The house felt stranger at night with the realization that this was an unknown apartment. While at Domino, he knew how many steps he had to take to reach the kitchen, where exactly were to turn, the width of the hallway, and how to find the switch for the light bulb. He stumbled his way towards the kitchen walking slowly, and pressing with his palm on the walls. From the corner of his eye he saw the T.V turned on, and a silhouette of a man talking on the phone. D had always been a night owl, he did not gave it much importance. As he stepped into the kitchen, he heard the sound of glass breaking. Aster hid by the kitchen counter watching Mr. D talking on his phone. Droplets of blood were falling from the fists of his hands. D was clenching his fists grabbing his hair frustrated, Aster was sure the man's knuckles were turning white.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
D slammed the coffee table. Aster wondered who was the person on the other line, and how the argument had escalated. The boy had never seen D so...violent. He heard the man's heavy footsteps circling around the coffee table. Scared as he was, he could not stop looking. Ever since he had known him, Aster had never been intimidated by D's large frame, yet for the first time, the thought that he barely knew who D was, crossed his mind. He had simply allowed to be adopted by him, perhaps out of desperation, or to regain a sense of normalcy in his life. D had told him bits of information about himself and his past...even when authorities were involved to allow the adoption process he was given a green light. He knew his large frame and dark eyes could be intimidating for some people, he had seen him get on his way in whatever he wanted. Despite his rough hands, Aster had always felt safe around him.
Aster noticed his hands were shaking, as he kept on hearing the conversation. By some words being tossed around, he imagined it would be some sort of business related to his career as a Pro…perhaps it was D's manager? Aster had never met the guy, yet he knew he had one. He told himself that he would never lash out on his own manager like that. He tried to look over the hallway, he was surprised neither Sartorius or Serena had been woken up by the noise.
"You are making a big mistake!" he threatened.
D held his hand in the air as if he was choking somebody.
"You never saw things my way...I thought you cared about the kid!" He closed his palm.
"I ain't scared to get my hands dirty".
Aster rushed back to his bedroom closing the door shut. Since when D had been like that? Perhaps, he was always like that? That violence he had shown...it was not something that appeared out of nowhere...The door was opened by the man who stepped into the room.
"Aster! What's the matter?" he looked much calmer, yet Aster took a step back.
D sighed and sat by the bed.
"I'm sorry you had to hear that, kiddo"
"Who was it?" Aster asked wide eyed.
"Heh, business." D chuckled. Aster couldn't help but wince.
"Aster" D turned to him looking into his eyes "I would never hurt you". Aster had never felt so small. D's black eyes looked kind and even a bit hurt. Yet, Aster was still silent.
"I'm very sorry for scaring you. I just..." he sighed. "I just want your rise to the Pro Leagues be without any trouble...I guess some people don't believe in you...like I do."
Aster opened his eyes wide.
"So it was not your manager?"
D avoided the question:
"Don't worry about it"
The silence made Aster a bit uncomfortable, yet he had to ask the question that was in his mind.
"Are...are you going to hurt the person you were talking to?" fearful.
D chuckled.
"Of course not! What have you been eating?"
"I mean...you said…"
D patted his head.
"I promise you. Sleep tight kiddo, you have a busy day tomorrow"
D had left Aster cookies for the next morning. It was strange, as he did not usually did that. Instead, he had taught Aster how to use the utensils and learn it himself. He bit on the cookie with a slight sense of guilt. D had told him his trouble was related to him. He wondered if that incident could affect his career long term. Aster did not know many people, and he doubt D would have the guts to gain a bad reputation with Pegasus; with that anyone's career would be over... He glanced over the letter laying in the counter, D had been invited to the World Series that was taking place in Domino. He imagined watching D winning the Pro League at the Kaiba Stadium, him sitting in the first spot, the crow cheering, the lights... He knew D would be leaving soon.
Sartorius who waved at him as he opened the fridge and asked him if Aster shouldn't be already leaving for his training. The statement made the silver hair boy trip on his shoelaces as he tried to tie them.
"Don't break a tooth" Sartorius commented as he turned his spoon on his coffee cup. Embarrassed he climbed on the limo which was already waiting.
Turn on duel disk, draw, turn off duel disk, shuffle, turn on duel disk, draw, turn off duel disk, shuffle, turn on duel disk, draw, turn off duel disk, shuffle...Aster repeated the exercise mindlessly as Eddie kept talking.
"A deck and a duelist are one in the same..."
Aster was barely listening, his mind completely numb from repetition, staring with no interest in particular to the wall in front of him. He wondered what was so wonderful of drawing his cards over and over again. He felt Eddie's hands over his shoulders.
"No hunching" he commented as he straightened his back.
He then grabbed him by the back of the head.
"Always look at your opponent"
Geez...what was wrong with this guy? The duel disk on his arm was feeling slightly heavy. Eddie continued with his speech. It seemed he had changed the subject but Aster barely paid attention.
"...in the past it was considered that a good duelist was someone who had strong cards, yet the nature of duel monsters is changing."
