Now it's the start of my second year of Duel Academy, whereas it's Jaden's third year here. I'm still adjusting to my new last name but I'm still myself, just a little happier because I have a real family now. I had finally gotten exactly what I always dreamed of: I have a family that loves me for me and more importantly, I'm safe now. Sure I would still have to do job shadowing or training before I could be considered ready to find a permeate apartment and such, but they'd help me as much as possible. All they asked is I do my best and tell them when something is bothering me. I'm safe now and they'll always be there to act as a safety net. That way, should I fall while I practice using my wings? They'll be there to catch me, help me recover, and encourage me to get back up so I can try again. Jaden and I are in the red dorms again but I honestly don't mind. I've seen how high your grades have to be along with the grade average. So I know how tough to meet and maintain the criteria for the next dorm up. Sure Ra Yellow isn't that hard to do but if I proved good enough for Obelisk Blue? The amount of perfection they expect is just sheer insanity, we may as well be expecting the students to be robots or divine beings! This was all very true but the reason I don't try to get into the next dorm up is simple: because I don't want to be around toxic influences. I also know as soon as I move up all the other students would beat down and be raid my brother and our friends more than normal. I could hear them now "Jaden and the others are still in Red and Yellow but Crystal is in Blue in just her second year! Guess she's not nearly as much of a slacker as her so-called friends. Jaden had a chance to be one of us in his first year but he's too weak and lazy" I wasn't about to be around fakes and flakes like them. If they want me, they have to earn not just me, but my friends and family too! Sure I'll keep my promise to a teacher to drop by the Ra dorms for tutoring others and helping in whatever way I can, but I honestly don't want to be around toxic influences more than I have to be. So when I found out we'd have four new students, each one representing one of our four sister schools? I was a bit concerned but decided to be friendly but cautious. I just sat with my brother Jaden and Hassleberry while we were going through the "annual start of the year" pep rally. While we were waiting for it to officially start, Jaden told me he met a new transfer student who can see monster spirits like we can. I couldn't help thinking "Oh boy, this will make things both interesting but complicated" as I listened.
First up for intros was the rep from East Academy, Adrian Gecko. He was tall, muscular, moderately skin-toned, had grayish hazel eyes and reddish purple hair. His shirt had the same basic design as our school only brown but in an orange-ish color trim to it. I couldn't help noticing his ears reminded me of a statue of Buddha that I saw in a book once. I had no clue what kind of necklace he had because it was mostly made of large black beads and had a black tassel attached to the middle bead. It's looked like something a head priest in Shinto or Buddhism would wear. Up next was the rep from West Academy, Axel Brodie. His eyes had this dark amber-hazel color to them, his hair was jet black, layered but fanned out; kind of reminded me of a fresh, stiff and crisp mop head that hadn't been broken in yet. I could tell he was from African decent and unlike most of the students, he was sporting a red tank top and black sleeveless vest and pants, and combat boots. His gold pendant was something I have never seen before, so it might be a family heirloom. He gave off this air of "You mess with me or my own, you'll regret the day you were born" to him. He didn't even seem to be thrilled to be here, so I made a mental note of being cautious around him.
The third guy in the group was Jim "Crocodile" Cook, from South Academy. He jogged in carrying a crocodile over his head, I knew it was real based on how its legs and tail weren't flopping around like they would be if it were a plushie. Everyone else seemed to think it was a fake based on how still it was. I guess the reason was because it felt safe around Jim, even in huge crowds; otherwise, it'd be trying to attack others and wouldn't have been allowed here at all. Now I could tell Jim was from Australia based on his accent and the typical lingo. I had to admit, I liked his style: his knee high boot, dark jeans, light beige button-up top with long, slightly loose sleeves, an orange bandana that was lightly tied around his neck and black-brown vest all said he's good to go for class or field work. His hat kind of reminded me of Indiana Jones, but that drew my attention to his face. He has black hair that kind of flared out to the side in spikes, he had a kind and intelligent smile, his left eye was dark teal and looked like he had a fun and welcoming personality (though I'd hate to see him upset or angry), but his right eye was bandaged up. I guess he was in some kind of accident as a kid or whatever, so he keeps his eye covered up to avoid accidentally scaring anyone. Either way, I thought he was an ok guy which brings us to the last rep.
Jesse Anderson from North Academy, the same school Chazz had transferred to in Jaden's freshman year but came back from. Hopefully, this Jesse guy isn't a jerk like the students who visited for the school duel in Jaden's freshman year. I only know that from what my friends told me and what I saw in the clips they showed me from that day but I'll only be able to judge when I see for myself. Chazz, being up to date with the latest gossip about duelists and such, clued us in about how Jesse's deck was based off of legendary Crystal Beasts. He went on to say that Jesse won them in a tournament hosted by Pegasus when everyone else was willing to offer billions for these cards. The story seemed believable to me: I mean some duel spirits are very choosy about who they connect with. I mean I was chosen by my scouts and they're one of a kind, so maybe it's the same with this kid and his beasts. Only now did I noticed that someone showed up a bit late, he apologized for that and explained that it was because he got lost. I honestly couldn't help giggling because I could relate, I got lost a few times too. He stopped by the row Jaden and I sat in, as Jaden said he recognized him. I saw this new kid was wearing an Obelisk Blue jacket that was above-waist-length with dark blue outlines, a light lavender shirt with frilled cuffs at the wrists of his sleeves, and black pants which are held up with a white belt. His teal hair jutted in backward and downward directions but his eyes were a unique shade of green. They were warm and fun like a tropical sea, but bright and clear like emeralds. I think the term would be, appropriately too, emerald sea green. I had to admit, they were kind of cute and held genuine kindness to them. They chit chatted back and forth a little before he embarrassedly and, if I wasn't mistaken, shyly introduced himself as Jesse Anderson. His voice was warm and friendly; I noticed he had an accent that was a nice blend between a southern gentleman and southern rebel to it. I could tell that he was athletic and energetic, but his voice and actions told me he was kind and thoughtful. He seems pretty cool, based on his behaviors around the other reps. He was a bit thrown off by Adrien's sarcastic comment, Axel's tight-lipped ways seemed to make him a bit uneasy but he nervously laughed it off, he was friendly with Jim and reacted in surprise to the croc Jim had. I had to do my best to muffle my snickering. I guess I sounded like I had sneezed and coughed at the same time because Shephard had said "bless you" while glancing at me. The truth was I couldn't help finding it funny when I heard Crowler exclaim "Please tell me that was your stomach". It only confirmed my thoughts that the croc was real and had just said "hello" to Jesse, which caused him to react in surprise. I managed to make it look like that was the truth, especially to the last person was Professor Viper. He was a professor at West Academy, the same academy that Axel Brodie attends. He came off as a cruel military man and just outright evil that hides in the shadows. I didn't like what I saw or the feelings this guy gave off, I looked around at my classmates and saw some them felt the same. Though I did kind of like the idea of seeing one of the new guys in action, just turned out Jaden and Jesse would duel.
This would be interesting: Jaden's humanoid heroes against Jesse's crystal beasts. Though I couldn't help noticing the similarities between Jesse and the guy in my dream, and how similar Jaden and Jesse's personalities and such are. I don't know why but I kind of liked how much of a dork Jesse was. Even when some students got mad because he admitted he doesn't have the card that he was going to play, namely because it doesn't even exist yet. I had to mentally slap myself while thinking "No! Bad Crysi! Bad! You can be friends with him, but that is it. You've been through enough and only now are you starting to get your life on track." After the duel I saw one of Jesse's duel spirits, Ruby Carbuncle run up to me. Her voice was high and somewhat squeaky but cute as hell, kind of like a kitten; a kitten with purple fur, solid red eyes, and a huge red orb on the end of her tail. I could feel her nuzzling against me because she just wanted to say "hi" but that wasn't the issue. As I guessed, Jesse decided to see where she ran off too "Hey Ruby, who's your new friend?" this wasn't a surprise considering I saw him and Jaden talking to their monsters during the duel, and I could do the same. Still, I wasn't too keen on saying so right away. "My name's Crystal, I'm Jaden's little sister." His smile was warming and his laugh sounded nice. "You two twins or something?" I just said that we were childhood friends but his parents adopted me last year." I left it at that and mentally slapped myself again for it, I shouldn't be saying this right off the bat! Even so, I decided to be nice, no matter how much my feelings may try to say what I'm trying to hide.
