Welcome to my first story. It's a crossover of the anime and the manga... sort of. I decided to write after re-watching bits of the series.
Chazz will have a way bigger role in this story than he did in the anime. I didn't like how he was sidelined so much in the anime, even though he was supposed to be Jaden's biggest rival. He will have Light and Darkness Dragon as his ace monster.
Alexis will also play a big role in the story, as she is probably the most under-used character in the show. For now, I plan to make Jaden and Alexis endgame, even though they are going to be shipped with other characters.
Jesse will enroll in the academy with the others.
Jaden will use his anime deck without Neos for the first bit, while Koyo and Midori will also be a part of the plot.
There will be no original cards, or ones that I would make up on my own. They will all be cards that were shown in the anime, manga, or released in the card game. Most of the cards will have their anime effects, some will have their TCG effects, and others will be from the manga. I'll keep it consistent throughout the story though. (ie. E-Hero Bubbleman's will have its anime effect throughout the whole story, instead of just for one duel.)
No important OC's; I might include one here and there, but their roles will be extremely minor, like maybe just to fill in the numbers.
No Pendulum, Synchro, or XYZ, because they aren't a part of the GX timeline... I might use cards that were made after the GX timeline, but mostly cards with general effects. The only other case I can see myself using cards outside the GX timeline is when I need supports for characters' decks, but that's really unlikely.
Here we go.
I am also using the English dub names.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh
Edit: I apologize for the delay in updates, as I haven't updated in a year. I have been busy with deadlines and extra-curriculars. I was meaning to update sooner, but I realized a huge flaw in the plot, and decided to re-construct the plot all over again. Because of these changes in the plot, I have deleted the original story, and re-written the first three chapters. I will posting them throughout the next two weeks, while I work on other chapters.
Duel Academy was known for its elite status in the dueling world. It was a high school dedicated to training duelists to compete in the Pro League, established by the famous Seto Kaiba: a multi-billionaire tycoon with an accomplished dueling career. He opened the Academy nine years ago on an isolated island, which took a couple hours to reach from the coast of Japan via plane. Ever since opening day, thousands of students applied to the school every year in hopes of getting accepted, and only a percent of these students would get past the entrance exams, which was conducted by a highly trained staff of evaluators with outstanding dueling skills and years of experience.
On the final portion of entrance exams, the evaluators were required to duel the applicants. They were often told to duel in a certain way to test the students, rather than dueling at full strength. In most cases, they were forbidden to use their own deck, and had to use ones that were designed for the exams. If they didn't hold back and used their real decks, the administrators worried that the duel would end too quickly, and the evaluators wouldn't be able to assess the students properly.
It was only a few days ago, when one of the male evaluators, Vellian Crowler, had completely lost it after being mistaken for a woman by one of the students. It seemed like he wanted to prove a point by walking all over the poor student in front of a small audience, consisting of other applicants and staff members. Crowler did not hold back, even managing to summon his legendary card, 'Ancient Gear Golem.' The crowd was even more shocked when the student, Jaden Yuki, found a way to destroy 'Ancient Gear Golem,' then won the duel.
The academy had taken the next few days to accept some students, and cut most of the others through mail. Those who were accepted were sent an academy duel disk, a PDA, an order form for a dorm jacket and tracksuit, a letter that indicated their ranking and dorm in the school, and a free plane ticket.
Even though the students were occupied with packing for life at the academy, they still hadn't forgotten what they had witnessed a few days back. Jaden Yuki had combined Elemental Hero Flame Wingman and Skyscraper to beat one of the most decorated professors at the school. The duel was what everyone was talking about on the plane ride to the academy.
"The kid pretty much ended Crowler's career!"
"Do you think he's better than Chazz Princeton?"
"No way, Princeton's a three time national junior champion, but he is pretty close."
"I still can't believe that he won…"
"He's probably the best first year at the academy."
Chazz Princeton scowled, taking a window seat, trying to tune out the constant raving about Jaden's win against Crowler. It was getting annoying to be honest. He didn't see what was so great about this Jaden guy. He admitted he was impressed that Jaden managed to destroy 'Ancient Gear Golem,' but that was all he did. There was no strategy involved, except nerf up Flame Wingman with Skyscraper then abuse its effect. Being a three time national junior champion, it would take a lot more than that to impress him.
A couple students had walked by, eyeing the empty seat next to Chazz, and then looking up at him. Chazz glared at them, strongly suggesting that they should keep their head down and keep walking. He didn't have any time for these losers. He was here for one reason and one reason only. He was going to be the next duel king, and so far he was living up to that title. Chazz hadn't lost a single duel in the last three years.
He had kept winning, even without his ace monster, Light and Darkness Dragon. He had taken the dragon out of his deck for the finals of his third national championship, storing the card in a sapphire box that he always kept with him. He couldn't face his partner, not after all that's happened...
Some boy with teal hair jutted backwards was approaching the empty seat next to him. Chazz sighed. 'They never learn.' He prepared to glare at the boy and chase him off, but he probably should have paid more attention to what was crawling under his seat.
Chazz's black eyes widened, as he nearly pissed his pants. A small, dark blue cat had climbed on to Chazz's lap by clawing at his groin. The cat had a red orb attached to its tail and looked up at Chazz with circular ruby eyes. The thing then began clawing at his stomach. Chazz tensed up until he noticed that he could not feel its paws making contact with him. 'Strange…Could this cat be a duel spirit as well?'
"Now, now Ruby you need to tone it down." The teal haired boy said, as he took a squat next to Chazz.
"What the hell is that thing?" Chazz gasped.
The boy gave Chazz a confused look, before turning his eyes to cat. He seemed to realize that Chazz was talking about 'Ruby.'
"Oh. You're talking about her. She's my partner Ruby Carbuncle. Ruby for short." The boy said casually, before his brows narrowed, with his mouth wide open. He seemed to be thinking about something. "Wait you can see her?!"
"Do you think I'm blind or something?"
The boy whistled at his cat. Ruby got off Chazz's lap and climbed on to her partner's laps. He chuckled, "No, no, it's not like that. You see Ruby is not real. She's a duel spirit and I thought I was the only who could see her. Do you have a partner?"
Chazz thought about Light and Darkness Dragon, and how things used to be... They were partners, weren't they?
"HE ABSOLUTELY DOES!" A unison of voices shouted in excitement, as Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, and Ojama Black materialized in front of them. They angled themselves sideways, so that Chazz and the boy could see their rear ends. They started shaking their strawberry colored panties obnoxiously with the toothiest of grins threatening to rip open their disproportionate heads.
"Fuck." Chazz growled, "You guys aren't funny you know that!"
He was sick of his Ojamas showing up at the most inappropriate moments, and ruining his day. They were so annoying and even more distracting. He regretted buying the pack that contained the trio.
Chazz couldn't forget the time his junior high history teacher was lecturing his class on Atlantis. The Ojama trio was distracting him, so he had told them to shut up or he'd end their lives. The teacher not being able to see duel spirits thought that Chazz was threatening him, and he had almost got expelled... All he could say about that experience was that he almost traded his Ojama cards away afterwards.
"No. No we are not. We were never partners, and I will never consider you guys my partners."
Jesse chuckled awkwardly at their little exchange.
"Boss is right! We're not partners; we're best friends!" Ojama Yellow responded.
"Best friends forever!" Black chimed in.
"How do you think he wins all these national championships? It's all us baby!" Green beat his chest with his arm in pride.
"I'm going to kill you." Chazz muttered between his heavy breaths.
"Of course! Why didn't I think of adding Ojama cards to my deck?" The boy added.
