Chapter 9: The Duel of the King
How's everybody doing? This is going to be covering Yuya and Jack's first duel as well as settle the stage for what will come forth later on. I hope you enjoy!:)
(Synchro Dimension: City, Duel Stadium)
Yuri made sure to stay cloaked as he and Sora entered the stadium; since both Yugo and Yuya were contestants, anyone who saw him may confuse him as one of them. The two waited by one of the entrances to the Riding track when Yuri felt a growl from Starve Venom that made him look straight across from where he was. His eyes widened as he saw Yuzu and Yugo all the way on the other side of the track near the other entrance. He quickly grabbed Sora and pulled him back a bit to the shadows.
"Gah, what is it?" Sora asked with annoyance. Yuri then pointed to Yugo and Yuzu and Sora gasped. "Yuzu and Yuya are right there!"
Yuri rolled his eyes, "Close kid, while that is Yuzu there, that guy isn't Yuya, he's that other guy who looks like me that we saw on the announcement screen."
Sora sighed, "How many people are there that look like you?"
"From what I know just 3. Anyway, while normally I'd love to go and just take Yuzu, I don't think that no one will notice, especially since she's registered in the tournament. We'll have to lay low and figure something out."
As Sora nodded, he continued, "Let's watch this duel, I know you're familiar with Yuya but his opponent is supposedly the strongest duelist here. Watching this can give us a good scope at what the duelists here are like, that way we'll know whether they may be a threat to Academia."
As they waited for the duel to begin from the entrance, Yuri looked up as he heard a few people arguing in the stadium.
"Please, Jack is a member of the Tops now. He is worth far more than you pedestrian Commoners." A man with a top act exclaimed to the two more plainly dressed people below him.
"You're wrong! Jack is a hero for the Commons! He was one of us before he won the last Friendship Cup and it shows!" One of them protested vehemently.
The other one laughed sarcastically, "A hero for us, give me a break." The man looked up at one of the signs and scowled, "Jack's a traitor and nothing more. He didn't like being one of the Commons and joined the Tops at the 1st chance he got."
The man beside him turned and roared, "How could you say that?! Jack represents what we can be if we believe in our own power! That's why so many Commons sign up to join the Cup in the first place."
Not wanting to continue listening, Yuri pulled out his dragon and thought, 'I guess Jack is a subject of controversy, what do you say Venom.'
"People can't agree on anything, one man's hero is another's villain. Best to not focus on it." Starve Venom replied in his mind.
Meanwhile, inside the locker room, Yuya was putting on his Riding Duel suit when he noticed the young boy in a tannish brown uniform and hat. He asked, "Um, excuse me, do you know anything about Jack Atlas." When the boy looked away Yuya said, "Sorry, didn't mean to put you right on the spot." Yuya heard his name being called and put both his goggles and helmet on in order to duel the King of the City.
Back at the track, Yugo and Yuzu were waiting with anticipation. Yugo was waiting to see his idol, Jack. Ever since, he and Rin had seen him duel years ago, it had motivated both of them to build their Duel Runner and enter the next Friendship Cup. He had signed Yuzu up as well partially to help spread the word of Academia's threat, which he now knew was responsible for Yuzu's kidnapping, and possibly because she reminded him of Rin. Yuzu in turn, was anxious to see Yuya again. After being teleported to the Synchro Dimension she had desperately wanted to see her friends again. Now, she was going to see Yuya in this duel, and she didn't know whether to be happy to see him, or sad that they couldn't reunite and just go back home.
Suddenly a helicopter appeared with Melissa Claire, the newscast lady from before, who shouted, "Greetings Tops and Commons. Welcome to the exhibition match of the Friendship Cup, where we can all put aside our differences and enjoy the sight of our best duelists battling it out to decide who the strongest duelist in the City is. Now give a warm welcome to our challenger, SAKAKI YUYA!"
With that someone on a Duel Runner appeared from the terminal and drove off to the starting line. Yuzu recognized him instantly, "Yuya." With that tears started forming in her eyes.
