Yu-Gi-Oh: Call of Destiny

[ExtremeG]

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. Yu-Gi-Oh is owned by Konami and Kazuki Takahashi. This story takes place 15 years after the end of Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

 

[spoiler=Episode 1 - Dawn of Destiny] The sun started to rise just over the horizon, casting an array of luminous colors over the morning sky. Waves rocked off the bow of the ship as it sliced though the water, causing a cool spray of ocean water to hit against his face. Skyler never minded the early morning, in fact, he enjoyed the sweet smell of dawn, the sudden calm that it seems to cast over the land. His eyes narrowed to make out the blurry silliest on the horizon. Out of the barren and seemingly endless sea came what appeared to be an oasis. As Skyler leaned forward on the railing of the S.S. Yuban, he couldn’t help but grimace as the image of The Central Duel Academy came into view. He smirked a little and reached into his bag, taking out his Duel Monsters deck. On the very top of the deck was a card with the image of a baby bat, smiling happily. Skyler looked down at the card.

“You can wake up now, little guy. We’ve finally arrived…”

[align=center][spoiler=Bup]

 

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The card glowed slightly and made a small “Twweeeee” noise. Skyler smiled and put the card back into his pack. A few minutes later, Skyler disembarked from the ship, waving goodbye to the crew. After a few days on board, he had made friends with a few members of the crew, some of them even gave him there priced cards as a Good Luck present. Skyler quietly made his way through the courtyard of the school grounds, looking at all the students in red, yellow, and blue uniforms. Many of the students, mostly of students in blue, looked at him with suspicious eyes, trying desperately to place where they had seen him before. Skyler hoped silently to himself that none of them would recognize him. A few days before he left home, he put blue and red highlights in his hair and packed only inconspicuous clothes, nothing too expensive looking. He quickly made his way to where he would be taking the written portion of the entrance exam, according to the admission letter he received. Normally he would have had to wait until the start of the next term and then take both the written and duel exam in Domino City before being accepted into Central. Through his connections, however, Skyler greased a few wheels, letting him transfer from his families duel academy. He had to be sure to use a false name when his signed up though. If there was one thing that Skyler hated more than anything in the world, it was stuck-up, rich people who would suck up to him just to get in good with his family.

 

Skyler walked into the exam room, only to see that there was a class already in session. Everyone in the room turned to see the blonde and blue haired kid standing in the doorway. The teacher in the front of the class looked up at Skyler with a friendly smile.

 

“Can I help you?” The teacher asked.

 

Skyler silently and shyly walked down the stairs of the lecture style classroom and handed the teacher the pass. The teacher smiled and took the note, scanning it over intently. The teacher proceeded to let out a light chuckle and looked back at Skyler.

 

“You’re a little late, don’t you think?” He looked back at the form. “Yuushi Gale. But it’s fine; I can give you a copy of the test. Would you mind sitting out in the hallway?” Skyler nodded without saying a word. “You’re a quiet one, aren’t you? Well that’s okay, too. Here you go…” The teacher hands Skyler the test. He takes the worksheet and turned to walk out of the room as fast as he could. Another thing that Skyler couldn’t stand was everyone looking at him at once. It made him nervous. As he walked up the stairs, he couldn’t help but periodically tilting his head up to see the students in the classroom staring at him; the majority of them teenage girls, giggling to each other.

The test itself was only meant to be an hour long. After the second hour, the teacher peeked his head out of the door to check up of Skyler.

“Everything alright out here, Mr. Yuushi?”

 

Skyler looked up at the teacher. “Yeah, almost done…”

 

“Well, class is almost over, when you’re done here, come on in. I would like to talk to you about your future here.” He retracted his head and closed the door behind him. After a few minutes, Skyler started to become increasing worried about his fate at this academy. Did the teacher recognize him? Was he going to call his parents? Skyler quickly finished up the test just as class was getting out. As the student filed out of the classroom, the same group of giggling girls watched Skyler as he entered the room, a few of them winking at him. Skyler felt his face turn red as he walked inside. The teacher was at his desk, grading papers. He looked up and gave Skyler a friendly smile.

 

“I see that the girls around here are already starting to take notice to you. I must say, for someone who is trying to avoid discovery, you sure do call a lot of attention to yourself, Mr. Gailson…”

 

A cold shiver went up Skyler’s spine.

 

The teacher let out a light chuckle. "Please don't worry yourself. I understand your situation and I promise to keep my mouth closed in the interest of your education..."

 

Skyler let out a sigh of relief. "Thank very much, Mr...Um..."

 

"Truesdale...Syrus Truesdale. And believe me, I understand the pressures of being in a powerful family. But more about that later. I scheduled you for a duel downstairs in an hour. I suggest you get your deck ready."

 

Skyler nodded and bowed his head slightly. "Thank you so much Mr. Truesdale. I won’t let you down..." He turned and ran off down stairs. Syrus smiled as he looked at the childhood picture of him, Chomley, and Judai-Aniki. "This one...he kind of reminds me of someone..." He let out a laugh.

 

Skyler made his way down the dueling arenas. It was mostly empty, except for a few students dueling for the heck of it in the practice arenas. Skyler made his way through the arch ways to the bleachers and sat down near a small group of students in yellow uniforms. Silently he waited for his name to be called, leaning back in the seat and closing his eyes. A few moments later, Skyler became aware that there is someone standing right next to him in the isle. He looked up to see a kid about his age with long, jet black hair hanging over half his face and an indifferent expression.

 

“So you’re the new transfer student?

 

“News travels fast around here.”

 

“It’s a pretty small school. Believe me, you’re already the big gossip on campus.”

 

“Just great…I was hoping to at least get a little peace before I settled in. Well, either way, I gotta win this entrance exam before anything.

 

“I’m sure you’ll do well, I have a way about telling that about people. I can tell that you’re a good duelist. Do me a favor. When you win, try to get into Ra Yellow. It’s the best on campus.”

 

Skyler smirked. “I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

 

The guy holds out his hand with a faint hint of a smile. “The name’s Taikereou Mana. But you can just call me Tai. Everyone does.”

 

Skyler reached out and shook Tai’s hand. “Hey, I’m-” The sound of a loud voice boomed through the stadium through the loud speaker. “YUUSHI GALE. YUUSHI GALE. PLEASE REPORT TO ARENA NUMBER 5. YUUSHI GALE. PLEASE REPORT TO ARENA NUMBER 5.” Skyler let out a sigh. “I guess that’s my cue.”

 

Tai smirked and patted Skyler on the back as he stood up. “Good luck, Gale-tan.”

 

The name stuck in Skyler’s head as he walked down to the arena. He kind of liked it. Sure, it was a little familiar for his taste, but then again, he had spent his whole life around snobs who would turn their nose up at you if you even called them –kun. As Skyler entered the arena, he looked to the other side of the field to see an Instructor. He set his pack down next to him and pulled out his Duel Disk, putting his deck inside.

 

The Instructor called from across the room. “Yuushi Gale. Are you ready?”

 

Skyler stood and silently nodded.

 

 

 

[spoiler=Episode 2]

The Instructor calls from across the room. “Yuushi Gale. Are you ready?”

 

Skyler stands and nods.

