Love the special? Well, you'll probably love this more! Now, let's get started!
Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh series or the OCs. She also doesn't own any Ace Attorney or Detective Conan or NicoB references.
Dark and deep within a hidden cavern, several mysterious figures laid in hiding, as if awaiting for something extremely important. The only source of light around the area they were in was a fire inside a lantern candle holder, enough to fill the figures up with warmth and the ability to see amongst themselves.
"Is it true that the boss is coming here? If so, then the time has finally come," spoke a hammer wielding man.
A muscular man polishing his mace replied, "Yeah. I can't believe the boss is actually coming. Finally, we'll be getting some action!"
"Yeah, the pieces are finally falling into place. As usual, we'll act without murdering or injuring anyone, and without stealing anything from the poor," reminded a whip wielding woman.
"We'll uphold the Three Laws of Stealing, alright. Just as part of our plan!" agreed a glasses-wearing man; his dagger glinting from the flame's light.
Colliding their weapons altogether, the four dark companions cried out in unison, "There's no stopping the Dark Scorpions now!"
A few days later...
Staring blankly at the glass windows inside Duel Academy, Atticus stood motionless and empathic, acting almost like a machine of sorts. He's managed to make a full recovery physically, but his mental state still wasn't quite there. He hasn't gone insane, but according to Alexis, he hasn't gone back to his usual attitude, which was more upbeat and outgoing. Still, if Atticus had managed to come this far while being strong, Alexis was sure that Atticus would soon return to his normal state again. After all, he's only just recovered.
"Hey, Alexis!"
"Hmm?" Whirling her head to the side, Alexis noticed Jaden along with Banner and his cat, Chazz, and another strange approaching her.
"How's Atticus doing?"
"Well..." Turning back to Atticus, Alexis explained softly, "His body is feeling all better, and he's able to walk around more, but it looks like he can't quite remember what happened to him back before he went missing."
"I see...Poor Alexis...Don't worry, though! Don't give up!" assured Jaden. "I'm sure he'll come around just fine!"
Alexis nodded, honestly believing in Jaden's words. "Yeah, thanks. Anyways, what brings you all here?"
"Oh, just a bit of a talk with a detective," answered Banner, addressing to the stranger behind them. "I...uh...hired him! Yes! To help out with some things!"
Taking off his head as a polite gesture before placing it back on his head, the stranger dressed as a detection started introducing himself. "Good afternoon, young lady! I'm Detective Zaloog! It's nice to make your acquaintance!"
Seeing a detective in an academy was a strange, but not as strange as the weird golden eyepatch Zaloog had on. Blinking, Alexis decided to be polite and nodded. "Y-yes...Nice to meet you too...So, what's going on, Professor Banner? Why hire a detective?"
"Well, as you know, three of the seven Spirit Keys have already been taken," started Banner, a bit upset. "So, me and Chancellor Sheppard talked things through and agreed to have a professional police inspector come and investigate. Maybe even keep things a bit safer."
In a way, that does seem to make much more sense. Despite Zaloog looking a bit smug about himself, he did appear like a professional detective, so it might not be bad to have some form of protection. After all, the last two cases with the two Shadow Riders weren't exactly very protective. Crowler and Zane were defeated and turned into dolls because the first enemy cheated and used Syrus as a hostage, endangering his life by practically sucking the life force out of him, and Bastion was..."tortured" all night after being defeated by the second Shadow Rider and even having his heart broken, so the next Shadow Rider might be just as dangerous as Camula and Tania.
"Hey, by the way, where's your Spirit Key, Alexis?" Jaden asked so suddenly.
"Hmm? Right here! Around my neck," replied Alexis, unbuttoning the top of her jacket.
Swiftly whirling around, Chazz's face flustered while Jaden remained confused as to why Chazz would look away. "Hey, what's the matter?" she asked, turning Chazz around by grabbing his shoulders, forcing him to look into Alexis' direction. "There's nothing wrong wi-"
POW! "Y-YOU IDIOT! AS IF I WANT TO SEE 'THAT!'" yelled Chazz, hitting Jaden across the head.
"OWIE! MY HEAD!" cried out Jaden, pouting as a bump formed at the spot where he hit her. "MEANIE!"
"Shut up, slacker!" Chazz shouted before deciding to change the subject. "A-Anyways, I've got my Spirit Key all around my neck!"
"Hmph..." Ignoring Chazz, Jaden held up her own Spirit Key around her neck as well. "Mine's in the same spot, too."
"I see...I see...That's very good thinking, placing your own Spirit Keys around your necks for a much more secure place to hide them and keep them safe," replied Zaloog, analying the situation. "But, unfortunately, that's also a dead giveaway to where your precious treasures are hiding. After all, if the Shadow Riders find you, they'll find the keys as well."
"And that is why the detective has suggested that we neatly store our keys somewhere safe," said Banner.
The three students nodded to each other. Why not? The detective makes a sound argument. While Spirit Keys cannot be officially obtained unless one wins against the wielder through a duel, the keys would still be in some sort of danger, including the wearers themselves. Hiding the keys might be a safer method to keep them safe, plus the Shadow Riders wouldn't immediantly identify which person was a Spirit Key Keeper.
In Chazz's room...
"There. I'll put my key right here," said Chazz, placing his Spirit Key under the sink before closing the sink door behind.
"Yes, yes...Nobody would think to look under such a dark and damp place. Just make sure to keep it a secret, Chazz," advised Zaloog before a loud noise caught everyone's attention. "What was that?!"
From outside of Chazz's dorm room, a large man dressed in a janitor's outfit was busy painting the railings of the upper Slifer Red dorm levels, smiling back at the group before resuming his work.
"Oh, that's just Mr. Gorg! He's the janitor!" assured Jaden.
In Jaden's room...
"I'll put this behind my cute stuffed animals and plushies!" Jaden said, hiding the key behind her various stuffed animals and plushes; all resembling popular Duel Monsters or cute animals.
