[hider=Yu-Gi-Oh! Ω (OMEGA) - Episode 1]
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[b][u]Episode 1: Rat Race[/u][/b][/center]

“New Domino City!” the MC projected over the Kaiba Dome’s intercom. “Get ready! Because today a bold challenge has been issued. The challenger is one you know well here: Nicholas ‘Quick Nick’ O’Neill!”

The man, clothed in solid black leather and an ebony-colored racing helmet that covered all but the lower part of his face, raced his Duel Runner onto the Kaiba Dome track, performing a backflip as he ramped in. He was met with impressive applause and absorbed the limelight, but the crowd had yet to hear whom Nicholas had challenged.

“Now, for Nicholas’ opponent this morning! You’ve watched him Duel for almost three years now, and his anniversary as King will be soon marked with the Satellite Circuit!” Then the crowd erupted into thunder, and it only multiplied as the MC continued to speak. “Here he is! The King of New Domino! The Maelstrom Rider! Give a warm welcome to Valin ROTOR!”

The applause would have been deafening sitting in the stands when Valin’s trademark Duel Runner, the [i]Maelstrom Wheel[/i], came rocketing into the sky from the airlock. The wings of the bike made it easy for Valin to launch himself high into the air and perform a number of stunts, including a barrel roll, that Nick would have been unable to duplicate. When Valin landed, he deactivated his Duel Runner and spoke to the people in the stands using his helmet mike.

“Are you all ready to see a taste of power, today? I have entertained you by toying with my opponents in the past, but today, I feel that you should be allowed to see what power truly lies behind my cards! All who agree, give me your approval!”

The stands roared with applause once more, and Valin smirked. That was his signal. He mounted his Runner once more and gave a nod to the central tower, giving the signal that it was time to start the Duel.

The MC resumed his commentary, “Duelists! Start your engines!” At his command, the Runners roared to life. “Activate ‘Speed World 3’!” The colors of everything but the people and the two Duel Runners at the starting line became bright, and in some cases, even neon. “For anyone watching who is less familiar with Turbo Dueling, ‘Speed World 3’ prevents Duelists from using any Spell card that is not a ‘Speed Spell’ card, and their ability to activate those cards depends on how much speed they are capable of generating during the Duel.

“Now, I hope you’ve got your seatbelts on and are ready to race, because the countdown to begin the Duel has been initiated . . . and they’re off! Remember that the Duelist who reaches the first corner before his opponent is given the first turn. And it’s Valin!”

Valin drew his hand as he made the bend. Nicholas was the only Duelist who ever even came close to out-racing him anymore, and he wasn’t even as much of a challenge as he used to be. Looking at his hand, Valin knew he didn’t even need the Draw Phase of his next turn.

“I Summon ‘Blue-Flame Phoenix’ in Attack Mode!” When Valin declared that, a glowing blue portal opened beside him and the blazing blue bird sprouted from it, singing a beautiful call as it entered the playing field while on Valin’s Duel Screen, its ATK registered in at 1500. “Next I Set one card and end my turn!”

Nicholas began his turn and both players’ Speed Counters rose to one. “I’ll activate the effect of ‘Alpha Dasher’ from my hand and Special Summon it since I control no monsters! Then his effect increases my Speed Counters by one.” As he spoke, the monster dashed out of its own portal into Attack Position, registering with 1300 ATK, and Nicholas’ SPC increased. “Now I activate the effect of the monster, ‘Runner-Up’ in my hand and Special Summon it since my Speed Counters were increased by my monster’s effect; then he proceeds to increase my Speed Counters by one more!”

Following his command, the monster was Summoned with 1100 ATK and his SPC became three. “Now I think it’s time to beat the King at his own game! I combine the power of 1300 ATK ‘Alpha Dasher’ and 1100 ATK ‘Runner-Up’! Become one to create a speed greater than sound! I Ignis Summon the 2400 ATK point ‘Lightning Rider Garu’!”

The two monsters on Nicholas’ field became shining orbs of crimson light which smashed against each other to create a fiery burst from which emerged a monster resembling a motorcyclist with two motorcycle-mounted lances. When the monster came into full view, Nick’s Speed Counters increased again because of the effect of ‘Speed World 3’. “With the effect of ‘Garu’,” Nick continued, “he gains 100 ATK for each of my Speed Counters, adding up for a grand total of 2800! Now, ‘Lightning Rider Garu’, attack ‘Blue-Flame Phoenix’!”

