Chapter 6: Chazz's Test Run
Ghassan saw nothing but a white void. He tried to look around, but he realized he had no physical body. "Wh-where am I?" He asked. He then realized that he was able to talk.
"You've made scarcely any progress." A telepathic voice said.
Ghassan immediately realized who was talking to him. Ghassan watched as two red eyes appeared in the void and a mouth made out of energy appeared. The Light of Destruction. "Look, it's only been a month. There'll be plenty of oppertunities to expel Jaden along the road. We already have a plan set up for when he trespasses onto the Abandoned Dorm. Two of us will duel him and Syrus, win, and get them both expelled."
"You already lost a duel against his friend. Another one of you almost lost when he was at a handicap-"
"And both me and Scott put ourselves at handicaps. I avoided using my extra deck until part way through the duel, and Scott avoided using his best deck and even then he still held back against Jaden." Ghassan interupted.
There was silence before The Light of Destruction spoke up again. "I didn't contact you only to reprimand you. I have important information for you if you want me to deliver you to your home."
"Wait, what? You told us that you'll bring us back if we get Jaden Yuki out of Duel Academy!"
"Yes. That was a requirement. That doesn't mean it was the ONLY requirement. I was intending to save this for after Jaden Yuki was eliminated so you wouldn't feel overwhelmed, but at the rate of your progress, that won't happen until the second year."
Ghassan gritted his teeth. "What is it?"
"Ever since Jaden Yuki and that creature of darkness nearly destroyed me, my power has severely weakened. Dragging you three and your decks from your dimension to this timeline took nearly all of my remaining energy."
"So let me guess, you want us to find a way to restore your power, right?"
The Light of Destruction used it's make-shift mouth to smile. "Indeed. Thankfully a host of mine is stealing the souls of duelists for me to gain power from. But it's far from enough to restore me to my original strength. Find a way to bring me to my full power."
"But...how do we do that?"
"That's up to you three." The eyes and mouth of the Light of Destruction disappeared before the white void around Ghassan shined brighter and brighter. "But as a suggestion, a few souls of people you don't know is an acceptable sacrifice to get back home, is it not?" Ghassan could have sworn he heard telepathic laughter before he wore up.
"The Light talked with you too, huh?" Scott asked.
Ghassan nodded. "I think it's fair to say that wasn't a regular dream." He, Ghassan, and Damian were talking with each other after the bell rang. They were all whispering to make sure they don't draw too much attention.
"So we got to do more than just expel Jaden. But...restore it to his original power? How are we gonna do that?" Damian wondered.
Ghassan didn't even consider the option of stealing souls to power up The Light of Destruction. Disregarding the morality issue of it, none of them even knew how to do it. "Damian, do you remember any way people mystically gained power in the show?"
Damian thought. "Well, Yubel fed off somebody's inner darkness to recover after she dueled Zane. Think the Light can do that?"
Ghassan and Scott shrugged. "Still, Yubel's a spirit of darkness. Pretty different ball park with her." Scott said.
Damian kept digging through his memory. "I think there was also some way in season 1 where a guy restored his youth and strength. I just can't remember how."
"Keep thinking. You might remember." Ghassan said.
"It was near the end of the Shadow Riders arc, I know that for sure. I don't THINK it was Banner who did that."
"You're the biggest fan of GX out of the three of us. How don't you remember?" Ghassan asked.
"I only watched the Shadow Riders arc, like, twice. Once back when I was in Elementary School." Damian replied.
"Try to recall the Shadow Riders." Scott suggested. "Maybe you can remember from that. One was the thing posessing Alexis's brother, and another was Banner right?"
Damian groaned. Times like these were where he wished his brother and Scott watched the anime more often. "Other than those two, there was a vampire woman, an amazon woman, a guy called Titan, and a group of actual Duel Monsters with their leader being called Don...something. Oh yeah, and some pharaoh guy too."
Ghassan thought. "If it's not Banner or Nightshroud, and the person who did it was a man, then it's gotta be either Titan, the pharaoh, or the Don guy-"
Damian punched his palm. "I just remembered!" Damian got so excited that he forgot to keep his voice down. A couple of students gave him awkward looks. Damian hid an embarassed blush before whispering again. "There was a leader of the Shadow Riders. I don't remember his name, but he was the guy who turned young again. He used those Egyptian God rip-offs."
