A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you're all safe and well! Sorry for the long delay, but I was very busy these last few months with studies. I'll try to be a bit more regular with updates from now on with at least 1-2 chapters per month. I'll also try to make sure those chapters to be at least 5000 words. Now before we dive back into the story, let's address some issues and questions:
To dragon rose 11: First of all relax, you don't need to have a fucking stroke over my damn story. I already told you all that this isn't an OP SI story where the OC gets to save the day every time. Besides, this is the Yu-Gi-Oh universe where duelists can pull out victories from their asses by simply believing in the Heart of the Cards and doing a Destiny Draw.
To 25dmccown1: Sorry, but the rules of betting don't really work that way. Profits are determined by the odds, and since Cross has built up a reputation as a skilled duelist, most of the crowd will bet on him winning his duels, so betting on himself will be pointless since the profits are very small if you're betting with the majority of the crowd on a likely outcome. Taking a dive in a duel to make a dream bet work is also out of the question as the people in the arena will instantly figure it out and proceed to put the duelist who took a dive in the ICU for good.
To Kenrio: Using up the 3000 dollars to buy better cards is incredibly risky. The MC knows he doesn't have any plot armor, so it's better to keep the 3000 dollars as a safety precaution. Also the MC is living in one of the poor districts where there aren't many tournaments. Tournaments that have big prizes usually need sponsors to be organized. Otherwise, the prizes would be small and the participants would have to pay an entry fee which make the tournament even smaller. Even if he did win the tournament, the prize money will be enough for only 1-1.5 years' worth of tuition at Duel Academy, so it's better to save up all that money for the remaining years.
Concerning the Vision Heroes:
This universe is following the anime version of GX, where cards like Terra Firma and the Vision Heroes don't make an appearance, so it's alright to use them.
Now we return to the story! Our hero has just won his duel in the Underworld Tournament, and is now advancing to the semifinals! What kind of opponents will he face on his path to the final?
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Yu-Gi-Oh except my OC(s). Everything else belongs to Konami.
"You're going down!" Normal speech
'Hope he's not hearing my thoughts': Mental thoughts
"I will end you!" When a character is using some form of power, or is possessed.
(ATK: 2500, DEF: 2000, LV: 4): level 4 monster in Attack mode
(ATK: 2500, DEF: 2000, LV: 4): level 4 monster in Defense mode
Somehow I'm in GX!
Chapter 5: A Taste of Your Own Medicine!
SI POV:
After the duel with Bandit Keith was over, I was quickly escorted back to the locker room where I sat down in a corner with a grimace from the electric shock session that I was put through. Even now, I could feel my muscles twitching and spasming, and every movement caused me to grimace in pain.
Unfortunately, there weren't any long breaks in the tournament as the crowd didn't like to be kept waiting, which made winning this thing all the harder as the breaks between duels were getting shorter as I got closer to the final. While the sheer exhaustion from the consecutive duels was already a nightmare, the electric shocks during those duels made everything a hundred times worse. I learned the hard way that the higher the damage a duelist took, the longer and stronger the shock will be delivered by the collars. If I wasn't careful in my upcoming duels, my heart could go into a fatal arrhythmia from the constant shocks it was receiving during the duels.
'I have to win my next couple of duels without losing too much Life Points, or I'll be eliminated simply for being too exhausted to compete." I thought grimly.
Looking around, I saw that the three other remaining duelists were all seated in the remaining corners as far away from each other as possible. I looked around and saw Duelists #3 and #4 (both looking like street thugs) were shaking in a mixture of fear and pain as they looked around as if trying to find an escape from the room. Unfortunately for them, all the exits were blocked by armed guards who'd shoot us if they took so much as a single step towards the exit. The mad doctor wannabe (who eliminated the knight guy) was twitching and still giggling psychotically as he stared at each of us with a glint in his eye. Thankfully, no one bothered to taunt or intimidate their opponents to break their confidence. This fucked up tournament was already doing that for all of us, except for Mad Doctor who looked like a kid who's stuck in Disneyland. The rules were made pretty clear. Once you enter the tournament, there's no going back. You either win or get eliminated. Despite possibly winning the huge pile of cash if they won, no one was enthusiastic on getting their asses electrocuted simply for the enjoyment of others. Duelist #3 trembled and sobbed as he followed the guards when called to his duel. Duelist #4, who was 3's opponent, had to be dragged kicking and screaming to his platform. All the while, Mad Doctor's giggling seemed to get louder and louder as he watched the two duelists break down.
