Rising Knight
A Yu-Gi-Oh! Gx Fanfiction
Chapter 1: One Chance
Kolt Knight sat on his desk, looking over his deck that was spread out all over. He was currently doing some quick maintenance on it just to see if there was anything else he could add to it to make it more effective.
"Everything looks good. But maybe I should add a Book of Moon." Kolt murmured as he rubbed his chin.
"Yeah, that's not bad," Kolt smirked as he quickly added the card before accidentally knocking another to the floor.
"Oops, don't want to lose this one," Kolt noted, swiftly picking up the card.
"It's special, after all," Kolt smirked as he dusted the card off.
The card in question was very precious to him as he had received it from his deceased parents. It was something he remembered them by, and he cherished it greatly. Plus, it was his ace monster. He wouldn't duel without it.
"Let's put you back, Phoenix Gearfried." Kolt said to himself as he placed Phoenix Gearfried back in his deck.
Once he put his deck back together, he placed it in its holster. Placing the holster on his desk, Kolt leaned back in his chair, ready for tomorrow. That was when his chance to take the first step in becoming a pro duelist would come.
Applying to Duel Academy, the best duel school around for the new school year. Okay, maybe not that just yet. It all depended on one thing. If he qualified for the national scholarship. The national scholarship was something offered to everyone, and it was very competitive.
Only the top one hundred applicants would be able to gain the scholarship, and if Kolt didn't get it, then he wouldn't get to apply for Duel Academy. It made Kolt a little nervous, but he was also a little excited.
After all, the process to find the one hundred applicants was a duel tournament. Well, technically, there were multiple, and the winner of each would get become one of the one hundred who get the scholarship.
But Kolt was going to duel with everything he had to get one of those spots. After all, this was his only chance to get in, as he wouldn't have the money to pay for Duel Academy otherwise. His brother had a good-paying job, but he only got it recently, meaning they wouldn't have enough money in time.
And it was all going down tomorrow. All Kolt needed was his ticket in. Now that he was done tinkering with his deck, he was ready for the tournament. Just then, Kolt heard the sound of his brother's car pulling up their gravel driveway.
Kolt ran downstairs, leaping out the front door of his home to meet with his brother, who was grabbing his bag out of the car. His brother was completely unfazed by Kolt running out as he had been expecting him to do so.
"Joshua! Is it…here?" Kolt inquired, ready to see his ticket.
"Of course," Joshua responded as he fished a paper out of his bag and handed it to Kolt.
"One ticket to the National Duel Scholarship," Joshua smirked as Kolt looked at his ticket up and down.
"Don't get too excited. I don't want you staying up all night and getting no sleep." Joshua insisted as he ruffed Kolt's blonde hair.
"I know. I know." Kolt replied, pushing his brother's hand away.
"You say that, but I remember a certain someone who always stayed up the night before their birthday." Joshua snickered as Kolt rolled his eyes.
"I stopped doing that when I was twelve." Kolt reminded as the two entered their home.
"Yeah, but that was because you passed out on your birthday cake." Joshua pointed out, causing Kolt to stiffen as he remembered his ruined cake.
"Okay fine. Fair enough." Kolt nodded, knowing he didn't want that to happen when he was in the middle of a duel.
"I'll make sure to go to sleep early tonight." Kolt sighed as he scratched his head.
"That being said, I've already adjusted my deck for tomorrow, so I won't be staying up late anyway," Kolt noted as Joshua scratched his chin.
"You adjusted your deck? Let me guess, you haven't play-tested it yet?" Joshua inquired as Kolt shook his head.
"Then how about a quick duel to test it out?" Joshua suggested as Kolt beamed.
"Sure thing!" Kolt agreed as he ran upstairs to get his deck and duel disk.
Joshua laughed as he went to his own room, taking his time to get ready. As Kolt entered his room, he grabbed onto his deck and battle city edition duel disk before heading back outside. Soon after, his brother came back out with the newest version of the duel disk on his arm.
"Alright, Kolt. Ready to lose again?" Joshua inquired as he stood across Kolt.
"No way I'm winning this time!" Kolt smirked as he activated his duel disk.
"We'll see," Joshua replied as he activated his own.
"DUEL!" The two declared as the duel began.
Joshua: 4000 LP / Kolt: 4000 LP
Taking out his hand Kolt was satisfied with what he saw. Book of Moon, Gearfried the Iron Knight, Gemini Summoner, Evocator Chevalier, and Fighting Spirit made up his hand. With such a good start, Kolt was ready to make a move.
"Mind if I make the first move?" Kolt asked as Joshua shrugged.
"Go on ahead." Joshua insisted as Kolt drew a card.
Turn 1: Kolt
"Draw!" Kolt declared as he looked at the card he drew.
"Gearbreed! Sweet!" Kolt smiled as he placed the card in his hand.
"I think I'll start summoning my Evocator Chevalier in attack mode!" Kolt began as he slapped the card onto his duel disk.
Evocator Chevalier (ATK: 1900 / DEF: 900) -Warrior/Gemini/Effect- (FIRE) (LV: 4)
"Next, I'll equip him with the Fighting Spirit spell card, which will grant him three hundred attack points for each monster on your field. Or, in this case, will be on your field." Kolt continued as he slipped the card into the spell slot.
"Finally, I'll activate my Gearbreed continuous spell and place one card face down, ending my turn." Kolt finished leaving two cards in his hand.
"Not bad, but I've seen better," Joshua commented as he placed his hand on the top card of his deck.
Turn 2: Joshua
"Draw!" Joshua announced as he drew a card.
"First, I'll start by summoning my Command Knight in attack mode!" Joshua began as his monster took to the field.
