It had been a few minutes since the last Quarter Finals match between the team of Lance and Evan and the team of Cameron and Jessica and whilst the victorious duo of Cameron and Jessica were awaiting the arrival of their opponents the team they had just defeated were on their way back to the room were the two girls had been watching the match.
"I'm honestly not sure if I would've done anything different in that match." Lance commented as he ran a hand through his hair. "Sure, my summoning of Lava Golem did ultimately defeat us but on the other hand? I needed a way to get rid of Cameron's monsters and as I found out whilst I was reshuffling my deck my copy of Mirror Force was at the bottom of my deck."
"That is the danger of this game, luck plays just as an important a role as skill and you had some bad luck there." Evan responded with a shrug as the two boys walked down the hallway. "Regardless, it's up to Chloe and Chelsea to ensure that they don't make it to the finals now."
"Yeah, I guess my girlfriend's good luck charm wasn't good enough." Lance commented not noticing that his girlfriend and her roommate was walking towards them. "I think I needed a full on make-out session just to be sure."
"And you would've missed the match, causing your team to forfeit it." Chloe chimed in and Lance let out a nervous laugh before turning around and seeing his girlfriend standing in front of him with her arms crossed. "Besides, I thought you were still waiting on the condoms before we had sex for the first time?"
"I am but the wait is so long that I'm seriously considering just buying some when summer break starts." Lance responded before sharing a quick kiss with Chloe. "Seriously though, you guys have a plan for defeating them, right?"
"Who needs a plan when winging it has gotten me this far in the tournament?" Chloe asked with a grin before sweat-dropping. "I mean yeah, it has its drawbacks, just look at the reason we ended up dueling Kimberly's team in the fourth round."
"We'll be fine, even if he does summon Ophion it won't completely cripple us." Chelsea responded with a grin as she held up her duel disk. "Don't forget, my deck doesn't rely on high level monsters as much as Chloe's does so unless they're packing something that can prevent direct attacks we'll be seeing Theresa and Brandon in the finals." Chelsea added before motioning to Chloe. "Come on, we've got some ass to kick, I left my laptop on so you guys can watch Cameron and Jessica's defeat, just don't touch any of my private stuff like my porn folders or homework."
"We appreciate that, and I'm not even going to ask what kind of porn you're into." Evan responded getting a laugh out of the girls before they started to walk off. "One last thing, I know you have a sordid history with Cameron and Jessica but…"
"Don't turn off the safeties?" Chloe interrupted him as she glanced over her shoulder at Evan who nodded in response. "You don't have to worry about that, Hamden had Jeff and Tracy pay us a visit once the match result became clear to warn us that doing that would mean immediate expulsion."
"And I'm not looking forward to explaining that one to my folks." Chelsea added as she turned around. "They've already threatened me with military academy if I get expelled again but with a reason like that on top of it? I'd rather not think about it."
"I understand, and good luck." Evan responded before the four teens went their separate ways.
"Welcome to the Semi-Finals of the Tag Team Tournament!" Hamden announced as Chloe and Chelsea made their entrances and immediately started glaring daggers at their opponents. "And what a match this will be! It's the Obelisk Blue team that everyone loves to hate Cameron Matthews and Jessica Stevens taking on the former Osiris Red students turned Ra Yellow underdogs Chloe Richardson and Chelsea Cunningham!"
"I see your wearing the same top you wore during the Battle City Semi-Finals." Cameron commented to Chloe as the two girls stepped onto the arena. "If you're hoping that it'll be a good luck charm then don't! We all know you got lucky against Otto anyway."
"You ever get tired of being a broken record Cameron?" Chloe asked as she glared at him. "Because you've been saying practically the same thing since I got back from Battle City! Besides, this is more than just about the tournament for me." Chloe added as the two girls activated their duel disks. "This is about revenge!"
"Still hung up on the joke I made during our last duel?" Cameron asked with a big grin on his face as Chloe's glare intensified. "Well…..."
"Don't even think about making any offensive statements Cameron." Hamden interrupted him and the four duelists looked up. "Normally now would be the time I'd announce the order the teams will be dueling in, however there is one thing I need to make clear, have a look around you."
"Huh?" Chloe asked before the four duelists looked around, it took them a few seconds before it hit them. "DAS?"
"The Disciplinary Action Squad has the duel arena completely surrounded." Hamden continued as the duelists noticed the distinctive black uniforms of the DAS. "To ensure that if there are any serious rule violations swift action can be taken."
"Is that really necessary?" Cameron asked with a scoff as he looked around.
"The last time you dueled Chloe you made an offensive remark about her dead mother just so you could avoid losing a duel and the two of you have repeatedly made homophobic remarks about Chelsea's sexual orientation so yes, it is necessary." Hamden responded and Cameron went to respond before stopping in his tracks. "Now that that unfortunate business is out of the way, Cameron will go first followed by Chloe, then Jessica and finally Chelsea." Hamden added and the two Ra Yellow students frowned as they went to swap places with their opponents.
"You'll be crushed under the weight of Ophion Richardson!" Cameron whispered to Chloe as he walked past her. "And even if you do get past him, you'll never defeat the rest of my monsters!"
"I nearly beat you once Cameron." Chloe responded with a glare as she walked past the much taller student. "And this time, I'm finishing what I started on the day I returned from Battle City!"
"Your pathetic Watt Monsters won't stand a chance against my deck!" Jessica taunted Chelsea as the two girls walked past each other. "Your turn won't even start before you lose half of your life-points!"
"At least I beat all my opponents fairly!" Chelsea responded as she glared at Jessica. "But you? Whenever the going got tough you hid behind your Acid Golem! And you never answered Evan's question about how you got that thing!"
"If I didn't reveal it to a fellow Obelisk Blue student what makes you think that I'll reveal it to a Ra Yellow student?" Jessica asked rhetorically before the two teams made their way to their respective sides of the field and enabled to auto-shuffle feature on their disks.
"Begin!" Hamden called out as the disks stopped shuffling and the four duelists drew their opening hands.
"YES! I drew Silent Magician Level Four AND Level Up in my opening hand!" Chloe thought with a big grin on her face as she looked over the cards in her hand. "The only way this could be more perfect is if I was going first but either way? They're in trouble and they don't even know it."
"Perfect, I have drawn my counter strategy already!" Cameron thought as he looked at his opening hand. "Richardson, how many times have you been told about your terrible poker face?"
"More times than I can count." Chloe responded as she turned her attention back to Cameron. "Why?"
"I'll show you why!" Cameron responded as he played a card. "I activate Lullaby of Obedience! This comes with the hefty cost of 2000 life-points." Cameron added before wincing as his life-points dropped to 6000. "But I can declare one monster name and you must confirm whether it's in your deck by searching for it, I declare Silent Magician Level 8!"
"I don't even need to search through my deck to tell you that!" Chloe responded before inputting commands into her duel disk and retrieving the card. "Now what?"
"I'll take it!" Cameron responded and Chloe hesitated. "Confused? Let me spell it out for you! If the targeted player has that card in their deck I can either add it to my hand…." Cameron trailed off before grinning broadly. "Or I can Special Summon it to my side of the field whilst ignoring the summoning conditions."
