Chapter 21: Death by Snu-Snu (or Matrimonial Malfeasance)
"Alright, it's time to get your duel on!" A boisterous voice exclaimed.
"Uh, I think it's actually supposed to be "Get Your Game On". At least that's how I think Jaden says it." Another voice corrected.
"No way, how embarrassing! But it's not the catchphrase that matters, it's the cards! And I've copied Jaden Yuki's deck down to the finest details!" The first voice declared.
Two boys stood in the epicenter of a fairly large crowd of their peers, engaged in a duel. One was wearing a Slifer Red blazer that looked a size too large for him. His hair was matted down and messy, dyed two shades of ginger-brown. At first glance, this person appeared to be Jaden Yuki, but it was not so. The duelist in question was actually Dimitri of Ra Yellow, a young man well-known for his prowess at mimicking the mannerisms and strategies of better duelists. One way or another though, he never seemed to measure up to the real thing.
Across from him stood a rather bored Adam Sugihara. The Chinese gambling duelist had shrugged off his Ra Yellow coat, wearing a long-sleeve black shirt and the yellow pants of his house. His dark eyes glimmered dangerously. "I'm surprised you're still sticking to this copycat business, Dimitri. Thought you would've learned better after that fiasco with Yugi's deck a few months back." He commented drolly, drawing a few chuckles from the growing crowd of Ra Yellows who were interested in the duel.
"It's true that Jaden defeated me that day, but if I copy him, then I should be able to beat anybody! Especially someone who only relies on luck like you!" The salty Dimitri replied. On his side of the field were Elemental Hero Wild Wingman and Elemental Hero Plasma Vice, two formidable Elemental Hero fusion monsters. He also had one card face-down.
Meanwhile, Adam's field was devoid of monsters, although he had two unknown face-downs and a face-up Second Coin Toss on the field. Despite Dimitri's evident advantage, he seemed rather on edge while Adam maintained an impassive poker face. The life point deficit was also large – Dimitri had 2000 life points left while Adam had only 600.
"Alright, is that the end of your turn?" Adam asked casually.
"Yeah, it is. Man, I can never tell what you're thinking, Sugihara…it's starting to piss me off!" Dimitri spat.
"Yeah, that's kinda the point dude. Seriously, it's hard to believe how worked up some of these people get over a silly card game, especially when nothing's at stake." Adam thought. Years of working in his father's game hall had taught him how to keep cool, especially in the middle of a game. Reputation and outward appearance can go a long way with an opponent's thought process. Giving the adversary any tells could spell the difference between victory and defeat.
In the crowd, Bastion watched the ongoing game with a cup of tea in hand. Jasmine was with him, gazing on with pursed lips and folded arms. The Ra Yellow prodigy found both Dimitri and Adam interesting duelists in their own right, and Adam's prolific use of chance-based cards made it impossible to predict the winner. Jasmine was kinda just tagging along.
Erin Reid was there as well, just passing through before she had to head to her next class. However, she looked notably disinterested in the proceedings. Something else was clearly on her mind. Idly, she played with her brown braided ponytail as she watched the duel.
Adam drew his next card. "Alright, I play Roll of Fate. I get to draw cards based on the roll of the dice, and then I must send an equal number of cards from the top of the deck to the graveyard." Adam always kept a dice and a coin on his person just in case, but the duel disk also had a random number generator for such card effects. A hologram of a dice appeared in the center of the battleground. It leapt and spun in the air for a few seconds before landing.
"A five!" Adam said, drawing the corresponding number of cards in his deck before sending an equal amount to the grave.
"Ugh, this kid always gets so lucky." Jasmine said under her breath.
"Indeed. But he's no cheater, that luck is all natural. That's why it's rather difficult to get a formula down for his deck…maybe observing further will help me in this endeavor!" Bastion was scribbling down complex equations on a notepad as he watched. Jasmine let out a bored groan.
"You know, you're lucky you're cute." She muttered.
"Sorry, what did you say? I didn't hear you." Bastion turned his attention to her.
"Nothing, Bastion." She said, fighting back a smile.
"I play my first trap card, Proton Blast! Once per turn, I can activate a series of effects depending on the number of heads I get on a coin flip effect." Adam declared.
"Next, I'll summon Twin-Barrel Dragon (1700/200) in attack mode." A mechanical raptor-sized mech took the field, its mouth also functioning as a double-barreled shotgun. Its blue plate shone in the sunlight.
"When this card is summoned, I get to flip two coins, and if it gets two heads, I can destroy one of your monsters. Let's see what we get." Two large coin holograms appeared on the battlefield.
"I'm good, there's only a twenty-five percent chance he gets the result he wants." Dimitri said to himself. "Even with the Second Coin Toss, the odds are still in my favor."
Luckily, Adam understood that the smaller odds he had, the more likely he was to succeed – that's how it usually worked. Sadly, he only got one heads out of two the first time around. "Alright, I activate Second Coin Toss to re-flip." He said coolly.
The crowd traced the path of the coin flips with their eyes. This time, both coins landed heads up.
"This is such bullshit!" Dimitri cursed as the Twin-Barrel Dragon let loose a gunshot. Plasma Vice was blown apart by the blast, causing a large explosion to momentarily obscure Dimitri's side of the field.
"And since I got two heads, my trap activates and gives me two shots. With the first, I'll deal 500 points of damage to ya." In very Yusuke-esque fashion, Adam made finger guns. He made a faux shooting motion as another cannon blast shot through the smoke and found its mark. (Adam 600/Dimitri 1500)
"And since I got a second heads, I can also destroy a card on your side of the field." The smoke steadily began to clear as Adam explained his card's effect. Dimitri looked none too pleased, but his troubles weren't over yet. With his other hand, Adam formed a finger gun and pointed at Elemental Hero Wild Wingman.
"Fire." A hole suddenly appeared in the Wild Wingman's body, and it collapsed on the ground before shattering into a storm of holographic particles.
"And since it looks like your side is clear, I'll attack directly with Twin-Barrel Dragon and call it a game. Unless you have a response, that is?" Adam said calmly as his dragon took aim. With another bang, it shot at Dimitri head on.
"Not this time! I activate Mirror Force, destroying your attacking monster!" A white wall of energy shielded Dimitri from the kinetic force of the dragon's shot. Then, the wall of energy rushed towards the Twin-Barrel Dragon, using its own power against it and destroying it.
"Welp," Adam shrugged. "Looks like I gotta bring out the big gun. I activate my second trap, Call of the Haunted. With this, I'll summon back the Blowback Dragon (2300/1200) that you sent to the grave earlier."
The machine that emerged from the ground looked similar to the Twin-Barrel Dragon, but was much larger and had a pale red coat of paint on its shining chassis. The three-barreled blaster on its head charged up an energy blast.
"Better luck next time!" Adam chuckled as his monster's attack knocked Dimitri on his ass. (Adam 600/Dimitri 0)
The crowd clapped politely, enjoying Adam's unfazed nature and understated showmanship. It was like he was the house dealer, and Dimitri was yet another unlucky patron of his casino.
"This is so stupid! You just rely on stupid coin flip and dice effects! You must be cheating, there's no other explanation for this!" Dimitri complained childishly, banging his fist on the hard ground.
