It is I, your lord and master, Creamulon, back at it again with another chapter of The Greatest Showman. It's been like 6 months, but who's counting anyway? I've been busy living a life outside of the internet. You guys should try it sometime. As it turns out, media consumption isn't the only hobby in the world.
I know at least one of you needed that last statement shoved in your face.
Misbehavin On Da Weekend
It was Friday once again, which meant I'd be dueling on stream in half an hour, but at the moment, I was chilling out with the crew in the schoolyard.
"Yeah, I give up." Jasmine sighed. "I have no idea what I'm looking at."
"It's a cute little stuffed kitty!" Mindy pointed out, tapping the page she drew the 'stuffed kitty' in question. It wasn't like the drawing was bad or anything. In fact, it was really good. If someone told me that it was official card art, I wouldn't think twice.
"Right…" Jasmine said skeptically.
"You mind explaining why it's all cut up with scissors coming out of it?" Jasmine asked, used to rolling with Mindy's eccentricities.
"The scissors are like, their own thing, you know?" Mindy explained, like any part of what she just said made sense.
Luckily for her, Jasmine's gotten used to speaking 'Mindy babble'. I'm still not on her level of mastery yet, but I don't need to be in this case, since I already know what the drawing's supposed to be.
Alexis was off helping Ms. Fontaine compile a list of the emergency supplies the academy had stored away, so it was just the three of us today.
"So it's supposed to be a Fusion monster then?" Jasmine asked.
"Yep!" Mindy nodded with a beaming smile.
"Alright, I'll bite. What does it do?" Jasmine sighed.
"I dunno." Mindy shrugged. "But it'll be something super cool I think. Maybe an attack boost?"
"Attack boosts are always nice." I chimed in.
"I'm sure you'd think so, Mr. Speed Warrior." Jasmine chuckled, referencing the now legendary 5800 ATK Speed Warrior I unleashed on Alexis.
On that day, they all learned to fear the Speed Lord, lest they become yet another victim of his velocity...
"You say that like it's a bad thing." I chuckled.
"Hey," Mindy turned to me. "Don't you have a duel to get ready for?"
"Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that!" Jasmine exclaimed.
"Eh, we're not far from the dueling field." I shrugged.
Showing up on time will probably be the hardest part of the duel anyway.
"Do you even know who you're going up against today?" Jasmine asked, arms crossed.
"Nah. Why? Is there something I should know about them?" I asked. If I was going up against someone like Zane, as unlikely as that was, I'd want to know.
"Ooh!" Mindy cheered, bouncing up and down like a kid on a sugar rush. "Can I rain on his parade?!" She asked Jasmine, who just nodded.
"Okay! So, His name is Koichi and I honestly have no clue how he managed to win the top spot in that challenger thing. He's actually a pretty solid Duelist, but nothing special. Not someone to underestimate, but still manageable if you're above a certain skill level, ya know?" A slightly above-average Joe then.
"We went to prep school with him, but he flew under the radar for the most part. The only notable thing about him was that he liked this one card he liked so much that he ended up building his entire deck around it. It was pretty rare, but not insanely strong." Jasmine interjected.
A rare card? That'll be fun to see at least.
Pulling my bag up from beside me and unzipping it, I fished around inside, pulling out my deck case after a few seconds of searching.
Each of the decks I had on hand today should be more than up to the task of taking down some regular ass Obelisk Blue, so it doesn't matter which one I settle on.
Eh, screw it.
"Pick my deck for me?" I asked Jasmine and Mindy, holding my deck case out to them.
(Later)
Today would mark my last time dueling as a Ra Yellow, and I was gonna make it count.
Last week, the twins introduced something they called the 'Challenger's Tournament', which was a way to decide who'd face me at the end of the week.
At the start of every week, eight potential challengers would be chosen, and every day, from Monday to Thursday, two of them would duel each other. The winners of each duel would then duel each other on Friday, tournament style, with brackets and everything, with the winner getting a shot at me at the end of the next week, while the next set of challengers would spend that week dueling each other.
It pretty much meant that Friday would be dedicated to my duels from now on, which may have been what the twins had in mind from the get go.
Today would be the first day I dueled against one of these challengers, and the hype was real.
Masha was the one to come up with it, and told me that it was a good way to establish duelist's other than myself in the 'league' they had accidentally created.
She even told me that at their current rate of growth, they'd be making enough money to actually pay the other duelists in a few months, and intended to create subdivisions within the 'league' itself.
They'd taken to calling it the "Duelist Alliance League", which was the name of a booster set back home if I wasn't mistaken.
Funny how that works out.
Walking into the arena, I was greeted by the same sights I had become accustomed to since I started dueling on stream.
A decent crowd, a betting stand run by Masha, the camera crew, and my opponent, standing on the dueling field.
He was as average as a guy can get. Slightly messy brown hair and eyes, not too tall, and fair skin. His face was the kind that was hard to remember even if you saw it every day and his demeanor was unassuming.
"Yo, I'm Koichi!" He greeted me with a wave.
"Yuji." I greeted in return. "But you probably already knew that."
"Yeah, kinda hard not to when you're the end goal of every duelist in the league."
"Alright everyone, it's been a long week, so let's go out with a bang!" Disa cheered, pumping everyone up with her usual shenanigans.
"On the left is our challenger, Koichi Kobayashi! Last week he won our first Challenger's Tournament, but does that mean he has what it takes to take down our reigning champion?"
"And on the right is our champion. He changes decks like they're clothes and he still hasn't lost a single duel since the school year started. He's our very own OTK-King, Yuji Rengoku!"
Disa really knows how to make a guy feel special.
"Now let's get on with it already! Begin!" Disa handed things off to us.
Koichi won the coin toss and chose to go first.
"Draw! I'll start things off with Great Angus, in ATK mode!" Koichi announced.
Great Angus
LVL 4
1800 ATK / 600 DEF
"I'll set a card and end my turn. Your move." Koichi passed it over.
Silently drawing my card, I get a good look at what Jasmine and Mindy picked for the first time. They insisted that I don't look at the deck they chose for some reason.
"I activate the effect of Thunder Dragon! By discarding it from my hand, I can add up to two Thunder Dragons from my deck to my hand." I pitched Thunder Dragon #1 and got its brothers in return.
