Chapter 14: Pride
"What do you mean you refuse?!" Crowler yelled. He was currently talking with Scott, inside the latter's dorm room.
"I'm not interested in dueling Chazz. If you want to demote him to Ra Yellow, get somebody like Damian to duel him. He beat Jaden and Syrus alongside me." Scott answered. 'If I duel to get Chazz demoted, he might tell the others that we asked for him to lie about him recommending us to Crowler for the tag duel. Would rather not take that risk.'
"Are you mad? Damian Abunura is about a third as much a thorn in my side as Jaden Yuki! He's been making a mockery out of the Obelisk Blue uniform for months! Besides, while his grades aren't bad, your grades are spectacular."
Scott shrugged. "Why do you want to demote Chazz anyway?"
"Because he failed at defeating that slacker despite the rare cards he had. He's useless, so I need to find a talented Ra Yellow to take his place in regards to getting Jaden Yuki out of the picture."
"Can't you just...promote a Ra Yellow to Obelisk Blue and leave Chazz be?" Scott asked.
Crowler shook his head. "He lost to a Slifer and made me look bad as I was the one who set up the duel between the two. Mister Princeton needs to be taught a lesson."
"Well, it's not gonna be from me. I'll get to Obelisk Blue some other way. Sorry Crowler."
Crowler gritted his teeth. "Fine! But I hope you know that other way won't come for a very long time, if at all." Crowler stormed out of the dorm room. 'Blast it all. If Scott won't be my new Obelisk Blue student to get rid of Jaden, who will? I don't like it, but I may have to result in promoting Damian after all.'
Crowler walked out of the dorm and saw two Ra Yellow students dueling. Damian Abunura and Bastion Misawa. On Damian's side of the field was Frightfur Leo (2400/2000) and two face-down cards. On Bastion's side of the field was Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3800), Dimensional Fissure, and two face-down cards. Obviously, the duel already started some time ago.
"Next, I activate Frightfur Leo's effect! At the cost of being unable to attack directly this turn, it can destroy one monster you control and do damage equal to your destroyed monster's attack points!" Damian stated. "With you only having 1200 life points left, you'll lose all your life points!"
"I'm well aware of it's effect. I saw you use it on Jaden and Syrus last week after all." Bastion replied.
"Alright then. Go Frightfur Leo, Wheelsaw Panic!" The small sawblades on top of Frightfur Leo's head fired at Basion's monster.
"I activate my trap card, Magnet Force!" As the sawblades were about to strick Valkyrion, they were all suddenly repelled.
"Let me guess. Magnet Force prevents your Magnet Warriors from being destroyed by card effects?"
"Well...technically it prevents all rock or machine type monsters I control from being affected by my opponent's monster effects, but your answer works as well."
Damian shrugged. "I end my turn."
Bastion drew. "Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, attack Frightfur Leo!" Bastion's monster jumped in the air, and slashed the Frightfur in two. (Damian 1800-700) "I set a card facedown and end my turn."
Damian drew a card. "I activate my face-down card, Escape from the Dark Dimension. I'm able to special summon one of my banished Dark type monsers. And thanks to Dimensional Fissure, Frightfur Kraken (2200/3000) got banished after Valkyrion destroyed it a while ago." The demonic plush Kraken repappeared in defense position on Damian's side of the field.
"Strange. Why not special summon Frightfur Leo?"
"Frightfur Leo can only be special summoned by fusion summon. Anyway, I activate Frightfur Kraken's effect to send Valkyrion to the grave!" Frightfur Kraken hurled a tomohawk at Valkyrion, causing it to disappear in light. "Frightfur Kraken can't attack directly the turn it uses it's effect, which is why I summoned it in defense mode. I set a card face down and end my turn."
Bastion drew a card, put it in his hand, and got out another one. "I activate my quick-play spell, Burial from a Different Dimension. This lets me send three of my monsters that are removed from play to the graveyard. I choose to return Alpha the Electromagnet Warrior, Beta the Electromagnet Warrior, and Gamma the Electromagnet Warrior!"
"Electromagnet Warrior?" Crowler asked.
