Five minutes had passed since the climax of the duel between the teams of Amelia Gray and Caitlin Acosta and Chong Harrison and Clement Clark and whilst the students who had just competed where recovering from the match the teams competing in the next match where preparing for theirs, and in the case of the Osiris Red Team dreading it.
"Man, it's just our luck that we get drawn against a team from Obelisk Blue." Lacey Morse moaned as she approached the arena, she was a short girl around Chloe's height with shoulder length light brown hair and blue eyes. "I would've preferred to be down against Amelia and Caitlin, at least we wouldn't have been the underdogs."
"Lacey, relax, we may be the underdogs but we can still win." Keri responded as she walked up to her, she was taller than Lacey and had neck length black hair and blue eyes. "Chloe was the underdog going into Battle City and she still came in third."
"Comparing us to Chloe Richardson? You did see her matches in the tournament right?" Lacey asked as she turned to her. "Besides Chloe's up for promotion to Ra Yellow on Saturday and so is her partner, to be frank I'd be surprised if they are still in Osiris Red by the end of the weekend, I'm just saying that you're setting the bar a bit high for us."
"Good point, for now let's focus on our match." Keri responded and Lacey nodded reluctantly before the two girls made their way into the arena and onto the Duel Platform.
"Just when I was beginning to think that you two had come to your senses." Esther Benjamin commented as she shook her head, she was a tall English student with shoulder length red hair and blue eyes. "But I guess you're hoping to get lucky like Chloe Richardson did."
"If you're referring to Chloe's match against Otto in Battle City then I think you're forgetting something." Keri responded as she activated her duel disk. "For starters Chloe had him on the ropes with Silent Magician Level Eight and she likely would've won even if he hadn't drawn Power Bond!"
"How cute, you think you can predict what would've happened if things went differently in the past." Delia scoffed as she, Lacey and Esther activated their duel disks and the four girls drew their opening hands, she was the same height as Esther but was clearly American with shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes. "We all know Otto was framed anyway."
"Ugh, don't start with that bullshit again," Lacey grunted as she pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "Okay, how about we decide the order we're going in?"
"Fine, I'll go first then the reject standing opposite me, then Esther and then the other reject!" Delia announced and didn't give either of the Osiris Red girls a chance to answer before drawing her first card. "I start my turn by summoning Lonefire Blossom to the field!" Delia played the card and a small plant appeared on the field, it was orange in color, had purple leaves and a large bulb on top (3/500/1400).
"That thing doesn't look too tough!" Lacey scoffed and Delia grinned.
"I assure you, it's a lot more potent than either of your pathetic decks!" Delia answered as Lonefire Blossom disappeared from the field. "I activate Lonefire Blossom's effect, by sacrificing it or any other Plant Type monster I control I can special summon one Plant Type Monster from my deck such as the mighty Gigaplant!" Delia played the card and a new monster appeared in Lonefire Blossom's place, it was a much larger green plant with a Venus flytrap like mouth (6/2400/1200). "Gigaplant does have an effect of its own but it's a Gemini monster so I have to wait a turn." Delia added before picking up and setting two cards. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Delia announced and Lacey drew her card.
"So that's two duels in a row where I hate a person, or in this case the whole team, without ever meeting them." Chloe commented as she shook her head. "Well, I guess I have another reason to root for Lacey and Keri."
"Unfortunately it won't be easy for them." Tyler responded and Chloe turned to him. "Delia's Plant deck is very potent and summoning Gigaplant as quickly as possible is part of her main strategy."
"You've dueled against them before?" Chelsea asked and Tyler nodded.
"They gave me a hell of a fight but I won in the end." Tyler responded as he turned his attention back to the duel. "Time will tell if Lacey and Keri will have similar luck."
"Okay Lacey, no need to panic, she just has a 2400 beatstick on her side of the field that happens to be a Gemini Monster." Lacey thought as she looked over her hand. "I activate Foolish Burial!" Lacey played the card and quickly picked up her deck, once she found the card she was looking for she sent it to the graveyard and shuffled her deck. "But more on that later, I'll set one card facedown and a monster in defense mode to end my turn." Lacey set the cards and Esther smirked before drawing her card.
"That's all? Well that's too bad!" Esther scoffed before looking at her drawn card. "And I start my turn by summoning Rescue Rabbit!" Esther played the card and the small rabbit in the worker's helmet appeared on the field (4/300/100). "And I'll activate its effect, banishing my rabbit…." Esther trailed off as the rabbit disappeared. "So I can Special Summon two copies of Gem Knight Garnet!" Esther played the card and two red armored warriors with a single flaming fist between them appeared on the field (4/1900/0).
