6Author's Note (Feel free to Ctrl+F the title if you don't want to read the note): Honestly, I was wondering if I'd ever end up rebooting this story. There were so many things I regretted about the way the previous version came out, and I wanted to scrap or redo a lot of the plot ideas I had. But, finally, the ideas kept building up, and I think I've found a way to keep this version from getting messed up. It's in the description as well, but if you recognize a character from a franchise, I don't own it. Please enjoy this revival of…
The Ultimate Challenge – Volume I: To the Future, and Beyond
By St. Noof
Prologue: Fragments of Forever
It had been millennia since Goste had last tried to assemble the key to ruling the universe; a gem of such great power that no power on any world could match it, leading to a structure at the center of everything. Granted, there were other powers, sought by other entities on other worlds, but the collective heart of all worlds nor a gathering of spherical trinkets could allow Goste to truly be again. No, if Goste was to reclaim existence, the only suitable means was Primus Arterium.
After eternities of peace, the gem had once again gathered into one piece, at last offering Goste just one chance to take hold of it while it was whole. The vessel constructed for Goste's imprisonment was of minimal capability; just a skeletal frame protected by a hooded white robe, with gloves and boots attached to the appendages and a mask affixed to the hood to prevent the prisoner from escaping. Still, it was enough to allow Goste to roam through endless space, and that in turn was enough for him to locate Primus Arterium.
Now, staring through artificial eyes at the object of unlimited energy, Goste reached out to take hold of the ultimate prize. It was a magnificent piece; a giant four-pointed star shape with two rings turning endlessly at its perimeter. The color of Primus Arterium was ever-changing, reflecting the boundless diversity of all worlds. Goste shook away the distraction of the jewel's beauty and moved the hands of the prison vessel toward the star shape, but—
A sudden flash! No sound could be heard in the eternal vacuum of space, but Goste could almost hear the titanic shattering of Primus Arterium anyway. When the light dissipated, there was still quite a sight to behold. Millions—or maybe more—of streaks of colored light twisted and turned around each other, surrounding a gargantuan space that could easily hold an entire world, and leaving the false hand of Goste holding but a single fragment of the great treasure. The hand closed around it angrily. So, this was the defense that the Ancient Creator had bestowed upon Primus Arterium…
"So be it," said Goste soundlessly into the void of the cosmos. "Perhaps a more circumspect method has been called for…"
Chapter 1: Challenge Accepted!
"Rainbow Dragon, finish this!" Kaje commanded of the giant silver serpentine dragon in front of him. Kaje was quite large in stature, though he had known individuals much bigger than himself. He had dark brown hair that was buzzed to the point of almost not being there, and a pair of wraparound sunglasses covered his eyes. The dragon, as the case was, was only visible to Kaje and anyone else wearing similar eyewear, such as the shorter man standing opposite the dragon and its master, and the three spectators standing at random positions around the battlefield.
Adorned by each of the five individuals' arms were disks with wing-like projections that were divided into five equal sections in total. The disks owned by kaje and his opponent had their wings brought together on one side, revealing places on and in which cards could be placed. The center position on the top of Kaje's disk had a card on it that depicted a picture of the beast floating in front of him. At Kaje's command, the dragon flared its enormous wings and opened its mouth, releasing a small beam of white light that came to rest on the chest of Kaje's opponent. A second later, the beam widened tenfold and began to shimmer in the seven colors of the rainbow.
"I suppose he is going to finish this, one way or another," said Koukin, Kaje's opponent. He was thin, with hair much longer and darker than Kaje's. It was parted at one side, with one side tucked behind his ear and the other side hanging over his other ear, so as not to obscure the visor he wore to access the holograms between himself and Kaje. Directly in front of Koukin was an enlarged image of his face-down card, which he flipped up as the beam of light widened. "Reverse card open!" he announced as a barrel with an arrow pointing to its controller rose up from the grassy lawn in front of the apartment building occupied by the five people who were present. "Magic Cylinder, go!" The barrel repositioned itself so that it caught the colorful attack of Rainbow Dragon, then turned around so that arrow was pointing to Kaje. Kaje looked up in horror at a display above Rainbow Dragon, which read "ATK/ 8000". Before he could react, the barrel's closed end opened, firing the beam past Rainbow Dragon and straight in Kaje's chest. A display above his head that read "LP/ 2900" began to tick the numbers all the way down to zero, which caused the holograms and displays to disappear.
