Morning had arrived on Duel Academy Island and unusually for a Monday Morning most students were having a lay in because classes weren't starting until the early afternoon due to the tournament Semi-Finals starting today and for one of the teams competing in the tournament that was no different.
"Man, am I glad Martin kept to his word." Chelsea said with a grin as she noticed her roommate Chloe getting out of bed and rubbing her tired eyes. "I don't think we would've been in any condition to duel if Martin hadn't done that."
"Yeah well, he's busy investigating how the Orichalcos got in Misty's deck in the first place so it's not all fun and games." Chloe responded with a yawn as she got out of bed and started brushing her long hair. "What time is it anyway?"
"Just gone past half ten, the website said that the duels are set to start around lunch time." Chelsea responded and Chloe grinned in response as she continued to brush her hair. "You ever considered cutting your hair shorter? I mean, I've never had elbow length hair but the fact that you spend at least five minutes brushing it every morning makes me glad that I have normal hair."
"This coming from the girl who has blue streaks in her hair?" Chloe deadpanned and Chelsea laughed nervously as a sweat-drop rolled down her head. "Hello Mrs. Kettle, Mister Pot has been waiting to tell you about how black you are!"
"Okay, okay, I admit you've got me there!" Chelsea responded as she put her hands up defensively as Chloe continued to brush her hair. "Seriously though, you'd look just as hot with shoulder length hair and it would be less of a hassle in the mornings, besides elbow length hair to hide the scar tissue on the back of your head seems a little excessive."
"Thanks for the reminder of why I like having my hair long in the first place." Chloe grunted in annoyance and Chelsea shook her head. "Besides, I've had my hair this long for so long that it would just feel weird wearing it any shorter, hell I've been considering letting it grow out a bit more."
"Chloe, if you grow your hair out any longer your nickname would change from "the girl with the Lord of the Rings deck" to "Duel Academy's Rapunzel"." Chelsea deadpanned as Chloe finished brushing her hair. "Also, why? Is it so Lance can have an even easier time pulling your hair during sex…..."
"NO!" Chloe said defensively as she blushed like a madwoman. "I guess I just like the look from my encounters with Miranda and Karen back in Battle City."
"And we're just going to ignore the fact that you apparently want to emulate an Orichalcos Duelist's look?" Chelsea deadpanned and Chloe said nothing as she went over to her closet and started picking out her outfit. "By the way, I got a text from Tyler, he and Caitlin have been dispatched from the nurse's office and are back in their respective dorms."
"That's good, Tyler looked like he was relieved to be out of the med bay when we saw him last night." Chloe responded before she started getting changed and after a few minutes she was now dressed in the tank-top she wore during the Battle City finals, blue jeans and black boots. "How do I look?"
"Hot as ever." Chelsea responded with a grin before motioning to the door. "Your blazer's exactly where you left it."
"Thanks." Chloe responded before she went over to the hanger on the door and put on her Ra Yellow blazer. "Hard to believe that we're almost at our first summer break already."
"I know, right? Feels just like yesterday that Maria introduced us when we were still Osiris Red students." Chelsea responded before realizing something. "And I just remembered that we're technically the only Osiris Red and Ra Yellow team left in the tournament, I know Lance was in Ra Yellow when the tournament started but he was paired with an Obelisk Blue student."
"Yeah, that's just what we need, more pressure on our shoulders." Chloe responded with a grin and Chelsea nodded in agreement. "Speaking of Lance, does it go without saying that we agree that we want Lance's team to win?"
"So that they'll eliminate Jessica and Cameron? As much as I want that we both know that's easier said than done thanks to the nasty XYZ Monsters in Cameron and Jessica's decks." Chelsea responded with a frown as she folded her arms. "And don't get me started on how much Ophion crippled your deck during the Battle Royal."
"Yeah, I know, I went through most of my deck with cards like Arcane Barrier and Spellbook inside the Pot just looking for a way to defeat that thing and all that did in the end was deck me out!" Chloe grunted in annoyance as she folded her arms. "Still, Lance was able to find a way to defeat that thing for good so if he can pull off a repeat performance his team should be fine."
"Yeah, except Jessica has that nasty Acid Golem lock which managed to eliminate Amelia and Caitlin in one turn." Chelsea responded with a frown before sighing. "We had better hope that Ethan has more new cards up his sleeve which can deal with that thing so we don't have too."
"And if not, we had better think of a way fast because our match is immediately after theirs." Chloe pointed out and Chelsea nodded in agreement, before either girl could say anything else there was a knock at the door. "We're decent!" Chloe called out and the door opened revealing their next-door neighbors. "Hey Gabrielle, Stacy, Chelsea didn't disturb you with her music again did she?"
"Not this time." Stacy responded with a grin. "We were just wondering; did you guys get a chance to chat with Rajin after the family visit day?"
"Err, no, we were too busy preparing for the Semi-Finals when we weren't dealing with the Orichalcos." Chelsea responded and the two girls nodded in understanding. "Why? Was he asking about us?"
"Yeah, whilst you guys were out with your relatives on Saturday Rajin came over and knocked on your door, when we asked him what he wanted he said that he wanted to talk to you." Gabrielle explained before the Italian girl frowned. "Here's the thing, we offered him a chance to talk to us instead since we had no idea what time you guys would be getting back but he refused saying that we wouldn't understand."
"You think it had something to do with our match against his team?" Chloe asked and Gabrielle shrugged her shoulders.
"If I could read minds I'd be in Obelisk Blue but that does seem likely, learning that your partner was planning to throw all the effort you had put into the tournament away would be a big blow to anyone's self-esteem." Gabrielle responded and Chloe nodded. "He should be over at the Ra Yellow Boy's Dorm, shouldn't take that long to talk with him and see what he wants."
"Right, and we'll hopefully get to the main building for my boyfriend's match once we're done chatting with Rajin." Chloe responded with a nod and her neighbors grinned. "Thanks for letting us know, you wouldn't happen to know what room he has in the boy's dorm would you?"
"I think it's room 129, I don't exactly spend much time over there for obvious reasons." Stacy responded before getting an idea. "Why don't you drop your boyfriend a text? He was in Ra Yellow, right?"
"Yeah, he was and that does sound like our best bet." Chloe responded with a nod and their neighbors left, Chelsea passed Chloe's phone to her and she quickly signed in. "What do you think Chelsea?"
"If I didn't know any better I'd say that Rajin was trying to get a date with either of us." Chelsea joked getting a laugh out of Chloe. "But even if I was straight and you weren't already taken, he's fifteen, your eighteen and I'm turning eighteen next week, I'm pretty sure that we're out of his age range."
"Yeah and besides, I don't think he's ever expressed an interest in getting a girlfriend, granted we haven't talked to him that much but still." Chloe responded before sending the text to Lance. "Hey Lance, quick question, do you remember what dorm room Rajin has assigned to him? Thanks, Chloe." Chloe read the text aloud once she sent it and set the phone aside. "Hopefully he isn't in the main building already."
"Yeah, the whole "no phones in the main building except for emergencies rule" is fucking stupid." Chelsea responded with a frown on her face before she sat down at her desktop. "Also, if he asks why say that Rajin wanted a chat about our match against him."
"Good idea." Chloe responded before getting a reply and checking it. "Stacy was right, Rajin's room number is 129 and he also said that you should be able to find it easily enough considering that you found him banging his head against a wall in the same hallway?" Chloe said before giving her roommate a confused look.
"Oh yeah, remember when Lance accidentally dedicated a Justin Bieber song to you?" Chelsea asked and Chloe nodded with a frown on her face. "Well, once we got the message about your Orchalcos Duel I volunteered to go get him, I found him banging his head against the wall within a couple of minutes."
"He's never going to live that down, is he?" Chloe joked with a grin and Chelsea laughed.
"Between that and the balloon popping fetish vid, I think it's safe to say that he wishes that someone would invent a time machine already." Chelsea responded with a grin before she stood up. "Come on, I don't think we should keep Rajin waiting any longer."
