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YGO Duel Academy: The Jacques Years: Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Kaiba Corps Duel Academy Tournament

by EnviousWorm

EnviousWorm In celebration of its inaugural year, Seto Kaiba has assembled some of the world's best, pro duelists to watch the best of his students battle for the honorary title, "Future King of Games"; 256 duelists participating in two, consecutive weeks of non-stop duels reminiscent of Pegasus's Duelist Kingdom. And, somehow, perpetual underachiever Jacques Demois and his infuriating "luck of the draw" finds himself in the final 32, with just 3 more days to go until the end.
"To tell you ze' truth," Jacques smiled, scratching innocently under his ear with a lanky index finger, "I am quite shocked my-self zat I am here wit' you to-day. But - ah! - there 'ave been some very good duels zese last few days."

His opponent - a grumpy Obelisk named Acton Massen - looked unimpressed; Acton was a towering figure, looking much more adult-like than the youthful, first-year French (Canadian) duelist, Jacques. One of the few tournament front-runners, he wore long, silver-black hair in style spiked to look like an off-brand King of Games, Yugi Moto - watching the match from a VIP booth not far off from their field - that added another three or four inches to his tall frame. Jacques was a toothpick-thin, adolescent "stretched" kind of height. Acton Massen was massive, like an ancient, Roman warrior.

"Just play your turn, Red," Massen grunted. He had no time for Jacques's chatter; clearly one of Crowler's disciples, an ambitious, Obelisk climbing the ranks, who cared nothing for those below him on the latter. Maybe.

TURN 2:
JACQUES DUMOIS:
4,000 LP
5 cards in hand, 0 set

ACTON MASSEN:
4,000 LP
3 cards in hand, 3 set

Stood across from the Slifer on Massen's field -- three, elusive face-down cards; one monster, two in the back-row. Quite common indeed, but always worthy of concern.

"Fine 'zen, I draw for turn," Jacques winked, staring at his opening hand and the sixth he'd just added to it: Magician of Faith, Premature Burial, Breaker the Magical Warrior, Ordeal of the Traveler, Mystical Space Typhoon and -- just what he needed. Reasoning. "Are you ready for my favorite part of zis game?"

"Game?" Massen sneered, like they weren't playing a card game. He was all business, a professional.

"I activate ze spell card Reasoning!" Jacques declared, slipping it into his duel disk with a casual flare, "You do know how it works, non?"

"Level four." His opponent replied, rolling his eyes. A common answer, right up there with three or even six. In fact, four was the best bet against the young Slifer's deck.

The duel disk took some of the fun away from Jacques; he loved the feeling of milling the cards from his deck with his own hands. Though still, the automated milling could be quite thrilling in its own right. From his left wrist the device whirred into action:

Call of the Haunted -- fine; he had Premature Burial if he needed it.
Monster Reborn -- same as Premature, but the Magician of Faith could get it if he needed.
Fairy Box -- just a bit of fun to be had sometimes, but alas, not this time.
Monster Gate -- essentially a tribute version of Reasoning but without the opponent interaction.
Lightning Vortex -- shame not to draw it, but again, Magician of Faith.
Jinzo -- a-ha!

Jacques took the card from the pile as the rest were slipped into his graveyard, slamming the card down onto his duel disk as his opponent took a step back in a mix of shock and aggravation. The green-and-yellow Machine monster flared to life, spikes poking out, a mechanical apparatus tied tight around his face. A roar of support washed in from the massive crowd surrounding them, to which the French (Canadian) duelist gave a modest wave of thanks.

"Ah, real-ly, I thank you, mis-ter Mass-en!" The Slifer smiled, running a hand through his chestnut brown hair, tied up into a too-tight top-knot that spiked out each and every way, "Now my deck is zat much thin-ner, and I have ze migh-ty Jinzo backing me up right!"

"Get on with it!" Massen shouted, annoyed. Of course, whatever traps he had laid before were useless now.

"Do no be so so-ur, mis-ter," Jacques warned, "Or the school chil-dren will no buy you in their stores!"

