The two weeks before the Tournament started passed by (mostly) without a hitch and the training went well, finally it was the day of the tournament and the eight duellists where at the airport waiting for their plane to arrive.
"Is it here yet?" Marcus asked.
"No." Brandon said annoyed.
"Is it here yet?" Marcus asked again.
"No." Brandon and Theresa said simultaneously.
"Is it here..." Marcus started.
"NO!" All of the other students (save for Otto who was keeping his distance) yelled earning odd looks from the other soon to be passengers.
"Marcus, contrary to popular belief asking "is it here yet" over and over again doesn't make the plane arrive any sooner." Brandon said annoyed.
"If it did then we'd be in New York by now." Lance added equally annoyed. "Can someone tell me why we can't use our duel disks here?" Lance asked looking towards his deactivated duel disk.
"We didn't make the rules this time Lance." Jeff chuckled folding his arms. "I trust you kids used the two weeks wisely."
"Aside from arguing and the German brothers being idiots yeah we've used it wisely." Lance said ignoring the glares from Andreas and Otto.
"Flight 280 from Domino City to New York City now boarding..." The students pretty much leaped out of their seats ready for the tournament.
"Ah, finally, I can't wait for the tournament!" A gruff sounding voice echoed from behind them and they turned around seeing a massive man with a bald head and blue eyes wearing a denim jacket with a brown t-shirt underneath, blue jeans and black boots. "Roberts, your title's mine!"
"Alex, Alex, Alex, we're not even in New York City and you're already getting a head of yourself?" A feminine voice scolded him and the Duel Academy students looking up seeing an attractive woman with waist length black hair and brown eyes wearing a small red dress and black boots.
"You're just mad that I beat you in the regionals Miranda." Alex grinned and Miranda rolled her eyes.
"I was a rookie back then and ever since I've left you in the dust." Miranda scoffed before noticing the students. "Don't look know Alex but it looks like the Duel Academy students are here." Alex looked in their direction and grinned.
"They selected these little tykes? They don't make them like they used too." Alex laughed.
"You won't be laughing when I eliminate you." Lance smirked.
"I like your attitude kid but time will tell if you can back it up in a duel." Alex grinned.
"Now, now Lance, how about we save the trash talk for when the tournament actually begins." Jeff said folding his arms. "You two would do well not to underestimate the students, we selected the best and brightest students we have at the academy for the tournament."
"Are you just saying that to make them feel better about facing tournament level duellists or are you being honest?" Miranda asked with a smirk.
"Oh believe me, you'll see for yourself once we're in New York." Lance grinned. "Who knows, maybe the old folks will actually learn something from watching us duel."
"What did you say?" Alex demanded.
"You heard what I said." Lance grinned.
"Chill out Alex, let the preschooler have his fun before we knock him out of the tournament." Miranda said as she walked towards the plane, Alex and the others followed her onto the plane with Lance and Chloe bringing up the rear.
"Must you trash talk every duellist you meet?" Chloe asked with a playful smirk on her face.
"Yeah, but only when they start it." Lance grinned as the two teens boarded the plane. "Look Chloe, if we end up duelling each other at the tournament...well let the best duellist win."
"Don't worry I will." She grinned before a serious look came over her face. "Lance, I need you to promise me one thing if that does happen, don't use Lava Golem."
"I wasn't going too." Lance said before pausing. "How about this for a suggestion if we do duel I'll only use it in the duel if there's no other options." Lance suggested and Chloe hesitated before nodding.
"Okay but be sure to warn me first." Chloe asked and Lance nodded.
"You have a deal." Lance said though the two teens were unaware of the fact that Miranda was listening in.
"Well, well, it seems love is in the air between those two, it would almost be sweet if it wasn't so corny." Miranda thought before she boarded the plane.
*elsewhere*
Whilst the teens and the other duellists where boarding the plane Michael and the other agents where travelling to New York via boat, it was a large boat and Michael was at the front of the boat surveying the view.
"Can I have a penny for your thoughts Mike?" Damien asked walking up to him.
"That's Michael to you Damien." Michael said sternly. "And no, you can't because I'm thinking about the past."
"Ah yeah, that's the whole reason why you don't remove your hood." Damien frowned. "Most of the agents are doing some last minute preparation for the tournament you know."
"I'm the best duellist in the organisation's employee, I don't need to prepare." Michael said sternly. "If anyone needs to prepare it's you."
"And if anyone needs to get his head out of his arse it's you." Damien muttered under his breath before walking off. "The boss said that we should be arriving at Battle City soon, and that he wants to see you in his office."
"Tell him that I'll be in his office soon." Michael said plainly.
"I'll pass the message along." Damien said walking off.
"Fool." Michael thought as he watched the scenery. "As soon as he and Robert are eliminated I'll be happy." Michael thought before entering the boat and making his way to the boss's office, he knocked on the door.
"You may enter." The leader's voice rang out and Michael entered the office, it was a simple office converted from the captain's quarters off the ship's previous owners. "Ah, I see you got Damien's message."
"This had better be important." Michael said impatiently. "The ship will be at New York in a few hours and I must use this time to prepare."
"That won't be necessary Michael." The Leader said plainly. "I have withdrawn you from the tournament."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY? Why, with my skills we are guaranteed to get many souls?" Michael demanded.
"It's simple Michael, if by some miracle someone beats you in a duel then I'll lose my top duellist and my organisation will soon crumble." The leader and Michael clenched his fist.
"Well, if I'm not in the tournament than why am I on this boat?" Michael demanded.
"Oh you'll duel at some point, just not during the tournament." The leader said folding his arms. "In the meantime you'll serve as an observer, keep some of my weaker duellists in line."
"So be it." Michael grunted. "But when everyone else fails I'll be there to pick up the pieces." Michael said as he left the office.
"We'll see about that won't we?" The leader said to himself as he poured himself a glass of wine.
*several hours later, on board the plane*
"Ladies and gentlemen this is you captain speaking, we are about to land in New York City, and we hope that you have enjoyed your flight." The captain announced over the PA, Lance stretched his arms and yawned.
"Man, how long was I out?" Lance asked as he looked at his watch. "This can't be right, I could've sworn I was out longer for that." Lance wondered, Alex, who was sitting next to him, looked over.
"You haven't adjusted your watch to the time zone kid." Alex pointed out.
"I knew that." Lance said as he started adjusting the watch. "So, how long have you been duelling?"
"For as long as I can remember." Alex shrugged.
"I've only been duelling for two years." Lance said sheepishly as he finished adjusting his watch, Alex smirked.
"Heh, you do realize that by saying that most of the duellists on this plane will see you as an easy target right?" Alex pointed out.
"I never backed down from a challenge before and I'm not starting now." Lance said simply. "Though if they knew how inexperienced Chloe was they wouldn't even bother with me." Lance thought.
"Then you'll be eliminated first." Alex smirked.
