"So…..does anyone know anything about this guy's deck?" Chelsea asked her fellow students who shook their heads.
"Unfortunately not and judging by his comments Erick's familiar with Chloe's duels during Battle City." Tyler answered with a frown. "The guy who beat him did compete in Battle City; he was one of the favorites to win but got eliminated by Kimberly."
"Yeah, I remember Kimberly mentioning that." Brandon said with a nod. "He apparently gave her a hell of a fight and if Erick's half as good as that guy then Chloe's in trouble."
"Yeah but there's no way in hell she's gonna lose!" Chelsea said confidentially as she rested her arms on her legs. "Not after the streak we've had."
"I hope your right." Marcus said with a gulp and Chelsea grinned at him reassuringly.
"When have I ever been wrong?" Chelsea asked only to sweat-drop when the students started counting on their fingers. "Ever heard of a rhetorical question?"
"About time we saw Erick put his money where his mouth is." Mark grunted as he folded his arms. "But does that girl know what's she's getting into?"
"Mark, Chloe eliminated me from the Battle City Tournament, she'll do fine." Francesca reassured him with a frown. "That said I'm having my doubts about how well she'll do against Erick."
"If she's half as good as the other duelists then she'll do just fine." Ricardo pointed out as they watched the duel. "And if she can win well we'll know that Erick will flip his lid."
"Yeah, as if he hasn't done that enough times already." Adrienne grunted as she folded her arms. "From a technical standpoint my money's on Erick to win, from a personal standpoint I want Chloe to kick his ass back to Scotland."
"Now that's something we can agree on Adrienne." Amanda agreed with a nod. "My only concern besides her getting expelled should she lose is Chloe's inexperience; didn't you say she was a rookie with two months experience Phil?"
"Aye but that rookie managed to make it to the top three of the Battle City Tournament; Erick would be an idiot to underestimate her." Phil said with a nod. "But the same can be said vice versa."
"I wouldn't worry if I where you." Dmitri said as he sat down on the bench. "If she has Tyler's drive and determination to win then she'll win this match no problem."
"I'd say ladies first but I've never believed in that bullshit." Erick said as he drew his card. "Besides based on your choice of clothes you're not much of a lady."
"Keep talking smart guy." Chloe growled as her eyes narrowed. "You'll just end up making your defeat that much more satisfying."
"Well, at least you admit that I'm smart." Erick chuckled before looking at his drawn card. "I start by activating this, Into the Void! Since I have three or more cards in my hand I can draw another card…"
"And you'll have to toss your entire hand at the end of your turn." Chloe interrupted him as he drew his card. "Chelsea has that card in her deck."
"Do I look like I care?" Erick asked before picking up three cards. "I set one monster in defense mode and three cards facedown." Erick set the three cards and picked up his remaining three cards. "I end my turn which means I have to discard the remaining cards in my hand." Erick announced and once he sent the three cards to the graveyard Chloe drew her card.
"No wonder that guy didn't win the Scottish Nationals, playing that card so early in the duel has got to be one of the stupidest moves I've seen in the three years that I've been playing this game!" Chelsea said with a grin.
"That or it's a brilliant move, all depends on what deck he's using." Tyler thought as Chloe looked over her opening hand.
"I summon Breaker, The Magical Warrior in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and the armored spellcaster appeared on the field (4/1600/1000). "And since I normal summoned him he gets a Spell Counter and three hundred attack points." Chloe added as Breaker's attack points increased to 1900. "But by removing one Spell Counter I can destroy one Spell or Trap Card on the field, like the one on the right!" Chloe added as her spellcaster's attack dropped to 1600 and Breaker charged towards the facedown card…
"Nice try but I activate my Infernity Breaker Trap Card!" Erick activated the trap and Chloe blinked before her eyes widened as Breaker's hologram shattered into a million pieces. "This can only be activated if I have a non-existent hand, all I need to do is remove one Infernity monster in my graveyard from play and I can destroy one card my opponent controls, and since you literally only had one monster the choice was easy."
"So that's why you discarded your hand so quickly." Chloe realized as her eyes narrowed.
"That was just the beginning; you see the monster I removed from play is a little guy called Infernity Shaman." Erick said as he held up the monster (1/0/0). "Since I removed him from play whilst I have no cards in my hand I can force you to skip your next draw phase."
"You're kidding!?" Chloe yelled out as it hit her.
"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Erick asked as he pocketed the monster. "Don't worry, I can only use Infernity Shaman's effect once per duel but as you can see the effect is well worth it."
"Ugh, fine, I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Chloe announced and Erick drew his card, when she saw his grin however Chloe groaned. "Oh great, now what have you drawn?"
"I drew a monster known as Infernity Archfiend, if I draw him whilst I have no cards in my hand I can reveal him to Special Summon him." Erick played the card and the red-headed fiend appeared on the field with a chuckle (4/1800/1200). "But there's more, if I Special Summon him whilst there's no cards in my hand I can add another Infernity Monster to my hand." Erick added the card he was looking for to his hand after a quick search through his deck and grinned. "But I won't keep you in suspense for long, I summon Infernity Beetle!" Erick played the card and a huge black beetle appeared on the field (2/1200/0).
"Infernity Shaman, Infernity Archfiend, Infernity Beetle, give me a break, what's next Infernity Grasshopper?!" Chloe asked and Erick growled.
"I bet you think your funny don't you? Well I'll have the last laugh! I activate Infernity Beetle's effect, by sacrificing him whilst I have no cards in my hand I can special summon two more of them from my deck!" Erick announced as the first Infernity Beetle shattered and two more appeared in its place. "Next I flip summon Infernity Beast!" Erick flipped the card up and a large black beast appeared on the field with a growl (3/1600/1200).
"That overgrown Labrador doesn't scare me!" Chloe said determinedly.
