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Chapter 3: Sunset Serpent

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As predicted, the welcoming dinner for Slifer Red students began promptly at seven o'clock in the evening. Fortunately for them, the dining area assigned for such students was much more acceptable than the living quarters. Some remained in the cafeteria for longer hours than they would in their own rooms. The two headmasters of the Slifers, Lloyd Wright and Jasmine Mikan, were especially lenient, knowing the living conditions with which they were given.

The cafeteria unit itself was separated from the actual living quarters. It was a third building, set apart from both residence halls, and constructed in between both dormitories. While it still paled in comparison to the higher ranks, it remained the pride of Slifer Red.

Lloyd was the first that evening to utter an audible word above his students. "Alright," he began in his gruff voice. "Tonight's the first night for many of you. I suck at speeches, but I'll do my best." A few chuckles were heard under red jackets. "No, seriously. Anyway, you guys and girls are going to be with us for the next few months or longer, depending on two things: how much you want to get out of here, or how well you perform at the midterm examination." He paused. "Hopefully your main reason for moving up is the second reason. But that's just me."

Torey, Roy, and Tercia all sat at the same table, though an uncanny silence prevailed among them. Tercia was normally silent. Torey was respecting the silence. The true perpetrator was Roy, who had fallen into a state of sullenness since the rejection several hours earlier. His head was downcast, and he spoke in mumbles and weak gestures. I didn't mean for that to happen. Strings of similar thoughts have plagued him ever since that moment. Particularly, the first and last of that list were the ones that occurred the most, ringing through his mind as he sat among his newfound friends.

Torey was somewhat worried, though kept an ear open in order to listen to Lloyd. He constantly averted his gaze to his crimson-haired companion, wondering when he would come to his senses. Tercia remained aloof, as was her custom. Her attention was keen on Lloyd Wright's spectacles, which slid down his face at a remarkably slow pace. Snails could inevitably out-speed them at the rate they were dropping.

"...and thus we have everything available to let you go on into the world as full-fledged duelists. Pro-league material and what have you. That's all I really have to say business-wise. Anything you'd like to add, Jasmine?"

The woman he was referring to was idly twirling her locks of golden-brown hair. Her small lips were slightly parted, showing her mild disinterest, and her sapphire eyes twinkled even in their inattentive gaze. A red jacket graced her frame, and (according to most male students) even constricted it in a few choice places. "Oh," she said slowly. "I have nothing important to say. Just do your best. We'll be behind you for as long as you'll let us." Her voice was quick and slightly guttural, hinting heavy traces of a German background.

The students in red nodded.

Lloyd then smiled. "Alright, everyone, dig in." With merely a second of pause, the students all voraciously devoured the contents of their plates, a simple meal of rubbery lasagna, a small salad, a piece of toast, and a cup of water. Despite the complaints heard from many earlier years, Lloyd understood the conditions and made no note of it. He believed that his students would think likewise.

One student rose above the rest, however, and shattered Lloyd's expectations. His voice was loud, clear, and he did not waste any time in his short speech. "Mr. Wright, wouldn't you think it unfair that we, students of the same caliber as any other in this institution, would be issued such paltry services? We deserve the same as everyone else."

Lloyd's response was sharp. "Boy, I don't know what rock you were hiding under, but how you performed in both entrance examinations notes how you will be placed here in the first year."

"Yes, I understand that. What you seem to fail to understand is that we are all students to be treated fairly among one another," the student retorted.

Another voice piped up. "Yeah! All humans are created equal and stuff!"

"Shut your traps!" Lloyd yelled. The effect was amplified by two things: his gruff voice alone, and the acoustics of the room. "I don't have patience for ungrateful children. You made it here. That alone should be cause for rejoicing. Hundreds of children your age are denied access to this institution. Be thankful you are even wearing red. I swear, I have to make this statement every year. There's always that one kid who doesn't understand appreciation, like you, Aidan Angus."

'Aidan' shrugged. "Can I help wanting just a little more? After all, conditions aren't exactly favorable among us. I should be entitled to a little complaining here and there."

"No, you should not be entitled anything but your red jacket, your PDA, and your room. We could force you to sleep outside in the woods, Aidan. Would you prefer that? Or would you prefer the more humane living conditions of Slifer Red?" His eyes bore down on the blue-eyed boy. His blonde hair was parted down the middle and its wavy nature betrayed the air of a nobleman. His fair, porcelain looks were hardly an object of hate, though his attitude was certainly a cause for concern.

