Level Rising: Dark Times
By Copper Thrice
It was a typical day at the island school of Duel Academy.
The sun was shining.
A breeze drifted through the island's trees.
However, two duelists were becoming more focused on their dawning duel than the weather.
One was a female student with auburn hair. She wore the blue and white uniform of an Obelisk Blue dorm student. Her name was Ellie Watcher.
Her opponent was an Obelisk Blue student named Fred "Falcon" Malon. He slicked back his hair saying it was aerodynamic and he had the personality of a bird of prey.
"You ready to lose, Watcher?" Falcon yelled over to his opponent.
Ellie just smiled and said, "I could ask you the same, but why waste time trash-talking…"
"DUEL!" the two shouted simultaneously.
Ellie: 4000
Falcon: 4000
"I'll start," said Falcon drawing is hand. He grinned. "I summon my Harpie's Brother (1800/600)! Then I activate my Field Spell card: Mountains!"
A hologram of a man in black armor with spiky black hair slicked back (Not too different from Falcon's). On his back was a pair of red wings and he held a red scimitar-like sword.
Then, surrounding both duelists, a series of small mountain ranges popped up.
Ellie took a look to the holograms that sprouted up. She was constantly amazed at the detail that KaibaCorp put into their products.
"The field spell that I played causes my monster to raise his attack and defense by 200 points!" explained Falcon, "And it'll do the same for my other bird or winged beast monsters as well!"
Harpie's Brother: 2000/ 800
"Got it," said Ellie, "My turn!" Ellie drew a card from her deck. "I play a monster called D. D. Assailant!" (1700/1600)
A female warrior with short blonde hair, wearing silver armor and carrying a large, cleaver-like sword appeared. Upon appearing, it crouched down with its sword behind it.
"Next, I'll play the spell card Rush Recklessly! It increases my monsters attack by 700 points for my turn!" Ellie played her card and her monster faced forward. A determined look spread across its holographic face.
D.D. Assailant: 2400/1600
"Go," yelled Ellie pointing at the enemy monster, "Attack!"
The Assailant stood and ran forward. The red-winged monster held up its sword to defend himself, but then the Assailant disappeared.
"What the---," Said Falcon, "Where'd it go?"
Suddenly, the Assailant appeared behind Harpie's Brother. It's huge sword high in the air. Before the winged monster could turn around, the blade had already been brought down.
Harpie's Brother disintegrated into holographic bits and Falcon took Life Point damage.
Ellie: 4000
Falcon: 3600
Falcon grit his teeth as his monster faded. He had to think up a new strategy and fast!
"I'll end my turn there!" yelled Ellie as her monster rejoined her on her side of the field.
"Fine!" said Falcon drawing. "I'll play my Birdface (1600/1600) in Attack mode!"
A hologram of a humanoid monster appeared. It had the head of a bird of prey and tan wings instead of arms.
"Next, I'll equip him with my Horn of the Unicorn equip spell," Falcon grinned, "That boosts his attack and defense by 700 points. Then I add in the Field bonus he gains from the mountains!"
A twisted, golden horn grew on top of Birdface's head. Birdface then gave a loud screech before setting himself down on one of the miniature mountains.
Birdface: 2500/2300
"Alright, now, Birdface," said Falcon, "Attack her D.D. Assailant!"
The monster jumped high into the air above the Assailant. The silver-clad warrior held her sword behind her and jumped up to meet her foe.
"Ha," said Falcon, "Since your monster doesn't have its power bonus anymore, my monster will make short work of it!"
Before the two monsters could meet, Birdface twisted off to the side using its wings. As the Assailant turned to try to counter, Birdface used its new power to conjure a lightning blast from its mouth.
The attack hit the Assailant square in the chest and it fell, head first, down towards the arena.
Ellie: 3100
Falcon: 3600
"Yeah, that's how it's…" Falcon said as he turned to Ellie, who bore a small grin, "What're you grinning about?"
"Well," said Ellie, "I'm not too happy about my monster getting beat, but…" Ellie pointed up. Falcon's eyes followed.
