Gee whizz, this has been a while in the making.
This story got kinda delayed because I was struggling with what to do with it. For a while, I wasn't happy with where it was going, but after some time I got over that.
I made a copy of Naruto's deck in the new Legacy of the Duellist game to help get me back in the mood. It was the first deck I worked on making. And it worked, it really helped me come up with strats for Naruto and got me into the Yugioh mood.
So, I imagine you're wondering why this took so long? After all, Link Evolution came out a while ago. Well, the truth is that I went about a month and a half without internet! As you can imagine, it wasn't exactly fun.
Buuuuut, all issues aside, I hope you can forgive the wait after reading this surprisingly long chapter. Seriously, this one got away from me a bit.
Here's hoping this chapter is good enough to make up for the delay.
Chapter Three—Remember My Name! (…uh, what was it again?)
The Slifer Red welcome dinner had been, in a word, underwhelming. Mostly. Sure, the food was substandard, and the dining hall smelled faintly of mildew, but Judai had been so eager to eat that the dorm head, Daitokuji-sensei, decided to skip introductions and get on with the meal. Naruto sat with Sho and Judai, not wanting to sit with his roommates. Specifically, Sumi. Not to mention that their table seemed to be the one bright spot in the dark atmosphere that had settled over the rest of the room as the other Slifer's began to understand their position at the academy. Conversation was riddled with Judai's optimism, which had made Naruto's mood better, and even Sho had brightened up a bit by the end.
Afterwards they went to their rooms for the rest of the evening, which has been awkward to say the least. Sumi had returned to his chair to brood, Yasuhiro went straight to bed, and Naruto was left sort of standing in the middle. Looking between the two, Naruto struggled to think of what to say or do.
"Oi, Sumi."
For all of five seconds before he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
"What?" Sumi looked sullenly over his shoulder at Naruto.
"Did you run into some Obelisk Blue jerk earlier today?"
Sumi's eyes widened slightly, and a squeak came from Yasuhiro's bed.
"I'll take that as a yes."
Sumi scowled. "What about it?"
"I heard what that guy was like, and whatever he said, forget about it," Naruto crossed his arms and gave a firm nod. "Jackasses like that aren't worth listening to, ya know?"
"That's easy for you to say," Sumi said with a sneer. "You've got the skills to be able to brush his words off. But the rest of us—"
"Yeah, see, you keep saying what you think, but ya seem to speak for everyone else too," Naruto said, looking over at Yasuhiro's back. "What about you, Yasuhiro? You got something to say, or ya just gonna let Sumi keep speaking for you?"
"…" Yasuhiro's back shifted, as if he was trying to look back with the least effort possible. "I…I say we just drop it and go to bed. I'm still tired from the flight, and I'm full from dinner and I just want to sleep."
"Full? But you barely a—"
"I SAID DROP IT!"
Naruto and Sumi jumped, staring at Yasuhiro's back with wide eyes. The boy on the bed curled in on himself some more and said nothing else.
"…Right…yeah, sure, sorry." Naruto muttered, looking away and rubbing the back of his head.
"…" Sumi shuffled awkwardly in place, before muttering about going to bed as well and going for his pajamas.
Naruto, realising that perhaps now wasn't the best time to push, went to bed as well. The three teens lay in awkward silence until they managed to drop off. Naruto's last thoughts were of his fist landing squarely in Takada's smug face.
"Eh!? I missed all of that!?"
Judai grinned through a mouthful of rice, spraying poor Sho as he responded. "Yeah, it was a pretty close call with security, but we managed to give them the slip."
"Aniki!" Sho whined, brushing rice out of his hair. "Don't talk with your mouth full!"
"Heh heh," Judai grinned apologetically.
Judai and Sho had just finished regaling Naruto with their exploits the night before. A duel with some smug Obelisk Blue (Naruto figured that would be a common theme around this place), the ante rule, and a daring escape from campus security. The story made Naruto slump, his head resting on his palm.
"Man…sounds way more exciting than my evening," Naruto grumped, shovelling rice into his mouth. It was gone in a millisecond. "I just got into an argument with my roommates…again."
"Eh? Is there an issue with your roommates, Naruto-san?"
"They've already given up on doing well here. They think they're doomed because they're in Slifer."
"Hayato-kun said something similar…" Sho muttered, glancing to the other side of the room where the large boy was eating in solemn silence.
As Naruto glanced around, he saw that Hayato wasn't the only one. It seemed that the rest of the Slifer Reds were also quiet this morning. His own roommates were a few seats away. Sumi was glaring at his rice, and Yasuhiro was picking away at his half-heartedly. "Geeze. I can't believe everyone's giving up already."
"Ah I'm sure they'll get over it soon enough." Judai said, not even pausing his chewing. "All they need is a good duel and they'll perk right up!"
"I'm not sure it's that simple, Aniki," Sho said, himself now poking at his breakfast. "It's kind of hard to get motivated when you're not great at something."
"Bah, like that's an excuse," Naruto waved his hand, shoving a clump of rice in his mouth and swallowing it whole. "If you suck at something, then do it until you get better."
Sho hummed, clearly not convinced.
"Seriously, I used to suck! Got my ass kicked all the time. Now I can even take on Asuka-chan half the time."
"Eh? Asuka-san? As in Tenjoin Asuka?" Sho blinked, leaning back in his seat a bit. "You know her?"
"Er, yeah? Wait, you do?"
"Yeah," Judai said, putting his empty bowl down, "we ran into her yesterday and last night at the duel with Manjoume."
"Huh." Naruto blinked, tilting his head. "How about that."
"So, from what you're saying, she's a good duellist." Judai said with a gleam in his eye.
Naruto shuffled a bit, feeling a tad uncomfortable. "Yeah, she's really good. Of course, since I know her deck so well, I can counter it often enough, but you could say the same about her. Our duels are pretty 50/50."
"If it's Naruto-san saying that, then she must be strong," Sho said. He then remembered Naruto's words after his exam duel. "Does that mean that Asuka-san is one of those two duellists you mentioned?"
Naruto blinked, and grimaced a little. "Er, not quite. She's easily the third best duellist I've met, but those other two are in a league of their own."
