Chapter 4: Defensive Tactics.

Bbbrrriiiiinnngggg! The alarm clock went off at 7:30 in the morning. As Eric reached over to shut it off, his first thought was that he hated alarm clocks. His second thought was, oh yeah today's the first day of classes, better get up. He sat up and stretched, David was already up.

"How'd you sleep?" he asked.

"Like a log," Eric replied, "You?"

"Not bad," he replied. They both got dressed and headed out the door for some food at the Slifer Cafeteria. After breakfast, they returned to the dorm, grabbed up their packs and headed off towards their first class.

"What is our first class?" Eric asked David.

"Alternate Dueling Strategies, with Professor Carroll," David replied.

"Great," Eric replied, "I could use a nap."

After their morning classes, Eric and David headed outside to chill and to have some lunch.

"So when's the wedding?" David asked.

"Huh?" Eric replied.

"I mean you were staring at Jessica in class for a while, so I figured you like her," David said grinning, "Can I be your best man?"

"Very funny," Eric replied, "Yeah I do like her, and I mean she helped us out yesterday getting away and all."

"Yeah, she did," David said nodding.

"I just wish the stupid security guards hadn't shown up," Eric said angrily, "I so wanted to beat the pants off of that jackass Matt."

"Yeah, I would've liked to see the jerk lose too, but you'll get him next time," David said.

They were walking past the Ra Yellow dorm, when a voice called out, "Hey David!" The boys turned to see a girl running over to them.

"Friend of yours?" Eric asked with a smirk.

She caught up to them and said, "Long time no see."

"Uh, yeah, hey…you," David said.

"Oh, don't tell me you forgot about me," the girl asked, "I'm Ashley Hammond, we used to be next door neighbors before my family and I moved away, remember?"

David's face lit up, "That's you Ashley? Wow, I didn't recognize you, you look different. It's been a while."

"Yeah, like five years," said Ashley.

"Oh yeah, Ashley meet Eric he's a good friend of mine," David said.

"Nice to meet you, Ashley," Eric said shaking her hand. Ashley was around five and a half feet tall, had long black hair and green eyes. She also wore a girl's Ra Yellow jacket.

"Nice to meet you too," she said.

"So you're in Ra huh," David asked.

"Yep, I should've been in Obelisk, but I did kind of bad on the written exam," she replied, "So how come you're a Slifer?"

"Harkins," we both replied in unison.

"Really?" Ashley asked surprised, "What did you guys do?"

"Nothing short of beating the pants off of him at the entrance exams," Eric replied grinning.

"Who did you duel?" Ashley asked David.

"I dueled against Doctor Carroll," replied David. Then the three of them proceeded to swap duel stories.

"Sounds like you've gotten a lot better since I last saw you, David," Ashley said, with a smile.

"Hey, who usually beat who when we dueled?" David asked.

"The score was usually pretty close," Ashley replied.

"In your dreams," muttered David.

"Why don't you two settle this argument with a duel right now," Eric suggested mildly.

"What a great idea," Ashley exclaimed, "Just let me go grab my duel disk."

David watched as she turned and ran into the Ra dorm, "Dude, she's got a great ass, and her rack's pretty good too," he mumbled.

"Hey, David, get your tongue back inside your mouth, before she comes back," Eric said, grinning.

"Man, she's a lot cuter than the last time I saw her," David said.

"Go for it man," Eric said as she came back out.

"Why don't we make this duel more interesting, and put up a rare card?" Ashley asked.

"Fine with me," David replied, as both players activated their duel disks.

"Let's duel!" both shouted. (D-4000, A-4000).

"Why don't I go first?" Ashley asked.

"Go right ahead," David replied, "Since I know you'll lose, it doesn't really matter."

"We'll see about that," Ashley retorted, "I activate Gladiator Beast's Respite, which allows me to add two Gladiator cards from my hand back into my deck," Ashley said selecting two cards from her hand and held them up, "So I choose to add Gladiator Beasts Spartacus and Octavius back to my deck." Ashley added the chosen cards shuffled and drew three cards.

"A Gladiator Beast Deck?" David asked in surprise, "That's fairly new."

"Well, I liked the way they work so I traded my old deck for this one," Ashley replied, "Now I'll place a monster in defense mode as well as two cards face-down to end my turn."

"All right," David said drawing, "I summon Luster Dragon in attack mode!" The lean blue dragon appeared on the field with a growl, (Atk-1900).

"Now I play Nobleman of Crossout!" David said, "This card destroys and removes from play, your facedown monster."

"Sorry, but I can't let you do that, so I play the counter trap card Disarm!" Ashley responded.