 

“Okay then, good. I'll go first!” Both the Instructor and Skyler activated their Duel Disk, the field lighting up on standby. The Instructor drew a card from his deck. “I will play ‘Call of the Mummy’. If I have no monsters on, I can Special Summon 1 Zombie-Type Monster from my hand. I summon ‘Boneyard Wyvern’!” As soon as he set the Monster Card on his Duel Disk, a large, skeletal dragon appeared with 2200 ATK. “Then I place a card in face-down Defense Position and end my turn.”

 

Skyler looked from the Instructor back to his deck. “Okay, my draw...” He drew a card and scanned over his opinions. “I Summon my ‘Marauding Captain’ to the field.” He set the card on his Disk and Summoned a blonde warrior, dressed in green armor with an ATK of 1200. “I then active his effect. When he’s Normal Summoned to the field, I card Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower from my hand. I summon my ‘Crusader Knight Nixis’.” Skyler Summoned to the field a female elf looking monster with a mace and armor with an ATK of 1800. “But I’m not done. I equip her with the Equip Spell Card ‘Sword of Divine Wrath’. This card increases the ATK of a ‘Crusader’ monster by 500. Plus, when the monster destroys a DARK monster, I gain 800 Life Points.” The ATK on “Crusader Knight Nixis” is increase by 500 to make her ATK 2300. “Attack his ‘Boneyard Wyvern’.” The attack connected and destroyed the Instructors monster. He loses 100 Life Point, bringing the total down to 3900. Skyler’s Life Points increase by 800 to make 4800. “Now I attack your face-down monster.” “Marauding Captain” lunged forward, drew his sword, and stabbed into the face-down card. The card flipped up, revealing “Lady In Wight” with a DEF of 2200. Skyler took 1000 points of damage to make his Life Points 3800. “I play a card face-down and end my turn…”

 

The Instructor smiled with appreciation. “Very good. Now it’s my turn.” He drew a card. “I play the Spell Card ‘Card Destruction’. Both of us send our hand to the Graveyard and draw the same number.” The Instructor discarded the 3 cards in his hand and Skyler his 2. They then both drew cards from their deck. “I then sacrifice ‘Lady in Wight’ to Summon another ‘Boneyard Wyvern’.” He summoned another bone dragon. “And when my Wyvern is Normal Summoned, I can send 1 ‘Skull Servant’ monster from my deck to the Graveyard.” A card then popped out of the Instructors deck which he proceeded to place in his Graveyard. “When I sent my hand to the graveyard, I had a ‘King of Skull Servants’ and a ‘Skull Servant’ in my hand. I remove from play 1 ‘Skull Servant’ in my Graveyard to activate the effect of the ‘King of Skull Servants’ in my Graveyard, Special Summoning it the field!” “Skull Servant” was then removed from his Graveyard and “King of Skull Servants” was Summoned to the field. “My King gains ATK equal to the number of ‘Skull Servants’, ‘King of Skull Servants’ and ‘Lady in Wight’ in the Graveyard, making the ATK of my monster 2000. But that's not all. I activate Boneyard Wyverns second effect. I can pay 1000 life points to return 1 removed from play ‘Skull Servant’ monster to the Graveyard.” The bone dragon started to glow, making “Skull Servant” return to the Graveyard. The Instructor paid 1000 Life Points, which brought him down to 2900. “I attack your ‘Nixis’ with my ‘King’. Go!” “King of Skull Servants” attacked and destroyed “Crusader Knight Nixis”. After losing 700 Life Points, Skyler’s Life Points became 3100. “Now I’ll attack your ‘Captain’ with my ‘Boneyard Wyvern’.” The bone dragon stood in attention and advanced towards “Marauding Captain”.

 

Before the attack connected, Skyler pressed the button on the side of his Duel Disk. “I active my face-down Trap Card, ‘Action Defense’. This card negates the attack of one monster and lets me get a Warrior monster from my Graveyard and add it to my hand.” A monster popped forward from Skyler’s Graveyard, which he then added to his hand.

 

The Instructor gave Skyler a thumbs-up. “Nice save kid…I’ll end my turn…”

 

Skyler started to feel a strong surge of energy moving through his body as he drew the next card. He looked at it intently and allowed his muscles to relax. The card had a picture of a cute, little, baby bat. “I play ‘Future Fusion’ and send monsters from my deck to the Graveyard to Fusion Summon a monster in 2 turns. But right now... I’ll play 1 card face-down, and then I play a monster in face-down defense. I end my turn…”

 

The Instructor drew a card. “It’s very obvious what you’re doing. I’m guessing this is to lead me out to attack your monster, then to activate a Trap Card to destroy my ‘King’. I play ‘Mystical Space Typhoon’, destroying your face-down card.” Skyler’s face-down Trap card gets destroyed. “Then I’ll attack your face-down card with my ‘Boneyard Wyvern’. Attack!” The dragon attacked and flipped up “Bup”. The Instructor looked a little confused at the sight of the card. “Huh? What’s that card? I’ve never seen it before.”

 

Skyler couldn’t help but laugh inside his head at the Instructors question. “It’s called ‘Bup’. Once per turn, he can’t be destroyed by anything. When it’s sent to the Graveyard, it’s removed from play…”

 

“Fine then, I’ll destroy it with my ‘King’. Go!” His “King of Skull Servants” attacked and destroyed “Bup”. “I end my turn.”

 

Skyler drew a card and examined his hand carefully. He started to himself {He needs to protect his Life Point before anything.} “I play my ‘Conversion of Greed’. I remove from play 1 ‘Crusader Knight’ monsters to draw 2 cards.” Skyler removed from play 1 of the “Crusader Knight” monster then drew 2 cards {Come on…come on…} He looked at the cards and smiled as everyone of his cards came into focus and he suddenly realized how he would win. “I Summon ‘Crusader Squire Pemnon’.” He summoned a teenage-looking knight in brown armor with an ATK of 800. “My ‘Pemnon’ can bypass my opponent’s monsters and attack my opponent directly. Now go with Righteous Blades!” “Crusader Squire Pemnon” threw a barrage of throwing knives at the Instructor, reducing his Life Points to 2100. “I then activate ‘Book of Moon”, switching ‘Pemnon’ into face-down Defense Position. I then Set 1 card face-down and end my turn.”

 

The Instructor drew a card. “Looks like things are starting to get interesting. But not for long!” Just then Skyler revealed his face-down card.

 

“I activate ‘Reinforce Truth’, letting me Special Summon 1 level 2 monster from my Deck. The card I choose is ‘Crusader Squire Tyia’.” Skyler searched through his Deck and Summons a little girl in silver armor to the field. “When she Summoned to the field, I can Special Summon the other 2 from the Deck.” He again searched his Deck and Summons two more “Tyia”s, all of which went into Defense Position.

