The rest of the day went by without a hitch for the most part, most of the students had accepted that the lie that Chelsea had told the teachers was just a simple mistake on the girl's part, a stupid mistake that dragged six other students into trouble with them but a stupid mistake none the less.
What was a hassle for Chloe was persuading Maria to give her the duel request form for her duel with Tyler, getting her to hand it over wasn't a problem it was getting her to sign off on a duel between a rookie and the school's best student that was the problem, she eventually relented but by the time she did it was past curfew meaning Chloe had to wait until tomorrow so she elected to stay up to work on it.
"Chloe, come to bed already." Chelsea groaned as she looked at her tired roommate, it was getting really late and Chloe was at the coffee table working on her request form. "We have classes tomorrow remember?"
"I know but trying to plead my case to Maria in between my other lessons didn't exactly leave me with a lot of time to work on it." Chloe said with a tired yawn. "I have class first thing tomorrow but as soon as I finish it I'll get the request form to Tyler."
"Assuming he'll even accept in the first place." Chelsea said before shaking her head. "How far along are you until you finish it?"
"I'm pretty much done; I only need him to sign it." Chloe said with a shrug and Chelsea looked at her oddly. "As for what I've been doing the past ten minutes, well I've been proofreading it."
"Right, most of the Obelisk Blues are sticklers for grammar." Chelsea nodded before yawning. "If you've been proofreading that thing for ten minutes and have found no errors than come to bed, I don't think the teachers will appreciate you attending class whilst half asleep."
"Yeah, I guess your right." Chloe admitted before setting the request form aside and turning off the lamp. "As long as I can avoid Cameron, Thomas and Jessica when I go to the dorm tomorrow I'm not complaining." Chloe said before climbing into bed.
"I hear that, good night." Chelsea called out to her roommate who said nothing in return; she glanced down and saw that she was already fast asleep. "Good, maybe now I can get some sleep myself!" Chelsea thought before leaning back on her bed.
*the next day*
Fortunately for her, Cameron, Jessica and Thomas where elsewhere on the island by the time Chloe reached the Obelisk Blue boy's dorm, she was getting odd looks for being the only Osiris Red Student around who wasn't teaming up with an Obelisk Blue Student but she didn't let it faze her, she had swapped out her non-stomach exposing top that she had worn yesterday in favor of a black version of the long sleeve top she had worn during most of the Battle City Tournament which she had worn because her first class off the day was gym and she wanted to avoid a repeat off her first time taking the class.
She had already tried Tyler's room but found out that he was elsewhere on the island from another Obelisk Blue Student who had volunteered to help her find him, she had reasoned that he was in class and decided to wait for him.
"Any luck?" Chloe turned around and saw the Obelisk Blue student, namely Daniel Troy, approaching her, Chloe shook her head.
"No, I thought he was in class so I thought I'd better wait for him but that was an hour ago." Chloe sighed in annoyance as she turned to the older student. "You have any ideas?"
"Yeah, I just heard that he's hanging out on the North Side of the Island, no idea why." Daniel told her and Chloe sighed in relief, he motioned for her to follow him and she did so. "So why do you want to see him anyway?" Daniel asked and she hesitated thinking that he'd try to talk her out of it like Maria did yesterday.
"Just to discuss the expulsion duels, that's all." Chloe told him and he shrugged as the two students went up the hill, that was partly the truth since the expulsion duels where part of the reason she was challenging Tyler, they eventually found Tyler who was in the middle of meditating. "Good morning Tyler." Chloe greeted him and he looked up.
"Morning Chloe, I heard you were hanging around my dorm but I assumed you were looking for Brandon." Tyler greeted her and Chloe grinned sheepishly, Tyler stood up and turned to the younger student. "What can I do for you?"
"Read this." Chloe said before handing over the Duel Request form that she had been working on, Tyler read over it and he looked at her with a look off surprise on his face.
"You intend to challenge me to a duel?" Tyler asked with a raised eyebrow, Daniel did a double take when he heard that.
"Wait, what?" Daniel said as he started sweating bullets. "Look Tyler, it was her idea, I didn't even know that was her intention."
"I see." Tyler said with a nod as he read over the request form. "Her reason for the challenge makes sense, whether or not she's ready for it is another question entirely." Tyler thought as he looked over the request form. "Chloe, before I make my decision, are you sure you want to go through with this?"
"Positive." Chloe said determinedly ignoring the odd looks she was getting from Daniel, Tyler considered it for a few minutes before reaching into his pocket and grabbing a pen. "What if he denies my request? What would I do then?" Chloe thought as he filled in the form.
"Tyler you can't honestly be considering this." Daniel told him and Chloe turned to him. "I mean, I like her as well but she's so out of her league going into this match it's not even funny."
"Daniel….." Tyler said sternly and Daniel shut up, satisfied Tyler turned to Chloe and handed back the Duel Request Form. "Your challenge is accepted Chloe." Tyler told her and she looked at the Duel Request Form too double check, sure enough Tyler had accepted the duel. "Be warned though, I won't be holding anything back and I expect the same from you."
"You got it, so where should we hold the duel?" Chloe asked and Tyler rubbed his chin, she knew that she would be in for a fight going into this duel but if she wanted to win the duel on Friday and stay at the school she needed the challenge.
