So I can't believe I have to state this already, but there are some people breaking the rules for the OC Submission thing… first off, I said guests are NOT allow to submit OCs, yet two guests have tried, with one even attempting to submit two OCs, another rule that I made being that one OC submission per person. I know it sucks that Guests can't submit OCs, but I will need to PM the OC Submitters from time to time and I can't do that with Guests, on top of that since Guests can choose a different name every time they review, they could technically submit multiple OC and I wouldn't know it. Also, I feel like I have to state this since two people asked if I can forbid others from using a card they want to be unique to their OC. That would not be fair to everyone else, so no I cannot do that. If your characters 'unique' card isn't used by another submitter, great! If not, I'll PM you and you can either change the deck, the characters backstory, or respectfully (and I don't want you to do this but you can if you must) withdraw your character and I will not use them.
The deadline for the OC submission is going to be extended to when Yuga's first year ends. During Yuga's second year is when your OCs will be used, since people are asking already when they will appear, and even some people demanding their OC be used right away or even be part of the main cast. Your OC will be part of their own groups and go to different schools. They will be important to the plot, but they are not main characters. All the "main character" slots are taken by my characters. Anyway, with all the BS out of the way I've accepted three OC submissions from Draen, FanOfKings and Shane Kor. Thanks you three for your OC and permission to use them! Everyone else still has time to get their OC in, so hop to it! Also, I need some girl OC, since all three submissions so far are males, so hint hint to those thinking of submitting but haven't designed a character yet. Rules for OC Submissions can be found at the end of Chapter 12.
I'd like to thank the following people for their reviews on Chapter 11 and 12: D3lph0xL0v3r, Draen, Shane Kor, Martyn (Guest), Natalie (Guest), an unnamed guest, FanOfKings, and Erik Dokuryuu Cobra.
On that note, I feel like I should address something pointed out several times for Chapter 12. Big Bang Shot banishes whatever monster it was equipped to if the spell was destroyed, yet I didn't have Red-Eyes banished when that happened. My bad, but I feel like leaving it in for… some reason. Not laziness, let's just chalk it up as one of those famous errors and move on. And if you don't like that, I'll PM you an entire list of card errors and differences from YuGiOh, GX, 5Ds, Zexal and Arc-V and you can complain about those to Konami.
Enjoy this chapter!
To say exams was the most stressful time for students would be an understatement. If any outsider were to come onto Union Campus during the hellish weekend of studying for midterms, they would be greeted with a barren outside campus, and upon entering any building they would find nothing but student and student with their textbooks out, cramming for whatever classes they had coming up that week they didn't feel prepared for.
Ruka had a fantastic idea to form a study group with her friends, so the six of them were gathered in Roku's room, textbooks spread out everywhere as they crammed, only talking to one another when one had a question. Yuga and Shin felt embarrassed as they seemed to have the most questions out of any of them, but even then Naomi and Asami, and even Roku and Ruka from time to time, would ask a question every once in a while.
"And the Millennium Puzzle was essential because it was passed from Pharaoh to Pharaoh." Roku finished his explanation on the Millennium Items.
"Thanks, Roku." Shin groaned, putting down his pencil and stretching his hand after writing almost everything the taller male had to say. "Man, this Dueling History midterm is going to be killer…"
"Well, if it makes you feel better, at least we get it out of the way first." Yuga muttered, flipping through his book and finally stopping once he reached a chapter titled 'Only Four Ever Produced? History of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon'.
"That makes it worse!" Shin moaned. "Dueling History Midterm, Monday at 8 am!? What were the proctors thinking when assigning us this schedule!?"
"It isn't any better Tuesday." Naomi muttered. "Advanced Summoning Tactics at noon, and as far as I know that exam is not multiple choice, its short answer on every summoning tactic we learned so far."
"Wednesday is the final two we got though." Roku said. "Deck Building Tactics, and after that for Gym they're giving us a dueling practical. Not action dueling though, we haven't had enough time to learn that one."
"That's the one I'm looking forward to." Yuga smirked. "Give me a pencil and I won't exactly shine, but get me in a duel and I'll ace it no sweat!"
