Author's Note: It's certainly been a long time since I've written a chapter Duel Island almost as long as this one turned out, and I had to be sure everything was in place before sharing it with you guys.
Chapter 11:
The Crossroads Duel
Three days fly by in the blink of an eye of Shaggy's preparation for the Crossroads Duel. He keeps in mind about the one thing Soren said to him the other day.
"You're opponent from Duel Battlefield won't be some pushover."
The amount of duels he and Soren exchange after their initial one was relatively short, but at the same time it's able to help him learn thing that haven't come to him yet about the power of his deck. These thoughts run through his mind as he takes the step out of the dorm with his friends Jake, and Cherry towards their way to the main building.
"Feeling nervous about the big day?" Cherry asks curiously.
"No why, I'm pumped if anything." Shaggy proclaims in excitement.
Jake points out, "Well don't get too ahead of yourself. I mean it is a big deal."
"I've kept that in mind." A calm yet serious Shaggy answers while walking closer to the building, "I know this duel means a lot for Duel Island, So I'll have to give it my all."
A voice calls out, "You better."
The three students notice the orange haired girl standing against one of the pillars while crossing her arms, "Rachel?"
"I thought you'd already be at the Duel Arena since for you and the other students it's another analysis assignment for Professor Capsule." Shaggy answers curiously.
"I know that!" She says furiously while pointing her finger at his chest, "Don't think I came all this way to be friends with you because I didn't."
Cherry says, "Then why did you wait out here?"
Shaggy notices a glare in her eye, "Because if he loses then Duel Island is gonna be a complete joke, and that'll tarnish my reputation to duelists outside the island. I'd rather keep my integrity on a high note then be looked down because of you."
"Leave it to me." The boy answers with confidence.
Rachel walks into the building while flicking her hair back, "Well you better get there now, everyone is waiting."
"Yeah." He says with a nod.
It takes very little time for Shaggy to enter the center stage of the dueling arena. There, he notices Jake and Cherry sitting in at the center of the second column of seats to the far left section where the other students of Duel Island are sitting. He also notices Rachel sitting in the same section, but the row above from Jake and Cherry. Sitting at the section behind where he stands on the dueling platform are Chancellor Hunter, Professor Reign, Professor Violet, Professor Capsule, Professor Nora, and a few other professors from Duel Island.
Glancing across the other side of the dueling platform is a guy with white hair, and hazel eyes. He wears a silver jacket with gold T-shirt underneath while wearing black jeans and gold sneakers underneath. At the same time, Shaggy notices an older guy in around his mid forties with gray hair wearing the same kinda clothing style as his opponent. At the far right section there are are dozens of students who also wear the same kind of uniform as the one standing before him with a total grin on his face.
"You must be my opponent." The guy answers with confidence.
Shaggy points to himself, "The name's Shaggy Eclipse, and you?"
His opponent crosses his arms, "The name is Kane Arc the best duelist to come out from Duel Battlefield."
"The best huh, Then this duel should be interesting." Shaggy states with confidence.
Kane nods, "Indeed it should."
The Chancellor speaks through a microphone, "I see both of our duelists are ready to go, but before that. The headmaster, Ikemoto and I would like to have a few words."
The Headmaster Ikemoto stands up from his seat with a microphone, "There is no point in discussing about the event itself, but to the duelists I promise you my students are no pushover, and will do at nothing to ensure our hands on the prize."
Hearing those words causes Shaggy to look at Hunter, "A prize, you didn't mention anything about that, Chancellor."
The Chancellor laughs, "Headmaster just had to get ahead of himself, but oh well... Yes the topic of the prize was suppose to be a surprise after the match, but I guess it can't be helped. The winner will receive a special never before seen duel monster's card, and they will also be marked in the hall of fame for the school they represent."
Hearing the sudden news causes a buzz among the students from both schools. At the same time it makes Shaggy laugh to himself in excitement, "Awesome."
"I promise you Shaggy Eclipse, that prize will be mine." The purple haired Arc points out to the midnight haired Eclipse.
"Well then let's get the show on the road." Shaggy proclaims while activating his duel disk at the same time as Kane does.
The two duelist say, "It's time to duel!"
Shaggy: 4000
Kane: 4000
"I'll go ahead and make the first move." Kane states while drawing a card from his card, and examining his hand, "I summon Gem-Knight Lapis in attack mode." a hologram of the feminine in ancient technological gem armor appears on the field with 1200 ATK and 100 DEF, "Next I'll lay a card face down..." a face down card appears on his field behind Lapis, "And end my turn."