Command Knight (ATK: 1200 / DEF: 1900) -Warrior/Effect- (FIRE) (LV: 4)
"Thanks to her special ability, all warrior monsters on my side of the field gain an extra four hundred attack points. Herself included." Joshua explained as Command Knight began to glow.
Command Knight (ATK: 1600 / DEF: 1900) -Warrior/Effect- (FIRE) (LV: 4)
"It won't matter because it's still not enough attack points to destroy my Evocator, especially since Fighting Spirit gives him three hundred more attack points!" Kolt pointed out as Evocator roared in anticipation.
Evocator Chevalier (ATK: 2200 / DEF: 900) -Warrior/Gemini/Effect- (FIRE) (LV: 4)
"That's fine because I've got the right card to even the odds!" Joshua stated as he pulled a card out of his hand.
"I equip my Command Knight with Lightning Blade giver her an eight hundred attack point boost!" Joshua declared as Command Knight tossed her sword aside and grabbed onto the new sparking blade.
Command Knight (ATK: 2400 / DEF: 1900) -Warrior/Effect- (FIRE) (LV: 4)
"Now that I'm the one with the attack point advantage, it's time to destroy your Evocator!" Joshua shouted as Command Knight charged forward, raising her Lightning Blade over her head.
"Don't get too ahead of yourself because I play Book of Moon forcing your Command Knight face down!" Kolt declared, revealing his face-down card.
Suddenly a large blue book appeared over Kolt before opening up and showering Command Knight with blue light. Command Knight's advance immediately halted as she fell to her knees, dropping the Lightning Blade, causing it to shatter as she was flipped face down.
"Not bad! I guess that was one of your new additions?" Joshua inquired as Kolt nodded.
"Yep, and it paid off already!" Kolt smirked as Joshua grabbed onto another card.
"Well then, I'll place one card face down and end my turn." Joshua finished leaving three cards in his hand.
Turn 3: Kolt
"Good, because it's my turn! Draw!" Kolt replied as he drew a new card.
"First, I'll summon my Gemini Summoner in attack mode." Kolt began as the monster appeared on the field.
Gemini Summoner (ATK: 1500 / DEF: 0) -Spellcaster/Effect- (WATER) (LV: 4)
"Now then, I'll have my Evocator destroy your face down, Command Knight!" Kolt declared as Evocator covered his sword in flames and leaped toward the face down monster.
"Sorry, little brother, but I'm going to have to stop you there by activating the trap card Sakuretsu Armor!" Joshua revealed as his trap card flipped face up.
Once the card was face up, sharp armor shot out and covered the face down Command Knight just before Evocator could hit it. As Evocator's blade hit the armor, the monster burst into several pieces, immediately destroyed by the trap.
"Ah, man." Kolt sighed as he watched Evocator go to the graveyard.
"Since it was by a card effect, Fighting Spirit couldn't save it." Kolt thought as he looked at his Gearbreed spell.
"At least I can use it later," Kolt murmured as he grabbed onto one of the two cards in his hand.
"I place one card face down and end my turn." Kolt finished as he placed his card face down, leaving himself with one card.
Turn 4: Joshua
"Good, my move," Joshua smirked as he drew a card.
"First, I'll flip my Command Knight to attack mode." Joshua began as his Command Knight returned to the field.
Command Knight (ATK: 1200 / DEF: 1900) -Warrior/Effect- (FIRE) (LV: 4)
"While my Lightning Blade spell may not be here anymore, she still gains an extra four hundred attack points thanks to her effect." Joshua reminded as Command Knight glowed.
Command Knight (ATK: 1600 / DEF: 1900) -Warrior/Effect- (FIRE) (LV: 4)
"Now I'll summon my Dark Blade in attack mode!" Joshua continued placing the card down on his duel disk.
Dark Blade (ATK: 1900 / DEF: 1500) -Warrior- (DARK) (LV: 4)
"And thanks to Command Knight's ability, he gains another four hundred attack points as well." Joshua reminded as Dark Blade growled.
Dark Blade (ATK: 2300 / DEF: 1500) -Warrior- (DARK) (LV: 4)
"But I'm not done. Because I'm equipping my Command Knight with the spell, Gravity Axe giving her five hundred more attack points." Joshua continued as Command Knight switched out her sword for the axe.
Command Knight (ATK: 2100 / DEF: 1900) -Warrior/Effect- (FIRE) (LV: 4)
"Oh boy," Kolt murmured as he stared down the two monsters.
"Now, Command Knight will destroy your Gemini Summoner!" Joshua declared as his Command Knight ran in, raising her axe over her head.
"Not today! I activate the trap card Dimensional Prison!" Kolt countered as his face down flipped up, and a tear in space appeared in front of Command Knight.
"Not only is your attack negated, but your Command Knight is banished, removing her ability from the field!" Kolt explained as Command Knight fell through the tear and Dark Blade powered down.
Dark Blade (ATK: 1900 / DEF: 1500) -Warrior- (DARK) (LV: 4)
"I see. Not bad." Joshua smirked before turning to his Dark Blade.
"But I still have another monster to use." Joshua reminded as his Dark Blade moved in.
Dark Blade swung his swords clean through Kolt's Gemini Summoner, causing it to shatter like a mirror. The blowback from the attack forced Kolt to cross his arms as the wind blew past him, taking away his life points.
Kolt: 4000 LP
- 400 LP
Kolt: 3600 LP
"First blood goes to me." Joshua laughed as Kolt lowered his arms.
"The duel isn't over just yet!" Kolt reminded as Joshua nodded.
