The excitement from the finals was winding down and between classes and other stuff the students had a busy day ahead of them, still the day passed by without incident and as the students had arranged after the finals they had met up in the room that had been set up for them.
"Okay, everyone's here?" Theresa asked as she glanced around the room, all the students were accounted for except for Nicola who was still recovering from her injuries. "Right, first things first, Chloe, Chelsea, commiserations on your defeat at me and Brandon's hands but you'll get another chance on Friday."
"Which would mean that you won't graduate." Chloe pointed out with a frown on her face as she leaned forward. "As much as I finally want to beat you Theresa I also want to see you graduate so I'm a bit torn to say the least."
"That I can understand but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Theresa responded with an understanding nod before turning to the others. "There are more pressing matters, namely the Orichalcos, if we want to tackle it efficiently we'll need to be in the same area, Chloe, Lance, the Kaiba siblings, myself and Brandon all live in Domino City so for us it's not that big an issue but the rest of you?"
"I've got that covered on my end." Chelsea chimed in as she leaned back. "Me and Chloe spent this morning convincing my folks to let me stay in Domino for the summer and wherever our battles against the Orichalcos takes us and then convincing Chloe's dad to let me stay with them over the summer." Chelsea responded before turning to Lance. "It worked, I'll be staying in the guest bedroom but they did mention that Lance had made similar arrangements and that he'd be sleeping in Chloe's room."
"And I'm going to stop you there before you veer into Too Much Information territory." Theresa responded a large sweat-drop rolled down her head. "Still, that's good to know, your talents will be needed in the coming weeks, what about you guys?"
"I'm staying with my aunt over the summer, my dad's got bogged down with work over the past week and he won't have the time for me." Marcus responded as he leaned back. "My aunt lives in Domino so I'm accounted for as well."
"I'm still yet to make arrangements with my parents." Andreas responded with a frown as he leaned back in his chair. "But I should be able to convince them, Nicola's parents might take more convincing considering that she is still recovering from her injuries at the hands of Jessica, Cameron and Thomas, we still don't know if the swelling in her eye will go down completely in time for her to be an asset rather than a liability."
"Keep us posted on that, that said, I know she said that she wanted to help but I can understand her parents wanting to keep her out of harm's way whilst her wounds heal." Theresa responded with a frown on her face before turning to Chelsea. "And speaking of Jessica, Chelsea…..."
"If you're going to rag on me for beating the crap out of Jessica yesterday don't." Chelsea responded as she pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "I've gotten enough crap about that from my parents and the teachers, not saying that it's unjustified but it's getting annoying at this point."
"That wasn't what I was going to bring up and don't worry, I'm sure people will stop ragging on you about it after summer break." Theresa responded and Chelsea sighed in relief. "I've just got two questions for you, any word if Beth is going to join us on the trip? And what day is your birthday again?"
"I think she's going on holiday with her parents for the next couple of weeks, she didn't say were and she didn't say when she was coming back so I wouldn't hold my breath on that." Chelsea responded with a sigh. "And I'm guessing the birthday question has to do with my juvenile record?"
"Well that and I wanted to know when to get you a birthday card but that as well." Theresa responded and Chelsea grinned.
"My birthdays on Wednesday, meaning that if you do want to arrange travel to wherever the Orichalcos Duelists are you'd better do it after Wednesday, especially if its abroad." Chelsea responded before remembering something. "My parents are giving me a couple of hundred bucks to celebrate my eighteenth with, I'm mostly going to spend it on a tattoo and piercing or two but I have arranged for a birthday party at one of my favorite metal clubs in Domino and yes, you're all invited."
"Metal's not my thing but I'll be happy to go." Brandon admitted and Chelsea grinned. "But what does that have to do with this meeting?"
"Beth's going to the party so I can ask her about the summer break plans then as she's been too caught up on catching up on her homework to even think about that, best case she comes with us, worst case? We leave without her, considering she's never been in an Orichalcos Duel I'm not holding my breath on her coming with us even if I did get her holiday dates wrong." Chelsea responded and Brandon nodded in understanding. "Other than that, I have nothing else to add, well apart from some revenge for the defeat yesterday but that can wait."
"Thanks for reminding us." Theresa responded before she and Brandon placed several booster packs on the table and passed them to Chloe and Chelsea. "We may have won the tournament but you guys need these cards more than we do."
"Are you sure?" Chloe asked and they nodded in response before Chelsea and Chloe took them. "Thanks, we'll try to put them to good use."
"Think nothing off it, as for our prize money, we're putting that towards the expenses for the trip to wherever the Orichalcos Duelists are hiding out." Brandon added and the others nodded in response. "Depending on the distance I might need to ask my dad for help but we should be good to go."
"And speaking of go." Theresa responded before consulting her notes. "I think that's everything that I wanted to cover so unless you have anything else to bring up…..." Theresa trailed off before there was a knock at the door. "We'll be done in a second but we're in a meeting right now." Theresa called out before returning to her notes.
"I know, that's why I'm knocking." Tracy's voice rang out and Brandon opened the door seeing the Obelisk Blue Headmistress on the other side carrying a laptop bag under her arm. "Sorry to interrupt kids but I wanted to catch you before you retired to your dorms for the night." Tracy added as she entered the room and Brandon closed the door behind her. "It's just that, Summer Break's coming up and I know you want to finish off the Orichalcos."
"I think at this point it's more "need to" than "want to"." Chelsea responded as she folded her arms. "What's your point anyway?"
"My point is that if the school technicians had their way, this would've spent the whole summer gathering up dust in their office." Tracy responded before emptying the laptop bag on the table. "Look familiar?"
"Isn't that the laptop that female Orichalcos Duelist left behind?" Brandon asked once he recognized it. "The one they tried to steal back only to accidentally steal Chelsea's laptop instead?"
"Don't remind me." Chelsea responded with a huff. "We were making good progress on that thing too until the school took it away and judging by your comments I'm guessing that they haven't even touched it?"
"Yes and no." Tracy responded as she emptied out the other components. "At first they were making some good headway but something on that laptop spooked the technicians so much that the lead technician sealed it away in his office and the only way that I could get him to give it to me is if I signed a waiver saying that he wouldn't be held accountable for the damage to my career at Duel Academy if the info got out." Tracy responded with a frown on her face. "He refused to give me any information beyond that but if he's that paranoid about it then it must be something big."
"That reminds me, after Tyler got injured at Jack's hands I asked his dad about the Santiago Industries logo I saw on the helicopter he basically threatened to end my tuition at the academy if I pressed any further." Chelsea chimed in with a frown on her face. "I wasn't happy about it, especially since I had saved Tyler from becoming an amputee after it became clear that his duel disk was about to blow up but looking back? This has to be personal for him."
"I heard about that, technically he doesn't have the power to do that as he's merely the founder but because he's bankrolling the school not many teachers are willing to defy his orders." Tracy responded with a frown as she turned to Chelsea. "Want my advice? If you have to bring any info you find to his attention tread carefully unless you want to see your dreams of a career in Duel Monsters shatter."
"Yeah and I came close enough to that last night!" Chelsea grunted in annoyance and Tracy nodded knowing what she meant. "It's a longshot but did the lead technician mention Santiago Industries?"
"No, he didn't name any names, only that he wasn't going to risk his career even with everything at stake." Tracy responded before standing up. "That said, I want to make a few things clear, tell no one that I was here, guard that laptop like your lives depend on it and if you do find anything, keep it between yourselves and whoever you get to help you against the Orichalcos, I want those bastards stopped as much as you do but I'm not about to see the potential careers of several promising students derailed by one laptop." Tracy added before turning to Chelsea. "Especially after I went to bat for you Chelsea."
