Enter, Brilliant Shining Emi Tanaka
Author's Notes: Hello, and welcome to Year Three, The Trial of the Heart. This took longer than I expected to put together, owing to real life events that I will not bore you with the details of. As this fic is a sequel to Year Two, The Trial of Light, and Year One, The Trial of Shadows, I would recommend reading those two stories first before starting on this one, or else you could become quite confused. I plan on posting one chapter a week, and I hope that you all enjoy the story. And of course, reviews are always appreciated. And of course, I do not own Yugioh GX. That said, I'll get out of the way, and let the story begin.
"Boy, there sure aren't that many people here, are there?" Judai Yuki said with a distinct tone of disappointment in his voice, and his friends had to agree; from their vantage point on the upper level, at least half of the dueling stages were empty, and of the ones being used, at least half of the applicants showed no sign of potential worth mentioning.
"Well, when you think about it, its to be expected." Momiji Todo said as he followed a duel involving an Insect specialist. "After the events of the last couple of years at Duel Academia, people can't help but suspect the institution that was meant to protect against such events as being the very source of them." At that moment the Insect duelist, a young man with pale blonde hair, failed miserably against the duel examiner, though he was thanked for his time.
"Even so," Rei Saotome said as she watched a Machine duelist barely squeak by, "there've got to be more people out there who know better, right? I mean, we've all done our part, so shouldn't we be getting a little appreciation?"
"Showing our age, our we Rei?" Edo Phoenix said with a smirk as he looked upon Duel Academia's youngest student. "Though believe me, I understand that desire quite fully." Edo remembered his time in the Pro Dueling League, of being the youngest Ace on record. "But we've all had to grow past that sort of indulgence in order to make it through last year."
"Still, maybe we'll be lucky and it won't really matter." Momoe Hamaguchi said, taking notice of the Duel Examiners who were on a smoking break. "I mean, I know Takuma said something was supposed to happen, but that doesn't mean its going to be this year."
At that moment, Professor Chronos De Medici stood up from his seat and looked over the remaining duels in progress. "Attention everyone!" The duels in progress paused as the participants turned towards him. "Can someone please explain to me why it is that none of you are dueling to the full extent of your spirit? These are supposed to be application duels for Duel Academia, the most prestigious dueling institution in the world!" Professor Chronos then turned to Judai and the others. "Perhaps I ought to have some of our veteran students show you all the sort of duel that you should all aspire to?"
"An interesting idea, Professor Chronos De Medici." The voice of a stranger called out, calm, cultured, masculine. As he entered into everyone's view, they saw that he was young, only a few years older than Judai and the other third year students. His hair was short, red, and spiky, and around his neck he wore what appeared to be some manner of prayer beads. The temple arms of his glasses rested on pronounced ears, and the frames were very thin, suggesting that they were there more for the sake of the impression they created as opposed correcting a problem with vision. "But I would like to propose a variation on that plan, if you don't mind." The man was followed by a woman dressed in the fashion of a navy officer, with short cropped hair and a stern focused expression on her face. The man smiled at her, and she smiled at him in turn. "You see, I've just finalized the paperwork for the sponsorship of a number of potential students for Duel Academia." As though deliberately timed, eight young duelists entered the arena, each already equipped with their own Duel Discs. "Eight, to be precise."
"Wonderful!" Professor Chronos said as he clasped his hands together and approached the young man. "Now here is someone who appreciates our work, Mr…?"
"Amon Garam." Manjoume said, drawing all eyes towards himself. "Scion of the Garam Group, though in truth he's more of a regent then he is an heir." He looked down upon Amon, who returned the look with a self-assured smile. "Tell me, did I make any mistakes?"
"Not at all, Jun Manjoume, exile of the Manjoume Group; still, it is good that you remember what you learned while you were a part of your family." If this was meant to provoke a reaction from Manjoume, Amon failed. "Indeed, it is my younger brother, Shido Garam, who will inherit the chairman's seat after I've prepared everything for him." Amon turned his attention back to Professor Chronos. "And I've determined that as part of those preparations that the Garam Group will support Duel Academia and will have at its disposal experienced duelists who can call Duel Academia, home."
