Chloe slowly opened her eyes and looked around, she was in a dark area that seemed to have no beginning or end and to say that it unnerved her was an understatement, she looked down at her clothing and realized that she was in her outfit from earlier minus her blazer, without a second thought she looked at her scarred arm and saw that the scar was not only there but plainly visible, she shuddered as the memory of how she got the scar came back to her before looking around for any signs of life.
"Err, hello, is anyone there?" Chloe called out but all she got for an answer was an echo, she got back to her feet and looked around. "Where am I exactly?" Chloe thought as she glanced around, she did eventually hear voices but they were too distant for her to make any words out. "Who's…..who's there?" Chloe called out but all she got in response was more voices, however they were a lot closer now and a lot clearer…and Chloe was wishing she couldn't hear them right now.
"You're worthless you hear me? You're worthless! First I'll kill you and that mistake of a daughter!"
"Robert, no!"
Chloe dropped to her knees as she started sobbing as the memories came back to her, it was a memory that she was all too familiar with and a memory that had changed her life forever, the final moments of her mom's life; slowly tears started forming in her eyes as she relived the memory.
"Chloe run!"
"Get back here you little bitch!"
A gunshot rang out followed by another and Chloe flinched, when she had told Brandon and Theresa about her abuse after her first duel against Theresa Chloe had left one detail out, her dad had managed to get a shot off but it only grazed her shoulder. "Damn it! Why am I reliving this? Why am I reliving this memory?" Chloe called out to the darkness but there was no response, only more shouting….
"Chloe, there you are." A voice that Chloe hadn't heard since she had gotten back from New York rang out and she looked up, Silent Magician Level 8 appeared next to her and offered her the safe end of her staff, Chloe grabbed it and Silent Magician used it to help her get back to her feet, once she was on her feet Silent Magician cast a spell and the voices faded before nothing could be heard from them. "I'm sorry; I should've gotten here sooner."
"It's…..don't worry, its fine, at least someone's here to help me forget." Chloe said as she dried away the last of her tears. "Where am I exactly?" Chloe asked as she wiped away a tear from her eye. "I thought you had been busy ever since Lance defeated Phillip?"
"Chloe I'm sorry but I can only hold off the memories momentarily, they won't be gone forever." Silent Magician sighed and Chloe shook her head.
"I should've known that would be too easy." Chloe sighed as she turned to Silent Magician. "So…..can we get back to my questions?"
"Ah yes off course." Silent Magician nodded before pausing for a moment. "Indeed I have been busy, however recent events have forced my attention away from the activities of Phillip Alvers, such as the incident between you and that boy from Obelisk Blue." Silent Magician said in a stern tone and Chloe cast her eyes downward.
"Great, first my friends tell me off, then my teachers, then my dad and now my duel spirit, you want to get the contents of my deck in on the action as well?" Chloe sighed as she looked up at the Duel Spirit. "That wasn't one of my prouder moments, I admit that." Chloe admitted as she rubbed her arm uneasily. "But…..but after what he said….."
"I understand but you need to understand something if this partnership is going to work Chloe." Silent Magician said sternly as she turned to her mistress. "You having me as your guide is a gift not a lot of duelists have, the most famous of them being former Duel Academy student Jaden Yuki."
"Yeah, I know hell I'm still surprised that he pulled out of the Battle City Tournament." Chloe commented with a shrug remembering one of the major news stories related to the tournament, other than Duel Academy's involvement of course. "But what does that have to do with me? Are there others with Duel Spirits at the Academy? Well besides Theresa I know about hers."
"I don't have an exact number, as you just mentioned Theresa has a powerful duel spirit in the form of Armed Dragon Level 10, I believe Brandon has several candidates for his duel spirit ranging from his Dark Scorpions to Dark Armed Dragon, however Armed Dragon Level 10 has been unable to narrow it down." Silent Magician said as she turned to her mistress, "I will be meeting with him on the island in a few days to discuss possible Duel Spirit candidates, don't bother attending yourself."
"Why not, you're my duel spirit?" Chloe asked and Silent Magician shook her head.
"Yes I am but your ability to communicate with Duel spirits, much like my power, is in its infant stages, you are only able to see one Duel Spirit and you're looking at her, besides that the meeting is at the Abandoned Dorm which, from what I understand, is strictly off limits to everyone at the Academy and you're in enough trouble as it is." Silent Magician said before her eyes narrowed. "Chloe, do you realize the damage you would've caused if my attack connected during your last duel?" Silent Magician asked with a stern tone to her voice and Chloe blinked.
"He would've been hospitalized and I'd be facing an assault charge, not to mention expulsion." Chloe sighed as she looked towards the ground. "But it would've been nothing too major right? Hell I'm still a minor so any charges that get brought against me will be forgotten about once I hit 18."
"If it where only that simple, Chloe you should not underestimate the power of a duel spirit." Silent Magician told her sternly. "As a Duel Monster I am very powerful, there is no denying that, but my power as a duel spirit dwarfs even that, unfortunately that power is, as I've already stated, still in its infant stages, my experience with the Orichalcos had speed things along, in short my power is very unstable and the damage the blast would've caused would've been catastrophic." Silent Magician said before pausing. "Besides that, isn't your birthday at the end of the month?"
"Oh right, and I know from my dad's trial how long the trial process lasts." Chloe realized as she rubbed her arm nervously. "How….how much power are we talking about here?" Chloe stammered as it dawned on her, several possible scenarios where running through her mind and she didn't like any of them.
"It is difficult to say, most Duel Spirits completely lack the ability to speak at all, as did I when I first made myself known to you." Silent Magician said as she cast a spell, footage of Chloe's first Battle City duel appeared specifically when she summoned Silent Magician Level 8 against Damien. "It is a painful memory, I realize that….."
"Trust me, the memory of my duel against my dad makes that look tame by comparison." Chloe said with a shudder and Silent Magician nodded in understanding before casting another spell which caused the memory to fade. "So if I'm guessing correctly, if I had attacked…."
"There's no way of knowing for sure how much damage I would've caused." Silent Magician told her before shaking her head. "At best, the blast would've severely injured him, at worst….."
"I don't think I want to hear how that sentence ends." Chloe interrupted her and Silent Magician nodded in understanding. "There's something that I've been wondering about actually, you said you first made yourself known to me during my duel against Damien, how long have you been inside me…wow, I'm so glad no boys are around to hear me say that." Chloe said as she blushed furiously.
"It's difficult to say, my card form came out about ten years ago but I have existed far longer than that." Silent Magician told her and Chloe nodded. "At most I'd say I've been a part of you since you were seven, it wasn't until you got your deck for your 16th birthday that I became….aware of my purpose."
"Well, thanks anyway, I guess." Chloe said uneasily before she remembered something. "Come to think of it, you never answered my question, where are we?"
"That is difficult to answer, you'll understand soon enough." Silent Magician told her before casting another spell, a bright flash enveloped Chloe as she shielded her eyes…..
*in the real world*
Chloe awoke with a start as she sat up in the bottom bunk of the bunk bed she shared with Chelsea; she let out a yawn as she tried to figure out what had just happened.
