Several hours had passed since the Battle Royal and Chloe sat on her bed hugging her legs, she was still upset over Theresa's words but she knew she had two more hours before her duel against Otto, whether or not she'd have calmed down by then she didn't know, her train of thought was interrupted by a knock at the door but she didn't get up to answer it.
"Chloe it's me, can we talk?" Theresa's voice rang out from the other side of her door, Chloe hesitated remembering how she acted towards her the last time they talked. "Chloe, I know how I acted towards you earlier was unacceptable but I had my reasons, can you at least hear me out?" Theresa asked and Chloe hesitated again.
"Come in." Chloe called out eventually and Theresa entered the room, Chloe sighed before lowering her legs. "If you were mad at me because of the whole Exploder Dragonwing incident then I'm sorry okay? I had to narrow the gap between our life-points somehow." Chloe said and Theresa shook her head.
"Chloe, I accept your apology but there's more to it than that." Theresa said as she sat down besides Chloe's bed. "Hell if anything I should apologize to you for going overboard with my berating of you but that's beside the point, Chloe be honest with me, during the duel did you ever consider the consequences of that move?"
"What do you mean by consequences?" Chloe asked and Theresa sighed.
"I thought not." Theresa sighed before she started thinking of the best way to describe it. "You remember Otto's duel against Kimberly?"
"Yeah, why do you ask?" Chloe asked…before it hit her like a ton of bricks. "Otto disabled the safeties on his duel disk sometime before the match between him and Kimberly." Chloe realized as her eyes widened, she lowered her head and sighed. "But there weren't any injuries this time…"
"But there could have been." Theresa sighed before extending her hand out. "So, are we friends now?" Theresa asked and Chloe hesitated before shaking it.
"Yeah, we're friends." Chloe sighed in resignation. "Why didn't you tell me this back at the arena rather than yell at me though?" Chloe asked and Theresa paused.
"I don't know, I guess the recklessness off your move was causing me to not be able to think straight." Theresa answered rubbing the back of her head nervously. "There's another reason I wanted to talk actually." Theresa said before standing up and closing the door to Chloe's room behind her. "You remember the match we had back at duel academy?"
"Yeah, how could I forget it?" Chloe asked rhetorically before running a hand through her hair. "What about it?"
"It's a bit complicated but I'll try to explain it as best as I can." Theresa said honestly before sitting down again. "You remember when I told my Armed Dragon to go easy on you?"
"Yeah, I do, well kind off." Chloe said sheepishly as she tried to think back to her duel against Theresa. "Yeah, that was back when I was still using my old deck." Chloe remembered and Theresa smiled happy that they were going somewhere with this. "Where are we going with this?"
"Well…your odd behavior didn't exactly go unnoticed during the match earlier, and before you try to come up with an excuse I think I know why." Theresa said earning herself an odd look from Chloe. "You mentioned hearing an older female voice earlier?"
"Yeah I did what about it?" Chloe asked clearing confused by the question.
"Okay, I know how crazy this is going to sound but…at any point did this voice identify herself as a duel spirit?" Theresa asked and Chloe looked at the older duelist like she had just grown a second head before remembering something.
"Yeah, she did." Chloe remembered before rubbing the back off her head nervously. "Are you going to explain to me what exactly a duel spirit is?" Chloe asked and Theresa shook her head.
"Even though I have more experience with my duel spirit it's not exactly my area of expertise." Theresa said honestly before glancing towards Chloe's deck. "Professor Hamden would be your best bet to ask, besides being the professor of strategy at Duel Academy he also has extensive knowledge of duel spirits, he helped me when my duel spirit made itself known to me way back when I was in Osiris Red."
"Yeah, I'll ask him whilst trying not to sound like a lunatic." Chloe said before pausing. "Wait, you were in Osiris Red?"
"What? You thought I started out in Obelisk Blue like Brandon?" Theresa laughed before shaking her head. "My mom's a cop, she could hardly afford to send me to duel academy let alone pay my way into Obelisk Blue, and I earned my place in Obelisk Blue the hard way." Theresa added before shaking her head. "We're getting off topic, do you have any idea what your duel spirit might be?" Theresa asked and Chloe shook her head.
"No, but based on what you said they are supposed to inhabit duel monsters cards right?" Chloe asked and Theresa nodded, she took her deck out of her duel disk and started searching through it before she noticed that one of her cards was glowing, she picked it up and saw that it was Silent Magician Level 8. "Err, why is it glowing?"
"That's most likely because that's where your duel spirit resides." Theresa said before getting her duel disk out, her deck was still in the appropriate slot and she assumed that it was the same deck that she used in the Battle Royal. "Ever wonder why the Armed Dragon series is the only consistent cards throughout my decks?"
"I did yeah." Chloe said with a nod before realization hit her. "Armed Dragon Level 10's your duel spirit?"
"That is correct." The voice of Chloe's duel spirit rang out from the card making Chloe jump…..right out of her bed and onto the floor.
"Err, okay how long exactly has my deck had a duel spirit in it?" Chloe asked clearly confused by this as she rubbed her sore backside, Theresa stood up and extended a hand out to Chloe in order to help her up and Chloe quickly accepted, Theresa pulled her up and Chloe rubbed the back of her head nervously. "I guess that's one way to get me out of bed." Chloe joked getting a laugh out of Theresa. "Seriously how haven't I noticed that one of my cards is possessed by a duel spirit? And how did my life get to the point where that isn't an odd question to ask?"
"Honestly? It's hard to say, not even my spirit partner was able to tell me that when I asked him." Theresa said with a shrug. "Not even Hamden knows for sure." Theresa added, before Chloe could say anything else the door opened and Hamden stepped into the room.
"If I did know then my specialty would be duel spirits." Hamden said as he entered. "Sorry, I probably should've knocked." Hamden apologized and Chloe shook her head.
"Don't worry about it." Chloe told him before sitting down on the bed. "So is there any reason you entered?"
"Actually yes, there is." Hamden said with a smile. "Because your matches start at dinner time Martin thought it would be best if we had an early dinner, sound good?" Hamden asked and as if it had been waiting for its cue Chloe's stomach started to rumble.
"I guess it would suck to duel on an empty stomach." Chloe said sheepishly before glancing towards her duel disk. "Just two questions, where are we going and will we need our duel disks?"
"I found a restaurant on the way back from the hospital that looks nice enough and no Chloe, you won't need your duel disk." Hamden said with a frown. "After all we don't want to risk water being spilled on it thus having to leave us the task of finding you a replacement."
"But I still have my old one…..which is back at Duel Academy." Chloe winced as it dawned on her. "I knew I should've packed that just in case." Chloe said with a sigh of annoyance.
"Don't worry about it; it happens to the best of us." Hamden reassured her and waited as Chloe disconnected her duel disk and left it on the bed. "Err, Chloe are you sure you want to leave it on the bed? Wouldn't it be better if you put it someplace higher like that shelf?"
"I would if not for the fact that I'm 5ft 2 and the shelf was designed for someone much taller than me." Chloe pointed out and Hamden sweat-dropped.
"Fair point I suppose but just be sure to lock your room behind you before we go you know encase Otto tries anything." Hamden said and Chloe nodded before picking up her room key and pocketing it.
"You sure you going to be okay on your own…err…Silent Magician?" Chloe asked her duel spirit after she locked the door.
"I'll be fine, besides what are the chances that Otto breaks into your room now that you've locked it?" Silent Magician responded and Chloe gulped.
"Hopefully the chances are very little." Chloe responded as the three of them entered the elevator.
"The others are waiting downstairs, they figured it would be best for the two of you to talk out your differences and make out…" Hamden started but stopped once he realized what he said and blushed like a maniac. "Err, make up." Hamden corrected himself though the blush was still present.
