Author's note: I don't usually do this but this time it's needed, some of you may of noticed that the last three chapters had disappeared only to reappear on the site a few minutes later and to be honest, it's because of a mistake I made.
To keep it as brief as I can Chapter's 23 and 24 where written in Open Office, the other chapters where written in Microsoft word, why the change? My laptop died on me and I'm using a desktop, something went wrong when I uploaded the last two chapters and I took them off to correct the error...only to accidentally delete Chapter 22 in the process, after a brief time of panic and continuity issues where I accidentally uploaded Chapter 23 as Chapter 22 I have corrected the issue and I thank you for my patience with me, with that said back to the fic.
None of the students where able to get any sleep that night, not after what had happened back at the mall, Chloe just went straight to her room the minute she arrived and hadn't come out of her room since.
That was hours ago and the first person to come out of her room was Theresa, she rubbed her tired eyes with a yawn and glanced towards Chloe's room sadly. "I should check on her, she was a mess last night." Theresa thought before walking up to the door, she hesitated before knocking on the door and waiting for a response.
"Who...who is it?" Chloe called out from the other end, Theresa bit her lip as it sounded like she was still crying.
"Chloe it's me, can I come in?" Theresa called out unsure what to expect, a few minutes passed and Chloe opened the door still in her clothes from last night, including her now ruined top. "You couldn't get any sleep either huh?" Theresa asked and Chloe nodded meekly.
"Yeah." Chloe sighed looking off to the side. "Why did he lie Theresa? Why?" Theresa bit her lip again, she knew almost immediately what she meant and as much as she wanted to say otherwise she had no answer.
"I wish I knew." Theresa said sadly. "Look, if you want me to come back later that's fine, besides you do need to get rid of that top." Chloe said nothing and glanced at her ruined sleeve, it was then that Theresa noticed that the bleeding was still being stopped by the makeshift bandage. "We should probably change that bandage, come on there's a First Aid kit in my room."
"You know First Aid?" Chloe asked surprised.
"I took a course in it prior to joining Duel Academy." Theresa explained, Chloe hesitated before following her to her room, Chloe sat on the bed whilst Theresa searched for the first aid kit.
"Theresa, can I be honest with you?" Chloe asked and Theresa turned around as she grabbed the first aid kit.
"Sure, what's on your mind?" Theresa asked sitting down on a chair.
"I...I'm considering giving up Duel Monsters." Chloe said and Theresa looked at her surprised.
"What? But your officially a Battle City semi-finalist, you've come so far as a duellist." Theresa pointed out.
"I know!" Chloe sighed brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "But it was my step-father that got me into the game, now? I don't even know if I can trust him again." Chloe explained and Theresa closed her eyes, to be honest she couldn't blame Chloe not after what she had learnt last night.
"But what will you do if you do decide to give up Duel Monsters?" Theresa asked picking up a pillow. "Rest your scarred arm here please." Chloe did so and Theresa carefully removed the bandage that was once a sleeve.
"I don't know." Chloe sighed brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "I rarely plan that far ahead when I'm not duelling." Chloe said. "I still feel the pain you know." Chloe said and Theresa blinked.
"Err, can you explain what you mean by that?" Theresa asked sheepishly.
"Sure, I still feel the pain from where he cut into my arm."Chloe explained and Theresa's eyes widened.
"Chloe, that was ten years ago." Theresa said as she carefully applied a bandage to Chloe's wound, her concern for her friend was clear in her face. "You should have that looked at it."
"I did, when I was at the hospital after my duel with Damien and whilst you guys where in the waiting room, I told the doctor everything when he asked about the scar." Chloe explained. "He had an X-Ray done and found nothing so there isn't any glass shards in there, he theorized that the attack did more than just leave a massive scar on my arm, it caused some permanent damage to the inside of my arm."
"Jesus Christ." Theresa said sadly. "How is your mobility with it?"
"I can't stretch too much with it without pain so I use it as my Duel Disk arm, despite being left handed." Chloe explained. "That took some getting used too at first but now?"
"It comes natural right?" Theresa asked as she continued applying the bandage and Chloe nodded. "Chloe, look I don't exactly blame you for being tempted to give up duel monsters after last night but at the least give it a bit more thought, your parents did pay a lot of money for you to attend the Academy and I'd hate to see you throw it all away before you become a second year student." Theresa said with a sigh as she finished applying the bandage, she cut off the applied bandage from the bandage roll with a pair of scissors. "Is that too tight?"
"No, it's fine." Chloe said standing up, it was then that they noticed Brandon by the door. "You heard everything didn't you?"
"Yeah," Brandon nodded before noticing how tired the two women where. "You guys didn't get any sleep last night either?"
"No, we didn't." Theresa shook her head as she stood up and returned the First Aid Kit to it's appropriate spot. "Though that wasn't helped by the fact that the duel went on until three in the morning."
"No, it didn't help." Brandon agreed. "At least we all have six locater cards which means that we won't have to worry about duelling until the Semi-finals...that's if Chloe's still up for duelling." Brandon sighed. "How are you feeling after...well you know."
"About as well as you'd expect." Chloe said shaking her head. "Brandon, about what I said last night after Robert attacked me with your monster." Chloe started. "I...I want to apologize, it's just that..." Chloe trailed off and Brandon smiled before he ran a hand through his hair.
"Don't worry about it." Brandon said with a smile, Chloe smiled meekly and Brandon stepped aside sensing that she wanted to leave Theresa's room and head back to her room, Theresa looked up at her boyfriend and sighed.
"Are the teachers talking about Chloe?" Theresa asked and Brandon frowned leaning against the door-frame.
"Yeah, I overheard them talking with Chancellor Wilkins on the way over." Brandon said before pausing. "You remember the talk we had shortly after Chloe told us about the abuse?"
"The one about how the teacher's can't find out?" Theresa asked and Brandon nodded. "Yeah, fat lot of good that did as they found out anyway." Theresa said shaking her head. "Why do you...oh no."
"Yeah, they are discussing whether or not Chloe should be held back a year for mental health reasons." Brandon let out an audible sigh of annoyance. "Given what happened last night I can't blame them."
