A/N: Borreload Furious Dragon and Borreload Riot Dragon are indeed Ryoken's ace monsters but only Riot is usable. The Duel Disk won't accept Furious as it has 'Link monster' in the description and the database can't find a 'Link monster' in order to translate its effect into Solid Vision, thus rendering it illegal. I know you can use Furious just fine without using its effect to special summon a Dark Link monster but seeing that anime rules are way different than in real world, this has to be done.
However, there might be OC Borrel Fusion and/or main deck monsters to compensate the fact that Borreload Riot's description lists a 'Borrel' monster as target for its effect. Having to just target its copies is kinda too restrictive to be viable in a duel.
Anyways, read and leave a review guys!
Ryoken was reorganizing his deck while Kenji discussed with the restaurant's owner for his salary when the entire dome went uproar. It seemed that Chronos had summoned Ancient/Antique Gear Golem, a respectably strong boss monster in this era. Judai exchanged few snarky questions with the professor before the Golem pummeled Elemental Hero Featherman to bits.
"Urgh, I can't stand that…man…thing's laughter."
"You and me both, bro."
Ryoken was disturbed by Chronos' attics and opted to observe his surroundings instead. There was a boy who expressed surprise at Antique Gear Golem's piercing damage capability and before Ryoken could speak up, the teen scoring 1st place in the written exam explained the card's effect to him.
"Next time, try to spend some minutes reading the card's description." Ryoken concluded.
"S-Sorry." The boy nervously replied before widening his eyes in recognition. "You are… the OTK examinee, Ryoken Kogami."
The other boy, Daichi Misawa, was interested and proceeded to befriend Ryoken, who returned the gesture in kind. He expressed his respect for Ryoken's OTK combo, saying that he did not need a singular archetype to defeat the proctor, just like Misawa. Ryoken snorted, pointing to Kenji who was watching Judai's duel attentively.
"Nii-san has more decks that can dish out more damage than I do."
"Ah, the 'Underhanded Shadow'. It is a great pleasure to meet you."
Kenji was dumbfounded at Misawa's words and asked why. The boy explained that he used different deck combinations and tactics, not relying on the outdated 'honorable' ways of dueling like most of his fellow duelists did. Misawa was particularly awed at Kenji's Blaze Fenix + Cannon Soldier Burn deck, which was very unorthodox at the time and to this day no one could replicate it properly.
Kenji looked at Misawa, thinking for few moments before saying that Misawa was truly a genius born in a different time and place, which brought tears to the boy as he was constantly looked down and ridiculed for his intellect and dueling method. Finally someone recognized his talents!
"I don't care for honor and shits like that. If you want to win, you win hard." Was Kenji's motto. At the same time, Judai finally destroyed Chronos' ace monster and won the duel, guaranteeing his path to Duel Academia. Misawa remarked that Judai's HERO deck relied heavily on fusion and would find a counter for it. Ryoken suggested just power-stomping through his Fusion Heroes while setting up backrows for protection.
"A good strategy but you will need good drawing luck to get a good starting hand. No, I would say you completely lock down his Polymerization and other Fusion cards. Then, try to win in one or two turns before he can find a way to fuse his cards again."
"I see. Thank you for your advices." Misawa stood up. "I have something to take care of. Farewell for now. I hope we can be in the same dorm."
"Same here, bud. Same here."
Kenji said before turning to Sho, who was at a lost to understand what they were discussing earlier.
"What can I do with you…?" Kenji knew about Sho's issues and while he could not state about the Power Bond card, he advised the kid to man up, train more and, to his reluctancy, believe in his cards. Sho's eyes were sparkles in admiration and thanked him vigorously before leaving to find his brother. Ryoken chuckled at Kenji and said nothing more.
Next day, Mokuba came to visit the brothers and bring them essential stuffs they would need in Duel Academia, including uniforms, guidebooks and PDAs. He congratulated Ryoken for getting to Obelisk Blue and smirked at Kenji as he is stuck in Ra Yellow. The latter shrugged, saying that Ra or even Osiris was fine to him and he could stomp through everything to reach Obelisk if he so wanted.
