When William anxiously had made his way up to the designated arena, he was met with a resounding yawn from the presiding instructor. Not that it was aimed at him specifically, evidenced by how the man was clearly turned away from his opponent and covering his mouth. Once it was out of his system, said man turned to face in Percival’s direction and took note of the boy. He gave a friendly wave.

“Yo! Apologies for that,” the man sheepishly apologized, rubbing through his scruffy hairdo. “Sorry; all these duels have been tiring. So you’re up next for today, huh?” he continued, stretching his left arm forwards. The man pulled on a lever that was hidden behind the circular device on said arm, having it make a whirring noise as five slots opened up and started to spin around. They slotted in one-by-one and formed a full field. “Been taking a lot longer than I should lately, so let’s get this started! Name’s Roland, by the way, just in case they hadn’t told you. Let’s have some fun with this!”

“Name’s William.” The boy said reluctantly, it was clear that he was afraid of something. His eyes were the eyes of a duelist but, with a hint of something that should not be there. “Now let’s duel!”

“Hell yeah! That’s the spirit,” Roland shouted in excitement. “First or second, kid? The challenger decides the rules!”

“Uhm… you can go first…” William said to the teacher.


[hider=Roland Vs. William][b][u]Turn 1: Roland[/u][/b]
[b]William:[/b] 4000 LP, 5 cards
[b]Roland:[/b] 4000 LP, 5 cards

“Alright then, let’s do this! My turn,” the teacher said as he fanned open the five cards he’d drawn from his deck. With a confident nod he picked up one of the cards in it immediately and slammed it down onto one of his duel disk’s monster slots. When Roland did so, he made sure to clarify that “I’m summoning Yellow Gadget to start off with!” and the portal to make it such followed soon after. Out of it popped a little yellow robot, half a gear stuck in both its crotch and either side of its shoulders.

[b]Yellow Gadget:[/b] 1200 ATK Level 4 EARTH Machine

The machine deftly took its place. Once it had, the teacher’s deck suddenly went crazy. It searched top-to-bottom for something as it wildly shuffled cards around. Roland laughed it off and rubbed the back of his head again. “Ah- sorry about that. I haven’t managed to fix its locating system yet… When Yellow Gadget’s summoned, he adds Green Gadget to my hand.” It didn’t take too incredibly long to have the device find its card, jutting it out so Roland could grab it. Then the deck shuffled once more, for good measure.

Roland slotted in his Green Gadget and picked up two more cards so he could insert them behind Yellow Gadget. A spell rotated into view on his field, depicting a machine exploding on the backdrop of a ruined city. Next to it, another card formed face-down. “I’m going to be setting a card and activating Machina Armored Unit to end my turn with,” Roland clarified. “Now, when you destroy one of my machines, I can call another from my deck, as long as its attack points are lower. Show me what you’ve got!”

[b][u]Turn 2: William[/u][/b]
[b]William:[/b] 4000 LP, 6 cards
[b]Roland:[/b] 4000 LP, 3 cards, Yellow Gadget, Machina Armored Unit, 1 Set card

William’s eyes suddenly lit up as his turn was up. “I can do this, even with this deck,” he mumbled to himself. “It is my turn now!” He drew his card. It was obvious for any experienced duelist that he was trying to think of something. Calmly placing a card on his duel disk, “I summon Luster Dragon,” A shiny dark blue dragon was brought to the field. “Now attack his Yellow Gadget!”

“I like that spirit of yours, kid!” Roland yelled back at William. Luster Dragon fired its breath at Yellow Gadget, engulfing the small contraption and reducing it to ash. Roland’s life was knocked down a little.

[b]Roland:[/b] 4000 > 3300 LP 

The spell card on Roland’s field emitted a bright light as his deck started to shuffle around again. The teacher waggled his finger and explained what it meant. “Too bad for you, though. That attack was pretty reckless, as now I can summon Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo from my deck!” As soon as the explanation finished, Yellow Gadget’s ashes began to whirl around themselves and formed into a new shape. A single-eyed, white-and-brown robot with a huge hole in its chest. The new robot looked to be deactivated, as it wasn’t moving at all. 

[b]Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo:[/b] 0 ATK Level 4 EARTH Machine

“That all ya got?” Roland taunted William, a smirk on his face.

