Sweet. This is the first duel I've done where my beta-reader only pointed out one mistake and that wasn't even in the duel, it was just something one of the characters thought. I'm getting better at writing duels; EndlessNight025 was right, outlines really help.
Anyway, thank you to Suika Approves, SuperNeos2, decode9, DarkZorua100, bobmanv2.0, iloveyugiohGX93, Vanishing Raptor and JxA fan 2000 for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are the greatest.
Also, I am planning on posting a Yu-Gi-Oh! GX/Harry Potter crossover as soon as I complete more chapters in it (I already have the prologue and chapter 1 done) and it's going to be titled Battle Born. While I probably shouldn't self-promote in any of my stories, I'm just gonna do it this once.
Here is chapter 9 and I hope that you enjoy. Reviews are much appreciated and chapter 10 will be posted either Sunday or Monday.
9
Fairies and Formulas
Jaden examined the baseball field. He was currently in his Gym class and two of the school dorms were playing against each other; currently, the Slifers were up to bat while the Ras were in the outfield. Everyone was wearing their white-and-blue gym clothes, but the Slifers had a red bandana around their arms while the Ras were wearing yellow ones. It was the top of the ninth, Jaden's own dorm was leading 3-0, there were two outs, the second and third bases were loaded and Jaden was up to bat.
"Jaden, keep your eye on the ball," Syrus coached.
Jaden smirked. "That'll be hard to do. After I hit it out of the park, we'll have a six-run lead," he said.
"Hold on, time out!" a voice called out and Jaden watched as Bastion Misawa ran into the field. "I was deep into some Attack Point quantum mechanics and lost track of time."
"Can you throw?" one of the Ra players asked.
"Sure."
"Well, we could use a fresh arm. All right, pitcher change."
The current pitcher, who did look tired, left the field and Bastion walked up to the mound.
"This isn't a written exam, Bastion. I hope you know what you're getting into," Jaden said.
Bastion simply smiled before he got ready to throw. "Get ready. This is coming in hot!" He didn't wait for a signal as he launched a fast ball that sailed straight over the plate; Jaden swung and completely missed it.
"Strike one!"
The next two throws were pretty much a repeat of the first.
"Strike three, you're out!'
"Damn!" Jaden muttered as the Slifers switched positions with the Ras; Syrus took over as catcher while Jaden took the pitcher's mound.
At the bottom of the ninth, Jaden struck out the first two batters but got sloppy for some reason, which lead to the next three batters walking, something that Jaden did intentionally.
"Ball four, take your base." The third batter walked to his base.
"Time," Syrus called before the group of Slifers met at the mound. "Jaden, what happened? You got two outs and walked the last three batters."
Jaden smirked. "It was the only way to pitch Bastion," he said.
"What? You walked all those guys to get even with Bastion?" Syrus asked.
"Not entirely. I also wanted to get ahead," Jaden said before he looked at Bastion as he took his place. "You hear that, buddy? You're going down."
Bastion put on the batting helmet and smiled as the rest of the Slifers returned to their previous positions. "Down the base line, perhaps," he said. "Now give me your best, Jaden. That is, if you can even get the ball over the plate."
"You want it? You got it!" Jaden pitched a fast curveball, hoping Bastion would miss, but Bastion swung the bat and it struck, sending the ball flying.
. . .
Meanwhile, Crowler was walking by the field, trying to think of his next move to get Jaden kicked out.
"The Paradox Brothers couldn't beat Jaden. Chazz couldn't beat Jaden. I need someone who can beat...ah!" His ranting was interrupted when a ball struck him in his left eye, sending him flying into the baseball equipment.
"Heads up!" a belated shout sounded and Crowler popped up out of the pile of equipment to glare at Jaden and Syrus, the latter of whom freaked upon seeing who was hit, as they jogged over to join him.
"It's you! Who else would cause such intense pain?!" Crowler shouted.
"That's keeping your eye on the ball," Syrus said; Crowler currently had the baseball, somehow, lodged in his eye.
"Sorry," Jaden said, "it was…"
"My fault," Bastion called as he jogged over to join them. "I was the one who hit the ball."
"Of course," Crowler said, his mood changing rapidly when he heard who spoke. "Here I was looking for a new accomplice and here it hits me right in the face! Well, the eye but that's beside the point."
"Dr. Crowler, accept my apologies," Bastion said, bowing in respect.
"No, no, no, I've been meaning to have my contacts refitted for ages and now I have the perfect excuse," Crowler said, attempting to be nice. And a new protégé to back me up, he thought.
"Huh?"
Crowler jumped before glaring at the two Slifers he had forgotten were still there. "Do you two mind?!" he demanded.
Jaden raised an eyebrow but nevertheless shrugged. "Sorry. See ya later, Bastion," he said before he and Syrus ran off.
Crowler looked back at Bastion. "You really shouldn't be associating yourselves with those slackers," he said. "I think it's time you associate yourself with someone more on your level, like me."
. . .
Later that day, Chazz entered the lecture hall before walking over to his seat and sitting down at the top of the lecture hall, where he usually sat. "It's good to be at the top. Yo, foot rub and an ice tea, pronto," he commanded with a snap of his fingers.
"Get it yourself," one of the Obelisks snapped.
"What did you call me?" Chazz demanded, though the Obelisk hadn't called him anything. "Go on, say it again. I don't think I heard you."