"We'll see about that." Lance smirked, meanwhile Chloe, who was sitting next to Theresa, was just waking up herself.
"How long was I out?" Chloe yawned as she woke up.
"You where asleep for the majority of the flight Chloe, I was wondering if you where ever going to wake up." Theresa told her with a small smile. "Sleep well?"
"As well as I could." Chloe shrugged as she let out another yawn. "Off course once the tournament starts I won't have much time for sleeping."
"I'm not even going to point out the health risks of duelling for that long." Theresa said folding her arms. "Anyway we should be landing soon."
"Good." Chloe yawned. "Actually I'll think I'll have another nap the moment I'm in the hotel room and packed."
"You slept for 3 hours and you're still tired? Brandon doesn't sleep that much and he stays up most nights studying." Theresa pointed out.
"Gee, thanks." Brandon, who was sitting in front of the girls with Kimberly, muttered. "At least wait until you get some duelling done Chloe."
"That is unless you intend to sleep through the whole tournament." Jeff, who was sitting behind them with Professor Hamden, added.
"Cute." Chloe responded stretching her arms. "When is this thing going to land anyway?" Jeff was about to respond to that when the announcement that they had landed came over the PA system. "Hey look, our talent for tempting fate actually worked in our favour for once." Chloe muttered getting a laugh out of her fellow students and the teachers, the students retrieved their bags and Duel Disks from the overhead compartments and they were soon outside of the airport with their luggage in hand.
"All right students, I hope you enjoyed the flight, those of you who didn't sleep through it but that's beside the point." Martin said turning to them. "Now you have two options 1: go to hotel, unpack then go straight to Times Square for the Battle City announcement which isn't for another two hours or go to the hotel, unpack, get something to eat and then go to Times Square for the announcement." Martin said, before any off the students could answer the simultaneous rumblings of their stomachs answered the question for them. "Get something to eat it is; now our ride should be arriving any time now." Martin laughed and just like that a large stretch limo pulled up. "Ah, here it is now." Martin said causing the student's jaws to drop.
"Pinch me, I must be dreaming." Lance said...only to get playfully pinched on the arm by Chloe. "That was a figure of speech Chloe!"
"Oh please, my dad has bigger stretch limos than this." Brandon joked as he and the other Obelisk Blue students climbed in, the other students climbed in as well and the teachers went in last with Hamden getting in last.
"Now, now Brandon, you had better show a bit of appreciation, we had to pay for this out of our own pocket." Martin said and Brandon gulped.
"You're right, I'm sorry." Brandon apologized. "I'm just saying that this isn't the biggest limo I've seen." Brandon said looking outside the window. "So this is New York, it looks like a nice place."
"Yeah, a nice place to duel!" Marcus said cracking his fists in anticipation, Brandon just smirked and folded his arms.
"I don't care." Chloe said catching everyone else's attention. "I just want to get this tournament over with."
"I would've thought you be happy to be back in...actually I'm going to shut up before we have a repeat of the situation back at the duel field." Andreas said quickly covering his mouth.
"You do that." Lance frowned. "Chloe you said it yourself, that asshole that dared to call himself your dad is behind bars for the rest of his life, he can't hurt you anymore."
"It doesn't mean that I don't have any bad memories of this place though." Chloe answered back looking outside the window.
"Let's change the subject before we accidently make her relive those memories." Hamden suggested and Lance nodded in agreement. "Hey driver, how long will it be until we reach the hotel?"
"Should be about five more minutes Mr. Hamden." The driver responded.
"Good." Hamden said before turning to Chloe. "Chloe I know your memories of this place aren't exactly pleasant but try not to think about it and have fun okay."
"I'll try." Chloe said resting her hands on her legs. "So what'll happen once the tournament starts? Will we walk around in a group or just separately?"
"Ideally we'd like you students to split off into pairs with a teacher keeping an eye on you, unfortunately we have a meeting to attend to at Kaibacorp headquarters regarding the Duel Academy's participation in the tournament so for now you'll just split off into pairs." Martin said with a smile. "We've already decided to pairs before you ask: Lance and Chloe, Marcus and Andreas, Brandon and Theresa and Kimberly and Otto."
"Great, I'm being paired up with the idiotic half of the Freshier twins." Kimberly muttered under her breath.
"Sorry Kimberly but it was process of elimination." Maria apologized before reaching into her pocket and handing out pieces of paper with a phone number on it to the students. "You can reach us at this number should anything bad happen."
"Thanks, I'll get this stored on my Cell-Phone right away." Lance said getting his cell phone out; the others did likewise before handing back the papers to Maria.
"And no, you can't use that number for prank calls or duelling advice." Jeff said folding his arms. "That number's for emergencies only."
"So is there a number for Prank Calls and duelling advice?" Marcus asked.
"Yes, it's 555-figure-it-out-yourself-and-stop-wasting-my time." Martin chuckled.
"Holy crap, is he developing a sense of humour?" Jeff asked in mock shock.
"That or someone's kidnapped the real Obelisk Blue Headmaster." Marcus suggested.
"We're here." The driver said stopping the limo; Jeff opened the door and stepped out holding the door open for the students and the staff members, the hotel was a fairly large one and from what the students could tell it was easily a Four Star hotel, the driver retrieved their heavy bags from the boot of the limo and entered the hotel, whilst Martin went off to get them checked in Theresa took a look around the hotel's other guests.
"Are you on the lookout for other duellists?" Andreas asked looking around.
"Mostly for other duellists I recognise, so far no one stands out." Theresa answered folding her arms. "Off course that won't matter once the tournament starts."
"Yeah, until we end up fighting each other." Andreas shrugged. "Let's face it, it is inevitable." Andreas added.
"True, just don't mention that to Chloe." Theresa said with a sigh. "Our match was less of a match and more of a massacre at the end even after she summoned Silent Magician."
"Given her inexperience I'm not surprised." Andreas said glancing around. "I just want a decent challenge for my first match."
"I think most of the duellists competing here want the same thing." Marcus chimed in. "Though they may avoid us if they find out we're Duel Academy students for the same reason."
"Then we'll just have to prove them wrong." Theresa said confidently. "Though for Chloe that will be easier said than done."
"It'll be tough for the non Obelisk Blue Students, never mind Chloe." Marcus said folding his arms. "I look forward to proving them wrong though."
"All right kids we're checked in so here are your room keys." Martin said handing over room keys alongside pieces of paper to the students. "Now, the girls will have their own room since there isn't an equal amount of male and female students on this trip but other than that the boys will have their own rooms."
"It looks like we're rooming together Chloe." Theresa said turning to the younger woman.
"Yeah, looks like it." Chloe sighed and Kimberly placed a comforting hand on her unscarred shoulder.
"Relax, we won't bite." Kimberly reassured her.
