Yu-Gi-Oh GX: The Show Must Go On!
Chapter One: Opening Curtains
'Magic'
A word that came with many different definitions on what it could be. Simple sleight of hands, to truly dark wizardry, to the fantasy stories that claimed many an imagination and to even the magic cards as seen by the popular game of Duel Monsters. There was many a situation that could fit into that one single word. Though regardless of the situation, magic had one singular purpose that remained true throughout its many definitions.
That purpose was that magic was the power of change. To turn one thing into another, to trick the eye into seeing something that is not there and to empower anything it could touch. Each of those brought some sort of change into an object, place or person. While the earliest connotations of magic had many negative feelings towards it, the magic of here and now became known to entertain and help people smile when they are feeling down.
This was the kind of magic that Shinjiki Kaito looked at as a young boy, seeing the experienced magician do fantastical things like sawing people in half and then putting them back together or stabbing a box but nothing was inside even though a person had clearly walked into it seconds beforehand. It brought nothing but excitement and joy to his face and he desperately wanted to bring that same smile to others.
The White Magician was the name of an elderly magician that had been preforming for decades on end, bringing smiles to children and adults alike across the world. Known for wearing a pure white outfit from hat to shoes, he had come to Domino City for one show only and Kaito had been fortunate enough that his parents, workers for Industrial Illusions, had gotten tickets to it from Maximillian Pegasus himself who was known to love both cartoons and whimsical feats of magic like the one being performed in front of him.
"Ladies and Gentleman, I am the White Magician and I thank you for coming for this show. I must say with great regret that the years have not gotten any easier on an old man like myself. So this show is officially declared to be my last one. Though I wouldn't be the White Magician if I didn't have one last trick up my sleeve." He declared, having projected his voice seemingly without any kind of wire, microphone or audio enhancement devices on his person, having opened his jacket to show the audience another trick that would remained unanswered on how he did it.
"I want to inspire one lucky person, be they adult or child, to see if they can't pass on the love of magic that I have tried my best to do all my career. I had actually my own Duel Monsters Deck, based around my love of magic, but I never used it. While most of the cards are now useless, five of them are still quite viable. Those five cards will be appearing in your pocket after I clap my hands. Let us test our luck one last time!"
The White Magician then clapped his hands twice and everybody in the audience dove into their pockets to see if they had been the lucky winners. By the many groans of disappointment that came up quickly afterwards, it was easy to see that most of the older folks were not the lucky winners.
That was when one small gasp cut through all of them like lightning. Having reached into his pocket, Kaito had felt a small weight that had not been in there when he had entered the arena where the show was located. Pulling out the cards, they were all in mint condition and kept in sleeves to show the love and care that went into each and every one. Just like the White Magician, these cards were magicians too, but they were of a different sort. As he held the cards up to the sky, a single spotlight shone on him, revealing his status as the winner and also showing that the cards were holographic and shiny, sparkling in the light.
"From the mouth of babes indeed! It seems our lucky winner was a little boy! Please come up my lad." The White Magician offered with a kind smile on his face. Looking at his parents for confirmation, the moment they nodded he leapt out of his seat and ran all the way up to the stage. Thankfully the seats that had been offered to them by Mr. Pegasus had been on the ground floor, or else the five minutes it took him to run all the way over might have been well over twenty!
Still, despite gasping for breath, the minute he stepped onto the stage Kaito could practically feel the energy vibrating from the whole arena, infectious with good cheer for him having won the cards. Everyone was clapping and some were whistling as his visage was placed on the monitor that was overlooking the arena. From behind him, the White Magician gently placed a hand on his back.
"So. How does it feel, being on the stage?" he asked.
There was only one way Kaito could answer. "It feels amazing! Like I'm on top of the world!"
That got a good natured laugh out of the White Magician, who openly clapped at the candid response. "Yes. THAT is the kind of feeling you should always have when on stage. Be it magic, or with those Duel Monster cards you have in your hands, the first rule is to always have fun and in turn, make sure the audience has fun as well. The show must always go on, my boy. Remember that." He advised and Kaito nodded his head rapidly to show that he understood all of that.
Going over to the center of the stage, the White Magician gave his final bows to the audience. "Thank you, all of you for being so wonderful for all these years! May the joys and wonder of magic never cease to exist in your mind and spirits! I'm sure that this young boy will become the next great magician of his day as well!" he shouted, causing a near deafening cheer to come out from everyone in the audience as he grabbed one of his trademark items, a white cape and walked over to Kaito.
"What is your name son?" The older man asked.
"Kaito. Shinjiki Kaito." The young boy responded.
The White Magician nodded and placed his cape over him. Since he was a good several feet taller than Kaito was, the cape easily covered his entire body. With a swish and flick, the cape vanished into thin air…and Kaito could only gasp as he found that all of his clothes had somehow been changed!
Now he looked like a miniature version of the White Magician. Dressed with a snazzy long white top hat, a monocle over his left eye, a button up shirt and fancy undershirt WITH tie and dress jacket, slacks and dress shoes. On the shoulders of the jacket were two smaller looking hats that doubled as clasps for a smaller cape that rolled perfectly out against his back.
"Well Kaito, from now on you're no longer just plain old Shinjiki Kaito. You're going to be Kaito Kid! The next great magician, the next great duelist, both or neither. The world and your future is in your hands." The White Magician respectfully told him before snapping his fingers.
Immediately, a globe appeared in the young boys' hand that he had to juggle slightly to maintain due to how suddenly it appeared.
"Quite literally, I might add."
This brought many laughs out of them before the globe suddenly split into two and a multitude of doves flew out of them that couldn't possibly have fit into such a tiny thing in the first place.
The old magician took a few more bows before giving his parting words. "I think that's all I got in me. Just remember everyone, that magic will always be seeing you at the next illusion!"
While saying this, his body slowly turned into sparkling dust before vanishing entirely, leaving the entire arena to roar in approval. Even more so to the newly announced tiny apprentice magician that was still on stage with a cracked globe in hand and five Duel Monster cards being carefully placed in a vest pocket.
Kaito, even at eight years old, knew that he had a lot of work that would need to be done to live up to this expectation.
