A Thirsty Vampire in the Heat

"What a lovely day." Miss Dorothy said to herself while looking over a few products on the shelves. While this card shop was selling cards, there were other things they were selling. For example, drinks and ice cream. "I'm sure someone will come to get some treats, considering of the upcoming heatwave.

As she was looking over the other products, a person entered the card shop. It appeared to be a boy wearing an Obelisk Blue uniform. He had long black hair and was wearing sunglasses. He gave a mischievous grin.


A few days later

Hot!

Very hot!

Today was the hottest day of the year at Duel Academy and it was not pleasant. Many students were walking around, pulling the collars due to the heat. Some of them even took off the jackets and sat under the trees.

Down at the Slifer Dorm, Jaden, Syrus, Chumley and Matt were sitting at a table in the common room. And just like other students, they didn't take the heat so well.

"Aw man. I feel like I'm being cooked." Syrus whined.

"Me too. It's not like the volcano, but I still feel like I'm gonna melt." Chumley replied.

"Come on guys. Don't be like that. We can handle this." Jaden said with a grin. "Besides, it's not that bad if you think cold things." But the moment he finished that sentence, he exhaled and wiped some sweat off from his forehead with his right arm.

"Sure, if you say so." Matt said sarcastically.

"Hi guys!" Someone greeted. The boys turned to see Xander approach them. "How are you doing?"

"Oh, you know. Just chilling in here." Jaden replied before grimacing. "Or maybe I should say... boiling." The other three nodded in agreement.

Xander smirked. "Well, luckily for you, I've been working on something..." He turned around and picked something up. When he turned back to them, he placed something on the table. "Ta dah!"

"Uuuhhh..." The gang trailed off.

"Is that...?" Chumley said.

"A cold storage box?" Syrus filled in.

It was indeed a cold storage box. A quite big one. It was blue with a white lid. But the unusual features were on the lid itself. On its left side was a pipe made of plastic attached to it. On its right side was some kind of device.

"Are there cold drinks in it?" Jaden asked.

"Nope!" Xander shook his head. "I did something better. I have used this box to make... an air conditioner!"

"An air conditioner?" Matt repeated.

"Yup! Take a look here..." Xander opened the lid and showed everyone its underside. What was shown to the boys was the other end of the pipe and... a propeller? "As you can see, I made a hole in the lid to attach this pipe to it. I did the same thing to this old fan I found in the junkyard. And with that, I made a portable air conditioner."

Chumley gave him a skeptical look. "I'm no expert, but can you really call that an air conditioner? I mean, it's not like you can control how cold that thing can blow."

"Good point." Syrus agreed.

Xander smirked again. "On the contrary, you can actually control the coldness... if you use the right method. Let me show you." He quickly ran out of the room. And after a few seconds, he came back with a bucket with water and a big plastic bag full of ice cubes. "First, you pour some water into the box." He explained as he did so. "And then, you add some ice." He emptied the bag of ice cubes. After that, he closed the lid. "And finally, you turn the fan on and that's that." He pushed a button on the fan, and turned it on.

When he did that, air came out of the pipe. Cold, refreshing air, which caused the others to sigh in bliss.

"Ah, what a nice breeze." Matt commented.

"Totally." Chumley agreed while Syrus nodded.

"Now that is a 'cool' invention, Xander." Jaden complimented.

"Thank you. Thank you very much." Xander said bowed to his friends.

POOF!

"Huh!?" He then widened his eyes as the fan let out a poof of smoke and then stopped, with no more cold air. The boys stared at the air conditioner dumbfounded until Xander rubbed the back of his and smiled sheepishly. "Um... oops?" That caused the others to fall in anime-style.

The mechanic sighed. "Guess I need to work with the fan a little more."

"Then it's back to boiling again." Syrus said, disappointed.

"Or maybe not." Jaden replied.

"What do you mean?" Matt asked.

"We might not have some cool air, but..." Jaden brought out a glass, opened the box's lid and dipped the glass into it, filling it with some water. "We at least have some cold drink!"

The other boys looked at each before smiling.

"At least we won't be thirsty." Xander said.


Meanwhile at the Ra dorm, Andrew and Shiori didn't handle the heat so well either.

"Phew! This heat wave is really nasty." Andrew said, fanning himself with his hand.

"Tell me about it." Shiori replied. "It just showed up last night and I could hardly sleep because of it."

"Quite troublesome indeed." Someone said. They turned to see Bastion leave his dorm room, fanning himself with his hand as well.

"Hey Bastion." Andrew greeted. "The heat's getting to you, too?"

"Yes. I was working on a new dueling formula. Unfortunately, the heat wave makes it difficult for me to think."

"That's understandable." Shiori agreed. He then looked thoughtful for a moment before he smiled. "Then maybe we should head to the beach and cool off."

Andrew liked the idea. "Sure. A dip in the ocean might do the trick." He then turned to Bastion. "What do you think?"

Bastion nodded. "I suppose I could take a break from my work. You two can go ahead. I need to sort my books first."

"Okay."


"Yeah, everything's fine, mom." Michael said. He was in his dorm room, talking to his mom.

"And you're sure there aren't any problems over there?" Mira asked.

"Well, the only problem here right now is this heat wave. It's practically the hottest day of the year. But at least there are air conditioners here in the dorm."

"Sounds good. Just don't get yourself burned."

"Yeah, yeah. Talk to you later."

"Bye." Mira said before hanging up.