"It's not you two that I'm worried about." Chloe said plainly as she followed the others to the elevators, once they reached the floor they were staying on for the tournament. "Okay, what room are we staying in?" Chloe asked once the boys where in their rooms.
"We're staying in room 24." Theresa said as the three women looked for their room, they found it quickly enough and entered it; the room was a large one with three separate bedrooms. "At least we're not cramped in the same room, so who gets..."
"I call dibs on the big bed." Chloe said almost immediately sitting on the bed in the central room.
"Well?" Theresa asked Kimberly who shrugged.
"She is the only Osiris Red on the trip so why not?" She shrugged as Chloe started unpacking. "You need some help Chloe?"
"No, I'm good, thanks anyway." Chloe said as she unpacked her bag.
"Well if you say so." Theresa said entering her room; once the three women unpacked they got changed out of their uniforms into their civilian clothes and grabbed their duel disks.
"Hopefully my deck will be good enough to beat any duellists I face." Chloe thought as she tied her Osiris Red Blazer around her waist, she had been modifying the deck pretty consistently since the incident at the Obelisk Blue duel field but she was still having her doubts.
"Knock, knock." Chloe looked over her shoulder and saw Theresa. "You ready for the tournament?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." Chloe said before looking at herself in the mirror, pretty much the only thing that had changed about her outfit, aside from tying her blazer around her waist, was the fact that she was wearing a red, long sleeve navel exposing top. "What about you?"
"Same." Theresa nodded leaning against the door. "The teachers are waiting for us outside, we have that meal out to attend too remember."
"I don't think my stomach is going to let me forget." Chloe said sheepishly as her stomach rumbled.
"Well, let's go." Kimberly said from the main part of the hotel room, Chloe grabbed her duel disk and put it on and followed the two older women out of the room and saw the teachers waiting for them.
"Okay students, do you have your duel disks and decks?" Martin asked and the students held up their duel disks in response. "Excellent, I'm sure I don't need to say this but you'll need them, what about your cell-phones."
"Did you honestly think teenagers would go anywhere without them?" Brandon asked with a smirk.
"An excellent point, what about money for food, new booster packs or anything else you want to buy?" Martin asked.
"We've got that as well." Lance said after looking around the other students. "Wait, does that mean we're paying for the meal out?"
"No, any group meals will be paid for by us." Jeff answered folding his arms. "Snacks on the other hand? You're on your own."
"Good thing I saved up then, speaking of food can we go?" Marcus asked and the teachers nodded before leading them to the elevators, once they were in the lobby Lance looked around for a bit.
"Hey Lance, over here!" A familiar voice rang out, Lance blinked before turning around and seeing his younger siblings Sophie and Mike running towards him and smiled broadly.
"Guys, what are you doing here?" Lance asked clearly surprised to see his siblings.
"We're here for the tournament silly!" Sophie said with a broad smile and Lance chuckled.
"No seriously what are you doing in New York?" Lance asked.
"She is being serious man!" Mike said holding up his duel disk. "After mom told us that you where competing in battle city we plead and plead and plead to mom to take us to New York to compete in the tournament, she eventually agreed.
"Wait does that mean she's here?" Lance asked.
"Yes I am young man!" Lance's mother said walking over. "I hope you've been behaving at Duel Academy."
"I've been behaving as much as I could." Lance said sheepishly.
"Hey man, you going to introduce us or not?" Marcus said as he and the others walked up to Lance.
"Oh oops, mom, Mike, Sophie, these are some friends I've met at Duel Academy, Marcus Reynolds, Andreas Freshier, Brandon Thomas, you already know Chloe, Theresa Daniels and Kimberly...now that I think about it I never learned her surname." Lance said sheepishly and Kimberly facepalmed. "Guys, these are my younger siblings and my mother, my siblings are competing as well."
"This little tyke's competing? Don't worry I'll go easy on her." Marcus said with a laugh. "Seriously, it's nice to meet ya all."
"Please don't, I want some actual competition in this tournament." Sophie said with a pout.
"Even though you're the only competitor here that has less experience than Chloe?" Lance pointed out and Sophie and Chloe sweatdropped.
"I've been practicing; well I and Mike have both been practicing but you get the idea." Sophie grinned. "I hope you've been practicing as well."
"You're kidding right? I and my friends have been practicing around the clock." Lance said with a grin. "Any opponent that stands in our way will get annihilated."
"Yeah right, in your dreams kid, you may have been a big shot in the minor leagues but you're a small fish in a big pond here." Alex said walking up.
"You won't think that after you watch me duel Alex." Lance grinned. "And the same goes for my friends as well."
"We'll see about that." Alex said walking off.
"Who was that guy?" Mike asked.
"Three time regional championships semi finalist and one time Battle City quarter finalist Alex Fenix." Theresa said folding her arms. "Not the most charming guy in the world but he can duel with the best of them."
"In other words my big brother will kick his ass." Sophie said with a smile.
"Let's worry about him once the tournament starts." Lance's mother suggested before getting an idea. "Now I won't be able to keep an eye on you all the time during the tournament but I'm sure Lance can do that for me."
"Well, if it's okay with the teachers..." Lance trailed off.
"Oh what's the harm? They seem like nice enough kids and they'll have Chloe to help keep an eye on them." Hamden said with a smile.
"Thanks Hamden." Lance said with a smirk. "Now can we focus on getting something to eat?"
"Yeah, let's go." Jeff said as the teachers led the students to the car and opened the door for the students, one meal out and another car trip later they were in Times Square waiting for the announcement for the tournament including Lance's siblings.
"So when is the tournament starting?" Lance asked as he leant against a nearby wall. "I want to duel ASAP."
"Be patient Lance, we'll be kicking ass soon." Andreas chuckled as he surveyed the crowd. "Looks like a who's who of tournament level duellists."
"What do you mean?" Lance asked.
"Well we've already met Miranda Trayson and Alex Fenix but there are a couple of guys I recognise from my home country." Andreas said folding his arms. "Like that guy over there, that's Axel Loather, Germany's national champion." Lance looked in the direction Andreas was looking and sure a teenager with blonde spiked up hair and brown eyes wearing a black t-shirt, blue jeans and brown boots.
"Is he any good?" Lance asked and Andreas chuckled.
"I would've thought that the fact that he's the national champion for my home country would've clued you in to that fact." Andreas said pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "But yes, he is good, undefeated as a matter of fact."
"And it shall remain that way." Axel said walking up. "Ah one of my fans flew all the way from Germany to watch me duel, I'm flattered."
"Please, I'm here to duel just like you are Axel." Andreas said holding up his duel disk. "Or did you forget about that duel you had with my brother Otto?"
"Ah yes, Otto Freshier I remember him, he was the only duellist to give me a decent challenge." Axel chuckled. "That would make you Andreas Freshier right?"
"That's him, and as long as we're in this tournament your undefeated streak will end." Lance chimed in.
"We shall see." Axel chuckled before walking off.
