(A/N: …)
Despite the fact that he, by all rights, should have been freaking the hell out, Hajime Hinata remained mostly calm throughout the entire time he'd been separated from Chiaki and the others. Aside from wandering around a sun-kissed meadow that seemed to stretch out longer than the plains of Skyrim, all of Hajime's time had been spent wondering how to tell Chiaki about the whole Kamukura Project. While he had been trying to hide it, having come this far, it was probably a good idea, for the sake of their friendship, not to keep it hidden any longer. It was breaking the news to her, and wondering what her response would be, that was the problem.
And in the span of a few hours, as a result of his deep thought process, Hajime had only been able to wander a couple of miles in a given direction. However, unable to make any proper progress, he shook his head and looked at the landscape. For a virtual world, this place was gorgeous. Dragons flew overhead, thankfully paying no mind to the 100+ pound of fresh meat below them, and the mountains in the distance made for positively breathtaking scenery.
Wait, mountains? Hajime hatched on an idea. If he was lucky, those mountains could have a path to scale up them and even if he couldn't get to the top, the highest vantage point he could reach might help him spot at least a wandering ally or two. Determined, and with a plan, he jogged in the direction of those mountains. He didn't get very far when his ears picked up a new sound. It was the sound of fabric brushing the grass below. A cloak? Hajime turned to see an old man strolling up the pathway. Not just any old man. Hajime would be a fool not to recognize the monster The Stern Mystic, with his long staff, brown cloak, wrinkly face, pointy ears, bead necklace, white hair, full beard and mustache, and circle rimmed glasses.
Hajime faced his opponent, wondering what was up.
"Hajime Hinata. There you are."
"You have me at a disadvantage," Hajime replied, gaze fixed and on guard.
"I am The Stern Mystic," the old man said, getting within 7 feet of Hajime, causing the teen to ball a fist. He prepared to step back on his right foot. Sure, he was a normal kid going up against a spellcaster, but years of kung fu, judo, aikido, and karate were not going to go to waste. "At ease, youngster, the Steering Committee has asked me to duel on their behalf."
The Steering Committee. I was wondering when they'd show up. "And why's that?" Hajime asked.
"We have all been watching you, Hajime Hinata. Your behavior is unbecoming of the one destined for the Kamukura Project."
"How so?" Hajime asked.
"We gave you Five Headed Dragon wanting you to have fun in your last moments of freedom. We did not think you would ever make it to the finals."
"Honestly, neither did I. Why is that a problem?"
"A talentless nobody competing in a tournament where he lasts longer than the Ultimate Gamer? This simply will not do. I was sent to rectify this problem."
"Would if I could, I would switch places with Chiaki. But she didn't ask to get her leg injured or to duel Kaiba. You're going to hold that against me. Let me have the tournament! I'm already agreeing to joining the project, just leave me alone!" Hajime barked.
"Is that how you talk to a superior?" The Stern Mystic asked, planting his staff firmly in the ground.
Hajime swallowed, bowing. "I'm sorry. Please…Chiaki means a lot to me. I just want to spend a little more time with her…please."
The Stern Mystic stroked his beard. "All right, very well. I suppose I can allow that."
Hajime picked his head up. "R-Really?"
"I did say it, didn't I? I am acting on behalf on the Steering Committee. I am not a member. I am not without compassion. However, I am not just going to give you what you desire. It would be unbecoming of my station and my position." The Stern Mystic stroked his beard and looked at the sky. "What to do?" He didn't pause for very long before he said, "Oh, I know." Duel disks suddenly appeared on his and Hajime's arms. "You can duel me for your freedom."
"What?" Hajime gasped.
"You heard me, unless there's a problem with your hearing. Duel me. If you win, my avatar becomes de-synchronized and I will be unable to pursue you further. However, should you lose," The Stern Mystic said as Hajime could see a dark seriousness behind his eyes, "Your mind will be digitized and gift wrapped to the Steering Committee and the Kamukura Project will begin today."
