House of Cards Chapter 2: Happy Lover, a yu-gi-oh gx fanfic

House of Cards

Chapter 2: Happy Lover

"When tag dueling, you should know your partner's deck as well as you know your own. Isn't that right, Mr. Yuki?"

Jaden, who'd been trying to slip into class unnoticed, froze in his tracks. He wasn't, however, the sort to allow being put on the spot to fluster him. He flashed his biggest smile, which Professor Underwood returned as he peered over the rims of his glasses. Professor Raptor, seated on the corner of the desk at the front of the classroom, meanwhile, made faces behind his teaching partner's back. A few students started giggling, which Professor Underwood seemed to attribute to catching Jaden sneaking into class late.

"Absolutely, Professor," Jaden agreed. When the teacher continued to watch him expectantly, Jaden started explaining in more detail. "When you know your partner's strengths and weaknesses, you know how best to support each other. And you can come up with strategies that play to both your strengths."

"Right," Professor Underwood agreed. He waved a hand in a motion of graciousness. "Go ahead and have a seat now. And try to be on time in the future."

Jaden gave his teacher a victorious thumbs up before dropping into chair amongst his friends. He was a brilliant spot of crimson in a sea of yellow, and didn't seem to mind a bit. Ranking never mattered to Jaden as long as he could hang around the people he liked.

"Slept through your alarm again?" Jaden's best pal, Syrus, whispered. The small boy didn't seem unduly concerned. During his time as a Slifer Red, he'd discovered that Jaden could sleep through nearly anything except a duel. Instead of scolding Jaden - for such nattering never accomplished anything - Syrus slid his friend the notes he'd taken so far.

"Yeah," Jaden confirmed. "But it's all cool because I was having this totally sweet dream. I was dueling against Alexis, and Atticus was there playing background music on his ukulele, and-"

"Tell us about it later," the ever-studious Bastion hissed under his breath. "Class now, dreams later."

Undaunted, Jaden shrugged and began taking stock of who'd come to class today. Bastion sat in front of him, while his left and right were flanked by Syrus and Kenzan. Atticus watched the class in silence from the seat right behind Jaden. No other Obelisk students attended the class. According to Atticus, they were getting special lessons from Saioh. Though Atticus was a third year, the Duel Academy teachers were so glad to have an Obelisk that still attended regular classes that they were willing to overlook the fact that he was attending second year classes. As for Kenzan, he had gym this period with the other first years, but one look at his bulging biceps was generally enough to let him slip out every once in a while, provided he wasn't terribly disruptive in the classes he joined in.

Noticing that Kenzan was writing furiously in his notebook, Jaden stole a curious peek. As he expected, Kenzan wasn't taking notes on the lesson. He was making plans to sneak into Professor Raptor's room to find proof that Raptor was some sort of famous dinosaur duelist. At the very top of the page, in Kenzan's chunky script, were the words, "Third time's the charm."

Jaden covered his mouth to hide a grin. He'd been along on Kenzan's first attempt, as had Syrus. The only thing they'd found was an angry Professor Raptor, who'd been more than eager to assign them laps around the island. On the second attempt, Jaden had stood watch while Kenzan scaled a tree outside Raptor's room, and they'd been busted again with more laps as a penalty.

"Count me out of this one," Jaden whispered. "I don't think my legs could handle another three trips around the island so soon. Besides, what does it matter if he was some kind of famous duelist years ago?"

Kenzan looked up from his plans with a serious intensity he rarely showed. "It matters. If he's really Rex Raptor, don't you want to know why he's here? I mean, dueling greats don't just pop up out of nowhere. Besides, if he is Rex Raptor, it'd be so cool to get his autograph! Rex Raptor is the greatest dinosaur duelist in the world, and-"

A card came spinning through the air to hit Kenzan in the forehead with deadly accuracy. The students who'd been paying attention had seen it coming and had known to duck out of the way. Kenzan, however, went cross-eyed as the card bounced off of his head to land on the open notebook.

"And he'd really like it if you would pay attention, Tyrano Kenzan," Professor Raptor finished for his student. The teacher twirled a pen between his fingers, smirking all the while. "I'm here to teach, and you're here to learn. So wait until after class to plot trouble. Now, Misawa, share with everyone the main disadvantage of knowing your duel partner's deck."

