It was the morning after yesterday's tag team duels and, most importantly, Chelsea's nightmare/dream duel that very nearly ended in her gruesome death if it weren't for the intervention of Chloe's duel spirit guide, Chloe was just waking up herself and since neither of the two girls had classes until after the tournament duels which were taking place in the early afternoon they figured that they could use the sleep in.
"Chelsea, are you awake?" Chloe called out to the top bunk of bunk bed that they shared but got no answer, she climbed up to the top bunk but saw that it was empty besides Chelsea's side deck. "She probably woke up earlier than I did and decided to go for a walk." Chloe thought as she hopped off the ladder to the top bunk. "Based on what I saw off her last night I can't blame her."
"You called?" Chelsea's voice rang out and Chloe nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard her roommate's voice, she looked up and saw her standing by the door to the en-suite bathroom they shared with a towel wrapped around her naked body and her hair was soaking wet, it didn't exactly take Chloe long to figure out what she had been doing. "Sorry, I felt I needed a shower after last night's nightmare."
"It was that bad, huh?" Chloe asked and Chelsea shook her head.
"Worse, I know DA's rules prohibit underage drinking but fuck it! I need a strong drink after that." Chelsea sighed in response before using another towel to dry off her hair. "We haven't gotten any noise complaints yet?"
"If we did we probably slept through them." Chloe responded with a shrug as she started getting dressed. "At least you seem to be doing better than you where after you woke up last night."
"Just be glad you didn't see me when I initially woke up this morning." Chelsea responded as she turned away from Chloe to give her some privacy. "No matter what I wouldn't stop shivering, even with the window and door closed."
"The dream was that scary?" Chloe asked as she selected a black crop top and jeans and Chelsea nodded as she put the clothes on. "You thought about telling the teachers?"
"And say what? That I had a really bad nightmare?" Chelsea asked as she started picking out her clothes whilst Chloe put on her blazer. "Chloe, I'm seventeen! Not five years old!"
"But we both know that it wasn't a simple nightmare, for one thing you would've walked it off by now if it was." Chloe pointed out and Chelsea sighed in resignation once she realized that Chloe had a point. "Now don't get mad but I used your laptop earlier."
"Wait, what?" Chelsea asked as she span around. "Chloe, two things, what does that have to do with the nightmare and how the hell did you manage to guess one of my passwords?"
"One of your passwords was Slayer." Chloe responded with a deadpan expression on her face and Chelsea face-faulted.
"I knew I should've changed that damn password!" Chelsea grunted in annoyance as she got up. "Okay, what did you see and, once again, what does this have to do with the nightmare?"
"Relax I didn't go into your files, just my e-mail account." Chloe reassured her and Chelsea sighed in relief. "I e-mailed the others telling them that you were attacked in a nasty dream duel and that you wanted to go into detail when we meet up to watch the tournament duels later, I didn't ask because I didn't want to wake you up."
"Okay, that's a bit better." Chelsea sighed as she got dressed. "Did I have any e-mails waiting for me in my inbox and spam folders?"
"Didn't see any but that was two hours ago." Chloe responded as she motioned to the set up laptop. "I haven't looked at them since."
"I'll check before we head over to Tyler's dorm room." Chelsea responded as she walked over to the laptop. "But seriously, as soon as we're promoted to Ra Yellow I'm doing two things, asking the Ra Yellow Girl's Dorm headmistress if we can room together again and getting you set up on the desktop so you at least have decent knowledge of computers and what not."
"Tell me about it, when I accessed my Duel Academy e-mail address I had at least two hundred unread e-mails waiting for me." Chloe responded and Chelsea looked at her curiously. "Not kidding and most of them where from male students who likely didn't realize that I've never used a computer before and that it would've been easier to come up to me."
"Chloe, take it from me, most boys are too embarrassed to even consider talking to a pretty girl let alone one with your good looks." Chelsea responded as she shook her head and accessed her e-mails. "Oh, Chloe, you forgot to log out."
"Wait, seriously?" Chloe asked as she walked up. "I thought I had."
"Don't sweat it, even I make that mistake from time to time." Chelsea shrugged her shoulders before hitting the log out button and entering her e-mail address and password which Chloe turned her attention away from the laptop for, whilst Chelsea checked her e-mails there was a knock at the door. "Great, it's probably a noise complaint!"
"Let me handle it." Chloe assured her and Chelsea nodded as Chloe answered the door finding their next door neighbor Nicola standing there. "Good morning Nicola."
"Morning Chloe, is Chelsea awake?" Nicola asked and Chloe nodded.
"Yeah, she's just checking her e-mails." Chloe responded as Chelsea leaned over and waved to Nicola who waved back. "What's up?"
"Look, I don't like getting your guys in trouble or anything….." Nicola trailed off and the two girls winced knowing where this was going. "But I heard Chelsea screaming last night around 3:00am, the kind of scream that you'd normally hear in a horror movie when a victim's about to be killed, I even asked around to confirm if it was my imagination before coming here and some of the other girls heard it as well so we kind off filed a noise complaint with Maria."
"Great, this exactly what I DON'T need going into my promotion duel tomorrow!" Chelsea moaned as she messaged her temples in annoyance. "Why didn't you guys ask what I was screaming about first?"
"I suggested that but we weren't sure if you and Chloe were still asleep or not." Nicola responded and Chloe shook her head.
"When did you start asking around exactly?" Chloe asked and Nicola thought for a moment.
"About ten minutes ago, give or take, and we filed the complaint five minutes later." Nicola responded and Chloe nodded.
"I was asleep and I think Chelsea was in the shower." Chloe responded and Chelsea nodded to confirm that. "Look, the long and short of it is this, Chelsea had a really nasty nightmare last night that woke her up."
"It woke her up with a scream loud enough to be heard by several students?" Nicola asked and Chelsea nodded.
"Trust me you really don't want to know the details." Chelsea responded before sighing. "Let me guess, Maria wants me to talk to her as soon as possible?"
"Yeah, pretty much." Nicola responded with a nod and Chelsea moaned. "She assured us that you won't be in any trouble and that she just wanted to make sure that you were all right."
"Fine but if I see Martin in the room with her I'm out of there!" Chelsea responded as she checked the last of her e-mails and logged off. "Chloe, the tournament duels should be starting soon so I'll meet you at Tyler's dorm room, okay?"
"Will do, I'll let them know what's happening." Chloe responded with a nod as Chelsea stood up after logging out of her laptop, Nicola and Chloe stood aside to let her pass and Chelsea walked off. "Were you off too now?"
"The main duel arena for the same reasons you guys are heading to Tyler's dorm room." Nicola responded and Chloe nodded in response. "I get that you don't exactly like Cameron, Jessica and Thomas but refusing to go to the duel arena because of that?"