"Why the hell would I agree to that? I haven't even given my consent with that form they asked me to sign!"
"They're watching now, you know. Consider your decision to duel your verbal, recorded consent."
"And if I refuse?" Hajime asked.
"Well, then I suppose you'll be expelled from Hope's Peak Academy. You don't have the money to continue attending after all. You would be let go from the project."
Hajime weighed his options. Both of them sucked. If he declined to duel, even if he won the tournament, he'd never seen Chiaki again. She'd go on to be the Ultimate Gamer, and he'd wither away in Kodaka High School. And if he challenged The Stern Mystic and failed, the results would be even worse. Even if becoming Izuru was what he wanted, he still wanted to see this tournament through to the end. He didn't want to wave goodbye to Chiaki for six months just yet.
That left only one option: beat The Stern Mystic, and win! But could he? What if this whole thing was rigged just to give him a feeling of hope? No, Hajime thought. That wasn't the style of the Hope's Peak Academy he believed in and admired. All or nothing then.
"You're on!" Hajime declared.
"Very well then," The Stern Mystic said, as a card database began scrolling in front of Hajime. "Please choose your deck from the card database."
"A pickup duel?" Hajime asked.
"Relax. This data base has every single card in it that has passed through the Kaiba Corp records."
"Even…?"
"Yes, even the Blue Eyes White Dragon and Exodia," The Stern Mystic answered.
Hajime's jaw went slack for a moment. Long had he awaited the day that he could use powerful cards instead of his substitute fusions. For the boy who had only ever been able to scrape together whatever he could get his hands on, the bait of power at his fingertips was just too tempting. Summoned Skull, Red Eyes Black Dragon, Serpent Night Dragon, Dark Magician, Gaia the Fierce Knight, and more. All the cards he could ever want were at his beck and call. He had to have them. Just this once, he had to duel with the cards he had coveted for so long.
His heart pounded as he was armed with his deck.
"I see you put your deck together awfully quickly," The Stern Mystic said. "Go ahead and choose your deck master."
Hajime sifted through his cards, looking at all of them. I wonder what I should pick, he thought. I don't want to pick something too powerful. After all, if it's destroyed, I'll lose automatically. He thumbed through his deck. I should probably pick something safe, but useful to my strategy. His eye then caught an old favorite. Bingo! "My deck master will be Blackland Fire Dragon!" Hajime exclaimed, holding the card up as the big green dragon appeared at his side with a roar.
"And I, as you know, have taken the form of The Stern Mystic. Let us duel, Hajime Hinata."
"Before we begin, who are you really?" Hajime wanted to know.
"I am not at liberty to say. I can only tell you that I am acting on behalf of the Steering Committee and I am not a member. However, I did choose this monster because," The Stern Mystic smiled, "It is the form I am most comfortable with. Now then, as you kids seem to love saying—"
"Let's Duel!" The Stern Mystic and Hajime shouted together.
"You may go first, young one," The Stern Mystic said.
"All right! Here goes!" Hajime exclaimed, drawing the top card of his deck. "I summon to the field Winged Dragon Guardian of the Fortress #1!" The ever common blue dragon hit the table with 1400 attack points to its name.
Hajime's Blackland Fire Dragon then clamped its jaw shut and belched a fire ball at his opponent. His opponent instantly lost 500 life points.
Hajime blinked. "I didn't even mean to do that."
He cleared his throat and rolled with it. "I'm placing one card face-down on the field and ending my turn."
"I see. It is my turn then," The Stern Mystic said, nodding. "I draw." He pulled the top card off of his deck. "I play a monster face-down and subsequently end my turn."
"My turn!" Hajime declared and pulled the top card from his deck. He looked at his hand. "I play Battle Ox, in attack mode!" As the beast warrior was summoned to the battlefield, Hajime eagerly looked at his deck master, expecting another speck of burn damage, but the green dragon just snorted, smoke rising from its nostrils. "Er, right," Hajime said. Apparently the burn effect didn't happen every time a monster was summoned. Must just be dragon types then, Hajime deduced. That makes sense.