"Chazz, what are you doing here?" another Obelisk asked, walking up to him.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Chazz demanded, not expecting an answer. "I'm sitting in my seat."
"That's not your seat anymore."
"You idiot. This seat is mine. I even have a name tag right…" When Chazz looked again, the name tag he had put there himself was gone. "What the…?"
"I think you'll find your name tag down there," the Obelisk said, pointing towards the bottom where the Ras were seated.
"No way. This has to be some mistake. The next King of Games shouldn't sit with third-rate no-names!"
Dr. Crowler, sporting a bruise from where he was hit with the baseball, walked into the classroom at that moment.
"Dr. Crowler, what's the meaning of this? I don't deserve to sit with the losers," Chazz exclaimed.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that, Chazz," Crowler said. "After all, it was a loser that beat you. What was his name? Oh yeah, Jaden Yuki, a Slifer! That's why tomorrow you're going to duel Bastion Misawa and if you lose to him as well, you two will switch dorms."
Chazz gasped. "You mean, I'd become a Ra reject?!"
"I guess you're not half as dumb as you pretend to be, Chazz," Crowler said, applauding mockingly.
Chazz growled, embarrassment coloring his face while the rest of the class laughed. "I won't be a Ra!" Chazz shouted as he fled from the lecture hall.
. . .
Kasumi relaxed next to a tree, gazing up at the sky and watching the clouds drift by. She currently had a free-period, since she wasn't in the same class as Chazz and decided to spend it cloud-gazing like she used to do with Jaden and Raiden back home. She closed her eyes at the memories and a small smile cross her lips. Cloud-gazing was boring, yeah, but it was a pastime that Kasumi shared with both of her adopted brothers and she missed it, she missed Raiden.
Sure, she still had Jaden but it was Raiden who had been the one to help Kasumi to adapt to her new family and had been the one to help Jaden to explain to her about when his powers awakened two years after Kasumi had been adopted, though Jaden always avoided telling her what really caused his powers to awaken; he had glossed over that point when he told Kasumi the story. Raiden was also the one who often comforted Kasumi whenever she woke up screaming as the nightmares of what happened when her power got out of control had her waking up in the middle of the night for those first few years.
"Hey, Kasumi, what's down?"
Kasumi looked up in amusement to find Arina standing on her hands nearby. "Don't you mean, what's up?" she asked.
Arina flushed as she flipped to her feet. "Uh, yeah, I did. So?" she asked with a bright smile.
"Nothing much, just thinking," Kasumi said with a sigh before she returned her gaze to the sky.
"About what?"
"My brother."
"Jaden?"
Kasumi shook her head as she sat up and crossed her legs while Arina sat down beside her. "No, my other brother Raiden. He's a year older than Jaden and me but he disappeared from Duel Academy sometime last year and I miss him," she said.
"You were close with him, weren't you?"
Kasumi nodded. "Not as close as Jaden was, but yeah. He was the one who helped me adapt to my new family after I was adopted."
"Jaden didn't? From what I've seen, you two seem really close now," Arina said.
"We are," Kasumi said. "Nothing like tragedy to bring people close together. We got close after Jaden learned about Raiden's disappearance. Before that, he was nice to me and treated me like a sister but he was always so…withdrawn, I guess you can say. He isolated himself away from everyone, except Raiden and that's only 'cause Raiden refused to let him isolate himself from him."
"But why? Or is it personal?"
"It's personal. Even I don't understand it. I get the feeling Jaden doesn't either, at least not completely." Kasumi shrugged before looking over at Arina before smiling a little. "I'm pretty sure you didn't come over here to hear me talk about my problems, huh?"
"Not exactly," Arina admitted. "I don't think I'd make a good therapist anyway. Actually, I came wondering if you wouldn't mind a duel."
Kasumi shrugged. "Why not? It'll give me something to do." And get my mind off Raiden, she thought. She got to her feet before picking up the duel disk she always carried around with her before she strapped it on and inserted her deck.
Arina also inserted her deck in her disk as she activated it. "Good luck, Kasumi, because I'm not going easy on you," she said cheerfully.
"I'd be disappointed if you did," Kasumi said with a smile.
"Duel!" they declared as they drew their opening hand.
Arina: 4000
Kasumi: 4000
"I'll start," Arina said as she drew her sixth card before she glanced at it. "And I summon Fairy Archer to my field in Attack Mode."
The familiar small fairy with the large orange wings, who was carrying a bow and arrow in her hands, appeared on the field (A: 1600/600).
"Next, I activate her effect to deal you 400 damage for every LIGHT-attribute monster on the field, including herself," Arina added and the fairy pointed her bow at Kasumi before firing her arrow at Kasumi.
Arina: 4000
Kasumi: 3600
"Then, I'll set this card and end my turn," Arina added and a vertical card appeared at her feet.
"My move then," Kasumi said, drawing her sixth card. She glanced at her hand, pressing her lips together before nodding to herself. "All right, I summon Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress to my field in Attack Mode."
She placed the card down and a slender woman with long black hair, dressed in white with a gold-trimmed white cape around her neck appeared on the field (A: 1700/D: 200).
"Lyla, attack Fairy Archer," Kasumi ordered and Arina shielded her face as Lyla's staff shot a beam of light into her small fairy and caused her to shatter.
Arina: 3700
Kasumi: 3600
"Then I'll place this card facedown and end my turn, which means milling three cards because of Lyla's effect," Kasumi said, placing a card into a card slot before sending three cards from her deck to the Graveyard.