"Lead the way." Chloe said as she stood up and followed her roommate out of their dorm room.
*meanwhile*
"I wonder why Chloe wants to visit Rajin?" Lance thought to himself as he sent his girlfriend the text, he had been up for the past hour or so and despite the delay in the duels he was already dressed and ready for action. "I mean, I know he was upset because of the ending to his duel against Chloe's team on Friday but it's not like we know him that well." Lance thought before there was a knock at the door. "I'm decent!" Lance called out and Evan opened the door. "Hey Evan, ready for the duel?"
"I'm as ready as I can be, you?" Evan asked and Lance held up his duel disk in response. "Good to see, I know we beat Latoya and Louella on Friday but against Cameron and Jessica? We're going to need all the help we can get."
"Yeah and if we win we'll have to stay put because I'm dueling my girlfriend in the next round." Lance responded with a frown as he folded his arms. "And if that happens Chloe will be looking to make up for the draw we had at the promotion duels."
"Yes, and dealing with her roommate's temper is not going to be a pleasant experience to say the least." Evan nodded in agreement as he looked at his duel disk. "But to win this one we're going to need counters for both Cameron and Jessica's ace monsters and that's easier said than done."
"One prevents the summoning of high level Synchro Monsters, the other gets you in a nasty lock that makes the Yata-Garasu lock look tame by comparison." Lance nodded in agreement before looking at his duel disk again. "Still, they're both XYZ Monsters and I have copies of XYZ Encore in my deck, Jessica won't even get her combo off."
"That's if you draw them at the right time, worst case scenario? You can give copies to Chloe and Chelsea in between duels and hope for the best." Evan responded as he folded his arms. "Come on, the duels aren't starting until the early afternoon and since we don't have class I figured we could use the time to train."
"Good idea, the website said that our duel isn't until lunch time which gives us two hours to train." Lance responded as he stood up with a grin on his face. "Where too?"
"North side of the island, that way we can duel in peace without the risk of our opponents spying on us." Evan responded before the two boys left.
*a bit later*
Whilst that was going on Chloe and Chelsea had made their way over to the Ra Yellow Boy's Dorm which had taken a bit longer than originally anticipated because the boy's dorm was across the southern end of the island from the Girl's Dorm as the builders had made the choice to build it opposite the Obelisk Blue Girls' dorm.
"I swear, if Lance had lost his duel and I still started dating him I'd hate the builders for setting the two dorms so far apart." Chloe thought as the two girls made their way into the dorm, the entranceway was mostly empty with exception of Jeff who was having his morning coffee. "Morning Jeff."
"Morning girls." Jeff greeted them when he saw them. "You know, there are easier ways of getting exercise than walking all the way over from the girl's dorm, right?"
"Funny." Chelsea responded as she rolled her eyes. "We're here to see one of the students, Rajin Kanda was apparently looking for us on Saturday and our neighbors didn't get a chance to tell us until this morning."
"I had a feeling that he would want to talk to you after everything that's happened." Jeff nodded in understanding before setting his cup down. "Do you know where his dorm room is?"
"Yeah, I texted Lance to see if he remembered Rajin's room number from when he was still in the dorm." Chloe responded before frowning. "He is in his dorm room, right?"
"He is, hasn't left his dorm room aside for classes since your duel against his team on Friday." Jeff responded before sighing. "I hope this doesn't lead to him dropping out, he's a bright kid and whilst he failed to get promoted to Obelisk Blue two weeks ago all the teachers do see him as a fine student."
"We hope so too, now if you excuse us we're off to a fifteen-year-old boy's dorm room." Chloe responded before they started to walk off only to stop when they heard snickering from the male students. "That sounded a lot better in my head."
"So, does most of the stuff that comes out of Lance's mouth." Chelsea responded before the two girls quickly made their way through the first floor of the dorm and eventually Rajin's dorm room where Chelsea knocked. "Rajin? It's Chloe and Chelsea, Gabrielle and Stacy said that you wanted to talk?"
"Come in!" Rajin responded and Chloe opened the door to Rajin's room which was just as spacious as the dorm room they shared and Rajin wasn't alone.
"Rajin, if you had told me that you were expecting company from two lovely ladies, I would've put on some mood music." Kyle Winston said as he looked up and saw the two girls at the dorm room door. "All though the fact that one of them is taken and the others not only taken but is also a lesbian does kind of ruin the mood."
"Let me put it this way Kyle, if your idea of mood music is anything by Justin Bieber we would've left the dorm room faster than you can say "terrible music"." Chelsea responded before Chloe closed the door behind them. "I'm guessing Rajin said that he was expecting us."
"Even if he hadn't I would've guessed that he wanted a chat with you after everything that happened during the last tournament match." Kyle responded as Rajin sat on the bed and the two girls made themselves comfortable on the available seats. "Can I at least get you girls a drink or something?"
"Coke would be good." Chloe responded and Chelsea nodded in agreement and Kyle reached into the mini-fridge the boys shared and passed two cans of coke to the girls. "I guess I'd better address the elephant in the room before we do anything else." Chloe said as she turned her attention to Rajin. "How have you been feeling since we eliminated your team from the tournament?"
"About as well as you'd expect really." Rajin responded with a sigh as he turned to the two girls. "Up until Thomas's little revelation we all dueled well and if my team had lost without him revealing that I would've been happy but even though I gave him a taste of his own medicine by surrendering I still feel terrible about the fact that he was willing to throw away all the progress we had made during the tournament, I didn't agree with his methods during the duels but I thought we gelled well as a team."
"Yeah well, fortunately duelists like him make up the minority in Obelisk Blue these days." Chelsea responded and Rajin nodded in agreement. "But onto our next point, why did you want to talk to us?"
"Throughout the tournament Thomas was the one calling the shots as you no doubt noticed, I only went along with it because he is in Obelisk Blue and I'm in Ra Yellow." Rajin said before sighing. "But after seeing other cross dorm teams such as Amelia and Caitlin I suggested that we put in a more collaborative effort in our team, Thomas was having none of it."
"That doesn't surprise me at all." Chloe responded with a frown on her face before glancing over at Kyle. "Just look at how he treated Kyle and Rachel when I first met him."
"Yeah, I'm going to be honest, when I found out that my new roommate was Thomas's partner in the tournament I thought Jeff was playing a sick joke on me." Kyle nodded in response as he folded his arms. "But once it became clear that Thomas was being a control freak we became buddies rather quickly."
"Yes, but to get back on topic." Rajin responded before turning to the girls. "During one of our training sessions I caught a glimpse of a spell card in his deck, one that I had never seen before but whilst I couldn't see the text from my position it featured a pentagram of some sorts in the artwork." Rajin added and the two girls shared a look.
"Rajin, we need you to focus." Chelsea said as she leaned forward. "This spell card, did it have the Field Spell symbol on it?"
"As I said, I didn't get a good look at it." Rajin said before thinking for a bit. "But now that you mention it, yes it did, however I only saw that card once and whenever I tried to bring up that card in conversation Thomas would either dodge my questions or immediately change the subject, by the time my team was scheduled to take yours on I had decided to drop it."
"If that's the case, why did you wait until now to tell anyone?" Chloe asked and Rajin frowned.
"I've been asking myself the same question ever since I surrendered the duel." Rajin responded before looking at the floor. "It wasn't until after I returned to the dorm room that I started putting two and two together but I wasn't sure who I could tell."
"That's a good point actually." Chelsea said before turning to Kyle. "Has he told you any of this?"
"I'm just as surprised as you are and if that Spell Card's what I think it is it doesn't bode well for the Obelisk Blue student body does it?" Kyle asked and the other students shook their heads in response. "But on the other hand, I can understand why he was hesitant, we've all heard what has happened to pro league duelists who throw those accusations around, right?"
"Yeah, and something tells me that they won't investigate until something big happens." Chloe responded before checking her watch. "It's half eleven now, if we worry we might be able to get some good seats at the duel arena."