"Is it me or does every Tournament Level Duellist who isn't the champ seem to be competing with Otto for the Nobel Arrogance Prize." Lance wondered and Marcus scoffed.
"This is coming from the two year veteran challenging more experienced duellists left and right?" Marcus laughed.
"I'm just trying to make things interesting." Lance shrugged. "So Andreas, what kind of deck does Axel run?"
"Gladiator Beasts, they are tricky to use but very powerful at the same time, as long as they are used by someone who knows how to use them." Andreas said leaning against the wall. "Obviously Axel knows how to use them."
"Never heard of them, I guess I'll have to see them for myself." Lance folded his arms. "Are there any other familiar faces?"
"I don't see any." Andreas said looking around. "Strange, I would've thought we'd of seen Eddie by now."
"Eh, he's the champ; he'll be arriving in style." Brandon shrugged his shoulders before checking the time on his watch. "And by my watch the tournament announcement should be any time now." As Brandon said that everyone else stopped talking and focussed on the TV screen facing them and saw a woman in her thirties with short dark brown hair and blue eyes on the TV screen.
"Welcome duellists from all over the world, I am Chancellor Wilkins, Headmistress of Duel Academy and one of the the organisers for this year's Battle City Tournament, as soon as this speech is over the tournament will begin so I'll keep this as short as I can." The woman said clearing her throat. "Many of you have travelled from all over the world for one purpose; to duel for fame and glory, however out of the thousands of duellists here tonight only 20 duellists will qualify and the opening rounds will determine who will qualify for the top twenty, these will be determined by duels and the winner of each duel will win the loser's rarest card." Lance noticed that Chloe had tensed up at the prospect of losing her Silent Magician and quite frankly he wasn't too thrilled about the prospect of losing his rarest card as well. "Alongside a predetermined number of Locator Cards which will be essential for making your way to the semi finals, you'll need 6 of them in total."
"No pressure then, if I lose at any point I might lose my Armed Dragon Level 10." Theresa thought.
"Now as I mentioned before I am the headmistress of Duel Academy and because of my participation in this tournament the school was asked to nominate some of its brightest students for the tournament, don't let the fact that they are learning the game fool you as they are talented duellists, so with that said here's their names and pictures." Wilkins said.
"Well, isn't that nice of her to...WAIT WHAT?" Lance thought looking up at the screen, sure enough the pictures of the students where on the screen with their names and Dorms underneath. "Oh great, people will be on the lookout for us because we're students!"
"Relax man; they won't notice...crap, too late!" Marcus started but stopped when he realized that several duellists where looking at them.
"Marcus, you should really keep your mouth shut at times like these." Brandon said facepalming. "Teach, we never agreed to have our names revealed to the other duellists, so why where are names revealed!"
"Sorry guys but the Chancellor thought it would motivate you." Jeff shrugged. "Too late now, they're already talking about you."
"Probably about how I'll be an easy target since I'm the only Osiris Red student." Chloe muttered under her breath.
"With that out of the way here's a word from our reigning champion Eddie Roberts!" The sounds of a Helicopter hovering above where heard and the duellists looked up seeing Eddie leaning out of a open Helicopter door with a microphone in one hand and the other making sure he didn't fall out.
"I've never been one for speeches so I'll make this quick, as the reigning champion I want a challenge from all other competitors in this tournament, young or old, veterans or rookies, it doesn't matter because as long as you bring your A Games than I look forward to facing you in the tournament." Eddie said before closing the helicopter door and the helicopter left.
"Stirring words from our champion, with that in mind, ladies and gentlemen, duellists of all ages, LET THE BATTLE CITY TOURNAMENT BEGIN!" The screen shut off and the duellists started to disperse.
"Oh right students, you know who you're being paired off with, Lance I trust you too look after your siblings." Martin said and Lance nodded. "You have our phone number to contact us if anything happens."
"Yeah like us being eliminated." Chloe muttered as she watched the duellists leave. "We should probably give our Cell Numbers to each other, so we can keep in contact."
"Good idea." Brandon nodded sending his cell number to the other duellists. "All though if anyone uses my number for a prank call it'll be deleted in record time." Brandon added as they sent the numbers to each other. "Maybe we should meet back up here later, you know to catch up on our progress."
"Right, see you guys around." Lance said and the other students left. "So guys, where do we want to go first?"
"Well, I was thinking..." Chloe started only to be cut off by Lance's siblings.
"The Statue of Liberty!" Mike suggested, followed by a seemingly endless stream of famous landmarks.
"Guys, those places are closed for the tournament." Chloe sighed once they finally shut up. "All right, before I was interrupted I about to suggest that we wonder about the city until we find an opponent or two and most importantly kick their asses!"
"That's more like it." Lance grinned as the four teens made their way off, unaware of the fact that Michael was watching them from the rooftops, he put a hand to his earpiece.
"Master, the targets are making their move." Michael said. "Andreas and Reynolds are heading south, Daniels and Thomas are heading South West, Richardson and Alvers as heading west and Kimberly is heading north."
"Excellent, seems Damien's the closest agent to their current location, he is nearest Alvers and Richardson." The leader responded.
"Tell him that its open season on them, that other agent may have his eyes on the girl but anything that makes him unhappy is fine by me." Michael said before pausing. "Where is Damien anyway?"
"He is in Central Park West and I will relay your message." The leader said hanging up.
"Central Park West it is." Michael thought before making his way to the west.
*sometime later*
Chloe, Lance and his siblings had made their way to Central Park and where exploring the area, though the older teens were more interested in duels.
"So this is Central Park? It's a lot bigger than it looks on TV." Lance commented looking around, Chloe smirked.
"And it's also the source of one of my first happy memories as a kid." Chloe remembered. "The orphanage took me and the other kids here on a field trip, it was a blast...you know for a seven year old child abuse victim."
"I don't doubt that." Lance nodded in agreement. "Hopefully they'll be some duellists here; I want to get an early a start as possible."
"I agree there." Chloe said as the four teens came to a picnic area.
"Ah good, I can rest at last!" Lance said sitting down on the grass and Chloe fell over from surprise.
"Here you are complaining about a lack of duels and your first instinct is to rest?" Chloe said flabbergasted.
"Oh come on Chloe, we have been walking for some time now." Lance pointed out looking around.
"Yeah, I guess that's true!" Chloe admitted sitting down on the grass next to Lance. "So Lance are you nervous about the tournament?"
"Well the organisers practically painted gigantic bullseyes on our backs thanks to the announcement so yeah I am nervous." Lance sighed, whilst they were talking Damien, who had ditched the cloak for a black jacket over a white t-shirt, blue jeans and black boots, entered the area.
"Ah, there they are." Damien muttered under his breath with a grin before approaching them. "Excuse me, are either of you duellists?"
"We both are, why do you ask?" Lance asked turning to Damien.