"Meet me on the Osiris Red Duel Field." Tyler said and Chloe raised an eyebrow, she knew the Duel Fields where free right now but she was expecting him to name the Obelisk Blue Duel Field. "Do you have any objections?"
"No, I was just expecting you to name the Obelisk Blue Field, that's all." Chloe said honestly and Tyler shrugged.
"I don't mind either way, just figured you'd feel more comfortable on that duel field." Tyler answered and Chloe smiled.
"Yeah, the thing is I've never been to that Duel Field, hell I did all my training for the Battle City Tournament at the Obelisk Blue Field." Chloe told him and Tyler nodded.
"Very well, Obelisk Blue Duel Field it is." Tyler said with a nod. "I'll meet you there, Daniel she won't be let in there without the presence of an Obelisk Blue student."
"Say no more, I'll make sure the guards let her in." Daniel said before leading Chloe away, once Chloe was out of earshot Tyler reached into his pockets and produced two decks.
"You can come out now, I know you're here." Tyler called out and Brandon and Theresa emerged from a nearby clearing, Brandon had lipstick on his neck which told Tyler all he needed to know about why the couple where in that clearing. "It seems Chloe's pulling out all the stops to prepare herself for her duel this Friday."
"Yeah and it's not that I blame her one bit but dueling you? She had enough time dueling me the two times that we've faced each other." Theresa said with a frown as she leaned against the tree. "What deck do you plan to use?"
"I'm unsure at the moment." Tyler said as he looked over both decks. "I watched her progress during Battle City and she hasn't faced either of the cards in these decks."
"You want my advice? Chloe clearly challenged you because she wants a dose of the unexpected that comes from challenging someone whose skills she's only heard off before now." Brandon chimed in and Tyler turned to him. "I say you put her against a type she's unlikely to have heard of before to maximize the effect."
"You're right." Tyler agreed before loading the deck into his duel disk and returning the other deck to his pocket. "Now if you excuse me I have a duel to win." Tyler said before walking off.
*meanwhile at the Osiris Red Girl's Dorm*
Chelsea had the same gym class as Chloe but unlike her she had returned to the dorm room to rest up, by the time Chloe returned Chelsea was surfing the Internet on her laptop.
"Hey Chloe, let me guess, he refused right?" Chelsea asked as she turned to her roommate, Chloe shook her head and Chelsea did a double take. "He actually accepted?!"
"Yeah and I'm here to grab my side deck." Chloe said as she went over to the draw where she usually kept it, Daniel was standing nearby and offered Chelsea a friendly wave. "Before you ask he's going to accompany me to the Duel Field because of that rule that's in place."
"And you made a quick detour here." Chelsea realized and Chloe nodded. "I want to come as well; it's not every day you get to see the best student here duel."
"I'm guessing you're not talking about me." Chloe asked half-jokingly and Chelsea just grinned. Chloe made the necessary adjustments to her deck before turning around. "I'm guessing this duel will gather a large crowd?"
"You don't know the half of it, shall we go?" Daniel asked and Chloe nodded before she and Chelsea followed Daniel out of the Girl's Dorm and too the Obelisk Blue Duel Field, the guards let the students in without question once they realized that the girls where with Daniel and they entered the duel field. "Sorry for the delay Tyler, Chloe wanted to stop by her dorm room to grab her side deck."
"That's fine, she's here now and that's all that matters." Tyler told him as Daniel and Chelsea grabbed seats in the audience and Chloe hopped onto the duel field, Chloe started shuffling her deck as did Tyler. "So Chloe, from what I hear you're quite the fan of sword and sorcery epics?"
"Yeah, I am, why do you ask?" Chloe asked as she shuffled her deck.
"Well I know that that fact is reflected in your deck." Tyler continued as he finished shuffling his deck as did Chloe. "Personally I've always been more of a Sci-Fi fan and like you I reflect that in my deck."
"So you run an Alien Deck?" Chloe asked as the two duelists drew their opening hands, Tyler shook his head before looking over his hand.
"You will see in a moment." Tyler told her and Chloe frowned at that, more students were starting to pour in once they realized who was dueling which both Chloe and Tyler quickly noticed. "So, do you have any objections to me going first?"
"Go for it." Chloe shrugged her shoulders as Tyler drew an extra card. "I was going to ask if I could go first but what he said about his deck does make me wonder." Chloe thought as Tyler looked over his hand.
"Very well then, I begin by setting two cards facedown." Tyler set the two cards down and the holograms appeared on the field. "And I summon the Psychic monster known as Psychic Commander."
"Did you say Psychic?!" Chloe asked as the monster appeared on the field, it was a small man in an army uniform that was riding in the cockpit of a small aircraft with a large cannon (3/1400/800).
"Surprised? That's good, because this is just the beginning." Tyler told her before looking over his hand. "That ends my turn." Tyler told her and Chloe drew her card.
"Okay, that's definitely not what I was expecting." Chloe thought as she glanced over her hand. "That little guy likely makes up for his low attack power with a powerful effect; I'd better be ready for anything." Chloe thought before picking up three cards. "I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense that ends my turn."