"Jaden, why do you have so many?" questioned Alexis, sweatdropping.
"Hey, I love them! I snuggle with them every night!"
"Yes, very clever," complimented Zaloog, nodding his head. "No perpetrator would even dare to go up to a sleeping person, much less imagine a key hiding behind the huge mass of dolls and stuffed toys!"
A noise outside the room alerted everyone as Jaden rushed over and swung the door open quickly. "GAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" A blond haired Slifer Red student screamed upon being astonished by Jaden's sudden entrance and her scream.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH! WHY ARE WE SCREAMING?!"
"What?! What's going on?! Who's there?" questioned Zaloog. "Is it someone suspicious?"
"Hey, Chick! Did you forget? Your room's next door," reminded Syrus as he and Chumley walked up the stairs, intending on entering their room.
"R-right! Sorry!" spoke Chick hesitantly before running off.
"Oh! Chick's a new transfer student. He kinda gets our room confused sometimes," Chumley told the detective as he and Syrus have already been informed of the situation at hand.
In Alexis' room...
"I like to put all my valuables and important things here, so I'll put my key in as well," said Alexis, placing her Spirit Key inside her jewlery box.
Sitting casually on Alexis' couch, Zaloog nodded. "Yes, of course. No criminal would think to snatch the key in an obvious place!"
"O-Oh! My apologies!" apologized a woman in a white coat, holding a board in her arms. "I believe I must be in the wrong room! But seriously, males aren't allowed in the Obelisk Blue Girls' Dorm without permission!"
"Huh? Who is this?" wondered Zaloog.
Alexis smiled. "Oh, no need to worry. This is Miss Meanae, the school nurse! She's perfectly harmless!"
In the teacher's conference room...
"I'll put my key inside this safe," Banner said, putting the Spirit Key inside the safe vault.
"As long as nobody figures out the combination, sure," said Chazz, closing the safe's door and locking it in place.
Hearing someone walking past the others in the hallway, they saw a security guard with his back turned as he made his way out of the hallway. "Who's that?" wondered Zaloog.
"Oh, that's Mr. Cliff, our security guard," replied Banner before yawning. "Now, I think we should all get some rest for tonight. It is getting late, after all."
Turning to the students, Zaloog announced, "Yes, we should sleep this off for tonight! After all, you all hid your keys in safe places which I doubt the thief could find so easily. You all sleep well and have a good night!"
A few hours later in the middle of the night...
Chazz was clinging onto the bedsheets, rolling to the side as his mouth sprouted out mutterings of cuss words and moaning. His entire body was heating up to the point where his face was red and sweating. He must have been having a good dream as he was still fast asleep and smirking like a madman.
"Jaden...Oh God, yes...Right there...yeah...take it...take it...you little shitty...ugh!"
"Sy, he's not waking up! He keeps making these weird sounds and stuff!" whined Jaden, who had been shaking Chazz and urging him to wake up like crazy.
Syrus, whose eye was twitching as he tried to keep his anger and jealously together, wished he could plunge Chazz's face in with a knife. How dare he dream of Jaden like that?! Luckily, Jaden was still as oblivious as ever. Sure, Chazz may be cooler, stronger, and maybe even more handsome than he is, but Syrus was determined not to lose!
'Chazz Princeton, you may be my most challenging foe yet...Right after my big brother,' thought Syrus, swearing to win the competition for Jaden's heart.
Frustrated, Jaden snatched Chazz's pillow from behind his head and started hitting him with it, yelling, "WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE. UP!"
With his head suddenly falling flat on the mattress and the feeling of something soft hitting him, Chazz blinked a few times and woke up. The first sight he saw as Jaden hitting him with a pillow with Syrus sitting right next to her. Both of them seemed to be calling for him, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. Oh right, he put on earplugs to block out the snores from the other room.
Sitting up, Chazz plucked the earplugs off his ears and demanded, "Hey, I can't hear you. I had earplugs in my ears! So, what is it that was so important that you had to wake me up in the middle of the night?"
"Well, I think you had a wet dream," pointed out Syrus bluntly.
"W-what?!" Recalling his dream, Chazz shook his head and yelled, "How much did you hear?!"
"I dunno! You said my name and was saying some weird stuff...Didn't really care about that," replied Jaden. "But anyways, that's not important! We came to talk to you about something!"
"R-right...Wait, how the hell did you guys even enter?! My door was locked!"
"That's the thing! It's about the Spirit Keys! Look!" Pointing behind her, Jaden addressed to the front door which had been broken down by force.
"W-what the hell?!" Worried about his Spirit Key, Chazz rushed over to the sink cabinet and found that the small door was also smashed into wooden splinters scattered all over the floor. "How the hell did the culprit did this while I was asleep?!"
"Duh! You had earplugs!" reminded Jaden. "Are you an idiot or something!"
"Shut it, Slifer slacker! I bet you stoled it!"
"As if! Mine's stolen too! I found all of my poor stuffed plushies all over the floor! Whoever did that is gonna pay! Wait...wouldn't that mean that the other Spirit Keys are missing too?"
"Don't tell me..." gasped Chazz. "This is one of the Shadow Riders' doing?! If that's the case, then we have to get everyone together! Fast!"
Several minutes later, in Chazz's room...
"So, in the end, even though we hid them pretty well, our Spirit Keys still went missing," sighed Chazz in disappointment. Himself, Jaden, Chumley, Syrus, Banner, and Alexis had all gathered and sat on top of Chazz's bed, having been informed of what's happened. Like Chazz and Jaden, the other Spirit Keys had gone missing.
"Yeah, and we could totally see how the culprit managed to accomplish one of his goals easily," spoke Jaden sarcastically. She was NOT in a good mood ever since she discovered her stuffed animals had been tossed to the floor without a care from the culprit.
"Damnit, Jaden! Even if I had earplugs, everyone else still had their Spirit Keys stolen anyways!"