"Ah excellent, I'd like to challenge you to a duel." Damien said bringing out his scythe like duel disk. "You can call me Damien, and I'm looking for a challenge!"
"Sorry Damien but I'm not interested, I'm resting from walking for about twenty minutes." Lance said honestly, Chloe hopped up and activated her duel disk.
"He's not but I am!" Chloe said confidently. "Stupid looking duel disk and lack of fashion sense not withstanding!"
"Hey, I have impeccable fashion tastes!" Damien said before smirking. "You have a name little girl?"
"The name's Chloe." Chloe said with a grin. "So where too?"
"Follow me, if you dare." Damien said and Chloe followed him to an area with more space for them to duel. "As I'm a gentlemen I'll let you go first."
"Gee, how kind of you." Chloe muttered as the two duellists activated their duel disks and drew their opening hands, Lance blinked and stood up making his way to the area so he could get a better look.
"Careful Chloe, I've got a bad feeling about him." Lance said leaning against the tree.
"Don't worry, I can handle him." Chloe said confidently as she looked at her hand. "Sweet, I get to test out some of my new cards!" Chloe thought before playing the card she drew. "I summon Defender, the Magical Knight in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and the knight in blue armour appeared on the field (4/1600/2000). "And when he's summoned he gains a spell counter but more on that later, for now I'll set three cards facedown and end my turn!"
"You're going to regret not playing a monster with such a high defence in defence mode!" Damien drew his card and chuckled evilly. "Especially when you consider what the card that I've just drawn is, in fact I'm willing to bet that you're dying to see what I've got in store for you is, little girl!"
"You think I'm scared of what you've got? Not with my trap card Gagaga Shield!" Chloe activated the card and Defender's shield was replaced with the Gagaga Shield. "This trap is treated like an equip spell and the monster that's equipped with it can survive two attacks before being destroyed."
"Not bad, but let's see if that trap can withstand the mighty Hayabusa Knight in attack mode!" Damien played the card and a small birdlike warrior in silver armour appeared on the field wielding twin swords (3/1000/700)
"I'd say he holds up pretty well since his attack is much lower than her knight." Lance pointed out, by this point a crowd had formed to watch the duel and Damien smirked evilly.
"Maybe so, but there's more than one way to destroy a monster, not to mention your opponent, and I'm about to show you how! I activate the Seal of the Orichalcos!" Damien played the card smirking evilly as he did.
"THE SEAL OF THE WHAT?" Lance managed to utter out before a massive green circle encircled the two duellists sending him flying back, Chloe looked around her new surroundings curiously noticing a pentagram on the ground...and on Damien's forehead as well as his knight's.
"LANCE!" Chloe heard Lance's siblings yell as they ran over to him, she glanced over her shoulder and saw her friend on the ground.
"I'm fine; I've never seen a field spell act that way before though." Lance said getting up. "Hang in there Chloe!"
"Oh believe me fool!" Damien laughed evilly. "She will need more than that to beat me!"
*elsewhere in the city*
"Theresa, do we REALLY need all this stuff?" Brandon moaned as he carried several shopping bags as he lagged behind his girlfriend, the two Obelisk Blue students were walking down a shopping district in the city. "Can't we look for duels instead?"
"Off course we will silly, but shopping takes priority!" Theresa said with a smirk and Brandon groaned.
"We interrupt this program to bring you exclusive coverage of the first Battle City Duel!" A news report on a TV in the window of a shop said causing Brandon to stop in his tracks. "We take you live to Central Park West where one of the Duel Academy students, Chloe Richardson, is duelling a duellist known only as Damien."
"Huh, Chloe didn't waste any time finding a duel." Brandon commented as he looked at the TV set.
"She'll do fine, she's improved a lot!" Theresa said with a shrug; however the footage of the duel caused all colour to drain from Brandon's face. "Brandon, what's wrong?"
"We need to get to Central Park West now! Call the teachers as well!" Brandon said running in the opposite direction.
"What? Why, what's the problem?" Theresa asked before looking at the TV screen and her eyes widened "Oh no, Chloe what have you gotten yourself into!" Theresa thought before calling after Brandon. "Brandon, wait! I'll flag down a cab!" Theresa called after him and Brandon ran back. "TAXI!" Theresa called out and a taxi pulled up, the driver loaded the shopping bags into the boot and the two teens climbed in. "Get us as close to Central Park West as you can and as fast as you can."
"That'll a lot of money lady!" The driver pointed out and Brandon dropped a small pile of ten dollar bills in his lap.
"Will that cover it?" Brandon asked.
"You bet your ass it will, strap in!" The driver said before driving off.
*elsewhere*
"Okay, so I'll have six hotdogs with all the trimmings!" Marcus ordered from the hotdog stand.
"Six...six hotdogs, are you serious?" The vender said flabbergasted. "I know you're a big guy but are you eating them yourself?"
"Nah, three of them are for my friend over there!" Marcus said motioning to an equally flabbergasted Andreas.
"Eh, it's your funeral and my pay check!" The vender shrugged. "That'll be $8.99."
"Keep the change!" Marcus said handing over a ten dollar bill, the vender shrugged and took the bill and Marcus walked over to Andreas.
"Err, Marcus when I said yes to your question about if I wanted any hotdogs or not, this wasn't what I had in mind!" Andreas said flabbergasted.
"Hey man, I treat my friends and don't you forget it!" Marcus said handing over three hotdogs to Andreas. "Besides this'll help keep our energy up come duel time!"
"Hey are you guy's duellists?" An old man standing in front of a nearby TV store asked them. "The first duel's started and they are showing footage of it on the news."
"Hey thanks for the info." Marcus said as he and Andreas walked up to the TV screen. "Hey is that Chloe?"
"Yeah, who's she duelling though?" Andreas asked. "And what's up with the field?"
"I don't know about the field but the reporter identified her opponent as some guy called Damien." The man responded with a shrug. "You know her?"
"We're classmates at Duel Academy." Marcus said honestly.
"Really? My grandson's in Osiris Red!" The old man said proudly.
"It's a small world after all." Andreas mused as he watched the duel.
*elsewhere*
"I wonder how the students are doing." Jeff wondered as he sat inside the limo with the other teachers.
"They'll do fine." Hamden said as he watched the news on a small TV. "We selected them for a reason."
"I'm more concerned about Chloe; she wasn't thrilled to be in her hometown." Maria said folding her arms.
"Hey speaking of Chloe she's in the first duel!" Hamden said only to have the mini TV snatched from his hands by Maria.
"LET ME SEE THAT!" Maria demanded. "Yeah, you kick his ass Chloe!" Maria cheered causing the other teachers to sweatdrop, her grin quickly disappeared though. "Oh dear god..." Maria said all previous joy in her voice long gone.
"What is it?" Martin said looking over. "Oh no, driver the meeting at Kaibacorp will have to wait, get us to Central Park West!"
"But you said..." The driver started.