Thunder Dragon #1's sacrifice would never be forgotten.
"Now I'll activate the effect of King of The Swamp!" King of The Swamp's card appeared on the field, before turning into Polymerization.
"Just like Thunder Dragon, I can discard my Swamp King to add a card from my deck to my hand, except this time, it's Polymerization!"
"Now, I'll activate it! I'm fusing my two Thunder Dragons together to Fusion Summon the big bad Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon!" I hammed it up for the crowd.
The two green dragons were mashed together and turned into a malformed, orange, horned lizard with an extra mouth on its back.
Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon
LVL 7
2800 ATK / 2100 DEF
"Whoa!" Koichi gazed at Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon in wonder.
"Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, attack Great Angus! Storm Breath!" Golden lightning erupted from Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon's first mouth, while purple lightning spewed forth from its second mouth.
Great Angus never stood a chance, but before it was shocked out of existence, Koichi made his move.
"I activate Skill Successor! This card raises one monster's ATK by 400. I choose Great Angus!" Great Angus was enveloped by a red aura, but the sudden buff wasn't enough to save it from its impending demise.
With a cry of agony, the empowered beast was enveloped by the storm, destroying it.
Yuji: 4000
Koichi: 3400
"First blood!" Disa pumped her fist. She's been trying to engage the chat more, and catchy phrases like that were a good way to do it.
"I'll set one card and call it a turn." I ended. Skill Successor was almost definitely going to bite me in the ass at some point.
"Right." From the wicked smile on his face, I could tell that he drew something good.
"I activate Pot of greed!" Koichi started his turn off with a well known classic, drawing two cards.
"Now I activate Ancient Rules!" Koichi triumphantly activated the Spell.
"Come on out, my ace! Ushi Oni!" The sheer elation on Koichi's face couldn't be missed.
Ushi Oni
LVL 6
2150 ATK / 1950 DEF
It was a feeling I knew well. The joy of bringing out your favorite monster. For me, it was always Envoy of the Beginning.
That card was my win condition when I was a kid, and the feelings associated with it never went away.
"Now I activate Cost Down! By pitching a card, I can lower the levels of every monster in my hand by 2!" Koichi still hasn't used his normal summon, so what comes next can only be…
"I summon Ushi Oni in ATK mode!"
Yup.
"If you thought double trouble was bad enough, wait till you get a load of this! I activate Monster Reborn to bring back the monster I just sent to the Graveyard. One more time, Ushi Oni!" Koichi summoned his last Ushi Oni.
"Now I activate the effect of Skill Successor! By banishing it, I can increase the ATK of one of my Monsters by 800!" Ushi Oni gained a red aura in the shape of Great Angus.
And this was when the Skill Successor play paid off.
"Ushi Oni, attack Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon! Bull Demon's Rampage!"
Ushi Oni's eyes turned red and it flew out of its jar, ready to turn my dragon into a smear on the ground.
Which is exactly what happened.
Yuji: 3850
Koichi: 3400
"Now, my second Ushi Oni will go in for a direct attack!" He was good, I'd give him that, but nowhere near good enough to take me down that easily.
"I activate Rainbow Life! By discarding one card, I'll gain life points instead of taking damage this turn!"
Yuji: 6000
Koichi: 3400
Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon was still gone though…
"Your move." Koichi ended, clearly disappointed.
"Draw!" Nice. "I activate Pot of Greed!"
Big Piece Golem and Polymerization?
Perfect.
"I activate Polymerization. This time I'll be fusing Big Piece Golem with another King of The Swamp. Say hello to Multiple Piece Golem!" The two monsters swirled together, and the end result was exactly what its name would imply; a Golem made out of multiple pieces of stone.
Multiple Piece Golem
LVL 7
2600 ATK / 1300 DEF
"Multiple Piece Golem, attack Ushi Oni!" I commanded my golem, only to receive a confused stare from the stone monster.
"I dunno man, whichever one you feel like!" I yelled at Multiple Piece Golem, embarrassed.
Multiple Piece Golem took a good look at the three Ushi Oni, before stomping over to the Golem on its left and stepping on it, apparently not liking the cut of its jib.
Yuji: 6000
Koichi: 2950
"Your move." I ended, doing my best to ignore what just happened with Multiple Piece Golem.
"U-um… Yeah! Yuji with the comeback!" Disa cheered after a moment of confusion, bringing the atmosphere back.
Koichi drew his card and breathed a sigh of relief.
"I activate Swords of Revealing Light!" Koichi declared. Swords of light pierced the battlefield, shielding his remaining Ushi Oni from harm.
"You're up." Koichi turned it over to me.
"Alright." I drew.
"I summon Blue Flame Swordsman in defense mode." Blue Flame Swordsman appeared in a ring of blue fire, settling into a defensive stance.
Blue Flame Swordsman
LVL 4
1800 ATK / 1600 DEF
"Now I'm activating his effect!" I declared. "I can have Blue Flame Swordsman lose any amount of ATK and give that lost ATK to another monster on the field. I'll give all of his ATK points to Multiple Piece Golem!"
Multiple Piece golem
4400 ATK(+1800) / 1300 DEF
"I can't attack, so I'll set a card and pass it over to you, Koichi." I passed, somewhat frustrated at the unusually slow duel I was having.
The Fusion Toolbox deck definitely wasn't battle ready yet.
At least not to my standards.
"Here we go!" He drew with style, more confident now that he was able to stall my attacks.
"By tributing one of my Ushi Oni, I'm going to Special Summon Giant Ushi Oni in ATK mode!" Koichi yelled triumphantly.
The Ushi Oni in the center of his field started convulsing, and was soon bathed in a dark blue miasma that came from the pot he emerged from.
When the sudden metamorphosis was over, Ushi Oni was no longer in his pot, instead walking around on the legs of a Tarantula and its skin had turned entirely blue.
Giant Ushi Oni
LVL 8
2600 ATK / 1300 DEF
"Giant Ushi Oni! Attack Blue Flame Swordsman! Bull Boss Beatdown!" Koichi gave the command.
Giant ushi Oni stomped forth, taking the time to leer down at my Flame Swordsman, before dismissively punching down on him, obliterating my monster.
