The truth…
It is a wondrous thing. It is both beautiful and ugly at the same time, yet, people are always seeking it. But how do you discern which truth is the real truth? There are so many in this world, but some of them can be false.
And yes, I know that sounds like a contradiction, but since this is the first time I'm doing this sort of thing, I think you can cut me a break!
In any case, since I'm here, we're going to try to find the best truth, the one truth! Anything to help this academy!
There's only one problem…
… I need some people to join the newspaper club!
TTTTTTTT
Draw 6
Duel Academy Times
TTTTTTTT
Time: 4:31 p.m.
The Ra Yellow dorm, normally a quiet place during the afternoon when classes out, with most of the students killing time either doing schoolwork or hanging out at the shops that were on the island. So, essentially, the dorm was practically a ghost town…
… Save for the fact that there was a familiar red haired girl leaned up against the yellow painted walls, her hands thrown behind her head, using her fingers to twirl the leafy tails of red hair to keep herself entertained.
Now, why was Tenri here?
Well, she was with Mustang of course! But, he was no where to be seen.
The fact of the matter is that Mustang was in the room the Tenri was standing outside of. Sure there was nothing that would stop her from entering the room. Well, nothing physical in any case, instead, it was a voluntary reason why she didn't want to follow Mustang in this room.
'I just can't stand being in there!' Tenri thought with a visible shiver crawling down her spine. 'That guy he… He's just creepy. And he reminds me of that midget of Cain.'
Inside said room, Mustang stood in the midst of the room that was lit up with several computer screens – each one displaying several numbers and pictures that were immediately replaced with other images. The sound of typing at a fast pace filled the room as Mustang stood there and watched the young man in front of him type away with his hands looking nothing more than a blur.
Seated in front of Mustang, in front of yet another computer was a young man with short brownish black hair with a slim build – Which was comparable to that a scarecrow that was dressed in black pants and a Ra Yellow uniform that hung from his body as if they were made for someone twice his meager size and height.
"… And so, that's what happened Maxie," Mustang wrapped up with his arms crossed over his chest. "What do you think?"
The young man in front of the computer screen immediately spun around and looked to Mustang, his hand at his chin. "First, its either Max or Maxwell, we've been over this several times."
"Whatever you say Maxie," Mustang stated with a shrug of his shoulders, making Maxwell sigh loudly in return. "In any case, I want to hear your opinion about this matter. The End of Anubis…"
"Fiend-type," Maxwell spoke out. "Dark-attribute, level six monster with twenty-five hundred attack points and zero defense points. Effect: As long as this card remains face-up on the field, all effects of Spell, Trap, and Monster Cards that target a card(s) in the graveyard or that activate in the Graveyard are negated."
"… Right, that's the specs of its card," Mustang replied with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head. "But what's more important is that the very same monster you just listed appeared in this world, and what's more, he said that there will be more of him going to appear. What I'm getting at is that there might be more Duel Spirits appearing on this island…
"So, what I'm getting at is I want to know if there are any rumors on the DA boards that might be somewhat like this?"
"Mustang, you know that I would help you," Maxwell retorted as he spun back around in his seat to turn back to his computer. "But duel spirits? Even I don't think that…"
Before Maxwell could continue, Mustang sighed loudly, "I don't expect you to believe what I saw. All I ask is that you work your technical magic across the duel academia forums."
"… I don't know," Maxwell muttered with his gaze turning away from his computer screen. "I do have some other work to accomplish and…"
"Adrian York," Mustang stated immediately as he reached into his sleeves, a few moments later, Mustang pulled out what appeared to be a small photo that he held up in between his fingers.
"A-A-A-A…" Maxwell stuttered loudly as some steam popped from the top of his head. "Queen of Raging Nature – Earth Attribute, Beast-Type, level eight monster with twenty-seven attack points and two thousand defense, flavor text: Although a striking beauty, this lovely beast will not hesitate to strike for the sake of righteousness."
"By that I'll take that you're asking why I brought her name up, right?" Mustang questioned as he waved the photo in between his fingers a few times as he slowly walked up to behind Maxwell. "Well, seeing as how you react like that for a few select reasons, I believe I've garnered your attention. Well, I happen to have a little bit of savory information that you might be interested in, my fine informant.
"If you agree to do this one little favor, I'll not only give you the information about that certain red duelist that I have, but I'll also give you this very interesting picture of said student that I managed to acquire."
As soon as Mustang said 'interesting picture' Maxwell's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Mustang, coming from you that could easily translate into 'Something capable of labeling me as either a stalker or a pervert for the rest of my natural life'. I'd like to think I can wait a few more years before resigning myself to that particular circle of Hell."
With a playful smirk, Mustang slowly lowered the picture to in front of Maxwell's eyes, immediately making them bug out. And almost on a time delayed mechanism, a large amount of blood spurted from Maxwell's nose, "D-Damn you…"
Maxwell tried to look away from the picture, but his eyes kept roving back to the picture before he sighed loudly and hung his head in defeat. And gently, Maxwell lifted his hand up, "What will it be then?"
"Wow, I've only seen that in manga and anime," Mustang admitted blinking a few times as he took the photo away and began to write on the back of it. "I didn't think it was possible to get a bloody nose like that in real life!
"In any case, just do your usual hacking magic on the forums around DA's website, including locked forums for the info I'm looking for. When ya do, drop me a line."
Mustang laughed as he tossed the photo over his shoulder and onto the desk behind him. "Thanks for your business and try not to die from blood loss."
As the paper began to fall through the air, Maxwell snatched it out of midair before giving a two fingered salute towards Mustang, "Oui, mon caption! If so much as a mention of someone cosplaying as a Duel Monster shows up you'll be the first to know!"