"Let me guess, you're about to use them in a XYZ Summon?" Lacey asked and too her surprise Esther shook her head.
"I could do that but why summon one monster when I can do something better?" Esther asked before playing a card. "I activate Gem-Knight Fusion! I send the two Garnets from my field alongside Gem-Knight Obsidian (3/1500/1200) to fusion summon Gem-Knight Master Diamond!" Esther played the card and the three monsters fused together, out of the vortex emerged a tall armored figure carrying a large sword whose armor was grey and it had sparkling diamonds on it (9/2900/2500). "As strong as Master Diamond is he's about to get stronger, he gains one hundred attack points for each Gem monster in my graveyard and thanks to my move there's three!" Esther added as Master Diamond's attack increased to 3200.
"Oh crap, this is bad!" Lacey gulped only to blink in confusion when Master Diamond's attack dropped to 3100. "Huh?"
"Remember Gem-Knight Obsidian? When he is sent from the hand to the graveyard I can Special Summon one Normal Monster from my graveyard." Esther explained as Garnet returned to the field. "But I'm not done, I activate another Gem Fusion fusing Garnet with Gem-Knight Sapphire in my hand to fusion summon Gem-Knight Ruby!" Esther played the card and the two monsters where sucked into another portal, in Garnet's place stood a taller version of Garnet with a purple cape and a long staff (6/2500/1300) and Master Diamond's attack increased to 3400 thanks to its effect. "I set my sole remaining card facedown and end my turn." Esther announced and Keri drew her card.
"Okay, things just went from bad to worse." Keri thought with a gulp as she looked over her hand. "They have three powerhouse monsters on their side of the field and three facedowns with it, if they summon another then they could go for a One Turn Kill." Keri thought before her eyes rested on her drawn card. "But not if I can help it!" Keri thought with a grin before picking up two cards. "I set one card facedown and a monster in defense mode to end my turn." Keri announced and Delia quickly drew her card. "Come on, take the bait…."
"Well it's been a turn so I'll use my Normal Summon to activate Gigaplant's Gemini mode!" Delia announced as the monstrous plant started glowing. "And it's a very potent one, in a way it's a lot like the effect of Lonefire Blossom but it doesn't require a sacrifice and it also applies to insects, however I'll use it to summon another Gigaplant." Esther played the card and another monstrous plant appeared on the field.
"Okay Lacey, relax, that one doesn't have its Gemini Mode active and she's already used up her summon." Lacey thought as Esther played an equip spell.
"I activate Supervise! With this Equip Spell my second Gigaplant is now treated as a Gemini Monster." Esther played the card and the second Gigaplant started glowing. "And I'll use its effect to summon my third and final Gigaplant." Delia played the card and the third monstrous plant appeared on the field.
"Going for your old One Turn Kill Delia?" Esther asked with a grin and she nodded. "Then feel free to use Master Diamond." Esther added as her stronger monster walked over to her partner's side of the field.
"Then I will, Master Diamond, attack her defense monster!" Delia commanded and the monster charged towards the defense monster….
"Hah, gotcha, go Mirror Force!" Keri activated the trap and the two Obelisk Blue Girls grinned. "Huh?"
"Not happening, go Trap Stun!" Delia activated the trap and grinned. "Nice try you reject!"
"Thanks but I have my own trap to back her up! Go Trap Jammer!" Lacey activated the trap and Delia's eyes widened as Trap Stun's hologram shattered and the five monsters on their side of the field soon followed suit. "Who's the reject now?"
"Supervise has another effect, when it's face-up on the field and sent to the graveyard I can Special Summon one Normal Monster from my graveyard." Delia added as she retrieved the card from her graveyard. "And since Gigaplant is considered a Normal Monster in the graveyard…." Delia added as the monstrous plant returned to the field. "And guess what rejects? It's still my Battle Phase! Gigaplant, attack her defense monster!" Delia commanded and the plant sprouted vines from underneath the set monster, revealed to be a small robot that was grey and red in color wearing a yellow scarf, a frying pan on its head which face wasn't visible besides the eyes (1/100/300) which was quickly crushed. "Hah! What on earth was that?!"
"That monster was Tuningware and believe me he's a lot tougher than he looks." Lacey responded and Delia scoffed. "Are you done?" Lacey asked and Delia nodded reluctantly before Lacey drew her card. "Crap, this isn't the card I need!" Lacey thought before setting it. "I set one card facedown and end my turn." Lacey announced and Esther drew her card.
