Author's Note: I own nothing in relation to Yu-Gi-Oh GX.
CHAPTER 18 – THE FIRST TERM EXAM, PART 1
"Remember," came Crowler's annoying British-like voice, "a loss does not necessarily mean you fail, and a win does not necessarily mean you pass! We're evaluating you based on your utilization of tactics. Understood?"
Chazz and I each nodded in agreement, activated our duel disks, and drew five cards to start with.
"Very well then, we have examination student #318, Chazz Princeton of Slifer Red, and examination student #361, Alistair Rhein of Slifer Red," Crowler confirmed. "Your first term exam starts now! Begin the duel!"
Chazz 4000 - Alistair 4000
"I'll get this started," Chazz immediately announced before I could even offer him the first move. He drew a card from his deck and cockily grinned at his cards.
"Get ready for a butt-kicking, Silver Slifer!" he shouted. "I summon V-Tiger Jet (1600 / 1800) in attack mode!" A large yellow and blue fighter jet made its appearance on Chazz's field, giving me reason to believe he was in a machine mood today. That feeling was reinforced with his next two cards.
"Next I'll play my Frontline Base magic card," he declared, "which lets me summon ANOTHER one of these machines from my hand, and what better than my W-Wing Catapult (1300 / 1500)!" Joining the V-Tiger Jet was what appeared to be a blue winged mechanical contraption with turbo boosters. It didn't look like much, but I wasn't enough of a fool to think he was going to leave two mediocre monsters out in attack mode on the first turn.
"Now, V-Tiger Jet and W-Wing Catapult! Merge together!" Chazz ordered, sending the two machines he had summoned soaring into the air and performing a cliché "joining forces" sequence that I'd have expected to see on an old episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. "When combined, they create the VW-Tiger Catapult (2000 / 2100)!"
I made no sort of expression, knowing that I still had a turn to ruin his entire dramatic buildup. Crowler and company were muttering amongst themselves, jotting things down in their gradebooks and watching the duel carefully.
"I'll finish up with a face-down and end my turn," he finished, a holographic face-down flashing into view before his feet. The teachers' attention now turned to me. I drew one card from my deck and stared down at my hand, mildly disappointed. I've certainly drawn better.
"I'll play two face-down cards," I decided, doing just that. "That's all."
Chazz and the teachers gave me puzzled looks, but the exam proceeded as normal.
"No monsters?" he asked, drawing his next card. "You really ARE a rookie! Tiger Catapult, attack him directly!" I merely rose one arm to shield my eyes from the flashes of light and billowing smoke as the VW-Tiger Catapult unleashed a barrage of laser blasts at me, cutting my Life Points in half.
Chazz 4000 – Alistair 2000
"That ends my turn. This'll sure be a short match," Chazz snorted at me, shortly before one of my face-down cards revealed itself.
"Don't get ahead of yourself," I interrupted. "I activate my Damage Condenser trap, allowing me to summon a monster with an attack power equal to or less than the damage you just inflicted on me. All I have to do is send one card from my hand to the Graveyard."
I chose one card from my hand and slipped it into my Graveyard, then fanned out my deck in search for one monster in particular.
"And I just so happen to know the perfect monster for the job," I continued with a smile. "You dealt me 2000 points of damage, so here's a card with 2000 points of power. I call forth my Dark Magician Girl (2000 / 1700)!"
The excited female mage was all too happy to make another appearance in one of my duels, materializing on my side of the field with a broad smile on her face.
"Oh, and did I mention what card I sent to the Graveyard as the price for Damage Condenser?" I asked rhetorically. "It was a Dark Magician, and when he's in the scrap heap my Dark Magician Girl gets 300 more points." Dark Magician Girl's attack power rose to 2300, but I felt I could boost it higher.
"Now then," I said to an unhappy Chazz while drawing my next card, "let us continue… with my Graceful Charity spell! Now I may draw three cards, and then discard two… one of them being a Magician of Black Chaos, which means another 300 points for my Dark Magician Girl!" Her total climbed higher to 2600, a sufficient amount in my eyes.
"Now to dismiss that warplane of yours! Magician Girl, attack the Tiger Catapult!"
"Yeah, like I'd let you do that," Chazz cut in, flipping up his face down card. "You just lost the duel! I activate Ring of Destruction!"
