Chapter 5: Zero to Hero
Soren sat upon one of the two beds in his newly assigned dorm room, rummaging through the rest of the contents in his box. It had to have been some stroke of luck that he was the only one assigned to this room. He laid the Slifer Jacket and his scarf on the other bed, making sure he folded them neatly and placed the box at the foot of his bed. He moved back and lied down upon the comfortable bed, allowing himself to feel the soft blanket and the cold pillows. Yet as comfortable as the bed was, Soren felt he didn't deserve it. He was placed in this dorm on a whim after all. As he lay his head upon the pillows, his mind began wandering back to his home in Domino City. And as it did so, memories of his mother began rushing back to him.
I wonder how she's doing? I hope she isn't too worried about me. He thought as he rolled over to face the window, watching as the moonlight shone through and illuminated the darkened room. "Heh... I'm probably more worried about her than she is about me. Even so..." he said as his eyes focused on his jet black scarf. "... I have to make sure I make her proud. I owe her that much for all that she has done for me." He said to no one in particular and rolled onto his back.
Well no point in worrying about her now. I'm here, so I may as well try to enjoy my time. And that should be easy enough if everyone here is at least as strong as Jasmine and that Jaden guy. The fun is yet to begin. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander once more.
And so he slept...
Soren awoke to the feeling of sun on his face. He opened his eyes slowly, giving them time to adjust as he pulled himself sluggishly out of bed. Pulling the PDA out of the box, he began to go over his class schedule. Looks like first up is Dueling Basics with Crowler. After that is... Alchemy? Why is that a class? He thought as he grabbed his scarf from the other bed. He slipped on the Obelisk jacket once again and wrapped his scarf around his neck, then left his room. As Soren walked through the halls of the blue dorm, he noticed that many of the other students in the dorm were either chatting with their peers or moving to the dining hall for breakfast. Having no reason to stick around, he simply continued on his way.
The sunlight shined brilliantly as Soren walked out the front door. A serene silence accompanied it as Soren walked down the empty path, a familiar sense of calm overtaking him. It was similar to the feeling he got when his mother would come home after so long, her loving smile becoming a reassurance that everything was alright. It was calming and warm, almost like the sun on this day. But even back then Soren understood just how hard she worked to do even that much, despite how exhausted she was when she got back. He sighed, wondering why his mind continued to drift there of all places. He took out the PDA and checked the time.
6:00 A.M
Guess I must be heading out early. Which is good, but what should I do with the extra time? He thought as he continued on the path leading to the main gate of the school building. He walked in silence as he pondered the possibilities of what he could do. The wind began to blow gently as his stride slowed to a halt, a single thought crossing his mind in that moment.
I don't even know where the classroom is. He slowly brought a hand to his face, letting out a slightly annoyed groan. How could I forget to do something so important? He thought. "It's not that big a deal, I just need to do a bit of searching." He said as he felt a tap on his shoulder. Soren turned and came face-to-face with Jasmine and Mindy once again.
"Any reason you're just standing here talking to yourself?" Said Jasmine, placing a hand on her hip.
"Well I was hoping to meet an angel to walk along the path with, but a Harpy's not so bad either. " Soren said, a smug grin forming on his face.
Jasmine scowled at the pun, while Soren seemed to be quite proud of himself for.
"Might I ask where you two are heading?" He asked as Jasmine gave him an unpleasant glare.
"We were on our way to the classroom to meet up with Alexis when we saw you here." Said Mindy as she eyed him up and down. I give him a seven out of ten. She thought to herself.
"Which brings us back to our question. What are you doing just standing here?" Jasmine asked again.
"Well I was heading to the classroom as well, but... I don't know where that is." Soren answered plainly.
"And here I thought you had some common sense, but I guess that was asking too much." Jasmine said, shaking her head in a disapprovingly.
"I have to agree with you, it was careless of me to gloss over something so important." He replied. "With that being said, would it be alright of me to ask you two to be my guide?" He asked.
Jasmine brought a hand to her chin as she thought about it. "Maybe if you apologize for that joke you made, I'll consider it. Maybe. " She replied, steadying her gaze on Soren, as if she expected nothing less.
Soren stepped in front of Jasmine and bowed his head slightly. "My humblest apologies my dear Jasmine. I do hope you can forgive me." He said, his voice carrying a surprisingly sincere tone.
"Jeez, you don't have to be so dramatic about it. I mean it was just a joke after all." She said.