"Don't encourage them…"
"You know you seemed like a scary guy at first, but the fact that you have these guys in your deck make me think that you're a bit softer than you let on. I think we'll get along just fine. The name's Jessie Anderson by the way." He said chuckling.
"Chazz Princeton. Remember the name."
"See you're trying to act tough by telling me to remember your name, but the Ojamas' dancing isn't making you any tougher."
"Whatever." Chazz rolled his eyes.
"This is going to be a great year," Jesse smirked.
"Fuck off."
Lyman Banner knew he wasn't dressed for the occasion, but he just hoped his gamble would pay off. He had a white dress shirt on with a mahogany tie around his neck. His long black hair was in a ponytail, and his glasses were slowly sliding down his nose. It wasn't ideal, but it would have to do, since he had to greet the new students in less than half an hour; he was on a tight schedule. It wasn't easy being an alchemy professor.
If there was one thing to be hopeful for after the past few months, it was that a handful of this year's new duelists were rumored to be very capable and talented. He could only hope that they were strong enough for his plans to work.
He was currently in the Abandoned Blue Dorm, with only one goal in mind. He had to convince the chairman that it was in their best interest to wait a few months before initiating their plan. He had to stall.
The icy, stone floor of the dimly lit room was encompassed by two shadowy circles. There was silence, and the only thing that dared to break it was Banner's breathing which was trying to find a steady rhythm. He couldn't afford to stammer or hesitate even for a fraction of a second. The chairman would suspect him.
The chairman stood at the center of the floor, with his back facing away from the professor. Banner knew that chairman was still aware of his presence.
It was only a matter of time before Banner was addressed. He had learned that he was to wait until he was spoken to before speaking. The professor grimaced remembering what had become of those who had dared to try the chairman's patience. It hadn't ended well for Titan, who now wore a mask to hide what had become of his eyes.
"Amnael, that is an interesting outfit you have on," A strange, ominous voice hissed mockingly.
Banner remained silent, deciding that it wasn't necessary to speak.
"Have you found a way to get the Spirit Keys?" The voice would not waver.
"I have." Banner said trying to remain as collected as possible. He took a pause waiting to be addressed before continuing.
"You may continue." A restless echo reverberated across the room. Banner would not dare test his patience.
"The Spirit Keys seem to be hidden in various dungeons and ruins around the world, and are difficult to access. Only those who have knowledge of how these dungeons and ruins are structured can access them. Chancellor Sheppard, duel academy's headmaster, has this knowledge and is able to retrieve the keys. I have talked to Sheppard, telling him that Kagemaru wants the keys. He claims that he will retrieve the keys after the first promotion exams, because he wants to ensure that the academy has a smooth start to the school year. He will leave three weeks from now, and he believes he will need a month to collect the keys. Although we have to wait nearly two months, I did not rush him, because I was afraid he would suspect us."
Banner held his breath. He just hoped two months would be enough for him to find duelists capable of overcoming his chairman. Ever since a few months ago, when the dark and sinister man had arrived at the island, Banner had suspected that chairman wasn't who he said he was.
"Very well, Amnael. I will give him two months, but remember I'm not a very patient guy. If Sheppard fails to get me the keys in two months, I might not be able to hold my temper and kill the both of you. I can promise you."
"I don't get what you see in him." Jasmine, a girl with bushy auburn hair told her friend Mindy, "I know he beat Crowler, but his hair looks like a Kuriboh."
"I like guys who can duel," Mindy smirked, playing with the two strands of black hair that curled out of each side of her head.
"Well you like any guy with a pulse," said a third girl with long shoulder length blonde hair, rolling her hazel eyes.
"Alexis is right Mindy. Remember the time when you said our history teacher was sexy?" Jasmine added.
"In my defense, I found the way he pronounced the word 'Atlantis,' very cute"
"Uh, I don't think cute is the right word for it." Alexis responded, shuddering. It had been a few hours since they had arrived at the academy. They had been given a tour of the academy by Fonda Fontaine: the head of the Obelisk girls' dorm. After the tour, they were given key cards for their dorm rooms, along with their room numbers.
It seemed roommates were chosen by the school. Not that it mattered. The three of them ended up sharing a three bed-room suite together anyways. The closets in the room contained the white Obelisk jackets and blue skirts that each girl had ordered.
They were currently in their room, waiting for Mindy to finish putting on her make-up, before visiting the duel arena. The duel arena was acclaimed to be the same size as a professional duel stadium. Alexis and Jasmine wasn't really interested in the arena; they had already seen it on the tour. Mindy, on the other hand, was convinced that they needed to go for a second time, just in case there were any cute boys dueling there. After all, she 'liked guys who could duel.'
"Hurry up, Mindy! I bet you even Crowler doesn't take this long to do his make-up."
"Just thirty more seconds!"
Alexis sighed. Mindy had always been like this. She always had to look 'pretty' for boys who didn't even know she existed. The three of them had met in Duel Academy's middle school division. It was essentially a prep school in Domino City. The school was supposed to prepare them for Duel Academy's high school division. Most of the students who graduated from the school got into Obelisk Blue, which was the highest rank a student could have at the high school.
Although the three girls weren't very close at first, Mindy was the one who had brought them together. Mindy used to have a habit of acting overly friendly to girls who she wanted something from. For Jasmine that had been her perfume. Instead of asking about the product, she decided to follow Jasmine around for weeks, before she had found out that it was the same perfume that she used herself.
For Alexis that had been her brother, who Mindy went crazy for after learning that he plays the guitar. Mindy would act super nice around Alexis for months. It turned out her brother, Atticus, could not play the guitar after all. He played the ukulele instead, which was 'an instrument that only pedophiles play,' according to Mindy.
Well after those two incidents, Mindy learned that maybe she shouldn't waste her time sucking up to every girl who she wanted something from, especially if it didn't pay off at the end. At least she had made two new friends though.
Speaking of her brother, he had become a sensitive subject to think about. She had found out that her brother had been missing for the past few months. Although the school had told her parents that her brother was studying abroad for an international dueling program, she had learned from her brother's friend Zane that this was not the case. There was an Abandoned Blue Dorm at the academy that students were not allowed to trespass. Zane had explained that the dorm used to be occupied by a group of Obelisk Blue students. Among the group was her brother, and one day they all vanished. He had said that the school suspected something in the dorm had caused the boys to disappear. That was why trespassing into the dorm was forbidden, until they could organize an investigation. Even so, no one knew what had happened.
Alexis had got a phone call from Zane a few months back. He had said that she deserved to know the truth. She knew that Zane and her brother had been close friends since their junior high days. The former had come over to her house almost every day; Zane and Atticus were pretty much inseparable. Zane was probably just as hurt as she was.
That night, she had called her brother's cellphone over and over again, desperately hoping that he would pick up. Once she realized that there wouldn't be an answer and that there would never be. She smashed her phone against the wall. She had curled up in her bed, sleepless. She wanted to scream, but she didn't want to alert her parents. They had thought that Atticus was in America studying abroad. Alexis didn't want to tell them. It was better if less people got hurt.
As she lied in bed that fateful night, her face eventually burned with tears, thinking of the memories that she had shared with him. She remembered the day he had taught her how to duel. Atticus thought that he was pretty good after only a week at prep school. She had told him that Duel Monsters was just a card game and that it was stupid, fed up with how he would constantly brag about his dueling skills.
"It's getting late," Alexis said, looking at the red skies that filled the horizon. Strands of her long blonde hair were getting in her eyes as a mild breeze rushed past her. The breeze brushed off the tall tree standing behind her. The tree's arm was tied with a golden rope which held up a black tire serving as a makeshift swing. She picked up the cards in front of her so they would not be lost in the wind. Atticus, sitting across from her, did the same. "We should go home now."
