Chapter 3: Judgement Game
Subsequently after their fated duel, the two duelists had arrived at their destination. Trekking into the heart of the otherworldly metropolis, and into a grand skyscraper that pierced the heavens themselves. Within this titanic labyrinth was nothing organic, other than the people that dwelled inside. Everything from the smooth floors to the spacious walls were constructed by pure, unblemished steel. Holographic monitors displayed duels that took place in real time from around EGRESS. Others gathered to watch said duels, as the building's personnel robotically roamed, monitoring the actions of those within. Stepping out of a halting elevator, Yuji and Darby walked into an omnibus room, which possessed a different atmosphere from the rest of the building.
Technologically advanced in appearance, but with a mystical air. An unknown text was inscribed upon the walls, glowing with radiance. The room had darker colors, instead of silver, the walls were coated in a shimmering dark blue, the floor was the same color, but along the middle of the room was a violet pathway which led to a set of stairs. At the top was a sealed door, which Seker stood in front of.
Before they could make their way any further, two guards intercepted their advancement.
"Welcome, you are finally ready to witness the truth."
Seker said as he descended the steps, making his way towards the young duelists. Making a gesture with his hand, without saying a word the guards stepped out of the way allowing the two to pass.
"No more games Seker, you've had me waiting long enough, whatever you have behind that door, better be worth it!" Yuji exclaimed.
"Of course." Seker nodded. Turning to face Darby, Seker gazed at him, scanning him up and down before turning back to Yuji. "Only those who have passed the trial can be here. He must leave."
"HUH?!" Darby said as the guards suddenly grabbed him by the arms.
"O-oh, I forgot about that…" Yuji said, letting out a nervous laugh.
Flailing his limbs about as he was being dragged out of the room, Darby continued in his protest. "No! Please! The meta is too broken! There is too much Danger!! Don't send me back out there! Yuji, please, help me!!!"
Glancing at Seker for a moment, who simply smirked at the situation, Yuji rushed over to Darby as he held onto the wall as the guards attempted to pull him out the entrance.
"It's not much but…" Pulling out some cards one of the pouches on his belt, Yuji quickly searched through them before handing over two cards. "These should help your deck a little, you'll have to get lucky to get the most out of it though."
The guards glanced at Seker, who nodded, before letting go of Darby as he dusted himself off. "Get your damn hands off me!"
Taking the cards from Yuji, he squinted at them for a moment before replying. "What the felgrand can I do with this?!"
"Like I said, you'll have to be lucky. But I think you can pull it off. I said I'd help you win, and this is a start. When I get back, I'll tell you the strategy you'll need to have with those cards. In the meantime, try having some duels, you might win." Yuji held out his arm, giving a thumbs up. "I believe in you!"
Inspired by Yuji's encouragement, Darby saluted back, and began to run off. "I'll beat someone's ash blossom!!!" He yelled as the two guards quickly chased after him.
The doors at the entrance proceeded to slide closed, sealing both Yuji and Seker alone.
"Sorry about that, that guy is another level of energetic."
"It's no matter. Besides, I hope a victory does befall him, the sooner the better."
Turning to face the mysterious door at the end of the room, Seker began to walk towards it.
"It is time, follow me, Yuji."
Without saying a word Yuji tailed behind Seker, who stopped under the steps leading to the door. Ascending the stairs slowly, Yuji halted as he stood before the entrance.
"Your Gate Card, bring it before the entry." Seker ordered.
Reaching into his pocket, Yuji pulled out Pyressor Fighter. "So that's why it's called a Gate Card?"
"Yes. They are mysterious, special cards that have the power to transverse dimensions. There is still much we don't know about them, but they can bestow their might onto their wielders."
"Neat." Yuji smirked. "What kind of world is behind this door? Is it like this one?"
"You'll understand when you arrive. However…" Pausing for a moment, Seker continued as Yuji looked back anxiously. "Once you go to this world you cannot return."
"What?!?!" Yuji gasped as he swiftly spun around. "What do you mean I can't come back?!"
"You can't return, unless you complete the trial that will be bestowed upon you. The Judgement Game." Seker uttered.
"Judgement Game? The hell is that?!"
Seker continued. "Your Gate Card, Pyressor Fighter, is connected to the world you'll travel to. However, you can only use its power in our mortal realm as of now. When you arrive, you will be thrust into conflict, where you must prove yourself worthy of it."