"I don't blame you for not understanding, the incident with Cameron happened right after I came back from Battle City and the incident with Thomas a couple of days after that." Chloe explained and Nicola nodded. "You remember the incident with my dad back at Battle City?"
"How could I forget that?" Nicola asked with a shudder. "What about it?"
"I was in a duel with Cameron and I was this close to winning, then he insulted my mom." Chloe responded and Nicola frowned when she realized what she was talking about. "To make matters worse I turned off the safeties on my duel disk immediately afterwards and got caught before I could fire off an attack."
"Okay, yeah, that is pretty bad." Nicola winced in response and Chloe nodded in agreement. "What about Thomas?"
"I fought him during my first class back from Battle City, namely Duel Theory, and beat him." Chloe responded as she folded her arms. "He didn't take it well at all and it wasn't until after that class that I found out that he was friends with Cameron and Jessica."
"And I'm guessing they are just as bad as each other?" Nicola asked and Chloe nodded, Nicola checked the time on her watch before nodding and looking up. "I'd better make a run for it if we want to get there in time." Nicola added before showing Chloe the time.
"And I'd better get going as well." Chloe responded before making her way out of her dorm room and making her way out of the Osiris Red Girl's Dorm. "I hope Chelsea's conversation with Maria doesn't last too long, at this rate by the time she arrives at the dorm room we'd have to wait until after the duels are over." Chloe thought as she walked down the halls of the girl's dorm.
*meanwhile*
"First I have the single most fucked up nightmare in the history of fucked up nightmares and now this…." Chelsea thought as she walked towards Maria's office, she had been there a few times since she qualified for Duel Academy but this was one of three occasions where it wasn't entirely her fault. "What did Maria expect me to do after I got hit with that water balloon? Enter a fucking Wet T-Shirt contest?!" Chelsea thought as she remembered one of the incidents before coming upon the door that led to Maria's office. "Just get this over with before the tournament duels start, they already know about the Dream Duels so it should be easy…..I hope…." Chelsea thought before knocking on the door and waiting. "Maria, you wanted to see me?" Chelsea called out before waiting for a couple of minutes. "Shit, my hair's still wet from the shower, okay on the way back give hair a quick blast with the hair dryer before grabbing laptop."
"Come in Chelsea." Maria's voice rang out and Chelsea opened the door quickly seeing that Tracy was with Maria. "Take a seat."
"You know, Nicola said that you assured her that I wouldn't be in trouble over the noise complaint." Chelsea said after she closed the door behind her and took a seat. "But the fact that there are two of the headmistresses and one student in this office doesn't exactly help that assertion."
"I was already here for a separate matter Chelsea." Tracy explained as she sat down on the desk. "But once we figured out that you were in a dream duel from what Nicola and the other Osiris Red girls told us I decided to stick around." Tracy added and Chelsea gave them an odd look. "Also, your hair is wet."
"I had a shower and I didn't have time to give my hair a quick blast from the hair dryer before Nicola stopped by me and Chloe's room." Chelsea explained as she blew away a stray stand of wet hair from her eyes. "And you got that from me screaming in the middle of the night?"
"The students described, and I quote, "Terrified screams that could practically be heard from the main building"." Tracy responded as she read the description from her notes. "The fact that these dream duels have been happening since the beginning of the tournament is disturbing enough, this description however tells me that there was a lot more too it then the others." Tracy added as she turned to Chelsea who took a deep breath.
"Look, I've had some fucked up dreams before but that…..that took the cake." Chelsea said as she shifted her weight. "The fact that it was a dream duel only made things worse!"
"Language aside I understand that." Maria answered and Chelsea sweat-dropped.
"You've known me since I joined this school and you only just noticed that I swear like a sailor?" Chelsea asked and Tracy shook her head.
"Chelsea, we both know that the amount of swear words you use, especially when losing a duel, is enough to make a ship full of sailors blush." Tracy pointed out and Chelsea shook her head. "Now can we get back on track?"
"Fine, but you'll understand why I tried to put it off once I'm done." Chelsea responded with an annoyed sigh. "I'm going to be telling this to the other students who have been dealing with the Orichalcos Duelists since they cropped up on our radar but besides them, tell me this won't leave this office."
"That will ultimately depend on the severity of it, and based on what we know so far I can't make any promises." Maria answered and Chelsea sighed to herself before beginning to describe the events of her nightmare in detail only being stopped twice, at Ael's description and what she knew about the Beasts from the Void, needless to say the two teachers where pretty much speechless by the time she was done. "I'm a horror movie fan and that was too much for me to handle." Chelsea added as she leaned back in her chair.
"Jesus Christ, no wonder you were terrified." Tracy said after a few minutes and Chelsea nodded. "How are you holding it together?"
"Waking up in the middle of the night helped actually, it meant I could dream about other, less fucked up things." Chelsea responded after thinking for a few moments. "I was basically a mess when I woke up from that nightmare, no matter what I couldn't stop shivering and it was at least an hour before I could get back to sleep."
"Given what you told us I'm surprised that you got any sleep at all." Maria responded and Tracy nodded in agreement. "Unfortunately there is no way around it we will have to tell the other teachers about this so that we can protect you and the other students in the future."
"Just tell them not to pity me because of the nightmare and I won't complain." Chelsea responded before standing up. "I gotta go anyway I told Chloe I'd meet her at Tyler's dorm room to watch the duels with the others, not to mention tell them about the nightmare."
"Chelsea, before you go." Tracy called out to her as Chelsea went to leave the office and she turned to her. "You know where my office is, if you need a chat my door's always open."
"Got it and thanks." Chelsea sighed in response before leaving the office and heading back to her room to dry her hair and grab her laptop.
"Someone will have to something about those bastards." Tracy sighed to herself as she stood up and turned to Tracy. "Chelsea's a tough girl and there's a surprisingly low amount of things that can faze her but you heard her description of the events of her dream duel and how she was when she woke up last night."
"Yes, and that is unfortunate." Maria agreed as she set up the group call and started scanning in the notes she had written about Chelsea's dream duel which were on a separate page from the notes from the noise complaint. "Do you think I should include the noise complaint?"
"Yeah, it's connected to the nightmare/dream duel and it'll help give a bit of context for the other teachers." Tracy responded with a nod and Maria nodded before scanning that part in as soon as the notes from the meeting with Chelsea where scanned. "Martin's probably on his way to the PA booth so that he can watch over today's matches so I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't answer."
"Good point, I'll call Martin later after the duels are finished." Maria said as she cancelled the call to Martin and waited for the others to pick up. "But we both know what would be a great help to the students in their fight against the Orichalcos."
"The laptop they found that's currently rusting away in a storage closet, all because the IT Staff don't want to risk losing their jobs over the info they found on it." Tracy sighed in annoyance as she folded her arms. "Chelsea, well we both know how stubborn she is."