"Don't take it to personally Chloe but I don't see your boyfriend's team winning." Kyle said as the two girls stood up. "Don't get me wrong, he and Evan are great duelists but against those nasty XYZ Monsters in Cameron and Jessica's decks? It's going to take a miracle for them to win."
"I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't thinking the same thing." Chloe responded before she turned to Rajin. "Are you coming Rajin?"
"If it means watching either you or your boyfriend eliminate Cameron and Jessica I wouldn't miss it for the world." Rajin said before standing up. "Ladies first." Rajin said and the two girls grinned before they walked out, however as they walked out of the dorm room Chloe turned to Chelsea.
"What do you think Chelsea?" Chloe whispered as they walked down the hallway. "Do you think Thomas has the Orichalcos in his deck?"
"I can't think of many other cards with a pentagram in their artwork." Chelsea responded as she folded her arms. "Closest thing I can think off are the Exodia pieces except they aren't Spell Cards."
"True and Rajin did say that there was only one card." Chloe responded before sighing. "I think we need more concrete evidence before we go to Martin with this, doesn't Theresa have a team meeting scheduled?"
"Yeah, they were even able to rent a room in the main building for us to use." Chelsea responded with a grin. "You are thinking that we should bring it up then?"
"It does seem like a perfect time to do it." Chloe responded before the girls made their way out of the dorm.
*later*
It was now Lunch Time and since it was the start of the tournament matches several students where rushing in as they were eating their lunch and as the students piled in to the main duel arena most of them were excited for today's duels.
All except for the students competing who were focused on their upcoming matches.
"Just one duel between us and the Semi-Finals." Lance commented as he shuffled through his deck, Evan was doing the same and the boys were sitting in a room in the main building that was in the hallway that would take them to the Duel Arena. "I honestly don't know what'll be tougher, fighting Cameron and Jessica or having to fight Chloe and Chelsea immediately afterwards if we win."
"I have to agree there, even if Chloe wasn't your girlfriend it would still be a tough match." Evan nodded in agreement before loading his deck into his duel disk. "Those girls have made it as far as they have for a good reason, I only hope that you are ready to take the fight to them if we do beat Cameron and Jessica."
"I've faced them both before, Chelsea beat me in a close match on the day we got back from Battle City and that was before we knew she was gay as she came out right after the match and, well, since my last duel against Chloe is the whole reason we were promoted you should know how it ended." Lance responded and Evan nodded in response. "But getting past Cameron and Jessica will be easier said than done, they've eliminated some strong teams on their road to the quarter finals."
"I just have to hope that our countermeasure against Cameron and Jessica's decks work." Evan responded but before Lance could respond the door opened and Chloe and Chelsea walked in as a pair of proctors helped Chelsea set up her laptop.
"Seriously guys, I don't need your help setting up my laptop!" Chelsea protested as she went through the steps effortlessly and the proctors sweat-dropped. "And we'd still rather watch the match in the audience!"
"Sorry but we're not going against Martin's orders." The female proctor responded before they walked out of the room, Chloe and Lance shared a quick kiss whilst Chelsea signed in to her laptop.
"Not that we don't appreciate the company but what was that about Martin's orders?" Evan asked the two girls who shrugged in response.
"You got me, all they said was that Martin wanted the semi-finalists separated from the other students, something to do with getting us into the Main Arena quicker." Chloe responded as she sat down opposite her roommate. "Personally, I think the real reason is so that we don't interrupt the duel on the off chance that Cameron and Jessica say something that pisses us off."
"You really think they'll do that?" Evan asked before sweat-dropping. "Ah right, forgot who we were talking about for a second there."
"Look either way we can still watch the duel via the live stream." Chelsea responded as she loaded up the Duel Academy's website and accessed the stream. "I'll even leave it on the stream so that you guys can watch."
"You know me, I like to watch!" Lance responded and the other students shared a look before snickering. "That could've been worded better."
"You think?!" Chloe said in between giggles before she stood up and walked over to her boyfriend. "Seriously though, we all know how dangerous Cameron and Jessica are so here." Chloe said before standing on her toes and kissing Lance passionately, tongue and all, Lance returned the favor and they continued for a few seconds before Chloe broke it off just as Lance's hands were going underneath her top. "Later Lance, but for now just call that a good luck charm!"
"With a good luck charm like that, I might as well try to win the lottery!" Lance responded with a grin getting a laugh out of Chloe. "Evan, we'd better get going, Duel's about to start."
"And here I thought we were going to miss the duel because you were about to get laid." Evan joked before the boys left, Chloe sat back down and Chelsea gave her a look.
"What?" Chloe asked and Chelsea grinned broadly.
"Any chance you can give me a similar good luck charm before my next test?" Chelsea asked and Chloe shook her head. "Can't blame me for asking!"
"Yeah, I think you'd have better luck asking Beth that question, ironically enough." Chloe said before leaning in to watch the duel on Chelsea's laptop.
*at the duel arena*
"Welcome to the final leg of the Tag Team Tournament!" Hamden announced and the crowd cheered as the four duelists made their entrance. "I am filling in for Martin as he has an urgent matter to attend too but before the duel begins I do have an announcement to make as the four duelists who are graduating at the end of the week have chosen their opponents!"
"Talk about leaving it until the last minute." Lance thought as they entered the arena. "I know Theresa, Brandon and the Kaiba siblings are graduating but I don't know who their opponents are."
"In the first duel, Tyler Kaiba has elected to face Chelsea Cunningham of Ra Yellow, following that his sister Miranda will take on fellow Obelisk Blue Student Marcus Reynolds." Hamden announced and the crowd cheered each announcement. "Then there will be another clash between Obelisk Blue Students as Brandon Thomas will take on Lance Alvers and finally Theresa Daniels will take on Chloe Richardson in a rematch from their clash at Battle City!"
"Oh great, as if we didn't have enough on our plate this week!" Chloe groaned as she ran a hand down her face. "How do these graduation duels work anyway?"
"The graduating students get to choose their opponents, it could be a fellow student like in this case, a former student, one of the teachers or a pro-league duelist." Chelsea explained as she turned to Chloe. "If they win, they graduate, if they lose, well, the phrase "better luck next time" comes to mind."
"So, it works the same way as the promotion duels in a sense?" Chloe asked and Chelsea nodded. "I'm guessing the only ex students who are exempt from being picked are those who got expelled?"
"Yeah, the only rules regarding former students is that they have to be active in the pro-league circuit and since being expelled pretty much destroys any chance of that happening it kinda goes without saying." Chelsea explained and Chloe nodded. "A pro-leaguer is typically reserved for the best student in their respective dorms and it's only happened with the desired intent once and from what I've heard Tyler was that student."
"Who did he challenge?" Chloe asked and Chelsea grinned.
"His old man, Kaiba initially refused but when he heard that it was made by his son he flew his mid-life crisis jet, AKA the Blue-Eyes Jet, to the island for the occasion, even went as far as to park it on the roof of the main building." Chelsea responded and Chloe gave her an odd look. "I'm completely serious and no, I don't know how he landed that thing on a building with no runway, it was a close duel but in the end his dad won and he had to stay on for another year."
"And now he's chosen you." Chloe commented and Chelsea let out a nervous laugh in response. "Any idea why? I can at least understand why I was chosen by Theresa."
"No clue but I will be asking him at the meeting." Chelsea responded before they turned their attention back to the duel.
"The announcement will be posted on the website once the Semi-Final match ends." Hamden added before clearing his throat. "Introducing team number one, representing Obelisk Blue is Evan Grant and Lance Alvers!" Hamden announced and the crowd cheered as the two boys stepped onto the arena. "And their opponents, also representing Obelisk Blue, Cameron Matthews and Jessica Stevens!" Hamden announced and the cheers quickly turned to boos as the hated team stepped onto the arena.
"Humph, if Theresa wanted a real challenge she would've picked me." Cameron scoffed before he turned his attention to his opponents. "But I suppose humiliating Chloe's idiot boyfriend will suffice."