"Alright then, it's my move." Shaggy draws the card from his deck with confidence, and looks at the cards in his hand, Luster Dragon, Tiger Dragon, Exchange, Reinforcements, Different Dimension Dragon, and Pot of Generosity, "I summon Luster Dragon to the field." a hologram of Luster Dragon appears on the feild with 1900 ATK as Shaggy places it on the monster zone of his duel disk, "Take out his Gem Knight Lapis."
Luster Dragon uses its breath to destroy Gem-Knight Lapis which causes Kane's life points to drop from 4000 to 3300.
"Next I'll lay a card facedown, and end my turn." Shaggy states as a hologram of the facedown card appears behind Luster Dragon.
Kane draws a card from his deck, "Here goes." He looks at the card he in his hand along with the other four he's holding onto, "I summon Gem Knight Alexandrite." a hologram of a knight in shining armor in dozens of gems appears on the field with 1800 ATK and 1200 DEF, "Next I activate its special ability, you see by sacrificing Alexandrite." The monster disappears from the field and his deck starts to glow for Kane to grab, "I can special summon a normal Gem Knight monster from my deck so come on out." light appears on the field as knight with several crystals appears, "Gem Knight Crystal." with 2450 ATK and 1950 DEF, "Now go and destroy his Luster Dragon."
Just by using his hands alone, Gem Knight Crystal creates several crystals in the air that lock onto Luster Dragon.
"Not so fast I activate the trap card, Reinforcement." Shaggy's face down card shows itself, "Thanks to this trap Luster Dragon's attack increases by 500 so I'll hardly be taking any damage."
Luster Dragon's Attack points increase from 1900 to 2400, and it drops Shaggy's life points from 4000 to 2950 leaving him with a raising eyebrow.
"What just happened?" He asks, " I could've sworn our monsters were almost even."
At the seating area Jake says in confusion, "Something's up."
"Yeah there is no way Shaggy lost that many points with nearly even attack points between the two monsters." Cherry proclaims.
"Kane's monster was a normal type so there is no way it could've had a special effect, unless..." Rachel pauses while looking at Crystal's attack points.
Gem Knight Crystal's ATK shows 3450.
At the dueling platform Shaggy looks over at his opponent, "You're face down card that had to have been it."
Kane shakes his head, "Good guess, but no." he takes a card from his graveyard, "It's thanks to Gem-Merchant's special ability. You see by sending it to the the card graveyard Gem Knight Crystal gains a 1000 attack points when its in battle until the end phase. Which means you lost more than you had hoped for." He places the card back into the grave and a card glows in his hand, "Next I activate the spell card Linear Accelerator Cannon, see by getting rid of my Gem Knight Crystal you take damage equal to half it's original attack points."
"No way!" a surprise Shaggy says as he watches Crystal shatter into a million pieces and his life points drops from 2950 to 1725.
Kane lays another card face down, "I'll lay one card face down, and let you proceed."
Shaggy stands there while heavily breathing from the previous turn. The boy draws a card from the top of his deck, and glances at it along with the other cards in his hand, Different Dimension Dragon, Pot of Generosity, Exchange, Tiger Dragon, and Kaiser Seahorse, "I summon Kaiser Seahorse." Shaggy places the card in the monster card zone of his duel disk as a hologram of Kaiser Seahorse appears on the field with 1700 ATK and 1650 DEF, "Attack his life points directly."
Kaiser Sea Horse charges in for a direct attack towards a confident Kane.
"Hold up, I activate the trap card." Kane's face down card reveals itself, 'I activate my trap card, Negate Attack. Thanks to this your attack is negated."
Shaggy sighs, "I end my turn."
Kane chuckles while drawing his card, "Then it's my turn." and continues while glancing at the card in his hand, "If this is all you can muster Shaggy Eclipse then I am disappointed."
"And what's that suppose to mean?" The midnight blue haired Eclipse asks.
Kane continues to glance at the card in his hand, "The beginning of the end of this duel." and then sticks his hand out as his face down card flips up, "I activate the trap card Pyroxene Fusion, thanks to this I can fusion summon a Gem Knight Fusion depending on the fusion material either on the field or hand, and I've got two." He reveals the two cards in his hands and shortly sends it, "I send Gem Knight Sapphire and Giant Soldier of Stone to the graveyard to summon," a huge gust of wind brushes through the dueling arena as a giant bulky gem knight with a purple cape, "Gem-Knight Zirconia!" it appears on Kane's side of the field with 2900 ATK and 2500 DEF, "Now go and destroy Kaiser Sea Horse!"