Seven Years Later
Domino City, Early Morning
For the city of Domino, the early mornings tended to be more peaceful than most others. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining and thanks to the mega-corporation that was Kaiba Corp., the amount of money that went into things like infrastructure and technology meant that normal worries such as traffic or accidents were rarely seen anymore. This was the kind of morning that one would love to wake up to.
That was why a young man, no older than fifteen was breezily walking along the sidewalk with nary a care in the world. He had short cropped dark blue hair on the front half of his face, while the back of his head had his hair grown out just long enough that it was tied into a small, spiky looking ponytail. He had a duffle bag thrown over his shoulder and was wearing a simple white t-shirt, jeans that had a card holster attached to it and purple sneakers with a drawing of the infamous Duel Monster Dark Magician on it.
In his ears were a pair of earphones connected to a music player in his pocket, so all of his attention was drowned out against those around him. While he was mostly able to walk around everyone with ease, luck ran out when eventually one person who was turning a corner didn't see him, leading to a rather large bump between them. As he was walking at a decent pace, the teen ended up completely falling on his butt and both his earphones and his holster were knocked loose, spilling several sleeved Duel Monster cards while music blared around him. Taking a quick look to see if the other person needed any help, the fact that they remained standing was enough to get him to start picking up his fallen cards.
He had almost managed to get all of them when the stranger picked up the last one and looked at it.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't looking where I was going! You're not hurt are you?" he asked, his voice showing true concern.
The person he bumped into shook his head. "No, but I do believe this belongs to you. I personally haven't seen this card in a long time and I'm glad that someone is still using it." He explained, his voice deep, rich and actually familiar.
Taking a second look at who he bumped into, the teen felt his lips and tongue immediately go dry as recognition came clear across his face. A smirk appeared on the older mans face in return, showing that he knew that the teen knew who he was.
"Tell me, would you care to play a pick-up duel?" he asked, waving his hand behind him to show a small café was there, with an outdoor table that would let them duel.
"Against you? I'd have no chance, but heck if it wouldn't be a story to tell everyone! You're on." The teen eagerly exclaimed. The older man just chuckled at the enthusiasm and they went to the table, ordering some water to be polite.
Domino City
Late Afternoon
From early morning, to bright noon and now to colorful dusk, the teen and the older man played many a game of Duel Monsters in nothing more than in the name of good fun. Just as the teen predicted, however, he lost each and every match that they did. Some were absolute wrecks, while others were much closer but still not enough of a gap between them to be nervous about.
"Boy that was some fun dueling!" The teen crowed with an infectious amount of cheer.
The other man nodded in agreement. "Yes, it's nice to be able to duel without worrying about one such thing or another. Though tell me…why is it that your deck feels so incomplete? Several times when we were in our matches it felt like some of your strategies could have gone further but never did. Do you not believe in your cards or deck?" he asked.
The teen shook his head. "No. It's just that two of the cards I need…are actually only owned by you. The rest of the cards, while some being hard to find, are still able to be found. Those two, however, the only copies left are owned by you as Maximillian Pegasus discontinued production on them. I guess it's out of respect for you. After all, you're the King of Games, Mutou Yugi-sama." He explained.
The now revealed Yugi gave a soft sigh when he heard about the teens situation. "I see. Pegasus is a good, if often misguided man. I told him it would be pointless to discontinue some of the cards I used. Though some were discontinued due to their effects being changed after the World Tournament almost a decade ago. You won't see me using Mystic Box anymore for a reason."
The teen could only nod his head silently in agreement. "A shame. That card was many a magician's greatest friend and a tribute to one of the oldest magic tricks around."
Yugi raised an eyebrow at how much reverence was being given to the spell card. "Are you a magician yourself then?" he asked.
The teen nodded and patted his duffel bag, which had been placed down next to him the entire time. "Got all the essentials right there. Speaking of essentials, can I have your autograph?" he asked, pulling out a pad and pen and handing both to him.
Yugi gave a hum in acknowledgement, signed it and was silent for a moment, looking as if he was internally debating about something. After a few minutes, he nodded to himself and, without shuffling, drew four cards from his deck and handed it to the teen along with the autograph and pen.
"I can tell you're a kind soul and someone who duels for the right reasons. I can now see that you trust your deck implicitly, but it is your deck that feels that it has let you down because it was incomplete. I know the cards you need and that they are mine. Though for now, I would believe that they would enjoy being used by someone who would play them much more frequently. After all, every apprentice magician needs a master to guide them." Yugi lectured.
The teen looked at the handed cards with reverence and quickly went to his card holster, which had extra empty sleeves just in case he had decided to pick up a pack of cards on the way to the…
At the sudden reminder of what he was supposed to have done today, he nearly slammed his hands onto the table in panic. "Oh crap! I'm going to be late for the check-in time for the Duel Academy test!" he shouted.
Yugi blinked slightly at the panic that overcame the teen but nodded. "Ah yes, Kaiba's little side-project. I heard it, along with the other Academies have been gaining quite the reputation. I wish you the best of luck with the cards I have just given you. Before you leave, however, would you give me your name?" he asked.
The teen nodded and gave a smile that was just as bright as the setting sun behind him. "My name is Shinjiki Kaito! Apprentice to the White Magician and soon to be Duel Academy student number one!" he said with a flourish. Snapping his fingers twice, a card suddenly appeared in his hand, despite not even touching his pants or other pockets. He handed it to Yugi, who looked at the simple stage name that was written on it.
'Kaito Kid, The Gentleman Magician'
A smile came over the King of Games face as he looked at it. "Seems like you've got it all planned out already." He noted as he asked for the teens cell phone. A small look of reverence came over Kaito's face as he gladly handed it over and Yugi placed a few numbers in there.
"Here, this has my number in case you might ever need any advice. I also put down my good friends Jonouchi and Anzu numbers. Should you feel like there's a duel related emergency and I don't answer, call one of them and they'll reach out to me." The tri-haired adult offered.
Kaito could only nod dumbly as he had the numbers to two legendary duelists in his cell phone. Thank goodness it was the latest model because that meant he could video chat! That would certainly make just about everybody else on the planet jealous!
