Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh!-Kazuki Takahashi/Konami
A loud knocking jerked Jason awake this morning. Wanting it to stop he stumbled out of bed to the door and opened it to find Rock on the other side, "Hey, whadda 'ya still doing in your joggers?!" Jason merely grunted, not fully awake, "Dude, it's almost noon! And the School Duel's gonna start soon and the meet-and-greet's already started!"
Somehow that shook Jason wide awake, "Wha, it's now...?!"
After stuffing himself into his academy clothes, Jason followed Rock to the pier where it was full of other students and faculty. A large submarine can be seen stationed at the docks with an unfamiliar group standing on the deck. One of them, a balding old man in glasses and a peach-colored scuba suit stepped onto land and was greeted by the Chancellor. "Foster! It's been far too long! How have you been?"
"I've been well, ever since I got over the defeat toy handed us at last year's School Duel." Foster replied, greeting palms.
"Oh, don't fret about that. It was a close match."
"Not really. But this year I have a feeling it will be."
"Yes. I'm sure it will. To a spirited duel between our two schools."
"Yeah, yeah, spirited," Jaden jumped in between the two, "But enough with all the 'how you doin's', I wanna meet who I'm gonna be duelin'."
"Yes, Jaden, we were just getting to that." Sheppard said.
"Great. Then I'll just wait right here 'til we get there."
"Jaden?" Foster piqued, "So you're Duel Academy's phenom."
"Phenom? That's the coolest thing I've ever been called!" Jaden exclaimed, "What's it mean?"
That comment seemed to have tripped Foster off his feet, "It means be quiet..." Sheppard hissed.
"So c'mon, c'mon! When do I get to meet my opponent?!"
"Right now, Slacker!"
Jaden blinked and looked to the sub where the North Academy students were, "Who just said that...?"
"It me." those students stepped aside for whoever addressed him.
"Whoa, hold on!" Jaden gasped, "Am I seeing things or is that Chazz?!"
"You got that right."
"...Well, why are you here?"
"For the duel."
"I think it's sold out..."
"I'm in it!"
"Like as a ref?"
"I'm dueling you!"
"You mean...it's you? You're North Academy's duel rep?! Since when did you transfer?"
"Since I stopped getting the respect I deserved here."
"That's right!" the north's students chimed.
"Yeah. Now it's payback," one of then spoke in their thick russian accent, "you won't give respect so he'll take it!"
"He'll Chazz you Up!"
"Big time." Chazz finalized.
The air seemed to tense due to the standoff their giving each other, before the wind suddenly picked up. Everyone had to cover their eyes from the dust and Jaden was one of them who caught a glimpse of something in the sky, "Oh great. Now what?!" he had to yell over the loud rotors.
"Hi, Chazz!"
"What's going on, little brother?! Mind of we drop in?!"
From one of the couple of helicopters in the sky you could see two men in suits, one with shoulder-long black hair and goatee, the other with shorter brown hair. At least only one person knew them, "Slade! Jagger?! Why are you herr?!"
"Why else, to celebrate your big dueling victory!" Jagger exclaimed. The helicopters landed ontop of the building they were hovering over, the two brothers stepping outside, "You are going to win, aren't you, Chazz?"
The second helicopter opened and another person stepped out, wearing what looks like a white military uniform. He was a mature man with black hair, goatee and large brows. He stood at the edge of the building and looked down at the crowd.
"Glad to see you made it!" Sheppard greeted.
"Wait a minute!" Foster gasped, "Why is Principal MacKenzie here?!"
"That's it! Beautiful! Just act natural!" now the pier was being littered with trucks and vans carrying lots of electronics, including cameramen that watched over the area.
"Alright, a little more to the right...okay, we're all set here with Camera 2!"
"Uh, what's going on here?" Foster called to the nearest person.
"'What's going on?' I think you mean when are you going on!" the lead cameraman said, "And the answer is primetime, baby! This School Duel's gonna be broadcasted worldwide!"
"No way!" Jaden's eyes widened and faced the nearest camera, "Me on TV? My face beamed across the world?! In full color!? IN FULL STEREO?!"
Later...
"You mean you didn't know there's a Duel Academy back in the States?"
"Am I supposed to...?" Jason was in the school lobby on the benches with Rock, Jaden and Chakra.
"It's like the other side of a coin, it represents the west side like Duel Academy here represents the east! I thought for sure you'd know about it. You are from around there, aren't you?"
Jason leaned over to Chakra, "Do you know anything about their Duel Academy?"
"I...may have held that part back," Chakra sighed, "It's just that they rarely participated in multi-school events. They just keep to themselves."
Soon after, Syrus came out to the lobby, "I just heard that Jason's going to duel first!"
"I better get ready..." Jason stood and went on his way to the arena, with the others following. But when he reached the halls' intersection, their path were being crossed from a different corridor by people approaching, a young man and woman, both wearing white military uniforms and headwear.
"Never seen these guys before..." Rock whispered aside.
Jaden was the first to step out and approach them, "I guess you're here dueling for the American Academy, right?"
"Yes. And I was told you're representing your school as well." the young man replied with a small smile, "I have to admit, I was surprised that since Zane Truesdale decline the position this year, someone from the lowest dorm would be participating. To think someone from Slifer Red would have that much potential."
"Well, penny for your thoughts!" Jaden reached a hand out, "Here's to a good game!"
"I wouldn't waste my time on them," both groups turned to see Chazz coming up from a different corridor, "Take it from me, I used to be a student here, and I know for a fact those Slifers won't last long out there. That guy in particular..." Chazz pointed at Jason, "His track record isn't something to write home about. He lost way more duels than he won."
"Well, we won't know until we found out, won't we." Jaden scowled.
"Hmph, yeah, we'll see," Chazz slipped past the American students, "And I'll see you on the duel field."
Soon they made it to the entrance leading straight to the stadium.
'Here goes...' Jason breathed and prepared to walk out.
"Wait," the Slifer stopped at the sound of Chakra's voice, and looked back to see her smile, "Whoever your opponent, there's no telling what you'll be up against. So no matter the situation, just remember to adapt like you did when you fought against me."
Jason nodded and stepped out.
It was then time for the annual School Duel. Everyone from both North and Duel Academy were cheering on the stands opposite to each other, with the Chancellors sitting in the middle of the North.
"That's it, everyone, lot's of energy! Remember, the whole world's watching this thing live!" the director called from his megaphone, "Now let's cheer these duelsts on!"
"Same bet as usual. Eh, Sheppard?" Foster glanced at his rival, "You remember, don't you?"
"Absolutely," Sheppard nodded, "After all, it's what makes this so special... Attention, students!" Sheppard rose from his seat with Foster following, "Welcome to the School Duel between our three schools!"
"And now..." Foster added.
And then in unison, "Let this year's competition finally begin!"
"Doctor Crowler, please begin the first round!"
"With pleasure, Chancellor Sheppard!" Crowler stepped onto the arena with a microphone, "And this year's duel is a special occasion! For not only is North Academy dueling for the second year in a row, this year the American Duel Academy decided to try their hand as well! So without any further ado, I'm proud to introduce American Academy's representative! Let us give a warm Duel Academy welcome to David Rabb!" the crowd applaud when the challenger entered the arena, "And facing him today, representing Duel Academy is...what's his name again...oh, who cares! That guy with the cowlick, get out here!" Jason walked into the arena. When he saw his opponent, he recognized him as one of the students from the American Academy he ran into earlier. The young man had brown hair under a sailor's cap.
Above the stands, Chakra was leaning over the rails waiting for the duel to begin, "Everything I taught you so far had led to this. Now to put it to good use..."
