Half an hour had passed since the last duels for the day had ended and Martin was back in his office in the main building, aside from the meeting with Thomas regarding his plans for the Semi-Finals things had been relatively quiet leaving Martin to go over several Duel Academy profiles.
"Hmmm, Chloe and Chelsea were just promoted so I can't bump them up to Obelisk Blue right away, they need more seasoning as duelists anyway." Martin thought as he set the profiles for Chloe and Chelsea aside and focused on the others. "Caitlin certainly seems ready for Ra Yellow, I was worried that Amelia would overshadow her but she proved herself in the duels she took part in, Latoya and Louella are almost certainly locks for promotion to Obelisk Blue when the next promotion duels come around…..." Martin's train off thought was interrupted when Latoya burst in with an apologetic looking Misty behind her, Latoya bent over and took several deep breaths indicating that she had just been running.
"Sorry Martin, I tried to stop her from entering but she was to quick." Misty apologized as Latoya caught her breath.
"No need to worry Misty." Martin nodded before turning to Latoya as she stood up straight. "Now, what's the meaning off…..." Martin trailed off when he saw the look on her face. "What's happened?"
"Me and Louella where talking in a clearing on the North Side of the island when I tripped over something." Latoya said as she took a deep breath. "It was Caitlin, she was out cold and looked badly injured."
"I see, thank you for alerting me." Martin nodded before standing up. "I suppose I'll find Louella outside the clearing in question?" Martin asked and Latoya nodded. "Misty, alert the infirmary, Latoya, go back to your dorm room."
"Will do." Latoya nodded before stepping aside so that Martin could walk past her, once he was gone she started to walk off when Misty cleared her throat.
"You've got lipstick on your neck." Misty told her before handing her a handkerchief and Latoya let out a nervous laugh before taking it. "You and Louella weren't just kissing, where you?"
"Guess there's no point in denying it, we were making out when Louella spotted Caitlin." Latoya commented with a gulp. "Can you please not tell anyone else? I want to come out on my own terms."
"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me, my sister was in the same situation." Misty nodded in understanding as Latoya finished wiping off the lipstick on her neck and tossed the handkerchief in the bin next to Misty's desk before walking off.
*a bit later*
Word had spread quickly off what had happened to Caitlin and thus a significant number of students where gathered around the clearing, aside from those who were still in class and Rajin who had yet to emerge from his dorm room following his team's elimination, as for Thomas, Jessica and Cameron, everyone just assumed that they didn't care.
"Damn it, if only I had gone looking for her out here instead of the stands!" Amelia cussed to herself as she walked up to Caitlin's badly battered body, a single card rested face down on the unconscious girl's stomach and Amelia frowned. "Has anyone had a look at the card yet?"
"Not really." Lance responded with a shrug. "I mean I just assumed that it was her Orichalcos Card and I didn't want to risk damaging it."
"I can confirm that the card was there when me and Latoya found her." Louella commented with a frown as she walked up. "If only she had called security instead."
"I doubt it would've made much difference." Brandon commented with a frown as the paramedics arrived at the scene. "Okay, everyone step aside and let them do their work…."
"Ugh, my head." Caitlin moaned as she started to come too surprising everyone. "What happened?"
"Don't worry Caitlin, you're in good hands now." One of the paramedics reassured her before helping her onto the stretcher with the other's help, as they did so the card on Caitlin's stomach fell off and landed on the ground prompting Amelia to pick it up.
"It's blank." Amelia realized as she looked at the card before turning it around to show the others, everything about the card suggested that it was a field spell but the art work was completely blank. "The duelist is toying with us!"
"Can I have a closer look?" Brandon asked and Amelia nodded before handing him the card. "I think I know what this is, whenever an Orichalcos Duel took place a Spell Card with the loser's face on it would appear next to them, tearing that card up was typically a good way to ensure that the loser wasn't coming back."
"Hence why I didn't want to damage it." Lance nodded in agreement as he stepped forward. "But since it's blank that raises several questions, like how did Caitlin get hurt?"
"My guess? Caitlin prevented the activation of the Orichalcos somehow and her opponent intentionally turned off the safeties." Amelia responded with a frown on her face. "Only way to know for sure is to ask Caitlin but I doubt the nurse will let anyone see her just yet." Amelia added before sighing. "Her parents are not going to be happy."
"Doesn't that go without saying?" Lance asked and Amelia shook her head.
"It does but Caitlin's parents will be especially unhappy." Amelia said as she leaned against a tree. "Caitlin told me so herself."
"You knew her before the tournament?" Brandon asked and Amelia nodded.
"Some male Obelisk Blue Students where bullying her on her first day, Otto included." Amelia said as she shifted her weight. "I stepped in when they started making fun of her weight and declared her to be under my protection, they backed off and we've been friends since, you could say that our partnership in the tournament was a stroke of luck."
"Yeah, the same stroke of luck that saw Cameron and Jessica teaming together alongside the Troys and Theresa and Brandon, no offense but the Obelisk Blue bias was a little blatant in the tournament." Louella pointed out and Amelia nodded in response. "Back on topic, why were they making fun of her weight? She's always been at a healthy size."
"At Duel Academy, yeah, unfortunately she suffered from Anorexia during her early teens and it's mentioned in her Duel Academy profile under Medical Information." Amelia responded and the other teens frowned. "Obviously, she overcame it and the info is there just in case it comes back with instructions to have the nurse force feed her if she becomes dangerously thin, unfortunately the bullies used it against her."
"Frankly, I'm surprised you didn't deck them when she told you that, I know I would've." Lance commented with a frown before glancing up at the forest. "Back on topic, any idea where the Orichalcos Duelist might have gone Louella?"
"If we saw her we would've gone after her." Louella responded with a frown on her face. "Unfortunately, when we found her she was the only one in the clearing aside from us so I sent Latoya to get Martin and waited here instead."