"I know. But for now, I'll place one card face down and end my turn." Joshua replied as he placed down his card, leaving only one card in his hand.
"Only one? Oh well." Kolt thought as he placed his hand on the top of his card.
Turn 5: Kolt
"Right then, I'll draw!" Kolt declared as he drew a card from his deck.
"Perfect! Just the card I was hoping for!" Kolt smirked after seeing the card he just drew.
"First, I'll summon my Gearfried the Iron Knight in attack mode!" Kolt began slapping his monster onto his duel disk.
Gearfried the Iron Knight (ATK: 1800 / DEF: 1600) -Warrior/Effect- (EARTH) (LV: 4)
The titular knight appeared on the field, reading both his sword and shield, which were attached to his arms. Though the monster was strong, he wasn't as strong as Joshua's Dark Blade, which was just stronger than him.
"Bold move. With Gearfried's ability, you won't be increasing his attack points with an equip spell. So what's your plan?" Joshua inquired, curious at what Kolt had planned.
"It's true that my Gearfried isn't as strong as your Dark Blade, but once he gets his armor off, he becomes far more powerful!" Kolt stated as he grabbed onto the card he just drew.
"I activate Release Restraint! Allowing my Gearfried to rid himself of his cumbersome armor and become Gearfried the Swordmaster!" Kolt declared as Gearfried's armor blew off, revealing the man beneath.
Gearfried the Swordmaster (ATK: 2600 / DEF: 2200) -Warrior/Effect- (LIGHT) (LV: 7)
"Now, my Gearfried is more than strong enough to destroy your Dark Blade. So Gearfried, show him what you're made out of!" Kolt insisted as Gearfried dashed forward with his sword at the ready.
"Don't get ahead of yourself because I now activate my trap! Ordeal of a Traveler!" Joshua declared, making Kolt gulp.
"Not that one," Kolt murmured, hating that card.
"That's right, it's that one," Joshua smirked as the trap flipped up, and a large sphinx appeared behind him.
"To refresh your memory on what it does now that you've attacked, I can choose any card in my hand, and you have to guess what kind of card it is." Joshua began holding up the sole card in his hand.
"Guess right, and your attack goes through. But if you guess wrong, your Gearfried goes back to your hand." Joshua explained as Kolt stared at the only card in his brother's hand.
"Great, he totally planned this. No wonder he only placed the one card face down." Kolt noted as he pondered on what card could be in his brother's hand.
"It could be a monster which would explain why he didn't use it, but that would be too simple. It can very well be a spell or a trap." Kolt thought as he took a deep breath.
"If it's a trap, then it would have to be an insignificant one that he wouldn't mind not using yet compared to a spell card that he could activate any time he wanted. Which means…" Kolt contemplated wrapping his mind around the possibilities.
"I choose….spell card!" Kolt decided, pointing at the card in his brother's hand.
Joshua took a second to look at the card before sighing and turning it over to reveal the spell card, The Warrior Returning Alive. Kolt breathed a sigh of relief as Gearfried continued his attack, slicing through Joshua's Dark Blade.
Joshua: 4000 LP
- 700 LP
Joshua: 3300 LP
"You got a little lucky there, Kolt, but luck can only take you so far," Joshua smirked as he placed his hand on the top of his deck.
Turn 6: Joshua
"Draw!" Joshua announced as he drew a card.
"I'll start by activating Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three more cards at the cost of two." Joshua began as he drew the cards before placing two in his grave, leaving two cards in his hand.
"Next, I'll activate the spell card Monster Reborn!" Joshua declared as a decorated cross appeared over him.
"But you don't have any monsters strong enough in your grav-" Kolt countered before remembering the two cards Joshua had to discard due to Graceful Charity.
"Looks like you've already realized the answer, so I won't bother explaining how my monster got there," Joshua smirked as the cross shone a light on the ground below.
The ground and Joshua's graveyard glowed brightly as the cross began to cast its magic, and soon the ground broke apart, and a large form rose from the resulting hole, a figure Kolt was very familiar with.
"Come forth, Gilford The Lightning!" Joshua announced as his ace appeared on the field covered with electricity.
Gilford The Lightning (ATK: 2800 / DEF: 1400) -Warrior/Effect- (LIGHT) (LV: 8)
"Oh no…" Kolt muttered as he stared at the large warrior.
That monster was his brother's strongest. His ace monster, one that he had used to defeat Kolt many times over. In just an instant, Joshua had turned the duel over in his favor once more. But Kolt wasn't going to give up just because his brother brought out his strongest monster.
"Now then, Gilford, take out his Gearfried!" Joshua ordered as Gilford drew his sword and charged toward Gearfried.
The swordmaster attempted to fight back by raising his own sword and clashing with Gilford's, managing to hold off the stronger monster for a while. But Gilford soon cut through Gearfried's sword and cut the warrior down.
"Damn." Kolt cursed as the shockwave caused by Gilford's attack blew past him.
Kolt: 3600 LP
- 200 LP
Kolt: 3400 LP
"With that, I end my turn," Joshua smirked, leaving one card in his hand.
Turn 7: Kolt
"Right. My turn, then." Kolt replied as he drew a card.
"If I'm going to win, I need to take out Gilford before Joshua can make him stronger. Easier said than done." Kolt thought as he looked at the card he drew.
"I'll start by playing Pot of Greed so I can draw two more cards." Kolt began as he drew the amounted cards.
"Just what I need." Kolt snickered as he grabbed onto one.
"Now I'll summon my Sublimation Knight in attack mode!" Kolt continued as his newest monster appeared.
Sublimation Knight (ATK: 1300 / DEF: 200) -Warrior/Effect- (FIRE) (LV: 3)
"Sublimation Knight?" Joshua questioned, confused at Kolt's move before remembering the monster's effect.
