Despite staying up late Chloe and Chelsea did get a relatively peaceful sleep, which was off course helped by the fact that they didn't have classes that morning.
Chelsea was already up having gotten changed out of the clothes she had slept in and was waiting for her laptop too boot up, she heard a tired yawn from behind her and turned around in time to see Chloe waking up. "Morning Chloe, I took the liberty of laying some fresh clothes out for you."
"Thanks." Chloe thanked her roommate despite being half asleep; she got changed out of her dirty clothes and into the clean ones whilst Chelsea tried to log in.
"What the hell?" Chelsea yelled out and Chloe blinked before putting on one of the few tops she had that didn't show of her stomach.
"What's up?" Chloe asked before walking over.
"This thing won't let me log in, I've tried every password combo I have and it won't work!" Chelsea groaned and Chloe bent over.
"Let me try." Chloe offered and Chelsea nodded as if to say "be my guest" before Chloe typed in her username and password only to get the same message Chelsea got. "What's going on?"
"You don't have any other passwords?" Chelsea asked and Chloe shook her head.
"I don't use the network much, remember?" Chloe pointed out and Chelsea nodded once she realized she was right. "What does the error message say anyway?" Chloe asked and Chelsea looked at the screen.
"This ID and password has been suspended until further notice." Chelsea read it aloud and turned to her roommate. "That's the same error message I got, thing is I've never gotten it before today and I doubt it's got something to do with the hardware."
"You tried hacking?" Chloe suggested and Chelsea shook her head.
"Nah, I'm above that shit." Chelsea said as she folded her arms. "Besides if we're in trouble…oh crap, you don't think they caught us on the tapes last night do you?!" Chelsea asked as her eyes widened, before Chloe could answer there was a knock at both doors.
"Disciplinary Action Squad, open up!" A voice rang out and the two girls' eyes widened.
"Err; does that answer your question?" Chloe asked with a gulp and Chelsea nodded. "They've got both exits covered!"
"We may as well face the music then, I'll answer the guys on this side you answer the guys on the balcony." Chelsea told her and Chloe nodded before the two girls answered the doors. "Hi guys, what I can do for….."
"Chelsea Cunningham, Chloe Richardson, we need you to come with us now." The squad leader interrupted her and Chelsea blinked. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way ladies; trust me you won't like that hard way."
"We'll come along quietly." Chelsea sighed and Chloe nodded in agreement, the two girls followed the squad members to the main building and gulped when they realized just where they were going. "That's…"
"That's Martin's office." Chloe realized as her eyes widened, the squad members pushed them along and they followed them to the office, the squad leader opened the door and let them in…and they quickly realized that they weren't alone as the other students who were at the Abandoned Dorm where there as well but the teachers weren't. "You got a visit from the D.A.S. too huh?"
"Yeah, and I think we all know why." Brandon said with a nod as he glanced around. "This is bad guys, they don't normally send in the D.A.S. unless a major rule's been broken."
"We know, and I don't like it." Marcus grunted as he folded his arms. "You know what happens to students who get the D.A.S. sent after them? The majority of the time they're expelled."
"And if that happens our careers as duelists will be dead in the water." Tyler added with a scowl. "That's not the thing that concerns me most believe it or not, no, what has me concerned is how we're going to explain last night's events."
"We'll think of something." Lance added with a frown. "There's only one teacher who'd believe the Duel Spirit story and that's Hamden, last I checked he has a class every morning."
"Yeah that's not exactly helping." Andreas commented as he shook his head, before anyone could say anything the five teachers entered the room and took a seat. "This is not going to be pleasant, at all." Andreas thought with a frown, Martin said nothing at first before handing out the security camera footage from last night.
"Care to explain why the eight of you were seen outside your dorms past curfew and outside the Abandoned Dorm?" Martin asked and the students looked at the pictures.
"Silent Magician's not in any of the pictures from the Abandoned Dorm." Chloe thought as she looked at the pictures. "The security cameras must lack the ability to see Duel Spirits for some reason." Chloe thought before turning to the teachers. "Err….."
"It was a stupid joke." Chelsea said with a sigh as she looked at the teachers. "After Chloe came back to our dorm room from Duel Theory yesterday we started talking about life at the Academy and we somehow ended up talking about the Abandoned Dorm, long story short we decided to check it out." Chelsea added earning herself odd looks from the teachers.
"You decided to check out a dorm where several students went missing years ago? A dorm I might add that has fallen into disarray and is slated for demolition?" Jeff asked with a frown and Chelsea gulped before nodding. "That doesn't explain how the others ended up there."
"I can answer that." Lance chimed in and the teachers turned to him. "During gym class me, Andreas and Marcus overheard the girls talking about it, we realized how stupid the idea was and we went to talk them out of it." Lance added and Tyler took it as his cue to continue.
"As for me, Brandon and Theresa we were having a late night study session in Brandon's room when we overheard the other students talking about it." Tyler said and the other two Obelisk Blue Students nodded.
"Once we realized where they were going we went after them in an attempt to make sure that they didn't get hurt." Theresa added and the teachers turned their attention to her.
"And at what point did the Shadow Duels start?" Martin asked and the students blinked in confusion. "The technicians detected that Chelsea, Marcus, Andreas, Lance and Chloe where dueling whilst the seven of you were down there, usually at that point the technicians would shut off your duel disks remotely but something was blocking it."
"We're not sure." Chelsea said as she turned to the teachers. "One minute we were arguing over how stupid the idea was the next we were fighting for our lives in Shadow Duels, once we won we ran off back to our dorms."
