Branching Paths. Chapter 2. Rafflesia. (Rewrite.)
[Start.]
As he wakes up, Yuri can hear a loud banging on his door.
As he gets up, he can hear the door open, footsteps slowly walking up to the room he's staying in.
"Yuri. The tryouts are today, remember? Are you ready?"
He sighs, throwing on some clean clothes, branded with the Industrial Illusions logo from his now 'job.'
He sighs, making sure to grab both of his decks, as well as the briefcase. Opening the door, he walks out, smiling up at Yugi tiredly.
"Yes, I am ready, mister Moto."
Yugi returns his smile, turning around and walking down the stairs as he follows along. "That's good. It wouldn't do for you to be late to your practical test. To think, it's already been a month and a half since you got here."
Idly, he can hear Wander manifest behind him, settling onto his hair. "Yes, and yet it only feels like we met yesterday. Will Tea be coming with us?" The door locks behind them with a 'Click'.
Yugi clears his throat, pointedly looking away from him. "Err, no. She's um… Busy, tonight, she wants to get plenty of rest."
He can hear Wander snicker to himself, and rolls his eyes at the both of them. 'Honestly, I'm not a child'.
Wander chimes in at that moment. 'Yeah, but Yugi is too polite to talk about that kind of stuff.'
Shaking his head to remove the thoughts, he brings his mind to other thoughts, and hopes that Yugi still runs into Jaden though. It wouldn't do to miss out on the "Best duelist in central academy" for a year. Otherwise his only actual challenge would probably be Zane Truesdale.
Maybe he's being unfair to the people there, but then even without Wander's memories of the "New meta" they were used to, he was just too used to a stronger style of play.
"Yuri, you're brooding again. Is something on your mind?"
He jumps when he hears Yugi's voice cut through his thoughts, surprised for a moment before he collects himself. He can hear Yugi and Wander both laugh at him, and clears his throat, looking away.
"I'm just not sure how much I'm going to enjoy being on this Island. Yes, some of the cards Pegasus and I went over can bridge a small gap, but I'm just far too used to the cards of my time. Wander would probably have an even harder time as well, considering what they are used to."
Yugi smiles at him, that patient and easy going grin.
"Just because you're used to stronger games, doesn't mean you can't still have fun Yuri. Just try and work through the-" Yugi makes a point to dramatically clear his throat, "bad times, that you'll face." Annnnd the lazy smirk is back.
His eyebrow twitches. But instead of getting mad, he sighs. "I suppose you're right Yugi."
[Break.]
Having split off from Yugi three quarters of the way towards the 'Kaiba Corps Duel Dome (™)' He completes the journey in silence, only commentary from Wander doing anything for him.
As they arrive at the Dome, they can see a sizable line forming, and at the front, a bunch of new card packs. Yuri grins, rolling his eyes at them. "So distasteful, they can't even wait until later to try the new cards."
"Maybe they're nervous about their chances Yuri. I mean a lot of these guys look desperate to pass." Wander, as always, is so helpful in pointing out the obvious.
"That's… a half decent point I suppose." He makes sure to speak quietly. Wouldn't do to be accused of being schizophrenic.
Walking up to the registration table, he smiles politely at the man and his two associates. Though privately he questions why they're wearing what amounts to cheerleading outfits.
"Yuri Sakaki, here to register for the duel academy tryouts please."
The man looks at him for a moment, studying him most likely, then leafing through several sheets before coming out with his own. "Hmm, yeah that looks like you. The hair is hard to miss." The man pulls out a stamp as Yuri's eye twitches, before the man stamps his sheet.
"Please go on through for tryouts."
"Thank you sir." Walking briskly past them, Yuri can feel anticipation fill him. After a month, he'll finally have a duelling partner that isn't Yugi. How will they play, he finds himself wondering.
As he walks into the dome, Wander points out an empty space he can sit. Good. He isn't sure if he's up to talking to "normal people" yet.
Unfortunately for his sake, he can see out the corner of his eye that somebody is approaching him. She's familiar too.
Wonderful. She looks just like one of the people he'd turned into a card. Younger, but still almost a complete duplicate.
He can hear Wander snickering, finds himself turning just in time to watch someone in one of the examination area's dropping in fear because of a leghul of all things. Ugh.
He hears the girl sit down next to him, his eyes moving over to her with an eyebrow raised in question. She smiles.
"Hi. My name is Alexis, I was wondering why you're so decked out with Industrial Illusions merchandise."
He moves, resting his head on his hands in exasperation. "Pegasus decided when he hired me to 'spruce up my dreary wardrobe'. And then decided that since I hadn't suffered enough, that he had to put his logo on almost everything."
