Heya, competition day! I'm excited, aren't you? We finally get to see Judai in action, hurray! (Clearly, I had way too much sugar today. =P Gah! I'm starting to rhyme! :s)
Judai's POV
A loud pounding at the door woke me up. Again. Didn't this school have more polite ways of waking a guy up?
I forced myself to shuffle over to the door and stared bleary-eyed at Asuka, who was giving me a weird look. "Out of all the days in the school year, I thought this would be one you would actually wake up for," she told me, an eyebrow arched.
"Why's that?" I asked, still thinking about sleep and my nice, warm bed...
"Um, the competition. You're kind of missing it, Judai."
That woke me up.
"Oh, yeah! Forgot about it!" I ran back into my room, slamming the door in Asuka's face as I rushed to get dressed. Then I slid my duel disk onto my arm, slipped my deck into my holster, and ran back outside, ready for some action.
I blew past Asuka, who looked kind of amused and slightly surpised at the same time. "Thanks Asuka!" I called over my shoulder as I disappeared around the corner.
She yelled something after me, but I couldn't hear it.
As I passed a window, I glanced outside and saw some awesome duels taking place. I was missing it!
I put my head down and sped up. And fell on my face two seconds later. It was like my feet just flew out from underneath me.
"Ow!" I said, getting to my feet and groaning. "What...?" That's when I noticed that I wasn't wearing shoes.
I debated on going back to my room. But another glance outside made my decision for me: I'd just have to go in my socks.
Do you have any idea how hard it is to run on a smooth marble floor in socks? It's a lot harder than you'd think, but somehow I managed to get outside without falling again.
Once I was outside, I skidded to a stop on the walkway and smiled happily at all the duels going on around me. Now to see if there was anyone to challlenge.
A lot of people seemed to be sitting along the tree line of the forest watching some of duels play out. What were they doing sitting around? They should've been dueling. I wove through the matches and saw that most of them were Slifers.
I plopped down next to a girl in a red vest and turned to talk to her, but she beat me to the punch. "So who'd you get beaten by?" she asked, sounding mad.
"What are you talking about?" I wondered. "I didn't get beaten by anyone. I haven't even dueled yet." The girl gave me an odd sideways glance through a wave of brown hair, her blue eyes doubtful.
"Then why are you sitting over here?" she asked, as if I wasn't supposed to be there.
"What do you mean?"
"Geez, were you asleep this morning?" Actually, yes. But the girl didn't give me time to say that. "All of the rounds are elimination. Meaning if you get beat one time, you're out of the competition. And to make sure that you don't try to cheat, a program was sent to all the duel disks last night. Any duel disk that drops to zero life points shuts off and won't turn on until this tournament's over. That was explained to everyone this morning, weren't you there for the announcement?"
"Um, no. I was still asleep."
The girl let out an exasperated sigh. "Anyways, there are only a few Slifers left in the competition, and it's because they haven't finished their duels yet. The only Slifer that has a chance of winning is that freak Marie, but she doesn't really count."
"Hey, I'm still in this!" The brunette just gave me a doubtful look. "And Marie's not a freak," I defended, but the girl just ignored my second comment.
"Yeah, and you were sleeping through the beginning of the competition. That doesn't exactly make you seem very reliable. Besides..." she threw a look down at my feet. "Not wearing shoes doesn't make you seem very itimidating, either."
I laughed awkwardly and blushed a bit. "Um, yeah. Oops?" The girl just shook her head and turned away again.
"If you want to be dumb, then go ahead and challenge someone, but it'd be better to just give up now, before you embaress yourself."
"Don't say that! I never give up, and neither should you!"
"Geez, quiet down. You sound like an anime character."
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Chandra."
"Well, Chandra, have you dueled against anyone yet?"
"Why do you think I'm sitting over here?" Chandra snapped, avoiding my question.
"Have you?"
A deep sigh. "No. But it's pointless. All Slifers are Slifers because we suck at dueling and it'd be stupid to try to challenge the Obelisk and Ra students."
"I used to beat a ton of Obelisk students at Duel Academia. It's not that hard," I said. Chandra's head whipped around and she gave me a long, hard look. Uh oh.
"Did you say Duel Academia, the famous duel academy on Academy Island? The one that's incredibly hard to get into? The one that's only for elites? The one that every duelist dreams of going to?"
