A/N: Only two chapters left, and the Fusion arc is over. I'm excited to get back into one-off chapters and comedic stories; this arc was very time-consuming and draining to write. But I have no regrets in making it.
Fun Fact: Gongenzaka is a direct descendant of a skunk ape.
Description: Gongenzaka and Jean duel for the security room.
Jean held his Duel Disk in front of his body. He activates the sword-shaped blade and aimed it at the duelist in front of him: Gorgonzola, probably.
Gongenzaka also had his Duel Disk drawn. His back was against the door, blocking any escape. His eyes shifted around the security room, making sure that Jean had no way to leave.
The room, which was about the size of a small classroom, was surprisingly spacious. Television screens lined the wall behind Jean, and spilled over to the sides of the other walls. There was a desk before the computers, where Jean had previously been stationed. A few chairs were strewn around in a corner near Jean, and a small chess board was resting on his desk. A large mirror occupied the wall on the right, and the left side of the room had soda machines.
There was a bit of distance between them. Enough distance for a duel. Enough distance to spot and stop Jean, should he try to attack him.
Jean's eyes briefly turned to a television screen. From what he could see, a few students were dragging Yuya to the Doktor.
Excellent. We've all but won now.
He turned his focus over to Gong Show. "Shall we begin, young man?"
Gongenzaka's blade jutted out from his Disk. He placed his hand on his deck and took a solid stance. "I'm ready when you are, Jean."
Gongenzakas' Duel Disk spoke: "ACTION FIELD... ERROR."
Gongenzaka blinked. He turned to look at Jean, waiting for some sort of answer. Jean merely smiled and aimed his blade at him. Gongenzaka took that as an invitation to find out the answer through a duel. And Gongenzaka had to accept.
"DUEL!"
It was strange: Jean didn't have any cards in his hand. But when Gongenzaka looked down on the screen, his side of the field claimed that he had five cards in his hand.
Gongenzaka also made note of the lack of Pendulum Zones, and the presence of two new Zones in the middle of the field. And it was then that he remembered something Reiji told him and the other Lancers.
Links.
"I'll be taking the lead," said Jean. "I summon Ancient Gear Wyvern!"
Jean tapped one of his cards and dragged it onto a Main Monster Zone. Materializing onto the field proper was an Ancient Gear Wyvern, which floated a few feet above the ground. (ATK 1700)
"When this card is Normal or Special Summoned, I can add one Ancient Gear card from my Deck to my hand."
Jean tapped his screen again. Looking at his screen, Gongenzaka could see that Jean's deck was missing a card, while his hand had gained an Ancient Gear Hunting Hound.
Gongenzaka looked up to face Jean. "Where are your cards?"
"All of them are virtual now, my friend!" Jean said proudly. "It's how things are done..."
"...In the Link Dimension," Gongenzaka finished.
Jean smiled. "So you know about the new field, then? Good, that will make this much more simple for you."
Jean tapped his screen again. This time, he dragged a Polymerization onto one of his Spell/Trap Zones.
"I'll fuse my Ancient Gear Wyvern with my Ancient Gear Hunting Hound!"
Wyvern rose up from the field. It, and the image of a Hunting Hound, appeared in the fusion vortex. Just like every single instance of fusion in this arc, their bodies joined together to become one.
"Mechanical beasts inheriting ancient souls. Now, form an allegiance and join, and be reborn together as a new power! Fusion Summon!"
The combined creation now became an evil-looking creature. I was like a humanoid figure with dragon-like feet and wings, but the head of a serpent. Its glowing red eyes glared daggers at its opposition
"Appear, the mechanical demon god! Level 8, Ancient Gear Howitzer!" (DEF 1800)
Gongenzaka said, "So, you're going to keep using your previous strategies?"
"You underestimate my brilliance," Jean replied. "I've evolved, become a more powerful man."
Jean put a hand to his face. His fingers felt his nose, his cheeks, as he moved his way down to his jaw. All while he kept his cold, steely eyes on Gonorrhea.
"Allow me to show you," he went on. "Ancient Gear Howitzer's effect: once per turn, I can inflict 1000 damage to your opponent."
