[DREAMWORLD PARADOX CHAPTER 03: FIRST TASTE]
EnriksD8's A/N: What's changed:
01 (2022-05-02 A.D.) – Changed some of the naming formats to be less rushed and more formal.
02 (2022-05-02 A.D.) – Fixed some errors here and there that had been bothering me for a long time.
03 (2022-05-02 A.D.) – Changed and added some details to the Command Qan[T]'s description.
It was a bit of a trek to make it into the city but soon the Eds, Rolf, and their new friends had arrived. After taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of their new destination, the seven boys all soon found the school they would be enrolling in.
"Here it is, boys! The Azeasany Institute of Magic, Science, and Miscellaneous!" Ben said proudly.
"I must say, it's quite… large," Double-D said. "Then again, they did say it was expanded from Canterlot High…"
"MUST GO INSIDE!" Ed shouted as he was almost about to charge in like a bull on crack when his friends both old and new grabbed onto his jacket and pulled him back.
"NINCOMPOOP ED-BOY! DO NOT GO ANNOUNCING YOURSELF LIKE PAPA AT THE FRATERNITY PARTIES IN THE OLD COUNTRY!" Rolf yelled.
"Yeah, let's not make a big show of ourselves. We need to keep an air of professionalism here, got it?" Enrico said with a sigh as Ed pouted but calmed down.
"Come on, boys. One foot in front of the other and in sync!" Eddy declared as the seven boys entered the front doors to see just how expansive the entrance hall was. Students of all kinds were milling around, either heading to their classes, chatting with friends, or just wandering about.
"Man, it's like a college and a high school had a baby!" Chris whistled.
"Alright, fellas. I have this map of the school grounds and I think it would be best if we all split up to cover more ground." Double-D said as he took out the map from his hat and unrolled it for everyone to see.
"Oh sweet! They got a game development class!" Ben said with excitement in his eyes. "That's my element!"
"Ed, I think you'd like the literature club," Double-D suggested to his friend. "You always know how to tell such creative stories."
"Literature good for Ed!"
"Heh, Business class, huh? This could be my style!" Eddy chuckled.
"No fucking way!" Enrico suddenly exclaimed.
"Language!" Double-D scolded.
"They literally have a Mech Workshop and Laboratory and a Weapons Technology Laboratory?! Don't wait up for me!"
With that, Enrico bolted off in the direction of his chosen professions. Ben shrugged his shoulders and decided to make his way to the game development class in order to check it out.
"Alright! They even have a Yu-Gi-Oh dueling class!" Chris cheered as he moved in the direction of the aforementioned class.
"Rolf shall take Farming, yes?"
"You do you, Rolfy-Boy," Eddy said as he went to find the Business Class.
"Alright, we'll all meet at the Principal's Office at the end of the day so we can get officially registered!" Double-D called out to his friends who were all still in earshot.
"GOT IT!" The rest of the boys called out as Double-D put the map back in his hat and decided to check out the Technology and Electronics division while Ed rushed off to the Literature Club, laughing like the goof he was.
Once Chris arrived at his destination, which from what he saw on the map, was contributed to the school by some big names in Yu-Gi-Oh teaching like Duel Academy and the Leo Institute of Dueling. Before he went any further, he took a deep breath and slicked his hair back.
"Time to make Emperor Kuzco proud with my big entrance," Chris said before kicking the doors open.
"Ha! Boom, baby! Whoa."
The Yu-Gi-Oh section of the institute was MASSIVE and given who helped make this part of the school possible, it was like someone used Super Polymerization to fuse them all into one intricate and pretty well-designed miniature institute. If Chris didn't know any better, it was almost like he stepped into something akin to the TARDIS.
"Doctor Who, eat your hearts out. Welp, time to see what awaits me in this fine-looking portion of this establishment."
Chris began to walk around, taking in the sights and sounds of people summoning monsters, activating spells and traps, and just genuinely having a good time. He even saw two guys recreating the iconic moment of Yugi summoning Exodia to defeat Kaiba, right down to their words and mannerisms.
"Wow, this place has it all. Wonder if I can get one of those Dueling Arenas like the one Pegasus used for the finals of his Duelist Kingdom tournament."
Chris then noticed in one of the classrooms that the teacher, one Doctor Crowler, was in the middle of teaching about Pendulum Monsters.
"Now class, can anyone tell me what setting two monsters like Timegazer Magician and Stargazer Magician in the Pendulum Zones allows you to do?"
