The next morning, Yuushi had gotten off the monorail and was making his way towards Delta Academy. Students were making their way inside either by walking, having their parents drop them off near the front gate or taking public transportation such as the monorail, public bus, school bus, etc. Normally, Yuushi would have been looking all around him on his walk to Delta not only to pass the time but to take in the scenery. Today though, he had been more preoccupied than usual since the encounter with Judgment left him worried about what to do next.
"Alright, there has to be something that tells me what this Judgment thing is. The problem though is that there's no evidence of that attack. On my way, the streets that got ruined, the buildings that got destroyed...it doesn't make sense."
Classes went on like normal with various teachers moving in and out of the classroom. Hours later, it was lunchtime and Yuushi, Ayumi, Hikaru and Ryoko met up at a table outside and started to eat and talk.
Hikaru moaned, "Mr. Yamazaki gave us a report to do. I mean, can't he take it easy on us? It's still the first week back."
Ryoko chuckled, "I haven't gotten anything too bad yet. Just a small few paragraphs in English but that's about it."
"At least there's a week or so to do the assignment," Ayumi said.
"Hey, you're right Ayumi! That means I can check out all the posters around the school. Baseball, basketball, tennis, duelling, cooking, culture, arts, all those clubs are going to be recruiting," Hikaru perked up.
Yuushi took a bite of his sandwich as Ryoko added on, "Just joined the photography club this morning. The first meeting will probably be either at the end of the week or the start of next week. Yuushi, what clubs have you had your eye on?"
The boy with the glasses did not answer as Hikaru spoke up, "Got any ideas?"
"Uh...sorry, there were signups for clubs this week?", Yuushi asked trying to get back in the conversation.
Hikaru was puzzled, "Come on, Yuushi. You didn't see all the posters and booths in the main lobby? The gardening club even had someone dressed up as a large rabbit walking around with flyers."
Honestly, Yuushi did not remember much of today at all but tried to fake it, "Yeah, I saw that. I was just thinking about other things."
"Something wrong? Usually, you're on point with note taking but I noticed that you were behind when Mr. Yamazaki started his lecture," Ayumi commented with worry.
"It's fine. Don't worry about it. It's just something I need to deal with," Yuushi replied.
The other three went off on another topic that Yuushi did not really listen to as lunch ended less than an hour later with the bell ringing throughout the school grounds. The afternoon classes continued until the final bell rung signalling the end of classes. Many people flooded out of their classrooms and while many were heading home, this week there were many people left in the school because of clubs week. Hikaru was already out the door and presumably headed to the main lobby of the school.
Ayumi packed up her notebook and stationery equipment, "Yuushi, are you going to be joining any clubs?"
Yuushi put his dark red backpack on his shoulders, "I've never really joined a club. Sounds fun and all but it's not for me. What about you?"
The girl smiled, "I'm like that too. I haven't ever joined a club and like the saying goes, if it's not broken, don't fix it."
"Well, I'll actually be in the library for a bit. I'm going to get some books and start working on Mr. Yamazaki's assignment. If I get started now, it won't be as bad later on," Yuushi stated.
"Then I'll see you later. Good luck," Ayumi said as she headed out the classroom.
With that, Yuushi exited and wanted to head to the library but clubs week was mostly only for a week or so. He felt that it would not hurt to take some time to see what clubs Delta Academy had. Being one of the last people out the classroom, the hallways already had students moving around everywhere. As the main lobby was downstairs, Yuushi made his way to the stairs and already he noticed various posters and advertisements for clubs like his friends had mentioned. However, he did not read any of them as he went downstairs and there was a large, nearly round lobby with booths set up along the walls.
"Let's see what this is all about. First time I've seen a high school clubs week."
Most booths had put a lot of effort in their presentations as they had known that not only does a good representative get more members but a visually appealing set-up will draw in even more potential members. Decorations and banners hung from the ceilings and walls with people dressed up and Yuushi even noticed a peculiar sight.
"Well, there's that large white rabbit running around that they mentioned. It's even coming this way."
The person in the white rabbit costume walked up to various students and gave them flyers before coming up to Yuushi, "The gardening club is having a light lunch for anyone interested. Why not hop on over and take a look?"
"Sure, I'll think about it. Thanks."
While Yuushi did not have any interest or much knowledge in gardening, he did not want to seem rude as he took the flyer and looked at it while walking to other booths. Based off the voice, the person inside the costume was a male as the rabbit started going to others students. Further along, there was someone dressed up as a shrine maiden, people in various sports gear, a chess table for the chess club and a computer gaming club among other stand-out booths. Roughly half an hour later, Yuushi had been all around the massive lobby and seen pretty much everything he had wanted to see. Taking his leave, he went back up the stairs and made his way towards the library.
The double doors to the entrance of the library was already open for students to come and go as they pleased. There was a plain sign above the doors letting students know exactly where the library was as Yuushi entered and to his surprise, the library was already crammed with people.
"It's not midterms or anything so why? Oh, I see," the boy wondered until he saw some classmates he recognized in the area, "I guess for clubs week, some people have their meetings or gatherings here. I also suppose that students want to chat with their friends or something since it's still the first week back."
Scanning the room, Yuushi did not see a table that he could use but there was another source of seats available. Everyone was whispering to each other since they had to keep the noise level to a minimum for the people around them. Delta Academy's library also had large soundproof rooms in the back which were normally reserved by groups in advance for their own activities or for groups of students looking to concentrate on group work or assignments and needed a quiet place. Though the rooms were more than likely booked already, Yuushi felt it would not hurt to at least ask if any of the soundproof rooms were available.
