Hiya, guys! So, I just recently watched the newest episode of Yu-Gi-Oh abridged, and it was hilarious! great started to the year of 2021! Great props to LittleKuriboh!
Okay, originally, I meant for this chapter to be a play concert chapter, just like that one chapter in Season 1 where I had the entire cast play Snow White, and Syrus dropped all of cards, thus messing up the chapter! It was something called "The Play where everyone steps on Crowler," so you guys can check it out on your own! Originally, this season was going to display a Frozen play concert, as well as another Disney-related concert for Season 4 since Seasons 3 and 4 are connected and is Jaden's third year, but I wanted to change things up a bit. After all, it would be pretty boring and cliche if I did a one play every season. Well, almost every season.
So, this idea came from EmpressLoveSiren23! Thank you so much for the wonderful idea! Although, she did suggest song ideas, after some discussion, I didn't really agree with her song choices and decided to implant my song choice in this chapter. Whether or not they're fitting to you guys is up to you!
Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own any Yu-Gi-Oh series, only the OCs! Mage of Hope also doesn't own the song, "Wake Up Your Heart," as it's composed and sung by KENN and his band, The NaB's!
It was just a normal, sunny day at Duel Academy. Actually, scratch that, excitement buzzed throughout the entire island as Duel Monsters Spirit Day was approaching, which, in Duel Academy terms, meant that a festival like last year was also coming. That's why preparations for Duel Spirit Day was undergoing, as it would take place in exactly a week later.
In fact, Jaden, Hassleberry, and Syrus were doing volunteer work in building a food stand for Dorothy because they liked her, and because they were promised free food during Duel Monsters Spirit Day if they helped her out. Hassleberry was handing the construction work considering that he is the more physical strongest out of the three of them, Syrus was painting the signs and other necessities for the food stand, and Jaden helped carry the supplies necessary for the construction work, paint job, and anything else for the food stand.
"ATTICUS RHODES, YOU LITTLE )**^%^! YOU SON OF A #&^#&^#&*^$&*(! I'M GONNA TEAR OFF YOUR ! #%$$% AND SHOVE THEM RIGHT UP YOUR **(*(^&*^ AND THEN $#$%&^ ON YOUR $#^$^% WITH )&(*^$$%^& AND #$^&*( YOUR *$)&^!* ^ SO THAT YOU'LL HAVE TO $&^% SIDEWAYS! $&^%!"
As though audio recording came to a sudden halt, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at a red-faced, pissed-off Alexis, who seemed intent on finding and utterly DESTROYING her brother.
Syrus was the first to break the silence between him and his friends as he hesitantly whispered, "S-should we say something to her-?"
"Oh, HELL no!" whispered back Hassleberry. "I may not have a girlfriend, but even I know that you NEVER tempt an angry rhinosaurus by trying to yank off its horns! And believe me, I've got PLENTY of experience pissing off the wrong woman!"
Syrus turned to him. "W-who did you make mad to make you so scared-"
"My Ma!" At seeing Syrus' deadpanned, and somewhat disappointed look, Hassleberry glared back with an equally annoyed look as he defended himself. "Hey, that woman can cook a delish feast and is overall a good mother, but when she's pissed off? You do NOT want to be the person who makes her mad! God bless my Pa, for marrying such a wonderful, yet terrifying woman like my Ma!"
"...So, the morale of the story is-"
"Truesdale, no matter what, you NEVER anger a strong woman! Especially one as strong as Alexis, who looks like she could kill a bear right now! No, TEN bears!" advised Hassleberry. "So, all we have to do is stay silent, keep our heads down, and hopefully, things will calm down-"
"Hey, Alexis! How are you?" called out Jaden, waving her hand and gesturing Alexis to their location.
"...Goddamnit, Jaden!"
"Son of a-!"
Either this was Jaden's attempt at calming down Alexis, or she was completely oblivious to one of her best friend's rage as Alexis stomped over. "Atticus. Where?"
Syrus at least, despite Hassleberry's previous warnings, tried to do friendly talk with her. "O-Oh, hey, Alexis! N-Nice weather we're having-"
"Zip it!"
"Okay, I'll shut up now."
Alexis whirled over to Hassleberry, who raised his hands up in surrender. "N-None of us know where Atticus is! We swear!"
