AN: Hello ladies and gentlemen! Do any of you remember my "Neo Black Knight Rising" fanfic? Well, if you do, then you probably know that I pretty much ripped it off from another GX fanfic, and I'm really sorry about that.
But, after a long break from YGO-stuff, aside from watching the other anime, aside from ZeXal, reading the GX Manga, and playing on Duelist Network(Rest in peace, you beautiful website), I've decided to start writing once more, and this time, I'm doing things a bit differently from my usual fanfics, namely that the MC of this story doesn't have Gamer.
But, otherwise, I'm going to do things as I usually do, take a different version of me into another world, and see what happens.
Also, some cards will have their anime effects, or just slightly modified effects. And speaking of cards, I'll be using all of the cards that do fit the GX era, but don't worry, I'm not going to throw in Synchro's, Xyz's or Pendulum's, because that would make the S-I FAR too special.
Anyway, onto the story!
"Regular speech"
'Thought'
#Phone/Broadcast/Machine#
.:Message:.
(WIND Warrior/Fusion/Effect Lv6. ATK 2100 - DEF 1200) Selected position
{Author Note}
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh GX by Konami, Hatsuki Tsuji, Nihon Ad System and Naoyuki Kageyama. Please support the Official Release.
"Ugh, what the hell was that flash of light?" A young man asks himself, rubbing his eyes as he tries to get his bearings. Opening his eyes he sees that he's in an alley. This more than a little confusing as he clearly remembers exiting his apartment seconds ago.
'Okay, so I should try and find out where I am.' the young man thinks to himself, trying to keep himself calm as he walks over to a nearby trashcan. Hopefully it'll contain a newspaper or something with relevant information. It wasn't uncommon for people to throw away old newspapers.
Opening the trashcan, the young man coughs and grimaces at the horrid stench of rotten fish and shuts the lid, unable to stomach the stench as he vomits next to the trashcan. Deciding not to even attempt opening the trashcan again, he tips it over, causing the contents to spill. Tip-toeing to avoid stepping on any leftovers, he picks up a rotten, wet newspaper. His eyes widen.
"What the actual fuck?!" The young man asks himself in a hushed tone as he sees that the newspaper was a Japanese one ad he couldn't read it. Now, if that trashcan belonged to an actual Sushi Restaurant, then it probably wouldn't be that big of a deal, but the distressing thing about the newspaper was the date: October 6th, 2004, about 12 years in the past.
'What the hell is going on? Am I in the past, or is this just an old newspaper?' the young man wonders to himself, his right knee twitching nervously. On one hand, he'd read a lot of stories where the Main Character ended up in a new world, hell, he'd written a number of Fanfics with that exact premise.
But on the other hand those were just that, mere fiction! So maybe he's just sleeping, and this is all a dream?
Then the young man heard a ringtone from the pocket of his hoodie. Perplexed, the young man put his hand in his pocket, taking out a PDA that he knew he didn't own.
.: It's about time you woke up, ya lazy bum! (^3^) :.
The young man simply looks at the odd message in confusion, starting to grow more confident with the opinion of this whole event of being a weird dream induced by eating expired Mexican food.
.: Hell~o, Eddy, anybody home? C'mon Edward, this isn't a taco-induced nightmare, it's like one of those fanfics you like to read and write, only with less Gamer and more card games, but not on motorcycles, though (-_-') :.
"Oh fuck, I'm dealing with a R.O.B. aren't I?" Edward facepalms, as he shakes his head at the utter stupidity of his situation. So he got kidnapped by a Random Omnipotent Being, or R.O.B. for short that put him in a card game world. And this particular R.O.B is acting like X from Dice. Or this is all just a really, really weird dream.
.: Nope! This is happening for real, I can bend reality at will, so don't fuck with me~ (^.^) :.
Before Edward can scoff at the message, the trash on the ground glows and starts floating with a red aura. He looks on in disbelief as the trash floats back into the trashcan, but not before one of the newspapers rolls itself and slaps him in the face.
"Bloody wonderful. You might telling me where exactly you sent me?" Edward rubs his cheek, deciding to just go along with the R.O.B's demands lest the little bugger decide to get more vicious and send him to a far uglier world like RWBY or Attack on Titan. In Yugioh, he actually has a good chance at survival as long as he doesn't anger the R.O.B.
.: Yugioh, GX-era to be specific. I hope you don't hate Kuriboh-heads~ :.
"The anime, or the manga?" Edward asks, wanting to know whether he'll have to worry about an Ancient Ka from Kul Elna or a Light-based alien brainwashing him, followed by a madman serving a sadomasochistic yandere hermaphrodite demon, and to top it all off, the embodiment of negativity and despair.
Huh, now that Edward really thought about it, GX was pretty fucked up.
.: No Spoilers, so don't push your luck~ (^_^). Now pick up your bags and GO! :.
With that message the PDA switched to show a GPS map, a red spot that Edward presumed to represent himself and a blue spot with a goal flag attached to it, and a timer ticking down on the upper right corner.
Thankfully, the distance between him and the goal was one that could be reached within the given time limit, 45 minutes.
And before he can question what bag, a brown backpack appears right next to him. He opens it, finding a Battle City era Duel Disk along with a deck holder.
"Oh great, I'll be enrolling at Duel Academy, bloody wonderful." Edward scowls, wondering what kind of batshit hell R.O.B is planning for him. Who knows, maybe he/she/it will throw him straight into the fourth season.
.: Oh, I almost forgot to patch some things, hold on a sec :.
Before Edward can react, the PDA started shocking him. He grimaced as information was forcefully shoved into his head, most notably the ability to speak and read Japanese fluently.
"FUCK that hurts!" Edward growls as the PDA switches back to the map. He grudgingly picks up the backpack and follows the directions on the little electronic device. At the very least R.O.B didn't leave him illiterate.
[Later, Domino City, Kaiba Land...]
With 5 minutes to spare Edward arrives at his destination, the Duel Academia testing site in Kaiba Land. It really spoke volumes of Kaiba's ego that he named the whole place after himself. Granted, Kaiba is his family name but still, the statues of his Blue-Eyes White Dragons did not wash away the image of pride.
Taking out the deck holder from his backpack, Edward walks towards the tables in front of the entrance. Two ladies wearing orange and white uniforms were waiting and letting other people in, a man in a black suit and shades next to them.
"H-Hello, I am here for the Duel Academy entrance test's practical portion. I'm not too late am I?" Edward asks politely, hoping to avoid any complications.
"Name?" the woman on the left asked.
"E-Edward Smith, Ma'am." Edward answered nervously, hoping that R.O.B hadn't put him under a different name. The woman looks at the list of names before nodding.
"Okay, you're number 17 so no, you're not late but you did cut it pretty close." She scolds. Edward could only grin awkwardly. So R.O.B put him relatively high up in the ranking, not sure if that's good or bad, so he decides to just roll with it.
"Ah, I'm sorry, but traffic was a bit problematic." He lied. It's not like anyone would believe him if he told how he got there. Aside from possibly any of the Yugioh DM series' cast.
"Anyway go on in, your duel will be in 10 minutes or so." The attendant says, motioning him to go in. Edward does so, gulping when he sees the ongoing duels, amazed by how realistic the holograms look like. He also notices that unlike in the show, the explosions from attacks doesn't seem to harm the participants causing him to let out a sigh of relief.
Edward's eyes scan over the students watching the ongoing duels, stopping as he notices one particular student in a white uniform. Edward easily recognized him as Bastion Misawa, and walks towards him.
"Hey, you mind if I sit here?" Edward asks, reaching Bastion. Might as well try to make useful allies. And when it comes to allies in early GX, the genius in front of him was among the most valuable ones.
"No, not at all." Bastion moves his belongings, allowing Edward to sit next to him.
"Thanks. I'm Edward Smith by the way." Edward introduces himself, offering a handshake to Bastion. To be honest, he didn't approach Bastion just because he would be a useful ally, but because he was one of Edward's favorite GX characters.
"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Bastion Misawa." The intellectual shakes the offered hand before turning back to the duel fields.
"Oh, the guy who scored No. 1 on the test?" Edward asks, wanting to make sure that R.O.B didn't throw him into some AU where Jaden's a genius or something. Or one where the Academy was like the Academia from Arc-V.
"Indeed." Bastion nods. "What about you?" he asks in return.
"17, so my duel's going to be pretty soon." Edward answers, certain of his answer, because Bastion's duel was supposed to be the last one in the entrance exam.
