Crow paced back and forth, "Are you sure the engine won't blow this time?"
"I'm sure. I have the extra energy going to a different location."
Jack glanced up as the alarm sounded, "What other location?"
My deck exploded out of the card slot, going in every direction, "The shuffling mechanics."
The door opened, and the twins came in with two others, "Yusei!"
Leo paused at the top of the stairs, and looked at the mess, "What happened this time?"
"Overexcited shuffling machine."
Their two friends ran over to the prototype, "Wow, a duel runner!"
The girl hit the boy, "It's just a practice model for testing parts. But can we ride it?"
Jack sat stiffly upright, "Absolutely not!"
Crow ran over to save them, "You can if you pick up the most cards!"
Both of them scrambled over and started to pick up my deck.
Luna and Leo were about to join them when a young boy barely came through the door. His soul was full of loneliness and anger. He sneered at the others, and was about to leave when Luna ran up to him, "Sly, come on in!"
She pulled him down the ramp, "Yusei, this is Sly. He's in our class at Duel Academy."
I nodded at him, "Nice to meet you."
Crow suddenly noticed that the other kids had stopped, "I guess none of you want to ride the practice runner, huh?"
They all launched back into picking up the cards, but I could feel Sly suddenly get covetous. Glancing over, I saw him holding a card.
I casually walked over, "It's got to be around here somewhere…"
Immediately, the good side of him handed me Stardust, "Here you go."
"Thank you. I don't know what I'd do without him."
His darkness came back almost instantly, but at least I made a tiny difference.
The next morning after everyone left to do other things, I sat working on my runner when I heard footsteps enter my garage, "Are you Fudo Yusei-sama?"
I looked up to see who revered me enough to use such a high title for me.
He looked a little worn around the edges, almost like he was worn out by something, "Yes, that is my name. Can I ask yours?"
"I am Chancellor of the Duel Academy. I need you to fix something for me."
I chuckled, "If my friend Aki had any say, she'd want me to fix the Vice Chancellor. Which I might have to do before he really upsets her."
The Chancellor descended, "That's what I need you to fix. He's about to expel the lowest class in the school to make the rest look good."
My blood went cold, "Two of my friends are in that class. I'll help you out."
As I approached the classroom, I could hear Aki's voice, "You can't expel these kids and still call yourself a teacher."
I came through the door and saw young kids in various states of shock and grief.
Everyone froze when they noticed me with a duel disk on my arm.
The man turned to me, "You're Fudo Yusei!"
"Are you Heinemann?"
He nodded, somewhat in shock as I continued, "One of your colleagues informed me that you were trying to expel two of my friends, and I came to see if it was true."
The man looked confused, "Your friends?"
"Luna and Leo. They may not be the best duelists, but they have come so far in the past year."
His face filled with rage, "These kids only use the weakest cards in their decks, Hanewata, Flamvell Guard, Eccentric Boy, Sunny Pixie...the list goes on and on."
Aki and I locked eyes, and a smiled crossed her face as she realized what I was about to do.
I turned back to him, "Then I challenge you to a duel. If I win, the kids stay."
Heinemann nodded, "But if I lose…"
I butted in, "Then I'll teach them in my garage."
As we waited outside of the duel arena as he went to get his dueling equipment, the kids gathered around me.
"Are you serious about teaching us if you lose?"
I smiled, "Yes, but I want your help teaching him a lesson."
"How can we help?"
"You heard him, we aren't that good."
I grabbed the boy's shoulder who said that, "Don't ever say that. Saying that stops you from getting better. But I need all of the cards that he insulted. I'll use your cards to beat him."
The blonde handed me her Hanewata, the boy handed me Flamvell Guard, and they all turned to Sly, "Give Yusei your Eccentric Boy."
He grudgingly handed it to me, and I looked him in the eye, "I promise to kick his butt using these cards."
The others laughed as we went inside and I took my place across from him.
Glancing at my hand, I couldn't believe how easily my plan was already coming together, "I play Flamvell Guard in defense mode and place two facedowns before ending my turn."
Flamvell Guard-2000 (def)
The man gave me a creepy look, "You using weak monsters? I'll show you what they are worth!"
He placed a card down dramatically, "I summon Ancient Gear Statue."