“Ugh! I set one card and that is it.” William said, ending his turn.

[b][u]Turn 3: Roland[/u][/b]
[b]William:[/b] 4000 LP, 4 cards, 1 Set card
[b]Roland:[/b] 3300 LP, 4 cards, Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo, Machina Armored Unit, 1 Set card

“I’m not going to go easy on ya, kid! Draw!” Roland cried out. He slotted his drawn card into the hand and picked up another. He explained that “Since I added this guy to my hand last turn, I’ll summon him!” and slammed the card down onto his disk. “Come, Green Gadget!” he yelled, the portal heralding its arrival opening up next to Dread Dynamo. The machine was similarly short and stout like Yellow Gadget,  though this time its main gear was the entire torso. Roland’s deck whirred, he added the card ejected from it to his hand and then said as an aside: “And, of course, he adds Red Gadget to my hand as well!”

[b]Green Gadget:[/b] 1400 ATK Level 4 EARTH Machine

“We’re not done yet, William! Now my gadgets show their true power! Green Gadget, combine with Dread Dynamo!” the teacher continued to rattle, his newly summoned monster jumping into the open slot inside Dread Dynamo’s chassis. Green Gadget’s torso rotated around and the other machine whirred to life because of it. Its eye glew a menacing red while the creature powered up.

[b]Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo:[/b] 0 > 2000 ATK

“This is the power of my Gadget monsters!” Roland proudly exclaimed. “And it’s only going to get better! I activate my trap card: Rare Metalmorph!”

The Set card on Roland’s field sprung to life, depicting a metal coat reflecting a beam of sorts. The card glew for a moment before circling itself around Dread Dynamo. The machine’s rusty shell began metamorphosing into a new, shinier hull. Roland tutted from behind his monster. “Don’t forget I had that around, now! Because with this card, Dread Dynamo’s attack goes up by another five-hundred!”

[b]Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo:[/b] 2000 > 2500 ATK

The teacher threw his arm out and yelled “Battle!” while his monster rushed forward. With one, powerful punch it shattered the sapphire scales of Luster Dragon and knocked the wind out of William’s life. Not long after, Green Gadget popped out of Dread Dynamo’s shell to deliver another knock, straight into the boy’s gut. Roland’s monsters then returned to his field after finishing the job.

[b]William:[/b] 4000 > 3400 > 2000 LP.

“O-oi… you alright?” Roland asked sheepishly. “Sorry, my bad… I get a little loose when dueling. Show me what you’ve got, alright? I’ll set a card and leave it up to you!”

[b][u]Turn 4: William[/u][/b]
[b]William:[/b] 2000 LP, 5 cards, 1 Set card
[b]Roland:[/b] 3300 LP, 3 cards, Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo, Green Gadget, Machina Armored Unit, Rare Metalmorph, 1 Set card

“Hmph! My turn.” William said trying to sound like hyped. After he looked at the card he drew, his eyes rolled, “Of course...” he mumbled to himself. “I set one monster and one card and that… that is it.”

“Wait… for real?” Roland asked. “Well… whatever! If you’re not going to come at me, I’ll just take the fight to you!”

[b][u]Turn 5: Roland[/u][/b]
[b]William:[/b] 2000 LP, 3 cards, 1 Set monster, 2 Set cards
[b]Roland:[/b] 3300 LP, 4 cards, Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo, Green Gadget, Machina Armored Unit, Rare Metalmorph, 1 Set card

“I draw!” the teacher cried, nodding to himself briefly before picking up a different out of his hand. “You’ve seen Green and Yellow, now get ready for Red!” he continued. The robot that popped up had two eyes this time around, even if they weren’t on the same y axis coordinates as each-other. Its main gear was also on the back this time around.

[b]Red Gadget:[/b] 1300 ATK Level 4 EARTH Machine

“The duel isn’t going to last very long like this, y’know? I’ve got more than enough attack to finish you off. But I bet that Set card of yours would take care of that, huh?” Roland commented with a bemused smirk. “I’ll take it, though! A real duelist doesn’t back down from a challenge… let’s go, Dread Dynamo!” he yelled, the machinal soldier quick to respond by boosting itself forward in an attempt to tackle William’s Set monster.