That was good.
Very good, in fact.
"When Blue Flame Swordsman is destroyed, I can Special Summon Flame Swordsman from my Fusion Deck or Graveyard! Come forth, Flame Swordsman in defense mode!"
Flame Swordsman
LVL 5
1800 ATK / 1600 DEF
The legendary Flame Swordsman, in all of his level 5 glory, was finally here…
"When Giant Ushi destroys a monster in battle, he can attack again! Destroy his Flame Swordsman!"
…And was promptly destroyed.
Not that I didn't expect it. Koichi did still have another Ushi Oni on the field.
"I'll end my turn here." Koichi once again passed it over to me.
I couldn't really do anything this turn, so I passed.
"Draw!" Koichi smiled at his card.
"I'm on a roll here!" Koichi boasted.
"I activate Gift of the Martyr! With this card, I can tribute one monster and give its ATK points to another monster until the end of my turn." Koichi explained.
"I'll tribute Ushi Oni and use him to buff my Giant Ushi Oni!" Ushi Oni vanished, reappearing as an apparition floating behind his larger counterpart.
Giant Ushi Oni
LVL 8
4750 ATK(+2150) / 2100 DEF
"Destroy that Golem, Ushi Oni!" Koichi declared battle.
Giant Ushi Oni, encouraged by the floating spirit of Ushi Oni, crawled forward on his disgusting spider legs, and got into a Kaiju fight with my Multiple Piece Golem.
Multiple Piece Golem put up a good fight, but was shattered by Giant Ushi Oni's massive fists in the end.
Yuji: 5650
Koichi: 2950
"And when Giant Ushi Oni destroys a monster by battle, he can attack again! Bull Boss Beatdown!" Giant Ushi Oni once again squared up on an unfortunate soul, only this time the 'soul' in question was me.
As he brought his enormous arm down on me, I couldn't help but smile.
"I activate Defense Draw!" Giant Ushi Oni's fist passed harmlessly through me.
Pulling the rug out from underneath people is the objective best way to duel them.
Fight me.
"Not only do I take no damage from your attack, but I also get to draw a card!" I elaborated, enjoying the thoroughly put out look Koichi gave me.
"Koichi came in swinging, but as always, Yuji had the perfect counter! But will he be able to cope with the loss of Multiple Piece Golem?" Disa commented.
"Your move." Koichi ended.
Giant Ushi Oni was back to 2600 ATK, thankfully.
"Draw!" With the card I just drew, the pieces were finally in place.
"I activate Fusion Recovery! This card lets me take one Polymerization and a monster I used for a Fusion Summon from the Graveyard, and add them to my hand. I'm bringing back King of The Swamp!" I played.
"Now I'm activating Monster Reborn, and I'll use it to bring back Flame Swordsman in attack mode!" The Kanji for 'flame' appeared on the ground, where Flame Swordsman appeared in a flash of fire.
"Flame Swordsman again?" Koichi wondered aloud,
"Yep!" I nodded. "But that's not all. I activate Polymerization, fusing Flame Swordsman with the King of The Swamp in my hand!" A Fusion of a Fusion Monster wasn't something most people had seen before, so everyone in the arena was on the edge of their seats.
"I Fusion Summon Dark Flare Knight, in attack mode!" Taking the place of Flame Swordsman was a knight decked out in black and red armor and purple underclothes, bearing a black and red shield and a flaming sword that wasn't the exact same as the Salamandra Flame Swordsman carried, but was instead a burning Messer.
Dark Flare Knight
LVL 6
2200 ATK / 800 DEF
Almost immediately, I heard the whispers of and comparisons to Dark Magician being made in the stands.
"Is that Dark Magician under that armor?!" Disa voiced the question on everyone's mind.
"Indeed it is!" I confirmed.
"Your move, Koichi." Now that three of my turns have passed, Swords of Revealing Light was finally gone.
"Alright." Koichi drew. "Giant Ushi Oni, attack Dark Flare Knight!"
He really took the bait.
Dark Flare Knight put up a fight, but was destroyed without issue.
"When Dark Flare Knight is destroyed, I take no damage. Not only that, but I can special summon Mirage Knight from my hand, deck, or Graveyard!"
Like an apparition, the golden armored form of Mirage Knight came onto the field, twirling his scythe.
Mirage Knight
LVL 8
2800 ATK / 2000 DEF
"God damnit, why?" Koichi sighed.
"Why wouldn't I? A card like this deserves to be played, doesn't it?" I asked, backed up by a grateful nod from Mirage Knight.
"I'll set a card face down and call it a turn, then. Your move, dude." Koichi ended his turn with another sigh.
"Thank you kindly."
That face down was a cause for concern, but with the cards I have in my hand, playing around it shouldn't be too much trouble.
"Now, Mirage Knight, attack Giant Ushi Oni!" Mirage Knight dashed at Giant Ushi Oni, scythe ready.
"I activate Skill Successor!" Koichi said, playing his trap card once again.
"Now my Ushi Oni can take down that Knight!" He proudly stated, his 3000 ATK Giant Ushi Oni backing him up with a roar.
"As if! I activate the Quick-Play Spell card, Forbidden Dress!" I refuted, looking forward to ruining Koichi's moment.
"See, with Forbidden Dress, I can target a monster on the field, and have it lose 600 ATK points, and in return, that monster can't be targeted or destroyed by card effects." I explained.
"What's that got to do with me?" Koichi asked.
"Simple. I'm targeting Giant Ushi Oni!" I pointed at the massive bull demon, and the woman holding the Forbidden Dress got to work.
In less than a second, she draped the dress over Giant Ushi Oni, restricting his movements.
"Doesn't he just look fabulous?" I sarcastically asked the crowd.
"Shit!" Koichi cursed.
"But wait, There's More!" I revealed. "During Damage calculation, Mirage Knight gains ATK equal to your monster's original ATK!"
Mirage Knight
4400 ATK(+2600) / 2000 DEF
"I thought Forbidden Dress protected Giant Ushi Oni from targeting effects!" Koichi protested.
"Read the fine print buddy. Mirage Knight's effect is non-targeting."
