Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Gi Oh! GX. I only own my own characters.
It's time to D-d-d-d-DUEL!
Chapter 6: The Queen of Obelisk Blue
"Welcome, your Majesty. You're right on time" Alastair never raised his head, or turned around. He remained quietly in his meditative pose. The girls paused at the edge of the circle, uncertain of what to do or say. The boy continued. "Since you are here, I presume that you plan to abide by the terms previously agreed upon?"
Alexis crossed her arms. "You gave me your word on that matter. And I have no intention of backing out now either."
Unseen in the gloom, the ghost of a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "I did indeed. As a man of honor, I keep my word. Should you prevail in this contest, I will answer your questions...within reason."
"And what's that supposed to mean, 'within reason'?" Jasmine's eyes narrowed. "That wasn't..!" She was interrupted as Alexis' hand came up.
"As long as I am satisfied by your answers, that's all I care about. And if you don't answer, you'd better have a good explanation as to why."
Alastair lifted his head, shoulders shaking from a mirthless chuckle. "Fair enough. And when I win, you will return what you took. You did remember to bring it with you." Alexis fished the ring out from beneath her blouse, leaving it resting lightly against her chest. She had managed to repair the chain enough to fasten it securely around her own neck. The boy heard the slight rustling of metal on fabric and nodded. Satisfied that all was in order, he rose to his feet and turned to face the trio. The metal disk on his arm gleamed eerily in the moonlight filtering through that cracks in the ceiling. "Since you were the one to challenge me, you know how this works. Name the rules of this game." His face was set in a grim mask. The blonde girl opposite him returned his glare with one of her own.
"Academy rules, 4000 Life Points apiece. First person to zero is the loser." Alexis' voice was firm. Her opponent nodded and stepped forward, and held out both hands, one of which contained his Deck. The decks were exchanged, shuffled and returned, eliminating any suspicion of cheating. The opening ritual complete, both duelists took their places on opposite ends of the room. Mindy and Jasmine stood of to the side, acting as spectators and unofficial scorekeepers.
For a moment, the two young adults stared each other down, looking to make the other flinch. Failing there, both reached for their decks and snatched the top five cards. The Duel Disks both lit up, displaying the Life Points of their respective owners, the blades extending automatically...
"LET'S DUEL!"
Without missing a beat Alastair spoke up, drawing a card: "I'll go first."
He scanned his hand, a slight smirk quivering at the corners of his mouth.
"I'll play a monster in facedown defensive position. I'll also set one other card facedown." Holograms flashed into the field before him to match his actions. He looked up: "That concludes my turn."
Falling into the familiar routine, Alexis assumed a look of fierce concentration. She looked up. "Very well, my turn. I'll draw!" Examining her new hand, she thought to herself "Perfect, just one more card, and this duel's in the bag." Continuing aloud, she slapped a card onto her disk. "I'll play Blade Skater in Attack Mode"
The dust and debris swirled about violently as a figure emerged. Clad in purple, wielding two sharp blades on it's arms, Blade Skater (1400/1500) rose from the depths and positioned itself to pounce on the opponent.
"Now, Blade Skater, cut him down! Accel Slicer Attack!"
Spinning into action, the violet ballerina closed in for the kill. As a powerful downward slash connected with the face down, an explosion followed. Alexis couldn't see the cause, but waited for the smoke to clear. To her dismay, her own life points decreased as Blade Skater reeled back towards her. As the smoke cleared, she saw the reason. Before her hovered a giant stone figure, its massive hands uplifted to block any attack sent its way. Stone Statue of the Aztecs?! (300/2000) How could I have been so careless!
"An excellent monster for setting up an early defensive lineup. And I'm sure you know its effect, Miss Rhodes. In case you do not, and for your friends' benefit, I'll mention it. Any battle damage that your opponent takes when they attack this monster is doubled."
Jasmine's eyes went wide: "Doubled?!"
Mindy's hands came up to her mouth: "But that means that Alexis is down to…"
Alexis gritted her teeth: "2800 Life Points."
She pulled herself together: "Alright, good move, I'll give you that. I'll play two facedowns to conclude my turn."
Alastair carelessly drew a card. With a quick glance at it, he sorted it into his hand and rescanned the cards, frowning. Finally, he selected one. "I'll play Magical Mallet. This enables me to toss my entire hand back into my deck and draw a whole new hand. That's four new cards for me. Which one….Ah! Here we go. I'll play Gemini Elf (1900/900) in attack mode." He slid the card onto his disk. The Elf twins rose before him, smirking sadistically at his opponent's discomfiture. Hovering in midair, the two spellcasters cracked their knuckles in anticipation, knowing what would come next. They weren't disappointed.
