Episode 4: Hero and The Dragon
Wassup everybody? I know it's been a long time since I've updated, I've had a lot going on with my life. But I'm back and I'm planning on continuing this little story of mine and I hope you're ready to enjoy it! And now for the long awaited duel between Dan and Sebastian! Though first a little bit of our Advanced Duel Engineering class. Now then, please do read, review, and enjoy!
The students were all seated at thick, machine shop tables, shelves of tools slotted in underneath. Aaron picked up several large bins of identical parts, setting one down at each table, including the table Dan, Maya, and Sebastian were seated at.
"Alright everybody, so in these bins are some of the basic parts for the main duel disk of your runners. Now all of the parts for the Duel runners will be supplied, but we'll be starting with the duel interface of your runner." Aaron said as he walked around the room. "Each week we'll be working on the next step in building your runners."
As Aaron continued to talk the students began to each divide up the parts among themselves, three students each seated at a table. Even as Dan and Sebastian started to examine the parts, Maya was already starting to piece them together. Both Dan and Sebastian's eyes widened in surprise as they watched her work.
"Ahem. Miss Maya, while I know you've got a good handle on the work, I'm gonna have to ask for you to at least wait till I finish. You know, give everybody else at least a small fighting chance when it comes to getting their runners built." Aaron chuckled as he walked over and patted Maya on the shoulder.
Dan leaned in and whispered as quietly as he could.
"So that's why you were always busy in the morning during every summer break?!" He hissed, earning a raised eyebrow from Sebastian.
"Um, I apologize miss, um..." Sebastian whispered, gesturing to Maya.
"Maya, my name's Maya." She said, chuckling as she set aside her tools.
"Okay, um, Miss Maya. Pardon for butting in but, um, what does he mean?" Sebastian inquired, nodding his head towards Dan.
"My dad owns a Runner Mechanic Shop and I..." Maya trailed off, smiling sheepishly. "Well I help him out during summer breaks. I've been in that machine shop since I was seven, and knew how to fix my Duel Disk since I was 5."
Sebastian's eyebrows shot up in surprise, leaning back in his seat.
"Well then Maya I am very privileged to be at the same table as such a talented mechanic." He said, giving her a warm smile.
Dan rolled his eyes at the prim and proper charm behind Sebastian's smile, but suddenly paused in thought.
"Wait a minute..." Dan hummed, leaning in and looking Maya square in the eye.
Maya immediately looked nervous, Sebastian looking back and forth between the two of them in confusion.
"You made our Duel Boards, didn't you." Dan said., his eyes narrowing.
"May...be?" She said, leaning back and away from Dan's accusatory stare.
"Wait, you two have Duel Boards?" Sebastian asked, looking curious.
"Yeah, Maya said her dad made them as gifts a few summ-"
They were suddenly interrupted by a blinding flash of steam fired by a Nitro Synchron that came bounding onto the table. Aaron frowned down at the three of them, duel disk on his arm.
"Ahem, now that you three are done chatting, may I finish?" He said, the hologram flickering out of existence as he took the card off his disk and switched it off.
He tossed the folded duel disk onto his desk, leaning his weight against the desk.
"Sorry Professor..." The trio muttered, all looking down at the floor.
"Thank. You." Aaron tutted before laughing a little bit. "Sorry, I really couldn't resist making you three jump. But don't worry, you're not in trouble. Just...pay attention, okay?"
"Yes professor." The trio said, Sebastian nodding quickly.
Aaron stood up from his desk and walked into another section of the machine shop. The students all leaned in their chairs to try and see inside the room. Several clanks and the sounds of sliding metal tumbled out of the room before Aaron walked out with a remote in hand. He clicked on the remote and two narrow, gray and blue duel runners rolled in; each had a wide, thin light at the front and cylindrical handle guards at the sides.
"As you all assemble your duel runners we'll be making regular visits to the local Driving School's track, both for testing your designs, and for helping teach you all how to turbo duel using these two training runners. Now these runners are locked into auto pilot, driving instruction will be done with your own designs. Is that clear?" He said as he walked around the room.
Every student in the room either nodded or voiced their agreement as he walked to the back of the room.
"Now your Runners will be mostly identical, but as you build you will be able to customize them to your tastes, just...don't go painting something offensive on there, okay? I do not need parents yelling at me this year." He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.
"Now then, Let's get started!"
Immediately Maya sprang back to work, already far ahead of her table mates. Sebastian and Dan were neck and neck for the second fastest as they worked with the circuitry of their duel disks.
"You're pretty good with your hands, Sebastian." Dan chuckled as he started assembling the card slots for his disk.