"You got it." Chelsea nodded in response before turning to Tyler. "You up for picking up where we left off?"
"Like you needed to ask!" Tyler responded and Chelsea grinned in response. "I suggest keeping it in my room, you may have moved up to Ra Yellow since they attempted to steal it back but the Obelisk Blue Dorms are the most secure on the island."
"Why do you think we were able to catch your assault on Jessica so quickly?" Tracy added and Chelsea laughed nervously as a large sweat-drop rolled down her head. "That's all I had to add, I'll leave the laptop bag so that Tyler can transport it easily."
"And if someone who isn't in the know sees the new laptop?" Lance asked and Tracy thought for a moment.
"Tell them that your dad got it for you as a graduation present, considering how much money he has that should be believable enough to not raise any suspicion." Tracy responded and Tyler nodded in response. "I suggest that you guys head back to your dorm rooms soon since its almost dinner time."
"Sounds like a plan." Brandon responded and Tracy left the room without another word, once she left he turned to Theresa. "I think you were about to end the meeting before Tracy interrupted us."
"Right, meeting dismissed." Theresa nodded and the students got ready to leave. "Tyler, Chelsea, keep us updated at regular intervals if you make any progress on that thing."
"Sure." Tyler nodded as he started gathering up his stuff. "Chelsea, what time will you be around to help?" Tyler asked and Chelsea checked her schedule.
"I was planning to spend the rest of the night playing either Dark Souls or Total War Rome II, haven't made my mind up yet." Chelsea responded before her eyes shifted toward the next day. "As for tomorrow, I don't' have any classes until the early afternoon but we don't know what time they've scheduled Jessica's expulsion duel for."
"I do." Chloe chimed in and her roommate turned to her. "Right before we convinced your parents to let you stay in Domino City for the summer I got an e-mail from Martin with Jessica copied in." Chloe added before frowning. "The duel's scheduled for four o'clock, Jeff made sure to reschedule the gym class I originally had at that time for the next morning so you should be free unless anything comes up, I was going to bring that up in the meeting but Tracy's interruption made it drag on long enough so I decided to wait."
"That's good, at least then we won't have any distractions." Chelsea responded with a grin on her face before turning to Tyler. "I'll pop over after breakfast, probably around 11:00am."
"If anything comes up whilst you're eating breakfast I'll send you a text." Tyler responded and without another word the meeting disbanded.
*the next day*
The rest of the day went by without a hitch aside from the occasional duel and some students being overenthusiastic about discussing the finals of the Tag Team Tournament, still the following morning had a different atmosphere especially in the Osiris Red dorms for one reason, Jessica's expulsion duel was scheduled to happen today but as that duel wasn't scheduled until 4:00pm the morning was going by relatively quietly.
"God damn it! Not again!" Chelsea cussed as she died again to the Gaping Dragon boss on Dark Souls 1 whilst her roommate stood by and watched with an amused look on her face. "Battle against the Gaping Dragon whilst cursed I said, it'll be fun I said! This is about as fun as a root canal with a jackhammer!"
"I've heard a lot of euthenisms since you started playing that game but that's a new one." Chloe commented as a sweat-drop rolled down her head. "Are you sure that you don't want to head over to the Obelisk Blue Boy's Dorm to examine the laptop with Tyler? You sound like you could use a break from that game."
"Chloe, I told Tyler that I would be over as soon as I beat this boss." Chelsea grunted in annoyance as she glanced over her shoulder at her roommate. "Granted, that was before one of those damn Basilisks killed me with their curse cloud but still!"
"Yeah but at the rate you're going the security guard will knock on the door for the nightly dorm check by the time you do beat the boss!" Chloe responded and Chelsea sighed in resignation before exiting out of the game. "Besides, you'll get good at that game eventually."
"Yeah, I know, doesn't make it any less frustrating." Chelsea grunted in annoyance before there was a knock at the door. "I'll laugh if that's a security guard."
"Even if it is a guard, maybe you should start packing up your laptop so that you can it over to Tyler's dorm room." Chloe pointed out and Chelsea nodded in agreement before she started packing up her laptop whilst her roommate answered the door. "Morning guys." Chloe said as she answered the door and saw their neighbors Gabrielle and Stacy standing there.
"Morning Chloe." Gabrielle greeted her with a nod. "Is Chelsea around?" The Italian student asked and Chloe went to answer when….
"GOD DAMN IT! NO!" Chelsea yelled out from her desktop and Chloe turned around seeing that Chelsea had gone back to her game of Dark Souls. "10,000 souls, gone because of one fucking rat! I'm starting over!"
"Err, yeah, she's been playing a game on her PC since I woke up." Chloe responded with a sheepish grin as a sweat-drop rolled down her head. "Are you here to see her?"
"We wanted to check in on her after what happened on Wednesday." Stacy explained as she leaned over. "But if she's about to leave then it can wait." Stacy added once she spotted the laptop bag and at that point Chelsea looked up.
"Morning guys." Chelsea greeted them before noticing where Stacy's eyes were focused on. "Don't worry about that, I'll be on my way to Tyler's room in the Obelisk Blue Boy's Dorm soon so that I can do some homework crunching with him."
"And if it weren't for the fact that your gay I'd suspect that that was a cover for what was really going on." Gabrielle commented with a chuckle and Chelsea laughed.
"Well, she isn't wrong about the cover part." Chelsea thought with a grin as she exited out of her game and walked over to the doorway. "Don't get me wrong, if I was straight Tyler would be at the top of the list of guys I want to bang at this school but since the fact that I'm a lesbian is one of the worst kept secrets here at the academy there's no chance of that happening."
"Can't say I blame you there." Stacy commented with a grin before sighing. "Seriously though, you feeling okay after what happened on Wednesday? You were almost expelled."
"I'd feel better if I wasn't constantly reminded about it." Chelsea grunted in annoyance before shaking her head. "I'm fine, they just let me off with what was probably the sternest warning they've given a student without an expulsion duel and besides, as far as being expelled's concerned, I've been there four times, done that and brought the fucking t-shirt."
"Yes, we heard about that." Gabrielle responded with a frown on her face. "Though the way your wording it makes it sound like your proud of that."
"I'm not, far from it." Chelsea responded with a frown on her face. "I'm not going into details but I've lost so many friends over the years because I've been expelled so often that I'm getting sick of it." Chelsea added before going back and grabbing the laptop bag. "Now if you excuse me, I'm off to see Tyler." Chelsea added and Gabrielle stood aside to let her past and Chelsea walked off.
"So, is she really as okay as she says?" Stacy asked once Chelsea was out of earshot and Chloe shrugged.
"I don't know, aside from mentioning her siblings occasionally she's a private person as far as her home life is concerned." Chloe responded with a frown as she glanced over in the direction that Chelsea had walked off in. "I've known her since I started in Osiris Red but she never talks much about her life back home in Chicago aside from the fact that she has a juvenile record that's going to be expunged when she turns eighteen next week and that her older siblings have made successful careers for themselves."
"Wait, how much older are we talking here? She's still in her teens, isn't she?" Gabrielle responded and Chloe nodded.
"Chelsea's older sister is a chef and she did the catering for the Ra Yellow Welcome Party, when we met her she was probably in her late twenties/early thirties and her brothers are all in their early to mid-twenties." Chloe responded before sighing. "I don't know why she doesn't discuss them much because they got along based on what I saw, anyway, I've got to get my deck ready for Jessica's expulsion duel later."
"Off course, just try to make sure that bitch sees justice." Stacy responded and Chloe nodded before closing the door behind her.
