The atmosphere of the kame game store is a nice one. Music from thirty years ago is playing on the radio, Solomon Muto is rocking his head, and Yuri is helping line the shelves.
The song isn't one he's ever heard before, but it's nice. The story that Mister Muto told him about the song artist is a depressing one though. A lady named Miki regretted it all. Everything she wrote and such.
How sad. Regrets are always a problem like that.
Still, looking at the structure packs he's lining the card shelves with, Yuri can't help his grin. The card game is moving forward by years already with how many cards are able to be released. He could do without Sarraceniant and Chlamydosundew nipping at his ears whenever he touched the packs though. His spirits are so clingy.
The current pack of the month is an Archfiend one surprisingly. With Tour guide, Archfiend Heiress, and Archfiend Manifestation. The new supports should make some interesting decks come out within the next few weeks, and it'll be fun to face them.
Helping around the store is nice, surprisingly. Even the children that walk in are enthusiastic for duel monsters, and they don't mind a bit of criticism either.
Yugi was surprised at first, and he'd have been offended that someone thought he'd bring his best against a child, but he did explain how he used to be in detail to him.
Hearing the bell chime again, Yuri looks towards the door for a moment, but his eyes move away when he only sees another kid. She's kind of familiar, but he doesn't remember too many people from this time.
Or his own time honestly. Even alumni from academia weren't remembered. Most of them joined the obelisk force anyway. Unless they were someone like Truesdale, or Alexis.
Going back to stacking the shelves, he notices a few gems on the list of new cards. Hopefully with them he'll have a proper challenge at Academia, rather than facing another person with a deck as weak as that proctor's. No offense to him of course, as it was a testing deck, but it was still pathetic.
His thoughts and the irritated biting from his spirits are cut off when he hears a quiet cough, as well as an "Excuse me?" Turning his head, he sees the person that walked in looking at him for a moment before looking over to the cards on the shelf.
"Um… Mister Muto said you'd be able to help me? I'm trying to build a new deck." The girl, or at least he's pretty sure they're a girl, is shyly looking at him before looking over to the new cards with a small joy. Sighing through his nose, he picks up the box of structure packs and puts it under his arm.
"Very well. I need to put this back, so go sit over by the duelling area and I'll be back to help you."
She protests that he doesn't have to stop working to help her, but he simply shakes his head as he moves the box over to mister Muto, placing it in front of him. "I'll finish organizing once I've helped her, if that's fine?"
Solomon nods his head, taking the box and placing it underneath the front desk. "Of course Yuri. Deck building is a passion project, so you can't be distracted."
Smiling at the man, Yuri walks back over the shop, Grabbing a box off of another shelf before sitting down at one of the duelling tables.
Looking over at her, his face is serious. "The most important part of building a deck is finding your main monster. Not your ace, not the strongest card in the deck, but the card that you have decided is your best card in terms of just how much it helps your deck. The hardest part is finding it."
Putting his hand into the box, Yuri pulls out three structure decks. His predaps at least don't try to bite him again. "Archfiends. Airknights. Gladiator Beasts. Go through these decks until you feel something calling you, then take out that card. And I don't mean calling to you as if you like the card, but as if you feel something pulling at you to keep that card. Alright?"
The girl nods for a moment, slowly moving through every card with meticulous care. Yuri can't help but zone out for a moment, staring at the ceiling as 80s pop and love songs wash over him. It's a bit corny, but it's nice honestly. The bell jingles a few more times as he waits, but his sense of time is kind of out of the window.
The sun is slowly going down by the time the girl nudges his boot to get his attention. Sitting up, he looks over at the card that chose her.
"Archfiend Heiress? She must like you, Archfiends are generally fickle things."
Her face lights up in an honest joy, Doing a small happy dance in the booth. While she does so, Yuri searches for any extra copies of Heiress in the box, sliding them over to her before standing up to stretch.
Ignoring the clicks his back makes, his discomfort eases slightly from sitting in one spot for hours. He's not particularly surprised it took her a few hours to go through one hundred and twenty cards, finding the spirit that calls to you is difficult.