Howitzer's eyes glowed. Red beams shot out from its eyes, crossing the field and hitting the ground before Gongenzaka. (Gongenzaka: 4000 → 3000)
"Next, I activate my Continuous Spell, Charge Bomb!" Jean announced.
In one of the Spell/Trap Zones, barrel-sized, hexagonal tube materialized. It was metallic and gray, and featured glass panes on its front and back. The number zero appeared on each pane, glowing a bright, light green.
Jean held out an open hand to Gongenzaka. His face was cold, and his eyes seemed to be looking right through his opponent.
"At the end of each turn, this card gains an Explosives Counter," he explained. "Should this card be destroyed, it will inflict damage to each player, equal to the number of counters multiplied by 500."
"So you're going to blow yourself up, too?" Gongenzaka asked.
"Only in case of an emergency," Jean explained. "I have plenty of cards to remove it, should I need to end the match and prevent my loss."
Jean waves his hand across the field.
He continued by saying, "But I won't need to do that. I can slowly reduce your Life Points, and then detonate the bomb. Or you'll remove the card."
"And why would I do that?"
"Because if you let the Counters rack up, you'll be seriously affected! So you'll need to hurry up remove it, or face the consequences."
"... And if I remove it, I'm wasting my resources," Gongenzaka added. "Instead of fighting your monsters, or taking out other cards, I'll have to take care of the bomb, instead."
"Exactly," Jean said with a smile. "It's what's called a catch-22: you're damned if you do, and damned if you don't."
"That's not what a catch-22 is."
"I'll end my turn here," Jean concluded. "At this time, an Explosives Counter is placed on my Charge Bomb."
The bomb started to whir and vibrate. After a moment, the bomb let out a small puff of smoke from its top. The zeroes on its panes were replaced with ones.
As Gongenzaka drew his sixth card, his mind was already hard at work on a plan. With everyone else working to save the school, he knew he couldn't let them all down.
His eyes drifted to the screens behind Jean. Students were marching through halls. People were filing into a gymnasium. Yuya and Yuzu seemed to be confronting a man. So many people were at risk if he didn't take Jean's gaze away from them.
Gongenzaka held up a card. "If I have no Spells or Traps in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon Superheavy Samurai Big Waraji from my hand."
Two large, straw sandals appeared on the field. They clasped their bottoms together, and arms, feet, and a head rose out from their new, singular form. (DEF 1800)
"If I have no Spells or Traps in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter from my hand."
The sound of a war horn echoed from Gongenzaka's Duel Disk. This signaled the appearance of a small robot samurai, who blew on an artificial horagai conch shell. (DEF 600)
Gongenzaka threw his hand up in the air. "I tune my Level 5 Big Waraji with my Level 2 Trumpeter!"
Trumpeter jumped into the sky. Its body broke off into two orbs, which then turned into green rings. Big Waraji hurled its body into the rings, and it divided itself into five glowing balls.
"As fast as the wind! As quiet as the forest! Silent ninja, hit the finishing blow! Synchro Summon! Come! Level 7, Superheavy Samurai Stealth Ninja!"
The ground seemed to ripple before Gongenzaka. A dark, robotic figure rose from the floor, then jumped forward and twirled its staff. It landed before Gonzenzaka and aimed its staff at the enemy Howitzer. (DEF 2800)
"Battle!" Gongenzaka declared. "Superheavy Samurai Stealthy Ninja attacks Ancient Gear Howitzer!"
The ninja leaned back. It hurled its staff across the field, directly into Howitzer's chest. The latter monster was instantly shattered on impact, leaving nothing but smoke in its wake.
The staff seemingly threw itself back across the field, into Stealth Ninja's waiting hand.
But something else was coming out from the smoke. A large, enormous monster rose up from the smoke and stood to face the enemy. It was an Ancient Gear Golem. (DEF 3000)
"Howitzer's effect," Gongenzaka grumbled. "When it's destroyed, you can Special Summon an Ancient Gear monster from your deck."
Jean sneered. "I do love it when my opponents can keep up with what's going on. Breaking things down for the common folk gets tiring."
Gongenzaka looked down at his field, and then on the cards in his hand. Looks like he wouldn't be clearing Jean's field this turn. But he could certainly prepare his field for the next turn.