"Indeed, I know that better than anyone on the island." Maria responded with a nod. "Didn't she try to find out the info herself?"
"Yeah, went to me first and then straight to the IT Staff, she did try to cover it up by saying that there a problem with her laptop but I knew better, for one thing she's always been hands on with those kind of problems." Tracy nodded before shaking her head and getting an idea. "You make the call I have a stop to make before I head back to my office."
"Let me guess, the IT Staff Room?" Maria asked and Tracy nodded before holding up a USB Stick. "Isn't that your personal one?"
"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Tracy responded before leaving the office.
*meanwhile at Tyler's dorm room*
"Err, Chloe, didn't you say that Chelsea had a noise complaint to sort out with Maria?" Lance asked as he checked the time on his watch, she was now in Tyler's dorm room with the others including Hu and Ash who had decided to join them. "I've had noise complaints before, mostly from Andreas….."
"Yes, well, whilst I enjoy heavy metal as much as the next metalhead playing it at three in the morning at full blast is a bit too far." Andreas interrupted hum with an annoyed expression on his face.
"That only happened once during my first few weeks at the academy and you brought me some damn good headphones as soon as you had the money for it in order to make up for it!" Lance pointed out and Andreas just shook his head. "Basically I had those noise complaints sorted out in five minutes at most, even taking into account the walking distance between here and the Osiris Red Girl's dorm and the fact that she had to grab her laptop and quickly dry her hair, she shouldn't be taking this long, should she?"
"Normally I'd agree with you especially since her hair's a lot shorter than mine." Chloe responded with a nod. "But, don't take this the wrong way, your noise complaint was about music, her noise complaint was about her screaming in terror because of a nightmare."
"Wait, that's it?" Marcus asked with a raised eyebrow. "Chloe, she's a horror fan, she's even recommended me some damn good indie horror flicks and games, and a nightmare spooked her?"
"I'm just as surprised as you are Marcus but last night I saw a side of her I haven't seen before." Chloe responded with a shudder. "Here's what I do know, there was a dream duel involved and a nasty one at that and when she woke up she was muttering to herself and was visibly shaken, hell I could see her shaking in terror from the bottom bunk."
"I agree this is way too out of character for Chelsea for us to just shrug it off." Theresa agreed with a nod. "Did she give any other details?" Theresa asked and Chloe shook her head.
"She didn't want to give me nightmares as well." Chloe responded with a sigh. "I was concerned so I told her to tell us as a group before the tournament matches started."
"That was a good call since it might do her some good to get it off her chest if she hasn't already told Maria." Brandon complemented her with a nod. "I'm guessing that's where the mass e-mail you sent us came into play?"
"Yeah, pretty much." Chloe nodded in response. "Granted I had to access her laptop to send it but still."
"Wait a second you used her laptop without her permission?" Theresa asked and Chloe nodded knowing where this was going. "Chloe, I know you meant well but you know better than that."
"I know! But what was I supposed to do? Chelsea was still asleep and when I woke up the library wasn't going to open for another hour." Chloe responded with a sigh. "And just so I'm clear, I stayed out of her personal files, I only used Firefox which I only used to access my e-mails and the hundreds of unread e-mails I had." Chloe added as she shook her head. "I didn't even hack into it! She literally named one of her passwords after Slayer." Chloe added causing the others to face-fault.
"So let me get this straight….." Tyler trailed off as he and the others got to their feet. "That girl has several different passwords for her laptop all her important documents are Read-Only and Password Protected and she has an anti-virus that I recommended personally running a scan every two hours…..and she names one of the passwords after one of her favorite bands?"
"It gets worse, she was wearing a Slayer Top after PE finished so it was literally the first possible password that came to mind." Chloe added and the others shook their heads as the door to Tyler's room opened up.
"And I changed that password before I left our dorm room so do me a favor and don't get any ideas." Chelsea's voice rang out and they looked up seeing her standing in the doorway with her laptop bag over her shoulder. "How long do we have before the duels start?" Chelsea asked as she entered the room and sat down.
"Twenty minutes." Tyler responded and Chelsea grinned as she started setting up her laptop. "Chloe told us the basics so if you want to go into detail now's the time."
"Just promise me that this won't leave this dorm room, it was difficult enough telling Maria and Tracy about it just now." Chelsea sighed and the others nodded. "Ash, Hu, you know about the dream duels?"
"We just learned about them." Ash nodded in response as did Hu. "I'm still processing the information but the fact that they've made it even worse disturbs me to no end."
"For once, we agree on something Ashitaka." Hu responded with a nod. "Take your time Chelsea."
"If I did that then the duels would've started by the time I'm halfway through." Chelsea pointed out and Hu nodded. "Just be warned, this is really fucking weird and gruesome."
"Besides the gruesome part, we've dealt with the weird." Lance pointed out and the others nodded in agreement.
"Even by those standards Lance, even by those standards." Chelsea responded getting everyone's attention, she took a deep breath before starting. "It started off like Chloe's dream duel I was alone in a dark void with nothing but my voice and my concerned duel spirit to keep me company."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on." Ash said as he cut her off. "Did you say Duel Spirit?"
"Oh right, I forgot about you guys." Chelsea said with a wince. "Basically…."
"You mean you guys have one two? Huh. I thought I was the only one." Ash asked and the other's jaws dropped.
"Out of curiosity, who's your spirit guide?" Lance asked and Ash held up one of his copies of Yamato. "Somehow I'm not surprised."
"I know off them but I don't have one before you ask." Hu quickly added before nodding to Chelsea. "You were saying?"
"Right, I wouldn't recommend eating anything before this part." Chelsea winced and Marcus and Andreas shared a look before putting down the food they were eating, from there Chelsea went into detail about the dream including the part where Silent Magician saved her life in the nick of time, needless to say the others where left speechless and slack jawed by the end. "Before you ask, I never learned anything else about the Beasts from the Void and to be frank I REALLY don't want to know anything else!"
"Oh fuck, what was that, the next Cannibal Corpse album cover or your dream duel!?" Lance asked with a wince and Chelsea shook her head. "How did they even find out some of that info?"
"I'm tempted to say background check but even then those things wouldn't be THAT detailed." Chelsea responded as she shook her head. "The beasts and that spirit are dead, they can't hurt me or anyone else anymore and that's what matters!"
"Do we even know how many victims they've claimed?" Theresa asked once the shock wore off and Chelsea shook her head.
"Silent Magician said that she should've killed the beasts a long time ago, at best I can estimate hundreds." Chelsea responded with a shudder. "The worst part is that the spirit told me that they were particularly brutal to female victims, I don't know about you but I'd rather not dwell on that thought!"
"Well, this is certainly not something I wanted to know first thing in the morning." Tyler responded as he shuddered. "We know one thing for certain, they are now using these dream duels for psychological warfare and they used you as a test subject."