"Was that a dream?" Chloe thought as she scratched her head, she looked down at her body and saw that she was no longer in her clothes from earlier, instead she was in the nightgown that she had worn to bed the night before, normally she'd wear bra and panties underneath it because of Chelsea but she went over to Beth's room last night for a study/make out session which was easy to do because Beth didn't have any roommates, before she could question this any further she heard someone typing at a laptop and looked around before seeing Chelsea at her laptop. "Good morning." Chloe greeted her roommate who turned around.
"Good morning sleepyhead." Chelsea greeted her with a friendly smile. "Yeash, I never thought you'd wake up."
"Ha, ha, very funny, what do you have for an encore?" Chloe asked jokingly before swinging her legs over and standing up. "You mind giving me some privacy whilst I get dressed?"
"Yeah, sure, I still have to do some homework anyway." Chelsea told she and Chloe blinked as she removed her nightgown and started getting dressed.
"Did you say homework? Err; Chelsea what time is it exactly?" Chloe gulped as she put her bra and panties on, Chelsea's first class off the day was always just before Chloe's so the fact that she saw her when she woke up concerned her, Chelsea looked at the computer clock and turned to her making sure not to let her eyes wonder up and down her roommate's half naked body in the process.
"It's 11:30am, why?" Chelsea asked and Chloe's eyes widened as she ran over to the timetable on the wall, not exactly easy given the fact that she was in the process of putting on her jeans.
"Oh I don't know, maybe because I'm late for my first class back AND it's with Martin!" Chloe gulped as she hurriedly put on her clothes, she put on her naval exposing tank top last before putting on her blazer.
"It's okay, don't panic, it's not like they've noticed….." Chelsea tried to reassure her but was cut off by a PA announcement.
"The following students are late for class, Chloe Richardson and Daniel Troy that is all." The voice over the PA said and Chloe's eyes widened before she grabbed her duel disk, strapped it on and bolted out the door, she ran nonstop not even bothering to say hi to anyone she knew before eventually stopping to catch her breath just outside the main building.
"Oh man I'm screwed! First there's the incident yesterday and now this!" Chloe thought as she took several deep breaths.
"Err, morning Chloe." A bemused Theresa said as she caught up too her. "I'm guessing you heard the PA announcement?"
"Yeah, what's worse is the fact that I'm late because I slept in!" Chloe said as she caught her breath. "No, wait, what's truly worse is the fact that I'm late for class with Martin!"
"Okay, that is pretty bad." Theresa admitted before checking her watch. "You have Duel Theory right?" Theresa asked and Chloe nodded. "How late are you?"
"When I woke up I was ten minutes late, not sure how much time has elapsed since then since I ran from the girl's dorm to….well here." Chloe said as she started climbing the stairs. "Man, first I deactivate the safeties on my duel disk and now this; at least it's been reactivated."
"Don't worry about it, just tell him you slept in and you didn't mean too, at worse he'll give you a tough opponent." Theresa reassured her as the two girls reached the top of the stairs and entered the main building. "Okay, duel theory's down the hall here, and don't worry Cameron and Jessica don't have this class until the late afternoon."
"That's a relief." Chloe said a smile as they approached the classroom. "Theresa, don't you have class to attend too?"
"It's no big deal, my class is with Hamden." Theresa said as she opened the door, the classroom was basically a large duel field with some seats set aside for defeated or victorious duelists, Chloe hesitated before she entered the room and saw that the duels in progress being supervised by Martin and the proctors. "Martin, Chloe Richardson's here." Theresa called out to him and Chloe gulped as he turned around.
"Do you have an explanation for being late?" Martin asked her.
"I slept in sir, I didn't intend to." Chloe sighed and Martin nodded.
"Very well Richardson but try to behave, you are in enough hot water as it is." Martin told her and Chloe nodded. "Take a seat, I'll find you an opponent momentarily, Theresa thank you for bringing her here." Martin told her and Chloe followed his instructions without hesitation and sat down next to a disappointed looking female Osiris Red Student with shoulder length black hair and green eyes, the student sighed and Chloe turned to her.
"Is there something wrong?" Chloe whispered to the student who turned to her.
"It's nothing, just disappointed in how badly I did in my last duel." The student sighed as she looked up towards an Obelisk Blue student; he was tall with short spiky black hair and blue eyes. "That guy over there, Thomas Newborn? He was my opponent, and well you know how Martin places restrictions on the participant's decks right?"
"Yeah, I know, first time I took this class he forced me to duel without the use of Spell Cards, made getting my best monster on the field a pain in the ass." Chloe answered and the student shook her head.
"At least you could use monsters but me? He made me face an X-Saber duelist using only Spell and Trap Cards whilst his only restriction was dueling with 4000 life-points against my full score; I'm surprised I lasted as long as I did." The student sighed in annoyance as she shook her head. "I know Martin said that this is supposed to test our skills but how is this supposed to be anything resembling fair?"
"I don't know, and we both know how strict Martin is." Chloe said and the girl nodded in agreement, whilst the two girls talked Thomas had defeated his opponent and was gathering up his cards.
"Martin, I thought this was supposed to test my abilities as a duelist." Thomas scoffed as he looked across the field to his opponent, a male Osiris Red Student with messy blonde hair and green eyes who was gathering up his cards whilst glaring daggers at Thomas. "But these Osiris Red Rejects aren't worth my time or effort."
"You would be foolish to underestimate them Thomas." Martin told him as he folded his arms. "I suppose you want to fight a third opponent?"
"Yes, off course." Thomas said as he turned to Martin. "In fact I understand that an Osiris Red Student showed up late for class with a flimsy excuse at best, if you would allow me I would like to put her in her place." Thomas said making sure that Chloe heard every word; she frowned before standing up and walking over to Thomas.
"You don't get to choose your opponents Thomas, you know….." Martin said but was cut off when he saw Chloe approaching. "You want to fight him Richardson?"
"That's right; I won't let him badmouth the other Osiris Red Students as much as he has been." Chloe said as she glared at Thomas who chuckled.
"I heard from Cameron that you had backbone Richardson but challenging me after I thoroughly trashed two of your dorm mates?" Thomas scoffed but when she didn't budge his eyes narrowed. "Well, I can see that the foolish girl isn't backing down, I agree to her terms if you will authorize it Martin." Thomas said as he locked eyes with Chloe.
"Very well, just remember that the usual restrictions will be placed on this duel." Martin said and the two students nodded, he thought for a few moments before he called one of the proctors over, who just happened to be Chloe's test opponent, who he gave instructions too, the proctor nodded before approaching Chloe.
"Richardson, I require you to hand over your Silent Magician Cards and any support cards you have for the Lv. Archetype." The proctor told her and Chloe turned to him with a look of surprise on her face. "That is the restriction that is being placed on you, you cannot use your best monsters and any support for them, if this takes you below the 40 card minimum we will supply you with cards that fit your deck strategy."
"Fine, I am getting them back right?" Chloe asked as she retrieved the cards, five in total, and handed them over, the proctor nodded and she did a quick card count to make sure that she still had enough cards. "That has left me with only 35 cards though." Chloe added and Martin called another proctor over, he gave the proctor instructions and he ran off.
"He will be back momentarily with your replacement cards." Martin informed her and Chloe nodded. "If you find the cards to your liking then you can hold onto them after, any requests before I decide on Thomas's restriction?"