'Asshole.' I thought with a sneer. Was there a general rule in anime tournaments that at least one participant has to be a sadistic psychopath or was it just my shitty luck in this tournament? After a while, it became clear that neither of the Duelists 3 and 4 were coming back which made me wonder whether they tried to run or their bodies simply gave out to the electrocution. Both ideas made me uncomfortable.
The most agonizing part of the whole ordeal was the wait itself. Every minute seemed to stretch on endlessly. Mad Doctor, who was now staring solely at me, was somehow able to giggle louder and louder as time passed until I finally snapped.
"Can you shut the hell up?" I growled at him, "You're pissing me off".
Finally, Mad Doctor stopped giggling as he was still staring at me. Even though the lower half of his face was covered by a surgeon's mask, I could still see the outlines of a wide sick grin that he was flashing in my direction.
"Oh! It seems my newest patient has a case of General Anxiety Disorder along with Anger Management issues. Not to worry! I have just the treatment for your condition." He cackled madly all the while staring unblinkingly at me.
Sitting up straighter, I glared at him furiously until he continued to laugh while staring at me with an unhinged look on his face. Back in my previous life, I used to be a medical student just one year away from graduation before that car accident drastically shortened my lifespan from decades to seconds. I remembered all those years I spent studying and training to become a physician to help others. Now here was this psychotic piece of shit, who ironically got his rocks off watching people get hurt, making a mockery of the career I was passionate about.
"Let me guess" I replied venomously, "You're some 30 year old reject who was probably too fucked up in the head to be allowed into medical school. Now you like to play dress-up and pretend to be some sort of doctor when everyone knows you're some loser who never made the cut."
That managed to shut the Halloween reject up as he looked at me with widened eyes. Suddenly he started laughing maniacally as if I just said the greatest joke to him. "Oh but I did manage to go to medical school, my boy." He wheezed out between laughs, "I managed to get my license too, but my patients were too fragile to appreciate my work, my so-called colleagues were too short-sighted to appreciate my genius. So now I express my brilliance in a different way."
"Both of you can shut the fuck up!" One guard growled from the exit, "Save that shit for the arena. Until then, I don't wanna hear one more sound out of either of you. Understand?"
We both quietened after his threat and simply settled into a staring contest with each other, just daring the other one to look away. Mad Doctor was simply grinning at me psychotically behind his mask while staring at me, while I was giving him my best death-glare under my hood, which only seemed to make him more excited judging from his widening grin.
Great.
After what seemed like hours of waiting when in fact it was only a couple of minutes, two guards entered the room.
"Both of you get up! It's time for your match. " One guard barked, "Kid, you're coming with me. Freak, you'll be going with my partner here. No funny business. Got it?"
Despite my body's protests, I slowly got up and out of the locker room into the corridor with the guard following me, and it wasn't long before he decided that he didn't like the slow pace I was moving with and gave me a push that almost knocked me to the ground if I didn't use the wall to steady myself.
"Get moving, brat! We don't have all night!" he growled when I looked back at him. I glared as fiercely as I could (which failed judging from the guy's unimpressed look) before turning around and walking slightly faster towards the platform. Just like last time, I stood in the middle of the platform before another guard with a briefcase joined me as the platform began to rise up once more.
Once we got to the top, I was again bombarded with the glaring lights of the arena and the jeers and cheers of the crowd. A whirring sound behind me made me turn around to see Mad Doctor and his accompanying guard rising on the second platform until they reached the level of the arena.
While the two guards began to place our collars and armbands on us, Mad Doctor and I resumed our stare-off as the doctor kept giggling while I cracked my knuckles in preparation for the duel.