"But if she gives up Duel Monsters like she told me she was considering doing it won't matter." Theresa said with a frown. "I don't know which is the lesser of two evils."
"Her being held back, at least then we'd still see her on campus." Brandon said shaking his head. "Let's try not to think about it too much okay? And don't mention this to Chloe, her self esteem really took a beating last night, not to mention her psyche, if she finds out about what the teachers are discussing...I don't even want to think about what could happen."
"You don't need to tell me twice." Theresa said shaking her head. "At least that bastard's soul has been sealed by the Orichalcos."
"Yeah but not before he smashed his own daughter's world to pieces with a sledgehammer, so to speak." Brandon said shaking his head. "I'm heading back to my room, I have a call to make."
"A call? To who?" Theresa asked.
"My dad." Brandon said plainly before walking off, he exited the girls room and saw the teachers leaving the room where they where holding the meeting with Wilkins, part of him wanted to ask them what the meeting was about but he had a feeling that they'd just avoid the question so he dropped that line of thought.
"Morning Brandon." Brandon nearly jumped out of his skin when Lance greeted him, Brandon turned around and saw the fire user scratching his eyes. "Couldn't get any sleep either?"
"No, I couldn't." Brandon said once he regained his composure. "Lance can we talk privately? It's about Chloe." Lance tensed up when he heard the last part before inviting Brandon into his room, he followed him in and did a double take when he saw how messy the room was. "I hope you don't plan on leaving the room in this state."
"Nah." Lance shook his head with a sigh. "Besides my brother's room back home is a lot worse." Lance added before folding his arms. "I was meaning to ask you actually, how is Chloe? I saw you emerging from the girl's room and unless you where having some quality time with Theresa..."
"No, I wasn't." Brandon cut him off blushing like a mad man. "But yeah, your guess is correct, I went in there to check up on Chloe, only we ended up going to Theresa's room instead." Brandon said, Lance looked at him strangely for the longest time.
"You and Theresa are into three-ways?" Lance finally said and Brandon face-faulted.
"That was about as far removed from what I meant as humanly possible." Brandon said as he got up. "Even if we where we wouldn't take advantage of Chloe when she's this emotionally vulnerable and young, Lance Chloe's considering giving up Duel Monsters because of what Robert said right before he was sealed."
"WHAT?" Lance yelled the shock evident on his face. "I know Robert's little revelation was a bit much for her but isn't she jumping to conclusions?"
"That's the thing Lance, it's not just Robert, it's her step-father." Brandon sighed running a hand through his hair. "She doesn't know if she can trust him again because of the secret that he had been keeping from her for all these years and it was her step-father that got her into the game in the first place so..."
"So what your saying is, Chloe might try to distance herself from her dad as much as possible, including Duel Monsters?" Lance asked and Brandon nodded. "She's only ever felt this way once before, after me and Chloe's first duel."
"I remember, Marcus told me the story whilst we where in Alex's car." Brandon nodded in understanding. "I'm not going to question your judgement at the time as you didn't know better but what does that have to do with this."
"We had a rematch one day after school about two weeks after the tournament, I agreed to not use Lava Golem against her under any circumstances." Lance started sitting down on the bed. "It was one of the best Pre-Duel Academy matches I've ever had, it helped reawaken Chloe's passion for the game and I earned a good friend that day." Lance explained and Brandon nodded.
"I get it, a competitive duel might get her out of this rut, maybe even get her fired up for the finals." Brandon nodded in understanding before yawning. "There's just one problem, we're too tired to do anything productive, let alone duel."
"Maybe I can help then." The two teens nearly jumped out of their skin and turned around seeing Jeff by the door, Duel Disk in hand. "Before you ask, yes I heard everything and Brandon should be more discreet when listening in on meetings." Jeff added and Brandon laughed nervously as he sweat-dropped. "Look, I know your concerned about the possibility of Chloe being held back for mental health reasons so I'll tell you now, we voted against it in the meeting."
"Good." Brandon sighed in relief. "Are you sure that you'll even get her to duel you though?"
"I'm sure I can, besides it sounds like she hasn't made her mind up yet." Jeff answered before going to leave the room.
"Jeff, wait." Lance called out to him and Jeff stopped in his tracks.
"What is it Lance?" Jeff asked.
"You've known Chloe's step-father for years, longer than anyone else I know." Lance said and Jeff nodded. "What's your opinion on him keeping such a big secret from Chloe?" Lance asked and Jeff frowned.
"Honestly, I don't know." Jeff sighed after thinking for a few minutes. "As you said I've known him for years but I've never known him to keep a secret this big for this long from anyone, let alone his adopted daughter, unless he had a good reason for it." Jeff said folding his arms. "I've been trying to call him all morning but he isn't picking up his phone."
"So what do you plan to do?" Brandon asked.
"I'll challenge Chloe to an unofficial Battle City match, win or lose if I can get her spirits up in time for the Semi-finals then that will be good enough for me." Jeff said. "Is Chloe in her room?"
"Last I checked yes." Brandon nodded and Jeff walked off towards the girl's room, he entered the room and saw Theresa fixing her hair in front of a mirror.
"Oh hi Jeff, what's up." Theresa greeted him after seeing his reflection in the mirror.
"Is Chloe still in her room?" Jeff asked and Theresa nodded.
"Yeah, I checked up on her a couple of minutes ago, why?" Theresa asked as she grabbed a hairbrush.
"I intend to challenge her to a duel." Jeff said plainly, Theresa dropped the hairbrush out of shock and turned to him seeing the Duel Disk on his arm.
"I thought you retired?" Theresa asked once her surprise wore off. "Besides she's a Battle City Semi-Finalist."
"I know but it'll be an unofficial duel, Lance thinks that a competitive duel will help her out of her current rut but since he's too tired to do it himself I volunteered." Jeff explained before bending over and picking up the hairbrush. "You dropped this." Jeff said handing it to Theresa.
"Thanks." Theresa said as she took it and resumed brushing her hair. "I can see where he's coming from but are you sure your the right man for the job? You have years of experience over Chloe."