"..."
"Please don't kill us!"
Speaking of the devil, Atticus and Chazz appeared, enticed by the smell of food coming from other nearby food stands. "Mmm! Think they'll let us try some free samples of the festival food if I use my charms and wits?" asked Atticus, winking at Chazz.
Chazz rolled his eyes. "Knowing you, they'd probably wou-"
"YOU!"
Atticus and Chazz glanced over where the demonic voice was coming from and immediately paled at the sight of an enraged, ready-to-kill Alexis stomping towards their direction. Meanwhile, Jaden was waving at the boys, whereas Syrus and Hassleberry were praying for their safety, which wouldn't be there for long, or at least Atticus'.
With amazingly and quite possibly monstrous strength, Alexis grabbed Atticus by his front collar and lifted him rather high in the air, shaking him back and forth. "You better have a pretty damn good explanation for this, Atticus!"
"W-what? I-I have no idea what you're talking about, Sis!" cried out Atticus. "G-Gah! You're choking me-!"
"The Battle of the Bands event! Why did you put down my name down in your stupid band, you idiot?!"
Syrus snapped his fingers. "Oh! I see! The sign-up sheet for the Battle of the Bands event! Chancellor Sheppard wanted to add new events to Duel Monsters Spirit Day, so he decided to add in the Battle of the Bands event! ...Yikes."
"Wait, that's all Atticus did to make Alexis mad?" wondered Jaden out loud. "If Alexis doesn't want to be in it, then can't she just cancel it? Like, say she doesn't want to be in it or something?"
While still holding Atticus up in the air, Alexis glared at Jaden. "I wouldn't be so pissed off if I could do that! Because Crowler's the one who helped organized and planned this whole event, he even added that stupid rule that nobody can back out of the event if they signed in their names! If we even think of skipping out on this event, our grades get cut in half! And I am NOT taking that chance!"
"Really?" Atticus raised an eyebrow in surprised and rubbed his chin. "Huh. Must have missed something in the fine printing..."
"SO IT WAS YOU!"
While Alexis was busy trying to kill her brother, Hassleberry sighed and shook his head. "Atticus, why'd you have to go and do something that would obviously get you killed? I mean, there was that idol attempt event. So, what made you think this was going to be anything different?"
"Well, this time, it wasn't going to be an idol group! It was going to be a band!" assured Atticus.
"You didn't even ask my permission once again!" yelled Alexis. "Ugh! I didn't even want to be part of this band! Or any at all!"
"Er...if it makes you feel any better, you're not the only member of the Starcross Breakers!"
"Is that seriously what you named your band?" wondered Hassleberry, perplexed. "...Wait, if you and Alexis aren't the only members, then who else did you-?"
"Oh, you guys, of course!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...So, I'm waiting for some thanks and-"
"ATTICUS!" Syrus, Hassleberry, and Chazz all rushed at Atticus, crowding around him while Alexis still kept holding him up in the air. Clearly, they were upset about being signed up for something that they didn't really give Atticus permission to give, so it took several minutes for all of them to calm down and lower Atticus back on the ground.
"I still can't believe that you signed us up without permission!"
"Yeah, I mean, what gives, Atticus?!"
"I'm a terrible singer!"
Atticus, who was all roughened up, tried to defend himself. "I thought it was a good idea at the time! I mean, with all of the tension and stress from the Society of Light issue that took away most of this year, I figured some team and friend-bonding might do us some good! I did it with good intention!"
"Well, now what are we going to do?! I don't even know how to play an instrument!" complained Syrus.
"I do! I actually know how to play multiple instruments!" spoke Atticus, raising his hand.
Alexis sighed and nodded in confirmation. "It's true. He actually does know how to play multiple instruments. One of his dreams was being a multi-instrumentalist. And...I actually know how to play the piano."
"Ooh! And I can sing! Dad was a musician, and he taught me how to sing when I was young!" said Jaden, jumping happily at the chance.
"Wait, what?! Not once have I heard you sing before!" Chazz exclaimed.
"Well, I guess you'll have to hear me sing during practice, then!"
"That's perfect!" cheered Atticus, clapping his hands. "Chick singers are always the best!"
