"Your heart is too big for your body, son." Was the thing his father complained about him the most.
He was the kind of child who would let the poor peasants sneak in to get some food or wouldn't report them if he saw them.
He was the kind of child who would save some of his food for the hungry kitten that would always beg by his window for scraps of meat.
He was the kind of child who would hesitate to seriously attack his teacher or his peers because he was afraid of hurting the people around him.
His heart was too big for his body, but Yubel taught him that was what made him strong. His care for others is what inspired other people to follow him, not because he was the Herald of the Gentle Darkness. His kindness in the face of cruelty was what made people believe he could save this land, not his father. His endless patience was what made people around him better, not the fact he was the Prince.
He slowly began to believe that. That his too big heart really was his strength, not his weakness.
But he died after his too big heart bleed out from an attack he never saw coming because his love blinded him.
Perhaps his too big heart was his weakness after all.
Chazz only packs a few things in his bag, before he heads off.
He's careful as he walks away, quiet to avoid Crowler's scrutiny, the security and anyone else who might stop him or question him about where he's going. He's not going to let anyone or anything stop him.
The sun is just starting to rise when he walks out of the school building, taking one final look at it.
At the building where Yuuna Yuki and Bastion Misawa beat him.
At the building where his classmates laughed him out of the room.
At the building where his teachers gave up on him for losing to that Ra Yellow.
Chazz smirks. "Stinking Duel Academy."
The sun glints off the building, shining brighter, as if mocking him more.
"You demote me, you laugh at me. Well that's it. I've had it." He turns around and marches forward.
His pride is wrecked and his brothers will kick his ass if they hear about his demotion. So what's the point in even staying?
"You won't have me to kick around anymore." Chazz walks towards the docks.
It's a pleasant walk all things considered. He gets in his family's yacht and starts untying the ropes and stuff.
"And where are you going?"
Chazz snarls and glares at her. "What's it to you, Rhodes?!"
She stands there, arms folded. "Nothing. I just thought you had more self respect than to run away from all your little problems."
Fucking bitch.
"You're the reason I have to run away, you fucking tattletale!" Chazz lunges for her, slamming his hands on the boat's railing, ignoring it's rocking. "It's all because of you!"
Rhodes stares right through him. "No it's not. You know exactly who to blame and it's not me."
Chazz flinches, taking a step back.
How?
How can she do that? How does she see right through him?!
"Don't die at sea." Rhodes warns him.
With that, she walks away, the sea breeze blowing colder in her wake.
Chazz ignores her, turns on his yacht and speeds away from Duel Academy.
Jasmine smiles as she walks into class. It's going to be a good day.
"Thanks for saving my seat, Mindy." Jasmine slides in next to her best friend.
Mindy giggles. "No problem, Jazz, you're the best."
Jasmine can't help but smile. "Nah, you are."
Then she notices something. Alexis usually at least says hi to her when she comes into class or has her notebook out already.
Instead today, Alexis is just staring at her desk, looking lost in deep thought.
Jasmine's known Alexis long enough to know when something's wrong. "Alexis?"
Alexis blinks and turns to her, Mindy also looking at Alexis.
"What's wrong?" Jasmine puts her hands in her miniskirt pocket. "Do you need a pad?"
Alexis shakes her head. "I'm fine, I promise."
Mindy frowns. "Are you sure? You can always talk to us."
Jasmine nods.
Alexis frowns and looks down, then looks back up. "Actually-"
"Yuuna!"
The doors glide open quickly, drawing most people out of their pre-class conversations as they watch Syrus run down the stairs, heading for where the other Slifers sit.
"Where's the fire?" Jasmine murmurs.
Mindy smiles. "He's probably just worried about a Duel, I'm sure it's nothing."
Jasmine isn't so sure about that.
"Yuuna, it's awful!" Syrus finally stops in front of Yuuna and Blair. "Chazz is gone!"
Mindy and Jasmine gasp, the two turning to each other.
Oh no.
"And that's awful how?" Blair doesn't take her eyes off her written work.
"Easy spitfire." Yuuna looks at her, then turns to Syrus. "Okay, slow down. When you say he's gone, what do you mean? Left school, just missing or actually dead?"
Mindy whimpers. "Don't jinx it Yuuna, please."
Jasmine nods and sends out a small prayer.
"He's not on school grounds anymore, but no one knows where he's gone!" Syrus holds his fists up. "I heard the teachers talking about finding his dropping out papers on their desk and no one's seen him go!"
Jasmine winces. Not good, sounds like he decided to run away.
Yuuna nods. "Okay then. What do you want to do with this information?"
Jasmine turns to Mindy and Alexis, the question on her own tongue.
"Nothing." Blair scoffs. "He can drown for all I care."
"Blair!" Syrus shouts. "That's not fair! I know Chazz has been a pain, but he doesn't deserve to die by drowning. Plus, he's one of Yuuna's big Duelling Rivals, if he's gone, she's short on competition."
Jasmine sweat drops, sighing. Oh geez.
"Easy there, Syrus, I think his value as a human being is enough to worry about him, even if we weren't rivals." Yuuna gently reaches out to pat Syrus' shoulder.
"Hey, ya know…"
Jasmine and Mindy look above them, where Taiyou and Raizou are sitting.
"I saw Chazz packing his stuff late last night." Taiyou murmurs, elbow on the table.
Raizou closes his eyes, arms behind his head. "Know why? It's cause he lost to that Ra."
"Oh, Bastion, was it?" Taiyou rests his arm on the table.
"And that Slifer Slacker too in their illegal after hours Duel." Raizou scoffs.
Another Obelisk Blue pips up. "Well if you can't beat the ketchup and mustard team, good riddance!"
"What a loser!" Taiyou laughed.
