It was incredibly hectic, the first few days after he and Yuri managed to return to the Standard Dimension, or rather he managed to return to the Standard Dimension while Yuri was left stranded in this one.
Understandably, right after they managed to go through the portal and saw it turning off, the violet haired boy went wild as he tried to turn the gate open once again, after all none of his friends had managed to make it here.
He was distraught when he found out that they hadn't come with them, angry when he told him that he doesn't know how to turn on the gate back again, especially with how his father most likely had locked access to the gate.
He did his best to assure him that his friends at the very least had managed to get away from the Academia, it was most likely the tampering of his fat-the tampering of Akaba Leo that made it so that only the two of them managing to make it here to the Standard Dimension, he decided that his existence coming from this dimension managing to pull the two of them here, though the reason for that could also because of his inexperience and lack of knowledge of dimensional travel in the first place.
It certainly took a while, and it took both him and his mother to essentially calm the violet haired boy down, but eventually he caved, albeit incredibly reluctantly. Though they first needed the help of the guards to physically pry the violet haired boy off from the room with the dimensional gate.
They gave him a few weeks to acclimate to this new dimension, accommodating for Yuri's needs, which mostly involved only one thing.
Dueling.
Suffice to say after the boy had locked himself in the room that he had given for over a week and managed to calm down, he showed interest in the level and style of dueling that the dimension possessed, and was promptly blown away with the variety of decks and schools that the dimension had.
He had come from the Fusion Dimension, a whole dimension where the main summoning mechanic was as its namesake, Fusion Summoning. But in the Standard Dimension, that was only one form of summon that one could study.
He was amazed at seeing for the first time the other summoning mechanics that he had only heard in passing, the mechanics that he had only heard from the Professor, of the enemies that he could potentially face.
XYZ, Synchro, and even the occasional Ritual, though the former was also something that the Fusion Dimension had but rarely do someone partake in learning the summoning method as the Academia mandates using Fusions and only Fusions, still the two summoning methods intrigued the violet haired boy.
And seeing the boy's enthusiasm, mother had seen it as an opportunity and enrolled him in their school, the Leo Duel School or LDS for short, in hopes of the boy coming out of his shell and getting him out of his room.
He knew that his mother had plans for the boy, especially after learning of what The Professor has been doing with the Academia, the both of them had decided to oppose him and his plans.
And to oppose The Professor and his Academia, they needed strong duelists for the organization that they would build, and undoubtedly, Yuri was a strong contender to be a part of the organization.
He was strong, of that he has no doubts. The boy had managed to score wins against him, not that he hadn't won against Yuri himself, and their scores were essentially tied, as they essentially traded wins and losses.
As soon as Yuri entered the Leo Duel School, he immediately showed more promise. Though he still hasn't managed to understand the other method of summoning, the violet haired boy had still managed to climb his way to the top of his class, the spot for first always changing between himself and the violet haired duelist.
And that was how he ended up in the situation that he was in now.
"You want to enter the pro circuit?" He asked as he spun his chair slowly to turn and face the violet haired boy, temporarily stopping his work of reading his subordinates' findings of the dimensional gate to look at Yuri, who was sitting on the sofa in his room spraying water for his plants.
Ah, right, he forgot to water his plants today too. It seems that he was too immersed in his work yet again. He stopped his train of thought as he shook his head lightly, and fixed the position of his glasses.
"Yeah, pretty much." The violet haired boy said, not meeting his eye as he kept his focus on the potted plant before him. "I think I've hit a limit on how much I can learn just by listening to those 'teachers' at the school. Not that I've been learning much from them anyway."
"So you instead want some practical experience then." He deduced, knowing where the boy was coming from. He too, hadn't learned much from his experience under the tutelage of the teachers of the Leo Duel School, but that wasn't a dismissal of their teaching ability, on the contrary they were all top notch duelists in their own right, that he could guarantee.
It was simply the problem that some geniuses like themselves have, it was simply that the environment of teaching that the Leo Duel School provided was not one that was suited for them, that was all.
"Then you should talk to okaa-san." He said with a nod of his head, placing a hand on his chin as he said aloud. "I'm sure that if you speak to her about that then she'll understand. If anything she might set up a debut match for you as well."
"Oh, that would be helpful, thanks." Yuri said as he placed the potted plant back to the windowsill, overlooking Miami City from the highrise tower that they lived in. "Oh right, speaking of Himika-san she asked me to call you for dinner."
"Dinner?" He asked with narrowed eyes through his glasses, looking at the clock on the wall and saw that it was indeed already late. It seems that he had been focusing on his work to notice the passage of time.