"DAMN IT DRIVER ONE OF MY STUDENTS IS IN TROUBLE AND SHE'LL NEED MY SUPPORT!" Maria yelled and the driver gulped.
"Yes...yes ma'am!" The driver said turning the limo around, Jeff's cellphone went off and he answered it.
"Hello? Theresa, what is it? You know about Chloe's duel as well? We'll meet you at Central Park!" Jeff said hanging up. "Hang in there Chloe."
*back with Chloe and Lance*
"Now then, let me explain a couple of my cards effects!" Damien laughed evilly. "For starters, each monster that I control gains 500 attack points whilst your monster's attacks remain the same!" Damien said as his knight's attack increased to 1500.
"That's still too weak to defeat Defender." Chloe said confidently.
"Oh believe me, I noticed!" Damien smirked as he picked up another card. "So say hello to the Sword of Deep Seated, this spell card increases my knight's attack and defence by 500!" Damien said and a sinister looking sword appeared in place of one of the knight's swords increasing its attack to 2000 and his attack to 1200. "And don't think that shield can save you because my knight can attack twice so go my knight eliminate her shield!" The knight charged forward and slashed Defender twice with its swords shattering the shield.
C: 7200
D: 8000
"You're going to have to do better than that." Chloe said defiantly.
"So I noticed." Damien said picking up two cards. "I set these two cards facedown and end my turn!"
"Okay, I need to get rid of that Seal thingy so the sooner I draw Mystical Space Typhoon or Breaker I can turn this duel around." Chloe thought as she drew her card. "Perfect!" Chloe thought. "I summon Breaker, The Magical Warrior!" Chloe played the card and Breaker appeared on the field (4/1600/1900) and his attack rose to 1900 doe to his effect, to Chloe's surprise her Warrior gave a respectful nod to Defender.
"Even with his effect Breaker's too weak to stand against my knight!" Damien pointed out with a grin.
"That's not my concern, I activate Breaker's other effect because by removing a spell counter from him I can destroy one Spell or trap card on the field and quite frankly this seal is becoming quite the eyesore!" Chloe announced as Defender's attack dropped drown to 1600, he charged at the seal and stuck his sword into it. "Say goodbye to your field card!" Chloe said confidently...but her confidence disappeared quickly when Breaker was repelled by the shield. "What...what the hell, Breaker's effect should've destroyed the seal?" She said as Breaker slowly got up.
"I couldn't of said it better myself! The seal should be destroyed!" Lance pointed out.
"Did you honestly think you could destroy an evil this ancient with a mere card effect?" Damien taunted. "The seal can't be destroyed or negated!"
"You're kidding!" Lance called out from the sidelines, Chloe was equally as shocked.
"The only way this card leaves the field is when either of us looses the duel, when that happens you're soul will be consumed by the seal!" Damien taunted.
"Okay, this guy's officially lost it." Chloe said as she sweatdropped.
"CHLOE!" Chloe looked over her shoulder and saw Brandon and Theresa approaching quickly.
"You guys do know they're broadcasting the match all over the city right?" Lance said sheepishly as he pointed out several cameramen.
"Lance, this REALLY isn't the time!" Brandon said as he stopped. "Chloe, listen! Whatever you do don't lose the duel!"
"I wasn't planning too!" Chloe said looking at her hand. "Besides he only has a small lead!" Chloe added.
"Guys, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Lance said concerned. "It's just a spell card."
"Lance, it's a long story." Brandon said turning to him. "Just know that this is the card that put Nathan in the infirmary."
"WHAT...BUT...?" Lance exclaimed as realization dawned on him and Chloe. "You mean Chloe could..."
"Yeah, let's not think about that!" Chloe interrupted activating one of facedowns. "I may not be able to destroy the seal but I can destroy your knight with this spell card Rush Recklessly increasing Breaker's attack to 2300."
"Oh no, you can destroy my knight! Whatever will I do?" Damien said sarcastically. "Just try it you little bitch!"
"HEY WATCH IT PUNK! THERE'S KID'S PRESENT!" One of the audience members called out.
"Don't worry, I'll shut him up!" Chloe said pointing to Breaker. "Breaker, attack Hayabusa Knight!" Breaker charged at the night and Damien smirked.
"You fool, that's just what I wanted you to do, ACTIVATE MIRROR FORCE!" Damien laughed as the attack was reflected back at Chloe's spellcasters destroying them both.
"NO!" Chloe said as he eyes widened.
"Yes and you've already used up you're summon, in short your lifepoints are mine for the taking!" Damien said confidently.
"I...I end my turn." Chloe said her hair overshadowing her eyes at this point.
"And now the fun begins!" Damien said drawing his card. "Ah excellent, all right little girl, feel the wrath of the Mad Dog of Darkness!" Damien played the card and a rabid looking orange dog with horns appeared on the field (4/1900/1200) and as the symbol of the Seal appeared on its head its attack rose to 2400.
"Err, nice doggy!" Chloe said nervously.
"Let's see if you feel the same after it takes a bite out of your lifepoints!" The mad dog charged forward and bit Chloe's arm and she yelled in pain. "Your turn Hayabusa Knight, decimate her lifepoints!" The knight charged forward and slashed her twice knocking her to the ground.
C: 800
D: 8000
"NO CHLOE!" Lance yelled as he saw his friend fall.
"I'm fine, don't..." Chloe said weakly as she struggled to get up, it was then that she got a good look at the attacked parts of her body, her right arm and lower torso, and her eyes widened. "I'm...I'm bleeding?" Chloe said her tone a mixture of surprise and pain, the bleeding wasn't too bad but it was bound to get worse.
"Looks like you've discovered another of the Seal's effects the hard way!" Damien chuckled. "In the seal the monsters are as real as you and I and so is the damage!"
"HEY CALL OFF THE DUEL! SHE NEEDS MEDICAL HELP!" A female passerby shouted as she watched the duel and several other passersby shouted in agreement.
"Silence fools or you'll feel the wrath of my monsters for yourself!" Damien threatened.
"You can't!" Chloe said weakly gritting her teeth.
"Do you really want to take that chance?" Damien asked.
*meanwhile*
Andreas and Marcus had been watching the duel since the start but their eyes widened when they saw the blood.
"Oh shit! We have to get there!" Marcus said running off.
"Marcus, you don't even know where to go!" Andreas called out and Marcus stopped.
"But...but she needs our help!" Marcus protested and Andreas sighed.
"I know!" Andreas said with a sigh. "But you spent possible taxi money on the damn hot dogs.
"Hold on, I'll drive you!" The old man offered.
"What have we to lose? Let's go!" Marcus said as the three men ran off to the man's car.
*meanwhile at the duel*
"When I said you can't I meant that I'll beat you before you have the chance!" Chloe said getting to her feet.
"You may as well give up little girl! The orichalcos will take pity on you!" Damien taunted folding his arms.