"Delia's attack may have backfired but I still have some moves I can make." Esther said as she retrieved four cards from her graveyard. "If Gem Knight Fusion is in my graveyard I can banish one Gem Knight Monster to retrieve one of them so I'll banish my two Garnets to retrieve two of them." Esther added as she pocketed the two monsters and added the Spell Cards to her hand.
"That won't help you; Gem Knight Fusion will only work with cards in your hand and on the field." Lacey pointed out and Esther scowled at her.
"Don't interrupt me you reject!" Esther scowled as she activated her trap. "I activate Return from a Different Dimension, I cut my own life-points in half….." Esther trailed off before wincing as her life-points dropped to four thousand. "So I can Special Summon the two Garnets and Rescue Rabbit!" Esther added as the three monsters returned to the field. "They will be banished once I end my turn but that's not an issue." Esther added as the two Garnets formed an Overlay Network.
"You used that just to do an XYZ Summon?" Lacey asked and Esther growled at her.
"What did I tell you about interrupting me?" Esther asked as she played a card. "First I use my Garnets to construct an overlay network and summon Infernal Flame Vixen!" Esther announced as a new monster appeared on the field, it was fire that had taken the form of an attractive woman and had a long scythe made of fire as it's weapon, strangely enough a woman's head poked out of the flames and sprouted two demon wings (Rank: 4/2200/2000).
"Okay, that's just creepy." Lacey said with a gulp as she stared down the monster.
"Next I'll use Rescue Rabbit's effect again, this time I'll use it to summon Gem Knight Tourmaline!" Esther played the cards and once Rescue Rabbit vanished from the field two Gem Knights in yellow armor appeared on the field (4/1600/1800). "Now I'll play Gem-Knight Fusion, fusing them together to summon Gem-Knight Prismaura!" Esther played the cards and the two Gem Knights fused together to form a large knight in white and gold armor that was carrying a shield and sword (7/2450/1400). "I'll get to his effect in a bit but first I'll help Delia by using my Normal Summon on Gigaplant."
"Thanks." Delia thanked her as her plant started glowing.
"Next I'll detach an XYZ Material from Flame Vixen to activate her effect, until the end phase she gets five-hundred attack points." Esther added as her XYZ Monster's attack increased to 2700. "Now I'll get my revenge on that reject for destroying my first monsters, Flame Vixen, attack her life-points directly!" Esther commanded and the monster charged towards Lacey.
"I activate my trap card Graceful Revival! With this I revive Tuningware in attack mode!" Lacey played the card and the weak machine returned to the field.
"Fine, you'll just loose less life-points than you would have in the first place, continue your attack Flame Vixen!" Esther commanded and the monster set the monster a light bringing Lacey's life-points down to 5400. "Prismaura put that reject in her place." Esther commanded and the fusion monster stabbed Lacey with his sword bringing her life-points down to 2950. "You won't even survive until your next turn you reject; I end my turn….."
"I activate Shock Draw!" Lacey activated the trap and quickly drew four cards before Keri drew hers.
"Am I alone in thinking Esther just made a dumb move?" Chloe asked as she scratched her head. "Yeah, she has two new powerhouses on her side of the field but cutting her own life-points in half this early in the duel?"
"The way I look at it she wants this finished and fast, she's probably counting on Delia to finish the job she started." Theresa answered with a frown. "And since she used her normal summon on Delia's Gigaplant she can do just that unless she has something in her hand to counter it."
"Effect Veiler is the first thing that comes to mind but that's if she drew it with Shock Draw just now." Brandon agreed with a nod. "And that's if she drew something to get around the attacks that would follow up."
"They've outsmarted them before, I'm sure Lacey and Keri will do it again." Chelsea chimed in as she folded her arms. "And if they win, well it'll be fun to watch those two idiots eat there rejects comments."
"This is bad; Lacey will be eliminated next if I don't draw something we can use." Keri thought as she looked at her drawn card. "As much as I hate helping my opponents…." Keri sighed as she played a card. "I activate Spellbook Inside the Pot." Keri played the card and Esther and Delia grinned as the four duelists drew three cards each.
"Don't worry, we'll make you regret that next turn." Esther responded and Keri's eyes narrowed.
"We'll see about that." Keri responded before looking at her drawn cards and grinning. "I set two cards facedown…." Keri said as she set the cards. "And a card in defense mode….." Keri said as she set the other card. "And I end my turn at that." Keri announced and Delia quickly drew her card.