"Yeah right, good luck with that. Oh, about your orders." Mokuba gestured his butler to present two black cases containing the latest revision of the blade-style Duel Disk. "Seto already made adjustments to the mainboard so that the security system in Academia won't register these as illegal Duel Disks, though I would advise you to inform the teachers first to avoid suspicions."
The Duel Disk looks like the normal 2nd KaibaCorp Duel Disk. Aside the QoL improvements that will be introduced in the upcoming Academia Duel Disk, there is a new card slot called 'Fusion Deck' where you can store Fusion Monsters outside the main deck. Kenji had seen many duelists searching through their 40 to 80-card deck just to find a single Fusion Monster so he asked Kaiba to change the rule a bit. Kaiba, being a lazyass rich bastard, refused so he threatened to end their deal. Mokuba stepped in and made this exclusive device for Kenji and Ryoken. Furthermore, it had a special chip that could override current Expert Rule to Kenji's 'Master Rule' and jam the radar Duel Academia used to detect illegal entries. This chip could also distinguish Fusion cards so if the user was too lazy to arrange the cards themselves, the Duel Disk could automatically split those cards from the main deck and place them into Extra Monster Zone. Afterall, a very handy device for real-life travelers like him to have.
"Heh, nice. This way me and Ryoken can duel all day long without losing DP and ranking points."
"That's the gist. Well, your flight is 1:00PM so get some rest, okay? I will see you again."
Kenji and Ryoken bid farewell to Mokuba and continued packing their belongings. As Kaiba's sponsored Aspiring Duelists, they got to board a private plane and arrive at Duel Academia two days earlier than normal students. A taxi was already in front of the motel so the duo made their way to the airport relatively quick. Due to it being a civilian version of the Blue Eyes Jet, Kenji and Ryoken reached the island within half an hour.
"Welcome to Duel Academia." There was a bald man in purple uniform waiting for them on the rooftop. "I am Futoshi Saejima, Chancellor of Duel Academia. I have heard of your early arrival from President Kaiba."
"Good afternoon, sir. My name is Ryoken Kogami and this is my brother, Kenji Kenzaki. We will be in your care."
Saejima gave them a brief tour on their way to his office, passing the classrooms and the Duel Arena. When they reached the Chancellor Office, the old man explained basically everything in Duel Academia, per Kaiba's order and assurance that Kenji and Ryoken were experts in handling supernatural phenomenon, which was technically correct. Seto requested for their assistance during the last two years to hunt down the Legendary Planets, which they had found and given to the KaibaCorp and Industrial Illusions to seal off. For example, some idiots set ablaze half a town and nearby forest by summoning the Blazing Mars while the Society of Light briefly caused a total solar eclipse with the Supremacy Sun. Kenji found out that the cult had somehow vanquished Tragoedia at the same year Edo Phoenix was killed for the Ultimate D so the threat of ancient Egyptian evil was no longer a case. He met Reggie MacKenzie who was also hunting down the Planets and the Society after they murdered her father for the Sun card. After a long duel and a Bright Slap, she snapped out of the blinding rage and became his informant in American Duel Academia. For some reasons, the 'Malice, Lady of Lament' card in his pocket kept flashing during their last meeting.
In any case, Saejima told them the story of the Three Phantasms, or Sacred Beasts if you want to be specific, and offered them two of the Spirit Keys while asking them to act as the Spirit Gate's guardians. Ryoken frowned at the suggestion and Kenji was pondering what to do but they took the keys nonetheless. Though, all three of them did not expect the keys to violently react to the brothers and only by putting them back to the case, the miasma and earthquake were gone.
"Uhh, you have any idea what happened?"
"T-This is strange. They have never behaved like this before."
"Hmm, so you said the keys are only given to seven top duelists in Academia that have pure hearts and don't want the Phantasms' power for themselves." Ryoken said, raising three fingers. "I have three hypothesizes. One, we are new to Duel Academia and thus not proven enough to be its duelists. Two, we don't actually want to safeguard the keys. Three, we may possess the so-called 'evil hearts' and want the demons for ourselves." He leaned toward the Chancellor. "What do you think?"