The boy walked up to the receptionist and noticed a woman with glasses, "Excuse me. I was just wondering if any of the back rooms were available. I want to do a research assignment and that would be a nice place to start."
"One moment please. Let me see," the receptionist commented while she began typing on the computer in front of her, "What time is it? Alright then, Room 3 was originally booked by a club for an hour and a half but they are about ten minutes late now.
"So does that mean that I can use the room for an hour and a half then? Well, hour and twenty minutes now roughly," Yuushi asked just to make sure.
She nodded, "That's right. After that though, someone else may need to use the room so if another group or person shows up then, I'll have to give the room to them."
Yuushi nodded, "Thanks then."
He headed off to Room 3 which was the room in the middle section of the first floor to the back wall. Turning the knob and after a bit of a push, the door opened and Yuushi made his way inside and put his backpack on one of their chairs surrounding the square table which he sat in a chair beside it. Although Yuushi told Ayumi that he needed to go to the library to do some school work, that was a half-truth. The other half was some time to think about what had happened with Judgment in the Spirit World. Out of his backpack, the boy grabbed his deck along with other various Spell Counter, Spellcaster and Spellcaster-related cards.
"Great. Now I'm stuck as a pawn of some sort in some grand experiment by Judgment. Even worse, I have no idea what it's about. Was it just a dream? No, it can't be. Unless I dreamed of events to come in the future...no, that's just not possible. Then again, rolling back time shouldn't be possible and Judgment seemed able to do it. Arcanite Magician is here too at least to help me out but we still need more information somehow. In any case, if this has to do with this world, the Spirit World and Duel Monsters, I at least know about two of those and there's one thing that seems to tie them together. This deck could use an update anyhow but just how will I change it..."
He adjusted his glasses and then spread out various cards which included Magical Dimension, Secret Village of the Spellcasters, Secret Sanctuary of the Spellcasters, Tempest Magician, Sorcerer of Dark Magic, Magical Citadel of Endymion and Effect Veiler among others.
"Secret Village and Sanctuary give me more lockdown, Royal Magical Library can be used for draw before Xyz or Synchro Summons, Tempest Magician gives more burn...hmm..."
Yuushi separated his own deck based off monsters, spells and traps then rearranged them by combo potential and then tried some of his own experiments. Rapid Spell Counter gain, pure power, rapid destruction and burn were among the strategies he thought of.
"Ayumi gave me Sorcerer of Dark Magic which has really high power, Magical Citadel is probably going to be kept maybe...what about Mega Ton Magical Cannon? It has a lot of build-up time but it will destroy every card on the opponent's field without targeting which can bypass some defenses..."
Though Yuushi was absorbed in his own thoughts, he finished up some changes about twenty minutes later and had some ideas for his deck that he would test out later. For the time though, he made slight adjustments and was satisfied. On his D-Pad were notes about further improvements and cards he would look at sometime later on and see how well they would synergize with his deck. Since his limbs were getting a bit stiff, Yuushi decided to take a quick stretch before moving on to his assignment.
"Still, even with these changes, Judgment had cards that are legendary. Every source I checked doubts cards like Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End and Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning even exist anymore. Who knows what else Judgment has? If I'm being watched even now...then just what can I do? It's like running around a maze blindfolded with no exit."
Before he could finish though, there were some knocks on the door as someone began to furiously shake the handle.
"Who's in there?! Hey!"
At first, Yuushi ignored the knocks but they were getting louder and more frequent with the individual even trying to force the door open with their body. It would be hard to concentrate and before anything got out of hand, Yuushi decided to open the door and see who it was. The individual was a male student around Yuushi's size with dark spiky orange-blond hair wearing the school uniform.
However, this person was not alone as he was with two other males as the bigger one on the left shouted, "What's going on here? We had the room booked for one and a half hours and this guy stole it! You'd better start explaining."
Yuushi opened his mouth, "I just asked the receptionist and she gave the spot to me. This room was empty so I used the space."
Despite that, the big person was not stepping down, "I'm not going to let you disrespect Delta's Duelists! You can't just come walking in like you own the place."
Yuushi tried a more diplomatic approach, "I needed to work on an assignment and the tables were full. I talked to the receptionist and she told me that since a club was ten minutes late, they forfeit this spot meaning that I could use it."
The shorter individual was getting really nervous, "Guys. Calm down. This is a library you know. We're going to get in trouble."
The orange haired male chuckled a bit, "Hold on guys. You look familiar. Are you Yuushi, as in Yuushi Sakudo? Semi-finalist of the Delta Duel Monsters Tournament this year?"
"That's me. What about it?", the boy replied.
A male librarian asserted himself into the conversation, "Do you all have no manners? Show some respect and keep quiet. This is a library. If this little party continues, I suggest you take it outside where you won't be bothering the other students."
After the male librarian left, the orange-blond boy thought up something, "Alright. Alright. I'll tell you what. I sort of do agree that you disrespected our club by taking our spot but I sort of also agree that we were a bit late. Still, I think we should get the spot since we booked it first and there's more of us for our meeting."
"Is this spot really that important? I know you said there's a club meeting but aren't there better spots like the mall, the school courtyard, a bigger booked classroom that you could temporarily use as a room, etc?" Yuushi said trying to calm them down.
"It's not about the spot, it's about the honor. How would Delta look at Delta's Duelists if we let you just push us out without a fight. Tell you what, we won't bother you and I'll apologize for the behavior if you duel me. Unless of course, you're scared of our club. You don't want to be known as the semi-finalist chicken, do you?", the orange-blond haired male declared.
