"You can leave when the whole bathroom is spotless. I want to see my reflection in that tile." Crowler ordered. "You committed the crime. Now you're doing time."
"I feel bad for the tile." Aaron mumbled under his breath.
"What was that?" Crowler raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing." Aaron quickly responded. He picked up a toothbrush and a spray bottle and got to work. The bathroom smelled like someone had sprayed fifty different kinds of cologne and stains covered the shower and parts of the floor.
"Good. I'll be back in a few hours. Remember, spotless." Dr. Crowler walked out of his personal bathroom with a wide grin on his face. Punishing these students is fun. They could be my personal servants if they keep misbehaving.
The next day…
Aaron walked into the school store with Shun. "What are we doing here?" Aaron asked.
"I heard that they sell this stuff called drawbread. You take your chance drawing a random sandwich from the bin. Apparently there's this really good egg sandwich, but there's also a bunch of other stuff like tongue, pizza, fish, ostrich and a bunch of other ones."
"It's too bad that I'm not hungry. Crowler's punishment made me lose my appetite for a while."
"What did he make you do?"
"I had to clean his bathroom." Shun winced hearing that. "I'm fine… mostly. Just take your sandwich." Shun nodded his head smiling.
"So you guys heard about drawbread too." Rena walked over to them. "I also heard that you were punished, Aaron. What did you do?" She tightened her hand around her scythe glaring at him.
"Something tells me that you know." He held up his bandaged wrist and felt the bandage on his cheek; it stung a little bit.
"I want to hear you say it." Her grip tightened.
"I challenged Xander and lost." He immediately ducked down as Rena swung her scythe with incredible speed.
"Watch it." Shun glared at her.
"Relax, I have more control than you think." She looked down at Aaron who laid on the floor. "I can't stay mad at you because I have to assume he used the master on you?" Aaron nodded his head. "Full control?" He shook his head. "At least you got me some information, but now I have to get some of my own." She walked over to the bin of sandwiches and raised her scythe. Several students backed away watching the sharp weapon cautiously. She placed the scythe in the bin and raised it with a sandwich caught on the blade. She held it in her hand and slightly tore the packaging revealing the golden egg sandwich.
"She's good." Amy walked into the room and helped Aaron off the floor. "My turn." She cast her fishing line into the bin and retrieved a sandwich. "Fish, my favorite." She smiled taking a bite of her catch.
Jaden ran into the room. "Golden eggwich, here I come!"
"Taken." Rena turned to him dangling the sandwich in her hand. "I'd be more than happy to exchange it for a duel."
Jaden smiled. "A duel with you and the egg sandwich. This day just got awesome."
"You have to win." Rena twirled her scythe forcing it to power on. "Show me the power of your Elemental HERO cards. I'll go first and give you something to try and beat." The duel began with 4000 life points each. She drew her five cards and eyed her hand. "I halve my life points to play Dark Magic Curtain." Her life points fell to 2000. "With its effect, I summon Dark Magician from my deck. I place two cards face down and end my turn."
"Sweet moves." Jaden smiled drawing his card. "I have a pretty sweet move too. I play the spell card, Polymerization and fuse Elemental HERO Bladedge and Wildheart to create Elemental HERO Wildedge!"
Aaron's eyes went wide. His body tensed up. Shun looked over to his friend. "It's okay. Relax." Aaron backed up against the wall taking a few deep breaths. His body shook. Shun stood by to comfort him.
"Elemental Hero Wildedge, let that Dark Magician have it!"
Rena smiled. "You activated my trap, Magic Cylinder. Your attack is negated and you take your monster's attack as damage."
Jaden's life points fell to 1400. "My Wildedge's blood is pumping hard, so he can attack again! Wildedge, attack Dark Magician!" Rena's life points fell to 1900. "I play one card facedown and end my turn. Get your game on, Rena!"
Rena cringed drawing her card. This duelist is strong. I need to step it up. "I play the spell card Monster Reborn and bring back Dark Magician from my graveyard. I activate another spell card called Dedication through Light and Darkness. I tribute Dark Magician to summon Dark Magician of Chaos!" The new monster rose to the field with 2800 attack. "I activate my new magician's effect and bring back Monster Reborn. I play Monster Reborn and bring back my Dark Magician. This is my game!" She smiled at her two most powerful monsters. "Dark Magician of Chaos, wreck his Wildedge!" Jaden winced his life points falling to 1200. "Dark Magician, finish him!"
Jaden interrupted. "Not so fast. I have a trap card called A Hero Emerges. Usually I play this card when I have one card in my hand, but I guess you could say that you forced my hand. The deal is you pick a card in my hand. If it's a monster I can special summon it. If it's anything else, it goes to the graveyard. I have two cards, so it's up to you." Jaden held out his hand to her.
"The one on the left."
"Good choice." Jaden revealed the card in his hand. "This is my ace, Elemental HERO Neos!"
"I'll let you survive this turn with one card facedown."
