I Want You To Know
It was early in the morning, with the sun rising slowly. Over at the Obelisk Blue girl dorm, Jenny was sleeping peacefully in her bed until the sun light reached through her window. Her eyes stirred before they opened. She yawned before she pulled her blankets off, revealing her white, silky night gown. Instead of being its usual ponytail, her hair was falling down freely. She got up and walked into the bathroom and faced the mirror. She picked up a hairbrush and started to brush her hair.
'It's been pretty calm around here since we defeated Jonathan. I wonder when the remaining Shadow Riders will strike next time. But I know me and the rest of the remaining key keepers have what it takes to take them down. Especially Jaden and... Andrew.' Her eyes softened as the blue-haired hero duelist appeared in her mind. At that, she stopped brushing her hair and placed a hand on her chest. "Hmm." She was like that for what felt like minutes before her expression changed into one of determination. She then grabbed a white elastic and set her hair into her usual ponytail and walked out of the bathroom. "That's it! I'm gonna tell Andrew how I feel!"
"Take this!" Shiori shouted and threw a ball. Everyone was at the gym. It was P.E. and today it was time for dodgeball. Many of the students were split into many teams that faced against each other at every corner. At one corner, Shiori was teamed up with Bastion, Matt, Nathan and Michael. They were up against Jaden, Syrus, Chazz and Daniel. (Although the former three were focused on the game while he was having a siesta on the floor.) Syrus barely avoided the ball Shiori threw.
"Almost got him!" Matt said.
"Well almost doesn't count. So let The Chazz show you how it's done!" The black-haired Slifer picked up the ball and threw it, aiming at Michel's face. But he simply caught it.
"Nice try, Chazzy." The purple-haired boy said with a smirk.
"You sure showed them, Chazz." Syrus said sarcastically.
The black-haired boy glared at him. "I don't see you do better, shrimp!"
The blue-haired midget glared back. "Hey! At least I'm doing more than Daniel here!" He pointed at the snoring boy. "I mean, how can he even sleep in the middle of a dodgeball match?"
"Good question. He's got guts to do that if you ask me." Jaden replied.
"Hmph. Not like you would be any good anyway." Chazz sneered at him and turned back to Syrus. "And short wimps like you couldn't possibly catch a ball. Heck, you can't even throw it a meter."
Matt gave Chazz a dirty look. "Short wimps, eh?" He then snatched the ball from Michael and threw it with all his might.
"And not to mention you are so-OW!" Chazz's sentence was cut off as the ball hit his butt, causing him to fall on the floor face first.
"And you're out!" Matt declared proudly.
Bastion and Nathan sweat dropped. "That was relatively harsh." The former commented.
"Maybe, but in my opinion, he had that coming." The latter replied.
"Mmm-wha?" Daniel moaned as he slowly woke up. He turned left and right before looking up. "Have we lost already?"
While Jaden and Syrus sweat dropped at his question, while Chazz was moaning in pain, his face still on the floor.
Because of the great number of students here, most of them were standing on the sidelines waiting for their turn. Among those people was Andrew. Clover was standing on his right. And Jenny was standing on his left.
"They're going all out today." Andrew noted.
"Definitely." Clover agreed. "I just love Dodgeball. It's my favorite game. After Duel Monsters, of course."
Jenny wasn't in talking mood. Or more accurately, she wanted to say something but was fiddling in place.
Andrew seemed to notice her behavior and was slightly concerned. "Is something wrong?"
Jenny almost tensed up but controlled herself. This was what she'd been waiting for. 'Here goes.' She turned to him. "Andrew, there's something I want to say."
He blinked. "Okay?"
Clover gave them a curious look.
"Ever since the beginning of the year, you've been a great friend. One of the greatest friends I've ever had. And..." Jenny trailed off as a blush was forming on her face.
Clover noticed this and looked like she was about to burst. 'Don't tell me! Is she...!?'
"I want to you to know that..."
"HEADS UP!" A voice shouted.
"Huh?" Andrew turned to the direction it came from... "OOOFFF!" Only to get a ball right in his face. He fell backward on the floor.
"Andrew!" Jenny and Clover exclaimed.
"Uuuhh..." Andrew moaned with his eyes spinning.
"Stand back, everyone! Let me take a look!" Ms Fontaine called out as she quickly walked over to the downed Ra and checked him over. She nodded. "He'll be fine. Just put an ice pack on and it'll get better."
"I can take care of that." Clover offered. And with that, she led her dizzy friend away, leaving Jenny behind. And she was pouting cutely at this.
"Ow." Andrew muttered while placing an ice pack against his face. He and Clover were in the nurse's office.
"How are you feeling?" Clover asked, concerned.
"A little sore, but it's starting to get better." He replied.
"Good to hear." The redhead said in relief.
"You know, there's still time left for the gym class. You can head back."
But Clover shook her head. "No, I'll stay here. I can't concentrate on things unless I'm sure you're okay."
Andrew smiled at her. "Thanks. You're a great friend."
Clover looked away, making sure he's not seeing her blushing face. "No problem..." She then took a deep breath and turned to him. "But, if you don't mind me saying, I actually want us to be more than just friends..."
"What's up!?" A voice greeted, startling the both of them. They turned to see Jaden, Syrus, Shiori and Jenny standing at the entrance. "So how are you doing?" Jaden asked.
"Oh! I'm doing fine." Andrew replied. "Why are you guys here?"
