Prologue: Transferred!? Arriving at the legendary Duel Academy!
"Alright! Go Dark Blade, finish this duel with your Dark Slash!".
As the black knight known as Dark Blade descended his sword on the defenseless Sangan in front of him, the brutality of his slash cut the monster in half; sending a heavy force that pushed the duelist in front of him, making him collapse on the floor.
"And it's over ladies and gentlemen! Looks like Matsume's life points dropped to 0!" The announcer of the game shouted from the sidelines commenting on the duel finale in front of him while pointing to the man crouched on one knee from the attack that cost him the duel.
"And once again, for another year in a row, everyone rise up and raise your hands for the champion of the Kento regional! Yusuke Goto!" The announcer exclaimed as he grabbed one of the winner's hands and raised it up, the crowd growing loud as they cheered for him.
"Galen! It's getting late for school!" A mature voice was heard outside of the door of the boy's room, getting him out of his trance and deviating his attention from the TV to where the voice came from. He cursed as he glanced where his desk watch was standing showing him that indeed, he was running out of time.
"Aww man, not again!" He shouted as he stood up, turning off the TV and quickly grabbing the clothes on his chair and taking off the ones he was currently wearing. His red shirt was swapped by a white long sleeved one and his brown shorts replaced by black pants.
This boy is Galen Kujo, he's a fifteen year old boy attending Kokugakukan High School in the Japanese city of Akita as a freshman. Galen quickly fixed his brown hair to at least make it look better than the mess it was as he almost stumbled putting his pants on.
He's of average stature-if a bit taller, the most distinctive part he has is his eyes. He's been diagnosed with heterochromia, a rare condition in which a person's eyes vary from color. His right eye has a light brown iris while the left one is more of a grayish color.
Running through his room he fit everything he needed for another school day on his backpack while grabbing a dark blazer atop of his desk. As he was leaving the room he stopped midway and glanced back, a smile forming on his lips as he saw a small black box next to a picture. "Heh, can't forget about my Deck either." He thought aloud as he grabbed it and threw it inside his backpack.
"Try not to fall down again!" A voice shouted as the teenager sprinted down the stairs of his house. As he turned a corner he entered the kitchen in his house, a breakfast consisting of rice, fish and rolled omelet egg was placed on top of the dining table, a mature figure was cleaning what was used to make it. "Seriously Galen, one would have expected by now you'll be more responsible with the time." She complained.
"Yeah, sorry about it, grams. I was watching the regional final." He scratched the back of his head as he laughed sheepishly.
"Again? But that final was a month ago!" The elder shouted. "How many times are you gonna watch the same duel? I thought you would've gotten over it by now!"
"Well it was a sweet duel! The way Goto got out of that pinch and used Dark Blade to finish it was awesome! It gets me pumped up in no time!" The boy exclaimed as he raised his fist in the air. His grandmother sighed, even though Galen was a calm and collected boy he would instantly become excited with anything that involved dueling. His frenetic attitude won't go down until the final card is drawn and everything is settled.
"Okay, okay. Now go to school before you're late." His grandmother told him. Her name is Yoko Kujo, Galen lives with her and his Japanese grandfather. Nodding, Galen ate his breakfast as fast as he could, coughing a little as he food got stuck on his throat. After finishing his plate he gave it to his grandmother.
Putting on his shoes he turned around to wave his grandmother goodbye before leaving. "Man, it sure is sunny today." Galen complained as he covered his eyes from the blazing sun. Even if he doesn't mind the weather too much, today seemed to be hotter than usual for him.
Walking down the street he could hear the birds chirping as some students walked while talking to their company. Galen lives close to school so he can wake up later than others before leaving, usually this is not the case since he wastes most of his morning preparing his deck and checking replays from previous tournaments.
"Galen! Good morning!" As another boy stopped next to the brown haired teen, the boy turned to greet his new company. "Good morning, Shinji."
"Hey, have you heard? Yugi's coming to our city next month!" Shinji asked as he turned to face the boy.
"Wait, Yugi? As if the 'King of Games' Yugi?" Galen repeated as he tried to contain his excitement. "Oh man, that is so cool!"
Yugi Muto, the King of Games. Everyone knows about the best duel monsters' player and everyone that duels look up to him.
Ten years ago he rose to fame after his exceptional display of skills in duel island and battle city right after. Galen was glued to the TV back then as he saw how Yugi bested everyone and used the legendary Slifer God card to win.
To think about meeting his childhood hero already has the young boy filled with excitement for that day to come.
"Galen, you're making that face again." Shinji commented as he could see his friend already with excitement clear in his eyes.
"Ahahaha, sorry about that." Galen scratched the back of his head as he laughed. "Can you blame me though? We'll see the best duelist in history! Oh man, I can't wait to ask for his autograph!"
"You never change." Shinji sighed as he faced left to take a turn.
The pair were now crossing through the park, it is not uncommon to see teenagers duel each other before school, sometimes some adults may also join in on the fun.
"Beat it, dweeb."
Sometimes those grown ups can be a little mean spirited.
As the pair got closer, they could see a bulky man in what appeared to be in his early twenties surrounded by a group of children. A duel disk present in everyone's arms.
"Hey, what happened here?" Galen asked as he got closer.
"Just some weaklings trying to act tough." The young man answered as he dusted his hands. "They were not even worth the trouble."
"Hey, what gives? They're just kids, you bastard!" Shinji ran to check ok some of them, for the most part the kids were just angry that they lost.
"Weaklings don't deserve compassion. It's eat or be eaten in Duel Monsters." The young man exclaimed as he removed his duel disk.
"D-Daisuke!" A female voice suddenly shouted.
As a girl ran next to the pair, she grabbed one of the kids. "Daisuke! Are you alright?"
"Sister Akiko…" The little boy puffed his cheeks before crying on his sister's chest. "Waaaah! He took my best cards!" Daisuke pointed to the bulky man.
