"HANGING?!" Jaden shouted.
Ibuki was the only one not surprised, as he had a good reason for being at the Abandoned Dormitory. The two Slifers and Ra were now standing in a large, dark circular room, lit by light and topped by three giant television screens, each displaying a different person. The three were Dr. Crowler, Chancellor Sheppard, and the woman from the disciplinary action team.
"That's what I suggest." Replied the woman from the disciplinary action team. "The three of you have entered the Abandoned Dormitory in the woods, which is strictly forbidden, and we have received an anonymous letter from a student to back it up. You three need to be punished to make an example for all students!"
"Wait! How would that faculty member know that someone is out there?" Growled Ibuki. "If that student knew, then he wouldn't be able to stop anyone!"
"That's not the point!" Said Crowler.
"That's exactly the point!" Retorted Ibuki." Since the beginning of the school year, someone has been deliberately trying to humiliate and expel Jaden, with Syrus and I sort of caught in the crossfire unless that person has something against me too!"
The faculty members gasped and Crowler broke out in a sweat for some reason.
"Do you have any evidence of that?" Chancellor Sheppard frowned after hearing this accusation.
"A few, actually." Said Ibuki ready to take the opportunity to begin Crowler's gradual downfall.
"All right, let's hear them then." Said Chancellor Sheppard.
"Chancellor!" Protested Crowler.
"Dr. Crowler, these boys have a right to explain themselves. And I'm going to give them that right." Chancellor Sheppard frowned at the vice chancellor before returning his gaze to Ibuki. "Now, Mr. Kadoya, you were saying?"
"Yes. Well, for starters during the promotional exams. I don't know if you already knew this, but the rare cards that were sent to the Duel Academy that day were all bought by one person. But since the store opened as soon as the exam was over, no one was able to get them before the others, unless they decided to skip the written part of the exam. After that, the person who bought all those rare cards gave them all to Chazz to use against Jaden on the practical part of the exam."
Ibuki didn't see the point in mentioning Barron, who didn't seem to have used a rare card during the duel.
"Wow... someone really has a thing for me, huh." Said Jaden.
"Hmm... that sounds really suspicious." Said Sheppard as Crowler began to sweat and pant with nervousness.
"And finally, didn't any of you wonder why we were at the Abandoned Dormitory?" Ibuki asked.
"Well... no." Said the leader of the disciplinary action team. "We only received notification from the student that you three were there."
"We don't care what your reasons are!" Yelled Crowler. "The fact is, you broke the rules and should be punished accordingly!"
"I HAD A DAMN GOOD REASON TO GO TO THE ABANDONED DORM!" Ibuki shouted to Crowler.
"Oh really... this should be good..." Said Crowler, rolling his eyes in annoyance.
"Crowler..." Said Chancellor Sheppard sternly before turning his gaze to Ibuki." So, Mr. Kadoya, why were you at the Abandoned Dormitory?"
"I..." Said Ibuki now that he had calmed down. "I received a message on my Duel Pilot... from someone named Titan... he told me to go to the Abandoned Dormitory if I wanted to save Alexis... with an attachment, a picture of her unconscious in a coffin." Said Ibuki.
Everyone present was shocked by this.
"Really?" Asked Sheppard in surprise and concern.
"Yes. And if you want proof, I have the message here on my Duel Pilot." He said, pulling it out of his pocket and showing the message to the teacher.
"And you went there?" Asked Sheppard.
"I had to do it. I asked Bastion to contact security so I could buy enough time to apprehend him, but no one answered. You could ask him. Someone let this guy in and convinced security to be off duty all night, and let an innocent student be taken. And only the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor are capable of that, right Crowler?"
Everyone looked at Crowler, who was starting to sweat.
"You probably made a mistake entering the number on your Duel Pilot. He said trying to dispel Ibuki's accusations.
"I don't like what's going on." Declared the leader of the disciplinary action team, frowning. "Just from the evidence alone, it looks like someone is working very hard to get Jaden and Ibuki expelled."
"Obviously, this is a schoolboy prank." Commented Crowler.
Sheppard said nothing, but Ibuki's argument made him suspect Crowler as well. He sighed, deciding to save it for later and turned to Jaden and Syrus.
"Mr. Yuki, Mr. Truesdale, since Mr. Kadoya explained himself, what about you two? Why were you both there?"
"Well...at first, Syrus, Chumley and I just went to look." Said Jaden. "But then... we heard someone screaming. We went down under the dorm, into this cave, and we saw Ibuki in front of the guy he was talking about and like he said, he had Alexis as a hostage."
