Not Exactly the Enemy (but I'll hate them anyway)
Summary: The Lancers' interdimensional leap was botched and now they are at the Academia…from a couple decades ago. A rewrite of episode 4 of GX where Reiji messes with Cronos' plans.
The Lancers are at the GX era Academia. Is this the same Academia that will become their hated enemy or is it something different altogether? Yuya tries to change the Academia from the inside out while Shun refuses to let go of his rage. At a school where the only monsters coming from the extra deck are fusion, Reiji limits their summoning just in case things take a turn for the worst and that they have a secret weapon.
Yuya is in Osiris Red because he botched his written exam and got so caught up trying to entertain the crowd that he nearly lost his practical exam (but his audience was entertained so he's fine with that).
Dennis, Sawatari and Gongenzaka are in Ra Yellow.
Selena is automatically in Obelisk Blue because she's a girl (but she definitely has the skill to be in that dorm).
Due to his exceptional performance in the entrance exam (and because Reiji slipped about his attendance at a Pro League School before the war and he needs to keep a close eye on Shun so he doesn't do anything stupid) Shun gets placed in Obelisk Blue but refuses to wear the uniform or stay in the dorms.
(He could have done the same for Dennis and Sawatari but he suspects Dennis for being a spy so he's in Yellow with Gongenzaka and Sawatari keeping an eye on him.)
Reiji becomes a student teacher with Reira by his side.
Tsukikage is a ninja and is gathering information for Reiji.
For most the duels, I'll be using the TCG/OCG effects of cards (or based off them) instead on the anime ones.
{~~~}
Yuya laid on the bottom bunk of his room in the Osiris Red dorm. He had his goggles pulled over his eyes and pendulum swinging before him. The blue crystal swings from left to right, if it goes one way it's sure to come back the other.
He has no idea what to think of Duel Academia. It had the same rankings from the elite Obelisk Blue down to Osiris Red and Yuya had seen one of the teachers use Ancient Gears against a latecomer during the entrance exam. Everything about this school lined up with what he knew about their enemy from the Fusion dimension and all of the Lancers were ready to believe that they were somewhere in the Fusion dimension's past, before the Professor took over.
But there was something off about this place. It felt like they were still in Standard but not in the same time. Selena had said that this place felt like an odd mismatch between Fusion and Standard. She had stated that the Fusion Academia's goal was not to fuse the four dimensions but rather to re-fuse them. That at one point there was only Standard and they could be at the point in time when the Fusion dimension broke away.
But what could have caused the split in the first place?
Someone banged at the bedframe, knocking Yuya out of his thoughts.
"Oi Sakaki! Stop trying to hypnotize yourself." His roommate said, Uchimura he thought his name was. "Today the day of the promotion exams. You'd better get up unless you want to stay in Red for the rest of your Academia years."
"Ah, thanks." Yuya said, slipping out of his bunk. "You go on ahead, I'll catch up later."
"Fine but don't blame me if you're late." And his roommate was gone.
This Academia wasn't too strict on uniform, with the only required clothing was the blazer color-coded to match the wearer's dorm and even then he had seen some other students make alterations to their uniform.
Yuya picked up his red blazer puts it on. It's actually quite warm and comfy if not a little big on the side. He examines himself in the mirror and…
Screams.
Fire.
Blood.
Golems. Golems everywhere.
Run and hide.
Don't let those monster find you.
Shun, Ruri, where are they?
Duck behind the wall, stick to the shadows.
Don't let them find you.
"Run, run, run little Xyz scum! We'll always find you."
People fleeing in terror.
Cards falling.
Why were they so many cards everywhere?
"Found you!"
A red blazer.
Duel disk raised and a sword appears.
Can't lose.
Summon Rebellion and-
Yuya threw off the blazer and pulled up his goggles. He crumpled to the floor, panting.
Though he still didn't know what to think of this Academia, Yuto had already made up his mind. The Academia, no matter where or when it was, was still the Academia. They were the enemy. His dimensional counterpart had grown more violent ever since they had arrived in this dimension…time-period…wherever they were.