"You were forced into these duels?" Tracy asked and the five students nodded. "And what about the Obelisk Blue Students? They were down there and yet they didn't duel."
"We were able to escape the attention of whatever had forced them into the Shadow Duels." Brandon responded with a sigh. "We stayed behind to give them our support."
"It was a stupid idea that almost ended up costing us big time." Chelsea added with a frown. "And that's definitely the last time we'd ever consider doing something like that."
"That's good, because this may be your final few days at the Academy." Martin said sternly and the students blinked. "You violated curfew, broke into an off limits area of the island, to be frank you should be thankful that we talked Chancellor Wilkins into not pressing charges." Martin added and the students' eyes widened when it hit them. "Instead you are all facing possible expulsion."
"However because of the circumstances we will be giving all of you a second chance." Jeff added as he turned to them. "In five days the seven of you will duel in the official duel field, if you win then you can stay at the Academy and your records will be wiped, lose and you may as well start looking for another school." Jeff added and the students' eyes widened, however the one who was taken it the hardest was Chelsea.
"But….." Chelsea trailed off before sighing. "I agree to your terms."
"What she said." Chloe added and the other students nodded.
"Very well, your access to the Duel Academy network will be reinstated in a few hours and you can use the card shop to help you prepare." Martin said with a nod before frowning. "However I should warn you, these duels won't be easy."
"We understand." Lance said with a nod as did the other students. "Can we go?"
"Yes but your parents will be called; we'll let you know when they arrive." Martin added and the students left the room and headed straight back to their dorms, Chelsea entered the dorm room first and Chloe followed her in only to hesitate when she heard Chelsea sobbing.
"Chelsea, are…are you okay?" Chloe asked as she turned to her roommate, Chelsea turned to her roommate and Chloe closed the door behind her.
"I….I just have something in my eye." Chelsea said as she looked at her roommate. "That's not going to work on you is it?"
"No, it's not; I used that line more than enough times to know that it never works." Chloe shook her head as Chelsea sat down on the bottom bunk, Chloe sat next to her and sighed. "Chelsea, you listened to me when I told you about my childhood and my encounter with my biological dad, it's time I returned the favor."
"You won't tell anyone else?" Chelsea asked and Chloe nodded. "Okay, you know how I was kicked out of three other schools before coming to Duel Academy right?"
"Yeah, you told me." Chloe nodded and Chelsea sighed.
"Before I even took the written test my parents warned me that this was my last chance, either I'd behave myself here or they'd enroll me in Military School." Chelsea sighed as she turned to her roommate. "I…..I can't go through that, I just can't!" Chelsea said in between sobs and
"You won't, we'll just have to train extra hard to make sure that we won't be expelled." Chloe reassured her and Chelsea grinned before wiping away the tears. "Besides it's not our fault we ended up there in the first place."
"Yeah, it's Silent Magician's fault….." Chelsea trailed off before getting an idea. "Is there a way for all of us to chat with the Duel Spirits?"
"I don't know and to be honest I never tried." Chloe sighed as she searched through her deck and produced her copy of Silent Magician Level 8. "If we do try that we're going to have to try it somewhere out of the way so that no one thinks we're crazy."
"Bit too late for that." Chelsea joked before there was a knock at the door. "Okay, somehow I doubt that our parents got here that quickly!"
"Yeah, the Academy Ship may be fast but it isn't that fast." Chloe agreed before standing up and answering the door, she saw Beth at the door with a frown on her face. "Good morning Beth, here for Chelsea?"
"I'm here for both of you actually." Beth said as she folded her arms. "It didn't take long for word to spread about what you and the boys from Ra Yellow and Obelisk Blue, not to mention Theresa, were up too last night." Beth added and the two girls winced. "Look, I'm not here to yell at either of you even if it was a stupid decision that landed the two of you and the students from Ra Yellow and Obelisk Blue in this mess to begin with, what I am here to do is help you prepare for the duel because I don't want either of you to get expelled."
"Thanks, I get the feeling that we're going to need all the help we need." Chloe said before stepping aside to let Beth in, Chelsea glanced up at her girlfriend and sighed. "She's been taking the possibility of being expelled pretty hard."
"I don't blame her." Beth said sympathetically before sitting down next to Chelsea. "Don't worry babe, as long as I'm here they'll have a hell of a fight on their hands if they want to kick you out."
"Thanks Beth, like Chloe said we'll need all the help we can get." Chelsea said before realizing something. "Chloe didn't Martin say that our ID Tags have been reinstated?"
"Yeah but it won't be for a few more hours." Chloe reminded her before pausing. "Then again Maria was there, maybe she sped things along for us." Chloe remembered before Chelsea went over to the laptop and trying one of her passwords, she grinned when she saw that she had access.
"Perfect, now why did you want to check that?" Chelsea asked as she turned to her roommate, Chloe returned the grin before pausing.
"Maybe the others have sent out e-mails regarding what could happen." Chloe suggested and Chelsea checked her e-mails.
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Chelsea agreed before looking through her e-mails. "Okay, Spam, Spam, Spam, here we go, e-mail from Tyler with the others under CC." Chelsea opened up the e-mail after deleting the Spam e-mails. "He wants to meet with us."
"And by that he means the two of us and the other students?" Chloe asked and Chelsea nodded whilst Beth walked over in order to read it herself. "Where's the meeting place?"
