Ah, the art of deckbuilding. Aniki was a fan, although he would certainly admit he wasn’t the greatest. His work was made all the more difficult by trying to stay within the time period of Zexal’s release. Still, after going through his binders (And giving Yubel a wide berth, just in case) Aniki eventually came up with something he thought would be fun to mess around with. Megarock Dragon beatdown was probably the dumbest, least effective deck he’d ever built.
It was perfect.
It was getting towards afternoon outside, and after getting a quick map linked up to his duel gazer, (which was super cool) Aniki set off toward the Heartland City Academy, where, from what little knowledge he had of Zexal, he knew there’d be plenty of duels to watch. Plus, Aniki mused, he just wanted to go for a walk. Take in all of the sights, really let it sink in that he’s in an anime world now.
Sliding his newly made deck into his duel disk and strapping it on, Aniki made his way out of the card shop, locking it and making a mental note that there wasn’t a name for the shop. Something he’d probably fix later, he mused. Every good hobby shop has a cool name, and his would be no different.
Walking down the street towards the academy, the first thing that jumped out at Aniki was that there were tons of duels taking place, with huge monsters ripping their way out of the concrete to battle each other in epic battles. The second, of course, was the absolute horror show that was the hair on Yuma Tsukumo’s head.
It didn’t take long to get to the academy, since it was right down the street, and it was even easier to find Yuma in a duel once he got there. Kids of all ages were gathered around the courtyard of the school, all excited about the duel in progress. Yuma stood about a dozen feet across from some kid with the wildest purple hair Aniki had ever seen, flanked by two honest-to-god goons. Like, the kind you’d see in movies.
That last one drove home the anime world more than anything had. Of course, immediately after, Yuma had to ruin the cool moment.
“I’ll summon Gogogo Golem [1800/1500] in attack mode!” Yuma’s statement was accompanied by a blue, almost egg-shaped golem with two massive arms bursting onto the field, ready to smash whatever got in its way.
Aniki did a double-take. “The hell… in attack? Isn’t this guy supposed to be some genius duelist or something?” He muttered. Of course, Yuma’s follow-up Blustering winds to raise his golem’s attack by 1000 sounded good on paper, but as the other kid - Shark, apparently - smirked, the dust cleared, and his Number 17: Leviathan Dragon [2500/0] was perfectly fine.
If Yuma’s astoundment was anything to go off of, this wasn’t something he’d planned for, and Aniki was confused for a moment before Shark explained that number monsters can only be destroyed in battle by other number monsters. An odd rule, Aniki mused, but it certainly made for a fun anime moment. Still, as he watched Yuma flounder about… he wasn’t very impressed. Based on how the kid was talking to the air, Aniki was pretty sure Yuma had some kind of duel spirit, or something similar giving him advice, but… as the duelist checked, and seemed genuinely surprised that he had a trap card on the field, it was clear he was either really dumb, or just not listening to his duel spirit’s advice. Possibly both.
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Unable to bear any more of the duel, and knowing that Yuma, being the main character, probably won’t lose, Aniki started on home. In all honesty, he wasn’t sure quite what he was expecting out of Yuma, but… that definitely wasn’t it. That made Aniki think. If the main character was that bad… how bad was everyone else by comparison? Thinking back to GX, because Jayden had a terrible archetype, everyone else had to play like garbage to let him win any duels.
That made him pause. If everyone was truly that bad… it wouldn’t be hard to stop the main villain with like, half a brain, right? Aniki wouldn’t even have to step in, he could just teach a few random dudes how to put cards down with a semblance of a strategy and they’d just steamroll through everyone. Thinking hard as he walked back down to the card shop he now called home, Aniki formed a plan. He’d collect numbers when he came across them, and the others?
He’d just train a bunch of duelists to do it for him.
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Julius was confused. Today had been a lot, so being a little confused was alright, in his opinion. First, Shark had to go and find that weird card, then lose a duel to Yuma of all people, and then he, Shark, and Slim all split up. Julius, or Jewels to his friends, wasn’t sure what to make of the duel. Shark was in the lead the whole duel, right up until Yuma summoned that XYZ that Jewels didn’t even know Yuma had. After that, Yuma managed to eke out a win by negating his own monster’s attack, then using Double or Nothing to hit Shark directly.
He wasn’t sure what to make of it. Sure, Shark lost, but did that make him weak? Was Yuma still weak? He won against Shark, but does that make him strong now, or was it just luck? All these questions clouded Jewels’ mind as he walked through town. It was just starting to get to evening time, and the sun was about to set in about a half-hour or so. Jewels eventually found a decent spot to sit and just think about the duel. He did that, sometimes. Slim always said he was a weirdo, but it helped Jewels figure out things he missed the first time. Still, even after a good ten minutes of thought, he still couldn’t figure out why he felt so… off. Was it because Shark lost? Shark could beat Jewels, so did that mean that Jewels was weaker than Yuma? He didn’t want to be weak. He couldn’t stand being weak!
Eventually, Jewels decided to just look for someone to duel. If he lost, he was weak, and if he won, he wasn’t. It's as simple as that. Glancing around, Jewels was surprised to see that there wasn’t anyone out dueling. For this part of the city, that almost never happened. Still, he was hopeful he’d find someone soon. Walking towards the only real landmark around, some little card shop that didn’t have a name, Jewels was met with the reason there wasn’t anyone out. Walking towards the shop was a tall man in a brown jacket. His blond hair was messily tied up into a ponytail, leaving a few strands to fall over his face. He was thin but fit, and the way he walked oozed confidence.
This guy was a duelist, and the aura he exuded said that his winning wasn’t an if, it was a when.
Still, Jewels was no coward, and so he put on his best nonchalant stroll and headed toward the man. As he got a bit closer, he could see that the guy wasn’t actually all that old, though he looked like it from a distance. He was probably closer to a young adult, though that didn’t make the slight smirk on his face any less off-putting. Once the man was about twenty feet away, Jewels decided to try his luck.
“Hey, you a duelist?” Smooth. Introductions weren’t Jewels’ strong suit, that was why Shark usually did the talking, but it was serviceable.
The man cracked an eyebrow and nodded. “I suppose I am. Any chance that means you’re challenging me to a duel?” The man’s voice was deep, but not overly so. It was pretty much exactly what one would expect out of someone who looked like a crime boss, but Jewels decided not to comment on that.
“I am. You up for it?” This was the big question. This guy was clearly someone who thought they were strong, so if he could just beat them…
The man paused, rubbed his neck, and then nodded. “Sure, I don’t see why not. Any stipulations you wanna set beforehand?” With the question being asked like this, the man wasn’t adding any, and Jewels shook his head. No big stakes, just a duel. He could do this.
Jewels was gonna win. And when he did, he was gonna prove that Shark really was just weak.