Chapter 1 Day of Endless Possibility
In some worlds what is perceived as reality is fiction in another. What was fiction in another is truth in another world. To some this is a hard pill to swallow, as it means their life in naught but a tale to another. And in truth it is. Even in one's own world, their life is but a tale for others when they themselves stumble across this one person's tale. This is a story of one of those tales. This is the story of a boy stumbling across a set of cards linking his world to one from a world different, yet similar to his set into the future.
"I knew I shouldn't have been up so much last night playing video games," a young man, aged sixteen, griped as he dashed through a park in Domino City. "Because of that, I was late waking up, which meant I missed the train to the Duel Academia practical entrance exams, which meant I had to hitch a ride on a bus that got caught behind a traffic accident." Though he was a little peeved that he was running late, that did not mean he had to blame it on an accident. Rather, he had only himself to blame and reflect on the fact he tried to blame another, which he regretted since the people involved were injured to varying degrees.
He sighed lightly before he dodged around a young couple happily teaching their young child how to walk. That frown he had on his face morphed into a smile as he heard the laughter and happy babbling of the child and the cooing and crowing of the parents. Small miracles such as that were why he was still standing. If not for the possibility of hope that the future held, he might not have found the will to step forward each moment he lived. Or maybe he would just be a naive young man loving Duel Monsters if it were not for the deck residing in his pouch right now.
Shaking his head once more, he realized that one day he would have had to grow up and face the reality before him. Musing ruefully, he even imagined he would have broken if the world tried to break its reality to him faster. With a shiver, Judai realized that without the deck in his pouch, he would never have found the inner strength necessary to face what would lie before him, inside and outside the duel arena.
The brunette's musings were cut short when he accidentally ran smack dab into someone and caused both of them to go flying apart due to the impact, a few of his cards managing to slip out of his pocket as well. "Ouch," Judai muttered as he rubbed his sore rear. He then remembered his manners and shot straight up to help the person he ran into. "Are you okay?"
"Don't worry, I'm fine. I've ran into worse," the person answered plainly as they accepted the brunette's hand. Judai's eyes widened when he saw who it was that he had ran into. The King of Games. Muto Yugi.
"You're-"
"Are those your cards lying over there?" the odd color haired man asked, pointing behind Judai.
"My cards!" Yugi smothered a grin as he helped the brunette gather his cards. He was only able to grab one since Judai had gather the other nine that had fallen from his pouch. But that card was enough to make his eyes widen slightly. What stared back at him was a white machine was a single horn, that because of the tiny person in the picture, was massive beyond compare, bigger than any spirit monster he had ever seen. His eyes widened even further when he saw the picture come to life, the person climbing into a hatch and it then closing. The single horned machine then powered up, its green 'eyes' powering on. Soon the armor on the machine split apart, revealing a glowing red mass beneath it. Even its face changed to nearly resemble a human face. And the horn itself transformed as well, spliting down the center into a V, revealing the brilliant yellow between.
The name he read on the top of the card was 'RX-0: Unicorn Gundam'. Glancing back down, he saw the card had defaulted to its original picture. Feeling the brunette looking at him, Yugi met his eyes and stared back.
"Thanks," Judai said, holding his hand out.
"Not a problem," Yugi replied as he handed the younger man back his card. "I see that these cards have found a person who truly needs their strength." The King of Game smiled kindly when he saw the wide, fearful eyes of Judai take him in. "Don't worry, I won't say anything. Just as my cards chose me, your cards have chosen you and vice versa. Don't waver okay?"
"Y-Yes!" Judai exclaimed as he fiddled with his last card. He was perplexed when he was presented with another card this time. "Uh?"
"He wants to come along with you if that's fine."
"How can I say no with a face like that!" the brunette answered with a grin. "I mean Winged Kuriboh's, not yours," he told the other man with a teasing grin.
"Ha! Just like Jonouchi." He then clapped Judai on his shoulder, grin on his face. "May luck follow you which roads you travel!" With that, the King of Games departed into the crowds forming in the park.
