Judai was given an hour to get used to the new duel disk, play around with his deck, and then contemplate into a corner as to why he was in this situation. Yubel offered no support as they just laughed and mocked Judai.
"Years we have spent fighting the forces of Light, and yet the mere thought of having a friendly duel frightens you the most."
"It's not that Yubel, and you know it. I haven't had a duel with someone who wasn't out to kill me in years." He paused for a moment in thought. "Johan doesn't count."
"Neither does Sho, Fubuki, Asuka, or Edo I suppose then? What about Manjoume? While he is the great "Manjoume Thunder," surely you understood that it was all in jest," Yubel joked, but their eyes showed great concerned for him.
Judai growled at their words but simply brought his knees up to his face.
For a few moments, Judai had thought Yubel had disappeared with how quiet the room had gotten, but then felt a warm feeling spread through his chest and realized where they had gone. Their bond had grown even stronger through the years, and Yubel knew exactly how to battle away the dark thoughts brewing inside.
"Thanks Yubel," he muttered as he uncurled himself. After taking a moment to breath, he walked over to a small table and focused his energy on making a suitable deck. When everything was sorted out, Judai tried not to laugh at the irony of it.
He had tried to construct a deck that was not too complicated and might reveal that he was at pro level in his own dimension. However, another Judai took a few liberties in the process so that he could have a little fun during the action duel. Once he was done, he was surprised to realize that it was practically his first deck he built for his entrance exams. Without the Neo Spacians or Yubel or any of the other cards he gathered through the years, Judai would have to resort to using some of his more elementary tactics from all those years ago. In any case, thinking about his entrance exam might bring back happy memories of dueling rather than the darker ones he was used to.
"Is this the one?"
"Yes it must be. I can sense his power from behind this door."
Two voices were talking from the room behind him, but Judai could tell from behind the door that they were not ordinary people. Summoning up his power and enhancing his vision, Judai stood up and demanded their names.
"Please do not worry. We are friends," the voice clarified. Without further warning, Judai opened the door. Behind the door were two figures dressed in regal clothes akin to some kind of fantasy magicians. One was dressed in white while the other was dressed in black.
"You are Yuya's cards," Judai remembered, and brought down his guard ever so slightly.
"Yes, and we are here to thank you for explaining to him our summoning mechanics. The boy has gone through a lot, and we were afraid that this hurdle might be too much to handle," the dark magician explained.
"Our ward is a powerful duelist, but he lacks guidance," the light one added. They both focused their attention on him.
"You want me to be his mentor," Judai gathered, his eyes narrowing at the idea.
"Perhaps," the magicians answered at the same time.
"Explain."
"We know of you, Haou. Every duel spirit in this universe knows of you. We know the rumors that surround you, and the fact that your presence means that this dimension is in danger."
"Yuya is a key figure in saving this dimension, but he is young. While he is talented, he has not the environment to unlock his potential. However, we are afraid that when he does, the outcome will be… unpleasant."
"And so you want me to guide him, so that this power does not break him." Memories of the Dark World arose, but he quickly dismissed them. It was not the time to show weakness.
"Correct," one answered.
"However, we will not allow just anyone to be our ward's mentor. Beat us in a duel, and we shall decide. If not, we will ask you to leave and deal with the disaster ourselves."
Judai smirked, "It's going to be more difficult to get rid of me now that you have my attention."
"Yuki Judai, Haou Judai, we know of your legacy and that infamous card that lead you there. We know of your deeds, both good and bad. We will not allow Yuya to follow your path if necessary."
Judai was about to retort something back at the duel spirits, but he felt Yubel pull him back and calm him.
"Relax. They are only worried about their master. You are a fearsome warrior Judai – it is only natural that they are wary," they informed, and Judai took a deep breath. The magicians looked ready for a fight should the need arise.
"I'm not making any promises about the whole mentor thing," he began, "but if you want to see my strength, I will give it my all in our duel." The two magicians looked at each other for a moment before nodding to each other. They gave a small bow before disappearing in the air. Judai dismissed his power and frowned.
Something about those two unnerved him. They obviously knew more than they should. Duel sprits by themselves were more aware of the state of their dimensions than humans, but they seem to know more than the Neo Spacians. However, if he wanted to know more, he was going to have to win. Recalling his current deck, perhaps a few modifications were in order.
"Yuki-san," Yuzu called from behind the door. "Are you ready?"
"Ah, yes! I'll be out in a second!" he called, and rushed on over. He cursed himself wanting to stay low and building a custom deck rather than using his usual one. Regardless, Judai didn't have the title as "The Next King of Games" for nothing. If there was anything he was good at, it was finding a way to turn a duel around.
Placing his deck into the duel disk, Judai watched as the machine auto-shuffled and then placed all the cards from his extra deck into a separate compartment. He reviewed the different locations on the duel disk, as per Yuzu's instruction, and took a deep breath.