"Chloe, how the hell did you link that monster that a fucking Labrador?!" Chelsea yelled out and Chloe sweat-dropped. "Hell it looks a lot more like an Alsatian!"
"This is Duel Monsters, not a dog show!" Erick growled impatiently as he pointed to Infernity Beast. "And my Infernity Beast will give you a reason to be worried, when he attacks whilst I have no cards in my hand you can't activate Spell or Trap Cards until after the damage step!"
"Oh crap!" Chloe gulped as it dawned on her.
"Infernity Beast, Infernity Archfiend, Infernity Beetles, attack her life-points directly!" Erick commanded and the four monsters charged towards Chloe who braced herself, she grunted as the attacks hit bringing her life-points down to 2200. "You see?! THAT'S HOW IT'S DONE YOU IDIOTS!" Erick yelled out to the other Pro-Duelists.
"Hey asshole, encase you didn't notice I'm still in the match!" Chloe snapped at him before activating one of her traps. "And since I just took damage my Numinous Healer trap card can help me gain some of them back!" Chloe announced as her life-points increased to 3200.
"You're going to need those Life-Points, for now I end my turn." Erick announced and Chloe went to draw her card. "Nuh-uh, you can't draw due to Infernity Shaman remember?"
"Oh right." Chloe grunted before activating her other trap. "Then I'll use this trap card to make up for it, Reckless Greed lets me draw twice in exchange for skipping my next draw phase." Chloe announced before drawing twice, when she saw what she had drawn she couldn't help but grin. "I hope for your sake that you weren't relying on having a non-existent hand."
"Actually I am, what's it too you?" Erick asked and Chloe grinned.
"Good, because my Spell Card's about to remove your advantage, I activate Spellbook inside the Pot!" Chloe played the card and Erick reluctantly drew three cards. "And whilst I'm at it why don't I destroy your three monsters?"
"You know, for an Osiris Red Student facing expulsion, you're pretty fucking cocky." Erick grunted and Chloe smirked.
"What can I say? I guess Lance has rubbed off on me." Chloe retorted…only to turn beet red when she realized what she had just said. "That's not what I meant!"
"Well, well, I guess the rumors about you two being a couple where true." Erick commented nonchalantly causing Chloe to blush even more.
"Do you think they'll let me out of here? I mean, I've won my duel and all!" Lance commented whilst trying to hide the fact that he was blushing as well.
"They probably won't." Chelsea commented whilst trying not to laugh at Chloe's slip-up. "Why are you blushing anyway? I thought you two shared an intimate moment during Battle City?"
"I'll explain that once we're out of here." Lance grunted in annoyance and Chelsea turned to him. "All you need to know is that we shared a passionate moment…..oh god damn it!"
"Oh so you WHERE together huh! I knew there was something between you two!" Chelsea said with a massive grin as Lance did his best to ignore her.
"Anyway…" Chloe said as she tried to hide her embarrassment. "I summon Silent Magician Level 4 in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and the weaker or her two signature cards appeared on the field (4/1000/1000).
"So you plan on destroying all of my monsters with THAT!" Erick said as he burst out laughing. "Give me one reason to be afraid of that pipsqueak."
"She isn't who you should be worried about; in fact she won't be on the field for much longer." Chloe responded and Erick blinked as she played a card. "I activate Level Up!"
"Oh crap." Erick gulped as her magician smirked before glowing and growing into Chloe's strongest monster, Silent Magician Level 8 (8/3500/1000). "Big deal, your monster's strong but you'll only be able to destroy one monster on the field!"
"That's where you're wrong, because I can finish it right now, I activate Diffusion Wave Motion!" Chloe played the card and Erick's eyes widened as Chloe's life-points dropped to 2200, Silent Magician stuck her staff out and it emitted a pulse that destroyed all four of the monsters one by one…..
"You'd like that wouldn't you?" Erick asked as the attack got ready to hit Infernity Beast, an attack that would cause 1900 points of damage and bring his life-points down to 0. "I activate Enchanted Javelin, your magician may be immune to my Spell Cards but traps are fair play and this one adds the old hag's attack points to my life-points!" Erick announced as a javelin went through Silent Magician's chest and bathed him in a white light as his life-points increased to 5200, the attack hit Infernity Beast destroying it and bringing Erick's life-points down to 3300. "Nice try but all you did was narrow the gap between our life-points….." Erick taunted her before noticing the death glare he was getting from Chloe. "Err….."
"You can insult my fellow students and your fellow pro-duelists….." Chloe growled as she glared at Erick. "BUT YOU DO NOT INSULT MY BEST MONSTER!"
"And I thought Chelsea had a nasty temper." Ricardo gulped as he tugged on his jacket. "What's the big deal anyway?"
"It kind of ties in to what I said earlier about her childhood." Phil said as he watched the duel. "Look I'm not going to go into much detail but we met her dad during Battle City, not the dad she faced in the finals….."
"Ah, yeah I remember that from watching the finals on TV." Ricardo said with a nod. "From what I could tell he was a nasty piece of work."
"That's putting it mildly." Francesca commented with a frown. "Let's just say that I and Phil are surprised that she's as well adjusted as she is considering all that happened to her growing up."
"Oh, you don't like me insulting your favorite monster do you? Too fucking bad lady, the Level Archetype is shit and so is your monster." Erick continued and Chloe growled before noticing the off switch for the safeties.
"No! I'm not making that mistake again!" Chloe decided before quickly moving her hand away from the switch. "He's just insulting Silent Magician, Cameron insulted my mom and I won't let him get to me, besides if I do turn off the safeties then they'll likely expel me on the spot." Chloe thought before noticing that Silent Magician was giving her an approving nod. "You were listening in on my thoughts Silent Magician?"
"Sorry, it's a side effect of having a Duel Spirit Guide." Silent Magician apologized before nodding. "Besides that this shows that you're learning from your mistakes, besides I have thicker skin than that, I can handle his insults!"