"With him now on the field, his effect activates, allowing me to equip one fire-type monster or one Gemini monster to him from my deck or hand!" Kolt explained as he took out his deck.
"And the monster I chose is my Phoenix Gearfried!" Kolt declared as he took out his ace from his deck.
"So that's your plan," Joshua murmured as Kolt placed Phoenix Gearfried in the spell/trap zone.
"Now that he's equipped with my Phoenix Gearfried, my Sublimation Knight gains five hundred attack points," Kolt explained as Sublimation Knight was covered in flames.
Sublimation Knight (ATK: 1800 / DEF: 200) -Warrior/Effect- (FIRE) (LV: 3)
"But I'm not done yet! Because now I'm equipping my knight with the Black Pendant spell card, increasing his attack by another five hundred points!" Kolt stated as the pendant fell around Sublimation Knight's neck.
Sublimation Knight (ATK: 2300 / DEF: 200) -Warrior/Effect- (FIRE) (LV: 3)
"Now I'll activate my Gearbreed spell card!" Kolt declared as his spell glowed.
"Since I have an equip spell on the field by sending my Chevalier to the bottom of my deck, I can draw another card." Kolt went on before drawing his card.
"Perfect," Kolt whispered to himself as he placed the card he drew in the spell/trap card zone.
"I place one card face down and end my turn." Kolt finished as the card appeared on the field.
"Good job Kolt you've put me in a pickle here." Joshua sighed, noting that no matter what he did, if it wasn't sending Kolt's Sublimation Knight to the hand, he would bring out Kolt's ace.
Turn 8: Joshua
"Draw!" Joshua declared, bringing another card to his hand, which was now composed of two cards.
Looking at his hand, Joshua smirked as he saw the contents, which were Level Up! and Wicked-Breaking Flamberge – Baou. The latter card was the exact card he needed to negate Kolt's strategy and stop him from bringing out his ace.
"Sorry, Kolt, but I'm going to have to put a little dent in your plans by equipping my Gilford with the spell card Wicked-Breaking Flamberge – Baou!" Joshua announced, causing the younger boy to go wide-eyed.
"To refresh your memory, I must discard one card to allow this card to activate, and when it does, it grants my Gilford an additional five hundred attack points." Joshua began as Giflord took up a new sword.
Gilford The Lightning (ATK: 3300 / DEF: 1400) -Warrior/Effect- (LIGHT) (LV: 8)
"But he doesn't only gain just attack points, for all monsters he destroys have their effects negated! Meaning your Sublimation Knight won't be able to summon your Phoenix Gearfried with its effect." Joshua declared as Kolt grit his teeth.
"So Gilford, go and destroy Kolt's Sublimation Knight!" Joshua ordered as his Gilford attacked.
"Not so fast!" Kolt shouted, breaking into a smile shocking his brother.
"I had a feeling you'd try and stop my plan, so I had a little trap just in case. And that trap is…Shadow Spell!" Kolt declared as his face down trap card flipped up.
When the card flipped up, several chains shot out from its face before burring themselves into Gilford's body, stopping the attack. Gilford was frozen in place as the chains of Shadow Spell sucked his power away.
Gilford The Lightning (ATK: 2600 / DEF: 1400) -Warrior/Effect- (LIGHT) (LV: 8)
"I see. You expected that move." Joshua sighed as he looked at Gilford.
"Your move," Joshua said, ending his turn with no cards in his hand.
Turn 9: Kolt
"Good. I draw!" Kolt declared as he drew a new card.
"First, I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your equip spell." Kolt began as a large gust of wind blew Wicked-Breaking Flamberge – Baou away.
"Now I'll have my Sublimation Knight attack your Gilford!" Kolt continued as his monster went to its death.
"Thank you," Kolt whispered as he watched as his monster was destroyed by Gilford.
Kolt: 3400 LP
- 300 LP
Kolt: 3100 LP
"Since he was destroyed with Black Pendant, you take five hundred points of damage," Kolt noted as Joshua flinched from the damage.
Joshua: 3300 LP
- 500 LP
Joshua: 2800 LP
"But more importantly, now that my Sublimation Knight has been destroyed by your Gilford, his effect activates!" Kolt declared as his graveyard glowed.
"Since he was equipped with a Gemini monster when he was destroyed, I can special summon the equipped monster!" Kolt declared as flames burst from his graveyard.
"So come forth, Phoenix Gearfried!" Kolt announced as his strongest monster took the field.
Phoenix Gearfried (ATK: 2800 / DEF: 2200) -Warrior/Gemini/Effect- (FIRE) (LV: 8)
"And as a little added bonus, he also gains his effects," Kolt noted as his Gearfried glowed slightly.
"Since it's still my battle phase, I can finish what I started. Go, Phoenix Gearfried, destroy Gilford the Lightning!" Kolt ordered as Gearfried obliged.
Gearfried raised his sword as flames burst out from his back, propelling the warrior forward and allowing him to easily cut through the immobilized Gilford. Since Joshua had no cards in his hands, his trap could not be activated as Gilford burst into flames before exploding violently, shattering the chains that bound him.
Joshua: 2800 LP
- 200 LP
Joshua: 2600 LP
Joshua covered his face as the shockwave pushed against him. Despite the fact that his strongest monster was just destroyed, he couldn't help but smile at Kolt's ability to turn the duel around to be in his favor once more.
"I end my turn." Kolt finished leaving no cards in his hand once more.
Turn 10: Joshua
"Good then, it's my turn," Joshua replied as he drew a card.