Arina drew a card. "I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands to my field in Defense Mode," she said and a green monstrous fairy with ten thousand hands all around his body, hence the name, appeared on the field, holding a defensive position (A: 1400/D: 1000).
"And since I successfully Normal Summoned him, I can add the Ritual Spell Dawn of the Herald from my deck to my hand," the Russian student added before she searched her deck for the card and added it to her hand. "I end my turn with that."
Wonder what she's planning, Kasumi thought as she drew a card. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your facedown," she said and a mini-tornado spun across the field before crashing into Arina's facedown and shattering it. "Next, I Set this monster and I'll have Lyla attack Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands."
Lyla raised her staff and another beam of light shot forward before slamming into Arina's green monster, causing it to shatter though Arina didn't seem particularly upset. In fact, she looked just as happy as she always was.
"I end my turn, which means milling three cards," Kasumi said before milling those cards.
Arina drew a card before grinning. "Yes!" she said happily.
Uh oh, Kasumi thought.
"I activate the Spell Card Monster Reborn to bring back Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands in Defense Mode," Arian began and her green monster reappeared on the field (A: 1400/D: 1000). "But he won't be here for long. Next, I activate the Ritual Spell Dawn of the Herald! And I tribute Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands on my field and Happy Lover in my hand in order to Ritual Summon Herald of Perfection to my field in Attack Mode."
Her green monster and a winged smiley face appeared momentarily only to vanish to be replaced by a gigantic blue monster with a round head and no face (A: 1800/D: 2800).
"Next, I activate Dawn of the Herald's other effect. I can remove it from my Graveyard from play in order to return one of the tributes used to summon Herald of Perfection back to my hand." Arina pocketed the Ritual Spell before returning Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands to her hand. "Now, Herald of Perfection, attack Lyla!"
"I activate my Trap, Lightsworn Barrier!" Kasumi declared, revealing her Trap Card.
"And I activate Herald of Perfection's effect. By discarding one Fairy-type monster in my hand, I can negate the activation of your Trap and destroy it," Arina said, discarding Shining Angel in her hand and Kasumi's Trap shattered.
Lyla cried out as a blast of blue light from the herald slammed into her and she shattered.
Arina: 3700
Kasumi: 3500
"Nice effect," Kasumi said as Arina signaled the end of her turn. The Lightsworn duelist drew a card before touching a button on her duel disk. "I Flip-summon Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter," she said and her furry white beast appeared on the field (A: 200/D: 100). "And that activates his effect."
"Sorry but I activate Herald of Perfection's effect again. I discard the Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands in my hand to negate your monster's effect and destroy it," Arina said, discarding one of her two remaining cards and Ryko shattered.
Kasumi scowled. "Fine, I place this facedown and end my turn," she said.
Arina drew a card. "Herald of Perfection, attack Kasumi directly," she said.
"I activate Negate Attack to stop your attack and end your Battle Phase," Kasumi declared and Herald of Perfection's attack was stopped.
"Good counter," Arina said. I'll use this to stop a more important move, she thought, looking at her hand. "I place this facedown and end my turn."
Okay, I need something to take out that Herald of Perfection, Kasumi thought, drawing a card before looking at it. Okay, Celestia's strong enough to take out Herald of Perfection and there's a chance that her last card isn't a Fairy so I'll just risk it. "I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Ryko in Defense Mode but he won't be here for long. I sacrifice him in order to summon Celestia, Lightsworn Angel."
"And I activate my facedown, Solemn Judgment. By giving up half my Life Points, I can negate the summoning of your monster and destroy it," Arina said, revealing her Trap and Celestia shattered.
Arina: 1850
Kasumi: 3500
Kasumi pressed her lips together as she played one card facedown. "I end with that," she said.
Arina drew a card. "I summon Freya, Spirit of Victory to my field in Defense Mode," she said and her pale-purple haired fairy with the red pom-poms appeared, kneeling on the field (A: 100-500/D: 100-500) (Herald A: 1800-2200/D: 2800/3200).
"And now, Herald, attack Kasumi directly," the Fairy Duelist ordered and Herald of Perfection went in for the attack.
"I activated my Trap, Call of the Haunted, to Special Summon Celestia, Lightsworn Angel to my field," Kasumi said and the beautiful blue-haired angel that would have been summoned during her turn reappeared on the field (A: 2300/D: 200).
"A nice comeback," Arina said as she called off her attack. "I end my turn."
Kasumi drew a card before glancing at it. If I use this then Arina might be able to counter it. But Celestia is strong enough to take out Herald of Perfection by herself…I think I'll do this. "I play the Equip Spell Lightsworn Sabre and equip it to Celestia, which will increase her Attack by 700," she began.
"And I activate Herald's effect again, discarding a Fairy in my hand to negate your Spell's activation and destroy it," Arina said and the sabre shattered.
Okay so apparently she did have a Fairy in her hand. Why didn't she use it to negate Celestia's summoning? Kasumi wondered silently.
"Well, Celestia can still attack. Attack Herald of Perfection, Celestial Strike," Kasumi ordered and her angel raised her staff before striking at Herald of Perfection, causing the large blue monster to shatter.
Arina: 1750
Kasumi: 3500
Arina lowered her duel disk as she lost her ace. "My draw," she said, drawing a card. "And I activate Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." She drew again before looking at the cards she just drew and adding, "And I sacrifice Freya in order to summon Tethys, Goddess of Light to my field in Attack Mode."