 

The Instructor started to clap. “Very, very good. You’ve made an almost impermeable wall of monsters. However, that will not be enough. I equip my ‘King of Skull Servants’ with ‘Opti-Camouflage Armor’. With this card, a Level 1 monster is able to attack an opponent’s Life Points directly. Go my ‘King’!” “King of Skull Servants” bypassed all of Skyler’s monsters and attacked him directly, reducing his Life Points to 100. “Then I’ll destroy your face-down Pemnon, just incase you plan on attack me again with it. Go ‘Boneyard Wyvern’!” His bone dragon then destroyed Skyler’s “Pemnon”. “I’ll then play two cards face-down. And end my turn…” The Instructor thinks to himself. {I put down my “Destruction Jammer”, so if he activates card that will destroy any of my monsters, I can negate and destroy that card. But if he Summons a monster and manages to destroy any of my monsters, I’ll use my “Call of the Haunted” to bring it back, and even if he destroys every card I control, I can still activate “King of Skull Servants” to Special Summon back to the field for a defensive. I got this…} “Yuushi Gale, it’s over. You can just give up now and save yourself the heartache. There’s always next year…”

 

Skyler drew his next and final card. “Hopefully your teaching skills aren’t as bad as your memory…”

 

“What’s that suppose to mean?” He looked at the field and realized that “Future Fusion” was still on the field. “2 turns ago I sent my “Crusader Knight Allie” and my “Youthful Crusader Squire” from the Deck to the Graveyard. I had to remove my ‘Allie’ to activate my ‘Conversion of Greed’ along with 1 of the monsters you destroyed with ‘Card Destruction’, but the effect still went through. Now I can Fusion Summon the monster that those 2 cards make! I Summon ‘Crusader Knight Gallent’!” Skyler Summoned to the field a knight wearing shining, gold armor, a large sword, and shield with an ATK of 1800.

 

The Instructor chuckled under his breath. “That was a little anti-climactic. Both my monsters are stronger than that thing…”

 

Skyler smirked and removed his “Crusader Squire Pemnon” from his Graveyard. “You haven’t heard his effect yet. When he’s Summoned, I can remove from play 1 “Crusader” monster from my Graveyard and it gains the effect of the monster and half of its ATK. ‘Pemnon’s’ effect is that he can attack your Life Points directly, and his ATK is 800. Meaning that my knight gains 400 ATK to make his ATK 2200 plus he can attack you directly.”

 

The Instructor looked from his hand to the cards he controls, frantically trying to find something to do. “No, no way…I can’t…”

 

Skyler pointed at the Instructor. “You can’t do anything! Now go ‘Crusader Knight Gallent’! Shining Edge!” The knight charged forward and attacked the Instructors Life Points directly; reduce his 2100 Life Points to 0. He falls to his knees and sighs.

 

“Okay…you win…”

 

 

 

[spoiler=Episode 3]

It was early in the morning when Skyler awoke from his slumber, the morning sun casting a sliver of light through the small crease in the blue curtains. He twisted his body around in his bed and planted his feet firmly on the ground, wearing only his light blue boxers. He suddenly stood up straight and in clean fluid motions started to stretch his muscular arms outwards, letting his soar muscles breathe before he made his morning run. He then started to perform a series of complex stretches and warm-up exercises to get his blood flowing after his nine hours of sleep. Suddenly a pillow struck the back of Skyler’s head. He turned to look to the other side of the room to see the impression of his room mate under a thick, black comforter, his bare arm protruding out of a small opening in the cocoon of covers.

 

A student by the name of Calvin Bouka spoke from under the covers. “Dude… its five o’clock in the morning. Class doesn’t start for another three hours, dude…” Skyler shook his head as he pulled his pants on along with his black ‘wife-beater’ and Ra Yellow over shirt. “What can I say? I like to keep in shape. You should come with, after the first five miles, it’s not the bad.”

 

The top of the comforter shot open to reveal a student about the same age as Skyler, only with a slightly doughy physique, a shaved head, and the start of what looked like a goatee. The kid looked at Skyler with a drowsy face. “Dude, unless you plan on running to an ice cream parlor, I’m gonna have to say…No thanks, Dude!” He then retreated back into his covers. Skyler let out a sigh and shrugged. “Calvin, we’re on an island, not many places to run to. Back home the only time I really had any time to think was while exercising. But suit yourself.” Skyler ties his shoes and heads out the door. “See ya’ in class!”

 

As Skyler ran along the shore of the island, making sure to slow his pass so that he could take in all the scenery. Back at the mansion, the only way he ever got to see a good sunset was by climbing to the roof. Just as he started to drift off into his memories, a rock is thrown at him from a short distance. Without thinking, Skyler stopped dead in his tracks and extended his arm in a fluid side motion, breaking the rock in mid-air. He looked up in search of the origin of the rock to see a student with short, greenish hair and a blue jacket, tossing a rock around. Skyler narrows his eyes. “A simple ‘Good Morning’ would have sufficed.”

 

The boy smirked down at Skyler with an evil smile and jumped down from the rock. “You need to learn your place at this place, rookie. I saw that entrance duel you were in. Anyone with half a brain can take down one of those nameless punk instructors. Like I said before, learn your place.”

 

Skyler raised an eyebrow, slightly confused. “I’ll try to keep that in mind. To be honest, I really have no idea what you’re talking about, kid.”

 

The boy scowled at him, “The name is Matt Lumaso. My family is one of the main foundations on this school, so don’t you talk down to me. Everyone in the school is already talking about you, so I decided to find you and put you in your place before you get too big for you britches. Get it?”

 

“…Not really.”

 

Matt then fell over, quickly regaining his composure, a large “x” pulsing on his forehead. “You idiot! I’m challenging you to a duel!

 

“Ohhhh…um, but I don’t have my Duel Disk.”

 

The “x” on Matt’s head started to grow larger as he threw one of his spare Duel Disks over to Skyler. “Yuushi Gale, you’ve had it easy since you got here, but I’m going to make sure that by the end of this duel you realize who is in charge around here.”

 

Skyler put the Duel Disk on his arm and placed his Deck inside, activating it. “Whatever you say, let’s just get on with it. I’m not done with my morning exercise yet.”

 

“Time to put you in your place, smart ass. I’ll go first…” Matt drew a card and looked over his hand. “I Summon my ‘Masked Dragon’ to the field.” He placed the card on the Duel Disk and suddenly a masked, red dragon appeared to the field. “Then I play two cards face-down ending my turn. You’re move Gay.”

 

“It’s Gail!” Skyler drew a card. “I summon ‘Crusader Knight Guadric’ in attack position.” He proceeded to Summon a male knight with 1500 ATK. “I’ll attack your Dragon; go ‘Guadric’!” The warrior drew his sword and lunged forward.

 

“I activate my face-down card, ‘Sakuretsu Armor’, destroying your monster.” The Trap Card flipped up and shined, creating an aura around Matt’s “Masked Dragon” just as “Guadric” strock it. The aura erupted, destroying ‘Guadric’. Skyler braced himself from the explosion and looked over at Matt, who was smiling. “Rookie mistake, Gay…” Skyler narrowed his eyes and placed one card face-down. “I end my turn.”

 

“My move!” Matt drew a card and chuckled. “I tribute my ‘Masked Dragon’ to Summon ‘Tiger Dragon’!” He sent the “Masked Dragon” to the Graveyard and Summoned an orange and black dragon with an ATK of 2400. “Say goodbye to your face-down card, cause when he’s Summoned, ‘Tiger Dragon’ destroys up to two Spell or Trap cards!” The ‘Tiger Dragon’ opened its mouth and released a torrent of flame, destroying Skylers’ face-down card. “Then I activate my face-down card, ‘Rush Recklessly’, increasing my monsters ATK by 700 for the turn.” Matt’s “Tiger Dragon” started to glow red as it reared its head and roared, its ATK at 3100. “To bad rookie! Attack his Life Points directly.” The monster opened his mouth and released a torrent of flames at Skyler, reducing his Life Points to 900.