Still shaking, Yuya picked up the red blazer and hung it over his shoulders like he did with his white school jacket.
No reaction.
Yuya sighed with relief and collected his deck and Academia-issued duel disk. Even though Akaba Reiji had forbidden any sort of extra deck summoning other than Fusion, Yuya was still able to use his own deck. He had only been using Pendulums for a couple of months so switching back to his old strategy of Advance summoning wasn't that hard compared to Dennis and Kurosaki, whose decks focused on Xyz summoning and had to build a new deck from scratch. (Well, Dennis did. He wasn't as sure about Kurosaki.) Plus, he also knew how to Fusion summon so that-
Yuya's chest pulsed. Right, Yuto didn't like Fusion summoning.
(And Yuto can go stuff himself because this is his body and his cards and he won't let a moody spirit he could barely communicate with give him chest pains whenever he thought about using Fusion.)
He took a deep breath and put on his best smile. He'll show this Academia his Entertainment dueling and make them all smile…after the written exam.
{~~~}
"Eh?! Why am I dueling Manjoume?"
Professor Cronos chuckled to himself. Today was the day that he finally rid himself of that damn dropout boy Yuki Judai.
His plan was simple and foolproof. Purchase all the new rare cards and give them to the rising star of Obelisk Blue, Manjoume Jun and have him defeat the slacker during the practical promotion exam. With Yuki's sure to be awful written exam results, he was sure to be expelled.
"Considering your outstanding results in the entrance exam, it would be unfair to match you up against anyone else in Osiris Red." Cronos explained. "So it was decided that Signore Manjoume would be a much suitable opponent. If you win you'll be promoted to Ra Yellow. How does that deal sound?"
"I don't think that would be possible Professor Cronos."
The two students and teacher turned to see a tall grey-haired man wearing a red scarf with a small boy by his side.
Cronos scowled. "Signore Akaba, what brings you here?" Though he had few encounters with the new student teacher, something…off about Akaba Reiji, as if he didn't belong.
Akaba revealed a set of papers. "I was reviewing the match ups for the practical exams when I noticed that not only was a Osiris Red matched against an Obelisk Blue, two students were excluded from the list altogether: Sakaki Yuya of Osiris and Kurosaki Shun of Obelisk. As you are the one in-charge of organizing the schedule, may I ask why this is the case?"
Cronos once again scowled and cursed Akaba for his perceptiveness. "Signore Sakaki was the lowest scoring student based the entrance exams, both written and practical, and has barely improved since entering, losing every other duel. That boy and his dancing hippos stands no chance in the competitive society of Duel Academia. On the other hand, Signore Kurosaki is nothing more than a name on the roster. He has failed to show up to any of his classes and hasn't even registered at the dorms."
"But both took part in the written portion of the promotion exam and need opponents for the practical." Akaba said, adjusting his glasses. "I suggest we have Yuki duel Sakaki and Manjoume duel Kurosaki, unless you want two sets of inter-dorm duels."
As much as Cronos hated to admit it, Akaba had a point. While he could justify placing Yuki against Manjoume, he could not with Sakaki and Kurosaki. He would have preferred the two inter-dorm duels, knocking out two dropouts with one exam, but there was no way that could be possible.
"Fine then, let the dropouts duel." Cronos scowled as he stormed out of the gymnasium. He would have to find another way to get rid of Yuki Judai.
{~~~}
Judai smiled at his tomato-haired opponent, another Osiris like himself. Though it would have been interesting to duel Manjoume, he had a feeling that there was something else going on besides trying to find an even match.
Judai activated his duel disk. "So, Yuya are you ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be." Yuya grinned, activating his own duel disk. "Let have a duel that the audience will enjoy!"
"DUEL!"
Judai LP: 4000
Yuya LP: 4000
"I'll take the first turn. Draw!" Judai declared drawing a card from his deck. Winged Kuriboh. "It's good you've come to see the show, partner."
"I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in defense mode!"
A large clay golem appeared before its duelist, kneeling in defense.
DEF: 2000
"And I'll end my turn there! Your move, Yuya!"
