The non-original characters in this fanfiction are copyrighted to Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallup and Toei where applicable. All other characters are considered public domain by the author and may be used freely, but he does request that you ask permission as a courtesy.
The card names used are translations of the Official Card Game (OCG) names. For the TCG names, see the "Cards used" at the end of the story. And don't forget to e-mail me your thoughts (vm_postitnotes@yahoo.com). Thank you very much for reading.
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YU-GI-OH! -0
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Turn Six: "A Legend and a Dragon: Shougo's Memory"
Early morning one day in the Osiris Red dorms, all the students had gathered in the meeting hall. In the time since Kiyotaki had become Chancellor of Duel Academia, the Osiris and Ra dorms had expanded considerably, plus they were now co-ed dorms, avoiding the automatic "girls go to Obelisk" rule.
An elderly lady appeared in the meeting hall, wearing a maroon red blouse and dress. She looked kind, but somewhat weary.
"My name is Mayako Matsutani," she said. "I'm the head teacher of Osiris Red. I'm sorry I haven't been in the past week or so, but it's very nice to meet you all at last."
The students all greeted their teacher politely.
"There are some new faces here, and while you've got a long day of learning ahead of you, I'd like to take the opportunity here in homeroom to know you individually. To start, we'll go around and talk to the new students. Tell us a little about yourselves, and why you came to this school. What you enjoy about dueling. All these things are important to me and to your future here at Duel Academia."
She got down from the podium and went around the room, seeing each individual first-year student and questioning them about their dreams in regards to Duel Monsters. Shougo fidgeted in his seat as his sensei approached. When she got to him and asked him why he played Duel Monsters, butterflies in his stomach waged war and he stared at the ground.
"I'll pass..."
"Aoyama-kun?"
"Please, Matsutani-sensei... it's kind of personal to me."
Shougo looked down away from the teacher and tried to shield his ears from all the whispers that already started.
"That's fine, Aoyama-kun. I understand. Let's move on to the next first-year. Watanabe-kun..."
Chiba glanced at his roommate and friend, who just looked away. 'He must still be upset over his loss to Toragami-san,' he thought. 'But still, I do want to know... maybe I'll ask him later today.'
--
Chiba and Shougo were back at their dorm room after a day of classes. Both were exhausted and ready to rest, but Chiba was curious about something.
"Shougo-kun," he asked. "About today's homeroom..."
Shougo nodded. "You want to know why I skipped Matsutani-sensei's questions," he said. "It's just that nobody believes me when I tell the story of how I became a Duelist."
"Nobody believes you? Why?"
"Well... it's that... I always liked dueling but... I started being a Duelist after meeting the King of Duelists."
"Mutou Yugi?" Chiba sat down on his bed. "Is that possible? Didn't he retire some time ago?"
"I know," Shougo said. "I don't know how to explain it but... it happened when I was about twelve years old."
"That's only two years ago, though. Yugi-san's retired since..."
"I know! I thought maybe you of all people would believe me, Chiba-kun..."
"No, no. I want to hear what happened to you."
"It sounds unbelievable but I know it happened," Shougo said. "It started the day I got my favorite card. The Red-Eyes Black Dragon..."
--
"You here to buy cards too?" one of the boys asked.
"Heh... what's the point? You'll never win, no matter what cards you get," another one said, and all three of them started laughing as they headed out the door.
Shougo sighed. 'They're probably right,' he thought to himself. He considered just leaving when the old lady who ran the shop called out to him.
"Come on in... you wanted to buy some cards, didn't you?"
Shougo blinked, then nodded and ran to the counter where a set of booster packs awaited him. He looked through the sealed packs. "Yeah... I like Duel Monsters. But... I'm too weak..."
"Do you know what a 'duelist' is?" the woman asked.
"Of course... they're the players who fight in Duel Monsters. I would like to be one too... my dream is to be a great duelist."
The old lady chuckled and smiled. "Dreams are nice."
Shougo then settled on a particular pack. "I'll take this one," he said, putting his money down. He then opened it up and looked through the cards. There was Kuriboh and Blood Vorse, but one particular card jumped out at him.
"...the Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" he gasped.
"That's a very rare card," the old lady said, equally impressed. "In terms of the legendary rare cards, it's second only to the Blue-Eyes white Dragon."
"Legendary rare cards?"
"'The blue dragon brings victory, but the red dragon brings possibility.' That's the way the legend goes. However, only people with the will to fight can use these legendary cards."
Shougo's face fell, and the disappointment in his spirit was clear. "Will to fight...?"
"It's up to you to continue to gather cards with potential," she went on. "But whether you do or not depends on your will to fight."
"Red-Eyes," Shougo said. "The legendary card..."
--
"So that was the day you got your favorite card," Chiba said, nodding. "I remember that day well myself... when I got *my* favorite card, that is."