"Don't be so hasty." Ruka warned, looking at Yuga. "This isn't like the test dueling we had applying to this school. They're going to assign us to duel proctors whose entire job is to push us to our very limits."
Shin groaned. "My confidence is slowly draining the more you speak."
"Look on the bright side." Asami grinned. "After this we get a whole month off."
It was Yuga's turn to look sorrowful. "A month at the orphanage… yay…"
Everyone frowned, but thinking it was best they didn't get into that topic they went back to studying. Afterwards they decided to relocate and head to the lunch room to eat before going to the library and studying there. Upon entering the lunchroom, however, they found a shocking scene playing out right before their eyes.
Vince and his gang were squaring off in the lunch room, eyeing each other dangerously. Vince threw a punch at one of the taller boys, knocking him down, but soon he had two others launch onto his back, trying to wrestle him down, but Vince managed to throw them off and slam them to the ground. No body moved, Vince being the only one standing. Shortly after, the shortest gang member started getting to his feet. This member wore a blue jacket, a black undershirt and blue pants. He groaned, rubbing his black bowl cut hair and putting on his thick glasses, now cracked a little. This guy spat some blood out of his mouth before getting fully up and limping past Yuga and the others, who just stared in shock at the fight they had witnessed.
"What happened, Masuhiro?" Yuga asked to the gang member with glasses.
"Never you mind." Masuhiro snapped, adjusting his glasses as they were bent and kept sliding down. Vince huffed, walking away as two nurse assistants ran in and began helping the students up.
"What in the world…" Naomi muttered.
"You missed it?" A junior student asked. "Well, you know how Vince formed that gang, right? Well, getting a gang of delinquents together isn't really the best idea for a study group. They got into a fight about almost everything, from study techniques to whether they should cheat or not. Masuhiro, being the only smart one, was often picked on for his brains. Well, he yelled something about quitting the gang, and soon everyone wanted to do the same for one reason or another. Vince got pissed and, well, punches were thrown."
"I knew that gang wouldn't last for more than a single semester." Roku muttered, looking after Vince.
"What a bunch of immature brats." Ruka muttered.
"That's the stupidest reason to ditch your friends I've ever heard." Yuga stated.
"I couldn't imagine them being really good friends though." Namoi said.
"Poor Vince." Asami whispered, looking at him as he burst through the door to make his exit. "He's covered in blood and bruises."
"I wouldn't really say 'poor' if I were you." Shin said. "I mean, I bet he threw the first punch…"
"Come on, let's just get lunch." Roku said.
The rest of the day passed with a ton of studying, and before any of them knew it Midterms had officially began on Union Campus. Monday's Dueling History midterm is exactly what Yuga expected it would be, a bunch of questions on the various parts of the history of Duel Monsters that they had learned up to this point. Lucky for Yuga though, it was multiple choice, so by process of elimination he felt as though he had gotten most of the answers right. Tuesday's Advanced Summoning Tactics midterm was a killer though, with 70 short answer questions based on summoning. Yuga had to imagine he was in a duel multiple times to remember exactly how to summon what, and barely managed to answer the last question before the 2 hour time limit ended on the exam. Finally, Wednesday rolled around, with Deck Building Tactics and Gym. Deck Building Tactics took everyone by surprise, as instead of a paper and pencil type of test, a box of 500 cards were handed to each student, where they needed to construct a minimum 40 card deck to turn in.
"You have two hours, much like any other midterm here." Takada explained. "The thirty protectors will be keeping an eye on you, so don't go trying to sneak a card or two out of here." He glared especially at a few students, before looking at the proctors. Most of them were pervious students that volunteered to help, and Yuga even noticed Professors Jin and Kato keeping their eye on them. "The boxes have 500 cards each, no archtypes, though a few random cards from an archtype might end up in there. Your task is to build a stable and balanced deck in the allotted time limit. You may begin."
Yuga took the lid off his box and began digging around in there. He would occasionally pull out a card that caught his eye, like 'White Night Dragon'. Finally, he smirked, building a deck based around water monsters with White Night Dragon as the ace, before handing it to Takada exactly 20 minutes before the end of the exam, who went through the cards, smiling.
