It was well past midnight at this point and for the most part pretty much every student on Duel Academy Island was asleep, except for a few students.
"Ugh, I can't get any sleep!" Chloe groaned as she turned in her bed having spent the last three hours trying to get some sleep, to no avail, her roommate Chelsea wasn't having much luck in that department either as the Chicago native was sitting at her Desktop PC playing Rome Total War II with the headphones on to avoid alerting the security staff. "This had better not be a dream duel! I think we've had enough of those to last a life-time."
"I think we would've fallen asleep by now if it was a dream duel." Chelsea responded as she turned to her roommate. "For one thing, we've been up for three hours, on the nights where we've had dream duels it was usually an hour and a half before we dozed off."
"At least you have the excuse of playing your game." Chloe responded as she swung her legs over and hopped out of bed. "But me? I was in bed before the nightly dorm check, I am not looking forward to explaining to Jessica and Cameron why we're so tired tomorrow."
"Hell, I'm just glad that we don't have any classes until the early afternoon because of the Semi-Finals." Chelsea responded with a grin before quitting her game. "Even so, we should try to get some sleep, worst case scenario we can have a power nap whilst Lance and Evan duel, and hopefully eliminate, Cameron and Jessica."
"You mean in the stands or are we going to find somewhere private so we can sleep together?" Chloe asked only to blush furiously whilst Chelsea tried her best not to laugh out of fear of alerting the security staff. "I know I've been developing feelings for girls and boys recently but good grief, I'm glad that there weren't any boys around to hear that!"
"You don't hear me complaining!" Chelsea responded with a grin before the lesbian let out a yawn. "Seriously though, when I said power nap I meant in here, you know have a sleep in? No sex involved, I promise." Chelsea reassured her roommate before she realized that her duel disk was glowing. "What the?!" Chelsea wondering out loud before going over and grabbing her duel disk and Chloe glanced over at hers confirming that it was glowing as well.
"Please tell me that we're not being dragged over to the Abandoned Dorm again?" Chloe asked as she picked up her duel disk and looked at it. "I've already been through one expulsion duel and I'm in no hurry to go through…" Chloe never got a chance to finish her sentence as the two girls' duel disks dragged them out of the dorm room and the dorm itself. "Seriously Silent Magician, at least give me a chance to get changed out of my nightgown and into my street clothes next time!"
"Sorry Chloe but this is an emergency." Silent Magician apologized as the two girls were dragged towards the Main Building. "I'll explain once we're outside the Obelisk Blue Duel Field."
"At least we're not being dragged to the Abandoned Dorm again, wait, is Wattchimera filling in Chelsea?" Chloe asked as she spotted Lance, Marcus, Brandon and Andreas being dragged out of the Obelisk Blue Boy's dorm by their duel disks, glancing around she could see Nicola coming from the direction of the Osiris Red dorms and Theresa coming up behind them.
"Indeed, as are the other students with duel spirits, yes, even Tyler, we will explain this in due time." Silent Magician responded as the students were dragged up the stairs.
*earlier*
"Okay Misty, I know you dropped out of Osiris Red when you were a student here." Martin commented as he activated his duel disk and drew his cards and Misty did likewise. "But don't think for a second that I'm going easy on you."
"I wouldn't expect you too, just because I dropped out doesn't mean I haven't been dueling on my off hours." Misty responded with a grin as she looked over her hand. "Granted being a dropout pretty much meant that I had no chance in hell of competing in the pro-league but still!"
"True but we'll see how well your deck compares to mine." Martin responded before looking over his hand. "I start my turn by summoning Magician's Rod in attack mode!" Martin played the card and a floating green staff appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1600/100).
"You're not using your Sylvan deck sir?" Misty asked with a confused look on her face and Martin shook his head.
"I used that deck against Cunningham to test to see if she was truly ready for Ra Yellow and in the Pendulum Summoning demonstration to show how powerful those cards could be." Martin responded as he started inputting commands into his duel disk. "I decided to go with something a little less complex for this duel but don't think that this deck is weak by any means, for example, when Magician's Rod is normal summoned to my side of the field I can search my deck for one Spell/Trap Card with Dark Magician in its name." Martin explained before grabbing the card and adding it to his hand. "I chose Dark Magic Circle!"
"Can't say I was expecting someone who works for Kaiba to use a Dark Magician deck either." Misty commented as Martin's deck auto-shuffled.
"I will admit that it is somewhat unusual but if Kaiba fired staff just based on what deck they used he wouldn't have any staff to run the academy." Martin responded before playing a card. "Back on topic. I activate Dark Magic Circle! This Continuous Spell Card has two effects but there's only one you have to worry about for now, I get to look at the top three cards on my deck and add one Dark Magician card to my hand, the others get returned to my deck in any order I wish."