"Actually yeah, if I can't use my best monsters then a similar restriction should be placed on his deck." Chloe said after thinking for a few moments, Thomas scoffed as he heard that.
"You can't honestly take the judgment of the same Osiris Red Reject who disabled the safeties on her duel disk into consideration…." Thomas started but Martin cut him off.
"Actually I will, despite her inexperience Richardson's proven to be an exceptional student, you need only look at her Battle City performance for proof of that." Martin interrupted him as his eyes narrowed. "Even without that in mind I do feel that the restrictions I've placed on you have been far too lenient, I will grant her request."
"You can't be serious!" Thomas said as his eyes widened, Martin looked at him sternly and Thomas sighed in resignation. "Fine, what do you have in mind?"
"Well, since the X-Saber archetype relies on Special Summoning monsters I will limit the number of times you can Special Summon monsters to your side of the field, however in the interest of fairness I will apply this to Richardson's deck as well." Martin announced and Thomas growled before nodding reluctantly. "Richardson, do you agree to that?" Martin asked and Chloe nodded as she activated her duel disk, the second proctor ran over and showed her an assortment of Warriors and Spellcasters as well as appropriate support cards.
"These will do nicely, thanks." Chloe thanked the proctor and he handed her the cards, she added them to her deck before turning to Thomas.
"Why am I worried anyway? She uses that blasted magician so much that she practically relies on it for each of her victories." Thomas thought as he glared at Chloe. "So, Martin how many Special Summons are we limited too?"
"I'd say twenty each will suffice." Martin said and the two students nodded in agreement though Thomas did so hesitantly. "Besides the restrictions I've placed on both of you standard rules apply as do Duel Academy's rules for conduct during a duel, do you understand?" Martin asked and the two duelists nodded before Thomas activated their duel disks.
"Hey, be careful out there, that guy's ruthless." The male Osiris Red Student warned Chloe who glanced over her shoulder before nodding.
"Thanks but I've faced my fair share of ruthless guys." Chloe thanked him and the student sat next to the girl Chloe chatted with just as the two duelists drew their opening hands. "So, who's going first?" Chloe asked as she looked over her hand.
"Being the only student in this duel worth a damn I will go first!" Thomas insisted before quickly drawing his card. "I set a monster in defense mode and one card facedown now then, why don't we see how a reject like you can handle that!" Thomas set the two cards and Chloe scowled at his insult before drawing her first card.
"Silent Magician not being in my deck will be a big problem, especially since this is my first time facing an X-Saber deck." Chloe thought as she looked over her hand, she had heard of the X-Sabers before via news on the pro league but this was her first time seeing them in action. "I start with the continuous Spell Card Arcane Barrier."
"Now every time I destroy one of your monsters that card will get a counter and as long as you tribute a monster alongside it you'll draw one card for each counter." Thomas said with a cocky smirk. "Am I supposed to be impressed?"
"Maybe this will impress you; I summon Defender the Magical Knight in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and the knight in blue and gold armor appeared on the field (4/1600/2000). "Defender, attack his defense monster!" Chloe commanded and the knight charged towards the monster, revealed to be a short man in blue and gold armor that was wearing matching goggles and was carrying a large sword (2/100/0). "Hah, I thought I was in for a challenge, that guy's toast!"
"Look again." Thomas said plainly and Chloe looked up and too her shock saw the much weaker warrior blocking Defender's sword with his own. "Meet X-Saber Pashuul, he may not look like much but in exchange for me paying one thousand life-points during my standby phase this monster can't be destroyed in battle."
"Wouldn't something like Spirit Reaper (3/300/200) work better? It basically has the same effect without draining your life-points?" Chloe asked and Thomas smirked.
"As soon as you end your turn you'll see for yourself." Thomas told her and Chloe frowned.
"Fine, I set a card facedown and end my turn." Chloe announced and Thomas drew his card wincing as his life-points dropped to 7000.
"I start my turn with a Spell Card that you should be familiar with, it's called Card Destruction." Thomas played the Spell Card and Chloe frowned before sending her hand to the graveyard and drawing the same amount of cards from her deck, Thomas did likewise and looked over it before activating his trap. "Now I activate my Trap Card Gottom's Emergency Call!"
"Oh crap." The female Osiris Red Student winced as she saw the trap flip up. "He used the same combo on us."
"Yeah but that was much later in the game." The male student reminded her. "It's still anyone's game this early in the duel."
"With this Trap Card I can Special Summon two X-Sabers from either of our Graveyard, oh and don't bother pointing out that you don't have any in your deck because an Osiris Red Reject like you isn't even worthy of looking at these powerful monsters!" Thomas said with a smirk before playing the two cards. "I use my trap card to Special Summon the following, XX-Saber Darksoul and XX-Saber Ragigura!" Thomas announced as two monsters appeared on the field, one was an armored figure in a red robe carrying a scythe (3/100/100) and the other was a robed reptilian monster (1/200/1000). "But that's not all, when Ragigura is Normal or Special Summoned I can add another X-Saber monster to my hand from my deck like so!" Thomas picked up his deck and searched through it, he found the card he was looking for and added it to his hand.
"You just wasted two of your Special Summons on two weak monsters; I hope it was worth it." Chloe pointed out as Thomas sent his trap to the graveyard.
"Maybe but I haven't done my Normal Summon yet!" Thomas said with a grin as he played a card. "To amend this I normal summon a third monster, XX-Saber Emersblade!" Thomas played the card and just like he said a third monster appeared on the field, this one was more insect like than the others but like the others it was wearing armor (3/1300/800).
"This is bad, Chloe has no idea what's in store for her." The male student said through gritted teeth as he glared towards Thomas.
"Chloe, Parshuul's a tuner monster, that's why he's swarming the field!" The female student yelled out to her and Chloe's eyes widened as it dawned on her.
"Would you be quiet?" Thomas shouted at her before glaring at Chloe. "But yes, what she says is correct." Thomas admitted as his four monsters leapt into the air. "I tune Parshuul, Darksoul, Ragigura and Emersblade together so that I can Synchro Summon the mighty XX-Saber Gottoms!" Thomas announced and Parshuul dissolved into two glowing green rings that surrounded the three monsters, a bright flash enveloped the field, when it faded the four weaker monsters where gone and replaced with a humungous man in armor that covered every inch of his body, he was wearing a long flowing cape and was carrying a massive sword (9/3100/2600).
"Oh boy, that's yet another victory for me." Lance sighed as he gathered up his cards, he had just finished dueling another Ra Yellow student where his restriction was that he could only have a hand consisting of two cards at all times, his response was, off course, to use those two cards the best he could. "Nice duel man, hey teach you mind if I take five?" Lance asked as he turned towards Martin…..just in time to see Thomas's new monster. "Oh boy, that looks like trouble."
"Feel free Lance, everyone else is occupied anyway." Martin told him and Lance sat next to the two Osiris Red Students…..which was the point where he realized just who was facing Thomas.
"Okay, number 1 when did Chloe arrive and number 2 where did she get the idea to challenge someone with that thing in his deck?" Lance asked the two students who turned to him.
"She arrived about five minutes ago, said she slept in." The male student said before sighing. "It's our fault, that asshole had kicked our asses in two back to back duels and was badmouthing Osiris Red whilst he was at it." The male student explained as he turned to Lance. "He challenged her and despite Martin pointing out that you can't pick your opponents Chloe accepted anyway."