With that, the boys and everyone else who heard them break out into laughter
Jasmine makes two fists under the table, scowling. Sometimes, she really hates the Obelisks.
"What a bunch of jerks." Yuuna huffs. "If those were the only friends I had, I'd probably run away too."
Mindy nods. "It's awful."
"I agree." Jasmine nods.
There's only one thing to do then.
"What if Chazz is in trouble and needs some help?" Syrus whimpers. "It's clear none of his stupid friends will."
Yuuna stands up. "Then it's up to us. Let's go Sy, right now." She glances over her shoulder. "Blair, you coming?"
Blair looks a little conflicted, then sighs and shakes her head. "I'm still mad at him for all the stuff he's done. If I see him, I'll probably just yell at him."
"Hey, that's fair. Just make sure you take notes for us." Yuuna grins and gently pets Blair's head.
With that, Syrus and Yuuna rush out the room.
"I'm going too!" Mindy says, standing up.
Jasmine smiles as she stands up. "I'm in. You coming Alexis?"
She probably will, Alexis and Yuuna get along okay after all and she hates injustice.
"No." Alexis says.
Jasmine and Mindy gape at her, then at each other.
"Why not?!" Jasmine turns to her, shocked beyond belief.
Alexis remains silent, just pulling out her notebook.
Jasmine scowls. "Fine. Let's go Mindy."
She grabs Mindy's wrist and with that, the two of them march out of the classroom, following after Syrus and Yuuna.
Jasmine falls deep into thought as they walk the halls.
Alexis has always been a little weird, but she's never been as cold as she has been lately. Jasmine knew that the grief from losing her brother was probably still there and acting up since they came to Duel Academy. But she's been getting testier and testier by the day and seems not to care about Yuuna at all, even though they're friends.
What is going on with Alexis?
Syrus crawls out of the crack, looking around before Yuuna crawls after him, gently brushing off her skirt. He looks around, making sure there aren't any teachers to catch them. He knows Yuuna doesn't care about detention, but he does. His Mom will be so disappointed if he gets in trouble.
"Ya know-"
Yuuna and Syrus jump, turning to see-
"This school does have regular doors." Mindy and Jasmine standing there, Jasmine with her hand on her hip and Mindy with her arms behind her.
That was Jasmine who spoke.
"Hi, Jasmine, I uhh…" Yuuna laughs. "I didn't think you and Mindy were the type to sneak out of class. Whatcha out for?"
Syrus whimpers. Oh no, they're going to get in trouble.
"Same reason as you two." Mindy grins. "We're looking for Chazz."
Syrus blinks, tilts his head. "Really?"
"Yeah, I got the impression you guys didn't like him that much. Especially after he took Mindy's Rescue Cat." Yuuna nods, hands curling into fists. "Just thinking about that makes me mad."
Syrus gapes at her, then turns to Mindy and Jasmine. Oh wow, he knew Chazz was an ass, but he didn't know he took people's cards. That's horrible. He can't see or hear his Vehicroid monsters or anything like that, but he still cares about his cards and wouldn't want to lose them.
"Yeah, I still haven't forgiven him for that." Mindy sighs, rubbing her arm. Then she shakes herself off. "But Chazz is an Obelisk Blue and even if the rest of the dorm are assholes, I think we should take care of our own."
"I'm just coming so I can Duel him." Jasmine shrugs. "Can't Duel him if he's dead in a ditch or fell off a cliff or something."
Syrus gulps. Oh wow. She's scary.
Yuuna laughs and smiles at them. "Well then, let's get going! We've got a whole lot of ground to cover."
Oh man, she's right. Duel Academy island is huge, almost the same size as Domino City. How are they ever going to find Chazz?
"Chazz!"
"Chazz, where are you?"
"Chazz!"
"Chazz, come on out!"
"Chazz?!"
"Yeah, we're worried about you, ya scrub!"
On and on, everyone shouts. But no matter how they raise their voices, they can't reach him, wherever he is.
Mindy sighs. It's up to her to save the day, it seems.
"Allow me." Mindy walks to the front of the group.
Jasmine, Syrus and Yuuna blink at her.
Mindy takes a deep breath.
Then she screams.
"CHAZZ YOU LITTLE TOAD, IF THIS IS SOME TRICK, YOU BETTER HOPE THAT WE DON'T FIND YOU! YOU GOT THAT?!"
The birds fly off, "YOU GOT THAT" echoes all around, the trees shake.
Mindy pants and heaves for breathe, turning to the others.
All of whom are staring at her.
"I thought you were the nice one." Syrus whimpers nervously.
Yuuna gulps. "That's why you have to be careful of them, Sy."
Jasmine smiles and raises a hand. "Ya know, I'm sure there's a good reason Chazz ran off. He's probably scared of Mindy."
Mindy giggles. "Well girls aren't always sugar and spice and everything nice. Sometimes we get mad, ya know, like everyone else."
Syrus nods. "Oh yeah, I didn't mean to say you couldn't be mad-"
Mindy laughs. Oh Syrus. He's a sweet one, that's for sure.
"Don't worry, I'm just teasing." She smiles and turns around. "Now let's get back to looking for Chazz."
"Good call." Yuuna nods.
Mindy leads the group this time as they walk deeper into the forest, the sun shining through the leaves and warming her skin in patches. She's not really a nature person, she prefers the great indoors with the air conditioning and smooth ground to make walking in her boots easier. But this is nice.
"Aren't the outdoors just great?" Jasmine calls.
Mindy blinks. "Really?"
"I didn't take you for the outdoorsy type, Jasmine." Yuuna walks over to her, catching up.
Mindy smiles. She's not too surprised, since Jasmine likes hookey. She is in pretty good shape, she…
Mindy starts to blush. She has seen Jasmine in gym class and in the changing rooms. Jasmine is fit.