"Conflict? Surely you mean a duel, right?" Yuji nervously asked.
"Yes…of course." Seker ominously grinned.
"Then it should be easy! No sweat, let's do this!" Holding out Pyressor, the card began to glow with a crimson red light, as the symbols around the room and on the door began to shine. The gate began to slowly unlock, revealing an inexplicable spacial breach, a mystical, luminous blue portal of energy unveiled itself.
"I wish you luck, Yuji Nensho." Said Seker.
"You already know that I've got all of it." Yuji snarkily remarked before leaping into the portal.
Almost instantly, Yuji was engulfed in a blinding radiance, however just as quickly as it arrived, it had departed. The light faded, becoming pure darkness. The feeling of floating vanished as he felt solid earth underneath his feet. Standing alone in silence, Yuji realized that he had already been transported.
"Where am I?!?!" Yuji yelled in fear, which only accumulated as he was startled by his own words as they echoed. Quickly pulling out his duel disk, he turned it on, using it's lighting function. With his sight restored, Yuji witnessed that he was surrounded by stone. Inside of a cave, the only sounds that accompanied his breath were the sound of dripping water and the sounds of wind weakly brushing through the corridors.
"This is the worst, spawn point, ever! If those movies taught me anything though…" Placing his index finger into his mouth for a second, he lifted it into the air, feeling for the direction of the breeze that traveled through the tunnel. Feeling the air coming ahead of him, Yuji proceeded to walk forward.
After a couple of minutes, Yuji continued to make his way through the cave, the exit being nowhere in sight.
"This is so damn taxing, the way out can't be that far can it?! How far underground did that shady guy teleport me into?!" Stopping for a moment, Yuji began to panic. "Oh shit. Did I charge my duel disk?! W-what if the light goes out? What if I'm trapped here? The ground is cold, the air is brisk, this place is shit! I'll definitely be done for here! I didn't even pack any food either! No rice balls, no cup ramen, no cheeseburgers?! Oh no!" Taking off his backpack, Yuji frenziedly dug through it, searching for anything to consume.
"Thank Osiris!!!" Finding a bottle of water, Yuji gleefully shouted. "Now I can calm down." Leaning against the wall of rock behind him, Yuji began to gulp down the beverage. Before he could finish, he felt something touch his shoulder.
"Huh? Did a rock fall on me or something?" Moving his light over, he tried to see what had come into contact with him. Yuji jumped back, screaming inaudible words as he came face-to-face with a skeleton.
"OH SHIT!!!" Stumbling backwards in fear, Yuji dropped his bottled water as the skeleton approached him. It was moving, despite having no muscle, or anything living to command it. The wight wore a torn purple robe, which covered most of its body.
"W-wait a minute, is that Skull Servant?!?!" Yuji yelled as he saw several glowing eyes piercing through the darkness behind the limping doomed that drew near. Before he could even analyze the situation Yuji found himself running for his life through the cave's shadows.
"How is a skeleton moving? How is Skull Servant real?! Why was it Skull Servant of all monsters to be real?! Why not Dark Magician Girl, everyone loves Dark Magician Girl!!!" Somewhere in his mind, Yuji blamed his current situation on Kyohei, who with his zombie deck probably cursed him to this fate. Hearing the sounds of countless unknown monsters behind him, Yuji sprinted even faster, if he was a D-Wheel, he would have surpassed twelve speed counters. Looking ahead, Yuji caught a glimpse of a faint light in the distance. Mustering up all of his energy, with a guttural growl he made a final stretch before leaping out of the caves entrance, and into the light.
Tumbling onto the grass, Yuji quickly collected himself and gawked at the cave's opening. He saw the crimson eyes pierce through the dark, only for them to retreat and vanish. They most likely could not enter into the sunlight. Making it to safety, Yuji collapsed to the ground, resting after the marathon he just took part in.
*
Back in the world of EGRESS, Darby walked the streets after being kicked out of the tower by security. Holding the two cards that were given to him, he pondered about their usefulness.
"These don't really seem that good, but then again, what do I have to lose?"
At that moment, someone stepped in front of Darby, blocking his advancement. Looking up at the person, he was a tall, robust man with a tattoo of a skull on his arm. He wore a black jacket with the sleeves ripped off, with white jeans and black fingerless gloves. His eyes were a dull gray and the man sported a black mohawk.