"Now, Gemini Elf! Destroy Blade Skater with Mirage Roundhouse Kick!"
Alexis braced herself for impact, but knew that she wasn't done yet. She had anticipated this. All she had to do was weather this turn, and she could win. The sisters swooped down on her Blade Skater. Two kicks connected with the ballerina's head simultaneously, from opposite sides. Blade Skater screamed and shattered to bits, with Alexis absorbing the rest of the damage. (Alexis: 2300 LP) She threw up her arms to protect her face, staggering slightly, but recovered in time to hear him say:
"I'll set another facedown to conclude my turn."
She felt sore and sluggish as she drew another card. However, her worries vanished in an instant as she glimpsed her new acquisition She met Alastair's cold stare with a look of triumph.
"I'll deploy my facedown trap card, Call of the Haunted! This enables me to bring Blade Skater back to the field. But I'm also Normal Summoning Etoile Cyber (1200/1600)." The red clad gymnast took her place beside her companion, poised for action.
"Mmmm." He watched as her strategy unveiled, his arms crossed.
"Now I play the spell card, Polymerization, fusing together my two monster.."
"Here it comes", he muttered to himself. The blue and orange spiral art of the fusion card rose up on her field, and both Etoile Cyber and Blade Skater were sucked into it. The card sank into the floor, making the faded runes glow brighter. Alexis Rhodes stood tall as her pride and joy took form before her.
"At last, here's my cyber girl. I summon my trump card, CYBER BLADER (2100/800)!"
Alastair hardly batted an eye as the newly summoned warrior materialized before him across the field. Scarlet and purple, riding lightly on two razor-sharp steel skates, Cyber Blader spiraled out of the ground, positioning herself before her master, ready to protect her at all costs. Alexis' two sidekicks cheered; once Alexis got this monster out, most people were hard pressed to cope with it.
"Right now, your bringing backup for your first monster was a big mistake. Thanks to my Cyber Blader's second effect, because of your two monsters, her attack doubles!"
Alastair's eyes narrowed as he watched the enemy's monster power up to 4200 Attack points. His gloved fingers rested on the edge of his Disk. He steeled himself as she flung out her arm in his direction. Her command rang out loud and clear:
"Cyber Blader! Attack and destroy Gemini Elf with Whirlwind Rage!"
Obediently, Cyber Blader began to pirouette gracefully, spinning faster and faster. As she closed in on her target, the elf twins huddled together for the impact. But it never came. Alastair's arm flew up, signalling the activation of his facedown, which rose up to absorb the attack. Cyber Blader reappeared in front of Alexis, trapped in a spiked wheel, a demonic contraption built like the jaws of hell, bristling with massive fangs.
"Thank you, Alexis! You activated my trap card, Nightmare Wheel. Now your trump card is useless….to you. As long as Nightmare Wheel is on the field, Cyber Blader cannot attack, or change its battle position. And look, it gets even better: For every standby phase of mine, as long as Nightmare Wheel is on the field, you lose an additional 500 Life points. The effect will slowly bleed you dry!"
Alexis cursed. She had been stupid. But she could fix that with Heavy Storm or Dust Tornado, if she could draw them in time. She was feeling insulted, almost humiliated by the manner in which Alastair was handling this game. It was so different from Jaden's lighthearted or even Chazz' ultra-aggressive attitudes. He was turning her own strategies against her. "I'll play a facedown to end my turn!"
Her opponent was not in the mood to be merciful. If his eyes were any indication, she was little more than lowly prey, another victim. "I think the time has come to put you out of you misery. I draw one card, and you now take 500 points of damage."
Alexis flinched as her Life Points dropped to 1800. A slight cry of pain escaped her as her breath seemed to freeze in her lungs, like shards of ice in her throat. The sensations began to make her panic. Something was very wrong here. Not only did it feel like her opponent was merely toying with her, crushing her slowly, there was something else. She knew the feeling of backlash from battle damage during a duel, but this was different, far more intense. It was starting to remind her of another duel which she had fought in this very room...
"I tribute both Stone Statue of the Aztecs and Gemini Elf to summon Barrel Dragon (2600/2200) in Attack Mode."