"I am impressed at this deck." Takada muttered, before looking up and smiling at Yuga. "Very well, results will be posted Friday. You may head to the Gym now and wait for everyone else to arrive."
Smiling, Yuga headed out of the class and headed right to the gym. Soon after sitting in the bleachers near Ruka and Roku for a while, everyone else from the exam joined him, and before long the teachers started piling in, and at the hour Takada grabbed a microphone and began to explain what was going on.
"You will be called forward into private sections in order to conduct your exam." Takada explained. "Through the year, everything you learned and practiced was to benefit your dueling, but now it is time to apply that knowledge not to paper, but to a real duel. Your goal is not victory, but rather to use what you have learned in the duel."
"Professor, are you expecting all of us to Xyz Summon since we learned it in class?" A girl in the front asked.
"I do not expect everyone to Xyz Summon, as there are some who don't have place of it in their decks, but I am expecting you to use the applications you learned to get out high level monsters faster." Takada explained. "Now, you will all wait here for protectors to call you up and lead you to other rooms where your test will begin."
Takada handed the microphone to a protector before leaving the gym to head to this office. One by one, students were called by one of the volunteer proctors. After 24 were called, a 25th proctor stepped forward to grab the mic. "Yuga Suzuki!"
"Huh, I didn't have to wait long." Yuga said, standing up.
"Good luck." Ruka and Shin whispered to him. Yuga gave them a thumbs up before heading down to the gym floor where his proctor nodded at him to follow. Yuga did so, heading to the same room he normally had Advanced Summoning Methods in. He and the proctor both stood on opposite ends of the teaching area.
"Against you…" The proctor said, shuffling though various brown deck boxes, before finally reaching a brown one with a star on it. "Ah, here we are."
"Why is that box different then all the others?" Yuga asked. "All of them are labeled, but that one has a star marking."
"I can't disclose that information." The proctor said. "But I can tell you that this deck was picked out specifically to be used against you."
Wow, I'm not sure what to make of that...Yuga thought to himself.
"This is a standard duel." The proctor said, taking a brown duel disk out of the pocket of his black pants, strapping it onto his arm, slightly wrinkling his black jacket. The green duel disk shot out a yellow blade. "You are to prove to me your dueling has gotten better since you've been accepted to Union. Draining my life to zero is not necessary, but beating me would be a good amount of additional points. Understand?"
Yuga nodded, taking out his own duel disk and activating it. Yuga looked down at his deck for a minute before putting it into the deck slot and drawing five cards. I know that my deck won't let me down.
"Duel!"
Yuga: 4000 vs Proctor: 4000
"I'll begin by placing the Scale 5 Wisdom-Eye Magician and the Scale 8 Dragonpit Magician in my Pendulum Zones!" Yuga announced. "Now I can summon monsters between Levels 6 and 7! I Pendulum Summon form my hand, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (2500/2000)!"
"According to your report, that's your ace monster." The proctor said. "Didn't think I would see him so quickly."
"Next, I activate the Pendulum Effect of my Wisdom-Eye Magician!" Yuga said. "By sacrificing herself, she can allow me to place another monster from my deck in her place, as long as it is a "Magician". I choose the Scale 2 Oafdragon Magician! Finally, I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."
"My turn then." The proctor announced, drawing a card. "I place the Scale 1 Qliphort Carrier and the Scale 9 Qliphort Scout into my Pendulum Zones!"
"Wait, Pendulum Monsters?" Yuga gasped in shock.
XxXxXxX
"The field testing is going well so far, Vice Principle Takada." Jin smiled as he spoke to Professor Takada in his office. "All the freshman are doing extremely well, and many of them are displaying the vast knowledge they learned in our classes."
"Good." Takada muttered. "That is exactly what this testing is for… by the way, has Yuga's duel started? He was scheduled to be the 25th duelist called."
Jin nodded. "It should have started about two minutes ago, sir. By the way, if I may ask, which deck is Yuga facing off against anyway?"
Takada smiled. "One of the best this school could get to test him. A Pendulum Summoning deck like Yuga… an archtype of monsters known as Qliphort."