*ten minutes later*
It was quiet at the Obelisk Blue Boy's Dorm that morning with most of the students either in class or doing stuff in their dorms, even so that didn't stop Chelsea from getting dirty looks as the Ra Yellow student made her way through the hallway that would lead her to Tyler's dorm room but she did her best to ignore them as she walked along.
"First I get booed before yesterday's finals and now the students are looking at me like I attacked Jessica for no reason!" Chelsea thought as she walked through the hallways of the Boy's Dorm. "Still. Tyler's room is just down here, I just have to go into his room and…..."
"What are you doing here reject?" Chelsea stopped dead in her tracks before glancing over her shoulder and seeing an Obelisk Blue Student that she didn't recognize, he was shorter than she was with shoulder length black hair and blue eyes and she could tell that he was a first-year student from his uniform. "Here to attack another student unprovoked?!"
"Unprovoked?!" Chelsea asked as she spun around and glared at him. "Have you even seen the video? I may have let my temper get out of control but she had it coming!"
"That was obviously a fabrication." The student scoffed and Chelsea's eyes narrowed. "That retard has…."
"Finish that sentence and you're going through the nearest window." Chelsea warned him with a glare that immediately made him back off. "Don't. push. Me., I am not in the mood for your bullshit right now, am I clear?"
"And I thought that I made myself clear during our discussion on Wednesday that you were on thin ice Chelsea." Martin's voice rang out and the two students froze as the headmaster stepped out from behind her. "Caleb, don't even think about lying to me, I heard the entire exchange and unless you want to be in serious trouble during your first year here you will head back to your dorm room now!"
"Yes sir." Caleb gulped nervously before walking off in the opposite direction as fast as he could without running, Chelsea took a deep breath before turning to the teacher.
"I'm not going to be let off that easy, am I?" Chelsea asked as Martin folded his arms and shook his head. "I didn't come here looking for a fight, I'm just here to see Tyler."
"That is good to know but unless you get a handle on your temper this will be the closest you'll get to being an Obelisk Blue Student, am I clear?" Martin asked and Chelsea gulped before nodding. "Tyler only left his dorm room once all morning and that was for breakfast, he's lucky that his first class isn't until the early afternoon so he should still be there."
"Thanks, I'll go see him." Chelsea responded before brushing past the headmaster and continuing her trek down the hall only to stop as she felt Martin's hand on her shoulder. "Or not."
"Chelsea, I didn't say this during the meeting on Wednesday because it was getting late enough as it was." Martin commented as Chelsea glanced over at him and saw a concerned look on his face. "But the teachers here all see you as a talented duelist and a bright girl, we do not want to see that much potential go to waste so the next time a student's starting to get under your skin ignore them and report them to whoever their dorm headmaster is, our dorm rooms are always open."
"I'll keep that in mind." Chelsea responded with a sigh as Martin removed his hand from her shoulder and she started to walk off again.
"Please do Chelsea." Martin said as he walked off in the opposite direction presumably to deal with Caleb. "I'd hate for your temper to keep you out of Obelisk Blue when the time comes."
"They're not going to use my temper to keep me out of my rightful dorm again, are they?" Chelsea thought before remembering something. "Martin, wait." Chelsea called out to him and Martin stopped in his tracks. "Look, I know your busy but is there a chance we can talk about something you brought up in the meeting at some point today?"
"I will be busy officiating the expulsion duel between Chloe and Jessica once my classes finish but if you still feel up to it then I should be in my office in the main building." Martin responded with a nod. "Regardless of the outcome I will have a lot of paperwork to fill out but I always make time for my students, doesn't matter if they are in Obelisk Blue, Ra Yellow or Osiris Red." Martin added before waiting a couple of seconds to see if Chelsea had anything else to say before walking off.
"I hope I'm doing the right thing by wanting to talk to him about that dream I had the other night." Chelsea thought as she walked down the hallway and neared Tyler's dorm room. "Best case scenario? He recommends that I see a shrink immediately and I never thought I'd see the day where I'd consider that to be the best-case scenario, worst case? He uses it as an excuse to expel me!"
"Chelsea, Martin may be strict but he is reasonable." Wattchimera responded and Chelsea nodded. "You would've been expelled otherwise."
"True." Chelsea admitted before thinking about something. "I get the feeling that this is a stupid question but what's the consensus about the attack on Nicola and my attack on Jessica among the Duel Spirits? And for that matter why didn't you try to intervene?"
"We were as angry as the teachers were but Sapphire Pegasus was devastated that she didn't think to intervene." Wattchimera responded and Chelsea nodded in response. "Regarding you, we were disappointed, most understood your anger but Silent Magician had hoped that I'd act as a voice of reason whenever you lost your temper, I did try to intervene but I was shut out."
"So that's why you tried to calm me down during my expulsion duel." Chelsea responded as she reached the dorm room.
"Yes, and I was just as devastated that I failed in my duties as Sapphire Pegasus was." Wattchimera responded as Chelsea went to knock. "Especially when she was Nicola's main support in getting her to confess her love for Andreas." Wattchimera added and Chelsea paused.
"Wait, Sapphire Pegasus acted as a shipper on deck for Andreas and Nicola?" Chelsea thought as she barely contained a laugh on the outside.
"I'm afraid I don't follow." Wattchimera responded and Chelsea sweat-dropped.
"Forget about it, it's a Fanfic Trope." Chelsea responded before knocking on the door, a few seconds passed and the door opened and Tyler greeted her. "Hey, sorry for the wait, my Dark Souls game wasn't going well and my neighbors wanted to check on me after the whole "nearly getting expelled for standing up for another student" fiasco."
"Don't worry about it." Tyler responded before standing aside to let her in and closing the door behind Chelsea once she entered his room, it didn't take Chelsea long to notice the laptop as it was on the same desk that Chelsea's laptop was stolen from. "I know it seems like I'm jinxing your laptop by putting it there but it's the only desk in here that has enough room for two laptops."
"I know that feeling, back in Osiris Red I had to stick this thing on a coffee table next to the bunk bed I shared with Chloe." Chelsea responded with a shrug as she patted her laptop bag to indicate what she was talking about before setting up her laptop next to the other laptop. "You've made any progress on that thing?"
"Well before your laptop was stolen I hadn't cracked the encryption despite spending all night on that thing, since we got it from Tracy last night I haven't made much progress." Tyler responded as he glanced over at the laptop and Chelsea signed in to hers. "I figured that with your mind as back-up we might be able to crack it."
"You realize that you just sounded like the villain from a cheesy Sci-Fi B-Movie, right?" Chelsea asked with a grin and Tyler chuckled. "I'm just glad that you look like you've gotten a decent amount of sleep last night, unlike last time."
"Well Miranda confiscating all my Red Bull Cans again didn't help." Tyler responded as he glanced towards the mini fridge. "Feel free to help yourself to a drink, there are some coke cans in there."
"Thanks, I think I will." Chelsea responded with a grin before walking over to the mini-fridge and grabbing a coke can, she opened the can and placed it next to her laptop before turning to Tyler. "On that note, what about discovering the source of the voice behind that video Marie left us before her rematch with Marcus?"
"I ran that video through Audacity but I didn't recognize that voice once I cleared up the volume." Tyler responded as he shook his head and sat down next to Chelsea. "I tried comparing it to the Orichalcos Duelists we faced during Battle City except for Michael, Chloe's dad and Lance's dad."
"Yeah, Chloe told me about them, Michael and Chloe's dad are both dead and Lance's dad has been missing in action since Lance beat him." Chelsea nodded in response before shuddering. "Knowing how much of a scumbag her dad was I'm not to shook up about him being dead."
