SAITO HIRAGA: ZERO NO DUELIST
Chapter 1: Time to Duel!
Before being so forcefully transported to this world, Saito was on his way to pick up his Duel Disk from the shop. It'd been broken so he sent it over to be repaired. He had applied to Duel Academy and was planning on going to the entrance exam the following day when he ended up being summoned by Louise and becoming her familiar, even losing his first kiss to boot. Sure, she was cute, but too bad she was loud, bossy and rude too. Not only that but he was going to be in a world of pain.
Saito grunted in pain from the punch he'd received from the Bronze Valkyrie. The whole situation started when he had spotted the bishonen student drop a bottle of fragrance which he had probably gotten from his girlfriend. Being a nice guy, Saito returned it to him. It turned out that the rose-wielding wizard did get it from his girlfriend, one that the girl he was flirting with didn't know about. The girl was understandably upset and made a big show of reaming Guiche out in front of everyone. Embarrassed at being caught, Guiche in turn decided to take it out on Saito, challenging him to a duel.
Being a duelist to the internationally acclaimed game Duel Monsters, Saito agreed before he remembered that he was in a different world which probably never had Duel Monsters. Out in the courtyards that became more apparent when Guiche the Bronze summoned one of his Bronze Valkyries and sent it after Saito.
Guiche snickered as he watched Saito struggle to stand, clutching his stomach from the impact from the Bronze Valkyrie's punch. He was panting, exhausted from dodging and taking that one hit definitely did not help. Louise, however, was frightened. Bronze Valkyries were many times stronger than humans when they were made right and part of Guiche's reputation stemmed from just how well he made them.
"Guiche, stop this now!" Louise demanded. Saito may have been a lousy familiar thus far, but he was still her familiar and she didn't want to see anything bad happen to him!
"Oh, I will, but only after this commoner kneels and begs for forgiveness," said Guiche, snickering at the pain Saito was in. No one made a fool of him in front of his peers and got away with it.
"Never," Saito growled. He had his pride, after all. All anyone did in this stupid school was look down on others just because they were able to use magic. People jeered and mocked him, calling him 'commoner' left and right and it was starting to really tick him off. Guiche's little act of toughness just made it the final straw!
"Then, don't blame me for what I am about to do," Guiche shrugged. If the commoner wanted to be disobedient then he should be ready to accept the consequences. Looking up to his construct, he gave his next order. "Now, finish him!" he commanded his spear-wielding Bronze Valkyrie.
"SAITO!" Louise cried out as Saito was about to receive a violent haymaker. Saito grit his teeth and prepared for the worst. He was just too tired and winded to make another dodge. Maybe if he was knocked out he'd wake up in his own bed and not a pile of straw.
He waited for the blow, but it never came. Guiche may have milked the fight for the drama but this was a little much! Saito opened his eyes which he'd screwed shut when the Golem attacked. He blinked in confusion as he saw the fist of the Golem frozen inches from his face. He looked around. Everyone was silent. Correction: everyone was frozen.
"What is this?" Saito blinked.
"Saito Hiraga," a voice called and Saito looked to see someone approaching him. He gaped as he saw who it was.
He was a tall man who was donned from head to toe in dark purple robes complete with a pointed hat. He had an imperial face and he radiated power. He didn't just walk the walk of the power, he made the walk. In his hand was a long ornate staff which was green and gave off a faint feeling of energy which Saito had felt since arriving in this strange world, magic. However, that all took second place as the young man recognized who was approaching.
"Dark Magician!" Saito exclaimed.
The purple-clad spellcaster smiled and nodded. "Yes, that is I."
"OK…what is going on?" Saito asked.
"Your Duelist spirit burned when you were challenged by that boy," Dark Magician explained, coming to a stop in front of Saito. "Using my power, I interrupted in this moment to appear before you."
"Okay…but…why?" asked the confused boy.
"You have been pulled into a world where magic is commonplace and so to combat those who would come up against you, you must be prepared to use magic against them," the Dark Magician explained. "I am here to…even the playing field.
"But I don't know any magic," argued Saito. The Dark Magician seemed to find the answer amusing before he reached into his robes and withdrew a deck of cards. The cards had a brown and gold back which seemed to move in a swirl while the front of the cards were face down. "A Dueling Deck?"
"It's a special deck and one you recognize," said the Dark Magician as Saito took the deck. The young duelist began flipping through the cards before his eyes sparked with recognition as he peered at each card.
"This is MY deck!" Saito exclaimed. He thought he'd lost it when Louise had pulled him into her world.
"It was trapped between dimensions," the Dark Magician explained. "You're lucky that your spirit is strongly bonded to those cards or I may not have found them on my way to meeting you."
"So…can I beat Guiche by using them?" Saito asked hopefully. He needed something to beat the self-absorbed student with.