Judai smiled at the man's retreating form before gazing down at the card. He then looked as the spirit appeared on his shoulder and nuzzled his face. "Kuri! Kuri!"
"C'mon, let's go buddy!"
"Kuri!" the small spirit mimed a smile before fading away.
"You too guys!"
"Right!" Numerous humanoid figures stood behind him, all wearing space suits, shouted as one before they faded with Winged Kuriboh too.
"Oh, he's good." Judai grinned when he saw some duelist destroy his Vorce Raider, taking down his life points to critical while at the same time exhausting his opponents. "I like it when people play dangerously, means you never know who is gonna win."
"I know I wouldn't win if I faced him." Judai turned to his side to observe the person who just said that. A short boy with cyan hair exuding zero-confidence was the owner of the voice that made that self-disparaging comment.
"Why do you say that?" He had met many a person like this young man before. Owners of low self confidence due to a past trauma, failure, or physical 'ailment' of some type. What they needed was someone to believe in them and lead by example. So far Judai's record was forty-nine out of fifty. "Oh, my name's Judai by the way."
"Marufuji Sho," the tiny boy introduced himself timidly. Judai was surprised a number of older women had not hit on the boy yet, or maybe the did, what with him just exuding a defenseless aura. "And it's because Misawa Daichi was ranked #1 in the theoretical exams while I'm ranked 109th overall." The boy's shoulders sagged, and it made Judai's heart go out to the person beside him. He just knew it in his heart that Sho was a good, kind person and it killed him to see the guy so down.
"Hey, I'm number 110 out of the entire lot which means I'm scrapping the bottom of the bucket." Sho looked up at him with wide eyes. Good, he had his attention. "But just because you're not good at theoretical work doesn't mean you necessarily fail. You know why?" The cyan haired boy leaned in, his eyes starry, his ears wide open and his heart ready to accept any advice that could help him. Again, Judai's heart went out to him. "Hard work, determination, faith in yourself and faith from others will help carry you a long way and help you find a strength in yourself that you thought you never had before."
His words were not only meant for Sho, but for everyone around him. A few scoffed at his little speech, but he knew that it would plant the seeds of possibility in their hearts. That was all he needed for them to do. Many others however felt emboldened, their spirits lifted despite the heavy air that weighed down upon the test arena and its stands.
'I'd like to believe in him.' Because of the abilities granted unto him by the deck in his pouch, Judai was capable of feeling the thoughts of those directed at him. 'I really hope he can prove it.'
"You see, I'm aiming for Number 1. And so long as stay true to myself, my deck and my beliefs and those I carry, I will see it through." He grinned at Sho's starry eyes. "But just because I'm racing to the top doesn't mean you can lag behind."
"You mean?"
"Race you to the top?" Judai asked with a grin.
"You're on!"
"It looks like I have some rivals." Sho and Judai turned to see Daichi making his was to them. "I couldn't help but overhear you say one of you will be Number 1? I'm sorry to tell you, but I'll be taking that spot," he told them with a confident grin, thrusting his thumb at his chest.
"Bring it! We'll see you gets there first!" Judai challenged him with a smirk. "Right Sho?"
"R-Right!" Sho said, stammering slightly. The boy would have never have guessed that he would actually be getting in a challenge with another student for the Number 1 Duelist position in the school, let alone two seemingly intimidating people like Daichi and Judai. It just went to show him that anything was possible.
"Would applicant Yuki Judai please come to Arena 1? Yuki Judai to Arean 1 please," a voice over the PA coolly spoke.
"That's my cue guys, and I'm gonna show you how I'm gonna reach Number 1!" Judai shouted as he dashed for the arena, before vaulting over the stands and landing gracefully.
"You go Judai-san!"
"Prove to me you're worthy of being my rival!"
'Please win Judai. I want to believe in the possibilities you spoke of.'