That's when the sound of clashing swords drew Maxwell's and Mustang's attentions to another screen as Maxwell swiveled around in his chair. "Oh you did NOT just try and ambush me in the middle of reaching level forty nine you opportunistic sunuva…"
Mustang sighed - He knew that Maxwell usually got drawn into his online MMORPGs, which made his awareness of the world around him shrink considerably. "Oh yes, there was one more thing…"
"Make it fast," Maxwell retorted as his fingers continued to dance across the keyboard. "My Mana's running low and this guy just summoned a truckload of goblins!"
Mustang smirked wildly, "I want you to join the newspaper club I'm starting. We could use a man of your 'talents' in information gathering and…"
Maxwell groaned loudly as his online character died before he swiveled towards Mustang again. "Basically you need someone who has little to no social life and can focus almost obsessively on fetching anything pertaining to any of the five different ulterior motives that you've likely got starting a club, is that it?"
Blinking a few times, Mustang shrugged his shoulders. "I wasn't going to be so insulting… But yeah."
Maxwell sighed loudly. "Lucky for you, I seem to be more than capable of doing that to myself."
As Maxwell sat back into his chair, the geeky student looked at the small mountains of empty ramen cups, soda bottles and game boxes. "Aw what the hell, maybe seeing the light of day a bit more often will do me some good. If I spend too much time staring at a computer screen like this…"
Maxwell tried to stand up, however, his eyes began to blur and he fell from his seat, face first into the ground. "I might start to have eyesight problems…"
"Maybe you should try eating more vegetables," Mustang answered as he prodded Maxwell's side a few times with his foot. "Some that aren't floating around in a broth."
"NEVER!" Maxwell hissed loudly. "All that is green and leafy is the spawn of the devil!"
Mustang couldn't help but sweatdrop at this student's outburst.
TTTTTTTT
Time: 4:45 p.m.
Location: Duel Academia Card Shop – Caterwaul
Price sighed loudly as he wiped some sweat from his brow, the preceding week was certainly tiring to him. Not only did he have his own classes to teach, but he had to help out with Professor Pamela's as well. There was more than work related stress to deal with though, all through out the week, Price was being bugged by a certain Spirit of an Egyptian ruler who was trying to steal his glasses – All the while finding a bunch of homemade lunchboxes addressed to him in the professors' break room.
He was pretty sure who was sending them.
But the most tiring was the activity that he was doing right now, it was so stressful that he had opted to remove his overcoat as well as his buttoned up shirt, leaving him in just the black sleeveless shirt and his pants… Of course, he would've preferred to have kept those on, especially since there was another underlying factor.
"Oh my, Megane-kun," Hibiki purred as she ran a hand over Price's back, sending a chill up his spine. "You never told me you had such a fine physique."
"N-Ne… H-H-Hibiki-tan," Price yelped as he struggled to hold up the sign above his head. "C-C-C-C-Can you p-please s-stop that? W-We need to p-put up this s-s-sign. I-I can't h-hold it f-for too much l-longer."
"Oh, I don't believe that at all," Hibiki giggled with a lick of her lips. "You've been hiding those muscles on me, haven't you? Ooh, I never knew that you could be so… Mini GAR!"
At the moment, the card shop was currently closed. The reason for this was because of the set up that needed to take place before tomorrow – There were several booths with fliers, large signs, and even some cardboard cutouts of some famous Duel Monsters. At the moment, the only ones in the shop were Price and Hibiki – Unless you counted the cardboard cut out of the Dark Magician Girl – and were currently trying to put the last sign up near the entrance of the card shop.
Although, with the way that Hibiki was having fun with the easily flustered, new professor, it looked like that task was miles away from being completed. "P-Please H-Hi-Hibiki-tan! I… I can't h-h-hold it f-f-for much l-l-longer!"
"Awe, you're no fun," Hibiki pouted as she lifted up a hammer from the ground and slowly began to climb the nearby ladder that was used earlier for other signs.
A few minutes and nails later…
"There, done!" Hibiki cheered as she dusted off her hands.
Price on the other hand was exhausted! He was seated on the floor, trying to catch his breath. 'I… I don't m-m-m-mind helping b-b-but…'
Price's thought was interrupted when he felt something cold up against his forehead, making him jump slightly until he realized that it was a water bottle that Hibiki held out to him. With a meek smile, Price took the water bottle before Hibiki sat next to him on the ground. "T-Thank you."
"Aw, that stuttering of yours is so cute," Hibiki mewed as she poked the side of Price's slightly red face. "So tell me, how's the professor life treating you, megane-kun?"
"W-Well, it's a l-little more s-s-stressful than I'd l-like," Price answered as he uncapped the water bottle. 'And that's when there isn't a ghostly spirit trying to steal my glasses while a girl seems to have become my official stalker.'
"Ah, that's just cause you're new," Hibiki snickered as Price took a swig from the water bottle. "Sides, with the way you're helping me out, I don't think it'll be too hard for you get adjusted."
"M-Maybe, b-b-but I'm n-now representing a c-c-club," Price sighed again with his head lowered slightly. "A-And I have n-no idea how to…"
"Is that's what making ya worry?" Hibiki questioned with a lick of her lips. "If you're worried about being here tomorrow, you should've just asked me! I represent a club as well!"
"Y-You do?" Price questioned with his glasses sliding down his nose slightly before he pushed them back up. "W-What kind of c-c-club do you r-r-run?"
"Oh, well, you could call it an art club of sorts," Hibiki answered with a little bit of a blush on her face. "More of a manga-ka in the making club."
"You draw comics?" Price asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You could call them that," Hibiki replied as she turned away slightly. "But… I would probably show them off to someone who had a certain taste. So, I wouldn't recommend them to you… Although, if you wanted to be a character in one of the comics, I wouldn't disagree with that."
"Um, okay?" Price answered, a little confused with what Hibiki just said.
