EVERYONE: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters Sengoku!

[Garren]

Yu-Gi-Oh!
Duel Monsters Sengoku!​

This is an original Yu-Gi-Oh Fanfic. It is set in the same canon as the original Duel Monsters and Duel Monsters GX, but incorporates elements of 5D's, Zexal, and Arc-V, specifically Tuner and Synchro, Xyz, and Pendulum Monsters. Rules are based on the official TCG rules, with cards using their TCG names and text, except for OCG-only cards. As a non-professional Duelist, I tried my best to follow the official rules, however there may be moments where an error in timing occurs, or a specific card rule is broken. I apologize for this, but as it is a fictional story, such minor rule breaks can be viewed as this universe having different rulings on certain cards.

There are many cards debuting in this story; I attempted to make their text more or less match up to how their text would be written by Konami, but generally I use the story to explain their effects, and I hope they are easy enough to understand. I will eventually provide 'Deck Lists' for each Duel, explaining the effects more in-depth. Some effects won't be given out right away, since they'll be saved for later in the story. If you have a question about a card, please feel free to ask. Although I use existing TCG cards, and I use my own cards, I have decided to not use Anime-only cards, except for rare occasions I decide to take an Anime-exclusive archetype and expand on it. There are simply too many of them with unclear effects to bother with.

During each Duel, every time a card is first named it is bolded, with monsters having their level, ATK, and DEF appearing in brackets. Furthermore, after each turn, the 'Duel Status' graph appears to help keep the Duel easy to understand.

Player 2 - XXXX Lifepoints
[][][][][] <- P2 Spell/Trap
[][][][][] <- P2 Monsters
[][][][][] <- P1 Spell/Trap
[][][][][] <- P1 Monsters
Player 1 - XXXX Lifepoints

Icons:

S - Set Card.
A - Monster in Attack
D - Monster in Defense
M - Spell (Magic) Card
T - Trap Card
I - Imperial Monster


Chapters

* Turn 1: All Aboard for Sengoku Academy! Summon Expressha - Hot Line
* Turn 2: One-Eyed Duelist, One-Eyed Dragon! Impress Summon, [Patch-Eye Dragon]!
* Turn 3: Conquer the Ogre Stairs!

--------------------------------
The Setting
Sengoku Academy. Located on Sengoku Island, right off the coast of Japan.

Founded by Maxwell Freedom in 2035, Sengoku Academy is an elite Duel Academy, its mission to train Duelists in the way of 'Bushido' and hone their skills through increasing their physical and mental capabilities to their limits.

The main feature of Sengoku Academy are the 'Warring Houses': Zaborg House, Raiza House, Thestalos House, and Mobius House. Every year, 400 students enroll at Sengoku Academy, and are divided among the Houses. Only one House can graduate each year, based on their combined scores in dueling, academics, and physical events. Therefore, it is a constant competition, a war between the Houses with only one winner.

Sengoku Academy is exclusively male, and predominantly Japanese, but students of all nationalities and economic backgrounds are welcome. Many students are graduates of 'Duel Academy' or Professional Duelists looking to improve their game even further, but amateur Duelists, and even a few newcomers, are able to apply. Students are chosen from among hundreds of applicants, with the Admission Office using a complex, and secretive, process of selection.

Students only enroll at Sengoku Academy for one year, and are not guaranteed admission if they decide to return the next year if they fail to graduate. Due to the intensity of the school, and the 1-in-4 chance of graduating no matter how hard one individually works, most students do not attempt a second try, at least not immediately. Graduating Sengoku Academy does not guarantee further success in the Dueling World, but it is a reward on its own, and even those who do not graduate consider attending the school a life-changing experience.

It is 2045, ten years after Sengoku Academy opened...

The Story

The story follows Yuto Masamune, a member of Zaborg House who will learn what it means to be a man.

All his life Yuto Masamune, a carefree and simple country boy, has never left his village, training his skills at a local Dueling Dojo. That all changes when he decides to follow his best friend and greatest rival towards Sengoku Academy.

With an eye-patch strapped across his right-eye, and an infectiously fun-loving personality, Yuto quickly earns the attention of the other Sengoku Academy students. Furthermore, he also holds the exceedingly rare and unheard of 'Imperial Monster' Patch-Eye Dragon. What is the true nature of the 'Imperial Monsters', and how did Yuto get his hands on such a card? And where is his friend Nobuharu, who is nowhere to be seen at Sengoku Academy? And what exactly is under that eye-patch of his...

Duelists, Raise Your Flags!

Imperial Monsters

The newest Extra Deck Monster, 'Imperial Monsters' are gold-plated cards with a centered ATK Score, and no DEF.

When a certain amount of monsters are on each side of the field during a player's Main Phase, they can special summon an Imperial Monster from their Extra Deck with the equivalent summoning conditions. This is called an 'Impress Summon'. Only one Imperial Monster can exist on a player's side of the field, thus at max only two Imperial Monsters will ever be out.

A typical Imperial Monster's summoning condition is written like this:
"3 monsters on your field + 4 monsters on opponent's field"

Any card, face-down or face-up, in the Monster Card Zone is counted as a 'monster' for the requirement. Stacked monsters, such as Xyz material, do not count---only the top-most card of a stack is considered. Monsters that are in the Spell and Trap Zone, such as Union Monsters, do not count. Some Imperial Monsters have stricter conditions---like having a specific monster among the monster's on the field, or even a certain amount of Spell and Trap Cards.

Imperial Monsters are special summoned to your opponent's side of the field in face-up Attack Mode, but remain facing you, and are still considered under your control. They cannot be switched to Defense Mode. Imperial Monsters cannot attack other monsters, instead they can attack your opponent directly, breaking right through their defenses. Only other Imperial Monsters can target Imperial Monsters.

Imperial Monsters exist in a special 'space' where they are under your control, but are on the opponent's side. Therefore, they are immune to any effect that effects the monsters on one side of the field, such as Raigeki. They can only be effected by cards that effect the entire field, such as Dark Hole, or cards that target, like Raigeki Break.

Imperial Monsters cannot be used as a Tribute, or Fusion/Synchro/Xyz Material by either player. When they are sent to the Graveyard, they are treated as regular monsters, and can thus be added back to your hand through a card effect, or special summoned to the field. They lose any effects of theirs that specify "Imperial Monster", however, and are subject to the normal monster rules. Their DEF is treated as 0.

Their are more specific rules about Imperial Monsters that will be explained as the story progresses.

Duel Rules

Duels at Sengoku Academy set each player's Life Points at 4000, and follow the authentic Duel Monsters rules bar two special exceptions, the Sengoku 'House Rules':

* 'Quick Draw': The player to go first is decided by both players inserting their Sengoku Academy I.D. Card into their Duel Disk, the quickest hand wins. Unlike in regular Duels, at Sengoku Academy Player A can enter the Battle Phase in their first turn, making it possible to achieve a true One Turn Kill. However, if they choose to do so, Player B can active Trap and Quick-Play Spell cards without setting them directly from their hand for that turn. Furthermore, during the End Phase, Player A if they entered their Battle Phase must banish one of their monsters, or, if they have no monsters on the field, lose 500 Life Points. Both effects are mandatory, and ignore any and all card effects that would normally activate in response or prevent it from occurring.

* 'Decisive Draw': If either player's Life Points fall below 500, during their Draw Phase they can perform a 'Decisive Draw', and draw two cards instead of one in order to turn the tide in their favor. However, if they are unable to win by the end of their turn, they instantly lose.

 

[Garren]

Well, Chapter 1!

This is the first thing I've really written since graduating two years ago from College, and I have to admit, I'm a little rusty. This chapter is pretty heavy on setting up the story, and a bit cliche (oh boy, someone running late!), but I think it turned out decent. The Duel occurs at the very end, and is only the first turn, so if you came here looking forward to the Dueling Portion...well, sorry to let you down. But I promise future chapters will be more Duel-focused, such as the next one.

But without further ado, Duelist Raise Your Flags!

Turn 1: All Aboard for Sengoku Academy!
Summon [Expressha - Hot Line]!​

Dennosuke Hari huffed-and-puffed as he ran as fast as his short legs could take him. He couldn't believe his luck on today of all days. What were the chances of the train breaking down like that, he asked himself. And how did he end up missing his stop like that? But none of that mattered now, he just had to make it a few more blocks.

As he ran, he spotted a nearby street clock and freaked. It was already 4:50. Ten minutes before his boat left. This was the last boat that would be leaving for Sengoku Island and if he missed this he wasn't sure there'd be another any time soon. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and picked up speed.

Unfortunately, this resulted in him stumbling into another man, knocking both of them to the ground. Dennosuke was about to cry as he laid on top of the man who was spread out on the ground, his face flat on the pavement.

"Ohnonono," he exclaimed over and over. He rolled off of the man as quick as he could, "why did this have to happen to me today?"

Before Dennosuke could react, the man propped himself off the ground with his hands and stood up, back facing Dennosuke. Dennosuke freaked; he had planned to run away before the man could see who knocked him over, but now the man stood there right in his path, so that plan was out.

To anyone else, this man wouldn't strike much fear into them. He was quite thin, and not that tall, a little under average for a man his age. Dennosuke however was also under average for a man his age, but even more so. To him, this man was a giant---most people were---and could easily kick his ass if they wanted to. Dennosuke began to sweat as his face turned red and his eyes started to twitch.

The man turned to look at Dennosuke. Dennosuke stared in disbelief; the man was missing his right-eye. In its place was strapped an eye-patch. What kind of freak had he knocked into, he wondered. He looked up at the man, too afraid to say anything. The man took his hand and adjusted the tattered brown knit-cap he wore which had fallen off a bit. Red-and-yellow hair stuck out from the sides, and in the front was cut a circular hole where two strands of hair were stuck up, like a beetle's horn. He's like a freaking samurai or something, Dennosuke thought to himself.

What occurred next was not what Dennosuke expected. The man gave him a friendly smile, and flashed him a thumbs-up. "You okay there little fella?" he said in a country-style drawl. He bent down a bit so he and Dennosuke were at eye-level with one another, and patted him on the head.

Little? Little? Dennosuke hated that word---he heard it all the time. His fear switched over to rage almost instantly, and now he felt that the man owed him an apology. He clenched his fists and yelled, "don't call me little you jerk!"

"Whoa, didn't mean anything by it. You just remind me of one of the critters back home." Yuto pointed at Dennosuke's spiked up black hair which reminded him of a hedgehog.

"I'm not a 'critter', I have a name you know! Dennosuke Hari, and you better remember that because soon everyone will know it!" Dennosuke shouted. He then tried to calm down a little, loosening his shirt collar a bit to cool off. "Let's just forget this happened, okay 'fella'? Just get out of my way because I'm late enough as is."

"You know I was the fool just standing around staring at this big city, probably my fault you bumped into me. Name's Yuto Masamune by the---"

Dennosuke couldn't stand around and talk any longer, he picked up his backpack which had fallen off and forced his way past Yuto. Yuto wasn't having this, however, and started to follow Dennosuke. His legs were longer, and his running form was more refined, so he easily caught up to Dennosuke. He began to chat with Dennosuke as he ran alongside him.

"For a little guy you sure can scurry, where you heading off to in such a rush?"

"D-Don't talk to me," huffed Dennosuke. He was already out of breath and could barely form his words, "the dock...got to get to the dock..."

"Small world, huh? I was heading there myself, going to Sengoku Academy today. Talk about fate!"

Dennosuke came to a halt. Yuto did as well and turned around to see why the man had stopped. Dennosuke caught his breath before saying anything, "a guy like you, a Duelist?" Dennosuke thought that Yuto sounded like a complete hick, he doubted that he was any good at Duel Monsters.

"Who doesn't play Duel Monsters nowadays, right? But hey, since we're heading to the same place, why don't I help you get there, you know, give you lift," Yuto offered. Dennosuke stared. A lift? "I don't mean in a car or anything, I mean going piggy-back. I might not look it, but I'm pretty strong you see."

Dennosuke wanted to refuse his offer. It'd be completely embarrassing for him to ride around on someone's back like a little kid, but he didn't think he'd be able to make it to the dock otherwise. He could barely run anymore, so he had to swallow his pride. "F-Fine, but only because I don't have a choice."

A few moments later, Dennosuke was riding atop Yuto as the other man dashed along the street, his speed seemingly unaffected by Dennosuke's added weight. Sure, Dennosuke wasn't that heavy, but carrying around even a small child could wear someone down. Yuto kept his eyes straight ahead as he chatted with Dennosuke. "Bet you're surprised, right? I used to carry logs down from the mountain back home all the time. I'm stronger than any boy I know, and I'm damn proud of that fact!"

Dennosuke noted to himself that Yuto's body was quite warm as he held onto it, and also had a certain softness to it. It made him feel a bit relaxed and forget about the embarrassing situation he was in. He was thankful that he had bumped into Yuto as it really worked out in his favor. Now he was certain he'd make it to the dock in time. And, sure enough, he spotted the 'Digital Ferry Codarus' straight ahead, the boat that'd they were to board.

On the dock a few men---around Dennosuke and Yuto's age---stood in a line waiting to board. Yuto came to a halt a few feet away from the line as he let Dennosuke off his back. "See, made it right in time. Guess we shouldn't just stand here like a couple of idiots, let's get in line."

"I have to admit, you saved me there Yuto," Dennosuke said as they stepped into the back of the line. He tried to muster a decent apology for his earlier behavior, "sorry about yelling at you back there, it wasn't cool of me. I'll do something to pay you back."

"If someone's in a pinch, you help them out. Don't feel obligated to pay me back, it's just how I was raised."

"That reminds me, you said before you'd never seen a city like this---but this city's small. Where are you from anyway?"

"A town so small you won't find it on a map, deep in the mountains. Real old-fashioned, just the way I like it. About fifty or so folks, and when someone leaves, they usually don't come back. What about you?"

"Domino City. Home of the King of Games," Dennosuke said. He puffed out his chest to try and appear taller as he began to brag about his hometown, "you know, Battle City. Me and the King of Games have a lot in common, you could say. Same town, went to the same high-school, and we've both got a lot of talent when it comes to Dueling. I might exceed him one day even."

"You're short like that Yugi fella too," Yuto added. The line had began to move forward a bit.

Dennosuke frowned. He didn't mean to invite that comparison, even if it was true. "Laugh about that all you want, everyone else does. I'm used to dumb jokes about my height. But once I graduate Sengoku Academy, none of those idiots back home will dare to laugh at me ever again!" Dennosuke made himself angry as he thought about some of the bullies back home, how they had teased him constantly. Violent thoughts ran through his mind.

"So that's your goal," Yuto said. He was a bit nervous at how angry Dennosuke was getting on his own, and didn't know how to respond to that. "No need to get so rattled about what people think about you, you should Duel for yourself. Take me for example, I just came here to meet a friend of mind and have some fun Dueling tough folks."

Dennosuke's anger subsided as he considered Yuto's words. "You've got a lot to learn about the rest of the world Yuto. You can't trust anyone, especially at Sengoku. What if your friend becomes your enemy, even you and me might end up fighting against each other. Will you have fun then?" Dennosuke hoped that wasn't true, he had quickly grown to like Yuto. Except for how he kept pointing out how short he was, of course. The line moved ahead once more, only one person in front of Dennosuke and Yuto.