"Thanks for the reminder." Chelsea grunted before noticing that Marcus and Andreas had tossed their food in the bin. "Any other time I'd be surprised Marcus….."
"Yeah, I know." Marcus responded as he shook his head. "But that…I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm just going to avoid eating for the rest of the day."
"The same goes for me that nightmare is the kind that could reduce anyone to practically being on a hunger strike from the description alone." Andreas agreed with a nod as he took a deep breath. "But to actually experience it first hand? I must say, a lesser mind would've snapped long ago."
"Thanks, but I'm not exactly saying that I took it easy." Chelsea responded as she shook her head. "Just ask Chloe, she saw how I was when I woke up."
"I already told them, I knew it was bad but…." Chloe trailed off as she shuddered. "It almost sounds too terrible to be true."
"Yeah, and believe it or not, it gets worse." Chelsea said as she shifted her weight and the other students exchanged worried looks. "She mentioned that she planned to target Nicola and Chloe next."
"WHAT?" Andreas yelled out as he turned to her. "That had better not be a joke Chelsea."
"You really think I'd joke about this?" Chelsea asked as she turned to him. "I got it straight from the horse's mouth they are planning similar attacks on Nicola and Chloe."
"Son of a bitch, we'd better warn Nicola!" Lance grunted and Chelsea shook her head.
"Warn her about what, that she'll get attacked in her dreams?" Chelsea pointed out and Lance paused. "I don't like it either but it's not exactly an easy thing to warn someone about even someone with High Functioning Autism like Nicola."
"I understand your point but it may be a bit easier than you think." Andreas responded and she turned to him. "As you know we met Nicola whilst she was competing in Battle City, she witnessed two Orichalcos duels whilst she was in New York."
"Yes, Marcus took on an agent who was threatening her dad's life and the other….." Tyler winced when he saw the look on Andreas's face. "It was the duel when Andreas's soul was captured."
"Actually she was also there when we fought Chloe's dad." Brandon chimed in and Chloe winced at that memory. "I know it's not exactly a good memory Chloe but I'm just stating facts."
"Speaking of memories, you just gave me an idea Brandon." Lance chimed in and Brandon turned to him. "Where does Martin keep his private stash of alcohol?"
"You're kidding right?" Chelsea asked as she and the other students not named Lance or in Obelisk Blue looked at him funny. "I mean, I know the other teaches have private stashes and that the students in relationships often borrow from it for a night with their partner but Martin? He's a close associate of Kaiba for crying out loud….."
"There's a fridge behind the painting of the Blue Eyes White Dragon in the main hall, you can find the alcohol on the top shelf." Brandon and Tyler interrupted him simultaneously causing the other students, besides Theresa and Lance, to face-fault.
"You really think we'd be that naïve? Dealing with students like Cameron and Thomas on a daily basis would drive anyone to drink!" Brandon added once the others got back to their feet. "If anyone asks tell them that you're doing it as a favor for another student."
"Can't I just use the "using it for a night with my girlfriend" excuse?" Lance asked and Tyler shook his head in response.
"Lance, everyone in the school thinks that you and Chloe are dating." Tyler pointed out and Chloe and Lance sweat-dropped at that.
"Err, not everyone." Chelsea chimed in with a small grin. "There's a few girls in Osiris Red that think that me and Chloe are a couple, they usually drop that train of thought once they see me with Beth and find out that Chloe's straight."
"…how many girls in Osiris Red think that we're a lesbian couple?" Chloe asked after a few minutes as a large sweat-drop rolled down her head and Chelsea paused for a few minutes.
"About twenty I think but it's mostly the new girls that joined last weekend but even then it's just a rumor started by gossip because we spend a lot of time together and the fact that I'm a lesbian is one of the worst kept secrets at this academy." Chelsea responded before turning to Tyler. "You were saying?"
"Right, even if that and your excuse were true you'd get caught before you reached either the Osiris Red Girl's Dorm or the Ra Yellow Boy's Dorm." Tyler responded with a nod and Lance winced.
"Point taken, I'm off to raid Martin's stash." Lance responded before standing up and leaving Tyler's dorm room.
"Speaking of Thomas, what's with the delay? Shouldn't the match have started by now?" Chelsea asked once Lance left the room.
"There's been a delay due to technical issues with one of the duel disks, they didn't say what it was but it was severe enough to delay the match." Tyler responded and Chelsea nodded. "The technicians are on it so it should be sorted out in a few minutes."
"The same technicians that are dragging their feet with the laptop we found." Chelsea responded as a large sweat-drop rolled down her head. "You'll have to excuse me for not having much faith in them."
"I understand why you don't exactly have a high opinion of them but they do good work, I should know, my dad hired them." Tyler responded and Chelsea went to say something "Yes I know that you found out that the reason they won't give you the information we need to bring down the Orichalcos is because they don't want to lose their jobs and I've been trying to use my father's influence to get my hands on that data myself."
"Let me guess, it didn't work?" Chelsea asked with a dull expression on her face and Tyler nodded. "Have you tried talking to your dad?"
"I've considered it but considering that he's the head of a multi-national gaming corporation who has investors to answer to finding the time to chat hasn't been easy." Tyler responded and Chelsea frowned at that. "I can typically find time to have a Skype Call with him in the evenings/early mornings but since the tournament started he hasn't been in his office."
"He hasn't?" Chloe asked and Tyler nodded. "What about your uncle Mokuba?"
"I did talk to him but he told me that my dad's away on business and he didn't say where that business was or when he'd be back." Tyler responded as he shook his head. "As much as I can tell he's somewhere where he can still run Kaibacporp's day to day operations, I can think of a dozen international branches where that is possible just off the top of my head."
"So great, the technicians have data from that laptop that could help us put an end to the Orichalcos Threat once and for all but won't release it for fear of their jobs and their boss is nowhere to be seen." Chelsea grunted as she folded her arms in annoyance. "Anyone have any other good news to share?"
"Well, the match appears to have finally started." Andreas responded after a few moments and Chelsea nodded before turning to her laptop.
*meanwhile at the arena*
"Welcome to Day Ten of the Tag Team Tournament." Martin's voice rang out over the PA system and the crowd of students cheered. "Our first match of the day pits the controversial team of Thomas Newborne of Obelisk Blue and Rajin Kanda of Ra Yellow against Lemuel Hicks and Kenny Maynard of Osiris Red and Ra Yellow respectively!" Martin added as the two teams stepped onto the arena.
"If Kenny was one dorm lower then this would be a repeat of our last match." Thomas commented with a chuckle as he shuffled his deck. "You idiots may as well just save us the trouble and give up right now, it's clear that you don't stand a chance."
"We would but you have a nasty habit of ignoring surrenders." Kenny responded with a frown and Thomas grunted in response. "Besides, it's your fault that Sara got her soul stolen after your match against her so you can consider this to be payback."