Intimidated, Darby tried to walk around the man, only for him to intercept him once more.
"Who are you? W-what do you want?" Darby nervously asked.
"They call me Bone Breaker. Part of the Skull Servant gang. Tell me, you wouldn't happen to know someone called Yuji now would you?" The muscular man spoke.
Darby gulped. "Um...I do, but I don't know where he is!"
"Sure you don't." Breaker took a step forward, getting into Darby's face as he cowered. "We saw you walking with him earlier! Don't play dumb! Ever since a few days ago, rumors have been going around that our leader lost to some rookie named Yuji! Then he just vanished! We haven't seen our king since!"
"But I had nothing to do with that! I just met him, please I don't know anything! Just leave me alone, I'll give you my lunch money!!"
"Shut up! You don't get to disgrace us, the top faction in EGRESS and in Roulette, and live to tell the story! When we find that runt, we are going to make him pay!"
"I won't let you, if you want to get at him, you're going to have to go through me first!" Darby activated his duel disk, putting the cards that Yuji gave him into his deck. "We're going to be the top duelists in the world someday, and that's not about to get stopped by you!"
"Ha!" Bone Breaker activated his own duel disk in response, which was a black D-Pad model. "Some random losers like you two will never be the best! When I beat you, I'll force the location of your little friend out of your carcass!!!"
"DUEL"
Darby: 8000 LP
Bone Breaker: 8000 LP
"I'll go first, you big freak!" Darby shouted angrily as he drew his starting hand. Looking at his cards, he saw that he had the card that Yuji gave him.
"Just my luck. Here goes nothing! I activate the continuous spell card from my hand, Heart Of The Underdog!!!"
Bone Breaker guffawed at Darby's move. "You definitely are an underdog alright! Who uses that card?!"
Darby sneered at his opponent. "Well you know what they say, the bigger they come, the harder they get wrecked in a duel. I'm not done yet! I summon Dark Blade!!!"
Dark Blade / Level 4
Dark / Warrior / Normal
ATK: 1800 / DEF: 1500
"They say he is a dragon-manipulating warrior from the Dark World. His attack is tremendous, using his great swords with vicious power."
A warrior wearing obsidian armor donning dual swords appeared onto the field.
"That's all I've got for now, I end my turn." Darby said.
"Pathetic, that was the lamest turn I've ever seen, let me show you a real deck! I draw!!!" Bone Breaker pulled a card from his deck with sheer force. He grinned as he revealed the card to himself. "Perfect. I use the field spell, Zombie World!!!"
The area around the two duelists began to change, leaving only a world of despair where only the deceased remained.
"This card makes it so that all the monsters on the field and in our graveyards get treated as zombies!! Next, I normal summon Gozuki!!
Gozuki / Level 4
Earth / Zombie / Effect
ATK: 1700 / DEF: 800
A minotaur-like creature wielding a giant hammer rose from the depths of the underworld.
"During the main phase I can send a zombie monster from my deck to my graveyard! I choose Glow-Up Bloom!!!"
Glow-Up Bloom / Level 1
Dark / Zombie / Effect
ATK: 0 / DEF: 0
"When this card is sent to the graveyard when Zombie World is on the field, I can special summon one level five or higher zombie monster from my deck! Arise, Ryu Kokki!!!"
Ryu Kokki / Level 6
Dark / Zombie / Effect
ATK: 2400 / DEF: 2000
A grotesque creature made from assimilated skulls creeped from beyond the grave.
"He brought out a powerful monster that easily?! That's...that's insane!" Darby was shocked.
"An amateur such as yourself never stood a ghost of a chance! It's battle time! Ryu Kokki, attack Dark Blade!"
Bone Breaker commanded as his monster lunged forward, destroying Dark Blade with a single tremendous blow.
"You're up Gozuki! Bring the hammer down!" The inhuman beast charged forward, swinging its hammer with great might. Darby was knocked back from the strike causing him to fall to the ground.
Darby: 5700 LP
Bone Breaker: 8000 LP
Laid out on his back after the attack, Darby began to lose faith in his skills as a duelist.
"Am I really going to lose...again?"
*
In the mysterious world Yuji had been thrust into, he journeyed through a lush forest, attempting to find the objective to complete the judgement game. Yuji stepped over fallen logs and leaves, as he shuffled through detritus. Compared to the stale air of the cave, the forest air was damp, with the fresh smell of herbs.