"'Course I will, I always have fun in a Duel. We might be fighting one another, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends. I'm not even big on graduating Sengoku Academy, really. Just live in the moment and have fun."

"Fun?" Dennosuke asked. There was that word again. It had been a long time since he considered Dueling 'fun', there was always something to be won through it, be it money or respect. He didn't have time to ponder that notion, though, because he was next in line.

"Photo Indentification?" asked the dock attendant. Dennosuke reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, handing the man his I.D. The man looked it over for a second and was satisfied. He saluted Dennosuke. Dennosuke bowed and headed up the ramp to board the ferry. Yuto was next up.

"Howdy, name's Yuto Masamune! Guess I'm the last guy in line, huh?"

The dock attendant stared at him. "Photo Identification?" Yuto nodded, and reached under his hat and pulled out a card. The man accepted it, blowing off a few pieces of hair that were stuck to it, and then looked back up at Yuto. Something about the I.D. seemed off to the man, but he couldn't figure out what. But Yuto was the last I.D. he had to check, and he was tired, so he didn't care to investigate further. "Alright, Yuto Masamune. Please continue." He handed Yuto back his I.D.

"See you then, take care," said Yuto with a grin. He hurried onto the ferry as it whistled. After Yuto made his way onto the boat, one of the attendants glanced at his watch. It was time to set off.

"We lucked out. I don't think I would've made it on without your help," said Dennosuke once Yuto joined him. Yuto looked around the deck of the ferry with a smile, taking note of all the people on it. Most of them were Japanese like Yuto and Dennosuke, but he noticed some faces looked foreign. He hadn't really seen any non-Japanese people before, except of course in the movies. He got excited.

"Look at all these folks," said Yuto to himself. He shot a smile to one man who rested, shoulders folded, against a nearby wall. Yuto thought the man's face looked like an old bull dog he knew back home. The man, who fancied himself like a high-school delinquent, gritted his teeth in response. Dennosuke freaked out a bit when he noticed the man's stare.

"Don't stare at people like that" he said. "I don't know if you've got guys like that back where you're from, but they're the type of people you're better off avoiding. We had lots of bullies like that at Domino."

"He doesn't look to bad, probably just shy," Yuto replied. He talked in a loud voice, and a few people turned around to look at him. His eye-patch drew their complete attention, and they eyed him carefully for a few seconds before turning to look the other way. "Bet it's his first time on a big boat like this too with so many people"

"You don't know anything, do you?" replied Dennosuke. "These 'Digital Ferries' are everywhere nowadays. I've been on plenty myself, everyone has."

"Digital Ferry? What you mean by that?"

"They run on the same system as Duel Disks," Dennosuke explained as best that he could, "completely automated. I don't really know how it works though, I'm not good with that stuff.."

"Gee, that's fancy. I'd love to check out the engine on this thing and see how it works." Yuto looked around to see if he could find the captain of the ship, hoping he might get his wish. In the center of the deck was the oldest man he saw---around his early thirties. Perhaps that was the captain? The man looked authoritative, slicked back hair, a perfectly ironed suit nary a wrinkle, and thin-frame glasses that were worn for style rather than purpose. "Who's that over there?" he asked Dennosuke.

They both decided to move closer towards the center of the deck where everyone had begun to gather as the authoritative man waved them all hello. A click was heard as the ship's P.A. system clicked on, and the man's voice was heard over it. Like his appearance, his voice was well-dressed and attracted the ears of everyone who heard it.

"Welcome Sengoku Academy Students to the personal ship of Sengoku, the 'Digital Ferry Codarus'," he began to say. "We will arrive at Sengoku Island in roughly half-and-hour, so please enjoy the view and take in this beautiful day. But before we arrive I, Head of Student Affairs, Mr. Miyazaki, must make two announcements, so bare with me. First, I'd like you all to remember my name and seek me out during your stay at Sengoku Academy if you have any questions, problems, or concerns, as my job is to help ease you in. That being said, I also expect all of you to behave with proper decorum, showing respect to all Sengoku students. I know at times things can get quite competitive, and I know it must be tough to get along with so many people you've never met, but you must all remember we're cut from the same cloth. We're all Duelists, and as Duelists, we must show each other respect on-and-off the field of battle."

"So he says," muttered Dennosuke. "Only winners get respect, otherwise you just get laughed at."

"I like his attitude towards things," said Yuto. "I agree with him one-hundred percent. Course, it helps he's so fine looking. He must be big with the ladies I reckon."

"He's okay, I guess," replied Dennosuke. He had noticed the man's good looks as well, and thought about how much he lacked in comparison. This just got him angry again as he recalled all the girls back home who had laughed at him and called him ugly. "But can he Duel?"

"The second announcement I have is a bit more interesting," continued Mr. Miyazaki. In his hands he held up two Duel Disks, but not the kind Yuto was accustomed to. These Duel Disks were much sleeker and compact, just a small little square. Yuto wondered where you put the cards. "In my hand is the Sengoku Academy Duel Disk. You will all be receiving your own once we arrive, but I'd like to introduce you to a few of its features. Now, showing you would be boring, wouldn't you all say? So, since we are Duelists after all, I thought it'd be a good idea to hold a 'Friendly Duel' to pass the time till we make land. Any volunteers?"

The members of the audience shifted uncomfortably at this announcement. Dennosuke gave a small chuckle as Yuto wondered why everyone acted so funny. "What's up with the jitter bugs? Don't they like a good Duel?"

"You got to be a little meaner, Yuto," explained Dennosuke. He quickly pointed out a few of the other passengers, "see all these other guys? One-fourth of them are your enemy. Whoever shows off their Deck here is an idiot. It's just for fun too, so it's a huge waste. Mr. Miyazaki's mocking us right now, don't you get that? He realizes no one's dumb enough---"

"Well, heck, if everyone's so darn scared then I'll volunteer," yelled Yuto. He pumped his fist up into the air grabbing everyone's attention. "Back where I come from, we've got two big rules. No skipping meals, and you don't turn down a Duel." He pushed his way through the crowd towards Mr. Miyazaki, a smile on his face the entire time. He paid no attention to the jeers and mocking laughs of the audience, making fun of him for being a 'country bumpkin'.

"Then let me be your opponent, ass-hole!" yelled another voice. The 'high-school delinquent' from earlier stood behind the audience, a scowl on his face. Everyone moved to the side to let him through, not wanting to anger him any further. Hands casually in his pocket, he strode forward towards Yuto, not taking his eyes off him. Dennosuke shuddered in the audience, worried that his friend was going to get stomped. He wanted to do something to help Yuto, but then he remembered that he had just met Yuto that day, and wasn't quite ready to risk his own butt for him yet.

Mr. Miyazaki was surprised that two Duelists had already volunteered. On the previous four trips he'd been on that day, no one had volunteered, and thus the 'Friendly Duel' never happened. He had planned for that to be the case here as well, but it seems that this time he'd actually get to enjoy one. He adjusted his tie and interjected before Yuto or the other man could say anything else. "Please refrain from calling one another 'asshole'," he asked of the delinquent. The delinquent lifted his chin into the air, looking at Mr. Miyazaki with contempt.

"What'd you say you damn suit?" he asked. "You think because you're a teacher I won't kick your ass as well? You're damn wrong if you think you can tell me what to do, so shut the hell up."

Yuto spoke up for Mr. Miyazaki, "no need to yell there, partner. Barking like that doesn't look good you know, your mother would give you a spank if she saw your manners."

The man adjusted the squarish-cap he wore on his head, his curly black hair shuffling a bit. "You piss me off. That eye-patch you've got on, you think it makes you look tough or something? You think you can order me around? I saw you mock me earlier with that stupid grin of yours, so I decided I'd be the one to kick your ass. My name's Shisaburou Inuhashi, but you call me 'Shisa', got it?" He looked at the audience and cracked his knuckles, "that goes for everyone else, unless you want me to punch your face in."

"Well then Shisa, pleasure to meet ya. I'm Yuto Masamune. Didn't mean for you to take my friendly greeting as a challenge, but now that you've decided to take me on, guess I don't have a choice but to tough it out and give you a spanking myself."

Mr. Miyazaki had been silent during this exchange, frightened by the intensity of this young man. He knew that he probably should have said something as the adult, but he didn't want to take the risk. He decided perhaps that he should just start the Duel as soon as possible, maybe that'd let the man blow off some steam and calm down.

"Now that those...interesting...introductions are out of the way, please come and get your Duel Disks from me so we can start this 'Friendly Duel'," he said. Shisaburou and Yuto both moved towards him. Yuto kindly took his Duel Disk from Mr. Miyazaki's hand, and thanked him politely. Shisaburou, on the other hand, didn't say a word as he ripped the Duel Disk away. Both Duelists put the Duel Disk on their arms, and inserted their decks.

"Whoa, this thing is light," noted Yuto. He began to tap on the screen till it turned out, displaying an advanced interface with a variety of options. "Record? Play-Back? Database? Ban List? Wow that's a lot of words and stuff. Mind filling me in on how to work this thing?"

"The Sengoku Duel Disk has a lot of options, as you can see," explained Mr. Miyazaki. "In your free time, I invite you to check out the instruction manual. For now though, I ask that you both press the 'Duel' button in the center." Yuto and Shisaburou followed his instructions.

[DUEL MODE ACTIVATED]

The Duel Disk lit up, as a thin, fiber-glass tray folded out from the side. A wave of digital energy rippled forth, spreading around the nearby area. The audience gave the Duelists a wide berth as they shuffled back to a safe distance.

"It talks!" yelled Yuto. "Holy cow, this is fancy. Back home we still use the old 'Battle City' Duel Disk. I'm a fan of the classics, but I can get used to this new-fangled thing too."

"Just a bunch of worthless junk," said Shisaburou. He was not impressed. "I don't care if it has a microwave built into it, as long as it can play cards."

"Now, the next part would usually be to insert your Academy I.D. Cards," explained Mr. Miyazaki. He reached into his pocket and held up two monster cards that were completely white, and blank. He tossed one each to Yuto and Shisaburou. "But you haven't got yours yet. So, for now, just use these temporary I.D. Cards. Hold them in your drawing hand away from your body..."

Yuto and Shisaburou did as they were told. The Duel Disks beeped.

[DUELIST I.D. RECOGNIZED: GUEST USER 1]
[DUELIST I.D. RECOGNIZED: GUEST USER 2]

"Jessoozer?" Yuto asked. "Uh, did you give me someone else's I.D. card? Who's that fella?" Mr. Miyazaki ignored him.

"Now, it's time to engage in the Sengoku-style 'Quick Draw'. Your Duel Disk will count down to three. Once it hits three, a beep will be heard. Each player must then, as quick as they can, slide their I.D. card into the top slot of the Duel Disk. Don't do it too quickly, or you'll be penalized. Whoever successfully inserts it first will be given the chance to go first. Understand?"

Yuto and Shisaburou nodded. Shisaburou felt that he had this already won, he could throw his punches extremely fast, so sliding in a card would be no problem. Yuto was also confident in his quick hands.

"Going first at Sengoku Academy has additional advantages than a regular Duel," continued Mr. Miyazaki. "Normally, the 'Turn A' player cannot attack on their first turn. That's not the case here. We at Sengoku Academy believe that Duelists must be prepared for any and all difficulties, and that includes how well they prepare their Deck. Therefore, if 'Player A' attacks in his first turn, 'Player B' has the option of playing Trap cards and Quick-Play Spells from their hand to counter that. Furthermore, 'Player A', if they enter their Battle Phase, successful or not, must then banish one of their monsters or, if that's not possible, lose 500 Life Points. Going first, you see, won't always be beneficial. It might be wise to consider what would be best for you before you engage in the 'Quick Draw', perhaps going second on purpose might be what you want."

"I'm not really the kind of guy who goes first," said Yuto. He flicked his wrist a bit to limber up his drawing hand. "First attacks are how I play, getting in there and winning."

Shisaburo agreed. "You've got guts, I'll give you that. But unfortunately I'll be going first this time, so get ready."

Mr. Miyazaki saw that both players understood the rules. "Now, simply say 'Duel Accepted' into your Duel Disk, and the countdown will begin."

"Duel Accepted!" the two said in unison.

[DUELISTS READY...QUICK DRAW....3]

[...2]

"You ready for this, Shisaburou?" Yuto asked his opponent.

[...1]

"It's Shisa!" he roared.

"Didn't think you'd fall for that," said Yuto with a grin. Before Shisaburou realized it Yuto had already slotted in the I.D. Card. The Duel Disk made a confirmation beep.

"You little punk!" Shisaburou slammed his I.D. Card in, although it was too late, and then cracked his knuckles. "You'll pay for this!"

[GUEST USER 1, PLAYER A]
[GUEST USER 2, PLAYER B]
[DUELISTS RAISE YOUR FLAGS!]

Behind Yuto and Shisaburou white war flags materialized. The two players turned around, unsure of what they were. Yuto noticed the flag had the Sengoku Academy emblem. "Wow, never seen that before."

"This Duel is turning into a damn pep-rally," Shisaburou muttered. He looked at Mr. Miyazaki for an answer, "explain what's happening, damn it!"

"The Duel Flags," explained Mr. Miyazaki, "are another unique feature of the Sengoku Academy Duel Disk. When two players enter a Duel, these flags appear to symbolize their conflict. Normally, the Duel Flags will match your House. Using these flags, other students can see where Duels are occurring and choose to watch if they wish."

"Just a way to show-off basically, right?" asked Yuto. "I'm not one to brag, but it'll be nice to have a big audience to show my skills off too."

"Keep talking, because by the end of this fight those flags will be dyed red, Masamune," Shisaburou said. Both players drew their opening hand as the Duel began.

[TURN 1 - GUEST USER 1]

Yuto drew his first card and grinned. "Alright, stand back everyone, because it's summoning time." He placed a card down on his Duel Disk, in the middle Monster Card Zone, "Expressha - Hot Line [4/1000/1500] is about to arrive!"

A fiery portal appeared behind Yuto. The sound of a train whistle blew as tracks ripped out of the ground right beneath Yuto's legs. In the distance, 'chugga-chugga' was heard, getting closer and closer every second. At that moment, a flaming red train burst from the portal. It sped right through Yuto. The force of the hologram was so intense, for a moment it appeared as if Yuto had been flattened. The train came to a halt in-front of the Duelist, instantly discarding any momentum it previously had. The train had a mechanical face, it seemed quite angry for some reason, with the kanji for 'fire' where its nose would be.

Shisaburou was furious at this. "Trains?" he asked in disbelief, "you use trains? Stop mocking me and summon your real monsters, Masamune! I'm not going to fight a damn train!"

Dennosuke, who was watching the Duel from the sidelines, wasn't impressed either. Yuto's using such a weak monster, one I've never even seen, he thought to himself. He's weak like I thought.