After they were finished, the guards then exited the arena and the announcer began to speak into his microphone, "Hello and welcome back to the Underworld Tournament!" and the crowd went wild in excitement of the upcoming duel/torture session. The announcer waited a few seconds for the crowd to calm down before continuing, "My employer and organizer of this tournament, Mr. White, would like to sincerely apologize for the pathetic display in the previous match. Rest assured that both competitors have been disqualified and are being severely punished for it!" As the crowd jeered and booed, a large Jumbotron came to life and showed a cut of the previous duel. After one shock too many, Duelist #3 fell to his knees and took off his duel disk in surrender while begging for someone to take his collar and armbands off. Suddenly, the tools lit up again and began to deliver even more voltage to the duelist who fell down screaming and writhing in agony. Seeing the suffering that his opponent was being put through, Duelist #4 lost all sense of courage and tried to run towards the gate through which the guards enter and exit the cage. He barely managed a few steps before falling down with a bloodcurdling scream as his collar and armbands were also activated. Seeing the crowd cheer and laugh as the two duelists just laid there on the ground screaming inhumanely in pain as they were tortured made some bile rise up to my throat in disgust. Mad Doctor simply stared at the screen with wide eyes and a tilted head like a curious child seeing something new. Finally, the clip ended with the tools being turned off as guards entered the arena to drag the two duelists who were not moving at all aside from random twitches and spasms.
After the Jumbotron was turned off, the announcer turned to us with a dark smirk, "Hopefully these competitors will provide a much better show than the last one if they want to advance!"
The hidden message was clear: Put on a good show, or end up like those two did.
Amidst the crowd's cheers, the announcer continued, "Now to introduce the competitors for this match! In this corner, we have the surgeon of sadism! The physician of insanity! DOCTOOOORR DOOOOMM!"
I almost laughed out loud at the name that psychopath chose for himself. Dr. Doom? Seriously? If Marvel existed in this universe, they would sue this guy for every penny he had.
Apparently I was the only one who didn't like the name since the majority of the crowd let out wild cheers as they showed their appreciation for the sadistic piece of shit. Seems that the mad doctor was somewhat of a celebrity here.
Doom soaked up all the attention as he did an elaborate bow towards the crowd who cheered even louder. After a few more seconds of cheering, the crowd calmed down enough for the announcer to continue with his job.
"And in this corner, we have the young underdog. Managing to pull off a surprise comeback win against the Pro-duelist Bandit Keith, the REEEEDD HOOOOOOD!"
Apparently, crowd decided they liked my performance in my first duel which they made apparent with their cheers. Finally, the announcer looked at us and yelled out, "Let the Duel begin!" which was our cue to activate our duel disks.
"DUEL!"
Dr. Doom: 4000
Red Hood: 4000
"I'll start this experiment!" the doctor drew with a maniacal laugh. He took a look at his cards before beginning his turn.
"No doctor can operate without the help of his nurses, so I summon my loyal assistant, Darklord Nurse Reficule in Attack Mode (ATK: 1400, DEF: 600, LV: 4)!" with a flash of light a purple-haired woman with 2 pairs of bladed wings in a dress made entirely of what seemed like bandages flew out of the ground before slowly descending to stand in front of Doom.
With a mad giggle, the doctor then revealed card of a laughing goblin that was standing in front a beggar on his knees before saying "I now activate the Spell Card Upstart Goblin. This card allows me to draw 1 card in exchange for you receiving 1000 Life Points."
However, as he drew his card, my armbands and collar lit-up before sending an agonizing shock that caused me to scream in surprise and pain. After a couple of seconds, they switched off and I was allowed to breathe while horribly twitching.
"Oh I'm sorry, dear boy! I forgot to mention that thanks to my lovely nurse's special ability, any effect that increases your life points is dealt as damage instead! But don't worry, this pain is only part of the treatment for your condition." The mad doctor explained with a giggle as he ended his turn.
Dr. Doom: 4000
Red Hood: 4000 – 1000 = 3000
While I already suspected his strategy when his monster, his next move only confirmed it.