"Now, I do believe you had somewhere to be?" Yugi gently prodded.
The bubble was burst and the panic once again set in. "Ah shit! Thanks Yugi-dono!" he shouted as he ran off, giving him the highest amount of reverence he could as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him.
New Domino Stadium
Evening
It had been a long day for the check-in line staff. With only two fifteen minute breaks and one half hour lunch, they had checked in more than two thousand applicants and even now, with nobody around, they had to dutifully man their post as the last five minutes until the cut-off time wore down.
One of the proctors from Central Duel Academy looked down at them and how worn they looked, despite their smiles at getting the job done. "Well ladies, its only five minutes. I don't think anybody else will be here so-"he began to say, before something cut him off.
"WAAAAAAAIIIIIIITTTTTTTT!"
Looking down at the pathway that lead from Domino City to the stadium, which was located at the outskirts of the city limits, a blue haired teen huffed and puffed as he trudged his way forward with a duffle bag delicately cradled around his arm.
"Sh-s-Shinjiki Kaito, here!" he wheezed.
The two girls rushed over to him immediately, bottle of water in hand which he gratefully accepted and took several small sips out of.
"You're lucky applicant. Another three minutes and you would've had to wait till next year no matter how much you begged." The proctor said dispassionately to him.
"S-sorry. I was actually super early, but…would you believe me if I said that I got distracted playing a pick up duel with the King of Games himself?" he asked, causing the proctor to raise an eyebrow and the girls to giggle at how ludicrous that comment sounded.
"Yeah and I'm Seto Kaiba. Now get in there." The proctor informed him. Kaito gave him a thumbs up as he radioed the inside staff that the last applicant checked in for the day.
What he did not see when his back was turned was the mischievous smile that was on the teens face.
Inside the Stadium
Inside of New Domino Stadium, hundreds of applicants that were vying for one of the few open positions at Central Duel Academy were dueling their hearts out with their hand-made decks, hoping and praying that their skills combined with their written exam scores would be enough to earn them a spot in one of the three main dorms of Slifer Red, Ra Yellow or Obelisk Blue. Already, out of the thousands that had been filtering in and out the entire day, only about two hundred in total passed both in a satisfactory manner and also stayed behind to see if they could get a possible leg up on their competition by seeing what decks were being used.
At the moment, the final duel had just concluded, the applicant using a Ring of Destruction trap card on his own monster in order to bring the proctors life points down to zero, while he had some left to spare to use such a double-edged sword.
Watching from a VIP stand at the top, a flamboyantly dressed man, who could easily be mistaken for a woman from behind, nodded in satisfaction at the duel. "Signore Daichi has very much shown why he made the top marks in the written exam. Now then, that was the last duel, na no ne?" he remarked to himself before asking a question to the assistant that was behind him.
"Ah…actually, at the last minute one last applicant had signed in Mr. Medici." The assistant informed the man.
A stony silence filled the room for a moment. "Did you just call me Mister?" the man asked the assistant, who thought he might have made a mistake due to the long blonde ponytail that went down to the persons pants.
"I'm sorry then, Ms. Medici?" The assistant tried to correct himself before the person turned around.
It was indeed a man…or as much a man as one could be seen. From a frilly pink collar, to a rather ridiculous amount of purple lipstick on his scowling lips, he cut a figure that you were scared of, though maybe not for the reasons that he wanted you to be scared.
"I am a Doctor, Signore. I earned my PhD. in dueling and I demand to be addressed as such. Doctor Cronos de Medici! Also, if the applicant only just made it now than they are not worth giving a practical to. Send the person home and tell him or her to try again next year, na no ne." Dr. de Medici announced.
"But Doctor-" The assistant tried to get a word in but was cut off by the even deeper scowl on Cronos' face.
"I. SAID. NO! If they cannot even have some form of punctuality then they are not deserving of a spot in such a prestigious school as Central Duel Academy!" he shouted, cowing the assistant for a moment before a loud ringtone cut through their one-sided conversation.
Noticing it was his own, an old pink flip-phone was answered by Dr. de Medici.
"Who am I speaking with, na no ne?" he asked rather rudely and the answer was given by a voice that was very low and deep.
"It's Chancellor Samejima. Your boss."
The moment that line was uttered, de Medici turned into a different person entirely, gripping the phone tightly at the realization of the mistake he made.
"Ah, Signore Samejima. How may I be of assistance, na no ne?" he asked in an entirely false and over-friendly voice.
"I just wanted to make sure that all the duelists that managed to sign in have gotten their duels. I don't want a repeat of last year where you cut a third of our applicants because one of them mistook your gender by an honest accident. Seto Kaiba almost had both yours and my own head at the near humiliation your actions cost to his Academy. Don't do it again." Samejima harshly warned.
Cronos' winced at the reminder of a rather embarrassing incident from last year. Kaiba had really laid it into them and he was forced to suffer a rather significant pay cut for that year to make up for Kaiba himself having to relocate all the applicants to either North, South, East or West Duel Academy.
"In…indeed, Signore Samejima. It won't happen again." He responded before snapping his phone shut. He bit down hard on the nail of his thumb soon after, angry that he would be forced to have to entertain someone who didn't understand the basic concepts of time management. "That furry overgrown wind chime had better watch his back!" he swore to himself mentally.
"Uh…so should we still tell the applicant to head home?" The assistant, who was still there the entire time, weakly asked.
"No. Our esteemed Chancellor says that they are to be given a chance. If that is the case, then I'll personally go over there and give him or her a lesson that will not soon be forgotten, na no ne." Dr. de Medici decided.
"Uh, what deck will you be using?" The assistant asked, still stunned by the turn of events.
The nasty grin on the Doctor's face would give the assistant nightmares for days. "If they're clamoring to get in so bad, I'll use my own."
Locker Room
Taking in a deep breath, Kaito looked at his duffel bag. Inside, carefully folded and in a zipped plastic bag was his costume. It had been a chore and a half to get a foldable top hat of all things, but he somehow managed to do it. Inside were also a large assortment of tools a magician would use: A wand, string, smoke bombs filled with confetti and other knickknacks. Alongside all of that was his duel disk and duel deck. Looking at everything in hand, he felt proud of himself. Win or lose, regardless of what happens, he swore to himself to always give everything his all. A magician could do no less, especially if they mean to entertain the audience.