"Hey! What did you do to my brothers' cards!?" Akiko shouted to the bulky man, the latter simply shrugged. "He knew what would happen with an ante duel."
Ante duel. In contrast to normal duels, ante duels are played betting the best cards duelist's have. They are banned and looked down upon for being disrespectful to every duelist.
As Galen took a better look at the girl he recognized her. She's Akiko Nishigati, the most popular girl in his school. Most of the male students believe she's an idol but no one can make out one with her signature violet hair.
"An ante duel against a kid? Don't you have any honor?" Galen decided to step in front of Akiko, pointing at the bulky man with his right hand. "What's your problem, man?"
"Hey, he accepted the terms. It's on that boy, not me." The bulky man shrugged as he put his deck away.
"I did it because you took my friends cards before we duel!" Daisuke pointed to the bulky man. "You told me if I win you would give them back!"
"And you lost, big whoop." The bulky man chuckled. "This is how we do things in North Academy."
"North Academy?" Shinji thought out loud. "Wait, you don't mean-"
"Yes, I graduated from there. Matter of fact I am their best student!" The bulky man extended his arms as he turned to face the duo. "The name's Slash Kishida, the best North Academy has ever seen!"
"Slash Kishida….!" Akiko stumbled back as she remembered hearing that name before. "The rising dueling star!? You!?"
"Heh, I guess I'm starting to have fans around me." The pro duelist known as Slash chuckled as he shrugged. "I'm the best that academy has produced, no wonder I got a flock of agents trying to get my number after I graduated."
"So you're a pro? Doesn't matter." As Akiko was shocked by the sudden declaration of meeting a pro player, she turned to face how the person next to her didn't care. "Dueling against a kid that hard only shows you're a coward."
"O-Oi Galen-" Before Shinji could try to calm down his friend, Slash faced the young boy with all his attention. "What'd ya say, punk?"
"That you're a coward, and a pathetic one at that too." Galen walked forward and stood in front of the rising pro duelist. "If you're that eager on throwing down, then let's do it. You and me."
"Oh hohoho." Slash chuckled as he realized what Galen wanted. "You want to duel me? Sorry pal, my time's money. I'm a pro." He waved the idea off.
"But you dueled against kids anyway? What's the catch?" Galen interjected as he opened his bag, a duel disk waiting there to be used. 'I never leave without it.' He thought.
"I can make time when I want to." Slash commented as he laughed while putting his deck away. "Now I just don't feel like it."
Galen throwed a flurry of curses at the pro duelist inside his head while listening to how much of a dirt bag he is. Then he smirked as he realized something.
"Then what about this?" Putting a hand to his deck holster, Galen took out some cards. They were shining because of a special foil they had, signaling they were a rare kind of card. "I bet my rarest cards here, you were after these things against those boys right?"
Before Shinji could comment how this was a bad idea, Slash took interest in the challenge. "Oh? Those are some exclusive cards there, boy." The pro duelist got closer to get a better look. "That one even has a holographic effect on it!"
"Alright then, you're on." Slash decided as he gained some distance from the boy.
"Not so fast, Slash." Galen commented. "If I win I want you to give up every card you took from these kids."
Slash seemed annoyed by such terms but he quickly chuckled as he took out his duel disk. "Fine, with how much money I can make with those cards you got I can triple the profit these chumps could give me."
"Then it's on-" Before Galen could raise his duel disk, Akiko raised her hand in front of the boy. "Hey, what gives-"
"This duel is not happening right now." Akiko quickly interjected before Galen could finish his sentence. "Hm? What?" Slash questioned the girl.
"We're getting late to school and we have an extremely important test right now." Akiko responded, this only made all of them stumbled back by the ridiculous excuse.
"And? I don't care about that. We're dueling, little girl." Slash dismissed the violet haired girl. "Go bother someone else."
"Ummm, Akiko, was it? We're not even in the same class-" Once again, before Galen could finish his sentence, Akiko raised a finger in front of his lips. "This test depends on our future. we can continue this duel after school, Slash."
"Uhhh….what?* Now it was Shinji the one lost for words as he couldn't understand what was going on. "We had a test?." The boy turned to face Galen, the latter just raising his hands as he didn't know.
"That's why both of you are known as slackers." Akiko turned to face Shinji. "We can't do this now."
"Well, we might have a problem." Galen sighed as he put his deck inside his bag. "Hey, you! We'll do this after school!"
"Ordering a pro? Just who do you think you are, shrimp?" Slash countered in an angry manner, but just sighed and put his deck away. "I'll back down now just because I want your cards. We'll do this later."
"I'll hold onto this for the time being." The pro duelist raised his left hand with a bunch of cards. 'I recognize those, they are my brothers' cards!'
Before Akiko could say something, Galen put a hand on her shoulder. "You can have them, for now that is."
As Slash left the park, Akiko turned to face Galen. "Why did you stop me from grabbing my brothers' cards!?" The boy just sighed as he put his duel disk in his bag. "No use in going for them, bastard's probably would tear them if you pressed him. He'll have them for now until we duel."
"Besides-" Galen chuckled. "-I'll get to duel a pro! Just how cool is that!"
"But you bet your best cards!" Shinji turned to face his friend. "One wrong move and he'll have those rares and your cards all to himself!"
"Relax, Shinji." Galen pointed to his chest. "This one doesn't know how to lose, those cards are as good as mine."
"And you." Galen pointed to the girl of the group. "What was that about a test? Last I checked we don't have one…..right?"
"O-Oh yeah." Akiko coughed a little as she forgot about that. "You were going to face a pro, and an undefeated rising star at that."
"And? He won't know what's coming to him." Galen proudly puffed his chest.
"What will 'come to him' is your cards next to my brother's." Akiko lectured the boy. "Listen Galen, Slash is the best North Academy has produced. No way you're beating him without preparation."