The gleam in Judai's eyes grew brighter. "Seriously! And you got to duel two people like that?"
"Yeah, quite a lot. They wrecked me every time."
"Who are they? Do they go to Duel Academia?"
Naruto's grimace grew, and he closed his eyes. "…Yeah, but one of them isn't here anymore."
"Oh, did they graduate or something?" Sho asked, finishing off the rest of his meal.
"Or something." Naruto shovelled the rest of his meal into his mouth and swallowed it whole. "Welp, guess I better go get ready for class. Asuka-chan will kill me if I let my grades slip. See you guys later." He stood up and left the room, leaving two slightly bewildered classmates behind.
"Well, he does have a point," said Sho, standing up as well. "We don't want to be late on our first day of class."
"Eh, I guess." Judai shrugged, stretching his arms above his head and yawning. "Man, I sure hope I can duel those guys Naruto was talking about someday. Heck, I wanna duel Naruto someday too. Something tells me he's pretty good."
"Yeah," Sho said, thinking about the boy's confidence. 'Is it really that easy to get better?'
"In Duel Monsters, cards consist of Normal Monsters, Fusion Monsters, Ritual Monsters, Effect Monsters, as well as trap cards and spell cards. Trap cards can be further divided into Normal Traps, Counter Traps, and Continuous Traps. And spell cards can be divided into Normal Spells, Continuous Spells, Equip Spells, Quick-Play Spells, Ritual Spells, and Field Spells." Asuka took a breath, finishing her answer to the question she had received.
Naruto, having heard Asuka repeat the terms to him many a time, had been able to mouth along at the exact same pace she had spoken. He'd gotten a funny look from Sho.
"Benissimo!" Professor Cronos clapped his hands together in delight at Asuka's answer. "Extremely good! Perhaps I asked too simple a question of Signora Asuka, from Obelisk Blue."
"Those are the basics." Was all she said, sitting back down.
"Hm. Well, then…" Cronos' gaze wondered down to the front row, where Naruto, Sho, and Judai happened to be sat. "Signor Marufuji!"
Sho shot up out of his seat, standing at attention. "Y-Yes?"
"Please give us an explanation of Field Spells."
"Well…F-Field Spells are, um… Er…"
"Even kindergartners know that!" An Obelisk Blue boy yelled from the back, causing the majority of his dormmates to burst into laughter. Even some of the Ra Yellows were chuckling.
"Don't sweat it," said Judai, giving his friend an encouraging look. "Just calm down, Sho."
"Yeah, take a breath or something." Naruto added, watching him tremble in place.
"Enough." Cronos said, not giving Sho the time to do so, "Be seated."
Sho did so.
"Being unable to answer this most basic of basic questions. But then, he is Slifer Red. I am not shocked."
The Blue's started laughing again, and Naruto grit his teeth. He might not remember much, but he knew that a teacher mocking a student for lacking knowledge was downright nasty.
"I know the answer." Sho whispered, looking down at the desk. "I just get stage fright."
"However, Teacher, how much you know has no bearing on real duels, right?" Judai said.
"Wh-What?"
"After all, I'm also Slifer Red, and I beat you in a duel." Judai scratched his head, acting as if he was sheepish for pointing this out.
Cronos took out a handkerchief and bit into it, pulling it down as he glared at Judai. "Mama mia!"
It was the Slifer's turn to laugh now as Judai gave the crowd a peace sign. Naruto grinned, leaning around Sho to give Judai a fist bump.
Taking the handkerchief out, Cronos tried to regain control of the class. "A-Ahem, comunque!" After a few seconds the laughter died down. Searching the back of the room now, he quickly pointed at an Obelisk. "Signor Takada! Please give us an explanation of how Continuous Traps work."
"Of course, sir." Takada stood up, and the sound of his voice killed Naruto's good mood. "Continuous Trap cards are trap cards that stay on the field after activation. As they are trap cards, their effects, if applicable, can be activated during the opponents turn if the card itself is already activated."
"Benissimo! Another wonderful answer from Obelisk Blue. Truly, I can rely on Obelisk Blue to answer my questions properly."
"Of course, sir." Takada smirked. His eyes wondered down to the back of Naruto's head. "Honestly, if you can't even answer this much, you might as well give up now."
Naruto twitched and span around in his seat, giving Takada a glare. In the corner of his eye, he could see Yasuhiro sink into himself, and Sumi glare at the wall.
"Funny, I thought this was, you know, a school." Naruto said, getting the classes attention. "What's the point of coming to school if we're not going to learn anything? Chill out with the crew in the schoolyard, or something?"
"Ahem! Abbastanza!" Cronos stood in front of Naruto, getting Naruto to turn back around. "If you are so desperate for knowledge, Signor Uzumaki, then perhaps you shouldn't be disrupting class, and listen instead, is that not so?"
The Obelisks laughed again, Takada being the loudest.
"Let us see what you yourself know, Signor Uzumaki. Would you explain to the class what a Continuous Spell card is?"
"Uh, that's just a Continuous Trap but it's a spell card. Pretty simple teach."
"Tut tut." Cronos shook a finger, as well as his head, making an odd motion. "Your answer is a little lacking, is it not?"
"Well, fine, I guess they can only be activated on your turn, and, uh, they stick around, and stuff."
"Hmm, still rather deludente, but I suppose that will do." With dismissive wave, he moved on to another student.
"Jackass," Naruto said under his breath. "What does what I said have to do with pasta anyway?"
"I don't think he said 'al dente', Naruto-san…" Sho whispered, after taking a moment to realise what he meant.
"Then what the hell did he say?"
"…"
"Yeah, exactly."
"'Alchemy' refers to making metals out of other substances. In particular, it refers to the production of gold but more broadly, it is the art of turning base substances into noble ones…"
Naruto's eyes stared out into space, Professor Daitokuji's words like water off a duck's back.
He could hear Judai yawn and Sho whisper something, but Naruto was too braindead from a few minutes of the teacher's lecture to pay attention.
"Marufuji-kun."
Naruto blinked as Daitokuji addressed the boy next to him.
"Y-Yes!?" Sho shot up.
"Would you catch Pharaoh for me?"
"Huh? Pharaoh?"
"My cat, of course."