Brushing some of his long black hair out of his eyes, Adam shrugged. "You know, whining is always a bad look. I lose a lot with this deck, but I don't let it get to me. This is how I have fun dueling." He smiled casually. "The anticipation as I watch coin flips and dice rolls is a hell of a rush. If I were to cheat, that rush would be taken away." Adam cleared his throat and spoke up so that the crowd could hear him clearly.
"Besides, the duel disks were designed with anti-cheating measures in mind. And I think Seto Kaiba's R&D team knows a little more about tech than you. If you have concerns, take it up with him." He finished. Adam hated any rumors of cheating – it completely went against the point of a good gamble.
"And Kaiba knows all about being a sore loser." Adam chuckled to himself, knowing better than to voice such an opinion aloud. He remembered watching Kaiba's legendary match with Yugi in the Battle City finals as a kid. Even back then, it was embarrassing watching Kaiba practically have an existential crisis over losing a card game. Yugi's calm and assured command of the situation, on the other hand, was incredible to him back then – it was like Yugi knew that he was destined to win.
Ever since that day, Adam aspired to be like Yugi, to have that sort of confident and adaptable demeanor that the King of Games effortlessly posessed. Something told him that Yugi had even more luck than he did in some respects. "Unless he really was destined to win…bah, no way!" Adam laughed internally.
"There has to be a perfect deck out there…maybe I'll try copying Lancaster's deck next!" Dimitri murmured.
Adam laughed. "Try it, that'd be good for a laugh." With that, he took his leave, putting on his Ra Yellow blazer. The crowd dispersed as well, off to class or the common areas. Dimitri scampered back to his room, doubtlessly in the midst of hatching his next ridiculous netdecking strategy.
"That was a bloody splendid endeavor, Adam. I must say, apart from Jaden I've never had such a hard time studying someone's deck." Bastion nodded at him from the porch. Jasmine and Erin gave him friendly waves as well. Adam ambled up the stairs and joined them on the patio.
"Thanks, but there's not a lot to it, Bastion. It's just a coin flip deck." Adam replied.
"Oh you sly fellow, you're just saying that to hide your real secret technique! There must be some formula to your deck, and I will figure it out!" The mathematician declared to the heavens as Jasmine facepalmed.
"Whatever you say, man." Adam said. "He sure likes to overthink things…I figured getting a girlfriend would bring him down to some semblance of normalcy. If anything, it looks like Jasmine's just getting caught up in his harebrained schemes…" The gambling duelist mused.
"I'm sorry about him, he's been even weirder than usual ever since he got his first A minus on a history test last week." Jasmine apologized, seeming exasperated in the way a wife would get at her husband.
"No sweat, my grades would probably slip a little if I had to worry about fighting super-powered villains. Speaking of which, I hear that Alexis is getting released from the hospital today!" Adam responded.
"Oh I know! I can't wait to see her back in class! She's seemed a lot happier lately, even in that hospital bed. Having her brother back has done a world of good." Jasmine gushed. It was clear that she idolized the Queen of Obelisk.
"It's good to see her recovering." Bastion tried to appear stoic, but he seemed quite happy as well. As if on cue, three pairs of eyes turned on Erin, who had been noticeably quiet up to this point.
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm glad to hear it. This way, Rhodes and I can finish our duel." Erin said, although it lacked her usual passion.
"Well, I guess you can try it!" Jasmine said passive-aggressively. Bastion and Adam froze, both knowing when two girls were about to engage in verbal combat.
Erin, however, didn't care much for the "passive" part of the term "passive-aggressive."
"If you want the measure of my skills, then we can duel right here. I don't mind being late for class." Erin challenged directly.
Jasmine's eyes widened. "Uhh…um…hey Bastion, I think I forgot something back in Crowler's class." The orange-haired girl dragged a confused Bastion along by the hand.
"Oh, ok! See you later, friends!" The socially inept genius chuckled nervously as he was being drug along the ground.
Adam looked after them. "Smooth move. Those two's social skills probably aren't as far as apart as Jasmine would like to pretend."
The Chinese duelist turned around to speak to Erin. "Heh, can't blame you for that one. Not sure how Bastion deals with her."
"Rhodes is one thing, but I'm not taking any shit from the groupies." Was Erin's short response.
"Woah, are you upset about something? You're edgy today." Adam said with concern. He and Erin went to the same middle school, although they were never close. Still, they knew each other well enough to speak without filter.
Erin's stormy blue eyes calmed down, and she gave Adam an apologetic look. "She's a lot cuter when she isn't getting worked up about something. For a surfer, she's not very chilled." Adam thought. He instinctively kept up a running mental commentary at times – it was a trait he always had.
"It's not a big deal, Sugihara. It's just that people can be so weird sometimes. It sucks when you think you someone really well, but in reality you don't know them at all." She said sadly.
Adam didn't have to stare at his garage wall smoking a cigarette to figure out that she was talking about Lancaster. "I know what you mean. Sometimes we may never learn who a person really is. But that doesn't mean they aren't worth getting to know." He said. He was horrible with life advice, but something in him sympathized with Erin. Adam supposed that he was curious about a lot of Jamie's more mysterious qualities as well.
Erin smiled. "Yeah…maybe when things settle down a bit, I can start to figure some things out." Behind that graceful smile, there was a coquettish and intelligent gleam in her eyes. Adam found that Erin's independence and analytical nature made her highly unlike other girls her age. She and Lancaster were alike in that respect.
Adam nodded and she went on her way, not having much to say to him. "Never a dull moment around here…" He murmured as he grabbed his bag and went to class.
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(Jamie Lancaster (My) POV)
I only slept for a few hours, despite my tiredness. Still, it was a good thing – this way, I could attempt to get my sleep schedule back on track. I had already missed all of my classes today, but I planned to explain my absence to Sheppard and Crowler later today.
Rolling out of bed was difficult – these Obelisk beds truly were amazing – but I managed it. I sent a group message to my fellow heroes (it was odd to think myself as a hero, still) and went to eat while waiting for responses.
For the first time in a while, I found myself alone with my thoughts – an undesirable state of affairs. I was much better at being in the thick of the action, where the past and future melted away. I always messed things up when I overthought them.
I grabbed some food from the dining hall and ate it mindlessly while last night's events whipped through my mind. Camula was a dangerous and seductive siren – certainly not a weak foe. And yet, the Melodious Divas took her down with great ease. Finally using those cards made me a lot more confident in my chances against the numerous evils that plagued this world.
And yet, Kagemaru's attitude during the proceedings troubled me. One of his most powerful minions was being picked apart before his eyes, and yet he didn't seem perturbed at all. In fact, his interest was piqued. He got a firsthand view of my full power, and was surely devising a way to counteract the Divas at this very moment.
Things sure would have been a lot easier if Camula was the only one there…then there would be no witnesses. The more people knew about the Melodious cards, the sooner that my secret would be revealed. Should I have held back and used my public deck? No, nothing should be left to chance against people who want you dead.
Well, what's done is done. Now I had to start thinking of an explanation for why I have cards that no one else does. But would telling the truth really be such a bad thing?
My fleeting, unfocused thoughts were distracted by the sound of my phone's text alert. Good, everyone was open to meeting at five o' clock in Sheppard's office. It felt a little dirty knowing that Crowler has my contact information, but these are the sacrifices we must make to keep the peace.
