(OOC Note: The character of Hu Wukong is also created by MureoMae; all creative credit goes to him)
It had been twenty minutes since the last tournament duel and Chloe was waiting for Chelsea's class to end, unlike Chelsea Chloe didn't have a class right now and as much as she wanted to keep an eye on Ash on the off chance that he was targeted Chelsea couldn't skip her IT Class so she ended up waiting on her, that wasn't all that was on her mind however as she also had her next tournament duel on her mind as well.
"This is so unfair!" Chloe thought as she leaned against the wall with her arms folded. "It seems like fate's punishing me for using the Orichalcos in the first place!" Chloe thought before realizing something. "Hey, Silent Magician…."
"If I had that kind of power you would've won the Battle City Tournament." Silent Magician cut her off and Chloe sighed in relief. "There's only one item with that kind of power to my knowledge, the Millennium Puzzle, and that thing's been buried under the sands of Egypt for years now."
"Yeah, I heard about that thing but I've mostly heard rumors about it." Chloe answered as she shook her head. "Anyway can you keep an eye out for any Orichalcos activations?"
"I've been doing that all day, no activity so far." Silent Magician answered and Chloe nodded, before Chloe could say anything else the bell rung and seconds later the door to the IT Room opened up before the students who were taking the class poured out with her roommate trailing behind.
"Hey Chelsea," Chloe greeted her and her roommate smiled as she looked up. "How was class?"
"Eh, nothing much, just the usual stuff." Chelsea answered as she put her laptop in a case. "Tracy noticed that I didn't have a laptop case and gave me one." Chelsea explained and Chloe nodded. "Anyway, I know you want to find Ash and make sure he's all right but I want to head back to our dorm room and make sure my laptop's safe and unpacked, after it was stolen last week I don't want to take any chances."
"I guess I can't blame you." Chloe admitted before getting an idea. "Why don't we meet up a bit later then? I'll text you Ash's location and we meet up there?"
"Good idea, I'll leave my phone on in anticipation for that text." Chelsea nodded before walking off with her new laptop case slung over her shoulder. "He probably went over to the Ra Yellow's boy's dorm so it might be worth starting there."
"I was thinking the same thing, see you in a bit." Chloe responded and Chelsea nodded before leaving, she kicked off the wall before walking towards the exit of the main building. "Okay, just gotta get to the Ra Yellow Boy's Dorm quickly, hopefully without bumping into…."
"Well, well, look who it is." Jessica's voice rang out and Chloe glanced over her shoulder, standing behind her where Jessica, Cameron and Thomas and she groaned.
"What the hell do you idiots want?" Chloe asked as she glared at the trio. "Don't you have someone else to annoy?"
"Oh, nothing much, we're just here to give you our condolences," Thomas said with a smirk and Chloe glared at him. "After all, it's obvious that you'll lose your match tomorrow!"
"Funny coming from the guy I beat without my best monster." Chloe countered and Thomas's smirk quickly disappeared. "And as for you Cameron, if you hadn't have pulled that stunt during our last duel you'd be in his shoes!"
"You'll treat us with the respect we deserve you little tramp!" Jessica scowled and Chloe rolled her eyes.
"Oh yeah, I'm the tramp when you where the one who slept with half the Obelisk Blue Boy's Dorm!" Chloe scoffed earning several shocked gasps from the surrounding students. "And respect? Give me a fucking break, stop treating my dorm like trash and maybe I'll show you some respect." Chloe added and the next thing she knew Jessica went to punch her….only for her fist to be stopped.
"Let me go…." Jessica said as she struggled against the male hand, Chloe looked up confirming that Ash had caught the fist.
"Well, if you insist." Ash responded before letting go with a slight shove sending her on her backside. "Are you all right Chloe?"
"Yeah, they thought they could talk down to me, emphasis on thought." Chloe said as she shook her head. "I put up with enough of that bullshit from Otto in Battle City, those guys can't even compare to him!"
"Why, you little punk, I'll teach you to respect us!" Cameron growled before aiming a fist Ash's head, he side stepped him and pulled out a kendo stick from his belt and pointed it at his head.
"Do you wish to try that again?" Ash asked and Cameron hesitated before storming off with Jessica and Thomas in toe. "It's best to ignore bullies like that." Ash sighed as he sheathed the kendo stick. "But even then sometimes it's not possible."
"Tell me about it." Chloe agreed with a sigh. "Thanks again for that, I've been in enough trouble with the school already without a fight breaking out in the Main Building." Chloe added as she shook her head. "That was a kendo stick, right?"
"Indeed, I'm an expert at that Martial Art." Ash responded with a nod. "My father taught me, he's descended from a line of Samurai."
"Wow, that's really fucking cool." Chelsea said as she walked up to them, she turned to Chloe who grinned at her. "When you didn't text me after a few minutes I figured something was up, I'm guessing it has to do with The Three Stooges storming off?" Chelsea and Chloe nodded before Chelsea turned to Ash. "I didn't get a chance to introduce myself back there; I'm Chelsea, Chloe's roommate and partner in the tournament."
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Ash responded with a nod. "I have a rather interesting family if I do say so myself, my mother is descended from a line of Shinto Priests."
"Huh, the only interesting thing about my family is that my dad's on the pro circuit." Chelsea responded as the two girls started walking with Ash and made their way out of the main building. "So, I was wondering, what deck do you run?"
"I run a Bujin deck." Ash answered and the two girls winced as they thought back to the tag team duel where Theresa got the Fang of Critius. "It's a combo of my parent's decks; my dad runs a Six Samurai deck whilst my mother runs a Lightsworn deck."
"Are they on the pro circuit?" Chloe asked and Ash nodded. "My stepdad's a retired pro duelist; last time he dueled was in Battle City which proved to be a one off return." Chloe added and Ash nodded.