Yuushi sighed to himself, "I can handle some distractions in the background but if someone distracts me on purpose, it'll probably not be worth my time to work. Besides, I did make some changes to my deck and what better way to test it out than on a real opponent. I really would rather not duel now but paper and theories aren't quite as good as a real field test."
"Fine. You're on."
"Haha. Excellent. Just what I thought. How about just outside the school then?"
The four students made their way outside relatively close to the outer courtyard.
They arrived near the center as the other three stopped and looked at Yuushi with the orange-blond haired one stepping forward, "So what do think? Pretty great spot if I say so myself. Great area for a great duel."
Yuushi recognized this spot as a fairly popular spot that students would duel in and answered back, "Yeah, it's a nice spot."
Extending his hand forward, the orange-blond chuckled, "I forgot to introduce myself. I'll need to work on that. Name's Touya and I'm the club leader of Delta's Duelists."
His demeanor changed completely as Yuushi extended his hand for the handshake and he wasn't sure what to make of Touya.
"Good stuff. You seem a bit tense. Come on, lighten up a bit. Honestly, I just wanted to drag you out here for a nice duel. Glad these two could help me out with that," Touya chuckled.
The big guy titled his head, "Hey, what? I didn't know about that plan!"
"In all honestly, we could just meet at some other time like you said but to duel a strong duelist like yourself is a nice treat. Yourself, Hikaru, Sakura and Masaki were the semi-finalists. I already faced the other three so this will be interesting. Like with them, I'll stake my reputation on this duel," Touya said confidently.
Speaking of semi-finalists, a familiar one stepped forward, "Hey Yuushi! Touya! What are you two doing here?!"
Hikaru ran up as Touya grinned, "Perfect! Hikaru, last time we duelled I told you that I wanted to start a club focused on Duel Monsters. Especially on dueling and the professional scene. Well, that's what Delta's Duelists are for. Have a nice time, a great duel, a good time in general."
His voice got increasingly louder as more and more students began to take notice as they could see both Yuushi and Touya readying their D-Pads.
Yuushi was wondering about the sudden loudness in Touya's voice, "It almost sounded like Touya was talking so loud so that he could advertise his club to everyone. Whatever the case, it certainly seemed to work as a small crowd of spectators are noticing us. Speaking of spectators, I wonder if Judgment is looking at this battle. If it is, that isn't good."
"So are you interested in becoming a pro duelist then?," Yuushi questioned.
"Of course. Hikaru here got lucky and he's already on the path. For some like us, we still have to work and I've been preparing and looking at the professional scene for a while now. My favorite duelist is a great newcomer but has had tons of experience in Duel Monsters already. Maybe you've heard of Gauche the Star Man in Spartan City?"
Shaking his head, Yuushi denied it, "I know Gauche the quarter-finalist in the WDC."
Hikaru stepped in, "I think Keita mentioned something about this guy. He showed me a picture and he was in a great costume. Gauche was in the WDC as a duelist but I also heard he was an administrator."
"Yep. A cool guy and tons of people look up to him as a great person, myself included. He's my hero and this duel will be in honor of him. So let's start this thing!", Touya announced to everyone.
Yuushi and Touya moved a fair distance from one another with Touya's two members watching with Hikaru on the sides. The two duelists had their D-Pads extend out to form Duel Disks.
"Augmented Reality – Link Established"
The world around them began to digitize though remained the same so far as their D-Gazers lit up momentarily. Many other students decided to witness this duel as a crowd formed around Yuushi and Touya. With five cards in their hands, the duel was about to begin.
"Duel!"
Yuushi – 4000 LP
Touya – 4000 LP
The club leader had the first move as he drew, "Now we're talking! I summon Heroic Challenger – Thousand Blades!"
A hulking figure clad in a suit of thick metal armor descended down and landed causing a minor rumble on impact. The figure had countless white-silver extrusions resembling spiked blades sticking out of its armor from the back and wielded a bladed polearm (ATK: 1300, Level 4).
"Pretty cool monster right?"
"Yeah. It does look pretty good," Yuushi plainly replied.
Touya chuckled, "Glad you like it. In fact I like this monster so much, I'll summon another. Now I activate the effect of Thousand Blades and thanks to this, I'll Special Summon another 'Heroic Challenger' monster from my deck by discarding Heroic Challenger Double Lance. Come on out! Heroic Challenger – Spartan!"
After sending Double Lance from his hand, Thousand Blades raised up its polearm and courageously shouted out as another monster heard the call and emerged from a summoning portal beside the warrior. Like the name had suggested, the monster resembled a Spartan warrior from Ancient Greece. With shining gold and silver armor and a red cape, Spartan took a battle stance and in its hands were a spear and a large red-golden round shield big enough to defend a large portion of its body. Even the golden-colored helmet had a design matching a full helm used in an ancient era which completely covered the monster's head and face only leaving a small opening for its eyes (ATK: 1600, Level 4). Regardless of that display, Thousand Blades seemed to use up its energy as the monster knelled down into a resting position with its polearm in front to block any incoming attacks (DEF: 1100, Level 4).
Though Yuushi expected an Xyz Summon, Touya grabbed two cards from his hand, "There is a small price to pay though since I used Thousand Blades's effect so it has to go into DEF position. Whatever! It's the first turn so I can't attack anyways which means just these two cards face-down. Let's see what you can do, Yuushi!"
In front of the orange-blond haired duelist, two cards materialized behind his two monsters as it was Yuushi's turn though he took some time to think before starting.