The warmth and faith carried in the third unspoken voice filled Judai with a confidence he never had before experienced. Actually, it had the same feeling as when his parents saw him off to school for the first time. Shaking his head softly, he accepted the duel disk from the frazzled school assistant who he hand landed right beside, and decided to focus on the impending duel.
"Please take your position at the field Signore Yuki," a tall, blonde haired man spoke as he made his way to the position across the field from Judai. "I am Doctor Cronos de Medici, Head of the Obelisk Blue Boy's Dorm. I will be your proctor for your practical exam." He then powered up his custom duel disk.
"Nice to meetcha Cronos Sensei," Judai greeted as he powered up his duel disk. "I can't believe a Professor is dueling me, let alone one of the two heads of the strongest dorm. I feel special."
"I heard your rousing speech. One worthy of being made by a teach. However I wanted to see for myself whether or not you were all talk or not." He then watched as Judai drew one card and place down two cards from his hand before summoning a monster none of them had never seen before.
"I summon Unicorn Pilot Links in Defense Mode." A humanoid being in a white space suit appeared on the field before crouching down. His attack points were 700 while his defence points were 1800. "Let me explain this monster since only five people have known of him until now. So long as he is in defense mode, Links is not destroyed in battle. The trade off is that I take damage depending on the difference in the attacking monsters attack and his defense."
"Smart. I figured you would play aggressively from how you spoke Signore Yuki."
"Not aggressively, but with passion, for this game is about to be fired up!" He then opened his field spell card slot and inserted a card that showed the Earth, but from space. "I activate the field spell card, Universal Century!"
Everyone gasped out as the hologram that projected the duel brought the earth space sphere to them. Their eyes took in the silent panorama while Cronos was staring down Judai with an unreadable expression. Cronos wondered what the spell's special effects were, but decided to let Judai explain it later. One thing was for sure though, he had never seen monsters or spells like these before. And was that a space colony floating nearby?!
Indeed it was a space colony floating nearby them, complete with space ships of varying sizes and what looked like giant humanoid machines. The occupants of the test arena could only look on in wonder at the sight before them. "I end my turn," Judai declared, just before the ships opened fire on the colony, blasting holes in the colony. The humanoid machines then began firing at other ships surrounding the colony that appeared to be protecting it.
Everyone's jaws dropped at the sight. "This is the Universal Century. An age of humanity where we have left the embrace of Mother Earth to make for ourselves a home in space. It is a time where humans are born, live and die in space," Judai spoke aloud with a controlled neutral tone. "A turbulent time in humanity's history where revolutions come due to the pride and arrogance of those at the top wanting to bring about only their ideals without considering the consequences for those living in the world with them. It then falls to the soldiers of both sides to fight for the ideals of their leaders and to protect that which they love and cherish. The fires of war are then fanned further when they must fall to the young and inexperienced to take up arms."
"And that is why as teachers we must prepare those we under our wings so that they may face those realities ahead of them with strength and courage, and the knowledge to not repeat our mistakes. Yet it is also our duty to pave the way for them, so they may not face what must fall to us," Cronos spoke as he drew from his deck. "Whether you win or lose, I am happy to face such a mature young man such as yourself. My pride as a duelist and a teacher tells me that I must win at all costs. But I would sure like to see a promising young man such as yourself win and join us at Duel Academia."
"Then follow what your heart says Cronos Sensei," Judai told him with a grin.
"Hmph, very well then! I shall not hold back!" Cronos then grinned and played the spell card Confiscation.
"I play the trap card Newtype Detection!" The trap card flipped up, revealing a young brown haired main sweating with what appeared to a lightning bolt running across his face. "I can play this trap card only if I have a card with Newtype as its type on the field. It allows me to copy the effect of one spell card my opponent is using!"
"Interesting. Well, I send your Monster Reborn to the graveyard then." Judai shrugged before tossing his card into the graveyard before grinning. He then sent the monster card, Ancient Gear Soldier to the graveyard, rather than Ancient Gear Golem. "You better not be toying with me Signore Yuki. You could have very well crippled my strategy for a while had you sent my Ancient Gear Golem to the graveyard rather than my Soldier. Or better yet, any of the other cards in my hand. The question is, why?"