"And I think it's safe to say that Chloe feels the same way." Tyler nodded before motioning to his desktop which Chelsea had just noticed was on and Firefox was open on Duel Academy's YouTube Page. "That reminds me, you can watch the expulsion duel on there."
"No thanks, I'm happy watching it in person." Chelsea responded with a shrug and Tyler frowned. "Wait, did they ban me from the Duel Arena?"
"They banned you and Andreas, they are worried about you attacking Jessica mid-duel and I suppose that, by now, I shouldn't have to point out what attacking Jessica again would mean for you." Tyler responded and Chelsea frowned in response before taking a sip from her drink. "And based on your response, I suppose you didn't see the Facebook post."
"Spent most of the morning playing Dark Souls so no." Chelsea responded before digging into her blazer pocket and getting her IPhone out. "That explains the twenty or so notifications I got from Facebook for a post I was apparently following." Chelsea grunted before setting her phone aside. "Tyler, can I ask you something?"
"That depends on what you want to ask me." Tyler responded as he worked away at the laptop.
"Well, I have a couple of questions but still." Chelsea responded before leaning back. "Why did you choose me for your graduation duel opponent? I mean, you teamed with Marcus in the tournament and well, Miranda's your sister which speaks for itself but me? I'm just another Ra Yellow student."
"Another Ra Yellow student who more than held her own against several Obelisk Blue Students during the tournament and is considered a shoe in for promotion the next time you have a promotion duel." Tyler pointed out and Chelsea frowned as she took another sip. "As for why I chose you, I wanted to face someone with a deck I'm not familiar with, I've seen your Watt Monsters in action several times but you seem to bust out new combos every time I see you duel." Tyler added before chuckling a bit. "The fact that your easy on the eyes doesn't hurt." Tyler added and Chelsea laughed.
"So are you for that matter." Chelsea responded with a grin as Tyler took a sip from his drink. "There's a reason why you're at the top of the list of guys I'd want to bang if I was straight." Chelsea added only to immediately regret it, especially when Tyler barely avoided spitting out his drink and she facepalmed. "Oh god, I just said that out loud! At least I didn't say that in front of the whole school at the graduation duels tomorrow."
"If you had, I would've surrendered the duel immediately out of embarrassment, having to spend another year here be damned." Tyler responded and Chelsea groaned. "Besides, as flattered as I am, you're a lesbian and even if you were straight, I'm spoken for."
"Really?" Chelsea asked with a raised eyebrow. "Anyone I know from the academy?"
"No, it's complicated but I'm in an arranged marriage contract." Tyler responded but only succeeding in confusing Chelsea more. "And I'm not telling you who I'm arranged to be married too."
"Oh, come on, it can't be as ridiculous as you hooking up with Sophia Pegasus, right?" Chelsea joked before noticing the look on Tyler's face. "Holy shit, you are, aren't you?"
"As I said, it's complicated, I've never even met the woman." Tyler responded as he worked away at the laptop. "That said, that info doesn't leave this room Chelsea, me and Sophia are both under non-disclosure agreements on the matter until we are old enough to get married and I'm only telling you this because you figured it out on your own."
"Don't worry, your secrets safe with me." Chelsea responded as she looked through her Facebook wall on her laptop. "Speaking of secrets, if you haven't figured it out yet, my questions regarding the arranged marriage that your dad apparently set up wasn't what I wanted to ask you."
"I figured as much." Tyler responded before taking a sip from his drink. "What did you want to ask me?"
"It's not that I don't appreciate the help and all." Chelsea started as she glanced up at Tyler. "But why the sudden interest in helping me control my temper? I get it, I fucked up big time on Wednesday and Miranda's words to me during our duel did clue me in a bit but I'm still confused."
"I suppose that I should've anticipated this question." Tyler admitted before turning to Chelsea. "Why do you think we're trying to help you?"
"Because you like me? Because of my stunning good looks? Or all of the above?" Chelsea teased him and Tyler chuckled.
"Not exactly." Tyler responded as he shook his head. "It's become something of a tradition of ours, trying to help promising Ra Yellow students who can't keep themselves out of trouble." Tyler added before digging into his pocket, producing his phone and going through the pictures. "This will likely be our last year at the academy but if we can turn you into our latest success story then we'll be satisfied to say the least."
"Yeah well, you'll forgive me for being a bit skeptical." Chelsea responded as she leaned back in her chair. "You're not the first ones who've tried to help me and knowing my track record the next one to try will be my drill instructor at whatever military academy I get shipped off too after I run out of chances here."
"Didn't peg you as being such a pessimist." Tyler responded and Chelsea shrugged her shoulders.
"I've been expelled from four schools, spent a year in juvie and I have to live in the shadows of my older siblings all of who have spotless records and have gone on to great success despite still being in their twenties." Chelsea commented with an annoyed sigh and Tyler raised an eyebrow. "Okay, Jamie's turning thirty in October but still!" Chelsea added before sighing. "What I'm saying is that if your trying to help me control my temper, that ship sailed long ago." Chelsea added with a huff as Tyler found the picture he was looking for
"A couple of years ago, we helped out a girl in a similar situation to you." Tyler responded and Chelsea glanced up at him. "No juvenile record or previous expulsions but she was moved up from Osiris Red to Ra Yellow so quickly that she developed a sense of self entitlement and started getting into trouble fairly regularly until a near expulsion scared her straight."
"If you're trying to compare this girl to me, don't." Chelsea responded with a frown on her face. "Encase you've forgotten, they had me tagged for Ra Yellow based on my performance on the written test and my duel against the proctor but kept me in Osiris Red for a while because of my temper."
"I haven't forgotten about that Chelsea." Tyler responded before passing the phone to her. "But I wouldn't be so sure about not having anything in common with the girl we helped, she's still in the school and you will recognize her." Tyler added and Chelsea blinked before looking at the picture.
"Theresa?!" Chelsea asked once she recognized the girl in the photo. "Okay, you've got to be shitting me! Ms. Goody Two Shoes was a troublemaker? Try pulling the other one!"
"Remember her match against Drew last week?" Tyler asked and Chelsea hesitated before nodding. "She faced him because of the accident that inflicted the injury on him, based on what I heard he must've had plastic surgery since the first duel but believe me, it wasn't pretty."
"Yeah, I remember him, he was pretty good looking from what I remember." Chelsea nodded before passing the phone back to Tyler. "But I still don't see what this has to do with me, that incident scared Theresa straight but my assault on Jessica was provoked by her."
"True but you were still almost expelled for it." Tyler responded before frowning. "I get the feeling that you consider your temper to be a lost cause but nothing's impossible."
"Oh yeah? Ever tried dividing by zero?" Chelsea asked and Tyler cleared his throat.
"Well, almost nothing." Tyler admitted before shaking his head. "My point is that you shouldn't underestimate yourself, you have the skills and knowledge to be an excellent Obelisk Blue Student and we will be helping you throughout the summer, when we're not trying to save the world, and even if it just means you learning some breathing exercises you will be in Obelisk Blue before you know it and you won't have to worry about living in your siblings' shadows."
"Let's just hope that the other girls in Obelisk Blue have forgotten about my assault on Jessica by then." Chelsea responded before shaking her head. "Don't we have a laptop to work on?"
"Never thought you'd ask." Tyler responded before the two teens started working on it.
*a few hours later*
Classes for the day had been mostly lax because the school term was just two days away from ending but that didn't mean that some students weren't on edge as the expulsion duel between Chloe and Jessica was about to begin in just a few minutes.
