Chapter 1: We're not here to have fun
Countless young duelists lined up in the room, eyes on the bald man on the monitor. For many, it was hard to contain the feeling of excitement or triumph. They were accepted into one of the most prestigious dueling academies in the world, and made their first steps within the academy. It was a dream come true for many of them. One boy in particular was literally shaking in excitement. He was dark skinned with unkempt, black, curly hair. He was wearing a Ra Yellow jacket.
"Damian, don't draw too much attention to us." A tall dark-skinned young man wearing a Slifer Red jacket put a hand on Damian's shoulder. His hair was as dark as Damian's, but trimmed short.
"Sorry Ghassan." Damian whispered. "Hard to contain myself. It's just...I fantasized stuff like this happening ever since I was little. And now here we are." Ghassan was Damian's older brother, though the two were both freshmen at Duel Academy.
"We're not here to have fun you know."
A light skinned Ra Yellow wearing glasses next to Ghassan let out a soft shuckle. He was about as tall as him, and had short, brown hair. "Sorry Ghassan. But hearing that out loud is pretty funny in hindsight. We're at an academy dedicated to a children's card game, but it's not to have fun."
"Ok Scott, but you know why we're-"
"Shh!" The three turned to a frustrated Obelisk Blue. "Quiet down and show some respect." He angrily whispered
"Sorry." All three of them said.
"Though, you might want to tell that guy over there." Scott pointed to a boy with brown hair, part of it of a lighter shade than the rest. He was sleeping during the assembly while nearly everyone else was paying attention.
"At least that slacker isn't distracting anybody." The student then turned away from the three and continued listening to the man on the monitor.
"Enjoy your studies, and do your hardest to achieve your dream of becoming the future King of Games. Now please, get yourself settled in at your assigned dorms. I do believe you'll find them quite comfortable...depending on how you ranked of course. Ohohoho!" The monitor turned off, and the students began to leave the room to get to their dorms.
"Evidently, even Chancellor Sheppard isn't above poking fun at Slifer Reds." Scott stated as the three walked out of the building. "Anyway, we'll help you move in before we move into Ra Yellow Ghassan."
Ghassan grumbled in annoyance while carrying his luggage. "How come I'm in Slifer Red? I barely took any damage in the practical exam."
"Yeah, but with your grade in the written exam, you're lucky to have even been accepted." Damian said.
"It's been a while since I played the game, ok?!"
"Same for me, but you don't see me answering that Tribute summoning counts as a special summon." Scott replied.
"Or thinking that Mystical Space Typhoon negates spells and traps when they activate from the hand." Damian added.
"Shut up! It's not like we'll be here for long anyway. Two years tops." Eventually, they made it to Ghassan's dorm. A run-down, two story building at the edge of a cliff. Ghassan pointed to a door to the left on the bottom level. "That's where I'll be staying at." Ghassan walked up the door, unlocked it, and the three entered. Just as the three predicted, the room wasn't particularly impressive. It was small, to the point where the single bed in the room took up nearly half of the space. A single, dangling pendant light hung from the creaky floorboard ceiling. The three were surprised a cheap dorm room like this even came with a TV, albeit a very small one.
"Well, here's to hoping you get promoted soon." Scott said. The three began to unpack Ghassan's clothes, including the several red jackets that were given to him when he was assigned to the dorm.
"Hey Ghassan, it cool if I borrrow a few of your Slifer Red jackets?" Damian asked.
"Umm...why?" Ghassan wondered.
"I really don't like wearing this jacket. Yellow isn't exactly my favorite color. And honestly, it looks kinda lame."
Ghassan was slightly annoyed about his brother's insult to the color yellow, but handed Damian some of the smaller red jackets that the academy gave to him. "People are going to be pretty confused about a Ra Yellow dressing up as a Slifer Red you know."
Damian quickly started unbuttoning the yellow jacket he was wearing. "Yeah. And hopefully in a few hours, they'll be confused about a Ra Yellow dressing up as an Obelisk Blue."
"Wait, what?" Scott asked.
Damian took off his Ra Yellow jacket, and started wearing his new Slifer Red jacket. "Blue's my favorite color, so of course I'd want those jackets. Besides, the Obelisk Blue students get trenchcoats. It would look really cool."