"Yeah, it's very special, isn't it?" Shougo nodded. "When I saw that card, I felt like everything about me could change, for the first time."
"That's how you felt?"
Shougo nodded.
Chiba clicked his tongue. "Maybe it's silly to think in this way, but I think people have connections to their cards in this game. Maybe you were destined to find the Red-Eyes... perhaps you have a connection...?"
"No," Shougo said reflexively. "No... no, I don't think so. It's a big and frightening dragon. I don't feel like I'm like that... but like I said, I felt that card could help me change myself."
"Well, the connections to our cards are based on how we feel about ourselves... I don't think they can change who you are. That would defeat the purpose."
Shougo laid back in his bed. "That's something to think about, I guess. But back then... I thought, now that I have this card, I had become the best. There was no need to fight."
"You didn't *really* think that, did you?"
"I'm pretty good at fooling myself, Chiba-kun," Shougo chuckled mirthfully. "At the time, I was only concerned with making sure everyone knew there was no point to challenging me..."
--
In a Duel Monsters center in Domino City, Shougo spotted the same three boys that had bothered him in the card shop. He walked up to them, holding his deck carrier.
"Hey, it's Shougo-kun," one of the boys said.
"Did you come here to lose some more?" another one of them jeered.
Shougo narrowed his eyes and glanced up at them. "You're the ones who are going to lose," he said. Then he dropped his eyes back down.
The three got angry. "What did you say? We'll lose to you?" one said.
"We haven't even dueled yet, so how would you know?" the other shouted.
The last one got behind Shougo and smimrked. "Or do you want us to beat you down again? Is that it?"
Shougo muttered, not looking them in the eyes. "But... I'll never lose because... because..." Then he suddenly shouted. "I have the Red-Eyes Black Dragon card!"
Everyone in the Duel Monsters center was jarred to attention by Shougo's claim.
One of the boys tried to call his bluff. "No way, you liar! Someone like you could never get such a legendary card..."
But shougo opened his deck container and showed them the proof... the card face-up on top of his deck.
"He really has it..."
"The Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
"That's right!" Shougo said. "Me and my dragon are more powerful than anyone. So there's no need to even fight!"
With that, he left the Duel Monsters center.
--
"So... that's what you really thought... Shougo-kun? That with a powerful card, you didn't have to fight."
"Yes... that was my mindset then," Shougo replied. "I was scared of fighting, but I wanted to be a great duelist. I thought that by getting the Red-Eyes, people would acknowledge me."
Chiba shook his head. "But you know better now, don't you?"
Shougo put his head in his hands. "One day, I was invited to a Duel Monsters tournament. It was an invitation from Seto Kaiba."
Chiba's eyes widened as big as saucers. "You got an invite from Kaiba-sama?"
"Yeah. But I didn't go. And... he tried to force me. That's when I met Yugi-san and Jonouchi-san."
"Amazing! You saw the three legendary duelists all at once! But... still, how is that possible?"
Shougo sighed again. "I know you probably don't believe me..."
"I believe you, Shougo-kun," Chiba stopped him. "Why would you lie about it?"
"A few reasons I can think of. But I know what happened... Jonouchi-san helped me and Yugi-san escape. And then he talked to me. He said... 'Are you really happy this way?'"
Shougo got up from off his bed and opened his drawer, taking out his deck.
"Then one of Kaiba's employees came, and stole my Red-Eyes."
"Stole it? That's terrible."
"Maybe. But it needed to happen. In any case, Jonouchi-san went to get the card. Yugi-san and I went to the stadium. There..."
--
Yugi and Shougo ran to where Jonouchi lay on the ground. He was beaten and bruised and struggling to get up.
Yugi helped his friend up while Shougo stayed back a distance.
"Yugi..." Jonouchi muttered. "I got... the Red-Eyes card back, somehow. But... Kaiba has your Millennium Puzzle."
"Jonouchi-kun!" Yugi said as Jonouchi slumped over. "Kaiba-kun... what he's done... is unforgivable!"
"He's not worth fighting against as a duelist," Jonouchi said. "But I won't rest until someone beats him down!"
Shougo looked down and clenched and unclenched his fists.
Jonouchi offered Shougo the Red-Eyes. "Shougo, will you beat him with this card? Or do you really think you can defeat him without even fighting?"
Shougo closed his eyes and started to sob. "I... I..." He then fell to his knees and started crying. "The truth is... I'm just scared! What if... what if I use Red-Eyes and still lose? I'll never be able to stand up again! If I don't fight, I can at least pretend I'm strong, right?"
"Listen to yourself!" Jonouchi got angry and grabbed Shougo by the shoulders. "Don't you want to be a duelist?"
"I can't!" Shougo shouted, and pushed Jonouchi away. He ran off, dropping his deck, but was too weary to go very far.