"I've never heard of such an archtype before." Jin muttered. "How powerful are these monsters?"
"They are best known for their ability to be summoned to the field without tribute, despite being high level monsters, however doing this or special summoning them without tribute usually causes most monsters to weaken themselves to a level 4 state, and decrease their attack and defense." Takada explained. "Their real power lies in the Pendulum effects of the monsters, as well as the two powerful 3 tribute monsters that lurk inside the deck."
"Why get such a powerful deck to test Yuga with?" Jin asked. "He's only a freshman, this sounds like a junior or senior testing deck?"
"Perhaps it is." Takada said, sipping his coffee. "However Yuga's skill level has increased a lot since he came to this school, and he still remains our only prime student Pendulum summoner. I figured it was finally time to put Yuga against his own weapon. See if he can handle facing off against a Pendulum deck."
"But one that powerful?" Jin questioned.
Takada paused for a minute before sipping his coffee again. He put his cup down before speaking. "I believe that he can beat that deck, and this is more than just a midterm test. Six other freshman are to battle high level decks to see how powerful they really are."
"Six other freshman?" Jin asked. "Who…"
"Ruka, Roku, Shin, Vince, Naomi and Asami." Takada said. "All six of them, along with Yuga, are battling higher than normal test decks for their year level."
"For what reason?" Jin asked.
Takada frowned. "It's an order from the Principal of the school. He wants to test them for something… something he thinks is going to happen, and that these kids are needed for."
"They're just freshman." Jin muttered. "What task could they be required for that our juniors or seniors couldn't handle?"
At this, Takada frowned. "That's something I don't even know…"
XxXxXxX
"I activate the Pendulum effect of my Qliphort Scout." The proctor announced. "By sacrificing 800 of my life points (Proctor: 4000 - 3200), I can add one 'Qli' monster from my deck to my hand, and I choose Qliphort Helix! Next, I Pendulum Summon the level 6 Qliphort Helix (2400/1000), the level 7 Qliphort Disk (2800/1000), and the level 5 Qliphort Monolith (2400/1000) to the field!"
Yuga groaned a little. "Oh boy, those things are powerful."
"The Pendulum effect of my Qliphort Carrier now activates." The proctor said. "All 'Qli' Monsters I control gain 300 attack points (Qliphort Helix: 2400/1000 - 2700/1000, Qliphort Disk: 2800/1000 - 3100/1000, Qliphort Monolith: 2400/1000 - 2700/1000). However, the special abilities of my Helix and Disk activate. Because they were not tribute summoned, their original attack decreases to 1800 and their levels become 4, but they still gain the 300 attack boost (Helix: 2700/1000 - 2100/1000, Disk: 3100/1000 - 2100/1000)."
I see. Yuga thought. In exchange for high level monsters and useful pendulum effects, these monsters have a strength limiting drawback that can only be avoided by tribute summoning them.
"I next activate the spell card, Saqlifice!" The proctor stated.
"Uh, come again?" Yuga asked.
"Saqlifice." The proctor said, annoyed. "By equipping this card onto a 'Qli' monster, it gains 300 attack points and can't be destroyed by battle. Additionally, the equipped monster is treated as 2 tributes when summoning a 'Qli' monster. I'll equip this spell onto Helix (Helix: 2100/1000 - 2400/1000)!"
Damn, now that Helix can be used for a high level monster like another Disk, and if he tributes to summon it that monster will have 3100 attack points! Yuga thought.
"Battle phase!" The proctor announced. "Monolith, destroy Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" The stone structure shot a laser beam out from it and vaporized Odd-Eyes (Yuga: 4000 - 3800).
"I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but Pendulum Monsters get sent to the Extra Deck when destroyed." Yuga muttered.
"Qliphort Disk, destroy his set monster!" Disk charged forward, spinning around before hitting the set defense card, revealed to be Enter-Mate Uni, who didn't stand a chance with her 1500 defense.
"Aww, I like that monster." Yuga muttered.