"Go, Koukin!" cheered a slight young woman with dark blonde hair. She had what appeared to be a shaded monocle over one eye, the eyepiece connected to a cord that hung around her neck.
"Thanks, Zero," Koukin replied humbly as he removed his visor, folded it up, and began putting his cards away. "Had that been almost any other card, though, I wouldn't have been so lucky."
"Well, it's not every day we get to see Kaje take a Magic Cylinder to the face," remarked a guy who was thinner than Koukin, but with hair shorter than that of Kaje. He was wearing a shaded pair of goggles.
"He took that like a boss, Dylan," said a young man of a medium muscular build. His eyepiece was square, covered one eye, and was held in place with a small computer unit that covered the corresponding ear, and he had shortish medium-brown hair with a matching wispy beard.
"In space," added Kaje. "Don't forget that, Haze."
"All of the space," Haze agreed.
"All your talk of space makes me surprised that you don't use Alien cards," Dylan said thoughtfully.
"I think I'll leave those to you, bro," said Kaje. "I may love space, but I've no interest in Uranus, or the probing thereof."
"Ha-ha," Zero remarked with mild enthusiasm, while Koukin lofted a brow, Haze gave a small burst of laughter, and Dylan cracked a mischievous grin.
"Although," mused Kaje. "this thought keeps running through my head… Do you guys ever feel like this world is too small?"
"Not… really…" Koukin replied, shaking his head slowly. "The planet is almost 25,000 miles in circumference. The average human walks at about four miles per hour, meaning it would take at least three years to walk in a simple circle around the world… not that that's possible."
"Yeah, the world's pretty gigantic, dude," added Zero.
"That's not precisely what I mean," Kaje said. "I guess it's kinda hard to explain…"
"You mean you feel like you're a little too big for the planet?" Haze offered with a grin. Kaje seemed about to retort, but Dylan snapped his fingers in enlightenment.
"I think he's wondering if there's something else out there," supplied he. "Some other world, or—" Kaje had to admit, his friend was on the right track, but the reason for Dylan's sudden silence was immediately apparent. Right in the middle of the yard, a vaguely rectangular distortion appeared. It wasn't a cloud of darkness, or a shimmering light, just an odd rippling in the air. The five friends stared at it for what seemed like minutes on end, before a door materialized within the distortion.
~O~
"What do you think a door is doing in the middle of the street?" asked a short teenage boy. His hair was spiky and dark, mostly, but strands of blonde hung around his face.
"No idea, Yugi," answered a taller boy with shaggy blonde hair. He was staring at the newly formed object and speaking in a zoned-out tone of voice, as if gazing at an apparition.
"Well, it's not like this is unlike anything we've ever seen, Joey," a girl not much taller than Yugi remarked. She had shoulder-length brown hair with bangs that hung just above her eyebrows.
"True, Téa, but usually stuff popping out of thin air means something's going on with the Pharaoh—I mean, Atem," argued a boy about Joey's height with dark hair that swept forward in a point. "Now that he's gone, what else could possibly be going on?"
"Tristan's right," Yugi agreed. "It's been months since we took that trip to Egypt, and nothing's happened in that time. If this isn't happening because of the Millennium Items, though, then why is it happening?"
"Maybe we should see if Kaiba knows anything about this," Téa suggested.
"No way!" protested Joey loudly. "There ain't no way I'm gonna go to a jerk like Kaiba for answers!"
