I had to make an emergency edit to this chapter. Nothing big, but some of you might get notified of an update. My bad. This couldn't really wait though.
What is GOOD my dudes? I just can't stop writing for this fic, so here's another chapter. Ain't I just the greatest?
So, one thing I should have mentioned in the first chapter is that the M rating in my stories isn't just for show. Shit gets smutty around these parts, in fact, shit gets real smutty, and I don't put warnings before those scenes since the M rating alone is the only warning you dorks deserve. I play no games, except card games, so don't get it twisted, shit's about to get steamy. This is a fic where the MC is a reincarnate with Gamer powers, you should all know the drill by now. the plot will have a whole lotta "Plot" in it.
I also changed the Will stat to Chaos, since that's an actual power in the Yugioh anime, look it up. I'll go back and change it in the previous chapters later. What will it do in the story? None of your business. Yet...
The Inferno of Love!
"Nah, see, you're pretty much asking for dead draws by adding more than one Machine King to your deck as it is." I told the Slifer student I was partnered with for Basic Duel Training.
"You don't have many ways to special summon monsters from your hand, and you don't run Cost Down from what I can see. You also run like, 7 high level monsters, so there's a good chance your starting hand will be full of monsters you can't summon." Yes, 7 level 5 or higher monsters with no way to summon them beyond tributing.
"So, what should I do?" The Slifer student, Reiji Hazama asked. He, like most other Slifers, was the top dog back home, and was completely shocked when he was sorted into the red dorm. It was a wake-up call for the teen, who hardly put any thought into deck building before coming to duel academy by his own admission.
Reiji hoped to improve his dueling skills and general knowledge of the game enough to make it into Ra Yellow once the promotion exams come around.
"Eh, I'd suggest taking two or three of those monsters out of your deck and replacing them with a few beefy lower level monsters, like Mechanicalchaser, or maybe add a few more cards that let you shut your opponent down?" I suggested. In the end, it was up to him whether he took my advice or not.
"I think I have one of those lying around, but it's not an EARTH monster, so how am I supposed to make it fit in my deck?" Reiji asked, as if the solution wasn't obvious.
Just as I was about to answer, the bell rang, and I packed my notes up. The class might not be all that useful for someone like me, but I still needed to memorize the material for tests and such.
"Your deck is entirely made up of Machine monsters, maybe ditch the EARTH support cards for Machine support? There's plenty to choose from." I advised Reiji as I departed, barely paying any attention to Crowler's reminder to prepare for the promotional exams that were coming up next month.
"Guess who?" Jasmine whispered from behind me after covering my eyes.
It's been one week since our duel, and after trying to figure out what caused the abrupt change in attitude, I ended up asking my duel spirits if they had any idea what was up with her.
Turns out, they did.
Jack's Knight was the one who broke it to me. Apparently, duelists that can see and bond with duel spirits have a sort of presence that other duelists subconsciously recognize, even if they can't see spirits themselves.
When those lesser duelists accept those that can see duel spirits as superior to them, then they become much more agreeable towards that person, where they may have otherwise been abrasive, or combative.
It's some sort of survival instinct ingrained into those that play shadow games, even in the shadow games diluted form; Duel Monsters. Even if no one wants to acknowledge the power and mysticism in the game, everyone knows deep down that Duel Monsters is more than just a card game.
So, the weak attach themselves to the strong. Duelists that can communicate and bond with powerful spirits? They definitely fall into the strong category. Everyone else is weak in comparison.
I proved that I was better than Jasmine, so she pretty much gave herself to me. It's kind of fucked up, but 'When in Rome', I guess.
Now, that isn't to say that I can beat anyone in a duel and they'd cuck down to me. If the duelist in question is particularly strong willed, or has bonded with a duel spirit without even realizing it, then they'd be more resistant to obeying that instinct. The same goes for powerful duelists that can't see, or have bonded with duel spirits.
But a duelist like Jasmine, who already accepted that she wasn't the best long before I met her? Or Mindy, who's true passion is card design?
They'll bark for me if they think it'll make me happy. I feel kind of guilty about that, but so long as I don't take advantage of the power I have over them, then it'll be all good.
It's not like I knew this was gonna happen, or asked for it. Jasmine challenged me after all, and Mindy pretty much folded the moment we met. Hell, I could have had them both in my bed every night this past week, but I didn't! No matter how much I may have wanted to, or how often my duel spirits urged me to 'Take what was mine'...
...I'll at least wait another week or two before I do anything like that. It's not mind control after all, it's a completely normal thing in this universe. This fucked up mirror of one of my favorite shows as a kid.
Back to Jasmine, I decided to play dumb for now. "Hmm, I dunno? Is it Mindy? Hey Mindy, don't tell Jasmine I said this, but she was looking real good in class. Her hair was practically shining today, did she start using a different conditioner or something?"
"Aww~! You noticed." Jasmine cooed, removing her hands from my eyes and embracing me in a hug. She's grown just as affectionate as Mindy this past week.
Speaking of Mindy, the bubbly girl was waving us down as she walked over, Alexis in tow. With all three of us here, we started walking to the gym for P.E.