"Then I won't waste any time, I'll use Gigaplant's effect to Special Summon one of the other Gigaplants!" Delia played the card and the second Gigaplant returned to the field. "I'm not going to fall for the same trick twice, if I lose these Gigaplants without a back-up plan then I'm in big trouble and thanks to Monster Reborn being banned I'm one card short of my usual back-up plans." Delia thought before pointing to Lacey. "Finish her off!" Delia commanded and the two monsters charged towards her…..
"Did you forget about little old me? I activate my Staunch Defender Trap Card to force one of the Gigaplants to attack one of my monsters instead!" Keri activated the trap and the Gigaplant that was summoned first changed direction and shot its vines towards the defense monster, revealed to be Apprentice Magician (2/400/800) which was quickly destroyed. "And I'll use my Magician's effect to summon another monster in defense mode!" Keri added before setting the monster she searched her deck for.
"Fine, but that won't save your partner from this attack!" Delia responded as the vines wrapped themselves around Lacey and squeezed bringing her life-points down to 450. "Even my partner's weakest Gem Knight can finish her off at this point!"
"Just end your turn already." Lacey grunted as she got back to her feet and Delia nodded reluctantly before Lacey drew her card. "Yes, finally, I've drawn a card I can use!" Lacey thought as she played it. "I may be behind on life-points but I'm not out of this by a longshot! I summon Junk Synchron!" Lacey played the card a cute, little machine appeared on the field; it was orange in color and had several human like features (3/1300/500).
"Hah! I've never seen such a fitting name for a monster!" Esther scoffed but stopped laughing when Tuningware returned to the field in defense mode. "What?"
"When Junk Synchron is Normal Summon his effect activates, this effect lets me Special Summon one Level Two or lower monster from my graveyard in defense mode with his effects negated." Lacey explained before playing another card. "That's not all, now that I have a Tuner monster on my side of the field I can Special Summon the monster I sent to the graveyard with Foolish Burial, Quilbolt Hedgehog!" Lacey played the card and a small, orange hedgehog with bolts instead of quills appeared on the field (2/800/800).
"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Esther asked and Lacey grinned before playing another card. "Is that Machine Duplication?"
"That's right and I'm using it on Tuningware!" Lacey responded as she played the card and two more copies of the machine appeared on the field. "There's two other things you need to know, when Tuningware is used for a Synchro Summon I can treat its level as two, as for the other effect….." Lacey said before grinning as she pointed to Junk Synchron. "Junk Synchron is a tuner monster!"
"Wait, how many levels is that in total?" Delia asked as the five monsters leapt into the air with Junk Synchron leading the way, Junk Synchron pulled at a previously unseen chord and the Synchro Rings quickly surrounded the other monsters.
"Eight and you know what? I'm using all my monsters to Synchro Summon Junk Destroyer!" Lacey played the card and from the bright flash emerged a massive robot that closely resembled a Transformer; it was black, red and gold in color and was very intimidating to look at (8/2600/2500). "Now when Tuningware is used in a Synchro Summon I can draw one card but since I used three…." Lacey trailed off as she drew three cards. "And when Quilbolt Hedgehog is summoned by his effect he is banished, but that's not the effect you should worry about."
"What are you talking about?" Esther demanded as Junk Destroyer suddenly opened fire with previously unseen guns destroying her Gem Knights and Esther's Gigaplants. "What have you done?!"
"I just turned to the duel around in my team's favor, when Junk Destroyer is Synchro Summoned I can destroy one monster on the field for each Synchro Material used in its summon." Lacey explained as her grin grew wider.
"Hope you don't mind me chiming in partner." Keri said as her trap flipped up. "I activate Synchro Strike, now Lacey's Synchro Monster will gain five hundred attack points for each Synchro Material Monster used to summon it for the rest of the turn, there were four of them so…." Keri trailed off as Junk Destroyer's attack points shot up to 4600. "Now, who was it that cut their life-points in half again?"
"Oh shit….." Esther trailed off as it hit her. "I…..I'm not losing to a team of rejects!"
"That's too bad Esther! Otto lost to a reject himself and now it's your turn." Lacey responded before sweat-dropping. "Man I really should've worded that better…." Lacey trailed off before pointing to Junk Destroyer. "Junk Destroyer, finish her off!" Lacey commanded and the monster fired its weapons at Esther bringing her life-points down to zero. "Obviously I can't attack twice so I'll set this…." Lacey trailed off as the set card appeared on the field. "And I end my turn."
"And since Esther's been eliminated it jumps straight to my turn." Keri added as she drew her card. "Lacey, could I use Junk Destroyer?"
"Go for it!" Lacey responded as Junk Destroyer went over to Keri's side of the field.