"I like facing my opponents head on rather than using underhanded tricks." A few spectators scoffed, while others grinned at the brunette's lighthearted nature.
'He's pretty interesting. Let's see if he's as good as he boasts though.'
"Again, I'm not sure if your aggressive or just reckless. Very well then, I continue my turn by placing two cards face down." Two holographic cards then appeared in a flash of light before Cronos. "I then play the spell card Heavy Storm!" The other card Judai had placed down was destroyed along with Cronos' two cards.
Judai did not comment as he knew that everyone played with purpose, although sometimes it seemed like madness. What he was waiting on was for everyone to notice that the hologram of space was still active.
"Why wasn't your field card destroyed?" Cronos asked curiously, silently cursing that he had not asked what Universal Century actually did.
"Universal Century stays in play so long as a monster with Newtype as its type is on the field." Judai smirked at everyone's gobsmacked faces. "Would you like me to explain more? Or when their details become relevant?"
"Now would be good."
"Okay!" Judai then went into lecture mode. "Universal Century also boosts the attack and defense points of all monsters with the type Newtype by 500. And it also lowers the tribute amount for all Gundam type monsters by one while increasing their attack points by 1000."
"Why haven't we ever heard of cards like these before?"
"Because the person before me, meaning the first person, to touch this deck went insane." His delivery of that bit of info had everyone staring at him incredulously. Though they would like to not believe him, they had to admit that it was not too far fetched as Muto Yugi owned literal gods in his deck.
"Also, the card you destroyed was Laplace's Box. When it is destroyed, you skip over your Battle Phase as a result but gain twice as many life points." An image of a hexagonal slab with writing appeared behind Judai before fading away into fire.
"You've prolonged this battle by not only a turn, but much longer!" Cronos growled. The blonde man then shook his head as two Wicked Tokens appeared on the field. "Now I'll show you a wall you will never be able to climb! I sacrifice my Wicked Tokens to summon my Ancient Gear Golem!"
The massive grey machine with gears sticking out in numerous places arose from the smoke it was summoned in and stood hauntingly over the vast field in space. "And since I cannot attack, I place one card face down and end my turn."
"My draw!" Judai then glanced down before showing the card. "I play Pot of Greed!" The two cards he then pulled out caused him to smirk. "I play the spell card Day of the Unicorn which allows me to bring the monster card RX-0 Unicorn Gundam from my deck to my hand. I then tribute Unicorn Pilot Links to summon RX-0 Unicorn Gundam!" Out of nowhere a white humanoid machine with a single horn affixed to its head appeared from the emptiness of space and flew to the field, where instead of the tribute monster disappearing, it climbed into a hatch that opened up on its chest.
"Since that's a dangerous card you summoned, I play my trap card, Bottomless Pit!" Since the Unicorn had 4000 attack and defense, it meant that it would be be banished from play. However, he saw that the Unicorn was unaffected by the trap card. "What?!"
"When RX-0 Unicorn Gundam is tribute summoned using Unicorn Pilot Links, it gains immunity to spells and trap cards and is treated as a Newtype as well!" Everyone gasped in shock as the Unicorn's attack points and defense points increased by 1500, making it a whopping 5500 attack and defense points since Universal Century boosted the stats of both Newtypes and Gundams. Cronos meanwhile was looking on in awe. Judai had promise.
"I then activate the spell card Newtype Drive! By discarding one card from my hand, the Unicorn Gundam's defense points are allocated to its attack points! The trade off is that Unicorn will be unable to attack the next three turns." Judai smirked. "But that's now a moot point." The already ridiculous points the Unicorn Gundam had were made even more ridiculous as its defense points dropped to 0 and its attack points skyrocketed to 11000! But it did not stop there as the Unicorn Gundam suddenly transformed, its armor breaking open in several areas, making the height of the machine greater, while revealing a glowing red metal frame beneath. The head too changed, revealing a human like face, before the horn split apart, revealing a golden center.