"My, this has suddenly become a twisted turn, hasn't it? Well, never fear! Detective Zaloog's on the case!"
Standing in front of Chazz's room entrance was the detective himself, along with the nurse, Gorg, Officer Cliff, and Chick from earlier this afternoon. While it was understandable why Zaloog had arrived, it was quite odd for the other four to be involved.
"Detective Zaloog!" exclaimed Banner, surprised. "Oh! Why are all these people with you?"
"Oh, them? I called them up as...suspects! Yes, I decided to do a thorough interogation! I'll question them later, but for now, I'd like to ask each and every one of you all some questions! We do need to get to the bottom of this case, after all!"
Having faith in the detective, Jaden agreed and stood up. "Yeah! Alright, got nothing to hide here! Let's do what the detective says! After all, the police are the good guys, after all-"
"Wait, stop," ordered Chazz, having crossed his legs and closing his eyes in stern concentration. "Something's not right here."
"Chazz, why do you say that? What's got you so suspicious all of a sudden?" wondered Banner curiously as Jaden sat back down.
"It's not just that...but I believe this job deserves someone else worthy of the title 'Detective.' Someone...like me!" declared Chazz before pointing up in the air. "I swear, in the name of Detective Chazz Princeton, I will solve this case!"
"Ooh!~ Wow! That's kinda cool!" praised Jaden excitedly.
Chazz smirked. 'Ha! She thinks I'm cool! First step towards winning her heart, complete!' he thought, feeling confident in himself.
Syrus was not amused, however.
"But, in order to do that, I must collect some evidence! So, this'll take some time!" said Chazz, standing up on his own two bed. "I will require the need of an assistant! I'm gonna be Duel Academy's version of Sherlock Holmes! And I already know who I'm gonna choose! Jaden! You'll be the version of Dr. Watson!"
"Yay!" cheered Jaden, clapping her hands. "Even though I wanted to be the lead role, this works fine, too!"
"No! I object!" demanded Syrus, slamming his fist into the bed. "If she gets to be an assistant, I want to, too!" The only reason he truly wished for this was because he wanted to keep an eye on Jaden for her own protection.
"Fine, I might need a substitute anyways, so you're an extra!" said Chazz before grinning. "You'll be known as...Detective Pipsqueak!"
"I want a better name!"
"Take it or leave it, shrimp. You want to be part of my detective crew? Then accept the name!"
"Grrr...Fine!"
"Wait a minute!" called out Zaloog. "I'm the professional detective here! Why shou-"
"Tommorow night!" interrupted Chazz, turning to face him. "Tommorow night, we'll hold a trial of wits! My logic vs yours!" Narrowing his eyes sharply, Chazz continued, "And I've got this shaky feeling about you! I don't trust you one bit, detective! For all I know, you could be a fake!"
"Er..." Feeling he was getting sweaty, Zaloog defended, "O-Oh yeah? Challenge accepted! I'll teach you that little brats like you should leave these to the professionals!"
"Bring it on, old man!"
Between the two "detectives," sparks could be seen flying out from their glaring eyes as they were trying to pierce one another with their glares as everyone else just sweatdropped.
'Oh, boy. This is gonna be good,' they thought.
A few hours of investigating later...
"Okay, so far, after interviewing all of the suspects we know, here's the information we got," said Chazz to his two assistants, Jaden and Syrus. "First off, you two were stupid enough to seal the hole that was made in your wall! Seriously, what the hell?! Now, we can't get any evidence from that!"
Both Jaden and Syrus were annoyed that they were being critized over fixing their bedroom wall. "It's not our fault! We didn't know at the time that it'd be involved in the case!" argued Syrus. The hole in their room was most likely an attempt for the culprit to sneak in and take away Jaden's Spirit Key.
"Next, Alexis. Apparently, there was a red broken nail in Alexis' bedroom floor, according to her testimony, but she threw it away. Just to make matters worse, Banner claimed to have seen muddy footprints near the safe vault, but he cleaned them up! Damnit, am I the only smart one in this academy?!"
"Ooh! What about those other four people?" wondered Jaden. "Like, that nurse, the police officer, the janitor, and Chuck!"
"Chick," corrected Syrus.
"What kinda guy's name is named after a hot babe or a baby bird?" questioned Chazz, crossing his arm. "But...you may have a point. We already interrogated them, though. Wait...I get it! We'll search their rooms!"
"I'm pretty sure you'll need a warrant for that, or at least some permission from an official police force," said Syrus. "Not sure they're gonna allow us to sneak in, though."
"Don't worry! I have a plan!" Chazz assured with a smirk. "Dr. Watson! Detective Pipsqueak! I demand that you bring me a mallet, a chair, a black marker, and a cookie!"
"Stop calling me that!" shouted Syrus, irritated. "And why should we get those for you?"
Jaden yawned. "Yeah...it's getting late...can we stop for now...?"
"Like hell! A true detective never gives up no matter what!" declared Chazz, determined. "Now, go on! Shoo! Shoo!"
Several minutes later after Chazz obtained the items given to him by his command, he returned to both of his assistants with a confident smirk on his face as he led them away to the teachers' conference room. In there was Zaloog, sitting in the main chair with his head drooped down. Apparently, he was unconscious, as his face had black markings all over them and a slight bump on the back of his head.
"Did you do that to him?!" exclaimed Syrus, shocked.
Munching on a cookie, Chazz nodded. "Mmm hmm...Also, we should probably hide under the table."
"Why?" asked Jaden.
"Because we've got approximately five minutes before those four other suspects come in here. I kinda lied and told them that Detective Zaloog wanted to talk to them in the conference room."
"And you're telling us this now?!" questioned Syrus before gasping. "I think I hear something!"
"Crap, they must be early! Quick, under the table! Let me handle the rest afterwards!" ordered Chazz. With no time to waste, the trio scrambled and crawled underneath the table, being close to Zaloog's feet as they saw other peoples' feet entering inside the room.