"You've set up a solid defense. Let's see if I can overcome it, draw!" Yuya looked down at his hand and mentally sighed. 'Who needs new cards when you have your interdimensional counterpart adding cards to your deck for you?' Well, his deck was already rebuilding itself, so what's another spirit going to change?
"First up, I'll activate the spell Performapal Recasting!" A large red tarp appeared behind Yuya with spotlights on it. "For every Performapal I reveal, I can shuffle it into my deck and draw the same amount plus one. I reveal Performapal Elephammer!" A large blue elephant with a mallet-shaped trunk appeared and disappeared behind the tarp along with the tarp itself as Yuya shuffled the card back into his deck and drew two more.
"Now I'll summon my good pal, Performapal Hip Hippo in attack mode!"
A pink hippo in a top hat and waistcoat appeared and bowed to the crowd.
ATK: 800
"So this is the famous hippo I've heard about." Judai said. The other Osiris was taking his time but he couldn't help grinning at his over-enthusiastic actions and explanations. If they ever came up with a form of dueling that involved a lot of movement, Yuya was certain to do well.
"It sure is but don't think don't think I'm done yet! I'll activate the continuous spell Wonder Balloons!" A colorful box with question marks of each side appeared behind Hippo. "For every card I send to the graveyard, I can add one Balloon Counter. So one, two, three cards I'm discarding!" As he slipped the cards into his graveyard, three colorful balloons popped out of the box.
"I place one card face down and end my turn. Show the audience what you've got next Judai!"
{~~~}
From the stands students who already had their duels or were waiting for their turn, honed in on the duel between the two Reds. There wasn't much to be expected from students from the Academia's lowest dorm, but those two were exceeding any of their expectations.
"Aniki's got this one in the bag!" Sho cheered. "All his opponent has to defend himself is a hippo with eight hundred attack. Anything he draws next is sure to beat it."
"I'm not so sure about that." Misawa said. "We still have no idea what those Wonder Balloons do then there's that facedown. This duel won't as straightforward as it appears."
"I applaud you for your fantastic observation."
Sho and Misawa turned around to see a trio of Ra Yellows. The one in front had crinkly orange hair and one sleeve of his blazer rolled up, revealing the pale blue sleeve underneath. Behind him was a slightly shorter boy with banana-peel like hair and a towering black-haired man with a red sash tied around his forehead.
"Dennis Macfield at your service." The asymmetric one said. "And these are Sawatari Shingo and Gongenzaka Noboru. We're friends of Yuya."
"Friends? Did you meet at the entrance exams?" Sho asked. It was rare to have friends outside one's respective dorm due to the prejudice between them. He doubted that he would have known Misawa if they hadn't had met before they had been sorted.
"Actually, we took the exam together." Dennis explained. "Two members of our group got into Obelisk Blue and us three in Ra Yellow. Yuya's the only one in Osiris Red." He looked down onto the field where the tomato-haired duelist was making showy gestures and grand explanations. "Even though he's restricted, he still shows his entertainment style."
"Entertainment style?"
"You're both aiming to be Pro League duelists, right? What most duelists aim to do is to grow stronger and defeat more opponents to reach the top. There's nothing wrong with that but at the same time, they neglect the audience, the people watching you duel and reason dueling can even be considered a career. An entertainment style focuses not only on winning, but on keeping the crowd entertained at the same time. A duelist might even throw a match if it pleases the audience."
"Wow," Sho said in awe. "To think that there that much more to dueling."
Dennis nodded. "Dueling is more than just combos and calculations. It's a show that your audience has to enjoy. But the problem with an entertainment style is that the duelist's focus is split between the crowd and his opponent, which might force them to please one while failing the other."
"What I don't get is why Yuya is matched up against that guy!" Sawatari grumbled. "While he does have some skill, he lacks presentation and flair! A fellow entertainment duelist like myself would be much better to keep the entertainment flowing!"
"Yuya's not even in your dorm, Sawatari." Gongenzaka sighed. "Besides, your dueling Dennis later and he's as much of an entertainer as you are."
