Author's Note: Hello, readers. I'm so glad your reading my first fanfiction! I've been a long-time reader, and decided it was time to try my hand at writing. It might sound uninspired, yes, but I do like the SIOC trope, and decided to apply it to Arc-V. I noticed that there isn't much Arc-V fanfiction in comparison to other Yu-Gi-Oh's, so I decided to add to it. I'll try to stick to a once-per-week update schedule, but it very well could fluctuate depending on school and work.
Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own, nor do I claim to own, any characters, locations, themes, or items herein, excluding my original character Luc Aoki. Everything herein except Luc Aoki, plot devices related to Luc Aoki, and alterations to the plot which differ from canon belongs to Konami, and by extension, Kazuki Takahashi. I am receiving no money for my writing nor do I intend to. Any likenesses to persons living or deceased is purely coincidental and unintentional.
Luc POV
It had all happened so quickly. I was driving on the highway, on the way to the YCS Qualifier to watch my best friend there. I hadn't played Yu-Gi-Oh in years, but I wanted to be there for them, since it was so important. My 2001 Civic had been acting up that day, sputtering, and right before the exit, the brakes went out. The car would stop. An eighteen-wheeler flew out of the exit, obviously speeding, and the only thing I could do was pray and think,
"Don't let me die, don't let me die, don't let me die..." And then, everything went dark. I didn't feel any pain, nothing, so I assumed I had fainted. Then, a light flooded my vision.
All I could think was, "I must be going to heaven. This is how all those people the doctors revived after being pronounced dead described it, right? A bright light that consumed their vision..."
And then, I woke up. I was laying on hot asphalt, in what looked to be a dingy alleyway. The first thing I noticed was... What? A duel disk, like the new ones, not the original ones that I liked, strapped to my wrist. I thought, "This must be some kind of weird coma dream, right? I was going to my friend's Yu-Gi-Oh thing, so that must be why it has to do with Yu-Gi-Oh..."
I stood up, and looked at my reflection in a puddle. It looked like me, save for the fact that I looked like a teenager again. I was wearing something I might have worn when I was a teen, too: Black tee shirt, light-wash jeans, army boots. That was kind of a relief. At least I didn't have any crazy Yu-Gi-Oh protagonist hair. I wondered where exactly I was, since I hadn't really seen all that much of most of the Yu-Gi-Oh animes, except for the original. So, with nothing else to do, I strode out of the alley and began looking around.
I saw a bustling city on the coast, with a canal right smack in the middle. My memory was jogged a bit: It was Maiami City, from Arc-V. I remembered it specifically because I had made a true effort to watch Arc-V, the first anime I had watched since GX. If memory served, the first episode contained a duel between Yūya and Gongenzaka in You Show, and that the Solid Vision at You Show was destroyed. I decided, "Why not? I'll go to You Show and try to enroll." It seemed to be very early morning, so I assumed it would be before the events of the episode. I began walking towards the school, which I could see in the distance from my vantage point at the alley. While walking, I took a look at my Duel Disk.
I hit the button to turn it on, and it had a white outline on the black main panel. I took the deck out to look at it, and all the cards seemed very similar. There was a set of dragon-looking monsters called Subterror Behemoths - all Flip monsters, a set of 3 Subterror Nemesis monsters, which weren't Flip Monsters, and the two oddballs, Subterror Guru and Fiendess. Looking at them, I absolutely loved the art. They were epic, to put it mildly. Almost like ancient deities and their champions. They also looked to be quite powerful, judging by their stats and 2 search cards. I thought, "Well, that's one way to make me like this game again." I wondered if these cards were in real life, too. That would be nice, if I woke up from this coma. ...Right. I'm in a coma. I almost forgot! I got so caught up in the wonder of being in Yu-Gi-Oh, I completely banished the thought from my mind. I wondered if I could pinch myself and see if it would wake me up. People were already giving me weird looks for looking through my deck with my disk active, so it wouldn't do to be seen doing something like that.