"There's only one idiot boyfriend being humiliated today and I'm looking right at him!" Lance responded as they activated their duel disks. "Besides, considering that she outsmarted you several times in the Battle Royal and beat Thomas's team to reach the semi-finals I'd say that Theresa won't have a problem as far as a real challenge goes."
"Don't even get us started on that travesty of justice." Jessica growled as her eyes narrowed. "We all know that if it weren't for Thomas being a loud-mouthed idiot his team would be waiting for us in the Semi-Finals."
"My, my, your using words with more than four letters in them, I see you've been learning." Evan mocked her and Jessica growled. "And considering that Chloe was able to summer Silent Magician Level Eight and play Diffusion Wave Motion immediately after Rajin's surrender I find that very unlikely."
"That's enough you four." Hamden interrupted them and the duelists activated their duel disks. "Here's the order, Lance will go first followed by Cameron, then Evan and finally Jessica, standard rules apply however if either Cameron and Jessica insult Lance's girlfriend in any way during this duel or the semi-finals then they will be immediately disqualified, I don't want a fight to break out, understood?" Hamden asked as the four duelists drew their opening hands after moving into position and they nodded. "Begin!"
"And here we go! Last duel before the Semi-Finals and I'm facing one of the most hated teams in the whole tournament." Lance thought before looking over his hand. "No lame jokes! No obscure porn references! No sexual innuendo! All business from here on out!" Lance thought before playing some cards. "I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode! That ends my turn."
"That's all? I've had longer sessions with Jessica than that!" Cameron responded before drawing his card and immediately regretted his choice of words. "STUDY SESSIONS!"
"Too late." Lance said as he tried to keep a straight face whilst the other students laughed. "If it makes you feel any better my sessions with Chloe have been just as short and…" Lance trailed off before facepalming. "Cameron's first move! I couldn't even make it past Cameron's first move."
"Look, I have heard enough of your kinks over the past few days to have material for one of the weirdest pornos ever! Don't give me more material." Cameron responded before running a hand down his face. "I swear Alvers, you have just spent the past five minutes rubbing off on me and I'm going to shut up before I humiliate myself further." Cameron growled before playing some cards. "I set two cards facedown and I summon Steelswarn Caller!" Cameron played the card and the humanoid black insect appeared on the field (4/1700/0). "Make your move Evan!"
"Gladly!" Evan responded before drawing his card and immediately activating it. "And I activate a Spell Card that I used in our last duel, Tome of Arcane Secrets!"
"Yes, I recognize that name from your duel against Conley and Schneider." Cameron responded as the Spell Card's hologram appeared on the field. "If you think we're going to let you summon your best monster, think again."
"You won't get a choice!" Evan responded before playing another card. "Next, I activate a rather popular card, Spellbook inside the Pot! And if I need to explain this Spell Card's effect to you then it's more evidence for the fact that you two are only in Obelisk Blue because you come from money."
"Whoever said that we're trying to deny it?" Cameron responded as the four duelists drew their three cards. "Coming from a privileged background has its advantages, not that you two would know since you were both lowly Ra Yellow students."
"And yet it was a team of Ra Yellow students who eliminated Thomas's team from the tournament and another team from the same dorm had us on the ropes for most of our last duel." Lance pointed out as he looked over his hand. "And if you're not careful Chloe and Chelsea will eliminate you as well, if you get passed us at least." Lance added and Cameron growled.
"Look at who we faced on our road to the finals, round one: an Osiris Red Reject and a Ra Yellow student: defeated, round two: two Osiris Red Rejects, defeated, round four: An Obelisk Blue Student's talents being wasted as she teamed with an Osiris Red Reject, defeated." Cameron listed them off and Lance frowned. "It's a shame that we have to send two other Obelisk Blue Students packing to secure our spot in the semi-finals but we will also crush your girlfriend's team! Now Evan, finish your move so we can make this quick!" Cameron added before looking at his drawn cards. "Perfect, that fool hasn't realized it but his spell card has given me access to Rescue Rabbit, I'll be able to summon Ophion on my next turn!"
"You know, I always found the term "Osiris Red Reject" contradictory, for one thing it implies that the student was rejected by the school." Evan responded as he sent his spell card to the graveyard. "Then again, I suppose Obelisk Blue Students like you needed a new insult after Kaiba made the decision to change the name from Slifer Red, not sure where he or Pegasus got the name from since the dorms are named for the Egyptian God Cards."
"Are you going to stand there monologuing all day or are you going to complete your move?" Jessica said rudely as she folded her arms. "Besides, Osiris Red Students may as well have been rejected by the school because they don't belong here!"
"Yet a team of former Osiris Red Students has outlasted nearly every Obelisk Blue team in this tournament, but yes I do have a move to do." Evan responded before picking up four cards. "I set three cards facedown and a monster in defense mode, that ends my turn."
"Finally." Jessica grumbled under her breath before drawing her card. "And for keeping a lady waiting I'm using one of my favorite combos, first I activate Dark Room of Nightmare and follow that up with Tremendous Fire!" Jessica played the two cards and grinned. "Sure, we're taking five hundred points of damage each but compared to the 1300 life-points your about to take?" Jessica asked rhetorically before wincing as her and Cameron's life-points dropped to 7500 and their opponent's life-points dropped to 6700.
"That's still life-points that you can't afford to lose." Lance pointed out and Jessica frowned. "So, unless you have another move to make I'd like to take my turn!"
"You'll wait your turn, just like how your lowly girlfriend and her lesbo roommate will have to wait after we beat you!" Jessica responded before playing a card. "Just for that, you can say goodbye to one of your facedown cards! I activate my Spell Card Mystical Space Typhoon and I use it to destroy your card on the right Lance!" Jessica announced and a storm washed over the field destroying Lance's facedown card.
"It would've been smarter to destroy Evan's Spell Card!" Cameron pointed out not noticing the big grin on Lance's face.
"Well it's not like you don't have any cards that can destroy…..." Jessica never finished her sentence as she found herself burnt with fire as was Cameron as their life-points dropped to 7200. "Now what?"
"That was my facedown card Dormant Volcano!" Lance responded as he held the trap card up. "And I think I've used this card often enough for you guys to know the effect."
"Since it was destroyed whilst it was facedown we take three-hundred points of damage and during your next stand-by phase we can each add a Fire Type Monster to our hands." Cameron responded with a nod before turning his attention back to his girlfriend.
"Don't look at me like that! It's not like I have psychic powers or anything!" Jessica protested before picking up the three remaining cards in her hand. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."
"I could make a joke about psychic powers requiring a brain but we're already in hot water with Hamden over our pre-match banter, pardon the pun." Lance thought as he drew his card. "Okay, now the second effect of Dormant Volcano activates but last I checked there weren't any Fire Type Steelswarm Monsters and the only monsters I've seen Jessica play are wind and dark type monsters."
"Your half right there." Cameron responded whilst Jessica entered the instructions into her duel disk. "Dormant Volcano's effect doesn't apply to me but Jessica does have a Fire Type Monster in her deck."
"Fire type monster in a burn deck? My monies on Solar Flare Dragon or Fire Princess, Solar Flare Dragon seems more likely since I've never seen her use a healing card in this tournament." Lance thought as Jessica added the monster to her hand as did Lance and Evan. "Next I summon Great Angus!" Lance played the card and the opposing Obelisk Blue students rolled their eyes as the staple of Lance's deck appeared on the field (4/1800/800). "Now I flip summon UFO Turtle."
"If your plan is to use those monsters in an XYZ Summon then I'm not impressed." Cameron said with a mocking yawn as the strange turtle appeared on the field (4/1400/1200). "UFO Turtle works better as a searcher and you're literally the only duelist I know that still uses Great Angus."
"Oh, I am planning on using these guys to Special Summon a monster, just not in the way you described." Lance responded before playing a card. "I send my two monsters to the graveyard to Special Summon Bonfire Colossus!" Lance played the card and the two monsters were consumed by fire before the massive flaming humanoid appeared on the field (8/2600/2200).