"Playing defensively hmm? That's a smart precaution." Tyler complemented her before drawing his card. "I play a Spell Card called Akhashic Record; it allows me to draw two cards but if any of them are in play both cards is removed from play."
"And that shouldn't be a problem since you only have one monster in play." Chloe realized and Tyler nodded before drawing twice.
"And as you just pointed out my cards are safe for now." Tyler said before sending the Spell Card to the graveyard. "Your facedown monster on the other hand isn't, I play the Spell Card Stop Defense to force it into attack mode!" Chloe's eyes widened as the monster was flipped up revealing it to be Familiar Knight (3/1200/1400). "Not bad, if I had attacked it I wouldn't have been able to destroy it but now?" Tyler asked rhetorically before pointing to Familiar Knight. "Psychic Commander, attack her monster now!" Tyler commanded and Psychic Commander's cannon charged up…..
"It's been a while since I used this but screw it! I counter your attack with the Trap Card Reinforcements which increases my Knight's attack by five hundred points!" Chloe activated the trap and Familiar Knight glowed as his attack increased to 1700 and the knight charged towards Psychic Commander. "Looks like all you've done is damage your own life-points."
"That's what you think; I activate Psychic Commander's effect!" Tyler said before wincing as his life-points dropped to 7500. "By paying up to 500 life-points I can reduce my Commander's target monster's attack points by the same amount." Chloe's eyes widened as Familiar Knight's attack dropped back down to 1200, the Knight leapt into the air only to be shot down by Commander's cannon bringing Chloe's life-points down to 7700.
"I'm not out of this yet! Since you destroyed Familiar Knight his effect activates allowing us both to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from our hands!" Chloe said before picking up a card. "And I choose Blade Knight!" Chloe played the card and the blue armored knight appeared on the field (4/1600/1000). "I may have too many cards in my hand for his effect to work but he still packs a punch."
"Indeed it does, as for my card of choice I shall summon another Psychic, come forth Telekinetic Shocker!" Tyler played the card and another monster appeared on the field, this one resembled the Comic Book Character Mysterio in that his head was covered with a glass dome, he was wearing a red and black outfit with gold stripes (4/1700/700). "I suppose your expecting me to attack, aren't you?"
"In a word, yeah I am." Chloe admitted as more spectators poured in to watch the duel.
"Well you're wrong, I have a better idea in mind, and I will show you it now by activating my Trap Card!" Tyler's trap card flipped up and Chloe's eyes widened when she saw it.
"That's Urgent Tuning!" Chloe realized as the two monsters leapt into the air. Psychic Commander dissolved into three rings that quickly surrounded Telekinetic Shocker.
"Indeed it is and I shall now tune Psychic Commander with Telekinetic Shocker so that I may Synchro Summon Psychic Lifetrancer in attack mode!" Tyler played the card and a bright flash enveloped the field, when it faded a woman stood in the place of Telekinetic Shocker, she green skin, long black hair and was wearing a blue dress, what caught Chloe's attention the most however was her right arm, it was black and mechanical in nature (7/2400/2000). "Psychic Lifetrancer, attack her monster!" Tyler commanded and the woman vanished, Blade Knight looked around confused before the woman reappeared behind him and snapped his neck with her mechanical arm bringing Chloe's life-points down to 6900. "Regretting your challenge yet?"
"No I'm not because your attack has allowed me to activate my Trap Card Rope of Life!" Chloe activated the trap and tossed her remaining cards. "By tossing my hand this trap card will let me special summon Blade Knight with an attack boost of 800 points!" Chloe added before Blade Knight returned to the field with its attack at 2400.
"Very clever, with no cards in your hand your monster will gain an additional boost of 400 points." Tyler complemented as Blade Knight's attack increased even further to 2800. "I enter my Second Main Phase and activate Lifetrancer's effect; by removing Psychic Commander from play I can increase my life-points by 1200 points." Tyler pocketed the tuner monster after retrieving it from his graveyard and his life-points increased to 8700. "That ends my turn." Tyler announced and Chloe drew her card.
"Okay, I think I get the idea of these Psychic Monsters, they are all about life-point manipulation." Chloe thought before looking at her sole card in her hand. "Need to play it safe, if he draws a card that forces us to draw several cards at once the best Blade Knight can do is match Lifetrancer hit for hit." Chloe thought before setting the card down. "I set this card facedown, now Blade Knight, attack Psychic Lifetrancer!" Chloe commanded and the knight charged towards the woman.
"I activate my facedown card Emergency Teleport, with this I can special summon one Level 3 or lower Psychic Type monster from my hand or deck as long as I don't mind it being removed from play during the end-phase, my monster of choice is Krebons!" Tyler played the card and a short man in what looked like a demented jester's outfit appeared on the field wearing a visor (2/1200/400).
"Better tread carefully, if that card's anything like Psychic Commander than its effect will make up for its low attack." Chloe thought before pointing too Lifetrancer. "I'm not falling for that twice, Blade Knight, continue your attack!" Chloe commanded and the knight continued his charge towards Lifetrancer.
"I activate Krebons's effect; by paying 800 life-points I can negate Blade Knight's effect!" Tyler interrupted her as his life-points dropped to 7900 the psychic monster projected a force field which Blade Knight's sword bounced off of.
