Chapter 9: Worries
"I BEG YOUR PARDON?!" Crowler shouted.
Ghassan held out a tape recorder. The two were in Crowler's office. "You heard me. Let Scott and Damian duel Jaden and Syrus or else Chancellor Sheppard's gonna be finding out about our conversation." Ghassan pushed a button on the tape recorder.
"So, you want us to help you sabotage Jaden and get him expelled, right?" A recording of Ghassan's voice played.
"Indeed." A recording of Crowler's voice replied.
Ghassan hit another button to make the tape stop playing. "I think Sheppard would have quite a few questions for you if he found out about this."
Crowler gritted his teeth. "I should have taken that tape recorder away from you when you first failed me." Ghassan previously told him that the recording he previously got had Jaden and Syrus state that they were set up to the girls dorm, so both Ghassan and Crowler agreed that Ghassan should get a recording that doesn't mention they were being set up. He never expected Ghassan to be using the tape recorder to blackmail him.
"Well you didn't. Don't get me wrong Dr. Crowler, I have nothing against you. But the Paradox brothers aren't going to be able to win."
"Wait, how did you even know they were the ones I was hiring?"
"Reasonable guess." Ghassan lied. "You're having Jaden and Syrus do a tag duel, so it's natural that you'd get two of the most renowned tag duelists around."
"Fair enough. But there you go right there. Para and Dox are two of the most renowned tag duelists. They almost beat Yugi Muto and Joey Wheeler back in Duelist Kingdom. Your brother and your friend are skilled duelists, but I sincerely doubt that they're anywhere near that level."
"Yeah. Duelist Kingdom. The rules of Yu-Gi...the rules of Duel Monsters have gone through plenty of changes since then."
"I highly doubt it'll hinder the brothers too much."
"Really? Because if I recall in Duel History class, the main reason they gave Joey and Yugi so much trouble was because of Labyrinth Wall."
"Well true, but-"
"A card which back in Duelist Kingdom, could act as a field spell and turned the game on it's head, something that it's no longer able to do. And to top it all off, back during the time of Duelist Kingdom, players could normal summon level 5 and higher monsters without tributing. Almost all of Para and Dox's monsters were higher than level 4. They'd barely be able to play ANY monsters."
"I'm sure they remade their decks to account for new rules to the game. Besides, those two had spectacular teamwork in their duel against Yugi and Joey. That's essential in a tag duel." Crowler argued.
"But their strategy that made them such a challenge for Yugi and Joey won't be able to work. Do you really want to risk that?"
Crowler was silent for several minutes thinking it over before finally opening his mouth. "Fine. Normally I wouldn't listen to the advice of a lowly Slifer Red, but you make a fair point. Besides, it's not like I have a choice in the matter anyway with your tape recorder."
Ghassan smiled. "Thanks for listening to reason." Ghassn walked out of Crowler's office. 'Things are going great. Jaden and Syrus trespassed on the abandoned dorm, they're at risk of expulsion, and I got Crowler to have Damian and Scott to be their opponents. Now all that's left is for Damian and Scott to beat Jaden and Syrus, and one of our tasks for the Light will be complete.'
Ghassn started to head towards his dorm. 'Still, I should probably have those two practice their synergy. Crowler has a point about how important that is in Tag Duels. I'll contact Scott and Damian to have them get together for deciding which decks they'll use, and combos they can make.'
Ghassan was about to open the door the door to his room he saw three people run out of Jaden's room. 'It's Jaden, Chumley, and...Damian?'
"Hurry guys! We can't let Syrus leave!"
"No need to tell me twice!" Damian called back. The three ran past Ghassan. "Hey Ghassan" Damian quickly said as he was running.
"...WHAT IS HE DOING!?"
"I can't believe anybody could find the Slifer dorm livable." A familiar sounding voice said. Ghassan looked up and saw Chazz walking out of the dorm, standing on the balcony. "Thank god I don't live here."
"Ch-Chazz? What are you doing here?"
Chazz looked down. "Um...do I know you?"
"I'm Damian's older brother. But again, what are you doing here?"