"Wait, you're actually a worker of Industrial Illusions? Who are you?"
He sits up straight, holding a hand out. "My name is Yuri Sakaki. I'm currently a beta tester for the card development area of Industrial Illusions. It's nice to meet you, miss Alexis." He does his best to cap it off with a small smile, hoping he doesn't look shifty.
She blinks, but returns the smile, shaking his hand. "I'm honestly surprised you could keep eye contact. Most guys don't."
He can hear Wander grumble something, sounding pissed. He sighs through his nose, a small bit of Ka leaking from his hand and travelling up her arm, before he breaks the handshake. "I'm not a drooling dog, miss Alexis. I at least have some class. Even if Pegasus saw it fit to make me a walking advertisement.".
She laughs. He scoffs playfully. Honestly, interacting with her isn't as bad as he was expecting. She's surprisingly easy to get on with.
Mostly, they make small talk. Card strategies and the like.
Yuri finds his eyes drawn towards one of the hopefuls in an arena. Misawa, he thinks. He snorts as he notices him claim victory. "Ring of destruction. A suicide play hmm? Smart move on his part."
He hears Alexis hum. "Yep. Then again, he's one of the best in the lineup according to the ratings, so he has to be good."
[Next for Examinations. Yuri Sakaki. Please report to the third arena.]
He hums as he hears it. "Handy. Do you mind watching my jacket? Or just putting it somewhere I can find it?"
She blinks again, but smiles "Sure, I don't mind too much."
"Thank you."
Standing up, He stretches for a minute, before shrugging off the jacket and laying it where he sat. Giving a small wave as he walks off, ignoring the looks of almost every male student or hopeful in the entire dome, he makes his way to the third arena.
Thankfully, a duel-disk is provided for examinees, otherwise he'd have had to bring his own. Just a bit too clunky for his tastes though. Then again, his last duel disk was made of solid light.
[Break.]
Waiting until the elevator activates to send him to the third arena is irritating. 'Do they want to try and make hopefuls sweat? Or were they just cleaning up?'
Yuri's patience finally pays off after two minutes of waiting. 'About time.'
As he rises through the floor, a hand on his hip and the other downwards, he's hoping he cuts a dignified, but bored, figure. Wander is laughing again.
He's careful not to let any irritation show on his face.
"Greetings Examinee number eighty five. I am Andre, and I will be your examiner for the entrance exam. Do you understand?"
He nods his head, his facial expression barely shifting. "Yes. You are the one I have to defeat to be allowed entrance."
"Good. Now, some ground rules. Number one, no Exodia or miller decks. I can understand the appeal of having a large deck full of spells for milling just to beat your opponent in one turn with a deck out or something like that, but we're here to see your skill, not your luck. Number two, the duel is over when I say it is. No showboating or drawing it out. Number three, if I say you're done, you're done. Am I understood?"
He nods his head again. "Reasonable rules. Four thousand lifepoints yes? Or are we going for eight thousand?"
"We will be using four thousand. Standard exhibition rules will not be used on duel academy. You're here to learn, not to see how quickly you can drop the numbers in one turn. Unless your name is Zane Truesdale."
They both snort, Yuri shaking his head.
"How about we just get started, and go from there, yes?"
"Agreed."
Then both of their duel-disks activate. Yuri finds he dislikes the standard examination duel-disk. It isn't as fluid as his old one.
Looking up, he watches the proctor as he draws five cards.
"Now usually, standard rules would mean that whoever goes first is decided by a coin flip, but since you are the challenger, you'll get first turn, cupcake. So hurry up and draw."
He rolls his eyes at the nickname, but draws a card anyway.
[Hand.
.Flute of summoning Dragon.
.Lord of D.
.Divine Dragon Ragnarok.
.Foolish Burial.
.Decoy Dragon.
.Polymerization.]
Yuri grins, his usual "evil" grin growing onto his face almost against his will. He can feel his eyes beginning to have a light purple glow, but forces it back down. Not here.
"Alright proctor. First things first I shall activate [Foolish Burial.] to send my [Darkblaze Dragon. 1200/1000.] to the graveyard. Next I'll summon [Lord of D. 1200/1100.] in attack mode."
He can hear the proctor scoff. "That's it kid?"
His eyebrow twitches. And bits of his glow return.
"It is not, but you seem impatient, so allow me to speed things up. I'll activate the [Flute of Summoning Dragon.], which allows me to summon two dragon monsters from my hand as long as Lord of D. is on the field. These two monsters are [Decoy Dragon. 300/200] and [Divine Dragon Ragnarok. 1500/1000.] In defense mode and attack mode respectively."