"Ooh! If Jaden's in, I will, too!" said Syrus.
"Me too!" shouted Hassleberry, raising his hand.
"Seriously? You're only doing this because of your hard-on crush on Jaden?" muttered Chazz, sweatdropping. "None of you two can play any instruments, though!"
"We can learn!" assured Hassleberry.
"In one week?"
"We'll do our absolute best!" assured Syrus. "Like, uh...It'll be like one of those cliche anime thingies where a bunch of kids all group up to start a band, and then, next thing you know, they totally win the crowd over and they become famous forever!"
"This isn't a frickin' anime!" shrieked Chazz.
"Man, calm down! I'm sure if we all work together, we can get through this!" assured Hassleberry, patting him on the back. "By the way, I'm totally taking the drums! I'll pretend that I'm constantly smashing in Atticus and Crowlers' faces whenever I use the drums! That way, I can make music AND pretend that I'm smashing their faces all at the same time!"
"Eep!" cried out Atticus, covering his face. "S-Syrus! Chazz! What about you two? What instruments will you two play?"
"Well, I know how to play the piano like Alexis. My family insisted I learn how to play when I was young," admitted Chazz. "But, I was also more interested in learning the guitar, so I can play the electric guitar."
"My Dad played the guitar, and he taught me and Zane how to play the guitar! I can play the bass guitar!" said Syrus. "Though, Zane is better at it than me..."
"Alright, so we have a singer, two guitarists, a pianist, a drummer, and...as for me...hmm...I can play the ukulele-"
"Uh, news flash, idiot. There's no ukulele-player in a rock band!" reminded Chazz.
"Oh, I know! That's why I'm going to be playing the electric piano!" announced Atticus proudly.
"We already have a piano player!"
"Uh, first off, Alexis will be playing the old-style piano on stage, and I will be playing the electronic-version. And second, we have two guitar players, with slight differences in between, so why would it be odd if there are also two other piano players?"
"Well..."
"It's either that, or the ukulele."
"Alright, fine!" sighed Chazz. "Well, we better get organized and start practicing as soon as possible. After all, some of us-" He glared at Hassleberry. "-Don't exactly know how to use some instruments."
"If that's the case, then I don't mind coaching you all," spoke up Aster, stepping out from the shadows.
"Aster? How long were you there? Were you eavesdropping on us?" wondered Syrus.
"I don't even need to try very hard to eavesdrop on you guys," Aster admitted. "Besides, you guys are...surprisingly VERY loud. I'm pretty sure most folks in the area heard your conversation."
"...Wow, we really need to keep our voices down a bit," said Alexis, a bit embarrassed.
"Eh, it doesn't matter either way. I'll help you guys out. Consider it as a bit of thanks for helping me out during the whole Society of Light mess," Aster said.
Hassleberry turned to Atticus. "Out of curiosity, you didn't put Aster's name in, didn't you?"
"Hey, I do want to make a lot of team-bonding and all, but even I'm smart enough not to make my own death warrant!" said Atticus, raising his hands.
"Uh...what does that mean?"
"Simple," Aster started to explain. "Atticus is well-aware that stars like me have public appearance contracts and since the Battle of the Bands event is a public event and goes against my contract, if he had signed my name in, I could have sued him big time."
"Yeah, that would have been a huge blemish in my reputation! Ahaha..." laughed Atticus sheepishly. "Well, I made some preparations ahead of time, like renting a huge room inside the Duel Academy building, so all we need to do is rent a couple of instruments and we should be ready to practice."
"Not a problem. I have some people who owns me some favors, so it should be easy to obtain those instruments," assured Aster, taking out his phone to arrange the phone calls.
As Aster was speaking with some contacts, Syrus turned to Hassleberry. "So, Aster is going to help us by coaching us? I wonder how this'll end up?"
"Well, he seems like a swell guy, if not a little jerkish. Like I said earlier, if we all work together, we should be able to get through this!"
A few days later...
"No, no, NO! Syrus, your part comes AFTER Chazz's!"
"Jaden...you know I think you're awesome. But inhale, exhale, singing is NOT rocket science! It's INHALE, EXHALE, SINGING!"