"Fine, I end my turn." Chloe said with an annoyed grunt and once Krebons disappeared from the field Tyler drew his card.
"Well, she's holding her own at least." Chelsea thought as she watched the duel, she knew a bit more about Psychic Monsters than Chloe did but that could be chalked up to the fact that one of her first opponents in Duel Academy was another student who used Psychic Monsters. "What Chloe doesn't realize that Psychic Lifetrancer, whilst strong, isn't the strongest Psychic Synchro around and if Tyler does summon it, she's in trouble."
"Is this seat taken?" A feminine voice rang out and she looked up and saw a female Obelisk Blue student who had short black hair and blue eyes.
"Nah, if you want to sit there knock yourself out." Chelsea shrugged her shoulders and the student sat next to her. "I may like Chloe but I'm surprised she's doing as well as she is."
"Yeah, same here, even fellow Obelisk Blue Students dread having to face him." The student agreed with a nod. "You're Chelsea Cunningham right?"
"That's me; Chloe over there is my partner in the upcoming tag tournament, provided we don't get expelled first." Chelsea explained before motioning to Chloe. "I'm guessing the site of Tyler actually dueling was what brought you here?"
"That and I wanted to see how long the Osiris Red student would last…..err, no offense." The student responded and Chelsea gave her a reassuring grin.
"None taken, though to be honest it's like I said I don't exactly see this duel ending well for her either." Chelsea told her as the two students watched the duel.
"For my next move I remove Telekinetic Shocker from play so that I can activate the effect of Psychic Lifetrancer." Tyler retrieved the card from his graveyard, pocketed it and grinned as his life-points increased to 9100. "Now I play a Spell Card called Spellbook Inside the Pot."
"Oh no, that will rob Blade Knight of his bonus!" Chelsea gulped but sighed in relief when she saw Chloe activate her trap.
"You're going to have to try harder than that; I chain Spellbook inside the Pot with my trap card Magic Drain." Chloe activated the trap and Tyler smirked.
"Very clever, unless I can discard a Spell Card from my hand that Trap will negate Spellbook inside the Pot's effect." Tyler complemented her before picking up a card and turning it around revealing it to be a second Emergency Teleport. "Unfortunately for you I have the means to do just that." Tyler added and Chloe frowned as her trap card shattered and both duelists drew three cards, once Chloe was done drawing Blade Knight's attack dropped down to 2400.
"Well, at least the most damage he can do is kamikaze Lifetrancer against Blade Knight; luckily I have a card in my graveyard that will keep Blade Knight safe." Chloe thought as she looked over her three new cards.
"Okay Chloe, you have met one of my Psychic Synchros, I think it's time for you to meet another." Tyler said before playing a card. "First I summon Genetic Woman in attack mode!" Tyler played the card and a woman appeared on the field, she seemed to be a miss mash of various different animals with the body of a human, the ears of a cheetah and a giant demonic looking claw for a hand, she had what looked like a gun attached to her hand (4/1700/1200). "Now I activate her effect, by paying a thousand life-points I can return one Psychic Type Monster that I have removed from play to my hand." Tyler explained as his life-points dropped at 8100 and Genetic Woman's eyes glowed briefly before Tyler retrieved the card from his pocket. "Now I shall summon that card with my third Emergency Teleport!" Tyler played the cards and to Chloe's surprise Krebons returned to the field.
"Why summon him and not Psychic Commander?" Chloe asked before it hit her. "Oh no, don't tell me Krebons is a tuner as well?"
"That's right." Tyler nodded as Krebons and Genetic Woman leapt into the air, Krebons dissolved into two growing rings that quickly surrounded Genetic Woman. "I tune Krebons with Genetic Woman so that I can Synchro Summon the mighty Psychic Nightmare!" Tyler played the card and a bright flash enveloped the field, when it faded Chloe looked up and saw a purple dragon like monster with wild green hair and tusks (6/2400/1800). "Now I activate Psychic Nightmare's effect, hold out your hand please."
"Okay…." Chloe said clearly unsure about this, she held out her hand with the cards facing her. "Okay, now what?"
"I have to guess the type of one random card in your hand and if I guess correctly Psychic Nightmare's attack increases by 1000." Tyler explained before thinking for a few minutes. "I'll say that the card in the middle is a Trap Card." Tyler guessed and Chloe frowned.
"It seems you're just as psychic as your monsters." Chloe grumbled before reshuffling her hand as Psychic Nightmare's attack increased to 3400. "Is that boost permanent?"
"No, it will last until your next end phase." Tyler explained before pointing at Blade Night. "Psychic Nightmare, attack Blade Knight now!" Tyler commanded and the dragon breathed fire at the monster bringing Chloe's life-points down to 5900. "Psychic Lifetrancer, attack her life…what on Earth?!" Tyler's command was cut short when he realized that Blade Knight had survived the attack. "How did he survive that?"
"Remember when I tossed my entire hand for Rope of Life's effect?" Chloe asked and Tyler nodded. "One of the cards I discarded was Shield Warrior (3/800/1600) and by removing him from play during Damage Calculation I ensured my knight's survival."
"Very well, since any battle involving Blade Knight and Psychic Lifetrancer will just end in a draw I'll end my turn at that." Tyler announced and Chloe breathed a sigh of relief before drawing her card.