The proctor nods his head, a bit of grudging respect forming. "Okay not bad kid, but that still isn't enough."
He sighs again. "So impatient. Next I'll activate [Polymerization.] to fuse together my Lord of D and Divine Dragon Ragnarok. Come forth, and be invoked, [King Dragun! 2400/1100.]. While this card is face up on the field, monsters cannot target any dragon monster with an effect."
"WH-THAT'S!"
"Completely fair. Now, it's your move proctor." Yuri grins his particular little grin, enjoying the fact he's getting under the proctor's skin, even just a bit.
He can see the proctor grinding his teeth for a moment. "ARGH, FINE THEN! First I'll activate [Pot of Greed.], this card lets me draw two cards. And what a surprise, another pot of greed. That's another two cards. Next, I'll activate [Temple of the kings.] And Then I'm gonna activate my [Fiendish Chain.], to negate the effect of your King Dragun. Whaddaya think of that? Huh?"
Yuri tries his best but a strangled coughing laugh escapes him. God this guy's act is great.
"Oh you think that's funny? Well how about this! I summon [Basic Insect. 500/700.] in face up attack mode! Then I'm gonna equip him with three things. First off, [Laser Cannon Armour.], then next up I'll use [Insect Armour with laser cannon.] and then I'll cap it off with [Big Bang Shot.] Bringing his attack up to 1900, and giving him piercing damage! And because of your precious little King Dragun's effect being nullified, you can't do anything!"
Yuri grins, the man is getting incredibly worked up. It's contagious, he can feel the excitement of a duel, even if this one is subpar compared to what he's used to.
"AND NOW, I'M GONNA CRUSH YOUR DUMB LITTLE DRAGON! BASIC INSECT, BIG BANG LASER CANNON SHOT!" His arm stretches forward, pointing right at Decoy Dragon. Yuri grins. "FIRE!"
As the explosive fires towards Decoy Dragon, it becomes afraid, looking around for a place to hide before crying out. "Well, that's enough of that. I activate Decoy Dragons effect."
"W-WHAT EFFECT!?"
"Whenever Decoy Dragon is targeted for an attack, I can special summon one level seven or higher dragon type monster in my graveyard to the field, and then swap the attack over to it. And I'll just have to pick my [Darkblaze Dragon.]"
In front of Decoy Dragon, Darkblaze suddenly materialises, keeping the attack at bay.
"S-So what? That dragon only has twelve hundred attack points, it can't beat my insect!"
Yuri laughs, a mocking chuckle. "See, that would be where you are wrong. Darkblaze Dragon's effect activates whenever it is summoned from the graveyard. So instead of 1200 attack points, It has 2400."
The attack spins for a moment, before getting shot back at the Basic Insect, black flames lapping at its heels before the insect explodes under its own attack. [500 damage.]
"And did I mention that whenever Darkblaze destroys a monster, you'll also take damage equal to their base attack?" [500 damage.]
[Yuri:4000 / Andre:3000.]
He can hear surprise in the stands near him, a lot of the students going quiet. Is this not a thing that happens normally?
"So, mister proctor. Do you have anything else to play to save you next turn? A [Waboku.] perhaps? Or a [Negate attack.] maybe?"
The proctor lowers his head. He looks angry. "No. It's your move."
Yuri blinks in surprise, but shrugs his shoulders. "Very well. I draw." Yuri's eyes glint as he looks at the card. "And what the hell. Overkill or not, it works. I play [Axe of Despair.] on my Darkblaze dragon, bringing his attack points up to 3400."
He can hear murmurings, and mutterings of "no way" or "must be a fluke." He will teach them their folly.
"Jeez kid, couldn't you have just beaten me without crushing my pride?"
Yuri's grin returns. "No sorry. Anyway, Darkblaze Dragon, burn all to ash in your path with the very fires of hell. Inferno!"
The dragon rears back it's head, black flame manifesting from its mouth before it violently shoots its neck forward, the black flames rocketing out of them and hurtling straight towards Andre, engulfing him in the black fire. He screams, though Yuri isn't sure if that's an act or if it's genuine. He hopes it isn't genuine.
[Yuri. 4000./ Andre. 0.]
Taking his cards from the duel disk, he can hear a roar of excitement fill the dome. He's honestly surprised, what he did wasn't that impressive.
He can hear Andre getting back up. "Well kid, you're definitely cut out to go to duel academy. Good luck there. Though I don't think you'll need it. Pass!"
Yuri grins, turning on his heel and walking out of the arena, hanging up the duel disk as he walks.