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Sure enough, everyone showed up on time. Adam and Erin, along with Syrus, were allowed into the meeting as well, considered honorary key keepers. Chumley had an evening art class to attend, and would probably not interested in these sorts of proceedings anyhow.
Jaden was the last to show up. This in itself was not a surprise, as he was not known for his punctuality. What was shocking though was his weary expression. He hadn't looked this bad since that day he had to do detention with Rosewood. Purple bags underlined his eyes, which were much less joyful than usual. At the sight of his friends, however, he perked up and showed his usual boyish smile. It was hard to tell how much of it was genuine though. The others scarcely seemed to notice these signs, but I was familiar with that look of his – a grin that hid a terrible burden.
Seeing Jaden like this was troubling. Part of what made his character development rather effective in canon was that the viewer saw the destruction of his childlike innocence over a protracted period of time. He eventually recovered from his trauma and became a functioning adult, but still, there was something lost there. Of course, he would have to grow up eventually, but I would prefer if that allowed him to retain at least some part of his impish openness.
Alexis, on the other hand, was looking healthy and strong. Her hair was growing back nicely, almost to its original length. Her presence bolstered the group tremendously – it showed resilience in the face of our foes.
Sheppard coughed to get everyone's attention. Without Kaiba breathing down his neck, he seemed a bit more secure in his "role of leadership".
"Good evening everyone, it is good to see you all in good health. Especially you, miss Rhodes." Everyone briefly clapped in celebration, Alexis blushing under the praise.
"But I believe in the interests of time, I will allow mister Lancaster the floor." Everyone's eyes turned on me, each showing varying levels of curiosity.
"Yeah, I had a bit of a wild night last night." I withdrew the bronze choker from my jeans pocket and placed it on Sheppard's desk. "The third of the Shadow Riders has been defeated."
"Impossible! So soon after the last two?" Crowler gasped. I don't know why these anime characters always describe clearly happening events as impossible. Kind of reminds me of Princess Bride.
"Woah, way to go Jamie!" Jaden cheered. "That's gotta be a shadow charm!"
Surprised expressions occurred all around, with the obvious exception of Alexis. Zane shook his head. "To attack in the middle of the night…these people have no honor."
"Yeah, you said it bro!" Syrus piped up.
"Huh?" Zane looked around in confusion until he finally saw Syrus hiding behind Adam's leg. "Oh sorry, didn't see you there Syrus. Did you say something?"
"Uhh…no…" The poor kid murmured. I bit back a laugh. I liked Zane, but he could be a real bastard to his brother sometimes. The worst part was that it didn't even seem be intentional. Then again, I've never had a brother so I couldn't speak with experience on such matters.
"Tell us the story from the beginning." Bastion beckoned.
"Yeah, sounds like a good one." Erin grinned.
And so I did. Obviously I excluded some details such as what deck I was using for example, but the important parts were kept in.
"So, the keys really can't leave the island…at least they can't for very long." Bastion said.
"It's a shame that the leader escaped…but I have to wonder why he was even there in the first place. Seems like an unneeded risk." Erin spoke up.
"Wish I knew the answer." I responded. I actually did know the answer, but obviously I'm not trying to tell them what it is.
"Kagemaru...how far you have fallen. The fact that our own superintendent is behind all this is truly troubling. How many years have I been playing into this man's hands!?' Sheppard held his head in his hands.
"With respect, Headmaster, Kagemaru appears to have covered his tracks well. Why he would reveal his name to mister Lancaster is beyond me, but it is a mistake that will cost him. We must inform mister Kaiba at once." Crowler said with an assured voice. Not for the first time, he appeared to be a much more capable leader than Sheppard. It wasn't hard to imagine why he would ascend to the Headmaster position at the end of this year in canon. He will surely do so here as well.
"He will be furious, to be certain. But it must be done. Mister Kaiba will be coming to the island in four days with the new chemistry teacher. I will let him know then – this sort of information should be exchanged in person." Sheppard warbled, but suddenly turned hopeful as he considered a new possibility. "I suppose a new superintendent will need to be hired as well."
We all nodded. The implication behind the statement was certainly clear to me. I wasn't exactly a fan of this, as I found Sheppard to be a rather easily misled man. Then again, he would be probably just be a total instrument of Kaiba's will in the superintendent position, rather than the meager allotment of autonomy he possessed now. Maybe it would be for the best.
"In the meantime, there are only four Shadow Riders remaining. We still have six keys on our hands, so the outlook is favorable. The only thing to do is to stay ready. Now that they've lost three assassins in quick succession, the Shadow Riders will surely be more careful than they have been." Zane, the unofficial leader of the key keepers, said.
"Deception, disguise, manipulation – they will no doubt use some of the softer forms of power in an attempt to gain advantage. Sadly for them, they must eventually fight us head on, and that's a fight they don't want." I chimed in. At first, I thought that all of this speculation was very boring – the Shadow Riders were not worthy enough opponents to merit such hemming and hawing now that Banner was gone. But this timeline was not the same as the canon one, and the remaining assassins might have some tricks up their collective sleeves.
"The one that abducted me had the ability to turn into a bat." I finished.
"These foes all seem bizarre in their own way. I'm impressed that you managed to emerge victorious from this encounter, mister Lancaster." Sheppard praised.
"Yeah, sounds totally tubular!" Jaden added.
Alexis snickered in a rather un-ladylike fashion. "Yeah, now tell them what happened after the key transported you back."
"I immediately left the hospital wing, returned to my dorm, and went to sleep." I responded too quickly, looking downward.
"Right, but something happened before that." She prodded on. Everyone looked between us in varying degrees of curiosity.
I sighed. "I vomited after I got there. The huge special displacement really messed with me."
Dead silence. Alexis kept laughing, but everyone else was blank-faced. "Oh, I suppose that makes sense. Sorry that happened to ya, Jamie." Adam said.
"Yeah, I was kinda expecting something funnier. That wasn't very funny." Jaden shrugged.
Alexis shook her head. "Guess you had to be there."
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And so, things went normally (relatively speaking) for the next few weeks. February blurred into March, and the monsoons began to pick up as we moved into the rainy season. Overcast skies lasted for days on end, sometimes punctuated by intense torrents of rain. The sea churned an ugly iron grey. For a few hours at a time, clear skies would break through, and rainbows would frame the sky until the rain returned.
Luckily, this was the worst the island weather ever got. Still, it was odd that the worst part of our year was happening as the rest of the northern hemisphere was emerging into Spring. This time of year was always tinged with anticipation or trepidation, it seems.
When I was by myself, Sonata would infrequently pop in and we would talk about silly things. Most of the time though, I enjoyed reading a book or sipping a cup of coffee while the monsoons rattled the windows. It was a nice break from things. I knew that I should think and plan more about my next move, but since the Shadow Riders would necessarily confront us, there was little to plan in the immediate time frame.
One Monday morning, I went down to the commons and found a letter in my inbox. My excitement flared as I saw the Kaiba Corporation logo on the seal. Hastily, I sat down and opened the envelope.
To mister Jamie Lancaster,
Thank you for your interest in the KaibaCorp summer internship program! We are happy to inform that you have been selected to interview for a position in this prestigious summer program for students! We have screened hundreds of applicants for the program, but have ultimately selected only twenty to continue on in the interview process. To even continue this far is much to be proud of!