"So, are you feeling good about your chances in the promotion exams?" Mindy asked. Obelisk students don't usually have to try very hard in their promotion exams, since they're already in the top dorm.
The only risk would be if a student put on a particularly poor showing both in the written and practical portions of the test. If they failed their written test, or heavily misplayed during the practical, then they'd get demoted for sure.
"Considering my dueling record? Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good." And ain't that the truth. Ever since I dueled Jasmine, no one's been able to deal a single point of damage against me, and I've been dueling at least twice a day.
The DP and DE I've been getting this past week alone outstripped anything I got from the local tournaments I went to. Seriously, I have enough DP to buy a used car with.
Hell, that was just with the straight DP I got from duels. Once you factor in what I've been making off of bets? I had enough to buy a nice sports car. I started betting insane amounts to make bank off of the bets in my opponents favor while I still could.
The day after I beat Jasmine, I made over 60k off of a single 10k bet.
I was able to upgrade to 4 stars with enough DE to spare for some more spirits, but I've been saving up for a card I want to create.
Starving Venom Fusion Dragon.
It's in the shop, and costs an exorbitant 400,000 DE, but considering just how powerful it is, both in card and spirit form, it makes sense. It's also hilariously easy to summon, with just two DARK monsters being the requirement.
Rainbow Dragon only costs 70,000 DE.
Rainbow Dragon, a card powerful enough to transport an entire school across dimensions if I'm remembering correctly, costs less than a fourth of what Starving Venom costs.
What can Starving Venom do? Can I even control something like that?
"I dunno, you've been playing risky lately. I'm pretty sure you just got done making that last deck you played, and it looked like a bunch of random cards you threw together for fun." Alexis critiqued, trying to keep my head out of the clouds.
Since I prevented the girl's dorm incident altogether, and beat Jasmine with barely any damage done to me, she started to focus on me instead of Jaden.
A big part of that is probably because I duel more than Jaden does. You can check Duel records out on the student app, and Jaden only has two complete duels on his record. One against Crowler, and another duel against Chazz's other goon, Taiyou Torimaki.
Jaden beat the dragon user in three turns, only taking 700 points of damage. impressive, but I beat Raizou in two, and didn't lose a single life point doing so. Alexis must have decided that her time was better spent scoping me out instead of Jaden.
Not like you're gonna see me complaining about having the undivided attention of a beauty like her.
The deck in question was a… I guess you can call it an asshole deck if you want. It was filled with cards that outright punished your opponent for the crime of playing Yugioh. Cards like Marshmallon, Fencing Fire Ferret, and Jinzo were all used to lockdown and damage the opposition with card effects while the deck's boss, Gandora, was used to blow up the field and attack for game after it was brought out.
I'll admit it, I was inspired by Bastion's DARK deck when I bought Gandora from the card shop.
"I'll have you know, there was a method to the madness. Besides, it worked, didn't it?" I retorted, wagging a finger at Alexis, who exasperatedly shook her head in response.
Teasing her was fun.
"Well, I can't argue with that logic. I'll just have to settle for being there when it blows up in your face." Alexis shot back.
"HAH!" I laughed, not expecting her claws to come out. "Well, so long as you're there to pick me up when I fall, I can deal with being wrong."
(Atsumi Onda)
Look at that Ra Reject. He thinks just because he won a few duels he can cozy up to the three hottest girls in their year. He can't even build a deck properly. Atsumi was there for the duel they were talking about, and Alexis had the right idea. He just slapped a bunch of cards together and got lucky against his opponent, another Yellow yokel.
There was no theme to his deck, no synergy. It made Atsumi sick, how can girls like them stand a guy like that? He'd been working on his FIRE attribute deck for over two years, scouring card shops and the internet for the cards he needed to make his deck stand out from the cookie cutter Warrior and Dragon decks every other guy played in prep school, but no one ever noticed HIM.
Well, that's not entirely true. He found other like-minded duelists in the Obelisk dorm, and together they formed the Six Attribute Deck Masters. But did anyone care? No, they were too busy watching hacks like Yuji Rengoku duel to see them.
The one thing that burned him up the most about the entire situation was the way Mindy looked at Rengoku, how she went out of her way to snuggle up against him, hanging off every word he said like she was in love with him or something!
Atsumi had been crushing on Mindy for years, ever since they first met in prep school, but not once did she act that way towards him. He may not have been the best duelist in their class, but even Manjoume couldn't take him down without a fight, and he's advanced far beyond how he was back then! Wasn't that worth something?
They just couldn't see what was in front of them. Rengoku was no good, Atsumi was willing to bet that he was just waiting for one of them to become vulnerable enough to take advantage of.
Jasmine had his number, but after he beat her in a duel, she was under his spell too. She was on the right track to revealing Rengoku as the sicko he really was, but she didn't follow through with her initial observation of him. It's only a matter of time before he sunk his claws into Alexis. Atsumi wasn't going to let that happen.
Today was the day he knocked Rengoku off of his high horse and exposed him in front of everyone. And if they just so happen to see him take down a Ra Reject in the process? Well, Atsumi wouldn't mind the extra attention. By the end of the day, everyone will bow down to the Six Attribute Deck Masters.
