08-22-2008, 07:59 AM
Hello, welcome to my first thread!
I wanted to do something to get rid of my explicit fear of creating a thread *Shudders*.
So... I'm writing a fanfic! Perhaps not the best place to start, but aahh well.
Now, at first I was thinking "Ok, what should it be about?" Unfortunately, I really didn't feel like thinking of a completely original story, especially with the other fanfics i am doing (on fanfiction.net).
Ok, so post one from fanfiction.net to here?
No, that would be cheap.
Then the idea struck me. Do my older story, but in a different person's view (although in both of these there will be more then one...)
Aahh, but who? One of the main character's friends? Nah, too much obvious re-written coinciding.
A character who appeared little! Perfect, i thought. But of course, i still didn't know who...
In the end, after re-reading my story (picking up an error here and there as i did, not the best at grammar, and typos are my specialty) I discovered a person who had NO screen time, and was merely mentioned.
So; after a bit of debate, I decided to give it a shot.
As you've already seen, I'm going to need people to pluck the many errors in it if this story is to be good.
As for the rating, i'll give it PG-13 mainly to be safe, may contain some gore (nothing too detailed), violence, low level coarse language... Yeah. May increase rating later, but unlikely.
Hope you enjoy it. i'll consider submitting characters/cards later. I'd rather not add character bios on top, but if it's asked, i may. I just prefer to leave it to imagination is all. But all-in-all, i like ideas and constructive criticism
.
It's all a bit unorganized so far... Hopefully I'll be able to organize it all later.
Anyway... Let's see how this experiment goes.
So yeah, i've babbled enough, and i hope you enjoy:
The Duel Academy Entrance Exams laid there in all its glory. It was a large square building, a neutral gray in color, and a large white dome for a roof.
The building was basic yes, yet most people stared at it in awe. To some it was where people played some card game, to others it was learning an ancient game with a dark past. It probably helped that it was right next to the beach though, where many people waiting for the entrance examination would hang around.
On the other side of the academy were some small shops. The biggest being a three-story mini mall.
Next to the mini mall was a coffee shop. It looked like it would soon be in need of repairs, the once dark blue pain was flaking off, it made ominous creaking noises when you went inside, and the chairs and tables looked like they were together by spit and prayer.
The place was open, but no-one was there except for two figures. They were two young men wearing Hawaiian shirts and black tracksuit pants that most would consider a 'fashion disaster'. Perhaps it was for that reason people walking along the street found themselves avoiding those people. A pity really; While their speaking was vague, It sure was interesting.
'I can't believe you called me here.' The first one said. His voice was regulated and all-too normal to be 'normal'. His brown eyes stared at the other figure, seemingly watching for minute changes in the other's face.
Perhaps the other face complied, for he grinned playfully and the flung his arms up, while keeping his green eyes deadlocked at the other person's.
'Oh, you know it's important. Otherwise you wouldn't have come.' He let out a short laugh, then continued. 'I've found someone who fits the criteria perfectly. I'm already prepared to alter what is to happen.'
'Dangerous thoughts...' The other commented, 'any reason why I shouldn't report you?' His gazed never flickered, his eyes didn't blink. He just continued staring; his light brown hair had probably been cut for the soul purpose of staring at people.
'From the suspicious signs, someone else has already done so, we are just counteracting it. In the end true balance should be restored.'
'And if, so help me, you are wrong?' He lifted his eyebrows, not that there was much there. His eyebrows were wisps of light colored hair.
'Then we'll do what should have happened, and eliminate him.' he replied, somewhat too cheerfully for him to be sane. Bringing his arms forward he said 'So, you going to do your part?'
'I suppose, but if anything goes wrong, I was never here...' He took out a deck of Duel Monster cards. 'Amazing how so much power can be compacted into small objects, isn't it?' He sighed, his gaze flickering off the other and to the table. His head came up abruptly to gaze at the other figure again. 'I'll be off; I'll do as you ask. And I won't tell anyone what you're doing, for the moment.' Getting up, he walked briskly to the Duel Academy Entrance Exams, Leaving the other figure sitting there.
When he was a safe distance away, the figure sitting there grinned; his green eyes twinkled with a spark of mischief. 'I wonder how my dear unknown competitor is,' he chuckled. 'Can't wait to meet them personally...'
_______________________________________________________________
*Note: I didn't use there names on purpose, it is a bit jarring i know. I'll probably be asked to fix it, won't I?*
'I've made it!'
A kid called Joshua Paul beamed at the Duel Academy door. It hadn't been easy to get there, numerous obstacles had separated him from his goal. Such as people who seemed to only exist to torment him, a deck he had to alter again and again until he thought it was good enough. And now the door stood there, opened, inviting. His blue eyes glinted with delight, he rubbed his glasses to make sure that he wasn't seeing things, although all that did was make his glasses dirtier.
He ran through the baby blue corridors, caring to apologize to anyone he bumped into. Josh was lucky really, he always missed the big scary people who would have probably taken offense...
At last, he made it to a table, with that he tapped the computer screen implanted into it.
'Duel Academy Entrance Exam activated, you have one hour to complete the questions, After it will be rated.' The computer said in a dull male British tone.
He was ready, not born ready perhaps, but i was ready now.
Joshua checked out the first question, "What card can be negated by "Gryphon Wing"
He grinned and wrote down the answer with my touch-pen. Too easy; now, what was the next question...
********************************************************
'Look at these kids, full of youth, potential, and all the other jazz that can make or break the future.'
'You got that right...'
Two exam proctors stared down from the top floor at the applicants dueling with a smirk. The first one had brown eyes and a tanned face, and his nametag said "Bob", he wore the standard proctor uniform, a mix of blue and gray with a trenchcoat and pants.
The other one wore the same clothes, but the nametag said "Geoff" and he worea green Halloween horror mask covering his face, he said he used it to 'scare the opposition', but all it really did was make them laugh.
'Did that guy just waste his "Lightning Vortex" on a "Sangan"?' Bob snorted. 'he ain't making it'
'Yeah, but get a load of that "Mad Dog of Darkness", it's wiped the floor with that other Proctor.' Geoff commented.
A loud cheer echoed from the crowd and Geoff winced behind his mask winced. 'Ouch, that "Chaos Necromancer" had 6300 attack, looks like Rielly got hammered.'
'Considering he'd always set the shockwave amplifier two notches more then advised for applicants, he deserved it.'
'Good point,' Geoff's stomach grumbled. 'I'm gonna go get one of those "mystery" meat packs, maybe I'll be lucky.'
'Better hurry, you're up against one...' He looked up at the board. 'Joshua Paul, good luck on that.'
'Don't worry, if the kid is good, he'll beat me, if he ain't, he'll lose. Just like everyone else.' Geoff said brightly, somewhat taking the edge off the cheesiness of the mask.
'You don't give a damn about the contest do ya? whoever kicks out the most applicants gets a prize you know.' Bob snorted 'The rumors are we get a trip to a tropical resort, wouldn't that be something? Duel Academy's ok, but there are better places.'
'The competition is an idiot move, probably by our principle.' Geoff growled, not looking Bob in the face. 'Richard always was more into the "best of the best". It's a quiet way to get rid of the people in MORE need of teaching, i admit i try with the exam deck, but i always scrutenize whether they are worthy, even if they LOSE.'
'Yeah well, what can you do about it?' Bob shrugged. 'He is the boss.'
'I'll go get some food, duel the kid, and argue to Richard later.' Geoff stated, smacking his fist into his open palm. With that, he walked into the nearby corridor.
'Honestly, the old principle was far better then the maniac we have now...' Geoff muttered, looking at the looking at the ground. Suddenly, he found himself looking at a pair of black boots. Looking up, he saw a figure cloaked in black.
'Can i help you?' He asked pleasantly. Meanwhile his mind was ticking. Black cloaks, wasn't that what most shadow duelists, or indeed unsavory ones wore? It could be someone trying to play a trick on him...
Geoff's theory provided to be incorrect, as tendrils of shadow seeped out of the mam, and surrounded Geoff.
'Hey, what's going on...' The tendrils suddenly combined above his head and and struck Geoff on the forehead. Geoff fell to the ground instantly.
'How very kind of you...' The figure went to the prone form of Geoff and picked up his duel disk. he grabbed the deck and looked through it with distaste. 'Oh no, this simply will not do. Even for a practice deck.'
Throwing the cards away, scattering them in the hallway. He took out a deck from inside his cloak and inserted it into the duel disk. The deck glowed with an ominous purple aura before settling.
'There we go. Now, let's see who I'm facing today.'
Joshua Paul stared agape at the duels going on, these people were only trying to get in, yet the skill in the room seemed amazing.
The room was divided into around 16 'arena's, which was basically a 20 by 20 meter square. They were separated by a bright orange line to show where one began and another ended.
Joshua laughed, although the laugh was somewhat nervous. he knew he was good, but would he be good enough?
'Joshua Paul, come to Duel Arena 2 for your duel examination'. A voice similar to the one that had been on the computer before blared out.
'That's my cue.' Josh ran down the stares, his movements seemed orderly, yet also strange, an odd pattern of his legs going at different angles.
He made it to the arena to see a man with a halloween mask and a nametag with "Geoff" written on.
'Welcome kid, good luck on this duel, you can be sure it will be one you won't forget.' Inside the mask, "Geoff" smirked. This kid had a strong soul, but not quite tapped into, just the kind of prey he liked. perfect to increase his shadow powers...
'Sounds good!' Joshua said happily, oblivious to the meaning behind those words.
Both of them activated their duel disk.
'DUEL!' They shouted.
(JLP: 8000)
(GLP: 8000)
'Examiner's begin!' "Geoff" declared. drawing a card, he smirked. 'Let's see how the kid likes this move.' He thought to himself.
'I summon "Needle Ninja" in attack mode (4/400/1500).'
A Ninja in a black outfit with pouches filled with razor-thin needles materialized, his grey eyes stared at Joshua impassively, as if seeing him as nothing more then an obstacle.
'Now my monster's effect activates. once per turn, i can inflict damage to your life points equal to the cards in your hand times 100. So Ninja, strike him with "Precision Puncture"
The ninja lept into the air and threw five needles at Joshua, two struck both arms, two struck both legs, and one struck the neck.
Joshua fell to the ground, stunned (JLP: 7500)
'That... was a lot lot more painful then i thought it would be' Joshua thought, And are those bruises on my arm?'
'The Shockwave system may not be as painful as a shadow game, but set it high enough and it's ok i suppose.' "Geoff" grinned. 'I set two cards face down and end my turn, now if you would be so kind as to get up, the duel can continue.'
'I have a lot more respect for the other people now, if dueling is this painful, i'm surprised they all remains standing.' Joshua Paul got up unsteadily and drew. 'Not bad, but you did leave your monster in attack mode, and with only 400 points, it's wide open!'
'Try not to disappoint me applicant by being reckless.' "Geoff" tilted his head, amused.
Meanwhile, up at the stand, Bob was looking at the duel, a frown on his face.
'What deck is that.' He mumbled to himself. 'That ain't a card from any exam deck i've seen. Not to mention Geoff never uses burn decks.' His brow furrowed. 'Something ain't right here, i better call security.'
He started moving towards the hallway where Geoff had gone before.
Looking up there, "Geoff" saw where he was going and grimaced. 'Damn, can't toy with him any longer. I better up the ante.'
'Before you take your turn, i must say I'm impressed. You haven't taken your turn yet, or done anything of note. But i think it's time to up this game.'
Joshua raised an eyebrow. 'What?'
A scream was heard from a corridor at the top floor of the place.
'Let's make this duel a blast from the past! A real... SHADOW Game!' "Geoff" raised his hands and shadows burst out around the arena, surrounding the duelists.
'Wha... How... What kind of test is this!' Joshua shouted.
'A true test, a test that really shows what's down there.' "Geoff" patted his heart. 'Anyway, I'm going to take off this mask before i choke.'
He tore off the mask, revealing a grinning face with numerous small scars, green eyes with a glint of madness, and obviously dyed blue hair.
'Congratulations! You just got the toughest proctor here, call me Nadel. Anyway applicant, it's your move.' His face grinned sadistically and he hummed a somewhat merry tune.