"I've been walking for around thirty minutes, or was it twenty? No signs of life other than all these trees, and no internet either…I'm in hell!!!"
As he travelled further into the forest, an uneasy feeling began to arise within Yuji. Like a black hole, he felt as if he was being drawn into a darkness with each movement forward. Suddenly, Yuji heard a faint rustling of leaves in the distance. Not knowing what approached, he quickly hid behind a tree and stalked the area of suspicion.
Emerging from the bushes ahead, it seemed to be a young woman, however her appearance was uncanny. Her skin was a magenta color, she had long platinum colored hair that reached her lower back. The girl also had on a tan robe that extended to her feet. The mysterious girl fell to the ground, seemingly exhausted from running.
"What the...another one? First those monsters in the cave, now this? I mean it's no Dark Magician Girl, but she seems like she won't be as dangerous as the literal undead." Yuji gulped as he shook with fear. "But still, I shouldn't judge anything I see here based on appearances, I don't even know where I am. Regardless, I won't get anywhere by avoiding everything! Come on Yuji, show some guts!!!" The boy said to himself as he attempted to muster up the courage to leave his hiding spot.
Stepping out from behind the tree, the sound of the crunching leaves alerted the girl, who turned quickly to face the direction of the noise. Upon seeing Yuji, she went into a panic and began to back away.
"No! Get away from me!" The girl shouted as she shut her eyes, and shielded herself with her arms.
Startled at the fact that the otherworldly being could speak, let alone in the same language as him, Yuji quickly collected himself and reached his arm out to the young woman.
"H-hey, I'm not here to hurt you, I don't even know where I am right now. I guess you could call me a wandering stranger."
Upon hearing those words, the girl peeled through her fingers and glared at Yuji. She observed that he was merely human, despite having a strange, unorthodox hairstyle. She glanced at his outstretched arm, and upon seeing the duel disk attached to his arm, her crimson eyes lit up as she suddenly grabbed his hand.
"That artifact you possess, you must be one of the heroes of legend...please I beg of you, help us!"
"Huh?" Yuji titled his head. "What are you talking about? You mean this thing? It's a duel disk, I don't know about any artifacts."
"Duel...disk?" The girl looked up to him in confusion, still holding onto his hand firmly.
"Ok, now this is getting confusing." Yuji could not comprehend how someone could not know what a duel disk was. This world was connected to EGRESS, surely this world was created with duel monsters in mind, unless this world was not a game, but something else entirely.
Noticing that he and the girl had been holding hands for a while, Yuji became flustered. "Alright, let's help you up now." Bringing the girl to her feet, the two stood quietly for a moment before Yuji broke the silence.
"First things first, what is your name? You can't go asking for help without identifying yourself first." Yuji said as he rested his hands in his pockets.
"My name is Agneya. I hail from the Vulcan Plains."
"Uh huh, I have no idea where that is." Yuji mutteredto himself. Agneya stared intensely at Yuji, as if she expected a response. Upon noticing her gaze Yuji snapped back into reality.
"My name is Yuji, Yuji Nensho. I, uh, hail from Roulette City."
"...Where?" Agneya asked.
"That's what I should be saying!!!" Yuji internally screamed. "Anyway, you told me you wanted my help, didn't you Agneya? With what I may ask?"
Agneya clenched her fists. "My village is being attacked, by the War Ogres."
Yuji was stunned in confusion. "Ogres?!"
"Yes. They are obsessed with battle, only destruction pleases them. They've brought countless towns to ruin, and now they've come for mine. I tried to fight them off, but all I know are low level flame attacks. I was useless...I fled hoping to find something or someone that could save us, and I've found you!" Agneya took hold of Yuji's hand once more and raised it to her chest.
"Please, hero of legend, vanquish them completely!"
"I'm sorry." Yuji looked away from Agneya. "I'm not this legendary hero or whatever you think I am. I'm just a duelist."
"But, that artifact you have around your wrist! I've read about it in stories, long ago, beings wearing those came to this world, and saved it from calamity! Are you not one of those heroes?"
