Sorry for the wait guys! Here's the new chapter!
Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh series, only the OCs!
"Jaden, hurry up! It's Sandwich Day!"
"Gotta get it! Gotta get it! Gotta get it! I'm so excited!"
As the bell rang a few times, signaling for lunch time, Jaden and Syrus rushed towards Dorothy's card shop as fast as they could. Luckily they knew a shortcut which led towards the cafeteria located near the card shop. Every single Friday during lunchtime, there held a special lunch event that every student was eagered to try out. This event consisted of Dorothy cooking a large batch of mysterious sandwiches which had different flavors each, but there was always one, single sandwich that many students desired.
The Golden Egg Sandwich.
This sandwich's delightful egg ingredient came from one of Duel Academy's hens, who lays a golden egg at least once a day. The golden egg is used for cooking up the Golden Egg Sandwich, but in order to obtain it, students have to 'draw' in the cart full of mysterious sandwiches in order to retrieve it. In a way, the fun event is also a way for students to practice their drawing in dueling.
Once Jaden and Syrus arrived, they saw hordes of students gathering around the sandwich carts; murmurs buzzing around as several students paid for their attempts for grabs at the sandwich event. While most tried their hand, others were sitting at tables, eating the sandwiches they caught, talking amongst each other, or just playing Duel Monsters on the table instead with their duel disks.
Choosing a random cart, Syrus and Jaden rushed over and gazed admirably at the various choices before them. Sure the other sandwiches were delicious, but none of them compared to the Golden Egg Sandwich! Syrus knew deep down that he might get some sloopy sandwich, but if Jaden manages to get it, then she'll share it with him just like she always does! After all, she did managed to obtain the Golden Egg Sandwich for ten days straight! Ah...to enjoy the taste of the Golden Egg Sandwich for ten days straight... It sure was heavenly.
"Huh...Which one should I talk?" muttered Jaden, glancing from one sandwich to another. Since they're wrapped up in the same wrappings, it was difficult to tell what sort of sandwiches are inside, which made things even more suspenseful and interesting.
"Careful, Jaden! There's some nasty flavors in there!" warned Syrus, eyeing around the sandwiches. "You've got fish bun, steamed dust, grilled rock, and yesterday, somebody pulled a sandwich OUT of a sandwich!"
"Really? What did that taste like?"
"Nobody knows..."
"Well, today might be my lucky day, then!" said Jaden, grabbing one of the sandwich containers before ripping half of it off and chowing a bite down. The moment she allowed her taste buds to take over, she instantly regretted choosing the sandwich she held in her hands. Letting out a groan, Jaden fell to her knees; her shoulders slumped in defeat.
Curious as well as concerned, Syrus bent down besides her. "Hey, you alright, Jay?"
"It tastes like rotten eggs mixed with a rock's stupidity!"
"That bad, huh?"
"So, neither of you got it, huh?"
Turning to face whoever spoke to them, Syrus and Jaden recognized Alexis holding two sandwiches in her hands. From the looks of things, it seems that she already unwrapped her two sandwiches.
"Oh, hey Alexis! I bet you were the one who found the Golden Egg Sandwich!" guessed Jaden. "Good for you, I guess!"
Alexis shook her head. "Nope. I didn't get the sandwich either. All I got was a taco sandwich and a fried shrimp sandwich."
Fried shrimp sandwich. Syrus didn't even need to glance at Jaden to tell what sort of expression she was wearing on her face.
"REALLY?!" Clasping both of Alexis's hands together, Jaden got down on one knee and stared deeply into Alexis's eyes. This caught some others' attention as they watched out of interest or jealously.
Syrus facepalmed, knowing exactly what Jaden intended to ask, yet was doing so in the wrong position. 'Jaden...Do you want the sandwich or just a proposal?'
"Alexis..."
Face burning red, Alexis momentarily forgot that Jaden was a female and focused on her handsome charms. "Y-yes, Jaden?"
"CAN I PLEASE HAVE THE FRIED SHRIMP SANDWICH?! I'LL TRADE YOU FOR MY OWN SANDWICH!"
Sweatdropping, Alexis nodded and swapped sandwiches with a hungry-looking Jaden, who eyed the fried shrimp sandwich and rubbed it against her face affectively. Glancing at her new sandwich, Alexis wondered about one thing. "Hey, Jaden? What kind of sandwich is this?"
"Uhhhhhhh..." Not wanting to trade back sandwiches, Jaden tried to come up with the best sandwich idea she has. "...Golden Egg Gummy Bear sandwich?"
"...Jaden, that's a lie and you know it-"
"Lalalala! I got the sandwich! Can't trade it back!" Before anyone could stop her, Jaden bit down on her sandwich...only to realize that tiny tacos were stuffed inside. "W-what?! Taco sandwich?!"