"It's too bad the girls aren't so lucky." Michael said.


And the reason he said that is because...

"Man, I can't believe the air conditioners could break just like that. And TODAY of all days!" Jasmine complained.

"That's so unfair." Mindy added.

"At least the staff are working on it." Alexis stated.

"But they're taking it forever!" They said simultaneously.

"Come on, you two. Whining won't make the work go faster." Jenny said.

"Seriously. You two are like a couple of babies." Clover said exasperated. Due to the heat, she wasn't wearing her Obelisk jacket. With its absence, she was wearing a red t-shirt. And her long, ripped jeans were replaced by black shorts.

"Still, it would be nice to cool off." Mindy said.

It was then an idea struck Jasmine's mind. "That's it! We can head to the beach!"

Mindy definitely liked the idea. "Yeah! We can just cool off in the ocean."

"And while we're at it..." Jasmine trailed off.

"We could also..." Mindy added.

"Check on the hot guys!" They said simultaneously.

The other three girls shook their heads.

"Is that all they can think of?" Clover asked.

"But still..." Alexis said. "Spending the day on the beach isn't a bad idea. At least we have one way to deal with the heat."

"That's true." Jenny agreed as she began walking. "Guess we just get our swimsuits and-OOfff!" When she suddenly bumped into someone. "Oh! I'm sorry."

"It's okay." The other person said. After rubbing her head, Jenny looked at the one she bumped into and came face to face with a certain goth girl.

"Oh, hey Mahiru."

Jasmine and Mindy almost grimaced. "Great, it's Ms Vampire." The latter said.

"Hey! Watch your tongue!" Clover said sternly, making them both flinch.

"Are you doing well?" Alexis asked with concern. "I mean, no offense, but the heat must be troublesome for you, especially if you're wearing black clothing."

"Maybe, but I manage." Mahiru said dismissively as she entered her dorm room.

At that moment, Jenny got an idea as she followed her inside. Mahiru's dorm room was quite luxurious, just like any other room in the dorm. She had curtains that covered the windows. Her bed was queen-sized, and as expected, her bed sheets were black. "Would you like to come to the beach with us?"

Mahiru gave her a surprised look. "Me?"

Clover agreed with Jenny's suggestion. "Why not? I'm pretty sure you will like it."

But Mahiru looked unsure. "I don't know. I don't like to get a sunburn."

Alexis approached her. "Don't worry about that. I have sun lotion you can use."

Mahiru turned away with an embarrassed look. "I don't even have a swimsuit."

"Oh really?" Mindy asked as she was suddenly going through one of the drawers. She then gave the goth girl a mischievous look. "I'm pretty sure I found one right here.~"

Mahiru was now blushing. "Hey! Don't go through my stuff like that!"


Later on, Andrew and Shiori found themselves at the beach. Andrew was wearing a pair of blue swimming trunks, and Shiori's trunks were orange. There were a lot of people on the beach, most of them playing in the water, which is expected due to the heat.

"It sure is packed here." Andrew noted.

"No kidding." Shiori replied.

"What's up?" A male voice greeted. They turned and saw a boy with dark-green hair and grey eyes. He was wearing a wet suit and carrying a surfboard. This guy was Nathan Aichi, the boy who helped Jaden escape from the Admiral and became a new student here.

"Hey Nathan." Andrew greeted.

Shiori eyed on his surfboard. "Any good surfing waves?"

"You bet!" Nathan grinned. "To think think you could even surf here. Seriously, this place is awesome!"

"Couldn't agree more." Shiori replied.

"Hey guys!" Someone greeted. The boys turned and saw Alexis standing in front of them, wearing a white bikini.

"Alexis?" Shiori said.

Andrew smiled. "You here to cool off too."

The blonde girl nodded. "Yeah, me and the others decided to come here."

"Others?" Nathan repeated.

"Hey guys."

"What's up?"

Two more girls approached them. Jenny and Clover.

"Oh hi! So you're here too...?" Andrew trailed off when he noticed Jenny's outfit. A blue bikini that matched her long, blue hair. Needless to say, he was speechless at the sight.

"Yeah, we are..." Jenny replied but trailed off as well. Her eyes fell on the muscles Andrew got from his exercises. He wasn't muscular enough to look like a bodybuilder, but he was well built like an athlete. She couldn't help the blush on her face.

Clover was also wearing a bikini. A red sports bikini to be exact. She noticed the look Andrew was giving Jenny and looked annoyed. She didn't admit it, but she was quite jealous that Andrew was focusing on Jenny and not her.

"This is quite the gathering." Bastion's voice spoke up. Everyone turned to the intelligent Ra, who was wearing a pair of black swimming trunks.

"Glad you could join us." Shiori said.

Bastion turned to Nathan. "Hello there, Nathan. Riding on the waves I assume."

"Yup." He replied.

Bastion then turned to the girls. "And I suppose you ladies had the same idea as us?"

"Yeah pretty much." Jenny replied. But she crossed her arms. "Only Jasmine, Mindy and Mahiru are missing."

"Mahiru?" Bastion blinked. "The former two, I understand. But I never imagined Mahiru would come to the beach."

"We figured she could have some fun with us." Clover replied.

"Although..." Alexis gave an awkward smile and turned away. "She seems a little shy for this."

Everyone followed her gaze and saw Jasmine and Mindy at a big tree. Jasmine's bikini was blue, like Jenny's, but slightly darker. And Mindy was wearing a grey bikini. From what the gang was seeing, they were trying to pull someone from behind the tree.