"It's just a normal duel. No death and no dimensions in danger. It's just a normal duel," he repeated to himself, and walked over to meet Yuzu on the other side of the door.
"Right this way," she cheerfully guided. Judai returned a small smile and followed her down the hall.
As a school, the building was not very large. A majority of it was underground in order to accommodate the dimension requirements for the Solid Vision machine. There was also a gym for physical training and a few classrooms for duel theory. Yuzu took the opportunity to explain some of the facilities as they passed them. The girl reminded him a lot of Rei, which helped calmed his nerves.
"By the way, Yuki-san," Yuzu started, "what kind of deck are you using?"
"Just call me Judai. That'll be fine," he insisted sheepishly. "And why do you ask? Out to give vital information to the enemy?"
"What?" she exclaimed, outraged at the mere implication. "No! No! It's just that we were looking you up in the dueling system to see if you had any other affiliations with other schools to finish up the paperwork and you weren't there so I was just kind of wondering if you even had a deck on you and-" Definitely a bit a Rei, but he could start seeing the Sho in there too. He couldn't help the easy smile that appeared on his face.
"It's fine! It's fine. I was just teasing. As for my deck, I'm afraid it's kind of an old one. I made it few years ago, and I thought that it was high time for its comeback. I'm a little nervous about how it'll hold up in an action duel though."
She looked back at him with a glare. "Are you underestimating us?"
"What?" he asked, confused with the sudden change of tone.
"Yuya might not seem like it with that show earlier, but he's a great duelist. Don't think that just because he couldn't pendulum summon earlier that he won't be able to beat you and your old deck!"
"I have never underestimated any opponent." Added to the fact that he once dueled monkey, that statement had a lot of weight to it. Fortunately, he got the desired effect without telling her that.
Yuzu looked surprised with the sudden change in demeanor and looked downward.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to assume. It's just, Yuya has been through a lot. You were kind of the first person he met that actually helped him with something instead of making him get through it himself," the pity quickly disappeared and she looked at him with fierce determination. "So if you are just trying to manipulate him and grab those pendulum cards for yourself I'll-"
Judai laughed. First it had been the duel spirits, and now it was this girl. Yuya had many allies on his side. It had been a long time since he'd seen loyalty like that. It was refreshing and welcomed change in pace. He patted the girl on the head in what he hoped was more brotherly than demeaning.
"Don't worry. I'm just here to learn about dueling and have fun doing it." For the most part, he added mentally. He watched Yuzu stare at him as if she could find something his years of soul searching could not. He smiled at her again, and she finally seemed to believe him.
"Just, don't go easy on him," she concluded an opened the doors.
"Don't worry. While this may be an old deck, I don't really like losing," then, as a thought occurred to him, he added, "I'm going to bring it to him." Yuzu tilted her head at the odd phrase while Yubel groaned inwardly, as if any mention of that dimension brought physical pain to them. Judai laughed. It at least lightened the mood for him.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Yuya exclaimed as a spotlight shone on him. "I apologize for the delay! Today, allow me to give you an entertainment duel you will not forget!" Smiling, he gestured over to Judai and allowed the spotlight to shine over him. Judai covered his eyes briefly before waving to an invisible crowd.
"Today, my opponent shall be upcoming student to the You Show Dueling School: Yuki Judai! A mysterious wanderer from a foreign land," Yuya paused for a dramatic effect. "Will he be able to defeat top duelist of the You Show Dueling School, Yuya Sakaki?"
"Sakaki. I recall that name," Yubel commented. Judai nodded, storing the information for another time. Right now, he was getting excited for this action duel and unable to think about anything else. Despite his age, Yuya was obviously an experienced duelist, and Judai knew that this victory would not be easy. His eyes narrowed at the magician duel spirits that appeared behind Yuya. They nodded in respect towards him, and Judai returned the gesture.
Through the loudspeakers, the kids including the newest addition to their group were saying that same little chant from before.
"Duelists locked in battle! Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters! They storm through this field! Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of dueling! Action Duel!"
Well, it got Judai's blood rushing a little better than Manjoume's chant at least, or maybe it was just the excitement from the action duel itself. Either way, Judai made a mental note to record it for Manjoume to take notes. A moment afterwards, the machine above began whirling and a light flew around the stadium. Some of the light seemed to stick together and slowly dissolve into large buildings. Soon enough, the scenery changed from an empty room to an entire American Western town. Judai couldn't stop the childish glee coming over him and ran to one of the buildings. He almost expected to get a splinter from touching it.
"As the challenger, you can take the first turn," Yuya conceded and activated his duel disk. Judai nodded and took his stance.
"Don't go easy on me," Judai warned. He looked over to the viewer's platform where Yuzu was watching and smiled. Looking back at Yuya, he readied his duel disk and shouted, "Duel!" to begin the game.
