He remembered the first time he saw the Light in action.
It was meant to be a harmless jousting tournament. He was coming of age and his father was throwing the tournament as a celebration and a display of power against their enemies. He'd thought it was pointless and dumb and didn't want anything to do with it.
But his father and Yubel convinced him to participate and so he did.
He lost in the semi finals to a foreign prince, much to his father's displeasure, but it soon didn't matter.
When the Princess of Light took off her helmet in the finals after destroying her opponent, she killed his father.
He forgot all about the little girl with the white hair he met when he was young.
Now all he saw was his archenemy and father's murderer.
Yuuna groans. "Oh come on, what does tennis have to do with Duelling?!"
Winter Break is long over and now that school is back in session, the subject of their gym class has changed from gender divided hockey and football, to mixed tennis. In the court, Yuuna and Blair are paired up against Bastion and Syrus and in the court next to them, Mindy and Jasmine are completely wrecking Torrey and one of his friends.
"Elementary, my dear Yuuna." Bastion chuckles, swinging the tennis racket. "To put it simply, Duelling and tennis are the same."
Yuuna yells as she runs to hit it. "How?!"
She swings it back at Syrus, who yelps as he hits it to Blair.
"Taking turns, thinking on your feet!" Mindy calls, then grunts as she hits the ball. "It's all about keeping your head in the game, Yuuna!"
"And the more you play-" Jasmine yells as she hits the ball. "The better you'll get! So just keep practicing, you'll get it soon! Same to you, Blair!"
"Easy for you to say-" Blair yelps as she holds the racket up to protect her face. "Hockey captain!"
The ball bounces and rolls across the ground, under the net and to Bastion's feet.
"Come now, Yuuna." Bastion smirks, picking up the ball and bouncing it on his racket. "Don't tell me you're going to let a challenge like tennis defeat you?"
There's a fire around him as he throws the ball up and hits it.
Yuuna growls, her own fire flaring up around her. "Oh you've done it now!"
No way is she losing!
Yuuna roars and jumps as high as she can, smacking the ball with all her strength-
In the wrong direction, heading straight for-
"Alexis, heads up!" Yuuna yells.
Yuuna falls before she can see what happens, so she runs over to Alexis' court to check on the girl. Who cares if she's the Princess of Light, Yuuna doesn't want to hurt anyone and especially not Alexis!
Yuuna arrives on the scene, just in time to see Alexis standing fine while a boy with a tennis racket kneels near her. Thank goodness.
"Alexis, are you okay?" Jasmine gasps.
"You almost got creamed." Mindy whimpers.
Blair sighs. "That wouldn't have been pretty."
Yuuna bows. "I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't mean to send the ball at you, it was an accident!"
Alexis glares at her, ice in her eyes, refusing to say a word. The temperature drops all the same though.
Yuuna flinches back, but she stands her ground, even as her sweat cools and freezes on her back, making her stiffen up.
"Do you need me to carry you to the nurse's office?"
Alexis and Yuuna blink, the spell broken, turning to the boy.
He straightens up, turning around with a superstar smile. He has dark red hair that brushes his neck in straight lines and dark green eyes. He's wearing the same tennis uniform as the others, a short sleeved white shirt and shorts, with the Duel Academy brand on the pockets.
Mindy and Jasmine whistle.
Blair says. "Huh?"
"I'm fine." Alexis says.
Yuuna blinks, tilting her head. "Who are you?"
The boy blinks, the superstar dazzle gone for a moment. Then he starts to blush and gets a dreamy look on his face, like he has a sudden fever.
"Actually, are you okay?" Yuuna questions. "You don't look so good."
"Yeah, you're all pink and sweaty." Blair raises an eyebrow at him.
The boy murmurs. "You're Alexis Rhodes, right?"
Yuuna blinks.
Okay, she's not always the best in social situations, but isn't it rude to ignore someone when they ask you a question? Why's he ignoring her and Blair?
"Hey, don't ignore me!" Blair shouts.
Alexis narrows her eyes. "And if I were?"
