Chapter 1:
Heartland's Heroic Champion loses his title!
"No..."
He saw it.
He saw the destruction that happened upon his city.
What had they done to receive that?
They came dressed with red jackets and summoned forth oud machines of war.
With smiles in their faces, they destroyed the city while innocent civilians became mere cards.
His city became a ruin and fire rained from the skies and erupted from the earth on that day.
/
A boy opened his eyes weakly on the ground.
Clearly, he fell from the bed, which was the reason of his headache, but...
"What was... that?"
He got up.
It was better to leave those thoughts behind. That was nightmare.
"Yeah" he spoke as if to convince himself. "To begin with... it's not like Heartland did anything to start a war".
The boy looked around and his eyes fell upon a clock - there was still time.
But if he wanted to duel before classes, that time was running out.
He ran and washed his face. He had black hair and green eyes.
The boy took out his school uniform. The shirt was mainly white, but has some green details due to his status as a second year student.
And, before picking up his tie, he picked up what was far more important:
A deck with the card Heroic Champion - Excalibur on top.
"Ready to have a rematch against Bryce? I hope so!"
/
Half an hour later...
The boy crossed the city at an impossible speed.
Advanced constructions, cleaning robots, airwalks and a tower with a heart on top, all passed from his view as he aproached the school, but...
"Arthur, watch out!"
"Bryce?!"
CRASH!
""WAAAAAAAHHH!"
THUD
...
An entire set of three stairs all the way down to the school ground.
And the two boys painfully rolled everything all the way down.
"Dude..." Arthur, that was trying to get up, spoke. "Where did you even come from?"
"MY DECK!" The boy desperately picked up the cards that spilled on the ground. "Glassjaw! Sparrer! Headgeared! Noooo! Even Lead Yoke!"
Bryce Brawl - Battlin' Boxer player.
He was Arthur's friend and also a second year student.
A tanned boy with well developed muscles, but somehow looked very unreliable.
"Let me help" offered Arthur upon picking up the cards.
And then...
"Ice... Hand? Bryce, since when you have one of those?"
"Hehehehe..." He revealed a vile smile. "That's what I got from participating on that tournament".
"You won?!"
"I lost" he said, but without losing his smile. "And then, when I was returning home, I got chased by cats. Then, by dogs! But just when the day seemed to get worse, I crashed into some robots in the trash. And found those 'Hand Cards'! Lucky me!"
"Who the heck throws 'Hand Cards' in the trash?!"
The very though was inconceivable!
Fire and Ice hand were powerful cards that could lay waste to the entire field of the opponent and someone did that?
But before they could talk...
RIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGG!
The classes had already started and...
"Nooooo!" Bryce was already freaking out.
"Don't 'no' me!" Arthur grabbed his hand. "Let's go!"
/
The result was obvious.
"Hahahahaha! How is the cleaning duty going?"
The duo had obviously received punishment.
A boy with red hair and a wicked smile laughed upon looking them.
"Sup?" He said upon aproaching them and picking up a bucket.
Bryce watched him with half-opened eyes.
"It's surprising how you can act arrogant even though you are in the same situation as us, Hades".
"Ugh".
Hades Pluto - Burning Abyss player.
Arthur's relationship with him didn't start as one of the best, due to his atittude. Thankfully, with time they came to mutual understanding.
He always had an arrogant smile, but he was actually hardworking. If someone could ignore that taunting expression, they could find a good friend in him.
But Hades arriving late...
"What did you do, Hades?" Asked Arthur. "Knowing you, either it was oversleeping or dueling".
"Hah! You are mistaken!" His smile didn't cease. "I am late... because the new booster pack arrived in town, with newly mass-produced 'Number Cards'!"
THUD
Bryce nearly fainted and Arthur couldn't contain his surprise.
"It was today?!"
"Nope!" Hades turned around. "Luckily for me, there was this granny I helped and she gave me three booster packs and..." Hades took out two packs from his pocket. "Since someone of my caliber doesn't need mant cards, I guess you two deplorable duelists could take one pack ea-"
"HADES, I LOVE YOU!"
"No! GET AWAY!"
Before Arthur could intervene, Bryce was already hugging Hades with full force.
'He really is something' thought Arthur upon watching them.
According to rumors, Numbers were very powerful cards.
They carried power beyond imagining and could only be destroyed by another in battle.
The Numbers of present day were merely copies, mass-produced.
They didn't have the same power of the originals, but were still very rare.
Take Number 101: Silent Honor Ark for example.
The original one was used by a mythical prince of the stars themselves or something like that.
It didn't even need to use overlay units for his effect, while the copies needed to use two.
'Man, but taking one in a booster is already a feat' he thought upon picking up a booster pack that fell on the ground.
