The Horse and the King
Chapter 1: The Meeting of the Best of Both Worlds. Welcome to Nerima, Jaden Yuki!
(A/n: Quick thought: Ranma ½ is made by Rumiko Takahashi while YuGiOh was made by Kazuki Takahashi. I'm wondering…could they be related?)
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Everyone knows the story of the origin of Duel Monsters. However, it's everyone in Domino City, Japan, which many of their stories take place in. Our story doesn't take place there OR in Duel Academy.
It begins with a young man walking into a district of Tokyo, backpack in hand and with a few personal ghosts walking alongside him.
"That is the LAST time I take directions from someone who gets lost in his own house," he muttered. "And he thinks he's in New Zeland. Now I don't even know where I am right now!"
"You didn't take the fact that his aura was odd?" a female voice said, walking next to him. The woman (or is she?) appeared beside him.
"Odder than Honest's own? I thought he was someone who was knee-deep in depressants."
The young man had a combination of brown and orange hair and had a red blazer over his shirt. The woman alongside him was purple and had her right eye amber-colored with her other eye the color green.
"Of course, you can only sense Shadow Magic. I haven't taught you the aspect of ki-sensing."
"I know, Yubel. However, I don't think anyone who would be able to do so would fall out of the sky."
In response to that, a man with a pigtail had fallen out of the sky, much to the surprise of Yubel and the young man.
Pressing his luck, he then said, "Full-course meals don't fall out of the sky." Yubel face-faulted.
"I don't think this guy should even be whole," she replied.
"You don't think he fell from a plane like in Con Air, do you?"
In response, the man got up. "She gets more violent every day," he said to himself. "That uncute tomboy!" He then realized that he had spectators. "Uh…if you're looking for my father or have someone who he engaged me to, I'm not in the mood to fight to the death."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," the kid said. "I just arrived here after being misled by a guy with a tiger-striped bandanna."
The man nodded. "That, I'm relieved at."
"How can you be so casual about that?" Yubel asked him.
Instead of the no response that she usually gets when she asks that, the unexpected happened:
"Story of my life, lady," he said, much to the shock of both the spirit and young man. "Name's Ranma Saotome. Sorry about that."
Recovering from his shock, the kid replied, "Jaden Yuki, and this is Yubel. How can you be able to see her?"
"I made contact with spirits before, kid. Some of them weren't human, and she's no exception. As for how I'm casual about it, let's just say that the man with the bandanna and I have danced that particular waltz before."
Yubel, however, gave Ranma an intensive look. "Well, whatever the case, you seem to have the same aura as he did. I'm assuming you're suffering from a curse?"
During the half-hour walk to the dojo Ranma was staying in, Jaden and Yubel were listening to Ranma's training trip story. Near the forest entrance, both man and spirit had agreed on one thing.
"You want me to sic Haou on him?" Jaden asked Yubel.
"Forget Haou," Yubel said. "I want a piece of that fat bastard myself. What kind of idiot sells his own flesh and blood to fill his stomach?"
Ranma sighed. "Well, we're here. Brace yourselves for my fiancee and her mallet, an angry father-in-law-that-won't-be-possible, and a drunken panda."
Jaden nodded and Yubel had growled, but she knew that they wouldn't have the ability to see Duel Spirits. When the door opened…nothing happened. In fact, the shoes weren't even near the doorway.
"That's odd," Ranma said. "They're usually around the house this time."
Jaden then noticed the note. "Maybe this will explain everything?"
Ranma read the note, and took a sigh of relief. "They're all out. Akane's at a friend's place, Nabs is conning someone, Kasumi's at the store, and Pops and Mr. Tendo are out drinking."
"And with what you told us, this moment doesn't last long."
"Yup. Now, what brought you to Nerima?"
Without hesitation, Jaden had explained HIS story. Summing it all up, Ranma came to only one conclusion…
"Other than the whole world-saving thing and you being able to see spirits, your life's normal. In fact, I'm starting to wonder if your teacher's a ki-draining vampire disguised as a woman."
Jaden and Yubel snickered at that. "Believe me, had you attended and said that to his face, you would get extra homework and detention for life."
"Other than that," Yubel said, "is it okay if you teach Jaden martial arts?"