Unfortunately for the self-proclaimed doctor, every single one of his students was bored out of their skulls. Now might be a good time to liven up the mood, wouldn't you agree, Chris?
"Oh yeah. Definitely, Mr. Narrator."
Kicking the door to Crowler's classroom open, everyone immediately turned to see the newcomer walk in and declare his answer.
"They allow you to Pendulum Summon."
The students all then turned towards Crowler, who looked as stunned as a deer in headlights.
"That is corre—"
"Bup bup bup, not finished yet. While it is true that you can Pendulum Summon once the Scales are set, there are a couple of caveats and requirements before it can be done," Chris said.
"Firstly, the monsters that you wish to summon via this method must have levels that fit within the set Scales, and it can only be done once per turn. For example, with the monsters that you have presented to us for this demonstration, a duelist is allowed to summon multiple monsters with Levels between two through seven all at the same time."
Some of the students giggled as Crowler's face turned redder than a tomato in anger.
"Well, I never! If you had any hopes of enrolling in our dueling classes then you can forget them, because I will ensure that you will NEVER have ANY chance of being a part of any classes here for the rest of your days!"
Chris didn't really seem all that fazed by Crowler's threat.
"Yeah, that sounds great and everything, now shut up the teacher's talking. Secondly…" The students let loose some more giggles and chuckles as Crowler yelled "WHAT?!" in indignation "If Pendulum Summoning Pendulum Monsters from the Extra Deck, they can only be placed in either one of the Extra Monster Zones, or in a Main Monster Zone that a Link Monster's arrows point to."
If you look carefully, you could faintly see steam coming out of Crowler's ears.
"Ok then, smart guy. If you're so knowledgeable about dueling, then tell me, how do you summon a monster like this?"
A picture of Elemental HERO Flame Wingman appeared on the board behind Crowler. Chris could only smirk in response.
"Is this supposed to be a challenge or something? That's an easy one. All you need is a card or effect that allows you to Fusion Summon, as well as whatever Fusion Materials are listed within a Fusion Monster's card text either in your hand or on the field, the most common form of the former being Polymerization."
Crowler could only fumble his words in flabbergasted annoyance as Chris bowed at the other students like he was an actor in a stage play.
"Thank you, thank you, I'll be joining you guys soon enough, so until that happens, take care, everybody."
As he walked away from Crowler's classroom to continue exploring, within the nearby shadows was a young man with glasses and a long red scarf who watched Chris with interest.
Enrico whistled as he entered the Mech Lab. Everywhere he had looked, he could see all sorts of machines being worked on. From Western Mechs to Eastern Mechs, the number of machines on hand was outright limitless.
"Goddamn… I think I died and went to heaven."
"That cannot be right," A female voice interjected. "Your heart rate is stable, and your bodily functions are still functioning as they should be."
"It's a figure of speech," He replied on instinct before realizing something.
He had no idea who just spoke to him. As quickly as he could, he turned to the person who spoke to him.
"Who the ever-living mother-fuck are you?" he exclaimed, drawing some attention from the mechanics working on their mechs. He felt a bit self-conscious on that but shoved that feeling down to get a good read on the person before him.
She was significantly shorter than him, coming in at just 5'5" (1.65 meters) compared to his own height of 6'4" (1.93 meters). She had long, voluminous orange hair that reached to her hips, curled inwards at the tips, with a notable ahoge sticking out from the top. She wore a German-style dress, white on the top, black in the middle, and vibrant green for the skirt section.
"Salutations!" She greeted, not bothered by his swearing. "I am Penny Polendina, one of the chief engineers and projects of the Mech Workshop Laboratory!"
He blinked once, then twice, and finally three times before responding.
"Project?"
"That is correct!" Penny exclaimed as she flexed her arm to him. Up close, he can see powerlines running through the appendage like veins of an organic being.
"So, you're a machine?"
"In technical terms, I am a gynoid," Penny corrected, twirling around to give Enrico a full 360-degree view of her body. "But yes, I am a machine in the most basic of terms."
Enrico did not bother to say anything else. Given the things Ben and Chris were capable of, he was not as surprised as he should have been.
Just then, someone else came into the conversation.
"Oh, hey Penny! Made a new friend while I was busy?" A younger girl's voice called out, making both him and Penny turn to the newcomer.
She was even shorter than Penny, just by an inch or two, and wearing what could only be described as a Gothic Lolita outfit in the scheme of what Enrico would mockingly call "edgy," that being an abundance of black with red trims and tips. She also had a bright red cape with a folded away hood to go with the entire ensemble.