"This is going from bad to worse!" Alexis muttered to herself as the ground cracked and split to allow the new monster to emerge from the field. The battle tank, made of black gleaming metal, took aim with its three long cannon barrels. It towered over her, engines purring softly, waiting for the order to kill. To make matters worse, because there was now only one monster on her opponent's field, Cyber Blader's attack points reverted to 2100. She crossed her fingers and hoped that Cyber Blader would be able to still save her. Through the mist that was beginning to obscure her vision, she could make out Alastair's face, which remained cold as he selected a card from his hand, and held it ready, with its back to her.
"Hmm. Interesting, I have several options here. I know that I can't destroy your Cyber Blader by battle owing to it's first special effect, due to the fact that I have only one monster on my side of the field right now."
Oh no! He knows! The blood drained from her face. His eyes hardened in grim amusement.
"I know all about that card. I used to have trouble when a friend of mine would play it. She used a deck strategy which was very similar to what you're currently utilizing."
He paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. Then taking a deep breath, he continued:
"I can, however, inflict battle damage on you, by attacking your Cyber Blader, which as of right now is locked in Attack position, owing to Nightmare Wheel's effect. Given that Barrel Dragon has more attack points than she does, you'd take the difference in battle damage. But that would be only 500 points per turn. No, I would rather exploit this opportunity to the fullest by demonstrating a personal favorite game-ending tactic. It proceeds as follows…"
Still holding the card so as to keep its identity concealed, Alastair raised it up, holding it lightly between his index and middle fingers.
"I activate Barrel Dragon's special effect..."
A gold coin appeared in the middle of the field and tossed itself into the air. Repeating this process three times, the results were: heads, tails, heads. The smile widened into a sinister smirk.
"Now observe! If the results of the coin toss include at least two heads, the monster that I select is immediately destroyed. My target: Cyber Blader!"
With an anguished shriek, Cyber Blader vanished from sight. With its target destroyed, Nightmare Wheel also exploded. All parties were focused on Alastair's next move.
"I now play this card! This will teach you a lesson about taking what doesn't belong to you..."
Alastair's voice sank to a venomous hiss as he flipped the card in his hand around, revealing it to be…
"AUTONOMOUS ACTION UNIT?!" the three girls screamed simultaneously.
"That's right. I pay 1500 Life points to activate this…!"
Suddenly Alastair stopped, looking like a person who'd just been punched in the gut. He doubled over as his life points decreased. His hand came up to his head, and his eyes closed in agony. He knelt there, breathing heavily for a moment, struggling for control. His hand crept down to his arm and clutched it tightly. A few drops of blood emerged from beneath his sleeve, flowing over the black glove, dripping off the fingertips and onto the floor.
When he looked up, the girls could see that a shadow seemed to have passed from his face; at least his eyes were no longer so feral-looking. What lingered there was a look of disgust, horror, loathing. He looked at Alexis with a look that was as apologetic as it was sympathetic. Picking himself up, he wiped away the cold sweat that had begun to form across his forehead. He resumed, using a much softer expression than before.
"I apologize for that..lack of control. Having paid the tribute, I can now summon a monster from my opponent's graveyard. My selection is….Cyber Blader!"
Mindy, Jasmine, and Alexis groaned in unison as Alexis' strongest monster rose up on Alastair's field in Attack Mode. She stood resolutely beside Barrel Dragon, awaiting orders. Alexis felt a chill as she realized just how intimidating her own monster looked from this side.
"Let's finish this! Barrel Dragon, attack with Triple Plasma Shot!"
Alexis activated her facedown: "I'm not done yet! I play Waboku. I take zero damage for the rest of this turn from your monsters."
"Now, I'm impressed! You really do live up your reputation." The boy gave her an appraising look. "Zane wasn't exaggerating."
Alexis drew a card, and felt her vision clear. She smiled; the duel wasn't ever yet. "I play Pot of Greed. This lets me draw two more cards. Now I'll set a monster in defensive position and another card facedown to end my turn."
Alastair actually smiled for the first time. He drew a card. Glancing at it, he placed it in position:
"I equip Fairy Meteor Crush to Barrel Dragon. Now if I attack a monster in defense position, if my Barrel Dragon's attack is greater than your monster's defense, you take the difference as damage to your Life points. I now activate Barrel Dragon's effect, aiming it at your set monster..." The gold coin reappeared and tossed itself: heads, tails, tails.