"Winged Dragon, attack Stern Mystic's face-down monster. Fireball attack!"
The Winged Dragon belched a huge fireball at the face-down monster, revealing Man-Eater Bug, which leaped out at Battle Ox, sinking its horrendous jaws into Battle-Ox's neck, destroying it. Man-Eater then returned to the Stern Mystic's side of the field, crouched in defense position with its arms up to guard itself.
"Huh? Shouldn't it go to the graveyard?"
"Allow me to explain. As you may recall, I, as the Stern Mystic, ordinarily aid monsters with flip effects. As deck master, my power is even greater. For you see, if a monster with a flip effect is face-down in defense mode at the start of being attacked, it is not destroyed.
Hajime gasped, sweating.
"There's more. During my turn, I can change all monsters on my side of the field that are face-up that have flip effects to face-down defense position."
That's not good, Hajime thought, sweating harder.
"Judging by your silence, I assume your turn is over?"
Hajime nodded weakly.
"I see. My turn then." The old man drew the top card of his deck. "I will now activate my deck master special ability and flip Man-Eater bug face-down. Next, I shall place a new monster into face-down defense position." The proper hologram appeared as The Stern Mystic said, "It is your turn, youngster."
Hajime drew the top card of his deck and suddenly felt very worried. My deck never specialized in dealing with monster removal. That's why Chiaki could always beat me. Dammit, I'm screwed!
"Don't give up."
Hajime's eyes shot open as he looked around, looking for Chiaki. He could've sworn he'd heard her voice. However, she was nowhere to be seen. Hajime then smiled, putting a hand on his chest. That's right. She's always with me…in spirit. Hajime gave his hand another glance over. Wait a sec… He saw a helpful move. I see!
"I activate the field spell Fusion Gate!" Hajime declared as a swirling portal appeared behind him. "Now, I don't need polymerization to fusion summon monsters and I'll use it to banish my Winged Dragon on the field, with the Giga Tech Wolf in my hand, to summon Panzer Dragon!" A rolling, gold and white tank with a dragon's head for a cannon appeared on the battlefield in attack mode with unnecessary wings added to its body. It had 1000 attack points and 2600 defense points.
"And now—"
Hajime was interrupted by Blackland Fire Dragon belching more fire at The Stern Mystic.
"I didn't mean to do that either," Hajime stated, startled. I guess that means it works whenever a dragon I control isn't just summoned, but leaves the field as well. Good to know. He cleared his throat. "And now, with this Quick Attack spell card, my monster can attack this turn! Panzer Dragon, attack that monster!" Hajime declared, pointing to the face-down Man-Eater."
The attack only revealed Man-Eater, which attacked Panzer Dragon with its special ability and though Panzer Dragon was destroyed, its cannon fired and incinerated Man-Eater Bug.
"All right! Just as planned!" Hajime declared, swinging a triumphant fist down towards his stomach.
"Impressive," The Stern Mystic said, nodding. "It's true. My deck master special ability can't protect my monsters from card effects. Well done, youngster. But now, it's my turn." He drew the top card of his deck. "I shall simply place a new monster face-down and end my turn."
All right, here I go! Hajime thought and drew the top card of his deck. And as he did, he became overwhelmed with a feeling of despair. His hand consisted of Red Eyes Black Dragon, Gaia the Fierce Knight and Giant Soldier of Stone. Hajime's blood ran cold. Though he was staring at monsters he had long since coveted, he realized something awful. His deck worked the way it did because of his fusion substitutes. If he had two of his substitutes right now, he could be fusing Mystical Sand right about now. And he hadn't put a single one in his deck, in favor of the cards he always wanted. Feelings of betrayal welled up inside him, the feeling that he had betrayed his deck as though it were a flesh and blood creature.
Seeing the distraught look on Hajime's face, The Stern Mystic could only ask, "Is something the matter?"
Hajime said nothing. He just reluctantly placed Giant Soldier of Stone in face-down defense mode and ended his turn.
