Yugioh GY: Generation Yesteryear
Vellian Crowler, a young man with naturally unkempt yellow hair, was studying in the library. He was on his way to graduating from Taiwan Tactics University, and obtaining his Ph.D. in Dueling. After writing an essay for Professor Surpence's "Dragons: How to Use and Conquer Them" course, he looked at his watch. "Oh, my gosh! I gotta scoot!"
He gathered all his books together and stuffed them into a duffel bag, which he strapped around his shoulder before dashing out. On his way, he ran headlong into a girl, which sent papers, folders, and notebooks flying everywhere.
"I'm so sorry, such a klutz," he said, as he helped her get her stuff organized. He picked up one of her books, a thin volume with the title The Dinosaur Ruse: How to Make this Type Work for You! Vellian felt a thrill run down his spine.
As the girl grabbed the book out of his hands, he got a good look at her face. She was stunningly beautiful! Now, if he could only find tongue to tell her so…
"Thank you," she said. "Oh, I must be going!"
"Wait! You haven't told me your name yet!" he shouted.
"Sue Brash!" She did not wait to ask his own.
Sitting through class, Vellian was not paying attention to the lecture. All he could think of was Sue—how it would be to kiss her hands and bow before this queen. There was a quiz that day, and he was unable to answer a simple question, "What are the limitations of Destiny Board?"
After class, Crowler had to go see his Dueling Coach. Every student had a Coach, depending on what type they specialized in. Professor Seminole was his mentor, since his favorite type was dinosaurs. He loved everything about the ancient world, and loathed the present. His Coach could annoying at times, however. For one thing, she loved yelling, "Yabba dabba doo!" every time someone in her jurisdiction did something right. She also criticized him for using Statue of the Wicked and Heavy Storm to summon Black Tyranno. "You're supposed to love dinosaurs, and those two cards have absolutely nothing to do with the Prehistoric Era! Be consistent!" she advised. When Vellian tried to point out to her that whatever would make the dinosaurs king of the field should be acceptable, she just boxed his ears, so he gave it up (the attempt to convince her, not the strategy).
Professor Dorelli wanted to influence Crowler. He was the Machine coach and pointed out that the youth's tactics were better suited for technology-based monsters. But Vellian would not fall for this maneuver; there were no machines in the ancient world. They were the things of the present and the future, not for him. Also, dinosaurs were so mysterious, but machines were as inexplicable as field mice. Who'd want to tanker at levers and buttons when you can study fossils? Duel Monsters was bounded in the ancient world, for the Egyptians had played a primitive form of it, with real spells and traps. Playing with modern monsters was like rejecting the origins of the game.
He lost the duel he had that day against Blad Mopkins. His mind being so full of Sue Brash, he didn't realize that he had a Hyper Hammerhead in his hand. That card combined with some others could've won him the match. Professor Seminole found this very peculiar, requesting that he come to her office afterwards.
Once there, she asked him what went wrong. When he told her, albeit reluctantly, she frowned deeply. "Sue Brash? Why, she's nothing but a slacker! Indeed, she was in Slifer Red when she attended Duel Academy. Don't dote on her, Crowler. She's not worth your left sock."
Vellian became indignant at this attack on his newly beloved. "What grounds do you have for this assertion?"
"She used to be under my coaching. One good thing about her is that she's extremely fond of dinosaurs. Actually, she's obsessed with every type of monster. The problem is that she plays like a two-year-old. The surname Brash is no misnomer. She acts without regards to danger, not paying attention to her opponent's traps. And, speaking of traps, she has never played any. There's not a single one in her deck. She believes that monsters and spells are enough to win—a load of baloney if you ask me."
"Well, we all have our idiosyncrasies."
"Idiosyncrasies, yes, but this is much worse. Nobody in the entire history of Duel Monsters ever won a match without traps. But she's under Nestor's care now (the Coach for Fairies). You should forget about her."
Over the course of the ensuing fortnight, Crowler made an honest attempt to forget Sue. But no matter how hard he tried, her image kept growing within him, until it was engraved in his mind and would remain lodged there forever.
One day, he got a crazy idea: attend Professor Nestor's session. This would give him an opportunity to talk to her, although he was unsure what to chat about. Perhaps her passion for dinosaurs? Or her aversion for traps? Well, he would think of something.
"Fairies are the most subtle of all monster types," Professor Nestor was saying, as Crowler edged his way in to find a seat. "They are generally Light monsters, as opposed to the Dark Fiends. Fairies tend to have effects that give us back Life Points, which is always a desirable thing. And of course, we never underestimate the power of Aitsu and Koitsu. Their only limitation is getting them on the field, which can be remedied through the use of…"
But the rest of his speech fell on deaf ears, as far as Crowler was concerned. Sue was sitting three rows in front of him, and he became incredibly obsessed with staring at the back of her head. Oh, if only this session would end soon!
"Now, let's see your fairy monsters in action! Rostov, come forward," Professor Nestor said, and a boy with brown hair obeyed. "Who should duel him?"
His eyes roved around the faces of his students, and then they riveted on Vellian. "Ah, it seems we have a new student. Perhaps you would like to entertain us as Rostov's adversary?"
"Who, me?" Crowler asked.
"Yes, you. It would entertain me to see how a new kid uses the greatest monster-type versus someone of experience."
"Professor, I don't think he can handle my fire. He looks rather sickly, if you ask me."
This saucy remark from Rostov kindled a passion in Vellian that had been hidden before. "I'll knock your socks off!"
"Well, it seems the new student is feisty," the professor said, as Crowler made his way down to the front stage.