Elsewhere, Principal MacKenzie was also getting a bird's eye view of the duel, 'Let's see if this school could retain their reputation without their #1 duelist up to plate..."
"And now, let the duel begin!" Crowler then jumped off the arena to give room.
David: 4000
Jason: 4000
"Since I'm the challenger, I will go first," David drew his first card, "I place one monster in DEF position," a reverse-card appeared, "That will do for now."
"It's my turn," Jason drew his first card, "I summon Elemental Hero Heat in ATK mode," the fire-fist hero appeared (ATK: 1600), "And he gains 200 ATK points for each Elemental Hero monster on my side of the field (ATK: 1800), "Now attack!" Heat slammed his fist into what became the hide of Machina Defender (DEF: 1800).
"You managed to uncover my Machina Defender. Once this monster is flipped over, I can add a Commander Covington to his hand." David said and showed his opponent the card before adding it.
"A Machina deck!" Syrus gasped, "Just like when Noire used!"
"And it's a safe bet that the bigger machines can't be far." Bastion said.
"I place one card face-down and end my turn." a reverse-card appeared.
"Then it's my turn to draw," David drew his next card, "I activate the spell card Double Summon, meaning I can summon two monster at once this turn. So I'll summon Machina Soldier and Machina Sniper," the green machina (ATK: 1600) and bronze machina (ATK: 1800) appeared, "Finally I'll end my turn with a face-down card."
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I summon Elemental Hero Ice Edge in ATK mode," the smaller ice hero appeared (ATK: 800), and Jason discarded from his hand, "And by sending one card from my hand to the graveyard, Ice Edge can attack directly!"
"I activate the Threatening Roar trap card," David opened his reverse-card, and a shockwave erupted from it, "There'll be no battle-phase this turn. It's a shame such a useful effect should go to waste."
"I end my turn..." Jason concluded.
"Then it's my move," David drew his next card, "I summon Commander Covington to the field," the red machina commander appeared (ATK: 1000), "And with its effect I'll combine Machinas Soldier, Sniper and Defender into their most powerful form, Machina Force!"
"Here it comes..." Zane muttered.
With a single gesture, Commander Covington guided the machina's as they merged into a larger, more powerful version of the three (ATK: 4600), "Also, I activate the special-ability of one Machina Fortress. By discarding monster that total level 8, at least, I can summon to the field as well," after discarding two cards, the large blue machina tank appeared (ATK: 2500), "Now my fortress will attack your Elemental Hero Ice Edge!"
"I activate the trap card Windstorm of Etaqua!" Jason opened his reverse-card, and a massive cyclone rose from it, picking up the two giant machinas and Commander Covington, "It switches the battle-positions of every monster on your side of the field!" when the storm passed, the machinas were dropped hard back onto the ground."
Machina Force: (DEF: 4100)
Machina Fortress: (DEF: 1600)
Commander Covington: (DEF: 600)
"So you managed to ward off both of my monsters," David scoffed, "Very well, I end my turn."
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I activate the spell card Polymerization to use Elemental Heroes Heat and Ice Edge to summon Elemental Hero Absolute Zero!" the two monsters merged into the ice-armored hero (DEF: 2000), "I place one card face-down and end my turn."
"It's my turn," David drew his next card, "I switch Machina Fortress to ATK position and attack your Absolute Zero." Fortress fired with its large railgun.
"I activate my face-down, De-Fusion!" Jason opened his reverse-card, "By returning Absolute Zero to my fusion-deck, the monster used to summon it return to the field!" Absolute Zero vanished and Elemental Heroes Heat (ATK: 2000) and Ice Edge (DEF: 600) returned, the laser fire missing the target, "And when Absolute Zero leaves the field, all monster on the opponent's side of the field are destroyed!" all three machines were encased in ice crystals before shattering.
"Nice one," Zane nodded, "Since Jason's Absolute Zero couldn't attack those machina head-on, he relied on his special-ability to deal with them all at once..." he then frowned, "But still..."
"I activate the spell Card of Sanctity, meaning we both draw until we hold six cards," both duelists refilled their hand, "And since I have yet to summon a monster this turn, I'll summon a certain monster called (1) Spell Reactor RE(3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 900)," a new machine appeared on the field, this one dragon-like in appearance with honeycomb launcher under its belly (ATK: 1200).
"Spell Reactor?" Syrus muttered, "Why do I have a bad feeling about this..."
"Finally I place two cards face-down." two reverse-cards appeared.
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I switch Ice Edge back into ATK mode and activate his speical-ability, sending one card from my hand to the graveyard. Now attack his life-points directly!" Ice Edge tossed of series of ice shards at David.
"I activate both of my face-downs, Waboku and Fake Explosion!" David announced as both reverse-cards opened, "While Waboku protects my life-points form damage, my Fake Explosion trap protects my monster from attacks," Spell Reactor hovered over David and protected him with its metal hide, "Also, Fake Explosion brings forth a new monster, in this case from my graveyard. Come forth, (3) Summon Reactor SK(5/ATK: 2000/DEF: 1400)!" another machine rose next to Summon Reactor, this one bearing resemblance to a bomber aircraft with robotic limbs (ATK: 2000)."
"Now there's a Summon Reactor..." Zane said, "Then I was right; those cards belong in a set."
"I summon Elemental Hero Woodsman in DEF mode," the wood-limbed hero appeared (DEF: 2000), "Then..."
"Then Summon Reactor SK's effect activates," David interrupted, "Meaning you take 800 points of damage per turn the first time you summon a monster." Summon Reactor's propeller spun rapidly firing a pair of twisters against Jason, the Slifer blocking with his duel-disk to keep the flying dust from his eyes.
David: 4000
Jason: 3200
"Now we know what put the 'Reactor' in those Reactor monsters!" Rock said, "They 'react' to the opponent's cards by slamming them with 800 points! And all by having them play a certain card!"
"I place one card face-down and end my turn..." Jason concluded.
"Then it's my turn," David drew his next card, "I summon (2) Trap Reactor Y FI(3/ATK: 800/DEF: 1800) to the field in DEf position," a third machine joined the duo, with the form of a fighter plane with wings as its arms (DEF: 1800), "Spell Reactor RE, attack Elemental Hero Ice Edge!" Spell Reactor zoomed towards the ice hero.
"I activate the trap card Spiritual Water Art!" Jason opened his reverse-card, and Ice Edge vanished, avoiding Spell Reactor's charge, "By releasing a water-attribute monster, I can look into your hand and send one of your cards to the graveyard!"
"You may have avoided damage from that one attack, but my Trap Reactor Y FI's effect is another story. And because you activated a trap card this turn, you take 800 points of damage," Trap Reactor hovered above Jason with its machine gun turrets locked on, and brought a rain of firepower down on him.
David: 4000
Jason: 2400
"Now, as you were, you wanted to see my hand, right? Well, here are my cards..." David showed his hand, which contained one each of a spell, monster and trap card.
"I choose monster card!" Jason decided and David discarded it. He figured that the less monsters David has the better his advantage.
"Now that Jason's took a good look at David's hand, maybe now he'll have a better chance of gaining the upper hand." Aspen said.
"I place one card face-down," a reverse-card appeared, "and end my turn."
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I activate Woodsman's effect, which lets me add a Polymerization from my deck or graveyard to my hand," he showed his opponent the card he recovered from his graveyard, "And I activate Polymerization to fuse Elemental Hero Woodsman with Ocean from my hand, in order to summon Elemental Hero Terra Firma!" the two monsters merged into the planetary hero (ATK: 2500).