Hopes thoroughly dashed, Koichi watched helplessly as his Boss Monster was ruthlessly cut down by my Mirage Knight.
Yuji: 5650
Koichi: 0
+481 DE
+2662 DP
+72000 DP
7,400 USD, made in a single week.
Between the KCwich partnership, sponsors, donations, subscriptions and bets, the twins are raking in an almost unethical amount of money, even after Kaiba Corp took their 30% cut.
Walking over to Koichi, we shook hands. Good sportsmanship went a long way after all, and the duel was fun, if not long.
"GG dude. You kept me on my toes." I praised Koichi, who chuckled, embarrassed.
"Thanks man! I've been training pretty hard since the year started." Koichi laughed.
"It shows." I nodded, acknowledging his efforts.
Not long after I got off the duel field, Disa was at my side with her microphone.
"Yuji, baby!" She greeted, slinging an arm around my shoulder.
"Wassup?"
"Your adoring fans are begging to know how you feel about that duel!" Disa pulled me in for an interview.
Adoring fans? Yeah right. I've seen the stream VODs. At least a third of the chat usually wants to see me get taken down a peg. The main reasons seem to be because I keep switching decks, but I've seen other criticisms.
If I'm being honest, I loved it. Salty chats and the comment wars that ensue are hilarious to the extreme.
"Well, Koichi definitely earned his place in the blue dorm, I'll tell you that. His strategies are solid, and the way he was able to swarm the field with three Ushi Oni's in a single turn is beyond impressive. More than that, he was able to counter more powerful monsters in unique ways with cards like Skill Successor and Gift of The Martyr, which are cards you don't see often enough." I gave Disa a run down of what I thought were the most impressive parts of the duel.
"He was able to hold you off for a while there. Was that a one off occurrence, or do you think our fellow students are growing wise to your tricks?" Disa asked, milking the duel for all it was worth.
"Well, whether people get wise to my tricks or not, I don't think it'll do them any good. Even if you know a storm is coming, there's nothing you can do to stop it. All you can do is wait it out and pick up the pieces after it passes." I smirked at the camera, giving the viewers a wink before exiting the arena.
(Next Day)
"Alright…" I took a good look at my new room and everything in it.
My new Queen sized bed was lined up against the wall, tucked into a corner, just how I liked it. My big ass bean bag chair was right next to it, ready to get taken out for guests, or if I felt like using it myself.
I had a bigger TV, a brand new mini fridge, a large computer desk that I had already set my PC up on, a couch that slid out into a bed in case I had guests over, a safe equipped with deck slots inside of it, a kick ass balcony and even a kitchenette.
I absolutely loved it. It sucked that I'd have to clear it all out at the end of the school year and do it all over again come the next one, but there wasn't much I could do about that.
My musings were cut short by Ryuko, who had been patiently waiting for me to finish unpacking my things.
"You done?" She asked while laying on my bed.
"Yeah, I'm done." I nodded. Ryuko wanted my help with deck building, so I invited her over to my new room.
"Right, so what exactly did you need my help with?" I asked her, taking a seat at my desk, with Ryuko pulling up a chair beside me.
She took out her deck and laid every single card out on the desk. It was the first time I'd seen Ryuko' deck in its entirety. At first glance, I could already tell that she was a cut above the rest in the deck building department. More than that, I could feel just how in tune Ryuko was with her deck.
She was one of the best duelists on the island for sure.
"Yeah, your deck is actually looking pretty good. Is there anything in particular you want me to help you with?" I turned to her, nearly flinching in surprise once I realized just how close our faces were.
"Yup!" Ryuko grinned, before turning deadly serious. "I need more power."
Okay, Vergil.
"More power…" I repeated, waiting for her to elaborate.
"See, I noticed something the other day while I was dueling against this broad in my dorm." Ryuko recalled. "Unless I use cards like Ancient Rules and Monster Reborn, I don't have any easy ways to bring out my stronger Dragons. Not only that, but my strongest monster is Burning Dragon, unless you count First of The Dragons, but that's a Fusion so it's kind of situational."
"And you're complaining about that?" Burning Dragon had 2500 ATK, which was way above what the average duelist had at their disposal.
First of The Dragons, on the other hand, had 2700 and couldn't be destroyed in battle with Effect monsters.
"Nah, I know that I'm pretty good on powerful monsters at the moment, but if I want to bring my game up to the next level, I need something with a bit more 'oomph'." Ryuko elaborated further.
Most academy students had ace monsters with stats in the low 2000's and compensated with card effects to get those numbers up. Cards like Fortress Whale and Ushi Oni were considered rather impressive all things considered.
Hell, most students have to jump through all sorts of hoops just to give their monsters a respectable attack value, not that I'd ever look down on such a playstyle.
After all, the strongest monster I've ever had on the field to date was a Speed Warrior, so I know better than to look down on the ATK buff grind.
Regardless, all of this was to say that Ryuko didn't have much to complain about. Still, it's not like I don't see her point either. Putting some beefier monsters in your deck is always a worthwhile endeavor.
"Alright." I nodded, seeing no reason not to help a friend out. I then stood up and walked over to my safe.
"You came to the right person. Turboing big monsters out is kind of my thing, in case you didn't know." I joked as I put in the key and entered the combination to unlock it.
Pulling out two briefcase-like card holders with dragon stickers smacked right in the middle of their hard cases, I took them back over to Ryuko, who was staring at them with wide eyes.
"Did you just pull out a briefcase?" She asked, in awe at the sheer big dick energy I just displayed.
At least, that's what I assumed, anyway.
"No," I denied. "I pulled out two briefcases."
"See," I sighed, "I've been on a bit of a Dragon spree these past few weeks. Every time I went to the card shop, I left with at least one box of Dragon's Flight, or some other Dragon related set." I revealed.
From what Sadie's told me, they've had to increase the number of cards they order every month just to keep up with me.
I had a serious problem, but since this was a world where playing with cards in front of a live audience was a viable career path, what I was doing was more likely to be seen as intense dedication to my chosen sport.
Besides, It's not like I couldn't afford it. I made over six figures this last month in DP, which is more than enough to support my habit.
So!" I clapped, distracting Ryuko from my spending habits for now. "Let's see what I can do for ya'!"