Willam with a bit of excitement commands “I activate Magical Hats! Now you will have to destroy 3 cards to reach my life points.” William had a faint light of hope lit up inside him as 3 Magical Hats appeared in front of him. One of them swallowed up the Set monster on his field. The trio of hats then shuffled around each-other rapidly, settling in a random position.

“A guessing game, huh? I’ll strike the middle one!” Roland commanded, Dread Dynamo’s trajectory unimpeded. The construct struck the piece of headwear and it shattered, revealing nothing underneath. “I’ve got two more shots,” the man declared undeterred. “Strike the left one!” Green Gadget popped out of Dynamo and smacked down onto the hat, but Roland missed for the second time. “Now there’s only one left, right?”

As Green popped back into Dread Dynamo, Red rocketed itself forward. It grabbed the hat, tossed it to the side and gave the monster on William’s field a bop. It shattered in two as the after-image of Lord of D screamed into the void, its particles shattering and carried by the wind. Roland recalled his monsters and added: “Turn end!” 

[b][u]Turn 6: William[/u][/b]
[b]William:[/b] 2000 LP, 4 cards, 1 Set card
[b]Roland:[/b] 3300 LP, 3 cards, Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo, Green Gadget, Red Gadget, Machina Armored Unit, Rare Metalmorph, 1 Set card

“Here I go.” William said trying to hype himself up. “Since I drew a card, I activate Jar of Greed to draw one more card.” When he looked at the card, he wanted to believe the card in his hand was his key. “I activate Lightning Vortex!”
 
“Yeah, that’s more like it kid! Unfortunately, your key card came too late. Trap, Activate! Destruction Jammer!” Roland shouted back, pointing his right arm towards the set card on his field. It opened and a barrier quickly expanded, blue yet transparent. The lightning raining down on his field got caught up in it, cracking down but not managing to shatter. Roland tossed a card into the graveyard to explain that “It’s too bad, but just as you discard a card to wipe out my field, I’ll discard one to protect it!”

William was quite surprised. After a second of his mind wandering off, he realised what his opponent was. He is not supposed to be surprised. “I play, Swords of Revealing Light!” He said with panic in his voice, as a number of sword shaped light appeared over Roland’s monsters. “After that, I activare Shard of Greed and that is the end of my turn.”

“Swords of Revealing Light, huh? That means I can’t attack for three turns…” Roland commented, rubbing his chin. “Say, you’ve been playing on the defensive ever since I got rid of that Luster Dragon of yours. Is something the matter?”

“I guess it was not that hard to figure my mentality out.” William said. “I can’t do anything with this deck. It is an incomplete mess and I can’t trust it to duel with it.” His voice sounded bored and frustrated. 

The teacher frowned and stopped his movements, lowering his Duel Disk arm to let it hang loose. The other was put on his hip. “So is that what you really think of your deck?” he asked, the cheery demeanor from before replaced with a cold tone. “Listen, kid. A deck is a duelist’s soul. If you can’t trust in it, how could you ever expect it to listen to your feelings? If all you think of it is negativity, the deck will never work for you.”

Roland sighed.

[b][u]Turn 7: Roland[/u][/b]
[b]William:[/b] 2000 LP, 1 card, Swords of Revealing Light, Shard of Greed
[b]Roland:[/b] 3300 LP, 3 cards, Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo, Green Gadget, Red Gadget, Machina Armored Unit, Rare Metalmorph

“It’s my turn!” the teacher yelled after having raised up his disk again, drawing the card with fierce gusto. He smiled. “Well, if you’re not going to believe, then I will! I activate A Feather of  the Phoenix!”

A purple, archaïc portal opened up in the middle of the field, engraved with runes on every side. One of Roland’s cards glowed a bright white and he tossed it in there, only to have a different one return out and take the previous’ place. “With this card, I’m allowed to discard another to return Yellow Gadget to the top of my deck. And with that, I’ll set another card as well,” Roland continued, slotting the remaining card in his hand behind Dread Dynamo.

“Alright, kid. Next turn, I’ll show you just what my deck is capable of. I’ll show you the bond between my gadgets and me! Now take yours!”