"I-I… I have no idea."
"The most logical is that, we haven't demonstrated our strength. And the keys apparently think that we are just two novices incapable of handling such tasks." Kenji spoke up, freeing Saejima from Ryoken's cold, calculating eyes. "Until then, you should keep this issue from anyone else. From what you said, I can see why many desires the Three Phantasms. Immortality, for the starter. Fortunate for you and the world, us two want nothing to do with them. We just want a normal life, after all the shits we have been through. In addition." He nudged Ryoken and took out the Aleister the Invoker card. The latter smirked and picked the Borreload Riot Dragon card from his deck and showed it to Saejima. The man was puzzled at first but then he could feel a sentient and powerful aura coming from these cards.
"You can feel it, don't you? Having interacted with the Cyberdark before, no matter how weak their spirits are."
"Duel Spirits… I see, they do exist."
"To sum it up: we have no need of the Three Phantasms. You can sleep soundly without worrying we steal the cards." Kenji gave him an assuring grin. Saejima let out a long sigh of relief and continued the conversation regarding the other things not officially listed in the guidebook like the Abandoned Dorm before sending the brothers off to their respective dorms.
Kenji was welcomed by Professor Kabayama, head teacher at the Ra Yellow dorm. He was given a room on second floor overlooking the main Academia building with a decent view of the Obelisk Girl dorm. After unpacking his belongings, the Professor invited him to dinner, where he showed off his chef skills. Kenji had to give Kabayama huge credits as every dish he made was gourmet-level delicious, so much so that he phoned Ryoken and told him to get here immediately. Sadly, Ryoken was held back by Chronos for many reasons, one of which was to enact him as the new young Obelisk Kaiser. Kenji snorted at that and had to leave his bro to the Chronos' mercy.
Next day rolled in as Kenji and Ryoken met up at the cafeteria. The latter was having dark circles around his eyes, indicating that he had little sleep last night after the session with Chronos de Medici. Kenji cheered him up by offering to buy breakfasts and a little more 'future prediction', which was just his meta knowledge. Ryoken was fascinated with the future knowledge, as it was both surreal and real to him. Knowing what might happen left many possibilities and Ryoken loved finding out alternatives and applying them to the present, waiting to see whether the future was set or not. Kenji revealed that, supposedly, the Borrel archetype Dr. Kogami created had at least five ace monsters, excluding Ryoken's own Borreload Riot Dragon. Other than that, there was rumors of dark experiments regarding the Legendary Planets and Three Phantasms. It seemed magic was involved in their creation and to illustrate this, Kenji produced the Tyrant Neptune card and Ryoken once again felt the dormant power behind the sinister scythe-wielding reptilian. He filed these for later investigation, especially the fact that his father's masterpiece was left unfinished. Kenji assured him that there might be a way to create more cards for his deck, something among 'Data Storm'. That was all for today and saying Ryoken not feeling disappointed was wrong. Still, he acquired very useful information and he thanked his sworn brother for it.
"Aw dude, you are making me embarrassed again."
"I only speak what is true, Nii-san. By the way, Professor de Medici told me that the girl population of the Academia will be here today, one day earlier than the male majority. He asked me to take you and wait at the front gate to greet them." Ryoken shrugged. "Quite frankly, I say we find a good spot to practice dueling. I haven't fully explored Borreload Riot Dragon yet and I am very eager to do so."
"You speak MY language there, bro." Kenji finished his omelet and soda can. "Let's make ourselves scarce quick. I'm pretty sure Chronos will turn the island upside down to find you."
After looking at the island map to find an appropriate place that was out of people's prying eyes, they decided that the empty Osiris Red dormitory is the best spot as aside its head teacher, Professor Daitokuji, nobody could interrupt their duel. Ryoken proposed that they first used the Duel Academia-issued Duel Disks to get the feel first and then their exclusive Disks for their more advanced decks. Kenji agreed and they went back to their respective dorms to get their equipment before heading to Osiris Red dorm.