"Draw!" Joshua declared before looking at the card he had drawn.
"I place one card face down and end my turn," Joshua stated, placing the sole card down.
"That's all?" Kolt thought before breaking in a smile.
Turn 11: Kolt
"I draw!" Kolt smirked as he drew his card.
"First up, I'll equip my Gearfried with the spell Lucky Iron Axe giving him five hundred more attack points!" Kolt began throwing the card into the duel disk as Phoenix Gearfried switched out his sword for the axe.
Phoenix Gearfried (ATK: 3300 / DEF: 2200) -Warrior/Gemini/Effect- (FIRE) (LV: 8)
"Don't you think that was overkill?" Joshua inquired as Kolt shook his head.
"Nope. It's just insurance for that face down of yours." Kolt explained, pointing at his brother's face-down card.
"Don't forget that whenever a spell or trap tries to target a monster while my Phoenix Gearfried is on the field, I can send a equip card to the grave and negate it!" Kolt reminded as Joshua sighed.
"You got me there," Joshua replied, looking down at his face down Kunai With Chain.
"In that case, let's finish this! Phoenix Gearfried attack him directly with Eternal Flame Slash!" Kolt ordered as Phoenix Gearfried swung at Joshua, cutting through the last of his life points.
Joshua: 2600 LP
- 3300 LP
Joshua: 0 LP
Duel End
Winner: Kolt
"And that's another win for me!" Kilt smirked, making Joshua chuckle.
"Yeah, that's one hundred thirty wins against my two hundred and ten." Joshua reminded as Kolt deadpanned.
"Don't ruin this for me right now." Kolt insisted as Joshua laughed.
"Either way, you're deck is working fine. You'll do great in the tournament tomorrow." Joshua smiled, patting Kolt on the back.
"Thanks." Kolt thanked as he turned off his duel disk.
"Now, let's head inside. I need some food." Joshua insisted as he began to walk back inside their home.
Before he followed, Kolt looked up into the sky, watching as birds flew by and clouds passed. It felt so surreal. Tomorrow would be the day. The day he would take the first step on his path to becoming a professional duelist.
"I'm ready for everything they throw at me!" Kolt smirked as he followed inside.
The Next Day…
National Scholarship Duel Arena…
"I'm not ready! Not for this!" Kolt thought as he stood sullenly in the middle of an extensive line.
He was currently waiting to hand in his registry and ticket to enter the tournament, but since this was a sought-after scholarship, he wasn't the only one there. While he thought he could handle anything, he couldn't handle the boredom of waiting in line for a long time.
"It's been over an hour, and I'm still not at the front," Kolt noted as he stared at the front of the line, which he was slowly inching toward.
"Almost there," Kolt whispered, thankful that his torture was almost over.
If only he had left his home earlier, but Joshua had to get ready and load his equipment into the car as he was filming the entire tournament for a study. Still, he was glad he didn't just arrive, as the line was still growing.
As he continued to wait, Kolt looked around the line seeing many participants fiddle with their decks and duel disks. No doubt they were nervous. After all, just like Kolt, this may be their only chance of getting into one of the bigger duel schools.
He only wished that he didn't have to go through them in order to make his dream come true. Turning back to face the front of the line, Kolt took a deep breath and steeled his resolve as he continued to wait.
Eventually, he finally got to the front of the line and managed to get inside the arena. The inside amazed him as it was filled with several duel fields and duelists. Kolt just stood there astonished, as he hadn't seen so many duelists before.
It didn't set in when he was in line, but hundreds of other duelists were present. Since his home was in a more remote town, there weren't many other duelists around. Just seeing them all here made Kolt excited.
"More waiting then," Kolt murmured as he realized that the tournament wouldn't start until everyone had arrived.
Walking around, Kolt watched as many people formed groups and conversed with one another. It seemed like many groups of friends, which seemed odd to Kolt as it meant they'd have to duel each other to get the scholarship.
It wasn't like they could go to another tournament to get one of the other hundred spots, as it was against the rules to take more than one application. For Kolt, that wasn't much of a problem as all of his school friends only dueled as a hobby.
In the end, Kolt just found an open seat and waited for the tournament to begin. He passed the time of waiting by looking around the crowd in the seats above the duel arena to see if he could spot his brother amongst the other duel analysts and reporters.
Unfortunately, he couldn't find his brother in his line of sight, forcing him to find other ways to ease his boredom. Thankfully, it didn't take much longer before everyone entered the arena, and the tournament began.
"Attention, Duelists! The scholarship battle will begin shortly. Please be ready for the matchups to be decided." The Announcer declared as several monitors began to display matches.
"When you have your match, please report to the corresponding duel field!" The Announcer added as people swarmed the monitors.
"Finally." Kolt sighed as he stood up and made his way to the nearest monitor.
Once there, he was forced to push through the large crowd that formed to look at the monitor. After minutes of moving back and forth in the crowd, Kolt managed to finally get through and see his match.
His match was against someone named Chris, and their duel would take place on field eight. Happy Kolt wasted no time heading to the duel field to wait for his match to begin. When he arrived, he was surprised to see his opponent already there.
"So you're my opponent?" Chris inquired, looking Kolt up and down.
"That's right. Let's have a good duel." Kolt responded as he held out his hand.
"Sure." Chris smiled as he shook Kolt's hand.
"Unfortunately, I'm going to crush your hopes. I don't plan on losing in the first round," Chris stated as Kolt nodded.
"Neither do I, so let's have a good duel," Kolt replied as footsteps approached them.
Turning around, the judge arrived and opened the field to the two duelists. Taking a few steps inside, Kolt was amazed by how big and fancy the field was. Sure it wasn't as big or impressive as the pro league duel fields, but Kolt had only dueled in fields or in a gym.
