I haven't come down with any cold but yes, I have gotten a case of the SYOC fever! Now for my older readers, I know what you're thinking. "Legacy, you're doing too many SYOCs. You're not going to have any time for any of them let alone finish them." And you know what I have to say to that? Yeah, you're probably right. I might not finish any of these stories but I can try. This isn't my job, this is something I do for fun. After a long day of classes and riding a bus, a train, and a car home, I like to open up my laptop and write stories so I don't see a problem.

Now that I'm done ranting, welcome to my newest SYOC which is a little different from what I've done in the past and is part of me branching out. I'm doing Yu-gi-oh! Now because this kind of writing requires scripted battles, updates will be VERY spread out so please be patient with me if you submit a character.

Before we get into it, let me explain a few things. This story will be driven completely by OCs so no characters from any of the Yu-gi-oh series will appear. That brings me to my next point. Keep in mind is that this story will not follow the timeline so consider this an alternate universe. And lastly, the decks will not be as competitive and well-built as they are in real life but we'll get into all of that when building decks for your characters and you'll see what I mean by that in the duel in this chapter.

So without further ado, I present…

Path of the Duelist

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh, any of their spin-off series, or their characters. The only things I own are some Yu-gi-oh cards from when everyone played in my high school. (My deck was garbage until I got into the meta at the time.)

Prologue

"Crap! I'm late! I'm late!" He yelled as he fought the burning sensation in his lungs and continued to run through the Crimson City streets.

People gave him raised eyebrows and pulled their children and pets aside as he ran by them, huffing and puffing all the while. He raised his arm to study the black and silver watch strapped tightly to his bronze wrist. It read 4:21, which only raised his anxiety and motivated him to move his arms and legs even faster.

Several exercise-filled minutes of dodging cars and taking shortcuts through alleys and the boy's cerulean eyes caught a glimpse of his destination. It was a yellow building with large windows and a sign that read: "Duel Central" in big red letters surrounded by a Dark Magician and a Dark Magician Girl.

"Almost there!" he shouted to himself for that last push that he needed to make it there.

In front of the building stood a tall young man with short platinum blonde hair and hazel eyes. His skin was incredibly light but not deathly pale and he wore a very casual outfit consisting of a black shirt with an asymmetrical checkered pattern going down the front as well as khaki cargo shorts and a pair of battered sneakers.

"Lando!" the running boy called as he slowed to a stop. The blonde patiently waited for the brunette to catch his breath. "S-sorry…for being…late." Once his breathing stabilized, he said, "I was caught up with a thing, you know?"

"Vanessa?" Orlando asked, already knowing the answer.

"Vanessa," the boy confirmed – his curly chestnut tresses bobbing with each nod.

"How's that going, by the way?"

The brunette shrugged, "It's okay, I guess. I don't want to talk about it, really."

"I thought being cousins entitled me to details about your personal life," Orlando responded sarcastically. He opened the glass door for Jared and said, "Well, anyways, my mom let me reserve an arena."

The boys entered a large room with dark walls and ceiling however the many duel arenas scattered throughout with their flashing holographic projects kept it far from being dim. There were children of all ages and some young adults dueling against one another and spectating from a far.

Shoving his hands into his hoodie's pockets, Jared commented, "I'm so glad your mom's the manager here."

"Eh. It has it's perks."

"You mean like always having a duel arena ready for me to beat you?"

"As if. According to my memory, I'm up nine to your seven."

"Eight after today."

Orlando rolled his hazel spheres and with a smirk responded, "Big deal."

The teenage boys reached a large machine with a blue podium on one side and a red one on the other. Between these podiums was a projector separated into grids for the game they called, Duel Monsters.

Taking a quarter out of his pocket, Orlando asked, "Heads or tails?"

"Heads."

The blonde launched the coin high into the air with a flick of his thumb and caught it when it came back down. He slapped it onto the back of his free hand and revealed it to have landed on "tails."

"You go first," Orlando said plainly as he reached for the deck box clipped to his shorts.

Jared pulled his deck out of his own deck box and the two exchanged decks to shuffle and cut their opponent's cards for a fair game. When the two finished, they returned the cards to their owners and parted ways.