"So much for a lack of complexity." Misty commented as a sweat-drop rolled down her head and Martin picked up the three cards.
"Yes well, you're not the only one to comment on my complexity addiction." Martin admitted before picking up a card. "But for the sake of keeping things simple I will add Dark Magician to my hand." Martin said before doing just that and rearranging the order of the other cards. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Martin announced and Misty drew her card.
"Okay, my old deck might be a bit outdated by today's standards but it's still good!" Misty thought as she looked over her hand which was full of cards that hadn't seen action in quite some time on the pro-league. "Then again when I dropped out of this school it was a year after Jaden's class graduated." Misty thought before playing a card. "I summon Neo, The Magic Swordsman!" Misty played the card and the blonde haired magical warrior appeared on the field (4/1700/1000). "He may be an old card but he's still stronger than Magician's Rod! Neo, attack his monster!" Misty commanded and Neo charged into battle…
"Neo is an old card but he's still a Spellcaster, a fact that allows me to activate my Magician's Circle Trap Card!" Martin announced as the facedown card flipped up. "I know you use this in your deck so there's no point in explaining the effect."
"You'd be right there." Misty commented before picking up her deck and searching through it as she was still using an older model of the duel disk that lacked the auto-shuffle feature. "Okay, no big deal, I'll just summon The Tricky using Magician's Circle's effect and…" Misty trailed off before her eyes landed on the card she had added to her deck on the way over. "What the hell?!"
"Is something wrong Misty?" Martin asked with a raised eyebrow and Misty shook her head.
"No, no, everything's fine!" Misty responded before glancing back at her card. "The Seal of the Orichalcos?! How the hell did that get into my deck?! I'd better hope that I never draw it!" Misty thought before picking up the card she was looking for and shuffling her deck. "I use Magician's Circle's effect to summon The Tricky!" Misty announced as the mysterious Spellcaster appeared on the field (5/2000/1200).
"Good choice but we'll see how he stacks up compared to this monster." Martin responded before playing the card and a female Spellcaster appeared on the field that was very familiar to Misty. "The Dark Magician Girl!" Martin announced as Dark Magician Girl gave her opponent a playful wink (6/2000/1700).
"I'd be worried if you had any Dark Magicians in your graveyard but as it stands…" Misty never finished her sentence as Dark Magical Circle glowed briefly before The Tricky vanished from the field. "What?!"
"When a Dark Magician monster is Special Summoned to my side of the field the other effect of Dark Magical Circle activates allowing me to banish one card on your side of the field." Martin explained and Misty frowned before pocketing her monster. "It's still your turn."
"And I'm going to finish what I stated, Neo, attack Magician's Rod!" Misty commanded and the swordsman cut the rod in half bringing Martin's life-points down to 7900. "That's first blood to me!"
"Perhaps but it's not how you start, it's how you finish." Martin explained as he sent his monster to the graveyard.
"And I intend to finish on top!" Misty responded before face-palming. "And I'm suddenly glad that there aren't any students awake at this hour."
"Martin!" Just as Misty said that the students that were awake at this hour entered the Obelisk Blue duel arena with Chloe leading the charge. "Look, I know you probably have a few questions of your own right now…."
"Yes, such as, why are you awake at this hour? Why are you running around the island in your nightwear at night? And what are you doing here?" Martin asked and large sweat-drops rolled down the students' heads.
"Look it's a long story but we just have a couple of questions." Chelsea chimed in before glancing at Misty. "Has she been acting strangely since the duel began?"
"Well, we literally only just started but now that you mention it she did hesitate when she was searching through her deck." Martin responded as he glanced over at Misty. "I just assumed that she was trying to decide her move."
"If only that was the whole truth." Misty thought before glancing at her deck briefly and then to the students. "I think her other question was whether they could watch our duel." Misty added and when Chelsea nodded to confirm Martin frowned.
"On one hand, they are in clear violation of curfew and most of them do have classes tomorrow, not to mention four of them are competing in the tournament matches." Martin thought as he looked over the students. "On the other hand, they do seem quite concerned about something and since they have been key in keeping Orichalcos casualties to a minimum I am inclined to trust them." Martin thought before nodding. "Go up to the stands and take your seats but don't get used to this, I am only making this exception once and if this was any other time I'd order you all to return to your dorms and the med bay in Tyler's case, do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal." Chloe nodded in responded before the students made their way into the stands. "Silent Magician, are you sure about this? Misty's one of the nicest members of staff on the island and nothing seems off so far."
"I'm sure and I confirmed it with the other duel spirits." Silent Magician responded as Chloe sat next to Lance whilst Chelsea sat on the other side of her.
"As I was saying, I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Misty announced as the two cards appeared on the field and Martin drew his card.