"Yes, but you still need a weapon," said the Dark Magician and with a wave of his wand, an orb of light appeared between the two. Like it had a life of its own, it flew over to Saito's wrist and attached itself on before the orb winked out, revealing a brand new Duel Disk in its place.
"Wow, a Duel Disk!" Saito was pleased. He had one back home, but he had to get it fixed at the shop. The Duel Disk he was wearing now looked custom made, easily outdoing his Battle City era model. It was blue with black runes around it and the LP counter was circular instead of rectangular. The Card Platform for the Monster, Spell and Trap Zones was missing…or hidden. Taking the deck in his hand, he inserted it into the deck zone. The machine instantly came to life as a part on the left side folded outward before the card zones folded out like a segmented scythe blade. "Cool!
(This is the Doom Duel Disk, if you must know).
"Use it well for you will need it for the trials to come," Dark Magician smiled.
"I will," Saito grinned, his excitement growing despite the bad situation he was in. "Thanks!"
"My pleasure. Now, Saito Hiraga," said the Dark Magician. "It's time to Duel!"
The Dark magician waved his wand and the world went white. Saito didn't try to stumble around though. He quickly blinked the light from his eyes before he took in the world again. He found that he was several feet away from the Bronze Valkyrie whose fist was buried in the dirt where he had been. In fact, if Saito wasn't mistaken, it was the appropriate distance between two duelists who were using Duel Disks.
"Missed!" Guiche cursed, annoyed that his Golem's plaything had gotten away. However, that annoyance turned to confusion when he saw that Saito had gained a piece of equipment. "And what is that?"
"My weapon," said Saito as he drew his hand. He scanned the six cards he now held. "And the keys to my victory!"
"Cards?" snorted Guiche.
"Not just any cards, Guiche!" Saito shouted. "And let me show you that you're not the only one who can summon!" He took a card from his hand and slapped it onto the Monster Card Zone. "I summon forth…Vorse Raider!"
All of a sudden, from a circle of light, the monster materialized. Its face was in a frozen scowl with its mouth filled with razor-like theeth and it wielded a wicked looking axe/sword. It wore an elaborate headdress and dark clothing, all of it decorated with sharp spikes, making the monster look quite intimidating. The students all gaped at the monster's appearance, especially Louise and Guiche who were standing closest to the new beast.
"Now, Vorse Raider!" Saito commanded. "Attack the Bronze Valkyrie with Raider Slash!"
The Vorse Raider bellowed loudly before it rushed towards the Bronze Valkyrie and slashed it down the middle, destroying it. The pieces fell to the ground before dissolving away, returning to the material which Guiche had used to create it.
"And I set these two cards facedown and end my turn," Saito continued, sliding two cards into the slots under the Monster Card Zone. Said cards materialized on the field, enlarged and facedown.
"Do you think this is a game?" Guiche demanded. While he didn't know what was happening, he wasn't going to be humiliated by some commoner and his card tricks. With a wave of his rose wand, the petal fell and out came five more Bronze Valkyries. "Crush the commoner and his ugly pet! Now!" Obediently, the Golems began their charge, raising their weapons to fight a battle. Vorse Raider tensed, ready to do battle, but it really hadn't of bothered…
"Activate Trap!" declared Saito as one of the facedown cards flipped over to reveal what was on it. "Go, Mirror Force!"
The first of the Bronze Valkyries stabbed at the Vorse Raider with it's spear, but instead of striking the monster, it struck some kind of invisible barrier. When the Bronze Valkyrie was still, the barrier concentrated into an orb of light which shot at the Bronze Valkyrie, knocking it back into its fellows, destroying them all in a smoky explosion.
"WHAT!" Guiche screamed.
"That Trap card activated when your Bronze Valkyries attacked and destroyed them," explained Saito.
"Mirror Force? Trap card? I've never heard of such spells!" said Guiche.
"Yes, I know," Saito smiled. He drew a card from his deck and smiled as he saw what it was. "Alright, Guiche, make your move."
Guiche then decided to use the summoning spell again and waved his wand, but Saito was ready.
"Activate Trap card!" called Saito as his other facedown flipped over. "Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell! By discarding one Spell card from my hand I can negate any Spells being cast by my opponent and in addition my opponent cannot use the same spell again for the rest of the duel!" He slid a card from his hand, Swords of Revealing Light, into his Duel Disk's discard slot.
Quite suddenly, a large circular seal which all of the students would later say would remind them of some of the rituals they learned appeared underneath Guiche's feet. It glowed with yellow power while the runes were nothing anyone had seen before. Most unnerving of all was the red streams of energy that rose from the edges like the bars of a cage. Guiche attempted to cast his spell to summon his Bronze Valkyries again, but like Saito said, it didn't work. "How are you doing this!" he demanded. Spells which could cancel out other spells were practically unheard of in their age group yet this…this…commoner managed to make a seal which did just that in the blink of an eye!