"You're kidding?!" Chloe asked as her eyes widened and Cameron's grin grew wider.
"I'm completely serious, now hand it over!" Cameron responded and Chloe hesitated before tossing him the card. "I chose to Special Summon it!" Cameron added before playing the card and Chloe's ace monster appeared on the field ready for battle (8/3500/1000).
"Chloe, you do have more than one copy of that card, right?" Chelsea asked as she turned to her roommate who shook her head.
"It's not as if I haven't tried but I had a hard-enough time getting my hands on one copy of that monster and the support cards, let alone three!" Chloe responded with a sigh and Cameron's grin grew even wider.
"And that means that our trip to the finals is all but assured, I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Cameron set the two cards down and Chloe hesitated before drawing her card.
"Great, now what?" Chloe thought as she looked over the field. "Cameron has my best monster and I have Silent Magician Level Four, on one hand if I can wait out the five turns Silent Magician Level Four can match her grown up version point for point but Silent Magician Level 8 is my best monster for a reason and there's no way Cameron will let me keep Silent Magician Level Four on the field long enough, better play it safe for now!" Chloe thought before picking up three cards. "I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode to end my turn!"
"That's it? Seems you really are a one-trick pony!" Jessica responded as she drew her card. "It almost feels like a waste to do anything since Cameron has your magician working for us but I'm not about to half ass my turn just because we have the advantage!"
"Let me see if I can predict your turn." Chelsea snarked as she glanced at Jessica. "First, you activate Dark Room of Nightmare, then you play some kind of burn spell card, then you either end your turn or you set a monster and end your turn." Chelsea continued as Jessica glared at her. "You call Chloe a one trick pony yet you have practically been making the same opening move since your first duel in the tournament, so, at what point should I introduce Mrs. Pot to Mr. Kettle?"
"Shut up!" Jessica snapped at her before playing her card. "And just to prove you wrong, I set one card in defense mode and two cards facedown." Jessica said as the three cards appeared on the field. "And I end my turn."
"Holy shit! Some variety! What next? Will you last a duel without summoning Acid Golem?" Chelsea asked and Jessica glared at her before Chelsea drew her card. "But as for me? Why fix what isn't broken? I summon Wattcobra!"
"You realize that you've just summoned a sitting duck, right?" Cameron asked as the multicolored snake appeared on the field (4/1000/500). "My monster…."
"That isn't your monster!" Chloe interrupted him as she glared at Cameron clearly getting angry at him. "You stole it from my deck and it's only a matter of time before I get it back!" Chloe added and Cameron cleared his throat.
"As I was saying, Silent Magician Level 8 is far stronger than that pathetic cobra and there's no way I'm letting it stay on the field long enough for you to attack my life-points!" Cameron added and Chelsea grinned.
"Try and stop me! I set three cards facedown and end my turn." Chelsea set the two cards down and Cameron smirked as he drew his card.
"Well, you dared me to try and stop you, so I will! Silent Magician, attack Wattcobra!" Cameron commanded and the magician prepared her attack….
"Guess again Cameron! I activate my Trap Card Interdimensional Matter Transporter!" Chelsea activated her trap causing the other duelists to do a double take as Wattcobra vanished from the field just before Silent Magician could get her attack off. "Oh, this is so going to hurt in the morning!"
"You know Cunningham, if you wanted to lose the duel this badly, you could've just surrendered!" Cameron said with a smirk before pointing at Chelsea. "Silent Magician, she is your new target! Attack her life-points directly!" Cameron commanded and Silent Magician fired a beam of white light from her staff that hit Chelsea square in the chest and brought her life-points down to 4500.
"Chelsea, are you okay?" Chloe asked with a concerned look on her face and Chelsea gave her roommate a reassuring grin.
"You know me, I'm tougher than I look!" Chelsea responded before her other facedown card flipped up. "And so are my monsters for that matter but more importantly your attack has allowed me to activate my Damage Condenser Trap Card!" Chelsea said as a broad grin spread across her face. "And since there are no Watt Monsters available that are as strong as Chloe's monster this means that I can special summon anything from my deck, as long as it's a monster obviously."
"Obviously!" Cameron responded as he rolled his eyes. "Go ahead and summon Wattaildragon or Wattcentaur, see if I care! Neither of those monsters can hold a candle to Silent Magician!"
"If there's one thing I've learned from running a Watt deck, it's that size and strength doesn't always matter!" Chelsea responded as she started inputting commands into her duel disk. "Then again, you are probably very used to hearing that size doesn't matter whenever you sleep with Jessica!" Chelsea said with a grin causing the crowd to erupt with laughter whilst Chloe managed to stifle a giggle and even the DAS agents were having trouble keeping a straight face whilst Cameron and Jessica growled.
"Summon whatever pathetic monster you want so I can end my turn!" Cameron said as his eyes narrowed and Chelsea retrieved the card from her deck.
"Fine, and to prove that size doesn't matter I summon Wattbetta in defense mode!" Chelsea announced as she played her card and the small orange fish appeared on the field (1/100/0). "Now, are you done? Because I have a monster to retrieve from my pocket!"
"I am done!" Cameron nodded in response and once Wattcobra was back on the field Chloe drew her card.
"Okay, it's clear that Chelsea is setting up for a Synchro Summon but even so, that was a big risk and I'm not sure if the risk was worth the reward." Chloe thought as she glanced over at her roommates' side of the field. "And then there's Wattbetta, Jessica doesn't usually attack unless it's with Acid Golem of Destruction but from what I've seen of her deck all of her non XYZ monsters can defeat Chelsea's Tuner Monster easily, I hope she knows what she's doing because I don't!" Chloe thought before looking at her drawn card and playing it. "I activate Spellbook inside the Pot!"
"You made us wait all that time for a card that's easily the most overused Spell Card since Card of Sanctity's Pre-Errata days?" Cameron asked with a scoff as all four duelists drew three cards. "If I didn't know better I'd say that you were trying to test our patience!"
"It may be overused but it still comes in handy!" Chloe responded as she sent her Spell Card to the graveyard and looked over her newly drawn cards. "Magical Exemplar doesn't really have a purpose outside of making Synchro Summons easier and I don't have any of my usual ways of getting monsters to the graveyard, Blade Knight won't really help either because I have too many cards in my hand and my last card…..." As soon as Chloe laid eyes on her third card she set it. "I set one card facedown and I end my turn."
"It's almost like you're up shit creek without a paddle!" Jessica said with a grin before drawing her card, she looked at it briefly before picking up another card and playing them both. "I activate Poison of the Old Man! But rather than use this Spell Card's burn effect I'm going to use this Spell Card's heal effect to get a refund on the life-points my boyfriend just lost so he could get his hands on your magician!"
"Much appreciated!" Cameron said with a grin as his life-points increased to 8400 whilst Jessica's increased to 10,400. "In fact, I appreciate it so much that I am going to let you use our new toy!" Cameron said clearly trying to provoke Chloe who growled.
"Chloe, calm down!" Silent Magician warned her and Chloe stopped in her tracks. "It's clear that they are trying to provoke you like Cameron did in your first duel with him, don't let him get under your skin!"