"Yeah…..lets never talk about that mistake again." Theresa said as she blushed like a madwoman, Chloe, who was blushing quite profusely herself, quickly nodded before pushing the button for the ground floor and the elevator doors closed, little did they know that Otto was waiting nearby and had noticed the lack of duel disk on Chloe's arm, a fact that led into his plans perfectly.
"Excellent, now it's time for the rest of my plans to come into fruition!" Otto thought before making his way to the girl's room. "Breaking in should be an easy task, much like my inevitable victory!" Otto thought as he stopped outside the girl's room.
*an hour later*
"Oh man that was good!" Chloe muttered as she, Hamden and Theresa got out of the elevator, the three of them where thoroughly stuffed from their meal at the restaurant as was the others including, impressively enough given his eating habits, Marcus. "I don't think I'll be able to eat anything else for the rest of the day."
"Yeah, I agree there." Theresa agreed as she stepped out of the elevator. "Nice choice for a restaurant Hamden."
"I try my best." Hamden chuckled as they joined the others who were also stuffed, however Chloe didn't get a chance to chat with them before a familiar voice called out her name.
"Chloe, there you are!" Phillip Masters called out to them as he ran up, his girlfriend Francesca wasn't far behind. "We've been trying to reach you for the past hour or so."
"Sorry, I was in a restaurant and I had left my cellphone off." Chloe apologized before seeing the serious looks on their faces. "What happened?"
"Me and Francesca where going out for an early dinner when we heard a commotion coming from Duel Academy's little section of the hotel." Phillip explained before frowning. "I wanted to investigate so we did, we chased off the guy who was in your hotel room but…" Chloe's eyes widened when he mentioned her hotel room and she rushed past them. "CHLOE, WAIT! IT'S A CRIME SCENE!" Phillip yelled after her but either she didn't hear him or she was too concerned about her valuables to care, she was finally stopped by a much older cop.
"Hey there kiddo, you can't go in there." The cop blocked her path and resisted any further attempts by her to get in the crime scene.
"You don't understand; that's my room not a crime scene!" Chloe protested and the cop looked her over before realization hit him.
"Wait, your Chloe Richardson?" The cop asked and Chloe nodded. "Well kid I don't know what to tell ya, the good news is nothing was stolen; the bad news is that whoever did break in destroyed your deck."
"Did…did you say m…my deck?" Chloe stammered as realization hit her.
"Well, actually all but two of the cards were destroyed to be more precise." The cop said as he consulted his notebook. "The only two cards that weren't destroyed where Silent Magician Level 4 and Silent Magician Level 8, my guess is that your friends over there surprised him before he could finish the job." The cop added before handing over the cards. "We've already dusted them for prints and they came up empty, well besides your prints that is but given the fact that you're a duelist that was to be expected, you can have them back if you want." The cop said and Chloe took them without hesitation, at that point the others walked over equally as shocked at the turn of events as Chloe was. "Phillip was it? Did you get a good look at the assailant before he escaped?"
"Aye I did, it was Otto Freshier, she's facing him an hour." Phillip said with a frown. "Or she would be if she could reconstruct her deck in time." Phillip added and Theresa got an idea before turning to Martin.
"Martin, do you think you could persuade Kaiba to delay the matches?" Theresa asked and Martin frowned before getting his cellphone out.
"It's a longshot but Kaiba was once a duelist himself, I'm sure he'll understand. " Martin said before getting his cellphone out. "In the meantime we'll need a place for Chloe to stay whilst the police search your room."
"Wait, her dad was a battle city competitor until the first round." Francesca remembered and everyone turned to her. "Maybe he has a spare room she can sleep in."
"I'll give him a call, tell him what's happened." Jeff said as he got his cellphone out, in the meantime Martin paced back and forth waiting for a response from Kaiba.
*meanwhile at Kaibacorp's NY branch*
"The fourth round is bound to be the most exciting yet." Tyler commented as the two Kaibas watched a replay of the Battle Royal, the office was very big and spacious with a view that overlooked the city, the TV screen was in front of Kaiba's desk though they weren't sitting at it.
"Indeed." Kaiba agreed with a nod. "First there's that grudge match between Richardson and Freshier and then there's the match between Loather and Daniels, whoever comes out of those matches still standing will have proven themselves worthy competitors for Roberts' Battle City Crown." Kaiba added but was cut off by a call from his secretary.
"Mr. Kaiba, there's an urgent call from one of the duel academy professors on line one." The secretary said and Kaiba walked over to the phone and picked it up.
"Yes, what is it?" Kaiba asked, Tyler paid no attention and turned to the duel screen.
"I hope Theresa and Chloe can sort out their differences in time for the next round." Tyler thought as he folded his arms. "I'd hate to see a friendship like theirs destroyed over what was a brilliant move in all respects." Tyler thought as he watched the replay footage of Chloe's last move before she was eliminated from the Battle Royal.
"HE DID WHAT? " Kaiba yelled making Tyler jump, he turned around saw a sight he rarely saw from his adopted father, pure rage to the point that his hands where trembling. "You want me to delay that match? Fine, I'll delay it until 7:00 this evening but no later." Kaiba said catching Tyler by surprise, he angrily slammed the phone down and growled. "Freshier has crossed the line."
"What did he do?" Tyler asked not liking where this was going.
"He broke into Richardson's hotel room and destroyed her deck whilst she and the other Duel Academy students were enjoying an early dinner." Kaiba told him and Tyler frowned.
"There's no way that we can let Otto get away with this." Tyler said as he folded his arms. "If we do it'll be the Miranda Trayson incident from last year all over again." Tyler added and Kaiba's frown deepened remembering the bad press they got from that.
"We'll worry about that later, for now I need you to call the PR department and have them issue a statement to the press, tell them that the matches will be delayed due to attempted sabotage." Kaiba said as he picked up the phone. "In the meantime I'd better call Axel, let him know what happened." Kaiba added as he dialed the number for Axel's hotel room.
*back at the hotel*
"Understood Kaiba, we'll be in touch should anything else happen." Martin said before hanging up, he rubbed his ear in pain due to Kaiba yelling down the phone and turned to the others. "Kaiba was willing to delay the matches until 7:00pm tonight, no later."
"I can understand that, if he delayed until tomorrow he'd be getting refund demands from everyone and their mother." Lance agreed before he heard footsteps approaching, the students looked up and saw Chloe's step parents who were, quite understandably, concerned.
"We just got the news." Scott spoke up before turning to Chloe. "Chloe, are you okay?"
"I was out of my room when he broke in dad, I'm fine." Chloe said as she turned around, she was holding onto her two Silent Magician cards for dear life since they were the only remnants of her deck left.
"Good, you'll be staying in our hotel room until your room becomes available, don't worry we have a spare room so you won't be sleeping on the couch." Scott told her and Chloe breathed a sigh of relief.
"What about my match though? My duel disk is in some evidence locker somewhere and all I've got is two cards out of my deck." Chloe pointed out and Theresa turned to her.
"Chloe, do you have a card list for your deck?" Theresa asked and Chloe thought for a moment before digging into her jacket pocket and handing Theresa a piece of paper with her card list on it. "Huh, I don't remember seeing those cards when I helped you modify your deck before the Battle City Tournament." Theresa commented and Chloe rubbed the back of her head nervously.
"Err, yeah those are Synchro and Tuner monsters that I intended to add when we went to that card shop you mentioned earlier." Chloe said honestly before sighing. "It seems pointless now, with my deck in ruins and all."
"Those cards will be easy enough to obtain, but some of the rarer cards like Endymion will take some effort." Theresa thought before turning too Chloe. "You let us take care of this, for now just chill out in your parent's room." Chloe told them and Chloe nodded before following them.
"Fine but if I walk in on them making out you'll be sorry." Chloe said plainly and Theresa just smirked as she walked away with her parents.
"Err, Theresa what did you mean by "We'll take care of this"?" Brandon asked once Chloe was out of earshot.
"Well my initial plan was to buy her a replica deck plus the new cards." Theresa said before digging into her pocket and producing a purse, she opened it and revealed its contents revealing there to be five dollars in cash. "But…..well just look."
