LtD3
REMEMBER, DETAILS LIKE LIFE POINTS AND ATTACK POINTS ARE WRITTEN DEPENDING ON HOW THE MC VIEWS THE DUEL IN IMPORTANCE/IF HE CAN HEAR IT
I won't deny that seeing so many duel spirits was disorienting. It was quiet, seeing as they all just stared at me.
I wanted to talk to them, to see how they felt about dueling, or me using them for duels rather.
It actually placed some pressure on me. I wanted to use all of them for duels. The problem was that I, well, just wasn't good at some of them. Demise/Ruin, Gustos, World Chalice, I enjoyed their aesthetic, but I only ever lost with them.
Looking at them, you can't help but want to talk to all of them.
But I had to focus, I didn't have long until the entrance exam practical.
I walked over to the two largest groups who were in the center. All of whom I recognized, except for the ones who were in the back.
I didn't really know how to interact with them, so I could tell this would be awkward. Good thing nobody had to know how it would go.
Seeing so many teenagers in one spot was disorienting. It was loud, with the sounds from the duels ringing the loudest.
Having looked around, I spotted Manjoume alone(his trench coat thing was very noticeable), standing and watching, as well as who I assume is the Tenjoin siblings and Ryo together standing over some railings.
I saw a few students that look a little familiar from the past week dueling as well, probably including the guys who tried to start trouble. Heh, bet most of them weren't even prepared for today.
Granted, I wasn't either, but my joke stands. Rumor has it that so many students dropped out last year that the standards were being raised. The numbers vary from person to person, but the amount nonetheless makes me pretty nervous.
The entrance exam was much different from the show. Rather than just dueling an examiner(I look down at the instructions we all got to describe the exam) everyone would Duel a teacher's personal deck, as well as a few other duelists who were applying. I wasn't quite sure how things were being measured, as I saw a plain looking boy duel about five times while I saw a very short boy duel about twice. They called out the examinee numbers at random.
Really, I've just been sitting here, shuffling my deck(it was facing downwards), sometimes chatting and exchanging numbers with everyone else around me. Serena was called up and had been down for awhile. She must be on her third duel if I'm remembering right. I wish Rei could have come, if only to have someone to talk to, but I realize letting non applicants come in would make things even more crowded.
Not many students here beat the teachers testing us, but I counted about a handful or so that did. Serena, the plain boy I'm assuming is Misawa due to the undead deck, a boy with purple hair, a girl with blondish hair, and trench coat (probably) Manjoume.
"Hoh~ all these duels are making me fired up! Please call me next please call me next!"
That voice...no way. I look over to see a boy in a red hoodie with the letter H on it.
Yup. That was Yuki Judai.
Even his reaction was different from everyone else. Everyone was either dreading their soon to be turn, dreading their turn, or waiting quietly like me.
I don't mix well with someone so energetic. But he was fun to observe given all his squirming.
"Why don't you sit and save your energy?"
...Is what I would say if Judai wasn't a freak genius at dueling. Besides, I'm terrible at talking to people, if I could, I'd be listening to music on my headphones to unwind.
"Will Examinee 300 enter Area 2B. I repe-" without waiting for them to finish his face lit up and he went down to his area.
Huh, not even a minute into meeting him and he's called up. Guess he's getting the duels he wanted already. I look over to the exam area and see a man with a ponytail. Poor guy really is destined to duel Chronos it seems.
"Good luck RedJacket!" I shout out at a last minute since he might actually need it. His hand raised up in acknowledgement as he rushed down to the duel area.
I wonder what type of deck Judai uses. I assume it's some variation of Heroes since that's a constant through the media on my world.
Unfortunately this isn't like the anime where observers have godlike ears and can hear the duels from afar. My normal ears can't catch anything from this distance.
All students are to take the first turn, as such Judai uses it to...summon Air Hummingbird and gain half of his life points.
That's unexpected and amazing. A sentiment shared by everyone else watching his duel though for different reasons. I could vaguely make out the words. 'What's that card? It has to be rare right?' 'Incredible. He just got a massive advantage straight out!'
Judai slapped down two face downs before Chronos took his turn. He slapped down some face downs of his own and brought out Antique Gear Wyvern. He added a card to his hand, though I couldn't tell you what it was.
Air Hummingbird was destroyed and one of Judai's traps was revealed to be the Neo spacian signal card, and he brought out GrandMole.
Now that it was Judai's turn, he brought out Neos Space Connector and brought out Neos in defense mode before promptly activating a contact fusion and bringing out the drill using Neos. He returned wyvern to the hand and attacked, leaving Chronos with like 700 life points or something.
I'll be honest, this was a pretty cutthroat move.
He activated his face down, Take Over 5, and sent the cards at the top of his deck to the grave.
Chronos looked more impressed then mad to be honest. But as his turn came by, he proved why he was the teacher in charge of the Obelisks. He activated a trap card that didn't do anything yet it seems. He summoned Antique Gear Hound Dog and hit Judai twice, I think due to the trap card he dealt 1200 damage instead of 600. He then activated the dog's effect and summoned Howlitzer in defense, then dealing 2000 damage. He activated a spell card that blew up Howlitzer then activated a second one that destroyed his trap and summoned an Antique Gear Golem.
He attacked Neo Space Connector, leaving Judai with 1100 life points.
Wow. If it wasn't for Hummingbird he would have just lost.
The awed audience started to write off Judai and talk about how crazy good Chronos was.
I didn't.
I'm more curious as to see how he could win, or even stall. He still has more than a few cards in his hand, plus a draw phrase and an extra card(s) in Take Over 5.