We understand and respect that many applicants are attending a duel academy at this time, and thus cannot easily come to Domino City for an interview during the semester. To this end, the interview will take place on June 1, nine days after the end of the duel academy spring term. We hope that this will provide applicants with enough time to come to Domino City for the formal interview at the KC Tower.
We hope to see you there!
Enclosed in the rest of the message were directions to the KaibaCorp headquarters as well as the contact information of the company's recruitment chair.
The letter confirmed nothing, it was merely offering me a chance to actually achieve something. But still, knowing that I was one of twenty chosen out of hundreds of people was heartening. The idea of gaining work experience working at one of the largest companies in this dimension was amazing. This letter promised adventure and prosperity, to those with the ability to grasp it.
Once again, I found myself devoting thought to what would become of my life beyond the events of canon.
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In two hours, Bastion and Jasmine caught me as I was leaving Crowler's class. There was hardly anyone in class today for some reason…Crowler himself seemed unaware as to why. I was sure that some sort of canon event was the cause of this, but my excitement about the letter overrode those thoughts.
Anyways, I was trying to find Bastion as well before he found me – I could have done without Jasmine, to be sure. The letter in his hand, as well as the beaming expression on his face, answered all of my questions.
I smiled back, holding up my own letter. "Me too, Bastion."
"That's bloody fantastic! Congratulations, Jamie!" He clapped me on the back in an uncharacteristic display of chumminess. Jasmine looked upon Bastion with genuine affection – she seemed truly happy for him. Although Jasmine disliked me (and the feeling was mutual), that little detail was heartwarming.
"Can't believe the two of us were picked out of hundreds of applicants. Feels like getting the Hogwarts letter, doesn't it?" I cracked a joke. Jasmine nearly laughed, but because I was the one telling the joke, she caught herself just in time.
Bastion looked confused. "Hogwarts? What is that?"
"It's from Harry Potter." Jasmine rolled her eyes.
"Oh, that? I can't really get into fiction books. But there is something rather magical about this, is there not?" He chuckled.
"Indeed. But something tells me that the interview is going to be tough. Kaiba isn't known for taking it easy in any regard." I warned. This was a rather odd role reversal – he was being clever and I cautious.
Bastion sobered slightly at that. "You're right. And considering how eccentric Kaiba is, this interview is sure to be unusual. I wouldn't be surprised if we had to duel the interviewers."
"Crazy part is, you're probably right." I grimaced. As long as we don't have to duel Kaiba himself, then it shouldn't be too much of a problem. Even if Bastion and I teamed up, we probably wouldn't be able to win against Kaiba unless I was using the Melodious Divas. I mean the guy was able to summon Obelisk the Tormentor and the card wasn't even in his deck at the time! Who knows what sort of plot armor he has?
"Jasmine will be staying with my family for the week of the interview. She's never been to Domino City before. I just hope that we are able to leave the island then." Bastion explained.
"We'll beat these Shadow Riders before then, I'm sure. Well, I hope you both have a good time." I said diplomatically. "Pretty convenient that we both live in the city. Traveling to Kaiba Corp shouldn't be a problem."
"Maybe we'll run into you, Lancaster." Jasmine eyed me with a curious expression. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something tells me it was nothing but trouble.
"Yeah, maybe." I replied. "I guess getting kidnapped by the monkey wasn't such a bad thing after all. Seems to have panned out rather well." I couldn't resist being an asshole around her.
"Yeah yeah, Let's go, Bastion." She rolled her eyes at me and made to drag my former roommate along, as she always does. Before she could do that, however, Bastion's phone rang. The ringtone was the Hell's Kitchen theme song, so I got a feeling that Zane was the one calling. Good to know I'm not the only one who likes to use cheeky ringtones every now and then.
"Hello?" Bastion answered. I strained to her what Zane was saying on the other line, but I couldn't hear him. "You don't think that it's a…well, there's only one way to find out. Yes, I'm with Jamie and Jasmine. We'll get there straightaway, I believe we're all done with class for the day." From just his half of the conversation, I could get a feeling for what was going on.
Bastion pocketed his phone at looked at me with a mixture of anticipation and dread. "Zane says that he's found something odd in the northwestern woods."
"What was he doing in there?" I asked.
"No clue, but he said, and I quote, that we will not believe the kind of bullshit that's happening this time."
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Zane dropped a pin that let each of us know where he was in the woods. On the way, we met up with the rest of the group, with the exception of Crowler and Adam. I knew that Crowler would still be teaching his last classes of the day, and I assumed that Adam was either at class or work. That left myself, Bastion, Jasmine, Erin, Alexis, Jaden, and Syrus.
"Well, it has been a couple of weeks. I suppose the peace couldn't last." Alexis grumbled, but I think she was secretly glad to be back in the action, especially after such a long term in the hospital wing.
"Looks like Zane found a Shadow Rider. I wonder if he'll let me handle this one…" Jaden, on the other hand, made no secret of his glee at a new challenge.
"Umm, maybe I'm bugging out here, but was there always a huge coliseum in the middle of the woods around here?" Erin asked a rather pressing question. As we made our way into the quarry at the forest's edge, a roman-style arena rose in the distance, its tan stone contrasting with the muddy browns and greens of the woods.
"Yeah, I don't remember that either." As I said that, the memories came rushing back. Oh brother, time for the effing Tania storyline. For the love of Ra, don't let Bastion duel her this time! Then again, Bastion already has a girlfriend in this timeline…so maybe he wouldn't be thinking with his dick as much in this particular encounter.
Eh, no need to risk it. Jaden, Zane, or I could handle this, and hopefully without any trouble afterwards. I knew that Tania was one of the least malicious of the Seven Stars. Perhaps if the situation was handled correctly, then we could create an ally here…and hopefully Bastion could avoid having his pelvis crushed in the process. I shuddered.
"This thing must have been built extremely recently, and yet this block looks extremely old." As we approached the coliseum doors, I took note of the weathered stone that comprised the structure. "Not to mention that the recent rains would make building this monstrosity even more difficult."
We looked up and saw that this thing was at least five stories tall. "How bizarre." Alexis commented drolly. We were all starting to get used to bizarre things at this point, with the notable exception of Jasmine, who was looking more and more flabbergasted by the minute.
"Where is Zane?" Bastion pondered. Jaden tilted his head towards the entrance with a smile. He was looking a little better-rested since the last time I saw him, and for now I put the oddity from my mind.
The coliseum entrance was surprisingly long, and as we got closer, we heard the din of a massive group of people. We exited the other side of the gate to find dozens of students working on the construction of bleachers. From the looks of things, the project was nearly finished. Considering how little construction experience these kids must have had, either they were prodigies or their efforts were being assisted through some sort of dark magic. I couldn't help but suspect the latter.
The only student who wasn't throwing his back out was Zane, who was leaning against the wall. He nodded to us as we arrived. "Glad you could make it. She wants an audience for this."
"Who-" Before Bastion could even begin his question, the sound of a tiger's roar caused us all to freeze. From the opposite entrance, a white tiger with black stripes bounded into the arena. It wore a gold collar around its neck and had a scar over its right eye. The students working on this project did not seem perturbed by this, however.