"That's because you don't go to Kaiba for anything," said a gruff voice from behind the group. The four teenagers turned around to see a boy their age with a mullet of brown. "Kaiba comes to you if he feels like helping."
"Hey there, Kaiba," Yugi greeted amiably. "Long time, no see."
"That's just the way I like it," replied Kaiba. "Sad as it is to say, it looks like I may have to spend even more time with you and your little band of misfits, unless you're not going to investigate that door." As an afterthought, he mumbled, "God forbid you make me happy."
"Of course we're going to check it out!" Tristan insisted, but Yugi tugged on his sleeve to get his attention.
"Actually, I think you and Téa had better stay behind on this one," the shorter boy said reluctantly. "After all, someone's gotta cover for us at school, and help take care of Grandpa's shop."
"I suppose you're right…" agreed Tristan, even more reluctantly than Yugi had been.
"Anyway," Kaiba continued. "I've already gotten in touch with Pegasus about this. Turns out there's a door like this on the mainland near his island. I've also made a few calls to Egypt, and the Ishtars have spotted a door near the Pharaoh's tomb."
"Wait a second…" interjected Joey dubiously. "You mean to tell me Marik and Ishizu suddenly have phones? I thought they lived underground and stuff."
"Don't forget, Joey, now that Atem has been freed, they don't have to watch the tomb anymore," Tristan reminded him.
"That's right," Yugi agreed. "They're free, too; they can live however they want, and I'd imagine catching up with the times would be first on Marik's list of things to do."
"In any case," insisted Kaiba. "I think entering these doors is a bit of a preemptive move. We don't know where they could lead and…"
"And…?" Téa prompted, but Kaiba's trailing off was self-evident as the image of a face swirled in place, seemingly one with the surface of the door.
~O~
"Well, this is new," said a boy with shaggy brown hair. He was wearing a red and white blazer, as was a boy standing next to him; this one with long light blue hair. The blue-haired boy had a small pair of glasses perched on his nose.
"What, the door or the face in it?" asked the bespectacled boy. "If you mean the door, I'm going to have to point out that this already happened once this year, Jaden." The door had appeared right in the middle of the dock where boats came to and departed from Duel Academy.
"That's true, Syrus," agreed a man with dark blue hair. "Although I never expected a visit to my alma mater would entail something this strange. Do you think it leads back to the dimension of Duel Monster spirits?"
"I'm surprised at you, Zane," said a high voice from behind the trio. A man with a gaunt face and long blonde hair strode in front of them to look at the face on the door's surface. The man wore a blue blazer that had odd frills on the shoulders. "I've come to expect greater skills of deduction from you, my boy. We've already quelled all of the evil in that wretched dimension. This must lead somewhere entirely."
"You really think so, Teach?" Jaden asked, looking up at the blonde man with anticipation.
"Jaden, you disrespectful slacker, I—" started the man, but he stopped himself. "Sorry, force of habit. I would appreciate it if you would call me Professor Crowler, though."
"Eh, I think I'll stick to 'Teach', if it's all the same to you," Jaden insisted. "Maybe 'Prof', or just 'Crowler', on occasion, but let's not stick ourselves to any rules, here." To Jaden's delight, Crowler was wearing the familiar grimace he often sported when his pupils gave him a hard time.
"Seems as though you have the same old talent for irritating your superiors, Jaden," remarked Zane fondly.
"Use it or lose it, right?" quipped Jaden, before being hushed by Syrus.
"I think it's about to say something…" Syrus said quietly. Sure enough, the androgynous white face on the surface of the mysterious door had a certain air about it, as if gathering itself in preparation to speak.
~O~
"Greetings and felicitations to denizens of all worlds," said the distorted voice of the face in the door. "It is with great hope that I contact you, a hope that you will listen to what I have to say, and listen well." The door bearing said face had materialized right in the middle of the bridge connecting New Domino City to the Satellite, causing many a problem with traffic and Turbo Duels alike.