"My move," answered Saito as he drew a card, ignoring Guiche's demands. Looking at the card, he began to smile. "Alright, now you're going to see a real monster, Guiche! I activate the Spell card known as Ancient Rules!" placing the card in his disk, the other students saw a giant green card depicting a parchment with a picture of a dragon on it. "This allows me to Special Summon a Normal Monster from my hand that is Level 5 or higher without having to sacrifice. And the monster I've chosen is…my Ace!" He slapped the Monster card onto the Duel Disk. "Presenting…GOGIGA GAGAGIGO!"
When the creature materialized, Guiche nearly peed himself at the biomechanical horror before him. It looked sort of like a humanoid reptile of some kind, but it was encased in some kind of gold technological armor which made it look that much scarier. The green-tinted red skin made it look incredibly intimidating and the feral look in its eyes certainly wasn't helping Guiche's bladder control either.
"Gogiga Gagagigo, attack!" Saito called, pointing at Guiche.
The large reptile monster roared before charging across the field towards the unarmed Guiche. Getting closer, it raised its arm for a powerful punch much like Guiche made his golems do when he was toying around with Saito.
"EEEEK!" the blonde playboy cried in terror.
Gogiga Gagagigo wasn't inclined to stop despite Guiche's obvious fear. Reaching the scared student, it unleashed a powerful punch which caught the magical student in the chest, knocking him clean off his feet and several feet away before he skidded through the grass and finally came to a stop at the feet of his fellow students. The punch had taken its toll and he was unconscious, meaning that Saito was the winner by default.
"Whew," Saito sighed, removing the cards from his Disk, allowing the monsters to disappear. It seemed that the playboy didn't have any other tricks up his sleeve when those Bronze Valkyries weren't allowed in the duel.
"Saito!" Louise called out to her familiar, catching his attention. Looking over to her, he saw her approaching, but all of the other students weren't moving an inch closer to him. Heck, they were getting nervous when he was looking in their general direction. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Saito nodded, pocketing his deck before the Duel Disk folded in on itself once again. "A little sore I guess though."
"Well you got off lucky then!" Louise huffed, crossing her arms. "You were getting dominated until you started using that strange magic! This is why you shouldn't duel the other students! You could end up getting seriously hurt you know!"
"Right, right," Saito sighed. He could tell Louise was getting off onto another rant and probably not going to stop anytime soon.
Up above the ring of students and the two who were standing out in the middle of it, the wizened headmaster of the academy and his admittedly very attractive secretary were both eyeing the events which had occurred. Both were so shocked, the old man wasn't even trying to molest her, not that she would have resisted very much since she was just as shocked as he was.
"Sir…what did we just see?" the spectacles-sporting woman asked.
"Something which this world has never seen before," the old man replied, frowning slightly.
Word quickly spread about Saito's apparent magical ability and Guiche's crushing defeat. People were really beginning to wonder just what the heck Louise the Zero had managed to summon as her familiar while others were teasing Guiche about how he got beaten so easily. Although, the flirt managed to get a horde of adoring girls by his side, doing their best to make him feel better and offer to nurse him back to health so the situation wasn't entirely bad for him. On the other hand, whenever Louise was alone, many of her classmates would try to grill her, attempting to see if she knew what Saito really was, being his master, or if she just lucked out and got him by accident. If Saito was around, people kept their distance. They didn't want that Gogiga Gagagigo to appear and attempt to eat them.
Later that night, in Louise's room, Saito was inspecting his Duel Disk while laying on his…pile of straw. It really was a work of art. He had never really seen one like it before. It was way more compact than his old one with its ability to fold the card zones inside such a small space. His deck, of course, was the same as the one he played back home. It was filled with Normal Monster cards, something of a personal choice of his since he considered himself a pretty ordinary guy.
He looked through his deck and smiled. With the Duel Disk and deck on him, he would be a match for any mage that came his way. The Duel Disk didn't produce holograms. Instead, it materialized his monsters and made them real. If any more students decided to start giving him or Louise grief, a duel would be able to solve the problem. That's how lots of problems were solved back home. Still, he couldn't help but wonder just how his new Duel Disk was able to bring the monsters to life.
"Wonder if it has something to do with this world," Saito mused aloud. He then noticed Louise was still staring at him from her bed. She had been eyeing him for the past few minutes but hadn't been talking. "Hm?"
"How were you able to perform magic?" she asked finally the question which had been nagging at her. "I thought you were a commoner. Commoners can't perform magic."
"To be honest, it wasn't me," Saito answered. Raising his arm, he showed her the Duel Disk. "This Duel Disk and deck have the real magic. I just play them."