While Bastion began explaining how knowing your partner's deck could make things difficult if a duelist and his partner were to go against each other, both Jaden and Kenzan peered at the card on Kenzan's notebook. A fierce-looking Uraby growled soundlessly from the confines of the pasteboard. "Pay attention, Kenzan. - R. Raptor," had been scrawled across it. Though the monster was hardly rare or strong, Kenzan carefully lifted the card and stowed it out of sight as though he were dealing with the Holy Grail of all monsters.

For the rest of the class, Kenzan sat alert as the lesson on tag dueling continued. Though the teachers taught in tandem, Kenzan's gaze never strayed from Professor Raptor. He was definitely paying attention, but to the wrong subject. Jaden couldn't help but notice that, as usual when Kenzan was excited, his eyes changed from a warm brown to a dangerous reptilian copper. Normally, that change occurred only when Kenzan dueled, but Jaden supposed that being in the presence of his hero was also enough to inspire that sort of excitement.

When at last the instructors dismissed the class, the students were sent out for field work with Dr. Hawkins and Professor Devlin. While class lectures were all well and good, Jaden preferred putting what he'd learned into practice. As such, he wasted no time in hurrying out the door - last to arrive, but first to leave.

"Come and get it!" Professor Wheeler called out at the end of the day. A small mob in red descended on the Slifer common room. Professor Wheeler had taken over the cooking for the Slifer Red dorm, and meals had improved over the rice, fish, and soup that had been typical under Professor Banner. The Slifers still didn't rate the same fine dining as the Ras or the Obelisks, but chicken and steamed vegetables was a nice change of pace.

When Jaden claimed his tray, instead of staying in the common room, he went back to his room. It wasn't that he minded being around other people. He just wanted to rest more than anything. The new teachers had been working everyone harder than ever. Only the Obelisks chose not to participate.

On the practice fields, students had been paired up and given a weak deck and a strong deck. The goal of the exercise, Jaden had quickly realized, was to find the strength in even the weakest cards. All of the teachers worked with the students, and in the end, several of the weak decks had even almost won. All of the new teachers seemed to expect the best from the Duel Academy students, no matter what color they wore.

Jaden twirled the Shadow Charm around his neck between his fingers as he smiled to himself. He, Bastion, Syrus, and Kenzan spent their days playing harder than ever. With the new teachers offering new techniques, the level of friendly competition between the boys continued to grow.

"Jay!"

Jaden paused on the stairs leading up to his room as Syrus came dashing across the courtyard. The smaller boy was huffing for breath as he reached the dormitory, but his spirits were as good as ever. Syrus's move up to Yellow had done wonders for his self-confidence.

"Jay!" Syrus called out again. "Kenzan's going to try to sneak into Professor Raptor's room tonight. Want to be a part of the distraction?"

Jaden started to laugh. "I'll pass. My legs still feel like noodles from the last set of laps. Tell him he's just going to find the same thing he found the last two times he tried this - an angry Professor Raptor waiting to give him more laps."

Syrus joined in on the laughter, his eyes crinkling closed in delight. "Yeah. Bastion said the same thing. He also said that if we're going to try this again, we might as well go ahead and start on our laps. Well, see you in class!" With a wave, Syrus turned and began the jog back to his dorm.

Jaden leaned against the railing as he watched his friend leave. Life at Duel Academy was many things, but it was certainly never boring. Though at least some things could be predicted. Right now Jaden was predicting that Kenzan, Syrus, and Atticus were going to be missing morning classes to run laps for Professor Raptor. And Bastion would give them all a smug "I told you so" while refusing to share his notes. With Chazz and Alexis acting so strange lately, that meant that Jaden would have to be up and on time to get the notes. And sleeping in class was right out.

"Things just never get any easier," Jaden groaned.

From the vicinity of Jaden's feet came a meow of agreement. Jaden blinked in surprise and looked down to find Pharaoh sitting on the stairs, performing a grooming ritual. Jaden watched the cat's contortions, ever amazed at the way the rotund Pharaoh could manage to twist himself up like a pretzel to get all the hard to reach spots.

Only when Jaden crouched down to offer Pharaoh a scrap of chicken did the cat deign to acknowledge the boy's presence. Pharaoh sniffed daintily at the proferred meat before snapping it up. Once the bite of food was gone, Pharaoh tilted his head back to regard Jaden. The boy laughed at being under feline scrutiny.