"Odd. With two Level 4 monsters out, that's almost a guaranteed Xyz Summon. I wonder why he didn't do it. Maybe he's focusing on defending for the time. Wait, I see. He wants to utilize Spartan's effect so I better work around it."
"My turn now! Draw!"
He grabbed a card, "I summon Crusader of Endymion!"
A turquoise portal opened up before a form of light was outlined in front of the portal. This Spellcaster at first glance appeared to be a large blue armored individual but looking more closely, the gauntlets, leggings and shoulders of the armor were actually bound near the individual using runic magic. The only things that were actually being worn on the body were the chest armor, full helmet and the thin brown robes underneath the armor (ATK: 1800, Level 4).
Yuushi looked at the two 'Heroic Challenger' monsters but mostly at Spartan, "If there's another 'Heroic' monster other than Spartan and my monster attacks it, Spartan gains the other monster's original ATK. Thousand Blades is another story and should be much safer for attack. Though Touya won't lose any Life Points since its in DEF mode, Thousand Blades is the right target."
"Crusader of Endymion attacks Heroic Challenger – Thousand Blades! Go!"
The Spellcaster's arm was empowered with magic as the gauntlet attached itself to the glowing arm before the gauntlet itself was illuminated. Charging forward, runes formed on the gauntlet as Crusader of Endymion intended to make a powerful punch with its fists.
Touya grinned, "You're trying to take out Thousand Blades. Smart choice, Yuushi, but not in this case!"
Yuushi was concerned, "What does that mean?"
"This battle will cost you! Hope you're ready for this! Eat this Trap Card! Heroic Advance!"
While Crusader of Endymion was launching forward, Heroic Challenger Spartan's own spear and shield began to glow as the spear enlarged itself. Stepping in front of the other monster and raising its shield up, everyone knew that the now defending Spartan wanted to take this attack.
"This Trap Card lets me switch your attack target and aim it at my Heroic Challenger Spartan. Even better, the new Level 4 or lower 'Heroic' monster gains double attack and the monsters involved can't be destroyed in battle!", Touya clarified and pointed to Yuushi's monster, "The excitement has only begun! Before Heroic Advance takes place, I'll chain it to Spartan's effect! Since the new target of your attack is Spartan, I'll activate its effect!"
"That isn't good. The whole point of that attack was to avoid this effect! At this rate...that means!", Yuushi thought to himself while his eyes widened after crunching the numbers in his head.
Hikaru looked on, "That Spartan will have really high ATK. Nothing Yuushi could do I suppose but for Touya, this is about a normal thing he would do. An all-in type of attack. Strike or be struck down. Sometimes even I think Touya's a bit too focused on charging forward. That is basically his saying."
"Spartan gains ATK equal to another Heroic Challenger on the field for this Battle Phase! Afterwards, Heroic Advance doubles the boost for a grand total of 5800 ATK!", the other duelist shouted.
As Touya had said, Heroic Challenger Spartan gained its first boost through its own effect as it originally prepared to step in front and take the attack (Spartan ATK: 1600+1300= 2900 ATK). Now by advancing in front of the other 'Heroic' monster, this formation fully took effect as the already boosted Spartan received another tremendous ATK spike (Spartan ATK: 2900x2= 5800 ATK).
"5800 ATK!", Hikaru shouted out with awe.
"That will be exactly 4000 points of damage! Enough for a One Shot Kill!", Touya shouted with surging confidence while looking around at the audience, "One Shot Kill! One Shot Kill!"
His enthusiasm spread to the audience as they began to chant in unison, "One Shot Kill! One Shot Kill!"
The big person who was with Touya raised his fist, "Take him out!"
With that, Heroic Challenger Spartan decided not to wait and charged forward as well. Everyone knew that Yuushi's monster would be destroyed and the duel would be over soon.
"Hate to be the one to ruin this moment! But you won't finish me that easy!," Yuushi shouted and revealed a Quick-Play Spell Card from his hand, "Before that attack connects, I activate Magical Dimension!"
Right before Heroic Challenger Spartan collided with Crusader of Endymion, the Spellcaster vanished off the field in a golden light confusing a majority of the spectators and even Touya.
"Huh? What sort of trick is this?!", Yuushi's opponent exclaimed.
"When there is a Spellcaster-Type monster on my field, I can tribute a monster and Special Summon another Spellcaster from my hand! Come on out, Chaos Command Magician!"
The golden light reformed into a different figure. As the light faded, rather than seeing heavy blue armor, this magician had dark green and black attire that covered nearly everything from head to toe. Additionally, there were golden stripes and patterns as well as red gems attached to the garments. Even the human-appearing Spellcaster itself seemed to have green skin as it pulled out its similarly colored staff with a red gem on the tip and prepared for battle (ATK: 2400, Level 6).
"I activate another effect of Magical Dimension! I destroy one monster on the field when my Spellcaster is Special Summoned out like that!"
Behind Spartan, a gold and black sarcophagus appeared from nowhere and opened itself. The device swallowed Spartan whole in an instant before detonating itself causing everyone around to see the explosion as the smoke cleared with nothing left behind.
Yuushi moved on, "It's still my Battle Phase and my new Spellcaster hasn't attacked yet!"
With that command, Chaos Command Magician pointed its staff at the remaining Heroic Challenger. A white sphere of lightning was quickly discharged as the sphere collided with Heroic Challenger Thousand Blades who screamed in agony. Electricity crackled and surrounded the monster who exploded shortly afterwards as Touya covered himself from the resulting debris.
"I'll set this one card and end my turn!", the Spellcaster duelist concluded while the lone card materialized onto his field.