"Finally, Helix, direct attack!" The proctor commanded. Helix shot a laser blast at Yuga, who yelped in pain as he was zapped by the Solid Vision lasers (Yuga: 3800 - 1400). "I'm not done, next I enter my Main Phase 2."
"You don't have to announce what phase you're in." Yuga said annoyed. "If you set a card or summon a monster I'll know you aren't in the Battle Phase anymore."
The proctor glared before continuing. "I sacrifice my Helix, which counts as 2 tributes, and my Disk, to summon the Apoqliphort Skybase (2900/2500)!" A huge structure appeared in the place of Helix and Disk.
"Okay, that thing is huge!" Yuga muttered. And with needing 3 tributes, I get the feeling that thing is NOT friendly.
"Apoqliphort is unaffected by Spell and Trap effects, therefore the pendulum effect of my Qliphort Carrier doesn't affect it." The proctor announced. "Monster effects from monsters whose original level or rank that are lower than 9 won't work on my Skybase either."
You're kidding me! Yuga thought to himself. So nothing I throw at it will work, since my highest level and ranked cards are 7!
"I activate the effect of my Helix that was destroyed." The proctor said. "When it leaves the field, I can destroy one spell or trap card on your side of the field, and I choose your Dragonpit Magician in your Pendulum Zone. I'll end my turn there."
Yuga sighed. Alright, Yuga, time to think of a way out of this. Nothing I throw at that Skybase will effect it, and with 2900 attack points I don't have any monsters that can scratch it, unless I can use Dark Rebellion's effect to take the attack from that Monolith on his fiend. Cutting 2700 in half will give my Dark Rebellion a total of 3850 attack points! The only card I got in my hand is Enter-Mate Corn, and as adorable as she is… with only 600 attack she won't do a thing, and being a level 3 I can't use her with Wisdom-Eye for an Xyz Summon. Alright deck, give me a good card now…
Yuga held his breath, drawing a card. He then looked at it and smirked. "Alright, I activate the spell card Pendulum Call! By discarding one card from my hand, like my Enter-Mate Corn, I can add 2 'Magician' Pendulum Monsters with different names from my deck to my hand! I choose the level 4 Dragonpulse Magician, and another Level 7 Dragonpit Magician. Next, I'll set this new Dragonpit Magician in my Pendulum Zone to replace the one you destroyed."
"You still cannot touch my Skybase." The proctor stated.
"Hey, I'm not done." Yuga muttered. "Now, using my set Pendulum Monsters, I Pendulum Summon… from my hand, Dragonpulse Magician (1800/900)! And, from my Extra Deck, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, and Wisdom-Eye Magician (1500/1500)! Now, using the level 4 Wisdom-Eye Magician and the level 4 Dragonpulse Magician, I construct the overlay network."
The proctor growled a little. "Of course. He was gathering his monsters not only to Pendulum Summon, but to perform a Xyz Summon."
"Formed from pitch black darkness, to fight those foolish enough to oppose it with its treacherous fangs! Xyz Summon! Appear, Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!" Yuga chanted, with Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon appearing on his field. "I activate Dark Rebellion's effect! By detaching 2 overlay units, I can target one of your monsters and cut its attack points in half. After that, your monster's lost attack points are added to my Dark Rebellion's attack points!"
"You're forgetting that my Skybase is immune to any monster's effect whose level or rank is lower than its level of 9." The proctor said.
"You're forgetting your other monster, Proctor." Yuga smirked. "Now, Dark Rebellion, use your effect on his Qliphort Monolith!" Dark Rebellion roared, sending purple lightning out of his two orbs located on his wings. The lighting surrounded Monolith, draining its power (Monolith: 2700/1000 - 1350/1000, Dark Rebellion: 2500/2000 - 3850/2000). "Now, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, attack and destroy his Skybase!" Dark Rebellion roared, his spiked chin glowing as he flew forward, slamming into the Skybase, impaling it with his spike before it exploded (Proctor: 3200 - 2250). "Now, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, destroy his Monolith. Normally, an attack on a 1350 monster with a 2500 monster would leave you with 1100 life points, but because my Odd-Eyes's effect doubles any battle damage he does, your life points are going to 0!" Odd-Eyes roared, sending a blast of red energy from his mouth, causing Monolith to explode (Proctor: 2250 - 0).
