Disclaimer: Look back towards the first chapter.
Author's Note: Well, still no reviews. I'll continue to update regardless if I get reviews or not. I will admit the duels aren't really exciting. But they are getting there, as well as the plot. That's all I can promise, anyway on with the story.
Chapter 3: The Blue Elites and the Yellow Star
A young boy walked down one of the corridors of the school. He was a handsome boy, with jet black hair and dark gray-blue eyes, and wore the uniform of a Third-Year Obelisk Blue student. His name was Tristoff Mortimer. The black-haired boy walked down the pathway from the main building to the boys dormitory. He had spent the summer at his Foster-Parents home, can't say it was enjoyable. But now he was returning home for the last time.
Shinji and Katanokuto left the arena area, once again, bored of the low-level duels. The duelists who scored higher on their written exams had already tested, leaving only the low-level ones remaining.
"Nothing else left to watch," Shinji sighed, as another duelist destined for Osiris Red barely won his duel, "Unless you want to get a laugh; all the competent duelists are done."
"That's true," Katanokuto agreed, "But hey, the boats are leaving for Duel Academia today to take the students who are already in the school back. The new applicants will have to wait a day, to get their possessions packed, but if we leave soon, we can catch the next boat back."
"Sounds like a plan," Shinji said, "Let's just head to the waiting room for a second, I brought my backpack along and I don't want to leave it."
As the two left, Katanokuto let Shinji take the lead, so he could whisper something to his Swordsman of Landstar.
"Go and check out how many duels are left," he said quietly, as the spirit listened intently, "If there's anyone skilled, let me know immediately, okay?"
The swordsman spirit saluted, and flew off down the halls, while Katanokuto caught up with his friend. At the same time, Chika sat in the waiting room and saw Shinji and Katanokuto enter. He stood up and walked over to them.
"Um… hi. I just wanted to say thanks for taking care of that kid back there for me," he said hesitantly.
"Not a problem," Shinji replied, "It was really all Katanokuto's doing, he was the one that dueled."
"Some people just don't have manners," Shrugged Katanokuto, "Yellow duelists are usually strong, but there are those that overestimate themselves. There are also those that are in Ra Yellow without being very strong, yet still get overconfident. For those people, you just need to introduce them to the real world; notice how I barely used a single rare card in the duel? If that guy is smart, he'll notice how I only had to use weak monsters against him."
"Main point is," Shinji concluded, "Leave the holier-than-thou punks to us."
"...to the real world; notice how I barely used a single rare card in the duel? If that guy is smart, he'll notice how I only had to use weak monsters against him." Tristoff heard from around the corner. He walked up on the two students.
Shinji turned his head as he saw Tristoff approach. Although he wasn't too familiar with the Obelisk Blue's alchemic duelist (hence the fact he still used the honorific -san, instead of -kun for those he was familiar with, and no honorific for Katanokuto) they were around the same strength and rank, by the Duel Academia standards.
"Good afternoon, Tristoff-san" Shinji said to Tristoff, "We were just talking about some of the applicants, and some older students who just don't learn."
One of Tristoff's black eyebrows raised a bit at that "older students" bit. Seeing a potential threat in that statement, Tristoff merely said, "Oh?"
"Yeah, some idiot from Ra Yellow started acting all tough," Shinji laughed, "Said he could beat anyone in Blue, or something like that. So Katanokuto here dueled him, and was winning with barely a single rare card. Would have won as well if the duel wasn't called off; an examiner saw the dueling in the halls, which is against the rules, so it had to be cancelled."
"Hmmm. Truly ridiculous rule if you ask me. A person should be aloud to duel in any way they wish..." Or so Tristoff told them, but his true philosophy was different, one he'd never say.
"Yeah, that is true," Shinji agreed, "But they have their reasons; the halls are small, and dueling in there takes up space, so it blocks the path, or something like that. But it is true that we shouldn't limit dueling with the Duel Disks to only arenas and designated areas."
At that time, Katanokuto's spirit partner, the Swordsman of Landstar, floated in. The swordsman knew that only Katanokuto could see him, so it signaled with its arms that there weren't any applicants that stuck out in particular. Although Katanokuto didn't show any response, knowing it would look strange to those around him, he closed his eyes for three seconds, signaling to the spirit that he understood.
Tristoff looked at Katanokuto for a moment, his Grey-Eyes ever cool and calm.
"So, I see you are in your a second year?" Tristoff guessed.
"Yep," Katanokuto nodded, "Katanokuto Kenichi, Ra Yellow second year, and head of the Academia Kendo club. Pleased to meet you."
"He's an old friend of mine," Shinji explained, "We went to Ra Yellow together last year, but I was promoted to Blue and he wasn't."
At that moment, an announcement rang out in the break room: "Attention all second and third year students, the first boats back to Duel Academia will be departing shortly."
"We might want to get going," Shinji said, as he picked up his backpack from under one of the benches, "Nice talking to you all."
Tristoff watched the two of them. Something in him told him to watch out for them. Tristoff then moved towards the boat, he was finally going home to the academy. At the same time, Shinji slung his backpack over his shoulder, while Katanokuto took his shinai off his back.