Joshua gulped. Drawing, he stuttered 'As i said, you've left a weak monster wide open, so i summon "Mercury Sniper" in attack mode! (3/1500/0)'
A humanoid figure made of a shifting silver liquid appeared, a rather solid-looking sniper rifle slung on his back.
'Your monster isn't any match for him, now prepare yourself!'
'For what?' Nadel said, a bored tone. 'Don't tell me that, with two face-downs on my side of the field, you're going to attack.'
Joshua faltered. 'Well... Hey, you're just trying to psyche me out! I'm attacking!'
"Mercury Sniper" tossed the rifle into the air, leapt up, aimed in mid-air, and...
'I activate a trap card, "Needle Barrage".'
Suddenly a wormhole appeared and needles flooded the area around the Sniper, some of them digging into the liquid 'flesh'. (3/1500-1000/0)
'It can only be activated when a "Needle" monster is attacked. It negates the attack, decreases the attack of the monster by 500, and inflicts damage to your life points equal to half the monster's original attack.' Nadel sighed. 'I told you to reconsider.'
Ten stray needles broke off from the pack and went straight for Joshua, who ducked in an attempt to avoid them, the needles skimmed mast his right arm. Looking at it, he saw ten lines on his arm, a couple of drops of blood flowed out, but nothing that big.
(JLP: 6750)
Noticing Joshua staring at them he said 'This is a shadow game kid, your body is up for some major pounding if your not careful, and your soul will probably be in trouble too.' He laughed, 'watch your step.'
Getting up from the ground, Joshua gritted his teeth. The damage hadn't been bad, but this man was totally mad!
'That rhymes! I'll have to remember that.' Joshua grinned, trying to hold onto that joke, he couldn't lose his sanity, or he'd either die or lose his soul. Neither looked very promising.
'I set two cards of my own and end my turn.' Joshua stated, trying to sound as normal as possible, but the strain showed on his face.
'Don't worry yet, it will most likely only go downhill here!' Nadel drew. 'And now, I'm sure you remember the effect of my "Needle Ninja".
three needles shot out, this time Joshua manage to throw himself out of the way of all three. His life points still decreased, and Joshua still felt pain, probably his soul getting damaged... (6450).
'But it really shouldn't end yet, should it!?' I release my "Needle Ninja" to summon “Needle Roach” (5/500/500).
“Needle Ninja” disappeared in a puff of smoke, to be replaced by a giant dark green roach with needles sticking out of its back.
‘He sacrificed his monster only to special summon a weaker one…’ Joshua frowned, not bothering to say it out loud. This guy was a psycho, but he knew what he was doing. Bad luck for Joshua then.
'Now, my darling monster will attack your Sniper!' Nadel declared.
"Needle Roach" took two steps forward before getting a bullet in it's center. Despite that it kept crawling forward, only to get a second bullet, a third, and finnaly one in the head finished it, and it went *SPLAT*.
("G"[N]LP: 7500)
'Now i end my turn, activating my monster's effect. When he is destroyed in battle, he comes right back during the end phase in attack mode! All it cost is the top card from my deck.'
A mound of dirt appeared and; like a mole, the roach burst out of the ground. Suddenly, it sprayed Joshua Paul with needles.
(JLP: 5750)
'Oh, did i mention that you take 1000 points of damage every time that happens?' Nadel laughed, jumping up and down like an excited child with a toy he had always wanted.
Joshua ignored him, concentrating on picking the needles out. The good news was that there hadn't been too much force behind them, so they hadn't gone too far into the skin. Bad news was there was a LOT of them.
He was already breathing heavily, not a good sign. Not even half his life points had been taken yet!
'Stop thinking fatalistically!' Josh scolded himself. I can beat this guy, somehow...
Josh drew a card, wincing as he felt a needle he had missed get pushed further into his skin.
'...I release Mercury Sniper...' Joshua's vision went fuzzy, he faltered.
"Mercury Sniper" turned into a sphere of liquid floating in the air.
'I don't want him to see the pain I'm about to be feeling anyway...'
'...To advance summon "Neon Gunner" in attack mode (5/2300/1000).'
The sphere of liquid burst, revealing a somehow immaculate glowing orange techno-man, possibly a machine or a man in high-tech armor.
'Now, he attacks...'
Neon Gunner opened his palm and a sphere of orange energy appeared, he hurled it at "Needle Roach", causing the creature to explode on contact. The blast continued until it hit Nadel head-on, causing him to be thrown back a meter.
(NLP: 5700)
'Then he inflicts damage equal to half the destroyed monster's attack to your life points!'
Nadel got up only to be punched in the face by "Neon Gunner", taking a step back, he grinned, ignoring the bruise on his face.
(NLP: 5450)
'Not bad, but is that all?'
'For now, but there's more where that came from!' Joshua's voice became stronger, more confident. He was getting the advantage over this guy, he might just... no, we WAS going to win.
'Well then, by sending the top card from my deck to the graveyard, guess whose back?'
Coming out of the same hole, the Roach jumped into the air and sprayed needles at Joshua. But this time he was ready, taking two steps back, only a stray needle hit his shin. He grimaced, but held firm.
(JLP: 4750)
'Now, i draw with a dramatic fashion!' He paused. 'Oh forget it, i need an audience.' Drawing a card rather plainly, he grinned.
'Now let the real fun begin! I activate the field spell "Eye of the Needle"
What looked like a massive hoop materialized. Followed by a long silver line with a sharp point.
'What it does is rather simple. Whenever we inflict effect damage to the opposition, the damage is doubled.' He laughed shrill and high-pitched, the typical mad scientist fashion. 'A pity i had to use this card, it speeds the game. But what can i say? I have lots to do.' He shrugged. 'Anyway, I'll activate the continuous spell "Needle Thread"
A thread went through the massive hoop, another small needle at the end.
'This card inflicts 200 damage to you during each of my standby phase, and every turn the damage inflicted will increase by 200. But since the damage is doubled, it's more like 400. Anyway, i end my turn. Not like there is much you can do...'
(NLP: 5450)
Joshua drew, grimacing.'With all those life point damaging cards, my life points will be gone soon. I need to end this fast.' he looked at the card and his face brightened.
'I summon "Sodium Assassin" in attack mode (4/1800/200).
A silvery-white humanoid creature with a dagger between his teeth materialized. His face changed into a somewhat twisted grin.
'Now i equip "Neon Gunner" with "Calcium Enhancement".
The orange gunner turned a lighter shade of orange and grew taller. (5/2300-3300/1000)
'Now is the time I inflict hurt to you!' Joshua said, eyes ablaze. '"Neon Gunner", crush that insect!'
A quick blast of the orange energy and the roach was gone and Nadel was standing there resolute, his skin glowing orange and smoking. Despite the pain he must have been in, he made no sound.
Not even when He got a matching bruise on the other side of his face from another punch, further enhanced by his own field spell.
And even as he got a large slash from the "Sodium Assassin" he didn't falter.
(NLP: 350)
He kept that grin, the only strange thing was he didn't move, veins from his forehead started popping up, he looked like he was about to explode.
'Well, that was...' He paused, 'not the nicest thing you could have done.' The veins vanished, he now had a more quizzical look then anything 'Shall you end your turn?'
'I guess...' No sooner did Joshua say those words then "Needle Roach" burst out of the ground, once again spraying needles . This time Joshua was sure to take three steps back, avoiding all of them.
(JLP: 2750)
Nadel drew, pausing as he saw the card. 'You've become better in the five or so minutes i've taught you, before you could barely take a single needle, now you know how to avoid, and even resist the pain. I must be such a great teacher.' he sighed. 'But if you think you've surpassed the teacher, you have another thing coming. To start, I summon "Needle Swarm" in attack mode (2/500/400)
a large amount of needles swarming around in a sphere materialized.
'Tell me, you into synchro summonings?' He said in a reserved tone.
Joshua's eyes widened. '...You're going to synchro summon?'
'A level seven synchro summon, no less. Tuner "Needle Swarm", synchronize with "Needle Roach".
The swarm of needles broke out of the sphere and surrounded "Needle Roach", creating a small dark tornado with needles flying all around it and the roach invisible from sight.
'Shards of pain promote the strength of life, from the pain rises true living. Synchro summon! Appear before us, Needle Porthaes! (7/2600/400)
Out of the tornado came a humanoid creature made entirely out of moving needles. It had five extra large stationary ones on each hand for fingers. It seemed to have a face too, massive mad eyes glowing red and a large needle-sharp black "tongue" sticking out of it's mouth.
Joshua looked at the creature fearfully. 'N-not bad, but my Neon Gunner is still stronger.'
'You need to get your glasses checked it appears.' Nadel said sadly. 'Look at your monster.'
It was then that Joshua noticed his "Neon Gunner" was entrapped within a nest of needles (5/3300-1650/1000-500)
'That would be the effect of my Tuner, when it is involved in a Synchro Summon, it can halve the attack and defense of one monster. Anyway, my monster shall wipe your "Neon Gunner"
"Needle Porthaes" moved rapidly from side to side, avoiding the blasts from the ensnared gunner, then he leapt and engulfed "Neon Gunner" whole.
(JLP: 1800)
'And now one of my monster's effects activates, inflicting 500 damage for each level your monster has; adding the double damage, that's... five thousand life points off you!
Needles poured out of the creature, all seeking towards Joshua, who tried to escape, but the swarm overtook and Joshua screamed as they pierced his flesh, digging in, pain lancing all over his body.
(JLP: 1)
'How... how am i still in the duel?' Joshua rasped, blood flecking out of his breath. Landing on the floor, the blood was quickly absorbed by the shadows.
'Oh yes, i forgot that "Eye of the Needle" prevents a person from going to 0 life points from effect damage.' Nadel frowned. 'Oh well, you got until next turn i suppose, and don't bother going defensive, my synchro monster here also deals piercing.' He motioned towards the smiling creature, needles red with his blood made up the swirling vortex within the creature's core.
'I can't win, i don't think a single card in my deck can stop him.' Joshua's vision blurred, he began to stagger.
'Try to stay up long enough to draw a card, I want to see what you do.' It was Nadels voice, at least he thought it was. He was beginning to lose his senses...
Suddenly, there was a strange feeling, a burst of blue and brown appeared in his eyes, he felt himself jolted up, he suddenly felt alive. The injuries were still there, but he couldn't feel them. He heard a voice in his head.
'draw...' it said.
Joshua looked down at his deck, it seemed to be glowing. Was this... Destiny draw?
Joshua drew, loving the fluidity of his movements compared to before.
Nadel frowned. He seems a lot more alive then he was before, what's going on?'
Joshua looked at the card he drew with disbelief. If this was destiny draw, it must have noticed his deck couldn't save him and placed a card that could in it.
'You've been a challenging opponent.' Joshua said in an exaggerated deep voice. 'But it all ends here, foul shadow duelist.'
'You know, i take somewhat offense from that,' Nadel sniffed.
'Well, i now tribute my "Sodium Assassin" and the rest of my hand to summon "Chemical-Enhanced Berserker" (6/2400/500).
The Sodium man exploded with a wave of his hand and out of the rubble a large man with bulging muscles and machines connected to him on the back with rather painful-looking tubes appeared.
'Not bad, but he doesn't have the muscle to beat my monster.' Nadel noted, still from his grim face, he probably knew it was over for him all the same.
'My monster has an ability, by removing a "Chemical" monster, i can increase his attack by 1000. So I'll remove "Neon Gunner", and my monster can smash your monster to pieces!'
"Chemical-Enhanced Berserker" roared as his attack skyrocketed (6/2400-3400/500) and charged.
'Oh dear, this is going to hurt...' Nadel watched the creature smash through his monster and continued charging at him. He wasn't dissapointed when it hit.
It did hurt.
(NLP: 0)
Nadel got up unsteadily, surprisingly lacking any wounds, except for one, that seemed to be covered in some sort of shadowy bandage.
'I lose, so what's the penalty game.' He said calmly.
Joshua stared at him. 'Penalty Game?'
Nadel sighed. 'Aahh well, I'll see what i can find in the Shadow Realm.'
With that, shadows swirled around and Nadel vanished, without a trace.
And with that, the shadows melted away and he heard... cheering?
He looked up to see a crowd of people clapping and cheering for him.
He smiled, then all of a sudden he screamed, all the pain that had mysteriously been held back before came back, his vision blurred and he fell to the floor, the cheers turned to screams and he could hear shouts for medical attention, but most of all he saw a blurred face moving to his duel disk and taking the "Chemical-Enhanced Berserker, study it for a bit, and put it back.