Ghassan rolled his eyes as he put his clothes in the dresser. "You're enjoying yourself way too much Damian."
Damian shrugged. "Anyway, I'm off to find Chazz. I'll be at the Ra Yellow dorm in time for the welcoming dinner though." Damian grabbed his luggage, put on his backpack, and ran out of the dorm.
"Hey, we're not done unpacking yet!" Ghassan yelled after him. It was too late. Damian was already long gone. "Ugh. I'm 95 percent certain that he's going to be too busy having fun to help us get back home."
"To be fair, most fans of the Yu-Gi-Oh anime would probably be pretty excited to be inside the world of the show." Scott replied. "Can't fault him for wanting to enjoy himself."
Ghassan suddenly facepalmed. "Shit! We forgot to tell him which decks he shouldn't use!"
Scott raised an eyebrow. "Huh. You're right."
"God dammit." Ghassan got out his academy assigned PDA, and started texting Damian. "Better remind him to keep his Synchro and Xyz monsters at a minimum. And he definitely can't use that stupid Abyss Actor deck of his."
Scott shrugged. "Monsters that were never seen by the public were used all the time Ghassan. Even if he uses them, I think we're fine."
"We don't want our cover blown Scott. Which is exactly why you-"
"Yeah yeah." Scott reached into his pocket and got out a deck. On the front was a card that depicted a fierce light blue dragon with beautiful blue eyes. "I won't be using my Blue-Eyes deck at the academy."
Damian was running through the halls of the main building. 'Who knows how quick it'll be before we get back to our home? I better duel as many major characters from the show as I can. I have over half an hour before the welcome dinner starts. I'm sure that's enough time for a duel with Chazz. Now where's that Obelisk arena?' Damian felt his PDA buzzing in his pocket, so he got it out. "A message from Ghassan? 'Damian, avoid using Synchro, Xyz, or Pendulum monsters as much as you can.' Oh come on!" Damian put his PDA back in his pocket. "Too much of a pain to get a new deck from my bag. With all the moving around, the cards are probably scattered all over. I'll just stick with my F.A deck and see if I can avoid tuning for now."
A few minutes of searching, Damian came across the entrance to a duel arena. Two boys wearing Obelisk Blue clothing were on the duel field, with another watching from the bleachers. On one end was a boy with glasses and wavy blue hair. On his side of the field was the hologram of a two-legged dragon with jewels for scales. The Alexandrite Dragon (2000/100). Damian let out a soft, yet high-pitched squee of excitement. "I-I still can't believe I'm seeing it in person. Holographic duel monsters. This is so cool."
Damian looked at the other end of the duel field. A smug looking student with spiky black hair. Damian knew at first sight who it was. "Your move Chazz!" The blue-haired boy said. He had a heavy southern accent. "Looks like you're at a disadvantage now that I cleared your field."
Chazz put a copy of the quick-play spell, Shrink, to the graveyard. "You got lucky with that Lightning Vortex, but I'm gonna win this duel." Chazz drew a card from his deck, put it in his hand, and got out another card. "I activate Monster Reborn! I can bring back any monster of my choice from the grave, and I pick Chthonian Soldier (1200/1400)!" A shining light appeared on Chazz's side of the field, before a vicious looking knight in grey armor appeared on his side of the field. "Chthonian Soldier, attack Alexandrite Dragon!"
"Attacking when his monster has less ATK points than his opponents? Why would he-" Damian suddenly remembered the effect of Chthonian Soldier.
As the knight charged, Alexandrite Dragon slashed through it, destroying it. (Chazz 3000-2200) From the dust of the monster's destruction, the tip of it's sword flew through the air. "I don't think I have to remind you of Chthonian Soldier's effect, right Topher?" Chazz asked.
'His flunkies have names?' Damian thought to himself.
"Yeah. When Chthonian Soldier's destroyed by battle, any battle damage done to you is dealt to the opponent as well." Chazz's opponent answered. As if the sword tip was waiting for an answer, it aimed itself at Chazz's flunky, and flew through him. (Chazz Flunky #1...er...Topher 400-0) Topher let out a groan before falling onto his knees. "You go bye-bye!" Chazz proudly stated.
The three then turned to hear the sound of clapping. "That was a pretty sweet win. I only saw the final turn, but still, good job." Damian walked up to the three.