"No...not as long as I have lifepoints left!" Chloe said defiantly as she went to draw her card.
"Then you're a fool!" Damien taunted. "What the...who invited the old folks home?" Chloe blinked before turning around and seeing the teachers.
"Chloe, don't listen to..." Maria stopped in her tracks when she saw that Chloe was bleeding. "I TOLD THAT DRIVER TO TAKE A LEFT TURN!"
"I thought you had a meeting at Kaibacorp?" Lance pointed out.
"That doesn't matter Lance." Hamden said plainly.
"Err, yeah blowing off a meeting with the organisers for this? I'd say that's a pretty big deal." Lance folded his arms. "Damn it Chloe, hang in there!"
"That's beside the point Lance." Maria said plainly, it was then that Andreas and Marcus arrived and, once Marcus caught his breath, joined up with the others.
"What is this? Is the Duel Academy convention in town?" Lance wondered out loud.
"No but the "friends concerned about their friends being injured in a duel" convention is in town!" Andreas said plainly.
"Don't let this guy intimidate you Chloe, you can still win this." Marcus shouted.
"Have you been noticed the gap between their lifepoints?" Lance said folding his arms.
"Not the point." Marcus shook his head as Chloe drew her card.
"I...I set this card facedown and end my turn!" Chloe said weakly.
"CHLOE, I TAUGHT YOU BETTER THAN THIS AND I WON'T LET IT DOWN IF YOU LOSE THE FIRST MATCH IN THE TOURNAMENT." Maria shouted from the sidelines causing Lance to do a double take.
"Guys, remind me never to piss her off." Lance whispered to the other students who nodded in agreement.
"You may as well of given up little girl, oh well." Damien grinned as he drew his card. "Hayabusa Knight, finish her off and feed her soul to the Orichalcos." The Knight charged forward and Chloe weakly activated her trap.
"I...I activate my trap card..." Chloe said as it flipped up only pausing because she was breathing heavily at this point.
"Activate whatever you want, it won't save you!" Damien said with a grin...which disappeared the moment he saw the trap card.
"...Mirror Force..." Chloe finished as the attack was reflected back at Damien's monsters destroying them both.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT YOU CU..." Damien said but was cut off by various objects being thrown at the seal.
"Leave her alone you bully!" Sophie shouted.
"That's enough Sophie." Lance warned his sister and she stopped in her tracks. "And questionable language aside it seems Damien has forgotten about the side effect of Sword of Deep Seated."
"What..." Damien was cut off when realization dawned on him. "NO! The Sword goes to the top of my deck when sent to the graveyard and I have no more monsters in my hand."
"Then...then I guess it's my turn." Chloe said drawing her card. "I activate Card of Sanctity to...to give us new hands." Chloe said and both duellists drew until they had 6
"Blast, even with my new cards I don't have any monsters; I'll have to hope that I draw something on my next turn!" Damien thought before looking up at Chloe.
"It's time I turned this thing around." Chloe said and Damien grinned.
"And how do you expect to do that with a mere 800 lifepoints against my untouched lifepoints?" Damien asked.
"I intend to do that with my second strongest monster, GO SILENT MAGICIAN LEVEL 4!" Chloe played the card and the magician appeared on the field (4/1000/1000) and Damien laughed when he saw the monster.
"You manage to destroy my monsters in one go and THAT'S the best you can do?" Damien laughed. "What's she going to do? Attack me by pulling a rabbit out of her hat?"
"If she's going to play what I think she is then you won't be laughing for too much longer." Maria said with a grin,
"And unfortunately for you my monster isn't sticking around, I activate another Spell Card from my hand, LEVEL UP! This lets me summon my strongest monster from my deck or hand regardless of summoning conditions as long as I tribute Silent Magician so..." Chloe winced from the pain as she retrieved her card from her deck. "I sacrifice my Magician to bring out her strongest form, Silent Magician Level 8!" Chloe played the card weakly and the Silent Magician disappeared and in her place stood her grown up form (8/3500/1000).
"3500 ATTACK POINTS?" Damien yelled his eyes wide with fear. "Nothing in my deck even comes close to that magician's power!" Damien thought as the magician looked around concerned before seeing her master's injured form and covered her mouth in shock, before turning to face Damien with a look of hatred in her eyes.
"I knew the holographic technology in the Duel Disks was good but not that good!" Andreas said out loud.
"I was about to say the same thing." Andreas turned around saw a concerned looking Alex standing behind them. "I saw the duel on TV, called for an ambulance when I realized that she was bleeding." Alex said.
"Thank you Alex, we appreciate your help." Hamden said with a nod.
"Any time, now then, her name's Chloe right?" Alex asked and Hamden nodded. "HEY CHLOE, KICK THIS PUNK'S ASS!" Alex yelled and the crowd cheered in agreement, Chloe smiled weakly before pointing to Damien.
"Silent Magician, give him a taste of his own medicine and attack his lifepoints directly!" Chloe commanded and Silent Magician pointed her staff at Damien and charged it up before firing a beam at Damien, he screamed in pain as his liifepoints plummeted.
C: 800
D: 4500
"You...you will pay for that!" Damien grunted as he slowly got up.
"Just try it, for now I'll..." Chloe thought before remembering something. "My facedown Gift of the Mystical Elf, I completely forgot about it." Chloe thought looking at her facedown card. "Damien said that the damage was as real as we are but I wonder if the same can be said for restoring life points? At this point I'll try anything." Chloe thought before activating her card. "First I'll activate the last trap I set earlier, Gift of the Mystical Elf, this restores 300 lifepoints for each monster with have on the field, sure I'll only gain 300 lifepoints but at this point I'll need them!" Chloe said as her lifepoints rose to 1100, she found herself having a lot less difficulty standing up after her lifepoints where restored.
"She's smarter than she looks, I'll give her that much." Damien thought before folding his arms. "Anything else you want to do?"
"Yeah, I'll set this card facedown and end my turn." Chloe announced, Damien drew his card and grinned.
"You and your magician are finished! I activate Lightning Vortex; by discarding a card from my hand I can destroy your magician!" Damien played the card and laughed evilly as lightning struck her magician. "Soon your lifepoints will be destroyed as your...WHAT?" Damien started but stopped when the Magician shrugged off the lightning. "EXPLAIN YOURSELF!"
"My Silent Magician isn't affected by your spell cards." Chloe smirked and Damien growled.
"How is she still standing? My past opponents would've been crushed by now!" Damien thought before picking up a card. "If I can't destroy that magician then I'll just have to defend against it, I set a card in defence mode and activate not one, but two Scapegoat cards!" Before Chloe could object the facedown monster alongside eight scapegoat tokens (1/0/0) appeared on the field.
"HEY YOU CAN'T HAVE MORE THAN FIVE MONSTERS ON THE FIELD AT THE SAME TIME!" Andreas yelled from the sidelines.