"I'm sure I'll do fine." The two of them blinked and turned around, Chloe was standing there with her duel disk on her arm, she was no longer wearing her ruined top having swapped it for a white and red naval exposing tanktop under a black jacket, her blazer was still tied around her waist. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear, anyway Jeff? I accept your challenge."
"It's okay, so where do you want to meet for the duel?" Jeff asked, she thought for a few minutes before deciding.
"Outside the hotel." Chloe said plainly, Jeff nodded and walked off.
"Sounds good to me, meet me out there in five minutes, any later and I'll assume that you've forfeited the match." Jeff said sternly before leaving the room passing by Professor Hamden.
"What's with him?" Chloe asked.
"Don't mind him, he's always been that competitive towards possible opponents." Hamden said with a shrug. "Even your step-father." Hamden added and Chloe stiffened up at the mention of him. "Crap, I forgot that that's a touchy subject at the moment."
"It's fine." Chloe sighed before folding her arms. "Is that everything? I have a duel to get too."
"There is one more thing." Hamden said reaching into his pocket and producing a Duel Monsters card. "This card should help you against Jeff's duel strategy." Chloe took it and blinked, it was a Trap Card called Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror.
"Err, okay." Chloe blinked before swapping out a Spell card for it. "But why are you helping me?"
"This duel's supposed to help you remember?" Hamden asked and Chloe nodded. "Just don't tell Jeff I gave it too you."
"I won't, thanks." Chloe said with a small smile as she pocketed the spell card, she left the room and eventually the hotel and found Jeff waiting for her.
"Ah good, you made it." Jeff said activating his duel disk. "You may be one of the more promising Osiris Red Students Chloe but that doesn't mean that I intend to go easy on you."
"I wouldn't want you too." Chloe said activating her own Duel Disk. "So, who's going first?" Chloe asked.
"I will." Jeff said as the two duellists drew their opening hands and Jeff drew another before adding it to his hand. "I start with a field spell card called Necrovalley!" Jeff played the field spell and the scenery changed to that of a desert surrounded by mountains with the two duellists in the middle of it. "As long as this is on the field each of my Gravekeepers monsters will gain an additional 500 attack points, not only that but this card effectively eliminates the graveyard as a resource."
"Your going to have to explain that one to me." Chloe said nervously,
"I was going too anyway, you see as long as Necrovalley is on the field cards in either of our graveyards can't be removed from play or be effected by card effects accept their own." Jeff said and Chloe's eyes widened.
"Crap, that eliminates the chance of me using something like Level Modulation or Monster Reborn." Chloe thought.
"Encase you get any ideas about destroying Necrovalley with something like Mystical Space Typhoon I activate another Spell Card called Field Barrier." Jeff played the card and the desert and rocky terrain was suddenly covered by a green dome. "As long as this is on the field Field Spell Cards like Necrovalley cannot be destroyed.." Jeff explained just as Lance and the others left the hotel in order to watch the duel. "Seems we have an audience."
"Yeah, you do." Brandon said sitting down. "What have we missed?"
"Not much, the match has only just started." Jeff informed them before picking up another card. "Now Chloe, let me introduce one of my Gravekeepers to you, I summon Gravekeeper's Curse to the field attack mode!" Jeff played the card and a robed Egyptian man appeared on the field, he had short hair and his robe had gold trimmings, as for weaponry he was carrying a staff that curved into a question mark at the top (3/800/800) and thanks to Necrovalley his attack went up to 1300 almost immediately.
"Even with the power boost that monster's still weak." Chloe pointed out and Jeff chuckled.
"Let's see how you feel after I activate Gravekeeper's Curse's effect." Jeff said as Gravekeeper's curse started glowing.
"What effect..." Chloe was cut off when Gravekeeper's Curse pointed it's staff at her and fired a green beam of light at her hitting her on the chest.
C: 7500
J: 8000
"That effect, you see when Gravekeeper's Curse is successfully summoned to the field it inflicts five hundred points of damage to your life-points." Jeff explained folding his arms. "I told you I wouldn't be going easy on you."
"Even so your still left with a weak monster on the field." Chloe pointed out.
"So I noticed." Jeff admitted before picking up another card. "I set this face-down and end my turn." Jeff announced and Chloe drew. "Okay, let's see how badly the shock she received yesterday has effected her duelling...hey wait a minute." Jeff thought. "Err Chloe, I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here by saying that I'm assuming that you forgot that you can only draw one card at a time." Jeff said as a massive sweat-drop rolled down everyone's heads, Chloe blushed and returned the card to her deck.
"Err, my mistake." Chloe said blushing a bit.
"That's the kind of mistake I'd expect from someone who's picked up a deck for the first time, not from someone who's been duelling for two months andis a semi-finalist in her first tournament." Jeff said folding his arms and Chloe cast her eyes downward. "Something on your mind?" Jeff asked and Chloe sighed.
"It's...the incident with my two dads last night, I can't think straight because of it." Chloe admitted and Jeff nodded in understanding.
"Fair enough, I wouldn't be able to think straight either if I was in your shoes." Jeff admitted. "Just continue with your turn and try not to think about that." Chloe nodded before looking at her hand.
"Okay, I set a card face-down and summon a monster I got in preparation for yesterday's duel, Familiar Knight in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and the armoured knight appeared on the field ready for battle (3/1200/1400). "Familiar Knight, attack Gravekeeper's Curse!" The knight charged towards the weaker monster and Jeff grinned.
"Sorry Chloe but I activate my face-down card Book of Moon to flip Gravekeeper's Curse face-down!" Jeff activated the card and the his monster disappeared replaced by the image of a face-down card. "Now not only are my life-points protected but I get to use his effect again!" Sure enough Gravekeeper's Curse returned to the field holding it's staff out in a defensive manner, as the blast hit Chloe in the chest Familiar Knight chopped it and it's staff in half.
C: 7000
J: 8000
Chloe looked at the rest of her hand and shook her head after Familiar Knight returned to her side of the field. "I end my turn for now." Jeff nodded and drew his card.