"That was a close one." Chelsea said with a sigh of relief before noticing that some Obelisk Blue students where begrudgingly handing over money to other students. "What's their problem?"
"Oh that? As soon they heard that Tyler was going to be facing an Osiris Red Student in a duel some students started taking bets on how long she would last against him, I'm guessing those guys bet on three turns." The student explained and Chelsea rolled her eyes.
"That's just typical of the Obelisk Blue Students…..err, no offense." Chelsea said and the student smirked at that.
"Don't worry about it; I put up with the pricks in my dorm all the time." The student told her as the two girls watched the duel.
"Great, as if one Psychic Synchro wasn't enough, now I have two to deal with." Chloe thought as she glared at the two Synchro Monsters. "What's even worse is the fact that Psychic Nightmare's Synchro Summon left Tyler with two more monsters to remove from play for Psychic Lifetrancer's effect next turn." Chloe thought before looking at her new hand. "Tyler's Spell Card may have taken away Blade Knight's bonus but it still helped me." Chloe thought before picking up three cards. "I set two cards facedown, one monster in defense mode and I switch Blade Knight to defense mode." Chloe played the cards and once the facedown monsters appeared on the field Blade Knight crouched down in defense mode. "That ends my turn." Chloe announced and Tyler drew his card after Psychic Nightmare's attack dropped down to 2400.
"That's odd, by playing those three cards she left Blade Knight in a perfect position to take out Psychic Lifetrancer, why didn't she attack?" Tyler thought before looking over his hand. "I start by removing Krebons from play to give my life-points a boost." Tyler announced before retrieving the tuner monster from his graveyard and pocketing it, once he did Tyler's life-points shot up to 9300.
"In that case I activate my trap Hope for Escape!" Chloe activated her trap and grinned. "Since there's a large gap between our life-points all I need to do is pay an extra one thousand life-points and I can draw one card for every 2000 life-point bonus between our scores." Chloe's life-points dropped to 4900 but she didn't seem to mind as she drew six times.
"All right, now her moves are making no sense whatsoever, not only did she take Blade Knight's attack back down to 2400 but if it weren't for her monster's I'd be able to finish her off!" Tyler thought with a frown. "Next I activated the effect of Psychic Nightmare and I'm guessing that the card on the far right is a Spell Card!" Tyler announced and Chloe shook her head.
"Sorry Tyler but it's a monster, your monster's attack stays the same." Chloe told him and Tyler frowned at that.
"Fine, I activate Card of Variation, I draw twice but unless I toss a card during my end phase this will cost me 3000 life-points." Tyler played the card and drew twice. "Another tuner, with this I can bring out my ace monster at the cost of Psychic Nightmare, but I only save that card for special occasions." Tyler thought before adding the card to his hand. "Now I activate Soul Release to remove Stop Defense, Arkashic Record, Card of Variation and my two Emergency Teleports from play."
"Okay, why would you do that?" Chloe asked as Tyler pocketed his five Spell Cards.
"You'll see why soon, now Psychic Nightmare will finish the job he started last turn." Tyler announced but his command was cut off by a load screeching noise. "What the…ah yes, Command Silencer."
"Your dad used this a few times so I'm sure you know how it works." Chloe said before drawing one card.
"She obviously has a plan in mind, but what?" Tyler thought before looking at his hand. "I will end my turn and I chose not to discard a card to prevent Card of Variation's side effect." Tyler announced as he winced as his life-points dropped to 6300.
"Right, because you can easily gain back your life-points thanks to Lifetrancer." Chloe nodded before drawing her card. "Okay, Tyler before I continue I want to ask you something."
"Ask away." Tyler told her and Chloe nodded.
"I get the Sci-Fi connection with your cards so far but what I don't get is this." Chloe said and Tyler raised an eyebrow. "Going into this duel I was expecting you to use a deck based on your stepdad's but this archetype wasn't even around when he still dueled."
"Chloe, do you have any idea how much I hear that?" Tyler asked and Chloe blinked before shaking her head. "Almost every time I duel, whether it's with this deck or my other one and I have a very simple answer for you." Tyler said before clearing his throat. "I saw your duel with your step-dad in Battle City, he uses an Ancient Gear deck whilst yours, as I've previously mentioned, is closely tied to sword and sorcery epics, and I also know that it was your dad that got you into dueling."
"Yeah, that's right." Chloe nodded though clearly confused. "Where are you going with this?"
"Did he ever tell you why he gave you a deck like that and not one closely based on his own?" Tyler asked and Chloe nodded.
"Yeah, he said that no duelist should copy the dueling style of another no matter how successful the other duelist is." Chloe said as she looked over her hand. "Why do you…..oh."
"You're starting to get the picture?" Tyler asked and Chloe nodded. "Like you my stepfather got me into dueling and whilst your initial deck was filled with some pretty basic cards besides the two Silent Magician cards my first deck is pretty much the same one you dueling today, the main difference is that my step-father did offer me a copy of his old deck, Blue-Eyes White Dragons and all, but I declined as I wanted to forge my own destiny rather than live off my step-father's, does that answer your question?"
