Chapter 4: Harpie's Dance
"We don't believe you!" They exclaimed in unison.
"How can we be sure that you aren't lying? For all we know you could be here to spy." The black haired girl said pointing an accusing finger at Soren.
"Even if I was here to do such thing, what, or who, would I be spying on? From the sounds of everything inside, everyone is still enjoying the dinner. And I don't know about you but I don't derive any sort of pleasure from watching people eat." Soren's stomach growled at that time, as he had not eaten anything all day. "And I really don't like seeing other people eat when I'm hungry." He said as his mind began to wander, thoughts of food taking over him.
"He's right Mindy, besides we don't have anything to prove that he was up to no good." Jasmine said as she stepped forward, a motion which managed to bring Soren's mind back to the situation at hand. "Even so, you should know that boys are prohibited from entering the Girl's Dorm. We can't just turn a blind eye to this." She said as her gaze locked with Soren's. "I'm sure you know what we have to do."
He closed his eyes to think for a moment, then it hit him. "I see, so you plan on turning me in. Well I can't afford to let that happen when my life here has yet to begin, so how about we make a little bet?" Soren said as he walked passed Jasmine, her gray eyes following his movement.
"And what kind of bet would we be making? I don't see any reason to bargain when you're the one who is trespassing."
"You are correct Jasmine, it would be the easiest thing in the world to simply turn me in, but please just hear me out. I will accept whatever decision you make afterward if you just give me a chance to explain myself. After that, it's entirely up to you what happens to me." He said as he stopped in his tracks.
"Alright, I'm listening." Jasmine said as she crossed her arms.
"How about we have a duel to decide my fate? We are at Duel Academy, after all." Soren said as he reached into the box he had been carrying with him since he arrived. He pulled out a slick, silver disk and placed it onto his left arm. "If you win, then you have free reign to say and do whatever you want with this event. If I win then this never happened and we go our separate ways." He explained as he began shuffling his deck.
"A duel is fine by me, but which one of us will be going against him?" Mindy asked, trying to decide which of them was more up to the task.
"Leave that to me." Soren said as he pulled a coin out of his pocket. "Heads, I duel Jasmine and Tails I duel you, Mindy."
He flicked the coin upward, watching carefully as it flipped in the air. Soren extended his hand to catch it. As it landed in his open palm he looked at the result, Heads. "Well I guess we have our answer. Shall we?" He asked, activating his duel disk and drawing his starting hand. A motion that Jasmine repeated as Mindy moved to the sidelines to spectate.
"DUEL!"
SOREN-4000
VS
JASMINE-4000
"Ladies first, so here I go!" Jasmine said pulling the card from the top of her deck.
TURN ONE-JASMINE-SIX CARDS
"And to start things off I activate the effect of Harpie Queen in my hand. By discarding her to the graveyard I can add the field spell Harpie's Hunting Ground from my deck to my hand." She explained as she did so. "And next I am going to activate it." She said as she placed the card into the field spell zone. "Now I summon Birdface in attack mode!" The card appeared on the field and out of it came a golden bird clad in avian armor.
Birdface- WIND - LVL 4 - ATK 1600/DEF 1600
JASMINE-FOUR CARDS
"Harpies Hunting Ground also grants an increase of 200 points for attack and defense for all Winged Beast type monsters."
Birdface- WIND - LVL 4 - ATK 1800/DEF 1800
"I'll play two cards face-down and end my turn." The backs of the cards appeared behind Jasmine's monster.
JASMINE-TWO CARDS
"Then that makes it my move, I draw!" Soren said as the tips of his fingers elegantly slid the card to his hand.
TURN TWO-SOREN-SIX CARDS
So she runs a Harpie deck? Seems fitting in a way, but that field spell is going to be a problem. He thought as he ran his eyes over his hand. "First I summon Elemental HERO Stratos in attack mode!" Wind surrounded the card as it appeared on the field, swirling until it created a vortex. Suddenly his monster leapt out of the center of the vortex, dispersing the wind in the process.
Elemental HERO Stratos- WIND - LVL 4 - ATK 1800/DEF 300
SOREN-FIVE CARDS
"And now his monster effect activates, allowing me to add one HERO card from my deck to my hand." Soren explained as he once more looked through his deck. "The one I choose is Elemental HERO Voltic." He showed the card to Jasmine before adding it to his hand.
SOREN-SIX CARDS
"Next I play Mask Change II. First I have to discard one card from my hand, so I'll discard Elemental HERO Shadow Mist."
SOREN-FOUR CARDS
"Now by releasing Stratos I can summon a Masked HERO from my Extra Deck with the same attribute." As he finished his explanation the wind picked up again and Stratos was enveloped in it. "Appear, Masked HERO Divine Wind in attack mode!" Soren shouted and the wind dispersed once more, revealing the Emerald Armor of his monster.