"Are you going to end your turn before we get as old as your monster?!" Erick snapped at her and Chloe growled before picking up the cards she had drawn with Reckless Greed.
"I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Chloe set the cards down quickly and Erick drew his card. "Okay, his deck relies on him having no hand so it's a safe bet that he has more than one copy of Into the Void."
"Agreed, but as long as you can keep me on the field your life-points will be safe." Silent Magician agreed as Erick looked over his hand.
"I activate a Continuous Spell Card called Infernity Launcher, with this I can send one Infernity monster from my hand to the graveyard per turn." Erick announced as he played the card. "In fact, I think I'll go ahead and use its effect right now." Erick said as he discarded a monster from his hand. "It has another effect but you don't need to worry about that until I have no cards in my hand…so I set two cards facedown and activate Infernity Launcher's second effect."
"That was as predictable as Lance's Inferno Tempest combo." Chloe commented as a large sweat-drop rolled down her head.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Lance called out to her and Erick smirked.
"Having a bit of a lover's quarrel are we? Ah who cares? Like I was saying Infernity Launcher's second effect lets me send it to the graveyard to Special Summon two Infernity Monsters so long as I have no cards in my hand off course." Erick said as he sent his Spell to the graveyard. "So welcome back Infernity Archfiend and Infernity Beetle, both in defense mode!" Erick played the cards and the two monsters appeared before him crouching down. "And since Infernity Archfiend was Special Summoned I can add another Infernity Card to my hand." Erick announced before picking up his deck and searching through it, once he found the card he was looking for he added it to his hand.
"Great, I used up my only copy of Diffusion Wave Motion to early and now he's swarming the field again." Chloe thought as she glared at Erick's two monsters.
"Relax Chloe, as long as you have me on the field he can't get at your life-points." Silent Magician reassured her and Chloe frowned.
"I know, but I'm more concerned about effect damage, my life-points are low enough as it is." Chloe answered and Silent Magician nodded in understanding.
"And last but not least I summon the monster I added to my hand via Infernity Archfiend's effect, Infernity Dwarf!" Erick played the card and a small demon in overalls and a straw hat appeared on the field wielding a large axe (2/800/500).
"I've seen some weird monster designs before but a fiend in a farmer's outfit?!" Chelsea commented as she scratched her head in confusion. "That's a new one."
"Is the walking fashion disaster over there always this talkative?" Erick asked Chloe and Chelsea growled at him. "You don't need to worry about my Dwarf's effect anyway, it basically gives my monsters a trampling effect as long as I don't have cards in my hand and…..well I'm pretty sure I don't need to point out the obvious at this point."
"So why summon him in the first place?" Chloe asked before it hit her. "Unless….."
"That's right! Infernity Beetle is a Tuner Monster and I'm tuning all three of my monsters together!" Erick announced as the three monsters leapt into the air, Infernity Beetle dissolved into two Synchro Rings that quickly surrounded Infernity Archfiend and Infernity Dwarf and a bright flash enveloped the field. "So I can Synchro Summon Infernity Doom Dragon!" Erick played the card and once the bright flash faded a large ugly dragon with bat like wings appeared on the field (8/3000/2400).
"Hah, to think I was worried for a moment there!" Chloe said confidently as she looked at the card. "Your monster can't hold a candle to mine!"
"He doesn't need to." Erick said with a grin as he folded his arms. "As you can see I have no cards in my hand, and that lets me activate Infernity Doom Dragon's effect, with it I can destroy one monster on your side of the field and inflict damage equal to half of that monster's attack points." Erick said as his grin grew wider. "And I only see one monster on your side of the field."
"Oh shit!" Chloe gulped and Erick grinned.
"I hope you enjoy asking "Do you want fries with that" for the rest of your life bitch! Infernity Doom Dragon, roast her Magician!" Erick commanded and the dragon opened its mouth wide before breathing fire at Silent Magician, Silent Magician braced herself but was quickly incinerated by the flames bringing Chloe's life-points down to 450. "Fortunately for you my dragon can't attack the same turn he uses that effect." Erick added before grinning. "And if she somehow brings back her magician and destroys Infernity Doom Dragon I have my facedown card Miracle's Wake which will bring back Infernity Doom Dragon and allow me to finish her off next turn."
"Chloe, we can still win this! Activate your trap now!" Silent Magician instructed her and Chloe blinked before grinning.
"I activate my trap card Sacred Treasures from Beyond!" Chloe activated the trap which depicted the Dark Scorpion Burglars raiding an ancient Egyptian tomb whilst Cliff the Trap Remover dealt with the tomb's booby traps. "Since a Level 8 monster was just destroyed by a card effect I can draw three cards." Chloe explained before drawing three cards.
"Those three cards won't save you from my dragon!" Erick said confidently as he grinned. "And even if she summons a monster I'll use my facedown card Just Deserts to deliver the final blow, the others may have failed to send these students packing but I'll more than make up for it during her turn." Erick thought before looking up at Chloe. "I end my turn at that." Erick announced and Chloe didn't draw her card due to Reckless Greed's effect.
"Okay Chloe, don't panic, my best monster may be gone but she's hardly my only monster." Chloe thought before frowning. "But on the other hand the only monster besides Silent Magician that can beat his Dragon is Colossal Fighter problem is I have no warriors in my graveyard and unless I equip him with an Equip Spell he'll just be a sitting duck for Infernity Doom Dragon's effect and he'll just take the rest of my life-points…." Chloe thought before looking over her hand. "Hold on a minute, if I can pull this off I may still be in this."
"I don't have all day you know!" Erick said impatiently and Chloe glared at him.
"Fine but you'll regret rushing me; I activate my Spell Card Level Modulation!" Chloe played the card and Erick grinned. "And based on the look on your face you know what it does."