 

Just as the attack of the “Tiger Dragon” connected with Skyler, he revealed a Trap Card from his hand. “I activate the Trap Card ‘Emissary’s Chain’. When I take direct damage, I can activate it from my hand and inflict damage equal to the damage I received!” Skyler set the Trap Card on the field, making the card appear on the field. A circular blade attached to a chain then launched out and struck Matt, reducing his Life Point to 900 as well. “Then I can Special Summon 1 monster from my hand with an ATK that is half of the damage I took. So I Summon my ‘Crusader Squire Tyia’ to the field. And when she’s Summoned, I can Summon the other 2 ‘Crusader Squire Tyia’ from my Deck.” 3 “Tyia” monsters suddenly appeared on the field.

 

Matt grunted as he placed a card face-down. “Lucky shot, but it won’t happen again. I end my turn.”

 

“Good. Now it’s my turn. I draw.” He drew and selected a card from his hand. “I Summon my ‘Crusader Squire Pemnon’ to the field along with the Equip Spell Card ‘Sword of Divine Wrath’, increasing the ATK of my monster to 1300. When he connects with your Life Points, they will hit 0! Now go!” The teenage-looking knight unsheathed a glowing sword and lunged forward. Matt smirked and pressed a button on the side of his Duel Disk.

 

“I activate the Trap Card ‘Rainbow Life’. By discarding 1 card, I can increase my Life Points by the amount I would loss.” Matt’s Life Points increased by 1300 to become 2200.

 

Skyler tried not to look too worried. It was a touch situation that he had gotten himself into, but he had to be strong. “I play the Spell Card ‘Book of Moon’, switching my ‘Crusader Squire Pemnon’ into face-down Defense Position. I end my turn.”

 

“My move.” He drew a card and set a monster on the field. “I Summon ‘Blizzard Dragon’ to the field.” A light blue dragon surrounded by ice is summoned to the field with 1600 ATK. “Destroy his face down monster, Cold Breath!” The blue dragon opened its mouth and breathed a stream of cold air over the face-down “Crusader Squire Pemnon”. “And now, ‘Tiger Dragon’, destroy his other monster. Tiger Flame!” The large striped dragon released a torrent of flames, destroying 1 of the “Crusader Knight Tyia”. “Next turn, you’re going down. I’ll end my turn”

 

Skyler shut his eye tight, hoping with all his might. {I honestly can only think of a few cards that could save me right now.} He drew a card and placed it in face-down Defense Position. “It’s all I can do for now.”

 

“What a sad sight. You only just entered the academy and soon you’ll be leaving for good!” He drew a card and Summoned a light blue lizard looking monster with an ATK of 2200. “I Summon ‘Whirlpool Serpent’. When it destroys a monster, you take damage equal to its DEF. and after it attacks, it’s sent to the graveyard. I attack your ‘Tyia’, inflicting 200 points of damage.” The monster attacked, reducing Skyler’s Life Point to 700. The attack is followed by “Blizzard Dragon” destroying the other “Tyia”. “Let’s take out his final card. Destroy his face-down monster!” Matt’s “Tiger Dragon” charged, flipping up the card to reveal a little boy with a wooden sword, the card is destroyed.

 

“I activate the flip effect of the monster you just destroyed, ‘Youthful Crusader Squire’. When he’s flipped, I can draw cards equal to the number of ‘Crusader Squire’ monsters in my Graveyard, which at the moment is 4.” Skyler then proceeded to draw 4 cards from his deck. “Also, I gain 500 Life Points for every Warrior-Type monster I draw. And I drew 2.” His Life Points increase to 1700.

 

“Fine then. I play a card face-down and end my turn.” Matt smirked a little as he set “The Dragon’s Bead” face-down, just in case. 0

 

Skyler drew a card. “I Summon ‘Crusader Knight Nixis’ in attack position. Also, I activate the effect of my ‘Crusader Knight Allie’. By discarding him from my hand while I control a “Crusader” monster, I can decrease the ATK of a monster on the field by 1000.” As soon as Skyler discarded “Allie” from his hand, an astral image of the monster, a knight in silver armor and black hair, appears behind “Tiger Dragon”, stabbing it in the back and decreasing its ATK to 1300. “Attack now ‘Nixis’!” “Nixis” swung her mace and destroyed “Tiger Dragon”, reducing Matt’s Life Points to 1700. “I set a card face-down. Your move.”

 

“Enjoy that victory, cause it’s not going to last, Gay…” He drew a card and smirked. “I play ‘Pot of Greed’ letting me draw 2 more cards.” Matt drew 2 new cards and let out a sinister laugh. “I attack your monster with my ‘Blizzard Dragon’!” Skyler looked at Matt in confusion.

 

“Attack? But that’s suicide.”

 

“That’s exactly the point.” The two monsters collided in the middle of the ring, destroying each other. “Now I remove from play my ‘Masked Dragon’, my ‘Whirlpool Dragon’, and my ‘Blizzard Dragon’ to Summon ‘Frost and Fire Dragon’!” Matt then removed the 3 monsters from his Graveyard and Summoned the monster to the field. A giant, two headed dragon appeared on the field, taking up most of it. The twin-headed dragon let out a loud roar. “With an ATK of 2300, you’re finished. And just incase that face-down card is something that might hurt my dragon, I’ll activate the Continuous Trap Card, ‘The Dragon’s Bead’. With this card, I can discard 1 card to negate the effect of a Trap Card that would destroy my ‘Frost and Flame Dragon’. Plus, I can discard a card from my hand to destroy a monster on the field. I'll discard a monster to destroy your last 'Tyia'." The dragon attacked the little girl, destroying her. "Say goodbye to your Life Points! Attack him directly!” The two heads centered in on Skyler’s relatively small frame, one breathing a storm of fire, the other a blizzard. Skyler pressed the button on the side of his duel disk at the last second.

 

“I activate the Trap Card ‘Action Defense’. This card doesn’t affect your monster directly; instead it negates the battle and lets me add a Normal Warrior monster from my Graveyard to my hand.” Skyler then proceeded to search his Graveyard, starting to have a clearer understanding of how he was going to win this duel as he placed a monster to his hand. {Come on, deck, don’t let me down…}

 

Matt started to laugh again. “This is priceless! You can’t do anything to stop me! I play a cad facedown and end my turn. You’re so predictable, you know that, Gay? I could tell your playing style a mile away.”

 

“Man, is everyone at this academy an idiot? Get a few good cards out on the field and you think you have the entire duel wrapped up. Let me show you what it means to have faith in your cards.” Skyler slowly took the top card from his deck. “Nice. I activate the Spell Card, ‘Polymerization’. With this card, I’ll fuse together the ‘Crusader Knight Guadric’ I got back from my Graveyard along with my second ‘Crusader Squire Pemnon’.

 

“What?! How the hell did you know you needed to get ‘Guadric’ from your Graveyard? What are you, stacking?”