Although instead of a typical edgelord face, he is instead greeted by one that could best be described as "jailbait," for despite being a teenager, this girl's face makes her look like she just walked out of elementary school. Short dark brown hair with reddish tips and silver eyes completes the image.
"Good God, I have met the unholy union between Edgelord and Jailbait," He spoke without thinking, his filter meant for preventing him from blurting out words on his mind somehow malfunctioning.
The apparent "unholy union between Edgelord and Jailbait" blinked her eyes in confusion.
"My name's not Jailbait!" she exclaimed. "It's Ruby! Ruby Rose! I'm one of the tops students in the Weapons Technology Laboratory!"
"Good God, she knows how to use weaponry," Again, the filter malfunctioned.
Ruby just pouted and glowered at him before turning her attention to Penny.
"It seems we got another screw-loose here."
"But he is a full-blooded member of the Homosapien race," Penny said, tilting her head to the side rather cutely. "Your species does not have any screws to speak with."
"No, Penny, it's a figure of speech," To their surprise, both Ruby and Enrico had spoken up in unison to reply to the gynoid.
Penny simply nodded in understanding. "I see… I have so much to learn about human customs."
"Didn't your creator give you something for that?" Enrico asked in curiosity. The gynoid shook her head.
"My father believed that it was best if I learned everything on my own. Mostly to test how I would adapt to unknown situations."
"Risky but smart of him," he said, finding the merits in that line of reasoning. He gazed towards the large Mechs in the utterly massive laboratory.
"So, you guys make and maintain the Mechs here?"
"Duh, what else would you do here?" Ruby rhetorically asked with a cheeky grin. She gestured over to a relatively small humanoid mech, 4.29 meters in height, colored in red and black. Just like her, the mech was sporting a large cape behind it.
"That's my personal Mech, the RPI-Two-Zero-Nine Gloucester Ruby Rose Custom!" Ruby exclaimed with pride in her voice.
"A Knightmare Frame, eh? And here I thought the Brits were protective of their stuff," Enrico said as he analyzed the Mech from head to toe.
"Armaments?"
"Oh, y'know, the usual suspects. A Fifteen-Millimeter machinegun for most combat engagements with an over-barrel One-Twenty-Millimeter cannon for anti-armor work. A few Slash-Harkens for maneuvering across urban environments. And a bunch of Chaos Mines for getting rid of a particularly hard target." Ruby listed it off.
Enrico hummed, appreciating the look of the Mech and its armaments that were on display.
"But is the cape really necessary, Edgy Jailbait?"
"It's Ruby, dammit! And yes, the cape is an absolute necessity!" Ruby growled at this.
"I beg to differ, Friend Ruby," Penny said. "My calculations of the effectiveness of the cloak clocks in at only One-Point-Zero-Zero-Zero-One Percent and it poses a high-risk factor as it can snag onto any piece of debris that is sharp enough to grab it."
Ruby pouted at her friend's words of her RPI-209 Gloucester Rose Custom's effectiveness.
Enrico whistled when he looked towards another Mech, this one being larger than Ruby's Custom Gloucester. It was still humanoid, but it stood at an impressive height of 21.5 meters and had some considerable bulk in its frame, colored in gunmetal gray. Judging by its design, it can transform into some sort of tank.
He recognized the design nearly instantaneously.
"Is that a GNT-Quad-Oh-SDV Gundam Double-Oh Command Quanta?" He had a grin on his face when he saw the imposing Mobile Suit. Some details were changed such as a bulkier frame and the addition of two large caliber guns folded away on its back but it was still recognizable as the GNT-0000SDV Gundam 00 Command Qan[T].
"Yep," Ruby replied. "We've modified it even further to allow for transformation into a hover tank, hence the twin cannons folded on its back, and for it to have better armor in key points on its frame. Its overall system has also been modified to allow for an even better synchronization rate between the Mobile Suit and its Pilot."
Ruby's voice took a somber turn.
"Unfortunately, nobody has been able to pilot it yet."
"Why, is it broken?" He asked with worry in his voice.
"No," Ruby shook her head. "The systems work fine, but for some reason, the synchronization rate for most of the proposed pilots is rather low. The highest sync rate we got was only Five-Point-Three Percent."
Enrico winced at that number. A synchronization rate was a term that describes how well a Pilot takes to a Mech and vice versa. Some have described it as the extension of one's very soul and body.