"I activate the Spell Card I just drew, it's called Allure of Darkness and with it I can draw two cards from my deck in exchange for removing a dark type monster from my hand." Jeff did so and drew two cards, he looked at the cards in his hand for a minute before nodding. "Okay then, first I summon Gravekeeper's Spear Holder in attack mode!" Jeff played the card and an Egyptian man wearing robes similar to Jeff's last monster appeared on the field wielding a large spear (4/1500/1000) and it's attack rose to 2000 almost instantly due to Necrovalley. "Now I activate a Spell Card called Royal Tribute!" Jeff played the card and grinned.
"Okay, what does that do?" Chloe asked.
"It's simple, this spell card can only be activated if I have Necrovalley on the field, which I do, and now we both must discard all monster cards in our hands." Jeff explained and Chloe's eyes widened before she discarded nearly the entirety of her hand, however as Jeff's hand was empty he didn't discard any cards.
"Man, Jeff just crippled her Familiar Knight's effect." Marcus winced and Theresa nodded.
"Yeah and if she lost any powerful monsters she can't bring them back thanks to Necrovalley." Theresa pointed out.
"Now Spear Soldier attack Familiar Knight!" The soldier threw his spear at the knight.
"Err, just to double check but is Spear Soldier a Spellcaster?" Chloe asked, Jeff nodded and Chloe grinned. "Well in that case I activate Magician's Circle!" Chloe flipped her card up and Jeff raised an eyebrow.
"Now we can both special summon a Spellcaster from our decks." Jeff said as both duellists picked up their decks.
"Right, and I'll use it to summon a monster I used to help me beat my..." Chloe trailed off. "...opponent last night." Chloe finished, it didn't take Jeff long to figure out who she meant and what she had almost called him. "Magical Marionette in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and the red robed puppet master appeared on the field (5/2000/1000) "Now I have a monster that can go toe to toe with Spear Soldier."
"True, but your forgetting two things, 1: I can Special Summon as well and 2: sometimes strength isn't everything!" Jeff said before turning the card he was summoning around.
"Another Gravekeeper's Curse." Chloe's eyes widened when she saw the monster, Jeff wasted no time in playing it and once the monster reappeared on the field it fired a beam of light from it's staff at Chloe.
C: 6500
J: 8000
"Now then Spear Soldier, resume your attack on Familiar Knight!" The soldier threw his spear at the knight impaling him.
C: 5700
J: 8000
"Okay but now I can activate Familiar...oh crap..." Chloe winced remembering the effect of Royal Tribute as she sent Magician's Circle and Familiar Knight to the graveyard.
"It sucks not being able to summon a monster due to your monster's effect, doesn't it?" Jeff asked and Chloe nodded. "I challenged her to this duel to help Chloe but she's not making that easy for me." Jeff thought. "I end my turn." Jeff announced and Chloe drew her card.
"Okay, I can't attack Spear Soldier because I'd lose Marionette in the process but that doesn't mean I can't defend against him." Chloe thought. "I set a monster in defence mode and I'll have Marionette destroy Gravekeeper's Curse!" Chloe set the monster face-down and the puppet master's strings shot forward strangling Gravekeeper's Curse.
C: 5700
J: 6800
"All right, Jeff's life-points are no longer untouched." Marcus said pumping a fist as he did.
"But he still has a large lead." Brandon frowned. "And with Spear Soldier's effect it's about to get even larger."
"I end my turn." Chloe announced either having not heard what Brandon had said or she simply wasn't paying attention to them, Jeff drew his card and looked at it.
"This will help a bit later." Jeff thought. "I set the card I just drew face-down for later, now Spear Soldier attack her defence monster!" The soldier threw it's spear at Chloe's face-down monster, revealed to be Apprentice Magician (2/400/800), the monster was impaled and Chloe grinned.
"The monster you destroyed was Apprentice Magician, and when she's destroyed..." Chloe was cut off by Spear Soldier's spear going through Apprentice Magician's dead body and grazing her shoulder.
C: 4500
J: 6800
"What the..." Chloe trailed off and Jeff grinned.
"Do you want me to explain my monster's effect first or do you want to continue?" Jeff asked and Chloe frowned.
"You first." Chloe said with a wince.
"Very well, basically Spear Soldier can inflict what's known as Piercing Damage, do you know what that means?" Jeff asked and Chloe nodded.
"Yeah, it basically renders my defences useless until I get rid of that thing because the difference between Spear Soldier's attack and my monster's defence comes out of my life-points." Chloe frowned. "Luckily I can use Apprentice Magician's second effect on my next turn." Chloe thought. "Anyway since you destroyed Apprentice Magician I can search my deck for a Level 2 or lower Spellcaster monster and set it face-down" Chloe explained before searching through her deck, she found the monster she was looking for and held it up revealing it to be a second Apprentice Magician which she set face-down
"Well in that case I end my turn." Jeff declared and Chloe drew a card.
"Right, I start by flip summoning the Apprentice Magician I set last turn." Chloe announced and the monster flipped up revealing the young female spellcaster. "And when she's flipped her second effect activates allowing me to add a Spell Counter to one of my cards and my choice is Magical Marionette." As Chloe said this Apprentice Magician glowed briefly, Magical Marionette did as well and at the same time Marionette's attack increased to 2200.
"No need to explain this to me, I'm familiar enough with Magical Marionette's effect." Jeff said somehow keeping a poker-face in-spite of the fact that he knew what would happen soon.
"But I'm not done yet!" Chloe said picking up the card that she had drawn. "I activate Card of Sanctity to refresh our hands and give Magical Marionette another Spell Counter." Chloe played the card and both players drew until they had six cards in their hands, whilst that was happening Marionette's attack increased too 2400...only to subsequently drop back down to 2000.
"What happened to your monster's attack?" Jeff asked and Chloe grinned.
"I thought you where familiar with the effect of Magical Marionette? Well to be fair this is Marionette's second effect in action." Chloe said as without warning Marionette's puppet strings launched towards Spear Soldier strangling him.
"What? You didn't declare an attack and even if you did it should have been a tie." Jeff pointed out and Chloe grinned.
"That was Marionette's second effect, with it I can remove two spell counters from him and destroy one monster on your side of the field." Chloe said folding her arms. "Oh and did I mention that he can still attack?"