# Applicants 8, 13, and 17, please report to dueling fields 2, 4 and 6 respectively. # As they say; Speak of the devil, and he shall appear, or as it is this case, announce itself.
"Well, good luck then." Bastion says.
"Thanks, let's just hope that it won't be needed." Edward chuckles, walking down the stairs. These test decks would probably be on the level of starter decks, so unless R.O.B gave him something shitty like Vehicroids, he would be fine.
.: For shame Eddy-san, if I gave you a shitty deck like that, it wouldn't be any fun (O^O) :.
"Somehow I doubt that." Edward replies with a deadpan expression.
.: HMPH, How rude! (ಠ益ಠ) Just for that, if you lose this duel, I'll stop your heart!:.
"W-wait, don't be hasty!" Edward's panicked hush went unheard as the PDA turned off. Looking at the black screen, he sighs in defeat, pocketing the device, and continuing his walk onto the dueling field, feeling like a goddamn mountain had been laid on his shoulders. He needed to, nay, must win this duel.
Hopefully, there would be no more surprises.
[Dueling Arena 6...]
'God damn you R.O.B.!' A bead of sweat ran down the back of Edward's neck as he walked to the dueling field, duel disk strapped to his arm, deck set in. He hadn't looked at his deck all that clearly, but he saw that the bottom card was Battle Fader as he put it into the deck slot.
Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but since he's in the GX era, where Battle Fader shouldn't exist, this could lead to some complications. But he isn't too worried, since Battle Fader's just an Effect Monster and not a special kind of a monster like a Pendulum or a Tuner monster, so the Duel Disk should accept it just fine.
With a heavy sigh, Edward steps onto the tennis court-sized field, looking the proctor, a middle-aged man with short black hair and a neutral expression on the man's face, an Academy-standard disk strapped to his arm.
"Are you ready, applicant 17?" The man asks with a professional tone of voice. Edward simply holds up his duel disk, pressing the activation button. The proctor nods at the gesture, activating his own duel disk in response.
"DUEL!"
Turn 1:
Proctor: 4000
Hand: 5
Deck: 35
Edward: 4000
Hand: 5
Deck: 39
"So 17, do you want the first turn?" The proctor asks, looking at the cards in his hand, formulating a strategy to test Edward.
"By all means, you first." Edward replies, wanting to see whether or not the duels in this continuity followed the old rules or the modern ones. Plus, giving the Proctor the first turn would allow him to read the effects of the cards in his hand.
So far he had two cards he recognized quite well, but then there were some cards he didn't recognize, part of some Ars and D.D. archetype. So R.O.B gave him a new archetype to work with, wonderful... now he'd have to make do with cards he didn't know how to use.
But at least they were Dark-attribute Fiend-type monsters, so at least it was something he was somewhat familiar with.
"Very well, I'll start us off by normal summoning Senju of the Thousand Hands in Attack position." A living golden statue with thousand arms appears onto the proctor's field, ready to battle for its master (LIGHT Fairy/Effect Lv4. ATK 1400 - DEF 1000).
Edward took note that the Proctor didn't draw a card before he summoned the ritual support monster, so that cleared up his confusion of whether or not this timeline used the old rules or the modern ones. Now he would just have to wait and see what kind of Ritual spell the proctor would search from his deck.
"And now I'll activate Senju's effect, which allows me to add 1 Ritual Spell from my deck to my hand, and I choose Revival of Dokurorider!" the summoned monster starts praying as the selected ritual spell pokes out of the proctor's deck, which he adds to his hand.
"And I'll end my turn by setting two cards face-down. It's your move 17, don't disappoint me." The Proctor states.
Turn 2:
Proctor: 4000
Hand: 3
Deck: 34
Monster Zone: Senju of the Thousand Hands (ATK)
Spells and Trap Zone: Two face-down cards
Edward: 4000
Hand: 5
Deck: 39
"Very well then, my Turn. Draw." Edward smiles at the card he drew, forming a plan.
"I'll start off by activating Allure of Darkness which allows me to draw two cards." A swirling dark void appeared over Edward, who drew two card from his deck. He frowned slightly, the two cards he drew being two more of these 'Ars' cards, a monster and an equip spell.
Couldn't R.O.B have given him a Gladiator Beast deck? That was at least a deck he knew how to play well.
"And in exchange I'll banish Ars Raum, D.D. Dirty Dealer from my hand." An imp with grey skin and moss-green fur and two long horns protruding from its cranium wearing a black vest over a white dress shirt and black pants jumped into the dark void.
The proctor furrowed his brow at the monster the applicant had banished for his spell's cost, but shrugged afterwards. He hadn't heard of these 'Ars' monsters before but then again, unless I2 announced new support for Ritual decks, he didn't even bother reading up on the new packs. Let new duelists duel with whatever they wanted, he'd keep using his beloved Ritual Monsters.
"I set one monster in face-down defense position." A caged ball of light hovering over a face-down card appears on Edward's field. He had contemplated going for offence, but didn't want to risk the proctor using a Torrential Tribute to nuke the field.
The proctor raises an eyebrow at the move. So the applicant is attempting to bluff him by setting his monster face-down, or setting up for a Flip Effect. Clever move.
"And to finish, I'll set two cards face-down and end my turn." Edward continues by setting two cards face-down onto the field. This should protect him from any attacks next turn.
Turn 3:
Proctor: 4000
Hand: 3
Deck: 34
Monster Zone: Senju of the Thousand Hands (ATK)
Spell and Trap Zone: Two face-down cards
Edward: 4000
Hand: 3
Deck: 36
Monster Zone: 1 Set monster
Spell and Trap Zone: two face-down cards
"A bad draw eh?" the Proctor taunts, drawing his next card. He had expected the applicant to summon a monster to attack his Senju, as that would've stopped him from using it as Ritual fodder.
"Guess so. I seem to have the worst luck today." Edward shrugs, reading the effects of his new Ars monsters.
"Well it's about to get worse, as I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands in attack position!" Another living statue appears onto the proctor's field, this one possessing more arms and a distinct grayish blue coloration helping to differentiate it from its golden counterpart (LIGHT Fairy/Effect Lv4. ATK 1400 - DEF 1000).
"Let me guess, Manju lets you add 1 Ritual Spell or Monster from your deck to your hand?" Edward sighs, deciding to be a smart-ass in order to get the Proctor to hurry up.
"Correct. And this case, I'll be adding Dokurorider to my hand." Edward furrows his brow at the name of the ritual monster the proctor added to his hand, not recognizing that ritual monster. It could be dangerous.
"But he won't be sticking around in my hand for long because first, I activate the Ritual Spell Revival of Dokurorider!" A dark cloud forms over the field, sparking with thunder and lightning.
"With this, I can Ritual summon my ultimate Ritual monster in attack position by sacrificing the Level 7 Chakra from my hand!" An odd monster that Edward was unable to recognize, let alone accurately describe appeared onto the field, only to be struck by a bolt of lightning, causing it to fall down and be reduced to nothing more than a flaming wreck
"Wronged rider, called from the great beyond, set the trails of vengeance ablaze! Ritual Summon! Level 6! Ride again, Dokurorider!"
The flaming wreck is struck by yet another bolt of lightning, blowing it to smithereens, an armored figure on a demonic motorcycle rides out of the resulting fire like a bat straight from hell, coming to a stop in-between Manju and Senju, the motorcycle's engine roaring like a proud lion (DARK Zombie/Ritual Lv6. ATK 1900 - DEF 1850).
[Up in the stands, Proctor Area...]
"Oh boy, now this is going to get ugly." One of the proctors mumbled as he watched the duel on field 6 where Aichi just summoned his favorite monster. Although examiners weren't allowed to use their personal decks, Aichi's favorite monster happened to be eligible, or rather weak enough, for the Ritual beatdown test deck so he had been allowed to add it in.
Thankfully he wasn't allowed to add in any advanced Ritual Support, like Contract with the Abyss or Advanced Ritual Art. They were meant to test the students, not bash their heads against a wall until it broke.
"What do mean?" One of the newer proctors asked, having just finished his duel. His opponent had been this young girl who used a rather odd deck with a dangerous combination of spells. His Low-power Direct Attack deck didn't have anything to counter that stampede, so the applicant's victory was assured.
"Oh, Aichi's going Bōsōzoku." Another proctor noted, looking over to the dueling field his co-worker mentioned.