"Now, don't be putting down my Hot Line like that," said Yuto. He turned towards Hot Line and gave it a nod, "because this fella's one of my good pals. Anyway, to let you know, I'm big into trains. Back home where I come from we don't have cars, or big boats like this, but lots of trains run by heading towards the city. You grow to love them."

"Doesn't matter if it's your friend," said Shisaburou, "it's just a stupid train."

"You'll be changing your tune after this move here," said Yuto. He wasn't happy hearing his monsters insulted like that. "When I've got only one 'Expressha' monster out, I can Special Summon this next card---Kabooster [2/500/500]---from my hand to a space next to it. Here he comes!" Yuto placed the card on the space to the left of Hot Line.

More train tracks appeared, although these tracks were flimsy like rubber. A gray caboose rode along them---its face decorated with a nervous smile---bouncing up and down along the tracks as it connected to the back of Hot Line. When this happened, Hot Line's ATK increased to 1500.

"You see, this is the 'Expressha' special talent, connection. Kabooster can connect to the lone Expressha and give it a 500 ATK boost. Now that I've got my pals out, it's time I go in for the attack."

"Bring it!" yelled Shisaburou. He spread his arms apart and pushed out his chest, ready to take the attack.

"Hot Line, 'Hot-Track Branding'!" Yuto declared. Hot Line took off towards Shisaburou with Kabooster in tow, its body igniting on fire. It slammed into Shisaburou, reducing his Life Points to 2500. Shisaburou, however, didn't budge an inch. He merely adjusted his hat, acting as if it had just been blown a bit to the side by a gentle breeze.

"I trained my body to withstand Solid Vision," he explained. Yuto was quite impressed. "No man, or monster, can knock me down."

"Don't forget about Kabooster though," said Yuto. Hot Line came to a halt behind Shisaburou, as Kabooster detatched from it, rolling back down towards Shishaburou. It smashed into his back, dropping his Life Points further down to 2000. Shisaburou once more withstood the attack, and chuckled.

"I'll make sure to pay you back for that twofold," he said. He then dusted off his jacket and began to speak loud enough that the whole audience could hear him, "but now I want to make things a bit more interesting."

"You mean like a bet?" Yuto asked. "What you got in mind?"

Shisaburou pointed towards the ocean. "Consider this fact; there is a one-in-four chance that we may end up in the same House. I want to ensure that doesn't happen. Therefore to prevent that, the loser must abandon ship and swim back to shore! They don't deserve to be a part of Sengoku Academy!"

"You know I can't let you do that," said Mr. Miyazaki. He knew that neither Duelist would listen, but was required by his job to say that. "Please, please, do not actually do that."

"This guy isn't just a regular punk," exclaimed Dennosuke, "he's a psycho!"

"Well, that's an interesting proposal Shisa," said Yuto. "Especially to put out like that when you're already halfway finished." He nodded. "But alright, I'll play your rules. But I don't plan on losing, so hope you haven't eaten anything recently, because you'll be the one taking a dip."

Shisaburou grinned. "You've got my respect, Masamune. I'm still gonna kick your ass, but it'll be an ass-kicking I'll never forget."

"Well then show me what you got," said Yuto. "I'll set two cards down." Two face-down cards appeared on the field in-front of Yuto. "Then I guess I gotta banish one of my trains since I attacked you and all," he said as he remembered the cost of attacking first, "sorry, Kabooster, but you're the weakest link on this train."

Kabooster's jaw dropped as it disappeared from the field, Hot Line's ATK reverting to its original 1000.

"Turn End," Yuto declared.

[GUEST USER 1 - TURN END]

Shisaburou - 2000
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Yuto - 4000

In the audience, a young man had broken out in a cold sweat. He licked honey off of his fingers as he gave a sly smile as he watched the Duel unfold. "These are the type of Duelists I've been waiting for," he said.

TO BE CONTINUED ~

 

[Garren]

Chapter 2!

This one's got the first big Duel concluding, so I hope you like it. I tried to make the rules of each card pretty clear---you know sometimes I loosened up a bit with the characters to have them explain the effect more in detail, yeah I know "show don't tell", but when you're writing a fic that depends on specific rules and such I feel that the rule should be broken in order to make things easier for the reader.

Tried my best to really give a good feel of each character's personality, and set up some future plot-points. Hope it'll catch your interest.

Turn 2: One-Eyed Duelist, One-Eyed Dragon!
Impress Summon, [Patch-Eye Dragon]!​

Aboard the 'Digital Ferry Codarus', Mr. Miyazaki tried to restore some order to the proceedings by taking everyone's mind off the insane bet Shisaburou and Yuto had just made by focusing on the actual Duel.

"Oh, wow, these two Duelists are certainly putting on an entertaining show," he said. He began to applaud them, hoping the audience would join in. "Exchanging such dramatic lines like two old foes locked in a life or death battle, as if they were life-long foes!"

No one listened. All the passengers were still in shock at this turn of events. This was the type of Duel they had only read about occurring in the past, back before Duel Monsters was heavily regulated and people played for keeps. The type of Duel someone like Yugi Muto might partake in.

Mr. Miyazaki decided he would try and salvage this train wreck with an act of his own. He continued to applaud as he spoke, "I knew I made a great choice when I chose these two as plants in the audience to volunteer. Such showmanship! As you students can see, Mr. Masamune here gave us the perfect demonstration of how one can take advantage of the 'Quick Draw' rule. Now, let us see how Mr. Inu---I mean, 'Shisa', will respond. Remember---they're just playing around with that 'bet' of theirs, it's just a game after all! I can assure everyone, no one will be throwing themselves off into the ocean."

"What do you mean 'plant'?" asked Yuto. Upon hearing the word 'plant', a chill ran down his spine. Mr. Miyazaki sighed to himself as he realized his lie was about to have a huge hole poked through it. Yuto widened his eye as he nodded his head towards Shisaburou, "and I don't think Shisa here's playing around. Fella seems mighty serious about this. 'Course, I kind of like that to be honest with ya."

Shisaburou folded his arms and turned to look at Mr. Miyazaki with contempt. "Idiot. You think this Duel is just a game?"

Mr. Miyazaki was about to reply when a soft yet stern voice interrupted him. Everyone in the audience turned to look at a young man---or a young woman, it was hard to tell---who had appeared near Mr. Miyazaki. He was extremely pretty in a classical sense: pale, slim, and short, with finely groomed purple hair that didn't have a strand out of place. His hair curled down like a ribbon in the back, resting on the collar of his sleeveless wool vest. In his hand he carried a jar of honey, and a slight smear of the nectar was noticeable on his lips.

"Now now, I can certainly sympathize with Mr. Miyakaki's position, after all, he is the Head of Student Affairs and thus has a duty to monitor the proceedings," said the boy. He stood with great posture that showed off his figure while commanding everyone's attention. With a vain laugh, he then turned to Mr. Miyazaki, "unfortunately, I won't allow him to try and interrupt this Duel. It's just too entertaining to have him try and turn it into a farce."

"Wait a second you're..." said Mr. Miyazaki as he looked at the boy, trying to remember where he recognized him from. Then it hit him, "you're LaBelle's son, aren't you? Beau LaBelle?"

"Yes, I do believe you've had the pleasure of meeting me before at one of my father's many dinners," the boy said as gave Mr. Miyazaki a quick bow. "And if you recall how much money my father donates to Sengoku Academy each year, you'll stop your futile attempt to neuter this Duel and allow it to continue as the Duelists wish."

Mr. Miyazaki didn't feel like arguing anymore, so he sunk away. He knew full well he couldn't stop this Duel now that a LaBelle had stepped in. He decided to just watch the whole thing play out. He'd be sure to have a talk with the Headmaster about these problem students once they got to Sengoku Academy.

"Who's this pretty boy throwing around his money?" Shisaburou asked Yuto.

But Yuto was already preoccupied with the boy, all eyes (or eye, rather) focused on him. A small blush came across his face. "I've never seen anyone as pretty as him," he whispered in amazement. "He must be one of those beautiful American folks like in the movies, like 'Clint Eastwood" and that 'Monroe' lady. Just straight-up gorgeous!"

Beau noticed Yuto was staring at him. "I'm not surprised you seem to be quite smitten with me, after all, I, Beau LaBelle, am quite a charismatic individual. Although, in truth, I too am attracted to you Yuto Masamune."

"To me?" asked Yuto. He pointed at himself; sure, folks back home had thought him 'cute', but he didn't expect such a handsome city folk to take a liking to a simple country folk like himself. His face turned redder than before. "You sure you're talking about me?"

Beau licked his lips. "Of course. When I first laid eyes on you, running towards this ship heaving some sort of large animal on your back without so much as a sweat---"

Beau paused for a second. He had thought that he had heard someone yell off in the distance, a yell of protest. It was probably just his imagination, he figured, as he continued to speak, "I was quite impressed. You're strong. I like strong men, you see. I'm a connoisseur of them. Truth be told, though, you're quite an unusual specimen."

Yuto's blush disappeared. He wasn't quite sure what this fella was talking about; what did connoisseur mean? Space-men? Either way, though, he liked being called 'strong'.

"Your appearance belies your masculinity. To be quite honest, you almost look like a girl," stated Beau. He seemed to not realize the hypocrisy of that statement. "Yet when I look at you, especially that eye-patch of yours---you must one day tell me how you acquired it, I'm sure it's a thrilling story---I sense potential. You have the heart of a true man beating in you, Yuto Masamune!"

Beau then turned towards Shisaburou. Shisaburou hadn't paid much attention to anything Beau had been saying, so he was surprised when he heard his name.

"You Shisa, on the other hand, are perhaps the finest example of masculinity I've ever seen," exclaimed Beau. He dipped his fingers into his honey and then licked them off with a moan. Shisaburou was a bit disturbed by this.

"Do you want to get your ass kicked too?" he yelled. But this only seemed to excite Beau further as he continued to swoon over him.

"See? That is what I find so invigorating about you, that perfect way you completely take charge and command those around you. You are certainly a strong man, the finest one I've seen in quite some time. Perhaps even good enough for my sister..."

"You're damn right that I'm the strongest," Shisaburou replied, "but I'm not 'good enough' for anyone. I don't care about your evaluation, I don't care about your sister, so shut the hell up so I can finish this damn Duel!"

With that Beau gave a bow, and stepped back. "Very well, I look forward to your Duel. Please continue", he then turned to look at the audience, "and I ask of you all that no one tries to interrupt this Duel any further. Or else I'll get my father to personally request the Headmaster to expel you."

Apart from Mr. Miyazaki, however, no one had even considered interrupting the Duel. The audience once more focused back on Shisaburou and Yuto, everyone looking forward to see how things would play out. Although Yuto had already knocked Shisaburou down to 2000 Life Points, Shisaburou had yet to make a move. What sort of deck would he use, everyone wondered.

"My turn!"

Shisaburou - 2000
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Yuto - 4000

[TURN 2 - GUEST USER 2]

Shisaburou drew a card. Perfect, he thought.

"Masamune, I bet you think I'm just like you when it comes to Duels, just a bull-headed fool who charges head first into battle!"

"Well, going by your personality, yeah, that's what I'd reckon," replied Yuto. "But I think you're underestimating my skill too with that little statement of yours."

"Point is, in a fist-fight charging in is how I do things, but in a Duel, defense is just as important as offense. Now that I've shared that little tip with you, I activate the Continuous Spell The Chain Gang!"

The card appeared on the field behind Shisaburou. Yuto couldn't quite make out its text---the one downside of using Duel Disks was that unlike a tabletop game, you were expected to know what a card did, or else you'd either have to wait and see yourself---but he could make out the card's picture. A couple of delinquents, perhaps friends of Shisaburou, slouching in front of a high school. All the delinquents were either covered in metallic chains, or swung them around as weapons---hence the name. But that didn't tell Yuto much, and nothing happened when Shisaburou played it.

"Don't worry too much Masamune, you'll see what it does soon enough," said Shisaburou as he placed a card in his Monster Zone. "Next I summon Chain Smoker [3/800/800]!"

The monster that appeared was quite unusual, a figure---or perhaps simply a shadow?---dressed in an oversized coat. The fedora it wore was so large that it completely obscured its face. It took out a card from its coat pocket and rolled it up, then it flicked a lighter to ignite the edge of the card. Makeshift cigarette in hand, the monster took a puff.

Yuto scrunched up his face in disgust. "What kind of monsters are you using exactly Shisa?"

"I don't play monsters for how they look, I play them for their effects. When Chain Smoker summoned to the field, its effect can resolve. Look at your Duel Disk, Masamune!"

On Yuto's Duel Disk screen a circular chain icon with a '2" in the middle appeared over Chain Smoker.

"Chain Smoker's effect forces a 'Chain Link of 2' to occur. Based on that dumb look on your face, well, dumber look, I bet you're confused."

"I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to terminology, but I get the basic stuff. A Chain Link's when two cards try and play against each other---"

"Chain Smoker 'tricks' the Duel Disk into thinking that such an event occurred, simply when it's summoned. In any other deck, there'd be no point to this, it'd be a waste, but I've already got a card that activates in response to this."

Upon saying this, a delinquent depicted in the picture on The Chain Gang emerged from the card behind Shisaburou. It swung its chain around and sneered at Yuto.

"When a Chain Link of 2 or more occurs, one 'Chain Counter' is added to The Chain Gang. Basically, this punk behind me is like a bodyguard. For every 'Chain Counter' I have, I can block one of your attacks."

Beau was intrigued. "I was expecting a strong man like Shisa to use a deck based around pure power, not setting up a defense like this. A 'Chain' deck takes a bit more skill and finesse to properly utilize. Seems he's got more than simply physical strength among his repertoire."

"There's another card I have that I can use," said Shisa. He placed another card on his Monster Zone, "after a 'Chain Link of 2' occurs, I can Special Summon one Combo Kid [4/1600/1000] from my hand."

A humanoid monster appeared on Shisaburou's field. It looked quite like him---the stereotypical juvenile delinquent you might find in an old manga---with two inward facing 'C's decorating the front of its jacket. Its eyes were blank and expressionless, with red markings beneath, perhaps to symbolize how blinded it was by its desire to fight. Shisaburou and his monster both cracked their knuckles in perfect synch.

"Combo Kid here is the only person I'll admit can live up to my strength," explained Shisaburou. A warm smile came across his face for a split-second, but it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "This was my sparring partner when I trained to withstand Solid Vision. After trading so much punches with it, it's almost like it can read my mind."

"Well, I don't know much about fighting with your monster like that," said Yuto, "but I know how you feel." He turned to look at Hot Line, "me and my monsters are pals too. You know Shisaburou, I kind of thought you were just a bad guy before, but no fella who likes his monsters like that can be all bad."

"I'm flattered." He didn't seem to notice that Yuto had left on the '-burou', "but you might want to be concerned about how this Duel is turning out for you. Most people don't understand the power of 'Chains'. Why do they need to? The Duel Disk does all that for them, all you need to know is 'can I use this card'? But I didn't have a Duel Disk when I was little, parents wouldn't buy me one. Probably because I kept getting kicked out of school. Had to use an old mat and do things the pen-and-paper way. Through this hardship I learned how to manually activate and manage Chains, I learned how to use them to my advantage. Masamune, I am a 'Chain Duelist'!"