"Oh boy." Jeff muttered under his breath.
"Marionette, Apprentice Magician attack his life-points directly!" The two monster's launched their attacks at Jeff...
"Your going to have try harder than that." Jeff said activating his trap. "I activate my Trap Card Rite of Spirit!" The card flipped up and too Chloe's surprise he retrieved Spear Soldier from the graveyard and returned it to the field.
"I thought your field spell prevented you from reviving monsters?" Chloe asked clearly confused.
"Under normal circumstances that is true but Rite Of Spirit's effect isn't negated by Necrovalley and with it I can bring back one Gravekeeper monster from my graveyard." Jeff explained with a grin. "You want to continue your attack?" Jeff asked and Chloe shook her head, the two monsters called off their attacks and Chloe looked at the rest of her hand.
"I set two cards face-down and end my turn." Chloe set the two cards and Jeff drew another card.
"All right Chloe, it's time you met the leader of the Gravekeepers." Jeff said holding up a card. "I sacrifice Spear Soldier to summon Gravekeeper's Chief in attack mode!" Jeff swapped out the monster and Spear Soldier disappeared from the field, in it's place stood a bearded Egyptian man in white and black robes with a purple shirt and green pants underneath, he was carrying a gold staff in his hand (5/1900/1200) and due to Necrovalley's effect his attack rose to 2400 almost as soon as he appeared on the field. "So, what do you think?"
"I think he needs to be arrested by the Fashion Police." Chloe said as a massive sweat-drop rolled down her head. "Other than that all I need to do is activate two more spell cards and my Marionette will be strong enough toe go toe with the Chief."
"I'll worry about that later, now before I get around to attacking Apprentice Magician there's two things you need to know, namely Gravekeeper's Chief's effects! First all cards in my graveyard are unaffected by Necrovalley, second when Gravekeeper's Chief is Tribute summoned I can Special Summon one Gravekeeper's monster from the graveyard, my monster of choice is Gravekeeper's Curse!" Jeff retrieved the card and summoned it to the field Chloe braced herself for Gravekeeper Curse's effect as soon as it appeared on the field, sure enough once Necrovalley's effect increased his attack to 1300 Chloe was hit by the beam from his staff decreasing her life-points to 4000. "Now Gravekeeper's Chief attack Apprentice Magician!" The chief pointed it's staff at the magician and fired a beam of gold light from it which consumed the much weaker monster.
C: 1900
J: 6800
"Err, yeah Chloe I have a piece of advice for you." Marcus called out from the sidelines. "STOP LEAVING WEAK MONSTERS IN ATTACK MODE!"
"This coming from the guy who uses Decoy Dragon?" Chloe shouted back before activating her trap. "Besides now that you've destroyed Apprentice Magician I can do two things, number one use Apprentice Magician's effect again and number two activate my Trap Card Numinous Healer to restore one thousand life-points." Chloe explained as he life-points went up to 2900 and Chloe's third and final Apprentice Magician appeared face-down on the field next to Magical Marionette.
"Even with Numinous Healer you still have quite a mountain to climb before our life-points come even close." Jeff pointed out.
"I've been in though spots before." Chloe said defiantly.
"You mean like last night's match against your father?" Jeff asked and Chloe frowned.
"Don't...bring...that...bastard...up..." Chloe growled as her eyes narrowed. "He lost the right to call me his daughter when he first laid a hand on me."
"I don't doubt that Chloe, in fact I couldn't agree more with you." Jeff said folding his arms. "But what's clear to me is that that match is still affecting your judgement as a duellist, I'm not saying I blame you for it given everything that happened last night but the other duellists in the Semi-Finals will rip you apart if you keep duelling like this."
"Err, wasn't Jeff supposed to be helping Chloe with this duel?" Marcus whispered to Brandon.
"I think he is,he's trying to get her fired up for the finals." Brandon theorized. "Granted if I was duelling her then I wouldn't be bringing up painful and sensitive topics to do so but that's beside the point." Brandon said before yawning. "On the other hand I'd probably be asleep by now if I was duelling her."
"I get it, I haven't been doing well." Chloe said pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "Though that's not exactly helped by the fact that you've had a counter for almost every move I've made." Chloe added.
"That? That was luck of the draw, something you've been relying upon ever since you joined Duel Academy...from what I've seen of your duels so far anyway." Jeff said with a frown. "What I'm getting at is that you haven't been duelling at your best throughout the duel and I think that the scores speak for themselves before you even think about saying otherwise."
"You really expect me to duel at my best considering all that's happened?" Chloe asked with a frown.
"Your step-father did." Jeff added and Chloe did a double take.
"Err, what?" Chloe asked clearly surprised by that fact.
"Your step-father faced a similar situation during a tournament back during the height of our rivalry." Jeff continued with a small smile on his face. "You can ask him about it the next time you see him but he didn't let that event effect his performance in the tournament, and since he trained you prior to you joining Duel Academy I'd expect the same determination from you."
"That's easier said than done." Chloe thought as she drew her card. "Huh? Silent Magician Level 4? She's only strong enough to...wait how the hell did I miss drawing Level Up when I activated Card of Sanctity last turn?" Chloe thought as she looked at her hand and then at her face-down cards. "This may be my only chance." Chloe thought before looking up at the teacher. "Jeff..." Chloe said as a big smile crept onto her face. "Be careful what you wish for because I have three cards in my hand that can help me turn this around."
"It worked!" Jeff thought. "Really? Why don't you play them?"
"Gladly, here comes Card Number 1, I summon Silent Magician Level 4 to the field in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and one of her trademark magicians appeared on the field (4/1000/1000).
"Silent Magician may be one of your trademark monsters." Jeff said folding his arms. "But there's no way I'm letting her get even close to Gravekeeper's Chief's power."
"Who said I was giving you a choice in the matter? I activate Card Number 2, the Spell Card Level Up!" Chloe played the card and Silent Magician started glowing and growing until it reached it's final form. "And here's Card Number 3, my strongest monster Silent Magician Level 8 (8/3500/1000)."
"Just like the ending of me and Scott's duel during that tournament." Jeff thought with a smile.