That's what Pegasus had mentioned, yet Aster was unsure what was "the change", he had seen duels and it all looked rather the same. He even wondered why he needed a year of training before being introduced to the public.
Eddie clapped his hands loudly which made Aster slightly jump. He instructed him for his next exercise which again, Aster was disappointed it was not an actual duel. Eddie emptied a cardboard box, duel monsters cards scattered all around Aster.
"I want you to organize this cards: first, separate monster cards, from trap and spell cards" Eddie gave no further instructions and Aster began looking around, to what probably looked like a thousand cards scattered on the floor. Ancient Brain, monster, he placed it behind him, World Suppression, trap on his left, Labyrinth Tank...well technically a fusion, he placed it behind him, Gift Of The Martyr, spell, on his right. Cards began piling up in his sides, yet, the work seemed to be endless. As he looked satisfied over the organized pile, he realized he still had hundreds to go. He glanced over, he was so immersed in his own thoughts that he did not notice Eddie was still in the room. He was sitting on a chair reading a book. He glanced over:
"You okay, kid?"
Aster nodded and continued organizing. By lunchtime, the boy still had not finished. Eddie walked over him.
"It's all right, I want you to take them home." He grabbed the ones which had been separated and placed them on three separate boxes, while the rest were piled in the cardboard box which they came from.
"Are all of this your cards?"
"Yes"
"Quick thinking is a key skill for a good duelist, Aster…"
Aster began revising his deck on his head, perhaps he could summon a fusion monster, or figure a way to bring Destiny Hero Dogma much faster; his strategies were interrupted by Eddie:
"I was thinking... perhaps we can both leave out our Pots of Greed…" He walked toward the box where Aster had placed the spell cards and randomly grabbed two. The boy gave him a serious look.
"You can place Pot of Greed in your pocket". He did as so and turned on his duel disk.
Eddie began the first turn, by activating his spell card Call of the Mummy, allowing him to summon Dark Assailant (ATK 1200/DEF 1200) on the field. Then, he activated his spell card Metamorphosis, by discarding his monster on the field, he summoned Cyber Ogre 2 (ATK 2600/DEF 1900). He activated his spell card, Axe of Despair increasing the attack of his monster to 1000, in total Cyber Ogre 2 had 3600 points. He placed two card face down and ended his turn.
D had told him: Cyber Ogre 2 was Eddie's ace card. He drew: it took him slightly a back, it was not a card he had on his deck: Graceful Dice...Aster usually did not use gamble type cards, as he found them quite unpredictable, yet, he had seen D and Sartorius heavily rely on them. When Aster had asked D if it was a good strategy at all, the man had assured him that with destiny on his side, it was. Perhaps, he could use it later.
Aster activated his trap card, Fusion Sage, allowing him to add a Polymerization to his hand. If Eddie wanted to play with Fusion Monsters, Aster could definitely follow him. First, he summoned Destiny Hero Drilldark (ATK 1600/DEF 1200), which allowed him to special summon another Destiny Hero to the field, Aster summoned Destiny Hero Doom. With his Polymerization, he fusion-summoned Vision Hero Adoration using Destiny Hero Doom, which was on the field, and Diamond Dude, which was on his hand. Vision Hero Adoration had an attack of 2800 and defense points of 2100.
Eddie gave him a look.
"Interesting monster you got there…What a shame"
The man activated his trap card, Bottomless Trap Hole, and Vision Hero Adoration was banished from the field.
Aster tried to keep a straight face, although he felt defeated. His monster was already placed in attack position. He glanced over his cards, they had already been dueling for two minutes...He placed a card on his magic and trap zone and ended his turn.
In his next turn, Eddie Cipher Soldier (ATK 1350/DEF 1800), using this card, he declared an attack on Drilldark. Aster was surprised to see that Cipher's attack and defense points had increased to 2000.
" My monster has a neat ability of increasing its attack and defense to 2000 when battling warrior type monsters, which happens to be the majority of your deck…"
Aster activated his trap card D Shield.
"A good duelist is someone who can change a situation in a single turn, even against all odds." His mentor commented as he finished his turn. The boy sighed internally, that was quite close. Aster briefly examined the field: he had a 3600 attack monster, and a monster whose attack would increase when battling warrior monsters, plus two cards face down on Eddie's side on the field. First, he activated Dark City, which he had drawn during his draw phase. The field was changed to a silhouette of a city, the only light coming from the cities small square windows. He summoned Destiny Hero Celestial (ATK 1600/DEF 1400), still he felt it was not enough. He first wanted to take down Cyber Ogre 2.
"Here goes nothing" Aster told himself as he activated his magic card Graceful Dice. He held his breath as the dice rolled...It landed on a six.
"Perhaps you should trust more gamble cards," Eddie commented.
Now, Aster was ready.
Aster set his attack in motion with Destiny Hero Celestial, he would destroy Cyber Ogre first, and destroy one of his face down cards at the same time. As he launched an attack, he activated his trap card D-Chain, Celestial had a total attack of 3700 while its defense was left at 2000. Cyber Ogre 2 was destroyed, and with that Eddie suffered a 100 loss of life points, Aster also destroyed the face down card that was on Eddie's left (-500 life points), and finally, for D-Chain's effect, Eddie lost 500 life points as well. Finally, Aster attacked Cipher Soldier. While Aster remained with 4000 life points, Eddie remained with 2050 life points. Aster briefly glanced at Eddie's expression who pulled a satisfied grin.