'Perhaps too impressive.' the voice said, echoing through his head.
That was the last thing Joshua Paul heard before darkness overtook him and he fell to the ground, unconscious.
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Hope you liked it! I was going to add an extra scene, but I'll save it for the next chapter.
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The green-eyed man with the Hawaiian shirt took a sip of a glass of coffee in his hand and sighed. 'And people say i shouldn't have caffeine, it's calming in my opinion.' He said to no-one in particular.
Looking up, he saw that his 'pal' wearing the same clothes coming towards him, his eyes betraying nothing, his movements calm and composed, except he had one hand in his pocket.
He winced, that small difference was enough to know something was wrong.
'is there a pro...'
In a blur of movement The hand came out of the pocket, revealing a kunai that slashed a scar on the others face.
the green eyed man slowly put his hand where the scar was, smiling as he did so. 'I suppose you have a problem with what you just did?'
'He is still alive. I gave him a card to ensure his victory.' The man said, his calm voice tingled with the threat of anger and violence.
'Then it worked?' He gave a cheesy smile, folding his hands together, he looked at the empty sky.
'It did, but i can't help but feel... betrayed.' He paused, as if letting the imagination get to work. 'That kid had a strong heart, strong hearts usually lead to big change.'
'Like you said, "usually".' Green-eye gave a short laugh. 'Doesn't always mean it.'
'Let me be frank.'
'Aren't you always?'
Brown-eyed man ignored him. 'I've had my doubts from the start. I only helped you because I thought you deserved a chance, and i only continued because I said i would. I'll be alerting everyone else, and we'll keep an eye on what is going on with your new... champion.
'Champion is such a harsh word, but I can't think of a replacement.' Green-eye huffed. Standing up, he declared 'If you don't have anything nice to say, I'm leaving!'
With that, he left, people around him still veering away from him for reasons unknown.
Brown-eye sighed. 'Honestly, no-one respects there elders these days, or the law for that matter.' Sighing, he got up and entered the coffee store.
********************************************************
'Hey kid, you awake?'
Joshua heard a voice, and with that voice came a light. His mind began running towards it...
And all of a sudden he was awake, in a hospital bed. Groaning, he slowly got up, feeling pinpricks of pain all over.
'You are awake.' The voice said, beginning to take form. Grey eyes, a beard, a weak smile. But the blurriness stubbornly remained.
'Your glasses are on the bedside table.' The voice gave a weak chuckle.
Joshua's hands shot out to his sides, his right hand feeling something light; his glasses, he put them on quickly.
The room became clearer. Not that it needed to be. It was quite plain with white walls, a blank ceiling, the bed was also white. There was a dark brown bedside table and to his right was the only bright color in the room, a blue curtain.
And of course, there was the man. A quick look showed that his gaze with a blurred vision had shown him pretty much everything already, the only difference was a few freckles and small scars on his face.
'Welcome to Duel Academy.' The man said, once again doingthat same weak chuckle.
It took a few seconds for that to sink in.
'Duel Academy... but, the shadow duelist! The voice, the non-existant card!' He paused, running out of breath. '...So, why am i here already? I thought the semester wasn't until tomorrow.'
'two things, you've been out for a day, and...' The man sighed. 'We were ordered to bring you here ASAP.'
Going through to the other side of the curtain, he came back with a chair to sit on.
'Tell me, do you want me to tell you slowly, or as bluntly as possible?'
'I'm having trouble thinking as it is, go for the blunt approach.' Joshua said meanwhile his brain that was having 'trouble thinking' was going through the numerous things that could be going on. He might be a hero now! He might have found a conspiracy...
'Officially, you're a student here. Unofficially, you're a prisoner.' He sighed, the fake smile vanishing. 'I'm afraid if you want to leave after that traumatizing experience, we can't let you leave. You can't leave for the holidays either, until we're sure you will cooperate.'
'...Now i'm confused, didn't I just save people from a shadow duelist?'
'Yeah, and do you know how much bad publicity we will get if we reveal that a shadow duelist breached our security and endangered our students?' The man twiddled his thumbs nervously. 'I have to agree with you, it's like a bad joke. But our principle wouldn't take "no" for an answer. But don't worry. You'll be taken care of here. You made it to Ra yellow too.' He added conversationally.
Looking at his arm, Joshua saw he was indeed wearing a Ra Yellow outfit.
'I'm sure you'll enjoy it here. People will befriend you quickly. You DID defeat a shadow duelist. And I'm sure they'll use you as some sort of roll model to show the oppression of society.' He got up and gave Joshua a pat on the head. 'So don't worry, everything will be OK.'
With that, he ran out of the room as fast as he could, leaving a rather confused Joshua to ponder what had just been said.
********************************************************
The Shadow Realm
It was a rather large place, you could wander endlessly throughout it. Some said within it there was a bustling megatropolis where creatures had built some sort of society. But humans had yet to know for certain.
One person who wandered the shadows was a man in a torn proctor examination outfit. His face with numerous small scars, green eyes with a glint of madness, and obviously dyed blue hair.
His name sometimes fluttered away, but he always caught it again. He was called Nadel. He was here because he had lost, and his opponent had seemingly no idea how to do a proper penalty game.
Was he seething for vengeance?
That was a negative, he was more puzzled then anything else. Simply wondering around, his eyes seemingly absorbing the little detail of his surroundings.
He couldn't see them, but he could sense little shadow creatures cloaked around him, waiting. They didn't dare to strike him now, his power was too much for the lowly shadow creatures who had found him. But eventually either a stronger creature would come, or Nadel himself would tire. Either way, it resulted on his soul being a meal for some random creature of the shadows.
He was searching for... well, he didn't know. A way out would have been nice. But really ANYTHING that changed the dull monotone that was the shadow realm's black and purple. Even when he had initiated the shadow games he hadn't really noticed. Too intent on his opponent's he supposed.
He gasped, noticing at last something different. Some sort of green light.
He ran towards it, a happy tear in his eye. He had no idea what it was, but it was different. Even if it was a creature ready to devour him, at least it was better then the black and purple things that seemed to wait like a pack of vultures.
The creatures seemed uneasy by the fact that he was heading towards the light. As if trying to stop Nadel from fleeing, they all struck, but just as they got to him, he touched the source of the light; some sort of green crystal, and vanished from sight...
_______________________________________________________________
I tried a shorter chapter this time, just to see which people would prefer.
Joshua woke up with a groan, the needle sharp pains had dulled to an ache, but they were still painful.
Giving a look around, he concluded he was in his new dorm room. How he got there he didn't know. His memory was fuzzy. 'Probably tranquilized' He oh-so grimly thought to himself.
'Nice change of scenery, now it was all yellow instead of white. Joshua thought sarcastically..
He was overreacting really. His room was bland, but he still had his suitcase next to his bed. Some dark chocolate and a toothbrush stuck out of it, showing just how filled the bulging suitcase was.
A knock on the door echoed through the room. Joshua grimaced, wondering if the energy required to get to the door was worth it.
Sighing, he got up, his body was heavy, he stiffly moved towards the door, even the short walk made him sweat, or maybe it was because of the heat... No, he was probably making excuses, he had never been fit anyway.
Joshua opened the door with a shaking hand, and stumbled back as a flash of light hit him.
'And here we have the guy who beat a shadow duelist at their own game. So tell me, how does it feel?'
Joshua took a step forward and slammed the door in the offending Ra Yellow kid with a camera's face.
A small voice in his head was saying that he should take advantage of his popularity, but a much more demanding voice was telling him to lie in bed and rest.
Unfortunately, He heard a key enter the lock and another flash of light blinded his eyes.
'Wow, you got spunk. Come on, give the public a chance to see you for what you really are!'
'Isn't this illegal or something?' Joshua moaned, sitting on his bed.
'Well, you have been voted a temporary celebrity of Duel Academy, and since celebrity's owe the public, this is legal.' The kid took another picture, his green eyes brimming with delight.
Joshua blinked, he hadn't expected a somewhat educated answer. 'So... I'm a celebrity?'
'A temporary celebrity. Odds are people will forget about you in a week unless you do more heroic stuff.' Another shot, and the kid looked around the empty room. 'Very spacious type i see, like your space? You going to be a hero for all the angst teenagers?'
'What, NO!' Joshua shouted in a somewhat gargled cry. 'I just want to have a great year, and be able to leave after...'
'Such noble sentiment.' The kid sniffed, a rather realistic yet obviously exaggerated sad tone. His look brightened. 'Pretty much everyone loves those kind. So tell me about your life back at home. Did you have lots of friends? How were your marks at school? Did you see yourself becoming a hero to many?'
'...Please, will you just go away?' Joshua groaned, placing his hands in front of his face, muffling his voice.
'Not very supportive, are you?' The kid's face darkened. Even his vibrant blond hair seemed to dim. It only lasted for an instant, then he was cheerful again. 'How about a deal, you duel me. If i lose, I'll leave you. I win, you take all my questions.' He gave a big grin. 'Of course, even if i lose, I still get to see him in action and record it.'
Ignorant of his opposition's win/win situation, Joshua gave a small, tired grin. Taking his hands off his face he grabbed his duel disk next to the suitcase. Putting it on unsteadily, he got into position.
'You know, it would probably be preferable to do it outside.' The kid pointed out. 'Solid Vision has been known to make buildings not prepared for them unstable.
'I knew that.' Joshua snapped, tiredness clouding his senses and thought processes. He stomped out the door. After taking a few snapshots of the room, the the paparazzi-kid followed.
********************************************************
'...You think this place is secluded enough?' Joshua frowned. Tired as he may be, a volcano was still a bit scary when you were this close...
'You're the one who didn't want publicity, if i recall. Now, shall we get this duel started?' The kid said simply. Meanwhile in his pocket he pressed a button, and hidden in a small cluster of rocks, a video camera activated.
'Camera and ACTION' He thought in his mind. 'You can start this match, if you don't mind.'
'Very well.' Joshua drew a card. 'I probably should try ending this quick. This kid is annoying. Wait...'
'What's your name anyway?' Joshua asked.
'Names Erebos Spas, and I'm still waiting for you to make your move, champ.' Erebos chuckled.
(ELP: 8000)
(JLP: 8000)
'If you insist.' Joshua said warily, looking at his hand. 'I summon "Oxygen Medic" in attack mode (4/1400/1800).
A human in a white, seemingly diffused flowing outfit materialized, a first-aid kit in the medic's hand. their face obscured from view by a doctor's mask. Only two calm blue eyes could be seen.
'Now i activate his effect. Increasing my life points for every empty monster card zone times three hundred!'
Nine swirling light blue streams materialized from the air and connected to Joshua, being absorbed into him.
(JLP: 10700)
'Now i set two cards face-down and end my turn.'
'A reserved opening. Concealing your power until you think it's needed, hey?' Erebos drew a card. 'I'm not like that, be out and open with your power, i say. I summon "Dark Shadow Knight" in attack mode (4/1800/200).
A shadow of a human wielding a massive sword appeared. Slowly it seemed to stand up, becoming 3D.
Joshua shivered. Is this a trap, is this guy some sort of shadow duelist?'
'Now, attack with "Shadow Saber Strike"!'
In a flash the warrior was next to "Oxygen Medic", the shadowy blade sliced through the outfit like butter, the medic's head sailed off before it and the body disintegrated into pixels.
(JLP: 10300)
'Now, i set one card face-down and end my turn.' Erebos grinned cockily. 'Let me give you a tip, to keep the crowd's attention, give a spectacular start. Give em only a taste, but make it look as if it's a buffet!
'Riiight... When I need advice to be an annoyance and full of myself, I'll ask you.' Joshua shot back.
'Not very sporting, save the trash talk for evil and/or rival. Although I would be honored to be your rival.' Erebos bowed mockingly. 'But due to my biased opinion, I'd probably end up making you my rival.'
Ignoring Erebos, Joshua drew a card. 'I summon "Sulpher Acidicman" in attack mode (4/1600/0).
a creature that seemed to be made entirely of sand, except for a gun with a clear sphere filled with green glop.