"Come on, Mahiru. Just get out of there already!" Jasmine urged.

"N-no way! This is embarrassing!" Mahiru protested.

"Don't be like that!" Mindy said. "You will, like, totally attract some guys with that outfit!"

"I said no!"

Jasmine and Mindy had enough as they paused, nodded to each other and... "One, two, THREE!" They then pulled with all their might and got Mahiru out of there. But the force of their pull caused all three of them to trip and fall right in front of everyone.

Bastion quickly approached Mahiru, who was on her knees. "Are you okay?" He offered her a hand.

"Y-yeah." The goth girl replied as she let him help her up.

"Well I'm glad you're not... hurt." Bastion paused when he got a good look on Mahiru. The goth girl was wearing a black bikini that complimented her pale skin. The bikini top had small, white bat patterns.

Mahiru noticed his stare and covered herself in her arms while blushing madly. "D-don't stare at me like that!"

"Oh!" Bastion now held up his hands. "Sorry! I, uh..."

Mindy got up right behind Mahiru and gave her a sly smile. "Told you that would give you some attention."

"Shut up!" Mahiru exclaimed. Jasmine and Mindy couldn't help but giggle at this.

The others, however, shook their heads.

"Are you kidding me!" Someone yelled.

"That much for soda!? That's stupid!"

The gang followed the voices and saw a bunch of angry students standing in front of a stand. There were drinks, ice cream and other cold treats standing on it. The person who seems to be the owner of the stand was a young man with long, black hair. He was wearing sunglasses, a white t-shirt and black shorts.

"What's going on over there?" Nathan wondered.

"Sounds pretty serious to me." Clover replied as she headed over there, followed by the others. She then asked a girl in the crowd. "What's the problem?"

The girl scowled. "The problem is that guy selling those cold treats."

Jenny got a look at them. "I think I've seen those products in the card shop once."

"And that's the problem." The girl said. "All that stuff was gone when we got there. So we had to buy it here. But this jerk is selling his stuff for a higher price than the usual. Twice the amount to be exact!"

"Sorry people! But that's business!" The seller said. "If you don't like it, then head to the kiddie pool or something!"

The gang wasn't pleased by his attitude. Shiori raised an eyebrow. 'Why does his voice sound familiar?'

Bastion was the first to approach him. "And who exactly do you think you are?"

The seller smirked. "The name's Joe. You got a problem or something?"

"As a matter of fact, everyone here seems to have a problem with how much you sell for the cold treats and drinks. I believe they'd appreciate if you lowered the price."

Joe, however, scowled at him. "Sorry pal, that's not how I do things here. Now, beat it!" He then pushed Bastion, causing him to fall onto the sand.

"Hey!" Nathan exclaimed angrily. "That was uncalled for!"

"Like I said, if you don't like it, then you can just go away." Joe said dismissively. "So, anyone want something from here or what?"

SLAM!

He jumped when someone slammed their hands on the table. That someone was Mahiru, and she wasn't happy. "Well, I want something from here... I want to duel you!"

Joe raised an eyebrow. "And why should I duel you?"

"Because everyone here doesn't like how expensive your goods are. Plus, what you did to my friend is not what I can tolerate. So you and I duel, and if I win, then you have to hand over the treats for free." That earned her cheers of agreement from the people.

Joe scowled and crossed his arms. "And what's in it for me?"

Mahiru stood there in silence. The others wondered what she was thinking. Eventually, she spoke up. "If you win... then I'll let you triple the price for whatever I buy for me and my friends."

Her friends, as well as the other people gasped at her bold suggestion.

Joe on the other hand seemed to be very interested. "Really now?" He asked giddily. "I think you got yourself a deal!"

"Mahiru, are you sure that's a good idea?" Bastion with concern.

"It's fine." Mahiru said. she turned to him with a smile. "Trust me on this."

He stared at her for a moment before nodding. "Alright then."

And so, Mahiru and Joe took their positions and readied their duel disks, while everyone gathered around them.

"I hope she knows what she's doing." Alexis said.

"It's going to be fine." Andrew said. "We've seen how good she is."

"She's got it." Shiori added.

"As long as Joe's isn't too much for her to handle." Bastion said.

And so, the duelists activated their duel disks and drew their opening hands.

"DUEL!"

Mahiru: 4000

Joe: 4000

"I'll get the first move!" Mahiru declared and drew her sixth card. "I activate the spell card, Call of the Mummy!" The named card appeared. "If I have no monsters on my field, I can special summon a zombie type monster from my hand. And I choose Vampire Grace!" The vampirish woman in her British themed dress appeared. (ATK: 2000 DEF: 1200 LV: 6) "And then I'll summon Vampire Lady in attack mode!" A green-haired woman with pointy ears and pale skin, wearing a purple dress appeared next to the first vampire. The parts of the dress that were attached to her arms looked like bat wings. (ATK: 1550 DEF: 1550 LV: 4)

"Two monsters already." Nathan noted.

"That's not a bad start." Alexis said.

"And now I activate Vampire Grace's special ability." Mahiru continued. "Once per turn, I can force you to send a card from your deck to the graveyard. I would like to send one of your monsters to the grave."

Joe scowled as he searched through his deck until he took a card and slid it into his graveyard slot.

"I place one card facedown and end my turn." Mahiru concluded and inserted a card into her duel disk.