"Boss? What was it that you wanted to tell us?" wondered the janitor.
'Boss?' thought Chazz suspiciously. Did the four suspects and the detective have some sort of connection together?
Clearing his throat for a second, Chazz then proceeded to deepen his voice as much as he could. "Well, you see, there's a bit of a favor I wish to ask of-"
"Wait, why's your voice like that?" asked the nurse.
"And why isn't your mouth moving?" questioned Chick.
"I'm...I'm practicing ventriloquism!" lied Chazz, hoping that could provide as a good excuse.
"But...I don't see the poin-"
"ANYWAYS! You know that Chazz guy? You know, the handsome, awesome, sexy guy known as Detective Chazz Princeton?" gloated Chazz, trying to imitate Zaloog's voice as best as he could. He couldn't help but brag proudly of himself.
Syrus rolled his eyes, knowing Chazz was full of himself. "Chazz! Focus!" He hissed.
"Right...Anyways, I need you four to allow him access to your rooms."
"But boss!" complained Officer Cliff.
"No, buts! Get to it! When he asks to look in your room, you do what he says!"
"Yes, boss!" The four of them nodded before proceeding to take their leave. Now that the coast was clear, Chazz knew that their job would be a lot more considerably easier now. It was all thanks to his brilliant plan that allowed them to win this round.
"Ugh..." Zaloog blinked, trying to wake up from his "nap."
Panicking, Chazz grabbed the mallet he had his on his back pocket and smacked Zaloog on the back of his head, knocking him out once more.
"Chazz!"
"Sorry! I panicked! He won't remember anyways! Let's get outta here before he wakes up again!"
The next night, outside the Slifer Red Dorms...
Loud murmurings could be heard from the jury section, which only consisted of a few people; Jaden, Zane, Bastion, Chumley, Syrus, Crowler, Banner, Alexis, along with the nurse, Gorg, Chick, and Officer Cliff.
As for the judge of the court, it just so happens to be Chancellor Sheppard. How anyone was able to organize the entire courtroom outside the Slifer Red Dorms, or, at least the important parts, including arranging a black suit and a gavel for the Chancellor was beyond anyone's idea.
Sheppard banged his gavel down repeatedly until the murmuring came to a halt. "Order! Order in the court! Court is now in session for the trial of...uh...what exactly are we doing?"
Chazz, who was on the defense attorney's side of the area, replied, "Well, we came to discuss about the mysterious culprit who stole all the Spirit Keys!"
"What?! The Spirit Keys have been stolen? Why hasn't anyone informed me of this?!" demanded Sheppard.
"Chancellor, that's what we're trying to figure out-"
"I mean, I even had security cameras installed in case something like this happened!"
"Well, looks like this case is gonna be more wrapped up sooner than I thought," commented Zane, finding it ridiculous to host a court case over something like this.
Zaloog cleared his throat. "Your Honor, if I may? I did indeed thought of the chance for any security cameras, so I asked Officer Cliff to escort me to the Security Room, but unfortunately, someone else had erased all the footage the night the keys were stolen. What a shame."
"Hey! Hey!" called out Syrus, raising his hand. "In times like these, aren't there supposed to be opening statements or whatever?"
"Oh! You're right!" said Sheppard. "Alright, uh...Detective Zaloog? Would you mind presenting your opening statement?"
"Yes, Your Honor," agreed Zaloog, glancing at his papers. "Let's see...Late last night, the first to discover that one's Spirit Key was missing was a certain Jaden Yuki. After she and her friend, Syrus Truesdale woke u-"
"OBJECTION!" yelled Chazz, causing heads to turn to his direction. He slammed his hands on the table and continued, "The prosecution is currently wasting our time with useless information!"
"What? Is that true, Detective Zaloog?"
Sweatdropping, Zaloog replied, "No! How is this useless? I'm getting to the point of the whole case here! Now, let me continue! Anyways, Jaden Yuki and Syrus Truesdale woke up and discovered that the Spirit Key had gone missing from their room, and they rushed to wake up their friend, Chazz Princeton, whose door was broken down, indicating that the culprit must have broken it down."
"But how did Chazz not hear the noise?" wondered Sheppard.
"Simple, Your Honor. He was wearing earplugs."
When everyone turned to Chazz for an explanation, the black-haired student flustered. "H-hey! You try being in my shoes and having to endure nights of endless snoring! I just did what any rational person would do!"
Jaden looked away and coughed. "*Cough* Serves you right *Cough*."
Slamming his palms down on the table once again, Chazz angrily yelled, "Graaaaahhh! I will frickin' murder you, Jaden!"
"Order! Order in the court!" shouted Sheppard, who secretly loved hitting the gavel. Perhaps he should try this method whenever he wished to silence a crowd. "Please continue, Detective Zaloog."
"Right, so after Chazz and his friends woke up, they decided to check on up Alexis Rhodes and Professor Banner because they too, possessed Spirit Keys. Shockingly enough, their Spirit Keys had mysterious vanished as well! This culprit must have been a talented one, as he was able to hide his tracks and erase any evidence against him."
"Hmm...I see..." said Sheppard, understanding the situation. "This is really terrible! We must find the Spirit Keys at once!"
"And that's where I come in, Your Honor!" said Chazz. "Whoever stole the Spirit Keys must have been someone who was with me and everyone else who went to see where we would keep the Spirit Keys hidden!"
"Oh? Does that mean you're accusing someone? Then, bring it on!" challenged Zaloog, smirking. "But surely, you must have evidence, no?"
Now it was Chazz's turn to chuckle and smirk. "Oh, don't worry! I've got plenty of that! In fact, I even know the true culprits!" Reverting towards the jury, he started pointing fingers, accusing who was involved. "You! You! You! And you!"
"Us?!" exclaimed Gorg, Officer Cliff, the nurse, and Chick.
"Hey, Chancellor!"
"Chazz, I'm the judge right now, remember?"
"Alright, fine! Judge Sheppard! I call those four people to the stand!"
