The True First Duel
"We are here." With that simple announcement from Ren, Joachim was put face to face with their hideout. It looked like an abandoned warehouse through and through, and going by the blonde's deadpan expression, he already had an inkling it would be like that.
"What are you doing, standing there like an idiot? Get inside before someone sees us." When he noticed his new partner was not moving, the XYZ Duelist decided to remind him of their current situation. They might not be targeted directly for now, but that didn't mean they wouldn't attack them if they saw them in plain daylight.
Letting go of his misgivings, Joachim followed Ren to the side of the building that actually led to an alley. They walked through it for a bit before reaching a side of the wall that had crudely placed pieces of wood—ones that Ren removed without hesitation, revealing a decently sized hole. At that moment, the blonde youth knew that he didn't have to question how they weren't found before. He finally got to experience what 'dumb anime logic' meant in the flesh.
His companion crouched down and entered the hole without hesitation. Meanwhile, for his part, he looked at both sides to make sure no one was watching before following his example. With Ren's cue, he also put the makeshift camouflage back into place, though he wouldn't deny it was a bit uncomfortable due to the limited space he had to do such a thing.
He also couldn't say the experience was pleasant. Despite not being exactly claustrophobic, going through a tunnel where his vision was severely limited and he could feel spider webs touching his cheeks wasn't something to be happy about.
Thankfully, their little travel didn't last more than half a minute. As soon as he got out, Joachim was able to see how really deplorable the condition of this place was. It was no wonder it was abandoned. There were some traces of food thrown on the ground as well as some other instruments that wouldn't be out of place in a camping trip.
Aside from that, there were tons of big storage boxes piled on top of one another. Which was to say, even with people occupying the warehouse, the feeling of emptiness remained. It wouldn't be an understatement to say they were living the homeless life up until now.
"Don't need to have that gaze on you. We do what we have to do." Joachim turned to the side, seeing Ren looking at him with a not-so-amused face. Still, he knew there was not any mean intent with it.
"If you don't want me to look at you with pity then you should start having a little order around these parts. Even beggars are cleaner than you guys." The blonde was quick to retort, though he did it more with exasperation than anything.
"What are you, a maid?" In response to his words, Ren asked a sarcastic question, yet his face still showed some incredulousness at his behavior.
"I do what I have to do." Joachim repeated the words his ally had said to him, and his dead eyes told of unspeakable wars and hurdles; so much so that the brown-haired youth wondered if his battlefield was as dangerous as his. Not wanting to pry or know for the matter, he decided to focus on the matter at hand and why they came here in the first place.
"Whatever. Let's get started with this. Although it feels weird to teach someone the equivalent of using a fork, I will do my best so that it's easy to understand." Despite knowing it wasn't his intention, Joachim still felt insulted, evidently by his twitching lips. It wasn't his fault that he was born in a 'normal' world. However, for the sake of getting things done quickly, he didn't make a comment and just nodded his head.
Ren took out his Duel Disk to give a live demonstration, beginning his lesson immediately. "First things first, before doing anything, make sure to insert your Deck in the little space here." He motioned to a square compartment on the left end before continuing. "You will hear a 'click' sound. That's when you know you did it correctly."
"The reason why you do this is because there is a scanner in there. When it recognizes a card, it activates its 'duel mode' so to speak." Joachim hummed at the explanation, taking out his stolen Duel Disk as well as his Blue Eyes Brick Dragon Deck and inserting it in the same place his companion had done.
Just as what happened with Ren, he heard the click which meant the mode that allowed combat should be activated by now. Even so, he didn't do anything else and instead waited for further instructions.
Assenting after observing how Joachim repeated his steps correctly, the XYZ Duelist returned to his explanation. "Now you just need to press the screen above the Disk." He did just that, and both devices immediately shot out their 'blade.'
Thankfully, Joachim was prepared for the little recoil or he would have stumbled otherwise. Looking at the screen, he saw the typical Yu-Gi-Oh! board together with some information like his life points and both their names. He would have to ask Ra later if his hocus pocus can also hide his name in the device. It would be really pointless to 'cosplay' if that weren't the case. Naturally, he could change it manually, but that took — relatively — a lot of time, and that was something he was sure he wouldn't have always at his disposition in case he wanted to do a quick swap between personas.
