Chapter 14: "I Really Hate Slifer Red!"
"And how is your morning, Alexis!" Jasmine asks with a smile as she looked into her PDA. Ever since the Placement Exams, there were plenty of rooms that were vacant in the Obelisk Blue Girls Dorm. Therefore, some of the girls who had to room with another girl took the opportunity to lay claim to a room, Jasmine included. How she feels right now. As much as she enjoyed having Alexis and Mindy for a roommate, it was nice to have a room to her, especially when she needed some "me-time."
"I'm okay, especially with everything back to normal…" Alexis sighed on the monitor as she was buttoning up her blazer. "That's even if you can call it that."
"I know… Just what were Max and Missy trying to accomplish?" Jasmine brushed her hand through her red hair.
"Probably about the ridiculous Miss Duel Academy thing…" Alexis suspected. "Even when I stated a thousand times that I wanted nothing to do with it!"
"Oh c'mon Alexis!" Jasmine protested in response. "How can you say that? Do you know how many girls would dream to be even close where you are? I mean here you are, 3rd-Year Obelisk Blue, 2-time Miss Duel Academy! And you're a huge favorite to not only win again but to be the first girl in Duel Academy to execute a three-peat! Do you know many girls even get close to where you are? Not that many!"
"If they want to become Miss Duel Academy so bad, then good for them! I don't want to be seen as some doll, let alone a piece of meat! I want to be known as a duelist, first and foremost!"
"And you are Alexis! I just don't understand why won't you accept the well… more girlish things of being a duelist. It's not like there's sexism in dueling or anything!"
"Jas, you and I know that the first thing they think about when they see female duelists are looks!" Alexis explained. "I'm trying to change all that and trying to be respected because of my dueling skills, not because I'm just a pretty face."
"But that could be to your advantage. Makes your male opponents pay for underestimating you." Jasmine reminded. "Beauty and Brains, perfect combination!"
"Enough about me and Miss Duel Academy!" Alexis decided to change the subject to a more serious one. "How about you? I've heard you got a new roommate!"
"Yeah…" Jasmine looked down at the bed next to hers as the person occupying it began to awake. "I like her and all, but I was really looking forward to having a room of my own!"
"Can't you just tell her?" Alexis replied, a bit annoyed at Jasmine's skirting around the issue. "I mean I care about her too, but she does have her own dorm to go to!"
Jasmine nodded. "You have a point, but how can I break it to her?"
"Just tell her!" Alexis' annoyance with the issue was increasing. "I mean come on! It's not like you're afraid of her, are you?"
"I'm not! I'll handle it…"
"Let me know how it turns out!" Alexis said before the screen went blank, leaving Jasmine to do the tough task…
Jasmine took in a deep breath before walking towards her impromptu roommate, who had just finished dressing. "Okay, I like you and all but we really need to talk…"
Mindy sighed as she placed the elastic around her hair, placing it into a ponytail. "Anyway, thanks again for letting me crash here for tonight!" She said with a smile.
Jasmine chuckled a bit, "What are friends for!" In her mind she was becoming frustrated. 'You're making things harder…'
"I mean at the Slifer Red Girls dorm, we're having major trouble with the showers! They just don't have much pressure and the water usually turns cold in about ten minutes. And the beds are fine for the most part, but the sheets and blankets are hand-me-downs and they're so itchy I have red marks on my thighs from the scratches last night."
"Mindy listen…"
"We could have it be just like this! It'd be just like the last two years…without Alexis!" Mindy suggested.
"That's nice and all but-"
Mindy grabbed a small bag that contained her toiletries, "Hey, I'll be right back. Gotta keep my teeth minty-fresh!"
"Okay…you do that!" Jasmine nodded as she watched Mindy leave. As soon as the Slifer was gone, she let out a sigh of frustration. "Really making this difficult, Mindy…" She groaned as she heard a familiar beeping tone. She grabbed her PDA and accepted the incoming call.
"How did it go?" Alexis asked.
"She didn't even give me a chance!" Jasmine complained as she lay back onto her bed.
…
In the halls, Mindy walked towards the restroom on the first floor with a smile on her face. It was good to be back in blue, where she belonged. Where the beds weren't as itchy, the showers were warm and had enough pressure, and most importantly, everything was up to her standards. This was indeed her true home: Obelisk Blue, not crappy Slifer Red.
"What are you doing here, Slifer Slacker?"
Mindy blinked, snapped out of her thoughts, as she saw a small group of Obelisk Blue girls. Girls whom she was previously friends with or had seen around! "Hey girls, what's up?"
"Aren't you lost?" The first girl asked in an annoyed tone.