Judai was able to grab a quick glance at Yuya's cards earlier. From what he could remember his deck featured a lot effect monsters to make up for the lack of magic and trap cards. Added to the fact that Yuya had that pendulum summon at his disposal at any point in this duel, he was going to have to play it defensive until the right moment.
"I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in defense mode!" he announced and watched as a shadow form from the ground in front of him. It slowly grew smaller and smaller until a giant landed in front of him in a fairly large crater. Evidently, the heroes seemed to like these Action Duels as well.
"I then attach Mud Max to Clayman which increases his attack by 300. I play one card faced down and end my turn."
There was a moment's pause, as if Yuya expected something more to magically happen. Judai almost swore he saw a tumbleweed fly in the background.
"That's it?" Yuya finally asked, and Judai could hear the kids boo him from their viewer platform. He sheepishly scratched the back of his head and apologized. Even Clayman seemed disappointed with the lack of flair his dueling had.
It was only the first turn guys! There's not a whole bunch a guy can do on the first turn. Judai defended, but Clayman seemed to just roll his eyes and turn his back to Judai.
"Ah well, that's fine because the show is going to heat up quickly!" Yuya smiled and looked to the crowd. "This is what you all have been waiting for!"
"I set the pendulum scale with the Scale 1 Magician of Astromancy and the Scale 8 Master of Chronomancy!" Yuya declared as he placed the two cards on the two ends of his duel disk. Behind him, two beams of light emerged from the Earth. The two magicians rose through the light. He could feel their eyes on him. As they reached the sky above, the giant crystal from before appeared and rocked from side to side.
"Now," Yuya was screaming, as Judai wasn't roughly twenty feet away, "I can summon any monsters between levels 2 and levels 7 at the same time!" He winked at Judai as if it was a way to say thank you. Judai couldn't help but feel as if he had just signed his own death wish. Yuya raised a hand into the air and continued.
"Swing! Pendulum of the soul, draw an arc of light across the ether. Pendulum Summon! Come forth, my monsters!" A large portal opened from above and three lights fell from it. They landed nearby Yuya and quickly formed shapes.
"Entermate Discover Hippo! Entermate Whip Viper. Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya called out as the monster revealed himself. Judai swallowed hard at the sight. His mind was racing at possible options he had to go against three monsters as well as any other monsters Yuya will summon. As of now, his odds were looking a bit grim.
He was aware that his deck had a weak beginning, and keeping some kind of advantage in the first few turns was crucial. However, while half of his mind was panicking, another part was thinking about the limitless possibilities a deck with pendulum summoning could lead to. It was definitely something Johan and Manjoume should look into for their decks.
His head was so overwhelmed with thoughts that he almost didn't see Yuya get onto Discover Hippo and run into one of the buildings.
He had almost forgotten about those Action Cards! If there was anything that was going to get him out of this situation, it was getting a hand on one of those cards.
"Judai, that dragon's eyes." Yubel brought attention to. The fierce beast stood on its two hind legs as it breathed slowly. It was watching Judai's every move, but the color of its eyes made Judai hold its breath.
"Do you think-" Yubel speculated, but was cut off with a command from Yuya.
"Odd-Eyes, attack Elemental Hero Clayman!" The dragon roared and began charging at the hero.
We'll have to deal with it later Yubel. Judai promised and raised his hand.
"I activate Mud Max's effect. When Clayman is attacked, I can destroy Mud Max to negate the attack. In addition, when Mud Max is sent to the graveyard, I am allowed to special summon an elemental hero from my hand to the field." Judai paused before summoning his monster. He had to remember that dueling was less like a game and more of a show here. He put on a bright smile and in a similar manner to Yuya, he called out, "Please give out a warm welcome to Elemental Hero Sparkman!" Sparks of lightning emerged from the cloudless sky as Sparkman appeared in a single blink. Small cheers could be heard from the viewer's platform, and even Yuya gasped in mock surprise to keep up the momentum. Sparkman seemed to notice the attention and even posed a second after his entrance. The moment was short lived as Judai climbed on Sparkman's back. The two made a brief moment of eye contact before Sparkman leapt into the air and landed on one of those buildings.
As they flew, Judai could hear Yuya laughing. "That's more like it!" he commented, and looked to his other monsters.
"It looks our villain for today has stolen Odd Eye's spotlight," Yuya rubbed his eyes as if he was crying. "But that's okay because we have a whole bunch of other friends with us today. For instance, Whip Viper, show the audience what's your special effect!" The snake took a quick bow for the audience before Yuya threw it toward Sparkman and Judai. Its eyes glowed for the brief second it made eye contact and swiftly returned to Yuya's sighed. Sparkman fell onto one knee as if he was weakened.
"Sparkman?" Judai asked.