Cracking the briefcases open, Ryuko was the first to witness my organization abilities. The first briefcase was all monsters, with dividers that had star stickers on them to signify levels. There was a second, smaller row beneath the first one, for fusion monsters.
Ryuko stared at the contents of my briefcase numbly for a few seconds, before robotically turning to me.
"And these are just your Dragon monsters?" Ryuko asked.
"Yep." I answered, and then we got to work.
Most of the cards I had were duplicates of more common cards like The Dragon Dwelling in The Cave and other weak vanilla monsters.
Of course, with all of the cards I've been buying lately, I had a veritable treasure trove of powerful monsters, lots of which were parallel rare, which gave the monsters a different glowing aura depending on the type of parallel rare the card was when they hit the field as holograms.
"Alright, so I have a few cards that you might like." I told her, pulling out a copy of Tri-Horned Dragon first.
"Since you use Ancient Rules, a card like this would work well in your deck." I passed it over to her.
"I see." Ryuko hummed with a thoughtful look on her face.
It took about an hour and a half before we were done, and by then, I had given Ryuko over a dozen cards to add to her deck.
"Damn." Ryuko cursed while writing something down in her notebook. "Imma have to duel twice a day every day for two weeks to afford all of these."
"What?" I asked. Did she think I was going to charge her for these?
"Well, yeah. I don't have enough DP to buy my own copies right now, not even if they have them at the card shop." Ryuko explained, apparently having misunderstood the situation.
"Ryuko, I'm giving these cards to you." I explained to her like I was talking to a child.
"Huh?!" Ryuko exclaimed with an astonished look.
"Giving-" She stopped herself in disbelief. "What the hell do you mean?! Do you know how much these cards are worth?! Tri-Horned Dragon alone goes for like 75,000 Yen!"
That was indeed true. Having a card like Tri-Horned Dragon was a game changer for most duelists, even in the Pro Leagues, and it was pretty hard to find too. Most people lucky enough to find a copy never parted with it.
I had five…
"Good to know. It doesn't change anything, though. I'd rather give these cards to someone I like than sell them to some goober."
"Damn, dude. I don't know what to say." Ryuko muttered, looking down with a small smile.
"Then shut up and take the cards. Consider them a gift for advancing to Ra Yellow."
"Alright." She finally relented.
After she added the new cards to her deck, replacing some of her other cards like Mikazukinoyaiba and Dragolite, we decided to go out for a walk around the Obelisk campus and have a practice match to test her new deck out.
Of course, along the way, Ryuko's red jacket, which she decided to keep wearing instead of putting on her new yellow one, attracted some attention.
I myself decided to go without my new blue jacket today, since I didn't like how long they all were.
"Hey! What are you slackers doing here! This is the Obelisk dorm!" An irate voice shouted from our left.
It was some guy in a blue jacket, which made him one of my fellow Obelisk's.
"Fuckin'..." Ryuko spoke slowly, used to dealing with obnoxious blue's. "walking."
"This is indeed a walking moment." I backed her up with an affirmative nod.
"Yeah, cool. See, the problem with that is the fact that you're on Obelisk territory. Slifer slackers like you two should get the hell on."
"What are you gonna do if we don't, tough guy?" Ryuko challenged him, a dangerous glint in her eyes.
"Tch! Alright then. I can see where this is going. I was gonna head over to the duel arena, but I guess I can slum it with a slacker." He mocked, activating his duel disk, while Ryuko did the same with hers.
"My name is Woody. Remember it!" exclaimed the now named Woody.
"Uh huh." Ryuko rolled her eyes.
"Duel!"
"Draw!" Woody took the first turn.
"I summon Cyber Esper in ATK mode!"
A faceless Machine monster with two triple-bladed metal wings on its back floated on Woody's field.
So he ran Cyber monsters?
Cyber Esper
LVL 4
1200 ATK / 1800 DEF
"Now I'll set two cards face down and end my turn. Your move, kid."
"My name is Ryuko, jackass." Ryuko shot back while drawing.
All of a sudden, a solid vision hologram with the card Ryuko drew appeared on the field, revealing it to be Masked Dragon.
"Hey! The fuck, man?!" Ryuko shouted, incensed.
"Cyber Esper's effect." Woody informed her smugly. "When it's in attack position, my esper lets me take a peek at whatever cards you draw."
"Whatever! I summon Masked Dragon in ATK mode!" The small red dragon that appeared on Ryuko's field was staring Cyber Esper down with myrder in its eyes.
Masked Dragon
LVL 3
1400 ATK / 1100 DEF
"Now Imma activate Stamping Destruction! If I have a Dragon on my side of the field, I can destroy one of your Spells or Traps and burn you for 500 points of damage!"
Woody looked a bit nervous at that, but otherwise kept his composure.
"I'm gonna take down the face down on the left!" Masked Dragon flew over and landed on the card in question with a stomp. Before it shattered, it revealed itself as Half Counter.
Ryuko: 4000
Woody: 3500
"Damn it!" Woody cursed.
"Now, Masked Dragon, attack Cyber Esper!"
Masked Dragon breathed a stream of fire at Cyber Esper, and the robot was turned into a puddle of molten metal.
Ryuko: 4000
Woody: 3300
"I activate my Trap card, Return Ticket!" Woody's face down card flipped over, revealing a Trap card bearing an image of a car parked in a garage while another, wrecked version of the same car was being carried by a crane magnet in the background.
"When a Machine monster I control is sent to the graveyard, I can special summon another copy of it from my deck. Come on out, Cyber Esper, in DEF mode!"
"Not only that, but when a monster I control is destroyed, I can special summon Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon from my hand!"
Oh, that card… I know that card. I had it back in my own world, but I never paid any attention to it. I couldn't recall ever pulling any in this world, which was weird since I've been whaling super hard on Dragon's Flight lately.
The name was a mouthful and a half though. Some girl even snickered at its name before she saw it.
Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon
LVL 5
ATK 2200 / DEF 1100
It was a large, purple serpentine dragon with a jaw reminiscent of The Predator, and In the same spot the last one was in, another Cyber Esper crouched down on the field.
So first he played a Cyber monster, and then he Special Summoned a level 5 monster from his hand.