"What do you think you're doing here?" Another girl demanded.
"Oh c'mon girls! I'm with a friend of mine!" Mindy tried to explain, but the other girls unfortunately weren't going to have it.
"Like we'd believe you, loser!"
"Yeah, why would an Obelisk Blue want to hang around with a Slifer Skank like you, anyway?"
"Ex-cuse me?" Mindy raised an eyebrow at the "Skank" remark.
"You heard me, Slifer Skank! This is our dorm and your kind aren't welcome here!" She demanded as she and her group began walking towards Mindy, who backed up a bit. They weren't going to have this Slifer Red loser contaminate their Elite Blue dorm.
"Look, can't we just talk about this?" Mindy tried to explain. All she wanted was to brush her teeth, but unfortunately that wasn't going to happen. In fact something worse was about to happen…
"Get her!" She ordered as Mindy, having no other choice, began to run. This was certainly the day: Her being ran out of the dorm she used to be in by girls she's known since first year. If it wasn't confirmed yet it certainly was now: Mindy was definitely at the bottom of the barrel as a Slifer Red duelist.
Duel Arena
"Armed Dragon Level 10, attack his facedown monster with Static Orb Thrust!" Chazz ordered as the giant armored dragon threw a cobalt-colored orb of energy from his hand, destroying the facedown monster that was revealed to be Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000).
"Sorry Chazz, but you activated my Trap Card: Hero Signal!" Jaden informed as an "H" beacon illuminated on top of the ceiling. "Now I'll be able to summon a Level-4 Elemental Hero, and I choose Elemental Hero Sparkman (1600/1200)!" At that moment, the Elemental Hero of thunder appeared on the field, dressed in his usually blue and gold bodysuit.
Chazz narrow his eyes. He could discard a card and destroy his Sparkman with his Armed Dragon's Special Ability. But this facedown card could still be useful. "I'll just place one facedown card and end my turn!" He then taunted. "Face it, Slacker! Next turn it'll all be over, and I'll get what's rightfully mine!"
"Seriously, you need to get over it…" Jaden drew a card that was Skyscraper. "Okay Chazz, I'll activate the Spell Card Miracle Fusion, allowing me to remove my Flame Wingman in my Graveyard and my Sparkman on the field to summon Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman (2500/2100)!" Sparkman was removed from the field as from above descended a green-skinned warrior with illuminating white armor, save for the wings. A sword in one hand, a shield in the other, as a green light began to glow around him. "You know about my Wingman's special ability, right?" Jaden tried to confirm as Chazz remembered how many of his Elemental Heroes he had sent to the graveyard. There was Avian and Burstinatrix from the fusion of Flame Wingman. Then there was Bubbleman and Bubbleman Neo as well as Bladedge, and of course Clayman, who he just destroyed! And with a 300-point increase for each of them in the grave, he'd gain an extra 1800 ATK points (4300/2100).
"Crud!" Chazz grumbled, forgetting about Jaden's Flare Wingman, as he was now ready for the attack!
"Shouldn't you realize by now Chazz? Like in the comics, a hero always wins!" Jaden reminded as he proceeded to declare his winning attack! "Now Shining Flare Wingman, attack his Armed Dragon LV10 (3000/2000)! Shining Emerald Orb!" He ordered as the Flare Wingman charged up a green orb-like sphere. Jaden's Life Points were at 200 while Chazz' were still at 1000! Even without its Special Ability of dealing Direct Damage equal to his Armed Dragon after its destruction, Jaden had this duel one… Or did he?
"Not this time, Slacker!" Chazz activated his trap card. "Go Ring of Destruction!" At that moment, an explosive ring appeared around the Elemental Hero's neck, as within seconds it would explode. The downside of using this card was that not only Jaden would take damage equal to his own monster but Chazz would as well! But at this point, he didn't care. 'If I can't win this duel, nobody will…' Within seconds, the ring exploded, dealing both of them 4300 points of direct damage, bringing both of their Life Points to zero.
"Whoa…" Syrus let out a sigh as he, Hassleberry and Blair watched both duelists shielded themselves form the blast. "Jaden had it won but Chazz came back with that trap card.
"It was a close battle, Soldier. It could've gone either way!" Hassleberry placed in his two cents.
"I love Jaden to death and all, but I was really kinda hoping that he'd lose this one." Blair admitted. Knowing very well about the stipulations of the duel that had just finished.
"Looks like we tied!" Jaden walked towards Chazz as he extended his hand towards Chazz, as a symbol of respect and friendship. "Sweet duel, huh?" However instead of a handshake, all he got was a finger pointed towards him.
