Yutaka's shout would have been mighty and awe-inspiring if not for a single fact. His voice broke in the middle.... Well, according to the student ID, he wasn't that young, but it was still embarrassing that his voice had broken down in the middle like a teenager. Thankfully, no one laughed at him, as they were focused on something else, which was the content of his shout.
Suddenly, the crowd parted like the Red Sea did for Moses and his people.
At the other end of the sea Rex was looking at him incredulously as if thinking to himself, 'What is this crazy guy talking about?'
Yutaka walked towards him and repeated his statement.
"Rex, let's duel once more! So don't run away like a coward once the tournament starts."
"Kekeke, you? You think you can defeat me and call me a coward? Huh! That's the greatest joke I have heard today," said Rex while laughing arrogantly.
In his mind, Yutaka was already a defeated dog. Since he won against him once in the past, there would be no suspense for him to win for the second time.
This was especially true after he had obtained the other party's legendary Red-Eyes Black Dragon. In fact, Rex was already imagining the scene where Yutaka was crying and begging for his forgiveness while he was stepping on him.
"Joke or not, you can't run away. As soon as the tournament starts, we are going to duel, and after winning, you will give me my card back."
"Wait a minute! That doesn't seem fair now, does it? We can bet on the Star Chips since that is the rule of the tournament, but why do I have to bet MY card?" Even though he looked foolish, Rex was not a 'complete' idiot. Sure, he could be arrogant at times, and perhaps his pride was larger than it had any right being. But he was definitely not an idiot.
"State your terms," Yutaka said calmly. He was not expecting this to go smoothly. If only he could remember how the original Joey won Red-Eyes, it would have been better. He remembered that duel had something to do with Mai, and Joey won Red-Eyes at the end of the process, but he just couldn't remember how it happened.
"Number one, I bet only one Star Chip against your two Star Chips, and number two, you are betting your whole deck against MY Red-Eyes. If you agree to these terms, we will duel," said Rex as he smiled like a hyena.
"That doesn't seem fair," said Joey as he walked over with a frown.
"Refuse the duel, Yuta; it's not worth it," said Tristan, which made Yutaka glare at him. However, Tristan didn't know if it was because he called him Yuta or because he said it's not worth it.
"Tristan is right Yuta, your condition is not good. You can always duel tomorrow." Mini Yugi also chimed in as he glanced at his 'friend' worriedly.
"Take it or leave it. This is the only time I will humour your whims." Hearing what Yugi said, Rex immediately cut in. He didn't think he was going to lose anyway, but he didn't mind taking advantage wherever he could in the process.
Yutaka didn't think for much longer and, after gritting his teeth, agreed.
"Fine! As soon as the tournament starts, we are duelling with your rules," he said as he turned around to hide the giant smile on his face.
This idiot didn't even know he was getting conned.
Even with these skewed rules, there was no way a person like him who rolled amongst the best in the future would lose to him.
It's like putting a special forces agent against a caveman. Sure, the caveman would have an advantage over physique (banned cards of the anime), but the special forces would have weapons (game knowledge discovered by IRL players), so of course the special forces agent would win thanks to his tactics and weapons.
Additionally, this special forces agent had access to the caveman's physique, which meant he had no disadvantages from the start.
"Tch"
Seeing Yutaka's declaration, Mai sighed to herself in annoyance. She was originally planning on finding a chance to duel against Yuta, as she had already seen his deck, and it was a pretty 'weak' one, so she was planning on picking easy fruits like him first, but it looked like someone had already gotten ahead of her. Maybe she could find a chance to duel Rex later and get his four stars from him?
***
An hour later the duellists had already spread all over the island, but a sizeable crowd was following Rex and Yutaka to watch their duel, including the protagonist group and Mai.
"What do you think, Yug? Can he win?" Joey asked Yugi as they watched the duo climb up the platform to their respective positions and shuffle their decks.
"Well, he should be able to?" replied Mini Yugi, not sure about how to answer.
[DUEL] X 2
[Yutaka: 2000]
[Rex: 2000]
"ATTENTION DUELLISTS!"
Before Yuta could even play his first card, he was stopped by one of Pegasus' goons.
"The terms of your duel have been heard by Master Pegasus, who has decided that they need to be revised for fairness. For a duel agreed on by both parties, the highest Star Chip count will be used in order to stop duellists from playing it safe by only betting the minimum number of stars. So, this duel shall be played for 2 Star Chips. The duel can carry on now."
After hearing what the Illusion Society employee said, Rex was about to argue, but when he saw the employee's stern face, he decided it was best to keep his mouth shut.
"My turn! Draw!" Rex didn't give Yuta the time to adjust and took the first move from him. In the Duellist Kingdom rules, there wasn't a clear distinction regarding who would go first. So usually, it was the one with the fastest hands who would go first, which Yuta wanted to call BS on.
Seeing the card that he drew, Rex was over the moon.
"Kekekeke, get ready to be defeated once more Loser. I summon my Ace Card! Two Headed King Rex! In attack position!"