"Alright then..." Joe drew. He looked at his sixth card and smirked. "Not a bad start. I place this monster in defense mode." A facedown card appeared. "And then I activate the spell card, Book of Taiyou! With this I can flip a facedown monster up, so say hello to my little friend." The facedown flipped up and revealed a creature with a body that looked a human brain with one eye. It also had arms with claws. (ATK: 200 DEF: 900 LV: 2) "Due to my Brain Jacker's flip effect, I can use it as an equip spell that lets me take control of one of your monsters... like Vampire Grace!" The monster in question disappeared briefly and and reappeared on Joe's field. And then, Brain Jacker grabbed her head with its claws.

"Gross." Mindy muttered in disgust.

"Tell me about it." Jasmine agreed.

"And since you used Vampire Grace's ability against me, I might as well return the favor. So you have to ditch one of your monsters."

Mahiru just simply took a card from her deck and discarded it.

"Now attack her Vampire Lady!" At his command, Vampire Grace charged up her scepter.

"Not so fast!" Mahiru interrupted and held up a card from her hand. "When a monster attacks, I can summon Vampire Fraulein from my hand in defense mode!" At those words, another vampire appeared. This vampire was another woman, wearing a black dress and holding an umbrella. (ATK: 600 DEF: 2000 LV: 5)

"So you summoned another vampire. So what? That doesn't mean your Vampire Lady is safe!" Vampire Grace fired a ball of energy from her scepter.

Mahiru, however, smirked. "Actually, she's more safe than you think. Because when one of my zombie type monsters is in battle, my Vampire Fraulein lets me pay up to 3000 life points. And then, that monster gains attack points equal to those points."

"Say what!?" Joe exclaimed.

"And I think 500 life points will do..." The black dressed woman pointed her umbrella towards Mahiru and absorbed some energy from her.

Mahiru: 4000-3500

And then, she pointed the umbrella towards Vampire Lady and transferred the energy into her body. (ATK: 1550-2050) And right before the energy ball could hit her, Vampire Lady flapped her bat wings and created a gust that sent it back to Vampire Grace, destroying her with a bang.

Joe: 4000-3950 (ATK: 2050-1550)

"And this activates Vampire Lady's special ability. After she deals battle damage to you, another card from your deck goes to the graveyard. And I choose spell card."

Joe scowled as he discarded another card from his deck. He then inserted two cards from his hand into his duel disk. "I place two cards facedown and end my turn."

"A brilliant move." Bastion complimented. "With Vampire Fraulein on the field, Mahiru's monsters will simply outclass his."

"As long as she has enough life points to spare, that is." Andrew replied.

"My turn." Mahiru drew. "And I summon Vampire Sorcerer!" The familiar vampire in sorcerer outfit rose up on the field. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "Now attack his life points directly!" Vampire Sorcerer fired a crimson red energy beam from his bat-shaped staff.

"Nice try, but I have the spell card, Scapegoat!" One of Joe's facedown cards flipped up. "Now I get to summon 4 Sheep Tokens!" His field was then filled with four sheep in different colors. (ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV:1) x4 And then, one of them was destroyed by the energy beam.

"Fine, I'll just..." Mahiru spoke up, but...

"Reveal facedown card!" Joe called out and revealed his other card. "Switcheroroo!"

"Huh?"

"Here's how it works..." Joe explained with an evil grin. "Since I control the same number of monsters as you, I get to switch control of all those monsters!"

Mahiru gasped as all monsters disappeared and reappeared within a few seconds. The Sheep Tokens were now on her side, while all three vampires were on Joe's side.

"Goodness me! Joe turned things around with one card!" Bastion pointed out.

"Now Mahiru has to face her own monsters." Nathan said.

Mahiru frowned. "I end my turn."

"I thought you would." Joe said and drew. "And now I'll have Vampire Sorcerer and Lady destroy two of your tokens." The sorcerer destroyed one the tokens with another energy beam, and the lady flapped her bat wings and sent another one away. "And with that, I end my turn."

"Why didn't he switch Vampire Fraulein to attack mode?" Jasmine wondered. "He could have used her to destroy the last token."

"Maybe, but that would leave Mahiru's field empty, allowing her to use Call of the Mummy and summon another powerful monster." Alexis said.

"I guess that makes sense." Mindy replied.

"My turn!" Mahiru drew. "First I activate the spell, Card of Safe Return." The named card appeared. "Then I activate the spell card, Book of Life! This lets me summon a zombie type monster from my graveyard, and remove a monster in your graveyard from play. So I'll resurrect Vampire Grace..." The pale-skinned woman in dress rose up. (ATK: 2000 DEF: 1200 LV: 6) "And remove your Brain Jacker from play.

Joe growled as his monster card came out of his graveyard slot.

"And because a monster was summoned from my graveyard, Card of Safe Return lets me draw three cards from my deck." Mahiru drew her extra cards. "Then I'll use Vampire Grace's ability to send another card from your deck to the graveyard. I choose trap card."

Joe discarded another card from his deck.

"I end my turn with a facedown." A card appeared at Mahiru's feet.

Joe drew his next card and looked at it. "Looks like I can kick things up! I activate Stop Defense, which lets me force your monster into attack mode!" The sheep token flew up in the air. "Now I'll have vampire Lady destroy it!" The named monster flew over to Mahiru's field and struck the token monster with a fist.