"You know, it's not often that I agree with students from the lower dorms." Cameron commented as he ran a hand down his face. "But this is the exception, how is that thing not a Pyro Type monster?!"
"Ask the guys at I2 because I don't have a clue." Lance responded before activating his other facedown card. "But here's one thing I do know, I activate my facedown card High Tide on Fire Island! This card is a recent acquisition but I never got to use it until now! As for what it does, well it has different effects depending on what type of high level monster I have on the field, water or, in this case, fire, and since I have a Fire type monster on my side of the field I can deep fry Steelswarm Caller!"
"Wait, what?!" Cameron asked before Steelswarm Caller was consumed by fire destroying it. "You won't defeat me this easily Alvers!"
"Strange, I think I'm doing a good job off it." Lance responded before holding up another card and sending it to the graveyard. "High Tide on Fire Island comes with another effect if I use it with a Fire Type Monster, basically I have to discard one card from my hand but as far as I'm concerned? That's the least of your worries, Bonfire Colossus attack his life-points directly!" Lance commanded and the massive monster slammed his fist into Cameron bringing his life-points down to 4600.
"That was a good move Alvers but I wouldn't get too cocky! I activate my facedown card Damage Gate! I use this to summon Caller back from my graveyard." Cameron added as the monster returned to the field. "But now I have a problem, I could summon Ophion using Rescue Rabbit but Bonfire Colossus is stronger, I need to get rid of that monstrosity first."
"He has a point, this is almost too easy." Lance thought before picking up two cards. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Lance announced as the two facedown cards appeared on the field and Cameron drew his card.
"Excellent, with this Spell Card I can power up Ophion and then he can defeat Bonfire Colossus." Cameron thought with a grin before playing a card. "I suppose your expecting me to use Seeker in a Tribute Summon, correct? Wrong, I have other ideas! I summon Rescue Rabbit!" Cameron played the card and the small rabbit in the yellow workers helmet appeared on the field (4/300/100). "You were in the Battle Royal Alvers so you must know what's coming next! I activate Rescue Rabbit's effect…."
"Not going to happen!" Evan cut him off as he discarded a card from his hand. "I was present at the Battle Royal as well and I know what you're about to do so I negate Rescue Rabbit's effect by discarding Effect Veiler from my hand!"
"Son of a!" Cameron grunted under his breath before playing another card. "Fine, time for Plan B! I activate Double Summon and then I tribute Steelswarm Caller to summon Steelswarm Moth!" Cameron played the card and Steelswarm Caller disappeared from the field, in its place stood a humanoid purple and green moth ready for battle (6/2400/0).
"Not much of a plan b, Bonfire Colossus can roast that thing in an instant!" Lance responded with a grin as he folded his arms. "But if you want to attack Bonfire Colossus with that thing, I won't stop you! If anything, that'll just hasten our road to the Semi-Finals."
"Who said anything about attacking Bonfire Colossus?" Cameron responded and the grin on Lance's face disappeared. "Since I just tribute summoned Steelswarm Moth using another Steelswarm Monster his effect activates allowing me to target up to two cards my opponent controls and return them to your hand! And since I have more than one opponent I'll target Colossus and Evan's facedown monster!"
"What?!" Lance yelled out as the two monsters disappeared from the field, however Lance grinned again when he saw Cameron's life-points drop down to 3600. "Was that really worth it? Especially with a sitting duck like Rescue Rabbit on the field?"
"Well I would've sacrificed Rabbit as well if not for one problem." Cameron responded as he folded his arms. "All Steelswarm Monsters that require tributes need to be tribute summoned using only Steelswarm Monsters to get their effects off! And speaking off effects, Steelswarm Caller's effect activates! As I just used him in the tribute summon of a Steelswarm Monster I can special summon another monster like Steelswarm Caller!" Cameron added as another Steelswarm Caller appeared on the field.
"Too bad you've already used your copy of Double Summon, otherwise you'd be able to use your second Caller in a Tribute Summon!" Lance responded with a big grin on his face…. that quickly disappeared when it hit him. "But you can do a Rank 4 XYZ Summon!"
"You catch on quick Alvers, and here I was wondering just how a blithering idiot like you was even considered for promotion to Obelisk Blue!" Cameron responded before activating his facedown card. "But first, I activate Call of the Haunted which I use to summon my first Caller back from the graveyard!" Cameron played the card and a second Steelswarm Caller appeared on the field but the monster was barely on the field for a minute before Cameron pointed to his three monsters. "I use both Steelswarm Callers and Rescue Rabbit to open the Overlay Network!" Cameron announced as the portal opened and the three monsters were sucked in.
"Well, at least it's not Ophion." Lance said with a nervous grin as the monster emerged from the portal. "For one thing, that monster only requires two monsters to XYZ Summon it!"
"True but what I'm about to summon is just as lethal!" Cameron responded before playing the card. "I summon Evilswarm Ouroboros!" Cameron announced as the monster emerged from the portal revealing a larger, dark blue dragon in silver armor that was ready for battle (Rank: 4/2750/1950).
"Wait, I thought you said that Ophion was your best monster." Lance said as he folded his arms. "But from where I stand? That thing's stronger even if it is by a mere two hundred more points."
"When I said Ophion was my best monster I wasn't talking about its strength, rather its ability to cripple decks that rely on Special Summoning more than one monster." Cameron responded with a grin. "And whilst it is true that I could've used my callers to summon Ophion leaving Rescue Rabbit out as a sitting duck was asking for trouble, especially considering how low my life-points are!" Cameron added before pointing to Lance. "And speaking of life-points, Moth, Ouroboros, attack his life-points directly!" Cameron commanded and the two powerful monsters charged at Lance before hitting their attacks dropping Lance's life-points down to 1650. "All Jessica has to do is play two burn cards and you'll be out!"
"It's not over until the fat lady sings and I don't hear Jessica singing!" Lance responded earning death glares from his opponents.
"You'll pay for that comment! I move to my second Main Phase and I activate Magic Planter!" Cameron played the card and the now inert Call of the Haunted shattered allowing Cameron to draw two cards. "I set the two cards I just drew facedown and end my turn." Cameron announced and Evan drew his card.
"Lance just took a lot of damage but the good news is that Cameron didn't summon Ophion which means I'm not locked out of the best monsters in my deck." Evan thought before looking at his drawn card. "I set one monster in defense mode and a card facedown." Evan announced as the two cards appeared on the field. "And I end my turn!"
"That's it? Then we'll be seeing his girlfriend soon!" Jessica said before she drew her card. "And Lance is about to be eliminated! I activate…"
"Nothing!" Evan interrupted her as his facedown card flipped up. "I activate Anti-Spell Fragrance! Now that I have this card on the field we all have to set Spell Cards before activating them and can't activate them until the following turn!" Evan explained with a smirk and Jessica's eyes widened. "You had better hope that Cameron has a copy of Trap Eater in his hand because otherwise? I've just slowed down the speed of your deck to a snail's pace!" Evan added and Jessica quickly glanced over at Cameron.
"I haven't drawn that card yet but it's still in my deck." Cameron commented when he saw the worried look his girlfriend was giving him before glaring at Evan. "But that works both ways, what's that card doing in your deck? You've used several spell cards since the tournament began."
"Oh, I have." Evan commented with a grin as he folded his arms. "But I've had this trap card in my side deck since the second round ended, on the off chance that our teams faced each other, I had planned on using it in the Battle Royal but Lance convinced me that he should represent the team instead."
"And we all know what happened there." Jessica sneered before setting two cards. "Have it your way! Cameron will just have to finish him off instead! I set two cards facedown and end my turn!"
"That was too close! If there's one way I don't want to be knocked out of the tournament in, it's whatever Spell Cards she was about to play!" Lance thought as he drew his card. "I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode." Lance announced as his three cards appeared on the field. "And I end my turn." Lance added and Cameron grinned as he drew his card.