"His room at the boy's dorm, he's added that Cameron, Jessica and Thomas have classes until later on this evening so with any luck we won't bump into them." Chelsea added as she finished reading the e-mail. "And that he wants us to bring our Duel Disks."
"He probably has the same idea I do." Beth said as she read the e-mail. "Send him an e-mail back saying that I want to come as well, if I'm going to help you girls I may as well help out all of you."
"Good idea." Chelsea said as she started typing the e-mail to Tyler. "Crap, I just realized something, Lance and Andreas's partners for the tournament are going to be pissed at them for this."
"Yeah, no kidding, at least my tag partner's also in trouble." Chloe said good naturedly and Chelsea shook her head before sending the e-mail, turning off her laptop and standing up. "Let's go."
*meanwhile at the Ra Yellow boys dorm*
"LANCE I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!" Evan yelled out over the sounds of Exodus that Lance had been blaring ever since he came back to the dorm, Evan wasn't as angry as Chelsea had assumed but he was still upset. "LANCE, I'M NOT MAD I JUST WANT TO TALK!"
"Fine, fine, I'm coming out." Lance grumbled before turning off the music and opening the door. "Do I get a prize for guessing why you're here?"
"Lance, what were you thinking? Jeopardizing your place at Duel Academy and our team for your girlfriend and her roommate?" Evan asked and Lance face-faulted. "Was it something I said?"
"First off, I don't care what the tabloids say, nothing happened between me and Chloe in Battle City." Lance grumbled as he got up. "Second I just wanted to make sure my friends didn't get hurt, nothing more."
"Okay, fine, I'll take your word for it." Evan sighed as he glanced around. "But you risked expulsion at best and being arrested at worse and let's not go into the rumor that you, Chelsea, Andreas and Marcus got into shadow duels."
"Wait, rumors? I guess the teachers left the part where Chelsea lied about the Shadow Duels out." Lance thought as he folded his arms. "Honestly Evan I don't have any idea what happened when we arrived at the Abandoned Dorm but trust me, I have no intention of getting expelled." Lance added before wincing when he saw a familiar person approaching. "Oh great, this is exactly what I don't need."
"What? Your mother's behind me?" Evan asked but his question was answered by Lance's mother clearing her throat. "Ah, I'll leave you too it." Evan said before walking off. "Oh and I almost forgot, Tyler wants to meet you in his room at the Obelisk Blue Boy's Dorm, he asked me to tell you when you didn't respond to his e-mail."
"Thanks for the memo, when you head back tell him that I'll be running late due to mom yelling my ear off." Lance told him and Evan nodded before running off. "Err, hi mom." Lance gulped as he turned to his mother. "Look I know I fucked up big time so just get it out of your system."
"Lance, I realize you're in big trouble." His mom sighed as she looked at her son. "But no matter what happens I'll be supportive of you every step of the way."
"You will?!" Lance asked before shaking his head. "Off course you will, considering how hard you fought to get me, Mike and Sophie back from Social Services I shouldn't be surprised."
"And don't you forget it." His mom added sternly. "Now didn't you have a meeting to attend too?"
"Right, I'll go deliver the news to Andreas and Marcus before I make my way over." Lance said with a nod before going over to his friend's rooms.
*meanwhile at the Obelisk Blue Boy's Dorm*
Tyler hit the send button and watched as his reply to Chelsea's e-mail about Beth helping them made its way to her inbox, he had agreed to it as he too realized that they would need all the help they could get in the coming days.
"I can only think of one problem and that's how to explain it to Beth if we accidently let what really happened last night slip." Tyler thought as he rested his hands behind his head. "They should be here in a few minutes so I should have some time to think things over." Tyler thought but any ideas about having time to be alone with his thoughts were shattered when he got a Skype call. "Who would call me on Skype this early?" Tyler thought before looking. "Father, off course, I should've known." Tyler thought before answering it, it was rare that the elder Kaiba found the time to call him due to how busy he was but apparently the news of his son's possible expulsion had put any other plans on hold, sure enough the elder Kaiba appeared on screen. "Hello father."
"Let's cut to the chase Tyler." The elder Kaiba said bluntly and Tyler nodded. "Word has reached me and the other parents about your little stunt last night."
"I expected as much." Tyler sighed as he looked at his dad. "I have called the other students over so that we can discuss our options and prepare for the duels, I certainly have no intention of being expelled and I'm confident that I can speak for the other students who were there last night."
"That's a smart plan; however you know I can make the punishments go away with my connections." The elder Kaiba offered and Tyler frowned.
"Father we discussed this when I enrolled, I don't want any special favors just because I'm the stepson of a famous duelist who just so happened to found the Academy." Tyler said and the elder Kaiba remained silent. "I guess what I'm saying is, thanks but no thanks."
"Remember, the offer still stands if you change your mind." The elder Kaiba responded and Tyler remained silent. "At the very least allow me to send over some cards from your personal stash, even if it is to help your friends." Kaiba added and Tyler stroked his chin.
"All right, expect an e-mail within the hour containing the cards I want." Tyler told him and his father nodded, before they could say anything else there was a knock at the door. "I'll have to cut this short father, that's probably one of the students I called over."
"I understand." Kaiba said with a nod before cutting the call short, the door opened and Brandon and Theresa stepped in followed by the three Osiris Red Students. "Glad you could make it, any signs of Lance, Marcus and Andreas?"
"I sent Lance a text a few minutes back, apparently they are being delayed by Damien having a go at Andreas because of this whole mess." Chloe answered as she sat down on the bed. "Oh and word's reached our parents."