He should learn how to manage his time better it seems. He'll ask mother to buy some book about that topic during dinner then, hopefully those would prove insightful.
-
"I didn't think that you would arrange a match against him for his first debut match." He said as he watched from their VIP seats above the stadium, watching the crowd of the stadium below cheer loudly for the upcoming duel.
"He asked for it himself." His mother said with a huff, covering the lower half of her face with a fan as her blue eyes drifted down on the field where the two duelists would soon clash. "That boy asked me to arrange a duel with the strongest duelist that I could find barring yourself, so I did."
"And now, for today's main show!" The announcer cut them off, and the two Akaba's gaze drifted down to the center stage of the stadium, the voice of Nico Smiley filling the stadium as he took on the role of the announcer, what with him being the manager of the current champion.
"The one who will be challenging the champion, Strong Ishijima, is the rising star of Leo Duel School, Yuri!" The glasses wearing man declared as large holographic monitors depicting the two duelists appeared high above the sky, hovering over the stadium, one depicting the current reigning champion, and the other depicting the purple haired boy.
"A rising star?"
"I've heard of him before! I heard he beat all the older students in duels!"
"Seriously? That's crazy!"
"This duel will use the rules of Action Duel!" The glasses wearing announcer said through his mic, a holographic projected card appearing on his hand as an example of the use of solid vision from motes of light around him, and proceeded to raise it high.
"I'll be activating the Field Spell, Frontier Fang Castle!" Nico declared aloud as the card that he raised shone, and the Solid Vision projectors hidden under the stadium came to life as it worked to manifest the entirety of the field.
And the middle of the stadium changed into that of a gigantic castle, one that stood taller than its surrounding spires of stone, and dense forest of trees. "And behold atop of his tower!" The announcer said, his voice reaching the ears of all those in the stadium.
He motioned his hand towards the tallest part of the castle, and lo and behold, standing on top of it was none other than the current dueling champion of Maiami city, the duelist sponsored by the LDS.
"None other than Strong Ishijima, the current champion of Action Dueling!" And standing there was a large built man, wearing clothes that were more like armor with leather belts criss-crossing the middle of his chest. His purple hair was arranged to three large spikes on the top of his head, while the rest he let flow wildly like a low ponytail, red markings painted around his eyes giving him a feral and wild look to instill fear in his opponent.
The man spread both of his arms wide, and roared. "UWOOOOOOO!" It was both a show of dominance, and an issue for a challenge for all to come, having earned his title as Sakaki Yusho, the champion at the time, not having shown up to defend his title, and earning it through technicality.
"And for today's challenger that the champion will defend against… Yuri!" The flamboyant announcer declared, gesturing towards the opposite entrance that the champion had entered on to make his dramatic entrance at the top of the castle, and there in came the challenger, receiving loud cheers from the audience.
"Oh, what a warm reception." The boy said with a small smile, holding a hand over his head to protect his purple eyes from the blinding sunlight, walking out from the waiting room dressed in a two toned dress shirt of purple and light blue, along with a small red cape draped over his shoulder and going to his lower back, coupled of course with a purple cape on that almost reached his ankles, resembling a coat almost.
"Well then, I do hope that you won't disappoint me!" The violet haired boy declared aloud, his voice captured by the microphone that was connected to his sleek purple duel disk courtesy of LDS, and activating it to generate an obtuse angled purple duel blade.
"Disappoint you? In your dreams kid!" Strong Ishijima shouted at the top of his lungs from the top of the castle, activating his own duel disk as he glared down towards Yuri. "I'll teach you a lesson so that you can learn a thing or two about respect!"
"Would you look at that, the two duelists are already ready to rumble!" Shouting loudly into the microphone as his voice resounded throughout the stadium. "Duelists locked in battle! Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters! They storm through this field!" The man shouted as he spun and danced.
"Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of Dueling! ACTION-"
""DUEL!""
Strong Ishijima: 4000LP
Yuri: 4000LP
And with the chant done and said, the announcer Nico snapped his fingers, the large bubble containing the solid vision produced Action Cards popped and spread them all wide across the duel field, free for either duelists to take. "And with the Action Cards sent out in the arena, the duel has begun!"
"Well though I say that, this is my first time in Action Dueling." Yuri said with a smile and a shrug, seemingly incredibly calm and serene even though he was completely out of his depth. "If you would be so kind, Mr. Champion, to show me the ropes?" He asked with a mocking bow.
"You WHAT?!" The current reigning champion roared from the top of his castle, as surprised as the rest of the audience of the boy's blatant declaration. "You-! You dare to get on this stage like this-!"