"So that's him huh. I feel kind of sorry for him." Yugo stated.
Yuzu turned, "Why's that?"
Yugo sighed, "Well this exhibition match isn't really an exhibition match. It's more of a display of Jack's strength. Like an offering to the King."
At that moment the lights of the stadium dimmed as Melissa shouted, "Now it's time for the duelist we've been waiting for! The one and only pride of the City, JACK ATLAS!"
At that moment the crowd began cheering, "JACK! JACK! JACK! JACK!"
At that moment a man on a large Duel Runner shot from the Duel Runner, a shining light cast upon as though to make him even more grandiose. Then man raised his hand and shouted, "There is only one king, and that is ME!" The man stooped at the starting line right next to Yuya.
"And there his is, our King. Jack Atlas. Does his highness have any thoughts over how this duel will end? What does he say?"
The duelist, Jack, scoffed, "The result will be simple. On my 2nd turn I will win the duel. If not, I shall forfeit the match." This surprised many in the crowd, along with Yuya, Yugo, Yuzu, Yuri, and Sora."
'Does he really think I'll be defeated so easily? I'll show him my entertainment.' Yuya thought to himself.
From the shadows, Yuri smirked, "I'm placing my bets on Jack winning, what say you?"
Sora growled in annoyance, "Yuya's not that weak. This guy sounds arrogant to me."
Raising his eyebrow, Yuri replied, "he definitely is proud, but I'd say it's well found."
"Alright duelists, start your engines. The one who passes the cross first gets the first turn! Riding Duel, Acceleration!"
With that the two motorcycles shot with a burst of speed, with Jack making it to the first turning pass and started the duel.
Jack LP: 4000
Yuya LP: 4000
"From my hand I summon Red Sprinter," A red demon horse wreathed in flames materialized to the field (ATTR:Fire/LV:4/ATK:1700/DEF:1200). "Now thanks to its effect, since it is the only monster one my field, I can now summon a level 3 or lower Tuner from my hand. Appear, Red Resonator!" A small little monster with a pitchfork and rod appeared next to the sprinter (ATTR:Fire/LV:2/ATK:600/DEF:200).
"I tune my level 4 Red Sprinter and my level 2 Red Resonator!" With that his monster began to light up to form the new beast. "The crimson souls shall become one! All shall tremble before the king's might! Synchro Summon! Appear Now! Red Wyvern!" With that a red gargoyle/dragon appeared ready to fight (ATTR:Fire/LV:6/ATK:2400/DEF:2000). "I set one card, turn end."
"Alright, my turn, I draw!" With that Yuya drew and smiled. "Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for the entertainment duel." At that moment, Yuri looked rather confused by what he meant. "With the Scale 1 Timegazer Magician, and the Scale 8 Stargazer Magician, I set the Pendulum Scale." With that Yuya placed the 2 cards on his disk emitter and the 2 magicians appeared side by side. "Now I can special summon monsters between levels 2 and 7 simultaneously. Swing, pendulum of the soul! Draw an arc of light across the aether! Pendulum Summon! Come, my monsters! First up is Performapal Trump Girl! And next we have Performapal Skeeter Skimmer! Next, Performapal Stamp Turtle! And finally, our star performer steps on the stage, with your wondrous and beautiful dichromatic eyes, Odd-Eyes Pendulum!" With that the silly monsters in performer outfits appeared along with the strange eyed red dragon that roared before the crowd.
Yuri sighed, "This is a duel, not a circus act, what's wrong with him?"
Yuya continued, "I activate Performapal Trump Girl's effect, allowing me to use it along with other monsters on my field for a Fusion Summon! One who controls the bizarre arts, become the light in the eyes of the dragon! Fusion Summon! Come forth! Arcane dragon wielder of ancient dragon magic! Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" With that the two beast disappeared and a new dragon appeared with a strange disk upon its back (ATTR:Dark/LV:8/ATK:3000/DEF:2500). This surprised Yuri as he didn't know Yuya Fusion Summoned.