"And given how dense the forest is we may as well start looking for a needle in a haystack." Lance commented and Louella nodded in agreement. "Okay, I'm off to get Chloe and Chelsea, the more eyes we have up here the better chance we have of finding her."
"Good idea, I'll go grab Chakra, Jason, Hu and Ash once they are out of class." Brandon nodded in response as he started to walk off. "Louella, think you can go get Latoya?"
"Martin told her to stay in her dorm room but your right, we need extra eyes up here." Louella nodded in agreement as she walked off. "Meet you guys back here?"
"Sounds good." Brandon nodded before Amelia started walking off. "Going somewhere?"
"I want to be there when the nurse lets students see Caitlin." Amelia responded and the boys nodded before they walked off.
*a bit later*
Things had quietened down for the most part aside from the students who had gone out in search for the Orichalcos Duelist, there were only a few students will still have classes at this point and Amelia wasn't one of them as she was leaning against the wall outside of the nurse's office.
"Amelia." Amelia looked up and saw her boyfriend Daniel rush up to her, they shared a quick kiss before Daniel frowned. "After I heard why Caitlin never showed up for the duels you couldn't get me out of Marie's class fast enough." Daniel added before turning to the nurse's office. "How is she?"
"Badly beaten up, as in the safeties in the opponent's duel disk were turned off beaten up." Amelia responded and Daniel frowned. "The good news is that the Orichalcos Duelist didn't take her soul, I don't think I need to say what the bad news is."
"Yeah, I already guessed that." Daniel responded with a frown before sighing. "Ever since we took her under our wing she's grown in confidence, if those assholes had tried making light of her weight issues today she probably would've kicked them in the nuts by the time you got there, but challenging an Orichalcos Duelist?"
"She always wanted to be a hero, or do I need to remind you that her comic books helped her overcome her anorexia?" Amelia asked and Daniel nodded. "But challenging an Orichalcos duelist? I don't need to remind of the worst-case scenario, do I?"
"Even if the students who went to Battle City hadn't been attacked we'd have a perfect example in the form of Nathan." Daniel nodded in agreement with a frown. "Then again, that probably helped, I mean Chloe's been dueling for a little under a year now and Caitlin first got into the game after she overcome her anorexia so she must've figured that if a rookie could handle it then so could she."
"Do I even need to point out the condition Chloe was in after her first Battle City Duel?" Amelia asked with a frown on her face. "Compared to most ways I could leave a duel "in an ambulance" is definitely at the bottom, what's worse is that since she dueled the Orichalcos Duelist during today's duels she's the only witness who might know where to look."
"And that's a long shot." Daniel nodded in agreement before the door to the nurse's office opened and the nurse stepped out.
"I thought I heard your voices." The nurse commented when she saw the two teens in front of her. "Caitlin's fine but understandably shook up, I was worried about her medical history potentially causing complications but she's otherwise fine if you want to go see her." The nurse added before standing aside to let Amelia and Daniel in, it didn't take them long to locate Caitlin as she was on the bed next to Sarah Baker's."
"Hey guys." Caitlin moaned when she saw Daniel and Amelia approach her, once they sat down she let out a sigh. "Yeah, I know, I made a dumb move by challenging that duelist and not alerting security but since everyone else was at the duel and all…"
"Don't worry about Caitlin, we're just glad you're safe." Amelia reassured her and Caitlin grinned in response. "If anything, I'm more curious as to how you managed to keep the Orichalcos off the field." Amelia added as Caitlin sat up.
"I took a page from Tyler's book and made sure to include Prohibition in my deck, I played it as soon as I drew it." Caitlin admitted before sighing. "I know you are going to ask why I decided to challenge her in the first place, part of it was because I just wanted Osiris Red to be taken seriously for once."
"What are you talking about?" Daniel asked with a confused look on his face. "Chloe and Chelsea started the tournament in Osiris Red and they outlasted several teams for higher dorms, including us." Daniel added as he motioned to himself and Amelia.
"Except they got promoted to Ra Yellow in between rounds." Caitlin pointed out as she shifted her weight. "Going into the fourth-round I was the only student still in Osiris Red left and, well, we both know how our match against Cameron and Jessica went." Caitlin added before remembering something. "By the way, who won today's matches?"
"Oh, right, you weren't there." Amelia responded with a nod. "Lance and Evan eliminated Latoya and Louella leaving Chloe and Chelsea as the only Ra Yellow students left in the tournament, they went on to eliminate Thomas and Rajin to move onto the Semi-Finals."
"But not before Thomas blurted out that he was planning to sabotage the tournament by leaving Rajin high and dry in the semi-finals." Daniel grunted in annoyance. "On one hand, this is Thomas we're talking about so I shouldn't be that surprised but as Chloe said, that was low even for him, karma bit him on the ass when Rajin left him high and dry and Chloe wiped out what was left of his life-points with Silent Magician Level 8 and Diffusion Wave Motion."
"If that asshole is out of the tournament I'm not complaining." Caitlin responded with a nod. "So, that means Lance and Evan are taking on Cameron and Jessica?"
"Yep and you should've seen Evan's new cards!" Daniel commented earning dirty looks from the girls. "I know, I know, not the best time, anyway before she knocked you out did you catch a glimpse of what your opponent looked like?"
"Not really but the fact that she's wearing a black cloak in this heat should make her easy to find even in the forested area." Caitlin commented before leaning back. "Here's what I remember, she was around Theresa's height, pretty thin but not to the same extent that I was when I was anorexic obviously, I didn't get a close look at her face obviously but before I passed out she walked over and put a duel monsters card on my stomach and I noticed that she had blue eyes and what looked like brown curly hair."
"No idea what shade of brown?" Daniel asked and Caitlin shook her head as Amelia stood up. "Where are, you going?"
"Where do you think?" Amelia asked as she held up her duel disk. "I pledged to protect Caitlin not long after I found out about and met her, it's the least I can do."
"How do you know that the others haven't found her yet?" Daniel asked and Amelia shrugged.