"Oh, can't I? Then how do you explain the presence of 9 monsters on my side of the side?" Damien chuckled. "Don't bother answering that! This is another one of the Orichalcos's effects; I can use the magic and trap card slots to summon monsters."
"And I thought Zeemen the Ape King was broken!" Marcus exclaimed.
"You're not going to let me live that down are you?" Andreas asked annoyed as a massive sweatdrop rolled down his head.
"To put it bluntly, no I'm not." Marcus said folding his arms.
"CHLOE, YOU MUST BELIEVE IN THE HEART OF THE CARDS!" Maria shouted as she went to draw her card.
"Well. It's official; she's gone senile." Marcus said bluntly.
"Marcus, you'd better run, NOW!" Andreas said backing off.
"But I just ate three hotdogs..." Marcus started but was cut off by Maria tugging on his ear.
"SENILE AM I? I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I WAS WINNING CHAMPIONSHIPS BEFORE YOU WHERE EVEN BORN YOUNG MAN..." Maria shouted in Marcus's ear.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please don't hurt me!" Marcus pleaded as everyone else sweatdropped.
"Maybe she had a point." Chloe thought closing her eyes. "Heart of the Cards, give me something I can use!" She thought as she drew, she looked at the card she drew. "I still have Token Feastevil in my deck? I've been meaning to get rid of this for a...wait, I can use this!" Chloe thought. "I set one card facedown and I'll have Silent Magician destroy your monster!" Silent Magician pointed her staff at the facedown card and launched a beam at the monster, revealed to be another Mad Dog of Darkness, and destroyed it. "I end my turn!"
"Very well, I draw!" Damien said as he drew. "I think I'll bring out two more tokens for my army so I'll activate Stray Lambs summoning two Lamb Tokens." Damien said as the two tokens appeared on the field (1/0/0) and Chloe smirked.
"I was hoping for that, I activate my trap card Token Feastevil!" Chloe activated the card.
"Token what? How is that supposed to help?" Damien asked.
"Well let's see, with your two new tokens on the field you now have ten monsters on your side of the field, all tokens, Token Feastevil lets me destroy all of them and inflict 300 points of damage for each one." Chloe explained and Damien's eyes widened.
"That...that's 3000 points of damage!" Damien realized as one by one the tokens self destructed.
C: 1100
D: 1500
One the smoke cleared Damien smirked. "I can still summon a monster little girl so I'll set this monster in defence mode and end my turn but come next turn you're finished!"
"There won't be a next turn." Chloe said with a wince as she drew her card. "I have to finish this quickly; I don't know how much blood I've lost." Chloe thought before pointing to Silent Magician. "Silent Magician, attack his defence." Silent Magician pointed it's staff at the card and fired a beam at it revealing it to be Sangan (3/1000/600) and Damien smirked.
"Good, I'll use his effect to add this to my hand." Damien said holding up DD Warrior Lady (4/1500/1600). "On my next turn I'll set this facedown and when you attack it your magician will go with..."
"Oh for the love of god, SHUT UP!" Chloe cut him off as she activated her trap. "Besides there won't be a next turn because I'm activating my other trap card Enlightenment!"
"What does that do exactly?" Damien demanded and Chloe smirked.
"This trap can only be activated when I destroy a monster using a spellcaster, after damage calculation is applied my spellcaster attacks again immediately." Chloe smirked. "So in short, you're finished."
"NO! STAY BACK!" Damien said clearly panicking at this point.
"Silent Magician, finish him!" Chloe demanded and Silent Magician pointed her staff at him, she charged up her beam and fired it at him, Damien screamed in pain as the attack hit.
C: 1100
D: 0000
Chloe collapsed to her knees from a combination of exhaustion and pain but smiled when she heard her friends cheering her victory.
"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" Marcus shouted pumping his fists. "One duel down, six to go Chloe!"
"That kid's good, maybe I shouldn't underestimate these duel academy duellists after all." Alex thought. "Wait, why hasn't the hologram of the seal disappeared from the field yet, the duel's over?"
"He's right!" Andreas realized that Silent Magician's hologram at disappeared but the seal hadn't. Damien on the other hand was looking around panicked as the Seal shrunk down until it completely surrounded him.
"NO! DON'T TAKE ME PLEASE!" Damien pleaded with the seal, one blood curdling scream later and the seal disappeared whilst Damien fell over backwards.
"Is anyone else feeling a case of déjà vue?" Marcus asked as he saw the scene.
"Yeah, that's how Nathan was taken." Kimberly said running up. "Damn it, I was too late!" Kimberly said as Lance knelt down next to Chloe who had passed out from the pain at this point.
"Hold on Chloe, the ambulance is coming." Lance said before turning his attention to Damien's prone form, he clenched his fists in anger and narrowed his eyes. "HEY YOU!" Lance said storming up to the prone form of Damien. "You think its okay to hurt my friend you piece of shit!" Lance demanded, when Damien didn't answer he grabbed him by his jacket. "ANSWER ME DAMN IT!" Lance demanded as he pulled back his fist for a punch...only for the punch to be stopped by a firm hand. "Huh?" Lance wondered before looking up and seeing the Obelisk Blue headmaster.
"Lance, I understand your anger but it isn't worth it." Martin said sternly. "Chloe needs you more than he needs a beating, go tend to your friend, I'll retrieve his locater card and rarest card." Martin said, Lance let go reluctantly and stood up.
"I know but..." Lance trailed off when he saw a card next to Damien's prone form, he bent over and picked it up but when he saw it all colour drained from his face. "What the...what the hell is going on?" Lance asked.
"Let me see." Martin said looking over his shoulder, it was the Seal of the Orichalcos card but with Damien's panicked face behind the seal, at that moment the ambulance arrived for Chloe. "Lance, I'll explain at the hospital, for now your friend needs you." Lance nodded reluctantly and walked off, Martin retrieved the locater card and looked through his deck before finding the rarest cards. "Magical Citadel of Endymion and Endymion, the Master Magician, these cards will fit in perfectly with her deck." Martin said standing up. "That's if she still feels up for duelling after I tell her the truth." Martin thought before turning to the students. "Lance, Brandon, Theresa, Kimberly, Marcus, Andreas and Lance's siblings, come with us, we'll follow the ambulance in the limo." Martin said as he started to walk off.
"Hey wait." The headmaster looked up and saw Alex. "When the kid wakes up give my regards to her, I have kids around her age and I hate seeing someone so young in pain."
"I will thank you again for your help Alex." Martin nodded as he and the students walked off.
"What's the matter man? You look like you've seen a ghost?" Marcus asked.
"I don't know." Lance said as the crowd started to disperse, unaware of the fact that Michael was watching from the trees.
"Master, Damien has failed." Michael said into his earpiece.
"No matter, the Orichalcos has a soul regardless." The leader said with a chuckle. "We have more agents in the city that's all that matters."
"Indeed." Michael said before walking off.