"Don't think that this is over, Slacker!" Chazz declared. "I will beat you and finally take back what you stole from me! What's rightfully mine! What should've been mine all along, Jaden!"
"Look if you want to be her fiancée that's great! But you're really going overboard with it! Don't go complaining to me! If you want it so bad then talk to her about it!"
"I still have my pride!"
"Newsflash Chazz: She wasn't happy about being put through the situation of winding up as somebody's fiancé! If anything she's going to hate you even more!"
"SHE DOESN'T HATE ME!" Chazz snapped.
"Wow…" The three spectators gasped at the raven-haired duelist's actions. They've thought that Chazz would drop the whole fiancée thing once Alexis snapped at him about it. Apparently they were wrong. In fact, they could see it becoming even worse…
Chancellor Sheppard's Office
"This is ridiculous! Outrageous! Nonsense!" Crowler protested as he pounded on the polished desk of the esteemed Chancellor. "How could you possibly allow this to happen?"
"I agree!" Vice-Chancellor Bonaparte added. "It's honteux that's what it is!"
"Gentlemen, settle down!" Chancellor Sheppard, always being the voice of reason, explained. "While it may seem to be shocking, but he does excellently well in the dueling exams but only well enough to pass on the written tests. Nevertheless, he always was qualified for promotion to the next year for the past couple of years!"
"That may be true, but still! Chancellor Sheppard, do you see the ramifications this could bring to our school! Just think about how much of a blow to the reputation of not just yours and mine, but to the entire school if we allow this to happen! THINK ABOUT WHAT KIND OF AN EMBARRASSMENT IT WOULD BE IF A SLIFER SLACKER ACTUALLY GRADUATED!"
"I agree with Monsieur Crowler!" Bonaparte explained, "This school has always been about creating the best of the best duelist in this school! All of them have been in Obelisk Blue and perhaps some from Ra Yellow! But to think that one of them would be from the Slifer Red of all places? We'd be a complete laughingstock! We've already gained negative press when Zane Truesdale, our best student who graduated first two years ago, was obliterated by Aster Phoenix so quickly without having a slacker be among our graduates!"
"If I remembered correctly, didn't we have one of those 'slacker' graduate two years ago and now works as a card designer for Industrial Illusions?" Sheppard reminded.
"That was different! Signore Huffington won a card design contest and Pegasus personally requested for his services! Back to the matter in hand, we couldn't just promote him to Obelisk Blue or anything! Besides, even if we did he'd probably stay in that dorm full of Slackers anyway!" Crowler crossed his arms. "The last time we gave him a promotion exam he won the right to move up to Ra Yellow, yet he still stayed in that shack!"
"Well…maybe you could convince him to want to be promoted to Ra Yellow at least." Sheppard suggested.
"Please we've tried tearing down his dorm and that didn't even work…" Crowler mumbled.
"What was that, Crowler?"
The aristocrat-like teacher stammered, realizing what he almost revealed. "Oh nothing!" He twiddled his thumbs.
Bonaparte glared. " Monsieur, are you trying to get us fired?" He whispered harshly.
"Well gentlemen, if you really don't want one of the graduates to be a Slifer Red, another one anyway, then you two should find a way to do something about it! And I don't mean blackmailing or doing something devious like threatening to tear down the red dorm." As Sheppard mentioned the latter idea, Crowler and Bonaparte began to sweat a little. Despite hearing whispers about it, the chancellor has little, if any, knowledge of their attempts to tear down the red dorm while he was away and Crowler was temporary Chancellor. And for their sakes, they'd like to keep it that way! "I suggest you come up with something fast: After all, the year is moving fast and if you don't act quickly Jaden Yuki will most likely graduate as a Slifer Red."
…
"There's got to be some way we could convince that Slifer Slacker to move up to Ra Yellow at least…" Crowler vented his woes as he and Bonaparte walked away from Sheppard's office.
"How about showing him how better Ra Yellow or Obelisk Blue is!" Bonaparte suggested. "And while we're at it we could convince him to work on his grades a bit! How about you become a tutor to Jaden?"
"WHAT!" The Italian aristocrat outburst out of shock and contempt, "You actually want me to hang around with that Slifer Slacker like I were one of his friends? Though I don't hate him as much as I used to, I refuse to spend one second, let alone a year, with that slacker more than I have to! Bonaparte you must be joking!"
"Are you still upset about the time when you were in the chat room and you-"
"CHETARE!" Crowler snapped at the much shorter teacher! "WE AGREED THAT WAS NOT TO LEAVE THE TEACHER'S LOUNGE!"