Yuji was intrigued by what Agneya had said. Apparently he was not the only duelist to have come to this world. It was information that was somewhat obvious, considering Seker had sent others to this world as well. But the way Agneya spoke of them made it seem like duelists were a myth of some sort. It was possible she never had seen a duelist prior to himself. But that still didn't explain how apparently duel disks were some ancient legend in this world. If so, how long did EGRESS exist for? What was this world really, where monsters seemed to be real? What was the connection between this world and the real one? Despite Yuji's questions, he knew he had to complete the "Judgement Game" to learn anything more. Perhaps assisting the pleading maiden was the mission he had to complete.
"I'm not one of those heroes. But I am a duelist, the strongest one as a matter of fact, for you, I'll take down these War Ogres! Just lead the way!" Yuji declared.
Agneya's eyes became misty before she quickly composed herself. "I'll trust in whatever a duelist is...and I'll lead you to my village, follow me!"
Agneya dragged Yuji by the arm as the two began to run in the direction of the village under attack.
*
Within EGRESS, Darby had returned to his feet after Bone Breaker's last attack, who had since ended his turn.
"Come on, come on! Did I scare you that bad with combo that you're so afraid to make your move?" The hooligan scoffed. "I'll tell you what, surrender, and I'll promise to go easy on your little friend Yuji!"
"No way! I'll never surrender!!!" Darby stared at his deck, he had no monsters in his hand. Only spell cards. Even if he drew a monster next turn, it would only go so far. He needed his equip spells to make any of his monsters be able compete with effect monsters. Without them he could do nothing but defend. But if he drew another spell he would have no monsters to use it on, his field would be wide open. He was basically stalling his defeat in either scenario. Despite this despair. this fear of losing again. Yuji's words of encouragement resonated with Darby, giving him the willpower to continue.
"I'll trust in myself as a duelist, and I'll match you Yuji! I'm not about to get left behind! Let's do this! I draw!!!"
Drawing a normal monster, Darby remembered the effect of "Heart of The Underdog."
"I'll give it a shot! I activate, Heart of The Underdog! During my draw phase, if I draw a normal monster, I can reveal it, and draw another card! The card I drew was Archfiend Soldier! So now I can draw again!"
Archfiend Soldier / Level 4
Dark / Fiend / Normal
ATK: 1900 / DEF: 1500
"So what?! What is another card going to do? Nothing!!!" Bone Breaker yelled.
"Let's find out!!! Draw!" Darby pulled another card from his deck and looked at it. Wearing a devilish smirk, he revealed the card to his opponent. "A normal monster card again! Trance the Magic Swordsman!"
Trance the Magic Swordsman / Level 6
Earth / Spellcaster / Normal
ATK: 2600 / DEF: 200
"T-twice in a row? You just got lucky!" Bone Breaker's eyes twitched.
"I draw!!! Another normal monster! Neo Aqua Madoor!!!"
Neo Aqua Madoor / Level 6
Water / Spellcaster / Normal
ATK: 1200 / DEF: 3000
"Wait a minute!!!" The delinquent shouted as he took a step back. "Don't tell me, all the monsters in your deck are normal monsters?!?!"
Darby grinned. "That's right! I'm not done yet! Once again, I draw!" Darby continuously drew card after card, much to Bone Breaker's distaste. His hand became cluttered as he eventually practically held his entire deck in his hand, with there only being four cards left.
"When will this end?!?!" Breaker angrily shouted.
"I draw!!! Another mon-" Darby cut himself off as he realized he had drawn a spell card instead. It was the other card Yuji gave him.
Breaker began to laugh hysterically. "Look at you, you've almost decked yourself out. I three turns if I don't deplete your life you'll lose automatically with no cards to draw! And it doesn't matter how stacked your hand is, not only is it filled with pathetic normal monsters, when you end your turn you'll have to send all of that to the graveyard! Good riddance punk!"
The strategy intended with these cards was interesting. "Heart of The Underdog" can allow someone to draw many monster cards, with the exception that they are normal cards. In Darby's normal monster centric deck, this card boosted draw power immensely. It also lessened the chances of him drawing into unfavorable cards, as well as giving him access to a plethora of his monsters. However there was one flaw, with the amount of cards he had amassed. At the end phase, he'd have to discard cards until he reached the hand limit. That is, if he didn't have a certain other card.
"I activate the continuous spell, Infinite Cards!!! This gets rid of the card limit in both our hands!"
"What?! What kind of nonsense is going on?!"