All it takes is a single punch for Zirconia to destroy Kaiser Sea Horse. At the same time, Shaggy's life points drop from 1725 to 525 while he tries to cover his face from the force of the attack.
"And with that, I end my turn," Kane crosses his arms with confidence leaving Shaggy to just stand still for a while, "Um.. Earth to Shaggy".
While looking at his hand Shaggy thinks, "It can't end like this.. Not after what I've been working towards for the last three days." he also starts gritting his teeth.
Within the seating area everyone begins to gossip about what's going on, Jake says, "Guys tell me he isn't gonna just stand there, he can pull through... right?"
Cherry holds her fist towards her chest, "It's hard to tell, he's down to less than a thousand life points now, but it all depends on what he draws."
The other girl starts gritting her teeth drawing Jake's attention, "Rachel? Are you..."
He gets cut off with Rachel slapping her arms against her thighs, "What in the world do you think you're doing standing around like that?"
Hearing those words draws Shaggy's attention towards her, "No need to cause a scene while I'm in the middle of a duel."
"Are you kidding me..." She points out to him, 'Just look at that stupid face you're making..You are representing Duel Island, and this is the best you can do..."
The boy looks at the cards in his hand, "Yeah but..."
"I'm not taking no for an answer you cheater!" Rachel continues to shout, "Remember the last thing I need is for my reputation to squander because of you losing to someone from another school, and as much I hate to admit it, but your next card will determine everything."
A voice calls out from behind, "She's got a point, Shaggy."
Shaggy looks over the side to notice Soren standing near one of the entrances above the seating area, "Soren?"
"You've been working really hard for the last three days, and all of a sudden you're about to throw in the towel because it looks like the odds are against you." Soren then points out ot Shaggy's card, "Don't forget about everything for the last three days. You can do this."
One of the students cheers, "They're both right Shaggy, you can do this!"
"Same here, come on Shaggy!" Another student.
"You've got this Shaggy!" Another student shouts.
Pretty soon it follows with every student from Duel Island cheering, "Shaggy Eclipse, you can do it!"
Hearing those words of encouragement starts bringing a smile to Shaggy's face, "Thanks everybody." While glancing at his deck, "I can do this..." He then draws the top card of his deck and quickly looks at it, "Alright I activate the spell card Dragon's Charge." A hologram of a spell card showcasing Luster Dragon's energy appears on the field, "Thanks to this spell card, I can send two dragons from my hand to the graveyard and gain life points equal to the level of the two dragons I sent." The two dragons reappear from the graveyard for a split second, "As you can see Different Dimension Dragon is a level 5 dragon and Kaiser dragon is a level six. Which means my life points increase by 2200."
Shaggy's life points increase from 525 to 2725.
"So you've managed to gain some life points back, big deal Zirconia will just finish you off in the next turn." Kane continues.
Shaggy sighs, "But wait Dragon's charge has another special ability, you see after gaining life points I can summon a dragon monster equal to one of the dragons I sent to the graveyard with the highest number of stars." He showcases the dragon in his hand more time, "And that was Tiger Dragon, which means I can summon." one of the cards in his deck begins to glow, "I get to summon White Horned Dragon!" Shaggy places the card from his deck onto the monster zone of his duel disk as a hologram of White Horned Dragon appears next to him with 2200 ATK and 1400 DEF.
"Good move, but your dragon is still weaker than Zirconia." Kane points out.
Shaggy continues to sigh, "Again with the obvious, but you're missing something else about Dragon Charge's final effect, it can half of the original attack points of the dragon with the highest level, and as you can see Tiger Dragon had 2400 points which means White Horned Dragon gains 1200 extra points." Shaggy then points out to his monster, "There's also White Horned Dragon's special ability to by getting rid of up to five of your spell cards, my dragon also gains an additional 500 points, and last i check you have Linear Accelerator Cannon in your graveyard." The card comes disappears from Kane's graveyard, and an aura around White Horned Dragon glows, "That gives White Horned Dragon a total of 1700 extra attack points."
White Horned Dragon's ATK increases from 2200 to 3900.
"It's even stronger than Zirconia!" A surprise Kane says.
A confident Shaggy nods, "That's exactly it, now White Horned Dragon attack Gem Knight Zirconia."