"Duel…Disk?" Louise stared at the device. "So, it's a magical weapon."
"You could say that," Saito answered. "Basically, everyone back home has one of these but they just create realistic illusions to play Duel Monsters."
"Duel Monsters?" Louise repeated.
"It's a very popular card game from where I'm from, and many people play it," said Saito. "In fact I've been in a few tournaments since I learnt how to play."
"So…anyone can learn how to play this game?" Louise asked, her interest now sufficiently captured.
Saito answered, "Yes." Before he could go onto any further explanations, the circular screen on his Duel Disk suddenly came to life, showing something akin to a radar screen with a red blip on it."Huh?"
"And now your magic is mine!" the mysterious Duelist boasted as his Duel Disk folded up. The noble he'd defeated fell to the ground. From his body, a blue aura was drained out and pulled into a card the duelist held. The card shone in the darkness for a moment, but then dimmed. "Hm, not very powerful." He pocketed the card. "I heard there was a school for mages here. I bet I can harvest some more magical energies there."
The radar screen suddenly shut off. "What was that?" Saito murmured.
"Forget about that!" Louise huffed. "I want to know how to play this game from your home!"
"Bu-huh?" Saito blinked, Louise's yelling bringing his mind back to the normal world. "What?"
"Teach me how to play that game!" the pink-haired sorceress demanded. If she could learn the game, then maybe she could tap into the secrets of whatever magic was used to summon the real monsters. No one would ever call her Zero again!
Saito asked, "Are you sure? I can teach you, sure, but I don't have any extra cards on me."
"Then give me your deck," she added. Saito shook his head in denial. "Why not?"
"A deck you get from someone isn't worth as much as a deck you built yourself. This deck of mine was built by myself and it took a lot of time and effort for me to select the right cards and create my strategies," Saito explained.
Louise frowned.
"But…" he continued, "If there was a time I couldn't duel, I could lend you my deck and Duel Disk."
Louise beamed and Saito blushed. She looked really cute when she was smiling. It was just a shame that she often acted so snooty with the other nobles around or was angry because of the way the students would tease her because of her (lack of) magical ability.
"Let's get started!"
Saito took a whole hour to explain to Louise the basics of the game. First, he had to explain about the type of cards. There were basically three types of cards: Monster cards, Spell cards and Trap cards. Monster cards depicted creatures and Saito showed her the Vorse Raider and Gogiga Gagagigo. Since Saito only used Normal monster cards, they were colored yellow. He explained to her that there were also Effect monsters with special abilities and also monsters that could only be summoned via Rituals and finally Fusion monsters that could be summoned by combining two or more monsters together. He explained that the Effect monster cards were orange in color, Ritual monster cards were blue and Fusion monster cards were purple. He explained summoning rules. He explained that a player was only allowed one Normal Summon per-turn under normal circumstances. Flip Summon was when a facedown monster is flipped from facedown Defence Position to face up Attack Position. Special Summoning was where a monster was summoned because of a spell, trap, or monster effect. Where Normal Summoning was limitied to once a turn, Special Summoning could be done as many times as possible. He explained that when a monster is set facedown horizontally, it was in Defence Position and it was in Attack Position when put vertically face up. Monsters can also switch their battle positions once per-turn during the Main Phase.
Spell cards were colored green and there were several types. Normal Spells only last for the turn they are used. Then there were Continuous Spells that last for the duration of the duel until they are destroyed. Quickplay Spells could be played like Traps went set facedown and also used like Normal Spells. Equip Spells could be considered weapons for the monsters, increasing their power or even granting them new abilities. Field Spell cards affected the entire field and could be advantageous for the player who played them. Finally, Ritual Spells could be used to summon the previously mentioned Ritual Monsters.
The magenta-colored Trap cards were tricky. They were used as counter attacks. They also came in several categories but the general rule was that they had to be set before they could be used, which would be after the start of the opponent's turn. There were Normal Traps, Continuous Traps and finally Counter Trap cards.
After explaining the types of cards in detail, Saito then explained the phases of Gameplay. The Draw Phase, followed by the Standby Phase, the First Main Phase, then the Battle Phase, the Second Main Phase and finally the End Phase which was where the player ends their turn. Saito explained what could be done during each phase. He also went and explained how damage was calculated when two monsters battled.
This, of course, made Louise's head spin. There was so much to learn about a card game. It was so complicated. Saito, of course, assured her, "It just takes practice. I mean it took me a while to learn how to play."
"Tristian's Magical Academy," the mysterious duelist smirked, seeing the admittedly picturesque castle in the distance. "Well, if I can't get quality magical energy, a huge quantity is just as good."
Chuckling to himself, the duelist began his approach.