'Now, my monster attacks!' Joshua declared. 'As such, his effect activates, decreasing your monster's attack by one hundred for each level!'
the creature took aim and fired the green glop at the shadow, causing it to dissolve into pixels until it completely faded away, tiny drops of it went on Erebos' arm and made a hissing noise. He brushed it off, ignoring the stinging sensation that seemed all too real for a hologram.
(ELP: 7800)
'Getting closer, but you need to add more tension and action!' Erebos drew. 'See? I knew you would end your turn there, I can predict very well. So i took out you having to say so. Now, i summon "Dark Shadow Berserker" in attack mode (4/2350/0).
Another shadow materialized on the ground, becoming 3D you could see it was a hulking figure wielding a spike on a chain.
'And with that...' He paused, savoring the moment. '...I end my turn.'
Joshua frowned. 'He didn't attack. Is he afraid of my face-downs? No, it didn't stop him before. That monster must have a side-effect for being such a powerful level four monster. I wonder if attacking it would trigger the effect. Not worth the risk.'
Joshua drew a card. 'Nothing that can stop that thing, but but i may as well prepare myself.
'I summon "Lead Gunslinger" in attack mode (4/1850/800)
A dark gray man wearing a black trench coat and wielding two revolvers materialized. swinging the revolvers around his fingers, he returned them to their holsters on the trench coat.
'And with that i end my turn.'
Erebos chuckled. 'Where was the flavor in that move? A calm before the storm is better off later.' He drew a card, smiling as he did. 'Now here is a crowd pleasing move. I activate... "Shadow Ascension Ritual"!'
The area around seemed to get the color leeched out, the shadows of the duelists seemed to flicker and grow.
'What have I gotten myself into this time?' Joshua thought to himself in horror, his mouth widening.
********************************************************
'So then, you brought the traitor.'
Within some sort of massive temple cavern, on a massive throne of marble sat a figure wearing dark green pants and jumper, along with a mask with a green jewel in the center and eye holes revealing eyes a very similar color to the outfit. Currently his gaze was on two figures. One of them was a pale faced man with cold light blue eyes and black hair. His pale skin and plain white clothes brightened by the flickering flames lighting the cavern. He was holding down another figure, angry hazel eyes staring at the man on the throne, although one of his eyes was covered by a mass of blond hair.
'Your the one whose betrayed us! Promises of something you don't HAVE the power to give. You make me sick sitting there, pathetic.' the "traitor" shouted.
'ME, the pathetic one?' the person on the throne said in mock amazement. 'And here i thought you were the one trying to alert the authorities, and sabotage everything we have done.' His voice hardened. 'Remember. I am judge, jury, and executioner here. But i have to give you a chance, so here it is.' He drew out a gun from the folds of his outfit. 'This gun has one shot. Once you get out of this room me and everyone else will not harm you. Nystra, release him.'
The man holding the Traitor (Nystra) let him go.
The Traitor had a look at the way out. One hundred meters, and some cover in the form of pillars. He could make it.
Grinning, he sprinted forward for the first pillar.
*BANG*
He slid past the pillar just in time, the bullet missed by a centimeter.
'I'm home free' He thought to himself. Grinning, he left the pillar and ran for the exit.
Seventy Meters...
Fifty Meters...
So very close and tempting...
Thirty meters....
Ten meters...
'That's enough i think...'
*BANG*
A scarce meter away from the exit, the traitor crumpled to the floor, blood pouring out from the wound in his chest.
The man on the throne tossed away the two guns he had. 'Now that we have dealt with that. How is Judgement Energy looking at Duel Academy?'
And so they talked, the body of the traitor completely forgotten. After all, it was just a corpse...
_______________________________________________________________
Erebos chuckled. 'Where was the flavor in that move? A calm before the storm is better off later.' He drew a card, smiling as he did. 'Now here is a crowd pleasing move. I activate... "Shadow Ascension Ritual"!'
The area around seemed to get the color leeched out, the shadows of the duelists seemed to flicker and grow.
'What have I gotten myself into this time?' Joshua thought to himself in horror, his mouth widening.
Shadows started swirling around, coming closer and closer.
At last, the swirling shadows began forming a liquid mass, after becoming the shape of a human, it began to solidify, until at last it formed a solid shadow that seemed scarily like the duelist that summoned it, except instead of a duel disk it wielded a flamberge in one hand.
'Meet the mighty "Ascended Shadow, Guang" (8/2700/2000). He looks awesome, if i do say so myself. Even if he costs two monsters from my hand.'
The color around them slowly trickled back, and Joshua eyed the creature critically. 'Are you sure you're not somewhat biased?'
'Oh, isn't everyone these days?' Erebos countered. 'It's the majority's ideas that matter. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to have my revenge and wipe out that nuisance that is acidicman.'
Guang didn't even have to step forward, he simply swung the massive flamberge down, and a shockwave of dark energy engulfed acidicman, obliterating him from existence. But by the time the shockwave hit Joshua, it had become little more then a breeze.
(JLP: 9100)
'Do you see it? I've already given you a difficult foe to defeat!' Erebos raised his arms dramatically. 'To defeat this creature may take one turn, a dozen, perhaps you won't defeat him. But he APPEARS to be a real threat, so the shock and awe remains! Defeating him early will signify your power, defeating him late gives an epic struggle. Not defeating him gives an opponent even you cannot defeat!'
He paused for breath and dramatic effect. 'And i think that is enough talk for now. One Spell OR Trap face down and i end my turn.'
Joshua drew a card. 'Nothing to destroy that thing, but something to protect myself. That will have to do for now.
'I release my "Lead Gunslinger" to set a monster, then i end my turn.'
the gunslinger exploded, then the fragments came together slightly above the ground and formed the back of a card.
'An interesting twist. You have been forced to try and defend yourself. I probably should have attacked with berserker...'
The shadowy berserker roared in response.
'Then again, perhaps not.' Erebos sighed. 'I never was much of a gambling man. Now, that monster is most likely able in some way to resist my creature. But i can't let the audience get bored! I attack your face down with my ascended shadow!'
Once again the shadow with a flamberge struck the earth, sending a shockwave at the face-down card. The card flipped...
and with a *BOOM* the shockwave dissipated, revealing a massive silvery-white shield (6/100/3000).
(ELP: 7500)
'you were right when it said it could resist your monster. My "Lutetium Shield Bearer" has enough defense to protect me.'
'Perhaps. But you can't keep secrets from the public. Now that I know what it is, I can work my way to it's destruction!' Erebos shouted dramatically, his right hand pointing slightly above Joshua at empty sky. Calming down, he stated simply 'I end my turn.'
'If this guy is a shadow duelist, he sure is taking a while to reveal it and revel in my despair, or something like that...' Joshua drew a card. 'I summon "Mercury Sniper" in attack mode (3/1500/0).'
The liquid silver guy with a big sniper rifle appeared.
'Now, he attacks your ascended shadow!'
Taking aim at the shadow, the sniper fired, leaving a small silver wound on the shadow that didn't heal (8/2700-2400/2000).
'My sniper has an effect similar to "Rocket Warrior". Unlike that card, the effect is permanent. And don't try to attack it. As long as another monster of mine remains, he cannot be attacked.'
To emphasize the point, the sniper dashed behind the shield of Lutetium.
'So the hero has resorted to hit and fade to eliminate my creature.' Erebos frowned. 'not the most heroic battle.' He gave a large grin. 'But then again we do need heroes of the unorthodox these days!'
Joshua could swear that kid had a split personality. sometimes he would try to insult him, the next he would attempt to defend Joshua's actions any way possible.
'Well, I end my turn...'
'Perfect! That means it's my move!' Erebos drew a card in a chopping motion. 'Now watch and be amazed as your defense crumbles before your very eyes! I activate the Continuous Spell "Shadow Prism".
A burst of shadows materialized from the center of the field and engulfed "Lutetium Shield Bearer".
'This card can only be activated as long as a "Dark Shadow" monster remains on my field. It turns your monster into a permanent spell, preventing you from doing pretty much anything with it. Trapping one of the hero's friends is a great step to bring either their downfall, or their true power.' Erebos' eyes flashed. 'Tell me, what will we see from you?'
Joshua remained silent.
'Strong silent type are we? Let's see how this breaks you. Now I attack that nuisance of a sniper.'
Guang lifted the massive sword, ignoring the wound where the sniper had shot him, and struck the earth, a shock wave completely engulfed the sniper and obliterated him.
(JLP: 8200)
'Reveal face-down.' Joshua snapped, '"Periodic Plunge", this trap can be activated when a "Chemical" monster is destroyed. I can remove it from the game to special summon another chemical monster, so long as it has a lower level.'
'A lower level?' Erebos raised an eyebrow. 'Your monster was only a level three. So you can only be summoning a level one or two monster. can one of them really protect you?'
'You're about to find out. I summon "Dysprosium Laserman" in attack mode (2/400/300).
A small silvery-gold figure with two guns instead of hands materialized.
'That doesn't seem threatening. Perhaps my berserker should...' Erebos shook his head vigorously. 'NO NO NO! I end my turn.'
Joshua drew calmly. 'I summon "Copper Axe Wielder" in attack mode (5/2300/1700)
'I know not of this monster, so explain how this monster miraculously was summoned without tribute!' Erebos announced.
'Normally a level five monster would require one, but my laserman allows me to decrease the level of all "Chemical" monsters in my hand by one until the end phase if i pay 600 life points.
(JLP: 7600)
'But that's not all. Laserman happens to be a tuner monster, so Synchro Summon!'
Erebos' eyes widened. 'A Synchro... NOW things are reaching the climax!'
'Building blocks of life, allow true bonds to become true power. Synchro Summon! Rise, "Curium Genablaster" (7/2500/2300)!
"Dysprosium Laserman" and "Copper Axe Wielder" leapt into the air, "Dysprosium Laserman" fired a circle of lasers which the copper man leapt into, then the laser man leapt into the still going beams, and then the lasers vanished, Revealing a silvery man with what looked like a massive energy generator on his back which was connected to a large chaingun he held.
'Now my monster destroys your ascended shadow!' Joshua declared coldly, not moving a single part of his body, except his mouth to utter those words.
Barely needing the signal, the Curium man let loose a hailstorm of bullets, ripping the (now regretting it) "Solid" shadow to shreds.
'Now my monster's effect activates. I send the top card from my deck to the graveyard, and depending on what it is, a different effect activates.' Joshua sent the top card, a monster called "Potassium Blazeman". 'Since it's a monster, you take damage equal to it's attack, and it's attack was a small number of... 3000'
'If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me!' Erebos declared. 'i activate the continuous trap "Shadow Link". As long as I have a "Dark Shadow", you also take any effect damage you deal to me!'
A massive explosion engulfed the field for a few seconds before dying away, revealing both duelists had fallen to the ground and were now steadily getting up.
(JLP: 4600)
(ELP: 4400)
'Endgame is coming near, and it appears the hero has the advantage. Will the villain play his final trump card!' Now Erebos sounded like a commentator, and an annoying one at that. 'I draw, and during my standby phase, two effects activate! First I'll tell you the effect of "Shadow Prism". During my standby phase, I can free the monster and inflict half it's strongest stats; in this case defense points, to BOTH of our life points! Oh, and one more catch. I get to choose the position.
The shadows surrounding the shield burst like shards and struck both duelists before fading away, and the shield fell flat on the ground (6/100/3000).
(JLP: 3100)
(ELP: 2900)
'The second effect is from that ascended shadow. During my standby phase after it is destroyed. I can bestow upon any "Dark Shadow" monster it's original attack until the end phase.'
"Dark Shadow Berserker" roared as an even larger shadow loomed over it. (4/2350-5050/0)
'this may hurt...' Joshua gulped.
'And now... I can't believe I'm going to do this, but i attack with my berserker!'
The berserker roared, and lifted up a massive coin, he hurled it into the air.'
'Wha...what's that.' Joshua asked.
'I'm putting the fate of the duel in chance. Let's see the final conclusion!' Erebos announced. 'Heads you lose, tails you win!'
Both duelists stare as the coin floated in the air, flipping around and around. The slowly; but surely, the coin...
Began...
Falling...
Down...
I wanted to do something to get rid of my explicit fear of creating a thread *Shudders*.
So... I'm writing a fanfic! Perhaps not the best place to start, but aahh well.
Now, at first I was thinking "Ok, what should it be about?" Unfortunately, I really didn't feel like thinking of a completely original story, especially with the other fanfics i am doing (on fanfiction.net).