"Huh?" Checking the contents of her second, untouched sandwich, Alexis realized that she must have given Jaden the wrong sandwich. "Oops. Guess I handed you the taco sandwich instead of the fried shrimp sandwich. Then again, you probably deserved it for trying to lie to me."
"Nooo! Now I'll never have the delicious sandwich!" complained Jaden; anime tears running down her face.
Just once...just once, she wanted to cherish the everlasting taste of her favorite food in the whole world combined with the sandwich! It would have been the perfect meal for her! Now it'll take a while for her to retrieve such a sandwich because of the whole Sandwich Day event! And...Was Syrus eating the beloved sandwich?
"Sy!"
"Sorry, Jaden! I was just so hungry that I couldn't resist! Besides, Alexis handed me her sandwich," defended Syrus before noticing the soft, puppy dog look Jaden had on his face. Feeling sympathy for his best friend, he broke half of his sandwich and gave it to Jaden.
"Eeek! Thank you, Sy! You're the best!" squealed Jaden, hugging a blushing Syrus tightly to her chest. In the background, a couple of Yaoi Fanclub girls were squealing at the romantic moment before them and started taking pictures with their phones.
"Sy...you're too gullible," sighed Alexis, shaking her head back and forth. Whenever it comes to girls, Syrus could easily be captivated in their charms, especially with the powerful puppy dog eyes tactics. Maybe she'll put up some sort of training course on girls for Syrus only.
"Has any of you drawn the Golden Egg Sandwich yet?" asked Dorothy as she approached the three of them with a concerned look on her face.
"No, not yet," spoke Syrus as Jaden was licking the crumbs off his fingers after finishing her sandwich. "Why? Is something wrong?"
"Well, it's just that nobody's been able to find the Golden Egg Sandwich since a week ago. At least not anyone I know," explained Dorothy. "I think that there's a possibility that it's been stolen several times!"
"Stolen?" frowned Alexis. Maybe someone just wanted to hog the sandwich to themselves? Nah, most students in the cafeteria would have bragged and declared that they drew the sandwich anyhow.
"Whoa...for a whole week?" wondered Syrus, amazed. "If this person really did keep stealing the Golden Egg Sandwich, then he must really be good at drawing!"
"If the Golden Hen could sprout more of her golden eggs, I would have cooked up a whole batch of Golden Egg Sandwiches," said Dorothy sadly before looking down at her feet out of depression. "I'm so sorry..."
Jaden gritted her teeth and clenched her fists out of anger. No, she wasn't angry towards Dorothy, but more towards the Golden Egg Sandwich thief! She could never be mad towards kind, sweet Miss Dorothy! Whoever keeps stealing the Golden Egg Sandwiches she's worked so hard to cook must be stopped!
"This isn't any of your fault, Miss Dorothy!" protested Jaden. "The one who's at fault is that drawing thief guy! That's why I'm gonna capture him!"
"Yeah! Way to go, Jay! That's the spirit!" encouraged Syrus, nodding his head. If there's anyone in the world who could stop the thief, it would probably be Jaden! She'll probbaly challenge him to a duel and win, just like she always does!
"Alright, Syrus! From today on, we're going on a stakeout!" Jaden turned to Syrus with fierce, determined eyes. From the looks of things, it didn't seem like she was joking around and truly wished to get to the bottom of things.
"Yeah! ...Wait, what?"
Later that night...
Since it was late at night, the store was completely closed and dark with no customers available. Around the corner of the store laid a large cart full of sandwiches, which was supposed to be the bait to lure out the sandwich thief. Meanwhile, the others grouped up inside of the staffroom located near the store.
Inside, Chumley and Syrus were planning a game of cards while Alexis was entertaining herself with a book. Jaden and Dorothy were nowhere to be found because the duo decided to prepare some midnight snacks for all of them. Well, originally Dorothy was going to cook the snacks alone, but Jaden decided to accompany her due to the fact that she wants dibs on the snacks first.
Syrus held two cards in his hands while Chumley tried to figure out which of the two was the correct one. When Chumley's hand moved over to the right card, Syrus grinned, thinking he had Chumley cornered. However, seeing Syrus's amused expression and recalling one of the oldest tricks in the books for cards, Chumley's hand switched towards the left card, where Syrus's gleeful expression changed to one full of puppy dog eyes, as if begging Chumley not to choose the left card.
Thinking that he's gained the upper hand, Chumley, without a second thought, picked the left card, only to discover it wasn't the card he was looking for.
"Hey!" shouted Chumley indignantly as Syrus snickered to himself. "That's not fair! You tricked me with your expressions!"
"Oh? What do you mean? I was just waiting for you to pick a card, that's all. I didn't do anything, really!" said Syrus, trying to feign innocence. "Right, Alexis?"
"..." Alexis was too deep in thought to respond to Syrus's question.
"Hey, come to think of it, why did you agree to tag along, Alexis?" Chumley asked as if it was the first good question asked all night.