It took a little while for Louise to get the general drift of the game, but it helped when Saito would make up some duel puzzles for her to get a hands-on means of learning the game. Since it didn't involve magic at this point, she wouldn't be able to make anything explode which Saito was thankful for. He didn't want his new cards to get ruined.
In thanks for assisting her and because he wasn't as bad a familiar as she first thought, Louise managed to get something for Saito to sleep on. It was a mattress on the floor, but it was a lot better than the straw he had to sleep on before. Louise knew he wanted an actual bed, but she had the only one in the room and she wasn't going to let him share her bed. He may be her familiar and an impressive one, but he was still a boy. She just…
As Louise slept, she was suddenly awoken when Saito's device, a Duel Disk he called it, began beeping shrilly and repeatedly.
The mysterious duelist walked around the school grounds. He managed to sneak in without notice. It was funny how little security was around a school for supposedly high-class children, but He did take notice of several men floating up to a window. They were floating, which marked them as magic users.
"Time to fill up on Mana," the duelist grinned as he locked his deck into his Duel Disk.
"Shut that thing up!" Louise snapped at Saito. Not being one who liked being woken up and late hours of the night, Louise threw one of her shoes at Saito, waking him up and demanding he stop his machine.
"I can't!" he told her. The thing looked like a radar and was beeping over and over again. Something about the red dot on it made. "Wait…maybe it's trying to tell us something?". Snapping the Duel Disk on, Saito got up and walked out the door.
"What could an artifact be trying to tell us?" Louise grumped.
"That something's not right," Saito frowned. Getting up, he headed for the exit to follow the red dot on the screen.
"Hey, where are you going!" Louise shouted as she got up and followed. "Get back here!"
Stepping out into the hallways, Saito looked to his Disk to get a general direction of where the red dot was before he started moving towards it. He however didn't get very far when a he stepped past Kirche who reached out and grabbed his shoulder. Half-expecting it to be Louise, he turned only to find the tanned redhead Kirche "Hi!" She smiled sultrily. "Where are you off to in a hurry?"
"I got a lead to follow," said Saito, shrugging her off. Something was not right and his Duel Disk seemed to only add to that feeling. He didn't have the time to deal with Kirche being friendly with him or Louise trying to order him around While he slept, the Dark Magician had paid him another visit.
-FLASHBACK-
"My Duel Disk can detect other duelists?" Saito questioned.
"It can detect other active Duel Disks," the Dark Magician clarified. "That screen on your Duel Disk has a built in radar which allows you to pinpoint their position. This will be very important, Saito Hiraga. Remember."
-END FLASHBACK-
"I said stop!" cried Louise, finally making it into the hallway. She was still in her nightclothes as compared to Kirche who was dressed normally. Seeing the busty redhead, Louise immediately frowned. "Great. What are you doing out here?"
"I could ask the same of you," Kirche smiled, but with no kind of affection in it like she would do for Saito. "It is past curfew you know. Heading out for a romantic escapade with your familiar?"
"What? No!" Louise cried, her face instantly aflame with embarrassment.
"Will you be quiet?" Saito asked with a frown. "We don't need to be caught right now!"
Inside one of the towers which populated the academy, several of the boys had quietly attempted to sneak into the girls' wing where they were confident they would be able to get a glimpse of none other than the busty Kirche in something other than her usual uniform. However, their excursion into the girls' dormitories was tragically cut short when they were interrupted by a strange man in a black cloak who had attacked them with swarms of locusts and scarabs. They then started to feel weak before collapsing.
The mystery man sighed as he peered at the card he had in hand, he grumbled, "Well, it's better than nothing…"
"Hey, you!"
The mystery man turned to see Saito approaching him. He then spotted something on Saito's arm. It was a Duel Disk. 'So…there is a Duelist here…What luck!'
Saito spotted the unconscious men and then the cloaked mystery man. "Did you do this!"
"Why, yes I did," the intruder answered. Saito saw that the man was also sporting a custom-design Duel Disk. The card platform looked like an insect's wing.
"Why?" Saito asked.
"Just collecting magical energy. These nobles are full of it, and also hot air," the man answered. "You, of course, on the other hand…"
Now Saito understood why the Dark Magician had given him the Duel Disk. There were other Duelists in this world, like him.
"Oh, and they're not dead," the mystery Duelist answered. "Just in a coma after I drained them of their magical energies." He showed Saito the card which was glowing with magical energy. "But I'm after a bigger prize here." He pointed at Saito. "You, and your deck."
"Then you gotta duel me!" Saito challenged, activating his Duel Disk.
"Fine by me!" the Duelist replied.
"Saito!" Louise yelled. Saito turned to see Kirche and Louise not too far behind him. "What are you doing?"
"Louise, get back!" Saito told her.
"Ah, and an audience. Good…" the Duelist grinned under his hood. "Now, shall we get started?"
"You bet!" accepted Saito.