"Not yet," Atticus spoke. Eventually, the breeze had met its end. He put the cards back down on the board between them. He grinned, adding cheekily, "You're scared you'll lose, aren't you?"
"No! I just want to go home before it's too dark," The girl complained.
They had been dueling all day, and Atticus would win every single time.
"I'll set a face-down." Alexis said, as she tried to put on her best 'poker face.'
"You can do whatever you want," Atticus said. He knew her face-down was clearly a bluff. His sister had been trying to fool him all day by putting on her best neutral expression after every bluff she set down. It didn't help that she bit her lips every time she tried this. He then drew the top card from his deck, "I activate Swing of Memories. I can special summon a normal monster from the graveyard. I choose Red-Eyes Black Dragon."
"Swing of Memories?" The girl wondered aloud. It was the first time today Atticus had used the card. She examined the card design. It seemed familiar. She tilted her head towards the black tire attached to the tree behind her, and the crimson sky that loomed over them. The scene in the park was identical to the card design. There was a card for everything, and the 'stupid' game was kind of beginning to grow on her.
"Red-Eyes will attack your Cyber Tutu."
"Come on! What happened to going easy on me?"
" I have been going easy on you all day, but maybe I'm too good; I just can't lose even if I try to. Plus, if I call off the attack Red-Eyes will go back to the grave at the end phase, since it's summoned by Swing of Memories."
"So?"
"So? So, you'll win on your next turn! I still need to look out for my pride you know. I can't just lose to my baby sister who started dueling this morning."
"Well I have to look out for my pride too, and I'm not losing again. I activate my trap Doble Passe," Alexis smiled. She had intentionally bit her lips so her brother would put his guard down and suspect that her trap was a bluff. 'Doble Passe,' would ensure that the duel would end in a draw, which was better than losing to him for the fiftieth time
""How clever," Her brother chuckled. "I use my trap Trap Jammer. I discard a card from my hand, so that I can negate a trap's effect. "
"I quit!" Alexis groaned, "This is a stupid game and I never want to play it again!"
She was kidding of course. She had really enjoyed dueling with him at the park. It had been a nice day, despite the skies darkening.
"Rematch?"
"You're on!"
She could go all day, if it meant wiping that cocky grin on his face. Eventually, the sun had set. The winds grew stronger, causing the branches of the strong, sturdy tree to waver. The years flashed forward. All that was left of this day were two things: a memory and the painful realization that Atticus was gone.
"I'm finished!" Mindy sang.
"I'm finished!" Jasmine mimicked.
"Did you think that was funny or something?" Mindy pouted, turning to Alexis who was sitting on the edge of her bed. It seemed like she was thinking about something and didn't hear her. "I said I'm finished!"
"Huh? Oh yeah, let's go." Alexis murmured, getting off her bed and walking towards the door, ignoring the concerned looks that her friends were giving her.
It had been a boring few hours for Jaden Yuki. He was given a tour of the campus by some laid-back professor named Lyman Banner. He initially wasn't supposed to give them the tour, because he wasn't the headmaster of the Slifer Red dorm. However, the headmistress, Midori Hibiki was busy making lesson plans. It was pretty disappointing, because Jaden was looking forward to seeing her for the whole plane ride. The two had met in a hospital a few years back and grew really close to each other. He considered her his 'older sister.'
He had just checked in his dorm room with a boy named Syrus Truesdale, who had sat next to him on the plane ride. He had unruly light blue hair, with glasses barely hanging on to his nose, and virtually no self-confidence.
It was a small room with a one person's closet, a bathroom that had a single shower stall instead of a bathtub, a wooden desk and chair, a mini fridge, and a triple bunk bed.
He hurled his bags on to the first bunk, which landed harder than it should have, shaking the bed.
"Hey! I'm trying to sleep!" A voice erupted from the third bunk, causing Syrus to scream.
The blue bed sheet on the third bunk began to shift, as a round face poked out of the covers to look at who had disrupted his nap. Jaden didn't know if it was a major case of bad bed hair or if the boy had styled his hair like a koala on purpose. His nose seemed too big for his face, while his eyes seemed too small.
"I said I'm trying to sleep!" The boy yelled, clearly angry at the racket that Syrus had made by screaming.
"I'm s-s-sorry sir! I shouldn't have s-screamed. I hope you can forgive me. N-n-not that you have to, but it would be appreciated if you did! I'm s-sorry again! Jaden here wanted to go the duel arena, so we'll just get out of your hair, a-after we put our stuff away."
"It's okay! Stop apologizing; just be more quiet next time. The name's Chumley by the way. I've been living in this room for three years now, and this is going to be my fourth year, because I was held back from graduating last year."
"I'm Jaden Yuki, and this is my friend Syrus Truesdale." Jaden greeted. He didn't really think less of Chumley, even though he was held back from graduating. Heck with his work rate, he probably wouldn't even make it past his second year.
"Truesdale? As in Zane Truesdale's brother?" Chumley asked shifting into a sitting position. Jaden could hear the bed springs stretch as Chumley's weight pressed down against the mattress. This guy probably weighed a ton; he almost felt sorry for the bed.
"Y-yep."
"Who's Zane Truesdale?" Jaden wondered out loud.
"He's only the number one duelist at the school. I heard he's getting offers to duel in the Pro League already." Chumley looked at Jaden, surprised that the freshman had not heard of Zane Truesdale.
"Sy, you never told me your brother was that good! You should introduce me to him, so I can beat him in a duel!"
"My brother and I aren't really on speaking terms."
"Why not?"
"Well he thinks I'm a better duelist than I actually am. It pisses him off whenever I lose, because he says he knows I can do better, but I can't! I'm not as talented as him. It doesn't help that I got placed into Slifer Red…He's probably furious!"
"How's that a problem? I'm in Slifer too!" Jaden remarked.
"That's the worst rank in the school Jaden." Chumley commented, "We're pretty much all rejects. Most kids in red just lucked out on the entrance exams, and don't even make it past the first year before dropping out."
"Luck out on their entrance exams? That's funny because I'm in red, and I killed my entrance exams, or the dueling portion anyways. I beat Crowler!"
"You didn't beat Crowler. You beat one of the test decks designed specifically to test applicants."
"So you're saying Ancient Gear Golem was a test card?"
"Okay, now you're just playing games with me. There's no way you could beat him if he used Ancient Gear Golem. That card's legendary. " Chumley dismissed, yawning loudly before hugging his pillow and snuggling under his bed sheets once again, "Aren't you guys planning go the Duel Arena or something?"
"It's true! He did beat Crowler and Ancient Gear Golem. I saw it." Syrus blurted.
"Yeah, yeah, and I beat Seto Kaiba in a duel once."
Chazz Princeton had never been a fan of amateur dueling. He would never watch other junior championship matches. Those were a waste of his time. He would only watch the Pro League.
When Jesse Anderson and Taiyou Torimaki dueled, it was the first non-league duel he had watched in a while. At first he expected to be disappointed. Although they were fellow Obelisks, he didn't expect them to be at his level. He wasn't trying to sound arrogant, but he had known Taiyou Torimaki since middle school. Taiyou had navy blue hair and wore very thin glasses; he was pretty overconfident for a guy who had relied on his parents' money and status to get into Obelisk Blue. Chazz remembered that the students around him would often bring this up on the plane ride, complaining how if their parents were 'rich' too that they would also be in Obelisk like Taiyou.