"Yeah, it does." Chloe nodded before a frown crossed her face. "There's one thing I don't get though, some of the cards in his deck must've tempted you."
"They did, so I asked if I could take some of his cards, not counting his famous dragons, and use them to help build my deck and those cards are still in there to this day." Tyler said as he held up his deck. "I haven't drawn any of them yet but when I do you'll know."
"That's comforting to know." Chloe said with a nervous gulp before looking over her new cards. "This had better work." Chloe thought before picking up three cards.
"Before you continue I have to correct you on something." Tyler interrupted her and Chloe blinked. "You referred to my Psychic Monsters as an Archetype, you're not the first person to make that mistake and until they are more widely available you won't be the last."
"They're not? Then what are they exactly?" Chloe asked before it hit her. "Wait, I2 created a whole new type of monster?"
"That's exactly it." Tyler said with a nod. "Granted the way they act around each-other is closer to an Archetype but my point still stands." Tyler added before frowning. "Now, I believe you were about to move before I interrupted you?"
"Yeah I was." Chloe nodded before looking at her three cards. "As I was about to say I set two cards facedown and I summon the Tuner Monster Sword Master!" Chloe played the cards and the topless swordsman appeared on the field (3/1200/0000).
"So, you plan on doing a Level 7 Synchro Summon using Blade Knight?" Tyler asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Actually no, there's a reason I protected my facedown monster last turn." Chloe said before flipping the card up. "I flip summon Life Gardna." Chloe flipped the card up and a ninja in black uniform wearing a long red cape appeared on the field (1/0/0). "Do the math; I have enough monsters for a Level 8 Synchro Summon."
"And I've seen enough of your duels to know that you've only got one Level 8 Synchro Monster in your extra deck." Tyler realized with a frown as the three monsters leapt into the air. "You're about to summon Colossal Fighter!"
"You got it, and I'm tuning my three monsters together to do it!" Chloe said as Sword Master dissolved into three growing rings that surrounded her two warriors and a bright flash enveloped the field, when it faded Colossal Fighter stood there ready for battle (8/2800/2000). "And as you know Colossal Fighter gains 100 attack points for each Warrior in my graveyard, that's four from the warriors I've already played and two from the two warriors I discarded for Rope of Life's effect alongside Shield Warrior, that's a total of six hundred extra attack points!" Chloe explained as her warrior's attack increased to 3400. "But there's more, since I used Life Gardna in a Synchro Summon my life-points gain a much needed boost!" Chloe added as her life-points increased to 5700.
"Suddenly I'm regretting not discarding for Card of Variation's side effect." Tyler said as he glared at the card.
"Too bad because I'm not going to give you a chance to replenish your lost life-points, Colossal Fighter attack Psychic Lifetrancer!" Chloe commanded and the fighter charged towards the woman before punching her in the stomach bringing his life-points down to 5300. "That ends my turn."Chloe announced and Tyler drew his card once Chloe tossed a card due to the hand size limit, Tyler could tell it was another warrior as Colossal Fighter's attack increased to 3500.
"Holy fucking shit! The Osiris Red Reject's actually winning?!" Chelsea heard one of the Obelisk Blue Student and she growled.
"That "Osiris Red Reject" is my roommate, friend and partner in the upcoming Tag Team Tournament." Chelsea growled as she glared at the student who started sweating bullets as soon as he realized who he had pissed off. "And I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't compensate for your tiny dick by calling her that!" Chelsea warned him and the student gulped before quickly changing seats. "God I hate that nickname."
"I heard your temper was vicious but damn, he'll be feeling that burn for weeks." The student laughed as Chelsea started to calm down.
"Yeah well, it was my temper that got me stuck in Osiris Red in the first place so I do try to keep it in check, pricks like that guy does piss me off though." Chelsea told her and the student nodded in understanding, whilst that was going on Tyler was considering his next move.
"Even with Psychic Nightmare's effect it's still too weak to take down her fighter, if I want to win this I'll need to bring out the big guns." Tyler thought before playing a card. "I start by playing Trade-In; since you use this card yourself I'm sure I don't need to explain its effect to you." Tyler played the card and discarded a monster from his hand before drawing twice. "Next I activate Spell Reproduction; I toss two Spell Cards in my hand and retrieve a Spell Card from my graveyard." Tyler played the card and turned the cards around to confirm that they were Spell Cards, namely Chaos Greed and Tuner's mind.
"That's why he played Soul Release earlier; with the spells in his grave he couldn't use that to draw more cards." Chloe realized as he tossed the two cards and retrieved another from his grave. "So what did you retrieve?"
"The Emergency Teleport I discarded for Magic Drain's effect earlier." Tyler told her before playing the Spell in question. "I use it to Special Summon another Tuner Monster, Esper Girl!" Tyler played the card and a young girl in brown armor appeared on the field, she had blonde hair in pigtails, and was carrying a staff (2/500/500).
"So you're doing a Level 8 Synchro Summon?" Chloe asked and Tyler shook his head.
"No, to be honest I rarely use this monster unless my opponents have earned it, the fact that you've managed to hold your own against me makes you more than qualified." Tyler said before playing another card. "I summon a third monster, Doctor Cranium!" Tyler played the card and a short purple man in a doctor's uniform appeared on the field with a large dome on his head (1/100/100).