"We just wanted to check on you, that's all." Shiori said.
"Yeah, you got hit real hard and we were worried." Syrus added.
"I'm better now, but thanks for your concern." Andrew assured them.
"That's great." Jenny replied. Her eyes then landed on Clover, who was sitting right next to Andrew. And then, the girls immediately glared at each other with sparks flying between their eyes.
Later on, Jenny and Alexis were walking through the hallway. Jenny was a little upset, which Alexis noticed. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing. It's just..." The fairy duelist trailed off for a moment before speaking up again. "I just decided to tell Andrew about my feelings for him."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, but when I tried during gym class, that accident interrupted me."
"Well, like I said once, love is not easy. But you can't give up because of one accident. You just have to keep trying."
Jenny smiled at her. "Don't worry. Giving up never crossed my mind." She then looked forward with a determined look. "I will tell Andrew how I feel! I will let him know that I... love..." She trailed off and stopped walking.
Alexis stopped as well and gave her friend a confused look before she followed her gaze. And then, she was surprised to see Clover standing in front of them with her arms crossed. Her narrowed eyes were only focused on one of them. And that person was Jenny.
"So... you really do have feelings for him, huh?" She asked calmly but there was a slight edge in her voice.
Jenny just stared at her silently. The silence was so tense, that a butter knife could easily cut it. But then, she narrowed her own eyes, and approached Clover slowly. Alexis kept quiet just to stay out of this. The fairy duelist didn't say a word.
Not until she was close up to the redhead. "You're right. I do have feelings for Andrew. And I'm fully aware how your feelings are, so there's no point denying it."
That statement caused Clover to instinctively ball up her right fist.
"That said, let me make this clear: You may be Andrew's childhood friend. You may have known him longer than me. And there's no doubt the two of you have done so many things together. Even more than I've ever done with him. But... that doesn't mean I'm gonna back down!" There was a fire in her eyes. "I'm not gonna lose!"
Clover's glare got more intense as a fire lit the up as well. "That makes two of us!"
Alexis kept watching in silence, but she was internally concerned about her best friend. 'Now this is getting intense. You're gonna have to work hard, Jenny.'
And now it was time for alchemy class. The students were split up into groups to do some lab work. There were bottles and test tubes full of different kinds of liquids.
One of groups was of three people: Jaden, Syrus, and Chazz.(Much to the latter's annoyance.)
"Okay, so... is it this one, or this one?" Jaden pondered while holding up two of the test tubes.
"No, I think it's this one." Syrus replied.
"How stupid are you dorks?" Chazz asked. "It's obviously this one!" He then poured the liquid from his own test tube into a vial. But then, the contents inside was bubbling violently and...
BOOM!
An explosion occurred. And the three boys were smudged by the smoke. Even Syrus' glasses were dirty, making it hard for him to see.
Jaden grinned sheepishly. "Well, look on the bright side, Chazz. At least your explosion was better than Professor Banner's."
"Shut up, Slacker!" The black clad Slifer snapped.
Andrew, Shiori, and Matt were working at a seat higher up. Things didn't seem to go bad for them.
At a higher row, Clover was working with two other Obelisk girls. But the redhead was more focused on Andrew. 'Okay. this is it.' She thought as she glanced at a piece of paper she was holding. 'I just have to give this Andrew, and I can confess to him.' She took a deep breath. 'Alright then...' She leaned forward.
"Ooops!" An Obelisk boy from an even higher row exclaimed after pouring some liquid into a vial, which caused the contents to release a lot of smoke. And then...
BOOM!
"Gyah!" Clover yelped as another explosion occurred. And that caused her to drop the letter. "Ah!"
And unfortunately, it fell right into a canister full of some liquid Andrew and the others worked.
"Huh?" They widened their eyes before before smoke came out of it. They then jumped when it let out a poof of smoke.
"Whoa! What was that?" Shiori wondered.
Andrew looked at the canister and saw a a piece of ruined paper floating on the liquid. "Hey. That paper fell into the canister."
"Where did it come from?" Matt wondered.
The only one who knew that was Clover, who stared at the piece of paper, before she slumped her shoulder with a downcast look.
And so, this continued during the day.
Jenny tried to tell Andrew as they walked together through the hallway, but a few girls were running after a few 'good-looking' guys and accidentally pushed Jenny, causing her to fall on the floor.
And then, Clover was together with Andrew right outside the library. She looked away, trying to calm her nerves. Once she felt ready, she turned back, only to see Andrew agree with the librarian to help sort the books. And of course, the redhead slumped her shoulders for missing her chance.
And once he was done, both of them were walking up on a stairway. And once again, Clover gave it another try. But unfortunately, Jaden happened to arrive from the opposite direction, and tripped. And thus, he fell from the top of the stairway and fell onto Clover. She groaned before she felt something weird. When she noticed the source, she turned completely red when she realized that Jaden fell onto her chest face first. And two seconds later, the brown-haired Slifer was running for his life, trying to get away from the furious redhead.
And then, Jenny was about to try again when they were right outside the main building. But it was then she heard something that snapped. She blinked and turned to the direction it came from and saw Norman peeking from behind a tree. He yelped and hid behind it. He waited there for a moment, thinking that she didn't see him. But he was proven wrong as he took another peek, only to get slapped by the fairy duelist, and fell on the ground with a red hand mark on his face. Jenny huffed and turned back to Andrew... except he was gone. She facepalmed at this.