He drew his two cards, then activated a spell card that brought a spell from the graveyard, and brought out what revealed itself to be Convert Contact. After sending some Neo Spacians to the graveyard and drawing, he activated Miracle Contact.
He summoned Nebula Neos, drawing a card and negating Golem's effects, and then proceeded to summon Elemental Hero Prisma and use his effect.
I wondered what Fusion he would bring out with Prisma, but my thoughts were cut off, as rather than send a Neos, or a Neo Spacian, he sent a blue warrior.
He activated Fusion, and brought out The Earth.
Well looks like we have-
Nebula Nero was absorbed by the other monster, with the added attack points it left The Earth free to attack Chronos.
-a winner.
This was...interesting. Judai already has the Neo Spacians, but he's also using Heroes, notably The Earth.
Still, duels were harsh. 4000 was surprisingly easy to whittle down, especially for the higher tiered duelists. It's no wonder action cards were created to make duels last longer.
I will repeat that until the end of my days. Gimme my casual 8000 no action cards any day over this 4000 bullsh-
"Will Examinee 8 enter Area 1A. I repea-" FUCK I'M NEXT!
N-no. Gotta calm down. Too much adrenaline will screw with me. I'll be fine(hopefully). It's not as if I have to win. Just put on a good show.
Not that I'm any good at that either, but putting on a fight is possible. I already hate losing, so as long as I try not to lose I should be fine.
Probably.
Hopefully.
…
Well, worst comes to worst, I'm using the cheapest cards that I like for this.
I stiffly walked down, focusing on my breathing on the way. A few examinees that were sitting with me(some said they recognized me from my practice duels, which I honestly didn't appreciate) wished me good luck. I felt bad for not recognizing any of them in the slightest, but I was always bad at memorizing people at first.
I was mostly trying to get the twisting sensation in my stomach under control. It had been easier dealing with this nervousness with the other duels. They had no stakes and I was new to dueling, so no reason to be ashamed of losing even if I didn't want to. But this was a duel with a part of my future on the line. I didn't want to beg Mokuba-san to just slip me in the system. That would just piss off anyone who finds out, plus I'd lose what little respect Kaiba has for me.
Though that's what I felt before I knew we were going to duel actually competent and not holding back adults. Ugh. I think I'm gonna throw up.
I slipped on my golden duel disk over my left arm and laid it over a counter in front of the area door. The orb flashed a rainbow and my profile information appeared on screen before the door opened up.
My gut twisted even further as I recognized the teacher.
Hibiki Midori.
A champion and a really dangerous duelist.
She gave what I assume is a comforting smile, no doubt seeing the same realization in me that others she faced today had.
Oh this was going to be horrible. The one duel she had that was published on my world had her in clear control and dominance and would have won if not for her brother being used against her. Her recorded duels on this world were equally as dominant.
"Don't worry Shiki-kun. You don't have to win, and I'm not completely going all out either."
I swallowed my saliva.
"Let's just get this over with." I force out. My gut was really twisting and it was not helping me talk. Even focusing on breathing in and out didn't help.
She looked like she understood and got her duel disk out.
""Duel!""
"I'll start this duel off by activating Dark Contract with the Entities and Darj Contract with the Swamp King. These two continuous spell cards can only activate their effects once per turn, and both deal effect damage to me during my next standby phase. The amount of damage is 2000 and 1000 respectively."
"Hoh?" She raised a calm eyebrow at my information.
My two continuous spells' holograms stood straight.
"I activate Dark Contract with the Swamp King, allowing me to Fusion summon a Fiend-Type Monster. I fuse D/D Night Howling and D/D Swirl Slime from my hand! Arcane Slime that engulfs all, take in this loyal Hellhound and give rise to a burning ruler! Yugo Shoukan! The Demon King who Hails over Fire! D/D/D Rekka-ō Temujin!"(2000 atk/ 1500 def)
"Fusing without a fusion card, and it stays on the field too...but the price is quite costly..." I somewhat heard her muttering aloud to herself.
"Now Dark Contract with the Entities activates. Because I summoned a fusion monster I now gain 1000 life points. As depending on the type of monster I summon to field, it activates one of its effects." (Me-4000→5000) showed on my duel disk.
"Interesting…so the other card helps mitigate the risks behind the costs of those dark contracts." She said aloud.
I looked at my remaining cards...this would only work if she attacks, but I'm willing to bet on this risk.
"Turn end."
"A fusion monster so early? Are you sure you want to try and put me on the defensive like this Shiki-kun? Especially with those continuous spells? 2000 attack is not very high for a strategy like that. As you know, it won't be very hard for me to counter that in some fashion." Hibiki-san said while drawing.
I shrugged. "There's no victory without risks. As a duelist, banking on those risks to win is obvious." I tried to say calmly while trying to ignore my gut. Sure I could've started out harder, using Swirl Slime and then Swamp King, but no point in starting out so ruthless. Wasn't my style anyways. Duels shouldn't be incredibly one sided, there's a reason I use cards like Duel and Card of Sanctity outside of draw power for myself.
"I see. Well, as your examiner, I'll test those guts of yours!" Please don't remind me of my gut. "I activate Graceful Charity, as you know, I now draw three cards and discard two cards from my hand. Now I activate the effect of Fallen Angel Amdusias in my hand, allowing me to add back my trap card Fallen Angel Bewitchment at the cost of Amdusias and Edeh Arae." Odd, why would she discard a trap card? Is it because she's not taking this too seriously, or is there a plan?