"Huh?" Turning to the boys, Alexis answered, "Well...I have nothing better to do, that's all." In actuality, she wanted to know whether or not the sandwich thief had anything to do with the disappearances of the missing students. Maybe he had some sort of link with her brother? Whatever the case is, she was determined to find out for sure!
The door slid open, gaining everyone's attention before they noticed Dorothy and Jaden holding their own plate of rice balls. Dorothy's looks much more delicious and better-looking than Jaden's, whose rice balls looked a bit...charred and nasty.
"Whoa! What flavors are they?" asked Chumley; drool dripping from his mouth as his stomach growled for food. He usually judges food by appearance by seeing how hungry he was, he didn't care at this point what Jaden's food looked like.
"They're apricot, dried fish cracker, and salmon-flavored," spoke Dorothy.
"Ooh! Ooh! Try mine! Try mine!" said Jaden, eagerly showing off her rice balls to her friends. "Mine are chocolate, lemon custard, and my personal favorite, strawberry!"
Nobody wanted to know what was going on in Jaden's head when she attempted to cook the rice balls. Just the mere thought of tasting Jaden's rice balls almost made them want to barf, but they didn't exactly wanted to hurt the girl's feelings, so they just nodded.
"Hey, so which one's salmon-flavored?" asked Chumley, glancing at Dorothy's tray of rice balls.
"Oh, it's right-"
"Wait!" interrupted Jaden, stopping Dorothy midsentence. "We should draw! I want strawberry!" She plucked a rice ball off her own plate and took a bite before presenting her friends her riceball's pink-colored filling. "I got strawberry!"
"Whoa! And on your first try, too!" gasped Syrus, impressed by Jaden's skill despite her usage of strange rice ball fillings.
"Yup! Even more, it was my favorite filling!" said Jaden as she munched more on her strawberry-filled rice ball. "Yummy!"
'Were they really as good as Jaden claims they are?' Alexis, Chumley, and Syrus wondered as they took a riceball from Jaden's plate each. Curious, they cautiously took a bite and began tasting the contents of the rice balls.
Their faces dreaded once their taste buds started to react negatively towards Jaden's rice balls. It took every ounce of their willpower to swallow down what they ate before gasping for breath. It...it was...horrendous, horrible, bland, nasty, anything to describe how bad her rice balls were!
"So...how are they?" wondered Jaden, beaming at them and awaiting positive reviews for her cooking. It was then that they noticed that several bandages were wrapped around her hands, indicating that she must have injured herself countless times in the kitchen.
How could anyone say no to a hardworking girl like her? "It's...good," the three tasters forced themselves to say, smiling at her.
Jaden gasped happily. "Really? Oh, that's such a relief! Want more?"
"NO!" the trio shouted, wanting nothing more than to eat Dorothy's food and rid of the nadty taste left lingering on their tongues forever.
Alexis was the first to composure herself. "What we mean is that, you can have the rest of the rice balls, Jaden. Me and everyone else will taste Dorothy's, alright?"
"Yay!" Cheering to herself, Jaden stuffed her mouth with her cooked rice balls, squealing at the delicious taste as everyone else focused on Dorothy's rice balls. The others decided to make sure that in the future, they wouldn't let Jaden cook, for who knows what sort of disaster she'll make in the future?
Much later that night...
After snack time ended, everyone turned off the lights in the staffroom and hid in their own respective spots. Alexis hid inside a locker which was somewhat half-opened, Dorothy was underneath a computer desk and Syrus and Chumley huddled close under a table. But where was Jaden?
The answer was right inside the cart full of sandwiches. Jaden didn't tell anyone but she had an idea of her own, so once the lights were turned off, she sneaked off and dug her way inside the cart. Luckily, thanks to her petite size, she was able to fit perfectly in, hiding deep underneath the pile of sandwiches while digging a small hole for air. In addition, her tiny companion, Winged Kuriboh, decided to show up and keep her company.
Cuddling Winged Kuriboh in her arms like a baby, Jaden began humming a soft tone to him while rocking him back and forth. Winged Kuriboh softly began to drift off to sleep while purring and nuzzling his fur against her chest. Despite the tight spot they were in, he enjoyed his master's company.
A rattling sound was heard across the area, snapping the group into action. Syrus, Chumley, Dorothy, and Alexis slowly crept out of their hiding spots and gathered around the staffroom's glass door to check to see what was happening. The rattling sounds continued until the store's shutter was lifted up by two muscular-looking hands.
"Whoa! What strength!" gasped Syrus, only to received 'Shhs' from Alexis, Dorothy, and Chumley. The shadow-like figure snuck inside the store once the shutter was opened and he walked towards the sandwich cart; the one Jaden was currently in.
The stranger took a sandwich from the cart, being extremely close to grabbing Jaden's hair. Once he got what he came for, he was satisfied...until the lights turned back on, that is.