"Okay, if I win Jessica gets expelled and if there's any justice in the world she, Cameron and Thomas will be charged with assault faster than you can say "don't post videos of your crimes to Facebook!"." Chloe thought as she sat down on a table and started going through her deck. "If I lose then Jessica will be allowed to return to the school once Summer Break is over and that's if Nicola's parents don't decide to press charges against her." Chloe thought before pausing as her eyes lay upon Silent Magician Level 8, her best monster, in her card form. "So yeah, no pressure!"
"Chloe." Chloe looked up and almost did a double take, standing in the doorway of the room she was in was Nicola who was looking a lot better than she did after her assault, broken nose and swollen eye aside. "Can we talk for a bit?"
"Yeah, sure." Chloe responded as her surprise wore off and Nicola entered the room closing the door behind her. "Not that I'm not happy to see you up and about again but I was under the impression that you were spending the remainder of your term time in the med bay?"
"That's what I thought as well but the nurse discharged me this morning because she's done all she can for me, I've been spending most of the day finishing off the homework that I had outstanding." Nicola responded as she sat down on a chair. "It's not all sunshine and rainbows though, my parents are taking me to a hospital on the main land so that they can access the damage, part of me is worried about what they'll find but it's better than leaving it untreated."
"No argument from me there." Chloe responded with a nod before sighing. "I'm guessing Andreas told you about the expulsion duel?"
"Yeah, I'm going to grab front row seats for it as soon as they open the main duel arena." Nicola responded and Chloe nodded in responded. "If you see Chelsea at any point, tell her that I'm not mad at her for attacking Jessica and setting these events in motion, will you?"
"She's over at Tyler's dorm room working on the laptop we recovered from an Orichalcos Duelist not long before we had our first duel in the tournament." Chloe responded with a frown on her face. "That combined with the fact that she's been banned from the Main Duel Arena means that I probably won't see her until she gets back to our dorm room in Ra Yellow, and that's if Chelsea doesn't decide to spend the night with Beth instead, but I will pass the message along."
"Thanks." Nicola responded with a grin as she glanced up at the older teen. "I thought you'd like to know that I'm not going to let my injuries stop me from helping you guys take out the Orichalcos and I'm not dropping out of this school either, my eye injury will mean that I won't be able to help out right away but I can still play cheerleader, right?"
"I'm glad you're staying at this school but are you sure about going after the Orichalcos Duelists Nicola? As talented as you are, I wouldn't want to explain to your parents how your injuries were made worse by an Orichalcos Duelist." Chloe pointed out as she folded her arms and Nicola nodded in understanding. "And that's the best-case scenario."
"Believe me, I know, I was there when Andreas's soul was captured during Battle City, remember?" Nicola asked and Chloe nodded with a frown on her face. "Besides, I won't be going into this totally alone because Zach's accompanying me on the trip."
"Sharing a hotel with Lance and Zach? I don't think the world can handle those two goofballs in the same building!" Chloe joked and Nicola giggled in response. "Seriously though, that's good to know, Zach is a talented duelist for all his quirks and his help will be appreciated, just take it easy Nicola, it was hard enough seeing your injured form after the duel between Chelsea and Miranda."
"Easier said than done but thanks for the concern." Nicola responded with a sigh before there was a knock at the door and the two girls looked up as Jeff opened the door.
"Chloe, it's time." The Ra Yellow headmaster informed her and Chloe nodded before hopping off the table. "Nicola, good to see you up and about again, will you need help getting to the Main Duel Arena?"
"I'll be fine, thanks." Nicola responded as she stood up and the two girls followed Jeff out of the room.
*a few minutes later*
The students had been pouring into the main arena for the past few minutes and almost all the student body were in the stands, the obvious exceptions were the students who were about to compete as Chloe and Jessica were awaiting their cue to approach the duel arena and Andreas, Tyler and Chelsea who, due to the ban from the Duel Arena and needing to work on the laptop were back in Tyler's dorm room at the Obelisk Blue Boy's Dorm waiting for the stream to start.
"I wish they could be here to watch me personally kick Jessica out of the school." Chloe thought as she shuffled her deck whilst glancing up at the main duel arena. "But on the other hand, if Chelsea does storm the arena I'll be disqualified and Jessica will be free to return after summer break, let's hope that my deck is ready for her burn strategy."
"We've been through this several times Chloe; your deck is ready." Silent Magician responded and Chloe grinned when she heard that. "Let's just hope that the teachers took precautions against Jessica using underhanded tactics like they did for the Semi-Finals."
"For an expulsion duel? They'd be stupid not to." Chloe thought before the spotlight shone on the arena causing Chloe to shield her eyes for a second before putting her deck back in her duel disk.
"Good afternoon students and welcome to today's Expulsion Duel." Martin's voice rang out and the crowd cheered in response. "Expulsion duels are never an easy time for the staff and students alike and it's rare that we hold ones this close to the start of the summer break but recent events have forced our hand and as a result Jessica Stevens from Obelisk Blue is up for expulsion as she takes on Ra Yellow's Chloe Richardson! If Chloe wins then Jessica will be expelled immediately and will be expected to pack up and vacate her room in the Obelisk Blue Girl's Dorm by dinner time, however if Chloe loses then Jessica's record will be expunged and she will be free to return after summer break."
"No pressure in other words." Chloe thought as she made her way into the duel arena and hopped on the platform, Jessica soon followed suit and it was clear to see that she had a few stitches from Chelsea's assault the other day. "You look like you've gone through the wars." Chloe commented dryly as she activated her duel disk and Jessica growled before doing likewise.
"No thanks to your roommate!" Jessica spat at Chloe as the two girls drew their opening hands. "I shouldn't be here anyway! I did nothing wrong!"
"You call luring out an autistic girl and beating her for five hours nothing wrong?!" Chloe demanded as her eyes narrowed. "I'm still surprised that Nicola was able to make it back to her room at the Osiris Red Girl's Dorm before passing out!"
"She shouldn't have been admitted here in the first place!" Jessica spat as she glared at Chloe. "This school is meant to be for the elite! Not lowly rejects such as Ra Yellow students like yourself or Osiris Red Rejects like that re…"
"Jessica, if you finish that sentence I'll skip the formalities and expel you on the spot!" Martin interrupted her and Jessica gulped before nodding. "Now I understand that there's some animosity between you two but let me make one thing clear, unless you conduct yourselves professionally I will throw out the duel and Jessica will either be expelled or she will have her record expunged, depends on who started it, am I clear?"
"As tempting as it is to watch Jessica shoot herself in the foot I'd rather beat her the old-fashioned way." Chloe thought before nodding. "Crystal clear."
"What she said." Jessica added reluctantly and Martin nodded.
"I'll leave the orders up to you but do be quick about it, I have to post the line-up for tomorrow's graduation duels after this duel." Martin added and the two girls nodded before turning to each other.
"Tournament finalists first." Chloe insisted and Jessica growled before nodding reluctantly as Chloe looked over her hand. "Okay, I can do this, I've got a good hand and Jessica's deck doesn't focus on any monsters that aren't Acid Golem of Destruction and if I can keep that thing off the field I'll be home free, then again that proved to be easier said than done during the semi-finals." Chloe thought before playing a card. "I activate Reinforcement of the Army!"
"There's a surprise, not!" Jessica scoffed as she rolled her eyes whilst Chloe added the monster she was looking for to her hand. "Try something new for once!"
"Your team reached the semi-finals of the Tag Team Tournament and in almost every duel you competed in you always summoned Acid Golem and used the exact same combo to win the match." Chloe pointed out as she sent her Spell Card to the graveyard. "Granted I did the same with Silent Magician but still, the phrase pot calling the kettle black comes to mind!" Chloe added and Jessica went to respond before pausing.