"Do I have the Orichalcos in my deck? No, did I duel again that day? No, don't throw around baseless accusations you reject!" Thomas snapped at him and Lemuel rolled his eyes.
"You may not have been directly responsible but we talked with Ora, she said that your conduct at the end of your match against her team led Sara to challenge an Orichalcos Duelist in an attempt to take out her frustrations on him." Lemuel responded and Thomas's eyes narrowed. "What we're saying is that your actions had a domino effect that led to there being three comatose students in the infirmary rather than two."
"What happened to Sara, Frank and Billie is unfortunate." Rajin chimed in and the opposing team turned to him. "But my partner was not responsible, Sara may have been frustrated following her loss but she needs to learn how to handle losses better."
"Are you for real Rajin? Do you even listen to what your partner says most of the time?" Kenny asked him and Rajin remained silent. "Besides, it's pretty funny that you're talking about sore losers when your partner tried to accuse Chloe Richardson of cheating after he practically handed her a Tuner Monster to summon Colossal Fighter with on a Silver Platter."
"Unless you want to see just how unprofessional my conduct can get in a duel then that will be the only time that you'll mention that duel today!" Thomas snapped at him as he and Rajin activated their duel disks. "Besides, that bitch did cheat! It just hasn't been proven!"
"BECAUSE I DIDIN'T CHEAT YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!" Chloe yelled at Chelsea's laptop screen causing the others to sweat-drop simultaneously. "Sorry, I'm still pissed off at that bullshit."
"Chloe, just breathe and hope that you and Chelsea are the opponents of Thomas and Rajin in the third round, then you can use that match to take out your frustrations on him." Theresa advised her and Chloe took a deep breath as she calmed down. "He's just using the "you cheated" line to save face with the other Obelisk Blue Students, as much as I'd like to say otherwise it's been a popular tactic since Jaden Yuki was a student here."
"A tactic that's losing popularity because of the school clamping down on the elitist attitudes among the students in our dorm I might add." Tyler added and Chloe turned to him. "I know it's equally popular to accuse the staff of bias towards Obelisk Blue because of several different incidents, including some that involved you in some capacity, but that couldn't be further from the truth."
"Yeah, no offense Tyler but I'll believe it when I see it." Chelsea responded with a frown as the door opened up and Lance entered the room with some beer bottles and glasses in hand. "Lance, I know Thomas is an asshole but do you really need alcohol to get through his matches?"
"Very funny, and besides this beer isn't for me Chelsea, it's for you" Lance responded and Chelsea blinked as Lance started pouring her a glass. "Why? Because after a nightmare like that I know that I'd need a strong drink!"
"Thanks, this will help a lot." Chelsea responded as she took a sip.
"Even so I'd take it easy if I were you." Theresa responded and Chelsea turned to her. "Unless you plan to turn up to your first class of the day wasted."
"Good point, especially since I've got Duel Theory after the duels finish." Chelsea responded with a nod as she took a sip. "What took you so long anyway Lance? They gave you some pretty clear directions."
"Let me put it this way, there's more than one Blue-Eyes White Dragon painting in the main hall." Lance pointed out and Tyler and Brandon winced when they remembered that. "Miranda ended up helping me out."
"Miranda's sitting out the duels as well?" Tyler asked and Lance shrugged.
"Yes but not just today's duels, she said that she caught a cold after her last tournament match and hadn't attended a duel since then." Lance responded and Tyler nodded. "She seemed pretty ill when I saw her so she wasn't making it up either and she thinks that she'll be over it once the weekend's over anyway."
"Let's hope so for her team's sake." Andreas responded and Tyler nodded in agreement.
*back at the arena*
"Okay, now that we have some order." Martin added as he cleared his throat. "The order of the match will be as follows, Rajin followed by Lemuel followed by Thomas and finally by Kenny, any questions?" Martin asked and the four duelists shook their heads in response. "Then begin!" Martin called out and the duelists drew their opening hands with Rajin drawing a sixth card.
"If Rajin is smart he'll try to get Spirit Shaman into the graveyard as soon as possible." Kenny thought as Rajin looked over his hand. "And I can already think of a hand full of ways he can do that without doing a first turn Synchro Summon."
"I activate the Spell Card Foolish Burial! With this I take one monster card from my deck and send it to my graveyard!" Rajin played the card and picked up his deck once he found the monster he was looking for he sent it and the Spell Card to the graveyard and shuffled his deck. "Next I summon the monster known as Inaba White Rabbit!" Rajin played the monster and the small white rabbit on the oversized pogo stick appeared on the field (3/700/500). "I end my turn with a facedown card, now normally my monster would return to my deck but since the monster I just sent to the graveyard was Spirit Shaman my monster stays!"
"Like that!" Lemuel thought before drawing his card. "I activate my Spell Card Reinforcement of the Army! I don't think I really need to explain its effect at this point!" Lemuel played the card before picking up and searching through his deck, once he found the monster he was looking for he added it to his hand and shuffled the deck. "And speaking of warrior deck staples, I summon Marauding Captain!" Lemuel played the card and the brown haired, twin sword wielding warrior appeared on the field (3/1200/400).
"Look, I'm certain that the only people who don't know that monster's effects among the students that reside on this island are those morons in Osiris Red so please, just get on with it!" Thomas interrupted him when he realized that Lemuel was about to explain his monster's effect.
"Who was the last person to beat you? What was her name again?" Kenny asking mockingly and Thomas growled. "Oh yeah that's right, Chloe Richardson, an Osiris Red Student! And don't give us that "she cheated" bullshit because if she had cheated during DUEL THEORY then she would've been in even more trouble then she already was at the time."
"Kenny, did you suddenly forget that that duel was literally right before the last expulsion duels? The expulsion duels that she took part in alongside several other students?" Lemuel pointed out and Kenny sweat-dropped. "Even if that did happen that would've been wiped when she won her expulsion duel."
"My point still stands!" Kenny answered as he shook his head. "Anyway Lemuel, don't you have an effect to resolve?"
"Right, I use Marauding Captain's effect to summon Comrade Swordsman of Landstar!" Lemuel played the card and a warrior that closely resembled Swordsman of Landstar but in better armor appeared on the field carrying a sword and a shield (3/500/1200). "He may not look like much but he's a Tuner and all my warrior monsters gain four hundred attack points." Lemuel explained as his two monster's attack points rose to 1600 and 900.
"It's an improvement over the old Swordsman of Landstar, I'll give you that." Thomas scoffed as he stared down the two monsters. "But honestly, why on earth did Joey Wheeler even consider using that monster in his deck? It was just another weak Normal Type monster that was created during the early days of the game even its flavor text said that it's an ammeter with a sword!"
