New Domino city, it was the epitome of success and advancement in the modern era. The citizens, especially those who found themselves in the penthouse-like district of the tops, enjoyed a quality of life not seen anywhere else in the world. The question that was running through one "Red-Hat" Konami's mind, standing in the center of all of this? "What the shadow-realm would Jaden be doing in a place like this?" he said aloud to no one in particular.
Yet, this was where the former Slifer Red had last been seen- the hustling and bustling city that never slowed down. To be fair that does sound a lot like Jaden and there were quite a few powerful duelists that were rumored to have made this city their own, but then why would he have left his deck? The same deck that had carried him through 4 years of Duel Academy, and saved the world about as many times. The deck he had once proclaimed to be his family. The deck that had been left behind when Jaden had disappeared right before graduation and had been placed on Konami's desk. The deck that now found its home in one of the Deck Boxes in Konami's new modified Slifer Red Jacket. Now complete with leather shoulder and elbow pads, as well as an overall grittier and more adult feeling. Fitting, now that he was legally labeled as such, and a pro duelist at that.
Konami, Syrus, Bastion, Chazz, and Aster had stuck to their guns and decided to pursue a pro dueling career. Supposedly, Syrus had already managed to find his footing and was beginning to get a small following, but Konami would believe that when he saw it. "You tell me, you found the lead that brought you there" interjected a voice on his PDA. "Oh, forgot I didn't turn that off" muttered to himself with a deadpan expression. Staring back at him were face cams of his friends from Duel Academy, Alexis, Chazz, and Bastion. Syrus supposedly had a match booked for today and couldn't make the call, Aster claimed he had important business to attend to that day, and Jaden was still missing. "Well when one of your best friends disappears and leaves his deck to you, you'll jump at any lead apparently" Bastion cut in dryly. "Hey, I didn't jump at it. If I jumped at it I wouldn't already have an apartment here near the downtown district" Konami gloated, and his friends groaned. "Yeah well, it better be two bedrooms. You know I'm supposed to bunk with you when I get there" Alexis growled. "It is, but you really shouldn't give up your teaching aspirations to help me out with this" the Red Hat Duelist groaned. "First of all, I want to help you so it's no big deal. Second of all, I got an internship at the New Domino Duel College, so I'm not giving up on anything" she replied.
"Well then you better be able to come up with your half of the rent once you get here" he grumbled, signing off. As he did, he heard a cry that came from a young girl nearby. Running to where it was, he saw the young girl being harassed by an older woman. An older woman he knew at that. "Kami, when are you gonna get a hobby? You really don't have anything better to do than bully little girls?" he groaned, recognizing her as a snob from the old days. "Hmph, as if this is what I wanted to do with my day. But this thing insists on lugging around a duel disk without the least bit of backbone" she harrumphed, and the girl, with turquoise hair in pigtails, backed up further. "And you haven't changed since the Academy at all, same elitist snobbishness. What is she, like, eight? You can't expect her to be a world beater yet. She's just starting out" he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Hm, then maybe I should show her what a real Duelist looks like. Duel me Red Hat! Right here and now!" she proclaimed, pointing a manicured finger at the capped crusader.
Konami's golden duel disk flared on, and he popped Jaden's deck into the slot. "Thought you'd never ask" he grunted, taking a stance. Kami did the same with her deck and respective blue duel disk. "Please mister, you don't have to do this for me" the girl pleaded, looking up at him with wide golden eyes. Konami saw a flash, merely a moment in fact, of an old friend he used to know. Blair Flannigan, now Lightsworn duelist extraordinaire, had started out just like this girl. Maybe his performance could inspire her the same way Jaden inspired Blair. "Yeah, I kinda do. She's been a bully going on at least 4 years now and it ends here" he said, drawing his cards as his opponent did the same. "Duel!" the pair yelled out as their life point counters filled up to 8000.
-Konami vs. Kami-
8000/8000
"Ladies first!" she yelled, yet didn't draw a card. "I get it," he snarled, drawing his card "she wants the attack advantage." He gazed down at his cards, Jaden's cards, and smirked. "I'll start things off by summoning Elemental Hero Wildheart in attack mode!" he called, and the tribal warrior appeared and brandished his scimitar 1500/1600. "Hm, I had heard a rumor that you had his deck" she murmured, taking in the sight of the slightly savage hero. "Next, I'll play two facedowns and end my turn" he said, as two facedowns appeared on either side of Wildheart.