This was the only official duel field he had ever been in, so he was taking it all in. But he snapped back to reality once he remembered he had a duel to win. Taking his place across from Chris, he waited for the judge to announce the duel to begin.
"Alright, proceed with the duel!" The Judge insisted as both duelists activated their duel disks.
"Let's duel!" The Two shouted as they filled their hands with five cards.
Kolt: 4000 LP / Chris: 4000 LP
"I'll go first!" Chris declared as he placed his fingers on the top of his deck.
Turn 1: Chris
"Draw!" Chris announced as he drew a card.
"First, I'll summon my Mechanicalchaser in attack mode!" Chris began as his monster appeared before him.
Mechanicalchaser (ATK: 1850 / DEF: 800) -Machine- (DARK) (LV: 4)
"Geez, try saying that name five times," Kolt murmured as Chris grabbed another card in his hand.
"Next, I'll activate the Double Summon spell card, allowing me to summon another monster. So come forth, Robotic Knight!" Chris declared as his new monster took to the field.
Robotic Knight (ATK: 1600 / DEF: 1800) -Machine- (FIRE) (LV: 4)
"Now I'll place two cards face down and end my turn," Chris stated, leaving him one card in his hand.
Turn 2: Kolt
"Right. My turn!" Kolt replied as he drew a card.
"Two monsters out on your first turn, huh? Not bad." Kolt smirked as he grabbed onto one of the cards in his hand.
"First, I'll start by activating the spell card Herculean Power!" Kolt began as he placed his card into the duel disk.
"Herculean Power?" Chris questioned, having never heard of the card.
"Allow me to explain this continuous spell allows me to special summon a level four or lower Gemini monster from my hand if you have a monster and I don't," Kolt explained, shocking Chris.
"So by using its power, I summon Goggle Golem in attack mode!" Kolt announced as his monster burst from the ground.
Goggle Golem (ATK: 1500 / DEF: 500) -Rock/Gemini/Effect- (EARTH) (LV: 4)
"Next, I'll normal summon Goggle Golem." Kolt continued causing his golem to roar out and become bulkier.
"Wait, but he's already on the field?!" Chris shouted, confused at Kolt's declaration.
"True, but Goggle Golem is a Gemini monster remember? That means I can summon him again so that he can gain his effect, which makes his attack points grow to twenty-one hundred!" Kolt explained as Goggle Golem slammed his fists together.
Goggle Golem (ATK: 2100 / DEF: 500) -Rock/Gemini/Effect- (EARTH) (LV: 4)
"Twenty-one hundred!" Chris gasped, looking at the golem before him.
"But I'm not done, for I equip him with the Black Pendant spell card," Kolt revealed as the titular pendant fell onto Goggle Golem's neck.
Goggle Golem (ATK: 2600 / DEF: 500) -Rock/Gemini/Effect- (EARTH) (LV: 4)
Chris grimaced as he saw the drastic increase in Goggle Golem's attack points from what they once were. But he wasn't scared, as he still had his face-down cards to fall back on when Kolt attacked him.
"Next, I activate the spell Release Restraint Wave!" Kolt declared as a spiraling tornado appeared above him.
"What's this?!" Chris questioned as Kolt smirked.
"With this card, by sacrificing a face-up equip card, I can destroy all your face-down cards!" Kolt explained, shocking Chris.
"No way!" Chris cried as his face-down Magic Cylinder, and Call of the Haunted were destroyed.
"Now that your back row is gone, I'm free to attack, but of course, let's not forget about Black Pendant's second effect dealing you five hundred points of damage." Kolt reminded as Chris flinched from the damage.
Chris: 4000 LP
- 500 LP
Chris: 3500 LP
"And, of course, my Goggle Golem's attack points return to twenty-one hundred," Kolt added as Goggle Golem lost the power of Black Pendant.
Goggle Golem (ATK: 2100 / DEF: 500) -Rock/Gemini/Effect- (EARTH) (LV: 4)
"Now Goggle Golem, take out his Mechanicalca…Mechanici…take out the monster on the right!" Kolt ordered as Goggle Golem rushed Mechanicalchaser and destroyed it.
Chris: 3500 LP
- 250 LP
Chris: 3250 LP
"Now, I'll place one card face down and end my turn." Kolt finished leaving one card in his hand.
Turn 3: Chris
"Okay, that was fairly impressive. Draw!" Chris commented as he drew a card.
"First, I'll sacrifice my Robotic Knight to summon my Machine King!" Chris declared as his knight broke apart and his parts reformed into Machine King.
Machine King (ATK: 2200 / DEF: 2000) -Machine/Effect- (EARTH) (LV: 6)
"And now that my mighty monster is on the field, his ability kicks in, granting him one hundred attack points for each Machine monster on the field," Chris explained as his monster powered up.
Machine King (ATK: 2300 / DEF: 2000) -Machine/Effect- (EARTH) (LV: 6)
"But I'm not done because I activate Clockwork Night!" Chris continued as a shadow-covered factory appeared behind him.
"Thanks to this card, all monsters on the field become machines. Not only that, all machine monsters on my field have their attack and defense increased by five hundred while all your monsters lose five hundred." Chris revealed, shocking Kolt.
Kolt quickly turned to see his Goggle Golem as his skin turned from stone into sheet metal and eventually grew gears where his joints were. No sooner did that happen did the metal and gears begin to rust, causing Goggle Golem to collapse.