"What do you think you're doing here you Slifer Slacker?" It came from the student on the sidelines. He had pointy brown hair, with spikes going straight up as opposed to Chaaz's, which were on the front and back.
"I was bored and decided that I wanted to duel one of the toughest duelists in the school. By the way, I'm a Ra Yellow. I just prefer the Slifer Red jacket."
"Ra Yellow, or Slifer Slacker, this ain't your terf." Topher said. He pointed to the top of the entrance that Damian came from. "Take a look at the crest."
"Yeah yeah, it's the head of Obelisk the Tormentor, and it's a sign that this is Obelisk Blue terf. But that doesn't mean students from other dorms can't duel here as long as it's cool with Obelisk Blue students, right?"
Chazz chuckled. "So you decide that you want to get embarassed on your first day? Well, sorry, but I only duel with lower ranked students if they interest me."
"That afraid you're going to lose, huh Chazz? Well, I understand."
Chazz wasn't shaken by Damian's taunting. "Topher, show this freshie the difference between a Ra and an Obelisk." Chazz walked off the duel field, and sat down in the bleachers next to his other flunky.
"But...you're a freshman too." Damian pointed out.
"Heh heh. You got it Chazz." Topher activated his duel disk. "You ready Slifer Slacker?"
Damian took off his backpack, and set it to the ground next to his luggage. "Ra Yellow. And really? I only get the fodder?" Damian got his duel disk out of his backpack, and put his deck in it. "Well, it'll kill my boredom at least."
"D-do you even know who you're talking to?! I'm an Obelisk Blue! One of the elite at this school!"
"Yeah yeah." Damian slapped his duel disk on his arm. "Hey Chazz, if I beat this guy, does that mean I can duel you?"
"Heh. Beat a hundred Obelisk Blues, and maybe you'll catch my interest." Chazz joked.
"That's...gonna be really tedious. Here's to hoping it'll be easier to get a duel with Alexis and Zane then." Both Topher and Damian's duel disks activated, with an arm-blade sticking out of it to place the cards. Damian shivered in joy. It was only during the field exams when he used the duel disk prior, so he wasn't over how cool it felt to use a duel disk yet. The examiner had to call Damian back to reality at least five times during the duel. Both Damian and Topher drew 5 cards each. "DUEL!" Damian and Topher simultaneously said. (Damian 4000/Topher 4000)
"I'll let you go first." Topher said.
"Alright then." Damian took a look at his hand. "I summon a mons-"
"Hey! Aren't you gonna draw first?" Chazz's other flunky asked from the bleachers.
"Huh? Oh-right. My bad!" Damian chuckled nervously. He was so used to the rule where the first-turn player doesn't draw that he forgot there was a time where that wasn't the case."
"Talk about getting ahead of yourself. This kid forgot to draw." Chazz said.
"I almost feel bad dueling you." Topher chuckled. "You know, if you like the Slifer jacket so much, maybe you should move to the dorm there. It suits you."
"You seem pretty confident that you're gonna win. How about a little wager?" Damian was intending to save this for when he dueled Chazz, but he wouldn't mind taking one of his flunkies down a peg.
"Oh? What do you have in mind?"
"If you win the duel, for the rest of the school year, if you want to buy from the card shop, I'll pay for it if I have the cash. But if I win, we trade jackets, and you have to wear this Slifer Red jacket whenever you can.
"So basically, I get free cards for a whole year? Deal!"
Damian smiled. "I summon a monster in defense position, and I set two cards face down." As he placed them on the duel disk, and inside the slots, holographic images of face-down cards appeard on Damian's side of the field. 'So cool...'
"My turn!" Topher drew a card. I summon Spear Dragon (1900/0) in attack position!" A blue, pterodactyl-like creature with an incredibly pointy beak emerged. "Spear Dragon, attack his monster!" The dragon flew into the air, and let out a miniature tornado from it's mouth. The wind made it's way towards the face down, before it was revealed that a Flying Kamakiri #1 (1400/900) was the set monster. It was destroyed immediately as it was revealed. "I activate my Spear Dragon's effect. When it attacks a monster in defense position, if it's attack points are higher, it does piercing damage!"