He stared at the Extra Monster Zones. If what Reiji had said was true, then he wouldn't be able to Synchro Summon more than one monster right now, as long as his Extra Monster Zone was occupied.
"I Summon Superheavy Samurai Magnet to the field!"
He threw a card onto his blade. A large, blue robot took to the field, landing on its feet beside Stealth Ninja. Sparks flew from its arms and legs, and from the large magnet on top of its shoulders. (ATK 900)
"When Superheavy Samurai Magnet is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Superheavy Samurai monster from my hand, then switch Magnet to Defense Position."
Magnet turned to face Gongenzaka. Its magnet started to glow pink and green. Materializing before it was Superheavy Samurai Drum, which quickly flew into Magnet's open arms. (Drum DEF 300) (Magnet ATK 900 → DEF 1900)
Gongenzaka threw his hand up once again. "I tune my Level 7 Superheavy Samurai Stealth Ninja, and Level 4 Superheavy Samurai Magnet with my Level 1 Superheavy Samurai Drum!"
The Drum's body morphed into a ring. Magnet jumped into the ring and let itself dissolve into orbs, and Stealth Ninja soon followed its lead. Together, the eleven orbs lined up, forming a train track that lead to the front of the field.
"Steadfast oni gods, grasp tightly on my fist's resolve, now, become the fiend of iron and run across the battlefield! Synchro Summon! Appear before us! Level 12, Superheavy Samurai Steam Train King!"
The ring expanded, and a demon-faced train ran down the track. It stopped right in front of Gongenzaka. (DEF 4800)
Gongenzaka made note of how small it seemed to be this time. Come to think of it, Ancient Gear Golem was smaller than usual, too. He wondered, did Duel Disks scale down monsters to fit in smaller, less open spaces like this?
He shook his head. That was a question for another day.
"I end my turn," he said.
Gongenzaka ended his turn with his Steam Fiend on the field. He had two cards in his hand, 3000 Life Points, and a fierce determination in his manly heart.
The bomb started to whir and vibrate once more. After a moment, the bomb let out a small puff of smoke from its top. The number count on its panes rose to two.
Jean tapped his screen, and a card was added to his virtual hand. He now sported three cards, which was pretty impressive, considering how it was next to impossible to keep plentiful hands in this story.
"I activate the Spell, Machine Recycling Plant," Jean declared. "I can add 2 Level 4 or lower Machine-Type monsters from my Grave to my hand."
Jean tapped his screen once more, and the contents of his Graveyard were listed before them. He dragged two of the listed cards to the bottom of the screen and, after a moment of buffering, they were added to his hand.
"I've added Ancient Gears Wyvern and Hunting Hound back to my hand."
"It takes more time to tap and drag virtual cards than it does to use real cards," Gongenzaka said flatly.
"I summon my Ancient Gear Wyvern!"
Jean tapped one of his cards and dragged it onto a Main Monster Zone. Materializing onto the field proper was an Ancient Gear Wyvern, which floated a few feet above the ground. (ATK 1700)
"Now, Ill can add Ancient Gear Engineer from my Deck to my hand."
As Jean tapped at his screen, Gongenzaka's eyes drifted to the monitors behind him. He could see that Yuya and Yuzu were now engaged in a duel. Yuzu was jumping onto a floating platform, likely in search of an Action Card.
Gongenzaka egao'd. As long as he kept Jean distracted, he wouldn't be able to intervene in that duel.
"I activate the Spell, Fusion Sage, which lets me add a Polymerization to my hand," Jean went on. "And then, I fuse my Ancient Gear Wyvern with my Ancient Gear Engineer."
A fusion vortex opened above him. The monsters once again floated into the center of the vortex, and their bodies were donated to built a newer creation.
"Fusion Summon! Level 8, Ancient Gear Howitzer!"
The field opened before Ancient Gear Golem, and a new Ancient Gear Howitzer rose up to face down Gongenzaka and his monster. It hovered in the air and let out a horrible, hawk-like screech. (DEF 1800)
Gongenzaka was getting a bit tired of this card, in all honesty. Between Jean and Chronos summoning it, he was getting sick of having to deal with Ancient Gear Howitzer.
