATK rose to 1900.

“I can’t hold out that long though,” Ai thought “I guess I’ll have to stall him for now.”

“I’ll set one card face down and end my turn,” she said.

She looked down at her hand, seeing that the only cards present in it were Spell Girl Kokora and Quick Spell. She bit her lip nervously, hoping she wouldn’t draw a useless card on her next turn.

 

“Yue? Yue!”

The door of a classroom slid open and a tall girl with long blue hair wearing a baggy black vest top and short jeans poked her head in, seeing a few students dotted about eating their lunch.

“Hey, has anybody here seen Yue?” She asked.

Anyone in the room taking the time to pay attention shook their heads.

“I think she was seeing a teacher about some homework,” a dark haired boy say as he wiped a few things of the holo-board with a digital eraser.

“Homework?” The girl blinked “I don’t remember any...Oh crud.”

She slammed the door shut and darted off down the corridor, causing a few people to stare. She came to a halt halfway down the corridor and sat against the window ledge, apparently out of breath.

“Damn, first Yue vanishes on me and I forget my homework,” she sighed “This day couldn’t get any...”

She stopped and looked out of the window, noticing the crowd in the yard circling around Baru, Yuu, Ai and Izo.

“Huh? Is Baru at it again?” She frowned “He’s nothing but a big bully.”

She looked over at the other side of the field, noticing Ai and Izo looking like complete opposites.

“Hm, this might be worth watching,” she muttered.

 

“My turn,” Baru said “And since I won’t do you any damage, I’ll just attack Ai.”

“Huh?” Ai barely had time to react when Baru turned his attention to her.

“Black Reaper LV 10, attack Spell Knight – Terra,” Baru ordered.

Baru’s monster raised his scythe and swung it through the air, sending a crescent of red energy towards Ai’s monster.

“Ai!” Izo snapped.

Ai seemed to snap out of a trance all of a sudden.

“I play my face down,” she said, pressing the appropriate button on her duel disk and causing the card to flip up in front of her “Deflect.”

“What?”

“This negates your attack and gives us both half your monsters ATK as damage.”

Black Reaper LV 10’s attack seemed to split in half and fly off at random, one half going through Ai and causing her to flinch the other going through Baru. Ai’s life points dropped to 1950 and Baru’s dropped to 2350.

“Heh, I guess you got lucky,” He cursed “Fine, I’ll end.”

 

Izo looked over at Ai as he drew from his deck.

“She’s hanging on by the skin of her teeth,” he thought “I’m gonna have to help her or that Obsidian Guardian is gonna tear her field apart.”

He looked at the card he’d just drawn and a grin crossed over his face.

“I play my spell card Breaker Wall,” he said, inserting the card into his spell zone slot.

His duel disk lit up briefly and the card flipped up on his field, however apart from that nothing else happened. Baru stared at him for a moment, looking slightly bored.

“And what was that supposed to do?” He asked.

“You’ll find out,” Izo said.

 

The blue haired girl walked out of the dining hall and into the yard, seeing the crowd blocking her view of the duel aside from the massive Obsidian Guardian looking over Ai. She frowned and looked about.

“Aha!”

She jogged over to the wall around the school boundaries and jumped up, pulling herself up onto the wall and sitting on top, able to see the duel and hear it from here.

“That’s better,” she said to herself as she leaned forwards to watch the duel, careful not to lose her balance.

 

“My turn,” Yuu said.

Ai gulped as he turned his attention to her.

“I could use my Quick Spell to negate his attack,” she thought “But I don’t want to waste it just yet, if I draw a card I can use with it…” Her thoughts trailed off “Gah, I’m totally stuck.”

“Obsidian Guardian, attack Spell Knight Terra!” Yuu ordered.

 

“This is gonna hurt,” the blue haired girl muttered.

 

Yuu’s Obsidian Guardian raised its club and swung it through the air and began to bring it down upon Spell Knight – Terra. Ai flinched and screwed her eyes shut, waiting for the attack to hit. She waited for a few seconds before opening her eyes again to see Terra unharmed. Confused she looked up and her eyes widened in amazement as she saw the Obsidian Guardian’s club blocked by a wall of flashing white lines and shapes.

“What the…?” Ai’s jaw dropped.

“What’s happening?” Yuu demanded “You don’t have any face downs!”