"Nyaaaa!"
Sho and Naruto looked down to see a large cat rubbing against Sho's leg. Naruto edged away, feeling wary of the cat. For some reason, looking at cats always gave him feelings of annoyance and frustration, as well as the phantom sting of claws on his face.
'For some reason…I really want to see this cat get crushed…'
Next up was gym class, and the Slifer Red students found themselves waiting at the sports hall in their academia issued track suits. Naruto and Judai stood next to each other.
"What's Sho doing?" Judai asked, looking around.
"Dunno, haven't seen him since lunch," Naruto said, shrugging.
Soon enough, their teacher arrived, and Naruto felt his cheeks warm up at the sight of her.
"Hello everyone! I'm Ayukawa Emi, and starting today, I'll be your health and gym teacher. I look forward to working with you."
Naruto was too. As soon as he thought that, an image of Asuka flashed through his mind and he shook his head. As the class began, Naruto mused that while Ayukawa-sensei was hot, Asuka was in a league of her own.
After classes for the day were done, Naruto had been lucky enough to be one of the first in the baths. As such, he was done with plenty of time to spare before curfew. He didn't fancy spending time in his dorm room, what with Sumi and Yasuhiro's general attitude, so he resolved to get his stuff quick and try to find something to do.
Yet, to his surprise as he entered his dorm room, he found that only Sumi was there. Naruto had half expected to find Yasuhiro in bed again. Sumi glared at him as he entered the room.
"Good, you're done. Last thing I wanted was to take a bath with you around," Sumi said, grabbing his bathing supplies in his hands.
Naruto's brow twitched. "Tch, ever heard of not saying something unless you've got something nice to say?"
"If that was the rule, I'd never speak," Sumi said, deadpan.
As Sumi made his exit, Naruto asked, "Where's Yasuhiro? I didn't see him in the baths."
Sumi scoffed. "That idiot got into an argument with that Takada asshole."
"Huh?" Naruto blinked. He found that hard to believe.
"Yeah, that Obelisk bastard decided to reiterate what he told us yesterday, and Yamaguchi tried to stand up to him. Said something like, 'We won't give up yet, we've just started, stuttering all the way through. Probably got some of the nonsense you were spouting into his head all of a sudden."
Naruto's eyes widened. He was shocked. From how Yasuhiro was acting before, Naruto had thought that he'd given up entirely. With the shock was a growing pride. Maybe Yasuhiro wasn't a lost cause after all.
"Anyway, Takada didn't like that. Nor did his friends. Said he was going to 'show a pathetic Slifer his place'."
"What?! When was that?"
"About…ten minutes ago? They're probably still there."
Naruto shook, his wide eyes turning into a glare. "And what the hell are you doing here, then?"
Sumi shrugged. Through the whole conversation, he hadn't turned around, standing in the doorway facing away from Naruto. "Hey, Yamaguchi was the idiot who spoke up. Why should I let myself get dragged into it?"
Naruto's hands clenched. "You bastard…You just left him with them?" He marched forward and grabbed Sumi by the shoulder, spinning him around to face him. Sumi stumbled from the force, and stared wide eyed at the fist hovering in front of his face.
The first shook in place, before Naruto pushed him away. "Urgh, I don't have time to waste on you; where the hell are they?"
Sumi gulped, his detached demeanour collapsing at the physicality. "Th-They were near the main duel arena. They're probably still there, like I said."
Naruto growled, grabbing his duel disk and deck and barging past Sumi, causing the boy to stumble again. He jumped down the stairs, the wastes of time that they were.
'Hold on, Yasuhiro, I'm coming!'
"Kelbek, attack his life points directly!"
"Gah!" Yasuhiro fell down, his cards flying off his duel disk. The holograms vanished to the sound of Takada and his friend's laughter.
"Oh man, you Slifer's are worse than I thought. We've barely been here for fifteen minutes and you've already lost to us seven times." Takada shook his head, looking down at Yasuhiro with a sneer. "Ready to give up yet?"
Yasuhiro shook. Slowly, he nodded, his spirit crushed.
"Too bad! You lost your chance to give up when you tried to stand up for yourself! Get up, we're duelling again!"
"Come on, Tarada, this is getting boring." One of the Obelisks said, yawning into his hand. "We're wasting our time on this guy."
"It's Takada!" He snapped, spraying spit onto the other's face. "Besides, we can't let these Slifer's think they're worth a damn. Got to keep them in their place."
"Hey, maybe he's worried that a Slifer will replace him." One of the others whispered. "Tarukune's pretty weak himself."
"Yeah, people always said he only graduated prep school because his dad was a high up in Kaiba Corp." The other said back, quietly.
Unfortunately for them, they weren't quiet enough.
"What did you just say!?" Takada growled, grabbing them by the lapels. "First of all, it's Takada! Ta! Ka! Da! Second, what would you two know about skill anyway? I'll have you know I was Manjoume's number one rival back in prep school!"
"Does he even know your name, though?" Another wondered.
"Yeah, your so forgettable that even we can't always remember your name…er…Ryota—"
"THAT'S DOESN'T EVEN SOUND LIKE TAKADA!"
Yasuhiro stared at the scene with a blank, soulless expression. While his tormentors were distracted, he began edging away—
"Don't move, you loser! I'll deal with you later!" Takada pointed at him, not even looking his way. Ignoring the flinch he caused, he continued, "Listen up, you plebs, I'll have you know—"
"H-Hey, come on, calm down, Takata—"
"IT'S—"
"TAKADA!"
"Exactly! Huh?" Takada blinked, ceasing his shaking of one of his 'friends'. Everyone on the scene turned to look at the entrance of the arena. Standing there with his duel disk on was Naruto, glaring at the group of Obelisks. Takada huffed and shoved his almost victim away, putting his hands on his hips as he looked down on Naruto. "What're you doing here, Uzumaki? Can't you see we're in the middle of something here?"
Ignoring him, Naruto walked straight over to Yasuhiro, kneeling down next to him. "You ok, Yasuhiro?"