"You seem to know a lot about this guy." Shinji commented. The girl coughed as she blushed a little. "I want to be a duel reporter in the future, only natural I know all about the duel monster's scene."
"Great! Then do you know what deck he uses?" Galen asked as he got an idea. 'I can use cards to counter whatever he throws at me.' He thought.
Both boys turned to look at the girl as she pondered the question, Akiko got deep in thought as she tried to remember anything about his duels. "Beats me." She ultimately said, both boys almost flipping around as they weren't expecting that answer.
"Well, there goes my advantage I guess." Galen sighed. "I'll just go with everything I've got." His confidence once again reassured him.
"He uses a ritual deck." The trio turned to see Akiko's younger brother approach them. "He beat all of us in one turn with a ritual card."
"Wait, he faced all of you together?" Shinji thought out loud as he started to count how many kids were lying around. "But there's like seven of you!"
"And he won!" One of the kids shouted. "He took my favorite card!"
"Waaaah! He took the card my daddy gave me!"
"That big meanie! He bullies kids just because!"
As a domino effect every kid started to cry in anger. Akiko started to comfort her younger brother.
Akiko turned to face the brown haired boy. "Are you sure about this, Galen? Looks like he's too good." The young duelist put his hand on his chin as he thought about the question. "Yeah, he seems like a tough guy."
"But it doesn't matter." As Galen turned, he pointed his finger straight to Akiko's brother. "I never back down from a duel. Get that deck box ready 'cuz your cards are coming back!" At his declaration every kid shouted in joy. 'I hope you can back up those words, bud.' Shinji thought.
"Anyway." Galen turned to face Akiko. "That test thing was a lie…..right?" The girl tilted her head to the side as she didn't understand what he meant. "What do you mean?"
"You know, that we had a test or something." Galen asked with fear clear in his voice. 'Aw man, I didn't know! If I fail another test, gramps is going to kill me!' The boy thought.
"Oh, that." Akiko giggled. "I made it up."
"Thank goodness." Now it was Shinji the one happy that was a lie. "Another bad score and my mom's gonna kill me."
As the trio resumed their walk to school, they heard a bell in the distance. At that moment the three of them had eyes as wide as plates and their skin got pale. "T-The bell!" Shinji was the first to speak.
"We're late!" Akiko worriedly added. 'My perfect assistance! No!'
"Screw it! Let's run for it!" At his declaration, Galen stormed like a bullet headed for his school.
And as Galen almost run through a food stand trying to gain speed, the trio made their way to Kokugakukan High School.
"Alright, it's time." A brown haired boy declared as he made his way to the park. He was accompanied by his friend and a girl hugging her brother.
"You sure about this?" His friend asked. "As sure as I can be." Was the response.
Galen was now on a mission, he had to duel the pro duelist known as Slash. His best cards and his promise to the little boys were on the line.
Of course that was easier said than done. Talking to Akiko, Galen learned that Slash was using an extremely good ritual deck.
How good was it? He didn't know and neither did Akiko since Slash is known for changing cards all the time.
'The theme of his deck is still the same though.' Galen remembered the girl's words. 'He always goes for the fast beat down strategy, he'll try to win the duel as soon as he can.'
As the group arrived at the park, they could see the familiar figure sitting on the fountain. His arms crossed and a duel disk resting in his left one.
As Slash could see the boy get closer, he smirked. "So, you actually want to do this." The pro said.
"I'm not one to back down on my word, Slash." Galen declared as he gained some distance from his opponent. Putting his bag down to his side, the boy grabbed the duel disk inside it.
As Galen grabbed his deck box a small smile started to form. 'Alright guys, let's do this.' He thought. "You still got time to give me the cards though, might save you the beating."
"Ha! You beating me?" Slash laughed as he put his deck in his duel disk, turning it on and reading himself. "Not in a million years you'll even damage me, runt!"
"Then get ready to bite the dust." Galen declared as he turned his duel disk on, his is an old model like the ond Yugi Muto used back in his rise to fame.
""Duel!""
"I'll show you how we do things here!" Galen decided to go first. "Draw!"
Checking his hand, the boy decided what to play. "Alright, want something? Then let's go all in!" Slamming his card onto the disk, an hologram made its way into the park. "Check this out! Go! Gem-Knight Garnet!"
Gem-Knight Garnet - (1900 ATK)
The knight monster with red armor responded to Galen's call, lighting a flame on his hand while staring straight at Slash.
"Nineteen hundred attack points on the first turn!?" Akiko made her surprise evident. "That is an extremely powerful card!"
'Hope you can keep up this pace, Galen.' Shinji thought on the sidelines. 'Something tells me Slash is not going to hold back anything against you.'
"I'll place a card face down and end my turn." Galen said as he put a card in his trap/spell slot in his duel disk, an hologram appearing next to the kid. 'Just in case.' He thought.
"What do you think? Good enough to fight a pro?" Galen smirked as he could see Slash's cocky smile disappear from his face.
"Heh, you got some powerful cards kid, I'll give you that." Slash commented as he put his fingers on top of his deck. "But now, let me show you how we do things in the profesional scene! Draw!"
Slash smirked as his plan was already forming inside his head. "Alright, let me show you the unique power my deck has!" Picking up a card from his hand, he raised it to show it to Galen. "First I activate the effect of my Megalith Bethor!"
As Slash slammed his card on his duel disk, an octagon shaped figure appeared next to the pro duelist. A bright light emanated from it.
"Mega what?" Galen scratched the back of his ear as didn't know what that card was.
"What does that do?" Shinji turned to face Akiko, the girl bit his finger as she couldn't find an answer. "I don't know, this it the first time I see that card."