"This is getting nowhere." Both girls complained as they slumped on a sofa in the lobby of the Obelisk Blue Girl dorm.
"Every time, something just interrupts us." Jenny stated.
"This is ridiculous." Clover muttered.
"How am I supposed to tell him?" They asked at the same time. When they realized that, they glanced at each other. But only briefly before they turned away and huffed.
"So, what are your plans for today?" An Obelisk girl asked her friend as they passed by.
"Oh, I'm gonna have some quality time with my boyfriend at the beach. In fact, I was about to give him a call."
After hearing those words, Jenny perked up. 'Give him a call... That's it!' At that, she got up and left in a hurry, leaving a curious Clover behind.
"What's she up to now?"
At the Ra dorm, Andrew was in his dorm room, and did some homework. He wrote down a few things while reading a book. But he was then interrupted by the beeping sound coming from his PDA. He picked it up, pressed a button, and what he saw was a recorded message from Jenny. And she looked a little nervous. [Hey Andrew. There's something important I would like to tell you. I'll be waiting at the docks. Oh! And don't forget your duel disk and deck]
Andrew was understandably confused. "I wonder what this is about?"
Jenny was a little nervous before. But now... she was very nervous. She was standing near the water at the docks, waiting for Andrew after sending him the message. She had her duel disk ready. Now the only thing left was Andrew to show up, and she got more anxious for every minute.
'Come on, Jenny! Calm yourself. You can do this!'
"Jenny?" Someone called out, making her jump. She turned to the person who spoke up, almost thinking it was the one she waited. But she calmed herself as it was actually Alexis.
"Hi Alexis. What brings you here?"
"I could ask you the same question." The blonde replied. "It's not like you being here all alone."
The blue-haired girl blushed slightly. "I'm... waiting for someone."
Alexis gave her a knowing look, but asked nonetheless. "Is it Andrew?"
"Well..."
"Hey Jenny!" Both girls turned and saw Andrew arriving. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Don't worry. I didn't wait that long." She replied nervously.
"So what did you want to tell me? And why ask me to bring my duel disk?" Andrew asked curiously.
Jenny didn't say anything at first. But then, she took a deep breath before she spoke up. "You and I are going to duel!"
Andrew blinked. "Well I can see why you wanted me to bring my deck and duel disk, but why duel me all of a sudden?"
"This is more than a duel, Andrew." Jenny replied. "And there's something in it for you, if you win."
"Really? And what would that be?"
"You'll find out in due time... as we duel."
"Well in that case, let's get started!" Andrew declared as he and Jenny activated their duel disks.
"What's up?" Jaden greeted as he arrived, along with Syrus, Chumley, Matt, Xander, Bastion, Shiori, Michael and Clover.
"You guys here to watch the duel?" Alexis asked, though it was obvious.
"Well, we assumed that Andrew was about to do that, when we saw him pass by with his duel disk." Bastion explained.
"And it looks like Jenny's up for a rematch!" Jaden said with excitement.
"Why would she challenge Andrew all of a sudden?" Shiori asked.
Alexis smiled. "Well, she didn't give out any details, but she promised Andrew to give him something if he wins."
"A special prize, huh?" Michael mused. "That's interesting."
'Special prize?' Clover thought. And then, her eyes widened in realization. 'No way!'
"DUEL!"
Andrew: 4000
Jenny: 4000
"I'll go first!" Jenny declared and drew her sixth card. "And I activate the spell card, Graceful Charity! So now I can draw three cards from my deck." She drew her extra cards. "But then, I have to discard two cards from my hand." She picked out two cards and slid them into the graveyard slot. At that moment, light came out of it. "But that's fine, because one of those cards was Card of Compensation. After sending that spell card from my hand to the graveyard, I can draw 2 more cards." She drew again. "And now I activate The Sanctuary in the Sky!" Everyone found themselves near the stone palace in the clouds.
"The card that makes her hard to defeat." Matt commented.
"Got that right." Chumley replied. "With that field spell in play, Jenny won't take any battle damage when her fairy type monsters are in battle."
"Plus, many of her cards work along with this field spell as well." Shiori added.
"This will be tough for Andrew." Syrus said.
"And now I summon Minerva, Scholar of the Sky!" The monster that appeared in front of Jenny was a sorceress wearing a feathery dress, with a spell book with a green crystal in her left hand, and a magical staff with a green crystal in her right hand. She also had a halo floating around her waist. (ATK: 1700 DEF: 400 LV: 4) "I end my turn with a facedown." A card appeared at Jenny's feet.
"My turn." Andrew drew. "And I activate the spell card, Polymerization." The fusion vortex appeared. "And I...
"Not so fast!" Jenny interrupted. "I activate the trap card, Divine Punishment!" Her facedown flipped up. "With The Sanctuary in the Sky in play, I can negate your spell card and destroy it." The fusion vortex vanished.
"That didn't go so well." Xander commented.
"For Andrew that is." Bastion replied. "But Jenny, on the other hand..."
Minerva let out a golden aura from her body. "Since a counter trap was activated, Minerva's special ability activates." Jenny explained. "But there's more..." She held up two cards from her hand. And then, Radiant Jeral and Airknight Parshath appeared briefly before vanishing. "Thanks to my counter trap, I can remove two fairy type monsters from play, and summon forth Sacred Arch-Airknight Parshath!" A pillar of light erupted from the clouds under their feet. And then, a new monster emerged. It kinda looked like Airknight Parshath. But this monster was made out of white crystal, and had a halo behind his back. He was also wielding a big blade with some runes on it. The lower half of his body was a winged head made entirely out of the same whit crystal. (ATK: 2800 DEF: 2300 LV: 9)
"A new Parshath monster?" Syrus noted.