"Well, things certainly got odd suddenly but no matter." Martin thought before looking over his hand. "She has a slight lead right now but I have the tools I need to turn that around." Martin thought before playing a card. "I set one card facedown, now Dark Magician Girl, attack Neo the Magic Swordsman!" Martin commanded and the female Spellcaster pointed her staff at the blonde swordsman.
"First Nathan and now Martin, why is it that it seems like I'm the only Spellcaster user at the school who doesn't have their own copy of the Dark Magician cards?" Chloe thought as Misty's facedown card flipped up. "Then again, I did get my own copies of those cards during Battle City but I don't have them anymore no thanks to Otto! At least that asshole got expelled."
"Sorry Martin but you'll have to try harder!" Misty's voice rang out breaking Chloe's train of thought and she looked up seeing that Misty had negated Martin's attack using the tried and true Negate Attack trap card. "You may have some new tricks up your sleeve but as I just demonstrated the old tricks work just as well!"
"Indeed, they do." Martin nodded in agreement before looking over his hand. "I end my turn." Martin announced and Misty drew her card.
"Okay, now I know for certain that someone's tampered with my deck." Misty thought with a frown as she looked at the Spell Card she had just drawn. "Terra-Forming is a useful card but before the Seal of the Orichalcos showed up in my deck I never ran any Field Spells, I don't know where this card came from either." Misty thought before adding it to her hand. "I switch Neo to defense mode and set one card in defense mode as well." Misty announced as her swordsman crouched down and a facedown monster appeared next to him. "That ends my turn."
"As you wish." Martin responded before drawing his card. "Perfect!" Martin thought before playing the card. "I activate Summoner's Art! With this Spell Card, I can add one Level Seven or higher Normal Type Monster to my hand." Martin announced before he inputted the commands and retrieved the monster.
"To bad you can't summon it, I may have dropped out of the school a while ago but I still remember the basics, like needing two monsters on your side of the field to normal summon a Level 7 or higher monster." Misty responded with a grin as she folded her arms. "And the only monster you've got is Dark Magician Girl!"
"True but the game has advanced quite a bit since you dropped out." Martin responded as his facedown card flipped up. "I activate Magician's Navigation! With this I can Special Summon One Dark Magician from my hand alongside another from my deck!"
"SAY WHAT?!" Chloe yelled out from the sidelines as the two magicians appeared on the field ready for battle (7/2500/2100) and Chloe buried her face in her hands. "Why is it that all the cool Dark Magician support cards came out after my copies were destroyed?!" Chloe moaned and Lance patted her on the back.
"Now you know how I feel whenever my deck gets randomly hit by a ban-list!" Lance commented only to get a death glare from his girlfriend. "Right, not helping!"
"Lance, I think you'd better drop that sentence before you wake up with your balls shoved down your throat and your dick…well, you don't want to know." Chelsea commented only to get odd looks from both the students and the two adults. "What? I'm a horror fan! I can't help it if I have a fucked-up imagination!"
"Note to self, strongly recommend that Cunningham starts weekly sessions with the psychologists if she wants a chance in hell of being promoted to Obelisk Blue." Martin thought as a large sweat-drop rolled down his head. "I mean seriously, I served in the army and that's still one of the most disturbing thing's I've heard!" Martin thought before turning to Misty. "Quickly changing the subject, since I Special Summoned my Dark Magicians the effect of Dark Magical Circle activates, I will use it to banish Neo and your facedown monster."
"This is going to hurt in the morning." Misty sighed to herself as the two monsters vanished from the field.
"Be glad that I don't have another monster I can summon, otherwise this would be a One Turn Kill." Martin responded before pointing to his magicians. "Dark Magicians, Dark Magician Girl, attack her life-points directly!" Martin commanded and the three magicians launched their attacks bringing Misty's life-points down to 1000. "Most duelists n your position would use this opportunity to surrender."
"I surrendered once when I was forced to drop out due to bullying." Misty responded with a frown on her face. "Not again! I activate my Trap Card Shock Draw, now I draw an additional seven cards!" Misty added before drawing her cards, however when she saw one of them all color drained from her face. "The Seal of the Orichalcos, now I'm really in trouble!"
"Misty, is something wrong?" Martin asked only to be caught off guard when Misty surrendered the duel on the spot. "Misty?"
"Look, before I show you this I have to say this, I have never seen this card before, I don't know how it got in my deck and after I saw the damage it did to the students during Battle City I would never dream of using it." Misty said as she approached her boss and held up the Field Spell, to say that Martin was caught off guard was an understatement. "If you want to fire me on the spot, go ahead, I won't blame you! But I swear to god I would never add this card to my deck!"