"I know that, I was just talking to my father on Skype." Tyler said with a nod. "I'm guessing you girls where fortunate enough to not bump into your parents on the way over?"
"Either that or they're not on the island yet." Chelsea responded as she sat down next to Chloe. "One thing's for sure, I'm not looking forward to when my parents do arrive."
"I can sympathize with that." Tyler said just as Andreas, Lance and Marcus entered the room. "Chloe told us about the text you sent her Lance."
"Good, saves me the trouble of explaining why we're late." Lance said with a nod before noticing Beth. "You volunteered to help as well?"
"Yeah, pretty much." Beth said with a nod. "Wait, as well?"
"Kimberly sent me a text saying that she and Nathan want to help and are on their way over, I think it's a safe bet that they want to pay us back for helping them get Nathan's soul back." Lance responded before sitting down on the sofa next to Tyler's mini fridge. "Mind if I help myself Tyler?"
"Make yourself at home." Tyler told him and Lance started rummaging through the mini fridge. "It's good that we have some additional help, we're going to need all the help we can get if we want to stay at the Academy." Tyler added before turning around. "I'm not going to lie to you; it doesn't look good, only a handful of students have managed to win their expulsion duels."
"Yeah, I gathered as much." Chelsea said with a nod. "So will we be facing other students or the teachers or even the test proctors?"
"Hard to say, sometimes it's one of the three options you just listed, other times they bring in pro duelists to make sure they have earned the right to still call themselves Duel Academy Students." Brandon commented with a frown. "I wouldn't worry about the last option though, the problem with that is finding pro duelists who have the time, aren't otherwise preoccupied or can be brought in cheaply and even then they usually save that option encase a major rule has been broken."
"Yeah those are good points, except for one thing, as far as major tournaments go the Pro Leagues have been quiet since Battle City ended." Tyler responded with a frown. "Are options are as follows, we train as hard as we can in between lessons and make sure that our decks are as powerful as they can be or we do nothing and increase the likelihood of expulsion."
"No doubt about it, we'll be training hard." Chloe said and the others nodded in agreement. "I don't know about the rest of you but I've come too far as a duelist to be kicked out now."
"Those are my sentiments exactly." Tyler said before turning to his computer. "Before you arrived I was looking up cards that would complement your decks, I have to say that the most trouble I've had is with Chelsea's deck as Thunder Type support cards aren't easy to get and Theresa's decks since she has over twenty."
"Don't worry about it, right now I'm open to any help I can get." Chelsea said with a nod. "So can those cards be ordered online or do we have to get them at the shop?"
"I can order them online and have them here by tomorrow, don't worry about paying me back just use them to ensure that you'll stay here." Tyler told them and the students nodded. "Now as for the duels, do you want to wait for Kimberly and Nathan to arrive before we get started or start without them?"
"I think we'd be better off waiting for them." Chloe chimed in with a nod. "Besides we have other issues to address, don't we?" Chloe pointed out making it clear to the other students who were at the abandoned dorm that she meant the duel spirits.
"We'll address that once we have some privacy." Tyler responded before noticing the confused look on Beth's face. "Trust me, it's a long story."
"I'll take your word for it." Beth said with a nod before there was a knock at the door; Chloe stood up and answered the door to find a pair of familiar faces, both Obelisk Blue Students.
"Oh hi Kimberly, Nathan, Lance mentioned that you were coming around." Chloe greeted the step siblings.
"Good, that means we can cut to the chase." Kimberly said as Chloe stepped aside to let the siblings in, they entered the room and Kimberly glanced around the room before her eyes rested on Chelsea and Chloe. "I've heard of some stupid ideas in my time here at Duel Academy but deciding to check out the Abandoned Dorm as a joke?"
"Yeah, we get it; we were stupid to even consider doing it." Chelsea said defensively as she glared at the taller woman. "Besides I thought you two where here to help us prepare for the duels, not rub our stupid idea in our faces."
"We are; we're just having a bit of trouble believing that you'd do something that stupid in the first place." Kimberly responded and Chelsea's eyes narrowed.
"Okay that's enough." Nathan said as he got in between the two women. "As ill-advised as their little adventure was arguing will get us nowhere fast, not that but I'm willing to bet they've gotten an earful from the teachers about it earlier this morning and that they don't want another earful about it, so for the purposes of preparation please drop it."
"You're right." Kimberly said as the tensions between the two women simmered down a bit. "In fact I probably should've worded that better."
"You think?" Chelsea asked bluntly and Kimberly's eyes narrowed.
"Don't mind Chelsea, she's been on edge ever since the meeting this morning." Chloe quickly chimed in and Kimberly turned to her. "Besides, all this arguing is distracting us from our intended goal."
"She has a point." Nathan agreed before turning to the others. "Has anyone else volunteered to help train you guys or are we alone?"
"No-one's volunteered besides my girlfriend." Chelsea said before motioning to Beth. "I don't know if Lance and Andreas's partners will chime in, from what I've heard they were pretty pissed off at their partners, Damien especially."
"If they do decide to chime in they'll be welcome to do so, we're going to need all the help we can get and they can't stay mad at them forever." Tyler added with a frown before getting an idea. "Chloe, those Osiris Red Students you helped out during Duel Theory yesterday, didn't they give you their cell phone numbers once you got out of detention?"
"Yeah they did, I don't know how they'll help but I'll see if they are available." Chloe said before getting her mobile out.