It also helped that once he touched his now improved deck, it gave him a warm, fuzzy feeling. For once, it felt whole and now in return, it was showing its gratitude towards him. Even if four of the cards were borrowed, he would not let Yugi down by misplacing his trust. No, he would make sure he was worthy of that faith!
"Yosh! It's SHOWTIME!" He shouted, pumping himself up as he got ready for the first big act of the rest of his life.
Duel Field, Center Stage
As all the duels for the day save one had concluded, the proctors took down all the dividers that had been placed up so nobody would be distracted by another duel. Now it would give everyone that was watching a complete view of the final match of the night.
The fact that Dr. de Medici himself stepped out was enough to make the students that were already accepted, or had come to watch from Central Duel Academy itself raised eyebrows. As he was only to oversee the whole thing, it meant that he did not have to actually duel himself. That he did was enough to show this duel meant business.
On the other end, it was…surprisingly quiet. Nobody had yet to come out of the challengers end and although they were given five minutes to prepare, it was often considered good manners to come out early anyways.
Just as the five given minutes had passed, a large plume of white smoke appeared on the challengers side of the field, causing the more light-hearted people to scream in fear.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! Thank you for coming out to see the one-of-a-kind dueling event! On one side of the field, you have the Proctor, who was kind enough to help oversee this duel!" A loud voice had suddenly boomed out of the speakers and the way the person spoke showed that they were young due to the timber of voice, yet enthusiastic enough that it got those listening pumped up, almost as if this was an official pro duel being conducted.
"On the other side, the challenger. The first major bout of his career. The apprentice of illusions! The upcoming master of magic! Please welcome, KAITO KID!" All the lights in the stadium suddenly went down, save for two spotlights. One shone down on Dr. de Medici, who looked horribly confused by what was going on.
On the other side of the field, a figure was beginning to be shown from the smoke. Suddenly, a gloved hand came out holding what appeared to be a cloth and it then threw it to the side. In a matter of seconds, the entire smokescreen faded away, showing the challenger completely.
He was wearing a large white top hat, a crisp looking white suit with a red tie and blue button up-vest with golden buttons gleaming in the light. On the shoulders of the suit were two clasps in the shape of miniature versions of the hat being worn and it was keeping a white cape clung onto his back. White pants and white dress shoes completed the entire ensemble, along with a monocle that covered the persons left eye.
This person indeed looked like a magician and those easily impressed gave polite claps to what they had seen.
Others were much more reserved and instead were glaring down at the challenger.
Once such glare came from a student whose black hair was spiked and gelled in both front and back in a rather ridiculous manner. He was wearing a blue coat and jeans and the scowl that was on his face was easily visible.
"Who the fuck does this guy think he is? Houdini? This is the sacred duel ring, not a two-bit magic act!" he spat out.
Doctor de Medici was of the same mind. "Signore, I think you might have the wrong place. The carny show is two miles down the lane. This is a duel stadium meant for serious applicants that wish to get into Central Duel Academy, na no ne." he called out.
The challenger chuckled slightly at his words and then gave a full blown laugh, angering the doctor. "Respectable proctor, I AM here to duel, or can you not see what's right in front of you?" he asked.
De Medici had to blink for a moment. Despite not being there a second ago, the teens arm now had a white and blue duel disk firmly attached to his wrist with a deck stored inside of it.
"While I may be an apprentice magician, I am also a duelist. It's the job of both to make sure those that watch are suitably entertained and I plan on making sure everyone leaves with a smile on their face." The challenger informed the doctor before clapping his hands twice.
A small bunny suddenly appeared in his hands, causing the entire female population of the stadium to go into full blown squeals at the sight of it. He then took off his top hat, revealing a head of dark blue hair before carefully depositing the bunny inside of it. He then tapped the hat twice before flipping it, showing no falling rabbit. The audience clapped at the trick before he put his hat back on.
The scowl on de Medici's face was now quite obvious to everyone. "I see. Well in theatrics you'd might earn an A, but this is dueling. I doubt you'd be up to snuff if all you do is practice fancy parlor tricks all day against Doctor Cronos de Medici. Duel vest, active na no ne!" he shouted, causing the automatic duel machine to active and spit out five cards into his hand. "As you are the challenger, you have to make the first move. I hope you can back up your words with facts."
Kaito gave a dazzling smile and flicked his wrist, showing five cards in his hands. "While I might not have an ace up my sleeve, I do have monsters! In this case, I'm going to do the classic and I don't just mean making you vanish into thin air! First off, I play Pot of Greed and if you need me to explain what that does, then I think you'd be the one that needs to go back to school!" As he said that and placed the spell into the slot on his duel disk, a large green jar appeared with a creepy grin on it. It quickly was destroyed and Kaito drew two cards, pleased with his luck. "I place one monster in defense mode and place one card face down! I'll end it with that." he called out, his duel disk holographic projector showing just that.
De Meici gave a small hum at the usual 'T-move' that most duelists started off with. "Well, at least you know not to leave yourself open." He grudgingly admitted before holding out his hand. His duel vest beeped and spat out a card into it. "Alright, to start things off I'll put two cards facedown." Immediately after saying this, his duel vest projector sprang into action and reenacted it to the field. "Then I'll play the magic card Confiscation, na no ne." When the third card was insert, a card with green text appeared on the field, showing a soldier with a treasure box in hand kicking off a woman that was begging him to leave the money behind.
In the Stands
Some of the newer students were muttering at the card used, while the older or wiser students were narrowing their eyes. They knew a card like that would not be in any of the proctor's decks. It was too powerful of a magic card for that. Two such students were in the balcony area of the stadium. One was male, with a lighter shade of blue hair compared to Kaito's and wearing a white and blue uniform. The other was a blonde haired girl with a rather noticeable bust, barely being held back by her own uniform and to top it off, she was wearing a rather short skirt and boots with heels on them.
