Twenty-One, Chapter 1: A Legend is Born
The alarm rang incessantly for five minutes, and being annoyed with the beeping, a brown haired woman, around 40 years old, walked into the room that contained the horribly bothersome noise and froze. She looked around the room frantically, as if something were missing. She went to keep looking, but heard the alarm again, and decided to shut it off first, slamming her hand on the clock. She then went back to looking, but soon heard the toilet flush and sighed a breath of relief. He could've at least turned the alarm off, she thought.
A boy of about 15 walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his neck. He was tall and slim with dark brown, spiky hair, wearing a black t-shirt and jeans.
"What's wrong mom?" he asked.
"You scared me to death, Shun, that's what. Next time you get up earlier than your alarm, turn it off please."
"There won't be a next time, at least until the summer. Today's the day I go to Duel Academy!"
"Oh, that's right, I forgot. Well then, good luck on your test."
"I won't need it. Since dad's a successful pro league duelist, I'm automatically exempt from the Written Exam and as long as I win the Proctor Duel, I get to be in the highest sect of Duel Academy. If I lose, I go to the middle one. Anyway, there's an earlier bus than my original one that goes to the port, so I'm meeting Takami at the bus station in 15 minutes. Gotta go, so I'll see you in June!" With that, Shun bolted out the door, Duel Disk in hand, with his deck neatly loaded in the correct place.
Miyaki Teshigawara watched as her son left, following in his father's footsteps. Daiki Teshigawara was a famous pro duelist, and he had gone to Duel Academy just like Shun was about to. Miyaki wished her son as much fortune as Daiki, and walked away.
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Shun arrived at the bus station about 10 minutes later and waved to a boy his age with brown hair and a buzz cut. He was average height, slim, and wearing a blue t-shirt and blackish jeans.
"Takumi! Over here!" he yelled.
Takumi Saito strolled over with his duel disk. "Hey, what's up? Are you excited or what?"
"Dude, of course I am. I mean, a legend is about to be born at Duel Academy. I'm the son of one of the world's best duelists." Shun was a bit cocky.
"Well, I'm not, so I've gotta take the stupid Written Exam. I'm nervous as hell because I've heard it's practically impossible. Oh, I know how I can calm down, we can duel! I mean, the bus doesn't arrive for almost a half hour, so why not?"
"Sure, buddy." Shun put on his Duel Disk and put it into duel mode, as did Takumi. "I'll start."
Shun: 4000
Takumi: 4000
Shun drew his hand. "I'll start with my spell card, Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two cards!" A large green pot with a smiling face on it appeared on the field and Shun drew two cards as the pot disappeared. "Next, I'll set a monster and throw a face down." Two card backs, one vertically oriented and one horizontally oriented (parallel to the ground) appeared in front of Shun. "That's all for me, you can go Takumi."
Takumi drew his card. "I activate Polymerization, fusing my E-Heroes Bladedge and Wildheart to summon E-Hero Wildedge [2600/2300!" A dark-skinned, muscular man appeared on the field, wearing a golden helmet and golden armor on its left arm and right leg. He also had a sword mounted on his back. "Wildedge, attack his monster!" Wildedge drew his sword and charged at the set monster.
Shun rose his hand in the air. "I activate my trap, Mirror Force!" A translucent wall appeared in front of Shun and his cards, so Wildedge instead smacked the wall with its sword. The monster stood frozen for a split second before exploding. "Next time, analyze your opponent's field, Takumi. That was too aggressive of a move."
Takumi sighed. "I'll end my turn by throwing a facedown." A vertically oriented card back appeared in front of Takumi.
Shun drew a card. "I flip my monster into attack mode. It's my The Six Samurai – Zanji [1800/1300." A samurai with reddish armor and baggy blue clothes holding a staff appeared on the field. "Next, I'll throw a face down and summon my The Six Samurai – Nisashi [1400/700 in attack mode." A samurai wearing green armor and holding two swords appeared along with a vertically oriented card back. "Zanji, attack Takumi directly!" Zanji sped towards Takumi, then jumped high in the air when it got close, pole ready to smack him.