"I see. My turn then," The Stern Mystic said, and drew the top card of his deck. "I summon to the field Lady Assailant of Flames." A tribal looking shaman appeared, its mouth contorted to give it the impression that it was bitter about something." It had 1500 attack points and 1000 defense points.
"I will also flip my Poison Mummy face-up, dealing 500 life points of damage directly to you."
The red and blue wrapped mummy exhaled poisonous gas at Hajime, which he choked on, bringing his life points down to 3500.
"Next, I shall flip Penguin Soldier face-up and return your monster to your hand."
Hajime reluctantly did so, frowning in despair.
"And now, I shall attack directly with all three of my monsters."
"I don't think so!" Hajime shouted defiantly, "I activate my trap card: Negate Attack! This ends this battle phase immediately!"
"I see," The Stern Mystic said, nodding his head and stroking his beard. "Then I suppose I will simply activate my deck master special ability and end my turn."
All of his monsters went into face-down defense position. And now, Hajime was in a pickle.
Gotta stay calm! Gotta stay calm! He told himself as his hand trembled on top of his deck. I know that no matter what I play, Penguin Soldier will just return it to my hand, so I need to act fast! I need to draw a card that will save me from losing this duel! Hajime pulled the top card off his deck and smirked when he looked at it. That'll do! "I'm opening up a cup of Instant Fusion – Extra Spicy!" Hajime declared, holding up a spell card that had a picture of cup ramen on it with the word "Fusion" printed on it along with the picture of two Cayan pepper. "At the cost of 400 life points, I can summon any monster from my extra deck, but there are a few caveats. If I summon a monster with more than 2500 attack points, I lose an additional 600 life points, and if the monster's level is 7 or higher, I lose 500 more. It also can't attack this turn and it's destroyed at the end of my next turn. But that won't matter because the monster I choose to summon is Ignition Beast Volcannon!"
The roaring, rhino horned, cannon adorned, metal beast of a monster appeared on battlefield, spewing fire out of its cannons and roaring like some sort of angry personification of a monster truck. It had only 2300 attack points and it was level 6. As a result of playing his spell card, Hajime's life points fell to 3100.
"And when Ignition Beast is summoned to the field, I can choose any monster on the field, even if its face-down and destroy it along with Ignition beast. Then, its owner takes damage equal to that monster's attack, and I choose Penguin Soldier!"
Ignition Beast revved up its cannons, spewing flames, charged forward, grabbed Penguin Soldier, revealing it, and detonated, the explosion forcing Hajime and Stern Mystic to turn away to avoid getting dust in their eyes.
"Impressive," The Stern Mystic said as his life points fell down to 2250.
"Next, I'll set a monster face-down into defense position," Hajime said.
"I see. My turn then," The Stern Mystic replied.
Doesn't he have any other lines? Hajime wondered.
"I will begin," he said as he drew the top card of his deck, "By flipping Poison Mummy face-up."
More poisonous fumes spewed across the battlefield, dealing 500 points of damage to Hajime, bringing him down to 2600 life points.
"Next, I shall flip Lady Assailant of the Flames, and by removing the top three cards of my deck, I can deal another 800 points of damage to you." Lady Assailant of flames was flipped face-up and burnt Hajime with a fiery arrow, causing Hajime to grab his chest and hunch over as he was brought down to 1800 life points.
"I now flip my monsters face-down as per my deck master's special ability, place a new monster face-down in defense position and end my turn."
Hajime stopped hunching over, put his game face back on and drew the top card of his deck. Nodding to himself, he played a new monster in face-down defense position to keep his Giant Soldier of Stone company.
"My turn again," The Stern Mystic said and drew the top card of his deck. "I think you know what's coming." Stern Mystic took the top 3 cards off of his deck and removed them from play as both Poison Mummy and Lady Assailant of the Flames poisoned and burned Hajime down to his last 500 life points."
"I shall also flip this monster face-up, Morphing Jar. Now we must discard our entire hands and draw a new hand of five cards."