Chazz walked down the steps. "Damian had an idea for me and him to have a tag duel against the slacker and his loser friend. Looks like that isn't happening anytime soon though."
Looks like Damian has succesfully made his way into being Chazz's friend. "Wait...you were willing to help Jaden and Syrus prepare for their duel?"
Chazz laughed. "Don't be ridiculous. The only reason I agreed is so that I could crush Jaden with my Infernity deck and get even with him. I'd love to see him get the boot, but it would be even better to crush him first. But his friend left a note saying that he would just drag Jaden down and how he was leaving the academy."
Ghassan thought. If Syrus left duel academy, maybe Jaden would have to duel on his own. Or even be automatically disqualified. "If Syrus left the academy before the tag duel, would that put Jaden at a disadvantage since he'd lose his tag partner?"
Chazz shook his head. "If that happens, Jaden would just get a replacement tag partner."
"Tch. There goes that idea."
"What idea?"
"Anyway, I'm going after my brother. Need to talk with him. What are you gonna do?"
Chazz shrugged. "I got nothing better to do." Ghassan and Chazz walked towards the direction where Jaden, Damian, and Chumley ran.
As they were walking, Ghassan asked a question. "So, where are your other two flunkies?"
"Those guys? Conklin's on a date. Think her name is Rie or something. Topher didn't want to come because he hates Damian."
"And let me guess, you'd hate Damian too if he decided to make the same bet against you as he did with Topher?"
"Absolutely." Chazz replied.
"...I was joking, but nice to see that my little brother has some really shallow friends."
"I don't need to hear that from a Slifer slacker who looks like he got held back."
"I didn't get held back. I just applied late. Besides, a lower ranked duelist can beat a higher ranked one. You learned that lesson TWICE."
"Feh." Chazz walked up ahead. "What's your grudge against that slacker Jaden anyway?"
"Huh?"
"Damian told me about how you were gonna talk with Crowler about getting him to be one of his opponents in the tag duel."
'Goddamnit Damian.' "Jaden's a slacker even by Slifer standards. He shows up late to his exams, sleeps through any written tests, but cruises by because he's lucky. It makes me sick."
"Huh. Looks like Slifers have some standards after all. By the way, don't walk so close. I don't want to be seen too closely next to a Slifer Red."
"How is Damian friends with you?"
Chazz shrugged. Evidently, it was a mystery even to him how he could be tolerated. After a few minutes of walking, they heard a splash when they neared a rocky shore.
"Help me! I can't swim!" The voice of Syrus cried out.
"And you were about to raft out into the ocean?! That makes sense!" The voice of Jaden responded.
"Huh. Sounds like Syrus is drowning." Ghassn said nonchalantly.
"You don't sound worried." Chazz replied.
"Neither do you."
"Because I know that if he's close enough for us to hear him, then he's in shallow water. What's your excuse?"
Ghassan didn't know the details, but the fact that Syrus was alive and healthy in episodes after Jaden's duel with Zane was a pretty telltale sign that Syrus would be saved. "Call it instinct I guess."
"Hold on! I'm coming!" The voice of Chumley shouted. Another splash was heard.
"See? My instinct never steers me wrong." Ghassan said. Not much time spent walking later, Ghassan and Chazz saw Jaden and Syrus soaking wet by a broken raft in the shallow waters. Chumley was in the water as well, while Damian was on the shore.
"Found you. Damian, what were you doing?" Ghassan and Chazz walked towards Damian.
Damian turned to Ghassan. "Me and Chazz were gonna have a tag duel with Syrus and Jaden. But Syrus tried to use a raft to leave Duel Academy."
"Yeah, for good reason." Syrus said. He turned to Jaden. "Jaden, I'm a lost cause. I'll only drag you down in the tag duel."
"He's right you know." A voice said.
Chazz's eyes widened. "That voice...was that-?"
The six looked up and saw that Alexis and a young man with long blue hair were looking down on the scene from higher ground. "Zane!" Syrus yelled in surprise.