Takumi smirked. "And you said I was too aggressive. I activate A Hero Emerges!" Takumi's card flipped into an upright position. "It forces you to pick a card in my hand a random and if it's a monster, I can summon it!" Takumi held up his two remaining cards as Zanji retreated to its original position.
Shun stood silent in thought. "The left one," he said, pointing to the card on the left.
"Mistake," said Takumi as he placed a card in his monster zone, "that's my E-Hero Neos [2500/2000!" A muscular gray alien with red stripes down its torso and legs and a blue orb on its chest appeared on the field. "Attack Zanji, Neos!" Neos raised its hand and shot an energy blast at Zanji. Zanji exploded.
"Mistake," said Shun, laughing as Neos exploded as well, "Zanji's effect is that whenever it attacks a monster, which it technically did, the other monster is destroyed after the Damage Step as well as long as there's another one of the Six Samurai on the field."
"Well, you still lost 700 LP," said Takumi.
"That's worth it because you're about to lose more. Nihashi, attack Takumi directly!" Nihashi ran at Takumi and slashed him with one of its swords. Takumi winced as he received the impact. "I'll end now."
Shun: 3300
Takumi: 2600
Takumi drew his card. "All I can do is throw a face down and end." A vertically oriented card back appeared in front of Takumi.
Shun drew. "I'll first summon my The Six Samurai – Yaichi [1300/800." A samurai clad in yellow and black armor holding a bow and arrow appeared on the field. "Its effect lets me destroy a set spell or trap on your field as long as there's another one of the Six Samurai on the field." Takumi watched in horror as Yaichi loaded a glowing green arrow and shot it at his face down. The card exploded upon impact. "Since I used that effect, I can't attack this turn with Yaichi, but that's okay, because my Nihashi's effect allows it to attack twice since Yaichi's on the field. Nihashi, double attack!" Nihashi slashed Takumi with both swords. Takumi screamed from the pain as his life points dropped to 0.
Shun: 3300
Takumi: 0
Nihashi and Yaichi slowly disappeared as Shun walked over to Takumi. "Better luck during your Proctor duel, bud."
"I'll need it," Takumi responded.
"You'll be fine," said Shun, "but don't worry right now. Here comes the bus."
A large bus pulled up to the group of teenagers, and they all got on.
The driver was a large, middle-aged, balding man. "Next stop, Duel Academy!" he proclaimed as he pulled away.
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About an hour later (including a ten minute boat ride), Shun and Takumi arrived at Duel Academy, and walked up to the sign-in desk, where a brunette in her mid-twenties was sitting.
They looked at the boys. "Name please?"
Takumi stepped up first. "My name is Takumi Saito."
The one on the left searched the pages. "Saito…Saito…ah, here we go! Takumi Saito. Please follow the signs to Testing Room C."
Takumi waved to Shun, who mouthed I'll meet you at the door. Takumi nodded.
The woman looked at Shun. "Name please?"
"Shun Teshigawara, the next great duelist."
She chuckled as she pulled out a box and gave Shun a blue blazer. "I don't doubt it, what with your father's skills in your genes."
Shun held out the blazer. "Don't I have to win my Proctor Duel first?"
"Chancellor Sheppard decided it wasn't worth wasting your energy. In fact, here he comes now."
Shun turned and saw a tall balding man with a red and black blazer walking over.
"Chancellor Sheppard, this is Daiki Teshigawara's son, Shun."
Sheppard shook Shun's hand firmly. "It's very nice to meet you."
"Same here," said Shun, smiling.
Takumi, seeing all of this, scoffed in disgust and walked inside angrily.
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When Shun finished talking with Sheppard, he couldn't find Takumi, but assumed that he had gone in to take the Written Exam. Therefore he went straight to the gym, where the Proctor Exams were going to take place.
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The gym contained 8 duel arenas and bleachers on the east and west sides of the room. There was also a balcony where Shun saw about 100 students, all wearing blue, so he figured they were in the same dorm as he. He took an elevator to the balcony and started to walk over to a group of kids, when he was stopped by a group of four students, two boys and two girls. One boy was tall with long black hair. He looked older than the others. The other boy was average height and had short blonde hair. The girls both had long blonde hair and were average height; Shun assumed they were twins.
The older boy spoke. "You look exactly like your father, Teshigawara."