"…Uzumaki-san." Yasuhiro looked up, and Naruto clenched his fist at the defeated look in his eyes. "He's right. I don't belong here…"
"Hey, hey, what happened to the spine you temporarily grew?" Naruto grabbed Yasuhiro by the shoulder, giving it a light shake. "From what I heard, you tried to tell that jackass where to stick it. Where'd that spurt of bravery come from, and where's it gone now?"
Yasuhiro was silent for a moment. Then, "I kept thinking about what you said. About not giving up. I wanted to believe it, but after Sumi-san and I's run in with Takada that was basically impossible. But still, I saw you in class today. You could barely answer what a Continuous Spell card was, but I know that you're a great duellist. I…It made me think that maybe grades and exam results aren't everything. So, when he tried to give us grief again earlier, I-I wanted to try and believe in myself a bit. But…But now I can see it's like Takada says. He and his friends beat me like it was nothing. I couldn't so much as damage their life points. We Slifers…we're nothing compared to them."
"Well, well, well, looks like we finally got through to him." Takada said, crossing his arms and sneering. "I thought we'd have to keep going to really hammer it in, but I guess our work here is done."
"Finally."
"Yeah man, I thought Taka would never stop."
"I've got things to do you know."
Takada's brow twitched. "It—" he blinked, then narrowed his eyes and turned to the second speaker. "Did you forget my name again, or was that meant to be a nickname?"
"Um… Yes."
"Tch."
As the Obelisks bickered, Naruto moved his gaze away from Yasuhiro's eyes to look down at the floor. Yasuhiro's words bounced around his mind as he considered them for a while.
"—alright, look, would it be easier to remember Junjirou?"
"Er…Juniichirou?"
"…Ok, are you all actually this stupid or—"
"Takada."
"Hmm?" Takada turned around to look at Naruto. "What do you want, trash?"
Naruto stood up and turned to face Takada, who flinched at the look in his eyes. "You and me."
"Huh?"
"We're gonna duel, right here, right now."
"Uzumaki-san, no!" Yasuhiro grabbed at his arm, tugging on it. "Don't do it! That guy's really good! Even if it's you…"
"Hey." Naruto grinned down at him, and Yasuhiro stopped at the sight. "You said it yourself, right? I'm a great duellist. So, sit back and watch the result of serious hard work."
Yasuhiro blinked, his grip loosening. "Hard work…?"
Naruto moved his arm out of Yasuhiro's grip and took a step toward Takada. "So, what do you say, Takada, how about we pick up where we left off yesterday?"
Takada stared at him, having regained his composure during the little interplay between roommates. He smirked, "Heh, fine by me. But this time, Tenjoin isn't going to be around to save you."
"Heh, if anything it was your ass that Asuka-chan saved yesterday."
Takada's smirk dropped. "Tch, again with that familiarity with one of your betters. Well, actually this makes this even better. When I beat you, Tenjoin will realise the error of her ways and dump you like the Slifer trash you are."
Naruto glared, but turned it into a smirk. "The only trash I can see around here is you."
"Hah, big words coming from the guy who barely even knows what a Continuous Spell card is. I bet you couldn't work your way around a Continuous Trap even after the explanation I gave earlier." Takada powered up his duel disc, raising it at chest height. "Once I'm through with you, we're going to run you through the same gauntlet we gave your friend there."
"Eh, seriously?"
"I've got things to do, Takajirou!"
"Actually, guys, I recognise that Slifer. He was at the entrance exam, and he was pretty good too, for a Slifer that is."
"Ooh, I think you're right. Hey, maybe Takada will lose and his fears of being replaced by a Slifer will come true."
"Hey, that could be worth watching."
"Hey, Takada, if you lose, we'll tell the whole dorm!"
Takada growled, "Oh, so now that they're insulting me, they suddenly remember my name," he said under his breath. 'Still, once I crush this loser, I can move on to that Yuki kid. With the strongest duellists in Slifer Red crushed underfoot, I can move onto the Ra Yellows, then the Obelisks Blues, and then all of Duel Academia will remember the name, Takada Junjirou!'
Naruto grinned. "With friends like them, who needs enemies, huh?"
"Whatever, just shut up and start up your duel disc."
Naruto did so. He glanced at Yasuhiro, who was still looking at him in bewilderment. "Hey, Yasuhiro, mind scooting over a bit?"
Yasuhiro started, the dazed look finally disappearing. "Oh, uh, sure."
"You too, you lot!" Takada snapped at his entourage, and they moved while snickering over thoughts of him losing against a Slifer. "Prepare for the duel of your life, Uzumaki!"
"Compared to the guy's I've duelled before? This'll be a cinch."
"DUEL!"
"I'll go first, slacker!" Takada drew a card. "I set one monster face-down and call it a turn."
"Man, Takada always starts off so slow."
"It's amazing he beat that other Slifer so quickly earlier."
"That's it?" Naruto blinked. "After all that talk and that's all you've got?"
Takada sneered. "Just get on with your turn, slacker." He gave the other Obelisks a filthy look. They can say what they like about his playstyle, but none of them had ever beaten it.
"Fine; draw!" Naruto looked at his hand. 'Hmm…this can work.' "I play the spell card Ancient Telescope! This card lets me look at the top 5 cards in your deck!"
Takada scoffed. "Go for it. It won't help you."
"Whatever you say." In front of Naruto, 5 holographic cards floated in place. 'Let's see…Sangan, Pot of Greed, White Magician Pikeru, Kelbek, and Twin-Headed Behemoth…' Naruto's shoulders slumped, his eyebrows raising. 'What the heck is this deck?' The holograms vanished. "Now that I know the next card in your deck, I'll declare 'Monster card'!"
"Typical Slifer mistake," Takada chuckled, shaking his head. "See, usually when you play a card like Ancient Telescope, you keep what you learn to yourself."
Naruto laughed. "Typical arrogant jackass mistake; jumping to conclusions. See, when I declare the top card of your deck, if I'm correct, I get to special summon a certain monster from my hand."
Takada took the top card of his deck, and with a scoff revealed it. "It's Sangan."
"Since I was right, I can special summon SPYRAL Super Agent from my hand!"
#SPYRAL Super Agent—Warrior—1900/1200#
"SPYRAL Super Agent, attack his face-down monster!"
SPYRAL Super Agent ran forwards, bringing his briefcase up ready to swing.
