Chapter 16: A Memorable Mid-term
Damian walked down the steps of the class, holding a paper packet. "Here's my exam Professor Sartyr."
"Thank you very much Damian. Have a great winter break."
Damian smiled. "Thanks. You too." Despite being a pretty unimportant character in the series, Damian had a soft sport for the head of the Ra Yellow dorm. He was really friendly, and unlike Banner, wouldn't be a future enemy. He reminded Damian of a few teachers he had back home. Damian would probably feel a little sorry for Sartyr when virtually all the Ra Yellow students leave next year.
Damian headed up the steps and went back to his desk. 'Scott turned in his exam about 15 minutes ago. Now to wait for Ghassan to finish.'
Ghassan repeatedly tapped his pencil on the side of his head. 'Ok, I know about the Millennium Puzzle, Ring, Eye, Rod, and Necklace. But what were the other two Millennium Items?' Ghassan racked his brain for several minutes. 'Forget it, I'll just skip the rest of the question. I got most of them at least.'
"For those who aren't finished with the exam, you have 20 minutes left." Sartyr stated.
Ghassan sighed. He was little more than halfway through with the exam. 'Ugh. Looks like I won't be finishing in time. Might as well do as much as I can.' Despite not caring too much about his studies overall, Ghassan cared a bit more about the promotion exams. It was the best shot at getting promoted to Ra Yellow and out of the garbage heap of a dorm called Slifer Red.
"What's the next question about?" He muttered. Ghassan flipped the page and read a long answer question. 'A duelist has Battle Ox (1700/1000) attack their opponent directly, only for the opponent to activate Call of the Haunted to special summon Tri Horned Dragon. (2850/2350) Assuming no other cards are played, how much damage does the controller of Battle Ox take this turn?'
"This is seriously a long answer question? It's just a simple math question." Ghassan was about to answer the controller takes 1150 points of damage before remembering something.
'They're called replays. If the amount of monsters on the opponent's side of the field changes, unless an effect states otherwise, the attack target can be changed, or the attack can simply be called off.' Alexis explained this to him a few months ago back when the dueled.
'I get it. This is a trick question.' Ghassan wrote down that the controller of Battle Ox has the option of calling off the attack as a replay occured, and thus taking no damage. "Ok, next question. 'What are the only cards that are Spell Speed 3?'" Ghassan immediately wrote Counter Trap cards. 'Heh. Before I was at this academy, I'd probably confuse Spell Speed with Speed Spells from 5ds.' 20 minutes passed, and Ghassan made it halfway through the last page of the packet. Once the exam stopped asking him questions about history and more about the mechanics of the game, everything started to click for him.
After the written exam, most of the students got out of the room and headed towards the card shop. Naturally, they wanted to improve their decks for the field exam and get their hands on as many rare cards as they could. Ghassan, Damian, Scott, and Chumley were sitting together in the classroom. "Ok, so what was the second difference in the effects of Man-Eater Bug and Snowman Eater?" Chumley asked. "I know that Man-Eater Bug can destroy face-down monsters while Snowman Eater can't, but what was the other difference?"
"Snowman Eater isn't considered a Flip Monster." Scott answered. "So if a card flips a monster faceup and specifically says Flip Monster's effect aren't activated, like say, Ceasefire, Man-Eater Bug would be unable to activate it's effect, but Snowman Eater would."
"Ah. That makes sense."
"So, what'd you get for the question about what Final Countdown's effect was?" Damian asked Scott. Damian decided to wear an Obelisk Blue uniform to the exam. He probably thought it was a good luck charm to get promoted.
"I wrote that the player pays 2000 life points and then wait 20 turns including the turn it was activated. Then they win the duel." Scott answered.
"Damn. I only wrote that if it remains on the field for 20 turns the player wins the duel. Didn't know about the life point cost. I figured I was forgetting something."
"Same here. Aww man, that means I only got that question partially right too." Chumley said.