"Well it shouldn't be too bad; I mean Chloe does have Silent Magician Level 8 in her deck!" Lance said as he rested his hands behind his head, the two students sweat-dropped as they heard that.
"Err; yeah that's the other thing." The female student told him and he turned to her. "Martin placed two restrictions on her deck, she can't Special Summon more than twenty times and she can't use her Silent Magician cards."
"What? Oh for fuck's sake, at least tell me that the asshole has something similar working against him!" Lance asked them and the male student folded his arms.
"Well the Special Summon limit applies to both players and he just used three of them." The male student told him as he watched the duel.
"Gottoms, attack that pathetic knight now!" Thomas commanded and the warrior raised his sword high into the air and brought it down upon Defender causing quite a bit of smoke to kick up from the impact.
"My knight may not be as strong as Gottoms but he's called Defender for a reason!" Chloe said as the smoke cleared revealing that Defender had survived the impact. "When I summoned him last turn my knight got a counter and as long as he gives up that counter he can survive an attack."
"Maybe but your life-points still take a hit." Thomas pointed out as Chloe's life-points dropped to 6500.
"Well I guess it's a good time for me to activate my Numinous Healer Trap Card." Chloe activated the trap and Thomas's eyes narrowed as her life-points increased to 7500. "You won't take me down that easily."
"Without your best monster you may as well give up!" Thomas countered before picking up two of his drawn cards. "I set these cards facedown and end my turn." Thomas set the two cards down and Chloe drew her card.
"Okay, as much as I hate to admit it things aren't looking good." Chloe thought as she looked up at Gottoms. "Without Silent Magician in my deck the only monster I can think off that could possible beat Gottoms is Colossal Fighter, problem is I don't have any tuners in my hand at the moment." Chloe thought before looking at her drawn card. "But this can help!" Chloe thought before playing the card. "I activate Swords of Revealing Light!"
"Oh please, you're still using that old relic?" Thomas mocked her as three golden swords rained down on Gottoms pinning him down. "No matter, there's more than one way to damage your life-points."
"Maybe but for now I shift Defender to defense mode and set another monster in defense mode." Chloe set the card and her knight knelt down holding its shield out in front of him. "That ends my turn." Chloe announced and Thomas drew his card.
"You think that'll be enough?" The female student asked the male student who shook his head.
"Who knows? I get the idea behind Chloe's move, she's hoping that Swords of Revealing Light will buy her enough time to get a decent defense force on the field or maybe even enough cards for a Synchro Summon, but the problem with that idea is that the X-Sabers specialize in swarming the field." The student said shaking his head. "For now it's a waiting game."
"Look, Chloe's been in tough spots before, just look at the majority of her Battle City Matches, but she's come out of worse spots before." Lance reassured them and Thomas scoffed as he heard that.
"Beat an Obelisk Blue Student without your precious Silent Magician cards? You may as well start searching for El Dorado whilst you're at it." Thomas responded as he drew his card. "Especially not with the Field Spell I just drew."
"What Field Spell?" Chloe asked and Thomas grinned.
"I'll show you, I activate the Field Spell Card Saber Vault!" Thomas played the card and the scenery changed to a large vault with a glowing sword at the end. "This Field Spell Card increases the attack points of each X-Saber monster on the field by 100 points times its level, now I know you're a lowly Osiris Red Reject but I do hope that you….."
"Your monster's attack is now 4000." Chloe interrupted him and sure enough X-Saber Gottoms's attack rose to 4000. "Great, now things have gone from bad to worse, even if I had Silent Magician in my deck she still wouldn't be enough to beat Gottoms!"
"Fortunately for you this Field Spell does have its drawbacks." Thomas continued as Gottoms's defense points dropped to 1500. "As you can see Gottoms defense points drop by the same amount."
"You call that a drawback?" Chloe asked impatiently and Thomas smirked.
"Well for anyone else it would be, but I'm not done activating cards just yet, I activate my trap card At One with the Sword!" Thomas's trap flipped up and the sword previously in Gottoms' hand disappeared from his hands, he turned to the sword within the vault and pulled it from the podium it was on. "This trap card can only be activated if I have a face-up X-Saber monster on my side of the field, since I do it gains 800 attack points."
"Great, as if that thing wasn't strong enough!" Chloe gulped as X-Saber Gottoms's attack increased to 4800.
"It gets worse I'm afraid, I may not be able to attack but X-Saber Gottoms has a very lethal effect, but to activate it I need another X-Saber on the field so first I activate my other trap card, another Gottoms Emergency Call and I use it to bring back Parshuul and Darksoul!" Thomas played the cards and the two weak X-Sabers appeared on the field, Parshuul's attack increased to 300 and Darksoul's attack increased to 400 thanks to the vault. "I'm not done summoning monsters however, since I have two or more X-Saber monsters on my side of the field I can special summon a new monster, X-Saber Faultroll!" Thomas played the card and a man covered from head to toe in red, futuristic armor appeared on the field carrying a large sword (6/2400/1800) and as his attack increased to 3000 thanks to the vault's effect Chloe frowned.
"Don't tell me, you're planning another Synchro Summon?" Chloe asked as her eyes darted between Faultroll and Parshuul. "With those two monsters alone he has enough monsters for a Level 8 Synchro Summon; if his plan was to bring out another Gottoms then he would've brought back Rggigura instead of Darksoul." Chloe thought but to her surprise Thomas shook his head.
"Actually no, I require Parshuul for another purpose entirely but I'll get to that soon." Thomas said as he looked over his hand. "You see Gottoms is powerful in more ways than one, his effect states that I can tribute one X-Saber monster to force you to discard one random card from your hand so I tribute Darksoul and Faultroll….."
"Wait, you can use that thing's effect more than once?" Lance yelled out from the sidelines and Thomas smirked. "How is that card even legal?"
"It is, deal with it!" Thomas shouted back before his two monsters vanished and Chloe frowned before discarding Blade Knight and Gearfried the Iron Knight. "That ends my turn, oh and don't get any ideas about Parshuul, I summoned him in defense mode." Thomas added and once the first sword faded from the field Chloe frowned before drawing her card.
"Hey it's one of the cards the proctor gave me earlier, I hope it helps!" Chloe thought before setting the card. "I set a card facedown and end my turn." Chloe announced and Thomas drew his card seemingly not taking any notice of the fact that his life-points dropped to 6000 due to the presence of Parshuul on his side of the field.
"You know what? I'll throw you a bone; I activate a Spell Card called Spellbook inside the Pot." Thomas played the card and smirked. "Now we both draw three cards from our decks." Thomas added and Chloe complied as she drew three cards and Thomas did likewise, when he saw two of the cards Thomas grinned evilly. "Now it's time to show you why I brought back Pashuul, I equip Pashuul with the Spell Card Pestilence, this can only be equipped to a Warrior, Beast Warrior or Spellcaster type monster, that monster's attack becomes zero and I lose an additional 500 life-points on top of Pashuul's effect."
"So let me get this straight, your solution to a card that forces you to pay life-points during your standby phases is to equip it with a Spell that causes you to lose more life-points?" Lance asked as Pashuul slumped over. "That has got to be one of the dumbest moves I've ever seen and I was present for Kimberly's duel against Luigi Malverio at Battle City."