David frowned, "What does that do?"

"Simple I return a Gladiator Beast monster from my hand to my deck, and I can negate your spell card," Ashley replied as she returned her Gladiator Beast Murmillo to her deck. Nobleman of Crossout was destroyed.

"Ok Luster Dragon attack that defense with Sapphire Slasher!" The dragon's wings glowed and fired crescent shaped energy blasts at the defensive monster, which turned out to be a hulking rhino with armored plates circling around its body, (Def-2100).

"Ha, you attacked my Gladiator Beast Hoplomus," Ashley said, "And during the end of the battle-phase I can return him to my deck and special summon a new Gladiator to take his place and I choose Gladiator Beast Spartacus!" An armored, gray dinosaur wielding a long battle-axe appeared on the field (Atk-2200).

"When he is special-summoned by the effect of Gladiator Beast Hoplomus I can add a Gladiator Beast equip spell from my deck to my hand," Ashley said, selecting a card from her deck, "And I choose Gladiator Beast's Battle Halberd."

"Fine I place one card facedown and end my turn," David said.

"Back to me then," Ashley said drawing, "I equip Spartacus with Battle Halberd." The battle-axe in Spartacus's hand changed shape and a yellow energy blade extended out of the top of the pole.

"How come it didn't gain any attack points?" David asked, puzzled.

Ashley smiled, "It has a different effect, Spartacus attack Luster Dragon with the Halberd!"

Spartacus swung the Halberd and cleaved Luster Dragon in half, destroying it.

"Ugh," David muttered as he lost 300 life-points.

"Now I can use the Halberd to destroy that facedown card of yours," Ashley said, "Thanks to the effect of the halberd." David's trap card shattered. (D-3700. A-4000).

"I thought you said that you could beat her," Eric said laughing, "It looks like she's the one doing the beating."

"We'll see about that," David said as he drew, "I special summon my Cyber Dragon in attack mode!" A long silver, metal snake-like dragon appeared on David's side of the field (Atk-2100).

"Hey wait that's a level five monster how can-"Ashley started to say.

"Because of its effect," David cut in, "If you have a monster out and I don't I can special summon it from my hand. And now I'll sacrifice it so I can summon my Kaiser Glider in attack mode!" The large golden-bronze dragon appeared on the field, (Atk-2400).

"Kaiser Glider, attack Spartacus with Lightning Flash!" David said.

"Sorry, but I activate the trap card Waboku," Ashley said and the trio of mages appeared, absorbing the attack.

"Ah, fine I end my turn," David said.

"Ok then," Ashley said, "I summon Gladiator Beast Murmillo in attack mode!" A strange, blue fish-like creature with webbed hands and two small cannons on its back appeared on the field, (Atk-800).

"Weird looking thing, isn't it?" Eric commented.

"Now I contact fuse Spartacus and Murmillo, to form Gladiator Beast Gaiodiaz!" Ashley announced.

"Say what?" Eric said.

"Contact fuse? I thought only Neo Spacians can do that," David said.

"Nope the Gladiator Beasts can do it too. Watch," Ashley said as a swirling white vortex appeared above her side of the field. Spartacus and Murmillo jumped into the vortex and a new monster appeared on the field.

This monster looked a lot like Spartacus but it was taller and wore black and gold armor and carried a double-bladed battle-axe, (Atk-2600).

"Gaiodiaz attack Kaiser Glider with Gladiator Axe!" Ashley commanded. With a roar, Gaiodiaz smashed its axe into Kaiser Glider, who screeched and vanished.

"Plus whenever Gaiodiaz destroys a monster by battle, you lose life-points equal to that monster's defense points," Ashley said, as David's score dropped by a total of 2400 points.

"Rrrr, my monster has a special ability too," David said, "whenever it's destroyed I can return one monster to your hand or in this case fusion deck, and I choose Gaiodiaz!" Ashley gasped as Gaiodiaz disappeared from the field.

"Oh fine," Ashley pouted, "I place one card facedown and end my turn." (D-1300. A-4000).

"With no monsters out I can get in a direct hit," David said as he drew, "Excellent, I summon Axe Dragonute in attack mode!" A tall black dragon wielding a large double-sided battle-axe appeared on the field, (Atk-2000, Def-1200).

"2000 attack on a four-star? What's the drawback?" Ashley asked.

"It switches to defense mode when it's destroyed," David replied, "Axe Dragonute attack with Dragon Axe!"

"Ahhhhh!" Ashley yelled as the dragon swiped its axe at her, taking away half of her life-points. The dragon then went into a defensive crouch, (Def-1200).

"I end my turn," David said.