"That's it? Then Evan wasted his trap card!" Cameron commented before looking over his hand. "In fact, let's cut to the chase! I destroy Anti-Spell Fragrance to summon Trap Eater!"
"That didn't take long!" Lance commented as the long tongue wrapped itself around Evan's trap card causing it to be pulled into the mouth of Cameron's fiend type monster (4/1900/1600).
"Neither did your girlfriend's pathetic attempts at slowing my deck down but don't worry, you won't last long either! Trap Eater, destroy his facedown monster!" Cameron commanded and the tongue lashed out again wrapping itself around another copy of UFO Turtle before swallowing it whole.
"I use my monster's effect to Special Summon Fire Princess in defense mode!" Lance announced after he inputted the commands into his duel disk and played the card causing the blonde woman in the red dress to appear on the field crouching down (4/1300/1500).
"You still have that thing in your deck? Doesn't matter! Steelswarm Moth, destroy his last line of defense!" Cameron commanded and the large moth like being flew towards Fire Princess before destroying her with a swipe of his claws. "It's a shame that a fellow Obelisk Blue Student didn't put up more of a fight but what should I expect from a former Ra Yellow student? Ouroboros, finish him off!" Cameron commanded and the massive dragon prepared his breath attack.
"Who said anything about Fire Princess being my last line of defense?" Lance asked and Cameron blinked in confusion as Lance's trap card flipped up. "I activate my facedown card Rainbow Life!"
"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Cameron yelled out once he realized what Lance was up to but it was too late as Lance discarded one of his cards and the flames hit him full force but rather than reduce his life-points to zero his life-points instead increased to 4400.
"Evan's Trap Card may be gone but there's more than one way to stay in this duel." Lance added as he sent his trap card to the graveyard. "Thanks for the life-point boost!"
"You've brought yourself a turn at most and unless you can bring out Bonfire Colossus with some way to power him up you won't survive the next attack." Cameron added before getting an idea and detaching an Overlay Unit from his monster. "In fact, I'm going to take out an insurance policy against just that! I detach an overlay unit from Ouroboros to activate one of his effects, this particular effect allows me to randomly discard one card from your hand."
"And I only have two cards left in my hand." Lance responded before holding his hand up. "Fine, go ahead and make your choice!" Lance added and Cameron thought for a moment.
"You are discarding the card on the right." Cameron added and Lance sent the card to the graveyard without a word. "Be glad that I can only use this effect once per turn because otherwise? I'd ensure that you'd never get that card back! I end my turn!" Cameron announced and Evan drew his card.
"I don't normally agree with them but they have a point, Lance can only hold out for so long." Evan thought with a frown before looking at his drawn card. "Since Cameron is focused on Lance right now I'll reveal my facedown monster, Apprentice Magician!" Evan flipped the monster up and the young magician appeared on the field (2/400/800). "And I use her effect to add a Spell Counter to my Spell Card."
"That was exactly the reason why I avoided attacking your monster." Cameron grunted as he folded his arms. "But unless you have a way to flip her back into the facedown position your magician's a bigger sitting duck than your partner!"
"Funny you should say that! I play my Spell Card Book of Tairyou to do just that!" Evan played the card and Apprentice Magician disappeared from the field. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."
"Good, now I can finish what I started last turn!" Jessica said as she drew her card. "I activate my facedown cards and guess what? They are both copies of Poison of the Old Man!"
"Do I even need to ask what effect your using?" Lance asked and Jessica shook her head as Lance and Evan's life-points dropped to 2500 and 4800 respectively. "In that case, I'll chain my facedown card! Reckless Greed!"
"Draw all the cards you want, it won't help!" Cameron sneered as Lance drew his cards.
"Especially since Cameron's once again in a prime position to finish you off!" Jessica added before looking over her hand. "I end my turn, make your last turn count Alvers!"
"I plan to do just that!" Lance responded before skipping his draw phase due to Reckless Greed's effect. "And just because I can't draw due to my Trap Card's effect doesn't mean I can draw through other means, I summon Royal Firestorm Guards!" Lance played the card and the red fiend that had been a staple of Lance's deck since Battle City appeared on the field (4/1700/1200). "Since I normal summoned this monster I can use his effect to shuffle four Pyro-Type Monsters back into my deck from my graveyard and draw two cards."
"We know what that card does Alvers." Cameron responded with a smirk as Lance retrieved the four monsters and shuffled them into his deck. "But all the draws in the world can't save you now!"
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Lance responded as he picked up a card. "In fact I just drew a card that's going to get rid of your two monsters in one fell swoop!"
"Oh really? You must be bluffing!" Cameron scoffed with a smirk on his face. "Not even Yugi Motuh himself had that much luck with his draws."
"You'll find out on my next turn, for now I set two cards facedown and I attack Jessica's facedown monster!" Lance announced and the fiend charged towards the monster but bounced off it as it was revealed to be Stealth Bird (3/700/1700). "Well, that solves that mystery! I end my turn." Lance set the two cards facedown and Cameron smirked as he drew his card.
"Pathetic, I've seen better bluffs from lowly Osiris Red Rejects…..." Cameron never finished his sentence as a loud roar echoed through the arena causing everyone but Lance to cover their ears. "Now what?"
"Why don't you tell me Mr. Big Shot?" Lance asked before pointing to Cameron's cowering monsters. "As strong as your monsters are neither of them are immune to the effect of Threatening Roar!"
"True but I can hurt you in other ways!" Cameron responded before ditching another overlay unit from Ouroboros. "I activate my dragon's effect and this time I'm using the effect that I described last turn, with it I can target one card in your graveyard and banish it!"
"Fine, go ahead and make your choice!" Lance responded before tossing the contents of his graveyard to Cameron and he looked through it.
"Blast, he still has Bonfire Colossus in his hand!" Cameron thought with a frown as he looked through the cards, "That can't be the card that'll wipe me out in one fell swoop! He only has one card on his side of the field and Bonfire Colossus requires him to destroy two cards upon its summon." Cameron thought before making his choice. "I chose to banish Great Angus and I end my turn at that." Cameron announced before tossing the cards back to Lance and once Lance pocketed the monster and sent the other cards to the graveyard Evan drew his card.
"Card in Lance's deck that can wipe out both of his monsters in an instant? I bet good money that that monster is Lava Golem and if it is, well, it would certainly be an ironic end to their time in the tournament." Evan thought before looking at his card. "I summon Magical Exemplar!" Evan played the card and the dark-haired spell caster appeared on the field (4/1700/1000). "Now to activate her effect I activate Foolish Burial!"
"And people accuse us of recycling combos." Jessica commented as she rolled her eyes. "Seriously, this is a move for move remake of your duel against those Ra Yellow students!"
"Not quite." Evan responded as he sent the monster to the graveyard and two floating green orbs appeared around Magical Exemplar. "There are some key differences, for starters I give up one of Exemplar's tokens to summon Effect Veiler from my graveyard!" Evan announced as the green orb transformed into the young, green haired Spell-Caster (1/0/0). "Now I reveal my facedown card Graceful Revival which I use to Special Summon Clear Effector from my graveyard."
"I still fail to see how this move differs from the move you made in your last duel." Cameron chimed in as the young spell-caster with long dark brown hair appeared on the field (2/0/900).
"We'll get to that in a second!" Evan responded as the three female spell-casters took to the air for the Synchro Summon. "And that second is up! I tune Effect Veiler with Clear Effector and Magical Exemplar to summon Arcanite Magician!" Evan played the card and once the bright flash faded the spell-caster in white and blue robes appeared on the field ready for battle (7/400/1800). "Off course now that Arcanite Magician has been Special Summoned he gains two Spell Counters and a thousand attack points for each!" Evan added as Arcanite Magician's attack rose to 2400.
"Congratulations, you've matched my Moth point for point." Cameron commented sarcastically as Evan drew a card thanks to Clear Effector's effect. "But what will you do now? You can, off course, easily destroy Jessica's Stealth Bird through an attack or the Magician's effect but that will leave you a sitting duck for my monsters."
