Chapter 14: The FAULT! In our Kaiju
After the winter break came and went, Duel Academy reopened its doors to the returning students. Haru, who had enjoyed his break a little too much had to be shaken awake by Syrus and Chumley before classes started. At this moment the first years, and a few of the second years, were playing tennis. The current matchups were Haru and Syrus against Jasmine and Mindy, and in the next court Eiji and Alexis against Bastion and Will, with Sarah currently taking a break from the activities on her court. The Ras and Obelisks seemed to be evenly matched as Bastion and Will moved together like a well oiled machine, and Alexis took the leadership role on the other side.
"Bastion I assume you have an equation to tie this matchup?" Will asked as he readied himself for the next serve from the other team.
"Don't worry my friend" Bastion assured him. " After we win this point, it's our serve and then our victory is assured"
"I hope you're ready for this Bastion!" Alexis yelled as she served the ball into his part of the court.
"I'm always ready" Bastion smiled as he knocked the ball back towards Eiji.
"Are you ready for this then?" Eiji asked as he slapped the ball over the net on a low arc away from Will. Will dove towards the ball and managed to knock it over the net before it could bounce past him, taking Eiji off guard as it bounced twice beside him.
"Nice shot my friend." Bastion helped Will up. "Now we only have to score two more points". While the four seemed to be having fun in their back and forth game, Haru and Syrus seemed to be having no such luck.
"Come on you two, why won't you serve the ball anywhere near me?" Haru whined as he moved up towards the net.
"Well for starters you seem to like hitting the balls directly at us" Mindy said crossly as the turned to reveal dents in the board behind them that separated the courts from the bleachers.
"And if we serve it to Syrus every time then we will obviously win" Jasmine added serving up the next ball.
"I still don't understand how playing tennis at a dueling school makes any sense" Syrus questioned, trying to hide his irritation at her comment as he returned the ball. "Aren't we supposed to be learning to duel?"
"It has just about everything to do with dueling" Mindy replied. "Taking turns, while thinking on your feet, and the more you play..." She paused for a moment as she hit the ball, and it began to curve towards Haru, "the better you do"
"Well can't argue with that logic" Haru grinned as he watched the ball coming his way. He jumped into the air and dealt a powerful strike that caused the girls to flinch as it hit their court. The angle seemed to be off though as the instant it hit it curved off in the direction of the court next to them. Haru's eyes widened as the ball was headed towards Alexis, who was currently too focused on her game to notice. "Hey Alexis heads up!" He yelled as the ball closed the distance on the Obelisks face. Fortunately something seemed to intercede on her behalf because the ball made contact with a solid surface before it could hit her. Unfortunately this meant the ball was headed for someone else.
"Will duck!" Bastion warned. The Gothic Horror duelist got his warning just in time to duck out of the way of the oncoming yellow blur. Bastion returned the ball but this time the arc went a little too high and into the stands.
"Oh crap it's headed for Dr. Crowler" Eiji called
"Oh boy it's headed for Dr. Crowler" Haru said happily.
The obelisk teacher was currently moving across the middle row of the bleachers, making sure to keep his coat tails away from the filthy seating. Unfortunately this attention to detail prevented him from noticing the little yellow comet that embedded itself in his right eye.
"I say this is a job well done" Haru smirked as he gave Syrus a high five. Meanwhile the person who had blocked the shot from hitting Alexis made himself known. He was a young man with short brown hair, wearing the duel academy gym uniform.
"Thank you…" Alexis said in surprise to the boy who had saved her.
"Alexis! Are you ok?" Jasmine and Mindy called as they made their way over to check on her, "You almost got creamed!"
"Yeah! Would you like me to carry you to the nurse?" The brown haired boy asked, turning to flash Jasmine and Mindy a smile. This as always captured the hearts of the two girls .
"Oh for fuck sake" Haru said gagging "Who the hell is this guy?"
"Um some generic Obelisk stooge?" Syrus smirked
Eiji flashed the two of them a glare. "What? Are you mad because you know he's right?" Haru returned.
"She seems fine to me" Sarah said coming to a stop beside Alexis.
"No thanks, I'm fine" Alexis politely answered.
This seemed to fall on deaf ears however, as the boy seemed to have gone into a trance as he looked at Alexis. A single thought played on a loop through his mind 'What a Hottie'.
Upon no reply from her saviour, Alexis spoke up. "Are you sure I don't need to carry you to the Nurse's office?"
"No… it's just I've always seen you in passing since we share the same dorm, we've just never had the chance to talk" the brown haired boy said, still clearly out of it. He grasped Alexis's hand in a gentle manner before realizing what he had done, and letting it go "Much less touched."