"I do, it lets you Special Summon a LV monster from your graveyard whilst ignoring its summoning conditions." Erick said as his grin widened. "But it comes with a price, your monster can't attack the same turn and I get to draw two cards." Erick said as he drew twice. "This may cost me my no-hand advantage but as soon as I get rid of these cards your monster will be roasted, by the way, don't bother telling me what card your about to summon, there's only one LV Monster in your graveyard worth a damn!" Erick added and Chloe growled before playing the card and Silent Magician Level 8 returned to the field.
"I know what you're planning Chloe." Silent Magician communicated telepathically. "You'd better set up a back-up plan."
"Yeah, I'm way ahead of you." Chloe nodded before picking up two cards. "I set these cards facedown and end my turn."
"That's a futile effort." Erick said as he drew his card. "I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode but more importantly I can now activate Infernity Doom Dragon's effect….."
"Don't get your hopes up." Chloe said as she discarded one of her cards. "That monster I just discarded? It's the Tuner Monster Effect Veilor but more importantly by discarding her from my hand I can prevent you from activating a monster's effect!"
"Fine, I don't need Infernity Doom Dragon's effect to defeat you! I activate Just Deserts!" Erick flipped the card up and Chloe's eyes widened. "This card may be old but then again show's your ace monster! With this I can inflict 500 points of effect damage to your life-points for each monster you control, that may only be one monster but it's still just enough to defeat you!"
"Sorry Erick but I'm not out of this yet, not by a longshot, I activate my Trap Card Power Guard!" Chloe activated the trap which depicted Silent Magician Level 8 using her staff to ward off spells. "This trap requires that I have a Level 8 or higher effect monster on my side of the field, for this turn only her effects get negated but in exchange any effect damage is reduced to zero rendering your trap useless." Chloe activated the trap and Silent Magician pointed her staff at the trap card before firing her attack at it destroying it.
"So you're brought yourself some time, why am I not surprised?" Erick grunted as he sent his trap to the graveyard glaring at the student the whole time. "She's just as annoyingly persistent as her friends where against the others, no matter, what are the chances that she has more than one copy of Effect Veilor in her hand? Pretty fucking slim if you ask me! Besides, her Reckless Greed's side effect is still in play meaning that she can't draw for another turn! And even if her facedown cards can do something to protect what's left of her life-points she'll have to run out of them eventually." Erick thought before frowning. "I end my turn." Erick announced and Chloe didn't draw her card due to Reckless Greed. "I activate Reckless Greed! I draw twice now but in exchange I have to skip my next two draw phases." Erick activated the trap and quickly drew twice.
"Great, that means that as soon as he gets rid of those two cards he'll be free to activate Infernity Doom Dragon's effect again." Chelsea gulped as she glared at Erick. "And unless she has another copy of Effect Veilor or something similar it'll be curtains for Chloe."
"Don't count her out yet Chelsea." Theresa told her and Chelsea frowned. "I've been watching her progress since she's joined duel academy, she's never given up as long as she's had life-points left and she's not starting now."
"Yeah, I know, but there are also his facedown cards to consider." Chelsea pointed out as Chloe looked over her hand. "She may be able to take down her dragon but who's to say that Erick hasn't set something like Miracle's Wake?"
"It's possible but knowing Chloe she'll find a way." Brandon pointed out as he folded his arms. "If I know her than she's thinking that she's come too far as a duelist to let it all go to waste like this."
"I hope your right Brandon, for all our sakes." Chelsea commented as she folded her arms. "At least she's only got one turn left before she can draw again." Chelsea thought as she watched the duel.
"Your friends are right to be concerned Chloe." Erick commented with a smirk. "You're so out of your league in this match that it's not even funny."
"Don't let him get to you Chloe!" Amanda called out to her and Erick glared at her. "Just keep dueling and ignore his attempts to compensate for his tiny….."
"WHO'S SIDE ARE YOU ON?!" Erick yelled at her and Amanda glared at him. "I'm doing Duel Academy a favor by kicking out this reject!"
"She is on the side of the future of dueling and to be frank so are we." Dmitri said as he stood up. "Yes, she's made a few mistakes but who can honestly say that they have not made a mistake."
"Well, besides Erick but then again he's too much of an arrogant prick to admit it." Adrienne chimed in as she stood up. "Erick may have his own selfish desires in this duel but the rest of us? We only agreed to be flown in because we don't want these students' careers to be ended before they've even begun!"
"It seems your friends are turning against you Erick but then again I don't think they were your friends to be begin with based on the way you've treated them!" Chloe chimed in as she looked at her hand. "And that is too bad because with my Magician on the field you need all the help you can get! Silent Magician, attack Infernity Doom Dragon!" Chloe commanded and her magician pointed her staff at the dragon.
"Did you really think it would be that easy to defeat my best monster? That's where you're wrong because my trap's putting an end to the duel!" Erick announced as he discarded two cards just before Infernity Doom Dragon was destroyed bringing his life-points down to 2800. "I activate Infernity Reflector, this trap can only be activated if I discard two cards from my hand after an Infernity Monster's destroyed in battle, not only does my monster get revived "But you get hit with a thousand points of effect damage!" Erick said with a massive grin as he turned to the other pro-duelists. "I guess your little pep talk still wasn't enough!"
"Erick, if I were you and I thank god every day that I'm not, I'd take another look at her duel field!" Amanda told him and Erick blinked before turning around.
"WHAT? YOU ACTIVATED A TRAP!?" Erick yelled out in shock as he looked at the trap card in question.
"That's right, Trap Jammer here can only be activated during the Battle Phase and with this Trap I can negate the effect of a trap you activated! So in short you just wasted your Infernity Reflector Trap!" Chloe said with a grin as Infernity Reflector shattered.
"You persistent little bitch! Why won't you just lay down and accept defeat?!" Erick demanded as he glared at her.