"I remove from play the three Electromagnet Warriors I sent to my graveyard to special summon Berserkion the Electromagna Warrior!" (3000/2800) Another magnet warrior wielding a spear appeared on Bastion's side of the field. The monster was made of a combination of pink, green, and silver magnets.
"I...I've never seen that monster before!" Crowler stated in shock.
"I activate Berserkion's effect. By removing from play a level 4 or lower 'Magnet Warrior' in my graveyard, I can target a monster you control and destroy it. The only Magnet Warrior in my graveyard is Delta the Magnet Warrior." Berserkion pointed it's spear at Frightfur Kraken before unleashing a bolt of electricity at it.
Damian smiled. "I activate my trap card Frightfur March! When you target a Frightfur monster with a card effect, I can negate the effect and destroy that card!" A barrier appeared around Frightfur Kraken, reflecting the bolt of electricity back at Berserkion, causing it to explod. "Don't you hate it when your trump card gets taken out before it can do anything?" 'I could special summon another Frightfur with Frightfur March by tributing Kraken, but I think I'll keep it. Just in case Bastion plays a strong monster, Frightfur Kraken has the highest defense points so I'll have protection.'
"Berserkion has more uses than just destroying a monster. I activate Berserkion's effect! When it's destroyed, I can special summon Alpha the Electromagnet Warrior (1700/1100), Beta the Electromagnet Warrior (1500/1500) and Gamma the Electromagnet Warrior (800/2000) if they're removed from play!" The scattered magnets that remained of Berserkion split up and combined into three different magnet warriors, silver, pink, and green.
"Don't tell me you have a second Berserkion to special summon..." Damian said.
"Well, I do, but with no more Magnet Warriors in my graveyard it won't do me much good. Instead, I want to show you a surprise."
"Hm?"
"I overlay my level 3 Beta the Electromagnet Warrior and Gamma the Electromagnet Warrior to build the overlay network!" A swirling dark vortex appeared on the ground in front of Bastion's monsters, the two he selected transforming into light and entering it. "I Xyz summon the rank 3 monster, Gorgonic Guardian! (1600/1200)" A purple snake-like woman with dual-colored eyes and three snakes sticking out of both sides of her head appeared on Bastion's side of the field. Two glowing orbs trailed around the monster.
Damian gasped. "You have Xyz monsters?!"
Bastion smiled. "Indeed. It took a long time of searching, but I mannaged to get access to this card."
Damian was stunned. And it wasn't simply because Bastion Xyz summoned. "It must have a good effect seeing as how it's attack points are lower than Frightfur Kraken's defense points."
"Correct. By detaching an Xyz material, I can choose one monster you control and make it's attack points 0 as well as negate it's effects until the end of the turn!" Gorgonic Guardian glared at Frightfur Kraken before Gorgonic Guardian's eyes glowed bright. Stone started to spread across Frightfur Kraken's body before it became a motionless stone statue. (Frightfur Kraken 2200-0/3000)
"Ok, but my Frightfur was in defense position. That won't do anything to it."
"Gorgonic Guardian has another effect. Once per turn, I can target any monster that has 0 attack points and destroy it!" Damian gasped before the petrified Frightfur Kraken crumbled into pieces. "Now, Alpha the Electromagent Warrior, attack directly!" The magnet warrior charged at Damian and struck him with it's baton, knocking him to the ground. (Damian 700-0)
Inspiration struck Crowler. 'Of course, I'll use Bastion Misawa! His grades are even higher than Scott's! And if he can beat Damian, he can surely beat that slacker Jaden!'
The holograms faded away. "Huh. I think that was the first time I lost a duel since coming to the academy." Damian stood up. "That makes us tied now."
Bastion deactivated his duel disk. "After our duel three days ago, I had a better idea on how to counter your Fluffal deck. You tend to rely on the graveyard quite a bit for cards such as Frightfur Fusion and Frightfur Sabre-Tooth, so adding Dimensional Fissure certainly helped me."
"Your Cthonian Polymer and Non-Fusion Area definitely helped too. If I didn't get lucky with that Mystical Space Typhoon, you would have beat me way quicker with that last card. And of course, that surprise Xyz monster of yours helped a lot."