Ghassan thought. "Ok, I think I have an idea on how we'll-"
"Hey! Freshie!" The three turned and saw that Chazz and his two flunkies, Conklin and Topher were standing by their edge of the desk. Topher seemed out of place due to wearing a Slifer Red jacket while Conklin and Chazz were wearing Obelisk Blue, but all of them knew why that was the case. Chazz was eyeing Damian. "I've been seeing a lot more people in the Obelisk Blue dorm start wearing red jackets. And something tells me it isn't a fashion statement."
"Yeah. During the exam, I thought they assigned me a Slifer Red for my opponent like they did with Chazz." Conklin said.
"I was your opponent." Topher pointed out.
"...Oh yeah."
Damian ignored the fodder. "I can't only have one Obelisk Blue jacket for the entire year you know. It'll get messy quick. I gotta have spares." Damian replied.
"Something tells me that there's more to it than that." Chazz accused.
"Well, it does provide an easier way for me to show proof that I've been beating other Obelisks." Damian answered. Ghassan groaned. Damian's been intentionally confusing the system at Duel Academy? He really didn't get the 'don't draw too much attention' part of their mission.
"Well you know what? I've been meaning to test out this new deck I bought online the other day. And a guy who beat several Obelisks can make an adequate practice partner before I get even with that Slifer Slacker." Chazz said. Just like in canon, it was evident that ever since he lost to Jaden's Winged Kuriboh LV 10, Chazz held a grudge against Jaden.
Damian raised an eyebrow. 'A deck he bought online? It could be a coincidence but...' Damian stood up. "Sure. I'm game."
Chazz smiled. "Meet me in front of the main building in 10 minutes." Chazz turned and walked away, his flunkies following.
Damian sat back down, barely capable of stopping himself from screaming in joy. "Finally. After a month at this place, I get to duel a major character. The whole month has just been dueling fodder and doing schoolwork."
Ghassan tapped his brother's shoulder. "Damian, it's one thing to confuse people by wearing an Obelisk Blue jacket when you're a Ra Yellow. But did you seriously start making Obelisk Blue's wear Slifer Red jackets?"
Damian made a 'so-so' gesture. "I challenge any Obelisk who'll accept, make a bet with them that I'll pay for them at the card shop for the year if they win, and that in exchange, they have to wear a Slifer Red jacket whenever they can if I win."
Ghassan realized that's why Damian asked for several of the spare Slifer Red jackets when Ghassan moved in to his Slifer Red dorm. "Dude, this is going to draw way too much attention to us."
"Relax. Making people wear Slifer Red clothes has nothing to do with our mission. It's just for fun."
"He has a point. Seems harmless at the end of the day." Scott said.
Ghassan sighed. "Fine, whatever. Let's watch your duel."
Damian grinned and the three stood up, heading outside the classroom.
"Looks like you shown up." Chazz said. He was outside of the main building, Duel Disk at the ready. Conklin, Topher, and a small crowd of other students were watching.
"I've been trying to get a duel with you for a month now." Damian got out his Duel Disk and put it on his arm. "There's no way I'd pass it up."
The buttons on their duels disks both turned to red as they activated them "DUEL!" They simulataneously said. (Damian 4000/ Chazz 4000)
"So, gonna make that bet with me?" Chazz asked. "I win, you pay for me at the card shop for a year, you win, I wear a Slifer Red jacket?"
Damian shook his head, not as certain if he'd be able to win after hearing Chazz got a new deck. "You're too good of a duelist for me to risk making the bet." To be honest, with all the money Damian acquired selling rare cards online over the past month, he probably could afford it if he lost. But he'd rather that money be used for himself than somebody else.
"Heh. Smart decision." Chazz drew a card. "I summon Infernity Guardian (1200/1700) in defense position!" A shield with a flaming skull in the center appeared on Chazz's side of the field.
Damian paled. 'Shit. Ghassan and Scott won't catch on will they?' Damian glanced at Ghassan and Scott. Scott didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. Ghassan looked a little confused, but seemed to shrug it off. 'Ok. I can probably come up with an excuse after the duel's over.'
"I set three cards face down and end my turn."
