Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter 3: A Blaze of Glory
"Welcome home Ni-chan." A boy one year younger than Haseo said. He had pale skin and black hair. He had straight black hair and was wearing a red t-shirt and a pair of shorts. A towel was around his neck and shoulders.
"Going out to the pool?" Haseo asked.
"Yep. Masurao and Troy are here too." Masato answered.
Haseo frowned for a moment. "Isn't Troy scared of water?"
"It'll be easier if you see for yourself." His younger brother answered. He lead Haseo out to the backyard which had a large in ground pool. A boy of Masato's age was in the water, his brown hair clinging to his head because of the water. He had a blue swim suit on and brown eyes that matched his hair. He was currently looking up into the tree above them.
Haseo raised an eyebrow when he saw the boy in said tree. He had rusty red hair and tan skin. He was wearing a grey swimsuit and currently had his arms wrapped around the tree branch. Said tree branch had grown out so that it stretched over the pool, were the boy was now dangling over. "Hey." Haseo greeted nonchalantly.
"Oh, hey Haseo." Masurao, the boy in the water, answered.
"Why is Troy holding onto that branch for dear life?" Haseo asked, his voice giving a slight hint of interest but his face looking uninterested.
"Well you know how Troy is terrified of water?" Masurao asked, earning a nod from Haseo. "Well Masato and I are trying one last ditch effort to help him get over that fear before summer ends."
"That still doesn't answer why he's in the tree." Haseo said.
"He ran up there in fear, not realizing the branch would bend down so close to the water." Masato answered.
"Yes well," Haseo said, scanning the situation. He looked next to him and saw a tiger cub curled up on a folding beach chair, purring softly as he slept. He looked back when he heard a small crack and saw the branch was finally succumbing to Troy's weight. Troy was shaking violently, a few leaves drifting off of the branch. "Good luck then." He said before walking inside.
CRACK!
"ARGH!"
SPLASH!
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Thanatos sat at the desk in his room. His second entrance duel was going to be the next day and he had to make sure his deck was perfect. His cards were organized in front of him in groups, depicting strategies and plans. He stared at the cards long and hard before sighing.
"I'm a failure." He muttered. "I can't do this! I've looked over it again and again and no matter what I do I can't think of ho to get the Witches out any faster!"
"Ni-chan why are you talking to yourself?" a young boy asked after suddenly barging into the boy's room. He had light brown straight hair, slightly tan skin, brown eyes, a red shirt and jeans. He looked to be about eight.
"Because I have to win at this duel tomorrow or else I can't get into the Academy!" he snapped. "Go away Ian, I have to think!"
"Do you want to do a duel?" the younger boy asked. "You need practice right?"
"No, I need a new strategy." Thanatos answered. "I have to think of some way to get my Fortune Telling Witches out to the field faster." Just summoning them once a turn and then hoping I get the right spell cards won't work!"
"I know what you can do." The boy said.
Thanatos looked over at his younger brother curiously. "Oh really?" he asked, not bothering to keep the skepticism from his voice.
"Sure. I'll tell you if you do a duel with me." Ian answered.
"You drive a hard bargain." Thanatos said. He gathered his cards together and sighed. "But fine. What do I have to loose?"
"Yay! I'll go get my duel disk I got for my birthday!" Ian cheered.
"Okay." Thanatos sighed. He got his own duel disk ready and put his cards in after shuffling them. His younger brother ran back in, the weight of his duel disk a little too heavy for him to keep it straight out. "Ready?"
"Ready!" he answered excitedly.
"Okay then, here we go!" Thanatos cried as he drew a card.
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Thanatos stared at the large building that housed the Entrance Exams. His deck was complete, thanks to his brother's help. For all the grief they gave each other they knew they could count on each other. Thanatos sighed and walked towards the building. He walked past Haseo who was leaning against the wall next to the door. Haseo smiled lightly after Thanatos walked in and followed him.
Thanatos walked into the main room where Meiga stood. From the looks on his face, Thanatos reasoned he was not happy to be there. He glared at the two boys, Thanatos looking nervous and Haseo looking aloof. "Follow me." He snapped. The two boys walked with Meiga to one of the classrooms where they had taken the written exam. The desks had been cleared away and a female Ra Yellow student stood in the middle of the room.