"My turn then!" she called, drawing a card. "And I'll start by activating the field spell A Legendary Ocean!" she called, and the world flooded. Now surrounding the two adversaries and their onlooker was a dome of water with the lost city of Atlantis sitting in the middle of it. "Of course, I should have expected that" he groaned. "Exactly, just like you should have expected this- Mecha Sea Dragon Plesion in attack mode!" 2300/1800 the hulking mechanical serpent towered over Wildheart and Konami began to sweat. The beast was a full thousand attack points stronger than his monster with the ocean card out, and he had next to no defense for it, this was gonna hurt. "Plesion attack, Hydro Orb!" Kami called out, and her monster formed a ball of water in its mouth that fired at Wildheart. The result was a concussive blast that destroyed the Hero, shattering it as Konami braced himself.
7000/8000
"If you're done, I'll continue then" Konami said, drawing a card. "And I think I'll start it out with this, Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode!" sparks thundered from the ground and everyone's favorite golden boy stood in the middle 1600/1400. "And you put him in attack mode, because why?" Kami asked? "Because I'm also activating my Skyscraper Field Spell!" the water evaporated, Atlantis crumbled, and towering buildings arose in their place. "Alright Sparkman, take out her dragon with Static Shockwave!" a torrent of light blue electricity blasted the mechanical plesiosaur, and it fell into a pile of scrap. "I end my turn at that."
7000/7800
Kami grit her teeth as she stared at her draw, and played it. "I summon torpedo fish in defense mode" she said, and the small green plated fish appeared on the field. "I end my turn with a facedown" she growled.
"Well then, I draw!" 'Finally!' he thought. "I activate Polymerization, allowing me to fuse together my Sparkman on the field with the Clayman in my hand!" The two monsters swirled into an orange and blue vortex, and a blinding light erupted. Thunder Giant practically exploded out from it, and electricity crackled around him. "Now I'll use his special ability, and discard one card from my hand to destroy your Torpedo fish" he said, sending the last of his cards to the graveyard. Thunder Giant held out his right hand and Kami's last defense was destroyed in a torrent of lightning. "Now Thunder Giant attacks you directly, go Voltic Thunder!"
7000/5400
"I'll end my turn by activating my face down spell card, Mirage of Nightmare! Now during your standby phase, I'm able to draw cards until I hold four; then during my standby phase I discard cards equal to what I drew" Konami explained. "Then what's the point? You have no cards" Kami mocked. "I have my reasons" was all he said in response.
The green haired girl looked on, seemingly amazed by the action in front of her. "Oh, there you are Luna!" called the voice of a young boy. "Oh, hey Leo" she greeted, as a boy who looked very much like her only in a blue outfit approached. "What's going on?" he asked, staring at the Duel that was taking place not 10 feet away from them. "They're dueling, and the one in the red hat seems really nice. He's also one of the best Duelists I've ever seen" she remarked casually. "No way he's better than Yusei or Jack Atlas" Leo protested, and Luna shook her head. "I don't know Leo, he's really good.
"I draw!" "And thanks to my Mirage of Nightmare, I draw four more cards!" Konami cut in. "Which you'll have to discard next turn" Kami mentioned condescendingly. "Not quite, because I have Emergency Provisions!" Konami said, activating his chosen spell card. "Now I can send my Mirage of Nightmare to the graveyard, keeping my cards and in the process gaining one thousand life points!" he declared.
8000/5400
"Hm, I should have figured. After all, you're just a copy and paste of Jaden at this point" Kami sneered. Konami flinched, "What did you say?" "You heard me, you can't make your own winning strategies so you piggyback off of your supposed "Best friend's" cards" she continued, and Konami clenched his fists. "It's fine though, I'll show you what a Duelist who can make original plays looks like" she said, slamming her chosen card on the Duel Disk. "I start with Magical Stone Excavation, sending two cards from my hand to the graveyard in order to add Legendary Ocean from the Graveyard to my hand." She then showed him her favorite Field Spell, "And I think I'll activate it right now." Konami's city crumbled, and Atlantis reformed around them. "Whoa, not sure I like this" Leo said, looking around at all the water. "Now I'll activate Monster Reborn, and revive the Levia Dragon Daedalus I just sent to the graveyard with my Stone Excavation spell." The space in the center of Kami's field began to glow a sea green color, and from the ground a massive blue Sea Serpent erupted. "Now I'll sacrifice my Daedalus, to summon my ace Monster!" "So Daedalus isn't your ace?" Konami asked. Throughout Duel Academy, that's what everyone had assumed. "In a way, as I'm sacrificing him to summon Ocean Dragon Lord, Neo Daedalus!"