Everyone, except Crowler who was sweating nervously, gasped.
"This is preposterous!" Crowler raged. "You didn't get a message like Mr. Kadoya! Therefore you have no reason to venture there."
The leader of the disciplinary action team glanced at Crowler and even Sheppard sent the man a stern look, but it seems that Crowler's arrogance and/or vanity caused him not to notice their glances.
"That's right!" Syrus insisted. "Titan wanted to duel Jaden and Ibuki, but something happened and according to Ibuki, Titan ran away!"
"A duel?" Sheppard blinked. "He wanted to duel you?"
"He's right!" Smiled Jaden. "He said we were going to fight him in a Shadow Game and after Ibuki stepped forward, a dome appeared preventing us from seeing what was going on, and it disappeared after a few minutes!"
"I... see." Sheppard blinked, seeming alarmed by something. "In any case, our surveillance cameras should be able to find traces of this man. Ibuki's message is also evidence that can be used in your version of events. We will call Mrs. Rhodes later to confirm your story. In the meantime, all three of you are on probation until the end of our investigation, so try to stay out of trouble, okay?"
"I've got my eye on all of you." Said the disciplinary action squad leader.
Crowler merely snorted before the council was finished.
Later in front of the academy, Ibuki explained the situation to Alexis who came to him as soon as she could.
"If I didn't have proof, Jaden, Syrus and I would have probably been expelled." Said Ibuki.
He was really pissed that Crowler had gotten away with it despite his accusations.
"You were lucky to have evidence to present. But it's strange that only you, Jaden and Syrus were exposed and not me or Chumley." Said Alexis.
It was at this point that the disciplinary action team came before Ibuki for the second time that day.
"Ibuki Kadoya, come with us, please?" Asked the leader, although this time she had a frown on her face.
"What is it?" Asked Alexis.
"Dr. Crowler wants to see him." Answered the head of the disciplinary action team.
"Oh shit... what does he want now?"
In the chancellor's office...
"WE'RE GOING TO BE EXPELLED AGAIN?!" Asked Ibuki, Jaden and Syrus in shock.
"Yes." Smiled Crowler. "It seems that the Academy's board of directors is rather unhappy with the small amount of lawlessness that the three of you have created. So they've decided to expel you." Three boys turned to the man who shook his head.
"Sorry, my hands are tied." Apologized Shepard. Crowler's smile grew even wider.
"What about the evidence?!" Demanded Ibuki.
"Ah yes, about that. It turns out that the evidence you gave us was legitimate." Confirmed Shepard.
"But we're still about to be deported?!" Said Ibuki.
This made Crowler lose his smile.
"Well, not really."
"Huh?" Asked Jaden and Syrus totally confused.
"Thanks to the evidence, you were saved from immediate expulsion..."
"... Instead, they decided to test you." Answered Sheppard for Crowler. "To stay in the Duel Academy, all three of you would have to duel. Win and you stay, lose and you get expelled." The chancellor turned to the two Slifers. "Jaden Yuki and Syrus Truesdale will duel together." He then turned to Ibuki. "You, Ibuki Kadoya, this will be a normal duel. As of now, all three of you are off probation."
"Great! A tag duel!" Said Jaden with excitement.
"I will take care of choosing who your opponents will be." Informed Crowler. "You have three days to prepare. Make it count."
"Crowler!" Shouted Ibuki almost exploding with rage, making the Vice Chancellor stop. "Know this. I'm not just going to defeat whoever you choose for me... I'm going to crush him. I'm going to ruin his dueling career before it ever gets off the ground. And when it's over you'll finally see that anything you can try will be useless."
"How dare you speak to me that way?!" Said Crowler outraged
"I speak as I please to the one who is accused of trying to humiliate or fire me and my friends. I don't care about your position. When I make my duel, observe well. For what I have in store for my opponent will be a piece of cake compared to what I have in store for you if you try anything afterwards."
Ibuki gave Crowler a cold look that only Seto Kaiba has the secret. And once the message was over, the boy left.
Later...
"Despite the evidence, we're still going through expulsion, because of that bastard!" Said Ibuki angrily as he walked towards his dormitory.
He walked some more until he reached the front of the Blue Dorm where Alexis was waiting for him. "Hi."
"So what did they want?" Asked the blue Obelisk.
"Well, believe it or not, I'm going to get expelled again." He replied.