"Then let me explain to you how this works." Slash declared as he grabbed another monster from his hand. "You see, Megalith are a unique set of ritual cards. They don't use your conventional ritual spell to come to the field, they instead can use each other to fill that requirement!"
"What?" Now it was Galen the one that was caught off guard. "You don't use spells?"
"No. They instead use themselves as the summoning method!" Slash declared as he put the other monster he grabbed to send it to the graveyard. "Using my level four Megalith Och to fill the level requirement I'll summon my Megalith Ophiel in defense mode!"
As a beam entered the octagon, it began to shake abruptly. Suddenly two wings spurred from the middle as a figure rose, the beautiful image of an angel-like statue now towering next to Slash.
Megalith Ophiel - (2500 DEF)
"Twenty-five hundred defense points." Akiko thought out loud. "A strong enough defense to counter Galen's Garnet."
"Looks like he's playing defensive for now." Shinji added as he noticed a smirk present on Slash. 'Just what is he planning?'
"Now I activate my Ophiel effect." Slash declared as he removed his deck from his duel disk. "After I ritual summon Ophiel I can search for another Megalith monster to add to my hand." Having decided what he would grab, he shuffled his deck before putting it back in his duel disk.
"I set a card face down and end my turn." Slash taunted Galen as he extended his hands. "Now then boy, show me what you can do!"
"Yes chancellor, I'll see what I can do." As a man was resting in a café, he was looking at the park next to it. His boss was already pressing him as hard as he could.
This man was Kaizo, a 'scouter' of sorts under contract by Chancellor Sheppard, the chancellor of Duel Academy, one of the most prestigious dueling schools.
Due to a great cut in students thanks to the supervisor of the entrance exam, Vellian Crowler, the chancellor decided to hire scouts to check around for potential new students to add to the academy. Seto Kaiba, the owner of the school, also found the idea interesting.
So Kaizo ultimately got tired because of looking all week nonstop and with pressure to at least have one kid joining the school.
'Why did I grab this job…' Kaizo thought as he sighed. 'The pay's good but c'mon, there's so many requirements you asked to find.'
Ah yes, the chancellor made an extremely strict list to check on who they would call. They had to be really good at dueling while maintaining high notes on their respective institutions.
Of course the notes part was obvious since they would join another school but dueling on the other hand…..
'They basically asked me to grab a pro.' Kaizo rested his head on his hand. "This is going to take a while…."
"Check this out! Go! Gem-Knight Garnet!"
"Hm?" As Kaizo heard someone, he could see an hologram appearing in the middle of the park. 'Ah, so it's another duel.' He thought while forgetting about it and grabbing his cup of coffee.
"Wait." The man quickly said.
As he paid a closer look to the duel, he could see a bulky young adult on the other side of the plaza. 'That must be his opponent.' He thought.
'He looks familiar though.' Kaizo squinted his eyes to have a better look. 'Ripped jacket, big muscles and long hair….'
"That's right!" Kaizo suddenly slammed his hands on the table, almost making the cup of coffee drop and startling the waiter next to him. "Slash Kishida!"
Kaizo, as part of his job, knew every and all pro duelists. The man knew Slash was an up and coming big star because of his relentless way of stomping everyone he came across.
'But what is he doing here, and dueling of all things!' Kaizo thought. Quickly he turned and called for a waiter, paying for his coffee and leaving the café.
"I need to check this out." Kaizo thought out loud as he walked to the park.
As a statue was towering his monster, a boy cursed under his breath as he had to find a way to destroy it.
'Could be worse, at least that thing's in defense mode.' Galen thought as he checked the field. "Alright, here we go. Draw!"
Taking a look at the card he got, Galen's eyes got wide. 'This card….this is Shinjis'!'
"You heard Akiko, that guy's using a beatdown deck, Galen."
"Take this card, it might come in handy should the worst happen."
'Heh.' A small smile formed on Galen's face as he saw his friend's card. "Looks like you feel something's wrong about to happen, eh Shinji?"
'Take care friend.' Shinji thought as he quietly saw the duel. 'He's getting too cocky out of nowhere.'
"Alright then." Putting the card aside, Galen grabbed another card from his hand. "I can't get through that monster with my Garnet alone, but I can get help from my comrades!"
"This is the power of my deck! Forming new bonds that surpass all obstacles!" Raising a card with his hand, the brown haired boy knew what to do. "I activate Gem-Knight Fusion!"
Behind Galen a portal formed, several precious crystals were shining greatly as the Sun reflected on them. "Gem-Knight Fusion?" Slash responded.
"Yes, with this card I can fuse Gem-Knight monsters to form a new one!" Galen reached for his hand. "Fusing both the Tourmaline and Lapis in my hand I bring out the biggest heavy hitter my deck has!"
In a flash of colors, the monsters known as Tourmaline and Lapis entered the portal. A big figure was forming as it grew wider.
Unbeknownst to Galen, his left eyes' iris turned to a more clear white color.
"Stone behemoth of unmatched power, mighty champion of destructive force and colossal strength! Come forth and push through my enemies! Fusion summon! Appear! Gem-Knight Zirconia!"
At Galen's command, the portal behind him closed and a behemoth of a monster jumped forward. Slamming its zirconian covered arms to the ground, several cracks formed.
Gem-Knight Zirconia - (2900 ATK)
"Twenty-nine hundred attack points!" Akiko pointed out. "He has enough power to bust through Ophiel!"
"You're as hot headed as always, eh Galen? Bringing on this big monster on your second turn." Shinji smiled as he remarked how his friend tends to be extremely aggressive when dueling someone he doesn't like.
And it's true, Galen can stand a lot of things. But bullying little kids and taking their precious cards? That's not something he can let slide.
'Let's see how you like the taste of your own medicine.' Galen thought. "Go Gem-Knight Zirconia! Pummel through his Ophiel with Devastating Impact!"