"What about your real dad?" Ash asked and Chloe winced.
"Err, trust me Ash, you really don't want to know. "Chelsea quickly chimed in once she saw the look on Chloe's face and Ash raised an eyebrow. "Let me put it this way, if you ever found it what that bastard did to her you'd want to shove that Kendo Stick up his ass."
"Ah, I see." Ash nodded once he got the idea. "I won't pry if she doesn't want to disclose the details I can't imagine what growing up in such a situation did to her psyche."
"All things considered I've adjusted pretty well." Chloe responded with a sigh. "But it's like she said, it's not exactly pretty." Chloe added before momentarily glancing towards the forest. "I can't shake the feeling that we're being watched by someone."
"I sensed that too Chloe." Silent Magician chimed in as her transparent form appeared alongside her. "Be on your guard, given recent events it's a safe bet that there's an Orichalcos Duelist on the island." Silent Magician added before vanishing from sight.
"Something caught your eye Chloe?" Ash asked and she shook her head once she turned to him.
"No, I just feel like we're being watched by someone." Chloe responded and the two teenagers looked in the direction that she was looking. "I know there are a lot of students here, especially after the new applicants moved in on Saturday, but I've never had that feeling until now."
"Yeah, I noticed that too now that you mention it." Chelsea responded with a nod. "I thought it was just me being paranoid."
"Well, you are two lovely girls; I wouldn't be surprised if you two had some admirers." Ash shrugged and Chloe blushed a bit whilst Chelsea just laughed. "Is there something funny Chelsea?"
"Kinda, you see I do get some male admirers but most of the time it has more to do with my gay status than anything else." Chelsea responded and Ash looked at her surprised. "Yeah, you're not the first one who was surprised to learn that."
"Well I admire your honesty about it." Ash responded and Chelsea grinned at that. "That girl you mentioned, Beth, is she your partner?"
"Yeah, we got together whilst Chloe and the others was at Battle City." Chelsea nodded in response. "I thought I was the only gay girl in a dorm of straight girls for a long time but Beth proved me wrong and we hooked up not long after that."
"So, err, what do you do for fun?" Chloe asked as she turned to him.
"I do traditional Samurai stuff, tea ceremonies, Haiku Writing and I'm not dueling I play a game called Kokyo." Ash explained earning two confused looks. "I'm guessing you haven't heard of it?"
"No, we're both originally from the US." Chloe explained and Ash nodded. "I'm from New York and Chelsea's from Chicago."
"I see." Ash responded with a nod. "I've always wanted to go to New York but I guess this is the closest I'll get."
"Trust me, it's as a big as it looks on TV." Chloe said with a sheepish grin on her face. "I'm from the area known as Brooklyn and I mostly stayed around that area growing up."
"I can understand that I suppose, such a big city and so easy to get lost in." Ash responded before pausing. "You girls mind if I go on ahead? I just realized that I left my duel disk back at my temporary dorm room."
"Go ahead." Chloe nodded and Ash walked off, once he was out of earshot she turned to Chelsea. "He seems nice enough."
"Yeah, just gotta remember to stay off his bad side." Chelsea responded as she leaned against a nearby tree. "You really think he's going to be targeted by those bastards?"
"Considering their last agent forced me to use the Orichalcos I'm not taking anything to chance with them." Chloe answered and Chelsea nodded in response. "Honestly I'm surprised that they haven't targeted you again."
"Yeah, I agree there but at the same time I'm not complaining." Chelsea responded as she shuddered. "My ribs have completely healed since then but it's still not something that I'm in a hurry to experience again." Chelsea added and Chloe nodded. "I guess you felt the same way after your first Orichalcos Duel back in Battle City."
"Yeah, I did, remember when Theresa mentioned that I left the scene of that duel in an ambulance?" Chloe asked and Chelsea nodded. "She wasn't exenterating, I was bleeding pretty badly throughout the match and to be blunt I'd rather not think of how I would've ended up if the duel had continued past the turn I won it in."
"That's what caused you to be on painkillers for the rest of the tournament, right?" Chelsea asked and Chloe nodded. "Man, now I feel like I got off easy by aggravating my bruised ribs." Chelsea added before shaking her head. "Ash is taking a while isn't he?"
"We've only been talking for a few minutes." Chloe responded after checking her watch. "On the other hand the Ra Yellow Boy's Dorm isn't that far a walk from here so maybe he started talking with one of the other Ra Yellow students?"
"Maybe…." Chelsea trailed off with a frown on her face. "How about we give him ten more minutes and we go look for him if he hasn't returned?" Chelsea suggested and Chloe nodded in approval of the idea.
*meanwhile*
Ash had found his duel disk in that time but he was currently going through his deck to make sure that he had all the cards he needed.
"Those girls are nice enough, maybe I can get a duel out of them?" Ash thought as he shuffled through his deck, the spare dorm room he was in was a small one with a desktop computer in the corner but he made do for the time being. "I was hoping to get my first Duel Academy duel done by the end of the weekend but I got side-tracked, shouldn't be too difficult to get a duel now that I've made some friends." Ash thought before hearing a knock at the door, he put his deck in his duel disk and strapped it on. "Who is it?"
"You know who it is Ashitaka." A male Chinese voice rang out and Ashitaka frowned before standing up and answering the door, on the other end was a Chinese youth with a shaved head and brown eyes, he was around 6ft 2 and was pretty muscular. "I had heard that you hadn't found a duel yet."
"I am working on that Hu." Ashitaka answered with a frown. "From what I heard you rushed into things and challenged one of the Obelisk Blue girls."
"Yes, Kimberly Troy, that was my first mistake." Hu admitted as he folded his arms inadvertently showing a burn scar on his left hand. "But to get noticed around here you have to challenge the best, besides I saw you hanging around those girls from Osiris Red."