Ghassan chuckled. "Looks like for once, I got a question right on the exam that Damian got wrong."
"You knew the whole answer Ghassan? Nice job." Scott said.
"Huh. On the entrance exam, you didn't even know what makes Counter Traps different from Normal Traps." Damian stated. "Being at the academy has really helped you learn more about the game."
Ghassan shrugged. "Guess so. Still, I probably didn't score high enough to get promoted to Ra Yellow. There were a few questions I didn't have enough time to answer, and I had my troubles with the history portion of the exam."
"Yeah, I still had two whole pages left before time ran out." Chumley said.
Damian chuckled. "You can bet that I didn't have many troubles with the history portion of the exam."
"Yeah yeah." Ghassan replied.
"Hey Damian, now it's my turn to ask a question about the exam." Scott said. "Who was the CEO of KaibaCorp before Seto Kaiba? I wrote down his adoptive father, but I didn't remember the guy's name."
"Gozaburo Kaiba." Damian and a familiar brittish voice answered simultaneously. The four turned their heads and saw Bastion standing by their desk, dressed in his Obelisk Blue uniform. "Come now Scott, we spent two whole weeks learning about the history of KaibaCorp back in November."
"Hey, sometimes I just forget things." Scott replied. "Besides, that's one of the only three questions in the whole packet that gave me trouble. I did pretty damn well."
Bastion smiled. "Perhaps. But that's three more questions than I had trouble with."
"Why are you even acting like it's a competition Bastion?" Ghassan asked. "You're an Obelisk Blue now, so it's not like you'll be dueling against Scott in the field exam."
"True, but if Scott's going to take my place as top Ra Yellow student in the Academy, he should at the very least be my equal in academics. Especially when he's old enough to be a senior."
Scott smiled. "You fit right into Obelisk Blue. You're arrogant as hell." Bastion chuckled.
"I've been wondering. How come Scott hasn't been promoted yet? His grades are better than most Obelisk Blues." Ghassan stated. "Hell, how come you didn't get promoted after the first month?"
"Usually, promotions rarely occur during freshman year. You have to make a spectacular impression in the Field Exam like what Jaden did against Chazz by turning a seemingly hopeless situation around. Otherwise, promotions will typically occur at the beginning of the second or third school year if the cumulative scores on exams are high enough. Though of course, dorm transfer duels may occur at the recommendation of a professor."
"Don't hold your breath about getting promoted Ghassan. Jaden was the first time I ever saw a Slifer have the opportunity to get promoted, and I've been held back." Chumley said.
'Looks like having enough flair in a duel throws all other portions of the exam out the window.' Ghassan thought. 'I guess that explains how Jaden could have got promoted despite him flunking the written part of the exam. Man, this school is really irresponsible in regards to grading.'
"So what you're saying is, I'll probably be an Obelisk during sophomore year?" Scott asked.
"Provided your future grades are consistent with what you currently get, yes." Bastion then turned to Damian and Ghassan. "What scores do you two usually get in the promotion exams?"
"In the written exam I usually get a B plus. In the field, I always get a solid A." Damian answered.
"I tend to get a D, or if I'm lucky, a C minus on the written exam. B plus or A minus on the field though." Ghassan stated.
"Then it's likely that Damian will get promoted to Obelisk Blue sophomore year as well." Bastion answered.
"Great. And I continue to be in the lowest ranked dorm."
"What did I tell you?" Chumley asked.
"Hey, you said you did better than usual. Just keep working harder and you might find yourself being a Ra Yellow." Damian stated.
Ghassan shrugged. "I guess. Anyway, might as well kill some time in our dorms before heading to the duel field. Field exams is a few hours from now."