"Monsieur, you really need to get over it!" Bonaparte suggest strongly, still can't believing that Crowler still haven't forgotten about the chat room incident, as he heard footsteps. Upon closer inspection, the saw a girl from the Slifer Red dorm and from the depressed expression on her face she wasn't exactly proud of her new rank. "Who is she?"
"That's Mindy Harrison." Crowler explained. "She's one of the many girls who were demoted from Obelisk Blue and now resides in the red dorms."
"No wonder she's so depressed." Bonaparte thought as suddenly, a thought came to mind. "I got it!"
"Got what?"
"You big lummox, I mean the solution to our problem! To convince that Slifer Slacker to stop being a Slifer Slacker!"
"And how we're supposed to do that?" Crowler gave the Frenchman a skeptical look.
"That's the thing. We won't have to do anything! She'll do all the work for us!" Bonaparte explained with a grin on his face.
"So we get Mindy to convince Jaden to not only move up to the Yellow dorms, but to stop slacking around like sleeping in my class!" Crowler then exclaimed, "Come magnifico! Glad I thought of it!"
Bonaparte scoffed, "You thought of it?"
Crowler quickly rushed over to the depressed girl. "Oh Signora Harrison!" He called out to her.
"Huh?" Mindy blinked as she looked at her two professors approaching her. "Oh... hi Dr. Crowler, Vice-Chancellor Bonaparte…"
"Why the long face my girl? I take it that you're not very happy in your new dorms?"
"No… it's okay…" Mindy assured the taller man. She didn't like the place, but she didn't want to seem ungrateful that she was still in the academy either.
"You can be honest! Tell us how it really feels to be in Slifer Red?" Bonaparte asked. She should just flat out admit that it's horrible in Slifer Red. They are trying to help her, after all!
"Okay, you wanna know how it's like in Slifer Red? Fine! It's horrible, okay?" Mindy snapped. "The water hardly works, the sheets are all itchy, and there isn't that much food! I hate it there! I hate it I hate it I hate it!"
"Hmm…it's a pity that you've went from 3rd-year Obelisk Blue to a mere Slifer Slacker…" Crowler sighed. "A shame there isn't a way for you to be promoted back to Obelisk Blue. Unless…"
"Unless what?" Mindy asked. If there was even the tiniest bit of hope for her to be promoted back to Obelisk Blue, she was ready to do just about anything to get that promotion.
"Tell me, Mindy. Have you ever been a tutor for someone? Hmm?"
Mindy looked down a bit. "Well… I did remembering helping a struggling student with their math problems back in grade school."
"So you do have experience! Splendid! Now I have a person in mind who I'd like for you to be a tutor for…"
"And that is…"
"I think you know him! He's a Slifer Red just like you! What was his name? Jaden Yuki, was it not?"
Mindy blinked out of shock. "You want me to tutor Jaden?" She liked him and all, but Crowler must've been joking. Helping Jaden to do well on his written exams? He'd have a better chance of finding a snow cone in the depths of Hell.
"That's right! I know that tutoring someone as simple-minded as Jaden can be rather stressful, so that's why if you should succeed in making him into a respectable student – for once – I'll do everything I can to get you back into Obelisk Blue!"
At hearing this Mindy hastily nodded. "I'll do it! I'll turn that slacker into a star! Anything to get back into Obelisk Blue!" She knew that she should've thought this through, but if there were any chance she could go back to the dorm she felt that she belonged in, she would be a fool not to take it.
"Nice to see that you're excited about this. But I can tell you that this won't be an easy task!" Crowler reminded. "Working with someone like Jaden takes patience!" He then mumbled. "A lot more than I have for sure…" Switch to his regular voice, "Don't think of it as doing a the impossible Mindy, but think of it as doing a service for your school!"
Mindy raised a closed fist as she gave a smile filled with determination. "I won't let Jaden knock my spirits down! His slacking days are over!"
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear!" Crowler announced as Bonaparte, from a far, watched on. A smile forming on his face…
Outside Duel Academy
Sitting near the edge of the cliff, Jaden looked at his deck as he began to recall the events that had just happened. Hassleberry dueling against Max out of honor and vengeance! Max and Missy's whole plan to get rid of Alexis from school and manipulating Chazz! And just earlier, him dueling Chazz for the prize of being Alexis' fiancé! Lately it seemed to be less about fun and more about getting what you want!
'Is this what dueling really is about?' He asked himself as he looked to his hand that clutched his deck. A long time ago, he was taught that dueling should be fun! But now, he wasn't so sure. Maybe dueling was really about dominance and power! After all, for two years now it was a deciding factor in the fate of the world. To say that he was becoming sick of how duels were being used would be an understatement.
"Hi Jaden."