"Thats sweet" Alexis replied, not quite knowing what was going on at the moment.
"And a little creepy" Sarah added.
"Anyway" The boy said shaking himself out of his stupor, as he walked back towards his court. "Back to my match, What was the score again?"
"I believe it was love-something" his opponent replied.
"What the heck was that all about?" Eiji asked as he watched him go.
Haru shrugged "I'm not really sure, but it was painful to watch."
"Um Haru" Syrus said pointing behind the taller boy, as the Roid duelist backed away slowly.
Haru turned to see Crowler staring at him with what seemed to be an expression of rage mixed with exasperation. "Oh yay" Haru groaned.
In the infirmary, Crowler was being tended to by Ms. Fontaine for his new black eye. After the incident he had ordered Haru to follow him so he could deal out punishment. Haru was currently sitting in a rolling chair with a smug expression on his face.
"Look I'd say I'm sorry for hitting you in the eye with a round spherical object for a second time, but then again why would I?" Haru told him "Neither of the times was it actually me who hit the ball."
"Seems kinda suspect that I get a black eye during two sessions of PE that you are attending" Crowler fumed, As Ms. fontaine moved his head to the side and placed an icepack on his eye. "A little harder next time! My vertebrae are still intact!" He said angrily to the nurse.
"Oh you're going off of the fact that you just happen to be around during the Slifer PE class, when everyone from my freaking dorm was there!" Haru pointed out.
"You know Dr. Crowler, PE is my class, and I was watching when the incident happened. I can vouch for Mr. Yoshida here when I say he did not hit the ball that gave you that black eye" Ms. Fontaine stated as she tried to calm the angry doctor, with no success.
"I do mind!" Crowler retorted as he pointed at Haru. "Because they were the ones who started it, I'm sure of it! I saw it with my own two eyes!" Ms. Fontaine gasped then sweatdropped as the doctor realized his error. "Well one eye now".
"Well maybe if your ego wasn't so big, then it wouldn't be so easy for someone to hit you with projectiles" Haru snarked.
"What was that Savage?" Crowler asked, returning his gaze to Haru, after a few grunts pain as he shifted the Icepack.
"Pretty sure I didn't stutter doc" Haru replied. "Look if you think that me being in a tennis class is a direct threat to your health, why not ban me from tennis all together? I mean i could always use some more sleep"
Crowler smirked at the slifer as a spark of inspiration hit him. "I have the perfect punishment for one such as you" He declared. "I'll put you under the tutelage of the school's tennis captain. He's bound to whip you into shape."
"Oh for christ's sake" Haru said resting his face in his palm.
Meanwhile in the ladies' locker room, Alexis and Sarah were putting their PE uniforms back in their lockers after getting their Obelisk blazers back on.
"I can hardly stand Haru, but Crowler blaming him for being hit in the face seems to be a bit unfair" Sarah said.
"Oh you know Crowler, once you embarrass him once he'll go out of his way to make your life a living hell no matter the time" Alexis sighed.
"Still…."
"Hey Alexis, Sarah!" The two turned to see Mindy and Jasmine, both in their academy blazers with rather large smiles.
"We found out the name of that tennis hunk for you" Mindy said.
"Hold on, I never asked you to find out anything" Alexis replied.
"Pretty sure if she wanted to know, she would have asked herself" Sarah added.
"Yeah, yeah…." Jasmine said waving it off. "His name is Harrington Rosewood, as in Rosewood sporting goods, the world famous sports chain!"
"And it turns out that he's a third year obelisk too" Mindy added.
"Ok…." Sarah said 'So they're top ranking students that's good for them I guess."
"Great! Sarah this is amazing, not only is he hot but he's rich too" Mindy said. "If anyone is boyfriend material then its him."
Alexis sighed. "Look girls, I'm not looking for a boyfriend right now" Alexis told them. The four girls made their way out of the locker room only to be met by a little red blur running down the hall past them. There was a screech as the blur turned out to be Syrus as he attempted to come to a complete stop. Jogging back and forth in front of them Syrus seemed rather flustered.
"Oh man oh man oh man" the small slifer gasped. "Where is the lousy tennis team?" At that moment he realized the group of Obelisk girls were standing near him beginning to jog in place. "Alexis do you know where the tennis team meets?"
"Out on the courts Syrus" Alexis told him."What the heck is going on?"
"It's the most unfair thing ever! Crowler is having the tennis captain boss Haru around for hitting him with that tennis ball" Syrus said running off again.
"Why is that the most unfair thing ever?" Jasmine wondered
"Service!"