I put the deck away and deactivated my disk. The looks stopped, which I was glad for. It was making me feel super self-conscious. I guess that was the drawback of being back in my teen body; I had the brain of a teen, too. I looked up from my Duel Disk to see You Show, in all it's late 90's-esque glory, in front of me. Suddenly, I was overcome with anxiety. Who was I going to say I was? Could I even enroll, if I wanted to? Then, I remembered another episode, where a bunch of kids came to apply. I wondered if there was some sort of exam. They seemed to have been opened for a little while, so I mustered up all the courage I could, and walked inside.
As I was taking in the interior of the school, I noticed Yuzu, one of the few characters I remembered, standing right in front of me. I nearly blanched and ran out right then and there, but managed to say, "Um, hi, I'm here to see if I can enroll here?"
It occurred to me how redundant what I said was, but Yuzu only laughed, much to my relief. Once she finished giggling, she said, "A little late in the year for that, isn't it?"
I forced myself to laugh, but quickly thought up a a way to tell her what happened without actually telling her, "Well, I just moved to Maiami recently, and was hoping that I could go to school somewhere. Leo Institute turned me down, not that I really wanted to be with those snobs anyways, my parents wanted me to go there, so I thought I would come here to apply."
She motioned for me to follow her, and said, "That's fine, then. You'll just need to fill out a form and duel my dad. He owns the school." She lowered her voice, and said, "Just between you and me, he's kind of a pushover." Both of us laughed at this. We reached a door at the back of the school, labeled "Headmaster's Office". Yuzu opened the door to reveal Shūzō at his desk, writing paperwork. She said, "We have an applicant for the school."
Shūzō turned his gaze to me, looking as though he was sizing me up. After a moment of awkward silence, he said, "Well, let's see if you measure up! I'll be dueling you first, to see if you're good enough for our school." He activated his disk, and I followed suit. We both drew our hands and yelled,
"DUEL!"
Luc Aoki
LP: 4000
Hand: 5
Shūzō Hīragi
LP: 4000
Hand: 5
"Since you're the challenger, I'll be going first!" Shūzō half-yelled. I had expected this, since that was usually what went in the anime, if memory served.
I retorted in a normal tone of voice, "Fine by me!" From what I could tell, this deck went better second anyways. Shūzō started his turn, saying,
"Alright, I'll get things started by Normal Summoning Guts Master Fire!"
Guts Master Fire
FIRE
Warrior/Effect
Level 4
Once per turn: You can Special Summon 1 "Guts Master" monster from your hand. Each turn, the first Attack Position "Guts Master" monster you control that would be destroyed by battle, except this card, is not destroyed.
1700 ATK/1700 DEF
The cartoon-ish samurai appeared on the field, slashing his sword at me and assuming a fighting stance. Not missing a beat, Shūzō continued, "And I use his effect to Special Summon Guts Master Heat from my hand!" The cartoon football-player appeared, after the samurai raised his sword to summon him. Shūzō mulled over his hand, and said, "I set a card and end my turn." He waved his hand at me to indicate the turn passing.
Guts Master Heat
FIRE
Warrior/Effect
Level 4
Once per turn: You can Special Summon 1 "Guts Master" monster from your hand. Once per turn, when an Attack Position "Guts Master" monster you control is targeted for an attack, except this card: You can target the attacking monster; destroy that target after damage calculation.
1600 ATK/1600 DEF
"Then I'll begin mine by drawing a card!" I looked over my hand. Perfect. "To start off, I'm activating Cosmic Cyclone! By paying 1000 Life Points, I banish one of your Spell or Trap cards. And since there's only one..." The purple-and-yellow space storm appeared, destroying his set card. It turned out to be Full Throttle Soul.
Full Throttle Soul
Trap/Continuous
While you control a "Guts Master" monster, each player must play with their hand revealed. If this card leaves the field: Destroy all cards you control.
Sullenly, the man said, "Due to the effect of Full Throttle Soul, all cards I control are destroyed..."
Luc Aoki
LP: 3000
Hand: 5
Shūzō Hīragi
LP: 4000
Hand: 2
"Next, I activate The Hidden City!" Behind me, the green-hued city appeared, the large tower in the center right behind me. "With its effect, I'll add Subterror Fiendess from my deck to my hand!"