"My turn." Damian drew a card. Immediately afterwards, one of the set cards on Chazz's side of the field rose up. "I activate the trap card, Phantom Hand. With it, if I have an Infernity monster on my side of the field, I can remove from play all cards in my hand until my next standby phase." The two cards in Chazz's hand faded away.
While several of the other students seemed confused what the point of a card like that was, Damian was well aware why Chazz did that. "I summon F.A. Whip Crosser (0/1000) in attack position!" A man riding a futuristic blue and yellow motorcycle appeared on Damian's side of the field. "Whip Crosser gains 300 attack points for every level it has." (Whip Crosser 0-1200/1000) "Next I activate the field spell card F.A. Circuit Grand Prix!" The area around them change. The two duelists were standing in a stadium with futuristic roads and holographic bleachers.
"Same field spell you used agains Topher eh?"
"My Whip Crosser gains a level now that an F.A spell has been activated. And naturally, it gains 300 more attack points since it gained a level." (Whip Crosser 1200-1500/1000 LV 5). "Battle phase! And due to Circuit's effect, my F.A's gain an extra two levels." Electric sparks burst out of the motorcycle. (1500-2100 LV 7) "Whip Crosser, attack!" The monster revved up his motorcycle and charged at Infernity Guardian.
"Infernity Guardian's effect! If I have no cards in my hand, it can't be destroyed by battle or by card effects!"
"No way!" Damian yelled in fake shock. Whip Crosser rammed into Infernity Guardian, but the latter remained standing. "I set two cards face down and end my turn. Since the battle phase is over, Whip Crosser's attack goes back to normal." (2100-1500 LV 5)
"Hey Scott, weren't Infernity monsters not introduced until 5D's?" Ghassan whispered.
Scott shrugged. "Maybe 5D's was just when they appeared in the anime, but the cards were made in the GX era. Kinda like how Arc-V was the debut of X-Saber's and Gem-Knights in the anime but they were in the card game before that."
"Watching the duel as well Scott?" Ghassan and Scott turned around and saw that Bastion was walking towards them.
"Hey Bastion." Scott said. "This is my friend, Ghassan."
"Pleasure to meet you." Bastion offered a handshake, which Ghassan accepted.
"So, what brings you here?" Ghassan wondered.
"I'm curious to see the new deck I overheard Chazz bragging about recently."
"Yeah, he mentioned something like that to us to." Scott recalled.
Bastion turned to see the field. "I never heard of these Infernity monsters before, but I think it's fair to assume that they benefit from having an empty hand." As expected of Ra Yellow's top student. After only seeing two cards, he found out their core theme.
"So, did you find out about his deck from when he was talking to us?" Ghassan wondered.
Bastion shook his head. "It was before classes began. He told his friends about being the first to get his hands on never before seen monsters. I have to admit, I'm curious to see them."
"Yeah, I can understand that." Scott replied.
Chazz drew. Then the two cards he previously removed from play later returned in his hand. "I activate Graceful Charity. This card lets me draw three cards and then I discard two." Chazz did exactly that. "Then, I tribute my Infernity Guardian to normal summon Infernity Archer (2000/1000)!" Infernity Guardian disappeared into light, and in it's place, an archer covered in black and orange armor appeared. "I set a card face down. Then I activate the effect of Phantom Hand again to remove all cards in my hand from play." The single card in Chazz's hand disappeared. "Battle phase!"
"And since it's the battle phase, Whip Crosser gains two extra levels due to Circuit Grand Prix." (1500-2100/1000 LV 7)
"Now it's too strong for Chazz's monster to destroy." Bastion stated. Ghassan and Scott said nothing. They knew that explaining the effect of a monster that they were supposed to have never seen before would look suspicous.
"I activate Infernity Archer's effect. If I have no cards in my hand, Infernity Archer can attack directly!" The monster aimed it's bow at Damian.
"Whip Crosser's effect activates. Whenever you activate the effect of a monster that has a lower level than it, you take 300 damage!"
Electricity built up in the hands of the motorcycle rider before he shot a bolt of electricity at Chazz. (Chazz 4000-3700) "It's worth it. Infernity Archer, attack directly! Infernal Crossbow!" Infernity Archer fired, a giant arrow heading towards Damian.
"I activate my trap card, Magic Cylinder! This negates your attack, and sends the damage back at you!"