"Chazz, you can only call one person up to the stand," reminded Alexis. "That's kinda how the system works."
"But this is really important!" argued Chazz.
"Just go with it, Alexis," said Bastion. "The faster we do this, the better."
"Yeah, you're probably right."
Begrudgingly, the four of them were forced before the stand, all not amused. "What is this?!" demanded the nurse. "We're innocent, we tell you! Innocent!"
"That's what they all say!" Chazz retorted. "Now, back to the case! Alexis, you told me that you found a broken red fingernail in your bedroom floor, right? Well, I searched through the trash and found this!" From his pocket, he pulled out the missing fingernail, much to everyone's shock.
"Uh...the court accepts this as evidence!" announced Sheppard.
"Now, let's compare the fingernail to everyone's hands! Starting with you!" Chazz pointed to the nurse, walking towards her and forcibly grabbing her hand. Her fingernails were all painted red, with one being clear. "Aha! Caught ya red-handed!"
"That doesn't prove anything!" shouted the nurse, pulling her hand back. "That fingernail could have belonged to any girl's! It didn't have to be mine!"
"Come to think of it, there was a certain popular nail polish nowadays," commented Zaloog.
Alexis nodded. "Yeah, it's called Crimson Pearl. The same color as the fingernail you have, Chazz. A lot of girls in my dorm have it."
'Crap! I know what your game is, Detective Zaloog!' thought Chazz, growling. Zaloog was defending one of the suspects, and he had a pretty good idea why. "Fine! Well, I found muddy shoes in your closet, Officer Cliff!"
"W-what?!" shouted Zaloog, shocked. "Wait, how did you even know that? Did you trespass in this kind officer's room?!"
"S-sir, you gave him permission to enter our rooms, remember?" reminded Cliff nervously.
"I did no such thing!"
"Nope! Nope! The suspects claimed you gave me permission, so it has to be true!" said Chazz, grinning evilly. 'Ha! Take that, detective! Let's see you make a comeback out of that!'
"Gr...Fine!" Zaloog didn't seem quite happy, as he didn't remember giving that order to his allies.
"Back to the case!" reminded Chazz. "Professor Banner claimed there were muddy footprints all over the teacher conference room! And Officer Cliff, you had muddy shoes! Coincidence? I think not!"
"Any thief could have used muddy shoes! Not me!" argued Cliff.
"The shoes may have dried a bit, but anyone could tell they're fresh!" said Chazz, revealing a picture he took of the muddy shoes. "And your usual patrol is down the hallways! If you claim to be walking outdoors, you were neglecting your duties! Unless you had a valid reason to be outdoors?"
"Grrrrr...!"
"Oh, and I'm not done yet!" This time was Chick's turn as Chazz turned to him. "I found tools that were dusty and full of cardboard dust and paper dust! It seems they're for drilling and digging for something! That matches up with the hole Jaden and Syrus stupidly sealed up! Just what were you using those? Huh? Or are you going to tell me there's a wooden workshop in Duel Academy?"
"Chazz, there are a number of clubs in Duel Academy," informed Bastion. "Including a wooden workshop."
"Oh..."
"Excuse me, but why am I here?" wondered Gorg, raising his hand. "I hardly think I'm suspicious."
"Oh, hush! You were totally there when I hid my key, so you must have seen it!"
"But he wasn't there when we hid our other keys," reminded Jaden.
"I was getting to that!" said Chazz. "These other three were near the keys' hiding spots when we tried to hide them, making them more suspicious! Plus, I already presented evidence that they could be accomplices!"
"Objection!" yelled Zaloog. "You may have skill as a detective, I'm impressed. But, it's still all a coincidence. Does your evidence link to the current suspects? No. Besides, you heard the judge before. There were security cameras, so the thief must have found out anyways! Besides, those four suspects were with me all last night! We were in my room, playing cards to pass the time!"
"Oh, so you're saying these four were you?" questioned Chazz, growing increasingly frustrated. "And you didn't bring this up because...?"
"Well, I was waiting for a chance to! Pardon me for not mentioning it while you were making baseless accusations!"
'Damnit! Well, he's right about one thing! I have to link the evidence to those four, or I'll lose!' Chazz thought. "OBJECTION! You were hiding extremely vital evidence! That's pretty bad since you're not allowed to do that!"
"OBJECTION!" Now it was Zaloog's turn to object. "How was I supposed to know this was important?! I simply brought it up right now because it was for the right moment and timing!"
"OBJECTION! Timing isn't everything! You should have brought this up!"
"OBJECTION! It doesn't matter because now, those four suspects have an alibi with me! And you can't do anything to people with alibis!"
"OBJECTION! ...You suck!"
"OBJECTION! That's not even a proper insult, you emo brat!"
"OBJECTION! I'M NOT EMO, DAMNIT!"
"OBJECTION! Have you seen yourself?! Look in a mirror, dumbass!"
"OBJECTION! I'm not the dumbass here! You are!"
"OBJECTION! No, you!"
"OBJECTION! No, you!"
"OBJECTION! You!"
"ORDER, ORDER, ORDER!" yelled Sheppard. "Would you all stop arguing?! And can someone fetch me a turkey sandwich?! Why do I suddenly have the urge to eat turkey sandwiches?!"
Just then, Atticus arrived, stepping onto the "courtroom" with a puzzled expression on his face. "Hey, guys? Have you seen Alexis? I need to-Oh, is that Zaloog? Along with the other Dark Scorpions?"
What.
"Atticus...mind explaining?" asked Chazz, smirking.
Atticus nodded. "Yeah. Zaloog and those four over there? They're part of the Shadow Riders. Well, Zaloog is, at least."
Immediantly, loud murmuring from the jury burst out as Sheppard banged his gavel over and over, trying to silence everyone while Zaloog and the four suspects were sweating and not looking too well themselves.