The Assailant twisted in mid air and opened a rift in the air with her cleaver sword between her and Falcon's monster. Soon she was sucked into the rift.
With a screech, Birdface tried to escape, but then it too was dragged into the rift.
The rift sealed the instant the monsters were sucked in.
"Wha… What the…" Falcon said surprised.
"You see," Ellie began crossing her arms and grinning broadly, "When my D.D.Assailant gets destroyed in combat, it leaves the field of play and takes its attacker with it. My turn?"
Falcon nodded.
"Okay," Ellie drew her card, "I'll summon my Getsu Fuhma!" (1700/1300)
A woman with long red hair, wearing samurai armor appeared. At her side was a long katana.
"Oh, and then I'll play the spell card Graceful Charity. It allows me to draw three cards as long as I discard two afterwards." Ellie drew her cards and then discarded some from her hand. "Next, I'll play Monster Reborn! It allows me to take a monster from my graveyard and play it on the field."
"But you don't have a monster in your graveyard!" yelled Falcon.
Ellie rolled her eyes, "I just discarded two cards from my hand and what do ya know… ones a monster. I revive my Command Knight!" (1200/1900)
A royal-looking woman wearing shiny, red armor appeared. She took her place on the field next to Getsu Fuhma.
"Oh, and let's not forget her special ability," said Ellie, "As long as my new monster's on the field, all of my warrior monsters, including herself, gain a 400 attack point boost!"
Getsu Fuhma: 2100/1300
Command Knight: 1600/1900
"Now," Ellie said pointing at the defenseless Falcon, "Attack together!"
The knight and the samurai woman drew their swords and hopped between the mountain peaks towards Falcon.
Falcon gulped as the holograms stood in front of him, swords up high.
In an instant it was all over.
Ellie: 3100
Falcon: 0000
The holograms on the duel area faded and Ellie turned to leave.
"Later, Fred," she said, "Thanks for the practice!"
"My name's Falcon!" the defeated duelist yelled.
"Whatever!" Ellie yelled back.
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Ellie walked into the Duel Academy Cafeteria and grabbed a soda at the Food Stand.
She paid for it and sat at one of the tables. She sighed and slid off her duel disk.
As she began to unwind an old friend sat across from her.
"Hey, Ellie," The female Obelisk Blue student said as she sat at the table.
"Oh, hey, Alexis," said Ellie. "How's it goin?"
"Oh, just fine," Alexis said, "You?"
"Just a little bored," Ellie said before taking a drink. "How's your boyfriend?"
"Ask him yourself," said a male Obelisk Blue student sitting down next to Alexis.
"Oh, hey, Jaden," said Ellie, "How's the new uniform working for you?"
"Can't complain," he said, a grin on his face, "It was the least that Shepherd could do since I won that last tournament."
"Hey, Jaden, right?" asked a Slifer Red student walking up to the table.
"What is it," Jaden said aggravated. His grin faded.
"Uhm, could you duel me for practice," the boy asked, "I'd like to see how a real duelist plays."
"I don't think so," said Jaden, "I'm not dueling outside of Tourneys right now. Just run along, kid."
The boy looked disappointed and left. As he walked away, some other Slifer students (who might've been his friends) met up with him.
"Told you he would shut you down," said one boy.
"Yeah, he's been a real jerk since he got a big head from all those tournaments and all the gifts Shepherd gave him." Said another boy
"Yeah, like that promotion to Obelisk dorm." Said the first boy.
"Hmph," Jaden muttered as he rose from his seat. "See ya later, Lex."
"Yeah…" said Alexis as Jaden left.
Ellie sighed, "Man, he used to be so cool as a Slifer Red."
"Yeah, no wonder the NeoSpacians left him…" said Alexis.
"What was that?" asked Ellie.
"Oh, nothing…" Alexis said with a sigh, "I gotta go…" Alexis rose and left.
Ellie watched as her friend left and took a sip of her soda.
"I wonder how Jake's doing…" she thought.
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Well, that's chapter 2 for ya. I've got a real epic planned out, though so stick around!
-Copper Thrice