"'Denizens of all worlds'?" asked a man with black hair that curved up in two points on each side, each of which bore a streak of gold. Down one side of his face was what appeared to be a linear tattoo.
"Always figured there were worlds outside our own," remarked a man with spiky orange hair that was held up by a headband. His face had multiple tattoos similar to the black-haired man's, but the one that stood out was on his forehead; it resembled a pair of bird's wings, half-folded, as if the owner of said wings was about to take flight. "Don'tcha remember that crazy ordeal with the Dark Signers, Yusei? That creep Goodwin wanted to use the power of the Underworld to reign supreme or whatever, right?"
"What a trip that was," a man with blonde hair that streaked back in a few places said. His voice carried a heavy Australian accent. "That was when you first became a Signer, Crow, remember? The Crimson Dragon decided that Goodwin wasn't a proper practitioner of the light, so it made Yusei head Signer and gave his old mark to you."
"I always wondered what happened with that," commented a woman with short dark pink hair. "I knew Crow was an important member of your guys' gang, but I had no idea why he suddenly became a huge part of this whole Crimson Dragon thing. Was that when you, Yusei, and Crow were in that four-way Turbo Duel, Jack?"
"You weren't the only one in the dark, Akiza," assured a boy with green hair so long that he had a ponytail sticking out at the top of the back of his head, before Jack could answer. "Of course, I always get left out all the cool Signer stuff…"
"That's because you're not a Signer, Leo," a girl who looked just like Leo said admonishingly. Instead of a ponytail, she had a pair of pigtails that stuck out in a similar fashion from the sides of her head.
"Leo, Luna…" the black-haired man, apparently Yusei, said softly. "Shh…" Just as he bid the children to be quiet, the face in the door began to speak again.
"I have spent much time observing the worlds scattered about through the universe," the voice continued. "but I have not merely been an observer. Most of you may notice the emergence of a game known as Duel Monsters in your own world in years past. Perhaps someone in your world invented it, or maybe no one that inhabits your world can say where the game came from. Whatever the case may be, if you are hearing my voice, then your world has been connected to a world of my own creation; a place called Duelia. In that world, I am preparing a tournament for any and all players of Duel Monsters to join."
"A massive Duel Monsters tournament?!" shouted Leo excitedly. "That is so boss! I wanna join, I wanna join!"
"Sorry, little man," Crow said gently. "but I think this might be a bit too dangerous to let everyone jump into all willy-nilly." Just then, a patch of red light appeared on the right arms of Yusei, Jack, Crow, Akiza, and Luna.
"Oh, what wonderful timing…" Jack muttered. "Looks like Crow's right, Leo. I think this tournament's gonna have to be a Signers-only thing."
"What?I" exclaimed Leo incredulously. "That is so not fair!"
"Think of it this way, bro," Luna said in a tone of mock empathy. "One of us has to stay home to cover with Mom and Dad… and to do all the homework… and take care of Yusei's garage…" Leo growled at his sister, but he stopped when Yusei put a hand on his shoulder.
"Or think of it this way, Leo," he added reassuringly. "You always try to protect your sister, but this time, she's going to protect you. This thing could be really dangerous, and we don't want anyone getting hurt. Besides, if you take care of my garage, you get to check Jack's, Crow's, and my Duel Runners every day until we get back."
"Really?" Leo asked, his eyes bright. "You mean it, Yusei?"
"I think you've got the little guy sold on the job," said Crow with a chuckle.
"Absolutely," Yusei replied to Leo. "Now we just need to figure out how to get into this tournament…"
"The door to Duelia will open when the world's name appears on this door," said the voice, as if in direct response to Yusei. "The doors to this world will remain open for the duration of the tournament, but once the opening ceremony has ended, only those present will be named contestants in the Gauntlet of Eternity."
"Well, I'd say that answers your query," Akiza said, nudging Yusei.