"Oh, hell no!" Jasmine yelped ungracefully as she turned tail. The rest of us followed, scampering up nearby pillars like they were the ropes from gym class. The tiger playfully pawed at the pillar's base. Zane shook his head in bemusement.
"Zane, what are you doing?! That tiger's gonna have you for an afternoon snack if you get out of its way!" Syrus squealed.
Suddenly, the tiger let out a very human-like laugh. Then, in Animorphs-like fashion, it transformed into the shape of a human. This shouldn't have been a surprise, as Camula had a similar transformation. However, my fear of large animals rushing directly towards me overwhelmed such thought processes at the time.
After a few seconds, the tiger became a woman, and a clothed one at that. I wonder how the hell that works – the tiger certainly wasn't wearing clothes before, but whatever. The woman was tall and muscled, far more so than any of us. Erin was of a similar skin tone and eye color, but this woman's muscles were far larger than hers. I was pretty sure one of her biceps is larger than Syrus' head. And probably mine too, for that matter. Still, it was rather funny that she was a literal crazy cat lady.
Long russet hair was tied into a ponytail. Her ears were unusually sharp, and she wore a tight tan tube top with baggy cargo pants. A custom-made duel disk was attached to her black-gloved hand. "It's just a prank, bro." She said in a deep, but oddly friendly, tone.
"T-that tiger just turned into a woman." Bastion observed dumbly. I'm sure that he had no rational explanation for the events occurring before his eyes – he hardly ever did, come to think of it. He didn't even notice a large orange tiger slink by him and take its place by the mysterious woman's side.
"You guys, the shadow rider I faced had the same power, although she turned into a bat." I informed. "Looks like we've found our foe."
The woman scoffed at me before turning her back to us. "Oh boys! Come down and collect your paychecks! Thanks for building such a splendid coliseum!" From nowhere, she procured Academy-embossed envelopes with checks inside them. The foolish students working on the project rushed down to grab their reward.
"Those envelopes…she got those checks from the island's bank!" I chuckled. This was getting sillier by the second. "Our security system sucks!"
The lemmings – I mean my fellow students predictably scampered off after they got their checks, unaware that a battle for their very survival was about to take place. I'm guessing roughly zero percent of that paycheck is going into savings too, if you catch my drift.
"Now then…" At last, she faced us once again, straight-backed and proud. "My name is Tania, and I am the strongest member of the Amazonian tribes, as well as one of the Seven Stars."
I was never quite sure how surprised to act in situations like these, so I tried my best to mirror Zane's expression of stoicism. "Alright, now pull the other one." Jaden fired back.
"Is it really so hard to believe that Amazons exist, key keeper? Weren't you the one who defeated Lyman Banner, a homunculus?" Tania parried. Jaden shrugged and accepted it.
"Amazons…a tribe of exclusively female warriors who live in the Mediterranean. They are said to have a singular focus on combat in the classical myths…although I suppose they aren't myths any more." Bastion recited from his history texts.
"Hey, they don't sound so bad!" Erin half-joked.
"Glad you think so, sister." Tania said with a odd wink. Erin raised an eyebrow, not sure how to take that statement.
"Well, I'm glad that Kagemaru is a equal-opportunity employer at least. So, I assume you're here to take our keys." Alexis surmised, crossing her arms.
"Huh? Oh yes, I suppose. But mainly, I am here to find a man." She explained. Jaden scratched his head, Bastion sputtered, Zane sighed, and I smirked.
"What do you mean by that? Why can't you duel a girl?" Jaden asked naively.
"You see, my island's tribe is composed of all women, and so in order to procreate, each of us must eventually venture out into the outside world, find a man, and use him for snu-snu." Tania posited calmly.
Bastion's eyes widened. "Oh bollocks."
Zane couldn't help but chuckle at the euphemism, and for that matter neither could I. If they had television on Amazon Island, Tania might enjoy a certain episode of Futurama.
"Snu-snu? That sounds funny, but I don't get it." Jaden laughed. "Snu-snu, snu-snu…"
"She means fucking, Jaden." I said dryly.
"Ohhhhhh….oh."
"Yeah." An awkward silence ensued.
"So naturally, I cannot duel a female." Tania didn't seem perturbed at all, gazing upon us with the patience of a tiger waiting for the right time to pounce on its prey. "So, this is what passes for men these days…how unfortunate. I would search for a more worthy specimen, but my boss requires that I take your keys, and that can only be done in a duel. So which of you will fight me?"
Alexis frowned, and made to protest. However, an unexpected voice interrupted her. "Don't rush into a fight, Rhodes. You just got out of the hospital." Erin cautioned.
Alexis looked behind her, hazel eyes clashing with blue ones. "I didn't realize it mattered that much to you."
"I'm not wrong, am I?" was all the surfer responded with. "Besides, it doesn't look like this Amazon chick is having it. Just have faith in your friends."
Alexis wanted to argue, but found that she couldn't. She didn't look pleased to agree with Erin, but stood back nonetheless.
"Well?" A hint of impatience crept into Tania's tone.
"Ooh, pick me, pick me! I want snu-snu!" Syrus jumped up and down.
Tania rolled her eyes. "While I appreciate your enthusiasm, I need a key keeper, and preferably one who I couldn't break in two."
Syrus curled up in the fetal position while the rest of the men lined up for selection. He had to be carried to the bleachers by Erin, who slung him over her shoulders like a burlap sack. I stood next to Jaden, Bastion, and Syrus with folded arms and a challenging grin.
"I certainly wouldn't mind going a few rounds with you." I propositioned. Alexis and Erin looked rather affronted at this idea for some reason.
Tania gauged their reaction, then looked to me. "Hmm…I don't think so. My master told me that I am not to engage you, Jamie Lancaster. He wants you for himself."
"If you ever see him again, tell him to bring it." I taunted and stood back. Alexis and Erin breathed a sigh of relief behind me.
"Well, for the sake of defending the island, I suppose I could step forward and face this threat-" Bastion said with faux nobility before Jasmine pulled at his ear.
"Yeah, don't even think about it. Sorry lady, but Bastion's off the market." Jasmine declared, leaving no room for argument. Even Tania had to take a step back with her hands up at Jasmine's tempestuous nature.
That left Jaden and Zane. "Not gonna lie Zane, this looks like it's gonna be a really fun fight. Can I take this one?" The red-clad boy pleaded.
Zane took a sidelong glance at Tania. "Believe it or not, I was thinking the same thing. And you know what that means…"
As if on cue, the Kaiser and the Hero duelist placed fist over palm. "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" They each thrust forth the symbol for rock, and went again.
"You've got to be kidding me…I never thought I would catch the great Kaiser of all people playing rock paper scissors with a Slifer…" Erin facepalmed.
Alexis giggled. "Oh Zane, I'm starting to think he's been rubbing off on you."
The second time around, Jaden predictably chose rock again, while Zane had the foresight to choose paper. "Aw, shoot!" Jaden pouted, but accepted the loss.
Zane gazed appreciatively at his open palm. "Heh, still got it." But as he looked at Tania, any mirth vanished from his face, leaving a calm, blank visage. His game face was on.
"Well, I'm glad to see that some of you on the outside appreciate a good battle." Tania activated her duel disk. "And you're over six feet tall, so that makes you a viable candidate for my affections."