"Terra Firma?! But isn't that your card?" Syrus and the others turned to Jaden, who was sitting back smirking.
"Impressive move, but you've also triggered both Summon Reactor SK and Spell Reactor RE's effects," David said, "That's another 800 from each of them!" soon a swirling cyclone of soaring rockets hit Jason dead-on.
David: 4000
Jason: 800
"Is that the best you can do with your Elemental Heroes? Is that all?" David sighed, "I am terribly disappointed."
"He's not the only one," Jasmine said, "Ever since those Reactors came out, Jason's made himself a stationary target for all that damage."
"Let's just hope he know what he's doing in this duel." Aspen said.
"If it's Jason, then you'd be asking for too much..."
"I activate the magic card Rain of Mercy to give 1000 life-points for both opponents!" a small drizzle then sprinkled down over the field.
David: 5000
Jason: 1800
"With more life-points, it gives Jason more room to use a more-effective strategy," Aspen said, "Now to see if it could get him out of this mess..."
"Next I summon Element Saurus in ATK mode!" the bronze-scaled dinosaur appeared with his spine then set ablaze (ATK: 2000), "And since there's a fire-attribute monster on the field, he gains 500 ATK points! Now, Terra Firma, attack Summon Reactor!" Terra Firma charged towards the bronze machine.
"I activate the trap card Negate Attack!" David opened his reverse-card, and a strong gust of wind erupted and repelled Terra Firma's advance, "Not only is your attack canceled, but the battle-phase ends."
"I place one card face-down and end my turn..." a reverse-card appears.
"Then it's my turn," David drew his next card, "I activate Pot of Greed, allowing to draw two cards from the top of my deck," he drew two new cards, "The I'll place this card face-down and that will be all for now."
"It's my turn," Jason drew his next card, "I activate the magic card Fusion Recovery, which lets me add Polymerization and a fusion-material monster to my hand!" Jason added the fusion card along with one of his monsters.
"Don't forget about Spell Reactor's effect," David smirked as RE fired another barrage of rockets.
"I activate my trap card, Pikeru's Circle of Enchantment!" Jason opened his reverse-card, and a large circle flashed under Jason's feet; its light forming a barrier protecting him from the missile, "For the rest of this turn, all damage from card-effects become zero!"
"I don't believe it! Jason has a card like that in his deck?"
"Well, thanks to that he's finally got that open window of opportunity to actually deal some damage for a change." Zane said.
"Next, I summon Homunculus the Alchemic Being!" the humanoid plant appeared (ATK: 1800).
"And that, in turn, activates Summon Reactor's effect," Summon Reactor fired another cyclone, but ws stopped by Jason's barrier.
"I activate Homunculus' effect to change his attribute to WATER! Next I activate Polymerization from my hand, and send Elemental Hero Ice Edge from my hand to the graveyard along with Homunculus from my side of the field to summon Elemental Hero Absolute Zero!" the ice-armored hero appeared for the second time in this game (ATK: 2500), "Next I activate the spell card Scroll of Bewitchment and equip it to Terra Firma, changing his attribute to FIRE! Then I activate Terra Firma's ability: by releasing an Elemental Hero, their ATK points are added to Terra Firma; and I choose to release both Heat and Absolute Zero!" both heroes were converted into energy to be absorbed through Terra Firma's gem on his chest (ATK: 7200), "And when Absolute Zero leaves the field, every monster on the opponent's field are destroyed!" Absolute Zero's effect was performed once again as all three reactors were shattered along with their ice prisons, "Now, Terra Firma, attack!"
"But that's reckless, isn't it?" Syrus gasped, "What about David's face-down?!"
"Yeah, if that card's something like what I think it is, that attack could do more damage than good!" Chumley said.
"Wait! Jason change Terra Firma to a fire-attribute, right?" Jaden asked.
"Yeah, so?"
"So, what did Jason always do with a monster if not attack head on?"
Syrus stared at the field for a moment before he found the answer, "That's right! He still has one more face-down card!"
"Once again, you fell right into my hand..." David smirked and opened his reverse-card, "Activate, trap card, Dimension Wall!" suddenly space was warped in a spot where Terra Firma was caught into, then disappearing with the warp without a trace.
"Uh, what happened to Terra Firma...?" Rock wondered.
"Don't worry, he'll be back to resume his attack," David smirked, "However, when he does, you'll be taking the hit instead of me."
"But my circle-"
"Can only protect you against damage from card-effects," David interrupted, "But this trap, however, is special; because instead of inflicting effect-damage, you'll be taking it as battle-damage!"
Jason trembled as he felt a strong presence behind him. He turned around only to meet the full force of Terra Firma's magma blades. Every one grew silent as Jason sank to his knees and the rest of his life-points dropped like a rock.
David: 5000
Jason: 0
That quick turnaround had reduced the entire audience, or at least the Duel Academy students, to a series of mutters and grumbles.
"Jason...lost?" Syrus said.
Bastion nodded, "I'm afraid so."
"I really thought he was gonna win..." Mindy whimpered.
"I guess he was so focused on his opponent's effect-damage cards that David's Dimension Wall took him by surprise. I mean, even I didn't see it coming." Aspen said.
"All that build-up, and Jason wasted it," Jasmine said, "I'll tell you this, anyone who's watching this, anyone who had any shred of faith in that guy must feel really stupid right now."
David walked across the field to descend, but not before stopping beside Jason, seeing him shivering from the shock, "When I was told that this year's representative was a Slifer Red, I was curious of what made you so special. But now that I've seen for myself, now I'm just curious as how someone as lousy as you was able to make it this far. Stroke of luck, I supposed," David walked down the steps and away from the arena, "I suppose a Slifer by any other name is just as incompetent."
"I guess the winner of this bout goes to David Rabb!" Crowler announced, "Not like we all didn't expect this, I mean really! Oh well, let's have a short 20-minute break before the next duel and see if that won't get that bad taste out of out mouths."
As David walked off, Jason looked up over the stands to Chakra. Although he couldn't see it, he could fell the icy stare on him before turning away and walking off.
"I supposed I raised my expectation on this boy for nothing..." MacKenzie sighed, "Although there's still the matter of that other Slifer..."
"I knew it was a good idea to make those two go first!" Jagger sniggered.
"You said now that that kid from Duel Academy lost, that leaves a bit of a morale problem for that other kid," Slade said, "That'll be the edge Chazz needs to mop the floor with him. After all, when putting on a show, always save the best for last!"
"I'd hate to say it, but that duel just left me a bit disappointed..." Chumley said.
Jaden watched distressed as he watched Jason dragging his feet out of the stadium. Even he could feel the jeering being carried on his shoulders. "Yeah. Ditto..."
"Where are you going?" Syrus asked Rock, who got up and was preparing to leave.
"You heard the guy," Rock said, "Jason's feeling more disappointed that any one of us for losing. He'd might want some company."
Syrus turned to Jaden, "Well, you should get going, too. You do have your own duel to be in."
"Right..." Jaden nodded.
It's been a while since Rock went looking for Jason but he was nowhere to be seen. He doesn't seem to be anywhere inside the building, so maybe he's outside.
"Looking for someone?"
Rock turned around to see Aspen and Noire coming up, "Good guess."
"Welcome to the club. We'll have more of a chance of finding Jason if we spread out," Aspen said, "And we'll let each other know when we do."
"Good enough for me," Rock said, "The more help the better. Now let's roll."
With that the three went their separate ways and continued the search. But unbeknownst to the someone saw watching them from a corner...
Later...
Jaden was walking through the halls on his was to the arena...
"Man up, Chazz..."