'A burn deck. In a tournament where damage equals voltage. Fuck.' I thought grimly while panting slightly from the shock I just got.
I drew my card which was Elemental HERO Woodsman and added it to my hand which now consisted of Woodsman and five others: Elemental HERO Prisma, Elemental HERO Flash, Mask Change, Impenetrable Attack, and Elemental HERO Heat. After taking a moment to think, I made my move.
"I set a monster and a card both face-down, and end my turn." I announced as the ever famous T formation appeared on my side of the field with Elemental HERO Woodsman and Impenetrable Attack being placed on the field.
With a snicker, the mad doctor drew his card before starting his move: "I activate the Spell Card Rain of Mercy! This Card would usually give both of us 1000 Life Points, but in your case…" he explained as the hologram of rain droplets fell down on us and a green outline lit up around him. Darklord Nurse Reficule then glowed an ominous red, and the same glow lit up around me before the armbands and collar lit up once again to give me another painful shock for the damage I took. Giggling maniacally, the sick freak watched as I fell to my knees while screaming in pain from the electric currents coursing through my body.
Dr. Doom: 4000 + 1000 = 5000
Red Hood: 3000 – 1000 = 2000
After the tools switched off, the doctor continued his turn: "Reficule! Attack his face-down monster!" With a snarl the demonic nurse flew towards my face-down monster with extended claws. The face-down monster was flipped and Elemental HERO Woodsman (ATK: 1000, DEF: 2000, LV: 4) appeared on one knee with his arms crossed. After the two monsters clashed for a brief moment, Woodsman pushed back the demonic nurse which flew back to stand on the doctor's side of the field who looked surprised for a moment. That surprise quickly gave way to a scream of pain as the doctor's armbands and collar punished him for taking damage.
Dr. Doom: 5000 – 600 = 4400
Red Hood: 2000
"Looks like you can feel pain the rest of us doc.", I commented with a defiant smile, "What's the matter? Was that too much for you?"
At first the doctor didn't reply as he tried to catch his breath, then he began speaking between pants, "Ha…Ha… HahahahHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he started to laugh crazily, "Amazing! The subject appears to have a high tolerance to pain while retaining normal cognitive function! Now for the second experiment, I set one monster face-down and end my turn!" His face-down monster then appeared next to Reficule.
I drew Breakthrough Skill before starting my turn, "Now that we're in my Standby Phase, I can activate my Elemental HERO Woodsman's special effect, which allows me to take one Polymerization Spell Card from my deck and add it to my hand." I then took out my deck and quickly showed him the spell card before placing it in my hand. After shuffling my deck and putting it back into the duel disk, I continued with my turn, "Now I activate Polymerization, and use it to fuse Elemental HERO Prisma with Elemental HERO Heat in my hand to summon the master of infernos! He who burns away all evil! Elemental HERO Nova Master in Attack Mode (ATK: 2600, DEF: 2100, LV: 8)!" A tower of flames quickly erupted next to Woodsman before dying down to reveal Nova Master in his flame-like armor.
"Nova Master! Attack his Reficule with Nova Flame Bomb!" I ordered as Nova began to charge up a great ball of fire before launching at the Reficule which screeched in pain for a brief moment before exploding into shards of light.
The doctor took a step back from the shock of the explosion before howling in pain as the armbands and collar lit up once again to give him an even bigger shock.
Dr. Doom: 4400 – 1200 = 3200
Red Hood: 2000
Once his screams subsided, I continued with my turn, "Now I activate Nova Master's special ability, which allows me to draw 1 card every time he destroys a monster." Drawing my card, I smiled as I saw Elemental HERO Stratos before adding him to my hand and grabbing Breakthrough Skill, "I lay down one card face-down and end my turn."
Wheezing from his recent episode of electrocution, the mad doctor drew his card while trying to steady his breath. Once he was able to get his bearings, he looked down at his card before starting to giggle madly as he started his turn, "Just what the doctor ordered! I play Monster Reborn to bring back my faithful assistant Darklord Nurse Reficule (ATK: 1400, DEF: 600, LV: 4)." A portal quickly appeared on his side of the field and the demonic nurse flew out of it to settle once again on the mad doctor's side of the field.