"Whawhahwa-WHAT'S THIS?!?!?!?" Nico announced loudly. "The challenger has just declared that he has no experience in dueling in an Action Duel?! Is this a mere ploy to lower the champion's guard? How will Strong Ishijima respond?"
Waving his arm outwards angrily, Strong Ishijima shouted. "Fine then! I'll go first!" The purple drill haired man shouted loudly as he chose to go first, taking the five cards in his hand to decide on his play.
"I'll activate the Spell, Feast of the Wild LV5!" The man shouted at the top of his lungs, placing the Spell card on his duel blade. "This card lets me special summon up to two Level 5 Warrior-Type monsters from my hand and or graveyard, but their effect are negated and they can't attack this turn!"
Done with explaining the Spell card's effect, the drill haired man took out two cards straight from his hand to reveal the monsters that he would summon. "I'll summon the Level 5 Swamp Battleguard, and the Level 5 Lava Battleguard from my hand!"
And the two monsters then appeared onto the field simultaneously, both the brown skinned and the red skinned horned Battleguards immediately jumping off from top of the castle to capture their prey, weapons in hand.
Swamp Battleguard - Earth/Warrior/Level 5/Effect: 1800/1500
Lava Battleguard - Earth/Warrior/Level 5/Effect: 1550/1800
"Oh? A special summon straight from the hand hm?" Yuri said as he slowly strolled over to the giant castle, taking his time as he approached his opponent. "And two Level 5 monsters too! Could it be a, what do you call it, an XYZ Summon? Or maybe some other play?"
"I'll tribute both Swamp Battleguard and Lava Battleguard, to Tribute Summon!" The man declared from atop his castle, the two monsters disappearing and turning into motes of light as they were tributed off from the field.
"Come from the depths of the forest, destroy any trees that stand in your way! King of wild beast, ruler of the wild! Battleguard King!" And true to the chant that its summoner said, the gigantic monster crushed any and all trees that stood in his way as he emerged from the depths of the forest, clad in dark wild armor and carrying a gigantic club, the red skinned giant appeared on the field.
Battleguard King - Earth/Warrior/Level 8/Effect: 3000/1100
"A… Tribute Summon?" Yuri said as he stopped his stroll to stare at the gigantic monster with wide purple eyes. "I… certainly had not expected that." He said, looking baffled at the appearance of the giant monster opposing here.
"And here it is, the Ace Monster of the Champion Ishijima!" The announcer said, followed by the cheer of the crowd, all excited at seeing the reigning champion managing to summon his Ace Monster on his first turn.
"Oh? So that's your Ace Monster?" Yuri said as he eyed the gigantic monster standing before him, one that stood stories high and was given mass by the solid vision technology. "How fitting. It certainly does suit a brute like you."
"Why you-! I'll set one card face-down! Come at me, you shrimp!" The man roared aloud, ending his turn with a 3000 attack monster and a singular set card in his spell and trap zone, along with no cards remaining in his hand.
"Hmm, then I guess it's my turn then? I'll draw." The violet haired boy said, drawing for turn as he got six cards in hand, starting to pick up his pace as he neared the gigantic monster in front of him.
"I will normal summon Predaplant Ophrys Scorpio!" The boy declared aloud as he placed the card on his duel blade, and a scorpio-like Plant monster appeared onto the field, clasping its claws towards the monster who was leagues larger than it.
Predaplant Ophrys Scorpio - Dark/Plant/Level 3/Effect: 1200/800
"Ophrys Scorpio effect!" He declared. "If this card is normal or special summoned, I can send one monster from my hand to the graveyard, to special summon one 'Predaplant' monster from my deck except another copy of Ophrys Scorpio!"
And the violet haired boy then revealed a card in his hand that he would discard for the cost of his normal summon's effect. "I will discard Predaplant Cordyceps, to special summon Predaplant Darlingtonia Cobra from my deck!"
And straight from his deck, Yuri proceeded to special summon a monster straight from his own deck, that being a cobra-like monster made of plants, hissing all while it appeared on defence position on the field.
Predaplant Darlingtonia Cobra - Dark/Plant/Level 3/Effect: 1000/1500
"Now Darlingtonia Cobra's effect!" He declared aloud. "If this card is special summoned by the effect of a 'Predaplant' monster, I can add one 'Polymerization' Spell Card or 'Fusion' Spell Card from my deck to my hand!"
And done with explaining the card's effect, Yuri then proceeded to add a Spell card related to Fusion straight from his deck. "I'll be adding Polymerization from my deck to my hand." He said, revealing the regular Fusion Spell that he then added to his now four cards hand.