"You'd be better off texting them, last time I saw them was when they were entering Gym Class so they'll have their cell phones off." Kimberly told her and Chloe nodded.
"Thanks for the warning." Chloe said with a nod before texting the both of them. "How long ago did Gym Class start?"
"About an hour ago give or take." Nathan shrugged his shoulders. "They should be out of gym class in a half hour by my watch."
"No sense waiting for them to respond in other words." Tyler said before standing up. "The duel fields are currently being used in a lesson so they are a no go for now; I suggest we train in the north side of the island."
"Are you crazy? We don't want to get into more trouble!" Marcus pointed out and Tyler put his hands up as if to say "hear me out".
"No, we don't, however the security guards will be too busy patrolling the halls of the main building to notice us going there and I know a way there that has no cameras." Tyler responded and the others nodded. "Besides since the area's off limits it's a perfect place to duel without attracting any attention."
"Yeah but that's as long as we avoid the volcano and the abandoned dorm." Kimberly added as she and her brother went to leave. "We'll head over there in order to find a clearing and we'll text you when we find a dueling site."
"I want to come as well." Beth said standing up. "I might be able to help."
"Good, see you guys there." Kimberly said with a nod before the three students left, once they left Tyler turned to the others.
"Okay, now that we have some privacy." Tyler said as he sat back down. "I want to try something."
"Okay, what?" Chloe asked.
"Chloe, can you see if you can summon your duel spirit? We need to ask her about what really happened last night." Tyler asked and Chloe blinked. "She seemed to be the one in charge of the whole thing alongside Theresa's Armed Dragon Duel Spirit, I'd ask Theresa to summon her Duel Spirit but there's hardly enough room in here for a 10ft tall dragon." Tyler added and Chloe nodded before standing up and walking to the center of the room.
"Okay but stand back, I don't want to accidentally hurt anyone whilst activating my duel disk in an enclosed space." Chloe added before waiting for the others to give her some room, once they did she turned on her duel disk and searched through her deck. She found her signature card and placed it on the Duel Disk slot, seconds later Silent Magician Level 8 appeared before them.
"Chloe, why have you summoned me when we're not in the middle of a Duel?" Silent Magician asked before looking around and seeing the angry faces of the students. "Actually I can think of a couple of better questions…"
"We're asking the questions here." Tyler interrupted her as he walked up to the Duel Spirit. "For starters you can answer this, why didn't you tell us that the Duels that happened last night where Shadow Duels?"
"I beg your pardon?!" The duel spirit asked clearly offended by what she was being accused off. "You think I'd put my protégé and her friends in mortal danger?!"
"That's what the evidence is pointing towards." Brandon added and the duel spirit turned to him. "The technicians picked up the Duel Activity whilst we were down there, they tried to put a stop to it with the shutoff signal but something was blocking the signal and they came to the conclusion that that something was a Shadow Duel." Brandon added and Silent Magician's eyes widened once it dawned on her.
"Oh no, students, please understand that you have it all wrong." Silent Magician said as she realized what she had caused. "The Spirit World has laws not unlike the laws of your world, there's only one crime with a more severe punishment than murder in that world and that's causing a Shadow Duel."
"So there's a law against it, that doesn't prove your innocence, people break laws all the time." Chelsea pointed out and Silent Magician shook her head.
"Do you know how long it's been since a Duel Spirit last caused a Shadow Duel?" Silent Magician asked and the students shook their heads. "200 years, that's how severe the punishment is and it's even worse if that spirit has a Spirit Partner like I do."
"That doesn't explain why they couldn't send the shutoff signal to our duel disks." Brandon pointed out and the magician shook her head.
"I had anticipated that Duel Academy officials would try to interfere." Silent Magician said with a frown. "I didn't have much time so I cast a magical barrier around the abandoned dorm that would block the signals for the duration of the duels, it was easy enough to cast and wouldn't take me very long at all, and I simply couldn't risk any interference."
"I think next time you plan something like that you should do your spells in advance." Theresa pointed out and Silent Magician nodded.
"That's an excellent point." Silent Magician conceded before turning to the others. "Is that everything you need to ask me?"
"Not quite, we believe you don't get me wrong." Tyler nodded and he and the others calmed down. "But because of your stunt last night we are all facing possible expulsion, did you consider that possibility?"
"I see but believe me it was never my intention to get any of you in trouble." Silent Magician told them as she looked directly at them. "I intended to cast another spell that would disable the security cameras outside the Abandoned Dorm and the main building for the duration of the duels, however as I mentioned before time constraints got in the way and I was forced to use the barrier as a backup plan."
"I don't understand." Theresa said clearly confused.
"You remember how Chloe and Chelsea where originally set to team up against their opponents?" Silent Magician asked and the students nodded. "Greter was all too happy to volunteer for the job but no one wanted to team with him." Silent Magician added with a frown. "By the time Reynkor volunteered it was too late, I had no time to prepare the spell and the Spellcasters in the spirit world refused to allow me more time."
"And he ended up pulling out of the team at the last minute anyway." Chloe added with a frown. "I'm starting to see why you were so pissed off at that news."
"Indeed and I apologize deeply for all that's happened, you have my word that myself and the other duel spirits will be assisting you in your expulsion duels and any duels that you take part in to prepare yourself for the duels." Silent Magician said with a sad and regretful nod, before anyone could anything else Chloe's ringtone rang out and she grabbed her cellphone with her free hand, she saw that it was a text and she read it.