"That's barely enough for a single pack of cards, let alone an entire deck." Brandon realized and Theresa nodded. "Well I'm can't be much help there either, I've got about ten dollars of spending money left." Brandon said honestly before turning to Marcus.
"Don't look at me; all I have is a dollar!" Marcus said plainly. "Look as much as I want to help Chloe all we've got between us is 16 dollars, I'd raid Andreas's spending money but it wouldn't feel right you know." Marcus said and Theresa nodded in understanding.
"I don't blame you there Marcus." Theresa said before turning to Lance. "How much spending money do you have left Lance?" Theresa asked and Lance dug into his wallet and produced two ten dollar notes.
"I had thirty but I spent that on buying my new Synchro and tuner monsters." Lance said honestly and Theresa sighed.
"That will be enough to get her some of the more common cards like Gearfried but the rarer cards will be a problem." Theresa said before running a hand through her hair. "If you have any ideas I'm open to them." Theresa added and Phillip and Francesca searched through their pockets.
"Theresa." Theresa turned around and saw Axel approaching them with a frown on his face. "Kaiba told me what happened, I was initially apprehensive about the duel being delayed but once Kaiba explained I understood completely." Axel added before digging into his pocket and producing his wallet. "I have fifty dollars left over from my spending money that should help you replace Chloe's deck." Axel said before handing it over, Theresa looked at the German student surprised by this.
"Axel, are you sure? You'll have nothing left to spend." Theresa asked and Axel nodded.
"Don't worry; I have some money in my account as well." Axel said and Theresa hesitated. "Go ahead take it, Otto crossed a line that should never be crossed by any duelist." Axel insisted and Theresa took it.
"I'll pay you back after the tournament, it's only fair." Theresa insisted and Axel nodded in understanding, it was then that she saw another familiar face running up behind Axel. "Jared?" Axel turned around and saw the teen as he stopped to catch his breath.
"There's…there's something I need to tell Chloe." Jared said as he caught his breath, Theresa frowned and folded her arms.
"Chloe's staying at her parent's room until the police are done going after Chloe's room." Theresa said before realization hit her and she turned to the cop. "Err, my bedroom's next door to Chloe's and my stuff's in there, not to mention the fact that I have nowhere to sleep." Theresa said and the cop looked towards Chloe's room.
"Your room's the one on the right correct?" The cop asked and Theresa nodded. "Well there's no evidence that your room was broken into so how about I get the stuff you need?" The cop asked and Theresa nodded sighing and relief. "Okay, that would be your clothes, toiletries…" The cop trailed off and Theresa dug into her pocket and produced a list.
"And a duel disk and a backpack full of decks, that's everything I need from my room." Theresa added and the cop sent a female subordinate into the room, about twenty many minutes later she emerged with Theresa's things in hand and Theresa took them. "Thanks, I owe you one." Theresa thanked them before turning to Jared. "Now, what do you want to tell Chloe?"
"How badly will you kick my ass depending on the answer?" Jared asked and without missing a beat Theresa motioned to the cops behind them. "Good point, well you know how it's pretty much been established that Otto broke into Chloe's room and stole her…"
"Stole? I think you mean destroyed." Theresa interrupted him and Jared's eyes widened. "Is there something you're not telling us?"
"When I met Chloe outside the hospital it was no coincidence, Otto had offered me an extremely rare card if I stole Chloe's deck for him." Jared said honestly and the cop walked over.
"He attempted to hire you?" The cop asked and Jared nodded ignoring the glares from the others.
"Yeah, I would've done it too well but I got cold feet, Chloe and I lived in the same orphanage and…I just couldn't betray the trust of someone who knew how rough the child care system was from first-hand experience like I did," Jared said with a sigh. "I was desperate, my deck's shit and if I had some good cards in it I could be in Axel's place." Jared added and Axel shook his head.
"Jared, whilst it's true that your deck isn't very good your skills were." Axel pointed out before frowning. "But that doesn't excuse what you almost did, you know as well as I do that a duelist's deck is more important to them than any valuable." Axel added and Jared lowered his head in shame, he knew how right Axel was but that didn't make the words hit any further from home.
"I know, and believe me I regret ever considering that offer." Jared sighed before turning to Theresa. "If there's anything I can do to help Chloe just let me know."
"There is, you can help us rebuild her deck." Theresa said almost immediately and Jared reached into his pocket before producing his wallet, he emptied its contents, notes, loose change and all, into Theresa's outstretched palm and she counted it. "Good, this is more than enough to get the cards we'll need to reconstruct her deck, Brandon do you remember where that card shop is?"
"The one you dueled Hunter and Zane in front of?" Brandon asked and Theresa nodded. "Yeah, I suppose it won't take much to persuade the teachers to drive us there." Brandon added unaware that Jeff and Hamden where right behind him.
"Just say the word and we'll go, we'll leave Jared to the cops." Jeff said making Brandon jump, once he regained his composure Brandon turned to him and motioned for him to lead the way and the four teens where led outside. "Theresa, do you think you'll be able to replace Chloe's deck in time?" Jeff asked as they reached the car, she checked the time on her watch and nodded.
"We have more than enough time to buy the deck, get back, give deck to Chloe and get her to the arena in time." Theresa said before pausing. "Now that I put it that way it doesn't seem that we'll be able to do it in time." Theresa said as a massive sweat-drop rolled down her head.
"Well, we don't have time to lose." Jeff said as he held open the card door, the teens entered the car first followed by the two teachers and once the door was closed the car drove off.
*a couple of hours later*
"Great, there's nothing on TV." Chloe muttered under her breath as she channel surfed, she was lying down on the couch in her parent's spare room and was bored out of her mind; it was then that she got an idea and grabbed her copy of Silent Magician Level 8 which was on the coffee table in front of the sofa. "Hey Silent Magician, are you there?"
"I'm always here Chloe." The duel spirit answered back and Chloe smiled. "I suppose you're wondering how close Otto got to destroying the copies of Silent Magician Level 4 and me." Silent Magician Level 8 inquired and Chloe nodded.
"Well, it's not like I have anything else to do." Chloe answered and Silent Magician Level 8 chuckled silently.
"I suppose, when he entered the room I had a feeling he was up to no good so I tried casting a spell to protect the cards in your deck." Silent Magician answered and Chloe frowned. "He was too fast; I could only protect the Silent Magician cards."
"Well, thanks for at least protecting two of my cards." Chloe responded mentally with a sigh. "I hope the other students can replace my deck soon, I want revenge on Otto so badly."
"I understand Chloe." Silent Magician Level 8 responded, Chloe would've said something else but there was a knock at the door and Chloe sat up. "Door's open!" Chloe shouted to whoever was on the other end of the door, the door opened revealing her dad.
"How are you feeling Chloe?" Scott asked and Chloe sighed.
"I'm bored out of my mind to be honest." Chloe admitted before turning off the TV. "There's nothing good on TV, my deck's been destroyed and…did I mention the fact that I'm bored out of my mind?" Chloe asked and Scott laughed before sitting down on her bed.
"Just as long as you don't plan on letting that punk get away with it I'm not complaining." Scott said with a hint of anger in his voice, Chloe just smirked before crossing her legs.
"Dad, there's no way in hell I'm letting him get away with what he did to my deck." Chloe said before deciding to change the subject. "Come to think of it, since when did hotel rooms have spare rooms?" Chloe asked and Scott chuckled.
"Well technically it was a mix-up at the check in counter; they somehow thought that we had a small child with us." Scott said with a smirk. "And whilst we do have a daughter she isn't exactly small and won't be a child for much longer."
"Well I am small compared to the other duel academy students on the trip, but at least that explains why I have a tiny bed." Chloe pointed out before frowning. "Dad, I'm worried going into the match against Otto, you saw for yourself how ruthless he was against Andreas and Kimberly."
