Chapter 2: Trade Bait

Yuya sat up in his room, going over his deck. While he'd had his Pendulum monsters for a while, he hadn't quite gotten a good chance to study them. Most of the time, he was lucky to get Stargazer and Timegazer, but he realized that relying on them all the time would make him predictable and easy to counter. So he'd spent his free time all week trying to properly learn the ins and outs of his deck. Reading effects, practice duels with Gong and Zuzu, etc. Finally, he thought he'd gotten a good handle on all of it.

"Yuya, Zuzu and Ally are here!"

"Coming!"

Yuya grabbed his cards, Duel Disk, and pack and ran out the door, stopping only to pet his dog and cat. Once outside, he met the two sisters and the three made their way to the Duel School, meeting up with Frederick and Tate on their way.

"Have you figured out Pendulum Summoning yet, Yuya?"

"I think so. It took a lot of practice, but now I know my deck in and out!"

"Can we see it today? Pretty please?"

"I don't see why not."

But before they could keep going, a small dart stuck itself to Yuya's head.

"Huh?"

"Oh, is that mine? I'm terribly sorry!"

Just then, a blonde haired teen about Yuya's age came running up, plucking the dart off Yuya's face.

"I was practicing my darts skills, and well...guess they could use some work."

Yuya laughed.

"Its alright. I'm Yuya, and these are Zuzu, Ally, Tate, and Frederick. And you are..."

"Sylvio Sawatari, LDS."

"Sawatari? Isn't that the guy running for mayor in the next election?"

"The one and only. He's my father. Say, you're Yuya Sakaki, aren't you? The guy who beat The Sledgehammer with his new summoning method? I would love to duel you."

"I don't know. We should be getting to You Show."

"Yeah, dad really wants to test out the new ARC System machine."

"Oh, come now! Tell you what, just call him and let him know you'll be a little late. It'll be a quick duel, I promise."

"Well...alright."

Zuzu made the call and they all followed Sylvio to LDS. On the street corner, a youth licking a lollipop watched them leave.

"Something's fishy here, and I don't like it."

Making sure he wouldn't be seen, he started after them, keeping in the shadows as he made his way.

A few minutes later, they reached LDS. Sylvio gave them a tour, showing off the vast amount of technology the school had.

"And this is our main dueling arena, equipped with the latest ARC System naturally. Here's where we have all of our exams and tournaments."

"Woah."

"Say Yuya, could I see your Magicians? You know, the ones you used to beat The Sledgehammer with?"

"Sure. Here you-"

Before Yuya could react, Sylvio yanked them out of his hand.

"Ah ha! You fool, you fell for it, and now your Pendulum Monsters are mine!"

"Hey, give them back!"

"I might...if you duel me for them. Winner takes all. And to make sure you don't try any funny business..."

With a snap of his fingers, three other students emerged behind Ally and Zuzu and grabbed them, preventing them from escaping. Realizing Yuya didn't have much of a choice, he readied his Duel Disk.

"Fine, have it your way."

"Excellent. I activate the field spell Prison Tower of Darkville!"

In an instant, the gymnasium was replaced by a large city, with a large clock tower in the middle.

"Duelists locked in battle!"

"Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters, they storm through this field!"

"Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of dueling! Action..."

DUEL!

Sylvio: 4000

Yuya: 4000

"Since I'm the superior duelist, I'll start us off. To begin, I summon Lightning Hoverboard (1400/1200) in attack mode! Let's see how you well you duel without your Pendulum cards!"

With that, Sylvio took off on his monster, leaving Yuya to take his turn. Yuya smiled to himself. If Sylvio thought those were the only Pendulum monsters he had, he was in for a serious awakening.

"Get ready Sylvio, because with the Scale 2 Performapal Drummerilla and the Scale 4 Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon, I set the Pendulum Scale!"

"What? You have more Pendulum cards than just those two?"

"A good performer never relies on the same old tricks. With the current scale, I can summon level 3 monsters all at the same time, so come on out Timebreaker Magician (1400/0) in attack mode!"

Sylvio's shock was quickly overcome when he saw Yuya's monster, upon which he burst out laughing.

"And here I thought I had something to worry about! All that fuss and you can't even summon something strong enough to destroy my Hoverboard. You're a joke!"

"Don't judge a book by its cover, Sylvio. If I Pendulum Summoned Timebreaker from my hand and no other monsters, his attack points double!

"What (1400-2800)?!"

"Timebreaker Magician, attack his Hoverboard! Drummerilla's effect now activates, giving Timebreaker an extra 600 attack points (2800-3400)!"

Panicking, Sylvio began searching for an action card. Eventually, he found on hidden in the wall of a building. Leaping off his mount, he grabbed it, slamming it into his duel disk like his life depended on it.

"I activate the action card, Break Shot! Now my Lightning Hoverboard loses 900 attack points...Wait, WHAT?"