"Excellent!"
"Now" Eddie spoke as they both made their way to the Press room. Aster stepped inside to the office with an oval table and a projector displayed on the wall. He imagined that was the place where duelists would have press conferences once matches were ended. The more days he spent at the Industrial Illusions stadium, the more facilities he discovered. He doubt Kaiba Dome would have a specific room for meetings, although he did felt Kaiba Dome was much more advanced. A brief memory of him with his father walking along the large crystal walls as they found their spots for the upcoming match at Kaiba Dome crossed his mind.
"Besides practice" Eddie catched up distracting Aster. "You need to understand the game."
He explained that while he would begin the introduction, he would have other teachers to teach him theoretical aspects of Duel Monsters.
"I know what you are thinking: "But I never saw D have all of this!"
Aster did thought about it, but had kept quiet about it. Pegasus was giving him a place to stay, a personal trainer, classes, Aster felt it would be unfair to whine after all he was being given. Yet, he puzzled with the schedule presented by Eddie. If he was going to live of dueling, why he needed extra classes? What was there to understand about Duel Monsters besides...dueling.
"As good of a duelist as your guardian is...he is an old brand of duelists...a cutter cookie model of every single professional duelist that came once Pegasus realized that this was profitable."
He changed the presentation to show a table with numbers. After briefly glancing it, he realized that they were duelists, organized by points, from highest to lowest. He also noticed D was placed in the 10th position.
"This is your dueling career. All your duels will be summarized in one single number". He pointed at D's picture with his laser pointer.
"Two points when you win, one point if the match ends in a draw and cero, if you lose."
Aster calculated that if D won every match in the upcoming world series he could reach number one. Yet, there was another thing in his mind…
"So...the one who is number one is...King of Games?"
Eddie laughed.
"Aster, you should know that the title of King of Games is only relevant in Domino City… And, there is only one real King of Games, the rest are just cheap imitators." Eddie answered mockingly. Yugi Muto. Aster had never exactly imagined to ever be at the level of the legendary Yugi Muto, being crowned King of Games had never exactly crossed his mind.
"You don't want to be the number one in Domino...you want to be the number one in the world."
"International" Aster had heard Pegasus telling him that. He figured that was the change in the nature of duel monsters, while it had begun a local game inspired by an Ancient Egyptian game now it had crossed borders.
"Duel Monsters is no longer contained in Domino City, some of the best duelists at the moment are outside Domino, actually."
He glanced at the first name on the chart, Jan Olsen, which sounded Scandinavian, rather than from Domino City.
"Don't get the wrong idea, Domino City is still the hotspot for Dueling Monsters, any professional duelist who calls himself a Pro, must win at least once at the Kaiba Dome in Domino to truly establish himself as worthy."
The imagine he always saw in his head popped once again in his mind. The lights, the speakers, the smoke, the crowd cheering on him. He could almost feel it was real, hearing perfectly clear the crowd encouraging him, laughing at his jokes…Eddie finished his introduction, which made Aster find himself once again back in the room.
"Sounds nice, huh?"
Aster nodded enthusiastically.
"Let's begin the lesson, then!" the man smiled at him as he placed a pilled of books in front of Aster. As much as Aster loved Duel Monsters, he felt he was in for a long ride.
With tired feet, Aster walked slowly as he put on his slippers. As he made his way to the living room he tried to avoid with his gaze the pile of cards resting in the box, which he knew he had to organize. D had already left for Domino City. He left him a letter with instructions and assured him he would call once he reached his destination. With sore arms, Aster grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. Never in a million years would he have imagined his hand and arm hurting for too much dueling, if that was even a thing. As he mindlessly stared at the TV he tried to organize his thoughts, trying to remember everything he had learnt in just one day. His lessons mixed on together, like a ball of wood, resulting in a mess on his head. Was it Napoleon who invented Duel Monsters? That did not sound right…
Sartorius placed a cup of tea in front of him and sat by his side, staring at the TV.
"Rough day, huh?" he assumed. The boy nodded as he weakly grabbed the tea cup, the hot liquid pressing against his lips. He noticed the fruit scent coming from the cup. Neither Sartorius or Serena said nothing else, the three of them quietly watching the screen, which was the only light coming from the dark living room. Yet Aster didn't mind, in fact, the silence felt comfortable.
Took me a while... idk why I had a brief period of cringing on this story? Like perhaps my readers will think I'm just dragging the story without a clear goal? I also dont like writing duels :P
Anyways, I played some old school reggeton and got in the mood and forgot my fears.
Tried to bring some parallels between Aster's training and when he trained Chazz in season 4.
Also if you haven't guessed it, the way I imagined Duel Monsters is heavely inspired by football (amateru vs profesional legues, with regional and the world series (aka the world cup of duel monsters!).