Some people in the audience laughed, others shared glances of confusion at the weird-speaking, cocky Slifer student. His opponent, however, seemed to fume ever-more, which fueled Jacques's desire to play around.

"If you wish me to contin-ue, so be it! I will sum-mon Breaker, the Magical Warrior, in attack position!" The French (Canadian) Slifer declared, "On his sum-mon, Breaker gets, eh, ze spell coun-ter. It gives him 300 more Attack than before, but I can re-move the coun-ter to des-troy one of zose back-row you have hidden a-way. Which, I think...I will!"

The holographic image of Breaker held out his mighty sword, which swelled with mystical energy until the warrior released it, skipping like jittery lightning over the set monster, shattering the set card to Jacques's left to imaginary glass. Again, Acton looked shocked as his Mirror Force - a card that can change the course of a duel sometimes - was sent so effortlessly off the field.

"You would think," The Slifer commented, "A duel-ist such as your-self would research eve-ry duel-ist that you match up wit'. Unfortu-nate-ly, you do not seem to be such a man. Confidence does zis, though, non? I know your deck, mis-ter Mass-en, and I know you need ze time to set up prop-er defense-es and traps. Mah deck is differ-ent, fast-er -- and you hit a leetle bit of back luck zere."

"Don't lecture me!" Acton growled, losing his cool in front of ten-thousand people, including his idol -- Yugi Moto, who still watched so calmly from far away, ignoring the prattling discourse of fellow VIP such as Kaiba himself, Joey Wheeler, Mai Valentine and so forth, "It's still just your first turn, chump. Don't talk about overconfidence when you haven't even gone to your battle phase yet! Do something and get it over with!"

"If that is how it is, zen, I play Mystical Space Typhoon," Jacques sighed, playing the card as if he didn't even want to. Knowing the state of the board, his activated card immediately destroyed the holographic set, sending Acton's Skill Drain card to the graveyard, "Ah, zere she goes! Bye-bye, Skill Drain!"

Skill Drain; Acton's ace in the hole. He played a defensive, trap-stun style of game until he could establish Skill Drain to summon cards like Giant Orc, Indominable Fighter Lei Lei, or Elite Goblin Attack Force. Lucky to go first and draw it on the first turn, Acton's luck - and his hope - were beginning to run out.

"Since you will not make ze time to inter-act wit' me zen I will make sure nei-there of us have to du-el for too much long-er!" Jacques declared, "I move to my Battle Phase, attacking your face-down wit' Jin-zo!"

With his psionic energy attack, Jinzo again blasted the set card to bits, revealing a Giant Soldier of Stone -- slowly fading from prominence, but still useful as a monster with about as high as you can get in normal, settable defense.

"Zen Brea-ker will hit you for 1600 of your life points, mis-ter mass-en!" Even as he spoke, Breaker leapt into action, weaving through his opponent's empty field to slice at Acton's chest, sending the Obelisk duelist to his knees as he crumbled to the pressure of dueling in front of a wide audience, "In Main Two I will set one card face down, and end my turn, friend."

TURN 3:
ACTON MASSEN:
2,400 LP
3 cards in hand, 0 set

JACQUES DUMOIS:
4,000 LP
Jinzo: 2400 ATTK
Breaker: 1600 ATTK
2 cards in hand, 1 i set

"Don't call me your friend," Massen warned, standing up, finally, to draw for his turn, "You don't have the right to call me that word. And I'll show you what I do to people who underestimate me! I activate the spell card Raigeki!"

In an instant, Jinzo and Breaker were swept away from the field, destroyed by the powerful effect of Raigeki, striking down onto the field in a massive bolt of sheening energy. Jacques thought he was going to go blind from the light, or get knocked over by the strength of the shock-wave it released. And he could hear the people in the stadium cheering it on as it happened.