Bastion nodded. "My attempts to make a deck to counter your Fluffal deck was a success. Now, how about I duel that F.A deck of yours sometime so I can develop a deck against that as well?"
"Sure. When are you free?"
"That was brilliant!" Bastion and Damian turned and saw Crowler walking towards the two. "As expected from the top Ra Yellow student. You dueled spectacularly mister Misawa!"
"Oh. Thank you Dr. Crowler. I didn't know you were here." Bastion said.
Damian knew what was about to occur. Bastion was going to get the opportunity of promotion. "Well, it looks like Crowler wants to talk with you. I'll catch ya later Bastion." Damian walked away. 'I gotta tell Scott and Ghassan about this.'
Damian walked to Scott and Bastion's dorm room and entered it. He saw Scott going over a deck of his. "Hey Damian. What's up?"
"We need to talk to Ghassan. I just dueled Bastion and found out that he had an Xyz monster. It's called Gorgonic Guardian"
"Like how Chazz has a Synchro monster eh? It's not too big a deal though is it? You sold plenty of Xyz and Synchro monsters, and several of the people you sold it to went on to sell it to others. It's not that much of a surprise that another Duel Academy student gets his hands on one."
"If this was the same situation as that, I wouldn't be telling you about it."
Scott was confused before his eyes widened. "Wait a minute. You mean that-"
"I never owned Gorgonic Guardian."
Damian walked into a class being taught by Crowler, wearing a Slifer Red uniform. It was the day after his loss to Bastion. He wasn't supposed to be in this class yet, but since it was his free period, he figured it was harmless enough. Besides, there was no way he wouldn't come knowing what was about to happen.
"Dr Crowler! Tell everyone this is a mistake! Tell them I belong up here!" Damian turned to see Chazz standing at one of the higher rows of desks in the class. Like in canon, he was protesting his seat change.
"But you don't." Crowler replied. "And you haven't since you lost that one duel to...oh who was it now? Ah yes, I remember. Jaden Yuki. A SLIFER!" Chazz was taken aback. Several of the students started to look amused. "Which is why tomorrow, you will duel Bastion Misawa, and if you lose to him as well, you two will switch dorms!"
"You mean...I'd become a Ra Yellow?!"
Crowled clapped sarcastically. "Very good! Now if only you could duel as well as you listened."
Chazz gritted his teeth. The majority of the students started to laugh. "Wow, what a bunch of hypocrites. Professor included." The laughter ceased, and everybody saw Damian walk down the steps.
"Mr. Abunura? You're not scheduled to be in this class until 3rd period." Crowled said.
"Yeah, but I don't have class at the moment so I was bored. Wandered around a bit and see that evidently, you and the majority of the students are cowards."
"Wh-what the?!" An Obelisk Blue next to Chazz yelled.
Crowler maintained his composure. "I'd love to hear you explain yourself, along with why I shouldn't punish you for insulting a teacher as well as the whole class." Damian grinned and mouthed the words 'tape recorder' to Crowler. He got the idea, and clenched his fist . Evidently, Ghassan told Damian about Crowler's dealings with Ghassan and Scott.
"So Crowler, you're demoting Chazz because he lost to a Slifer Red eh? Well then, I guess by that logic, you should have a significant pay decrease right? Because if I recall, Chazz isn't the only one in this room who lost to a Slifer."
Crowler gritted his teeth. "That-that was different! Chazz was using rare cards that were shipped to the academy when he lost!"
"Last I recall, you used a deck that went well beyond the decks that the other proctors used when you lost to Jaden." Damian replied. Crowler got even angrier.
Damian then turned to a few students in Slifer Red uniforms who were glaring at Damian. They were at the beach when he dueled Alexis. "And judging by your faces, you two aren't actually Slifer Red students, but Obelisk Blue right? And if I recall, the reasons you're wearing those uniforms is because you lost to a Ra Yellow. Now who was it...oh yeah. It was me." One of the Obelisks tried to rise up to punch Damian, but his friend pulled him down.
"I don't need your help Damian." Chazz said.
"I know. I just don't like these guys pretending that losing to Jaden is worth mocking somebody over because it makes them feel validated over their uniform."
