A/N: Welcome, duel fans! Resurrecting an old fic here. This was my first Yu-Gi-Oh story, based on my favorite game for the Nintendo DS, Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship 2008. Unfortunately, I lost the game, and over time just got busy with life. But now I'm back and ready for more. Just a few quick things before I start:

This takes place between Seasons 2 and 3 of GX, meaning no characters from Season 3 will appear, though certain cards will.

Both duelists will start with 8000 life points, so that the duels aren't over in half a chapter. The in-story reason will be given in this chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Duelist of the Storm

"Ugh…what happened?"

Jaden opened his eyes, only to quickly shield them from the bright sunlight.

Wait…sunlight?

Jaden slowly lowered his arm and sat up, confused. Looking around, he appeared to be in some kind of grassland, with a forest in the distance. Standing up, he stretched his body as he tried to piece together what had happened.

"Last thing I remember was that I was back home getting ready for the next school year. Then my deck starting glowing, and now here I am."

"Kuri."

Jaden turned to see his spirit partner, Winged Kuriboh, poking him with his claw. Getting his attention, Winged Kuriboh started floating off, gesturing for Jaden to follow.

"You know where we are, pal? Well, lead the way."

After several minutes of walking, Jaden found himself in a dark forest, out of breath and still lost. With an exasperated sigh, Jaden sat down against a nearby log.

"I know you're trying to help, Winged Kuriboh, but I don't think we're making any progress. At this rate, I'm never getting home."

"You lost, dude?"

From above a figure swooped down, nearly causing Jaden to fall off the log in surprise. Looking up, he saw an avian-like figure, swooping his wing like arms in order to hover for a minute before touching down.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen you here before. Are you new?"

"Kind of. Do you mind telling me where I am?"

"Why, you're in The World of Grace, little dude! Everyone knows that!"

Looking over Jaden for a minute, the bird man realized something.

"Wait a minute, you're from the Human world, aren't you? How did you manage to get here?"

"I've been wondering that myself. One minute, I'm chilling out back home, and the next I'm wondering this forest. You wouldn't know how to get home, would you?"

The bird man grinned.

"Its pretty simple, really. This is duel world, so you've got to duel your way out. And lucky for you…"

He raised his Duel Disk, catching Jaden by surprise.

"You've found your first opponent."

Jaden grinned, raising his arm as a Duel Disk appeared on it from thin air.

"Now we're speaking the same language! You're on, uh…"

The Bird Man laughed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry about that. Name's Sonic Shooter."

"Nice to meet ya! My name's Jaden Yuki."

The two spread out, leaving ample room to actually duel.

"You ready to throw down, Sonic Shooter?"

"Sure am! By the way, here in Duel World, we each start with 8000 life points. Keeps things from getting stale."

"Sweet! Just means we get to have more fun!

GAME ON!

Jaden: 8000

Sonic Shooter: 8000

"Since I have the home field advantage, I'll let you go first."

"Thanks! Here I go!"

Jaden looked over his hand, thinking about his options.

"Alright, I'll play Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000) in defense mode! Next, I'll set two cards face down and end my turn."

"Not bad, but now its my turn. I draw! To start, I discard one card from my hand to special summon The Tricky (2000/1200) in attack mode! And I'll summon Blade Fly (600/700) to join him!"

On Sonic Shooter's side of the field, two monsters emerged. One was a sort of court jester, while the other was a large, mutated fly. Jaden smirked.

"Those are some sweet monsters, but neither of them can take out Clayman."

"You sure about that? My Bladefly's has a special ability: each Wind monster gets 500 attack, and every Earth monster loses 400 attack (2000-2500) (600-1100) (800-400)!"

"What?"

"Take out his Clayman, Tricky!"

The Tricky leapt up, producing knives from nowhere before launching them at Jaden's monster, striking him and causing him to explode.

"I activate Hero Signal! Since you destroyed Clayman, I can special summon a level 4 or lower Elemental Hero from my deck, so welcome to the scene Elemental Hero Sparkman (1600/1400)!"

Sonic Shooter laughed, enjoying the duel.

"Well played, Jaden! I set one card face down and end my turn."

Jaden smiled as he drew his card. He hadn't been this pumped since the end of the school year.

"My turn! And to start, I play The Warrior Returning Alive to add Clayman to my hand! Next, I play Polymerization, fusing Clayman and Sparkman to summon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant (2400/1500) in attack mode!"

"He maybe strong, but not strong enough! My Tricky beats him by 100 points!"