"Even so, an apology would mean nothing if there was no sincerity in it." He replied as he raised his head. "Now then, shall we be on our way?" Jasmine sighed and began walking alongside Mindy, gesturing for Soren to follow.
Soren made sure to keep a few paces behind Mindy and Jasmine as they walked, listening to bits and pieces of their conversation. Most of it consisting of this Alexis character, as well as someone named Zane. Soren let out a quiet, inaudible sigh as he placed a hand on his hip. Is this all they talk about? I can understand liking someone's appearance, but from what I can hear that's all these two seem to care about. He shook his head disapprovingly at that thought. That can't be all there is to it. I must be missing some details, I mean I haven't met either of the people they are talking about. He thought as he quickened his pace.
"So if you don't mind me asking, who exactly is this Alexis you two keep talking about?" He asked as he walked between them. The two girls looked at each other and then back to him.
"Well, we could tell you all about her..." Said Mindy as she placed a contemplative finger on her chin. "...but it would probably be easier and faster if we just introduced you to her." Jasmine finished.
"Sounds like a fair enough reason. And what about this Zane? What's the story on him?"
"Zane is the top student of the academy. His reputation as a duelist has earned him the nickname Kaiser." Mindy explained. "He's not only smart and a great duelist but he's totally hot!" She exclaimed.
"So he goes around calling himself an emperor? Doesn't that sound just a little overconfident?" Soren asked, placing his arms behind his head.
"Maybe, if he wasn't as good as everyone knows he is." Mindy retorted, as she narrowed her gaze on Soren. "But I know Zane wouldn't have any trouble beating you." She declared.
"Is that so? Then why don't we find out for ourselves?" Soren replied, his eyes radiating an aura of determination at the thought of getting a chance to go against the best of the best.
"You can't be serious about challenging Zane." Jasmine said in agreement with Mindy's declaration.
"And why not? If he's as good as you both say he is then there shouldn't be a problem with me taking him on." Soren replied, letting his arms fall back to his sides. "Besides, it's not like he's unbeatable. Everyone here has failed at something at least once. It's how we better ourselves. Not just as duelists, but as people too." The two girls looked at Soren, wondering how he had learned such a lesson. He certainly had a different way of thinking when it came to losing, and that on its own was enough to set himself apart from the rest of the Obelisks. And that trait was interesting enough to make them want to see just how sure of himself he was. That would have to wait until later.
For now though, it was time for class...
Soren sat at the end seat of the same row as Jasmine, Mindy and the previously mentioned Alexis. He leaned casually on his right hand, letting his cheek rest upon it. Even though they said he should just meet her, Jasmine and Mindy have instead taken to asking the blonde beauty an array of questions. Each of them pertaining to some aspect of her personal life, a topic which she did not feel needed to be talked about on such a grand scale. Seems like she's having fun. Soren thought sarcastically as his hand found its way to his deck holster and removed the cards from their home at his side. He slowly looked over each individual card, wondering which adjustments he could make. As he did so, a pair of vibrant, ruby eyes gazed on from the seat directly behind him.
Her eyes focused on his deck as he went through it slowly, making mental notes of the cards she had not seen the night before. A mischievous grin formed on her face as her eyes continued scanning his cards, giving her all the information she would need to put her plan into action. Now it was simply a matter of getting him alone.
Not the best way to pass time, but I suppose I have a few new ideas. He thought as he put them back in his holster. At that moment Crowler made his way to the podium at the center of the classroom. As he did so the other students settled into their seats.
"Good morning my dear students. I am Dr. Crowler and I will be your tutor in the Basics of Duel Monsters." He said with a wide, toothy grin. "Now, I'm sure that most of you here are more than familiar with the rules of the game, but it never hurts to review what you already know. With that being said, today we will start class off with a duel using two students chosen at random." He explained as the screen behind him switched on to show the pictures of all the students. One by one each picture began to disappear from the screen in a randomized fashion until only two remained visible. The two students names appeared in white text beneath their respective pictures.
Soren Lysander and Wisteria Fujiwara
"And there we have our participants. Would the two students on screen please come to the front of the class?" Crowler asked enthusiastically.
Why am I not surprised? Soren thought as he rose from his seat. Certainly him being selected for this event seemed a bit too convenient to him to be a coincidence. It was almost as if someone else was orchestrating the selection process. However that would just be ridiculous, wouldn't it?