Goggle Golem (ATK: 1600 / DEF: 0) -Machine/Gemini/Effect- (EARTH) (LV: 4)
"Oh, and don't forget now that your Goggle Golem is a machine, my Machine King gains another one hundred attack points." Chris pointed out as steam shot out from Machine King.
Machine King (ATK: 2900 / DEF: 2500) -Machine/Effect- (EARTH) (LV: 6)
"Now, Machine King, show him why you rule over all machines!" Chris ordered as Machine King stormed over to Goggle Golem as crushed him under its fist.
Kolt: 4000 LP
- 1300 LP
Kolt: 2700 LP
Kolt covered his face as the blowback from Machine King's attack blew past him. When the dust finally settled, Machine King returned back to Chris's side of the field as it lost the attack points it gained from Goggle Golem.
Machine King (ATK: 2800 / DEF: 2500) -Machine/Effect- (EARTH) (LV: 6)
"You had a good start there, but I won't let you take another life point from me! If I want to achieve my dream of going to North Academy, then I can't lose here!" Chris declared as Kolt recomposed himself.
"North Academy? Isn't that place supposed to be ruthless?" Kolt questioned, receiving a nod from Chris.
"Precisely. In such an environment, only the best of the best can survive!" Chris replied, clearly infatuated with the academy.
"If I can survive in there, then I'll truly become a strong duelist," Chris explained as Kolt hummed.
"I don't really get it personally. But I can respect your resolve." Kolt began as he placed his hand on the top of his deck.
"But if I wish for my dream of getting into Duel Academy, then I can't lose here either!" Kolt stated as he drew a card.
Turn 4: Kolt
With two cards in his hand, Kolt began to think of a plan. With his face down still on the field, he was beginning to formulate a plan to turn this duel around in his favor. He just needed to play his cards right.
"To start, I activate Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." Kolt began as he drew two new cards.
"Perfect!" Kolt smirked as he grabbed onto another card.
"Next, I'll activate my Herculean Power once more!" Kolt continued as his spell glowed.
"Now I can special summon my Evocator Chevalier in attack mode!" Kolt declared as flames burst from the ground and his monster appeared.
Evocator Chevalier (ATK: 1900 / DEF: 900) -Warrior/Gemini/Effect- (FIRE) (LV: 4)
"Don't forget. Because of my Clockwork Night, not only is your monster turned into a machine, but it loses five hundred attack and defense points!" Chris reminded as Chevalier transformed.
Evocator Chevalier (ATK: 1400 / DEF: 400) -Machine/Gemini/Effect- (FIRE) (LV: 4)
"That's fine because now I normal summon him so he can gain his effect!" Kolt replied as Chevalier glowed.
"Next, I activate my face-down card Gemini Ablation!" Kolt declared as his trap flipped face up.
"What does that do?" Chris questioned as Kolt smiled.
"Allow me to enlighten you then. You see, by discarding one card and sacrificing one Gemini monster, I can special summon one Fire Warrior monster from my hand or deck!" Kolt began as he discarded one card, and his Chevalier disappeared.
"Not only that, but if the Gemini monster I sacrificed had its effects, I can destroy one card on the field!" Kolt continued as Chris turned to look at his Clockwork Night.
"So say goodbye to Clockwork Night and say hello to Pheonix Gearfried!" Kolt declared as Chris's spell was destroyed, and Kolt's ace took to the field.
Phoenix Gearfried (ATK: 2800 / DEF: 2200) -Warrior/Gemini/Effect- (FIRE) (LV: 8)
"Oh, and since your Clockwork Night is gone, your Machine King loses its attack points." Kolt pointed out, watching as Machine King lost power.
Machine King (ATK: 2300 / DEF: 2000) -Machine/Effect- (EARTH) (LV: 6)
"But that means…." Chris stuttered before Kolt interrupted him.
"That means I'm free to destroy your Machine King, but before that." Kolt interrupted as he grabbed onto the last card in his hand.
"I'll equip my Gearfried with the Supervise spell card granting him his effects!" Kolt announced as he slipped the spell into his duel disk, causing Pheonix Gearfried to glow.
"Now, Gearfried, dethrone that king!" Kolt ordered as Pheonix Gearfried raised his sword and cut Machine King in two.
Chris: 3250 LP
- 500 LP
Chris: 2750 LP
"With that, I end my turn." Kolt finished lowering his duel disk.
Turn 5: Chris
Chris took a deep breath before rubbing his head furiously, clearly annoyed with how the duel was going. But after he calmed down, he turned to look at Kolt and smiled as he placed his hand on his deck.
"Man, you're good. It's a shame I have to win." Chris sighed as he drew his card.
"First things first. I activate my own Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." Chris began as he drew two more cards.
"Next, I'll summon another Robotic Knight in attack mode!" Chris continued summoning another copy of Robotic Knight.
Robotic Knight (ATK: 1600 / DEF: 1800) -Machine- (FIRE) (LV: 4)
"Next, I activate the spell card Limiter Removal! This card overclocks my Robotic Knight by doubling its attack points!" Chris declared as Robotic Knight let out a metallic screech.
Robotic Knight (ATK: 3200 / DEF: 1800) -Machine- (FIRE) (LV: 4)
"Now he's strong enough to take down your Gearfried! So go, Robotic Knight, attack and destroy Pheonix Gearfried to avenge your king!" Chris insisted as Robotic Knight charged in.
The mechanical knight swung its sword at Pheonix Gearfried, who blocked with his own blade. However, Robotic Knight cut through Pheonix Gearfried's blade and dug into the warrior's gut, destroying him.
"Gahh!" Kolt shouted as the resulting damage hit him.