The brunette stepped onto the blue podium to find a dark screen and just as he'd done many times before, he flicked the switch somewhere beside it to turn the machine on. A light blue background appeared on the screen with a white input box and digits from one to nine underneath. The machine instructed, "Please enter your duelist ID number." After doing so, the same grid that appeared between the podiums appeared on Jared's screen and by placing his deck on the bottom right-hand square, the duel commenced.

Jared: 4000 LP

Orlando: 4000 LP

Jared drew five cards and scanned them to figure out what his best play was. After a few seconds of thinking, he plucked one of the cards from its friends and placed it in the middle slot of the Monster Zone.

"I normal summon Heroic Challenger – Thousand Blades!"

(Heroic Challenger – Thousand Blades/ Warrior/ Effect/ Earth/ 4/ 1300 ATK/ 1100 DEF)

A steel-clad warrior with many blades protruding from his armor took to the field and with a twirl of his lance, he was prepared for battle.

"Now I activate his effect. By discarding my Heroic Gift from my hand, I can special summon my Heroic Challenger – Clasp Sword in defense position and when he's special summoned, I can add one Heroic Challenger monster from my deck to my hand and I choose my Heroic Challenger – War Hammer!"

(Heroic Challenger – Clasp Sword/ Warrior/ Effect/ Earth/ 1/ 300 ATK/ 100 DEF)

"Because I used Thousand Blades' effect, I have to switch him to defense position too. I'll end my turn by setting two cards in my Spell & Trap Zone." Thousand Blades took to a knee and crossed his arms over his chest to indicate that he was in defense position.

Before drawing, Orlando took a moment to analyze the current field. His cousin had two monsters out on his side but both of them were relatively weak especially since they were in defense position. Unfortunately, he had no monsters at his disposal to inflict piercing damage to Jared's life points but getting over them was no problem.

"Alright, it's my move. Draw! I'll start by discarding my Malevolent Mech – Goku En to special summon Dark Grepher from my hand."

(Dark Grepher/ Warrior/ Effect/ Dark/ 4/ 1700 ATK/ 1600 DEF)

"Next, I normal summon Card Trooper."

(Card Trooper/ Machine/ Effect/ Earth/ 3/ 400 ATK/ 400 DEF)

"Card Trooper's effect allows me to state a number from one to three and then send cards from the top of my deck equal to the number I declare. But that's not all because Card Trooper gains five-hundred attack points for each card that I send so I'll send three." Orlando milled the top three cards of his deck and noticed that one of those cards was Mezuki. Deciding to get ahead in the game, he activated Mezuki's effect. "By banishing Mezuki from my graveyard, I can special summon one zombie-type monster from my graveyard and the one I choose is my Malevolent Mech – Goku En!"

(Malevolent Mech – Goku En/ Zombie/ Effect/ Light/ 6/ 2400 ATK/ 1400 ATK)

"Crap."

"Yup. I've got three powerful monsters to your measly two and I'll put them to work starting now. Dark Grepher, attack Thousand Blades!"

Dark Grepher's muscles bulged as he lifted his sword high into the air and charged Heroic Challenger – Thousand Blades.

"I activate my trap card, Negate Attack and its effect is just as the name implies. Your attack is negated!"

One of the set cards on the field lifted to reveal a whirling vortex that intercepted the attack. When it dissipated, Dark Grepher returned to his side of the field.

Orlando replied sarcastically, "Well I never would've guessed that that's what it does."

"Well on top of that, Negate Attack ends your Battle Phase."

"Alright, I'll just set two cards in my back row and end my turn."

"Draw!" Ignoring the card he drew – because it was useless at the moment – Jared activated his Bait Doll spell card. "This lets me target down one of your set cards and if it's a trap card, Bait Doll forces its activation and negates its effect. If the timing is wrong, then it's destroyed."

"Which one will it be, then?"

"I choose the one in the center."

A straw doll appeared in front of the set card and lifted it to reveal Return From The Different Dimension. A sickle shot towards the card and shattered it upon contact.

"Next, I'll tribute my Heroic Challenger – Clasp Sword to Normal Summon my Heroic Challenger – War Hammer."