"Like I'd let you do that," I mimicked, activating my own trap. "I'll chain – with my Trap Jammer!" Chazz's Ring of Destruction card glowed and shattered, while his Tiger Catapult was crushed with a brilliant surge of pink energy, chopping Chazz's Life Points down to 3400.
Chazz 3400 – Alistair 2000
"I'll play one face-down to finish up," I concluded, slipping a final card into one of the magic and trap slots in my duel disk. "Take it away, Princeton." Sneering, Chazz practically ripped the next card in two as he whipped it out of his deck in dramatic fashion.
"I play my Pot of Greed spell, letting me draw new cards!" he explained, increasing his hand size. He got that freaky angry smile on his face as he proceeded with his turn.
"Next I'll bring out X-Head Cannon (1800 / 1500), in attack mode!" he shouted, a large robot appearing to be the torso of something much larger rising to the field. Its shoulders were mounted with twin cannons, both aimed at my Dark Magician Girl.
"And thanks to Frontline Base, I can also bring out Z-Metal Tank (1500 / 1300)!" Chazz continued, summoning a hulking yellow vehicle to join the X-Head Cannon. "Now these two can combine too! My Z-Metal Tank can fuse with my X-Head Cannon, and increase their attack and defense points by 600!"
The two machines linked together, rising their attack and defense totals to 2300 and 2100.
"And last but not least, I play a spell card! 7 Completed!" Chazz proclaimed. "With this baby, I can power up my XZ-Tank Cannon by another 700 points!"
The machine's attack power rose higher to a total of 3100, enough for the task he had set out to complete.
"Looks like your Magician Girl's toast! Tank Cannon, attack!" Chazz shouted triumphantly. The XZ-Tank Cannon fired a barrage of missiles that nuked my side of the field, destroying my Dark Magician Girl and claiming another 500 Life Points.
Chazz 3400 – Alistair 1500
"That does it for me," he finished with a grin. I drew my next card calmly and smiled, pleased with the draw my deck had given me.
"You won't be getting rid of my Dark Magician Girl that easily," I stated. "I activate Call of the Haunted, and summon her back to the field!" The Dark Magician Girl reappeared on the field, and playfully blew a raspberry at Chazz.
"Next I activate my Sage's Stone spell!" I declared while Chazz glowered at me. "With my Dark Magician Girl on the field, Sage's Stone allows me to automatically give her some company – in the form of my Dark Magician (2500 / 2100)!"
Joining my jumpy and energetic Dark Magician Girl was the stern and serious Dark Magician, staring down the mechanical monstrosity on Chazz's field.
"Finally I'll play one face-down, ending my turn," I said, eager to see how Chazz would react now. He drew his next card as the heads of the teachers again turned toward his direction.
"I'll just roast that Magician Girl of yours a second time! Tank Cannon, attack again!" he shouted. I quickly reacted, pulling a Mystical Elf from my hand and slipping it into my pocket. The look on Chazz's face made me think he knew what was coming.
"I activate my Elemental Absorber trap!" I countered. "With my Mystical Elf now removed from the game, none of your Light-type monsters may declare an attack!"
Chazz grimaced angrily as his Tank Cannon slowly retreated back to its original position, forcing him to end his turn. I drew a card, knowing this was my chance to gain some ground.
"I'll start with my own Pot of Greed!" I began, drawing two cards from my deck. I was rather unimpressed with the draw, so I opted to fix the problem.
"And now I'll follow up with Card Destruction!" I announced, holding the card out for Chazz to see. "We each discard our entire hand, and then draw the same number of cards that we discarded from our decks!"
Chazz and I each wound up drawing three new cards. My hand didn't get a whole lot better, but I suppose I had to make the most out of it.
"And finally, I'll play Magical Blast!" I shouted, giving my two Magicians the go-ahead to charge up a massive ball of burning energy and release it in unison, sending the attack streaking across the field and slamming into Chazz.
Chazz 3000 – Alistair 1500
"Magical Blast inflicts 200 points of direct damage to you for every Spellcaster I've got on the field," I told him. "Since I've got two, that's a 400-point hit. And I think I'll just play two face-downs to finish."