"It's Kimberly; they've found a spot where we can duel in privacy." Chloe said before turning to her Duel Spirit. "Thanks for the info but we have preparations to do."
"I won't keep you any longer." Silent Magician said with a nod before vanishing, Chloe turned off her duel disk and turned to the others.
"If the technicians ask why a Duel Disk was activated in my room tell them that you've been having technical problems and I volunteered to look at it." Tyler instructed her and Chloe nodded. "My step-father made sure that I knew my way around Duel Disks and technology in general by my sixteenth birthday, the officials know this so it won't be too hard for them to except."
"Right, for now let's go." Chloe said with a nod before she and the others made their way to the north side of the island this time being careful to avoid the cameras since Tyler knew where they were and was only caught on the cameras last night because it was too dark for him to see the cameras. "I'm going to send Kimberly a text so that she can give us a direction to head in."
"Good idea." Tyler nodded with approval as he waited for her to text the Obelisk Blue student, the North Side of the island was, besides the dorm and the volcano, entirely forested with a few clearings here and there, Duel Academy had intended to clear the forest to make way for additional buildings starting with the abandoned dorm but the disappearances put a stop to that, whether or not they would start up again once the dorm was finally demolished was anyone's guess but at the moment the students only came here for two things, either to duel with privacy or for sex when the areas of the beaten track weren't an option for whatever reason. "Since most of the students are in class right now I doubt we'll bump into any horny couples." Tyler thought just as Chloe got a response.
"They're waiting for us in a clearing to the northwest of here." Chloe told them and the students nodded. "They haven't started without us so we won't be missing much if we take our time getting there."
"Yeah, besides any lessons we have later on today." Theresa pointed out and Chloe laughed nervously as the two girls followed the guys to the clearing.
"Oh right, didn't think about that." Chloe admitted as she looked around. "So Theresa, besides the volcano and the dorm why is the North Side off limits?"
"No one knows for sure except the staff and they aren't exactly talkative about it." Theresa answered with a shrug. "The volcano hasn't erupted in years and there's nothing inherently dangerous about the dorm once you get past the shadow games and even then there hasn't been one of those down there in years."
"So in other words, it's a mystery." Chloe shrugged as she followed the taller woman. "There has to be some theories though."
"Yeah, there are, nothing conclusive but what can I say? The students here have active imaginations." Theresa shrugged as they neared the clearing. "There's a legend going around that, at night, duel spirits like to patrol the northern boarders and any duelist lucky enough to meet a friendly one and defeat it in a Duel gets a friend and partner for the rest of their life but as we've seen with our duel spirits that's nonsense."
"Yeah, and I don't think I want to hear the part of the legend that says what happens when they meet an unfriendly one." Chloe said with a gulp as they entered the clearing, Beth and Kimberly where chatting whilst Nathan was going through his deck. "I'm guessing you were able to avoid the cameras as well?"
"Once you know where to look it's like stealing candy from a baby." Nathan shrugged his shoulders as he greeted the students. "We've decided how we're going to decide who duels who. Kimberly said you guys used a similar method when training for the Battle City Tournament."
"Oh, you mean drawing cards and whoever draws the strongest and weakest cards will face off." Brandon realized and Nathan nodded. "No offense to Chelsea but is it really fair to do that when her deck is practically full of low level monsters?"
"We discussed that and we came up with a solution for it." Kimberly chimed in and the others turned to her. "I checked the schedule and our first match of the day is in an hour or so, so for now this'll be the only duel."
"That works for me." Chelsea shrugged before the present duelists drew there cards, Chelsea drew Wattcobra (1000), Chloe drew Salvage Warrior (1900), Marcus drew Red-Eyes Wyvern (1800), Brandon drew Dark Crusader (1600), Theresa drew Axe Dragonite (2000). "Please don't put me against Theresa; please don't put me against Theresa…" Chelsea thought with a nervous gulp knowing that it was highly unlikely that she'd win this match, Tyler drew a monster that she didn't recognize but it had 1300 attack points ruling him out, Kimberly drew Mad Archfiend (1800) and Beth drew Lava Golem (3000). "Thank god! I'd take a match with my girlfriend over one with Theresa any day of the week." Chelsea thought before the duelists returned their monsters to their decks.
"So it's settled, Chelsea will take on Beth!" Tyler said as the other students gave the girls some room, Chelsea grinned before activating her duel disk as did Beth.
"Beth, just because we're lovers doesn't mean I'm going easy on ya, just a fair warning." Chelsea said with a grin as she drew her opening hand; Beth returned the grin as she drew her opening hand.
"I wouldn't want you too." Beth said as she looked over her hand. "You know what? You go first Chelsea."
"All right, I will!" Chelsea said with a grin before drawing her card. "This hand's not half bad, but knowing Beth using Wattcine will be a waste of time." Chelsea thought before picking up three cards. "I set two cards facedown and summon Wattgiraffe in attack mode!" Chelsea played the card and the electrically charged giraffe appeared on the field (4/1200/100). "That ends my turn." Chelsea announced and Beth drew her card.
"I see your still relying on your old standbys." Beth commented as she looked over her opening hand. "Unfortunately for you I know all about Wattgiraffe's abilities."
"Knowing's one thing, being able to do anything about it is another matter entirely." Chelsea pointed out and Beth shrugged.
"True enough." Beth agreed before picking up three cards. "Then let's see how you handle this, I set two cards facedown and summon my ace monster, Nurse Reficule, The Fallen One!" Beth played the cards and a woman with long blue hair appeared on the field, she was covered head to toe in bandages, was wearing a small purple dress and had two sets of wings (4/1400/600).