-The Greatest Showman-
"When Silent Swordsman is destroyed by battle or card effect, I can special summon one Silent Swordsman monster from my hand or deck, ignoring its summoning conditions! Come on out, Silent Swordsman LV 7!" The Blue skinned buster sword wielding warrior replaced its fallen brother on my side of the field in a ray of light.
The school day is over, and you know what that means. I'm currently at the duel arena inside of the main academy building, taking on a challenger that didn't take too kindly to me beating his friends.
My opponent, a 2nd year Obelisk with an impressive record named Yukihiro Hojo, or "Woody" as some liked to call him, used Mirror Force when I went in for the kill with Gilford The Lightning and Silent Swordsman, which led to me bringing out its LV 7 form.
"Next, I activate the quick-play spell card, Silent Sword Slash!" The image of a spell card bearing the image of Silent Swordsman appeared on the field.
"This card lets me increase the ATK and DEF of a Silent Swordsman monster I control by 1500! It also makes my monster immune to your card effects!" Light blue energy flowed from the card, and into Silent Swordsman, coalescing around his sword to empower him.
Silent Swordsman LV 7
4300 ATK / 2500 DEF
"Hold on!" Hojo yelled. "Silent Swordsman negates all spell cards and effects on the field!"
"Normally you'd be right, but Silent Sword Slash can't be negated!" I corrected him. "Seriously, did you really think a card that targets SIlent Swordsman monsters would have a weakness like that?" I mocked.
'"Now, Silent Swordsman, attack for game! Silent Sword Slash!" I commanded my monster. Silent Swordsman dashed towards Yukihiro, almost too fast for me to comprehend, even with my enhanced senses, and slashed so fast that he was already behind Yukihiro, sword extended out, before the life point counter caught up.
Yuji: 4000
Yukihiro: 0
+310 DE
+3174 DP
+19000 DP
Cool, now I can cash out at the card shop. I bet 10000 DP, since the odds were 2/1 in Yukihiro's favor, and that was only because he's the first second year I dueled. I've been trying to save up enough DP to completely ball out and buy a few booster boxes and expensive cards. Maybe I'll do it the day before the Promotion exams?
The reason I got 19000 back instead of the full 20k is because the bookies take 5% from the earnings of the winners.
"YOU!" The fuck?
The loud asshole in question was an Obelisk blue by the looks of it, some guy with green hair and he was literally snarling at me.
"Me," I answered, but that only made him angrier.
"Don't think I don't see what you're doing! You may have everyone else fooled, but I see right through your act!" The loud asshole accused.
"Oh no, you caught me." I said in a mocking deadpan.
"Don't think you can weasel your way out of this one with jokes, Rengoku! I'm going to expose you in front of everyone!" Loud Asshole declared, as if he wasn't speaking complete nonsense.
"Who even are you?" I asked him, which only seemed to make him angrier.
"My name is Atsumi Onda, FIRE attribute Deck master, and I'm here to duel you!" Ah, now that made more sense. He was upset that I kept making a joke out of his fellow Obelisks.
"Why didn't you just say so to begin with?" I asked him, still a bit confused.
"Yo, Disa! Put the 20k I just won on me and another 10k while you're at it! I have a good feeling about this one." I winked at the Slifer girl, who's been making bank acting as a bookie off of my duels.
"You got it, babe!" The spunky blonde Slifer (Soon to be Ra, if her rapid spending at the card shop and improvement in class was anything to go by) threw me a thumbs up, while her younger twin Masha, who was also in the Red dorm, kept track of the bets people were placing.
The odds were… Heavily in my favor, 1/4 to be exact.
"You're that confident, huh? Slacker! Put 8k on me, this Yellow Yokel's going down!" Atsumi ordered. Disa complied, but not before flipping him the bird. His confidence was enough for the odds to hit 1/2.5 in my favor, which meant my payday was going to be much bigger.
Once I took this clown down, I was gonna walk away with 42k in DP, although, after the 5% Disa and Masha take from the top, it was gonna be 39.9k instead. Still, the DP I make from the duel itself should cover that, and if it doesn't? Who cares? I'm still making more than I would otherwise, and the girls have to make a profit somehow.
It also doesn't hurt that they're a cute pair of twins that really like me thanks to how much money I've been making them.
Normally something like this would be illegal, but Duel Academy has its own laws, no doubt thanks to some strings Seto Kaiba pulled. Placing bets wasn't illegal, so long as they weren't ante duels.
Ante duels can get you expelled and booted off the island faster than you can say 'Rare Hunter'. Strangely enough, betting cards on duels you weren't a part of was A-okay as far as the academy was concerned.
'We're going all out from the start.' I told my spirits that inhabited the deck I grabbed out of my bag. Normally, I try to make things more interesting, to put on a show for the crowd and all that, but this dork got on my nerves something fierce.
Slotting the deck into my duel disk after switching some cards into it, I notice Atsumi across the arena, ready to go.