He sympathized with the boy. Chazz was harassed because many believed that his rich and powerful brothers had bought him the three national championships. They were always saying how his brothers rigged the tournaments, so that Chazz would always get seeded with weak duelists. He was sick of it. Why couldn't they recognize what he had accomplished? Why couldn't they recognize what he had sacrificed to get to that level?
He turned his focus towards the duel. They had met up with Taiyou after the mandatory tour of the school that they gave to all the first year students. Taiyou had challenged Chazz to a duel, claiming that he had a strategy to beat the national champ. Chazz, not really in the mood to destroy Taiyou's hopes, told him that he should duel Jesse first, and the winner could duel him. By the time the two amateurs were done knocking each other out, it would be time for the welcoming dinner, and Chazz wouldn't have to waste his time dueling them. It would have been a clever plan, but the duel had ended too quickly. Jesse had won without losing a single life-point.
Jesse dueled at a pace that even Chazz had a bit of trouble keeping up with. He was always four or five steps ahead of Taiyou. He wondered why he had never run into someone as skilled as Jesse in the championships.
"You're next!" Jesse exclaimed from the oval podium at the center of the arena, pointing at Chazz who was watching from the stands. The podium had a bunch of wires coming out of it, with tunnels around it for duelists to enter and exit. There were rows of seats above the tunnels, surrounding the podium. The arena's capacity was well over a thousand people. It was the same size as a professional arena. Anything less would have disappointed Chazz.
"You're on." Chazz answered. He took a deep breath to relax his hand from shaking. Why was his hand shaking? Was he scared to lose? It had been a while since he lost…
"Chaaaazz!" A bubbly voice cooed from behind him.
Chazz turned to see Mindy Hamaguchi waving at him, with Jasmine Makurada and Alexis Rhodes behind her. They were a couple rows above him, and slowly walking down the stairs towards him.
They had gone to junior high together. He didn't know Jasmine very well. He hadn't really known Mindy that well either, but she started talking to him only after he won his first championship. He found Mindy pretty attractive, and talking to her wouldn't have been that bad if she wasn't so bothersome and annoying.
He and Alexis had become good friends in their first year; he had beat her in a duel at school, before they coincidentally met later that day on the top of Domino Mall. They had drifted since then; because he had changed…She wouldn't meet his eyes, and was looking away, pretending to be examining in the arena instead.
"Can I help you?" Chazz growled.
"I like how you think you're tough!" Mindy giggled.
"You haven't answered my question."
"You haven't answered my question," She said mockingly.
"If you're just going to waste my time, I'm going to leave."Chazz said, heading towards a tunnel in the stands that lead to the podium.
"No need to be rude." Mindy pouted, "I just wanted to know if you've seen the guy who beat Crowler."
As if on cue, Taiyou walked towards them with two other boys in Slifer red jackets. One of them was a short boy with light-blue hair, who Chazz had recognized as Syrus Truesdale who was one of the worst duelists in prep school. The other was Jaden Yuki: the boy who had beat Crowler.
"Hey, Chazz!" Taiyou called, "These Slifer dropouts think they can duel here!"
"Why can't we?" Jaden asked, "I mean we're all students here, and this is our campus."
"Do you hear this shit Chazz?" Taiyou asked, forcing himself to fake a laugh.
"Shut up, Taiyou. He's probably a better duelist than you." Mindy said, smiling at Jaden, which made Chazz cringe.
Jaden looked up into the stands, facing the boy Taiyou was talking to. "Who is that guy?"
"You must be deaf because I just said his name. It's Chazz Princeton. He's the number one duelist at this school. Show some respect."
"That's impossible." Jaden said.
"Well I guess there's Zane Truesdale, but he's the best out of the first year students." Taiyou reasoned.
"That's not what I meant. He can't be the best out of the first years or the best at the school" Jaden smirked, "I am."
Something about Jaden's confidence got under Chazz's nerves.
"Uh-Jaden, he has three national championships," Syrus whispered.
"Three national championships? Wow, you must be good! Let's duel right now."
Chazz knew Jaden was complimenting him, but he was annoyed by the Slifer's comments.
"Not as good as you! You beat Crowler!" Mindy winked at the Slifer.
"Hey thanks!"
Chazz clenched his fists. Mindy was being annoying as hell. It pissed him off how she was getting slightly flirty with Jaden.
He then noticed that Alexis was trying to avoid joining in the conversation, so she wouldn't have to talk to him. Jasmine and she had been 'examining' the arena for a bit too long.
Jesse was standing on top of the podium who was wondering what the hell was going on. Syrus had been hiding behind Jaden the whole time. Taiyou was trying to talk shit to Jaden, even though Chazz knew that Jaden was clearly batter than Taiyou, and Jaden?
Chazz couldn't put a finger on it, but the way he talked made him want to punch the kid's guts out. Not able to stand anymore of this, Chazz decided to speak up.
"I think welcoming dinner will start soon. We should get going Taiyou." Chazz said.
"Hey wait! Can't we just get a quick duel in? It'll be fun!"
"Fun? You think dueling is fun?!"
"Yeah! It's exciting to meet new opponents and learn from them."
"If only it was that easy…"
"It is! The more fun a duel is the more duelists are able to respect each other."
Chazz did not have a response. His face seemed to twist in anguish as he made his way to the exit. Alexis noticing his change in expression suddenly went after him.
The hopeful optimism that Jaden had, along with his excitement at the idea of dueling, reminded Chazz of how he was before his first national championship.
It angered Chazz how Jaden had what he had lost. Jaden had what he had to sacrifice. Jaden reminded him of what he couldn't get back.
Chazz stopped in the middle of a corridor aligned with white metal walls. He leaned is head against the metal, his spiky black hair brushing the wall's surface, looking dejectedly towards the ground.
He would be lying if he said he wasn't jealous of Jaden. Before his first national championship, he was more like Jaden. He would enjoy dueling, and get excited at the prospect of dueling a strong opponent.
His parents were never home and he was pretty lonely as a kid. It was through dueling that he could meet different people that he could look up to and interact with. When his parents had died the night before his first national championship final, Chazz was devastated.
He had heard from his brother Jagger that they were killed by an unnamed person who worked for a company called Gecko Industries; his parents had important documents that the company wanted. Jagger tried reporting to the authorities, but they explained to him that there wasn't enough evidence to tie the murderer and the company together. He couldn't understand why someone would do such a thing. Despite this, he persevered, dueling the next day, despite his fragile mental state.
"I'll use Light and Darkness Dragon's effect and negate your Mirror Force!" Chazz exclaimed, "Now attack her Kick Man!" A half white and half black dragon spread its mighty wings, as a silver vortex formed near its face, before the vortex enveloped the field.
Chazz 1700
Opponent 0
"Ladies and gentleman! Japan has a new junior champion! Chazz Princeton!"
Chazz held up an arm addressing the crowd. He smiled ever so slightly, tears falling freely down his red cheeks; his parents would be proud of him.
"That was a fun duel." Chazz told his opponent, who shook just shook her head ," Thank you."
The girl was silent.
Chazz figured the girl was just disappointed that she had worked so hard to get to the finals just to lose. He could understand that.
"Congratulations on the win Princeton. It's just too bad your parents won't be here to see it." She said suddenly, glaring at him with intense blue eyes that would not waver.
Chazz felt like a dagger had ripped through his heart, as he lost blood and suffocated. Did the girl know that his parents were gone?
"I'm sorry?"
"They're dead." She said coldly, "They're never coming back, but hey at least you won a championship."
"H-h-how do you know this?" He demanded weakly as tears slowly rolled down his cheeks.