Kolt: 2700 LP
- 400 LP
Kolt: 2300 LP
"Unfortunately for me, because of Limiter Removal, my Robotic Knight is destroyed at the end of the turn." Chris sighed before noticing a burning pillar in front of Kolt.
"Wha-what's happening?!" Chris questioned, confused at what was happening.
"Oh? Have you never stories of phoenixes? Whenever they die, they rise from the ashes in fire!" Kolt smirked as the flame began to take form.
"You see, thanks to the effect of Supervise spell, when it's sent to the grave, I can special summon one normal monster to the field," Kolt explained as the flames died down.
"So come forth, Evocator Eveque!" Kolt declared as his monster appeared on the field.
Evocator Eveque (ATK: 1500 / DEF: 1000) -Warrior/Gemini/Effect- (FIRE) (LV: 4)
"Wait, when did that card get into your grave?" Chris asked, knowing he didn't destroy that monster.
"He got there when I discarded him to activate the effect of Gemini Ablation," Kolt answered, pointing at his trap.
"But why not just bring back your Gearfried?!" Chris questioned, knowing that it would be far more advantageous to bring back a stronger monster.
"Because if I don't draw another monster or equip spell, then I can't end the duel next turn. But with him, I've guaranteed victory." Kolt smirked, making Chris nervous.
"So allow me to show you!" Kolt insisted as he placed his hand on his deck.
Turn 6: Kolt
"Draw!" Kolt shouted as he drew his next card. Taking a quick look, he smiled when he saw it was Mystical Space Typhoon, a card he couldn't use.
"Well, it's been really fun, and honestly, I hate that I have to beat you here, but I'm here to win it all!" Kolt stated as he threw out his arm toward Eveque.
"I'll start by normal summoning Eveque giving him his effect! You see, when he's normal or special summoned, I can special summon one fire or Gemini monster from my grave!" Kolt explained as another pillar of fire appeared on the field.
"So come on back Evocator Chevalier!" Kolt ordered as his other Evocator returned to the field.
Evocator Chevalier (ATK: 1900 / DEF: 900) -Warrior/Gemini/Effect- (FIRE) (LV: 4)
"Sure, I could bring back Gearfried. But let's change things up." Kolt smiled as he looked at Chris.
"It's time for me to end this." Kolt declared as Chris lowered his duel disk, accepting defeat.
"Go, Chevalier! Eveque! Attack him directly and end this duel!" Kolt commanded as his two monsters depleted the rest of Chris's life points, causing the duelist to fall down.
Chris: 2750 LP
- 3400 LP
Chris: 0 LP
Duel End
Winner: Kolt
"Match set! Winner Kolt Knight!" The Judge announced, speaking through his mic.
When the announcement came over the intercoms, Kolt could hear loud clapping from above. Looking up, he saw his older brother applauding him, having spectated the entire match. Kolt gave his brother a thumbs-up before turning back toward Chris.
"That was a good duel. I'm just sorry you had to lose in round one." Kolt smiled as he walked over to Chris and helped him up.
"Thanks. I guess this means I'm not ready for North Academy." Chris sighed as he put his deck away.
"Perhaps a year or two at dueling community college would be better for me," Chris said as the two shook hands.
"Mr. Knight. Please return to the stands until your next match is announced." The Judge insisted as Kolt and Chris left the field.
As Kolt watched Chris leave, he returned to the stands where several other duelists were already waiting, having finished their matches faster than he did. But what surprised him was what he saw on the monitor.
On it was the results and the current scores of duels. There Kolt saw that someone named Sloane had won their duel in three turns without taking a single point of damage. Kolt was amazed by the sight. It took Sloane two turns to defeat their opponent.
"He must be an amazing duelist," Kolt commented, hoping he could see him in action though not against himself.
But the tournament had only just begun, and Kolt couldn't guess who he would be dueling throughout. With one duel down and plenty more to go, Kolt was excited to get his next match. After all, this was his one chance, and he wouldn't waste it.
Author's Note:
Greetings, and welcome to my fic! To those who don't know me, hi, I'm ThatSaiyaGuy, and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my fic. Not going to lie. It took me a while to get this chapter done as I was trying to get a deck down for Kolt and other future OCs.
At first, I kinda wanted to give him Masked HERO cards, but since they don't have much support or non-fusion cards, I would have either had to give him some Elemental HEROES or make up fake cards for him.
I eventually decided against it and, after a lot of thinking, landed on Gemini or, more specifically, Pheonix Gearfried. I remember getting the structure deck as a kid, and I really liked it, so I decided to use it, and I'm really happy with how it's working.
Now before I go any further, I want to make a few ground rules for this fic. Obviously, Pheonix Gearfried and Gemini monsters came out mostly after GX, but I decided that using some cards from the future is okay.
That being said, cards like Synchros, XYZ, Pendulum, Link, etc., will not be featured in this fic. I want to only use cards that make sense in the GX era, so none of those will be showing up here.
Either way, I am just glad to finally be able to publish this fic as I've been planning it for a while and decided to actually write it after the untimely death of Kazuki Takahashi, the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh!
I can't express how much Yu-Gi-Oh has meant to me growing up in the early 2000s with watching the first three anime (I started but never finished Zexal, lol) and finally getting to read the original manga.
After learning that he passed away, it made my love for the series even greater, especially after learning that he died saving some divers. Because of that, I wanted to write this fic to remember the great game and stories he had made (He helped with GX and 5Ds). So I hope you all will enjoy it!
So now that I've said that, I just want to give credit to the amazing AliceKuroCross on DeviantArt, who made the cover art for this series. She's an amazing artist who makes a lot of fantastic art, so please go check her out on DeviantArt!
That's all I have to say for now, so I'll see you all for the next chapter!