UPDATE(1/15/16): Edited one monster's effect and changed the Life Points.
-Chapter 13-
Test of Reality
Yusuke, Haruka, and rest of their classmates and entire school returned back to their school. One night, Yusuke decided to tell his father and mother about his experience at the camp, including his Duel with David, one of the four Horsemen of Duelings, and Akako, who wants him to join her dueling agency.
"Yusuke…are you really positive that you want to do this?" His mother asked, looking a bit worry.
His grandfather and his young sister, Yumi were listening to the conversation as they sat on another table. His parents decided to close the restaurant for tonight only, which is something they would do when they want to have a serious family conversation.
"Yes, Mom. I am VERY positive about it! It is something I always wanted to do when I was a little kid!" Yusuke exclaimed. "I want to become a better Duelist, and someday become the world's greatest King of Duelists! Miss Akako is most likely the chance….well, at least the person who will give me that chance to achieve my dream! So, isn't it great? Could I, please?"
His mother looked little unsure, but shrugged that away and put up a soft grin. "If that is what you want to do, son, then I will not hold you back."
"Yes, thank you Mom!" Yusuke said. "What about you, Dad?"
His father, however, thought of another idea. He looked very serious with his arms crossed. "No…"
"What!?" Everyone gasped.
I expected much.
"What? Why dad?" He asked.
"I can't let you become a Pro Duelist, son. You will be instead running the restaurant after me when you grow up. Anything else, but not Professional Duelist. End of conversation." His father said, slamming his hand on the table before he got up and walked away into the kitchen.
"But…but, Dad!" He muttered. His grandfather watched silently at his father walking away into the kitchen. Yumi and their Mom looked confuse and sad. Yusuke looked depressed and most shocked of all.
One day later….
Yusuke discussed his family talk with Haruka during their lunch break.
"So, your dad won't let you become a Pro Duelist?" Haruka asked.
"Yeah! I mean, what is his problem?" Yusuke huffed with anger. "I mean, shouldn't he be like you know support me with my dream!? I mean, I thought he would understand the most since he was a Pro Duelist back in his days!"
"Yeah, I remember you talked about that to me long time ago." Haruka nodded. "Your dad was good, right?"
"Good? He was the best! He won a regional tournament three times….until he quit and married my mom, and opened their restaurant." Yusuke stated before he showed a sad, unsure face. "It's just…I don't understand why he won't let me become a Pro Duelist. I understand about the importance of family business, but I also want to live my dream."
Haruka felt sad and sorry for her friend. "Well, don't worry, Yusuke. Maybe you can persuade him a little bit more."
"Yeah, I think I will just do that." Yusuke nodded, feeling a bit happy and showing his warm grin. Haruka felt happy to see his positive expression.
One week later…
Nothing has changed for Yusuke. His father still doesn't accept him to become a Pro Duelist. Yusuke decided to call Miss Akako, so she can persuade his father. She accepted the request and went to meet Kagami's residence.
Akako sat quietly on the table as Yusuke's parents was cooking her ordered meal. Yusuke's grandpa stared at her with a tint of blush on his face while Yumi felt little disturbed.
Yusuke was sitting next to Akako. Another minute passed and her food came to the table. She ordered a nice, tasty chilly shrimp fries rice with a bowl of miso soup.
"Order up. Please enjoy your meal." His mother stated as she put the tray in front of her.
Akako smelled the spicy scent emanating from her rice and shrimps. "Mmmmm, smell delicious. Itadaki masu."
Itadaki masu means 'thank you for the meal' before you eats the food. It is a custom in Japan to say thank you for the meal before and after you eat it. After you finished, you say "Gozeso-sama desu" in politer form.
After she ate her meal, his parents sat at the other side of the table while his father looking serious like before. Yusuke felt the tension to be intimidating. His grandpa still looked at Akako with lust, which Yumi felt very creeped out about, but tried to keep up with her usual serious, silent expression.