The boy blinks and then breaks out into a nervous laugh.
Weird.
"It's just, I know you from Obelisk Blue-" Then the boy reaches forward and grabs Alexis' hand. "Not that I've ever had the pleasure of talking to you."
Yuuna's eyes widen.
"Okay?" Alexis says slowly.
The boy's eyes widen and he quickly lets go of her hand. "L-let alone touch you!"
He gives another awkward laugh.
Yuuna and Blair look at each other, but they're both just as confused as the other.
Jasmine and Mindy are giggling their heads off, holding hands.
"Anyway…" Then the boy starts backing away, swinging his racket in circles. "Back to my match!" He turns around, laughing. "What was the score? Love something…"
There's silence after he left.
"Well that was weird." Blair huffs.
Mindy and Jasmine giggle.
Blair and Yuuna look at them, requests for an explanation clear.
"Oh, you'll get it some day." Mindy giggles, waving her hand.
"Whatever." Blair shrugs. "Can we get back to practice please? So we can get this over with and get on with the rest of our day?"
Yuuna nods. "Yeah, that sounds good to me."
The Slifer Red Girls turn around, preparing to go back to their match.
A low growl came from the side of the court. "Signora Yuki..."
Yuuna stiffens up.
She turns slowly.
There stands Crowler, with a tennis ball in his eye. And when it falls out, it reveals a nasty black eye.
You could have heard a pin drop in the tennis court as far as Yuuna was concerned.
And then a bomb went off.
"IN MY OFFICE, RIGHT THIS MINUTE!" Crowler howls, the whole island having heard him.
Yuuna groans and drops her tennis racket.
She hates tennis!
Alexis sighs as she puts her gym outfit away.
Great. Now she has to worry about the Supreme King attacking her in gym class. As if her life wasn't already complicated enough.
Alexis closes her locker.
No matter. The Supreme King won't beat her. She'll unmask him eventually and reveal him as the fraud he really is.
"Will you let me help you, Alexis?"
Alexis snarls. Him and his lies.
"Alexis?"
She forces her face into something neutral, turning towards her left where Jasmine and Mindy are standing. They're linking hands, just like they always do these days, since they got together before Winter Break.
Alexis is happy for them, truly, but she doesn't understand why they're always touching each other these days.
"We need to talk." Jasmine says.
Alexis holds in the urge to sigh.
Great. They're probably going to ask her about her problem with Yuuna. She was wondering when they'd finally do it.
"Let's go then." Alexis nods.
The three Obelisk Blue Girls walk out of the girls' changing room and into a small nook in the hallway. It's one of the few public yet private spaces on campus, where it's hard to be seen or heard there but everyone knows about it.
"Do you remember when we met in middle school?" Mindy asks.
"Yeah." Alexis says, because she does.
It was her first year and she was nervous about being in her first school. She'd been home schooled all her life, for her protection from the darkness her parents had said and Atticus was going to Duel Academy really soon. Everything felt like it was changing so fast and Alexis had struggled to come to terms with it.
Then, while she was sitting on her own, at her desk during lunch, just minding her own business… Mindy and Jasmine had wandered over and asked her if she liked Duel Monsters. Alexis did and told them all about her brother going to Duel Academy.
They all promised to go there together and thus Alexis had her first friends.
"Well, we're worried about you." Jasmine says slowly. "We used to always hang out together after classes and work on homework. But we don't see you as much these days."
"You're always brooding with Zane by the lighthouse or wherever else he goes to brood. I…" Mindy rubs her arm. "I know being in the place your brother disappeared can't be easy. But we're friends, Alexis, and we just want to make sure you're okay."
Alexis's eyes widen.
They haven't noticed her issues with Yuuna, or they don't care enough to mention it. They're worried about her and her brother. Alexis's heart warms the slightest bit.
So she gives them a fake smile. "Thanks for worrying girls, but I'm fine. I am spending more time with Zane, but that's because we both care about Atticus and are trying to honour his memory."
Then she says the most honest thing she's ever told them.