"Asuka, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" the blue haired student asked his companion.
"That Professor Cronos is using his personal deck because this joker was almost late? We all know he's a rather terrible sport Ryo when it comes to those that are almost late to anything." The blonde retorted.
"Already giving him a nickname, I see. I didn't think you'd approve." Ryo said in an almost accusatory manner.
Asuka shrugged. "He's different and different isn't all that bad you know."
Ryo could only huff at her response. "What he is, is an embarrassment to all the duelists that came before him. They were serious, giving everything to try to make it here. He just waltzes in and tries to use smoke and mirrors to make himself bigger than what he really is."
Asuka raised her eyebrow at his choice of words. "Well, let's agree to disagree on that one. After all, the duel just started and we both want to see if that rare card Professor Medici has in his deck comes out to play." She advised.
As they settled in to continue watching the duel, both heard footsteps heading their way. Turning their heads to the corridor, slowly but surely their eyes widened and mouths became open at who they were seeing walk in.
"Excuse me, is this spot taken?" A masculine voice asked.
On the field
At the same time the conversation upstairs was happening, de Medici was explaining what his card did. "I pay one-thousand life points and in doing so, I can see your hand and make you discard one card, na no ne." As he did, the Life Point Meter that was settled onto electronic scoreboards hung all around the stadium came to life.
Cronos de Medici: 3,000 LP
Kaito: 4,000 LP
Kaito shrugged at the effect and twisted his hand. All five of his cards flew across the field and laid themselves in front of the Doctor's eyes, much to his surprise.
"Er…thank you, Signore. Though I think your cards need updating as I see nothing but weak monsters and rookie cards. For now, however, I will force you to discard Monster Reborn." After the professor spoke and gave his two cents, along with not even looking at the rest of his cards properly once the one he wanted was shown, Kaito twitched one finger and his cards all came flying back to him as if attached by a string. He took the monster reborn in his hand and discarded it into the graveyard slot of his duel disk.
"I wouldn't call any card weak, Mr. Medici. You just gotta know how to play them!" he called back.
A small tick mark appeared on the good doctor's head when he was called 'mister'. "It's DOCTOR. Doctor Cronos de Medici and you WILL learn to respect me! I play Heavy Storm next and destroy all spells and traps on the field." The older man shot back, playing another card with a green outline to it showing just that, a giant storm that was demolishing a farm house if the cow was any indication. Though when used, it appeared as just a violent gale that made the holographic cards reveal themselves and were quickly destroyed soon after. Both of the doctors cards looked like snake monsters, while Kaito's was a coffin with a cross emblem on it.
"Well, so much for that one." The apprentice magician noted idly, without any worry. It irked de Medici, who thought he should be panicking or at least wondering what he was about to do next.
"Since my trap cards that were destroyed were Statues of the Wicked, I'm allowed to summon them as tokens on my field." He grinded out. Then a confident smirk appeared on his face as he settled down and took control over his emotions once more. "You should feel proud, applicant. Not many have seen this card, nor have been crushed by it. You'll get both. I'll sacrifice my two tokens in order to summon Ancient Gear Golem, na no ne!" The two snake like statues that had popped up on the doctors side of the field vanished promptly. In its place a giant rose up. A giant that was made of various kinds of steel and gears, making it look more like a mechanized human skeleton than a golem. For a head, one large red eye balefully looked down at them while the other was covered by a helmet that a Trojan or Greek soldier would wear.
Ancient Gear Golem: 3000 ATK/3000 DEF
In the stands
The Duel Academy students were suitably in shock and awe at seeing such a powerful monster appear. The arrogant looking boy smirked, looking down at the duel. "That loser is toast. To go against the Professor of Obelisk Blue and with his personal deck at that. He never stood a chance."
In the highest parts of the stands Ryo, Asuka and the third person all looked down with neutral expressions on their faces.
"So that's the legendary monster. The attack points, defense points and the effect definitely make it considered to be thought of as one." Ryo idly noted.
"I wonder how that applicant will get out of this. Do you know?" Asuka asked their guest.
Said guest had a small smile on his face. "I have a feeling that this duel is already over and the proctor down below just doesn't realize it."
On the field
Kaito gave a whistle at how large the golem was. "Definitely would give a little kid nightmares for days." He stated.
Doctor de Medici was frustrated at the lack of alarm the applicant was feeling at the moment with such a powerful creature in front of him. "Well, let's just see if you'll keep spouting such words when it attacks your face down card. You should also take heed that if my golems attack points are higher than your monsters defense points, you'll take the difference in damage. Gear Golem, MECHANIZED MELEE, NA NO NE!" he shouted. The large machine whirred to life, the red eye becoming brighter, more vibrant as it slowly lumbered over to Kaito's facedown card. It raised one giant, steel coated fist and attempted to slam the card to pieces.
Rather than looking frightened for either his monster or his life points, Kaito instead gave a smile. "Well teacher, it was nice dueling with you, but this bout is over." He called out.
De Medici looked at him confused, wondering if he had lost his mind when Kaito cleared his throat.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE GIVE A WARM WELCOME TO MY ASSISTANT, THE LOVELY, AMAZING, APPLE MAGICIAN GIRL!" the magician shouted as his monster card flipped over. Out of it, came an apple…with wings. Everyone was confused for a moment until it started giving off a glow so bright it forced them to close their eyes. When it died down, many of the boys found their jaws dropping to the floor.
The piece of fruit had turned into a woman. A very busy, voluptuous woman with blue hair and wings on her back. Though what drew all the red-blooded males eyes even closer was the dangerously borderline obscene outfit she was wearing. Red body armor encompassed her along with red gloves, but at the chest level a large amount of her bust was showing along with a generous view of her cleavage. Her skirt was barely covering her privates and she had a garter strap connecting it to her heels. To top it off she had a magician's hat on her head not too dissimilar to that of the infamous Dark Magician Girl.
The female magician gave a wink and a one finger salute to the audience in the stand, causing the men to roar in approval while the women groaned in despair over another female monster being sexualized like this.