Takada laughed as his monster was revealed. "You fool! You attacked my 4-Starred Ladybug of Doom!" A giant ladybug appeared just in time for it to get smashed to pieces. "When my Ladybug is flipped face-up, all of your level four monsters are destroyed!"
Naruto's eyes widened. "Shit! SPYRAL Super Agent is level four!" Naruto watched in irritation as his monster was destroyed. "Damn it, why can't he seem to stick around for more than two minutes lately!?"
Yasuhiro wilted, watching the duel with a dour, knowing expression. He knew it would go like this. Everything he tried to do in their duels, Takada had some way of countering him. 'I guess us Slifer's don't stand a chance after all...'
"Hahaha!" Takada threw his head back, showing his mirth to the world. "Just like a Slifer Red, whining when things don't go his way!"
Naruto scowled. "Don't get too cocky, I still haven't had my normal summon yet! I normal summon SPYRAL Quik-Fix in defence mode!" In SPYRAL Super Agent's place now sat a young-looking man with messy brown hair and thick, bottle lens glasses. He wore a white lab coat, with a blue tie, a small ear piece device, and loosely held a screwdriver in one hand.
#SPYRAL Quik-Fix—Machine—500/400#
"Not a great defence there, Slacker." Takada smirked.
"Good job he's not there for his defence points, then! When SPYRAL Quik-Fix is summoned, I can add one SPYRAL GEAR card from my deck to my hand!" Naruto fanned out his deck and took a card from it. "I set one card and end my turn!"
"My turn, draw!"
"Trap card, activate!"
"What?"
"Mind Crush! By declaring that you have a Sangan in your hand, this trap card forces you to discard all copies of it."
"Tch." Takada's new card immediately went into the graveyard. "Fine, I set one monster and two other cards and end my turn."
"Draw. I play the spell card, SPYRAL Gear—Big Red. This card lets me summon a SPYRAL monster from my graveyard by equipping it with this card. I choose SPYRAL Super Agent in attack mode!"
With a roar of an engine, SPYRAL Super Agent drove back onto the field in a red sports car.
#SPYRAL Super Agent—Warrior—1900/1200#
Yasuhiro blinked. 'It came back so quick…but Takada will just get rid of it again.'
"Since he was special summoned from the effect of a SPYRAL card, Super Agent can destroy one of your spell or trap cards!"
Leaning out of the window, Super Agent aimed his pistol at one of the cards, shooting it and destroying it, revealing it to have been a spell card.
"Now, Spyral Super Agent, attack his monster!"
As the car drove towards the face-down card, it flipped up to reveal another ladybug, before it was crushed under rubber.
"When my Skull-Mark Ladybug is sent to the graveyard, my life points increase by 1000." Takada grinned as his points increased.
#Takada—5000#
#Naruto—4000#
"I'll set one monster and one other card face-down and end my turn."
"I activate my trap card, Solemn Wishes," Takada pressed a button and the card revealed itself. "Whenever I draw a card or cards, this trap increases by life points by 500."
"Why do I feel like this is going to be a theme?" Naruto said, brow ticking.
"My turn, draw! And, thanks to my trap card…"
#Takada—5500#
#Naruto—4000#
Takada took on a pose like that of a teacher. "See, student, that was what we call a Continuous Trap card." He dropped the pose and snickered. "Since, you know, I'm pretty sure you don't know how they work! Next, I play the spell card, Pot of Greed. Guess what that means!"
"Ugh."
"Two more cards for me, and another 500 life points as well."
#Takada—6000#
#Naruto—4000#
"I'll summon Exiled Force in attack mode. Then, by tributing it, I can destroy one monster on your side of the field."
"Oh, come on!" Naruto cried as his Agent—along with the car he drove—was destroyed yet again.
'Knew it,' Yasuhiro sighed.
"And with that I'll end my turn."
"Gah, come on, give me something good!" Naruto looked at his hand, and sighed. "Urgh, this doesn't help me right now. I set a monster face-down and end my turn."
"My turn, draw—and that's more life points for me."
#Takada—6500#
#Naruto—4000#
"I summon Twin-Headed Behemoth in attack mode."
#Twin-Headed Behemoth—Dragon—1500/1200#
"Attack his first face-down monster!"
The two-headed dragon roared and blasted the monster, revealing it to be a red clad ninja.
"By attacking my Crimson Ninja, you've activated his effect! He destroys a trap card on the field!" A shuriken flew from the ninjas hand before it was engulfed by flames. The weapon pierced the hologram of the card, causing it to explode. 'Man, glad I put this card in. Ninjas are actually pretty damn cool. That booster pack Asuka-chan bought me to celebrate passing sure helped out.'
"Hm, well, that's fine, it's already served its purpose," Takada smirked, putting a hand on his waist. "This is pretty pathetic, Uzumaki. You haven't landed a hit on me."
"Neither have you, jerk," Naruto said, crossing his arms.
"Sure, but I have made my life points so high that there's no way you can beat me now."
"Heh, you underestimate how quick I can deal damage, Takada."
"Whatever, just start your turn so we can get this over sooner."
"Fine, my draw!" He looked at the card he drew, a smirk tugging on his lip. He put it in his hand. "I set a card and end my turn."
"Draw! Hah, let's see what your hiding there, Uzumaki! I play Swords of Revealing Light, revealing your face-down monster and stopping you from attacking for three whole turns."
"Oh joy, another stalling card."
"I'll never get around to that what I've got to do later, will I?"
"But hey, that Slifer's lasted longer than the other one so far."
Swords made of light appeared around Naruto's side of the field, and his face-down monster was flipped up, revealing another ninja.
"Since my Armed Ninja was flipped face-up, I can destroy one spell card on the field, and I choose Swords of Revealing Light!"
"Oh, never mind, then."
"That was quick."
"Tch," Takada grit his teeth as the blue ninja threw a kunai, piercing his spell and shattering it, causing the swords to shatter as well. "Whatever, I summon White Magician Pikeru in attack mode."
#White Magician Pikeru—Spellcaster—1200/0#
"I attack both of your monsters with Pikeru and Behemoth!"
The dragon roared and Pikeru aimed her staff, causing both SPYRAL Quik-Fix and Armed Ninja to expire.