 

Skyler couldn’t help but let out a smile. “That might have helped, but unlike you, I have real faith in my monsters and in myself. Now! The light of my monsters fuse together to form a new monster: ‘Crusader Knight Baron’!” The two monsters jumped upwards a merged together, forming into a large, rugged-looking knight in silver armor and a large sword. The monster had an ATK of 1900. “I then activate his effect. When he's Summoned, I can add 1 Equip Card to my hand from my Deck. So I equip my monster with ‘Lightning Blade’!” Skyler searched through his Deck and pulled out the Equip Spell Card. “I then equip it to my monster, raising his ATK by 800. But that not all, but that's not all. When 'Baron' inflicts damage to you, you lose an extra 800 Life Points.” The ATK of the silver knight increases to 2700. The knight then pointed it’s sword at Matt’s “Frost and Fire Dragon”, sending out a stream of lightning at the dragon, surrounding it. The two-headed dragon let out a loud roar as its ATK dropped to 800.

 

Matt looked on in horror. “What the hell?! Why is my monster losing ATK?!?!”

 

Skyler couldn’t help but let out a tiny smirk of self-approval. “In addition to its normal effect, ‘Lightning Blade” decreases the ATK of all WATER type monsters on the field by 500, making the difference between our two monsters exactly 900! Plus you will lose an extra 800 point because of my monster's efect, making the damage exactly 1700. Now go my knight, destroy his dragon!” “Crusader Knight Baron” raised his sword and rushed forward slashing the dragon right down the middle. The dragon roared and erupted into a mass explosion which hit Matt and knocked him on him ass just as his Life Points hit 0. The smoke cleared as Skyler started to put his Deck back into his holster. He then threw the Duel Disk back to Matt. “Thanks for the Duel. You almost had me their, good job.”

 

Matt stood and scowled over at Skyler, grabbing his Duel Disk. “Don’t you patronize me, you Ra douche-bag! This isn’t over, not by a long shot!” He turned and ran back towards the school.

 

The duel spirit of “Bup” appeared on Skyler’s shoulder, tilting its head. “Tweee?” Skyler smiled a little. “Don’t worry, little guy. I’m sure that not everyone at this school is like that…at least I hope not…” Skyler proceeded to lace up his shoes and resume his morning run, the sun now just over the horizon.

 

 

[spoiler=Episode 4]

Only few days had passed since the incident with Matt, and although he and Skyler were completely alone when they dueled and neither person said anything about it, word spread through camp like a wildfire. Skyler couldn’t walk down the hall without either’s being stopped to be congratulated or to be challenged to a duel. Everyone in the school seemed to think that he had beaten Matt senseless, when in fact, he thought, he had just barely won. He defiantly did not like all of the attention that he was receiving. Sometimes, Skyler enjoyed the praise of his fellow duelists, but in general, all the attention made him feel uncomfortable. Especially all the teenage girls who would wink at him in the hallways and try to flirt with him in homeroom, which made him blush to no end. He could face the strongest duel monster imaginable without beating an eyelash, but when it came to girls, Skyler was completely clueless.

 

The morning bell rang just as the rest of the late students filed into the classroom. Skyler was usually the first into the room, an advantage of waking up 2 hours early everyday. Taikerou walked in and went straight to the seat next to Skyler. In a very short time, he and Skyler had become close friends, hanging out after class and going over Duel strategies. Suddenly, a heavy set of books were slammed against the table, snapping Skyler and Tai out of there conversation. A boy with spiky, green hair in a blue uniform was giving Skyler the death glare.

 

Skyler looked confusedly up at the student. “Um…hi.”

 

“Yuushi Gale, we need to talk…” The student said with an air of distain in his voice.

 

“Umm…okay. Anything in particular that you’d like to talk about?”

 

The student narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do. I want you to tell me what the hell you did to my buddy Matt Lumaso! Ever sense you two Dueled, no one has seen or heard from him. What did you do?!”

 

“Me? Nothing, I just beat him in a Duel. It’s not my fault if he over-reacted.”

 

Tai let out a deep sigh and he pushed his dark hair out of his face. “What a bore. I swear the rich kids at this school get dumber and dumber everyday.”

 

The student reached over and pulled Taikerou up by the collar you got something to say, Emo-boy?”

 

Tai grabbed the student’s wrist and swiftly forced it down onto desk. “Don’t test me, rich-boy…”

 

The two stared each other down until suddenly the door opened. Mr. Truesdale entered the room with the same smile he always had on his face. Tai and the student separated as soon as the teacher walked in. He set his folders down on his desk and turned to face the class.

 

“Alright students, for the passed 3 days we have been review over Duel Theory. Today, we are going to get to experience the practice first hand. Would Yuushi Gale and Kira Monos please come down?”

 

Skyler stood from his chair and looked across the room to see the same green-haired Obelisk student as before. Skyler looked down at Tai.

 

“Wow, what a weird…umm…what’s the word?”

 

Tai smirked. “Plot device?”

 

Mr. Truesdale clapped his hands together. “Come on, come on. We only have a short time.” The two walked down to the front of the room. “Now, I’ve seen both of you duel before, so I know that you both know what you’re doing. I want you to demonstrate for the class the proper techniques and strategies of your decks. Now, stand on opposite sides of the room. As for the rest of the class, you can gather around to get a better look.” Almost instantly, every student in the class, with the exception of Tai, rushed into the all available seats up front to get a better look at the duel. The two duelists inserted their decks into their duel dusk then both shouted, “Duel!”

 

“I’ll go first.” Skyler drew a card and examined the cards in his hand. “I summon my ‘Crusader Knight Nixis’ in attack position along with 1 card facedown. I end my turn.” He then placed the monster card on the field, making a female knight appear on the field with 1800 ATK.

 

“Consider this pay back for what you did to my buddy.” Kira drew a card. “I summon my ‘Pinch Hopper’ to the field, and then activate ‘Insect Imitation’. With this card, I can tribute 1 monster on my side of the field to Special Summon 1 Insect monster from my deck. And I choose my ‘Ultimate Insect LVL 5’.” As soon as “Pinch Hopper” appeared on the field, it imploded on itself, turning into the shape of a green egg. The egg cracks open and a large level 5 incest climbs out with 2300 ATK. “I then activate the effect of my ‘Pinch Hopper’, letting me Special Summon 1 insect monster from my hand. I choose ‘Howling Insect’.” Kira then proceeded to place the card on his duel disk, Summoning to the field a large, blue cricket with 1200. “Take out his ‘Crusader’!” The “Ultimate Insect” lifted its leg a slashed at “Crusader Knight Nixis”, destroying it. The shockwave smacked into Skyler, dealing him the difference of 500 points. “Now I’ll attack you’re Life Points directly with my ‘Howling Insect’. Sick ‘em!” The giant cricket jumped forward and attacked Skyler directly, reducing his Life Points to 2300.

 

Some of the bystanders gasped at this exchange. In the back row, Taikerou looked on with an indifferent look and brushed his sleek, black hair away from his face. The insect duelist ended his turn, followed swiftly by Skyler drawing a card.

