Chapter 4 – The Sunset
xXx Duel Academy Halls xXx
Lisa was heading in the direction of Professor Chronos's class. She thought she might have left her book there because it wasn't in her pack when she went to her Obelisk Blue dorm room, and she didn't remember seeing it in any of her other classes.
As she walked down the hall, she looked out at Duel Academy island. The huge windows gave Lisa a broad view of the horizon out in the distant ocean. The sun was setting, and the water was illuminated by the orange and maroon light, giving it a beautiful touch. The sunsets at Duel Academy were pretty. Lisa just wished everything else would come easily for her, just as watching the sunsets was. Then she might actually be able to make a friend.
A few minutes later, Lisa was almost at Chronos's class when Edo walked out.
She stopped for a second, but then tried to pretend like she didn't see him and headed the other way. If he saw her, he might think. . . what? Maybe that she was stalking him? She didn't want him to think that. Not because that would make him stop talking to her, but because she didn't like him much. The last thing she would want him to think was that she did like him.
"Hey, wait up," Edo said, much to Lisa's disappointment.
She waited for him. "Hi," the girl said nervously.
"I didn't expect to see you here. What's up?" Edo asked.
Lisa fidgeted with one of her stray hairs. "I think I left my book in Chronos's class."
"It looks like you're headed the wrong way then," Edo teased. "Chronos's class is that way." He pointed in the direction he had come from.
Lisa grinned, nervously looking away. Now Edo knew she had just tried to avoid him. "Yeah. . . so what brings you here?"
"I was just telling Chronos that I would be gone next week in the Pro League," Edo explained.
Lisa half-laughed, and Edo looked at her curiously. "I'm just wondering," she said, "but why do you care so much about this school? I mean," she continued, "you're already a Pro. Why do you stay, Edo?"
Suddenly, Edo's face became opaque as though a mask had hid so much emotion deep inside his heart. Lisa grimaced at herself inwardly. She had said the wrong thing.
"The Press," Edo answered shortly. "If they found out I was failing at a school full of complete amateurs, my public image would go down." His words sounded recited as though he knew someone was going to ask that one day. Almost as if he had practiced saying it for weeks after he enrolled, ready at every moment to answer the question to anyone who asked. But that was not the true reason why he stayed, Lisa knew.
She nodded, a faint touch of disappointment in her eyes. She didn't know why she felt denied, but then again she never had a friend growing up. Maybe she wanted one now. "Oh, of course," she said quietly. What did she expect? A Professional duelist becoming friends with a. . . what did he call her? Amateur? She felt tears come to her eyes, and faced the other direction to hide her face. "Well, anyway," she spoke up in a somewhat shaky voice. "Thanks for talking to me, Edo." She began to head back down the halls, the way she came and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
After a few moments, Edo called after her. "Hey, Lisa!" She stopped. No, please don't do this to me, she thought desperately. You made your point. I'm sorry for making silly wishes about you. I'm sorry for asking about your personal life—
At this time, Edo had caught up with her. "You're crying," he said simply.
"No," Lisa countered. "I just have allergies, that's all. It gets bad this time of year." That's a lame excuse, she scolded herself. And Edo knew she was making it up, but he still said nothing.
For a moment they just stood there, not looking at each other, not moving. The tone wasn't uncomfortable, but after a while, any silence would become abnormal.
Edo broke the silence, once it reached that point. His mask was on again. "You should take a lesson on direction," he said. "Didn't you want to get your book from Chronos?"
Lisa nodded. "Oh, yeah. . ." What is he thinking? she wondered.
Edo shoved his hands into his pockets and took a few steps away. "Later."
"You wanna sit with me at lunch tomorrow, Edo?" Lisa quickly asked before he could take another step. She didn't want to lose him yet. "It's not like I'll have to save you a seat," she joked.
Edo smirked. "I'll think about it." He paused. "By the way, you can call me Ed," he finally added as he strode slowly away.
"I'll think about it," she teased. "Bye."