"Just finish your move so that I can win this match!" Jessica growled and Chloe smirked.
"Suit yourself, I summon Marauding Captain!" Chloe played the card and the brown-haired warrior appeared on the field (3/1200/400). "I activate his effect, since I just Normal Summoned him I can Special Summon another monster, like Gemini Elf!" Chloe played the card and alongside the captain appeared the twin elves ready for battle (4/1900/900). "If I had a tuner or a Level Three Monster in my hand I could've used Marauding Captain to special summon a monster from my extra deck." Chloe thought as she picked up two cards from her hand. "But I don't and Gemini Elf was my best option, besides, Jessica's best monster is Acid Golem which requires two level three monsters to summon it, if I can keep up the pressure by summoning strong level four monsters I may not even need to do a Synchro or XYZ Summon."
"Are you done yet? I have a celebratory party planned for when I win this travesty of justice!" Jessica interrupted Chloe and she frowned in response.
"Is she really that delusional? Oh right, she dates Cameron and was his tag team partner throughout the tournament, off course she's that delusional!" Chloe thought before setting the two cards she had drawn. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."
"About time!" Jessica responded as she rolled her eyes and drew her card, once her eyes lay upon her drawn card she played it immediately. "I activate my old favorite Dark Room of Nightmare! And before you make any smart-ass remarks I'm also activating Poison of the Old Man! I chose to use his burn effect!" Jessica played the card and Chloe winced as her life-points dropped to 6900. "It'll only be a matter of time before I burn all your life-points to zero!"
"Assuming I don't wipe out your life-points first!" Chloe responded with a grin and Jessica's eyes narrowed. "Face, it Jess, in one move I summoned two pretty powerful monsters that can deal you a total of 2100 points of damage and the only monsters you have that can Special Summon is Tour Guide from the Underworld which is really only good for Special Summoning, hell over the past few hours I've heard people saying that the only reason you made it as far as you did in the tournament was because you had your boyfriend backing you up but now?"
"Shut up!" Jessica interrupted her as she glared at the shorter girl. "Just shut the fuck up! What would a Ra Yellow reject like you know about strategy!?"
"I knew enough to wipe out both you and your boyfriend's life-points in one move during your last tournament match even though I only had fifty life-points left." Chloe responded as she folded her arms and Jessica growled. "Hell, if I wanted too I could've just waited a couple of extra turns and let Acid Golem defeat you but nope, granted there was nothing I could do to stop you from playing Poison of the Old Man or something similar but still!"
"Chloe, I hate to interrupt but at the rate you're going? Martin will be an old man before she finishes her turn." Silent Magician chimed in and Chloe sweat-dropped.
"I thought he was already an old man." Chloe thought before the sweat-drop doubled in size. "Yikes, I am so glad that I didn't say that out loud! Martin would probably give me detention for the rest of my stay at Duel Academy!" Chloe thought before she turned to Jessica. "Just finish your turn before this duel ends up clashing with the graduation duels!"
"For once, we agree on something." Jessica nodded in agreement before picking up three cards. "I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode, it's your move." Jessica announced as the three cards appeared on the field and Chloe drew her card.
"On one hand, I am behind on life-points but on the other hand I have the field advantage with my two monsters, let's see if I can increase my field advantage." Chloe thought before looking at her drawn card and immediately playing it. "I activate Arkashic Record, I draw two cards but if I've already used either of those cards I have to remove those cards from play." Chloe announced before she drew her cards and looked them over. "I haven't used either of these cards so they are here to stay."
"Since it's your second turn I would've been impressed if you had used them." Jessica scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "But the card text also says that you have to reveal them."
"So, it does." Chloe commented before holding her cards up and at that point Jessica started to worry.
"Silent Magician Level 8 and Level Up, shit." Jessica winced as she glanced at the two cards. "If she already has Silent Magician Level 4 in her hand then I may as well kiss my spot at Duel Academy goodbye, worse yet? Cameron has the only copy of Lullaby of Obedience we could find in his deck and he's back home by now!"
"What's wrong? Are you worried?" Chloe asked as she turned her cards back around and sent her Spell Card to the graveyard. "She should count herself lucky that I don't have Silent Magician Level 4 in my hand but I can still damage her." Chloe thought before pointing to Jessica's facedown monster. "Gemini Elf, attack her facedown monster!" Chloe commanded and the twin elves fired their beams of light at the facedown monster, revealed to be Stealth Bird (3/700/1700) which was quickly destroyed. "Any last words before my captain attacks you?"
"Seven words actually! I activate my trap card Miracle's Wake!" Jessica responded as her trap card flipped up. "Using this trap card, I can Special Summon one monster that was destroyed by battle this turn and since you just destroyed my only monster the choice couldn't be more obvious!" Jessica played the card and sure enough Stealth Bird returned to the field in a crouching position.
"I'm not stupid enough to damage my own life-points so I'm calling off my attack." Chloe responded before frowning. "If she summons another Stealth Bird then I'm in trouble, she'll be able to XYZ Summon Acid Golem on her second turn and if she can get her combo off I'm in deep trouble." Chloe thought before looking over her hand. "I just have to hold out hope that I can draw Silent Magician Level Four on my next turn." Chloe thought before nodding too Jessica. "I end my turn."
"About time!" Jessica thought before quickly drawing her card. "Damn it, I have all the components I need to summon Acid Golem but without Creature Swap I'll be in deep trouble if I do attack, doesn't mean I can't damage her in other ways." Jessica thought before switching Stealth Bird to attack mode. "I switch Stealth Bird to attack mode and just for good measure I summon a second Stealth Bird, also in attack mode!"
"Wait, what?!" Chloe thought as the second bird appeared on the field. "What's she thinking? Stealth Bird's defense points aren't that great but they are still better off in defense mode!"
"Now it's time I showed you that I can damage you in ways that don't involve effect damage." Jessica added as she played a card. "I activate Shield and Sword!"
"Well, that answers that question!" Chloe thought with a gulp as the attack and defense scores of the four monsters on the field swapped around with Gemini Elf's and Marauding Captain's attacks dropped to 900 and 400 respectively whilst the two Stealth Bird's attacks rose to 1700. "But on the other hand, the fact that she isn't going for an XYZ Summon means that she doesn't have all the components for her infamous combo and if I can take out those birds quickly enough she'll be up a creek without a paddle!"
"Stealth Birds, attack her pathetic monsters!" Jessica commanded and the two birds took flight before piercing Chloe's two monsters in the chest with their beaks destroying them both and bringing Chloe's life-points down to 5000. "What was that you said about wiping out my life-points?"
"It's still early in the duel." Chloe responded as she sent her two monsters to the graveyard. "And once your turn ends your birds will be sitting ducks!"
"Oh yeah, let's fix that! I activate the second effect of my Stealth Birds allowing me to flip both monsters into defense mode!" Jessica announced as the two monsters disappeared from the field. "I end my turn!"
"Me and my big mouth!" Chloe thought before drawing her card. "Okay, let's assess this situation! Even if I did get a monster on the field that can attack over one of her Stealth Birds that would still leave her with one Stealth Bird left which she could easily use to wipe out my life-points if she draws a card like Tremendous Fire or worse, gets Tour Guide out and summons Acid Golem." Chloe thought before looking at her drawn card and playing it. "I activate Spellbook inside the Pot!"
"All that waiting for that overused card?" Jessica asked with a scoff as the two girls drew their three cards. "I'm surprised that I2 hasn't straight up banned it yet!"