Hearing some mischievous giggling, he sees a spirit of Heiress floating behind the girl, making a shush motion with her index finger, ignoring his spirits as they snap at her playfully. Ah, she must really like the girl, if she's halfway through the manifestation process already.
The happy dance comes to an end, and the girl stands up before bowing to him. Frowning in confusion for a moment, he waits for her to stand back up.
"Thank you for helping me find my best. My name's Blair."
The now named Blair looks through the rest of the archfiend structure pack, smiling at the cards in it. "I think I'd like to take this one. Do you guys have any spares of Red-eyes black dragon? There's only one copy in here."
Smiling softly at the enthusiasm for an "evil" deck from a kindred spirit, he shakes his head for a moment. "You'd have to be lucky. It's still considered ultra rare, even now. I believe that Joey Wheeler is the only person to have three copies right now."
Clearing away the box, as well as the other structure decks, he guides Blair up to Solomon's counter, the girl fidgeting once she learns just how rare the card she's asking for is.
Tapping her back when she doesn't speak, he gestures towards the man. "A-ah. Mister Muto, would you have another copy of Red-eyes anywhere in stock? The deck only came with one."
Solomon hums for a moment, Staring at her from over his shoulder as he picks up a specific case. His personal "rare cards" case. "I may have just such a card in stock. But I can't just give it away, or take money for it."
"A-ah. What would I have to do to get it?"
Huffing out a quiet laugh, Yuri leans against the desk. "I'd assume Mister Muto wants you to show how in tune with your new deck you are. If you can't show your spirit there's no point in giving you Red-eyes."
Solomon sends him a gimlet stare, looking annoyed. "You ruined my fun, Yuri. I was going to make her sweat a bit more. But yes, I would like you to show me your spirit. Are you up for it?"
Blair stares down at the cards in her hand, a frown on her face. Slowly, resolve crawls in, before she stares at Solomon with a determined look. "You're on, Mister Muto!"
Activating the portable duel projector, Yuri places it down on the table to the side of the card mats. "We'll be going with four thousand life points for this duel. I know you still prefer to use two thousand Mister Muto, but the current state of play outside of competitive leagues is four thousand. Is that acceptable?"
Solomon nods his head, placing his deck onto the mat. Blair mirrors his actions, looking determined to win.
Fishing a coin out of his pocket, he holds it in front of the both of them. "Call."
"Heads/Tails." Solomon calls heads as Blair calls for tails. Flicking the coin with his finger, he watches it hang in the air for a moment before his hand snatches it out, slapping it down on the back of his hand.
"Heads. Solomon goes first. Are you both ready?"
He gets a nod from both of them, ignoring the excited whispering of the few patrons of the store.
"Then you may begin."
Solomon nods his head, drawing a card with a grin. "Well little miss, I'm going to have to be a bit mean. I summon Gaia the magical knight in attack mode with his first effect. I'll also activate his effect to summon my Curse of dragon, also in attack mode. Lucky for you I can't attack this turn, or you'd have already lost."
Gaia manifests on the field in all of his knightly splendor, the lances he's known for replaced with larger ones, gilded with gold. The dragon meanwhile appears as he normally would, his yellowed skin unblemished with damage and yet looking broken at the same time.
Blair frowns for a moment, before shaking her head. "How am I meant to show you my spirit if you wipe me in one turn? That's not very sporting."
Solomon's flat stare nearly makes him crack a grin as he looks at the girl like she's an idiot. "I said I was testing you. Tests aren't meant to be easy, and you need to show me how you can get out of this bind. Speaking of, it's your turn. Show me what you've got."
Blair nods her head, looking determined to win again. "Okay! I Draw." Blair stares at her hand quietly for a few seconds, obviously mulling over her options. "Uh… I'll start by summoning the Tour-guide of the Underworld in defense mode and activate her effect, which lets me bring out Archfiend Heiress from my deck, also in defense mode."
