(Author's Note: I should have mentioned this, but didn't. This begins a year before GX Canon begins. Meaning Zane is in his second year and the Abandoned Dorm incident hasn't happened yet. Something to keep in mind as things keep going on.)
Harriet Hartfield was not having a good time. Yes, she'd beaten Professor Oda and gotten into Duel Academy, and sure, her brother had beaten that skinny Professor and gotten in as well, but nobody had told her they were going to be getting to Duel Academy by helicopter. "I hate this. I hate this, why did I agree to this?" she muttered to herself, staring at the seat in front of her. In the window seat, Adam snorted.
"As I recall, going to Duel Academy was your idea. Something about us becoming the best tag-team since the Paradox Brothers?" he said.
"Oh, shut up. The only reason you're not freaking out is because your Spirit is a dragon and he can catch you if this hunk of metal fails and we fall and die," Harriet hissed, rubbing her temples. "And we're a terrible tag-team, our decks don't synergize at all."
"I suppose that's true. What with all of your cards being so disgustingly alive," Adam said, wrinkling his nose.
"Hey, just because they have a heartbeat doesn't mean you should hate them. At least they don't start rotting as soon as they hit the field."
"Excuse me? My lovely undead children do not rot. How dare you," Adam said, putting his hand to his chest in mock offense. He glanced out the window and then back at his pale sister. She was starting to pick at her fingernails, still looking anywhere but out the window. "We've still got an hour to go. How about a duel to pass the time?" Adam asked, pulling out his deck.
"Yes, please, anything to distract me" Harriet said, grabbing her deck. They twisted on their sides to face each other, using the trays to places the cards. They were familiar with each other's decks and playing styles. After the first game, they started talking as they dueled. "So, what do you think of our Professors so far?" she asked as she mimed for her Mythical Beast Cerberus to attack.
"I only met Professor Banner. He seems a little odd, but otherwise alright. Didn't much care for that Doctor Crowler," Adam said as he sent his Pyramid Turtle to the Graveyard and special summoned Malevolent Mech-Goku En.
"Did you hear that he cut like half the applicants? Didn't even give them a chance to apply," Harriet said while placing two facedowns.
"Good thing we got there early then. Who did you duel? I didn't get the chance to see."
"Oh, Professor Oda. Not sure what she teaches, but she was nice. Even talked about how ridiculous the game could get. Had fun with it, you know?"
"No, I know nothing about having fun," Adam said, raising an eyebrow to indicate sarcasm.
"I noticed. You're too busy being evil and a little creepy to have fun," Harriet said as Adam indicated wiping out her remaining Life Points.
"Excuse me, I am a lot creepy, thank you very much. I wear black. It's the spookiest of colors," Adam said. The corner of his lip twitched up. The two shuffled their decks and set themselves up again.
"Oh, yes. Forgive me, great lord of darkness," Harriet said, giving a mock bow. The two began openly snickering at each other.
"You're ridiculous," Adam said.
"No, you," Harriet said.
"Such wit! Such repartee! How am I to compete!" Adam said melodramatically, putting a hand to his chest.
"Don't. Give up and let me win," she said lightly.
"But where's the fun in that, dear sister?" Adam asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking.
The PA system dinged. "Attention new students. If you look out the window, you'll see that we are now approaching your home away from home, Academy Island."
"Or we can not look out the window and be reminded that we're nowhere near the ground," Harriet muttered. She glanced out the window despite herself and startled at the sight. An enormous, milky red eye stared through the window back at her. "Your Spirit's flying with us," she muttered.
Adam glanced out the window to see Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon was, indeed, flying next to the helicopter. He smiled and waved at it. "Hello, friend. We'll be landing soon. So feel free to get nice and compact again." The Zombie Dragon bobbed it's head in a nod and flew up higher, clearing their view.
Even from this distance, the main building of Duel Academy was easily visible. The three colored roofs against stark white were eye-popping, as was the smoking mountain behind it. "Did you know that the volcano provides geothermal energy for the island? The tech's experimental, so it only works when it's releasing small amounts of smoke continuously," Harriet said. "So the volcano's not about to erupt or anything, in case you were worried."