"Yeah, my Dad and I used to go hiking on the weekends." Jasmine stretches her arms over her head. "Papa isn't the biggest fan though, so he doesn't usually join us."
Yuuna blinks. "You have two dads?"
"Yeah." Jasmine smiles. "My Dad is a bit of a jock who likes going hiking, but my Papa's kinda a nerd who prefers reading me bedtime stories and my Mom was the one who got me into hookey."
It doesn't click for a moment and then it does. "Oh, your parents are polyamourus."
Syrus and Yuuna blink, tilting their heads.
"That's right." Jasmine smiles, then turns to Yuuna and Syrus. "I have two fathers and a mother who love me a lot. The three of them raised me together and have been in love with each other for a long time, longer than I've been around."
Yuuna ohs and gently bumps her fist into her palm. "I get it. That sounds awesome, Jasmine, you're lucky."
Jasmine laughs and groans. "Yeah, lucky to have two embarrassing nerds for fathers who never stop with the Dad Jokes, while my Mom encourages them to torture me with them. They're planning on becoming foster parents once I move out. All those kids are going to have every Dad Joke in existence memorised after just 4 weeks with my parents."
Mindy giggles. "Aww, that sounds so cute, Jasmine."
It really does. She'd really like to meet Jasmine's parents some day.
She wonders if her dads would get along with Jasmine's parents.
Yuuna stiffens. "Guys, look!"
She points straight ahead, making Mindy, Jasmine and Syrus look. At a bush in front of them.
"I don't see anything." Jasmine tilts her head.
Then the bush moves.
Syrus yelps. "Uh, is that you Chazz?"
"Must be." Mindy nods.
Yuuna smiles and shakes her head. "Alright, games over, we found ya. Come on out."
The group walk over to the bush.
"Chazz?" Yuuna calls.
"WRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Out of the bushes lunges a fast shape, some kind of monkey with metal on it's head and arms, screaming it's head off.
The rest of the gang scream too, Mindy instinctively grabbing Jasmine!
The monkey charges at them and a dust cloud springs up, everything happens so fast, Mindy's holding onto Jasmine so tightly-
Until she isn't.
The dust settles and when Mindy opens her eyes.
"That was not Chazz." Yuuna gasps.
"Not human either." Syrus whimpers. "What was that thing?"
"Jasmine?!" Mindy gets up, looking around.
Oh no.
No, no, no, she's not here!
"Hut, hut, hut, hut!"
Suddenly, crashing through the trees, are a bunch of men in suits, each of them holding yellow guns of some kind and taking after the direction the monkey fled in.
Yuuna screams. "Not the Disciplinary Action Squad again!"
The two Slifers scramble to their feet, just as three of the men walk over to them. But they're not in D.A.S uniforms, just ordinary black suits.
"It's gone." Says the tallest man, wearing glasses and a mullet.
Mindy screams, louder than she did before. "JJJJJJAAAAAAASSSSMIIIIIIINNNNEEEEEE!"
A scream meets her, coming from the direction the monkey ran off to. "HELP!"
"JASMINE, I'M COMING!" Mindy screams right back.
Then she takes off, hearing Yunna call her name and follow her.
Mindy runs as fast as she can in her heels, following the sound of Jasmine's sceams.
"WE'RE COMING JAZ, HANG IN THERE!" Yuuna screams, running behind Mindy.
"IN THE TREES!" Mindy gasps.
There she is! The monkey's got a hold of her, jumping from branch "Put!" to branch "Me!" to branch "Down!" to branch "Now!"
"I'M COMING, JAZ!" Mindy screams. "I'LL SAVE YOU!"
Whatever it takes. Whatever it takes!
She's not losing Jasmine, whatever it takes, she's not losing Jasmine!
They chase the two through the forest-
"I'm telling you!" Jasmine's now hanging from one of the monkey's arms. "I'm not your type!"
-around the lake-
"My friends-" Jasmine is being held over the monkey's head as they hop on rocks. "Are way cuter!"
-over the grass-
"I'm height maintenance!" Jasmine shrieks, being held by her butt.
-until they reach a cliff.
"Please, let me go!" Jasmine shouts, kicking and punching the monkey.
"JASMINE!" Mindy bursts out of the trees.
Then she screams.
Her best friend is being held over a cliff, sat on a tree as the monkey holds her, being the only thing stopping her friend from falling to her death.
"Please don't let me go!" Jasmine sobs, wrapping her arms around the monkey.
"Bring her back, now monkey!" Mindy demands.
"Yeah, or you'll be sorry!" Yuuna rushes up beside her.
"This isn't King Kong ya know!" Syrus huffs, gasping on her other side.
She has no idea they were there, but Mindy's glad they're here.
"Help, save me!" Jasmine shrieks, as the monkey presses her to the tree. "Someone get this monkey off me!"
Mindy pants hard. "Don't worry, I'll think of something!"
But what?
"Hey, wait a minute." Yuuna calls. "That monkey has a Duel Disk."
Syrus blinks. "You're right."
Now that they mention it, yeah. The monkey is wearing a Duel Disk, along with all that funky tech. A backpack that looks like an astronaut's, bands on the monkey's arms and legs that have wires connecting it to it's helmet, which is tall and long with big red eyes.
"Save me!" Jasmine pleads.
Mindy then gets a crazy idea. "Hey, monkey!"
The monkey lifts it's head.
"Can you use that Duel Disk or what?!" Mindy shouts.
Then she hears laughter next to her.
Everyone turns their heads to see the three men from before, the smallest one in a brown suit with a massive beard being the one to laugh.
"Can it Duel?!" The mans scoffs. "That's Wheeler and it's a trained Duelist!"