"I understand Chloe but you have to trust in your deck and your abilities as a duelist." Scott said with a nod of understanding, before either of them could say anything else there was a knock coming from outside the room all together, Scott stood up and went to answer it and once he left Chloe put her feet up again…..only to quickly put them down again when Theresa entered the room.
"Hi Chloe, are you enjoying yourself?" Theresa asked with an amused look on her face, Chloe just smirked before turning off her TV.
"I'm enjoying myself as much as I can." Chloe said honestly and Theresa dug into her pocket. "Were you able to rebuild my deck?"
"And then some." Theresa said handing over a new deck to her; Chloe grabbed it and looked over it. "We weren't able to get some of the cards you won in the tournament but we were able to get you the Synchro Monsters you requested." Theresa said and smiled when she saw Chloe's big grin.
"It's perfect, I can't thank you enough." Chloe said as she grabbed her two Silent Magician cards and added the cards to her deck. "You're not going to ask me to pay you back for those cards are you? Some of them are pretty expensive."
"Your thanks is payment enough, trust me." Theresa said before sweat-dropping. "Jesus Christ, that's easily the cheesiest sentence I've said in my entire life." Theresa said and the two girls shared a laugh. "Come on we'd better get you to the arena, you watch is starting soon." Theresa added and a look of panic washed over Chloe's face before she bolted to her feet. "Before I forget here, take this." Theresa said handing over an Osiris Red Duel Disk. "The teachers where able to have the school send over a replacement duel disk since your old one's in an evidence locker at NYPD."
"Perfect, I have everything I need to get revenge on Otto." Chloe smirked as she took the duel disk, she put the Synchro monsters in her extra deck and her regular monsters in her deck slot alongside the rest of the cards. "Theresa, any tips for dealing with Otto?" Chloe asked her and Theresa rubbed her chin in thought.
"Well he uses a lot of trap cards so watch out for those, and obviously watch out for cards like Machine King, Perfect Machine King and Cyber End Dragon." Theresa said and Chloe nodded before the two girls left the spare room.
*sometime later at the arena*
"This is perfect!" Otto thought with a smirk as he waited on the duel arena for Chloe to arrive, as far as he was concerned he was there on a technicality as there was no proof that he had committed the crimes he did. "Even if I couldn't complete the job there's no way in hell that the Osiris Red Bitch was able to acquire the funds necessary to rebuild her deck….."
"Sorry for the delay folks but Chloe Richardson has shown up and is ready to duel!" Bill announced and Otto's eyes widened with disbelief.
"WHAT! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Otto yelled out earning himself odd looks from the others, sure enough Chloe stepped onto the arena floor glaring at Otto whose eyes widened even further when he saw her new deck. "How…"
"What's the matter Otto? Upset that you didn't get a chance to destroy this deck as well?" Chloe asked as she stepped onto the duel podium, Otto just stood there with his mouth agape. "And before you ask, no it's not slander when you have two eye witness accounts of you ripping my old deck to pieces and testimony that you tried to hire an old friend of mine to destroy my deck!" Chloe said and she could've sworn that Otto's jaw was going to drop to the floor at any moment.
"HE DID WHAT?" Eddie yelled out from his spot in the audience obviously enraged by this, he wasn't alone as the crowd's boos directed towards Otto where even more intense than before.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!" Otto yelled out but it was no use, he clenched his fists in a rage and charged at Chloe ready to punch her…..
"You even think of doing that and I will have every single security guard in my employee take turns beating the shit out of you!" Kaiba's enraged voice rang out and the two teens looked up, sure enough the blimp with Kaiba's face was passing by overhead, the look of rage on Otto's face quickly turned into a look of panic. "Freshier, I warned you before your match against Kimberly Troy to watch yourself but it's obvious you didn't listen." Kaiba said with a growl. "Forget being disqualified from my tournament, I should have you arrested for breaking and entering and destruction of private property!" Kaiba said before pausing. "With that said, by order of the Battle City directors I hereby disqualify Otto Fresh…"
"Kaiba please let me handle it." Chloe called out to him and Kaiba looked at her funny. "For weeks I put up with his name calling just because I'm an Osiris Red Student but his actions during the semi-finals…they've made things personal for me."
"Very well, as you wish." Kaiba said with a nod and Otto smirked.
"You just made the biggest mistake of your life, you know that right?" Otto asked as he returned to his spot, Chloe just smirked in response.
"I'm not the one who's made a mistake here, it's you." Chloe said as the two duelists activated there duel disks. "Not just by breaking the law mind you, you see my friends…..the duel academy students who came with us on this trip….they used up their remaining spending money to rebuild my deck and whilst it's not a perfect recreation my any means my new deck's just as strong as my old one, maybe even stronger." Chloe said and Otto scoffed. "Don't believe me? Fine! I'll prove it in this duel right here, right now!" Chloe said as she activated drew her opening hand, Otto did likewise and the crowd cheered.
"The kid's fired up, not that I blame her." Alex commented as he watched the duel. "And if he did punch her I'd be beating the shit out of him before Kaiba's goons got the chance."
"You'd have to get in line." Miranda muttered under her breath as she watched the two duelists look over their hands. "You think Chloe's making the right choice here? She could've had a free trip to the Semi-Finals but instead she asked Kaiba to let the duel go ahead."
"We'd both do the same if we were in her shoes Miranda." Alex pointed out with a frown. "You heard that punk's comments, you heard what he did and you saw what he did to her classmates, can you honestly tell me with a straight face that you wouldn't want revenge?"
"Since you're so eager to test out your deck I'll let you go first." Otto announced and Chloe looked over her hand. "Doesn't matter what see plays, as soon as my turn begins her Soul will be mine!" Otto thought as he waited for Chloe to make her move.
"Don't say I didn't warn you." Chloe said before picking up three of her cards. "I set two cards facedown and summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in attack mode!" Chloe played the cards and the knight clad in jet black armor appeared on the field (4/1800/1600). "That ends my turn." Chloe announced and Otto didn't waste any time in drawing his card.
"Well then, I won't waste any more of our time!" Otto said as he picked up the card. "I activate The Seal of the Orichalcos!" Chloe braced herself as the two duelists where surrounded by the infamous field spell, almost as soon as the spell appeared the pentagram also appeared on Otto's forehead. "You have no idea how long I've waited to use this card against you!"
"It's begun." Brandon said as he folded his arms. "Hang in there Chloe; don't let that bastard's taunting get to you!" Brandon called out to her, he was subsequently responded with by several fans who agreed with him.
"I suppose I don't have to repeat Cyber Dragon's effect at this point." Otto played the card and cybernetic magician appeared on the field (5/2100/1600) and due to the Seal the dragon's attack increased to 2600. "Cyber Dragon, crush her pathetic knight and show her real power!" Otto commanded and the dragon charged up its laser….
"I'm afraid not, I activate my trap card Waboku!" Chloe activated the card and the laser blast was blocked by the three priestesses who were quickly vaporized by the blast.
"Fine, I set a card facedown and end my turn." Otto gritted his teeth and Chloe quickly activated her remaining trap card.
"Well in that case I activate my trap card Reinforce Truth!" Chloe activated the card and picked up her deck. "In exchange for conducting my battle phase, hence why I'm activating it now, this trap will let me search my deck for a Level 2 or lower Warrior type monster and Special Summon it to the field." Chloe explained as she picked up a card and played it. "My monster of choice is Torapart in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and, once she reshuffled her deck, an evil cackle echoed out, soon the monster made its presence felt and if not for the fact that Chloe mentioned it's type you would've thought it was a spellcaster, it was a little imp in jet black wizard's clothing but what was most striking about it was its pale skin (2/600/600) and Otto nearly died laughing at the site of the monster.
"That's your big play? I've seen Barbie dolls more intimidating than that!" Otto scoffed as Chloe drew her card. "What possible use could that weakling have?"