"I wasn't but that's good to know," Adam said. He eyed his sister suspiciously. "How do you know that?"
"KaibaCorp published an article on the Academy. It goes pretty in-depth. Fascinating to read," Harriet said eagerly.
"…was it? Or are you a nerd?" Adam asked, smirking at her again.
"How dare you. I'm a geek, not a nerd, get it right, you emo," she said.
"How dare you. I'm a goth, not an emo. Get it right, you dork." The two continued to bicker quietly as they made their way off the helicopter and to the main auditorium. The room was large enough to hold the entire freshman class, with a vaulted ceiling. It had been divided into four sections, one for each of the dorms. The two stopped.
"I guess this is where we part ways," Adam said quietly.
"For now, at least. But…yeah," Harriet muttered. She glanced up at him and smiled. "What dorm did you get?"
"Ra Yellow. You?"
"You know there's only one girl dorm," Harriet said flatly.
"Oh. Right." The two continued to stare and the splitting up crowd. Adam turned to glance at her. "See you around?"
"Right after we move in. We'll need to break in the new tech and the new clothes," Harriet said. She took several steps away from her twin. Then, she closed her eyes, took a steadying breath, and started walking quickly towards the girl's dorm table.
To them, the assembly was a blur. Neither paid much attention as Chancellor Shepard welcomed the new students, playing a prerecorded speech about how pleased he was to have them there and how great they would be. Moving in was a blur as well. They moved as quickly and efficiently as they could before getting changed into their brand-new blazers. As soon as Harriet was finished, she'd texted Adam which dueling field to meet her at. She made her way there quickly, knowing they didn't have a huge amount of time before the introductory dinners started.
She stepped into the arena to the sound of an argument.
"…told you, this is an Obelisk arena. No Ra's allowed!" another boy was saying. Harriet looked up and spotted Adam immediately. Two boys, both larger than him, dressed in deep blue coats, had gotten uncomfortably close to him. She could see the way Adam had tensed, a very slight grimace on his lips.
"And as I told you, I am meeting my sister her," Adam said. He glanced between both of the Obelisk Blue members. "Of course, you could duel me," he offered.
"Wow, Adam. Selling out already?" Harriet said. She stepped between the Obelisk Blue boys, shoving them apart. "What happened to me beating you first?"
"Assuming you can, Harry," Adam said, visibly relaxing upon seeing his sister. The boys both looked down at Harriet.
"Hey, what're you doing? We've got this guy handled," one of the guys said, folding his arms. Harriet gave him a solid side-eye.
"Okay, first of all? This is the literal first day. You have no idea who he is and you have no idea who I am. So here's an idea: sit back and watch us duel. Then see if you wanna keep messing with him. Okay?" Harriet said in her best stern voice. The boys looked at each other.
"That sounds like a great idea," another voice said. Professor Oda stood in the doorway of the arena, her arms folded and glaring at the Obelisk Blues. "I'll even make it the inaugural duel of the Academy. It'll be all official. Sound good?"
"I like the sound of that," Adam said with a nod to her.
"Alright then. Duelists, to your places. And audience, to the stands," Oda said, jerking her thumb to spur the Blues to movement.
Adam and Harriet moved to opposite sides of the arena before turning to face each other. They locked eyes. Harriet grinned. Adam smirked. "Let's Duel!"
"I believe since you won our last game, I get to go first," Adam said as he drew his hand. "I'll begin with your favorite of my strategies by summoning Goblin Zombie (1100/1050) to the field in Attack Mode!" A small, chittering black shaped appeared. Golden bones covered the creature as it lifted it's head to look towards Harriet.
"Is this the Ecto-Gobo Wombo Combo?" Harriet asked.
"You tell me, dear sister. I activate the Permanent Spell Card Ectoplasmer!" Adam said as he played the card.
"It is the Ecto-Gobo Wombo Combo!" Harriet said. "Boo! I hate this one!"