"Wouldn't be the first time that most of the decks at this school got fucked by a ban list." Chloe thought with a frown before sending her Spell Card to the graveyard and looking over her hand. "Huh, there's a card I haven't used in a while, and with this combo I can bring out one of my heavy hitters, okay, let's do this!" Chloe thought before retrieving Spellbook from her graveyard. "I remove Spellbook inside the Pot from play so that I can Special Summon Spell Striker!" Chloe played the card and the small, cartoonish warrior appeared on the field ready for battle (3/600/200).
"Why do you still have that pathetic monster in your deck?!" Jessica scoffed as Chloe glared at her. "So what if it shares the main gimmick of your roommates' deck, it comes with none of their benefits!"
"Maybe, but who said I summoned Spell Striker for his ability to attack directly?" Chloe asked earning a confused look from Jessica. "I activate the Warrior Returning Alive and since I only have one Warrior type monster in my graveyard I think it goes without saying that I'm retrieving Marauding Captain from my graveyard." Chloe announced as she played the card and retrieved Marauding Captain from her graveyard. "Next, for my normal summon I bring out Marauding Captain!" Chloe announced as the warrior returned to the field.
"So, what? All you've got now is two warrior monsters that can't attack over my Stealth Birds." Jessica scoffed as Chloe picked up another card. "It doesn't matter what card you play next because all your doing is setting yourself up for defeat! And to think, I was worried about being expelled today!"
"I wouldn't be so sure about that Jessica." Chloe responded before playing her card. "I use Marauding Captain's effect to Special Summon the Tuner Monster Torapart!" Chloe played the card and the strange warrior type monster appeared on the field ready for battle (2/600/600) and as soon as the monster appeared on the field the grin on Jessica's face disappeared as just what Chloe was up to hit her like a ton of bricks.
"Shit, that can only mean one thing!" Jessica said as her eyes widened. "You're about to summon Colossal Fighter!"
"You actually got something right, I'll be sure to keep an eye out for the flying pigs when I leave the main building!" Chloe responded before pointing to her three monsters. "I tune Torapart with Marauding Captain and Spell Striker!" Chloe announced as the three warriors leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon and sure enough once the bright flash faded from view Colossal Fighter appeared on the field in Marauding Captain's place (8/2800/1000). "Colossal Fighter gains one hundred attack points for each Warrior in our graveyards and even if you had any warriors in your deck I'm looking at the only two monsters you've played so far but me? Well, thanks to my Synchro Summon I have three in my graveyard!" Chloe added as Colossal Fighter's attack went up 3100. "And that's not the best part, since I Synchro Summoned him whilst using Torapart as the tuner you can't use trap cards when this monster attacks!"
"I know!" Jessica snapped at her but she was clearly sweating bullets from the presence of one of Chloe's best monsters on the field. "I will not be condescended to by a lowly Ra Yellow student!"
"That wasn't meant to be condescending and even if it was, you have bigger problems!" Chloe responded before pointing to the Stealth Bird on the right. "Colossal Fighter, attack her defense monster!" Chloe commanded and the fighter pulled back his fist before flattening the Winged Beast monster with his first. "Luckily for you, your monster was in defense mode but I've seen enough of your duels to know that you don't have much in the way of monsters in your deck, I end my turn!" Chloe announced and Jessica gulped before drawing her card.
"She can summon all the heavy hitters she wants but her Spellbook inside the Pot helped me as well, she doesn't realize it but she's given me the tools I need to summon Acid Golem, use my combo and destroy her Fighter! Sure, she'll revive it through his own effect but that won't matter once I use Creature Swap!" Jessica thought before playing a card. "I summon Tour Guide from the Underworld!" Jessica announced as the red headed tour guide appeared on the field ready for battle (3/1000/600). "I activate her effect…..."
"I don't think so!" Chloe interrupted her as she discarded a card from her hand. "I activate Effect Veiler from my hand to negate Tour Guide's effect!" Chloe announced as she discarded the weak Tuner Monster from her hand and Tour Guide doubled over in pain.
"Fine but I don't need to use Tour Guide's effect to XYZ Summon Acid Golem!" Jessica responded before flipping up Stealth Bird again causing Chloe's life-points to drop to 3700. "And now I put an end to this duel and ensue that I come back after Summer Break! I use Tour Guide and Stealth Bird to build the overlay network and XYZ Summon Acid Golem of Destruction!" Jessica played the card and the two monsters were sucked into the portal before Jessica's monstrous ace monster appeared on the field (Rank: 3/3000/3000). "Any last words?"
"Four of them! I activate XYZ Encore!" Chloe activated her facedown card and Jessica's eyes widened as Acid Golem was sucked back into the portal and Tour Guide and Stealth Bird retuned to the field. "Sure, you are free to XYZ Summon another monster but it'll have to be a Rank Two Monster because XYZ Encore reduces the levels of the XYZ Materials by one!" Chloe added as the levels of the two monsters dropped to two.
"I know, I was there when you used that in your combo that got me and Cameron eliminated from the tournament!" Jessica responded with more than a hint of bitterness to her voice as she glared at Chloe, "But I also remember that XYZ Encore Special Summons my monsters in defense mode so unless you draw Big Bang Shot or manage to get a monster on the field my life-points are safe, it's your move." Jessica announced and Chloe drew her card.
"I don't need to be a mind reader to be able to tell that she's getting desperate." Chloe thought as she glanced up at Jessica. "I may be behind on life-points but aside from her Shield and Sword combo I've managed to maintain the field advantage, then again Jessica's deck isn't about the field advantage, it's about chipping away at the opponents' life-points." Chloe thought before looking at her drawn card and grinning. "You've met one of my ace monsters, now you get to meet another!"
"You don't mean…." Jessica responded as her eyes widened.
"That's right! I summon Silent Magician Level 4!" Chloe played the card and the youngest version of her ace monster appeared on the field (4/1000/1000). "But she isn't sticking around! I activate Level Up to bring out her grown up version, Silent Magician Level 8!" Chloe played the card and Silent Magician Level 4 started glowing and growing until she reached her adult form who stood there ready to do battle (8/3500/1000). "Colossal Fighter, Silent Magician, attack her monsters!" Chloe commanded and the two powerful monsters launched their attacks quickly destroying the two monsters. "It looks like your running out of options!"
"You'll run out of life-points before I run out of options!" Jessica responded and Chloe said nothing as she folded her arms. "Is it my move yet?" Jessica asked and Chloe nodded before she drew her card. "I can't let this bitch beat me again! It's not all about power and I'll demonstrate it when I reduce her life-points to zero without summoning a single monster!" Jessica thought before looking at her hand…..and her eyes widened. "No! No! No!"
"Something wrong?" Chloe asked with a grin on her face and Jessica growled.
"I don't have enough cards to reduce your life-points to zero and you've destroyed my last monsters, that's what's wrong!" Jessica snapped at her and Chloe's grin widened. "I have no choice but to pass my turn."
"Then this duel's over." Chloe responded before drawing her card, however before she made her movre Chloe locked eyes with Jessica. "Why?"
"Huh?" Jessica blinked in confusion as Chloe glared at her. "What are you talking about?!"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" Chloe responded as she gritted her teeth. "Why did you, Thomas and Cameron attack Nicola? Sure, I'm friends with her but she wasn't even a student when the tournament started, why did you go after her?"
"Well, since I have nothing to lose." Jessica said before laughing. "Why do you think?! That retard has no place in this school and since your friends with her we figured why not kill two birds with one stone, attack Nicola to get to you." Jessica added before grinning. "Off course, we had a couple of other ideas, one idea we had was to somehow use your childhood against you but we couldn't find a way to tell the world about how much you deserve the abuse you suffered as a little girl!"
"…. what did you say?" Chloe asked after a few seconds as she clenched her fists. "Attacking Nicola was one thing but saying that about my childhood?!"
