Shaman King Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Shaman Tournament ❯ Crossroads ( Chapter 1 )

Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Shaman Tournament

Disclaimer: I do not own any references or characters that are familiar in Shaman King & Yu-Gi-Oh! However references to Silenced Legacy I do own.

Chapter 1- Crossroads

Just an afternoon in a city only twenty-five miles from Tokyo, a Jr. High student made a pace of himself down the streets of a new town. Wearing a white T-shirt, green jeans, and weights strapped on his wrists and ankles with his black hair bouncing under his headset, blocking out the cars running by with even louder music.

Bicycling next to him was another kid but extremely short in stature with ginger-colored hair circling flat on his head and wearing his school uniform addressed in Tokyo. "Yoh, I don't recognize this part of town. Are you sure this is the new route Anna said you had to train by?"

"Well, this is where ghosts are leading me." Yoh panted and tried to look around under the sweat growing on his face, "At least I think they are." He stopped and looked around the buildings, including one that seemed to overlook the city, covered in windows with the letters `KC' in red and yellow paint. "Okay, I guess we're not in Tokyo anymore, time for a break, Manta." Yoh smiled, care-free nonetheless, and grabbed himself a bottle of water at a nearby restaurant.

Out of nowhere, another figure made himself visible. His muscles were noticeable under the white shroud over his shoulders and wearing lengths of armor on his arms and legs. Concluding it was his long white ponytail tying some of his messy hair back and a gentle but rugged face. As a ghost, he appeared nearly transparent.

"Hey Amidamaru." Yoh greeted casually to his ghost ally.

"Yoh, I think we should go back. I'm getting a bad feeling about this place." The Samurai warned.

"Huh?" Yoh made another round of observation. People lined the sidewalks, cars created traffic jams, and kids packed in their favorite restaurants and game stores. "Nonsense, it looks pretty normal to me. And I doubt Ren has even followed us here. Just relax Amidamaru."

"So now what do we do? We can't call Anna to come get us when she doesn't know where we are." Manta advised, earning Yoh an even wider smile.

"I like the way you think, Manta." Yoh snickered and gulped half the bottle, "If Anna doesn't know where we are, she doesn't know if I'm training or not. Yahoo, I'm off the hook! Let's check this place out!" Yoh got to his feet and headed for one of the game stores. Amidamaru vanished from sight and retreated into a black piece of wood on Yoh's jeans.

Looking over anyone's shoulders and underfoot, Yoh and Manta saw what nearly every crowd had, trading cards. Playable in a game called Duel Monsters. They both asked around and ended up with the same explanation.

"Where do you come from? Seto Kaiba just finished his Battle City Tournament," One of them crowed in a rough voice. In coordination to his attitude, he wore a red cap over his brown hair and lavender bangs along with khaki-colored jeans and vest over his green shirt. "And there were monsters like none you've ever seen. I mean, if you've seen any at all. You two don't look like much of Duelists. But allow me to introduce myself; I'm Rex Raptor, Dino Duelist and runner-up in the regional."

"Duelists?" Yoh, Amidamaru, and Manta stood blankly, with the thought of a real duel using two handguns. "What do the trading cards have to do with Dueling?"

"Ah!" Rex cried with frustration, "You two must have been in another world to not know this! I'm outta here! I can't be seen with losers like you!" Rex stormed out on them. Yoh and his friends still stood in utter confusion.

"What kind of place is this Yoh?" Manta muttered and was suddenly lost in the crowd, "Hey, Yoh, where are ya?" He looked around and saw Yoh leave the store, "Wait for me!" Manta skittered out on his tiny legs and got out of there in one piece.

Minutes passed and the two made it to a quieter spot of the town. The buildings converged into houses sitting along streets of a neighborhood. However, in the plain colors of everyday homes, one stood out with flashes of day glow orange and greens and `GAME' in red letters on the roof. "Are these things everywhere?" Yoh commented.

"Well, it doesn't look packed. Maybe we can find out what game has this city crawling with these Duelists." Manta followed while walking his bike up to the small shop.

They just stopped in the front when they saw a group coming in from the opposite direction. Yoh and Manta just went in to the shop anyway. As they thought, it was small and empty, with only an old man's voice under the counter. "Hello?" Yoh called out and someone came to answer. He was a little shorter than Yoh with gray for hair and beard, and blazing purple eyes under an orange cap.

"Well, you two look new here." He commented.

"Yeah, well, we are." Yoh made his first impression, though slightly embarrassed for first words, "My name's Yoh and this is my friend Manta. We've kinda got lost from Tokyo and wound up here."

"Well, I'm Solomon Motou-from Tokyo?! That's miles away from here!" The old man looked surprised, "Unless you took bus, I'd understand."

"No, I ran." Yoh kept his care-free attitude then looked calm but serious, "You're the owner of this game shop, right?"

"Eh hem, yes, I am." Solomon calmed himself down, "Why do you ask?"

"I'd like to know how to play the card game that's sweeping the city here." Yoh requested and Solomon got to the point.

"Well, Yoh. Duel Monsters is a very complex game and it'll take time to even figure out the theme you best play with." He began, "But if you really want to know how to play, I'll be happy to teach you the basics." Solomon agreed and laid out a variety of cards on the glass counter.