That night I was looking over my own cards when I felt Sailor Neptune's presence. She's the Scout of Intuition that's deep as the Sea. Her medium teal hair and dark blue eyes were appropriate for such a scout. She can see past illusions and is very wise but she has a sense of humor. Her voice was a mix between high in pitch but calm and loving like a mother when she either jokes or scolds, but there is depth to her speech when she's upset. Like a few of her fellow scouts, she tends to have a few light but more "adult" based jokes hidden in her teasing and playful tone. She typically avoids using those but she does sometimes say them at the least of appropriate times. Her tool of choice is her mirror that not only reveals visions and warnings but it also reflects attacks and dispels illusions. Her uniform colors consist of dark teal for her skirt, glove ends, ankle length heels, choker, a heart-shaped gem in the center of her chest bow and her vertical oval shaped gem on her v-shaped circlet. Her chest bow is a near-black navy blue as is her back bow and she has seafoam studded earrings. For some reason, she and Uranus (her lover who was also her cousin) had wrist length gloves, whereas all the others had gloves that came up to the middle of their upper arms. Either way, she must've noticed how I was acting today because she said "Well he seems nice. So would it kill you to let him in, even a little bit?" I just answered with "Yep, and I'm too young to die." She softly chuckled at my comment, she knew I didn't mean that. "Why don't you give him the benefit of doubt, like you did with all your other friends?" I knew that she meant, I'm not typically this nervous around anyone. I just responded with "It just seems different around him somehow."
Our little conversation was interrupted by the fact we overheard Jaden and Jesse laughing next door in Jaden's dorm. I just decided to go over for a bit, "Hey guys, sure sounds like you two are having fun. Mind if I join you?" they said they were ok with it. So I sat down on the floor with them and the subject eventually got to duel spirits. Jesse explained that his crystal beasts are pretty much his family because of how they chose him and not the other way around. Jaden explained that he didn't think that his Neo Spacians were really real at first. He thought that he kind of dreamed them up as a kid, but he learned he was wrong and they even found their way back to him. He went on to explain what he meant by that and either way, he's glad they're his friends. While I listened, I couldn't help thinking that I was somewhere in the middle; I was chosen by my scouts, who just so happen to be guardians of our galaxy and daughters of divinity, roman gods & goddesses to be exact. "So Crystal, I heard you have some new cards. Mind talking about them?" my brother asked. That kid doesn't miss a beat when it comes to me or duel decks, so I just laughed and said I did. I took mine from the case I have them in for safe keeping, and both guys looked amazed by the scouts. I could tell Jesse was impressed by them "These gals are a lot like my beasts; they may look weak but what they lack in strength they make up for with their special abilities." I couldn't help smiling.
First time I heard someone who wasn't close to me say something nice about my scouts. Most people call them weak or lame because of their uniforms and that they're weaker than my spellcasters. So hearing someone looking past that and saying something nice actually helped me smile a little. I noticed his Amethyst Cat was looking at me, her (appropriately colored) eyes that were friendly and warm, well at least now anyway. I knew she could speak in like us humans do but she seemed to be thinking things over for now before deciding to sleep for the night. Jesse only then noticed where I was looking, and realized that like him and Jaden "Let me guess, you can see and talk to duel spirits too?" his slight laugh sounded like he was happy to meet a girl who shared this gift. After a little while we decided to call it a night; before I left though, I overheard them talking about one last thing. "Ya know Jay, I can't help thinking you're lucky" and Jaden's slightly confused response to it was understandable. "You're lucky to have someone like Crystal as your sister. She seems like a really sweet but strong girl". Jaden's next words kind of surprised me, "Believe me, Jesse, you don't know the half of it. What I do know is this: she has a big heart and loves many. It just takes a lot to reach her heart because of her past, but once you're there she'll fight for you with everything she has. It proves you're a special person to her. Trust me, if you manage that, then you're a lucky person. Which is why you don't want to lose that place." I went to bed but those words and his tone seemed to stick in my mind but I was too tired to think much of it.
While those words from last night did surprise me, almost as much as what happened that morning (although I hope he doesn't mean Jesse specifically and Jesse doesn't think that Jaden means him.). Turns out Professor Viper decided to test the students here with something called Survival Duels and how we're graded was based on decisions, fighting spirit, and so on. If we got a poor score, we were demoted a dorm but a second low score? Expelled. I couldn't help thinking that the students in Red were in the worst case: we're the lowest rank so if we get a low score we can't get a dorm demotion. Wow, this guy is an ass but I decided to do my best until I heard how these duels were to be monitored: with wristbands that were called Bio Bands. That immediately set off all kinds of alarms in my head, and I overheard Syrus mutter to himself and Hassleberry that these devices seem wrong. I also heard Chazz say "You know what's really wrong? You in that blue coat, but these will change that by weeding out the weak." I couldn't help thinking "Oh like you have any room to talk?" I honestly was worried about this whole mess, but I stayed quiet for now. I decided to go for a friendly match, besides this would be a good time to keep my promise to Alexis. She wanted to see what my scouts could do but also because of the mess from last year we never got a chance to bond over dueling.
As such I decided I would duel her first and so here we go, we both have 4000 life points to start. "Ok Crystal, I'll start. I summon my Cyber Tutu (1000 ATK/800 DEF), in attack mode. Then I'll place these face down. You're up." I studied my hand, not bad. I had two monsters, a trap, and two spells. "Ok, I'll start with this field spell: A Place Called Home." The real life forest scenery changed to a holographic scene of a beautiful beach scene, the ocean at sunset, and various colorful plants. "With this in play, all my monsters can attack like normal, but if you have a monster in their way and my monsters can defeat them? They get a chance to attack you directly and you can't use traps or spells to stop them. The only downside is I have to pay 50 life points per monster on my field to use this effect. Speaking of which, I'll summon Sailor Mini Moon in attack mode (400 ATK/500 DEF) now by discarding a spell or trap from my hand, her special ability activates. I can summon a close friend, Sailor Pluto (1300 ATK/1600 DEF) and she's got a special ability too: all outer scouts are safe, and she can't be destroyed by any monster with 1000 attack points or more. Now I'll give up 100 points to activate my field spell's effect. Sailor Pluto? Go for it!" she charges in and that ballerina does her final performance, then she's allowed to attack again. "I'll set this down for now and leave it at that." I could see Alexis was smiling because of some reason but I couldn't tell what. "Not bad, but this duel is just getting started. So I'll summon my Etoile Cyber (1200 ATK/1600 DEF) in attack mode. Sure, Sailor Pluto is safe from her but not Mini Moon. Etoile Cyber, take out Mini Moon." I smiled and used a classic: "Sorry but I activate a trap: Negate Attack! Now you're Etoile Cyber has to back off and you can't attack anymore this turn." She looked kind of miffed but ends her turn there. It was my turn and I used my entire hand last turn, so I can draw a new one. I got two spells, a monster, and two traps. "Alright, I'll toss my Place Called Home so I can play this field spell: Elysion, the Crystal Kingdom. Now I don't have to give up any points. Instead, all damage on my score is cut in half, and I play the continuous spell card Sailor Tag Team. Now if I have two or more Scouts on my field? Once per turn, one of my scouts can go for your life points regardless of if you have any monsters or not. Even if you do? The other scouts deal with your monsters all in the same turn, and you can't use traps to stop them. I'll summon this face down in defense mode. To end my turn? I play this face down."
I recounted what I have in my face downs "Simple yet selfless – this trap sends all damage to me, then attacked monster can attack an opponent directly before going to defense. My "Lean on a Friend" trap – this works by giving 125 life points, they go to any low-level monster so they can attack my opponent, in return, my score goes up by 200. As for my mystery monster? Magician of Faith, if she's flipped face up, I get one spell card back from my graveyard". I could tell Alexis was studying her tactics and weighing her options, then finally "I play polymerization to fuse my Etoile Cyber and the Blade Skater to create, Cyber Blader (2100 ATK/800 DEF). Now attack Sailor Mini Moon." I could hear Mini Moon scream a bit, "I don't think so, go Simple Yet Selfless! Now I take that damage but its cut in half thanks to my field spell. Now the attacked monster can attack you directly before going to defense. So Mini Moon? Show her what you're made of." With that, Mini Moon leaps high into the air, flips, and lands a power kick on Alexis's shoulder, she then goes back to defense mode. "Not too shabby, you really know what you're doing Crystal. I'll just place this face down for now." With that it was my turn, I got another good card. "I'll play, the spell card, Defusion to split your Cyber Blader back to how she was. Now Pluto? Be a friend and send Etoile Cyber to the grave!" Her smile told me she had something ready. "Go Angel's Blessing. Thanks to this trap, if my score is less than 1600 points? I get 1550 life points, and your attack set off Doble Passe. Now you're monster attacks me. That's not all, you lose points equal to Etoile Cyber, and she can attack you. That's only half your problem because Etoile Cyber gains 500 attack points when she attacks. So I guess your kingdom saved you because it cuts all that in half, but you do still take damage." Now Alexis's total score was 1250 and I have 400. Well, I'm not surprised that hurt like hell but I got back up. "Not bad Alexis, not bad at all. I can see why Jaden likes you so much. But this duel is done, go Sailor Pluto! End this with your planet attack, Deathly Scream." With that Alexis's points were 0, but she smiled at me. She was happy we dueled but for some reason, I suddenly felt dizzy and she passed out. I guess someone heard the commotion because I soon heard two familiar voices calling us. After that, just like they say in movies and TV, everything went black.