He heard someone's voice coming from behind a nearby door and, by curiosity, went over to check it out.
"Man up!" from the crack in the door, Jaden could see Chazz hunched over in front of the mirror, pounding his fists against the sink under, "Show everyone that Chazz Princeton is no slacker! That you're worthy of the Princeton name! That you...that you can win...and that you can keep winning! Over and Over! That you're the best!" looking closer as Chazz sank to his knees, Jaden could see his eyes leaking. This could be his first time seeing Chazz breaking down like this... "Show them that you're supreme...it's your duty...it's the plan!" over his sort of state, Chazz couldn't see Jaden in the mirror, who just saw his nervous collapse, ""Go and win... Go and win... Go and win!"
Meanwhile...
Since Rock couldn't find him indoors, he figured he could find Jason outside, or at least start at the Slifer Red dorm. Once there, he knocked on the door before going in himself after getting no answer. But all he could find was a dark, empty room.
His eyes went to the desk nearby where he saw a small box next to a duel-disk. Curious, he looked inside...
"Yep, these are Daichi's, alright," Rock muttered, and looked around, "But the guy himself isn't around... But where the heck is he?" growing slightly irritated, Rock put the deck back and left the room.
After hearing the door close, Jason rose from under the covers and looked over the top bunk. He sighed, not in the mood to talk to anyone...
Meanwhile...
After searching through one room after another, Aspen started searching in the spacious gymnasium. But as large as it is, she's quickly beginning to lose hope that Jason was even in here...
"Mind if I ask what you're doing here?" Aspen spun around to meet the girl who was with David before the first duel, "There's not much time before the second round. Don't you want to be there to see it?"
"There are more important matters to attend to," Aspen simply replied and turned away, "Now if you don't mind?"
"What if I told you I knew where Jason is?"
That caught Aspen's attention as she glanced back over her shoulder, "It's not very nice to eavesdrop."
"My mistake," the girl admitted, "Anyway, I think I recalled spotting him somewhere. However..."
Aspen turned back towards her, "'However?'"
"Information comes at a price. If you're willing to comply..."
Aspen spun back to completely face her, now sporting a hardened glare, "The way you said it sounds more like a ransom and less like offering help."
"What's so wrong about having a small duel?" the girl asked innocently, "Besides, I'm sure your friend will still be there. All I'm asking for is some quality time with at least one of Duel Academy's students. I just want to see what you duelists are made of. So, what do you say...?"
'If this girl knows where Jason is, there's no reason why she wouldn't just shut up and help,' Aspen thought 'But if I have to give her what she wants...' "...So just one quick duel is what you want?"
The girl shrugged, "If it's not too much trouble."
"Then congratulations, you just got one."
Meanwhile...
Outside the arena, Syrus and Chumley were coaching Jaden as they fitted him with his duel-disk.
"Okay, Jaden, here we go," Syrus said, "The duel against your dueling rival; your arch-nemesis! How'd ya feel?"
"Eh, I'm okay."
"Okay?!"
Chumley frowned, "Don't you mean 'sweet' or something?"
"No, I feel good, it's just...?"
"If you're thinking about Jason, don't worry," Syrus said, "Rock and the others are handling it."
"No, it's not that..." Jaden shook his head, "It's just...I overheard Chazz a bit earlier and well..." he looked over the arena towards Chazz, who was being coached by his own schoolmates, "It's just too bad that one of us has to lose, y'know. I'm kinda starting to understand where he's coming from; and it's not an easy place..."
Rock and Noire ran into each other in the school halls.
"Any sign?" Rock asked, but Noire shook her head, which he replied with a groaned, "Who knew Jason's this good at staying out of sight. Imagine how good he'd be at playing hide-and-seek," suddenly a large explosion can be heard across the halls, "Now those are some acoustics! That must be some duel we're missing..."
"I don't think that came from the arena..." Noire said, looking towards the sound, "It sounded like it came from the gym."
"But who'd be there, especially at this time?" Rock wondered, then he and Noire looked at each other...
"It's time to introduce the next two duelists of the School Duel!" Crowler announced, "And this round will be a special one. After all, these are two duelists that I know personally. And by 'personally', I just adore them! Now first, from Duel Academy-" by the time he's finished, the Duel Academy students were already cheering, "Alright, keep it down, keep it down. Introducing, Jaden Yucky! ...What's that? Ah, yes! I mean 'Yuki'! Yuki!" the cheering escalated for the Slifer Red student, looking calm despite the pressure, "And his opponent-"
"Get off the stage!" a familiar voice roared, "I'll introduce myself, you scrub."
"I BEG YOUR PARDON?!" Crowler spun around towards Chazz, who made that bold statement, "'Scrubs' don't have PhD's in dueling! I-huh?" over all his angry ranting he didn't notice his stamping tangled him in his mic's cord, "Althought knottying wouls've been a better major...or rather untying!" He tried hopping out of it until he fell over the edge hard on his head. Jaden looked over to see if he's alright.
"Whoa. Maybe you oughta go cordless next time?" he joked.
"Maybe you just oughta be quiet!" barked Chazz as he stepped forth with his duel-disk ready, "It's Chazz Princeton's turn now! But then, I don't really need an introduction. After all, everybody here knows who I am," he looked towards the crowd of Duel Academy students, "Or do you? See, Chazz Princeton has changed! Sure I used to be a classmate of yours, but when I left here, I left my old self as well! And now you're looking at the new-and-improved Chazz! The North Academy Chazz! And I'm here to..."
"Chazz it Up!"
Chazz nodded as his North Academy schoolmates chanted, "That's right! Say it again!"
"Chazz it Up! Chazz it Up! Chazz it Up!"
"Wow. It almost like they actually...like Chazz." Syrus muttered.
"No mercy, Chazz!"
"Got that right!" Chazz shouted before turning to his opponent, "Alright...Go Time! Let's see what you got, Jaden!"
"With pleasure!" Jaden activated his duel-disk with Chazz.
"No. The pleasure gonna be all mine. Because you're going down!"
"LET'S DUEL!"
Chazz: 4000
Jaden: 4000
"Chazz it Up! Bring him down, Chazz!"
"Ask and you shall receive!" Chazz drew his first card, "For my first move, I'm going to summon a monster with some bite. Rise, (3) Masked Dragon(3/ATK: 1400/DEF: 1100)!" a large, long-necked dragon wearing a white mask appeared (DEF: 1100), "That'll do for now."
"Not when you see what I got for ya," Jaden drew, "Just what I wanted. I play Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in ATK mode!" his sole female hero appeared, "Actually, on second thought, I should say slayer mode! 'Cause that's what she's gonna do to that dragon!" Burstinatrix destroyed the dragon with a large fireball.
"Awesome!" Syrus cheered, "Jaden just taken the lead!"
"Nuh-uh, he's taken the bait!" Chazz corrected, "I activate my Masked Dragon's scpecial-ability! You see, when this monster's sent to the graveyard due to a battle, I can summon a dragon-type monster with 1500 or fewer ATK points from my deck. And I have just the one! Go ahead and see for your self! C'mon out, (4) Armed Dragon LV3(3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 900)," in place of the previous dragon came a smaller one with orange and bronze scales, and buzzsaws from its chest (ATK: 1200).
"Uh...'LV'?" Syrus looked towards his friends, confused.
"Yeah, and 3's the lowest," Alexis nodded, "Chazz plays this right, and that dragon will get a lot bigger!"
"Indeed. I just wonder where Chazz ever gotten such a powerful card..." Bastion wondered.
"Why, isn't that one of your school's top cards?" Sheppard looked over to Foster to see a sinister smirk on him, "Oh, Foster, you didn't!"