Yuya wasn't done, "Now with my level 4 Stamp Turtle and level 4 Skeeter Skimmer, I build the overlay network, "Formed from the pitch-black darkness, to fight those foolish enough to oppose it with its treacherous fangs! Now descend! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!" His dragon roared from the overlay network and came to the field.
"Wait, isn't that…" Yugo began.
"Yeah, that's Yuto's dragon." Yuzu finished.
Meanwhile, Yuri smiled, 'Guess things are going well so far. It won't be long now.'
"Now I activate Dark Rebellion's special ability, allowing me to detach an overlay unit from it in order to halve the Atk of a level 5 or higher monster you control and Dark Rebellion gains the power it lost. I'll use 2 overlay units to activate this effect twice! Treason Discharge!" With that Dark Rebellion absorbed both of its units and unfurled its wings, shock Red Wyvern with electricity, its attack points now at 600 while Dark Rebellion now had 4300.
"Incredible, Sakaki Yuya is actually set to take the win, will this end it."
"Battle! Go Dark Rebellion, destroy Red Wyvern. Revolt of the Lightning! Disobey!" With that Dark Rebellion charged the lightning in its jaws and came in for an uppercut strike with its jaws.
Jack had other plans, "I activate Red Wyvern's effect, allowing me to destroy one of your monsters since you control 2 monsters with more power than it, and I choose Rune-Eyes." With that the beast shot a draft of flame at the dragon.
Yuya quickly ramped his engine and dived for a card on the field, picking it up and then activating it. "Action Magic, Mirror Barrier! The destruction of my monster is negated!" With that a wall appeared around Rune-Eyes, saving him from the fire. 'I'm not someone who's going to lose next turn, I'll end it this turn instead.'
"Finish your attack, go Dark Rebellion!" The dragon ripped through Red Wyvern, blasting away most of Jack's life points (Jack's LP: 4000 – 3700 = 300).
"No way, Jack is actually being cornered, is our king going to lose in the exhibition match?!" Claire exclaimed.
"Finish this, go Rune-Eyes, end this duel!" With that Rune Eyes blasted Jack with the Disk on its back, smoke filling the area. The crowd was shocked, surprised at how their king could lose.
Sora smirked, "I guess you bet wrong Yuri."
Yuri laughed, "I wouldn't be too sure about that." When Sora turned his eyes widened as Jack passed through the smoke unharmed.
"What, how?" Yuya asked in shock.
"You used an Action Card so I did as well, Evasive Evasion lets me special summon an Evasive Evasion Token, which cancelled out your last attack." Jack replied.
Yuya grit his teeth, "Well I'm not done, you see Rune-Eyes can attack a number of times depending on the level of the Spellcaster used to summon it, and Since Trump Girl was Level 2, that means it can attack twice. Blast him Rune-Eyes!" With that Rune-Eyes launched a 2nd blast at the token.
Jack laughed, "In that case I'll use my Trap, Reject Reborn, now I have to destroy all monsters on my field in order to negate the attack and end the Battle Phase." With that the token vanished in an explosion that stopped the bean of light from Rune-Eyes. "That's not all, now I can special summon monsters from my graveyard equal to the number of attacks that were negated this turn. Revive, Red Wyvern and Red Resonator!" With that the 2 monsters appeared back on the field, when something happened with Red Resonator.
"I activate Resonator's effect, when it's special summoned I can gain life points equal to a Synchro Monster on my field!' With that a new red aura lit around Jack, replenishing his strength (Jack's LP: 300 + 2400 = 2700).
"Incredible, just when you thought Jack was about to lose, he comes back from the brink of death. That's our Jack, the Ruler of ruler. The King of kings!"
Jack scoffed at Yuya, "You're pathetic." He then backed up until he was equal to Yuya as Yuya's eyes widened, "You say that this is an entertainment duel, but your dueling is only satisfying to you alone. Far from true entertainment." Leaving Yuya at a loss for words he drove forward and continued, "You lack the power to reach the summit of which I stand!"