"So, this is where you live, Yusuke. It sure is nice to live in a restaurant with parents who know how to cool such a delicious food." She thought aloud.
"Thank you for your satisfaction, Miss Akako." His mother said, bowing to her.
"Your welcome." She bowed back. "Mr. Kagami, you sure put up a successful place. I can see why a lot of local here love this place."
"Thanks. It is my long dream to build a restaurant in my hometown where I raised and grew up in for my entire life." He said in a serious tone.
"I see. Well…" She continued. "I think the place is lovely, but you said that this restaurant is your lifelong dream, which I can clearly see it came true, so why not let your son's dream to come true? Doesn't it sound little bit unfair for you to not allow your own son to fulfill his dream?"
She grinned with her head titled while she laid her head on her hand while the elbow was on the table. His father gritted a little as he tapped his finger and sweated a little.
"No matter what you will say, the answer will be the same." He replied.
"But…Dad." Yusuke whispered.
"I see. Well, then I have an idea." She said. Yusuke and everyone else looked at Miss Akako with curious face. His father still kept his expression the same, but with an interest in his eyes.
"Why don't you duel against your own son? If he wins, I become his manager and begin his life in professional dueling. But, if you win, then he won't become a Pro Duelist and stay here, working here for the rest of his life. How about it then?" She suggested.
Yusuke, Yumi, Mom, and Grandpa gasped to that idea as they turned their face to the man of the house himself.
His father closed his eyes, pondering to himself until a second later, he opened his eyes wide. "That sounds reasonable enough. I accept the challenge."
"What!?" Everyone gasped. Yumi smirked with pride.
"Dad?" Yusuke looked at his father.
"Yusuke….if you are seriously into this, then you must defeat in the Duel. Even though you are my son, I won't go easy on you." He said.
"Well…" Yusuke got up with his face down, but put back up with a determined smirk. "I will show you Dad how serious I am. Let's do this thing!"
They all went outside the restaurant. Yusuke stood at one side while his Father stood mightily at the other side of the road, across from his son. Yumi, mom, grandpa, and Akako watched. Grandpa sat on a folded chair while Akako sat, too with her legs crossed. Grandpa felt very aroused for that, but he gasped a little and sweated as Yumi and Mom glared darkly at him.
The father and son activated their Duel Disk. Dad's D Ring is yellow with the blade to be yellow.
"Searching Duelist nearby. Duelist found! Initiating D-Wave Field, activate!" Both Duel Disks stated as both released a pulse of wave, creating the wave field in space.
"DUEL!"
Yusuke Kagami vs. Yashinori Kagami: 4000 LPs.
"The challenger goes first!" His father said. "My turn. I summon Meal Masher Curriman to the field!"
The monster his father summoned was a midget humanoid figure in a red superhero costume with the letter "C" in yellow on his chest. He had two beady brown eyes, similar to the color of the curry powder. He wore yellow gloves and red cape flowing down on his back.
Meal Masher Curriman-Level 3, Scale 5, FIRE, Warrior/Effect, 500 ATK, 1000 DEF.
"Then, I set three cards face down. Turn end!" He finished. "Now Yusuke, show me what you got!"
"Alright, Dad! I will show you how strong I am. Even if you are an old man, I won't go easy on you." Yusuke said, feeling quite excited. "My turn, I draw!"
"Trap card activates! Equal Exchange." He said aloud. One of his face-down revealed to be a Trap, depicting a green goblin at a counter, helping a pink goblin with depositing and withdrawing cards instead of money like at any normal banks.
"When this card is activated and as long as it remains face-up on the field, both players must discard one card from his hand each time they draw a card during their Draw Phase." He explained.
"Say what!?" Yusuke gasped.
"That's right, son! Now you must discard 1 card since you drew a card!" He stated.
Yusuke gritted as he looked at the card he must discard. "Dang it. I guess I will send this one, then." He sent a monster card from his hand, but he didn't look too disappointed and resumed his turn.