Not as sick as he was about being blasted by its lasers. The monster once again shot beams from its eyes directly at the ground before him, resulting in a small explosion of smoke and glitter. (Gongenzaka: 3000 → 2000)
A smile crept up on the villain's lips. "Now, I equip Ancient Gear Magic Shield to my Ancient Gear Golem!"
Jean dragged a virtual card from his hand, onto Ancient Gear Golem's card. On the field itself, a large, circular, black device appeared before Ancient Gear Golem. Its back let out a pink wave of light, which poured itself over the Golem's entire body. (DEF 3000 → 4200)
"Not only does my monster gain 1200 DEF, but it cannot be destroyed by battle!"
Gongenzaka let out a small gasp. He kept his feet firmly planted on the ground though, and returned to a still, defensive stance.
Jean motioned a hand over to the bomb on his field. After it started to whir and let out puffs of smoke, the number on its panes had grown to three.
"That's 1500 damage," he said. "If you don't destroy it by your next turn, I'll be free to destroy you!"
"Stop..." Gongenzaka grumbled.
"But you'll also have to deal with my Ancient Gear Golem! If you don't destroy the shield, it will be almost invincible!"
"Stop."
"Did you honestly think you, of all people, could stop me?"
Jean spread his arms out wide. That menacing smile grew on his face. His eyes grew wide and wild, like a predator that had found its prey.
"See this?" he asked. "This is what happens to those who oppose me! You suffer! You lose! You will be conquered!"
"STOP!" Gongenzaka roared.
Jean brought down his arms. Though his face started to soften, he still eyed his enemy with a confident look and a wicked smile. "Yes, beg for mercy. You Lancers don't deserve it, but-"
"I'm so sick of this!" Gongenzaka snapped. "All this yelling, and dramatic speeches, and these... stupid... pointless insanity!"
"Yes," Jean sighed. "It would be best if we ended this match soon, because-"
"If it's not you, it's a crazed Battle Beast. If it's not that, it's people with brain parasites, or brainwashed security! If it's not those, it's a giant dragon! Why can't I fight anyone normal? Why does it always have to be something ridiculous?!"
Jean's face grew into one of confusion. The intensity in his expressions melted away, leaving him looking like a deer that was caught in the headlights.
"... A giant dragon?" he asked.
Gongenzaka sighed. "It's a long story."
Jean ended his turn with two monsters on his field, along with his Charge Bomb. His hand consisted of one card, and his Life Points were untouched, at 4000.
The man, Gongenzaka took a deep breath. The odds were against him now, but he wasn't going to just let Jean have his way. And he could never dishonor himself by surrendering to the enemy.
Life is full of hard choices, Gongenzaka thought. Hard situations, and great difficulty. But that just makes us stronger.
Now, he had to consider his situation a bit. If he defeated Jean before the bomb went off, there would be no problem... But with Jean's Life Points at 4000, and that Ancient Gear Golem on the field, that seemed like an impossible dream.
... Or is it? he thought.
Gongenzaka forcefully pulled a card from his deck. The very act of that drew sent a gust of wind blowing across the field.
He looked at his card and smiled. Yes, with the cards in his hand, he could see the path to victory, and all the pieces needed to make that path come to life.
"You were wrong about this being a catch-22," Gongenzaka stated. "A catch-22 is when you can't solve the problem, because solution is contradictory to the rules."
Jean simply said, "I'm sure you're wrong."
"You have a situation here that's next to impossible to solve, but only because of how difficult it is to overcome. The rules don't explicitly state-"
"You're wrong."
Gongenzaka sighed. "... If I have no Spell or Traps cards in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon Superheavy Samurai Thief from my hand!"
A monster materialized to the left of Soulclaw. It was a tall, lanky robot. It was more human in design than the other Superheavy Samurai monsters on the field. (DEF 1000)
"You know you can't Synchro Summon, right?" Jean asked his adversary. "You see, the Extra Monster Zone-"
"Thief's effect!" Gongenzaka declared. "I can Tribute this card to destroy one of your Spell or Trap cards!"
In a flash, the thief vanished from sight. He reappeared on Jean's side of the field, behind the bomb. It lifted the bomb into its arms, then turned to look at Jean before hugging the bomb tight.