 

“I activate the magic of ‘Polymerization’, fusing together the ‘Crusader Knight Allie’ and ‘Youthful Crusader Squire’ in my hand in order to form ‘Crusader Knight Gallent’!” Skyler proceeded to discard the two monsters from his hand, which in turn Summoned a blond knight in shining armor with an. Every student in the room stared in awe as the shining knight unsheathed his blade. “When he’s Summoned, I can remove from play a “Crusader” monster from my Graveyard to gain its effect and half its original ATK. I release my ‘Crusader Knight Nixis’ from play, increasing the ATK of my monster by 900 points.” The ATK of “Gallent” increased to 2700. The knight raised his sword, shining brightly as his ATK points raised. He lunged forward. “Take out his ‘Ultimate Insect LVL 5’!” The knight slashed at the insect and cut the giant bug in half, inflicting 400 point of damage to Kira’s Life Points. His Life Points drop to 3600. “I play a monster in face-down Defence Position and end my turn…”

 

One of the students whispered to another student. “Why did he do that? If I were him, I would have destroyed his ‘Howling Insect” and taken him down to 2500.” Taikerou chimed in on the conversation. “Because he’s actually dueling with a brain. His Knight only gains those attack points the turn it’s summoned, which means that if he would have taken out the ‘Howling Incest’, next turn Gale-tan’s knight would return to 1800 ATK while that other kids monster would still be at 2300. Not to mention that that bug kid is obviously using an ‘Ultimate Incest’ deck, meaning that he would have most likely have used the effect of his insect to Special Summon ‘Ultimate Insect LVL 3’ then sac it next turn for another ‘Ultimate Insect LVL 5’.” Taikerou couldn’t help but smirk. “Gale is no rookie.” He turned and started to walk out of the room. One of the kids who were talking before looked over at him. “Hey, Tai! Where you going? The class isn’t over yet.”

 

Taikerou turn his head slightly and addressed the student. “I give it a few more turns. Gale-tan will win…” He turned back around and left the room.

 

The duel continued as Kira drew a card. “My move. And so I’ll play the Spell Card ‘Cell Division’, letting me Summon a complete clone of my ‘Howling Insect’.” As soon as he set the card on his Duel Disk, Kira’s insect monster stated to glow, and then it split into two, completely identical “Howling Insects” with the same ATK and Level. “I then sacrifice my two monsters in order to Summon to the field my ‘Ultimate Insect LVL 7’.” The two monsters disappeared into a whirlwind of light as a large, armor plated, winged insect with an ATK of 2600. “Then I play ‘Migration of Level’. You see, normally, my insects’ effect only activates when it is Summoned through the effect of my ‘Ultimate Incest LVL 5’. But with ‘Migration of Levels’, I can activate its effect now, decreasing your monsters ATK by 700.” His giant insect started to glow as soon as he set the Spell Card on his Duel slot. Skyler quickly pressed the button on the side of his Duel Disk in response, which activated his face-down card.

 

“I activate ‘Divine Request’. When I control a ‘Crusader’ monster, I can negate the effect of a Magic or Trap card.” The hologram of the spell card shattered.

 

“Doesn’t make a difference, my ‘Ultimate Incest’ is still at 2600. Sick ‘em!” The giant incest proceeded to lunch itself into the air, swiftly followed by a dive bomb, destroying “Crusader Knight Gallent” and inflicting 800 points of damage to Skyler’s Life Points, bring him down to 1500. He then inserted another card into the Duel Disk Slot. “I play a card face-down and end my turn.”

 

“It’s my move now. I draw.” He drew a card from his deck and held up a card. “I Tribute my face-down monster to Summon my ‘Crusader Knight Temara’!” Skyler then removed the monster from the field and placed a new monster card on his duel disk. A female warrior with purple hair and golden armor appeared on the field with an ATK of 2300. Some of the guys in the classroom stared in awe at the attractive-looking monster. The girls in the classroom were slightly disgusted. “Would you guys grow up? It’s a freakin hologram!” The hologram of “Temara” turns her head slightly to look at the male student, giving them an evil glare as she drew her sword. The men in the room fell silent. Skyler cleared his throat. “Anyway, I then equip my monster with ‘Lightning Blade’, increasing its ATK by 700.” The ATK of “Crusader Knight Temara” increased to 3000 as a large sword appeared in her hand. “Attack his monster!” “Temara” lunged and jabbed her blade forward just as the other student activated his face-down card.

 

“I activate the Quick-Play card ‘Card Guard’. By discarding one card from my hand, I can make it so all my monsters can’t be destroyed as a result of battle.” A circular shield appeared in front on “Tamara’s” blade, blocking it completely. As the blade struck, the lightning from the blade jumped across the shield and struck Kira, decreasing his Life Points to 3200. “I end my turn.”

 

Kira proceeded to draw a card. “I remove from play my ‘Ultimate Incest LVL 7’ in order to Summon to the field ‘Ultimate Insect LVL 10’!!!” Suddenly Kiri’s monster exploded, sending a shock wave through the classroom. As the smoke started to clear, an every large, demonic looking insect emerged with an ATK of 3000. “Hahaha! And now I I’d like to show its very special effect.” Astral tentacles shot out of the giant insect’s body, latching onto “Crusader Knight Temara”, decreasing her ATK by 1000. “Now, all monsters you control lose 1000 ATK. Now, destroy his monster!” The giant insect slashed its giant leg at “Temara”, destroying her and decreases Skyler’s Life Points to 500. “Your done for, Gale!”

 

“Why does everyone at this university keep saying things like that? It’s really starting to bug me…” A few kids in the class room started to chuckle. “No pun intended. Anyway, I draw.” Skyler drew a card from his deck. “I activate the magic of ‘Conversion of Greed’. By removing from play my ‘Crusader Knight Gallent’ from my Graveyard, I can draw two cards. But if don't use.” Skyler removed “Gallent” from his Graveyard and drew two cards from his deck, one of the cards being “Crusader Squire Pemnon”. I then activate the effect of my “Crusader Knight Temara. By remove her from play after she’s been destroyed in battle, I can remove her from play to draw one card.”

 

He proceeded to remove from play “Temara” to draw one addition card. “Now I activate ‘Book of Moon’! Switching your monster into face-down Defense Position.” Kira’s monster started to glow and turned back into a card, moving into face-down Defense Position. As soon as it did, the tentacles from “Ultimate Insect LVL 10” disappeared. “Just ass I thought. Your monsters effect only extends to my monsters while it’s face-up. Unfortunately, your monster still has a DEF of 2000 and I don’t have anything that can take it out. However, I do have this.” He then placed a monster card on his Duel Disk. “I Summon ‘Crusader Knight Pemnon’. Now that your monster is face-down, my monster has its full ATK and can attack your Life Points directly. Go!” As soon as the young knight was Summoned to the field, he jumped into the air and threw a barrage of throwing knives directly at Kira. His Life Points were reduced by 800 to 2400. “I play 1 card face-down and end my turn.”