"I did what I have to do..." Foster glared at the balder man, "I told you, Sheppard. I want that prize; and I'm going to get it."
"Oh yeah? Well, not if I have anything to say about it, you old-my old friend!" Sheppard rose to his feet and called out from the stands, "Let's go, Jaden! C'mon! Jaden it Up! Jaden it Up! Jaden it Up!"
"Yeah, uh, sure," Jaden grinned towards his opponent, "By the way, sweet card, Chazz. I can't wait to see what that Armed Dragon card can do!"
"Don't worry," Chazz smirked, "You'll have a first-row seat."
"'Til then..." a reverse-card appeared, "But for now I'm throwing down a face-down and end my turn."
"Great, now I can start ending you!" Chazz drew his next card...
Meanwhile...
The Slifer and Ra rushed on over to the gymnasium. And once they pushed through the doors they were literally running into a bright light they had to shield their eyes. When the light dimmed down, they saw two people out on the courts, one of them kneeling over the other.
"A duel? Here?" Rock realized.
"Look, over there!" Noire pointed towards the two.
Rock looked closer and his eyes widened as he saw who it was, "It's Aspen!" on the gym court was Aspen Seki, on her knees with her head hung low. Standing tall across her was shrouded in shadow by the light above them. The two ran over to Aspen, "You okay?" the Obelisk raised her head with a disheveled look. This appearance seemed new to both Rock and Noire, as this was the first time they saw her so uneased. "Guess not..."
"Aspen! What happened?!" Noire asked, worried.
Aspen let out a small, delirious chuckle as she dropped her head back down, "Why don't you ask her...?"
Rock and Noire looked to the shadow in front of them. They raised an arm...
"Return to me!" they called, and the light vanished revealing a blond girl in a white military uniform.
"That's the girl who was with David before the duel..." Noire whimpered.
"Neat special effects..." Rock muttered in awe.
She looked towards the two, "Oh. I thought everyone else would be watching the School Duel."
"Feeling's mutual," Rock said, "Wanna answer me your own question?"
The girl shrugged, "Nothing special. We just had a small duel, which both of us anted up one of our very special cards. Of course, of all the cards she had I had to make due with this..." she held up the card.
"Wynn the Wind Charmer?" Rock said, examining the card, "You always try taking peoples' cards where you come from?"
"This is the prize your friend agreed upon, so she knew the risk," the girl said, "But if want me to give this back, I'm up for another duel."
"Duel you and take my friend's card back, right?" Rock asked, and the girl nodded. He then smirked, "Well, I got so much time on my hand. Sure, why not?"
"But Rock! Are you sure about this?" Noire asked, helping Aspen to her feet, "She might be very strong..."
"Someone just took something very special away from its owner," Rock said with a smile, not taking his eyes off the girl, "We can't let that happen, right?"
"Hey, Rock," Aspen hoarsely called, "She asked me before she wanted to see what we're made of. So give her the genuine Duel Academy experience."
Rock gave a thumbs up to her, "Will do!"
"That's what I'd like to hear," the girl smirked, reactivating her duel-disk, "Let's get started, shall we?"
"You see, Jaden, during my standby-phase, Armed Dragon's effect activates. So by sending one card to the graveyard, sacrificing his LV3 form, I can summon Armed Dragon LV5 directly to the field!"
"Say what?" Jaden gasped.
"Now then, let's go ahead and get to it, shall we? (5) Armed Dragon LV5(5/ATK: 2400/DEF: 1700), rise!" the small dragon disappeared in a beam of light and returned as a larger one, with red and black scales, and sharper claws, fangs and buzzsaws (ATK: 2400).
"Be careful, Jaden!" Bastion warned, "By leveling up, Armed Dragon's power has substantially increased, and he was plenty powerful before!"
"Wow, Chazz. That thing's pretty sweet," Jaden whistled, "But then, so is my trap card, Hero Ring! And I'll equip it to Burstinatrix!" his reverse-card opened, and Burstinatris was then holding a red shield, "Now, monsters with 1900-or-more ATK points can't destroy her! Them's the breaks, Chazz!"
"You want breaks? I'll give you break, Jaden," Chazz laughed coldly, "Because even with that Hero Ring shield out, Armed Dragon LV5 is gonna crush your creature!"
"How?"
"Armed Dragon's special-ability, that's how! You see, by discarding a monster to the grave, I can destroy a monster of yours if it's ATK points are equal or lower than the one I tossed!"
"Wait, so-"
"So, if Flying Kamakiri #1 (ATK: 1500/DEF: 1100) goes to the graveyard..." Chazz discarded the monster.
"Then Jaden's Burstinatrix will be in big-time trouble!" Syrus groaned.
"Sorry, Burst," Jaden sighed to his hero, "My bad..."
"Go, Armed Dragon LV5! Shrapnel Blast!" the spike on Armed Dragon's hide shot out like missiles and rained down on Burstinatrix, destroying the monster.
"And that's just his ability!" Chazz cackled, "Now, time for his direct attack: Inferno Roar!" the dragon unleased a powerful roar as the buzzsaws spun red out of its body and slammed into Jaden.
Chazz: 4000
Jaden: 1600
"So that's Duel Academy's best, huh?" Chazz scoffed at Jaden's form.
"come on!" Sheppard cried, "Get up, please!"
"I'm fine!" Crowler stumbled up from the floor, "Thank you for your concern, though!"
"Nice shot," said Jaden, after he lumped back on his feet, grinning ear-to-ear, "Although, I think for my next TV broadcast, I think I'll hire a stuntman!"
"...Whatever," Chazz set a reverse-card, "I'll placing one card face-down and ending my turn."
"He's finally acting like a Princeton!" Slade smirked as he and his brother sat among the audience.
"That's true. I just hope he doesn't win too fast."
"Huh?"
"Hey, the longer he thrashes this kid, the more we make on commercial revenues!"
The brother laughed as they watched their plan already in progress.
Meanwhile...
Back at the gym, both Rock and the girl stood on one of the courts with their duel-disks at the ready, "Hey, how about you give us a name? You know, just so we're a bit more familiar with each other."
"Not very gentlemanly of you," the girl said, "You never told me yours."
"Right, where are my manners?" Rock chuckled sheepishly, "It's Satoshi, but just call me Rock."
"If you insist," the girl chuckled, "You may call me Regina. Now let's get started."
Regina: 4000
Rock: 4000
"Oh and by the way, I'd appreciate it if no one did any backseat dueling," Regina held up the card again, "We would want anything bad to happen to this, would we?"
Noire gasped, "She wouldn't!"
"Don't be so sure..." Aspen muttered.
"Okay, fine," Rock said, "So are we finally gonna duel or what?"
"I was just getting to that..." Regina drew her first card, the showing Rock a monster card, "And it's already time to pave the road to my victory. By sending this (8) Hecatrice(4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1100) card from my hand to the graveyard, I can replace it with the continuous-spell card Vallhalla, the Hall of the Fallen from my deck," she revealed the spell card the removed from her deck before shuffling it and adding the card to her hand, "And just so you won't wait long, I'll just play that same spell to my field," right after she played the card, the light around them grew brighter as they were now standing in a large stone hall with a red carpet running towards a marble throne at Regina's end, "Here's how it works: while I don't have any monsters on my field at the moment, I can special-summon a fairy-type monster from my hand. And who better than to start off the battle than the greek goddess of combat herself, (9) Athena(7/ATK: 2600/DEF: 800)!" in a flash of light from above, a woman in long blonde hair descended into the hall, wearing a white combat robe and silver helmet. She held a large white shield in her left hand and a decorative silver pike in her right (ATK: 2600).