This reeks of Cyber-Style, but he could just be a Zane copycat for all I know.
"Aw, that thing is so cool!" Ryuko gushed over the purple dragon. "Anyway, I'll set one card face down and end my turn."
A good start for Ryuko. Hell, Woody was doing pretty good himself. He may have lost 700 life points, but he managed to mitigate the loss of his monster by bringing out a big ass dragon and special summoning another one from his deck, which would also serve to thin it out a bit, increasing the odds that he'd draw the card he wanted.
He also had Half Counter, which was a pretty good defense, or at least, it would have been had Ryuko not destroyed it.
"Perfect!" Woody grinned. "I activate Polymerization! Fusing the two Cyber Falcon's in my hand into Mega Mach Falcon!"
A robotic falcon the size of a small house with four deadly looking wings flew onto the field.
Mega Mach Falcon
LVL 7
2500 ATK / 1500 DEF
"Now I'll activate its effect! Once per turn, I can recover 500 life points,"
Mega Mach Falcon shed some of its feathers, which slowly fell over Woody.
Ryuko: 4000
Woody: 3800
"...and if I do that, you get burned for 500!"
This time, Mega Mach Falcon shot its dagger-like feathers at Ryuko, chipping her life points.
Woody: 3800
Ryuko: 3500
He used up his entire hand to do it, but Woody built up a nice field of monsters.
"Now I'm switching Cyber Esper to ATK mode!" Cyber Esper simply stood up, the holographic image of its card underneath it fading away.
"Mega Mach Falcon, attack Masked Dragon! Sharp Wing Storm!"
Mage Mach Falcon flew high into the air. Once it reached a high enough altitude, it flapped its four wings, sending a twister filled with its razor sharp wings at Masked Dragon, turning the poor thing into Swiss cheese.
Woody: 3800
Ryuko: 2400
"Wow!" I heard from my left, right beside me.
"Ah!" I yelled in a manly voice.
Definitely Baritone for sure. No high pitched tones here whatsoever.
"Jesus man! Why are you people always sneaking up on me?!" I rounded on the person brave enough to sneak up on the great Yuji Rengoku.
It was some pale, wimpy looking Obelisk Blue dude with brown hair and glasses.
"W-we've been here since the second turn." He stammered out.
It was only then that I noticed his two friends, who stood to his left, and the four other Obelisk Blue students in the area watching the duel.
"Oh…" I muttered, embarrassed.
I really needed to work on my spatial awareness…
"This duel sure is something, huh?" The guy kept talking. "Too bad it's about to be over."
"I wouldn't be so sure." Yet another voice, this time to my right informed the nerdy Obelisk.
I'm not even going to look at the new guy. That'll teach him not to sneak up on me.
"What do you- Zane?!"
Zane?
Turning to my right, I saw that it was indeed the Kaiser of Duel Academy, Zane Truesdale.
"Masked Dragon has a neat effect that'll keep that girl in the game, if she knows how to play it, that is." Zane informed the guy.
"I would have thought a second year like yourself would have known that, Torrey." Zane sniped at the now named Torrey.
Wasn't that the Jinzo guy…?
Whatever, that was Jaden's problem.
"Ryuko's got this." I told them, confident in the Dragon duelist.
"When Masked Dragon is destroyed, I can Special Summon a Dragon with 1500 or less ATK points from my deck!" Ryuko grinned.
"I'm bringing out another Masked Dragon in DEF mode!"
Like Woody's Cyber Esper, Masked Dragon came back onto the field, crouched down in DEF mode.
"Ah, I see now!" Torrey exclaimed. "She can keep summoning Masked Dragon's to absorb Woody's attacks!"
"If she has any skill to back her plays up, then that's not all she'll be doing." Zane commented.
"Fine, I'll just have Cyber Esper attack too!"
Once again, Masked Dragon was destroyed.
RIP Bozo.
"Masked Dragon's effect! This simt, I'm Special Summoning Kidmodo Dragon in DEF mode!"
A small, orange scaled dragon with a cream belly yawned cutely on Ryuko's side of the field, and made itself known with a tiny roar.
Kidmodo Dragon
LVL 3
100 ATK / 200 DEF
Despite its cute appearance, Woody was visibly wary, and with good reason. He likely expected some kind of card effect that would justify Ryuko having such a weak monster in her deck.
"I'll end my turn here." Woody decided to play it safe in the end.
"Before you do that," Ryuko came right in with a metaphorical gut punch. "I'm activating my Trap card; Ballista Squad!"
One of her face downs flipped over, revealing an image of Goblin Attack Force and Goblin Elite Attack Force attempting to operate a ballista.
"By tributing one of my monsters, I can pop any card on your side of the field! I'll tribute Kidmodo Dragon. Now say goodbye to Mega Mach Falcon!"
Kidmodo Dragon loaded itself into the ballista and with a thumbs up in the direction of the Goblin squad that came to operate it, it was launched at Mega Mach Falcon, destroying it.
"Damn!" Torrey exclaimed again.
"That Slifer can duel." One of his friends praised.
"Now Kidmodo Dragon's effect activates!" Ryuko kept the pain train going, even though it was Woody's turn.
"When Kidmodo Dragon is sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon a Dragon-type monster from my hand!" Ryuko damn near slapped the card down onto her Duel Disk.
"I summon Tyrant Dragon in ATK mode!"
Tyrant Dragon
LVL 8
2900 ATK / 2500 DEF
Tyrant Dragon was huge, dwarfing every one of Woody's monsters by a wide margin. A large brown dragon with a gray underside, bat-like wings and a green gem in its forehead, it was a hell of a sight to behold. The loud, echoing roar only enhanced the feeling of awe everyone must have felt in the presence of such a monster.
Well, mostly everyone at least.
Zane remained as unimpressed as ever, and I was used to seeing big monsters. Most of the time, I was the one summoning them to begin with, a feeling Zane is no doubt familiar with.
"That thing is incredible!" Torrey gushed, eyes wide.
"And she didn't have to tribute a single monster for it!" One of his friends pointed out.
Zane remained silent, taking the duel in with an analytical gaze.
Woody merely sighed upon seeing the beast and ended his turn after switching his dragon to DEF mode, unable to do anything else without any cards in his hand.
