Ch7, Ashley, the other OTHER new girl.
A:N Yo…now Ashley Owens is meant to be my picture of the typical MS created by a 12 year old kinda thing. Heh…hope she's better than Mekaiya…
---
The day folded itself into night, and before the gang knew it, once again the cycle of attending school dawned upon them. Nothing was out of the ordinary –despite the strange happenings of the previous day, everyone was acting perfectly content.
What exactly happened to Mekaiya you ask? Well, everyone in the school was brainwashed to believe Mekaiya won a scholarship in a modeling school and transferred after her brief stay at Domino, which was sadly believable. Anyhow, that is little to our concern.
Not many things different from a typical morning in the class; dull eyes hung from sullen faces attached to bodies that would clearly have preferred to be in bed. Rissa this time, had chosen a seat next to Yami, much to Seto's immediate heartbreak, and had engaged in a deep conversation about her millennium item. Tea sat behind them, trying to somehow squeeze her involvement into the talk, much to her failure because of course, Rissa's beauty and charm claimed every little pint of Yami's attention. But the friendship-loving brunette couldn't bring herself to be jealous or spiteful of her best friend…oh no! Never! Rissa was to perfect and sweet to hate!
Suddenly a hush fell over the classroom as the teacher once again walked through the doors to greet his duty. His usual smile never absent from his face, he did not hesitate to address the class in an uncannily happy way
"Well class, guess what? We have another new student today!" He chirped, as if earning a new student each day for three days in a row was an entirely normal thing to happen at Domino High. The whole class produced a moan
"What!? But…that's not…" Tea stuttered loudly. The teacher fixed her a stern look
"But that's not what Miss Gardener?" He questioned
"How's it possible for us to have three new students just like that in the middle of the year?!" A random student who's not important enough to have a name called out. The teacher conveniently chose to ignore the question, and proceeded to wave a hand at the door
"Make welcome Miss Ashley Owens!"
Instantly the whole class became engrossed in the figure making her way into the classroom even though one would think they'd be bored of such an event by now. But no one could be bored at the sight Ashley presented them with. Of an average height and build, she wore her long dirty blonde hair in perfect waves down her back. The cascade of hair bore traces of blackish undertones intertwining and melding perfectly to the lighter blonde that rested atop the surface, surrounding a face free from any blemishes. The girl turned to the class with not as much perk as Rissa, yet not as much coldness as Mekaiya, with an overall demeanor of a fun-loving yet strong girl,
"Hi, my name's Ashley Owens, call me Ash. No actually, on second thoughts, just call me Ashley. I moved here to Domino not too long ago because my parents found a job here," She recited brightly. Yami blinked
"Hey Rissa…isn't that why you're here?" He whispered to the pretty brunette, secretly trying to lean in as close as possible to her. Rissa pulled a look of puzzlement
"Yeah…strange," She muttered mysteriously. Yami smiled; Rissa's presence made the air seem so much happier. At that moment, someone gasped from behind them
"Oh golly! It's her! Ashley Owens…the Canadian duelist champion!"
At that, the comment sent an uproar of excitement to brew within the class.
"Oh my gosh! You're so right! I remember now! I saw you on TV!" Another student called out. At the mention of the word 'duel', Yami was immediately enthralled. Stiffening in his seat to get a better glimpse of her, he confirmed the whole class's claims. Ashley Owens…won title of second best duelist in the whole of Canada at the age of just twelve. The year after that, she easily bashed her way through the championships and aced every player to earn her right to the title of Canada's best! And if that wasn't enough for her, she was ranked third in the world, behind Yami and Seto themselves. Oh. How. Amazing. Ha.
Yami watched in awe amidst the frivolous chatter of the class. She looked so much prettier in real life! Not that she looked bad in the TV…Yami had always wanted to meet her, ever since he had heard of her achievements at such a young age. From what he had learnt by watching her duels, Ashley was full of witty, tricky and unpredictable strategies that would take twists and turns in the least expected places, and just when you'd think she had blown it, she'd amazingly flip her cards and expel the competition before you could blink! Apparently the media had given her the nickname of "The blazing star" after the way her eyes seem to flare with fiery determination, and was repetitively referred to in newspaper articles as "the miracle magician" and "duelist prodigy".