“That would be me,” Izo said.

Yuu glared in Izo’s direction and his eyes widened as he saw his Breaker Wall card glowing.

“You, what did you do?” He demanded.

“Breaker Wall’s effect allows me to send it to my graveyard to negate 1 attack from my opponent,” Izo said “Meaning I’m ditching it in order to help Ai.”

“Izo,” Ai’s face lit up.

Izo smiled back as his spell card shattered and the Obsidian Guardian was thrown backwards, the crowd parted to allow its massive club to slam into the ground despite the fact it was a hologram.

“Heh, you should’ve kept that for yourself,” Baru said “Saving your teammate never did you any good.”

“You’re wrong,” Izo said “I’m sure Ai’s next turn is gonna turn the tide of this entire duel.

“Eh!?” Ai stared at him in surprise.

“Trust me,” Izo said “All you need is spirit.”

“Yeah…But…” Ai trailed off.

“Hm? But what?” Izo asked.

“Nothing,” Ai shook her head “Forget about it.”

Izo stared at her for a minute but didn’t continue.

“Very well,” Yuu said “I’ll end my turn.”

 

Ai frowned and looked down at her deck.

“Ai, just what is bothering you?” Izo thought “It’s like you’re holding back.”

He stared at her for a moment longer before looking back over at Baru.

“Err; can we have a time out?” He asked politely.

“Eh?” Baru stared at him “Why would you want to do that.”

“I need the toilet,” Izo lied brightly.

“At a time like this?”

“When you gotta go you gotta go,” he replied, setting his duel disk on pause “Ai could you come with me? I always get lost?”

“Eh, what are you…?” Ai didn’t have a chance to reply fully before Izo had grabbed her and was now leading her thought the crowd, muttering apologies to anybody he barged past.

“You’d better not be discussing tactics over there!” Baru called after them.

 

Once they were out of sight Izo stopped and turned about, staring at Ai with a serious expression on his face, causing Ai to flinch slightly.

“He looks kinda scary like that,” she thought.

“Ai, what’s wrong?” He asked.

“Eh?” Ai stared at him, confused.

“Don’t try and hide it from me,” Izo said “You’re afraid of something, I can tell.”

“What?” Ai stared at him “Come on don’t be silly I…”

“Ai!” Izo snapped, causing her to flinch again “I can tell, don’t lie to me.”

Neither of them noticed the girl from earlier crouching just out of sight behind a bin, listening to the conversation.

“I…Err…” Ai stammered, a little taken aback by Izo’s sudden change in personality.

“Your duel with Ryuga the other day,” Izo said “You said something like ‘No, not again’ or something.”

Ai looked away from him, struggling to find something to say.

“I can tell there’s something wrong,” Izo said “If you tell me I can help you.”

“I don’t think it’s the sort of thing you can help with,” Ai said.

“Try me,”

“Well…” Ai hesitated then slowly looked back at Izo “There’s this thing, in my dream, the one I told you about earlier…”

“And?”

“It’s like it’s chasing me,” Ai said, looking down at her deck.

Izo stared at her.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Ai said turning about and walking off.

“H-hey,” Izo called after her “Wait up.”

 

Baru looked up as Ai and Izo came back through the crowd.

“I hope you two weren’t making out over there,” he said.

Ai’s cheeks flushed and Izo merely gave his usual grin.

“I’ll leave you to be the judge of that,” he said.

“Whatever,” Baru said, drilling one finger into his ear “Just tell your girlfriend to get on with her turn.”

“I am not his girlfriend!” Ai snapped, suddenly looking serious.

Baru stared at her for a moment, slightly taken aback.

“Yeah, whatever,” he replied “Just get on with your turn.”

Ai glared at him and draw a card from her deck.

“I sure hope she got what she needed,” Izo thought.

“I play my Enchanted Sword,” Ai said.

Spell Girl – Terra’s sword suddenly morphed, becoming a silver sword with a pink handle and guard shaped like a pair of wings.

“Since your monster has higher ATK than Terra, she gains 1000 ATK,” Ai explained.

Terra lifted the sword in front of her in a knight like stance and glowed white, her ATK rising to 2900.

“That doesn’t give it enough points to take out my Obsidian Guardian,” Yuu said.

Ai glared at him and took Spell Girl – Kokora from her hand and placed her onto the field.