"Ah, yup. That's the one," I said, scratching the back of my head nervously. I hadn't meant to give that one away, but I couldn't take it back now.
Chandra grunted approvingly. "Well, if that's true, I'll give you props for that. Even if you were only a Slifer there, you must've been a damn good duelist to get in in the first place. I don't really think you beat Obelisks though. If the Slifers there are good, then the Obelisks must be untouchable."
"Not really," I muttered. I wanted to tell her that I beat a certain teacher of her's who used to be an Obelisk, but I'd leaked enough of the truth for today. I leaped to my feet. "I'll prove it to you. If I can beat an Obelisk here, you have to preticipate in the tournament."
I got an eyeroll as a response. "Fine. But you're going to lose, and I'll be there to tell you I told you so."
"Nope, I'm going to win, and you're going to have to get your game on!" I ran off to find an Obelisk.
(Second Person Perspective)
Chandra sat under the shade of the trees, her icy eyes narrowed in suspicion and thought. There was something...familiar? about that kid. She couldn't put her finger on it. Especially the the last line he said before he ran off. Chandra regretted not asking the crazy kid his name.
Wait, wasn't he the new transfer kid? What was his name again? Judai Yuki? (A/N: Yuki Judai, it sounds better the way it should be, but Chandra is American: First name first, Surname second.) Where had she heard that name before?
She shrugged it away. Who cared? All that mattered was that he lost the bet and she didn't have to duel.
Chandra watched as Judai tried to get an opponent, without avail. Maybe it was just because he was in his socks, but Chandra had the feeling that none of the people he challenged wanted to duel a Slifer Red student.
She sighed and decided to help Judai out a little bit. She wasn't sure why, but she just felt like helping him. It was probably just because he was so excited to duel that it was annoying.
Her gaze swept over the Obelisk and Ra students standing at the side of the action, ignoring Judai. Who in Obelisk had the shortest temper? Bingo. Heath Jacobs.
Chandra climbed grudgingly to her feet and walked over to the bulky dark-haired kid. "Hey, Jacobs!" she called, waving her hand to get his attention.
"What do you want, Slifer trash?"
"I need to tell you something. You know that new kid? Yeah, Judai, the one over there?" she said, pointing deep into the crowd to where the red-clad kid was annoying everyone with challenges. Heath nodded.
"He thinks he's some hotshot and is telling everyone he could beat you in a duel in just a few minutes. And keeps saying that he's challenged you to a duel already and you refused because you were scared you were gonna lose."
Heath's eye twitched. "That little punk...!"
"I don't think you need to worry too much though. I mean, who believes a Slifer? But I think you need to go teach him a lesson. After all, he is just a Slifer and beating him shouldn't take much effort, right?"
Heath didn't answer, but just turned and stomped away in Judai's direction. Chandra laughed and smiled a bit. There you go, Judai. A duel, just like you wanted. Hand delivered to ya on a silver platter.
Judai's POV, first person
I wasn't having much luck finding an opponent. Nobody thought that dueling a Slifer would be any good. It reminded me of the days in Duel Academia. Osiris students were always looked down on too.
Still, I had to find someone willing to duel me. I was just about to ask another person when I suddenly saw someone coming towards me, looking mad about something. What did I do now? As far as I knew, nothing.
"Are you Judai?" the guy growled. He was probably twice my size.
"Yeah!" I answered quickly.
"Are you spreading rumors about me, punk?" he asked, practically snarling at me.
"No!"
"Don't lie to me, kid. I know you're saying that I suck at dueling, that I could be beaten by a lowly Slifer like you!"
"I could beat you, but no, I haven't been spreading rumors about you."
"I could crush you in a second, punk! And just to prove it, I, Heath Jacobs, challenge you to a duel!" Finally, someone willing to duel me.
"I never back down from a challenge!" I replied, getting excited. It had been too long since my last real duel.
Heath stomped past me and headed towards a clear space on the field. I followed close behind him. As I did, I noticed Marie dueling a Ra student, but the Crimson Dragon was nowhere to be seen, at least.
Another glance over my shoulder showed Chandra over in the mix of students still in the tournament, giving me a smirk as I walked behind Heath. She must've been the one who told him that I was spreading rumors.
Heath came to a stop, and I did too several feet away from him. "Game on!" we cried, slamming our decks into our duel disks.
