"So this is the first place's duel," Daichi Misawa said with a faint smile, arms crossed. "Let me take a good look." The crowd settled down as both players prepared.
"Duel!" they called together. Yugen, LP 4000 Yuichi, LP 4000
"I'll go first. Card Draw!" Yuichi Yamamoto took the opening turn. "I summon Axe Dragonute in attack position!"
A dignified black dragon appeared on his field, swinging its long tail and letting out a deep roar. Axe Dragonute, ATK 2000
The onlookers gasped as expected. "He starts with a 2000 ATK monster right away!" "Then I set two cards and end my turn," Yuichi said, clearly confident in his opening.
A four-star monster with 2000 attack counted as a Rare Card, and summoning it on the first turn was already strong. On top of that, one of his face-down cards was the powerful trap Bottomless Trap Hole, which destroyed and banished a monster with 1500 or more ATK when it was summoned. Against most students, this was enough to take control of the Duel.
"My Turn!, Card Draw." It was Yugen's turn. "I activate the spell Graceful Charity. I draw three cards from my Deck, then discard two."
Using the exchange match as a chance, he tested a build he had bought earlier from the Duel Academy department but had not used much. "I activate the field spell Megaroid City!"
The card slid into the extra slot of the Duel Disk with a sharp click. The field transformed in a sweeping surge as layered overpasses rose up, covering the entire Duel field for both sides.
"Mechs?" Yuichi chuckled. "That's a pretty ordinary Deck." Yugen continued, "I normal summon Mixeroid in face-up defense position."
A humanoid mixer truck jumped onto the field, its wheels swinging like fists while the mixer on its back spun loudly. Its headlights looked like two cute, round eyes. Mixeroid, DEF 2200
Yuichi frowned slightly. Two thousand two hundred defense, but zero attack. That meant Bottomless Trap Hole could not activate.
"Mixeroid's effect activates," Yugen said. "I tribute one Machine-type monster on my field to special summon a non-WIND 'roid' monster from my Deck. Mixeroid itself is a Machine, so I tribute Mixeroid!"
The mixer drum spun wildly, creating a green Mystical Space Typhoon-like vortex that swallowed it whole. The truck broke apart into golden light, forming a summoning spiral.
"I special summon this card from my Deck," he declared. "Submarineroid, summon!" Submarineroid, ATK 800
Yuichi glanced at his back row again. Eight hundred attack still could not trigger Bottomless Trap Hole. "Hah, what's the point of summoning trash like that?" he scoffed, not yet realizing how serious the situation was.
"Battle. Submarineroid attacks," Yugen ordered. Yuichi's eyes widened. "A direct attack?"
"Submarineroid can attack directly, ignoring monsters on the field!" Yuichi clicked his tongue. "Cheap tricks. Even so, it's only eight hundred damage."
"At this moment, the effect of the field spell Megaroid City activates," Yugen said. "During damage calculation, if my 'roid' monster battles: I can send 1 'roid' monster from my Deck to the Graveyard; switch the original ATK and DEF of my battling monster during the damage calculation only."
"Nani?!?!" Yuichi's expression changed. Attack and defense swapped meant he understood instantly. "I send Gyroid from my Deck to the Graveyard and swap Submarineroid's ATK and DEF!"
Submarineroid, ATK 800 to ATK 1800
"Ugh, eighteen hundred attack." The small submarine leapt into the air and fired a torpedo that exploded against Yuichi with a loud blast. He staggered back under the simulated impact, baring his teeth.
Yuichi, LP 4000 to LP 2200
"Damn it," Yuichi wiped his mouth and snorted. "You've got some skill." Yugen replied calmly, "Submarineroid's other effect. After it battles, it can change to defense position."
"And with Megaroid City's effect ending, its DEF returns to normal." The submarine pulled back after the hit, turning around to brace itself in defense. Submarineroid, DEF 1800
"I set three cards and end my turn," Yugen said, closing out the round.
The surrounding students were starting to see the tactic Yugen was using.
Submarineroid had the ability to attack directly, and the field spell "Megaroid City" could switch the submarine's attack and defense at the moment of battle. That turned what should have been only 800 ATK damage into a full 1800 on a direct hit.
After attacking, the submarine could also switch itself into defense, and its back side was just as solid at 1800 defense. It was a unit that handled both offense and defense without trouble.
Once they understood the idea, several students wore strange expressions.
No one thought this kind of strategy that avoided direct monster clashes was especially powerful, but it was undeniably annoying. Still, although Yuichi had been slapped once and it had hurt more than expected, most people felt the advantage was still on his side, including Yuichi himself.
"Tch, just some petty tricks," Yuichi curled his lip. "But this kind of small scheme ends here."
"My Turn!, Card Draw!"
Yuichi Yamamoto had entered Duel Academy with big ambitions. From the time he learned how to duel, people around him had called him elite, and his life had gone smoothly right up until he passed the entrance exam. His written scores were a little weaker, but he was confident that in real duels at Duel Academy he would not lose to anyone.
He had set himself a clear goal, to rise into Obelisk Blue Dorm within the first semester and take first place among the freshmen before finals. That ranking even included top students promoted straight from Middle Division into Obelisk Blue Dorm.
If he could not even beat the number one of Yellow Dormitory, then there was nothing else to talk about. In his eyes, Yugen was just a stepping stone for his next level.
Today, he would establish his authority in Yellow Dormitory.
"I activate a Quick-Play Spell from my hand, Mystical Space Typhoon! Destroy one Spell or Trap Card on the field," Yuichi declared. "I destroy your left set card!"
Black Whirlwind whipped up, lifting one of Yugen's back row cards into the air before lightning shattered it. The destroyed card was a Trap Hole.
"Hah, it was a Trap Hole. That was close," Yuichi said with satisfaction. "If I had summoned a monster with over 1000 ATK without checking, it would have been wiped out."
"Then I normal summon Ape Fighter!"
Ape Fighter, ATK 1900
With 1900 attack as a Level 4 monster, and the ability to gain 300 ATK after destroying another monster in battle, Ape Fighter easily broke past 2000. It was one of Yuichi's favorite low-level attackers.
Yugen remained expressionless. "I flip my set card, the Trap Card Trap Hole. When a monster with over 1000 ATK is summoned, it is destroyed."
Trap Hole opened wide, and Ape Fighter fell in before it could even steady itself, exploding into fragments in the endless pit.
Yuichi stared in silence.
So there was a second one too. Fine.
He forced himself to accept it and continued, "Then I activate the Spell Card Monster Reborn. I special summon one monster destroyed this turn in attack position."
The card that had just entered the Graveyard jumped back out.
"I special summon Ape Fighter again!"
Ape Fighter, ATK 1900
"Now I'll show you that this crooked kind of Duel means nothing!" Yuichi shouted. "Go, Ape Fighter, attack the submarine!"
"Flip my set card," Yugen said calmly, revealing another back row card. "Dimensional Prison."
Yuichi's eyes went wide.
The unlucky ape never reached Submarineroid. Just as its massive hand was about to strike, space tore open into a Rift, and a powerful pull dragged it inside, erasing it in an instant.
"My Ape Fighter…" Yuichi muttered, his eyes bloodshot.
He never imagined it would leave the underworld for less than a second before vanishing into another dimension like it was changing trains. It was gone without accomplishing anything.
"Damn it. But now all your set cards are used up," Yuichi said through clenched teeth. "Next, Axe Dragonute attacks! Attack the submarine!"