“I summon Spell Girl – Kokora,” she declared.

A circle of light opened up in front of Ai and a monster with short brown hair and a tight fitting red outfit emerged onto her field, staring up at Yuu with a slightly cheeky expression.

“Your monster loses 400 ATK,” Yuu cut in.

Kokora’s ATK dropped to 1100.

“So, what will you do now?” Yuu asked.

Ai picked up Terra’s card and flipped it into attack position.

“Spell Knight – Terra, attack Obsidian Guardian!” She ordered.

“What?” Yuu’s eyes widened.

Izo raised his eyebrows, his interest peaking.

 

Terra raised her sword and ran towards Yuu’s Obsidian Guardian.

“You fool,” Yuu said “Even with that Enchanted Sword, my Obsidian Guardian still has more ATK than your Spell Knight.”

Terra jumped into the air and brought her sword down. The Obsidian Guardian raised its club and parried the blow. Terra hung in the air, sparks flying as the weapons slid against each other.

“Like I said, she doesn’t have enough ATK,” Yuu said.

“I play Spell Knight – Terra’s effect,” Ai said.

“What?”

“By sending Quick Draw to my graveyard, I can negate her destruction,” Ai said.

She took Quick Spell from her hand and sent it to her graveyard.

“Wait, Quick Spell?” Yuu repeated.

“By the effect of Quick Spell, I can now activate the effect of Spell Girl – Kokora,” Ai said.

“H-hey, wait a sec,” Yuu said.

Kokora grinned and raised her staff, the end of it lighting up with a scarlet aura. The same scarlet aura glowed around Terra and her ATK rose to 3600. With a yell of strength, Terra smashed through the Obsidian Guardian’s club and cut a long gash down its front with the Enchanted Sword. She landed catlike on the ground in front of the Obsidian Guardian as it let out a low moan and began to topple over, shattering into infinitesimal pieces before it hit Yuu. Yuu merely stared at where his guardian had just been horrorstruck at its sudden destruction.

“And now the effect of your Level Cannon activates,” Ai said, pointing towards it “Since your monster was destroyed, you now lose life points equal to your monsters ATK.”

Yuu’s eyes widened and he looked down in horror as the cannon swiveled round to face him.

“Ah…Ahh,”

The cannon fired and Yuu vanished within a pillar of flame, yelling like a madman as his life points suddenly dropped to zero. The cannon and the flame vanished, revealing Yuu on his knees with his head bowed.

“What did I tell you?” Izo said brightly “Nice move Ai.”

“You think?” Ai said, seeming to snap out of a trance.

“Yeah,” Izo said “Although you could have just used Kokora’s effect and sent Quick Spell to the graveyard to increase Terra’s ATK.”

“You think?” Ai replied “I just attacked cause it would look better.”

“Ehe..eheehe…Right,” Izo replied before muttering “She doesn’t get this game at all.”

 

Baru glared down at Yuu then turned his attention to Ai.

“You’ve got some nerve beating Yuu like that,” he said “But keep in mind you’re still no match for me, my turn.”

Baru drew a card rather violently from his deck.

“Black Reaper LV 10, attack Spell Girl Kokora!” He ordered.

“Huh?”

Baru’s Black Reaper swung his scythe through the air once again, sending his attack towards Kokora. It her dead on and she shattered, reducing Ai’s life points to 150.

“Ai, you okay?” Izo asked.

“Y-yeah,” Ai said.

Izo looked back over at Baru a grin spreading on his face.

“What are you smiling at?” Baru asked.

“Oh, nothing important,” Izo replied.

“Heh, good,” Baru muttered “Hey wait!”

 

Izo drew a card from his deck before Baru had a chance to realize Izo was referring to him.

“It’s time to put this game to rest,” Izo said, looking at the card he’d just drawn “Field Spell, Cyberspace activate.”

Izo’s field zone slot opened up and he placed his Cyberspace field spell upon it. Almost immediately a grid of green lines spread out from where he was standing, reaching up and above them and forming a solid square, trapping the remaining duelists within it.

“What the heck is this?” Baru demanded, gazing about him.

“Cyberspace,” Izo explained “Here, all monsters become data and all data monsters I control gain 300 ATK.”

“What?”

Baru looked over at Izo’s field at his Virtual Hero’s ATK rose to 3200 and Virtual Princess’ rose to 2300.