Freya vanished to be replaced by a beautiful female dressed in a floor-length white dress with long white wings connected to her shoulders by blue orbs, a silver and gold breastplate with two red gems, one on her midsection and one beneath it, white handless gloves with gold trimming that went to halfway up her bicep and silver hair (A: 2400/D: 1800).
"Next, I activate the Spell Burden of the Mighty, which decreases your monster's attack by 100 times her level," Arina added as a pale-orange aura surrounded Celestia as she powered down (A: 2300-1800). "Now, Tethys, attack Celestia."
A blast of light shot from Tethys's hand and struck the Lightsworn angel and she shattered.
Arina: 1750
Kasumi: 2900
"I end my turn," Arina said.
Kasumi lowered the duel disk she had used to shield herself from Celestia's destruction. "My turn, I draw," she said, drawing a card before she glanced at it and then looked at the lone card in her hand. "I activate the Spell, Solar Recharge. I discard Ehren, Lightsworn Monk in order to draw two cards from my deck but then I have to send the top two cards from my deck to my Graveyard." She did that.
"Finally, I summon Jain, Lightsworn Paladin to my field in Defense Mode," the blue-black haired Obelisk added and the silver haired Lightsworn warrior appeared, kneeling on the field (A: 1800-1400/D: 1200).
"I end my turn, which means I have to mill two cards because of Jain's effect," Kasumi finished before milling the top two cards of her deck.
At least I have some defense, she thought.
"All right, it's my turn," Arina said before she drew a card and glanced at it. "Okay, I summon Dunames Dark Witch to my field in Attack Mode."
The purple haired and purple eyed fairy from Arina's first duel with Kasumi appeared on the field (A: 1800/D: 1050).
"Now, Dunames, attack Jain," Arina ordered and the purple haired fairy attacked Jain, causing the warrior to shatter.
"Tethys, attack Kasumi directly," the Russian student added and Tethys shot a blast of light at Kasumi causing her to stagger back.
Arina: 1750
Kasumi: 500
"I end my turn now," Arina said.
Kasumi drew a card before glancing at it and her eyes widened when she saw she had just drawn the ace she finally remembered to add back to her deck. Well, since I don't have any other monsters to summon and Arina can take me out next turn unless I get some defense, I may as well. I won't be able to use his special ability though because I don't have enough Life Points but maybe I'll be able to last another turn, she thought. "Okay, since I have more than four Lightsworn monster with different names in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon my ace, my Judgment Dragon to my field in Attack Mode," Kasumi said out loud.
A beautiful pale-blue dragon with long curved red claws appeared on the field with a roar (A: 3000-2200/D: 2600).
"Judgment Dragon, attack Dunames Dark Witch, Justice Blast," Kasumi ordered and Judgment Dragon roared before unleashing a blast of energy that slammed into the ghostly winged woman and she, with a cry, shattered.
Arina: 1350
Kasumi: 500
"I end my turn now, which means I have to send four cards to my graveyard from my deck because of Judgment Dragon's effect," Kasumi added before milling those cards.
"A good move but this duel's over," Arina said as she drew a card and looked at it. "I summon Honest to my field in Attack Mode."
A winged man with long curly orange-red hair appeared on the field (A: 1100/D: 1900).
Dang, I was hoping she wouldn't draw a monster, Kasumi thought.
"Tethys, attack Judgment Dragon," Arina ordered and a blast of light shot from Tethys to hit Kasumi's dragon and caused him to shatter.
Arina: 1350
Kasumi: 200
"Honest, attack Kasumi directly and end the duel," Arina ordered and Honest flew into the air before unleashing a series of sharp feathers at Kasumi and they struck her and her duel disk, knocking out the rest of her Life Points.
Arina: 1350 WINNER
Kasumi: 0
Kasumi lowered her duel disk before deactivating it with a sigh. Well, I can't say I'm happy that I lost, she thought.
"You're still a good player, Kasumi," Arina said as she deactivated her own disk.
"Thanks. And, well, you win some, you lose some, right?"
"Right."
"Well, I think I'm gonna go find my brother. Do you wanna come with?"
"Actually, I'm going back to the Obelisk dorm. I'm getting hungry."
"Okay."
. . .
While Kasumi and Arina were dueling, Bastion, Jaden and Syrus were heading toward the Ra dorm; they currently had a free period and were walking and talking with Bastion about the baseball game they had just finished a while earlier.
"Okay, so I guess that last one wasn't a foul ball," Jaden said.
"Jaden, over the center field fence normally isn't," Sirius said.
"I play like I duel," Bastion admitted before he held out the baseball bat and Jaden and Syrus noticed there were many formulas written on it. "You see, I find that statistics, geometry and mathematics. We use all of them in our daily lives. Whether we're counting Life Points or home runs or how many helpings of dinner we have."
"I never thought of it that way," Jaden mused.
'Of course not. The instant anything resembling math or science is mentioned, you immediately space out,' Haou said with a snort.
Jaden decided to ignore that.
"So do you have a formula for everything?" Syrus asked.
Bastion chuckled. "I'll show you," he said before leading the way into the Ra Yellow dorm.
The Ra dorm wasn't as luxurious as the Obelisk dorm but it was still better than the Slifer dorm. Bastion led Jaden and Syrus to his room on the second floor; one thing Jaden noticed was that the Ras didn't have roommates.