"Ooh! Most excellent!" Hibiki cooed loudly as she drew a finger along Price's shoulder. "We'll have to meet some time so I can do some modeling of you. I think you'd be perfect as an evil genius character… Or, ooh! I know, you can be an emo styled elf! Elves are totally in at the moment! And I can set you in Las Vegas with a bunch of other awesome characters, I can totally see you as…"
Price couldn't help but sweat drop as he slowly began to ignore Hibiki's rant and ideas, thinking about his own predicament. Sure he was glad that his students were safe, but now he had another responsibility to deal with – Managing a club. Mustang didn't really tell Price anything about what he wanted his club to be about, other than it being a newspaper club. But, from the sounds of it, it sounded like it might be easy to understand…
… But then again, there was one factor that worried Price.
Mustang.
He had no idea why Mustang wanted to start this club, he didn't even know if it was possible to print an academy newspaper just like that. Well, unless Mustang just wanted to do a blog or something like that, but then that wouldn't be a newspaper club and…
"… And I'll make sure to get lots of awesome costumes for you to try!" Hibiki cheered loudly, which had knocked Price from his train of thought. "What do you think?"
Unsure of what Hibiki had been saying for the past couple of minutes, Price could do the one thing that all men who didn't pay attention to a woman talking. "Uh… S-Sure, s-s-sounds good?"
"Yay!" Hibiki mewed loudly as she wrapped her arms around Price's body, making the young professor's face light up red as a stop light. "Ooh, Megane-kun! You're so awesome! How's next Friday evening sound?"
"Uh, I'd h-h-have to check my s-s-s-schedule," Price muttered as his eyes turned away from Hibiki. "But, I-I-I don't see w-w-why not…"
"Thank you!" Hibiki giggled as she turned to the side with a catty grin on her face. "Let's see, I think I'll start with Edgeworth, then maybe go with Griffith, next Xerxes, Kurama, Kanda, and maybe… Ooh! Hideyoshi! That'd be awesome to see!"
'Dear lord in heaven, what did I just agree to?' Price questioned as he tried to remember why those names sounded familiar to him. The first one sounded familiar…
"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" A strong masculine voice laughed loudly, making Price jump from his seat from the floor and land on his back.
"Urk!" Price gagged.
However, since he was on his back, he was able to see who had surprised him – Dressed in a black martial arts gi with a fiery apron draped around his waist. "Hmm, such energy, perhaps you'd be a fine addition to the physical education department."
"P-Professor Kudo… Right?" Price questioned as he slowly pushed himself off of the ground.
"Please, that's too stuffy of a title for me," Kudo laughed with his arms crossed. "Please, feel free to call me Kudo or Kimchi, either one suits me!"
"Oh great, what do you want?" Hibiki questioned with a large bead of sweat rolling down the side of her head.
"I'd retract those claws of yours, kitten," Kudo snickered. "I've only com here to do a proper introduction to the new guy, although to be honest, my original recipe for coming here was to make sure the booths that I'm in charge of are all set for tomorrow. I figured that since you two were here as well, it would be rude of me not to at least say hello.
"Besides, like I said, this is the first time I've met Mr. Price here, and like a good meal, the first time it hits the taste buds is the most important moment."
"Ugh," Hibiki sighed as she lowered her head slightly.
"Uh, w-w-well, n-nice to meet you," Price chuckled sheepishly as he held his hand out to Kudo.
Big mistake.
The moment that Kudo had wrapped his hand around Price's, the fiery dressed professor squeezed tightly on Price's hand, making his eyes bug out in pain! It was almost as if Price was shaking hands with a vicegrip that was aiming to crush his bones. And just as he was about to yelp out in pain, Kudo released his grip and laughed loudly, "And it is a pleasure to meet you as well Price! I look forward to working with you in the future! Now, if you excuse me, I must be heading back to the Ra Yellow dorm, I also act as that dorm's chef, and I mustn't keep the hungry students a waiting!"
With a loud laugh, Kudo quickly made his way out of the shop, leaving Price to wince at his crushed hand while Hibiki smirked like a cat, "Yeah, I know, guy's got the strength of a bear, as well as the control of one. But he's a damn good cook, the only reason why I can stand him is because he makes a lot of good sushi for the teachers and faculty every now and then."
"Gargh!" Price yelped as he held his hand up into the air.
TTTTTTT
Time: 10:31 p.m.
It was a quiet evening on the island of Duel Academia, a dark night with the moon hiding behind a cover of clouds, completely overcoming the entire island in darkness. It was the perfect time for a certain masked man to walk the island with a smile plastered on his face.
"Tis a sin to not see the moon on a night this beautiful," The masked man sighed as he slowly walked the school grounds. "Still, I wouldn't have a chance to fully enjoy it. No rest for the weary, and as long there's a stray spirit around here, I'm obligated to stay."
Stopping, the man lifted his hand free from his cloak and lifted it up to his ear, trying to listen into anything that might be what he was looking for. But there was nothing.
With a shrug of his shoulders, the masked man spun on his heels and looked around. "Hmm… Still nothing. And as much as I love a midnight stroll, I do need my beauty sleep."
And just as he was about to walk away, the man stopped and turned towards the right, looking directly at the wall of trees that was in front of him. "Oh my."
Slowly, the masked man walked through the trees, with an air of grace he dodged and ducked the branches of the trees until he was standing at the edge of an opening in the woods. Remaining silent, the masked man merely crossed his arms under his cloak as he watched the scene unfold in front of him.
For in the middle of clearing was two people, both of them close together in a tight embrace. From where the masked man was standing, he could tell that there was a guy and a girl, the girl obviously dressed in a Ra Yellow uniform, and she was breathing heavily.
The man himself was more eye-catching and even with his back, the masked man could still see a few of the man's features – He had silver hair that stood straight up from his head and had a large black cloak that looked to be made of some sort of membrane making it look like bat wings that rested on the ground.