"I see, I see," Professor Chronos said, nodding and holding his chin in his hand, "and you mentioned something about a variation on me having our most veteran students duel each other to show the new recruits what they should be striving for?"
"That's right; you see, the truth is that I have many more tasks to resolve on this day, but I still wish to be here to observe my candidate's application duels. So my variation is that one of my duelists face you, Professor Chronos, and if they're victorious, then all of them will be admitted, with the victor placed immediately into Obelisk Blue."
"An all or nothing gambit, I see…but who shall the lucky young duelist be?" Professor Chronos scanned his eyes across the applicants, stopping when he reached a young lady with long spiky orange hair with a distinctly grousing expression on her face. "Something seems to be troubling you young lady. Would you perhaps like someone to talk to?"
"Don't condescend to me you old freak." Her voice was curt, precisely measured and employed to express her disdain.
"Young lady!" Professor Chronos said, leaning in to look her in her small brown eyes. "If you have any desire to have a future here at Duel Academia, then you are going to have to show your faculty some respect!"
Amon Garam chuckled. "Emi Tanaka, you seem to be in a spirited mood."
"What can I say, when I see a clown I have a reaction." Emi Tanaka said, her voice noticeably less acerbic.
"I understand." Amon said as he looked directly at Professor Chronos. "Truth be told, your fashion sense is somewhat antiquated."
"Hmph! So says the man wearing the green cape!" Professor Chronos then turned to the side and snapped his fingers at one of the examiners, who promptly brought over Chronos's duel coat. "Nevertheless, I will accept your offer, Mr. Amon Garam, and we shall see whether or not Miss Emi Tanaka can pay the check that her insolent mouth has written!"
As the two duelists took their places in the nearby dueling stage, Judai and his friends talked among themselves.
"You know Judai, the last time I saw Professor Chronos get this worked up was when he dueled you for your Application Duel." Asuka Tenjouin said, remembering the day she first met Judai and how that hiccup in her own life's plan changed everything for her.
"You think so?" Judai said, not really sure if that was a compliment or not.
"Though in all fairness Judai," Daichi Misawa said as he patted his friend on the shoulder, "Your self-assured cockiness was much more endearing."
"Thanks Misawa." Judai said in a light sarcastic tone that held no barb.
"Quiet you guys, they're just about to start." Junko Makita said, reminding them all of why they were there to begin with.
A light breeze blew in from on an open window on the first level, briefly lifting the hem of Professor Chronos's coat. "Now, I will start this duel off by summoning Green Gadget from my hand, and with its effect I add Red Gadget from the deck to my hand. Then I'll set three cards, and end my turn." As the machine-man took form before Professor Chronos, he took pride in his patience; only two years ago he would have tried to crush her in one go, but he knew better now.
"You know," Emi Tanaka said with a sneer on her face, "just because you like to dress like a clown doesn't mean you should duel like one."
"That's mighty big talk for someone who has yet to even take their first turn." Professor Chronos said, keeping his temper under control.
"Oh, is that all? All right then, the moment you've obviously been waiting for; I summon to the field Ehren the Lightsworn Monk!" For the first time Emi Tanaka seemed to be excited, something other then laconic and acerbic. Ehren, a dark skinned woman dressed in a tight white and gold breastplate and a dark red skirt, kicked out in practice, and Emi copied her monster's actions.
"Rather like a little kid with a toy, no?" Professor Chronos said with a chuckle. "Still, I have to admit I've not heard of this particular monster."
"I would have been surprised if you had, Clown." She said as she admired her own monster. "Amon Garam sponsored us, remember? That means he provided the funds to Industrial Illusions needed to provide all of us with our ideal decks."
"Is that so? Well, don't be too overconfident, young lady; after all, there is more to being a great duelist then just having a good deck. You must be able to draw out its potential in an actual duel."
"And if you would stop interrupting me, you'd see that for yourself. Ehren, attack!" The monk leaped over and kicked Green Gadget's head off its body for 200 points of damage.