"Come on in and I'll share. There's plenty here." Jaden swung open the door to his room, and Pharaoh preceded him inside.

As the cat jumped onto the desk to await its meal, a voice called down from the top bunk, "Yo! Jaden! Got enough for me too?"

A sleepy-eyed boy in a ragged blue coat grinned down at Jaden from the bed that had once belong to Chumley - a Slifer Red student who had gone on to work for Industrial Illusions. The boy's dark, tousled hair looked as though it hadn't seen a comb in days, and his feet, Jaden saw as he slid to the floor, were as bare as the day he'd been born.

"Belowski!" Jaden exclaimed. He hadn't seen this strange Obelisk since before the duel with North Academy, and was pleased to see that here was an Obelisk Blue that hadn't gone White as so many others. In a burst of joyous exuberance, Jaden threw his arms around Belowski and ruffled his hair. "What brings you by? A rematch?"

"Nah," Belowski admitted. "Though we could so totally have one. It'd be righteous to duel you again! I just had to get away from all the negative vibes back at my place for a bit. Things are a total bummer, y'know? Even Happy Lover is getting in a funk, and he's never down in the dumps."

Jaden sighed as he began splitting up his dinner. "So the Whites are trying to get to you too? I'd have figured you'd be safe from them."

Reaching out to grab a steamed carrot, Belowski grinned. "You're on the totally wrong path, Jaden. Like I told you once before, Blue, Yellow, Red, and even White don't mean anything. Those are all totally artificial labels imposed on us by the Man. I've just got some guests that have seriously messed up the Feng Shui of my place, and they're filling it with a lot of negative vibes. Man, why can't people just all get along?"

Jaden was about to ask about Belowski's guests when Pharaoh began howling for chicken. "It's coming, it's coming," Jaden assured the cat. Before Jaden could slice off another bit of chicken, Pharaoh lunged, grabbed the entire chicken breast, and darted under the bed with his prize. Wordlessly, Jaden shoved the rest of the platter to Belowski. Words seemed to fail Belowski as well, but his laughter quite clearly said how humorous he found the situation.

"That is one hip cat," Belowski gasped out between guffaws.

After a moment of trying to glare angrily at the darkness under the bed where Pharaoh was busily devouring the chicken, Jaden joined in on the laughter. He couldn't help but be reminded of when Professor Banner had taken everyone on a field trip to the Gravekeeper's Tomb, and Pharaoh had tagged along to eat Banner's lunch. It had been fun to rib his teacher, who had taken it all in stride even as he pleaded with the students to share some tidbits from their meals. Those had been fun times.

Jaden was still chuckling as he reached into a drawer to pull out the Ra Yellow meal ticket he'd won last week thanks to Dr. Crowler. He waved it. "Come on Belowski. Let's go have some of Professor Sartyr's cooking. And Pharaoh won't be getting any."

As if his name was enough to conjure him, Pharaoh trotted out from under the bed. His tongue darted out across his muzzle in appreciation of the meal. Jaden pocketed his meal certificate and hefted the cat. "Come on, buddy. You can watch us eat lobster."

With his belly full of chicken, Pharaoh offered no resistance. Jaden suspected that this complacency would last only until the seafood put in an appearance. What cat could resist fishy foods, after all? Still, with Pharaoh full of chicken, Jaden felt fairly certain that he wouldn't try too hard to steal more food.

A cool evening breeze blew as the two boys left the Slifer Red dorm. Though the sun had already sunken below the horizon, a faint tinge of orange still colored the darkening sky. Belowski paused on the stairs to stare around admiringly. "Out of all the dorms, this one is totally the best," he murmured. "You guys here can commune with nature, and it's totally not as materialistic as Ra and Obelisk. It's so groovy here!"

"Yeah," Jaden affirmed as he took the lead. "I like it here best of all." When they passed Slifer's outdoor bathing facilities, Jaden only paused to wave to the bear soaking in the water. As far as he knew, the bear, whom Jaden named Teddy, had never eaten any students. It just came to relax peacefully in the tiny hot springs. Some nights, Jaden wanted to strap a duel disk onto Teddy and find out if the bear could duel. Briefly, Jaden flirted with the idea of getting a jar of honey to offer to Teddy if he won.