"That's your ace monster?" Lance asked with a look of confusion on his face. "Either she has an effect to make up for her low attack…."
"She does and I'm about to demonstrate it with this Spell Card." Beth interrupted him as she played a card. "It's called Rain of Mercy, normally this would give us both an extra one thousand life-points but with Reficule on the field Chelsea takes a thousand points of damage instead." Beth explained as rain rained down on them, Beth sighed as her life-points increased to 9000 whilst Chelsea winced as her life-points dropped to 7000. "Refreshing isn't it?"
"Yeah, for you maybe it's refreshing." Chelsea retorted with an annoyed grunt as Beth sent her spell to the graveyard. "Let me guess, you're following it up with an attack?"
"Well yeah, can't have you retaliating with that giraffe of yours." Beth shrugged before pointing to her monster. "Take her monster down!" Beth commanded and the woman took flight…
"Sorry but no dice!" Chelsea interrupted her as her trap flipped up. "I activate Waboku; this protects my monster and my life-points!" Chelsea announced as the three priestesses blocked the path of the nurse who reluctantly returned to her side of the field.
"Fine, I'll end my turn at that." Beth said once she gave her two remaining cards a once over, Chelsea said nothing before drawing her card.
"So that monster's basically a monster version of Bad Reaction to Simochi?" Lance theorized and Tyler nodded.
"It seems that way, only problem is her below average attack points." Tyler nodded with a frown. "But since most of Chelsea's monsters specialize in attacking directly I don't see that being a problem."
"Before you do anything I activate this trap card, Paths of Destiny!" Beth's trap card flipped up and Chelsea added her drawn card to her hand before retrieving a coin from her pocket. "I see you remember its effect from our last duel." Beth commented as she retrieved a coin off her own.
"Yeah, basically we both toss a coin, if it lands on heads the person who flips it gets heads then she'd gain 2000 life-points, tails and we'd lose 2000 life-points." Chelsea said with a frown. "But with Nurse Reficule on the field I'll lose life-points regardless."
"Good, since I'm feeling generous I'll let you flip first." Beth commented and Chelsea shrugged before flipping her coin, it landed on heads and Chelsea grimaced as her life-points dropped to 5000. "Right then, it's my turn." Beth said before flipping her coin, Beth grimaced once it landed and Chelsea grinned when she saw Beth's life-points drop to 7000.
"Let me guess, it landed on tails?" Chelsea asked and Beth winced before nodding. "Whilst we're on the subject of traps I'll activate my own, go Wattcannon!" Chelsea activated her trap and the cartoonish looking cannon appeared on the field.
"That thing's going to be a pain." Beth said with a frown as Chelsea looked over her hand, Beth sent her trap to the graveyard. "But I can live with it."
"Live with this! I summon Wattcobra in attack mode!" Chelsea played the card and the electrified snake appeared on the field (4/1000/500). "My cobra may be too strong for Wattcanon's effect to kick in but with two monsters with the ability to attack directly that's not an issue!" Chelsea added and the two monsters charged towards Beth going straight past Nurse Reficule and attacking Beth bringing her life-points down to 4800. "Now, do you remember my monsters' effects?"
"I do, when Wattgiraffe successfully attacks my life-points I can't use any effects until you end your turn, when Wattcobra successfully attacks my life-points you get to add a Watt Monster to your hand." Beth said with a nod as Chelsea searched through her deck, she found the card she was looking for and added it to her hand before shuffling the deck.
"Well in that case I'll end my turn at that." Chelsea announced and Beth drew her card. "Her monster may be the strongest on the field but what she doesn't know is that I have Honest in my hand." Chelsea thought before glancing down at the card. "Doesn't matter what monster she attacks, her ace monster will be toast."
"I wouldn't get too cocky if I where you Chelsea." Wattchimera's voice rang out and Chelsea frowned. "I know this isn't your first duel against her."
"Yeah I know." Chelsea responded as she looked over her hand. "And I also know that she uses an Anti-Cure deck, Nurse Reficule may be her ace monster but it's hardly her strongest…and besides I'm still kind of pissed that our little meeting last night may result in my expulsion."
"Yes I am aware of that, my sincerest apologies. " Wattchimera responded and she frowned. "You have my support for when your turn comes up in a few days."
"That's good to know." Chelsea thought before looking up at Beth who was still looking over her hand. "What's the matter? Can't decide on your next move?"
"Yeah, something along those lines, I start by activating my Spell Card Upstart Goblin." Beth played the card and drew once. "Normally you'd gain a thousand life-points right now…"
"But not with Nurse Reficule on the field." Chelsea interrupted as her life-points dropped to 4000. "If that's all you've got then I'm disappointed, I was expecting a better challenge."
"Actually that's not all I've got." Beth said with a grin as she tossed the card she drew with Upstart Goblin at Chelsea. "Look familiar?" Beth asked and Chelsea looked at it once she caught it.
"Oh great, you drew Lava Golem? Oh this is going to suck!" Chelsea sighed before sending her two monsters to the graveyard; the two monsters vanished and in their place stood the might golem made of lava (8/3000/2500) and almost immediately the cage dropped down around Chelsea. "Normally I wouldn't complain about having a monster this strong on my side of the field but I know all about this thing's effect."
"True but it's like you said earlier, knowing's one thing, doing something about it is a different matter entirely!" Beth pointed out before switching Nurse Reficule to defense mode. "I shift my nurse into defense mode and I equip her with the Mist Body Spell Card!" The nurse knelt down and became shrouded in mist.