"You mean Chloe and Chelsea? Chloe was one of the first people I talked too when I came here and Chelsea's her roommate, they also happen to be very charming women." Ashitaka added before smiling. "In fact, I plan to challenge them to a duel at some point."
"You challenge them and not your old rival?" Hu scoffed before walking off. "It seems my old rival has gone soft, we will duel again and I will beat you." Hu added before disappearing down the hallway.
"Who was he?" Ashitaka looked up and saw Chloe and Chelsea nearby and it was Chloe who had spoken up, he checked his watch and he saw that ten minutes had passed. "Sorry, we got a bit impatient."
"Its fine, time flew away from me." Ashitaka answered with a shrug. "As for him, his name's Wu Wukong, I guess you could say that we're rivals."
"Doesn't seem like a friendly rivalry to me." Chelsea pointed out and Ashitaka shook his head.
"No, no, he's just loud, brash and extremely passionate about Duel Monsters." Ashitaka answered with a frown. "The rivalry started a few years ago, I had flown to China for a tournament and met him in the opening round, I won but it was a close duel."
"By the sound of things he didn't take the loss well." Chelsea answered and Ashitaka nodded.
"Not at all, he's tried several times since then to beat me each with the same result." Ashitaka sighed as he shook his head. "To say that I wasn't surprised to see him at the qualifying duels last weekend would be a big understatement." Ashitaka added before turning to them. "Anyway, I was wondering if I could duel either of you."
"A duel huh?" Chelsea asked before digging out her timetable. "Okay, let's see here, my next class isn't for a couple of hours yet, what about you Chloe?"
"I won't have time." Chloe sighed as she looked at her timetable. "My next class is in an hour and I get the feeling that this duel is going to run for a bit longer than that."
"So I guess that settles it." Chelsea said with a grin. "I'll be your first Duel Academy opponent, where too?"
"I was hoping you'd tell me, I don't know the area well enough yet." Ashitaka answered and Chelsea nodded.
"Well, unless Theresa, Tyler and Brandon are free I don't see us using the Obelisk Blue Duel Field." Chelsea said as she looked at her watch. "And from the look of things they won't be, that exam Theresa mentioned is going on right now and I doubt they'll be willing to leave such an important one."
"Well, there are the other two duel fields, they are smaller but we won't need an Obelisk Blue student with us to use them." Chloe answered after thinking for a few minutes. "Problem with that is that I've never used either of those duel fields and I don't know where they are."
"I could go ahead and find the duel field." Ashitaka offered and Chelsea nodded.
"Good idea, need to go through my side deck anyway and see if I need to make any changes." Chelsea answered and Ashitaka nodded. "Do you have a cell phone?" Chelsea asked and Ashitaka nodded. "Good, you can text me when you find the location." Chelsea added before showing him her cell-phone number, he jotted it down before leaving the two girls alone.
"You sure you're going to be okay facing him Chelsea?" Chloe asked once he was out of earshot. "Brandon and Theresa had a hard enough time facing the Bujin deck last weekend."
"I get what you're saying Chloe but trust me, I'll be fine." Chelsea reassured her as she looked through her side deck. "Besides from what I saw off that match that archetype seems to be focused on protecting one monster, Bujin Yamato, if I get that thing out of the picture it should be an easy match from that point onwards."
"If you think it will be that easy then it's no wonder you're in Osiris Red." Chelsea blinked before looking up; Hu was standing there leaning against the wall. "I've heard of you two; you're the Osiris Red team that's competing tomorrow in the second match, right?" Hu asked and the two girls nodded.
"Yeah and let me set some things straight." Chelsea said with a frown. "First off they considered me to be good enough for Ra Yellow but they stuck me in Osiris Red because I lost my temper during the test duel, second me and Chloe are two of the duelists up for promotion on Saturday so we won't be in Osiris Red for long."
"I heard that too, if you're as good as you say then you should make it to Ra Yellow no problem." Hu answered before walking off. "But take it from someone who's faced Ashitaka many times before, he is not someone to be underestimated." Hu added before walking off.
"Think we can trust him?" Chloe asked and Chelsea shook her head.
"Who knows he definitely has an attitude problem but compared to certain other students…." Chelsea trailed off and it didn't take Chelsea long to figure out what she meant. "At least there's someone else at this school who hates losing as much as I do now."
"I didn't think that was possible." Chloe joked and Chelsea just grinned at that. "Still, I hope Ashitaka will be okay."
*meanwhile*
"Okay, if I remember correctly from watching the stream of the tournament Chelsea runs a Watt deck." Ashitaka thought as he walked towards the main building. "A rather difficult deck to run but she clearly has enough talent to pull it off, this should be a good challenge for my first Duel Academy duel." Ashitaka thought before he spotted a note on a tree he was walking past. "Odd, I remember seeing a noticeboard in the main building." Ashitaka thought before walking up to and reading the note.
"If you want a real duel come to the clearing just north of the main building Ashitaka." That was what the note read and Ashitaka frowned to himself.
"I know where that clearing is, and it won't take me long to get there." Ashitaka thought with a frown as he pocketed the note. "Maybe I can see how Chelsea feels about dueling there instead, after this duel off course." Ashitaka thought before texting Chelsea. "Chelsea, I've found a better duel spot for our duel, in a clearing just north of the main building, someone else has challenged me but we can have our duel afterworlds." Ashitaka read the text out loud as he typed the letters in and, once he was satisfied that there were no typos he sent it.
*meanwhile*
"Huh, that's weird." Chelsea commented with a frown as she read her text and Chloe turned to her as the two girls made their way to the main building. "Ash just texted me back saying that someone else has challenged him but he doesn't know who."
"If that's not an obvious trap I'm eating the contents of Lance's sock and underwear draw." Chloe responded with a frown before blushing. "And no, I don't know where he keeps them because I've never been to his dorm room."