"I wouldn't know," Ranma said to the formerly crazy Duel Spirit. "I can teach him the basics of Anything Goes, but I wouldn't go any further."
Jaden shrugged at that. "I could teach you about Duel Monsters in return. Think of it as a form of Martial Arts, but I'm more of a hands-on type of guy when it comes to learning."
"All right, but I don't know if there are any card shops in Nerima. And I'll have to warn you about the impending dangers here that involve people wanting to get me in bed with them, kill me, or are just plain crazy."
With that, a friendship and pact is made…but chaos usually starts when someone opens the front door.
"Oh my," a female voice said. "I wasn't expecting a visitor."
The other woman that entered gave Ranma a weird look. "I hope this isn't someone after Akane," she said, "or else the damages will go to your debt, Saotome."
Ranma gave her a weird look. "Kasumi, Nabiki, this is Jaden Yuki," he replied. "Jaden, meet the nicest woman you'll ever meet and her younger sister, the Ice Queen."
Nabiki bristled at that comment.
"Sorry to impose on you all," Jaden said, bowing, "but I found Ranma on the outskirts of town and he agreed to take me in."
"It's no trouble at all," Kasumi said, smiling. "I'll just add one more dish to the table." The eldest Tendo sister had went to the kitchen, humming a tune.
Nabiki just gave Jaden a bit of a stare. "Are you sure it's the true story?"
Jaden gave her a bit of a confused look. "What do you mean?"
"Any guy who comes here either has to make Ranma fight to the death over a fiancée his father gave him to or to kidnap Akane."
Jaden gave her a small glare. "I only met him today," he said. "I didn't know anything about his father until he and I had a discussion about it on the way here."
The "Ice Queen" was surprised. A stranger was in her house defending Ranma. No one had done so during his two-year stay…not even Akane. However, she had to keep her appearance up.
"We can't be too careful, Yuki. For all we know, you may know someone who did."
"I'll deal with it when the time comes. But for now, get off my case or else…"
"Or else what?"
Jaden couldn't find a response, but he did notice something. Huh…Ranma never mentioned that factor. "Or else I'll have to duel you."
Ranma was surprised. "You can't exactly fight Nabiki, Jaden," he said. "Neither she, nor you have the ability to..."
"I know what he's talking about, Saotome," Nabiki said. "How did you find out?"
"A lot of people keep their decks on the side of their hips," Jaden replied, motioning to his own. "The backpack carries my Duel Disk and spare cards. And I just noticed the dust on your clothes, signifying that you had recently won a street duel."
"Another reason why they call me the Ice Queen, Yuki. You want to settle this now or later?"
"Later. I can tell you're exhausted." With that, Jaden sat down at the table full of food.
Thirty minutes later, both Tendo Sisters were surprised at the now-competing guests. Had eating culinary delights become martial arts, Jaden and Ranma would both be in the top-two for speed, but bottom category for amounts.
"That was GREAT!" he yelled. "My compliments to the chef are in order."
"Thank you," Kasumi said, snapping out of her stupor.
Ranma then asked the question that was on his mind: "I just realized something. Where is he going to stay?"
"That depends," Nabiki said. "You and Genma already HAVE the guest room."
"I'm fine with just the couch, if anything," Jaden said.
"Nonsense, Jaden," Kasumi said. "I'm pretty sure you would enjoy sleeping in…"
"I also snore like you wouldn't believe. Trust me on this one."
"There's also the fact that there's…education involved."
Without missing a beat, Jaden had taken out a card and gave it to Nabiki.
"Strongest Duelist, Lowest Grades," Nabiki read. "Jaden Yuki, graduate of Duel Academy, 2008." She then realized something. "Now I recognize the uniform. But with the Grades and Duel record, you should be in Ra Yellow."
"I liked the view of the ocean in my old dormitory. Besides, I'm not exactly a guy who would abandon his friends unless I had to leave them to save them."
"But the grades are important, so I'm loading up Duel Academy records to transfer you to Furinkan High."
Jaden then snorted, making Nabiki notice.
"And you find this funny, why?"
"Sorry, it's just that I heard something impossible come out of your mouth." Smirking, Jaden gave the confused Tendo a reply she wasn't expecting. "Duel Academy's records happen to be tighter than Kaibacorp's own security to the point that makes Area 51 accessible to tourists. Besides, how are you going to hack into a database that's in the Pacific and on an island that's impossible to locate except for those who know the way?"