Half an hour later, Kenji and Ryoken finished their first duel, Kenji's Ritual deck vs Ryoken's standard Dragon beat-down. Ryoken managed to get pass Demise's effect and depleted Kenji's LP using Five Headed Dragon and Tyrant Dragon, which Ryoken used Monster Reborn for.
"As overkill as always." Kenji winced. "That Solemn Strike was unexpected. Shame you blew away my Ultimate Providence and Mirror Force earlier."
"I'm just lucky that I drew Harpy's Feather Duster. Now, let's get to the main show."
Putting down the white Duel Disks, both boys opened their own briefcases and strapped the customized KC Duel Disks on their arms. After inserting the decks, the devices worked their magic and separated the Fusion Monster cards to the Fusion Deck slot. Ryoken remarked that this one felt more comfortable and Kenji agreed, as these were built from ground up to their liking.
"DUEL!"
Kenji & Ryoken: 4000LP
"I'll go first." Ryoken declared and drew his first card. "I activate Ritual Spell: Heavy Trigger! By tributing Noctovision Dragon and Rokket Synchron from my hand, I can Ritual summon Borreload Riot Dragon in attack position!"
Ryoken's grin widened lightly as blue lightning bolts struck together to create the mechanical dragon. It roared viciously at Kenji when it hit the field. (8/3000/2500/Effect)
"I set two cards and end my turn."
"Damn, Riot on first turn already? Alright, draw!" Not a bad draw, Kenji mused. "I activate the effect of Thunder Dragon on my hand. I discard it and add two other Thunder Dragon copies from my deck to my hand."
Kenji eyed Borreload Riot Dragon, frowning as he remembered its effects. He needed to bait its summoning negation first in order to bring out Colossus or Titan. That's not counting the applied effect from Heavy Trigger.
"I pay 1000 LP to activate Instant Fusion and special summon Kaminari Attack for this turn!"
Kenji: 4000 – 1000 = 3000LP
He clicked his tongue as Ryoken did not buy it. Looked like he had to sacrifice Colossus then.
"By banishing Kaminari Attack and one Thunder Dragon on my hand, I can special summon Thunder Dragon Colossus from my Fusion Deck!"
"Borreload Riot's effect activated! Once per turn, I can negate the summoning of one Special Summoned monster and destroy it. I must also destroy Borreload Riot to resolve this effect."
Poor Colossus, he was about to engage in shouting contest with Borreload Riot Dragon when the little shit blasted both of them to pieces. Kenji's eyes narrowed as Ryoken activated Call of the Haunted to bring back Borreload Riot too. What a combo.
"You don't think I can just waste all those resources for nothing, do you? Thunder Dragon Fusion! By shuffling two Thunder Dragon and Thunder Dragon Colossus in my graveyard back to my deck, I can Fusion summon one Thunder Fusion Monster from my Fusion Deck. Kinda obvious which one I will choose, right?"
A cackling vortex appeared on the sky and the silhouettes of his chosen monsters joined together to bring out Thunder Dragon Titan (10/3200/3200). The gigantic three-headed dragon caused Borreload Riot to falter and make a step back in fear.
"The fun has just begun, Ryoken! Titan, attack Borreload Riot Dragon with your –"
"Negate Attack!"
Kenji clicked his tongue and entered his Main Phase 2 by drawing two more cards with Pot of Greed. He set down three cards and ended his turn.
Asuka sighed for the tenth time. The female student population were to arrive earlier and receive their essentials because this year's male students were notably higher than past years. She normally went to Ryo for dueling advices or talking about other life topics but the Kaiser was taking care of family business and would come to the island tomorrow. Her friends from the prep schools, Junko and Momoe, were also here so it was not that boring. They had free time until 11:00AM for lunch so Junko suggested taking a stroll around the island.
When they were approaching Osiris Red dormitory, the thunderous roar of a gargantuan hologram of a green three-headed dragon startled them.
"W-W-What?!"
"Hey, it's over there!"