"I don't but my hope is that, even with Caitlin's vague description, I can find her before the others." Amelia added with a confident grin. "You pledged the same thing Daniel so I expect you to help."
"Yeah, I pledged to help protect her from bullies, not settle scores for her." Daniel responded before sighing. "Then again, I didn't anticipate the Orichalcos returning, I'll come with you and if she has an accomplice I'll duel them." Daniel decided and Amelia grinned before they started to walk off.
"Wait." Caitlin called out to them and the teens stopped in their tracks. "Look, I know I'm not in the best physical shape right now but I think it goes without saying that the others will be alerted once the Orichalcos is played." Caitlin said before grinning confidently. "After you kick her ass, tell them that I want to help fight the Orichalcos."
"Are you sure?" Amelia asked and Caitlin nodded. "In that case, I'll offer my services as well." Amelia said before turning to Daniel. "And so, will you, right?"
"What are we getting ourselves into here?" Daniel thought before sighing. "Right, I've seen enough of my friends fall victim to those bastards as it is." Daniel said with a grin before the couple walked off.
*a few minutes later*
Whilst Daniel and Amelia were talking to Caitlin the others were still searching for the Orichalcos Duelist but with limited success not helped by the dense forest, the group had decided to split into teams of two with Lance and Brandon searching one side of the forest, Chloe and Chelsea searching another, Ashitaka and Hu searching the path that led up to the volcano (whilst trying to avoid getting too close to the area for obvious reasons) and Louella and Latoya searching the area near the abandoned dorm leaving Jason and Chakra to search the one area that had been left.
"Any luck?" Jason asked the female Obelisk Blue Student who was walking out in front of him and she turned to him before shaking her head. "Well, I know you come from money so I can understand you not knowing your way through a forest."
"Oh please, the land my family owns is at least five times the size of the island, this is nothing." Chakra responded with a grin as she turned around. "That includes some forest land and well, let's just say that I wasn't above getting down and dirty with some of my servants in the forest…." Chakra trailed off before blushing like a madwoman. "I really should've rephrased that."
"You think?" Jason asked with a chuckle before sighing. "Considering that your sixteen and, well, I'm guessing that most of the servants where older than you I'm assuming that you meant stuff like hunting."
"Exactly, I wasn't just going to sit in my room all day and look pretty whilst I waited to be old enough to access my trust fund!" Chakra responded with a smirk as she turned to Jason. "Besides, my father always preferred to hunt for food even after he married into the Silvers family, he made sure that I felt the same way from a young age so yeah, I know my way around a forest." Chakra added before turning around….and walking straight into a tree.
"You okay?" Jason asked as he ran up to her and Chakra nodded.
"Bruised ego, nothing more." Chakra responded as she pulled away from the tree and stopped for a moment. "You'd have thought we'd have heard from Amelia from now, based on what Brandon told us after we got out of Duel Theory Caitlin was pretty banged up."
"Considering how bruised I was after our Orichalcos Duel last week it wouldn't surprise me." Jason commented with a frown as he folded his arms. "I'm just glad that she was able to prevent the duelist from taking her soul, three of my fellow Osiris Red students are in the infirmary because of those bastards."
"Indeed, and we saw firsthand how devastating that damn card is." Chakra nodded in agreement before glancing around the area. "Okay, we have two possible paths we could take and to be honest I'm not sure how close we are to the other groups, any ideas?"
"I was hoping you'd have one." Jason responded as he leaned against a tree and Chakra frowned. "But this isn't too bad I guess." Jason muttered under his breath whilst Chakra looked around. "Alone in the woods with a beautiful woman? What's not to love?" Jason muttered under his breath realizing that Chakra was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "You heard that, didn't you?"
"Yep, all of it." Chakra responded with a grin and Jason blushed.
"If someone could come up and break the tension between us before things get weird that'd be great!" Jason thought as he scratched the back of his head with a nervous laugh. "I mean yeah, she's hot but she's an Obelisk Blue student who comes from money, why would she be interested in an Osiris Red Student whose dad is a mechanic?"
"Jason, Chakra." The two students looked up and saw Amelia and Daniel rushing up to meet them, once he was sure that Chakra wasn't paying attention Jason let out a sigh of relief.
"Never thought I'd think this but saved by the Obelisk Blue Students!" Jason thought as the two students walked up to them. "If you guys are here then I'm guessing that Caitlin's doing okay?"
"Everything considered, yeah, she is." Amelia nodded in response once they got close to the two students. "You had any luck?"
"We're at something of an impasse." Chakra admitted as she motioned towards the two paths. "Two paths, two students and neither of us wants to be alone with the Orichalcos Duelist after what she did to Caitlin." Chakra explained before kicking off the tree. "But with you guys here, it's given me an idea, I go with Amelia down one path and Daniel goes with Jason down the other."
"Right, and we'll cover more ground that way." Daniel nodded once he got the idea. "How are we deciding who goes down what path exactly?"
"I don't mind either way." Chakra shrugged and they quickly decided with the girls going to the right and the boys going to the left, once they were a significant distance away Chakra glanced over at Amelia. "You want to get revenge for Caitlin, don't you?"
"Is it that obvious?" Amelia asked and Chakra nodded. "Look, she's been through a lot and the fact that suffered from anorexia just a few short years ago, is just the tip of the iceberg, it's the least I can do for her."
"Yeah, I understand that, my older sister had the same condition." Chakra commented before sighing. "Unfortunately, unlike Caitlin, she didn't survive."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Amelia responded with a sad look on her face and Chakra shook her head.
"To be honest? I never met her, I was barely a baby when she died." Chakra explained with a frown on her face. "My parents waited until I turned sixteen before they told me what happened to her, after that I was determined to stay as healthy as I can."
"That I can understand." Amelia nodded in understanding before frowning. "You've been in an Orichalcos Duel before, right?" Amelia asked and Chakra nodded. "Anything I need to know in case I end up facing Caitlin's opponent?"