"Like you're one to talk! You duel Obelisk students for the sake of looking like an Obelisk!" An Obelisk student down below yelled.
"And unless you're color-blind, you'd notice that I'm wearing a Slifer Red uniform. I wear the Obelisk uniform because it looks cool. Likewise, there are times I feel like wearing the Slifer Red uniform because it looks cool. I don't need the suit to feel like I mean something. Nor do I need to act as if school ranks mean more than they do."
Crowler laughed. "Are you mad? The rankings of Slifer Red, Ra Yellow, and Obelisk Blue show how skilled the respective duelists are."
"Then how come girls automatically get assigned to Obelisk Blue regardless of their skill? Unless they turn it down of course." Damian asked.
"That's an exception."
"And how about how male transfer students get placed in Slifer Red automatically?"
Crowler's eyes widened. "Th-that's..."
"And here's my favorite. How come some people turn down promotions and choose to stay in a lower ranked dorm? I know Jaden Yuki turned down being a Ra Yellow after he beat Chazz, and a friend of mine named Scott passed down an opportunity to possible be Obelisk Blue." Damian was told by Scott how Crowler initially gave him the offer before Bastion. "The only objective fact about ranks is that it determines how comfortable your living conditions are. They don't inherently determine how smart somebody is, and certainly not how skilled a duelist they are."
"Do you know the consequences you'll suffer for disrupting the class like this?" Crowler asked.
Damian ignored the threat. "Admit it Crowler. It's not simply because he lost to a Slifer for why you're demoting Chazz. It's because he lost to Jaden Yuki, who you had a hate boner towards for months all because he beat you in a duel, and humiliated you during one of your classes. Grow up." He had to admit, part of the reason he did this was because of the attention it brought him. But he couldn't stand an entire class bullying somebody, even if Chazz was a tool.
The class was silent. "We've delayed class long enough. Everybody sit down. Chazz, since you haven't lost to Bastion yet, you can continue in your old seat if you like." Crowler stated. "Mr. Abunura, you can stay if you wish, but make another disruption, and you'll have to leave."
"Noted." Damian sat down in a seat on Chazz's left. "You ok man?"
"I didn't ask for your help..."
"I know. Even if it wasn't you, I would have called out the class for bullying-"
"AND I DON'T NEED YOUR PITY!" Chazz ran out of the class.
"Chazz..."
"Promotion eh?" Scott asked Bastion. They were in the Ra Yellow cafeteria, eating dinner after classes ended. Despite Ra Yellow usually being where the average students were, it's cafeteria was pretty fancy on it's own merits. How often do school cafeterias serve lobster?
"Yes. Crowler approached me and told me that I'll be dueling Chazz tomorrow. If I win, I'll switch dorms with him."
"Well, good luck man. If you win, you'll get to be in a dorm that suits you." Scott took a bite out of his lobster.
"Well...maybe..."
Scott swallowed what was in his mouth. "Don't tell me...you're not sure if you want to be an Obelisk Blue?"
Bastion nodded. "When I first entered Duel Academy, I decided that I'd only enter Obelisk Blue when I became the number one student in the freshman class. I don't think I've became that yet."
"Who do you think is number one then? After all, you beat Damian, and he beat Jaden. So does that mean I'm your only competition left?"
"You and Damian did beat Jaden, but you were helping each other out. Along with that, I made adjustments to my Magnet Warrior deck specifically to counter his Fluffal deck after I lost to it a few days ago. There's still several other decks of his I've yet to see, let alone duel. It's rather difficult to tell which of you three I'd consider the number one freshman."
Scott put his fork away. "Bastion, I want to tell you something. Nothing about dueling is gonna be entirely consistent. I dueled with Damian and Ghassan plenty of times back in America. Sometimes I won, sometimes whichever person I was facing won. Often it was with the same deck matchups with no adjustment. The matches varied so often that we didn't bother to argue over who was better than who since we knew that the outcome would mostly come down to happenstance."
"I think you're severely underplaying how important pre-duel preparation is Scott." Bastion replied.