With it's powerful blast, White Horned Dragon destroys Gem Knight Zirconia. It also drops Kane's life points from 3300 to 2300.
"With that I end my turn." Shaggy says while looking at his dragon roar towards his opponent.
At the seating area Jake lays back against his seat, "What a relief."
"He was able to pull through." Cherry says in relieving tone.
Rachel crosses her arms in silence.
At the dueling platform Kane's arm begins to twitch as he looks at the dragon, "One card I need one card!"
"Don't fail me Kane." The Headmaster calls out to draw Kane's attention, "Your deck by far superseeds everyone from Duel Battlefield, don't forget the code of Duel Battlefield."
Shaggy notices a worrisome look on Kane's face, "Yes sir I remember."
"Good then show this ameatur of a duelist, what you are capable of." The Headmaster points out.
A sigh of confidence appears on Kane's face, "Of course." as he draws the top card of his deck, "It's my move." He looks at the card in his hand with a smirk, "I activate the spell card Cut Gem Fusion." a hologram of the spell card appears on the field briefly, "Thanks to this I can fusion summon three Gem Knight monster from my graveyard, so I'll fuse Gem Knight Crystal, Gem Knight Sapphire, and Gem Knight Alexandrite to summon.." Kane draws his fusion monster on the monster zone of his duel disk as a hologram of it appears, "say hello to Gem Knight Master Diamond." with 2900 ATK and 2500 DEF, "And incase you didn't know my monster has a special ability too. It gains a 100 attack points for every Gem monster in my graveyard, and I count six which means Master diamond gains 600 extra points.
Gem Knight Master Diamond attack increases from 2900 to 3500.
"Now destroy his White Horned Dragon!" The Battlefield Duelist yells.
Using it's diamond like blade, Master Diamond destroys White Horned Dragon causing Shaggy's life points to drop from 2725 to 2125.
"That ends my turn." A confident Kane continues with a grin, "looks like we're back to where we started."
Shaggy: 2125
Kane: 2300
"Not this time, Kane." Shaggy draws the top card of his deck, "As what someone told me, it's not over until the last card is played." He then looks at the card in his hand along with the others, Reload, , "I activate the spell card Reload!"
A surprise Kane says, "What!"
At the seating area Jake says with his jaw drop, "He's gotta be crazy to play that card."
"It' not like he's got a choice." Cherry points out.
Rachel sighs, "I hate to admit it again, but right now that's the best option he's got in order to pull something off."
At the dueling platform Shaggy shuffles his deck back into the the deck slots and places his finger on the top two cards, "This is it!' He takes the top two cards from his deck, and glances at it, Monster Reborn, and Pot of Greed, "I activate the spell card Pot of greed to draw two cards from my deck." He draws two additional cards from his deck, Lightning Vortex, and Blue Eyes White Dragon, "Perfect now I activate the spell card Lightning Vortex, "Thanks to this I cand send a card from my hand to destroy Gem Knight Master Diamond from your field."
A bolt of lightning comes down from the sky shattering Gem Knight Master into pieces as it slowly disappears.
"Congratulations you destroyed my monster, big deal I'll find a way to bring him back next turn." an arrogant Kane proclaims.
A confident Shaggy states, "Too bad there isn't gonna be a next turn for you.."
"Huh?" The Battlefield student asks in confusion.
Shaggy shows him the only card in his hand, "I activate the spell card monster reborn!" it begins to glow as well as his graveyard, "Come forth, Blue Eyes White Dragon!"
A surprise Headmaster says, "What the?"
"Blue Eyes White Dragon?" Kane mimics the same expression.
An irritated yet calm Rachel says, "I was wondering when he was gonna bring him out."
The Blue Eyes White Dragon appears on the field with 3000 ATK and 2500.
Shaggy notices Kane's eyes widen, "No it can't end like this..."
"It's too late for that Kane!" Shaggy raises his fist in the air, "Go Blue Eyes White Dragon wipe out the rest of his life points with White Lightning Attack!"
Upon hearing Shaggy's voice, Blue Eyes White Dragon roars as it releases a burst of white lightning towards Kane eliminating his life points from 2300 to 0. The force of the attack causes Kane to drop to his knees in embarrassment. All the students from Duel Island clap for Shaggy as well as Chancellor Hunter and the other Professors.
"I can't believe it.." Kane starts weeping.
Shaggy extends his hands forward, "That was an excellent Duel, Kane."
Kane continues to cry.