"Now I activate Ordination Platform of the Fallen Angels, allowing me to special summon Superbia in defense mode(2900/2400)." The...winged looking thing plopped down. I honestly had no idea what that was supposed to be either. But I did know it was no good due to its effect, which would activate due to being sent to the GY by graceful charity. "Superbia's special effect allows me to special summon a Fairy-Type monster from the graveyard, and I choose Edeh Arae(2300/2000)!" The horned fellow flew down in attack mode.
"Battle! Edeh Arae attack Rekka-ō Temujin!"
I felt some tension relieve. "I activate a monster effect from my hand! Because you declared attack, I discard D/D Savant Einstein in order to set and activate a trap card from my hand! That card is Lease Laundering! It destroys all Contract Cards on my field, whilst giving me 1000 life points and a new card each. As such, that's 2000 life points and two draws!" (Rai:5000→7000)
The attack went through, destroying Temujin. "Temujin's effect activates, allowing me to add a Contract from my graveyard to my hand, and I choose Swamp King." (Rai-7000→5700)
"I see, so by bringing out a fusion monster in attack like that, you were betting that I would attack, allowing you to add two cards and more life points. Quite a bold move, but I respect it." She said with a smile. Now I was feeling relieved. "Had I realized you intended on raising your life points so much, I wouldn't have gone so easy on you. I'll place two cards face down and end my turn." Annnnd the nervousness was back.
"Ore no turn!" I look at the drawn card to see D/D Lilith. I tap on the sphere of my duel disk and give my GY a quick search to decide my next move. "I activate Swirl Slime's effect. By banishing it in my graveyard, I can special summon a D/D monster in my hand. I choose D/D Lilith in defense mode! Lilith's effect allows me to add a D/D monster from the graveyard to my hand, and I choose to both add and summon Night Howling. With his effect, I special summon a D/D monster in my Grave, but it's effects are negated and it's attack and defense are 0, and if it's destroyed I take 1000 damage. Rise up Savant Einstein!"
I look over to her trap cards. If I'm remembering right, one of them at least has the ability to switch attack targets, so I need a hard hitter.
"I tune the Level 3 tuner Night Howling and the Level 5 Savant Einstein!"
Hibiki-san showed her surprise. "A synchro monster!?"
"Bloodstained warrior, raise your blade and assert your dominance! Synchro Shoukan! Level 8! D/D/D Juketsu-ō Siegfried!" (2800/2200)
"Incredible. That's no simple synchro monster." She recognized to herself.
"But I'm not ending there! I activate Dark Contract with the Hellgate, allowing me to add one D/D monster to my hand from my deck, and Dark Contract with the Swamp King." I add and reveal Ghost. "I use Contract with the Swamp King once more, fusing Ghost in my hand and Lilith on my field! Vamp of the Night, merge together with the Fiendish Specter and give way to a Warrior of God! Yugo Shoukan! Arrive, Defender who wields Light and Darkness! D/D/D Shintaku-ō d'Arc!" (2800/2000)
"Bringing out two 2800 attack monsters... I again see why you brought out Temujin, as its effect also helped ensure a second fusion should I have destroyed the card myself. But still, leading into a synchro and then a fusion like that in one turn, very impressive." She murmured.
"I attack Edeh Arae with Siegfried! Bloody Slice!"
"I activate my trap card, Heaven's Judgement! I send a Fairy monster of the same level as Siegfried from my deck to the Graveyard in order to destroy him." I react instinctively without thought the moment I heard her say trap card.
"Siegfried's effect activates! During either player's turn I can target a spell or tap that's face up and negate it's effects - I negate your trap card and allow my attack to fall through!"
A snap prevented that. "Trap card activate: Dark Mist! I send a Fallen Angel of the same level as your attacking monster and prevent your attack."
I frown at that. "Well in that case. d'Arc, attack Superbia!" I decided getting rid of those 2900 attack points would be better. Don't want to let Siegfried or d'Arc be destroyed. At least I got rid of both traps and kept a weaker monster on her side.
"Prepare yourself, the real duel starts now! I activate Banishment of the Fallen Angels, allowing me to add one to my hand. I add Fallen Angel Desire and use the effect of Fallen Angel Ixchel in my hand to discard her and Desire, adding two cards to my hand." I can already feel the headache coming. Desire, unless it was different here, can send monsters to the GY for the price of 1000. But she likely doesn't want to lose too many attack points, I still had Swamp King and she knew it was troublesome. "Because I now have more than four dark monsters in the graveyard, I can tribute Edeh Arae for my Level 8 Fallen Angel Zerato(2800/2300)! I now activate his effect, I discard the Fallen Angel Marie and destroy all monsters you control."
"Shit!" I mutter to myself while covering my face. "Siegfried's effect activates, I now gain 1000 life points each for all Contract cards I control when he's destroyed!" (5700→7700) That was close...I got so panicked I almost forgot that.
"This still leaves you wide open for an attack!"
"Gah!" (Rai:7700→4900) Holy shit, even if it didn't actually have a body to hit me that was scary as fuck.
"I set one card face down and end my turn. And by banishing the highest level Fallen Angel in my graveyard, Darklord Ixchel, I prevent Zerato from destroying itself during the turn it activates this effect." Oh great. Well, I think this explains why she sent Amduscias to the grave.
"My draw." I mutter, wincing as my life points take a hit without d'Arc to help. (Rai:4900→2900) "Uh, just for the record, d'Arc's effect was meant to negate effect damage and make me gain it instead." I say that hoping it would help show I wasn't being completely reckless. But - "Well, anyways, I use Hellgate's effect, adding D/D/D Rebel King Leonidas to my hand. Now I activate Contract with the Yamimakai, I place Savant Einstein into the Pendulum Zone from my Extra Deck," I ignored her surprise at it being a pendulum monster, "now I activate his effect, returning it to my hand in exchange for being unable to use that pendulum zone for the rest of the turn."