"Draw!" Thanks to Cyber Esper, everyone got to see the Blizzard Dragon Ryuko just drew.
"I summon Sapphire Dragon in ATK mode!"
A beautiful dragon covered in sapphires was brought out onto the field, its scales glowing in the sunlight.
Sapphire Dragon
LVL 4
1900 ATK / 1600 DEF
It was Luster Dragon, but like all of the Gem Dragon monsters in this world, it had its OCG name.
"Now, Tyrant Dragon, attack Cyber Esper! Tyrant Burst!"
Tyrant Dragon unleashed a wave of golden flames from its maw, utterly annihilating Cyber Esper, who couldn't completely protect Woody from the attack.
Ryuko: 2400
Woody: 2100
"If you still control a monster after Tyrant Dragon's first attack, he can attack again." Ryuko explained.
"One more time, Tyrant Dragon! Attack his dragon! Tyrant Burst!" This time, Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon was Tyrant Dragon's unfortunate target.
After Woody's dragon was reduced to ash, Sapphire Dragon had its turn, attacking the Obelisk Blue directly.
Ryuko: 2400
Woody: 200
"Your move." Ryuko passed it over to Woody, who panicked for a second, before calming himself.
"Draw!" Woody drew with force, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw his card.
"I activate Pot of Greed!" He drew two cards and the relief on his face turned into sheer joy.
"I summon Fusilier Dragon, The Dual-Mode Beast in ATK mode!"
Fusilier Dragon, The Dual-Mode Beast
LVL 7
2800 ATK / 1400 DEF
"He can just summon a monster like that with no cost?" Torrey asked, and I had to wonder how he was even in Obelisk Blue to begin with.
"There's a cost." I told him, beating Zane to it.
"If Woody has what I think he has in his hand, then the cost won't matter." Zane commented.
He seemed familiar with Woody and his cards.
"I can Normal Summon Fusilier Dragon without tributing monsters, but if I do, his ATK and DEF are halved." Woody explained his Dragon's effect.
1400 ATK / 1000 DEF
"But that won't matter, because I'm activating Metamorphosis!"
Some random Obelisk has a card like that?
"By tributing one monster, I can Special Summon a Fusion monster from my Fusion Deck with the same level! I'm tributing Fusilier Dragon, and in its place I'm Summoning Cyber Ogre 2!" Woody played.
Cyber Ogre 2 honestly didn't look much like any ogre I've ever seen. It was a silver robot-thing with two massive arms and a spiked, serpentine tail instead of legs.
Cyber Ogre 2
LVL 7
2600 ATK / 1900 DEF
"Damn." I cursed, knowing Cyber Ogre 2's effect and what it meant for Ryuko.
"You can do that?!" One of Torrey's friends nearly shouted, amazed by the play.
"Now, Cyber Ogre 2, attack Tyrant Dragon! Cyber Smackdown!"
"What?" Ryuko eloquently asked.
Cyber Ogre approached Tyrant Dragon, and it was then that its effect came into play
Cyber Ogre 2
4050 ATK (+1450) / 1900 DEF
Cyber Ogre 2 raised both of its arms and brought them down for a Sledgehammer right to the top of Tyrant Dragon's head.
Ryuko: 1350
Woody: 200
"What?!" Ryuko yelled, still confused.
"When Cyber Ogre 2 attacks, it gains half of its target's ATK points." Woody told her, a satisfied smile on his face.
"I end my turn." Woody gave it over to Ryuko, who was a bit miffed, but unconcerned.
"Draw!" Ryuko examined her hand for a bit, eventually settling on something.
"I summon The King of D. in ATK mode!"
A dragon bone armored warrior holding a guitar modeled after Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon appeared on Ryuko's side of the field.
The King of D.
LVL 4
1200 ATK / 1100 DEF
That's one of the cards I gave her. Nice.
"Now, since I summoned him, King of D lets me add one of three specific spell cards from my deck to my hand by discarding a Spell or Trap. I'm adding Melody of Awakening Dragon!" Ryuko was starting off strong.
"Now, I'll activate it! Melody of Awakening Dragon lets me discard one Monster card, and in return, I get to add up to two Dragons from my deck to my hand. I'm choosing Tri-Horned Dragon and Divine Dragon Ragnarok!"
"What?!" Woody yelled. "Tyrant Dragon was one thing, but how the hell do you have cards like that in your deck?!"
Honestly, if some rando pulled out a card like that against me in this world I'd lose my shit a little bit too.
"None of your business, that's how." Ryuko shot back, her signature smug grin on her face.
Taking a look at her cards, a downright evil glint entered Ryuko's eye, her grin turning almost manic.
"You're in for it now! I activate Polymerization! I'm fusing The King of D., who's treated as Lord of D. on the field, and Divine Dragon Ragnarok in my hand!"
Ryuko then clasped her hands together, with an uncharacteristically serious look on her face.
"Dragon summoning Spellcaster, join forces with the world ending dragon of the gods! Come on out, King Dragun!"
King Dragun bore a resemblance to Lord of D., only with a serpentine body below the chest area, which was covered by a smoky white aura. The solid vision hologram was shrouded by a prismatic aura, marking it as a Secret Rare card.
King Dragun
LVL 7
2400 ATK / 1100 DEF
"But that's not all! I activate King Dragun's effect! One per turn, I can Special SUmmon one Dragon from my hand! Come on out, Tri-Horned Dragon!"
King Dragun waved its hand, and a portal opened up beside it. From the portal came Tri-Horned Dragon, a blue and red wingless dragon with three sharp horns on top of its head.
Tri-Horned Dragon
LVL 8
2850 ATK / 2350 DEF
"This was a good game, but it was always gonna end this way." Ryuko smugged at Woody.
"Tri-Horned Dragon, attack Cyber Ogre 2! Horn Bash!"
Tri-Horned Dragon roared and began its charge towards Cyber Ogre, head down and horns poised to skewer the poor robot-thing.
Ryuko: 1350
Woody: 0
"Yeah!" Ryuko celebrated her win, while Woody sighed in dismay, walking away in defeat.
Goodbye, one-off antagonist, you probably won't be remembered.