'If I had one, think about the strategies it would open up in my deck?'
And upon opening a pack...
"I... got one..."
""Huh?""
Hades and Bryce had already recomposed themselves and were surprised by the look in Arthur's face.
"I got the Silent Honor Ark..."
""... HUH?! YOU WHAT?!""
/
Outside of the building, in the school grounds, two gurls heard boys shouting like girls.
A girl with long blonde hair said:
"That's probably your brother's fault, Athena".
"I don't doubt you".
Athena Pluto - Star Seraph player.
She was Hades' older sister and a third year student.
While she lacked the arrogant smile and seemed like a calm person, her friends knew that such thing only applied outside of duels.
In a duel, she was the queen of hell itself, as if she completely changed, but...
"He was actually very excited, you know? He already learned Synchro and Ritual summoning, Milk".
"Oh..." Milk was surprised.
Milk LeFay - Madolche player.
She was a friend of Athena, and childhood friend of Bryce. However, she felt sorry due to number of times she beat him.
It was to the point he even said: "I take on a deck of Madolche! What I can't take on is a deck of Tiaramisu!"
Milk smiled upon remembering that.
"But you know, Athena?"
"What?"
"Just because he can use all, doesn't mean it is exactly better".
"A focus on something may be better than the variety?"
"Close. By the way, there is a rumor of a Winged-Beast user that can do Rank-Up".
"Wow, now that is interesting bu-"
She stopped.
Milk was curious. "What?"
Athena pointed at the school building. On the roof, one could ser a boy with red hair and yellow eyes that had summoned a powerful monster and a black-haired boy with green eyes that was startin his turn.
"He is a kid" she said. "They couldn't even wait to start a duel".
"Hades and... wait, is that Arthur?"
"My brother is so gonna lose..."
/
Duel:
Hades Pluto VS Arthur Spear
Current situation:
Hades had one card in hand, three set cards and Dante: Traveler of the Burning Abyss (1000/2500) on the field with one overlay unit.
Arthur had just drawn a card and knew things weren't good.
"How could that guy mill a Scarm and a Breakthrough Skill at once?!"
Yes, the card in his hand was actually Tour Guide from the Underworld.
A fiend he got due to Scarm's effect.
Burning Abyss - a powerful deck that could Xyz, Synchro and Ritual summon. Once Hades learned fusion...
On the other hand, Arthur was a Heroic player, focused solely on Xyz summoning.
"I wanted to duel too!" Shouted Bryce.
"Next time!" Said Hades. "I'm having my revenge here!"
Yes...
Contrary to the odds, Hades had suffered a loss against Arthur.
"Well, you hope so!" Said Arthur with a smile. "Cause you are getting two turns without special summons! I summon Heroic Challenger - Thousand Blades!"
A warrior with many uncountable swords appeared on the field.
Thousand Blades: 1300/1100
The sky got darker as if fate had already chosen its course.
But Hades smiled.
"I see, you plan to summon that boss, Number 86 with five monsters to take me down, huh? Well, I dare you!"
Arthur felt a thrill from those words.
Three set cards.
Step back or step forward?
'If I didn't have courage, I wouldn't ever win'.
Yes, he needed to act fast.
Another Dante was coming his way and the first one needed to die there!
"I activate Thousand Blades effect! I can discard one Heroic card to summon a Heroic Challenger from my deck! I discard Heroic Challenger - Double Lance and summon-"
"I activate the trap card Solemn Warning!"
"WHAT?!"
Arthur inadvertidely shouted. Bryce had his mouth wide opened. And Hades...
"For 2000LP" had a smile on his face. "I can negate that and Thousand Blades is destroyed. Now, what are you going to do?"
The warrior exploded and dust was raised on the field.
Arthur was... expressionless.
/
Outside, Milk was interested.
"Now that's serious".
"Nope" but Athena didn't lose confidence. "We are talking about Arthur here. He always finds a way to win in the end and... why is he putting his hand on the deck?!"
/
Hades: 2000LP
Arthur: 4000LP
'What is there for me to do?!' He thought. 'Next turn, there will be two Dantes coming full force on me. Thousand Blades may block one, but...'
'My hand bricked...'
Yes, there was nothing he could do anymore.
He could last with 300LP, but...
"I give up" he put his hand on his deck. "You win, Hades."
.
..
...
"WHAAAAAAAT?" Bryce was the first to react.
And Hades...
"WHAAAAAAAT?"
Arthur had a awry smile:
"Well, I kinda lost. Even if I use Thousand Blades' revival effect, you are gonna summon another Dante. Both Dantes' ATKs would rise to 2500, so I would have only 300LP left. Even if I drew some powerful card..."
"Your point is?!" Hades, even with his vile smile, seemed angry. "That's the best you can do? You were with 100 LP when you beat me last time!"