"Don't compare my masterful strategy to that joke of a champion." Thomas growled as he picked up another card. "Besides that I misspoke earlier, I won't be the one taking the damage, Chloe will be!"
"Come again?" Chloe asked clearly confused by the statement, however the moment she saw the card's hologram. "Oh please tell me that's not Creature Swap?"
"That's right and I'll be taking Defender thank you very much!" Thomas responded and Chloe reluctantly tossed her monster at Thomas who did likewise with his monster, soon afterwards the two monsters' holographic representations switched places. "Now not even your swords can protect you from damage, off course you could reduce the damage by shifting Pashuul to defense mode but what good would that do you? Even without Pestilence equipped to it that monsters attack points are pathetic, much like your dorm."
"Yeah, keep saying that, just remember that a girl from Osiris Red defeated Otto at Battle City and almost beat Theresa." Chloe countered and Thomas growled at that. "Anything else you want to do?"
"Actually yes, you can take Defender back because I sacrifice him so that I can summon XX-Saber Gardestrike!" Thomas tossed the card back at Chloe who reluctantly sent it to the graveyard and Thomas played the third card he drew, in Defender's place stood a beast of a man that closely resembled a tiger (6/2100/1400) and Thomas didn't seem to care about the fact that its attack strength increased to 2700 thanks to the vault. "And now I sacrifice Gardestrike to use Gottoms' effect, let's see if I can make you discard a card I helped you draw hmmm?" Thomas announced as Gardestrike disappeared from the field and Chloe reluctantly discarded Rose, Warrior of Revenge. "I shall end my turn at that." Thomas announced and Chloe drew her card once the second sword faded, she winced as her life-points dropped to 6000.
"This is nuts! Even with the Swords in play he can still force me to get rid of monsters and damage my life=points." Chloe thought before looking at Pashuul. "That thing's a tuner monster and if I can get enough monsters on the field I can bring out Colossal Fighter with him, not an easy task thanks to this combo of his." Chloe thought before looking at her drawn card.
"Yawn, are you going to make a move sometime today?" Thomas asked impatiently and Chloe glared at him.
"As a matter of fact I am; I activate my own Card Destruction!" Chloe played the card and Thomas scowled before discarding his hand and drawing a new one, Chloe followed suit and looked at her new cards. "Damn, I still don't have enough cards to Synchro Summon Colossal Fighter, better play it safe for the time being." Chloe thought before she picked up a card. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." Chloe announced and Thomas drew his card. "The two facedown monsters I have are level four monsters, that wouldn't be a problem if not for the fact that I need to get rid of Pashuul and the best solution for that is to use Thomas's own Tuner against him, even if I didn't neither of my facedown cards are tuners." Chloe thought as she waited for Thomas to make his move.
"Fortunately for you your usage of Card Destruction left me with no X-Sabers in my hand." Thomas told her and Chloe said nothing in response. "Unfortunately for you that same move has allowed me to add this Spell Card to my hand and use this combo, first I activate my own Swords of Revealing Light, you may be using this card as a stall tactic but I'm using its lesser known effect to force your facedown cards to flip over!" Thomas played the card and Chloe shielded herself as three golden swords rained down on her side of the field revealing her facedown monsters to be Command Knight (4/1200/1600) and Field Commander Rhaltz (4/1600/1200). "Even more warriors hmmm? They're good cards, I'll give you that much but they are no match for the power of my next Spell Card, go Saber Slash!" Thomas played the card and Gottoms raised his sword high in the air. "Now I can destroy one face up monster for each X-Saber I control, normally I use this to clear the field and ensure my victory but your pesky little spell card has prevented me from doing that so instead I use it to destroy Command Knight!" Gottoms slammed his sword onto the ground sending a shockwave towards the female warrior, Command Knight was split in two by the blast and her hologram shattered. "I end my turn but know this, on my next turn you'll feel the full wrath of my mighty warrior!" Thomas announced and once the third and final sword vanished Chloe drew her card wincing as her life-points dropped to 4500.
"I could use my two monsters to bring out Explosive Magician. Problem is he won't be strong enough to defeat Gottoms." Chloe thought as she looked at her new card. "God I wish Martin hadn't forced me to take out Silent Magician….."
"Chloe, sorry I took so long, had a bit of connection problems." Silent Magician said as she appeared next to her. "It seems you're in a bit of trouble."
"You just noticed? Martin forced me to take out the Silent Magician cards and the LV. Support cards to see if I can win without them, it hasn't exactly been easy thanks to in no small part to Gottoms." Chloe responded as she looked over her hand. "My plan is to bring out Colossal Fighter and take advantage of the high number of Warrior monsters in our graveyards; the main problem is getting enough monsters on the field."
"Indeed, you the Spell Card you just drew to discard Gilford the Lightning that should help you." Silent Magician advised her before vanishing and she looked at the Spell Card.
"I don't have all day you know!" Thomas yelled at her and Chloe glared at him.
"Fine, I activate the Spell Card Trade In; by discarding my Level 8 Gilford the Lightning from my graveyard this Spell will allow me to draw two cards." Chloe discarded the monster and drew twice without hesitation.
"She could've wiped out Gottoms with that card during her last turn, why did she hold on to it?" Thomas thought as she examined her hand. "No matter, it was her foolish mistake and I will make her pay for it." Thomas thought as Chloe picked up her two new cards.
"I set a card facedown and summon Marauding Captain in attack mode!" Chloe played the cards and the captain appeared on the field (3/1200/400). "Since he was the only warrior in my hand I'll end my turn at that." Chloe announced and as the first sword disappeared Thomas drew his card.
"A wasted effort, you would've been better off placing him in defense mode!" Thomas taunted her before looking at his card. "Unless you're hoping that Marauding Captain will protect your weaker monsters from destruction with his effect, well I'm sorry to say that that won't happen, I activate the Spell Card Forbidden Chalice!"
"Crap, Phillip used that against Lance." Chloe remembered as Marauding Captain glowed briefly as his attack increased to 1700. "Don't bother explaining that thing's effect, I know what it does."
"Very well, I won't, Gottoms attack Field Commander Rhaltz this instant!" Thomas commanded and the warrior raised his sword up…
"I activate my trap card, For Our Dreams." Chloe activated the trap and Marauding Captain disappeared from the field. "To activate it I have to tribute a Warrior Type Monster like Marauding Captain but in exchange for that I can ensure that Field Commander Rhaltz won't be destroyed in battle." Chloe explained as Rhaltz raised its sword up blocking the attack.
"Fine, you brought yourself a little time but stalling is the last thing you need to do with Pashuul on your side of the field." Thomas pointed out and Chloe said nothing. "I'll end my turn at that." Thomas announced and Chloe drew her card, she winced as her life-points took a hit bringing them down to 3000. "The difference between our scores is so massive you may as well surrender reject!" Thomas taunted her and Chloe growled.
"Not as long as I have life-points left." Chloe said as her trap flipped up. "I activate Reckless Greed, in exchange for skipping my next two draw phases I can draw two cards from my deck." Chloe announced before drawing twice. "Perfect, this is just what I was hoping for." Chloe thought before playing the card. "I summon Apprentice Magician in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and the young blonde magician appeared on the field (2/400/800). "And I use her effect to add a Spell Counter to Arcane Barrier!" Chloe announced as the magician pointed her staff towards the long forgotten about Spell Card and cast a spell which caused the hologram to glow. "And now that Arcane Barrier finally has a counter I tribute Apprentice Magician and Arcane Barrier so that I can draw another card from my deck." The two cards vanished from the field and Chloe drew again.