"Plus, you two hang out with Yuuna a lot these days. I didn't want to get in the way of that." Alexis shrugs.
"Huh?" Mindy blinks.
"How would you get in the way of us hanging out with Yuuna?" Jasmine tilts her head. "You guys are friends, aren't you?"
Alexis hates lying to the two of them.
But before she has to, she's interrupted.
"Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man-"
It's Syrus, running back and forth in front of the hallway like a headless chicken.
"Where's the lousy tennis team?" Syrus whimpers and runs on the spot, turning in every direction at once.
Mindy, Jasmine and Alexis stare at him.
Syrus yelps and then turns to them. "Hey, do any of you know where the tennis team meets?"
"Out on the court, Syrus." Jasmine says.
"What on earth is wrong?" Mindy tilts her head.
"What's wrong?" Syrus whimpers, running still. "Everything's wrong! It's the most unfair thing ever!"
"What is, Sy?" Jasmine tilts her head.
"Dr. Crowler is forcing Yuuna to do whatever the tennis captain says as punishment for hitting him with that ball, even though she didn't hit him!" Syrus fumes. "And the captain's the guy who actually hit Crowler!"
Then he takes off down the hallway.
The three Obelisk Blue Girls stare at him.
"I!"
Hit!
"Hate!"
Hit!
"Tennis!"
Thud!
Yuuna groans as she lies on the ground, face down, her racket over her head. She tripped on a stray tennis ball while trying to hit the one being served at her. Now she's laying on the court, tennis balls surrounding her like her own personal hell.
"Come on, Slifer Girl, no pain no gain." Her tormentor taunts.
Who's her tormentor? Third year Obelisk Blue, captain of the tennis team, Harrington Rosewood. The guy who promised to whip her into shape, as instructed by Crowler.
"You gotta hustle to build that muscle." Harrington continues. "You need to sweat to become a-"
"Oh shut up with the sports cliches." Yuuna groans, tilting her head so she's not eating dirt. "I refuse to get up."
She almost wishes she was in a Shadow Game instead. Almost.
At least then she'd have her Duel Monsters to support her. But her Deck is still in the girl's locker room and Yubel has been in it all day, something about figuring out a way for her to train her new found portal powers.
So no chance of a pep talk any time soon.
"Hey, there's no 'I' in team, Slacker." Harrington looks up to the sky, as if he's giving a speech. "That's the very first rule in tennis."
What about when you're playing singles?
Yuuna groans and holds back from saying her thoughts. She doesn't want to give him any more chances to force her to do more.
SPLASH!
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Yuuna shouts, getting to her feet.
Harrington smirks at her, holding a water bottle with the lid pulled off. "Hey, you were refusing to get up, I had to do something. Now, I think it's time to work on your forehand and backhand, Slacker. A thousand strokes of both should be enough. That'll make tennis more your racket."
Yuuna gapes at him.
Oh for fuck's sake, that doesn't even make sense.
"Or do you want me to throw water at you again, Slifer Slime?" Harrington leers at her.
Yuuna groans. "I thought we'd had the last of those nicknames when Chazz left."
But then she notices something.
Blair off to the side, walking over to her with a water bottle.
Yuuna blinks. "Blair, what are you doing here?"
Blair smiles. "Well, I couldn't convince Crowler to let me take your punishment with you. So I figured the least I could do was make sure you were hydrated."
Yuuna's eyes widen.
Blair came all this way just for that?
Blair offers her the water bottle with a smile.
Yuuna accepts it. "Thanks Blair."
Where would she be without her?
Wack!
Yuuna and Blair gasp, looking to where the water bottle is now. On the ground, having been hit by one of Harrington's balls.
"Come on, Slifer Slacker, keep your eye on the ball!" Harrington laughs, bouncing a ball on his racket. "You're not getting a break until you've done those thousand strokes!"
Yuuna and Blair gape at him.
He can't be serious.
He can't be!
Harrington winks with his superstar smile.
He is.