 

{Hopefully by play “Mirror Force”, I can get rid of his “Ultimate Insect” and any other monster he Summons. That should buy me enough time to Summon a stronger monster.}

 

“Now it’s my turn.” He drew a card and smirked slightly. “I equip the Spell Card ‘Rare Gold Beetle Armor’ to my ‘Ultimate Insect’, increasing its ATK to 3500. Also, when the monster attacks, you can’t activate any Trap Cards for the turn. Which means that your face-down card is useless. Now, attack his monster and end this once and for all!” He flipped his monster into face-up Attack Position and equipped his monster with the Spell Card. “Ultimate Insect LVL 10” buzzed threw the air, it’s stinger stretched forward as it attacked “Pemnon”. The attack connected and created an explosion, picking up dust. “Ha ha ha! I win! I WIN! I knew him winning against Matt was only a fluke! What…what?” The smoke cleared, revealing that “Crusader Knight Pemnon” was still on the field, along with Skyler; his Life Points still at 500. “I knew it! You’re a cheat! My ‘Ultimate Insect” connected! I saw it!”

 

“Your monsters attack connected alright, but not with what you think. Remember a few turns ago? When I Summoned ‘Temara’?” They both flashed back to the turn when Skyler Tributed his face-down monster in order to Summon Temara. At that moment, the astral form of a red armored warrior appeared on the field. “The card that I sent to the Graveyard was ‘Necro Gardna’. And by removing him from my Graveyard, I can negate the attack of 1 monster.”

 

Kira made a face. “Just cheap tricks. You’re still not going to win; I’ll make sure of that. Next turn around, you’re dead. It’s your move.”

 

“Fine with me. I’m done with trying to make you understand about your friend. I’m a pretty good duelist, but by no means am I the best. I constructed my deck with cards that both work well together and that speak to me. I trust in them and through that trust they understand my heart. That is how I won against Matt, because he refused to believe in his cards. And that is why I will win this Duel.” The other students in the classroom stood in awe at Skyler’s speech. He shut his eyes as he drew a card from his Duel Disk.

 

Kira started to crack up, almost falling to his knees. “Ha ha ha ha ha! Man! That was priceless. Now I get it, you won against Matt by boring him with one of those boring-ass speeches until he fell asleep!”

 

“I’ll show you just how wrong you are. Now…I activate the second effect of ‘Pemnon’. I can Tribute him during my Standby Phase to Special Summon his next stage of Knighthood. I Summon “Crusader Knight Penneos.” Skyler then removed “Pemnon” from the field and replaced it a new monsters. A hooded knight in tan and brown clothes appeared on the field, jumping into Attack Position with a large dagger and a wooden shield. Its ATK was at 1600. As soon as the monster was Summoned to the field, the tentacle from “Ultimate Insect LVL 10” latched onto him, decreasing his ATK to 600. Kira started to crack up at this exchange, almost crying from laughter. “Go ahead and laugh, bug boy. I’m about to end this. Now go “Crusader Knight Penneos”; attack his monster.” The monster swiftly sprinted toward Kira’s “Ultimate Insect”.

 

“That’s your plan? Committing suicide? Fine with me, go ‘Ultimate Insect’ and end this once and for all!” The giant bug moved forward and attacked Skyler’s monster. Just then, “Penneos” held his shield out in front of himself, blocking the attack. All the energy from the attack was then absorbed into the shield, making it glow blight. “What the hell?! That’s impossible!”

 

“No, it’s not. In his early training to become a knight, ‘Crusader Squire Pemnon’ used cheap tactics to go around your monster to attack you where it really hurts: You Life Points. However, after years of training and studying, his power now lies in direct conflict. When “Crusader Knight Penneos” attacks a monster that is stronger than him, he is rewarded for his bravery. When he attacks, you take all the damage that I would have taken.” The monster then jumped over the giant insect to land right in front of Kira.

 

“What?! No! That 3500 minus 600, meaning that I’ll take… 2900!” The monster held out his shield and released the energy, blasting Kira with the attack damage and reducing his Life Points to 0.

 

The holograms disappeared as Skyler put his deck back into it holster. Mr. Truesdale smiled and lifted his right hand. “The winner… Yuushi Gale.” Everyone in the room stood in amazement followed by loud cheers. The students in the room crowded around Skyler, patting him on the back and congratulating him. Despite all of the praise, Skyler pushed his way to the other side of the room to where Kira was standing. He looked up to see Skyler standing right in front of him.

 

“Go ahead. Take your shot.”

 

Skyler smiled and held out his hand. “Great duel…” Kira was at a loss for words. After a few seconds of silence, he finally cracked a smile and claps his hand against Skyler’s into a tight grip.

 

 

 

[spoiler=Episode 5]

School continued as usual for the next few weeks. Although he didn’t much care for the publicity that he was receiving from the students, Skyler did enjoy getting to make friends with people who actually liked him for him.

 

As Skyler laid sound asleep in his bed, the images of his childhood haunted him, forcing him to relive the parts of his life that he despised more than anything. Images of his youth swirled around him in a vortex of torment; the images making him experience his retched past over and over again, until finally the images stated to slow. The speed on the images continued to decrease until at last they all settle back into the darkness, leaving only one directly in front of Skyler. The imaged played like a video. As the video progressed, it proceeded to engulf it’s surrounding until Skyler was standing right in the middle of the dream. A younger version of Skyler was standing right in front of a mirror, crying. The small boy of eight years old seemed inconsolable as he continued to cry and scream for his mother. Skyler looked from the boy to the mirror. For some reason, however, the image on the surface of the mirror was not mimicking that of the small boy in front of it. Instead, the reflection of the younger Skyler seemed to be smiling, even chuckling under his breath at the pain of the small boy.

 

“Stop being such a coward, you ungrateful brat… This is what you were born for. Do you realize how lucky you are? If you continue to denie it…” The image reached out his hand. The hand glided through the surface of the mirror and grabbed the other small boy by his bleach blond hair. The younger Skyler seemed to be too concerned with his own internal pain to realize that he was being pulled to his feet by his long hair. The reflection in the mirror moved his other hand forward, this time reaching towards the boy’s chest. “Then I’ll just have to claim it for myself…” Young Skyler’s screams grew louder as soon as the reflection touched his chest, his hand shining black and purple. “You don’t deserve this power…”

 

Then, he boy screamed out at the top of his lunges, followed by a massive surge of light from his back. Gold and white light shut from his back in a cascade of light, destroying all the darkness of the surroundings. This appeared to cause the reflection a great deal of pain as he retreated back into the mirror to safety. The cascade of light coalesced to form 6 giant, feathered wings. The wing folded in on themselves, shielding the young, and still crying, Skyler in a cocoon of wings.

 

Skyler woke up from his bed in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, his heart beating erratically. The images from the dream seemed so real, so vivid. More like memories than dreams. After a few minutes, Skyler managed to control his breathing patterns enough that he could stand up, leaning against the wall. {But how could they be memories? I don’t remember anything like that happening…but I…I think…} A flood of emotions shut swiftly throw Skyler’s body as he tried to remember a certain memory. He collapsed back onto his bed. After about an hour, he was finally able to stand, get dressed, and go for his morning workout, trying hard not to relive the experience by trying to remember something.

 

Class started as usual with Skyler beginning the first on through the door. Soon after, Taikerou walked in a sat next to him.

 

“Gale-tan, you feeling okay? Calvin said you a little on edge last night: waking up and breathing hard all night.”

 

Skyler felt a cold shiver go up his spine. {Damn that Calvin! He’s always so freakin’ quiet that I never even realize that we’re sleeping in the same room.} “Yeah, Tai, everything’s fine. Just a bad dream.”