At the tennis courts, Harrington was putting Haru through the ringer as the Obelisk served each ball with tremendous speed. Sure Haru was keeping up with it more often than not, but harrington seemed to like throwing in some trick shots to keep the slifer on his toes.
"Damn… I thought we were going to play tennis, not run speed drills for the military" Haru grumbled as he wiped off a drip of sweat from his face. Haru's power had diminished after about thirty minutes of this training, but he still managed to volley the ball back into Harringtons court. "This guy isn't planning on letting up anytime soon.' For that moment he lost his focus and tripped on a stray ball that had come to a rest in front of him.
"Come on Haru, no pain, no gain!" Harrington said. "You gotta hustle to build those muscles! You've got to sweat to become a threat! If you don't pick up the pace you'll never win the race!"
Haru began to have Paradox Brothers flashbacks "Damn it I'm starting to miss those two. Stop with the rhyming cliches, you're giving me a headache."
"There's no letter 'I' in the word 'Team', Haru" Harrington said striking a strange pose "It's the very first rule in tennis."
"That's funny, you ever heard of singles?" Haru remarked
"Moving along…, I think your forehand and backhand stroke need work. How does 1000 strokes of each sound to make tennis more your racquet?" Harrington joked. "Get it? Racket? Racquet."
"Yes I understand the joke, i just choose not to laugh because it was really stupid even for you" Haru growled.
Syrus, Jasmine, Mindy and Sarah were currently watching the two go at it from the sidelines.
"I get it; this guy is a total nut." Syrus stated. "The cliches, the crazy practicing,"
"The terrible jokes" Sarah added.
"You know now that I think about it, he is rather obsessive" Jasmine added.
"Let him obsess…. over me" Mindy gushed, clearly oblivious to the previous statements.
Meanwhile Haru continued to fend off the barrage of little yellow projectiles, one after the other until one swing threw him off balance. As he fell he sent a ball rolling towards the sidelines until it came to a stop at Alexis's feet. The obelisk had been standing as she watched the back and forth, waiting for the right moment to approach Haru.
"Oh hey Alexis" Mindy greeted as the Obelisk approached the net.
"Alexis?" Harrington gasped as he turned to see her walking towards him. "Sorry I'm sweating so much, I've just been kicking this guy's…" His eyes widened as the girl of his dreams walked right past him and stopped at the net in front of Haru.
"Haru, you'll never believe what I just heard" Alexis said a serious expression on her face.
"I'm listening" Haru said pushing himself to his feet.
"On my way here I met with Professor Banner outside the Tennis courts. He said that Chazz had been spotted by someone"
"He can't be hard to miss, heads the size of his could be seen from orbit" Haru snorted "Where is he?"
Harrington seemed to be engulfed in an aura of flame as he watched Alexis talk to a lowly Slifer, while she just ignored him completely. "A bench warming slob like Haru talking to a girl like Alexis, this is unacceptable!" His eyes filled with pure rage as he stomped forward. "Time to run some interference!"
Haru looked over Alexis's shoulder to see the Obelisk approaching with hatred in his smiled and took a step back warranting a look of confusion from Alexis.
"Oh boy here we go" Syrus sighed.
"Hey you can't talk to a first round pick like Alexis. You can't even return a bucky-whip with some tailspin, so stay away from my little Obelisk pixie"
Haru looked around before pointing to himself "I'm sorry are you talking to me? What's your name again? Some of you Obelisks look so similar I would have guessed you all came from a copy machine marked generic stuck up rich boy"
"My names Harrington, and don't forget it. Knowing the name of your superior is a great honor"
"Listen Harrington, the only thing that your 'superior' in is getting on my nerves".
"Listen up Haru, step away from the beautiful girl. You're way out of your league. Don't make me go all athletic on you" Harrington growled as his vision went completely red.
"Sir the only thing worse than your attitude is your threats" Haru smirked. "In addition where do you get off saying Alexis is yours, much less calling her a pixie?"
"An Obelisk pixie huh? I wonder what that looks like" Syrus mused imagining Obelisk the Tormentor with wings buzzing around a flower bed. "On second thought never mind"
"Now excuse me, Alexis and I were having a conversation before you so rudely interrupted" Haru turned his focus back to Alexis. "Now you were saying Lex."
"Hold on Lex? Is that some kind of pet name? Where did it come from? What's it short for?" Harrington appeared on the other side of the net and got very close to Haru's face.
"Its short for Alexis, now please stop breathing on me your breath is terrible" Haru said pushing his face away with his hand.