I looked at my cards and again in my graveyard, I wasn't sure if this was the best move but...wait, I don't need to use Einstein, Swamp King can use the graveyard! "I use Swamp King to fuse Rebel King Leonidas in my hand and Ghost in my Graveyard!"
"Graveyard!? Not Einstein, but Ghost!?"
"That's right! Swamp King allows me to banish monsters from the graveyard because I'm summoning a D/D monster! Unrelenting Warrior, join with the lone Specter and give rise to the Dragonslaying Hero! Fusion Summon! Kokuryū-ō Beowulf(3000/2500)!"
I wasn't really liking this situation, not any damage towards her and the only reason I'm still kicking is because I gained a shitton of LP. Even whittling her down is hard. Good thing I decided not to hold back on my summoning.
"Now Ghost's effect kicks in, when he's banished, I can send a card from the banished zone to the graveyard, so I'll bring back Swirl Slime. Now, Beowulf, attack Zerato with your Dragonbane Slash!"
(Hibiki:4000→3800)
Geez.
200 damage...
This is not good at all...still, I'll give it my best, I did promise Serena...as such, rather than just react like I usually do, I'll keep an eye out and try to predict what's next.
She didn't use that trap card, so thank god for that, but my paranoia tells me I won't like what it does. I didn't want to aim for mutual destruction regardless, so I didn't bring out Temujin or d'Arc. Still, I'm super fucked if I don't get rid of my Contracts.
"My draw! Fallen Angel Marie's effect activates, raising my life points by 200,"(Hibiki:3800→4000) oh you got to be fucking with me. I can't believe I forgot that. Back to square zero. "I activate Heaven's Lost Property, now we draw three cards and discard two cards."
I looked at my hand. Card of Sanctity, Einstein, Contract Change, Dimension Drape, Pandora and Chaos King Apocalypse.
Einstein and Contract Change go hand in hand, Card of Sanctity was a double edged sword, Apocalypse would come in handy for getting rid of the Contracts, Dimension Drape is pretty useful for keeping both Apocalypse and Beowulf. Well, I doubt Dimension Drape would be that useful since Einstein needs her to attack, and she might have a destruction or take control of my monsters, and Contract Change would save my LP if she summons back Zerato or uses any other weird effect. I think Apocalypse works in the GY as well, so Dimension Drapes and Apocalypse it is. Card of sanctity could still work as a last resort. That being said, my dumbass was done for if she takes out any lifepoints.
"Now I activate Disgraceful Charity, we now add the cards we discarded back to our hands." Oh. Well so much for all that thought.
"I activate Ordination Platform of the Fallen Angels and bring back Amduscias, and with his effect, by paying 1000 life points I can use that spell card effect once more!" (Hibiki:4000→3000)Fuck. I can already see the desolation in my future. "I bring back Superbia and Zerato!" The three very intimidating fellows glared down at me.
Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck please don't have a monster in the hand.
"I set two cards, now I sacrifice Superbia and Zerato to advance summon Fallen Angel Lucifer(3000/3000)!" Hoo boy. Not what I expected. Good thing I didn't summon Apocalypse yet given this ones effect.
"With his effect, I can special summon one Fallen Angel from my deck, and I choose Fallen Angel Tezcatlipoca(2800/2100)!" This was getting more and more intimidating, but hopefully Einstein can save my ass. "Lucifer has a secondary effect, allowing my to send three cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard, and I gain 500 life points for each Fallen Angel sent to the graveyard. And it seems to be my lucky day as I gain 1000." (Hibiki:3000→4000) Oh perfect. Full health again.
"Now, Fallen Angel Lucifer, attack Beowulf!"
"Forget it! I activate Einstein's effect once more, only this time I use the trap card Dimension Drapes, preventing my monsters from being destroyed!"
She simply smiled at her monster's destruction. "I suppose-"
"Before you end your turn I use Chaos King Apocalypses effect from my hand, by destroying two of my Contracts, I can special summon him, so I destroy Yaminakai and Hellgate!" I rush out my words from having waited too long.
"Tripping over your words are you?" she said nearly laughing. "It seems you've survived another turn. But I warn you now, if you don't win here, I'll finish this when I draw. While Lucifer is in the graveyard, I can banish two level five or higher Fallen Angels to special summon him from the graveyard during my standby phase."
That's ominous. But also helpful.
"My draw, first I activate Beowulf's effect-"
"I activate Fallen Angel of Godhood! By sending a level 5 or higher Fallen Angel from my deck to the Graveyard, your monsters effect is negated and I gain life points equal to its attack!" (Hibiki:4000→7000)
Oh come on! Well, I suppose that's karma for you.
Well let's see, she has Amduscias, the weirdly named one, one trap card, and two graveyard effects. She'll definitely use her two 1000 cost effects, or at least I intend on making her use them.
I'm sure I can rule one of the effects as being used to bring Superbia and one other monster out. She banished the sexy one already, so I won't have to worry about her using a spell or trap later on.
I look at the card I drew and one other card. Card of Sanctity. Earlier I was almost hoping I'd never draw it, despite having two copies in this deck. But that was before I knew I was dueling this woman, and before I was losing. This is my last chance anyways, so using it this turn is just fine.
"I set two cards facedown and activate Cards of Sanctity!"
With my hand reset I have loads of options. Well, more than before anyways.