Ghassan turned to Chazz. "So, that's the school's top duelist, right?" He already knew the answer, but the more unaware of this world he seems, the easier it'll be to keep their cover.
Chazz nodded. "He might be the only student at the school whose better than me. Of course, that won't be for long."
'Chazz openly admitting that somebody's a better duelist than him? Zane must be a better duelist than I remember.' The thought ran through Damian and Ghassan's heads simultaneously.
"So, you're leaving Syrus?" Zane asked.
"Well...yeah." Syrus replied.
Zane closed his eyes. "Well it's about time."
"Wow. What an asshole." Damian said. He always remembered that Zane wasn't the nicest of guys even before his edgy heel-turn, but he didn't recall openly telling Syrus to give up on Duel Academy.
Zane didn't respond to Damian's comment, though Alexis glared at Damian. She then looked at Ghassan. Her eyes said it all. 'We need to talk.' Ghassan groaned in annoyance.
Syrus turned to his broken raft, and grabbed one of the pieces.
"Syrus...don't listen to him." Jaden insisted.
Several muffled sobs came out of Syrus. Jaden turned to Zane. "You're his big brother! How can you say that?!"
"Because I know him." Zane replied.
"So you're just going to tell your little brother to give up?" Damian asked.
"Syrus doesn't belong here. I'm just glad he realized it before getting himself hurt."
Damian and Jaden both gritted their teeth. Damian crouched down, picked up a stone, and hurled it at Zane.
"Zane!" Alexis yelled. It looked like she was about to try and deflect it, but Zane caught the stone as it came towards him.
"Looks like I struck a nerve." Zane said.
"I just don't like shitty older brothers." Damian replied.
Ghassan groaned in annoyance. He wouldn't deny that he was kinda pissed at Zane too. But Damian's outburst for the sake of someone else confirmed Ghassan's worries. Damian has officially grown attached to the world, and the people in it. This'll throw a wrench into things.
"I'm challenging you to a duel." Damin told Zane.
"You'll get destroyed." Chazz said to Damian. "You know that right?"
Ghassan groaned. 'Of course he'd try to duel against Zane.'
"No way! I already decided that I'm gonna face Zane!" Jaden yelled back.
Syrus gasped and turned back to Jaden. "No! Jaden, don't do it!"
Zane looked at Damian. "I'll pay you back for the rock soon enough." Zane turned to Jaden. "But I'm more interested in facing the Slifer who beat Crowler."
Damian sighed. "Fine. I'll duel you at another time then."
Jaden smiled. "Then get your game on."
Chazz chuckled. "Seeing Zane crush that slacker should make for some good entertainment."
Zane turned around. "We'll duel at the harbor. See you there." Zane walked away, Alexis following.
"Good luck slacker. You'll need it. Come on Damian." Chazz walked away as well, heading towards the harbor. Damian was about to follow, but Ghassan grabbed Damian's arm.
"What?" Damian asked.
"We're talking after Jaden and Zane's duel." Ghassan whispered. Damian nodded. Ghassan let go, and Damian followed Chazz. Ghassan then turned to Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley, who were getting out of the water. "So I heard that Zane's a really good duelist. You're gonna have a hard time against him Jaden."
Jaden smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
On Zane's side of the field was a giant two-headed dragon-like robot, along with a sarcophagus. On Jaden's side of the field was a figure with a clay body and the face of Elemental Hero bubbleman sticking out of the center of it. It was taking a defensive stance. (Zane 1600/Jaden 2500)
"My Elemental Hero Mudballman (1900/3000) has more defense points than your Cyber Twin Dragon (2800/2100) has attack points. It won't matter how many times it can attack, it won't break through."
"Maybe, but that won't last for long." Zane drew a card.
Chazz chuckled. "If the slacker thinks that'll be enough to protect him from Zane, he's more hopeless than I thought."
"If Jaden survives this turn, he'll win the duel." Damian whispered to Ghassan.
"Wait, seriously?" Ghassan asked.
Damian nodded. "Jaden had Winged Kuriboh and Transcendent Wings in his hand when Zane beat him. If he lasted the turn, he'd be able to summon Winged Kuriboh LV 10."