"I never thought there were more of them." Chumley said.
"Well, this one is impressive." Michael added.
"Now then..." Jenny continued. "As for Minerva's effect, she gains 500 attack points when a counter trap is activated." (ATK: 1700-2200) "Also, when The Sanctuary in the Sky is on the field, I can take a counter trap from my graveyard and add it to my hand, as long as that card is different from the one I activated." A card came out of her graveyard slot, and she added it to her hand.
"In that case, I summon Elemental HERO Shadow Mist in defense mode." The black armored heroine appeared and crouched down. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "Then I'll place a card facedown and end my turn." A card appeared behind her.
"My move." Jenny drew. "I summon Layard the Liberator!" A mechanical being with a pair of wings appeared next to Minerva. It had six arms and there were purple outlines all over its legless body. (ATK: 1400 DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "And now I attack with Minerva!" The sorceress pointed her staff forward and shot out a beam of green energy that destroyed the armored heroine.
"I activate my trap! Hero Signal!" Andrew's facedown card flipped up. "Now I can summon an Elemental HERO that's level 4 or below. Now come on out, Elemental HERO Sparkman!" The blue and golden, electric hero appeared from a flash of light and crouched down. (ATK: 1600 DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "And, since Shadow Mist was sent to the graveyard, I can take a HERO monster from my deck and add it to my hand." A card came out of his deck, which he took.
"Then I'll attack with my Parshath! Go, Sacred Judgement Blade!" The crystal being swung his sword and sent out an arc of light which destroyed Sparkman. Andrew covered himself with his arms when the explosion occurred.
Andrew: 4000-2600
"When Arch-Airknight attacks a monster in defense mode, you take damage equal to the difference between his attack points and your monster's defense points." Jenny explained. "And he has another effect. Every time he deals battle damage to you, I can take a Parshath card or a counter trap from my deck and add it to my hand." She took a card from her deck and revealed it. It was a trap card.
"Another one?" Matt mused.
"That makes things even more difficult for Andrew." Alexis said.
Clover didn't say a thing. She only watched this with an uneasy look.
"Layard, direct attack!" The mechanical conjured a ball of purple energy from one of its hands and hurled it at Andrew. It exploded at contact.
Andrew: 2600-1200
"I place two cards facedown and end my turn." Jenny concluded as she inserted two cards into her duel disk.
'And I bet both of them are counter traps.' Andrew thought as he drew his next card. "I summon Elemental HERO Blazeman!" The fire-headed hero in red armor appeared. (ATK: 1200 DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "And when he's summoned, I can activate his special ability..."
"Then I activate the trap card, Pulling the Rug!" Jenny interrupted and revealed one of her facedown cards. "Since your monster's effect was activated when it was summoned, I can negate it and destroy it." The red armored hero groaned as he was surrounded by a purple aura before shattering into pixels.
"Great." Andrew muttered.
"And of course, Minerva's effect activates." The named monster gave off a golden aura again. "But wait! The Liberator has a special ability as well." The mechanical fairy formed a ball of purple light between its six hands. And then, it hurled it up in the air as it expanded until it was very large. And then, to everyone's surprise, Airknight Parshath and Radiant Jeral emerged from it. "Every time a counter trap is activated, I get to pick two fairy type monsters that are removed from the game and add them to my hand." The two monsters returned to her hand.
"That's very impressive." Andrew complimented. "You really know how to play your cards right. Truly amazing."
Jenny blushed slightly. "Thank you. Anyway, Minerva gets stronger..." (ATK: 2200-2700) "And I can return a counter trap from my graveyard." She took a card from her graveyard.
"Wow! She got two monsters and a trap card back to her hand." Jaden said in amazement. "That is so wicked!"
"Not to mention her hand is full." Bastion noted. "Which means Jenny's ready for whatever Andrew might be planning."
'We'll just see.' Alexis thought.
"You may have stopped Blazeman, but let's see what you'll do about this." Andrew declared and held up a card. "I play Monster Reborn, and with this spell, I resurrect Shadow Mist from the graveyard!" The black armored heroine rose up on the field. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "And since she was special summoned, I can take a Change card from my deck and add it to my hand."
'And I think I know what happens next.' Jenny thought as Andrew searched through his deck and took the card he wanted.
"Now I'll use my spell card, and turn my Shadow Mist into Masked HERO Anki!" In a flash of light, Shadow Mist transformed into the jet black armored hero. (ATK: 2800 DEF: 1200 LV: 8) "Then I activate the spell card, Mask Charge. With this, I can take a HERO monster and a Change card from my graveyard and add them to my hand." Blazeman and Mask Change slid out of the graveyard slot and Andrew added them to his hand. "Now Anki, destroy Minerva!" The masked hero dashed forward.
"I activate my trap card, Negate Attack!" Jenny's facedown card flipped up and formed a barrier that surrounded her monsters. "Thanks to this card, your attack is negated and the battle phase is over..."
"I activate Mask Change!" Andrew suddenly declared, surprising everyone with his sudden move. "And now I'm going to trade Anki for another Masked HERO!"
"He's using Mask Change again?" Xander questioned. "What gives?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Clover replied.