"WHAT?!" Said Alexis, shocked.
"I know, it's not fair. The evidence that Jaden, Syrus, and I gave was enough to save us from immediate expulsion. Now we're being given the chance to duel to earn our keep here. Jaden and Syrus will be in a duel tag and I'll have a normal duel. And Crowler will be the one to choose our opponents." Explained Ibuki.
"That's not good." Declared Alexis. "Dr. Crowler will probably pick one of the toughest people for your duel. He'll probably pick one of the strongest students... Or worse, someone from the outside."
"I know that." Said Ibuki coldly. "And whoever he chooses for me will understand his pain. And that bastard Crowler will see that you don't send a puppy to chase a wolf."
Alexis was afraid when she saw Ibuki's look. And she was right, the last person concerned by that look still hadn't recovered.
At the same time Crowler did some research to find the perfect opponent for Ibuki, having already chosen those of Jaden and Syrus.
While researching Ibuki, he was able to find a few articles about his family members, so all he had to do was find the perfect opponent. He scrolled through a long list of mercenary duelists until he found a name that made him smile to his ear.
"Perfect... he will bitterly regret his threats."
Later Chumley was standing on the edge of a cliff where the waves crashed on the rocks, but his attention was not on the ocean, his attention, was under the cliff. There was a small beach and looking down, Jaden and Syrus were there ready to start a duel.
"Okay guys, remember, this is just a practice duel for your Tag Duel, so take it easy!" He said. Jaden had a big smile on his face while Syrus looked like he was about to wet his pants, if the waves nearby didn't do it for him first. "Of course, I don't think Jaden knows how to go easy..."
"That's probably a good thing..." Said a voice. Chumley turned around to see Alexis, Ibuki walking towards him and looking at Jaden and Syrus.
"Hey guys, you are about to see Jaden and Syrus duel. And what do you mean by that?" Asked Chumley.
"I mean I know Dr. Crowler and he's not going to play it straight. Jaden and Syrus have to be at their best, because if they're not, they'll both be expelled..."
"Well, judging by the look on Syrus' face, I'd say he thinks otherwise..." Ibuki stated. "But you're right, they must be at their best."
"Alright Syrus..." Jaden inserted his deck and waved to his friend. "Give it your best shot partner and we'll have some fun!"
Syrus sighed.
"Yeah... fun... sure. Might as well have some fun before we fail and get kicked out of here..."
"Uh... what did you say?"
"Oh... uh, nothing!"
"So, Duel!"
Again, he sighed, "Yes yes... duel..." The two duelists drew their starting hands.
"DUEL!"
Jaden: 4000 Life Points
Syrus: 4000 Life Points
"I'll start!" Jaden drew his sixth card. "I summon Elemental HERO Avian into attack position!" Avian appeared on Jaden's field ready to fight (LV03, Type: Warrior, Atk: 1000, Def: 1000). "Then I put a card face down on my field, and end my turn!" Said Jaden as a card appeared on his field.
"My turn, I draw..." Syrus drew his sixth card. "Great! Patroid's attack has a chance against Brother's Avian! A good start is essential to everything!" Thought Syrus with a big smile.
For several seconds Syrus did not answer. "Hey, Syrus, what are you doing?" Asked Jaden.
"Nothing! I'm summoning Patroid to attack position!" A cartoonish looking police car appeared on the field (LV04, Type: Machine/Effect, Atk: 1200, Def: 1200) "OK, Partroid attack Avian!" Commanded Syrus as the police car sped toward Avian.
"I activate my trap card! Negate Attack!" Patroid comically backed up to his seat.
"He could have used Patroid's effect to find out what Jaden's face-up card was." Said Ibuki.
"Okay..., I was right to be worried, Syrus could be a burden to Jaden." Said Alexis.
"He seems to lack confidence in himself. But that can be fixed." Said Ibuki.
"I've seen him duel enough on a game board, I wouldn't be so sure if I were you!" Asked Chumley.
"And did you find out why?!" Asked Ibuki without getting an answer.
Syrus was regretting what he had just done.
"It would have been pretty cool, if the attack had been successful." Said Syrus sadly.
"Syrus, you were just looking at your monster's attack points, weren't you?" Asked Jaden.
"Of course he did! Otherwise he would have known you had Attack Cancellation!" Said Yuki.
"Oh yeah, that's right. If you had used Patroid's effect, which is to see a card face down on the field, you would have known about Negate Attack." Said Jaden with a sneer. "What's wrong, Syrus? You never act like this." He said surprised by Syrus' attitude.