Despite taking the advantage, Yuushi was still tense as he was thinking about multiple matters, "Heroic Challengers. They mostly try to get control of the field by battling with extremely high ATK. Its so high in fact that if I'm not careful throughout this duel, I could lose in an instant just like what was about to happen with that combo. I have to win and keep getting stronger. I need to be prepared to face Judgment or whatever it calls itself and losing again isn't an option. That won't happen. Realistically though, Judgment is holding all the cards and making all the shots while I have no moves at all."
Yuushi's lengthy thought process caused him to space out and was annoying Touya, "Wake up and show some spirit! It would have been boring if it ended that fast! Now I draw!"
He showed a Monster Card from his hand, "I have no monsters and you have some which means I can Special Summon Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd straight from my hand!"
A lightning bolt struck from the sky with a figure appearing in a flash of light on the battlefield. This individual was equipped with purple and white-silver armor which completely covered all parts of this monster. Attached to the shoulders and knees of the armor were steel spikes though they paled in comparison to the three edges of the halberd in its hand (ATK: 1800, Level 4).
"Now I summon Heroic Challenger – Double Lance!"
A white light lit up a portion of the battlefield with another Warrior-Type monster coming forth. This silver chrome fighter had a peculiar armor scheme resembling a knight from the future. The helmet was based off a Roman-style full helm and there was a small engraved red insignia in the center of the monster's chest armor. In this humanoid's hands were a pair of gold handled, blue-silver tipped spears (ATK: 1700, Level 4).
Next, Touya swung his arm out as his face-down Trap Card sprung up, "There are two effects I need to use but first I'll use Copy Knight since I just Normal Summoned a Level 4 or lower Warrior-Type monster. It can summon this card to the field with the same Level and name as the Normal Summoned monster."
The purple card began to glow and in front of the card, a steel suit of armor digitized for a quick moment before it gave a flash of blinding light that caused Yuushi to look away. Soon enough, the light faded but rather than the suit of armor, a slightly darker, much weaker identical replica of Heroic Challenger – Double Lance took its place (ATK: 0, Level 4).
Now the original Double Lance began to glow and was quickly and completely covered in an orange glow. For a moment, Yuushi thought that despite his glasses, he was getting double vision but it was actually Heroic Challenger – Double Lance splitting into two images of itself though the other one went into a defensive position like Thousand Blades did earlier (DEF: 900, Level 4).
"That was Double Lance's own effect in action. I can Special Summon another Heroic Challenger – Double Lance from my graveyard in DEF position when another Double Lance is Normal Summoned! Even though its Double Lance, I have three of them which is perfect for an Xyz Summon! I Overlay all three Level 4 Double Lances!"
The three identical monsters turned into two orange rays of light representing the original two Earth attribute Double Lances and the darker one was the Copy Knight Double Lance which changed into a yellow ray of light.
"I create an Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!"
Before long, they were drawn into an opening red vortex in the sky. After the last ray of light went inside, it exploded outwards and a massive figure was called out from the portal. Touya was beginning to get excited as one of his stronger monsters was about to take to the field.
"Now! Show yourself! Heroic Champion – Kusanagi!"
A huge heavily armored samurai stood in front of Yuushi holding a large orange-yellow sword of flaming light which extended out above the monster. The armor was mostly brown in color covered by thick orange padding on the shoulders and helmet with similar green padding on the leggings. Three orange Overlay Units surrounded the monster who showed no signs of slowing down (ATK: 2500, Rank 4, OU: 3).
"Better get ready for a fight, Kusanagi! Charge forward!"
After pointing towards Chaos Command Magician, Kusanagi leapt upwards off the ground high into the air. Its large size did not seem to be a hindrance at all and with a quick swing of its blade, a single diagonal slash of light cut through Yuushi's Spellcaster who vanished into light as the warrior sheathed its sword.
Yuushi – 3900 LP
Touya – 4000 LP
Despite the minute loss in Life Points, there was nothing for Yuushi to do as he looked at his set Trap Card, "I would have used this but Kusanagi's own effect would have just negated and destroyed any Trap Card I want to play. As an added bonus, it gains 500 ATK so it was better of me just to take that attack and this one as well. Did Touya summon Kusanagi just to stop this card?!"
Now the second part of the attack commenced as Touya continued, "Assault Halberd! Direct attack on Yuushi!"
With a single speedy dash forward, the monster was within striking distance of his opponent before the boy with the glasses even realized. The halberd was raised up and was quickly swung down causing a illusion of light representing the vertical slash through Yuushi who fell to one knee and struggled to stand.
Yuushi – 2100 LP
Touya – 4000 LP
Reaching for his deck, Touya fanned it open while revealing another effect that took place, "I can add a 'Heroic' card to my hand since Assault Halberd dealt some nice battle damage. Ah, this one is a great pick against you!"
Through some searching, Touya found the card he was looking for and showed Yuushi his pick which was Heroic Challenger – Legionary.
Yuushi analyzed Touya's choice, "While the stats on Legionary are about average, I'm pretty sure Touya wanted the effect more than anything. By sending it to the graveyard, 'Heroic' monsters he has can't be destroyed by card effects for that turn. That means he's thinking I'll use Arcanite Magician and has functionally sealed it off. If I can't use that, just what can I do?"
"When you face me, I always bring the fight to my opponents! You want to challenge me with boxes and trickery?! No magic any Spellcaster has, even your Arcanite Magician ace, will stop me and my monsters! Illusions and sorcery are average but they can't replace the excitement of an old-fashioned brutal brawl!", Touya howled proudly.