"Hello." She greeted, Thanatos surprised to hear a British accent. She had light brown hair and a small smile on her face. She had a normal second year Ra Yellow uniform on and an academy duel disk on her arm. "I guess you're the one I'll be dueling." She assessed.
"That's right." Thanatos answered. Haseo walked over and sat at the chair behind the desk, earning a scowl from Meiga. While the strange professor tried yelling at Haseo to get him out so he could sit, the doors opened. A stern looking man wearing a third year Obelisk Blue uniform with all of the white black walked in. he had dark blue hair and matching eyes. "I'm the Chancellor of Duel Academy Zane Truesdale." He said. "I'm here to watch over this duel and assess your abilities. If you manage to win and pass me assessment, then your score will be recalculated and you'll have a second chance of getting into Duel Academy."
He walked over and looked down at Haseo. The white haired boy looked back up and an invisible battle of wills seemed to occur. Meiga shrunk back from the two in fear. Zane's eyes narrowed and he opted out to sit on the edge of the large desk, ignoring the small proud smirk on Haseo's face. "Alright, start the duel then." Zane said.
"Right! Ladies first." Thanatos invited.
"Thank you. Oh, and before we begin my name is Sandra, but you can call me San." The two duelists drew their cards and faced off against each other. "I start by playing a card face down and summoning Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000)!" A long serpent like dragon appeared in an explosion of fire. It's body was on fire and it's scale seemed to be made of magma. "No when I end my turn, he burns off 500 of your Life Points." Solar sent a fireball at Thanatos, covering him in fire.
Thanatos: 3500
"My move!" Thanatos cried a she drew his card. He looked at it and smiled. "Okay, I summon Mother Grizzly (1400/1000)!" A large black bear appeared on the field and roared threateningly. "Attack Solar Flare Dragon!" San frowned when she saw the large bear charge, only to be incinerated by her dragon.
"Of course, her ability!" San cried.
"That's right! When she's destroyed I can summon a new water monster with four or fewer stars. So I summon Fortune telling Witch Sui (0/0)!" A small bubble of water formed, revealing Sui. "Next, I'm using two spell cards. The first is called Advance Fortune Loan, which summon a Fortune telling Witch with one star level lower than Sui's." A small tornado formed revealing a familiar green fairy. "This is Fortune telling Witch Fu. Next, my spell card Unacceptable Results activates, which summons a Witch with one star level higher than Sui. That means I can summon Fortune telling Witch An." The purple fairy rose up from the shadows, a smirk on her face.
"That was a good move. And their all in defense mode too." Haseo said, his interest slightly piqued.
"My move." San said, drawing her card. "I summon Raging Flame Sprite." A small fairy appeared, a wand in it's hand that burned with a dim fire. She wore a brown witch hat and she had brown hair. (100/200) "I'll have her attack you directly!" San ordered. The fairy charged in a blasted Thanatos with a small burst of fire.
Thanatos: 3400
"And every time she gains more attack points (1100/200). Now I'll have my Solar Flare dragon attack your Sui!" The serpent dragon sent out a burst of flames that burned Sui away into a pile of ashes and left over fairy wings. "I end my turn, which meand my Dragon does even more damage to you."
Thanatos: 2900
"I hate burn decks." The boy sighed as he drew a new card. "I activate Good Fortune-Lucky Hand! This let's me draw a card for every Fortune telling Witch I have on the field, and I still have two." Thanatos drew his cards and smiled. "I summon my Fortune Telling Witch Hikari (0/0)." The yellow fairy appeared in a small flash of light and smiled brightly. "Now I play Good Fortune-Trinity Flash! If I have three Fortune Telling Witches on the field I can destroy one of your monsters. So good bye Sprite!"
The Witches put their wands together, creating a source of light that constantly shifted from yellow, purple, and green. The light fired as a beam at Raging Flame Sprite, destroying her instantly. "Your move San."