"Well then, I'd better go all out!" Evan responded as Arcanite Magician's attack dropped to 400 and he started casting a spell. "I expel two Spell Counters to destroy Stealth Bird and Dark Room of Nightmare!" Evan announced and Jessica's eyes widened as the holograms of her two cards shattered. "Good riddance to bad rubbish."
"You may have destroyed my cards but I'm not dumb enough to only run one copy of Dark Room of Nightmare in my deck and even than I run Magician of Faith as well." Jessica responded as she sent her cards to the graveyard. "But more importantly, you've just made a big mistake! Cameron's monsters can easily destroy Arcanite and wipe you out! Sure, Clear Effector's effect means that Arcanite Magician can't be destroyed by card effects but an attack is a different story all together!"
"They won't get a chance!" Evan responded as he played a card. "You've met Arcanite Magician, now meet his supreme form! I activate Miracle Synchro Fusion which I use to fuse Arcanite Magician on the field and Magical Exemplar from my graveyard to fusion summon Supreme Arcanite Magician!"
"I just had to go and open my big mouth, didn't I?" Jessica said with a nervous gulp as Evan pocketed the two monsters causing them to be sucked into a portal and a few seconds later Supreme Arcanite Magician appeared on the field ready for battle (10/1400/2800).
"Your big mouth is the least of your troubles!" Evan responded with a grin as Supreme Arcanite Magician's attack shot up to 3400 through his effect. "And whilst I could destroy Cameron's two monsters quite easily that would leave my magician open to an attack if he summons Ophion so I'm attacking you instead! Lance, may I borrow Royal Firestorm Guards for a moment?"
"Be my guest, especially if it helps us reach the Semi-Finals!" Lance responded with a nod before Royal Firestorm Guards made its way to Evan's side of the field.
"Supreme Arcanite Magician, Royal Firestorm Guards, attack her life-points directly!" Evan commanded and the magician fired a beam of light at Jessica that hit her square in the chest, whilst that attack didn't knock Jessica off her feet the follow-up attack from Royal Firestorm Guards did knocking her life-points down to 2400 in the process.
"You'll pay for that!" Jessica growled as she scrambled to her feet and Evan smirked.
"I'll leave you an IOU card! I end my turn." Evan announced and Jessica angrily drew her card.
"Great, NOW I draw another Stealth Bird, if I had drawn this last turn I could've used my Acid Golem combo on Evan's Apprentice Magician!" Jessica thought before quickly setting the monster in defense mode. "Do your worst Alvers!"
"Are you sure you want that?" Lance asked rhetorically as he skipped his draw phase due to Reckless Greed's effect. "And when I said that I had drawn something that can wipe out your two monsters in a single turn Cameron, I wasn't kidding! But you want to know why I didn't summon it last turn?"
"Because you had already used up your normal summon on Royal Firestorm Guards?" Cameron asked as he rolled his eyes and Lance grinned.
"Close but no cigar!" Lance responded before picking up the card and tossing it at Cameron. "Read it and weep!"
"Okay, I don't know why your giving me one of…..." Cameron trailed off once he saw the card in question as his eyes widened. "You son of a bitch!"
"Oh, what's that? I didn't hear you over the sound of your defeat!" Lance responded and Cameron growled. "And for the record, I'm using Ouroboros and Moth in this tribute summon."
"Tribute summon?" Jessica asked before it hit her like a ton of bricks. "Don't tell me he's just tossed you Lava Golem?!"
"I'm afraid so!" Cameron responded before reluctantly sending his two monsters to the graveyard and seconds late two cages came crashing down around Cameron and Jessica as Lava Golem appeared on the field (8/3000/2500). "You realize that you just gave us a powerful monster, right? It'll cost us a thousand life-points on each of our turns but we'll beat you before we get to that point!"
"True but you still have to get passed Supreme Arcanite Magician and he's stronger than Lava Golem!" Lance pointed out before grinning. "Obviously I can't normal summon or set a monster now that I've done that so I switch Royal Firestorm Guards to defense mode and end my turn!" Lance announced as his monster crouched down into a defensive position and Cameron drew his card, before he could make a move however Lava Golem's effect burned him bringing his life-points down to 2600.
"I added Owner's Seal to my deck to counter this strategy but I have no way to draw into it! Worse yet, all the monsters in my hand require tribute summons and if I want to get the best use out of them I need to tribute another Steelswarm!" Cameron thought before looking at his drawn card. "I don't have anything I can play from my hand but what I do have is a 3000 attack beatstick! Lava Golem, attack Royal Firestorm Guards!" Cameron commanded and lava flowed towards Royal Firestorm Guards incinerating the monster. "You should count yourself lucky that your monster was in defense mode!"
"Believe me, I count myself lucky for more reasons than that!" Lance responded with a smirk as he folded his arms. "Just look at the girl I'm dating! And one of the duelists we'll be facing after we kick your ass!"
"Considering what she's learned about you since the third round began I'll be surprised if your relationship with Richardson survives for much longer!" Cameron responded before pointing to Trap Eater. "Trap Eater, attack his life-points directly!" Cameron commanded and Trap Eater's tongue slapped Lance a few times across the face bringing his life-points down to 400.
"If I wanted that kind of tongue action I would've asked Chloe!" Lance grunted before getting to his feet. "After we kick your ass off course!"
"I wouldn't count on that, you and your pathetic girlfriend will be too busy licking your wounds after we eliminate your teams from the tournament!" Cameron responded before turning to Evan. "I end my turn." Cameron announced and Evan drew his card.
"Excellent, we're one turn away from meeting Chloe's team in the Semi-Finals, I just have to pave the way for Lance to deliver the final blow!" Evan thought before pointing to Supreme Arcanite Magician. "Supreme Arcanite Magician, attack Jessica's facedown monster!" Evan commanded and the magician launched its attack at the monster, revealed to be Jessica's second copy of Stealth Bird, which was quickly destroyed. "It's only a matter of time before you are finally defeated, I end my turn!"
"Don't count on it!" Jessica responded before drawing her card and wincing as she was burnt by Lava Golem bringing her life-points down to 1400. "Cameron, I need Lava Golem!"
"Say no more!" Cameron responded and whilst Lava Golem didn't move Jessica grinned.
"We may be behind in life-points but Lance has just run out of chances! Lava Golem, eliminate Lance from this duel!" Jessica commanded and the golem started to seep lava towards Lance…...
"I'm not going to be beat by my own monster Jessica!" Lance responded before an ear-piercing screech stopped Lava Golem in its tracks. "And thanks to Command Silencer I can negate Lava Golem's attack and draw one card!" Lance added before drawing a card.
"You'll run out of ways to prolong your defeat sooner or later!" Jessica responded before picking up the card she had retrieved with Dormant Volcano earlier in the duel. "I set one monster in defense mode and end my turn!" Jessica announced and Lance drew his card.
"Perfect, now I can really put the hurt on them!" Lance thought before retrieving a monster from his graveyard. "I banish a monster from my graveyard to summon Inferno!" Lance played the card and the small flame with the angry face appeared on the field (4/1100/1900). "But I didn't summon Inferno just so I could have some defense against Lava Golem! In fact, I've got another idea in mind and it's one that Cameron should be very familiar with! I tribute Inferno to summon Thestalos, the Firestorm Monarch!"
"That's not surprising!" Cameron grunted as Inferno disappeared from the field to be replaced by Thestalos as the monarch got ready for action (6/2400/1200). "Let's get this over with, make your choice Alvers!" Cameron added as he and Jessica held up their hands.
"Cameron's discarding the card on the far right, Jessica's discarding the card on the left." Lance decided and they made their discards, Jessica didn't take any damage but Cameron did as he discarded the level seven monster Steelswarm Caucastag sending his life-points down to 1900 in the process. "And I'm not done inflicting damage to your life-points Cameron, Thestalos, attack Trap Eater!" Lance commanded and the monarch launched a fireball at the fiend destroying it and bringing Cameron's life-points down to 1400. "I end my turn by setting one card facedown." Lance announced and Cameron drew his card only to wince as the flames burned him bringing his life-points down to 400.