Chazz smiled. "Sorry, but I activate my own trap card, Infernity Barrier! If a spell, trap, or monster effect is activated while I have no cards in my hand and an Infernity monster, the card's negated and destroyed!"
Damian gritted his teeth. The arrow continued on it's path, and shot through Damian causing him to fall to the ground. (Damian 4000-2000)
"I end my turn." Chazz stated. "And F.A Whip Crosser's attack points go back to normal." (F.A Whip Crosser 2100-1500/1000 LV 5)
Damian stood up and drew a card. 'I activate Pot of Greed." Damian drew two cards, looked at one of them, and smiled. "I switch my F.A Whip Crosser to defense mode. Next I activate, F.A. Test Run! With this card, by switching the battle postion of an F.A monster I control, I can destroy any card on the field. I switch my Whip Crosser back to attack mode to destroy Infernity Archer!" From Damian's card, a blast of electricity shot at Infernity Archer.
"I don't think so. From my graveyard, I activate the effect of my discarded Infernity Patriarch." Chazz ejected a card from his graveyard, and put it in his pocket. "By removing it from play, I can stop one Infernity monster from being destroyed." A barrier formed around Infernity Archer, the electricity bouncing off it harmlessly.
"Fine. F.A Whip Crosser, attack Infernity Archer! And since it's the battle phase-"
"Whip Crosser gains two levels, and 600 attack points. I get it." More electricity was generated from Whip Crosser (1500-2100/1000 LV 7) as it charged at Infernity Archer. "I activate my trap card, Hate Buster! When you attack a Fiend monster I control I destroy both of our monsters." Damian gritted his teeth. As Whip Crosser headed towards Infernity Archer, the latter started to glow before exploding, destroying Whip Crosser. "Normally it'd also do damage to you equal to the original attack of your destroyed monster, but since your monster's original attack is 0, you get off easy." Chazz said.
"I place a card face down and a card in defense position. I end my turn." Damian stated.
Chazz drew a card, looked at it, and smiled. "If I draw this card, and it's the only card in my hand when I do, I get to special summon it. I summon Infernity Archfiend!" (1800/1200) On Chazz's side of the field, a thin demon-like creature with four red-eyes, a dark robe, spiky orange hair, and what seemed to be a green eye on top of it's head appeared. "Next I activate Infernity Archfiend's effect. When he's special summoned while I have no cards in my hand, I get to add one Infernity card from my deck to my hand. I choose my Infernity Necromancer."
"For your first time using a deck, you sure are getting the hang of it pretty quickly." Damian said.
"Heh heh. Goes to how how skilled of a duelist I am." Chazz added the monster to his hand. After that, the standby phase occured, causing his banished card to rematerialize in his hand. "I summon my Infernity Necromancer (0/2000) in defense position." A skeleton-like creature with long green hair and whose lower body was compltely covered by a purple cloak appeared on Chazz's side of the field. "I activate Phantom Hand's effect to remove the card in my hand from play. Now that my hand's empty again, I activate the effect of Infernity Necromancer."
"Let me guess. Since it has Necromancer in it's name, you get to revive an Infernity monster." Damian stated. Even if he wasn't already aware of Infernity Necromancer's effect, it didn't take a genius to guess what it would be.
"Bingo. And you can guess who I'm summoning right?" Damian said nothing. "I'm bringing back my Infernity Archer!" Infernity Necromancer chanted before Infernity Archer reappeared on Chazz's side of the field.
"This isn't looking good for Damian. If Archer attacks directly, he's finished." Scott said.
"Sorry, but not happening." Damian said. "I activate my trap card, Bottomless Trap Hole. When you summon a monster with 1500 attack points, I destroy it and remove it from play."
"What?!" Chazz yelled. Immediately a red energy vortex appeared below Infernity Archer. The monster tried to resist, but soon, it was pulled in before the vortex closed. "Grr. Fine then. Infernity Archfiend, destroy his defense position monster! Hell Pressure!" The demon generated an alchemic circle above the set card. From it, a hand made out of red energy appeared, which crushed and destroyed the set monster.
"You just activated the effect of Flying Kamakiri #1. Since it was destroyed by battle, I special summon a WIND monster with 1500 or less attack points. I choose my F.A Sonic Meister! (0/1000)." The silver and red race car appeared on Damian's side of the field. It then built up electricity as it's attack points increased. (0-1200/1000 LV 4)
Chazz gritted his teeth. He knew what was coming. "I end my turn."