"I end my turn."
"I activate my trap card!" Naruto grinned, pressing the button. "SPYRAL MISSION—Rescue! And hey, what do you know, it's a Continuous Trap card. Though of course, you know all about them, don't you, Takada?"
"... What does it do?"
"Glad you asked. This Continuous Trap card lets me return a SPYRAL monster from my graveyard to my hand once per turn. I'm choosing SPYRAL Super Agent!"
"Tch, it's like a cockroach. Fine, I end my turn."
"Draw! I activate SPYRAL Super Agents effect!"
"Huh, really? Now that's just being desperate, Uzumaki." Takada shook his head, smirking. "You don't even know what the top card of my deck is."
Yasuhiro stared with wide eyes. Once again, Naruto had gotten his ace monster back. It seemed like, no matter how many times it was destroyed, it would keep coming back. It really gave him a sense that, despite how often Takada knocked him down, Naruto just wasn't going to give up.
But still, to try and activate its effect without knowing for sure what the top card of Takada's deck was…what was he thinking?
"Yeah, that's true, but I have a one in three chance of getting it right. I'll take that chance rather than stand by and just let you win."
Yasuhiro gasped.
Naruto pointed at Takada. "I declare that the top card of your deck is a monster card!"
"Hm, well let's see, shall we." Takada drew a card, and the vein in his forehead convulsed. "Grr, fine, you were right." He revealed the Man-Eater Bug he just looked at.
"Nice! I summon SPYRAL Super Agent in attack mode."
#SPYRAL Super Agent—Warrior—1900/1200#
"He did it…" Yasuhiro said, finally speaking up as he stared in awe.
"Attack White Magician Pikeru!"
"Gah!" Takada raised his arm as Pikeru was destroyed, and the first damage in the duel was dealt.
#Takada—5900#
#Naruto—4000#
"Hah, take that!"
"Oh please, that was nothing. Barely even a dent in my reserves!"
"This is just the start, Takada. Now that my combo is nearly complete, this duel is mine!"
"Big time words from a small-time duellist! Draw! I set one monster face-down and end my turn." Takada smirked. 'With Man-Eater Bug and Twin-Headed Behemoth on the field, I can stall this out for as long as I need to get what I need.'
"Draw! Here we go, Takada, it's time to set up my combo! This will end the duel!"
"I'll believe it when I see it."
"Then watch and believe it! I activate the Continuous Spell card, Infected Mail! Oh! Would you look at that, a Continuous Spell card! And, what do you know, I know how to use it. As for what it does; once per turn, I can select one of my level 4 or lower monsters, and this turn it can attack your life points directly!"
"What!?"
"SPYRAL Super Agent, attack his life points directly!"
With a smirk, SPYRAL Super Agent ran towards Takada, and flipped over his defensive line, landing right next to him. Takada took a step back in shock, but he still took a briefcase to the chest.
"Gah!"
#Takada—4000#
#Naruto—4000#
The agent smirked, before dropping his briefcase and clutching his chest as his entire form glitched out. He shattered into pixels with a cry.
Naruto explained after seeing the confused looks he was getting. "After the battle phase is over, those effected by Infected Mail are sent to the graveyard. But that doesn't matter, because with SPYRAL MISSION—Rescue on the field, I can just return SPYRAL Super Agent to my hand and normal summon him!"
#SPYRAL Super Agent—Warrior—1900/1200#
"With that, my Continuous Combo is complete. I end my turn."
"Woah, I didn't think that guy had it in him."
"Yeah, from his crappy explanation in class, you'd think he didn't even know what to do with a Continuous card, Spell or otherwise."
Takada smirked as he drew a card. "Is that all, Uzumaki? Is that your game ending combo? Big whoop, so you can actually use Continuous cards after all. Bog deal! You've just forgotten one little thing! I still have more monsters than you, and I have Man-Eater Bug! Flip Summon!"
Naruto grinned, like the cat who caught the canary, it's family and friends, and had a feast. "Trap card, activate! Forced Back! When you normal or flip summon a monster, this trap card negates the summon and sends it back to your hand!"
Takada howled in anger as he was forced to return his bug. "FINE! I'll just set it again and get you next turn!"
"Draw! I activate Infected Mail again and attack with SPYRAL Super Agent!"
Once again, Takada grunted as Super Agent slammed him with his briefcase, and once again the agent shattered.
#Naruto—4000#
#Takada—2100#
"Using my trap card, Super Agent returns to my hand, and I summon him again." He normal summoned
#SPYRAL Super Agent—Warrior—1900/1200#
"I end my turn." As he said this, his SPYRAL MISSION—Rescue vanished into pixels. "During my 3rd end phase after activating this card, it is destroyed." Naruto said.
"Huh, seriously?"
"Man, he was so close, too."
"Ahahaha!" Takada through his head back, hand over his stomach as he laughed. "Perfect, that means your Super Agent won't be coming back! So much for your unbeatable combo; guess you couldn't finish me quick enough after all!" Takada swiped a card from the top of his deck. "I summon Kelbek in attack mode, and next I flip summon Man-Eater Bug!"
#Kelbek—Fairy—1500/1800#
#Man-Eater Bug—Insect—450/600#
"Since it was successfully summoned this time, Man-Eater Bug's effect lets me destroy one of your monsters, so say goodbye to your SPYRAL Super Agent; for the last time!"
SPYRAL Super Agent cried out as it was assaulted by the giant insect. Naruto grimaced at the sight.
"Now, Twin-Headed Behemoth, Kelbek, and Man-Eater Bug, all of you attack his life-points directly!"
Naruto yelled as he was buffeted by the attacks of the three monsters, grimacing as the smoke cleared.
#Takada—2100#
#Naruto—550#
"I end my turn!"
Naruto said nothing as he drew a card.
"Why don't you just end your turn, Uzumaki? There's nothing you can do in this situation!" Takada's grin nearly split his face. 'Yes! My journey to the top starts now!'
"No way…Uzumaki-san," Yasuhiro muttered, the new shine in his eyes starting to fade again. 'He was so close.'
Naruto chuckled.
'Huh?'