"Does Gecko Industries ring a bell? If you didn't hear, they were the ones who took your parents away from you. Let's just say I know a few people from that company."
That was the company that had allegedly hired someone to kill his parents. The company that had left him alone in this world. She had confirmed this. Chazz clenched his fists, breathing heavily. He would bring that company to its knees if it was the last thing he did.
"You know who killed my parents?!" Chazz asked slowly, gritting his teeth, anger seething through his veins.
"No, I don't know who killed them, but I wish I was the one who did. You ruined everything..."
The girl couldn't help but smirk, as she saw the boy's face contort in rage and sadness at the same time. She had failed to win the national championship, and so she had failed the chairman's test. She would be separated from her love, Adrian, and assigned to the submarine division of Gecko Industries for the next six years. It was the price of her incompetence, and she was glad that Chazz was paying for it.
He took a deep breath, biting his lips to stop the tears. He bit so hard that his lips almost started bleeding. Shaking, Chazz held in the urge to choke the girl until she was begging for mercy.
"Are you one of them? Do you work for them?" Chazz growled, his gaze tearing into her.
"Maybe I do..." Chazz then grabbed the girl by the collar of her white shirt, as his grip threatened to tear the shirt in half.
"Now, now Princeton, there's a whole crowd watching. You don't want to do anything stupid and give your fans the wrong image."
"Y-you..you...you monster." Chazz then felt an emotion that he had never felt before. It was pure hatred. He hated everything this girl represented and stood for. She deserved to suffer, "I'll call the authorities. They'll use you as evidence to tie the company with the murderer, and Gecko Industries can rot in hell..."
"Don't be foolish. We have inside personnel within the police department. If the authorities were a problem I would have stayed quiet, instead of telling you all this." She grinned evilly,"Besides, if you call the authorities it would make the chairman unhappy. You don't want him to be unhappy, unless you want to lose your brothers too."
Chazz looked despondently at the ground. It was hopeless. No matter what he tried he was powerless. He couldn't lose his brothers too.
"It's a good thing your parents can't see you so hopeless... They would be so worried." She mocked.
"How can you be so cruel?" Chazz took heavy breaths, as he began to cry, unable to control his emotions any longer. He beat his aching heart with his hand, wanting the pain to stop.
"I just wanted to remind you how weak and alone you really are." She pushed him away from her laughing glumly. A celestial white glow seemed to envelop her body, as she grinned almost sadistically "But, at least you had fun dueling."
Chazz shut his eyes closed. Even that couldn't stop his teardrops from finding a way through. The girl had broke him.
A highlight of a majestic dragon stood behind Chazz, embracing its wings around him to comfort the junior champion.
Since that day, dueling was never as 'fun' as before.
"Chazz?" He could hear Alexis's voice behind him.
He did not turn to face her.
"What are you doing here? You're going to miss welcoming dinner."
He remained silent. His dark eyes would not leave the ground.
"You are too." He said quietly.
"I just wanted to make sure that you're okay." She spoke softly.
"I'm fine. Besides, I thought you didn't want anything to do with me." He remarked bitterly.
Alexis's expression changed to one of sadness. He was the one who changed. After he had won his first championships, he was so alone and hateful...
His brothers wanted to support Chazz's dueling career after his first championship. Slade was the president of Princeton's, his family's company, while Jagger was the chief executive officer. They had taken over for their parents, and were happy to sponsor Chazz.
The Gecko Industries and Princeton's were embroiled in a corporate feud for years. Slade and Jagger were convinced that if Chazz became the head of the dueling world by becoming the next duel king their company would have an edge over Gecko Industries.
At first Chazz was nervous, as the memory of the girl's threat lingered within him. He told his brothers that he didn't want them to die in the hands of Gecko Industries. They assured him that they had a plan to destroy that company, and that all he had to worry about was dueling. He had listened to them. They were his brothers. They were all that was left of his family.
His brothers decided to support him as long as he would win. They decided to be there for him as long as he wouldn't disgrace the Princeton name; disgracing the Princeton name meant that he was letting the Geckos' win. That's why he couldn't afford to lose.
The other duelists began to grow frustrated at losing to Chazz, and often blamed his brothers for rigging Chazz's tournaments and bribing his opponents into intentionally losing. He couldn't deal with how they would criticize his family's name. All his parents had left behind for him was his name and his legacy as a Princeton to avenge them. He refused to have it disrespected. He vowed to prove that the Princeton's name was far more valuable than the Geckos'.
Eventually, he became so bitter and hateful. She had tried to help him at first; she had missed the fun loving boy that Chazz once was. He was completely different in his second national championship run, trying to destroy and humiliate all his opponents.
She had tried to convince him that he didn't have to be so hateful. She had no idea why he was acting that way, and thought she could change him.
He had told her it was okay as long as he kept winning. By that point, she realized how much Chazz had changed. Winning was the one thing that kept him from being left with nothing...
She had been so upset that Chazz had ended up like this. She was afraid of talking to him, because it reminded her that he wasn't the same. They would spend less time together, and eventually they stopped being friends.
When she saw his expression change into one of anguish back at the arena, she could see him suffering. She didn't want to see him suffer; he used to be her friend...
"I'm worried about you." That was all she could say.
"Thank you." Chazz whispered. The change in his tone had taken her back. The two stood in silence. Chazz's eyes were still gazing at the ground, and his head had continued to lean against the metal wall of the corridor. He was embarrassed that Alexis had caught him in a vulnerable moment.
"He kind of reminds me of how you used to be." Alexis added carefully, referring to Jaden.
"You mean how I was before my parents died?" Chazz asked grimly.
Alexis bit her lips, inwardly grimacing at her mistaking of bringing up Jaden.
"I hate this Chazz. We used to be really good friends. Now we don't even talk to each other… I really miss how things were before." She wasn't only talking about her friendship with Chazz. She also missed her brother. It seems as she got older she would lose more people that were important to her, and it was tearing her apart.
"I'm sorry." Chazz said. They were silent for a while not knowing what to say to each other.
"I wish things were the way they used to be too. I wish my parents never died…But no matter how much I want things to return to the way they were, I know they won't. Things are different now…That's just how it is."
"I guess you're right." Alexis admitted sadly. As much as she wanted to see her brother, the truth was that he was gone at the moment.
"I'm going to duel him." Chazz said suddenly, with bitterness drenching his voice. "I lost everything...and he's just a reminder of what I can't get back... That's why I'm going to crush him and everything he stands for."
Jaden was casually making his way through his fifth bowl of rice. He couldn't believe how the other Slifers could complain about the food. It wasn't the fanciest dinner, but something about the rice had captured his taste buds. It was so good that he could eat five bowls of this rice for every dinner this week.
"How much more are you going to eat?" Syrus cried, sitting across from him on the uneven, rickety picnic table.
"I don't know," Jaden answered his mouth still full of food.
Syrus sighed heavily in exasperation. They were the only ones left in the Slifer dining room, with the exception of their headmistress who was sitting next to Syrus, just as annoyed by Jaden's eating habits. The room was filled with a bunch of worn-out picnic tables, and a few mosquitoes that would fly by once in a while. The other Slifers had tried to finish their food as quick as possible, complaining about the mosquitoes and the poor quality of the food. To be honest, Syrus had found the rice too plain. He didn't see why Jaden was so obsessed with it.
"Don't talk with your mouth full Jaden. It's disrespectful." The headmistress, who had introduced herself as Midori Hibiki, told the boy who was currently shoving his face with rice. She was in a red skirt and white tank top, which was overlapped by a red jacket that reached her waist, while her raven black hair reached her shoulders.
"Don't talk with your mouth full Jaden. It's disrespectful." Jaden mimicked, sticking his tongue out at her.