Good, just what I need to reset.
As Hajime sent his Red Eyes to the graveyard, Blackland Fire Dragon burnt Stern Mystic for another 500 life points, bringing him down to 1750. Hajime drew 5 cards and smiled when he saw his new hand. He was wrong. He had put a fusion substitute monster in his deck: Versago the Destroyer. It was his favorite fusion substitutes. After all, it, along with Blackland Fire Dragon, were the first two cards he ever owned, and he still used them to this day.
"I place one card face-down and flip all my monsters back to face-down defense position," The Stern Mystic said. "And end my turn."
Exactly what I was hoping you would do, Hajime thought. "It's my turn now!"
Hajime drew the top card of his deck and he already knew what his first action during his first main phase would be. "I flip one of my face-down monsters, Cyber Jar, into attack position!"
Cyber Jar immediately got to work, sucking up every monster on the field, destroying them all after it itself also detonated. Hajime and The Stern Mystic wordlessly followed through with its following effect, each picking up five cards. And Hajime was not disappointed at all with his 5.
"I special summon Koumori Dragon, Fairy Dragon, and Baby Dragon to the field!"
With three new dragons hitting the table, Blackland Fire Dragon barfed a humongous blast of flame at The Stern Mystic. His life points fell all the way to a mere 250.
Stern Mystic himself had four face-down monsters, but for Hajime that didn't matter. Victory was already at hand.
"I put my deck master onto the battlefield! Blackland Fire Dragon!"
"And now, since another dragon-type monster has entered the playing field, I'll—"
"Not so fast, I reveal my trap card," The Stern Mystic stated, flipping it face-up. "Reveal Gift of the Mystical Elf."
Hajime let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. And then he gasped again when he counted up all the monsters on the field. Hajime and the old man both had four each and Gift of the Mystical Elf granted 300 life points per monster, giving The Stern Mystic an additional 2400 life points before Blackland Fire Dragon's effect went off. This left the Stern Mystic with a comfortable 2150 life points left against Hajime's measly 500.
However, Hajime hadn't lost hope yet. After all, it was time to make his big play. "I banish Blackland Fire Dragon, Koumori Dragon," he flipped Versago around in his hand, "And the Versago the Destroyer in my hand to play my signature beast! Say hello to Blackland Void Dragon!"
Dark storm clouds rolled in as the three monsters were sucked into the portal behind Hajime. Thunder boomed and lightning cracked the sky, and it was purple. From the cloud cover, Blackland Void Dragon's serpentine head gazed down as it roared loudly with its otherworldly scream. It zoomed towards the ground, fanning out its wings and growling hungrily at The Stern Mystic and his forces.
"And since my previous deck master is part of my new monster, its ability till activates! So you lose 1500 life points, two for Blackland and Koumori Dragon and one more for Blackland Void Dragon itself. Now, attack!" Hajime shouted as his great dragon roared, raining down violent purple void energy unto The Stern Mystic. His life points plummeting back down to a more even 650.
"And there's more, Blackland Void Dragon comes with its own deck master special ability," Hajime said, somehow able to know the ability as though he could feel it in his blood, "It's called Into the Void. When it attacks, monsters it attacks are immediately banished instead of being destroyed. It doesn't even get flipped face-up. Additionally, I can remove a fusion monster from my graveyard and have it attack again. So the barricade that once protected you with your special ability is about to be little more than target practice! And since Blackland Fire Dragon helps make up my new deck master, I can attack right away!" Hajime shouted as he removed Panzer Dragon and Ignition Beast Volcannon from his graveyard. "Blackland Void Dragon, attack! Void Gale Blast!"
Blackland Void Dragon fired off its attacks in rapid succession, leaving the Stern Mystic with only one monster and Hajime with two face-up monsters on the field: Baby Dragon and Fairy Dragon. However, it was probably beast not to attack with such weak monsters given Hajime had only 500 life points left. The last thing he needed was to ram a 1700 defense point wall with Baby Dragon and end the game out of sheer stupidity. Even if he could destroy it, he wasn't getting to The Stern Mystic's life points this turn. No, best to play it safe for this turn.