"Bu-"
"Yeah!" Bryce agreed with him while interrupting Arthur. "And your fate was left to the last draw when you beat me!"
"You don't understand, even if I-"
"Arthur Spear, the prodigy and best second year student..." A female voice interrupted them.
"Sister?!"
"Athena! Milk!"
Both Hades and Bryce were surprised. Athena walked forward with her cold expression.
"Winner of the last Battle Royal. Beat Hades Pluto with 100 LP, beat Bryce Brawl in the semi-finals with a supposed Destiny Draw. Beat Milk LeFay by the risky strategy of leaving the field wide open to summon his ace and finish her off" Athena pointed at herself. "Beat Athena Pluto on burn damage due to the incapability to deal with the swarming of the Star Seraphs".
"Your point?"
Athena sighed.
"Leaving your fate to the last card doesn't seem new to you. In any of those cases, you could have given up, but never did. Why now?"
"Cause..."
'Because the sky darkened just like that in my dream' he thought. 'When those guys with red jackets appeared out of nowhere and destroyed Heartland'.
'But that was a dream'
"Fine".
'This is reality'.
"You are going to regret continuing this, Hades!" Arthur stepped forward with tenacity. "I'm leaving my fate to the last card again and trust in my deck to beat you! I end my turn!"
"Yes!" Hades revealed an arrogant smile. "That's the spirit that I will crush like a crockroach!"
TURN 03
Hades - 2000LP - 1 card in hand
Arthur - 4000LP - 5 cards in hand
"I DRAW!" Hades looked at his card and smiled again. "Since I can't go easy against someone that destroyed my Djinn lock, I'm going all out!"
"And I am going to destroy you all-out again!" Responded Arthur with equal conviction.
"Oh yeah? Then you better have a Battle Fader in your hand, cause I activate Soul Release!"
"WHAT?!" Arthur couldn't help but explain.
Surprise silenced the battle field.
Bryce was mute.
Athena was surprised.
And Milk...
"Athena, I don't think he will..."
"Yeah, I get it..."
Soul Release - a card the banished up to 5 cards from either player's graveyard. An anti-meta card that dealt with decks focused in graveyard.
Arthur...
"Man, that's dirty" just smiled upon his loss.
"Thousand Blades really screwed me over last time" answered Hades, for the first time his smile seemed like of a normal person. "It just kept reviving and protecting you, so I put this card here when I noticed most decks are graveyard reliant, even though you only relied on that single card".
Arthur sighed. 'Even if I had something...' he looked at Hades, the genius that mastered Xyz, Synchro and the uncommon Ritual. 'He is already on a whole different level since last time'.
He looked at the spectator trio.
"Guys, I really don't think right now..."
"Yeah, I think you should give up and let me duel against him now" said Bryce.
"He really blew up your protections" said Athena.
"The fun thing is" stated Milk. "If it was you drawing a card that destroyed the graveyard, the outcome would be different".
"Hah..." Arthur merely smiled.
It was one of the fun things of Heartland.
You won some and lost some.
In victory, you gain glory. In loss, you evolved.
'Perhaps it's my time to evolve since my lucky victory streak' he thought.
"You won this, Hades. But next time, we will settle the score once and for all".
"I will be waiting you feeble resistance impatiently" said Hades, but trusting in Arthur with those words. "Good luck".
And then, by putting his hand on top of his deck.
"I give up".
Arthur lost for the first time in a while.
However, that wasn't the end of the world, for he knew there was still much to come.
Hades was commemorating, Bryce already took out his duel disk, the girls waved upon walking away.
Life continued, but one thing he knew:
"I need to get stronger..."
If that tragedy the struck Heartland were to happen, he needed to rely less on his deck and more on his own skills.
'But I don't think training against a Burning Abyss player is the best of the ideas'.
And, just like that, another day continued for him in Heartland City.
/
Flying Pan started an Arc-V fic!
And the protagonist lost just in the beginning?!
Well, B.A. is a strong deck and when your own deck bricks, shit happens!
As you can see, this chapter focused on the Xyz Dimension before the events of Arc-V. Arc-V character DO exist (the rumored Rank-Up user is Shun, BTW), but they won't participate.
This is more of a separate story. While Arc-V events happen, these guys fight their own... insignificant battles to survive.
Arthur was designed a bit after King Arthur, to fit the boss theme of the Heroic deck (Arthur's sword and spear).
I thought of making him use Noble Knights, but Heroic fit better.
Why?
Dimensional Counterparts.
And the next chapter will feature a far longer duel (tag by the way) in a certain Academy(ia)
The name of the chapter will be:
The Academia's HERO Wannabee's test of strength!
Get it?
Heroic - HERO
Xyz - Fusion
Don't get it?