Shaggy shouts, "Hey there is no need to feel down about losing, you gave it everything had against me, and that's what's important."
"Yeah but..." Kane attempts to talk.
"No, I understand it's been three years since the last Crossroads Match, and losing is tough, but that doesn't mean you can't get stronger." Shaggy says while looking at the Headmaster, "I'm sure that's something your Headmaster should keep in mind."
"That's not it Shaggy, it was worse." Kane begins to speak up while looking Shaggy in the eye, "You see there was a price for failure in the Crossroads Match, and that is an for the students resignation from Due Battlefield upon return. That's why..." Tears continue to roll down his face, "Winning meant a lot in this match."
"I guess when you put it like that it makes sense." Shaggy answers in a down tone, but still smiles while extending his hand, "But remember you did great against me, always remember to never give up."
Hearing those words makes Kane wipe away his tears and get up confidently while shaking Shaggy's hand, "I'll keep that in mind."
While doing so, all of Kane's other classmates cheer for his efforts during the duel that takes place with the exception of the headmaster.
A few hours later...
Near the docks of Duel Island is a large cruise with a signature Duel Battlefield across the edges of it. There, Shaggy and everyone else from Duel Island stand face to face to Kane and everybody from Duel Battlefield.
"Kane best of luck for the future." Shaggy extends his hand forward.
With a confident smile Kane does the same thing, "Thanks Shaggy, and I wish the same to you as well."
"Hmm pointless chatter come along everyone we must work harder to improve or the next Crossroads Match for Kane's failure." The Headmaster states while glaring at Chancellor Hunter, "We will return in the following year Hunter, and I promise you we will get stronger."
The Chancellor crosses his hand, "I'll look forward to it Ikemoto."
Shaggy waves at Kane, who wave while the ship takes off until nothing can be seen in the distance by then most of the professors, the chancellor, the other students including Soren walk away from the sight. Only leaving Shaggy standing there with his group of friends. There, He can feel the wind breezing through his body while staring at the prize card in his hand and the trophy with his name engraved on it, "Well I did it." until he feels a slap in the face from Rachel, "Hey what in the world was that for?"
"For almost ruining my reputation." A furious Rachel yells.
Cherry facepalms, "Oh for the love of... He at least won."
Jake answers, "She does bring up a good point."
"But if you really think about it, Rachel was kinda the first person who openly snapped you to continue on with the duel." Cherry points out.
Shaggy raises his eyebrow while looking at the orange hair girl, "That's true Rachel, I guess I should thank you for being the first for encouraging me out there."
Cherry starts clenching her first while her cheeks turn red, "Even though I was gonna try cheering for him first ugh..."
"I only did to make sure my reputation was safe from hitting lowest common denominator." Rachel looks away while crossing her hands.
Jake fake coughs to grab their attention, "You now instead of hearing you guys bicker.. Why don't we head back to the dorm to celebrate Shaggy's victory."
Cherry shows an instant happy expression on her face, "Perfect I'm gonna work on the muffins."
"I'll make a batch of cookies." Rachel answers calmly until she looks at Shaggy and Jake and Cherry, "Only for today! I'll be this nice."
"Alright then, onto the dorm it is." Shaggy says as he, Jake, Cherry, and Rachel casually walk back to their dorm.
Oh man there was a lot that happened in this chapter that I don't even know where to begin. I think it's easier to discuss about the Gem-Knight cards yes I know they are cards that exist during Arc V, but given some of the references I made to the original series, it wouldn't hurt to get a few elements from Arc V when it came to the duel. I think the biggest inspiration for the duel was for me to try to capture what happened with Shaggy during the first chapter, but elevate the tension by showcasing what a student from Duel Battlefield is capable, and the way things went with them by the end of the chapter, I will say their story is far from over. As for Rachel, Yes alot of you will point out how she's been a little out of character, but it's my way of showing subtle changes in her character, and mainly to showcase she's not a completely total brat and she's got a side to her that will do good things for people. Yes, I saved Blue Eyes White Dragon for the end and I feel kinda guilty for this, but it's the save the best as a last resort, and that's what I was trying to do in this chapter. The next chapter will shift back the focus to Jake for three chapters before it jumps back to Shaggy, but I will say this a lot of things for the next 3 chapters are build from how things transpired here. Whether it's big or small is for you guys to find out, anyway the story will be on break until Thursday, November 11th. Let me know what you guys thought about the chapter, and as always thanks for reading.