"At this rate she'll deck herself out." The female student gulped and Lance turned to her.
"Knowing Chloe she'll have this asshole beat long before then." Lance reassured her and Thomas scoffed at that.
"An Osiris Red Reject beating me? You may as well ask Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny to play at your birthday party." Thomas said with an arrogant smirk before turning to Chloe…and his smirk disappeared when he saw the grin on her face. "What are you so happy about?"
"Oh, not much, just the fact that the card I just drew is about to blow your combo out of the water." Chloe said as she played the card, Thomas blinked…and his eyes widened when he saw the card in question.
"NO! NOT HEAVY STORM!" Thomas yelled out as a storm washed over the field, Saber Vault was the first to be destroyed followed by At One With The Sword, Pestilence and Thomas's copy of Swords of Revealing Light, as soon as Pestilence's hologram shattered Pashuul stood up straight with his attack power back to normal, at the same time Gottoms' attack dropped down to its original figure. "Yeah, so what if you destroyed Saber Vault and my other cards? Even without it neither of your two monsters can match the strength of my best monster!"
"Strength isn't everything and you seem to be forgetting something about Pashuul." Chloe pointed out and Thomas blinked. "Here's a hint, he's the reason you were able to bring out Gottoms in the first place!"
"You're planning a Synchro Summon? Don't make me laugh; the day that a Level 6 Synchro Monster is strong enough to defeat my ultimate warrior is the day that Osiris Red is worth a damn!" Thomas countered and Chloe grinned.
"Oh, I'm planning on using these two in a Synchro Summon all right, but they aren't the only monsters I'm planning on using in it!" Chloe said and Thomas blinked. "Yeah, I know I've already used up my Normal Summon for this turn but that wasn't what I had in mind, first I set a card facedown." Chloe set the card and its hologram appeared on the field. "Don't get too attached to it, I'm sending this trap to the graveyard so I can Special Summon Card Breaker in attack mode!" A huge plastic fist smashed through the card and in front of the card appeared a tall man in barbarian garb (2/100/900). "Do the math Thomas; I have enough monsters for a Level 8 Synchro Summon!"
"Why should I worry? No Level 8 monster can beat my best monster!" Thomas scoffed as the three monsters leapt into the air.
"You should be worried; I tune X-Saber Pashuul, Card Breaker and Field Commander Rhaltz to Synchro Summon Colossal Fighter!" Chloe retrieved the card from the extra deck and played it, a bright flash enveloped the field and when it faded Colossal Fighter stood tall and proud (8/2800/1000).
"Hah! I know that monster gains a hundred attack points for each warrior in your graveyard but if you think that that's still enough to beat me you're clutching at straws!" Thomas taunted Chloe and Martin shook his head.
"It seems that you need to study even harder Thomas." Martin said simply and Thomas blinked in confusion. "Colossal Fighter earns its attack points from BOTH graveyards." Martin explained and Thomas's eyes widened as Colossal Fighter's attack strength increased to 4500.
"No matter, I have more than enough life-points to survive this attack!" Thomas said with a massive smirk on his face.
"Aren't you wondering about the other card I drew with Reckless Greed?" Chloe asked and Thomas blinked in confusion. "It's a card that the proctor gave me before the start of the duel, it's also a card that will lead me to victory and it's called Megamorph!" Thomas's jaw dropped when he heard the card's name and Colossal Fighter doubled in size and attack strength, all the way up to 9000."Consider this a much needed blow to your ego from everyone in Osiris Red! Colossal Fighter, attack Gottoms now!" Chloe commanded and Colossal Fighter who reared its fist back and smashed it into Gottoms chest, the hologram shattered and Thomas was sent flying by the force of the attack.
C: 3000
T: 100
Colossal Fighter returned to Chloe's side of the field and the side effect of Megamorph kicked in cutting its attack in half, however Chloe knew it was still more than enough to defeat him. "I end my turn but you may as well give up; Colossal Fighter's even stronger than before now that Gottoms is in the graveyard." Chloe said as her monster's attack strength increased to 4600.
"You're suggesting that I surrender to an Osiris Red? Don't insult me!" Thomas growled before drawing his card. "No, this can't be! I haven't got a single monster I can summon!"
"You still don't want to surrender?" Chloe offered and Thomas growled.
"Make your move already reject!" Thomas growled at her and Chloe didn't bother to draw a card due to Reckless Greed's effect and the fact that she knew the duel was over.
"Call me a reject all you want! It doesn't matter because this reject's about to kick your ass! Colossal Fighter, finish it!" Chloe commanded and the massive fighter charged towards Thomas before knocking him down.
C: 3000
T: 0000
"No, no, no, NO!" Thomas yelled as he got back to his feet. "She must've cheated! There's no way in hell that an Obelisk Blue elite like me can be beaten by an Osiris Red Reject like her!" Thomas added and Chloe glared at him.
"She beat you fair and square Thomas, deal with it!" A familiar voice rang out from behind Thomas and his eyes widened before he looked up and saw Tyler standing over him. "And quite frankly I was getting of the disrespect you were showing her and the others in her dorm throughout the class, if she hadn't accepted your challenge then I would've gladly fought you in her place, keep that in mind next time you badmouth Osiris Red in my presence, understood?" Tyler asked Thomas stormed off. "Nice moves Chloe; it's good to see him taken down a peg." He complemented her and Chloe grinned.
"Thanks Tyler." Chloe said with a nod only to nearly jump out of her skin when Lance patted her on the back in a friendly way.
"You may have been late Chloe but I'll be damned if it wasn't fun watching that asshole get his ass kicked." Lance said with a grin and Chloe nodded in agreement.
"You passed that test with flying colors Richardson, as promised here's your best cards back." Martin added before handing over the Silent Magicians and Lv. Support cards which she returned to her deck without hesitation. "By my watch the class is almost over, Richardson you have to stay behind afterwards as part of your punishment for the incident yesterday." Martin said and Chloe cast her eyes downward.
"I know sir but thanks for the reminder." Chloe thanked him with a sigh before turning to look at the clock which was just above the door. "Five minutes left and still two duels going on, they'll be in a hurry to finish their duels in time." Chloe thought as she glanced towards two duels, one between Rajin and a female Osiris Red Student and the other between two male Ra Yellow students. "I wonder what Rajin's thinking knowing that that asshole is his tag partner for the tournament?" Chloe thought as she thought back to the list of tag teams.
"Hey err, Chloe?" Chloe looked up and saw the two students who had previously dueled Thomas, it was the female student who had spoken up. "Thanks for defeating that asshole."
"No problem, I wasn't about to let him get away with badmouthing our dorm like that." Chloe said with a smirk before turning to the two students. "Come to think of it I don't think I ever caught your names."
"I'm Rachel Travis, he's Kyle Winston, and we're teaming up in the tournament." The female student introduced herself and the male student. "And that wouldn't be a problem if not for the fact that our decks have no synergy whatsoever."