"Sorry Sylvio, them's the breaks. Sometimes the action cards will save you, but other times they can hurt you, and you just got unlucky (1400-900). "

Sylvio could only watch in horror as Yuya's magician sliced his hoverboard in half, nearly sending him flying from he blowback.

Sylvio: 1100

"I'll set one card face down and end my turn. And since it's the end phase, I can destroy Odd Eyes in order to add a Pendulum Monster to my hand with 1500 or less attack, and I choose Performapal Extra Slinger! Its your move, Sylvio."

"Grr, you'll pay for that, Sakaki! I activate the Spellbook Inside the Pot, letting us each draw 3 cards.!"

Perfect! Yuya won't know what hit him.

"Are you ready for this, Yuya? Because with the Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and the Scale 8 Timegazer Magician, I set the Pendulum Scale!

Yuya clenched his teeth, seething as Sylvio used his own monsters for his own gain.

"Now I can summon Monsters between the levels of 2 and 7 at the same time! Come on out, Power Dart Striker (1800/700), Rocket Dart Striker (1900/100), and Ultimate Dart Striker (2400/300), all in attack mode! Next, I activate the spell card Enemy Controller, switching your Timebreaker into defense mode. Now for my monsters' effects. By tributing Power Dart Striker, Ulimate Dart Striker gains 600 attack points (2400-3000). Next, by tribuing Rocket Dart Striker, Ultimate Dart Striker can inflict piercing damage. Lastly, I activate the spell card Limiter Removal, doubling the attack of all my Machine Type Monsters (3000-6000) Finish him off, Dart Striker!"

The blue dart shooting machine unloaded a full round into Yuya's monster, destroying it and covering Yuya's field in a cloud of dust.

"Yuya!"

"Maybe next time you'll learn to stay in your place!"

"Celebrating so soon? But the fun is just getting started."

"Much to Sylvio's annoyance, and Zuzu and Ally's relief, Yuya was still standing.

Yuya: 2000

"What? But how-"

"I activated my trap card Nutrient Z. When I'm about to take 2000 or more points of battle damage, this card gives me 4000 life points before damage calculation."

Sylvio growled in fury.

"I set one card face down and end my turn. Thanks to my Ultimate Dart Striker's effect, all of my Dart monsters I tributed this turn return to the field."

"Don't forget, he's also destroyed because of Limiter Removal."

Sylvio groaned as his strongest monster exploded into scrap metal.

"Whatever, just take your last turn. Nothing can help you win now!"

"Are you sure? I activate the spell card Harmonic Oscillation! Since you have 2 cards in your Pendulum Zone, I can Pendulum Summon using their scales as if they were my own! The catch is that I can only summon monsters face up in my Extra Deck this way."

"What? But you don't have any monsters in your Extra Deck!"

"Actually, I do. See, when a Pendulum Monster would go from the field to the graveyard, they instead get placed face up in the extra deck, so come on out Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Attack his Power Dart Striker and end this duel with Spiral Flame Strike!"

"Not so fast, Yuya! I activate the trap card, Gift of the Mystical Elf! Now I gain 300 life points for each monster on the field (1100-2000), so this duel isn't over yet!"

"Actually Sylvio, it is. When Odd Eyes battles a monster, he inflicts double battle damage!"

"What?!"

Sylvio could only gape in horror as Yuya's dragon destroyed his monster with ease, with the blowback sending him flying into the boundaries of the field.

Sylvio: 0000

Yuya wins!

Sylvio groaned as he picked himself up, fury in his eyes.

"Alright, a deals a deal. Hand them over!"

"Finders keepers, loser. Boys, grab him!"

But to his horror, he found his lackeys on the floor in pain, the kid from earlier looming over them, having knocked them unconscious with his giant lollipop.

"Sorry, I'm afraid they took a little trip to dream land. Now, are you going to hand his cards back over, or do I have to teach you a lesson too?"

Sylvio sighed and handed over the cards.

"Fine, take them! But this isn't over yet!"

With that, Yuya and his friends took their leave, the new kid following them.

"Thanks for the save there. I'm Yuya."

"I'm Zuzu, and this is my sister Ally."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Sora, I just moved here. I wanted to join the Leo Institute, but after seeing what a sore loser that guy is, its not worth my time."

"If you want, we can take you to our school. Its not too far from here."

"Sounds good!"

"Then what are we waiting for? Lets go!"

With that, Sora and Ally took off running, leaving Yuya and Zuzu behind. Shaking their heads in annoyance, Yuya and Zuzu hurried to catch up, happy to have a new friend.

In a survailance room deep underground, a teenaged boy sat in front of the monitor reviewing the footage of their duel, analyzing every play. Just then, his assistant entered the room.

"I take it you have news for me, Claude?"

"Yes, Mister President. We just recieved word from Industrial Illusions, Mr. Pegasus would like to schedule a meeting to discuss certain matters."

"I see. Set up a meeting for 2 weeks from now. Right now I have other matters to attend to."

"Yes, Mister President."

With that, Claude took his leave, leaving the president to his thoughts.

"Just what are you, Yuya Sakaki?"