"You could ask Joey yourself if you could find him." Lemuel responded with a grin. "And let's face it, Joey's deck was always weird, most of his cards had no synergy with each other."
"I can't believe I'm agreeing with a reject but you have a point." Thomas admitted with a grunt. "Now finish your move already! There is that damn time limit and I'd actually like to make a move before the tournament ends!"
"I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Lemuel set the two cards down and Thomas grinned before drawing his card.
"Finally, first I activate the ever popular spell card Reinforcement of the Army!" Thomas played the card and picked up his deck, searched through it and added the monster he was looking for to his hand before shuffling his deck.
"In that case I activate this! My trap card Insightful Cards of Reversal!" Lemuel activated the card and Thomas did a double take. "I see you've heard of it!"
"Yes, I've heard of it, how a reject like you obtained such a powerful trap card is beyond me!" Thomas shouted out and Lemuel grinned.
"Saving up, calling in a few favors, going to the game shop and buying it, the usual." Lemuel shrugged his shoulders with a grin. "Since you just added a card to your hand outside of your draw phase I can draw cards equal to the number of cards in your hand and I count six!" Lemuel responded before drawing his cards and sending his trap card to the graveyard.
"Ugh, that fucking trap card, I can't stand it!" Chelsea grunted as she watched the duel and punched the desk causing the others to look at her strangely. "Not only have I been trying, and failing, to get that card since I first heard of it but it's been used against me by practically every student with basic knowledge about my deck and had one handy."
"I can see why that's frustrating but please don't punch my desk." Tyler responded with a frown and Chelsea glanced up at him. "I know it's highly unlikely but if you break the desk Martin will charge me and since the last time I tried to get my dad to pay for anything that was damaged by anyone in my room here…wasn't pleasant…I'll be sure to charge you."
"You know what? I'm not going to ask." Chelsea responded as she shook her head and resumed watching the duel.
"So you tried asking Wattchimera to get that card for you?" Chloe whispered to her roommate and Chelsea nodded.
"It was one of the first cards I asked for and I'm still waiting for it!" Chelsea responded with a look of annoyance on her face as the two girls resumed watching the duel.
"Okay, now that you've used that card's effect." Thomas commented with a grunt as he sent his Spell Card to the graveyard. "I summon this! X-Saber Galahad in attack mode!" Thomas played the card and a tall man appeared on the field wielding green armor and carrying a green spear (4/1800/800). "I set a card facedown and end my turn."
"What? No insane combo that results in you having an XYZ Monster and a Synchro Monster?" Kenny asked with a grin and Thomas growled.
"How would I do that? One of my main components for that combo has been banned yet again and the only decent card in my hand at the moment is Reinforcement of the Army!" Thomas responded as Kenny drew his card. "Besides Galahad is a very powerful monster and as soon as I'm able to attack you'll see what I mean!"
"Anyway it's my turn and I summon my own Marauding Captain!" Kenny played the card and another brown haired captain appeared on the field. "And I use his effect to summon Sacred Crane!"
"Ah yes, the same combo you used in your last duel." Thomas commented as he rolled his eyes as Kenny drew his card. "What next? Did you conveniently draw Synchro Boost?"
"Sorry Thomas but I don't have your luck, but what I do have is two facedown cards." Kenny responded as he set the two cards. "And I call it a turn."
"Okay, so Kenny and Lemuel could've easily done a Synchro or a XYZ Summon just now but they didn't." Chelsea commented as she scratched her head and took a sip from her drink. "You guys have any ideas why?"
"Only reason I can think off is to keep the opponents guessing." Tyler responded as he shook his head. "But they have their facedown cards for that."
"I guess we'll see what happens." Chloe commented as she watched the duel.
"Susa Soldier, I'll save him for later." Rajin thought as he added the monster to his hand. "Inabba White Rabbit, attack Kenny's life-points directly via your effect!" Rajin commanded and the rabbit bounced right over the monsters' heads before hitting Kenny and bringing his life-points down to 7300, "And I end my turn."
"That's it? Sure Inabba works well with Spirit Shaman and he still has that facedown card but that's a pretty dumb move if that's a bluff." Lemuel thought as he drew his card. "Marauding Captain, attack Rajin's Rabbit!" Lemuel commanded and the warrior charged towards the rabbit….
"I activate my trap card, Spirit Salvation!" Rajin announced as his trap card flipped up. "How ironic is it that the monster saving the Rabbit in the artwork is the one attacking the rabbit this time around?"
"Just redirect the attack towards Thomas's monster already!" Lemuel responded with a sigh and Rajin nodded as the warrior changed its target to the X-Saber monster. "At least the damage won't be much."
"Think again." Kenny pointed out and Lemuel grinned when he saw Galahad's attack drop to thirteen hundred. "Looks like Rajin just made a mistake!"
"If he did then why am I so calm?" Thomas asked with a grin and Kenny and Lemuel blinked in confusion. "Let me spell it out for you! I activate my Trap Card At One With The Sword!"
"I should've known." Lemuel grunted as Galahad's attack shot up to 2100 and the sword appeared in its hands before it cut the Captain down bringing Lemuel's life-points down to 7600.
"And I get to draw another card as an added bonus." Thomas responded as he drew his card. "Please continue to defeat yourself it's very amusing for me!"
"It's us that'll get the last laugh in this round! I activate my own Trap Card Call of the Haunted!" Lemuel activated the trap and Marauding Captain returned to the field. "I don't see Spirit Salvation on the field so it's clear to me that it's a onetime only card! Marauding Captain, take another swipe at that rabbit!" Lemuel commanded and the captain charged towards the rabbit again before cutting it in two and bringing Rajin's life-points down to 7000. "Comrade Swordsman of Landstar, it's your turn!" Lemuel commanded and the cartoony warrior charged at Rajin before striking him with his sword and bringing his life-points down to 6100. "And I end my turn." Lemuel announced and Thomas drew another card.
"Rescue Rabbit, this is just perfect!" Thomas thought before playing the card. "Rajin's rabbit may be gone but I have one of my own, the ever popular Rescue Rabbit!" Thomas played the card and the small rabbit in the worker's helmet appeared on the field (4/300/100). "And now, I activate his effect!" Thomas announced before pocketing the monster and once the rabbit disappeared from the field he picked up his deck.
"Okay, the fact that he's going for an XYZ Summon couldn't be more obvious but I don't think he's going for One-Eyed Skill Gainer like he did in his last duel." Lemuel thought as Thomas summoned two copies of X-Saber Anu Piranha appeared on the field in defense mode and Thomas shuffled his deck. "That monster may have decent attack strength but it requires a third monster and I don't think he's too interested in getting rid of Galahad, besides it's effect needs us to have an XYZ Monster on our side of the field, which we don't, what is he summoning?"