When Zane said nothing in response, she continued with, "Ah, the great Kaiser. I hear you're the strongest duelist at this school. Or is that Jamie Lancaster? I can never quite tell." I merely smiled blandly at her, and Zane betrayed no emotion at this jibe.
"Wait and see." Was all he responded with as he turned his own duel disk on.
"Not much of a shit-talker, eh? That's fine. We'll get to the action after you answer one more question." She grinned and held out two decks, one in each hand. "In my left hand is my deck of knowledge – in the right is my deck of power. I would like you to choose which one I will use."
After a moment's thought, Zane answered, "Power." She nodded and put away the knowledge deck. Probably a good choice – Zane's deck specialized in overwhelming force, not maneuvering around traps. The Kaiser won the next round of roshambo, and elected to go second as he always does.
"The battle begins!" Tania declared, as though this were some kind of ritual. "I'll start by summoning Amazoness Swords Woman (1500/1600). Then, I'll set two cards and end my turn." A similarly buff woman with long brown hair and a blunt broadsword took the field, glaring daggers at Zane. For his part, the Kaiser looked unimpressed.
"So how long do you think this is gonna take?" Jaden asked casually as we sat in the bleachers.
"Might end next turn if Zane has all the cards he needs." Erin responded.
"An Amazoness deck has a few tricks that might give him a bit of trouble. The Swordswoman will prevent this being an OTK at any rate. It has the ability to reflect any battle damage back Zane's way. He'll want to destroy it with a card effect." I decided to throw Tania a bone. Of course, the eventual outcome of the duel was never in doubt. It was only a matter of when.
Zane appeared to have drawn a good starting hand. "Since you have a monster on my field and I do not, I can special summon Cyber Dragon (2100/1600) from my hand." The silver serpent looked rather out of place in the old-school arena, its chrome coat gleaming in the sunlight.
"That's how it starts." Syrus observed.
"Ah yes, the Cyber Legacy. Come on then, show me how strong the famous Cyber Dragon is." Tania beckoned.
Zane made his next move knowing of the Swordswoman's effect. "I activate the spell card Evolution Burst. If I have a Cyber Dragon on the field, I can target one card on the field and destroy it at the cost of Cyber Dragon not being able to attack. I choose to destroy your Swords Woman." Zane explained calmly. The Cyber Dragon charged up strident blue energy from its mouth and shot it as a laser. The amazoness was vaporized by the attack, leaving Tania's field clear.
"With my normal summon, I play Cyber Phoenix (1200/1600)." A mechanical avian descended from the sky, red fuel flowing through its veins. Unfazed by her face-downs, Zane continued. "Cyber Phoenix, attack directly."
The firebird launched a stream of fire from its beak, striking Tania dead on. It was clear, however, that she let the attack go through. (Zane 4000/Tania 2800)
The Shadow Rider skid along the ground for about twelve feet, the direct attack clearly causing pain. Zane raised an eyebrow. "Hey, I thought you said this wasn't a shadow game!" Syrus accused.
With a grunt, Tania performed a handspring to get back on her feet, causing raised eyebrows among us all. "Well, I suppose that wasn't entirely accurate…the loser of this game will not lose their life, it's true. However, we will still feel the effects of battle, for the thrill of it. I shall not have it any other way!" She grinned with battle lust, but Zane remained stoic.
"Oh come on, doesn't the prospect of a real fight excite you? No husband of mine will be a weakling!" She taunted. I knew that the prospect actually did excite Zane from experience, but he did not wish to show it in front of this enemy. Still, the glimmer in his eye gave him away.
"I set a card and end my turn."
"Hmm, let's see…I will begin my turn by activating the field spell Amazoness Arena!" A steel-wrought cage materialized around the two combatants, keeping the spectators, as well as Tania's tiger, firmly away from the action. It reminded me disturbingly of Zane's underground duels, the fights that sent him down the dark path he went down in canon.
Luckily, circumstances would hopefully prevent that from happening here. He had some familiarity with losing to me in our practice matches, so I would hope the feeling of defeat wouldn't be so traumatizing to him in this timeline. But still, losing here could have some horrible consequences for Zane.
"This field spell increases both of our life points by 600. And allows me to add an Amazoness monster from deck to hand." Tania explained as they each felt a momentary soothing panacea. (Zane 4600/Tania 3400)
"As for its other effects, you will see the next time we battle. For now, I summon Amazoness Paladin (1700/300) in attack mode." Another blonde femme fatale appeared, this one wielding a thin saber and garbed in tan drapes. "This warrior gains 100 attack points for every Amazoness on the field, including herself."
"Now you'll see what I mean! Attack Cyber Phoenix now!" The amazon lunged fearlessly at Zane's Cyber Phoenix. Zane paused, but allowed the attack to go through. His creature was sliced apart, the shrapnel landing all across the arena. (Zane 4000/Tania 3400)
"Oof!" Zane let out a grunt of surprise as he clutched his stomach, clearly winded. "You weren't kidding when you said the damage was real…but I won't let a trifle like that stop me. When Cyber Phoenix is destroyed by battle, I'm allowed to draw a card."
"I'm glad you're hard enough to handle this much at least, now let me test your resolve further. After either of finishes a battle, we each can activate the field spell. By paying 100 life points, we can inflict 100 points of damage to the other player." Tania explained.
"Doesn't seem like a particularly useful effect." Zane said dismissively.
Tania scoffed. "Bah! Not useful, you say! The battle is everything!" To the great shock of everyone but me, a clone of Tania suddenly appeared a few feet in front of her. No, it wasn't a clone – it was a mass of duel energy, the manifestation of her very soul.
"Woah!" Zane looked a bit queasy as a spirit-version of himself materialized as well.
"Now, we fight!" Without Zane's approval, his "soul" leapt into the air to meet Tania, both of the spirits quickly exchanging fisticuffs.
"This is so stupid." Alexis sighed.
"This is so cool!" Jaden and Erin thrilled.
"ATATATATATATATATA!" Tania shrieked as they traded blows.
"MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA!" Zane responded in kind.
"God damn that is annoying. Why do they have to do that when they fight?" Jasmine ticked.
"If you don't like it, just watch the English dub." I replied without thinking.
"What?"
"What?"
Soon enough, Tania landed a right hook and sent Zane' soul flying back into his body. I would be very interesting in learning how exactly that feels, but now was not the time. (Zane 3900/Tania 3300)
Zane took a moment to catch his breath. He was in decent shape, but I doubted the Kaiser has ever been a real fistfight. And Tania was certainly not a slouch in the strength department. And yet, that glimmer in his eye was giving him away again…the pain made his blood stir.
My turn isn't finished yet! I activate the trap card Queen's Pawn! When an Amazoness destroys a monster by battle, I can special summon a level four or lower Amazoness from the deck. Come forth, Amazoness Tiger (1100/1500)!"
Suddenly, the tiger that accompanied Tania earlier vanished and reappeared in the arena, baring its fangs at Zane. "Woah, did you guys see that?" Alexis gaped.
"Must be a duel spirit!" Jaden grinned.
"This little kitty gains 400 attack points for each, including itself. Plus, my paladin gains another hundred points." This put the tiger and the paladin at 1900 each. "And along with that, when the tiger is on the field, you cannot attack other Amazoness monsters. Now then, its your turn." Tania finished her move, but noticed that Zane was still clutching his chest from the last strike.