"Well there is the fact that it's a tuner monster." Chloe said and Otto's laughter died almost instantly when he heard that. "I did warn you that my deck is a lot stronger nowadays."
"Just make your damn move already." Otto growled and Chloe looked at her drawn card.
"I activate the Spell Card Reinforcement of the Army, this lets me search through my deck for a Level 4 or lower Warrior Type Monster and add it to my hand." Chloe played the card and picked up her deck, one quick search and she added the monster to her hand and after shuffling the deck again she retrieved her spell card. "Next I remove Reinforcement of the Army from play in order to Special Summon the monster I brought out with it, Spell Striker!" Chloe pocketed the monster and played the card; next to Gearfried a small, almost cartoonish, warrior appeared on the field wearing armor that seemed to resemble Viking armor (3/600/200).
"Am I supposed to be scared of that?" Otto mocked her and Chloe grinned.
"No, but you are supposed to be scared of the monster I'm about to summon!" Chloe announced as Torapart and Spell Striker leapt into the air, Torapart vanished and two green rings surrounded Spell Striker. "I tune Torapart and Spell Striker together to Synchro Summon Scarred Warrior in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and a bright flash washed over the field, when the light cleared a new monster appeared in the place of Spell Striker and it was a man in what looked like futuristic silver samurai armor with one hand replaced by a sword (5/2100/1000) and Otto scoffed when he saw it.
"I knew you were a terrible duelist but you're bad at math as well?" Otto scoffed as he folded his arms. "That warrior cannot hope to combat Cyber Dragon!"
"I'd say don't get too cocky but then I remembered who I'm talking too." Chloe responded before picking up a card. "For starters Scarred Warrior can survive one attack per round and as long as he's on the field you can't attack any other Warrior Type monsters."
"Big deal, my Cyber Dragon is far too strong for him to beat!" Otto scoffed before realization hit him. "Wait a minute, all your summons so far has been Special Summons….."
"Well what do you know? There is a brain in there!" Chloe mocked him and Otto growled. "Unfortunately Spell Striker was the last monster in my hand but that doesn't mean I can't play a Spell Card, I equip Scarred Warrior with the Spell Card Fusion Sword Murasame Blade which gives him a power boost of 800 points!" Chloe played the card and a large sword appeared in Scarred Warrior's hand increasing his attack to 2800. "Oh and don't expect your trap card to be any help, you see when Torapart is used as part of a Synchro Summon and the monster that was summoned with him attacks you can't activate traps until the damage step."
"Yeah, that's the way Chloe!" Marcus shouted enthusiastically unintentionally yelling in Brandon and Lance's ears whilst he was at it. "Show that bully how real duel academy students do things!" Marcus added and Chloe just grinned before pointing at Scarred Warrior.
"Scarred Warrior, reduce Cyber Dragon to scrap now!" Chloe commanded and the warrior charged towards Cyber Dragon before taking his head clean off with a swing of his sword reducing Otto's life points to 7800. "Gearfried, attack his life-points directly!" Chloe commanded and the knight charged towards Otto….
"I wasn't going to activate this until your second attack anyway." Otto said as his trap flipped up. "I activate Confusion Chaff, this trap card, as you may remember from my duel against Kimberly, forces Gearfried to do battle with Scarred Warrior!" Chloe's eyes widened as she watched Gearfried change course and try to strike down Scarred Warrior, Scarred Warrior avoided the attack and cut down the knight with his sword.
O: 7800
C: 7000
"Yeah, and now I can't use any other card effects." Chloe grunted obviously unhappy with the result of that battle, she looked over the rest of her hand before motioning for Otto to take his turn and Otto drew his card. "At least I still got Scarred Warrior to protect my life-points, better hope that he doesn't draw something like Eternal Rest." Chloe thought as she waited for Otto to take his turn.
"I got rid of one of her monsters but that Synchro monster's going to be a problem." Otto thought before looking at his newly drawn card. "Perfect." Otto thought before looking up at Scarred Warrior. "Just for reference what Attribute is Scarred Warrior?"
"He's an Earth Type, why do you ask?" Chloe asked and Otto grinned.
"Oh, no reason other than showing you that you are not the only one capable of a Synchro Summon." Otto said he held up a card. "I start by activating Hand Destruction, this spell card works by forcing us both to discard two cards of our choice from our hands but in exchange we can draw an additional two cards." Otto explained as he picked up two cards and discarded them, Chloe did likewise and both duelists drew two times.
"I don't like this; the only way Otto would even consider using a card like that is if it benefitted him in some way." Brandon said plainly and Lance nodded in agreement,
"Now I activate Monster Reborn to bring back one of the monsters I discarded with Hand Destruction, the Tuner Monster Black Salvo!" Otto played the card, retrieved the monster from his graveyard and played it; the monster in question was a large black bomb with a psychotic looking face on it (3/100/1100). "Now for my regular summon, I summon Ally Mind in attack mode!" Otto played the card and what looked like a meteorite covered in purple flames appeared on the field (2/400/300). "Go my machines; show the Osiris Red Bitch a REAL Synchro Summon!" Otto commanded and the two monsters leapt into the air, Black Salvo exploded and from the remains came two green rings which surrounded Ally Mind. "I tune Black Salvo with Ally Mind to summon the mighty Ally of Justice Catastor!" Otto announced as the blight flash enveloped the field, when the smoke cleared (from the explosion) and the light fades the spider like machine stood in Ally Mind's place (5/2200/1200) and almost immediately the monster's attack increased to 2700 thanks to the seal.
"Crap, I remember that thing's effect from Theresa's duel against Alex!" Chloe thought as her eyes widened. "If it battles a non-Dark Type monster it won't matter how strong it is, it'll be toast and the damage would be reduced to zero." Chloe thought before picking up a card. "Whilst we're going down memory lane here's an old face you may remember from the Battle Royal, since you were kind enough to Special Summon Catastor I can Special Summon my own monster, go Extra Veilor!" Chloe played the card and the matador appeared on the field ready for battle (2/600/600).
"Hmmm, she's obviously hoping to use Chaos Burst to get rid of Catastor like she did in the Battle Royal, but her lack of trap cards won't help there." Otto thought as he pointed towards Catastor. "Catastor, attack Scarred Warrior this instant!" Otto commanded and the spider like machine crawled over to Scarred Warrior, the warrior tried to destroy the machine with his sword but it was no use and the machine tore it apart effortlessly.
"Great, as if I needed another reason to hate Spiders." Chloe muttered under her breath as she sent Scarred Warrior and Fusion Sword to the graveyard.
"Your hatred of Spiders should be the least of your worries." Otto scoffed as he looked over the rest of his hand. "I set a card facedown just in case and that will end my turn." Otto announced as he set the card and Chloe drew her card.
"Chloe, I see the duel has been going well." Silent Magician's voice rang out mentally and Chloe frowned.
"You do realize that you're about four turns late right?" Chloe asked as she looked over her hand. "I don't have any tuner monsters to use with Vielor so I'm open to suggestions."
"Sorry, I was getting acquainted with your new deck." Silent Magician responded before looking at Chloe's hand through Chloe's eyes. "Set the trap down but leave Veilor in attack mode, then equip him with the spell card."
"What Spell Card?" Chloe asked before looking at the card, she then looked at her trap card and grinned. "I set a card facedown and equip Extra Veilor with Scroll of Bewitchment which lets me change his type to a Dark Type that ends my turn." Chloe played the cards and she could've sworn she heard every other person in the stadium face palming, well besides Otto who was laughing his ass off.
"You have got to be kidding me? How on Earth did you get past the first round?" Otto scoffed as he drew his card. "Oh that's right, NOTHING BUT LUCK! And this is where your luck runs out, Catastor I command you to vaporize her pathetic monster!" Otto commanded and the spider charged towards the matador who, even with its changed attribute, didn't stand a chance.