"And now I'll do something that you idiots should've done by now! I use my two Anu Piranhas to construct the Overlay Network!" Thomas announced as the two female warriors disappeared into white orbs of light. "What will I summon you ask? You two should know! It's a monster that you should be familiar with!"
"What are you talking about?" Kenny asked as Thomas played the card and their eyes widened as Gagaga Cowboy appeared on the field (Rank 4/1500/2400). "How long have you had that card?"
"It was one of the first XYZ Monsters that I purchased after I unfairly lost to Chloe Richardson." Thomas responded with a grin. "I could've sworn I just heard that bitch scream in rage but that's beside the point, she's not even present for this duel." Thomas thought as he sent one of the XYZ Materials to the graveyard. "But regardless I just summoned him in attack mode so by detaching a XYZ Material monster from it he will gain one thousand attack points as soon as he goes on the attack."
"Yeah, we know or did you forget that we run that monster?" Kenny asked but Thomas ignored him. "I just hope our plan works."
"Gagaga Cowboy, attack Marauding Captain!" Thomas commanded and the cowboy took aim at the warrior monster…..
"Kenny now's the time to spring our plan!" Lemuel called out to him and Kenny nodded.
"That's music to my ears! I activate my trap card Urgent Tuning!" Kenny activated the trap and grinned. "And I use it to Tune my Captain and my Swordsman together!" Kenny added as the two monsters leapt into the air.
"You could've used that when you attacked my partner." Thomas commented as he rolled his eyes. "Why wait?"
"I'll show you why we waited! I Synchro Summon HTS Psyhemuth!" Kenny played the card and a new monster appeared on the field, it was a massive, robotic looking dog with several gems poking out of his body that growled menacingly at the opponents (6/2400/1800).
"You fool! You realize that by doing that you not only just softened up the damage you would've taken from Gagaga Cowboy but left yourself open to a direct attack from Galahad?" Thomas asked as he pointed to the new monster. "Gagaga Cowboy, that robot dog is obsolete! Put it out of its misery!" Thomas commanded and the cowboy pointed its guns at the robot dog before firing and, as its attack rose to 2500, it fired its guns at the robot dog destroying it and causing a large explosion in the process. "That was a waste of a perfectly good Synchro Summon! You would've been better off summoning a different Level Six Synchro or even using Sacred Crane to do a Level Seven Synchro!"
"Look again." Kenny responded and Thomas blinked as the smoke from the explosion cleared, HTS Psyhemuth was gone but so was Gagaga Cowboy.
"Explain yourself!" Thomas demanded and Kenny grinned.
"Gladly, when HTS Psyhemuth is attacked his effect allows me to banish both the attack monster and Psyhemuth himself, in other words if anyone wasted their Special Summon it's you." Kenny explained as his life-points dropped to 7200.
"There is more than one way to make a move! From my hand I activate the Quick Play Spell Card Burial from a Different Dimension!" Thomas played the card and quickly retrieved Rescue Rabbit and Gagaga Cowboy from his pocket and returned them to his graveyard. "Now I just have to get them back in their respective decks but that'll be a simple matter, for now I attack Sacred Crane with Galahad!"
"Huh?" Kenny asked as Galahad charged towards Sacred Crane. "But you'd do more damage by attacking me directly!"
"Maybe but I wouldn't have gotten to use At One with the Sword's effect." Thomas explained as Galahad's attack suddenly shot up to 2900. "Oh yes, I almost forgot, when Galahad attacks it gains three hundred attack points and when it's attacked, as you found out earlier, it loses five hundred attack points." Thomas added as Galahad ran through Sacred Crane bringing Lemuel's life-points down to 6700. "And I end my turn." Thomas grunted as he drew his card and Kenny did likewise.
"Chloe, are you going to keep screaming like that every time he says that?" Chelsea asked as she rubbed her ear in pain and her roommate glared daggers at Thomas through the laptop screen. "And if yes at least warn me next time!"
"If I could predict that future…..well for starters I would've won Battle City…I would." Chloe grunted as she calmed down a bit. "But since I can't I can't really help you there!"
"Okay then maybe you should just try controlling your temper whenever he, Cameron or Jessica says that bullshit." Chelsea responded and the others stared at her with deadpan expressions on their faces. "Yeah, I know how hypocritical that is coming from me!"
"My turn, and whilst Sacred Crane may be gone he won't be gone for long!" Kenny commented as he drew his card. "First I activate Monster Reincarnation! I discard one card from my hand." Kenny added as he sent the card to the graveyard. "And I take back Sacred Crane."
"That won't help you as you have already resolved Marauding Captain's summoning effect." Thomas scoffed as Kenny returned his monster to his hand.
"That may be true but I'm about to take a page from your book! I summon Goblindergh in attack mode!" Kenny played the card and the plane piloted by the goblin appeared on the field (4/1400/0). "And I activate his effect to summon Sacred Crane back to the field!" Kenny added before playing the card and Sacred Crane returned to the field.
"And you'll draw a card thanks to Sacred Crane's effect." Thomas commented with a grunt as Kenny drew his card.
"Yeah and it's just what I needed! I activate Resonance Device! Since Marauding Captain and Goblindergh are both Earth Type Warrior Monsters Marauding Captain's Level becomes equal to Goblindergh's Level for the rest of the turn." Kenny explained as Marauding Captain's level increased. "And now that I have three Level Four Monsters on my side of the field I'll use them all to construct the Overlay Network!"
"I'll admit, I thought you were just planning on a regular XYZ Summon." Thomas commented as the three monsters turned into white orbs of light. "But a three monster XYZ Summon, please! Unless you have One Eyed Skill Gainer in your extra deck I'm not impressed."
"I don't, and trust me! I looked in the card shop when I found out that we were facing you." Kenny responded before retrieving a monster from his extra deck, "But instead I have this! I use all three of my monsters to XYZ Summon Night Papilloperative!" Kenny played the card and a new monster appeared on the field in Sacred Crane's place, he was a tall warrior in black, purple and gold armor that had a massive pair of blue and red butterfly wins on his back (Rank: 4/2600/2000).
"You had me worried for a moment there." Thomas commented with a chuckle. "But your XYZ Monster is no match for Galahad."
"Did you forget your own monster's effect?" Kenny asked and Thomas's eyes widened when he realized when he meant. "Man, how are you in Obelisk Blue again? No wonder Chloe beat you!"
"Just attack already!" Thomas demanded through gritted teeth and Kenny shook his head.
"Not yet, I activate my monster's effect!" Kenny said before sending Goblindergh to the graveyard. "By detaching an overlay unit I can give him three hundred extra attack points for each XYZ Material Monster attached to a monster for the rest of the duel!" Kenny explained as his monster's attack jumped up to 3200. "Now to take care of a certain pain in the ass card, attack Galahad!" Kenny commanded and his night charged towards the other one before cutting it in half with his sword and bringing Thomas's life-points down to 6900. "Looks like you won't be joining your friends in the next round!"