(Heroic Challenger – War Hammer/ Warrior/ Effect/ Earth/ 6/ 2100 ATK/ 1300 ATK)

"Next I'll switch Thousand Blades into attack position and have him attack your Card Trooper!"

The silver warrior lunged into the air and drove his lance through the machine's glass head, causing an explosion to erupt from it.

Orlando placed a finger on the top card of his deck and explained, "Because Card Trooper was destroyed, I get to draw one card." He added the piece of paper to his hand and stared at the card, formulating a plan in his head. He could bring this back if he drew the right card.

"That's fine. Now War Hammer, attack Dark Grepher!" The massive sledgehammer rammed into the dark warrior, causing him to shatter. Soon, Grepher's leotard appeared on War Hammer and the sledgehammer was replaced with the destroyed monster's sword. "If War Hammer destroys a monster by battle, I get to equip that monster to him and he gains attack equal to that monster's so his attack is now 3800."

Jared: 4000 LP

Orlando: 2800 LP

"I'll admit, you've got me backed into a corner."

"But knowing you, you'll slip out."

A confident smirk spread across Orlando's face as he responded, "That's the plan. Draw!" He was still for a moment, carefully analyzing the card, but Jared could see a spark in his light brown eyes. "I activate the spell card Dark Core. By discarding one card, I can banish one face-up monster on the field and I bet you can guess which one it is."

A black sphere, sparking with blue electricity formed around Heroic Challenger – War Hammer's head and grew until the monster was completely engulfed inside the darkness. The sphere then collapsed and any trace of the warrior was gone.

"Next, I'll place the card in my hand on top of my deck to special summon the Plaguespreader Zombie I just discarded. And now I tune my Plaguespreader Zombie with my Goku En…" The tuner monster dissolved into two shining spheres and rings which surrounded Orlando's other monster. The rings formed a cylinder and the spheres went into Goku En's chest, making it glow. "To Synchro Summon Blood Mefist!"

(Blood Mefist/ Fiend/ Synchro/ Effect/ Dark/ 8/ 2800 ATK/ 1300 ATK)

"Now Blood Mefist, attack Thousand Blades!" The tall, ghostly fiend leapt into the air and destroyed Thousand Blades with the swing of his staff. "With that, I end my turn."

"During your End Phase, I activate my trap card Reinforce Truth!" A pillar of light crashed down onto Jared's Monster Zone. "With it, I can Special Summon a level two or lower warrior-type monster from my deck and I choose my Heroic Challenger – Ambush Soldier! I'll summon him in defense position."

(Heroic Challenger- Ambush Soldier/ Warrior/ Effect/ Earth/ 1/ 0 ATK/ 0 DEF)

Jared: 3100 LP

Orlando: 2800 LP

"Now I draw! During my Standby Phase, I can use Ambush Soldier's effect to tribute him and Special Summon my Thousand Blades and Clasp Sword. Then I'll use Clasp Sword's effect to add Heroic Champion – Double Lance from my deck. Next I'll discard Double Lance to activate Thousand Blades' effect and Special Summon Heroic Challenger – Extra Sword from my deck." A warrior with green armor and swords for hands sharped its blades and took its stance. "Now I'll Normal Summon a Heroic Challenger – Double Lance and use his effect to Special Summon the Double Lance in my grave. I think you know what happens next. I overly one of my Double Lances with my Extra Sword…" A dark vortex appeared on Jared's side of the field which caused the monsters he named to transform into spheres of light and fly into the swirling abyss. "To XYZ Summon Heroic Champion – Excalibur! Because of Extra Sword's effect, Excalibur now has 3000 attack points instead of 2000."

(Heroic Champion – Excalibur/ Warrior/ XYZ/ Effect/ Earth/ 4/ 2000 ATK/ 2000 DEF)

"I'm glad you used the Double Lance that you Normal Summoned as an XYZ Material because I activate the trap card Darklight! With it, I tribute one dark monster with 1500 or more attack and destroy all monsters that were Special Summoned this turn."

All four of Jared's monsters shattered before him, leaving him completely baffled. All of his hard work literally fell apart right before his bright blue eyes. With nothing left but the spell card Broken Bamboo Sword in his hand, he ended his turn.