"Aichi's going what?" The second proctor asked.
"Just look and you'll see, rookie." The third one said, focusing more on his sandwich.
[Back to the Duel...]
"Well, that was a pretty bad ass entrance." Edward admits, clapping his hands, to which the demonic biker responded with a grin and revving up his motorcycle.
"Thank you, but I'm not done yet. I activate the Trap Card Ritual Buster!" Aichi's face-down card flips open, revealing an image of Lycanthrope savagely attacking something.
"What does it do?" Edward asks nervously, for the first time in the duel unsure of what his opponent was doing.
"Simple really, since I have Ritual Summoned successfully, you can't activate any spells or traps until my next Standby Phase." Aichi explains, as Dokurorider's back wheel is set ablaze and it starts doing a burnout, the smoke from it clinging to Edward's face-down cards, signifying how his two face-downs couldn't be activated.
"Oh bloody hell." Edward curses, realizing how utterly boned he is, especially if the proctor's last face-down card is what he thinks it is.
"And now I'll activate Ritual Weapon equipment spell." An arm-mounted crossbow appears on Dokurorider's right arm. The undead biker examined his new weapon, appreciating the craftsmanship and eager to test it out (ATK 3400 - DEF 3350).
"How the hell is this fair on any level of testing?" Edward questions. This was an Anime version of a possible OTK set-up that would be really hard to survive. There's no way that your average duelist could survive this with no spells or traps to activate, so unless you had something like Marshmallon, Penguin Soldier or a monster that could summon more monsters from your deck on destruction.
"Sorry, but I'm not exactly forgiving in tests. You either make it or don't." Aichi shrugs. "Now, I'll attack your face-down monster with Manju." The grayish blue monster struck the caged ball of light, which broke away to reveal a female succubus with dirty blonde hair and a thorned whip that was currently tied around Manju's arms, stopping it from attacking (DARK Fiend/Effect Lv4. ATK 1700 - DEF 200).
"What?" Aichi exclaims as his monster is kicked back. "She should have been destroyed."
"Proctor, meet Ars Sitri, D.D. Warrior Lady. While she doesn't have much in terms of defensive power, she's mighty handy with her whip." Edward smiles as the corrupted warrior smiles provocatively and whirls her whip around before striking it on the ground.
"Or more simply put; once per turn, she can't be destroyed by battle." Edward clarifies. He had expected the proctor to sacrifice both Manju and Senju for a powerful monster, which Sitri would've kept from attacking.
Aichi smirks. "I knew you had something up your sleeve, but what about my Senju?" he asks, as the golden figure attacks Sitri, sending her flying. But instead of hitting the ground she disappears into a dark void, using her whip to drag Senju with her.
"Oh, did I forget to mention that when Sitri's destroyed by battle, she takes her attacker with her?" Edward explains, a wicked smile on his lips as Aichi frowns, feeling conflicted. On one hand, Applicant 17 had managed to stop his OTK, but on the other hand he had sacrificed his entire field.
If Edward were to be honest, he would have preferred if the Proctor had attempted to destroy Sitri with his Dokurorider.
"Very clever, but you'll still be facing my Dokurorider's attack, Roadkill Crossing!" the wicked rider revs up his engine, putting the pedal to the metal, heading straight for Edward. The rider pulls to a stop right before he hits Edward, smacking him instead with the back wheel of his bike causing Edward to stumble, feeling he'd been slapped in the face. (Edward's LP: 600)
'Ok, so the solid vision does pack a punch.' Edward thinks to himself, rubbing the area where the wheel hit him. Thankfully, now the proctor's hand was empty and the only cards on the man's field were Manju, Dokurorider and Ritual Weapon. All he'd need to do was draw a card that could remove either the monster or the weapon.
"Well rookie, you managed to avoid total devastation, but now you'll have to dig yourself out of this mess." Ending his turn the Proctor smiled, interested in seeing how the young duelist would salvage this match. Most applicants would either chain their face-downs to his Ritual Buster or simply get ran over by his Dokurorider.
Turn 4:
Proctor: 4000
Hand: 0
Deck: 32
Monster Zone: Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands (ATK), Dokurorider (ATK)
Spell and Trap Zone: Ritual Weapon (Equipped to Dokurorider)
Edward: 600
Hand: 3
Deck: 36
Monster Zone:
Spell and Trap Zone: Two face-down cards
"Oh, you just wait, I'll make that biker of yours crash and burn." Edward taunts, drawing his next card. Next turn he could activate his trap and blow that monster to pieces. He'd just have to hope that the proctor wouldn't draw something like Mirage Dragon or Cold Wave. It wouldn't be the first time forbidden cards were used.
"I summon Ars Stolas, D.D. Messenger in attack position." A viridian green owl with long legs and a floating golden crown lands on Edward's shoulder, staring at the field with heterochromatic yellow and orange eyes (DARK Fiend/Effect Lv3. ATK 1300 - DEF 1000).
"And since he was normal summoned, I can add 1 level 4 or lower 'Ars' monster from my deck to my hand," Multiple holograms of the Ars monster cards appear in front of Edward, allowing him to see what they can do.
"In this case, I choose Ars Malphas, D.D. Alchemist." The selected card is ejected from Edward's duel disk.
"Then, since at least 1 monster has been banished, I can special summon Ars Flauros, D.D. Bruiser in defense position." An emerald-eyed humanoid leopard with maroon fur, wearing knuckledusters and greaves that are stylized with red flames jumps onto the field, settling into a boxing stance, keeping it's fists close to them to close to the face, ready to block and counter attacks (DARK Fiend/Effect Lv5. ATK 2100 - DEF 1600).
"And to end my turn, I'll set one card face-down." Edward says, setting his Ars equip spell face-down onto the field. Hopefully, the proctor would fall for the bluff. At the declaration, the smoke covering face-down cards fades away.
Turn 5:
Proctor: 4000
Hand: 0
Deck: 32
Monster Zone: Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands (ATK), Dokurorider (ATK)
Spell and Trap Zone: Ritual Weapon (Equipped to Dokurorider)
Edward: 600
Hand: 2
Deck: 34
Monster Zone: Ars Stolas, D.D. Messenger (ATK), Ars Flauros, D.D. Bruiser (DEF)
Spell and Trap Zone: Three facedown cards
"My turn, draw!" After checking the card he drew, Samsara, Aichi smirks at Edward. The kid probably didn't have anything but Call of the Haunted or Negate Attack set down, and the card he just set was more than likely just a bluff.
"Guess it's your lucky day kid, I didn't draw a monster. So I'll have to let my Dokurorider turn you and that flabby bird into roadkill!" The demonic rider revs up his bike again, heading straight for Stolas, ready to wipe it out, along with Edward's life points.
"W-w-Wait, that could be dangerous," Edward mockingly shouts, only for his panicked expression to turn into one of playful wickedness. This was the moment he'd been waiting for.
"NOT! I activate one of my face-down cards; Hate Buster!" Edward's trap card flips open, revealing Dark Ruler Ha Des and Dark King of the Abyss holding a lit bomb, intending to take his hated rival down even if it cost him his own life.
"With Hate Buster's effect, my Stolas can destroy that wannabe ghost rider of yours, and you'll be taking damage equal to Dokurorider's original ATK!" Stolas flies off from Edward's shoulder, locking eyes with Dokurorider, who grins, picking up speed.
But before the two monsters could collide, Hate Buster turned into red energy, shrouding Stolas, allowing it to pierce straight through the undead rider who blew up along with his bike in a burst of fire. But Stolas hadn't escaped the confrontation unharmed, set ablaze, still moving forward.
"Oh no!" Aichi exclaims before Stolas slams into his gut, the impact of the Solid Vision causing him to stagger (Proctor's LP: 2100). The owl monster exploded into fragments of light moments later, but the damage was done.
"You..." Aichi grit his teeth but takes a deep breath, sighing as he calms down, accepting his defeat. It wouldn't do him any good to get angry lest he get suspended again.
"I end my turn." he sighs, resigning himself to his fate. He should have considered the possibility of the applicant having face-down cards that could wipe out his monster placed earlier.