"And with that, you've activated my trap card, Ancient Calling." An assemblage of gears and wheels manifested where the Red Gadget once stood. "When a machine type monster I control is destroyed by battle while in attack mode, I can special summon a machine monster from my deck of equal or lower level. Therefore, I will summon Ancient Gear to the field."
"Whatever, its nothing compared to the power I'll gain with my field spell card, Realm of Light." At once the dueling stage changed; a pair of great pillars a magnificent city, and in the sky the sun shined through the cloud cover effortlessly. The light shined especially bright upon Emi, who seemed to glow with her own light. "And now, during my end phase, Ehren's effect activates, sending the top three cards of my deck to the grave." As she did this, the light shining on the field grew just a little brighter. "And whenever cards are sent from my deck to the grave, I can place a Shine Counter on Realm of Light, which raises the attack power of all Lightsworn monsters I control by one hundred points."
"Hmph! There's an interesting gimmick, but isn't that a bit risky; you could easily lose out on an important card that way." But just as Professor Chronos made this declaration, a brilliant light erupted from the earth, and from that light emerged a humanoid wolf clad in the same white and gold armor as Ehren.
"Actually, when Wulf the Lightsworn Beast is sent from the deck to the grave, it gets special summoned to the field." Emi swept her fist out in emulation of her monster.
"Very interesting, but you'll have to learn to not to be so rude." And so strange in a duel, Professor Chronos thought to himself.
"Whatever, old Clown. Say, don't you have a turn to take, or something like that? You know, so we can get back to my turn."
"I do indeed, young lady." The vein on Professor Chronos's head was becoming visible despite himself. "And now you will witness the controlled skill of a Duel Academia Professor! First, since I control an Ancient Gear on my field, I am able to special summon another one from my hand." The two basic monsters now stood ready for battle. "And now that I control two monsters in attack mode, I can activate my trap card, Impending Sacrifice, allowing me to add a level eight monster from my deck to my hand, and I sacrifice my two monsters to summon that very level eight monster, Ancient Gear Golem!"
Despite being an antiquated model, the Ancient Gear Golem's power was clear to all who saw it. "Now, I will have my great monster attack your Ehren, returning your little bit of damage more than six times over!" Ancient Gear Golem took a step forward and ran gigantic fist through Ehren, dealing 1300 points of damage to Emi. "And with that out of the way, I will set one card to end my turn."
"Finally, now we can get back to my turn." Emi said, fuming with impatience. But the moment she drew her next card, Wulf suddenly collapsed upon itself, fading away into nothing.
"During your standby phase, I activated my trap card, Proof of Powerlessness; If I control a level seven or higher monster, I can destroy every level five or lower monster they control." Professor Chronos narrowed his eyes as he observed Emi Tanaka's reaction.
"Powerlessness?" Her fist was shaking, her whole being was shaking. "Proof of…" She was seething, her anger plainly transcending mere annoyance. "You fucking bastard, I'll kill you for that! I activate Solar Recharge; I discard a Lightsworn monster from my hand and then draw two cards, followed by sending the top two cards of my deck to the grave." The Realm of Light grew ever brighter, seemingly enflamed by the emotions within Emi. "And now, since I have at least four Lightsworn monsters with different names in my grave, I can special summon from my hand, Judgment Dragon!"
A towering pillar of light, the creature that emerged from it was covered in white feathers, walking upon four legs with vicious blood red claws. Its wings were spread out, as though gathering all the light around itself into itself. "And now, by paying one thousand life points, Judgment Dragon can destroy all other cards on the field!" A huge wave of light flowed out from Emi as she swept her arms out, it flowed into her monster, and the Judgment Dragon roared, its every feather glowing with its own brilliant white light. A thousand lances of light shot out, and then they all curved around Ancient Gear Golem and into Professor Chronos De Medici.