Yugi got up.
"You don't have to fight, Shougo-kun," he said. "I will."
Shougo gasped.
"I can't forgive Kaiba-kun's methods," he went on. "I'll put an end to this."
"That's the way, Yugi!" Jonouchi said. He then picked up Shougo's deck and returned it to him. "Watch the game, Shougo," he said. "See how Yugi beats that Kaiba bastard's ass down!"
Shougo looked down and nodded.
--
"Awesome, Shougo-kun!" Chiba was up on his feet with his fists raised. "Simply awesome... you saw the two greatest duelists ever fight!"
"It wasn't awesome for me," Shougo admitted. "I was scared the whole time. It was the first appearance of the Duel Disk system and everything looked so real. I didn't understand... why everyone else wasn't... I knew it was just a game but still..."
"Well, I'm sure the tension must have been overwhelming," Chiba said. "So... did Kaiba-san play that card?"
"The Blue-Eyes White Dragon," Shougo nodded. "Everyone was amazed. But I could barely even watch. It was because of Jonouchi-san that I was able to sit through the whole thing."
"So... did Yugi-san beat the Blue Eyes?"
"He beat one of them," Shougo said. "I remember that well. But then, Kaiba summoned another one."
"True... Kaiba does have three Blue-Eyes."
"And he fused them all together into one creature. I almost ran away when that happened. It was terrible."
Chiba entered a thinking pose. "Why not attack with all three separately?"
"I... I don't know. But then, Yugi-san drew my Red-Eyes... and..."
'In the old days of Duel Monsters, you could only attack with one monster at a time,' he thought to himself. 'And direct attacks were forbidden. So given those rules, it would be better to bring all 3 Blue-Eyes together. This clinches it. As unbelievable as it sounds, Shougo-kun must be telling the truth about knowing Yugi-san and Kaiba-san.'
"So what happened?" Chiba asked.
--
"Don't run away!" Jonouchi shouted, holding Shougo's arm and preventing him from leaving.
"But... but there's no point in staying! He'll lose!"
"This game is your game too," Jonouchi said. "Look at the card Yugi drew... it has my blood on it. It's your Red-Eyes Black Dragon."
"Why..." Shougo looked at his deck container, but the card was missing.
"When you dropped your cards, I switched it," Jonouchi explained. "I can't change your mind. You wouldn't fight yet you wanted to be a great Duelist. I couldn't take it anymore! You shouldn't hold cards and just dream of being a Duelist."
Shougo sat back down and watched as Yugi kept defending with other Monsters, none of them being able to stand up to the three combined Blue-Eyes dragons.
"Why isn't Yugi-niisan using the Red-Eyes?"
"Of course he won't use it," Jonouchi said. "Not until you show the will to fight."
Yugi summoned Meteor Dragon in defense mode, but then Kaiba played the card "Defense Paralysis", forcing the Meteor Dragon into attack mode. He then ended his turn, unable to attack because of the effect of the card.
"Do you understand, Shougo?" Jonouchi said. "The only hope Yugi has now is with the Red-Eyes."
"But what if he plays it and loses anyway?" Shougo whimpered. "The duel's an ante duel. Kaiba will take the Red-Eyes away, and then... and then... I'll go back to the old me, never getting any respect, always being made fun of. I don't want that!"
He closed his eyes and sobbed, remembering Yugi's questions earlier, before the Red-Eyes was taken away by Kaiba. 'Are you really happy this way? Is this really what you want? Isn't your dream to be a great Duelist?'
Shougo then heard Kaiba and Yugi talk to each other.
"This is over, Yugi," Kaiba said. "You have nothing left to stop me."
Yugi was unshaken. "I'll never give up," he said. "The Duelist's true strength is believing you can win, and having the courage to fight to the bitter end.'"
"Courage?" Shougo asked himself. "'The will to fight'... is that what courage is?"
"You don't get courage by dreaming about it," Jonouchi said. "You get it yourself!"
Shougo clenched his fists, going through the shop owner's words a thousand times in his head. If he wanted his dream to come true... yes... he'd have to accomplish it himself! And it would start here...
"I'll do it..." Shougo said. "I'll fight!" At Jonouchi's prompting, he shouted louder. "Use it, Yugi-niisan... use my Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
"I was waiting for those words!" Yugi said. "I summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
Everyone in the stadium was amazed at the first visual appearance of the legendary rare dragon.
"'The blue dragon brings victory, but the red dragon brings possibility,'" Yugi said as the monster appeared.
"Your 'possibility' is for nothing!" Kaiba yelled. "The Red-Eyes cannot beat one Blue-Eyes, let alone three!"
"Magic card, 'Fusion' activates!" Yugi responded. "I'll fuse Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Meteor Dragon together... to create..."
Everyone in the audience was even more impressed as the two monsters merged together...