I guess I was out for a while because when I woke up, I was laying on a bed in the nurse's office. Jaden and Jesse looked pretty worried but Alexis had already recovered and she sat beside Jaden at my bedside. "Hm? What happened? And why do guys looked so worried?" they basically explained that after Alexis and I dueled we ended up passing out. She recovered a few minutes after they took her here. "But you were out for about an hour or so. You really scared us there." I couldn't believe that I heard this from Jesse. I guess Jaden was still trying to process those events and how both girls he cared about ended up in that scenario. "Well, thanks for the concern… all of you." I smiled softly and just put my hand on Jaden's, gently rubbed my thumb over the top of his hand to let him know I'm ok. His gentle squeeze told me he was glad we were ok now. After checking in with Ms. Fontaine, I was cleared to leave but I wasn't allowed to participate in gym for 5 days and had a note to explain it. I just smiled and thanked her before leaving. I felt better but understood her concerns about my health and those of the other students. I looked at the damned bio-band on my wrist; something told me this was a huge part of why we blacked out. There was no way that this was "just a monitoring device". Sure I had little proof but both Syrus and I were right even if we can't fully explain it in words.
So we just went to have some dinner now and I invited Alexis and Jesse to eat with us. I decided to make ours and figured they were hungry too, so that's 5 less student's for Ms. Dorothy, our current headmistress at Slifer Red, to worry about making a late meal for. "I didn't know you could cook and bake Crystal," Jaden asked in slight surprise. I guess when I found him out in the woods last year, he was so hungry that he forgot I had made a moderately sized meal for him. Either way, I just smiled softly and set to work, I would make a simple but delicious meal. What looks like plain grilled tuna is actually lightly seasoned and grilled to tender but through and through. The fluffy white rice is met with a special seasoning that helps it look different than it typically would in a good way. I had some side soup made to balance the flavors of tuna, rice, and veggies. Earlier that day I had made homemade sweet rolls with fruit flavored fillings or honey filling for a snack or right now. "Wonder what she's making?" I heard Syrus comment, which was met with Alexis saying "I'm not sure, but I bet it'll taste great. I mean they did update the dorm overall and did a better job of the food budget." The last one to say something was actually Jesse and with a slightly embarrassed laugh "Well it defiantly smells good." Once everything was set and cooled to servable, I brought it out and they looked amazed. "Enjoy everyone!" I said with a smile.
The fact they could enjoy a good meal and still carry a good conversation without looking pained said I did a good job. "Where did you learn to cook like this?" I heard Jaden say happily. I giggled before I ate my last bite of fish, Jaden has this habit of talking with his mouth half full. At least he chewed with his mouth closed, so that's a plus, I just said "Well as you know Jaden, I'm into the arts. To me, cooking and baking are different kinds of art. Although you do have to be more careful with what you make because it can go very wrong. For example, cooking is a trial and error art. Whereas baking is more like a science that meets food but once it's cooled and you decide if you want to add icing? That's when it becomes more like an art. So I took lessons on basics, got constructive criticism for the dishes I made, and I learned from my mistakes. Just like with all the other forms of the arts." Everyone looked surprised by my answer which just made me blush and look down at my empty plate a bit uneasy. "Well, that's an interesting way to look at it. Never thought of cooking and baking as a mix of art and science before, but it makes sense." I heard from Syrus, he looked like he was glad to hear about my hobbies and interests. Which opened the door for Jesse to ask "I was kind of wondering what you meant by the "different kinds of arts". I mean I know there are a lot of different kinds, but are you into the performance arts like singing and dancing? Or the expressive arts like painting and drawing?" I smiled shyly and felt my face warm up. I felt a soft blush dust my face because I actually was enjoying this: good friends, good food, and good conversation. If it were one on one, I'd avoid it like nobody's business! "Well, I'm into both expressive and performance arts. The performance arts I like to do singing and instruments but the only kind of dance I can do is interpretive. Whereas expressive? I like to do pictures with regular colored & water colored pencils, chalk & oil pastels, acrylic, regular, oil, or watercolor paintings. The kinds of pictures I make are landscapes, animals, or both." I couldn't help liking how they were smiling and listening to every word and asked questions. Normally everyone else would just act like they cared but really didn't. The conversation went on and we talked about the different reasons we duel and such. Again I said I duel to meet new people, learn about them, to express myself, and sometimes it helps me to deal with a problem that my other methods couldn't help me with too. Jesse looked like he was a little surprised but I guess the others kind of got what I meant, even if they only got maybe a small part of it. It was only recently that I had told Jaden about how I sometimes do friendly duels to help me deal with pent up stress that art and such didn't help with. He was glad to hear I would never take my emotions out on others, but he does wish I would talk to him and our friends more.
The evening ended and we all went to bed for now, but I overheard Jaden and Jesse talking a little. "Is there anything that girl can't do? I mean, she's a little bit of everything rolled into one." I heard Jesse say with a chuckle. Jaden sounded like he was beating around the bush with his response. "She's definitely amazing and she's learned from people around her, that's for sure." His tone sounded a bit sad but proud too. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it has something to do with her past?" I heard Jesse respond with. Damn! That kid has only known me for three days, and already he's putting the pieces together?! "I can't tell you that answer, Jess. That's up to her to say or not say." I couldn't help feeling relieved when Jaden didn't say, but what Jesse said surprised me. "I wouldn't expect you to. I mean the only times when that's even remotely ok to do: is after you help a victim out of harm's way and they're physically unable to say for themselves or the person is suffering greatly but won't let others help them. Outside of that, it's no one's business to know. So even if I am a bit curious, I'll respect her privacy and you're judgment call". His words made me feel shocked but safe… again I had to mentally slap myself "Crystal, you've only known him for three days! THREE DAYS! That's not enough time to see him as anything but a casual pal! Besides, if he ever finds out about my past? He'll either love then leave me or use that against me! Until I know more, those transparent walls are there to stay!" I curled up in bed and ignored Venus as she teasingly sang a stupid ditty from an old movie about a girl who kept an amazing but humble guy away because she was hurt before, no matter how much her heart already loved him.
As the days went on, I had witnessed Jaden's duel with Axel; at first, I thought Axel was heartless because he hogtied Syrus and put him in life threatening danger. The fact he didn't stop Jesse and Hassleberry from trying to save Syrus, then eventually let Syrus go, and started treating Jaden with respect certainly changed my opinions of him a little. He does care but he understands that sometimes you can't save everyone. He'd make the unpopular choice to help others, but he also firmly believes that any task you agree too is to be completed all the way. In this case? He did what he had to and to the full extent that he could, still felt sorry for how far he took it, but he ended it with honor and dignity. Hell when they both collapsed, he even said I should be more worried about Jaden because he was in worse shape. True as that was, I still couldn't just forget him and besides Hassleberry, Jesse, and Syrus were already rushing to Jaden's aid anyway. So while my heart was hurting and my stomach danced with uncertainty; I helped Axel back to his room and made sure that he was ok. Then I went to see how my brother was and helped him out where I could.
I also saw Jim duel with his fossil yet somewhat futuristic dinosaurs, and skeleton-based warriors against Hassleberry solely living dinosaur based deck. I was definitely alarmed by Hassleberry's human mind being reduced to some sort of human infused with dinosaur voracity, impulsiveness, as well as choppy language for an unwanted bonus. Thankfully after the first round, Jim was able to get Hassleberry back to his normal self but continued the duel so he could get to know Hassleberry better. I couldn't help liking how when Jim was knocked to the ground, he was more concerned about if Shirley (the crocodile he brought with him from day one and was with him this whole time) was alright. Her low growl and movement told him she was a little roughed up but fine otherwise. I couldn't help being impressed by how Jim was able to stop his monster by not just saying so but snapping his fingers too. After he explains the effect of his monster, that Hassleberry's monster's attack points would be taken from Hassleberry's score. Resulting in Jim's win, to which he ended with saying something that was funny but also basically meant "That's just how things worked out" and snapped his fingers again before the attack went though. I also found out he had pretty good sense of humor, even when he referred the ground as a "firm mattress" before they both passed out. Syrus basically confirmed that they're mostly ok, just fast asleep. He even said their snoring was like kittens purring, and in my mind? That's better than when someone's snoring sounds like a buzz saw. I was just happy Jim and Hassleberry were able to recover quickly enough. I say this because when he and Hassleberry were in the nurse's office, they both were on separate beds, hooked up to heart monitors and oxygen masks. I couldn't help feeling sorry for Shirley because she stayed under Jim's bed and looked pretty worried. I understood that Jim sees her as a family member and I saw that Shirley felt the same way. When we first met Jim, he told Jaden and I that he sees Shirley as family, not a pet. I could relate to this because I once took care of a stray black kitten (with beautifully mesmerizing green eyes and white front paws) behind my parent's backs. I soon came to adore it as if it was my own adopted child, my fur baby as I called her. Sadly someone shot the poor kitten repeatedly in front of me because they thought it was fun to "destroy the source of evil". So seeing Jim treat a reptile like Shirley the same why as I did with that kitten (that I affectionately called Mittens)? I was happy and found humor in it because most people would be understandably afraid of her. Some might even kill her out of fear or greed (her skin for fashion) but to do any of that, they'd have to go through Jim first. Even when she started feeling a bit irritated, he took his bandana off so he could cover her eyes to help her feel calm. Most animals heavily depend on a few senses more than others, so by reducing the sense of sight, Jim was able to help keep her calm. So seeing her under his bed like that just tore at my heart a bit. She trusts him just like any typical domestic animal learns to trust a human.