"The moment it's turned on this way it will search a nearby disk to connect. Imagine something like data transfer between mobile devices. In case a Duel is already going on, an option will appear to interrupt it at the cost of a penalty or search for another device. Another thing to note is that it takes preference on the ones in front of you, so make sure to aim well to prevent any accidents." He did the typical dueling pose, with his forearm parallelly to his torso, and the whole limb forming an 'L'.
"As for the rest, it's even simpler. Nothing fancy at all. If you want to summon a monster, you put the card in the squares filling the blade. In case of setting spell or traps, just use the space below the monster zones. Don't worry about the edge. Despite looking like a laser knife, it's actually solid, so you won't get hurt. Lastly, supposing you want to activate them and they were set before, you will have to touch the yellow light in your case just above the said card. It's not a button, but it acts as a pad to notify the disk when you want to use your face-down card. Anything else I am missing?" Ren didn't want to bore Joachim with all of this, so he tried to explain things in the quickest and simplest way possible but without doing it haphazardly. Contrary to what the XYZ Duelist was expecting, though, he seemed to be paying close attention with a shine in his eyes like a little kid. He would normally laugh, but he didn't want to be mean now.
"What about things like monsters' effects? Or when I want to special summon from the Deck or Extra Deck?" Those were the things that came to mind at the moment. There might be more, but he guessed he would be learning along the way with actual experience. He would be lying if he said he wasn't itching for a real fight.
"Voice commands."
"Excuse me?" The blonde youth puzzledly asked at the rather simple yet unbelievable — at least from his point of view — declaration. It was weird that having things like Alexa back in his world this looked out of place to him, but it just did. There was something different between asking a device to play music or give you an answer to your question and ordering your monster to shit on the whole board.
"Voice commands." He repeated once again. "The AI is pretty intelligent. It does a whole scan of your deck once you insert it and stores it in its database. In doing so it makes possible for you to call out a monster effect. With that being said, you have to say the name of the monster. To put an example. "I activate X effect," with 'x' being the name of the monster. The only time you have to say the effect itself out loud is when the card has multiple ones. You can still do it even if it's only one, though, just to see the look of annoyance in your opponents once you pull a fast one on them."
"You are dark." Joachim deadpanned at him, and Ren just took it with a smile as if he had just been complimented.
"Moving on, thanks for reminding me by the way, there is a compartment for the Extra Deck next to one for the Deck. Just press it for a second and let it go. It should 'sink' before opening, you can store those disgusting XYZ monsters of yours there." It was true that they had cancerous effects, but he didn't have to call them disgusting; Joachim thought while rolling his eyes. It was a treatment he expected to be received by some Fusion monsters, not his.
Leaving that aside, he followed Ren's instructions and sure enough, a little thing in the shape of a slice of pie opened, giving him the chance to put some random cards in there which he already knew wouldn't be able to summon, at least not all of them, as there was no need to go unga bunga in a practice match. He wasn't being conceited, far from that. It didn't take a genius to know if Ren was serious he would dust the floor with him as a broom. He just disliked being the type to 'press red button, win automatically'. Though the irony was not entirely missed considering his Deck.
His companion's next words brought him out of his reverie, and he quickly started to pay attention again. "As for summoning. Just say "I overlay this monster with that monster." The screen will show you the monsters you can summon with those materials. In case you have a Level 3 and Level 4 for example, no matter if you say you are going to overlay them, nothing is going to happen, so be mindful of that as well. Another thing to add is that if you want to get a card from your Deck thanks to a searcher, you can say its name and it will separate itself from your Main Deck for you to grab it."
'Really convenient. Considering you can't put your hand down on a table and look for a card with both actual appendages.' With that idle thought out of the way, Joachim looked at Ren, seeing a smirk he was probably sharing as well.
"Well, teacher. Care to retire and leave things for your student to handle?" Although he addressed him mockingly, it was all in good banter, something the brown-haired youth understood and even joined in.