Tour-guide shows up blowing her whistle, calling for her tour group to leave the bus. Of course, the only one to leave is Archfiend Heiress, skipping out of the bus with a giggle that would be menacing if she were larger.
"Then I activate Polymerization!"
Blair pauses as she sends two cards from her hand to the graveyard, one of which is a Summoned Skull. "I call upon the darkest creature in the pits of pandemonium, giving rise to a manifestation of evil unseen since the Skull Archfiend rose for the very first time! Rise, Archfiend's manifestation!"
A creature that at first glance looks like the Summoned Skull she sent to the graveyard appears on the field, it's body covered by the wings sprouting from behind the body before they explode outwards, the Archfiend unfurling its powerful body as lightning crackles, raising its hand to call out more of the inky mist.
"And Because of his effect, he gains five hundred attack points, raising him to three thousand! So I'm gonna have him attack your Gaia! Dark lightning strike!" The fiend raises his hands toward his chest, charging black lightning there before sending it outward, hitting Gaia's horse before it carries on into him, electrocuting the both of them before they explode into triangles.
"With that attack, first blood goes to Blair. Mister Muto your lifepoints have gone down by seven hundred, you are now at thirty three hundred."
Blair's smile is practically as wide as her face at the fact that she actually got the first hit, giggles escaping her as she tries to calm herself down. "A-alright, now I'll play two facedowns and end my turn."
Solomon lets out a hum as he draws his card, looking between his hand and the field a few times. "Well, that was a good play. Unfortunately, it won't help! I play spiral fusion, and use it to fusion summon Gaia, the magical knight of dragons! And because I fused him with spiral fusion, he gains two thousand and six hundred attack points. Leaving him with fifty two hundred attack!"
"Next, I'll activate Galloping Gaia! While this spell is on my field, as long as I have one Gaia the dragon Champion card in my monster zone I can reveal a level five dragon monster in my hand, like my curse of dragon, to add one Gaia monster to my hand!" Revealing the curse of dragon in his hand to both Blair and Yuri, Solomon searches through his deck until he finds one that he's looking for, adding it to his hand.
"Then, I'll activate my Gaia's effect making him lose two thousand six hundred attack in exchange for destroying your archfiend!"
Blair blinks in shock as her monster explodes, before a grin forms on her face. "I activate my archfiend's manifestation's effect. If he's sent to the graveyard by my opponents' monster, I can summon another summoned skull from my deck!"
A normal summoned skull forms on the field, less impressive than manifestation.
"Next, I'll activate my trap card, Call of the Archfiend! This card lets me discard one fiend from my hand to special summon any level five or higher fiend monster in my graveyard, so I'll discard another Archfiend Heiress and I'll bring back Manifestation! I'll also activate the effect of my Heiress being sent to the graveyard to bring another Archfiend to my hand!"
The monster's mist flows out of the graveyard, solidifying into the visage of another summoned skull. Electricity crackles around them as they both gain five hundred attack. Solomon blinks in surprise before grinning at Blair.
"Well played kid. Now because of your monster's effect I can't damage your life points. Or can I?"
Solomon takes a card from his hand, placing it on the field. "I activate the spell card, Spiral spear strike. With this card, as long as one of my Gaia monsters attacks a defense position monster I'm able to deal piercing damage. And in the case of my Gaia, the magical knight of dragons effect, I'm able to draw two cards If I destroy a monster by battle in such a way, though I'll have to discard one."
Blair blinks for a moment, a quiet "eh?" escaping her throat out of sheer disbelief.
Solomon and Yuri both chuckle at her gobsmacked expression, Yuri reaching a hand out to pat her shoulder. "Never be confident that you've won just because you've gotten your combo off. That's the first rule."
Blair seems to deflate as Solomon's quiet chuckles fill the air, before the man clears his throat. "Well, that's enough of that from me. I'll have my Gaia attack your archfiend heiress, allowing me to draw two cards before I have to discard one. Unless you have a facedown to prevent your monster from being destroyed?"
Blair lets out a small sigh before shaking her head. "No. Your attack goes through."