Turn 6:
Proctor: 2100
Hand: 1
Deck: 32
Monster Zone: Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands (ATK)
Spell and Trap Zone:
Edward: 600
Hand: 2
Deck: 34
Monster Zone: Ars Flauros, D.D. Bruiser (DEF)
Spell and Trap Zone: two face-down cards
"Well teach, it's been a wild ride." Edward admits, drawing his next card. "I summon Ars Dantalion, D.D. Actor in attack position." A pale grey faceless man wearing a tuxedo with long coat-tails walks out of a portal, bowing as the portal closes. He holds a book in his left hand with horns poking out of his left shoulder and sharp claws (DARK Fiend/Effect Lv3. ATK 1300 - DEF 1400).
"And now I'll activate his effect. By banishing an 'Ars' monster from my deck, Dantalion gains that monster's name and level until the End Phase of this turn, and I choose Ars Flauros." The faceless gentleman flipped through the pages of his book until he reached a certain page, a mask reminiscent of Ars Flauros' face forming onto his face (Lv5).
"Is that all your monster can do, play dress-up?" The proctor taunted.
"Oh, he can do more, especially with the help of my Ars Malphas' effect." Edward replies, as a winged man with bovine horns poking through a messy mop of brown hair, carrying multiple potion bottles appears onto the field.
"By banishing him from my hand, I can special summon a fusion monster by banishing the required fusion materials: Ars Dantalion treated as Flauros on my field and Ars Amdusias from my hand." A man with a unicorn's head wearing a purple and green jester's outfit, similar to what you would find at a Mardi Gras parade enters the field.
One of the bottles Malphas is holding explodes in bright light, leaving behind a swirling dark purple distortion in space, with no trace of the winged alchemist. Then the portal left behind by Malphas starts sucking, causing the clown and faceless man to be drawn into it.
As if on reflex, Edward started speaking. "The Multiverse holds countless possibilities, now watch as one of those possibilities is unleashed onto the world! Special Summon! Level 7! Chase down my enemies, Ars Ose, D.D. Hunter!"
A humanoid leopard, this one much more grizzled and bulkier than Flauros leaps out of the distortion, wearing leather armor over his forearms, torso and shins with two dagger holsters strapped to his thighs, the rest of his body covered in royal blue fur (DARK Fiend/Fusion/Effect Lv7. ATK 2700 - DEF 2200).
"And now, I'll switch Flauros into attack position." As if in response, Ars Flauros changes into an aggressive stance as Edward switches him to Attack Position.
"Battle Phase. I attack your Manju with Flauros." The juvenile were-leopard charges towards the multi-armed monster, bobbing and weaving between the monster's rapid punches and swipes, before delivering an uppercut that shattered the living statue (Proctor's LP: 1400).
"Now Flauros' effect activates, and you take damages equal to the destroyed monster's level times one hundred. And since Manju was Level 4," the shattered pieces of Manju start raining on the proctor (Proctor's LP: 1000).
"And here comes the finishing blow!" Ose threw one of his daggers at the Proctor, the holographic knife going straight through him, causing the proctor to flinch at the phantom pain (Proctor's LP: 0).
"Well done kid, I hope you enjoy your time at the academy." Aichi congratulates Edward as the Solid vision holograms died away.
"Thank you." Edward nods, leaving the field. Now R.O.B. wouldn't stop his heart, if he'd been serious. Edward would just have to wait for Jaden to arrive and enjoy the show. He'd probably go through his deck to pass the time, or take a nap.
[Above the bleachers, Student area...]
"Well that was a close one, wasn't it Zane?" A young woman with long blonde hair asked her friend. She was wearing a white jacket with blue trimmings that did nothing to hide her rather well-developed figure, a blue skirt that reached her thighs and royal blue boots.
Her friend, a young man with long dark blue spiky hair, wearing a similar jacket, only with coat-tails said nothing. He was looking at the duelist Alexis was talking about closely, like a hawk. The young man believed that a meaningful victory was only achieved by the connection between the duelist and their deck, and the one between Applicant number 17 and his deck felt...wrong.
He'd have to keep his on eye on this one.
"I think he did well." He finally said. The applicant's Hate Buster had been set on the first turn, along with another face-down card and a monster that could survive a battle once per turn, setting up for a good shield to gauge the Proctor's deck and strategy.
The only flaw in the strategy was that if his monster had been destroyed by a card effect, he would've lost.
"Wow, didn't think the Kaiser of Obelisk Blue gave praise so easily." Alexis jokingly said. Originally, they had come to watch the entrance duels to see whether or not the little sister of Alexis' friend managed to pass. Said friend didn't come, wanting to avoid her ditzy sister noticing her and then embarrassing her with her antics.
And although Zane would deny it, Alexis knew that he had come to see his little brother's duel.
[Applicant area...]
"That was quite the harrowing duel." Bastion notes as Edward sits next to him.
"Yeah, that was way too close for comfort." Edward sighs.
"Indeed. But I do have to ask, where did you get those monsters of yours?" Bastion asks, interested in where his new acquaintance managed to obtain these 'Ars' monsters. From what Bastion had seen, they seemed to rely on taking advantage of banished monsters.
"Found them in a package in front of my door this morning. There wasn't any return address or anything, so I don't know who sent them." Edward lied with a straight face. Best to go with a lie that couldn't be proven true or false. Schrödinger's lie, if you will.
"That seems quite sketchy." Bastion's brow furrows at the answer, but he didn't press further. If the duel disk accepted the cards, then that was good enough for him.
"Yeah, I suppose it is. Anyway, when is your duel going to start?" Edward asks. Since Bastion's duel would be second to last duel of the test, it would tell how quickly this exam would end, and have proper talk with R.O.B.
"Since I scored top marks in the written exam, my duel is going to be last." Bastion answers, looking at the different fields, wondering which one of his six decks he should use for the duel.
"Well, that certainly gives you prime opportunity to see what kind of decks you'll be facing." Edward notes, thinking about the way the applicants seem to be tested in the practical section. Those who scored low would have to go up against the proctors without a clue of what decks they'll face, while those who score high marks would have ample time to observe and plan around the test decks.
"Indeed, but I've already decided on a deck for my duel." Bastion admits.
"Hmm... lemme guess, a Dark Attribute deck with strong monsters and cards that do effect damage?" Edward guesses, faintly remembering that Bastion ended his duel in the anime with a combo of Vorse Raider and Ring of Destruction.
"Not quite, but pretty close. I didn't know that I was speaking to a psychic." Bastion jokingly replies, as Edward's assumption was close.
"Hah, I wish, that would've been so useful during the written exam." Edward laughs at Bastion's question. "But no, Dark attribute decks are pretty good, since they have a lot of good cards and a decent amount of support." he adds, his mind going to cards like Dark Armed Dragon, Wicked Dreadroot and the Blackwings, having used them himself on occasions.
"I suppose you would know, considering your deck." Bastion remarks.
"Yeah, this Ars deck isn't overly different from what I normally use, but it's grown on me." Edward nods.
"Anyway, what dorm you think you'll be placed in?" he asks, for the sake of curiosity. Did the intellectual think that he would be placed straight into Obelisk Blue, or was he aware of the requirements to start in the so-called "elite" dorm?
"Considering my test score, I think I'll be sorted quite high." Bastion replies, evading the question. "And what about you?" he asks in return.
"Well, since I'm not someone with connections, the highest rank I can reach will be Ra, which is good for me." Edward answered. And in all honesty, he did hope to get sorted into Ra Yellow. The dorm rooms should be pretty good, since the Obelisk's got a freakin' mansion, while the Slifer's got a damn outhouse.
And if he remembered correctly, the Headmaster was a master chef or something with a curry deck, so no need to worry about the food's quality.
# Applicants 1, 3 and 5, please report to dueling fields 1, 3 and 6 respectively. #
"Well, good luck Bastion, although I don't think you'll need it." Edward says.
"Thank you." Bastion nods, walking off towards his duel. Watching as Bastion leaves, Edward lets out a sigh of relief.
'Okay, now that he's gone...' Edward takes out his deck and starts looking through it, all the while wondering why he did that summoning chant. While he absolutely loved it when the anime did those, and did think up different summoning chants whenever he played Yu-Gi-Oh video games, he certainly didn't have the confidence to say them out loud.
Thankfully, chants seemed to be commonplace in this timeline, if the proctor was any indication. But even ignoring that, how did he know to activate Dantalion's and Malphas' effects, and that he even had any extra deck monsters?
Perhaps R.O.B uploaded more than the Japanese language into his brain with his 'patches'? Another thing to ask about.
After reading his deck's contents Edward watches the ongoing duels, more specifically Bastion's just to make sure that he hasn't lost. Bastion was one of the more important people in the first and third season, so there would be a big number of changes if he didn't pass.