Masked HERO Divine Wind- WIND - LVL 8 - ATK 2700/DEF 1900
"Next my Shadow Mist's effect activates, when she is sent to the graveyard I can add one HERO card from my deck to my hand." He explained as he looked though his deck. "The one I choose is Elemental HERO Prisma." He said as he slid the card into his hand and shuffled his deck.
SOREN-FIVE CARDS
"Battle! Divine Wind attacks Birdface with Wind Lance!" The declaration prompted Divine Wind to make his move. Raising his hand skyward, the wind formed itself into a lance. Divine Wind hurled it towards the armor clad bird as it braced itself for the impact.
"I play my trap card, Widespread Ruin!" Jasmine shouted as the first of her two face-downs flipped face-up. "When my opponent declares an attack this card destroys the monster they control with the highest attack!"
"Say what?!" Soren shouted as Divine Wind exploded into an emerald green cloud.
Soren glanced down at his hand and grabbed two cards. "I'll set two cards and end my turn."
SOREN-THREE CARDS
"I gotta admit, you're pretty good Jasmine. That's the first time anyone has managed to destroy Divine Wind." Soren said, an eager grin forming on his face.
"I hope you weren't expecting me to go easy on you. I'm giving it everything I have. Still, thank you for the compliment." She replied as she placed her hand on top of her deck. "It's my turn, I draw!" She said sliding the new card to her hand.
TURN THREE-JASMINE-THREE CARDS
"And now I'll summon Harpie Lady 1 in attack mode!" A beautiful woman with wings as green as Divine Wind's armor leapt out from the card frame, her long, pink hair flowing elegantly in the night sky.
Harpie Lady 1- WIND - LVL 4 - ATK 1300/DEF 1400
JASMINE-TWO CARDS
"And now her effect activates, giving an attack boost of 300 points to all WIND monsters on the field. And don't forget about my Harpie's Hunting Ground." She said as the two monsters on her field became cloaked in fierce winds.
Harpie Lady 1- WIND - LVL 4 - ATK 1800/DEF 1600
Birdface- WIND - LVL 4 - ATK 2100/DEF 1800
"And now the other effect of Harpie's Hunting Ground activates! When a Harpie Lady is normal or special summoned, I can target one spell or trap card on the field and destroy it." She explained as she gazed at Soren's back row of cards. "I choose the one on my left!" At her decision Soren watched helplessly as his Mirror Force was revealed and then promptly destroyed. Good choice, now he shouldn't have anything to save himself. Jasmine thought, smirking at the scene.
Here it comes. Thought Soren as he quickly adjusted his stance.
"Go Harpie Lady 1, attack Soren directly with Talon Strike!" The woman leapt forward, raising one of her arms up high.
"I play the trap card, Call of The Haunted!" Soren shout as the card rose up. "This allows me to special summon a monster from my graveyard, and the one I choose is Elemental HERO Shadow Mist!" A feminine figure clad in black armor rose from the card slowly like a shadow, her dark hair twinkling in the moonlight.
Elemental HERO Shadow Mist- DARK - LVL 4 - ATK 1000/DEF 1500
"And now her other effect activates, when she is special summoned I can add one "Change" quick-play card from my deck to my hand. The one I choose is Mask Change!" Soren said as he placed the card into his hand.
SOREN-FOUR CARDS
"Even so my attack continues. Once more Harpie Lady, Talon Strike!" And so the woman resumed her attack, plunging her talons into Shadow Mist's torso. Soren's monster let out a shriek before melting back into the shadows she emerged from.
SOREN-3200
VS
JASMINE-4000
"Shadow Mist's first effect will activate once again. This time I add my second copy of Stratos to my hand." Soren said, showing the card to Jasmine before adding it to my hand.
SOREN-FIVE CARDS
"And now Birdface will attack you directly with Cyclone Strike!" The armored bird began flapping it's wings, whipping up a small cyclone and hurled it towards him. Soren's hair and scarf whipped around wildly as his life point counter dropped.
SOREN-1100
VS
JASMINE-4000
"There is nothing else I can do this turn, so I end." She said lowering her arm to her side. "I hope you weren't getting comfortable here Soren because it looks like this duel is all mine. And once I win you'll be expelled for sure." She said as her gaze locked with Soren's.
"Well the best is yet to come Jasmine, so prepare yourself! I draw!"
TURN FOUR-SOREN-SIX CARDS
This ought to help even the playing field. "I activate the spell card Heavy Storm!" Soren shouted as a violent tempest whipped all around the field. "This card destroys all spell and trap cards on the field!"
SOREN-FIVE CARDS
As he finished speaking, Jasmine watched as her field spell and her Hysteric Party trap card were destroyed.