Jaden and Belowski arrived at the Ra Yellow dorm was without incident. No dueling monkeys swooped out of the trees to steal away either boy. No Duel Spirits poofed into existence to challenge Jaden and Belowski to a duel for their souls. They didn't even bump into any students to duel on their walk. It was almost disappointing.

Even the halls of the Ra Yellow dorm were empty, most of the students having eaten and then retired to their rooms or the common area. In the cafeteria, the boys found Professor Sartyr poring over recipes. The mild-mannered teacher watched the boys as they entered, his myopic stare giving him a timid, rabbit-like appearance. Sartyr's eyes widened slightly at the sight of Belowski, and he stroked his mustache as he thought his inscrutable thoughts.

"Hey, Professor!" Jaden called out in greeting. He sat Pharaoh down and bounded over to Sartyr, holding out the meal certificate. "I know it's late, but Pharaoh ate my dinner, and I was just wondering if you all had any leftovers here."

"Of course, dear boy," Sartyr said in his soft, cultured voice. He took the meal certificate and went back to the kitchen, since no one else was on duty to serve food. Such a quiet, unassuming man sometimes seemed lost and out-of-place amidst all of the flamboyant personalities of Duel Academy. But even Jaden had to admit that when a person remembered that Sartyr was around, he was a kind and well-mannered gentleman.

"You! You think you're worthy of the Curry Kamen's culinary creations?" a voice boomed. Both Jaden and Belowski whirled in time to see a strange man leap out of the kitchen. On a tray balanced precariously on one hand sat a steaming bowl of something whose aroma sat Jaden's mouth to watering. However, the other hand wielded a ladle, swinging it through the air with the finesse of a master swordsman.

Jaden stared, not having expected any sort of questioning for his dinner. "Yes?" he answered hopefully.

Though most of the Curry Kamen's expression was hidden by the paper bag he wore over his head, his frown was plainly visible. "You must prove yourself worthy!" The Curry Kamen set the tray upon a table and pulled his orange cape around himself. He could be heard muttering imprecations behind the fabric shield. Something clattered to the floor, and the cloaked form knelt briefly and then straightened. At last he flung the cape back dramatically to reveal a duel disk upon his arm. Then he tossed a spare duel disk to Jaden. "We'll duel for the food!"

"Sweet!" Jaden exclaimed. He'd never known that the people in Ra Yellow could duel for their meals, and he couldn't suppress a shiver of excitement. For the boy who even dueled in his dreams, nothing could be better. He only hoped he could win before the food cooled. Jaden pulled his deck out of his pocket - even though he didn't always have a duel disk with them, he never went anywhere without his deck - and loaded it into the duel disk's card slot. Immediately the life counter turned on, flashing a full 4000 life points.

With practiced ease, Jaden pulled his first hand free. Immediately, he felt a rush of pleasure at the cards he held, as well as the adrenaline excitement of facing a new opponent. Jaden decided that the first thing he ought to do would be to gain the card advantage. "Alright, Curry Kamen, I'll start this show by playing Bubbleman in attack mode!"

The blue clad Elemental Hero rose up from a card that appeared on the field. Bubbleman flashed the players a triumphant thumbs up before assuming a fighting stance. "And when Bubbleman is summoned and I have no other cards on the field," Jaden continued, "I get to draw two more cards!"

Jaden whipped out two more cards and grinned. The Curry Kamen wasn't going to find this an easy match. "I'll equip Bubbleman with Bubble Blaster. This raises his attack to 1600. Then I'll play a card face down and end my turn." Jaden set Hero Signal face down, feeling a shiver of anticipation. Now he'd get to see what powerful cards this mysterious masked man could play.

The Curry Kamen inclined his head in acknowledgment of his turn. Then he drew his card. "Ha! First I will play Bean Soldier in attack!" From the way the man had been carrying on, Jaden had expected something more dramatic than a sword-wielding bean. Certainly the creature was no match for Bubbleman!

Jaden's opponent wasn't finished, however. The Curry Kamen held up a card whose emerald green color identified it as a spell. "Next I'll play Magic Spice Red Pepper!" Jaden couldn't ever recall seeing this card before, but its effect soon become obvious. A spice container with a red chili pepper on the label appeared and began sprinkling its contents across the field. Much to Jaden's dismay, Bubbleman's attack fell by three hundred points while Bean Soldier's attack rose by an equal amount. It was obvious what was going to happen next. Sure enough, the expected order came. "Bean Soldier, destroy Bubbleman!"