"Sure you haven't." Chelsea responded with a grin before turning her attention back to her phone. "In any case we'd better find him, he said that the duel will take place in a clearing just north of the main building, I think he's talking about the same place we trained for our expulsion duels." Chelsea added and Chloe looked at the text.
"Yeah, looks like it." Chloe responded with a nod before getting her phone out. "Should I call the others? I don't want to risk wasting their time encase it's a red hearing."
"I wouldn't, don't forget that Tyler, Theresa and Brandon are still in that test, Andreas and Marcus have Hamden's class and Lance is still recovering from his cold." Chelsea pointed out and Chloe nodded before pocketing her phone. "If it is an Orichalcos duelist then they'll find out eventually, if it's not then it shouldn't be a problem."
"And that means we'll be supporting him on our own." Chloe sighed before checking her schedule. "Like I said earlier, I have class in an hour so whether or not I'll be able to stick around that long is anyone's guess." Chloe added and Chelsea looked at her schedule.
"You have Hamden though and he's usually pretty lenient on students being late." Chelsea pointed out and Chloe nodded. "Come on, we'd better get over there encase it is an Orichalcos duelist." Chelsea added before leading her roommate along.
*meanwhile*
"Well, this is the place." Ash thought as he entered the clearing, he activated his duel disk and looked around in search for his challenger. "I'm here, show yourself!" Ash called out as he looked around the clearing. "Hu, if this is some elaborate plot to get into a duel with me then I'll happily defeat you again!" Ash added after a few minutes of silence.
"I don't know this Hu but he sounds like a rather weak rival." A feminine voice rang out and Ash's eyes narrowed as a cloaked woman emerged from the trees surrounding them with an Orichalcos Duel Disk on her arm. "And to be blunt I'm surprised that plan worked."
"Who are you?" Ash demanded as his eyes narrowed. "Are you one of those Orichalcos Duelists I've heard about?"
"No wonder they say that chivalry is dead." The woman scoffed before removing her hood revealing that she had shoulder length black hair and blue eyes. "You can call me Alexis and I will be your first…." Alexis trailed off as she activated her duel disk. "…..and your last opponent in Duel Academy Ashitaka, prepare to duel."
"We'll see about that." Ashitaka responded with a frown as they drew their opening hands. "Chloe did try to keep the truth about the Orichalcos duels in Battle City from me earlier and I understand her reasoning based on what she said to Brandon during that tag match but I was following Battle City from start to finish, I know she combatted that accursed card during Battle City." Ashitaka thought as he looked over his opening hand.
"Ash, there you are." Ashitaka looked up and saw Chloe and Chelsea approaching him, it was Chloe that had spoken up. "I'm guessing she's the one who challenged you?"
"That is correct." Ashitaka responded with a nod before sighing. "And whilst I understand why you did it you didn't need to keep the Orichalcos's existence from me." Ashitaka said as he turned to her. "I was following the Battle City Tournament and your performance in it was what inspired me to join this school in the first place."
"Man, you're like, the fifth person who's told me that since the new students moved in." Chloe said with a slight blush and Ash laughed at that. "Based on that I'm guessing she's an Orichalcos Duelist?"
"You are correct." Ashitaka responded with a nod before turning to Alexis. "Her name is Alexis but that's all I know at the moment, I'll appreciate any support you can give me."
"You're going to need it." Alexis responded with a grin before looking over her hand. "I'll go first!" Alexis announced and before Ashitaka could object she drew her first card. "I activate the Spell Card Terra Forming! As I'm sure you are well aware this spell card lets me take one Field Spell from my deck and add it to my hand." Alexis played the card before picking up and searching through her deck, once she found the card that she was looking for she added it to her hand and shuffled her deck. "And now I activate it! Go Seal of the Orichalcos!"
"That wins the award for most predictable opening move ever." Chelsea commented as a large sweat-drop rolled down her head and the infamous seal encased both players. "I hope Ashitaka will be all right!"
"Now I set one card facedown and a monster in defense mode." Alexis played the cards and the two facedown cards appeared on the field. "And that ends my turn." Alexis announced and Ashitaka drew his card.
"In that case I activate a Spell Card of my own." Ashitaka announced as he played the Spell Card revealed to be Pot of Duality; he subsequently picked up the top three cards in his deck and looked through them. "I shall keep this one." Ashitaka announced as he added the card to his hand shuffled the other two back into his deck. "Now I will summon the monster I just added to my hand, Bujin Yamato!" Ashitaka played the card and the holy Beast-Warrior appeared on the field (4/1800/200). "Yamato, attack her defense monster!" Ashitaka commanded and the monster charged towards the defense monster, revealed to be Mystic Tomato (4/1400/1100) which was quickly destroyed. "Is that a Dark Attribute deck or a plant deck?"
"You'll find out soon enough." Alexis responded before picking up her deck and searching through it. Once she played the card a tall fiend that closely resembled the devil appeared on the field, it was light blue, black and gold in color and had bat like wings (6/1500/1800).
"What the….a Level Six monster with fifteen hundred attack points?" Chelsea asked as she tried not to laugh. "I didn't realize that it was the early days of Duel Monsters again!"
"His attack score may be pitiful but Legendary Fiend is no laughing matter." Alexis responded as the pentagram appeared on Legendary Fiend's forehead bringing his attack up to two thousand. "First he gains the bonus from the Orichalcos but his effect is something I'll get into later."
"I set this facedown." Ashitaka announced as the facedown card appeared on the field. "And I end my turn, which activates Yamato's effect!" Ashitaka added before picking up and searching through his deck again, once he found the card that he was looking for he added it to his hand and discarded another before Alexis drew her card.