Edward could see that the Proctor had a Giant Soldier of Stone on his field in defense mode with a face-down card in his spell and trap zone. Bastion had Vorse Raider equipped with Fairy Meteor Crush and Mage Power, the spell card bulking the vicious Beast-warrior up and a face-down card.
"Now then, I'll attack your Soldier of Stone with my Vorse Raider." The strengthened monster smiles viciously as it lunges at the immobile soldier.
"And I'll be boosting him further with the Quick-Play Spell, Rush Recklessly." Vorse Rider laughs viciously as it cleaves the soldier in two (Proctor's LP: 1900).
"Not bad applicant, but you forgot about my trap card Michizure!" The proctor, a man with dark grey hair and a goatee, his eyes covered by dark sunglasses announces, as the debris left from Soldier of Stone fly at Vorse Raider, catching it by surprise as it gets crushed to a mere pulp.
"Now you're wide open to my monster's attack." The proctor chastises.
"I end my turn." Bastion calmly states, not at all worried of the next turn, having allowed for the demise of his Vorse Raider.
Turn 3:
Proctor: 1900
Hand: 3
Deck: 35
Monster Zone:
Spell and Trap Zone:
Bastion: 4000
Hand: 1
Deck: 34
Monster Zone:
Spell and Trap Zone: one face-down card
"My turn, Draw!" The proctor announces drawing his next card. "I summon Gear Golem the Moving Fortress in attack position." A mechanical monster that seemed built solely for defense appears onto the field (EARTH Machine/Effect Lv4. ATK: 800 - DEF 2200).
"And now I'll use him to attack you directly!" The robot responds by charging towards Bastion, like a train on a straight line.
Edward furrows his brow at the action. "The guy's seriously doing such a dumb move to test if Bastion's got a trap? Geez." His comment did not go unheard.
"What do you mean?" someone asks behind him meekly. Turning around to look, Edward saw a shrimp of a young boy, with small circular glasses on his nose, and a mop of light blue hair that seemed grossly disproportional when compared to the young boy's head.
Edward had no problems recognizing the young boy as Syrus Truesdale, his giant mop of hair made mistaking him for someone else nigh impossible.
"Well, you see, the proctor's monster only has 800 attack points, but by paying the same amount, it could've been used to attack directly even if Bastion had any monsters." Edward explains.
"So he should have saved it for later?" Syrus answers, uncertain if he's correct.
"Bingo." Edward nods, turning back to the duel. Although, if the Proctor's deck was a defense based one, he probably should've just set it face-down and wait for Bastion to attack it with a weaker monster.
Bastion does nothing, allowing the weak monster's attack to go through (Bastion's LP 3200). "I end my turn by setting one card face-down."
The Proctor grimaces, having hoped that Bastion would've activated his face-down card in response to the attack.
Turn 4:
Proctor: 1900
Hand: 2
Deck: 34
Monster Zone: Gear Golem the Moving Fortress (ATK)
Spell and Trap Zone: one face-down card
Bastion: 3200
Hand: 1
Deck: 34
Monster Zone:
Spell and Trap Zone: one face-down card
"My turn, Draw!" Bastion looks at the two cards in his hands, before nodding. "I'll start off by summoning my second Vorse Raider in attack position." A copy of Bastion's previous monster appears onto the field, twirling its weapon around, ready to slice up any monster.
"And I'll attack your Gear Golem with it." Bastion declares, signalling his beast-warrior to lunge at the machine.
"You won't get past my Negate Attack." The proctor's face-down card flips open, projecting a barrier between the two monsters.
"I'll end my turn by setting a face-down card onto the field." Bastion announces. With this, his victory was assured.
Turn 5:
Proctor: 1900
Hand: 2
Deck: 34
Monster Zone: Gear Golem the Moving Fortress (ATK)
Spell and Trap Zone:
Bastion: 3200
Hand: 0
Deck: 33
Monster Zone: Vorse Raider (ATK)
Spell and Trap Zone: two face-down cards
"My turn, draw!" The proctor smiles at the card he drew, his combo ready to be pulled off.
"I normal summon my Big Shield Gardna in attack position!" A man in Native American clothes, a long mane of black hair sprouting from his head, carrying a shield big enough to cover the man completely (EARTH Warrior/Effect Lv4. ATK: 100 - DEF: 2600).
"And if you thought that they're weak, then think again, since I activate the spell card Shield & Sword, making them into formidable bruisers." The two monsters on the Proctor's side of the field grew in size (ATK: 2200 -DEF: 800) (ATK: 2600 - DEF: 100), while Bastion's lone Vorse Raider shrank (ATK: 1200 - DEF: 1900).
"An impressive move." Bastion remarks. Too bad it won't work.
[Applicant area...]
"How is Bastion going to survive that?" Syrus wonders as he looks at the duel.
"Negate Attack, Mirror Force, Threatening Roar, take your pick." Edward replies, already certain of Bastion's victory. The life points were just right, and unless the proctor had a Ring of Defense in his hand, all Bastion would need to do is either activate Magic Cylinder or Ring of Destruction.
"Oh man, this is exciting!" An excited voice shouts. Edward turns his head back to see if the person who shouted is who he thinks it is. The Kuriboh-shaped hairdo causes a small smile to appear on his face.
"Not as exciting as you think." Edward chuckles. "One of Bastion's face-down cards is more than likely Ring of Destruction, while the other one will either save his life points or stop the attacks." he explains.
"Wow, if that's true, then that's a sweet combo." Jaden smiles, ready to see how Bastion will save himself from losing.
[Back to the duel...]
"You won't be saying that after this. I'll attack your Vorse Raider with my Big Shield Gardna!" the warrior jumps forward, intent on squashing the wicked monster underneath his shield.
"I activate the trap card, Negate Attack, ending the battle phase." the shield-carrying warrior lands through a portal right back onto the proctor's field.
"Well played applicant, but no matter how well you duel, with my Super-defense deck, you won't be lowering my life points any more. I end my turn." The Proctor proclaims, as the effect of his Shield & Sword fades, returning the stats of the monsters back to normal.
Turn 6:
Proctor: 1900
Hand: 1
Deck: 33
Monster Zone: Gear Golem the Moving Fortress (ATK), Big Shield Gardna (ATK)
Spell and Trap Zone:
Bastion: 3200
Hand: 0
Deck: 33
Monster Zone: Vorse Raider (ATK)
Spell and Trap Zone: one face-down card
After drawing his next card, Bastion addresses the proctor. "I'm afraid your declaration is incorrect, as I activate my trap card, Ring of Destruction!" a necklace of grenades coiled around Vorse Raiders' neck.
"With this card, I can destroy one face-up monster on the field, and have the both of us take damage equal to that monster's attack points." Bastion explains, as the grenades explode, taking out not only Vorse Raider, but the Proctor's life points as well (Proctor's LP: 0), while merely damaging Bastion's (Bastion's LP: 1300).
"Well done applicant, welcome to Duel Academy." the proctor congratulates as the Solid Vision turns off.
"Thank you very much." Bastion bows politely before exiting the field.
[Applicant area...]
"Wow, Bastion's combo was pretty sweet, huh?" Jaden says as the solid vision shuts down.
"Of course it was. That's Bastion Misawa, applicant number 1, or in other words, the one who placed first in the written exam." Syrus explained.
"Oh, so that's what your applicant number meant." Jaden finally realizes.
"Yep, and lemme guess, you're in the 100's?" Edward asks. So far, Jaden didn't extrude any out of character traits, but it wouldn't hurt to check.
"Man, are you a psychic or something?" Jaden asks, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.
"Nope. My name is Edward Smith, applicant number 17, and you are?" Edward asks, extending a hand.
"Jaden, Jaden Yuki, applicant number 110." Jaden shakes the offered hand.
"Wait, you're an applicant? But the duels for 100's already ended in the first batch!" Syrus exclaims.
"Oh no!" Jaden exclaims in worry.
"Relax, as long as your reason for being late was something out of your control, I'm sure that they'll let you take your examination duel." Edward points out. Though if he were honest, Jaden probably should've come earlier, and he couldn't really blame Crowler for initially disliking the guy.
He'd definitely be pissed off if somebody who only bothered to show up at the last second was given special treatment.
[Proctor Area...]
"Looks like we have a pretty good crop this year." One of the proctors note.