He placed a card on his Spell and Trap Zone. Bait Doll. Through this card's effect, Shisaburou could choose one of the cards in Yuto's Spell and Trap Zone and reveal it. Shisaburou pointed at the set card furthest from the left.

"Now Masamune, I dare you to reveal that card. If it's a Trap, its activation is forced..."

The card revealed itself to be Mirror Force. Shisaburou grinned.

"Just as I thought. You see, I've also learned how to read my opponent's quite well in a Duel, their body language. When you're a fighter like me, you got to know what kind of punches your opponent is planning to throw at you. That card you set second, and without any hesitation. A low-cost, high-reward card that you didn't have to think about playing. And since Mirror Force can only activate when I throw the first punch, it's rendered useless and destroyed by Bait Doll!"

The card shattered into pieces.

"Damn," said Yuto. Mirror Force always seemed to work on the folks back home he dueled against. "Have to say, I'm impressed by your good eye."

"Enough flattery," Shisaburou said, "I know I'm good. And you're about to see why." Bait Doll was shuffled back into Shisaburou's deck, a result of its effect. "You see, destroying your Trap wasn't my only goal, oh no. Your Trap was activated...it 'chained' to Bait Doll. I'm sure by now I don't have to tell you what that means."

Yuto looked over where The Chain Gang stood on the field. It now had two 'Chain Counters' on it. Another Chain Gang member appeared behind Shisaburou, it and its friend having a good laugh with one another as they mocked Yuto. Now two of his attacks could be negated.

"Combo Kid also has a secondary effect when it's out on the field," explained Shisaburou. He added a card from his deck to his hand. "When a Chain Link of 2 or more happens when it's on the field, it can search out a fellow Combo Kid and add it to my hand. And the next time a Chain Link happens, it will be special summoned to the field as well. This is my bread-and-butter Combo Kid Chain Link Combo!"

"Your Combo Kid Chain Kid Combo?" repeated Yuto.

"Idiot! I said it's called the 'Chain Kid Combo Link Chain!" replied Shisaburou. He then thought that over and tried again, "I mean my Combo Link Chain Kid Combo!"

"I'm just messing with you," replied Yuto with a grin. He moved his finger like a metronome as he correctly repeated it this time, "Combo Kid Chain Link Combo."

"Damn it Masamune! You won't be mocking me after I knock your stupid monster out! Time to pay you back for last turn!" Shisaburou and Combo Kid, in unison, both shot their finger towards Hot Line. "Time to break you damn train, Rapid Fire Fisticuffs!"

Combo Kid dashed across the field with a roar, "COOOOOOOOMBOOOOOA!" It unleashed a flurry of punches at Hot Line's face, denting the poor thing. Hot Line's ATK was 1000, Combo Kid's ATK 1600, so Yuto's Life Points dropped down to 3400. He wasn't too bothered by it, however, and replied by activating the other Trap Card he had set last turn.

"Mirror Force would've been better, but personally this one's a bit funner. I activate De-Rail!" The card flipped up. On it was a picture of a runaway locomotive bursting through a STOP sign, almost flattening some poor construction workers. "This card keeps one of my Expressha monsters safe from being destroyed by battle, all I have to do is toss a card from my hand. But you don't get to walk away from hurting it without any consequences, the battle damage I took goes right back to you!"

From out of De-Rail appeared a large locomotive that flew through the air and smashed into Shisaburou. He didn't expect the hit, and was almost knocked off his balance this time. His Life Points fell to 1400.

Shisaburou fixed his cap a bit as he set two cards in his Spell and Trap Zone before ending his turn. One of them was Dark Bribe, Shisaburou's safety measure in case Yuto tried to take out The Chain Gang. "You just gave up a card to save your damn train from one attack, I'm not impressed. Besides, Combo Kid will finish the job next time. And don't forget, Masamune, you've got to get through two of my Chain Gang to even hit me. I've got you beat."

Shisaburou - 1400
[M][][]
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Yuto - 3400

Beau was impressed by both Shisaburou's manipulation of Chain Effects to his advantage, and how cool Yuto remained under pressure. Both of them had a style of Dueling he had not seen much of, indomitable spirits that didn't give up no matter the situation. He was even more in love with the both of them, and was conflicted in which one he considered to be 'stronger'.

Dennosuke was a bit more conflicted over the Duel. These types of Duelists, he thought, were the type of Duelist that Sengoku Academy would be filled with, ones that not only had skill, but also the confidence to back it up. How would he fare against them, he worried. He watched them carefully, taking note of their strategies. After all, one day he might have to Duel them, and didn't want to lose.

Shisaburou and Yuto meanwhile were both in the zone, so without any hesitation, the latter started off his next turn without a pause.

[TURN 3 - GUEST USER 1]

"You showed me some pretty fancy combos and such last turn. I'm pretty impressed with what you're working with, Shisa," said Yuto as he drew his card. "But don't count Yuto Masamune out just yet, because I'm not that simple either."

He placed a card on his Monster Card Zone, to the left of Hot Line.

"Most people when they go throwing down their monsters do it in two ways---they either just play 'em left to right or vice-versa. Don't really think about positions and all that, but my Expressha are a bit different. It's all about placement for me, let me show you what I mean when my next pal arrives---come on, Expressha - Power Line [3/500/1500]!"

Another portal appeared behind Yuto, this time electrical energy was surging from the sides. A metallic beam shot forth out from it along the ground as a yellow Maglev train dashed out from the hole, stopping right behind Hot Line. Its face was decorated with the kanji for 'light', and it had a starry-eyed look. Electrical energy appeared from the front of Power Line, and gathered around Hot Line's backside, increasing its ATK to 1500. Meanwhile, Power Line also had its ATK raised to 1000.

"Everytime an Expressha's directly adjacent to another one, it gets 500 more ATK. So based on how the field's set up, you gotta be smart with how you lay them...if I just put Hot Line on one of the sides, he'd only get to connect to one of his buddies. Anyway, Power Line's got a special effect I'm gonna activate. Since its a magnet train and whatnot, its got the power of magnetism. Like your Combo Kid, I can use it to add another Expressha to my hand when it's regular summoned..."

"I chain my Trap Card, Love Combination!" Shisaburou yelled before Power Line could resolve. His first face-down card revealed itself, depicting Combo Kid riding a motorcycle along a beautiful coast at sunset, and a beautiful girl sitting behind it with her arms wrapped around its waist. "By activating this as a Chain Link 2 or higher...in this case to Power Line's effect...and by having a Combo Kid on the field, I can Special Summon Combo Gal [3/1500/700]!"

Next to Combo Kid on Shisaburou's side of the field, a monster that resembled a delinquent high school girl appeared, its hair wrapped in a tight ponytail, and with a crooked cap sitting on its head. The monster's school jacket was opened up, with chains wrapped around her breasts and waists. It and Combo Kid exchanged heartfelt looks...or so Yuto assumed they were heartfelt looks, honestly it just looked like they were glaring at each other.

After Combo Gal was summoned, Power Line's effect resolved, as it shot a beam of electrical energy at Yuto's Duel Disk, pulling out another Expressa - Hot Line and adding it to his hand.

"And since Love Combination chained to Power Line's effect, The Chain Gang adds another 'Chain Counter'," said Shisabuoru. A third delinquent appeared behind him. He then played another card from his hand, "and don't forget, the Combo Kid I searched out last turn's here to fight as well!"

Another Combo Kid was special summoned. Combo Gal looked over at it away from the first Combo Kid, perhaps trying to figure out which one it'd rather be with. The two Combo Kids exchanged angry glares, ready to fight it out if the need arose.

"Pay attention!" Shisaburou yelled at his own monsters. They both backed down from one another. Satisfied, he continued to talk, "unfortunately I can't use the Combo Kid I already had out to search for another Combo Kid since it missed the timing. But no matter, because Combo Gal makes up for that. You see Combo Kid doesn't back down from a fight, even when its girl is watching. Quite the opposite, it loves to fight even more. Combo Gal allows Combo Kid to attack twice per turn."

"Well now, Shisa, didn't expect you to have a lovey-dovey card like that. You got a girl?" asked Yuto. He then fluttered his eyelashes and did a little giggle to push his insult further. Shisaburou frowned.

"Girl? Hell no, I don't need any girl. She'd just get in my way, and I don't want anyone telling me what to do. Girls always try and impress me, but unless they can beat me in a fight, they can hit the road!"

"I hear what you're saying," Yuto replied. "People back home always tried to get me to settle down with them. Just trying to kiss me, giving me gifts, and trying to flatter me, I just got tired of it, you know? No one really cared about how I felt. None of them could beat me in a Duel, either, just real embarrassing. Guess you and me have something in common, eh Shisa?"

"Too bad you're not a girl then," Shisaburou said with an honest-to-goodness smile. "I mean---damn it Masamune, quit talking already! Just admit defeat, dammit, look at the field! You're totally locked down, I've got more monsters, and they're stronger too. You can't attack me either, give up, because next turn I'll show you the true power of my 'Chain Deck!"

"Let me share a bit of a secret about the fella named Yuto Masamune," Yuto began to say, "lots of folks here might see me and think I'm a hick. A dumb country bumpkin that doesn't know anything. The fellas back home used to think I didn't have any skill either, that I was just playing a man's game that I didn't get. You see, though, that's not true. I might have one eye, but I see more than people think I do---I got some brains under this old hat. I pick up on opponent's habits and what not, that's my specialty. I'm a quick learner. Sure, I might be a little fish in a big pond out here, but I'm already growing. I figured you probably were gonna get some more monsters out, so I baited you with Power Line to set up your Chain. Didn't even need that Hot Line, because I'm about to win."

Shisaburou smashed his fists together. "Oh yeah? Then show me how you plan to win! Don't plan on stopping The Chain Gang, as I've already planned for that!"

"Don't even need to stop it," replied Yuto. He placed a button on his Duel Disk as the Graveyard Slot slid opened, and he removed a card and placed it on his Monster Card Zone on the other side of Hot Line, "remember when I discarded a card for De-Rail? Well, I didn't just choose any old card, it was another one of my Expressha Monsters, Expressa - Dead Line [3/500/1500]! And when I've got an Expressha on the field, I can special summon it from my Graveyard!"

A dark portal opened in front of Yuto, a sudden stream of ghosts shooting forth as rails made of bones began to unfold from the depths. An old, black train, covered in dirt, grime, and gravestones, made its way from out of the portal and stopped behind Hot Line and Power Line. From its front popped skeletal hands which grabbed onto the back of Power Line. Dead Line went up to 1000 ATK, while Hot Line, now next to both Power Line and Dead Line on the field, went up to 2000 ATK.

"Doesn't matter how high you raise their ATK, your trains won't be getting through my Chain Gang!"

"That's not my plan, Shisaburou. Sure, their ATK goes up when they're out together, but that's just a side-effect of what I'm planning. Trains don't specialize in fighting, they're all about getting you where you need to go. And there's a certain monster of mine---well, a friend of mine's---that's ready to arrive. You've got four monsters on your side, I got three. We're all set for an Impress Summon."

"What the hell are you talking about?" cried Shisaburou. "Impress Summon? Stop with your damn jokes!"

The word 'Impress' struck Beau's ears. He turned to look at Yuto, not believing that he just heard that word come from his mouth. "There's just no way that could be true, no matter how strong of a man he is, he's regardless from the middle of nowhere!"

The rest of the audience were even more confused over what Yuto had just said. Some of them wondered if Yuto meant a Fusion, or a Synchro. Dennosuke stood on his tip toes, peering over the audience to see what was going to happen next.

Mr. Miyazaki adjusted his glasses and straightened his tie. He wasn't sure what was about to happen, but he was getting excited himself. He'd have to add this to his report.

Yuto was in the zone, his face shifting from its usual toothy grin into a triumphant look of victory as he pulled a card from his Extra Deck. He closed his eye and began to repeat a speech that he had memorized, "three allies lie on my side, against four foes standing on the opponent's side. The earth opens beneath us all, as the Dragon Warlord appears to bring about the enemy's fall---"

At this moment, something happened that had never been seen before by (almost) anyone on the entire boat, the Duel Disk began to emit a loud trumpet noise, and glowing cracks appeared beneath both Yuto and Shisaburou's monsters. Yuto held up a card in the air triumphantly as it was suddenly dissolved into digital bits of data---appearing seconds later on Shisaburou's Duel Disk. War horns blared out, 'DADADA DADADA' they blared from the Duel Disks.

"I Impress Summon the Imperial Monster, Patch-Eye Dragon [4/1500], to my opponent's field! Come on and show everyone what you can do, partner!"

The 'Digital Ferry Codarus' seemed to shake as the ground in the middle of the field appeared to burst apart, a giant shadow rising from the ground directly in-front of Shisaburou. For once during the entire Duel, Shisaburou was visibly shaken, his hat falling off and plopping on the ground beside him. "What's going on? Why's it on my side? Masamune, what are you doing?"

Standing before Shisaburou was a large, earthen-colored dragon. Instead of wings, giant war-banners were stuck into its back. Its arms and legs were covered by metallic gauntlets, and on its head was a broken crescent shaped horn. Its right-eye, like Yuto's, was covered by an eye-patch. It let out a roar, blowing Shisaburou back a few inches as he braced himself. It only had 1500 ATK, but the intensity the hologram let off was unusually potent for a monster of its stats. Everyone was wide-eyed in both fear and admiration as they stared awe-struck at the monster.

"It-it worked!" said Yuto with relief. He had opened his eye and was staring at Patch-Eye from behind with wonder. "I did it! I summoned Patch-Eye Dragon! I summoned Patch-Eye Dragon!" He jumped into the air with glee, so caught up in joy that he didn't notice everyone staring at the Duel in complete shock. He pointed at Shisaburou, and declared the final attack, "now what was it again...oh yeah, Patch-Eye Dragon, finish 'em off with your direct attack. Let's see...yep, that was it, ZANGETSU CLEAVER!"

Patch-Eye Dragon let out another roar as it pulled its head back into the air. The Chain Gang instinctively jumped in front of Shisaburou to protect him. He growled back at the dragon and yelled at it, "even if it's a direct attack, The Chain Gang won't let you through!"

Patch-Eye Dragon let out another frightening roar, bringing its head down to the ground so it was directly aimed at where Shisaburou stood. Its horns began to glow like the moon itself, as, before Shisaburou could respond, it dashed forward through him like a bullet, so fast that for a second no one realized how it appeared behind Shisaburou. Then a powerful 'slash' ripped through his body. The Chain Gang and the rest of Shisaburou's monsters looked in shock as their master was stricken down without them even realizing it. Shisaburou suddenly dropped his cards from his hand, dumbstruck, as his Life Points fell to 0. The holograms disappeared as Shisaburou just stood there, his usual act of bravado replaced with stunned silence. His hat fell off his head and plopped on the ground.

[BATTLE DECIDED - GUEST USER 1, WINNER BY KNOCK OUT!]

Yuto ducked towards the ground for a second, as his body began to shake furiously. He then popped right back up, fists pumped skyward as he screamed for all to hear, "That's how you do it! I won my first Duel with Patch-Eye Dragon! Y'see that, Nobuharu, told you that card was in good hands!"