"LET'S DUEL!" Saito and the Mystery Duelist called.
SAITO: 4000 LP
MYSTERY DUELIST: 4000 LP
A circle of light surrounded both Saito and the Mystery Duelist, causing both Louise and Kirche to take several steps backwards. Both Saito and the Mystery Duelist drew their opening hand of five cards.
"I think I'll make a move, first," said the Mystery Duelist as he put a hand to his deck.
"Mind taking off the hood?" Saito asked. "I'd like to see what you look like."
The Mystery Duelist looked up at Saito and shrugged. "Fine by me." He pulled down his hood. He had pale skin, dark green eyes and a brown bowl cut with a short ponytail at the base of his skull.
"I'm Saito Hiraga," Saito introduced himself. "And you?"
"Just call me Swarm," the Mystery Duelist, now calling himself 'Swarm', answered. "Now, time to start my turn! Draw!" He added the card to his hand and smiled. "Alright, I set one card facedown, and then I set another monster facedown in Defence Mode and activate the Spell card, Insect Barrier!" The card appeared next to Swarm with an image of a beetle and a butterfly attempting to move through a yellow barrier with little success. "With this card, any and all insect monsters on your side of the field cannot attack!"
The card flashed brightly before a web of yellow lines bisected the playing area, separating Saito and Swarm from one another.
"I'll end my turn with that," Swarm grinned.
"Ore no turn! Draw!" Saito announced, drawing his sixth card. He knew that any Insect-type monsters were now forbidden from attacking, but luckily he didn't have any save for one in his entire deck! "I summon Gene-Warped Warwolf in attack mode!"
Saito put the card down and the magic activated. Emerging from a flash of light was a bipedal white creature which had four arms. The hands were black with red claws while it's face may have been considered human-like except for the fact that purple fur/fabric was covering it and under its arms. Louise and Kirche could only cringe at its appearance, thinking that the only thing they could call wolf-like on the monster was the wolf-like ears on its black-furred head.
Gene-Warped Warwolf: LV4/EARTH/Beast-Warrior/2000/100
"Attack his monster with Gene-Warped Smash!" Saitoh ordered, pointing at Swarm's facedown monster.
The Gene-Warped Warwolf roared and smashed its fist into the facedown monster, which flipped face-up as soon as it did. There was an explosion, followed by a cloud of smoke.
"Man-Eater Bug's effect activates," declared Swarm.
Emerging from the smoke which the Warwolf had created, an insect monster appeared. It was brown with thin limbs and large claws on its hands and feet. The monster was wounded and angry, but not dead. Hissing, it launched itself at the Warwolf, wrapping its limbs around it and then suddenly exploded, taking its opponent with it.
Man-Eater Bug: LV2/EARTH/Insect/450/600
"Crap!" Saito hissed, shielding his eyes from the smoke.
"Hey!" Louise cried as she and Kirche witnessed the destruction. "What gives? Saito told me all the rules and your monster's defense was pitiful compared to his monster's attack power! Why'd that bug destroy his monster?"
"Newbies," Swarm sighed, glancing at the pinkette. "Because, stupid mage, my Man-Eater Bug has a special ability. When it's flipped, it can destroy any monster on the field. That also activates when it is attacked like your little boyfriend did just now."
"He's not my boyfriend!" Louise snapped angrily. "He's my familiar!"
Saito rolled his eyes, trying not to get distracted. He had to concentrate right now. "I throw one card facedown," a large card appeared at Saito's announcement. "Then I'll activate my Spell card, Heart of the Underdog!"
The Spell card displayed depicted a young man with a green vest, long brown hair and a headband struggling against a wind.
Saito finished, "I end my turn."
"Now, my move," said Swarm as he drew his card. "Alright, I summon Flying Kamakiri #1 in Attack Mode!"
Flying Kamakiri #1: LV4/WIND/Insect/1400/900
The monster which appeared resembled a dragonfly which stood on its hind legs. It was as tall as a man and sported vicious claws.
"Flying Kamakiri #1, attack my opponent directly!" declared Swarm.
Flying Kamakiri flew across the field and slashed at Saito. As the claws dug into him, he let lose a scream of agony. It felt like he was actually being cut by the claws of the monster although there was no sign of injury.
"Saito!" Louise cried. Kirche could only gasp in horror at what happened.
SAITO: 2600 LP
"Ugh…I'm…I'm fine!" the self-proclaimed ordinary boy managed to choke out as he struggled to get his footing back.
"You won't be for long. I end my turn by setting a card facedown," finished Swarm.
"I activate my Trap card, Solemn Wishes!" declared Saito as his facedown card flipped up, depicting a woman with rain coming down on her. "Now, when I draw a card, I gain 500 Life Points!" He declared, "Ore no turn! Draw!" He drew a card and this caused Solemn Wishes' effect to give him 500 Life Points.