Ok, so post one from fanfiction.net to here?
No, that would be cheap.
Then the idea struck me. Do my older story, but in a different person's view (although in both of these there will be more then one...)
Aahh, but who? One of the main character's friends? Nah, too much obvious re-written coinciding.
A character who appeared little! Perfect, i thought. But of course, i still didn't know who...
In the end, after re-reading my story (picking up an error here and there as i did, not the best at grammar, and typos are my specialty) I discovered a person who had NO screen time, and was merely mentioned.
So; after a bit of debate, I decided to give it a shot.
As you've already seen, I'm going to need people to pluck the many errors in it if this story is to be good.
As for the rating, i'll give it PG-13 mainly to be safe, may contain some gore (nothing too detailed), violence, low level coarse language... Yeah. May increase rating later, but unlikely.
Hope you enjoy it. i'll consider submitting characters/cards later. I'd rather not add character bios on top, but if it's asked, i may. I just prefer to leave it to imagination is all. But all-in-all, i like ideas and constructive criticism
.It's all a bit unorganized so far... Hopefully I'll be able to organize it all later.
Anyway... Let's see how this experiment goes.
So yeah, i've babbled enough, and i hope you enjoy:
Vol. 1: Prologue (Click to View)
Sideline Preparation
Prologue: Deception and Coffee With a Side of Mystery
_______________________________________________________________The Duel Academy Entrance Exams laid there in all its glory. It was a large square building, a neutral gray in color, and a large white dome for a roof.
The building was basic yes, yet most people stared at it in awe. To some it was where people played some card game, to others it was learning an ancient game with a dark past. It probably helped that it was right next to the beach though, where many people waiting for the entrance examination would hang around.
On the other side of the academy were some small shops. The biggest being a three-story mini mall.
Next to the mini mall was a coffee shop. It looked like it would soon be in need of repairs, the once dark blue pain was flaking off, it made ominous creaking noises when you went inside, and the chairs and tables looked like they were together by spit and prayer.
The place was open, but no-one was there except for two figures. They were two young men wearing Hawaiian shirts and black tracksuit pants that most would consider a 'fashion disaster'. Perhaps it was for that reason people walking along the street found themselves avoiding those people. A pity really; While their speaking was vague, It sure was interesting.
'I can't believe you called me here.' The first one said. His voice was regulated and all-too normal to be 'normal'. His brown eyes stared at the other figure, seemingly watching for minute changes in the other's face.
Perhaps the other face complied, for he grinned playfully and the flung his arms up, while keeping his green eyes deadlocked at the other person's.
'Oh, you know it's important. Otherwise you wouldn't have come.' He let out a short laugh, then continued. 'I've found someone who fits the criteria perfectly. I'm already prepared to alter what is to happen.'
'Dangerous thoughts...' The other commented, 'any reason why I shouldn't report you?' His gazed never flickered, his eyes didn't blink. He just continued staring; his light brown hair had probably been cut for the soul purpose of staring at people.
'From the suspicious signs, someone else has already done so, we are just counteracting it. In the end true balance should be restored.'
'And if, so help me, you are wrong?' He lifted his eyebrows, not that there was much there. His eyebrows were wisps of light colored hair.
'Then we'll do what should have happened, and eliminate him.' he replied, somewhat too cheerfully for him to be sane. Bringing his arms forward he said 'So, you going to do your part?'
'I suppose, but if anything goes wrong, I was never here...' He took out a deck of Duel Monster cards. 'Amazing how so much power can be compacted into small objects, isn't it?' He sighed, his gaze flickering off the other and to the table. His head came up abruptly to gaze at the other figure again. 'I'll be off; I'll do as you ask. And I won't tell anyone what you're doing, for the moment.' Getting up, he walked briskly to the Duel Academy Entrance Exams, Leaving the other figure sitting there.
When he was a safe distance away, the figure sitting there grinned; his green eyes twinkled with a spark of mischief. 'I wonder how my dear unknown competitor is,' he chuckled. 'Can't wait to meet them personally...'
_______________________________________________________________
*Note: I didn't use there names on purpose, it is a bit jarring i know. I'll probably be asked to fix it, won't I?*
Vol 1 Chapter One (Click to View)
Sideline Preparation
Chapter 1: Life Hanging by a Needle's Thread
'I've made it!'
A kid called Joshua Paul beamed at the Duel Academy door. It hadn't been easy to get there, numerous obstacles had separated him from his goal. Such as people who seemed to only exist to torment him, a deck he had to alter again and again until he thought it was good enough. And now the door stood there, opened, inviting. His blue eyes glinted with delight, he rubbed his glasses to make sure that he wasn't seeing things, although all that did was make his glasses dirtier.
He ran through the baby blue corridors, caring to apologize to anyone he bumped into. Josh was lucky really, he always missed the big scary people who would have probably taken offense...
At last, he made it to a table, with that he tapped the computer screen implanted into it.
'Duel Academy Entrance Exam activated, you have one hour to complete the questions, After it will be rated.' The computer said in a dull male British tone.
He was ready, not born ready perhaps, but i was ready now.
Joshua checked out the first question, "What card can be negated by "Gryphon Wing"
He grinned and wrote down the answer with my touch-pen. Too easy; now, what was the next question...
********************************************************
'Look at these kids, full of youth, potential, and all the other jazz that can make or break the future.'
'You got that right...'
Two exam proctors stared down from the top floor at the applicants dueling with a smirk. The first one had brown eyes and a tanned face, and his nametag said "Bob", he wore the standard proctor uniform, a mix of blue and gray with a trenchcoat and pants.
The other one wore the same clothes, but the nametag said "Geoff" and he worea green Halloween horror mask covering his face, he said he used it to 'scare the opposition', but all it really did was make them laugh.
'Did that guy just waste his "Lightning Vortex" on a "Sangan"?' Bob snorted. 'he ain't making it'
'Yeah, but get a load of that "Mad Dog of Darkness", it's wiped the floor with that other Proctor.' Geoff commented.
A loud cheer echoed from the crowd and Geoff winced behind his mask winced. 'Ouch, that "Chaos Necromancer" had 6300 attack, looks like Rielly got hammered.'
'Considering he'd always set the shockwave amplifier two notches more then advised for applicants, he deserved it.'
'Good point,' Geoff's stomach grumbled. 'I'm gonna go get one of those "mystery" meat packs, maybe I'll be lucky.'
'Better hurry, you're up against one...' He looked up at the board. 'Joshua Paul, good luck on that.'
'Don't worry, if the kid is good, he'll beat me, if he ain't, he'll lose. Just like everyone else.' Geoff said brightly, somewhat taking the edge off the cheesiness of the mask.
'You don't give a damn about the contest do ya? whoever kicks out the most applicants gets a prize you know.' Bob snorted 'The rumors are we get a trip to a tropical resort, wouldn't that be something? Duel Academy's ok, but there are better places.'
'The competition is an idiot move, probably by our principle.' Geoff growled, not looking Bob in the face. 'Richard always was more into the "best of the best". It's a quiet way to get rid of the people in MORE need of teaching, i admit i try with the exam deck, but i always scrutenize whether they are worthy, even if they LOSE.'
'Yeah well, what can you do about it?' Bob shrugged. 'He is the boss.'
'I'll go get some food, duel the kid, and argue to Richard later.' Geoff stated, smacking his fist into his open palm. With that, he walked into the nearby corridor.
'Honestly, the old principle was far better then the maniac we have now...' Geoff muttered, looking at the looking at the ground. Suddenly, he found himself looking at a pair of black boots. Looking up, he saw a figure cloaked in black.
'Can i help you?' He asked pleasantly. Meanwhile his mind was ticking. Black cloaks, wasn't that what most shadow duelists, or indeed unsavory ones wore? It could be someone trying to play a trick on him...
Geoff's theory provided to be incorrect, as tendrils of shadow seeped out of the mam, and surrounded Geoff.
'Hey, what's going on...' The tendrils suddenly combined above his head and and struck Geoff on the forehead. Geoff fell to the ground instantly.
'How very kind of you...' The figure went to the prone form of Geoff and picked up his duel disk. he grabbed the deck and looked through it with distaste. 'Oh no, this simply will not do. Even for a practice deck.'
Throwing the cards away, scattering them in the hallway. He took out a deck from inside his cloak and inserted it into the duel disk. The deck glowed with an ominous purple aura before settling.
'There we go. Now, let's see who I'm facing today.'
Joshua Paul stared agape at the duels going on, these people were only trying to get in, yet the skill in the room seemed amazing.
The room was divided into around 16 'arena's, which was basically a 20 by 20 meter square. They were separated by a bright orange line to show where one began and another ended.
Joshua laughed, although the laugh was somewhat nervous. he knew he was good, but would he be good enough?
'Joshua Paul, come to Duel Arena 2 for your duel examination'. A voice similar to the one that had been on the computer before blared out.
'That's my cue.' Josh ran down the stares, his movements seemed orderly, yet also strange, an odd pattern of his legs going at different angles.
He made it to the arena to see a man with a halloween mask and a nametag with "Geoff" written on.
'Welcome kid, good luck on this duel, you can be sure it will be one you won't forget.' Inside the mask, "Geoff" smirked. This kid had a strong soul, but not quite tapped into, just the kind of prey he liked. perfect to increase his shadow powers...
'Sounds good!' Joshua said happily, oblivious to the meaning behind those words.
Both of them activated their duel disk.
'DUEL!' They shouted.
(JLP: 8000)
(GLP: 8000)
'Examiner's begin!' "Geoff" declared. drawing a card, he smirked. 'Let's see how the kid likes this move.' He thought to himself.
'I summon "Needle Ninja" in attack mode (4/400/1500).'
A Ninja in a black outfit with pouches filled with razor-thin needles materialized, his grey eyes stared at Joshua impassively, as if seeing him as nothing more then an obstacle.
'Now my monster's effect activates. once per turn, i can inflict damage to your life points equal to the cards in your hand times 100. So Ninja, strike him with "Precision Puncture"
The ninja lept into the air and threw five needles at Joshua, two struck both arms, two struck both legs, and one struck the neck.
Joshua fell to the ground, stunned (JLP: 7500)
'That... was a lot lot more painful then i thought it would be' Joshua thought, And are those bruises on my arm?'
'The Shockwave system may not be as painful as a shadow game, but set it high enough and it's ok i suppose.' "Geoff" grinned. 'I set two cards face down and end my turn, now if you would be so kind as to get up, the duel can continue.'
'I have a lot more respect for the other people now, if dueling is this painful, i'm surprised they all remains standing.' Joshua Paul got up unsteadily and drew. 'Not bad, but you did leave your monster in attack mode, and with only 400 points, it's wide open!'
'Try not to disappoint me applicant by being reckless.' "Geoff" tilted his head, amused.
Meanwhile, up at the stand, Bob was looking at the duel, a frown on his face.
'What deck is that.' He mumbled to himself. 'That ain't a card from any exam deck i've seen. Not to mention Geoff never uses burn decks.' His brow furrowed. 'Something ain't right here, i better call security.'
He started moving towards the hallway where Geoff had gone before.
Looking up there, "Geoff" saw where he was going and grimaced. 'Damn, can't toy with him any longer. I better up the ante.'
'Before you take your turn, i must say I'm impressed. You haven't taken your turn yet, or done anything of note. But i think it's time to up this game.'
Joshua raised an eyebrow. 'What?'
A scream was heard from a corridor at the top floor of the place.
'Let's make this duel a blast from the past! A real... SHADOW Game!' "Geoff" raised his hands and shadows burst out around the arena, surrounding the duelists.
'Wha... How... What kind of test is this!' Joshua shouted.
'A true test, a test that really shows what's down there.' "Geoff" patted his heart. 'Anyway, I'm going to take off this mask before i choke.'
He tore off the mask, revealing a grinning face with numerous small scars, green eyes with a glint of madness, and obviously dyed blue hair.
'Congratulations! You just got the toughest proctor here, call me Nadel. Anyway applicant, it's your move.' His face grinned sadistically and he hummed a somewhat merry tune.
Joshua gulped. Drawing, he stuttered 'As i said, you've left a weak monster wide open, so i summon "Mercury Sniper" in attack mode! (3/1500/0)'
A humanoid figure made of a shifting silver liquid appeared, a rather solid-looking sniper rifle slung on his back.