Adam threw his head back and laughed, a deep and malevolent sound. "I play one card facedown. Then, I end my turn, thus activating the effect of my Ectoplasmer! I'm forced to Tribute a face-up monster on my side of the field and inflict damage to you equal to half of it's attack points!" Greenish energy poured out from Goblin Zombie and it shot across the field. Harriet flinched, covering her face as the light passed around her. (Harriet: 4000 - 3450) "And, because Goblin Zombie was sent to my Graveyard from my field, I get to add a Zombie with 1200 or fewer Defense points to my hand. I think I'll choose Zombie Master."
"You idiot! You left yourself wide open!" one of the Obelisk Blues taunted.
"And forced me on the defensive if I want to keep any monster in play," Harriet said, turning to look at the Blue who had spoken.
"Huh? How'd he do that?" The Blue asked.
"Ectoplasmer forces both players to sacrifice face-up monsters during their End Phase." Harriet turned back to Adam. "Of course, the keywords there are 'face-up'. So I'll start by activating Pot of Greed!"
"What does that do?" one of the Obelisks asked.
"…you're joking, right? It lets me draw two cards," Harriet said as she picked up the cards. "Then I'll set a monster face-down in Defense Mode and another card face-down. That'll do it for my turn. And with no face-up monsters to sacrifice, Ectoplasmer fails to activate for me." She stuck her tongue out at her brother.
"Your maturity is limitless. I draw and then summon Zombie Master (1800/0)!" Adam said as he played the skeletal necromancer once again. "Now I'm willing to bet that you either have a Magic Cylinder face-down or that's your Royal Magical Library. But I can bypass that with Ectoplasmer and my Zombie Master's ability! I discard a monster from my hand and Special Summon Goblin Zombie back to my field."
Zombie Master's hands reached down, into the floor. She pulled up, dragging the small goblin back from the Graveyard. She set it down next to her and gave it a pat on the head. "But let's not get too attached to him. Because I end my turn to activate Ectoplasmer! Now, he's once again reduced to goo and he once again strikes your Life Points! (Harry: 3450 - 2900) But we're not done yet. Because Goblin Zombie's effect activates once more. And this time, I'll add a second Goblin Zombie to my hand."
Harriet stared at her brother for several seconds. "You know, some restriction cards would really help this strategy. Like Nightmare Steelcage or something."
Adam relaxed again. "I know. But that would also interfere with my other stratagems."
"True, true. Anyway, it's my turn. I draw!" Harriet said. She pulled out the card and examined it. She smirked. "Alright. Let's start by Flip-Summoning my facedown monster. Say hello to Magician of Faith (300/400)!" As she flipped the monster over, a woman appeared, clutching a crescent moon staff. Her head was bowed slightly but she looked up after a moment.
"When she's Flip Summoned, I get to add a Spell Card from my Graveyard to my hand. So I get my Pot of Greed back! And I'm gonna play it again!" she said as she played the spell and drew two more cards.
"That's some good card advantage," Professor Oda muttered. "I should probably be making you boys take notes." The Obelisk Blue Boys huffed in unison, looking down.
"Alright, bro. You wanna see burn damage? You're gonna get burn damage! I summon Rapid-Fire Magician (1600/1200) to the Field in Attack Mode!" Harriet said. A magician in black robes appeared on the field, long violet hair flowing behind him. He pointed his staff towards Adam.
"Now I'll be activating Lightning Vortex! By discarding a card in my hand, this Spell card destroys every face-up monster on your side of the field. Such as your Zombie Master!" Lightning lanced out from the card and the skeletal girl disappeared with a shriek. Adam hissed and winced.
"And because I activated a Normal Spell Card, Rapid-Fire Magician deals you 400 points of direct damage!" The magician in question pointed his staff. Several glowing balls orbited it for a moment before firing off. They slammed into Adam, causing him to let out a low growl. (4000 - 3600) "But we're not done yet! Because I activate the Spell Card Magical Blast!"
"Oh, of course you do!" Adam said with a scowl. "200 points of damage for each Spellcaster you control and 400 points of damage from your Rapid-Fire Magician. You've taken me out with that card too many times!" The Rapid-Fire Magician and the Magician of Faith pointed their staves in unison. A massive ball of purple energy fired out, enveloping Adam, followed by another barrage from the Rapid-Fire Magician. (3600 - 2800)
"Yeah, but we're not done here yet! Rapid-Fire Magician, attack Adam directly!"