A closer look at his appearance can make anyone summarize what they see as a...Tarzan impersonator. He was tall, muscular, had crazy long black hair, and the only clothing he was wearing was his pants. The rest...well, he was shirtless and barefooted, so that speaks a lot of things.
"Hey! There's the thief!" shouted Syrus, pointing to the stranger.
"Stop! You've got nowhere to hide!" said Chumley. It was then that Dorothy realized who it was and gasped out of surprise.
Thinking this was her cue to make her entrance, Jaden popped out of the sandwich cart and started screaming, waving her arms frantically as she attempted to scare the stranger. The plan worked perfectly as the stranger was caught off guard and let out a Tarzan-like scream, which caused everyone else to scream out of surprise. Without having time to think, the stranger began pushing the sandwich cart and making his escape. Jaden squirmed around and as soon as she realized that the stranger was heading towards the store's shutter, she panicked and dove back into the sea of sandwiches, hoping to avoid any heavy damage.
The speed and force the stranger was going through was so immense, it was enough to break through the shutter's defenses, leaving a large gapping hole as the stranger continued running. He shoved the sandwich cart aside; having already completed his objective and not wanting the cart to slow him down before continuing to run away from his pursuers.
Once the cart halted, Jaden climbed out of it as fast as she could, clutching her head as she groaned. The impact of the door practically had Jaden's head banged against the side of the cart once the cart and shutter collided with great force. Right now, she could complain about her headache later. For now, she and her friends had a sandwich thief to catch!
Eventually, their chase ended up from the stranger jumping off the high rooftop of Duel Academy, towards him swinging from vine to vine in the forests, until all the way towards the small waterfalls. By the time the group managed to catch up to the stranger, they were red-faced and completely out of breath as they witnessed the stranger climbing up the waterfalls by the ledges sticking out. Seriously, just how physically strong was this guy?
"Damon!"
The stranger known as Damon paused his climb upwards as Dorothy appeared at the site. She too, was exhausted from the nonstop running, but she still kept her gaze upon the muscular sandwich thief.
"You know him?" asked Jaden.
Dorothy nodded. "Yes, I know him! And he knows better than stealing!"
"..." Damon slowly turned his head towards her, but his hand loosen its grip on one of the slippery, wet ledges, causing him to yell out a cry before plummeting down towards the rushing water. A few bubbles sprouted from underneath the water before Damon emerged, gasping for breath.
"Just as I thought! You are Damon!" said Dorothy, a bit alarmed, yet relieved as well.
"Miss Dorothy! It's been a while!" spoke Damon, surprising the others besides Dorothy. They figured that since he imitates Tarzan perfectly, he would have quite a lack of grammar, but it seems that they were wrong.
"Miss Dorothy, who is this guy?" Jaden asked, turning towards the store manager.
"His name's Damon, and he was an Obelisk Blue student," Dorothy began explaining. "One day, he disappeared! I was so sad! He was one of my favorites! Always visiting me at the card shack, especially on Sandwich Days! Shame that he was bad at drawing, both at dueling and on Sandwich Day events..."
"But this guy keeps drawing the Golden Egg Sandwich each time for a full week now! You sure it's the same guy?" wondered Jaden, having doubts of whether or not this man really was an Obelisk Blue student. If he was, where was his blue blazer?
Gently chuckling, Damon began to burst into a fit of somewhat mad laughter until the waves of the water pushed him back, causing him to stop. Afterwards, he stepped out of the water and sat down on a rock before calming himself with deep breaths.
"Miss Dorothy is right, I am Damon," he admitted to the group. "During the year I vanished, I confined myself in the mountains and trained myself to the bitter end. I was always the smartest Obelisk Blue around, but I sucked at drawing during duels. I prayed everyday to the ocean waves, begging to be better and stronger at my draws. Then, I realized that I must be in tune with nature."
While Damon continued with his explanation on his experiences on training and being one with nature, Alexis was beginning to think that perhaps Damon doesn't know a single thing about the missing students, including her brother. In fact, she thought of him as somewhat of a lunatic. Then again, she did feel bad for him, since people like him take dueling very seriously and it would be a serious wound to his pride if she told him right there and then that dueling isn't everything. Especially since he spent an entire year of his life training.
"...And to make sure that my training was completed, I challenged myself to drawing the Golden Egg Sandwich!" declared Damon before covering his face with one arm, sobbing loudly. After all his hard work, he managed to get ahold of the Golden Egg Sandwiches for a full week!
"Hang on," said Jaden, walking up to the sobbing Tarzan cosplayer. "Way before you came along, I was setting off my own world record of drawing the Golden Egg Sandwiches! And I didn't even need to be uh...what did you call it? 'Sync with the nature?'"
His sobbing ceased as Damon looked at Jaden, unable to believe what she just said. "W-what?"