"Then it's a good thing He has a special ability! By discarding one card from my hand, I can destroy one monster on the field whose Original attack is less than his, so say goodbye to your Jester!"

"What?!"

Thunder Giant conjured up a large mass of electricity in his hands before throwing it at The Tricky, frying it to a crisp before it exploded.

"And your Blade Fly is next! Zap him, Thunder Giant!"

Once more, Sonic Shooter's monster was shocked into submission by Thunder Giant, exploding as Sonic Shooter shielded himself from the debris.

Sonic Shooter: 6700

"And I'm not done just yet, because now I activate De Fusion, splitting Thunder Giant back into Sparkman and Clayman! Hit him again boys!"

Sonic Shooter looked up just in time to be hit by Sparkman's static shock and Clayman's fist, pushing him back.

Sonic Shooter: 4300

"I end my turn. Your move, Bird Man."

Despite being behind, Sonic Shooter couldn't help but chuckle as he began his turn. It had been a long time since he had a good challenge.

"Not bad, Jaden, but now its my turn. And to start, I'll banish Flying Kamikari #1 to Special summon Silpheed (1700/700) in attack mode. Next, I banish Blade Fly to Special Summon Garuda the Wind Spirit (1600/1200) in attack mode as well. Now prepare for trouble, because I sacrifice them both to summon Simorgh, Bird of Divinity (2700/1000) in attack mode!"

Descending onto the ground was a giant, majestic bird, its massive wings flapping of a storm as it landed. Jaden stared up in awe.

"That thing is huge!"

"Glad you like it, and he's about to get stronger! I activate the field spell Rising Air Current, giving my Winged Beasts 500 attack points! Sure, they lose 400 defense points, but it's a fair trade off (2700-3200/1000-600). Simorgh, take out his Clayman with Gale Force!"

Simorgh flapped his massive wings, creating a massive storm that cut through Clayman like butter, causing Jaden to be pushed back.

Jaden: 6100

"I'll end my turn there, but don't think your safe yet! During each of our end phases, Simorgh deals us 1000 points of damage! Here's the good news, though; for every spell or trap card we control, we can reduce that damage by 500. I'm safe because I have my field spell and face down, but you're going to feel the full force of it!"

Once more, Simorgh created a massive gust of wind, blowing Jaden over and smacking him right into a tree.

Jaden: 5100

Sonic Shooter noticed Jaden was shaking as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Hey man, you alright? Sorry if I hit you too hard there, but…"

But Jaden was laughing, having the time of his life even!

"Boy, you sure are strong! I can't wait to knock down your bird!"

Glad to see his opponent was alright, Sonic Shooter shared in Jaden's excitement.

"Then hit me with your best shot, Jaden!"

"You got it! I draw! First, I play Pot of Greed, letting me draw two more cards."

Upon seeing his new hand, Jaden smiled.

"Got some good cards, Jaden?"

"No, I got some great cards that are going to win me the duel! I activate the effect of Elemental Hero Necroshade in my graveyard! For this one time only, I can summon a level 5 or higher Elemental Hero without Tributes, so come on out Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000)!"

Jaden's ace monster appeared, glaring at his opponent.

"That's a cool monster, dude, but Simorgh still has more attack poins."

"Then it's a good thing I have Neos Force! This equip spell gives Neos 800 attack points (2500—3300), more than enough to pluck your turkey!"

Neos leapt into the air, fist glowing with power as he punched the massive bird, the shockwaves tearing it apart and causing Sonic Shooter to cry out in pain.

Sonic Shooter: 4200

"And when Neos destroys a monster, Neos Force deals you damage equal to your monster's original attack points!"

As Neos descended, he dealt a hard punch to Sonic Shooter's gut, causing him to double over in pain.

Sonic Shooter: 1500

"Finish it, Sparkman!"

Sonic Shooter looked up just in time to see Sparkman flying towards him, hitting him with a burst of electricity and sending him flying.

Sonic Shooter: 0000

Jaden wins!

Sonic Shooter shook himself off, groaning in pain.

"Ah man, I thought I had him."

"Good game, dude."

The bird man looked up to see Jaden standing over him, hand outreached. Smiling Sonic Shooter took it and Jaden helped him up.

"That was fun, but I'll get you next time! Remember, if you want to get home, just keep dueling and winning!"

"I will, thank you!"

With that, Sonic Shooter took off once more, leaving Jaden alone. Turning to Winged kuriboh, he smiled.

"Come on pal, you heard him! Let's go find some more duelists!"

With that, he took off running in search of his next challenge. Although he didn't quite understand where he was, he knew one thing.

This was going to be one heck of an adventure!