"It's like Theresa said just now, I won't give up as long as I have life-points left!" Chloe replied as she glared at Erick. "I end my turn for now!" Chloe announced and Erick growled before proceeding to his Main Phase due to Reckless Greed.
"I'd say it looks like he's losing his cool but that would imply that he could keep his cool in the first place." Chelsea commented with a grin. "And ya, I realize how ironic that sounds coming from someone like me."
"If anything that's a good thing, if Erick lets his anger get out of hand than Chloe will have no problem in this duel from here on out." Theresa commented with a smirk. "On the other hand he still has his face downs in play, who knows what else he has in mind."
"Whatever it is she can handle it." Lance added as he folded his arms. "Come on, Infernity Doom Dragon was strong and had a very powerful effect but she was still able to beat it."
"Your friend seems to assume that Infernity Doom Dragon was my only powerhouse in my deck, well I've got bad news for him it's not!" Erick said as he activated his trap. "I activate Call of the Haunted and I use it to bring back one of the cards I discarded for Infernity Reflector's effect, come on out Infernity Destroyer!" Erick activated the trap and a large muscular fiend appeared on the field that was almost devil like in appearance (6/2300/1000). "Handsome devil isn't he? But you don't have to worry about his effect; whilst I do fulfill the requirements for it, namely having a non-existent hand it also requires me to destroy a monster on your side of the field."
"And my only monster is a little bit out of his league." Chloe commented before smirking. "I'd ask why you brought him out but knowing your deck you have a different strategy in mind."
"Good to know you learn quickly, I'd call you a smart girl but if you where I wouldn't have been flown in to kick your ass!" Erick said before flipping up his facedown monster. "Next I flip summon my facedown card, Plauguespreader Zombie!" Erick flipped the card up and a card that Chloe remembered from Theresa's duel with Alex appeared on the field, the small rotting zombie appeared on the field ready for battle (2/400/400).
"That's a tuner monster!" Chloe realized and Erick smirked.
"Yes, a tuner monster that's self-revival effect makes it a welcome addition to my deck!" Erick commented before his two monsters leapt into the air. "Now I tune together Infernity Destroyer and Plaugespreader Zombie to bring out Void Ogre Dragon!" Erick announced as Plauguespreader Zombie dissolved into two Synchro Rings that surrounded Infernity Destroyer, once the bright flash faded a huge dragon appeared on the field that was crimson in color (8/3000/3000). "Next I activate my trap card Synchro Striker Unit! With this I can increase the attack of my dragon by 1000 points!"
"No! That's enough to finish her off!" Chelsea said as her eyes widened as she watched Void Ogre Dragon's attack increase to 4000.
"Why yes it is, but why should we keep maintaining any pleasantries here and cut straight to the chase? She's been living on borrowed time ever since I used Infernity Doom Dragon's effect!" Erick said before pointing to his dragon.
"He was being pleasant in the first place?" Chelsea whispered to Tyler who shook his head.
"If I wanted any smart ass responses I would've asked for them! Now Void Ogre Dragon, finish the bitch off!" Erick commanded as the dragon prepared to launch its attack…..
"I don't think so, go Waboku! This trap will protect my Magician and my life-points!" Chloe activated the trap and the three priestesses appeared on the field….
"I wouldn't count on it; you see I included Void Ogre Dragon in this deck for a reason! You see as long as I have no cards in my hand I can negate the effect of and destroy a Spell or Trap that my opponent activates!" Erick announced and Chloe's eyes widened…..
"Chloe, you must activate your trap! Activate it now!" Silent Magician instructed her and Chloe blinked before grinning.
"I activate Greed of the Tyrant!" Chloe activated her trap which depicted the king from Imperial Custom being sold the Pot of Greed. "This trap can only be activated in response to a chain and if I have under a thousand life-points, with this we can both draw twice!"
"Weren't you listening? Void Ogre Dragon can activate its effect more than once!" Erick announced with a broad grin.
"Yes but Greed of the Tyrant can't be negated by the effect of a monster!" Adrienne chimed in and Erick's eyes widened. "So in short you have no choice but to draw which means your Dragon's effect is null and void!"
"And Waboku protects her life-points for another round!" Erick yelled out before reluctantly drawing twice, Chloe did likewise and Void Ogre Dragon stopped in its tracks. "I end my turn which activates Synchro Striker Unit side effect." Erick announced as Void Ogre Dragon's attack dropped to 3200. "That move made me use up the last of my traps but the same can be said for her." Erick thought as Chloe drew her card.
"Okay, that move forced him to use up the remaining trap cards on his side of the field but it also forced me to use up mine, if you have any ideas Silent Magician I'm listening." Chloe asked her telepathically and Silent Magician smirked.
"I believe the old saying goes, the best defense is a best defense!" Silent Magician answered and Chloe smirked once she looked over the cards in her hand.
"That's what I like to hear!" Chloe responded before picking up a card. "I discard one card from my hand to Special Summon The Tricky to the field!" Chloe played the card and the mysterious Spellcaster appeared on the field (5/2000/1200). "Now I activate a Spell Card called Black Pendant which I use to increase The Tricky's attack points by 500 points!"
"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Erick snorted as he looked at the two monsters with a smirk as The Tricky's attack increased to 2500. "You may have enough power to defeat me but do you have the guts?" Erick asked as he looked at his hand. "And even if she does my Battle Fader will cancel her follow up attack and allow me to buy myself another turn."
"I do but I'm not going to do it with both my monsters, in fact I'm intending to end this duel with one attack!" Chloe said as she held up a Spell Card. "And it ends with this Spell Card, Gift of the Martyr! Now by sending The Tricky to the Graveyard I can increase my Silent Magician's attack by his attack points!" Chloe played the card and the spellcaster became transparent before its spirit transferred into Silent Magician sending her attack points skyrocketing.