"Don't count me out yet! I activate my Trap Card Damage Gate!" Thomas responded before retrieving and summoning Rescue Rabbit from the graveyard. "Since I just took damage this trap lets me Special Summon a monster in my graveyard who's attack points are less than or equal to the damage I took, since it was the only monster in my graveyard that fit the bill Rescue Rabbit fit quite nicely."
"And it'll allow him to do another XYZ Summon next turn unless Lemuel can destroy it." Kenny thought before looking over his hand. "My turn is over!" Kenny announced and Rajin drew his card.
"I activate Offerings from Beyond!" Rajin played the card and drew until he had six cards in his hand. "I drew another Inabba White Rabbit but I wasn't planning on attacking to begin with! I set two cards facedown and end my turn."
"He wasn't planning on attacking?" Chloe asked as she scratched her head. "Why? Lemuel's field was wide open!"
"Good question." Tyler agreed with her as he watched the duel. "I get the feeling that Thomas has been dictating Rajin's every move since their first match in the tournament but why? Does he hate Ra Yellow and Osiris Red so much that he won't trust his own partner to make decisions on his own? Rajin's a good duelist but he is the youngest student in Ra Yellow."
"I'd love to attack that Rabbit and shut down whatever plans Thomas has, especially if they involve One-Eyed Skill Gainer being summoned, but I have no monsters in my hand." Lemuel thought before playing a card. "I activate MST and I target Rajin's facedown card on the left!" Lemuel announced as a storm washed over the field destroying the facedown card. "But I have no other moves so I have to pass!" Lemuel announced and Thomas grinned before drawing his card.
"I activate a Spell Card! Go, Spellbook Inside The Pot!" Thomas played the card and the four duelists drew three cards. "Excellent!" Thomas thought before playing the card. "I summon Big Belly Knight to the field!" Thomas played the card and the overweight knight previously used by Chloe appeared on the field (4/1000/1600). "And I activate the effect of Rescue Rabbit one more time!" Thomas announced as the Rabbit disappeared from the field again and a pair of Battle Oxs appeared on the field, with a snap of his fingers Thomas opened up the Overlay Network again and One-Eyed Skill Gainer appeared on the field (Rank: 4/2500/2600). "I activate his effect!" Thomas as he sent Big Belly Knight to the graveyard and One-Eyed Skill Gainer's attack increased to 3100.
"This is bad!" Kenny winced and Thomas chuckled.
"You think things are bad now? Just watch! Since I used Big Belly Knight to resolve an XYZ Monster's effect his own effect activates allowing me to summon another monster from my hand as long as it's Level 3 or lower, I summon Boost Warrior!" Thomas played the card and the armored, red haired warrior appeared on the field (1/300/200). "And thanks to its effect my monsters only get stronger!" Thomas added as One-Eyed Skill Gainer and Boost Warrior's attack increased to 3400 and 600 respectively.
"If you think we're scared of a week monster with a stat boosting ability than think again!" Kenny pointed out with a grin and Lemuel nodded in agreement. "Besides, you have to choose between attacking Lemuel directly and taking out my knight!"
"I prefer to go with a third option." Thomas responded as he played a card. "I activate XYZ Energy! Say good-bye to your knight!" Thomas played the card and after detaching a Battle Ox Kenny's knight exploded into a million pieces. "My monster may lose three hundred attack points." Thomas added as One-Eyed Skill Gainer's attack points dropped to 3100. "But I'm not sort on options, not even close I activate a Spell Card called Message in a Bottle."
"Okay, that's a new one." Kenny commented as three monsters appeared on the field, two of the Anu Piranhas and Big Belly Knight all of them in defense mode. "Are you hoping to use Big Belly Knight's effect again?"
"I couldn't if I wanted to, the monsters that are summoned with Message in a Bottle lose their attack points and their effects." Thomas added before playing a card. "But this comes with a disadvantage, unless I use them in an XYZ Summon I'll lose 4000 points of damage…..which is exactly why I don't intend to do another XYZ Summon."
"Say what?" Kenny asked with a confused look on his face. "Are you suicidal?"
"Far from it, from my hand I activate the Quick Play Spell Card XYZ Reflect!" Thomas played the card which depicted a mirror reflecting the image of a terrified looking Blade Armor Ninja. "This Spell Card requires that I have at least one XYZ Monster and three other monsters on my side of the field, from this point forward I won't be able to make any additional summons, XYZ, Synchro or otherwise, but in exchange any damage that I lose is dealt to you for the rest of the turn!"
"NO WAY!" Lemuel yelled out once he realized what was about to happen.
"Yes way, be thankful that attacking with all of my monsters would be pointless for reasons that I have already explained." Thomas added before pointing to One-Eyed Skill Gainer. "But Skill Gainer on the other hand? He's free to attack, Skill Gainer, Boost Warrior attack Kenny's life-points directly!" Thomas commanded and the two monsters launched their attacks bringing Kenny's life-points down to 3500. "As soon as I end my turn the duel will be over for you and what do you know? I'm ending my turn now!" Thomas announced and the two duelists winced as Kenny's life-points dropped to zero whilst Lemuel's life-points dropped to 2700. "You may as well surrender, there's no way you can win and it's my partner's turn."
"That's fucking hilarious coming from you." Kenny spat as he got up to his feet. "You were the one who ignored his opponent's surrender in the last round!"
"So I did, not like anything came of it!" Thomas responded with a grin as Rajin drew his card. "Rajin, take control of Skill Gainer and end this."
"Very well, I will take control of One Eyed Skill Gainer!" Rajin nodded as the monster walked over to Rajin's side of the field. "Finish this duel!" Rajin commanded and the monster charged into action before hitting Lemuel and ending the duel by reducing his life-points to zero.
"Here are your winners, Thomas Newborne and Rajin Kanda!" Martin announced over the PA system as the crowd booed the winning team. "Coming up next three Obelisk Blue Students collide as Kimberly and Nathan Troy team up to take on Miranda Kaiba and Osiris Red's Socorro Stanley!"
"You know, as broken as Spirit Shaman is, I was hoping to see some more Spirit Synchros in that duel." Chelsea admitted with a shrug. "Instead Thomas controlled the match from the get-go."
"And that only confirms what I previously theorized." Tyler nodded in agreement. "As for the next match, I'm not sure who I want to root for."
"Torn between your sister and your friends, right?" Chloe asked and Tyler nodded. "Well Miranda does have that Blue-Eyes Synchro in her deck."
"And Kimberly has the new Archfiend monsters." Theresa chimed in as she shook her head. "It'll be a hard match to decide but it should be good."
"True but as long as no more fucked up bullshit dreams happen tonight I'm not complaining." Chelsea responded as they waited for the duel to start.