"That's right! Whip Viper is able to switch around Sparkman's attack and defense points during my battle phase. Whip Viper! Attack Sparkman!" Yuya declared as the snake jumped and lunged toward Sparkman.
Waiting for the last possible moment, and ignoring Yubel's criticisms that he was being too reckless, he held out his arm and activated his trap card.
"Not today Yuya," he smirked. "I activate Hero Barrier! Since I have an elemental hero on my side of the field, I am able to negate your attack." As he explained, a large shield appeared out of nowhere, and Whip Viper comically ran head first into the shield. The snake made a sad face, swore its vengeance, and slithered its way back to Yuya. The entire act reminded Judai too much of the shows he used to watch as a kid. He couldn't hide the laugh. It was hard to stay focused on dueling when it was just as fun to watch it.
"Aww, well that's too bad," Yuya sighed, "I end my turn then, and all monsters' whose stats were changed are now returned to normal. It's your turn, Yuki-san!" Yuya declared before ducking into another building, probably to find an Action Card.
"Judai, is this one of those cards you are looking for?" Sparkman asked, pointing to a card tucked between two planks of wood. Judai jumped off the hero's back and grabbed the card in excitement. He could feel that this was going to be a game changer.
"All right! Thanks Sparkman!" he smiled, and Sparkman returned a thumbs up. "Okay Yuya, you might have been impressive with that Pendulum Summon from before, but now it's my time to shine! First off, I use the magic card Pot of Greed to draw two more cards from my deck."
The biggest disadvantage Yuya had with his reckless pendulum summoning was that he was constantly at a hand disadvantage. It was the one disadvantage that Judai was going to have throughout the game, and he wasn't going to waste it. Looking over the cards in his hand, he nodded. It was time for his five minutes of fame.
"In the face of danger and darkness, there is only one hero that will be able to defend this city. I use the magic card fusion to fuse Elemental Hero Clayman and Elemental Hero Sparkman!" As he explained his cards, a large portal appeared from behind. Clayman and Sparkman nodded to each other before the jumped right into the portal. Thunder sounded, and the light emitting from the portal was more blinding than ever. "Born from the depths of the Earth and raised by the power of the storm, everybody! Please put your hands together and welcome our brand new hero: Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!"
A bolt of lightning shot out from the portal, only barely missing Judai himself, and landed right in front of Yuya. The lightning shifted itself and grew to the size of one the buildings in the town. With a mighty roar, Thunder Giant finished forming and began summoning his signature thunder clouds above.
"Very nice Yuki-san! Bonus points for that form and patience!" Hiragi-san approved from within his duel disk. Judai sheepishly blushed. He never gotten that kind of praise back at the academy, and it was nice to feel appreciated once in a while.
"You make it sounded like you're some kind of forgotten wraith," Yubel scoffed.
You make me feel so loved sometimes. Judai frowned but brought his attention back to his duel. However, it was a little bit more difficult to focus with those eyes Yuya was pulling.
"S-so this is the power of f-fusion…" he stuttered in a daze. Judai raised an eyebrow at the comment.
What kind of things are these kids learning in this school?
"Not all schools are as luckily to have the necessary facilities to educated students on all the in's and out's of dueling Judai-kun. You were very lucky to have such amazing teachers teach in classes where you graciously took naps in," Daijokuji-sensei explained bitterly.
Still managed to graduate. And Judai was glad to say that he still had the diploma to prove it. However, he didn't miss his professor's "through pure luck" comment.
"You're," Yuya began and stared at Judai with the biggest smile on his face, "so cool!"
With a grin to match Yuya's, Judai jumped to the next building and continued on with his turn. "However, before we get to our main event, Thunder Giant has one trick up his sleeve. Once every turn, Thunder Giant can destroy one monster on the field with an attack less than his own. This is for taking the spotlight earlier: Thunder Giant – destroy Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"
"What? But Odd Eyes' attack is higher than Thunder Giant…" Yuya said as he scrunched up his eyebrows.
"Oh? What's this thing I found?" Judai teased, and Yuya looked over in his direction.
"An action card? Yuzu! I though you said that he didn't even know what an action duel was!" Yuya accused and then flinched when the angry reply came back.
"I used the action card "Bottoms Up" which can raise the attack of one monster by 500 points, which brings Thunder Giant's attack to a very nice 2900!" As a green aura surrounded his monster, Thunder Giant slowly began stomping toward the dragon. Yuya was quickly dodging around the buildings in an attempt to find an action card to save him.
"Vapor Spark!" Judai called as his monster raised one arm and swiftly dropped it, crushing the drag into an array of lights. Judai made a mental note at the odd pain that erupted in his chest as the dragon was destroyed.
"Did you feel that?" Judai asked.