"I don't know why your smiling because you've left a big bull's eye on your side of the field." Chloe pointed out, Jeff blinked...before it hit him.
"Damn, I left Gravekeeper's Curse in attack mode!" Jeff cursed himself as Chloe pointed to her strongest monster.
"But first I flip summon my last Apprentice Magician and use her effect to power up Magical Marionette." Chloe announced as the young Magician appeared on her side of the field and just like that Magical Marionette, who's attack was already at 2200 thanks to Level Up's activation, attack rose to 2400. "Now then, Silent Magician Level 8 attack Gravekeeper's Curse!" The Magician charged up her staff before firing a beam of light at the man consuming him.
C: 2900
J: 4600
"Not bad Chloe but I still have my Gravekeeper's Chief...on...the...please tell me your not activating what I think your activating." Jeff gulped as he saw Chloe flip up one of her traps.
"That depends, do you think I'm activating Enlightenment?" Chloe asked as the trap card flipped up, the Magician charged up her staff again before firing a beam of light at the chief destroying him and reducing Jeff's life-points to 3500. "Same I don't have another card as strong as Silent Magician on the field otherwise I'd be able to win the duel right here." Chloe thought before looking at her remaining monsters. "Magical Marionette, Apprentice Magician, attack his life-points directly." The two monsters launched their attacks and Jeff grimaced as the attacks hit.
C: 2900
J: 700
"Holy crap, now that's what I call a turnaround!" Marcus said with a grin.
"Chloe's not out of the wood's yet Marcus." Brandon said folding his arms. "Jeff didn't become the Ra Yellow headmaster for nothing."
"I end my..." Chloe started before glancing down at her remaining Trap. "Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror, I completely forgot about it, no matter I'll use it next turn to secure the win." Chloe thought. "I end my turn." Jeff nodded and drew his card.
"First, I activate another Allure Of Darkness and chain it with Emergency Provisions." Jeff played the cards and, after removing a card from play he drew two cards and sent his two Spell Cards to the graveyard, as he did this his life-points increased to 1700. "Sorry Chloe, but this is over." Jeff thought. "I set two cards face-down and a monster in defence mode, that ends my turn." Chloe nodded before drawing her card.
"Magical Marionette attack his defence!" The puppet master launched it's strings towards the face-down monster, revelled to be a bald Egyptian man in black and white robes and what looked like a gold skirt (3/1200/1500) who was quickly strangled even as his attack rose to 1700.
"Thank you Chloe, the monster you attacked was Gravekeeper's Recruiter and now that he's destroyed his effect activates..."
"Sorry but I activate my Trap Card Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror!" Chloe activated the card and grinned. "Now that this has been activated..."
"I know what it does and quite frankly it's not going to work." Jeff said activating one of his traps. "I activate Seven Tools of the Bandit, by paying a thousand life-points I can negate the activation off and destroy Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror!" Jeff explained as his life-points dropped back down to 700 and the hologram of Chloe's last trap card shattered. "Now as I was saying Gravekeeper's Recruiter effect is pretty much a Gravekeeper's exclusive version of the forbidden card Witch of the Black Forest (4/1100/1200)." Jeff explained as he searched through his deck and added a card to his hand.
"So? My Magician has more than enough attack points to finish you off!" Chloe said pointing at her magician. "Silent Magician finish him off!" The magician fired a beam from it's staff at Jeff...
"Yes but I won't be the one who'll be finished off!" Jeff said activating his trap card. "I activate Magical Cylinder to send Silent Magician's attack right back at you!" Chloe's eyes widened as the beam of light went in one cylinder and out the other striking her in the chest.
C: 0000
J: 700
"Damn it, I made that mistake again!" Chloe cursed herself once she had a good look at her final hand, Jeff raised an eyebrow and she sighed before revealing the last card in her hand to be another copy of Seven Tools of the Bandit.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll remember to set it next time." Jeff reassured her as the holograms disappeared and both duellists deactivated their duel disks. "I'm assuming your ready for the Semi-Finals now...and that you won't be giving up duel monsters."
"I'm ready and I'm definitely not giving up on the game any-time soon." Chloe grinned.
"Good to hear Chloe." Chloe blinked before glancing over her shoulder and seeing her step-dad standing there with a look of regret on his face.
"Dad..." Chloe trailed off obviously still hurting emotionally from last night's revelation. "Can we talk somewhere a little more private?" Chloe eventually asked.
"I was hoping you'd be willing to talk." Scott sighed before leading his daughter into the hotel and too her room, once they where inside her room Chloe sighed.
"Dad...just why? You know that my mom was the only good memory I had of those days so why did you lie?" Chloe asked.
"Chloe, believe me it's a decision I regret." Scott said with a sigh. "Truth is I was planning on telling you when you where older, most likely when you where in your early 20s, but Robert changed those plans...back when me and your mother adopted you our plan was originally to move to New York so that you could still see your friends and visit your biological mother's grave-site whenever you wanted too."
"My dad's conviction being overturned changed all that, didn't it?" Chloe asked and Scott nodded.
"Too be honest I had a feeling he would try to appeal the conviction but I never anticipated it being overturned because it seemed like an open and shut case to me." Scott continued with a sigh. "But Robert's lawyer convinced the court of appeals that the chain of custody in the case of one of the key pieces of evidence, the gun used to kill your mother, had been broken and on that fact alone his conviction was overturned, I changed the plans after that and decided to take you with me to Domino City."
"My dad never tried to get custody of me?" Chloe asked and Scott shook his head.
"He did once but the DA knew how evil he was and agreed to represent me pro bono." Scott said before noticing the confused look on Chloe's face. "For free basically, he was able to convince the judge that you where better off living with me and Robert never tried again afterwards." Scott said folding his arms. "I never told you until now because that bastard had caused you enough trauma to put a psychiatrist's grand-kids through college but I'll understand if you never want to speak to me again." Scott said as he went to leave...only for Chloe to put her hand on his shoulder.
"Dad, these past few hours and the duel against Jeff have given me some time to think about it and...I don't care if you've lied to me for most of my life as a dad you...you've done more for me than my biological dad ever did." Chloe said as she started to cry again. "There's...there's no way in hell I can stay mad at you." Scott smiled and pulled his daughter into a hug.