Shisaburou swiped his hat off the ground and marched towards Yuto, coming face-to-face with him. Yuto replied with a goofy grin, holding his arm out for a friendly after-match handshake, but Shisaburou grabbed him by the collar and pulled him in. Yuto began to sweat a bit as he felt the strength of his opponent lift him off the ground.

"What's the matter, Shisa? This your idea of a hug?" he joked a bit, not quite getting why Shisa was so upset. "Pretty impressed by my skills, huh? Hey, you're kind of starting to hurt me now y'know..."

"Stop with the damn pleasantries and start talking Masamune!" he ordered. He tossed Yuto to the ground. "What the hell did you just do? How did you get past my Chain Gang like that?"

"Why are you getting so riled up, Shisa? Patch-Eye Dragon is an Imperial Monster---"

"What the hell is an Imperial Monster? Start making sense Masamune!"

"Wait, you serious Shisa? I thought you'd know about 'em...I mean, truth be told, I've only ever seen Patch-Eye Dragon, but there are more of 'em, right? I fought against Patch-Eye for years, and you know, it can't be hit by cards that only effect one side of the field unless they target. So it blew right through The Chain Gang, y'see."

"I have no clue what you're talking about, damnit. Look around you Masamune, no one does!" Shisaburou pointed to the audience who were all just as flustered as he was, everyone looking at one another in confusion and trying to figure out what was going on. "No one's ever even heard of your Patch-Eye Dragon, let alone what the hell an Impress Monster is! You damn cheater!"

"Eh, you folks never heard of it?" asked Yuto shocked. He stood up and started to nervously chuckle, "I thought all you city folks would surely know a card that a country boy like me had. I mean, I couldn't have anything that rare, right?"

"Cheater!" yelled a voice from the audience. More voices soon joined in, accusing Yuto of cheating, calling the win unfair and unjustified, and even claiming he was using counterfeit cards.

Dennosuke felt sorry for Yuto---but he had also found himself yelling along with the rest of the audience. He liked Yuto, he really did, but he also didn't want to have to possibly go up against a card like that.

"Silence imbeciles," shouted a voice that silenced everyone else. It was Beau. He looked furious as he made his way in-front of Yuto, and then turned around to address the audience. "You weaklings do not have a clue what you're talking about. When it comes to Duel Monsters, there will always be cards that your opponent possesses that you do have access to. I, for example, am the richest on here and probably own ten times as many cards than any of you do, would that make me a cheater? Just because none of you have ever heard of an Imperial Monster, that does not matter, as it was recognized by Yuto's Duel Disk, and he played it in accordance with the rules. Yuto Masamune is not a cheater! He is a strong man, and I, Beau LaBelle's, official rival! This is what I declare on the matter, and if any of you disagree, you'll have to answer to my father!"

The audience quieted down at this as they began to consider what Beau said. Some shrugged their shoulders, others stayed mad, rumors began to spread as people began to speculate what exactly this 'Imperial Monster' was. A dark cloud hung over the entire ferry as the audience dissipated, everyone needing some time to think things over. Shisaburou turned his back to Yuto and walked away, heading towards the lower deck to cool off. He gave one last glance at Yuto and glared.

"Our bet's off for the moment," he stated. "Don't you go anywhere, Masamune, because I plan to beat you next time, no matter what other 'Imperial Monster' you've got." And with that, he disappeared down below. Yuto frowned.

"Gee, didn't mean to upset everyone like that and all," he said as he turned to Beau. "I owe you one, though. You stood up for me back there---but, uh, I'm your 'rival' now?"

"It was my pleasure," replied Beau with a bow. "I am in love with your strength, after all. But I have to inquire---where did you get that 'Imperial Monster' from? I myself am familiar with them to a certain extent, I've heard they are planned to be released to the general public at the beginning of next year, and that some have already gotten early copies to test out, but you? No offense, but you do not seem to come from money."

"Well, truth be told, this ain't exactly my card," replied Yuto. He pulled it out to show Beau, the golden border of the card shining against the sunlight, "my friend back home gave it to me, well, let me borrow it. But I headed here to Sengoku to give it back to him, y'see he's going here this year. Gonna surprise him since I bet he never expected me to get it."

"What is the name of your friend? And where did he acquire such a card?"

"Name's Nobuharu Kenzaki, my best friend and number one rival. Don't know where he got it, but he's been using it for years, probably. Atleast as long as I've known him he's had it. I've Dueled with it countless times, never managed to counter it, though. To be honest, it was nice to be on the other side for once. He's going to Sengoku this year too."

"Nobuharu Kenzaki, you say?" Beau juggled that name around in his head, trying to figure out if he had heard it before. He hadn't as far as he could recall. He looked at the card in amazement, "well, Yuto, I must seek him out once we arrive at Sengoku Island. Whoever possessed such a card must surely be strong."

"The strongest Duelist in my whole village," replied Yuto with a smile. There was a slight blush on his face which Beau picked up on, "'course, that's not saying much. Not many strong folks where I come from, but even considering that I'd still bet he's the toughest one here too."

Beau flicked his hair aside as he gave Yuto a bow. "I see. Well, Yuto, I must say you're the one I want to fight as the current holder of that Imperial Monster. I plead with you to hold onto it until our match, but if you must return it to your friend, then he will be the one I will challenge instead. But even then, I'd still like a shot at you, Imperial Monster or not. Prepare yourself for that, Yuto. Now I must bid you farewell for now as I have some important matters to attend to."

And on that note, Beau walked off. Dennosuke was headed towards Yuto and passed by Beau as he left, the latter not even acknowledging the short man's presence. Dennosuke looked back at Beau and frowned. "I can't stand smug assholes like that."

"Hey ya Dennosuke, so what'd you think about my Duel? I hope you're not as down on me like some of the others here, not that I blame 'em though. Guess I did sort of pull a cheap move off back there."

Dennosuke, despite moments earlier being a vocal part of the crowd booing Yuto, decided to hide that fact from Yuto. After all, there was still the possibility that Yuto would end up in his House, and he wanted to stay on the Duelist's good side. "Hey, don't worry about it. I mean, that LaBelle fellow was right. You don't always know what your opponent's cards can do. Speaking of which, what exactly did you do back there?"

Yuto showed him Eye-Patch Dragon. The gold border reflected in Dennosuke's eye, and even a bit of drool leaked out of his mouth, "real pretty, right? You know, I don't get all the rules about this card either. This is the first time I've used it, I'm just borrowing it like I just told Beau there. But there's three main rules I recall. First, you got to 'Impress Summon' it. The requirement are you having three monsters---my Expressha for instance---and your opponent having four monsters---such as Shisa's Combo monsters. Then it gets special summoned to your opponent's side, but you look at the card and you realize, hey, it's still looking at me. I still control it!"

Dennosuke grabbed his phone, hiding it behind his back as he tried to type these rules down under a memo. It was too easy to get Yuto to open his mouth, he thought. He really wasn't good at keeping secrets.

"Second, it can attack your opponent directly, because it's on your opponent's side and can just 'jump' right over all his monsters. And no one can attack it, either, at least I never figured out how to do it all the times I fought it. Maybe another 'Imperial Monster' can, but I've yet to see one."

Dennosuke continued to nod as he listened. So even Yuto doesn't know everything it can do, he thought. That's good to know.

"And third, this one always gave me the most trouble. You see, Patch-Eye here is on the opponent's side, but it's still under my control. It's not effected by any card effects that just effect the opponent's monsters, or ones that just effect mine either. You gotta either target it especially, or go with a card that hits both players. So take my Mirror Force---it just won't work on Patch-Eye, neither did Shisa's The Chain Gang, because they don't target. But like Dark Hole would take it right on out, 'course Nobuharu always had a counter prepared for that."

"I think I get it," replied Dennosuke. He had been furiously typing all this down on his phone as Yuto spoke, but to be honest he was a bit confused due to how, for lack of a better word, simple Yuto was in his explanation. "That sure is a great card....it's gonna be hard to stop, Yuto. You gonna take advantage of it?"

"Nope," replied Yuto. He returned the card to his pocket. "Now I get why Nobuharu---that's my friend who gave me it for a bit, the one I told you about---left it with me. Just wouldn't be fair to use it here against everyone. I'm not gonna use it either, and when I find Nobuharu, I'm handing it right back to him."

"If I was you I'd use that card and wouldn't let anyone have it, even my best friend," said Dennosuke. In truth, he never had a best friend, so that wouldn't be an issue for him. "You're too nice for your own good, Yuto."

Yuto smiled. "You're darn right. But don't think ol' Patch-Eye is all I've got to back me up, I've got some more tricks up my sleeve, and some skills of my own. Besides, if I rely too much on this card, it's gonna be hard for me to get any better."

Dennosuke stared at the pocket Yuto put Patch-Eye Dragon in. He felt jealous of Yuto having a card like that. "If you say so."

The two didn't say anything else as Sengoku Island loomed into view. There it was: Sengoku Academy, where soon both of their lives would change for better or worse.

TO BE CONTINUED

 

[Garren]

DUEL 1: Yuto vs. Shisaburou Card Guide

After every Duel, I'll post a Card Guide that shows off the effects of the new cards used. I tried to make their effects as clear and precise as the actual rulings, and provide additional notes to clear up any questions that may arise involving how they work. Cards without any notes are pre-existing cards from the actual TCG.

Yuto's Cards

Yuto's central monsters are the Expressha Archetype, a series of train-based monsters. There are six main ones, one for each Attribute, and they all share two effects in common. First is "connection". When an Expressha is directly adjacent to another Expressha, both of them boost the other's ATK up by 500. Second, your opponent can only attack the Expressha with the highest ATK Score, or choose if it's a tie, thus the strongest one protects the weak. The Expressha have their own individual effects too, which will be shown as the story progresses.

Expressha - Hot Line
Fire 4-Star
1000/1500
Machine/Effect
Increase the ATK of this card by 500 for every face-up "Expressha" monster that is directly adjacent to it on your side of the field. When you control multiple face-up "Expressha" monsters, your opponent can only attack the "Expressha" monster(s) with the highest ATK. If this card attacks a defense position monster, inflict piercing damage to your opponent.

NOTES: Hot Line resembles a red steam engine, and is one of the three stronger members of the basic Expressha Archetype. In addition to having a strong attack, max 2000 when it's surrounded by two Expressha, it also comes with a Piercing Effect. Its attack is called "Hot-Track Branding."

Expressha - Power Line
Light 3-Star
500/1500
Machine/Effect
Increase the ATK of this card by 500 for every face-up "Expressha" monster that is directly adjacent to it on your side of the field. When you control multiple face-up "Expressha" monsters, your opponent can only attack the "Expressha" monster(s) with the highest ATK. When this card is normal summoned to the field, add one monster with "Expressha" in its name to your hand.

NOTES: Power Line resembles a yellow Maglev train, and is one of the weaker support members of the basic Expressha Archetype. It's mainly useful as a searcher, in order to build up your Expressha quickly. Its attack is called "Magneton Dash".

Expressha - Dead Line
Dark 3-Star
500/1500
Machine/Effect
If you control a face-up "Expressha" monster, this card can be special summoned from your Graveyard. Only one "Expressa - Dead Line" can be special summoned through this effect per turn. Increase the ATK of this card by 500 for every face-up "Expressha" monster that is directly adjacent to it on your side of the field. When you control multiple face-up "Expressha" monsters, your opponent can only attack the "Expressha" monster(s) with the highest ATK. When this card is destroyed, banish it instead of sending it to the Graveyard.

NOTES: Dead Line resembles a ghostly black old-timey train, covered with gravestones. It's a weaker Expressha, but its effect allows it to quickly come back from the Graveyard and "connect" with another Expressha to boost their attacks. As shown in this chapter, using it in tandem with a card that requires a discard is a basic combo. Its attack is called "Graveyard Shift-On".

Kabooster
Earth 2-Star
500/500
Machine/Effect
If you control only 1 face-up "Expressha" monster, this card can be Special Summoned to the field in an empty space directly adjacent to it. As long as you control only 1 face-up "Expressha" monster, increase the ATK of that card by 500 points as long as this card remains on the field next to it.

NOTES: Kabooster is a support to the Expressha, a really nervous looking caboose. Why's it so nervous? Well, it doesn't have a lot of self-esteem and usually ends up being fodder since it can't be protected by the Expressha's effect. It's good when you don't have any other Expressha, but also handicaps as it blocks another Expressha from connecting to it. It's not cool enough to have an attack name, so it just rolls back into the foe.

Patch-Eye Dragon
EARTH 4-Star
1500
Dragon/Imperial/Effect
3 monsters on your field + 4 monsters on opponent's field
[EFFECT CONFIDENTIAL]

NOTES: A giant, eye-patch wearing dragon, complete with Masamune Date's signature broken-crest helmet, and war flags popping from its back. As an Imperial Monster, it is summoned to the opponent's side of the field, can attack them directly, can't be attacked (or can it?), and dodges all effects that effect only one player's side of the field and don't target. Its attack is "Zangetsu Cleaver". It has other unique effects too, but you'll have to wait to see them!

De-Rail
Trap
When an "Expressha" Monster would be destroyed as a result of battle, discard 1 card in order to activate this effect: negate the destruction of that "Expressha Monster", and inflict damage to your opponent's life points equal to the battle damage you took as a result of the battle.

NOTES: A basic Trap for the "Expressha" Monsters, it's useful to keep an Expressha alive long enough to get out another to connect with it.

Mirror Force
Trap
When an opponent's monster declares an attack: Destroy all Attack Position monsters your opponent controls.

--------------------

Shisaburou's Cards

Shisaburou focuses on "Combo Monsters", who get to use their effects when Chain Links occur. The effects so far have been simple and only required the basic Chain, what kind of effects will monsters that require higher Chain Links have?

Chain Smoker
Fire 3-Star
800/800
Pyro/Effect
When this card is successfully summoned to the field, and this effect resolves successfully, a Chain of 2 Links is considered to have successfully resolved.

NOTES: This strange looking dude wearing the wardrobe of a 1920s detective probably wouldn't fly in the real TCG since he literally smokes cards, but he's right at home in this story. His effect is useless on its own, but is great when you have monsters who require Chain Links to use their effects. If its effect is chained to, it also reduces the Chain to a Chain of 2 Links, no matter how many cards were chained to it.

Combo Kid
Earth 4-Star
1600/1000
Warrior/Effect
After a Chain (of 2 or more Links) successfully resolves, you can special summon this card from your hand. Only 1 "Combo Kid" can be special summoned through this effect per Chain. When this card is face-up on the field when a Chain (of 2 or more Links) successfully resolves, you can add 1 "Combo Kid" from your hand to your deck.

NOTES: Its a delinquent just like Shisa, and thus the bread-and-butter of his Deck, able to quickly get out on the field and search for its friends when Chains occur. Its second effect cannot be used if you use the first after a Chain resolves, as the timing would be missed as the last thing to happen would be a Special Summon. Its attack is "Rapid Fire Fisticuffs".