"Oh come on, don't tell me that the warmup has tired you out! Perhaps my assessment of you was mistaken…" The shadow rider said with a note of disappointment.
But Zane stood tall, wiping a spot of blood from the side of his mouth. "Heh, for someone who claims to be all about action, you sure like to talk…but now that you mention it, I'm finished warming up as well." He said in a low, dangerous tone that I had never heard from him before.
"Hahaha, she is so screwed." Jaden laughed.
"While I would not have phrased it so crudely, I do believe you are right, Jaden." Bastion agreed. "What do you think, Jamie? After all, you have the most experience dueling him."
I rolled my eyes. Bastion had a knack for talking a lot and saying little. In fact, I think that stating the obvious with extreme frequency is part of the Yu-Gi-Oh side character job description. "Just watch."
Zane's cobalt eyes narrowed as he drew his next card. "I summon Cyber Dragon Zwei (1500/1000) in attack mode." This creature looked very similar to the original Cyber Dragon, but its jaw was more pointed than square, and green fuel coursed through its body.
"By revealing a spell card in my hand, this card's name becomes Cyber Dragon until the end of the turn." Zane flipped over a card in his hand, and Tania saw that it was Polymerization.
"Ah, I see." Tania smirked.
"Now, I fuse together the two Cyber Dragons to summon Cyber Twin Dragon (2800/2100)!" The double-headed hydra let out a harsh metallic cry, its heads the two heads of its fusion materials. Just this much was probably enough to win, but Tania's deck had plenty of traps, I was sure.
Zane wasn't in the mood for mincing words. "Attack with twin evolution burst!" The first head shot out a blazing beam of azure energy at the Amazoness Tiger.
"Shoot! I activate Amazoness Archers! When an Amazoness is attacked, all of your face-up monsters lose 500 attack points!" A band of female warriors appeared in front of Tania, each readying a bow. With only a few seconds to aim, they let loose a volley of arrows at Zane's dragon. The arrows sunk into the metal plating and clearly did some damage, but not enough to stop the attack. Sure enough, the tiger was destroyed. (Zane 3900/Tania 2900)
"And since you seem to like it so much, I'll use the arena's effect! Let's fight!" The two duelist's souls leapt out of their bodies and clashed once more. Angry, Tania let loose a barrage of fists. This time, however, Zane was prepared. The Kaiser weaved through the volley like he was a professional boxer. Once he was within range, he landed a nice uppercut to the chin. (Zane 3800/Tania 2800)
"There ya go, give her the ol one-two!" Erin cheered.
"And now, Cyber Twin Dragon can launch its second attack." the second head shot down the Amazoness Paladin, even with its weakened battle power. (Zane 3800/Tania 2400)
"One more time." Using the effect of the field spell, Zane kicked away Tania, and their souls returned to their bodies. (Zane 3700/Tania 2300)
The attack didn't do much damage compared to what Zane could normally dish out, but it was enough to basically blow away Tania's field advantage. She still had one face-down, though. "I end." Zane deferred.
Tania took a bit of a beating from that last exchange, but she was clearly still in fighting shape, a few scuffs the only sign of any damage.
"In that case, I'm done warming up as well!" Tania flexed, a vein appearing on her temple. Dark violet aura surrounded her body, and I could have sworn that her teeth seemed a little sharper than before. "I draw!"
The power exerted by the shadow rider sent gales of wind Zane's way, causing his hair to be blown around. Fittingly enough, the way his hair was sticking up made him look like a Super Saiyan. The neutral expression on his face never changed, though.
"I cast the spell Card of Sanctity, allowing us to replenish our hands!" Tania started off with that broken spell card. "You're not the only one who can fusion summon here! I activate Polymerization!"
"Hmm?" I didn't remember Amazon decks from this time period having fusion monsters. Then again, it was hard to keep track of which cards existed in this time period and which didn't. There were anime cards, a few modern cards, and everything in between.
"I fuse together Amazoness Queen with my Amazoness Blowpiper to fusion summon Amazoness Empress (2800/2400)!" A tribal drum played its beat as the most powerful of the Amazons took center stage. Her long, flowing white-blonde hair was covered by what looked to be the skull of some foreign animal. A crimson cape fluttered in the wind, and she wielded an enormous sword, only surpassed by the likes of Buster Blader.
"This is the culmination of the Amazon tribe's greatness – our martial prowess and undisputed power are exemplified in this one card!" Tania boasted.
"Ok." Said Zane.
"Grr…I'm not finished yet! I summon another Amazoness Swords Woman!" The other Amazon looked positively tiny next to the empress, but its effect still made it dangerous, especially against a duelist who uses monsters with high attack like Zane.
"Have you guys ever heard of that card before?" Alexis asked. "Because I haven't."
"Now that you mention it…I haven't either." Bastion commented. Hmm, interesting. That Empress might be one of a kind in the same way the Crystal Beasts are. The only question is who made that card and how did Tania get it?
"When this monster is on the field, other Amazons cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects. Furthermore, all Amazoness monsters inflict piercing damage! There's nowhere to hide!"
"So, your game is to keep crashing that Swords Woman against my Cyber Dragons so I'll take the damage, since she can't get destroyed any more." Zane surmised. If he hadn't seen this card before, he was certainly good at hiding his surprise.
"Right in one, Kaiser! Now, my Swordswoman will attack the Cyber Twin Dragon!" At the direction of her empress, the warrior rushed fearlessly towards the far superior machine. Predictably, it was blasted away. However, as she flew through the air, the Swordswoman flung her sword at Zane. The blade passed through Zane's body, and he grimaced as he felt a bolt of pain. (Zane 2900/Tania 2300)
"And now that we've battled again, the field spell activates!" Tania rushed towards Zane with a flying knee strike, striking his torso hard and hurling him to the ground. (Zane 2800/Tania 2200)
"Gosh, it's only a hundred life points, but it looks pretty painful!" Jasmine worried.
"The longer the fight goes on, the more of an advantage Tania has. It may be only a hundred life points, but those are real punches and kicks. I'm willing to be she can take a lot more physical punishment than he can. The more of those strikes he takes, the more likely it is that he might get really hurt." I speculated.
"It might interfere with his strategies, don't you think?" Jaden added.
Zane hissed in pain, but managed to get up just fine. Tania held back from attacking the weakened Cyber Twin Dragon with the Empress, most likely because of Zane's face-down card. Empress' protection effect did not protect herself.
"Interesting play. Will that be all?" Zane asked, and it was difficult to tell whether his politeness was genuine or not.
Tania twitched, clearly irritated by this remark. However, she managed to keep her cool. "Yes. Take your turn." She bit out, failing to replicate Zane's poise.
"Alright. It's time to end things here, I think." Zane said as though he was discussing going on a routine errand. "I summon Cyber Dragon Core (400/1500)." A larva-like creature with darker grey plate slithered onto the field, hard to spot next to the comparatively large Cyber Twin Dragon.
"When this monster is summoned, I can add a "Cyber" spell or trap from deck to hand. I choose to add Cyber Repair Plant to my hand, which I will then activate." The Kaiser rolled into the next piece of his combo. "If there is a Cyber Dragon in my graveyard, I can add a Light Machine from deck to hand." He added Cyber Dragon Drei off of this effect.