"Yeah, I'm aware of it's effect." (Damian 4000-3000) "I'm also aware that after it attacks, it switches to defense position." Sure enough, the dragon curled it's wings around itself, switching to a defensive stance after attacking. "AND it has no defense points, so it'll be a cinch to destroy."
Topher grinned. "We'll see. I set two cards face down and-"
"Not so fast! I activate Flying Kamakiri #1's effect! When it's destroyed by battle, I get to special summon a WIND monster with 1500 or less attack points in attack position. And I choose my Formula Athlete Sonic Meister (0/1000)!" A glowing light emerged before a futuristic looking silver colored race-car with twin jet engines that was partially colored red and blue appeared on Damian's side of the field.
"Huh. Don't think I ever saw that monster before Chazz." Chazz's flunky on the bleachers told him. "Still, no attack points? That's not gonna give Topher any trouble."
"As dumb as the freshie is, I doubt he'd choose a monster with no attack points without a reason Conklin. It's probably to tribute a stronger monster."
"Not quite. Most of my Formula Athletes, or F.A's for short, gain 300 attack points for each level they have. My Sonic Meister is a level 4 monster so it gains 1200 attack points!" Sonic Meister's jet engines let out a bit of electricity (1200/1000).
"Like I was saying, I set two cards face down and end my turn."
"My turn. Draw!" Damian put the card he drew in his hand and selected another one. "I activate the field spell, F.A. Circuit Grand Prix!" The area around the two duelists started to morph. Holographic bleachers filled with spectators started to rise around them, and the ground beneath them changed to a futuristic road. "Whenever an F.A spell or trap card is played, or the effect of an F.A spell or trap gets activated, Sonic Meister gains a level. And since it gains a level, it gains 300 attack points as well." (1500/1000 LV:5)
"Huh. So his deck is about boosting his monster's levels to make them stronger. Seems kinda interesting." The flunky who was apparently named Conklin observed.
"1500 points isn't much to write home about, but it's more than enough to destroy Spear Dragon right now." Chazz said.
"So what does the field spell itself do?" Topher asked.
Damian grinned. "Battle phase! Sonic Meister attacks Spear Dragon!" The race car's engines roared as it charged towards the dragon. "Here comes Circuit Grand Prix's effect. During the Battle Phase, all F.A monsters gains two levels." (2100/1000 LV:7)
"Cute trick, but not enough. I activate my face-down, Mystical Space Typhoon!" One of Topher's set cards rose up,and from it, a blue typhoon engulfed the circuit. "If you didn't already know, this spell card destroys any spell or trap card on the field. The circuit around the two duelists exploded, and the area was back to normal. "And that's gonna scratch off a few points of that race car, right?" (1500/1000 LV:5)
"Not bad. I activate the effect of my field spell. If it was destroyed by a card effect, I get to add an F.A card of a different name to my hand." Damian searched through his deck, picked out an F.A spell card, and shuffled his deck before placing it back into it's slot. "And now my Sonic Meister gains another level." (1800/1000 LV:6)
"Next I activate my continuous trap card, Final Attack Orders!" Spear Dragon switched from defense mode to attack mode.
"What the-?"
"As long as Final Attack Orders is on the field, all monsters are changed to attack position, and they can't change to defense position." Topher explained. "Spear Dragon, destroy Sonic Meister!" Spear Dragon let out a blast of wind at the charging race car.
"Not bad. You're a better duelist than I thought. But I'd like to thank you for destroying my field spell. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to add this card to my hand."
"What?"
"I activate the quick-play spell, F.A Downforce! With it, I select one F.A monster on the field, and have it gain two levels. And with Sonic Meister's effect, it gains a third level, giving him 900 extra attack points. (2700/1000 LV:9)
"Wait, WHAT?!" Sonic Meister's jet engines let out bursts of electricity as it accelerated through Spear Dragon's blast before crashing into it, destroying the dragon. Topher flinched from the shockwaves of the destruction. (Topher 4000-3200). "Grrr. You'll pay for that!"
"Umm...isn't that what I'm supposed to do in this game? Anyway, I end my turn. Sonic Meister loses two of the levels it gained now that the turn's over." (2100/1000 LV:7)
"My turn!" Topher drew a card. "I activate Graceful Charity! This card lets me draw three cards as long as I discard two."
