CHAPTER 3: At the bottom lies the bottom!
"I won! I won!" I chanted with glee as I celebrate my sweet victory with the people around me. Suddenly, I heard Mr. Doronos's voice. "Quiet down. I know I lost, but it is no big deal! Now, can we proceed to go for your turbo duelling trials?" Mr. Doronos spoke with a voice which unknowingly hinted the true despair in his heart. Hearing the words, "TURBO DUELLING", I nearly collapsed to the floor. "What! We have to turbo duel! I don't have a duel runner!" I exclaimed in shock. "Dylan, please take some time to read your notices. Not only, do you need a duel runner, but also synchro monsters within your deck in order to qualify for the trial, and by the looks of it, your deck does not have a single tuner monster, let alone a synchro monster…" Sophie explained with a sigh. I was frantic now! If I could not qualify, I would not be able to move to year 2 of Duel Academy! "The turbo duelling exam begins in 1 and a half hours, you can go prepare for your duels as of now!" thundered with slight recovery from his bitterness and sorrow. "Oh no! I'm doomed!" I shouted out in despair. "Don't worry Dylan. I think Joseph , the caretaker of Slifer Red, should have some spare runners. Try to get one from him." Sophie reasoned to me with that soft tone once again. I nodded eagerly and sped off to the Slifer Red dorm which I hardly lived in as I live just nearby. The relocation idea of duel academy sure was a splendid one. By relocating it into the city, students have the flexibility of going home as well as have greater security rather than be in some deserted island. I panted as I reached the door to the Slifer Red Dorm. Just as I was about to enter, I was forced aback, by a gang of guys running out of the door. I collapsed with a loud thud. I stood up, patted my back and continued to see Joseph. "Hi! Joseph! Can I please borrow a duel runner?" I pleaded with the most angelic look I could put on my face. The response that came was not good news at all. "Sorry Dylan! The last few duel Runners have also been taken by the bunch of boys just now. There are no more runners left." Joseph sighed. "WHAT! Oh no! I need it for the turbo duelling trial!" I yelled, as my mind flashed visions of myself being picked on by the coming batch of year 1 students because I was disqualified. "But there is one more thing, you can ride." Joseph gave a questionable look as he gave me hope of being promoted to year 2. "Really? What is it?" I gasped. "Well…It's a bicycle, which was donated to us the other day by some mysterious man in a coat. The bike is in really good condition and as it seems, a duel disk can be attached to it. By the looks of it, it is an MTB bike which can be given some minor adjustments like an engine, giving it the speed of a duel runner." Joseph walked around in circles bewildered as he spoke this large load of words. Since, this was my last and only hope; I asked him if he could help me to adjust the bike frantically. "Sure, but on one condition." He smirked. I asked eagerly to know his condition. "You better win this thing alright?" Joseph laughed. "The deal is on!" I giggled. "By the way, do you have any extra stash of cards that I could use? Because apparently, I have to use synchro monsters for this duel…so…" I spoke but was cut off by Joseph. "No worries! Over at the storeroom, over there are some extra cards donated by students." "Thanks a lot Joseph!" I exclaimed. "No worries, I am in debt to your father much more. If not for him, I wouldn't even have been given this job! Now hop along and finish your deck." Joseph said. I nodded and when over to an empty dorm room where I took out my deck and began analyzing what cards, I should put into the deck. "Oh no! I have to sacrifice, some elemental heroes, if I am going to put in tuner monsters." I thought to myself. I thought deeply to myself and soon, I apparently blacked out. I suddenly fell into a realm of light. "Was I dreaming?" I thought. Then a stern voice from behind spoke, "Dylan, you are in the realm of the cards. Have no fear." I turned to look and to my astonishment. It was Blade Knight! "Dylan. With the task at hand, it is necessary, for you to make a change in terms of your strategy in order to fulfil the task. I shall assist you." Blade knight spoke. I looked around, and to my amazement, the place was shone with a warm gold light, with a bridge right in front of us. "Time is of the essence, Dylan. We must hurry." We began to walk towards the other side of the bridge. As we walked, cards appeared befall us. Just by a single thought when I