"Ahahaha! I finally understand everything!" laughed Chazz confidently. "Here's how it went! All four suspects were informed of the hiding spots and went to steal them! While they were doing that, Zaloog here must have been the one to erase all footage and help erase evidence as well! That means Zaloog is none other than the ringleader of all this! We even have a witness, too! Cough it up, Zaloog!"
Zaloog gritted his teeth before smirking. "Heh...Cat's outta the bag now. And we would have gotten away with it if it weren't for that weird emo brat!"
"I am NOT emo!"
"Well, gotta say, very impressive for one that's not really a detective!"
"Wait, he's right?!" Everyone from the jury cried out, still a bit confused. After all, they just now learned that Zaloog was one of the Shadow Riders, so it was still a little shocking for them.
Tossing aside their costumes, Zaloog along with the four suspects got into position, posing as they shouted in unison, "We are the Dark Scorpions!"
"Wait, what? The Dark Scorpions?" Everyone in the jury, Chazz, and Shepard spoke, even more curious.
"Yes, many years ago, the Dark Scorpions have agreed to a request to steal the seven Spirit Keys! So, we've been lying in wait, waiting for our chance to strike!" explained Zaloog.
"Wow, for a bunch of thieves, you guys pretty much suck at your job," admitted Chazz, referring to the fact that they were tricked easily themselves. "I mean, you left evidence in your own rooms, for crying out loud. How you survived this long is a mystery even to me."
"Hey! Don't insult the Dark Scorpions!" The band of thieves yelled together.
"Hehe! These guys are pretty funny, aren't they, Sy?" giggled Jaden, whispering to the blue-haired individual next to her.
"Huh? I guess so..."
"Heh, well you idiots should have done your research better!" Chazz taunted. "The keys won't work unless you beat us in a duel!"
"Wait...that's why the keys won't work?" asked Zaloog, surprised. "Who made these rules anyways?"
"Yeah...best not to question these kinds of things. It'll only be a waste of time. Anyways, time to duel me!"
"Wait, wait!" called out Jaden, raising her hand. "Why you? Why can't I duel them?"
"Yeah, I wanna duel them. I'm here too, you know," pointed out Alexis.
"Or, maybe Professor Banner could," Syrus suggested.
"Uh...I'm fine, thank you very much!" replied Banner, scooching away in order to avoid dueling.
Jumping off from the jury seats, Jaden made her way towards Chazz, declaring, "I should be the one to duel them! After all, we all learned that everyone gets beaten except for me, so it's only natural tha-"
"Grrr! Shut up, Jaden! Stop trying to steal my thunder!" growled Chazz.
"Order! Order in the court!" hollered Sheppard, smashing his gavel down countless times until he was sure he received everyone's attention. "It has come to a conclusion...Chazz and Zaloog will both participate in a duel since Chazz did sorta solve the case."
"I'm still confused what's going on," admitted Atticus until Alexis gently pulled him away to explain things in a different manner.
"Yes! Bring it on, old man!" Chazz yelled at Zaloog as both of them put on their duel disks, thus activating them. They faced towards each others as the jury, the remaining Dark Scorpions, and Sheppard, who was eating a turkey sandwich, began witnessing the duel before them.
"DUEL!"
- DUEL -
Zaloog - 4000 LP
VS
Chazz - 4000 LP
"Heh, this duel will be quick! Draw!" said Zaloog, quickly making the first move. "First, I'll summon Golem Sentry in Defense Mode!"
Golem Sentry - (EARTH/Rock) - LV4 - (800/1800)
"Next, I'll set a card and end my turn!"
"My turn, draw!" Chazz said. "I play the Spell card, Fiend Sanctuary! This Spells allows me to Special Summon a Metal Token onto my side of the field!"
Metal Fiend Token - (DARK/Fiend) - LV1 - (0/0)
"Now, I sacrifice my Token to Tribute Summon Armed Dragon LV5!"
Armed Dragon LV5 - (WIND/Dragon) - LV5 - (2400/1700)
"Armed Dragon, destroy his Monster! Spiral Buster!"
Whirling his spike-like arms in a rotational direction, Armed Dragon destroyed Golem Sentry with ease, leaving Zaloog with no defense at all.
"Next, I'll set two cards facedown and activated Armed Dragon LV5's ability! On the turn that he destroyed a Monster in battle, I can send him to the Graveyard and Special Summon his evolved form! Armed Dragon LV7! I'll end my turn after that!"
Armed Dragon LV7 - (WIND/Dragon) - LV7 - (2800/1000)
"Whoa...to think that Chazz could conjure up such a powerful Monster in just one turn...maybe I underestimated him a bit?" wondered Jaden, amazed.
"Hey...what's that supposed to mean?" questioned Chazz, irritated.
"Hmph...Nice Monster! But I'm afraid it won't last long!" said Zaloog. "My turn, draw! I play Pot of Greed, letting me draw two more cards! Oh! And now I'll summon myself! Don Zaloog!"
Surprised, everyone started paying more attention. There was a card named after Zaloog? And the card greatly resembled Zaloog by a lot!
Stepping onto the dueling field, Zaloog announced proudly, "Yes, that's right! I, myself, am the real Don Zaloog!"
Don Zaloog - (DARK/Warrior) - LV4 - (1400/1500)
"Now I activate a Spell card, Musterings of the Dark Scorpions! When Don Zaloog, also known as me, is on the field, I can Special Summon as many Dark Scorpions from my hand onto the field! Now, roll call!"
The first member of the Dark Scorpions was the former janitor, but a heavy axe wielder and physically strong. "I am Gorg the Strong!"
Dark Scorpion - Gorg the Strong - (DARK/Warrior) - LV5 - (1800/1500)
Brushing her hair to the side and holding her whip, the only female member of the Dark Scorpions introduced herself gracefully, "I'm Meanae the Thorn!"
Dark Scorpion - Meanae the Thorn - (DARK/Warrior) - LV4 - (1000/1800)
"And I'm Cliff the Trap Remover!" spoke the Duel Spirit who had been disguised before as a guard as he branded a sharp dagger in his hands.