"Yeah well, he's doing a damn good job of it!" Chloe thought as she glared at her opponents. "Wait, you can still talk to me?"
"Just because Cameron's controlling me doesn't mean I can't be in communication with you, and no, I don't know what he's planning." Silent Magician responded and Chloe took a deep breath. "Now activate the card you just set before it's too late!"
"I was getting too that!" Chloe thought before her trap card flipped up. "Don't even think about it Jessica!" Chloe added before a deafening roar drowned out Jessica's command causing Silent Magician to back off in the process. "I activate Threatening Roar! Silent Magician Level 8 may be immune to Spell Card effects but Trap Cards are another matter!"
"You'll run out of trap cards eventually and your roommate will run out of life-points not long after your traps are used up!" Jessica responded before looking over her hand. "Damn it! Where are my burn cards! The only monster I have is Sangan and I set that card down last turn!" Jessica thought before turning to Chelsea. "It's your move!"
"Let's hope I'm right about Chloe's monster!" Chelsea thought as she drew her card. "I start my turn by summoning a card I haven't used in a while, Wattpheasant!" Chelsea played the card and the light blue and red pheasant appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1000/800).
"I do love eating pheasant, not an easy protein to cook but if you can cook it perfectly…." Cameron trailed off tauntingly as the two girls glared at him. "And I'll soon be roasting your pheasant!"
"You know, I've heard a lot of taunts since enrolling here and even more before I enrolled here but threatening to eat your opponent's monster for dinner? That's a new one!" Chelsea responded before grinning as she switched Wattbetta to attack mode. "But enough about your dinner plans because like Wattcobra Wattpheasant can bypass your monsters and attack you directly! Do it Wattpheasant!" Chelsea commanded and the pheasant flew straight over Silent Magician and pecked away at Cameron bringing his life-points down to 7400.
"Is that the best you've got? Because if yes than this duel will be even easier than I thought!" Cameron responded but before he could say another word a portal opened beneath Silent Magician and she dropped down into it. "What?!"
"That was Wattpheasant's other effect! When he deals damage to you via a direct attack you lose more than just your life-points because Wattpheasant can banish one card you control until the end phase." Chelsea explained as she folded her arms with a grin on her face. "And as you can see, I chose Silent Magician!"
"Fine! I'll just get back Richardson's pathetic monster as soon as your turn is done!" Cameron responded before noticing the grin on Chloe's face. "Or is there something you're not telling me?"
"You tell me by reading Silent Magician's effect aloud." Chloe responded and Cameron frowned before reading it.
"Fine, I'll humor you!" Cameron responded before looking over the card effect. "Cannot be normal summoned/set, can only be Special Summoned Silent Magician Level 4 and cannot be…..." Cameron trailed off before it hit him. "Silent Magician Level 8 can't be Special Summoned through effects other than Silent Magician Level 4!"
"That's right! So, I'll be taking my card back!" Chloe responded as she held her hand out expectedly and Cameron growled.
"Hold it! Let's get an official word on this!" Cameron said before turning towards the skybox. "If Silent Magician Level 8 is banished whilst under your opponent's control, does it return to you or stay with your opponent?"
"I was consulting with the other teachers on this once Chelsea's tactic became clear." Hamden responded before clearing his throat. "And on a unanimous decision, it was decided that Silent Magician Level 8 returns to its owner!" Hamden added and Cameron growled before tossing Silent Magician back at Chloe who caught it and slipped it into her jeans pocket. "Continue!"
"Now that that's out the way!" Chelsea said before pointing to Wattcobra and Wattbetta. "Attack Cameron's life-points directly!" Chelsea commanded and the two monsters launched themselves at Cameron bringing his life-points down to 6300. "This triggers their effects, first Wattcobra lets me search out another Watt Monster and then Wattbetta forces you to discard a card from your hand, and knowing this tournament's track record that goes for you both!" Chelsea added as she added a monster to her hand and her opponents discarded cards from their hands.
"Yes, but by leaving Wattbetta in attack mode you've left him open to attack and with a measly 100 attack points I'll crush him easily!" Cameron responded with a smirk as he folded his arms. "And just because Chloe has her magician back doesn't mean I can't defeat you idiots in other ways, my deck has plenty of powerful monsters!"
"Then, where are they? The only monster you've summoned since your first turn is Chloe's magician!" Chelsea pointed out and Cameron frowned. "Besides, Wattbetta isn't sticking around long enough for you to do that! I activate my facedown card Urgent Tuning!"
"I knew it!" Cameron growled as Wattbetta and Wattpheasant leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon. "You are lucky that I don't have the means to summon Ophion just yet!"
"And at the rate we're going? We'll beat you long before you get a chance to summon that big ugly thing!" Chelsea responded as the bright flash enveloped the field. "I Synchro Summon Wattchimera!" Chelsea announced as she played the card and the monster that represented her duel spirit guide landed on the field ready for battle (6/1400/1200). "And guess what Cameron? My battle phase is still going! Wattchimera, attack his life-points directly!" Chelsea commanded and the monster pounced on Cameron without hesitation bringing his life-points down to 4900. "Call that revenge for attacking me with my friend's monster! Now Wattchimera's effect activates forcing you to move one card from your hand to the top of your deck!"
"I call it a dumb move!" Cameron responded as he resolved Wattchimera's effect. "Did you really think that I wouldn't have a back-up plan if you found a way around Silent Magician? I activate my own Damage Condenser and I use it to summon Steelswarm Cell!" Cameron announced as he played the card and the small black insect like fiend appeared on the field (1/0/0).
"Great, now he has the means to Tribute Summon his stronger Steelswarms!" Chelsea thought before looking over her hand. "I end my turn by setting two cards facedown." Chelsea announced as the two cards appeared on the field and Cameron drew his card.
"Cunningham, you may have derailed my initial strategy but I have a new one that will get me back on track!" Cameron commented with a smirk before motioning to Steelswarm Cell. "I tribute Steelswarm Cell for a monster you'll undoubtedly recognize from my last duel, Steelswarm Moth!" Cameron played the card and Steelswarm Cell disappeared from the field only to be swiftly replaced by Steelswarm Moth (6/2400/0). "And now Steelswarm Moth's effect activates! I pay a thousand life-points to return Wattchimera to your extra deck!"
"You sure you can afford that?" Chelsea asked as she tried to keep her cool and Wattchimera disappeared from the field whilst Cameron's life-points dropped to 3900. "You were already trailing from turn one and you needed your girlfriend to bail you out!"
"I wouldn't expect someone of the middle class to understand but when you come from money there's little you can't afford!" Cameron responded as Chelsea returned her Synchro Monster to the graveyard. "And as the saying goes, the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer! Steelswarm Moth, attack Wattcobra!" Cameron commanded and the humanoid moth flew towards Chelsea's monster…...
"Sorry but you've just been taxed!" Chloe interrupted him as her trap card flipped up. "I activate Shift and I use this to force you to attack my facedown monster instead!"
"Have it your way, Cunningham will be defeated sooner or later!" Cameron responded as the moth changed course and slashed Chloe's monster, revealed to be Familiar Knight (3/1200/1400) which was quickly destroyed. "Familiar Knight, pardon the pun but that card is quite familiar to me!"