"I will stay here, sir," Aidan said without vigor.

"Good."

The remainder of the dinner went by swimmingly, and without a hint of issue from any student, Aidan or otherwise. Some students and Jasmine had already chosen to file out about an hour ago, leaving Aidan, Lloyd, and the trio of Torey, Roy, and Tercia to linger in the hall. Lloyd was making conversation with Torey, while Tercia stared out the nearby window at the rising crescent moon. Roy was still inconsolable, though the dark clouds surrounding his head dissipated somewhat. Aidan simply sat there, glaring daggers at Lloyd. Finally he called out, "Mr. Wright, I challenge yo--!"

"No," Lloyd replied.

"I said I chall--"

"No means no, Aidan."

"Then one of you three!"

"Why?" Torey asked. "It has nothing to do with any of us."

"I am simply in the mood to duel now. And I am giving everyone a fair chance to accept or decline now..." Aidan drolled.

"Then I--" Torey began.

"I will play you," Tercia finished. She was still gazing outside, and spoke with her chin cradled on her palm. "I have little else to do this evening."

"Tercia, I--"

"It is decided. Do not interfere," Tercia interjected. The evening was full of them.

Aidan licked his lips. "Ah, very well... a cute girl and what? Her pixies?" He let out a small chuckle.

Torey offered a bit of advice. "I wouldn't count your chickens if I were you."

"Says you."

Lloyd was beginning to become upset. "Please, if you must, do it outside. I'd like to lock this place up as soon as I can."

Just outside of the cafeteria, along the dirt paths that diverged one way to the boy's dorm, and the other to the girl's dorm. Tercia stood opposite her opponent, who eagerly fished out his opening hand of five cards. Tercia did likewise, though in a much calmer fashion than Aidan. She asked, "Shall we?"

Aidan smirked. "Gladly."

"Duel!" they both cried.

Tercia: 4000

Aidan: 4000

Aidan drew his sixth card. "Wonderful! I summon Mad Dog of Darkness in attack mode!" A howl was uttered, and a demonic hound with sprawled purple claws and ram-like horns in place of ears emerged from a pool of darkness. (4/1900/1400) "Good boy." The beast's red eyes did not falter, though the creature revealed a small bone-shaped dog tag. A small M was inscribed there. "I'll place one card face-down and also play Heart of the Underdog, and that'd be that."

She drew. "Then I will waste no time. I summon Red-Eyes Black Chick in attack mode." A red egg emerged from the ground. It cracked open and revealed a tiny, thin, black European dragon. It was about the same size as Tercia's torso. (1/800/500)

"Well, you're certainly wasting my time if that's the best you've got this turn, little girl," Aidan teased. While Aidan was no tall giant himself, he stood almost a full head taller than Tercia. That did not bother her in the least, and she simply carried on with her move.

"I use my Chick's ability, offering it for its adult form, the Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" she called out. As the tiny infant dragon was engulfed in a swirling red-and-black flame, a hint of a grin emerged. A few moments passed as the flames grew to an enormous size and dissipated in an instant as the familiar red-eyed beast batted them away with its newly grown wings. It roared and small black embers flew out like saliva. (7/2400/2000) It peered back at its summoner, lightly growled, and turned back towards Aidan. Its burning red eyes betrayed no sympathy or mercy,

Aidan was speechless. He, like the proctor who had dueled before him, refused to admit that a girl like her would command such a frightening creature. "You can't be serious," was all that was audible.

"I am." She patted the hologram. "This is my prized creature." She gazed up at it, and a hint of a grin punctuated her lip. "I do not feel particularly aggressive, so I will instead play the spell Inferno Fire Blast!" she called out. She inserted the card into her disk and a mass of red, black, and purple flames gathered in the dragon's toothed maw. It sharply exhaled, sending a blast directly at Aidan.

Tercia: 4000

Aidan: 1600

Aidan grunted. "The hell kind of shot was that?!"

"At the cost of my attack this turn with my Red-Eyes, I can inflict damage equal to its attack strength directly to your life points." She then added a few seconds later, "I may as well add this one. I activate Stamping Destruction, which allows my dragon to step on one of your facedown cards and destroy it." Her massive black dragon hovered over to Aidan's field, brutally stamping down on his facedown Enchanted Javelin. "In addition, destroying your card inflicts five hundred more points of damage."