With that Jack began his turn and drew a card before roaring, "I tune my level 6 Red Wyvern with my level 2 Red Resonator! Howl of the ruler, shake the heavens and the earth! Engrave the power of the one and only supreme ruler into yourself! Synchro Summon! Savage soul, Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend!" With that a great and mighty dragon with its body and arm holding strange scars that seemed to show its strength.
Yuri laughed at what he saw, "Yuya's doomed."
"I activate Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend'd effect to destroy all special summoned monsters weaker the Scarlight and deal 500 points of damage to you for each monster, Absolute Power Flame!" With that the Archfiend's right arm lit with fire that it shot at Dark Rebllion and Rune Eyes, burning them to crisps and battering Yuya (Yuya's LP: 4000 – 1000 = 3000).
"Battle, go forth, Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend! Direct attack, Crimson Hell Burning!" Jack then looked at Yuya, "Let this be a lesson of humility, and bow before the king! Now Fall!" A wave of fire shot from the dragon's mouth and blasted Yuya right off his duel runner, sending him flying on the ground. He had lost, both this duel and his pride.
Yuzu ran to the field in hopes of reaching him but was stopped by the official security there. Yuri simply laughed from the crowd, "I guess Yuya realized the difference between the King and the Court Jester." Upon turning to look at Sora, he saw Sora with a concerned expression on his face. Looking at Yuya, Yuri felt a bit confused, 'Is Sora worried about him, that's weird. Considering Sora fought on the battlefield, you think he'd be used to destruction. Unless…'
Meanwhile, Yuya tried to pick himself up but couldn't. Hoping that his words could be heard by Jack, he said, "I inherited my dueling from my father…don't you dare…disrespect it." With that he passed out. Unknown to him, the young boy who he had spoken to had heard him, and was in shock.
Eventually, Yuya was picked up by a med. Team and taken to be fixed up before being brought to his room. Yuzu and Yugo were also saved from Sector Security by the same Security guards and were taken to their own separate rooms. Yuya woke up in his room and looked around. His room was clean and well kept, and there was a nice bed as well. At the sight of the door, he went to open it, only for it to be locked.
"Sorry," a voice came from behind him, "But you are not permitted to leave." Yuya turned around at was faced with the holograms of the City Council. He remembered how Reiji had been trying to explain to them of the situation with Academia. Somehow that had led to them being a part of the tournament. The Council told him he couldn't leave the room until he had to duel, and that he couldn't speak to his comrades until later on. They also told him that his lost to Jack hadn't affected his place in the tournament and that he would still be competing.
After the hologram disappeared, Yuya picked up his deck and found Dark Rebellion glowing, realizing that Yugo must be nearby as well. If Yugo was in another room, then that meant Yuzu could be sitting right next to him. With that he banged at the door, "YUZU! Can you hear me! If you can then please answer!" With no response, he continued, "I came from Standard to get you; Gongenzaka and I, I promise we'll save you, so hang in there."
Finally realizing that she couldn't hear him and that there was no point, Yuya stopped and stared at his deck, his mind returning to his loss against Jack. Jack had been in control of the whole duel from the beginning. He had purposefully allowed himself to be driven into a corner, creating the image as though he were defenseless, and then turned it around in a second. By that point you'd have wondered whether he had been in any danger in the 1st place, and to be honest, he hadn't. To add insult to injury, Jack had mocked his dueling, the dueling of his father. Jack was wrong, his father was a benevolent duelist and so was he. To say that their dueling was motivated by reasons other than making others happy was inconceivable. Yuya couldn't wrap his head around it. Suddenly, the flow of his thoughts was interrupted by a bump on his door and a card slid into his room from the space between the bottom of the door and the floor. Yuya went to examine it. Tuning Magician, not exactly the best attack, defense, or effects, but there were some ways to use it…
"Um, excuse me." He heard a voice from the other side of the door.
