A/N: No reviews for last chapter. –Shrugs-. Oh, and in this fic, not all girls are in Obelisk Blue. Let's be fair, people. Well, anyway, here's chapter 6. Enjoy.
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Ch6. Friendly Competition"We're chillin out with the crew in the schoolyard, yeah! Findin trouble, never workin too hard! Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do!" Arms folded behind his head, Haru walked across duel academy alongside with Ren and Skye. Everything including the shadow rider was settled the night before with Chancellor Sheppard. He really had been Ashley's father. They'd all wondered why he would come back and be turned to the evil side. Her father had been sent to the infirmary, due to lack of breathing and he was unconscious. Breathing in the cool morning air Haru said, "What a great day! Tough times, hard climbs, we'll take a mark together! Right now – let's go! Lalala…" His voiced trailed off as they continued to stroll along. Skye and Ren were getting annoyed with the singing though. "Haru, quit with the singing!" Ren commented. "Yeah! We really don't need background music! Plus, today's not such a great day anyway." Skye retorted.
"Hey, hey! Will you two chill?" He grinned. "I'm lovin this day! Wait a minute…where were we walking again?"
"To Dr. Crowler's room. Brace yourself for another snore-fest of a lesson." Ren looked down. "This day sucks, Haru. You gotta admit."
"AWW! SHIT! I totally forgot… Your right today sucks." He fell over and the three shared a few laughs, before having to continue to trudge along to Crowler's room.
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"…And this is why continuous trap cards can work well with spells." Dr. Crowler continued on with his boring lesson. Jaden was asleep, Alexis and Bastion were paying attention fully however. Most of the class was asleep. Haru was awake, but was playing his Nintendo DS, Yugioh GX Duel Academy. An easy way to keep entertained in class. "Now then who would like to tell us why Trap Jammer is helpful in one's battle phase when an opponent activates a facedown trap?" His eyes scanned the room. Noticing Haru looking downward, he instantly picked on him. "How about you, Haru Uka?" He had a devilish grin on his face. "Who, what, huh?" Haru looked up. "Well…uh… what was the question?" He scratched his head confused. Crowler rolled his eyes. "Why is Trap Jammer helpful in one's battle phase when an opponent activates a facedown trap?" Haru gave him a skeptical look. "Oh, ok. Well, because Trap Jammer can destroy a trap that was activated when your monster attacks. Examples of these such cards would be Negate Attack, Mirror Force, or Magic Cylinder." Crowler looked sternly at him when he got the answer right. "Yes, that's correct." He croaked. Haru continued to play his game while Crowler finished his long and boring lesson. However, shortly after the lesson ended, someone had greeted Haru. This person he'd never seen before. "Hi, Haru right?" He asked. The boy had solid grey eyes, spiked black hair, had a locket of some sort hanging around his neck and wore a short-sleeved black shirt. Haru stood up and looked him in the eye. "Yeah, that's me! Nice to meet you!" He extended his hand to the boy who instantly shook it. "Likewise! The name's Jared, and I am an Obelisk too, as you can see by the jacket. Oh, by the way Haru, you know Skye right? I see you hang out with her. Yeah, Skye isn't in Obelisk Blue. So that girl you hang out with isn't really Skye. I know who she is though. Her name's Terra, and the real Skye is a Slypher Red." He said as the two walked down the steps to meet up with Ren and Terra. "She just decided to change her name, because she thought Skye sounded better." The boys met up with Ren and Terra and said hi as they all walked together. When Haru mentioned her real name, now that he knew for sure, she explained the name situation. They all left Crowler's room, and were now free for a while. "Hey, by the way Haru, who's your new friend?" Ren questioned.
"Well Ren, I'd like to introduce to you Jared!" he beamed as he showed his new friend to Ren and Terra. "He's really awesome! And guess what? He uses a Dark deck!"
"Cool!" Ren and Terra said as they introduced themselves to Jared. "Hey, Haru. We've got free time now you know? So how about it? We duke it out! We duel!" Jared exclaimed as he set his bag down on a lunch table, removing his duel disk from it and placing it on his arm.