Mindy, Syrus and Yuuna gape at him.
"What?" Mindy gasps.
"A Duelling monkey?" Yuuna calls.
There's no way.
The tallest of the men coughs. "Uhh, sir?"
"Right, top secret." The short man mutters.
The two of them turn around, while the other man continues to aim the yellow gun at Wheeler and Jasmine.
And Mindy can't have that.
"Wait." Mindy steps forward, while the two men turn around. "If he can Duel, then let me go up against him."
There's a beat of silence.
"WHAT?!" Syrus and Yuuna scream behind her.
Actually, now that Mindy's said that, it sounds stupid.
"Are you feeling okay Mindy?" Syrus calls.
"She's not sick, I think she just cracked under the pressure, Sy." Yuuna whimpers.
"Duel him?! Can't you see we have a situation here, woman?!" The short man snarls.
Mindy narrows her eyes. Oh he can just pack up his sexism and fuck off.
"That's exactly why I want to Duel Wheeler." Mindy raises her arm. "If I beat Wheeler, he might bring Jasmine back to me. It's only fair and we won't know if we don't try."
She stomps forward, shoving past the suits and standing until she's on a small rock in front of Wheeler.
"Hey, Wheeler!" Mindy shouts. "Duel me!"
Wheeler "oh-oh-ahhs" a couple of times, baring his teeth.
"Put my best friend down and if I win, bring her back to me!" Mindy points at him. "Let's go banana breathe!"
Wheeler holds Jasmine closer to him, who whimpers and holds her arms together. Seeing Jasmine so scared makes Mindy angry. Angry at Wheeler for scaring her. Angry at herself for letting Jasmine go.
"I…" Syrus gulps. "I can't tell if they're communicating or not."
Mindy balls her hands into a fist.
"No, Syrus, I think they are. Wheeler is looking more chilled out now." Yuuna calls, then raises her voice. "Mindy, keep going! Convince him to Duel you!"
Mindy lets out a breath and smiles slightly. At least Yuuna believes in her.
Jasmine whimpers. "But Mindy what if… what'll happen if you lose?"
Wheeler snarls and shrieks, looking at the forest.
"I won't lose Jasmine, I promise!" Mindy calls. "But Wheeler if I do lose, you're free to go! We won't chase you anymore and we'll find some other way to get you down from there, Jaz!"
Jasmine whimpers, tears in the corner of her eyes.
Wheeler growls softly, then eventually he nods.
He puts Jasmine down on the tree and then walks over on all fours, jumping on top of a rock. Then he shrieks as he turns his Duel Disk on.
And then Mindy realises something important. She doesn't have her Duel Disk.
"Mindy!"
Mindy turns around, just in time to catch the Duel Disk thrown at her. She looks at it, then looks up as the person who threw it. "Yuuna…"
Who gives her a thumbs up and a wink. "Show that monkey who's the real Queen of the Island and get your co-monarch back, Mindy."
Mindy feels her cheeks flush. "I-it's not like that, Yuuna."
Yuuna smirks and rolls her eyes.
Still, Mindy turns around and puts her Duel Disk on. She looks over at Jasmine, who's clinging to the tree with all her strength.
Mindy murmurs. "Jasmine…"
Jasmine has always been the stronger of the two of them. The hockey player, the hiker, the one who protected her in their tag Duel.
Mindy nods, eyes narrow.
"This time, I'll save you." Mindy vows. Then she shouts. "Let's Duel Wheeler!"
"Duel!" Wheeler shouts.
Mindy gasps.
Syrus shrieks and jumps into Yuuna's arms. "He can talk?!"
"Oh my God, how is that possible?!" Yuuna squeals.
"Please, that would be completely unrealistic." The shortest man says. "His helmet reads his mind and talks for him."
A beat of silence.
"Do you ever realise just how weird what we do every day is?" Yuuna says, putting Syrus back on his feet.
Mindy can agree with that statement, later.
"Duel!" Mindy and Wheeler shout.
MINDY HAMAGUCHI: 4000
WHEELER: 4000
The waves crash below as Mindy and Wheeler start their Duel. Yuuna can barely contain her excitement, bouncing on the spot, while Syrus whimpers and bites his fingers. She never thought something like a monkey would be able to Duel and she's only seen Mindy Duel once and that was against her in their practice trial match. It'll be so much fun to see what Mindy's like when she's Duelling on her own!
"Yuuna, I wouldn't be so excited if I were you." Yubel calls, appearing at her side. "You still have the scientists to worry about."
Yuuna knows. She glances over at the men, who prepared to take a shot at Wheeler as soon as he agreed to the Duel. It was only because the shortest man who stopped him, but not because he cared about Jasmine or the rest of them. Because he didn't want to waste the opportunity for a 'field test'.
Yuuna narrows her eyes. If she could just summon one of her Duel Monsters with the ability to fly, she could have rescued Jasmine by now. But with so many witnesses, she can't risk it. If only Blair were here, she might be able to help Yuuna cover for her powers.
"It's my draw!" Mindy shouts.
She looks over her hand, before nodding.
"First, I'm going to discard my Evil HERO Abusted Gold, so I can draw a Dark Fusion spell card from my Deck!" Mindy shows off each card as she uses it. "And now I'll activate Dark Fusion to summon one of my Evil HEROs!"
A great swirl appears overhead.
"I'll use my Elemental HEROs Wildheart and Avian to summon-" Mindy shouts. "Evil HERO Wild Cyclone!"
Out of the dark swirl appears a mighty warrior, with a 8-pack that could cut glass, muscles all over, dark green devil-like wings, dark green shoulder/crotch armour and feathers flanking his waist. He shouts, displaying his 1900 ATK points proudly.