'Right. Anime world. There's no banned cards here.' Damian thought to himself.
"Next, I activate the spell card Monster Reborn so that I can special summon the monster I just sent to the graveyard." A light emerged before a wingless, four legged dragon with metallic scales appeared on the field. "I summon Rare Metal Dragon (2400/1200) in attack mode! This card is so powerful for a level 4 monster that it can't be normal summoned. Next I normal summon Alexandrite Dragon (2000/100) in attack mode!" The two-legged dragon with jewels for scales that Damian saw him use against Chazz emerge. "Now, Rare Metal Dragon, destroy Sonic Meister!"
The dragon started to run towards Sonic Meister. "I'd say you're rushing to conclusions to tell it to 'destroy' Sonic Meister."
"Huh?" Rare Metal Dragon slashed Sonic Meister, leaving a large scratch on the vehicle (Damian 3000-2700) but the monster remained on the field. "H-how?!"
"Sonic Meister's effect. It can't be destroyed by battle with an monster with a lower level than it. Since it's level 7, no monsters that are level 6 or below can destroy it by battle."
Topher gritted his teeth. 'Alexandrite Dragon has less attack points than that Sonic Meister card. It can't touch it.' "I end my turn."
Damian drew from his deck. "First, I summon my F.A Hang On Mach (0/1800) in attack position!" A man riding on a blue hoverbike appeared. "Just like with Meister, it gains 300 attack points for each level it has. (1200/1800)
"Not like that matters. Neither of your monsters can touch my Rare Metal Dragon."
"You wanna know one of my favorite things about my F.A deck?" Damian asked.
"And what's that?"
"It's that for a lot of it's spells, even when they're in the grave, I can still activate them. From my graveyard, I activate the effect of F.A Downforce!" The graveyard slot of Damian's duel disk ejected the card, and Damian put it into his pocket. "By bani-removing the card from play" Damian remembered that the term "banish" wasn't used during the time of GX "I can choose one F.A monster and increase it's level by two. I choose my F.A Sonic Meister." The jet engines from Sonic Meister let out large amounts of electricity again. (2700/1000 LV:9) "And both of my F.A's gain a level whenever an F.A spell or trap card is activated." The static from Sonic Meister's jet engines grew even bigger (3000/1000 LV:10) while Hang On Mach's engines started to let out it's own sparks of electricity (1500/1800 LV:5)
"This isn't good for Topher. Now both of his monsters are weaker than Sonic Meister." Conklin said.
"When Sonic Meister is level 7 or higher. It gains an extra effect. It can make two attacks on monsters every time it attacks."
"No way!" Topher yelled. Sonic Meister drove to the edge of Topher's side of the field, having the sides of both Alexandrite Dragon and Rare Metal Dragon in it's path. It then charged through both of the dragons, destroying them. (Topher 3200-1600)
"Now, Hang On Mach, attack directly!" The driver riding the hoverbike charged towards Topher.
Topher looked at his hand. 'I have Megamorph, and a second copy of Monster Reborn in my hand. I'll make it through this attack with 100 life points left. If I special summon Rare Metal Dragon from the grave, double it's attack points with Megamorph, and attack the monster with 1500 attack points, then I'll win next turn.'
"I activate my continuous trap card, F.A Dead Heat!"
"Wh-what?! What does that card do?!"
"If a monster of yours attacks directly, I get to special summon an F.A from my deck. In addition, if your monster battles an F.A monster, there's a chance my F.A monster will temporarily gain 4 levels. Not like it matters in this situation. You know why I activated it, right?"
Topher let out a high-pitched yelp of fear.
"Every time an F.A spell or trap card activates, his monsters gain a level." Conklin said.
"And with every level they gain, they gain 300 attack points." Chazz finished.
Two boys wearing Slifer Red jackets ran into the arena. One was short, with blue hair and glasses. The other was the same Slifer Red who Damian saw sleeping during the assembly. "Yes! See Syrus? I told you I smelled a duel going on!"
"And it looks like we're just in time to see the end of it too." The blue haired Slifer Red said.
"Hang On Mach, finish him off!" F.A Hang On Mach let out a burst of energy (1800/1800 LV:6) as it rammed into Topher. (Topher 1600-0) The Obelisk Blue was knocked backwards before landing to the ground.