 

Taikerou let out a sigh of relief as he pushed his long, black bangs out of his face. “Cool. I was just wondering.” It was then that Taikerou remembered what he wanted to tell Skyler, pulling out a flyer and giving it to him. “I almost forgot I wanted to show this to you.”

 

Skyler took the flyer and read over it. In fancy, bolded letters, the flyer read “International Duelist Competition”. Skyler looked back over to Taikerou. “What is this?”

 

Tai smirked and took the flyer back. “It’s a flyer for the Duel Tournament that is going to be held on Central Duel Academy Island. This island. Meaning that a couple of rookie students like you and me get to wipe the floor with some of the world’s best Duelists. What do ya’ say?”

 

Skyler let out a deep and meaningful sigh. International meant that some of the best, and by best, richest, Duelist would be invited from all over the world. With hundreds of wealthy spectators, there was bond to be at least on leach in the stands that would be able to recognize him. “Yeah, I’m not that good with official tournaments.”

 

“What? Gale-tan, do you realize just how big this is? I know for a fact that one of us can win this. And just look at the price!” Taikerou pointed to the small print at the bottom of the page. Tai read the line, word for word, “‘This Tournament is sponsored by Industrial Illusions chairmen, Chumley Huffington. And as such, the winner of this tournament will have the opportunity to have Mr. Huffington design them a Set of Duel Monster Cards to the individual’s exact specifications’.” Tai looked back up at Skyler. “Exact specifications! Any card you can possibly think of and you’re the only one in the world who would have it. This is once in a life time, Gale-tan.”

 

Skyler looked over the flyer again. The idea of trying to create his own cards didn’t really appeal to him as much as Tai. The Crusader monsters he received when he was a child were already one of a kind and Skyler had built a Deck around them. They were more precious to him than anything. In truth, the whole ‘dueling the best from all over the world’ appealed to him more than anything else.

 

Just then Kira ran through the door, rushing towards Taikerou and Skyler as fast as he could, waving the same Duel Tournament over his head.

 

“Tai! Gale-Tan! I-” As Kira raced down the stairs, he tripped over his feet. “…Gah” His face collided with the ground, falling all the way down the stairs and landing right on top of the teachers desk. “….Ow….”

 

Taikerou let out a deep sigh. “Kira’s here…” Both he and Skyler stood and went don’t to help Kira up. By the time that he was conscience enough to speak, the warning bell rang, followed swiftly by the rest of the students filing in.

 

Kira laid his face on the desk. “I gots an owie…” Over the passed few weeks, Skyler had noticed a major change between the Kira that had challenged him to a duel no more than 2 weeks ago and the guy moaning in pain with a bloody nose on the desk in front of him. He was actually really clumsy and goofy, in a good way. He was also extremely devoted to Skyler, following him around like a little puppy, asking him if he needed help with anything. According to Taikerou, he was the exact same with Matt, the only difference being that Matt took advantage of his loyalty were as Skyler tried to move the dynamic to be more of a healthy friendship. In addition to a change in personality, Kira had also undergone a physical change. Instead of spiking his green hair up, he let it grow out and stopped putting gel in it, making it look more natural.

 

Taikerou looked up from his book that he was reading and looked over at Kira. “Yeah, I already told him about the Tournament, Kira.”

 

Kira sat up and rubbed his face. “Damn it, I wanted to be the first to tell him. But seriously, Gale, this is huge! Think of it, any card you can possibly think of! I could completely redesign my Deck to make it whatever I want.

 

Taikerou looked back down at his book. “What’s wrong with your old Deck? You were the third best Duelist in the class last year with your ‘Ultimate Insect” Deck, why would you want to change it completely?”

 

Kira took his deck out of his deck and stared down at it for a few seconds before speaking again. “To be honest, I never really liked this Deck. Bugs give me the creeps. The only reason why I use them is because everyone in my family uses Insect monsters so naturally, I was dumped with these cards.”

 

“That explains it.” Kira looked back up at Skyler, who was speaking. “A Deck isn’t simply a bunch of cards that you throw together because they look good or because they are incredibly powerful. A true Duelist must construct his Deck with the monsters that he that he can pour his whole being into and trust that they will come through for him. Until you have a Deck that you are happy with, you can’t really know that kind of trust.”

 

Kira looks up at Skyler with a sense of amazement then back at his cards. Taikerou chimes in, stretching his arms over his head.

 

“There’s nothing like a good old fashioned, heroic speech to get the juices flowing. I’m getting excited just thinking about this whole tournament. We could really use you here, Skyler. Only one of us needs to win to ask for the custom cards; we can request cards for each other. Of course, the one who actually wins get the majority of them.”

 

Skyler lays his head on his arms on the table. “I’m just not interested in doing it. Sorry.”

 

“Come on man.” Kira says, “If not for you, then for me. I need those custom cards to…umm…”

 

Taikerou finishes his sentence for him. “‘Construct a Deck with the monsters that you that you can pour your whole being into and trust that they will come through for you?’ Or something like that.”

 

“Right, what he said!”

 

Skyler let out a deep sigh of reflection as he thought to himself. {I really hate to ignore the call of a friend in a situation like this, but is it worth the risk? I mean, someone might recognize me, and then my quiet life here would be over. But then again, no one except Mr. Truesdale has recognized me so maybe it would be okay} After a few more seconds of contemplation, Skyler finally comes to a decision. “Fine, I’ll enter…”

 

Kira cocks his arm inward. “Yes. Finally I’ll get some cards that I can actually use.”

 

Taikerou let out a tiny smirk from the corner of his mouth. “That is if I let you have the cards, after I win that is.”

 

Kira gives Tai I narrow glare and jumps on top of the desk and kneels down, so that they are face-to-face. He both smile. “That sounds like a challenge to me, emo-boy.” He takes out his deck from his back pocket. “How about it?”

 

Taikerou looks at Kira, who was now inches away from his face. “Believe it…”

 

“What?”

 

“Never mind, inside joke. Yeah it’s a challenge. So what? Are you gonna step up, girly man?”

 

“That’s not much of an insult coming from you, but sure, I’ll accept your challenge.”

 

Skyler smiles and leans back in his chair. “Just another normal day at Dual Academy, huh?”

 

 

[Twig]

I've only read the first episode/chapter, but I like it. It wasn't too short, and it wasn't too long. Keep it up. ^^

 

Edit: I read the rest of it. I thought that was a nice battle.

[Gorm13]

I kind of like your story so far but there are a few things that are not so good:

First, if you use a custom card, most readers (or at least I) appreciate seeing an image of that card (preferably in spoiler tags).

Second, I consider something like Skyler saying "I do this", followed by "Skyler does this", bad writing. Those are unnecessary repetitions that should be avoided.

Third, try not to switch between past and present tense too much. Most good stories are written entirely in past tense but either is good as long as you keep it consistent.

 

And don't let yourself get discouraged by criticism such as this. I just want to help you improve.

[Cthonian]

I really like this... I will continue to read this and I hope that you will read mine.

[Crystal Remnants]

This is a pretty good fanfic. I don't see many real problems, and the whole plot is okay. Overall, I like it.

[ExtremeG]

Boring new episode. Sorry, but I had to set it up for Kira and Tai's Duel in the next episode. Working on it ^_^