"But still…"
Misawa eyed the larger Yellow and Gongenzaka returned the glance. They were opponents in their own practical exam and he had a feeling it would be a duel to remember. But there was one thing that still edged him, what did Dennis mean by Yuya being 'restricted'?
{~~~}
Back on the field, Judai drew his next card and beamed. "Alright! I play the spell Polymerization!"
Yuto pulsed inside Yuya at the activation of the hated spell. 'Please, Yuto, calm down.' Yuya thought, hoping to reach his counterpart. 'We're not on the battlefield. This is just a friendly duel. Smiles, remember, we have to make the audience smile.'
"I fuse the Elemental Hero Clayman on the field with the Elemental Hero Sparkman in my hand to Fusion summon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!"
Clayman leapt into the air and combined with a sharp blue and yellow hero in a swirl of red and blue. A stocky hero with a golden torso with blue orbs crackling with electricity landed onto the field.
ATK: 2400
"Now Thun-Wha?!"
Three balloons popped out of the box on Yuya's side of the field and encased Thunder Giant, restricting his movements.
"Wonder Balloons activates!" Yuya declared. "Every monster you control loses three hundred attack points for each balloon counter on it. With three balloon counters, your Giant loses nine hundred attack points!"
ATK: 2400 - 1600
"Now I didn't see that coming." Judai said as his hero waddled in his balloon trappings. "But that doesn't stop Thunder Giant's effect from activating! By sending one card from my hand to the graveyard, I can destroy a monster whose original attack is less than Thunder Giant's! Say goodbye to your Hippo, Static Blast!"
A ball of electricity formed in Thunder Giant's hands and was thrown at the hapless Hippo, destroying it with a flash of lightning and covering Yuya's side of the field with smoke.
"I activate my trap Performapal Revival!" Yuya said as his face-down flipped up to reveal a purple trap card. "Since you destroyed my Hippo, I can Special summon a Performapal from my graveyard! So welcome to the stage: Performapal Mammoth Splash!"
A purple box dropped onto Yuya's field and burst open to reveal a purple mammoth wearing a green vest and a tiny blue top hat.
DEF: 2300
As Yuya's new monster began to spray water from its showerhead tail, Judai couldn't shake the feeling that there was something off about it, about all of Yuya's cards in fact. If he stared at the mammoth long enough, he could see the faint shadow of two gems and something trying to swing between them. A bit like a pendulum, for a lack of better description.
With Wonder Balloons in effect, Thunder Giant was too weak to destroy Mammoth Splash at the moment. "Okay then, guess I'll end my turn here." Judai couldn't help but feel excitement bubble up in him. Despite his weird monsters, Yuya was shaping up to be a challenge and his showy way of dueling seem to add an extra spark.
Yuya drew his next card and smiled. "Ladies and Gentlemen!" He announced with outstretched arms, grabbing the attention of the audience and other duelists on the field. "Following up Judai's spectacular summon of Elemental Hero Thunder Giant, I present to you a Fusion of my own!"
"I activate the spell Odd-Eyes Fusion! Now with the Performapal Mammoth Splash on my field and the Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon in my hand…"
The entertainer's two monsters leapt into the air before a swirl of red and blue. Yuya could feel Yuto's resistance but he wouldn't let him stop his summon.
"Dual-colored eyed dragon. Become one with the blizzard behemoth and give birth to a new power! Fusion Summon! Come forth, ferocious dragon with luminous feral eyes! Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"
A large dragon appeared behind Yuya. It was covered in dull yellow bones and spikes with blue and red scales peeking out from underneath. In the center of its forehead was a golden eye which gleamed as it roared.
ATK: 3000
"Are you ready to swing into action? Because the real fun starts now!"
{~~~}
From the teacher's viewing area, Cronos trembled at the sight of Yuya's new dragon.
"H-how can…an O-Osiris Red have such a p-powerful monster? You!" Cronos pointed at Akaba, who was sitting leisurely with his little brother by his side. "You gave that dropout some new cards, didn't you?"
"I did no such thing." Akaba said. "Sakaki Yuya has always been a capable duelist. The only thing stopping him is himself. Though…" He adjusted his glasses. "Do you know what happened to all the new rare cards that arrived today? I heard they were all bought by one person the moment they went on sale."