The four stood up and, alongside Bastion, started to walk out of the class. Outside of the classroom was Crowler, spying on the students. "Damian Abunura being an Obelisk? I can't allow it. Not after mocking me and the entire Obelisk Blue class." Crowler walked away before the students got out so they wouldn't notice him. "Just like with Jaden, I'll have to assign an Obelisk Blue to be his opponent and get him to learn his place. Bastion perhaps? He did beat Damian after all. Or maybe Zane Truesdale?"
Crowler opened the door to his office. Over there, he saw that his chair was turned away, somebody sitting in it "Wh-what the?! What makes you think you can come into my office without my permission?!"
"I don't need your permission to enter your office. In fact, I don't need anybody's permission to go anywhere in this academy except for my own." The man answered.
"You arrogant...who do you think you are?!"
"The person who owns this academy."
"Eh?" The person turned the chair around and faced Crowler. He had a brown bowl cut and a sleeveless white trenchcoat. On said trenchcoat was the KaibaCorp logo, KC. Crowler's eyes widened in shock as he realized who this man was. "S-S-SETO KAIBA?!"
Quickly afterwards, another person came into Crowler's office. He was fairly short, head long spiky black hair, and wore a shirt with blue and white stripes on it. Over that was a yellow vest. "You could have at least waited for him to enter his office before surprising him Seto." Mokuba stated.
"And wait outside an office of a building that's my property? Please."
"Wi-with all due respect...what's going on here?!" Crowler asked.
"Vellian Crower correct? From what I hear, you're the one who sets up the duels for the field exams. There's something I need you to do for me."
The students were in the gymnasium for the field exam. The majority of the students were watching from the upper stands waiting for their turn to duel while watching the other students duel on one of the six duel fields. This meant a maximum of twelve students would be taking the field exam at a time. Damian, Scott, and Ghassan often wondered how the structure would work if there was an odd number of students at the academy.
Damian, Ghassan, Bastion, and Chumley were watching Scott duel his opponent. A Ra Yellow with spiky brown hair named Dimitri. He typically imitates the decks of other duelists, down to impersonating their voice and personality as well. On Dimitri's side of the field was XYZ-Dragon Cannon (2800/2600). On Scott's side of the field was Rabidragon (2950/2900) and two facedown cards. (Scott 2900/ Dimitri 1650)
"It's my turn." Dimitri said. He was sounding as close to Seto Kaiba as he could. Dimitri drew a card, and put it in his hand. "I activate the effect of XYZ Dragon Cannon! By discarding a card, I can destroy one card you cointrol. And I choose Rabidragon! Hyper Destruction!"
The dragon portion of the machine opened it's mouth and let out a blast of energy at Rabidragon, destroying the monster. "Now, unleash your firepower! Cannon Firestorm!" The machine aimed it's cannons at Scott.
"I activate my face-down card, Call of the Haunted. This lets me special summon a monster from my graveyard in attack mode. I choose to special summon Rabidragon!" As quickly as it dissappeared, the rabbit-like dragon appeared on Scott's side of the field.
Dimitri gritted his teeth. "Fine. I'll set two cards face down and end my turn."
Scott drew. "Seeing as how you're imitating Kaiba's deck, I can take a guess what those two face downs you set at the same time are. Especially when one of them you've had in your hand for several turns now?"
"Wait, he's been keeping track of how long he has certain cards in his hand?" Chumley asked.
"Scott is...meticulous in aspects of dueling to say the least." Damian said.
Bastion smiled. "Fitting for my former room mate."
"You can taake a guess eh?" Dimitri asked. "Then I guess you won't mind me revealing them! I activate Ring of Destruction to destroy a monster and deal damage equal to it's attack points. Then, I activate Ring of Defense, negating any effect damage that's dealt to me!" A collar laced with grenaded attached itself to Rabbidragon's neck. "Looks like reviving Rabidragon proved to be a mistake on your end."
"Sorry. I activate my other facedown, Burst Breath. By sacrificing a Dragon monster, I destroy all cards on the field with defense points that are lower than Rabidragon's attack points."
