Saturday, 04/28/2001, 10:43 a.m.
The clouds had painted the sky over Domino City gray...
Some trails of black smoke rose unevenly on the horizon...
The wind moved through the city streets...
Craaw! Craaw! Craaw!
A flock of crows flew past a blue and white building, cawing...
Several youths, teenagers, and children moved around the facade of the place. A facade with a yellow background and large letters that read "Kaiba Land," in green and red...
In a large blue-walled hall inside Kaiba Land, a soft murmur could be heard.
A slight scent of plastic and sweat lingered in the air...
Green and blue bleachers seated dozens of young people, either standing or sitting. Their gazes were fixed on the center of the room, with various expressions on their faces...
There, face to face, two red platforms served as stands for two figures.
The first figure belonged to a tall and slim red-haired teenager, brown-eyed, dressed in blue. The second figure belonged to a teenager dressed entirely in black.
He was Shin Osako...
Between them, a large light green checkered area could be seen.
Above the area, a scoreboard displayed numbers and repeated names in four different directions: "Shin Osako 1600 LP / 900 LP
Hiroshi Takeda."
Below the scoreboard, three different creatures occupied three squares of the area, respectively.
The first creature was a huge blue and red dragon with three horns on its head, a pair of fangs on each side of its jaw, a back covered in bony spines, large and sharp claws, a mouth full of grotesque teeth, and tiny sinister red eyes without pupils.
Tri-Horned Dragon LV8 ∆Dark∆ (Normal) {Dragon} [2850ATK / 2350DEF]
The dragon stood on Shin's side of the field, in attack position.
The other two creatures stood on Hiroshi's side of the field, hunched defensively before the larger dragon figure.
The first creature, to the right, looked like a beast-warrior with the face of a bull and a humanoid body, brown fur, horns on its head, a heavy green armor, and a crimson flame sword held before its face like a shield.
Rhaimundos of the Red Sword LV4 ∆Earth∆ (Normal) {Warrior} [1200ATK / 1300DEF]
The second creature, to the left, was a humanoid being with macabre features, reddish skin, gray steel wristbands, glowing red eyes, two small horns on its head, sharp claws and teeth, spiky green beard and hair, and a black shadow that folded in front of its body like a barrier.
Ogre of the Black Shadow LV4 ∆Earth∆ (Normal) {Beast Warrior} [1200ATK / 1400DEF]
A second up or down, Shin drew a card from his deck and spoke, his expression calm.
"... Draw!"
Upon seeing the card, Shin's lips curved into a small smile. He then threw the card onto the Tri-Horned Dragon's card slot on his platform's game board and shouted in a measured tone.
"I activate my Spell Card, Fairy Meteor Crush!"
A white glow briefly lit the spell and trap zone on Shin's side of the arena.
The image on the card revealed a gray meteor falling through a reddish-white background.
Then, a bluish aura from the Fairy Meteor Crush card on the field enveloped the figure of the Tri-Horned Dragon.
"GRROOOAAARRR...!"
Right after, a roar emerged from the dragon's jaws and echoed through the entire hall like a thunderclap.
Several murmurs rose from the bleachers shortly after...
A complaint escaped Hiroshi's lips, his expression shaken and eyes wide open.
"No! How is this possible?!"
Meanwhile, Shin continued, speaking aloud.
"Your monsters can't protect you and you have no face-down cards. With only nine hundred Life Points, a single attack from my dragon will end this game. Charge! Tri-Horned Dragon, attack Rhaimundos! Triple Draconic Thrust!"
"GRROOOAAARRR!"
Releasing another roar, the Tri-Horned Dragon stomped the ground, leaned its head forward, and lunged toward Rhaimundos of the Red Sword.
"HRUOOAAAH!"
The beast-warrior let out a cry and swung his flame sword just as the dragon struck his figure head-on with its three horns.
Rhaimundos of the Red Sword was thrown backward abruptly, his flaming sword flying off at random, and his body turned into glowing particles that vanished from sight.
Tri-Horned Dragon LV8 ∆Dark∆ (Normal) {Dragon} [2850ATK / 2350DEF] O
vs
Rhaimundos of the Red Sword LV4 ∆Earth∆ (Normal) {Warrior} [1200ATK / 1300DEF] X
"GRROOOAAARRR!"
The dragon's roar echoed once again through the entire hall.
"Shhhht!"
Clap, clap, clap!
The room filled with the sound of applause and cheering voices.
Beee-eeep!
A second up or down, the platforms emitted a sharp beep and all the projections vanished from the arena at the same time.
The number on the arena ceiling changed from displaying
"Shin Osako 1600 LP / 900 LP
Hiroshi Takeda"
to
"Shin Osako 1600 LP / 0 LP
Hiroshi Takeda."
While Shin clenched his right fist with a smile on his lips, Hiroshi cursed with a dark expression from the other side of the arena, his voice faint and his cards scattered across his platform's game board.
"Damn it!... I lost."
Then, the voice of a man echoed through the hall amidst the crowd's noise, his tone impassive.
"Kids, quiet, please! Quiet!"
As he gathered his cards, Shin caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of a middle-aged man of average height, slender build, sharp features, and gray eyes, dressed in red and black sportswear, approaching from among the crowd toward his platform.
The noise gradually faded. Everyone's attention turned to the newcomer.
With an awkward expression, the man scratched his head and spoke while glancing at a small notebook in his hands.
"Ahem! Right... Umm... Yes. The winner of the Domino City district Duel Monsters tournament has a new champion!"
Reaching Shin's side and turning toward the audience in the bleachers, the man pointed at Shin with both hands and then continued in a rather stiff tone.
"... Congratulations to the duelist Shin Osako! A big round of applause, please!"
Taking an envelope from his pocket, the man handed it to Shin, who accepted it with a slight smile. Applause and whistles already echoed throughout the hall.
"Shhhht!"
Clap, clap, clap!
Then, the man moved a bit closer to Shin and shouted over the din of the place. A smile painted his lips. Shin leaned in to listen while tucking the envelope and his deck into his pocket, his expression calm.
"Young Osako, it is my honor to invite you to participate in the upcoming Kanto Regional Duel Monsters Championship, to be held in Tokyo next week! Congratulations!"