"Okay then, I summon my Little Chimera." A small cat with bat wings and sharp fangs appeared on the field, it's fur a deep black. (1100/1000) "This little cute cat powers up Fire monsters by 500 attack and defense. Now I'll have my Solar Flare dragon attack Hikari!" The dragon complied wth it's master's orders and destroyed the fairy.
Thanatos: 900
"Now Little Chimera, attack Fu!" The small cat charged at Fu and slashed it's claws through her. "And now I end my turn with Solar Flare Dragon burning off even more of your Life Points."
Thanatos: 400
"My move." Thanatos said, drawing his card. "I play a card face down and end my turn." He said quietly.
"My move." San said as she drew her card. "Sorry Thanatos, but I'm ending this. Solar Flare dragon, destroy his final witch." The dragon flew towards An, his mouth ready to eat her.
"I activate my trap card, Bad Fortune-Damage Reversal!" Thanatos cried, revealing his trap card. "When an opponent attacks one of my Fortune Telling Witches I can use this. By removing from play a Fortune telling Witch from my graveyard I can stop the attack on one of my Witches, and then destroy the attacking monster. It would do damage to you as well, but since En is in defense mode that doesn't apply."
"That was a good move. I end my turn." San said.
"Okay then, this is where I turn things around!" Thanatos cried as he drew a card. His eyes widened when he saw the card and smiled. "I activate Heavenly Fortune Telling. This card let's me off my Fortune Telling Witch En to special summon from my deck a Fortune Telling Witch for every star level she has." En was covered in darkness and exploded into shimmering light that brought forth the other five of the Fortune telling Witches. "Now, depending on how many Witches are summoned I get one more effect. Since I summoned five, I can heal my Life Points for every Fortune Telling Witch in my graveyard, which is three."
Thanatos: 1900
"That was quite good." Haseo assessed.
"No kidding, now I've got a whole wall of fairies to take out." San sighed. "It's no problem though, that was a great move." She drew her card and smiled. "Okay I'll have my Little Chimera destroy your newest Hikari." The black cat lunged toward the fairy and destroyed it with a scratch of her claws. "I end my turn."
"And I begin mine." Thanatos said a she drew his card. "I active Good Fortune-Miracle Stone!" A large glowing crystal appeared, bathing the girls in bright light. The Witches all began glowing, powered up by the large crystal. (4000/0) "I switch them all to attack and end my turn."
"Uh oh, looks like I need to make a last stand." San said worriedly. "I activate Soul of Fire! This let's you draw a card, and let's me choose a monster from my deck. I choose Gaia Soul the Combustible Collective. Now half of hi attack points are sent though your Life Points!" A large flaming chunk of earth appeared and exploded into Thanatos.
Thanatos: 900
"Now I play a card face down and switch Chimera to defense mode. Your move." San said, a sad smile on her face. "I guess I loose, but it was still fun." She said.
"Sorry, but you're right. Hikari, destroy Chimera!" Hikari sent a massive beam of shimmering light at the cat, destroying it.
"It's an empty gesture, but I activate Backfire! Since you destroyed a fire monster you loose 500 Life Points." San said.
Thanatos: 400
"Finish her off Chi!" The brown fairy sent a beam to the earth which created a large earthquake. San fell to the ground and sighed.
"Nice job Thanatos, I guess you win." She said with a proud smile. "It's going to be my second year at the Academy so just tell me if you need somebody to show you and your friends around okay?"
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." Thanatos said with an excited smile.
"Well he did win." Zane said. "So I suppose he can get in as a Red student."
"No!" Meiga cried. "No, no, no, no! I can't believe this is happening!"
"Calm down Meiga, you were the one who agreed to our duel and this deal." Haseo said calmly. Meiga pointed at Haseo and let out a low growl.
"I will make sure you get kicked out of this school if it kills me." Meiga hissed.
"Careful how you word things." Haseo answered coldly. He looked over at Thanatos who was now happily jumping up and down and hugging San. He chuckled slightly. 'Congratulations Thanatos.' He thought. 'I hope you and I get to know each other this year. And don't forget, you owe me.'