"Good, now I can explain my fiend's effect." Alexis announced as Legendary Fiend's attack points shot up to 2700. "During each of my standby phases this monster gains seven hundred attack points."
"That's it? No wonder that card doesn't get much play nowadays." Ashitaka commented with a frown as Alexis played another card. "Is that Soul Exchange?"
"That's right and I'll be using your Yamato for this summon." Alexis responded as Yamato vanished from the field and another Legendary Fiend appeared on the field. "I already had this one in my hand but for obvious reasons it wasn't exactly practical to summon him the normal way." Alexis responded as her monster's attack increased to two thousand. "Now obviously I can't attack so I'll end my turn."
"Very well, I activate my Trap Card Bujin Regalia - The Sword!" Ashitaka played the card and retrieved Yamato from his graveyard. "This allows me to activate one of two effects, either add a banished Bujin monster to my hand or add a Bujin monster in my graveyard to my hand, as you can see I'm going for the latter option." Ashitaka explained before adding the monster to his hand and drawing a card.
"Well, he's not doing too badly so far." Chelsea commented with a frown. "Then again I didn't do too badly in my Orichalcos duel at first either."
"Well it's obvious that those fiends are a key part of her strategy, it's almost like an even more outdated version of the Monarch decks." Chloe responded with a frown. "And that's saying a lot."
"Trust me bitch, as soon as I'm done with your friend here you're going to pay for that comment!" Alexis responded with an angry frown as she glared at the teenager.
"Ahem, last I checked it's my move." Ashitaka responded before adding his drawn card to his hand. "First I summon Yamato back to the field!" Ashitaka played the card and the beast warrior returned to the field. "Next I activate the effect of Bujin Quilin from my graveyard, as I have a Bujin monster on my side of the field I merely need to remove him from play…." Ashitaka said as he pocketed the monster. "And I get to destroy one face-up card you control, like the Orichalcos!"
"Err, Ash….." Chloe trailed off but Ash put his hand up.
"You can relax I know what I'm doing." Ashitaka reassured her as the transparent form of the monster appeared on the field and charged towards the seal. "Without the seal your monsters lose most of their power which leads me to scoring first blood!"
"You should've listened to your friend Ashitaka." Alexis responded and Ashitaka blinked before realizing to his shock that Quilin's effect had failed.
"Explain yourself!" Ashitaka demanded and Alexis scoffed.
"The Orichalcos can't be destroyed, period." Alexis responded and Ashitaka's eyes widened. "In other words you just wasted a perfectly good effect."
"Perhaps I did." Ashitaka admitted as he picked up a card. "All though that does explain one thing I was questioning whilst I was watching the Battle City Semi-Finals."
"Why no one tried to destroy the seal?" Chloe asked and Ashitaka nodded. "If it makes you feel any better I tried the same thing with Breaker the Magical Warrior during my first duel in that tournament." Chloe added and Ashitaka sighed in response.
"It does a bit, but there was another reason I used Quilin's effect, failed effect or not." Ashitaka added before playing a card. "I'll get to that in a second but first I set a card facedown and end my turn activating Yamato's effect again." Ashitaka responded before searching through his deck, once he found the card he was looking for he added it to his hand and sent another card to his graveyard before Alexis drew her card.
"First my monsters gain their attack boosts!" Alexis said as her monsters' attack points increased to 3400 and 2700 respectively, once she saw the card she had drawn she grinned. "Now you're in for it! I activate Mystical Space Typhoon!" Alexis played the card and Ashitaka's eyes widened as a storm swept over the field destroying his set Mirror Force. "Mirror Force, too bad, that could've caused me some damage, damage you'll now take! Now, Legendary Fiend number one attack Yamato!" Alexis commanded and the fiend took flight…..
"Mirror Force would've caused a lot of damage…..if it were my true strategy." Ashitaka responded before discarding a card and suddenly Yamato's attack strength shot up to 3600.
"How….." Alexis trailed off before regaining her composure. "Legendary Fiend, stop your attack!" Alexis commanded but it was too late as the fiend was impaled on Yamato's sword bringing her life-points down to 7800. "Okay, now it's your turn to explain yourself!"
"It's quite simple really you see the monster I just discarded was Bujingi Crane (4/1600/300)." Ashitaka responded as he held up the card "In a way it works like Honest except if a Beast Warrior Bujin monster I control battles an opponent's monster during either of our turns its original attack gets doubled during that damage calculation only." Ashitaka added as his monster's attack returned to 1800. "Off course your weaker fiend can attack but do you really want to risk losing two monsters in the same turn?"
"And pass up a chance to get revenge on my first monster? Not a chance, Legendary Fiend, avenge your fallen ally." Alexis commanded and the fiend took flight, flew towards Yamato and slashed him across the chest bringing Ashitaka's life-points down to 7100. "Just as I thought, that was a huge bluff!"
"It may have been a bluff but my deck isn't as one directional as yours." Ashitaka retorted and Alexis frowned before motioning for him to take his turn, Ashitaka nodded before drawing his card and looking at it. "And here's an example of just that! I activate the Spell Card Bujincarnation!" Ashitaka played the card and retrieved Crane and Quilin. "As you control a monster and I don't this allows me to Special Summon one Bujin monster in my graveyard and another that's been removed from play." Ashitaka explained before playing the cards and Quilin appeared on the field alongside a majestic black and gold crane.
"So you plan on doing an XYZ summon?" Alexis asked and Ashitaka nodded, she scoffed in response. "There's no way a Rank Four monster could match my fiend!"
"You haven't seen all of them." Ashitaka responded as the overlay network opened up. "Now this does come with a side effect, if I do use them in an XYZ Summon the monster has to be a Beast-Warrior or a Winged-Beast, fortunately for me this next monster fits the bill! I use Quilin and Crane to XYZ Summon Bujintei Susanowo!" Ashitaka played the card and the two monsters vanished into white orbs of light, from the portal emerged a tall, heavily armored figure wearing the same colors as the other Bujin monsters, his helmet was dome shaped and he was carrying a large sword (Rank: 4/2400/1600) and Alexis scoffed at the monster.