“Let’s go, Virtual Hero,” Izo said “Attack Black Reaper LV 10.”

Baru looked up at his monster, its 2900 ATK providing no contest for the powered up Virtual Hero.

“Damn it,” he cursed “Reverse card open!”

“Huh?” Izo looked confused as Baru’s trap card flipped up.

“Roar of Pride,” Baru said “Increase my monster’s ATK to 300 points greater than yours.”

Baru’s Black Reaper raised a skeletal hand, catching Virtual Hero’s fist and holding him at bay. The two monsters stood still for a moment, their arms shaking.

“Heh,” Baru smirked “Finish him!”

The Black Reaper LV 10 raised its Scythe in its free hand and brought it down upon Virtual Hero, however Virtual Hero raised his own free hand and caught the weapon before it hit.

“What?” Baru’s eyes widened “What’s happening?”

“That would be Virtual Hero’s effect,” Izo explained “During battle, I can send 1 face up trap I control to the graveyard, to increase Virtual Hero’s ATK by 1000.”

“W-what!?” Baru cried.

Izo’s Spirit Barrier shattered and the pieces flew across the field, flying into Virtual Hero and giving him and slight glow as his ATK rose to 4200.

“I-impossible,” Baru said.

Virtual Hero tore the Black Reaper’s scythe from his hands, tossing it to the ground before driving his fist into the Black Reaper’s chest, throwing him backwards where he shattered against the back of the field spell. Baru gazed up at the Virtual Hero as his life points dropped to 1650. His gaze then shifted to Virtual Princess as he saw her gazing at him and his eyes widened.

“Oh no,” he muttered.

“Oh yes,” Izo said “Virtual Princess, attack Baru’s life points directly!”

The hands protruding from her head shot forwards, shooting straight through Baru and wiping out what was left of his life points. He fell over backwards, landing on his backside, as the holograms faded.

“We won!” Ai said, relieved.

“Seems so,” Izo said, walking over to Baru.

Baru groaned and looked up to see Izo crouching down in front of him.

“Okay, I admit it, I lost,” he said “I’m not a sore loser.”

“Good to hear,” Izo replied “Now about our little deal.”

Baru looked up at him and then heaved a sigh.

“Tch, fine, I know when I’m beat,” he replied.

He got to his feet, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I gotta admit, that was some dueling,” he said.

“Why thank you,” Izo replied “After all, you were going to steal my duel disk if I lost.”

“Heh, good point,” Baru replied.

Izo merely grinned and looked about as the crowd dispersed around them. He turned about to see Ai wandering away.

“Ai, hey wait up,” Izo called.

Ai paused and looked around at him before carrying on.

“What’s eating her up?” Baru asked.

“That’s what I’d like to know,” Izo muttered.

 

Ai entered the toilets and splashed some water over her face before looking up at herself in the mirror.

“Izo doesn’t understand,” she muttered.

She heaved a sigh and turned off the tap, however she didn’t turn to leave. A soft knocking sound suddenly interrupted the silence, coming closer and closer. Ai blinked and looked up as the door opened and a tall girl walked through it, carrying a long metal cane that presumably had been making the noise. She wore a pair of baggy jeans and a white trousers and wore a white vest top. Her hair was dark green and tied back in a small bunch behind her. When Ai looked at her face she could see her eyes were a milky blue color and seemed to fade out around the edge, she was blind.

“Oh, somebody there?” She asked.

“Eh?” Ai looked slightly taken aback “How’d you know?”

“Heh, I can hear you breathing,” the girl replied, walking forwards and running her cane along the skirting board till she was right next to Ai “You’re going, Ahhh, ooh, all the time.”

“I do not sound like that,” Ai protested.

“You do to me,” the girl replied, leaning against a sink “Don’t think I’ve heard you around before, you’re than new girl, right?”

“Yeah,” Ai nodded “Ai Sakeru.”

“Call me Yue,” the girl said “Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah,” Ai muttered.

“Something troubling you?” Yue asked.

“How can you…?”

Yue tapped her ear and grinned.

“I can hear you sighing from outside,” she said “What’s up? Boyfriend dump you?”

“No, nothing like that,” Ai replied.

Yue frowned slightly, gazing in Ai’s general direction.

“Scared of something?” She asked.