Jaden drew his card. "Just what I needed! Let's get going with the field spell, Neo Space." The field turned into a multitude of colors and stars. "This is where my monsters excel! I summon Neo-Spacian Grand Mole and I can perform contact fusion with Elemental HERO Neos and Neo-Spacian Grand Mole. Come on out Elemental HERO Grand Neos! With his special ability, I'm sending your Dark Magician back to your hand. Grand Neos, attack Dark Magician of Chaos!"
Rena winced watching her monster vanish and her life points fall to 1700. How did he think that through? Did he know its effect? Now my Call of the Haunted is useless…
"Your move!" Jaden smiled.
Aaron slid down the wall eyeing the fusion monster. His mind was racing, his heart felt like it was going to burst through his chest, and his expression was one of sheer terror.
Rena nodded her head drawing her card. "I place one monster facedown and end my turn." She bowed her head in defeat.
Jaden drew his card. "I activate Grand Neos effect and return that card to your hand. Now, let's finish this! Elemental HERO Grand Neos, attack Rena directly." Rena showed no emotion as her life points fell to zero. "That was a great duel."
Her head remained bowed. "Your prize." She tossed him the sandwich which he quickly finished in one bite. "Jaden, I will be calling on you again. I can definitely see your power." Rena pulled up her hood and walked away.
"Cool." Jaden said slightly nervous.
Shun looked at Aaron. "It's over. You can relax."
"I hate fusion monsters." He mumbled standing up. "Xander used one."
"I saw."
"I want a sandwich." Aaron walked over to the bin and pulled out a sandwich. He unwrapped it and took a bite. "Pizza." He mumbled finishing it. "I'm going to go lay down." Aaron pulled up his hood and walked away.
"I never got my sandwich." Shun remembered and walked over to the bin and reached inside. He pulled one out and immediately took a bite. He frowned at the result. "Tongue." He took a few more bites before tossing the sandwich in the trash.
At the same time…
Rena walked down the hall with her hood up her hand wrapped around her scythe. He won through such powerful fusions. Maybe I will call on him sooner than I thought I would. Maybe I can learn something here.
Later that evening…
There was a knock at the door. Shun answered it and saw Rena standing there. "What do you need?" He sipped the cup of tea in his hand.
"Wait, you guys have tea?!"
"No, it's just the cheap stuff." Shun said sarcastically. He took another sip smirking at her.
"I'm a little mad that I didn't think to bring some, but that's not why I'm here. I'm looking for Jaden."
"Two doors down." Shun pointed.
"Thank you." She walked away leaving Shun who shut the door. Rena walked to the door and knocked.
Jaden was there to answer the door. "Rena, what's up?" He was surprised.
"Would you mind if I come in?"
"Sure, if you don't mind the mess."
"It's fine." Rena walked inside and found a seat by one of the desks. She rested her scythe against the wall. The books looked unopened. "Shouldn't a duelist of your caliber be in Obelisk Blue or at least Ra Yellow?"
Jaden put a pile of clothes in the hamper and sat on the bed. "Studying isn't really my thing. Besides, Slifer Red is the best. We have the best view of the coast, and we get to have the most fun."
"You also have the longest walks to campus, the smallest rooms, the worst food, small showers. Should I go on?"
"There are some tradeoffs, but it's still great."
"Anyway, I was hoping that you could teach me how to fusion summon like you did during our duel. Not contact fusion, just fusion."
"Uh, sure." Jaden reached under his bed and pulled out a box of cards. He rummaged inside it until he found what he was looking for. "You can't do fusion summon without a fusion card." He handed Rena a copy of Polymerization.
She looked at the card. "Thank you, Jaden."
"Wait, maybe you should take this one too, as a gift." He smiled handing her another card.
"A Hero Emerges. This is what you used against me in our duel."
"I bet you could have made a serious comeback if you had that facedown."
"I could have." Rena smiled at the card. "Thank you, Jaden. If there is anything I can do for you, please, let me know."
"Uh, could you tell me something about Aaron and Shun? Those guys never seem to want to do anything."
"Aaron doesn't like people right away, and you're a special case. After your duel, he probably despises you."
"Why? Did I do something wrong?"
"He hates fusion monsters. They scare him. When he was a kid, he was not popular at the school. The other students bullied him. There was a group that used fusion monsters against him. He would always lose to them. He forced himself to be stronger. He shut others out to train. He became cold and distant, matching his ice style perfectly."
"What happened to the bullies?"
"He dueled them for their lives and won."
Jaden looked at his cards. "I can't believe that someone can have that much hatred for fusion monsters." He put them away. "What about Shun?"
"Shun likes games. Not just Duel Monsters. He can take a duel or leave it. He likes to play cards, a couple of board games, puzzles, and some other stuff. If you want a chance to be friends with Aaron, Shun is your best bet."
"Sounds good." Jaden smiled. "Anything I should know about you?"
"I know this sounds stupid to you, but I've always wanted to have a shadow game. I want to feel the darkness of the shadows, and something tells me I will be having a shadow game on this island. Anyway, I have to get going." She stood up and walked out of the dorm.
"These new students are definitely different." Jaden sighed and then looked at his deck. "I'm sure that they're good guys though." He smiled at his cards looking through all of them.