"6000 ATTACK POINTS?!" Erick yelled out as his eyes widened. "NO! I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY SOME UNRULY OSIRIS RED STUDENT!" Erick said before wincing as his life-points to 2000 due to Black Pendant's second effect.
"News Flash Erick, you don't have a choice and with two cards in your hand you can't negate the activation of Gift of the Martyr!" Chloe told him before pointing to her magician. "Silent Magician let's make this a clean sweep, attack Void Ogre Dragon!" Chloe commanded and the magician pointed her staff at the dragon before firing a beam of light at it destroying the monster and bringing Erick's life-points down to 0.
"The winner of the match is Osiris Red's Chloe Richardson and as a result her record is wiped and she won't be expelled!" Martin announced over the cheering crowd; however seconds later Martin stepped out of his office and into the arena. "Congratulations to the eight students who competed tonight, it's rare that a student is able to not only survive the expulsion duels but win as well, let alone all eight of them, we also thank the pro-league duelists who were flown in for these duels." Martin answered and Erick stormed off in a huff, Chloe sighed in relief as she sat down on the arena.
"Thank god that's over." Chloe whispered to herself as she held up her Silent Magician. "As far as I'm concerned I'm not leaving until I graduate and if my Silent Magician helps me along the way it'll be all the better." Chloe thought before hearing footsteps approaching her, she looked up and saw the other students approaching her. "I don't know about you but I'm glad that's over."
"Tell me about it!" Chelsea agreed before glancing over at the audience, Beth was still in the seat that she was occupying during Chelsea's duel with Ricardo and was clearly relieved that all of the duelists from the school had won and that Donny and Drake where glad for them as well. "Judging from the audience's reactions I don't think any of the students wanted to see us lose either, even the Obelisk Blue Students."
"Don't sweat it, now that we've won this we have the tag tournament to look forward too!" Marcus commented…..before he and the other student's stomachs rumbled. "Looks like I'm not the only one who skipped breakfast to get here early."
"We should be able to get something to eat at our dorms." Tyler said as Chloe stood up. "Come on, I say we have a victory feast at the Obelisk Blue Boy's Dorm." Tyler added and the students nodded in agreement before walking off.
*later on that day*
"Man, I'm still stuffed from that feast." Chelsea said as she and Chloe entered their dorm room, it had been a few hours since their duels against the pro duelists and they had assumed that the pro-duelists had left the island to go home. "We've been so busy preparing for those duels that we completely forgot about the tag tournament."
"Look at it this way; we can use what we learned in our duels to prepare for the matches in that tournament." Chloe responded and Chelsea grinned at that. "But it's like I said back at the Duel Field, I'm just glad that it's over and that we can now focus on more important things."
"If I had a drink I'd drink to that!" Chelsea said with a broad grin as she sat down at her laptop, before either girl could say anything else there was a knock at the door and Chloe answered it, she blinked in surprise when she saw who it was. "Who is it Chloe?"
"It's me Chelsea, can I come in?" Chelsea's dad's voice rang out and Chloe stepped aside to let him in. "Chloe, do you mind waiting outside? I want to talk to my daughter about what happened out there."
"Sure, call me if you need me." Chloe said with a nod before leaving the room, once she was out of the room she leaned against a wall and searched through her deck. "That was way to close back there, if I hadn't drawn Silent Magician when I did then who knows if I had still won the match?" Chloe thought as she looked at her copy of Silent Magician Level 8. "But I did and I was able to win my match despite nearly loosing several times, maybe I should upgrade my deck on the off chance that I find myself in a situation like that again?"
"Hey Chloe, that was some nice work out there." Another female student complemented her as she walked by Chloe breaking her train of thought in the process, Chloe grinned as she turned to the student.
"Thanks." Chloe responded and the student walked off. "So…you have any ideas Silent Magician?" Chloe asked her spirit partner.
"I have a few yes but some of the cards won't be easy to obtain." Silent Magician told her and Chloe sighed. "Not only are they rare but they are very expensive."
"Better start saving up those pennies." Chloe responded before hearing the door to her dorm room open and seeing Chelsea's dad step out.
"I understand you were frustrated Chelsea but you have to watch your temper, you already got in trouble once for losing your temper during a duel." Chelsea's dad said and Chloe could just make out the sounds of her roommate letting out an annoyed sigh. "But you and your friends performed excellently in your duels and that's what matters, I have to go now but I'll be in touch."
"Same here dad, tell mom I said hi." Chelsea responded and her dad nodded before walking off, Chloe entered her room and sat down on the bed. "Hey Chloe, what's up?"
"Thinking about improving my deck, just encase something like that happens again." Chloe answered as she looked down at her deck. "There's also the fact that the tournament's coming up quickly."
"Yeah, I hear ya; I'm looking up some cards that could help my deck right now." Chelsea commented before hearing her roommate sigh. "Is something bugging ya?"
"I overheard the tail end of your conversation with your dad, more specifically the part about your temper getting you in trouble in the past." Chloe responded and Chelsea winced. "If you don't want to talk about it I'd understand….."
"No it's okay; I guess you were bound to find out eventually." Chelsea shrugged as she turned to her roommate. "Well as you know my temper is pretty infamous among the students but before I came here I was a lot worse."
"Now that's a scary thought." Chloe gulped and Chelsea grinned.
"Yeah, I guess it is." Chelsea responded before sighing. "Part of the reason I got into the game in the first place was because my parents thought that it could help me with my anger issues, back then I was running a fairly generic Beatdown deck, it was good but not as good as my Watt Deck, which I guess was my dad's idea of a joke or something, anyway I entered a local tournament at my school to help build up my skills."
"So…..what happened?" Chloe asked and Chelsea sighed.
"My first round opponent was a guy who had been playing the game since Jaden Yuki was an Osiris Red Student, I'm pretty sure I don't need to tell you that it was pretty one sided." Chelsea said before sighing. "I lost the match and my temper, when the guy went to shake my hand as a sign of Sportsmanship I instead broke his nose."