"You've got to be kidding me." The dragon's innermost toe reached up and flicked Aidan's face.

Tercia: 4000

Aidan: 1100

"I am not."

Torey was thoroughly impressed. Seeing so much damage done in one turn was quite a maneuver. "Wow," he noted, "that was really something. Down to a fourth in just the second turn!"

Roy, however, was less so. "Opposite of me." Roy at the time seemed to not wish to be there. The only reason he was still present was simple -- he had no key. Torey had the only copy.

"Get over yourself!" Torey sharply turned and pressed his presence into Roy's face. "So you made a mistake. Good for you! Learn from it!" His voice was firm, though still noticeably 'Torey.'

Roy was bewildered. "Lay off." He attempted meagerly to push away. "This is none of your business."

"Yes it is. It concerns me now because I have to live with you!" He pondered that statement, wondering if it implied anything. "You call yourself the master of fire? Some master you are! You can't even spark an ember!"

"You shut your mouth!" A different sort of fire penetrated Flagrun's gaze. It was angry, hot, and seething – like it had been festering beneath him for ages. He bore into Torey's own fierce expression, matching the sheer determination expressed with his own inner fire. "You don't understand! You don't know me!"

"No, I don't! That is why I'm trying to get you to stop being retarded so I can understand!"

Meanwhile, Tercia delayed momentarily while casually listening to the argument at hand. You are just like how you play. You cannot play in the middle, you must be either shining brightly or barely smoldering, she thought. "I will play a facedown card, and end my turn."

Aidan winced. "I'll have your head, girl! I draw!" Angrily, he pulled up a card. "Your options are limited, but mine aren't! Since I drew a normal monster, like this Cosmo Queen, Heart of the Underdog grants me one more card!" The card remaining on Aidan's field glowed, causing a card to jump into his hand. "And now I play something to give me a little more speed: Ancient Rules!" Slipping a card into an appropriate slot, Aidan smirked. "Using this card allows me to summon a level five or higher normal monster without a sacrifice!"

"Interesting," Tercia droned. Unconsciously, her foot tapped against the dirt.

"So come forth, Cosmo Queen!" As he called his monster, it emerged from a magical black vortex. With purple skin, a large, gold headdress, and a crimson dress, one could suppose that she truly was a queen of something. Whether or not that something happened to be the universe was something none could adequately guess. (8/2900/2450) The pink-haired girl was obviously unimpressed, even as she heard him call out to his creature, "Cosmic Crusher!" As dark energies gathered in the Queen's spindly purple fingers, she shrieked and lashed the ball out at Tercia's Red-Eyes.

Her own gray eyes narrowed as her black beast was obliterated.

Tercia: 3500

Aidan: 1100

"Now for the additional blow: Mad Dog of Darkness! Corruption Crunch!" Aidan cried. His demon hound came from a running start, and pounced upon Tercia's much smaller frame. Its yellowed fangs bore through the night, and purple ooze dripped from the edges of its mouth. She raised her free arm and stepped one foot back, as if she hoped it would block the impact. As the holographic form came down and gnawed on Tercia's arm, she winced.

Tercia: 1600

Aidan: 1100

"Now we're almost even, little girl!" Aidan smirked. "Looks like you're going to have to drive your point home a different way!" He sounded extremely sure of himself. "I've noticed how you play! You don't attack! All you do is hit my life points and avoid my monsters!"

"What of it?" Tercia raised an eyebrow. "You are my opponent. Your monsters are not."

"A cunning philosophy, but it won't save you from my monsters destroying yours!" He hastily added, "Nor your life points."

Torey and Roy were still locked in a heated staring match. Roy gritted his teeth. "Look, Adams. There's just a lot of me that I've left behind that I want to keep behind me. That's it."

"Fine, but I'm weeding it out of you once we're all said and done, Flagrun."

"Fine."

Something twinkled in Torey's eye. "Say, Roy. I've a secret for you."

The inferno grew suspicious. "What?"

"Exploding penguins," he proudly declared.

A moment of silence was shared between them. Torey stood, grinning brightly. Roy stood opposite him, with as much confusion as a ten-year old handed a calculus test. Roy blinked. He then closed his eyes and covered his mouth, turning around as quickly as possible. He quivered, he stumbled, trying to get away in a limp fashion.