"Let's see, opponent's monsters gain five hundred attack points, the card can't be destroyed by card effect, something I learned the hard way, and I suppose that I don't need to explain what happens after the duel has ended." Chakra responded and Amelia nodded in response. "There's also the unfortunate fact that the damage is real but if you watched Battle City like I did then you already picked up on that."
"Even if I didn't I'd just need to look at the damage caused to the three students in the infirmary to be able to tell that." Amelia responded and Chakra nodded with a grim look on her face. "So, you and Jason?"
"We were talking, nothing more." Chakra responded as she folded her arms. "I mean seriously, he's a good kid but he's in Osiris Red, even if I was interested in him as a boyfriend I don't think my family would approve."
"Wasn't your father married into the family?" Amelia asked and Chakra nodded.
"He was but that's different, the two families had been friends for years before that." Chakra responded with a sigh. "I like him as a friend, that's it."
"Oh really?" Amelia asked as she folded her arms. "Come on Chakra, I'm two years older than you, I can tell that that you have feelings for him." Amelia added and Chakra refused to comment, before Amelia could say anything else the two girls heard a twig snap. "You hear that?"
"Yeah, could be one of the other members of the search party though." Chakra responded with a frown before peering into the clearing where they had heard the sound from. "Scratch that, unless one of the search party decided to don a cloak we've found her." Chakra added and Amelia quickly joined her.
"Unfortunately, Jack, I wasn't able to capture the Acosta girl's soul." The robed figure commented into an earpiece and that was all Amelia needed to hear. "But I did turn off the safeties in my disk so I still sent the other students a message."
"Excellent." Jack nodded before frowning. "You've got company, two female Obelisk Blue Students, one of them was Caitlin's tag team partner in the tournament."
"I see them." The robed figure responded as she glanced over her shoulder at the two girls who had now entered the clearing. "This won't take long." She added before hanging up and turning around to face them. "Let me guess, here to avenge your friend? If I had a dollar for every idiot who tried that I'd be rich, enough to open my own Duel Academy." The robed figure added before removing her hood revealing her light brown curly hair and blue eyes.
"You're not dealing with some idiot here." Amelia responded as she activated her duel disk. "When I applied for the school I was the top ranked student as far as the exam went, as for my dueling skills, you'll have to see for yourself."
"Hold on a second." Chakra responded before turning to the robed woman. "Why did you go after Caitlin?"
"She wasn't my target but she challenged me." The woman responded with a shrug and the two girls frowned. "The only reason she lasted as long as she did was because of that Prohibition Spell Card but the same trick won't work on me twice."
"Then it's a good thing that I don't have that card in either my main or side deck!" Amelia responded as she activated her duel disk. "Well much like Caitlin challenged you I'm challenging you, do you have a name?"
"Call me Mia." The woman, now known as Mia, responded as she activated her Orichalcos Duel Disk. "And I'm the last opponent you'll ever face!"
"We'll see about that." Amelia responded before she noticed Chakra going for her phone. "Calling the others?"
"Well, yeah, no point in having them continue the search for a duelist we've found." Chakra nodded in response as she dialed Brandon's number.
*meanwhile*
"Man, you'd think the staff would cut down some of the forest and build a new dorm room." Lance grunted as he and Brandon made their way through the forest. "Hell, they don't even have to do that! They still have the abandoned dorm up here and that thing's been slated for demolition for fuck knows how long!"
"Yeah, and the only reason why they haven't demolished it is because of the lawsuits from the families of the students that went missing all those years ago, and that doesn't look like it'll be resolved by the end of the semester." Brandon reminded him and Lance nodded. "As for your first idea, I get your point but there's major obstacle in that path as well." Brandon added before pointing to the volcano. "I don't know how old that thing is but I don't think it's extinct, if that thing went off during construction, well, I'm pretty sure it'd be the end of Duel Academy even if they evacuated the island and the dorms only suffered minor damage."
"Yeah, depending on how close the building work was being done I don't think they'd enough time to get the construction workers out of there." Lance nodded in agreement before Brandon's phone went off, whilst Brandon answered it Lance let out a sigh before leaning against a nearby tree. "Can't believe that it's almost summer break already, feels just like yesterday that we got back from Battle City." Lance thought as he glanced off into the distance. "At least once summer break ends we can concentrate on how we're going to take out the Orichalcos Duelists for good, especially since we have at least two former Orichalcos Duelists working with…..." Lance's thoughts trailed off when he spotted Marie and Jared heading into the forest. "What are they doing here? I know Jared was mentioned by Drew last night but Marie?"
"Earth to Lance, Earth to Lance, do you copy?" Brandon asked as he waved his hand in front of Lance's face snapping Lance out of it. "You okay man? You seemed to be miles away."
"Yeah, I'm fine, I just thought that I saw Marie with Jared." Lance responded as he turned to Brandon who frowned once he realized who he meant.
"First the Orichalcos Duelists show up and now the Redemption Seekers? At least they seem to be working towards taking this one out." Brandon added with a nod. "Anyway, Chakra just called me, she and Amelia have found the Orichalcos Duelist and Amelia's challenging her."
"How did she rejoin the group so fast?" Lance wondered before it hit him. "Oh, right, the Main Building is so close to here that you could hit with your spit."
"You're not going to test that theory, right?" Brandon asked with a deadpan expression on his face. "Come on I've texted the others to let them know and save Chakra's phone some battery, let's get going."
*meanwhile*
Whilst that was going on Daniel and Jason where walking in the opposite direction of the two girls in search of the Orichalcos Duelist themselves, however they were having just as much luck as the others.
"You know, when I came to Duel Academy the last thing I ever expected to deal with was an ancient evil that had taken the form of a Field Spell Card." Jason commented dryly as he followed Daniel. "But now? Not only have I dealt with it but I dealt with this alongside an Obelisk Blue Student."
"Yeah, well, I don't think anyone was anticipating the return of the Orichalcos to be fair." Daniel responded with a shrug as the two boys walked along. "Besides, considering that the student who helped you was a girl as beautiful as Chakra it's not all that bad."