The walk down to the area around the podium was mostly quiet, the only sound being the echo of the footsteps of the two duelists. As Soren reached the bottom of the steps he caught a glimpse of Jaden sitting in the front-middle row. Soren's eyes stopped for a brief second, taking note of the surprising fact that a skilled duelist like Jaden was wearing a Slifer jacket.
So he's in here too? Maybe I'll have a chat with him later. For now though, it's time to duel. Soren thought as he and Wisteria finished their descent of the stairs. The two of them took to opposite sides of the floor as Crowler had a pair of duel disks brought in. As Soren shuffled his deck he noticed the eyes of the girl across from him seemed to not break contact with his own. The vibrancy of her ruby eyes made it seem like she had been waiting for a moment like this, which seemed more unusual to Soren than the fact that she was maintaining steady eye contact with him while shuffling her own deck.
"You seem to be rather focused on something. Care to enlighten me?" Soren asked as he slid his deck into his disk.
"Oh you'll find out, but now's not the right time. For now, why don't you help me put on our little show." She said, repeating his previous motion.
"Sure I'll lend a hand, just don't get mad when I steal the spotlight." Soren adjusted his stance as he finished speaking.
"Now then, at the end of this duel I will be quizzing as many of you as possible questions pertaining to the basic rules of Duel Monsters. This exercise is to see where each of you stand among your peers, so do pay attention and try your best to answer each question correctly." Crowler explained with a sly grin as he ran his eyes over the Slifer students. "And what better duelists to use than two of my own prized Obelisks?" Soren and Wisteria raised their duel disks and drew their hand. The stage was now set, and the performers were more than ready.
"DUEL!"
SOREN-4000 LP
VS
WISTERIA-4000 LP
"I'll take the first turn, draw!" Wisteria shouted.
TURN ONE-WISTERIA-SIX CARDS
"And for my first move, I play the spell card Reasoning!" She said as the card appeared on the field.
WISTERIA-FIVE CARDS
"With this card's effect, you must first declare a monster level. Then I reveal cards from the top of my deck and send them to the graveyard until I find a monster that can be special summoned. However, if the monster I draw is the level you chose, then it goes to the graveyard as well." She finished.
"So you're willing to place your faith in a gamble? You must be pretty confident in your luck of the draw. I'll choose level eight!" Wisteria began revealing the cards on the top of her deck one by one. Mirror Force, Monster Gate, Mystical Space Typhoon, all sent to the grave until Wisteria finally revealed a monster card. She smirked upon seeing what she had been rewarded.
"The monster I got is Moisture Creature, a level nine. It seems you were close, but lady luck is on my side this time. Now come forth my servant!" She shouted as clouds began stirring around the field. Out of them came an alien-like creature in a spacesuit, carrying what appeared to be some kind of blaster in one hand and an umbrella in the other.
Moisture Creature- LIGHT - LVL 9 - ATK 2800/ DEF 2900
Soren whistled at the sight, having expected something lower leveled. "Well that certainly won't be easy to beat, but not impossible either." He said, awaiting her next move.
"Then I'll have to make sure not to give you an inch. I set two cards and end my turn." She said with the same confident smirk from before.
WISTERIA- THREE CARDS
"For a situation like this, I think I'll need a hero, I draw!"
TURN TWO-SOREN-SIX CARDS
"And that's exactly what I got, I summon Elemental HERO Ocean to the field!" He shouted as the azure and silver armored monster appeared on the field in a torrent of water, twirling its trident around its body.
Elemental HERO Ocean- WATER - LVL 4 - ATK 1500/ DEF 1200
SOREN-FIVE CARDS
"And next I'll play Mask Change II. By discarding one card to the graveyard and tributing a monster on my field, I can special summon a Masked HERO from my extra deck that has the same attribute as the tributed monster. I'll discard my Elemental HERO Shadow Mist." Soren said, sliding the card into the slot. As he did so, a vortex of water began surrounding Ocean, transforming his body into something more powerful. "Appear now, Masked HERO Acid!" The water that had surrounded gradually got sucked into the nozzle of the new monsters weapon. As the last of the water disappeared from sight, Acids form was revealed to everyone.
SOREN-THREE CARDS
Masked HERO Acid- WATER - LVL 8 - ATK 2600/DEF 2100
"And now both the effect of Acid and Shadow mist will activate. First, when Shadow Mist is sent to the graveyard I can add one HERO card from my deck to my hand. The one I choose is Elemental HERO Blazeman." He said, showing the card to his opponent and then adding it to his hand.