"Whoa, she's going all out with a fusion summon on the very first turn." Syrus gasps.
Yuuna grins. "Well, she's fighting to save the person she loves. She's not going to mess around."
Yubel chuckles, folding their arms. "I sincerely hope her feelings can reach Jasmine then."
Yuuna hopes so too, those twos' pining is getting a little silly at this point, if adorable.
"That's all for now, but I should warn you!" Mindy calls. "When Wild Cyclone attacks, you can't activate any traps or spell cards and when he does damage, he destroys any spells or traps you have on the Field! So think carefully about what you do next, Wheeler."
Wheeler growls softly.
"Mindy, be careful!" Jasmine calls.
Mindy shouts back. "Don't worry, Jasmine! I'm going to save you!"
Yuuna feels her heart threaten to burst from a cuteness overload.
"My turn, my turn!" Wheeler's helmet activates and draws. "Draw."
Yuuna grins. Time to get down to business; monkey business that is. He's seen Mindy's moves, now it's time for Wheeler to do his.
Wheeler stares at the card he drew. "Berserk Gorilla, ATK Mode!"
A giant, hulking ape appears on the field, pounding his chest like King Kong and with good reason too. It has 2000 ATK points!
Yubel sighs. "This will be ugly."
"Oh no." Syrus whimpers.
Mindy growls.
"Berserk Gorilla! Attack Wild Cyclone! Attack! Attack!" Wheeler orders, dancing on the spot, waving his arms wildly.
Berserk Gorilla heeds Wheeler's commands, charging across the field, bringing his giant fist back and then punching Wild Cyclone in the face, hard and fast.
Mindy shouts as the wind rushes to her.
MINDY HAMAGUCHI: 3900
WHEELER: 4000
Wheeler cheers as he does a few backflips and cartwheels, then stops to "Now, one card facedown! Facedown! Monkey see, monkey do! I make monkey out of you!"
Yuuna winces. "Welp, that's going to hurt Mindy's pride. But why is Wheeler calling her a monkey? Isn't he just insulting himself?"
Mindy growls viciously, like she's the one who's going to go apeshit soon.
"Oh man, Mindy's losing the Duel and her cool." Syrus whimpers. "This isn't good."
Mindy turns around. "Oh give me a break, the Duels just started and it's only 100 points! I'm going to deal him more than three times the damage, just you wait!"
Yuuna looks over at Jasmine, who's still clinging to the tree. "Let's hope so."
Yubel chuckles. "You don't need to worry about your friend. She's going to be fine."
Yuuna blinks. How does she know that?
"First, because there are no monsters on my side of the field, I'm allowed to special summon my Evil HERO Infernal Prodigy!" Mindy shouts.
With that, a short monster appears on the field, with a grey/black/dark red body, some short wings, longhorns the same length as it's wings and a gem in it's neck. It chuckles wickedly, revealing it's 300 ATK points.
"And because you already have a monster on your side of the field, I'm allowed to special summon this guy with only one sacrifice!" Mindy holds the card up high. "Evil HERO Malicious Edge!"
Infernal Prodigy vanishes in a flash of light and Mindy's blue leather clad monster takes to the field with his 2600 ATK points.
"Whoa, that's Mindy's most powerful monster!" Syrus gasps.
"Alright!" Yuuna cheers. "With Malicious Edge out, Wheeler is in big trouble now!"
Yubel chuckles, smirking wickedly. "Oh, he'll be in even more trouble soon."
Yuuna turns to blink at them. What?
"Next I play my Double Summon spell card, so I can have one more normal summon this turn!" Mindy shouts. "And I'll use it to bring out my Evil HERO Infernal Gainer!"
A new Evil HERO takes to the field, with dark purple armour over his bright red skin and giant white spikes out of his shoulders. He has a long armoured tail like a dragon's and an eye-like gem in the centre of his rib-cage. He grins wickedly, with 1600 ATK points.
"Whoa, I've never seen him before." Yuuna gasps.
"And he's about to make Wheeler's day horrible, because I'm going to activate Infernal Gainer's ability! By banishing him from the field, he can give one Fiend type monster the ability to attack twice in a round!" Mindy shouts.
Infernal Gainer bursts into golden dust and clings to Malicious Edge, who gives a shriek.
Syrus gasps. "Oh man, this is going to be ugly."
"Malicious Edge, destroy that Berserk Gorilla!" Mindy orders, punching the air in front of her.
Malicious Edge rushes across the field, using his Wolverine-like claws to cut Berserk Gorilla in pieces.
Wheeler shrieks as his points drop.
MINDY HAMAGUCHI: 3900
WHEELER: 3400
"And now it's time for attack number 2. Malicious Edge, direct attack!" Mindy points at Wheeler. "Now how's your cool?!"
Wheeler reels back, holding his arms up.
"This isn't going to be nice for your furry little friend." Yubel warns.
Malicious Edge doesn't care, springing forward, slashing Wheeler across the chest.
MINDY HAMAGUCHI: 3900
WHEELER: 800
"I should warn you, in the second Standby Phase after I use Infernal Gainer's ability, he's allowed to come back to the Field and Malicious Edge loses his double attack." Mindy then puts her hand over her Deck. "And because I tributed Infernal Prodigy to summon a HERO Monster, I'm allowed to draw one card. That's my turn done and dusted."
"That was awesome." Syrus whispers.
Then Yuuna notices something. "What's wrong with Wheeler?"
He's staring at the ground, his arms slumped at his side, breathing heavily, growling softly.
Yubel narrows their eyes. "He doesn't look well at all."
"Is he surrendering?" Syrus tilts his head.
That attack from Mindy was really intense. Maybe it was too much for the monkey?
"Huph, oh please."
All heads turn towards the shortest guy in the suit, the one with the ugly beard.