Blair growls and starts marching over to him. "You exercise nut, you-"
"Easy, Blair, it's fine!" Yuuna wraps her arms around her sister.
Blair turns to her, looking like she's going to fight. "But Yuuna, he's treating you like garbage!"
"And you don't need to get in trouble for that." Yuuna kneels in front of her, smiling. "So, maybe you can be a hero and look after that water bottle until my break?"
Blair fumes, stomps her foot, but sighs. "Fine."
"Thank you." Yuuna straightens.
She grabs her racket and faces Harrington head on, determination renewed.
She may not have hre Duel Monsters at her back, but Blair loves her. And she can see Bastion, Syrus, Mindy and Jasmine walking into the room, probably because they're worried about her too.
Yuuna won't let them down.
"Ugh, FUCK THIS GAME!"
Alexis picks up the tennis ball at her feet and makes her way into the court.
Mindy, Jasmine, Syrus, Bastion and Blair are sitting together on the benches behind Yuuna, who is lying on his back surrounded by stray tennis balls.
What a pathetic display.
"Oh, hey Alexis." Mindy calls.
Alexis ignores her, walking over to Yuuna. He's got some nerve attacking her in class.
"Alexis?" Harrington calls.
She also ignores him. She has more pressing concerns than the tennis captain.
"Hey there!" Harrington suddenly runs in front of her. "Sorry I'm sweating so much-"
"Out of the way." Alexis snaps.
Harrington shuts up for two blissful seconds.
It's long enough for Alexis to walk around him and over to Yuuna, who's scrambling to his feet, dropping the racket.
"Alexis." Yuuna murmurs.
He's probably glad the net is between them. Alexis knows she is.
Alexis narrows her eyes and throws the ball at him. "If you're trying to take me out, you'll have to try harder than that."
Yuuna scrambles to catch the ball. "For the last time, Alexis, it was an accident, I know you hate me but that doesn't mean I wanna hurt you."
Alexis narrows her eyes.
Bullshit.
She can't let her doubts get to her. She has to remember this is the same monster who is keeping her brother from her. It doesn't matter what he looks like on the outside.
The Supreme King is a monster and she won't let him defeat her, not in a Duel and not in tennis either.
"Hey, time out!"
Yuuna jumps and Alexis turns slowly, to see Harrington walking over to them, practically steaming.
"You can't talk to a first round pick like Alexis!" Harrington hisses, fire in his eyes. "Stay away from my Obelisk Pixie!"
Alexis's eyes widen for a moment, then she narrows them.
He better not be talking about her.
"Whoa, easy man, she came over to talk to me!" Yuuna holds his hands up in defence. "And, what do you mean by yours?"
"Listen Slifer Slacker, I'm warning you!" Harrington continues on, as if he hasn't heard either of them. "Step away from the beautiful girl! She is way out of your league, do not make me go athletic on you!"
Alexis narrows her eyes further.
He is talking about her.
"Easy Harrington, we're just talking!" Yuuna holds up his hands in surrender. "Chill out!"
"SURE!" Harrington snarls, suddenly standing in front of Yuuna, who yelps and falls on her ass. "You'd like me to believe that, but I don't! I don't believe anything you say. Which is why this little huddle is over."
Alexis narrows her eyes.
"What's your problem?!" Yuuna snaps at him, getting to her feet. "If the huddle is over, then get away from me!"
"The only problem I have is the fact you don't know your sports!" Harrington snarls. "When a huddle is over, you make your play, you don't run away. I wanna Duel and the winner becomes Alexis's fiance!"
Alexis's jaw drops.
Syrus falls off his seat. "What?!"
Blair chokes on her water.
"Oh dear." Bastion narrows his eyes.
Mindy and Jasmine gasp.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Yuuna yells. "Why the Hell do you think I want to marry Alexis?! She hates me!"
Alexis curses the Supreme King, not risking the glance at Jasmine and Mindy.
Harrington gives a superstar smile. "Oh? Then I guess it's settled. I'm Alexis' fiance."
And something in Alexis snaps.