"Yes, and we don't need to deliberate on Misawa. I think its settled." Another one agrees. The man in black clothes from the entrance approaches a rather odd-looking man with blonde hair in bowl-cut, a portion of the man's hair set in a ponytail, and most oddly, purple lipstick.
"Pardon me Mr. Crowler, but there's one more applicant who registered at the last minute." The man in black says.
"Did you just call me "Mr."?" Crowler asked with a hostile tone. He hadn't worked for his PhD in dueling only to have the title ignored and trampled over.
"Um, I'm sorry, Ms.-" the man in black tries to correct himself.
"I have earned my PhD, so call me Doctor thank you." Crowler interrupts him. "Now then, what was the applicant ranked in the written exam?" he asks. If the applicant ranked high, then he would be allowed to duel, and if not? Well, that would the applicant's own fault for being tardy, now wouldn't it?
"He is applicant number 110, Doctor." the man in black answered with respect.
"He hardly has any sense of readiness if he's coming at the last minute, no? We have no need for such a dropout slacker." Crowler responds sternly. If they allowed all applicants to enter whenever they damn well pleased, then they wouldn't learn about the consequences of not being on time.
"However, he did make it on time, so he does qualify for the exam." One of the proctor's point out. Although he did understand where Dr. Crowler was coming from, but it would be a pretty dickish move to refuse them after they gave it their all to get here.
"And a train incident is to blame, anyway..." one of the older proctors add. And just as Crowler was about to start venting, his phone rang off.
"Yes, who am I speaking to?" Crowler asks, holding his phone close to his ear.
# Hello Crowler. # the voice on the other end of the line greeted Crowler with an exhausted tone, as if expecting that the Doctor had messed up.
"Oh, Principal Sheppard." Crowler replies happily.
# I thought I'd check up on how things are going at your end. # Sheppard said.
# And I also heard about the applicant who was late due to a train incident. Give him a chance like the others, it's only fair. # He continues. If the info that had been given to him was correct, then this Jaden Yuki would be a valuable asset for the coming times.
# After all, we wouldn't want to have a repeat of the last year's incident, now would we? # Crowler sneers at Sheppard's words. One of those arrogant slacker applicants had quite rudely called him a 'Rocky horror show reject', so in his anger, he had disqualified him, along with others who didn't pay respect to his PhD, calling him Mr and especially those who called him Ms.
"Such sharp ears, that sly old dog." Crowler remarked, closing his phone. Fine then, if that furry-chinned windbag wanted the dropout boy to be tested, then he'd test him alright.
"Wait Dr. Crowler, who'll be the examiner for the boy, and what deck should be used?" One of the examiners ask, holding up a briefcase full of different test decks.
"Leave that to me." Crowler responds, walking off.
[Applicant area...]
"Yo, Bastion nicely done." Edward greets, as Bastion retakes his seat.
"Thank you." Bastion says, taking off his Duel Disk.
"From the looks of it, you might be the second best duelist here." Jaden says, causing Bastion and Syrus to look at him with shocked expressions, for two different reasons.
Syrus is shocked of Jaden thinking that he's a better duelist than Bastion, even though he ranked at 110 at the written exam, while Bastion is shocked at the thought of there being a better duelist among the applicants, but is also intrigued and excited at the thought of a good challenge.
.: WOO, Shots fired! (OvO) :.
'Indeed R.O.B., and now the show's about to start.' Edward thinks to himself.
#Applicant number 110, Jaden Yuki, please report to Dueling field 4. #
"All right then, I'm up. Wish me luck guys!" Jaden says, confidently walking down the stairs.
"Hey, if I'm number 2, then who's number 1?" Bastion asks.
"Why, yours truly of course." Jaden says, walking off to his duel.
"Well, he certainly got confidence in his skills." Edward commented with a slight smile. That moron would smile even when his own life would be on the line.
"Yes, well those skills are going to put through the ringer, look who he's dueling." Bastion says, motioning to duel field 4, where Crowler was already waiting, his Duel Coat already set.
[Dueling Field 4...]
"Buon giorno! Introduce yourself, applicant." Crowler orders.
"Uh, Jaden Yuki, sir!" Jaden snaps to attention, introducing himself.
"Signore Jaden, I am Dr. Vellian Crowler, I am the Academy's Teacher of Practical Techniques and your opponent for this examination." Crowler introduces himself in return. No need to be rude until the duel begins, it's not like the applicant has been disrespectful, aside from being tardy that is.
"Wow, to think that a Director would be my test opponent. From the way you were dressed, I thought you were some kind of an Academy mascot." Jaden comments, not at all filtering his words. But if they were going to put such a high-ranking person to test him that probably means that they're expecting a lot out of him.
Well, he wasn't about to disappoint them.
[Applicant area...]
"PFUAHAHAHA, oh man, Jaden sure got some brass cojones on him." Edward laughs, greatly amused by the look on Crowler's face. That look of shock that just said 'Pardon?', a look that simply had no retort to the insult.
"This could end badly for him." Bastion noted bluntly.
"What do you mean could? There's no way that guy's going to go easy on Jaden." Syrus states, worried if Jaden's going to win this duel.
[Student area...]
"Well, he's screwed." a young man with smooth blue hair summarizes, dressed in a royal blue long-tailed jacket with white trimmings.
"This kid must be a big deal, if Professor Crowler himself is dueling him." the blue-haired guys' friend, a young man with spiky brown hair comments, dressed in the same uniform as him.
'I can't believe this.' Their friend and leader, a young man with charcoal black hair arranged in a spiky manner seethes at the comment Jaden made at Crowler. Was that slacker really so confident that he was cracking jokes at Dr. Crowler?
'If this brat actually passes, I'm going to make his school life utter hell.' Crowler promises himself, activating his Duel Coat. He had heard numerous kind of insults, so many that he had made it a hobby to count how many times he had heard certain ones, but this one, was a new one.
"DUEL!"
Turn 1:
Crowler: 4000
Hand: 5
Deck: 35
Jaden: 4000
Hand: 5
Deck: 35
"Well Teach, I'll be starting things off by summoning Elemental Hero Avian in defense mode!" Jaden says, as a man in a green superhero costume with wings on the back appears onto the field, crouching down with his arms crossed and a blue outline surrounding him (WIND Warrior/Normal Lv3. ATK 1000 - DEF 1000).
"Hm." Crowler looks at the monster, attempting to deduce what kind of deck the dropout boy was running with. An Elemental Hero deck was the most likely answer, followed by Warrior-Type and then Wind.
"Next, I'll end this turn by throwing down a face-down. Your move, Teach!" Jaden says, setting a face-down card to protect his monster.
Turn 2:
Crowler: 4000
Hand: 5
Deck: 35
Jaden: 4000
Hand: 3
Deck: 35
Monster Zone: E-Hero Avian (DEF)
Spell and Trap Zone: one face-down card
"My turn, draw!" Crowler looks at his hand with a small smile on his face, ready to school this disrespectful drop-out boy.
"I activate the spell card, Confiscation." Crowler says, an enlarged hologram of a card depicting a corrupt knight stealing a treasure chest from a peasant woman.
"What? Confiscation?" Jaden gasps, recognizing the card.
"By paying 1000 life points, I can take a peek at your hand and discard 1 card to the graveyard." the cards in Jaden's hand glow, holograms of them appearing in front of Crowler(Crowler's LP: 3000).
"Sure enough, a dropout boy's deck, I see." Crowler comments as he looks at the cards in Jaden's hand. The presence of Hero Signal revealed his original hypothesis to be correct. 'So, the dropout boy favors himself as a small town Hero? Well, it's about time he learned how big the world truly is.' Crowler thinks to himself before selecting the target for Confiscation's effect.
'Is he scolding the deck that I put my life into?' Jaden frowns at Crowler's words.
"I'll send Monster Reborn to the graveyard." Crowler says, as Jaden sends the chosen card to the graveyard, resenting its loss. If he had drawn Elemental Hero Burstinatrix, then could've brought Avian back for a Fusion Summon.
"Then, I'll set two cards face-down."
"And now I activate Heavy Storm" A heavy wind picked up, destroying Crowler's two face-downs, along with Jaden's single one.
[Applicant area...]
"Well, that cinches it, Crowler's using his personal deck." Edward comments, smiling on the inside at the chance to see a realistic hologram of Ancient Gear Golem.
"Indeed, and things are about to get even tougher for Jaden." Bastion nods in agreement, noticing that the cards Crowler is using are far too powerful for a mere test deck.