"I equip Baby Dragon with Black Pendant and Fairy Dragon with Horn of the Unicorn and end my turn!" Hajime declared. Now he had a proper fighting force for the next turn. Even if The Stern Mystic played a new flip monster, one of them was going down thanks to Blackland Void Dragon and then all Hajime had to do was play a new monster, his Baby Dragon and his Fairy Dragon would work together to take out the remaining monster and Hajime's fourth monster would win the duel. This duel was his.
As the Stern Mystic drew his card, he knew that his remaining face-down monster was but the Magician of Faith. Since he had no spell cards in his graveyard, there was no point in flipping it face-up. However, thanks to Hajime's Cyber Jar and his Morphing Jar, the old man was holding onto plenty of cards.
"It's such a shame," The Stern Mystic said. "You truly are a skilled duelist. It has been a long road, but this duel is finally over."
"What are you talking about?" Hajime asked.
"I tribute my face-down monster to play a new monster face-down," The old wizard stated.
"Okay," Hajime said, not really sure what was going on. There's only one flip monster I know that requires a tribute summon. That's gotta be Nobleman Eater Bug. Hajime recalled how Chiaki's copy of that monster had decimated Kaiba's Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon in their duel. Good thing it can't flip face-up this turn.
"I must commend you, boy. Blackland Void Dragon is indeed a powerful monster. And I can sense the faith and trust you and your monster hold with each other. However, though powerful, it lacks any sort of protection and, as a result, it's just a big target."
Hajime's blood ran cold. No…there was no way his opponent could get it destroyed this turn. He was so close. He had this.
"My apologies. It appears you lose," The Stern Mystic said as he activated the spell card Book of Taiyou, "This spell card lets me flip any monster in face-down position into face-up attack position. I think you know what that means."
Hajime watched the next few minutes like he was watching an action flick that suddenly bumped its head, took a dark turn and became a horror flick. The monster flipped face-up was indeed Nobleman Eater Bug. And Hajime could do nothing, but watch, as the monster leapt into the air, pinned down Blackland Void Dragon by the throat with its powerful claws and chewed into its neck, killing it before doing the same thing to Fairy Dragon.
"Your deck master has been destroyed. You lose," Stern Mystic said as he approached Hajime.
Baby Dragon faded from view and Hajime sunk to his knees in a cold sweat, his skin tone going pale with fear. He looked at the sweaty palms of his hands. His whole body felt heavy.
Stern Mystic approached him and stood with his shadow blotting out the sun from Hajime's view.
"Do not worry, young one," Stern Mystic said to Hajime. "You will not lose your body. This is simply the terms of the contract." He gave Hajime a pleasant smile, but there was something very unsettling about it. "Now then, the Steering Committee would like to have a word with you, boy."
"Ah…" Hajime breathed out as he felt his whole body begin to vanish. And as he lost his sense of touch and sight, he could only hear his own voice disappearing into an uncaring void, screaming as loud as he could, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
(A/N: Uhhhhhhhh…was that supposed to happen? Uh, Chiaki, you're not boyfriend is in trouble…again. Well I hope you folks were all prepared for curve balls because here's the first of many for this story as a whole. I don't want to say what's going to happen next, or even allude to it. All I ask is that you, my fans, trust me to tell a good compelling story. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to make Seto Kaiba miserable as I force him to go head to head with the king of annoying: Monokuma.
And for those of you that can't figure it out, yes that was Kazuo Tengan playing the part of the Stern Mystic. There's no point in keeping it a secret now that the chapter is over as it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.
So yeah…Hajime loses…moving on. And why do I imagine none of you think this is going to stick? I'm not commenting either way, but I just get the feeling you all think he's going to get rescued by a pissed off waifu in a blue hoodie XD. But, until then, as always, from all of me, to all of you, let your heart stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)