"Wait, seriously?!" Chloe asked whilst looking at her roommate like she had just declared that she had started a relationship with Dark Magician Girl.
"Yeah, seriously, it didn't exactly take long for the cops to be called either." Chelsea said before sighing. "The thing is the guy was a Pro-League duelist who was competing in the tournament as a favor to the school, he didn't want to press charges because he realized that it was a heat of the moment thing but his agent insisted." Chelsea said before groaning. "I ended up spending a year in juvie for assault and breaching the peace."
"Breaching the peace?" Chloe asked and Chelsea grinned sheepishly.
"I kept yelling every swear word in the dictionary over the cops' attempts to read me my Miranda Rights." Chelsea answered and Chloe sweat-dropped as she heard that. "Once I got out my folks sat me down and gave me a good talking too because of the incident and my temper, they made it clear that if I continued to lose my temper like that then my future wouldn't be very good, at the same time my dad realized that the Beatdown deck probably wasn't the best deck for someone with my temper so he took me to a local card shop so that I could buy my own deck."
"And that's how you got the Watts?" Chloe asked and Chelsea nodded. "You still have your Beatdown Deck?"
"Yeah, I keep it as a backup encase I don't have access to my Watts for one reason or another." Chelsea said with a nod before sighing. "Chloe, what I just told you, I'm not proud of any of it besides getting the Watts, promise me you won't tell anyone?"
"I promise." Chloe promised her and Chelsea grinned at that. "Besides we all make mistakes, right?"
"Yeah but that mistake ended up starting the tradition of me being kicked out of schools." Chelsea said with a sigh. "It was pretty much the same situation at the other schools, this one included, I was well liked by the faculty and students alike despite not being a model student but my temper always got the better of me and I ended up being kicked out of the school in question."
"Yeah, except you didn't get kicked out this time." Chloe told her and Chelsea grinned. "You'll just have to work on breaking the tradition here."
"Thanks for that Chloe, and believe me I am working on that." Chelsea responded before checking her e-mails. "So….have the pro-duelists left?"
"I heard Erick hopped straight on the Duel Academy ship the moment he reached the pier." Chloe answered as she rested her arms on her legs. "The others I'm not too sure about."
"It wouldn't surprise me if that jackass is still throwing a hissy fit over you beating him." Chelsea chimed in with a grin before there was a knock at the door. "Door's open!" Chelsea called out to whoever was on the other side and the door opened revealing Ricardo. "Ricardo? Wasn't expecting to see you so soon?"
"Yeah well, we're staying at the Obelisk Blue Boy's Dorm until tomorrow anyway, well besides Erick who opted to leave early." Ricardo said as he stepped in. "Not that I'm complaining about that."
"Yeah, I agree there." Chloe agreed before frowning. "So why did you pop round anyway?"
"What? Is a ladies man not allowed to visit the dorm room of two lovely ladies?" Ricardo asked earning himself a pair of death glares. "Oh come on girls, I was kidding!"
"Yeah well if you did try hitting on us I can think of several people who'd object to that, starting with my dad who's not only still on the island but left the dorm a few minutes ago." Chelsea commented before shaking her head. "Ah forget it; you obviously came here for a reason."
"Yeah, we noticed during the duels that you and the others were getting suspicious of our ulterior motives so we decided to spill the beans to you guys whilst you were celebrating." Ricardo said before motioning with his head to the door. "So, since we also agreed that it would be easier to tell you guys as a group rather than separately, Tyler agreed to let us spill the beans so to speak in his room at Obelisk Blue."
"And you were sent to pick us up?" Chelsea asked and Ricardo nodded. "Well, what have we got to lose? It's not like they'll expel us for not making the trip." Chelsea thought before standing up. "Are you coming Chloe?"
"Yeah, I am." Chloe nodded before standing up. "If anything this will at least give us answers as to why they seemed to feel bad about defeating us." Chloe thought before the two girls followed Ricardo out of the dorm room.
*sometime later*
"Feel free to help yourselves to any drinks in my mini fridge." Tyler told the pro duelists as they entered the room, most of the pro duelists from earlier where here besides Ricardo and Erick as where the other students besides Chloe and Chelsea. "The sooner Chloe arrives the sooner I can ask her Duel Spirit about my duel spirit partner."
"Don't you trust my word Tyler?" Serene Psychic Witch asked him and he shook his head.
"It's not that, it's just that I'm still trying to wrap my head around this situation and Chloe's duel spirit might be able to help me understand things a bit better." Tyler responded before he heard a knock at the door, Amanda answered the door and stepped aside to let Chloe, Chelsea and Ricardo in. "Ah good, the party's all here, girls feel free to help yourselves to a drink."
"We will." Chelsea said as she and Chloe sat down. "But how about we focus on the reason we're here in the first place?"
"That is a good idea." Dmitri agreed with a nod as he took a sip of his drink. "As you probably know it's rare for Pro-Duelists like ourselves to be flown in for matches like these, and when we are flown in we typically agree on several things."
"Find out who our opponents are, then find out what we can about their decks and help them in any way we can." Mark chimed in earning confused looks from the students. "I suppose that last one does require some explanation, okay as you guys know if you're expelled from this school you can kiss your future careers as Pro-League duelists good-bye, no ifs, ands or buts about it."
"That is something that pro-duelists like us hate to see." Amanda continued as she sat down. "As you probably know the game of Duel Monsters practically thrives on good competition and there's a lot of untapped potential in schools like this one."
"Well except for Erick who seemed to have his own agenda in his duel with Chloe." Ricardo chimed in with a frown. "What we're basically saying is that we accept these duels to help our opponents grow as duelists and to help improve their attitudes, though I have to say that, besides Chelsea's outburst in my duel with her, that this group of duelists didn't need much help there."