"No." Alexis says.
Harrington and Yuuna finally turn to face her.
Something is stirring deep inside her.
Something angry.
Something cold.
Something old.
Alexis grabs it with both hands. "You aren't my fiance."
Then she has an idea.
"Not unless you beat me in a Duel." Alexis says.
Harrington and Yuuna gape at her.
"Whoa, Alexis, chill, it's not like he was serious!" Yuuna waves her arms. "You're not a prize to be won, you don't have to-"
"Shut up." Alexis snaps.
Yuuna shuts up for two blissful seconds.
"And when I win, Harington, you have to stay far away from me." Alexis says. "You can't speak to me, you can't look at me, you can't talk to my friends or ask our teachers about me."
Harrington gives her a superstar smile. "Oh? I get it, you wanna put up a play fight. That's fine, I like that in a girl."
Alexis grits her teeth behind her lips.
"Alright then, let's Duel, my Obelisk Pixie." Harrington nods.
Alexis nods.
As Alexis and Harrington prepare for their Duel, Yuuna and the others gather to watch.
"Here we go." Yuuna mutters.
"If this guy Duels like he plays tennis, then it'll be rough going for Alexis." Syrus leans forward.
Bastion nods, arms folded. "She'll likely have a tough time against him, if he's done anything to earn his spot in Obelisk Blue."
"I can't believe she's going through with this, though." Blair murmurs. "She's risking her whole future on the outcome of a card game."
Mindy nods. "No joke. This isn't like Alexis at all. Boys and girls have asked her out before, but she's always just ignored it or said a polite no."
"Then again, no one's just claimed just hours after meeting her for the first time. Harrington is being a total creep." Jasmine folds her arms. "I can't blame her for being pissed."
Yuuna feels sick to her stomach watching this. She's not sure if she can watch it.
"I just hope she can win." Syrus says.
"Me too." Jasmine curls her hand into her lap. "But there are rumours out there that Harrington is just as good as Zane. This'll be tough."
The Slifer Reds jump. "Those are the rumours?!"
Mindy nods. "Yep. They've Duelled a couple times in class and though Zane always wins, it's usually after Harrington brings him down to at least 1000 life points."
The Slifer Reds gasp.
Bastion hums. "He sounds like a formidable opponent."
"Then he must not Duel like he plays tennis." Syrus gulps. "He must Duel even better."
Yuuna whimpers. "Alexis, please win."
She won't be able to live with herself if Alexis loses this Duel.
"Are you ready, my Obelisk Pixie?" Harrington calls.
Alexis nods.
"Duel!" They shout.
HARRINGTON ROSEWOOD: 4000
ALEXIS RHODES: 4000
"Service!" Harrington shouts as he draws.
He looks at his hand, then grins.
"First, I'll volley a spell card at you." Harrington makes his choice and it appears on the field. "Service Ace! Just like a power serve, this card's gonna make you sweat! Here's how it works." Then he picks a card from his hand. "I pick a card and you have to guess if it's a Spell, Trap or Monster. If you guess right, you're fine. But if you guess wrong…" His superstar smile turns ugly, like a villain's smirk. "You get served with a stinging 1500 points of damage."
Alexis narrows her eyes.
Yuuna blinks. "So she just has to guess? Easy, right?"
"Not really." Mindy winces.
Bastion narrows his eyes. "Alexis only has a one in three chance of being right."
"And I don't think Harrington is going to be nice enough to let her have a second chance." Jasmine shakes her head.
"I can see why Harrington said this was going to make her sweat." Syrus holds his fists in front of his face. "I'm getting sweaty just watching."
Blair shakes her head. "She's not though."
Yuuna looks carefully and sure enough, Alexis isn't breaking a sweat at all.
Instead, Alexis looks up at the skyline, where the sun's light is peaking through the open roof. The light hits her gently, making her…
Yuuna's eyes widen.
She's glowing again. No one else can notice it from what she can tell, but Alexis really is glowing. Just like she did in their Duel.