"You are a hundred years too early to beat your Master, little grasshopper. Since we already have our Duel Disks activated from my explanation earlier, how about we put your learning skills to test?" Ren moved a few steps behind to gain distance between the two before adopting a duel-ready stance.
Joachim did the same. His heart was beating a hundred times per minute and his excitement was through the roof. The cogs of the machine that was his being were finally moving.
He was ready to say the word that would mark the true start of his journey, and Ren was willing to humor that.
"DUEL!"
Ren — LP: 4000 x5
Joachim — LP: 4000 x5
The top five cards of his Deck conveniently separated themselves from the rest for him to grab, something he quickly did without hesitation. Looking at them, he inwardly clicked his tongue. They were not really something he could use. It seems Ra's powers didn't apply to 'friendly' duels.
"Since my hand is clearly overpowered and I am the one who challenged you, I will generously let you go first." Joachim words and expression radiated confidence, totally the opposite to what was really going on inside his mind.
"Whatever you say, my little student." Ren rolled his eyes while looking at his own hand. Since this was something to go over the basics rather than a true competition, there was no need to go all out from the start. That didn't mean he would put things easy, though.
"I will start things by summoning Time Thief Regulator (Dark/Machine/Effect/ATK: 600/DEF: 200/LV: 4)!" A strange canine-looking mechanic monster appeared on his side of the field, and Joachim made sure to look at all of its detail intently. It was all surreal to him, but not in a bad way.
"I now activate his effect! By tributing Regulator, I can Special Summon two other Time Thieves Monsters from my Deck in defense position! Appear now Time Thief Winder (Dark/Psychic/Effect/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1300/LV: 4) and Time Thief Adjuster (Dark/Psychic/Effect/ATK: 1200/DEF: 1800/LV: 4)!" A portal appeared above Regulator, and he jumped into it without hesitation. Not long after, two new Monsters appeared from it: a man with dark garbs and a girl with a lab coat.
"When Adjuster is Normal or Special Summoned, I can send a 'Time Thief' card from my Deck to my Graveyard. I will send Time Thief Flyback. Now it is Winder's turn. When this card is Normal or Special Summoned, I can add a 'Time Thief' card to my hand. I will 'Time Thief Startup!' Now to the main event! I overlay the Level 4 Winder with the Level 4 Adjuster!"
A red spiral appeared below both monsters before they transformed into orbs and quickly going inside it.
"Masterful thief of time. Heed my call and appear from your solitary dimension to steal my enemies' hopes! Manifest yourself, Rank 4! Time Thief Redoer (Dark/Psychic/XYZ/Effect/ATK: 2400/DEF: 2000/Rank: 4)!" His chant made Joachim sweatdrop. He did remember that this was not a life and death battle, right?
A light pillar suddenly shot out from the galaxy-like helix, and when it disappeared, a new monster was in its place. A white-haired youth wearing a dark and red cape with a gauntlet on his hand looked at Joachim expressionlessly, but the transmigrated person could swear he saw traces of emotional intelligence in his eyes.
"I set two cards and end my turn. Now, let's see how you do." Ren passed the baton to him, who was busy looking at Redoer. The moment the monster flashed him a smirk and nodded, he knew things were getting weirder.
Ren — LP: 4000 x3
"My turn!" As soon as he said that, a card once again shot out from the rest of the Deck. He wouldn't get tired of saying it, voice commands were seriously convenient. "Draw!"
After looking at the card, he knew there was hope of getting out of his useless hand. His relief was going to be short lived, though, as Ren quickly got into action once again.
"I activate Redoer's effect! Once per turn, during the Standby Phase, I can attach the top card of your Deck to him as material. Time Steal!" A yellow rope made out of energy shot out from the XYZ Monster's gauntlet and attached itself to his Deck, snatching the card in question for himself, which quickly became a yellow orb hovering around him.
"And you say my monsters' effects are disgusting..." His comment went seemingly unheard as he didn't receive an answer back.