[Two-Headed King Rex] [EARTH]
[LV: ★ ★ ★ ★]
[DINOSAUR / NORMAL]
[A powerful monster whose two heads attack as one.]
[1600 ATK / 1200 DEF]
"Now that you don't have Red-Eyes anymore, you shouldn't have any monster strong enough to defeat it!" Rex boasted in front of Yuta, trying to rile him up. Seeing his flushed look, he believed his tactics were working.
"Kekekeke, but that's not all. Let me see your despair even more! I summon Blast Juggler and play the spell card Polymerization to summon Cyber Saurus!"
Yuta wanted to argue that he could not summon two monsters in the same round, but seeing Rex play Polymerization he decided to let it slide.
He didn't remember much from the OG Yugioh anime, but if he was not wrong, they indeed summoned monsters into the field before using Poly to fuse them.
Though that made him wonder what they would do if he played cards like trap hole once they summoned the cards they wanted to use for fusion.
Would that simply negate the fusion? That… was an interesting thing to think about. Maybe he should grab a passer-by and try it on them to see how it interacts?
As Yuta was in his own world considering the rules of the current era of the game, Rex thought he was scared into being a mute, so he was feeling even more smug.
"Heed my call, the ancient apex predator enhanced by cutting-edge technology! Cyber Saurus!"
[Cyber Saurus] [EARTH]
[LV: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★]
[MACHINE / FUSION]
[Blast Juggler + Two-Headed King Rex.]
[1800 ATK / 1400 DEF]
"Oh my god! A Machine type? One of the rarest monster types to ever exist. I heard they are immune to the attacks of spellcaster monsters and spells. They say the US Champion Bandit Keith's deck is made up of Machine type monsters!" One of the members of the peanut gallery chimed in with an unneeded commentary.
"Kekekeke, you hear that, Loser? Your doom is only a matter of time. I set down one card and end my turn!"
Yuta was not impressed with Cyber Saurus, but as soon as he saw the set trap card, he immediately went full alert. Who knew what kind of a bullshit trap card they played in this era? He needed to draw a removal now in addition to his winning combo, which was bothersome.
"My turn! Draw!"
Yuta looked at the card he drew and couldn't help but smirk. With this half of his combo was complete. Now he only needed to draw that card and do a back row removal, and then he would win.
"Look, Joey, it seems like Yuta drew a card that can get him out of this sticky situation." Mini Yugi looked excited as he spoke to Joey as if he were the one duelling Rex.
"Kuh, what is it? What did you draw?" Rex also got nervous seeing his smug face.
"I set one monster and then set this card down to end my turn." Yuta didn't keep him in suspense as he promptly ended his turn. He wanted to get this duel over with because he was starting to feel lightheaded.
"Kekekeke, and here I thought you drew something amazing. Turns out it was nothing more than a bluff. My turn! Draw!"
Rex, seeing the card he drew, laughed even harder.
"Loser, it seems like even your previous card wants to give you a beatdown."
"It can't be!" Yugi looked nervous.
"I summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
[Red-Eyes Black Dragon] [DARK]
[LV: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★]
[DRAGON / NORMAL]
[A ferocious dragon with a deadly attack.]
[2400 ATK / 2000 DEF]
"Kekekeke, how does it feel to see your precious Red-Eyes again?" Rex was getting ready to spite Yuta once again, but he was surprised when he looked at him.
"Pretty good!" Yuta was breathing heavily, and his face was flushed red. His pupils were out of focus as he looked at the majestic Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Soon it would be his.
"Creep…"
Rex was about to attack, but he was suspicious of the card on Yuta's back row, so he wanted to get rid of it first or at least see what it was.
"I use the spell card De-Spell on your set card."
"Tch! Active set card Scapegoat"
[Scapegoat] [SPELL]
[SPELL CARD]
[Special Summon 4 "Sheep Tokens" (Beast/EARTH/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0) in Defence Position. They cannot be Tributed for a Tribute Summon. You cannot Summon other monsters the turn you activate this card (but you can Normal Set).]
After Yutaka activated his set card, four colourful sleeping sheep took to the field. They looked like cute little cotton candy lumps, and Yuta suddenly even had the desire to take a bite out of them.
"Scapegoat… Scapegoat!!! Puha! I knew you went crazy after losing Red-Eyes, but what's with this useless card!? Kekekeke seems like I was worried for nothing."
"Shut up and play your turn, Rex!" Yuta cut off Rex's self-acting play as he was getting dizzier and dizzier. He was this close to having an accident and throwing up on the duel field. He needed to finish this duel fast.
"Red-Eyes attack his set card. Inferno Fire Blast!"
In the next moment, pinkish-red flames began to gather in Red-Eyes' mouth, and it then spat them towards Yuta's set card.
"Flip Summon. Princess of Tsurugi"
A blonde female warrior with crystal needles on her hands appeared on Yuta's side of the field.
[Princess of Tsurugi] [WIND]
[LV: ★ ★ ★]
[WARRIOR / FLIP]
[900 ATK / 700 DEF]
Under Red-Eyes' fierce bombardment, Princess couldn't hold on and disappeared with a sorrowful scream.