The Hidden City
Spell/Field
When this card is activated: You can add 1 "Subterror" monster from your Deck to your hand. Once per turn: You can change 1 face-down Defense Position "Subterror" monster you control to face-up Attack or Defense Position. Once per turn, when an opponent's monster declares an attack: You can change 1 face-down Defense Position "Subterror" monster you control to face-up Attack or Defense Position, then you can negate the attack. You can only activate 1 "The Hidden City" per turn.
I took the card from my deck and added it to my hand, which caused my deck to be shuffled afterwards. "I'll set a monster, but it won't stay that way for long! I use the effect of The Hidden City to flip it face-up!"
The monster's card appeared, and the city pulsed green, revealing Subterror Guru in a defensive stance. "With my Subteror Guru's effect, I add Subterror Final Battle from my deck to my hand!"
Subterror Guru
EARTH
Level 4
Dragon/Flip/Effect
FLIP: You can add 1 "Subterror" card from your Deck to your hand, except "Subterror Guru".
You can target 1 other face-up monster on the field; change both it and this card to face-down Defense Position. This effect can be activated during either player's turn, if you control another "Subterror" card. You can only use each effect of "Subterror Guru" once per turn.
1600 ATK/1800 DEF
I looked over my hand, and said, "I set 3 cards, then end my turn. Your move." I moved my hand in the same way he did, assuming it to be standard procedure. I hadn't gotten very far in Arc-V, so I decided to just go along with what other people did. Shūzō drew a card, and begun to take his turn. He took a Spell from his hand activated it. He exclaimed,
"I activate Exchanging Diary of Youth! With thi-" I interrupted him, saying, "I'm sorry, sir, but no you don't. I use the effect of the Subterror Fiendess in my hand," I showed him the card, "To negate the activation and destroy it. In the process, I flip my Subterror Guru face-down."
Subterror Fiendess
EARTH
Level 1
Spellcaster/Effect
During either player's turn, when your opponent activates a card or effect: You can send this card from your hand or field to the Graveyard, then target 1 "Subterror" monster you control; negate the activation, then change the targeted monster to face-down Defense Position. You can target 1 face-up monster you control; change it to face-down Defense Position, and if you do, Special Summon 1 "Subterror" monster from your hand or Graveyard, in face-up or face-down Defense Position. You can only use each effect of "Subterror Fiendess" once per turn.
His face turned beet-red as I did this, as if I had completely destroyed his strategy. I continued, "Activate reverse card: Subterror Final Battle! With this, I flip Subterror Guru face-up once again, and use his effect to add Subterror Behemoth Speleogeist from my deck to my hand!" I showed him the skeletal-looking beast before adding it to my hand.
Subterror Final Battle
Trap/Normal
Activate 1 of these effects, also, after that, Set this card face-down instead of sending it to the Graveyard.
● Change 1 Set "Subterror" monster on the field to face-up Attack or Defense Position.
● Change 1 face-up "Subterror" monster on the field to face-down Defense Position.
● ATK and DEF of 1 "Subterror" monster on the field become equal to its combined original ATK and DEF until the end of this turn.
● This turn, activated effects of "Subterror" cards cannot be negated.
"When Subterror Final Battle is activated, it's set face-down instead of being sent to the Graveyard. Which is good for me, because I'm activating a second one! Activate reverse card: Subterror Final Battle! With this, I flip my Guru face-down once again!" The swordsman disappeared once again. "Since a monster I control was set face-down and I control no face-up monsters, I can Special Summon Subterror Behemoth Speleogeist from my hand in Defence Position!" The skeletal, demonic-looking, dragonic fiend appeared, in a defensive stance, in front of me.
Subterror Behemoth Speleogeist
Level 11
Fiend/Flip/Effect
FLIP: You can target 1 monster on the field; change it to face-up Attack Position if it is in Defense Position, also change its ATK to 0. You can only use this effect of "Subterror Behemoth Speleogeist" once per turn.
When a face-up monster you control is flipped face-down, if you control no face-up monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your hand in Defense Position. Once per turn: You can change this card to face-down Defense Position.
3000 ATK/1400 DEF
"Are you done yet?" He asked, clearly annoyed that I was playing during his turn.