"The kind that's going to win me this duel. I set a monster face-down and end my turn."
Bone Breaker growled as he clenched his fist. "You skilless runt, you've only increased the beating you're gonna get! I draw!" Pulling a card from his deck, Bone Breaker laughed as he revealed the card to himself.
"I set one card face down in my spell and trap zone." The card he had drawn was "Divine Wrath." Bone Breaker didn't believe that Darby only had normal monsters in his deck, there was no way. He must have been planning to summon some type of boss monster that could take advantage of all the cards in his hand. It was the only logical explanation. Whenever that monster would be summoned, he would destroy it. "Let's break it down! Gozuki, it's hammer time! Attack his face down monster!!!" The set monster was revealed to be Guardragon Justicia.
Guardragon Justicia / Level 2
Water / Dragon / Tuner / Normal
ATK: 0 / DEF: 2100
Upon striking the dragon, Gozuki was hurled back by a barrier of energy as Bone Breaker shielded himself from the damage.
Darby: 5700 LP
Bone Breaker: 7600 LP
Furious, Breaker ordered his other monster to finish the task. "Damn you! Ryu Kokki, rip that lizard in half!"
The giant demonic zombie shredded Guardragon Justicia in two with its claws, made from the bones of fallen dragons.
"Next turn I'll hit you with the heavy duty from the start! I end my turn!"
*
Having followed Agneya through the dense forest for seemingly ages, Yuji came to a stop as Agneya halted her advance, turning towards him.
"It's just beyond those trees, we must h-"
A loud boom echoed through the area, visible smoke clouded the skies ahead of the two.
"What was that?! That definitely didn't sound good!" Yuji exclaimed.
Without saying a word Agneya dashed towards the source of the explosion, with Yuji quickly following. Emerging from the forest, the two reached the outskirts of a nearby village, one that was in the process of decimation. In the distance the sounds of clanging metal were heard, as well as the smell of smoke as flames ravaged the wooden huts that formed the small town.
Entering the village, several of the civilians were engaging the attackers in battle, while others hid and fled. The denizens seemed to be humanoid, but like Agneya, they had inhuman differences. Despite being surrounded by chaos, Yuji followed Agneya until they reached deeper into the town, where many fallen civilians were left defeated on the ground. Gazing around in horror, Agneya gasped as she looked at one of the wounded people, quickly running over to them and kneeling over, embracing them tightly.
"Father, please, say something!!!"
Cradling the man's head in her arms, he weakly opened his eyes, looking up at the one who awakened him. Realizing it was his daughter, tears welled in his eyes as a soft smile formed from his lips.
"You're safe...Agneya…" The man utterly weakly.
"What happened?! I thought you already departed from here!"
"I...tried." Agneya's father let out a cough. "But the others were cornered by the ogres, I held them off...but I wasn't strong enough to last for long…"
"Don't worry, I'll take it from here. Just save your energy. I've brought help." The girl said as her father looked past her, and at Yuji. His eyes widened at the sight of his duel disk.
"Could it be…" Another loud noise resounded, interrupting him mid-sentence. The ground began to shake periodically, getting louder and louder each time.
"Is something coming?" Yuji alerted.
"Please, you have to run!" The man mustered his strength, grabbing onto Agneya's shoulder, with terror in his eyes. "The one that defeated us, was the general of the War Ogres, you don't have the attack power to match his, leave me and flee,I beg of you!"
"I won't leave you, father!" Agneya pleaded.
With an earth-shaking stomp, a massive monster emerged from behind a nearby hut. Looking at the being, it was around ten feet tall, with a single horn spiking from the center of its skull. It had dark grey skin, with a violet armor covering its body. In his hand, was a long, black club with sharp spikes protruding around it. The beast-warrior looked down at Yuji with intrigue, before looking towards Agneya and smirked.
"So you run only to come back to your grave." The ogre spoke.
"Begone you heartless monster! You'll pay for what you've done!" Agneya yelled in fury.
"Oh. You're brave for someone on such a low level. Maybe I need to teach you your place, by destroying you!" The ogre took a step forward as the ground shook, making his way towards his imminent victim. Yuji slid into his path, intercepting him. The ogre looked down at him in annoyance, before breaking into laughter.
"What is it boy? You wish to meet your end as well?"