As the behemoth of a monster charged upfront, he pulled back his massive right arm to get enough momentum. Pulling it forward he impacted against the statue, soon after several cracks started to form on it before exploding in thousands of pieces.
"Hrgh." Slash complained as he saw his monster being destroyed.
"And don't forget about Garnet here." Galen pointed to his other monster. "Time to meet him upfront!"
"Go Garnet! Scorching Fist!" Gem-Knight Garnet launched himself and struck head on with Slash, the hologram making the pro duelist uncomfortable enough to stumble back a little.
SLASH - 2100 LP
"Alright! He got first blood!" Shinji shouted excitedly as his friend delivered the first blow of the match.
"And not only that, he's got two powerful monsters on the board!" Akiko happily remarked. "This is as good as done!"
"Heh…ha ha ha ha!"
As the dust started to settle, the trio could see a tall figure starting to laugh. Dusting his clothes off without a care in the world he turned to face his opponent. "That's it, boy! That's what I wanted to see!"
"Well sit tight because you'll get more where that came from." Galen mocked Slash as he put another card on his duel disk.
"You might have a strong board now, kid. But this is as far as you go." Slash put his hand on top of his deck. "I'm done testing the waters with you. Time for you to eat the dirt! Draw!"
As Slash drew his card, his smile grew wider. Hitting a button on his disk, his face down card lifted. "First I'll activate my face down card, Call of the Haunted!"
"With this I can summon back a monster. So come forth, Megalith Ophiel!" At his command the big statue returned to the field.
Megalith Ophiel - (1600 ATK)
"Again? I'll just keep beating him down with my Zirconia until he can't get up any more!" Galen joked as his confidence grew bigger.
"He might not have the power to face your monster, but he doesn't need to with what I have prepared!" Putting a card on his disk, an hologram appeared next to Slash. "I activate my Megalith Unformed!"
"This card allows me to ritual summon from my deck by tributing monsters in my hand or field that double its level." Slash explained his spell card. "And Ophiel right here meets its requirements. Go Ophiel!"
As Ophiel's octagon grew bigger, the statue got absorbed by it. With a flash of light, the octagon flipped upside down and a creature started to appear below it. With its feet covered by various shining stones and Ophiel wings covering the octagon, a new statue emerged. "Come forth! Level two, Megalith Phul!"
Megalith Phul - (2000 DEF)
"Nice light show but it still doesn't beat my frontline." Galen commented, Slash only smirked as he stared at the boy. "He doesn't need to, he's just the architect of your destruction! I activate Phul's effect!"
As the statue shone brighter, Slash's graveyard also started to glow. "When Phul is ritual summoned I can target a ritual monster in my graveyard you see, then I can make Phul become that monster's level. So I choose my level eight Belthor!"
As Belthor's image appeared on top of Phul, the statue got brighter.
Megalith Phul - (LVL 8)
"And that's not all, then I'll take that same Belthor and put it back in my hand!" Slash declared as he grabbed his Megalith Belthor from his graveyard and added to his hand.
"Now this is where the fun begins." Raising a card, the pro duelist started to laugh. "Using Phul as the requirement I activate my Megalith Belthor's effect once again to begin a new ritual summon!"
"Here it comes, he's bringing another one!" Akiko commented as she got nervous.
As Phul's statue returned to the octagon, a bright flash of light enveloped the field. White feathers started to fly around the octagon as two white wings erupt from it, an armored angel statue starting to rise.
"As your benevolent desire turns to aggression, seek judgement on all those who dare oppose you! Ritual summon! Show yourself! Level eight, Megalith Phaleg!"
As it responded to its summoning call, the armored statue materialized a spear on one hand and a shield on the other. Its gigantic size towering over Galen's monsters.
Megalith Phaleg - (2500 ATK)
"It's huge!" Shinji shouted as he had to cover his eyes from the wind storm surging from the monster flapping its wings.
"That monster!" The spectating pair was now interrupted by Akiko's younger brother, Daisuke, pulling both of their shirts to grab their attention. "That is the monster he used against us!"
"Big size for such a small damage!" Galen commented as he checked the monster. "We're far from over, boy! This is just the beginning!"
"Now I activate my Advanced Ritual Art!" Slash declared as the spell materialized next to him. "I can ritual summon a monster from my hand using cards from my deck as the requirements!"
"Another one!?" Akiko was shocked as another octagon appeared, this time with a dark mist covering it. "This is bad, something's about to happen."
Slash took out his deck and grabbed a normal monster from it. "Using my level eight Tri-Horned Dragon I offer him to summon the card from my hand!" As a crest formed on the ground, the image of the dragon got absorbed by the fire, then an octagon covered by dark mist emerged.
As the dragon's image got absorbed into the octagon, the dark mist exploded. Dark wings started to erupt from the octagon as a demonic statue sat on top of it, several heads like a hydra erupting from its body.
"Destructive beast from legends, heed my call and rise again to smite down my enemies! Ritual summon! Appear! Level eight, Megalith Aratron!"
Megalith Aratron - (2000 ATK)
"What the hell! It's even bigger than the other one!" Akiko shouted worriedly as the several heads from Aratron covered the Sun, casting the entire duel into the shadows.
"Big show but they're weak!" Galen noticed. "All that to put those monsters? They can't even match Zirconia!"
Slash laughed hysterically. "Ahahahaha! I like your stupidity, it shows the difference between your kind and us real duelists!"
"Now it's time to see the power of my Phaleg!" Slash extended his hand to the white statue. "Use the power of your fallen comrades!"
Soon after light and darkness combined to surround both statues, their threatening aura growing even bigger. "What's happening!?" Shinji was the first to ask.
"This is my Megalith Phaleg's effect, all my monsters gain three hundred attack and defense for each ritual monster in my graveyard!"
"What!?" Galen's eyes got wide at the sudden change of events. "I have four Megalith monsters in my graveyard, care to do the math?"