“I am not!” Ai snapped, glaring at Yue.

“Ah, that’s it,” Yue said.

“Ah!” Ai immediately fell silent, looking slightly embarrassed.

“So what’s the trouble?” Yue asked “Got a stalker?”

“Sort of,” Ai replied.

“Sort of?”

“Look I can’t really explain it,” Ai replied “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Hey, I might be blind but I can tell when someone’s trying to avoid a question,” Yue said “So come on, spit it out.”

Ai fell silent and looked down at her deck which was still in her duel disk.

“It’s like there’s some sort of thing chasing me in my dreams,” she explained “And I get the same feeling whenever I’m dueling.”

“Hm,” Yue raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” Ai muttered.

“Hey, I can tell when people are pulling my leg,” Yue replied “Come on, lighten up, I bet you’re really cute when you smile.”

“How do you know I’m not smiling?” Ai asked.

“I guessed,” Yue shrugged.

The door opened again and Ai looked round to see the blue haired girl from earlier enter.

“Yue, there you are,” she said.

“Aoi?” Yue looked round.

“Yue, I’ve got to tell you about these awesome duelists I just saw,” the girl called Aoi said “They…”

She stopped, her eyes falling on Ai who immediately retreated behind Yue.

“Ah, she’s right there!” Aoi said.

Yue blinked but didn’t look round at Ai. Aoi immediately rushed past Yue and cornered Ai, a wide grin on her face; she was just as tall as Yue was.

“Seriously,” she said “You looked awesome.”

“Eh?” Ai blinked “I dunno, I…”

“Oh, sorry,” Aoi said, taking a few steps back and coughing “I’m Aoi, Aoi Sian.”

“N-nice to meet you,” Ai muttered.

“So…” Aoi said, looking around “Where’d your boyfriend go?”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Ai cut in.

“Really?” Aoi looked genuinely surprised “Well I guess he’s all mine then.”

“Eh?”

“Kidding,” Aoi chimed.

“Aoi, what are you going on about?” Yue asked.

“Hm?” Aoi looked up at Yue and grinned “Ah, you missed Ai and some hot guy beat Baru just now.”

“What?” Yue sounded genuinely upset “Damn, I wanted to break his winning streak.”

“Well you can’t have everything,” Aoi said.

“Yeah, I guess,” Yue said “Guess that means I’ll just have to beat you.” She looked down at Ai, causing her to flinch.

“N-no thanks,” Ai replied “I’m really not that….Hey I thought you were blind.”

Yue and Aoi both grinned broadly. Ai looked at the two of them, confusion showing on her face.

“Say, Ai,” Aoi said, patting Ai on the shoulder and causing her to jump “You wanna see my D-wheel?”

“You have a D-wheel?” Ai stared at her.

Aoi nodded, grinning broadly.

“Aoi, don’t show off,” Yue said.

Ai frowned, not wanting to look at either of them.

“Ai! Ai, where’d you go?”

Ai looked up, hearing Izo’s voice cutting through the silence.

“Excuse me,” she said, walking between the two “I’ll see you later.”

Aoi grinned again as she watched Ai leave.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” She asked.

“Probably,” Yue replied.

 

 

 

[spoiler=cards used in episode 7]

 

 

 

Name: Level Cannon

Type: Continuous Spell

Lore: When a monster is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard by battle, inflict damage to the

owner's life points equal to the destroyed monster's original ATK.

 

Name: Trap Repair

Type: Continuous Trap

Lore: When a Trap Card is sent from your hand to your Graveyard, you may return it to your hand.

You may only use this effect once per turn.

 

 

 

 

 

Name: Deflect

Type: Counter Trap

Lore: Negate the attack of 1 of your opponent's monsters and inflict damage to both players equal to half that monster's ATK.

 

Name: Breaker Wall

Type: Continuous Spell

Lore: You can send this face up card to the Graveyard to negate 1 attack from a monster your opponent controls.

 

Name: Enchanted Sword

Type: Equip Spell

Lore: Equip only to a "Spell Knight" monster. If a monster with more ATK than the equipped monster exists on your opponent's Field, the equipped monster gains 1000 ATK. When this card is sent from your hand to the graveyard as cost for a Monster Effect, once that effect resolves increase the ATK of 1 "Spell Girl" or "Spell Knight" monster you control by 1000 Until the End Phase.