"I'm afraid, young lady," Professor Chronos said through the solid-vision induced pain, "that you'll not be killing me or my monster any time soon." He then took all the light had pierced him and gathered it into his hands. "You see, my quick-spell card, My Body As A Shield, I can use it to negate an effect that would destroy my monsters, and destroy the offending card in their place." He tossed all that light back into Judgment Dragon, which exploded in response. "All at the cost of fifteen hundred life points."
"…Not a clown." Emi muttered, but Professor Chronos heard it all the same.
"I see, are you now willing to deal with me with respect?"
"Don't misunderstand me, clown." The sheer venom behind her words caused Professor Chronos to take a step back. "Not a clown, I can't afford to lose to a clown like you, especially if someone like you is the head of the Obelisk Blue dorm." She took a moment to breathe, to steady herself. "I set one card, and then I summon Jain the Lightsworn Paladin in attack mode, and during the end phase his effect will send the top two cards of my deck to the grave." The Realm of Light grew brighter as the third Shine Counter settled into place, raising Jain's attack power from 1800 to 2100. Though he held his sword up high, though Emi held her hand up as though she were holding that sword up, he was still plainly outmatched by his enemy. "That will end my turn."
"Hmph, to be honest I have to say that I'm not sure that you are Duel Academia material; your temperament is exactly the sort that our enemies out there would seek to manipulate against yourself and those around you, and while we can help, I'm not sure that we could provide the best environment for such." If Professor Chronos believed that his words would affect Emi…
"How about you shut up and let the Duel prove my strength of spirit, or are you such a cowardly clown that you can't avoid making excuses in advance?"
"Very well then, if you plan on being so insistent in this matter, then I shall bring this duel to its inevitable conclusion! I summon Red Gadget from my hand, adding Yellow Gadget from my deck to my hand, and then I'll have Ancient Gear Golem attack your Lightsworn Paladin!" Jain's shield availed him not, Ancient Gear Golem's fist punched through effortlessly for 900 points of damage. "And now Red Gadget will attack directly!" But the Red Gadget did not advance even a single step before a brilliant circle of light erupted before Emi.
"My trap card, Glorious Illusion, allows me to special summon a Lightsworn monster in my grave to the field in attack mode." A dragon built like a griffon, with a great mane of blond fur contrasting against brilliant white scales, appeared on the field. Emi ran her fingers through her monsters mane, taking the time to appreciate its beauty. "Gragonith's effect; for every Lightsworn monster with a different name in my grave, Gragonith gains 300 attack points. Thus, with the three Shine Counters on Realm of Light, and the nine Lightsworn monsters in my grave, that gives Gragonith an attack power of five thousand!" Gragonith grew until towered over even Ancient Gear Golem, shining with all the brilliance of a second sun. "Do you dare question my strength and integrity now, you antiquated clown?"
"I do, because you have yet to prove yourself worthy of Duel Academia; no matter where you come from or what kind of deck you use, no special exceptions will be provided. Now then, as for this duel in progress, I will activate Advance Draw, sacrificing my Ancient Gear Golem to draw two cards." Ancient Gear Golem crumbled into the earth, decaying away within moments. "Next I activate Ancient Gear Workshop to return Ancient Gear Golem from my grave back to my hand, and activate Trade In, discarding Ancient Gear Golem to draw two more cards." The clattering of gears falling into the abyss filled the air. "Now I will set two cards, and end my turn."
"Pathetic. Is that all you have to show for all that card drawing, clown?" Emi said with a chuckle as she drew her next card. "Believe me, no matter what it is you have set, its no match for me. Gragonith, attack!" Gragonith began to focus its breath weapon…
"I activate my spell cards, Shrink and Limiter Removal!" Gragonith was quickly cut down to size from 5000 attack points to only 2500, while the electricity flowing through Red Gadget infused it with strength as its attack jumped from 1300 to 2600. Red Gadget brought its fist down upon Gragonith's nose, defeating it for 100 points of damage. "Now, let us see if you can recover from this little setback."