"And use that to destroy Zane's monster and deplete his life points." Ghassan realized.
Damian nodded. "Though considering how the duel's going the same way as it did in canon, I doubt that."
"Now that it's my second standby phase since I activated Different Dimension Capsule, I can add the card to my hand." The sarcophagus shattered as Zane added a card from his deck to his hand. "You dueled well Jaden, but not well enough."
"Hey, gimme what you got! I'm ready!" Jaden replied.
"I know you are. A good duelist is ready for anything."
Damian scoffed. "So as long as you're not his brother, Zane will treat you with respect eh?"
Syrus's eyes widened. "No...you got it wrong."
"Huh?" Chumley responded. Damian, Ghassan, and Chumley turned their heads to Syrus.
"All this time, I thought Zane lost faith in me because of a bad play...but that wasn't the only reason."
"First I activate De-Fusion to return my Cyber Twin Dragon to my fusion deck so that I can summon the two Cyber Dragon's (2100/1600) from my graveyard!" Cyber Twin Dragon disappeared in a trail of light before two Cyber Dragon's took it's place.
"When I was little, there was this bully that was always giving me trouble. So I challenged him to a duel. When I thought I won, well...I said some really immature things." Syrus said.
"Next, I activate the spell card Power Bond. This lets me fusion summon a Machine monster from my Fusion Deck, and it's attack points are doubled!" Jaden gasped in shock. "I fuse the two Cyber Dragons on my field with the Cyber Dragon in my hand to summon Cyber End Dragon! (4000-8000/2800) A three-headed mechanical dragon with large metal wings appeared on Zane's side of the field.
"Wha-8000?!" Chumley yelled in shock. "But...but Jaden will still hold out, won't he? Mudballman's in defense mode." Chumley yelled out to Jaden. "Just hang in there! If you survive this turn, Zane will lose because of Power Bond's nasty side effect!"
"It's true. Power Bond deals damage to the user equal to the ammount of attack points gained through the effect. But.." Alexis began to say.
"Cyber End Dragon does piercing damage." Chazz stated. So when his monster attacks Mudballman..."
"Jaden's toast." Damian finished.
"It was a fun duel Jaden." Zane said.
Jaden smiled. "Right back at ya Zane."
Syrus raised his head. "It wasn't just knowing how to play Power Bond that Zane wanted to teach me. I see it now. What he wanted me to do was to treat my opponent with respect."
Damian raised an eyebrow. 'I...don't think that was in the dub.'
"Cyber End Dragon, attack Mudballman! Eternal Evolution Burst!" Energy formed in each mouth of the mechanical dragon before it let out three streams of energy at Mudballman, destroying it. (Jaden 2500-0)
Jaden fell to the ground. "Jaden!" Syrus yelled. He began to ran up towards his friend, but stopped when he saw Jaden smile and raise up his head.
"Thanks for the great duel Zane." Jaden said.
Zane smiled. He then took a look at Syrus. On his little brother's face was something he never saw from him before. Determination. 'It looks like you learned your lesson.' Zane started to walk away. 'Good luck on your duel little brother.'
Chazz turned to Jaden. "Serves you right for not knowing your place slacker."
"I'll get him next time. Besides" Jaden smiled. "It looks like Zane views me as a worthy opponent."
"In your dreams. He just wanted to make you feel better."
Jaden shrugged, and turned to Syrus. "You have a pretty amazing brother there Syrus."
Syrus nodded, and turned to Jaden. "Yeah. I have TWO of them."
Damian's eyes widened. 'That DEFINITLEY wasn't in the dub.'
Jaden paused for a little bit before he and Syrus both started laughing.
"Ugh. Can you not spoil the feeling it is to see you lose?" Chazz asked. "Whatever. I'm outta here." Chazz walked off.
"How about we get working on your deck Syrus?" Jaden asked. "This time, we'll make it so that you can play that Power Bond card."
Syrus nodded. "For sure. Now I know how to play it, not just use it."
Chumley's stomach rumbled. "You know what I could use? Some grilled cheese sandwiches?"