Dimitri gasped. Rabbidragon disappeared in a torrent of flames, which then went on to disintegrate XYZ Dragon Cannon. "Now, I summon Alexandrite Dragon (2000/100) in attack mode." The jewel-covered dragon appeared on Scott's side of the field. "Alexandrite Dragon, attack directly!" The dragon flew towards Dimitri, and slashed him, causing him to fall on his knees. (Dimitri 1650-0)
Dimitri gritted his teeth. "Damnit. Even copying Seto Kaiba's deck wasn't enough to win." He dropped the Kaiba impersonation, and was speaking with his regular voice.
"To be fair, it probably wasn't the best idea to copy a guy's deck when you don't have any copies of his ace monster." Scott replied. Scott walked back up to the upper stands. A few minutes later, the other duelists finished their field exams.
Crowler's voice played over the speakers. "All students who have finished their duels, please return to the upper stands. Next, numbers 13 through 23. Please come to the field."
Ghassan got out his slip of paper. He was number 13. "Looks like I'm up."
"Good luck out there man." Scott said.
Bastion frowned. "Strange. If only numbers 13 through 23 are dueling this rotation, then that'll only be 11 students."
"Oh, this happened a few times last year." Chumley stated. "If there's an odd number of students for the field exam, then one of the students will be assigned against a faculty member for their duel."
"Number 13, stand here." Crowler pointed to one of the two middle duel fields. "Numbers 14 and 15, stand over there. 16 and 17 over there..."
"Looks like you'll be the one dueling against a faculty member Ghassan." Damian said.
Ghassan shrugged and walked down to his assigned duel field. 'Is Crower gonna duel me himself as payback for the blackmail? Or maybe Banner made a special request to duel me.'
Ghassan arrived at the duel field, and put on his duel disk. "So, whose the faculty member I'll be facing?"
"Well..." Crowler began to say.
"You'll be dueling me." A voice said.
Ghassan's eyes widened as he saw Mokuba holding a briefcase and another familiar looking man come from the main entrance of the gymnasium. Nearly all of the students either gasped, or were left speechless. "K-Kaiba?!"
"Hey." Mokuba replied.
"You know as well as I do that he means me Mokuba." Kaiba said.
"I know. Couldn't resist Seto." Mokuba put the briefcase on the ground and began to open it. It had three different lock combinations and at least five key holes.
"Hold on a minute! Why am I dueling against Kaiba?!" Ghassan yelled. "If it's about an uneven number of students, wouldn't I be dueling against a regular faculty member?!"
"Under normal circumstances, yes. However, Kaiba made a special request to duel you." Crowler answered.
"It wasn't a request. It was an order." Kaiba stated.
"Y-yes. Of course." Crowler nervously replied. 'If only that demand was to duel against Damian instead.'
"Did...did Ghassan do something to tick of Kaiba or something?" Chumley asked. "He never shows up to the academy in person."
Damian gave Scott a nervous look, who replied with a shrug.
The usually stoic Zane was utterly stunned. He turned to Alexis, who was just as shocked if not moreso. "Didn't you mention that you and Ghassan met Mokuba Kaiba a few weeks ago? Did Ghassan do anything that would catch Kaiba's attention?"
"N-not that I know of!" Alexis answered. "I mean, he beat Wheeler, but Mokuba exposed the scientists on his own!"
"Obviously, if you happen to beat me, you'll be promoted to Ra Yellow. Not like that's going to happen though." Kaiba said. "In addition, you're forbidden to forfeit this duel, or else you'll be expelled."
'Abuse of power much?' Ghassan thought to himself.
Mokuba finished opening up the brief case. "Here's your duel disk and deck Seto." Mokuba handed Kaiba his duel disk, who strapped it on.
"Um...can I ask why you insisted to duel me?" Ghassan asked. He had a bad feeling about the answer, but it wouldn't hurt to make sure.