"No it doesn't" Harrington said as he pulled away a bit self conscious about that insult "And I bet you would like me to believe that wouldn't you. Well I don't, in fact I don't trust anything that you say." He gripped his racket with a renewed fury. "So that's why this little huddle is over".
"Sounds good to me, theres the door," Haru said pointing towards the arena entrance. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out".
"No way slacker learn your sports! When a huddle is over then it's time to make your play, you don't run away from a challenge"
"What are you going to do? Challenge me to a tennis match?" Haru deadpanned.
"No way! In fact I want a duel. The winner gets to be Alexis's fiancee" Harrington said looking pretty determined.
"Whoa hold on, what's this stuff about a fiancee?" Alexis asked shocked at what she was hearing.
"Yay I love weddings" Jasmine said with a blush.
"I'm not sure about arranged ones though" Mindy added.
"I know that I'm in the obelisk dorm, but are all guys this presumptive?" Sarah asked.
"If you didn't hang out with Eiji 24/7 you would know about the plethora of hotties that our dorm has to offer" Jasmine told her.
"Not remotely what I asked but Ok" Sarah sighed.
"Hold up there tall, dark and stupid, where did these stakes come from all of the sudden?" Haru asked
"Well clearly you and Alexis have something going, and you're getting in the way of my pursuit of her. So I figured I would just cut to the chase for the both of us" Harrington said moving past him. "Plus your insults are starting to piss me off"
"That is quite possibly the dumbest thing I have ever heard. I'm all for a duel, but with stipulations like that I'm not sure I want to now. Alexis has the right to choose who she wants to marry and it's obviously not your egotistical ass."
"Haru…." Alexis said.
"So what you're saying is you refuse to duel me" Harrington smiled
"If you're going to insist on being a chauvinist upper-class moron, then yes." Haru responded.
"So the rumors around the Obelisk dorm were right" Harrington laughed, "You and Eiji are nothing better than street trash who got a lucky break".
"Oooooh he's asking for it" Syrus gasped.
"What did he say about Eiji?" Sarah growled as she took a step forward, only to be stopped by Mindy.
A familiar blue aura engulfed Haru as he turned his head to look at harrington, "What did you say?"
"I don't think I stuttered" Harrington replied with a smug smile.
Haru seemed to disappear then reappear in front of the other boy his eyes filled with pure rage. Harrington felt a small draft of wind as he noticed Haru's right fist next to his right ear. "You just fucked up royally pretty boy" Haru whispered as he withdrew his hand. "You can trash talk me all you want, but nobody and I mean nobody calls my adopted brother trash. You understand me?" Haru turned to Alexis and his expression changes slightly. "I'm sorry Lex but I've got to teach this guy a lesson in manners, and that means agreeing to his terms"
Alexis sighed "I understand, but make sure you don't lose. I'm not sure I could handle spending time with him, much less being his fiancee" she shuddered.
"Allright Harrington I'll accept your terms, I'll duel you right here right now because I'm a good sport. Instead of punching your lights out like I should, and honestly really want to."
"Excellent" Harrington laughed.
"Here we go" Jasmine sighed.
"If this Rosewood guy duels like he plays tennis, then Haru may have a tough time pulling this out" Syrus noted.
"Look at the bright side Alexis" Mindy squealed as she talked to the three other Obelisk girls. "You now have two cute boys fighting over who gets your hand in marriage."
"I doubt that Alexis plans on going through with this Mindy" Sarah said crossing her arms.
"Well fine she's getting engaged, but why split hairs" Jasmine said with a smile.
"I'm not getting engaged either Jasmine" Alexis snapped. "There are two reasons why I haven't walked out of this duel and neither of them have to do with me getting engaged. One, I really want to see Haru kick the cockiness out of this stuck up loser, and two, I want to see if the rumors of Harrington being just as good as Zane are true."
"As good as my brother?" Syrus gasped. "He must be a better duelist than he is a tennis player"
After the combatants went to the locker room and returned with their decks, the two took a few minutes to hook up their duel disks.
"I hope your ready for this" Harrington called from his side.
"Yeah ready to beat you down" Haru called back as he placed his deck into his disk.
Duel!
Harrington:4000
Haru:4000
"Service!" Harrington declared as he drew his hand. "I'm going to let loose a volley your way by summoning Mid Court Returner in attack mode" A young man wearing a white visor and a neon green polo shirt appeared swinging his tennis racket back and forth in front of him.
Mid Court Returner level 3 (1500/500)
"And Mid Court Returner has a really neat effect. You see I can now reveal the top card of my deck and if it's a monster with the word ball in its name you get inflicted with 500 points of direct damage but I have to discard it."