"What're you guys talking about?" Syrus asks, being the only one of the trio who doesn't have a clue of what's going on.
[Back to the duel...]
"Woops, didja forget about your own face-down cards?" Jaden cockily asks.
'It must be nice being a frog in a well.' Crowler thinks to himself, as fog starts covering the field. "Now now, young scholar, you mustn't speak out of turn." Crowler mockingly scolds as two golden serpents with arms and headdresses rise out of the fog (DARK Fiend/Token/Normal Lv4. ATK 1000 - DEF 1000).
"For you see, the two trap cards I destroyed with my Heavy Storm are called Statue of the Wicked, and when they're destroyed, I can special summon a Wicked Token." Crowler explains as the tokens growl and hiss at Avian.
[Student Area...]
"That's no test deck, that's Crowler's own Ancient Gear deck!" The blue-haired Obelisk student exclaims, recognizing the set-up from the few times some Obelisks get arrogant and try to beat Dr. Crowler in a duel.
"Then this duel's done. There's no way that guy can beat that deck." the brown-haired one states, while their black-haired friend is smiling smugly
"I think I'm going to enjoy seeing our loudmouthed little friend's dreams get thoroughly stomped on. I wish they treated all second-rate duelists this way."
[Above the bleachers...]
"What an elitist snob, bullying an applicant with his own personal deck." Alexis commented disdainfully. She could already see this ending badly when she saw that Crowler would be the one dueling, since his reputation among the non-Obelisk students was... less than stellar to say the least.
"Don't be too soft on the boy Alexis, he might still be able to win this." Zane says, analyzing the field. If number 110 managed to draw certain cards, then he would win the duel. The connection between 110 and his deck felt very strong, a perfect match.
[Back to the duel...]
"But you don't need to worry about them, for I tribute my two Wicked Tokens to summon an even stronger monster to my field." Crowler says, as the two tokens catch on fire, writhing in pain as they burn away.
"The ancient machinery revives and wreaks havoc upon the modern age. Advanced Summon! Rise up, Ancient Gear Golem!" A mechanical monstrosity of epic proportions rises up from the flames, leering down on the weak hero on Jaden's field with its single glowing red eye (EARTH Machine/Effect Lv8. ATK 3000 - DEF 3000).
"Now, I do hope that you're not too scared to continue the lesson." Crowler smiles mockingly, feeling all the more confident with his ace monster out on the field.
"Hah, you kidding? I can't remember the last time learning was this much fun!" Jaden cheerfully replies.
[Applicant area...]
"Jaden's either brave or nuts, that monster's gonna squash him." Syrus gasps. If he were the one dueling instead of Jaden, he definitely wouldn't be laughing. Much the opposite in fact.
"To be honest Sy, I think he's both." Edward comments. While he himself wouldn't be scared like Syrus seems to be, Edward would definitely be cautious of the monster, unless he had something like Bottomless Trap Hole or Raigeki Break on the field.
[Back to the duel...]
Jaden's comment caught Crowler off-guard, as he had expected the drop-out boy to be shaking in his boots, not be excited like a hyper-active squirrel on coffee.
'Roll with it.' he schools his face into one of calmness, as if he expected that sort of response. "Yes well, I am an excellent teacher, thank you."
"And I'm about to teach you a lesson in pain with my Gear Golem's Mechanized Melee!" Crowler's mechanized monstrosity obeyed, drawing its fist back before completely decimating Jaden's puny hero with a mighty punch (Jaden's LP: 2000).
"For you see, when my Ancient Gear Golem attacks a monster with less defense points than Golem's attack points, the difference will come out of your life points." Crowler explains, deciding to impart a small nugget of information unto the soon to be defeated duelist.
[Applicant area...]
"That means that it doesn't matter what position Jaden plays his monsters in, that's cheating." Syrus exclaims.
"Not exactly cheating, but it is bad for Jaden, not to mention that his face-down cards will be ineffective when that Golem attacks." Bastion adds. If this sort of behavior was to be expected from the prestigious Duel Academy, he wasn't so certain that the institute's reputation was entirely legitimate.
"And that's a pretty common feature with Ancient Gear monsters, but there are ways around that." Edward throws his weight into the conversation.
[Back to Duel...]
"And that marks the end of my turn." Crowler says, smiling smugly.
Turn 3:
Crowler: 3000
Hand: 1
Deck: 34
Monster Zone: Ancient Gear Golem (ATK)
Jaden: 2000
Hand: 2
Deck: 35
'This where my power is put to the test' Jaden thinks to himself as he reaches to draw his next card, but stops as he hears a faint coo. 'Who's that calling me?' He wonders, receiving his answer as he draws his next card.
'Oh, it's you!' He realizes as he looks at the monster he drew, a furry little monster with white angelic wings on its back. The little monster's wings glow white, as if trying to tell him something.
Taking that as a sign, he reads the monster's effect, and smiles. Then the little monster winks at him. 'Alright, I'll trust you.' Jaden takes a look at the other cards in his hand, coming up with a strategy.
"I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode, and end my turn by setting one face-down card." A brown-furred monster with green paws, big eyes, and small white angelic wings appears onto the field, uncaring of the hulking monstrosity standing on the other side of the field (LIGHT Fairy/Effect Lv1. ATK 300 - DEF 200).
"D'aww." Many female Applicants, and a few students swoon at the sight of the little furball, but Crowler merely laughs at the sight of the little monster.
'Does that drop-out boy really think that little puffball is going to save him?' The elitist doctor thinks to himself.
Turn 4:
Crowler: 3000
Hand: 1
Deck: 33
Monster Zone: Ancient Gear Golem (ATK)
Jaden: 2000
Hand: 1
Deck: 34
Monster Zone: Winged Kuriboh (DEF)
Spell and Trap Zone: one face-down card
"Well, applicant, it seems like you have quite the uncommon monster there." Crowler says, drawing his next card, not even bothering to check it, already certain of his victory.
"But a Kuriboh is still a mere Kuriboh, and even one with wings won't be able to save you from my Ancient Gear Golem's attack!" The machine obeys, smashing the little fairy to smithereens.
"Thank you, Winged Kuriboh." Jaden whispers, not about to let the little monster's sacrifice go to waste.
"Hmph. Check your gear, your Life Points haven't changed." Crowler frowns, unaware of what's going on.
"Nothing's wrong with my gear. Winged Kuriboh's effect reduces all battle damage involving him to 0, along with any battle damage after his destruction." Jaden explains, as Crowler's face twists into one of shock.
"And his shriek also activates my trap card Hero Signal!" Jaden's card flips open, projecting a spotlight onto the ceiling, with a stylized letter H in the sky above the field.
"With this, I can special summon an Elemental Hero from my deck to the field, and I choose Elemental Hero Burstinatrix, in attack mode." A superheroine with charcoal black hair wearing a red skintight flame-based suit and golden helmet with a green gem appears onto the field in a burst of unnatural red fire. (FIRE Warrior/Normal Lv3. ATK 1200 - DEF 800)
Turn 5:
Crowler: 3000
Hand: 2
Deck: 33
Monster Zone: Ancient Gear Golem (ATK)
Jaden: 2000
Hand: 1
Deck: 33
Monster Zone: E-Hero Burstinatrix (ATK)
"My turn!" He draws a card. "Aw sweet, I activate Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two cards!" Jaden activates the card which spawns a green pot with a wicked grin emblazoned on it, which shatters as Jaden draws his two cards, smiling as he sees what he drew. Now his combo is set.
"I activate the spell card, The Warrior Returning Alive, which lets me add 1 Warrior-type monster, like my Elemental Hero Avian, back to my hand." Jaden adds the vanquished hero back to his hand.
"But he won't be there around for long, since I summon him onto the field in attack mode." The feathered hero joins his comrade on the field, locking eyes with the monster that had previously dispatched him like a mere sidekick.
Up in the bleachers, Edward simply sighs at the move Jaden executed, hoping against all odds that Jaden is the only one who actually summons both fusion materials onto the field when you can do something more useful, like summon another monster to attack with.
"And what good will your fragile little comic book heroes do?" Crowler mockingly asks, quite aware of Jaden's mistake. Elemental Heroes relied on fusion summon, but that doesn't mean that you need to have both fusion materials on the field. What the drop-out boy just did was waste his normal summon.