The man's head moved slightly, and the girl moaned even louder with her head thrown back a little further. The masked man tilted his head slightly and rubbed his chin, 'My, my, my… If this was anyone else but me, they would think that these were just a pair of youngsters experimenting.
'But I'm not like everyone else.'
"Excuse moi," The masked man chuckled as he slowly walked out from his hiding spot in the bushes, making the older man lift his head up in surprise. "But could I bother you for a few moments?"
The man spun around, the Ra Yellow girl still in his arms, and he leered at the masked man who had just called out to him. The masked man in question quirked an eyebrow (not that anyone could tell with his mask) at the sight before him, the silver haired man had his teeth sunk into the girl's neck, a few streams of blood dripping from her neck and onto her uniform top. The man's skin was so pale that he looked as if he wasn't among the living and he had his arms wrapped around the girl's body, holding her close to his body.
The pale man slurped greedily as his teeth sunk a little bit deeper into the girl's neck, making her moan once more. The masked man crossed his arms and smirked, "Well now, and here I thought vampires were supposed to sparkle…"
The pale man released his bite and hissed loudly at the masked man, blood dripping from the long teeth that lined his mouth. "Leave… Now…"
"My apologies in advance then," The masked man chuckled as he pulled a hand from his cloak and waved his finger a few times. "But as a noble gentleman, I cannot allow you do this to a young lady… Especially considering that I know what you truly are."
The pale skinned man hissed loudly before he threw the knocked out Ra Yellow girl towards the masked man. As he said, the noble masked man caught the girl, which allowed the pale skinned man to leap up into the air and disappear into a black blur.
The masked man sighed loudly as he looked at the knocked out girl, her breathing calm and the blood that was around her neck completely dried now. "I can't be a gentleman if I leave this girl like this. I suppose I could try to find the big, bad bat tomorrow."
Looking up into the sky, the masked man shook his head and slowly began to walk towards the woods with the girl in his arms.
TTTT- The Next Day…TTTT
Friday morning, normally at this time all of the students would be in their classrooms, however, today was a different story.
"Everyone! Join the Cosplay Club!"
"If you join the science club, we promise to throw in a free lab coat and subscription to Science Monthly!"
"Mrrrow! Please join the Y-Manga club!"
Inside the card shop, the previously empty booths that lined the walls of the card shop the day before were filled to the brim with the many students who were promoting their own clubs with the professors and faculty with their own clubs or around the area to keep the peace. The students who weren't affiliated with the clubs, walked around the booths, trying to find the club of their own choosing…
One of which was a man destined to be king!
"Clubs, eh?" Eiji questioned as he walked past the booths, trying to find a club that was destined to get him to the top quick (or at least find some people he could use as stepping stones to get him to the top). Of course, with clubs like the Cosplay Club, Seto Kaiba Club (which essentially had mostly girls who were dressed up as the famous duelist), or the Jogging Club, Eiji was certainly not interested in most of the clubs that he was viewing.
Heck the only reason why he even bothered coming to the club selection was walking in front of him, taking a flyer from everyone who he passed.
"Thanks for showing an interest in the cooking club!"
"My pleasure!" Tengoku chuckled as he fitted the flyer with the large stack of other flyers he had in his hand. "Wow, so my prospective clubs to join! I love the cosplay club and the cooking club…"
"Why are we even here?" Eiji interrupted with a dulled look in his eyes.
Tengoku stopped in his tracks and with a loud sigh he turned around and wagged a finger at Eiji, "Oh my poor deluded friend, if you're supposed to be a king, then you cannot rule alone my friend. You need allies and these clubs are the perfect places to find said allies, so, I intend on joining as many as possible!
"So, I suggest that you do the same thing my friend!"
Eiji sighed loudly, and looked around the nearby clubs – The Auto-Shop club, Nature Walkers club, Newspaper club that had Professor Price standing behind the stand… Wait, what?
Alright, there was one club that he knew he wasn't going to join, not in a million years! 'I wonder if there's a bug club here.'
Meanwhile, back at the newspaper club booth…
"I have to say Professor Price, you surprise me," Hund admitted with a rub of his chin. "I never expected to see you take the responsibility of a club, at least not in your first year here."
"W-Well, there were s-s-s-some," Price mumbled with his words, rubbing the back of his head as he tried to speak to the more experienced professor. "… C-Circumstances t-t-that required m-my attention, and, and I-I felt that it m-m-might be a g-g-good w-w-way to get c-c-close with the s-s-students."
Hund raised an eyebrow at Price's answer, and slowly turned his gaze over to the right, seeing Mustang standing in front of the booth, talking to a pair of younger Osiris Red girls, explaining the reasoning behind the Newspaper Club. It didn't take too much thought for Hund to figure out the reasoning behind Price's sudden choice in sponsoring a club.
However, this was Price's business, and that meant that Hund had no obligation to stick his nose into this unless Price requested it. "In any case, I must applaud you for your efforts. And I wish you the best of luck, I have my own clubs to turn to, so please try to set a good example for students."
"YY-Y-Yes sir," Price stuttered as the older professor walked away. With a loud sigh, Price turned towards Mustang just as he was bidding farewell to the two girls (who were blushing and giggling as they walked past). "S-So, were those g-g-girls interested?"
"Hmm?" Mustang questioned, as he slipped a couple pieces of paper into his overcoat's pocket. "Well, they weren't interested in the club, but they certainly were interested in me."
Price sighed loudly as he hung his head low in defeat. "G-Great…"
"Tell you what, professor," Mustang laughed loudly as he crossed his arms. "How about you leave this here for me, and you can take a break. Once we get the booth closed for the day, I'll give you a call and we hold a meeting with our members."