"Yes. There is something about that dragon-"
"Of course I felt that! You took out my ace monster!" Yuya complained, and Judai closed his mental connection. From above, he could feel the magicians' eyes staring at him with interest now. They were discussing something about him, and if he wanted to know more about this kid, he was going to have to keep with this momentum.
"Sorry Yuya, but I'm not even finished yet. Thunder Giant! Attack Discover Entermate Discover Hippo!"
"What?!" Yuya cried out as bolts of lightning chased him. Above, he could hear the kids laugh at Yuya's ridiculous act.
As his screen reported that Yuya's life points dropped to a solid 1900, the destruction of his main mode of transportation around the field, and with one card in his hand, Judai felt confident to simply end his turn. He noted to himself that the action magic effects seem to only last for one turn, and watched as the green aura disappeared.
Now, why were the magicians above smirking?
"You're going to pay for that evildoer!" Yuya declared as he picked himself up from the ground.
Since when was I the villain of this story? Judai thought with a frown, but carefully watched Yuya stare at the field.
"Draw! Now then, it was sad to see Odd Eyes and Discover Hippo disappear before they got a time to shine, isn't that right?" Yuya asked, and a muffled "Yeah!" replied. "However, they were as sad about it as you were. Let's give them another chance, shall we? Come on back, my monsters!" Yuya summoned, as the portal between the magicians opened again and two more lights appeared.
"What? But he only has one card!" Judai exclaimed.
"Judai, look at where his monsters went to!" Yubel instructed. Judai brought up the duel history from his duel disk and watch the animation of the cards. As Thunder Giant destroyed both Odd Eyes and Discover Hippo, the cards did not place themselves into the graveyard like they were supposed to. Instead, they were placed in the Extra Deck.
"What?" Judai repeated, and then gasped as the dragon and hippo reappeared with a vengeance.
"Since when was that a part of the rules?" he groaned but was pleasantly surprised with Yuya. The kid hardly knew how to even perform the summon, but here he was showing off a few tricks he learned between then and now. The magicians were definitely right that Yuya had some kind of hidden potential.
"That's right everyone! Pendulum monsters are not sent to the graveyard like normal monsters. Instead, they're sent to my extra deck faced up, meaning I can resummon them on my turn!" Taking a steep bow, Yuya paused as if there was a loud applause in the background. When he came up, he looked to the imaginary audience and laughed, "Let the fun begin!"
"Whip Viper, why don't you show Thunder Giant your special effect one more time?" As the snake began charging toward Thunder Giant, Yuya once again jumped on Discover Hippo. He was definitely after an action card now. With Thunder Giant's attack points at 1500, Judai was going to have to play things safe again. Jumping off the roof, his only chance to keep his advantage will be to find another action card.
"Thunder Giant!" Judai called out, hopefully being able to use their limited time to find the one card he needed.
"Whip Viper! Attack Thunder Giant!" Yuya ordered from behind a building. From the map, Judai could tell that Yuya had found what he was looking for.
Damn, this is going to hurt. As Thunder Giant was destroyed through an explosion, Judai looked at his hand for something that was going to save him.
"Kuri Kuri!" a card chirped, and Judai smiled.
"I can always rely on you pal."
"Odd Eyes, Discover Hippo, attack Yuki-san directly!" Yuya ordered. Judai never had thought that a hippo would look so dangerous. Of course it helped when a very dangerous and vengeance-seeking dragon was following said hippo.
"I use the spell card-" Bzzt! Rang his duel disk as the card was rejected.
"Sorry about that Judai-san. We can't really allow you from playing any more of your evil spell cards. I activate Magician of Astromancy's Pendulum effect! I can negate the activation of one spell card once per turn. Get ready!" Yuya warned as the dragon continued charging toward him.
Judai screamed in pain as the beasts both headbutted him and he skid across the floor.
"Judai!" Yubel screamed.
Yubel! Stop! I'm okay! He reassured, hopefully before Yubel interfered in the match.
"Yuya! He's just a new student! Why are you being so tough on him?" Yuzu asked. Judai couldn't really tell if she was being more annoyed or more worried.
"Yuzu, you know as well as I do that this guy isn't some beginner," Yuya explained in a serious tone of voice. Ah, so that's why the kid was bringing out all the big guns so early. It was good to know Judai was still able to intimidate someone within five minutes of knowing them.
"Still. This is definitely his first time with the Solid Vision. At least go a little easy on him with those attacks," Yuzu scolded. Judai wished that Yuzu was there to scold his opponents all the time. It would make his a job a little less life threatening from time to time.
"It's alright Yuzu," Judai consoled as he stood up. "I'm used to getting beaten around like this." The bruises and scratches were largely superficial, and it probably looked worse than it felt. Looking over his duel disk, Judai found that Yuya even used the same action magic card he used before hand to boost his monster's attack. It was a solid attack, even though it did come out a bit short to his loss.