Mahiru: 3500-1950

"That's gonna leave a mark." Clover remarked. "But I wonder why he didn't use Vampire Fraulein's ability to increase Vampire Lady's attack points."

"He probably didn't want to waste too much life points." Jenny assumed.

"Giving up life points while attacking could be reckless." Andrew agreed.

After Vampire Lady returned to his field, Joe spoke up. "Now you have to send another card to the graveyard. How about another monster?" Mahiru searched through her deck, took a card from it and slid it into her graveyard slot. "And that ends my turn. Why don't you just give up and pay up right now?"

"I don't think so." Mahiru retorted.

"Just face it. With your vampires being used against you, you don't stand a chance."

"I disagree." Mahiru drew her next card. "Especially since you just gave me the opportunity to activate my trap!" One of her facedown cards flipped up. "Vampire Takeover! If all my monsters are zombie type, and I have no field spell in play, I can activate this card directly from my deck." A card came out of it, which Mahiru took and placed it in her field spell tray. And then, the whole scenery changed. Instead of the sunny beach, everyone found themselves in the middle of a dark town, with a red glowing full moon in the dark sky.

"What is this place!?" Joe asked alerted.

"This is Vampire Kingdom." Mahiru explained. "This is the card my trap card lets me play. And as a bonus, I'm allowed to summon a dark Vampire monster from the grave in defense mode. And I choose one of the monsters you forced me to discard from my deck: Vampire Retainer!" The monster that appeared next to Vampire Grace was a wolf. The left side of its body was white like snow, but the right was made of shadows with a glowing red eye and huge fangs filling its mouth. The beast stuck its long snake-like tongue. (ATK: 1200 DEF: 0 LV: 2) "And with another monster summoned from my grave, Card of Safe Return gives me three extra cards." Mahiru drew her extra cards. "And when Vampire Retainer is special summoned, I can pay 500 life points and then add a Vampire spell or trap card from my deck to the hand."

Mahiru: 1950-1450

Mahiru fanned out her deck and took the card she wanted. She inserted it into her duel disk. "And now I'm gonna play it. The spell card, Vampire's Domain!" The card appeared on the field.

"What does that do?" Joe asked.

"You'll find out soon enough. But first, I activate Vampire Grace's ability! Another monster card is sent from your deck to the graveyard." Joe took another card from his deck and slid it into his graveyard slot. "And this activates the effect of Vampire Kingdom. Once per turn, after a card is sent from your deck to the graveyard, I can send a dark Vampire monster from my hand or deck to the grave and then destroy a card on the field." Mahiru sent a card from her hand to the graveyard. "And the card I'm gonna destroy, is Vampire Fraulein!" The monster in question glowed red before shattering into pixels.

"Perfect!" Andrew smiled. "With her out of the way, Mahiru can safely attack the other monsters."

"A perfect turn of events." Bastion added.

"And now I sacrifice my Vampire Retainer..." Mahiru spoke up as the wolf disappeared. "So I can summon Vampire Scarlet Scourge!" Another Vampire appeared on the field. This one was a handsome man with long silver hair. His outfit screamed gentleman, even though the black cape added an ominous touch. (ATK: 2200-2200 DEF: 2200 LV: 6)

Jasmine and Mindy couldn't but gush at his appearance. "Oooh! Now that is one handsome vampire!~" Mindy commented.

"Almost like one of those dreamy looking men from one of those vampire movies." Jasmine added.

Nathan gave them a weird look. "You two realize that's just a hologram, right?"

"Don't bother." Jenny said exasperated. "They always act like this around good looking guys, hologram or not."

"If you say so. Anyway, looks like Mahiru's got the advantage now."

"Indeed." Bastion agreed. "Especially with her field spell in play. Whenever a zombie type monster is in battle, it gains 500 attack points. Of course, there are zombie type monsters on both sides at the moment, so the damage won't be any different.

"And now that Scarlet Scourge was summoned, I can activate his special ability! By paying 1000 life points, I can resurrect a Vampire monster from the grave."

Mahiru: 1450-0450

"And I'll bring back Vampire Fraulein!" The black dressed woman with umbrella appeared again. (ATK: 600-1000 DEF: 2000 LV: 5) "And once again, Card of Safe Return lets me draw some extra cards." Mahiru drew three cards. She then held up one of them. "Now I activate the spell card, Zombie Power Struggle! This lets me choose a zombie type monster on the field, and then, it either gains or loses 1000 attack points until the end of the turn. And I'll use it to give Scarlet Scourge a power boost!" The handsome vampire glowed with a red aura. (ATK: 2200-3200) "Now, Scarlet Scourge! Attack Vampire Sorcerer with Scarlet Swarm!" The gentlemanly vampire wrapped his cape around himself before unwrapping it. And when he did, a swarm of red, glowing bats emerged and bit into the sorcerer, making him explode.

Joe: 3950-2250

"And now the effect of Vampire's Domain activates. Whenever one of my Vampires inflicts battle damage to you, all the points you lost are added to my own.

Mahiru: 0450-2150

"And now I'll have Vampire Grace attack Vampire Lady!" The pale skinned woman charged up her staff. "And you know what? I think I'll use Vampire Fraulein's ability, and pay 500 life points to give her some extra points."

Mahiru: 2150-1650

(ATK: 2000-2500) Vampire Grace fired a ball of energy at Vampire Lady, completely destroying her.