"Leave the bad puns to my boyfriend!" Chloe responded as a large sweat-drop rolled down her head. "But yeah, now that Familiar Knight's been destroyed we can each Special Summon a Level Four Monster from our hands! Let's see if this is familiar to you as well!" Chloe added as she played a card and Silent Magician Level Four appeared on the field in Familiar Knight's place (4/1000/1000).
"Even if Silent Magician Level 8 was back in your deck your pathetic little magician won't last long enough to be anywhere near my moth's power! I use Familiar Knight's effect to Special Summon Steelswarm Caller from my hand!" Cameron played the card and the large, praying mantis like monster appeared on the field (4/1700/0). "Now to continue my move…."
"Hey asshole, I don't know if you've noticed but the effect of Chloe's knight applies to everyone, as long as they can summon a monster which your girlfriend clearly can't!" Chelsea interrupted him as she motioned to the frown on Jessica's face. "But I can! And I use the effect of Chloe's knight to Special Summon another Watt Turner Monster, Wattfox!" Chelsea played the card and the small yellow fox appeared on the field crouching down (2/800/100).
"Unless you have another Urgent Tuning facedown I don't see how it can help you!" Cameron responded as one of Chelsea's facedown cards flipped up.
"No but I do have this! The trap card Judgment of Thunder! And since you're so eager to attack with Steelswarm Caller I'm choosing to destroy him!" Chelsea explained and Cameron's eyes widened as lightning struck his monster destroying it. "You were saying?"
"I set one card facedown and end my turn." Cameron set the card and Chloe grinned before drawing her card.
"Nice save partner!" Chloe said as she tuned to her roommate who gave her the thumbs up gesture in response. "And what's even better is that our teamwork prevented Cameron from pulling off another Tribute Summon, though I have to wonder why he didn't summon Steelswarm Caller sooner if he already had it in his hand." Chloe thought before glancing over at Chelsea. "Not that I'm complaining because that move would've put her even further behind on life-points and the last thing this team needs is Chelsea losing her temper!"
"Are you going to make a move or not?" Cameron said impatiently as he tapped his foot. "I know the school dropped the time limit after round two but some of us have classes this afternoon!"
"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you!" Chloe responded before looking over her hand. "I summon Blade Knight!" Chloe played the card and the knight in light blue armor appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1600/1000). "There's a good chance that Jessica's facedown monster is either of her Stealth Birds but I don't have anything in my hand that can attack over that so I'll have to take a chance!" Chloe thought before pointing to the facedown monster. "Blade Knight, attack Jessica's facedown monster!" Chloe commanded and the knight lunged at the monster, revealing it to be Sangan (3/1000/600) which was quickly destroyed.
"Thanks for that!" Jessica said with a smirk as she started inputting commands into her duel disk.
"And now I'm not sure if I would've been better off attacking into Stealth Bird or not!" Chloe thought as Jessica added the monster to her hand. "Let's see how thankful you are after this! Silent Magician Level Four, attack her life-points directly!" Chloe commanded and the magician fired off her attack at Jessica knocking her life-points down to 7000.
"Is that the best you've got? I've felt mosquito bites that were more painful than that!" Jessica scoffed and Chloe frowned.
"That's it for my turn." Chloe announced and Jessica drew her card causing Silent Magician to gain her first counter and first five-hundred attack points.
"Finally!" Jessica thought before quickly playing the Spell Card she had drawn. "First I activate Dark Room of Nightmare and to follow that up I play Tremendous Fire!" Jessica played her two spell cards and her opponents winced as their life-points dropped to 6700 for Chloe and 3200 for Chelsea. "And trust me, my deck has a lot more where that came from."
"Don't forget." Chelsea said with a grin as she glared at Jessica. "Tremendous Fire also burns you guys!" Chelsea added as Cameron and Jessica's life-points dropped to 3400 and 6500 respectively.
"I know how my own cards work!" Jessica snapped at Chelsea before picking up the card she had retrieved with Sangan's effect. "I set one monster in defense mode and end my turn!" Jessica announced and Chelsea drew her card.
"Okay, on one hand I'm behind on life-points but on the other hand the difference between me and Cameron's life-points are about as tiny as his dick!" Chelsea thought as she glanced over the field. "That's the only thing keeping my temper in check, at least I think that's the reason, but knowing Cameron he'll find a way to give his life-points a boost." Chelsea thought before deciding on a move. "I switch Wattfox to defense mode!" Chelsea announced as the small fox crouched down. "And I attack Cameron's life-points directly!" Chelsea commanded and Wattcobra leapt over Steelswarm Moth before biting Cameron on the arm bringing his life-points down to 2400.
"And obviously, that means you can search for another Watt Monster." Cameron grunted in response and Chelsea nodded before she inputted her commands into her duel disk.
"You don't seem to have your way of countering my strategy so why not?" Chelsea asked rhetorically with a shrug before retrieving the card and adding it to her hand. "That's it for my turn!"
"Why didn't Chelsea go for another Synchro Summon?" Chloe thought as Cameron drew his card causing Silent Magician to gain another counter and another five hundred attack points. "I get that Steelswarm Moth is stronger than either of her Synchro Monsters but it's like she said, the strength of her Watt Monsters isn't in their attack points!"
"No sign of my trap card to derail Chelsea's strategy." Cameron thought before grinning broadly. "But this will do just as well! Hell, I might not need my counter strategy after all!" Cameron thought before playing his card. "I suppose you're expecting me to attack either of Chloe's monsters or your snake? Well, guess again! My target is your fox and I feel like going fox hunting! I activate my Spell Card Big Bang Shot!"
"Yep, this is definitely going to hurt in the morning!" Chelsea thought with a gulp as Steelswarm Moth's attack increased to 2800.
"After this move, all it will take is one burn Spell Card from Jessica and you're out of the duel! Steelswarm Moth, attack Wattfox!" Cameron commanded and Chelsea braced herself as the huge moth like creature flew towards Wattfox and slashed him into ribbons knocking Chelsea down to 500 life-points. "And to think, I expected a challenge!"
"Chelsea, just take a deep breath and try to stay calm!" Chloe said as she noticed her roommate starting to get angry whilst she sent Wattfox to the graveyard. "There are ways we can turn things around!"
"Well I'm open to any fucking ideas you've got!" Chelsea snapped at Chloe causing her roommate to take a step back. "But as it stands? I'm one burn card away from you fending for yourself and I don't want to go out that way!"
"And you won't!" Chloe responded as Chelsea took several deep breaths. "You know as well as I do that our decks have several ways to help us recover life-points, you'll just have to hope that Jessica doesn't drew another burn card!"
"She may as well be hoping for our decks to spontaneously combust!" Cameron scoffed but the two girls ignored him.
"You're right." Chelsea said as she took a deep breath. "And I'm sorry for snapping at you." Chelsea said before turning to Cameron. "Are you done yet?"
"I thought you'd never ask! I end my turn." Cameron announced and Chloe drew her card.