walked past them, they would turn into a stream of light and travel to the other side of the bridge if I wanted to add the card. Soon, we had reached the other side of the bridge. The monsters, I had picked aligned themselves by the two sides of the bridge as if beckoning me to move forward towards the mist ahead. Blade knight followed behind as I walked cautiously into the mist. Inside the mist, was a tower which was made entirely out of ice. I walked into the tower and to my astonishment; I saw a chamber entirely frozen. The chamber shone had some weird symbols engraved on it. I turned to Blade Knight to ask him what was written, but he only answered, "Only the chosen one may know." I turned back to look at the chamber once again, and to my great surprise. A warrior walked towards us. "Breaker, my loyal comrade. The chosen one has arrived." Blade knight said. With that statement, I saw a resemblance between the warrior and breaker the magical warrior. "Why is it?" Breaker said as he turned to look at me. "If you are the chosen one, then you are destined to awaken the great beast that sleeps within this tower. Now chosen one, seek the final peace of the puzzle, and the great power of the beast will be yours to keep…" With those words, I somehow reawaken back in the dorm room. The deck was neatly placed on the table with Blade knight in my right hand. I checked the deck, and to my shock, they were the exact cards I chose. Next to the deck, were a bunch of cards for my extra deck. I checked them out and to my awkward surprise, the last card of the 14 card stack was a blank white card meant for a synchro monster. I walked out of the room all puzzled. Then to my greatest surprise, outside the door set the reengineered bike. It now had a great design along with a good shade of fresh red paint. Joseph saw my expression and hurried over. "Nice damn thing right? By the way, someone dropped you a letter in the letterbox. Here it is. Also, you should hurry along to the turbo duelling arena, it's almost time!" Joseph chuckled. I took the letter, thanked him and pushed the bike off to the stadium. After registering, I opened the envelope and once again, something surprised me again. Inside the envelope was the legendary card used my Yusei Fudo, 'Stardust Dragon'! I was totally mesmerised by the excellent artwork of the deck. I quickly added it in to my extra deck and prepared to be arranged into the pairs to duel each other. I was paired with Lily Loussier, the top student of the entire Obelisk Blue or should I say the entire first year cohort. Somehow, I knew Mr. Doronos had done sometime behind the scenes…I wonder… Lily walked over and said me, "Dylan! Despite the fact of how you impressively defeated Mr. Doronos. I still deem it a disgrace for someone like you to duel me. It's just like Heaven and Earth. The best student in first year against the worst. Happy losing!" Lily chanted. "Why you!" I was about to slap her when I came to the obvious realization that she is a girl and that I shouldn't act such a way. After a series of duels, with Sophie defeating her opponent and some other students duelling it out, the time came for the last final duel of the trial. As Lily prepared her runner, she smirked hysterically, "What is that? Some rubbish bike? You know, Dylan. At the bottom lies the bottom! You will never win me." She flicked her hair and put on her helmet. "We'll see about that!" I chanted with a slice of confidence. "Now let me explain the rules. Due to the new rule passed down by Kaiba Cooperation, Speed spells and counters will not be utilized during a turbo duel but instead synchro monsters must be utilized during a turbo duel in order to power the speed force allowing the duelist to gain greater speed during duels. With this having been said, may the duel begin!" exclaimed as he waved his arm in the air preparing to signal the start of the turbo duel. I held tight to the handles on my bike. The special booster attached to my bike warmed up. "On your marks, get set, DUEL!" yelled as he waved his hand down. I began pedalling, with this, the boosters at the back of my bike roared to life. Lily zoomed forward quickly. As Joseph had said, after modification, the bike could easily catch up with a duel runner. Soon the bike pedals gave way, and went on 'Auto pilot'. According to my deduction, Joseph had incorporated an entire duel runner system into my bike. He sure was a genius and a really nice one too. Joseph has invested a lot of effort to this bike and as promised, to repay him I will win this duel! MAY THE DUEL BEGIN!
To be continued…