Alastair shrugged his shoulders: "Oh well! I still have my attacks. Barrel Dragon, attack again with Triple Plasma Shot!"
The three waves of energy streaked across the field, but were blocked by a wall of blue light that suddenly appeared. Alastair looked up, annoyed. He saw Alexis smirking as she slipped a card into her graveyard.
"Sorry, Alastair! I activate Hallowed Life Barrier. By discarding one card, not only do I take no damage, but my monster isn't destroyed. Unfortunately, I still have to reveal it, so here she is, Command Knight! (1200/1900) And thanks to her special effect, any face up Warrior Type monsters on my field gain 400 attack points while she remains alive. That includes her. (1600/1900)
"Clever save.." Alastair admitted grudgingly as he ended his turn.
"That's almost kind of you!" Alexis smirked as she drew her next card. "Now let's see what you do about this! I play another monster in defense position and end my turn with that!" Just need to survive this round, then I can rebalance the field, maybe even pull off a win.
"Good, time to wrap this up. I draw a card, then activate Barrel Dragon's effect again. But this time, my target is your facedown monster."
Alexis turned pale at these words; her victory counted on that card remaining in play. She watched with high strung nerves as the fatal coin reappeared. It flipped: heads, heads, heads.
Alexis knew it was over. She could only watch as she was destroyed. Her facedown monster, D. D. Warrior Lady, never even saw the light of day before being sent to the graveyard, nullifying its effect entirely.
" Now, I attack your Command Knight with Barrel Dragon. Triple Plasma Shot!"
Alexis steeled herself to take another brutal hit, but it never came. Her monster was destroyed and her life points fell again. (Alexis: 1100 LP) Wait? She looked up in surprise, what was different? She had barely felt that one..
"And finally, I attack you with Cyber Blader to end this game: Whirlwind Rage!"
For Alexis, being defeated by her own favorite monster was the ultimate humiliation. She took the hit and sank to her knees in defeat, her duel disk deactivating as her life points decreased to zero. For a moment, she couldn't speak, she was too disappointed. She bit her lip in frustration. Mindy and Jasmine were just as stunned. Alexis had just...lost!? And to make things even worse, she'd failed to land one single successful attack on her opponent.
There was a quiet snap-hiss as the boy's Disk retracted and switched off. Without a word, he approached the fallen Queen and held out his hand. Mutely, she removed the trinket from around her neck and handed it over. Alastair gave it a quick inspection, nodded in satisfaction and slipped it into his pocket. He then offered his hand again to Alexis. Shakily, she took it and staggered with the effort of being pulled to her feet. Mindy and Jasmine ran to her side for support, but buckled as their leader sagged in their arms. Mindy looked alarmed. "What have you done to her?"
"Not here!" The boy's voice was harsh. He brushed the girls aside and slung Alexis' arm across his shoulders, effectively carrying her. He swiftly backtracked through the dark hallways of the dorm, the other two struggling to keep up. Emerging into the cold night, he moved to a nearby tree, where he propped the semi-conscious girl up against the trunk. He moved her face to look at him directly.
"Alexis. Alexis Rhodes!" The blonde girl stirred feebly at the sound of her name, her movements lethargic. Her eyes opened a bit, unfocused and dull. He gripped her shoulders. "Alexis, I know you can hear me. Stay with me, got it? I know this is hard, but you have to fight it. Do not give in."
"...hurts..." Her head lolled forward.
"Dammit!" His teeth ground together in frustration. Whipping around, he pointed to the other two girls. "Both of you, get back to the schoolhouse and wake the nurse. I'll be right behind you!"
"Just who do you think you..?"
Alastair cut off the protest with a quick gesture. "I'd suggest that if you want to help your friend, you get moving. She's running out of time."
"...so tired...cold.." Alexis curled into a fetal position and began to shake.
A hiss escaped the boy's lips, something that sounded suspiciously like a curse. He grabbed her and hauled her to her feet, slinging the body over his shoulder. His glare at the other two was nothing short of pure rage. "Why are you still here!?" He whipped his arm towards the Academy. "Go! Now!"
With her two friends gone, Alexis gave another incoherent mumble. Alastair glanced at her face as he carried her. He shifted his grip to ensure that her legs wouldn't drag along the ground as he hurried down the forest path. When she gave another shudder, he grimaced. She wasn't going to make it if he didn't do something soon.
But what can I do? These symptoms are almost impossible to treat at this advanced stage. If only I'd caught it sooner...
….Well, there is one thing that might help.