"Directly into my trap! I activate Call of the Haunted! This allows me to special summon my Zombie Master back to the field to defend me!" Adam said. The card flipped up. Purplish smoke emanated from it, coalescing into the form of Zombie Master once again.
"Oh, I get it. That protects his life points and lets him use his Zombie Master again next turn," one of the Obelisk Blue Boys said, pounding his fist into his palm.
"Yes, very good. You got the basics of it," Oda said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Now let's see what he does with it."
"Well, I'll cancel my attack and end my turn," Harriet said.
"Which triggers my Ectoplasmer! So, who are you sacrificing to damage me, dear sister?" Adam asked.
"Magician of Faith, this time." She winced as the Magician turned into green smoke and slammed into her brother. "Sorry. Didn't have much of a choice," she muttered. (Adam: 2800 - 2650)
"It's my turn," Adam said as he drew a card. He examined it and grinned. "I think it's time to add a new friend to our little game. Come forth, Pyramid Turtle (1200/1400)." The stone turtle rose from the ground, sand spilling off of it. It moaned and took a lurching step forward. "Then, it's time to activate my Zombie Master's effect! I discard the Goblin Zombie from my hand to Special Summon the Goblin Zombie in my Graveyard." Once again, the Zombie Master dragged the Goblin Zombie back up from the ground.
"Now, we begin the march of the undead! Zombie Master, attack Harriet's Rapid-Fire Magician!" Zombie Master lunged forward, stabbing her hands at the Magician. Purple lightning lanced out, causing the spellcaster to burst into fragments and for Harriet to hiss. (2900 - 2700)
"Pyramid Turtle, attack my sister directly!" Adam ordered.
"That'll be a no, thanks! I activate Magic Cylinder! This redirects all the damage from your Turtle's annoyingly slow stampede right back at you!" Harriet said. Two large cylinders popped into existence. Pyramid Turtle vanished into one of them only to come charging out of the other, trampling Adam. (2650 - 1250) He lay on the ground for several seconds.
"The worst part is, I knew you were hiding that," Adam said with a cough before getting back up. "But now Goblin Zombie gets to take a shot at you! Go, my little pest! Attack her Life Points directly!" The Goblin dashed forward, slashing at Harriet's ankles. She let out a little shriek and kicked the thing back. (2700 - 1600) "And when Goblin Zombie deals combat damage to a player, that player discards the top card of their deck," Adam said as Harriet moved the top card to her Graveyard.
"And at the end of my turn, I'll place one card face-down. And then Ectoplasmer activates. Once again, I'll Tribute my Goblin Zombie, to take another bite out of your life points! (1600 - 1050) And of course, I get to add another Zombie to my hand. This time I'll go with…Nightmare Horse. The clock's ticking, Harry. Better come up with something good, or you'll be out of luck," Adam said, grinning at his sister.
"Yeah, well, I'm not through yet!" Harriet said as she drew a card.
"Beat him!" one of the Obelisk Blues called.
"Beat the Yellow-belly loser!" the other shouted.
Adam's flinch was subtle but not imperceptible. Especially not to the girl who'd grown up with him. Harriet pivoted on her heel to glare at the two of them. "Hey! Stop disrespecting my brother!" she snapped.
"Harriet, it's fine," Adam said.
"No, it's not! You've been kicking my ass with a sweet strategy and these idiots are calling you a loser for it! It's not okay!" Harriet snapped. "The only reason I've done so well is I grew up dueling you! You'd've tied almost anyone else in knots with this combo. And it's not even your best one! You'll win next turn if I'm not careful, and I don't want to hear these idiots talk down to you!"
"Harriet, I appreciate your sentiment. But hurry up and beat me," Adam said with a manufactured calm. "You wouldn't be this defensive about it if you weren't about to win. So just do it."
"Fine. I draw," Harriet said. "I activate Monster Reborn to Special Summon Cybernetic Magician (2400/1000) in Attack Mode." The Spell Card glows for a moment and then a man dressed all in white with silver running over his skin manifested. He clutched a silvery scepter in his hand, which he twirled as he appeared.