"Four….twelve hundred attack points!?" Akiko worriedly shouted. "No! They're extremely powerful now!"
Megalith Phaleg - (3700 ATK)
Megalith Aratron - (3200 ATK)
"Oh no…" Galen stumbled back as he saw the two statues getting more and more powerful each second. "This is bad, my monsters are too weak now!"
"Now punk, learn your place! Megalith Phaleg, destroy his Zirconia with Judgement Strike!" At Slash's command the white statue launched its spear at Galen's monster, the latter not being able to withstand the attack shattered in thousands of pieces. The remaining blast made Galen stumbled back. "Argh!"
GALEN - 3200 LP
"This is far from over!-" Slash extended his hand. "-Aratron! Destroy his remaining monster with Oblivion Blast!"
All of Aratrons head charged a powerful blast, launching it at the same time they all met head on with Garnet. The powerful blast completely erased the monster and knocked Galen back. "Aaaagh!"
GALEN - 1900 LP
""Galen!"" Akiko and Shinji shouted as the brown haired boy got launched several feet back.
"Welcome to the real world, kid!" Slash laughed as his monsters towered the entirety of the now empty field. "This is how we do things in North Academy! The weak are purged and the strong thrive!"
Galen coughed as stayed in a crouching position, his eyes never leaving Slash crossing his arms with both monsters next to him. 'Dammit, I got too careless.' He cursed
As he stood up, Galen took a deep breath. "This is far from over." He ultimately said.
"'Far from over'?" Slash chuckled. "Hahahaha! Boy this is already over! Save yourself the embarrassment and forfeit this duel!"
'I won.' Slash thought as he looked at the angel. 'I have a strong frontline because of Phaleg-' He turned to face the hydra, '-And if he wants to destroy my monsters with an effect, Aratron can negate it by shuffling a Megalith monster from my graveyard back to my deck.'
The pro duelist chuckled. "It's over, runt! You can't win against a pro!"
"It's not over yet." Galen responded as he put a hand on his deck. "Listen up, I made a promise to those kids that I would return their cards back from you!"
"I bet everything in this draw!" Galen closed his eyes, soon after he could feel a hand on top of his' as he grabbed the card. 'Iris, we'll do this together. Give me strength!'
"Draw!"
SLASH - 2100 LP
GALEN - 1900 LP
As Galen looked at the card he drew, he closed his eyes and smiled a little. 'Now, show me the way!' The boy could see a small flick of light on top of his set card. "Alright, Slash! It's time to kick it up a notch!"
"Remember my set card? It's time to flip it!" Galen touched a button on his disk, making the card reveal itself. "The same one you used back then, Call of the Haunted!"
A gravestone surged from the ground, a monster rising back. "With this I can special summon a monster from my graveyard and I choose my Gem-Knight Garnet!"
The familiar knight made itself known once again on the field, standing next to Galen.
Gem-Knight Garnet - (1900 ATK)
"Ahahaha that is your plan?" Slash laughed. "You can't even dent my monsters with that weakling."
"Not with him, no." Galen responded as he touched another button from his disk, his graveyard lighting up and spitting two cards from it. "But I can do this! I activate the effect of my Gem-Knight Fusion!"
"You see, when this card is in the graveyard, I can bring it back to my hand by banishing a Gem-Knight monster from the grave." He explained as he grabbed Lapis and put it back on his deck box, removing the card from play. "Now we use it again! Gem-Knight Fusion!"
As a portal formed at Galen's back he took one of the three cards remaining in his hand. "Using both the Gem-Knight Garnet in my field and the Gem-Knight Crystal in my hand I summon a new monster!"
As the portal shined brighter, a figure charged to the field. Once again Galen's left eye slightly changed to a different color, this time it took a reddish tone.
"Stone warrior with red light, combined strength of both scorching conviction and unbreakable spirit! Come forth and shine your powers of radiant fortune! Fusion summon! Appear! Gem-Knight Ruby!"
A new knight charged to the field, he cleaved his long spear to the ground as he landed. His long blue cape moved with the wind while his crimson armor shone with the sun.
Gem-Knight Ruby - (2500 ATK)
"Here it is, Galen's ace." Shinji commented. "But it's not powerful enough." Akiko noted.
"All that to summon that weakling?" Slash laughed. "You're out of options, boy!"
"Not yet, I still have an ace up my sleeve." Picking a card from his hand, Galen put it on his disk. An hologram appears showing his card. "This is a card my friend gave me, he knew it might help."
"Heh, so you actually put it in your deck." Shinji smiled as he watched the duel. Akiko turned to look at the boy. "You gave him a card?" She asked.
"Yes, with what you said about Slash being a tough opponent I figured I might as well try and help him the best way I can." Shinji pointed at the card hologram forming on the field. "That is the best option I came up with."
"Do it l, Galen."
"Here goes! I activate my friends' card! Monster Reborn!" Shinji exclaimed as the familiar card materialized. "With this I can bring back a monster from the graveyard and I pick my Gem-Knight Zirconia!"
Gem-Knight Zirconia - (2900 ATK)
As the card suddenly turned to a flash of light, the powerful monster returned to the field. Now Galen had two fusion monsters staring directly at Slash'.
"Still not enough!" Slash mocked Galen's idea. "Looks like they didn't teach you math in school but thirty seven hundred is a bigger number than twenty nine!"
"You see, I know my monsters are not strong on their own-" Galen pointed at Ruby, "-But what they lack in strength, they make up for in lending their power to each other!"
"My monsters share a bond, Slash. A bond I'm about to show you! Ruby, activate your effect!" At Galen's command, Ruby raised his lance. A bright light emanated from it. "You see, I can tribute a Gem-Knight monster from my field and have Ruby gain its attack. And Zirconia has more than enough for that!"