"I normal summon my Battle Gargoyle in attack mode!" His staple Gargoyle appeared as it roared and posed in its battle pose. "Then, I equip him with the Spell card, Majestic Aura Sword!"
The sword in the spell's picture had a silver blade with majestic, glowing yellow aura.
"With this card equipped to my monster, Battle Gargoyle won't be affected by the effects of Spell and Trap cards. Plus, he gains 500 boosts for his ATK." Yusuke said. "Go, Battle Gargoyle! Attack and destroy my dad's monster, Curriman!"
Battle Gargoyle swung into action with the same said sword as he sliced the weaker monster in half before Curriman cried and exploded like a crack of glass.
"Grgh!" His father grunted as he covered himself with his arms from the impact.
Yoshinori's LP: 2400
"Yeah!" Yusuke cheered. "How do you like that, Dad?"
"Hmph!" He huffed. "Don't let this simple victory get into your head, son! I activate my Trap card, Gourmet Pot!"
It depicted a pot full of different foods in a big brew as it boiled and heated by a cooking stove underneath it.
"As long as this card remains face-up on the field, if a Meal Masher monster is destroyed by battle, I gain Life Points equal to half of the destroyed monster's ATK!" His father explained as the giant pot appeared behind him, brewing an aroma of smell which covered Yoshinori as his Life Points increased.
Yoshinori's LP: 2650
"Woah. Dad knows how to counter." Yusuke thought. "I set a card and end my turn."
Yumi looked worry and felt this whole dueling between father and son ridiculous, but deep down, it was probably the best and right way to do. She just hoped that Yusuke wins the Duel. Their mother and grandpa watched silently with a passive look as Miss Akako watched with a grin of enjoyment.
"My turn, I draw!" He drew his card quickly, faster than how Yusuke draws his card. "First, I send one card due to the effect of Equal Exchange, and then I activate the Spell card, Mysterious Menu from my hand!"
This Spell showed a blindfolded Chinese woman that looks like Shampoo from Ranma ½ holding a menu. "When this card is activated, I must select three Meal Masher monsters from my Deck, and then you, my son, must select one of these cards randomly!"
Suddenly, faded images of three cards appeared in front of Yusuke, which all three are made up of wave particles.
"So, I just choose right." He thought aloud. "I choose this one; one on the right!"
"Hmph." He huffed. "Very well. The rest of the cards go back into my Deck, and then I reshuffled it." His Duel Disk automatically did that for him as he added the new card to his hand.
"I summon Meal Masher Hot Doggie!" A new monster appeared and this one looked cute, and delicious. It was basically a dog made of red sausage with buns for its fur. It had a yellow spot of mustard for its nose while it stuck its red tongue. It had swirling ketchup and mustard on its backside up its tail. It had four, short skinny legs.
Meal Masher Hot Doggie-Level 1, Scale 8, EARTH, Beast/Effect, 0 ATK, 0 DEF.
"A monster with zero attack?" Yusuke thought. "What is Dad planning up to? I know there was something about that monster, but I can't remember it right now. What was it?"
"Meal Masher Hot Doggie's effect activates!" Yoshinori declared. "When it is Normal Summoned successfully while I have fewer cards in my hand than my opponent's hand, I get to draw 2 cards from my Deck. Since I have one, and you have two, this effect applies!"
He drew the two cards from his Deck. "Next, I play one of the cards I drew, Pot of Greed so I can draw two more!"
"Again!?" Yusuke gasped.
"My recipe for victory is all set." His father thought aloud. Yusuke felt that this won't go pretty for him.
"I place my Scale 1 Meal Masher Shrimpy Oni-Giri in the Pendulum Zone!" A pillar of light shone as a monster rose up.
This one was a little rice ball with skinny arm and stumpy feet. It had two horns made of shrimp tail, and anime-like eyes with glaring expression. It yelped its battle cry.
Meal Masher Shrimpy Oni-Giri, Level 4, Scale 1, DARK, 1300 ATK, 200 DEF.