"What's the matter?" Jessica asked with a laugh. "Don't like the truth?" Jessica asked not noticing that Chloe was taking her scarred arm out of her blazer sleeve. "This is perfect! I'm using the same tactic Cameron used against her when she dueled her and this time? She'll probably get expelled…"
"WHAT DID I DO TO DO DESERVE THIS?!" Chloe interrupted her and Jessica looked up seeing the scar that went from Chloe's shoulder to her elbow rendering her speechless for once and electing a few shocked gasps from the crowd. "I was seven years old when my dad did this to my arm." Chloe added as she put her arm back in the blazer sleeve. "I had to have a blood transfusion and had my arm in a cast for the rest of the year, all because my dad was a drunken waste of space!" Chloe added as tears ran down her face and she absentmindedly went to turn the safeties off. "She has to pay for this, she…."
"Chloe, I know your angry, I completely understand why." Silent Magician cut her off and Chloe stopped. "But that isn't the answer, remember what I told you after your duel with Cameron?"
"If I do this then there's no telling how much damage I could deal." Chloe thought as she instead rubbed her scarred arm uncomfortably. "The Technicians would catch it in an instant but that wouldn't matter, since this is an official school duel I'll be expelled on the spot!"
"That's enough you two!" Martin interrupted them breaking Chloe's train of thought in the process. "Chloe, you are absolutely right to be angry over what Jessica just said and believe me, if she somehow wins this duel she won't be coming back from Summer Break after those comments, Jessica I won't interrupt this duel but I will warn you, one more comment like that and I will personally ensure that no other Duel Academy takes you in after your expelled, win or lose!"
"Thanks for that Martin." Chloe said with a deep breath as she wiped away some tears from her eyes. "I activate Birthright so I can Special Summon Gemini Elf back from the graveyard." Chloe activated her trap card causing the twin elves to return to the field. "My three monsters have a combined attack power of 8500, more than enough to finish you off in one move, consider this payback for Nicola and everything you just said! Gemini Elf, Colossal Fighter, attack her life-points directly!" Chloe commanded and the two monsters launched their attacks at Jessica bringing her life-points down to 3000. "I would say that I'll be sure to say hi to you if you ever get a job at my local burger place in Domino but honestly? If you did get a job there I'd start searching for a new burger place! Silent Magician, finish her off!" Chloe commanded and the magician pointed her staff at Jessica before firing off her attack hitting Jessica square in the chest and bringing her life-points down to zero.
"Here is the winner of the match, Ra Yellow's Chloe Richardson! As a result, Obelisk Blue's Jessica Stevens is expelled from the school, effective immediately!" Martin announced as Jessica scrambled to her feet and glared at Chloe.
"This isn't over!" Jessica called out to Chloe as she hopped off the arena and security closed in on her.
"I reduced your life-points to zero and got you expelled, either your delusional or your definition of over is much different than mine!" Chloe responded before leaving the duel arena and heading straight into the room she was occupying before the duel, once inside she shut the door and slumped down into a fetal position on the floor by the door. "It's over, she's expelled and I avenged Nicola, doesn't stop me from feeling like shit though."
"Regardless of how you feel you did the right thing out there." Silent Magician responded as Chloe sighed in response. "Besides, don't you want to go back to your dorm room?"
"Honestly? I just want to avoid the crowds." Chloe responded as she glanced over at her scarred arm. "I've never intentionally revealed my scar in front of that many people before, let alone spoke so openly about so if I can avoid any questions that'll be great."
"You can't avoid them forever." Silent Magician responded and Chloe sighed as she heard some voices on the other side of the door but ignored them.
"Yeah but I'd rather answer them when I'm ready." Chloe responded but before she could say anything else to her spirit guide the door opened and she looked up.
"Jeff said that we'd find you in here." Sarah said as she and Tracy stepped into the room with concerned looks on their faces. "Are you feeling okay Chloe?"
"What do you think?" Chloe asked with a sigh as she pulled herself to her feet. "I just wanted some answers from her, I didn't think she was going to get that personal!" Chloe added as she folded her arms.
"None of us did but she's been escorted back to her dorm room so she can pack up, you won't have to worry about her from now on." Tracy responded and Chloe nodded in response. "Have you ever tried talking to a shrink about your childhood?"
"Not since I was a kid, I had to talk with a child psychologist before my dad's murder trial." Chloe responded as she shook her head and she leaned against the wall. "And that's another bag of worms that I really don't want to open up."
"Don't worry about it, we heard the jist of it from the teachers that accompanied you and the others to Battle City." Sarah nodded in understanding before offering Chloe a tissue to dry her eyes with. "If you want some time alone in your dorm room, you should be able to get there in no time and most of the students have left already, besides, we need to use this room for a meeting."
"I wasn't going to spend all day in here anyway." Chloe responded as she took a deep breath. "I just wanted to avoid the crowds and try to have a peaceful day after what happened back there."
"I understand, don't worry, I'll make sure no one bothers you." Sarah nodded in understanding before Chloe followed them out of the room.
*meanwhile*
"I'm honestly surprised it took Jessica that long to stoop that low." Andreas commented with a look of disgust on his face, he was in Tyler's dorm room with Tyler and Chelsea who was close to storming over to the Main Building following the conversation Jessica and Chloe had just before the duel ended before being talked down by the two boys. "It's a good thing that Martin was there to cool them down."
"I'm not so sure that Chloe was able to calm down completely." Tyler responded as he shook his head and continued to work on the laptop's encryption. "You saw the look on her face as she finished Jessica off, she looked ready to kill someone."
"If I where her I would've skipped the pleasantries and caved her skull in with my duel disk." Chelsea responded as she shook her head. "I know I was just in trouble for beating her up but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a line that spread across the whole island consisting of people who want to beat the crap out of Jessica for that, in fact I think me and Lance would probably duel again just to decide who went first."
"As much as I don't want to see you get expelled, I can't really argue with that." Tyler nodded in understanding and Chelsea grinned a bit when she heard that. "Even so, Chloe will need the support of her friends after that incident and aside from Lance you are the one who's closest to her since your roommates and all."
"It's not that I'm arguing against that point." Chelsea responded as she walked up to Tyler. "But I'd rather wait to see if we make any progress on that thing before I head back to the Ra Yellow Girl's Dorm, besides I think Chloe wants some time alone more than anything else."
"That is a good point." Andreas nodded in response before turning to Tyler. "How is your progress coming along?"
"Well, that was delayed a bit by the livestream but I was able to make some good progress." Tyler nodded in response and Chelsea grinned before going over to the mini-fridge and grabbing the last can of coke. "That stuff will kill you one day."
"Tyler, you have no idea how much you just sounded like my dad." Chelsea responded as she rolled her eyes and opened the can. "Besides, you're the one who drinks more red bull than anyone I've ever met!"
"Touché." Tyler conceded as Chelsea closed the fridge behind her, a few more minutes of silence passed before it was suddenly broken. "I've done it!"
"You've broken the encryption?!" Chelsea asked and Tyler nodded with an excited look on his face causing the other teens to rush over, however as they read through the encrypted file their grins dropped. "Holy shit, no wonder the techs were so reluctant to give this back to us!"
"If this gets out then it could bring down Duel Academy, maybe even KaibaCorp." Andreas nodded in agreement with a grim look on his face. "But at the same time, this information is invaluable to our fight against the Orichalcos."
"That is why we're playing it safe." Tyler said as he turned to the others. "We won't reveal this information until after Summer Break starts and once we're ready to make our move, as much as I hate to keep the others in the dark this is greater than all of us." Tyler added and the two teens nodded in response.