Ancient Gear Statue-500
"Then I activate Machine Duplication which lets me select a monster on my field with 500 or less points, and summon up to two more of it from anywhere in my deck or hand. So I summon two more Ancient Gear Statues."
Ancient Gear Statue-500
Ancient Gear Statue-500
"If I release an Ancient Gear Statue, I can summon a certain other monster without its normal summoning conditioning. And that monster is Ancient Gear Golem!"
All three of the statues disappeared, being replaced by monsters that would have intimidated me...if I hadn't battled the Dark Signers and the Earthbound Immortals.
Ancient Gear Golem-3000
Ancient Gear Golem-3000
Ancient Gear Golem-3000
Sighing, I casually activated my trap, "I use Tuner Barrier, which prevents a tuner on my field from being destroyed in battle."
Heinemann smiled creepily at me, "But Ancient Gear Golem has piercing damage."
And I've nearly been killed in a duel, so holograms don't intimidate me anymore.
"Golem number one, attack that pathetic Tuner!"
That comment riled up the deck as much as it did me.
Life Points Yusei=3000
"Number two's turn!"
Life Points Yusei=2000
"And then number three!"
Life Points Yusei=1000
Despite how many attacks I received, I didn't flinch, mostly because I wasn't about to make this guy feel better about bullying.
Then he kept going, "I activate Level Thunder, which adds up the total level of the monsters on my field and gives you damage equal to that times 100."
So, three eights is twenty four. Times that by 100=2400. Good thing I won't be taking that damage.
"If I discard Hanewata from my hand, it makes the damage of an effect 0."
I heard the girl who had given me that card cheer, "Hanewata!"
I smiled, "Looks like it's my turn. I activate Cards of Consonance. This lets me send 1 tuner to the graveyard in order to draw 2 cards."
Not that I need the two cards, I just need Debris Dragon in the graveyard to get this plan to work.
"Then I summon Eccentric Boy."
Eccentric Boy-800
"When Eccentric Boy is on my field, I can use its special ability to synchro summon with a card that is in my hand."
Heinemann froze, "You can Synchro summon with a card that's not even on the field?"
"Sure can, and I chose Turret Warrior. I combine the two of them together to bring out Stardust Dragon!"
Stardust Dragon-2500
The kids' cheers made me feel better as I kept going, "Then I use Variety Comes Out, which sends Stardust back to my deck to summon Tuners whose total level is equal to his."
Puzzlement filled his face, "You are supposed to use weak monsters to summon strong monsters, not the other way around!"
"What can I say? I like all cards equally. So I bring back Eccentric Boy, Hanewata, and Debris Dragon."
Eccentric Boy-800
Hanewata-200
Debris Dragon-1000
He froze, "Wait, those monsters…"
"Are the ones you called useless earlier. I asked the kids if I could use the cards to teach YOU a lesson. And this lesson is called Tuner Explosion. I can send as many tuners as I want to the graveyard, and for every tuner, you lose a monster and 1000 life points."
Panic was the only thing visible on his face, "What?"
"Flamvell Guard, take out the first Golem!"
Life Points Heinemann=3000
"Next up is Eccentric Boy!"
Life Points Heinemann=2000
"Hanewata, take out the last one!"
Life Points Heinemann=1000
"But I'm not done yet. Debris Dragon is still out, and he's going to attack you directly!"
Life Points Heinemann=0 Defeat!
The kids ran down and mobbed me as the Chancellor appeared, "Thank you Fudo-sama. You did so well."
Heinemann looked up, "Sir, you were the one who asked him to duel me?"
I could see Aki start to cough to disguise her laughter at my mistaken gender.
Chancellor nodded, "I couldn't persuade you, so I decided to ask someone who was great at changing people. Look at how much Miss Izayoi changed since they dueled."
Heinemann sighed, "They aren't going to be expelled."
The kids erupted into cheers, and I saw Sly glaring at the world out of the corner of my eye.
Breaking free of the crowd, I walked over to him, "Thank you for loaning me your card. I couldn't have won without it."
His surprise pushed aside his darkness for a second, but inevitably it came back, "Yeah, whatever."
The others pushed me out of the arena, and I ended up being stuck in their classroom for the rest of the day.
A/N: Review for mid-terms or write fan fiction? Totally fan fiction. Love you guys, have a great day!