Solomon was ready to begin an explanation when the doorbell chimed and entered in the group of four came through, one being as short as Manta. "More Duelists, Grandpa?" the short one asked curiously. Yoh was more curious; the short one had brown spikes of hair behind blonde bangs and the same purple irises, but also a faint image of a fifth person that looked like him but appeared older.

"Yugi, I welcome Yoh and Manta. Yoh would like to know how to play Duel Monsters. I guess it hasn't caught on in Tokyo." Solomon commented and looked to Yoh. "Yoh, I'd like to meet my Grandson and Battle City Champion, Yugi, and his friends, Tea, Tristan, and Joey." He made the formal introductions.

"And who's the fifth one?" Yoh asked with everyone looking blankly.

"There's only four here, Yoh. Do you need glasses?"

"No, I see the fifth one perfectly clear." Yoh said. Solomon muttered something about inventory and left to the back of the store, leaving the six to get acquainted.

"Wait, you can see Yami?" Yugi asked Yoh.

"Clear as crystal, so you're a Shaman?" Yoh asked after his answer, obviously leaving everyone out but them.

"I don't know what a Shaman is, but Yami is a good friend."

"Well then that makes to of us. Amidamaru is my ghost ally." Yoh smiled and held out the black wood tablet. "Come on out Amidamaru."

"Eh, man. I hate ghosts." Joey shuddered, exposing his cowardice despite his New-York look and accent.

"Don't be silly," Manta responded, "Amidamaru's nice, despite he's a 600 year-old Samurai." Joey just shuddered until he was stiff.

"I'm sure we'll get along just fine. But I haven't seen you around here, where did you come from?" Yugi continued questioning.

"Tokyo, but I'd like to know how to play your card game, Duel Monsters I think?" Yoh asked.

"Sure."

"Yeah, maybe someone I can finally beat." Joey commented, "Eh, no offense, Yoh. I've taken Gramp's training and I, well, I thank him for it."

"None taken. In fact, if you want training, you should see Anna." Yoh replied and undid one of the weights around his wrists, "Ten pounds each, and I run in them constantly."

"What training is this?" Joey couldn't really hold the weight with one hand.

"For the Tournament I plan to enter, the Shaman Tournament."

"Another Duel tournament?" Tea asked with queried blue eyes and short, brown hair.

"It's nothing like that; it's a tournament I fight in with my ally, Amidamaru." Yoh placed his tablet on the shelf and resumed his hobby-talks compared to Yugi's.

"Wait, so you use spirits in fights?" Joey looked somewhat confused.

"That's right. And it's in these fights that strong alliances are formed." Yoh replied.

"I don't think I like the sound of this…" Yugi tried to drive off the subject, "Then again I had my share of spirit problems."

It was a stable-living inn in Tokyo in the evening. Spirits drifted around like soft breezes. Inside was lit brilliantly by running electricity, but there was hardly any movement in the halls. In the living room, a television ran highlights of a tournament not far from Tokyo, a Duel Monsters Tournament. The only living occupant watched and flipped through a magazine. With the luxuries, she still looked bored and wore just a black dress that reached down to her knees, a blue-beaded necklace double-looped around her neck and blonde hair draped behind her.

The clock rang out eight o'clock and chimed the signature bells. She closed her magazine and turned off the TV by the remote.

"He's late."

"Oh yeah?" Yoh took off the rest of his weights to keep his balance and dropped them to the floor, each with a straight-out thud.

"That Marik guy, his darker half was insane." Tristan emphasized.

"He was no ordinary spirit." Yugi added on, "He wanted to destroy the world."

"Heh, he probably would have made an opponent in the Shaman Fights." Yoh commented, again everyone stared like they couldn't believe him.

"Yoh, I'd take his word if that guy was dangerous!" Manta panicked.

"Yugi, by any chance can you show me this spirit that pretty much threatened to destroy the world?" Yoh asked with a stale calm face, "He couldn't be that bad. We've have this threat every 500 years."

"What?!" The gang cried in surprise.

"I guess you don't know about the Shaman Tournaments. Well, they're a lot more serious than your Duel Monsters Tournaments. Since it happens every 500 years, the fate of the world is the stake every time." Yoh began to go through one of his rare genius moments. "It's the story I hear from my grandfather. I've been training for this since I was ten years old. The Shaman Tournaments are competitions to decide who the Shaman King is. It's a tough competition, you have to learn to control your spirit and act as one."

"Control your spirit?" Yugi and Yami shared the same concern.

"Yeah, if I'd have my sword, I'd show you Over Soul." Yoh answered and was about to resume when Solomon came back through the door.

"Well, you all seem interested in some friends." He chuckled and saw behind the group a silhouette at the door. "My. Another one." The door opened with its usual welcoming ring, but the visitor wasn't in a welcoming attitude.

"Aw man…" Yoh grumbled. As he saw the one he mentioned as Anna.

"I appreciated that you ran the first twenty-five miles," She said in a soft but stern voice, "now how about running the twenty-five back!"

"Who's she?" Tristan edged over the midget Manta.

"She's…" he gulped, "Anna."

Well, that's it for Chapter one. As for further into it, the story is as dark as the Shadow Realm; so the readers and reviewers shall decide: Will Yoh become a Duelist and enter the upcoming Duelist Tournament, or will Anna train Yugi and bring about his entry into the Shaman Tournament? I need reviews or I can't exactly continue this thing.