This is one of those stories I had hesitation about publishing. I'm hoping that you enjoy it.
Dueling exists in many dimensions. The power it has to create and destroy is limitless. In a dimension of magic known as Paarin, there is no exception.
Inside of a high school, a boy walked down the hall. He wore a black leather jacket and black jeans. His hair was black as well. Meanwhile, his skin was incredibly pale. His mouth housed fangs. His red eyes could only show fear. He was a vampire. He paused by a window looking out to the courtyard. He quickly turned away feeling the sun hit his skin. While he possessed a ring that allowed him to be out in the light, it still bothered him. He felt a hand on his shoulder it quickly tightened sending him against a wall of lockers.
The boy's oppressor appeared to be a rather large, human male. In reality, he was a troll. Many monsters chose to take on human forms. "There's a toll to be in this hallway." He reached into the pockets of the jacket retrieving several coins made of gold, silver, and copper. "This'll do nicely." He smirked pocketing the money.
At the same time, another boy was walking down the hall. He wore a long, unbuttoned black coat with the sleeves rolled up. He had leather cuffs on his wrists. He ran his fingers through his messy black hair moving the bangs near his red eyes. His appearance clearly indicated that he was a vampire. He looked to the lockers where the boy was being held up by the larger one. By now, a small crowd had formed.
He walked closer to them. "I would put him down if I were you."
"This doesn't concern you. Keep walking." The troll returned his attention to his victim.
He did not leave. Instead, he grabbed the troll by his shoulder forcing him to drop the boy and turn around. "Unfortunately, it does concern me. By bullying him, you insult my race, and myself."
"What are you gonna do about it?" The troll had a grin on his face cracking his knuckles.
He smiled. "I could beat you up in front of everyone, but that's not as fun as what I have in mind. First, I want you to return that boy's money. Then, I would like for you to come to my house after school for a duel, so I can teach you a lesson."
Everyone in the crowd looked to the troll for his answer. He tossed the money at the boy who was now on the floor. "I'll see you after school."
"Here's my address." He handed the troll a slip of paper. The crowd started to clear away as he walked over to the boy on the floor. "I want you to come too. You deserve to see him get what's coming to him." He helped him up. "You're Aaron right?"
"Yeah. I didn't think you knew me." He put his hands in his pockets a little shy. Aaron knew the person who helped him as Luke. His family was incredibly wealthy, he was incredibly popular, and he was the best duelist in the school.
"I've seen you duel."
"I'm not that great." He responded.
"Maybe I can help you out some time." Luke walked off hearing a bell ring, but not before winking at Aaron.
At the end of the day, Aaron found himself standing in front of a large manor belonging to Luke's family. While most vampires were wealthy, his family was in a whole other class of wealth. He walked to the door and rang the knocker. A maid answered the door. "Master Luke is expecting you. He's in the courtyard." Aaron followed the maid through the large halls of the mansion. He could hear his footsteps on the marble floor and see his reflection in it. They walked outside into a large garden. Luke sat at a table reading a book; he closed it when he saw Aaron. "Master Luke, your guest has arrived."
"Thank you. You may leave now." The maid left and he stood up. "That troll hasn't arrived yet. He should be here soon though. Take a seat and relax." Aaron took a seat; he looked uncomfortable. "You're not a fan of the sun, are you?" Aaron shook his head. "It takes time, but it's something that can be enjoyed. Of course, the night is always the best." Aaron nodded his head in agreement.
The maid interrupted the conversation. "Master Luke, your other guest has arrived."
Luke looked at the troll standing in the courtyard. "Thank you. You may leave now." The maid walked off disappearing into the mansion. "Are you ready to duel now?" He looked to the troll.
The troll's physical shape changed revealing a larger, more grotesque figure. His gray skin was covered in boils. "I am now."
"Then let's get this duel on." Luke walked to one side of the courtyard. He reached into his coat pocket retrieving a small stone. It had a small carving on it. "Rune stone, activate!" The carving glowed purple releasing a wave of energy. A device appeared on Luke's wrist, black in color. He pulled a deck from his other pocket and placed it in a slot.
The troll did the same thing. "Rune stone, activate."
"Duel!" Luke shouted drawing five cards from his deck. On his other arm, glowing numbers appeared reading 4000.
"Allow me to begin." The troll drew his cards. His form changed to reflect his true nature. His size grew, his skin turned a sickly blue color, and warts and bumps formed all over his skin. "I play Foolish Burial and send my Sentry Soldier of Stone from my deck to the graveyard. I summon Magic Hole Golem (LV3/0 atk/2000 def). Now, Sentry Soldier of Stone's ability activates. As long as I only control rock monsters, I can summon it from my graveyard (LV3/1300 atk/ 2000 def). I overlay Magic Hole Golem and Sentry Soldier of Stone in order to build the overlay network and Xyz summon Giant Soldier of Steel! (RANK 3/1300 atk/2000 def)." The monster appeared on the field in defense position.
"If that's it, I'll start the duel." Luke drew his card; a grin formed on his face. "I summon Vampire Orchis (LV4/1700 atk/1000 def). Now its ability activates. I can summon a Des Dendle from my hand (LV4/300 atk/2000 def). Aaron, pay attention to true power. I overlay Vampire Orchis and Des Dendle to Xyz summon Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon (RANK 4/2500 atk/2000 def)." The dragon appeared on the field and roared defiantly. "The battle begins. Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, attack!"