"Your wrong Otto, I got through the first round because egotistical idiots like you forget to take trap cards into consideration!" Chloe said as her trap flipped up and Otto's arrogant smirk quickly disappeared when he saw it.
"YOU SET DIMENSION WALL?" Otto yelled out as what was about to happen dawned on him. "HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Otto commanded but it was too late as the giant spider was in the middle of dissecting Chloe's matador.
"And there are my nightmares for the rest of the year." Chloe thought with a massive sweat-drop rolling down her head, once the monster was destroyed Catastor it span around and struck it's master in the stomach with one of its pincers.
O: 6200
C: 7000
"You'll pay for that bitch!" Otto growled as he looked at his hand. "One card facedown, now stop wasting my time and make your move already!" Otto demanded as he set the card down and Chloe drew her card.
"Much as I hate to give you any kind of advantage this spell card will help me as well." Chloe said as she activated the card and Card of Sanctity's Hologram appeared on the field and both duelists drew until they had six cards in their hands, Chloe sent her Spell to the grave and looked over her new hand.
"Perfect, she may not realize it but that move has given me two of the cards I need to summon Cyber End Dragon!" Otto thought with a psychotic smile on his face, indeed his hand contained two of his Cyber Dragon cards among other cards. "Returning my first Cyber Dragon to my hand will be a simple matter then it'll be a matter of time before I draw Power Bond, I the meantime Cantaster can keep her at bay with its high attack power and its effect." Otto thought. "And even if she somehow manages to draw a dark type monster strong enough to defeat Cantaster my trap card will see to it that it never gets close to destroying him."
"I set a monster in defense mode and a card facedown that ends my turn." Chloe said as she set the two cards. "And before you ask my facedown monster's a Dark-Type so your monster's effect doesn't apply." Chloe added as Otto drew his card.
"Am I supposed to be worried about your facedown monster even if it is a Dark Type? Don't make me laugh, Cantaster I order you to rip that facedown monster to shreds!" Otto commanded and the mechanical spider charged towards the monster…
"That's just what I wanted you to do." Chloe interrupted him; Otto blinked in confusion….before his eyes widened at the revelation of the facedown monster being Old Vindictive Magician (2/450/600). "He may be destroyed by Cantestor but his effect ensures that he drags the monster down with him." Chloe explained as she did her best to ignore the dissection of her monster, Old Vindictive Magician was able to get off a blast of magical energy strong enough to destroy the monster before dying from his wounds.
"So what if you were able to destroy him? Cantestor was just one soldier in my mighty army of machines!" Otto said defiantly as he sent his Synchro Monster to the graveyard, Chloe did likewise with Old Vindictive Magician and Otto looked over the rest of his hand. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." Otto announced and Chloe drew her card.
"Chloe, I don't trust his facedown card." Silent Magician cautioned her.
"I was just thinking that." Chloe commented as she picked up her newly drawn spell card. "Wait, can you read my mind?"
"Please, I may be a Duel Spirit but I'm not telepathic!" Silent Magician responded and Chloe played her spell card without a second thought.
"I activate Arcane Barrier, now every time a Spellcaster type monster I control is destroyed this spell card gains a counter…" Chloe started but was cut off by Otto.
"And it can hold a maximum of four counters, not only that but as long as you tribute a Spellcaster type monster along with the Spell Card it's self you will be able to draw one card for each counter." Otto interrupted her before folding his arms. "What do you take me for, an amateur? I watched your match against Trayson and I know what that card does."
"Do you really want me to answer your question?" Chloe asked as she picked up another card. "Now I summon Gemini Elf in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and the twin elves appeared on the field ready to do battle (4/1900/900). "Gemini Elf, attack his defense monster now!" Chloe commanded and the twin elves prepared to fire their spell…..
"And once again you have fallen into my trap, go Nightmare Wheel!" Otto activated the card and too Chloe's surprise a large horrific looking wheel ran over her elves. "Don't worry; they aren't going anywhere, just look!" Otto added and Chloe turned to the wheel, to her horror the two elves where strapped to the wheel and where in obvious agony. "Here's how my trap card works, as long as it remains on the field your elves cannot attack or change position but the best part is? During each of my standby phases you lose 500 life-points."
"That thing has to have a weakness." Marcus said with a wince and Lance nodded.
"Yeah, it does." Lance said as he watched the duel. "If Chloe's Elves leave the field for any reason Nightmare Wheel will go with them."
"Well we outfitted Chloe's new deck with a decent amount of tuner monsters so if she draws one that'll be her best bet." Brandon commented before frowning. "If she can draw one before that thing drains her life-points completely that is."
"That's not even the worst part, or have you forgotten that the damage players suffer is just as real as the players themselves in the Orichalcos?" Lance pointed out with a frown. "Until she can get rid of her elves Chloe's in for a lot of pain."
"I end my turn." Chloe said reluctantly and Otto drew his card, once he did Nightmare Wheel spun rapidly causing a surge of energy to wash over Chloe who grunted in pain.
C: 6500
O: 6200
"What's the matter? Don't you like my trap card?" Otto mocked her and Chloe gritted her teeth in pain. "Then you'll hate the other cards I have in store for you, in the meantime however I chose to pass my turn." Otto announced and Chloe drew her card.
"Damn, where's Mystical Space Typhoon when I need it?" Chloe thought before playing the card she had drawn. "I activate Pot of Avarice; in exchange for returning five of my monsters in my graveyard to my deck this spell card will allow me to draw two more cards." Chloe announced before retrieving Torapart, Spell Striker, Scarred Warrior, Gearfried and Extra Veilor from her graveyard and returning them to her deck, or her extra deck in Scarred Warrior's case, and, once she shuffled the deck, she drew two cards.
"Draw all the cards you want, it won't help you!" Otto mocked her as she looked at her two new cards.
"Maybe not but this card will definitely help." Chloe said as she played the card. "I summon Magician's Valkyrie in attack mode!" Chloe announced as the female spellcaster appeared on the field (4/1600/1800). "And like it or not my new monster isn't effected by Nightmare Wheel, go Magician's Valkyrie and attack his defense!" Chloe commanded and the female magician pointed her staff at the defense monster, she let loose with a mighty ball of energy which collided with Otto's facedown monster. "Well, so much for that monster." Chloe said as Valkyrie looked up….only to see Cyber Phoenix (4/1200/1600), who's attack subsequently increased to 1700 thanks to the seal, once the smoke cleared.
"Whilst it's true that your Magician isn't affected by Nightmare Wheel there's more than one way to defend against your forces." Otto said with a grin.
"Fine, I end my turn." Chloe said before bracing herself for Nightmare Wheel's effect, Otto drew his card and as soon as he did the wheel span again unleashing the energy blast against Chloe, she almost lost her balance as a result but managed to keep it.
C: 6000
O: 6200
"That damn wheel is starting to get annoying!" Chloe grunted in pain and Otto chuckled when he heard her say that.
"Good, you know how I feel about you and Osiris Red Students in general!" Otto said with a grin before looking at his newly drawn card. "And speaking of pests I think now is as good a time as any to take out your new monster; I summon Blue Thunder T-45 in attack mode!" Otto played the card and the white plane with the blue windshield appeared on the field (4/1700/1000) and its attack increased to 2200 almost immediately thanks to the seal. "Blue Thunder, strike down Magician's Valkyrie!" Otto commanded and the plane took flight before bombarding the magician with bombs, Chloe shielded herself from the blast as her life-points took a hit.
C: 5400
O: 6200
"But wait, there's more!" Otto said with a grin as Blue Thunder returned to his side of the field and Arcane Barrier gained its first counter. "You see, when Blue Thunder destroys a monster I can summon a Thunder Option Token." Otto announced as a compartment on Blue Thunder opened up and from it emerged a smaller aircraft (4/1500/1500) and the token's attack increased to 2000 thanks to the seal. "As a downside however I can't use my Thunder Option token as a tribute."