"Yeah. I always had a small passion for circuitry since I was a kid. My parents bought me a kit for making my own and it took me...a month to finish? But I've used it ever since...Ya know, sentimental value and all that." Sebastian mused as he tinkered with the holograph projector. "Ya know I have a duel board too."
"Okay, and your point?" Dan asked, raising an eyebrow as he glanced up from one of the joints that held together the dueling blade.
"Well I was wondering, if it's not too imposing, if we..." He retorted, gesturing between the three of them. "Could maybe skate a bit? I'm pretty new here so I haven't gotten to find out where good places for skating, and dueling, are."
"So were you hoping for some tips from the locals, or are you a little lonely and in need of a friend~?" Maya chimed in, smirking up at the boys as she was already starting to couple the dueling blade to the wrist brace.
"Ah, he does seem to be doing that Maya." Dan chuckled, snapping his fingers toward before picking up the pliers.
"Well if you're not feeling generous that's fine." Sebastian mused, smirking back at them. "I could always ask suggestions from the doorman on my way home."
Maya raised an eyebrow, setting down her tools.
"Ooooh, rich boy thinks a doorman knows better than we do. How do you take that Dan?" She hummed, cracking her knuckles as she looked across to her friend.
"Well I think he's bluffing, but bonus points for the rich boy sass." Dan chuckled, winking at Sebastian.
Sebastian blushed in embarrassment, a frown setting in on his face.
"Aw, okay I think we hurt his feelings." She said, her smirk slowly falling.
"Alright, alright, you know what, forget I asked. Let's just get back to work." Sebastian huffed, testing the projector before attaching it to the wrist brace.
"Aw come on, it's okay man. Sorry for sassing you." Dan said, reaching out and clapping a hand on Sebastian's shoulder.
Unfortunately, this caused his hand to jut forward, short circuiting the projector and creating a wild flash of random test monsters and screens all around the room, an arc of electricity jumping between Dan and Sebastian. Both fell out of their chairs onto the floor as the projector completely blew out, smoke billowing up to the rafters of the machine shop.
"Whoa! Whoa!" Aaron shouted, slamming his hands on a ventilation switch before running over, the smoke quickly being sucked up by the ventilation fans. "Everybody okay?"
"Well other than tasting copper in my mouth, and the sudden spike look for my hair, I think we're okay." Dan groaned as both he and Sebastian sat up.
"...Never...Ever...Do that again." Sebastian said, slowly turning and delivering a smoldering glare at him.
"Hey at least we learned one thing."
"Oh and what is that?"
"We made a good connection." Dan chuckled, giving him another wink.
Sebastian slowly blushed, grinding his teeth and making Dan croon in laughter.
"Okay, okay, I'll stop." Dan chuckled, slicking his hair back as he stood up.
He held out his hand to Sebastian, giving him a smile.
"I'll get you a replacement projector, and we'll show you around after class, okay?" He said.
Sebastian looked back and forth between his blackened projector and Dan's outstretched hand, sighing as he grabbed hold.
"You can are an insufferable gremlin..." He sighed as Dan pulled him up. "But I'll get my own projector, you keep working."
Dan and Maya were waiting at the small park outside the mall they've visited time and time again. Maya was seated on the ground, swinging her legs back and forth.
"Westie is certainly taking his time." She sighed.
"Hey, I was a Westie once too you know?" Dan said as he sat down beside her.
"Well come on, it shouldn't be that hard to find this place."
"Oh give him a break, he's only just transferred here. It took me months to unpack and get set up, so maybe he got roped into unpacking a few boxes."
Before she could respond, Sebastian walked up to them, the soft rattle of a rolling case at his side echoing along the concrete. He gave them a short, apologetic bow.
"Sorry I'm late, had a few things to work on at home. But..." He said as he sat down his case.
He popped open the latches and opened it up, revealing a sleek, red duel board. He plucked it out of its case, spinning it in his hand as he held it up.
"I brought my duel board." He said, giving them a smile. "So, shall we?"
"Well I don't see why not." Dan chuckled as he held up his own board, a metallic board with a cobalt blue stripe down the center.
After skating around for a few hours they made their way back into the mall, walking through the food court.
"Okay new guy, let's show you one of the tastiest little places in our part of the city." Maya chuckled breathlessly, carrying her board at her side.
They made their way over to a drink shop called Varanja, Maya pulling out her wallet.
"Oh come on Maya, you paid last time." Dan sighed.
"Hey hey, at least I've got a hefty allowance compared to yours. I've been counting, you're pretty low. Let me take this one." She said, turning to the counter. "Three smoothies please?"
"If I may interrupt." Sebastian said, holding up a card. "Isn't it a usual habit for the newcomer to pay?"
Dan and Maya looked at each other and both immediately started to speak up.
"No, no, let us treat you-" Maya started before Dan cut in.