"Well, I'm not saying that isn't important. But it doesn't have as much a role as luck does." 'In this world anyway.' "Take a look at Jaden. His deck is awful, and a lot of his plays are incredibly impractical. But he's still one of the best duelists at the school not just because he can work well with a bad deck, but also because of his absurd luck."
"Hmm...I suppose that's true. Still, I don't think I'll be comfortable joining Obelisk Blue until I feel I earned it."
"Dude, are you kidding me?" Scott asked. "You're the top ranking student in Ra Yellow. You got the highest score on the written entrance exam, and probably got in the top 10 for the field. The only reason you aren't an Obelisk Blue already is because you didn't go to a prep school."
"I know. But I placed my own requirements for entrance to the Obelisk Blue dorm."
"Dude, your requirement is unreasonable. Like I said before, duels can go differently even if both have the same decks due to luck. Let me ask you something. What if a person lost a duel without even getting to do damage to their opponent because their hand was only filled with spells and trap cards on their beginning draw, and when they set them, their opponent got lucky with a Heavy Storm? Does that really speak towards skill?"
"With a well constructed deck, the odds of that occuring is minimal." Bastion responded.
"But it's still possible. The point is, winning a duel against somebody doesn't automatically mean you're better than them, and vice-versa. Besides, being one of the best in the academy is still a huge acomplishment. So cut yourself some slack man." Bastion said nothing, so Scott decided to change the subject. "So, that Xyz monster that you used to beat Damian. How'd you afford it?"
"Hmm?"
"Xyz and Synchro monsters are pretty damn rare. I never saw one go for sale online that was less than a few hundred dollars. Er...tens of thousands of yen."
"Oh, I didn't buy this card. I won it."
"Won? Like a random giveaway?"
"Not so much random. Industrial Illusions held two different writing contests almost a month ago where whoever wrote the best essay for the respective contest would receive either the Xyz monster, or a Synchro monster named Ally of Justice Catastor. I chose to enter the contest for the Xyz monster since Gorgonic Guardian would work well for my Magnet Warrior deck. My prize was delivered two days ago."
Scott resisted the urge to show shock. Nobody living in this dimension would be surprised that a card was designed by Industrial Illusions, so acting shocked would raise suspicion. 'The idea popped in my head when Damian told me he never owned Gorgonic Guardian, but this confirms it. Pegasus is designing Synchro and Xyz monsters now.'
Damian started to walk towards the Obelisk Blue boy's dorm. It was evening, so not many people were around. 'You know, I assumed that the first time I entered the Obelisk Blue dorm, it would be to raise some hell. Wasn't expecting it to have anything to do with friendship.'
By the entrance, he saw Conklin waiting nervously. "Conklin? What are you doing here?"
Conklin turned to Damian upon noticing him. "I'm waiting for Rie. We're going on a second date, and I'm gonna make it up to her."
"Huh. How'd you get her to give you another chance?"
"Well...I may or may not have told her that I'd get Weevil Underwood's autograph for her after winter break if she did."
"Why the hell would somebody be a fan of Weevil?"
"Rie's an insect duelist. He's the most renowned insect duelist in the world. Do the math." Conklin answered.
"Touché. But do you even know how to get into contact with Weevil?"
"I'll cross that bridge when I get there."
Damian rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'm looking for Chazz. Do you know which room he's in?"
"Room number 367. Not like he'll be there for long."
"Geez, you sure don't have much faith in your friend."
"Eh...to be honest, me and Topher never really liked him. We only hung out with him because being associated with the richest and most powerful freshman in school made us look cooler. Now that he's at risk of demotion, it'll damage our rep if we stay around him, even if he does win."
Damian frowned. Evidently, Chazz didn't have very good friends.
"There you are." Damian and Topher turned and saw Rie walk by. "I'm ready to give you another chance Conklin."
Conklin smiled. "You won't regret it."
"Hey Rie, Conklin doesn't actually know how he can get Weevil's autograph." Damian said.
"GYAAAHHH!" Conklin shouted.
Based of Conklin's shocked and fearful expression, Rie figured Damian was telling the truth. "...Ugh. I should have known." Rie turned around and walked off.
"R-Rie! He's not telling the truth! I can totally get his autograph! Honestly!" Conklin ran after her.