"Stop, stop, STOP! Hassleberry, somehow, SOMEHOW, your notes keep getting flat! You're playing the drums, so I dunno how that's possible, but it just is! I swear to God, if you screw up one more frickin' note, I-I can't even tell what the hell I'm gonna do to you!"
"Goddamnit, Atticus! Stay on the beat!"
"Alexis, faster fingers! FASTER! Stop screwing this up!"
"Goddamnit, Chazz, I am going to come over and smack you in the face with your own electric guitar if you don't get this next part right!"
'We were totally wrong! He's a monster! A total slave driver!' everyone thought in exasperation once they were FINALLY granted their lunch break. Some of them were even lying on the ground while the others were either slowly eating their lunch or too exhausted to even eat lunch.
Ever since they decided to form a temporarily rock band for the Battle of the Bands events, both Atticus and Aster made the preparations for their practice and meet-up sessions, such as renting out a room with lots of vacant space, instruments, and other supplies they needed. Afterwards, it was all up to Aster to properly guide and coach everyone else to act like a proper band.
Clearly, there was a number of complications and problems from the very beginning, especially given that some of the members have little to no experience with playing instruments, in which everyone else assisted those people. However, the real problem wasn't just with playing the music, but mainly abiding through Aster's commands.
While Aster's coaching did help them greatly, they found that he was a very, VERY strict and stern instructor. If they made even the slightest bit of a mistake, he would not hesitate to yell at them, bringing his full wrath down on them. Although he would never physically harm them, his hollers and angry threats made him quite intimidating, more than enough to make them straighten up and do their absolute best not to mess up, lest they suffer his wrath.
"Jeez, are we sure we can do this? It just feels like no matter what we do, it'll be all hopeless," sighed Syrus.
"The problem isn't just with your lack of experience. It's the fact that we don't have much time," said Aster. "At most, we've got a few more days for everyone to not only play perfectly, but also to memorize all those songs."
"You know, this whole mess could have been avoided if someone didn't put our names in," Alexis said, glaring at her brother.
"I still don't get why we couldn't try convincing the Chancellor or even bribing Crowler to get us off that event," said Hassleberry.
"Uh, we did, hello, genius?" Chazz said. "We tried it with the Chancellor, but he said it was out of his hands since Crowler is technically in charge of the event, and Crowler refused to take any bribes or listen to us. Pfft, totally different compared to who he was the beginning of last year..."
"At best, we'll only manage to play just one song," said Alexis. "But I do have to wonder who our other competitors are."
"Oh, there are no other bands. It's just us," revealed Atticus.
Everyone stared at him. "...What?"
"Yeah, as it turns out, we're the only band playing. Guess Crowler couldn't get other people to join up, eheheh..."
"...Then why the hell is it called 'Battle of the Bands' if there's only gonna be one band playing?!" exclaimed Chazz. "That just automatically makes us the winners, doesn't it?!"
"H-Hey! Don't blame me! I didn't create the name! Crowler's in charge of the event, so he must have changed it!" said Atticus, holding up his hands. "Hmm...but if I had to guess, then I guess it was to attract more attention to the student body...? I dunno, I'll go ask him next time I see him."
"Regardless, the name thing doesn't matter," spoke Aster. "Look, I know you're all tired, you want to go back to your rooms and rest, and I'm pretty sure half of you wants to kill me for working you to death."
Jaden perked up. "Wha-?! That's not true! You're a good teacher, Aster! Come-Come on, guys! You don't think he's a bad teacher, do you?"
"I want to die," groaned Syrus.
"I'd rather put HIM through this hellish training," whined Hassleberry.
"You think that if we kill him, we might get away with it?" complained Chazz.
"Guys!"
"No, it's alright, Jaden. I understand what these guys have been going through because I've also gone through my own hellish training. How do you think I got so far to being a Pro Duelist?" pointed out Aster. "But, you can't give up now! Everything would have been for nothing if you gave up now! Seriously, I am not going to make this a waste of my time if you do actually give up!"
"That's right!" agreed Atticus. "I haven't gone to the bathroom this whole time, I haven't slept, I haven't eaten, and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna die by the end of this week, but you're right! We can't give up now! We need everyone's help to do it!"
Alexis rolled her eyes. "Okay, clearly you're exaggerating, Atticus. I see you hiding a bag of chips behind your back!"