Valin was unfazed as the monster began riding its cycle toward “Blue-Flame Phoenix” at near-blinding speed. In response, all Valin had to do was hit a single button. “I activate ‘Seal of the Doomed’!” Valin retaliated. “Now this card equips to your monster, and it cannot attack for three turns!”

“You won’t best me again, Valin! I vow to it,” Nicholas said. “I Set one card and end my turn!”

“That card won’t get you far,” Valin said as he drew his next card and the turn passed to his Standby Phase and his and Nicholas’ Speed Counters grew by one. “Now the second effect of ‘Seal of the Doomed’ activates and inflicts half of your monster’s ATK to you as direct damage, and since your Speed Counters increased, your monster’s ATK increased as well, so I think that means you take 1450 points of damage!”

The “Seal” radiated a dark electrical energy which struck Nicholas and his Duel Runner, dropping his Life Points from 4000 to 2550, his Speed Counters from 5 to 4, and ‘Garu’s’ ATK to 2800. “I’ll follow that up with my Quick-Play ‘Speed Spell – Broken Engine’! This removes the Speed Counter I just gained and targets your face-down Spell or Trap Card, preventing it from being activated this turn!

“Now,” Valin proceeded, “I Summon my ‘Wyvern Fury’ to my field in Attack Position!” The 1500 ATK point monster spawned out on Valin’s playing field and almost immediately transfigured into a red orb along with “Blue-Flame Phoenix”. “I combine the power of my 1500 ATK ‘Blue-Flame Phoenix’ and ‘Wyvern Fury’! Now behold as the fiery furnace formed from such might forges an unstoppable force! Ignis Summon! Be born from their ashes, ‘Volspire Dragon’!”

Valin whipped the card from his lanyard and slapped it onto the Duel Disk, and immediately the ominous dragon detailed in the card’s artwork sprung to life in the enormous explosion, sailing up and around the central tower of the Kaiba Dome before returning to Valin and his Runner and releasing a triumphant roar.

“It’s time to win this Duel! ‘Volspire Dragon’, attack with [i]Maelstrom Flare[/i]!” Valin exclaimed, and the inferno gushed from “Volspire Dragon’s” massive fanged maws, engulfing “Garu”. The attack itself inflicted a further 200 damage to Nicholas’ Life Points, but the damage had not finished there. “This triggers the final effect of ‘Seal of the Doomed’,” Valin explained, “So now, since your monster equipped with this card was destroyed by battle, you take damage equal to half of your monster’s ATK while it was on the field!”

“But that’s 1400!” Nicholas realized, and his Life Points, which had fallen to 2350 from the initial battle damage now dropped just under the red limit to 950, followed by his Speed Counters dropping to 3.

“Time for the finisher! Volspire Dragon’s effect activates, destroying 1 other card on the field, and I’ll target the face-down card I locked down earlier! Go, Volspire Dragon! Obliterate his field with [i]Ravaging Whirlflame[/i]!”

“You don’t win by that!” Nicholas sassed.

“But there’s one thing you’re forgetting: the second effect of ‘Broken Engine’. Since the card it pinned down was destroyed by a card effect before the end of my turn, you take 1000 damage!”

“No way!” Nicholas shouted as a hologram made it appear as if the engine on his Duel Runner had exploded, and his Life Points dropped to 0. A buzz filled the stadium and the MC began emphatically relaying the fact that in just one turn, Valin had knocked out all of Nicholas’ Life Points.

---

Ken slammed his fist against the table when he heard the outcome of Valin Rotor’s most recent Duel. The little radio was immensely outdated by most of today’s technology, but Ken Yutoh was lucky enough to own the radio and a scrapped and recycled Duel Disk along with a pathetic junk heap of a Duel Runner that barely worked.

Ken had known Valin Rotor back before the young man had elevated to the position as King. Apparently, three years ago, the Director of Security had gone missing, and the Assistant Director had no desire to fill the role, turning to the ex-King, Blade Takashi. Blade went out searching for a skilled enough Duelist to take his place and chanced upon Valin in the slums. According to Valin’s account that was only heard by Ken and his friends, Valin had actually been a challenge for Blade, but had come up short of defeating the King.