The brunette turned around as he saw Alexis approaching him. As much as he liked her company, he almost wished that she didn't showed up. After all, this would all but certainly give Chazz more ammunition for his personal vendetta against him for having, in his opinion, what was rightfully his. "Oh, hi Alexis!" He greeted.
The honey-blonde girl could sense there was something wrong. He did seem to be his usual cheerful self, but something was a bit off. "Is there something wrong? Anything you'd want to talk about?"
He sighed, "Lex, don't take this the wrong way. But I don't think it'd be a good idea for us to be alone."
Now it was her turn to sigh! "Let me guess: Chazz still hasn't drop it yet?"
"He just challenged me to a duel this morning…" Jaden sighed. "At one point I was just about ready to just lose on purpose just for him to stop bugging me about it, but then it'll just make things worse! And besides, a true duelist wouldn't just throw away the duel! It'll be disrespectful to both duelists and the duel itself."
Alexis nodded in agreement. "You're not the only one with problems over the whole love issue. You do know how much Blair hates me, right?" She reminded.
"Yeah, but I wouldn't say hate. I think it's more of the fact that she's feeling a bit threatened."
"Don't forget that, in a way, this is your fault! You were the one who accepted Harrington's duel when you didn't even know what a fiancée was!"
"Like I told Mindy before, it's not like I thought that fiancée was some kind of feast like some people would. It is a still a foreign word though."
"Only a foreign word that's now apart of our everyday language and not just apart of the French language."
"You're never going to let me live it down, are you?"
Alexis gave him a small smirk, "Not a chance! And besides, it's not like there are still a group of people dressed in white yelling at you to see the-"
"Finish that phrase and I will jump off of this cliff and take you with me." Jaden cut her off with a warning. "That really grew old."
"True, but admit it Jaden. You thought that I looked cute in my little white uniform!" Alexis teased.
"Really not helping our current situation!" Jaden reminded. "Why don't you just go on a date and Chazz just to get him to shut up about the whole thing?"
"I'll do that on the day you decide to spend the entire day with Blair." Alexis countered. "Even if it means having to hear a lot of love references!" On reviewing what she just said, however, she decided that maybe she said the wrong thing…
"It's a deal!" Jaden closed the fist of his free hand as he gave a confident smile towards Alexis.
"What's a deal?" Alexis blinked as she soon saw that smile. That same smile she's seen on Jaden's face when he got an idea. "Oh no! Don't tell me that you're going to-"
"Come on, Lex! It's a perfect idea: Blair and I will chill! And you and Chazz'll go out one night! It's a win-win situation!"
"No!"
"Come on!"
"Forget it Jaden!"
"Please!"
"I'm not doing it!" Alexis crossed her arms.
"Look, I'm willing to do whatever Blair wants to do for a whole day! The least you can do is go on one measly date with Chazz!" Jaden declared.
"I don't care! There's no way-"
"Pretty please?"
"-am going to go-"
"Do it for me Lex? Please!"
"-Date with Chazz! You must be-Ugh, I hate you Jaden…" She hissed, pouting as a small smile formed on the brunette's face.
"I take it that's a yes, am I right?" He asked.
"Whatever! You owe me for this one Jaden!" She declared. "And you can believe that I'll be ready to collect soon. Very soon."
"Sure whatevs! So let's plan the dates okay?"
'I'm starting to think that the soul of my brother has taken over Jaden's body…' Alexis frowned in the situation as she listened to Jaden's suggestions of what she should do with Chazz. This whole date setup reeked of Atticus, just like the whole love duel between her and Chazz two years ago. It wasn't that she didn't want to go out with Chazz…okay, maybe it was. But she didn't just want to be forced into dating someone unless she wanted to. This time, she would go ahead and do so. She took a look at the brunette dressed in red, knowing that he better be ready to deliver when it was time to return the favor…
Looks like a possible double date is in the works between Jaden, Alexis, Blair, and Chazz. Will it work out and put an end to their insecurities, or will the dates even occur? Also, in order to get back to Obelisk Blue, Mindy must do what most deemed to be impossible: Helping Jaden score a high grade on his written exams and convince him to move up to Ra Yellow!
In closing I like to thank everyone who reviewed and read this chapter and all the others in this story. I hope that I haven't gotten too far out of character with any of them but if I have then I know that I'll be definitely hearing about it. In upcoming chapters, there'll be the duel between Bastion and Max, Mindy continuing to adjust to life as a "Slifer Slacker" (And maybe some more tension between her and Serene), and to finally move on with the plot. Also I'm planning on working on the relationship between Blair and Alexis since I think I've went too far with Blair's resentment to Alexis for the whole "fiancée" thing. I'm just wondering what you all think of it.