"But that won't stop him from using it in a Synchro Summon as soon as he draws another Tuner Monster." Chloe thought as she waited for Otto to finish his move.
"And to top of my move I switch Cyber Phoenix to attack mode!" Otto announced as he switched Cyber Phoenix's position and the mechanical bird stood up. "Why? It's simple; as long as Cyber Phoenix is in attack mode I can negate the effects of spell or trap cards that target Machine type monsters." Otto explained with a grin. "It's your move." Otto announced and Chloe drew her card.
"Otto just made a big mistake." Brandon realized and the other students turned to him. "Cyber Phoenix's protection effect only works if the card in question targets one machine type monster."
"So if she plays something like Lightning Vortex Otto's entire strategy is toast!" Marcus realized with a grin. "Speaking of food does anyone know where a hotdog vender is?"
"Marcus, you've spent your spending money remember?" Brandon pointed out and Marcus groaned. "So for now just focus on giving Chloe the support she needs."
"I wouldn't get too comfy with those cards if I where you." Chloe said before looking at her drawn card and then towards the card she set earlier. "It's a long shot but maybe my trap can help." Chloe thought before activating her trap card. "I activate my trap card Command of the Sword."
"Command of the what, how exactly will that card help?" Otto demanded and Chloe grinned.
"Basically as long as this trap is on the field you have to reveal your draw during your draw phase and if it's a spell or trap card I can activate one of two effects, either I can force you to discard it or I can destroy one Spell or Trap on the field." Chloe explained with a grin before glancing over at the hologram Otto's Nightmare Wheel. "In other words as soon as you draw another Spell or Trap Card your Nightmare Wheel's toast."
"You're assuming that I'll draw a Spell or Trap card before your life-points hit zero." Otto mocked her with a grin. "A valiant effort but it places too much trust in luck rather than skill."
"Yeah, so what if it does?" Chloe asked as she picked up a card. "Oh and don't think your Cyber Phoenix con protect your monsters for long, I summon Blade Knight in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and the knight in blue armor appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1600/1000).
"If we weren't playing in the Seal than your pathetic knight would be able to beat my phoenix but as it stands your monster can't even hope to defeat my forces!" Otto taunted her and Chloe grinned.
"You jump to conclusions so much that I'm beginning to wonder if it's your main source of exercise!" Chloe taunted him as she picked up a card and Otto growled. "But don't take my word for it; I'll just let Rush Recklessly do the talking for me!" Chloe added as she played the card and the knight's attack increased to 2300. "Blade Knight, attack Cyber Phoenix!" Chloe commanded and the knight charged towards Cyber Phoenix before decapitating it with his sword.
C: 5400
O: 5500
"So what if you destroyed once monster? Not only do I have more but because you destroyed Cyber Phoenix I can draw a new card." Otto announced as he sent his monster to the graveyard and drew a card, when he saw it he grinned. "You should really have targeted either Blue Thunder or Thunder Option token you know?"
"Why? So you wouldn't have taken as much damage as you did?" Chloe asked and Otto smirked.
"Well there's that part obviously but there's also the fact that the card I just drew was a Spell Card." Otto taunted her and Chloe's eyes widened. "If you had let me draw this card normally you could've destroyed Nightmare Wheel and save yourself a world of hurt." Otto added and Chloe gritted her teeth before bracing herself for Nightmare Wheel.
"I end my turn." Chloe announced and Otto drew his card.
"Only someone like Otto would taunt his opponent over the fact that he happened to draw a Spell Card." Lance muttered under his breath as Otto revealed the identity of his card which, to Chloe's dismay, was a monster card and the wheel started spinning again blasting Chloe with its energy.
C: 4900
O: 5500
"And to keep up the torment I'll equip Blue Thunder with the Spell Card I drew last turn, go Break! Draw!" Otto activated the card and Blue Thunder started glowing. "As you may remember from Theresa's first Semi-Final duel this Spell Card lets me draw a card every time Blue Thunder destroys a monster."
"And I also remember the fact that Break Draw is destroyed at the end of the third turn after it's activated." Chloe pointed out and Otto frowned.
"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, now Blue Thunder I command you to crush that pathetic knight!" Otto commanded and Blue Thunder took flight again before bombarding Blade Knight with its bombs.
C: 4300
O: 5500
"And as you know when Blue Thunder destroys a monster I can summon a Thunder Option Token!" Otto added as another small aircraft appeared on the field and its attack increased to 2000 thanks to the seal, Otto swiftly drew his card due to Break! Draw!'s effect. "Oh look, another Spell Card that you could've destroyed Nightmare Wheel with!"
"Just end your turn already!" Chloe snapped at Otto and Otto did so, Chloe drew her card and looked at it. "Level Up, great all I need now is for him to draw a Spell or Trap card." Chloe thought before adding the card to her hand and bracing herself. "I pass for now." Chloe announced and Otto drew his card, he wasted no time in identifying it as a monster and Chloe screamed in pain as Nightmare Wheel's energy blasted her.
C: 3800
O: 5500
"I have more than enough firepower to finish the bitch off and put her out of my misery!" Otto thought with a sadistic grin. "However it's just too much fun to watch her squirm!" Otto thought before adding the monster to his hand. "I end my turn." Otto announced and Chloe drew her card.
"Great, a dead draw." Chloe thought with a frown as she looked at her copy off Gearfried the Iron Knight that she had returned to her deck earlier in the duel. "I set a monster in defense mode and a card facedown!" Chloe set the monster she had drawn down and the facedown card's hologram appeared on the field. "That ends my turn." Chloe announced and Otto drew his card.
"WHAT, THIS CANNOT BE?" Otto yelled out upon seeing the card that he had drawn.
"Are you going to show me the card or not?" Chloe asked and Otto growled before revealing it to be the Trap Card Absolute End. "Well in that case I'll use Command of the Sword's effect to destroy Nightmare Wheel!" Chloe announced and the wheel shattered freeing the two elves, they looked a little worse for wear but relieved to be free of their imprisonment, that wasn't the only card to shatter however as Break Draw's time on the field was up.
"Don't forget that the monster's still in attack mode!" Otto said with a grin before pointing to Blue Thunder. "Blue Thunder, annihilate her Elves! " Otto commanded and the plane took flight before bombarding Chloe's elves with its bombs.
C: 3500
O: 5500
"And as you should know by now Blue Thunder's effect lets me summon another Thunder Option Token!" Otto announced as a third Thunder Option Token appeared on the field and arcane barrier got its second counter. "These tokens have more than enough attack power to wipe you out Richardson, Thunder Option number 1 attack her defense monster!" Otto commanded and the aircraft fired its laser at the monster, revealed to be Gearfried, which was quickly destroyed. "Thunder Option Tokens, KILL HER!" The two remaining aircraft took flight and flew towards Chloe….
"Sorry Otto but you're not the only duelist with Confusion Chaff!" Chloe activated her trap and Otto's eyes widened as one of the aircraft changed its course instead firing at the other Option Token, the other monster retaliated with its own firepower destroying them both.
"THAT DOES IT!" Otto growled as he clenched his fists in rage, he swiftly picked up one of his drawn Spell Cards and played it. "First, I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy that nuisance of a trap card!" Otto played the card and a tornado washed over the field destroying Command of the Sword. "Next turn you're finished!" Otto announced as he discarded a card due to his hand being too big and Chloe drew her card.
"I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Old Vindictive Magician!" Chloe played the card she drew and after she retrieved the card the old mage reappeared on the field. "He's not sticking around though; by offering him alongside Arcane Barrier I can draw two cards from my deck." The two cards disappeared from the field and Chloe drew two cards from her deck. "Sorry Otto but your monsters won't be around long enough to damage my life points."
"Oh, they won't? And how do you expect to prevent that?" Otto asked in a mocking tone, Chloe turned one of her drawn cards around and Otto's eyes widened. "LIGHTNING VORTEX!"