Dark Scorpion - Cliff the Trap Remover - (DARK/Warrior) - LV3 - (1200/1000)
"Finally, I'm Chick the Yellow! I may be the youngest, but I can run fast!" bragged Chick, bouncing up and down.
Dark Scorpion - Chick the Yellow - (DARK/Warrior) - LV3 - (1000/1000)
"And together, we're the Dark Scorpions!" All five assembled members cried out in unison.
'...Dorks,' Chazz thought. Seriously, Dark Scorpions? Couldn't they come up with a much better name? Like the Blitzers or Revolting Reigners?
"I activate a Trap!" announced Don Zaloog, revealing the facedown card as Chick moved aside so the others could see. "Dark Scorpion Combination! You see, on the first turn that the Dark Scorpions are out on the field, we get to attack you directly! But for each attack, you lose 400 Life Points! There's 5 of us, so you lose 2000 Life Points! Let him have it, gang!"
Releasing out war cries, all five of the Dark Scorpions charged towards Chazz, pulling out merciless blows onto Chazz as they attacked all at the same time before backing away. Chazz yelled in pain from the five strikes as his Life Points took the hit.
Zaloog - 4000 LP
Chazz - 2000 LP
"Heheheh...Oh, and if you think that's over with, just wait until you hear our special abilities!" chuckled Don Zaloog.
"My special ability is that if I deal Battle Damage to you, then one Monster on your field must return to the top of your deck," explained Gorg as Armed Dragon LV7 disappeared.
"Mine makes it so one card on your side of the field returns to your hand!" said Chick, pointing to the left facedown card Chazz had.
"We're not done yet! Next, due to my special ability, the top two cards on your deck go to the Graveyard!" Cliff said.
Grunting, Chazz did what the effect forced him to do; discard his two top cards into the Graveyard. "And now one card in your hand is destroyed!" said Don Zaloog before Chazz discarded a random card in his hand.
"And finally, we can add a card with Dark Scorpion in its name from the Graveyard and into our hand," explained Meanae as Don Zaloog returned Dark Scorpion Combination, the same Trap that dramatically decreased Chazz's Life Points, back to his hand.
"That's really bad! If they begin that combo again, it'll spell the end for Chazz!" muttered Banner.
"I wonder if Chazz can come up with something quick..." Syrus said, worried.
"Don't give up, Chazz! If you can handle being beat by someone as tough as me, you can definitely handle these guys!" encouraged Jaden.
"Hey, are you trying to encourage me or insult me?!" Chazz shouted, irritated before returning to the duel. "And anyways, no way am I getting done in by that lousy combo! I activate my Trap, Level Modulation! First, it lets you draw two cards, but in exchange, it also lets me Special Summon 1 Level Monster from my Graveyard, ignoring any Summoning conditions! And I choose Armed Dragon LV7! Rise!"
Armed Dragon LV7 - (WIND/Dragon) - LV7 - (2800/1000)
"Damnit, another problem we have to deal with!" tched Zaloog, drawing two cards. "I'll just place two cards facedown and end my turn!"
"I'm still a bit worried...after all, Chazz's opponent still has all his Life Points," admitted Syrus.
"Don't worry about it, Sy!" assured Jaden, having faith in Chazz. "With the way things are now, I'm sure Chazz will win!"
"It's my turn! Draw!" shouted Chazz. "First off, I'm activating Armed Dragon LV7's ability! By discarding a Monster card from my hand to the Graveyard, all Monsters on your side with less than or equal Attack Points as the same Attack Points of the discarded Monster will be destroyed! The Monster I'll be discarding is Despair From The Dark! And he has 2800! So, that's much more than any of your puny Attack Points!"
"Hold it! I activate a Trap!" said Zaloog. "Retreat of the Dark Scorpions! All Dark Scorpions on my side of the field are returned to my hand!" With that said, all Dark Scorpions, including Zaloog himself, made a comical retreat which left some dust trails along with Chazz sweatdropping.
"...Fine, then! I'll attack directly!" Chazz said. "Sonic Punisher!"
A sphere full of electrical energy pulsed within Armed Dragon's claws before he flung it towards Zaloog, critically hurting him.
Zaloog - 1200 LP
Chazz - 2000 LP
"Oh no! Boss!" cried out the other four members of the Dark Scorpions.
"Boss activated that Trap to shield us from that blast! And now he's hurt thanks to that brat!" shouted Cliff.
"That brat will pay, that's for sure!" said Meanae angrily.
"I place a card facedown and end my turn!" Chazz concluded.
"Hmph! You just got lucky, that's all, but now your luck is about to run out! My turn! Draw! Now, I summon myself again, Don Zaloog!" Zaloog said.
Don Zaloog - (DARK/Warrior) - LV4 - (1400/1500)
"Then, I'll activate the Spell card, Musterings of the Dark Scorpions! Come on back to the playing field, team!"
"YEAH!" All Dark Scorpion members cheered, ready for action once more and to finish this duel.
"Not so fast! I'm activating Ojama Trio!" countered Chazz.
Just as the four Dark Scorpions approached towards the dueling field, Ojama Black, Green, and Yellow were all casually sitting on three of the opponent's Monster Zones, thus disallowing three of the Dark Scorpions to appear.
Ojama Token - (LIGHT/Beast) - LV2 - (0/1000) X3
"What the?! Why are they on our side?!" wondered Zaloog.
"Thanks to Ojama Trio, it Special Summons three Ojama Tokens onto your field, and when an Ojama Token is destroyed, you take 300 Points of Damage!"
"Damn! Thanks to them, not all of us can come out!" complained Chick.
"No! It's not over yet!" yelled Meanae, getting into position. "Boss, do what you must! Use me!"