SAITO: 3100 LP
"Now, my Heart of the Underdog activates!" He showed what he had drawn. "I drew Alien Shocktrooper, so I draw again!" He drew and his Life Points went up.
SAITO: 3600 LP
"Now, I just drew my Luster Dragon, and since it's a Normal monster, I may draw again!"
SAITO: 4100 LP
He smiled at what he'd just drawn. "Now, time for a counter attack! I activate my Spell card, Ancient Rules! Now, come forth Frostosaurus!"
Another flash of light heralded the appearance of a monster. This one appeared to be like a brontosaurus of the dinosaur era, but was in fact covered with a thick layer of ice which radiated cold that seeped into the room. The chilling beast let off a powerful roar as it finished materializing in the room.
Frostosaurus: LV6/WATER/Dinosaur/2600/1700
"Now, Frostosaurus, attack Flying Kamakiri #1!" Saito ordered. "Ice Age Burst!"
The Frostosaurus reared its head back, taking in a deep breath, before breathing out a literal blizzard at the insect monster. If the attack connected, then Swarm would lose a huge amount of Life Points. Saito wasn't worried about losing any points. With his Heart of the Underdog and Solemn Wishes combo, he was sure to gain plenty to survive this duel.
Swarm smirked and declared, "I activate a trap! DNA Surgery!" One of his facedown cards flipped open, depicting surgeons. "This Trap card allows me to alter the monsters on the field into the Type I declare, so from this point on all monsters on the field are INSECTS!"
Frostosaurus suddenly gained an insectoid look as its eyes became compound eyes and it grew antennae, gained insect mandibles and a pair of additional legs appeared. Its attack hit the Insect Barrier and left the Flying Kamakiri #1 monster unharmed.
"Should've known…" murmured Saito. That was a simple combo, yet it was also impenetrable as long as those cards were active on the field. He checked his hand. If only he had Mystical Space Typhoon or even Dust Tornado right now. Too bad his hand only had Monster cards. There was also another card that could help. "I end my turn by summoning Luster Dragon in defence mode!"
Luster Dragon: LV4/WIND/Dragon/1900/1600
The blue-scaled dragon was kneeling in a defensive pose. It then turned more insect-like as a result of Swarm's DNA Surgery.
Swarm drew a card and smiled. "You're not the only one who can Special Summon, boy!" He activated his Spell card. "I activate MY Ancient Rules in order to summon Metal-Armored Bug in Attack Mode!"
Metal-Armored Bug: LV8/EARTH/Insect/2800/1500
Materializing onto the field was a silver-armored beetle. It was as huge as Frostosaurus and didn't look very friendly.
"And he won't be alone! Next, I tribute Flying Kamakiri #1 in order to summon Insect Princess!"
The dragonfly vanished, to be replaced by a humanoid yellow butterfly with feminine curves, four arms and beautiful wings.
Insect Princess: LV 6/Wind/Insect/1900/1200
Swarm was left with an empty hand but he wasn't afraid. "Now, Insect Princess, attack his Luster Dragon!"
The beautiful monster swooped across the field and struck Luster Dragon, destroying it.
"And my Insect Princess has a special ability. Each time she destroys an Insect monster in battle, she gains 500 attack points, and because of my DNA Surgery, your monsters are now Insects so now she gets a power boost!"
Insect Princess: 2400/1200
"Now, Metal-Armored Bug will attack your Frostosaurus!"
The bug crawled across the field and slammed into Saito's ice monster, causing it to shatter apart.
SAITO: 3900 LP
Saito let out a grunt at the loss of Life Points. Things were looking bad.
"Saito, are you okay?" Louise cried.
"Just fine, Louise," said Saito.
"I end my turn," said Swarm.
"My draw!" declared Saito. "And now Solemn Wishes grants me 500 Life Points!"
"That would be true under normal circumstances but not with THIS!" Swarm's facedown card activated. "Bad Reaction to Simochi!"
The Trap card depicted a cowering woman surrounded by ghostly yellow arms.
Saito grunted as his Life Points fell.
SAITO: 3400 LP
"What happened?" questioned Kirche.
"Saito told me that his Trap card, Solemn Wishes, helps him gain Life Points when he draws, but I don't know what happened," answered Louise.
"Bad Reaction to Simochi is a Trap card that reverses the effect of any card that increases Life Points, dealing damage equal to the amount they would've gained instead!" explained Swarm. "So, now when he draws, he loses his Life Points instead of gaining them."
Saito saw what he drew. It was a Normal Monster card. Should he use Heart of the Underdog? He was going to lose Life Points either way. "I just drew Soul Tiger so I may draw again!" Saito let out a grunt as he drew.
SAITO: 2900 LP
"Saito, stop drawing!" shouted Louise.