A few days later, I saw Adrian and his cloud-based deck face off against Chazz and his mix between machine fusion and ojama deck. I stood with my friends as we watched the duel between Chazz and Adrian. It was taking place over the lake that was a few yards in front of Male Obelisk Blue dorms. They were standing on square platforms for this midair duel that were held up by cables to eventually meet at one point and connect to one of the helicopters. The loser would end up taking a dip because two of the cables would detach from one side of the platform by remote control. I was surprised by how overkill this seemed to be but I couldn't help thinking of something that one of my sailor scouts, Sailor Uranus, mentioned as we watched. Sailor Uranus looks mostly like a guy and even sounded like a guy despite being born a woman. Even so, she's a powerful scout wielding the wind and physical strength as her weapon. In addition, she had a saber that transforms when she intends to fight. When it's not being used for that, it has a steel blade encrusted with four small jewels. Each was a gem the symbolized one of the four outer scouts. A diamond for Saturn, a turquoise for Neptune, a sapphire for herself, and a garnet for Pluto.
Her uniform colors consist of a near-black navy blue for her skirt, glove ends, ankle length heel boots, back-bow, collar, a heart-shaped gem in the center of her chest bow, and her gem on her v-shaped circlet. Now her chest bow is a bright yellow and she has two small hoop earrings. Her hair is a sandy blond and is short like guys and kind of messy from speed related sports, her eyes are a dark teal-ish green. She is often to use the quick and impulsive answer even though she hates killing people off. She tends to see things very black and white but she can pick up on negative feelings in the wind. Hence why she warned me of something she felt in the wind before the duel between Chazz and Adrian started. "Hold on a second Crystal, that last breath of wind carried a nasty cry of suffering in it. I think Viper just turned up the suction rate of the Bio Bands, so be ready to act should it be called for." Her voice was stern and serious as always. Yes, she can be fun and relaxed, but when something is off she immediately switches to battle mode. She seems cold-hearted and even I tend to question her impulsiveness at times, but I know she does it all with good intentions. That only makes it harder to deal with because she encourages looking for true love and a happy ending, but regardless the team just isn't complete without her. Hell, she agreed with me about Zane's change in behavior and even thinks there's hardly anything redeemable left in Zane.
Even so, I can't help thinking she's right about this, the timing of Adrian's party called "Duel for Jewels" seems too perfect. Students are dropping left and right but seem to recover pretty quickly, and only now he hosts this party? Seems a little too convenient to me. As I watched I heard Chazz claim he took down the Shadow Riders and The Society of Light by himself. I honestly couldn't help thinking "I'm sorry but last time I checked, the defeat of the Shadow Riders was TEAM effort. Yeah, you defeated one who had a team of duel spirits for lackeys, but that's all. Jaden took down Nightshroud, Crowler faced Camula, then Zane faced Camula, Jaden finished her off. Bastion took on Tania, and Jaden faced and defeated her, and Alexis took down Titan. Oh, and you were the first one to be brainwashed by the Society of Light. So yeah, nice try pal but no." Even so, I stayed quiet and would give him a "talk to" later but I back off for now. As the duel neared its end I saw a girl fall over and she had a red coat and medium blue hair, I knew that girl: it was Blair! I heard one of the few duel spirits Chazz has bonded with scream, and I saw why: Chazz in the lake meaning he lost. This only got worse because the monster spirit, Ojama Yellow, got Jaden's attention as Chazz began to sink. I knew this was because Chazz was unconscious and couldn't stay afloat on his own, Jesse had noticed and dove in to save Chazz.
Once that was taken care of, I headed inside and was greeted by the damage and horror that met my eyes. All of the students were lying there unconscious and scattered around, most of them were from Ra Yellow and Obelisk Blue, but the only Slifer Red there was Blair. I counted roughly 80 students lying there unconscious and I immediately felt sick. I was so disgusted and appalled by what I was seeing, that I feel to my knees feeling like I was going to puke. Now to a normal person this reaction may a bit much, but I couldn't help feeling so disgusted by how many young and innocent lives were put in danger all in one night. I stood back up and called for help on a device that all students got during their first year here, a student notepad. Every student got one and it looks and functions like a smartphone, every half of the year it would get a tune up. So I took mine out, immediately called for help and explained the problem. All we could do now was wait and once I managed to tear my eyes away, I just sat on the low step to the dorm. I stayed where I was and looked at the ground, I couldn't stand the idea of what was going on. I knew this had to stop and I wanted to help my classmates but how? I know we have to take Viper down but we still don't know why he's doing this and where he's hiding this stolen energy. That's when Sailor Pluto appeared beside me. Her uniform colors consist of black for her skirt, sailor collar, glove ends, knee-high low-heeled boots, back-bow, choker, & chest bow. A small round red pendant is hanging under the choker. The gem on her v-shaped circlet and her heart-shaped gem in the center of her chest bow were both a medium red. Not as dark as crimson but not as bright as my jacket, Sailors Mars, Moon's boots, or Mini moon's red chest bow are. She had strangely shaped earrings in that same shade of medium red. Her shin length, dark green hair was tied up in a high bun on the back of her head, but the rest of it flowed freely in the soft whisper of the wind. Her Latino tan skin set off her fiery fuchsia lipstick but most importantly, her dark fuchsia eyes. Those very eyes that are usually so calm and warm or serious and cutting, looked sad yet all-knowing of these events. The normally steady and calm tone of her voice basically sounds like the lower notes of a flute. This time, however, her voice is laced with sadness and sympathy as she says "I was hoping my vision was wrong, but once again it came to be. If you truly wish to know what I saw, then I can show you in private." I knew she was the Scout of Time & Space, as such she knows all the events of the past and future. The only catch is that she's unable to reveal emotionally based parts. She can only reveal the events based on facts and how they affect others. These powers are granted to her by her two powerful tools that work as one: the "Key of Time" staff which literally look like the majority of a key, and the "Time & Space Garnet". The garnet itself is a large orb that is held in place by a heart shaped fastening made of gray metal. The magic that the garnet produces keeps it attached to the top end (the end without the key teeth) of her staff. As such, the garnet allows her to see events in the timeline and share that information with trusted individuals.
She saw me nod, she instructed me to close my eyes and not let my emotions drive the images away. I saw the events in the various shades of red and shadows of black: Viper setting up shop in that animal lab Jaden told me about, to him raising the suction rate little by little over the first few days, to him threatening to rat Adrian out to the press should Adrian be kicked out of a prestigious academy because of him failing to get a high mark. That it would, in turn, reflect poorly on the Gecko family, to Adrian deciding to fight just as dirty by inviting these students, who now lay here, to the party thinking Viper would frantically turn off the bands for risk of being put in jail, to Viper just letting it happen. The visions start to end but Pluto then says "All of this is connected to that creature you and Jaden saw in your nightmares". I saw a vertical eye with dark veins coming out of it and I heard that slow paced but "little girl" like voice. The vision stopped and I had to blink a bit to re-adjust but I still wasn't sure what it all meant. I looked at Pluto and asked her to show me the nightmare Jaden had. She said she would show me when we got back to the dorm. Sure enough about 30 or so minutes later, she repeated the process and I saw what Jaden saw. Our school was in the middle of a desert wasteland. That same creepy voice called out to him "Why won't you play with me?" I saw Jaden walk up to something and he looked as if he was horrified by the sight. He saw what looked like stone figures of Syrus, Alexis, Hassleberry, Crowler, Chazz, and myself. I saw that he looked scared like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. I heard that same creepy voice say "I already played with your friends and sister, but they weren't much fun." I saw Jaden look at these lifeless figures and say with a sense of disbelief "Syrus? Alexis?" but when he noticed the figurine that looked like me, he shakenly reaches out to touch its face "Crysi? Not you too… Come on, say something!" his fingers were about to brush the figure's face but a breath of wind eroded these to nothingness. Which caused him to scream in anguish and slight fear and that's when the vision ended. I had to take a minute to recover my senses because I realized all of this has to do with a duel spirit from the past.