Yuga Wins!
The proctor withdrew the blade of his duel disk and nodded. "Excellent duel, student. You managed to beat this deck, exactly as the Principal had hoped for."
"Wait, the Principal picked that deck for me?" Yuga asked.
"Indeed I did."
To hear that deep voice shocked Yuga, who turned to see a man he had only seen photographs of. He wore a blue long tailed jacket with black pants, and carried a black cane with him which he used in his left hand. His white hair was neatly combed, as was his white beard. His eyes were a piercing green, and they seemed to look right through Yuga.
"P-Principal Mondo." Yuga stuttered, hearing about the man but never meeting him. Students never usually saw the Principal, as he was very busy managing the school. Most social and student meetings were handed by Takada, the Vice-Principal.
"It's an honor to see you again, sir." The proctor said, bowing.
"I'm glad you are well as well." Principal Mondo said, smiling to the proctor before turning back to Yuga. "Yes, I handpicked that deck for you, unlike the other freshman whose decks were chosen by Takada and the other teachers based on their individual levels of skill."
"If you don't mind me asking, sir, for what reason was I given this special test?" Yuga asked.
"We can talk about that in my office." Principal Mondo said, nodding the proctor before turning and walking away. Yuga blinked a little and followed after him, walking for quite a while before reaching the hallway students were never usually allowed down, which only contained one door. Principal Mondo opened it to reveal a large office with a large deck and a window that took up an entire wall, overlooking the entire campus. Principal Mondo sat down at his deck, turning to smile at Yuga.
"You are one of seven freshman who I tested, Yuga." Principal Mondo explained.
"And the other six?" Yuga asked.
"I'm sure you are familiar with all of them." Principal Mondo smiled. "Ruka Nagai, user of Aromage. Shin Kenyo, the Cyber Dragon and Gadget duelist. Vince Koba, wielder of the legendary Red-Eyes. Asami Ikeda, the Haripe Duelist. Naomi Fujiwara, Lunalight expert. And finally Roku Nagai, Noble Knight Leader."
"Literally all of my friends here… well minus Vince." Yuga muttered.
"Yes, I am aware of the history between you and Vince." Principal Mondo laughing a little. "But he is still one of the seven top freshman here at the school."
"Do you test the top seven students of each year like this, sir?" Yuga asked.
To his surprise, Principal Mondo shook his head. "No. This year was the first year that I decided to do this kind of test."
"Any particular reason?"
"Yuga, not only are you and your friends… and Vince, the top seven freshman here in the school this year so far, you seven also have the dueling potential to be part of the top students overall at this school."
"Seriously!?" Yuga gasped in shock.
Principal Mondo nodded. "As to why I decided to test you like this… well that will have to wait. I do have six other students to explain this too, and you should spend your winter vacation relaxing instead of worrying about the troubles of an old man like me. Off you go now."
XxXxXxX
True to Principal Mondo words, Yuga later met up with Ruka and the others, who also had faced off against some very good decks and were told it was to test the top seven freshman at the school, who had the potential to one day be the best duelists in the school. Also true to what Yuga heard, none of them were given an explanation beyond this, and were left in the dark to the true nature of this extreme test.
"You guys too, huh?" Vince asked, walking up to them. "Yeah I just got done with my test."
"This is all very strange." Roku muttered. "To what purpose could this test have been for? It can't just be to test our skills."
"I feel like this is for something else." Naomi stated. "But what other reason it could be for is beyond me."
"Maybe we're going to duel some seniors when we get back." Yuga suggested, smirking.
"I hope not." Shin weakly said. "I already am shaking after that midterm duel!"
"Whatever reason it's for, they're keeping us in the dark for now." Ruka said. "Let's just try and enjoy our breaks and not worry about it too much."
"I agree." Asami said, smirking. "After all, I can't enjoy my vacation if I'm worrying about why I was challenged like this!"
Yuga had to admit, worrying about the true reason they were tested would make his time at the orphanage easier, but at the same time the seed that there was an alternate reason for this test was planted, and sprouting very quickly.