The troll interrupted him. "My soldier has a special ability. By giving up one overlay unity, my soldier gains 1000 defense."
Luke showed no emotion as his life points dropped to 3500. "I play one card facedown. Your move."
"You think you're hot stuff, but sometimes you're just too cocky." The troll drew his card smirking. "Sentry Soldier of Stone's ability activates allowing me to bring it back to the field (LV3/1300 atk/ 2000 def)." The monster appeared on the field in defense position. "I play the field spell, Canyon. Next time you attack one of my defense position monsters, the damage is doubled."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"I summon Giant Soldier of stone (LV3/1300 atk/2000 def). It's time to overlay again. I overlay Sentry Soldier of Stone and Giant Soldier of Stone in order to build the overlay network once more to summon another Giant Soldier of Steel (RANK 3/1300 atk/ 2000 def)!" The monster appeared on the field in defense position alongside the other. "Your move. The only way to win is to destroy yourself."
"You're funny." Luke drew his card. "I activate Phantom Knights' Sword. My dragon gains 800 attack points. "Next, I'm going to summon The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves (LV3/1000 atk/500 def). Now, I can special summon The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots (LV3/200 atk/1200 def) from my hand. I'm going to build the overlay network with my Silent Boots and my Ragged Gloves, so that I can Xyz summon The Phantom Knights of Break Sword (Rank 3/2000 atk/1000 def). By using my gloves as an Xyz material, its attack grows by 1000." Luke smiled as his monster's attack grew to 3000. "Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, destroy the soldier that was here first." The monster was destroyed. "I end my turn."
"You could have attacked again." The troll drew his card.
"But then I couldn't watch you realize that your strategy is broken. You use your Sentry Soldier of Stone to constantly have a source of Xyz materials, but now it's still equipped to your monster."
The troll's confidence immediately turned to frustration. "I can beat you without it." He looked at his hand. "I play one monster in facedown defense position. Your move. Make it count because my next Xyz summon will be your end."
Luke drew his card. "Don't worry. It's your end. I summon The Phantom Knights of Cloven Helm (LV4/1500 atk/500 def). Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, destroy his soldier." The dragon attacked the monster reducing it to rubble as it was destroyed. "This is the complicated part for dolts like you. First, I activate Phantom Knights of Break Sword's ability. I give up an overlay unit to destroy one of your monsters and one of mine. I destroy your monster and target my dragon, but I can destroy its sword instead." The facedown card showed Mine Golem after it was destroyed. "That was smart on my part. I just saved 500 life points, and my helm gains 500 attack points. That's 2000 attack points now. Cloven Helm, strike him directly." The troll's life points fell to 2000. "Break Sword, end the duel!" The monster charged forward and slashed the troll with its sword reducing his life points to zero as he fell to the ground. The remaining monsters disappeared as Luke's and the troll's runes stopped glowing. Luke walked over to the troll. "Get out of my house, now, and if I ever see you messing with him again, I will destroy you publicly." The troll stood up and ran out of the house without another word.
Luke walked over to Aaron. "Thanks." Aaron said rubbing the back of his head.
"It's not a problem, and if anyone tries anything like that, tell me." Aaron nodded his head. "Now that that's done, we can have some tea and look at your deck."
"I'm not really in the mood for tea." Aaron said wanting to leave.
"We have coffee, soda, hot chocolate, milkshakes, ice cream sundaes, smoothies…"
"Tea's fine." Aaron responded quickly.
Luke smiled walking with him inside. Soon enough, Aaron sat across from Luke at a coffee table. A maid walked into the room carrying a tray. She sat it on the table and started to fill the cups with tea. "Is there anything else you require, Master Luke?"
"That's it. Thank you." The maid curtsied before walking away. Luke started spooning some sugar into his tea. Once he finished stirring, he took a sip. He set his cup down on a saucer. "Let's see your deck."
"Don't expect it to be great. I don't win that much." Aaron said handing him the deck.
Luke started looking through all of the cards in his hand. He showed no emotions as he looked through the entire deck. "This is one of the best decks I've seen. The issue is you. You're not playing it how you should. You lack confidence and play defensive. This deck is one that you need to strut with."
"Aaron took the deck from him and put it in his pocket."
"Vampire Genesis is a rare and powerful card. I think you might have the last one in existence because I've never seen one until now. Only vampires can play that card, and I've met and dueled a lot of vampires who don't have it. Keep it safe."
"It's been in my family for a while." Aaron said taking a sip of tea.
"Use it." Luke said looking him directly in the eyes. "I hear things and the council is planning something big."
"What?"
"Some sort of tournament. The only thing I really know is that the council is handpicking the duelists."
"Well, we all know you're going to be there."
"And I want you to be there with me." Luke put a hand on his shoulder. "I want you to start dueling more. I want you to stand out when the council starts picking people. And if you don't start dueling, I will arrange duels for you. You know I can do that."
"Everyone thinks I'm a loser. They don't want to duel me."
"Then I'll start making arrangements." Luke had a grin on his face drinking his tea. "I'm not going to make it easy either."
"Can't wait." Aaron smiled a little bit sipping his tea.