"Believe me, I know the feeling, I'm teaming up with my roommate who uses a Watt Deck." Chloe responded before shaking her head. "Well I'm sure you'll do fine….."
"We're up against Brandon and Theresa in the first round." Kyle interrupted her and Chloe and Lance winced simultaneously.
"Well…..I'm sure you'll do fine anyway." Chloe said as she laughed nervously, unbeknownst to her someone else was watching the duel, namely one of her first round opponents Donny Cramer who had been watching the duel from the seating area.
"Looks like me and Drake will have a tough test ahead of us, especially if we want to make it past round 1." Drake thought as he folded his arms. "Thomas, as gigantic an asshole as he is, is no pushover but Chloe just beat him in one move, better be on the lookout for Colossal Fighter when I face her team at the tournament." Donny thought just before the bell rang and everyone except Chloe left the room.
*much later at the abandoned dorm*
The abandoned dorm wasn't long for this world, Kaibacorp had plans to tear it down and build a new building in its place which was one of the reasons it was off limits but that was as much as the teachers and students at the academy knew, well there was one other reason, the students who inhabited the dorm went missing years ago.
Numerous stories surrounded the dorm and what happened to the students who inhabited it, Kaibacorp's official stance on it was that it was a tragic but mysterious event that not even the sole student who came back from wherever the other students went, Pro Duelist Atticus Rhoades, knew what happened to the students, for that reason the parents of the missing students had filed a lawsuit against Kaibacorp to suspend the demolition until an investigation could be conducted, no one at the Academy thought that the lawsuit had any chances of succeeded for numerous reasons from the lawyer representing the parents having a bad track record in winning cases to the extreme likelihood of a Settlement between the two parties.
But tonight it was the home to a meeting, a meeting between Duel spirits.
Armed Dragon Level 10 paced impatiently in the chamber beneath the Abandoned Dorm, due to his size compared to the size of the chamber he was forced to walk on all fours and even then he had trouble fitting in. "Where is that woman? I know her protégé is inexperienced in terms of dueling and duel spirits but this is ridiculous!" The dragon thought as he paced around.
"Still as impatient as ever I see." Silent Magician commented as she entered the room, due to the experiments by Professor Banner years ago the dorm had a strong enough magical presence that both Duel Spirits could take physical form. "My apologies, Chloe has to honor the terms of her punishment by Duel Academy officials and I couldn't leave until she went to bed."
"Yes, her punishment." The dragon said with a growl and Silent Magician's eyes narrowed. "An unfitting punishment for what she almost did and what you should've warned her against at the earliest opportunity."
"The situation with Phillip Alvers took priority; we both know that." Silent Magician answered as she folded her arms. "We still don't have any idea how much damage his revival of the Orichalcos has done."
"I am well aware of that, which is why we can't have protégés turning off the safeties in their duel disks whilst their Duel Spirit is on the field." Armed Dragon asserted as his eyes narrowed. "Does she know what damage she would've caused?"
"She knows; I visited her in a dream about her childhood, managed to hold the painful memories at bay long enough to tell her." Silent Magician told him with a frown. "I think I scarred her straight but if she does try that again I'll intervene, but I find that very unlikely, I know you were there alongside Theresa and I know you heard those comments that drove her to doing it."
"Yes, I did hear them, if he had dared to insult my family in the same way they'd never find the body." Armed Dragon said with a growl. "But the misguidance of your protégé isn't why we're holding this meeting, Don?"
"Humph, it's about time." A gruff voice rang out and the Duel Spirit representing Don Zaaloog stepped out from behind Armed Dragon. "Do you have any idea how cramped it was back there? I'll tell ya sweet cheeks, it aint fun being squashed by a giant dragon."
"First off all I thought Brandon's Duel Spirit was still up for debate?" Silent Magician asked as her eyes narrowed. "Second, call me sweet cheeks again and I'll cast a spell that would make that experience seem pleasant on you, understood?" Silent Magician asked and Zaaloog gulped before nodding.
"Yeah, yeah, for a Duel Monster with Silent in her name you do talk a lot." Don Zaaloog scoffed before shaking his head. "I made myself known to the kid and the big guy here earlier today, he, err, found out at the same time I made myself known."
"He's Theresa's duel spirit, how is that…" Silent Magician trailed off as it dawned on her. "You made yourself known whilst Brandon and Theresa where…"
"Whilst they were having sex, yes." Don Zaaloog said shaking his head. "I didn't mean to cockblock the kid but we all know that we Duel Spirits don't get a choice as to when we reveal ourselves to our protégés and hearing a strange voice in his head pretty much killed the mood, sad part is I was trying to give him pointers."
"Don't worry, I intervened." Armed Dragon quickly added before shaking his head. "And my apologies for keeping you in the dark, I would've told you sooner but I had…..matters to attend too regarding the list of new protégés."
"There are others? How many exactly?" Silent Magician asked as she tried to keep her surprise a secret.
"We can confirm that most of the Battle City Duelists who attend the academy have Duel Spirits guiding them, your protégé included obviously." Armed Dragon confirmed as he waved his hand and several pictures showed up showing Chloe, Lance, Marcus, Andreas, Chelsea and Tyler.
"Been practicing your magic I see." Silent Magician said off handedly, all Duel Spirits could perform magic to a degree but Spellcasters where the most powerful magic users. "So, these duelists have Duel Spirits selected for them?"
"Indeed, however we need to test their strength in this chamber to see if they can handle the pressure." Armed Dragon confirmed as he looked over the duelists. "Don, your protégé will be tested separately, we will be testing these five duelists at the same time….."
"And that will task this place's magical energies to the limit." Don Zaaloog said with a nod. "When will the testing take place?"
"Tonight, at midnight, Silent Magician I trust you have a Spell in place?" Armed Dragon asked and Silent Magician nodded. "Be ready."
*later on*
"Man I can't get any sleep." Chloe complained as she sat up in her bed, it was midnight and well past curfew but neither her nor Chelsea, who was at her laptop, could get any sleep, in fact they were still fully clothed and wearing their Duel Disks. "I thought the servers automatically shut down after curfew?"
"Yeah but tech savvy students like me know a few workarounds." Chelsea answered with a grin. "As for not getting any sleep well you did have that lye in earlier and well, it was about 3:00am when me and Beth finished our study session."
"And by that you mean finished making out." Chloe pointed out and Chelsea laughed nervously, the couples on campus used "late night study session" as code to let their roommates know that they intended to have sex, best part was that the guards where none the wiser. "You don't need to use that code with me Chelsea."
"I know but you never know who's listening in." Chelsea pointed out and Chloe grinned at that, before either student could say anything their duel disks started glowing a gold color. "What the…..." Chelsea started but never finished as both girls where yanked from their sitting positions and where pulled out the dorm and out to the street. "What the hell's going on? Where are our duel disks taking us! Why is that not a weird sentence?" Chelsea asked as the two girls made their way, unwillingly, to the north side of the island.
"You're asking me? I'm more concerned about how the hell we're going to explain this to the guards if they catch us!" Chloe pointed out as they were dragged to the north side of the island. "It looks like we're heading to the North Side."