"Activate Princess of Tsurugi's Flip effect! You take 500 damage for each of your set spell and trap cards!"
The destroyed princess jumped out of the grave with vengeance in her eyes as she attacked Rex directly. Yuta also wanted to call out the name of Tsurugi's attack, but he found it too embarrassing, so he didn't say anything. Thankfully, the effect took place regardless. If he was forced to shout such cringey sentences at his age, he would have wanted to find a hole and jump in it to bury himself.
[Rex: 2000 → 1500]
"Guh! Cheap tricks! Cyber Saurus attack the Sheep token! Cyber Gatling!"
Yuta's sheep token was destroyed, and he took a step back under the impact, which puzzled him. He didn't feel the impact when the more ferocious Red-Eyes attacked but when it was the trash fish Cyber Saurus suddenly he felt like he was going to die… Eh, he could find the answer to this in the future. Now it was time to end this duel!
Because he was about to pass out, Yuta did the most despicable thing that he could think of in the anime.
"My turn! Draw!"
Yes, it was forcefully ending his opponent's turn, which was considered normal in these parts.
"I activate Graceful Charity and draw 3 more cards!"
[Graceful Charity] [SPELL]
[SPELL CARD]
[Draw 3 cards, then discard 2 cards.]
"I discard Bacon Saver and Launcher Spider." Rex was suddenly alerted as he saw the mighty Launcher Spider going into the graveyard.
"What!? You discarded such a rare card like—" Yuta had no intention of listening to him, as he felt like his time limit was drawing closer. He was already seeing black spots in his vision.
He should probably get that checked out.
"I activate Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two more cards."
[Pot of Greed] [SPELL]
[SPELL CARD]
[Draw 2 cards.]
"Wait, you didn't let me fi-"
"I activate one more Pot of Greed!"
"You loser, listen—"
"It's over, Rex; you are going to lose this turn." Yuta smiled at the final card he drew. He almost went through half his deck, and only now did he draw his win condition.
"Impossible!" Rex was taken aback by the blind confidence displayed by Yuta.
"But first, let me get rid of your pesky backcourt! I activate Harpie's Feather Duster!"
[Harpie's Feather Duster] [SPELL]
[SPELL CARD]
[Destroy all Spells and Traps your opponent controls.]
Rex's set card was revealed to be a Time Machine… so he did have one after all! But it was not time to think about that.
"I normal summon Cannon Soldier in defence mode!"
A mechanical construct with a huge green cannon attached to its back appeared on the field with its arms crossed.
"…Just this?" Seeing as how Yuta was even careful enough to get rid of his set card, Rex was waiting for a monster stronger than the Launcher Spider he had just discarded.
"Oh, believe me, Rex, this monster is not as simple as it seems."
[Cannon Soldier] [DARK]
[LV: ★ ★ ★ ★]
[MACHINE / EFFECT]
[1400 ATK / 1300 DEF]
"I know, I know, Machine type is immune to spells, but it can't help you in this situation!"
"That was not what I meant, Rex. Anyway, it's just better to show you first-hand instead of talking about it. Cannon Soldier activate your effect!"
As Yuta shouted, the yellow sheep woke up and squeezed into the cannon of the Cannon Soldier with its chubby body.
"WHAT!?"
[Rex: 1500 → 1100]
Cannon Soldier aimed towards Rex and fired the yellow sheep towards him, which promptly headbutted him. It was not a kind sheep; it still remembered how Rex insulted its kind last turn.
"Tch, so it can sacrifice other monsters to deal 400 damage. What's the big deal?"
Rex shouted angrily as he rubbed his head. It was just supposed to be a hologram, but he felt like a real sheep headbutted him, which made him feel frustrated and humiliated.
"I never said it was once per turn, did I?" Yuta answered as he smiled in an evil manner.
"No…"
"Red and Pink sheep! You know what to do!"
"BAH" X2
After Yuta gave his order, the two sheep squeezed into the Cannon Soldier's cannon one after another and then went on to headbutt Rex.
[Rex: 1100 → 300]
"Guh! So what! There are no more monsters to sacrifice, and I still have Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Cyber Saurus on the field while you only have that measly Cannon Soldier! Next turn it will be my win!"
"Are you sure about that?" Yuta laughed and waved his index finger at Rex.
"…What?"
"Cannon Soldier! Sacrifice yourself to end Rex and bring back MY dragon! Ultimate Cannon Strike!"
Cannon Soldier exited its defence mode and squatted on all fours, aiming at Rex. It then began to overload its systems, causing yellow electricity to leak from its body before a heaven-defying laser beam shot out of its barrel, destroying the Cannon Soldier in the process.
"NO!!!!!!!!!"
The only thing Rex could do at this moment was scream in terror as he noticed what was about to happen.
[Rex: 300 → 0]
[Winner: Yutaka]
"He won!" said Joey as he hugged Tristan.
"He really did! I knew he was a true duellist that believed in the heart of the car… watch out!" As he was about to congratulate him, Mini Yugi saw Yuta fainting and falling off the stage, and before he could take action, Joey had already jumped over to catch him.
"Oi, Yuta, wake up!"