"I activate Dragon Shrine!" He slowly and clumsily placed the card face-up in a random slot and sure enough, it activated without problems. "I can send a Dragon-type monster from my Deck to the Graveyard. I send is 'The White Stone of Ancients'." The Disk removed the card in question, and Joachim placed it where he luckily remembered the Graveyard was. As for Dragon Shrine itself, it seemed to have gotten farther into the blade. There was possibly a mechanism to send it directly to the graveyard without having to remove the card and do it manually.
"Following up, I activate Trade-In! By Discarding one Level 8 monster, I can draw two cards. I send Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Sending Kaiba's Ace to the Graveyard, Joachim promptly got the new additions to his hand. 'Perfect.'
"I play the Spell Ancient Rules, which lets me Special Summon a Level 5 or higher Normal Monster from my hand. Appear now, Blue-Eyes White Dragon (Light/Dragon/Normal/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500/Level: 8)!" He practically slammed the card in the Monster Zone, and the Dragon in question soon answered his call with a majestic roar.
This time, he truly paused. It was one thing to see him—her from a screen, but to actually witnessing her form with your own eyes? That was something he couldn't explain with words alone.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" He couldn't help but involuntarily mutter, still not looking away from the beast, which caused Ren to actually recoil with some distaste on his face "You are not into 'that', are you?"
The golden-haired man maturely gave his companion the middle finger before focusing back on the Duel. "Moving on, I activate Return Of The Dragon Lords to bring back the Blue-Eyes I discarded previously."
A second one joined the first, and both roared as if welcoming each other. Ren meanwhile narrowed his eyes. As a Duelist who used only XYZ from the Extra Deck, he knew what was coming.
"I overlay both of my Blue-Eyes!" Like it happened with Ren's Time Thieves, both dragons became orbs of light that shot into the sky. Joachim quickly selected the monster he wanted to summon and the Disk was quick to bring it out for him.
He also removed both Blue-Eyes from his Duel Disk and placed them again horizontally in a different spot on top of one another before allocating his new monster above them just in time for the two orbs to enter the galaxy-like spiral. However, different from Time Thief Redoer that elicited a pillar of light, his portal twisted shut prior to exploding with light.
"Roar throughout the entire universe. Revive, from the source of all galaxies, that flows from far back in time! Manifest yourself, and lead me to victory! Numbers 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon (Light/Dragon/XYZ/Effect/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500/Rank: 8)!" A mechanical looking dragon appeared once the explosion of light calmed down. Its form seemed illusory at first, but it quickly showed its true appearance to the world with a roar of dominance.
However, Joachim's mind wasn't as involved in the Duel as before. 'What was that? The words just flowed out of my mouth...' He then turned to his new Dragon with an inquisitive look. 'Was it you...?'
Tachyon Dragon looked back at him while releasing a low growl. He couldn't understand the meaning in words, but something told him he was admitting to his silent question.
Shaking his head, he quickly focused back. Now it was not the time to think about such matters. 'Let's do it. Friendly or not, let's win this.'
A mighty roar was his answer, causing his lips to arch slightly upward.
"Let's see if your Time Thief can steal from the Ruler of Time itself, Ren!" His declaration was met with a challenging smirk. Not only from the Duelist himself, but also from his monster.
"Bring it on!"
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(A/N): Sorry for c*ckblocking you guys, but if I continued I would not end this chapter until 5k words xD That aside, I will add some notes here before moving on with future duels and all that. I'll be using the japanese romaji translation for Number monsters. Example: Number 39: Utopia will be NumberS 39: King of wishes - Hope and so on. Mainly because I like to stay loyal to the og version. And now that we are in the subject of the Numbers, I will strive to use new ones that don't see much - or at all - screen time in fanfics. It's always "Utopia" this, "Ark Knight" that, and it honestly gets tiring. Don't misunderstand, I will probably use them, but they won't be the first thing MC summons 99% of the time. Lastly, I want to ask you guys if I should tone it down with the descriptions of monsters that make an appearance. The Light/Dragon/Effect thingy as well as a little description of how they look. Your opinion is appreciated. See you guys in the next chapter. Peace!)