"Mystical Space Typhoon! With this I can destroy Big Bang Shot and take out Steelswarm Moth at the same time!" Chloe thought before looking over the field. "But on the other hand? Both Cameron and Jessica have unused facedown cards, maybe I should try to bluff them?" Chloe thought before picking up Level Up and setting the two cards. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn!" Chloe announced and Jessica grinned as she drew her card causing Silent Magician to get even stronger.
"So, what's Chelsea's fate?" Jessica asked before looking at her drawn card…...and frowning. "You got lucky this time! I set one card facedown and end my turn!" Jessica announced and Chelsea took a deep breath before drawing her card.
"As much as I want to deal damage to Cameron's life-points I'm low one life-points myself and it won't matter what position Wattcobra is in, as soon as he attacks my monster with Steelswarm Moth the duel's over for me!" Chelsea thought before looking at her drawn card. "Or is it?" Chelsea thought before setting the card. "I set one card facedown and I attack Cameron's life-points directly!" Chelsea announced and Wattcobra made the leap one more time before biting Cameron and bringing his life-points down to 1400.
"Defiant until the end, are we? It won't matter!" Cameron scoffed as he glared at Chelsea whilst she inputted the commands into her duel disk. "As soon as I attack with Steelswarm Moth the duel may as well be over!"
"Then what are you waiting for? Other than for me to end my turn?" Chelsea asked before setting the monster she had just retrieved from her deck. "I set this monster in defense mode and end my turn."
"Defense mode, attack mode, your finished either way!" Cameron responded before drawing his card causing Silent Magician's attack to increase to three thousand in the process. "And just to ensure that Chloe doesn't get any ideas about attacking my moth with that magician of hers, I activate Raigeki Break!" Cameron activated her trap and Chloe shielded her eyes as Cameron discarded a card from his hand causing lightning to strike her magician destroying it. "Now that I've eliminated one pest, I'll eliminate another, Steelswarm Moth, attack Wattcobra and finish her off!"
"You destroyed the wrong card with Raigeki Break Cameron!" Chloe responded as her facedown card flipped up. "And what a lucky break it was for us! I activate Mystical Space Typhoon and I use this to destroy Big Bang Shot taking Steelswarm Moth with it!"
"Sorry to disappoint but you're not getting rid of Cameron's monster that easily!" Jessica responded as her facedown card flipped up. "I activate Magic Jammer and I use it to jam your typhoon!" Jessica said as the storm subsided almost as quickly as it began. "You were saying Cameron?"
"Since you just started a chain I'll throw in my own link!" Chelsea chimed in as her trap card flipped up and she discarded a card. "You ever heard of De Ja Vu Cameron? I activate Rainbow Life!"
"What?!" Cameron yelled out as Steelswarm Moth slashed at Wattcobra but rather than reduce Chelsea's life-points to zero it instead increased hers to 2300. "It doesn't matter, your finished either way! I end my turn!" Cameron announced and Chloe drew her card.
"That was close but now we're back to square one." Chloe thought as she looked over the field. "Sure, Chelsea has a good chunk of her life-points back but most low-level Watt Monsters I've seen have really low defense points and if he can summon another monster on his turn?" Chloe shuddered at the thought before looking at her drawn card. "I activate Heaven's Lost Property!"
"Fine by me!" Cameron responded as the four duelists drew three cards and discarded two. "I seem to remember you being eliminated from the Battle Royal because you got decked out so if you want to repeat history I won't stop you!"
"It's said that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it, well I learn from my mistakes Cameron!" Chloe responded before looking at the cards she had drawn. "Huh, it's the card Marie slipped into my deck! I don't know how useful it'll be right now but it may be worth holding onto." Chloe thought before looking at her other cards. "First I activate Burial from a Different Dimension to move Silent Magician Level 8 from my removed from play slot to my graveyard!" Chloe played the card and retrieved the monster from her jeans pocket before sending it to the graveyard alongside her Spell Card.
"So, what's the plan Richardson? Use Level Modulation to Special Summon your best monster?" Cameron asked with a scoff as he folded his arms. "Even if you do there's one problem with your plan, you can't conduct your battle phase the same turn you use Level Modulation and I have several cards that can send your monster back to the graveyard just like that." Cameron added before snapping his fingers to drive the point home.
"Close but no cigar! I activate The Graveyard in the Fourth Dimension!" Chloe activated the Spell Card and grinned. "With this Spell Card, I can return two Level monsters to my deck from my graveyard." Chloe added before returning the two Silent Magicians to the graveyard and letting her deck auto-shuffle. "And even if you do have another copy of Lullaby of Obedience in your hand Cameron you can't afford to pay the life-point cost, guess there are some things you can't afford when you're born from money!"
"True but I don't need a glorified beatstick to beat you!" Cameron scoffed in response and Chloe glared at him.
"That ends my turn." Chloe announced and Jessica drew her card.
"Great, I draw a card that could've finished of Chelsea last turn just after Cameron unintentionally healed her life-points!" Jessica thought with a frown as she looked at the card in her hand. "Still, I can still use it!" Jessica thought before playing the card. "I use my last copy of Poison of the Old Man and this time? I'm using its effect to burn away your life-points!" Jessica explained and the two girls winced as their life-points dropped to 1200 and 5500 for Chloe. "But why stop there? I flip summon my facedown monster Stealth Bird!" Jessica added as the blue, transparent bird appeared on the field (3/700/1700) and the girls winced again as their life-points dropped to 500 and 4300 respectively. "I flip Stealth Bird back into defense mode." Jessica announced as the monster vanished from the field. "And end my turn."
"Rainbow Life may have kept me in the duel but now I'm back to square one!" Chelsea thought as she drew her card. "And if Jessica can get her Acid Golem out or Cameron can get Ophion out we may as well kiss our ticket to the finals goodbye." Chelsea thought before looking at her drawn card and grinning. "I may be low on life-points but as far as moves I can still make are concerned? I still plenty up my sleeve."
"Do any of them involve Wattcobra's search effect?" Cameron asked with a bored look on his face and Chelsea rolled her eyes.
"Your hardly one to talk about predictable moves! I activate Mystical Space Typhoon!" Chelsea played the card and her opponents' eyes widened as the storm destroyed Big Bang Shot taking Steelswarm Moth with it. "Good riddance! That's the only move I can make so I end my turn!" Chelsea announced and Cameron drew his card.
"If Chelsea remains in this duel any longer her Watt Monsters will continue to be a liability, I need to eliminate her and fast!" Cameron thought before looking at his drawn card. "First I activate my own Spellbook Inside the Pot!" Cameron played the card and all four duelists drew three cards. "Perfect!" Cameron thought before playing the card. "I summon Rescue Rabbit!"
"Chloe, if you've been holding onto Effect Veiler now's the time to use it!" Chelsea said with a gulp once she realized what Cameron was up to but her roommate shook her head as Rescue Rabbit appeared on the field (4/300/100).
"Trust me, if I had Effect Veiler in my hand I'd use it!" Chloe responded and Cameron grinned as he heard that.
"Excellent, then the stage is set! I use Rescue Rabbit's effect to Special Summon two copies with Evilswarm Heliotrope!" Cameron announced as the rabbit disappeared from the field and was replaced by the two fiend type monsters Chloe remembered very clearly from the Battle Royal (4/1950/850). "What's the matter Richardson? You were so eager to take me on a trip down memory lane during the Battle Royal but now that the shoes on the other foot you don't seem as eager!"