"Yeah, I get that a lot. My first name's Shun by the way."
"Shun it is. I'm Ren Kutagari and this is Kenta Takeshi," he said, pointing to the other boy, "These two," he now pointed to the girls, "are Misaki and Riko Kimura. I'd tell you which is which, but I'm sure it's of no use."
"Yeah, I'll never remember which is which because they're both equally beautiful."
The girls giggled and looked at each other. The one on the right spoke. "In case you ever want to know," she said and winked, "I'm Riko, and she's Misaki."
Shun smiled. "I'll do my best girls."
Kenta shook his head, laughing. "So, do you run a Cyberdark Deck like your dad?"
"Why don't I show you what kind of deck I run?"
Just then, a tall boy with spiky black hair pushed into the circle. "I'll duel you, Teshigawara, so I can prove heritage means shit."
"And who might you be?"
"Kaito Tanaka, and I'll meet you downstairs in 5 minutes."
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Once downstairs, Shun and Kaito stood in a painted-on-the-floor dueling arena, similar to a basketball court in a public school's gym. The other Obelisks also came down, but were sitting in the stands: Kaito's group of friends sat behind him on the west side, while everyone else sat behind the already famous Shun Teshigawara on the east side.
Kaito and Shun shuffled their decks then traded so the other could do the same. When Kaito was shuffling Shun's deck, he dropped it.
"Sorry, Teshigawara," he remarked sarcastically, bending down to clean up Shun's cards. Just before he finished he rubbed a card on his pants, saying it had gotten some dirt on it. He then gave back Shun's deck and the two retreated to their original positions.
Ren turned to Kenta. "There's something fishy going on. I'll be right back." He proceeded to jump onto the gym floor from the stands and run over to Shun just as he was about to draw his hand.
Shun looked at Ren quizzically. "What's wrong, Ren?"
"Count your cards Shun."
"Why? I know that I have 40."
"Just count."
Shun, confused, counted his cards and stared in shock when he came to 39. He counted twice more, but the result was the same each time.
He looked at Ren. "How did you know?"
"Ask Kaito why you have 39 cards, Shun."
Kaito, annoyed, reached into his pocket and pulled out Shun's Swift Samurai Storm trap. He threw it to Shun.
Ren walked over to Kaito. "What, were you gonna call him on not having the minimum 40 cards?"
Kaito looked away. "I don't have to answer to you, Kutagari. Either way, I'll beat that loser."
"We'll see, Kaito," Ren responded as he returned to his seat, "but I think Shun should get to choose the turn order since you tried to cheat."
"I'll go second," said Shun.
Kaito: 4000
Shun: 4000
Kaito drew his hand. "I'll go with two face downs and a set monster." One horizontally oriented and two vertically oriented card backs appeared in front of Kaito.
Shun drew. "I throw a face down and summon The Six Samurai – Kamon [1500/1000." A samurai with red armor, blue pants, and a firecracker in its hand appeared along with a vertically oriented card back. "Kamon, attack his monster!" Kamon threw its firecracker at the card. It flipped to reveal a gray alien with tentacles for fingers and toes.
"That was my Alien Grey [300/800, Teshigawara, and now your monster gets an A-Counter on it. I also draw a card." He did so as Alien Grey exploded.
"What's an A-Counter?" Shun asked, but Kaito only pointed to Kamon. Slime was building up on its shoulder. It tried to pull it off, but couldn't.
"That attack now activates my trap, Destruct Circle – A! It destroys a face up monster with an A-Counter on it, but we also lose 1000 LP each." The card on the left rose up and the A-Counter on Kamon started to grow, eventually completely engulfing the samurai. Kamon then exploded.
Shun could do nothing but end his turn, to which Kaito smiled.
Kaito: 3000
Shun: 3000
Riko and Misaki looked at each other. "Shun's in trouble," Riko said, and Misaki nodded quickly, in a scared manner.
Kenta looked at the girls. "Shun's dad is Daiki Teshigawara. He'll be fine. Plus, Shun still has his face down."