Syrus gasped. How could Jaden disrespect their headmistress like that? Could he really be that dumb? She was probably furious. Jaden would probably get in trouble, and with his luck he would too, just for being there!
Instead, she just rolled her caramel eyes, as if expecting this behavior from the Slifer. "You win one duel against Crowler, and now you think you can talk to your headmistress like that."
"You're just jealous, because I'm a better duelist than you." Jaden rebutted, causing Syrus to flinch.
"When have you ever beat me?"
"I've been going easy on you. I don't want to hurt your feelings." Syrus froze, bracing himself for Ms. Hibiki to start yelling angrily at Jaden, but that never happened.
"It's okay to lose sometimes Jaden." Midori cooed mockingly.
Jaden just ignored this and continue to shove his face with rice.
"By the way you have a grain of rice stuck on your forehead, dumbass." Midori burst out laughing.
"Leave me alone." Jaden complained, quickly wiping the grain off his forehead. His face was red with embarrassment, and he was looking away from her.
She just kept laughing.
"I'm done eating." Jaden pouted, putting his bowl to the side, "By the way, you laugh like a freak."
At this point, Syrus was ready to throw up. How was Jaden so stupid? Ms. Hibiki seemed really nice, but there was only so much rudeness that a person can put up with. He gritted his teeth, his face becoming pale. Jaden seemed to notice this, looking at his friend worriedly.
"What's wrong Sy?" He asked.
'What was wrong? He would tell Jaden what was wrong!' Syrus clenched his fists, slightly shaking. "What's wrong? You're an idiot. That's what's wrong! You're openly disrespecting the headmistress. Even if you think it's funny, you could get in serious trouble! I didn't think that you could be so immature!"
It was Jaden's turn to burst out laughing. 'Was this funny to him? Was everything a joke to him?'
"Oh right, I forgot to tell you Sy. Midori and I have been friends for a long time; she was the one who gave me my first duel disk."
Syrus, realizing how ignorant he must have sounded, lowered his head, muttering quietly, "Oh. I guess that explains that."
"I'm sorry if we alarmed you Syrus." Midori told him sheepishly, "I guess we were being a bit immature."
Syrus just nodded at her, his eyes not leaving the table.
"Well I need to go finish my lesson plans," Midori told them, "You two behave, and by you two I mean you Jaden."
Jaden crossed his arms in indignation. The headmistress just winked at him, before walking out the sliding straw door.
As Midori left the dining room, a beeping noise went off from Jaden's pocket. He pulled out his PDA, checking the screen to see that he had one unopened voicemail.
"It's Chazz. You said you wanted to have some fun dueling, didn't you? Meet me at the duel arena at midnight. I'll show you how cruel dueling can be. Winner gets the loser's best card."
Syrus made his way to the stands in the Duel Arena. He had told Jaden that this wasn't a good idea. Chazz was a strong duelist, and Jaden could lose his best card.
He noticed that there were two other people who were already there, getting ready to watch the duel. He had recognized one of them as Alexis Rhode; he knew her from junior high. She was the second best duelist at middle school next to Chazz.
Alexis, on the other hand, probably didn't even know he existed. Being the worst duelist in prep school did not really help his reputation.
The other was a boy in teal hair, and an Obelisk blue jacket. He remembered seeing him earlier in the arena. He was the boy standing on the podium, while Taiyou had tried to convince Jaden and Syrus they couldn't duel at the arena, but failed to come up with a valid reason why.
"Well howdy there!" The teal-haired boy waved at him, "You must be here to see the duel. Come and join us."
The boy tapped the seat next to him, motioning Syrus to take the open seat. Alexis smiled at him, as Syrus walked towards them. They seemed friendly enough, and he didn't really want to sit alone.
"I'm Jesse Anderson. Nice to meet you!" Syrus noticed that Jesse had a southern accent. "You must be Jaden's friend."
"You know Jaden?"
"Everyone knows him! He beat Crowler." Jesse answered, "But blondie over here thinks that Jaden will get his ass handed to him. Isn't that right?"
"First of all don't call me blondie. The name is Alexis." She glared at Jesse, "And I didn't say he'd get his ass handed to him. I just think that Chazz will win."
"How can you be sure though? Jaden did beat Crowler." Jesse reasoned.
"Because Chazz doesn't lose. He can't afford to..."Alexis answered with a hint of frustration in her voice, "He hasn't lost in the last three years..."
Jaden made his way on to the podium, where Chazz was waiting for him. The Obelisk glared at him with dark eyes that refused to tremble. He had his academy duel disk on, ready to destroy the Slifer.
"Thanks for inviting me Chazz!" Jaden grinned, excited to see how strong Chazz really was.
Chazz snorted, ignoring the Slifer's comment. He wasn't here to deal with his pointless compliments.
"The winner gets the loser's best card. In your case that's your Flame Wingman. If you win, I'll give you my Armed Dragon LV 10." Chazz restated the duel's conditions. He wasn't sure if Flame Wingman was the rarest card that Jaden had, but it's not like he was putting his rarest card on the line either. Light and Darkness Dragon wasn't even in his deck.
"Sounds good to me!" Jaden exclaimed, "I'll let you keep your Armed Dragon when I win though. I think dueling you is a prize itself. It's not every day you go up against a three time national champion."
"Yeah, whatever." Chazz muttered. When Jaden had said that he was excited to duel him, Chazz remembered when dueling had excited him too. He had given up on having fun and being happy; winning had become more important. He expected himself to win. His brothers expected him to win.
"I'll give you the first move. You might need it."
Chazz 4000
Jaden 4000
"That's really generous of you Chazz, thanks!" Jaden said, causing Chazz to glower. He drew Spark Blaster into his hand. He examined his hand of six. He held Elemental Hero Bubbleman, Elemental Hero Wildheart, Elemental Hero Clayman, Defense Draw, Take Over 5, and Spark Blaster.
"I'll summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in attack mode!" Jaden slammed the card on to his duel disk as a light blue 'bat-man' with two grey cylinders on its back emerged on the field. (ATK 800/DEF 1200) "Now thanks to this dude's effect, I can draw two cards!"
The Slifer added Elemental Hero Avian and Tag Request into his hand. "I activate Take Over 5! I send the top 5 cards in my deck to the graveyard. In return, I can draw an extra card on my standby phase next turn. Pretty sweet, huh?"
"Just get on with it." Chazz gritted his teeth.
"If you say so!" Jaden then sent Hero Kid, Negate Attack, De-Fusion, Death and Rebirth, and an extra Hero Kid to the grave. "Then I activate Tag Request! This allows me to summon an Elemental Hero from my hand, as long as it has the same number of attack points as an Elemental Hero on my field! Chazz, meet Clayman!"
A bulky giant made solely of clay took its place next to Bubbleman. (ATK 800/DEF 2000)
"I'll then throw down a face-down and end my turn." Jaden finished, placing Defense Draw down. He had left Clayman in attack mode, despite it having more defense points. Chazz would probably take advantage of this situation, summoning a monster with higher attack points to inflict damage. Jaden would protect his life-points with Defense Draw.
Since Chazz had left his own monster in attack mode, Jaden would draw first blood by summoning Wildheart, and attacking that monster. It was a pretty good plan if he may say so himself. The only flaw that Jaden saw in his plan was if Chazz's monster was stronger than Wildheart, but he would have to wait until he got that far to figure things out.
Chazz drew. He placed the card, Polymerization, into his hand. He examined it carefully. It consisted of Meteor Stream, Masked Dragon, Chythonian Polymer, Ojamagic Ojama Delta Hurricane, and Polymerization. It wasn't the greatest hand he's ever had, but it would do.