"I could end this duel right now by destroying Lance's monarch with Lava Golem but for all I know his facedown card is something to protect against that!" Cameron thought before looking at his drawn card….and grinning. "Alvers, did you honestly think I'd be dumb enough to not anticipate Lava Golem?"
"Do you really want me to answer that question?" Lance asked and Cameron growled.
"No because you're about to be eliminated! I activate my Spell Card Owner's Seal!" Cameron played the card and Lance's eyes widened as Lava Golem returned to his side of the field complete with the cages crashing down around Evan and Lance. "You should really get rid of this card Alvers, how many times has it backfired?"
"I won't survive my next turn but Evan will and as you've demonstrated a few times there's nothing to stop him from attacking with Lava Golem and Thestalos!" Lance responded before it hit him. "Except for the fact that they are my cards and once I'm out their holograms will go with me."
"True but I still have Supreme Arcanite Magician and from where I stand Cameron has nothing to defend him." Evan pointed out and Cameron chuckled.
"I wouldn't be so sure, I set one card facedown and end my turn." Cameron announced and Evan drew his card only to get burnt by the cage bringing his life-points down to 3800.
"It's time I ended this and I'm starting with you Cameron! Supreme Arcanite Magician, finish him off!" Evan commanded and the magician prepared his attack…...
"I beg to differ, I activate my facedown card Negate Attack!" Cameron announced and the Spellcaster's attack bounced off an invisible force-field harmlessly.
"Have it your way, since I'm in my second Main Phase I'll use Supreme Arcanite Magician's effect to destroy Jessica's facedown monster!" Evan announced as the magician's attack dropped to 2400 and it fired its spell at Jessica's facedown Fire Princess destroying her. "I thought that was the monster you added earlier, it was either that or Solar Flare Dragon!"
"I'm not commenting on that." Jessica responded with a frown. "Now end your turn already!" Jessica commanded and Evan nodded before she drew her card. "Well. What do you know? Lava Golem will be getting some help!" Jessica said before playing her card. "I summon Tour Guide from the Underworld!"
"Crap, I know what this means!" Lance responded with a gulp as the red-haired woman in the tour guide outfit appeared on the field ready for battle (3/1000/600).
"That's right! And she may be limited these days but there's more than one Level 3 Dark Fiend Type Monster!" Jessica responded as she started inputting commands into her duel disk. "And speaking of the ban list, why not summon something that just came off the ban list? I special summon Sangan from my deck!" Jessica played the card and the small, three eyed fiend appeared on the field alongside Tour Guide (3/1000/600). "Let's get this over with, I use my two monsters to open up the overlay network!" Jessica announced as the two monsters were sucked into the portal.
"You know, there's one thing I've been wondering throughout the tournament." Lance commented as Acid Golem of Destruction appeared on the field (Rank: 3/3000/3000). "How did you get your hands on that card? The Numbers cards are some of the rarest in the game!"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Jessica asked before playing another card. "I activate Onmi-Gami Combo! Now I know it's been a while since my team's first match in the tournament but let's see if you remember this card's effect!"
"You can detach both overlay units from Acid Golem to let it attack twice." Lance responded as he folded his arms. "And I bet your next card is Creature Swap!"
"That's right!" Jessica responded with a grin as she played the Spell Card. "And I'll take Supreme Arcanite Magician!" Jessica added and the two monsters swapped places. "And just to make the defeat final, Supreme Arcanite Magician, attack Thestalos!" Jessica commanded and the two monsters launched their attacks at each other destroying them both. "Now I could end my turn there but I want to make absolutely sure that Evan will lose the duel on his turn so I activate Priority Target!" Jessica activated her facedown card which depicted two duelists facing someone who clearly had a visor on that had pin-pointed the second duelist.
"That's a new one." Lance commented as the trap card.
"It was just released but it comes in handy." Jessica responded as she folded her arms. "As for what it does, well it can only be used in a tag team duel and it allows me to inflict four hundred points of damage for each monster on the field to one of my opponents, I chose Evan!" Jessica added and Evan winced as his life-points dropped to three thousand. "All we need to do now is crush your girlfriend's pathetic team Lance and we'll be through to the finals! I end my turn."
"And we all know what that means." Lance commented before drawing his card, however he didn't bother looking at it because the combined effect damage from Acid Golem and Lava Golem was more than enough to wipe out his life-points. "We may be down but Chloe and Chelsea will defeat you!"
"Us, defeated by two former Osiris Red Rejects who got lucky in their promotion duels? I think not!" Cameron responded before drawing his card. "There's no point in making a move because we clearly have the match won! I pass my turn."
"I wouldn't underestimate Chloe and Chelsea if I were you." Evan said as he drew his card and, like Lance, didn't give it a second look as his life-points dropped to zero. "Chloe nearly beat you once before Cameron and since that will be an official school duel you can't use underhanded tactics to get out of it."
"I won't need it!" Cameron responded smugly as the holograms disappeared.
"Here are your winners, Cameron Matthews and Jessica Stevens!" Hamden announced earning a round of boos as Lance and Evan stepped off the arena. "And that means the Semi-Finals are set! The Obelisk Blue Team that everyone loves to hate will take on the underdog Ra Yellow team as Cameron and Jessica will take on Chloe and Chelsea and that match is next!"
"Man, they were so close to winning!" Chloe sighed as the two girls watched the duel in the room, her roommate frowned in response as Chelsea closed the laptop lid. "If the boys want to watch the match maybe you should leave it open, considering how many passwords you've got on that thing the duel might've ended by the time they log in."
"Good point." Chelsea nodded in agreement before lifting the lid back up and signing back in.
"We're going to have to find way a way to counter Ophion and Acid Golem!" Chloe said as she folded her arms. "Otherwise, I won't get revenge on Cameron for dragging my name through the mud."
"That's easier said than done but you've got XYZ Encore and the new Silent Magician card in your deck, those are effective counters against both monsters." Chelsea nodded in agreement before she stood up. "Come on, we'd better not keep the fans waiting!"
"Don't need to tell me twice." Chloe responded before the two girls left the room and saw two of the teachers waiting for them. "Jeff? Tracy?"
"Once the outcome of the duel became clear Hamden asked us to have a brief chat with you two before the duel." Jeff commented as he glanced at the two girls. "We know you've had trouble with Cameron and Jessica in the past, especially you Chloe, but we have to make one thing clear, don't turn off the safeties."
"Really? You're still going on about that?" Chloe groaned as she ran a hand down her face. "That only happened once and I got a verbal ass kicking from everyone I know because of it!"
"We know that Chloe, and we also know why you did it in the first place." Tracy nodded in understanding before sighing. "But this time is different, as this is an official school duel if you move your hand anywhere near the switch to turn off the safeties you'll be expelled on the spot! Same goes for you Chelsea!"
"Why are you getting on my case about it?" Chelsea protested as she folded her arms. "I was just a witness to the first duel between Chloe and Cameron, I wasn't encouraging Chloe to do it!"
"I know that, or have you forgotten that I was there too?" Jeff asked and Chelsea frowned in response. "But we also know that the animosity between the four of you could reach a boiling point at any time during the match, this is just a precaution."
"Maria and Sarah also took the liberty of giving similar warnings to Cameron and Jessica about trying to provoke you two during the match." Tracy added before sighing. "They rolled their eyes at first but once Maria and Sarah brought up the topic of expulsion they took their words very seriously, now go on, Cameron and Jessica are waiting for you and so is your boyfriend for that matter Chloe."
"Yeah, sure." Chloe nodded in response before leading Chelsea towards the main duel arena. "I'm not even that concerned about turning off the safeties, I just want to eliminate them from the tournament! Here's hoping that me and Chelsea can do just that!" Chloe thought as she and Chelsea walked off.