"Chloe, I'm sorry for lying to you." Scott sighed as she cried into his chest. "And I appreciate the fact that, even after all that, your still willing to forgive me."
"Dad...apology accepted." Chloe said as Scott let her go...it was around that time that she finally noticed the duel disk on his arm. "Dad...is that..."
"My old duel disk, still works like a charm." Scott said before frowning. "I guess there's no point in hiding it, I entered the Battle City tournament around the same time that that boy was attacked back at Duel Academy." Scott explained, Chloe blinked.
"Err, out of curiosity how many locater cards do you have?" Chloe asked, Scott smiled before reaching into his pocket and producing 6 Locater Cards. "You'll be in the Semi-Finals as well..."
"Which means there's a chance we could duel each-other." Scott said with a nod. "If that happens don't let the fact that you've never been able to beat me deter you from trying."
"I'll try not too." Chloe said with a sigh. "But why didn't you say so back at the hospital?"
"I wanted to surprise you once the Semi-Finals started." Scott said honestly. "Same reason I wasn't present for any of your duels save for the unofficial match between you and Jeff." Scott added with a frown. "Try not to let everything that's happened in the past few hours affect you in the Semi-Finals Chloe, especially if you end up duelling me."
"I'll try." Chloe said before Scott left the room. "I wonder what's on TV?" Chloe thought before turning on the TV in her room, it was a small one but the picture and sound quality where good enough for her considering that she rarely watched TV.
"We are reporting live from an abandoned shopping mall where a comatose man, believed to be the victim of an Orichalcos duel, has been found, we don't have that much information available at this time but we'll keep you posted." It didn't take Chloe long to change the channel once she realized that the reporter was reporting on the aftermath of last night's duel.
"So how did the talk with your dad go?" Chloe nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Theresa's voice, she looked up and saw the Obelisk Blue Student by the door.
"Haven't you heard of knocking?" Chloe asked before sighing. "Despite everything he's lied to me about I still forgave him, he's still a better dad than my biological dad ever was." Chloe said, the older teen smiled and sat down next to Chloe's bed.
"Your a lot more forgiving than I would be if I were in your shoes, I'll give you that." Theresa said with a small smile. "You ready for the finals?"
"Do you even need to ask?" Chloe asked with a grin. "So when are we going to find out where the finals are being held?"
"Soon as Lance's siblings and Kimberly have enough locater cards, according to Lance they managed to find themselves in a tag duel with the same "all or nothing" stipulation as your duel with Francesca and Hamden's gone to pick up a freshly discharged Kimberly so we shouldn't have to wait too much longer." Theresa said, Chloe smiled at that.
"Good." Chloe said before frowning. "Though I am a bit nervous about who I'll end up facing."
"Relax, I mean what's the chances of you facing someone like me or Axel in the finals?" Theresa asked.
"Err, pretty high." Chloe pointed out.
"Good point." Theresa admitted. "You'll do fine no matter who you face." Theresa said and Chloe sighed.
"To be honest aside from you and Axel there's one duellist who I'm nervous about facing." Chloe added and Theresa raised an eyebrow. "My step-father, he revealed to me during our talk that not only has he come out of retirement for the tournament but he's a semi-finalist as well."
"Well he taught you everything you know so how tough can he be?" Theresa asked trying to be helpful.
"Well considering that he has beaten me every time we duelled in the past?" Chloe asked and Theresa blinked.
"Every time?" Theresa echoed and Chloe nodded. "Yeah, I can see why your nervous." Theresa said as a massive sweat-drop rolled down her head. "What deck does he use?"
"He uses an Ancient Gear deck, most centred on getting powerful monsters on the field as quickly as he can." Chloe informed her before turning off the TV.
"Sounds similar to Dr. Crowler's deck before he retired from teaching and duelling." Theresa thought. "I'm sure you'll do well." Theresa said before leaving the room, whilst the two women where talking Brandon was trying to make a call via Skype in his room.
"Come on, pick up already." Brandon thought as he tapped his fingers against the desk that his laptop was on. "You said that you'd set time aside for a chat today dad, don't you dare go back on that promise." Brandon thought, eventually live footage of Brandon's father was shown, he shared his son's blonde hair but unlike Brandon's messy style his hair was well kept.
"Ah Brandon, sorry I was late the meeting ran a bit later than I was expecting." Brandon's father greeted him, Brandon smiled at that.
"No problem, I got a bit sidetracked myself due to one of my friends from Duel Academy duelling." Brandon said with a smile. "Speaking of which me and my friends are now Battle City Semi-Finalists!" Brandon said proudly before holding up his locater cards.
"That's great news son." Brandon's father said with a smile before frowning. "What about that Chloe girl you told me about during our last chat?"
"She's been through a lot emotionally but she's a semi-finalist as well." Brandon told him and his father frowned.
"Well she seems to be coping with it well so that's what matters." Brandon's father said with a solemn nod. "Oh that reminds me, I got the e-mail with the list of cards to take from your personal stash, they should be arriving at your hotel room by day's end."
"Thanks dad." Brandon said with a smile. "Those cards should help me in the finals." Brandon thought. "Shame you can't be here to watch me duel though."
"You can't always get what you want son, I taught you that long ago." Brandon's father said with a frown. "Don't worry, I'll be there with you in spirit."
"I know you will." Brandon said with a small smile...which quickly disappeared when he heard a phone ringing on his father's end. "I guess you'd better take that."
"Yes, off course." His father said before getting up and walking over to the ringing phone. "Roman Thomas speaking, how can I help you? I see, give me a moment." Roman said before putting down the phone (though not hanging up on the person on the other end) and walked back to his computer. "Sorry Brandon but I have to cut this short, I have an important meeting with the in house attorneys soon."
"I thought that wasn't until later?" Brandon asked glancing over to the computer clock.
"Err, Brandon it's 3pm over here." Roman pointed out and Brandon blushed a bit.
"Sorry, I've just gotten so used to the American Time Zone." Brandon apologized and Roman smiled.