Combo Gal
Earth 3-Star
1500/700
Warrior/Effect
As long as this card remains face-up on the field, all face-up monsters named "Combo Kid" can attack twice per turn.

NOTES: Combo Kid's main squeeze, this female delinquent is just as fierce as her male counterpart. When she's out on the field, all "Combo Kid" monsters can attack twice. Get her out after special summoning the Combo Kids with multiple Chains, and go to town! Her attack is called "Hell's Fury Fisticuffs".

The Chain Gang
Continuous Spell
Each time a Chain (of 2 or more Links) occurs in either player's turn, place one "Chain Counter" on this card. Up to five "Chain Counters" can be placed on this card. You cannot use this effect if the Chain involved this card, or another card named "The Chain Gang". During your opponent's battle phase, by removing one "Chain Counter", you can negate an opponent's attack. After this effect has been used five times, or you remove a "Chain Counter" and there are no more left to remove, destroy this card.

NOTES: Every time you get a Chain of 2 Links or more, not that difficult to do, you add a "Chain Counter" to the card and that blocks one opponent's attack! You can put five Counters on the card at one time, and get a maximum of five negations...but even if you'd add five, use four, and then add two more, you'd only be able to use one more negation. Get it? Basically you get five negates. You got to save up the "Chain Counters" though...if you add only one "Chain Counter", and then remove it to block the first attack, you have no more "Chain Counters", so the card is destroyed. It might be beneficial to let your opponent attack with weaker monsters to save up the "Chain Counters" then.

Bait Doll
Spell
Target 1 Set card in the Spell & Trap Card Zone; reveal that target, force its activation if it is a Trap Card, then negate its effect if the activation timing is incorrect, and if you do, destroy it. (If it is not a Trap Card, return it face-down.) When this card resolves, shuffle it into the Deck instead of sending it to the Graveyard.

Dark Bribe
Counter Trap
When an opponent's Spell/Trap Card is activated: Your opponent draws 1 card, also negate the Spell/Trap activation, and if you do, destroy it.

Love Combination
Trap
This card can only be activated as a Chain Link 2 or higher if you have a face-up "Combo Kid" on your side of the field. Special Summon one "Combo Gal" from your deck.

NOTES: The best way to make good use of the Combo Kid/Combo Gal combination, use this to summon her to the field, and, since this card can only be activated as a Chain, you can then special summon another Combo Kid from your hand or search one out. Great way to get multiple 1600 ATK monsters that can then attack twice.

 

[Legacy]

Wow, great work! I'm only somewhat familiar with Yu-Gi-Oh! but that didn't matter reading your fic. You do a great job of setting the scene and educating even novice readers so that they understand what's happening. I also like the educational material you provide about the setting and rules and such. Really well thought out story so far!

i also really like your characters, especially Beau. Nice depth and characterization throughout.

Keep it up!

 

[Garren]

Well, I'm actually not the best Yu-Gi-Oh player, and honestly this story might appeal more to novice fans and those who have familiarity with the show first over the actual card-game. In my opinion, writing the Duels at the same level as those played in the real world just wouldn't work as well...players tend to use many of the same staple cards, fun combos and effects would easily be shut down, and play-styles usually don't vary between a few basic archetypes. A professional player reading this will probably go "that's their big combo? I'd easily be able to stop that", but personally I think writing a story that's just like how the card game is in real life isn't fun. By going with more thematic cards, unorthodox strategies, and slower Duels that rely on riskier strategies, it allows me to express the characters personality better. Of course that's just me defending my choices, I'm sure people will disagree with that. As I progress, I hope to try and write better, more complex Duels to appease those readers though.

Personally Beau is my favorite character I thought of for the story, sort of a funny take on the usual "comes from money" rival seen in Yu-Gi-Oh. I actually worry the characters are a bit too stereotypical though, but I tried to throw in a bit of depth to them here and there as I got "into the character's mind" as I wrote them. I'm probably a bit too mechanical in how I tried to set up future plot points through dialogue, though. I'm the type who plans a bit too much ahead and I think it might detract a bit from the actual prose.

 

[Garren]

New Chapter!

No Duel this time around, instead a special 'challenge' the new students of Sengoku Academy must face. In addition to normal Duels, I plan to mix things up with some more interesting Duel Monster challenges, in this case a physical/quiz challenge.

I'm worried this Chapter might be a little silly, but I hope people enjoy the little character building going on.

Turn 3: Conquer the Ogre Stairs!​

Sengoku Island, home of Sengoku Academy. Located roughly 50 kilometers off the northeastern coast of Japan, this mountainous island was once a tourist spot popular due to ancient legends telling of mythical creatures, yokai, that inhabited the forests. However, it was bought out by Maxwell Freedom, the founder of Sengoku Academy, and transformed into the island's official campus. The island's inhabitants still live in a small seaside village, known as 'Port Town', which gains its revenue by supporting the students.

It is this small village that the 'Digital Ferry Codarus' made land at, as the students on-board departed the ship with luggage in hand.

Mr. Miyazaki led the students down the ramp leading off the ferry and into town, coming to a halt in the town square where a large fountain was located depicting what appeared to be a 'water spirit' of some sort. Even though it was getting late, the town was quite bustling, people walking in and out of the various buildings and past the students, all of them giving a pleasant wave and smile as they passed by.

"Welcome to 'Port Town'," said Mr. Miyazaki to the students. He dotted his finger along the horizon as he pointed out a couple of buildings, "look around and you'll see that this town is equipped with everything you'd likely need. Card shops, restaurants, bars, salons, basically every little pleasantry you'd want in a 'home away from home'. Now, today we need to hurry on, and tomorrow you'll be adjusting to your House and exploring the campus, but every Saturday after that, you're free to come to town all day if you so desire. We like to give our students a little rest-and-relaxation every now and then between bouts of studying. After all, we don't wish to overwhelm you."

Yuto was quite smitten with the town already. It was a little nicer than the village he came from, but roughly the same size. He felt relaxed as he stood in the little hamlet, looking at all the different people walking around going about their business, but at the same time, he felt homesick. This was the first time he had left home, after all, and wasn't quite use to seeing all these new faces.

"Now students, we must move on towards Sengoku Academy," said Mr. Miyazaki as he waved them along. They headed through the town's central street away from the dock and towards the large mountains in the distance. Yuto kept in the back of the procession, still a bit nervous about drawing any extra attention to himself after the whole 'Patch-Eye' incident. Dennosuke walked next to him, Yuto being the only person he'd really bonded with so far. Right behind them was Shisaburou who, since they had gotten off the boat, had been carefully following Yuto without saying a word.

Finally, Dennosuke had enough, and decided to speak up. He kept his distance from Shisaburou, and addressed Yuto, but said it loud enough that the person it was aimed at would get the hint. "Yuto, so, I know you've noticed this too, but that guy's been following us this whole time. Tell him to leave or something."

Shisaburou quickly caught on and moved closer towards Yuto, "you think I'm the one who should leave? Masamune, who is the little punk anyway? I don't know if you've realized this, but his shifty little eyes have been looking at your pocket on and off. Damn thief!"

"Both of you need to just wait a darn second," said Yuto finally, raising his voice to make his point clear, "I don't mind either of you following me, alright?"

"He's probably still sore he lost," said Dennosuke with a smirk, "probably planning to snag your Patch-Eye."

"Believe me, if I wanted to steal it, I already would've," replied Shisaburou as he glared at Dennosuke. "I think you're the one Yuto needs to watch out for. Little punks like you always have a scheme going on."

"I got to say I'm sort of wishing someone would take it," said a frustrated Yuto. He looked at how angry Dennosuke and Shisaburou were getting with one another and didn't know how to calm them down. "Been nothing but trouble so far, that's for sure."

"Someone might try to," said Shisaburou, "people do dumb stuff when rare cards are involved. I've seen knife fights over them before. That's why I'm following you Masamune, as protection. No one's gonna steal that from you until I beat it first."

"You really think someone might be after it?" asked Yuto. He reached into his pocket just to make sure the card was still there.

"Of course," replied Shisaburou. "People on the boat are already talking about what all it can do. Unable to be attacked, direct attacking, avoiding card-effects, it's a powerful card, and that's the type of card people will steal if they find the chance."

"Well that's weird how they knew all it could do," thought Yuto. He turned to look at Dennosuke, who quickly dodged his gaze and peered down at the ground, "the only person I talked to since the Duel was Dennosuke here."

"He probably blabbed then," said Shisaburou. "I have to say though, now that I know what it can do, I take back what I said. You're not a cheater, just a lucky punk. Next time we Duel I'll defeat you no problem."

"Much obliged," laughed Yuto. But then his smile turned to a frown, "but seriously Shisa, I like you. I consider you a pal now. But I trust Dennosuke too, and I don't think he'd go behind my back like that. Someone else probably figured out what it did, I mean, surely there's stuff about it on the Internet or something like that."

"Don't call me your 'pal'. I'm just your 'bodyguard'," said Shisaburou. He then nodded towards Dennosuke, "I still don't trust him, but I won't push the issue any further. Just know that I won't go easy on him if I ever spot him trying to swipe your cards."

"I-I'd never do that!" yelled Dennosuke behind Yuto. "I mean, I don't need a card like that anyway. I'm plenty tough!"

"Then why don't we duel now, hmm? You and me?"

"T-that's okay," muttered Dennosuke as he sunk further behind Yuto to avoid Shisaburou. Yuto was relieved, sort of. Sure, Dennosuke and Shisaburou weren't exactly friendly now, but their bickering had turned playful in a way.

Dennosuke wasn't as happy, though. He could tell Yuto and Shisaburou, despite moments earlier being rivals, were already growing close to one another. He felt jealous.

"You guys sure are a riot," said Yuto as he looked at both of his new friends. "Can't wait to introduce you to Nobuharu."

"Nobuharu?" asked Shisaburou. "Who the hell's he?"

"His friend from back home," interjected Dennosuke, trying to show off his superior knowledge of Yuto, "Nobuharu Kenzaki. The original owner of Patch-Eye Dragon."

Dennosuke paused for a second. Nobuharu would surely be another obstacle when it came to his friendship with Yuto. Hopefully Nobuharu was friendlier than Shisaburou at least.

"He's going here too now," explained Yuto, "and I bet he's gonna be surprised when I show up. See, I sort of kept this a secret from him. Anyway, I plan on giving him Patch-Eye back. He'll take care of it better."

"Give it back?" asked Shisaburou. He raised a finger up to Yuto's face. "On one condition: I fight you first. I can't just let you off easy after our last match, understand? I need to beat Patch-Eye Dragon when you're using it. I can't rest till I do."

"If that'd make you happy, sure. I'd love to show Nobuharu how I've learned to use it, he'll like that a bunch. I bet he'd be keen on seeing how you play too."

All of a sudden, the rest of the students came to a halt in front of Yuto and his friends. They barely had time to stop before almost walking right into the students stopped before them.

"Why'd everyone stop?" asked Dennosuke, unable to see above the crowd. Yuto pointed over them.

"I'm take a guess and say all those big, fancy stairs," he said as the students began to shuffle around in a circle. They had cleared from the center so that Dennosuke could see it.

Before them was a gigantic stone staircase stretching up the side of the mountain. The steps were long and wide, and extremely steep, and while there were too many to count, a good estimate would put them at more than six-hundred steps at the very least. At the very top of the steps stood at tall wooden gate that stretched along the horizon as far as could be seen.

Mr. Miyazaki turned to address the students, "I see that all of you are quite impressed with one of Sengoku Island's most renown structures, the "Ogre Stairs'. So named because an old island legend tells that an ancient Ogre King once built these stairs as a symbol of his reach and power, stairs so numerous that only the strongest could ever hope to overcome them and intrude on his mountain domain. ."

"Back home we got legends like this too," said Yuto to his friends," you know Ogres and such. But ours never did anything this ambitious, they usually just messed with little kids and played pranks and old folks. I bet they'd love to come here and see this themselves."

"Don't tell me you actually believe in Ogres," replied Shisaburou. "All that superstitious bullshit is just a waste of time. If you can't see or touch it, then it doesn't matter to me."

"'Course not. Maybe when I was a kid I did. But it's still fun to listen to the stories and pretend you know?"

"Playing pretend? Damn, Masamune, you're still like a little kid."

As they quietly talked among themselves, Mr. Miyazaki continued his little 'tour' of the island.

"That is just an outdated legend, however, and not relevant to our times. Now Sengoku Academy is the owner of the stairs," explained Mr. Miyazaki, "and unlike in the legend, they do not stretch for miles and miles. In fact, there are exactly 1000 steps, and on average, it takes a person around ten minutes to successfully climb them. And that, students, is the first challenge here at Sengoku Academy. The 'Ogre Stairs', a test designed to measure your physical endurance. After all, a Duelist must posses a strong body, or else they will be overwhelmed by the effects of Solid Vision."

This last part caught Yuto and Shisaburou's attention. They, and the rest of the students, all felt pumped at this announcement. Their first challenge at Sengoku Academy was exciting stuff indeed, it was time for every man to show off what they could do. The only person not enthusiastic about the event was Dennosuke. He was not looking forward to climbing such a huge staircase, it was just like he was back in Physical Education class. His small body just wasn't cut out for physical activity of any kind.

"Wait, wait, wait," he whined to Mr. Miyazaki, "we have to climb up and down that every time we want to head to town? That's gonna be a huge waste of time!"

"Well, we won't force you. But we would like you to if possible in order to get a good work out on Saturday," explained Mr. Miyazaki. He then pointed to the left where the students noticed a cable-car station. "But, mainly in order to appease our handicapped students and visitors, there is a Cable Car system in place as well. I expect you all to climb the stairs the first time, of course, but, if you really don't want to in the future, the Cable Car is accessible as you see fit. But I'd urge you to limit yourself to using it sparingly, as it should be reserved for those who truly need it."

"O-oh, of course," replied Dennosuke. A few snickers arose from the other students. Sure, a few of them had the same concern, but no one else was shameless enough to bring it up in front of everyone. Dennosuke bit his lip and tried to figure out who laughed at him, but the perpetrators went silent when the noticed him look around.

"Anyway, there is more to the test than simply physical endurance," said Mr. Miyazaki. He nodded towards the stairs where the students could see ten large figures standing at fixed intervals, decorated in red Ogre masks. At first everyone had just thought the figures were statues, but they suddenly all moved to the center of the step they were positioned at. "Those are the Ogre Guards. At each Ogre Guard, you will be asked a question. Answer right, and you can pass. Answer wrong, and you must return to the last checkpoint and climb back up and answer the question. This tests your knowledge. Strong body, strong mind, as we like to say here at Sengoku Academy. As you climb up the stairs---1000 in all, an Ogre Guard at every 100 steps---the questions will naturally increase in difficulty. I assume you all understand?"

Everyone nodded.

"Sound like a fun time!" exclaimed Yuto. "You know, I might be at a bit of a problem with the question part, but that staircase will be a cinch. Back home that's about the same distance I walked each day to head to my school."

"You're easy to excite," replied Shisaburou. "But I plan to be the first one to the top, Masamune. Make sure to keep up, and keep an eye on your Patch-Eye Dragon. Someone looking to steal your card might see this as a good opening..."