"Atticus, what have I said about eating junk food? It's bad for your body, and thus will affect your performance!" scolded Aster. "Speaking of which, Jaden! Don't think I didn't notice those chocolates in your own lunch, too! Hand them over!"
"Oh, man!" complained Jaden, forced to hand over her own lunch box.
Alexis sweatdropped over the silliness of the situation. "Anyways, guys, Aster's right. I'll feel really angry at myself if I also tried to give up! We'll get through this together! We'll go up on stage, get a huge crowd, and everyone will go home satisfied once they've heard what we can do! We can do this!"
Chazz nodded. "Wow, now that's a cool speech right there! I'm in!"
"Oh, come on! What about my speech from earlier?" whined Atticus. "Oh, whatever! Sis is right, though! We can do this! Right, guys?!"
"Might as well," sighed Hassleberry, stretching his muscles after getting back up. "Alright! Let's do this!"
"Yeah! That's the spirit!" cheered Jaden.
"We can do this! Let's get right back to practice!" said Syrus.
Aster nodded in acknowledgement. "Good, glad to see all your spirits lifted up. Because we're short on time, we're definitely going to be pull all-nighters from here on!"
He already expected groans and complaints the moment he spoke his piece, but his mind was more focused on shaping his group of friends into the best (temporary) band Duel Academy has ever had.
On the day of Duel Monsters Spirit Day...
"You know, I was expecting a crowd, but I never imagined a crowd this freakishly huge!" exclaimed Syrus, peeking out the from behind the curtains on stage.
Right behind the curtains, the entire band, the Starcross Breakers, were finishing the last of their preparations right before the Battle of the Bands event could begin momentarily. On the other side of the curtains was the entire student body, along with other people who originally came to the island for the Duel Monsters Spirit Day celebrations, but also wished to see the concert as well.
"Well, that's what happens when you're the only school band ready to host a famous event like this," said Atticus. "Don't be nervous, though! Just relax and focus on the music and you'll be alright!"
"Yeah, getting up in public is scary at first, but then you get used to it," agreed Aster. "And you all better not make one bit of a screw-up!"
"We get it, your hellish training made sure of that," grumbled Hassleberry.
"Thankfully, this is the only time we're ever going to put a rock band together, so let's at least make this count. Just one full performance, and we're done with this for good!" encouraged Alexis.
"Technically, we're only playing one song, but yeah, Alexis is right!" cheered Chazz.
"Ooh! Don't forget enjoyable! I want to remember this! This is gonna be so awesome!" said Jaden.
Aster hurried off-stage as he wasn't a band member, but rather a supervisor and mentor to the Starcross Breakers band group. "Alright, the event is going to start soon! Everyone get into positions and good luck! I know you'll do well!"
The curtains lifted, revealing to the entire audience the full view of Starcross Breakers and their band members. Because this was a one-time band, and the fact that the performance was taking place during Duel Monsters Spirit Day, it was only natural that Jaden and her friends dressed as different Duel Monsters.
More specifically, musical Duel Monsters.
Because Jaden was the lead singer and although she wasn't a guitarist, she dressed as Prima Guitarna of the Colorful Light. For someone as elegant as Alexis playing a graceful instrument such as the piano, she took the appearance of Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir. Playing a cool and well-known instrument like the electric guitar required Chazz to appear just as cool too while maintaining a musical Duel Monster's appearance, which is why he was dressed as Muzurhythm the String Djinn. Because he, too, played the bass guitar and had a Machine deck, Syrus dressed up as Symphonic Warrior Guitaar. Hassleberry nearly took on the appearance of Baby Raccoon Tantan until he was immediately talked down and given not quite a dinosaur-like costume, but similarly to one costume: Vorticular Drumgon. Out of all of them, Atticus was given an even more ridiculous costume based on the Duel Monster, Performapal Monkeyboard.
If it weren't for the fact that it was Duel Monsters' Spirit Day, the band itself would have looked ridiculous.
Once the audience quieted down, that was the band's cue to begin playing their song: Wake Up Your Heart.