The audience cheered as he looked around and was getting fired up, "See! Everyone knows what I'm talking about. You watch those action, samurai, ninja, cowboy movies and my favorite part is always that one moment where there's two people staring each other down and waiting for that one moment. When the time is right, they pull out their weapons and the one with the most courage is the winner! Just one mistake in a high-risk situation is all it takes. The whole movie can be boring but just that one tense moment done right is what I live for! That is my style of dueling and excitement like that is the motto of our club, Delta's Duelists!"
"Yeah, those are always the most thrilling parts. A climax where the atmosphere and setting come to a silent halt for that brief point. It is very interesting and exhilarating," Yuushi admitted.
"Got that right. Maybe a bit too much though for a guy like you. You seem to be the bookworm type. High grades, high smarts, got the glasses but you won't be ready for the fast paced power my Heroic Deck has to offer! Might be a bit out of your league!", boasted Touya.
Yuushi felt like a bit of his taunting was a show for the crowd as were certain other aspects but he could feel Touya's genuine spirit and could not help but get into it a bit himself, "Perhaps! But if excitement and high tense performances are your dueling style, then I'll be ready for it because that's my dueling style!"
"Excellent! I end my turn then so bring it on!", his opponent challenged.
Before continuing, Yuushi sighed with relief and smiled, "I have to be ready both in physical and mental form. Even with the greatest deck and the strongest strategies, having a spirit that's just as strong is as important. Touya just keeps charging and while crude, it shows a great believe in himself and his deck. Even if Judgment or the Spirit World is watching me, so what, let them watch and all I can do is believe. Believe in my own spirit and my deck and try to overcome this obstacle. Besides, thinking about it too much has its own problems. It's coming whether I like it or not so I might as well be in great spirits when the time comes!"
Yuushi quickly swiped a card, "If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get! Draw! I summon Defender the Magical Knight!"
Hikaru eagerly screamed from the sidelines, "Yeah! Bring it to him, Yuushi!"
In the ground, a white opening formed as a heavy armored blue-skinned humanoid in blue and gold full plate armor emerged out. Red gems were encrusted in the upper portion and helmet of the armor and the figure wielded a small but wide dagger in one hand and a massive square shield in the other. The shield itself was almost like a wall which was nearly as tall and wide as the wielder with magical runes that reinforced the defensive tool (ATK: 1600, Level 4).
"This monster gets a single Spell Counter when it is Normal Summoned to the field!"
The red gem on the shield activated which caused a slight red aura of magic to coat the front side of the shield in an extra protective layer (Defender SC: 1).
"However, that won't be around for long because I'll Special Summon Black Gust Sorcerer from my hand by removing all Spell Counters from Defender!"
Yuushi placed the card on his Duel Disk which triggered a burst of wind to blow through the battlefield. The unnatural wind blew past Defender and even took away some magical power from the monster's shield which faded back to its original state (Defender SC: 0). A small tornado formed from the wind before quickly dissipating and revealing a medium sized figure inside. Judging by the face, the magician was relatively youthful though the black battle robes and black pointed wizard's hat covered the rest of this Spellcaster's body. The edges of the battle robes had green sections along the collar, sleeves and pants and even the wand in his hands followed a similar color scheme (ATK: 300, Level 4).
Without wasting time, Yuushi progressed, "This inexperienced Spellcaster has a few side-effects such as being only able to Special Summon Spellcaster-Type monsters this turn but that's fine. I Overlay the Level 4 Defender and Black Gust Sorcerer!"
Transforming into a purple and yellow stream of light, both monsters left behind trails of their respective color and were drawn into a red spiral portal in the middle of the field.
"With these two monsters, I build the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Rise up! Curse Magician!"
A dark purple haze shrouded the area and a shadowy figure could be seen inside. The clear blue outline was the biggest hint that there was something inside until the haze faded. With black and dark blue armor, the Spellcaster swung its arm making the haze disappear completely. There was no weapon to be seen but judging by the stance and gaze this monster gave to the opposing warrior, this Spellcaster was ready to battle. Two dark purple sphere of light circled around the mysterious monster for added effect (ATK: 2300, Rank 4, OU: 2).
"Since Black Gust Sorcerer was used as an Overlay Unit, I can banish Heroic Challenger – Thousand Blades from your graveyard!"
An ominous black wind blew into Touya and took with it, the Thousand Blades card from the graveyard as it disappeared into the winds.
"Next, I activate an Equip Spell! One-Shot Wand! This card gives a Spellcaster-Type monster 800 ATK!"
Though an Equip Spell was just played, the card itself did not seem to manifest at all on the field. Curse Magician was still wielding no weapon in sight though the card did give the armored monster a blue aura of power (Curse ATK: 2300+800= 3100 ATK)
"Curse Magician has it's own effect which I will use by detaching an Overlay Unit!"
Now Curse Magician moved its arm forward and gripped its fist causing a large scythe to materialize from out of nowhere. The scythe was red-black in color though the blade was in excellent condition giving off a shimmer of light. Further more, the blade was coated with a brilliant golden light from One-Shot Wand. An Overlay Unit was absorbed by the weapon (Curse OU: 2-1= 1) as Kusanagi was covered in a red-black aura causing the monster to stagger continuously (Kusanagi ATK: 2500-400= 2100 ATK).
The spiky haired duelist was concerned for his monster, "What the?!"
"When this card is on the field and I've activated Spell Cards, Curse Magician's effect can weaken one monster your control by 400 times the amount of activated Spell Cards once per turn," the boy with the glasses explained.
"With Kusanagi on the field, this Trap Card won't do me any good so I'd better take it out."