"I-I can't believe it...I lost so easily to a Slifer who forgot the draw phase."
Damian walked towards his opponent. "I told you, Ra Yellow. I just prefer the Slifer jackets over the Ra Yellow jackets. But now that you're defeated..." Topher groaned. He reluctantly took off his Obelisk Blue trencoat and gave it to Damian. "Heh heh. Thanks." Damian took off his Slifer Red jacket and tossed it to the defeated Topher. "For the whole year, you'll wear that jacket everywhere you go on campus unless it needs to be washed. Got it?"
"Whoa. Didn't Chumley tell us Obelisk Blues were the elite at this academy? But it didn't look like this guy had too much trouble against one." Syrus said to Jaden.
Damian turned to Chazz. "So, one down. 99 Obelisk Blue's to go before I get to duel you, right?"
Chazz chuckled. "I might lower the number down before I accept your request. But right now..." Chazz eyed the brown haired student who entered the arena. Jaden Yuki. "There's a different Slifer whose caught my eye." Chazz had an interest in dueling Jaden ever since he beat Professor Crowler during the entrance exams.
"I'm a Ra Yell-ugh. Forget it." Damian finished putting on his newly acquired Obelisk Blue trenchcoat, jumped off the duel field, grabbed his bags, and started to walk out of the dueling arena.
"Hey." Jaden said as Damian walked by him. "My name's Jaden. Jaden Yuki. Whenever you're free, we should have a duel."
"Heh. I'll keep that in mind." Damian offered a handshake, which Jaden accepted. "I'm Damian Abunura. Nice to meet you." Damian continued to walk out of the arena, leaving Jaden and Chazz to have their first encounter with each other.
"You didn't use any synchro monsters, right?" Ghassan was having a video call with his brother over the Duel Academy PDAs after Damian arrived at the Ra Yellow dorm.
"Nope. Nobody even saw a tuner monster. By the way, like my new Obelisk Blue trencoat?"
"It's a good thing you didn't Synchro or Xyz summon." Ghassan said, ignoring Damian's question. "Who knows how much explaining we might need to do otherwise?"
"By the way, I talked with Jaden for a little bit."
"You did? What happened?"
"He just said that we should duel sometime, and I told him I was interested."
Ghassan groaned. "This is just like what I was worried about. How many times have I told you, we're not here to have fun. We're not even here willingly."
"Come on, it's just an interest in dueling him. There's countless characters from the show who I want to duel against."
"And eventually, that one duel is gonna lead to you being friends with him. It's risky enough to try to befriend ANYBODY at this academy, but we certainly can't befriend Jaden."
"You're so paranoid. Relax, we're just friendly acquaintences. Besides, even if I befriend him, it won't make me hesitate in our mission."
"...Yes it will."
"Yeah, you're probably right. Anyway, the Ra Yellow welcome dinner is about to start. Later." Damian turned off communications, leaving Ghassan to groan in annoyance again.
"One day, and already there's the risk of Damian getting too attached to this place." Ghassan walked out of his dorm room. It was a good thing he and Damian didn't have room mates like Scott did, or they would have a much harder time talking without rising suspicions. "Damian's too busy getting giddy over being in the Yu-Gi-Oh universe, and Scott hasn't given an ounce of care. Looks like it's up to me to get us back home." Ghassan was about to enter the cafeteria when he heard two familiar voices.
"Last one there's a rotten egg Syrus!"
"Come on! Slow down J!" Ghassan turned around and saw that Jaden and Syrus were running towards the cafeteria.
"Coming through!" Jaden yelled as Ghassan made way for him.
"Sorry!" Syrus said as he followed Jaden inside.
"It's fine." Ghassan walked into the cafeteria, and sat down. It was filled with other first year Slifer Red students. Ghassan sat down on a table, and took a look at Jaden and Syrus. 'Like that thing made out of light told the three of us. If we want to get back home, then Jaden Yuki's got to go.'
Hey everyone. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my semi-self insert fanfic. I've fantasized this story idea for months, so I figured, why not write it for the site? While the first chapter was centered primarily on Damian, I plan on giving all three of them their moments to shine. Hope you enjoyed it, and are looking forward to more.