"And the challenger had just added the Polymerization Spell from his deck to his hand!" The announcer declared loudly, followed suit by the loud cheering of the crow. "What kind of Fusion monster will he summon?"
"Well isn't this a nice reaction from the crowd?" The boy said with a small smile, amused at the reaction that he had gotten from the crowd around him, his purple eyes glazing slightly as he looked faraway into the middle distance. "But I see… a game that could be enjoyed by others too, huh."
The violet haired boy took a deep breath as he opened his purple eyes, a small but genuine smile on his face as he continued with his turn. "Now I'll activate the Spell, Predapractice!" He said, activating the spell card from his hand.
"This card allows me to special summon one 'Predaplant' monster from my hand, then add one 'Predap' card from my deck to my hand except 'Predapractice'! And for the rest of this turn I can't special summon monsters from the Extra Deck except Fusion Monsters." He said, explaining the Spell card's effect.
"So your deck relies fully on Fusions huh?!" The giant of a man shouted from the top of his lungs. "But no matter what you summon, it won't be able to defeat my Battleguard King!" And following suit with its summoner, the gigantic club wielding warrior followed suit as the monster roared and shook the trees around him.
"Well is that so? I'll special summon Predaplant Chlamydosundew from my hand." Yuri said as he continued and ignored the champion's words, summoning a reptile-like Plant monster from his hand.
Predaplant Chlamydosundew - Dark/Plant/Level 2/Effect: 600/200
"And I'll add the Quick-Play Spell, Predaplast from my deck to my hand." The violet haired boy declared, adding to his hand the Quick-Play Spell from his to his hand, getting back to four cards in his hand, with one of them being the Polymerization Spell.
"Then I'll activate it." Yuri declared as he played the Quick-Play Spell immediately in the open gamestate as soon as the control returned back to him. "This card allows me to reveal any number of 'Predap' cards in my hand, and target that number of face-up monsters you control, and place one Predator Counter on each one."
And then the violet haired boy revealed the cards in his hand for the Quick-Play Spell's effect. "I'll reveal another Predaplant Darlingtonia Cobra, to place a Predator Counter on Battleguard King. Any monsters that are Level 2 or higher becomes Level 1 as long as they have a Predator Counter."
And from the earths below, roots and vines began to grow all around the gigantic horned ogre, constricting the monster and lowering its Level from 8 to a measly 1.
Battleguard King - Earth/Warrior/Level 1/Effect: 3000/1100 (PCounter: 1)
"Che, but even if it's changed to Level 1, it doesn't matter!" The drill haired man shouted from the top of his castle, waving his hand outwards. "Your puny monsters can't defeat my 3000 attack monster!"
And to that declaration, Yuri snorted, holding his hand over his mouth to hide the grin that he no doubt has. "Is that so?" He said, trying his best to keep his voice even. "Then you won't mind if I just removed it then?"
"Wha-!?"
"I'll activate the effect of Chlamydosundew!" Yuri declared with a wave of his hand. "During my Main Phase, I can Fusion Summon one Dark Fusion Monster using this card on the field, and monsters from my hand, field, and or monsters with a Predator Counter you control as Fusion Material!"
And he then proceeded to raise his right hand up high. "And monsters with a Predator Counter that I use as Fusion Material are treated as Dark! I'll fuse Predaplant Chlamydosunder, and your Battleguard King!"
The two monsters were then pulled, space itself contracting itself and merging them into one singular being. The violet haired boy then raised his hand high and chanted. "O flower that traps insects with alluring aroma! Become one and come out from hell with a new threat!"
He then clasped his hands together, completing the fusion chant to summon his Ace Monster with a large smile on his face. "Fusion Summon! Appear! Dragon with poisonous fangs! Starving Venom Fusion Dragon!"
The Fusion Monster that he summoned let out a roar, the multiple orbs that ornamented its body shining ominously as its green eyes glowed, its long vine-like tail swishing around as the monster spread its claws, equally as beautiful as it was deadly, stunning the audience with its appearance.
Starving Venom Fusion Dragon - Dark/Fusion/Dragon/level 8/Effect: 2800/2000
"M-my Battleguard King was-!?" Strong Ishijima said with wide eyes, unconsciously taking a step back, mouth agape at seeing his apparent Ace Monster getting removed from the field to even summon his own Ace Monster.
"But I'm not done, of course." The violet haired boy said as he reached the foot of the castle, slowly but surely making his way up towards where Ishijima currently was. "I'll activate the Spell, Polymerization!" The boy activated the spell, the holographic projection of the card appearing, and shone on the field.