"Next I summon the Gene-Warped Warwolf, and equip him with the spell card Back-Up Rider, which gives him an extra 1500 points until the end of this turn!" Massen said, looking quite smug, "Now my Warwolf will have 3500 Attack until the end of this turn, you fool! And I'm heading straight into the Battle Phase to wipe that smile right off your pathetic face."

"Ah, zen you do not care about my card I have ly-ing face down here?" Jacques asked, genuinely curious.

"Not even in the slightest!" Massen dismissed, "Warwolf, attack!"

Jacques shrugged: "Fine zen! I'll acti-vate my trap card: Or-de-al of a Trave-ler!" The card flipped up from its face-down position, revealing a grand and judgemental, Egyptian sphinx rise from behind the French (Canadian) duelist, followed by ominous humming, "You will pick one card from mah hand, and choose if it is mon-ster, spell or trap -- if you are right, you can at-tack! If non, your Warwolf will return to 'ze hand."

The frustrated Obelisk picked the card to his right -- Jacques's Premature Burial -- and stopped to think for a second.

"I'm going to call spell card!" He declared, much to Jacques's dismay. The Slifer revealed the card, and Massen laughed as his Warwolf send a violent punch straight to Jacques's chest, "That one really back-fired didn't it! Ha-hah! And you called me over-confident."

"Some-times you leave your fate up to na-ture and you are non rewar-ded," Jacques shrugged, "But I would 'ave 'ad you dead to your rights, if it worked."

"I don't deal in if's, and's, or but's," Acton sneered, "I win, or I lose, and it's up to me to do either one."

"Ah, a good phi-los-o-phy!" Jacques smiled, "But some-times, there is no choice."

"There's always a choice!" His opponent replied simply, "I move to Main Phase Two, set one card face-down, and end my turn."

TURN 4:
JACQUES DUMOIS:
600 LP
Ordeal of a Traveler - continuous trap
2 cards in hands, 0 set


ACTON MASSEN:
2,400 LP
Gene-Warped Warwolf - 2000 ATTK
1 card in hand, 1 set

Things did look bleak indeed for the young Slifer, but he didn't look to phased. He was a little thrown off by the cheering crowd, but they seemed to be interested in nothing more than a fun, back-and-forth match, and they were getting that at least. Jacques could only respect their enthusiasm for the love of the game.

He wasn't crazy about drawing into Raigeki Break, but it was about all he could do; he'd have to hope Acton didn't draw another monster, because this could get dicey. It would be up to fate from this point on.

"I set one monster face-down, and one card face-down behind it, and end my turn." Jacques said, acting humbled, by his draw or by Massen. He'd set the Magician, of course, but instead of Raigeki Break, he'd set Premature Burial instead.

TURN 5:
ACTON MASSEN:
2,400 LP
Gene-Warped Warwolf: 2000 ATTK

JACQUES DUMOIS:
600 LP
Ordeal of a Traveler - continuous trap
1 card in hand, 2 set

Drawing, Acton couldn't hold back his disdainful laughter.

"You've left yourself wide open for me to finish you off!" He pointed out, almost gleeful that he'd be able to pull out a tough victory.

"Zen why don't you do it, zen?" Jacques asked, turning his nose up at the Obelisk.

"Treat me with respect you little worm!" Acton growled.

"Why treat you wit' res-pec' when I get non you in turn? Who are you?" Jacques asked, riling up his opponent.

"Who am I? I'll show you who I am! I normal summon Giant Orc!"

Ah-oh, Jacques thought.

"And I'll move immediately to battle! I'll attack your set monster with my Warwolf!" The cocky Obelisk declared.

The lingering, waiting Sphinx beckoned the boy to make a decision, with the French (Canadian) Jacques holding out the lone card in his hand for Acton to decide. He couldn't control his laughter, his glee-less, cocky laughter.

"I know it's Premature Burial!" He said, so sure of himself, "I declare: spell card!"

Casually, Jacques revealed his Raigeki Break. The crowd went absolutely wild.

"What!?" Massen asked, turning rabid, frothing at the mouth in a furious despair, "Why would you-but that makes no-what!?"