~O~
"Did you hear that, guys?" jabbered a boy with black hair that curled up into four points at the sides of his head. On his forehead were two sweeping clumps of red hair that pointed up and slightly back. The face in the door, which had appeared in the middle of the street in front of the local middle school, had just finished its speech. Promptly after it had ceased talking, the face had disappeared altogether, leaving the smooth gray-brown surface of the strange door completely blank again, save for an ornate doorknob.
"I think everyone in the city heard it, Yuma," a stout boy with similar hair, albeit without the red, retorted. "From what I can tell, these doors are poppin' up all over the place."
"That's statistically very likely, Bronk," commented a bookish boy with blue hair with bangs that were parted in the middle. "Based on what this entity is saying, it would seem that this is far from a localized event."
"Save us the fancy talk, Caswell!" a small boy with short brown hair and glasses shouted. "I just want my info at face value."
"He agrees with Bronk," said a girl with shoulder-length green hair. "You know how Caswell is, Flip. He loves to point out the data."
"Right as usual, Tori!" Caswell said with a huge grin.
"Enough about data and stuff!" Yuma shouted. "What about this tournament? Are you guys gonna join? Huh? Are ya?"
"Count me out, man," Bronk replied. "I like to Duel and all, but goin' through a random door to who-knows-where sounds just a little too dangerous for me."
"I'm afraid I must concur with Bronk," admitted Caswell. "As a scientist, I find myself both intrigued and terrified by the unknown."
"Yeah, and who knows what could be on the flip side of that door?" Flip said uncertainly with a shiver.
"You would be wise to listen to your friends, I think," a floating figure made of blue light chipped in. "My first conjecture was that perhaps this door had something to do with my memories, but we have collected enough Number cards that I would recognize this kind of event if it was important."
"Who asked you, Astral?!" shouted Yuma. Astral merely quirked a brow at the only person who could see and hear him, while Yuma's friends all cast a glance in the general direction where they thought the alien spirit was. Yuma's attention was suddenly drawn to a boy with dark purple hair that hung around his face like tentacles. The boy had come from the school, just as Yuma and his friends had, and he passed by the group to inspect the door for himself. After a moment or two, he turned back to Yuma and grinned.
"Still talking to your imaginary friend there, Yuma?" the purple-haired student said, still smirking.
"Heya, Shark!" Yuma greeted, sporting a grin of his own. "Do you wanna come with me to the tournament on the other side of that door?" Shark considered this for a moment or two, and then nodded solemnly. "All right!" cheered Yuma.
"Make no mistake, though," Shark warned. "I'm not just going there to be your buddy, Yuma. If I enter, we're rivals again. Got it?"
"Yeah!" agreed Yuma after several seconds of contemplation. "Wouldn't have it any other way, pal!"
"You boys have fun with that," Tori said, smiling at the competitive spirit of the two Duelists.
"Oh, I will," promised Yuma, giving the green-haired girl a thumbs-up. "I am most definitely feelin' the flow! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going home to strengthen my Deck." Yuma was about to walk away when there was the unmistakable sound of a grumbling stomach. "I suppose I'll be stocking up on Duel Fuel while I'm at it," he said with a wide grin before racing off.
Okay, that may have been a little schizophrenic for one chapter, but it's occurred to me (thanks to TheTrainTicket) that a story revolving around Duel Monsters would be more well-received if I included the actual Yu-Gi-Oh! characters. In light of that, I thought I'd give no one an opportunity to be disappointed by the volume of familiar faces.
Kaje, Koukin, Dylan, Zero, and Haze are obviously OC's, and there are more on the way, but I still have plenty of existing characters to write in. If you've read the previous incarnation of TUC, you know a bit of what's coming, but I have a new twist.
If you want to see a given character or franchise in this story, send me a PM with the character's name, appearance, franchise, and an idea or full Deck list they'll be using. I also need descriptions of the monsters in the Deck, as well as card effects and stats for custom cards. If you prefer, feel free to email all of that to me at maskofnoof at aol dot com. Thanks for reading, and please review!