Chazz was getting more agitated with each turn passed. He drew his next card and again flashed that disturbing grin, signifying he had another brilliant plan.
"Now you're in for it, Silver Slifer!" he hissed. "First I separate my X-Head Cannon and my Z-Metal Tank!" The X-Head Cannon split apart from the top of Z-Metal Tank and hovered next to it. Of course, I had a feeling they'd be combining again.
"Now I summon my Y-Dragon Head (1400 / 1500)!" he shouted, calling the red winged glider and the final piece of the XYZ family. "Now X-Head Cannon! Y-Dragon Head! And Z-Metal Tank! Combine and form the unstoppable XYZ-Dragon Cannon (2800 / 2600)!!"
The trio of machines lifted into the air and joined with one another, creating a colossal multi-colored war machine of unbelievable size and power. One look at Chazz's face and you'd think that he already won the duel.
"Now all I gotta do is discard one card from my hand, so I can activate my Dragon Cannon's ability and blow out that Elemental Absorber!" he boasted. Doing just that, the Dragon Cannon's primary weapon released a powerful laser beam that sliced right through my Elemental Absorber trap and splintering it into nothingness.
"Don't think I'm done yet!" he continued. "Now I play my Level Modulation spell card! First off, you draw two cards." I added the top two cards of my deck to my hand, as instructed.
"Now," Chazz explained, "I get to summon my Armed Dragon Level Seven (2800 / 1000)!" A giant black and red dragon with a belly lined with nasty spikes emerged onto the field behind Chazz in attack position. I'll be honest. It looked hungry.
"Don't worry, he's just visiting," Chazz tried reassuring me with sarcasm. "I only summoned him so I could tribute him for my Armed Dragon Level TEN (3000 / 2000)!!" The dragon behind Chazz disappeared only to be replaced with an even more ghastly behemoth, covered with black armored skin and an aura of sheer strength. I raised my eyebrows, rather impressed with a monster of that caliber.
"Let's see how you like this! Dragon Cannon, attack his Dark Magician Girl!" he ordered. I responded by activating one of my two face-down cards.
"Ah ah ah! Not so fast!" I interrupted. "I activate a magic card – Dedication Through Light and Darkness!" My Dark Magician then disappeared from the field moments before being replaced by a new one with black flowing hair and dark blue and black armor.
"Now by sacrificing my Dark Magician, I can summon my Dark Magician of Chaos (2800 / 2600)!" I shouted. Chazz just sneered at me for the 80th time that day.
"So what? I'm attacking your OTHER monster!" he argued, moments before widening his eyes and calling off his attack. Perfect timing as well, as my Dark Magician Girl's attack points had just risen to 2900.
"Close call there, Chazz," I taunted. "Don't want to look like a fool during an exam."
"Shut up, Slifer!" he spat angrily. "Your Magician Girl's still gonna be dragon food! Armed Dragon, attack!"
This time I didn't have anything to prevent the attack, and my Dark Magician Girl was destroyed as a result. The carry over damage wasn't severe, but it left me with a cautionary total of 1400.
Chazz 3000 – Alistair 1400
"I'll end my turn there," he said with confidence, glaring at me. I merely chuckled as I raised my hand, a card instantly materializing in it. Dumbstruck, Chazz demanded to know what had happened.
"You certainly are slow," I teased again. "One of the effects my Dark Magician of Chaos possesses is the ability to return one spell card from my graveyard to my hand."
I proceeded to draw my next card, but decided to play that specific spell card first.
"Want to know what it is?" I asked, laying the card down on my duel disk. "Surprise! It's one of your cards!"
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NEW BONUS SEGMENT
Hello, Alistair Rhein speaking. Seeing all the reviews my daily life has been getting lately, it's been suggested that I take part in a new segment in which you, the reviewers can ask me anything you want to know about life at Duel Academy, what I've done in my past, or even some little-known secrets I managed to dig up during my time at school. Do YOU know what Alexis hides under her bed?
Anyway, ask me anything you want, and I'll be sure to give each and every one of you a response. Furthermore, I'll be sure to give each and every one of you a strangling if you call me the Silver Slifer. Clear? Wonderful. Oh, and… don't tell Alexis about that "under the bed" thing. I'm in hot water with her as it is.
(whistling in background)
It's a METAPHOR, Atticus!!