"You wanna shuffle my deck to make sure I'm not cheating?" I asked him. "You seem like the type to accuse someone of something like that after they beat you like a drum." I scathingly remarked, earning a few laughs.
"Tch! Sure, just to make sure you don't try to pull anything funny." He agreed. Duel disks have an auto-shuffle function built into them, but I wouldn't put it past an asshole like this guy to accuse me of tampering with it.
We both made our way across the field. Just as he was about to grab my deck, I stopped him by grabbing onto his wrist with my free hand.
Leaning in to whisper, I told him, "If you do anything to my deck, I'm going to beat the shit out of you." I threatened, leaning in closely to emphasize the height difference between us. Since I started bonding with duel spirits, I've grown a whole 2 inches, putting me way above most first year students at the academy, who were around 5'3". I also did it to unnerve him before the game started.
Psychological warfare and all that. Who said acting was only good for the stage? I just wish I didn't have to buy so many new clothes to compensate for my growing body.
"W-whatever!" He squeaked out, taking my deck and shuffling it. After he handed it back we both went to our sides of the field, ready to duel.
"I'll let you choose who goes first, since I'm cool like that." I negged him. I have no idea what this jack-rabbit was going on about, but it pissed me off to no end.
"You're going to regret that. I'll go first, DRAW!"
Yuji: 4000
Atsumi: 4000
"First up, I'm going to activate Pot of Greed." He drew his two cards, not even bothering to explain what the infamous card can do. "Now I activate the Molten Destruction field spell! Increasing the ATK of all fire monsters on the field by 500 points." He started, and I couldn't help what came out of my mouth.
"Oh, just like that proctor I OTK'd! Maybe I'll do the same to you?" I said, putting on my best smug asshole act.
If Atsumi wants to villainize me, then I'll play the role and make him regret stepping up to me.
Growling, Atsumi continued his move.
"I activate Cost Down! Discarding one card to lower the level of every monster in my hand by 2! Next, I summon Firewing Pegasus in attack mode!"
A grey pegasus with a flaming mane, wings and hooves materialized onto the field in a flash of fire, taking to the skies for a second before landing gracefully. Thanks to Cost Down, he was able to summon the level 6 monster without a tribute.
Firewing Pegasus
Level 6
FIRE, Beast
2750(+500) ATK / 1400 DEF
"That's not all! Now I activate Monster Reborn, and use it to special summon Mr. Volcano from the graveyard in attack mode!"
Mr. Volcano
Level 5
FIRE, Pyro
2600(+500) ATK / 900(-400) DEF
"If you thought that was all, then you're dead wrong! I activate Burden of The Mighty, which lowers the ATK points of every monster on your side of the field by their levelx100! Then I'll place one card face down and end my turn." Atsumi ended.
Huh, as far as GX goes, that play wasn't half bad. In fact, getting two high level monsters out with more than 2500 ATK was a great play.
"You see that? That's the power of the Six Attribute Deck Masters!" Atsumi boasted.
"The what?" I asked him, having never heard of them before now.
"The Six Attribute Deck Masters!" Atsumi repeated, frustrated. "We're duelists that made decks based off of the six elements in Duel Monsters! I'm the FIRE deck master, Atsumi!" He proudly stated like that was supposed to mean something to me.
"Uh… That's cool I guess...?" Judging from the looks on the faces of the crowd, they had no idea this group existed either.
"... Before I tear you apart, What did I ever do to you?" I asked him. There's no way the level of contempt he has for me is due to his friends getting molly-whopped by me. There has to be something else.
"You wanna know? Fine." Atsumi started, and the entire arena, which had been nearly filled at this point, leaned in to pay close attention to the next part.
"I hate how smug you are, strutting around like you own the place, when you're just a Ra Yellow. I hate the undeserved attention you get just for beating a proctor that wasn't even using their own deck! I also know that you don't deserve to hang around Alexis, Jasmine and Mindy, three OBELISK BLUE'S, by the way! And I know damn well that you plan to take advantage of them once they let their guard down!" Atsumi ranted.
What the hell is this guy going on about?
"Wow, there's a lot to unpack there." I began, ready to tear this child apart.
"First thing's first; You hate how smug I am? Really? Have you seen some of the other Obelisks in the academy? They're the picture definition of smug douchebags." I laughed.
"Seriously, you dorks think that going to some middle school makes you better than everyone else here. You want to know something funny?" I asked rhetorically.
"Out of the 19 duels I've been in since coming here, 13 of them have been against Obelisk Blue's and I haven't lost a match yet." I kept the pressure up, enjoying the pissed off looks some of the Obelisks in the crowd sent me, knowing I was talking about them.
"I'm not even going to DIGNIFY the 'undeserved attention' bit you glory whore! What? Did daddy not pat you on the back enough when you were a kid or something?"
"And now we get to the heart of the matter. You don't really care about any of that other stuff, you're just a simp that can't handle the fact that one of the girls you've been fantasizing about for years has spent more time with me in a week than she ever did with you in prep school!" I pushed, and I could hear the crowd losing their shit over my verbal takedown of the flaming clown before me.
"Whether I deserve to hang around them isn't even your call in the first place, dumbass! It's theirs!" I spelled out for him like he was a child.