"So I'm facing a burn deck huh?" Haru mused. "Looks like this might be interesting"
"But it gets better, If I reveal a spell or trap card with Ace in its name I can set it on the field automatically" Harrington continued. "So without further ado let's get serving!" Harrington drew the top card of his deck and revealed it. "Looks like I drew Mega Thunderball so you're taking 500 points of direct damage!". Mega Thunderball appeared in the Neon green tennis player's hand as he threw it upward and sent it flying directly at Haru.
Haru:4000-3500
"And when I inflict direct damage to you I can special summon Net Defender in defense position" He continued as another tennis player this one female appeared beside his other monster. She wore a red polo shirt and a white skirt and held her racket in front of her as if waiting for a ball to bounce her way.
Net Defender level 3 (500/1500)
"Looks like it's 15-love!" Harrington cheered "And with this card i'll let you have a crack at your first turn" A set card appeared in front of him.
"Alright then" Haru nodded "For my first move I activate the effect of Jet Jaguar in my hand! While you control more monsters than I currently do I can special summon him to the field, there's a catch however since he's a level 6 monster his level is reduced by two and his attack is reduced by 1000." A silhouette appeared behind Haru as a new metallic hero emerged. It had a pointed head and an angled humanoid face. It was covered in yellow and red paint across its shoulder pads and leg armor, with a silver twin tailed arrow pointing down on its belt.
Anti Kaiju Mech Jet Jaguar level 6 (2500/2000)
Anti Kaiju Mech Jet Jaguar level 6-4 (2500-1500)
"Now since I control an Anti Kaiju Mech monster I can activate this spell, It's called G-Force Diversionary Tactics. When I control a light machine monster with Kaiju in its name I can special summon two tokens in defense position." The card depicted fighter jets shooting at Godzilla while Mechagodzilla approaches from behind. Two small fighter jets about Jet Jaguar's current size appeared on Haru's field.
Diversion Token level 1 (500/500) x2
"So you managed to summon a monster that reduces its attack, and two tokens that don't even have enough attack to defeat the average level 1 monster" Harrington laughed. "Maybe you are over-hyped after all."
Haru smiled "Something you and most of your Obelisk companions have in common, You don't let me finish my turn before you start trash talking. I tribute both of my tokens to have my monster return to its normal power. Allright Jaguar time to scale up your power and show him who he's dealing with!" Jet Jaguar pumped his fists as he was engulfed in a green aura as he began to grow to the size of a regular Kaiju regaining his strength.
Anti Kaiju Mech Jet Jaguar level 4-6 (1500-2500)
"Jet Jaguar lay the smackdown on his Returner, Power Blast!" Jaguar extended his palm as a beam of light shot out of it toward the neon green tennis player.
"Net Defender's effect activates! When you declare an attack on another monster, i can change the attack target to defender" Harrington declared. "Additionally when a monster attacks Net Defender I can shuffle a monster with ball in its name back into my deck and have Defender gain that much attack and defense until the end of the turn." The ray of light changed direction as it went directly at Net Defender who was swelling with a green energy.
Net Defender level 3 (500-1250/1500-2250)
"Your monster still isn't strong enough to avoid jaguars attack" Haru pointed out as the beam of light disintegrated the female tennis player.
"Allright!" Syrus cheered "Haru may not have inflicted damage but he was still able to destroy Harringtons monster"
"But if you look at it logically, while yes Harrington's monster was destroyed he did manage to avoid any damage this turn while recycling a card that helps him do direct damage via his other monsters effect" Sarah informed him.
"Oh yeah…." Syrus said lowering his voice.
"I guess this facedown will do it for me this turn" Haru sighed as he played his facedown.
"Alright I'm still leading this match, and it's my serve!" Harrington said as he drew for turn. "So I'll start right off the bat by activating Mid Court Returner's effect!" He drew and revealed a spell card. "Looks like you avoid the direct damage for now, but this spell card has Ace in its name so I get to set it directly onto the field! But I think I'm going to activate it right away. You see it's a spell called Ace's Intuition, when activated I can look at the top two cards of my deck and arrange them in any way I see fit"
"So now if either of those cards are a ball monster he can stack the deck so he has ammo for next turn, or perhaps this turn depending on what he plays" Alexis said. "His deck has a rather unique consistency about it.
Harrington looked at the two cards he had drawn and smiled, placing them back on top of his deck. " Here comes my next volley! I summon Superstar Server in attack position!" A dark-skinned man with a large afro appeared, he wore a pair of star sunglasses and a tropical shirt.