"So what's he a doctor off exactly?" Chloe asked and Tyler blinked before scratching his head.
"You know, that is a good point now that you mention it." Tyler admitted before shaking his head. "It doesn't matter because I'm tuning all three of my monsters together to Synchro Summon a monster that can only be summoned by using three Psychic Type monsters."
"It actually acquires three monsters to Synchro Summon it?! Whatever it is it's bound to be powerful." Chloe thought as the three monsters leapt into the air, Esper Girl dissolved into two growing rings which surrounded Psychic Nightmare and Doctor Cranium and a bright flash enveloped the field, when Chloe looked up her eyes widened at what she saw. "What the…."
The monster in question resembled a dragon; it was silver in color and had very sharp looking claws, not only that but it towered over the duel field (9/3300/3000). "Chloe, meet my best monster, Overmind Archfiend, no one, not even the test proctor I faced in order to join Duel Academy, has faced him until now so you can consider yourself honored.
"Yeah well, Colossal Fighter's still stronger." Chloe said with a nervous gulp as she glared at the massive Synchro Monster.
"Chloe, you should know by now that sometimes strength alone isn't everything." Tyler said before retrieving Esper Girl from his graveyard. "First I activate the effect of Overmind Archfiend, once per turn I can banish one Psychic type monster in my graveyard, why would I do that? I'll reveal it a bit later but if I where you I'd be more concerned about your monster."
"I'm almost afraid to ask but why should I be worried?" Chloe asked with a gulp as Tyler played a Spell Card.
"Because I'm not going to give you a chance to use Colossal Fighter's self-revival effect, I activate Dark Core!" Chloe's eyes widened when she heard the card's name and once Tyler discarded the last card in his hand a dark portal opened up beneath Colossal Fighter, she reluctantly pocketed her Synchro Monster and braced herself for the attack. "Overmind Archfiend, attack her life-points directly!" Tyler commanded and the massive monster took flight before breathing fire at Chloe bringing her life-points down to 2400.
"I activate my trap card Numinous Healer, since I just took damage this trap card will restore a thousand life-points!" Chloe activated the card and breathed a sigh of relief as her life-points increased to 3400. "I'm still in this Tyler, barely but I'm not going to be beaten that easily."
"Unless you're able to bring out Silent Magician Level 8 I doubt you'll be in this for long." Tyler told her before folding his arms. "It's your move." Tyler told her and Chloe drew her card.
"Okay, I start by activating Heaven's Lost Property, we both draw three cards but in exchange we have to discard both." Chloe played the card and both duelists drew thrice before discarding two cards. "Thank you Rachel for the idea to put this in my deck." Chloe thought as she sent her spell card to the graveyard. "Now I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight!" Chloe played the card and the knight made famous by Joey Wheeler appeared on the field (4/1800/1600).
"That's your big play? I was expecting more." Tyler said clearly disappointed but Chloe shook her head.
"Not exactly, I activate my trap card Level Soul!" Chloe played the card and Gearfried vanished. "First this trap card requires me to tribute one monster on my side of the field and then I have to remove one Level Monster from my graveyard." Chloe retrieved the card and held it up revealing it to be Silent Magician Level 4.
"I assume you discarded that for Heaven's Lost Property?" Tyler asked and Chloe nodded before pocketing the card. "There must be a point to this." Tyler added and Chloe nodded before picking up her deck.
"There is, because in exchange for that Level Soul lets me Special Summon the monster mentioned in the text of the removed monster whilst ignoring the summoning conditions!" Chloe said before playing the card and sure enough Silent Magician Level 8 appeared on the field (8/3500/1000). "It looks like we have a clash of our best monsters."
"Indeed, and only one will come out victorious." Tyler agreed as he braced himself for the attack from Chloe's magician.
"Silent Magician, attack Overmind Archfiend!" Chloe commanded and the magician nodded before charging up her staff, it fired a beam of light that engulfed Overmind Archfiend and Tyler's side of the field bringing his life-points down to 5200. "Well, that's that….." Chloe trailed off only to blink in surprise when she saw that Esper Girl had returned to the field. "Huh? How the hell did she return? You didn't set any traps!"
"I didn't need too; remember when I said I'd explain why I removed Esper Girl from play using Overmind Archfiend's effect? This is why, when Overmind Archfiend is sent from the field to the graveyard I can Special Summon as many cards that were removed from play by this effect." Tyler said with a frown. "Ideally I would've liked to have banished more monsters using its effect but sometimes you have to take what can get and since I summoned Esper Girl this way her effect activates." Tyler explained before holding up the top card off his deck. "I take the top card of my deck and banish it facedown, as for the rest; I'll get to that later." Tyler added and Chloe frowned.
"In that case I set one card facedown and end my turn." Chloe set the card down and Tyler drew his card.
"Damn, I was hoping to do another Synchro Summon but I don't have the necessary monsters." Tyler thought with a frown. "I switch Esper Girl to defense mode and end my turn." Tyler announced and once Esper Girl crouched down Chloe drew her card.
"Is it me or does she have Tyler on the ropes?" Chelsea wondered as she watched the duel, she couldn't help but grin as it hit her. "Oh yeah, I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when Tyler loses!" Chelsea said with a broad grin before motioning to the concerned Obelisk Blue Students.