Jean and the monster stared at each other. The monster was... mocking him? It squeezed the bomb tighter. Both the monster, and the bomb itself instantly exploded, sending a shock wave throughout the room.
(Gongenzaka: 2000 → 500) (Jean-Michel: 4000 → 2500)
The smoke cleared, and the room was a mess: the mirror had fallen over, shattered on the floor. Soda cans had fallen from the machine and rolled onto the floor.
"So that's your decision?" Jean commented. "I suppose that you saw it as your only way to survive."
"Nope," Gongenzaka replied. "I saw it as my ticket to victory."
Jean's confident little smile faded.
Gongenzaka held up the last card in his hand. "I equip Superheavy Samurai Soulyomi to my Steam Train."
This time, a beaded necklace appeared around the head of the Steam Train King. Just below the monster's chin was a skull-shaped bead; though the right eye socket was empty, the left had a needle valve jammed inside.
"Soulyomi's effect!" the man continued. "By Tributing the equipped monster, I can Special Summon two Superheavy Samurai monsters from my Graveyard, with a combined Level that's less than the monster I Tributed!"
The necklace tightened its grip on the train. The head shattered, and the body soon followed. The necklace itself clustered together, melting into a shapeless blob of cyan light.
The blob started to expand outwards. It took the shape of a familiar monster, of Superheavy Samurai Stealth Ninja. (DEF 2800)
Jean raised an eyebrow at this. But when he looked down at his screen and saw the field, he quickly understood the situation: Stealth Ninja was revived in the Main Monster Zone.
But it wasn't over. Stealth Ninja's body started to ripple and shake. From its left side, a monster started to pull itself out of Stealth Ninja's body. It was Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter (DEF 600)
"I'm not finished!" Gongenzaka declared. "Next, I summon Superheavy Samurai Gigagloves from my hand!"
Gongenzaka placed the final card in his hand. A large, bulky robot appeared on the field, to the left of Trumpeter. It raised its arms in the air, showing its enormous, gloved hands. (ATK 100)
"I tune my Level three Gigagloves with my Level two Trumpeter!"
Trumpeter became the rings, and Gigagloves became the orbs. Together, their components worked in tandem to initiate a Synchro Summon.
"Synchro Summon! Level 5, Superheavy Samurai Swordmaster Musashi!"
It was time for a new monster to appear in center stage. A mechanized monster duel-wielding swords appeared on Gongenzaka's side of the field, before blasting forward and jumping ahead of the field, onto Gongenzaka's Extra Monster Zone.
"When this card is Synchro Summoned, I add a Machine-Type Monster from my Grave to my hand."
A card was ejected from Gongenzaka's Graveyard slot. He picked it up, then presented it to his opponent.
"I've chosen Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter," he explained. "And if I have to Spell of Trap cards in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon it from my hand."
The sound of a war horn echoed from Gongenzaka's Duel Disk. This signaled the appearance of a small robot samurai, who blew on an artificial horagai conch shell. (DEF 600)
"Next, I tune my Level 5 Swordmaster Musashi with my Level 2 Trumpeter!"
Trumpeter blew its horn, and its body dissolved. Its horn split in two, and each half became a Synchro ring. The rings moved over to Musashi and surrounded him, and Musashi let its body dissolve into five orbs.
"Synchro Summon! Level 7, Superheavy Samurai Stealth Ninja!"
The ground seemed to ripple before Stealth Ninja. A similar figure to it rose from the floor and jumped forward. This new Stealth Ninja landed before its predecessor and aimed its staff at the enemies before it. (DEF 2800)
A bemused Jean looked down on his screen. He tapped one of the Stealth Ninja cards and, after waiting for his Disk to buffer, viewed the card's effects.
His eyes widened. His heart sank. To his horror, he realized what the card could do to harm him.
"It... by halving its attack, Stealth Ninja can..."
"Attack directly," Gongenzaka finished. "And because of your Charge Bomb, your Life Points are low enough for them to finish you off."
Jean groaned, but his voice was cracking. His hands were shaking. His face was a mixture of both horror and frustration. He looked to Gongenzaka with such disgust, anger, and hatred for the man.
"Battle!" Gongenzaka declared. "By halving its attack, Superheavy Samurai Stealth Ninja can attack you directly!"