I had to win. I'm not losing. And there's no way I'm not joining that small list of awesome winners. So what if she has 7000 life points? I'll bring her down now!
Hopefully.
"It's not over till it's over!"
I won't bother trying to stall. I either win now, or lose now.
"I activate my set spell card D/D Contract Reborn! I send Contract with the Swamp King to the graveyard and special summon Juketsu-ō Siegfried! Return my red stained warrior!" My spell card vanished in a glow and out came Siegfried from the ground.
"I activate Amduscias's effect, I pay 1000 life points to activate Fallen Angel of Tempation and take control of Siegfried!" (Hibiki:7000→6000)
Damn! And with Siegfried's effect she can negate my Contract Cards, I need to trick her into using it...the faster it's no longer a variable the easier it is for me.
"First I discard Savant Newton, his effect allows me to bring back a Contracts card, and I choose and activate Contract with the Entities." No dice yet huh. "I set the scales in my favor with the Scale 1 D/D Savant Galilei and the Scale 10 D/D Savant Kepler!" With the two glowing pillars behind me I began my offensive. "My current scales allow me to special summon monsters between the levels 2 and 9. Demons from another Dimension, test the boundaries of Space and Time and break the limits of our Potential! D/D Brownie, D/D/D Supersight King Zero Maxwell(2800/2500), and D/D Savant Copernicus!"
"But don't get too used to them, because I tune the Level 3 Tuner D/D Brownie and Level 4 D/D Savant Copernicus! Conquer the World with the Swiftness and Ferocity of the wind! Synchro Summon! Level 7! D/D/D Shippū-ō Alexander(2500/2000)!"
"Now Contract with the Entities activates, making Alexander immune to card effects!"
"Not if Siegfried negates it!" Hibiki-san replied stopping that.
Aha! She took it!
Okay! Just need some monsters with attack around 3000! Then I can take out those monsters.
Or not, now that I think about it having more monster's would just screw me if I'm not careful enough to win now. I really need to finish this in a decisive blow.
"I activate the spell card D/D/D Advance! By discarding one card, I can return my D/D/D monster's back to the extra deck from my GY, then summon an equal number of monsters from the extra deck. However, they must be the same type, attribute, and card type. So I'll return Temujin to summon Rekka Dai-ō Temujin(2800/2400)!"
I have a full field, but until I get rid of the other monster's effect, I can't be sure I've won. I'd rather not use Alexander's effect seeing as I can barely remember what's in my graveyard, and I'd rather not take too long to plan everything.
I need...something else. Something where I can force her to use her traps and still have room for more options.
"This legion is yours to command." An interaction from not too long ago came to mind.
Kings and Demons from another dimension huh? It's not like I can hide it, an aesthetic like that hits me pretty hard. Though I don't see why anyone would want to hide it.
Alright then. Let's seal this with a handshake.
With overwhelming power, let's rage with all our hearts. When there's a wall, tear it down- when there's an enemy, crush em and make them submit. In return, I'll do my damn best to watch your glory.
With no hesitation, show me how demons from another dimension conquer and grow.
Show me, why there's no reason to fear.
An image came to mind...a king that was looked over, a demon of a different element, a card that gives options when there are none...this could work.
"With the Level 7 Chaos King Apocalypse and Level 7 Shippū-ō Alexander I set the Overlay Network!"
"Now Xyz summon!" My hopefully soon to be teacher said, probably alongside the crowd. I couldn't resist looking at the crowd and her face(both things I was very pointedly trying to ignore this whole time for the sake of my stomach, not that staring up at giant menacing creatures wasn't any better), so many wide eyes and dropped jaws. It would have made me smile if I didn't want to weeb out right now.
"O Wise Emperor, rise up and begin a legacy of virtue for God! XYZ summon! Rank 7! Zenryōna-ō Constantine!" (Rank 7 – 2900/1400 - Light - Fiend) An imposing white armored figure descended from black space, he almost looked like a bust if not for the green highlights. "Not only that, but Temujin special summons a monster in my Graveyard because a D/D monster was summoned, so I'll bring back d'Arc. Now I activate Constantine's effect! When I detach an Overlay unit, I can activate a Contract Card straight from my deck, but it is sent to the GY at the end of the turn and I take 2000 damage! I choose Deceitful Contract with the War Deity. I activate it, raising Beowulf's attack and lowering Siegfried's attack both by 1000!"
Either way, I'll fail or succeed spectacularly! But preferably, I'd like to win!
"First! Beowulf bring down Siegfried!" (Hibiki:6000→4800)
"Second! Maxwell attack Amduscias! And with his effect, Amduscias's defense is lowered to 0 and Maxwell deals piercing damage!"(Hibiki:4800→2000)
"Third! Constantine attack her last monster!" I hope my attempt to avoid saying it's last name was missable.
"I activate Tezcatlipoca's effect in order to copy Ordination Platform of the Fallen Angels, summoning both Superbia(2900/2400) in defense and Desire(3000/2800) inn attack mode!" (2000→900)
No good... Desire has too many attack points to get through conventionally. But it's a good thing I still have an Overlay material to use right now.
"I can still use Constantine's effect! I detach his last Overlay Material and activate Contract with the Valkyrie! This new Contract activates by sending a D/D or Contract card to the GY, and then destroys one card on your field! I send the Deceitful Contract away and destroy Desire!
"Tch. What a useful Monster!"
"Fourth! d'Arc attack Superbia!" The saintly-ish demon cut apart the fallen angel.
"Now Fifth! Temujin!" The last monster flew towards Hibiki-san, who snapped and activated her set card.