Wait, if you do that..!
There's no time to worry about that! If I don't act soon, she won't make it till morning...
Alastair's mouth set in a grim line as he reached his decision. He set the girl down again. Through a gap in the trees, he could see the lights of the Academy across the lake. He still needed to get around that, pass the Slifer dorms and get up the hill to reach his objective. Too far, given how much time he estimated that he had. He unfastened his black coat, draping over her shivering body to keep her warm. Beneath that, he wore a black turtleneck shirt with long sleeves. He reached up, gripped the material which formed the right sleeve and pulled. The fabric tore away, revealing the bandaged wrapped arm and gloved hand. Alastair removed the black gauntlet, then began to unwind the bandages..
Twenty minutes later, he staggered through the door of the nurse's office, Alexis supported on his shoulder. Ms. Fontaine jumped to her feet and ran to his side and took the girl's other arm. Together they moved Alexis to a bed which had been prepared for her. To Mindy and Jasmine's relief, their leader seemed to have returned to some level of coherency. At the very least, she seemed vaguely aware of where she was, and was able to follow simple instruction given to her by the nurse. She even climbed into bed on her own power, albeit not without difficulty.
The boy had retired to behind the curtain to give the women their privacy, but once his opponent was situated for the night, he made his presence known. He entered the draped area, looking paler than usual, rubbing his arm beneath the material of his coat sleeve. Alastair cast his eye over the nurse, the two friends who looked between their leader and him with equal parts relief and fear, and finally settled on the Queen herself.
Alexis lay back against the pillows, absolutely exhausted. Her chest rose and fell slowly with each breath, as she struggled to stay awake. Her eyes found him, and she gave a faint smile. "..Rough night, huh?"
Alastair tried to reciprocate, but it came across as more of a grimace. "I apologize for this. I got too caught up in the game to pay attention to what you were going through. That was gross negligence on my part."
Alexis shook her head. "It's alright. I'm just a bit tired, that's all. That Duel took more out of me than usual. You didn't give me an inch."
"Well, I do take my Dueling very seriously." The boy gave a humorless chuckle, the smile not reaching his eyes. She smiled appreciatively at his attempt at mirth. It still hurt that she had lost so badly, but it was just one Duel. Since she'd gotten him to play once, why not again after she recovered? She took his hand, which rested lightly on the rail of her bed. "When I recover, you and I are going to have a rematch. Okay?"
He averted his eyes and shook his head. "Sorry, but that's a promise I can't make. I don't have very many Duels left in me, but the few which I can have need to be more than just trivial matches."
Her brow furrowed in confusion. What was he implying? In answer, he looked at the other three, who had been listening in on the conversation without comment. "May the two of us have some privacy for a few minutes, please?" He looked directly at the nurse. "I'll fill out a statement for you when I'm done in here."
When they were alone, Alastair sat quietly, looking at the girl before him. She watched him as well, uncertain of what to do or say. He closed his eyes and took a calming breath. "As part of my apology, allow me the tell you something. I've never met your brother Atticus, only heard about him. As I told you before, Zane and I met up a little while back and he told me a few things about the Academy. He even gave me some of your information, telling me to watch over you in his absence, to even try and be your friend, since he was no longer here." He paused and bit his lip in frustration. "Unfortunately, my people skills are subpar at best, and circumstances force me to everyone at arm's length. I can't be here forever. I'm only here until my job is done; after that, I'm leaving the Academy."
"Why..?"
"You've felt it for yourself, Ms. Rhodes. I can't Duel people anymore. Whenever I do, they get hurt."
Alexis made a placating gesture. "But that's just a part of the game, isn't it? It's designed to seem real."
Alastair shook his head. "No, it didn't seem real at all."
The blonde girl leaned forward. "What are you saying?"
For a moment, he was silent, an unreadable look in his eyes. Sighing, he stood and made his way to her side. He silently adjusted her blankets so that she looked more confortable. Turning away, he gave her a sidelong look. "Understand this, Alexis: what happened tonight was very real."
Alastair strode to the door. Opening it, he looked back at her over his shoulder. "You were exactly 1800 Life points from losing your soul to a Shadow Game this evening."
With those words, he left the room, closing the door behind him.
What do you think? My character's first duel. Being one who hasn't dueled in a while, his deck is somewhat out of date, but it works just fine. I didn't reveal some of this deck's strongest cards yet, however. Those are for later.
I look forward to hearing from you again when you review.