"It just made one little mistake, that's all. But that project won't make it again." The man's voice darkens.
And Yuuna's blood runs cold.
That's how her parents would talk before they did something bad to her.
"Huh?" Syrus calls.
"Believe me…" The man turns to them with a horrible, wicked look on his face. "It's all part of Wheeler's training." He spits the words, as if they're his own poison. "You see, back at the lab, if that monkey made a mistake twice, we would harshly punish it." He sounds joyful, as if this is a good thing. "We poked and prodded it like that for years! No, Wheeler won't give up! It'll just get better."
Yuuna realises with absolute clarity just what's happening.
"Poked and prodded?" Syrus whispers in horror.
"Yuuna?" Yubel calls to her, putting their hand on her shoulder.
Yuuna turns to Wheeler, who's still slumped and now that she's paying attention, she can see he's shaking.
A little girl sobbing, shaking in her room, trying to freeze up and stay quiet so her parents won't see her.
"Uhh, sir, top secret." The tallest man reminds him.
The shortest man blinks. "Oh, right." He turns around, snarling. "Nevermind."
Yuuna inhales through her teeth, the rage starting to build in her heart.
No way. Not again.
She hisses, her eyes turning gold.
Never again!
Mindy looks over at Wheeler, scratching her head. "So… are you quitting or-"
"Never surrender!" Wheeler calls. "Draw!"
Mindy looks up at Jasmine, who still looks frightened. She has to hurry.
"Acrobat Monkey, ATK mode!" Wheeler calls.
A new monster takes to the field, a short monkey in blue armour with 1000 ATK points.
Mindy narrows her eyes. Just what will that do?
"Play facedown, trap, trap! DNA Surgery!" Wheeler shouts as his facedown flips up.
Jasmine gasps. "Oh no! DNA Surgery turns all monsters on the field to whatever type Wheeler chooses! And if he picks anything other than Fiend, Malicious Edge will lose his second attack!"
Mindy snarls. This isn't good.
"Beast type, Beast type!" Wheeler hoots and hollers.
Acrobat Monkey and Malicious Edge transform right before her eyes, his golden glow disappearing. Acrobat Monkey gets a more dog-like face and clawed hands, it's previous cute chirps turning into roars. While Malicious Edge gets hairy all over, dark purple over his leather bands and a dog's face instead of his usual sleak one.
Mindy whimpers. There had to be more to it than just that.
"Spell cards, Spell cards! Wild Nature's Release! Double Attack!" Wheeler shouts, holding up the two spells.
"Oh crap." Yuuna shouts. "Wild Nature's Release will increase Acrobat Monkey's ATK points by his DEF points and Double Attack means he'll be able to give Mindy a taste of her own medicine!"
"Wheeler really is getting better, but that means it's going to get a lot worse for Mindy!" Syrus gasps.
"Mindy!" Jasmine cries, then nearly slips from the tree, clinging to it tighter.
"Jasmine, hold on!" Mindy shouts.
"Acrobat Monkey! Power up, power up!" Wheeler orders.
Acrobat Monkey roars, waving his arms and legs as the armour on him cracks and turns to dust. First his arms, which bulk up. Then his legs, also beefy. Finally, his chest armour smashes into pieces and he pounds it, his points rising to 2800 ATK.
"Uh, oh." Mindy murmurs.
"Acrobat Monkey, attack!" Wheeler orders.
Acrobat Monkey pounds his chest, then launches into a summersalt, becoming a hurricane and smashing into Malicious Edge, destroying him on impact.
MINDY HAMAGUCHI: 3700
WHEELER: 800
"Acrobat Monkey, direct attack, direct attack!" Wheeler waves his arms frantically.
"Mindy, no!" Jasmine shouts.
Mindy steals herself, holding her arms up.
Acrobat Monkey continues to spin, then screams as it stops and takes a slash at Mindy's face, making her scream as she hits the ground hard.
MINDY HAMAGUCHI: 900
WHEELER: 800
Mindy groans, barely pulling herself up in time to watch Acrobat Monkey burst into pixels.
"What the heck?" Yuuna calls.
Syrus gasps. "It was Wild Nature's Release! Using it destroys the monster at the end of the turn."
Yuuna winces. "Talk about a way to go."
"Mindy!" Jasmine shouts. "Please, stop!"
Mindy sits up properly. "Jasmine?"
"It's okay, I, I'll find a way down! Just stop, please! I…" Jasmine looks around, lowering her head. "I can't stand seeing you get hurt over me anymore."
Mindy's heart threatens to constrict and crumble. "Jaz…"
Wheeler turns to her, crooning softly.
Mindy finds her resolve. "No."
Jasmine gasps, lifting her head. "Mindy-"
"No!" Mindy gets to her feet. "I will never give up on your Jasmine! I'm going to save you, because you always save me!"
Jasmine's eyes widen.
Mindy keeps going. "You protect me and you're stronger than me. But I want to stand beside you, be just as strong as you are and hold you up when you can't stand! I like you Jasmine!"
Yuuna squeals in the distance and hugs Syrus, chanting about how it's finally happening, but Mindy ignores her, eyes only on Jasmine.
Who's slowly turning pink. "You like me? As in… wanna kiss me, like me?"
Mindy nods. "I do want to kiss you. I also wanna take you on dates at the mall. I wanna have sleepovers and share the same bed. I wanna learn all your secrets and meet your parents as your partner, but in our time, when we're both ready for that." Mindy tilts her head. "I like you, Jasmine. I really do."
Jasmine stares at her and Mindy's heart is threatening to pound out of her chest, breaking her ribcage on the way.
Jasmine smiles. "I really, really like you too Mindy. And I'd really like that date once you win this Duel."