Wasting little time, the scythe wielding Spellcaster floated forward as Yuushi entered his Battle Phase, "Curse Magician! Attack!"
With an eerie glow, the scythe sliced down cutting Kusanagi straight in half as it exploded into shards of light that showered down on Touya who braced himself for the impact.
Yuushi – 2100 LP
Touya – 3000 LP
The scythe's glow faded (Curse ATK: 3100-800= 2300 ATK) as Yuushi grabbed the Equip Card on his Duel Disk, "Since the monster with this card attacked successfully, I can destroy this card if I want to draw one card.
Moving his fingers over the top of his deck, Yuushi added that card which was now the only card in his hand. Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd remained but there were no other moves for Yuushi at this time.
"That's my turn, Touya!"
"Nice attack!", the club leader shouted back as he added another card to his hand and was pleased with what he drew, "Ready or not, I'm all in now! I summon Heroic Challenger – Night Watchman!"
Beside the halberd wielding monster was a much stranger purple caped humanoid with two layers of armor. The outer layer was dark brown and included a thick vest-like padding around the chest with matching boots and gloves and the inner layer was more like a dull grey cloth. A white mask with red patterns covered this monster's face who also held a sword and oil lantern in its hands (ATK: 1200, Level 4).
The next move was the more obvious move unlike before, "I Overlay the Level 4 Assault Halberd and Night Watchman!"
As with the other Xyz Summons, a red portal opened in front of Touya as Assault Halberd and Night Watchman were already both orange streams of energy by this time and being drawn in to the portal. This caused a reaction with the portal as the red light expanded rapidly.
"I create an Overlay Network with these two monsters! Come forth, sheathed in light! The shining lord who slashes through the darkness! Xyz Summon! Appear before us! Heroic Champion – Excalibur!"
Up above, the clouds darkened as something travelled down to the battlefield through a bolt of lightning. A minor thunder storm covered the area with a swordsman wearing silver and dark red armor stood alone on Touya's side. The helmet that was being worn had a gold ornament around the forehead which extended up and outwards to the side with two yellow spheres of light orbiting the swordsman (ATK: 2000, Rank 4, OU: 2).
The club leader was in high spirits, "Hah! This ace monster has won me plenty of duels in a single stroke! Why don't you see its power for yourself! I activate Excalibur's effect! By using two Overlay Units, this cards ATK becomes twice its original ATK until the end of your turn!"
The two Overlay Units went into the armor (Excalibur OU: 0) which induced a powerful effect for Excalibur. This effect generated a blue aura around it as the monster pulled out its gold and red hilt blade which was covered in a similar aura (Excalibur ATK: 4000).
"I'm close to losing but it's not a finishing attack," Yuushi said to himself amazed at the massive spike in power.
The last card that Touya had drawn was placed on the field, "I activate Magnum Shield from my hand! This Equip Spell gives Excalibur more ATK equal to its DEF."
A large diamond-shaped red shield with a golden outer edge was provided for Excalibur who used in its other arm. Regardless of shields normally used for defensive purposes, this shield elevated Excalibur's ATK even further (Excalibur ATK: 4000+2000= 6000 ATK).
"This is what Touya's been waiting for! An end to the duel in one strike!", Hikaru shouted out.
"Yuushi, you will meet your end in an instant! Charge onward, Excalibur! True Sword Finishing Slash!"
With a leap into the air, Touya's monster has its sword ready to swing down on Yuushi's monster who prepared itself to meet the attack with its scythe.
"I activate a Trap Card!"
The two attacks collided as a burst of white light erupted from the clash. Despite the much weaker Curse Magician taking the attack, they were actually deadlocked. Touya could not believe his eyes but he started to notice metal reinforcements along Curse Magician's armor that was the source of the white light. Sparks began to fly and a shockwave burst out which caused cracks in the ground with both monsters being repelled back by the force.
"What the?! What happened?", Touya yelled out and then saw a revealed Trap Card on Yuushi's side.
"Power Frame happened! Since your monster had the higher ATK in battle, this card negated the attack and equipped itself onto Curse Magician. This card also gives Curse Magician ATK equal to the difference between the two monsters which means that now my monster is on par with yours!"
Looking more carefully, the extra reinforcements on Curse Magician were more like amplifiers that had absorbed the force of Excalibur's powerful attack as the two monsters stared each other down (Curse ATK: 2300+3700= 6000 ATK).
"Haha! I thought you were one of those typical hermit types. You know, the ones afraid to engage with people and just isolate themselves on a mountain. I thought you would out of your comfort zone without tricks and magic but I see you have pretty good brawling experience too!", complimented Touya.
Though worded a bit strange, Yuushi nodded, "Thanks. You know this duel did help me loosen up. There was something that I was worrying about. I had no control over it and I knew it would eventually happen but rather than just grumble in frustration over it, I'd have to face it head-on so I might as well enjoy it!"
"Good words. I end my turn!", Touya shouted back.
"Here goes!", Yuushi replied back loudly and started his turn, "First, I activate Allure of Darkness and draw two cards!"
As he said that, Yuushi added the top two cards from his deck into his hand, "Next, I have to banish a Dark Attribute monster from my hand like Magical Marionette!"
He inserted the card into the appropriate slot and continued on, "Then, I'll activate Pot of Duality!"
A turquoise and blue pot with a face was on the ground in front of Yuushi. The pot opened its eyes and three cards were shot upwards and shown to Yuushi, Touya and the spectators around them. In order, the cards were Royal Magical Library, Pitch-Black Power Stone and Terraforming.