"It's time to duel!" Rostov said, with their Coach acting as referee.
[4000/4000
"I summon Mokey Mokey in attack mode, and end my turn!"
"Well, I summon Black Ptera!"
"Wait, that's not a fairy!" everyone yelled, except for Sue, which Vellian was pleased to see.
"Sir, we only use fairies in here. Pack your dinosaur deck away and come play next time."
"Gladly," Crowler said, about to return Black Ptera to his hand.
"Oh, excuse my forgetfulness! What is your name?"
He told him.
"No, it can't be! Vellian Crowler! You're Professor Seminole's best student—all of us coaches know each other's favorite. What are you doing here?"
"Well, I just wanted to…um, new experiences…good for becoming well-rounded…" Crowler invented, twiddling his thumbs and speaking in a barely audible voice.
But Professor Nestor saw his eyes shift over to Sue Brash. "I understand," he said, sympathetically. "Class, I've decided that our guest should continue this duel with Rostov."
"Why?" someone protested.
"Because what better way to show the true power of fairies than to watch them go head to head against another type, in this case dinosaurs? If Rostov wins, we'll be one-sixteenth of the way there. So I say, let the duel continue!"
Crowler was in disbelief for a second, but he quickly caught his senses. "Okay, Black Ptera, attack Mokey Mokey!"
[4000/3300
"Then I set one face-down, and end my turn."
"I summon Hysteric Fairy in attack mode! Then she takes out your Black Ptera!"
"Not so fast! I activate my face-down, Astral Barrier! Now your attack goes directly to my Life Points!"
"All better for me!" Rostov said.
[2200/3300
"Now I set two face-down, and it's your move!"
"I sacrifice my Black Ptera in order to summon Frostosaurus! Now Black Ptera returns to my hand, due to its effect"
"Yikes! A 2600-ATK monster!"
"Yep. And now he attacks your lame fairy!"
[2200/2700
"I still have more life points than you!" Rostov boasted.
"Want to bet? I activate Fossil Jettison! This card is a sort of dinosaur-based The Cheerful Coffin. I can discard up to three dinosaurs in my hand, so there goes Kabazauls, Hyper Hammerhead, and Dark Driceratops. Then I activate The Poisonwood Reptile! This is a very interesting spell, for it takes out 500 of your Life Points for each Dinosaur or Reptile in my Graveyard. There are three, so you are now lower than me."
[2200/1200
"That concludes my turn."
"Fissure!" Rostov called, causing Vellian's heart to palpitate. He had no traps. Sue never has any traps, he thought, and that calmed him down a bit. "Now, I summon Majestic Mech-Senku and have him attack you directly!"
[1200/1200
"I draw one card, due to his effect. Take your next move." Rostov's fairy went to the Graveyard.
"Hey, what happened?"
"Don't you know? Senku's effect forces it to go to the Graveyard as soon as the turn in which it is summoned ends."
"Well, it's over for you now! I summon Black Stego, and order him to use Rolling Spikes!"
"I activate Celestial Transformation to Special Summon Guardian Angel Joan!"
"Very well. I end my turn."
"And, of course, my monster is sent to the Grave. But now I draw, and summon Dancing Fairy, ordering it to attack your Dinosaur!"
Vellian laughed. As the fairy's magic bounced off the Stego, Rostov felt ashamed. "Oh, I forgot. Your monster goes to defense mode whenever it's attacked."
[1200/0900
"However, if you think you've got me cornered, prepare to be astounded and amazed. For I play a Field Spell, The Sanctuary in the Sky!"
A building that looked remarkably like the Parthenon appeared on the field, and billowy clouds covered the floor.
"Now, you can't do any damage to my Fairy-type monsters. Make your move!"
"I shall. And I activate Card of Sanctity!"
"Oh wow. I get to increase my hand to six cards too. Nice move, dino-boy."
"I Special Summon Gilasaurus, which permits you to bring back one of your monsters from the Graveyard."
"I know what it does, numbskull. Your stegosaurus has a brain the size of a walnut, and you probably do too. I choose to revive Guardian Saint Joan!"
"No, not that monster!" Vellian cried, sounding defeated.
"What's the matter? You afraid of a big, bad fairy?"
Crowler had turned his face downward; a shadow had crossed it. Everybody in the crowd thought he was giving up. But he raised his head, cackling evilly.
"What's so funny?" Rostov asked, frowning.
"This. I sacrifice Black Stego and Gilasaurus in order to summon Black Tyranno!"
"Is that supposed to frighten me? You can't touch my Life Points, remember?"
"I will be able to after I activate Heavy Storm!"
The audience groaned. It was all over for Rostov, and their precious Fairies had lost this battle.
"I activate Magic Jammer, discarding one card from my hand. So your lousy tempest had no effect."
Now it was Vellian's turn to feel grief. "Black Tyranno," he said, miserably, "attack Dancing Fairy, even though it won't do any damage."
The beast obeyed him. "Your turn now."
"I summon Lucky Pied Piper, and then order Guardian Saint Joan to attack Black Tyranno!"
[1000/0900
"Now, Lucky Pied Piper attacks you directly, and I win!"
[0000/0900
"Faires, magic sprouts, brownies all
They shall swipe the field and agitate their foes!"
The audience sang the above chant in merriment. Vellian, full of chagrin, walked out of the room, crestfallen. He was a loser. Sue would never like him now. Furthermore, he was a disgrace to dinosaur lovers everywhere. If only he could hide under a rock like a salamander, and never face the world again.