Apple Magician Girl: 1200 ATK/800 DEF
Doctor Cronos was not moved. "She may be pretty but she isn't strong at all. I hope you have something better than that!" he shouted as the Golem's fist was almost on top of the red-clad magicial girl.
Kaito gave an honest, loud and cheerful laugh at the words being thrown at him. "You should know, being a Doctor and all that the weaker the monster, the better its effect is. If Apple Magician girl is chosen to be attacked, then not only do I get to summon another Magician Girl card from my hand, but I also redirect your attack to that monster AND…" he said, pausing for dramatic effect. His magician girl looked entirely unafraid, instead looking at her non-existent nails.
"…your monster loses half of its attack points!" The moment he finished, the good doctor put a hand on his chest as if he was about to have a heart attack.
"NO, wait! WAIT!" de Medici shouted at his monster, but it was far too late at this point. Apple Magician Girl gave everyone in the audience a wave before leapfrogging over Ancient Gear Golem's attacking arm. She then floated up to its lone red eye and from her cleavage, she pulled out of all things a whistle.
Putting it to her lips, she blew hard, causing many to cover their ears from the shrill noise. When the Golem looked straight at her, she stopped her heel down on nothing but air like it was the ground and pointed to the right.
"Good show Apple!" Kaito called out, getting a 'coo' from the girl. "With her effect, I summon the Wonderful, Spectacular Lemon Magician Girl to the field!" Kaito shouted before he placed the card down and from it, another beautiful girl popped up, gaining an even larger cheer from the male population of the stadium.
Lemon Magician Girl was just as beautiful as Apple Magician girl but in her own way. With tanned skin and a bust that continually made the women watching green with envy, her body armor was more modest, if only barely. True to her name, it was all a lemon yellow, with the lower half being covered by white latex stockings and grey spats that covered the rest of what the latex didn't show. Her wand was also a bright yellow and her hat fit perfectly, showing only the lower half of her long blonde hair, half of which curled up and the other half stuck out straight.
Lemon Magician Girl: 800 ATK/600 DEF
Apple Magician Girl floated to the top of Ancient Gear Golem's head and smacked it with one well-placed kick from her heeled boots. The Golem seemingly got the picture and tried to smash the new monster with its other arm, even with smoke coming out of its head and sparks flying out from the broken eye.
Ancient Gear Golem: 3000 ATK/3000 DEF – 1500 ATK/3000 DEF.
Doctor Cronos looked a little relieved as his monster was still stronger, but then quickly remember what Kaito had said only a minute before. "What does she do?"
The toothy smile that Kaito gave him was not reassuring in the slightest. "The exact same thing. When Lemon Magician Girl is attacked, I can summon another Magician Girl, with the only difference being that if it has an effect, it is negated for the entire time it's out on the field. Then your attack is redirected to the new monster and it loses half of its attack points again."
Lemon Magician Girl was actively showing off, posing for the men in the audience before noticing that it was about to be attacked. From her cleavage, she quickly pulled out a stop sign, wooden pole attached and all and waved it frantically. Ancient Gear Golem seemingly heeded the sign and lowered its fist, letting the Magician Girl give a sigh of relief before flying up and joining her sister on top of its head. With a wave of her wand, she turned it into a cartoonishly large hammer and slammed it down home on top of the Gear Golem's head, making it shoot out even more smoke and sparks from that area.
Ancient Gear Golem – 1500 ATK/3000 DEF – 750 ATK/3000 DEF
At this point, Doctor Cronos had pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and was biting down on it from his legendary monster being humiliated so badly in front of everyone and by extension, it meant that he was being made a fool too!
"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! IT. IS. SHOWTIME! PLEASE WELCOME MY FINAL MONSTER! MY LOVELY ASSISTANTS MIGHT HAVE "MAGICIAN GIRL" AS THEIR NAME, BUT IT HAD TO COME FROM SOMEWHERE FIRST!" Kaito shouted.
In the stands
Asuka and Ryo had plenty of laughs seeing their Professors so called 'Legendary Monster' getting taken to town as it was, but Kaito's words shocked them into silence.
"No way. He can't have it. There's only one of that card left!" Ryo exclaimed.
"Did…did you give that to him?" Asuka asked their guest, who merely shrugged and continued to watch the show down below with a smile on his face.
On the field
"COME ON OUT! THE ONE, THE ONLY, THE BEAUTIFUL DARK MAGICIAN GIRL!" Kaito cried out, placing the monster card on his duel disk. From it, the legendary monster owned by the King of Games himself emerged. From the signature light blue armor, to the olden style wooden cane. The short pink skirt, the pink dimples on her cheeks, the blonde hair and blue eyes. She was indeed the real deal and was appearing in front of all of them.
Dark Magician Girl: 2000 ATK/1700 DEF
Just like the other two Magician Girls, Dark Magician Girl did a small pose, twirling for the audience and winking.
Now it was not just the men, but everyone was roaring in excitement to the point that the roof shook slightly from the noise.
If Doctor Cronos was about to have a heart attack before, he was now ready to have a full on one at that very moment. "Wait! How do you have that monster? Why didn't I throw it out using my – " he began to rant before he realized something.
When Kaito sent him his cards earlier during his use of Confiscation, he made sure that the first card he saw was Monster Reborn, while placing the rest to the side. With that kind of bait in hand and de Medici's own arrogance, he had not given the other cards the time of day outside of a cursory glance.
To sum it all up, he got played, from beginning to end.
All the doctor could do was watch helplessly as his Golem raised its fists once more to attack Dark Magician Girl. The first strike was dodge by her veering left, the second strike had her dodging right and the third strike, a double fist slam, had her giving a look of slight disbelief as she smoothly sailed between them.
"BLACK BURNING!" Kaito shouted and Dark Magician Girl put her game face on, while her sisters were watching with Lemon Magician Girl seemingly eating a bag of peanuts that appeared out of thin air and Apple Magician Girl had on a pair of 3-D glasses and was sipping on a movie-theater style cup of cola.
Charging her magical energy into her cane, Dark Magician Girl pointed it at Ancient Gear Golem and fired out a large gout of pink and black energy that was much larger and wider than herself. After a few seconds, it doubled in size and width, forcing her to hold the cane still with both hands.