Judai: 4000
Heath: 4000
"My go!" I yelled. I drew a card from my deck and placed it in my hand. "I summon E-Hero Clayman in defense mode (lv.4/def:2000/atk:800) and place one card face down to end my turn."
"My turn," Heath said, nearly ripping a card from the top of his deck. "I summon Fire Lizard (lv.3/atk:1200/def:1500) in attack mode and then play the spell card Spark of Devastation! If Fire Lizard is out on my side of the field, this card allows me to summon two more from my deck to the field. By sacrificing two of my Lizards, I can summon Fire Dragon (lv.7/atk:3000/def:2300)! Now destroy his Clayman with Flare Demise!"
There were murmurs of approval from the spectators. A level seven monster on his very first turn was pretty impressive. But his monster wasn't going to be around long.
"I activate my trap, Clay Charge! Both my monster and yours are destroyed."
"What?" Heath exclaimed as his dragon dissolved in front of his eyes.
"That's not all. You also take 800 points of damage!" Heath groaned as his life points dropped.
"You forget: I still have my Fire Lizard. Fire Lizard, attack this Slifer punk directly!" The phantom ache of claws hitting my shoulder made me flinch a bit and clutch at my shoulder.
Judai: 2800
Heath: 3200
I noticed that there were a lot more people watching now.
"I end my turn."
"My draw! I summon E-Hero Sparkman (lv.4/atk:1600/def:1400) in attack mode and equip him with Power Charger! Sparkman, attack his Fire Lizard!"
Heath's lizard disappeared and Sparkman's attack points were boosted to 2800 by Power Charger's effect. "I end my turn."
"Good, my go. I play Fire Salamander (lv.2/def:700/atk:1100) in defense mode. Then I'll activate his special ability. When my Salamander is in defense mode, I'm allowed to choose one spell card from my deck, and I choose Monster Reborn. And now I'll activate it in order to call back my Fire Dragon (lv.7/atk:3000/def:2300). Dragon, take down his Sparkman!"
A blast of heat washed over me and Sparkman. It was too much for Sparkman, even with his power boost, and he dissolved.
Judai: 2600
Heath: 2800
"I'll play one card face down to end my turn."
I drew another card and smiled. "Then I'll play E-Hero Bubbleman in attack mode (lv.4/atk:800/def:1200)! Now, when he's the only monster on my side of the field, he tends to get a little lonely, allowing me to draw two more cards.
"Perfect!" I said.
"I play Bubble Shot! This raises my Bubbleman's attack points by 800 (lv.4/atk:1600/def:1200). Bubbleman, attack his salamander!"
Once the salamander was gone, I ended my turn.
Heath drew a card, glanced at it, and ordered his dragon to attack Bubbleman.
"I don't think so," I retorted, sending Bubble Shot to the graveyard. "By destroying Bubble Shot, not only does Bubbleman get to stick around for another turn, but all the battle damage gets reduced to zero."
"Che. I end my turn."
"My turn, then!" I drew a card. "Now I'll play the spell Bubble Shuffle. This switches my Bubbleman (lv.4/def:1200/atk:800) and your Fire Dragon (lv.7/def:2300/atk:3000) to defense mode. And now, I can sacrifice my Bubbleman in order to summon E-Hero Edgeman (lv.7/atk:2600/def:1800) from my hand in attack mode! Edgeman, finish off his dragon!"
"You walked right into my trap!" Heath cried, waving his hand triumphantly over his revealed trap card. "Blazing Barricade!"
A wall of fire wrapped around Fire Dragon, destroying my Edgeman and leaving the Fire Dragon completely unharmed.
"What!"
"You see, by simply discarding one card each time you attack, your monster gets destroyed, and mine isn't touched. I also don't take any battle damage. You, however, are a different story. Half of your destroyed monster's attack points are taken straight out of your life points!"
This was trouble. It was going to be hard to beat him with his dragon protected by that card. What was I going to do?
Judai: 1300
Heath: 2800
I'm so evil, leaving you with a cliffhanger again! *evil laugh* Hm, so did you like first half Judai's first duel in this story? I stuck mainly to the E-Heroes because it's easier for me, but don't worry! I haven't forgotten about everyone's favorite aliens. I'll be introducing them here soon, I think. But for now, just sit back and enjoy this blast from the past.
Oh, and Marie was supposed to be the only main OC that I was adding, but I think Chandra'll make it more interesting. I'm not really sure how important she'll be, but her main purpose is to add some more detail for now.