"Oh, and that last bit about how I'm planning to take advantage of them? Tell me, do you have any proof of that, or did you just convince yourself of it because you needed a reason to hate me?" I asked, genuinely wanting to know if anyone's been talking shit.
Atsumi was barely holding it together at this point, looking like he's one word away from just rushing at me.
I normally wouldn't be so abrasive. I like to see people enjoy themselves after all, but this fucker got on my nerves.
"Now that we've gotten that over with, it's my move. DRAW!" And wasn't this an interesting hand?
"I activate Graceful Charity! Drawing three cards and then discarding two. Now I activate Twin Twisters! By discarding one card, I can destroy up to two spells or traps on the field! I choose Burden of The Mighty and your face down!" Two large twisters swallowed up his cards, leaving Atsumi defenseless.
"I activate Monster Reborn, and I'm using it to special summon Masked Knight LV3 from the Graveyard!" The tiny knight wearing silver and golden armor appeared from the grave.
Masked Knight LV3
Level 3
EARTH, Warrior
1500 ATK / 800 DEF
"What's a monster like that going to do? Bore me to sleep?" Atsumi mocked. Could this guy be a bigger Yugioh cliche?
"I activate my Masked Knights effect, I can deal 400 points of damage to you, but Masked Knight can't attack this turn!" Masked Knight bypassed his monsters, slashing at Atsumi with his little sword.
Yuji: 4000
Atsumi: 3600
"Is that it? Is that all your puny monster can do?" Atsumi challenged.
"Not even close! Next, I'm going to tribute Masked Knight LV3 to summon Masked Knight LV5 in attack mode!" Masked Knight LV 3 disappeared into bits of light and in his place was his evolved form, now the size of a person.
Masked Knight LV 5
Level 5
EARTH, Warrior
2300 ATK / 1300 DEF
"Masked Knight LV 5 lets me inflict 1000 points of damage to my opponent, so long as he doesn't attack this turn. You know what comes next, don't you?" I activated Masked Knights effect, burning Atsumi.
Yuji: 4000
Atsumi: 2600
"But wait, there's more! I activate Level Up! With it, I can tribute Masked Knight LV 5 to special summon Masked Knight LV 7 from my deck!" Masked Knight LV 5 grew into his evolved form, slashing his sword twice in the air, letting off gusts of air from the force of his swing alone.
Masked Knight LV 7 was taller than Masked Knight LV 5, standing at around 9 feet tall by my estimation.
Masked Knight LV 7
Level 7
EARTH, Warrior
2900 ATK / 1800 DEF
"Masked Knight LV 7's effect activates, letting me burn you for 1500 points of damage. Get him! Bypass Blade!" Masked Knight leaped over his monsters, landing sword first onto Atsumi, sending him reeling.
Yuji: 4000
Atsumi: 1100
"You think you can take me out with shitty card effects like that? Just end your turn already so I can crush you!" Atsumi raged, thinking Masked Knight LV 7's effect worked like his previous forms.
"Nah, I think I'll end it here. I activate Magnum Shield! It increases the ATK points of a Warrior monster by their DEF points when they're in attack mode!" Masked Knight took the shield, holding it with his left arm and letting it boost his ATK points by 1800 all the way up to 4700.
"What's the point? You can't even attack this turn anyway!" Atsumi said.
"Masked Knight LV 7 doesn't have to give up his attack to burn you Atsumi, it's over! Masked Knight LV 7, attack his Firewing Pegasus! Masked Chivalry!" Masked Knight entered a stance with his blade drawn and shield up, before pouncing on Firewing Pegasus, bashing it with his shield and stabbing it in the neck, winning the duel.
Yuji: 4000
Atsumi: 0
'NIce moves' I complimented Masked Knight, who nodded in response before fading away with the rest of the solid vision holograms.
+305 DE
+2460 DP
+39,900 DP
I am totally hitting the card shop tomorrow. Screw waiting for the exams, I've got money to blow.
"How was dueling me supposed to prove that I was just waiting for an opportunity to pounce on Jasmine, Mindy, and Alexis? Or did you just convince yourself that things would work out that way?" I asked Atsumi, not even expecting an answer at all, let alone a satisfying one.
"Whatever, just stay away from me, will ya? I don't want to catch whatever made you so stupid." And with that I left him to wallow in his misery.
"Smooth moves, dude! I didn't even know they made cards like that!" Jaden applauded as he walked over to me from the stands, Syrus, Bastion, Yumi, Hayato, which was Chumley's name here, and the Obelisk girls in tow.
"Eh, I try." I responded to his praise, before a smiling Mindy brought me into a hug.
"That guy was weird." She told me, and I could tell she was still smiling. She's cute like that.
"I didn't know you were into LV monsters. How did you find them?" Yumi asked. LV monsters were apparently pretty rare. I looked up the Armed Dragon series, and other than a name and some basic stats like Attribute, levels and type, there was a complete lack of information about them. There wasn't even an image.
"I won them off of some guy that kept challenging me. I won a few tournaments back home and things got hectic with all the challengers, so I imposed an ante rule to keep them off my back." I informed her.