"I activate my pendulum monster's first pendulum effect! When it is the only monster in the Pendulum Zone, I can add 1 Meal Masher Pendulum monster from my Deck, field, or Graveyard and place in the other Pendulum Zone. I choose my Hot Doggie and place it in my other Pendulum Zone!"
The little hot dog monster barked few times before it disappeared and reappeared in the other pillar of light, completing the Pendulum Scale.
"With that set, my Pendulum Scale is complete and I can summon Level 2 to Level 7 monsters!" Yoshinori exclaimed. "Swing, the pendulum of my soul! Swing to satisfy my hunger for victory! Come out, my food-loving monsters!"
Two beams of light jumped out of the portal. "Pendulum Summon! Returning from my Extra Deck, Meal Masher Currieman and from my hand, Meal Masher Fira Chicken and Meal Masher Miso Priest!"
The curry monster in a superhero costume appeared along with two new monsters. The first one was a literal fried chicken with two beady eyes on fire. Its leg was the chicken bones sticking out of the meat. The second one was a Japanese priest who looks young and short, with a bowl of miso soup as its head, two green eyes, and wearing traditional Japanese priest. It had carrots for its hair.
Meal Masher Fira Chicken-Level 2, Scale 8, FIRE, Winged-Beast/Effect, 100 ATK, 0 DEF.
Meal Masher Miso Priest-Level 4, Scale 2, WATER, Warrior/Effect, 1400 ATK, 1000 DEF.
"Woah! It's Pendulum Summon!" Yusuke exclaimed.
"Wow…" Yumi awed quietly.
"But that is not all! Now that I have the right recipe on the field, I shall call forth the main dish!" Yoshinori called. "I activate Meal Masher Fira Chicken's effect! While I control another monster with Meal Masher in its name, I can use this card and other monsters on my side of the field as materials for Fusion Summon!"
"What!?" Yusuke and Yumi gasped.
"Spicy burning chicken with tender juiciness, fuse together with the priest of hot, nice soup of Japanese delicacy, bring forth the priestess of the great soup of Japan! Fusion Summon! Arise! Meal Masher Miso Supreme Priestess!"
Two of his said monsters fused into a swirl of red and blue colors. A new monster formed out of it; a Japanese priestess with a bowl of miso soup for its head, pink eyes, green vegetables for her hair, and wielded large chopsticks for the weapon.
Meal Masher Miso Supreme Priestess-Level 6, WATER, Spellcaster/Fusion/Effect, 2400 ATK, 1600 DEF.
"Woah! Now it is Fusion!" Yusuke surprised.
"Not just a Fusion. This is the power that Pendulum Summon can grant to the user. Ones who mastered such summoning can access to other types of summoning methods. This is one of them…Pendulum Fusion!" His father exclaimed.
"Pendulum Fusion…" Yusuke whispered.
"My, my. Yoshinori is going all out. I don't I have seen this man Duel like this for over 20 years." Akako said.
"You know my son's previous career?" Grandpa asked.
"I am an agent of a dueling agency. I always research each Duelist's background, whether they are active or retired." Akako answered.
"Dad…" Yumi thought.
"Miso Supreme Priestess' effect activates! When she is Fusion Summoned, all monsters without name 'Meal Masher' in its name have their ATK decreased by 500 points! And all other monsters with Meal Masher in its name gain 500 ATK points!" Yoshinori stated as his Fusion monster spilled out some hot miso soup on Battle Gargoyle's face.
It painfully cringed as its ATK decreased while his Meal Masher monsters gain a boost.
"Battle! I declare Miso Supreme Priestess to attack! Miso Blast!" He exclaimed as his monster titled its head and then shot a beam of miso soup at Battle Gargoyle.
Yusuke's monster got soaked by the hot miso soup before it exploded into bits of glass pieces.
"Gyaaaah!" He got swipe off his feet from the ground, sliding on the road.
Yusuke's LP: 2200
"But, I am not over yet! I declare Meal Masher Curriman to direct attack!" His other monster shot a hot curry paste at Yusuke, burning his chest.