Anki's body was glowing, and its shape started to change. "And now I'm gonna summon forth Masked HERO Dark Law." The glowing died down and revealed the new hero. It had black armor, just like Anki. But this armor had yellow outlines around parts of its body. And it also had claws. But the most interesting features of this armor were the four panther-like faces. Two of them were on the shoulders. One of them was on the chest. And the fourth one was Dark Law's mask. (ATK: 2400 DEF: 1800 LV: 6)
"A new Masked Hero!" Jaden said in awe.
"That's a really cool one." Michael added.
"Indeed. Although..." Bastion wondered. "That monster is clearly weaker than the previous one. Why would he summon something like that?"
"To even the odds." Andrew replied, to everyone's confusion.
And it was then Jenny saw something shocking. A dimensional portal opened up on the ground and swallowed her Negate Attack card. "What the...?"
"This is my Dark Law's special ability." Andrew explained. "Any card that would be sent to your graveyard is removed from the game instead."
"That's not a bad move!" Shiori said. "If Jenny uses her traps, they will be gone, and she can't bring them back."
Jenny couldn't help but smile. "You never cease to surprise me."
"I aim to please." Andrew replied.
"You may have gotten rid of my Negate Attack, but due to its activation, Minerva gets stronger, and I can take back the one counter trap I have in my graveyard." The fairy duelist took the card in question from her graveyard. (ATK: 2700-3200)
"3200." Andrew noted. "You're just getting stronger."
"Are you getting flustered." Jenny taunted playfully.
"Um... not really." Andrew muttered and blushed as he inserted a card into his duel disk. "I play a facedown and end my turn."
"All right. My move!" Jenny drew.
"I activate the trap card, Waboku!" Andrew interrupted and revealed his facedown card. "Thanks to this, my monster can't be destroyed in battle this turn, and I won't take any battle damage."
"In that case, I summon Radiant Jeral in defense mode!" The emerald statue with wings and golden halos appeared. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 2000 LV: 4) "Then I activate the spell card, Spell Absorption." A spell card appeared. "And then I activate the spell card, Child's Play." Another spell card appeared. "And since a spell card was activated, Spell Absorption gives me 500 extra life points."
Jenny: 4000-4500
"I place two cards two cards facedown and end my turn." Jenny concluded and inserted two cards into her duel disk.
Andrew his next card and then looked at her facedown cards. 'Let's see. Negate Attack was removed by Dark Law's effect. So her two facedown cards must be Divine Punishment and Pulling the Rug. The only way for me to get rid of those cards is to force Jenny to use them. And I know how to get rid of one of them at least.'
"I summon Elemental HERO Blazeman!" The red armored hero appeared again. (ATK: 1200 DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "And now when he's summoned, I activate his special ability!"
"I activate Pulling the Rug!" One of Jenny's facedown cards flipped up. "So once again, your Blazeman's ability is cancelled out." The fire hero shattered into pixels. "And I know that my trap card is now removed from the game, but my Minerva's ability makes up for it." (ATK: 3200-3700) "And here's another surprise..." One of her continuous spells glowed.
Jenny: 4500-4800
"Every time you summon a monster, my Child's Play card gives me 300 extra life points."
"So now she gains extra life points when Andrew summons a monster?" Syrus questioned.
"And whenever a spell card is activated." Matt added.
"She just won't quit." Shiori commented.
"This duel is getting super sweet!" Jaden said enthusiastically.
"Not bad. But now I activate Swords of Revealing Light!" Andrew held up the named spell card, and a big bunch of swords made of light surrounded Jenny's monsters."
Jenny couldn't help the smile she formed while shaking her head. "Sorry, but I won't let you. I activate Divine Punishment!" She revealed the named card. "So once again, I negate your card!" At that, the swords disappeared. "And with another counter trap activated, Minerva gets even stronger." (ATK: 3700-4200) "Did you really think that would work, Andrew? You already tried to stop me with that card before."
"Like when we first dueled?" Andrew asked. "How could I possibly forget? That duel was exciting. And I learned a lot ever since. Especially after knowing you during this year."
Jenny blushed again. Clover frowned at Andrew's words.
Alexis smiled at this. 'Looks like Jenny's getting somewhere.'
"And I'm thankful for that. So thankful, that I'm about to return the favor, starting with this..." Andrew held up the last card in his hand. "I activate Card of Sanctity. Now both of us get to draw until we hold six cards in our hands."
"Thanks for the extra cards." Jenny said as both of them drew. "Not to mention the extra points." Spell Absorption glowed.
Jenny: 4800-5300
"You're welcome. But you might not be thankful for so long..."
Jenny raised an eyebrow before she noticed the dark hero raising his left arm and pointing a finger towards her. "Huh?"
"My Dark Law has another ability." Andrew explained. "Whenever you add cards from your deck, except during the draw phase or damage step, I can pick a random card in your hand and remove it from from play." At that, one of Jenny's cards was enveloped by a purple glow. It then flew up and turned around to reveal itself. "Trap Jammer, huh?"
"That's another counter trap." Shiori noted.
"And it's a good thing for Andrew that it's removed." Bastion stated. "After all, when it comes to Jenny's dueling style, her biggest strength is her counter traps."
Jenny gave him a cute pout. "You're no fun."
