After Zero (A Yu-gi-oh story with no dueling)

Chapter 1 - Run

"Hey! Get back here!" Bruno was being chased. He didn't know where he was, nor did he know who was chasing him. What he did know was that this wasn't his hometown. He'd grown up in a village on the outskirts of Stardust Valley in the synchro kingdom. But this wasn't the synchro kingdom. There were no small lights floating about the place and the air was much heavier. When he'd started running it had been towards where he felt the air was lighter, wanting to return home.

Logically this meant he had ended up in one of the other countries which was really, really bad. If he was caught something terrible would happen to him. He'd heard stories from his friends that getting caught in Xyz meant you would be locked in a dungeon counting for the rest of your life or that getting caught in Fusion would equate to being thrown in a room with killer plants which would slowly melt you inside themselves. "Stop! Present your identity and we'll let you go!" The guys who were chasing him obviously weren't spirits otherwise they'd likely have caught him by now. Marveling at his luck he kept running, his long days running through the fields of his village having gifted him with extraordinary stamina.

The forest he was running through was certainly strange. The trees were blackened and odd looking, all of them bent either to the left or right and bent the same way no matter how Bruno looked at them but that was probably just a trick of his mind from how much he was running.

"Hey! We should stop!" One of the voices of the two guys chasing him sounded worried, as if there was something he didn't want to see ahead.

"What are you talking about?! I told you to knock off that stupid superstition! There's nothing wrong at the border!"

"Boy, it's my lucky day!" Bruno thought to himself. The border was just up ahead apparently so he would only have to run a little more. But those hopes were for naught. The forest gave way to a wasteland, which in front of him was a huge pit, easily hundreds of kilometers across. "Oh shit."

"Got you now, you bastard!" Bruno turned around to see the person who was chasing him come out of the forest. He was a large man, wearing a red uniform, and a white helmet that showed his jaw. "You're in for a world of trouble!"

Bruno stepped back unconsciously. Whatever was going to happen he didn't want to know. Another step back. He still wasn't conscious of what his legs were doing. One more step back. Now he felt it. He was approaching the edge, just two more steps and he would fall a long, long way.

Suddenly the air behind him exploded, throwing him forward. From the edge of the pit, a pillar of red light was firing into the sky.

It vanished, and from it descended a woman in whitish-grey armor. She had her eyes closed and it was pretty obvious to Bruno that she was a duel monster spirit. She opened her eyes which were dimly glowing yellow.

"Are you... in danger?" She spoke slowly, as if she had just woken up.

"Yes! Help me!" Bruno was desperate and she seemed like she might get him out of the situation. After all, with an entrance like that she had to be crazy strong.

"Very well." She extended her hand, summoning a sword. In an instant she struck down the man who had been chasing Bruno. Her expression remained unflinching after the act, seemingly unbothered by having killed a man. She looked at Bruno, who had fallen back on his rear, terrified of what had just happened. "Are you-"

Bruno scurried back, again unaware of the pit behind him. Before he realized he had gone past the edge and was falling. "Whoa!" The woman grabbed him before he could fall. "You need to be more careful! That is dangerous." The woman pulled him back up her overall expression unchanged but a small crease of worry had crossed it. "Your affinity for me is certainly strong. Could you be my User?"

"What are you talking about!" Bruno had no idea what was going on. He'd just woken up in a strange place, been chased for an hour and now was cornered by a strange and dangerous monster spirit. "I just want to go home! Stay away from me!"

The woman looked at him with probable intrigue. "I can do that."

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Character information and glossary (this will be updated at the end of every chapter to reflect any new information):

Bruno: A young man from the Synchro region who finds himself in peril.

Unknown monster sprit: A bizzare human-like spirit who protected Bruno with slight overkill.

Human-like spirit: A monster spirit that has taken on a form similar to that of a human to better interact with an live among humans. This term does not apply to spirits which already looked human (monsters like Maurading Captain) or to humanoid spirits (like buster blader).