'I'm starting to get really tired of that thing.' I thought with a grimace as the doctor continued with his turn, "Next, I flip my face-down monster to face up Attack Mode!" his face-down monster was then flipped up to reveal -
"Brain Jacker!" I exclaimed with a gasp as the hideous monster that looked like a brain with single eyeball extending from its front and a pair of demonic claws and wings extending from the sides (ATK: 200, DEF: 900, LV: 2).
"You seem to know my little brainchild, so I don't need to tell you what'll happen next!" the mad doctor cackled as the brain-like monster quickly flew over to Nova Master and latching onto his head with its claws. Nova Master began to struggle to remove his ugly accessory before suddenly stopping as his eyes glowed red. He then lumbered from my side of the field to the doctor's due to Brain Jacker's flip effect.
'If successfully flip summoned, it can equip itself to an opponent's monster and give control to the owner in return for the opponent receiving 500 LP during each of his/her Standby Phases. Shit.' I thought grimly.
The doctor then pointed at Woodsman and cried out savagely, "Nova Master, attack Woodsman!" Forced to do as commanded, Nova Master charged up another large ball of flames and began to aim at Woodsman. Before he could launch it, I quickly pressed a button on my duel disk as I called out, "I activate my Trap: Impenetrable Attack! During this Battle Phase I'm allowed to use 1 of these effects: I can either take no battle damage this turn, or I can choose one monster on the field, and that monster can't be destroyed by battle or card effects during the Battle Phase. I choose to activate its second effect and the monster I choose is Woodsman!"
A large yellowish barrier formed around Woodsman before Nova Master's attack could hit, and took the hit before dissipating, leaving my monster unharmed.
The mad doctor seemed surprised at first that his attack had failed before he began to cackle in delight, as if he was finding my attempts to fight back amusing, before continuing his turn, "Subject seems to be resistant to current treatment! I'll switch to alternative, more aggressive options! I lay down one face-down cards and end my turn!"
"Cut the mad scientist bullshit, it's getting old." I replied as I drew Skyscraper, "My move! First-"
"Now my little Brain Jacker's ability activates! Since I control your monster, you should receive 500 Life Points on each of your Standby Phases. But Reficule is on my side of the field, so you lose 500 Life Points instead!" The doctor quickly interrupted with sick, triumphant glee before pressing a button on his duel disk. One of his facedown cards was then flipped to reveal a gift card decorated with a red ribbon and the number 3000 on the top right corner. "That's not all! I activate my Trap: Gift Card! This card increases your Life Points by 3000, but combined with Reficule, you will lose 3000 instead! YOU WILL LOSE A TOTAL OF 3500 LIFE POINTS, WHICH IS MORE THAN WHAT YOU CURRENTLY HAVE. I WIN! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Reficule's red glow returned and a similar one began to form around me. Acting quickly, I pressed a second button on my duel disk which flipped my second facedown card, "Trap Card Open: Breakthrough Skill! This card allows me to negate the effects of one of your monsters for the rest of this turn, and I choose Reficule!" A white clawed hand emerged from my trap card and grabbed Reficule as she screeched and struggled to break free. The red glow around me was then replaced with a greenish glow as Reficule's effect was negated.
Dr. Doom: 3200
Red Hood: 2000 + 3000 + 500 = 5500
Doom's eyes bugged out in shock at what just happened. Suddenly, he grew red with rage and began to scream at me, "STOP RESISTING! YOU'RE PLAYING ON BORROWED TIME! THIS IS ALL FOR YOUR OWN BEENFIT! CAN'T YOU SEE I'M TRYING TO FIX YOU!?"
With a savage grin I decided to rub salt in the wound, "Like I need help from your crazy ass. Just between you and me, what exactly made you lose your doctor's license? Was it that fugly mug? Or was it that whiny soprano voice that shows how much of a lil' bitch you are?" and boy was it satisfying to see just how far I got under his skin with that little comment. It was a nice change from him giggling like a teenage school girl which was creeping everybody out.