Andrew smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that. Anyway..." He trailed off before and took another card from his hand. "I'll kick things up with the spell card, Fusion Weapon!" Dark Law's right arm transformed into a trident. "Since Dark Law is a level 6 fusion monster, I can use this equip spell to increase his strength by 1500 points." (ATK: 2400-3900 DEF: 1800-3300)
Jenny: 5300-5800
"Now that's a power up." Jenny noted.
"Just you wait, because I'm gonna use all those points! Take down Minerva!" The black armored hero pointed his trident at the sorceress.
Everyone was surprised.
"But why?" Shiori questioned. "Even with the power boost from Fusion Weapon, Andrew's monster is still weaker than Minerva."
"With that many cards in his hand, he must have at least one strategy in mind." Bastion deduced.
"You mean... like Enemy Controller?" Andrew asked and held up another spell.
"Oh yeah. I forgot about that card." Jaden commented.
"Then here's a reminder of what it's good for. For example, it can switch the battle mode of one of the opponent's monsters. And since Minerva only gets extra points for her attack strength, she's more vulnerable while in defense mode." The sorceress kneeled down.
Jenny: 5800-6300
"Go, Trident Shock!" The hero monster fired a blast of electricity and the scholar until she shattered into pixels. "I end my turn with two facedowns." Andrew concluded and inserted two cards into his duel disk.
"Then here goes!" Jenny drew. "Thanks to the extra cards you gave me, I can do this! I summon Hoshiningen in defense mode!" The small yellow star with boots appeared. (ATK: 500 DEF: 700 LV: 2) "With this cute little thing on the field, all light monsters on the field gain 500 more attack points." The little star started to shine, releasing light waves that made the Arch-Airknight and Liberator stronger. (ATK: 500-1000) (ATK: 1000-1500) (ATK: 1400-1900) (ATK: 2800-3300)
The light waves reached Dark Law and made him groan a bit. "However, Hoshiningen makes all dark monsters get 400 points weaker." (ATK: 3900-3500)
"That's not good." Andrew muttered.
"And now I activate the spell card, The Sanctum of Parsath!" Another spell card appeared. It made the stone palace glow briefly.
Jenny: 6300-6800
"With this continuous spell in play, all fairy type monsters gain 300 attack and defense points." (ATK: 1000-1300 DEF: 700-1000) (ATK: 1500-1800 DEF: 2000-2300) (ATK: 1900-2200 DEF: 1500-1800) (ATK: 3300-3600 DEF: 2300-2600)
"Now her Parshath is stronger than Dark Law." Michael noted.
"I thought as much. Sometimes Card of Sanctity can give the opponent an advantage." Alexis said.
"Now attack his Dark Law!" The crystal being approached the black armored hero and raised his sword.
"Stop right there! Activate Blast with Chain!" One of Andrew's facedown cards flipped up. "This trap becomes an equip card, and gives Dark Law 500 extra attack points." The black armored hero glowed with a blue aura. (ATK: 3500-4000) He then fired another blast of electricity and destroyed the Arch-Airknight.
Despite the loss of her monster, Jenny just smiled. "I figured you would have something like that ready."
"And yet you chose to attack?" Andrew questioned.
"Trust me, I know what I'm doing. And my two facedown cards should keep me safe." Two cards appeared at Jenny's feet. "And don't think you can get rid of them so easily. Because The Sanctum of Parshath prevents us from targeting and destroying facedown spell and trap cards."
"Whoa! That means Andrew can't get rid them." Xander commented.
"Which means Jenny can activate them whenever she wants." Chumley added.
"That doesn't mean Andrew can't make a comeback." Jaden replied. "He always pulls through, and he definitely will this time."
'I hope he's right.' Andrew thought nervously and drew his next card. "I activate Pot of Greed. Now I can draw two cards."
Jenny: 6800-7300
Andrew drew his extra cards and looked at them. One of them was... 'Stratos. When this guy is summoned, I'm allowed to destroy spells and traps.' He then glanced at Jenny's Parshath spell. 'The only problem is I can't destroy facedown cards, as long as that spell card is in play. If I can't do that, then I guess I have to do something reckless...'
"What do you guys think Andrew will do?" Shiori asked.
"I don't know. With Jenny's facedown cards protected, he doesn't have many options."
"Now then..." Andrew paused before pointing forward. "Masked HERO Dark Law, destroy Layard The Liberator!" The masked hero fired another blast of electricity.
"I activate my trap, Aegis of Gaia!" One Jenny's facedown cards flipped up. "Thanks to this trap card, I gain 3000 life points."
"How's that gonna help your monster?"
The fairy duelist smiled. "Just watch..." She then started to illuminate with glowing light as her life points rose.
Jenny: 7300-10300
"Whoa..." Andrew whispered as he was entranced by the sight. He then heard the cracking sound of electricity and turned to the Liberator, who just got hit by Dark Law's attack. But then, he was surprised to see the mechanical fairy shrug it off. "It survived!? But how?"
"It's simple." Jenny explained, while pointing at one of her spell cards. "My Child's Play protected it. It makes it so my monsters can't be destroyed in battle... as long as my life points are at least 10000."
"10000!?" Andrew repeated, realizing her plan.
"Damn! Talk about super effective defense." Michael said.
"So, Jenny's field spell protects her from battle damage, and her continuous spell protects her monsters?" Jaden noted. "This sure won't be easy."
Clover didn't say a thing.
Andrew looked over his hand. 'Okay, looks like I have to play defensive for now.' He inserted a card into his duel disk. "I place a card facedown, and end my turn." Andrew concluded. "Give it your best shot."