"I'm sorry, Jaden, am I acting weird? You were just trying to give me some advice..." Said Syrus.
"It's okay!" Said Jaden with a big smile. "It's mine now!" Jaden drew his fifth card. "I summon Elemental HERO Sparkman! In attack mode too!" A warrior with blue and gold armor reminiscent of lightning appeared on Jaden's field (LV04, Type: Warrior, Atk: 1600 Def: 1400). "Look out I'm coming, Syrus! Sparkman attacks his Patroid with your Spark Flash!" Sparkman made a spear of electricity and threw it at Patroid who exploded.
Jaden: 4000 Life Points
Syrus: 3600 Life Points
"Your turn Avian! Attack Syrus directly!" Avian flew into the air and threw his feathers at Syrus.
Jaden: 4000 Life Points
Syrus: 2600 Life Points
"I place a card face down and end my turn." A card appeared on Jaden's field.
"I will use Pot of Greed to draw two cards!" Syrus drew two cards and was surprised by one of them.
"He must have drawn a great card." Noted Alexis as she saw the happy look on Syrus' face before he started to shake.
"Or not." Said Ibuki before receiving a slap on the back of his head from Alexis. "Okay, I'll shut up."
"Syrus something wrong?" Asked Jaden.
Syrus turned his attention back to the Duel.
"I'm activating Polymerization, to merge Steamroid and Gyroid to make Steam Gyroid!" A cartoon locomotive appeared on the field, it was walking on its back wheels while helicopter propellers were around its neck (LV06, Type: Machine/Fusion, Atk: 2200, Def: 1600)
"Steam Gyroid attacks with Smoke Hurricane!" Smoke came out of Steam Gyroid's chimney as his propeller spun creating a tornado of smoke which destroyed Avian.
Jaden: 2800 Life Points
Syrus: 2600 Life Points
"And I'm finishing my tour!" Said Syrus determined.
"That's it you finally decided to let go!" Says Jaden happily.
"Yeah..." Said Syrus confused.
"That's mine!" Jaden drew his fourth card. "OK it's time to go to lightning speed! I'm going to use Polymerization to merge Clayman from my hand and Sparkman from my field to summon Thunder Giant!" Sparkman and Clayman entered a vortex as a thunderstorm appeared and a giant wearing yellow and purple armor with a lightning symbol descended from the thunderstorm. (LV06, Type: Warrior/Fusion/Effect, Atk: 2400, Def: 1500).
"Well, Syrus lost. Thunder Giant has the ability to destroy a monster whose attack is equal to or less than his by sending a card from your hand to the graveyard." Said Ibuki making his two friends nod in agreement.
"To you Thunder Giant destroyed! Steam Gyroid!" Thunder Giant raised his finger into the heavens and sent down a bolt of lightning that destroyed Syrus' monster.
"Then I summon Burstinatrix in ATK mode!" The fire heroine appeared on the field ready to fight (LV03, Type: Warrior, Atk: 1200, Def: 800) "Burstinatrix and Thunder Giant attacked!" Jaden ordered.
Burstinatrix launched a flurry of fireballs at Syrus while Thunder Giant charged a ball of lightning and launched it, too, at Syrus.
Jaden: 2800 Life Points
Syrus: 0 Life Point
"And that's the game! Good duel, Syrus!" Congratulated Jaden.
Syrus slowly sat up from his fallen seat and looked at his friend as he approached.
"I don't know, Jaden... for me it wasn't a good duel..."
"What are you talking about?" Jaden stopped just inches away from Syrus. "Sure, I was able to win at the end, but you managed some pretty sweet moves. You should be proud. Although, I'm curious... What was that one card you didn't play? You seemed excited." Before Syrus could stop him, Jaden reached over and pulled the card out. Jaden looked at it. "Power Bond? Why didn't you use it? Steam Gyroid's attack would have been doubled! And with Limiter Removal, you would have beaten me. Come to think of it, I think it was cool for me that you didn't play it."
"You don't understand..." Syrus stood up and snatched the card. "My brother says I'm not good enough to play and it's obvious he's right..."
"It's also obvious that you won't be able to win the duel tag with me as your partner." Whispered Syrus before running off to the beach.
"Hey, wait! Syrus!"
"Syrus!" Chumley shouted as he ran towards him.
"Poor little..." Whispered Ibuki only able to watch.