"Mn..." Yumi nodded, satisfied. She's a quiet one when she isn't talking about anything directly related to dueling, but that's because she's just shy I've noticed.
"Mindy…" Atsumi whispered from behind me.
"What?" Mindy asked, clearly annoyed. She disengaged our hug to confront him, her arms crossed and a frown on her face.
"I was wondering if… Well, if you wanted to go out with me?" Atsumi asked her, clearly nervous.
"After the way you acted up there? Not in a million years." Mindy shut him down, and Atsumi almost looked broken for a second, before defaulting to anger.
"All these years and you never even gave me a chance!" Atsumi lamented, drawing confused looks from the Obelisk girls.
"Um, I've never even seen you talk to Mindy before." Jasmine butt in, Mindy following up after her.
"Yeah, I don't even know who you are! How am I supposed to give someone I've never met before today a chance? Get real! And you know what else? I don't have to give you a chance! I don't owe you anything!" Mindy berated Atsumi, and you could practically see him shatter on the inside.
It was kind of funny actually. What? Was I supposed to feel pity for the jackoff that talked down to me for the entire match and accused me of some heinous shit? As if.
"And you had the nerve to accuse my friend of wanting to take advantage of us! You don't even know Yuji! He wouldn't go around making false accusations against people just because he was a jealous, insecure, loser!" Mindy yelled. Wow, that's the harshest I've ever seen her act.
"So goodbye, and good riddance!" Mindy left Atsumi with that before looping her arm around mine and practically dragging me off.
"Should we follow them?" I heard Bastion ask, before Alexis told him no.
Wait, why aren't they following? Taking a look at Mindy, I see the reason why.
She's damn near about to start crying. I guess being that harsh on someone, even if they deserve it, took a toll on her.
"Hey." I said, getting her attention. "You want me to carry you?" I asked, and Mindy just nodded.
Placing one hand onto her back and one under her knees, I picked her up into a bridal carry.
"Where do you wanna go?" I asked her.
"Can we go to your room?" Mindy asked quietly, her voice muffled by my jacket.
"Sure." I agreed.
-The Greatest Showman-
In the end, Mindy and I watched Shrek 2 with a banana split between us. Mindy's father was born and raised in America, so she too was raised on American media alongside Japanese.
All was well for a while, until about halfway through the movie when Mindy decided to sit on my lap and feed me ice cream. It was… Stimulating.
"You know, someone might get the wrong idea if they saw us like this." I told Mindy as she fed me another spoonful.
"Oh really? And what makes you think their idea would be wrong?" Mindy asked breathlessly, setting the bowl aside and moving her already close face even closer.
"Well, unless we're about to do what I think we're about to do…" I trailed off, suddenly aware of Mindy, who was slowly moving her lips closer to mine.
Mindy stopped right as our lips barely began to touch, before closing the distance and placing a chaste kiss on them. Placing my hands on her hips, I brought her in even closer and deepened the kiss, our bodies pressing together as we kissed.
I know I told myself that I'd wait at least another week before pursuing anything with Mindy and Jasmine, but I'm not the one that initiated this. I can do this guilt free.
Soon, what was once a kiss became a full make-out session. We were swapping spit and pawing at each other like there was no tomorrow. Mindy had her arms wrapped around my neck and her hands were gently pulling at my hair.
Even though I knew she'd let me do whatever I wanted to her, thanks to the duelist survival instinct, I didn't want to do more than she was comfortable with. Even still, I pushed my luck and flipped her criminally short-skirt up, reaching underneath her white panties to cup her ass.
The moan Mindy gave was all the evidence I needed to continue, so I started to knead her ass like dough, giving it a few slaps every now and then.
A few minutes in and I was about to go further, but someone knocking on my door stopped me in my tracks, Mindy too, if the way her hands were inching towards the bottom of my shirt were any indication.
"Shit!" I whispered, fixing my disheveled appearance and walking to the door. After checking to make sure Mindy did the same, I opened it, revealing Jasmine and Alexis on the other side.
"We came to pick Mindy up, you know, since it's getting dark out and all." Alexis said.
"It is?" I asked, taken aback. I normally keep my windows covered up with a curtain, so I didn't even notice.
"Yep!" Jasmine confirmed, an exasperated smile on her face.
"Well, I guess that's my cue." Mindy announced, ready to go. "Thanks, Yuji. See you tomorrow?" She asked, the look in her eye telling me that we'd be 'seeing' each other all right.
"For sure." I confirmed with a nod.
"See ya, Yuji!" Jasmine waved as they left, Alexis doing the same.
"Later." I waved back at them before shutting the door.
'My lord.' Jack's Knight bowed as he and the two other original Poker Knights came into existence.
'How goes the search for Joker?' I asked them, taking a seat on my computer chair.
'Joker remains… Elusive. Knowing him, he'll jump at the opportunity to become your duel spirit, but finding him is the hard part.' Queen's Knight informed me.
Well isn't that just perfect.
'Are you three sure this guy's worth it?' I asked them, and not for the first time.