"So how about a duel? You and me!" she offered, extending a hand towards him. "If I win, then you've gotta stop snatching the sandwiches! But if you win, then they're all yours! What do you say?"
"Huh?" After a moment of thinking things through, Damon smirked and took her hand before standing up from his sitting position. "Very well. But I'm an expert drawer, so it'll be tough beating me."
Pulling her hand back, Jaden placed both hands on her hips. "Hey, I'm no slotch!"
"It's true," commented Syrus as Chumley nodded out of agreement. Alexis facepalmed herself and shook her head as Dorothy smiled, amused.
Soon, both duelists had duel disks latched to their arms as they remained activated. Both inserted their decks inside and stared at one another right as the duel started. Who would win? The lucky tomboy? Or the wildly trained beast? Both were about to find out.
"DUEL!"
- DUEL -
Jaden - 4000 LP
VS
Damon - 4000 LP
"It's time to throw down! I'll go first!" Jaden offered. "Draw! Time to introduce a new friend! Here comes Elemental Hero Lady Heat!"
The field burst with orange-red flames, making it too flashy and bright for anyone to see clearly. Emerging from the flames came a shadowy figure that turned out to be a brand new Elemental Hero Jaden now owned; another female Elemental Hero.
Elemental Hero Lady Heat - (FIRE/Pyro) - LV4 - (1300/1000)
"I'll also throw down a facedown and end my turn!" Jaden said. "Oh, and during each of my End Phases, because of Lady Heat's ability, I get to inflict 200 points of Damage to you for every face-up Elemental Hero Monster I control!"
Lady Heat demonstrated her firey powers by focusing on a small, rounded orb full of intensive firepower with all her might. Yelling, she threw the fireball with all her might like a baseball, successfully hitting Damon on his naked, muscular chest.
Jaden - 4000 LP
Damon - 3800 LP
"Just one turn and Jaden's already inflicted some damage! Way to go, Jay!" cheered Syrus.
"It's not over yet," said Alexis with her arms crossed. "It'll take more than Effect Damage to beat Damon. My guess is that he'll summon a Monster to defend himself with."
"I'll show you who's the better drawer! Draw!" shouted Damon before eyeing Jaden. "First, I'll set a card facedown! Then I summon the card I just drew; Drawler!"
As Damon unleashed another one of his infamous Tarzan-like cries, a giant totem stone-like Monster with wheels as his hands appeared from being buried underground, looking straight ahead.
Drawler - (EARTH/Rock) - LV3 - (?/?)
"Drawler's total Attack and Defense Points are 500 times the number of cards in my hands that I send back to my deck," explained Damon. "I'm sending all four of my cards back to my deck!"
"Wait, all of his cards?" wondered Chumley. Sure, giving away those cards would definitely increase Drawler's Attack and Defense Points, but wouldn't it be more easier to use the cards wisely instead of recklessly throwing them away?
"Eh?! In one turn, he's already out of a hand!" pointed out Syrus; a move that he definitely wouldn't do.
Drawler - (EARTH/Rock) - LV3 - (2000/2000)
"Drawler, attack Lady Heat! Stone Roll Wrecker!"
The large stone Monster raised up his heavy steam roller-like arm and brought it down on Lady Heat, who covered her face with her fully-enhanced flaming arms as an attempt to block the attack. Though she tried, it failed miserably and she was destroyed in an instant.
Jaden - 3300 LP
Damon - 3800 LP
Instead of her card being sent to the Graveyard, Jaden noticed Lady Heat's Monster card was being relocated towards the bottom of her deck, as indicated from the illuminating light spotted at the bottom of her deck.
"Wait, why is Lady Heat's card-?"
"When a Monster in Attack Mode is destroyed by Drawler, that Monster returns to the bottom of the deck instead of going to the Graveyard," explained Damon. "Therefore, if you use a card like Monster Reborn, you can't ever get Lady Heat with the card at the bottom of your deck. Now, I end my turn."
"Never heard of an effect like that before! Not bad at all! My turn!" announced Jaden, drawing her card before smirking. She twirled her drawn card in between her fingers and declared, "From my hand, I activate Polymerization! I fuse Elemental Heroes Burstinatrix and Clayman from my hand and Fusion Summon Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster in Defense Mode!"
The two Elemental Heroes sprang onto the air once their names were called upon; momentarily on the field before vanishing into the vortex where their bodies would merge together. Coming towards their owner's aid, both Burstinatrix and Clayman fused to create one of the heavily defensive Monsters in Jaden's Extra Deck; Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster.
Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster - (EARTH/Warrior/Fusion) - LV6 - (2000/2500)
"Good defense!" commented Damon.
"Yup!" Jaden agreed with him, smirking. "But if I take her Attack Points and split them in half, I'm allowed to wage a direct attack even with her in Defense Mode! Now, Rampart Barrage!"
Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster - (EARTH/Warrior/Fusion) - LV6 - (1000/2500)
Aiming for her half-naked target, Rampart Blaster wasted no time in firing her missiles at the shocked target. Her missiles were accurate and directly blasted him as he released another Tarzan-like scream while being blaster by simultaneous small missiles.
'Looks like he was telling the truth. He is indeed a good drawer! But I'm the better drawer!' Damon thought, trying to strategize as he pondered about the dire situation he was in. His Monster couldn't exactly destroy Rampart Blaster's high defense, and if he continued to ignore the Fusion Monster, she'll keep bringing his Life Points down bit by bit! He had to try the risky strategy he's trained hard to accomplish! If it works, it could change the tides of this duel!
Meanwhile, Jaden had a million thoughts in her mind as she wondered what sort of card Damon would draw next. 'I wonder if he'll draw a Winged Kuriboh next? It would be so cute!~ No wait, maybe a Dark Magician Girl! Yeah! He has to pick that one! No, no! A Watapon! Eek! Those things are so cute!~' she thought, grinning.
"Now I activate my Trap card, Miracle Draw!" shouted Damon. "Here's how it works! In every one of my Draw Phases, I have to declare the card that I think I'm going to draw! If I'm right, I get to inflict 1000 points of damage directly towards you! But if I'm wrong, I receive 1000 points of damage!"
"Wait, but that's impossible!" cried out Syrus.
Chumley couldn't help but agree with Syrus on that statement. "Yeah, it's way too risky! There's no way he'll do it!"
Amazed by this newfound strategy, Alexis thought, 'Of course it's risky. There's about 40-60 cards in Damon's deck. The chances of him actually declaring a card correctly are very low!'
"Wow! Really? Then, I declare that you're going to draw a Winged Kuriboh!" declared Jaden, pointing to Damon.
Damon sweatdropped along with everyone else but Dorothy, who still doesn't exactly know the rules to the game. "I...I never heard of that card before, but I'm pretty sure I don't have it. Besides, only I can declare the card name, not you."
"Oh...Well, I still think you're going to draw a Winged Kuriboh!"
"We'll see about that!" Laying his fingers onto the top card of his deck, Damon closed his eyes and focused on his surroundings of the nature. The smell of the waterfall and air...The feeling of the card in his fingertips...the utter silence surrounding him as his senses tingled for the right card...until his instincts told him the answer!
"The card I'm going to draw is Card Loan!" Swiftly taking out the card, Damon raised it high in the air for everyone to see...
"No way!" gasped Syrus.
"Card Loan?!" wondered Alexis, amazed.
"He got it right?!" said Chumley.
"Awwww! You didn't get a Winged Kuriboh!" complained Jaden, completely forgetting all about the 1000 point penalty.
"Now, according to Miracle Draw, you now receive 1000 points of damage, Jaden!" reminded Damon, pressing a button on his duel disk to deliver the Effect Damage towards Jaden, whose duel disk surged with static electricity.
Jaden - 2300 LP
Damon - 3800 LP
"Now, I think I'm going to activate my drawn card, Card Loan," said Damon. "My opponent regains 1000 Life Points while I take 1000 points of damage."
Jaden - 3300 LP
Damon - 2800 LP
"And then, I draw one card from my deck! The drawn card is then returned to my deck at my End Phase!"
"All that just to make a draw?" wondered Chumley, unable to comprehend how much the Tarzan lookalike was risking just for a good draw.
'He must be pretty confident in his draws to go so far,' Alexis thought, continuing to observe the battle.
"I like! Okay! I now activate the Spell Card, Drawber! Now you get to draw a card and I guess what it is! If I'm right, then all cards on your field and hand are returned to your deck and shuffled!"
"If he guesses right, then Jaden's field will be wide open!" gasped Chumley, fully capable of Damon's remarkable drawing ability.
'Even so, there's no way that he could guess right again,' thought Alexis, having her doubts. There's quite a possibility that Damon may not even know all of the cards in Jaden's deck, so it's a high chance that he might not get the next guess correct.
Once again closing his eyes to concentrate on his senses, Damon began to visualize everything in his surroundings, even inside his opponent's deck. The sight, smell, hearing, taste...everything is connected to the nature around him...And now nature has once again given him an answer.
"You have drawn De-Fusion!"
Glancing at her drawn card, Jaden laughed, having a total blast over this duel. "Wow! You got it right! For once, I'm glad I didn't draw Winged Kuriboh!"
"No way! He's right?!" said Syrus, stunned that Damon had once again, proven that nature heeded his calls. Alexis and Chumley were just as surprised as Syrus was; unexpecting the turn of events.
Taking Rampart Blaster's card off her duel disk along with any cards in her hands, she returned all cards to her deck and began to shuffle them over and over; doing as the card conditions told her to do.
"Not good! This is gonna hurt!" commented Syrus, turning away from the sight that was to come.