SOREN-FOUR CARDS
"And next my Acids effect, when he is special summoned he destroys all of your spell and trap cards on the field. Go, Acid Rain!" At Sorens' command Acid leapt into the air aiming his blaster at Wisterias back row and let loose a stream of water that dissolved her cards and sent them to the grave.
"And that's not even the best part, because when his first effect resolves he gets to activate his second effect which reduces your monsters' attack power by three hundred points." As Soren explained this Wisteria noticed her monster had been hit by the stream of water that had decimated her face-down cards. The creatures' body drooped slightly but it managed to keep itself upright.
Moisture Creature- LIGHT - LVL 9 - ATK 2500/DEF 2900
"Now Acid, take aim and attack with Azure Assault!" Acid lined up his second shot, still in the air after his previous assault, and let loose another shot that tore through the aliens' torso. It let out a cry of pain before bursting apart into fragments of light.
SOREN-4000 LP
VS
WISTERIA-3900 LP
"I'll place one card face-down, and that'll end my turn." He said, lowering his disk.
SOREN-THREE CARDS
He certainly has skill, but I won't be able to see his real strength with this deck. "My turn, draw!"
TURN THREE-WISTERIA-FOUR CARDS
"And once more, I'll activate Reasoning. Now take your pick." She said.
"I'll go with eight once more." Soren watched as three more cards were revealed and sent to the grave. Torrential Tribute, Dust Tornado, and Swords of Revealing Light. Wisteria held up her drawn monster card with a smile. "Blowback Dragon, a level six monster. Seems you're having a string of bad luck. Come forth my monster!" A dragon-like machine arose from the card frame in a cloak of shadows, its vaguely gun-like head towering over Sorens' Acid.
Blowback Dragon- DARK - LVL 6 - ATK 2300/DEF 1200
"Blowback Dragon's effect will now activate..." Wisteria started as a coin manifested itself in her palm. "...I'll toss this coin three times. If at least two of the toss's are heads, I can destroy a card my opponent controls." She finished and flicked the coin skyward. Soren watched as the coin landed, revealing the first result to be Heads. "There's one, now let's see number two." Again it flew and landed just as quickly revealing another Heads. "And that's that, so say goodbye to your monster!"
Here it comes. Soren thought as Wisteria's monster readied itself. The monster's gun-like head began to glow with a blinding light energy. Acid took a defensive stance as the beam came crashing down upon his form.
"Now attack Soren directly, Blowback Stream!" The light beam continued its assault past Acid and overtook Soren's body.
SOREN-1700 LP
VS
WISTERIA-3900 LP
"I'll end my turn at that." She said.
"It's my turn, I draw!"
TURN FOUR-SOREN-FOUR CARDS
I have to get rid of that Blowback Dragon or its effect will keep tearing through my cards, especially since Wisteria seems to be just as lucky as she is confident. In that case... He thought as he grabbed the card he just drew. "From my hand, I play the spell card, A Hero Lives!" Soren shouted. "Here's how it works. Since I don't have any face-up monsters on my field, by paying half my life points..." A dark aura engulfed his body at that moment, draining his life points even further.
SOREN-850 LP
VS
WISTERIA-3900 LP
"...I can special summon a level four or lower Elemental HERO from my deck. The one I choose is Elemental HERO Shadow Mist." Out of the spell card's frame came the black armored hero with long, dark hair that twinkled even more brilliantly in the light of the classroom.
Elemental HERO Shadow Mist- DARK - LVL 4 - ATK 1000/DEF 1500
"And when she's special summoned I can grab a Change quick-play from my deck and add it to my hand." He explained, revealing the Form Change to Wisteria before adding it to his hand.
SOREN-FOUR CARDS
"Next, I normal summon Blazeman!" The fiery monster erupted to life beside Shadow Mist, embers falling slowly off of his body as he settled into a fighting stance.
Elemental HERO Blazeman- FIRE - LVL 4 - ATK 1200/DEF 1800
"Blazeman's effect! When he is normal or special summoned, I can add one Polymerization card from my deck to my hand." The designated card was promptly ejected from the deck and into Soren's hand.
SOREN-FIVE CARDS
"Next up, by using Blazeman's effect I can send one Elemental Hero from my deck to the graveyard and make his Attribute, Attack and Defense the same as that monster!" The images of all the available hero cards in Soren's deck appeared before him. Now is the time to bring him out. "I send Bubbleman to the graveyard and make Blazeman's attribute water until the end of this turn." The scorching flames upon Blazeman's head turned to chilling water as Soren finished his explanation.