Even the most demanding of mass-produced Mechs have a Sync Rate as low as 35.67%. But for it to go as low as 5.3%? He can only shudder at the synaptic whiplash the proposed pilots had to suffer.
"Yeah, it wasn't pretty," Ruby said, also wincing at the memory of this particular GNT-0000SDV Gundam 00 Command Qan[T] rejecting just about everyone it had been slated to pilot.
Enrico looked towards the Command Quanta directly in its eyes.
"You must be waiting for the right guy or gal to use you, huh? Hope they come along, Good Buddy."
As he said that, he could have sworn that the Command Quanta's eyes flickered to life as if to respond to his words. He shook his head at that. No, it could not have been responding to his words. It must have been the trick of the light.
Turning to Penny and Ruby, he speaks to them.
"So, what's in the Weapons Tech Lab?"
Ruby sent him a wide smile.
"Oh, you'll be in for a treat, Brownie!"
He raised his eyebrow at that. He supposed it was fair. After all he did call her Edgy Jailbait.
"Lead the way, Edgy Jailbait."
"IT'S RUBY, DAMMIT!"
To many, Azeasany's Mech Workshop and Weapons Technology Laboratories were simply academic installations for the more eccentric of students. To those like Penny, Ruby, and Enrico? This was paradise for the mechanically gifted and mechanically minded individuals.
Ben strolled into the Game Development Class and whistled. It seemed more like a Video Game Club if anything. He could see every game console and handheld in existence, computers, and other stuff for the development part of the class and plenty of people discussing video games, playing video games, or working on video games of their own.
"Oh, hello. Are you new here?" A cute girl with pale pink hair and a Galaga hairclip welcomed as she approached Ben. She was quite short and had porcelain pale skin, which made her look adorable and approachable.
"Yeah, the name's Ben. I'm enrolling here with my friends."
"Nice to meet you. My name is Chiaki Nanami, I'm the head of the Game Development Lab." The girl introduced with a friendly smile.
"Oh, is this a new member?" Cheerfully asked a girl with purple eyes, a cybernetic arm, and ocean blue hair with bangs that covered one eye.
"Probably, Tari. This is Tari, she's the Vice-President."
"Certified Meta Runner, that's me!" The blue-haired girl giggled, giving a salute.
Ben chuckled as he noticed something and gasped as he made his way over.
"A Friday Night Funkin' Arcade version?! Did you guys make this?!"
"Duh!" A girl with fiery orange hair and a similar cybernetic arm to Tari said as she made her way over. "That's one of our most prized designs! It even comes with all the mods, too!"
"I've died and gone to Nerd Heaven!"
"INDUCT ME INTO THE LITERATURE CLUB!"
Ed had made his presence announced by swinging open the door to the Literature Club after he found it, startling most of the occupants inside.
"Oh, it's Ed! I knew you were coming a mile away!" Said the only one not disturbed, a girl with coral brown hair tied into a ponytail with a white ribbon.
"You know my name? Are you the Oracle of Knowledge?" Ed asked in awe as the girl giggled.
"No, I'm Monika. I'm the head of the Literature Club here."
"Wait, did he seriously call you the Oracle of Knowledge?" Asked a girl with red hair and purple eyes. "We do NOT need another Chuni loser like Ando!"
"Hey!" Said the only boy of the club in indignation.
"I like him, he's funny!" Giggled a girl with coral pink hair and a red bow.
"Wait, Monika, how DID you know his name?" Asked a very short pink-haired girl with a cute little fang in the corner of her mouth.
"Because he's one of the main characters of this fanfic, duh!" Monika explained as if it was the simplest thing ever.
"Mon-Chan, you know we can't understand your Fourth Wall talk…" said a girl with linen-colored hair dryly.
"I have so much I must ask! Can you take me as your disciple?" Ed asked as the sole boy smirked.
"Indeed, you shall be indoctrinated as our latest servant in the dark flames of our club! Embrace your destiny and allow yourself to be welcomed with-!"
The short pink-haired girl shut the boy up by punching him in the groin, causing him to crumple over with foam coming out of his mouth as Ed winced.
"Natsuki, just because Ando's a Chuni loser doesn't mean you have to do that." Lightly scolded a quiet-looking girl with blonde hair who looked younger than everyone else, probably 10-years old.
"Hey, if I didn't do it, Tomoyo would've instead!"
"You're goddamn right, Natsuki!"
Double-D hummed as he admired the Tech & Electronics Lab. It was a techno-geek paradise for someone like him as he saw students programming, working on inventions, and more.