"What!?" As Slash couldn't believe what he heard, he saw how Ruby pointed his lance to Zirconia, the latter fading and being absorbed by the weapon. Ruby's aura got bigger as the stones on his shoulders got brighter.
Gem-Knight Ruby - (5400 ATK)
"F-Fifty-four hundred attack points!?" The pro duelist stumbled back a little as he could see the extremely powerful aura emanating from the monster.
"Yes! Now he can push through!" Daisuke happily exclaimed.
"Do it, big bro!" As Galen turned around, he could see all the kids Slash beat next to a tree, witnessing his duel
"Yeah! Take that big meanie out!"
"Heh, you heard the crowd! Alright! Gem-Knight Ruby! Take out that Phaleg with Burning Slash!" As Ruby jumped high enough to meet the statue head on, Phaleg launched its spear in a way to counter the knights' attack. Galen's monster just used the momentum to cleave his spear on Phaleg's chest, producing a crack that quickly covered the entire statue.
Soon after, Phaleg exploded in hundreds of pieces. Slash covered himself from the shockwave of explosion as debris fell on him. "Hngh…!"
SLASH - 400 LP
"Alright! Yeah!" The kids cheered relentlessly as Gem-Knight Ruby landed on the ground, Slash' powerful monster completely gone.
"What an absolutely perfect blow!" Akiko cheered. "He turned the tide in one swift move!"
"And that's not all, look-" Shinji pointed at Aratron, "-Since Ruby took Phaleg out, Aratrons' attack returns to normal."
Megalith Aratron - (2000 ATK)
"You…!" Slash cursed as he looked at what remained of his powerful monster. "This embarrassment won't go unpunished! You'll pay for this!"
"Sadly for you, this game is already decided!" Grabbing the last card from his hand, Galen slammed it on his disk. "Time for the grand finale, I activate De-Fusion!"
As the card materialized on the field, a portal appeared behind Ruby. "With this card I can return a monster to the extra deck and call the monsters I used to summon it to the field!"
Gem-Knight Ruby jumped to the portal, two monsters erupted back from it and stood next to the brown haired boy.
"Now then, come forth! Gem-Knight Garnet! Gem-Knight Crystal!"
Gem-Knight Garnet (1900 ATK)
Gem-Knight Crystal (2450 ATK)
"What!? No!" Slash face paled while looking at the new monsters next to Galen. "But my Aratron only has two thousand attack points!"
"Low enough for my Crystal!" Galen pointed at Aratron. "Let's end this! Gem-Knight Crystal! Attack Aratron with Hardened Strike!"
As Crystal jumped forward, he charged his fist to meet Aratrons' core. The resulting collision makes Aratron cry in pain as several cracks form on the monster, making it explode just like Phaleg.
"No!" Slash screamed as the beast fell on him, a cloud of dust covering his entire surroundings.
SLASH - 0 LP
"Looks like I win." Galen turned his duel disk off as he saw Slash crouching on the ground. "Now then, keep your promise."
As Galen put away his deck, his left eye once again returned to the usual grayish color.
"He did it! Big bro did it!"
"Yay!"
As the duel ended with Galen's victory, all the kids stormed to the brown haired boy. All of them were cheering while raising their hands in excitement.
"That was amazing!" Akiko ran to congratulate Galen. "That was the most impressive comeback I've seen!"
"Nicely done, Galen!" Shinji patted his friends' back as he congratulated the boy. "You actually pulled through!"
"Couldn't have done it without your card." Galen remembered as he extended his hand to return Monster Reborn to Shinji, the latter just shaking his head. "I think that card found its true owner just now."
"You mean it?" Galen asked only to have his friend nod with his head. "Sweet! Looks like I got a new card to celebrate!"
"Forget about the card! You've beaten a pro!" Akiko changed the subject as she grabbed Galen. "Oh man, this is perfect! I can actually interview someone that took on a pro duelist and won! I can use this to kickstart my career!"
"I think you're taking this too far." Shinji sweat dropped as he saw how the girl grabbed Galen by the collar and stormed the boy with hundreds of questions.
As Galen tried to gain some space because of getting dizzy by being rocked back and forth continuously, he glanced at the sky. 'And I couldn't have done it without you too, Iris' The boy thought as he smiled. 'This victory was for both of us.' A gentle beam of light caressed the boys face after that.
Unbeknownst to the ruckus happening while celebrating, a man stopped filming the duel and left the park. Next to him another one flipped his phone and quickly started to tap the numbers to call someone. "Yes, chancellor Sheppard? Looks like I've got your transfer student."
"Man, what a day." A brown haired boy complained as he sighed tired from all the commotion he suffered today.
After he won against Slash, Galen found out someone filmed the entirety of the duel. The encounter quickly gained recognition as a nobody was actually able to pull a comeback and win against the unbeaten rising start.
So the last two days have been hell on earth for the boy. Whenever he made it to school he was stormed with hundreds of people asking him questions, wanting Galen to check their deck for opinions or even wanting to duel him just to see if they were better.
Two girls even tried asking him out on a date just to say they kissed the big champion!
So every day after school Galen ends up tired and just wants to sleep. Cursing for even dueling Slash in the first place. 'If I knew all of this would've happen, I would just walk away and leave the problem to someone else.' He sighed.
Opening the door to his home, Galen noticed a new pair of shoes resting at the front. "I'm home." The brown haired boy said as he saw a visit sitting next to his grandparents.
"Ah, Galen! Good thing you made it." His grandmother was the first to salute him, his grandfather chuckling as he also waved at his grandson.
Walking to the table where his grandparents were sitting with a stranger, Galen could see the three of them enjoying a cup of tea. A book in the middle with some pictures on it.
Galen quickly realized that's his photo book with several pictures of him when he was young. "G-Grandma!"
"You were so cute back then I couldn't help myself from showing our guest your baby pictures after talking about you." Yoko admitted as she giggled a little.