"A level-7 monster on the very first turn...?" Noire gasped in awe.
"And since it's a special-summon, I can summon the (10) Fairy Archer(3/ATK: 1400/DEF: 600) from my hand!" a small pixie in blue appeared with yellow wings and a golden, heat-shaped bow in hand (ATK: 1400), "And this is where Athena's ability comes into play. When another fairy-type monster is summoned to the field, you take 600 points of damage!" Athena pointed her staff and fired a beam of light that hit Rock right in the chest.
Regina: 4000
Rock: 3400
"And then I activate Fairy Archer's effect," Fairy Archer pulled back on her bow and aimed it at Rock, "Not that it matters now, but she'll be unable to attack on that turn. But she can then deal 400 points of damage for each light-attribute monster on my field. So do the math." the archer released the string and fired a glowing arrow of light. One arrow became two as the struck Rock.
Regina: 4000
Rock: 2600
"Next I activate Athena's second effect," Regina said as Fairy Archer vanished, "by sacrificing a fairy-type monster on my field, I can summon a fairy-type monster from my graveyard. And it doesn't matter if it's the same monster I sacrificed; so I'll resummon Fairy Archer!" the archer returned (ATK: 1400), "And since another fairy is summoned in Athena's presence, you take yet another 600 points of damage." Athena fired another ray of light.
Regina: 4000
Rock: 2000
"And since Fairy Archer is brought back, she's treated as a new monster. So I'll activate her special-ability once again!" the archer fired two more arrows at Rock.
Regina: 4000
Rock: 1200
"You done already?" Rock groaned.
"Fortunately for you, I am. I place one card face-down and end my turn." Regina concluded with a reverse-card.
"Nice moves, I admit it..." Rock drew his sixth card, "Not you get to see mine! And let's start things off by summoning Robot Master-Wood Man!" the robot with the stumpy wooden hide appeared (ATK: 1600), "Next I activate the spell Double Summon to even things up! So I summon (14) Robot Master-Elec Man(4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1200) from my hand!" the monster summoned wore a red-and-black jumpsuit, yellow gauntlets and boots and a bolt-shaped mask (ATK: 1600), "Now to get the properly equipped with their equip-spells: Wood Man-Leaf Shield and Elec Man-Thunder Beam! And with new cards come new abilities! First, Elec Man can use his Thunder Beam to switch your precious Athena to DEF mode!" Elec Man fired a bolt of electricity that coursed through Athena and forced her on her knees (DEF: 800), "Sure, he can't attack the turn he uses this, but there's someone to do it for him. Right, Wood Man?" Wood Man sent his razor leaves towards Fairy Archer and destroyed her.
Regina: 3800
Rock: 1200
"I almost forgot the best part about Thunder Beam," Rock continued, "Whatever monster hit by it will be completely paralyzed and leave them unable to switch modes; and as a bonus to Elec's ability it also negates thiers. So good luck dealing with that! That ends my turn!"
"Patience is a virtue. You should wait until I play my trap card Solumn Wishes," Regina opened her reverse-card, "Not my turn starts, and by drawing I get 500 extra life-points." a drizzle of stardust fell over her.
Regina: 4300
Rock: 1200
"And to start, I activate the spell card Celestial Transformation," Regina played the quick-play spell card, "This allows me to summon a fairy-type monster from my hand, like (11) Tethys, Goddess of Light(5/ATK: 2400/DEF: 1800)," in a flare of light, an angel-like woman appeared in a white gown and a pair of detachable wings (ATK: 2400), "Of course, she must be destroyed at the end-phase, and until then her ATK points are cut in half (ATK: 1200)..."
"Is...okay, I'll bite."
"See for yourself. I activate the Spellbook inside the Pot spell card, which lets both of us draw three cards from our deck," both players drew their cards, "And now Tethys' ability goes into effect," Regina revealed a monster card, "Any time I draw a fairy-type monster, I can draw yet another card from my deck," she drew another card, and showed it, "It looks like I drew another fairy. So I get to draw again," the process repeated once more, "And yet another fairy," and drew another card, "I think that will be all for now. Beside, my Solumn Wishes trap has its own effect. And since I drew cards four times, I get a total of 2000 life-points."
Regina: 6300
Rock: 1200
"Next I activate the continuous-spell card Court of Justice," after Regina played the spell, a large golden ring appeared over the hall, surrounded by a pair of winged orbs, "This allows me to summon a fairy-type monster from my hand, provided I control a level-1 fairy on my field. And this is where this next monster comes in: (12) Freya, Spirit of Victory(1/ATK: 100/DEF: 100)," the monster summoned was a young teen with lilac-colored hair with a fruit-shaped ornament, wearing a same-colored cheerleader uniform with glowing rings over her wrists and ankles (DEF: 100), "And combined with the Court of Justice, Freya will guide this next fairy to the field," Freya shook her pompoms and danced over the ring, which shone brightly and a young woman with short blonde hair descended through the ring, covered in a shroud of feathers. When she landed, the feathers unfurled into a giant pair of wings, revealing her white-and-gold gown and tassel over her shoulders (ATK: 2800), "My Guardian Angel Joan(8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2000)."
"All those monsters in one turn!" Noire grimaced, "How is he supposed to beat that?"
"And I almost forgot to mention a little fun-fact: Freya happens to be inspired after the Norse goddess of love, fertility and battle. The 'battle' part being that she has a special effect that boosts the morale of her fellow fairies, as well as their ATK and DEF by 400."
Tethys, Goddess of Light: (ATK: 1600/DEF: 1300)
Athena: (ATK: 3000/DEF: 1200)
Guardian Angel Joan:(ATK: 3200/DEF: 2400)
Freya, Spirit of Victory: (ATK: 500/DEF: 500)
"Now to wage battle. Tethys, attack his Elec Man," Tethys formed a ball of light in her hands while Elec Man fired a bolt of electricity. The two attacks hit their targets and both monsters were destroyed, "And now your Wood Man is next. Joan, attack!" Joan threw an orb of light at Wood Man.
Rock let out a smirk, "You didn't think it was gonna be that easy, didya? Wood Man, show 'er your Leaf Shield!" the wooden Robot Master brought together the leaf plates and blocked the attack, "And not only can he block your attack, he can deal 100 ATK points for each card in my hand," he brought up his four cards, "So thanks for the free cards; that was nice of ya." the blades scattered and flew towards Joan and attacked her (ATK: 2800).
"Those Robot Masters do have tricks after all," Regina said and set a reverse-card, "I'll place one card face-down and end my turn."
"My turn," Rock drew his next card, "I summon Robot Master-Cut Master!" the scissored robot appeared (ATK: 1000), "And to equip him I'll use Cut Man's Rolling Cutter! As for it's effect, Cut Man use Rolling Cutter!" Cut Man removed the scissors and tossed at the angel, which struck the monster as it passed (ATK: 2500), "And that's when Cut's effect follows along: when a monster's points are lowered, his Rolling Cutter makes a return trip to lower all your monsters' ATK points by 200!" the scissors returned and struck Regina's monsters.