"Oh great, so we could be being dragged to a dorm slated for demolition because some students disappeared years ago or we could be dragged to that fucking volcano, somehow neither destination seems preferable!" Chelsea said annoyingly as they approached the abandoned dorm, the building had fallen into disarray since Jaden Yuki's time at the academy and it had several no entry signs darted around the perimeter of the building, their duel disks stopped glowing and dragging the two girls and they stopped to catch my breath. "Oww, my arm hurts."
"Yeah, being dragged by your duel disks to the north side of the island will do that." Chloe said once she caught her breath. "Great, we're breaking curfew and we're probably breaking at least ten duel academy rules just by being here! At least it can't get any worse."
"SOMEBODY STOP THIS CRAZY THING!" A familiar male voice rang out and the two girls turned around to see Lance, Marcus and Andreas approaching them in pretty much the same way that they approached the building, it was Marcus that had spoken up. "Chloe, Chelsea, you girls where dragged here by your duel disks as well?" Marcus asked once the duel disks stopped dragging the three boys.
"Yeah, our arms are still sore because of it." Chelsea said as her eyes darted between the three boys. "I'm guessing you're as clueless as we are?"
"Well let's see, we were all dragged here from our dorms by our duel disks despite it being past curfew and we're in an area that's off limits, why yes we are confused." Andreas said as he looked around, "At least things can't get any more confusing."
"Ah good, my spell worked." Silent Magician said as she appeared in front of the students. "I suppose you're wondering why I asked you here."
"You call casting a spell that dragged us from our dorms to the Abandoned Dorm asking?" Chelsea asked plainly and Silent Magician said nothing. "Wait, you're a duel monster why are you talking too us?"
"It's difficult to say." Silent Magician said before she prepared another spell.
"You love using that phrase don't you?" Chloe asked and Silent Magician sweat-dropped as the doors opened.
"I'll explain once we're inside." Silent Magician said plainly and the students didn't budge. "Either you come willingly or I'll use the spell I used to bring you here." Silent Magician said plainly and the students winced before following her in to the dorm and down to the chamber. "Armed Dragon, they have arrived."
"Excellent." The dragon said and the five duelists did double takes when they saw him. "What's the matter? Never seen a duel spirit before?"
"What's going on? And more importantly how are we talking to two duel monsters?" Lance asked and the others nodded in agreement.
"We are duel spirits, beings that Maximillion Pegasus uses, abet unintentionally, for the likeness of every duel monster card, most of us live in the Duel Monster Spirit World but some of us, like myself and Armed Dragon, are tasked with guiding young duelists who we see too have potential." Silent Magician explained with a proud smile. "Chloe is my protégé and Armed Dragon Level 10 mentors Theresa."
"So wait, we all have duel monster spirit guides?" Chelsea asked as she scratched her head in confusion.
"Honestly, she lost me at Duel Monster Spirit World." Marcus commented and Silent Magician cleared her throat.
"We will explain more as time passes." Silent Magician said as she led them into the chamber. "We have brought you all here to test you and prepare all off you."
"Prepare us for what?" Lance asked and Silent Magician turned to him.
"We don't know how much damage your father's revival of the Orichalcos caused." Silent Magician informed him and Lance tensed up.
"Wait, your dad was behind that?" Chelsea asked and Lance gulped.
"It's a long story." Lance told her and Chelsea frowned. "How exactly do you intend to test us anyway? Are we going to duel you two?"
"Oh heavens no, we'd beat you in two turns….err no offense." Armed Dragon responded and Silent Magician casted a spell. "Fortunately the Spirit World has handpicked opponents for you." Armed Dragon added as a portal opened up. "No, you can't go through there, you skills aren't advanced enough for that, not even my protégé's skills are advanced enough."
"So they'll come through that portal?" Marcus asked and Armed Dragon nodded, soon enough a figure stepped through the portal before it revealed itself to be a woman with long blue hair wearing a green and black robe.
"That's Magical Exemplar (4/1700/1400)." Chloe realized as she stepped forward. "I guess that means I'm up first." Chloe said but Silent Magician shook her head.
"You are incorrect; Magical Exemplar isn't your opponent." Silent Magician told her and Chloe stepped back.
"I can speak for myself." Magical Exemplar said as she held up her arm and a green duel disk appeared. "As she was about to say, my opponent isn't Chloe, its Marcus." Exemplar said and Marcus grinned broadly.
"Sweet, I haven't dueled once since we got back." Marcus said as he activated his duel disk, Exemplar did likewise and Marcus frowned. "It's a safe bet that she's a Spellcaster user, thing is I don't have any cards that can deal with that type of monster." Marcus thought before they drew their opening hands.
*meanwhile outside the dorm*
"Brandon, first you wake us up past curfew and now you drag us to the Abandoned Dorm?" Theresa asked as she and Tyler followed him. "Are you sure you saw Chloe and Chelsea come this way?"
"I'm sure, it also helps that I keep my window open at night to help me sleep thus allowing me to hear their voices." Brandon told his girlfriend before blushing. "And I'm sorry about earlier…."
"Brandon, you apologized about fifty times already, it was beyond your control." Theresa told him and Brandon laughed nervously. "I just wish I came up with a better cover story than premature ejaculation!"
"Believe me, you're not the only one." Brandon said plainly as he tried to hide his embarrassment. "Wait, the doors shouldn't be open."
"This is weird; Chloe and Chelsea are troublemakers but breaking and entering? They'd never resort to something like that." Tyler said as he shook his head, he put a hand to the side of his mouth and called out. "Okay girls, you can come out now, maybe we can get you back to the dorms before 1:00am huh?" Tyler called out but frowned when he got no response, Theresa did likewise as she looked around.
"Girls, would you rather deal with us or security? We won't report you we just don't want you to get hurt." Theresa added but shook her head as she got no response. "They probably can't hear us, which means they are in the chambers beneath the dorm."
"Oh great, the place where the students disappeared, isn't that lovely?" Brandon sighed before looking around. "We'd better go in after them." Brandon added and the two students nodded in agreement before entering the dorm, they went down to the chambers and heard them talking. "Aha! Okay girls, jokes…over…." Brandon trailed off when he saw the scene in front of him.
"Either this is one weird joke or something weird is going on." Tyler said before approaching the students and clearing his throat. "Okay, who wants to be the one who gets to explain to us why they thought holding….whatever's going in here in the abandoned dorm?" Tyler asked and the students winced before turning around.
"Err, ask the duel monsters." Chloe said and Tyler looked at her oddly. "No seriously, ask them."
"Wait, Chloe, is that your Duel Spirit?" Theresa asked and Chloe nodded. "Okay Silent Magician, tell me what's going on."
"These five duelists are being selected for being the protégés for Duel Spirits, you may watch if you wish." Silent Magician told her and Tyler blinked.
"So Duel Spirits are real." Tyler said as he and the other two Obelisk Blue students stepped down the steps. "I thought they were a myth all this time."
"I assure you, we are very real." Silent Magician said as she turned to Tyler. "You have also been selected but you will be tested another time, as will you Brandon."
"That's nice…I guess." Brandon said as he scratched his head. "What do you think guys? Should we stay?"
"We'll stay, besides this way we can watch some duels and ensure they get back to their dorms safely." Tyler said as he sat down on the ground, Theresa nodded in agreement and Marcus grinned.
"I hope your ready Exemplar because I'm about to kick your ass back to the spirit world." Marcus told her as he looked over his hand.