"Hot! Hot!" He cired.
Yusuke's LP: 1200
"Do you see now, my son? How painful it is to lose a lot of Life Points in a Duel. This is what you will feel like if you become a Pro Duelist. Are you going to give up after you experience such pain?"
Yusuke looked down on the ground with a tint of smirk on his face. Suddenly, he giggled and then laughed out fully.
They looked at him with confused, curious look. "Pain? Yeah, it hurts, but it is also fun!"
His father looked little bit shock. "I don't know about you, Dad, but I don't care what you think of me or how much you will worry about me when I become a Pro Duelist. Just like you back in the day, I will be what I want to be, but first…I have to win this Duel!" Yusuke exclaimed.
His father nodded. "Very well, but I won't let you go that easily! I activate the Quick Play Spell, Recipe Storm!"
His last set card flipped up, revealing to be a Spell with a picture of tornado with many kinds of dishes and foods swirling around heavily as the goblin couples in formal clothes gasped in shock.
"When this card is activated, I target one Meal Masher monster on the field. It gains 500 ATK points and it may attack again this turn! This is it, my son! It's over!"
His Fusion shot another blast of miso soup at Yusuke. Suddenly, out of nowhere something popped in front of Yusuke, blocking the miso soup as it absorbed it.
"What the!?" Yoshinori gasped.
"It can't be!" Yumi yelled.
Yusuke smirked proudly. "Sorry, Dad. You almost got me, but good thing I had my buddy here, Spongy Bunny to save the day."
The monster that appeared in front of Yusuke during the attack was a bunny made of blue sponge.
Spongy Bunny-Level 1, WATER, Beast/Effect, 100 ATK, 100 DEF.
"When I am targeted for direct attack with 2000 or higher points of damage, Spongy Bunny negate that attack by banishing it from the Graveyard." Yusuke revealed.
"What!? But when did you have that monster in your Graveyard!?" His father asked.
"Don't you remember, Dad? It is thanks to your Trap card, remember?" He said as he winked at him.
"My trap…ah!" He remembered as he looked at his Continuous Trap, Equal Exchange. "Of course, that card you sent, it was Spongy Bunny!"
"That's right!" Yusuke nodded.
"Very clever move, but even though I will end my turn here, you are hopeless, my son. Once your turn begins, you have to discard 1 card from your hand. The way I see is you have a very slim chance to win this Duel." His father said. "I end my turn. Now, show me son. Show me your new determination!"
"I will, Dad! I will prove it to you and everyone here how serious I am in my dream!" Yusuke answered with determination in his eyes.
"Yusuke…" His mirror-self appeared next to him. "Your father has a good point. If you don't draw the right card here, you will not win the Duel and your dream won't be fulfilled."
"Don't worry, my other me. I know the risk on my shoulder, and I will bet everything on this card." He said as he put his fingers on the card.
"This is it! Let's do this thing for the finale! My turn, DRAW!"
Long time no see, readers and Yu-Gi-Oh fans alike! Welcome to the new year, 2016. This chapter was originally going to be uploaded before the end of the year 2015, but I was busy with working in my RWBY fanfiction and I just didn't work on this since then, but I am back working on this fanfiction while I take a break in writing for my RWBY fanfiction for almost a week from now.
This chapter introduces the new archtype, "Meal Masher" basing on the world's different cuisine. Meal Masher Miso Supreme Priestess, Mysterious Menu, and the name for the archtype are credited to pokemonking0924. He helps me a lot in making Yu-Gi-Oh cards, and we are good friends in general. Thank you, buddy!
As for the New Cards Cheat Sheet, it will be added at the end of the next chapter since this chapter lefts with a cliffhanger. Sorry that I did, but I hope it was worthwhile to read this new and first chapter of 2016. I will see you guys with the next chapter. Will Yusuke draw the right card to win the Duel?
See you guys in the NEXT CHAPTER!