"But, are y-you sure y-you can h-handle all that?" Price questioned. "I… I mean t-t-that I d-d-don't want t-t-to leave you to…"
"I wouldn't have offered if I couldn't do this on my own," Mustang answered as he crossed his arms. "So go on, I'll call you back to the club room when this gets over with, get yourself a coffee or something like that."
"W-Well, if you're s-s-sure," Price muttered before Mustang walked up to him and pushed the young professor away from the stand.
"Of course I'm sure!" Mustang laughed before he pushed Price away. "Now go on! Get!"
Price blinked a few times behind his glasses, but with a shrug, the new professor slowly walked away with Mustang smirking at some of the students who had appeared at the booth for the newspaper club.
TTT~ A couple of hours later…~TTT
"I told ya we'd get some members," Mustang chuckled as he held up his arm in the room that was reserved for the newspaper club, which at the moment was a little bare save for the table that had the few members of the club seated around it. "And here they are!"
Price was a little surprised by a few of the faces that he saw… And a number of them confused him.
The first one who caught his eye was that short, white haired duelist – known as Cain Sonryu, seated atop of the table with his short legs kicking over the side of the table in boredom. It wasn't hard for Price to notice the short duelist first, he was the closet to the door.
Slowly, Price's gaze shifted to the right, where he saw the second member of the club – And his blood immediately froze on sight! It was Lily! The same Lily that had been stalking Price for the past week or so! And behind her stood the transparent Spirit of the Pharaoh (Price figured that no one else in the room could see the ghostly Pharaoh), with his arms crossed. All the while, Lily was smiling at Price with a warm smile plastered on her face.
With a cold sweat rolling down the side of his head, Price felt his blood heat up slightly at the sight of the next member of the newly established club, but his face was slightly red when he saw York seated near the back of the table, trying to look over the shoulder of another member of the club who was furiously typing at a laptop (Price didn't know it, but this was Maxwell, the pale Ra Yellow duelist that Mustang had met with the day prior to this).
And the final member that Price saw in the room, was Tenri – who was leaning back in her chair with a pencil balancing atop of her upper lip. While her gaze was dulled and bored, the girl didn't seem too thrilled about being here in the club room.
So, Price slowly turned towards Mustang and chuckled sheepishly, "Is… Is this all?"
"Yeah, but its all good!" Mustang answered back with his thumb pointed up. "Once we get this newspaper rolling, we'll be able to get tons of other members to join us!"
"If… If you s-s-say so," Price muttered as he walked into the room and closed the door behind him. "Um, I… I suppose I s-s-should say something…"
"Nah, you don't have to worry about that," Mustang stated with his arms crossed. "I already explained what our paper's goal is – To get the truth of any mysteries on this island and give the answers to the students as quick as possible!"
"Oh," Price muttered again with his head lower.
"Yeah, yeah," Cain sighed loudly with his eyes narrowed down on Mustang. "That's all well and good, you chavenistic egomaniac. But what mysteries are you talking about? This is a high school, albeit its one on an island…"
"Don't insult my dear Mustang!" Tenri hissed loudly as she sat up straight. And almost immediately, Tenri smirked devilishly at the scarf wearing Obelisk Blue. "Besides, you and Mustang should know more about this island and what rumors float around it, you're both Blue students, Mustang's a third year, and you're a second year – Albeit a shrimp of a second year…"
"You lousy," Cain snarled loudly with his teeth barred out at the Osiris Red girl.
"N-Now now," Price commented with his hands raised up. "Y-you're all in t-t-t-the same c-c-club now, f-f-fighting amongst your s-s-selves."
"Teach is right!" York announced with a large smile on the muscular girl's face. "We're a team now! Fighting won't get any of us anywhere!"
Lily scoffed under her breath at York's loud voice.
"Now that's the kind of gung-ho attitude that the Duel Academia Times needs!" Mustang announced with his arms crossed over his chest. "In any case, since I'm aiming to start our newspaper next week, we've got the rest of the day and weekend to find a story. But, we've got someone in here who can make finding a story easier than finding a bull in a china shop!"
"I-I don't think that's h-h-h-how that s-s-saying goes," Price muttered out loud with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head.
Mustang either didn't hear Price or didn't care what the professor had said, cause he just walked around the table and held his hand up towards the Ra Yellow student who was typing furiously on his laptop. "So, I'd like you all to meet our resident internet searcher – Maxie!"
With a loud sigh, Maxwell lifted his head up from his screen and narrowed his eyes at Mustang. "Maxwell."
"Maxie here has been searching our Duel Academia's online forums," Mustang explained with a large smirk on his face. "Cause while the internet may be killing off the newspaper business, we can use the internet to bring life to our newspaper! On the forums, there are countless rumors that fly around, each of them concerning the professors, the dorms, or anything that can catch people's attentions.
"I want to find the truth behind these rumors and bring the facts in the light to each and every student on this island. So, little Maxie, what rumors do you have for me that we can investigate?"
"… Uh, well," Maxwell stated as he made a few clicks on his laptop, he brought up a few web pages on his laptop. "Most of the forum posts are talking about our sponsoring professor – Rowen Price."
"M-Me?" Price stuttered with an exclamation point appearing over his head. "But… But…"
"The topics that are most discussed concerning him," Maxwell continued. "Are as followed – The first is how mysterious you are, after all you're a new professor, and aside from your physical stats, you're a complete mystery. The second is your deck, so far, there have been three instances when your actual deck was recorded for a duel, but there were barely any witnesses to your duels… Save for your opponents."
"And I prefer to not expose a duelist's abilities," York interrupted with a nod of her head. "It was an honorable duel, and I could not call myself a duelist!"
Maxwell's face went a little red when he heard York make that proclamation. "Y-Yeah… T-That's a good p-policy."
"I've seen Professor Rowen's deck," Lily stated with a warm smile on her face. "It's quite a surprising twist to see him play cards like that – I kinda expected to see him play spellcasters or elves… Or something like that."