Before bed that night, I prepped my deck and got ready to help confront Viper when, once again, I overheard Jesse and Jaden talking. "Listen, Jay, there's something that I think you should know about. See these past two days, while I was out for my early morning stroll, I saw tire tracks that belong to a motorcycle and my beasts have been a bit unsettled because they could tell there was a duelist nearby that I faced before." As I listened, I overheard how Jesse helped a young kid. It turns out this kid was forced into a duel by a duelist who goes after duel spirits, no matter the monster's level is. This person was known as "Trapper" because of his methods. Jesse was able to help save the kid and his monster with the help of his beasts. Trapper had a motorcycle and the tire tracks Jesse saw in the woods were just like the ones he's seen in the past. So that coupled with how his beasts were acting on edge from the memories? He's sure that Trapper is here for some reason.
I heard my brother's voice now "Makes sense, Trapper's mad that he couldn't get your monsters and that you helped rescue one of his captured creatures. Then you reunited the poor thing with its rightful owner, so now he's out for another shot." Jaden may not be the brightest one in the bunch but he definitely knows when something is wrong. Jesse's voice sounded sweet but worried "Yeah but that's not my main concern. I'm concerned about you and your neo spacians, as well as Crystal and her sailor scouts. You need to understand that this guy cares little for any life: human, animal, or duel spirit." Jesse explained. He even said that he got a scar from getting hit by a whip during that duel. Turns out Trapper does use one and it's easily covered up by a hologram. Even so, he still got hit sharply by Trapper's whip none the less. It left a small scar and was a reminder of how terrible of an excuse for human life this creep really is.
Jesse sounded pained and scared as he said "I just don't want my friend and my cr- I mean his sister to go through the same thing or worse. If that or something worse happened to any of the few friends I have here, I doubt I'd be able to forgive myself." I heard him say this but I couldn't believe it. Maybe I was hearing things at the "friend and his sister" part but when Jaden responded with "Thanks for your concern Jess, but what were you really going to say? About my sister, I mean. I'd rather you be honest about that because I know it concerns her." I stood there listening outside his bedroom near the door, but out of the line of sight. Jesse just responded hesitantly with "Well… I kind of have a crush on Crystal. I don't know what it is about her but I think she's just amazing. Her personality, words, and behaviors may conflict but her morals don't. I can't help feeling like time slows down when I'm around her and that I want to keep her safe from a threat." He stopped for a second, probably to calm down a little, he added "But I understand her family comes first and that she might even not feel the same way about me. I can respect that entirely and I don't want her to go against her heart." Those words shocked me to the core; does he really feel this way about me? I heard Jaden's calm but somewhat stern voice "I can't tell you or her what to do, but that being said: what I can say that if she ends up hurt and you're involved in some way? I want an honest explanation for an answer. I think you're a great guy and all but I have to look out for her first. She's been through enough, ok?" Jesse's understanding agreement told me that he and Jaden have a level of trust that I may never understand.
The next morning, our group set out to confront Viper once and for all. Our group consisted of Alexis, Hassleberry, Jaden, Jesse, Jim, Shirley, Syrus, and Myself; I couldn't help feeling a slight throbbing in my stomach. I knew I was scared but I had a job to do and I wasn't going to let my fears slow me down. The main and upper floors of this lab, that shouldn't even be here to begin with, were clear and abandoned. Jesse called our attention and showed us he found an elevator that leads to the basement. I had a feeling there was a second basement for tech support whereas the one underneath us would be something else. Now Jesse made a good point when stating that we didn't if the elevator was working or not, but when proved that still works and we were riding in it? I did get a tiny giggle when he quietly said "So much for wishful thinking". I couldn't help finding this a bit relieving and funny that I wasn't the only one was kind of scared.
Once we got off at the first basement, what I saw was impressive. I may not approve of cages but I had to admit, I was just as impressed as Jim was about how realistic these surrounds were. It looked like we just entered a jungle or something. Considering how huge this place was, we all decided to split into smaller groups and use our notepads to keep in touch. Sure as hell beats the old "yell at the same time and hope for the best" plan. The only problem was unless you counted Shirley? We had an uneven group, so I went with Jaden, Jesse, and Syrus. The second group consisted of Jim, Shirley, Alexis, and Hassleberry. That being said, I was a little uneasy went the lights suddenly went out: it's the not the darkness or the unknown themselves that worry me, it's what's hiding inside them it that concerns me. I was told by everyone else and by my scouts that I was "brave", "gutsy", or whatever but the truth is I'm always scared. I'm always relying on others but I hardly have anything going for myself: so how can someone like that be considered "brave"? I noticed Jaden look like he was hurt so I stayed back with him and asked: "Hey, is something wrong?" He just blinked a bit and then said he was ok, he just felt a weird twinge but it's gone now. I decided to stick close just to be on the safe side and my self-critic had to but in again "Safe side, aka I feel safest around him but I run from the idea that one day he won't be here to save me. Who will I have then?" My thoughts were interrupted by someone who grabbed my shoulder. I nearly jumped out of my skin, internally anyway, but I saw it was our history teacher: Professor Stein. One thing I can say about him? He's even more boring than the teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Hell, this guy could put the pope and Pharaoh Atem to sleep in the middle of his first sentence, which is sad to say.
I stayed close and watched Jaden duel this teacher. There was a cavern beneath us was dark and seemed to go on forever, there was a bridge that made a path. Jaden stood on one side of the bridge that had the doorway, which leads to Viper, behind him. Stein stood at the other end and would only let us pass if Jaden won. I couldn't help thinking that Viper had raided the staff files, even looked into personal history and backgrounds when looking for recruits. I doubt Stein just told him about his more personal reasons for being a teacher. I felt sorry that he got his dream to be a professional duelist flattened and had decided to be a teacher in the academy for duelists. I know he was upset that he seems to not get much respect from students, but working for a sicko like Viper? Blaming Jaden for a problem that wasn't even his fault? Expecting students to respect him just because he's a teacher? No! Hell no! "Excuse me, Professor? Did you ever think that maybe the problem wasn't your students, but the methods that you use to teach your students? No offense, but most of us feel like we're being forced to stay awake despite how you sounding like you hate the subject you're teaching. But if you try making the lesson fun and active? You'd probably get better results and the students might like you and the subject more. I mean I saw a historical musical that was actually very accurate and I learned a lot from it, without falling asleep. But when you throw the blame at one student for something that's not even their fault or you act like respect is demanded because of authority? You end up alone and bitter because respect is earned regardless of anything you throw in as an obstacle." I could tell both of them were listening well and actually cared. Sadly, Stein looked at Jaden and said "Well ordinarily your sister would be correct but think: You defeated the Sacred Beasts, then the Light of Destruction. No matter what, students will always look at you and say 'Jaden's the best. If he can sleep through class and still succeed then so can I, just look at his sister. She learned so much from him and yet he didn't have to go to class. She's one of our best and brightest both in and out of class, on and off the dueling field.' True, you might be a slightly positive influence but you're mostly a negative one and if left unchecked will bring about the downfall of everyone around you". Stein went on to explain that Alexis was the only one who didn't miss class or fall asleep in class, but soon she followed the crowd.
I couldn't believe this guy, he acts like sleeping in class is worse than the entire world being destroyed or enslaved! Someone needs to even out their priorities, I was about to interject again when Viper had to make his holographic self known. Somehow, he managed to snag Alexis and she's in a pit but that wasn't the worst part. There was water rushing in from above and it would rise in accordance to Stein losing life points. Viper was putting Alexis's life in Jaden's hands: If Stein wins? She's safe. If Jaden wins? She drowns! Either way Jaden would lose energy but this was a cheap (and sadly effective) way to drive out more energy because it's based off strong emotions. At first, I thought Stein would see the error of his ways but all it took to squash that was a cheap excuse for security footage. Apparently, Jasmine and Mindy were offering to invite Alexis to cut history class in favor of shopping for boots and miniskirts, but they thought Alexis wouldn't because she's 'little miss perfect'. The fact that the girl in the clip actually agreed at all and how fuzzy it was told me this was a fake. I looked at Stein in disgust as I said "I can't believe you bought that! The Alexis we know wouldn't cut class over something stupid like shopping. Now if a friend was in life threatening danger? Oh hell yeah because she'd do her best to make up for it afterward." I was so happy when I saw the hologram live recording of Jim and Shirley save Alexis. At the duel's end, the bio bands went off and I saw Professor Stein fall to his death, now he's a part of history as well in his own rights. I was about to say a small verse of some kind but the sight of an alarming amount of spiritual and emotional energy being sucked out of Jaden tore my mind from that for now. I had to hang on to him by placing my hands under his upper arms, so I could drag him over to a safe place to rest because he passed out. Once I took care of that I stood by the cavern side and muttered a verse of hopes for Professor Stein find some peace, even in the smallest of ways.