"And that means your monsters attack power will be reduced!" The winds that had enveloped Jasmines monsters became less fierce.
Harpie Lady 1- WIND - LVL 4 - ATK 1600/DEF 1400
Birdface- WIND - LVL 4 - ATK 1900/DEF 1600
"And next I summon Elemental HERO Prisma in attack mode!" Once more the monster made of crystal-like prisms emerged in a pillar of light that lit up the night.
Elemental HERO Prisma- LIGHT - LVL 4 - ATK 1700/DEF 1100
SOREN-FOUR CARDS
"Now go Prisma, attack Harpie Lady with Spectrum Blast!" At Soren's command Prisma extended an arm forward and a rainbow beam shot forth. Jasmine's Harpie Lady took up a defensive stance as the blast collided with her. She let out a shriek as the beam overtook her form.
SOREN-1100
VS
JASMINE-3900
"From my hand I activate the quick-play spell, Mask Change!" Soren shouted as another pillar of light surrounded Prisma.
SOREN-THREE CARDS
"With this card's effect I release Prisma to summon Masked HERO Koga in attack mode!" The light enveloped Prisma's form entirely, and then burst outward to reveal the golden warrior.
Masked HERO Koga- LIGHT - LVL 8 - ATK 2500/DEF 1800
"And now his effect will activate, giving him an attack boost of 500 points for every monster you control!" Koga's armor seemed to shine brighter and more brilliantly as Soren finished speaking.
Masked HERO Koga- LIGHT - LVL 8 - ATK 3000/DEF 1800
"But that's not all, because now I can activate his other effect! By removing Divine Wind from play, I can make one monster on the field lose attack equal to his attack points until the end of the turn!" As Soren finished explaining, the transparent form of Divine Wind wrapped itself around Jasmine's monster. She took a step back as her monster's attack power dropped.
Birdface- WIND - LVL 4 - ATK 0/DEF 1600
"Go Koga, attack with Light Barrage!" Koga brandished his twin swords and leapt forward, slashing Birdface in two. Jasmine raised her arms as her monster burst into shards.
SOREN-1100
VS
JASMINE-900
"Birdface's will activate, when it's destroyed by battle I can add one Harpie Lady card from my deck to my hand. I choose Harpie Lady 2." She showed the card to Soren and proceeded to add it to her hand.
JASMINE-THREE CARDS
"Sorry Jasmine but this is the last turn because I'm activating another quick-play, the spell card Form Change!"
SOREN-TWO CARDS
"You've gotta be kidding me, how many of those quick-plays do you have?" Jasmine asked, obviously annoyed.
"Two of each, but that doesn't matter right now! With Form Change's effect I send Koga back to the Extra Deck and summon another Masked HERO with the same level but a different name. And the one I choose is Masked HERO Anki!" In moments Koga was overtaken by the surrounding darkness, his form twisted into something darker, no pun intended. Out of the shadows a new monster emerged clad in armor similar to that of Shadow Mist.
Masked HERO Anki- DARK - LVL 8 - ATK 2800/DEF 1200
"Now go Anki, finish this with Shadow Fury!" Anki suddenly melted into the ground and shot towards Jasmine with unprecedented speed. He emerged from the ground just as quickly, appearing in front of the girl and driving his claws into her stomach. She let out a pained groan as she fell to one knee.
SOREN-1100
VS
JASMINE-0
As the holograms disappeared Soren approached his opponent. Meanwhile Mindy rushed to her side.
"You alright Jasmine?" She asked as she helped Jasmine to her feet.
"Yeah I'm fine, but I lost." She replied, a slight frown forming on her face. It left as soon as she saw Soren walking towards them. As Soren reached the two he extended a hand forward.
"That was an amazing duel Jasmine. You're pretty good." Soren said, smiling lightly.
"Pretty...good? Yeah that's right, I am pretty good. You're not so bad yourself Soren, if not annoying with those Masked HERO cards of yours." Jasmine replied grasping his hand tightly. "But don't think this is the end. I want to have a rematch." Her eyes began glowing with a fiery passion that she had not shown before.
"You can count on it. As for when that happens, well, I'll leave that up to you." Soren said as they both released each others hands. "Well now I need to get going. When do the dinners end by the way?" Soren asked as his stomach growled once more.
"Dinners are over at 10:00 and then lights out at 10:15." Mindy said. Taking out his PDA once more Soren looked at the time.
9:30
I might just make it in time to get some food. "Alright then I better hurry up. I'll see you both later." He said as he broke into a sprint.
Unbeknownst to Soren, another girl had watched the whole thing from the shadows. Her long, light pink twin tails flowed lightly as she wandered back inside. How interesting. That guy is certainly strong. And I do so adore strong duelists. She thought as the door shut silently behind her.
END OF CHAPTER 4