"Come on man, we're the one's that asked you he-" He started before Sebastian cut them both off, leaning over the both of them and handing the card to the cashier.
"Let it go you two, I'm getting this one." He said, chuckling softly as he stepped between them to wait at the counter.
"Here you go, three smoothies." The cashier sad as they set down the three drinks.
Sebastian grabbed the first two and handed each to Dan and Maya.
"Thank you very much." Maya chuckled, giving him a smile as she started moving towards a table, Dan and Sebastian following after them.
"Now Sebastian, I believe you wanted a duel right?" Dan said as he pulled out his deck, setting his drink aside so they had enough space.
"No duel disks then, sounds good to me." Sebastian chuckled as he pulled out his own deck.
Maya chuckled and sat back, watching them as they shuffled and cut each other's decks.
"Well then, looks like I get drinks and a show." She chuckled.
Dan and Sebastian drew their cards, Sebastian smirking as he glanced at his hand.
"Duel!"
Sebastian: 4000 / Dan: 4000
"I'll take the first turn." Sebastian said as he set down a card.
"I summon Axe Dragonute and end my turn." He added, gesturing over to him.
"My turn! Since you control a monster and I have none, I can special summon Level Warrior as a 4 star monster." Dan said as he laid down the card. "And then I'll be throwing in Hand Destruction, which makes us both discard 2 cards and draw 2 cards."
Sebastian frowned for a moment before tossing Card Guard and Mirror Force, with Dan discarding Synchron Explorer and Clayman, each of them drawing.
"Now I'll summon Turbo Synchron!" He said, slapping it down.
"Hmm...Level Six Synchro?" Sebastian inquired, raising an eyebrow.
Dan laid down the spell Synchro Boost, smirking at him.
"With this I raise the level of my Turbo Synchron to 2, which means now the field's set for a synchro summon. I tune my level 2 Turbo Synchron and my level 4 Level Warrior. Watch as the power of these two heroes combine to bring out a high speed hero! I synchro summon, Turbo Warrior!" He said, proudly slapping down the card.
"Now, Turbo Warrior, attack his Axe Dragonute!" He cried, tapping on Axe Dragonute. "Then, I'm going to set one card face down and end my turn.
Sebastian: 3400 / Dan: 4000
"Well then, my turn." Sebastian hummed as he drew another card. "Since now I've got no monsters on my field, I can special summon Vice Dragon to my field. I'll then normal summon Flare Resonator to my field."
"Hmmm, well you're certainly not aiming for Dragonwing this time, which I guess is reassuring." He chuckled, tilting his head.
"You'd like to hope so." He retorted, smirking at him. "Sorry but my deck has more than one fiendish dragon in the wings, no pun intended. Now, I tune my level 5 Vice Dragon and my level 3 Flare Resonator. Watch as mighty dragon and blazing fiend intertwine, unleashing a dark dragon of destructive power. Behold the end of darkness itself, Dark End Dragon!" He said, laying down his card. "And thanks to flare resonator my dragon has 2900 attack points."
"Then you can smash up my Turbo Warrior..." He said, checking his cards in his hand and glancing down at his face downs.
"Sorry, but not done yet. I activate my monster's effect, reducing its attack by 500 points to destroy one of my opponent's monsters." He said, tapping on Turbo Warrior
Dan sighed and sent his Turbo Warrior into the graveyard.
"Now, Dark End Dragon, attack him directly." He said, smirking at him.
Sebastian: 3200 / Dan: 1600
"Alright, my turn!" Dan said, drawing a card. "Now, I'll activate my trap Advance Fusion. When I have a monster in my graveyard that can be used for a fusion monster, I can banish both it and the other fusion material monsters from my deck to fusion summon Thunder Giant."
"But I'm not done. Now I'll activate my spell card, Miracle Synchro Fusion. This lets me remove from play my Thunder Giant and my Turbo Warrior to fusion summon Thunder Dasher!"
He laid down a new card, this one having a tall and thin warrior that looked like a fusion of Turbo Warrior and Thunder Giant; a towering warrior with large, mechanical looking hands, feet, and chest, electrical domes on his chest and the backs of his hands. He had on a silver helmet shaped like a very large pompadour, in the same style as Turbo warrior. (Thunder Dasher is a Warrior type monster; with 2400 attack points, and 1500 defense points.)
"Now Thunder Dasher has a unique ability that let's me discard a card from my hand to destroy a monster that's level 6 or above." He said, Sebastian raising his eyebrows in surprise as Dan discard the last card in his hand.
"My hero just slayed your dragon." Dan said, giving him a wink. "Now my Thunder Dasher is going to attack you dire-"
"I'm afraid not." Sebastian interrupted, holding up Battle Fader with two fingers. "Your Battle phase is over."