Lisa stood there in awe as Edo Phoenix left. She finally noticed that he was slightly taller than she was. The setting sun cast a slight outline to his profile. Even when he was gone she still stood there, confused, hardly realizing what had just happened. Edo Phoenix, professional duelist, considering sitting with what he called an amateur. Then Lisa started to head back toward Chronos's class room. Maybe he is okay after all, she decided.
xXx Obelisk Duel Arena xXx
Tanjiro: 900 LP / Judai: 2600 LP
Tanjiro drew a card. "My move! I play the spell card Ghost Reinforcement, so I discard my Dark Spirit – Blue to summon Ghost Dragon – Blue from my deck. And when this card is special summoned successfully, it lowers all non-dragon/spirit type monsters by three hundred points." Judai groaned as Flame Wingman's points decreased to 1800.
"Now," Tanjiro continued, "I play my face-down Reversal of Death from last turn to bring the card, Dark Spirit – Blue, back to my hand."
"Wait," Judai said curiously. "Why didn't you choose Ghost Dragon – Ultimate instead?"
Tanjiro laughed. "Why would I want that monster back again? Didn't I tell you? I wanted to show you I can think on my feet. Bringing back the same monster wouldn't help much, would it? But my turn is far from over! I play the spell card Merge of Darkness!" He held out the spell card with a glowing, orange star right in the center of it.
Judai stared at the card as the hologram popped up. "What's that? I've never heard of it," he admitted.
"It's sort of like your Polymerization card. Except this lets me fuse Ghost Dragons and Dark Spirits to form Dark Dragons!" Tanjiro explained. "And I'm fusing my Dark Spirit – Blue—" the shapeless, spirit-like color disappeared "—and my Ghost Dragon – Blue—" the blue dragon also left the field "—to summon the ultimate Dark Blue Dragon!" A dark mist swirled around the somewhat cruel dragon as it fiercely growled (8/2800/1700). "Go! Attack his Wingman with Blue Darkness Flash!" Flame Wingman vanished from the field. "And when my dragon destroys a monster, the opponent is dealt an extra one thousand points of damage.
Tanjiro: 900 LP / Judai: 600 LP
"So still think you're the best around here?" Tanjiro demanded arrogantly.
"Uh. . . no, I don't actually," Judai responded. "You see, there's always a better opponent. New students come every year. That's why I duel a bunch of them. So I can improve. You're a great example." Judai drew a card. "And the best part is it's my move! Now watch this! First I summon the Elemental Hero – Bubbleman, and I can—"
"You can draw two cards," Tanjiro interrupted curtly.
"Huh? I didn't even tell you what it does yet—"
"I know what it does. Your field is empty, so draw two cards and continue," Tanjiro cut off again.
"Okay. . ." Judai drew two cards and held out one of them. "Now I play The Warrior Returning Alive. Now a monster—" Elemental Hero - Avian! Now I play Common Soul, and—"
"Returns to your hand, I know," Tanjiro impeded sharply. His face was becoming impatient. He knew Judai was about to win.
"Gee, will you let me talk?" Judai whined.
"That guy can be a real jerk," Shou complained.
"Yeah, well, Judai will defeat him, so there's no need to worry," Kenzan said.
"I choose to bring back the Elemental Hero - Avian," Judai continued, and slid another card into the spell/trap card slot. "Now go Polymerization. I'm assuming you already know what I'm about to do, but… I'll tell you anyway. I'm fusing Elemental Heroes Sparkman, Avian, and Bubbleman to create the Elemental Hero – Tempest." A card that reminded Tanjiro of a surfer appeared dramatically (8/2800/2800). "And even though you most likely know this, all I have to do is sacrifice a card on the field and my Tempest can't be destroyed for one battle. But one battle is all I'm gonna need. So. Go, Tempest! Attack his Dark Blue Dragon! And to keep my Tempest here I'll send my Skyscraper to the Graveyard."
Tanjiro held up his hand to block the cloud of dust headed his way. He was obviously annoyed. "You done?!" he demanded impatiently.
Judai held up one of the last two cards in his hand. It was de-fusion. Flame Wingman de-fused and left Sparkman, Avian, and Bubbleman. Judai grinned. "Now attack!" he ordered.
Tanjiro: 0 LP / Judai: 600 LP
Tanjiro smirked as his life points decreased to zero. "Nice game, Judai," Tanjiro praised. "You could be a great duelist if you didn't use the same strategy over and over."
"You're one to talk. I beat you," Judai said enthusiastically.
"Yeah," Tanjiro said, his inhuman face and emotionless voice taking control again. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, maybe."
"All right," Judai said. "See you." Tanjiro left the duel arena.
"Hey, nice duel, Aniki!" commented Shou, coming up to him.