"What's with the shinai now?" Shinji asked.
"In case anyone tries to get in our way and slow us down," Katanokuto replied, "We need to get to the boat fast, so if anyone tries to stop us, whether an student, examiner, or teacher, they'll think twice about getting in the way of someone carrying this."
Shinji and Katanokuto boarded the boat, as the crowd filed onto it. The boat was filled with students, from all the different dorms. As the lines shrunk and everyone boarded, the boat set off.
"It'll probably take an hour to get there by boat," Katanokuto said, leaning against the railings, "There's a duel arena downstairs, though. How about we go there and have a duel, for fun, y'know?"
"Sounds good," Shinji said, "Say, you seen where Chika-san went? It seems we lost him in the crowd."
To be certain, Chikamatsu was no longer with them. He had left around the time Tristoff appeared; not because he didn't want to be near them, but because he wasn't sure how
Shinji and Katanokuto went under the deck, where there was a large dueling room. There were tables all around for people to duel, and three large arenas in the middle, where people could use their duel disks. Two of them were taken, but there was one at the very end that no one was dueling in. At the side of the room there was a row of duel disks, and both Katanokuto and Shinji took one disk each.
"You want me to use a deck you can fight on an even level with?" Shinji asked, taking many deck boxes out of his backpack, "Or should I just use my main one?"
"Go all out," Katanokuto smirked, "I'm feeling lucky today."
"It'll take more than luck, but suit yourself," Shinji said, taking a deck from a black deck box. The two shuffled and cut the cards, before sliding them in the duel disks and moving to opposite sides of the arena.
"Duel!"
"Let's go," Shinji said, as he drew his cards, "You wanted my best deck, so don't be surprised if I show no mercy. Draw!"
He looked over his hand, before declaring his move.
"Shining Angel (1400/1100), in attack mode!" He said, placing one card on his duel disk. A beautiful light shone in the middle of the field, and from it emerged an angel with large, golden wings.
"Your move," Shinji said.
"Just a monster? No traps or anything?" Katanokuto said, "What, an unlucky hand?"
"My hand can't be lucky or unlucky, that depends on how the duel goes," Shinji replied.
"Well, suit yourself," Shrugged Katanokuto, "Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800/1600), in attack mode! Attack the angel!"
A full metal knight appeared on Katanokuto's side of the field, and charged at the Shining Angel. With one swing, the angel was vanquished, but its light remained, still shining in the field.
"Shining Angel's special effect now activates," Declared Shinji, "When it's destroyed in battle, I can special summon a light type monster from my deck with an attack of 1500 or less. So I special summon Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300)!"
As Shinji's LP dropped to 3600, a large yellow tank drove out of the light, remaining on the field.
"Now then," Shinji said, beginning his turn, "I summon Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600) to the field, then equip Z-Metal Tank to the Dragon head through its effect."
The mechanical dragon was summoned, and docked itself on the Tank. The two connected, and the Y-Dragon Head had an attack of 2100 remaining.
"Y-Dragon Head," Shinji said, "Attack Gearfried!"
The Dragon Head's mouth opened, as a small cannon was revealed inside. With one shot of energy, the iron knight was destroyed.
"Done warming up?" grinned Katanokuto, "I'd say it's about time to get serious."
Katanokuto drew, and then began his move.
"Warrior Dai Grepher (1700/1600) in attack mode," he said, "And two cards face-down. Your move."
"It's probably a trap," Shinji thought, "Katanokuto uses traps to protect and power up his swordsmen, that's a normal monster, so he could also have Order to Charge set. But if it's a trap such as Rising Energy or his Ready for Intercepting/A Feint Plan combo, then I can break it by destroying his Warrior. If I draw X-Head Cannon, then I can return Z-Metal Tank to a monster and fuse them all into XYZ-Dragon Cannon. Let's see my luck."
He drew his card, but it wasn't X-Head Cannon. Instead, he drew Familiar Knight, which wouldn't be able to defeat the Dai Grepher. But then, defeating a monster isn't what he put that Knight in his deck for.
"Familiar Knight (1200/1400), in attack mode," Shinji said, summoning his monster, "Now, Y-Dragon Head, attack!"
"Activate my trap combo!" Katanokuto called out, using his two set cards, "Ready for Intercepting and a Feint Plan! Ready for Intercepting switches my Warrior Dai Grepher to face-down defense mode, and A Feint Plan prevents you from attacking my set cards!"
"As I thought," Shinji thought, "I could now turn my machines into YZ-Tank Dragon and use its effect to destroy is set card, but I still wouldn't be able to attack. And as it is, I want him to attack my Familiar Knight."
Katanokuto's turn began, and he switched his Warrior to attack mode.
"Warrior Dai Grepher," he called out, "Attack the Familiar Knight!"
The two swordsmen clashed, but Familiar Knight's blade broke with ease, as Dai Grepher cut through him. With the Knight gone, its effect activated, and both players special summoned a level four monster.
"I chose to special summon Rare Metal Dragon (2400/1200) to my field." He said, as a dragon made of dark metal appeared.
"And I chose to special summon Kojikocy (1500/1200) in defense mode." A bandit monster appeared.