"You knew I have ze Burial in hand why keep it there?" Jacques asked with a smirk and a shrug, "Raigeki Break is a trap and I needed it in hand to be just zat, mis-ter Mass-en."

Helpless, the Gene-Warped Warwolf returned to Acton's hand.

"Fine! Then I declare trap card once more and attack with my Giant Orc!"

He was hopelessly confident now, so close to victory; Giant Orc would be changed to defense position until the end of his next turn -- and Jacques wasn't sure the Obelisk would last that long, at this rate.

"You 'ave destroyed my Magician o' Fait'," Jacques revealed, "But I will in-deed be use-ing her ef-fect to grab my Reason-ing back from the Graveyard!"

"Fine, you weasel, you fool," Acton growled, his cool lost long ago, "You won't last another turn after this. I set one more card face down and pass."

"I think you are co-rrect, but not for the right rea-sons." Jacques sighed.

TURN 6:
ACTON MASSEN:
2,400 LP
Giant Orc - 0 DEF
2 cards set, 0 in hand

JACQUES DUMOIS:
600 LP
Ordeal of a Traveler - continuous trap
1 card set, 1 in hand

For turn, he drew a card every duelist wished to see every time.

"I acti-vate, Pot of Greed! Dra-wing two more cards from my deck," He said, over the audible growling of his opponent, "And then I'll acti-vate Reason-ing once more. An-y thoughts?"

"Level four!" Acton declared through grit teeth. And his odds were good, again. But fate...

Ring of Destruction (t)
Compulsory Evacuation Device (t)
Chaos Sorcerer (special summonabe, not a Reasoning target)
My Body as a Shield
Monster Gate #2
Reasoning #2
Mirror Force
Airknight Parshath -- the exact right card.

And the crowd knew it; they went wild, having gone silent in anticipation over the activation of Reasoning. As the fairy monster rose up from its holographic projectors, they could hold back no longer.

"I am pleased," Jacques noted, musing out loud and to himself. He was far from out of the woods "'zat you could non acti-vate your face-downs on my spell or sum-mon. Of cours', I think zat means they are for bat-tle, or some-thing quite so simi-lar. For sure, my choos-ing Reason-ing instead of Mon-ster Reborn for mah Jin-zo should 'ave been what I did but! That spell is ze 'eart of mah deck, you see; Reason-ing -- you, your oppo-nent, your fates collide here, like a car into a tele-phone pole on a rainy eve-ning. I am steering ze wheel but you are the rain itself on my tir-es! Ei-there I hit, or you do, and zat is all there is -- to a duel, to a life."

Again the stadium boomed with ten-thousand echoing cheers, everyone stood from their seats, losing their minds at the unexpected, underdog Slifer; win, lose, Jacques seemed about as un-phased as the best professionals. But unlike most of them, he dueled for another reason altogether -- something far different than dueling to win, for fame, for money. He dueled because he liked it.

"You won't have enough to kill me this turn, Slifer," Acton barked, still full of fight, confidence that he could win, "This is far from over!"

"Non," Jacques sighed, "It was ov-er when I drew from ze Pot of Greed, mis-ter Mass-en."

"Do it then!" The Obelisk said, more taunting than accepting. Jacques tsk-tsk'ed.

"O-kay," He obliged, "I will acti-vate ze spell card Gi-ant Tru-nade, returning all spell and trap cards on the field to their owner's hand."

The looming sphinx returned to its card-face, and both duelists grabbed their respective sets and added them to whatever cards they had; in Acton's case, his two face-down were now his only two cards in hand. However, the Obelisk looked similarly unphased by this development. Jacques sighed again.

"So your set cards were non so good in bat-tle, eh?" He asked. That seemed to phase Massen a little.

"H-how'd you know!?" Acton asked in return.

"You did non care about Tru-nade," Jacques replied, "So your cards, non so good?"

Massen shook his head, his whole body vibrating in frustration.

"Shame," Jacques said, "But, I do think it was a very good du-el. Fate stayed on my side to-day, in-deed."