"My, my, intriguing!"
"Mwehehehehe~! Fresh meat!"
Double-D yelped as he turned around to see a young girl with glasses and long orange hair looking at him with a mischievous grin. Accompanying her was a petite girlish-looking boy with light brown hair and wearing a green dress and a brown skirt with suspenders and black boxer shorts underneath.
"F-Futaba, please don't scare him like that," the boyish girl scolded but said so in a way that sounded too sweet for words. "I'm Chihiro Fujisaki and this is Futaba Sakura, we're lead members of the Tech and Electronics Lab here."
"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you both." Double-D smiled politely. "My name is Eddward but just call me 'Double-D'."
"HA! Double-D! Like the Bra Size! Whoever nicknamed you is a genius!"
Wheeling in was a box-shaped robot with a single glowing light blue optic and with a paint job of yellow with a white stripe. He moved on a single gyroscopic wheel and his spindly arms ended in clamps.
"Claptrap, that's just crude. Even if I do agree," Futaba chuckled as Double-D sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, blushing heavily.
"I can tell you all are rather...eccentric."
"Not all of us. Chihiro here wouldn't hurt a fly." Futaba said as she hugged Chihiro close to her.
"Oh, you're one of the people who was invited here!" Said a girl with lavender skin and dark purple hair with a magenta stripe and glasses. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise. I have a feeling this just might be my place."
Eddy strolled into the Business Class to see it was currently in session. However, that didn't stop him from sitting back and watching from a distance and maybe eavesdropping on what was going on.
"What are you doing here?"
Turning around, Eddy saw a rather affluent boy with dirty blonde hair, glasses, and a black suit with a criss-cross tie.
"And who are you?"
"Byakuya Togami. And as you can see, this is my class. I just left to go to the bathroom and clean my glasses. Are you intending on enrolling here?"
"You know it, buster! I need to learn some skills!"
"Well, let me just tell you this: Try to keep up," Byakuya chuckled as he entered the classroom. Eddy wrinkled his nose at the other boy's condescending tone and decided to leave and regroup with the others.
"Sheesh, what a prude."
Rolf made his way to the Farming & Agricultural area and admired just how well-taken care of it was. There were animals, various flowers and crops, and even trees. It was like a Greenhouse.
"Rolf's eyes sting with the beauty of this place."
"Howdy, are you one of the new students we're getting?" Came a friendly southern voice as Rolf turned to see a girl with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail and wearing a brown Stetson hat. "I'm Applejack, head of this place. Nice to meetcha."
"I am Rolf, the Son of a Shepard. Rolf has come with his nincompoop friends to endeavor in studying the ways of the world at this asylum."
"Well, yah came to the right place, partner. All you and your friends gotta do is go to the Dean's Office and sign yourselves up." Applejack said as Rolf nodded in thanks and headed off to rejoin his friends.
"Rolf shall be glad to show his ways of the Old Country to everyone here. You will like it, yes."
The boys had all regrouped after taking in the sights of the institute and after going to the Dean's Office, they signed themselves in as official students before taking their leave. However, as they did, Chris came to a realization.
"Wait, what are we gonna do about housing?"
One could swear they heard a record needle scratch as the rest of the boys' heads snapped to Chris, who flinched slightly as he should have brought this up earlier.
"Yeah, I knew I should've brought that up sooner..."
"Hey!" Cried a girl's voice as out of nowhere, a girl with pink skin and poofy cotton candy-like hair came in.
"I'm Pinkie Pie and I know where you guys can stay! We have a super-large dorm that caters to everyone! Follow me!"
She then bolted off as the seven boys all looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders and following after her.
"This is gonna be fun!" Ben smirked as the rest of the boys couldn't help but nod in agreement.
Devil Dragon Stand Knight's A/N:
And so ends the third chapter! This took a lot of time between me, Caw, and Enrico but we pulled through! There's not much else to add other than that exciting things are coming soon! You have the floor, Chris!
Caw-zrs6's A/N:
Oh yeah, things are gonna be absolutely nutty, just you wait.
Enriks-Da-Writer's A/N:
Yep, things are falling into place and a few teases on what the OCs are gonna get later on down the line although looking back at the actual document, I realize that I was the only one to somewhat spoil what my OC was gonna get later on.
I'm operating under the mentality of virtually every video game, especially RPGs, and novels that are actually worth a damn by having our characters start out basic and having to work their asses off if they want to play around with the endgame stuff.