Cain rolled his eyes. "Next, I don't wanna stay here for too much longer – What the next top rumor? And it better not concern the stuttering Professor over here."
"Hey!" both York and Lily hissed loudly at Cain, making the short duelist blink a few times. "Don't insult him!"
"Yeesh, it wasn't an insult," Cain muttered under his breath. 'More like a general observation…'
"Well, the second most popular is…" Maxwell stopped as he looked at the screen, taking a few moments to read the posts he had up. "… Is about a vampire."
"I thought that Team Edward stuff died off years ago?" Tenri pointed out with a loud sigh. "Vampires sparkling is so… So retro. And it makes no sense."
"I was personally more on Team Jacob," Lily admitted, unaware that Spirit of the Pharaoh sighed to himself, remembering the obsession of year's past. "But, I got over it… They're just actors, and this is real life."
"I never saw the appeal," York stated with a shrug.
"This isn't about a number of fandom films!" Mustang announced with a large blood vessel appearing on the side of his head. "… Um, this isn't about that one franchise, right?"
"Of course not," Maxwell stated with a large bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head. "I'm not talking about second-rate teen heart-throbs, I'm talking about reports of an actual vampire appearing on the island. At least, that's what the students are saying.
"For the last four days, there have been four separate occasions where four girls have been abducted at night, and found hours later knocked out and with what appears to be bite marks around their necks. Two girls were from Obelisk Blue who were trying to get some materials for a project, one was an Osiris Red girl who had gotten lost, and the latest was found last night – A Ra Yellow girl who was trying to sneak off to meet with her boyfriend."
"… So, what? We got a vampire version of Mustang roaming around?" Cain questioned with a dulled look on his face. "This is a crisis, I don't think this island could take two womanizers and their large egos."
"I happen to be an evangelist of love," Mustang pointed out with annoyed look on his face.
"I'll second that!" Tenri announced cheerfully.
"Besides, I don't bite people," Mustang huffed with his arms crossed. "Now then, this mystery seems to be perfect for our first headliner!"
"So, wait, don't we need to assign roles?" Cain questioned. "Like having an editor, a person to critique the work, and someone who's actually good at making a paper for…"
"Details, details," Mustang laughed loudly with a large smile on his face. "I can easily get us the materials that we need to make a successful paper, and I figure while some of us go after this little rumor, the rest of the group can do the assignment process of jobs for our club…"
"I call dibs on chief editor," Cain sighed loudly as he jumped off of the table and onto the ground.
"Oh?" Mustang questioned with a raised eyebrow. "And what brought this on? Are you finally starting to take interest in our little club?"
"Not really," Cain answered quickly and bluntly. "I just feel the need that I'd rather keep my sanity, and since you twisted my arm to join this damn club, the only way to make sure that I keep my sanity is to be in charge of this stupid fiasco."
"Well, I have no problems with that," Mustang replied with a large smile. "I prefer to be a writer anyway, maybe a photographer. But this is neither the place or time to discuss such things!"
"A-A-Actually, it's the p-p-p-perfect…" Price started to say with a large bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head.
"I'll call dibs to go with Mustang to find this vampire!" Tenri announced with a large catty smirk on its face.
"Hmm, an excellent companion," Mustang announced with a wag of his finger. "Now, I'd like one more person to come with us to solve this mystery, the rest of you I'd like you all to come up with a format with our paper – The Duel Academia Times. Shorty, I know you'll do the best you can do for this.
"Come you two! We've got some investigating to do!"
Price blinked a few times when he realized that Mustang had grabbed the young professor by the side of his sleeve, "H-Huh?"
Before the professor could say a word, Mustang had dragged Price out of the room with Tenri following the two out into the hallway, which left the rest of the newspaper club just sitting in that room with confused looks on a few of their faces.
TTTTTTT
Time: 3:31 p.m.
Location: Duel Academia Card Shop – Caterwaul
It had been a few hours since the start of club selection, and while there were quite a few students still looking around the booths, some of the clubs were still recruiting students. But still, the shop was open for the students to buy and sell cards (and other items of interest), there was even an area set aside that would allow some people to enjoy a nice, cold drink…
… As long as they bought something other than a soda.
"S-So, w-w-why did I h-h-have to buy t-t-these packs?" Price chuckled sheepishly as he looked at the pile of packs he had just bought in order to just get a table for him, Mustang and Tenri.
"Cause we need to discuss our method of finding that vampire," Mustang answered as he spun the unopened can of soda atop of his finger. "And I didn't want to really bug those guys about the details while they do their work on the paper…"
"W-W-Well, s-s-shouldn't I be m-monitoring that w-w-work?" Price questioned. "I… I mean, I am t-t-t-the…"
"Don't concern yourself with that," Tenri interrupted with a wave of her hand. "I'm sure that little midget will keep them in check, his attitude usually does a good job of that. Besides, he's able to get things done quite easily… That's one of the few good traits of that white headed jerk."
"Okay, okay, take it easy," Mustang stated with his hands lifted up. "There's no need to keep insulting him…"
"Y-Yes, it is q-q-quite rude," Price pointed out.
"And it's a lot more fun to see his reaction when you see him," Mustang added nonchalantly, which made Price lower his head slightly. "In any case, about this vampire, we need to find a way to get information on it. And since this guy appears at night, in case we have to do something at night, I'd rather have a sensible adult with us."
"Oh, I… I see," Price muttered with a large bead of sweat appearing on the side of his head.
"So, what are we going to do?" Tenri asked, looking at the water bottle in her hand. "Are we going to try to find those four girls and interview them?"
"Nah, I talked to Maxie before the meeting about the subject," Mustang explained before he took a quick sip from his soda. "He checked and checked, but the girls were all kept anonymous, the only ones who would know are the headmistresses… And unless you wanna deal with both Machi and Pamela…"
"No thank you!" Tenri yelped as she nearly dropped her water bottle in the process. "I'd rather not deal with the raging tiny and the airhead!"