The newest Stealth Ninja sat still on the floor. But a ghostly image of itself rose from its body and flew across the field. It passed by Jean's monsters, going right through their bodies. And when it got close to Jean, it lifted up its staff and struck him. (Jean: 2500 → 1100)
Jean was thrown back, onto his desk. His body crashed against the monitor, and a few chess pieces on his desk were thrown in all different directions. A television monitor was loosened from the wall; it fell onto the desk, then slid off and crashed into the floor. Its screen was now rendered broken and inoperable.
Jean looked at the monitors before him: some were broken, through the rest still operated, with varying degrees of clarity. And... three of his soldiers were on the floor, while Yuri and Serena (it was them, right?) battled a large monster.
Jean immediately got off of the desk and turned to his Duel Disk. He quickly minimized the duel on his screen, then went to his messaging system.
Even if he was going to lose now, he could still stop Yuri and Serena from interfering with his plans further. By sending reinforcements for the Doktor, he was losing the battle, but ensuring that he won the war.
But then, Jean stopped typing. He looked up to Gongenzaka and smiled.
"Battle!" Gongenzaka declared. "By halving my second Stealth Ninja's attack-"
"I wouldn't do that!" Jean shouted.
"Why?"
That's right! Jean didn't have to lose at all. Because these imbecilic Lancers had empathy for others, and could never see the bigger picture. But Jean could see the bigger picture. He could see everything.
"If you continue with your attack, I will send a message out to everyone in my army," Jean explained. "If I lose, I will have all the students head to the highest points they can get to, then throw themselves out of the school."
Gongenzaka's jaw dropped. His once-steady stance became loose, and his form started to wobble. His hands dropped to his sides.
"B-but why?" Gongenzaka asked. His voice was shaking. "They're innocent people!"
"Why would that matter to me, though?" jean asked, shrugging. "For me, my soldiers can be replaced with new ones. However, their lives mean a lot more to you Lancers."
Gongenzaka stepped forward. His hands were balled into fists. He was growling, seething with anger at this point.
"Stand down, surrender the duel, and let yourself become infected by a Fusion Parasite," Jean said. "Or do you want me to sacrifice everyone?"
"You wouldn't dare," Gongenzaka growled. "I'll... I'll kill you before I let that happen!"
Jean laughed politely. "Oh, please! Like you'd do such a thing."
Gongenzaka continued his march forward. He passed by Jean's monsters, and was now just several feet away from the villain.
"... Stand down," Jean said again. "You're playing with peoples' lives now."
Gongenzaka clenched his fists and continued to seethe. His anger was still burning inside him.
But he couldn't let innocents get hurt. So he had to stop in his tracks, then drop onto his knees. He had all but surrendered himself to Jean.
Jean looked down at the boy, smiling. He still kept his fingers on his Duel Disk's screen, ready to send a message.
His gaze drifted back to the television monitors. Then, he went back to typing on his screen. The Doktor seemed to be doing well in his duel, but Jean didn't want to risk anything. He still had to send reinforcements to ensure that their plans went smoothly.
"I commend you for doing the right thing, boy," Jean said out loud. "You loss was inevitable, however; there's no way that you could have handled this operation."
He lifted his head from his screen. And it was right then that a heavy, stone sandal crashed into his face.
Jean fell backwards and fell onto his desk. He quickly threw his body forward to stand up properly. But as he did, he found Gongenzaka had ran up to him.
Gongenzaka grabbed hold of Jean's left arm. His hands latched onto the man's Duel Disk, and he started to pull at it. Jean wiggled and flailed himself wildly, trying to escape Gongenzaka's grip. But a quick knee to the stomach made him stop.
Gongenzaka forcefully slid the Disk off of Jean's arm. Jean then pushed his enemy back to create some space between them.
Both of their Duel Disks spoke: "ILLEGAL ACTION: DUEL DISK REMOVED."
Gongenzaka looked behind him. The monsters on the field were vanishing, dissolving into sparkles. When he looked at the Duel Disks, he could see their blades turning off, and the cards that were on the blade now fell to the ground.
It was extremely disrespectful to do this, to rip off someone's Duel Disk and end a duel. It was something you'd expect from a child who couldn't get what they wanted, so they would rage quit a duel and make everyone miserable.