"T-That's not explaining anything!" Galen shouted out of embarrassment as he covered his face.
"Well, it's my fault for intruding on this cozy house." The stranger decided to speak as he stopped sipping on his tea.
Turning to face Galen, the stranger bowed a little. "Nice to meet you, Galen. I am Kaizo, I work for Duel Academy, the renowned dueling school."
'Duel Academy?' Galen repeated inside his head. Of course he heard about that school.
Constructed by Kaiba himself with his Kaiba Corp, Duel Academy stands as the best place to shape the next generation of duelists in the world; several branches exist across the globe.
"Nice to meet you, Kaizo." Galen bowed a little. "Not to sound rude or anything, but I don't understand why coming here all of a sudden."
"Ah, that." Kaizo chuckled a little. "Well, it's because of your duel with Slash Kishida."
At the mention of the pro duelist' name Galen smile disappeared, his head going haywire. 'Wait, this guy said he works for Duel Academy; and North Academy is a branch of it! Oh man! Don't tell me I'm in trouble because of beating their best duelist!'
Looking at Galen's conflicted face, Kaizo chuckled a little. "Relax, you're not in trouble if that's what you're thinking." As the brown haired boy heard that, he sighed. 'Thanks goodness…' He thought.
"I bet you've seen your infamous video beating Slash practically everywhere by now." Kaizo commented as a migraine started to form on Galen's head.
"Yeah… sadly I've seen it all over the internet. My school, the park I used to visit, everywhere." Galen sighed as he scratched his forehead to calm down the headache. "At this point I lament even dueling that guy."
"Oh, but don't be." Kaizo responded as he turned to grab his briefcase. "You see, back then I saw that duel with my own eyes and couldn't believe it. I just had to make a call and missed the chance to speak to you."
Opening the briefcase up, Kaizo retrieved a paper from it. The man carefully put it in front of Galen for the boy to see it.
'So many words!' Galen fought back the urge to just look up and stop reading the massive testament in front of him. "Uhhh….what's this?"
"This Galen is a cordial invitation from Chancellor Sheppard himself, the head of Duel Academy, for you to join the school." Kaizo explained.
…..what?
'Huh?' Galen turned to see his grandparents, both of them looked proud and full of happiness at the news the boy recieved. "Huh?" The brown haired boy was just lost for words.
"I figured this would come out unexpectedly." Kaizo chuckled. "You see Galen, I work for Duel Academy, yes, but my work consists of scouting potential new students for the school."
"When I saw you beat Slash I knew I just had to invite you. Sadly at the time it was quite complicated."
Yoko was the first to react to the news. "Ohh my Galen getting an exclusive invitation to such a prestigious place!" The old lady clasped her hands. "This is such wonderful news!"
"Indeed." Now it was the boy's grandfather. "My grandson moving on in life with such a bright future ahead of him, I couldn't be more proud."
"I-Uhh…" Galen was lost for words. 'Duel Academy? Me?'
This surely is a joke, or a really good dream really. First he beats a pro duelist and now Duel Academy of all places personally wants him?
'This is too much, too soon.' Galen decided to sigh as he looked at his grandparents. "I…uhh…"
Kaizo just closed his eyes. "Too much to handle I see." As the man drank the last of his tea, he stood up. "You don't have to answer right away, don't worry. I just came to deliver the news, that's all."
"But if you ever decide to accept, please hold onto this." Kaizo put his hand into his pocket and took out a card. "You have my number here, just call me and we'll set everything up."
"Mr. and Mrs. Kujo, thanks for the tea and hospitality." Kaizo bowed respectfully before turning to the front door and leaving.
As the door closed Galen just sighed. "Well, talk about a storm of things happening all at once." The boy scratched his hair as he looked at the card on top of the invitation letter.
"Well, Galen? What are you waiting for! Call him!" Yoko excitedly rushed his grandson to decide already. "Calm down Yoko, he needs his time to think it through." His grandfather was the one showing reason and waiting before deciding.
"I…I'll think about it for now." Galen sat down on a chair. "I have school projects and all, I just can't put everything behind and change places."
"Listen Galen." His grandfather grabbed the boy's attention. "Sometimes life feels like a sea and you feel like a sailor on a boat."
"You'll sometimes feel like that sea you're traveling opens up and shows you a clear path to move forward, but it's on you to decide if you actually go through there or change direction for somewhere else." His grandfather clasped his hands. "Just trust an old man on this, think it through for now and then we can see what you want for yourself."
As Galen heard his grandfather, he sighed and reclined on his chair. Only a question was left on his head.
What do I do now?
As night descended on the peaceful city of Akita, a boy was looking outside from his bedroom's window.
Galen was resting his head on his arm while looking outside. His mind not leaving the proposal he got earlier in the day.
An invitation to Duel Academy.
He has a promise he made long ago of becoming a professional duelist, and the best at that, but having this grand opportunity out of nowhere?
It's so sudden, there's no way he can choose this now. If it was before the year started then surely, he would've joined in a heartbeat, but now?
There's Shinji, his friend and even Akiko now that the brown haired boy considers a new friend. Heck, even her little brother is such a fun company to have.
'What do I do?' The boy drops his head while sighing.
"Sometimes life feels like a sea and you feel like a sailor on a boat." Galen remembered his grandfather's words. "it's on you to decide if you actually go through."
Grabbing the deck box on his desk, the boy pulled a card. "What should I do?" He thought out loud.
"One day I'll be the best there ever was!"
The boy sighed as he remembered those words, putting the card down he scratched his head with both hands. "No use in beating around the bush."
"Alright then." Straightening himself on his chair, Galen turned to face the invitation he received with the contact card. "Guess the sea opened up to show me the best path."
Looking at both his duel disk and deck box, Galen formed a small smile. "Time for me to go forward."