Kaiba took his deck from Mokuba, and put it in. "If I feel like it after the duel, maybe." Kaiba activated his duel disk. "Let's see if my school breeds talent. You ready?"
Ghassan sighed and activated his duel disk. "Ready."
"Duel!" The two yelled simultaneously. (Ghassan 4000/ Kaiba 4000)
"I'll go first." Ghassan drew. 'He probably suspects me of selling the Synchro and Xyz monsters online. A few people at this school already know that I use them, but that doesn't mean Kaiba knows. I don't really NEED to win this duel, so I'll avoid using them.'
"I activate Graceful Charity." Ghassan draw three cards from his deck. He then discarded one that was drawn, and another that was in his hand prior. "I set a card in defense mode, and one card face down. I end my turn."
Kaiba drew a card, put it in his hand, and got out another one. "Sinece I control no monster, I can special summon Kaiser Vorse Raider (1900/1200) in attack mode!" A blue skinned orc with a double sided axe appeared. "Next, I summon X-Head Cannon (1800/1500) in attack mode! Now, Kaiser Vorse Raider, attack his face down card!" Kaiser Vorse Raider brought it's axe down on the monster. A small green and purple dinosaur with flames on it's back was cut in two.
"I activate my trap card, Backfire! When a FIRE monster I control is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, you take 500 points of damage!" Ghassan stated.
The bisected dinosaur morphed into flames, and fired at Kaiba. (Kaiba 4000-3500) 'Looks like he's not using the Gladiator Beast Mokuba gave him. Well, they already served their purpose.'
"Next, I activate the effect of my Jurrac Stauriko. (500/400) When it's destroyed by battle, I can special summon two Jurrac Tokens (0/0) in defense mode!" Two dinosaurs, looking to be infant versions of Jurrac Stauriko, appeared on Ghassan's side of the field. "And that's not all! Since you destroyed a defense position Jurrac monster by battle and sent it to the grave, I can special summon Jurrac Hera (2300/1500) from my graveyard!" The large green jurrac appeared on Ghassan's side of the field.
"That's good. Now Ghassan has a monster that's stronger than both of Kaiba's." Chumley said.
"Not for long." Bastion replied.
"I activate the effect of Kaiser Vorse Raider. When it destroys a monster by battle, it gains 500 attack points!" Kaiba stated. Ghassan gritted it's teeth as electricity formed around the monster before it's muscle grew. (Kaiser Vorse Raider 1900-2400/1200) "X-Head Cannon, destroy the Jurrac Token on the left." The monster fired blasts of energy from it's turrets at the Jurrac token, destroying it. "Tokens don't go to the graveyard, so Backfire won't activate. I set two cards face down and end my turn."
Ghassan drew. "I summon another monster in defense position. Now, Jurrac Hera, attack X-Head Cannon!" The Jurrac launched a fireball at the machine.
"I activate my quickplay spell, Shrink!" Kaiba responded.
Ghassan sighed. He was well aware of that card's effect. "At least you'll take damage thanks to Backfire." The fireball launched by Hera shrinked down. (Jurrac Hera 2300-1150/1500) X-Head cannon fired, blasting through the fireball, and shooting through Jurrac Hera. (Ghassan 4000-3350) Jurrac Heraa then exploded into a torrent of flames, and struck Kaiba. (Kaiba 3500-3000) "I set another card face down. I end my turn." Ghassan stated.
Kaiba drew. "I activate Pot of Greed." Kaiba drew two cards from his deck. "Now, I'll activate Foolish Burial to send a monster from my deck to my graveyard. I choose my Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300). Next, I summon Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600) in attack mode." A red mecahnical dragon appeared on Kaiba's side of the field. "Next, I activate my face-down card, Call of the Haunted. This lets me special summon a monster from my graveyard in attack mode, and I choose Z-Metal Tank!" The last of the XYZ robots appeared on Kaiba's side of the field.
Ghassan braced himself. "Youre gonna form the XYZ monsters together I take it?"