Superstar Server level 4 (1800/1000)
"Like Mid Court Returner, Superstar Server allows me to reveal the top card of my deck, and if it's a ball monster you take damage, but this time you take damage equal to the ball monsters attack!"
"And since you stacked the deck at the beginning of the turn, you made sure that the card on top of your deck is a ball monster" Haru acknowledged." So I'm taking damage no matter what"
"Precisely" Harrington admitted. "This one's coming directly for you Haru!" The obelisk drew the top card from his deck and revealed it. "The card I put on top of my deck was the monster Needle Ball, and it has 750 attack points." A spiky blue sphere with a grinning face appeared in Superstar Server's hand causing the tennis player visible discomfort. The monster raised its racket before sending the ball past jet jaguar directly at Haru. Haru shielded himself with his duel disc but still felt the impact as the spherical monster hit.
Haru:3500-2750
"But wait Superstar Server has a second ability! When he successfully inflicts damage to my opponent he reduces the attack of a monster on the field by 500"
Anti Kaiju Mech Jet Jaguar level 6 (2500-2000)
"And then I'll activate my set card, Ace's Return!" His set card flipped up to reveal a trap depicting Superstar server arriving on the tennis court with cheering fans in the background. "This card allows me to resurrect my Net Defender from the graveyard by banishing an Ace spell or trap card from my graveyard. Say goodbye Ace's Intuition and hello to Net Defender as she rejoins us in defense position." The female player in red appeared yet again, giving Superstar a bow of respect before taking up her defensive position.
Net Defender level 3 (500/1500)
"And that will be it for me" Harrington smirked.
"He inflicted damage again, as well as reducing Haru's monsters attack so it will never get over net defender now" Sarah said as she analyzed the situation. "He's got Haru in a pretty bad spot right now"
"My turn then" Haru said. "I activate the field spell Kaiju Sighting: Infant Island, from my hand" The tennis court began to fade as they were surrounded by a temple like structure. In the center of the temple was a Pyramid with a large blue and white striped orb on top.
"Ooh pretty" Jasmine gasped. "Do you think i could get something like that on a necklace?"
"Um Jasmine I don't think that's a gemstone" Alexis told her. "I think It's an egg".
"Infant Island is home to a guardian deity that protects its' inhabitants. While it's on the field I can negate the destruction of a level 4 or lower Kaiju monster"
"Your Jet Jaguar is a level 6 monster so he can't be saved by that effect. Meaning you have to summon one to make use of that effect" Harrington noted.
"And that's what I Intend to do" Haru smiled " I normal summon Kaiju Legend Larva in defense position!. The egg above them began to hatch as a brown caterpillar like kaiju emerged from within, it had bright blue eyes along with two tusks on either side of its mouth.
Kaiju legend Larvae level 3 (1000/1000)
"And that's it for me" Haru shrugged
"Wait what?" Syrus blinked. "He ended his turn with just that?"
"Hmmm, that is rather odd" Sarah said thinking about it "Perhaps he didn't draw anything that could get him out of this situation?"
"I have a feeling that this isn't a coincidence" Alexis said. "Let's just watch and see"
"Seems to me you've lost your vigor, slacker" Harrington teased. "Or is that perhaps what you want me to think?"
"I guess you'll have to see" Haru shrugged. "Now get on with it"
"Alright then, I activate the effect of Returner. Here goes" He revealed the top card of his deck and shook his head. "Looks like you passed the first draw, since it's not a ball monster or an ace card it just goes straight to the graveyard. But you're still not out of trouble yet, here comes Superstar Server's effect" he drew yet again and smiled. "Well well looks like I drew Mystical Shine Ball so you're about to take 500 more damage Slacker!" This time a shimmering orb appeared in the hand of the man with the afro as he sent another serve directly at Haru's life points.
Haru:2750-2250
"Are you sure you're interested in Lex?" Haru snarked. "You seem to be rather obsessed with hitting me in the face with balls."
"You're gonna pay for that remark Trash" Harrington growled."Now comes the fun part I equip my superstar with his specialty weapon, the Star Returner giving him the ability to inflict piercing damage!" Harrington continued "And now I'll switch Returner to attack position. Time to battle, Returner attacks your Larva!" the man in green sent a flaming sphere hurtling towards the giant larvae.
"I negate my Larva's destruction with Infant islands effect" At the bottom of the pyramid a very small native woman appeared.
Harrington did not seem to notice. "Superstar Server attacks your Larvae now, and since you used your protection effect its wide open" Superstar let loose a storm of flaming spheres that collided with the kaiju in a puff of smoke.