It seemed like hours but it was really just about 20 minutes or so before Jesse and Syrus found us. I was happy to see them but when Syrus freaked out a bit over Jaden's health, I had to explain what happened. Only then did I notice that Jesse seemed a bit breathless. "You too, huh?" he nodded and said he was lucky he didn't lose too much of his. He smiled tiredly as he continued to say "I noticed that the more we get upset during a duel, the more of our energy gets sucked out of us." I knew that he had to take a breather, so I insisted that he sit down and rest a bit. Once he did, he added, "I know emotions are something we can't completely control or even truly numb, but what we can do is learn to keep a somewhat level head." I was glad he could understand that, there are so many people who say that if we don't kill the emotions in our hearts we end up killed by them. That's not the case; it's actually split into two parts: people who strategically take advantage of any emotion. As well as when we let our emotions, or our drive, or even both, control how we respond to a problem can too go far and cause damaging to devastating consequences. Much like happened here: Jaden was right to be mad about Alexis being put in harm's way no thanks to a coward, but he let his drive to save her go a bit too far. Professor Stein was right to be upset about how his dream was trashed and how his sacrifices were stained. However acting out on selfish and foolish pride? Blaming a student for something that wasn't even their fault? That cost Stein his very life. I had to make sure I told Jaden about this when he was well enough.
I checked my student notepad for the time, I guess it had been a good hour or so from when Jaden passed out. I saw the overall time was already it was 6:45 pm, we had been here the majority of the day. I couldn't believe how much time had gone by but it's understandable. I saw my brother start to stir from his sleep and I smiled softly as he woke up. Jesse had gone off a bit to see if he could get in touch with the others. Jaden asked what happened and I filled him in on what he may have forgotten, and he tried to stand so we could regroup but his harsh groan from pain told me he still was still hurt. I couldn't let him duel like this again, so I just told him to stay put. I hugged him and said "Jaden, listen: I don't want to lose you." I explained what I had figured out in regards to the bio bands and our emotions. I looked at him and felt spark of courage start to burn a bit stronger as I said "You're still hurt and we both know it, so you just try to take it easy for now. If worse comes to worst, I'll face Viper so you and the others won't get hurt. After all, you always kept me safe up until now, so it's my turn to keep you safe from harm." I could tell he was moved but also worried as hell about my offer. I knew by how his eyes looked unsure when he said "I appreciate that Crystal, but I think I'm the one Viper wants. We both know that for some reason, I'm a magnet for evil nutjobs and I doubt Viper will settle for anyone else." Jaden had a point, but I still didn't care who Viper wants or doesn't want. Viper's not hurting anyone else, not while my heart still beats and I still breathe! That's when I remembered what Sailor Pluto had shown me, Viper was just an accomplice. The real source of the problem was a duel spirit that is borderline demonic. So I tried to be calm as I said "Jaden… I have to tell you something. You see, Viper is only one-half of this mess." I explained the rest and at first, he looked at me like I was nuts, but Sailor Pluto appeared and confirmed it by showing him these events. He looked me in the eyes and said "Crystal… promise me you'll be careful should something happen to-". I just immediately shut my eyes while nodding sadly. I could feel my tears try to force their way out but they didn't fall. I know the odds are heavily against us, I know that anyone of us could end up killed, and I know I will have to eventually stand on my own two feet without him nearby. Deep down I knew, understood, and accepted all of this but it's still the last thing I want to think of. So despite me choking on tears, I said: "I promise Jaden, but you have to promise me the same thing." His nod told me everything: he hated the idea too but he knows he won't be here one day. He just wants to make sure that I'm able to take care of myself, even when he isn't there. He knew that I want the same for him like any good sister would.
That being said, Jesse came back and said he was able to get mostly static but Jim managed to say he and his group were ok. Jesse told Jim we were ok too before the static got too bad. He just hopes they understood him before he asked how we were holding up. I said I was fine and Jaden admitted he's still pretty sore but he'll manage. That's when we heard an engine revving and a creepy laugh. "Tapper..." I heard Jesse say in disgust, the look in his eyes said he was ready for a fight, even if his body said otherwise. From our small hiding place, I clearly overheard Trapper. He talking to himself as a means to sort things out in his mind. I could tell he was frustrated and getting impatient based off these next words "Damn, those Sailor Scouts better be here! Otherwise, I'll have to resort to plan b… good ol bait n switch." I couldn't believe this creep! He's just mad that Jesse and his beasts beat him, now he's after my Scouts. I knew why but I wasn't about to let this psycho run free, so I decided to take one for the team. I stepped out and my two of best fighters came out beside me, Sailor Uranus with her saber and Sailor Saturn with her silent glaive. "How about you pick on someone your own size!" Uranus yelled, but a strange kind of glass container shot from the back of Trapper's bike and landed over Saturn! Somehow he was able to capture her spirit and took off inside the smaller building that was connected to the rest of this lab. "SATURN!" I yelled. Uranus reluctantly retreated to her place in my dueling deck. I looked back at them and told them to stay there while I go on ahead. Without waiting for a response, I ran after this creep and saw where he was keeping her.
Trapper had already hung the container high up out of reach for either of us. I just said in level-headed irritation "Let me guess, we duel. I win: Saturn is freed safe and sound." I noticed that Trapper was dressed in what looked like typical camo-green attire and brown shin-high combat boots, at his hip was a whip. He spoke with an irritatingly "stereotypical-old-school-cowboy" accent and style. Trapper just smiled and said "Yes'em but if you get whooped? They're all mine." What choice do I have? They chose me long before I even knew their cards even existed! They always stayed by me and even kept me up to speed. I may not have known it at the time, but the Sailor Scouts in my deck were the very same Sailor Scouts that protected the universe. They were given new life and purpose as duel spirits but needed someone who could work with them effectively but never abuse their powers. They somehow thought I was this special someone, guess we'll find out here and now.
He started with his monster Lure Phantom (0000 ATK/0000 DEF) in defense mode and placed three face downs. I knew something was off, that Phantom looked harmless but behind that creepy cartoon grin and gel-based body with few gears for arm joints? There had to be a special effect. I had to be extremely careful because, without Saturn, I couldn't protect my inner scouts. But maybe I don't need to because I have something else. "I summon Sailor Neptune (1600 ATK/1300 DEF). She's no girly girl either, she can pack a real punch." With that she attacked with speed and strength. "Not so fast lil missy! My lure phantom has a special effect. If I send it back to my hand, she goes back to your field." I saw that thing grab Neptune's ankle and throw her back to me. "I've got you Neptune!" and I would have caught her if he hadn't set off his trap: Bolas Wrap. "Thanks to this trap; she's caught and then brought to me". I could see Neptune struggle against the binds as she screamed "CRYSTAL!" She screamed as she was dragged away. "Why you!" I couldn't think of anything suitable to call him. She looked at me with trusting but sad eyes, hearing him telling her to stop whining because she won't be alone for long. That just pissed me off more but I knew I had to calm down as much as possible but how can I? I guess this is how Jaden must've felt in his duel, except this creep has no excuses.
I just placed two face downs and it was his turn, and he brought that phantom back but said he'd set Neptune free… his spell Dark Auction trades the equal of my life points to her attack points, in exchange for her freedom. So because Neptune has 1600 attack points, that means I have to give up 1600 life points so she can be freed. I agreed to it even though it stings like hell, now she can come back or so I thought. I swear this guy is a pro at yanking on heartstrings, because he activated a second Bolas Wrap. Once again, Neptune is snared and dragged back. Well it's my turn now, I drew Sailor Uranus… her effect might be able to save Neptune but I have no clue what Trapper has hidden and I don't have her equip spell in my hand. So I just have to try something else for now. "Go Sailor Jupiter (1200 ATK/1600 DEF)! Now here's the fun part about her; if Sailors Neptune or Mercury are in play? Then Jupiter gets and extra 400 points for each. So now, she's got 1600 attack points. More than enough to singe your Phantom! Show him why you're the Scout of Thunder and Lightning, with Thunder Clap Crack!" his smirk said he had something waiting. "I may not have a lightning rod, but I do have this: Capture Snare! You probably noticed that it uses your monster as bait and then sends your Jupiter over to my side."