Kaaiba smiled. "Good to know that my students know the alphabet. "I remove from play my three machine monsters. X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, Z-Metal Tank! Combine and form the ultimate machine monster!"
"Umm...Kaiba knows that there are several more powerful machine monsters in the game than XYZ Draagon Cannon, right?" Damian asked.
"I'm just surprised that we're seeing two duels in a row with that monster." Scott responded.
"I special summon XYZ-Dragon Cannon!" (2800/2600) The three machines formed into one, X Head Cannon attaching itself to Y-Dragon Head, with the combination then attaching itself to Z-Metal Tank, acting as the wheels for the machine. "Next, I activate XYZ Dragon Cannon's effect! By discarding a card, I can destroy one card you control. And I choose to destroy Backfire!"
Ghassan gritted his teeth as the machine destroyed his trap card. 'Damn. There goes my strategy of using Backfire to slowly chip away at Kaiba's life points. Wait...why do I care?' Ghassan figured he must have cared about getting a dorm promotion more than he thought.
"Now, Kaiser Vorse Raider, destroy his face-down card!" The blue orc slashed through Ghassan's monster, a green, flaming pterodactyl. "And since Kaiser Vorse Raider destroyed a monster by battle, it gains 500 atttack points!"
Ghassan smiled. "I don't think so."
Kaiba was confused before he took a look at Kaiser Vorse Raider. Flames were surrounding it. "What's going on?"
"You activated the effect of Jurrac Ptera. (800/1500) When it's attacked, after damage calculation, the monster that attacked it goes back to the hand." The flames completely engulfed Kaiser Vorse Raider before it dissolved into light, and returned to Kaiba's hand. "Now, since a defense position Jurrac monster was destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I get to special summon Jurrac Hera (2300/1500) from my graveyard again!" Jurrac Hera reappeared on Ghassan's side of the field, this time in defense mode.
"Hate to say it, but Jurrac Hera's gonna be leaving as soon as it arrived. XYZ Dragon Cannon, attack Jurrac Hera!" The machine fired blasts of energy at the Jurrac, destroying it. "I set a card face down and end my turn."
Ghassan drew. "I activate my own Pot of Greed to draw two cards." Ghassan drew two cards from his deck, looking at one of them. 'Gilasaurus. I can special summon it, but Kaiba can special summon a monster in his graveyard. If he has Blue-Eyes, that might be annoying. Ugh, sometimes I wish duels were more like in our world with duel mats and being able to see the opponents graveyard.'
"You gonna make your move or what?" Kaiba asked.
Ghassan sighed, deciding to take the risk. "I activate the effect of Gilasaurus (1400/400) in my hand to special summon it!" The brown raptor appeared on Ghassan's side of the field in defense position. "If you have a monster in your grave, you get to special summon it."
"I choose not to special summon it."
'So he has a monster, but it's something he'd rather keep in his graveyard. Interesting to know.' "Now, I sacrifice my Gilasaurus and my surviving Jurrac Token to summon Jurrac Titano (3000/2800) in attack mode!" The gigantic red dinosaur appeared on Ghassan's side of the field. "Next, I activate my trap card, Raigeki Break. By discarding a card, I get to choose on card you control and destroy it. I choose to destroy your XYZ-Dragon Cannon!"
Kaiba frowned as a small bolt of lightning struck his machine monster, causing it to explode. "If this direct attack lands, Ghassan's gonna win!" Chumley exclaimed.
"True. But I highly doubt someone like Seto Kaiba will go down so easily." Bastion stated.
"Jurrac Titano, attack directly!" A large fireball was built up in Jurrac Titano's mouth.
"I don't think so. I activate my trap card, Tri-And-Guess. I can only activate this card if both of us have an Extra Deck. I declare one type of monster. Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz. The one who has more cards of the declared type in their Extra Deck gains 3000 life points. I declare Fusion Monsters."