"Jared, You've got yourself a duel! Now, get your game on, because I'm gonna throw down and totally claim victory!" He attached his duel disk to his arm and they both shouted, "Duel!" in unison, and Haru drew five cards from his deck, as did Jared. "I'll start things off." He pulled a card out of his deck and added it to his hand. "By the way, this is my newest deck, Courtesy of Ren!"
Haru: 4000 L.P.
Hand: Polymerization, Ojama Yellow, Ojama Green, Gearfried the Swordmaster, Winged Kuriboh, and Ojama Black.
Jared: 4000 L.P.
Hand: D.D Survivor, Dark Magician, Diffusion Wave Motion, Rapid-Fire Magician, and Trap Jammer.
Haru grinned. "Excellent…I'll start things off by activating, Polymerization!"
Ren was shocked. "What? Already? That's a really risky move!" He looked over toward Terra and she had her eyes glued to the duel. When he looked around, he saw other duelists in Obelisk Blue, Ra Yellow, and Slypher Red gather to watch the duel.
"And with polymerization, I fuse my three Ojamas! Yellow, Black, and Green to fusion summon Ojama King from my fusion deck!" the three Ojamas appeared on the field and began swirling together to create a fusion. In their place appeared a massive and fat-looking Ojama in white wearing a flowered-red skin-tight bathing suit, a green coloured cape atop his back, and a crown upon his head. "And I'll place him in Defense mode!" Ojama King (Attack: 0/Def: 3000). "I'll also place a monster in defense mode. Your move, Jared!" Haru ended and control shifted to Jared.
"Good start Haru, but let's just see how long you can last!" He drew a card from his deck, and looked at it intrigued. "Alright then, Here goes! I activate the card I just drew, Cost Down! This card allows me to reduce the amount of stars a monster with 5 or higher stars of mine has that I have in my hand by two! And I've got just the one! Say hi, here comes Dark Magician!" a Dark Magician card appeared on the field and two swords pierced it, lowering its stars by two. "Hahaha!" The card directly returned back to his hand.
"What? But Jared, Dark Magician starts with 7 stars… it still needs a sacrifice!" with uncertainty the crowd of duelists looked skeptically at Jared.
"That's where your wrong, Haru! Because I have a card in my hand that will let me summon him next turn." He grinned. Haru interrupted, "Then…you just wasted your Cost Down…" he scratched his head with one finger and sweatdropped. Jared retorted, "No, not really. Well, you'll see why later. I end my turn."
"My draw, hah!" he pulled a card off the top of his deck and added it to his hand.
Haru: 4000 L.P
Hand: Gearfried the Swordmaster , and Pot of Greed.
Jared: 4000 L.P
Hand: D.D Survivor, Dark Magician, Diffusion Wave Motion, Rapid-Fire Magician, and Trap Jammer.
"Perfect!" Haru threw a card down on his duel disk. "Go, Pot of Greed! And if you don't know what this card does, well, then you're an idiot!" A giant green pot appeared on the field and out of it came two cards that were placed into Haru's hand, before being discarded to the grave afterward. 'Oh, Sweet!' "Well, What do I know? A lot that's for sure! I place one card facedown, and now…" He pulled a card out of his hand, rather redundantly. "I summon Armed Dragon Level 3 (Attack: 1200/Defense: 900)! And, I'll leave my turn with that!" He jabbed his hand forward, pointer finger facing Jared. "No way am I gonna lose!" Ren thought from the sidelines, 'Oh man, it looks like the deck I helped Haru build is a knockout. But I don't get it…Haru was jus telling us how Jared is supposed to be good. Is he just toying with him? Only one way to find out.' Ren bit his lip. "Come on Haru, you show him!" Terra responded quickly, "Ren, you're embarrassing us! Shut the hell up and watch the duel!"
With much anticipation rising, Jared drew from his deck. "Well, here goes. For my first move, I'm going to activate Diffusion Wave Motion!"
"Uhh… Diffuse-a-whatsit?" Haru shook his head in confusion. "What the bloody hell is that card?" A delighted Ren from the crowd interrupted Haru.
"Diffusion Wave Motion. You sacrifice 1000 life points and can sacrifice a 7 star spellcaster monster from your hand. In addition, that monster is the only monster that can attack, and can attack all of your opponents monsters at once." Haru winced. "Damn…thanks Ren." Ren laughed. "Don't mention it!"
