Yugioh Card Maker Forum

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.

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.”

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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!”

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.

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,” th