He was enjoying this and I still haven't made a dent. Now it was his turn again, and he sacrificed his Lure Phantom so he could play Infernal Blast Hound, (1000 ATK/500 DEF). I had to admit, this was an interesting dog to see; it had a drooping tail shaped like a croc's, spikes coming out of its spine in a line, cannon barrels coming out of its shoulders, a collar with a piece of chain around its neck, and it breathed fire. I honestly would've called it "Hound of Hell" or "War Hound" but the Blast Hound definitely fits too. He sent that thing right at me, well he's not the only one with a nasty surprise. "Go Negate Attack, now you're monster can't-". I saw my trap get destroyed by one he had played! Trap Jammer: when I played my Negate Attack that set of his and both traps are destroyed! Which means Blast Hound is still allowed to attack me. The thing knocked me on my back and I could feel its heavy paw on my arm. "Just because he knocked you down doesn't mean he's done. His special effect destroys a card in your hand." My Sailor Uranus was sent to the grave. I was lucky it opted for her and not my Magician of Faith, I'd need her soon.
That's when I understood why I was struggling in this duel: I was too worried about using just my scouts to save Saturn, when I should be calling on all my monsters for help. My spellcasters have higher points and they may be taken more seriously than my scouts but they're still just as close to my heart and as powerful. They were the first cards I ever owned and they've helped me out before. Sure it's harder to tap into their true potential but they're definitely well worth it. So I got back up and checked my hand: I have Magician of Faith, Sailor Mini Moon, Sailor Pluto, and Monster Reborn. If I play Monster Reborn, I could get Uranus back but he'd just use a trap to get rid of that and Uranus. If I use Mini Moon in defense, then I can use her effect toss Monster Reborn and summon Pluto. In order for this to work, I have to draw my Second Summon spell. Yes, I have to give up 100 life points to play it but that's going to help when I need Magician of Faith on the field too. So when I start my turn, I closed my eyes and hoped for the best… I got it!
Now to put the plan to action, "I summon Sailor Mini Moon (400ATK/500DEF), in defense mode. Now thanks to her ability, I can toss one spell or trap to summon Sailor Pluto (1300ATK/1600), in Attack mode. But I'm not done, because my spell card Second Summon lets me summon this face down in defense mode, only I have to pay 50 points. But it's well worth it to save my- Huh?" I just noticed Saturn was looking pretty sick. She normally doesn't look healthy despite being perfectly fine, but now she looks like she having trouble breathing. Trapper just smiled and said casually "Oh, I see you noticed the drawbacks of these capsules; they're not just prisons, they're more fun than that. You see by keeping duel spirits away from both their card and unable to retreat to the spirit world, they suffer quite a bit of strain. I can use these to extract their energy and send it to my own monsters. Just watch." He shows another capsule he had, inside it was the spirit of a regular Kuriboh. Poor little thing looked scared to death and exhausted but I saw it fade to golden glitter when he turned on the switch. My voice must've sounded like thunder to Mini Moon when I said "Oh you sick, sadistic, son of a bitch!" I looked at the monster on his field I followed that up with "No offense to you or your family, Blast Hound". I saw Sailor Saturn use a little of her strength for something but I didn't know what. That's when Sailor Earth explained in my thoughts "Saturn is using something that all Sailor Scouts can use: Sailor Mind Meld. She's sending a message to someone, I'm guessing she's calling to someone nearby for help. I just hope they answer in time". I hoped so too but for now I had to focus on saving her and the others.
I really had to play off his greed so he'd mess up for this to work. I decided to get some info out of him "So level with me: you went after Jesse and his beasts so you could trap the Rainbow Dragon but lost. So now what, this supposed to be some consolation prize? Well either way, you're not going to get away with it and my monsters will help make sure of it! Now Pluto, send that Blast Hound on the highway to hell!" I saw her complete her attack before she returned to my side of the field. "Now that's taken care off, I'll call it a turn for now." I kept telling Saturn to hang on as long as possible through my thoughts and her nod reassured me.
Trapper's laugh sent a stab of dread in me, his blast hound had a second effect: if it's destroyed, then Trapper can summon another one. He just laughed at how hard I fight but he thinks it's a waste time. "How would you know?! They've done more for me than you could ever understand!" I snapped at him. His silence allowed me to finish my thought, "Sure I might sound nuts to some but to people like Jesse and Jaden? They can understand and relate, unlike you! You abuse this gift for your own selfish gain and I'm here to see that it stops." It was my turn again and I saw Mini Moon nod to me, she knew my field was getting full. If I wanted to summon a new monster, she'd volunteer to give up her place. "If it saves Saturn and the rest of us then I'm ok with it, Sailor Scout's honor." Her thoughts told me. "I sacrifice my Mini Moon to summon my Dark Magician Girl. Now send that stray back where he belongs" this was starting to go well. His Blast Hound couldn't come back, so he summoned something called Scavenger Hound. Like the name says, it drags a monster from my grave to his field, but they won't be there for long. He plays the spell Bait and Switch, now his hound leaves a mark on of my captured monsters. Then it forces one of my free monsters to fight a captured one. Pluto is forced to fight a newly revived but snagged Mini Moon. The attack points of the monster who loses comes out of my score! Pluto easily wins and 400 more of my points are gone. He made one mistake though, he sent his hound to attack my facedown monster. I smiled when the attack works, "Thanks, the monster you destroyed was Magician of Faith. Now I get a spell card back from my grave. The spell I'm taking back is Monster Reborn and I'll use it to bring out, Sailor Uranus. Thanks to your traps, she's allowed to bypass your monsters and cut you down to size once per turn." She does but he has one more dirty trick for me. "You're forgetting one thing: without you, they're helpless! Now you seem fond of Jesse and his beasts… So I'll give you the same treatment I gave them: Substitute Pain! For every monster I snagged, you lose 400 points!" he takes out his whip and a hologram makes it look less threatening. The strikes that hit me were real ones but they took 1200 of my life points too: for Jupiter, Mini Moon, and Neptune. I was so glad that the card I placed a few turns ago was still on the field. "You dope, you set off my trap: Divine Intervention. If I'm hit with a 1000 or more points worth of damage, I get 1500 points back & the difference is handled accordingly." Now my score is 1500 but I still felt the sting of pain and shame from those hits. I saw Jaden show up but Trapper noticed too. He said if Jaden tries to stop this duel, then Saturn gets it. Jaden just looked at Trapper with a glare and responded with "I know, because Saturn was the one who told me. I'm here to support a friend." I had no idea what to do: I tried fighting with my scouts, which failed. I tried my spellcasters, which helped very little, so now what? I heard Sailor Cosmos's voice in my mind "You have what you need in your hand but you need the spell 'Celestial Unity' to call on me. Even if Saturn isn't in play, her spirit can still allow you to summon me. Put you faith in us, your spellcasters, and most of all yourself. The rest will happen as it should"
I looked at Jaden and his nod reassured me: if they all thought I could and that I was good enough then maybe I am after all. So I closed my eyes and drew my card, when I opened my eyes? There it was! "Ok Trapper, time to show you why you failed before and now! By ripping the beast away from Jesse you only strengthened the bond between them. You couldn't trap a sweetheart like Ruby, let alone a divine creature like the Rainbow Dragon. That monster would've squashed you like the roach that you are! No offense to Ruby or Rainbow Dragon of course, and no offence to roaches either. By doing the same to me and my monsters? You gave me the key to saving them!" he looked at me like he couldn't believe it and was pissed off. "And how's that?!" I smiled and showed him "I play Celestial Unity! Now all my scouts can combine their strength to bring out the first ever Sailor Scout in all her glory." I saw Saturn start to glow and all the scouts said as one "We were born of the same universe, we are different yet the same. We are one, we are unity! The guardians and their homes are one! SAILOR COSMOS!" Sailor Cosmos appeared in a soft pillar of moonlight and in a voice that was calm yet commanding "If there's a problem here? Bring it up with me, but leave my family out of it!" with her strength combined with Dark Magician Girl, we ended this! Trapper had somehow vanished… and something tells me the duel spirits he trapped had something to do with it. Saturn's prison shattered but I saw Jesse catch her. I remembered something the scouts told me the day the three of us hung out. "You see if you or one of us are in danger and someone you truly trust is nearby? We can temporally grant them the ability to see, hear, and even feel us like you can. It depends on the person, their connection to you, and if they can already do one or two of the three." I guess they saw that, despite my personal feelings, I still trust Jesse like I would my brother… I saw that he had caught her and then gently set Saturn down so she can take a breather. My bio-band suddenly went off, I felt its impact as I fell… I faintly heard Jaden and Jesse calling my name. I knew Jaden was only a few feet away but it felt like worlds away when he tried to help me now. I saw a familiar figure stand in front of me and I guess she tried to take the blunt but how? I don't know and soon I was out.