"A physical challenge and quizzes?" asked Dennosuke with a sigh. He then tried to put on the same bravado Yuto and Shisaburou had, "I mean, yeah, that's gonna be easy for someone like me. Gonna teach those stairs who's boss."

"Shut up," growled Shisaburou. "You're totally going to choke."

"Shisa, stop it," said Yuto. "You're being too mean to Dennosuke. I'm sure he'll do fine. We all will!"

"The fact you keep having to stand up for him just proves my point. But whatever."

"Just ignore him, Dennosuke. In his own way he's just wishing you good luck I reckon. Like 'break a leg' or something."

If not for the fact Dennosuke was already nervous over the present task, he would've punched Shisaburou in the face. Or so he told himself. Either way, he tried to ignore Shisaburou for the moment and focus on getting his body ready to tackle the stairs.

"It wouldn't be exactly safe for everyone to rush up the stairs all at once," said Mr. Miyazaki. "Instead, I will send the first student up---alphabetically---and let them clear the first part of the challenge. Then the next student will begin, and so forth continuing in that manner. We should hopefully be finished within half-an-hour if everyone goes at the average speed at the very least. Good luck everyone!"

Yuto thought that over in his head. He looked around at the other students. I guess Dennosuke and Shisa will go a bit before me then. Guess Shisa will beat me to the top alright. I can cheer on Dennosuke from here then too.

"Now, as I read off your name, please step forward. First...Ahn Ye-jun!"

A gasp arose from the students. Yuto looked to Dennosuke for an explanation. He too was shaken as he tried to quickly explain things to Yuto.

"One of Korea's Pro-Leaguers," he replied. "Everyone calls him the 'Synchro Monk' because he's known for his game-winning Synchro Summons. But it's kind of weird, I didn't see him anywhere on the boat. They say he's a pretty quiet guy though, guess it's true..."

As Dennosuke said this, a man passed through the audience, his body obscured by a half-white, half-black hoodie. Once he got up in front of the 'Ogre Stairs', he let his hood down, revealing a young Korean man with a shaved head. On his ears he wore giant golden earphones, with large orbs attached to the sides that hung down towards his chest, where there was a small portable music player attached, also gold. Yuto couldn't figure out, though, how this man could support such heavy looking objects hanging from his ears without breaking his neck.

"What's that?" he asked Dennosuke pointing towards the 'objects'. "That weird necklace-looking thing."

"His custom headphones. They say Ah Ye-jun always listens to music no matter what the situation" replied Dennosuke. "That's supposed to be how he always stays so calm. Probably some Korean music or something."

The man turned to look at the crowd, his eyes half-open, without saying a word. The other students took a small step back, unnerved by the man's intense silence, all except Yuto and Shisaburou who stood their ground. Yuto smiled back at the man, while Shisaburou cracked his knuckles, feeling that, in the near future, this was a man who'd need to have his ass kicked for glaring at everyone like that.

"Ahn Ye-jun," said Mr. Miyazaki sensing the uncomfortable feeling in the air, "please, you may begin your journey. Once you make it to the first Ogre Guard, the second student will start, and so-forth. Now, there is no time limit, so feel free to pace yourself. However, no one can leave till everyone climbs the stairs."

Ahn nodded, and moved up the stairs. His movement seemed extremely relaxed, yet quite fast, and within what seemed like a few seconds he was already at the first Ogre. The students all watched as the Ogre asked Ahn his first question. He immediately replied without seeming to take any time to think it over. It was correct, as the Ogre let him pass. After that, he continued up the stairs without losing his pace. The students were wowed by how cool he seemed.

"I wish I could be that cool," said Dennosuke in admiration. "No wonder he's Pro Level."

"I bet you would find that cool," said Shisaburou. Dennosuke tried to ignore him once more. "To me it's just pretension. He's putting on a show just to impress us all, the opposite of coolness. I wouldn't be surprised if he's weaker than they say."

Dennosuke found an opening to strike back at Shisaburou. He put on his smuggest grin as he began his counterattack. "Pretension? You're the pretentious one! I bet Ahn could cream you in a Duel, just like Yuto did."

"Think that if you want," said Shisaburou calmly, "but I'll Duel him and prove that I'm better. Yuto just got lucky and caught me by a surprise, try beating me in a fair fight and see what happens."

"Yeah, we'll see. We'll see alright," muttered Dennosuke. His gambit had completely failed.

"Now wait just a second," Yuto said. "I wanna take him on too. Battling people from around the world is a whole new ball game for me, especially if they're professionals. Never met a 'professional' before, really. Everyone I know just plays for fun. Still, money or not, a Duelist is a Duelist."

Mr. Miyazaki then called the next student, and the next, and the next, until it was time for Dennosuke Hari. Dennosuke eagerly made his way forward to the bottom of the stairs as Yuto, and Shisaburou reluctantly, clapped. By this time, Ahn had already finished, having made his way all the way to the top without missing a question. Some of the other students managed to pass him running faster, but all of them were clearly tired when they reached the top. Ahn, on the other hand, had not broken a sweat.

"Good luck Dennosuke," yelled Yuto. The other students found him so eagerly cheering on another student to be a bit odd and uncomfortable. Dennosuke wasn't too happy with Yuto doing this either...it made him feel weak. He knew Shisaburou was secretly laughing at it. Nevertheless, he was encouraged by Yuto's words, and began climbing the stairs. Unlike Ahn, and most of the other students before him, his pace was quite poor as he struggled to move his short legs up the huge staircase, and soon began to wear himself out before he even reached the first question.

"First Question," said the Ogre once Dennosuke reached him. Dennosuke was ready to tackle this question. He couldn't mess up on the first one, no one had yet. "How many Life Points does Dian Keto the Cure Master restore?"

Dennosuke knew this one for sure. "500 Life Points!" he replied confidently.

"Wrong. 1000 Life Points. Return from whence you came."

Dennosuke was absolutely devastated as he was forced to make his way back to the foot of the stairs just as the next student, Shisaburou Inuhashi, was about to begin. Shisaburou didn't waste anytime in laughing at Dennosuke's misfortune.

"Pathetic. Now I know why you cling so tightly to Yuto, you're the type of weakling who hides behind the strong, aren't you? I hate those types the most."

"S-shut up!" yelled Dennosuke. "Like you're gonna do any better?"

"Of course, just watch" said Shisaburou. He adjusted his hat and took off up the stairs at a brisk pace, making his way up to the first Ogre. The Ogre stepped forward to ask Shisaburou a question.

"First Qu---"

"You think I give a damn about your questions?" yelled Shisaburou as he charged forward right through the Ogre, knocking him down to the ground. The rest of the students, and Mr. Miyazaki, watched in amazement as Shisaburou blasted up the stairs through all of the Ogres without stopping for a single question, getting to the top in roughly five minutes. However, the last Ogre Guard, much larger than the rest, blocked his path and would not budge. Shisaburou came to a sudden halt in front of him.

"Don't think Ogres scare me! I'll kick your ass down to the last layer!"

"Now hold on just a minute there, thunder boy. What do you think you're doing just charging through here without answering any questions?" the Ogre asked. His voice was deep but friendly, with a country drawl not unlike Yuto's, but not as thick either. "Listen, I know you're excited to get to Sengoku Academy and everything, I don't blame you, but I can't let you pass without answering any questions. So here's how we're going to do this. I ask you all ten questions right here, and we can just look the other way at your little ruckus. Got it?"

"I bet you think the reason I skipped the questions was because I was afraid of answering them," replied Shisaburou. "But you'd be wrong. Go ahead, ask me whatever question you want."

"Oh? A tough guy, huh? Well you know, usually the question I ask is a 'breather', just a simple question quizzing you on the most important part of Duel Monsters---your own cards. But this time I'm gonna ramp up the difficulty a bit, quite a bit in fact. And the more questions I ask, the harder they'll get. Get all of them right, and up you go, but get even one wrong, and you're back to the bottom and this time I expect you to answer all the questions as you climb back up. Deal?"

"Yes! I get it," replied Shisaburou, growing impatient at the long-winded explanation. He reached into his jacket and handed the Ogre his deck. "

"First Question! I've got your Combo Kid right here. How about telling me its ATK and DEF scores. Not too hard, right?"

"1600/1000" replied Shisaburou without missing a beat. The Ogre was impressed as he chose the next card.

"Didn't even have to think of that one, huh? But like I said, things will just get tougher from here on out. Now your Combo Gal, why don't you tell me what its effect is? Exactly how the card says it."

"As long as this card remains face-up on the field, all face-up monsters named "Combo Kid" can attack twice per turn."

"Ha! Ha! Well done. Okay, now here's a tough one for you. Your Chain Smoker, it's holding a lighter in one of its hands. Which hand though? Bet you've never really paid attention to that..."

"Right."

"Eh? Seriously? You remembered that? Well, damn. Okay, okay, how about this next question then. In The Chain Gang's artwork, there's a big clock on the front of the school. What's the time on the clock then?"

"11:30."

"Correct again! Seriously, who even pays attention to that? Now this one's going to be really hard. You know that string of numbers on the bottom corner of cards? We don't really use them nowadays, but back when Duel Monsters first started up, they were used to register cards digitally and such. Now they're just a form of identification and pointless. So I'm gonna ask you what the number on your Blast Asmodian is. I'm guessing you won't know this one..."

"11685347."

"The hell? I'm going to be frank with you, kid. I really can't think of anything more obscure to ask you now, you really seem to got your cards memorized. Like perfectly. Really, I think you've proved well enough that you're perfectly capable of answering any question I'd throw at you, I'm thinking I'll just let you pass. Five out of ten is good enough for me." The Ogre then moved aside and bowed to Shisaburou, "not going to lie though kid, I really wanted to see you fail and walk back to the bottom. But I'd bet you'd easily get back up here without any problem with the other questions. You're a smart kid. You know, all of us Ogre are faculty members here, me, I'm the head of Zaborg House. Really hope you're in my House, kid, we could use someone like you. You're a bit rough on the outside, but I can tell you're on a whole 'nother level when it comes down to skill. Well, enough talking, get going before I change my mind!"

"I hope I don't get into Zaborg if you're in there," Shisaburou said to himself as he joined Ahn and the other victors, "I can't stand people who run their mouths with nothing to say."

Ahn looked at Shisaburou and held up two fingers in front of his face as if he was saying a prayer. "You have an interesting 'beat'," he quietly said. "Perhaps you should consider your own advice, however." Shisaburou turned towards him and clenched his fist.

"Ahn Ye-jun, right? I already planned to fight you, and now I want to even more" he replied. Ahn gave a small laugh.

"You fashion yourself like a demon, baring your fangs at the slightest provocation. But I don't sense you've ever truly bit into anything, your fangs are clean and clear of any blood. You don't compare to the 'true demons' that inhabit our realm, nonetheless, I look forward to our Duel. I will cast you into Hell, and there you can meet the monsters you can only hope to imitate."

Shisaburou went quiet. He didn't expect such a sophisticated response. He decided to just ignore it and lie down in the grass while he waited for the other students to finish, tipping his cap to cover up his eyes.

Ahn laughed again, and looked down towards the bottom of the stairs. "I don't feel I missed out on anything by hanging out below deck during your Duel," he said to himself. He noticed Yuto at the bottom, his eye-patch and hat making him easy to spot even from a far-off distance, "I'm more interested in that 'one-eyed demon'. A shame I didn't see that 'Imperial Monster' with my own eyes." Ahn continued to listen to his headphones as he carefully watched the rest of the students make their way up the staircase.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the staircase, Mr. Miyazaki was quite unhappy when he witnessed the final Ogre Guard allowed Shisaburou to pass. Once more that delinquent was breaking rules and causing trouble, not showing any respect towards Sengoku Academy or his fellow students. Such rule-breaking set a bad example of improper behavior for everyone else, and he hoped that no one would emulate Shisaburou. Then he looked down at the next name on the list and gritted his teeth.

"Beau LaBelle," he moaned.

Beau LaBelle approached the foot of the stairs, but not on his own. No, instead he was being carried by a hulking student. The student was very large and wide, with a squarish head and squinted eyes. Beau had his arm wrapped around the student's neck, delicately holding on like a newlywed being carried into a honeymoon suite by their lover.

"Mr. LaBelle, who is that student?"

"Him? Oh, he's just Obata, my hired help. You see, I needed someone to assist me with certain matters. This strong looking man was my first choice and with a decent pay, he agreed to serve me as I see fit. He's quite a good boy, too. Very strong and muscular, the type of man that I can depend on to satisfy my needs."

Yuto stared at this and was a bit amazed. "That Beau fella's real interesting. Just getting someone to carry him like that. But I guess like they say, when you're handsome, folks'll do anything for you. I'd probably carry him if he asked me, honestly."

"Obata, are you ready to ascend the stairs into manhood?" Beau asked the other student. The student replied immediately with a deep nod.

"Yes sir!"

"Good! Very good," said Beau. He leaned his head up a bit and pecked Obata on the cheek, "such a good listener, I'm quite glad I hired such a strong man as yourself! Now, Mr. Miyazaki, we're ready---oh, I hope you don't mind Obata carrying me. After all, I don't think father would be quite pleased if I fell and got hurt on the way up. I am like a modern day Alexei Nikolaevich, a fragile youth that needs protection, wouldn't you say?"

Beau had Mr. Miyazaki locked down once more with the mention of 'his father'. He had no choice but to once more bend down to Beau's demands, as unorthodox and unfair as they may be. But this just added to the ammunition he'd use against Beau when he complained to the Headmaster about him. Sure, his father was a sponsor, but even then there were limits that needed to be obeyed.

"Due to special health concerns that I've been informed of beforehand," said Mr. Miyazaki, coming up with a quick lie, "for Beau LaBelle, and only Beau LaBelle, I will allow this other student to carry him up the 'Ogre Stairs'. Mr. Obata will get an automatic pass for his assistance, as thanks for lending a hand to help his fellow student, however, I expect Beau to still follow the rules and answer the questions in order to proceed."

Beau nodded. "Oh, I of course wouldn't dare to pass on showing off my upper-class intelligence. Well, Obata, shall we proceed?"

"Yes sir!"

And with that, Beau and Obata made their way up the stairs. Dennosuke, who was still only at the fourth Ogre Guard, looked down and saw the large man carrying Beau up the stairs. "How the hell is that fair?" he wondered out loud. He was completely worn out, having already missed three questions, and wished that someone would carry him. "That damn rich prick is starting to piss me off!"

Beau and Obata made their way up to the first question.

"Question one," said the Ogre Guard. "W-why is that man carrying you?"

"Because I'm rich," replied Beau. "Extremely rich."

"W-wait, that wasn't the question!" stuttered the Ogre. He looked down at Mr. Miyazaki, wondering what was going on. In reply he received a 'just go with it' hand wave, so he decided to just continue asking questions as usual. "First Question...for real this time...tell me which one of these attack position Monster cards would win in a battle. Neo-Spacian Grand Mole vs. Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin."

"Neither," replied Beau with a flick of his hair, "Grand Mole's effect could be activated to return both monsters to their respective owner's hand without reaching the conclusion where a 'winner' could be declared. Satisfied? Likewise, if Grand Mole's effect did not activate, it would be the winner due to a higher attack score."