That was when Valin left. He was given a new face, a new look, and a new ego. Valin had gone from humble to cocky, and soon Dueled Blade once again, this time in public, and emerged victorious. King Blade had lost all reason to maintain his position and entered into the position of Director of Security.

But Ken was still stuck in the slums of the Rat’s Nest, the foulest location in New Domino City. Valin had promised to keep in touch when he had left, and Ken had even gifted him with the “Justice Guardian” Ignis Monster, but Valin had used Justice Guardian a total of two times, and had not contacted his old friends since his elevation to King, leaving Ken with a grudge toward Valin.

“If it just makes you mad, then why do you listen to it?” the voice of a young girl said behind Ken. He turned to find his adopted younger sister, Minn Tenna. Though no one in the “family” was related by blood, they depended on each other to survive just like any normal family. Dex Bolton was the oldest, and was kind of like the oldest brother or, at times, a father to the rest of them, while Leah Nevelle was like the mother of the two younger people. Ken was the second youngest at seventeen, but he had been driving the Duel Runner since he was fourteen, since Sector Security was powerless out here to tell him he was too young.

Minn, however, was only nine. When Ken joined the family seven years ago, he was told that Minn had been with Dex and Leah since she was only a year old. Perhaps her parents had abandoned her, been attacked and had no choice but to leave their daughter, or any number of things here, but regardless, Ken cared about her just as much as he did the other two.

“I listen because I want him to lose. I want him to learn that fame is not everything,” Ken replied, his voice shaky.

“Wanna take the Runner for a spin? That usually clears your head,” Minn asked.

Ken’s face lit up. “Sure, let’s go.” He led Minn into Dex’s workshop, where he seemed to be working on some upgrade for the Duel Runner. “Hey, Dex. Mind if we take the Runner out for a bit? I promise not to wreck it like last time.”

“No problem, just give me a few more seconds with this little tweak here. . . . Done! So how’d Valin’s Duel go today?”

Ken sighed. “He wiped Nicholas out again. This time it was Valin’s second turn.”

“He’s gotten that good? I don’t know whether to be proud of him or upset with him, though. That kid certainly needs an attitude adjustment, though. Anyhow, just don’t go too fast, especially if Minn’s going with you.”

“I won’t, I promise,” Ken said as he and Minn pulled their helmets on and he mounted the runner, helping Minn to climb on behind him. He fired it up and drove out the garage doorway, accelerating just enough to make it out. “Wait a minute!” Ken shouted. “I think Dex just installed a new accelerator chip; check out how fast this thing can go!”

He increased his speed, and he heard Minn squeak behind him. “Ken! What happened to you saying you wouldn’t go too fast?”

“Alright, I’ll slow down,” he assured, but as he did, his front wheel struck something, and the Runner began to swerve. He eventually lost complete control and the Runner flipped, throwing Ken and Minn from the back of it.

Ken landed on his back, winded. As he struggled to regain his breath, he heard voices, and a scream from Minn. He got his feet back under him, still lightheaded, and saw Minn being taken by four members of a Duel Gang. Ken returned to his Duel Runner and got it upright. Though it had suffered a few minor dents, it hadn’t been totaled.

Ken mounted and started the Runner and began his pursuit. Their Runners would have been faster if Dex hadn’t just installed a new accelerator chip. Ken jammed on his accelerator and caught up to the farthest back of the four gangsters, but as he did so, the brute slammed his Runner against Ken’s, sending both Duelists down a side road.

A cool voice said in his helmet, “‘Speed World 3’ activated, Duel Mode engaged.” Unlike most Duel Runners, this one lacked an autopilot feature, which meant Ken would have to multitask. This wouldn’t be his first time Turbo Dueling, but he hoped the pressure of having to save Minn would not cloud his judgment.

“I’ll go first,” the gorilla-like man said. “I summon ‘Rampant Troll’ in Attack Position. Then I Set two cards and end my turn.”

The burly monster looked as thick-skulled as its controller. Then Ken remembered he had seen Dex Duel this guy before. “You’re Lokney, aren’t you?”

“How d’you know my name, runt?”