"We both know what you're about to XYZ Summon." Chloe responded as she glared at him. "So, get it over with!"
"Very well, I construct the Overlay Network!" Cameron called out as a portal opened behind the two fiend type monsters causing them to be sucked in as Cameron retrieved the card from his extra deck. "This card crippled your deck during the Battle Royal and now history will repeat itself! I XYZ Summon Evilswarm Ophion!" Cameron played the card and the large four-legged dragon emerged from the portal with a roar (Rank: 4/2550/1650).
"Now there's a monster I was in no hurry to see ever again." Chloe grunted as she glared at the monster. "Still, you're not the only one who has added countermeasures to their deck Cameron and this time I will beat Ophion!"
"I'd like to see you try!" Cameron responded before pointing to Blade Knight. "And since you were so kind to leave your knight in attack mode…..." Cameron trailed off before grinning broadly. "Evilswarm Ophion, attack her knight!" Cameron commanded and the dragon let loose with its breath weapon destroying the knight and bringing Chloe's life-points down to 3150. "What's the matter Richardson? No Rope of Life to bring back your knight this time?"
"Just shut up and end your turn already!" Chloe snapped at him and Cameron chuckled.
"Just as I thought!" Cameron responded before looking at his hand. "I activate Ophion's other effect, by detaching an overlay unit from it I can add one Infestation Spell Card to my hand." Cameron announced before inputting the commands into his duel disk.
"Yeah, I know." Chloe responded with an annoyed look on her face. "It's kinda hard to forget the effects of a monster that broken!"
"You may consider it broken but the folks at I2 clearly disagree, otherwise they would've banned it by now." Cameron responded as he retrieved the card from his deck. "I set one card facedown and end my turn!" Cameron announced and Chloe drew her card.
"Great, now I draw Silent Magician again!" Chloe thought as she looked at her drawn card. "If I had drawn this last turn I could've summoned Silent Magician Level 8 and rendered Ophion a dead draw, at least Cameron's Spellbook inside the Pot has left me with other options." Chloe thought before playing her card. "I summon Gemini Elf!" Chloe played the card and the twin elves appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1900/900). "Gemini Elf, attack Stealth Bird!" Chloe commanded and the twin elves fired their attacks at the facedown monster destroying it. "I end my turn." Chloe said with a deep breath as Jessica drew her card.
"If you idiots thought you were screwed before then get a load of this!" Jessica said with a grin before playing her card. "I summon Tour Guide from the Underworld!"
"Chloe?" Chelsea asked with a worried look on her face as the red-haired Tour Guide appeared on the field (3/1000/600).
"No sign of Effect Veiler." Chloe responded with a gulp and Jessica grinned.
"That's music to my ears, I use Tour Guide's effect to Special Summon Tour Bus from the Underworld!" Jessica played the card and sure enough Tour Bus from the Underworld, the same bus from Tour Guide's artwork, appeared on the field (3/1000/1000). "Now to seal our place in the finals, I construct the overlay network to XYZ Summon Acid Golem of Destruction."
"Make that two cards I was in no hurry to see again!" Chloe gulped as the two monsters were sucked into the overlay network and sure enough the monster that had defeated Evan and Lance returned to the field again (Rank: 3/3000/3000).
"My only regret is that I don't have my copy of Priority Target this time around, otherwise I'd ensure that Chloe was about to be eliminated." Jessica added before playing a card. "But I guess I can wait two turns for that, I activate Onmi-Gami Combo!" Jessica announced as she played her spell card and detached the overlay units. "Acid Golem, attack Gemini Elf and Chelsea's facedown monster!" Jessica commanded and the golem launched its fists flattening Gemini Elf and Chelsea's facedown Wattdragonfly (2/900/100) and bringing Chloe's life-points down to 2050.
"I know it's pointless because I know what you're going to do next." Chelsea commented with a sigh as she special summoned Wattcobra again in defense mode. "But I left my monster in defense mode anyway."
"Like that'll help you! I move to my second main phase and activate Creature Swap! So, I'll take your little snake and you'll take Acid Golem!" Jessica announced and Chelsea reluctantly tossed her monster to Jessica and Jessica did likewise with Acid Golem causing the two monsters to swap places. "And I end my turn, enjoy watching us win the finals from the cheap seats."
"You'll pay for this!" Chelsea growled as she drew her card but she knew it was only a formality as her life-points dropped to zero. "Chloe, no pressure but it's all up to you!"
"I know that." Chloe responded with a deep breath as her roommate jumped off the duel arena.
"As Chelsea has been eliminated from the duel the turn passes to Cameron." Hamden announced and Cameron smirked as he drew his card.
"As tempting as it is to end it right now with your partner's monster." Cameron said as he glanced over at Wattcobra. "I want to see you suffer, I pass my turn but you may as well surrender." Cameron added as Chloe drew her card causing her life-points to drop to fifty.
"Since I enrolled here I've often said that I'll never surrender as long as I have life-points left." Chloe responded as she took a deep breath. "I know it's not much but even with only fifty life-points left I'm still in the game and I refuse to surrender to the likes of you!" Chloe responded before looking at her drawn card. "I activate Magical Stone Excavation, I discard two cards and I get to add one Spell Card to my hand." Chloe explained before discarding Clear Effector and Magical Exemplar and retrieving the Spell Card. "And now, I play it, Spellbook inside the Pot!"
"Are you really that desperate?" Cameron scoffed as the three duelists drew their cards. "There's no chance that three cards can turn things around for you!" Cameron added as Chloe looked at the three cards.
"That's where your wrong Cameron, I've drawn exactly what I need!" Chloe said before playing a card. "How's this for a trip down memory lane? I activate Owner's Seal!"
"SHIT!" Jessica yelled out as Wattcobra went over to Chloe's side of the field and Acid Golem returned to hers. "So, what? I can't attack with Acid Golem but Cameron can attack with Ophion and once he does your history!"
"He won't get a chance because Ophion won't be on the field for much longer." Chloe responded before playing a card. "I activate XYZ Encore, with this I return Ophion to the extra deck and summon your Heliotropes in his place with their levels reduced by one!" Chloe added and Cameron's eyes widened as Ophion disappeared from the field and the two weaker fiends returned to the field. "Now that he's gone I bring back Silent Magician Level 4!" Chloe played the card and Silent Magician Level 4 returned to the field undeterred by how outnumbered she was.
"If this is your big play then I'm not impressed, even my Heliotropes can you can finish you off with one attack on your pathetic magician!" Cameron taunted her and Chloe grinned as she flipped up her facedown cards.
"You'd better watch who you call pathetic, I activate Level Up and Emergency Provisions! First, Emergency Provisions sends my Level Up Spell Card to the graveyard to give my life-points a boost." Chloe said as her life-points rose to 1050 as Silent Magician started glowing and growing. "And most importantly, Level Up lets me level up Silent Magician Level 4 to the very monster you tried to beat me with from the very beginning!" Chloe announced as she played the card and Silent Magician Level 8 returned to the field ready for battle. "Good to have you back on my side Silent Magician!"