'Your monster isn't any match for him, now prepare yourself!'
'For what?' Nadel said, a bored tone. 'Don't tell me that, with two face-downs on my side of the field, you're going to attack.'
Joshua faltered. 'Well... Hey, you're just trying to psyche me out! I'm attacking!'
"Mercury Sniper" tossed the rifle into the air, leapt up, aimed in mid-air, and...
'I activate a trap card, "Needle Barrage".'
Suddenly a wormhole appeared and needles flooded the area around the Sniper, some of them digging into the liquid 'flesh'. (3/1500-1000/0)
'It can only be activated when a "Needle" monster is attacked. It negates the attack, decreases the attack of the monster by 500, and inflicts damage to your life points equal to half the monster's original attack.' Nadel sighed. 'I told you to reconsider.'
Ten stray needles broke off from the pack and went straight for Joshua, who ducked in an attempt to avoid them, the needles skimmed mast his right arm. Looking at it, he saw ten lines on his arm, a couple of drops of blood flowed out, but nothing that big.
(JLP: 6750)
Noticing Joshua staring at them he said 'This is a shadow game kid, your body is up for some major pounding if your not careful, and your soul will probably be in trouble too.' He laughed, 'watch your step.'
Getting up from the ground, Joshua gritted his teeth. The damage hadn't been bad, but this man was totally mad!
'That rhymes! I'll have to remember that.' Joshua grinned, trying to hold onto that joke, he couldn't lose his sanity, or he'd either die or lose his soul. Neither looked very promising.
'I set two cards of my own and end my turn.' Joshua stated, trying to sound as normal as possible, but the strain showed on his face.
'Don't worry yet, it will most likely only go downhill here!' Nadel drew. 'And now, I'm sure you remember the effect of my "Needle Ninja".
three needles shot out, this time Joshua manage to throw himself out of the way of all three. His life points still decreased, and Joshua still felt pain, probably his soul getting damaged... (6450).
'But it really shouldn't end yet, should it!?' I release my "Needle Ninja" to summon “Needle Roach” (5/500/500).
“Needle Ninja” disappeared in a puff of smoke, to be replaced by a giant dark green roach with needles sticking out of its back.
‘He sacrificed his monster only to special summon a weaker one…’ Joshua frowned, not bothering to say it out loud. This guy was a psycho, but he knew what he was doing. Bad luck for Joshua then.
'Now, my darling monster will attack your Sniper!' Nadel declared.
"Needle Roach" took two steps forward before getting a bullet in it's center. Despite that it kept crawling forward, only to get a second bullet, a third, and finnaly one in the head finished it, and it went *SPLAT*.
("G"[N]LP: 7500)
'Now i end my turn, activating my monster's effect. When he is destroyed in battle, he comes right back during the end phase in attack mode! All it cost is the top card from my deck.'
A mound of dirt appeared and; like a mole, the roach burst out of the ground. Suddenly, it sprayed Joshua Paul with needles.
(JLP: 5750)
'Oh, did i mention that you take 1000 points of damage every time that happens?' Nadel laughed, jumping up and down like an excited child with a toy he had always wanted.
Joshua ignored him, concentrating on picking the needles out. The good news was that there hadn't been too much force behind them, so they hadn't gone too far into the skin. Bad news was there was a LOT of them.
He was already breathing heavily, not a good sign. Not even half his life points had been taken yet!
'Stop thinking fatalistically!' Josh scolded himself. I can beat this guy, somehow...
Josh drew a card, wincing as he felt a needle he had missed get pushed further into his skin.
'...I release Mercury Sniper...' Joshua's vision went fuzzy, he faltered.
"Mercury Sniper" turned into a sphere of liquid floating in the air.
'I don't want him to see the pain I'm about to be feeling anyway...'
'...To advance summon "Neon Gunner" in attack mode (5/2300/1000).'
The sphere of liquid burst, revealing a somehow immaculate glowing orange techno-man, possibly a machine or a man in high-tech armor.
'Now, he attacks...'
Neon Gunner opened his palm and a sphere of orange energy appeared, he hurled it at "Needle Roach", causing the creature to explode on contact. The blast continued until it hit Nadel head-on, causing him to be thrown back a meter.
(NLP: 5700)
'Then he inflicts damage equal to half the destroyed monster's attack to your life points!'
Nadel got up only to be punched in the face by "Neon Gunner", taking a step back, he grinned, ignoring the bruise on his face.
(NLP: 5450)
'Not bad, but is that all?'
'For now, but there's more where that came from!' Joshua's voice became stronger, more confident. He was getting the advantage over this guy, he might just... no, we WAS going to win.
'Well then, by sending the top card from my deck to the graveyard, guess whose back?'
Coming out of the same hole, the Roach jumped into the air and sprayed needles at Joshua. But this time he was ready, taking two steps back, only a stray needle hit his shin. He grimaced, but held firm.
(JLP: 4750)
'Now, i draw with a dramatic fashion!' He paused. 'Oh forget it, i need an audience.' Drawing a card rather plainly, he grinned.
'Now let the real fun begin! I activate the field spell "Eye of the Needle"
What looked like a massive hoop materialized. Followed by a long silver line with a sharp point.
'What it does is rather simple. Whenever we inflict effect damage to the opposition, the damage is doubled.' He laughed shrill and high-pitched, the typical mad scientist fashion. 'A pity i had to use this card, it speeds the game. But what can i say? I have lots to do.' He shrugged. 'Anyway, I'll activate the continuous spell "Needle Thread"
A thread went through the massive hoop, another small needle at the end.
'This card inflicts 200 damage to you during each of my standby phase, and every turn the damage inflicted will increase by 200. But since the damage is doubled, it's more like 400. Anyway, i end my turn. Not like there is much you can do...'
(NLP: 5450)
Joshua drew, grimacing.'With all those life point damaging cards, my life points will be gone soon. I need to end this fast.' he looked at the card and his face brightened.
'I summon "Sodium Assassin" in attack mode (4/1800/200).
A silvery-white humanoid creature with a dagger between his teeth materialized. His face changed into a somewhat twisted grin.
'Now i equip "Neon Gunner" with "Calcium Enhancement".
The orange gunner turned a lighter shade of orange and grew taller. (5/2300-3300/1000)
'Now is the time I inflict hurt to you!' Joshua said, eyes ablaze. '"Neon Gunner", crush that insect!'
A quick blast of the orange energy and the roach was gone and Nadel was standing there resolute, his skin glowing orange and smoking. Despite the pain he must have been in, he made no sound.
Not even when He got a matching bruise on the other side of his face from another punch, further enhanced by his own field spell.
And even as he got a large slash from the "Sodium Assassin" he didn't falter.
(NLP: 350)
He kept that grin, the only strange thing was he didn't move, veins from his forehead started popping up, he looked like he was about to explode.
'Well, that was...' He paused, 'not the nicest thing you could have done.' The veins vanished, he now had a more quizzical look then anything 'Shall you end your turn?'
'I guess...' No sooner did Joshua say those words then "Needle Roach" burst out of the ground, once again spraying needles . This time Joshua was sure to take three steps back, avoiding all of them.
(JLP: 2750)
Nadel drew, pausing as he saw the card. 'You've become better in the five or so minutes i've taught you, before you could barely take a single needle, now you know how to avoid, and even resist the pain. I must be such a great teacher.' he sighed. 'But if you think you've surpassed the teacher, you have another thing coming. To start, I summon "Needle Swarm" in attack mode (2/500/400)
a large amount of needles swarming around in a sphere materialized.
'Tell me, you into synchro summonings?' He said in a reserved tone.
Joshua's eyes widened. '...You're going to synchro summon?'
'A level seven synchro summon, no less. Tuner "Needle Swarm", synchronize with "Needle Roach".
The swarm of needles broke out of the sphere and surrounded "Needle Roach", creating a small dark tornado with needles flying all around it and the roach invisible from sight.
'Shards of pain promote the strength of life, from the pain rises true living. Synchro summon! Appear before us, Needle Porthaes! (7/2600/400)
Out of the tornado came a humanoid creature made entirely out of moving needles. It had five extra large stationary ones on each hand for fingers. It seemed to have a face too, massive mad eyes glowing red and a large needle-sharp black "tongue" sticking out of it's mouth.
Joshua looked at the creature fearfully. 'N-not bad, but my Neon Gunner is still stronger.'
'You need to get your glasses checked it appears.' Nadel said sadly. 'Look at your monster.'
It was then that Joshua noticed his "Neon Gunner" was entrapped within a nest of needles (5/3300-1650/1000-500)
'That would be the effect of my Tuner, when it is involved in a Synchro Summon, it can halve the attack and defense of one monster. Anyway, my monster shall wipe your "Neon Gunner"
"Needle Porthaes" moved rapidly from side to side, avoiding the blasts from the ensnared gunner, then he leapt and engulfed "Neon Gunner" whole.
(JLP: 1800)
'And now one of my monster's effects activates, inflicting 500 damage for each level your monster has; adding the double damage, that's... five thousand life points off you!
Needles poured out of the creature, all seeking towards Joshua, who tried to escape, but the swarm overtook and Joshua screamed as they pierced his flesh, digging in, pain lancing all over his body.
(JLP: 1)
'How... how am i still in the duel?' Joshua rasped, blood flecking out of his breath. Landing on the floor, the blood was quickly absorbed by the shadows.
'Oh yes, i forgot that "Eye of the Needle" prevents a person from going to 0 life points from effect damage.' Nadel frowned. 'Oh well, you got until next turn i suppose, and don't bother going defensive, my synchro monster here also deals piercing.' He motioned towards the smiling creature, needles red with his blood made up the swirling vortex within the creature's core.
'I can't win, i don't think a single card in my deck can stop him.' Joshua's vision blurred, he began to stagger.
'Try to stay up long enough to draw a card, I want to see what you do.' It was Nadels voice, at least he thought it was. He was beginning to lose his senses...
Suddenly, there was a strange feeling, a burst of blue and brown appeared in his eyes, he felt himself jolted up, he suddenly felt alive. The injuries were still there, but he couldn't feel them. He heard a voice in his head.
'draw...' it said.
Joshua looked down at his deck, it seemed to be glowing. Was this... Destiny draw?
Joshua drew, loving the fluidity of his movements compared to before.
Nadel frowned. He seems a lot more alive then he was before, what's going on?'
Joshua looked at the card he drew with disbelief. If this was destiny draw, it must have noticed his deck couldn't save him and placed a card that could in it.
'You've been a challenging opponent.' Joshua said in an exaggerated deep voice. 'But it all ends here, foul shadow duelist.'
'You know, i take somewhat offense from that,' Nadel sniffed.
'Well, i now tribute my "Sodium Assassin" and the rest of my hand to summon "Chemical-Enhanced Berserker" (6/2400/500).
The Sodium man exploded with a wave of his hand and out of the rubble a large man with bulging muscles and machines connected to him on the back with rather painful-looking tubes appeared.
'Not bad, but he doesn't have the muscle to beat my monster.' Nadel noted, still from his grim face, he probably knew it was over for him all the same.
'My monster has an ability, by removing a "Chemical" monster, i can increase his attack by 1000. So I'll remove "Neon Gunner", and my monster can smash your monster to pieces!'
"Chemical-Enhanced Berserker" roared as his attack skyrocketed (6/2400-3400/500) and charged.
'Oh dear, this is going to hurt...' Nadel watched the creature smash through his monster and continued charging at him. He wasn't dissapointed when it hit.
It did hurt.
(NLP: 0)
Nadel got up unsteadily, surprisingly lacking any wounds, except for one, that seemed to be covered in some sort of shadowy bandage.
'I lose, so what's the penalty game.' He said calmly.
Joshua stared at him. 'Penalty Game?'
Nadel sighed. 'Aahh well, I'll see what i can find in the Shadow Realm.'
With that, shadows swirled around and Nadel vanished, without a trace.
And with that, the shadows melted away and he heard... cheering?
He looked up to see a crowd of people clapping and cheering for him.
He smiled, then all of a sudden he screamed, all the pain that had mysteriously been held back before came back, his vision blurred and he fell to the floor, the cheers turned to screams and he could hear shouts for medical attention, but most of all he saw a blurred face moving to his duel disk and taking the "Chemical-Enhanced Berserker, study it for a bit, and put it back.