"Fallen Angel Descent! By paying half my life points I special summon as many monsters as I can that are the same level of one of your own!"
I grin. "Temujin's effect activates! Because it's my turn, I can negate one spell or trap card that's activated! Yoshaa!"
(Hibiki:900→0)
Rai wins! Woohoo!
Hibiki-san looked stunned for a second before composing herself with a smile. She clapped and congratulated me.
I held my stomach with my right arm and keel over a bit. Ooh. Even while hearing people cheer for me feels nice, it doesn't take away my anxiety.
I shake. I did a good job blocking them out, but now I just want to go home and watch anime and listen to music now that this is over.
Can't though.
"That was a fine duel Shiki-kun. Now, despite having won, we still need to observe your skills further to place you in the best suiting dorm, as such we'll be sending a new opponent down soon after some deliberation, would you like to rest? Or, if you really don't want to duel more, you can stop, but you will lose your chance to become an Obelisk, or Ra if your theoretical score is low." I wonder if I was that obvious on being tired or if she's just offering the obvious.
"U-um. I guess, uh, not?" Best to rip the bandaid off I guess.
She looked at me with that look I've seen most women in my life give me at one point or another. The one that said "It's yes or no."
"I mean- No, I'm fine with dueling more right now."
She lost the look and smiled. "Good luck for your next few duels. Though if you asked me you're a shoo in for Ra if you really don't want to duel any further."
I smile and she walks out, leaving me with my thoughts.
Christ that was hard. I don't know how I won still.
I need a video of what happened, if only to figure out what the hell I was doing.
Still, I looked out to the stands. As nervous as it made me, it was great hearing them cheer for me when I won. Maybe one day my guts will not twist at listening to any cheers during the duel.
I shake my head and get my D/D/D deck and start shuffling it with my hands, mostly to waste time more than anything.
I give a small look at my extra deck, seeing the new Rank 7 monster. Though 'new' isn't quite right. I noticed him in the background of the D/D/D monsters. Even before today, he's the only one of them that I managed to get approval from, so I wasn't surprised that he came to my help.
I lean against one of the walls and think about how many times I should duel. I would like to duel and get a better evaluation, but I really just want to go home and sleep. Not out of laziness, but because I feel exhausted.
Also, I made the mistake of starting a new anime and I prefer to binge whenever possible. I won't lie, that's a pretty bad habit of-
"You!"
Yeah-wait what?
Me?
I look over from where I'm leaning. He had razzled brown spiky hair and a big build, not large or fat, just big. He had some black spots under his eyes too making him look even more horrible.
"Do I know you?"
"Wha-! We dueled each other last week!"
I hummed. "Well, if you say we did, I believe you. Who won?"
"Damnit don't get cocky just cuz you won when I was going easy on you! This time I'm being serious from the start!"
Jeez, so temperamental. It was just a simple question. I dueled more than a few dozen people in the past week, how could I remember them all?
I slap my deck in, "Well, I just want to go home, let's get started." I finished saying walking to my end of the dueling field.
"I'm paying you back for all the damn trouble you gave me when you won! Prepare to be crushed!"
I roll my eyes. I recognize him a little more now. Overreaction much? Just because I posted the duel(and what happened before it) online and you got trashed for being an asshole doesn't mean I'm to blame.
Well, technically I am. But it wouldn't have happened if you were a better human being.
Whatever.
""Duel!""
"I'll set one card and activate Hand Destruction! Now we both discard our hand and add cards back equal to the original amount!"
Doesn't he get tired shouting so angrily? He acts as if I showed him pictures of his mother being a whore or something.
"Now I activate Thunder Dragon Fusion, returning some of the monsters I discarded to my deck in order to summon a fusion monster! Gathering clouds, form together and strike with fury! Fusion Summon! Destroy everything, Thunder Dragon Colossus(2600/2400)!" The same monster as before growled with the same unnaturalness as, well, before.
"Now I activate the effect of Mithra the Thunder Vassal, special summoning it to my field and one Vassal token to yours in defense mode. And because of Mithra, I can tribute it to Summon Thunder Dragon Beast(2400/0)!"
"Now I activate Thunder Gathering, I have two Thunder-Type monsters on the field, so I draw two cards, but at the cost of no longer drawing this turn. I then activate Level Thunder! You take 100 damage for the combined levels of my monster's! So that's 1400 damage! Take this slacker!"
I raise my golden duel disk to block the thunder. That was admittedly impressive. Very aggressive too, looks like he learned his lesson. (Rai - 4000→2600)
"I set two cards face down and end my turn. It's the end for you slacker." He ended with a smug face.
I see he learned the folly of allowing his opponent too much of a chance to fight back.
In that case, I'll do the same. Unlike with Midori-san, I will crush his plays completely and apathetically. It's not my style to not allow my opponent a fighting chance, but I'll make an exception this time.
Unless I'm able to take things easy, in which case no point in not having fun.
"I'll admit Rado, you're different from before, you learned your lesson on not taking an opponent seriously. Here's lesson two, it's not over till it's over!"
"Damnit my name is-"
"I start off by placing D/D Orthros in my pendulum zone!"
"D-D/D? Who are you!? How do you have those cards!?"
I raised an eyebrow, far as I know D/D monster's aren't actually in circulation at all.
Then I heard Minerva whisper to me in the first time in forever in the real world.
"Please remember, there are many duel monsters who will pull others from your world. Not just my clan. You needn't worry, while those dragons are not kind, they will not attack you physically either."
Oh yeah. Well, both of those sentences are helpful.
I ignore his words once more. If he was smart, he'd realize it pretty quickly.
