Yu-Gi-Oh! New Roads

Episode 01: Changing Lanes

Her voice trailed off and another interrupted the call, "Helloooooooo?"

"Who is this?" Mason demanded.

"Sorry dude, wrong number!" the voice answered before hanging up.

Mason didn't hesitate, much to his own surprise. He roughly tied off his bandage, jumped into his boots and threw on his jacket. There wasn't time to turn off the computer, but as he grabbed the doorknob to leave, he thought he heard a soft voice coming from its direction. Your deck, it seemed to say.

The screen hadn't changed from the menu page, so he shrugged it off. However, it didn't stop him from casting an eye to the small red box lying atop the tallest shelf of his bookcase, the contents of which hadn't seen the light of day in a long while...

***

"Please, Spike, give it back!" Lucy Mitchell cried. Spike was the leader of a local duel gang. They were known to circulate dueling areas and challenge people to bet duels. Most people knew better than to get involved with them but every now and then, an unsuspecting victim appeared.

Jimmy, a young boy new to the game, had agreed to a bet duel with Knuckles of Spike's gang and was easily defeated, losing his best card. Lucy had befriended Jimmy and felt bad for him, so she had defiantly challenged Knuckles. To the gang's shock, Lucy won the duel and demanded Jimmy's card back. Not used to losing, the gang had retaliated by refusing to return Jimmy's card and taking Lucy's to boot.

Lucy didn't know what to do. The card was precious to her, and her parents were out of town, so she decided to call her friend, Mason. She hoped the gang would respond to someone their own size but as she called, Knuckles had snatched her phone away while another of the gang held her back.

The five gang members tossed Lucy's card between them and laughed as she tried to grab it. Lucy was scared but deep down she knew Mason would show up. It was what would happen then that really worried her. She resisted the urge to cry and continued trying to snatch her card from the air. Jimmy soon mustered his courage and joined in. The sad truth was, though, they were both simply too short. Even so, they didn't give up despite the gang's increasing laughter.

Mason arrived on the scene minutes later. Luckily his building wasn't too far from the dueling area. The sight he was presented with sickened him, five guys in their late teens, taunting two little kids. At the same time, he was proud of Lucy and the young boy. Even against overwhelming odds, they hadn't given up. I need some more of that kind of spirit, Mason thought to himself.

"Hey!" he yelled. "Lucy, are you okay? What's going on here?'"

Lucy beamed with relief, "Mason! I beat Knuckles fair and square, but they stole my card anyway!"

"Come on guys, you lost. Hand over the cards and leave the kids alone," said Mason.

Knuckles responded with a giggle, "And If we don't, who's going to make us? You?"

The rest of the gang went into hysterics except for one, who Mason assumed was their leader, Spike. He just smiled. Mason made his way over to Knuckles who had a hold of Lucy. Two of the gang blocked his path flexing their muscles and pulling up their sleeves.

"I don't want any trouble guys, but I won't ask again," Mason warned.

The two gang members made moves toward him. He sighed as he realized what was about to happen. Spike, Lucy, Jimmy, Knuckles, and the remaining gang member with a Mohawk, looked a little confused. In a flash, Mason had dealt with both his attackers, and they were currently rolling around the floor in pain.

Mason had studied martial arts with his friend, Zack since they were little. It had been a long time since he had actually had to draw on his experience, though, and it wasn't a subject Mason liked to think about too often because of the painful memories attached to it.