"I'll set two face-downs," Chazz asserted, as he set Chythonian Polymer and Meteor Stream," And then I'll summon Masked Dragon." A dragon covered in red and white patches emerged in front of Chazz. (ATK 1400/DEF 1100)
"Attack his Clayman." Chazz said, as virtual flames were unleashed from the dragon's face.
"I activate my trap, Defense Draw! I take no battle damage, and I get to draw a card!" Jaden countered, adding Polymerization into his hand.
"Very well. I'll end my turn." Chazz concluded, shifting his focus to 'Chythonian Polymer,' the trap he had set earlier. The trap ensured that if Jaden summoned Flame Wingman it would cost the Slifer dearly.
After he drew Elemental Hero Sparkman into his hand, Jaden smirked. "It's my standby phase, so I can banish Take Over 5 from the graveyard and draw one more time!"
He added E-Hero Burstinatrix to his hand, before looking up and smiling at Chazz. He had the cards he needed to summon Flame Wingman. "Guess what Chazz? I drew the card that I needed to beat you!"
His arrogant claims slightly irritated the Obelisk. Despite this, Chazz stood in silence, hoping that Jaden would summon Flame Wingman sooner than later.
'I'll save Flame Wingman as my trump card. For now, I'll just stick to my original plan.' Jaden calculated, "I summon Elemental Hero Wildheart in attack mode! Attack Masked Dragon!" A muscular dark skinned hero emerged. (ATK 1500/DEF 1600)
The dragon dissolved the moment it made contact with the hero's sword.
Chazz 3900
Jaden 4000
"I was hoping you'd do that." Chazz smirked, "I use Masked Dragon's effect so when it's destroyed I summon a dragon with 1500 or less attack points from my deck, like Armed Dragon LV 3!" (ATK 1200/DEF 900)
"That's a pretty neat effect there Chazz! I thought your field would be wide open after I was through with Masked Dragon. I guess I'll have to change my Bubbleman into defense mode and end my turn." Jaden stated before checking his hand one more time. There was Elemental Hero Avian, Elemntal Hero Sparkman, Elemental Hero Burstinatrix, Polymerization, and Spark Blaster.
Chazz emotionlessly drew Graceful Charity into his hand. "It's my standby phase so I can tribute my Armed Dragon LV 3 to summon Armed Dragon LV 5 from my deck!" A black and red dragon covered with metallic spikes emerged on Chazz's field. (ATK 2400/DEF 1700)
"Awesome…" Jaden interjected.
"That's a really powerful monster…" Syrus gulped from the sidelines. He knew that coming to the arena was a bad idea. Why didn't Jaden listen?
"He summoned it so efficiently too." Jesse commented, beginning to see how his fellow Obelisk hadn't lost in the last three years.
"You haven't seen anything yet." Alexis assured the two.
"I activate Grace Charity. I can draw three cards and discard two cards from my hand." Chazz continued, drawing Level Up!, Magical Mallet, and De-Fusion. He assessed his options in the blink of an eye, discarding Magical Mallet and Ojamagic. "I just discarded Ojamagic from my hand. When Ojamagic is discarded, I can add Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, and Ojama Black from my deck to my hand."
He could see the trio waving to him from inside their cards. Chazz grimaced at the sight of them, before returning his focus to the duel. "I'll activate Polymerization to fuse the three Ojama cards I just added to my hand and summon Ojama King." The irksome trio flexed their scrawny biceps inside their cards in response. A giant grey muscular Ojama with red tights and a green cape materialized on the field. (ATK 0/DEF 3000)
Chazz cringed as he considered his next move. "I'll activate De-Fusion."
The big Ojama split into three smaller ones in the form of Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, and Ojama Black.
"You brought us back boss!" Yellow screamed in joy.
"He loves us! He really does!" Green announced.
"Hey it's Jesse!" Black added waving his hands at the stands.
"Those are some pretty rowdy friends you have Chazz," Jaden interjected, as Jesse almost fell off his seat laughing, getting strange looks from Alexis and Syrus.
"Hey, who are you calling rowdy?" Green cried.
"Uh, no one!" Jaden chuckled, as Green glared at him.
'He can hear them?' To most people, the Ojamas would only appear as motionless, inaudible holograms. Chazz was taken back at how Jaden could hear them like he could.
"I'll activate Ojama Delta Hurricane. When I have all three Ojama cards on my field, I can destroy every card on your field." Chazz asserted. The Ojamas put their butts together, before they started to spin rapidly forming a blur of yellow, black and green. Jaden's Wildheart and Bubbleman were destroyed.
"Armed Dragon LV 5, attack him directly!" The dragon shot a dark, purple ball of energy at Jaden, causing him to stumble at the shockwave.
Chazz 3900
Jaden 1600
"Chazz took out more than half his life-points…" Jesse sat in awe, trying to process what he had just witnessed.
"Jaden doesn't stand a chance!" Syrus squealed.
"I'll finish my turn by using Level Up! I can sacrifice Armed Dragon LV 5 to special summon Armed Dragon LV7!" A larger and slimmer version of Armed Dragon LV5 emerged; its head covered in metallic armor. (ATK 2800/DEF 1000)
Chazz noticed that the annoyingly cheerful Slifer had been silenced. He had lowered his head, eyes not leaving the ground.
'He had given up?' Chazz grinned sadistically; amused that he was able to crush the boy.
"You tried your best Jaden. I'll give you that. It's okay if you want to surrender. I'll take your Flame Wingman, of course, but at least you can protect what little pride that you still have."
Jaden remained still, answerless.
"I know you might have thought that you were good before, but the truth hurts doesn't it? Can you now see that I am at a different level than you? Do you feel hopeless that no matter what you do you'll never be able to surpass me? No matter, how hard you try; you'll always be in my shadow. You are weak Jaden." Chazz then smirked almost sinisterly, "At least you had 'fun' dueling though."
Alexis stared at the field, agitated. She felt terrible that Jaden was being toyed with like this, and she was helpless do nothing but watch. Even though they were friends once and she had felt sorry for him, she was disgusted by how ruthless Chazz could be at times. How could Chazz say all those things?
"Amazing…" Jaden said silently. He rose to meet Chazz's eyes. The light in his eyes seemed to be brighter, as he grinned widely. "You're truly amazing Chazz. I can see how you were the national champion three years in a row. To show a Slifer Red like me such an awesome combination, I'm beside myself with joy!"
How could he be so happy, despite getting utterly crushed? Did he really believe he could still win? No, it wasn't that. He was excited at the prospect of a challenge. Jaden was just like how he used to be... Chazz would crush him like the girl with those evil blue eyes had destroyed him.
Jaden's hand flew across his face holding his next card: Pot of Greed.
"I'll start off by using Pot of Greed. Now, I can draw two cards." He added Miracle Kids and Elemental Mirage to his hand. "I'll activate Polymerization, so I send Elemental Hero Avian and Burstinatrix from my hand to the grave to summon my favorite monster: Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" A winged creature with a red dragon's head for one of its arm stood in front of him. (ATK 2100/DEF 1200)
"It's him…" Alexis said, admiring how the Slifer hadn't given up.
"The card he used to beat Crowler." Jesse recalled.
"Trap open. Chythonian Polymer lets me sacrifice one of my monsters to take control of a fusion monster on your field." Chazz sent Ojama Black to the graveyard.
"How could you do this to me boss?" Black shouted in despair, before Flame Wingman stood where the Ojama had once stood.
"Nooo!" Yellow yelled.