"Good and now to summon a powerhouse of my own." Keri said as her two facedown monsters disappeared. "I sacrifice my facedown monsters to summon Sorciere de Fleur!" Keri played the card and a tall robed Spellcaster appeared on the field, she had long blonde hair and her robes where white and red in color, she had a golden staff with a purple gem on it (7/2900/0). "And when she's Normal or Special Summoned I get to take one monster from your graveyard and Special Summon it to my field!"
"You wouldn't dare!" Delia gasped as Keri's monster casted a spell and Gigaplant reappeared on Keri's side of the field. "A reject like you isn't worthy of a…."
"Oh just shut up already!" Lacey snapped at her and Delia stopped short. "We've been enduring that bullshit all duel and like it or not we're about to win this match!"
"That's right, Junk Destroyer, Gigaplant, attack her life-points directly!" Keri commanded and the two monsters launched their attacks at Delia bringing her life-points down to three thousand. "Now normally my remaining monster wouldn't be able to attack the same turn she's summoned, in fact she'll be destroyed at the end of the turn under normal circumstances."
"What do you mean "Normal Circumstances"?" Delia demanded and Keri's last trap flipped up. "Is that Pyro Clock of Destiny!?"
"That's right! Since this trap moves the turn forward by one….well, you know the rest." Keri responded as the time skipped a turn, Gigaplant and her strongest sorcerer launched their attacks again bringing Delia's life-points down to zero.
"Here are your winners of the match, Lacey Morse and Keri Harmon!" Martin announced over the cheering yet shocked crowd as the two Osiris Red Girls high fived each other as they hopped off the arena. "Come back tomorrow when Grace Cathryn Craig of Obelisk Blue teams up with Staci Griffin of Osiris Red to take on Vernon Chan of Ra Yellow and Charity Hensley of Osiris Red but not before Bettye Blanchard of Obelisk Blue teams up with Kara Byers of Obelisk Blue team up to take on Latoya Conley and Louella Schneider of Ra Yellow!"
"Now that was satisfying!" Chloe said with a grin as she stood up with the others. "No offense to Tyler, Theresa and Brandon but I think we have enough Obelisk Blue Students in the second round."
"None taken but we'll see what happens in the following days." Theresa responded as they left the arena. "There are a lot of Obelisk Blue students left after all."
"Yeah and there's way too many all Obelisk Blue teams." Chelsea added and Theresa shook her head at that. "So what are you guys planning now?"
"We'll probably head back to our dorms; I know I'll be checking up on Lance." Andreas answered with a nod. "Besides that I'll see if I can squeeze in some duels as well."
"Yeah, same here, well see you guys later." Chloe said as the Osiris Red Girls split off from the others, whilst that was going on another group was talking amongst themselves.
"Correct me if I'm wrong…." Thomas commented to Cameron and Jessica as he followed them to the main area. "But weren't you friends with Esther and Delia Jessica, in fact you were quite close as I understand it?"
"Not anymore." Jessica said plainly as she followed her boyfriend. "They disgraced Obelisk Blue with that loss and they can drop out for all I care."
"And I can say the same for Clement." Cameron added as he turned to them. "Caitlin may have had Amelia on her team but that's no excuse."
"I'm surprised that you're willing to hang out with me now that you know that I lost to Chloe Richardson before the tournament." Thomas added and they turned to him.
"Don't push your luck Thomas, she beat you because you where careless and practically gave her your Tuner Monster on a silver platter." Cameron commented with a frown. "If you face her team later on don't make the same mistake."
"Believe me, I won't." Thomas responded with a nod. "She won't last one turn against my new deck."
"We'll hold you too that." Jessica added with a smirk. "Don't forget that without Monster Reborn your deck loses a lot of power."
"And so does yours." Thomas responded and they frowned once they realized that he had a point. "For all we know I2 will rectify the many mistakes of the latest banlist by the time of our match against her team but I wouldn't hold my breath, especially since Pegasus's daughter will be taking over in a few years."
"Yes, I heard about that, I believe she graduated from Obelisk Blue last year." Cameron responded with a nod. "She hasn't made much noise in the Pro-Leagues since then but that may explain why."
"Let's focus on the next matches; this should be entertaining at the very least." Thomas responded and they nodded, whilst that was going on MacLeod was making his move.
"Victor, I'll strike later on in the day when the girl's classes are finished." MacLeod said as he made his way out of the arena. "She'll be in a false sense of security and it'll be an easy target."
"Fine, but be ready regardless and remember, she still has that dragon." Victor responded before hanging up.