But frankly, Gongenzaka didn't care about respect for his opponent. Or honor, or conducting himself with civility. When he looked back at Jean, he saw someone who didn't deserve his respect.
Jean threw his back to his opponent. He pulled an old, now-scratched-up laptop from the back of his desk, then began typing on its keyboard furiously.
"YOU THINK THAT'S FUNNY?!" he screamed. "LET'S SEE HOW FUNNY THIS IS."
Gongenzaka dropped the Disk to the ground, then moved closer to Jean. But Jean quickly turned himself around and delivered a surprise kick to Gongenzaka's abdomen.
Gongenzaka took a few steps back. Even with his natural fortitude, he wasn't prepared for that. He clutched at the area of attack, trying to soften the pain.
While Gongenzaka had fallen back, Jean quickly returned to his laptop. With surprising speed, he was typing like a madman on fifty cups of coffee.
"THAT'S IT!" he screeched. "THAT'S IT! ALL THE STUDENTS ARE GOING TO THE ROOF, AND THEY'RE GOING TO JUMP!"
He let out a long, wild cackle: "THE FUN HAS JUST BEGUN, BECAUSE OF YO-"
Jean interrupted himself with a gasp. His arms seemed to seize up. He felt a horrible, stabbing pain between his shoulder blades.
As he turned his head, he could see Gognenzaka's hand. He had jabbed Jean with something sharp and painful.
Gongenzaka pulled his hand back from the man, revealing a shard of glass in his hand. Maybe it was from the mirror, or the broken monitors. Jean didn't know or care; he was focused solely on his own pain.
Gongenzaka grabbed Jean by the shoulders, then hurled him onto the floor. He stepped in front of the laptop, then started writing his own message.
Backstabbing someone. Gongenzaka literally backstabbed someone. And that was on top of attacking his opponent, taking his Duel Disk and ending the duel. If his father, or anyone at his dojo had seen what he had done, they would have decried Gongenzaka right then and there.
He could hear his father's words in his mind: How dare you dishonor your family? Your school? Your friends? The Lancers? You're not a thug, but a hero that lives by a code of honor! OR at least, you were.
As he issued a detraction message to the students, his mind went to Yuya. Would Yuya have been able to handle this better? Would he have made Jean egao, and turn him into a better person? Gongenzaka wasn't strong enough to bring out someone's egao, but Yuya...
Send.
No. Gongenzaka knew he did the right thing. Even if Jean wasn't a monster even if Jean deserved no respect... Gongenzaka didn't care about his honor as nearly as much as he did about those students, and his friends. To hell with feeling sorry for doing what he thought was best.
But as he turned to see Jean, on the floor and trying to grab at his back, Gongenzaka couldn't help but feel bad. Maybe he didn't need to be so extreme; maybe he could have taken a less violent option in stopping Jean, instead of hitting him with a surprise attack and stabbing him. He would have fought, he would have wasted valuable time. But still...
Gongenzaka shook his head. He grabbed Jean by the arms, then slowly started to drag him up into a standing position.
"Don't touch me!" Jean screeched. "Don't you dare! Don't you dare!"
"It's over," Gongenzaka stated. "Let's go get your wound treated."
A/N: I was originally going to cut this chapter completely, and have Gongenzaka's role summarized in another chapter. But the man deserved more than that. Plus this chapter is important in the long run.
The idea of this chapter came from an old, fake episode summary, which claimed that Gongenzaka would duel Jean. While this never ended up happening, the idea really stuck with me. I even learned how to play Superheavy Samurais just to make this duel happen.
You might notice that Jean didn't attack much this turn; instead, he relied on burn damage. I wanted to keep this consistent with what we've seen in the show, while also giving him his own unique playing style. Unlike other members of Academia, I imagine Jean playing defensively, and focusing more on burn damage. He doesn't command the field itself, but sits back and plays a passive, distant role in his plans.
Anyway, the whole "Gongenzaka dishonors himself to save the school" was a bigger thing in an earlier draft for the chapter. But I decided to shave this idea down and make it less important. The story is already edgy and dumb as it is, and I didn't want it to do something that could possibly damage Gongenzaka's character.
Next time: Yuri shows Serena his feelings in the worst way possible.