Alexis lowers her head and stares right at Harrington. "Monster."
Harrington blinks, then smirks, waving the card. "Are you sure? You can still change your mind."
Yuuna blinks. What?
Syrus blinks. "Huh? Why is he letting her change her mind?"
"My guess is she's right and he's playing mind games to win, or she's wrong and he's trying to impress her by being nice." Blair shrugs. "I don't know, romance is a mystery."
"I'll drink to that." Yuuna nods.
But later, once this Duel is over.
Alexis repeats. "Monster."
The spectators blink.
"She's not changing her guess?" Mindy tilts her head.
Jasmine nods. "Alexis must be really sure of herself."
"Indeed." Bastion folds his arms. "I hope it was the right choice.
Yuuna frowns. If Alexis is so sure then, is it possible she used her powers as the Princess of Light? Yuuna never thought to ask Yubel about what the Princess of Light's powers were but she wouldn't be surprised if seeing through things is one of them.
Harrington chuckles as he reveals his card. "Oh well, it appears you were right, it was a Monster. So you're safe from my Service Ace."
Harrington's spell card bursts into pixels.
"I'll just lay a facedown and call it a turn." Harrington does just that. "You're up, my Obelisk Pixie."
Alexis draws silently.
"Here we go." Yuuna mutters.
She wants Alexis to win. Please let Alexis win!
"I play the Continuous Spell card White Night Fort." Alexis declares.
Suddenly the temperature drops for real. Icicles spike up behind Alexis, almost to the ceiling, the ice spreading across the ground, under Alexis's boots, under Harrington's trainers, who starts to slip and slide on it.
Yuuna gasps. "What is that?"
White Night? Alexis used Cyber Girls in their Duel, why did she change her Deck?
"The White Night Fort prevents the opponent from activating Traps in the other player's turn." Alexis says. "I play Double Summon, so I can have two Normal Summons this turn. I'll use one to summon Snow Fairy."
A beautiful monster takes to the field, a young woman with light purple skin, wearing dark blue armour on her forearms, lower legs, crouch and chest. On her head is a dark blue helmet that looks almost like a bird's head, with long white armour attached to it like feathers. On her waist is a half skirt that looks more like a bird's tale.
She does a small spin, stopping to show her 1100 ATK points.
"I play the spell Icicle Sacrifice." Alexis points to her right.
Out of the ice appears a sculpture of a man's face.
"It allows me to summon one Icicle Token, which I can use as two sacrifices when summoning a Water monster." Alexis explains. "And because I already played Double Summon, I'll sacrifice it right now."
The Icicle Token starts to crack and crumble.
"To summon my White Night Dragon!" Alexis shouts.
The Icicle Token brusts and there's a massive flash of light, making everyone shout and cover their eyes.
And when the brightness lowers enough for everyone to look, Yuuna gasps.
The monster that Alexis summoned is glowing and it's terrifying. It really is a dragon, with it's entire body seemingly made of ice. It's wings are jagged and stiff, yet they're keeping the monster airborne. It has no eyes, no nostrils, just a jagged horn of ice in it's head and an open mouth with a dark blue tongue.
White Night Dragon roars, it's 3000 ATK points on display.
Harrington screams. "What the hell?! Why is a terrifying monster like that in the Deck of a beautiful girl like Alexis?!" Then he snarls and points an accusing finger at Alexis. "You're nothing like the Obelisk Pixie I thought you were! How dare you lie to m-"
"Snow Fairy, direct attack!" Alexis orders.
Snow Fairy skates across the field and kicks Harrington in the face, making him shout and slip on his ass.
HARRINGTON ROSEWOOD: 2900
ALEXIS RHODES: 4000
"White Night Dragon, direct attack!" Alexis swings a fist forward.
White Night Dragon roars and a blast of blue light comes from it's mouth, heading straight for Harrington, who screams through the attack.
HARRINGTON ROSEWOOD: 0
ALEXIS RHODES: 4000
WINNER: ALEXIS RHODES
The holograms fade, but the silence continues and the cold remains.