Yuji could not sit by and watch someone hurt an innocent, or the defenseless, even in this strange world. The only way he could escape this world was to complete the Judgement Game, potentially getting squashed by a War Orge would stop that from happening. But his intuition told him that this had to be part of the trial, or it could have been a trap all along, and he could have just been foolishly following Seker's lies, walking into his doom in this monster filled world. But either way, there was no option but to fight. He had a theory on this world. When he traveled to EGRESS, he found that it was not only far more advanced than the normal world, it was designed with Duel Monster's in mind. From the skyline that resembled "Future Fusion" to the portals that could send people to different dimensions. It was a bridge between earth and this world. But despite their differences, there was one thing that could be done in both those worlds that could be used to solve any problem.
"Not quite. If you want to get to those two, you'll have to duel me!"
"Ha! A duel? Sure, it'll be the last one you have however."
"Alright you big oaf, let's get to it!!" Activating his duel disk, he shuffled his deck and drew his starting hand. "Bring it o-"
Yuji cut himself off as he watched the War Ogre lift his club in the air, preparing to strike. Instinctively dodging, he leaped out of the way as the heavy weapon came crashing onto the ground, encompassing Yuji in a cloud of dust. As the dust began to clear, Yuji glanced at the small crater created from the blow, he froze in fear as he had narrowly escaped being flattened.
"Wait...you don't know what a duel is?!"
"I do!!!"
Before Yuji could react, emerging from the dust was the club once again, this time Yuji was unable to dodge, bracing himself for the impact, he closed his eyes, shielding himself with his arms. At that moment, one of the cards in his hand was encompassed in a gold refulgence, and as a beam of light it quickly intercepted the attack from the War Ogre.
"What?! A kuriboh?!?!" The ogre yelled.
Yuji opened his eyes to see one of his monsters, Ressoriboh, blocking the club with a barrier of energy.
"Again?!" Remembering his duel with Kyohei, he recalled when both Undead Dullahan and Pyressor Fighter clashed with seemingly real force, Yuji realized this was not a game. Seker said it himself. Apparently, in this world, duels were real fights.
"That was close, thanks for the save, Ressoriboh!" Yuji exclaimed as the spherical monster squeaked in response.
The giant fumed with rage, swinging his club once more, this time the strike broke through the barrier, shattering it like glass. The impact knocked Ressoriboh backwards, who transformed into a ray of light that raced back into the card it came from.
"Dammit, his attack power was too low!" Pulling a card from his deck, he revealed it to himself. It was Pyressor Fighter. Placing the card down onto his duel disk, he called out his ace monster. "Time for the big guns, you big freak! Burn him away!" Yuji was met with silence, and nothing occurred, the monster hadn't materialized as it usually would. "W-what's going on?! Why won't you come out?!"
In his moment of confusion, the Ogre raised his fist, preparing to crush Yuji with a heavy blow. Before it could make contact, a small fireball cannoned into the beast-warrior, causing him to stumble backwards in pain. Searching for the origin of the attack, his eyes locked onto Agneya, who's hand was smoldering from the launch of flame.
"Yuji, get out of here!" She yelled.
Coming to his senses, Yuji realized his mistake, he couldn't summon Pyressor without two tributes, or by its effect. But he was unaware of how that would work in this world, and he didn't have the time to find out. Drawing another card from his deck, he summoned Warressor Soldier into reality.
"Attack the War Ogre, show em' what you've got!"
The warrior charged forward clashing weapons with the Orge, although the warrior was more agile, he struggled against the giant's heavy strikes, as his axe began to chip and shatter with every blow blocked, his attack power wasn't high enough. Looking through his deck, Yuji attempted to find a card that would turn the tables. His eyes widened as he gazed upon the trap card, Rising Energy, by discarding one card, he could boost a monster's attack by fifteen-hundred points. But before he could use the card, his monster was destroyed, sending it back to its card.
"Pathetic, such weak opponents! Soon it'll be your turn to rot in the cemetery!" The ogre maliciously boasted.
Warressor Soilder was Yuji's strongest level four monster, his other monster's required tributes, however any monster he would summon would be destroyed far too quickly to set up a tribute summon. At the current rate, he was bound to lose. At that moment, a peculiar idea sprung into his mind...what if he used the trap card on himself? Rules slightly differed in this world, so it may be possible. After all, he was cursed with immense luck.