"Drawler! Attack him directly! Stone Roll Wrecker!" ordered Damon. The gigantic Monster rolled towards Jaden, and due to the fact that he was still a holographic Monster, Jaden wasn't splattered across the ground, but her Life Points took heavy damage.
Jaden - 1300 LP
Damon - 2800 LP
"I end my turn," said Damon, placing Drawber back to his deck.
"Alright, my turn!" Seeing that it was one of her dear good Monster cards, Jaden knew what new move to pull. "I summon Wroughtweiler in Defense Mode!"
Wroughtweiler - (EARTH/Machine) - LV3 - (800/1200)
"Now, sic him, boy!"
Startled, Damon shielded his face with his muscular arms; wanting to avoid any rabid bites coming from the mechanical dog. However, the dog Monster turned his head back at Jaden, giving a mechnical arf sound as well as what looks like a confused expression.
"Jaden...he's in Defense Mode, remember?" reminded Alexis, shaking her head back and forth.
"Oh right, sorry...but I always like to see him in action!" pouted Jaden. "He's such a good little boy!"
If Wroughtweiler could, he would pounce on Jaden and start licking her face affectively, but...no! He must guard her against the giant Monster who could easily flatten him like a pancake! Protection first, then hugs and kisses later! He wasn't dog sidekick to the Elemental Heroes for nothing!
"I...suppose it's my turn!"
"Oh man, this is bad!" said Chumley, expressing worry for the girl. "On Damon's next turn, if he manages to guess his next draw, then it's all over for Jaden!"
'It all comes down to this,' thought Damon, clenching his fist to boost up his confidence. 'If I guess the next card right, then I'll win, and all my hard training will be over! His Monster's in Defense Mode, so if I draw Shield Crush, I can win! I must draw Shield Crush to win...I must...I must...Give me Shield Crush!'
Focusing with all his might to obtain the card he absolutely needed at the moment, Damon pictured the card in his hands and his eyes shot wide. Now he was sure that he drew the card he needed!
"Draw will be...Shield Crush!" He drew the card in the blink of an eye and raised it high for everyone to see. But, the card he drew was...
Doron.
Jaden - 1300 LP
Damon - 1800 LP
"I summon Doron in Attack Mode!" said Damon, still fazed by his error.
Doron happened to be a mummy-like figure that spelled out spooky and dangerous for the opponent, but he wasn't as strong as Drawler anyways.
Doron - (EARTH/Warrior) - LV2 - (900/500)
Jaden smirked, thinking that the tides of the duel were back on her side. Seeing Jaden's triumphant smirk mocking him, Damon defended himself. "So I guessed wrong, big deal! I'll still beat you! Just wait and see! Drawler attacks Wroughtweiler!"
In all honesty, it didn't take Drawler that long to crush Wroughtweiler and flatten him to the ground, much to Jaden's dismay. However, since Wroughtweiler was in Defense instead of Attack Mode, Drawler's effect didn't activate.
"Noooo! Wroughtweiler! You were my only friend!" Jaden dramatically sobbed, falling to her knees and agonizing over Wroughtweiler's defeat.
"Dramatic much, Jaden?" sighed Alexis while Chumley and Syrus sweatdropped. Jaden and her obsession with cute things...never mess between the two.
"I play Wroughtweiler's special ability!" said Jaden, retrieving two cards from her Graveyard. "Now, since he was sent to the Graveyard, I'm allowed to put Polymerizaion and Burstinatrix back into my hands."
"Fine, but I'm not done yet! Now Doron attacks you directly!" shouted Damon. "Mad Dash Stinger!"
Doron used his own attacking powers to create three copies of himself before lunging towards Jaden. They began to gang up on her and throwing her punches all over, though they didn't harm her enough to give her bruises.
"Hey! Stop hurting my Jaden!" shouted Syrus, shaking his fist at the Monster Doron. All he received from the Monster was him sticking his tongue at the petite boy, much to his anger.
"Oh my...such romantic heroism!" sighed Dorothy, blushing. "It's a shame that I didn't bring a video camera! Otherwise, the Yaoi Fanclub would have quite the news!"
"You're part of the club too? Nowadays, most girls are part of the club!" pointed out Chumley.
"Hey, even someone like me can have fantasies over people too!"
Jaden - 400 LP
Damon - 1800 LP
"I end my turn!" said Damon. "You only have a few more Life Points left, so just one more turn and I'll win and finally complete my training!"
"Jeez, you don't get it, do ya?" called out Jaden, leaning forward with her hands on her hips; an annoyed expression on her face. "You keep relying and saying that drawing has something to do with nature, but that's not what makes drawing fun and unpredictable! Drawing is basically unpredictable and can turn the tides in any duel! You just focused too much on winning, which is why you were wrong before! But me? I'm all pumped up for my next draw whether I win or lose!"
Damon, taken aback by her words, began thinking carefully. Was...was he wrong all along then? Could the spirit of drawing really be from fun? No, when what was the point of all his training? Whatever case may be, this duel will determine which one of them is right!