Damian drew. "I activate my set card F.A Dead Heat. Since an F.A trap was activated, Sonic Meister gets an extra level." (1200-1500/1000 LV 5) "Now, battle phase! And due to Circuit Grand Prix's effect, Sonic Meister gains two more levels!" (1500-2100/1000 LV 7) "Now that Sonic Meister is level 7, it can make two attacks on monsters. Sonic Meister, destroy Infernity Necromancer!" The race car rammed into the skeleton-like creature destroying it. "Next, I activate the second effect of my Circuit Grand Prix."
"It has a second effect?" Chazz asked.
Damian nodded. "Once per turn, if a F.A monster I control destroys a monster by battle, I get to draw a card." Damian drew from his deck.
"And since an F.A spell was activated, Sonic Meister gains an additional level." Bastion surmized. Sonic Meister built up more electricity in it's twin engines. (2100-2400/1000 LV 8)
Damian looked at his card and smiled. "Look what I drew. I activate the quick-play spell F.A Downforce! It makes Sonic Meister gain two levels until the end of the turn, and due to Sonic Meister's own effect, it gains a third level." (2400-3300/1000 LV 11) Now Sonic Meister, destroy Infernity Archfiend!" The race car rammed into the demon, destroying it. (Chazz 3700-2200). "I end my-."
"Not so fast. I activate the effect of my Infernity Avenger (0/0). When an Infernity Monster I control is destroyed by battle, if I have no cards in my hand, I special summon him and he has the same amount of levels as my destroyed monster." A tiny skeleton dressed like a cowboy and wielding two guns appeared on Chazz's side of the field. "Since Infernity Archfiend was a level 4, Infernity Avenger's a level 4 monster as well."
"Anyway, I end my turn" Damian said." The electricity from Sonic Meister's engines died down a lot. (3300-2100/1000 LV 7)
Chazz drew a card. Then the single card he previously had in his hand rematerialized. "You're doing better than I expected. I thought this would have ended a while ago. But you won't last long."
"You sure about that? Because I think I have the upper-hand here." Damian retorted.
Chazz smirked. "Not for long. I place a card face down. Then I summon my Infernity Patriarch (1000/2000)." A man dressed like a religious bishop, but in blue and orange clothing, appeared on Chazz's side of the field.
"A second one eh?"
Chazz nodded. "Now hold onto your seats. Because you're about to see something you never seen before." Chazz seemed to be talking to everybody watching the duel as well as Damian.
"Hmm. What's he referring to?" Bastion wondered.
"I don't...really...know." Ghassan suddenly remembered what kind of monster Infernity Avenger was. He leaned closer to Scott, and whispered. "Do you think-?" Scott nodded. "But...how?"
Damian was unfazed. The second he found out that Chazz was the one who bought Damian's old Infernity deck was when he saw this coming.
"I tune my level 4 Infernity Avenger with my Level 4 Infernity Patriarch!" Chazz's monsters jumped into the air. Infernity Avenger transformed into four green circles which Infernity Patriarch went through.
"It's...it's a synchro summon!" Ghassan yelled.
"Watch as the sinister spirits that inhabit each of these creatures combine into one. I summon forth the Infernity Doom Dragon! (3000/2400)" A green flash occured before a large black dragon with four claws, four eyes, and a cluster of green stones sticking out of it's head appeared on Chazz's side of the field.
"Wh-what kind of summoning is this?!" Bastion yelled.
"How...how did Chazz get his hands on one?" Scott asked.
Chazz chuckled as the Synchro Monster behind him let out a roar.
Looks like Damian's plan to come up with a fake source for Synchro and XYZ monsters has led to Chazz getting his hands on a Synchro monster. And who knows if he has more? And how will our protagonists find a way to restore The Light of Destruction to his original strength?
I really enjoyed writing Chazz having an Infernity deck. I figured if he was to have a deck sold by Damian, it would make sense for it to be Infernities seeing as how his first deck also consisted of hellish demons. But to anybody who thinks that this'll replace his Union, Armed Dragon, or Ojama deck, don't worry. Infernities will simply be a deck he switches between just like in canon. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and are looking forward to the next one.