"Meanae..." Touched by what's to come of her, Zaloog had no choice but to agree. "I won't forget your sacrifice! I play the Spell card, Dark Scorpion - Tragedy of Love! When Don Zaloog and Meanae the Thorn are on the field, I can send Meanae to the Graveyard and destroy all the Monsters you have!"
Thrusting herself forward into danger, Meanae lashed out her whip with all her might, wrapping it around Armed Dragon LV7's neck as lightning crackled from the whip before a huge explosion took out not only Armed Dragon LV7, but Meanae as well.
"This is the best I can do! Forgive me!" cried out Meanae before vanishing.
Gritting his teeth, Zaloog turned to Chazz with anger in his eyes. "Don't worry! I'll avenge you, Meanae! I promise! I attack you directly! Double Blaster!" Pulling out two pistols from his holsters, Zaloog fired two shots at Chazz, who endured the two attacks.
Zaloog - 1200 LP
Chazz - 600 LP
"Since I attacked you directly, my special ability activates! One card is randomly discarded from your hand!"
Glancing at the only card left in his hand, Chazz smirked. "Heh, just my luck. I'll happily discard it! You know why? Because the card I'm discarding is Ojamagic! And when this baby's sent to the Graveyard, it adds Ojama Yellow, Black, and Green from my deck and into my hand!"
"Yeah, whatever! Play all the weaklings you want, because it won't matter! The Dark Scorpions are as strong as ever, especially since Meanae's sacrifice deprived you of that powerful Monster!" replied Zaloog confidently. "I end my turn!"
Chazz merely smirked. "Yeah, yeah. The last guy who called my cards weaklings ended up losing anyways. Anyways, my turn! I play Pot of Greed, letting me draw two cards! Next, I play Polymerization, and fuse Ojama Black, Yellow, and Green from my hand! Ojama King, I Fusion Summon you!"
The three Ojama brothers sprung out of their selected cards and flew up in the air, bumping each others' heads once colliding with one another as everyone watched the trio brothers merging. In their place, a gigantic, white bodied entity wearing a crown over some red underwear on his head appeared, giving the peace sign with his fingers as the Ojama Tokens cheered for the uprising of Ojama King.
Ojama King - (LIGHT/Beast/Fusion) - LV6 - (0/3000)
"Now, I play the Spell card, Ojamuscle!"
Groaning, Ojama King pumped his muscles, and all of a sudden, his muscles increased in strength, revealing his abs and tremendous amount of strength. Opening his mouth, Ojama King's tongue extended and engulfed in all the Ojama Tokens on Zaloog's field and into his mouth as Zaloog was both freaked out and disgusted by the process.
"Thanks to Ojamuscle, all Ojama Monsters are destroyed, and for each one destroyed, Ojama King's Attack Points increase by 1000! And since the Ojama Tokens were destroyed, you lose 900 Life Points!"
Zaloog - 300 LP
Chazz - 600 LP
Ojama King - (LIGHT/Beast/Fusion) - LV6 - (3000/3000)
"Go, Ojama King! Attack!"
Leaping upwards in the air, Ojama King looked as though he was flying...until he came plummeting down on top of Zaloog.
Zaloog - 0 LP
Chazz - 600 LP
Winner: Chazz
"Ugh...I failed...I'm so sorry..." apologized Zaloog, who was planted on the ground and motionless. His golden eyepatch, which so happens to be a Shadow Charm, lit up brightly as the Dark Scorpions tried to rush to his aid, only to vanish afterwards back to the Spirit World, leaving only their cards and the missing Spirit Keys behind.
"Well, that's the end of that, I suppose," said Chazz, picking up the Shadow Charm and Don Zaloog's card.
"I have to admit, they did seem a bit cool," said Chumley.
Looking at one of the cards, Syrus said, "Yeah, but stealing's still bad, no matter what!"
"Yes, and now we can all relax now that we have our Spirit Keys back," reminded Banner, having picked up his from the ground. Alexis and Jaden weren't completely reassured yet, as they were concerned as to what happened to the Dark Scorpions.
While everyone else retrieved their Spirit Keys, Chazz took the opportunity to slip the Dark Scorpions' cards into his back pocket for safe keeping.
Skit: Interrogation Part 1
"WHERE WERE YOU ON THE NIGHT OF THE 29TH?!" demanded Chazz, slamming his palms on the table in front of his tied up suspect; an Obelisk Blue.
The Obelisk Blue student, who was already scared out of his wits, panicked. "W-what are you even talking about?! I don't even know what's going on!"
Sweatdropping, Syrus and Jaden were standing nearby, acting as "good cops." "Chazz, I doubt he's involved in the case-"
"Shut it, Detective Pipsqueak! You think you can do better than me?" Chazz questioned, now pointing at Syrus.
Annoyed, Syrus defended, "I DO know that I don't go around, randomly grabbing people and interrogating them!"
"Gaaaah! I can't take it anymore! Okay! I admit it! I did it! I blew up the lab! I was only trying to test something and something went wrong and then a huge mess was made and I'm sorry! And if you don't believe me, my lab partner has photographic evidence and I suck!" sobbed the Obelisk Blue student.
"..."
"..."
"...Wow, that was just...wow," said Chazz.
Skit: Interrogation Part 2
"Hmm...So, you admit that you were the one who killed Colonel Yellow!"
"..."
"Oh, giving me the silent treatment, are ya? No, seriously, TELL ME! Did you use the knife to kill him in the living room?"
"..."
"Damnit, woman! Answer me, or I'll-!"
"Chazz, what are you doing?"
"Not now, Jad-I mean, Now now, Dr. Watson! I'm busy trying to interrogate this woman!"
"Yeah...But, did you have to use a CLUE board game to practice interrogation? Even I'm not that stupid!"
"...Screw it, you're right. Fine, I'll download some game online involving more detective things! Starts something with 'Ace' in it."
"I doubt the training is the problem..."
Hahaha! Funny chapter, huh? Been waiting for something like this! It's not often we get Detective Princeton episodes, so this one's a special! Read and review!