"Oh, I intend to!" Jenny drew. "And I'll start by sacrificing Radiant Jeral and summon Airknight Parshath!" The emerald disappeared and the fair centaur took its place. (ATK: 1900-2200 DEF: 1400-1700 LV: 5) "Normally, Radiant Jeral would have given me extra life points at this moment, if had been sent to grave, that is."
"That's a shame, considering Dark Law is still on the field." Andrew replied.
Jenny smirked. "That's fine, Because I have something else in store for you. Something that I can bring out by sacrificing Airknight Parshath." The named monster disappeared.
Andrew paled. "Uh oh!"
"I summon Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin!" From a flash of light, the evolved version of Airknight Parshath rose up. (ATK: 2300-2600 DEF: 2000-2300 LV: 7) "I'm pretty sure you remember his special ability. As long as The Sanctuary of the Sky is active, and my life points are higher than yours, the difference is added to his attack and defense points." The majestic fairy glowed with a golden aura. (ATK: 2600-11700 DEF: 2300-11400)
"Yikes! That's a lot of attack points!" Shiori exclaimed.
"Talk about overkill." Matt added.
"Aw man." Syrus muttered.
"Let's see how Andrew handles this." Alexis said.
"I hope one of your facedown cards can protect you, because here I come!" Jenny warned him. "Neo-Parshath, attack his Dark Law with Celestial Judgement Blade!" The majestic fairy raised his sword and swung it downwards, sending out and arc of golden energy.
"I activate Trap Hole of Spikes!" Andrew interrupted and revealed one of his facedown cards. "Since your attacking monster was special summoned this turn, I can destroy it and deal damage equal to half of its original attack points!" The energy arc vanished and Neo-Parshath groaned before shattering into pixels.
Jenny: 10300-9150
"And he's gone. Thought you had me there, didn't you?" Andrew asked with a smirk. But was now confused when Jenny giggled.
"Actually, I expected you to do that. That's why I placed this card on the field." Her remaining facedown card flipped up. "It's Miraculous Descent. And in case you don't remember, this card lets me summon any one of my fairy type monsters that have been removed from the game. So thanks to your Dark Law's effect, I can use this card, and bring back Neo-Parshath!" The majestic fairy appeared again. (ATK: 2300-10550 DEF: 2000-10250 LV: 7)
"Him again?" Andrew asked disbelief.
"That's right! Which means it's time for round two! Now go!" The fairy monster fired another energy arc.
"In that case, I activate Desperate Tag!" Andrew's other facedown card flipped up. "Thanks to this, I can reduce my battle damage from this battle to 0." The energy arc obliterated the masked hero. "And then, I get to summon a level 4 or lower warrior type monster from my hand. Now come forth, Elemental HERO Flash!" The blue and silver clad hero appeared and crouched down. (ATK: 1100 DEF: 1600 LV: 4)
Jenny: 9150-9450 (ATK: 10550-10850 DEF: 10250-10550)
"In that case, I attack with Layard!" The mechanical fairy conjured a ball of purple light and hurled it at Flash. It expanded and swallowed his entire body. And then, it disappeared.
"You just activated Flash's special ability! After he's destroyed in battle, I can remove him from play, plus 3 other Elemental Heroes from my graveyard." The spirits of Flash, Shadow Mist, Sparkman and Blazeman appeared briefly. "And then I can take a normal spell card from my graveyard and add it to my hand." Andrew took a card from his graveyard and showed it. "So I'll bring back Card of Sanctity."
"That card again?" Jenny asked.
"Yup, and I'm confident it will give me the cards I need during my next turn. And since your spell and trap zone is full, you might be in trouble."
The fairy duelist gasped.
"Hey, that's true!" Jaden agreed. "She's got 3 continuous spells and two trap cards on her field. That's 5 cards!"
"Which means she won't have room for another card, if that last card in her hand is one of her counter traps." Michael observed.
'It seems that Andrew got her once more.' Alexis thought.
Jenny stared at the one card in her hand. And it was a counter trap, just as Michael suspected. 'Looks like you have one more chance, Andrew. In that case.' She looked up and gave him a smile. "I end my turn."
"In that case..." Andrew drew his next card. "I play Card of Sanctity! So once again, we draw a new hand." Both players drew their extra cards.
Jenny: 9450-9950 (ATK: 10850-11350 DEF: 10550-11050
Andrew looked at his new hand and smiled. "This will work! First I activate the spell card, A Hero Lives! I can activate this card if there are no face-up monsters on my field. First I pay half of my life points..."
Andrew: 1200-0600
"That move makes my paladin stronger!" Jenny pointed out. (ATK: 11350-11950 DEF: 11050-11650)
"I know, but it also lets me summon an Elemental HERO from my deck, as long as it's level 4 or below. And I choose Elemental HERO Heat!" The red and white armored fire appeared. (ATK: 1600 DEF: 1200 LV: 4)
"Don't forget. I gain some extra life points from Spell Absorption and Child's Play!"
Jenny: 9950-10750 (ATK: 11950-12750) DEF 11650-12450)
"But I'm not done." Andrew continued. "Heat gains 200 attack points for every Elemental HERO on my field." (ATK: 1600-1800) "And now I summon Elemental Solid Soldier!" The purple warrior in silver armor appeared. (ATK: 1300 DEF: 1100 LV: 4) (ATK: 1800-2000)
Jenny: 10750-11050 (ATK: 12750-13050 DEF: 12450-12750)
"And with him summoned, I can summon another HERO monster from my hand. And I'll bring out Elemental HERO Lady heat!" The red and white clad fire heroine appeared next to her counterpart. (ATK: 1300 DEF: 1000 LV: 4) (ATK: 2000-2200) hero appeared.