Bastion opened the dorm room and Jaden and Syrus gasped when they saw what was in Bastion's room. The walls and ceiling were covered with equations and formulas. "Welcome to my dorm room," Bastion said. "Also my lab and my workshop." He pointed to the wall his desk was next to. "Over there are formulas for Trap Cards." He pointed to the opposite wall and ceiling. "Over there is for Spell Cards." He pointed to the wall with the window. "And that's…well, you get the idea. In here, I've cracked the ability to beat almost every card ever made but, as you can see, I'm running out of room. So…" He held up a mop and a paint bucket. "Mind helping?"
"Sure," Jaden and Syrus said.
The three of them set out to repaint Bastion's dorm.
"Hey, check it out, I'm Michelangelo!" Jaden said. He was currently standing on a step ladder while Syrus and Bastion were laughing. "Get it? Because I'm painting on the ceiling!" Jaden lost his footing and his hold on his brush; he managed to regain his footing so that he didn't fall but the brush went flying into Syrus's face.
"You do realize, Jaden, that this means war," Syrus said with mock anger as he reached over to pick up a paint bucket.
Jaden, jumping down from the step ladder, eyed the bucket warily. "It was an accident, Sy," he protested.
"That's enough, you two," Bastion said in a scolding tone. "Now, give me that paint."
Syrus threw the paint at Jaden who quickly ducked out of the way and the paint covered Bastion's face instead. Jaden burst out laughing.
"Oh, funny, is it?" Bastion asked before smacking Jaden in the face with a rag coated in paint.
Needless to say, it was a paint war after that.
. . .
Sometime later, after a ceasefire was called between the two Slifers and one Ra, the three finished painting Bastion's room. After cleaning themselves up, Bastion invited the two Slifers to the Ra cafeteria for some food.
Jaden looked at the amount of food with wide eyes and he immediately began helping himself. "This is so sweet! You're all right, Bastion," he said, happily taking a plate piled high with food to one of the tables in the cafeteria.
"Yeah and so is Ra Yellow's food," Syrus agreed as he sat down beside Jaden.
"You flatter us," Bastion said; he brought over his own tray and sat down. "But I'm sure it isn't that much better than Slifer's."
Jaden's eyes bugged out when he saw the lobster on Bastion's plate. "Trust me, the closest thing we've got to fish is Pharaoh's breath," he admitted.
"Speaking of bottom dwellers, what were you talking to Crowler about earlier?" Syrus asked curiously.
"Actually, he wants me to test to be an Obelisk," Bastion said.
"Are you serious?" Syrus said, surprised, and Bastion nodded.
"Is that why you were cleaning your room? Because you're switching dorms? Well, congrats, Bastion, you deserve it," Jaden said.
"Again, you flatter me," Bastion said with a faint smile.
"Nah, you really do deserve it. You were awesome at the entrance exams."
Flashback
On the field in front of the proctor were Gear Golem the Moving Fortress (A: 800/D: 2200) and Big Shield Guardna (A: 100/D: 2600). The monster on the other side of the field was a Vorse Raider (A: 1900/D: 1200) and there was also a facedown card.
"All right, new guy," the dueling proctor said. "Multiple choice; you have two monsters staring you down, do you A. throw in the towel, B. beg for mercy or C. run home to mama?"
"I choose D. none of the above," Bastion declared, revealing his Trap Card. "I activate my Trap, Ring of Destruction. With this card, I can destroy a monster on the field and we both take damage equal to its Attack Points."
A metal ring surrounded by flames appeared before encircling Vorse Raider's neck and exploding, taking out Vorse Raider and dealing damage to both Bastion and the Dueling protector.
Proctor: 0
Bastion: 1300 WINNER
"A clever move," the proctor said. "Welcome to the Academy."
End Flashback
"You kicked that Duel Proctor's butt," Jaden said. "You'll be a shoe-in to pass Crowler's test."
Syrus nodded in agreement.
"Well, thank you," Bastion said. As Jaden and Syrus dug into their meal, he just looked at them with a small, sad smile on his face.
. . .
In Chazz's room in the Obelisk Boys' Dorm, Chazz was currently in a video-chat with his older brothers; Slade and Jagger. They were currently on a flat-screen TV, looking with some contempt at their younger brother.
"Got it, Chazz?" Slade asked.
"Yeah," Chazz said.
"We can't hear you," Jagger said.
"I said I get it!" Chazz snapped, rolling his eyes. Word had somehow gotten to his family that he was in jeopardy of losing his position among the elite so they called to 'check up' on him.
"Well, you better understand," Slade said coolly. "The Princeton Group has a plan. Your brother and I are already going through with our ends of it."
"And you had better be following through with your end as well," Jagger said. "Just think of it, little brother, the world of politics, finance and Duel Monsters. If the Princeton family rises to the top of all these things, we will control the world. The future of the Princeton family relies on you."
"Be the best, no matter what," Slade shouted and the video-chat ended.
Chazz clicked off the communicator. Be the best, he thought snidely. How can I be the best? He stood up before walking over to the window in his room. In the distance, he could see Jaden and Syrus.
When there are lucky punks like those guys out there? He thought before he frowned when he spotted Bastion walking up to the two Slifers before all three of them took off down the path toward the Slifer dorm.
Looks like Bastion's heading off to spend the night in the Slifer dorm. That means his dorm room will be empty! Chazz thought before his lips curved as an idea came to him.
. . .
