The third week was quite eventful, with Yumi now acknowledged as the strongest Slifer Red. Even the Second and Third Years Slifer Red, who had come to duel him, only for Raye to give them a few bonks.
This led to the "Raye Fan Club" increasing in number.
Some students have even come to him, handing over their entire decks just to trade for his Raye. He declined, but some people didn't know when to give up and persisted.
Leading to Raye bonking them again.
Which makes the member in the "Raye Fan Club" even more excited.
Damn, you got beaten up yet you get even more excited. Talk about masochistic personality and stockholm syndrome.
Seriously, even if you trade him one of Kaiba's Blue-Eyes for his Raye, Yumi won't even take it. Raye is a Duel Spirit created from his own spirit energy; her role with Yumi is like Yubel with Jaden later on.
Just as he left the cafeteria, he ran into a frantic student.
"You're Yumi Uzushi, right?"
"That's me. Need something?"
"I'm Ryushi from the Student Council. Why haven't you voted yet? There are only two freshmen left who haven't voted!"
Yumi was confused. "Voted for what?"
"For Miss Duel Academy, of course! The annual contest at the start of each school year, come with me to the hall right now!"
Yumi: "?"
Before Yumi could ask what was going on, two Ra Yellow students closed in on him from both sides, putting their arms around him and lifting him up.
Yumi: "!??"
Not comfortable with being touched like this, Yumi directly called out to Raye, as his Duel Spirit appeared.
BONK! x3
Three bodies fell on the ground, with large bumps growing on the top of their head. Yumi just looked down at them before deciding to walk toward the auditorium, which was already packed with students in red, yellow, and blue uniforms.
On the stage, several tall, beautiful girls stood under the spotlights, each one stunningly pretty. The crowd roared, and Yumi thought he'd stumbled into a celebrity fan event.
After spotting Celina and getting an explanation, he realized that while he'd been busy printing cards, the other students had gotten swept up in the Miss Duel Academy voting craze.
Yumi didn't remember anything like this happening in the anime, but he does remember this event happening in the manga.
"Odd." He murmurs in a low tone.
Shouldn't this world be like in the anime? Why is a manga event happening here?
In the GX manga. The reigning two-time champion, upperclassman Seika Kohinata, and the new freshman Alexis Rhodes were tied in votes. Then it turned out there was one last student who hadn't voted, Jaden Yuki, so the pageant ended up being decided by a duel for Jaden's vote.
However, according to Celina, there were still two people who hadn't voted this time.
And he is one of them, which means... yup, there is no need to think about it. The other one is definitely Jaden Yuki.
At this moment, the atmosphere between Seika and Alexis was tense. The event was usually biased toward upperclassmen since freshmen were mostly strangers, but this year, a new freshman girl had quickly caught up in votes, threatening Seika's goal of a three-peat, and her pride.
She couldn't accept losing.
What was worse, Alexis hadn't even wanted to come; her roommates had dragged her here.
"Forget it, I withdraw." Alexis suddenly said. "I never wanted to join; my name was entered by Jasmine and the others. If I quit, there's no controversy, right?"
Logically, this would make Seika the undisputed winner, but she turned pale.
What a joke!
If she won only because her rival surrendered, wouldn't it look like her third victory was handed to her?
"No, you can't quit!" Seika blurted out.
Alexis frowned, arms crossed. "So, what do you want?"
Seika sneered. "Trying to play hard-to-get for the final votes? You might be pretty, but you're definitely devious."
She leaned in, voice sharp. "I've heard about you, Alexis Rhodes. Back in middle school, weren't you stringing along two rich heirs at the same time?"
"Idle gossip," Alexis replied flatly. "I'm a duelist, not a soap opera. I'm here to duel, not for attention, and I have zero interest in this pageant. What others say doesn't concern me."
"Tch. You talk a good game..."
Before Seika could finish her insult, a voice suddenly shouted over the PA system.
"There are still two students who haven't cast their vote! Jaden Yuki and Yumi Uzushi, both from Slifer Red!"
All eyes turned toward the two boys.
"Please bring Jaden Yuki and Yumi Uzushi to the stage."
A Ra Yellow student dragged Jaden toward the stage, while Yumi casually strolled up beside them.