The over-sized bean charged across the playing field swinging his sword. What he struck, however, was not Bubbleman, but the Bubble Blaster, which shattered in the face of the attack. Realizing that by sacrificing Bubble Blaster, Jaden had saved his Elemental Hero and kept his life points untouched, the Curry Kamen threw down a face down card and motioned for Jaden to take his turn.

"Not bad!" Jaden admitted. "But let me show you how it's done! First, I'll use a handy little spell called Polymerization to fuse Bubbleman and Avian to create the Elemental Hero Sailorman!" Jaden's fused creature stood tall and well-muscled. It's skin glistened with a hint of ocean water as it punched towards the sky with its anchor-braceleted hands. Elemental Hero Sailorman glared across the field at the Bean Soldier, unafraid of a child's dining nightmare come to life.

"With just 1400 attack points, Sailorman might not be the strongest Elemental Hero, but his special ability more than makes up for it," Jaden said, laughing with pure joy at the sight of one of his heroes. "You see, as long as I have a Trap or Magic card on the field, Sailorman can attack you directly. Which is just what he's going to do!"

Sailorman leapt backwards on top of Jaden's face down trap, and then he took to the air, using the trap card for a springboard. The Elemental Hero's aerial arc took him over Bean Soldier, and he landed right in front of the Curry Kamen. Before the Curry Kamen could even react, Sailorman slashed at him with an anchor and then reappeared back on his side of the field.

Despite the attack, the Curry Kamen seemed unworried. "A lucky shot, boy!" he called out in his booming voice. "And one you'll not be repeating! I'll play a monster face down, just in case you get lucky again. Then I'll activate another Magic Spice Red Pepper!" Once again seasoning blew across the playing field, weakening Sailorman and strengthening Bean Soldier. The next thing Jaden knew, Bean Soldier thrust his sword through Sailorman and Jaden's life points dropped down to 3400.

"And now you've activated Hero Signal!" Jaden declared as his face down trap rose. A searchlight in the shape of a stylized "H" burst forth from the card, blazing across the ceiling. Jaden summoned his Elemental Hero Wildheart to the field. The jungle man of the Elemental Heroes stood ready to defend against any incoming attacks.

The Curry Kamen wasn't finished yet, however. He set another face down card. Then he held up the last card in his hand. "I activate Magic Spice Caraway! This does 200 points of direct damage to your life points, and it gives me 200 extra life points. Not a bad little seasoning, wouldn't you agree?"

"I think your cooking is a little over-seasoned," Jaden responded. "But if you like things spicy, let me introduce you to Elemental Hero Burstinatrix!" Flames rose up from the card that appeared in front of Jaden, and in their midst, a female figure twirled. As she went still, falling naturally into attack position, burning cinders continued to drift around her.

Now it was time for Jaden to give his commands. "Wildheart! Turn that Bean Soldier into bean paste!" When it received its order, Wildheart hefted his club and lunged for Bean Soldier. Without any more magic spices, Bean Soldier was no match for the attack, and the Curry Kamen's life points dropped to 2700.

"It's Burstinatrix's turn!" Jaden continued. "Roast that face down monster!" Burstinatrix cupped her hands, and a fire appeared. She held the fire close to her face and blew, sending a spiral of flame straight for the face down card. Just before it vanished in a shower of pixels, the monster revealed itself to be Cyber Jar. Jaden gaped like a hooked fish in realization. "That's why you emptied out your hand last turn!"

"Quite right, boy!" Curry Kamen agreed with a knowing smirk. He'd managed to outwit Jaden that move. Both masked man and student duelist drew five new cards. Unfortunately for Jaden, he had to send his two monsters on the field to the Graveyard and discard what had remained of his previous hand. He was pleased to see, however, that he'd drawn two more monsters. He played Wroughtweiler and Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack. Meanwhile Curry Kamen threw down three weak monsters, in defense position. "Let me introduce you to Onionman, Carrotman, and Potatoman!"

"Oh, vegetables! I'm shaking over here!" Jaden laughed. "Sparkman will cook those guys up just right! Go for it, buddy! Turn Potatoman into french fries!" The most technological of the Elemental Heroes, lifted a hand, sending bolts of electricity racing towards its target. Sparkman's attack never struck, however, as the Curry Kamen revealed both of his face down cards.