--
"...and? Did Yugi win?"
"I think so," Shougo said. "But... I don't... really remember."
"Oh, you're cruel, Shougo!" Chiba shouted, eyes wide. "To tell that whole story and not even reveal the end!"
"But I really don't remember," Shougo said with a weak smile. "I know that the Red-Eyes and the Meteor Dragon create the Meteor Black Dragon. But that can't beat 3 Blue-Eyes, either."
"You're right," Chiba nodded.
"And I also know the game has changed a lot since then. A lot has happened, and I don't know where I was for most of it. Maybe it was losing my parents so early that made it so hard to remember. I just know that much... that much did happen. I remember Yugi-san's words and I've been trying to understand them."
"Shougo-kun, I know that's really important to you," Chiba answered. "Just don't forget to be true to yourself while you do it. You can't force yourself."
"I know. I remember you told me that before. I just... after my duel with Toragami-san... I'm wondering if maybe... I'm wasting my time?"
Chiba got to his feet again, fists clenched. "Forget about that girl, Shougo! She's just trying to get in your head! Don't waste the lesson that Jonouchi-san and Yugi-san tried to teach you!"
Shougo blinked again and looked up at Chiba. "So... you believe me?"
"What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?" Chiba said. "In any case, I think what you really might need is just a motivation to fight, instead of just a reason to win. You're not a bad person if you lose. I've certainly lost my fair share of duels, and I'm still here!"
"Yeah, I know... it's just... just..." Shougo sighed. "I wish I knew what it was."
"I'm sure you'll find out eventually," Chiba said. "Come on, it's time for bed. We have another full day of school tomorrow."
"Yeah, you're right. Goodnight, Chiba-kun..."
--
Shougo slept restlessly.
He could see clearly, in his dream, the Judgment Dragoon blasting him away. It was replaced by the Lightlord Dragon Gragonith which utterly destroyed him. The battle replayed in his head over and over.
"Losers should stay on the ground until the winner leaves!" she harrumphed as the environment around Shougo became bleached white, and just left Shougo to stew in his own juices.
Shougo struggled to his feet and punched the ground.
"Damn it... if only I was stronger... I just need to be stronger!"
"Hm hm hm hm... you want to be stronger... I can make you stronger..."
"Who's that? Who's there?"
The white background was absorbed by a darkness that seeped through the area where Toragami just left.
"As long as you fear the darkness, you will never know your true power. You must embrace it with all of your soul!"
"No... no way... go away... go!"
"Very well," the voice chuckled. "But know this, Aoyama Shougo... you called me here... and I will come as long as you continue to call for me."
He then heard voices from his past and his present, encouraging him, as he seemed to fall into the darkness, unable to escape it.
"We believe in you!" Tenjouin-sensei's voice.
"You shouldn't hold cards while simply dreaming of being a duelist!" Jonouchi-san.
"Don't hold back just because we're friends," Chiba-kun's voice.
And then a shining golden light seemed to strike Shougo's body, and a voice echoed in his head as he woke up with a scream.
"Show me... your Duelist's courage!"
Shougo breathed heavily and glanced at the clock. 2:12am...
He thought about going outside, remembered his dream and decided against it...
--
A boat approached Duel Academia Island in the middle of the night. The lone security guard working the shores noticed it and, not expecting any visitors, ran to see who was on the boat.
"What are you doing here this late at night?" he asked, shining a flashlight into the boat.
A young man exited the cabin; well-dressed and tall, with somewhat long brown hair. His eyes were large and skin was light; he appeared to be American. He held a small book in his hand.
He opened his book and flipped through it. "Ey go gah honey shih moss ka?"
"Excuse me?" the security guard blinked, to which the man responded with a more coherent response - "Do you speak English?" in somewhat stilted Japanese.
"No, I'm sorry, Sir," the guard replied in the little English he knew. "Can I help you?"
The man reverted to his stammering Japanese. "I need to see Chancellor Kiyotaki," he said. "I'm Mark Walker, from the American Duel University."
"And why would you come at this late hour?" the guard narrowed his eyes.
"Go men nasai. Jetlag."
The guard titled his head and sighed. "You don't seem like a bad person. But you'll have to wait here until the morning, okay, Walker-san?"
"Domo arigato!" Walker bowed awkwardly, leaving the guard to walk off shaking his head.
Walker then looked over the Duel Academia buildings. 'Well, here I am at last,' he thought to himself. 'Time to show everyone what an American can do!'
--
TODAY'S FEATURED CARD: "Red-Eyes Black Dragon"
In the early days of Duel Monsters, this card was nearly on equal footing with the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon. While outclassed in sheer power by the Blue-Eyes, the Red-Eyes continues to evolve in potential through its many forms, including the fearsome Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon.
NEXT CHAPTER: "I'm From Hollywood! The Aloof American Duelist"