"Just how is that supposed to help against an obviously stronger Legendary Fiend?" Alexis asked and Ashitaka grinned before sending Quilin to the graveyard.
"This is the combo that got me into this school and I'm about to show you why! First by detaching an overlay unit I activate Susanovo's effect which allows me to either add another Bujin monster from my deck to my hand or send it to the graveyard." Ashitaka explained before picking up his deck, once he found the card he wanted he added it to his hand, shuffled the deck and summoned it revealing another Yamato.
"Fine, I'll destroy that one too!" Alexis said with a confident smirk and Ashitaka shook his head before retrieving a card from his graveyard. "Wait, don't tell me…."
"That's right, the card I just detached was Quilin and I now use his effect again!" Ashitaka responded as the transparent form of the monster appeared on the field again before charging towards the remaining Legendary Fiend and skewering it through the chest. "And as you can see I learn from my mistakes!" Ashitaka added as Alexis reluctantly sent her monster to the graveyard. "Now onto business, Susanowo, attack her life-points directly!" Ashitaka commanded and the monster drew his sword….
"Did you forget about my facedown card already?" Alexis asked as her forgotten about trap card flipped up revealing Call of the Haunted. "And I use it to bring back Mystic Tomato in defense mode!" Alexis announced as the monster returned to the field.
"Very well, Susanowo, continue your attack!" Ashitaka commanded and the monster charged towards the monster before cutting it in half, once Alexis was done searching through her deck she played a card and her last Legendary Fiend appeared on the field in attack mode.
"Sorry to disappoint you but my life-points are safe for the time being!" Alexis responded with a broad grin as her fiend's attack increased to two thousand. "You've already used up your XYZ monster's attack and if it weren't for the fact that the Seal was in play you'd be able to destroy my fiend…."
"I'm normally a lot more polite than this." Ashitaka sighed in annoyance as he cut her off. "But you are getting on my nerves, Susanowo, attack Legendary Fiend!" Ashitaka commanded and before Alexis could protest the monster stabbed the fiend in the chest bringing her life-points down to 7400. "You see my monster has another effect which allows him to attack all of my opponent's monsters, speaking off attacks…."Ashitaka trailed off as Bujin Yamato charged towards Alexis before punching her in the chest bringing her life-points down to 5600. "You're out of Legendary Fiends which means that it'll be a matter of time before I win this!"
"All I'm going to say is this, my deck isn't as one dimensional as you seem to think." Alexis responded and Ashitaka frowned.
"I end my turn with a facedown card, at the same time this activates Yamato's effect." Ashitaka announced and once the effect was resolved Alexis drew her card.
"Well, I can definitely see why they put him in Ra Yellow after a combo like that." Chloe thought as Silent Magician's transparent form appeared alongside her. "What did I say? He'll be fine!" Chloe added as she turned to her Duel Spirit.
"He is doing well." Silent Magician admitted with a frown on her face. "But something has felt off for me ever since Alexis summoned her first Legendary Fiend."
"I'm guessing it's not because she'd be better off running Monarchs?" Chloe asked and Silent Magician nodded. "I have to admit, compared to the other decks these guys have used this thing seems like a bit of a step-down, maybe we've taken out their best duelists?"
"There is that possibility but you had better be prepared." Silent Magician added before disappearing again.
"Damn, can't use this yet." Alexis thought with a frown as she set a monster on the field. "That's all I can do." Alexis announced and Ashitaka drew his card.
"In that case I won't waste any time, Susanowo, attack her defense monster!" Ashitaka commanded and the swordsman charged towards the monster…..and Ashitaka frowned when he saw that it was Spirit Reaper (3/300/200).
"Your XYZ monster may be able to attack all monsters." Alexis mocked him with a grin on her face. "But Spirit Reaper will survive them all!"
"I set a card facedown and end my turn." Ashitaka announced and Alexis drew her card once Yamato's effect resolved.
"Yes! This is exactly what I needed!" Alexis thought as she retrieved the three fiends. "Did you honestly think those outdated cards where the best my deck had to offer?"
"You really don't want us to answer that." Chelsea sighed and the others nodded in agreement.
"Apparently they don't teach the students here about rhetorical questions." Alexis muttered under her breath as a large sweat-drop rolled down her head. "Anyway, allow me to show you the true power of my deck! I remove my Legendary Fiends from play to summon Dark Necrofear!"
"That card's even more outdated than those fiends!" Chelsea pointed out as the demonic woman appeared on the field (8/2200/2800). "And her effect won't do you much good since she's affected by the Orichalcos." Chelsea pointed out as Dark Necrofear's attack increased to 2700.
"And if you think I'm stupid enough to use something like Crane or Honest against that thing then forget it!" Ashitaka added as he looked over his hand.
"I'll admit those are all valid points." Alexis responded before playing another card. "But first things first, I activate Burial from a Different Dimension to return the three fiends to my graveyard." Alexis added before taking the three monsters and putting them in her graveyard slot. "Next I activate another Spell Card, Alter to Necrofear!" Alexis played the card which depicted Headless Knight, Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams and The Portrait's Secret kneeling before a statue of Dark Necrofear. "Think of it as a Spell Version of Dark Spirit Art – Greed." Alexis explained as her monster vanished and she drew twice. "Only with two exceptions, there's no way to negate it without something like Dark Bribe and I can only tribute Dark Necrofear."
"I had a feeling that was the case based on the card's name." Ashitaka responded with a frown. "But why go through all the trouble of summoning Necrofear for that effect?"