"Next, I will cast the spell Machine Duplication. This lets me target a machine monster with 500 or less attack points on my field and summon two monsters with the same name as that monster from my deck!"
"What good does that do? Having two extra copies of that weak core on the field won't be very helpful against those powerful amazons." Jasmine brought up.
I gave her a sidelong look. "That weak core's name is treated as Cyber Dragon while it's on the field." Zane had used this particular play on me once or twice during our sparring sessions. It was a good move that was difficult to defend against.
Two original Cyber Dragons flew through the air, landing next to the small core larva. "And that makes three Cyber Dragons on the field…" Jaden noted, catching on to the end goal of this play.
Zane had two cards left in hand. "I activate the spell card Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your face-down." The face-down was , amusingly, revealed to be a Mirror Force. Good call there bud. And if I were a betting man (which I am), I would bet the last card in his hand was….
"I'll use the magic of Power Bond!" Zane slapped the card onto his duel disk, and I noticed Syrus perk up at the use of the card that he had struggled for so long to use correctly.
In a massive pillar of blue light, the two Cyber Dragons and the Cyber Dragon Core disappeared. Tania held up her arms to shield from the light.
"Well, what do ya know? Zane's summoning Cyber End Dragon! Can you believe it?" Erin said sarcastically.
"Well, if it ain't broke…" Jaden trailed off, recalling his own defeat at the hands of the Kaiser.
The three-headed dragon emerged, the epitome of Zane's skill and pride. "It's over for you! I call upon the Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!" Boosted by the effect of Power Bond, the already absurdly powerful dragon rose to 8000 attack points.
"Oh man, that Mirror Force sure would have come in handy…" I teased.
Tania bowed her head, having no way to defend against Zane's ultimate monster. She closed her eyes, accepting defeat with uncharacteristically quiet dignity.
Seeing that she had no response to his attack, Zane silently thrust his hand forward. His dragon knew what to do, charging up three converging beams of plasma. In an instant, the blast closed the distance between the two duelists, and crashed upon Tania's Amazoness Empress. (Zane 2800/Tania 0)
The monsters, as well as the cage surrounding them, disappeared. We descended from the stands quickly and met Zane in the center of the fighting stage. The force from the Cyber End Dragon's attack sent Tania flying across the arena. To her credit, however, she quickly got to her feet, albeit with haggard breath.
"Ah, nice and quick. Well done, Zane." I congratulated casually. He turned around and the serious look on his face softened.
"No no, Jamie, now's when we're supposed to exchange anime rival banter." Zane corrected quickly.
"Oh right, how could I forget?" I put on my best Kaiba impersonation. "Don't think that you've gotten ahead of me, Truesdale! I'm gonna be the number one duelist!"
Zane, in turn, did an impression of Yami Yugi. "You will not defeat me as long as you refuse to believe in the heart of the cards." Our friends chuckled at our stupidity while Tania looked on with confusion.
"In all seriousness, that was a great duel, Zane!" Jaden cheered.
"Thank you. I owe it all to the bond between my cards and I." He said.
"Aw, that's sweet." Jasmine briefly cooed.
"Yes, yes." I rolled my eyes. Of course, the fact that Amazons were an extremely favorable matchup for Cyber Dragons also probably had a fair bit to do with it, but god forbid I bring that inconvenient little fact up. I suppose it was a rather sweet sentiment though.
"Well, this wasn't a duel of darkness, so what's gonna happen to her?" Jaden asked. Tania, after regaining her breath, looked upon us with a new modicum of respect.
Zane looked at her again. "You fought honorably. There is no shame in this defeat, it was a good fight. If you promise to give up working for the Shadow Riders, I would be open to a rematch." He offered diplomatically.
"Well, she's also gonna have to give up the whole snu-snu thing." I add. Alexis snorted in the background.
"Oh, right. I appreciate the offer, but I'm afraid I will have to refuse your, ahem, proposition." Zane said awkwardly.
Tania chuckled. "A good fight, you say…I was defeated utterly while you were barely trying…by the laws of the Amazonian tribe, I have no choice but to accept these terms. Very well, I will stop working for the Shadow Riders. And one day, I will find a husband on my own terms."
"I'm glad we were able to reach an understanding. Allow me to be the first to wish you luck with your new life!" The Kaiser said with light heart.
"And I'm still on the market if you're interested!" Syrus piped up, but for some reason, Tania could not seem to hear him.
"I am saddened that I lost today, but it is good to see that some men in the world have honor. I heard all sorts of horror stories from my island." Tania divulged.
"Eh, guys aren't so bad. I guess." Erin sighed.
"I have one more question. Where did you get that Amazoness Empress card? It hasn't been released in any official sets." I interjected.
She gave me a mysterious look. "From my master."
"What?!" I barked, but the amazon was already transforming once more into the white tiger. The orange tiger, which we now knew to be the Duel Spirit of Amazoness Tiger, leapt to her side, and the two jungle cats left the arena peaceably.
"Impossible…how is Kagemaru obtaining cards from the future? Or did he create them himself? I needed to get to the bottom of this.
"Well, all's well that ends well!" Jaden announced cheerfully, clearly not curious about any of this.
"How is she going to leave the island? For that matter, how did she even get here in the first place?" Alexis questioned, this problem clearly just occurring to her.
"Actually, that's a good question. Come to think of it, where is the Amazon island she was talking about earlier? And how does it stay hidden from the rest of mankind?" Bastion built up a head of steam and began to fire off the questions. "And what exactly are we going to do with a giant Roman-style coliseum in the middle of our quarry? We really should have asked her these questions before she left, because now we might never see her again! This is terrible!"
"Yep, all's well that ends well!" Jaden repeated blithely.
A/N
Hope you all enjoyed.
I didn't particularly like the Tania storyline in canon. When I saw episode 36 for the first time, I figured that we would finally see one of Bastion's strategies work for once, and that he would put aside his feelings and do what needs to be done for the sake of his friends and his school. Instead Bastion literally got snu-snu for a whole night and Jaden had to pick up the slack…again. I know that side characters don't tend to fare well in shonen series, but the wayt hey did Bastion was really dirty. The sheer maliciousness the writers seem to have towards him is very strange to me. What did he do to deserve such treatment? But I don't really have anything against Tania, so I hope the character was represented well here.
She put up a decent fight against Zane, but as Jamie noted in the chapter, Amazons are not really a great matchup against Cyber Dragons because Cyber Dragons can get their big guns out quicker and more consistently, and they can end duels in one huge attack, while Amazons prefer prolonged battles. Zane's the number one duelist at the academy for a reason – I hope this chapter was a good showcase of some of his skill. Obviously powerscaling isn't an easy thing to define in Yugioh, though.
We also got to see a bit of Adam's deck in this chapter finally. I would describe it as a bit of fusion between Bandit Keith and Joey's deck, with a greater reliance on chance-based effects. Obviously it is not a competitive build, but it represents how he likes to play the game.
Finally, I am glad to note that the story has blown past the 500 follow mark! It is great to see that people find the story interesting, and I can't wait to show you guys what's in store for the story's future. Have good one, and I'll catch you on the flippity-flip.