Athena: (ATK: 2800/DEF: 1200)
Guardian Angel Joan:(ATK: 2700/DEF: 2400)
Freya, Spirit of Victory: (ATK: 0/DEF: 500)
"Next I activate a spell card from my hand called Warp Beam!" Rock played the spell on his duel-disk, "This let me summon a level-4 Robot Master straight from my deck; or in this case everyone's favorite Blue Bomber! Come on out, Mega Man!" a beam of light shot down to the field and the blue armored humanoid machine appeared (ATK: 1000), "And the last card in my hand, the spell card Mystery Tank!" he played a spell with an 'M'-marked tank on it, "Now I get to draw 2 cards for each monster that's Mega Man or a Robot Master! There's 3 on my field, so guess what..." he drew six more cards, "I get to draw 6 cards! Now to give Mega an item of his own, his Mega Booster equip-spell!" Mega Man's right arm changed into a cannon (ATK: 1800), "Let's get this show on the road! Wood Man, attack with Leaf Shield!" Wood Man sent his leaf plates at Athena.
"I activate the Draining Shield trap," Regina opened her reverse-card and a barrier formed around the fairy and deflected the leaves, "Not only is Athena safe, your monster's ATK points are added to my life-points."
Regina: 7900
Rock: 1200
"Too bad you can use that twice in a row! Mega Man, attack!" Mega Man fired a blast from his cannon and destroyed the fairy, "How'd you like that! Now I place a card face-down and end my turn!" a reverse-card appeared.
"Then it's my turn," Regina drew her next card.
Regina: 8400
Rock: 1200
"It's time mor a change of scenery. I activate the field-spell Sanctuary in the Sky," she played the field-spell, the outer walls of the hall crumbled, showing that they were in the middle of an endless sea of clouds with a roman-like palace far behind Regina, "Next, I play the effect of Court of Justice and summon this fairy from my hand. Allow me to introduce you to one of my personal favorites: (13) Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin(7/ATK: 2300/DEF: 2000)!" the ring rise higher and its light was brighter than before as it summon a new fairy. This one seemed to be made of clear crystal and gold accented with blue. It's left arm was a shield while its right was a blade. It hovered by the ring on its back that had a pair of large blade-like wings on it (ATK: 2300).
Noire saw that Aspen was trembling at the sight of the monster. "What's wrong?"
"That's the reason Regina was able to put my deck out of commission so easily," Aspen hissed, "Rock's in for a rough battle..."
"I don't see the big deal," Rock said, "Looks like any old monster to me."
"Well, the one thing special about Neo-Parshath, beside dealing damage through a defending monster and letting me draw for each one destroyed, is that while we're standing on my sanctuary field-spell, its power rises equal to the difference between my dominant life-points and yours."
"Wait, run that my me again?"
"The difference, in this case, is 7200. So that will be added to its ATK points, plus the 400-point boost from Freya's effect," Neo-Parshath rose up and the crystals reflected in the sunlight lighting itself like a giant chandelier. The academy duelist had to cover their eyes from the blinding display.
Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin: (ATK: 9900)
"Now that's a lotta points..." Rock muttered.
"And to help ensure it, I activate the spell Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your face-down card," Regina played the spell and a cyclone appeared to destroy the set card, "And with it gone, there will be no way to defend against my next assault..."
Meanwhile...
"My go!" Jaden drew his next card, and smiled at what he got, "You're in trouble now. I play Elemental Hero Bubbleman to the field in ATK mode," the blue-armored gadget hero appeared (ATK: 800), "Also, when Bubbleman is on the field, and there are no other cards out, like right now, I'm allowed to draw 2 more cards!" he drew two more times, "And now I'll use one of them: Polymerization! To fuse Elemental Heroes Avian and Sparkman with Bubbleman to create...wait for it...Elemental Hero Tempest!" the three monsters merged into the steel-winged blaster-mounted hero appeared (ATK: 2800).
"Alright!" Syrus cheered, "He's got him on the run now!"
"With flyboy there?" Chazz questioned.
"You better believe it," Jaden nodded, "And he gives a new definition to the term 'airpower'! Glider Strike!" Tempest fired a fully-charged beam attack at the dragon and destroyed it.
Chazz: 3600
Jaden: 1600
"Thanks for that! It lets me play my trap!" Chazz drew his reverse-card, Call of the Haunted, "Do you believe in ghosts? Well you're about to, because this trap allows me to summon back any monster I want from my graveyard. And I bet you can guess which one I'm gonna pick! Armed Dragon LV5, rise!" the large dragon returned to the field (ATK: 2400).
"Chazz it Up! Chazz it Up! Chazz it Up!" his schoolmates screamed, "Show no mercy!"
"Well, I guess I'll just throw down a face-down and hope for the best..." Jaden concluded with a reverse-card.
'Go ahead,' Chazz smirked, 'Cause with what I have for you, not even your best will save you!' "Get ready for me to mop this low-rent Due Academy floor with you, Jaden!" he taunted, drawing his next card, "Because now, I'm using Armed Dragon's special-ability. I'm discarding Despair from the Dark from my hand to the graveyard and since it has 2800 ATK points, your birdman's headed to the pet cemetery! Now, Armed Dragon, destroy hero Tempest with Shrapnel Blast!" Armed Dragon launched more spikes targeted at Tempest.
"I activate the spell De-Fusion!" Jaden announced and opened his reverse-card, "Quick! De-Fuse, Tempest!" at the last second, Tempest separated back into his three basic components and dodged the entire barrage of spikes.
"Whatever. My Armed Dragon still has his attack to use. And now I'm gonna use it! Infernal Roar!" three more buzzsaws soared towards the line of heroes and destroyed Sparkman among them, "Now to take this duel to the next level, Jaden! To the highest level!"
"What?!" Jaden gasped.
"I upgrade my Armed Dragon from LV5 to LV7! Now, won't you join me, Jaden, in welcoming the ultimate and the all-powerful... The almighty (6) Armed Dragon LV7(7/ATK: 2800/DEF: 1000)!" the dragon evolved once again, growing in size and ferocity as its claws, fangs and blades grew even more sharper. The north students chanted their rep's name as the dragon introduced itself with an even mightier roar (ATK: 2800).
"Okay, so he's big..." Jaden shrugged at the dragon, "But who knows? I mean... He could be friendly..."
"That's strange..." Jagger frowned at the sight of the dragon, "That monster wasn't in the suitcase I gave Chazz."
"What?!"
Shepard glared at Foster, who was chuckling at his favor in the duel. The duel Academy chancellor got up again, "Jaden! We're all with you!C'mon! Jaden it Up! Jaden it Up! Jaden it Up!"
"Show 'im how it's really done!"
"Chazz it Up! Show no mercy!"
The continuous chanting caused Chazz to laugh with them, enjoying the attention he's given, "Aw, what's wrong?" he smirked at his opponent, "You're not so talkative anymore? You don't have anything to say, Jaden?"
"Yeah I do! I gotta get me one of those!" Jaden giggled, jumping in place at the dragon's appearance, "He's so cool! Trade for him?"
"No I won't 'trade for him'!" Chazz snapped, "What's wrong with you! You're should to be scared of him, not admiring him!"
"But how can I be scared of him! He's an incredible monster and this has been an incredible duel! This is so awesome, how can anyone not be excited?! I mean, this is as good as it gets! I'm stoked! This is what dueling's all about! Thanks, Chazz!"
"Thanks?! You're pitiful, Jaden! Jumping around like a fool, never taking anything serious. That's why you'll never be a champion! You see, it takes discipline to win! You need to have a sense of duty! You need to have some kind of plan!"
Flashback…
"You set this all up, didn't you; this broadcast…?" Chazz was sitting in the locker room, confronted by his brothers.
"Well of course we did!" Slade said, "We need the whole world to see that you're on your way to being Duel Monsters' best, Chazz. It's all in the plan."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Look, world domination is ours to the taking, if we all do our part, Chazz." Jagger said.
"And we have. Now it's your turn, bro," Slade added, "To conquer the world of Duel Monsters. To be the best."
