Author's Note: I own nothing in relation to Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

CHAPTER 11 – REPERCUSSIONS

I wonder if anyone missed having Alexis and I in class. Both of us were absent for the remainder of the week, as we spent most of our time in the Slifer Red dorm, separated by a locked and bolted door. I tried to stay perfectly silent and hoped Alexis would think that I snuck out a window or something and go away, but the girl was smarter than that.

"ALISTAIR! OPEN THIS DOOR!" she yelled at me from outside. I sat curled up in a corner, terrified of the wrath of a woman scorned. Why, oh why, did I forget to think of a scapegoat for this idea? I desperately tried to think of a way to avoid having my eyes scratched out, and heard her pounding against the door, still screaming for me to come out. An idea then struck me, albeit a risky one. I approached the assaulted door quietly, afraid that in Alexis's rage she would wind up breaking it down. As luck would have it, the door was capable of being locked and unlocked from both sides, so I carefully unlocked the door and threw it open at the perfect time. Alexis lost her balance and fell into my room, giving me time to quickly escape out and shut the door behind me, locking it once again. Needless to say, Alexis was even angrier now and was beating on the door from the other side.

"ALISTAIR!" she screamed in fury. "YOU ARE SO DEAD!" I laughed and breathed a sigh of relief, exiting the Slifer Red dorm whistling happily. It wasn't long before I got a message on my PDA, which I glanced down at and froze in horror. The message read:

What's this box under your bed? Hmm?

"MY CARDS!" I shrieked, flying back into the dorm. I tried to unlock my door and get into my room, but clever Alexis seemed to have barricaded my door. Ah, how the tables had turned yet again. I desperately tried to force my way in when Jaden zoomed by, grabbing me by the collar.

"Man, you're finally out of there!" he said with relief. "We gotta get to Crowler's class before he winds up giving both of us detention!"

"But my CARDS!" I argued vigorously as I was dragged out of the Slifer Red dorm. "My darlings are in PERIL!"

I was completely unable to concentrate in class that day. Luckily, with the color drained from my face due to the overwhelming terror I felt for my cards – not to mention my dorm in general – Crowler eventually bought my excuse of being sick for the past few days. We were given a 30-question exam on how to counter monster flip effects, many of which I already knew despite missing the last two classes. I blew through the test as fast as humanly possible, turned it in to Crowler, and bolted out of the classroom much to everyone's surprise. I raced back to the dorm at full speed, and bursted through the now-unlocked door to my room. My jaw dropped at the site of my room, which had undergone some serious redecorating during my 80-minute class.

The walls were painted with hot pink polka dots, the bed's white and red sheets were replaced with light pink and baby blue, and posters of various boy bands were pinned up everywhere. A surge of disgust came over me, which certainly wasn't helped by Chazz who picked the perfect time to walk by my room. One look inside, and he fell over laughing.

"Ahahahahaha! Did you do some redecorating, Silver Slifer?" he teased while grasping his sides in laughter. I held back the urge to kick him in the gut and instead slammed the door behind me, his irritating laughter echoing in my mind. I swiftly tore down all the posters from the walls, stuffing them into the nearest trash bin. Before I could consider what could be done about the polka-dotted paint job, I remembered Alexis's PDA comment regarding my card box. I dove to the floor and flipped up the ghastly pink and blue sheets, spotting the silver suitcase that laid beneath the bed, exactly where I had left it. I pulled it out and hastily released the latches, flipping it open.

"Agh!" I shouted, as I was attacked by a swarm of fake snakes. I shook my hair out of my face and stared down into the suitcase with despair. My cards were gone, and Alexis had turned it into a giant version of the overused "can o' snakes" gimmick. I narrowed my eyes in fury and flipped the suitcase over, removing the silver covering. Hidden behind it was a laminated 8x11 sheet of paper, consisting of a detailed list of all the cards I had stored within the suitcase. Knowing exactly what was to be done, I marched over to the nearest pier, got myself a boat, and set out for the Obelisk girls' dorm.

I reached the pier and tied up the boat, rushing up to the Obelisk dorm ahead. I was met there by Atticus, who saw the look on my face and immediately went to stop me.

"Whoa, whoa, you can't just barge into the Obelisk girls' dorm you know!" he told me. "What's the problem this time?"

"Your sister stole my card collection!" I told him vehemently. My face felt very hot, as if steam was ready to pour out of my ears. I valued my card collection very much; I had been building it for over ten years, and I would be damned if it would all be wiped out because of Alexis. "Do you have any idea how much they're WORTH?"

"Okay, okay, calm down man," Atticus instructed. "You need an Obelisk's permission to go in there. So I'll take you up to talk to her."