{~~~}
"Now battle! Beast-Eyes attack Thunder Giant, Hell Dive Burst!"
The feral dragon smashed into the restrained hero, making it disappear from the field and dealing the excess damage to Judai.
Judai's LP: 4000 - 2600
"Now Beat-Eyes effect activates! When it destroys a monster in battle, I can deal damage…"
"Equal to the destroyed monster's attack?" Judai guessed.
"Close but not quite the card. You take damage equal to Beast-Eyes' beast-type fusion material's original attack. Since Splash Mammoth had nineteen hundred attack points, you take that amount as direct damage!"
Beast-Eyes roared as Judai's lifepoints went down even further.
Judai's LP: 2600 - 700
"Now I end my turn. Let's see if…Judai?"
Yuya's opponent had his head bowed and was shaking.
"Are you ok Judai?" Yuya asked. Maybe he went a little too far with that last move.
Then his opponent burst out laughing, causing the entire arena to jump in surprise.
(At least now Yuya knew how others felt when he started to randomly laughing…)
"Now that was something! It's only been a month since I started here and already I've had tons of amazing duels." Judai said with a wide grin. "Though what was with that chanting with while you were summoning?"
"Oh, that? It's just a little something to make the summoning a little more dramatic." Yuya replied.
"You really turned things around with that move, now let's see if I can makes things swing my way again. Draw!"
"First I'll activate Pot of Greed to draw two more cards!" A greed pot with a wicked grin appeared before Judai then shattered as he drew his cards.
Looking down at his hand, Judai saw the card that Ms. Tome had given him in the booster shop. He turned to Winged Kuriboh, who was floating by his side in anticipation. "Ready to make our comeback, partner?"
"Kuri, kuri!" The little monster said in response.
"I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode!" Judai said as the winged fluff ball appeared before him earning a few squeals from the female audience.
DEF: 200
"I set two cards face down and end my turn."
"Looks like our show is coming close to its conclusion. The final battle between a David and Goliath!" Yuya said. "I can't wait to see how you'll turn this around. Draw!
"Let's finish this! Beast-Eyes attack Winged Kuriboh!"
"I activate Transcendent Wings!" Judai declared as a white light enveloped his small monster. "By sending two cards in my hand to the graveyard, I can bring forth Kuriboh's new evolution!"
"Winged creature that protects against harm, spread your wings and soar to new heights! Winged Kuriboh LV 10!"
Kuriboh's new wings extended across the entire field with an elegant golden headpiece upon its head.
Though its stats remained the same, Yuya was certain that it would turn the duel into Judai's favor.
"So I'm guessing your activating its effect? Yuya asked.
"You bet I am! By tributing Kuriboh, I can destroy all attack position monsters you control and deal the combined attack points to you as direct damage!"
Kuriboh captured Beast-Eyes in its ginormous wings and both disappeared from the field.
Yuya's LP: 4000 - 1000
"Looks like I'll end my turn." Yuya looked at Judai and smiled. "The stage is yours. With both our fields almost empty, your draw will decide the outcome of the duel."
"Yeah. To think this all comes down to one draw. Okay then here it goes. Draw!" Judai looked down at the card and smiled. "Alright! I summon Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode!"
ATK: 1000
"Wonder Balloons activates! Avian loses nine hundred attack points!"
"I don't think so! I activate my trap, Feather Wind! Since Avian's on the field, I can pop those your balloons!"
As the balloons emerged from the box, the bird-like hero flapped his wings, destroying them with a gale of whirlwind.
"Now Avian attacks you directly!"
Yuya's LP: 1000 - 0
Winner: YUKI JUDAI
Judai pressed his fingers together into a two-finger salute. "Gotcha! That was a fun duel!"
"It sure was!" Yuya said as the holograms faded. "And look at everyone's smiles!"
The entire arena was cheering, from Osiris Red to Ra Yellow to Obelisk Blue, there was a smile painted across all of their faces.