"11,000 attack points! I've never seen so many!" Sho shouted in awe. "Go aniki!" the cyan haired boy shouted in glee.
"A worthy rival indeed," Daichi murmured with respect.
"I think we learned more from the kid than Cronos sensei, eh Ryo?" Tenjoin Asuka, a young blonde woman, asked her friend, Marufuji Ryo.
"Never thought I'd see something that breaks some many molds," the dark blue haired Obelisk dorm member wondered aloud as he and others watched on, captivated by the performance of Judai Yuki.
"Unicorn Gundam, go!" The Unicorn Gundam then drew a small item sticking up behind it, revealing it to be a beam saber. It then changed forward at lightning speed before proceeding to slice and dice the Ancient Gear Golem apart.
Cronos looked on impassively as his life points were drained to zero after his monster was soundly defeated. "Well done Signore Y- Judai." The hologram of the Unicorn, rubble of the Ancient Gear Golem, and the Universal Century faded away once the battle ceased. "I'm pleased to tell you that you have been accepted into Central Duel Academia. Congratulations." Though he was the first to applaud him, that did not mean he was alone, as the entire exam arena was awash with cheering.
"Thanks Sensei." Judai then thrust two fingers in Cronos' direction and grinned. "Gotcha!" he exclaimed with a grin, feeling giddy to have impressed the doctor.
"Way to go aniki!" Sho cheered from the stand. Judai turned to the stands a grinned waving in Daichi and Sho's direction.
"He beat a professor. Damn fine show Judai-san," Daichi applauded, giving the brunette a standing ovation. Manjoume Jun meanwhile was staring wide eyed at the arena, wondering himself whether or not he could have pulled off a flawless victory like that in only his second turn.
'He's pretty interesting,' Asuka thought with a small smile. 'And kinda cute.'
"You're pretty cute! What's your name!" Judai's shouted voice reached her ears, causing her to blush. She thought for a second that she said those last thoughts outloud, but that was ridicilous. He more than likely saw her since she was on the terrace just about Sho and Daichi.
All the students who knew Asuka glared at Judai, and those who were cheering Judai from early were encouraging him.
"It's Asuka!" she answered with a smile on her face. "I hope you're ready to get your butt handed to you in a duel for your brazen comment!"
"If I can duel you every time I call you cute, I'll call you cute for eternity Asuka!" Judai had never felt so giddy before now. He felt like ten million yen right. It was like he was on cloud nine! And her voice! That was the voice that had such warmth! The brunette pointedly ignored at the high intensity glares being directed his way, not caring since he wanted just her to himself for some odd reason.
"You're really interesting, you know that? It'll be fun to duel you Judai!"
"And I bet it'll be a blast dueling you too! In fact, I think I'm in love!" The silly grins on their faces and their megawatt smiles were just too sappy for many a people to look at.
"C'mon Asuka, we have to get back to school," Ryo interrupted as he stood behind Asuka and turned her around and ushered her out. "Don't want you and Judai trading quips all day long, now do we?"
"See ya Judai!" She then turned smacked Ryo's hands, and glared lightly at him. "I can walk you know?"
"Like I said," Ryo said with a small smirk, "If you weren't gone move, you and lover boy were going to keep up at it all day long. Least you could do is not do it in public and take it to a private venue." He then quickly walked away as he allowed to comment to sink in.
"Ryo!"
"See you Asuka!" Judai shouted when before she disappeared. He really honset to God hoped he would see her again. She was amazing! He bet she was even more of an amazing duelist too!
"So what did you guys think?" Judai asked as he approached his two new acquaintances, and hopefully future friends. He smiled as Sho bombarded him with questions along with Daichi.
'Holy crap, do I even stand a chance at winning her heart?' Jun wondered as he observed Judai, Daichi and Sho conversing merrily with one another.