"Also," Katanokuto added, "I play Swords of Revealing Light! Your attacks are sealed for three turns. Turn end." Three swords of light encased Shinji.
Shinji drew, not getting the X-Head Cannon he wanted, but still a good combo.
"I'll return Z-Metal Tank to its position as a monster," he said, "and remove both Z and Y from play to special summon YZ-Tank Dragon (2100/2200)!" The tank began to open up, as the mechanical dragon descended, attaching itself at the opening.
"Now, I'll equip my Tank Dragon with United We Stand, and end my turn."
One of the swords vanished as Katanokuto began his turn. "I'll start by summon Celtic Guardian (1400/1200) to my field in defense." An elf swordsman appeared crouching. Raising it's sword to defend itself.
"That does it for me this turn." Katanokuto said.
Shinji drew, 'I'm still unable to attack thanks to his swords. I'll guess I have to wait it out,' he thought to himself. "I'll place two card facedown and end." A pair of facedown card appeared behind this tank dragon. Another sword disappeared.
'I'm almost ready to take the offense, just need a little more time', Katanokuto thought, "Alright, I summon Masaki the Legendary Warrior (1100/1100) in defense, and set a card facedown to, I end my turn." A green armored samurai appeared.
Shinji drew another card, unable to do anything. "I pass." He said as last sword passed.
"Now its time to take the offense," Katanokuto said adding another card to his hand. "I start by taking the offense by summoning Swordsman of Landstar (500/1200)." His toy warrior appeared.
"I'll equip Swordsman of Landstar with Sword of the Soul-Eater," he declared, as the wicked black blade appeared in his Landstar's hand again. His four other monsters screamed as their souls were ripped from their bodies, powering up Landstar to 4500 attack points, 800 points stronger than the Tank Dragon.
"Landstar, attack!" Katanokuto declared, as the swordsman flew at the Tank. However, Shinji had anticipated that move, and set a trap of his own.
"Activate Call of the Haunted," Shinji declared, "I'll revive Shining Angel, and thanks to United We Stand, my Tank Dragon gains an extra 800 attack points now, making it equal to the strength of your Landstar!"
"Counter with Rising Energy!" Katanokuto declared, discarding one card from his hand, "Landstar's attack points now increase another 1500!"
The 6000 attack point Swordsman was about to destroy Shinji's Tank Dragon, when Shinji activated a second trap.
"Chain with Return from the Different Dimension!" he said, "By paying half my LP (1800) I can special summon all my monsters that were removed from play!"
Z-Metal Tank and Y-Dragon head returned to the field, and the Tank Dragon gained another 1600 attack points. The Landstar was at 6000, while the Tank Dragon was at 6100, just enough to destroy the Landstar. Katanokuto's LP dropped by 100 (3600), but he still had one summon. Using that, he placed one monster in face-down defense mode.
"It's over," Shinji declared, as the two monsters he called back with Return from D.D. vanished, "I activate YZ-Tank Dragon's effect! By discarding one card from my hand, I can destroy a face-down monster on your side of the field!"
A beam of energy shot to the set card, destroying Katanokuto's defensive Penguin Soldier. With that, his field was open.
The Rare Metal Dragon lunged, the Shining Angel threw glowing feathers like darts, and the YZ-Tank Dragon shot a final burst of energy. Katanokuto's LP dropped to zero, as he fell to one knee, while still grinning.
"Started out slow," Katanokuto said, "But we had a great finish! Good duel!"
"You too," Shinji nodded, "That was pretty fun."
As the duel concluded, Tristoff clapped his hands slowly.
"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" He commended, approaching the two duelists.
Following Tristoff's lead, others who watched the duel began to clap. Shinji and Katanokuto looked at each other, grinned, then dramatically faced the crowd.
"Thank you, thank you!" Shinji called out, bowing dramatically to everyone, "You've been a great audience!"
"We'll be at Duel Academia all year," Katanokuto said, waving to the crowd, "And don't forget to join the Kendo club!"
The two left the duel arena, feeling very satisfied with themselves.
"Nothing like a good duel, followed by a nice boost to your popularity," Katanokuto said, as he a group of Osiris Red second years begged to trade with him.
"You said it," Shinji agreed, slightly distracted by an Obelisk Blue girl who was near them, "Nice move there, by the way. Your sword I was expecting, but I didn't see a double-power up coming with that trap card as well. 6000 attack points from Landstar! Awesome!"
"Same for you," Katanokuto nodded, "Nice use of United We Stand, special summoning monsters with traps to add more power."
"Well done, for second-years." Came the voice of Tristoff. He had followed them, wanting to commend the two on their duel.
"Thanks a lot," Katanokuto replied to Tristoff, "Really, that's the strongest I've ever gotten my Landstar up to, but Shinji still managed to outdo me. I haven't been able to beat that guy when he uses that deck once, but I was close! If I only drew Sogen or Banner of Courage- I could have beat his monster!"
"No use thinking about the what-ifs," Shinji said, "What happened, no changing that."
"I'll remember that the next time I win," replied Katanokuto.
"Yes it was close." Tristoff said, but in his mind he said, "But not close enough you fool!"