Torey, growing concerned, rushed in front of him and asked, "Are you okay? I didn't think it would be gross…"

Roy burst out laughing. In between gasps for breath, he managed to utter "You suck" multiple times.

After Aidan's dog returned to its master, Tercia shook her head. "Truthfully, you have failed my test. I activate Birthright." Her card raised itself, and the ground in front of her unearthed a pristine Red-Eyes Black Dragon. "With this I can recall a normal monster from my graveyard."

"Why didn't you do that before I attacked with my dog?" Aidan asked, furrowing his brow.

"To test you," Tercia remarked curtly. "To see whether or not you would be so daring as to send a mere poodle against me. I was testing your pride." She paused. "I know for certain that you have a rather powerful monster in your hand that you refused to summon."

Aidan's eye twitched, as he noted the three cards in his hand. Among them was a Summoned Skull.

Without bothering to let him protest, she asked, "Is your turn complete?"

"How did you know?" He ignored the question. "Are you psychic?"

She replied with a quick, "No." She sighed. "I could see it in your eyes."

"You can't see that far. No one can."

"You are misunderstanding me. I could see the gleam in your eyes when you drew that card. There was an excitement brooding, a… happiness overflowing."

Aidan was dumbstruck. "What…"

"Please take it at face value. There is nothing to interpret it beyond what I have told you."

"Who…"

"I told you, do not look into it. If you have no other moves, then I will instead move for you."

"I… end my turn."

"Then mine begins, and this duel comes to an end." She drew and immediately put the card into a free slot. "I play Pot of Greed, granting me two more cards." A horrible green and blue vase appeared, bearing a twisted yellow grin with red lips. Two cards appeared from its opening. "I play Polymerization, allowing me to fuse the Red-Eyes I have on the field with the Meteor Dragon that I have in my hand." A small molten turtle-like dragon emerged in a froth of flames, emitting a dull screech. The two disappeared into the Polymerization card that appeared on the field, swirling together and emerging from it and a pool of lava. The lava spilled forth from the edges of the card, and a molten purple leg stepped out from the picture. There were several cracks abundant in its form, made more apparent as an arm pulled its way out, followed by another molten arm. Its protruding lower jaw retained a multitude of glinting teeth, and immediately after the upper jaw and its beady white eyes came forth. Its entire form then fully came into being, displaying its deep purple and orange hide. It roared a sickly roar, akin to the din of an erupting volcano. "And the result is this: Meteor Black Dragon!" (8/3500/2000)

"Thirty-five hundred?!" Aidan was incredulous, stepping back.

"It is inadvisable for you to fear it. It is merely a hologram."

"Easy for you to say! You're in control of it!" His eyes were widening at the monstrosity before him. It stood at almost twice the size of the Red-Eyes that was once staring him down. While the beast previous glared with pupil-less crimson eyes, this new one glowered directly down at Aidan with mere white spheres. He continued to shrink back.

"I told you. It is a hologram." She inserted another card. "I play a second Stamping Destruction, crushing your final hope in this duel." Her massive molten monster's foot came crashing down, shattering Aidan's Heart of the Underdog. And just as its previous form performed before, its innermost toe flicked Aidan's face. This time, it produced a sizable bump on his chin.

"What gives?!" He rubbed his jaw. "That's not supposed to hurt!" The dragon itself did not seem to mind too much, floating back to its master.

Tercia: 1600

Aidan: 600

"That is very strange…" Tercia noted slowly. "I will now attack your pride. Meteor Black Dragon, eliminate this boy with Incinerator Meteor!" The dragon breathed in, sucking in a large volume of air. Its belly bulged, and it harshly exhaled, spewing a stream of molten rock and red flame at Aidan's Cosmo Queen. It shrieked, shattering in an instant after being burned alive.

Tercia: 1600

Aidan: 0

Her molten monster dissipated, along with Aidan's Mad Dog.

"I lost to a pixie girl and her monster dragons." He sighed. "What in the world has become of me?"

"It is precisely that sort of mentality that cost you this duel, Angus."

Meanwhile, Torey and Roy had just finished making fun of each other, and had since watched the remaining minutes of Tercia and Aidan's duel. Roy stared intently at the space where the Meteor Black Dragon had once been, and his mouth hung agape. Torey stood by casually, though his eyes betrayed a sense of wonderment.

"Even if these past few days have been full of duels without meaning, I'm damn impressed," Torey noted.