"I drew Battle Footballer, so I draw again!" said Saito, ignoring Louise.
SAITO: 2400 LP
"I drew Insect Knight so I draw again!"
SAITO: 1900 LP
"Are you trying to lose?" questioned Swarm. Had his opponent lost his mind?
Saito drew again and declared, "I just drew Sabersaurus so I draw again!"
SAITO: 1400 LP
He drew his next card
SAITO: 900 LP
Saito didn't look all too well after drawing so many cards and losing so many Life Points. He was sweating.
"I drew my Vorse Raider, so I draw again!"
SAITO: 400 LP
Saito looked like he was going to collapse.
"Idiot," snorted Swarm. Swarm still had all his Life Points (4000) while Saito was down to only 400 LP
Saito had stopped drawing and gave a smirk.
"Now, it's my move! I activate the Spell card, FINAL DESTINY!"
Saito removed five cards from his hand sent them into his Graveyard. This caused the Spell card he'd activated to show on his side of the Field. It depicted a mushroom cloud rising into the air behind a scraggly and despairing character. "Final Destiny has a heavy cost. I have to discard five cards from my hand, but since I used Heart of the Underdog to draw a lot cards, I don't suffer that high a price! Now, Final Destiny will destroy ALL the cards on the field!"
The instant he said that, the Spell and Trap cards all detonated and finally both Insect Princess and Metal-Armored Bug were destroyed as well.
The Field was clear and it was still Saito's turn.
"Now, I activate my second Ancient Rules and bring out Giga Gagagigo!"
The monster which appeared resembled Gogiga Gagagigo, but with green scales and silver technological armor. He looked smaller compared to Gogiga Gagagigo, but no less mean.
Giga Gagagigo: LV5/WATER/Reptile/2450/1500
"And I also summon Alien Shocktrooper to join him!"
The monster appeared to join Giga Gagagigo. The first thing that the girls thought when they looked at the beast was 'centaur', but that was before they saw that it was a large green reptile with the shape of a centaur. It was donned in black armor with blue bubbles on it and wielded a large sword. The beast only hissed amusedly
Alien Shocktrooper: LV4/EARTH/Reptile/1900/800
"Now, attack Swarm directly!" Saito commanded.
The two monsters didn't need another order as they charged across the field. Swarm's eyes shrank as the two reptile monsters approached. Both of the beasts reared back their fists, Giga Gagagigo on the right and Alien Shocktrooper on the left.
"No! No! Wait a second!" Swarm shouted
POW!
Swarm was hurled clear across the room and collided with the wall as the two punches collided with him. His face looked bloody and already swelling after just taking the hit while his Life Points hadn't faired any better.
SWARM: 0 LP (Winner: Saito)
Swarm couldn't move nor get up. The blows from both beasts added with the complete loss of his Life Points had effectively paralyzed him. Struggling to even move his head, he looked across the room at the boy who had managed to beat him before choking out, "Who…who are…you? Tell me your name…"
"Saito…Hiraga," the boy answered before his eyes rolled up and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious. The duel had proven too much of a strain on him.
"I…see…" Swarm closed his eyes as darkness claimed him. His body slumped before every inch of it was enveloped in a strange dark substance. Louise and Kirche could watch in shock as the dark substance consumed Swarm before streams of blue energy burst from it, some flying out the wind while others flew to the students that Swarm had attacked. As the last of the blue wisps left, the dark substance which had been Swarm blew away like dust in the wind. All that remained was his cloak and his Duel Disk which clattered to the floor as his cards spilled out across the floor.
Duelist Profile #1
Saito Hiraga
Age: 16
Nationality: Japanese
Deck: Normalcy Beatdown
Saito was unexpectedly summoned by Louise during her familiar summoning ritual and ended up bonded to her as her familiar. At first, both of them was upset about the arrangement but then Saito ended up in a duel against Guiche and ended up showing the nobles what he could do. The Dark Magician gave Saito a new Duel Disk and a dueling deck to use against Guiche and won. Originally intending to be a student of the famous Duel Academy before being summoned by Louise, Saito is going to show the world the power of a duelist. Saito's deck is centered on Normal Monsters and utilizes Spells and Trap card to support them.
Duelist Profile #2
Swarm
Deck: Insect Swarm
Swarm was a Dark Duelist who was collecting magical energy for an unknown purpose. He then entered Tristian to collect more Mana when Saito found him. Swarm used a DNA Surgery and Insect Barrier combo to defend himself from Saito's attacks and also used Bad Reaction of Simochi to use Saito's Solemn Wishes against him. He lost the duel and vanished, leaving behind his cloak, deck and Duel Disk. The only monsters he was seen using during the duel were Flying Kamakiri #1, Insect Princess and Metal-Armored Bug.