"Who is it?" Yuya replied.
"I need to ask of you a favor. If you can win the tournament and challenge Jack, defeat him, and give this card back to him."
"Wait, what?" Yuya was bewildered.
"My name is Sam. You asked me before your duel, about Jack Atlas. Well, he used to be my hero, along with many others." The boy thought back to seeing the last Friendship Cup years ago, witnessing Jack overcome a handful of duelists before taking down the leader of Arcadia, Divine. "Jack was a star of hope for the Commons, a symbol of what we could be. The way Jack overcame the challenges before him and won his way through the Commons, we thought we could get behind him in order to change the system."
"Well, what happened?" Yuya asked.
Sam sighed, "He changed, I don't know when it happened, but I suppose being with the Tops so long with all the fame and luxury, he forgot about us, and eventually looked down on us…"
(Flashback to some time ago)
Jack was walking on the red carpet to enter the theater when a young boy came in front him.
Excitedly, the boy said "Hello, Jack-san!"
"Hey you, Commoner, what are you doing there?" Some Tops member said with disgust, only to be blocked by Jack.
"Who are you?" Jack asked.
"I'm Sam, and I'm a huge fan of you!" Sam said with a smile. "I've always wanted to reach the top just like you did." Sam's smile grew rather sad, "But, I don't have the deck or money to do it myself…I was wondering, if you could represent me, along with the other Commons."
In response Jack sighed before taking out a card, "If that's really all you have, then use this card to start you off." He handed the card to Sam, who couldn't respond upon seeing it. "When you're strong enough, give this back to me." With that Jack walked into the theater, leaving the boy with the card.
Sam was in shock upon reading the card. Use it to start him off. So go from nothing to less than nothing. Was Jack mocking him, why would he. They both came from the same place, so what right did Jack have to look down on him. How could he…he"
(Present day)
"…Just humiliate me like that!" Sam exclaimed, all quietness forgotten. His face hardened in rage, "Jack changed, he forgot about who he was. The Tops just turned him into one of them, and Jack left us in the dust." Sam calmed down. "That's why I want you to win this. I heard how you told Jack not to disrespect your dueling, your father's dueling. I feel frustrated as well. A lot of us do. You understand, don't you?"
Yuya nodded, "I do, I'll remind Jack, don't worry."
Thankful, Sam left, while Yuya looked at the card and pondered ways to use it.
Meanwhile, outside the Stadium, Yuri began treating Sora like a personal slave due to winning the bet. He had recently sent Sora off to get them something to eat along with more information on the City.
Sora grumbled as he handed Yuri a hot dog, "Why exactly do I have to get your food?"
Yuri smirked, "Because I can't be noticed, otherwise they may mistake me for Yuya or Yugo or one of their relatives, and I don't want to deal with that. So what did you find out?"
Sora sighed, "Apparently, the Friendship Cup was created a few years ago when riots from the Commons became too great. It was meant to pacify the Commons as it was something both Tops and Commons could enter, as a means uniting the City."
Yuri swallowed his bite before saying, "Didn't seem like they were so united, but I got to say I can understand why Jack is the King here."
Sora nodded, "Never seen Yuya lose so badly before."
Yuri laughed and thought back to what Jack said to Yuya. He had called Yuya's dueling conceited, and really, Yuri had to agree. While Yuya could try and make a spectacle, he knew nothing about the people he had tried to entertain. He simply thought that what he liked was what everyone else liked, and in the duel he had tried to stroke his wounded pride by beating Jack with an FTK. Jack had controlled the duel like a master, and held everybody in awe. Yuri grinned, finally a duelist that was worth his time to fight. He decided that before he left the Synchro Dimension, he would duel Jack Atlas.
Well, how did you guys like it? I know that the duel was the same, no point to change it. However, now Yuri plans on dueling Jack, what that will lead to we can only guess. Friendly spoiler, A some legacy characters will be referenced next chapter, as well as one making an appearance, so you can wait and enjoy that when they come.