Damian smiled before going into the Obelisk dorm. As he walked through the dorm, several Obelisk students inside glared at him but did nothing. 'Huh. I figured I'd be having a bunch of Obelisk students try and throw me out or something. Heh heh. Maybe I scare them.'
Damian walked up a flight of staris and reached the room Conklin told him about. "This must be Chazz's room." Damian knocked a few times. No response. "Chazz. It's me, Damian."
A few seconds of silence passed by. Then the door knob turned and opened. Chazz was at the door. "What do you want?"
"I wanna apologize for pissing you off earlier today. I wasn't trying to take pity on you or anything like that. I just wanted to stick it to Crowler y'know?"
"Whatever." Chazz walked into his room, the door being left open. Damian took this opportunity to follow and took a look at the room. It was far larger than the Ra Yellow dorm rooms, with a couch, sofa, plasma screen TV, and even it's own small dining table. "This is a dorm room? More like a furnished apartment."
"Perks of being rich. Even among Obelisks, I have the best room in the dorm. Or had to be more accurate." Chazz replied.
Damian noticed that on top of Chazz's couch was a duffel bag. "Dude, you haven't even had the duel yet. You don't know if you're gonna lose."
"That doesn't matter anymore. Thanks to what you did, I'll never be respected again."
Damian groaned. "I told you, even if I wasn't hanging out with you I'd-"
"Do you wanna know the real reason why the class was mocking me?" Chazz interupted. "Because they were looking for the opportunity to for months."
"Huh?"
"Being the richest student in school and being part of one of the world's most powerful organizations kinda paints a target on your back."
"The Princeton Coroporation right?"
Chazz nodded. "Politics, finance, and Duel Monsters. Being at the top of all of these means we pretty much rule the world."
"How do you even be 'at the top' of the political world? Like, will one of your brothers try to be the president and-or prime minister of every country in the world? 'Cause I don't think that's legal. Or is he just aiming for the Prime Minister of Japan? Because that wouldn't be the world, just a country."
"The point is that being a Princeton tends to lead to people hating you automatically but being too afraid to show it. After Crowler told the class that I'd be demoted, it meant they were safe to mock me since I wasn't at the top anymore."
"Ok but...what does this have to do with you no long being an Obelisk? If you beat Bastion, you won't get demoted. I'll even help you out if you want."
"Because I'm leaving Duel Academy. And it's because of you."
Damian was taken aback by this. "Wh-what do you mean?"
"Did you think your little event would get people to respect me? A Princeton needing to have somebody else come to his rescue and fight his battles for him? You just made me look weak."
"Dude, I was just trying to help."
"No you weren't." Chazz said. "You just wanted to look like the hero. You didn't once think about how it would make me look pathetic. Give people more reason to disrepect me."
"Chazz I-"
"Save it." Chazz walked into his closest and got out several clothes. "I'll show you and this entire Academy that I don't need anybody else to be strong. I don't need your help, or my brother's money to prove that I'm the best."
"How will leaving the academy do that?" Damian asked.
"I'll transfer to another academy and start fresh. Doesn't matter where." Chazz put the clothes in his duffel bag. "And I'll prove there that I'm the best. With or without the Princeton name."
Damian opened his mouth but decided to stop arguing. He knew he couldn't change Chazz's mind. Besides, knowing canon, it'll only be a matter of time before Chazz comes back to the academy...hoefully. "Alright. Good luck out there man."
"Just get out of my room Damian."
Damian said nothing and walked out of Chazz's room. It was clear that their friendship was over. "I shouldn't care. Chazz was a selfish, egotisitical tool who treated us more like lackies than friends. Losing him as a friend is probably a benefit." Damian felt something trickle down his cheek. Damian realized it was a tear and sighed. 'It's official. Ghassan's right. I'm too attached to this world.'
Another chapter that's light on the dueling as I decided to focus one Damian's friendship with Chazz as well as Scott's friendship with Bastion. Chazz is leaving the academy before he even duels against Bastion due to Damian inadvertently shattering his pride, and the protagonists found out that Industrial Illusions has started developing Synchro and Xyz monsters. Who knows what the latter will spell out for the three?
Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and are looking forward to the next one!