"I know what Mist Body does as well." Chelsea said with an annoyed scowl as she glared at the two monsters. "This is bad, as long as Lava Golem's on the field I'll lose a thousand life-points during my turn and as long as Mist Body's equipped to Nurse Reficule she can't be destroyed and any healing cards she plays in the next few turns will instead damage my life-points." Chelsea thought with a frown. "If I don't do something soon she'll be able to beat me without a single attack!"
"It seems her temper's starting to flare up again." Beth thought as her eyes narrowed. "She was never much of a graceful loser to begin with but with everything that's happening in a few days she's even more on edge than usual." Beth thought before looking at her hand. "I'll end my turn at that." Beth announced and Chelsea drew her card wincing as Lava Golem's effect brought her life-points down to 3000.
"All right, I have to think of something….." Chelsea thought before looking at her drawn card. "HUH? Lightning Recharge!? I've been after this card for months but the card shop never has it in stock….."
"You like it? Having a duel spirit partner does have its advantages." Wattchimera asked and Chelsea blinked before grinning.
"Like it? If this works I'll be in the driver's seat!" Chelsea thought before playing the card. "I activate a Spell Card called Lightning Recharge!" Chelsea played the card and the card's hologram appeared on the field depicting Wattcrobra and Wattchimera standing side by side as lightning flowed through them. "This spell card can only be activated if I have two Thunder Type monsters with less than 1500 attack points in my graveyard, in exchange for removing them from play I can draw two cards." Chelsea announced before pocketing Wattcobra and Wattgiraffe and drawing twice.
"Finally got your hands on that card huh? Well I hope for your sake that what you just drew was worth the trouble you must've gone through to get it." Beth commented and Chelsea just grinned as she looked at her cards.
"You have no idea." Chelsea said with a grin before playing a card. "You can take Lava Golem back because I'm sacrificing him to bring out Wattaildragon!" Chelsea picked up and tossed the card back at her girlfriend who sent it to her graveyard as soon as she caught it; once she did the massive golem vanished from the field and in its place stood the mighty dragon (6/2500/1000).
"So you were able to get rid of my Golem before he could completely drain your life-points." Beth said with a grin. "Too bad you can't destroy my nurse."
"Your right, I can't." Beth said before playing the second card she drew. "But with this combo you're going to wish I could, I equip Wattaildragon with Big Bang Shot!" Beth's eyes widened when she heard the card's name and Wattaildragon's attack increased to 2900. "Not only does it give my dragon a boost BUT it allows him to inflict piercing damage, Wattaildragon, show her when I mean!" Chelsea commanded and the dragon charged up its electrical charge.
"Big deal, I'll still survive with plenty of life-points to spare." Beth shrugged her shoulders and Chelsea's grin grew wider.
"You'll survive but you won't have plenty of life-points!" Chelsea responded before picking up her copy of Honest and turning it around. "Because by discarding this little guy from my hand I can add the attack points of Nurse Reficule to my dragon's attack points!" Beth's eyes widened as Wattaildragon's attack shot up to 4300 just before it launched its attack at Nurse Reficule, she survived thanks to Mist Body but the attack connected with Beth as well bringing her life-points down to 2100.
"Nicely done, another attack like that and the duel will be yours." Beth complemented her as she got to her feet. "But you seem to forget one thing, it's my turn next and for all you know I could draw a card that will win me the duel."
"Please, I can only think of one duelist with that kind of luck and that's the King of Games himself Yugi Motoh!" Chelsea scoffed as her dragon's attack dropped down to 2900. "I end my turn; enjoy your last turn of this duel"
"We'll see about that." Beth answered before drawing her card. "I set one card facedown and end my turn!" Beth set the card down and Chelsea drew her card.
"This is perfect! I'm one attack away from winning this duel!" Chelsea thought before looking at her dragon proudly. "Well Beth it's been fun but it's time for this duel to come to a close…"
"I couldn't agree more! I activate my trap card Gift Card!" Beth activated the trap and Chelsea's jaw practically hit the floor. "Normally this would give you three thousand life-points….."
"Yeah, yeah I know!" Chelsea interrupted before bracing herself for the card's effect, Nurse Reficule cast one last spell at Chelsea knocking her on her backside and sending her life-points down to zero. "Damn it, I almost had you!" Chelsea growled with annoyance as she punched the ground in frustration.
"Yeah, if I hadn't drawn Gift Card you would've won." Beth nodded in agreement as she deactivated her duel disk. "Don't beat yourself up babe, you pull another combo like that at your expulsion duel and you'll stay at the school for sure."
"Yeah, thanks for the words of encouragement." Chelsea grumbled as she got to her feet and deactivated her duel disk, they heard clapping behind them and turned around thinking it was the other students, instead it was Hamden.
"That was nicely done ladies." Hamden complemented them and the students panicked once it hit them. "Relax, I have no interest in reporting you, besides considering you're nowhere near the Abandoned Dorm and the volcano I doubt they'd bother punishing you."
"So why are you here then?" Tyler asked and Hamden frowned.
"I need to speak to the students facing expulsion in my office at the Osiris Red Boy's dorm, don't worry, I won't take up too much of your time." Hamden told them and the students exchanged uneasy looks. "This meeting may help you a lot in your upcoming expulsion duels; I suggest that you follow me." Hamden added and the students exchanged uneasy looks again before following him.