'Joker is more powerful than even Jack's, and should he choose to become a card, which, knowing him is almost a certainty, our effectiveness on the battlefield will increase exponentially.' King's Knight said.
'If you say so. Don't stress yourselves out looking for him though, all right?' I ordered them.
The three knights nodded and faded away after bowing one last time. They're dutiful, and had plenty of experience in a fight, both literal and as Duel Spirits, so they were the first three I bonded with.
It took up most of the BP I have, but it was worth it. My body is much stronger than it was before, the three decently powerful monsters giving me superhuman levels of strength and I can use most medieval weaponry like a master, even though I've never so much as held a shield before.
My mental capabilities have increased as well, thanks to the bond with my monsters. I've never been the studious type, but I was able to bang all of my homework out before the school day even ended.
Life's good when you can see card ghosts.
-The Greatest Showman-
I told myself I was hitting the card shop first thing in the morning, and I'm a man that keeps to his word, even if that word is to himself. I left the Ra Yellow dorm at 7 A.M, 2 hours before classes were set to start, but even if I was a bit late, Crowler likes me enough to let it slide, especially if I tell him that I went to the card shop to improve my decks.
Crowler's a sucker for students that go the extra mile to improve themselves, and the tips I gave to the other students in my period have actually been bearing fruit, so he's already singled me out as his favorite non-Obelisk student.
His favorite was Alexis by far, which I couldn't even blame him for. That girl is every teacher's dream. She's studious, actively participates in class, and has enough clout to keep the dickheads in line, which she often does.
Crowler is a lot different here than he was in the show, which makes sense. An educator in one of the best learning facilities in the world really can't afford to be as petty as Crowler was in GX. Especially a facility owned by Seto Kaiba, who gives no fucks and is always a phone call away.
He's still the same person, don't get me wrong, he absolutely despises slackers and gets especially annoyed with Jaden, but his attitude isn't reserved for Slifer Red's here. Hell, I've even seen him read an Obelisk Blue the riot act in class for not paying attention.
Arriving at the card shop after a 10 minute walk, I found myself reflecting on my weaknesses, chief among them was that I was a fish out of water in a sense.
I was a Synchro player back home, and more often than not, I'd get an entire board full of Synchro's out on the field to turn into a boss monster like Quasar, or Blazar and attack for game. Not that summoning Quasar in one turn was particularly impressive back home, but still, that's where I was most comfortable. Flooding the field with extra deck monsters was my preferred play-style and I couldn't really do that here.
I mean, I could build a Fusion Toolbox deck, but I don't have enough good Fusion monsters to warrant it, which is why I'm at the card shop.
See, card packs work a bit differently in this world. Sure, they have sets with a bunch of diverse cards and archetypes, but they also have sets with a specific focus in mind.
Sets with nothing but basic Monsters, Spells, and Traps are a thing for duelists looking to pad out their decks with some staples. More importantly, there's a Fusion booster set called Fusion Force, filled with a bunch of Fusion monsters, their material and general Fusion support.
Now, I'm not about to go all in on a single set, but I might as well get the foundations of a Fusion deck started.
"Yuji dear, back again are you?" Ms. Tome, the nice lady who runs the card shop called out after noticing me. I've become a regular here these past few weeks.
"You know it, Ms. Tome. I was wondering, do you have any boxes of Fusion Force lying around?" I asked her, to which she just put her hand on her chin and put on her 'thinking pose' as I've taken to calling it.
"You know, I just might have an entire case lying around if you're interested." Tome told me, no doubt playing on my spending habits.
"Eh, sure, why not?" Just because I knew what she was doing didn't make it any less effective.
"Wonderful!" Tome smiled. "Sadie dear! Would you bring out the case of Fusion Force if we still have it, please?" She called out into the back room, receiving an affirmative just moments later.
Only 10 seconds passed before Sadie came out, holding a cardboard box in both hands and placing it down on the counter.
"Right, so that'll be 7596 DP after tax! Would you like anything else while you're here?" Sadie hit me with her most effective sales tactic; looking cute, as she rang me up while Ms. Tome went back to organizing the shelves.
"Yeah, can I see the card catalogue?"
"Sure thing, hon!" The older girl nodded, turning around and walking over to the other side of the counter and bending over to get the catalogue from the row of the shelf it was on. I spent a good couple of seconds admiring her backside before snapping myself out of it.
Unfortunately for me, the smile on her face as she turned back around told me that she knew damn well where my wandering eyes had traveled to.
"Here you go, Yuji." Sadie handed the card catalogue over, a dangerous look in her eyes as she gave me time to look it over.
Shit, I need to get my head on straight before I do this.
Alright, so that playset of Thunder Dragons are mine, for 500 DP a piece, and Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon while I was at it, for 1250. there's no way I'm letting them slip by. As far as I know, no one's pulled any Thunder Dragon cards from Fusion Force, so they might not even be in there.
I found that weird considering there's one card in that set that I know people have pulled before, that really has no business being in it mind you, but whatever.