"Nice try," Jaden's opponent cackled. "But it appears I've out-smarted you again. First, Just Desserts will deliver 500 points of damage for each monster you have out on the field. And by my count, you have two. And Negate Attack will stop Sparkman in his tracks! And now it's my turn!"

Jaden clenched his fists, determined to get through this duel and win his supper. He had to wait to see what the Curry Kamen was going to try first. Whatever he pulled, Jaden had a feeling that he wasn't going to like it. Sure enough, he was right.

"Ah, my favorite spell - Curry Pot!" A bubbling stew pot appeared by the Curry Kamen's side. Jaden's stomach rumbled in protest, wanting food that he could eat, not holographic food that he had to defeat. Then the Curry Kamen explained the purpose of this particular spell. "With Curry Pot in play, any monster sent to the Graveyard is removed from play - yours and mine. But it's more than worth it and you'll soon see why."

Jaden wished that the Curry Kamen would just hurry up. The real food was getting cold! "Now I'll activate the spell Hamburger Recipe, and I'll sacrifice Carrotman and Potatoman to summon Hungry Burger!" The two vegetables went into the pot, and the biggest burger Jaden had ever seen appeared on the field. He could see that it had all the trimmings - lettuce, tomato, onion, bacon. Mustard and mayonnaise oozed out from beneath the bun. It took all of Jaden's willpower to keep from running over to try to devour the holographic burger.

"You're drooling!" At the Curry Kamen's observation, Jaden quickly wiped his chin.

"I can't help myself," he replied. "It looks so tasty!"

"You won't think that for long," the Curry Kamen promised. "Hungry Burger, devour Wroughtweiler!" The burger sprang to life, bun mouth parting to reveal sharp, jagged teeth. It flew across the playing field and chomped down on Jaden's mechanical canine. Rather than going to the Graveyard, Wroughtweiler went straight to the cooking pot - its special effect rendered null and void. This was getting serious!

"And now I've just got one more little move this turn," the Curry Kamen declared. "The spell card Mystic Wok! I'll use this and sacrifice the Hungry Burger to increase my life points by 2000!"

Jaden drew his next card and smiled. It was his pal, Winged Kuriboh. He could almost hear the little creatures playful coo. "So you want to come out and play? Ok then! I summon Winged Kuriboh!" The little fluffball monster growled fearlessly at Onionman. "Yeah! You tell him, buddy! We aren't afraid of veggies! But let's let Sparkman take care of this one, all right?" Winged Kuriboh turned and bobbled its head in agreement.

"Go for it, Sparkman, take out that onion!" This time Sparkman's attack met with no resistance. Onionman went straight to the cooking pot. The moment Onionman joined the stew, the contents of the pot began to boil over. "What's happening?" Jaden gasped.

"What? Why the summoning of my ultimate monster, of course!" The Curry Kamen clapped his hands in sheer delight. "When Onionman, Potatoman, and Carrotman are removed from play, I can summon Curry Majin Roux from my deck to the field!"

From out of the seething stew rose the Curry Kamen's ultimate monster. It leapt from the pot to the field, and Jaden began to laugh. Curry Majin Roux looked like a chef's robot from Power Rangers, and, to top it all off, its attack was zero. "Some ultimate monster!"

"Just watch," the Curry Kamen commanded. Curry Majin Roux's attack counter began to rise. "Curry Majin Roux gets 200 attack points for every card with Magic Spice in its name that's in the Graveyard and 300 points for every monster removed from play! By my calculations, this gives him a total of 2100 right now!"

Now Jaden could see how impressive this beast was. But he wasn't about to let it scare him. He'd faced vampires, amazons, and monkeys, after all. And he still had a turn to finish. "I activate The Warrior Returning Alive! This lets me bring one warrior back from the Graveyard to my hand, and I choose Wildheart!" The duel disk ejected the chosen card into Jaden's waiting hand. "Then I'll set a card face down and end my turn."

"Now you will witness the power of Curry Majin Roux as he destroys Sparkman and ends this duel!"

Curry Majin Roux lunged to attack, but Jaden wasn't out of tricks yet. "I activate the trap Staunch Defender!" Winged Kuriboh swooped between Curry Majin Roux and Sparkman to take the attack. Before Curry Majin Roux could strike, Jaden threw a spell card into a spell slot of his duel disk. Winged Kuriboh's wings began to glow. They flared out, growing as the glow grew brighter. The small monster wrapped its wings around itself and Curry Majin Roux, and both monsters vanished. The Curry Kamen's life points dropped from 4700 to 2600.