[b][u]Turn 8: William[/u][/b]
[b]William:[/b] 2000 LP, 2 cards, Swords of Revealing Light, Shard of Greed
[b]Roland:[/b] 3300 LP, 0 cards, Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo, Green Gadget, Red Gadget, Machina Armored Unit, Rare Metalmorph, 1 Set

“Now it is my turn!” William was trying to trust his deck. His eyes started to glow with a duelist’s spirit when he saw the card. “I set one card and end my turn” This time he sounded different and he had confidence.

“Just hold on one moment! Before your turn ends, I activate my trap card: Stronghold the Moving Fortress!”

An iron giant materialized behind Roland as he activated his trap, one who extended both his arms and held them in front of the rest of his monsters, acting as their shield.

“This trap summons itself as a monster!”

[b]Stronghold the Moving Fortress:[/b] 2000 DEF Level 4 EARTH Machine

[b][u]Turn 9: Roland[/u][/b]
[b]William:[/b] 2000 LP, 1 card, Swords of Revealing Light, Shard of Greed, 1 Set
[b]Roland:[/b] 3300 LP, 1 card, Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo, Green Gadget, Red Gadget, Stronghold the Moving Fortress, Machina Armored Unit, Rare Metalmorph

“I summon my Yellow Gadget and switch Stronghold into attack mode!” Roland yelled out in one fierce move. The construct from the start popped onto his field, waved at William and then jumped into one of the three slots in Stronghold’s chest. Green Gadget popped out of Dread Dynamo to do the same, with Red Gadget following soon after. Together, the three of them activated the golem’s full capacity. It rose from its crouched position, revealing the extent of its size as Stronghold towered over the arena.

[b]Stronghold the Moving Fortress:[/b] 2000 DEF > 3000 ATK

“See that? This Stronghold is the monster I can call out using the bonds of my cards! When all three gadgets are combined, it shows the true extent of its power! Now show me yours, kid! This is your last chance to turn things around. Turn end!”

[b][u]Turn 10: William[/u][/b]
[b]William:[/b] 2000 LP, 2 cards, Swords of Revealing Light, Shard of Greed, 1 Set
[b]Roland:[/b] 3300 LP, 0 cards, Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo, Green Gadget, Red Gadget, Yellow Gadget, Stronghold the Moving Fortress, Machina Armored Unit, Rare Metalmorph

“Alright. Trust the deck, trust the deck... ” William mumbled to himself. “I draw!” He shouted with power. “First, I activate my spell card, Shard of Greed to draw two more cards!” William looked at the cards he drew, a faint smile appeared on his face. “Now I activate my trap card, Call of the Haunted!” A small black portal appeared in front of the flipped card. “With that, I bring back my Lord of the D.!” William jammed another card on his duel disk. “Now I activate another spell card which is a favorite of mine, Flute of Summoning Dragon! With this I will summon 2 more monsters to my field. I summon my two Rabidragon cards to the field!” 

Two playful dragons appeared out of their cards as William summoned them. “With Rabidragon 1 I will destroy your Yellow Gadget!” Rabidragon shot a white ray out of it’s mouth targeting the Yellow Gadget as it shattered and destroyed. Roland raised up both arms to shield himself from the shockwave created by the blast.

[b]Roland:[/b] 3300 > 1550 LP

“Now, Rabidragon 2, attack his Stronghold the Moving Fortress and end this duel!” 

Stronghold’s chassis had been bust wide open, both Red and Green gadgets falling right out of it and scattering. The golem struggled to stand, jittering as it tried desperately to hold itself up with its massive arms.

[b]Stronghold the Moving Fortress:[/b] 3000 > 0 ATK

As Rabidragon’s blast approached the teacher, he let his disk hang loose. “That’ll do, kid… that’ll do.”

Stronghold shattered. An explosion rang through the arena, forcing Roland to his knees as his machines fell all around him.

[b]Roland:[/b] 1550 > 0 LP
[h3][b]WINNER: WILLIAM![/b][/h3]

Roland picked up his cards, slotted them into the deck and let his disk spin back into its stand-by mode. The man pushed himself back up to his legs, dusted off his sleeves, then gave the boy a thumbs up. “A real duelist never stops believing in their deck. That’s what they call a miracle,” he repeated, walking over and giving William a pat on the shoulder. “Never lose sight of that. Welcome to Mitsuri, kid.”

William was smiling, he was one step closer to his dreams.

[/hider]