Kaito drew. "Oh, thanks, Takeshi, I almost forgot. I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your face down." Shun glared at Kenta as his face down was engulfed by a tornado and exploded. Kenta mouthed sorry. "Moving on, I summon Alien Warrior [1800/1000 in attack mode." Another grey alien appeared, but this one had fangs and claws. "Attack him directly!" Alien Warrior jumped at Shun and slashed at him. Shun tried to black the blow with his Duel Disk to no avail. "I'll end with a face down." A vertically oriented card back appeared behind Alien Warrior.
Kaito: 3000
Shun: 1200
Shun was breathing heavily as he drew. "So, Kaito, what's your big beef with me?"
"I'm getting revenge for my father."
"What do you mean? I don't know your father."
"But your father does. They were classmates in Duel Academy. You should ask him about Shota Tanaka one day."
"I don't see him often because he's a Pro Duelist. Why don't you just tell me?"
"Fine. I will."
Flashback
Daiki Teshigawara was a tall, muscular man with short black hair. He was staring across the Duel Arena at a scrawny, spiky-haired man, Shota Tanaka. In front of Shota were Cyberdark Dragon with Armed Dragon LV 5 equipped [4300/1000 (he had 10 monsters in the grave), and a face down. In front of Daiki were E-Hero Wildedge [2600/2300 and two face downs. It was Daiki's turn.
Daiki: 1100
Shota: 4000
Daiki drew. "It's over, Shota, and once I win, I'm guaranteed a Pro League contact of $1,000,000 over 5 years."
Shota laughed at this. "How could you say it's over unless it's over for you? Look at the score, Teshigawara. I'm getting that contract."
Daiki knew things looked bad, but he believed in his deck and he knew that Wildedge was the only monster capable of defeating Cyberdark Dragon single-handedly. He just needed a good card. He finally looked at his draw: Sparkman. Perfect. Now it was over. "You're done, Tanaka. I activate Mystical Space Typhoon!" Shota watched as a tornado got rid of his face down – Mirror Force. "Now I summon E-Hero Sparkman, in attack mode." The gold and blue creature showed up next to Wildedge. "I activate Lightning Blade and Axe of Despair, both on Wildedge, powering it up to 4400 ATK!" The blade and the axe appeared in Wildedge's hands. "Attack Cyberdark Dragon!" Shota watched as Wildedge jumped in the air and cut down Armed Dragon LV 5, dropping Shota by 100 LP. "Now its effect kicks in. Since Cyberdark Dragon on its own is like a new monster, Wildedge can attack it also!" Wildedge now destroyed Cyberdark Dragon itself.
Daiki: 1100
Shota: 1500
Shota looked at his lifepoints. "How could I lose?"
"You didn't lose, Shota, I won! Sparkman, attack him directly!" Sparkman shot electricity at Shota, dropping him to the ground in pain.
Daiki: 1100
Shota: 0
"I think I deserve a gift for winning, such as, I don't know, your deck!" Daiki walked over to Shota and punched him hard in the face, taking his deck and leaving.
Shota watched in horror, knowing that with no one watching, he would have no way of stopping Daiki. "I'll exact my revenge somehow, Teshigawara, just you wait!"
Daiki laughed as he left the arena. Shota Tanaka never dueled again.
End Flashback
Shun looked angered at Kaito's story. "That's some Grade – A bullshit, Kaito!"
"It's true, Teshigawara, and I will defeat you for my father!" Kaito yelled passionately.
Kaito: 3000
Shun: 1200
Shun looked at his hand and stood in thought. I'm down 1800 points, and one attack can end me. I need something big. "I'll activate Swords of Revealing Light and end." Swords surrounded Kaito and his monster, keeping him from attacking for three turns.
Ren looked worried. "That can't possibly be his only move…he's planning something."
Kenta shook his head. "I don't think so, buddy. He's cornered."
The twins, meanwhile, were shivering.
Kaito smiled as he drew his card. "You're lucky for that stall, Teshigawara, because I'm stuck. I'll just summon Alien Shocktrooper [1900/800 in attack mode and end." A green alien with black armor and a large sword in its right hand appeared next to Alien Warrior.
Come on, I need one of my Six Samurai right now, thought Shun. He drew and sighed.
Riko turned to Ren. "He's done for, isn't he?"
"He's not in a good position right now. If he can't find something to do in two turns, the swords wear off and Shun loses."