'Perhaps too impressive.' the voice said, echoing through his head.
That was the last thing Joshua Paul heard before darkness overtook him and he fell to the ground, unconscious.
_______________________________________________________________
Hope you liked it! I was going to add an extra scene, but I'll save it for the next chapter.
Vol. 1: Chapter Two (Click to View)
Sideline Preparation
Chapter 2: A Hero Imprisoned
_______________________________________________________________
The green-eyed man with the Hawaiian shirt took a sip of a glass of coffee in his hand and sighed. 'And people say i shouldn't have caffeine, it's calming in my opinion.' He said to no-one in particular.
Looking up, he saw that his 'pal' wearing the same clothes coming towards him, his eyes betraying nothing, his movements calm and composed, except he had one hand in his pocket.
He winced, that small difference was enough to know something was wrong.
'is there a pro...'
In a blur of movement The hand came out of the pocket, revealing a kunai that slashed a scar on the others face.
the green eyed man slowly put his hand where the scar was, smiling as he did so. 'I suppose you have a problem with what you just did?'
'He is still alive. I gave him a card to ensure his victory.' The man said, his calm voice tingled with the threat of anger and violence.
'Then it worked?' He gave a cheesy smile, folding his hands together, he looked at the empty sky.
'It did, but i can't help but feel... betrayed.' He paused, as if letting the imagination get to work. 'That kid had a strong heart, strong hearts usually lead to big change.'
'Like you said, "usually".' Green-eye gave a short laugh. 'Doesn't always mean it.'
'Let me be frank.'
'Aren't you always?'
Brown-eyed man ignored him. 'I've had my doubts from the start. I only helped you because I thought you deserved a chance, and i only continued because I said i would. I'll be alerting everyone else, and we'll keep an eye on what is going on with your new... champion.
'Champion is such a harsh word, but I can't think of a replacement.' Green-eye huffed. Standing up, he declared 'If you don't have anything nice to say, I'm leaving!'
With that, he left, people around him still veering away from him for reasons unknown.
Brown-eye sighed. 'Honestly, no-one respects there elders these days, or the law for that matter.' Sighing, he got up and entered the coffee store.
********************************************************
'Hey kid, you awake?'
Joshua heard a voice, and with that voice came a light. His mind began running towards it...
And all of a sudden he was awake, in a hospital bed. Groaning, he slowly got up, feeling pinpricks of pain all over.
'You are awake.' The voice said, beginning to take form. Grey eyes, a beard, a weak smile. But the blurriness stubbornly remained.
'Your glasses are on the bedside table.' The voice gave a weak chuckle.
Joshua's hands shot out to his sides, his right hand feeling something light; his glasses, he put them on quickly.
The room became clearer. Not that it needed to be. It was quite plain with white walls, a blank ceiling, the bed was also white. There was a dark brown bedside table and to his right was the only bright color in the room, a blue curtain.
And of course, there was the man. A quick look showed that his gaze with a blurred vision had shown him pretty much everything already, the only difference was a few freckles and small scars on his face.
'Welcome to Duel Academy.' The man said, once again doingthat same weak chuckle.
It took a few seconds for that to sink in.
'Duel Academy... but, the shadow duelist! The voice, the non-existant card!' He paused, running out of breath. '...So, why am i here already? I thought the semester wasn't until tomorrow.'
'two things, you've been out for a day, and...' The man sighed. 'We were ordered to bring you here ASAP.'
Going through to the other side of the curtain, he came back with a chair to sit on.
'Tell me, do you want me to tell you slowly, or as bluntly as possible?'
'I'm having trouble thinking as it is, go for the blunt approach.' Joshua said meanwhile his brain that was having 'trouble thinking' was going through the numerous things that could be going on. He might be a hero now! He might have found a conspiracy...
'Officially, you're a student here. Unofficially, you're a prisoner.' He sighed, the fake smile vanishing. 'I'm afraid if you want to leave after that traumatizing experience, we can't let you leave. You can't leave for the holidays either, until we're sure you will cooperate.'
'...Now i'm confused, didn't I just save people from a shadow duelist?'
'Yeah, and do you know how much bad publicity we will get if we reveal that a shadow duelist breached our security and endangered our students?' The man twiddled his thumbs nervously. 'I have to agree with you, it's like a bad joke. But our principle wouldn't take "no" for an answer. But don't worry. You'll be taken care of here. You made it to Ra yellow too.' He added conversationally.
Looking at his arm, Joshua saw he was indeed wearing a Ra Yellow outfit.
'I'm sure you'll enjoy it here. People will befriend you quickly. You DID defeat a shadow duelist. And I'm sure they'll use you as some sort of roll model to show the oppression of society.' He got up and gave Joshua a pat on the head. 'So don't worry, everything will be OK.'
With that, he ran out of the room as fast as he could, leaving a rather confused Joshua to ponder what had just been said.
********************************************************
The Shadow Realm
It was a rather large place, you could wander endlessly throughout it. Some said within it there was a bustling megatropolis where creatures had built some sort of society. But humans had yet to know for certain.
One person who wandered the shadows was a man in a torn proctor examination outfit. His face with numerous small scars, green eyes with a glint of madness, and obviously dyed blue hair.
His name sometimes fluttered away, but he always caught it again. He was called Nadel. He was here because he had lost, and his opponent had seemingly no idea how to do a proper penalty game.
Was he seething for vengeance?
That was a negative, he was more puzzled then anything else. Simply wondering around, his eyes seemingly absorbing the little detail of his surroundings.
He couldn't see them, but he could sense little shadow creatures cloaked around him, waiting. They didn't dare to strike him now, his power was too much for the lowly shadow creatures who had found him. But eventually either a stronger creature would come, or Nadel himself would tire. Either way, it resulted on his soul being a meal for some random creature of the shadows.
He was searching for... well, he didn't know. A way out would have been nice. But really ANYTHING that changed the dull monotone that was the shadow realm's black and purple. Even when he had initiated the shadow games he hadn't really noticed. Too intent on his opponent's he supposed.
He gasped, noticing at last something different. Some sort of green light.
He ran towards it, a happy tear in his eye. He had no idea what it was, but it was different. Even if it was a creature ready to devour him, at least it was better then the black and purple things that seemed to wait like a pack of vultures.
The creatures seemed uneasy by the fact that he was heading towards the light. As if trying to stop Nadel from fleeing, they all struck, but just as they got to him, he touched the source of the light; some sort of green crystal, and vanished from sight...
_______________________________________________________________
I tried a shorter chapter this time, just to see which people would prefer.
Vol. 1: Chapter Three (Click to View)
Sideline Preparation
Chapter 3: Shadows of Publicity
_______________________________________________________________Joshua woke up with a groan, the needle sharp pains had dulled to an ache, but they were still painful.
Giving a look around, he concluded he was in his new dorm room. How he got there he didn't know. His memory was fuzzy. 'Probably tranquilized' He oh-so grimly thought to himself.
'Nice change of scenery, now it was all yellow instead of white. Joshua thought sarcastically..
He was overreacting really. His room was bland, but he still had his suitcase next to his bed. Some dark chocolate and a toothbrush stuck out of it, showing just how filled the bulging suitcase was.
A knock on the door echoed through the room. Joshua grimaced, wondering if the energy required to get to the door was worth it.
Sighing, he got up, his body was heavy, he stiffly moved towards the door, even the short walk made him sweat, or maybe it was because of the heat... No, he was probably making excuses, he had never been fit anyway.
Joshua opened the door with a shaking hand, and stumbled back as a flash of light hit him.
'And here we have the guy who beat a shadow duelist at their own game. So tell me, how does it feel?'
Joshua took a step forward and slammed the door in the offending Ra Yellow kid with a camera's face.
A small voice in his head was saying that he should take advantage of his popularity, but a much more demanding voice was telling him to lie in bed and rest.
Unfortunately, He heard a key enter the lock and another flash of light blinded his eyes.
'Wow, you got spunk. Come on, give the public a chance to see you for what you really are!'
'Isn't this illegal or something?' Joshua moaned, sitting on his bed.
'Well, you have been voted a temporary celebrity of Duel Academy, and since celebrity's owe the public, this is legal.' The kid took another picture, his green eyes brimming with delight.
Joshua blinked, he hadn't expected a somewhat educated answer. 'So... I'm a celebrity?'
'A temporary celebrity. Odds are people will forget about you in a week unless you do more heroic stuff.' Another shot, and the kid looked around the empty room. 'Very spacious type i see, like your space? You going to be a hero for all the angst teenagers?'
'What, NO!' Joshua shouted in a somewhat gargled cry. 'I just want to have a great year, and be able to leave after...'
'Such noble sentiment.' The kid sniffed, a rather realistic yet obviously exaggerated sad tone. His look brightened. 'Pretty much everyone loves those kind. So tell me about your life back at home. Did you have lots of friends? How were your marks at school? Did you see yourself becoming a hero to many?'
'...Please, will you just go away?' Joshua groaned, placing his hands in front of his face, muffling his voice.
'Not very supportive, are you?' The kid's face darkened. Even his vibrant blond hair seemed to dim. It only lasted for an instant, then he was cheerful again. 'How about a deal, you duel me. If i lose, I'll leave you. I win, you take all my questions.' He gave a big grin. 'Of course, even if i lose, I still get to see him in action and record it.'
Ignorant of his opposition's win/win situation, Joshua gave a small, tired grin. Taking his hands off his face he grabbed his duel disk next to the suitcase. Putting it on unsteadily, he got into position.
'You know, it would probably be preferable to do it outside.' The kid pointed out. 'Solid Vision has been known to make buildings not prepared for them unstable.
'I knew that.' Joshua snapped, tiredness clouding his senses and thought processes. He stomped out the door. After taking a few snapshots of the room, the the paparazzi-kid followed.
********************************************************
'...You think this place is secluded enough?' Joshua frowned. Tired as he may be, a volcano was still a bit scary when you were this close...
'You're the one who didn't want publicity, if i recall. Now, shall we get this duel started?' The kid said simply. Meanwhile in his pocket he pressed a button, and hidden in a small cluster of rocks, a video camera activated.
'Camera and ACTION' He thought in his mind. 'You can start this match, if you don't mind.'
'Very well.' Joshua drew a card. 'I probably should try ending this quick. This kid is annoying. Wait...'
'What's your name anyway?' Joshua asked.
'Names Erebos Spas, and I'm still waiting for you to make your move, champ.' Erebos chuckled.
(ELP: 8000)
(JLP: 8000)
'If you insist.' Joshua said warily, looking at his hand. 'I summon "Oxygen Medic" in attack mode (4/1400/1800).
A human in a white, seemingly diffused flowing outfit materialized, a first-aid kit in the medic's hand. their face obscured from view by a doctor's mask. Only two calm blue eyes could be seen.
'Now i activate his effect. Increasing my life points for every empty monster card zone times three hundred!'
Nine swirling light blue streams materialized from the air and connected to Joshua, being absorbed into him.
(JLP: 10700)
'Now i set two cards face-down and end my turn.'
'A reserved opening. Concealing your power until you think it's needed, hey?' Erebos drew a card. 'I'm not like that, be out and open with your power, i say. I summon "Dark Shadow Knight" in attack mode (4/1800/200).
A shadow of a human wielding a massive sword appeared. Slowly it seemed to stand up, becoming 3D.
Joshua shivered. Is this a trap, is this guy some sort of shadow duelist?'
'Now, attack with "Shadow Saber Strike"!'
In a flash the warrior was next to "Oxygen Medic", the shadowy blade sliced through the outfit like butter, the medic's head sailed off before it and the body disintegrated into pixels.
(JLP: 10300)
'Now, i set one card face-down and end my turn.' Erebos grinned cockily. 'Let me give you a tip, to keep the crowd's attention, give a spectacular start. Give em only a taste, but make it look as if it's a buffet!
'Riiight... When I need advice to be an annoyance and full of myself, I'll ask you.' Joshua shot back.
'Not very sporting, save the trash talk for evil and/or rival. Although I would be honored to be your rival.' Erebos bowed mockingly. 'But due to my biased opinion, I'd probably end up making you my rival.'
Ignoring Erebos, Joshua drew a card. 'I summon "Sulpher Acidicman" in attack mode (4/1600/0).
a creature that seemed to be made entirely of sand, except for a gun with a clear sphere filled with green glop.