"Believe me, in the grand scheme of things, this doesn't even begin to qualify as a setback; because you destroyed my Lightsworn monster, I can activate my quick-spell card, Reprisal of Light." As she activated the card, an unbridled energy filled her voice, the volume grew as she spoke. "With this, I discard a Lightsworn monster in my hand to the grave, and then I special summon a level four or lower Lightsworn monster in my grave to the field in attack mode, so I choose Shire the Lightsworn Spirit!" At first the monster was but a tiny little white sprite, but it quickly grew bigger and bigger, standing as a giant before Emi. "Shire's effect gives her three hundred attack points for every Lightsworn monster with a different name in my grave, and don't forget Realm of Light's effect; that raises Shire's attack power to thirty-seven hundred points. Furthermore, Reprisal of Light has one last effect; once the monster is summoned, I then send one card from my deck to the grave." A light flashed by Shire's side, and a long thin sword appeared in her hand. "When Lightsworn Sabre is sent from the deck to the grave, I can equip it to a Lightsworn monster I control, raising its attack power by seven hundred points!"
"For…Forty-four hundred attack points!" Professor Chronos called out as his enhanced Red Gadget was effortlessly sliced in two for 1800 points of damage.
"Don't worry too much." Emi said with a smirk. "Shire will be destroyed during the end phase, after sending two cards from my deck to the grave. Unfortunately, we won't be reaching your turn, since I still have a normal summon left, which I will use to bring out Jenis the Lightsworn Mender." A red haired woman holding a scepter in her right hand, and gentle light magic in the other. "And when a Lightsworn monster I control sends cards from my deck to the grave, Jenis's effect activates, increasing my life point total by five hundred points, and inflicting five hundred points of damage to my opponent."
"What!?" Normally five hundred points of damage was not such a big deal, but with only four hundred life points left, Professor Chronos was knocked down by five solid bursts of light around his body. "You…young lady…"
"I am Emi Tanaka, clown." She said as she stepped forward, now standing over Professor Chronos. "And I swear that I will use all the strength at my disposal to see to it that the new head of the Obelisk Blue dorm will be a figure of dignity and grace."
Amon Garam laughed gently as he placed his hand on Emi's shoulder. "A splendid goal to have for your first year, Emi Tanaka."
"Well, I just felt that I deserved better than a clown." Emi then turned her eyes to Jun Manjoume, and glared for an instant before turning back to Amon Garam. "So, are we done here."
"Indeed we are, thanks to you Emi." Amon began to depart, joined by the military-dressed woman. He paused, and addressed the other duelists that he'd brought with him. "I look forward to seeing you all excel in your new environment. Make me proud, everyone."
"Yes sir, Mr. Amon Garam." All eight duelists said as one, and as one they were escorted by the duel examiners to receive their official Duel Academia uniforms, passing by Professor Takuma Saiou and Professor Mizuchi Saiou. One of them, a young man with tightly curled blue hair, looked at them as he passed by, but he did not give away his mood.
"So, what do you think sister?" Takuma said just above a whisper.
"Amon Garam has definitely found a powerful group of duelists. We will need to be watchful, especially of him." She replied in the same tone.
"Indeed." They then looked over to Professor Chronos, who was being approached by a third party.
"All right Professor Chronos, don't you think you ought to get back up now." Professor Hibiki said as she stood over him.
"Hmph! I'm not allowed to take a rest break after such an invigorating duel." Professor Chronos then flipped onto his feet. "While her personality leaves much to be desired, she definitely merits placement in Obelisk Blue."
"Well don't worry too much; I'm pretty sure you'll find grounds to have her knocked down to Ra Yellow before long."
"Oh ha ha, truly Professor Hibiki, you are the very manifestation of wit."
Judai and his friends, meanwhile, began to make their own way back out, the duels for the day now concluded.
"Manjoume," Shou Marufuji asked as he looked up at the black haired Obelisk Blue, "Why do you think she glared at you like that?"
"Emi Tanaka? How would I know? She's clearly obsessed with strength and dignity, so that's at least one reason for her to notice me first."
"Well, whatever she and all her friends are like," Judai said as he walked along, "I'm sure we'll be having some incredible duels this year!"