Konami stared in horror as the already massive Sea Dragon grew even larger, creating a massive body and growing a second head. "Now, my new beast comes with a new Special Ability. By sending Legendary Ocean on my field to the graveyard, I can send all cards on our fields and in our hands to the graveyard besides Daedalus himself!" she announced, and Konami grit his teeth. There go all the cards he just worked to get into his hand with Mirage of Nightmare…
"Daedalus, Ocean's Wrath!" a massive tidal wave engulfed the field, wiping out everything on it. This definitely included Thunder Giant, Konami's only current defense. "Now Daedalus, attack with Royal Ocean Blast!" a highly condensed torrent of Ocean water slammed into Konami directly, and he was lucky it was only a hologram. "I'll end my turn now, as it's already pretty hopeless for you. Maybe you should save yourself the embarrassment and forfeit now. Though, it would be rather satisfying to be the first from our year to defeat the great 'Red Hat'" Kami gloated.
5100/5400
"I draw!" Konami yelled in defiance, and he smirked. "And I activate Fifth Hope!" he yelled, and Kami's eyes widened. "I don't know that card" she said in surprise. "You wouldn't, it's one I put in the deck myself. You claim that I don't have original plays, well say hello to just that!" he said. "Fifth Hope allows me to put Five Elemental Heroes in the graveyard back into the deck, and then draw two cards. However, since I had no cards on my Field or in my hand at the start of this turn I'm able to draw three cards instead!" He drew his cards after putting Wildheart, Sparkman, Clayman, Bubbleman who was just sent, and Thunder Giant back into the deck or extra deck in Thunder Giant's case. Konami smirked. "I guess it's game over" he announced, and Kami snarled. "No, you're lying!" she protested, and Konami shook his head.
"No, I'm not. It all starts with my Elemental Hero Blade Edge in attack mode!" he yelled. "What? But that's a level 7 monster!" Kami protested. "Yes, but thanks to the Elemental Hero Necroshade you just helped me put in the grave, I can summon him without tributes. Now I activate Miracle Fusion, which allows me to fuse Elemental Hero monsters in my graveyard, so I'll fuse Elemental Hero Necroshade with Elemental Hero Ice Edge who I sent there with Thunder Giant's effect!" Kami grit her teeth, this wasn't looking too good for her. "Rise up, Elemental Hero Absolute Zero!" a new hero, clad in all white, appeared on Konami's field. "While he's on the field, he gains 500 attack points for every other water Monster that's out, including yours!" with Neo Daedalus on the field, Absolute Zero's attack points grew to 3000. "Finally, I'll activate my Future Fusion, which allows me to fuse with cards in my deck. I fuse my Bubbleman, Clayman, Burstinatrix, and Avian to summon Elemental Hero Electrum!" Doing the math quickly in her head, Kami realized she had already lost. "Absolute Zero, attack her Daedalus with Arctic Fury!" a blast of cold energy froze Daedalus and shattered it to pieces. "Now boys, attack directly!" his other two monsters attacked, and the duel was over.
5100/0
"Good game Kami, even if you still are a bit too much" Konami said, holding out his hand to her. She smacked away his offered handshake, "Don't touch me" she growled, before she began stalking away. "You haven't seen the last of me!" she roared. 'Okay, that was a bit clichéd' Konami thought. Leo had decided he'd seen everything he needed to, and rushed the Red Hat Duelist. "Oh man, that was one of the coolest things I've ever seen! You were all like, bam wham, and then she was all like nyehh I'm evil, and then you brought out those three monsters like boom! Luna said you seemed good, but she really wasn't kidding! I have to introduce you to Yusei, and see you two duel! That would be one of the greatest things ever! Oh, and maybe duel you myself!"
As he rambled on, Luna sighed and approached him. "My name is Luna, and this is my brother Leo" she said, "thank you for that." "It was no big deal, and your brother seems…" he stopped, searching for the right word "enthusiastic." "That's one word for the blockhead" she groaned. Konami let out a laugh, not a chuckle or a sharp exhale, but a full on laugh. With all the stress of finding Jaden, it had been a while since he had let out a real and true laugh. "You know what, you kids are great. Now tell me Leo, who's this Yusei character you want me to meet?" He could take a break from his goal, after all, Jaden couldn't be that hard to find right?
So here's this… thing. It wouldn't leave me alone, so I just wrote it out and this is where it brought me. Any other name chapter 3 is… slow coming to say the least. Almost a year in production and still only about half done, though it's picking up pretty quickly at this point and I should have it done in a few days. I think I've learned my lesson and decided not to commit to a schedule, though I do have a few projects I can upload as a way of tiding people over and always having something to work on and keep me in the process. Uploads should be more frequent than once a year, at least. So, and I feel like this is the thousandth time I've said this, thanks for the patience and I promise things will get better.