Ashley however, responded to this with a roll of the eyes backed up by a modest smile
"Yeah, you're right, I am the Canadian duellist champion," she spoke frankly. The teacher smiled
"Oh that's wonderful! Now we coincidentally have three duel champions in our class!" He said before breaking into mirth.
…
…
That recess Yami was quick to speak to Ashley, for not only did he wish to test his skills dueling her, but he also wanted her to feel welcome at the school. Eventually his search lead him to large crowd of people crowded around the cafeteria area, so evidently the spirit decided to spare a moment to see what all the fuss was about. Importantly parting his way through the crowd, he was shocked to see Seto and Ashley right in the middle of it, both seated on opposite sides of a table locked in a heated game of duel monsters. So far, just judging by the sweat beads rolling down Seto's temples and the tense expression thwarting his face, Yami could tell Ashley had him going. The girl on the other hand, looked calm and ready, a tame smirk garnishing the pretty visage of her face. It seemed that she had just pulled off another one of her legendary moves, and Seto Kaiba had fallen straight into the trap.
The brunette man stirred, irritated, before proceeding to draw his next card. Just managing to keep his arm movement free of flouncing, he looked at it and grinned
"See how you play with this one…Vorse Raider in attack mode! And I attack your Neo the magic swordsman!" the proud male duelist commanded, as he was sure he'd exterminate Ashley's card. The girl calmly flipped over a trap card with rehearsed perfection.
"I activate mirror force!" She called out dramatically. Seto's jaw almost hit the table as he polluted the air with colorful curses. With a growl, he wordlessly discarded his Vorse Raider to the graveyard with bitter remorse.
Yami's eyes pulsed wide as his attention was drawn to how many cards Seto had in his graveyard pile by now; it was practically level with the remainder of his deck, yet on the other hand, Ashley's pile was only a few cards tell. Incredible.
After a while of watching, Ashley completely creamed Seto like he was a rookie.
"Just wait until the next world championships tournament Seto! I'll take your title from you," She said this with the most light hearted, sweet-girl tone, making it sound more like a playful comment than a threat. Everyone that watched was completely riveted with awe, before finally Seto broke the silence.
"N-nice duel Ashley. You're a very talented duellist, and I'm very lucky I had a chance to duel you," his head was down as he spoke, respect drenching his voice. Yami blinked twice in a very unified manner, hardly daring to believe his eyes. Ashley, however, accepted the compliment readily.
"Thank you Mr. Kaiba. You're very, very talented yourself!" She responded generously, meeting Seto's warm smile with hers. The lanky brunette modestly shrugged.
"It was nothing, I guess I was going a bit easy on you,"
"Ha! Yeah right!"
By now the whole crowd of at least one hundred Domino students crowding around that tiny table were all fixated on their exchange of words. Girls ogled at Kaiba, wondering over and over again how Ashley could so easily 'break through his cold heart of ice' (A:N/ -COUGH- CORNYOVERUSEDPHRASE -COUGH-.)
Just then Yami found it a perfect time to interject.
"Oh man…can this fic get any more OOC?!" Yami threw the question at himself rhetorically
"Well…actuaaallllyy," Duke Devlin's fluffy voice tickled the frame of the spirit's ear from somewhere behind him. Yami stared ahead, dumbfounded
"OH NO!!" He grunted, horrified as he felt warm arms slide around his shoulders, and wet lips smacking his cheeks wildly.
"NOOOO!!"
Just kidding.
---
After school just as everyone had left the class, Seto nervously strode towards Ashley's desk, a mask of mock coldness concealing his nerves
"Ashley, may I ask you something?" He requested in his proud tone. Ashley slung her newly packed bag over her shoulders
"Yeah sure, what?" she piped as she fitted the straps of her pack over her body. Seto stirred.