At the Slifer Dorm, Jaden and Bastion were fast asleep on the floor and snoring. There were only three bed bunks, though, so Jaden was sharing with Bastion while Syrus and Chumley were in their own beds, looking down at the two of them.
"Hey, Syrus, what's that Ra doing here?" Chumley asked.
"He just had his room painted so we're letting him crash here for the night," Syrus replied.
"But what if he wakes up and starts to make fun of us, or even worse, duel us?" Chumley said cautiously.
"Bastion's okay, Chumley. Besides, he let us eat at the Ra cafeteria," Syrus said.
"Oh, he can have my bed then."
. . .
Sometime before dawn, Chazz went up to Bastion's dorm room and was about to open it when he noticed the desk up against the wall next to the door. He opened one of the drawers and found a dueling deck; looking through it, the black-haired Obelisk realized the deck was the same one that Bastion had used for his entrance exam.
Nice, he thought. Without his deck, Bastion won't be able to duel me. And I'll get to keep my place at the top.
He got out of the dorm and headed toward the docks. When he got close to the water, he tossed Bastion's deck into the water and laughed.
He was unaware of the fact that two people had just seen him do that, two people who frequently hung out by the docks near the lighthouse.
. . .
Later that morning, Jaden, Syrus and Bastion were awakened by someone knocking rapidly on the door. "Jaden!" a shout sounded outside.
Jaden got up and opened the door to reveal Ms. Dorothy, the owner of the card shop he had helped during the promotion exams. "What is it, Ms. Dorothy?" he asked.
"I was unloading some supplies form the docks when I saw them, cards everywhere!"
The three boys gasped and immediately headed toward the docks, where they found that Dorothy was right; there were many cards lying scattered in the water.
"That's Ring of Destruction," Jaden said, pointing out the Trap Card when he saw it.
"And Vorse Raider," Syrus added, also spotting a card he recognized.
"Bastion, these are all of your cards," Jaden said. Who would do such a thing? He thought.
"It's my own fault," Bastion said. "This deck was in the desk I moved out to the hall while we were painting yesterday."
"Who would want to do something like this?" Syrus wondered aloud.
"Someone who doesn't want you to be promoted to Obelisk Blue," Jaden said before he looked at his friend. "What are you going to do? Your promotion exam is in less than an hour."
Bastion just knelt down and picked up one of the wet cards. "Leave it to me," he said.
. . .
Accompanied by Jaden and Syrus, Bastion entered the main dueling arena where Dr. Crowler and Chazz were waiting. "Ah, Bastion, you made it," Crowler said. When he spotted Jaden and Syrus, he frowned. "And I see you brought some friends."
"I hope you duel better than the company you keep," Chazz said with a smirk.
"Wait, Chazz is your opponent?" Jaden narrowed his eyes before looking at his friend. "Bastion, he must have been the guy who chucked your cards into the ocean."
"Pardon?" Crowler said, confused.
"I don't know what he's talking about, Dr. Crowler. I didn't do anything," Chazz said.
"Oh, is that so?"
The group turned to find Zane, Alexis, Arina and Kasumi standing at the entrance.
"I saw you, Chazz. You dumped those cards into the water," Alexis said. "Normally, I don't like to snitch, but you don't mess with someone's deck."
"That's low, Chazz, even for you," Jaden said coolly.
"Oh come on. How do you know I wasn't throwing away my own cards?" Chazz demanded, though everyone knew he was still lying as he did have two witnesses. "I guess Bastion and I just have similar decks."
"You're a liar," Arina snapped.
"Nobody calls me a liar and nobody calls me a thief," Chazz snapped.
"Fine, you're not. Let's just get on with our duel, shall we?" Bastion said, unconcerned with everything that was going on.
"But, Bastion, what about your deck?" Syrus asked.
"Don't worry about it. A good duelist always keeps a spare deck on hand, or a few," Bastion said before he unzipped his yellow jacket. "You two saw all of my formulas on the wall, right? Well…" He opened his blazer to reveal a vest with six deck pouches. "They were for all of my different decks. And each of them contains one of the six attributes."
Chazz cringed. Damn, he thought as his plan to keep Bastion from taking the exam backfired. "Fine, keep your six crummy decks. I need only one, which I'll unleash on you for thinking you're better than me."
Bastion activated his duel disk and inserted one of his decks. "You're just a theorem to be solved, Chazz, a code to be cracked, you're finished."
"Bring it, you worthless reject," Chazz hissed, also activating his duel disk.
"Duel!"
Chazz: 4000
Bastion: 4000
"Get ready because here comes the hurt," Chazz said as he started off. "I summon Chthonian Soldier." A dark armored warrior appeared on the field (A: 1200/D: 1400). "And a card facedown, that'll do it for now."
A card appeared vertically in front of him.
"Oh will it now?" Bastion asked.
"Bastion sounds like he has something up his sleeve," Jaden mused.
"He works quickly," Alexis said as she, Zane, Kasumi and Arina came over to stand behind Jaden and Syrus.
"I've only seen Bastion duel once, at the entrance exams," Kasumi said.
"He's good," Arina said. "I saw him duel at the promotion exams; Chazz may have bitten off more than he can eat."
"I summon Hydrogeddon in Attack Mode. Hydrogeddon, arise," Bastion said before anyone could say anything in response to that, though Kasumi looked faintly confused for a moment until she realized what Arina had been trying to say.
A geyser of muddy water appeared before a muddy brown and green water monster that resembled a dinosaur came out of it in front of Bastion (A: 1600/D: 1000).