"I'll call you back when I can, I promise." Roman promised before closing the chat window on his end, Brandon sighed in annoyance before doing likewise and removing his headset.
"This is the first time I've been able to chat with dad since I found out about Chloe's abuse and he still cut it short." Brandon thought with a sigh. "Chloe's dad may have lied to her but at least he took time out of his schedule to explain why." Brandon thought before grinning. "At least I know that the cards I requested are on their way."
Whilst that was going on Lance was congratulating his siblings on winning enough locater cards for the finals as he headed back to his room.
"Yeah, Neo Deadilus kicks ass! This little beauty is going to carry me all the way to the finals AND the grand championship!" Mike said triumphantly as he looked at his newly won locater cards.
"Don't forget that if it weren't for my trap cards we would've been out of the tournament." Sophie pointed out and Mike sweat-dropped whilst laughing nervously.
"Relax you two, you did fine!" Lance reassured them as they neared his room.
"Hey Lance, got a minute?" Lance looked up and saw Marcus and Andreas by the door to Marcus's room with serious looks on their faces.
"Sure, guys you go ahead." Lance told his siblings, they nodded and walked off. "So, what's up?" Lance asked turning his attention to the other Ra Yellow students.
"How long did you know about the extent of Chloe's abuse?" Andreas asked. "And her mother's death for that matter?"
"For almost as long as I've known her." Lance sighed sensing where this was going. "Though I didn't know how Chloe got her scar and I didn't tell you guys about her mother's death because, well you saw how she reacted to me telling the teachers about her abuse."
"Yeah, I hear ya." Marcus said with a nod. "I'm guessing the teachers didn't find out about it until yesterday's duel." Marcus asked and Lance nodded.
"I may have a big mouth but I know when to keep it shut." Lance said shaking his head. "Besides before she came to duel academy there was only one person outside of her adoptive parents that she trusted enough to tell the story too, namely me, I wasn't about to break that trust."
"We understand Lance." Andreas said after a few minutes. "If you don't mind me asking, how did Chloe know that...that bastard killed her mother?"
"She...she was the only witness." Lance said and the two boy's eyes widened. "It's why she was in my room last night, she had been having nightmares about that night recently and wanted someone to talk too."
"And she went too you." Andreas finished for him before shaking his head. "At least that bastard can't hurt her any-more."
"Yeah, no chance of this conviction being overturned either." Marcus added before shaking his head. "All in favour of changing the subject say I."
"I." His two friends said simultaneously.
"Good, so what are you guys doing to prepare for the Semi-Finals?" Lance asked and the two teens grinned.
"I added a monster to my extra deck that's going to carry me to the Semi-Finals." Marcus said holding up his duel disk. "I won't reveal what it is until my match though."
"Scarred that we'll think up some counter strategy?" Andreas teased and Marcus grinned broadly.
"If there is a counter strategy for this thing of beauty I haven't seen it yet." Marcus said confidently. "But all the same I'm keeping this card close to my chest."
"I'm saying the same for a strategy I've got planned." Andreas said folding his arms. "But as far as I'm concerned, as long as Otto got eliminated early I'm not complaining."
"Same here, though knowing our luck he'll join us at the Semi-Finals, say what you will about him but he is a damn good duellist." Lance agreed and the other teens nodded in agreement.
"Well I'm off to do some last minute preparations for the Semi-Finals, I suggest you do the same." Andreas said before walking off.
"Yeah, I'll go ahead and do that." Marcus nodded before entering his room. "Catch ya later Lance." Marcus said before closing the door behind him.
"Catch ya later." Lance called out running a hand through his hair. "I know your there Chloe." Lance said and his friend came out from behind the doorway.
"Was I that obvious?" Chloe asked rhetorically before shaking her head. "Lance, I know this is going to sound weird coming from me but how have you been feeling since last night's duel." Lance thought for a moment before shrugging.
"I don't know who I'm more pissed off at, the bastard for putting your through it, the legal system for basically giving him a Get Out Of Jail Free Card, don't tell Theresa I said that, or your step-father for lying to you about it." Lance said leaning against the wall. "How did the talk with your old man go?"
"I forgave him for lying to me." Chloe said with a sigh. "He may of lied to me for the past ten years of my life but I don't care, he's still done more for me in those ten years than that bastard who dared to call him my father ever did."
"That's true enough I guess." Lance said with a shrug. "Well the only thing ahead of us now, as far as the tournament is concerned anyway, is the Semi-Finals, I hope your ready despite everything that's happened."
"I was born ready." Chloe said confidently.
"Same here." Lance said with a nod...before letting out a yawn. "But first I think it's about damn time that I got some sleep." Lance added, Chloe went to say something but ended up yawning as well.
"Yeah, sleep sounds good." Chloe agreed before entering the girl's room. "See ya later Lance." Chloe said before closing the door behind her, Lance let out another yawn before entering his room and closing the door behind him.
*elsewhere in the city*
"Come on Hamden, where are you?" Kimberly said outloud as she paced back and forth outside the hospital's emergency room, the doctors thought that she was making a quicker recovery than expected hence why she was being discharged from the hospital, she knew that the other students had qualified for the Battle City Semi-Finals but that was all she knew. "Maybe I can get into a duel whilst I'm waiting, don't want the others to leave me in the dust." Kimberly thought as she glanced down towards her duel disk.
"All right, four locater cards down, two to go." An Scottish Male Accent rang out and Kimberly looked up seeing a young man in his early twenties with short dark brown hair and blue eyes walking by, he was wearing a black t-shirt, blue jeans and black combat boots though the first thing that caught Kimberly's attention was the duel disk on his arm.
"You looking for a duel?" Kimberly called out to the older duellist, he looked up and grinned the moment he saw her duel disk.
"As a matter of fact, yes I am." The male said before activating his duel disk. "Name's Seth Deacon, I'm Scotland's national champ." Kimberly grinned before activating her own duel disk.
"Name's Kimberly Troy, and I have bad news for you." Kimberly said with a grin. "In my last duel I defeated England's national champ so if you think you've got easy pickings than your sadly mistaken." Kimberly added before the two duellists got into position.