“We’ve met once before, not that you’d remember. I draw!” Ken was trying to breathe deeply and not overdo the turns while still occasionally glancing at his hand so he’d know what to Summon. The problem was in trying to defeat a 1900 ATK monster. Seeing that he couldn’t overpower the monster, he decided on playing defensively.

“I’ll Summon ‘Treasure Knight’ in Defense Position, so now I get to draw 1 card from my Deck! With that done, I end my turn!”

“My turn! Ha!” Lokney shouted as he drew his card. “I summon ‘Plague Rat’ in Attack Position! Then I’ll activate my Trap, ‘Dragon’s Tattoo’. This card equips to my ‘Rampant Troll’, reducing its ATK by 400 but allowing it to inflict Piercing Damage when it attacks! ‘Rampant Troll’, attack ‘Treasure Knight’!”

The ‘Troll’ hefted its club and slammed it into ‘Treasure Knight’, inflicting 700 damage to Ken. “Here’s where things’re gonna hurt! I activate the second effect of ‘Dragon’s Tattoo’ which sends the top two cards of your Deck to the Graveyard since the equipped monster inflicted damage to you. Then ‘Rampant Troll’s’ effect sends another two cards from your Deck to the Grave since it destroyed a monster. Follow that up with ‘Plague Rat’s’ direct attack!”

The 800 ATK point rodent leapt at Ken and reduced his Life Points to 2500. “‘Plague Rat’ sends 1 card from your Deck to the Graveyard for every card on the field, then gains 100 ATK for every card sent from your Deck to the Graveyard this turn. So that’ll send the top 3 cards, adding up for a total of 7 sent cards this turn, so Plague Rat gains 700 ATK.

“Now my monsters will grow off each other as I add the 1500 ATK ‘Plague Rat’ to the 1500 ATK ‘Rampant Troll’! All the hopes of my enemies are crushed as I Ignis Summon the 3000 ATK point ‘Villainous Tristan’!”

“Whoah!” Ken exclaimed, almost losing his balance.

“Hahaha! You should have never gotten involved, kid! Now you will lose! ‘Villainous Tristan’ sends three cards from your Deck to your Graveyard for each Ignis Material used in his Summon. Now that your Deck has lost half its contents, I end my turn.”

[i]He’s right,[/i] Ken noticed when he drew and the Deck counter on the Runner’s Duel Screen showed he had nineteen cards remaining. “I Summon ‘Thousand Armor’ in Defense Position! Then I’ll Set one card and end my turn!”

“You’re not going to last much longer like that! I Summon ‘Vampiric Insect’ in Attack Position! When this card is Summoned, it sends two cards from your Deck to your Grave for every DARK monster on my field and negates the effects of any monster it battles this turn!” Ken’s Deck fell four cards in number, while Lokney continued on his way triumphantly. “Now, I activate the effect of my second face-down card, ‘Cards of Dark Omen’! This card switches the battle position of all monsters you control while I control a DARK monster with 2000 or more ATK and sends two cards from your Deck to the Grave for each monster on the field!”

Ken’s Deck fell from fifteen cards to nine. Though he didn’t panic yet, he had to think of some way out. “Battle Phase!” Lokney continued. “‘Vampiric Insect’, attack ‘Thousand Armor’!”

The 1600 ATK huge insect took to the sky and began to descend toward “Thousand Armor”, but Ken was reluctant to let his monster be destroyed because of “Vampiric Insect’s” effect.

“I activate my face-down, ‘Graceful Break’! When your monster attacks with more power than my monster, I destroy your monster and inflict damage to you equal to half its ATK power!”

The insect shattered into a shower of golden pixels that soared at Lokney, dropping his Life Points from 4000 to 3200.

“You won’t save yourself from damage forever! ‘Villainous Tristan’! Attack ‘Thousand Armor’!”

The attack collided with Ken’s monster, and Ken took 2100 points of damage, reducing his Life Points to only 400. Ken let a grunt of fear and stress. “Thanks to its effect, ‘Thousand Armor’ can’t be destroyed by battle twice per turn!” Ken explained.

“Whether it’s destroyed or not, ‘Tristan’s’ last effect sends cards from your Deck to the Graveyard equal to the number of cards in your hand!”

Ken was trying not to panic. His Deck was down to only five cards, and his Life Points were a mere tenth of what he had started with. If something didn’t turn around in this next turn, he would lose.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .
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