"I thought you were dating Amelia?" Jason asked with a skeptical look on his face.
"I am but that was just a general comment." Daniel responded with a shrug before grinning. "Besides, I saw the look she was giving you when we came up, I'm pretty sure she has the hots for you."
"Let's be serious here for a minute." Jason responded as he folded his arms. "I'm from a working-class family and my dad works as an auto-mechanic, she's from one of the most powerful families in French Politics and likely stands to inherit a small fortune when her parents kick the bucket, why would she be interested in me? For all we know her parents might have arranged a marriage for her."
"I didn't think arranged marriages happened outside of Muslim countries nowadays." Daniel responded with a shrug before giving him a reassuring grin. "Dude, I thought the same thing when I started developing feelings for Amelia and, well, the fact that we're dating pretty much says everything you need to know about how that turned out, I mean yeah, the fact that you're in Osiris Red and she's in Obelisk Blue is a bit of a hurdle but Andreas did just start dating Nicola and they are in the same situation, just with the genders reversed."
"Yeah and the fact that they've known each other since Battle City, me and Chakra? We've known each other since our first day here at the academy and that was just under two weeks ago, I don't think the old "love at first sight" cliché applies to real life." Jason responded before his phone went off. "But if you are right I'll buy you a beer as soon as I'm old enough."
"Drinking age here is eighteen and your fifteen, right?" Daniel asked and Jason nodded as he retrieved his phone. "I don't think I'll be here in three years, they're considering me, Chase, Amelia and a few others for next year's graduation duels."
"Well, if we run each other after graduation I'll buy you that beer, if I've started dating Chakra by then." Jason responded before checking his phone. "Speaking of Chakra, looks like she and Amelia have found the duelist and Amelia's about to duel her." Jason added before motioning to the path that they had just walked down. "Shall we?"
"Let's." Daniel nodded before following Jason back down the path.
*back at the duel*
Whilst Chakra waited just outside the clearing where the duel was taking place as that the other students would know where to look Amelia and Mia had just drawn their opening hands and where going over them.
"All right, who's going first?" Amelia asked once she had gone over her hand and Mia looked up at her.
"I will." Mia said before picking up a card. "And I activate the Spell Card Terra-Forming!"
"Well, this is just great." Amelia thought as Mia used the search function to search through her deck. "Then again, I shouldn't be surprised, the Orichalcos is a Field Spell so it only makes sense that they use a card that can search it out."
"And judging from the look on your face you know what's coming next!" Mia responded before playing another card. "I activate the Seal of the Orichalcos!"
*meanwhile*
Chloe and Chelsea where the last duelists to arrive on the scene but the two girls could see the telltale sign that the Orichalcos had been activated from a mile off.
"Looks like we're going to be a bit late to the party." Chelsea grunted as she folded her arms. "You couldn't hold in the urge to go to the bathroom just a little while longer?" Chelsea asked as she turned to Chloe who shook her head.
"I hadn't been to the bathroom all day and I wasn't about to go behind a bush!" Chloe asserted and Chelsea shook her head, before she could say anything else they heard Marie clear her throat and turned around seeing Marie leaning against a tree. "You're not going to kiss me again, are you?"
"Nope, no lip locking this time, that is unless you came for more." Marie responded with a grin and Chloe glared at her. "I'll take that as a no, besides I have someone back here who wants to see you Chloe."
"I'll pass, I don't know if you noticed but there's an Orichalcos Duel going on." Chloe responded as she started to walk off with Chelsea.
"Yeah, I noticed, who is it that's dueling again? Amelia?" Marie asked and Chloe turned to her. "Come on, a second-year Obelisk Blue Student? If anyone can handle herself, it's her! Besides, what if I told you that the person who wants to see you is your old friend Jared?" Marie asked and Chloe glanced into the clearing, sure enough Jared was standing their duel disk at the ready.
"Chelsea, you go on ahead." Chloe told her roommate as she turned to her. "Tell the others that something came up."
"Are you sure?" Chelsea asked and Chloe nodded. "Okay but I come back to see you having a three-way with Jared and Marie I won't be happy!" Chelsea added before walking off.
*back at the duel*
Amelia braced herself as the Orichalcos swept the field just as the other students aside from Chloe and Chelsea entered the clearing, the Orichalcos symbol quickly appeared on Mia's forehead and she grinned sadistically.
"Good, I may not have been able to use this against your friend but you will more than make up for that fact!" Mia said before she picked up another card. "I set one card facedown." Mia announced as the facedown card appeared on the field. "And that ends my turn." Mia announced and Amelia frowned before drawing her card.
"No monsters on her first turn and just a trap card? That tells me one of two things, she has no monsters or that facedown card's going to protect her." Amelia thought as she looked over her hand. "And if she doesn't summon anything I'd be wondering how she beat Caitlin in the first place! Anyway, she played her field spell and, well, two can play at that game." Amelia thought before playing a card. "I summon Barbarian Hero – Thuddal the Ruthless!" Amelia played the card and the tall, muscular Barbarian appeared on the field (4/2000/1000). "And since I summoned him with no monsters on my side of the field I can activate his effect allowing me to search for Barbarian Village in exchange for cutting his attack points in half!"
"Do you really think that'll help you?" Mia asked mockingly as Thuddal's attack dropped to one thousand and Amelia started inputting commands into her duel disk. "That monster was formidable before you cut its attack points in half but now?"
"It's true that Thuddal isn't as strong as he could be." Amelia responded as she added the card to her hand and her deck auto-shuffled. "But one thousand attack points is nothing to sneeze at when you have nothing to protect you! Thuddal, attack her life-points directly!" Amelia commanded and the Barbarian charged into battle…
"That's where your wrong." Mia said as she played a card. "I summon Battle Fader from my hand to negate the attack and end the battle phase!" Mia played the card and the small clock like fiend appeared on the field (1/0/0) and just after its attack points went up to five hundred thanks to the seal Thuddal stopped in his tracks.