Syrus and Jaden's stomachs rumbled as well. "Not if I scarf them all down first Chumley!" Jaden ran off.
"Hey, wait up!" Syrus ran after Jaden.
"Ah man, more running?!" Chumley ran off as well.
'Well, the grilled cheese sandwich thing is definitley still there. Still...with the "respect your opponent thing" Zane has, and Syrus now viewing Jaden as a brother...this world definitely still has elements of the Japanese dub as well. That means...' Damian thought about The Light of Destruction. In the 4kids dub, the Light of Destruction's ultimate goal was to get everybody on the planet to worship it. In the original version however, it's goals were a lot more fitting for it's name. 'I have a bad feeling about what The Light of Destruction has planned now.' Damian thought.
Ghassan walked up to Damian. As he did so, Alexis walked up to Ghassan. "We need to talk." The two simultaneously said.
Damian already knew Ghassan wanted to talk with him, but he was taken aback by Alexis. "Wait, what? Why do you want to talk with Ghassan?" Damian asked Alexis.
"I want to know how you knew about my brother." Alexis said.
"We don't have time for this. Come on Damian." Ghassan grabbed Damian by the arm and ran off, dragging him along.
"Hey, stop!" Alexis called out. They didn't stop. Alexis was about to run off after them but stopped. 'Even if I catch up to them, then what? It's not like that'll make him answer me.' Alexis clenched her fist. 'There's got to be a way I can get them to talk.'
When Ghassan and Damian entered the woods, Ghassan stopped running and let go of Damian. "Fuckin' Alexis. We really don't need any complications." Ghassan said. He then turned to Damian. "Anyway Damian, I wanted to talk with you. You've started to get too attached to this place."
"I'm just making friends." Damian replied. "Keeps a cover you know?"
"It's not just keeping a cover. You're willing to help Jaden and Syrus out with their decks for the tag duel. Do I need to remind you that we WANT them to lose?"
"Well yeah, but..."
"And not only that, but you threw a rock at Zane for being an ass to Syrus."
"Oh come on! I saw that you were angry about what he said too!"
"Yeah, but the difference is, I composed myself. Besides, it looks like Zane was just trying to teach Syrus a lesson anyway. The point is, you care about these people. How do I know you won't throw the tag duel?"
"Dude, I want to get back home as much as you do. I won't let Jaden and Syrus win on purpose."
Ghassan shook his head. "I'm not going to risk you sabotaging this. I'm gonna talk with Crowler and have you replaced by either me, or Chazz." Zane popped in his mind as well, but he was worried Zane would throw the duel for Syrus's sake.
Damian sighed. "How about we duel over it?"
"No way."
"And why's that?"
"Because you almost always win."
"Exactly. I have a better chance at beating Jaden and Syrus than you do. Until you came to this dimension, you haven't dueled in like, three years. And you lost to Alexis who was using her crappy Cyber Girls deck while I beat Chazz who used a more up to date Infernity deck."
"Whatever. Scott's gonna be with me, so we'll be fine." Ghassan insisted.
"Scott almost lost to Jaden while Jaden was refusing to use most of his fusion monsters."
"Scott held back, and passed up an oppertunity to beat Jaden earlier."
"After the duel, even Scott wasn't sure if he would have won if Jaden used fusion monsters Ghassan." Damian pointed out. "Jaden can make giant turnarounds when dueling. You really wanna risk not having me go against him when I not only has a better shot at beating him than you do, but I know most of his cards?"
Ghassan gritted his teeth. "I'll think about it. Still a few days before the tag duel." Ghassan walked away.
Damian looked up at the sky. 'Still, if we DO accomplish what the Light wants of us, then there might be a lot of blood on our hands.'
Several ideas went through my head when I planned out this chapter weeks ago, such as a version where Ghassan has a rematch with Alexis, and a version where Damian and Jaden duel each other to see who gets to be the one to duel Zane, but I think I'm most satisfied with this. It's nice to have another chapter without much dueling to give some breathing room and be more about character interactions. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and are looking forward to the next one!