"And it's like I said after our match, I'm working on that." Chelsea chimed in as she folded her arms. "Okay, I get why you guys agreed to be flown in in the first place, well besides Erick obviously, but here's something I don't get, why didn't you ask us first?"
"We would've done, in fact in the past we typically asked if the students wanted our help a day or two in advance." Adrienne responded with a frown. "But as it turns out Duel Academy's original plan was to put the teachers against you guys but since the Night Staff are still ill we were a last minute decision."
"Martin called me first as I had given him my phone number during the Battle City finals, after Otto had broken into Chloe's room he asked me to keep an eye out for any other attempts at sabotage and gave me his number." Phil chimed in with a frown. "From there I contacted Dmitri who contacted Mark who contacted Ricardo….."
"We get the idea." Chloe said as a large sweat-drop rolled down her head. "So wait, Francesca wasn't your first choice?"
"I was competing in a tournament down in Belfast at the time, I won off course." Francesca responded as she turned to Chloe. "Phil's initial choice was the guy Erick beat in the Semi-Finals of the Scottish Nationals but he couldn't come due to a family emergency so he chose me instead."
"We realize that this wasn't exactly an ideal situation, if you guys had known in advance then we wouldn't be having this conversation right now." Amanda added as she finished her drink. "But as you know that wasn't the case and we ended up catching you guys off guard with it instead."
"Well we're kind of mad that you didn't ask us first but at least you guys had a good reason for it." Marcus commented with a frown. "Here's an idea, give us your e-mail addresses so we can keep in touch."
"Good idea." Adrienne agreed before she and the other pro-duelists got their phones out and sent the e-mails to the students. "Well we're here for another day before we leave for home but we'll be in this dorm, if you guys feel like chatting then do us a favor and don't hesitate to pay us a visit." Adrienne answered and the students nodded.
"Speaking off, I think we covered all the stuff we wanted to going into this so we're heading back to our rooms." Phil commented and the other duelists nodded in agreement. "Still it was good to duel you guys and in the case of the Battle City participants it was good to see you again."
"We couldn't agree more." Theresa agreed before standing up. "In that case I think I'll head back to my dorm room as well, we may get weekends off at Duel Academy but there's a good chance that the teachers will be extra strict with us as well because of today's duels." Theresa added and the other students nodded in agreement before they left one by one.
"Actually Chloe, can I borrow you for a few minutes?" Tyler asked her catching Chloe's attention.
"Sure." Chloe said with a nod. "Chelsea, I'll catch up to you later." She called out to her roommate.
"Right, I got it, see you back at the dorm!" Chelsea responded before Chloe closed the door behind her and turned to Tyler.
"So, what's up Tyler?" Chloe asked and Tyler frowned.
"You remember how I got distracted during my duel with Dmitri?" Tyler asked and Chloe nodded. "My duel spirit revealed herself to me."
"You mean in the duel?" Chloe asked and Tyler nodded. "Let me guess, you have some questions for Silent Magician?"
"You could say that, yes." Tyler nodded and Chloe activated her duel disk and slapped the card down, seconds later Silent Magician Level 8 appeared before them.
"Ah yes, Tyler, I was hoping to speak with you since your match against Dmitri." Silent Magician told him and Tyler frowned. "From what I understand your duel spirit partner revealed herself."
"Yes." Tyler said before digging through his deck and finding the monster in question. "She is the monster known as Serene Psychic Witch; she helped me win the duel."
"Yes, I saw your match." Silent Magician said with a nod. "I understand you have some questions for me regarding it."
"Yes I do, how about we start with the obvious one?" Tyler asked and Silent Magician nodded. "Now that I have my own Spirit Partner what happens now? Do I get tested like the others? Will it be at the Abandoned Dorm again?"
"Err, Tyler that was several questions." Chloe pointed out and Tyler frowned.
"They all related to the same subject." Tyler responded before turning to Silent Magician. "Well?"
"Those questions will be answered in due time Tyler, I have much to discus with Theresa's duel spirit on the matter." Silent Magician told him and Tyler nodded in understanding. "Do you have any other questions?"
"None at the moment, if I think of any I'll talk to Chloe." Tyler told the Duel Spirit and Silent Magician nodded before motioning for Chloe to turn off her duel disk, Chloe did so and the Duel Spirit disappeared. "I didn't get the answers I was hoping for but it's a start."
"Yeah, just remember to contact me if you think of anything else." Chloe said before going to leave, however before she reached for the doorknob she paused. "Actually, Tyler, can I ask you something?"
"Ask away." Tyler told her and Chloe nodded.
"What are your thoughts on what the Pro-League duelists told us?" Chloe asked and Tyler rubbed his chin in thought. "And I'm thinking about upgrading my deck encase something like what happened today happens again, could you help?" Chloe added and Tyler paused.
"For your first question, I'm conflicted, I get that they just wanted to help and that due to circumstances beyond their control they couldn't ask us first but I would've appreciated being asked first." Tyler said before smiling. "As for your second question I'll see what I can do, I have a card stash back home and I do remember seeing some cards in there that would complement your deck." Tyler said before turning to his laptop. "For now relax, we've all won our expulsion duels and we can focus on the tournament in two weeks' time, send me an e-mail with a list of cards you want and I'll see if I have them within my card stash."
"Will do Tyler; just keep in mind that the e-mail may end up being from Chelsea's account since I don't have a computer of my own." Chloe told him and Tyler nodded in understanding. "Well, I'm off, see you later."
"See you later." Tyler called out to her and Chloe closed the door behind her. "To think, when I first saw that girl duel back at her test exam I just wrote her off as another rookie for Osiris Red and now look at her." Tyler thought as he logged in to his computer. "Still with the expulsion duels behind us the most we have to worry about is either another Duel Spirit attack or the Tag Tournament but I'll be ready for both." Tyler thought as he typed away at his desktop.