{~~~}
Misawa walked through the halls after the end of his own practical exam against Gongenzaka. His opponent's "Steadfast Dueling" and a deck consisting solely of monsters had caught him off guard but it was an interesting experience.
He had also managed to catch a glimpse of Dennis and Sawatari's duel. The latter played a beatdown Darts deck while the former's was more elusive Charmer-based deck. Much like Yuya, their dueling style was filled with over-acting and enthusiasm to please their audience.
But before today, he had never heard of some of the archetypes that they used. Superheavy Samurais, Performapals, Darts… Misawa would have believed that they were from the new cards that were brought in if the duelists hadn't admitted that they have been using those decks for years.
And also they said they had friends in Obelisk Blue…
"What were your other two cards?"
Misawa ducked behind a wall and saw Sakaki Yuya with a scowling man in a purple coat.
"What do you mean, Kurosaki?" The Red responded.
"You know exactly what I mean." Kurosaki snarled. "You discarded three cards for Wonder Balloons effect. What were the other two?"
Yuya sighed and pulled two identical trap cards from his deck.
"The Phantom Knights of Shadow Veil…" The taller man muttered. "You could have won the duel."
"Really? I don't see how…"
"Don't play dumb with me Sakaki! Shadow Veil would have allowed you to summon them to the field as monsters when Yuki declared a direct attack. You could have brought out Rebellion!"
"And risk losing control again?" Yuya retorted. "Ever since we came here, I've been feeling more aggressive. Yuto's been feeling more aggressive. If I had summoned Rebellion, there was a good chance that someone was going to get hurt!"
"Yuto wouldn't have let a Fusion bastard win!" Kurosaki yelled.
"Yuto told me to make everyone smile with my power!" Yuya yelled back.
There was a silence between the pair before Yuya said in a smaller voice, "You haven't changed your deck."
Kurosaki stiffened. "I will not abandon my comrades."
"But Akaba said…"
"To hell with what Akaba said!" Kurosaki snarled. "I will not be Professor Akaba's lap dog and neither should you."
Kurosaki stormed off leaving Yuya alone in the hall clutching his chest.
Misawa took this as his que to leave. There was something deeper going on here…
{Omake}
"Now Avian attacks you directly!"
"I activate The Phantom Knights of Shadow Veil from my graveyard."
A pair of ghostly blue figures riding black horses appeared before Yuya, intercepting the hero's attack.
DEF: 300
Judai waited for his opponent to give a flamboyant explanation of his card's effect but Yuya remained silent.
"Guess I'll end my turn there." Judai said. "Hey Yuya, you okay?"
"Draw." Yuya said monotonously, ignoring Judai. "I overlay the two level four monsters on my field…"
{~~~}
"Overlay?" Sho said. He turned to Misawa. "Do you have any idea what he means by 'overlay'?"
Misawa shook his head. "No, I've never heard anything like it."
He looked at his fellow Yellows to see that Gongezaka had visibly paled at Yuya's declaration.
"We need to stop the duel." The tall duelist said, shaking slightly.
"Why should we?" Dennis asked. "He's just going to Xyz summon. Sure it's against Akaba's orders but…"
Before he could say any more, a ferocious roar echoed through the arena.
They turned to the field to see that Yuya's two knights were gone and in their place was a black dragon with two lights orbiting it.
Yuya wasn't laughing or smiling, instead he had a scowl set on his face with red piercing eyes. A dark aura emitted from him.
"Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon attacks Elemental Hero Avian. Revolt of Lightning, DISOBEY!"
The black dragon crackled with electricity as it slammed into the hapless hero and throwing Judai into the wall.
The duel was over but the dragon wasn't disappearing.
"Oh no! That dragon's dealing real damage!" Sho exclaimed.
"We have to get Judai out of there." The four Yellows and Red raced out of the stands as quickly as they could before their friends could get any more injured.
On the field Judai was in a haze of pain. What was going on with Yuya? He was all smiles just a moment ago and now he's trying to kill him.
Something dark stirred within the fall Red. How dare this intruder think he could harm him?
Judai's eyes flickered open.
They were golden yellow.