Mindy beams.
"FUCK YES, YOU GO LADIES, GET THAT DATE!" Yuuna cheers, laughing and honestly, Mindy agrees with her.
"I better win this fast then!" Mindy puts her fingers over her Deck. "Dr-"
Then she hears a lot of monkey noises. At first, she thought it was Wheeler, but he's staring to the right, so Mindy looks over as well. Where a whole group of monkeys are crowding around some large rocks, barely peaking their heads over, whimpering in concern.
"Uh-oh." Syrus whimpers. "More monkeys."
"It's like a tribe." Yuuna's eyes widen. "Or… a family."
The scientists shout in awe.
Mindy's eyes widen as Yuuna's words register. "Wait… Wheeler, are you trying to return to your family?"
Wheeler shrieks, his helmet flashing. "Must win! Miss family, miss family!"
The other monkeys continue to whimper and call out to him, softly like they don't want to be caught, but they're worried for him all the same.
And Mindy can't let this stand. "Wheeler!"
He lifts his head, looking at her.
"Let's make a deal!" Mindy calls. "Give us back Jasmine and we'll return you to your family, no matter who wins or loses this Duel!"
Wheeler croons.
"It's okay Wheeler! I'll help you too!" Yuuna calls.
Syrus shouts. "And me! I may be small, but I'll help you as much as I can!"
"And me!" Jasmine calls. "Just let me go and we'll make sure you can go home! I promise, Wheeler!"
Wheeler looks around at all of them, whimpering softly.
Then he nods.
He turns around, climbing up the tree to bring Jasmine back down. He picks her up gently and lays her on the ground, letting her go.
Jasmine gets to her feet and smiles, bowing at him. "Thank you Wheeler." She straightens up. "Now do your best!"
Wheeler croons in confusion, tilting his head.
Mindy's heart bursts into a million pieces and she almost drowns in cute.
"Jasmine!" Yuuna and Syrus call.
Jasmine runs across the field to them, lunging into Yuuna's arms for a hug. "Oh God, it's good to be on solid ground again."
Mindy smiles at her.
Jasmine turns slightly in the hug. "You do your best too Mindy."
Mindy feels her face flush and she nods, turning back to Wheeler.
"Let's do our best Wheeler and it's my turn!" Mindy calls. "Draw!"
Then in a flash, Infernal Gainer returns to the field with his 1600 ATK.
"And it's game over!" Mindy calls. "Infernal Gainer, attack Wheeler directly!"
Wheeler shouts as Infernal Gainer charges up a punch to the jaw.
MINDY HAMAGUCHI: 900
WHEELER: 0
WINNER: MINDY HAMAGUCHI!
Yuuna laughs as she watches the holograms fade. What a great Duel.
"Thanks for a fun Duel Wheeler, and for letting Jasmine go." Mindy walks towards him. "Now we'll help you."
Yuuna starts walking over-
"Yuuna, watch out!" Yubel calls.
Yuuna turns to the scientists and gasps. "Mindy down!"
Mindy turns to her. "Wha-"
BANG!
Wheeler shrieks and pushes Mindy to the ground, the two of them barely dodging the tranquilizer dart aimed at them.
"What the Hell?!" Jasmine shouts, turning towards them. "You could have hurt my girlfriend!"
"Shut up, you useless woman!" The short guy orders, marching over. "As for you, you flea ridden failure, let's get back to the lab!"
Wheeler whimpers and snarls at them, his helmet no longer working but the message clear.
Stay away.
Yubel scowls. "Yuuna don't do anything reckless, like-"
"Hold it!" Yuuna rushes in front of the men, holding her arms out wide.
The men stop, glaring at her.
Yubel groans, rubbing their head. "That."
"Yuuna, what are you doing?!" Syrus gasps.
"Keeping my promise to Wheeler!" Yuuna shouts. "He doesn't belong with you! He belongs out here, in nature, with the family who love him!"
He belongs with the family that love him more than Yuuna's parents ever did.
"So that's where we're going to leave him! Got it?!" Yuuna stamps her foot. "I won't let you take him, no matter what!"
The scientists gape at her.
"We won't let them take you Wheeler, it's alright!" Syrus shouts.
"If you do, I'll call the TV stations and the newspapers!" Jasmine threatens.
"And I'll get my dad, he's a lawyer!" Mindy shouts. "He knows a lot of animal campaigners who won't be happy with what you've done!"
"Then it'll be goodbye top secret and hello prison." Yuuna smirks. "Mindy, get that stuff off him, now!"
"On it!" Mindy calls and Yuuna can hear the sound of metal falling.
"Enough nonsense, out of the way!" The tallest man shouts.
Then he charges forward with the gunman, holding a net.
"Yuuna!" Yubel calls.
Yuuna growls and charges at them. "No!"
She won't let them take him, she won't let them take him!
Yuuna roars and grabs the net, pulling on it as hard as she can.
"Let go, you stupid bitch!" The gunman snaps.
"Drop it, girl!" The tallest man orders.
"NO!" Yuuna snarls. "I won't!"
"Yuuna!" Syrus screams.
Then, unknown to Yuuna, the shadows at her feet start to swirl and reach for the scientists, forcing them to trip and fall on their asses.
Yubel gasps.
Yuuna lets go of the net, nearly falling herself, gasping as she watches the two men get tangled in it.
"You idiots!" The shortest scientist yells. "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself!"
Yuuna runs over to Wheeler, noticing Mindy's only got half the equipment off him. "Come on, come on!"
She skids onto her knees, helping pull the rest of the stuff off him.
"We have to hurry!" Mindy gasps, looking up. "He's got the gun!"
"Not for long!" Jasmine shouts and gives a war cry.