I reluctantly accepted and followed Atticus through the girls' dorm, which looked rather different from the boys' dorm. I wondered why on earth Atticus was even allowed to be in this building with or without me, figuring it might have something to do with the fact that he has a sister that lives here. I was surprised at the number of girls that poked their heads out of their doorways to stare in wonder at why the "Silver Slifer" was in their dorm, which led me to appreciate having a tour guide in Atticus. The dorm was so massive I would have probably gotten lost multiple times, and likely swarmed by ravenous women in the process. When Atticus came to a stop, I noted the door number, silently memorizing it in case I had to make future trips here in order to retrieve my wrongfully stolen belongings.

Atticus knocked on the door, which was answered seconds later by a familiar blonde.

"I want my cards," I growled darkly, giving her a sinister glare that would have sent shivers up even Zane's spine. Alexis crossed her arms and smiled faintly.

"I don't have them anymore," she told me. "My roommates do. They're trying to figure out which ones they want." My jaw dropped, and Atticus decided to cut in.

"Can we talk to them, sis?" he asked her sweetly. "Those cards really mean a lot to Alistair, you know."

"Yeah?" she countered. "Well now half the school thinks Jaden and I are dating because of him."

"You painted my walls pink!" I hissed back, clenching my fists. "Polka dots! God-forsaken polka dots!" Alexis giggled at me, as if there was absolutely nothing wrong with the fact that she completely feminized my entire dorm.

"I thought it was cute," she chimed with another smile. Oh, she was going to get it.

"Just get your roommates before they traumatize my card collection," I insisted, closing my eyes. Alexis sighed and disappeared, calling for two girls named Mindy and Jasmine. When they reached the door, sure enough they had their hands full of Duel Monster cards, all of which I recognized.

"Unhand the goods, you thieves!" I shouted, getting more impatient by the second. Atticus was slowly starting to back away, afraid steam really WOULD start pouring from my ears.

"Oh, these?" Mindy asked knowingly, holding up her handfuls of cards.

"I dunno, we kinda like them!" her friend Jasmine added, both wearing conniving grins on their faces. Dealing with women could be beyond frustrating sometimes. I narrowed my eyes as they continued to absent-mindedly flip through the cards they held, before finally looking back up at me.

"Beat us in a duel and THEN we'll give them back," Mindy offered. I let out a low growling sound, knowing I really had no other choice.

"Wait, two against one? Isn't that a bit unfair?" I seethed, crossing my arms.

"Well," Jasmine theorized, "you could team up with Atticus. If you think he'll be a good teammate." The two girls somehow found this amusing, and I quickly glanced over at Atticus.

"Let me see your deck," I told him sharply. Atticus handed me his cards, which I flipped through briskly, making a quick analysis. Eventually, I handed them back to their owner, turned to Alexis's roommates, and answered, "I'll duel on my own."

They strangely found my declaration even MORE amusing. I rolled my eyes and sighed, pulling out a notepad and jotting down some notes.

"We'll set some handicap rules," I stated. "I'll explain them in detail later."

"Fine, then go get your deck ready and we'll see you in the arena in 15 minutes!" Mindy shot at me. "And then when we win, we get to keep your silly little collection!"

"But Mindy, Alistair doesn't have any cards to prepare with, just the ones he had from the tournament!" added Jasmine, igniting another bout of laughter between the two. I resisted the urge to punch something, pocketed the notepad and pen, and had Atticus lead me out of the dorm. Never had I been faced with a duel of such importance. If I were to suffer my first loss, my entire card collection would be taken from me forever. I returned to my dorm, still visibly irked by the day's events.

"I guess I'm stuck with the cards I have right now," I grumbled, until I spotted the mail that came in for me. I flipped through the letters, many of which were from girls I didn't know. Is this what Atticus goes through every day? Finally I reached a letter that was from my parents. I opened it up and had a read.

Dearest Alistair,

Your father and I just received news on your perfect score on your entrance exam. Way to go! Our faith in you never wavered, and to this day we strongly believe that if you commit yourself to your goals, one day your talent will take you to heights you've never thought possible. Every day we hear of your accomplishments in your studies, our pride in you grows. We already miss you back home, but we hope that you're making friends, working hard, and most importantly, having fun. There's no limit to the amount of success waiting for you in your future, and as your parents, we know that you'll find it.

Love,

Mom & Dad

P.S. – Your uncle wanted us to send you a gift to congratulate you on your exam performance. Make good use of them!

I folded up the letter and sighed, reminiscing of my days back home with my parents. Remembering the vacations we would go on together, the fights we would get in, and most vividly, the amount of dedication they put into helping me build my card collection. It probably sounds cheesy, but without my parents, I knew full well that I would never have amounted to anything, let alone reach the potential I was told I had today in the field of dueling. I clenched my fists again, knowing that I had to defeat Mindy and Jasmine and retrieve my collection, my heritage, the one heirloom of mine that represented my entire past.

I re-read the letter and noticed the postscript, prompting me to check the envelope. I shook it over my bed, causing three Duel Monster cards to flutter out and land face-up on the bed. My eyes went wide with astonishment as I read the names and effects of the three new additions to my collection. I now realized that with these cards, my task of recovering what was taken from me would be a much easier task.