"I draw!" Spotting her drawn card, Jaden smiled. "Sweet! I activate Polymerization from my hand! I'll fused Elemental Hero Burstinatrix and my newly drawn Avian from my hand in order to call forth Elemental Hero Flame Wingman in Attack Mode!"
Both Monsters appeared on set before disappearing in the portal of Fusion that caused the newly reborn Flame Wingman to pop onto the field, waiting for his owner's commands.
Elemental Hero Flame Wingman - (WIND/Warrior/Fusion) - LV 6 - (2100/1200)
"What?!" Damon read the stat gauge on Flame Wingman and realized that his Attack power is much greater than Drawler.
"Flame Wingman, attack Drawler with Inferno Rage!" ordered Jaden.
The Fusion Monster of fire and wind aimed his monstrous arm, opening its jaws before it fired flames of vengenance towards Drawler, engulfing him in waves of fire before the giant was destroyed.
Jaden - 400 LP
Damon - 1700 LP
"Yeah, but not for long! Flame Wingman's ability activates!" said Jaden. "Now you take damage equal to your destroyed Monster's Attack Points! And that brings you down to 0!"
Jaden - 400 LP
Damon - 0 LP
Winner: Jaden
"That's game!" giggled Jaden, showing off her usual victory hand signature to the defeated Damon before he collapsed to his knees.
"Way to play, Jay!" cheered Syrus as he and Chumley came up to her to show their congrats.
"I can't believe I lost! I don't understand! I've been training for a full year!" complained Damon, punching the ground over and over.
"Well, I did keep telling you that your way of drawing was wrong," said Jaden, walking up to Damon.
"No...it was all me...my training still wasn't enough," he said, lamenting over his defeat.
Seeing that he still needed time to think things through, considering all he's been through, Jaden smiled and offered a hand. "Come on, let's go grab some sandwiches together tommorow! New batch tommorow! And maybe, you'll get the Golden Egg Sandwich all by yourself!"
Glancing up at Jaden, Damon sniffled and nodded; tears streaming from his eyes. Dorothy couldn't help but feel sorry for Damon since he had desperately wanted the Golden Egg Sandwich all this time, so she bent down and embraced him like a Mother would to comfort her own son. Damon accepted her hug and cried onto her shoulder while the others watched, relieved that the sandwich thief crisis was over.
The next day...
"Awww! I didn't get the sandwich!" whined Syrus after taking a bite of his randomly selected sandwich. "I got barbeque chicken instead!"
"Hey, Sy," said Jaden, sitting down next to him near one of the cafeteria tables. She held a half-eaten sandwich in her hands, but apparently she looked sorta gloomy, which is usual since she's always bright.
"What's wrong, Jaden?" Syrus asked before his worried look changed to one full of anger. "Did someone insult you? I can go beat them up for you!"
"Awww! That's so sweet of you!" Jaden's gentle smile returned as she ruffled Syrus's hair. "But...it's just that Alexis got the Eggwich before me and Damon, so it's a real shame. All I got was noodle sandwich."
"Oh...wanna trade?"
"Okay!"
While the two had been talking, Dorothy, her assistant, and a couple of girls from the Yaoi Fanclub squealed in joy of seeing Syrus and Jaden interact from afar. It seemed that they were trading their half-eaten sandwiches to one another. If they ate half of their sandwiches...then wouldn't it be an indirect kiss?
"J-Jay? Can I ask something?" Syrus found his mouth moving before his thoughts could process. He...had been wondering to do this for a while and thought whether or not it was appropriate.
"Hmm?" Pausing, Jaden blinked her bright, chocolate-like eyes and stared into Syrus, who gulped.
"W-well, do you think maybe I can feed you your sandwich?" Quickly covering his mouth, Syrus's face inflamed with embarrassment. "I-I'M SO SORRY! I DIDN'T-!"
"Okay!" Without a second thought, Jaden shoved her sandwich to Syrus and opened her mouth.
From his position, Syrus could see the insides of her mouth and flustered before gently placing her sandwich inside her mouth and holding it still so it wouldn't fall. Watching her cute mouth chewing on the bread and barbeque chicken caused Syrus's face to turn from pink to tomato red the more she kept eating.
When Jaden pulled back to drink her water, she noticed a small trail of barbeque sauce on her lips. "Oops!" Instead of wiping her lips clean with a napkin, she licked all over her lips in sort of a cute, seductive matter, which happened to be the last straw for Syrus before fainting.
"Oh no! Sy! What's wrong?"
Unknown to the unconscious Syrus, whose nose was dripping a bit of blood, the spiritual guardians of Jaden, aka some of the Elemental Heroes, were very watchful during the event. Oh, Syrus Truesdale was going to get what was coming to him very, VERY soon...
Finished at long last! Hope you guys have a good day and review!