What I saw next was thanks to Sailor Cosmos. She showed me what happened while I was out, because I know I wasn't awake and my soul wasn't ripped from my body. I saw Jaden catch my unconscious body, he just gently set me down on the grown with my face up and put two fingers to my neck. I guess my pulse was faint to the touch because he looked as white as the sheets in the infirmary. He put the back of his hand near my nose and mouth; his sigh said he was relieved to know I was breathing, but his eyes still looked scared as hell. He took his jacket off for now, roll-folded it up before putting it under my head for now. Jesse looked just as worried as he knelt beside Jaden; he did the same with his jacket but he used his as a kind of mini blanket for now. He quietly and gently placed a hand on Jaden's shoulder to be supportive. I guess after a few minutes, Jesse finally decided to say something "Hey Jaden?" My brother just responded with a questioning "Yeah?" I could tell that Cosmos wanted me to see this for a reason.
Jesse seemed unsure of his next words "Now, if you think I'm out of line to ask this, then by all mean let me know" Jaden simply responded with a simple "Go ahead". This teal-haired kid seemed pretty unsure but just asked as nicely and straightforward as he could "Well mind explaining why you're so protective of her? I mean, I know she's your sister and you're close but...?" Jaden just smiled and kinda laughed a little. "Sorry for laughing; it's just no one ever said anything, so I didn't even notice I was acting like that around her. I tend to want to protect anyone important to me when they're hurt or something. I guess the best way to answer is when we were kids she never really told me what was going on at her house. I only found that out late last year but either way, whenever I needed to talk to someone? She was there just as much as my monsters, the only difference is she could give hugs and such. She was always very quiet but friendly, she'd stand up for others but didn't really ask for much in return, so I kind of looked out for her because I could tell she was hiding something." I never knew he felt that way before his family took me in. I saw Jesse's face hold a sad yet understanding expression to it as he says "You just didn't ask because you didn't want to upset her, right?" Jaden's quiet nod said that was true, and I was surprised by this. He always knew but he said nothing to try and put my mind at ease, I guess we really are a lot alike: if it seems like something small we leave it be, but if it starts to damage our overall health, or behaviors or something? We try to reach each other no matter how the thick the barriers. My wanting to keep this from him and pretend I'm ok had put up some kind of transparent wall between us. He somehow was able to reach me, but I get the feeling that soon I'll have to do the same for him.
Jesse's next words shocked me "I understand that feeling. I could tell Crystal would hide things so she wouldn't burden anyone. I noticed that ever since these survival duels started, but she also seems to be more skittish when I'm around for some reason." Jaden smiles as looks at me, he had noticed a stray piece of my hair was in my face. He just gently moved it aside and said "I think that, despite herself, she might have a crush on you. She's just scared to admit it because of how she's been hurt by people who you're supposed to be able to trust. I can't speak for her, but I have noticed it." This vision was coming to an end because my eyelids felt lighter. "Are you three ok?" were the first words out of my mouth, I couldn't help worrying about them more than myself. I saw Jesse's face hold a soft and grateful smile, Saturn stood beside them looking happy to see I was ok. She said she was fine thanks to my spellcasters, the scouts, myself, Jaden, and Jesse. Jaden looked like he was about to cry but he just hugged me. "Don't ever scare me like that again! I thought you were dead for a second there." I was surprised yet moved by this. He just held me close and I just hugged him back a little, his arms felt comforting even when he backed off.
Now we had to go take down Viper; I tried to stand but they both knew I couldn't walk yet let alone run, so Jesse offered to help. I knew they were right and I was in no position to argue. Everyone else caught up with us and so after taking their jackets back and putting them on, Jaden helped me onto Jesse's back; I know I'm a healthy weight for a girl my age and as active as I am but I still feel like a heavy burden. I'm just glad I wasn't slowing him down, he was able to keep up with the others even while carrying me. Then again, with what we're dealing with? I guess the idea of innocent lives, not just one, being at risk was more enough to give him the strength he needs keep up and help someone at the same time. That was definitely proven true when something set off a series of closing doors. We had to get past those to get to Viper but they close by slamming shut from above us. I felt like we were in some twisted version an Indiana Jones movie. It was just Jesse, Jaden, and me either; I had almost forgotten that Jim, Shirley, Syrus, Alexis, and Hassleberry were all here too. The last two doors were just ahead but one was already halfway closed.
A sudden crash from a skylight alarmed me, but I was both surprised and grateful Axel had shown up. He used two of the same kind of wire cables that had two spikes at the ends of the cables to keep the door open enough to duck under the door. So two cables and both had two spikes at either end, which mean one for both sides of the door's outline. They propped the door from underneath at a downward angle, the top of half of this angle on the side facing us, the bottom was on the opposite side of the door. He used his shoulder to help force it open and each of us made it, well except… I heard Jaden say this "Jesse, take Crystal and go ahead of me. I'm going to make sure the door doesn't shut on Axel." I knew Jaden was strong enough to do this but I was still scared. Even so, I guess Jesse understood something that I didn't at the time: Jaden trusts him enough to take care of me in his place, just like how I trust Alexis to take care of Jaden in my place. We both know we can take care of ourselves but no one can fight on their own forever.
Jesse did what he was asked and I saw that Jaden made it through the second door but Axel didn't. All I could do was hope he at least got away with his arm and leg intact, while we kept moving. We finally found Viper in the room for transporting animals in by helicopter, he stood at the far end of the helipad. I saw he had a duel armor on and the disk itself was built right in to act as a kind of tray system. The name "viper" suits him: he hides his true ways behind the look of a soldier and a teacher, like how a snake hides in the habitat it's native to. His ability to get things done and produce results that people want (rather than what they need!) is seen as "gift" but I know better; his methods are toxic and his '"strict ways" can come off showing he cares. They always say that "The most beautiful of snakes are often the most deadly", which is true for some of the most harmless looking of nature's creations: plants, animals, and humans too. This pathetic excuse for a human life is the embodiment of the word "poisonous". He forced Jaden into a duel, by activating the helipad's rise function so we wouldn't be able to get away. Jaden only agreed so we could stop Viper; he knew he might end up killed from the loss of energy that would be sucked out of him win or lose, but he didn't care. He's doing this to help save the other students, even if it means his life is cut short in the process of stopping Viper.
I finally felt better and just whispered to Jesse "Thanks for your help, but you can put me down now" he in response gently crouched down so he could let me down, he said he's happy to help a friend in need. As I watched the duel, I couldn't help but think about how Pluto was right; there's no way Viper could gain anything from just draining copious amounts of students' energy, even the sick enjoyment of seeing people in pain was a good enough reason. I thought about it and about what Pluto had told me in those visions. "Viper! I don't buy this, you're not working alone and you're not doing this for sadistic pleasure, it's just a sick side benefit! Now let's talk motive." He tried acting like he didn't know but I didn't buy that either. He smirked and asked me why I thought that. "Simple: you would've been caught sooner if you were doing this for just enjoyment. Yet you were able to make it obvious and elusive that you were involved, the only problem is you're storing that energy for something. You couldn't risk a screw-up or whatever, that's why you made the bio bands seem harmless. Raising the suction little by little, but you saw progress was going too slow so you maxed it out. You were careful about your plan, but that's what makes the idea of doing so because of enjoyment first a bust." His cruel smile just sent chills down my spine "You got everything correct, but to clear up the motive how about a little "show and tell"?" he revealed his right arm had some kind of crimson red covering to it.
I was just as alarmed as the others but Hassleberry's question of it being poison oak or something comes off as a serious question and a joke, I just thought to myself "Uh Hassleberry, poison oak doesn't cause something like that." Viper explained he was doing this for his son who was gravely ill. While he was on a special order from his commanding officer to pick up an unknown object that crash-landed on earth, he got word that he had limited time before his son passes away. Oddly enough the thing that crashed landed was a still-living severed arm. Somehow it could communicate through thoughts and it promised to help him get his son back in exchange for him helping it. Now it all made sense: this thing require large amounts of energy to revive itself and that's where the student's come in. He was using hundreds of innocent students as sacrificial lambs to save his only kid. As the duel started to come to an end, Viper went too far in my eyes: he accused my brother of being selfish and I wasn't going to let him get away with that! "OH HELL NO!" I could feel them staring at me but my eyes were fixed on Viper "You have no room to call my brother selfish! He's not the one sucking the very life out of innocent people, now is he?! You're the one using students, who have their own families back home, as sacrificial lambs! Jaden is the exact opposite of selfish: he's putting his own life in harm's way for the safety of others. I know because he's done this numerous times, even when we were kids. He'd always have my back just like he always has that of all our friends. So if you want selfish, I can direct you to the nearest mirror!" I smiled to Jaden before ending my little speech with "We'll always have your back because we know you'd do the same for us. Now teach this creep a lesson that's long overdue." I was glad when Jaden won but what happened next was something I wish was just a bad dream.