The Golem could do nothing but watch its destruction come for it. The very moment the magical energy touched its body, it was destroyed. Apple and Lemon Magician Girl both simply floated upwards and clapped at the fireworks that were happening in front of them.
With his prized monster gone, all Doctor Cronos could do was fall to his knees in despair.
Cronos de Medici: 1750 LP
Kaito: 4000 LP
"I…I end my turn." He managed to whisper.
Kaito gave a respectful nod to his fallen opponent. "Ladies. If you would." He asked. All three Magician Girls nodded and combined their energy into Dark Magician's girl cane wand. Red, pink and yellow energy swirled together before being released into a massive attack that engulfed the Doctor whole and ending the duel.
Cronos de Medici: 0 LP
Kaito: 4000 LP
KAITO WINS
When the attack was done, all three Magician girls gave one final bow before they vanished as the hologram machine shut down.
Kaito then gave a bow and the whole stadium erupted into cheers once more.
"Thank you! You are all too kind! Thank you, Doctor Cronos de Medici, for giving me this opportunity to duel. Thank you, my amazing assistants and thank you, the audience, for being amazing!" he called out, giving everyone credit to their parts.
Managing to somehow keep his composure, Doctor Cronos stood up and walked over to Kaito, offering a handshake.
"I hate the way you duel. It feels like an anathema to everything we do as duelists, but you still won and for that, I welcome you to Central Duel Academy."
Kaito shook his hand, offering him a much gentler smile than before. "As I already said, thank you for giving me this chance to duel and show what I'm made of.
To everyone in the stands, he waved one more time before bowing.
"See you, Next Illusion."
With those parting words, his body seemed to vanish completely into sparkling dust until not a single speck of him remained.
In the stands
When the duel concluded, Asuka, Ryo and their guest all clapped at the showmanship and how Kaito didn't prolong the duel any further than it needed to be when his opponent was obviously in no condition to continue onward.
"I don't know about you Ryo, but I have a good feeling this guy is the real deal." Asuka noted, having been observing everything about the challenger carefully.
"I think he needs to watch out. Humiliating the Professor like he did just made him public enemy number one of just about every Obelisk Blue on the island." The older teen retorted.
Asuka could only sigh as her friend continued on with his belief that Kaito was not a true duelist at all.
She was open minded enough to know there was a…not so much a sickness, but rather a disturbing trend of thought that was running around Central Duel Academy lately.
For the Obelisk Blue dorm, it was a self-assured adherence that due to their money and private lessons, they were inherently better than anyone else. Most of the time it wasn't so much their private tutoring that earned them the victory, but having the money to get better cards that got many of them a win.
Though that wasn't her main concern. Looking right at Ryo, she couldn't bear to say that he was actually the cause of the issue she was thinking of. Gaining the title of 'Kaiser' and being all but invincible in battle throughout his entire tenure at Duel Academy, people started to emulate him in certain ways.
His philosophy to dueling was what had lodged itself into the minds of student and faculty alike. The concept of 'Honorable Dueling'. To always be respectful of your opponent, even if they had done nothing to earn that respect in the first place. Ryo wasn't always like that, but people assumed that he was and like all rumors, they stuck around for better or worse. The next was to be respectful to your cards. Many students treated their cards like they were an inherent lifeline. In some ways they were, depending on the rarity of the card. Most forget that you could easily replace cards by ordering new ones online or through the card shop. The final part was to never do anything dishonorable. Oh you could throw on verbal abuse or try to humiliate someone outside of duels, but when you were on the field you stuck to dueling.
That was what Professor Cronos meant by Kaito's dueling style being anathema. He played mind games, he tricked his opponent into thinking a certain train of thought and then closed the trap before escape was possible. He didn't focus entirely on the duel, he was making sure the audience that was watching them were enjoying themselves and having fun.
In a way, it was almost like looking into a mirror. One side being Kaito's thought of making dueling fun for everyone, rather than fighting for something on the line. The other side was Professor Cronos, who despite being a rather obnoxious and petty individual, always dueled with respect towards those that showed it on the field.
If she had grown up differently than she had, maybe she would have subscribed to Ryo's philosophy of honorable dueling. Though seeing what she saw and the smile of the face of their guest…maybe dueling for fun rather than feeling like there was always something riding on who won was more the right thought to go by.
After all, wasn't Duel Monsters originally designed to just be a card game that people played for fun?
She pinched the bridge of her nose, head hurting from thinking too much about things.
"So…with the duel over and everything, I have to ask you. May I please have your autograph, Mutou Yugi-dono?" Ryo asked beside her, holding out a pen and a pad of paper.
The King of Games nodded. "Who will I be making this out to?" he asked politely.
The blunette looked at his companion, who was massaging her temple and was in no real condition to give her name.
"Three, please. One for Ryo Marufuji, one for Asuka Tenjoin and the third…" he paused there, thinking over what he was about to say and then shook his head. "One for Sho Marufuji. Today my little brother made it into Central Duel Academy, even though I think he isn't cut out to be a duelist, so maybe an autograph might help him out."
Asuka blinked and looked at Ryo, being extremely considerate when she knew that he did not have the best outlook towards his younger brother.
"Very well." Yugi said, signing three pieces of paper and handing two to Ryo and the third to Asuka.
"I hope this duel makes you think. I know it did for me. He will make an amazing magician someday and I think he'll treat those cards well."
With that, he tossed them one last friendly wave and walked away.
"Huh, he's a lot quieter than the rumors say." Ryo idly noted.
"Yeah, but he definitely has that shock and awe factor going for him." Asuka added.
"Indeed. Though for now we should get going. Sho is waiting for me downstairs and if he hasn't passed out from blood loss on seeing Dark Magician Girl up close and personal, I'm pretty sure I might have to call the paramedics when I give him the autograph." His piece said, Ryo flashily exited the area by swirling the back of his coat behind him with one hand while walking (note: stalking) his way out.
Asuka gave one last look at the ring before turning around and nearly leaping out of her skin, as right in front of her was the duelist of the hour himself, the self-proclaimed 'Kaito Kid'.