Solomon nods his head while Yuri shifts the counter of Blair's lifepoints down by twenty six hundred, leaving her at fourteen hundred life points. She quietly activates her second Heiress' effect, searching her deck until she draws another monster.
"Well, my dragon knight's effect also activates. Since he's destroyed a monster by battle, he gains another twenty six hundred attack points. I'll also place two face downs on the field. It's your move, little miss."
Blair blinks, looking down at the field. "You aren't going to attack with curse of dragon?"
Solomon simply shakes his head, gesturing for her to get a move on.
"O-okay. Uh, well then I draw!"
Taking the card from the top of her deck, Blair grins when she sees what it is.
"Next, I'll summon the monster I drew with the archfiend heiress' effect by tributing my summoned skull and Tour guide! I summon the Archfiend emperor, first lord of horror! And I'll activate his effect to banish your dragon knight!"
Solomon smiles at the girl before shaking his head as he watches his monster get sent to the graveyard. "Unfortunately it won't be gone for long. I activate Spiral reborn to return it to my field. Of course, it's now a twenty six hundred attack monster, rather than fifty two hundred."
Blair looks rather proud of herself for removing that obstacle. "That still means I can destroy him! I attack with my emperor to destroy your dragon!"
Blair lets out a little cheer as the archfiend rears up, firing a burst of darkness at the dragon.
"Unfortunately, I activate magic cylinder."
Slamming her arms into the table, Blair pulls herself to her feet. "OH COME ON! I HAD THAT!"
Solomon lets out a belly laugh as Yuri tries to cover his snickers. "Unfortunately, Mister Muto planned ahead. The win goes to him."
Slumping down in her seat, Blair lets out another sigh. "Yeah okay. Looks like I'm not getting that second red-eyes."
She picks up her cards and places them in the new deck holder she got with the pack, slumping down onto the table. Yuri packs away the projector with a quiet smile, waiting for Solomon to make his decision.
"Well, you've certainly got a head for the game, little miss. You're a lot more spirited than my grandson was, that's for sure. But, you've managed to impress me with how in sync you are with your deck. Giving red-eyes to you is fitting, because you managed to beat my expectations. I hope you'll go on to do great in the pro circuit."
The second he mentions red eyes, her head flies up quick enough he worries she might've given herself whiplash, but the joy on her face practically lights up the room with how wide her smile is. Good for her.
The bell jingles for the last time today as she leaves, her wallet lighter, her spirit happier and fuller than it was before she walked in. Heiress will be good for that girl.
The store is quiet now, the patrons have gone home. In half an hour, Solomon will close the shop, and Yuri will return to his apartment.
As he walks to his temporary home, Yuri smiles. Not one of his psychotic smiles, but a small one, understated yet warm.
"Today was a good day."
A flash of pink and purple similar to his own hair catches his eye, and the name Zuzu is on the tip of his tongue even if the words wouldn't be heard over the roar of a bike engine. Turning to catch a better look at the biker, he's disappointed that they've already gone down the street.
But he came to this world alone. It couldn't have been Zuzu. Or any of the others.
Shaking his head, he opens the door to his apartment. His calendar is marked, and it's two more days until he goes to Academia.
He doesn't feel as if his stomach will hold down much food, so a simple mild curry and rice is enough to last him until he sleeps. But his sleep is troubled, thoughts of his brothers, or "brothers", flashing through his head.
He came here with only Wander. They can't be here.
"Today was a good day. What a mess."
[End.]
And that's chapter 4. Sorry it took me so long, I couldn't figure out how to move forward for the longest time. next chapter should hopefully have the first day of academia.
And yeah, Blair has archfiends now. Honestly I made the entire deck to have it featured in the next chapter so i could have someone for Yuri to face, but eventually just reworked that to here. Yes Solomon has a copy of red-eyes. It was a gift from Joey. I'm gonna try and avoid writing out all the numbers unless i have to for something like a custom card. The names should be enough but give me feedback if it makes it harder to figure out why a monster won or lost.
Also blair is her age from JP, not the dub. that was a very odd choice honestly.