"I'll fuse Predaplant Ophrys Scorpio and Predaplant Darlingtonia Cobra!" The boy raised both of his hands along with the two monsters rising to the vortex of blue and orange. "O flower that traps bugs with an enticing aroma! Become one and come out from the pits of hell with a new threat!"
He clasped both of his hands together in front of him, and finished the chant as he continued to run up the stairs of the castle, his plant-like Dragon monster flying right beside him. "Fusion Summon! Appear! Predaplant Chimerafflesia!"
The monster that appeared was quite the sight, the infamous plant that released an incredibly nauseating smell that was the rafflesia, decorated with rows and rows of teeth, and its vines acting like tentacles, with jaws on the end of them.
Predaplant Chimerafflesia - Dark/Plant/Fusion/Level 7/Effect: 2500/2000
"A-amazing! The challenger Yuri had not only managed to not only remove Strong Ishijima's Ace Monster, but also managed to summon not one, but two Fusion Monsters to his side of the field!"
The screen focused on the drill haired man, as panic seemed to set in, realizing how the challenger he was facing had managed to assemble over 4000 points of damage, his head turning back and forth, undoubtedly frantically looking for an Action Card that could possibly get him out of this situation.
"Battle!" The violet haired boy declared loudly with a wave of his hand, moving straight towards the Battle Phase. "I'll attack you directly with both Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, and Predaplant Chimerafflesia!"
The two monstrous Fusion monsters sent out their roars, the two Fusion Monsters launching themselves up and flying towards the top of the castle, aiming to attack the champion that resides at the top.
"Kuh, I'll activate the Action Spell, Big Escape!" The purple drill haired man said as he went to the inside of the top of the castle, revealing that inside there was an Action Card that shone as he activated it on his duel disk.
"This card lets me immediately end the Battle Phase!" The man roared aloud, pointing towards the rising violet haired boy with beads of sweat going down his face, and a grin of his own. "Which means that I won't take any damage!"
"Ah, so you're just free to use those cards whenever huh?" Yuri mused as he continued his stroll towards the top of the castle at his own pace, a hand propping his chin, his eyes drifting towards one of the castle's walls.
"Then I'll just take one for myself!" He said as he stared running into one of the giant towers that the castle had, kicking down its gates and finding, just like Ishijima had, an Action Card on the inside of the castle.
"As I thought, they hid them in the castle huh." The violet haired boy hummed. "And that's why you didn't want to get off from your place and come down to where I was, you had all these cards for yourself after all." He said condescendingly.
"Well enough of that, I'll activate my own Action Spell, No Action." Yuri said, slapping his own Action Card onto his duel disk and activating its effect. "This one lets me negate the activation and the effect of an Action Spell Card, and destroy it."
"Wha-!?" Ishijima's eyes went wide as he saw the holographic projection of his Action Card getting destroyed and turning back into motes of lights, its activation and effects negated and then destroyed.
And as he tried to run off from the highest part of the castle in search of more Action Cards to get him out of his situation, his eyes went wide as he was met with the ferocious glares of Yuri's two Fusion Monsters.
"Now then, this is the end it seems." Yuri said as he continued to stroll leisurely to where the purple haired duelist was, slowly making his way up to the top of the stone castle. "Go! Chimerafflesia! Starving Venom!" The violet haired ordered, and the monsters delivered.
"GUAAAAAGH!" And with the two monsters attacking simultaneous through an empty board, and with the set card that he had not doing anything to stop the attacks, Strong Ishijima received the full brunt of the two Fusion Monsters attack and was sent flying through the air, landing exactly under the feet of the duelist who had just defeated him.
Strong Ishijima: 0LP
"We-we have a winner!" The announcer Nico Smiley declared with shock filled in his tone, one that was shared by the silent audience. "W-with a quick One Turn Kill! The winner and new champion of Action Duel is, Yuri!"
The crowd went wild as cheers filled the stadium, cheering for the newly crowned champion of Action Duels who had managed to defeat Strong Ishijima with a quick and clean OTK, and the violet haired boy merely indulged them as he bowed.
He couldn't hold the sigh that escaped his mouth as he watched the whole duel unfold from the VIP seat. Thinking already at the amount of paperwork that the boy's latest win would create.
-
The gear of fate keeps turning, though separated, their journey all continues.
And as a small goggle wearing boy sees a boy with the exact same face as him defeat the duelist that was supposed to have dueled against his now missing father on live television, he couldn't help but think that fate truly does exist.