"Now, attack Chthonian Soldier. Hydro Gust Attack, destroy," Bastion ordered and his monster let out a blast of water that shot forward and slammed into the soldier, shattering him.
"Thanks, you just activated my Soldier's special ability," Chazz said. "It causes you to take the same amount of damage to your Life Points as I do."
Chazz: 3600
Bastion: 3600
"Not bad," Zane said.
"Bastion walked right into that one," Jaden mused.
'It could be part of his plan, though,' Haou mused.
"I activate a Special Ability also," Bastion said, taking out his deck and fanning out the cards in his hand as he searched for a specific one. "You see, Chazz, when Hydrogeddon successfully destroys a monster in battle, I'm allowed to summon another Hydrogeddon from my deck. So rise, Hydrogeddon!"
Bastion took another Hyrogeddon from his deck and placed it on his disk. A double of his first monster appeared on the field next to the first one (A: 1600/D: 1000).
"And my Battle Phase continues, which means that now I can wage a direct attack on you, Chazz. Go, Hydrogeddon, Hydro Gust Attack!"
The new monster sent a blast of water toward Chazz, who was knocked down from the attack.
Chazz: 2000
Bastion: 3600
Not a bad move, Jaden thought.
'It was okay,' Haou said; he was rarely impressed by other duelists.
"You'll pay for that," Chazz said angrily as he got back to his feet. "I activate my Trap, Call of the Haunted." Chazz's facedown flipped up. "This lets me summon a monster back from my graveyard and the monster I choose is, that's right, Chthonian Soldier."
In a burst of electricity, the soldier reappeared on the field (A: 1200/D: 1400).
"Next, I activate the spell Infernal Reckless Summon. After I Special Summon a monster with 1500 Attack or less, we must summon, in Attack Mode, all monsters from our hand, deck or Graveyard that match the monsters we currently have on the field." Chazz removed two cards from his deck. "And I'll bring out my other Chthonian Soldiers!"
From another burst of electricity, two more soldiers appeared side by side the first one (A: 1200/D: 1400) x 2.
"It doesn't matter how many of those things Chazz summons," Alexis said as Bastion summoned a third Hydrogeddon (A: 1600/D: 1000). "They still won't have enough Attack Points to beat those Hydrogeddons."
"Not by themselves, they won't," Zane said.
Chazz took another card from his hand. "I activate the Equip Spell Chthonian Alliance. The monster this card is equipped to gains 800 Attack for every monster on the field with the same name as it."
The Chthonian Soldier was surrounded by a dark aura and grew until it was three times its normal size (A: 1200-3600).
"That brings its Attack Points up to…well, you're the math nerd, you figure it out."
"That's a lot of points," Syrus said while the other spectators gasped.
'Attack one of those Hydrogeddons," Chazz commanded and his giant soldier slashed through the Hydrogeddon in the middle and Bastion grunted from the damage he took.
Chazz: 2000
Bastion: 1600
"That's not good," Jaden murmured. "His Life Points have gone down by more than half."
'He's still in this, though,' Yubel said, materializing behind Jaden to watch the rest of the duel.
"Bravo, good show," Bastion said as he drew a card, not seeming to care about the loss of points before he placed another card on his disk. "But it will be short-lived. Rise, Oxygeddon."
A dinosaur with large wings made of green air appeared out of a geyser of oxygen (A: 1800/D: 800).
"Now, attack one of the 1200 point Chthonian Soldiers with Vapor Stream."
A clear blast of air shot forward from the Oxygeddon to slam into the Chthonian Soldier, causing it to shatter (Chthonian A: 3600-2800).
Chazz: 1400
Bastion: 1600
"Forget?" Chazz said with a scoff. "When my Soldier's destroyed, you take the same amount of damage as I do."
Chazz: 1400
Bastion: 1000
"My turn's not done yet. Next, my Hydrogeddon will attack your other Chthonian Soldier," Bastion said and one of his Hydrogeddon's attacked and destroyed the second soldier, causing both players to take the same amount of damage (Chthonian A: 2800-2000).
Chazz: 1000
Bastion: 600
"Oh man, why does Bastion keep attacking when he's hurting himself more than he's hurting Chazz?" Syrus protested when he compared the sores.
"He's fine," Jaden assured the little Slifer.
"He's playing it smart," Zane added. "The Chthonian Soldier with the equip card had 3600 Attack Points. Bastion would have had to summon an incredibly powerful monster to beat him. Unless, however…" He trailed off and looked at his brother, waiting for the little Slifer to figure it out for himself.
"Wait, I see, unless he takes out the other Chthonians and lowers the big one's Attack Points," Syrus realized.
"Right, Sy," Jaden said with a nod. "So if Bastion's going to win this, he's going to have to give up some Life Points."
"Last, I'll play this card facedown."—a facedown card appeared at Bastion's feet—"That'll do for now."
"Will it? I doubt it, Wiz Kid," Chazz said tauntingly as he drew a card. "I sacrifice my Chthonian Soldier and all the cards in my hand in order to summon Infernal Incinerator! Bet you didn't see that coming." He started to laugh as his soldier was engulfed by a sphere of fire.
"Infernal Incinerator?!"
The sphere exploded, covering the field in smoke and, from it, a giant fiendish red-and-yellow salamander with the top-half of a Chthonian soldier on its head (A: 2800/D: 1800).
"Better break out your calculator because if you can't figure out a way to beat this guy, you're through," Chazz said.