"Um…would you like to get a job at Kaiba corp? I need workers who know a thing or two about duel monsters, and I thought you to be a perfect candidate,"
"Great, when can I start?" Ashley replied instantly, as if it were nothing too big.
"You can start tomorrow actually, pick up your uniform off my secretary, Samantha,"
and with that, the deal was done. (A:N/ gotta love the fakeness and the OOC…:P, usually happens when 12 year olds try to write an OC fic like that)
---
Ash was on her way back from her first day at work at Kaiba corp. It was rather fun and challenging, but after a while she tackled every task given to her easily, because of course she is sooooooo perfect and smart! The wind rustled her beautiful blonde tresses as she walked home, feeling winter beginning to wrap itself around the neighbourhood. Whistling a directionless tune that sounded so perfectly composed despite the lack of effort put into its creation, Ashley happily wandered into…
DUN DUN DUUUNN!!!
…A dark alleyway!! (A:N/ now this is where we all gasp in fear for our heroine's safety :O!! -Gasps!-)
Because the region of Domino was so festooned with a ridiculous plethora of dark alleyways, all happening to be lurking with all sorts of dangers pretty little girls like Ashley could get herself into (eg. horny thugs, drunken hobos), it was inevitable for our little princess to make her way home without venturing into the grips of one. So on she went, schoolbag over her back and payment jingling in her pockets, thoughts of the incredible Seto Kaiba fluffing up joy in her pure, white heart.
Turning into the darkness, she seemed oblivious to the hollow silence that lingered. Suddenly, a small clanking noise rang out against the tapping of her school shoes against the pavement. If fear was present in Ashley's mind, she sure didn't show it. Stopping for a bit and pulling a wary look, she finally dismissed it as insignificant and continued to stride through the shadows.
Suddenly, a pair of cold hands slid around Ashley's perfectly carved mouth, sealing her soft lips shut. With a muffled scream of panic, the blonde struggled fiercely against the strong arms that enslaved her.
(A:N/ I'm really sorry to pull a n00b right now, but I think it'll be appropriate if I start to write like a 12 year old rookie MS authoress now. Don't worry, it's only temporary ;)…mainly just a demonstration of how annoying their fakeness can be if they don't back up what they write)
Ashley kicked the man holding her hard in the groin and felt his hands give way. In an instant, it was returned by a punch in the stomach. Ashley felt back and hit a wall, but she quickly got up again.
"Oh you SO are going to wish you never had done that!" she threatened, and jumped and kicked him again square in the jaw. The man yelled angrily and cursed, trying to grab her uniform. Ashley backed away from him slowly. The man tried to kick her again and Ashley kicked him back into a wall and soon it was an all out fight. Fists hurled everywhere and both the man and Ashley got really hurt.
"You will die!" The man said has he grabbed Ashley's throat. Ashley blinked back tears as she felt it harder to breathe. She tried to struggle, but it was useless. The man punched her again. Everything when black.
(A:N/ Ok! End of n00bishness! -sighs in relief- sorry I had to put you through that. Just displaying my frustration at crappy things like that…I know in most cases it's not their fault they don't have skill, but they can at least make it more…unfake! Now…back to normal gear.)
A deft shiver of dread shot up her spine as Ashley felt a cold hand slither up her shirt, knowing that all struggles now were useless. (A:N/ really, I have no idea how that is a foreboding of getting rayped, but I've seen it done by MS authors before so I guess it's only right to use it in this case…) She didn't know how long she had been out cold for, but the acute, fresh pain ringing in her temples told her that it hadn't been long enough for 'the man' to do anything too badly to her, but that was about to change if she didn't do something. But what could she do? Her body was in no condition to fight, and either way, her fighting skills were only novice (even though she had beaten him up pretty badly…but who cares?! We meant to feel sorry for her).