Joe: 2250-1300

(ATK: 2500-2000) "And thanks to Vampire's Domain, I gain some more points."

Mahiru: 1650-2600

"That's more like it!" Clover complimented.

The other students began to cheer Mahiru on.

The goth girl smiled, much to Joe's annoyance. "And what are you grinning at?"

"Nothing really. I just want to let you know that my Scarlet Scourge has another surprise."

"And what's that?" As if to answer his question, a pillar of red light erupted from the ground next to the gentlemanly vampire. And then, to Joe's surprise, Vampire Sorcerer stepped out of it. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "What!?"

"At the end of the battle phase, I can special summon any monster that was destroyed by him." Mahiru explained. "Of course, my Sorcerer was summoned from my graveyard, so Card of Safe Return lets me draw again." She drew her extra cards.

"You do realize you can't keep that many cards in your hand forever, right?" Joe questioned, noticing how many cards Mahiru was holding.

"Actually, I can. And it's thanks to this card." Mahiru inserted a card into her duel disk, making the image of a spell card appear next to Card of Safe Return. "It's called Infinite Cards. With this in play, there is no limit to the number of cards in our hands."

"Which means she doesn't need to discard her extra cards." Andrew said.

"Now that's perfect." Nathan added.

"I end my turn." Mahiru concluded. (ATK: 3200-2200)

Joe growled and drew. He looked at his new card and smirked. "Not too shabby. I activate Card of Sanctity. This spell card makes both of us draw until we hold six cards in our hands. Of course, you already have more than 6 cards, so I'm the only who gets to draw." Joe drew his extra cards. He looked over them and grinned. "Perfect. This is just what I need." He then held up one of his cards. "First I activate Soul Exchange. Thanks to this, I get to sacrifice one of your monsters when I need to. The downside of this spell is I have to skip the battle phase this turn. But that's fine, because now I summon Melchid the Four-Face Beast." A familiar creature with a rotating array of masks appeared. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 1200 LV: 4)

Shiori blinked. "That monster."

"And now, with the effect of Soul Exchange, I sacrifice my Melchid and your Vampire Frauelin..." The two named monsters disappeared. "So I can summon Masked Beast Des Gardius!" And then, a certain giant fiend with three blue masks rose up from the ground on Joe's field. (ATK: 3300 DEF: 2500 LV: 8)

Shiori's eyes widened. 'Des Gardius!?' He then narrowed his eyes. 'Wait a minute...'

Mahiru frowned. "That's one powerful monster. It won't be easy to defeat that one."

"Like I said, I can't attack this turn. But I can do this..." Joe inserted a card into his duel disk. "I place a card facedown..." A card appeared at his. "And play the spell card, Exchange."

Mahiru gasped as the image of the named card appeared.

"This spell card makes both of us add a card from each others' hands to our own. I only have one card in my hand, so you don't have any options." Joe smirked as he held up his only card. "Which is more than I can say for you, who decided to draw so many extra cards."

Mahiru scowled.

"That said..." Joe approached her and held out his card. "You can have my card."

Th goth girl didn't say anything. She just took the card and looked at it. It was a spell card.

"Now show me your hand." The goth revealed the cards in her hand. Joe looked over the many cards she held. Most of them were monsters. His eyes landed on one monster card in particular. A monster card with 2400 attack points and 2000 defense points. Joe grinned. "I think I'll take this one." He grabbed the card and walked over to his field. "And that ends my turn."

"Alright, Joe. You asked for it." Mahiru warned him and drew. "I activate Vampire Grace's ability to send another monster card to your graveyard." And Joe did just as she said. "And this activates Vampire Kingdom's effect again. I send a Vampire monster to the graveyard..." Mahiru discarded a Vampire Bat from her hand. "...and destroy your Masked Beast!"

Shiori's eyes widened in horror. "No! That's a bad move!" While Jasmine, Mindy and Nathan looked at him in confusion, the others had a grim look on their faces.

The giant fiend glowed red before shattering into pixels. That caused Joe to laugh. "Nice try, but by getting rid of Des Gardius, you activated its effect! Now I can play The Mask of Remnants!" The familiar, gruesome mask appeared. "And with this card, I can take control of one of your monsters. And I think your Vampire Scarlet Scourge makes a fine candidate." The mask attached itself to the gentleman's face. And without any will, he walked over to Joe's field.

"Damn! Mahiru walked right into that one." Clover said.

"Now, Joe has her monster. And it's even stronger than Vampire Grace." Nathan added.

"Looks like you bit off more than than you could chew." Joe cracked.

Mahiru, however, smirked. "Not exactly. Because I can do this. I sacrifice Vampire Sorcerer in order to summon Vampire Red Baron!" The sorcerer disappeared and was replaced by the armored horseman, with his spear at hand. (ATK: 2400 DEF: 1000 LV: 6) "Now it's time to end this! Red Baron, attack!" The horseman charged towards the possessed gentleman and stabbed him... but, he wasn't destroyed, much to Mahiru's shock. "What!? What happened?"

Joe chuckled. "Simple. I used a card from my graveyard. A card that you forced me to get rid of earlier..." A spell card came out of his graveyard slot. "It's called Rescuer from the Grave. With this, along with 5 other cards to remove from play, I can negate your attack and end your battle phase."

"She almost had him." Nathan said.

"That guy is really stubborn." Jasmine stated.

Mahiru sighed. "I end my turn."