"What's so funny?" Takada tilted his head, squinting at his opponent. "Finally accepted your place, Slifer?"
"I'm laughing because you're so dumb." Naruto grinned, pointing at his graveyard. "See, I've already got everything I need to finish this duel off."
"Heh, alright, I'll humour you. How could you possibly get out of this on this turn?"
"By activating the effect of SPYRAL MISSION—Rescue in my graveyard!"
"What? In the graveyard?"
"That's right; my Continuous Combo ain't over yet! By removing it from play while it's in my graveyard, I can special summon a SPYRAL monster from my graveyard!"
"What!?"
"I special summon SPYRAL Super Agent in attack mode!"
Once again, the snazzy spy returned to the field, his grin as cocky as ever.
#SPYRAL Super Agent—Warrior—1900/1200#
"Is that it? So what?" Takada sneered. "Even if you attack me directly with that, I'll still have life points left, and you'll be left with nothing to defend yourself."
"Ah, ah, ah, don't get ahead of yourself." Naruto shook a finger, smirking. "I'm not done with the graveyard effects yet! Since I have SPYRAL Super Agent on the field, I can discard a card from my hand to special summon SPYRAL Quik-Fix from the graveyard." Sliding a card into the graveyard, it caused SPYRAL Quik-Fx to return to the field.
#SPYRAL Quik-Fix—Machine—500/400#
"Since I special summoned SPYRAL Quik-Fix, I can add a SPYRAL Gear card from my deck to my hand."
"Ok, so what? Even if you attack directly with Super Agent and destroy my Man-Eater Bug with Quik-Fix, you still won't do enough damage."
"Yeah, that's true. But remember, I still have a normal summon left this turn. I summon SPYRAL Gear—Drone in attack mode."
#SPYRAL GEAR – Drone—Machine—100/100#
"Now usually, I'd use my Drones effect to look at the top three cards of your deck, but I care more about its secondary effect right now. By tributing it, I can make my SPYRAL Super Agent gain 500 attack points for each card you currently control!"
Takada's mouth and eyes opened wide. "Wh—What?"
SPYRAL GEAR—Drone faded away into pixels, which gathered around Super Agent. He grew larger, as did his attack points.
#SPYRAL Super Agent—Warrior—3400/1200#
"Woah, look at that thing!"
"That's more than enough to finish Takada off!"
"Holy crap, he's actually going to lose to a Slifer Red!"
Yasuhiro's mouth fell open.
Takada's eyes twitched as he took the monster in. "W…Wait, hold on…"
"I activate Infected Mail! SPYRAL Super Agent can attack you directly this turn! Go, SPYRAL Super Agent, finish this duel!"
The super spy grinned and ran forwards, backflipping and landing behind Takada. Takada span around, only to receive a spin kick to the chest. He stumbled to the ground in shock as the damage was calculated.
#Naruto—550#
#Takada—0#
"He…he won," Yasuhiro said, whispering with a look of awe.
His words seemed to awaken the stunned Obelisks.
"Wow, he lost."
"I didn't actually expect that."
"Heh, he actually lost to Slifer trash?"
Takada, still staring at where the now vanished hologram had been, began to shake.
"Oh man, wait until everyone hears about this."
"Yeah, let's go tell everyone how Takada got his ass kicked!"
"You know, I really don't like guys like you."
"Huh?" The three Obelisks had been turning to leave, only to see Naruto standing in their way. "What did you say?"
"Takada, sure, he's a prick, can't stand him either," Naruto said, narrowing his eyes, "but guys like you are another thing. You call us Slifer's trash, but those who abandon their friends are the real trash!" He wasn't sure where the words were coming from, but Naruto found himself believing in them whole-heartedly.
"Hey, listen here you—"
"You guys want to take me on, huh?" Naruto raised his duel disc, making the three flinch much to his amusement. "Come on, I thought you Obelisk Blue guys were the real deal. You're not scared of one Slifer Red, are you?"
The three glanced between each other, and with shaky scoffs walked past him. "W-Whatever, we have things to do anyway."
"Man, mom is going to be so pissed I haven't called yet."
"I need to clean my cat."
Naruto scoffed. "Yeah, that's what I thought." He shook his head and started walking over to Yasuhiro. "Hey, Yas—"
"Uzumaki!"
Naruto paused, looking at Takada who was now on his feet and glaring at him.
"Who said I needed you to stick up for me, huh? Like I want the trash who ruined my reputation to speak on my behalf!" He clenched his fists so hard they shook.
Naruto raised a brow. "Who said I was sticking up for you? Like I would. I just hate guy's like that. Wanted to give them a piece of my mind, that's all."
Takada studied him for a moment more, before scoffing and turning around. "Whatever, but don't you think this is over. If I knew you were this skilled, I would have taken you seriously from the start. Heh, I bet you did bad on the exam on purpose so people would underestimate you for being a Slifer. No way a guy like you is actually Slifer Red level. Well I won't be fooled again! Next time, I'll treat you like an Obelisk, and show you, and everyone else, why I deserve to be the number one in Obelisk Blue!" He stormed away, yelling "Remember my name; Takada Junjirou!" as he went.
Naruto watched him leave, confusion written all over his face. "The hell was he going on about?"
"Uzumaki-san…" Yasuhiro said, getting Naruto's attention. He swallowed, took a breath, then let it out as he lost his nerve. However, it soon regained it and said, "T-Thanks, I'm glad you came…"
"Of course," Naruto said, crossing his arms behind his head and grinning, "like I was just going to leave you high and dry."
Yasuhiro gave a hesitant smile back, but it fell as he looked down. "I…I don't know why I tried standing up to them. I mean, I knew that Sumi-san wasn't going to, but…but I felt like I needed to say anything. I didn't want to be looked down on, so I spoke up." He shook his head, laughing bitterly. "They didn't like that, so they forced me to duel them over and over again. I was about to give up, any courage I got was about to fade."
Naruto stayed silent, letting him work through it without interruption.
"So, thank you for coming to help, and I'm sorry I didn't have faith in you. I thought Takada was going to destroy you. But in that duel, you kept recovering and refusing to give up. I wish I could have that kind of fortitude..."
"How many times did those guys duel you?"