"With that then, I end my turn." Yuya was smiling. However, it wasn't an arrogant smile that made it seem like Yuya knew he was going to win. Instead, the kid was challenging him. He wanted Judai to some how come out of this hopeless situation.
His monsters are going to be a nuisance. With complete board control, Yuya compensates his hand disadvantage with just being overbearing with those attacks. Additionally, Judai no longer has an opening since Yuya can just revive his monsters on his turn. So instead of simply creating an opening within his army, Judai will just have to attack the general.
"My turn. I draw!" Judai yelled. With four cards in his hand, he just had to rely that the kid didn't have any more tricks up his sleeves.
"I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman! If Bubbleman is the only monster in my hand and field, I can special summon him onto the field and draw two cards," Judai announced as he revealed his hand. Unfortunately, his hand held a fusion card, which caused Yuya to already run toward the nearest action card. He was going to have to act fast.
"Next I summon Elemental Hero Burst Lady in attack mode!" In a flash of fire, Burst Lady appeared next to him and Bubbleman. Yuya was still dashing around: it didn't look like he could an action card yet.
"With two elemental heroes on the field, I now use the magic card R – Righteous Justice!"
"Another magic card?" Yuya asked as his marker on the map stopped.
"With this magic card, I can destroy the same amount of magic or trap cards on my opponent's field as elemental heroes on my field."
"But Yuya doesn't have any magic cards," Yuzu stated, but the card wasn't rejected. Judai guessed right.
Both Burst Lady and Bubbleman jumped into the air as the magic card was accepted. Their bodies became beams of light, but they weren't aiming themselves near Yuya. Instead, they flew through the sky right toward the large beams of light.
"My pendulum scale?" Yuya asked. Apparently this was news to the kid too. He made a mental note to talk to those duel spirits about explaining things instead of forcing things to happen.
"Monsters set in the Pendulum Zone are treated as spell cards instead of monsters, which makes them 100% vulnerable to my spell!" Judai explained and internally cheered as the magicians' lost their smug expression and guarded themselves against the attack. The beams columns of light disappeared, the crystal faded, and an opening appeared itself to Judai.
"Next I use the magic card Fusion to once again bring a new hero onto the stage! Fusing Elemental Hero Burst Lady and Elemental Hero Bubbleman together, I am able to call forth a new monster! Come on out, Elemental Hero Steam Healer!" Judai summoned as the portal once more emerged. Burst Lady and Bubbleman seemed to have vaporized away, but through the portal new figure crawled out.
With an attack of 1800, it was time for Judai to turn to tide.
"Steam Healer: attack Whip Viper!"
There wasn't enough time to look around for an action card. He was going to have to use Yuya's daze to his advantage and strike while the iron was hot.
"With Steam Healer's special effect, every time they destroy a monster, I am able to recover life points equal to that monster's attack." As Steam Healer punched through the snake, a relaxing breeze blew over Judai as his life points rose.
"Kuri Kuri!"
"Don't worry pal. I didn't forget about you either," waiting for Yuya to come out of his daze, he took a deep breath and exhaled. "I place a card faced down and end my turn."
His hand advantage was gone. The duel was going to be over in the next few turns, and depending on how Yuya took this loss was going to decide the duel. Inwardly, he could feel Yubel watching this duel intently. The air was thick as duelists and spectators watched the game for any hints to who was going to be the victor.
The two duelists stood still. Both had a hearty 1800 life points with no real hand advantage but a very large field advantage for Yuya. To any outsider, it looked as if the match could be anyone's. However, the duelists, victory was just in sight.
"First off, let's welcome our latest recruit, Entermate PlusTurtle!" A small turtle emerged in a flash a light. Field advantage for Yuya just increased. Judai wasn't liking the smile on Yuya's face anymore.
"And now, I use the action magic card bullseye. By paying 800 Life Points, I am able to destroy one monster on my opponent's field. So sorry to see you go so soon Steam Healer, but this duel is mine!" Yuya announced as a cowboy gun appeared from nowhere and shot the monster into pieces.
"Now, Yuki-san, with no monsters left on your field," Yuya pointed out, and using his brief dramatic pause, he jumped right onto Odd Eye's head. "I attack you directly!" With a ferocious road, the dragon charged, wanting another bite out of Judai. This dragon and Amethyst Panther would be good friend.
"Not so fast Yuya. Even when you can't see them, I always have my friends at my side. I use the magic card Flute of Summoning Kuriboh!" In a poof of smoke, Judai's closest friend appeared. With a shrill cry, his friend charged head first into battle.
"Thanks pal," he whispered and walked down through center of town. "With this magic card, I can summon Winged Kuriboh directly from my deck. When Winged Kuriboh is defeated in battle, all battle damage is negated during your battle phase."
Yuya coughed as the dust settled between them. His eyes were determined, but his smile told Judai that he knew what was going to happen next.