The waves crashed against the rocks as Alexis, and Ibuki walked up to Jaden, who was looking out at the water.
"I guess practice doesn't make perfect...at least not with Syrus." Said Alexis.
Jaden frowned.
"I don't get it. Syrus is a cool guy, but he doesn't see what I see. He has trouble believing in himself. He had this awesome magic card ready to be played, but didn't play why? Because of a brother!"
Alexis's eyes went wide at hearing this, which Jaden noticed.
"What is it Alexis, am I missing something here?" Asked Jaden.
"Yeah, what's going on?" Asked Ibuki.
"Well...her brother goes to this school. And you probably heard about him too..." Answered Alexis.
"Never heard of him." Said Ibuki, shaking his head.
"Yeah, me neither...who are you talking about?" Asked Jaden.
Alexis looked at the two boys in disbelief.
"Hello? Third year Obelisk Blue student and Academy number? He's the big man on campus! Zane! And he's really good as his reputation!" She said.
Hearing this Ibuki left in the direction of the campus.
"Where are you going?" Asked Alexis.
"You don't need to know. And don't try to stop me." He answered.
Alexis froze in fear, guessing what her friend was up to and knowing that with the anger he had built up today, stopping him would be a bad idea.
"Where is he going?" Asked Jaden.
"I don't know. But I'm afraid of what's going to happen." Said Alexis.
Later, in front of the Blue dormitory, stood Ibuki, with his Dueling Disc on his arm. He was blocked by two blue Obelisks that he pushed aside with ease. He had already said what he wanted and a tall young man with dark blue hair wearing a long jacket of Obelisk Blue with the white and blue reversed came to the dormitory door.
"What does he want?"
"Apparently he wants to see you, Zane." Answered one of the students who had been a spectator until then.
Without saying anything Zane stepped forward to face Ibuki.
"You want to see me?" He asked the Obelisk Blue.
"So you're Zane. I challenge you to a game of chance." Said Ibuki as he pulled a deck out of his jacket. "We will each draw a card, whoever draws the strongest monster wins."
Ibuki's answer surprised everyone, even if the surprise gave way to hilarity among the Blues, except Zane who remained calm.
"You really think he's going to play such a simple game? He could beat you in a duel with a blindfold on!" Said a Blue Obelisk between some laughter.
"What's the matter? Are you afraid of losing at such a simple game?" Said Ibuki defiantly without taking his eyes off Zane or paying attention to the crowd.
"I accept." Answered Zane, immediately stopping the laughter of his classmates while approaching Ibuki.
Zane picked a card and looked at it before smiling.
"So Zane, what did you draw?" Asked an Obelisk Blue.
"Gizmek Orochi, the Serpentron Sky Slasher, 2450 attack points." Answered Zane.
"Good luck picking a better one! Said another Blue Obelisk.
Ibuki didn't listen and took his turn to draw and showed a smile that at first seemed normal but if you were careful, you could detect sadism in it.
"Dark Horus, 3000 attack points." Said Ibuki as Zane's gaze became tinged with fear as he looked up.
He saw what appeared to be Dark Horus above Ibuki, ready to spit his flames, he wanted to move but his body could not move, it was as if he was paralyzed by fear as Dark Horus finally spat out his flames, burning him.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Zane's scream could be heard throughout most of campus as he was now on the ground and scared.
"Zane, are you okay?" Asked an Obelisk Blue.
"Unlike you, I love my family. I don't despise or belittle any of its members." Said Ibuki coldly. "Barron is the only Obelisk Blue I hold in high regard. He doesn't treat others the way you do. He doesn't let his ego go to his head. But I know that with people like you in general words are worthless. You are too pretentious to learn a lesson from someone lower than you."
Disgust and contempt dripped from Ibuki's mouth. Everyone listened to him intently, too afraid of what was happening to Zane.
"So to make sure you remember this moment. Mind Crush!" He said as his eyes shone with a golden glow as he reached out to Zane who ended up with a shocked expression on his face before he lost consciousness. "Witnesses, please make haste." He said before leaving leaving all the Obelisk Blue perplexed.
From a window in the dormitory, Barron saw everything as a transparent form of the Valkyrie-Dritte stood beside him.
"He's really strong." Said Valkyrie-Dritte.
"It's a shame he did that, now Dr. Crowler will really want to get rid of him. At least he made them realize that they are not all-powerful, I was tired of their attitude." Said Barron watching Ibuki as he left.