Joe drew his next card and revealed. "First I'll use the spell card, Pot of Greed. This lets me draw two cards from my deck." He drew his extra cards. He looked at them and smirked. "And I'll use one of them right away." He revealed the card in question. "Mystical Space Typhoon! Now I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field, like Call of the Mummy!" The spell card created a whirlwind that blew Mahiru's spell card away.

"Oh no!" She exclaimed.

"And now I activate, Hand Control!" Joe's facedown card flipped up. "This spell lets me say the name of a card, and force you to activate it directly from your hand. And I know you still have the spell card I gave you. So it's time for you to activate... Shien's Spy!"

The goth girl gasped as the card in question glowed in her hand, making its image appear on the field.

"You already know this since I gave it to you, but due to the effect of Shien's Spy, one of your monsters will be under my control until the end of the turn. Of course, that choice is yours since you were technically the one who activated it."

Mahiru thought it over. 'He's probably going to attack me with full force. I'm not sure what he's gonna do, but I think the best option is to give him my weakest monster.' She pointed at the pale-skinned woman. "I'll give you Vampire Grace." The woman disappeared and reappeared on Joe's field.

"Good. Now for the next step." Joe held up one of his cards and smirked. "Let's see, this card only needs one monster in order to be tribute summoned, if that monster is a zombie type."

Mahiru narrowed her eyes.

"In that case, I'll sacrifice Vampire Grace..." The named monster disappeared. "In order to summon Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon!" A pillar of red and black flames erupted from the ground. And from within those flames, roar was heard. When the flames died down, everyone could see the new monster. This dragon looked like a zombified version of a certain dragon type monster Jaden once faced. (ATK: 2400 DEF: 2000 LV: 7)

"No way!" Alexis muttered in shock.

"That must be the card he took from Mahiru's hand." Bastion deduced.

"I never thought there was another version of Red-Eyes in existence." Andrew said.

Mahiru gritted her teeth.

"And now I activate the spell card, Rush Recklessly. I'll use this to give my Red-Eyes 700 extra attack points." The dragon roared as its power grew. (ATK: 2400-3100) "Now, Red-Eyes! Obliterate her Red Baron!" The dragon spat out a torrent of red and black flames that burned the armored vampire and horse to ashes.

Mahiru: 2600-1900

"And just for fun, I activate Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon's special ability..." Another pillar of flames erupted from the ground. And when the flames died down, Vampire Red Baron was now standing right next to Red-Eyes. (ATK: 2400 DEF: 1000 LV: 6)

"Did he just summon Mahiru's monster?" Andrew asked in shock.

"Yes, clearly that's how Red-Eyes' ability works." Bastion replied.

"Now this is just too good." Joe said with a pleased look. "To think that this dragon can resurrect any zombie type monster it destroys. Now then..." He gave Mahiru an evil grin. "Let's end this! Scarlet Scourge, attack!" The masked gentleman summoned a swarm fo red bats that flew towards Mahiru.

"I activate my trap!" Mahiru interrupted as her facedown card flipped up. "Haunted Shrine!"

"A trap?" Joe questioned.

"She didn't use that facedown card since the beginning of the duel." Alexis realized.

"Then now is a good time to use it." Jenny added.

"I can activate this trap card when I have no monsters on my field." Mahiru explained. "This lets me summon a zombie type monster from my graveyard. And I choose Vampire Bat." The familiar giant bat appeared in front of her. (ATK: 800 DEF: 1200 LV: 3)

"So what? My monster is still stronger." The swarm of bats sank their teeth into the giant bat. Its body glowed purple as a result.

"True, but thanks to its special ability, I can prevent its destruction by sending another Vampire Bat from my deck to the graveyard." Mahiru took a card from her deck and slid it into her graveyard slot. And then, the swarm fo red bats disappeared, leaving the unharmed giant bat behind.

"Oh yeah? Then I'll just attack it again! Red Baron, attack!" The horseman charged toward the bat and stabbed it with his spear. It then shattered into pixels, much to Joe's pleasure. "So you didn't have another Vampire Bat in your deck, huh?"

Mahiru gave him a glare.

"Well, that's too bad for you, because any monster that was destroyed by Red Baron is summoned to my field at the end of the battle phase. So now your Vampire Bat is mine!" The giant bat appeared next to the armored vampire. (ATK: 800 DEF: 1200 LV: 3) "And if I'm not mistaken, this monster gives all zombie types on my field 200 extra attack points. Well, lucky me!" All four of Joe's monsters were surrounded by a dark aura. (ATK: 800-1000) (ATK: 2400-2600) (ATK: 2200-2400) (ATK: 3100-3300) "Now there's no way you can win. Not with your most powerful monsters at my service. So you better pay up when this is over. I end my turn." (ATK: 3300-2600)

Mahiru glanced at her deck. 'He may have the upper hand, but that doesn't mean I'm out of the game. He doesn't know a vampire's true potential.' She placed her fingers on the top card. 'But he's about to learn it firsthand.' She then drew. After looking at the new card, she nodded and faced her opponent. "I activate Vampire Sorcerer's special ability..." The named card came out of her graveyard slot. "By removing him from play, I can summon a Vampire monster without a sacrifice."

"What good would that do?" Nathan questioned. "I mean, she's facing four vampires, so I don't see how she's gonna turn this around with another one."

Bastion rubbed his chin. "I think she might, if she's about to do what I think she is..."

Joe scoffed. "Come on. It won't matter what you play, my monsters are strong enough to crush whatever monster you summon."