"The feeling is mutual." Silent Magician responded with a smile before turning to her opponents. "I know what you're planning so just pray this works."
"I've been praying for the past five minutes, trust me on that." Chloe responded before playing another card. "Now to set up your defeat, I activate Necromancy! This spell card lets me select up to four random monsters from my opponents' graveyard and Special Summon them to the field in face up defense mode and since this is a tag team duel I'll summon monsters from both your graveyards." Chloe explained as Steelswarm Cell and Caller returned to Cameron's side of the field whilst Sangan and Stealth Bird returned to Jessica's side of the field.
"I don't see the point, as you just said, all the monsters are in defense mode." Cameron responded as he folded his arms. "Nice try though."
"Cameron, there's two cards left in my hand and those are the cards I'm about to win this duel with." Chloe responded before playing the card. "First up is a card you should know very well, Big Bang Shot and I'm equipping it to Silent Magician Level 8!" Chloe added as Silent Magician's attack increased to 3900. "And now for the final piece of the puzzle, a card that just so happens to be one of my favorites, Diffusion Wave Motion!"
"What? No!" Cameron yelled out once it hit him and he quickly turned to his girlfriend. "Now would be a perfect time to activate Mystical Space Typhoon!" Cameron added as Silent Magician prepared her attack.
"If I had that card I would've chained it to Big Bang Shot's activation!" Jessica responded as she started sweating bullets and Cameron turned back to Chloe who was looking at him expectedly.
"So, Cameron, where are the insults directed towards my dead mom?" Chloe asked as she glared at him. "Or the homophobic slurs that you want to yell at my friend? Or calling my autistic friend the r word? Or any other way you want to use so you can get out of losing this duel?" Chloe added before smirking. "Oh yeah, there's one other thing, when a monster summoned with Necromancy's effect is destroyed all your face-up monsters lose six hundred attack points, by the time my magician's done with you I don't think Acid Golem will have any attack points left!"
"Wait a second!" Cameron said with a gulp as Chloe's life-points dropped to 50. "Can't we talk about this?"
"Talk? Why would I talk to the scumbag who insulted my dead mother just to keep his winning streak alive?!" Chloe responded as she glared daggers at Cameron. "For dragging my name through the mud, for insulting my friends…." Chloe trailed off as a tear ran down her cheek. "For insulting my dead mom, this is my revenge! Silent Magician, finish them off!" Chloe commanded and Silent Magician unleashed her attacks first going through Cameron's monsters reducing his life-points to zero and whilst Jessica had more life-points than him that didn't last long as Stealth Bird's destruction reduced her to 4800 life-points, Sangan's destruction reduced her to 1500 life-points and Acid Golem's, who's attack points, as Chloe had predicted, had plummeted to zero, brought her down to zero life-points.
"Ladies and gentlemen, in what can only be described as the comeback of the century, the winners are Chloe Richardson and Chelsea Cunningham!" Hamden announced as the crowd cheered and Chloe took a deep breath. "And that means the finals are set! In what could be a rematch of sorts from Battle City Chloe Richardson and Chelsea Cunningham will take on Theresa Daniels and Brandon Thomas tomorrow morning!"
"Chloe, that was so fucking awesome!" Chelsea greeted her roommate happily as Chloe hopped off the arena. "I thought we were done for after my life-points hit zero."
"I wasn't even sure it would work myself." Chloe admitted sheepishly as she looked at her deck. "But the heart of the cards pulled through and we are through to the finals!"
"This isn't over Richardson!" The two girls looked up and saw Cameron and Jessica glaring at them and it was Cameron that spoke up. "We will avenge this humiliation!"
"I reduced both of your life-points to zero in one move." Chloe responded as she returned the glare. "I don't think you can get more over than that!" Chloe added and the two Obelisk Blue Students sneered before storming off. "Now we just have to worry about beating Theresa and Brandon tomorrow."
"Let's not worry about that just yet!" Chelsea responded with a big grin on her face. "Besides, I think we've got a bit of time left before the meeting and our next class, what do you say to celebrating?"
"Sounds good to me." Chloe responded with a grin before the two girls walked off.
*a bit later*
By this time classes for the day had wrapped up and most of the students where back in their dorm rooms either doing homework or looking up new cards for their decks, the only exception to this rule was the students with Duel Monster Spirit Guides who were having their meeting in the main building but one student among them wasn't at the meeting.
"Man, it sucks that I can't be at the meeting." Nicola thought with a frown as she continued to do her homework which had piled up to the point that she had been told by her teachers to get the homework done by the end of the week or risk being held back when she returned from Summer Break. "But I guess it's my fault for letting my homework get this bad!" Nicola thought as she glanced at the large pile on her desk.
"Don't worry Nicola, at the rate you're going you'll finish your homework with plenty of time to spare." Sapphire Pegasus reassured her and Nicola grinned at that. "Besides, Andreas did say that he'd fill you in on what was discussed in the meeting the next time you see him."
"I know, I'd still rather be there." Nicola thought before glancing at the pile of completed homework that was on the other side of her desk. "I think I've done enough for today, I can turn those in tomorrow and focus on the rest."
"I agree." Sapphire Pegasus responded and that was all Nicola needed for her to grab the completed homework pile and put it in her bag.
"Ten pieces of homework down, twenty to go!" Nicola thought with a sigh as she glanced at the pile of yet to be completed homework, before she could anything else she heard something being slipped under her dorm room door and looked up seeing a letter and frowned. "I swear if it's fake homework as part of someone's idea of a prank I'll give them a piece of my mind!"
"That would be a very elaborate prank." Sapphire Pegasus responded as Nicola stood up and walked over to the door. "Forging a teacher's signature, trying to make it look official."
"Yeah, I know but even so!" Nicola responded before opening the door and poking her head out, seeing no one around aside from her neighbors talking outside their dorm she turned to them. "Hey, have you guys seen anyone walk by my dorm room just now?" Nicola asked before sweat-dropping. "Yeah, I know, that really doesn't narrow it down." Nicola admitted before bending over and picking up the letter. "Anyone who slid this under my door?"
"Sorry Nic, we were too enthralled in our conversation to notice anybody, whether they left that letter or not." Cindy responded as she shook her head and Nicola sighed. "Any idea who it's from?" Cindy asked and Nicola looked at it.
"No, I don't recognize the hand-writing." Nicola responded before reading the letter in her head. "Huh, apparently the meeting ended early and Andreas wants to meet up, well, who am I to say no?"
"Are you sure Nic?" Sam asked with a skeptical look on her face. "You did say that the whole reason that that you're missing the meeting in the first place is because you have a truck load of overdue homework."
"I only have thirty pieces of overdue homework to do." Nicola responded before an even bigger sweat-drop rolled down her head. "And yeah, I know how bad that sounds but I managed to power through ten homework assignments in the past hour or so and I feel that I've done enough for today." Nicola added before pocketing the letter. "Besides, what's the worst that can happen?"
"If you say so Nic, just remember that we're available to help you if you need it." Cindy responded and Nicola nodded before walking off. "Nic, you left your dorm open!"