"Yes, Haru he's exactly right! So, Here goes!" he activated his spell. A giant floating mass of green and black energy with waves of electricity surrounding it appeared on the field. It took 1000 of Jared's Life Points and in place of the orb, none other than the Dark Magician rose in its place. "And now I'll summon my Rapid-Fire Magician (Attack: 1600/Defense: 1200)." Next to the Dark Magician (Attack: 2500/Defense: 2100) appeared another magician. He wore a purple robe-like shirt and held two orb-holding staffs. Atop his head was a purple sorcery hat and surrounding him were many multicoloured orbs.
"And they both aren't any match for my Ojama King!"
"Yes, but your other monsters are just waiting for an assault. So, Rapid-Fire Magician, destroy the facedown monster with Orb Assault!" the magician began to charge up his staffs with two powerful elemental orbs which he unleashed on the facedown monster. One set it ablaze the other cooled it with a swash of clear blue water. When the monster turned face up, it revealed the Winged Kuriboh. "Oh, Shit, Now any damage you take this turn doesn't apply. No use in wasting my battle phase. I end." Control shifted back to Haru, as the duel raged on, and all the students watching were completely hooked.
"My draw!" He drew and placed the card in his hand.
Haru: 4000 L.P
Hand: Gearfried the Swordmaster , and Armed Dragon Level 7.
Jared: 3000 L.P
Hand: D.D. Survivor, Trap Jammer, and Emes the Infinity.
Haru stared at his hand in awe, then, in pleasant surprise. "Well then, let's get this duel on the road, Jared! I activate Armed Dragon Level 3's special effect! This allows me to summon an Armed Dragon Level 5 in its place from my hand or deck!" Haru rummaged through his deck until he pulled out Armed Dragon Level 5 (Attack: 2400/ Defense: 1700). "Now, go! I summon thee! Armed Dragon Level 5!" Armed Dragon Level 3 slowly disappeared into the earth. Out of the sky came hurdling a spike ball, which fiercely plummeted into the ground, uncurled itself and ran to Haru's side of the field. "Now then, I'm going to activate the special effect of this dino! And what I mean is that I can sacrifice a monster from my hand…" He discarded Gearfried the Swordmaster (Attack: 2600/ Defense: 2200) to the graveyard, "…And I can destroy one monster on your side of the field with equivalent or less attack points than the monster discarded! And last time I checked, Dark Magicians attack points are lower than my Swordmasters! So, say good bye to that Dark Magician!" the Armed Dragon raised its arms and its spikes, as sharp as a shark's jaw, were launched like missiles into the Dark Magician, sending it to the grave. Jared showed signs of weakness. "And now, I attack Rapid-Fire Magician! Go! Armoured Rolling Spikes!" It curled up once again, rolling in place to create friction and launched into the magician like a rocket, on impact, shattering it in a futile attempt to protect its master's Life Points. "Now you have 2800 Life Points. And my turn isn't through. Now that my turn is over it's the end phase. And because I activated Armed Dragon Level 5's effect in my turn, in the end phase it is sacrificed to summon the all-powerful Armed Dragon Level 7 from my hand or deck, in this case, hand!" the Armed Dragon seemed to slowly dissolve into the ground, but it arose again in a new more powerful form. "ARMED DRAGON LEVEL 7!" (Attack: 2800/ Defense: 1000). The student audience was also in awe.
"Wow, nice move…" Ren muttered under his breath holding a fist. "I knew this deck would be good." The rest of the students seemed to be perplexed on his monster. Except for Jaden, Alexis, Bastion, and Chazz that is. Chazz stood in the back, Bastion attentively in the front by Ren and Terra. Jaden was standing next to Alexis. "Hey, this Haru is really good." Alexis said as she replayed the summoning of the powerful Armed Dragon in her head once more. Jaden chimed in, "I'll say!" as he took Alexis by the hand. Her face reddened productively, Jaden not noticing a bit. He just stared into her eyes and examined her silky blonde hair. "Say Alexis…I need to tell you something…why don't we head into the cafeteria? It's quiet…we'll be alone." He said smiling at her, not noticing his own face looked flushed. She giggled a bit, and obviously expected, she accepted. She was in for a truth telling, chat, and the make-out session of her life. Smiling at the thought, she and Jaden raced into the cafeteria. In the meantime, the duel still carried on.