"I wouldn't count him out yet, Tyler didn't become the top student at the school for nothing." The student told her and Chelsea frowned.
"Yeah, I know, but you gotta admit, the looks on their faces will be priceless." Chelsea pointed out and the student grinned.
"Yeah, I admit that will be fun to see." The student agreed as they watched the duel.
"Hey come to think of it, I never caught your name." Chelsea realized as she turned to the older girl, she frowned once she realized that the Osiris Red Student was right.
"Silent Magician, attack Esper Girl"! Chloe commanded and the magician charged up her staff before firing it at the tuner monster destroying her.
"Now that Esper Girl has been sent to the graveyard her effect activates." Tyler said before retrieving the card he banished last turn from his pocket. "The card I banished with her effect goes directly to my hand." Tyler explained before adding it to his hand. "Now if that's…oh no."
"Oh yes, since my Silent Magician destroyed a monster just now my Enlightenment trap card will allow her to attack again!" Chloe announced and Silent Magician charged up her staff before firing it at Tyler bringing his life-points down to 1700. "One more attack from my Magician and this duel will be over."
"Yes but if my trap card works it'll end in my favor." Tyler thought before turning to Chloe. "May I take my turn?" Tyler asked and Chloe nodded, Tyler wasted no time in drawing his card and he looked at it. "Ugh, if I had drawn this last turn I could've done another Synchro Summon." Tyler thought with a frown before picking it up alongside the card he had added to his hand with Esper Girl's effect. "I set one card facedown and a monster in defense mode and that will end my turn." Tyler set the two cards and once they appeared on the field Chloe drew her card.
"I summon Gemini Elf in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and the twin elves appeared on the field (4/1900/900). "Gemini Elf, attack his defense monster!" Chloe commanded and the elves fired twin blasts of magic at the monster, revealed to be another Genetic Woman, who was vaporized in moments. "Silent Magician, it's time to end this!" Chloe commanded and the magician charged up her staff…..
"Your right, the duel is ending…in my favor!" Tyler interrupted as his trap card flipped up. "I activate Dimension Wall, the attack goes through but you take the damage!" Chloe's eyes widened when it dawned on her and the blast hit an invisible wall before reflecting back at Chloe who was knocked on her backside as her life-points dropped to 0.
"Damn, she lost." Chelsea grumbled as Tyler helped Chloe to her feet after the two duelists turned off their duel disks. "I thought she was going to win for sure."
"The smart thing to do would've been to set a trap of her own in case he did draw something like Dimension Prison." The student said before standing up. "I'm going over to see them, you coming?"
"Sure." Chelsea nodded before standing up, the crowd had started to disperse during Chloe's last turn presumably to get to Class but the students who stayed behind seemed impressed by Chloe's performance in the duel some wondering if she had been considered for promotion to Ra Yellow. "If her performance just now doesn't solidify her spot in Ra Yellow should she win on Friday I'll eat my laptop." Chelsea thought as she followed the older student.
"Chloe, despite coming up on the losing end you did fantastically." Tyler reassured her as Chloe was clearly disappointed by her loss. "You perform that well on Friday and you'll have no problem winning your expulsion duel."
"Thanks Tyler, doesn't change the fact that l lost though." Chloe said with a sigh as she sat down on the duel platform, she saw Chelsea and the Obelisk Blue Student approaching and grinned. "Hey Chelsea, how did I do?"
"Better than I could have, that's for sure." Chelsea said with a sheepish grin before looking around. "I'm a bit disappointed that the other students who were at the abandoned dorm last night weren't present though."
"I checked up on that before Chloe challenged me, they all have classes until this evening, it's unlikely that we'll see them unless we have a class with them." Tyler informed her and Chelsea nodded. "I see you decided to watch the duel Miranda."
"And miss the chance to see my step-brother duel?" The student asked and Chloe blinked in surprise. "You didn't tell her?"
"She never asked, Chloe it's a long story but this is my sister Miranda and yes, she's Seto Kaiba's biological daughter." Tyler introduced her and Chloe grinned. "I've been trying to get her to help but she's been too busy."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." Miranda said sheepishly as she approached them. "I'm ready to help you guys should you need it."
"Good, we'll need all the help we can get." Chelsea said before grinning as an idea popped into her head. "Say Miranda, you wouldn't happen to have a class coming up soon would you?"
"Hold on, I'll check my schedule." Miranda said before getting her schedule out. "No, I don't, I'm guessing you want to duel me?"
"That's right." Chelsea said with a grin which Miranda returned. "I didn't get a chance to duel during Hamden's class yesterday so I need to make sure my skills are sharp."
"Well if they're not then I'll happily sharpen them for you," Miranda said with a nod as Tyler and Chloe got clear of the duel field to give them room to duel. "Just be warned Chelsea, my brother may be the best duelist in Obelisk Blue Boy's Dorm but I'm the best duelist in Obelisk Blue Girl's."
"Yeah, well I'm going to show you why I was originally considered to be good enough for Ra Yellow." Chelsea responded as the two girls activated their duel disks. "Whether or not my skills will help me against her is another matter." Chelsea thought as she stared at Miranda.