Price stifled a little snicker, he shouldn't be laughing at his fellow professors, but still…
"If that's the case," Mustang replied with a smirk on his face. "We should go right to the source of this mystery – That Twilight reject!"
There was a small moment of silence as Price and Tenri shared a look between each other, but then, Price slowly lifted his hand up gingerly – Which caught Mustang's attention, "Yes! Question?"
"… H-How are we g-g-g-going to do that?" Price asked straight forward.
"How else? Stake out," Mustang answered with a nod of his head. "We'll catch the sucker in the act, we've got tonight and the next two days to try to catch this guy in the act."
"And how do you intend to catch him in the act?" Tenri questioned with a dull look on her face. "Cause, you may be cute Mustang, but I'm not risking my neck with some vampire freak…"
"I wasn't going to suggest using you as bait Tenri," Mustang chuckled sheepishly with his hands held up defensively. "I was planning on using something a bit more… Interesting."
Question marks appeared over both Price's and Tenri's heads, making them blink a few times. The second awkward silence was suddenly shattered when a familiar voice cooed out to the trio, "Yoohoo! Megane-kun! Mustang-Sama and… Girl who I don't know!"
Tenri face faulted as Hibiki walked up to the table, that catty grin plastered over her face, "I managed to get a break finally, so, what'd you want to talk about Mustang-sama?"
"Oh, M-Mustang, n-no," Price stuttered, his mind already putting the pieces together.
"Relax professor," Mustang replied with a warm smile on his face. "I have another plan in mind… Now, Tenri, I want you to relax for a while, I'll come pick you up and take you to where we'll be stationed for the night."
"Aw, I don't get a choice in the matter?" Tenri pouted.
"I'll bring you some strawberry pocky to snack on for tonight," Mustang offered with a sly smirk on his face.
"Okay!" Tenri chirped as she happily skipped away from the table.
"Wow, that was easy," Hibiki admitted.
"What can I say?" Mustang replied with a shrug. "I know the girl well…"
"W-Wait, what about t-t-those other girls who g-g-gave you their n-numbers?" Price questioned with a few question marks popping over his head. "Isn't M-Miss Tenri your g-g-girlfriend?"
"It's… Complicated," Mustang answered back. "In any case, Hibiki-tan, I'm so glad that you've agreed to help in this matter!"
"Don't forget, my services aren't cheap," Hibiki replied coyly with her arms crossed. "As per our deal, you've gotta let me come along and I get to take plenty of pictures."
"But of course," Mustang snickered. "After all, what's life without a little pleasure? Dull and boring!"
Price tilted his head slightly, his eyes blinking a few times at the conversation that the two were having in front of him. "Um… W-What does this have to do with m-me?"
It was at that moment, that Price felt a chill race down his spine – For the moment that both Mustang's and Hibiki's gazes fell onto the new professor, he could feel the evil that was seeping from their eyes…
TTTTTTTT
Time: 10:31 p.m.
Location: Duel Academia Woods, near Osiris Red Dorm
Once again, the night's sky was clouded, completely blanketing the island in a veil of darkness that added a touch of mystery to the island's charm. The woods at this night were no different, save for the occasional flash of light that lit up through the shrubbery. "Ooooh! This is good… So good!"
All the while, through those woods, a familiar duo was walking through the shrubs, almost reaching the area where the flashes of light where popping up. "So, Mustang, what's this big plan you've got cooped up?"
Mustang spun around, and began to walk backwards so he could face Tenri, "Well… It's kind of a surprise, if I tell ya, then the surprise will be ruined, now won't it?"
"I guess so," Tenri pouted slightly as she walked alongside Mustang and latched onto his arm. "So, how much longer till we get there?"
"Not too much longer, like about five minutes," Mustang answered quickly and clearly.
~Four Minutes Later~
"Mmm, I was wondering when you two would get here," Hibiki purred, not turning away from where she was looking at – Which was a clearing that had a shadowed figure standing in the middle of it.
Mustang nodded towards Tenri with his finger lifted up to his lips, telling her to remain quiet. The red head nodded again and looked towards the clearing, a little curious about the figure that was walking around in circles in the small clearing.
Slowly, the clouds above began to pull away, allowing the moonlight to trickle down onto the clearing – And in the middle of the clearing stood a tall, if not sleek young woman with long blonde hair that had a bow on the side. Her sleek body was covered in a more frilly Osiris Red uniform, with a longer skirt and cut off sleeves on her arms. From where Tenri stood, she could see that the girl was wearing a pair of large glasses that covered her eyes and there was a large blush on her sharp face.
But, there was something odd about this girl… She seemed, familiar. But Tenri never saw a girl like that in Osiris Red before at the dorm. "Who's that?"
"… Let's say… Just a friend," Mustang whispered under his breath. "Now, we play the waiting game…"
~Thirty-three minutes later…~
Hibiki waved her camera a few times, a little bored of taking pictures.
Mustang was flipping a coin through his fingers, just killing time as he watched the mysterious girl walk about through the clearing.
And Tenri…
"Wait, where's Price?" Tenri questioned, trying to find out where the Osiris Red professor was.
However, before Mustang or Hibiki could answer, a large dark shadow erupted over the mysterious girl's body. A moment later, an extremely tall and intimidating man stood over the girl's body, his silver hair glistening in the moonlight while his long midnight blue cloak covered his entire body. The man's eyes gazed right into the girl's glasses and he stepped forward slowly, "A flower of the night, truly you would bloom to true beauty…"
The girl stepped backwards slightly as the man took another step towards her, "Now, don't be shy… One little bite will not kill you."
The pale man smiled, revealing the long fangs in his mouth. "Let us partake in a crimson carnival in this delectable moonlight, only for a moment it will hurt."