"Maybe nothing in their current form, but with the spell card Polymerization, I can bring out their true form!" The two heroes on Jaden's field turn into balls of light, green and red respectively, swirling together,
"A cry for a hero has finally been answered. Stand tall atop the Skyscraper! Fusion Summon! Appear now, Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" A one-winged humanoid creature with a red dragon's head for a right arm, a long tail and talons appears out of the swirling lights. (WIND Warrior/Fusion/Effect Lv6. ATK 2100 - DEF 1200)
"But this isn't the arena fit for heroes, so I activate the field spell, Skyscraper." As Jaden inserts the field spell into his duel disk, their surroundings change from the field to a giant metropolitan city with tall buildings, some even towering over Crowler's Ancient Gear Golem, and atop the tallest skyscraper Flame Wingman stands proud, silhouetted by the full moon behind him.
[Applicant area...]
"And I do believe Jaden's got this in the bag." Edward comments, smiling in anticipation of seeing one of the coolest moments from his childhood with realistic holograms.
"But Jaden's monster doesn't have enough power to destroy Gear Golem..." Syrus mutter.
"You don't need to worry about your friend, not with Skyscraper out on the field." Bastion reassuringly says. It seems like he found some good rivals to test his skills.
[Back to the duel...]
"Now the stage is set, I attack your Ancient Gear Golem with my Flame Wingman. Skydive Scorcher!" The hero standing atop the skyscraper jumps off, towards the hulking machine.
"Hmph, your field spell hasn't weakened my Gear Golem at all." Crowler points out, as the ancient machine draws back its fist, ready to smash the hero flying towards it.
"That may be true, but whenever an Elemental Hero battles a monster with more attack points, the Hero gets a 1000 attack point boost!" Flame Wingman becomes enshrouded in fire(ATK 3100 - DEF: 1200), plowing straight through Ancient Gear Golem's arm, causing the monster to explode in a glorious burst of fire (Crowler's LP: 2900).
Crowler gasps at the sight of his Ancient Gear Golem being destroyed. But no matter, he could still recover from this, and when he did, this drop-out boy would be sent packing to Duel Monsters community college.
"And whenever Flame Wingman destroys a monster by battle, you take damage equal to the destroyed monster's attack points." Jaden gives a two-fingered salute as the flaming wreckage of Ancient Gear Golem falls apart, crushing the effeminate teacher (Crowler's LP: 0).
'H-How can this be?! My own personal deck, trounced by this insolent drop-out boy? This was inconceivable! Mark my words, this will not end here!' Crowler grits his teeth as the Solid vision turns off.
AN: That's all folks! I hope you enjoyed it, since I sure did. Anyway, there's a few reasons as to why I did this the way I did, and I'll be explaining the reasons now.
The reason why I didn't give Ars-Edward the Gamer, like I do with the other ones, is because it wouldn't fit into the world, and because of the way the "fights" happen in the Yugioh Franchise. Now, if I were to make a version where everyone used their Ka's and Ba's, then the Gamer might actually fit.
And the reason for R.O.B. is just because I wanted to put him in... Okay, okay, that's not the only reason I put him in, the other reason is to justify him being sent to a Yugioh world, and unlike other people I've seen do this, A.K.A OPFan37, the being transported him to see how things would change and turn out.
And yes, he's somewhat based on X from Dice, but don't mistake this for a hint of me planning to make a Dice fanfic, I won't, mainly because I don't think it would be interesting, plus I'm bad when it comes to dice.
And yes, the Proctor's/Aichi's whole shtick is about Bōsōzoku (which literally means "running-out-of-control (as of a vehicle) tribe") is a Japanese youth subculture associated with customized motorcycles. The Aichi prefecture was reported to have the highest number of riders.
Moving on, The summoning chant for Dokurorider and Ars Ose was created by yours truly, and the summoning chants for Ancient Gear Golem and E-Hero Flame Wingman were created by none other than The Duelist of Dawn, who has written an excellent GX fic called; YuGiOh! GX: Duel Academy Stories, and it's definitely worth your time.
And here's a bit of trivia about the Duel Disks of this story; While they don't have the Real Solid Vision that's in Arc-V, the Solid Vision does create a shockwave when it meets resistance, such as the human body, or other Solid Vision creations, just as a bit of incentive for the duelists to play smart.
I mean, does something like that sound out of character to Seto Kaiba, the man who made Death-T, and blew up Alcatraz while his employees and the other contestants were on said island, all just to make his and Mokuba's exit on a jet made to look exactly like the Blue-Eyes White Dragon monster all the more impressive, laughing all the way? And all of that happened after Yugi exorcised his evil half.
Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if it was him who made those shock collars that Zane started using.
Also, while some of you might find some of things involving Crowler odd, considering his behavior in the anime, but let's face it, the man (I think he's a man?) didn't earn his PhD and position with good looks and popularity poll, so I might give the man (?) some credit where credit is due.
And unlike what I did with my Neo Black Knight fanfic, I won't be revealing Ars-Edward's full deck list right off the bat. Instead, I'll be showing them off as they appear, but if they don't get summoned or use their effects, those things will not be shown.
Original Cards used in this chapter:
Ars Sitri, D.D. Warrior Lady:
DARK Fiend/Effect Lv4. ATK 1700 - DEF 200. Effect: Once per turn, this card can't be destroyed by battle. When this monster is destroyed in battle, you may banish this card. If you do, banish the monster that destroyed this card.
Ars Stolas, D.D. Messenger:
DARK Fiend/Effect Lv3. ATK 1300 - DEF 1000. Effect: If there is 1 or more face-up "Ars" monster on the field, you can special summon this card from your hand. When this card is normal summoned, you can add 1 Level 4 or lower "Ars" monster from your deck to your hand.
Ars Malphas, D.D. Alchemist:
DARK Fiend/Effect Lv3. ATK 1000 - DEF 1300. Effect: During either player's turn, you can banish this card. If you do so, special summon 1 Fusion monster from your Extra Deck by banishing the appropriate Fusion materials from your hand or field.
Ars Flauros, D.D. Bruiser:
DARK Fiend/Effect Lv5. ATK 2100 - DEF 1600. Effect: If there is a monster in the banished zone, you may special summon this card from your hand.
Ars Dantalion, D.D. Actor:
DARK Fiend/Effect Lv3. ATK 1300 - DEF 1400. Effect: Once per turn, you can Banish 1 "Ars" Monster from your deck; and if you do, this monster gains the banished monster's name and Level until the End Phase of this turn.
Ars Ose, D.D. Hunter:
DARK Fiend/Fusion/Effect Lv7. ATK 2700 - DEF 2200. Materials: Ars Flauros, D.D. Bruiser + 1 "Ars" monster. Effect: (Secret).
Well, what do you guys think? Is this an archetype that would actually be legal in the OCG or TCG? Now, as you can imagine, cards like Imperial Iron Wall will lock the effects of the monsters and Vanity's Emptiness will slow this deck down very much.
And some of you might be a bit pissed that I'm withholding information about these cards, but would it really be any fun if I just revealed their effects right off the bat? But, I'm not a complete ass, so I revealed that some of these monsters have Flip Effects, and regular Effects.
Cards with Altered Effects used in this duel:
Ring of Destruction:
Normal Trap Effect: Target 1 face-up monster on the field; destroy that target, and if you do, inflict damage to both players equal to that target's ATK.
Winged Kuriboh:
LIGHT Fairy/Effect Lv1. ATK 300 - DEF 200. Effect: You take no Battle Damage from battles involving this card. After this card on the field is destroyed, any Battle Damage the controller of this card takes this turn becomes 0.
Pot of Greed:
Normal Spell Effect: Draw two cards. You can only use only 1 "Pot of Greed" during the duel.
Skyscraper:
Field Spell Effect: When an "Elemental Hero" monster you control battles an opponent's monster whose ATK is higher, the "Elemental HERO" monster gains 1000 ATK during damage calculation only.
So yeah, I altered Pot of Greed to be a card that you can only activate once per duel, since it's +2 card with no negative drawbacks, although, I could have put in something like "Reduce your life points by 500, then draw two cards" as a cost. Plus, I can't really recall a duel where Pot of Greed was used more than once.
Anyway, here's my Question for this chapter: Which kind of summoning chants would you prefer to see in future chapters, those similar to the one I made, or the ones that Duelist of Dawn made?
And here's Twisted Platypus' Question for this chapter: Would you like to see any cards or decks from the GX manga, or stay exclusively with the anime?