"I end my turn then," Yuya ceded and carefully watched Judai's.
"Draw." The duel depended on this one card.
Looking carefully at his hand, Judai thanked his deck for not letting him down once again. He stared at Yuya who had not broken eye contact since Judai's turn began. Yuya smiled. Judai could appreciate the kid's willingness to fight to the end.
"Let the fun begin," Judai muttered. "First off, let me introduce everyone to one more of my heroes: Elemental Hero Feather Man!" In a gust of feathers, his hero appeared. He gave a nod of confirmation to Judai, as the hero flew into the air.
"I now use the magic card Miracle Fusion. With this card, I am able to banish the fusion material from play from both my field and my graveyard to special summon a fusion monster from my extra deck," as two cards emerged from the graveyard to be placed in the banished pile, two lights emerged from his duel disk. These lights, one red and one yellow, flew beside Feather Man and circled around him as he flew higher and higher. They flew so high that they were mere specks in the cloudless sky above.
"Forged by the bonds I have crafted with my monsters, Enter: Shining Flame Wingman!" With a small ding to signify his entrance, a being came flying down at amazing speeds. Judai took two steps back, but Yuya stayed still. For a second, nothing happened. Soon, the buildings began burning, light began to blind, and winds gusted at unimaginable speeds. After a moment of silence, it sounded as if a crater crash-landed to earth. Right in the center of the town, the blinding being emerged from the smoke.
"With every elemental hero in my graveyard, Shining Flame Wingman's attack increases by 100 points. Since Clayman's the only hero in there, his attack now becomes 2600."
"Battle!" Judai cried. "Direct attack on Discover Hippo! Shining Shoot!" Yuya took that as his cue to start running, but the chase was futile. The flames caught up with Yuya in no time at all. However, the field didn't disappear.
"Ha ha! I use Action Magic Saloon! I recovered 1000 LP, keeping me alive… for… one… more… turn?" Yuya asked as Shining Flame Wingman grew closer to him.
"Oh, Shining Flame Wingman also has another effect. When he destroys a monster in battle, he deals direct damage equal to that monster's attack." In a motion that Judai couldn't quite explain himself, he found himself pointing toward Yuya and smiling. "Gotcha!"
In a storm of fire, the battle was won and the town finally disappeared.
"Good duel," Yubel complimented as they appeared to Judai's side. For a brief moment, Yubel laid a hand on Judai's shoulder. He nodded back. They had a lot of things to discuss tonight.
"Yuya!" Yuzu screamed as the doors opened. Judai flinched. He really hadn't meant for Shining Flame Wingman to hurt the kid, but he did get a little excited back there. He ran after Yuzu in the smoke.
"Yuya!" she called out again. While she was distracted, Judai enhanced his vision with Yubel's power to find the boy through the smoke.
"There!" he pointed out and dragged her along. She called out his name again, and this time, the body moved in response.
Thank gods the kid was okay.
"Aw, are you getting attached?" Yubel asked.
Not really the time Yubel.
"Yuzu?" Yuya asked as they reached him. This solid vision was definitely something else if it can cause a kid momentary paralysis after a huge hit like that. Thankfully, solid vision, in the end, was still just holograms. Like his previous injuries, Yuya's wounds were largely artificial.
"Yuki-san," Yuya whispered, and Judai moved closer. "That duel… was awesome!"
"What?"
"Yuya! You really shouldn't be moving like that! What if you sprained something?"
"Will you be my coach?"
"Huh?"
"Spectacular Yuki-san! I haven't seen an action duel like that since its glory days. Where did you learn to duel like that? You aren't some rookie you lead us to believe."
"Well I-"
"Yuki-nii-chan! Can you teach us fusion summoning? Can you? Can you?"
"I have to go now sorry!" Judai excused himself and dashed off to the nearest exit he could find. Once he was in the shadows, he faded away, and the next thing he knew, he was outside again. He was outside where there was air, a real sky above him, and most importantly, he was alone. A worried heat buzzed from within. He was mostly alone.
"Judai-kun, just take deep breaths," Daitokuji-sensei advised, and Judai just sat down against a building. It was hot, and the breeze was nice against his skin. He probably should have worn lighter clothes, but it was almost impossible to predict the weather from another dimension.
Once his breathing evened out, Judai opened his eyes. There was a road in front of him that has certainly seen better days. A few cars passed by in a variety of colors. He found peace in counting the number of blue ones that passed by.
Being surrounded still made his anxious. He panicked back there and had to escape. He was so used to being alone and being by himself that once people invaded his personal area, it was like being attacked. He knew that wasn't true, but so many faces and so many questions was overwhelming. He breathed in and then out.
"Better?" Yubel asked.
"Yeah," Judai replied, grateful that he had at least two people by his side.
"Yuki-san!" That was Yuya.