The Ogre smiled, "correct. There were two correct choices. You may proceed...both of you, I guess."

Obata moved up the stairs as Beau stared at his nails to make sure they were all equal length, "I bet he thought someone like me wouldn't know the 'secret' answer and just pay attention to the ATK scores, don't you think so too Obata? But daddy got me the best Duel tutors money could buy. If the rest of the questions are going to be this easy, then this will be quite a simple task indeed."

Moments later, it was Yuto's turn. He marched towards Mr. Miyazaki and smiled, head held high and ready to tackle the challenge. "I was getting bored just standing around, watching everyone else do it. I'm pumped to get going."

"I wish you luck, Mr. Masamune," replied Mr. Miyazaki. He was still a bit sore at Yuto's taking part in Shisaburou's 'bet', but also intrigued. Where did he get that 'Imperial Monster', exactly? And unlike Shisaburou and Beau, Yuto was far more polite and didn't seem to purposefully flaunt the rules as much. But there wasn't time to think this over too thoroughly as Yuto was off up the stairs.

"The physical part's no problem for these tough legs," Yuto said to himself as he made great time on his way to the first Ogre Guard, "but I'm gonna run into a bit of trouble with the questions and all. Never really been good with the technical stuff."

Soon Yuto reached the first Ogre Guard, and prepared himself for the first question. Alright, he thought to himself, let's see what kind of questions they're gonna throw at me.

"Question one," began the Ogre Guard, "Relinquished is equipped with five Broken Bamboo Swords. What is its current attack?"

Yuto thought this over in his head. Just like he thought, back home the folks didn't have a whole bunch of cards, so he hadn't seen as many as the rest of the students probably had. He was familiar with Relinquished---one of the cards he remembered reading about that Pegasus fella using---but he'd never heard of the other card. He began to think out loud as he pondered the question, "well, let's see now, Relinquished has 0 ATK..."

"Correct," said the Ogre. "Broken Bamboo Sword provides no ATK benefit, and Relinquished having five equipped would mean that it would be unable to equip a monster. You may proceed."

Yuto couldn't believe his luck. But he knew that getting by on luck like that wouldn't work for all of the questions and soon his fear proved correct.

"Question two," said the second Ogre when Yuto reached him, "what are the Fusion Material Monsters required in order to Fusion Summon Fusionist?"

"Damn, a Fusion, huh? Well, no one back home ever really used Fusions. So, uh, I'm not sure. Uraby and Turtle Tiger, maybe?"

"Wrong. Petit Angel and Mystical Sheep #2. Return from whence you came."

Yuto jogged back down the stairs to the first check-point, passing by the student who was after him. Yuto decided to give him some friendly advice, "hope you're up on your Fusions, fella."

About a minute or so later, Yuto once more reached the second Ogre and was ready for the question. On the way up he went over in his head about all the Fusion Combinations he recalled, remembering around fifteen of them or so. He'd get it this time.

"Question two," said the second Ogre, "name the three Synchro Monsters that the Tuner Plaguespreader Zombie is specifically used as material for."

"Eh, Synchro Monsters this time? What about the Fusions?"

"On every attempt we change up the questions. I, for example, have roughly one-hundred questions I've prepared to rotate through. Now, if you don't answer within a minute, I will consider it incorrect."

Yuto sighed. No one back home really ever used Synchro Monsters either, everyone was simple and stuck with the old normal monsters mostly. His small-town background was really hurting him. Still, he decided to take a stab at it.

"Let's see...I remember there was Junk Warrior, Archfiend Zombie Skull, and, um..."

"Wrong. Archfiend Zombie Skull is correct, but the other two are Doomkaiser Dragon and Revived King Ha Des. Return from whence you came."

"Heh, I'll get past you soon enough," Yuto bragged as he headed back down the stairs, "I mean eventually you'll run out of questions and repeat one, right? I just gotta wait for that."

Twenty minutes later, everyone but four of the students had finished. Two of them were the last two to begin, and only had one last question to conquer. Dennosuke also had yet to finish, walking towards Ogre Guard 8 at an extremely slow pace, his body soaked with sweat. Yuto, meanwhile, was still at Ogre 2.

"Question 2," said the Ogre annoyed. This was the fifty-sixth time he had asked Yuto a question, "what are the Fusion Material Monsters required in order to Fusion Summon Fusionist?"

"Got you," said Yuto with a laugh, "you asked that one already, remember? Petit Angel and Mystical Sheep #2! All I had to do was stick it out and I knew you'd slip up. Waiting for the perfect opening...the 'Masamune' style!"

At this point, the Ogre didn't care. "Correct. You may proceed."

"Well, it's been nice chatting with you and all, but I'll be moving on," chuckled Yuto as he moved up the steps finally. The rest of his trip, however, wasn't any easier---it took him fifteen questions to progress past Ogre 3, twenty questions for Ogre 4, one question for Ogre 5 (he got lucky), nineteen questions for Ogre 6, eleven questions for Ogre 7, thirty questions for Ogre 8, and twenty three questions for Ogre 9. The Ogre's really wanted to just let Yuto pass, but their pride as Sengoku Academy staff members kept them from lowering the difficulty of their questions.

Yuto came across Dennosuke sitting at the bottom of the set of stairs leading up to the final Ogre guard, unable to continue any further. He hadn't done any worse than Yuto did answering the questions---in fact, while he did miss quite a few, overall he did quite well---but the physical portion had quickly worn him down. Yuto stopped as he saw his buddy plopped on the staircase, eyes closed and barely conscious.

"Whoa, Dennosuke, you look out of it," said Yuto. He took a seat next to Dennosuke and gave him a quick pep-talk, "come on, you don't want Shisa to laugh at you for giving up like this, do you? You can't give up, that's the one thing a Duelist can't do. I mean, look at me, I'm in over my head here with these questions, but I kept at them and eventually I got through. So why don't I help you up, dust you off a bit, and we head up those stairs together as pals?"

"Yuto," said Dennosuke as he struggled to open his eyes and look over towards him, "don't look down on me. I don't need your help...even if I am weak..."

"Come on, don't be so stubborn," Yuto replied, "just because you can't keep up with everyone else doesn't mean you're weak, it just means you've got plenty of room to grow---sorry, I mean that in a figure of speech kind of way."

"You don't get it," laughed Dennosuke with his last bit of breath, "I blabbed about Patch-Eye to everyone. Still feel sorry for me?"

"Yeah, I figured it was you," Yuto said, "I mean, you're the only one I told. But I don't mind, I mean, really I would of told anyone who asked. And don't worry, I won't tell Shisa about it either. Now come on, you're my friend and I'm not just gonna leave you behind like this."

Dennosuke couldn't get a word out as he struggled to breath, but a slight smile came across his face regardless. Yuto bent down and helped him up on his feet, supporting him with his shoulder as he slowly walked forward up the stairs. Yuto was technically lifting Dennosuke up a bit off the ground, but made it appear to anyone who was looking that Dennosuke was walking. He didn't want to embarrass him.

"See, now we're making progress," Yuto said with a chuckle as the two made their way to the final Ogre Guard. He let out a hearty laugh as he saw the odd-couple appear before him.

"You kids got a lot of heart supporting one another like that, especially you 'one-eye'. Helping your friend like that, now that's what we really look for here at Sengoku Academy. Sure, some folks might say it's all about strength, others say it's all about intelligence, but if you ask me, it's all about what's on the inside. Guts. Heart. And you've got both in supply, kid."

"You know I like the way you're talking, Mr. Ogre," said Yuto as he looked down at Dennosuke, "but we're both a bit ready for you to ask us the last question. I mean we're both pretty worn out and all."

"Alright, I see you're getting a bit impatient. Anyway, the last question's a bit different, as I ask you about one of your cards. Sort of a breather for you after coming up all this way, but no less important of a question. Know matter how smart you are, if you don't know what your own cards do, you're be in a bit of trouble when you Duel."

Yuto nodded and handed over his Deck. The Ogre shuffled through it to find the perfect question.

"Alright, I've got one. This Kabooster of yours, it's a bit on the weak side. Probably a onster you might forget about here and there. Why don't you tell me its Level, ATK, and DEF Score. You didn't forget, did you?."

"Forget Kabooster?" laughed Yuto, "sure, it might not be one of my main monsters, but just like me it doesn't give up. Level 2, with 500 ATK and DEF. I'm right, right?"

"Wow," said the Ogre guard as he handed Yuto back his Deck, "yeah, you got it right. I'm not surprised though, I had a feeling you're the type of guy who doesn't just forget about their monsters, even the weaker ones. Alright, now it's short man's turn..."

No response. Dennosuke had passed out from exhaustion.

"Gee, I've never had this happen before," said the Ogre, "this is no good. You know we've never kicked anyone out for failing the 'Ogre Stairs', but that's only because I don't think anyone's ever passed out like that. If he can't answer the question, I'll have to technically fail him I guess. He'll still get into Sengoku, of course, but he'll already cost his House points. And he won't be too popular bringing down everyone else like that from the get-go, folks will be pretty mad with him."

"Now hold on a second," Yuto exclaimed, "how about I answer it for him? I mean, would that be okay? He tried his hardest and I can't just let him fail like that at the last second, you get me? He's my pal."

The Ogre crossed his arms and thought that over for a second. Finally he came to a conclusion.

"Well, I can't say no to a face like yours kid. Plus, I already let those other two guys, the little one and the big one, through since Mr. Miyazaki okay'd it for some reason, so I guess giving you a chance wouldn't hurt nothing. But I'll have to ask you about one of his cards, do you even know what he has?"

"Truth be told, can't say I do. Just met him today and he never showed me his Deck. He's not the type to put himself out like that, he's a bit sneaky honestly," replied Yuto, "but I'm not going to let him down either. I'll give it my best shot and hope things work out." Yuto reached into Dennosuke's pocket and pulled out his Deck, handing it over to the Ogre.

"If you think you can do it, then we'll put that to the test. I'll go a bit easier on you. Just one question, that's all. Alright, this card of his is named Wattaildragon. Ever heard of it? Your question is to tell me its ATK score. That's all I ask."

Yuto thought that over for a second, remembering what he knew about Dennosuke. Finally he came to a satisfying answer. "Well, most Dragon Monsters I know are pretty strong---like Patch-Eye. Gonna be more than 1000 at the least, I know that. And Dennosuke is the type of person who'd have a pretty strong monster. He always wants to seem strong, so he'd go for something powerful. Like an 'Ace Monster', and a Dragon is the type of Monster he'd probably go for to show his strength. Most 'Ace Monsters' of all the big Duelists I've learned about tend to be 2500. Heck, my 'Ace Monster' is that strong too. So that's my answer, 2500 ATK."

The Ogre paused. "Are you sure? You sure? I'll give you a chance to change your answer this time, just because I like you."

"I might be wrong," replied Yuto, "but I'm not the type to change my mind once it's made up. I'm a bit stubborn you might say, so I'm not changing my answer."

"That's good, that's good," said the Ogre as he carefully placed Dennosuke's Deck back into the young man's pocket, "because you got it right! You got it right! You got some talent there, some talent. Truth be told, watching you struggle through all the other questions made me wonder if you might be a bit special in the head. But if you ask me, you've got the 'intelligence' a Duelist needs in my mind, gut instinct. Now take your friend and get going, you've earned it in my mind!"

The Ogre moved aside to let Yuto and Dennosuke pass, giving a hearty clap to both of them. The other Ogres joined in---although in their case, it was more so that they were relieved they didn't have to stick around and ask Yuto anymore questions. This was the last time any of them would volunteer for the 'Ogre Stair Challenge'.

"Look at them clapping for you, Dennosuke," whispered Yuto to his unconscious friend, "you did it! You beat the 'Ogre Stairs'. I'm proud of you too, you know. I didn't just guess back there---I could feel you telling me the answer in a sort of sixth-sense way."

Yuto wasn't sure Dennosuke could hear him, but regardless, he tried his best to comfort him. And judging by the smile Dennosuke still wore on his face, maybe he had heard him after all.

The other students were relieved to see Yuto and Dennosuke finish, all of them tired from waiting around. Ahn Je-yun in particular looked down at Yuto, and slightly smiled. Are you going to be an Angel, or a Demon? I'll discover that soon enough on my own.

Beau also observed Yuto, quite impressed at how he carried his fallen comrade. "I must say Obata, I'm the type to assist a commoner like that without proper payment, but what Yuto did was quite becoming a strong man. No wonder I love him so much."

"Yes Sir!" replied Obata. Beau had specifically paid him to say that, and only that, whenever he was addressed.

"What the hell Masamune?" asked Shisaburou as he greeted the two as they reached the summit, "you took forever! How the hell did I lose to someone like you?"

"Hey! It's not my fault I didn't know any of those cards they asked about. Back home there wasn't that many cards to learn about, no one had that much money to buy cards, and even if they did, you had to walk to the next town over to buy them."

"Anyway, is he alright?" asked Shisaburou as he pointed to Dennosuke. He was slowly regaining consciousness as Yuto gently laid him on the ground, "I mean I knew he'd struggle with it, but he looks dead. I mean, not that I care or anything."

"He just got a bit overwhelmed," replied Yuto. "But if you ask me, he did great."

"You answered that last question for him though. How embarrassing to have that happen to you. I'd kill myself if that happened to me."

"I-I'd be pretty happy if you did," said Dennosuke as he came to. He struggled to stand up as Yuto removed his hat and used it as a makeshift towel to wipe away the sweat covering his face, "it'd make my day."

"Well, well, look who woke up," laughed Shisaburou. "I was afraid we lost you there, shorty. Be a shame if I wasn't the one who got send you to the next world."

"Thanks for the concern," said Dennosuke sarcastically. In a way, though, he felt a strange warmth behind Shisaburou's words.

"You two seem like you're getting fond of each other if you ask me," smiled Yuto. "My two pals, Shisa and Dennosuke!"

"I'm not your pal, Masamune! How many times do I have to say it? And I still don't trust him!"

"And why am I second? I met you first! And I told you, I'm not a thief!"

Mr. Miyazaki, who after sending up the last student had taken the cable car to the top to wait for them to finish, had fallen half-way asleep when the sound of the boys arguing awoke him. He panicked for a second as he fiddled with his watch to check the time.

"Oh my, we're quite late! Honestly, I've never had the 'Ogre Stairs' take this long," he said as he looked at Yuto and Dennosuke, "I'll have a talk with the Headmaster about the possibility of setting a strict time-limit next year. Anyway, students, please look over here!"

Mr. Miyazaki stood in-front of the large gate that stood before them. He reached into his pocket and took out a card---his Sengoku Academy I.D.---and placed it face-down on a small card-reader located at the side.

[FACULTY MEMBER MIYAZAKI - APPROVED! OPEN GATES]

The students watched in awe as the gate began to open up...

"I don't know about you two, but I'm pretty pumped to see what Sengoku Academy's like up-close," exclaimed Yuto. Shisaburou and Dennosuke nodded, everyone excited to see what the school they'd be spending the next year at looked like.