"For now..." I replied slyly. He continued, "Then I'm activating Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the one face-down you haven't activated yet!" The cyclone began to race towards my face down card. I replied, "That was a mistake. You sent Subterror Behemoth Burrowing to my Graveyard, and since you did, I get to add Subterror Behemoth Ultramafus from my deck to my hand!"
Subterror Behemoth Burrowing
Trap/Normal
You can banish 1 "Subterror" monster from your Graveyard; for the rest of this turn, face-down monsters you control cannot be destroyed by card effects, and your opponent cannot target them with card effects. If this card on the field is destroyed by a card effect: You can add 1 "Subterror" monster from your Deck to your hand. You can banish this card from your Graveyard, then target 1 "Subterror" monster you control; change it to face-down Defense Position.
"Now I banish my Subterror Behemoth Burrowing to change my Speleogeist to face-down Defence!" A black void opened on the playing field, showing Burrowing going inside of it. Speleogeist disappeared, with its card in its place. "Now, the effect of Subterror Behemoth Ultramafus activates in my hand! When a monster of mine is flipped face-down and I now control no face-up monsters, I can Special Summon it from my hand!" The flaming lava-tortoise-dragon-thing appeared, laying down.
Subterror Behemoth Ultramafus
Level 12
Pyro/Flip/Effect
FLIP: You can change all other face-up monsters on the field to face-down Defense Position. You can only use this effect of "Subterror Behemoth Ultramafus" once per turn.
When a face-up monster you control is flipped face-down, if you control no face-up monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your hand in Defense Position. Once per turn: You can change this card to face-down Defense Position.
This seemed to make Shūzō even angrier, his face turning an almost-purple. I wondered, briefly, if this was good for his blood pressure. He growled out, "I set a card and end my turn." He didn't indicate with his hand this time, to which I pouted. I drew my card as normal, though. Ready to kill, I said, "To begin, I Flip Summon Subterror Guru, and add Subterror Cave Clash to my hand." He reappeared, and the card was added to my hand. Next, I said, "I Flip Summon Subterror Behemoth Ultramafus," he reappeared, and lava dripped from his body on to Guru, forcing him face-down. I continued, "Now, I activate Subterror Cave Clash! With this, my Ultramafus gains 500 Attack points for each face-down monster on the field!"
Subterror Cave Clash
Spell/Continuous
All "Subterror" monsters you control gain 500 ATK and DEF for each Set monster on the field. Once per turn, when a "Subterror" monster you control inflicts battle damage to your opponent: You can target 1 "Subterror" card in your Graveyard, except "Subterror Cave Clash"; add it to your hand.
"Which means he has just enough Attack to defeat you!" (Subterror Behemoth Ultramafus: 3000 ATK - 4000 ATK.) The lava on Ultramafus turned blue, indicating it had become much hotter. "Now, Ultramafus, attack with Molten Desecration!" Admittedly, I was excited to use the names I had made up for their attacks. A thick wave of blue lava shot from Ultramafus' back, straight at Shūzō, who was yelling dramatically.
Luc Aoki
LP: 3000
Hand: 1
Shūzō Hīragi
LP: 0
Hand: 0
Winner: Luc Aoki
We both deactivated our duel disks, and I walked over to Shūzō with my hand outstretched, "That was a good duel." Shūzō only nodded, seemingly chagrined, and took my hand. He shook it firmly, and smiled at me, "You might be the best duelist I've ever dueled against, except maybe Yūya." Right, Yūya. That joker. He would be kind of a pushover, since if I was recalling correctly, at this point in the series all he used were pure Performapals ft. Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. I looked fittingly humble (or at least tried to,) and said,
"Thank you, sir. Am I accepted?" I tried to look hopeful, and he just laughed, "You mopped the floor with me, of course you are!" He handed me a sheet of paper to fill out, name, age, deck, etc. which I did, and Shūzō said, "Welcome to You Show! You're free to do as you wish around the campus. Classes don't start for another few hours." And with that, I walked out of the office, satisfied with my first duel in the Yu-Gi-Oh universe. I'd had so much fun, I totally forgot that this could have been a coma!
Ending Note: Hi! So, you made it to the end! How was it? Did I do well? Was it shit? Tell me with a review! Peace out, and see you all next time! 3