Jaden could feel the thrill of victory as he entered into what he knew would be his final his final turn. He summoned Wildheart to the field, and then sent both Sparkman and Wildheart straight for the Curry Kamen's life points. The creatures on the field faded out of existence as the Curry Kamen's life points dropped to zero. Curry Kamen smiled, accepting his defeat with grace. "You are indeed worthy of my food," he acknowledged in a familiar, soft-spoken tone. He pulled away the paper bag mask.

"Professor Sartyr!" Jaden gasped. "You're the Curry Kamen?" Even though the Curry Kamen had unmasked himself right in front of Jaden, he still couldn't believe his own eyes. That the quiet, meek Professor Sartyr was the boisterous Curry Kamen seemed both impossible and even ludicrous.

Sartyr merely smiled indulgently. "Sometimes a person can more truly be himself when others do not know who he is," came the quiet words of wisdom. "Now enjoy your meal, Jaden. You have truly earned it." The professor gestured to the food. To both Sartyr's and Jaden's complete surprise, the gesture also encompassed the cat licking up the last scraps of Jaden's prize out of the bowl.

"My supper!" Jaden moaned. A loud rumbling from the vicinity of Jaden's stomach punctuated the words. Pharaoh looked up briefly, then set to cleaning his whiskers. Obviously the hunger of a mere human was of little concern to the cat.

Professor Sartyr's shoulders shook with suppressed mirth. "My dear sir," he said, addressing the cat, "I do hope everything was to your liking." Pharaoh paid Sartyr as much attention as he'd paid Jaden - a glance and then back to grooming. If Jaden hadn't been quite so hungry, he would have seen the humor in the situation. Sartyr turned his own attention back to the human patrons of the Ra cafeteria. "One moment, Jaden. I shall return with more."

Almost as soon as Sartyr disappeared back into the kitchen, a commotion resounded out in the hallway. Excited whoops and shrieks echoed, followed by thunderous footsteps sounding like a herd of dinosaurs heading straight for the cafeteria. Above it all, Professor Raptor's voice roared louder than the rest. "Kenzan! When I get my hands on you and your friends-!"

The rest of the threat was drowned out as Kenzan, Atticus, and Syrus barrelled into the cafeteria. Kenzan waved a pair of boxers decorated with cartoony velociraptors over his head like a victory flag. Atticus leapt upon a table. "Go! Go!" he urged, strumming a few melodic chords on his ukulele. "I'll soothe the savage beast with my song!"

Before Atticus could break out into a romantic ballad, Syrus grabbed him by his Hawaiian shirt and jerked him off the table. Jaden followed Syrus's example, latching onto Belowski's arm and jerking him along as they joined the stampede. Though completely innocent of any wrong-doing in this instance, Jaden had been involved in the last two attempts to break into Professor Raptor's room, and he knew that if he were caught in the Ra Yellow dorm, then he would be condemned to laps through guilt by association. Jaden loved Kenzan like a brother, but that didn't mean he'd do more laps in the name of Kenzan's little quest to drive Professor Rapter utterly insane.

The boys fairly flew through the hallways, the ruckus from their passage causing other Ra students to open their doors to cheer on the boys. Jaden bit back a groan. All it would take was one - just one - spoilsport witness to rat everyone out to Professor Raptor. Jaden veered off from the bunch to duck down a side hallway and pound on Bastion's door. While an eternity seemed to pass before the door at last swung open, Jaden listened, not sure if the thudding he could still here was Professor Raptor charging closer or the hammering of his own heart against his ribcage.

Bastion barely had the door open enough to permit anyone through when Jaden shoved his way in, still dragging Belowski along. "Sorry," Jaden gasped, taking huge gulps of air as he tried to catch his breath from the run.

"Jaden, what-"

But Bastion never had time to finish the question as Jaden jerked open the window and shoved Belowski out. Then he followed, leaving behind a puzzled friend. No doubt Bastion would quiz him about this incident during classes, provided Jaden could avoid being sentenced with laps. For now, he and Belowski shimmied down the tree outside Bastion's room and began a blind charge into the island's jungle.