"Find those who do and use those records to transfer you to the schools."
"Good luck, then. I won't stop you, but I warned you." With no other retort, Nabiki had left the room, fuming.
Who does that guy think he is? Nabiki thought. Strongest Duelist in Slifer Red? That's basically impossible! I guess it's time to actually accept his challenge and see that the Ice Queen is not one to be toyed with.
"You do realize that she's going to find your profile and use it against you, right?" Ranma asked the young Slifer.
"So what?" Jaden asked him. "She has to realize that there are people she can't bend no matter HOW hard their wind blows. Besides, I want to see how she duels, what cards she uses, and her strategies in trying to defeat me."
And for once, Ranma could see the reasoning in the newcomer's words. He was trying to psyche her out, he thought. Looks like Nabs may have met her match. "Be careful, though. Nerima's full of nut-jobs, and if you're in my class, watch out for the Chi-Draining Vampire, Hanako."
"I'll keep that in mind. Now is there someplace private we need to talk in?"
"Follow me."
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Nabiki was pissed. Scratch that, she was livid. Why? Because other than the fact that she was surprised at the newcomer's reaction, she couldn't get into his file other than the age and date of birth.
Classified? Nothing is classified from me! Looks like I'll have to play hardball with you, Jaden Yuki. She then got out a phone and called the number to one of her contacts. "It's me. I want you and everyone to find out what you can about Jaden Yuki."
On the roof, Ranma and Jaden were admiring the view.
"If I could," Jaden said, "I'd probably use this as a place to stay in."
"If it wasn't for my curse," Ranma said, "I would. Now, what's this about Duel Monsters?"
"Well, it's basically a game that was based off of one played in Ancient Egypt by powerful Pharaohs around 5000 years ago, but apparently they had to be sealed in order to keep the world safe. Other than that, the Elemental Heroes and Yubel happen to be a few of the monsters that are out there."
"Sounds too easy," Ranma said. "You summon a monster to do your dirty work for you."
"Well, it isn't. Other than the life-point system we have, they actually dueled with their LIVES at stake back then, so no one would be able to summon their most powerful creature because they were dying."
Ranma took note of THAT. "Sounds like the fight I had between myself and Saffron, the Phoenix Tribe leader."
"For some odd reason, if he were a duelist, Sacred Phoenix of Nephestus would be his strongest card. Other than Winged Beast, Fiend, and Warrior, there are many types of class a Monster has and some can be classified as another one. Spellcasters and Dragons happen to be popular because of who wields them, which happen to be the best duelists in the world, but I think a deck is only great if it's personalized in your style, like my Elemental Heroes, Yubel, the Neo Spacians, and Winged Kuriboh, which is a Fairy monster and my partner."
"Anything else I should know about?" Ranma asked him.
"Yeah. There are also Spell and Trap cards, which are important to build your deck. Traps may seem underhanded, but they're needed to gain the upper hand on the opponent. As for Spell Cards, they're basically needed in order to activate certain types of Monsters and Traps. For example, you'll need a Spell Card known as Polymerization in order to bring two monsters together to make a Fusion Monster. Otherwise, it has to be close to Polymerization, and I think it'll be the first thing that she'll find out."
"Can any of them fight?"
Jaden shrugged. "Only Joey Wheeler, and he's more of a street fighter that can go hand-in-hand with a few thugs that would harm anyone he cares about."
Ranma sighed. "It will only take something crazy like a Martial Arts that incorporates it to make me get involved, but it wouldn't hurt to prepare for that moment. That's the first thing you need to know about Anything Goes: It will incorporate anything and everything you're challenged to into a Martial Art. In fact, that's what gave me most of these rivals in the first place."
"Then I'll have to work hard in body, mind, and soul. In the meantime, where's the nearest card shop?"
"Somewhere near the Market. Why?"
Jaden smirked. "You and I are going deck-hunting as soon as we get up."
With THIS in the household, it won't be long, considering that Genma, Mr. Tendo, and Akane had arrived during the night.
Tomorrow's going to be a bit of a surprise for them…
To be continued…