"I should've guessed that she had that thing in her hand, no matter, even with the boost my Barbarians can crush it easily." Amelia thought before playing a card. "First I activate Barbarian Village!" Amelia played the card….and quickly regretted it as when it appeared within the seal it looked like it had just been invaded and the inhabitants wiped out or worse. "What happened to the village?"
"I2's new rules may make it so that two Field Spells can exist on the field at the same time but when the seal's active it effects field spells like your village." Mia responded with a grin and Amelia's eyes narrowed. "Relax, it doesn't affect the actual card effects but Sogen would turn into a desolate wasteland, Forrest would have all its trees cut down, Umi and Umirika would have dried up…."
"I get the idea." Amelia responded before picking up two cards. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Amelia announced and Mia drew her card.
"And I start my turn with a Spell Card of my own, Allure of Darkness!" Mia played the card and quickly drew her three cards before banishing one.
"And I'll do the same! I activate my Trap Card Sued for Peace!" Amelia activated the trap which depicted an army which resembled the Roman Army at it's peak being paid by a Barbarian. "Since you just drew three cards I get to do the same." Amelia added before drawing three cards…...and noticing the grin on Mia's face. "What are you so happy about!?"
"You just played into my hand, that's what! I activate my Trap Card Psychic Shockwave!" Mia activated her card and Amelia's eyes widened when she heard that name. "Enjoy your Trap Cards whilst they last because by discarding a Spell/Trap Card in my hand I can Special Summon Jinzo from my deck!" Mia added as the card ejected from her deck and she played it causing the massive android to appear on the field (6/2400/1000).
"A Jinzo Deck, lovely." Amelia grumbled under her breath as she sent Sued for Peace to the graveyard and her remaining facedown card turned inert. "Especially since my other facedown card is Warcry, at least things can't get any worse."
"But why settle for one Jinzo when I can summon two?" Mia asked before picking up Battle Fader. "I sacrifice Battle Fader to summon the Jinzo I already had in my hand!" Mia played the card and the fiend disappeared from the field only to be replaced by a second android. "I won't waste any time here, first they get their bonus from the Orichalcos!" Mia added as the two Jinzos attacks rose to 2900. "And now they are going on the attack! Jinzo number one, attack Thuddal!" Mia commanded and the android summoned via her trap card launched its black ball of energy disintegrating the Barbarian and sending Amelia's life-points down to 6100. "And if you think that was bad? Get a load of this! Jinzo number two, attack her life-points!" Mia commanded and the second android launched its attack sending Amelia's life-points down to 3200. "Don't feel too bad, if anything your dumbass friend was even worse off."
"What did you say?!" Amelia demanded as she got back to her feet.
"She summoned Elemental Hero – Bubbleman on her first turn so she could use his effect then used Prohibition to prevent me from using the Orichalcos." Mia explained not noticing the rage on Amelia's face. "That was the only good move she made, she used A Hero Lives after I destroyed Bubbleman with Armageddon Knight which allowed me to use Psychic Shockwave, the result was inevitable after I sacrificed my knight to summon my second Jinzo and if this duel is any indication you'll be defeated as well."
"Let me make one thing clear." Amelia said as her eyes narrowed. "Is Caitlin a little naïve at times? Yeah, she is, but the fact that she was smart enough to use Prohibition to keep the Orichalcos off the field should tell you everything you need to know."
"She got a lucky draw so I decided to turn her luck upside down by turning off the safeties." Mia responded and Amelia glared at her. "I wouldn't exactly call that smart! No wonder she's in Osiris Red!"
"She's in Osiris Red because she was a rookie when she came to the Academy." Amelia said as her eyes narrowed. "She improved gradually but not enough for the school to consider her for Ra Yellow, a fact that really ate her up inside."
"Well I suppose it's better than her anorexia eating her up." Mia shrugged and Amelia clenched her fist. "Did I touch a nerve?"
"I don't know how you know about her past issues with anorexia and quite frankly, I don't care." Amelia said as she glared at Mia. "But make fun of her past health issues again and I'll skip the duel and beat you to death with my duel disk! Now end your turn!" Amelia warned her and Mia gulped before looking at her hand.
"I end my turn but you may as well surrender." Mia said confidently as she folded her arms. "I have not one but two Jinzos on my side of the field and your trap cards your soul is as good as mine."
"Traps may be useful but there's more than one way to defeat monsters." Amelia responded before drawing her card.
"Things are looking pretty bad aren't they." Lance commented as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"She'll pull through, you guys never saw the full power of her Barbarian deck during the tournament." Daniel responded before doing a quick headcount. "Hey Chelsea, where's Chloe? I thought Brandon said that she was with you?"
"She was but something came up." Chelsea responded as she folded her arms. "She didn't want to go into detail so I left it at that." Chelsea responded before turning her attention back to the duel. "I hope you know what you're doing Chloe, I don't like lying to my friends at a time like this." Chelsea thought before getting an idea. "Hey Wattchimira."
"Yes Chelsea?" Chelsea's duel spirit partner asked as he appeared alongside her.
"Do you know what Chloe's up too? I mean you guys have been able to detect when an Orichalcos Duel is taking place in the past." Chelsea responded and Wattchimira nodded.
"I do not know the details but I know that she is dueling that Jared Malloy boy that Drew mentioned last night." Wattchimira responded and Chelsea grinned in response. "I will say that the duel is a lot more even than this one."
"That's not saying much but thanks." Chelsea responded before glancing over at the other duelists with Spirit Partners. "If Wattchimira knows that Chloe's in a duel then they probably know as well, at least I won't have to lie once the others leave."
"At the start of my turn I reveal one Barbarian Hero in my hand to keep my village, or what remains of it, on the field." Amelia announced before briefly turning around one of her monsters. "Next I activate Reinforcement of the Army!"