"Yeah! You really showed your stuff," Kenzan added.
"The only thing I worry about is if he was right," Judai said as he put a hand through his hair. "I mean, lots of the time I do defeat people with the same monsters."
"No way," Kenzan argued. "Against a tougher opponent, you always bring out new cards."
"It's not so much the cards that worry me," Judai continued. He fanned out his deck and looked at it as he spoke. "It's the strategies I use. Remember when Bastion dueled me, Shou?"
Shou nodded. "Of course."
"He built his deck in a way that would counter my fusions which is basically the only way I end up winning." Judai put his deck back together and looked at his friends. "And he got really close to beating just by doing that."
"But you still won, Aniki," Shou said.
Judai nodded. "I need a new strategy," he said. "One that will make me even better."
"Well, like you said, Judai-saurus," Kenzan agreed. "When the going gets tough, you always find a way to improve."
"Yup," Judai said, smiling. "And that's a great way to start off a new year!"
Cards Used in this Episode
Judai
Elemental Hero – Bubbleman
Level: 4
Attribute/ Type: Water/ Warrior
ATK/ DEF: 800/ 1200
Effect: If this is the only card in your hand, you can Special Summon this card from your hand. When this card is Normal Summoned, Flip Summoned or Special Summoned successfully, if there are no other cards on your side of the field, you can draw 2 cards from your Deck.
xXx
Elemental Hero – Avian
Level: 3
Attribute/ Type: Wind/ Warrior
ATK/ DEF: 1000/ 1000
xXx
Elemental Hero – Sparkman
Level: 4
Attribute/ Type: Light/ Warrior
ATK/ DEF: 1600/ 1400
xXx
Elemental Hero – Tempest
Level: 8
Attribute/ Type: Wind/ Warrior
ATK/ DEF: 2800/ 2800
Effect: "Elemental Hero Avian" + "Elemental Hero Sparkman" + "Elemental Hero Bubbleman" This monster cannot be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon. By sending 1 card (except this card) from your side of the field to the Graveyard, select 1 monster on your side of the field. While this card is face-up on the field, the selected monster is not destroyed as a result of battle. (Damage calculation applied normally).
xXx
The Warrior Returning Alive
Type: Normal Spell
Effect: Select 1 Warrior -Type monster in your Graveyard and return it to your hand.
xXx
Polymerization
Type: Normal Spell
Effect: Send Fusion Material Monsters that are listed by a Fusion Monster Card from your hand or your side of the field to the Graveyard, and Special Summon the Fusion Monster from your Fusion Deck.
xXx
De-fusion
Type: Quick-play spell
Effect: Return 1 Fusion Monster Card on the field to the Fusion Deck. In addition, if all Fusion Material monsters that were used for the Fusion Summon of that Fusion Monster are in your Graveyard, you can Special Summon them all to the field.
xXx
Skyscraper
Type: Field spell
Effect: When a monster that includes "Elemental Hero" in its card name attacks, if its ATK is lower than the ATK of the attack target, increase the ATK of the attacking monster by 1000 points during damage calculation only.
Tanjiro
Dark Spirit – Blue
Level: 4
Attribute/ Type: Dark/ Spirit
ATK/ DEF: 2000/ 0
xXx
Ghost Dragon – Blue
Level: 4
Attribute/ Type: Water/ Dragon
ATK/ DEF: 1700/ 800
Effect: When this card is successfully special summoned, decrease the attack points of all non-dragon/spirit types by 300 points.
xXx
Dark Blue Dragon (fusion)
Level: 8
Attribute/ Type: Dark/ Dragon
ATK/ DEF: 2800/ 1700
Effect: "Dark Spirit- Blue" + "Ghost Dragon – Blue" This card can only be special summoned by playing the spell card Merge of Darkness. When this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle, your opponent loses one thousand points.
xXx
Ghost Reinforcement
Type: Normal spell
Effect: By discarding one card, summon a card from your deck with Ghost Dragon in its name to the field.
xXx
Reversal of Death
Type: Normal trap
Effect: Select one monster with either Dark Spirit or Ghost Dragon in its name and return it to your hand.
xXx
Merge of Darkness
Type: Normal spell
Effect: Select two fusion-material monsters listed by a fusion monster with Dark Dragon in its name, and send them to the graveyard. Then special summon the proper fusion monster from your fusion deck.