"I will avenge you my Ojama brethren!" Green exclaimed.
Chazz ignored them, before asserting calmly, "Do you see how powerless you really are? You can act like you're having fun all you want, but you can't hide from the fact that you're pathetic. How can you have fun, if you know that you are so helpless and bound to lose at the end? If you insist on showing me how dueling is supposed to help me respect my opponent and have fun, then please continue."
"He expected Jaden to summon Flame Wingman, and prepared to counter it from the start…" Jesse noted, pitying Jaden, who never stood a chance from the start.
"Poor Jaden... He's getting killed out there." Syrus lamented.
Alexis had had enough. Sure, Chazz was winning by a lot, and probably sealed the duel with that play, but he was looking down on Jaden and bullying him. She looked worriedly at the Slifer, before deciding to put an end to this. Narrowing her eyes, she stood up from her seat.
"This duel is over."
"I know, Alexis... I know." Chazz agreed, with the same sadistic grin etched across his face.
"No Chazz. I mean it! You're trying to get to Jaden's head and break his confidence as a duelist. You have to stop." Alexis cried, "How can you be so cruel?"
'How can you be so cruel?' Chazz wavered as these words echoed in his subconsciousness. He had used those words, when the girl form Gecko Industries had decided to torture him with the reality that his parents were dead. She had broke him, and now he was going to break Jaden.
"Don't count me out just yet!" Jaden said with conviction, causing both Chazz and Alexis to look at the boy incredulously.
"I haven't normal summoned yet, so I'll summon Elemental Hero Sparkman! (ATK 1600/DEF 1400)" Jaden continued, unfazed by the developments, "I equip it with Spark Blaster! With this I can change the battle position of any monster on the field up to three times!" A black gun materialized around the electric hero's hand.
"I noticed that your Armed Dragon LV7 only has 1000 defense points, so I'll change it into defense mode." Jaden beamed. The dragon fell to its knees as an electric blue spark shot out from the blaster. "Sparkman attack Armed Dragon LV 7!"
"Yes!" Syrus put his arms in the air. At least Jaden was making some progress.
"Don't get too excited Sy." Jesse warned him, "Chazz still has Flame Wingman, who is stronger than Sparkman. One attack from Flame Wingman will mean that Jaden loses the duel, because of its effect."
"He did so well too…" Alexis interjected. She was frustrated that even though Jaden had made a good move it wouldn't change the outcome of the duel. She respected his determination, but it would be futile against an opponent like Chazz.
Chazz gritted his teeth in frustration; he had been too careless. Armed Dragon LV7's defense points were the dragon's biggest weakness, and he had let Jaden exploit that.
'Not that it mattered,' he told himself. He would just use Flame Wingman to win on his next turn.
"I'll place two face-down cards and end my turn." Jaden set Miracle Kids and Elemental Mirage, hoping to gain control of the duel with these two cards.
Chazz drew the spell card Chthonian Blast into his empty hand, not that he needed it.
"Flame Wingman attack Sparkman!" Chazz exclaimed, as the hero engulfed itself in flames and charged towards the blue and gold of Sparkman's armor.
"Trap open! Miracle Kids allows me to lower Flame Wingman's attack points by 400 for every Hero Kid in my graveyard."
"There's no Hero Kids in your graveya…" Chazz didn't finish, remembering the spell card Jaden used on his first turn, "Shit."
"I guess you caught on, hehehe. I sent two Hero Kids to my grave from my deck using Take Over 5!"
Flame Wingman's attack points had been reduced to 1300, and disintegrated at contact with Sparkman.
Chazz 3600
Jaden 1600
"Way to go Jay!" Syrus cheered.
"That's impressive." Jesse admitted. He had seriously underestimated Jaden. Just because Chazz had all these national accolades, it didn't make Jaden a weak duelist. It seemed that beating Crowler was not a fluke at all.
Alexis couldn't help but smile lightly at the Slifer's heroics. Chazz was still winning, but Jaden was the one in control now.
'I got too cocky…He's a lot better than I thought, but that doesn't mean he's better than me. I don't want him to be better than me. I gave up so much… He hasn't given up anything compared to me. I couldn't accept it if I lose to him. It would be unfair.' Chazz took a deep breath, analyzing the situation.
He had 'Chthonian Blast,' in his hand, while Jaden had no cards in his hand. All that separated Sparkman from his life points were Ojama Yellow and Ojama Green. The Slifer had a face-down card left, but so did he. He took a quick glance at the 'Meteor Stream,' card he had placed down on his first turn.
He didn't have much to work with, but he couldn't let Jaden keep control of the duel.
"That was pretty sweet! Don't ya think Chazz?" Jaden beamed.
"Shut up. You talk too much." Chazz dismissed, "I'll activate the spell card Chthonian Blast. I can destroy your Sparkman, and you take damage equal to half its attack points!"
Chazz 3600
Jaden 800
The faint sound of footsteps could be heard. Alexis turned her head towards the entrance of the arena, with a worried expression forming on her face.
"Reverse card open. Elemental Mirage allows me to bring back Sparkman in the same battle position as before." Jaden revealed, oblivious to the noise.
"Guys! Someone's coming. It could be campus security. If we get caught in here, we could be in serious trouble!" Alexis voiced.
"What?!" Syrus exclaimed, "Why am I so unlucky?!"
"Trouble? How would we get in trouble? We're all students here." Jaden wondered.
"It's cause there's no off-hour arena dueling." Chazz explained bitterly. He had the duel won…
"Why did you invite us here then?" Syrus yelped.
"I didn't invite you. I invited Jaden." Chazz said, turning off his duel disk and walking towards the arena's second exit.
"Jaden! Let's get out of here!" Syrus cried to his fellow Slifer who nodded his head hesitantly, disappointed that he couldn't finish such a fun duel.
The two stood on the edge of a cliff, which protruded into the clear waters. The waters reflected the island's tall pillars holding the main building in place. It was a starless night.
"Chazz… how could you? What if Jaden didn't find a way to take control of the duel? You tried to humiliate him. He could have got hurt." Alexis breathed.
"I would have been okay with that, as long as I won." Chazz responded sadly.
"How can you be so selfish? Is winning all that you think about?!" She cried, terrified by how obsessed he was with victory.
"It's all I have." He said, "I don't have anything else left. I lost my parents. I lost you… All I have is my brothers, and they'll only accept me if I win."
"I'm sure your brothers will accept you, even if you're the worst duelist in the world…"
"You don't understand…I'm a Princeton." He wanted to tell her about Gecko Industries and their rivalry with Princeton's. He wanted to tell her about the blue-eyed girl that he despised. He wouldn't for the same reason he did not tell her back in middle school. He didn't want her involved.
"I tried... I tried to understand Chazz. I just can't..." She shouted in frustration. Fighting back tears, she turned his back on him, running as far as she could from him.
Chazz breathed heavily, trying to steady himself. He wiped his eyes with the blue sleeves of his jacket. Princetons didn't cry.
He held a crimson card revealing a man in a blue blazer being bombarded by meteors, as another figure in white attire loomed over the dejected and hopless victim.
He recalled that Jaden had special summoned Sparkman using Elemental Mirage on the same turn it was destroyed. The trap, Meteor Stream would have inflicted a 1000 ponts of damage to Jaden, as the card's condition was met. Jaden only had 800 life-points left... He would have beat him with 3600 life-points to spare. It was almost the perfect victory.
But he knew that in the end, winning wouldn't have changed anything.
Well? Let me know what you guys thought. Tell me what was good, what needs work, etc. I can take in your considerations and hopefully try to improve for the next chapter. I hoped you all enjoyed and until next time!