Next up, I got the only Wattaildragon they had for a gargantuan 2000 DP. A level 6 monster with 2500 ATK points was always going to cost big bucks, but when that monster is also a Dragon? Yeah, it was going to sell for 200 USD in a world where cards like Firewing Pegasus were considered powerful.
Noticing a Barrel Dragon and a Blowback Dragon that were on sale for only 2500 DP if you bought them together, which I did.
I bought two copies of The Tricky, for 1000 DP each. They summoned themselves and were used by Yugi Muto, so the price wasn't outrageous all things considered.
There was a Blue Flame Swordsman that I bought for 2500 DP, which made me wince, but it was worth it considering it had its anime effect that let you reduce its ATK points by any amount to buff another monster on the field and let you special summon a Flame Swordsman from the Fusion deck when it was sent to the Graveyard.
It's good that I now have a way to bring Flame Swordsman out without Fusion summoning it, or paying 3000 Life Points to send it to the Graveyard with gale Dogra or something.
Remember that card that had no business being in Fusion Force? Guess what it is. Just guess.
Still have no idea? That's okay, I honestly forgot it even existed until I found out it was in that set.
Dark Flare Knight, a fusion of Dark Magician and Flame Swordsman that special summons Mirage Knight when it's destroyed by battle.
Dark Magician and Mirage Knight aren't even in that set and yet Dark Flare Knight was. I was hoping to find a Mirage Knight in the card catalogue when I came in here, but it looks like I wasn't going to have any luck on that front.
I didn't even look for a Dark Magician, knowing damn well that those things are almost as rare as a Blue-Eyes these days. To my knowledge, there's only 9 of each artwork in the world, and there are only 4 different artworks. The original purple Dark Magician, the Red Dark Magician, the Blonde Dark Magician, and the Blue-skinned Dark Magician with the white hair.
I looked it up and they usually went for 1,000,000 Yen a piece whenever someone was selling one, and the original Purple one that Yugi uses? Triple that.
Funnily enough, I once heard online that Seto Kaiba uses original Dark Magicians as coasters. I normally don't believe everything I hear on the internet, but knowing the shit Kaiba's done out of spite (Namely stealing his fathers entire company from him), I was inclined to believe it.
Ideally, I'd go for the Red Dark Magician, since that one was always my favorite, but I'll take what I can get.
"Anything in particular you're looking for, hon?" Sadie asked, noticing my dashed hopes.
"I was hoping to find a Mirage Knight, but it looks like you guys don't have it. I'll just have to order one online I guess, no biggie." I told her, and the way her face lit up at the mention of Mirage Knight gave me a bit of hope.
"We actually do have one of those in the back." Sadie let me know, shocking me. "No one ever bought it, since Dark Magician's are so rare, so we took it out of the catalogue to save space. I'd be willing to sell it to you for 1000 DP if you're interested." Sadie offered. That was an incredible deal, and I took it immediately.
"Can I also get two cases of Dragon's Flight?" I asked the older girl. There were rumors that a new Red-Eyes Black Dragon artwork was in that set, and I wanted it bad.
"Of course! You're lucky you came when you did. That set's been selling better than our Sandwich draws." Sadie joked, getting a laugh out of me.
Sandwich day is always a riot with damn near everyone on the island trying to pull the Golden Eggwich. Personally, I didn't get the hype, but to each their own.
"Right, so that'll be 38,400 DP." Sadie rang me up. Almost all of my earnings from yesterday, gone in an instant.
"Here's your receipt!" She handed it over. "Have a nice day, Yuji!" Sadie waved me off after handing me my purchases.
Three whole cases of Duel Monsters booster boxes might have been awkward to carry for some, especially when you have over 10 cards in hard plastic cases in a bag to carry, but for someone enhanced by spirit bonds? It was nothing.
I got back to my dorm room almost as fast as I got to the card shop and still had over an hour left before classes started.
Taking a look at the receipt to make sure everything was there, I noticed a note with an attached phone number scribbled on the other side in black Sharpie.
Call me - Sadie.
Oh, damn...
Stat Corner
Yuji Rengoku
DE – 310(+40 per day)
DP – 167333
BP – 15/20 (1000 DE to upgrade)
Stars – 5(8000 DE to upgrade)
Mind – 15
Body – 15
Chaos – 15
K, that was Chapter 3. I hope you all didn't mind the whole "Survival of the fittest duelist instinct" thing too much. If you did, then I'm sorry to say, but I'm not changing it. This is a harem fic and magic bullshit is more realistic than a healthy relationship where a bunch of women choose to share a dude.
I hope Atsumi wasn't too over the top, or cliché. Characters in Yugioh are over the top by nature, so I think he fits in pretty well all things considered. Remember the Tennis guy?
The small scene with Yuji and Mindy near the end was pretty tame by my standards, but I want to take things slowly in this fic, so there you go.
I also teased Joker's Knight from the King's Court set coming in June. That set is what gave me the inspiration to start writing this fic, you know? I'll include him and the other Poker Knight support once the set comes out and I know what they do. Arcana Triumph Joker is looking like it's gonna be one hell of a boss monster.
I noticed that I haven't given Alexis a lot of time to shine, and I'll be rectifying that soon enough, don't worry.