"That's right!" Chloe said and, after she discarded a card, lightning struck Otto's two machines destroying them both. "And that's not all; I summon Silent Magician Level 4 in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and one of the key cards in her deck appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1000/1000).
"Do you honestly think I'm stupid enough to let that little runt get strong enough to summon her stronger form?" Otto asked with a scoff ignoring the death glare Chloe was giving him due to the insult towards her monster. "No wonder you're in Osiris Red."
"Yeah, so what if I am in Osiris Red? Theresa told me she started out in Osiris Red and you don't give her shit for it!" Chloe pointed out before picking up another card. "You know what? You won't get a chance to stop me either because I activate Level Up which I use to Level up my Silent Magician to her strongest form and my strongest monster!" Chloe played the card and Otto's eyes widened as he saw the magician grow until she reached her strongest form (8/3500/1000).
"Finally, I was wondering when I'd get a chance to show my stuff!" Silent Magician commented, out loud, with a grin.
"Did Chloe's Silent Magician just talk or am I going crazy?" Lance asked Brandon and Marcus who were equally as confused.
"Well if you are going crazy then you must be sharing the same delusion with everyone else in the stadium." Brandon pointed out as a massive sweat-drop rolled down his head.
"I don't care if that Silent Magician can drink everyone in the arena under the table; Chloe's going to win this!" Marcus shouted gleefully…..before a massive sweat drop rolled down his head. "Wow, I did not expect to say that sentence out loud today."
"Silent Magician, it's time you got your revenge on Otto for nearly destroying you!" Chloe said and Silent Magician grinned before pointing her staff at Otto, she charged up an energy ball before firing it at Otto who screamed in pain as the attack hit.
C: 3500
O: 2000
Once the smoke cleared Otto stood there glaring at Chloe and her magician, Chloe was ecstatic and held up one of her fingers. "Just one more turn Otto and that's all I'll need to beat you!" Chloe said confidently. "Go ahead and take…"
"Chloe, wait! Set the trap card you drew two turns ago." Silent Magician interrupted her and Chloe looked at her hand.
"You mean Spellbinding Circle? Okay, if you say so." Chloe responded as she picked up the card. "On second thought I set a card facedown and end my turn." Chloe set the card down and Otto drew his card….and started laughing maniacally.
"Your doomed you Osiris Red Bitch! And I have just the card to ensure it!" Otto said gleefully before activating a card. "First I activate Monster Reincarnation, by discarding a card from my hand this Spell Card will allow me to return one monster in my graveyard to my hand and my card of choice is the Cyber Dragon that was destroyed at the beginning of the duel!" Otto discarded the card and retrieved the monster from his graveyard; once he added it to his hand he played another card. "Now to ensure your doom, I activate Power Bond!"
"NO! With that he can bring out Cyber End Dragon!" Lance yelled out and Chloe seemed to realize it as well, sure enough Otto sent the three Cyber Dragons to the graveyard and the three headed Cyber Dragon appeared on the field ready for battle (10/4000/2800) and almost immediately it's attack power shot up, first to 4500 due to the Seal's Power and then to 8500 due to Power Bond's power, with those two power boosts the dragon almost doubled in size it's heads nearly touching the ceiling.
"Sorry bitch, it's been fun but I have more souls to capture!" Otto chuckled evilly as he prepared his assault. "Be sure to say hello to my brother for me, Cyber End Dragon! Finish this charade now!" Otto commanded and the three dragon heads charged up their laser blasts.
"There's gotta be something I can do!" Chloe thought as she racked her brain for ideas. "Even if I use Spellbinding Circle that won't ensure my…wait a minute, Alex used Power Bond during his duel with Theresa and it's side effect caused him a lot of damage, what was it again?" Chloe thought before it dawned on her. "Yeah, I remember now!" Chloe thought before looking up at Cyber End Dragon. "Bring it on Otto!"
"Is she crazy!" Marcus yelled out as Cyber End Dragon prepared to launch its attack.
"Gladly, Cyber End Dragon I command you to open fire!" Otto commanded and the dragon's heads launched their attacks at Silent Magician….
"I knew you'd fall for that, GO SPELLBINDING CIRCLE!" Chloe activated her trap and Otto's eyes widened as a pentagram appeared in front of Silent Magician, it pushed the three attacks back ensnaring it's self around Cyber End Dragon's waist, struggle as it might Cyber End Dragon simply couldn't budge. "And we both know Power Bond's side effect, don't we Otto?"
"I'll take damage equal to Cyber End Dragon's attack as I end my turn!" Otto said with a look of shock on his face, which quickly turned to a look of rage. "I will not….I WILL NOT LOSE TO A LOWLY OSIRIS RED BITCH! DO YOU HEAR ME?" Otto yelled at him and Chloe just glared at him.
"You keep called me that, you want to know how much effect it has on me?" Chloe asked as her hair overshadowed her eyes, she then looked up with a glare that she had previously used on her own dad. "None, none whatsoever and you want to know why? I was called much worse things by my own father whilst I was growing up." Chloe spat to the side as she recounted this story. "You know what's worse? One of the last things he said to me before I defeated him in an Orichalcos Duel was that he considered me an accident that he never wanted me in the first place, and you know what? Despite everything that bastard's done and said to me, despite the nightmares I still have about his about his abuse I'm standing here as a Battle City Semi-Finalist rather than cooped up in some mental asylum."
"What's your point?" Otto demanded and Chloe clenched her fist.
"You want to know my point! I had to go through hell to get where I am today but you? You had everything handed to you on a silver platter, including your membership in Obelisk Blue and why? As a friend once said you're a stuck up asshole with too much money." Chloe said as her eyes narrowed. "But there's still one thing that puzzles me, despite all that you've been given in life you aligned yourself with a criminal group, broke into my hotel room, destroyed my original deck and let's not forget the fact that you put two Duel Academy students in the hospital, including your own brother, what I want to know is this, why did you do it?"
"Why, you want to know why?" Otto scoffed as he folded his arms. "You went on two long winded rants just to ask me a simple question?"
"I'm still waiting for an answer." Chloe said impatiently and Otto growled.
"Duel Academy is supposed to be reserved for the elite like myself, Theresa and Tyler BUT NO! They had to play nice and let people like you into the school!" Otto said as he pointed his finger at Chloe. "I first found out about the organization the day after your duel against Theresa, they offered me a place in the organization alongside a copy of the Seal as long as I told them which Duel Academy students would be competing at Battle City, they were so happy with my info that they gave me the card you see before you!" Otto said as he pointed towards Cyber End Dragon. "I joined the organization to purge Duel Academy of weaklings like you, Kimberly and my dear brother and I don't regret a single minute off it!"
"So basically you joined the organization because Duel Academy dared to be about more than the so-called elites honing their skills, it dared to be about rookies like me learning the game?" Chloe taunted him and Otto growled. "What's the matter? Don't enjoy being taunted back?"
"I end my turn." Otto said and as he did one of the Cyber End Dragon's heads turned on its master and blasted him with an energy blast.
C: 2500
O: 0000
"And the winner of the match is Chloe Richardson!" Bill announced over the cheering crowd, Chloe waited for the seal to close in around an unconscious Otto before returning her cards to her deck and deactivating her duel disk, she hopped off the podium and was greeted by a proud looking Theresa.
"Nice work Chloe." Theresa complemented her and Chloe smiled. "It must've felt good to get that stuff off your chest."
"More than you know." Chloe said with a sigh as she looked at her copy of Silent Magician Level 8. "Thanks again Theresa."
"No problem." Theresa said before frowning. "I'm up against Axel next, and that's bound to be a hell of a challenge."
"And I get to face the winner of that match." Chloe said as she watched the paramedics carry Otto away on a stretcher. "Theresa, if we end up facing each other again….don't go easy on me and let the best duelist win."
"You have my word." Theresa said with a nod of understanding before Chloe headed to her locker room. "That's if I beat Axel." Theresa thought.