"Here goes nothing! I send one card from my hand to the graveyard, to activate Rising Energy...on myself!!!" An aura of flames erupted around Yuji, as he felt power coursing through his body.
"What?! You can use trap magic of that level?! Impossible!" The War Orge bellowed as he charged towards Yuji once more, preparing the strike him down once more.
"It's all or nothing! I'll show you how it's like to get stomped on!" Yuji sprinted towards the War Ogre, dodging his attack, he leaped into the air, striking the giant in the face with a fist full of energy. Upon impact, the Ogre screamed in agony as he began to burn to cinders, before disintegrating in an explosion. Knocked back by the force, Yuji crashed into the ground unconscious.
*
"What was that about me being a loser?!"
"I-Impossible! How did this happen, what kind of damn deck are you running?!"
On Darby's field was "Rabidragon", which was equipped with "Mage Power", "Trance The Magic Swordsman", which was equipped with "United We Stand", and "Dawning Arms Legend", which was as equipped with "Axe Of Despair."
Rabidragon
ATK: 5450 / DEF: 2900
Trance The Magic Swordsman
ATK: 5000 / DEF: 200
Dawning Arms Legend
ATK: 3300 / DEF: 2000
Darby managed to stall until his last turn, with only two cards left in his deck, which were the last of the equip cards he needed. With three copies of "Ancient Rules" he drew on his first turn, he was able to special summon all three high level monsters in one turn.
Darby: 2300 LP
Bone Breaker: 7600 LP
"It's time to end this duel! Dawning Arms, slash Gozuki in half!" The warrior struck the zombie with its weapon, causing it to explode upon destruction.
Darby: 2300 LP
Bone Breaker: 6000 LP
Without missing a beat, he commanded his other monster to attack. "Trance, show them your power!"
Ryu Kokki was annihilated by a mystical blast from the mystical sword master.
Darby: 2300 LP
Bone Breaker: 3400 LP
"Rabidragon, let's finish it. Carrot Stream of Destruction!!!" The dragon fired an orange beam at Bone Breaker, sending him flying backwards as he yelled in defeat.
Darby: 2300 LP
Bone Breaker: 3400 LP
Shocked, Darby stood in silence from what just occurred. "I-I actually won a duel?!?!" He exclaimed in glee as he ran down the street, celebrating his victory.
*
Awakening from his comatose, awoke to Agneya and the other villagers staring down at him. Screaming, he repelled them as they backed away from the sudden outburst. Jumping to his feet, Yuji checked his pulse, making sure he was still alive. "I can't believe that plan actually worked…" He muttered to himself.
"I, no we, would like to thank you Yuji Nensho, for saving our town for peril." Agneya responded as he bowed her head.
Scratching his nose, Yuji felt himself become embarrassed. "No really, I didn't do anything." At that moment, he began to be enveloped in a white light, Yuji's body started to become transparent, as if he was fading out of the world's existence. "What the…!!! Wait, I must've completed the Judgement Game, then I must be returning back to EGRESS probably."
Taking a step forward, Agneya placed a hand on her chest. "You're leaving? I was hoping you could stay longer so we could thank you properly." Pausing for a moment, she continued. "Will I see you again?"
Yuji flashed a grin. "Most definitely." The light encompassed him completely transporting him away from this world. From afar, Seker had observed the entire ordeal. He smirked as he was cloaked in shadow.
"I was right to bring him on board. He just may be the one."
As the light faded, Yuji found himself in the middle of EGRESS' main plaza. From the distance, he heard someone call out his name, turning to face them, he saw that it was Darby.
"I did it! I won my first duel! Those cards you gave me really worked!!!"
Yuji smiled. "Those cards only worked because it had duelist like you behind them, the victory was all yours! I'm glad! I knew you could do it!"
Fighting tears, Darby put an arm around Yuji's shoulder. "From this moment, you are officially my best friend!"
"You're not just saying that, right?" Yuji joked.
"No! I really mean it, I definitely mean it! You have to believe me!!!" Darby pleaded.
"Let's go back to the normal world, I think I've had enough excitement for today." Yuji uttered.
*
Elsewhere, in a dark room, a suited man was seated at a desk, watching a monitor of EGRESS.
"This Yuji, I think he may be the one we've been looking for. You should see if he's actually something special, shouldn't you, Arn?"
"Of course, leave it to me."