"She…" Blair drops her water bottle. "She destroyed him in a One Turn Kill."
"Scratch that. It was a First Turn Kill." Bastion stiffens up.
Syrus whimpers.
"Oh my." Mindy murmurs.
"Alexis…" Jasmine mutters.
Yuuna shivers and shakes and trembles and then, she notices something.
Alexis is shaking too. There's…
Yuuna's eyes widen.
There's frost on the fingers she used to hold her cards.
Alexis turns around and starts walking away from the Duel, towards the spectors. Her eyes are cold and stiff and she's glaring at Yuuna like she's a monster.
That's what makes Yuuna realise what this is.
This is a warning. The next time Yuuna and Alexis Duel, this is the Deck she'll use.
Alexis stops, looking over all of them, but not saying anything. Syrus' teeth are chattering, Blair is glaring at her, Bastion is narrowing his eyes at her, Mindy and Jasmine are looking at her with twin looks of concern and Yuuna is just staring at her.
Alexis glares at her.
Yuuna glares right back.
Alexis walks right past them, not bothering with pleasantries, bumping her shoulder against Yuuna's.
The six of them watch her walk out, completely speechless.
The only sound any of them hear for a while is Harrington's whimpering and crying about losing to Alexis.
Alexis sighs and she sees her breathe when she does.
"Well Ice Princess, I'm surprised. You finally started acting like yourself." White Night Queen muses.
Alexis murmurs. "Perhaps too much."
She remembers the horror on Jasmine and Mindy's faces. She remembers how they held each other and shivered. Even after the Duel was done, they were holding each other.
Alexis' heart aches.
She didn't want her friends to be afraid of her. She never wanted that.
"Nevertheless, that was an impressive display. The Supreme King was so frightened, he was shaking." White Night Queen chuckles."I'm rather proud of you, Princess of Light."
Alexis blinks.
White Night Queen is… proud of her?
Alexis looks at her White Night Deck.
Her true Deck.
White Night Queen has almost never praised her and Alexis can't blame her when she's been such a pathetic princess, barely using her true Deck and hesitating on her hunt for the Supreme King. She feels… happy that White Night Queen is praising her.
"Or maybe she's wrong and this isn't the Supreme King."
"Is it possible that we misfired?"
Alexis stiffens and shakes off her doubts, putting her cards away.
Yuuna Yuki is the Supreme King and now that she's used her true Deck in front of him, it won't be long until they have their rematch.
Alexis walks on.
And when they have their rematch, Alexis will win.
She'll get her brother back.
Whatever it takes.
Bastion usually dedicates his walls to Duel Monster strategies, spending his time after class when he isn't with his friends working hard and memorising the numbers he's running. But lately a small part of his wall has been dedicated to a much more complex problem, one simple math can't help him solve.
He takes a step back and looks over the wall again.
On one side is Yuuna's name and a picture he let her take. Under that is a list of the information he was able to compile of her. Yuuna Yuki is:
Slifer Red, one of two girls in the dorm.
A good Duelist, with a winning streak as far as he can see.
A competitive but friendly style of Duelling with a Dark World Deck.
Been to the Abandoned Dorm.
Unsure about Alexis.
On the other side is Alexis' name and her picture from the student files. It's a little disturbing that any of the students can just get another students name and picture, but it's working out for Bastion's attempt at solving the mystery. Based on his information, Alexis Rhodes is:
Obelisk Blue, one of many girls in the dorm.
A good Duelist, but he hasn't seen her records.
A cold and dominating way of Duelling with a White Night Deck.
Been to the Abandoned Dorm.
Hates Yuuna for unknown reasons.
Above and between the two girls' pictures is a small bubble, with only one word in it.
War.
Bastion hums, closing his eyes, thinking hard.
"I hope you don't regret your choice in the future then, when the war breaks out."
What war? What is the connection between Yuuna Yuki and Alexis Rhodes?
"I need more data." Bastion nods.
It's the only way to get closer to the truth.
So he settles into his computer and gets to work.