'Now, my monster attacks!' Joshua declared. 'As such, his effect activates, decreasing your monster's attack by one hundred for each level!'
the creature took aim and fired the green glop at the shadow, causing it to dissolve into pixels until it completely faded away, tiny drops of it went on Erebos' arm and made a hissing noise. He brushed it off, ignoring the stinging sensation that seemed all too real for a hologram.
(ELP: 7800)
'Getting closer, but you need to add more tension and action!' Erebos drew. 'See? I knew you would end your turn there, I can predict very well. So i took out you having to say so. Now, i summon "Dark Shadow Berserker" in attack mode (4/2350/0).
Another shadow materialized on the ground, becoming 3D you could see it was a hulking figure wielding a spike on a chain.
'And with that...' He paused, savoring the moment. '...I end my turn.'
Joshua frowned. 'He didn't attack. Is he afraid of my face-downs? No, it didn't stop him before. That monster must have a side-effect for being such a powerful level four monster. I wonder if attacking it would trigger the effect. Not worth the risk.'
Joshua drew a card. 'Nothing that can stop that thing, but but i may as well prepare myself.
'I summon "Lead Gunslinger" in attack mode (4/1850/800)
A dark gray man wearing a black trench coat and wielding two revolvers materialized. swinging the revolvers around his fingers, he returned them to their holsters on the trench coat.
'And with that i end my turn.'
Erebos chuckled. 'Where was the flavor in that move? A calm before the storm is better off later.' He drew a card, smiling as he did. 'Now here is a crowd pleasing move. I activate... "Shadow Ascension Ritual"!'
The area around seemed to get the color leeched out, the shadows of the duelists seemed to flicker and grow.
'What have I gotten myself into this time?' Joshua thought to himself in horror, his mouth widening.
********************************************************
'So then, you brought the traitor.'
Within some sort of massive temple cavern, on a massive throne of marble sat a figure wearing dark green pants and jumper, along with a mask with a green jewel in the center and eye holes revealing eyes a very similar color to the outfit. Currently his gaze was on two figures. One of them was a pale faced man with cold light blue eyes and black hair. His pale skin and plain white clothes brightened by the flickering flames lighting the cavern. He was holding down another figure, angry hazel eyes staring at the man on the throne, although one of his eyes was covered by a mass of blond hair.
'Your the one whose betrayed us! Promises of something you don't HAVE the power to give. You make me sick sitting there, pathetic.' the "traitor" shouted.
'ME, the pathetic one?' the person on the throne said in mock amazement. 'And here i thought you were the one trying to alert the authorities, and sabotage everything we have done.' His voice hardened. 'Remember. I am judge, jury, and executioner here. But i have to give you a chance, so here it is.' He drew out a gun from the folds of his outfit. 'This gun has one shot. Once you get out of this room me and everyone else will not harm you. Nystra, release him.'
The man holding the Traitor (Nystra) let him go.
The Traitor had a look at the way out. One hundred meters, and some cover in the form of pillars. He could make it.
Grinning, he sprinted forward for the first pillar.
*BANG*
He slid past the pillar just in time, the bullet missed by a centimeter.
'I'm home free' He thought to himself. Grinning, he left the pillar and ran for the exit.
Seventy Meters...
Fifty Meters...
So very close and tempting...
Thirty meters....
Ten meters...
'That's enough i think...'
*BANG*
A scarce meter away from the exit, the traitor crumpled to the floor, blood pouring out from the wound in his chest.
The man on the throne tossed away the two guns he had. 'Now that we have dealt with that. How is Judgement Energy looking at Duel Academy?'
And so they talked, the body of the traitor completely forgotten. After all, it was just a corpse...
_______________________________________________________________
Vol 1 Chapter Four (Click to View)
Sideline Preparation
Chapter 4: Staging Lights! Shadow Snare
Erebos chuckled. 'Where was the flavor in that move? A calm before the storm is better off later.' He drew a card, smiling as he did. 'Now here is a crowd pleasing move. I activate... "Shadow Ascension Ritual"!'
The area around seemed to get the color leeched out, the shadows of the duelists seemed to flicker and grow.
'What have I gotten myself into this time?' Joshua thought to himself in horror, his mouth widening.
Shadows started swirling around, coming closer and closer.
At last, the swirling shadows began forming a liquid mass, after becoming the shape of a human, it began to solidify, until at last it formed a solid shadow that seemed scarily like the duelist that summoned it, except instead of a duel disk it wielded a flamberge in one hand.
'Meet the mighty "Ascended Shadow, Guang" (8/2700/2000). He looks awesome, if i do say so myself. Even if he costs two monsters from my hand.'
The color around them slowly trickled back, and Joshua eyed the creature critically. 'Are you sure you're not somewhat biased?'
'Oh, isn't everyone these days?' Erebos countered. 'It's the majority's ideas that matter. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to have my revenge and wipe out that nuisance that is acidicman.'
Guang didn't even have to step forward, he simply swung the massive flamberge down, and a shockwave of dark energy engulfed acidicman, obliterating him from existence. But by the time the shockwave hit Joshua, it had become little more then a breeze.
(JLP: 9100)
'Do you see it? I've already given you a difficult foe to defeat!' Erebos raised his arms dramatically. 'To defeat this creature may take one turn, a dozen, perhaps you won't defeat him. But he APPEARS to be a real threat, so the shock and awe remains! Defeating him early will signify your power, defeating him late gives an epic struggle. Not defeating him gives an opponent even you cannot defeat!'
He paused for breath and dramatic effect. 'And i think that is enough talk for now. One Spell OR Trap face down and i end my turn.'
Joshua drew a card. 'Nothing to destroy that thing, but something to protect myself. That will have to do for now.
'I release my "Lead Gunslinger" to set a monster, then i end my turn.'
the gunslinger exploded, then the fragments came together slightly above the ground and formed the back of a card.
'An interesting twist. You have been forced to try and defend yourself. I probably should have attacked with berserker...'
The shadowy berserker roared in response.
'Then again, perhaps not.' Erebos sighed. 'I never was much of a gambling man. Now, that monster is most likely able in some way to resist my creature. But i can't let the audience get bored! I attack your face down with my ascended shadow!'
Once again the shadow with a flamberge struck the earth, sending a shockwave at the face-down card. The card flipped...
and with a *BOOM* the shockwave dissipated, revealing a massive silvery-white shield (6/100/3000).
(ELP: 7500)
'you were right when it said it could resist your monster. My "Lutetium Shield Bearer" has enough defense to protect me.'
'Perhaps. But you can't keep secrets from the public. Now that I know what it is, I can work my way to it's destruction!' Erebos shouted dramatically, his right hand pointing slightly above Joshua at empty sky. Calming down, he stated simply 'I end my turn.'
'If this guy is a shadow duelist, he sure is taking a while to reveal it and revel in my despair, or something like that...' Joshua drew a card. 'I summon "Mercury Sniper" in attack mode (3/1500/0).'
The liquid silver guy with a big sniper rifle appeared.
'Now, he attacks your ascended shadow!'
Taking aim at the shadow, the sniper fired, leaving a small silver wound on the shadow that didn't heal (8/2700-2400/2000).
'My sniper has an effect similar to "Rocket Warrior". Unlike that card, the effect is permanent. And don't try to attack it. As long as another monster of mine remains, he cannot be attacked.'
To emphasize the point, the sniper dashed behind the shield of Lutetium.
'So the hero has resorted to hit and fade to eliminate my creature.' Erebos frowned. 'not the most heroic battle.' He gave a large grin. 'But then again we do need heroes of the unorthodox these days!'
Joshua could swear that kid had a split personality. sometimes he would try to insult him, the next he would attempt to defend Joshua's actions any way possible.
'Well, I end my turn...'
'Perfect! That means it's my move!' Erebos drew a card in a chopping motion. 'Now watch and be amazed as your defense crumbles before your very eyes! I activate the Continuous Spell "Shadow Prism".
A burst of shadows materialized from the center of the field and engulfed "Lutetium Shield Bearer".
'This card can only be activated as long as a "Dark Shadow" monster remains on my field. It turns your monster into a permanent spell, preventing you from doing pretty much anything with it. Trapping one of the hero's friends is a great step to bring either their downfall, or their true power.' Erebos' eyes flashed. 'Tell me, what will we see from you?'
Joshua remained silent.
'Strong silent type are we? Let's see how this breaks you. Now I attack that nuisance of a sniper.'
Guang lifted the massive sword, ignoring the wound where the sniper had shot him, and struck the earth, a shock wave completely engulfed the sniper and obliterated him.
(JLP: 8200)
'Reveal face-down.' Joshua snapped, '"Periodic Plunge", this trap can be activated when a "Chemical" monster is destroyed. I can remove it from the game to special summon another chemical monster, so long as it has a lower level.'
'A lower level?' Erebos raised an eyebrow. 'Your monster was only a level three. So you can only be summoning a level one or two monster. can one of them really protect you?'
'You're about to find out. I summon "Dysprosium Laserman" in attack mode (2/400/300).
A small silvery-gold figure with two guns instead of hands materialized.
'That doesn't seem threatening. Perhaps my berserker should...' Erebos shook his head vigorously. 'NO NO NO! I end my turn.'
Joshua drew calmly. 'I summon "Copper Axe Wielder" in attack mode (5/2300/1700)
'I know not of this monster, so explain how this monster miraculously was summoned without tribute!' Erebos announced.
'Normally a level five monster would require one, but my laserman allows me to decrease the level of all "Chemical" monsters in my hand by one until the end phase if i pay 600 life points.
(JLP: 7600)
'But that's not all. Laserman happens to be a tuner monster, so Synchro Summon!'
Erebos' eyes widened. 'A Synchro... NOW things are reaching the climax!'
'Building blocks of life, allow true bonds to become true power. Synchro Summon! Rise, "Curium Genablaster" (7/2500/2300)!
"Dysprosium Laserman" and "Copper Axe Wielder" leapt into the air, "Dysprosium Laserman" fired a circle of lasers which the copper man leapt into, then the laser man leapt into the still going beams, and then the lasers vanished, Revealing a silvery man with what looked like a massive energy generator on his back which was connected to a large chaingun he held.
'Now my monster destroys your ascended shadow!' Joshua declared coldly, not moving a single part of his body, except his mouth to utter those words.
Barely needing the signal, the Curium man let loose a hailstorm of bullets, ripping the (now regretting it) "Solid" shadow to shreds.
'Now my monster's effect activates. I send the top card from my deck to the graveyard, and depending on what it is, a different effect activates.' Joshua sent the top card, a monster called "Potassium Blazeman". 'Since it's a monster, you take damage equal to it's attack, and it's attack was a small number of... 3000'
'If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me!' Erebos declared. 'i activate the continuous trap "Shadow Link". As long as I have a "Dark Shadow", you also take any effect damage you deal to me!'
A massive explosion engulfed the field for a few seconds before dying away, revealing both duelists had fallen to the ground and were now steadily getting up.
(JLP: 4600)
(ELP: 4400)
'Endgame is coming near, and it appears the hero has the advantage. Will the villain play his final trump card!' Now Erebos sounded like a commentator, and an annoying one at that. 'I draw, and during my standby phase, two effects activate! First I'll tell you the effect of "Shadow Prism". During my standby phase, I can free the monster and inflict half it's strongest stats; in this case defense points, to BOTH of our life points! Oh, and one more catch. I get to choose the position.
The shadows surrounding the shield burst like shards and struck both duelists before fading away, and the shield fell flat on the ground (6/100/3000).
(JLP: 3100)
(ELP: 2900)
'The second effect is from that ascended shadow. During my standby phase after it is destroyed. I can bestow upon any "Dark Shadow" monster it's original attack until the end phase.'
"Dark Shadow Berserker" roared as an even larger shadow loomed over it. (4/2350-5050/0)
'this may hurt...' Joshua gulped.
'And now... I can't believe I'm going to do this, but i attack with my berserker!'
The berserker roared, and lifted up a massive coin, he hurled it into the air.'
'Wha...what's that.' Joshua asked.
'I'm putting the fate of the duel in chance. Let's see the final conclusion!' Erebos announced. 'Heads you lose, tails you win!'
Both duelists stare as the coin floated in the air, flipping around and around. The slowly; but surely, the coin...
Began...
Falling...
Down...