Elemental HERO Blazeman- WATER - LVL 4 - ATK 800/DEF 1200
"So you've managed to summon two weak monsters, and even weaken one of them. Am I supposed to be impressed?" She asked, a skeptical gaze falling on Blazeman's new form.
"They may be weak now, but not after I play the spell card Polymerization!" He said as he danced the card dexterously between his fingers before placing it in the card slot.
SOREN-FOUR CARDS
"I'll use it to fuse Shadow Mist with my now Water Attribute Blazeman!" The two monsters leapt into the orange and blue portal, swirling and merging together. "The warrior of the Winter winds will descend now, to stand at my side and freeze all who would oppose us." An icy wind began to stir, sending a chill through each student in the room as the new monster began to emerge in a flurry of snowflakes. "Appear now, my favorite monster, Elemental HERO Absolute Zero!" The snowflakes danced around the monsters form as it rose slowly to tower over both duelists, its piercing emerald eyes locking themselves firmly on Wisteria's lone monster.
Elemental HERO Absolute Zero- WATER - LVL 8 - ATK 2500/DEF 2000
"How's that for impressive?"
"Not bad, but I feel like I expected a bit more." She said, crossing her arms.
"Well the fun's not over yet, Battle! Zero attacks Blowback with Frigid Blast!" Zero charged forward and slammed his palm against Blowback. For a moment, nothing happened. "And now I play my face-down, the quick-play spell Battle Fusion!" Soren shouted as a mass of ice cold energy suddenly shot out from Zero's open palm. "With Battle Fusion's effect, I add your monster's attack power to mine!" Blowback Dragon's torso was pierced by an array of icicles that now protruded from Zero's hand. Zero leapt back to Soren's side of the field and snapped its fingers, prompting to the mass to explode into sharp fragments, rending the machine's form to pieces.
SOREN-850
VS
WISTERIA-1400
"And, in case you thought I was finally done, I activate Form Change from my hand! I send Absolute Zero back to the extra deck to special summon a Masked Hero with the same level as him, which in this case is eight!" Soren finished, and a golden light engulfed Zero's body.
SOREN-THREE CARDS
"Now come on out, Masked HERO Dian!" The light that had overtaken Zero burst apart, revealing the shining armor of the warrior of earth.
Masked HERO Dian- EARTH - LVL 8 - ATK 2800/DEF 3000
"Now we finish this, attack Wisteria directly with Terra Slash!" Leveling the tip of his blade with his target's stomach, Dian descended upon his opponent and plunged his sword into her. Wisteria let out a cry of exaggerated pain and stumbled back as Dian returned to Soren just as quickly.
SOREN-850
VS
WISTERIA-0
"Looks like it's my win." Soren said as his monster disappeared from sight. Wisteria sighed as her duel disk deactivated and strode over to Soren, intent on setting her plan into motion.
"You certainly showed me what you're capable of, it was a good duel." She said.
"I'll say..." He extended his hand. "...you were pretty good yourself Wisteria." She accepted the handshake with a bright smile, and managed to slip something into Soren's hand at the same time. She released his hand as Crowler made his way to the front of the class.
"That was a marvelous display of skill, as expected of duelists of your caliber. Now, you both may return to your seats." Crowler said. Although his thoughts didn't entirely agree with his words, having now lost to a Hero deck himself. He certainly fostered some animosity towards the archetype since it was used to humiliate him in front of so many people. And that was a feeling he wouldn't soon forget.
As the two made their way back up the steps Soren felt something crinkle in his palm. Opening it up revealed a folded piece of paper. Where did this come from? He thought as his gaze went back up to Wisteria. She turned to meet his eyes and answered his internal question with a wink before turning back and continuing her ascent up the steps. Step one was completed, and step two would follow soon after.
END OF CHAPTER 5
WELL, OVER TWO MONTHS LATER AND IT'S FINALLY HERE. SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG, BUT HEY, THINGS HAPPEN SOMETIMES THAT DON'T GIVE ME AS MUCH TIME AS I'D LIKE TO WRITE THIS. I HOPE YOU ALL UNDERSTAND. AND JUST AS A LITTLE REASSURANCE TO THOSE OF YOU WONDERING IF THIS WILL STILL CONTINUE TO BE WRITTEN, THE ANSWER IS YES. I'M NOT GONNA STOP WRITING THIS UNTIL IT'S FINISHED, SO LOOK FORWARD TO EVEN MORE IN THE FUTURE.