365 Days of Starshipping (Part 1)

Jack and Haou Duel

3/4/19

While they shuffled their decks, Haou calmly asked, "Eight thousand life points or four thousand?"

"Why would we start with four thousand?" Jack replied, scowl still stuck on his face, "That sounds ridiculous."

"I suppose someone like you would be too afraid of starting with such little life points," Haou goaded, eyes glinting dangerously, "You'd lose far too quickly, otherwise."

That, of course, was the correct thing to say to provoke Jack's sense of pride.

"Alright, you know what? We'll fucking start with four thousand, and we'll see if you're still all high and mighty when you lose!" Jack exclaimed, passing his deck over, "Now cut the deck and let's do this."

Haou hummed, doing so and passing it back, "You may go first, as you're the challenger... you'll need the turn, in any case."

Jack's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he drew his cards, while Haou's face remained as neutral as ever - well, if you disregarded the amusement in his eyes, at least. It may not have been obvious to the other two in the room, but to Yusei it was clear to see.

He sighed from where he sat next to Crow, having pulled up a couple extra chairs while Jack had been getting his deck earlier. Luckily he'd gotten that mug of tea he'd wanted before they could start, so at least he had something to occupy himself with other than watching his two friends' spat. It may be entertaining, but as he'd stated before, it was also very loud and could easily turn headache-inducing.

"This should be interesting," Crow said, looking on curiously, "Man, if his deck's cool I might want to duel him myself."

Yusei hummed in acknowledgment, watching as Jack took his first turn and set one monster and set two cards in his back row. Not exactly his usual first turn, seeing as he'd usually summon out something in attack mode, but he probably hadn't drawn any of his usual attackers.

"Draw," Haou stated, barely glancing at the card before continuing, "Because I control no monsters, I can special summon Evil Hero Infernal Prodigy from my hand. Then, I activate the effect of Evil Hero Malicious Edge - I can tribute summon it with only one tribute if my opponent controls a monster. Now, Malicious Edge attacks your face-down."

Jack scowled, flipping his monster card up to reveal Dark Resonator, "The first time each turn that Dark Resonator would be destroyed by battle, it isn't."

"Malicious Edge deals piercing damage."

Jack growled at that, turning his glare to Yusei when he marked down the life point difference while Crow whistled, "Damn, that's over half your life points gone already Jack."

"Shut up, Crow."

Haou continued, "I place one card face-down, then because Infernal Prodigy was used to tribute summon an 'Evil Hero' monster this turn, I get to draw one card. Your turn."

Jack grumbled, drawing his next card. Things really weren't looking great for him, though based off the face he made he may just have a solution.

"Alright, time to show you why I'm King! I activate polymerization, fusing together Medium Piece Golem and Big Piece Golem in my hand to summon Multiple Piece Golem," Jack smirked, "Then I equip it with Megamorph, which doubles its attack points because I have less life points than you. Now, I attack your Malicious Edge with-"

Haou lazily flipped his single card in the back row, "Negate Attack."

Jack scowled, passing his turn. Haou drew his next card, and Yusei instantly knew from the snort Yubel gave off that he'd won the duel because of what he'd drawn.

"I activate Super Polymerization," Haou said, "By discarding one card, I can fusion summon a fusion monster using monsters on either side of the field. Also, no cards or effects can be activated in response to Super Polymerization's activation."

"What the hell is that bullshit card?!"

Haou finally allowed himself to smile ever-so slightly in victory, pissing off Jack even more, "I use Multiple Piece Golem and Malicious Edge to fusion summon Evil HERO Malicious Fiend. During your battle phase, all monsters on your side of the field are changed to attack position and must attack this card."

"...This is bullshit!" Jack yelled, barely keeping himself from throwing his cards up in the air as he checked his next draw and came up with nothing to counter Haou.

"You barely lasted four turns," Haou mused, "I suppose this just confirms that a King of Riding Duels is no match for the Supreme King of Darkness."

"The what what?" Crow asked, turning to Yusei in question.

Yusei just shrugged, giving him a quick nod in confirmation before going back to his drink and pulling out his phone while Jack yelled for a rematch in the background.

Much to his satisfaction, Jack lost the next few duels as well. Maybe it'd teach him to have a bit more humility... stars, maybe if he learned that he'd actually be able to get a job.

Yusei could dream, after all.