"Yes and pretty much everyone knows what that card does." Mia responded as Amelia started inputting commands into her duel disk. "My monsters, that card, doesn't matter how many new cards have come out in Maximillian's or his daughter Sophia's times, these cards will always be staples."
"If that's your idea of history than color this History Buff unimpressed!" Amelia responded whilst pointing to her chest to indicate who she was talking about. "You are right about Reinforcement but I'm pretty sure that that was a Warrior Deck staple during Yugi's time! But Jinzo? That card only got popular again after Alex used that during Battle City but even then, they showed limited play at best in the pro league despite Sophia's attempts to change that."
"Point taken." Mia responded as Amelia retrieved her card. "Even so, it doesn't matter what card you retrieve using that Spell Card, your days are numbered!"
"You know, it's funny, one of the first things I taught Caitlin after I took her under my wing was to not tempt fate." Amelia chuckled before picking up the monster she had just retrieved. "Something that you are doing right now! I set one monster in defense mode and end my turn!" Amelia announced and Mia grinned before drawing her card.
"Is that all? Oh, right, I forgot." Mia responded as she glanced up at her two androids. "You can't do a lot!" Mia added before looking at her drawn card. "Perfect!" Mia thought before playing the card. "This Spell Card on the other hand? Well it'll take the advantage I've already got and turn it up tenfold! I activate the Equip Spell Card Amplifier and I equip it to my first Jinzo!"
"So, you can use Trap Cards now." Amelia responded as the helmet appeared on the first android's head and beads of sweat started pouring down her head. "Well, at least that Spell Card's side effect will make it easier to destroy it once I draw the right card!"
"Exactly! I never got to use this card on that brat but who knows? Maybe the news of her mentor's crushing defeat at my hands will have her come looking for me and we'll go at it for another round?" Mia asked rhetorically before pointing at Amelia's facedown card. "It's not like the result will be any different! Jinzo, attack her facedown monster!" Mia commanded and the android launched it's attack at Amelia's monster, revealing it to be an old man in Barbarian Garb (1/0/0), which was quickly consumed by the ball. "Well, this will be easier than I thought, Jinzo, attack…" Mia trailed off as the smoke cleared revealing that the old man had survived the attack. "What's going on?!"
"This monster is Barbarian Hero – Grigor the Elder." Amelia explained with a grin as she folded her arms. "Go ahead, attack him as many times as you want, it won't do a thing! If Barbarian Village is on the field, he can't be destroyed by battle!"
"You realize how screwed you are if I draw Big Bang Shot, right?" Mia asked and Amelia nodded in response. "Suit yourself, I end my turn." Mia announced and Amelia drew her card.
"First I reveal a monster in my hand to keep the village in play." Amelia said before briefly turning around a monster in her hand, she then looked at the card she had drawn and picked it up. "I set one Spell Card facedown and end my turn."
"Is that all?" Mia asked as she drew her card. "And you made the rookie mistake of revealing what you've set! How did you get into Obelisk Blue again?"
"Two years' worth of hard work rising from the ranks of Osiris Red, that's how!" Amelia responded as her eyes narrowed. "And besides, there's no point in pretending that I can use Trap Cards when you have Jinzo on the field!"
"True enough, I guess." Mia admitted before looking at her drawn card. "Unfortunately for you, this duel is about to end! I equip my Jinzo with Big Bang Shot!" Mia played the card and the others eyes widened as the android's attack shot up to 3400, Amelia on the other hand was oddly calm. "Jinzo, finish her off!" Mia commanded and the android prepared its attack….
"I activate my facedown card! Defense of the Elder!" Amelia's facedown Spell Card flipped up revealing a scene depicting several Barbarians surrounding Grigor in a defensive formation. "Since you just attacked Grigor this Spell Card will allow me to destroy one Spell Card and one monster you control so I chose the unequipped Jinzo and Big Bang Shot!"
"Wait, what?!" Mia yelled out as the old man stood up and the ghostly forms of several Barbarians appeared alongside him, they all charged into battle with the ghostly Barbarians destroying the second Jinzo and Grigor himself destroying the first. "It doesn't matter, I'll still defeat you!"
"Maybe, maybe not but I just destroyed two of your best monsters and since one of them was destroyed via Big Bang Shot's side effect it gets banished." Amelia pointed out with a grin on her face. "And unless you run D.D.R – Different Dimension Reincarnation in your deck then you are screwed but at least you haven't used up your Normal Summon." Amelia added as Mia started to sweat. "Or can you?"
"I can't, Battle Fader was the only monster in my hand that I could summon." Mia grumbled under her breath before picking up another card. "But there is one thing I can do! I set one card facedown and end my turn!" Mia set the card down and Amelia breathed a sigh of relief before drawing her card.
"First I reveal a monster in my hand to keep my Field Spell in play." Amelia announced as she turned the card around. "And now you're in trouble! I summon Marauding Captain!" Amelia announced as the brunette captain appeared on the field (3/1200/400). "And I use my Captain's effect to Special Summon Barbarian Hero – Jothal the Bloodthirsty!" Amelia played the card and the short and muscular barbarian appeared on the field (2/500/1000). "And since he was summoned via Marauding Captain's effect his level goes up by one."
"You really think that an XYZ Summon scares me?" Mia scoffed as Jothal's level went up to three. "I mean come on! No Barbarian can compete with my androids!"
"I don't know, my Barbarians have made a pretty decent job of it so far!" Amelia responded with a grin before pointing to Grigor. "Besides, Grigor isn't just a stall card because he serves another purpose!"
"What are you talking about?" Mia asked before it hit her. "The old man's a Tuner Monster!"
"Exactly and I tune him with Marauding Captain and Jothal the Bloodthirsty!" Amelia announced as the three warriors leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon with Grigor leading the charge. "I never got to use this card during the tournament but you are about to meet my strongest monster! Barbarian Warlord – Krelperfaukr the Mighty!" Amelia played the card and a new monster appeared on the field once the bright flash faded, it was a tall and muscular barbarian with long, wild blood red hair, a matching beard and blue eyes carrying a massive axe (7/2800/2100).