[Break.]
"Hey Chazz, what about that one? Is he just a punk too?"
"Shuddup, he still hasn't been to duel prep school. He can't be that good."
Chazz and his two flunkies found that most of the obelisk portion of the stands were talking about this "Yuri" guy. No one had ever even heard of him, and yet he pulls of something like that, with no damage?
The smallest bits of worry were festering in Chazz's mind. Worry, and doubt.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the stadium, a young man named Syrus was simply staring at the empty arena, his mouth open for a moment. Thankfully, Bastion, who was sitting near him and Jaden, decided to say something. "Close your mouth Syrus, or you'll catch flies."
Syrus rapidly blinks for a moment, before looking at Bastion. "But did you see all that? I've only ever seen my brother dominate a duel like that! And he didn't even put in any effort!"
"Heck yeah! That was probably one of the fastest duels I've ever seen!." Jaden doesn't let his exuberance stay hidden.
Bastion sighs as he sits back. "I'm quite aware, and I will admit it does rankle my pride. But, some people are just more skilled, or better in touch with their deck. Better to just accept it, and try to learn from them. Then again, this might mean I've been demoted from my place as the number one applicant. A shame."
Jaden grins, a hand on Bastion's shoulder. "You'll probably be dropped from number two as well. Since I'm the number one here!"
[Jaden Yuki, Please report to Arena 2.]
"Oop. there's my cue!" Ignoring Syrus' cries to be careful and not run down stairs, Jaden books it down, nearly tripping before making his way to the elevators.
Near the proctor's area, Vellian Crowler is currently reviewing the results of the duel. "Only three turns, and he completely demolished you. Practice deck or not, I'm disappointed in you Andre. Thankfully though for your pride and your career, this one is one of Mister Pegasus' people. Otherwise we'd have to have words."
Andre looks at Crowler in surprise. "Wait, that kid is one of mister Pegasus'? Why the heck is he taking the test here? The kid's already got a place in obelisk if that's the case!"
Crowler Hmms, a small smirk growing. "What the intentions of Mister Pegasus are, will forever be a mystery to our minds. But if I had to guess from all the memorabilia, Pegasus wants him to prove himself, even under adversity."
Andre thinks for a moment, before smacking a fist into his palm. "I get it, mister Pegasus wants to fuck with him as part of an intern process!"
Crowler snorts at the language, before grudgingly nodding his head. "Basically. Though you probably shouldn't word it like that. Have some class Andre."
Andre grins, before sitting down. "Yeah alright. Sorry doc. Now don't you got a duel?"
"Yes. I do. And I will show this boy that being tardy is not acceptable!"
[Break.]
As he walks up the stairway, back to where he was sitting by his lonesome, he can see a blue haired man has joined Alexis. The oh so famous kaiser of duel academy.
He puts on an easy smile as he moves back to his seat, but loses it in confusion as Alexis looks at him strangely.
"Um… Hello?"
"Yuri… What the hell was that?"
The man next to her looks at her in surprise. Evidently she doesn't swear often.
Gathering his thoughts, he looks to the side for a minute as he sits down. "I… Won? Wasn't that the whole point?"
An incredulous laugh bubbles out of Alexis as she stares at him like he's grown a second head. "Your eyes glowed Yuri! And you completely crushed the proctor! The only person to ever do that well on the test is Zane."
Behind her, the blue haired man waves a hand. Yuri waves back. "My name is Zane Truesdale. Nice to meet you."
"Likewise."
"And don't even get me started on the cards you used! Half of those are brand new, how the hell did you get so good with them so quickly!?"
Clearing his throat, Yuri raises his voice for a moment. "Alexis!" She stops, looking at him for a moment. "I told you that I was a beta tester for Industrial Illusions. I've been practicing with these cards since before they came out."
She blinks, before blushing in embarrassment at forgetting. "Oh. Right, sorry."
He coughs, trying to hide a grin. "It's fine. Don't-" another laugh cough bubbles out. "Don't worry about it. You forgot in the heat of the moment."
She hands him back his jacket, doing her best to try to look dignified despite the embarrassed blush on her face. Unfortunately for her, Zane, Wander, and He are all laughing at her quietly. Her blush doesn't go down.
[Next and final examination. Jaden Yuki, Vs, Doctor Vellian Crowler.]
"Wait he's facing Doctor Crowler!" Alexis springs forward, her hands gripping the hand rail as she looks on in shock. Zane looks intrigued as well.
Yuri doesn't particularly care. If all goes well, Jaden wins the duel. Otherwise, he'll see him next year. Hopefully.
Hopefully.
[End.]