Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Dueling ❯ The Rumor ( Chapter 1 )

Dark Dueling

By FlikFreak

 

Chapter One: The Rumor

 

~*~

 

It had been a long day, and Yugi was more than ready to head home. Everything had gone as usual, that was certain…tests completed, a bit of homework turned in, nothing out of the ordinary. Stuffing his books in his backpack, the boy glanced up to check if anyone else was around before pulling out his deck. Staring at it for a moment, he remembered fondly how he and his grandfather put it together one night just before a small tournament he was going to hold at his shop. Duel Monsters had become immensely popular since that day several years ago, but a few weeks ago there had been several duelists acting suspicious. It wasn't necessarily in a criminal manner…they just seemed to be hiding something.

 

“You ganna stare at those cards all day, Yugi?”

 

The boy's gaze snapped upward, where he saw a familiar blonde-haired young man leaning over his desk. He grinned sheepishly. “Sorry about that, Jounouchi…I was a bit distracted.”

 

Jounouchi smirked in his nearly trademark fashion. “Don't you ever duel anymore? All I see you do with those cards nowadays is stare at them.”

 

“I challenge people to matches every now and then at lunch,” Yugi stated meekly, “But they all turn me down and huddle into groups and start whispering…”

 

“Can't say I blame them,” Jounouchi replied, sitting backward on the chair in front of Yugi's desk. “You're the best duelist around. Everyone must be afraid of losing or something. Besides, with that rumor going around, they're afraid of you finding out about the other matches going on.”

 

Yugi's attention pricked up, and he looked up from his deck momentarily. “Other matches?” he asked.

 

Jounouchi nodded. “Yeah. There's a rumor that these amazing duels go on in a place called the Duelist's Den. The details are kinda iffy, but other than that you can only get there if you know where it is. People are talking about a small tournament going on during fall break.”

 

A tournament, huh… Yugi smiled, glancing back down at his deck. He had been slowly losing his enthusiasm about dueling since so many people turned him down…maybe if he entered this tournament, it would help to spark his energy again. “Do you know anything else about the Duelist's Den?”

 

The blonde just shrugged. “You could ask some of the duelists here in school. Some of them gather up in the cafeteria before heading home.”

 

“That'd be too obvious,” Yugi said, sighing. “They don't want to duel me because I've never lost. Isn't there any other way to find out more?”

 

Jounouchi shook his head. “Only way is to ask. As far as I know, that kid Bakura knows a bit about it.”

 

“Bakura practically knows everything,” Yugi exclaimed lazily. “Let's go ask him.”

 

Yugi and Jounouchi made their way to the cafeteria, which was thinning out. Near the back sat a lone boy with long, albino hair. Before him were a few remnants of a small lunch and a notebook with some indiscernible scribbles here and there, an old pen lying on top of it. As Yugi and Jounouchi approached him, he cast his jade eyes upward, his visage devoid of any certain emotion. “Can I help you?”

 

Jounouchi grinned. “Yugi here wanted to ask if you knew anything about the Duelist's Den.”

 

At the words, Bakura's eyes widened and he stood straight up in his chair. Thankfully, the cafeteria was sparsely populated at the moment, so no one really paid much notice aside from a small group that quickly went back to their own conversation. After looking around warily, Bakura narrowed his eyes and leaned in. “Why would you want to go there?!” he whispered in alarm.

 

“No one challenges me to duels anymore,” Yugi replied quietly. “I've kinda lost my will to duel a bit…but Jounouchi told me that there's a tournament going on over fall break, and I thought maybe if I joined it, it'd help me get that spirit back…”

 

Bakura turned his gaze to the window, glaring at it as though it were the cause of all his problems. “Very well,” he finally replied, keeping his voice as quiet as possible. “There are secret entrances all over town. The place used to be used for dog fighting, but it was abandoned a long time ago. The closest one you'll find to school is in the old warehouse on Senet Street. Once you become a member of the group, you'll learn about the rest of the entrances.”

 

“So now we know how to get there,” Jounouchi replied. “Anything else we should know?”

 

Bakura nodded. “Yes. There are duels constantly going on in there, especially at night. It's a bit more dangerous than you think in there. Also, don't tell anyone about it. It's supposed to be top secret.”

 

Yugi nodded. “I won't tell a soul.”

 

At the sound of those words, Bakura made an odd chuckling noise at the back of his throat as though Yugi's statement was ironic, but nodded. “Good. You too, Jounouchi.” With that, he took one last bite of his meal, packed up his things, and left.

 

~*~

 

The evening was restless. It wasn't quite time for Yugi to head to bed, which was a good thing since he wanted plenty of time to pack and get ready to explore the Duelist's Den. His packing was somewhat sparse: a duel disk, his deck, the spare shop key, and a few yen in case there were shops. After a bit of thinking, he also slipped in some cookies as well in case he couldn't find anything to eat.

 

The game shop had already closed, and Yugi's grandfather had already gone to bed after a long day. After double-checking that the old man was fast asleep, Yugi quietly snuck out the front door, locking it behind him, and headed down to the street corner to meet with Jounouchi. His friend was wearing his favorite outfit: a pair of jeans, a white t-shirt and a green jacket. “Had an easy time sneaking out?” he asked.

 

“Grandpa's asleep,” Yugi replied. “It was easy.” I kind of feel bad about this…but I won't be able to live it down if I never go. I want to duel again…

 

“Let's get going, then,” Jounouchi said, tossing an enthusiastic fist into the air. “I wanna see the Duelist's Den!”

 

“Me too!” Yugi cried.

 

The walk was indeed a short one. The warehouse that Bakura had mentioned to them wasn't far from the school (though it was in a bad part of town). When they entered, the place was immediately recognizable, especially to Jounouchi. “This is the place where Hirutani and his gang used to hang out,” he said. “This place is as shady as they are…”

 

“Bakura said the entrance is supposed to be here,” Yugi mused aloud. “You know where one is, Jounouchi?”

 

“You two trying to get into Duelist's Den?”

 

The two friends whipped around to see a stranger standing behind them. He wore a pair of simple jeans and a black hoodie, hood pulled up to conceal his face. His hands were stuck in his pockets, and though they couldn't see his eyes they knew he was looking over them closely. He finally turned to face Yugi. “You must be Yugi Mutou. Many of the members have spoken of you.” He turned around, approaching the wall quietly before reaching on the ground and pulling up a hatch, revealing an underground entrance. “Go on in.”

 

Yugi and Jounouchi reluctantly stepped forward at first, but they soon entered the stairway, where the man closed the door behind them. It was indeed dark, but there were small lights filtering in from ahead, so the two had little trouble pressing forward. It was not long before they reached the end of the stairway.

 

What they saw was a shock.