"Nice win. Getting Tyrant Dragon out on his turn the way you did was hilarious." I complimented her.
"I know, right?!" Ryuko grinned, still amped from her duel.
"Beating Woody is no small feat." Zane praised her.
"Eh, he was pretty good. Couldn't keep his hand for shit, though." Ryuko dismissed his words.
"It's a problem he's always had." Zane nodded.
"Always, huh? So you two go back?" I asked, curious to see if my suspicions were on the mark.
"We both trained in the Cyber-Style dojo growing up." Zane informed us.
"Cool, so you have those cards too?" I fished for info, wanting to know if Zane also had Cyber cards other than what he showed off in GX in his back pocket.
"I do." Zane confirmed, the barest hint of a smile on his face. "But I don't use those cards. The deck he uses is a modified version of the Cyber-Style deck we all get upon graduation. Woody was better than most, so our master gave him copies of his Cyber Ogre cards."
"Neat." Ryuko chirped, then turned to me. "So, you wanna grab some lunch? I'm starving!"
"Yeah I can go for some food." I agreed.
"I'm Yuji by the way." I introduced myself to Zane with a hand held out.
"Zane." He introduced himself in return. "I've caught a few of your duels." He revealed, shaking my hand.
"I've heard of you. They say you're the best on the island." I grinned, an unspoken challenge in my words.
"Some people say the same of you." Zane shot back, a competitive edge in his voice.
"Maybe we should duel one day." I offered. "You know, just to see who's actually the best on the island. There can be only one after all."
"Tell you what," Zane began. "Take down the other high ranking duelists in your year and I'll accept your challenge."
High ranking duelists? Does he mean jaden and Chazz?
"And who might they be?" I asked, wanting to know for sure who Zane was referring to before I went looking for the wrong people.
"You're a smart kid, figure it out." Having said his peace, Zane walked off to do whatever teenage edgelords do in their spare time.
He's probably gonna go listen to Three Days Grace or something.
"Wow." Ryuko snickered from beside me, nudging me with her shoulder. "You just got relegated, dude."
"Oh whatever." I rolled my eyes. "I already kicked your ass before, so I doubt he was talking about you when he told me to duel the high ranking students in our year."
The sound Ryuko made in response to that was somewhere between a gasp and a choking sound.
(Vellian Crowler)
Dr. Vellian Crowler was many things; A Doctor, a Duelist, a connoisseur of scented candles, but foremost among them, he was a teacher.
Seeing his students excel was his greatest joy in life, and he knew that within every one of his students was a massive well of potential, just waiting to be unleashed.
It was that last fact that caused him no small amount of frustration, since a good number of his students refused to rise to the challenge he presented, even when they were so clearly capable.
He was well aware of his reputation. He was known as a Slifer hater through and through, which wasn't true whatsoever! He didn't hate the Slifiers under his care.
He simply didn't have it in him to hate one of his precious students, after all.
No, he was simply disappointed in them.
He was a passionate man, one who couldn't stand to see such bright young minds underachieve. He'd be the first to admit that he was a bit harsher on the Slifer Reds than he was on other students, but it wasn't because of their dorm placement.
Rather, it was because, for all that he disliked the name calling, the majority of Slifer's were slackers.
Sleeping in class, excessive tardiness,turning assignments in late, if they even turned them in at all. Slifer's were unfortunately prone to this behavior in a way that students of the other dorms simply weren't.
In a way, it almost couldn't be helped.
The line separating Slifer Red students from their Obelisk and Ra counterparts isn't as fine as some would think. At least, up until their dorm placements it isn't.
He'd seen more than one match where a Slifer overcame a Ra Yellow quite handily, and a few where even the vaunted students of the Obelisk dorm were defeated.
Nearly every student in Central Duel Academy was the top dog in their hometown, or close enough that the distinction really didn't matter. Their confidence was high and their ego unrivaled.
Then, after they give it their all in the entrance exams, they find out that they were placed into the lowest ranking dorm, sentenced to endless ridicule from their peers.
Most Slifer's simply resigned themselves to their fate, unwilling to put in the hard work necessary to get better, so they never did.
It was a self fulfilling prophecy in that way. They were called slackers from the moment they set foot on the island, and that's what they eventually became.
The Slifer's who overcame this hurdle, on the other hand, held a special place in Crowler's heart.
Well, except for one that is, which is what brought him to the mainland in the first place.
Jaden Yuki.
Vellian was upset with his loss to the boy for a few weeks, but he eventually got over it. It was his fault for underestimating the boy and going easy on him in the first place.
Still, he was harsher on the boy than he needed to be, which was for one good reason.
Jaden Yuki was a slacker in every sense of the word.
He was an incredible duelist, that much was true, which made his lack of effort in his studies all the more infuriating.
He'd tried every trick in the book to get the boy to try harder. Detentions, extra assignments, the whole shebang, but nothing worked.
The simple fact was that Jaden Yuki wouldn't stop slacking off unless he got a reality check, which was what Vellian came to the mainland to look for.
"So, you're this… Titan fellow I've heard so much about?" Vellian asked the tall man in an overcoat and iron mask that sat in a dark corner of the seedy bar he'd come to.
An experienced actor would serve to scare that slacker straight.
Wow. Look at that. Actual plot developments. So, I changed Crowler's motivation for hiring Titan to better fit his characterization in this fic. Instead of hiring a criminal to take one of his own students down, he hired an ex carny (Thank you 4kids) to scare jaden into applying himself in class.
I also changed the amount of money Yuji's making every week to a more realistic amount. Instead of making 70000+ DP every week day, that's how much he'll be making every week.
I'm on Discord, so pull up and chat shit with me if you feel like it.
Shiro's Gaming Omniverse: discord. gg/wd3tUYWVCd
Of Fiction And Fuck Ups: discord. gg/68gAdfsTE4
If any of you ask for Story Updates on Discord, I'm DMing you a picture of Nikocado Avocado's asshole I swear to god.
It's been a while, and I won't give any of you an explanation. Just consume your free content.
What are you gonna do? Not read it? I know how you fucks operate. You need your fix and once you get it you won't care how long it took.
I got the sauce, and that makes me your boss.
~Get Creamed On~