Jenny: 11150-11450 (ATK: 13050-13350 DEF: 12750-13050)
"And now I activate the spell card, Polymerization! And with it, I fuse Solid Soldier with Stratos in my hand to form the Elemental HERO Gaia!" Silver armored hero and his turbine winged comrade entered the fusion vortex. After that, the black armored giant emerged from it. (ATK: 2200 DEF: 2600 LV: 6) "And since he was fusion summoned, Gaia's effect activates. But first, Solid Soldier was sent to graveyard because of a spell card. So now I can summon an HERO monster in defense mode. And I resurrect my Stratos!" The turbine winged hero rose up on the field. (ATK: 1800 DEF: 300 LV: 4) (ATK: 2200-2400)
"Nice move." Jenny complimented. "But once again, I gain a total of 800 life points since used a spell and summoned a monster."
Jenny: 11450-12250 (ATK: 13350-14150 DEF: 13050-13850)
"With Stratos' entrance, I gain 300 more points!"
Andrew smirked. "Not before Gaia uses his ability to absorb your half of you Paladin's attack points!"
Jenny gasped as the giant held up his right palm and absorbed energy from the majestic fairy. (ATK: 14150-7075) (ATK: 2200-9275)
Jenny: 12250-12550 (ATK: 7075-7375 DEF: 13850-14150)
"And as for Stratos, I can now activate one of his abilities. And I select the option that destroys some spells and traps."
"That's perfect." Bastion said. "The number of spell and trap cards he can destroy is up to the number of the HERO monsters, other than Stratos."
"So excluding him, that's three." Shiori counted.
"And therefore... I'm going to destroy The Sanctuary in The Sky, Aegis of Gaia, and Miraculous Descent!" The wind hero created a cyclone, using his wings and blew away the two named trap cards, while the scenery changed back to its original state.
"Oh no!" Jenny cried out as the Sky Paladin shattered into pixels.
"Whoa! Neo-Parshath is gone!" Matt pointed out.
"That's what happens when Miraculous Descent is destroyed." Alexis explained. "The monster it summoned is also destroyed.
"And that's not all." Michael added. "Without Aegis of Gaia, Jenny loses 3000 life points."
Jenny: 12550-9550
"Time for the finale!" Andrew declared. "Lady Heat, you're up first! Destroy Hoshiningen!" The fire heroine conjured a fireball and hurled it at the yellow star. And as soon it was destroyed, Layard became weaker. (ATK: 2200-1700)
"Now it's your turn, Heat! Attack!" The armored fire hero ignited his right fist and smashed the mechanical fairy to pieces.
Jenny: 9550-8850
"Now Gaia, end this duel with Continent Smash!" The giant raised his right arm and smashed the ground, creating a shockwave caused Jenny to fall down.
Jenny: 8850-0000
"Awesome play, you guys!" Jaden cheered.
"That's the best I've seen from the both of you!" Matt applauded
"Good show." Bastion added.
But Andrew hardly paid attention the praise. He just went over to Jenny, who was just sitting on the ground, looking down. "Are you okay?" He asked, concerned.
"Don't worry, I'm fine." She replied as she put her deck into her pocket. "That was an impressive comeback. Now then..." She put her duel disk down and stood up. She then grabbed the back of Andrew's head with both hands.
"What? What are you-?" He tried to speak, but was cut off as Jenny pressed her lips against his, kissing him deeply. His eyes widened, and he was clearly frozen by shock from her unexpected action. But then he overcame his shock and wrapped his arms around her back and returned the kiss. In that moment, they were in their own world, where they were the only ones who existed. After a brief moment, they separated from each other, both a little short of breath.
They just stared at each other in silent, with the waves of the ocean being the only sound. Eventually, Jaden decided to break the moment with a wolfish whistle.
"About time it happened." Alexis said with a smile.
"Good for you, guys!" Shiori called out.
"Totally." Michael added.
"So... is that what you've been trying to tell me?" Andrew asked slowly.
"Yeah." Jenny nodded shyly. "I wanted to tell you a few times before, but something kept interrupting."
Andrew gave her a smile. "Well I'm glad you finally got it out."
Jenny smiled back and hugged him, which he returned.
The group smiled at this.
"Well, that's just sweet, huh Clover?" Xander asked. But when he turned to where the redhead stood, he was surprised to see that she was gone. "Clover?"
Unbeknownst to the gang, Clover left the scene the moment Andrew and Jenny kissing each other. She was slowly walking away, with her right fist balled up, as she gritted her teeth with a single tear running down her left cheek.
Finally! I was wondering when I would finish this chapter! But I hope the wait was worth it for you guys. Before wrapping this up, there's something I would like to point out.
As I was working on this chapter, I've been reading the reviews I received. And I observed that two people who gave me guest reviews suggested that I should write a Yugioh 5Ds story. And to be honest, I actually considered that once.
However, I noticed that some people have been hoping to see more of the Shadow Riders. So I decided to do this. I'm going to write one more original chapter. And then, I will continue with the Shadow Riders. The two of the remaining four anyway.
After that, then I might be getting started with a 5Ds story.
With all that said, I'll see you guys next time.