"Oh, right!" Nicola responded before rushing back and closing the door before walking off again.
"Am I the only one who finds that odd?" Sam asked once Nicola was out of earshot. "I mean, who writes letters nowadays? Everyone in the school has an e-mail address!"
"Not just that but if the meeting did just end then how did Andreas find the time to get over here so fast, write the letter, drop it off and walk off without us noticing him?" Cindy asked and Sam nodded in agreement. "Not to mention the fact that he's the only German student left in the school since Otto was expelled, you'd think we'd have heard his accent."
"It's probably nothing, he probably just left a love letter and wanted to do so quietly." Sam shrugged her shoulders in response before the two girls continued their conversation.
*meanwhile*
Little did Nicola know that the meeting was still going on at the main building, in fact the meeting had just begun as the eight students found themselves seats and made themselves comfortable around the desk.
"Okay, first order of business." Theresa said as she cleared her throat. "Nicola can't make it tonight, she sends her apologies but she had a mountain of homework to do before the Summer Break started."
"Yes, she mentioned that to me right before the duels started." Andreas nodded in response as he shifted his weight. "I will fill her in on the details next time I see her."
"Good to know, luckily our next meeting will likely be during Summer Break so she won't have to worry about homework getting in the way." Theresa responded with a nod before grinning. "And speaking of the duels, congrats goes to Chloe and Chelsea for not only pulling off an epic comeback against Cameron and Jessica but making it to the finals." Theresa added as she turned to the two girls. "Just be warned girls, me and Brandon aren't going easy on you tomorrow."
"We wouldn't expect anything less." Chelsea said with a grin before frowning. "That said, there is an elephant in the room regarding the graduation duels at the end of the week."
"Oh yeah, just as well because that was my next point." Theresa nodded in response before frowning. "We were hoping to tell you three in private but yeah, Chelsea's taking on Tyler, Lance is taking on Brandon and I'm taking on Chloe in our graduation duels." Theresa added before turning to the three students. "And I'm guessing your next question is why?"
"Yeah, pretty much." Chelsea nodded in response before turning to Tyler. "And if it's because you think I'd be an easy graduation duel then get ready to get your ass kicked."
"Chelsea, I respect your skills as a duelist enough to not think that." Tyler reassured her and Chelsea grinned when she heard that. "In all honesty, it's because I want my last duel here to be against someone I consider a friend and someone I could get a good duel out of, temper issues aside."
"Actually, that rings true for all of us." Brandon chimed in and the three duelists turned to him. "Well that and how much you've grown since Battle City Chloe but there is one thing, the duelist that the opponent choses have to accept the challenge." Brandon added and at that point Lance got an idea.
"Guys, quick huddle." Lance whispered to the two girls and they leaned in, once they heard Lance's idea they grinned broadly and broke up the huddle. "We accept on one condition."
"Name your price." Theresa responded as she turned to the trio. "Just if it's not "throw tomorrow's match"."
"Well there goes my suggestion." Chloe joked getting a laugh out of the other students. "Seriously though, our condition is this, you guys return the favor when it comes time for our graduation duels." Chloe responded and Theresa frowned.
"Well, that might depend on the schedule we'll have at that point." Theresa responded and Chloe frowned. "Relax Chloe, we accept your terms."
"Good, anything else we need to bring up?" Lance asked followed by a brief silence.
"Not that I can think off." Marcus shrugged before frowning. "Now that I think about it, maybe we should be careful about Thomas, Cameron and Jessica."
"What do you mean?" Chloe asked with a raised eyebrow. "I beat all three of them with my Silent Magician card and Diffusion Wave Motion!"
"That was the point that I was getting too." Marcus responded with a frown on his face. "Think about it, Thomas swore up and down that you cheated to beat him that one time in Duel Theory, Cameron insulted your dead mom just to get out of losing a duel and Jessica's a nasty piece of work in general, now that you've beaten them, there's no telling what they'll do!"
"That is a good point but it's nothing that we can act on until they actually do something." Theresa responded nodded in response before turning to the other Obelisk Blue Students. "That gives me an idea, I'll keep an eye on Jessica and the boys will keep their eyes on Cameron and Thomas."
"I get it, since we're Obelisk Blue Students we can keep an eye on them without raising too much suspicion." Lance nodded in response as he got the idea. "And we'll report our findings at the next meeting, right?"
"Right." Theresa nodded in response before checking the time. "That concludes our first meeting, second meeting will start the day before the Graduation Duels, that should give us enough time to gather enough info." Theresa added before turning to Chloe and Chelsea. "I suggest getting as early a night tonight as possible girls, you'll need it if you want to keep up with me and Brandon."
"Don't need to me twice." Chloe nodded in response before the students stood up. "Maybe we should set our alarm clocks just in case."
"Well first I'll need the official start time for the duel before we can even think about that." Chelsea responded before shrugging her shoulders. "Shouldn't be too hard though, just try not to sleep in tomorrow."
"No promises." Chloe responded with a grin before the students left.
*later that night*
Night had officially fallen on Duel Academy island and by this time most of the students were in their dorms asleep and the security guards assigned to work the dorms that night were hard at work as usual.
"Nightly dorm check, are you in there Nicola?" The female guard, who was at least in her thirties with long blonde hair and a tan, asked as she knocked on the door, when she got no answer however the guard frowned. "That's odd, Nicola has never failed to answer her dorm check before, then again she did get a boyfriend recently." The guard thought before moving on to the next-door neighbor's room. "Nightly dorm check, are you in there, girls?"
"Yeah, yeah, we're just getting ready for bed." Sam's tired voice rang out and the guard nodded before checking them off the list.
"Good, can you step out a second?" The guard asked and after a few seconds Sam answered the door clad only in her pajamas. "Nicola didn't answer her dorm check, any idea where she went?"
"She never came back?" Sam asked and Cindy looked up when she heard that. "We saw her earlier, she had just gotten a strange letter that she said was from her boyfriend Andreas, apparently he wanted to meet her."
"Okay, I think I see what happened here, I'll call the guard over at the Obelisk Blue Boy's Dorm and have him ask for Nicola when he does the dorm check for Andreas's room." The guard responded with a sigh as she shook her head. "Young love, gotta love it sometimes, except for when the students forget to put notices on their dorm room door…."
"There she is!" The guard's train of thought was interrupted by Sam's voice and she looked up seeing Nicola approaching them from across the hallway.
"Or not." The guard thought before waiting a few seconds to let Nicola get close enough to the her so that she could tell her off without waking anyone up. "Nicola, you know the rules, you have to be in your dorm room by 11:00pm sharp and if you're with a lover either have your roommate explain it for you or leave a notice on your dorm room door, I know it's unfair but…..." The guard trailed off when she realized that Nicola's breathing sounded pained as she clutched her sides, it was also at this point that the guard noticed that her head was looking at the ground. "Nicola?" The guard asked with concern in her voice and the teenager looked up causing the guard's eyes to widen.
The girl's face was bruised and bloody, it was easy to tell that her nose was broken and worse yet her right eye was swollen shut. "Get…. help…..." Nicola managed to blurt out before collapsing to the ground in front of her dorm room.