It had been a rough and lousy day.
At least Zak thought so. First there'd been the exams and then the bullying. Heartland Duel Academy was not the nicest of places for an antisocial teenager. Zak had had enough of the whole place, and he was glad that the break was coming up in two weeks. Then there was the World Duel Carnival happening soon afterwards. Zak was looking forward to it, and he'd been perfecting his deck more and more over the past few days to prepare for it.
Zak gave a small sigh when he looked at the clock; it was ten to three and his uniform was getting itchy. Ten more minutes of boredom and then he could go home and prepare some more. It'd also mean getting away from everyone here. Zak didn't hate his class in any regard; he just didn't fit in with most of them. There were a few that he got along with, but mostly it was a mutual leave-eachother-alone kind of deal between Zak and everyone else.
Not that Zak minded, in fact he rather enjoyed his own independence. It meant that he could focus on what he considered important and not be bothered by the typical drama that surrounded sixteen and seventeen year old boys and girls. Contrary to what most thought; Zak was not actually interested by who was going out with who and who defeated who in an ante duel. Zak preferred to know about what the strategies and tactics that had been used in a duel rather than just its outcome.
And that's where the bullying fit into his life. Due to Zak not taking an interest in gossip or teenager happenings, he was usually the target of so called attempts to be made fun and embarrassed. They very rarely worked and Zak found himself almost amused by them. No doubt today, being a Friday, was going to hold another attempt at an embarrassment. Zak just wanted to go home and prepare. He had already received his Heart Piece a few days back. Finally the bell signalling freedom rang and Zak was out the door in a flash. Zak's plan was to try and leave school before the so-called bullies attempted anything. However, they were usually on to him and would track him down before he could escape. Today was no different.
Zak heard the familiar voice of his all-time favourite classmate call out to him.
'Hey Zak; my man! Where you headed in such a hurry?' Hamish called out in an annoying voice.
Zak strongly disliked Hamish and his almost childish ways of irritating Zak and everyone else. But he put up with him anyway. Hamish was one of those boys who always thought that they were at the top of the school duel board no matter what and therefore, had the right to boss everyone else around. Zak had almost gotten out of the gate by the time Hamish had spotted him, but Zak stopped and waited. He didn't respond or even turn around. He just waited for Hamish.
Hamish caught up to Zak and stood in the latter's way. He looked at Zak with a confident grin.
'You didn't answer my question,' Hamish said assertively.
'Home,' Came Zak's sharp reply.
Zak wasn't exactly one for words. Hamish's mouth twitched at Zak's antisocial attitude but he kept up his act of being the friendly classmate who wanted only what was good for Zak and everyone else. 'Act' was the operative word and everyone knew it.
'Our teacher is worried that you aren't being social enough with the rest of the class,' Hamish lied, 'And I thought that it would a great idea if we could make everyone your friend.'
Zak was not amused, but he didn't say a word.
'I thought we should duel to prove to everyone else that you are a very heartfelt and loving person,' Hamish continued, raising his voice to grab everyone's attention.
Zak was expecting this; every Friday was the same deal with Hamish making up a new excuse to get Zak to duel. However, Hamish very rarely won against Zak and the latter had no idea why Hamish kept at it. Zak, staying silent, simply activated his duel disk in response to Hamish's apparent idea. Hamish grinned and activated his own D-Pad. Zak used an old duel disk from Yugi Moto's time as King of Games due him finding it easier to use. Zak had painted his one black and had modified it to work with the new D-Gazers that allowed for Augmented Reality duels. It was Zak's best creation.
Hamish decided to stand in front of the gate so Zak couldn't attempt to leave. Zak didn't mind, he expected a short duel anyway. The sooner this duel was over; the sooner he could go home and get ready for the World Duel Carnival. Zak and Hamish drew their hand as Hamish took the first draw. Zak gave him a bored expression and waited for Hamish to make his move.
[Zak: 4000] [Hamish: 4000]
'What's the matter Zak? Not up to talking in this friendly duel?' Hamish asked sarcastically.
He received only silence in response. Not even Hamish and his Zombie deck was going to get Zak to talk until the latter had begun his turn. Zak didn't see the need to make small talk ever unless he was explaining a card effect during a duel. He was a smart but silent type of duelist and person.
'Whatever! I activate Call of the Mummy!' Hamish shouted out, 'Now if I control no monsters; I can Special Summon a Zombie-Type monster from my hand straight to the field once per turn! I call out Despair from the Dark! You may be impressed with its powerful 2800 Attack points, but it gets better! I sacrifice it to Advance Summon Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon!'
[Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon – 2400 ATK – 2000 DEF – DARK Attribute – Zombie-Type – Level 7]
Zak was unimpressed, the amount of times he'd seen this dragon from Hamish alone was far too many to count. And each time Zak had had the small pleasure of destroying it one way or another.
'I can sacrifice only one Zombie-Type monster to Advance Summon my dragon, as you know. Now I'll activate Zombie World to compliment my dragon's powers! Whenever it destroys a Zombie-Type monster by battle,' Hamish explained, 'That monster is Special Summoned to my side of the field. And due to Zombie World now in play; all monster become Zombie-Types! To truly make my point; I'll equip my Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon with the Axe of Despair from my hand. 1000 Attack points extra to truly define it as the kind of zombies! Feel like talking now Zak? I'll play a facedown card to end my turn.'
Zak looked up at the degrading dragon surrounded by the terrible landscape of the Zombie World. A few girls who were wearing D-Gazers were screaming due to the fact that it scared them. But Zak wasn't the least bit frightened; he'd dealt with Hamish and his Zombies so many times that it was just plain routine to see the familiar setting and a powerful Zombie monster on the first turn. Zak drew his card in silence and looked at his hand. This duel was going to end before Hamish even had a next turn, Zak thought.