Yuuna ignores the sounds of fighting, trying as fast as she can to unclip and take off the equipment, hearing Wheeler whimper and cry. "Hold on, buddy, just a little more time. We just need a little more time-"
"Yuuna behind you!" Syrus shrieks.
"Both of you stop, or the red bitch gets it."
Yuuna gasps as she feels the barrel of the gun press in the back of her neck, freezing.
"You think that your threats scare me?" The short scientist snarls. "Please, you're just some empty-headed little girls. Who's going to believe you?!"
He shoves his foot into Yuuna's back, forcing her to lay facedown in the ground.
Yubel snarls and screams, diving for him. "DROP MY HAOU-"
"Stay back!" Yuuna orders. "I'll be fine!"
"Yeah you will, if you shut your mouth." The short scientist chuckles. "Not only will my lab work continue, but it will grow."
Yuuna gasps. No.
"What do you mean?" Syrus whimpers, hiding behind Jasmine.
"I'm taking them all! That monkey won't miss it's family anymore, because they'll all be in the lab in cages!" The shortest scientist laughs wickedly.
Mindy falls on her back, scrambling away. "No. No, no, you're going too far, let her go!"
She grabs Wheeler and pulls him with her, who cries out as he's tugged away, his helmet off, revealing the fear in his eyes and Yuuna knows if Wheeler could cry, he would.
"Damn, bitch!" The shortest scientist shouts. "Drop the monkey or the girl gets it!"
The other two luggs finally pull themselves out of the net and run over to Mindy and Wheeler, holding the net high.
"NO!" Yuuna screams, her eyes turning gold, the shadows under her moving out-
"Puuuuurrrrrr-MEOW!"
A cat suddenly appears out of nowhere, jumping on top of the two luggs, sending them to the ground and then lunging at the short one on Yuuna's back, making him scream and fall off her.
Yuuna gasps, eyes turning brown, looking up.
"Tsk, tsk Pharaoh." The Slifer Red's Dorm cat wanders over to his favourite person in the world. Who picks him up, revealing himself to be Professor Banner. "Naughty kitty."
Pharaoh purrs.
"Professor Banner." The students all call.
Yubel let's out a breath. "That man's timing could have been better."
Yuuna sighs and gets to her feet. "Sir, I'm so glad you're here now."
She's never been so happy to see an adult in her life.
The shortest scientist backs up. "Who are you?"
"Oh, you know." Professor Banner walks over, Pharaoh still in his arms, putting his foot on the dropped gun. "Just your average teacher. Duelist." Then he kicks up and the gun flies into his hand. "Animal lover. If you gentlemen catch my drift."
The shortest scientist snarls.
But soon enough, Wheeler is freed from all the tech, as removed by Yuuna and Mindy, only keeping the Duel Disk on when Wheeler hugged it to his chest. Now he's running off to his family, all of them jumping on him and hugging him, making an endless echo of happy monkey noises.
Yubel has to admit. It's an admirable sight.
"Aww, look. It's like a family reunion." Syrus smiles.
Jasmine nods, taking Mindy's hand. "It sure is."
"Hey Wheeler, why don't we Duel again some time?" Mindy smiles, waving. "Without kidnapping my girlfriend though."
Wheeler cheers and raises his Duel Disk, one of the smaller monkeys poking it curiously.
Yubel shakes their head. Goodness, they knew Duel Academy would be a strange place, but this is a league all it's own.
With that, Wheeler and the other monkeys return to the forest.
"I just finished talking to Das." Yuuna smiles, putting her PDA down. "She says the scientists are in detention until a boat arrives from the mainland to take them back. Thank you so much Professor Banner."
"Yeah, that was a close one. If you hadn't shown up when you did, I don't know what would have happened to any of us." Mindy turns towards Banner.
Yubel does as well, examining the old man. It's awfully convenient he showed up when he did. Just how did he get here?
"How did you find us, Professor?" Syrus calls.
"Like I said, I love animals." Banner gently rubs Pharaoh's back. "Of course, it would be hard not to with a cat that can track as well as Pharaoh."
Pharaoh meows.
Yubel shakes their head. These humans and their odd pets.
"Why were you looking for us in the first place?" Jasmine turns to him, the rest of the group doing so as well.
"Well Jasmine, Blair told me where Yuuna and Syrus had gone to and I wanted to tell you all that Chazz is okay." Banner says.
All four teenagers breathe a sigh of relief.
"That's good news." Yuuna smiles.
"Sure is!" Syrus nods his head.
Jasmine and Mindy giggle, while Yubel just shakes their head.
Chazz was a prick and they wouldn't have really cared either way if he was dead or alive. But Yuuna has a heart too big for her chest and she'd be upset if Chazz wasn't well, so they'll just be happy he's fine.
"Of course, there is some bad news as well." Banner explains. "Pharaoh tracked him to the docks and by the time I arrived, he was already leaving on the boat. I was going to tell you all in class, but none of you were there when I arrived."
Yubel shrugs. Oh well.
"That's a shame." Yuuna sighs.
Jasmine growls. "Geez, I still wanted to Duel him for taking Mindy's card."
"Yeah, I guess. He did make things interesting." Syrus hums.
Mindy shrugs. "Well, I'm sure he'll come back. Dude's got a bunch of grudges and complexes. He's going to settle the score some day."
"Yeah." Yuuna smiles. "Good rivals are hard to find, even if he's off the asshole elitist variety."
Banner hums. "But you know what isn't? School and since you all got out early, we'll be making up in after school detention."
The four teenagers groan and complain, but Yubel leaves them to it, retreating into the Deck.
Where they have a few moments to think.
Yuuna's eyes are turning gold on their own and her shadows responded to her feelings.
That can only mean one thing.
"She's getting stronger." Yubel murmurs.