"Huh? Oh, um…" He thought back a bit. "Uh, seven times? I didn't win any, though."
Naruto scoffed, but his grin took any edge away. "You duelled them seven times in a row before you were about to give up? That's pretty cool right there."
Yasuhiro's eyes widened. "B-But I was about to give up!"
"Yeah, well, just because you gave up in that situation, doesn't mean you have to give up on everything else," Naruto said, turning slightly to look at Yasuhiro from the corner of his eye. "That wasn't exactly a normal situation, you know? Even I might struggle to keep going after seven duels in a row."
"Even you, huh." Yasuhiro slumped at the wording, a disbelieving smile on his face. "Heh, yeah, maybe."
"Look, you think I was always good at this game?" Naruto turned again to look him dead in the eyes. "I'm not kidding when I say I used to suck. Big time. It took me about a year to even figure all the rules out. And that's only because someone was there to help drill it into my head." He shuddered, gaze straying to stare at nothing. "Spell speeds are evil." He shuddered again, and looked back to Yasuhiro. "Guys like Takada and those other Obelisks, they like to throw their weight around because they think their elites or some shit. If they have to act like jackasses to feel validated, then that's on them."
Yasuhiro gave a weak chuckle.
"So yeah, you might suck right now, but everyone sucks at first. Some people have people to help them suck less. Some just get it quicker than others. It really sucks, being bad at something, not feeling like you're ever gonna get better. But if you give up, then you're letting them win. You're letting every asshole who says you can't be right. You want to give Takada to satisfaction of being right?"
Yasuhiro grinned and looked away. "Well, if you put it like that."
Naruto chuckled and looked up, leaning back on his heels. "Despite what Takada said in his mad ramblings, I really did do terrible on the entrance exam. Yeah, I can admit that. I've had that drilled into my head already." He grimaced at the memory of the scolding he got from Asuka, before being forced to do extra studying. "I want to be in Obelisk Blue one day, despite the fact that it's mostly populated with assholes like Takada. You saw what happened in class today, I suck with the academic parts of this game. But I need to get better at them if I want to fulfil my goals. You might think I'm super far ahead of the rest of Slifer Red, but honestly I'm in the same boat as everyone else."
Yasuhiro's eyes widened slightly, a puff of air escaping his lips. "Ah…I never thought about it like that. I just figured you were really advanced because you duelled so well. But, you're in the same boat as us, huh…" He trailed off, giving it some serious thought. He perked up, and snapped his fingers. "I-I think I have an idea!"
"Huh?" Naruto looked back down, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"W-Well, like you said, we're both in the same boat, right? And you also said that sometimes you need someone's help to suck less. So, how about we help each other study!"
Naruto paled at the "S" word. "S-Studying, huh." He swallowed and looked away with a grimace. "W-Well, I guess I do need to study, if I want to get my grades up…"
"Of course! Like you said, Naruto-san, you can't give up, right! If you give up because you don't like studying, then you're letting them win!"
Naruto blinked, taken aback at the sudden burst of energy. "Um, well, I guess I did say something like that, huh?" He scratched the back of his head. "Well, I suppose we could do that. I hate studying, but I really do need to get into Obelisk Blue someday…"
"Yosh! Let's do it, Naruto-san!" Yasuhiro pumped his fists, a bright smile lighting up his face. "Let's show them what we can do when we don't give up!"
Naruto watched, sweating slightly, as Yasuhiro repeatedly pumped his fists on the spot. "I…I think my pep talk worked a little too well…"
"Alright! I feel rejuvenated, like a new man! You used Monster Reborn on me! This must be what my Zombie monsters feel like!"
"Er, pretty sure zombies don't feel anything…"
"Let's go, Naruto-san! Let's go study right now! We'll show Takada what Slifer Reds can do!"
"W-Woah, hey!" Naruto stumbled as Yasuhiro grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him away. "What's with this sudden change of character!? You're like a totally different person."
"You've given me hope, Naruto-san! Let's show them what we can do!"
"Agh, hey, slow down a second! Damnit, that's the last time I give a freaking pep talk!"
Chapter end
Omake
"Takada."
"Hmm?" Takada turned around to look at Naruto. "What do you want, trash?"
Naruto stood up and turned to face Takada, who flinched at the look in his eyes. "You and me."
"Huh?"
"We're gonna duel, right here, right now."
(BANG!)
"Wait, what the hell?" Takada blinked, looking around in shock.
BUHHANASE LIKE A DANGAN LINER!
"Huh?!"
RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW (BURN!)
"Where is this music coming fr—gah!" Takada crumpled to the floor as Naruto decked him in the schnozz.
"I'M A FIGHTING DREAMER, BITCH!"
Omake end
Omake #2
"Takada."
"Hmm?" Takada turned around to look at Naruto. "What do you want, trash?"
Naruto stood up and turned to face Takada, who flinched at the look in his eyes. "You and me."
"Huh?"
"We're gonna duel, right here, right now."
"Now?"
RIGHT ABOUT NOW!
"What the—" Takada frowned, looking around.
THE FUNK SOUL BROTHER
"Seriously?!"
CHECK IT OUT NOW
THE FUNK SOUL BROTHER
"What the fuck does this have to do with anime!?"
"Digimon the Movie, bitch!"
"What, that piece of garb—gah!"
"THAT MOVIE IS A FUCKING GEM, JACKASS!"
"AGH MY NOSE! IT'LL BE ONE WEEK TILL IT HEALS!"
"Really?"
"THAT'S THE IMPRESSION THAT I GET, YES!"
Omake #2 End
WELL THE YEARS START COMING AND THEY DON'T STOP COMING!
THAT'S HOW LONG IT TAKES 'TILL I START UPDATIN'!
DOESN'T MAKE SENSE NOT TO WRITE FOR FUN!
I THINK MY WRITINGS SMART BUT IT'S ACTUALLY DUMB!
Ahhh, references to a shitty anime movie dub's soundtrack (try saying that five times fast).
Seriously tho, that soundtrack is dope!
Anyway, there we have it, there's chapter three.
How was it? Did you like the duel? What do you think of Takada? Or Yasuhiro? Was this at all coherent?
u likey?
Please, lemme know!
Until next time, peace out!