"Excuse me, young lady. I thought I had seen Yugi-dono here just a few moments ago. I'm assuming he left?" he asked politely.
Looking at him up close and personal, Asuka could tell that this 'Kaito' cut a rather dashing figure in his outfit and if she were a lesser girl like her friends, she might have even swooned a bit. Yet she wasn't and instead she gave an amused look at him.
"Yep. He just left a few moments ago. Got an autograph too." She said, waving hers around, though secretly thinking to herself that it was getting framed the minute she left this building and got to the nearest store that sold them at a late hour.
Kaito just chuckled and clapped his hands. As he slowly separated them, Asuka saw something slowly coming out from it. When he fully extended them, she saw that there was another autograph signed by Yugi.
"Already got one myself."
The magician then swiped the autograph with one hand and it vanished. With another wave, a blue rose appeared in his hand.
"Thanks for watching and letting me know that even the King of Games was here to watch my debut act." He said, offering it to her out of kindness.
Asuka took it, both out of politeness and also wondering how he was making everything happen like he was.
"You're such an odd duelist. You say you want everyone to have fun watching, but don't they already do that just watching them?" she asked.
Kaito shook his head. "Just watching isn't enough. An audience should be cheering, participating and doing their best to keep the spirits of their fellows up. From what I've seen of duels nowadays, people only cheer at monsters being destroyed or someone winning and losing. That's just reacting and reacting is boring. Being proactive, however, means that you keep everything on a hairs breadth. The exhilaration and excitement that charges the air is what should drive a duelist to make sure he or she is not only doing their best for themselves, but also for those watching them."
Asuka could see his point but she shook her head lightly. "That kind of thinking will make you very unpopular and get a lot of people gunning for you at Central Duel Academy."
Kaito laughed jovially, either ignorant or truly not caring of what she just said. "Let them. It just means that at the end of day, they too will learn that entertaining others over themselves means more to everyone around them." He challenged.
"I, for one, think that you should be careful. Try not to let your own magic and your wants be your undoing." The blonde warned.
"Well thank you for caring. At least I have one person rooting for me. Good luck at Duel Academy Miss. Who knows, maybe someday you'll be challenging me for something too." Kaito said with a smile as he bowed to her. Taking the top of her hand into his own, he kissed the top of it much to her surprise before he stepped back and covered himself with his own cloak.
In a single blink, all Asuka saw was a large white cape before there was…nothing. All that remained in Kaito's place was a small chibi plush of himself in his outfit. Hat, cape and all were there too. She picked it up and huffed, but then smiled to herself.
"I think I'll have to upgrade my deck before I challenge this guy to anything." She mused as she too began her trek home.
Domino Hospital
Evening
Looking at the setting sun, a brown haired young teenager in a black blazer from a middle school looked at the New Domino stadium with a sense of disappointment and amusement.
Today he was supposed to have been there, dueling for a chance to get into Central Duel Academy but several things happened that prevented it from happening. The first and foremost being that the train he was supposed to take that would get him close to the stadium had been shut down for maintenance. He could have hoofed it all the way there, confident that his running speed would see him through.
That was when the second and more important thing happened. He had gotten a phone call from someone very special to him. Midori Hibiki, the older sister of his mentor had called him to let him know that said mentor had woken up from his coma at the hospital and wanted to speak to him immediately before he possibly relapsed.
So instead of continuing towards the testing area, he instead went in the opposite direction, towards the hospital.
Once there, he saw his mentor. Rather than looking weak and frail like he expected, there was a fire in his eyes. He had asked for a pick up duel with him, wanting to see how far he had gotten with his deck. Though he could not move very well, his mentor had Midori playing his cards for him.
He had tried his best but in the end, he had gotten thrashed, badly. Though Midori lauded him for getting his mentor down some Life Points, which she said was quite hard in and of itself, it was a sign that he had yet to mature as a duelist.
His mentor thought otherwise, instead asking him a favor.
"Judai…I'm entrusting my deck to you. Make it become one with your own. Find the real path of a true hero like you wanted to do. I know that I ended up making you miss your test and Midori here will be taking a semesters leave from the Academy to help me while I'm still awake, but she can get you in next semester via special recommendation." He had asked.
"Koyo…of course man! I'll do my best!" Judai swore. He took the deck, full of gratitude for being entrusted with such a heavy responsibility.
Now he was looking at the setting sun as the lights of the New Domino Stadium were slowly being shut down, the exams finally completed for the day.
Though he was disappointed, for sure, he knew that he would get in soon enough. He just had to wait a semester. Holding out his fist, he promised he would shake up Central Duel Academy with the strongest combination Elemental Hero Deck possible!
End Chapter 1
Let the curtains fall
A/N: Thank you all for reading this far! This is something that was inspired by Yung Warriors 'State of the Meta'. Despite not even being anything CLOSE to that, I'd like to think my own spin here is different from most Episode 1 re-hashes for the most part.
Also, yes, Judai is not going to be in the Shadow Rider's arc of this fic. He will be coming in later, but for those of you that are well-read, the two characters that were with him (and they are NOT OC's. They're real GX characters) means that he will be involved in a separate arc when he does arrive at Central Duel Academy.
While some might be groaning at the thought of going over the same episodes over and over in a YGO GX fic, it's my hope that what I do with Kaito and how he plays will make the chapters and character reactions feel different.
Kaito himself is also taken from 'Magic Kaito 1412' a spin-off from Case Closed in dress and mannerisms. So no, he is not a Yuya pre-cursor and no, I won't be including the Arc-V stuff.
For those waiting on Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei, I ask that you remain patient as there is one other story I am currently writing that I want to finish off first before posting the next chapters of those.
It will be called 'The Brother' and it's a Dragon Quest 11 fanfic (great game, but DANG IT SQUARE ENIX I WANTED THE 3DS VERSION!) The PS4 version literally has about an eighth of its story content cut off compared to the 3DS Version. Also no Martina/Jade Waifu makes me sad.
Thank you for your patience and understanding in this trying times!
Finally, I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh GX, or Magic Kaito 1412 or Case Closed. All those belong to their respective creators. Kaito's actual appearance, however, is mine.