"Now I set my remaining cards and activate Cards of Demise, I draw five cards, and in five turns, I discard my whole hand at that time."
I check out my new hand and his monster's. That unkillable dragon will be an annoyance. As will his trap cards, no doubt taking advantage of his Fusion monster's effect. I can assume one will be an effect that activates during battle, and the other to intercept my plays.
"I complete my scale with the Scale 8 D/D Savant Dirac! Now, I can pendulum summon monsters between the Levels 3 and 8! Come to me! Savant Copernicus, Savant Schrodinger, Supersight King Zero Maxwell!"
"Copernicus's effect activates, allowing me to send Contract with the Yamimakai to the Graveyard. Now I tribute Maxwell to summon D/D Vice Typhon. And his effect lets me tribute himself to special Summon a Level 7 D/D/D monster from my deck, and I choose Dragon King Pendragon(2600/2400)!"
As the large monster flew in, I considered my fusion options, and my spells and traps.
"I activate Vice Typhons effect, banishing him and Maxwell to Fusion Summon from the graveyard! Demons of another dimension, swirl together from the grave and bring forth a new demon! Fusion Summon! Come forth, D/D/D Dotō Kaichi-ō Caesar Ragnarock(3200/3000)!"
He paled at the monstrous fiend glaring down at him.
Hm, if I hit Beast, he can summon another monster, but if I hit Colossus, he stays on the field...seems an obvious enough decision.
"Now I activate Deceiful Contract with the War Deity, I now lower your Thunder Dragon Beast's attack and raise Caesar's by 1000 each! Now I attack your...Thunder Dragon Beast! And with Caesar's effect I send my Contract to the graveyard and attach your Colossus to Caesar as an equip card, adding his attack to Caesars!" (Caesar-4200 → 6800 attack)
He choked. "I-I activate my trap card, Defense Draw! And you know what it does! Plus I activate my other trap card Thunder Dragon Discharge, which destroys a card on your field when a Thunder dragon is summoned, so I can destroy that equipped Thunder Dragon by banishing a thunder monster in my deck."
Not bad for a copycat move. (Caesar-3200) Of course, I also note that he's holding back information on that trap card, smart move, if a bit dickish.
"Nice job surviving the first onslaught, but this ain't over by a long shot. I attack your Origin Thunder Dragon with Pendragon. The large dragon demon destroyed the child sized sphere/egg with a stomp. "Before I end my turn, I'll activate the set spell Inheritance, banishing one of my Xyz D/D/D monster's in the extra deck to draw three cards, and I set one card facedown."
"My draw! I special summon Aeon Thunder Dragon(2800/0) by banishing Thunder Dragon Beast and Mithra, come my two headed Thunder Dragon! And now Discharge gets rid of another one of those set cards, I choose the card in the far right!"
I grin. My lucky day. "I activate that card in return, it's Energy Drain! Your Aeon Thunder Dragon's attack is now 0 and I draw one card!"
He looked incredibly appalled at that move. Well, I would be too, this card was incredibly cheap. It's usually kept with my Metalphosis and Invoked Prophecy decks, but I brought it out with the D/D's because I liked the draw effect and it would help with the overkill. Can't be too careful today of all days.
He growled, like his Colossus. "I activate another Thunder Dragon Fusion, gathering clouds, merge your energy and summon a great beast! Fusion Summon! Thunder Dragon Titan(3200/3200)!"
A literal bolt of lightning shot down and out came a dragon.
"I activate Origin Thunder Dragon's effect from my hand, my Titan gains 500 attack, and because of Titan's effect I can destroy your monsters! Say goodbye to your Caesar! Now Titan, attack Pendragon!"
"I activate Savant Schrodinger's effect, all battle damage is 0 now."
Heh. I almost wanted to taunt him about why he didn't activate his trap again, but I resisted, knowing Titan would be hard to beat.
"Tch. I set three cards face down."
"Ore no turn. I -"
"I activate my trap card Thunder of Ruler, skipping your battle phase! When my turn comes you're dead!"
I roll my eyes. Too early to celebrate. I still have a good set up for a good play.
I'll end this quickly. Those unkillable Thunder dragons are a pain in the ass.
Those trap cards are likely to help activate a combo to destroy my field.
Option A. One or both of those cards are destruction cards, like torrential tribute, destroying all cards aside that dragon as a result.
Option B. One or both are battle phase traps. Like mirror force.
Option C. A resurrection, on the off chance I can destroy that dragon.
Option D. A mix of options.
"I discard Savant Newton to bring back Deceitful Contract with the War Deities. Before I place it down and activate it, I activate Contract with the Eternal Darkness! Because I have two pendulum zones filled you can't target my monsters with spells or traps, nor will you be able to fusion summon. I also activate Contract with the Hellgate, in order to add Night Howling. I summon him, but I won't activate his effect. Instead I'll play this card! Harmonic Synchro Fusion! I target Night Howling and Copernicus, and I can now synchro summon and fusion summon using those two as materials. Come forth in defense mode! Alexander! d'Arc!"
The two level 7 monster's appeared in a swirl of light.
"Alexander's effect activates due to d'Arc's summon, and brings Night Howling in defense mode!"
With a pair of menacing monsters, he realized he was once more, in a bad position. But the realization that I couldn't attack seemed to regain some confidence unfortunately.
"I set two cards, and end my turn."
"Draw!" He looked down at his small hand before nodding. "I activate Lightning Crash! It lets me add one Thunder monster to my hand, and I choose Origin Thunder Dragon. I activate this combo once more, destroying d'Arc with Titan's effect, and attacking Alexander!"