Haru: 4000 L.P
Hand: -
Jared: 2800 L.P
Hand: D.D. Survivor, Trap Jammer, Emes the Infinity and Scapegoat.
Jared had sweat embedded along his brows. Haru could tell. "Finally, your long endless turn is over. I draw. Hah." He added the new card to his hand. 'Well what do we have here? Perfect…' "Ok, I'll start things off by activating Scapegoat!" four small sheep tokens popped up to defend him. (Attack: 0/Defense: 0). "Hehehe! I'll lay down a facedown card as well. And being the guy that I am, I'm going to sacrifice two of my tokens to summon Emes the Infinity!" two of the tokens disappeared and in their place rose a giant monster-like creature. "And now, I activate the equip spell card Malevolent Nuzzler! In case you didn't know, it boosts Emes attack by 700!" (Attack: 2500/Defense: 1000) – (Attack: 3200/ Defense: 1000). "More than enough to wipe out your filthy Armed Dragon!" He commanded an attack. "Go Emes!"
"Not so fast, big shot! I play my facedown, Mirror Force!" His attack was being lodged back towards him and his sheep tokens.
"Not so fast yourself! I knew you'd activate a trap! I chain with Trap Jammer! This card allows me to stop your trap card, so the attack still connects! Bye, Armed Dragon Level 7! Long see, no miss!" Emes struck at the dragon and in a mighty crash it connected with the floor. "And guess what? Whenever Emes destroys a monster as a result of battle, he gains an additional 700 attack points!" (3200/100) – (3900/1000). "And guess what? That means it's the end of Ojama King next turn!" Haru trembled. 'Damn…He turned it around, the filthy bastard…Wait, he's my friend I shouldn't be thinking that about him. He's winning although. But I can't give up.' The crowd of students looked worried for Haru, too.
"My Draw, Jared." He quickly pulled a card out of his deck.
Haru: 3700 L.P
Hand: (new card) Rebirth Of Cards
Haru looked at his card, excitedly. 'Ren! You made this one…' "Ready for this?" Jared smirked.
"Of course I'm ready."
"Well good! I activate the spell card Rebirth Of Cards!" He threw down the card onto his duel disk and onto the field an empty brown pot sitting on the ground next to the same pot blazing a fire appeared. "Confused? Of course you're confused. Well, this is how my card works. Depending on how many 'Level' monsters I have in my graveyard, I get to draw that many cards from my deck!" 'Armed Dragon Level 3', 'Armed Dragon Level 5', and 'Armed Dragon Level 7', rose out of the empty pot and into the flaming pot, the pots and the dragons disappearing from the field. "And Now I draw three cards!" Haru announced as he pulled three fresh new cards off the top of his deck.
Haru:3700 L.P
Hand: Lightning Vortex, Monster Reborn, and Gearfried The Master (new card)
Haru looked at his hand skeptically. "Well, Well Jared it looks like we've reached the climax and conclusion of this duel." He laughed kind-heartedly. "Don't worry, it was all fun."
"What in the hell are you talking about, Haru?" Jared inquired. "I have the winning hand! You're never going to win!"
"Guess again." He smirked.
"What? Haru don't tell me you have something planned…"
"I sure do, Jared! Hah! Watch THIS!" he threw down his card on the field and a storm cloud appeared over the head of Emes The Infinity and his two remaining Sheep Tokens. "Lightning Vortex! I just toss a card off to the graveyard…" He discarded his Gearfried The Master card, "And all your monsters are toast. Lightning Vortex, Go!" the storm cloud shot four bolts of lightning down which struck the tokens and Emes with incredible force, sending them all to the graveyard.
"Dammit…" Jared murmured.
"And that's not all, Jared. I also play, Monster Reborn from my hand! And this card allows me to summon a monster to my field straight from the graveyard! And I select the Gearfried The Master monster card I just discarded for Lightning Vortex!" a green coloured cross with a looped top appeared on the field, and beneath it a flashing light was emitted from the ground. It resurrected Gearfried The Master (Attack: 2800/Defense: 2750), before slowly dissipating. "Jared, it's been a fun match, I'll admit."