"And to not give up. Did you really think you could get away from your duties, get away from us by dropping out of Duel Academy?!"
"By, uh-"
Jagger shot up from his seat and glared, "Don't deny it! You've always been the slacker of this family!"
"It doesn't matter," Slade said, "the point is, Chazz, you can still turn it around. You can still show that we're supreme!"
"That's right. And the dueling cards in this briefcase will help you do just that. They're the most expensive out there so you have no excuse to lose!" Jagger dropped a black metal case in front of Chazz, "Don't let us down, Chazz! Don't let the Princeton name down! Now go! And win!"
…End Flashback.
"And that's why I'm going to beat you, Jaden!" Chazz became more desperate the more he went on, "That's why I'll beat anyone my way! I can beat anyone! You got that?! I can conquer the whole world!"
Jaden stared nervously, "Okaaay... Well, if you don't mind, can I take my turn first?"
"MAKE IT QUICK!"
"Chill...!" Jaden drew his next card, "Alright, I'll call out Wroughtweiler in DEF mode!" the robotic dog appeared (DEF: 1200), then a reverse-card appeared, "And I'll throw down a face-down. How that for 'quick'?"
"Not bad. But it's downright sluggish compared to how 'quick' my dragon's gonna take out all your monsters. Watch this!" Chazz drew his next card, "I'm using my Armed Dragon's special-ability! Now by discarding a monster card from my hand, I can destroy all monsters you have out with equal or fewer ATK points!"
"That's...not good." Jaden muttered.
"Oh no! That'll leave Jaden wide open!" Alexis gasped.
"Dear me," Crowler muttered, staring at the dragon.
"That is one impressive special power..." admitted Zane.
"I discard my Armed Dragon LV3 to the graveyard, so all your monsters with 1200-or-less ATK points will be completely wiped out!" Chazz discarded his dragon, "Go, Serrated Sonic Disks! Destroy!" the dragon launched three discs of blue energy and cut through Jaden's army of monsters, leaving the field one-sided.
"Jaden! No!" Syrus gasped.
"Oh my!" Crowler squeaked from cover from the blast.
It's okay! You can still come back!" Shappard whined, "Jaden it Up!"
"Chazz it Up! Chazz it Up! Chazz it Up!"
"Well, before Wroughtweiler goes belly-up, his special-ability gets to activates. One that lets me bring Polymerization and an Elemental Hero card to my hand!" Jaden retrieved his two card from his graveyard.
"As if it'll matter, you Duel Academy Stooge!" Chazz shrieked, "This duel's over! it's time for you...to go bye-bye! Armed Dragon LV7, attack Jaden directly with Dragon Talon Terror!" all watched as the dragon raised its clawed hand, ready to drop its talons over Jaden...
TO BE CONTINUED...
DUEL-MON DATABASE
(1) Spell Reactor-RE
Stats: [Machine/Effect] LV3 ATK/1200 DEF/ 900
Attribute: DARK
Effect: Once per turn, when your opponent activates a Spell Card, you can destroy the Spell Card and inflict 800 damage to your opponent.
(2) Trap Reactor-Y FI
Stats: [Machine/Effect] LV4 ATK/800 DEF/ 1800
Attribute: DARK
Effect: Once per turn, when your opponent activates a Trap Card, you can destroy the Trap Card and inflict 800 damage to your opponent.
(3) Summon Reactor-SK
Stats: [Machine/Effect] LV5 ATK/2000 DEF/ 0
Attribute: DARK
Effect: The first time a monster(s) is Summoned to your opponent's side of the field each turn, inflict 800 damage to your opponent. During the Battle Phase of the turn this effect is activated, you can negate the attack of 1 monster your opponent controls. You can send 1 face-up "Trap Reactor・Y FI", 1 face-up "Spell Reactor・RE" and this face-up card you control to the Graveyard to Special Summon 1 "Flying Fortress SKY FIRE" from your hand, Deck, or Graveyard.
(4) Masked Dragon
Stats: [Dragon/Effect] LV3 ATK/1400 DEF/ 1100
Attribute: FIRE
Effect: When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 Dragon-Type monster with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck.
(5) Armed Dragon LV3
Stats: [Dragon/Effect] LV3 ATK/1200 DEF/ 900
Attribute: WIND
Effect: During your Standby Phase: You can send this face-up card to the Graveyard; Special Summon 1 "Armed Dragon LV5" from your hand or Deck.
(6) Armed Dragon LV5
Stats: [Dragon/Effect] LV5 ATK/2400 DEF/ 1700
Attribute: WIND
Effect: You can send 1 monster from your hand to the Graveyard to target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls with ATK less than or equal to the sent monster's ATK; destroy that target. During the End Phase, if this card destroyed a monster by battle this turn: You can send this face-up card to the Graveyard; Special Summon 1 "Armed Dragon LV7" from your hand or Deck.
(7) Armed Dragon LV7
Stats: [Dragon/Effect] LV7 ATK/2800 DEF/ 1000
Attribute: WIND
Effect: You can send 1 monster from your hand to the Graveyard to target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls with ATK less than or equal to the sent monster's ATK; destroy that target. During the End Phase, if this card destroyed a monster by battle this turn: You can send this face-up card to the Graveyard; Special Summon 1 "Armed Dragon LV7" from your hand or Deck.
(8) Hecatrice
Stats: [Fairy/Effect] LV4 ATK/1500 DEF/ 1100
Attribute: LIGHT
Effect: You can discard this card to the Graveyard to add 1 "Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen" from your Deck to your hand.
(9) Athena
Stats: [Fairy/Effect] LV7 ATK/2600 DEF/ 800
Attribute: LIGHT
Effect: Each time a Fairy-Type monster(s) is Summoned: Inflict 600 damage to your opponent. Once per turn: You can send 1 face-up Fairy-Type monster you control to the Graveyard, except "Athena", then target 1 Fairy-Type monster in your Graveyard, except "Athena"; Special Summon that target.
(10) Fairy Archer
Stats: [Fairy/Effect] LV4 ATK/1400 DEF/ 600
Attribute: LIGHT
Effect: During your Main Phase, you can inflict 400 damage to your opponent for each face-up LIGHT monster you control. This card cannot attack during the same turn you activate this effect. Only one "Fairy Archer" can have its effect activated per turn.
(11) Tethys, Goddess of Light
Stats: [Fairy/Effect] LV5 ATK/2400 DEF/ 1800
Attribute: LIGHT
Effect: While this card is face-up on the field, when you draw a Fairy-Type monster(s), you can reveal 1 of those monsters to draw 1 more card.
(12) Freya, Spirit of Victory
Stats: [Fairy/Effect] LV1 ATK/100 DEF/ 100
Attribute: LIGHT
Effect: While you control a Fairy-Type monster other than "Freya, Spirit of Victory", your opponent's monsters cannot target this card for attacks. All Fairy-Type monsters you control gain 400 ATK and DEF.
(13) Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin
Stats: [Fairy/Effect] LV7 ATK/2300 DEF/ 2000
Attribute: LIGHT
Effect: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by Tributing 1 "Airknight Parshath" you control. If this card attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing Battle Damage to your opponent. When this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent: Draw 1 card. While "The Sanctuary in the Sky" is on the field and your Life Points are higher than your opponent's, this card gains ATK and DEF equal to the difference in Life Points.
(14) Robot Master-Elec Man
Stats: [Machine/Effect] LV4 ATK/1600 DEF/ 1200
Attribute: LIGHT
Effect: If an effect of a card you control activates that targets a monster on the field and switches their battle-position, the effects of those monsters are negated as long as you control this face-up monster.
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