Jaden pushed through branches and brush, the world passing by him in a blur as he ran. The boys slid their way down a hill, tumbling into a crash-landing at the bottom. "That was awesome!" Belowski clapped his hands in delight. "Can we do it again?"

"Sure! Just as soon as we find our way back," Jaden promised as he wriggled out from under Belowski. Belowski's coat had tangled around Jaden's legs, and he carefully kicked his way free.

A wary cooing caught Jaden's attention. His head spun to the left and right until he caught sight of a winged ball of fluff. Winged Kuriboh, one of the spirits inhabiting Jaden's deck, glared off into jungle. The small creature began to snarl - a sound Jaden had never heard it make - and its fur bristled.

All the play went out of Jaden at his Kuriboh's behavior, and he turned to tell Belowski that they should leave now only to find the boy staring off at something only he could see. "Mokey Mokey's getting some negative vibes up ahead," Belowski said, his voice dropping to a whisper.

"So is Kuriboh," Jaden responded. Belowski's gaze flickered to Jaden's Duel Spirit, and he nodded. As one, the boys began creeping quietly through the brush, alert for anything out of the ordinary. A flash of white ahead drew their attention, and the boys dropped low to the ground. A group of Obelisk girls surrounded Professor Hawkins.

Jaden squinted, trying to make out faces in the darkness. Then someone he knew all-too-well stepped into a shaft of moonlight. Alexis Rhodes, unmistakable even with the moonlight washing out the golden blonde of her hair, slapped the teacher, the sound of flesh meeting flesh ringing through the night like a gunshot. "Master Saioh doesn't like spies," Alexis snarled.

"I'm not afraid of Saioh's play things," Hawkins sneered back, but even Jaden could hear the belying tremor in her voice. "So keep your filthy mitts off of my soul!"

Chazz stepped up behind Alexis, wrapping his arms around her waist. "The yapping of the unpurified is so very grating," he murmured, raising his eyes to Professor Hawkins before planting a delicate kiss on Alexis's neck. "Master Saioh can give you anything you've ever wanted, Professor. If you please him, that is. Resist, however, and there will be consequences."

Jaden didn't know what was going on, but he wanted to cheer as Professor Hawkins spit at Chazz's feet. The gesture of defiance didn't go over well with Chazz. "You will join us!" he shrieked. "Duel Alexis or your grandfather will die! Master Saioh's reach is immeasurable, and he can destroy all that you hold dear, Dr. Rebecca Hawkins!"

As Dr. Hawkins activated her duel disk, Jaden felt a tugging at his sleeve. "Come on," Belowski's urgent whisper hissed in Jaden's ear. "We can't help her. There are too many, and they're too strong." Jaden started to protest, but Belowski cupped a hand over his mouth.

The relaxed look that normally colored Belowski's features was gone, replaced by a tense seriousness that Jaden had never seen before. "We'll get them all back," Belowski promised. "Not tonight, but soon. When we're stronger. Let's go. We can't be caught out here."

It was only that promise that allowed Jaden to tear himself away from the starting duel. With the greatest of reluctance, he followed as Belowski began creeping away. Belowski took them back towards the school, moving with certainty through the night-darkened jungle. Once they were out of earshot of the Obelisks, Belowski said, "Don't you worry, Jaden. We'll achieve inner peace and we'll bring that peace to the Obelisks. Peace, love, and understanding - that's what they need!"

While Belowski rambled, Jaden concentrated on trying to figure out exactly where they were. He hadn't paid any attention during their run through the jungle, and now he was completely turned around. He could only hope Belowski wasn't taking them in circles. The incessant clucking of hens reached Jaden's ears before the chicken coop came into sight. "Home sweet home," Belowski said with a chuckle. From their feet came an agreeing meow. Both boys looked down to see that Pharaoh had caught up to them.

"You live in a chicken coop?" Jaden asked. If people thought that the Slifer accommodations were bad, they should see this! He pictured Belowski roosting among the hens and meditating as he tried to lay an egg.

Belowski merely led the way into the chicken coop and began scrabbling around at the ground. Jaden watched, wondering if Belowski was hunting for some chicken feed to snack on. He quietly vowed to come by and share his supper with Belowski from now on. That vow lasted until Belowski unearthed a hatch hidden in the ground. Apparently Duel Academy Island had more secrets than just cards that could destroy the world and a teacher that practiced brain-washing.