'Way to play, Haru!' Ren thought as he held his fists balled up. The duel was just at its end. 'Perfect move strategy! He's wide open and 2800 attack points should do it in for him!'
Jared struggled. Beads of sweat fell from the edges of his hair. He had to admit defeat. "You're right Haru, this was a great duel. You're a great guy, with an awesome deck too, I'll admit." He said as he gave him a weak smile. "Go on, take the finishing blow. I'm wide open."
"Gearfried The Master, he's wide open! Attack with Gear Gut Pierce!" He commanded as the monster ran over to Jared's field and slashed rigorously at him, wiping out his remaining life points.
Haru: 3700 L.P
Jared: 0 L.P
The crowd of duelists congratulated Haru in a group effort and then walked away talking to others or going to have their own duels. As they did so, Haru ran over to Jared comfortingly. "Hey, Jared! Awesome duel buddy!" he exclaimed extending a hand toward Jared to help him up from his knees.
"Thanks, Haru. The duel was great. And I learned a lot from it, too. Thanks so much." He took his hand and was lifted up from the ground, quickly to be greeted by Ren, Terra and – Chazz Princeton?
"Great duel Haru, you totally packed a punch!" Terra shouted out ecstatically, Ren giving him a 'thumbs up', him returning it. Haru being grateful that they also congratulated Jared on a good try, he noticed Chazz with Ren and Terra. "Hey, aren't you Chazz Princeton?"
"Well aren't we the smart one." He said unenthusiastically, in his usually monotone voice. "I'm Chazz alright, and I just wanted to, uh, say nice duel. It was really good. Nice comeback. You could've lost, y'know."
"Course! I knew! I'd say I pulled it off with aplomb, don't you think?" He and the others shared laughs – hell, even Chazz! As they laughed, Ashley and the real Skye, of Slypher Red, approached Haru.
"Haru! I saw your duel!" Ashley stated as she ran up to him, pulling him into a sympathetic hug. "Great job!"
"Thanks, Ashley!" he replied blushing. He held his arm around her, when she let go of him. "And who are you?" Haru pondered.
"Oh, sorry to bother you, but it's me. Skye? Of Slypher Red! You haven't met me before, but I was also given a spirit key." She said showing him. He lightened up. "Ahh, so you're Skye! Well, it's great to meet you." He said as she smiled cutely. Chazz retorted, "A Slypher? Haru you shouldn't even be seen in public talking to these low-life slackers." He shrugged. "It's ok Chazz, she's nice." He snapped back, "Still a slacker." As the two had their 'conversation', Sasaki, another Slypher student was listening in. It was the final straw for him. He couldn't take Chazz insulting the Slyphers for a second more. The boy ran up to them and shouted, "Shut Up, Chazz! I'm tired of you insulting us Slyphers!" The boy had relatively medium-length green hair, and still wore his red blazer. The youngest Princeton brother turned to him and gave him a long, hard scowl. "Beat it, slacker." He continued to scowl at him further.
"No. And you know what? I challenge you to a duel. If I win, you quit disgracing us Slyphers forever!" Chazz listened.
"And if you lose-?"
"If I lose the duel, you can do as you please. Do you accept, Mr. Princeton?" He stated as he quickly pulled out his duel disk, attaching it to his arm.
"Hmm…" He thought scratching his chin. "I accept, slacker. Get ready for a beating." Chazz replied as he, too, pulled out his duel disk, and Haru and the others stepped back, preparing for a harsh duel.
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Up in the volcano near the academy, not known to the key keepers, the next Shadow Rider took haste. He stood on the rim, looking out into the sun, his red fiery hair standing ablaze. "Yes, key keepers, have your fun now…because when I'm through with you, you won't have any more fun for the rest of your lives!" his voice boomed throughout the volcano, but all was still and quiet in Duel Academy. Except for the constant quarrel, chatter, duels, quiet romance, and the small rattling of shuffling papers.
A/N: Well, that's it. I did my best…err, almost. Well, I tried and that's what counts. Please read. Please read. Thank you to those who did…all 6 of you. –sigh-.