"Now it's my turn." Sebastian said, drawing his card. "I'll set one card face down and end my turn."
"Well then it's my turn, and I'll summon my Sparkman in attack position." He said, laying down his card.
"Now, Sparkman attack his monster!" Dan cried and tapped on Battle Fader, prompting Sebastian to set it aside. "And now for Thunder Dasher to come dashing in for his own attack!"
"Not so fast. I activate Call of The Haunted, reviving my Dark End Dragon, which your monster is too weak to beat." Sebastian retorted.
"Heh, regular card professor huh." Maya chuckled as she continued to sip her drink.
"My turn now, and I'll be activating Dragon's Gunfire to inflict 800 points of damage directly to you."
Sebastian: 3200 / Dan: 800
"Now, should I end it now with an attack on Sparkman? Or should I bat you around a little more?" He said, smirking at him.
Dan gave him a friendly smile as he put his hands together and leaned his head on them.
"Well whatever you choose, I'm having a great time either way." Dan retorted, giving him yet another wink.
Sebastian narrowed his eyes and quirked a brow over at Dan, earning a chuckle from Maya.
"Bat around it is. I set one card face down and then I'll be activating my dragon's effect to destroy your Thunder Dasher."
"Well since you probably already looked at the card, when Thunder Dasher is target by a card effect I can choose to defuse him and special summon his fusion materials in defense mode, so come on back Thunder Giant, and Turbo Warrior!" Dan cheered as he pulled his Thunder Giant and his Turbo Warrior and set them on the field.
"But the target of my next attack is poor little Sparkman, with only 1600 attack points." He said, reaching over and brushing Sparkman off the field.
Sebastian: 3200 / Dan: 300
"Now it's my turn." Dan said, drawing his card. I switch my Thunder Giant and Turbo Warrior into attack mode, and then I'll set one card face down and attack your Dark End Dragon with Turbo Warrior. Turbo Warrior halves the attack of any level 6 or higher synchro monster that he battles, which means your dragon's attack drops down to a mere 1050 attack points!" He cried, sending dark end dragon to the graveyard.
Sebastian: 1650 / Dan: 300
"And now, Thunder Giant attack him direc-"
Dan was caught off as Sebastian held up his hand, giving him a knowing smile as he reached down and flipped over his face down.
"Sorry Dan, but this game is over." He said as he revealed Dimension Barrier. "All battle damage that I would have taken from this attack is dealt back to you. Congratulations, your own Thunder Giant just knocked you out of the game."
Dan's jaw dropped for a moment as Sebastian started sweeping up his cards, shuffling them back into his deck. After a moment Dan bent over laughing, sweeping his hair back again as he sat up straight.
"Yup, I called it. No chance..." He said, picking up his own cards, causing both Maya and Sebastian to look confused.
"I told the Professor that I couldn't beat Sebastian because he has a Power Deck, and there is no way I could beat that combination of Burn and Beat down." Dan explained as he put away his deck.
"Hmm, smart player, and a nice guy if you knew you were likely to loose, but still wanted to play anyway." Sebastian mused, offering him his hand. "You're a good man, Dan."
"And you..." Dan chuckled as he shook his hand. "Are an excellent duelist."
"Aw...Such a cute little bromance." Maya chuckled, playfully punching Dan's shoulder.
"I was wondering when the peanut gallery was gonna chime in, or were you too distracted by smoothie?" Dan chided, punching her back.
"Hey, do not mock a girl for her love of smoothie, and really don't get between her and that smoothie." She retorted, smirking at them both.
Sebastian and Dan both broke into laughter, Sebastian finally getting to enjoy his drink.
"Hey you weren't kidding, these are pretty great!" He laughed.
"Told you." She said in a very sing songy voice, her deep voice having a nice hum to it.
Dan chuckled and nodded in agreement, the three of them taking a breather to relax and drink with each other.
"So, pretty excited for the Junior Prix, huh?" Maya asked, pumping her fist in the air.
"Well it's certainly gonna be a fun competition, but we'd have to work pretty hard to get there. Plus we'll probably be forming teams for the Prix."
"Well, if nothing else, I think I'd like to join a team with you two." Sebastian mused, giving the rest of them a warm smile.
"Well then it's settled then, we're a team." Maya said, holding up her mostly empty glass in a toast.
"That we are." Sebastian chuckled, raising his glass as well.
"Let's gear up for this semester, because it's gonna be a hell of a ride!" Dan cheered, raising up his glass high.
And that wraps up this chapter! Probably weren't expecting Dan to lose, eh? Or maybe some of you did when Dan made his observations. But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed our little informal showcase of one of the Synchro Fusions that will be showing up in the rest of our little series.
Now tune in next time for our fifth episode: Slifer, Stage Left!