Suddenly, before she knew it, a dark figure rippled at the corners of her beautiful green eyes, standing strongly against the ugly man who was trying to get a dose of her.
"Leave her alone!" The voice was deep and familiar, yet in her frenzy, Ashley was unable to identify it. The schoolgirl slipped a soft whimper as she refused to tear wavering eyes from the man's face, afraid that if she went to meet her potential saviour, it would somehow lead to be a fatal mistake. In her numb helplessness, Ash felt weight alleviate from her as the course forearm slid away from her chest.
"What the hell do you want?" The thug ruffled in the stereotypical way. Before her very own wide eyes, Ashley witnessed the usual exchanged between protagonist and antagonist, following a common sequence which I won't have to mention because I'm sure the average reader has had enough of such verbal-spars.
Before the very-pretty duellist prodigy could open her sensually carved mouth to input her attempt to douse the fighting, the drunkard of a ruffian burst out in rage, dropping her and charging towards the mysterious man armed with a hammer of a fist. In a flash, Ashley's swift reflexes kicked in as she gathered it was too late for her hero to make a counter attack. Quickly scuffing up her sleeve, she revealed her well-kept secret; a thick golden bangle embossed with the shape of a strange eye sort of thing which, in spite of the little she knew about it, brought Ashley powers beyond that of a normal girl her age. It was her secret weapon when confronting with school bullies and other mean people, though she never used it to cheat it duels…oh no way! Ashley would never have the wicked heart or the selfishness to cheat in her duels! That would put her amongst all those other dirty, filthy cheaters; unlike them, Ashley won every single duel on pure, unpretentious talent.
Anyhow, Ashley levelled her wrist to eye-level, pointing the eye in the direction of the baddie. With a slender finger, she traced the fringes of the cold cuff, feeling sparks of power lace into her hand. The bracelet was an amazing millennium item: it was the most powerful out of all eight (even though, as we all know, there are an infinite amount of them out there possessed by them Mary-Sues!). Not only did it give Ashley the power to read people's minds, but it also gave her passage to the control of all the elements, wether it be fire, water, wind, earth, light, or thunder.
Steaks of electricity sizzled and snapped as Ashley fancily gathered the sparks onto her fingers. With two more brisk strokes along the arch of her accessory, the blond duellist champion presented a fist teeming with live sparks, all dancing frivolously around her hand and forearm. Slinging her arm forward powerfully, Ashley let the funnel of static go charging towards the thug, gulfing him in a chamber of electric shock.
"AAARGGHH!!" Came the tortured cries of the man as lightning lanced through him, licking with acid tongues at his muscles and skin. The other one who had come to Ashley's rescue, whom Ash could now see was swathed in a thick cloak to conceal his identity, stood still, his eyes the only thing revealed were held agape.
Ashley's sky blue orbs throbbed in determination as she watched the man convulse violently. In an instant, the cloaked man saw his opportunity and kicked the hobo down so he dropped dead. A proud smile flourished upon the girl's puppy lips as she turned to greet her saviour, admiring his swift, clean kick that brought an end to the man.
"Nice work Ashely…what was that?" Came the voice. Ashley smirked, sliding down her sleeve,
"Just a secret," She giggled.
Great, now I can look into his mind to see who he is! She thought, as once again she focused on the powers of her millennium item.
Wow…there's something so strange about her. She's amazing… came the thought, unmistakably marked with Yami's name.
Ha! I knew it was him! Ashley thought proudly, spoiling herself with permission to continue reading Yami's mind.
She seems so familiar…as if…as if we've met before. But maybe it was just duellist kingdom…yeah, that must be it. Weird…
Ashley mentally frowned, for, strangely enough, she felt the same way about him. Either way, she shrugged it off.
"Oh well, see you at school Ashley," The man crooned with a wink as he swirled around and prodded off into the shadows. Ashley played along with this game, pretending she didn't know who it could be, standing still as she watched the last traces of cloak flicker away, admiring the mystery in him.
-----------
REVIEW!! -hypnotises readers-