"For my turn," Ashley said, "I place a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"Fine by me, I summon Masked Dragon in attack mode," David announced as the small red and white dragon appeared, (Atk-1400).

"Next I switch Axe Dragonute back to attack mode, and I'll have it attack that defensive monster of yours." The attack revealed a small brown monkey wearing a pair of green goggles and had a duel-disk attached to its arm, (Def-300).

"Since you destroyed my Test Ape by battle, I can special summon a level four or lower Gladiator Beast from my deck, and I choose my Gladiator Beast Dimacari." Ashley said, as a purple, bull-like monster, wearing blue armor, and silver arm gauntlets appeared on the field with a snort, (Atk-1600).

"Rrrr, fine Axe Dragonute switches back to defense mode and I end my turn," David said.

"Now then," Ashley said as she drew, "Dimacari attack that Axe Dragonute with Gladiator Pummel!" Dimacari snorted then let loose a volley of punches at Axe Dragonute, destroying it. "Now since he attacked, I can switch out Dimacari and special summon Gladiator Beast Alexander from my deck in attack mode!" Dimacari disappeared and was replaced by a seven-foot tall lion-like warrior wearing gold armor, (Atk-2400).

"What does he do?" David asked.

Ashley smiled, "You'll just have to wait and see I end my turn."

David draws, "Looks like I won't get to find out, I activate the spell card Dragon's Gunfire! Here's how it works I can only activate this card if I have a dragon-type monster on the field, I do so now I can destroy one monster you control with 800 defense or less, like Alexander." Masked Dragon launched a massive fireball at Alexander, which struck the Gladiator and fizzled out.

"What?" Eric and David exclaimed at the exact same time.

Ashley giggled, "When Alexander is special-summoned to the field he is immune to all spell cards."

"That sucks," David said, "I switch Masked Dragon to defense mode and end my turn."

"My turn then; I summon Gladiator Beast Bestiari in attack mode!" Ashley announced as the tall green, armored bird appeared on her side of the field, (Atk-1500). "Now Bestiari attack Masked Dragon with Gladiator Barrage!" Ashley declared. Bestiari fired a stream of arrows from its gauntlets at Masked Dragon destroying it.

"Whenever Masked Dragon is destroyed by battle I can special summon another one to the field," David said as another Masked Dragon appeared on the field in a defensive crouch.

"Fine, Alexander destroy it with Armored Rampage!" Ashley commanded. Alexander's Armor glowed and it slashed the dragon with its sharp wings.

"Now I'll special summon Exploder Dragon to the field," David announced as a small black dragon appeared on the field, (Def-0). The dragon clutched a wicked looking cannonball.

"I know what you are up to, so I am going to tag out Bestiari for Murmillo," Ashley said as the small blue Gladiator appeared on her side of the field, (Def-400), "And when he is special-summoned from the deck he can destroy one face-up monster on the field like your dragon!"

David smirked, "Nice try but since you are destroying my monster through an effect monster's effect, I can send the targeted card to the graveyard and special-summon my Dragonic Knight from my hand!" A tall dragon wearing silver armor and brandishing a big silver sword and shied appeared on the field, (Atk-2800)."Good job, dude," Eric called out.

"I end my turn," Ashley said. "Come on David, attack me, my facedown card will end this duel for sure." Ashley thought.

"Time to end this," David declared as he drew, "I'll start with Stamping Destruction which I'll use to destroy you facedown card."

"No!" Ashley cried out as the Dragon's foot destroyed her Mirror Wall.

"You also lose 500 life-points," David added, "Next I activate Enemy Controller, which allows me to change Murmillo from defense to attack mode." The game controller appeared in front of David. "But first I have to put in the command sequence, so Up, Left, Right, C," David called out as the buttons were automatically pressed.

Then the game controller's cable flew out and attached itself to Murmillo, and shocked it with an electronic pulse. Murmillo stood up. Ashley cringed.

"Go Dragonic Knight attack Murmillo with Dragonic Saber!" David said. With a roar the dragon knight cleaved Murmillo in half with its sword depleting all of Ashley's life-points.

"Looks like I win," David said. Ashley groaned.

"Good job, man," Eric said, as he and David traded high fives.

"So which card do you want?" Ashley asked.

"Tell you what, let's forget about that for now, because when the next set comes out I might want something from there, if you get my drift," David said.

"It's a deal," Ashley replied smiling, "So what's your next class?"

"Dueling For Real, with Harkins," David replied grimacing.

"Yeah and its about to start so let's go," Eric said. The three friends ran towards the building. They arrived just as the bell rang.

"Great," Eric thought, "Just one more hour to go."

To Be Continued……