"You didn't travel far," Yubel explained as they pointed out the You Show Dueling School sign to the right. Ah, that was why the road looked so familiar.
"Yuki-san," Yuya huffed out. "I'm sorry. We didn't mean to crowd you earlier. It's just, you were so cool and I really couldn't help myself, but I wasn't thinking and we're usually not like that so."
Judai smiled and gave a thumbs up. "It's no problem. Just next time, a little space, cool?"
Yuya brightened up with that promise. "Next time? I mean, yes sir! I mean, yeah no problem!" The confidence faded as he grew sheepish. "Uh, if you're okay, Coach wanted to see you in his office to finish up the paperwork."
"Right. Thanks Yuya, I'll be there in a second."
"I'll let him know." Yuya stared at him for a second, as if he was gauging whether or not Judai was actually going to come in. He seemed satisfied in what he saw and went inside the building. As he opened the door, a tower of children came falling down – a suitable punishment to their eavesdropping in Judai's opinion. Yuya screamed at them, saying something that this was supposed to be a private moment, but Judai didn't pay them too much attention.
"You don't have to go. We can leave right now," Yubel suggested. Judai just shook his head.
"You know we can't do that."
"I guest. It is nice to imagine a retirement plan when all of this saving inevitably goes wrong." Yubel smiled, and retreated back to Judai's soul, for the extra strength.
"Beaches and fishing for the rest of our days," Judai promised and walked through the doors. The kids seemed to have recovered from the previous tumble and were all acting as inconspicuous as a group of kids could be. He could tell that they were all watching him from the corner of their eyes and he made his way to the office. Judai didn't really know what to make of all of this.
Knocking quietly on the office door, Judai waited for the invitation before walking in. Just as he was closing the door, he caught a soft, "Do you think he's going to stay?" from Ayu and frowned. He wasn't really thinking about really being a student here. He really wasn't planning to get so involved with this dimension's people so early.
"Judai-kun, please have a seat," Hiragi beckoned as he finished typing something on the computer.
"Judai, first off, allow me to apologize for what happened. It is an extreme embarrassment for you to feel unsafe in this school, and we regret for making you feel like that earlier," Hiragi apologize as he bowed his head.
"It's no problem. I'm fine now, but a little warning in the future will be appreciated," Judai smiled, and breathed a sigh of relief when Hiragi did the same.
"That's good to hear. Now your results. I am sure that you are aware, your dueling skills are spectacular. You were able to throw back Yuya, one of my top duelists, even with his Pendulum Summon and his ace, and even when you were on the edge of defeat."
"Yuya still has a lot to learn with his Pendulum summoning, and my victory was more of a chance victory than a calculated one." Judai reasoned, trying to mentally silence Yubel's teasing.
"And that is the attitude I am talking about. Judai-kun, I am an excellent duelist in my own right. I have dueled with the best, and I wish to impart my skills to the next generation. This was a dream I had with a friend of mine." Hiragi leaned back in his chair to glance over at a photo in on top of a filing cabinet. "However, the school is getting bigger, and my students, they are surpassing the best, and even me. Ever since Yusho disappeared-" Hiragi stopped himself. "What I mean to say, will you join the school not as a student, but as a teacher?"
Judai's tried to silence Daitokuji's laughter.
"I'm sorry?" Judai asked. "Me? A teacher?"
"Yuya already looks up to you, and you obviously are a quick learner with what advice you gave him today. We can discuss pay and benefits at a later date – but Yuki Judai, it would be an honor if you stayed at my school, if at least for a little while," Hiragi implored, his eyes determined. The man truly believed that Judai was a good person to mentor his students. Judai tried to clear his mind of all the horrible things he had done in his past. People looked up to him before, but now it was hardly admiration anymore. Sho, while he had grown into his own person, could never see Judai like he did. He couldn't destroy another bond. He couldn't. He was doomed to be alone, and this was going to be a mistake, and he knew it was going to, and-
"I'll do it," Judai found himself saying, and Hiragi left his mouth to hang.
"You will?"
"Yuya has promise, but that Yuzu is very strong too. I'll mentor them, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave the basic classes for you, Hiragi," Judai continued talking, even though every part of him inside wanted to take back those words.
"Agreed. In that case, if you could just sign a few documents and show me some ID and…" Hiragi listed off legal terms and documents for Judai to sign, and he signed them. The initial regret began dying off as the confidence that made him agree grew stronger. He thought about Yuya's power, and he thought about himself. If he had someone, anyone, tell him about his strength, he would have saved himself a lot of grief. Now that there was a chance that Judai could be someone else's guide, there was no way in hell that Judai was going to let the opportunity pass.
It had been a long time since Judai spent so much time with people in a casual setting, but he supposed it was going to at least be a good change of pace.
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please let me know what you all thought, especially the dueling. If you want less or more, I would love to hear about it.