Haru:2250-1450
But as the smoke cleared the giant insect was still standing. "You're probably wondering why my monster stuck around aren't you?" Haru smiled. "Well let me explain, when Larvae was attacked I activated its ability to negate its destruction." He pointed at the pyramid as another small native woman appeared beside the other "And because of that I have all I need to summon a new monster next turn".
"Wait what happened?" Harrington asked as he looked at the pyramid in confusion "Those girls weren't there before"
"You're correct, you see when Infant island is on the field I can place a counter on it every time the destruction of a Kaiju is prevented."
Infant island x2 counters
"I'll end my turn then" Harrington said intrigued.
"Alright then let's get this party started" Haru said as he drew for turn. "When there are counters on infant island I can use them for tributes for a tribute summon." The two small women began to sing in harmony as the field darkened.
"Mosura ya Mosura Dongan kasakuyan indo muu"
"From Infant island flies a benevolent deity" Haru chanted
"Rusuto uiraandoa, hanba hanba muyan, randa banunradan"
"Her single goal, to protect the world and her homeland from all that would bring it harm.
Grace us with your presence Kaiju Legend Mothra!" Larva let out a shriek as a shadow appeared over it and a creature with vibrantly colored wings descended upon the monster zone next to it. It was a moth as the name implied, but yet it was something more. Its eyes now large and circular gave off a vibrant blue light. Its head and body were covered in snow white fur along with two long antennae between its eyes. As it touched down six long clawed legs unfolded themselves from its underbelly to hold it upright.
Kaiju legend Mothra level 9 (2800/2500)
"Now that's pretty" Sarah said with a gasp. "I wouldn't have expected it from Haru's deck of all things"
"So here comes the fun part" Haru said "You remember how Godzilla has three effects? So does Mothra and like Godzilla it's all about tokens"
"But you don't have any tokens, so what's the point?" Harrington asked.
"Your right for now. But i'll change that, with my face down, the trap Kaiju Legacy." A card depicting the ghost of mothra above two larvae appeared. "While I have a Kaiju on the field I can tribute it and special summon two tokens with the half its stats" he pointed towards Larva. "I tribute Larva to summon two legacy tokens." The giant larva disappeared and in its place two smaller versions of it appeared.
Legacy tokens level 1 (500/500) x2
"Now comes the fun part, since I have two tokens now available on my field I activate Mothra's two tribute effect! Until the end of the turn all monster effects are negated" Haru declared as Mothra took to the air and let loose a flurry of yellow scales, causing the three tennis players on Harringtons field to cough wildly.
"So that means…." Syrus began
"That using Jet Jaguar he can now get over net returner and get over that pesky protection effect" Alexis finished for him.
"Battle! Jet Jaguar attacks Net Defender!" Haru commanded as the multicolored robot let loose a beam of light from its palm shattering the female tennis player into pixels.
"Crap, now I'm wide open for an attack on my offensive team" Harrington groaned as he realized what was coming.
"Thats right! Mothra Attack Superstar Server with Arc Lightning!" The giant moth flapped its wings yet again this time releasing arc after arc of lightning at the Afro haired tennis player, causing him to flash and disintegrate into a pile of ash.
Harrington: 4000-3000
"And with that I'll set a card and pass. I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long" Haru smirked as a facedown appeared in front of him.
"I can't say that I'm disappointed anymore, I can only say that the damage you have dealt me is more or less lackluster. You're at less than half your lifepoints while I still have three quarters of mine" Harrington returned as he drew for turn.
"Well ending it in one turn wouldn't be as fun, I want to savor your inevitable demise" Haru shot back.
"That's enough talking, it's match point and I intend to end this set with my victory. I play the spell card Smash Ace! Now i reveal the top card of my deck and if it's a monster you take 1000 points of direct damage"
"This whole direct damage thing sort of takes the fun out of the game" Syrus sighed.
"Yeah its been really anticlimactic on Harrington's end" Sarah agreed.
"Here goes!" Harrington drew and looked at the top card of his deck and smiled. "Looks like today isn't your day slacker I just drew Plasma Ball, so now by sending it to the graveyard you take 1000 damage" Another tennis ball lept out of the spell card headed straight for Haru.
"Again with trying to hit me in the face with balls. Not if I can help it you cocky prick" Haru replied. "I activate my trap card Damage Translation! Now for the rest of the turn I only take half the effect damage you inflict to me."
Haru: 1450-950
"Fine then" Harrington said, frustrated that his one turn victory wasn't confirmed anymore. "I normal summon another Mid Court Returner." Another tennis player in a red polo shirt appeared on his field.