The crowd began to jeer and laugh at the doctor who was trembling from apoplectic rage. With blood-shot eyes and a pink face, Doom completely lost his composure and began to scream even louder, "DON'T YOU LAUGH AT ME! YOU'LL PAY! YOU'LL ALL PAY!"
"Whatever you say, Dr. Psycho. It's still my turn." I replied as I prepared to finish this. "Alright! I summon Elemental HERO Stratos in Attack Mode (ATK: 1800, DEF: 300, LV: 4)!" the hologram of Stratos quickly flew out onto the field before assuming his battle position at my side of the field, "Since I successfully summoned him, I can use one of his effects: for every HERO monster I control except Stratos, I can destroy one of your Spell/Trap Cards, and right now there's only one target in sight."
Dr. Doom looked confused for a moment at what I was talking about before his eyes widened in realization. Seeing his expression I continued, "Looks like you finally caught on. When using its special ability, your Brain Jacker is considered a Spell/Trap Card, which means I can do this! Stratos, destroy his Brain Jacker!"
Without delay, Stratos powered his turbine wings and aimed the generated wind currents at Brain Jacker which struggled to remain attached to Nova Master for a few moments before it was literally blown away with a screech exploding into bits.
Looking back at Doom, I continued ruthlessly, "Since your little 'brainchild' was just destroyed, Nova Master returns to me!" Nova Master's eyes returned to normal before leapt back to my side of the field. "Now I switch Woodsman to Attack Mode (ATK: 1000, DEF: 2000, LV: 4)!"
Doom was trembling from head-to-toe with his face turning completely white as he realized he was about to lose, "No…this…this can't be happening! The most brilliant physician in all of history can't be losing to a stupid child!"
"Oh it's definitely happening!" I replied as I prepared to finish this duel, "Nova Master! Attack his Reficule with Nova Flame Bomb!" Nova Master quickly charged up another ball of flames before throwing at Reficule which was quickly destroyed with a screech.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Doom screamed in pain as his armbands and collars activated once again to deliver another shock.
Dr. Doom: 3200 – 1200 = 2000
Red Hood: 5500
The Mad Doctor fell to his knees while looking back at me with wild, terrified eyes. Deciding to be a bit cliché, I taunted the doctor one last time, "HAVE SOME OF YOUR OWN MEDICINE, DOC! WOODSMAN! STRATOS! DIRECT ATTACK!"
Woodsman and Stratos then both leapt at the doctor with their arms outstretched to land a double-punch to his face and mid-section. With a terrified a scream, the sick doctor fell on his back before screeching in pain as he was bombarded with huge currents of electricity from his armbands and collar.
Dr. Doom: 2000 – 1000 – 1800 = 0 (LOST!)
Red Hood: 5500 (WINNER!)
"Would you look at that?! Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner! Red Hood defeated the doctor with more life points than he started with! I've never seen anything like that!" yelled the announcer amidst the crowd's deafening cheers before continuing, "There you have it, folks! Against all odds, Red Hood advances to the final round, where he will risk it all against our current champion!"
As I was once again led away by the guards towards the locker the room, I looked at the crowd to see Mr. White who was chatting with richly dressed patrons in the VIP box while sipping on a glass of wine. Noticing me staring at him, he raised his glass while giving me a smile that made me feel like a stray lamb staring at a hungry wolf. Trying to not shiver, I looked back at the twisted doctor who was mumbling incoherently and twitching violently as the guards dragged him away to a place I'd rather not know. Once he was out of sight, two thoughts jumped into my head.
One: I ruthlessly tortured and then sealed the fate of a man, even though he was sick-minded and most likely deserved it.
Two: I didn't even feel bad about it. In fact, a small feeling of vindictive satisfaction grew in me that I just couldn't shake off.
Honestly? I couldn't tell which thought scared me more.
A/N: That's it for now, everyone! Cenric is starting to discover that he has a bit of dark side in himself! In the next chapter, our little hero is about to face the mysterious Champion of the Underworld Tournament! As usual feel free to leave constructive feedback and advice in the reviews section. See you later!