That was when the pale skinned man dashed forward and wrapped his arm around the girl's waist and held her at an angle. Slowly, the man brought his mouth closer to the girl's neck…
WHAM!
"URK!" The man staggered backwards with a noticeable bruise on his face and making him stagger backwards.
And when the man stood up to gather himself, he realized that a large amount of blonde hair was now on the ground. For a moment, the so called vampire looked at the blonde hair, and then looked at the girl in front of him, only now she had shaggy brown hair and was replacing the large glasses with a smaller pair. "T-This is… U- U-U-Unacceptable! M-M-Mustang! I… I n-never w-w-w-wanted to d-d-do this!"
"T-That voice," Tenri muttered with a large bead of sweat rolling down the side of her head. "Mustang, you didn't…"
But Mustang was gone, having leapt out into the clearing with his arms crossed over his chest and his gaze centered down at the 'vampire' who had his eyes twitching wildly. "What's wrong, Mr. Vampire? You look as though you just saw a ghost?"
"… I just seduced a man in a skirt," The vampire answered back with his eyes narrowed down. "And then I got smacked by him, how the hell would you think I'd react to that?"
"H-H-Hibiki-tan, p-please g-g-give me m-my regular c-c-c-clothes!" Price yelped as he leapt into the bushes near the catty card shopkeeper.
"Awe, and you look so kawaii in that!" Hibiki moaned loudly with a couple more flashes. "Just let me take a few more pics for my collection… Or, you could strip the clothing off. That might be even better!"
Tenri just sweatdropped when she heard the conversation, 'Yeah, that's real mature to say those sorts of things in front of students.'
"Alright, Vampire Wannabe," Mustang chuckled with a large smirk on his face. "I was wondering if you would show up, and I was starting to get a little concerned about if you would show up – I didn't want to put a girl in danger."
"And it was alright to put a Professor at risk?" Tenri sounded out from the bushes.
"Hey, the professor can easily protect himself," Mustang sounded out without turning his gaze. "And as for you, I don't particularly care for how you've been trying to make a feast out of the girls here, just consider yourself lucky you didn't lay a finger on someone I care about."
"Awe," Tenri cooed, trying to ignore the fact that Price was trying to change into his clothes.
"I do what I do to live," the vampire answered back with his gaze narrowed down at Mustang. "If I do not maintain enough crimson essence, I will fade from existence – And I've become accustomed to this world's beauty. Would you deny a man his life?"
"Wow, that's some good acting," Mustang admitted with his head tilted slightly. "I can't really believe that there's some guy on this island that would go this far with the vampire fad."
"A fad you say?" The vampire hissed loudly, throwing his arms to the side, making his cloak to fly up and reveal his regal clothing underneath. "Can you not fathom the full extent of my powers? What a foolish man you are… I can turn you into a pile of dust with a snap of my fingers."
Mustang rubbed his chin a few times before he raised an eyebrow, "… I see… Still, your fancy words don't prove that you're a vampire – As far as I can tell, you're nothing more than a sadist with a vampire fetish who likes younger girls."
"Insolence!" the vampire snarled loudly as a red aura erupted over his body, making Mustang stagger backwards slightly from the energy that was thrown towards his body. "You have far too much pride for one so weak! Do you have no clue who you are standing before?"
Mustang blinked a few times at what just happened, and looked at the mysterious vampire who still had energy radiating from his body. 'Well now, looks like my suspicions are well founded… I had a feeling that one of these guys was involved, although, I didn't expect to see that he'd be this powerful.
'Things just got interesting.'
"So, Mr. Vampire," Mustang chuckled as he regained his composure. "Or should I refer to you as Curse of Vampire?"
"Oh? I was wondering if people would recognize me in this world," Curse admitted with his eyes still narrowed down at Mustang. "Still, you're getting in the way of the feast I had planned for this evening. Begone!"
"Sorry to tell ya, but I'm not budging," Mustang stated as he reached into his overcoat. "Especially when there are bloodsuckers on the loose who could potentially hurt people that I care about. And if you truly are the Curse of Vampire, then you should know about this."
Pulling his arm from his jacket, Mustang revealed a pocket duel disk that he immediately slapped onto his right arm, making it fold out. "I know that things like you know that you can't possibly turn down a chance like this."
For a moment, there was a moment of silence through out the woods until…
"Ha ha!" Curse laughed loudly before he turned back to a serious look in his face. "Forgive me, it's just that I find you so amusing."
"What?" Mustang questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Your challenge to me is nothing more than a dream," Curse explained. "And an excessive dream can cost you more than you might think… I do not see a need to fight against you, you useless mortal. Even if I won this little battle of yours, what would I possibly gain? Your blood would more than likely leave a terrible taste in my mouth for many nights."
"What can you gain?" Mustang repeated with his arms held out. "I know what all you guys want – A physical body."
Price stopped putting his shirt back over his body and lifted his head up, 'A physical body? Wait… Isn't that like…'
"So, you'll relinquish your body should I win?" Curse mused with a fang filled smirk. "A tempting offer, but if your stakes are high, then what are mine?"
"Do you even need to ask something like that?" Mustang replied as he reached into another pocket and pulled out a deck of cards that he easily slipped into the holster of his compact disk. A moment later, the disk began to fold out, revealing the five card slots.
"Fight to live, it's my only amusement," Curse chuckled as he lifted his left arm up, allowing a large orb of red energy to appear on his arm. The energy popped and formed into a blood red duel disk that had a bat-wing design on it as well as being armed with a deck in the deck slot. "So, enjoy your last moments on this earth – Tonight, I shall make a toast with your blood." (CLP: 8000)
"Big talk, let's see you back up those words!" Mustang announced as both duelists pulled out the top five cards from their decks. "Duel!" (MLP: 8000)
TBC