Mid Court Returner level 3 (1500/500)
"And now comes the effect of my first Returner" he drew and revealed his card "Oh look another Needle Ball! Looks like you're taking 500 damage."
"250 damage actually" Haru reminded him as the spiky ball hit him in the duel disk. "I just told you my trap reduces all effect damage by half"
Haru:950-700
"Oh well" Harrington shrugged "My second Returner's effect activates!" He drew again and revealed another monster. "Looks like today's my lucky day! It's a Mystical Shine Ball so you're taking another 250 damage!"
Haru:700-450
"And I belive that will conclude my turn" Harrington laughed. "And even if you managed to destroy my monsters it's not enough damage to reduce my life points to 0"
"Oh? Is that so, looks like you're not aware of my trap's secondary effect. For every time I took effect damage this turn I can special summon a ghost token to my field. If I recall correctly you tried and failed to end me three times with your effects, so I now get three tokens." Three purple specters appeared on his field beside Mothra and Jet Jaguar.
"I think Harrington just dug his own grave" Alexis said
"How do you figure?" Mindy asked
"Haru has three tokens on the field now, meaning Haru can activate any of Mothra's three effects" Alexis explained.
Haru drew for turn and smiled "Looks like everything has moved into place."
"I'm not sure I follow you slacker, like I said your monsters can destroy mine but it won't be able to end the duel" Harrington told him.
"Oh be quiet you 80's teen movie villain." Haru snarked. "I activate Mothra's three tribute effect! Now I can target a monster on the field and switch its attack and defense. Since you have two copies of the same monster I think I'll target the one that's been around the longest." Mothra let loose another wave of yellow scales from her wings weakening the tennis player.
Mid Court Returner level 3 (500/1500)
"And now that my monster zones are clear I summon Kaiju Legend Minya in attack position" Haru continued as the baby Kaiju appeared and let out a series of squeaks.
Kaiju Legend Minya Level 2 (1000/1000)
"Oh no" Harrington said as he realized his error.
"Oh yes!" Haru laughed "Jet Jaguar attacks the returner with 1500 attack"
Harrington: 3000-2500
"Now comes Mothra's attack!" Between the giant moth's antennae a rainbow beam shot out and destroyed the weakened Returner.
Harrington: 2500-200
"And now Minya will do the finishing move. Have at it short stuff" Haru said as the small Kaiju gave him a nod before building up power in its dorsal fins for an atomic blast. He opened his mouth but unlike godzilla could only let out a ring of smoke that circled upwards before falling over Harrington.
Harrington: 200-0
The Obelisk fell to his knees in defeat as his life points were reduced to zero, his face that of utter shock. "She was my first draft pick! My marquis girlfriend! My soulmate!" the Obelisk whimpered. He watched as the Slifer that had dealt him this crushing defeat approached, and bent over to whisper something in his ear.
"You made one mistake, and that was calling Eiji trash. I'll take all the verbal abuse you stuck up rich kids can throw at me, but don't you ever and I mean ever talk shit about Eiji again or next time my fist won't miss your face" Haru whispered before turning to walk towards the bench. "Oh yeah," he called back. "Stay away from Alexis you ball-obsessed weirdo."
Harrington's eyes began to tear up, either out of embarrassment or pure fear. Haru smirked as he watched the Obelisk climb to his feet and run out of the stadium calling for his mother.
"That was a pretty amazing show you put on out there Haru" Syrus said running up to him.
Haru cracked his neck. "It was nothing really, no pain no gain." He then grimaced. "Ignore that."
"Speaking of which" Jasmine said, " Looks like you and Alexis are engaged now, right?"
"So romantic" Mindy said.
"Meh, I'm not into the whole arranged marriage thing" Haru shook his head, "Love comes in time, there's no point in rushing it."
"I didn't know you were such a romantic" Sarah laughed.
Haru glared at her, before walking off towards the entrance "Come on Syrus, I want to find Crowler and rub it in his face that I beat one of his prized students again".
"Is that really a good idea?" Syrus asked running after him.
"I don't care, I'm in a gloating mood" Haru smiled, he turned to give the four obelisk girls a salute before taking his leave.
'He's….. odd" Sarah said
Alexis watched him go, a look of curiosity on her face "Yeah you could say that"
Chapter 14 in the bags! Thank you as always for your support and patience I appreciate it. By the time this chapter gets posted it will probably be after Thanksgiving, so you guys enjoy yourselves. I appreciate everyone who has been giving me ideas and i assure you I'll take them into account in future chapters. Next week is the duel giant chapter so stay tuned. Make it showy and I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving.
-Red