"Excellent!", Yuushi noted before expanding on the effect, "I can only activate a single Pot of Duality per turn and I cannot Special Summon this turn. These were the top three cards of my deck and I will add Terraforming to my hand while the others are shuffled back into my deck!"
A golden card glowed in Yuushi's hand and it was the newly added Terraforming while the other two went back inside the pot. On Yuushi's Duel Disk, the deck shuffled itself which was a really nice feature on any Duel Disk.
"I activate Spell Card Terraforming which lets me add a Field Spell from my hand to my hand! The card I'll choose is Secret Village of the Spellcasters!"
A thin blue pillar of light shot up from Yuushi's Duel Disk and then outward which covered the battlefield in a blue glow. The named Field Spell was sticking out from the deck as Yuushi grabbed hold of the card.
"Fourth, I activate the Field Spell I just got! Hah!"
A golden shower of light blanketed the battlefield as the area reflected the image on the card. Massive trees unlike any on the planet formed a dense forest around the area and underneath the trees were huts, houses and other buildings. The spectators were looking on with curiosity and awe at the mystical place they were brought to. Spread out along the area were green-blue spheres of light that seemed to be part of this natural environment.
"This area has certain properties to it. If I have a Spellcaster and you do not, you cannot activate any Spell Cards but if I have no Spellcaster-Type monsters, I cannot activate any Spell Cards. Since I have Curse Magician, everything is fine on my end."
With the last card in Yuushi's hand, the last part of his plan was in place, "The last Spell Card I need! Blustering Winds! Curse Magician gains an extra 1000 ATK until my next Standby Phase!"
The lightning storm intensified and a strong flow of wind swept through the field. It began to surround Curse Magician who managed to concentrate the elements around its scythe causing the weapon to be surrounded by a golden wind (Curse ATK: 6000+1000= 7000 ATK).
"Now my monster's effect activates! Since I activated five Spell Cards while it was here this Main Phase, your monster loses 2000 ATK!"
The last Overlay Unit on Curse Magician was drawn into the scythe and by using up an Overlay Unit (Curse OU: 1-1= 0), the weakening ability from before hit Excalibur who started to stumble and stagger on its feet (Excalibur ATK: 6000-2000= 4000 ATK).
The big guy from the audience widened his eyes, "Wait! With this difference, Touya might lose!"
Yuushi looked at Touya, "Now I'll end this in a single stroke!"
In an instant, Curse Magician disappeared and reappeared behind the weakened Excalibur and with a horizontal sweep of its scythe, the attack went through Excalibur who exploded off the field. The impact travelled over to Touya who was sent flying back onto the ground.
Yuushi – 2100 LP - WIN
Touya – 0 LP
A blaring horn signalled the end of the duel as the audience began to cheer and scatter.
Touya managed to get up as he saw Yuushi, Hikaru and the two other club members make their way over.
"Sorry I lost that guys. But it was fun at least!," Touya apologized and looked to Yuushi while putting out his hand.
Yuushi shook his hand, "You sure do know when to strike though. I just had some safety measures in place."
"Some lucky safety measures...but it was still a great duel," the big guy added in.
The shorter member nodded, "Everyone seemed to be really into it. I think the name Delta's Duelists will be spread across the school."
"It could have gone either way! But Yuushi, what were you worried about?", Hikaru commented.
The Spellcaster duelist hesitated, "I'll tell you when the time is right. Right now, I need some more information but I know that if I keep moving forward...I should be able to find something."
As everyone dispersed, Yuushi looked up to the sky saw a glimmer of light. Whether or not Judgment was watching or planning or doing whatever, that was no reason to change his life or suddenly get fixated on things he would normally not get stressed over. There would be a head-on collision some day and he had to do everything within reason to prepare for that eventual moment.
Original Cards
Black Gust Sorcerer
Level 4
Dark Attribute
Spellcaster/Effect
ATK: 300, DEF: 600
You can Special Summon this card from your hand by removing all Spell Counters from a Spellcaster-Type monster you control (min. 1). If you activate this effect, you cannot Special Summon any monsters for the rest of the turn, except for Spellcaster-Type monsters. You can only control 1 "Black Gust Sorcerer". An Xyz Monster that was Summoned using this card as an Overlay Unit gains this effect
When it is Xyz Summoned, banish 1 card in your opponent's graveyard
Curse Magician
Rank 4
Dark Attribute
Spellcaster/Xyz/Effect
ATK: 2300, DEF: 1200
2 Level 4 Spellcaster-Type monsters
When this card is on the field, once per turn, during your Main Phase 1, you can detach 1 Overlay Unit from this card to target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls. It loses 400 ATK for each Spell Card activated during Main Phase 1 until the End Phase.
Heroic Challenger – Legionary (credit to Overlord reign)
Level 4
Earth Attribute
Warrior/Effect
ATK: 1500, DEF: 800
During either player's turn, if you control a face-up "Heroic" monster, you can send this card from your hand to the graveyard and until the end of this turn, "Heroic" monsters you control cannot be destroyed by card effects.
Note: It took a while but the deck concept and some original cards for Touya was submitted by Overlord reign. Thanks a lot for that.
Chapter 4 Preview
Ryoko: Did you hear?! Reiji's back from his overseas trip and there's a girl with him!
Hikaru: Reiji Sikiri. I've heard quite a few things about him.
Yuushi: I wonder where he's been and if he's seen anything interesting during that time.
Ayumi: They say that he's one of the best all-around duelists and the current best at Delta Academy.
Yuushi: Wait. Arcanite Magician is reacting to something. Chapter 4: Annihilus Dragon. Don't tell me that he's tied to this too!