Shun started laughing. "I sighed for Kaito's sake, guys. I summon The Six Samurai – Nihashi [1400/700 and equip Lightning Blade, giving him 2200 ATK." The green samurai appeared in front of Shun. "Next, I Special Summon Grandmaster of the Six Samurai [2100/800 in attack mode!" An old man with long, white hair and blue armor who was holding a large sword appeared. "Grandmaster, attack Alien Shocktrooper!" It raised its sword and chucked it at the green alien, causing it to explode. "Nihashi, your turn!" Nishashi ran at Alien Warrior and jumped in the air, slashing it from above. It also exploded, but not before two A-Counters grew on Nihashi. "That's all for me once I throw this face down," Shun said, eliciting a standing ovation from his new friends as a vertically oriented card back appeared behind his monsters.
Kaito: 2400
Shun: 1200
Ren got Shun's attention. "Good move, but you're not out of the woods yet," he cautioned.
Kaito drew. "Listen to Kutagari. This is far from over. I activate Dust Tornado, destroying your swords," he said as a dust cloud rose up and took away the swords. "Next, I activate Premature Burial, summoning Alien Warrior back to the field. I'll also activate Call of the Haunted to bring back Alien Shocktrooper." The two aliens appeared in front of him. "Now I'll sacrifice my aliens to summon Greed Quasar [?/?, and since he has 7 stars right now, he has 2100 ATK and DEF!" A grey alien with teeth in its torso and crab legs replaced Kaito's other aliens.
Kaito: 1600
Shun: 1200
"Brace yourself, Shun," Kenta said.
"Why should I? He can't defeat either of my monsters without losing his as well."
Kaito chuckled. "You forgot the A-Counters, Teshigawara. Your Nihashi loses 600 ATK if I attack it, which I will." Greed Quasar flew towards Nihashi, as the samurai's attack points went down to 1600. Nihashi then grabbed a wheel off the floor and threw it at Greed Quasar, who proceeded to get stuck inside it. "What the hell just happened?"
Shun was smiling. "I activated my trap, Nightmare Wheel. It stops you from attacking or changing battle position, plus you lose 500 LP every time I have a turn."
Kaito grunted, then motioned for Shun to go as he threw a face down and his LP dropped.
Kaito: 1100
Shun: 1200
The twins were cheering. "Shun pulled ahead! He's so awesome!" Misaki exclaimed.
Shun blushed as he drew. "It wasn't much. Nihashi, attack Greed Quasar!" Nihashi went to slash the alien in half, but ran into a familiar transparent wall. Shun could only watch as Mirror Force destroyed his two monsters. "I'll throw two face downs and end," he said as two vertically oriented card backs appeared.
Kaito drew. "I'll sacrifice Greed Quasar to summon Alien Mother [2300/1500!" A grey and purple alien appeared in place of Greed Quasar. "Now attack!" Alien mother prepared to attack directly.
"I activate Return of the Six Samurai!" Grandmaster of the Six Samurai reappeared. "Now I'll activate Blast with Chain, raising his strength to 2600, enough to destroy your alien!" Grandmaster threw its sword at Alien Mother, destroying it.
"Crap," said Kaito, "I'll throw a face down and end." He watched as Grandmaster and his face down disappeared. "What was that?"
"Two things: my samurai's destroyed at the end of your turn, but I also get to destroy a card of yours, and you only had one," replied Shun.
Kaito: 800
Shun: 1200
Shun drew. "Time to end this! I summon The Six Samurai – Yariza [1000/500 and attack you directly!" A samurai with black armor and a long sword appeared and slashed at Kaito, who collapsed as his LP dropped to 0.
Kaito: 0
Shun: 1200
The twins ran down to Shun. "You won!!!" they screamed.
"That's usually what happens when someone's LP go down to 0, girls. As for you, Kaito, maybe you'll realize I'm not a fraud after all."
"That was lucky, Teshigawara, but next time, you're dead," he said, walking off.
Just then, the doors to the gym opened and everyone scrambled back up to their original spots. It was time for the Proctor Duels.
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How will Takumi fare in his duel? Did he score well on the Written Exam? Read the next chapter, First Day, to find out! REVIEW!!!