Ghassan sighed. "You win that one. I don't have any Fusion Monsters in my Extra Deck."
"You think it ends just with a statement? No. We have to reveal the monsters in our Extra Decks. ALL of them."
Ghassan, Damian, and Scott all widened their eyes. "Not good." Damian whispered.
Kaiba got out his Extra Deck, and walked up to Ghassan. "Here's mine. Not counting XYZ-Dragon Cannon since you destroyed it, I have four Fusion monsters in my Extra Deck. You can count them if you like."
Ghassan took the Extra Deck. It looked like it had way more than just four cards. He looked through the cards. Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, XY-Dragon Cannon, XZ-Tank Cannon, and Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon.
"Now your Extra Deck." Kaiba stated.
Ghassan looked through more of Kaiba's Extra Deck, and gasped in shock. He saw multiple cards with either a white border or a black border. The cards were Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, Divine Dragon Knight Felgrand, Thunder End Dragon, Armades Keeper of Boundaries, Exploder Dragonwing, and Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon. "You...you have Synchro and Xyz monsters."
Kaiba smirked. "Surprised eh?" Kaiba took his Extra Deck back. "Now, like I said. You show me your Extra Deck."
Ghassan hesitantly gave Kaiba his Extra Deck. 'If I knew this was gonna happen, I wouldn't have even bothered to bring my Extra Deck.' Without even looking at the cards, Kaiba walked over to Mokuba. "Hey! Where are you going with my extra deck?!"
"You'll get it in a minute." Kaiba answered. He gave the Extra Deck to Mokuba, who quickly looked through them.
"13 Synchro monster and 6 Xyz monsters Seto. Not a single Fusion monster." Mokuba stated.
"19 cards in an Extra deck?" Bastion asked.
"Well, there's no real limit to how many can be in one." Chumley pointed out.
'Yet.' Damian and Scott simultaneously thought.
"Which means I gain 3000 life points, enough for me to survive a direct attack from Titano." Kaiba said. (Kaiba 3000-6000)
"In addition, the only cards that have records of being sold online are Black Rose Dragon, and Number 101: Silent Honor Arc." Mokuba told Kaiba. He lowered his voice so that the audience couldn't hear him.
Kaiba smiled, before walking back towards Ghassan. Jurrac Titano finished building up the fireball in it's mouth, and launched it at Kaiba. A huge explosion occured, Kaiba walking through it without flinching. (Kaiba 6000-3000) He reached Ghassan, and gave him back his Extra Deck. He leaned into his ear and whispered. "Looks like I have everything I need."
"What are you talking about?" Ghassan asked, though he already had a good guess about what it was.
"The bits and pieces of conversation we picked up from the bugged Gladiator Beast deck Mokuba gave you made us have our suspicions."
'That deck was bugged?!'
"Now, it's confirmed. You're either responsible for, or an accomplice of the illegally produced Duel Monsters cards."
Ghassan's heart skipped a beat. "I...I don't know what you mean."
"Playing dumb eh? Well, after this duel, you're coming with us to answer a few questions. Your brother's coming as well just to be safe. I'll have his field exam rescheduled to the beginning of next semester. Refuse, and I'll tell the public all about you two."
'They suspect Damian as well?! At least they're not as certain about this.'
Kaiba leaned away from Ghassan. "If you want, you're allowed to forfeit the duel now." Kaiba said out loud. He walked away from Ghassan, and back to his side of the duel field.
'I can't believe this...damnit Damian. Because of you, we got KaibaCorp on our asses!'
And with that, Damian's plan to sell Synchro and Xyz monsters online to lower suspicion has completely backfired. Will our protagonists be able to deflect suspicion away from them? Or will KaibaCorp and Pegasus find out the truth about them?
I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Having Kaiba get his suspicions about Ghassan confirmed through dueling was incredibly fun, and the interactions the protagonists had with Chumley and Bastion was a joy to write. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and are looking forward to the next one!