"Wait, when did that get into her Graveyard?" One of the boys asked.
"When she played Lightning Vortex. She discarded a card, remember? She's been setting this up," Oda said, scowling at the boy.
"Yeah. I have been. It's a trick I learned from Adam. One of his best ones," Harriet admitted.
"Which is why I know to look out for it. Iactivate Compulsory Evacuation Device!" Adam said. As the trap flipped face up.
"YOU WHAT?!" Harriet shrieked.
"This returns a target monster to the hand. Such as, say, your Cybernetic Magician," Adam said as the floor beneath the Cybernetic Magician began to glow red. There was a rush of air as the Cybernetic Magician was launched into the air, vanishing into light.
Harriet blinked at her brother.
Adam smiled innocently at her.
"YOU SNAKE! I GO THROUGH ALL THE TROUBLE OF DEFENDING YOU AND THIS IS THE THANKS I GET?!" she shouted, shaking her fist at him. "Fine! That does it! No more Cool Big Sis! I set a monster face-down and set a card face down and end my turn!"
Adam shook with barely suppressed laughter before throwing his head back to let out a truly malevolent chuckle. "Alright! Here it is! At long last! I draw!" He smirked. "I activate the effect of my Zombie Master! By discarding a card, I special summon a monster from my Graveyard! I choose Double Coston (1700/1650)!" A pair of grey spirits burst from the ground, twining through the air before settling next to Zombie Master.
"Oh, you little brat," Harriet said, her eyes narrowing.
"I tribute my Double Coston! And because I'm using it to summon a Dark-Attribute monster, it counts as two tributes! This allows me to summon the most powerful monster in my Deck, Despair from the Dark (2800/3000)!" The two ghosts vanished in a puff, coalescing into a titanic beast of orange energy. It's hands slammed into the ground, cracking it before letting out an earsplitting roar.
"WHAT IS THAT?!" One of the Obelisk Blue boys shouted as he cowered behind Professor Oda. The Professor's eyes lit up.
"Oh! You used this in your duel against Banner, didn't you? It's a good card. Great beatstick," she said.
"Thank you Professor," Adam said with a slight bow. "Now. I. End. My. Turn."
Harriet's shoulders slumped. "Aw, crumbs. I was hoping you'd attack."
"No need. I use Ectoplasmer to tribute my Despair from the Dark. Thus inflicting 1400 points of damage directly to you!" Adam said as the huge creature in question vanished into green smoke. It went surging out, wrapping around his sister. Even though she knew it was a hologram, Harriet screamed. She pretended to choke on air and fell to the ground dramatically.
She popped back up a moment later. "You know, if you had attacked I would've used this Magical Dimension I had facedown," she said as she walked towards her brother.
"Why didn't you use it earlier? You could've thwarted my whole final turn with it."
"Eh, it was a misplay," she said with a shrug. "I'll get you next time."
"Now that was a good way to start off the year," Oda said as she approached the two. "I'm pretty sure you're both late to your introduction dinners, but if you run it won't be by much."
Adam and Harriet both hesitated, then looked at each other. "Right. New people," Adam muttered.
"New friends, too," Harriet said, before smiling at him. "Go. Have fun. Meet people."
"Right. You too," Adam said with a smile before turning and racing down the hallway. The two Obelisk Blue boys left, muttering to each other, trying to figure out what had just happened.
"Hey, Harriet," Oda called, catching up with the young woman easily. "You didn't actually misplay that Magical Dimension, did you?"
Harriet froze and turned to look at her professor. "Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. It's not our place to say. And you probably shouldn't worry about it." She began walking away at a much quicker pace. Oda considered her words a smiled.
"You're a good kid, Harriet. Let's see how well you do once you meet your peers," she muttered.
(Author's Note: Wow. That was a long duel. They won't all be that long, but I wanted to demonstrate how evenly matched Harriet and Adam are before we start meeting other people. Because there are gonna be some other people. It'll be fun! Promise. Or at least I'll have fun. I don't know what you guys will have.)