"Hey! The heck!? Let go!" Jaden protested, struggling.
Yumi, watching the scene unfold, calmly walked up and kicked the Ra student in the shin.
"He's not paralyzed. Drop him."
"Why you-" the Ra student glared, groaning in pain.
Yumi returned the stare coldly. "What? Wanna duel?"
A tense pause. Then...
"Enough! Please proceed!" the loudspeaker crackled impatiently.
Jaden and Yumi made their way onto the stage.
"Yo, Alexis," Jaden greeted casually.
This caused Seika to glare at him.
Yumi yawned. "Wow, senpai… been keeping tabs on Alexis since middle school? That's a long-term crush."
The crowd let out a chorus of "Ooooh!" sensing the tension shift.
Seika turned bright red. "No, I haven't! Nonsense!"
Yumi smirked and continued. "Oh? But senpai, didn't you just admit that Alexis is pretty?"
Another round of "Ooooh!" from the audience.
"Don't twist my words!" Seika snapped, flustered. She turned to Yumi sharply. "You! Who even are you? Her friend?"
Alexis replied calmly, "No, I don't think we've met."
She did remember Yumi from the entrance exam, but she figured he wouldn't know her.
Yumi just shrugged and lied. "Nah, I don't know her."
Yumi didn't care who won. He just wanted to have some fun.
He was also looking for someone to duel; if someone snapped and challenged him, all the better.
Seika glared. "Fine! Then let's settle this with a duel. If I win, you vote for me. If I lose, you vote for her. Deal?"
As expected, a duel challenge.
He knew it; at this academy, everyone solved their problems with duels.
And challenging the two strongest Slifers? She was practically asking to get steamrolled.
But before he or Jaden could answer, Alexis interrupted.
"Wait, I object."
Seika frowned. "Didn't you say you didn't care? What's the problem?"
"Yes, I don't care about this contest. But I can't accept letting someone else decide something that concerns me," Alexis said firmly.
One of the pageant committee members stepped up, nervously wiping sweat from his brow.
"H-How about this… You two duel. Whoever wins gets to decide the vote?"
Seika glared at him.
Duel her?
Alexis Rhodes was famous in middle school; everyone said she was the strongest freshman this year, maybe even stronger than Chazz Princeton.
Alexis shook her head. "No, if I can choose, I want to duel Yumi Uzushi."
Seika: "?"
Alexis continued, "If I win, remove my name from the contest, like I originally asked. If I lose, Seika gets another vote. Fair?"
Seika: "???"
What was her logic? Wasn't this a win-win for her?
So even if Jaden wins, she would still win no matter what.
She opened her mouth to argue, but Yumi cut in.
"No, that's not fair. Let's make it a tag duel: Jaden and me versus senpai and Alexis. We'll switch players whenever one person on the other team is knocked out."
Everyone stared.
Yumi explained, "Whoever defeats whom gets to decide the vote. If I defeat Alexis, I decide if she gets a vote or not. If I lose, Alexis gets her wish. Same goes for you and Jaden. Deal?"
"Awesome! That means Yumi and I are a team! Let's duel already!" Jaden, as usual, completely ignores everything else and only takes in the, we'll duel together part.
Alexis sighed, placing her palm on her face and muttering. "Typical Jaden."
Seika: "!"
She gritted her teeth and glared at Yumi.
Are you doing this just to mess with me?!
Soon, the four stood facing each other, with both Yumi and Seika standing face to face with their 'partner' standing behind them.
"Right, Jaden, here." Yumi handed Jaden a card, the spell card Miracle Fusion.
A must-have for Elemental HERO Deck, as long as you have monsters in the grave to fuse, this card will never be a dead card that could brick your hand.
Jaden also plays Elemental HERO, and upon seeing this card, the jellyfish head was extremely happy. Thanking Yumi, and directly shoved it inside his deck with a smile.
This is Yumi's thanks to Jaden, after all, he is the protagonist, and the spirit energy he dropped was massive, way more than ten first-year Slifer Reds. Yumi hoped that by doing this, he could fatten Jaden up like a big fat sheep before harvesting more spirit energy from him.
It was thanks to him that he was able to finish his new set of cards.
So Yumi was very grateful.