"Do you really think I'm stupid enough to do that? Don't answer that." Alexis responded once she saw that Chelsea was going to make a comment. "When Alter to Dark Necrofear is used the same turn that Dark Necrofear is summoned it's treated as her being destroyed in battle!"
"Excuse me?!" Ashitaka asked and his eyes widened as Susanowo was possessed by Dark Necrofear's spirit and brought over to Alexis's side of the field. "That has to be one of the most broken cards I've seen!"
"Trust me Ash we've grown to expect that from them!" Chelsea responded as Susanowo's attack increased to 2900 thanks to the seal. "I realize that's probably not helping but still!"
"Enough talk! Susanowo, attack your former ally!" Alexis commanded and the warrior charged towards Yamato before cutting him in half and bringing Ashitaka's life-points down to 6000. "If I had drawn this last turn I'd be in the lead but since I didn't I'll make do." Alexis added before setting two cards. "Tell me, how does it feel to be defeated by your best monster?"
"I'd tell you if Susanowo was my best monster." Ashitaka responded as he drew his card earning a confused look from the three women present. "I'll explain momentarily." Ashitaka added before looking at his drawn card. "I set a monster in defense mode to end my turn." Ashitaka announced and Alexis smirked before drawing her card.
"I was expecting a better fight than this!" Alexis responded as she looked at her drawn card. "I activate Spellbook inside the Pot!" Alexis played the card and both duelists drew three times.
"Almost have all the cards I need, just need one more." Ashitaka thought as he looked at his three new cards. "But unless I can draw it soon I'm in big trouble."
"Now I activate another Spell Card, Monster Reborn!" Alexis played the card and one of the Legendary Fiends returned to the field. "Yes, I realize that that card's banned but as you can see my duel disk could care less." Alexis added as Legendary Fiend's attack points rose to 2000 thanks to the seal. "Legendary Fiend, attack his monster!" Alexis commanded and the fiend took flight before charging at the monster, revealed to be a small turtle wearing the Bujin colors (4/1700/1200) which was quickly destroyed. "Susanowo, attack your former master's life-points directly!" Alexis commanded and the swordsman charged towards Ashitaka before slashing him down the middle bringing his life-points down to 3100. "That ends my turn." Alexis announced and Ashitaka drew his card.
"Things are looking bad." Chelsea said with a gulp as Ashitaka looked at his drawn card. "Don't worry Ash if you lose I can take her easily."
"I'm sure you could." Ashitaka responded as he added his drawn card to his hand. "But you won't need to because I'll be the victor in this duel." Ashitaka added before looking over his hand. "I set this facedown and end my turn." Ashitaka added as he set the monster and Alexis drew her card.
"First my Legendary Fiend gets stronger…." Alexis trailed off as her monster's attack increased to 2700. "Then he destroys your monster!" Alexis added and the fiend launched his attack against the monster, revealed to be a strange, boar like monster that was white and blue in color and had red tusks (4/1100/1900) which was quickly destroyed. "Susanowo, attack him directly!" Alexis commanded and the warrior charged towards him before slashing him down the middle bringing his life-points down to 200. "Even my Spirit Reapers could beat you at this point, surrender!"
"Not in this life-time!" Ashitaka responded before drawing his card. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon!" Ashitaka played the card and Alexis scoffed.
"Even if you could destroy the Orichalcos what good would it do you now?" Alexis asked as the storm appeared on the field again.
"The Orichalcos isn't my target, it's Dark Necrofear!" Ashitaka responded and Alexis's eyes widened. "That thing is pretty much an Equip Spell and once I destroy it I get back my monster!" Ashitaka added as the fiend was blown away and Susanowo looked all too happy to return to his master's side of the field.
"That doesn't matter! My Legendary Fiend is still stronger!" Alexis pointed out and Ashitaka shook his head before playing a card.
"Not for long, from my hand I activate the Spell Card Forbidden Lance!" Ashitaka played the card and a large lance appeared in the fiend's hands apparently heavy enough to weigh it down and bring his attack points down to 1900. "Your monster loses eight hundred attack points and whilst it will be protected from the effects of Spell and Trap Cards for the rest of the turn that isn't what it needs to worry about, Susanowo, attack Legendary Fiend!" Ashitaka commanded and the swordsman charged towards the fiend before cutting it in half and bringing Alexis's life-points down to 5100. "It seems that we are back to square one, I set one card facedown and end my turn."
"Except for the fact that your life-points are so low that even the Sparks Spell Card could defeat you." Alexis responded as she drew her card. "Fortunately for you I don't run that useless card but I do have another Spell Card, Pot of Avarice!"
"Wait, so she can use that card and we can't!?" Chloe protested as Alexis retrieved Mystic Tomato, her three Legendary Fiends and Dark Necrofear from the graveyard, shuffled them into her deck and drew twice. "Almost makes joining them tempting…." Chloe added earning a worried look from Chelsea. "I said almost!"
"So the Orichalcos did tempt her…." Alexis thought before putting a hand to her earpiece. "Victor, did you get all that?"
"Loud and clear, we are looking for another duelist who can use Sheamus's strategy as we speak." Victor responded and Alexis nodded before looking at her drawn cards.
"I set one card facedown and a monster in defense mode to end my turn." Alexis set the two cards and Ashitaka drew his card.
"I summon Bujin Yamato!" Ashitaka played the card and the monster returned to the field. "Susanowo, attack her defense monster!" Ashitaka commanded and the swordsman slammed his sword into the ground destroying the set monster, revealed to be another Mystic Tomato, which was quickly destroyed.
"I use my Tomato's effect to summon another Spirit Reaper!" Alexis played the card and Spirit Reaper returned to the field. "So unless you have another Forbidden Lance in your hand my life-points are safe!"