"You won't say that again... after I summon Vampire Vamp!" Mahiru's field was now hidden within dark mist. This went on until the mist cleared, and revealed a familiar figure. A silver-haired woman with bat-like wings. (ATK: 2000 DEF: 2000 LV: 7) "You see, thanks to her special ability, I can take any monster on your field that has more attack points than her. And that monster becomes an equip spell that increases her strength with its original attack points. So I'll take back my Red-Eyes!"

"What!?" Joe exclaimed as Vampire Vamp's eyes glowed red. And then, the dragon's eyes glowed red as well, but only briefly. After that, it flew over to Mahiru's field and was now hovering right above the vampire. (ATK: 2000-4400) Joe was now panicking. "Oh! Um, hang on a second!"

"I don't think so!" Mahiru cut him off. "Time for my Red-Eyes to put an end to this!" Vampire Vamp raised her right arm, making the dragon to rear its head back. "Now go! Undead Fire Blast!" The dragon spat out another torrent of flames. They engulfed Vampire Scarlet Scourge and an explosion occurred, sending Joe flying.

Joe: 1300-0000

Everyone cheered as the holograms disappeared. Mahiru sighed in relief as her friends approached her.

"Nice one, Mahiru!" Clover complimented.

"You totally wiped the floor with him!" Mindy added.

"A very impressive play indeed." Bastion said.

Mahiru blushed slightly. "Thanks."

"What's going on here?" A new voice asked. The gang turned and saw Dorothy walking over to them.

"Ms Dorothy?" Andrew noted.

"Why are you here?" Alexis asked.

"I was just heading to the docks to get some new supplies. And on the way, I heard all the commotion and came here." Dorothy explained. "So what's going on?"

"Well, to make a long story short..." Nathan spoke up. "Some guy was selling drinks and cold treats for a high price and Mahiru here defeated him so we could get it for free."

"Is that so?" Ms Dorothy turned her gaze towards Joe, who was laying on the ground, barely conscious. When she did, her eyes widened. "Wait a minute! It's him!"

"You know him?" Bastion asked.

"Yes. He showed up at the card shop a few days ago, and for some reason, he bought all the drinks and cold treats I had."

The gang gasped.

"Come to think of it, one of the students mentioned that there weren't anything left there, so they had to buy it from Joe." Jenny mentioned.

"So does that mean... he's bought all those treats just so he could sell them?" Jasmine asked in disbelief.

"Sounds like it." Andrew replied.

Shiori narrowed his eyes and quickly approached the long-haired boy. "That's a rotten scheme you cooked up, Joe. Or should I say..." He then gripped his head and... ripped his hair off. "Victor!"

"Huh!?" Everyone exclaimed as they saw the black wig Shiori was holding. When they turned to 'Joe', they were surprised to see that it was Victor. The brown-haired Obelisk boy yelped as his sunglasses fell off, revealing his grey eyes.

"No way!" Mindy muttered.

Victor glared at Shiori. "How did you know?"

"First it was your voice that sounded familiar. And when you played your Masked Beast, things were getting clear to me."

"Of course!" Bastion face palmed. "Victor is a duelist known for using card stealing strategies. I can't believe I didn't realize that."

"If it means anything, I don't think the rest of us realized it either." Mahiru said.

Shiori crossed his arms and looked down on the Obelisk boy. "So, you thought you could get rich by buying all of Dorothy's cold treats and sell it for twice as many money, eh?"

Some of the other students booed to Victor.

Ms Dorothy approached him. "I think you just earned yourself a punishment for this."

Now Victor was sweating tremendously. And it wasn't because of the heat. But because of the nervousness he was feeling because of what was coming to him.

"And I know just the thing..."


"All my money is gone..." Victor muttered with depression in his voice while holding an empty wallet. Apparently, Dorothy's idea for punishment was that Victor had to pay for every drink or cold treat he tried to sell. Only... he had to pay three times as much as their original price. Something that everyone agreed to. However...

"It looks like you still have some more to pay, so..." Dorothy trailed off. And then, in a blink of the eye, Victor was now wearing an apron. "You're going to work at the shop to pay the rest."

Victor whimpered with anime tears running from his eyes.


And so, all the students on the beach could enjoy the drinks and cold treats. Including Andrew and the others.

"Now this is how to deal with the heat." Jasmine commented with a bottle of soda in her hand.

"Totally." Mindy agreed while enjoying a cup with ice cream.

"There's nothing like a cold drink in a hot day." Shiori said, taking a sip from his own drink.

"Indeed." Bastion agreed and turned to the Mahiru. "Which is something we Mahiru to thank for."

The goth girl smiled slightly as a faint blush formed on her face. "It was nothing." She replied while fidgeting her own ice cream.

Alexis smiled at this. She then turned to Andrew, who was sitting on the sand together with Jenny and Clover.

Andrew's bottle was empty quite quickly. "Phew! This heat really makes you thirsty."

Clover eyed on a bottle that hasn't been open yet. She picked it and turned to him...

"Would you like some more?" But was beaten to it when Jenny offered him her own drink.

"Thank you." Andrew smiled as he took it.

While Jenny smiled, Clover narrowed her eyes as steam came out of her ears. Alexis watched this and smiled at her best friend.


Well, I hope you guys had a good start of the new year. I'm sure I did, even though I probably have been procrastinating with this chapter. But I hope you liked it. I'll see you next time.