I almost shake my head. "I activate Dimension Drape, my monsters cannot be destroyed now."
He growled. "Punk! I set one card and end my turn."
"Heh! Because of d'Arc my contract cards make me gain life points!" (Rai - 2600→4600) "I now tune the Level 3 Howling with the Level 7 d'Arc! Witness the Conqueror of the World and his terrifying Gales! Synchro Summon! Level 10! Hayate-Daiō Alexander(3000/2500)! And because of Shippū-ō I can summon back Howling, then d'Arc because of Hayate-Daiō. Now Daiō Alexander also has 6000 attack because of how many monsters I have, but that wouldn't be enough to finish this, which is why I activate Deceitful Contract with the War Deities and use it on Alexander and Titan." With 7000 attack, and 2200 attack, the difference was too much for him to get over unless he has another trap card to help.
Which, based on his pale face, is not an option.
"Alexander, finish this."
Well, that's what happens when you have an overly offensive deck. I couldn't take pride in a win like this, but I won't deny that I have warm fuzzy feeling in my chest from winning.
As the holograms disappeared I notice him glare at me with more hatred than before. "You...! How do you have those cards!" Is he seriously forreal?
Whatever, if he doesn't realize it, not my problem. Least I won't have to worry about his dumbass knowing any of my secrets.
"Are you just gonna sit there? I still have another duel, and your dumbass is too distracting."
He stood up and began saying something. "Listen here buddy." Oh wow, the friendliness in his voice is incredible. "I was brought here to win. And I'm gonna win. I don't care if you have a bunch of cheat cards, you're done for next time we meet. I'm not letting some nobody steal my second chance at life!"
"Cheat cards? Wow real mature. Maybe don't play stupid and you'll actually win." I couldn't help but scoff at him. "Now get outta here. Loser. I have better things to do than talk with someone with such an attitude. Maybe the one who sent you here should have sent you back the moment you thought your worth was above anyone else's, but why should I have been surprised that a bunch of stupid lizards couldn't help but pick a stupid duelist." His deck arm flinched, as if he got static shocked by touching another person, and he left while arguing to himself. But I could hear growling, showing that he was probably defending himself and failing, from said stupid lizards.
Maybe if I'm lucky those stupid lizards will send his ass back. I don't want to have to deal with someone like that.
"Master, should you really have antagonized him like that? It seems quite unfair to him to be sent back after how rude you were."
Pff. You heard him. Those dragons wanted a stronger duelist and brought him, but they're no noble dragons. They simply wanted someone to wield power, and got it, but power alone can falter under the weight of so many different things.
Each duel, he brought out those dragons, and dueled expecting to win. He didn't support them, nor summon more strong monsters. An ace is good and all, but only when properly supported.
I don't consider my Heroes, my D/D/D or any of my decks to have an Ace, because we all fight my enemies together.
Which you would know if you and your clan would duel with me.
"...sorry master..."
Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not attacking you or your clan, just mentioning facts. If you aren't comfortable with me, I'm fine with that.
All I'm saying, is that those dragons brought someone who thinks of themself and only themself. The rumors on him painted a clear picture on what type of person he was. He doesn't enjoy dueling, he enjoys winning. And that is a dangerous combination to have when he doesn't even consider the people of this world as Human. I'd rather he be sent back by those dragons then for us or somebody else to have to permanently deal with him.
"...would you be able to...?"
...
...
...
"Sorry I'm late! Hope you didn't wait long. Are you ready to duel?"
...
...
"Yeah."
AN : DA won't be coming for another two chapters. Don't get too excited. Review and favorite for the sake of my inspiration.
Last time you'll be seeing the SI Bully. I don't think he'll have much of a purpose except from at a distance where Rai thinks about what he needs to avoid to become like that. Granted, he's about halfway there when it comes to being an asshole, but he doesn't treat everyone like that, which is his saving grace.
Also, consider the teachers like the Pro heroes from My Hero Academia during the midterm exams. They take the duel seriously, but also hold back at the same time. That's the reasoning behind some of the plays I had Hibiki make during the duel. The original draftline had her fusion summon, but I realized that would be making the duels too hard and giving the students no chance to win at all if it were all the teachers doing that.
And to be honest even I'm surprised that I made an OC Rank 7 monster and used it this early. It's pretty OP, but honestly all the D/D/D monsters are crazy strong.
Card Modifications / OC Cards
DDD Advance – Spell – Discard one card from your hand, return D/D/D monsters to the extra deck from your GY, then summon an equal number of monsters from the extra deck. However, they must be the same type, attribute, and card type as the monsters sent to the extra deck.
D/D Contract Reborn – Spell - Send one Contract from the field or hand to the graveyard. Special summon a D/D monster from the GY. You can banish this card from the GY, send a D/D monster from the field or hand to the GY and set a Contract card from your GY to the field and you can activate it this turn.
Inheritance – Spell – Draw three cards by banishing a D/D/D monster from the extra deck, field, or GY. This card can only be activated this turn.
D/D/D Zenryōna-ō Constantine (Virtuous King Constantine) – Rank 7 – 2900/1400 – Light – Fiend – Two or more level 7 monsters – By detaching one xyz material, you can activate one Dark Contract Spell/Trap directly from your deck, but it is sent to the GY at the end of the turn, then you take 2000 damage for each card send to the GY from this effect(quick effect) however this card cannot attack. During the Standby Phase, if you would take effect damage from a Dark contract card while this card still has xyz materials, you can negate that damage, also this card gains ATK equal to the damage you would have taken until the end of the turn.