"Duel!" x2
[Yumi, LP 4000]
[Seika, LP 4000]
"I'll go first!" Seika declared, drawing the opening card. "Draw!"
She glanced at her hand, a confident smile forming on her lips.
"I'll start by Normal Summoning Warrior Lady of the Wasteland in Defense Position!"
A young blonde warrior in worn green clothes and a tattered cloak appeared, kneeling with arms crossed in a defensive stance.
[Warrior Lady of the Wasteland, 1200 DEF]
Without hesitation, she played another card from her hand.
"Next, I activate the Spell Card The A. Forces! Now, all Warrior monsters I control gain 200 ATK for each Warrior and Spellcaster I control."
A surge of energy surrounded her warrior as the field pulsed with a shimmering aura of unity and strength.
"I'll end my turn there," Seika said, her expression calm but determined.
Yumi looks at the classic "leave the ass to the opponent" play without saying anything. This world Duel Monsters were still only in Master Rule 2, while his deck became meta during Master Rule 4 & 5.
So he couldn't blame her for not being able to last more than one round with him.
"My turn! Draw!"
Yumi drew his card and glanced at his hand with a calm expression.
"I'll set four cards face-down."
A rapid cascade of four set cards appeared across his field, lined like hidden weapons.
"Then I activate Monster Recovery! I shuffle my hand and any monsters I control into my deck, then draw five new cards."
Since he had only one card in hand, Yumi slipped it back into his deck, shuffled, and drew five fresh cards in one smooth motion.
"I'll set one more card face-down." Another card appeared beside the others with a crisp snap.
"And now, I flip over one of my set cards- Card Destruction!"
A pulse of energy crackled from the revealed card.
"Both players discard their entire hand, then draw the same number of cards."
Seika frowned but complied, discarding her hand and drawing anew.
"Next, I Normal Summon Sky Striker Ace - Raye in Attack Position."
The popular mecha-wielding heroine manifested in a brilliant glow, stepping forward with confidence, her blade ready.
[Sky Striker Ace - Raye, 1500 ATK]
The moment she appeared, a group of students in the crowd went wild.
"Raye is here!"
"She's so pretty!"
"My waifu!"
"Please step on me!"
Yumi completely ignored the wave of simps and continued.
"I play the Spell Card Snatch Steal! I equip it to your Warrior Lady of the Wasteland, taking control of her."
The warrior let out a cry as the spell yanked her across the field to Yumi's side. Seika's expression stiffened, watching her monster being stolen.
"I switch her to Attack Position," Yumi declared, before playing another card. "Then, I equip Blade Graveyard to Raye, giving her an extra 800 ATK."
Old swords embedded themselves into the ground around Raye, resembling tombstones and creating a graveyard of swords.
[Warrior Lady of the Wasteland, 1100 ATK]
[Sky Striker Ace - Raye, 1500 -> 2300 ATK]
"Battle! Warrior Lady, attack your former master!"
With a reluctant expression, the stolen Warrior Lady leapt forward and struck at Seika.
"Ugh…!" Seika grit her teeth, unable to stop the emotional damage of watching her monster getting NTR'd and used against her.
[Seika, LP 4000 -> 2900]
Not finished, Yumi quickly placed down a card in his hand.
"Quick-Play Spell- Master Magician's Incantation! This lets me activate a Spell Card as if it were a Quick-Play Spell!"
He then pointed toward another one of his set cards. "I activate Gift of the Martyr! I send Warrior Lady to the Graveyard to transfer her original ATK to Raye until the end of this turn!"
The Warrior Lady turned into a stream of glowing particles, absorbed into Raye's sword.
The poor lady warrior, after being stolen and used by the opponent, got discarded like a broken tool.
[Sky Striker Ace - Raye, 2300 -> 3400 ATK]
"3400!?" Seika and many who haven't seen Yumi's Raye in action were shocked, this operation...
It's just too fast.
"Raye, direct attack!"
Raye shot forward with blinding speed, her katana raised high.
Seika: "WAIT!!"
"Ace Striker!"
With a fluid slash, Raye's blade cut through the air.
BONK!
Seika stumbled back as if struck by something real, her eyes spinning from the blow.
[Seika, LP 2900 -> 0]