I hope that facedown will be able to help Bastion, Jaden thought, eyeing the monster worriedly.
"Face it, Bastion. You have no chance against my Infernal Incinerator," Chazz said. "Especially since he gains 200 Attack for every monster you have on the field." (Incinerator A: 2800-3400).
"Oh man! This isn't good," Syrus cried.
"Infernal Incinerator, attack with Firestorm Blast!" Chazz ordered and the monster opened its mouth, revealing a row of sharp teeth, and launched a huge fire ball at Oxygeddon.
"I activate my Trap, Amorphic Barrier," Bastion said and a wall of ice rose up around his monsters and the spectators let out the breath they had been holding. "When I have three or more monsters, this Trap Card stops my opponent's attack and ends the Battle Phase. But nice try, Chazz."
"That was close," Syrus said.
"Who cares?" Chazz said with a snort. "One turn, that's all it buys you and then you'll be all mine."
"I'm afraid there won't be a next turn," Bastion said as he drew a card.
"What?"
"You heard me. I activate the Spell Card, Bonding H2O," Bastion said, inserting a card depicting a beaker being poured to create water. "I sacrifice two Hydrogeddons and one Oxygeddon,"—the three monsters turned into geysers as they combined together—"and summon Water Dragon!"
The geysers formed a large serpentine dragon made entirely out of water (A: 2800/D: 2600).
"And since the number of monsters on my side of the field has decreased, so does Infernal Incinerator's Attack Points." (Incinerator A: 3400-3000).
"It doesn't matter. My monster's Attack Points are higher than yours," Chazz said with a smirk.
"Better double check your work," Bastion said. "Because I've already done all the math."
"Done all the math?" Crowler echoed. "Does that mean…?"
"Bastion had this planned from the beginning," Jaden said.
'Impressive,' Haou grudgingly admitted.
Water Dragon created a large tidal wave that washed over Infernal Incinerator and took away all of its power (A: 3000-0).
"No, its Attack Points!" Chazz cried.
"Indeed. That's Water Dragon's Special Ability," Bastion explained. "You see, when he's out on the field, the Attack Points of FIRE-attribute and Pyro-type monsters automatically become zero. Now Water Dragon, attack! Tidal blast!"
The dragon roared before unleashing a high-powered blast of water that crashed into Infernal Incinerator, destroying it, knocking Chazz from the stage and filling the whole arena with water.
Chazz: 0
Bastion: 600 WINNER
"A well played duel, Chazz," Bastion said as Chazz surfaced and the water receded. "But not well enough."
"Pure luck," Chazz snapped, spitting out some water. "You drew a lucky card and stumbled into victory."
"Perhaps, but I find that luck tends to favor the prepared," Bastion said. "And I was prepared to defeat you with half a dozen other cards as well, just as I was prepared for your suspected sabotage of my deck."
"What do you mean, Bastion?" Syrus asked.
"The moment I learned Chazz was going to be my opponent, I was prepared to face his underhanded tactics," Bastion explained. "So, before I left last night, I made sure that all of my best cards were with me and left behind the cards I could afford to lose."
"How can you even prove it was your cards that got thrown in the ocean?" Chazz demanded.
"Simple," Bastion said, removing his wet Vorse Raider card. Jaden and the others noticed there was a math equation on the front. "This card I retrieved from the water had a formula that I wrote on it. I suppose you could've written it, but then the math would've been wrong and it's not. Chazz, you cheated, you lie, you stole, you lose. You deserve to be demoted."
"This can't happen to me," Chazz screamed in fury.
"Bastion Misawa," Dr. Crowler said as he walked over to join them. "Congratulations and welcome to Obelisk Blue."
"Thank you, Dr. Crowler, but I'm afraid I cannot accept such an invitation at this time."
Crowler looked shocked. "What? But why?"
"When I entered this Academy, I made a promise that I would only enter Obelisk Blue when I become the number one student in the freshman class," Bastion said before he turned to Jaden. "Jaden, of all the new students, I think the number one student is you. You shouldn't even be in Slifer with your skills."
"Hey, thanks," Jaden said with a smile. "Does that mean you want to settle this right here? Seeing you guys duel makes me want to get my game on."
"Sorry, but not now."
"Why not?"
"Because I have a lot of work to do before I duel you, many formulas to write, theorems to solve, equations to bounce. You're a good duelist and I want to be ready," Bastion explained. "Soon, my dorm room walls will be filled with new problems and equations and then we will have our duel. Just be prepared for it to turn out like that ball game, you know, the one where I struck you out."
Jaden smirked. "You keep on dreaming, Bastion. Baseball's a past time but dueling's my life. Until then."
"Until then."
. . .
A/n what do you think?
Blaze: well, that was chapter 9. I hope that you liked it
Darth: I did
Blaze: you just liked seeing Chazz get creamed by Bastion
Darth: well…yeah
Blaze: can't blame you. I don't like Chazz until the Shadow Rider arc and only then did he turn into one of my favorite characters
Darth: yup so how long until you're done with chapter 10?
Blaze: oh I'm already done with it. I started writing ahead and I'm already up to the duel with the Duel Giant and with Damon, which I combined into one chapter
Darth: oh
Blaze: I can't wait until I get to the Shadow Rider arc. I'm going to have so much fun!
Darth: I bet you will
Blaze: yup so please review and I will post chapter ten either Sunday or Monday (if things go according to plan anyway)