The blonde boy sympathized with his cousin, "Maybe next time, Jared."

Orlando drew the spell card he had returned to his deck with Plaguespreader Zombie's effect and activated it.

"With Book of Life, I can banish one monster from your graveyard to special summon one zombie-type monster from my graveyard and the one I choose is Il Blud, which was sent there with Card Trooper's effect."

(Il Blud/ Zombie/ Gemini/ Dark/ 6/ 2100 ATK/ 800 DEF)

A hideous round monster with demonic red eyes and tendril-like hair appeared on Orlando's side of the field. A distorted face was creeping out from its prisoners' uniform, ready to devour anything it could.

"As it is right now, Il Blud is a Normal Monster but I can Gemini Summon it by using my Normal Summon for this turn. Now that it's an Effect Monster, it has the ability to Special Summon one zombie-type monster from either player's graveyard but I'm the zombie specialist here so I'll dip into mine and bring back my Malevolent Mech – Goku En. This is the end, Jared. Il Blud, Goku En, attack him directly."

The two monsters charged forward and Jared could only watch as his life points hit zero.

Jared: 0 LP

Orlando: 2800 LP

The podiums descended so that both duelists could step off and approach each other. Jared put his hand forth and Orlando gladly accepted it. He knew that despite the loss, Jared was not hurt or discouraged or even angry. The brunette took his losses with dignity and always tried to learn from them. That's why despite the having more wins, Orlando knew that that's what made Jared the better duelist.

"Well, it's like my mom always says," Jared started. "You learn more from losing than you do from winning. Good game, Lando."

"Yes, indeed it was."

The boys turned to find a well-dressed man and a familiar woman approaching them. She looked very similar to Orlando except for her round face, short stature, and feminine qualities. The man, however, was a complete stranger but his business suit Jared and Orlando to assume that he was there for well…business.

Jared took in the man's appearance. He was incredibly tall – taller than Orlando – with small gray hairs scattered throughout his dark mane, which he kept combed back. His amber eyes burned strongly, adding to his intense energy.

"Mom," Orlando started, "Who's this guy?"

"Orlando!" she chided, "Please, show him some respect."

"Yes, ma'am," he mumbled.

The stranger laughed filling the air with his booming voice.

"It's quite alright, Susan" he said. "My name is Henry Cardinal."

Susan added, "Mr. Cardinal is the head of promotion for Zeta Corporation."

"That's the biggest advertising company often making campaigns for Duel Monsters!" Jared explained, "What are you doing here?" he asked as respectfully as he could. He knew what his Aunt Susan was like when she was nettled and he did not want to be on the other end of it.

"Well Zeta Corp. is planning on doing another tournament to promote the release of the new Number cards and well I saw your match so I thought I'd invite the two of you to participate."

"Number cards, huh?" Orlando started. "Yeah, I've heard of–"

"Forget that!" Jared interrupted. "You want us to participate in a tournament?!"

Mr. Cardinal chuckled from Jared's enthusiasm and nodded, "Yes. Are you interested?"

"Yes!" they both responded.

"Splendid! Well boys, Susan and I have a meeting to go to but you will hear from me very soon."

Phew! And there's the prologue! Okay guys, I know some of you are thinking "Why did Jared and Orlando explain their cards to each other if they've played each other before?" I did mention that this story is like the anime, right? So there's your explanation. Plus I need to get used to explaining cards and such when they duel other people.

Now I'm not used to writing duels so bear with me for the time-being while I start to pick up a flow and adapt it to my writing style. Again, these chapters won't be too frequent not only because of school but also because writing battles is HARD! I have to script everything and make sure not to lose track of what cards they have in the hands, on the field, in their graveyard, or banished and THEN write out the actual battle. Trust me, that takes time but I had lots of fun writing it out!

So yeah, OCs are being accepted so read the rules, fill out the form, and send them in. Leave your comments, questions and concerns (NOT OCS) in the reviews and I'll see you guys next time!

(NOTE: I thought about it and decided to change the Zeta Corp campaign from promoting their "new" Pendulum Monsters to Number Cards because Jared and Orlando's decks can use Number cards better. That is all.)