"It's still not over!" Acton tried to maintain his faded confidence.

"Is o-ver for you, my O-be-lisk friend," Jacques grinned as he revealed his Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, "but for me? I am just now star-ted."

He banished Magician of Faith and Breaker to summon his best monster, Acton already defeated on his knees before the mighty Black Luster Soldier rose from his card, armor a shade of midnight-blue and gold, sword heavy against his shoulder plate, a twisting mangle of sharp blades. In the end, Jacques didn't even need his Reasoning, or Parshath. But after Acton's insufferable, elitist attitude started to anger the French (Canadian) duelist, the Slifer Red decided to twist the knife a little deeper, so to speak; a bit of a cold streak for him, but Acton stood for one of the only things Jacques truly disliked:

Disdain for the love of the game, and those who love it.

"I will attack your Giant Orc with my Airknight Parshath, whose effect of piercing battle damage causes you to lose 1900 Life, inspite of your Orc being in defense," Jacques said without any of the love in his voice, his disarming and odd pattern of speech momentarily washed away by his serious turn, "And my Black Luster Soldier will attack you directly to wipe out your remaining 500 points."

Both creatures attacked simultaneously, Parshath slicing through the helpless Orc, and BLS stabbing his blade right through Acton's belly; the Obelisk, already on his knees, collapsed face-down onto the stadium floor even as the crowd cheered on his unexpected defeat, and KC's holographic projectors whirled as they shut off instinctively to end the fight.

ACTON MASSEN:
0 LP

JACQUES DUMOIS:
600 LP

Jacques felt bad for the Obelisk, watching as a group of trained paramedics ran on the stage to make sure he was okay; he was fine -- not unconscious, just a little shaken up, and too ashamed to get up to look at anyone, or anything. With a slight, uncomfortable wave, the Slifer acknowledged the crowd showering him with momentary, passing love and affection; they'd forget about him in twenty minutes, when the next duel began.

He walked over to Acton, still face-down on the ground, now being bugged by Kaiba Corps security to move off of the stadium stage; when the Obelisk rolled over onto his back and saw the red Slifer coat walking over to him, he shot up to his feet and fixed his collar.

"'At really was a good duel, yeah?" Jacques said, smiling.

"So is that accent German? Irish? What the hell's going on with you anyway?" Acton asked, clenching both fists as if he wanted to punch the French (Canadian) duelist.

"There we 'ave it, zat is what I li-ke to zee!" The Slifer beamed, patting his peer on the back as they headed down the large set of stadium stairs to the ground level. Up close, Massen didn't seem so large, or threatening -- and his voice was a whole lot quieter when he wasn't shouting.

"No really, I don't know what you're saying." Acton said.

"What a beau-ty fate, she is, to bring us to-ge-ther!" Jacques proclaimed as they walked back-stage, through the security screeners who let them by without a bother.

"I'm...going to my down now." Acton said, trying to get away.

"Ah! O-be-lisk Blew! A beau-ti-ful dorm full of great luxu-ries! I do so enjoy stay-ing zere when I can, you know?"

"No I absolutely have no- how do you get into Obelisk dorms?" Acton asked, thrown off his game every step of the way by the odd Slifer.

Without missing a stride, Jacques stripped off his Slifer Red jacket and turned it inside out, revealing a well-stitched mock-up of an Obelisk Blue coat, throwing it back over his shoulders with a relentless, beaming pride.

"Wait, I recognize you now," The real Obelisk proclaimed, holding a hand up to his forehead as if he had a blistering headache, "I see you around the dorm all the time- you're a Slifer!?"

"I am what I am need-ed to be!" Jacques said, words that stopped Acton dead in his tracks, like he'd been frozen in time, "To-day I am me and to-morrow I might be what-ever else! A-ha!"

Unfrozen, the Obelisk threw his arms into the air, screaming out in frustration.

"What is happening!?" He cried, holding his head with both hands as he followed Jacques, walking so confidently in his fake Obelisk jacket.