'Someone is dueling for sure.' Asuka thought before running toward to the dragon, Junko and Momoe were perplexed for a moment and decided to follow their friend. There was indeed a duel, between Ryoken 'Revolver' Kogami and Kenji 'Underhanded Shadow' Kenzaki no less!
"My turn, draw! I activate Treasure from Heaven for both of us to draw until we have six cards on our hands."
Ryoken smirked at what he had drawn.
"I summon Rokket Tracer in attack position. Because I control a Rokket, I can special summon Absorouter Dragon from my hand! Next, I revive Rokket Synchron with Rokket Synchron."
In the spans of two minutes, Ryoken's field was swarmed with monsters. Kenji snorted; Ryoken was predictable when he summoned Level 1 and Level 7 monsters while Borreload Riot was on the field.
"Once again, I activate Heavy Trigger and tribute Rokket Synchron and Absorouter Dragon to Ritual summon another Borreload Riot Dragon!"
"Not so fast, bro. Solemn Judgment!" Ryoken widened his eyes in shock as his Heavy Trigger alongside the tributed monsters exploded.
Kenji: 3000/2 = 1500LP
Ryoken looked at the monstrous dragon, Kenji's remaining two face-down cards and six cards on his hand, gritting his teeth in frustration before ending his turn. Kenji drew and flipped up Thunder Dragon Discharge, which meant Ryoken could not stop any of his Thunder Dragons from activating their effects. At their hiding spot, Asuka was speechless, awed at how prepared Kenji was against Ryoken. As expected of the infamous 'Underhanded Shadow'. Today was not a waste after all.
'I get to see their ace monsters too.' Asuka was happy. 'I haven't seen this 'Thunder Dragon Titan' and 'Borreload Riot Dragon' before. They must be very strong for Kenji and Ryoken to hide from the public's eyes.'
"Wow, that Ra Yellow guy totally locks the Obelisk from playing right?" Junko asked, looking at Titan and Borreload Riot's stats on her PDAs. The device seemed to be glitchy while scanning those monsters and could only display their ATK and DEF values.
Kenji glanced the girls and smirked inwardly; while he and Ryoken did not expect audience, this should be a good opportunity to show off their true strength as long as these girls would not tell the others.
"Well, playtime's over. I use Polymerization to bring Thunder Dragon Colossus back to the field! Come, Colossus!"
The dark purple, serpentine dragon descended from the sky and roared at Borreload Riot Dragon. Not backing down, the latter countered with a mighty roar of its own.
"You guys are noisy, eh. From my hand, I discard Thunder Dragonmatrix to add 500 ATK to Titan. Thunder Dragon Titan's effect activated! When I activate a Thunder monster's effect from my hand, Titan can destroy one card on the field. And I choose Borreload Riot! Lightning Eraser!"
One head of Thunder Dragon Titan released a bolt that destroyed Ryoken's ace monster while the dragon's entire body was empowered with Dragonmatrix's effect. (ATK: 3300 + 500 = 3800)
"Battle! Colossus, destroy Rokket Tracer with Mega Thunder Blaster!"
A golden lightning sphere gathered in Thunder Dragon Colossus' maw and it unleashed a stream of cackling energy into the reddish rocket-shaped dragon.
Ryoken: 4000 – 1000 = 3000LP
"Titan, attack player directly. Giga Lightning Cannon!"
Ryoken closed his eyes, accepting his defeat as three heads of Thunder Dragon Titan flared up. The Obelisk girl trio was blinded by a bright light and when they recovered, Ryoken's LP already dropped to zero. Asuka stared at Kenji and the dragon roaring triumphantly in awe and anticipation, hoping to duel him one day. He and Ryoken were talking before they headed to the main Academia building.
"Ah, wait! I want to ask…"
"Save it for tomorrow, babe. We are not supposed to know each other this soon after all. See ya around."
Ryoken sent a greeting nod at the girls and Kenji winked at each one of them, causing Junko and Momoe to squeal. For the first time in her life, Asuka did not expect her heart to beat this fast.
At the same time, inside Kenji's briefcase, 'Malice, Lady of Lament' shone brightly.