The song began with some light chiming from Hassleberry's cymbals before Chazz's part with his electric guitar kicked in, taking the lead. Hassleberry joined back in seconds later with a louder beat from the cymbals and drums. With a combination of Hassleberry's drums, Chazz and Syrus' rough guitar playing, and Alexis and Atticus' harmonic piano playing, the band seemed almost entirely in sync, with Jaden's singing part soon coming up.
Wake Up Your Heart
(By: KENN and The NaB's)
"You're able to search for your own place, which is still invisible, and keep walking!
The heartbeats in your chest echo so strongly that you can't hide the upsurge!
Let's believe in the future more than the past and live in the present!
Don't be hanging your head; spread your wings and soar up!
Wake up your heart!
On any day!
(ALWAYS!)
The sun rises!
If you believe in your hot feelings!
(STAND UP!)
If you start running!
(NON STOP!)
Without stopping!
You'll aim for the world that you dream of!
And run as long as you have strength!"
Jaden took a pause from singing during this section to allow her friends to run wild with their instruments. In fact, the audience was quickly gaining interest in the music, even cheering in some of the parts. After a while, Jaden heard her turn coming up, took a deep breath, and resumed singing.
"The great, endless intensity that awaits ahead of this path!
(Searching your future!)
If you grip onto your dreams and hopes and advance forward, then you won't be afraid!
Let's face forward, believe in our friends, and depart on a journey together!
We'll aim for a new world, and now, start running from here!
Jump out!
(JUMP UP!)
Run through!
(GO WAY!)
You'll advance!
Keep engraving the thoughts from back then in your chest!
(SHAKE UP!)
Without giving up!
(DO IT!)
Let's believe!
Let's grasp it; someday!
You'll be fulfilled,
Wake up your heart!"
From there, it was a main guitar solo accompanied by Hassleberry's drum assistance that had the crowd jumping up and down while clapping to the rhythm of the beat. Syrus and Chazz nodded to each other once as they combined their guitar skills to take control of the music while Hassleberry supported in the beats until it was Jaden's turn to sing again.
"Wake up your heart!
On any day!
(ALWAYS!)
The sun rises!
If you believe in your hot feelings!
(STAND UP!)
If you start running!
(NON STOP!)
Without stopping!
You'll aim for the world that you dream of
And run as long as you have strength!"
The finisher happened to be the combined efforts of all of Jaden's bandmates as soon as she finished singing the end of her lyrics. Once the song died down, the crowd was silent...until they began cheering and applauding for their efforts.
"Wow! I can't believe we did it! Whoo!" cheered Jaden, jumping up and down. "Thank you, everyone! Thank you!"
"Yeah, I have to admit, that was a lot better and smoother than I expected," admitted Chazz.
"That's because this was the result of all of our hard work paying off!" explained Alexis happily.
Hassleberry sighed and twirled the drumsticks in his hands. "Although, honestly, I wished we could have learned to play more than one song."
"Don't! I'm already pooped out from just one song!" complained Syrus.
"Well, I'd say that we're winners of this year's Battle of the Bands!" bragged Atticus.
"Of course we're winners! We're the only band playing!" Chazz reminded.
But what really mattered to the group was how fun they had playing as one single band. After the Battle of the Bands event, everyone had a splendid time enjoying the rest of the Duel Monsters Spirit Day festival. They decided to stay in their musician Duel Monsters costumes because there was no point changing out of a costume that already resembled Duel Monsters anyways.
Overall, they wondered how next year's Duel Monsters Spirit Day will be as this year's festival was drawing to a close, along with their second year.
Hi, everyone! I'm SOOOOO sorry for the wait, but I've got so many projects and homework that it was hard to update this story while I was so busy! I even lost track of this story!
Originally, I planned for one more chapter after this, but it was just mainly filler, and besides, I know how eager you all are for the third year! Especially with the appearance of Jesse! SQUEEEEEE!
Unfortunately, I have some bad news for you all. First of all, the fact that I have some free time now is only temporary and I will be busy until my classes are finished for this semester. Secondly, I'm not working on this fanfic for a long while until I deal with some other fanfics, so it'll take a long while for this fanfic to be updated. A really, REALLY long time.
The good news is, that next chapter will be the start of the third year! Thus, season 3! Whooo! Aren't you all excited?! Anyways, read and review!