"Is this why you rushed over despite the curfew?" Martin asked as he turned to the students who nodded in agreement. "Any theories?"
"Just one and it's a longshot." Theresa responded as she stepped forward. "Remember the expulsion duels? Last night before I went to bed I got a call from Adriene Beaumont and Amanda Cortreau over Skype, they told me that they had just been in an Orichalcos Duel themselves but their opponents made repeated rookie mistakes and once the duel was over they ended up being mind controlled civilians."
"I believe I saw something about that on the news this morning now that you mention it." Martin responded with a nod before turning to Misty. "Look, I'm not going to fire you, you never played the Seal and as far as the security cameras are concerned you surrendered because of the overwhelming odds of my strategy, something that I'm sure the students will back me up on."
"Yeah, definitely." Chloe nodded in agreement as did the others and Misty grinned.
"That said I will need to investigate this." Martin responded as he turned to Misty. "When you come by my office tomorrow I want you to tell me and the leader of the Disciplinary Action Squad everything you know."
"Off course." Misty nodded in response before realizing something. "What about the tournament duels?"
"I'll get one of the other teachers to officiate the duels for me, Hamden helped come up with the rules so he seems like the most likely candidate." Martin added and Misty nodded in response. "Now, how are you getting back to your dorms?" Martin asked as he turned to the students.
"Chloe, I've got you and the others covered with the Spell I used to transport you from the Abandoned Dorm to your old dorm, just say the word." Silent Magician assured her and Chloe nodded.
"We'll find our own way back." Chloe responded with a grin. "Hell, at least the fact that me and Chelsea are competing in the second match tomorrow means that me and Chelsea can have a lie in."
"Speak for yourself." Lance moaned as he ran a hand down his face. "I'll be way too tired to compete tomorrow morning and since I'm up against Cameron and Jessica…."
"I'll delay the matches until the early afternoon." Martin responded earning surprised looks from the students. "I want the remaining teams in the tournament to be at their best for the matches tomorrow and lie in or no lie in you girls will need as much rest as possible, it's a good thing that classes aren't starting until after the tournament matches."
"Thanks Martin." Chloe sighed in relief as did Lance. "How will you explain that to the other students?"
"I'll tell them that we delayed the duels so that we could put extra precautions in against turning off the safeties on your duel disks." Martin said and Chloe frowned knowing exactly what he meant. "Given the past between Chloe and Chelsea and Cameron and Jessica it's a wise precaution."
"I understand, doesn't mean that I'm all that thrilled about being reminded about my past mistakes." Chloe responded as she rubbed her arm nervously and Martin nodded before the two adults left the duel arena. "Okay Silent Magician, whenever you're ready." Chloe whispered unsure if Martin and Misty were still within earshot.
"I'm preparing the spell now, I'm relieved that this ended up being a false alarm but we need to stay vigilant." Silent Magician said as a bright flash enveloped the teens. "We cannot risk more students falling victim to the Orichalcos!" Silent Magician added and in a flash the students were returned to where they had been before the duel.
*meanwhile*
"Well, that was a bust." Jack grunted in annoyance as he watched the duel on his laptop whilst the Speedboat took him to the mainland. "Boss, the attempt to take Martin's soul failed, I didn't account for his secretary having a conscience."
"Yes, I saw, return to base immediately." Victor responded as his face appeared on the screen. "We will make one last dream duel attempt and then cease operations on Duel Academy island, we have gone through enough agents to start a new Battle City branch in two weeks."
"Yeah, I hear you." Jack grunted before getting an idea. "Maybe we need a stronger dose of that mind control drug, Misty still had some semblance of free will hence why she surrendered the moment she drew the Orichalcos…..."
"That is absolutely out of the question." Dr. Schwartz's voice rang out and the German scientist appeared on the screen. "Yes, it would make them more susceptible to mind control but a stronger dose would reduce them to nothing more than a mindless zombie, only following the commands of another and not much else."
"And that's not getting into what it would mean if said mind control victim fell victim to the Orichalcos." Victor added with a frown on his face. "I know you dropped out of high school so I'll make this simple, if the mind and soul are intact when the seal closes in the body in unharmed but if the mind was tampered with in any way there wouldn't be a body left."
"Okay, okay, I got it, no need to patronize me!" Jack grunted before looking up and seeing the Domino City coastline approaching fast. "I'll be on the mainland in a couple of minutes' tops! Soon as I'm back in LA I'll call you!"
"Understood." Victor nodded in response before he and Dr. Schwartz hung up, however once he closed the laptop lid Jack had a wicked grin on his face.
"No mind of their own huh? Only obeys me huh? I can think of a certain sexy secetary that I'd love to use that on!" Jack thought as the speedboat sped off. "Besides, we're halfway across the world from the students! What's the worst that can happen?"