"How the hell do you pronounce that monster's name?!" Mia asked with a confused look on her face and Amelia sweat-dropped.
"Look, even if I tell you I get the feeling that you'll be there all day trying to pronounce his name so let's just call him Krel." Amelia responded and Mia nodded. "Besides, you have bigger problems, Krel, attack her life-points!" Amelia commanded and the Barbarian charged into battle before slashing Mia down the middle and bringing her life-points down to 5200. "And since he just inflicted damage I can activate his effect allowing me to add one Spell/Trap Card to my hand." Amelia added as she started inputting commands into her duel disk.
"Two can play at that game! Activate Trap Card Damage Condenser!" Mia's trap card flipped up and Amelia's eyes widened in response. "I bet your expecting me to summon my last Jinzo, right? Wrong! I summon Jinzo Returner!" Mia played the card and a much smaller version of the infamous android appeared on the field (3/600/1400) and Amelia gave her an odd luck as the monster's attack rose to 1100 thanks to the seal.
"Suit yourself." Amelia responded as she retrieved the card that she was looking for. "I move to my second main phase and set one card facedown." Amelia set the card down and nodded to Mia. "And end my turn." Amelia announced and Mia drew her card. "But I do have a few questions."
"Like why did I summon him instead of another Jinzo? I have my reasons." Mia responded before pointing to the android. "For one thing, Jinzo Returner can bypass your monster and attack you directly!" Mia added as the small android ran past Amelia's barbarian and punched her in the face bringing her life-points down to 2100. "Just two more attacks and I'll have this duel won."
"Your dreaming if you think that, for even a second, I'm about to let you keep that thing on the field long enough for me to be defeated by it!" Amelia growled as she got back up to her feet. "End your turn already!"
"Suit yourself, I set one card facedown and end my turn." Mia announced and Amelia drew her card. "I don't even need my last Jinzo to beat her and my facedown Mirror Force will make sure off it!"
"First I reveal a monster to keep my village in play!" Amelia said before turning the monster around. "And now I summon him, welcome back to the field Thuddal!" Amelia played the card and Thuddal returned to the field. "Krel, attack her Jinzo Returner!" Amelia commanded and the barbarian charged into battle…
"Nice try but not good enough! I activate Mirror Force!" Mia announced as her facedown card flipped up. "Now your Barbarian's destroyed and I'm free to attack you directly with whatever monster I summon!"
"Or you would if I didn't anticipate it!" Amelia responded as her facedown card flipped up. "I activate Trap Jammer to negate it!" Amelia responded and Mia's eyes widened as electricity sparked over Mirror Force's hologram destroying it, Jinzo Returner quickly joined it as Krel cut him down the middle bringing Mia's life-points down to 3500. "Won't be long before I avenge Caitlin's defeat! Thuddal, attack her…..."
"You won't be doing any avenging period! By destroying Jinzo Returner you've activated his effect!" Mia responded as she held up her monster. "When Jinzo Returner is sent to the graveyard I can Special Summon one Jinzo monster in my graveyard!" Mia played the card and sure enough Jinzo returned to the field. "He'll be destroyed during my end phase but he still has enough attack points to hold off your Barbarians!"
"You'll run out of ways to keep yourself in the duel eventually." Amelia responded before looking at her hand. "I end my turn which means Jinzo returns to your graveyard." Amelia added as the monster vanished from the field. "Hopefully for good." Amelia muttered as Mia drew her card.
"We'll see about that." Mia responded before looking at her drawn card. "I activate Spellbook inside the Pot…"
"Sorry but as much as I like the idea of drawing three cards I don't like the possibility of you drawing a way to bring back Jinzo." Amelia responded as her facedown card flipped up. "I activate Warcry to negate Spellbook inside the Pot's effect and destroy it!"
"But…. but that was the only card I could play…." Mia stammered as her eyes widened and Amelia grinned.
"I take it that your passing your turn then?" Amelia asked and Mia nodded reluctantly as Amelia drew her card. "No point in keeping the village in play, I was getting sick of seeing it this way anyway." Amelia commented as the village disappeared from the field. "This is for Caitlin! Thuddal, Krel, attack her life-points directly and end this duel." Amelia commanded and the two Barbarians charged into battle before slashing Mia with their swords bringing her life-points down to zero.
"That was way to close." Daniel commented as he walked up to his girlfriend who grinned at him as the seal closed in around Mia. "You feeling okay?"
"More than a little sore from all the attacks I took but considering the alternative…." Amelia trailed off as Mia's blood curdling scream rang out behind them indicating that her soul had been taken. "I'll take it." Amelia added before turning to the others. "And to think, all this time I was thinking that you guys where making look worse than it was on TV."
"Believe me, we couldn't make that stuff up if we tried." Lance responded before grinning. "Even so, I think Caitlin would love to know that you avenged her defeat, don't you?"
"Agreed, let's go Dan." Amelia nodded before leading Dan off. "Oh, that reminds me." Amelia said before turning to the others. "Caitlin wants to help you guys defeat the Orichalcos and we're going to help her do it."
"Are you sure?" Theresa asked and Amelia nodded. "Well, we can use all the help we can get so you three are welcome to join us." Theresa added and Amelia grinned before walking off with her boyfriend, Louella and Louella left as well leaving the others as Theresa turned to Chelsea. "Okay Chelsea, where has Chloe been all this time?"
"Well, I wasn't lying when I said that something came up." Chelsea responded as she folded her arms. "We were on our way up when we ran into Marie who said that Jared was here to see her and yeah, it's the same Jared you guys met in Battle City." Chelsea added before sighing. "When I asked Wattchimira to tell me what she was up too he said that Chloe was in a duel against Jared and at that time it was a lot more even than Amelia's duel against Mia, it could still be going on for all we know."
"I don't know what Marie's up too but I guess we'd better head down there." Lance nodded in response. "Lead the way Chelsea." Lance added before the teens walked off.