"Then I have some bad news for you, I activate my second Forbidden Lance!" Ashitaka played the card and the lance appeared above the Reaper's head…..
"Fortunately I prepared for that, go Dark Bribe!" Alexis announced as her facedown card flipped up. "Now your card gets negated and you draw twice."
"As good as that sounds I must decline the offer, I activate my Trap Card Trap Jammer!" Ashitaka activated the trap and Dark Bribe shattered alongside Spirit Reaper seconds later. "Susanowa, Yamato, attack her life-points directly!" Ashitaka commanded and the two warriors charged towards her before hitting their attacks bringing her life-points down to 900. "It seems that we are now in the same boat!"
"I won't be defeated by some punk." Alexis growled as she drew her card once Yamato's effect resolved. "Perfect, I activate Tribute to the Doomed and I target Susanowo!" Alexis played the card and bandages went to wrap around the monster…..only to be stopped by the ghostly form of the turtle she destroyed earlier. "What?"
"You can call this revenge from beyond the grave." Ashitaka responded as he pocketed the monster. "If Bujingi Turtle is in my graveyard and a card is activated that targets one Bujin monster I control I can banish it and negate the effect." Ashitaka explained with a small grin. "Don't you have a move to complete?"
"I set this card facedown and end my turn." Alexis announced and Ashitaka drew his card. "Once he attacks I'll activate Dimension Wall to reflect the damage back at him and win the duel! Not exactly the way I intended to win but a win's a win!"
"I hope you weren't counting on that facedown card." Ashitaka said as he pocketed another monster. "The card I just banished was Bujingi Centipede (4/1700/500) and if I banish him whilst I control a Bujin Beast-Warrior Monster I can destroy one Spell/Trap Card you control." Ashitaka explained and Alexis's eyes widened as the trap card shattered. "I could finish it now but I'm a man of my word."
"What do you mean?" Alexis demanded as Ashitaka played the card he had drawn and Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Bear appeared on the field (4/1600/1200). "Why would you summon him this late in the game?"
"So I can construct the overlay network again!" Ashitaka announced as Bear and Yamato vanished into white orbs of light. "I couldn't summon this earlier because his effect specifically requires two Beast-Warrior monsters but now I can! I use Bear and Yamato to XYZ Summon my best monster, Bujintei Kagutsuchi!" Ashitaka played the card and out of the vortex a new monster appeared on the field, it was a horseman riding a horse made out of flames that glared at Alexis (Rank: 4/2500/2000). "When he is XYZ Summoned I must mill five cards from my deck." Ashitaka said as he milled the five cards. "And since the cards I milled were all Bujins my monster gains five hundred attack points." Ashitaka added as his monster's attack increased to 3000. "Kagutsuchi, finish her off!" Ashitaka commanded and the horseman charged towards her before hitting his attack bringing her life-points down to zero.
"Hah, that was awesome!" Chelsea said with a grin as the seal enclosed around Alexis and the holograms disappeared. "I can definitely see why you made it into Ra Yellow."
"Thank you Chelsea." Ashitaka nodded before sighing. "And I apologize for this whole incident, if I had just ignored the note none of this would've happened."
"I'm just glad you're safe." Chelsea responded and Ashitaka nodded.
"Besides if anyone should apologize it's me." Chloe added and Ashitaka turned to him. "When I met you I didn't take into account the possibility that you followed Battle City and that's why I kept the Orichalcos's existence from you." Chloe added and Ashitaka nodded.
"Like I said, I understand why but at the same time I accept your apology." Ashitaka said before wincing. "That duel was rough, how about we take a raincheck on our duel Chelsea?"
"You got it." Chelsea responded as the three teenagers left the area. "We'd better tell the teachers about this attack, they'll want to know."
"Good idea." Chloe said as she checked her watch. "I have Duel Theory with Martin next so I'll tell him after that class, once I tell him word should spread to the other teachers pretty quickly."
"Good idea and I'll make sure the others know." Chelsea responded with a nod. "Based on that I'm guessing the test the Obelisk Blue students were taking is over so I should be able to get a hold of Theresa, Brandon or Tyler." Chelsea said as she checked her watch, the two girls nodded and began to walk away.
"Girls, wait….." Ashitaka called out to them and the two women turned around. "During the Semi-Finals I thought the Orichalcos was just a regular card, now I know the truth." Ashitaka added before bowing to them. "If you ever need my assistance in bringing down this evil just ask."
"You got it Ash." Chelsea responded with a nod and Chloe nodded in agreement. "We could definitely use someone with your skills on our side."
"What about Hu? Would he tag along?" Chloe asked and Ashitaka shook his head.
"I couldn't tell you, he hasn't experienced its power first hand." Ashitaka responded with a frown. "If I where you I'd wait to see if he's targeted first and if he is ask him then."
"Being in an Orichalcos duel might motivate him to help." Chloe responded with a nod. "Well, you have Chelsea's phone number so you can either contact us on that or pop over to the Osiris Red Girl's Dorm if you want a chat."
"I'll probably just stick to the phone or talking during a match, I wouldn't want to risk walking in on you two getting dressed." Ashitaka responded with a respectful nod. "I'll see you around." Ashitaka added as the two girls walked off.
"That was way to close." Chloe thought as she walked away and Silent Magician appeared next to her. "If he hadn't drawn NXT when he did who knows what would've happened?"
"I agree, we'd better be vigilant encase anyone else is targeted." Silent Magician answered with a nod. "Still he won the match and that's what matters."
"Definitely, and if we can get him on board for when we go after the Orichalcos it'll be that much better." Chloe responded with a nod as Silent Magician disappeared. "I hope at least." Chloe thought as she walked alongside Chelsea. "Well Chelsea, I'm off to duel theory, see you back at the dorm room?"
"See you there." Chelsea responded and her roommate nodded before entering the main building.