Chapter 5: A Duel of wills
As Kuro entered into the Obelisk Duel Arena, he saw a pair of Slifer Red Students, one was short with a head of platinum blue hair, the other one Slifer Red student was taller, and his hair was like brown like acorns, their hair colors greatly contrasted Kuro's normal pigmented black hair.
They seemed like they were being bullied and or pestered by some Obelisk blue students, the trio of Obelisk blue were rather flared in anger for the fact that a pair of Slifer Red students were in their own personal dueling dome, Kuro knew for a fact that this was going to turn for the worse so he tried to leave, however, one of the Obelisk Blue students quickly noticed Kuro and even pointed at him as the Silent Helheim Brother tried to get out of there.
"Hey Chazz! It's that Helheim sibling with the food-themed cards!" The brunette friend of Chazz said aloud, catching the black-haired Obelisk along with the two Slifer Red student's attention.
"You don't say Raizo..." Chazz said as he folded his arms as Syrus and Jaden turned around to see Kuro, the Silent Helheim sibling sighed in disbelief, just wanting to leave rather than having to deal with Academy drama, especially since it was first day here.
"Wait, yeah I remember you! You did that awesome play at your entrance duel exam, that was pretty cool!" Jaden said in a impressed tone, causing Kuro's face to flush in a sheepish manner from the compliments, not really used to taking in compliments from someone other than his family.
"Hmph, he just had a good hand, and that he has a deck with great synergy, if you take that all away from him, he's nothing but a Slifer slacker, like you two nimrods, No matter if you're related to 'The Dark Star of Duel Monsters', or not." Chazz responded with a smug grin plastered on his face, clearly showing his arrogant nature towards the meek Kuro.
"I suppose that's..." Before Kuro could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Jaden, the student with the acorn color-platted hair.
"Hey, don't worry dude, this guy is all style and no substance, my name is Jaden Yuki by the way, and this is my friend Syrus!" Jaden introduced himself in a vigorous manner, quickly sticking out a fast and energetic hand for Kuro to shake, the Helheim Sibling slowly accepted the handshake, being clearly abashed by the sudden fervorous aura that Jaden Yuki seems to possess.
"Excuse me!? Do you even know who you're talking about?" The Obelisk Blue student with glasses pointed to Chazz "This is Chazz Princeton you're talking about here! He made the Top of class at Duelist Prep school! People around these parts think he's going to be the next king of games!" Chazz's friend proclaimed, Kuro frowned at such a statement, believing that Chazz's fellow Obelisk Blue friend was clearly brown-nosing.
"That's impossible..." Jaden suddenly said, as if he was the lone hero, defiantly going against the mighty warlord known as Chazz Princeton, Kuro curved an eyebrow.
'Why is he treating this like as if it was the Stuff of legends?' Kuro pondered to himself from the over-the-top nature of Jaden Yuki.
"What are you trying to say?" Chazz demanded from Jaden with a scowl on his face.
"I said its impossible because that's going to be me!" the Elemental Hero Duelist said with heroic grin on his face as his stance was strong and even inspiring, causing Chazz to growl in annoyance and syrus to look upon Jaden with a sense of awe, Kuro on the other hand tried to speak his case.
"Well, its always good to be prepared in the ways of duel monsters...Through use of duel prep...But natural skill is always a plus...But seriously...I'll just be on my merry way..." Kuro tried to slip away from the conflict, knowing for a fact that it wasn't worth his time, especially since he didn't start it, nor he was going to end it, that was until he heard a feminine voice call him out right on the spot.
"Hey Maria's Brother!" Kuro responded to such a call, it was who he was in most cases, the brother to the more well-known sister, the shadow that his sister casts, the short end of the Helheim stick. The trio of Obelisk Girl students that Kuro met earlier today walked into the whole commotion, it was Jasmine that called her out, the Strawberry Blonde was beside her friends Alexis and Mindy, it seemed like to Kuro Obelisks have a tendency to travel in trios, like some sort of a high school clique.
"Oh come on Jasmine, he has a name, and its Kuro..." Alexis responded to Jasmine, she shrugged in response, not really bothering to keep that in mind.
Kuro only blushed from the sight of Jasmine as her friend Alexis did all the talking for them, Kuro tried to cover his staring by focusing more about eating his pockets full of dandelions, chomping them down like a deer feasting on wheat grass, Syrus nearby Kuro gave him a confused look, being weird out by the sight of someone taller and more muscular than him chowing down on a handful of raw weeds.
"Chazz you really should stop insulting the Slifer Red dorms, we already get the reputation of being Rich snobs, so stop trying to push the envelope further..." Alexis said as an attempt at damage control between the two dorms of Slifer Red and Obelisk Blue, Chazz snorted in response as he folded his arms in reluctance to such a task.
"Agh, to bad I left my duel disk at my dorm room...If I had it right now, I would've mopped the floor with you!" Jaden proclaimed as he scratched the back of his head in a kiddish manner, laughing at his own mistakes, this suddenly got Kuro to perk up in a noticeable manner.
'Perhaps...I can impress her...Show her I can duel...Against the best of the Freshman...' Kuro hoped to himself as he glanced at the abrasive Jasmine, he twiddled his fingers in an unassuming way before he finally spoke aloud.
"May I request a duel from you Chazz?..." Kuro started to speak his voice was clear and strong, instead of quiet and cowardly, alerting everyone from his sudden request, this got Jasmine's attention as she shot eyes of expectations towards the Helheim Sibling, something that Kuro admittedly liked.
"Why would I duel a Slifer slacker like you?" Chazz Princeton retorted as he scowled at the usually silent Helheim Sibling.
"Because you know for sure that you're going to lose!" Jaden suddenly said, this seemed to riled up Chazz immensely from the sudden false claim.
"Well...That's not...In...accurate..." Kuro added on to what Chazz said, his deliver was in a honest and innocent tone, it lacked snark and mean-induced spirit, but it still got Chazz to be extremely disgruntled.
"You take that back you flower-picking Slifer Slacker!" Chazz demanded from Kuro as he noticed the dandelions that leaked out of Kuro's pockets, instead of meeking agreeing to Chazz's command, Kuro stood tall, his head held up-leveled rather than staring down to the ground.
"I wasn't the one that said it...I just agreed with it...Not my fault its true." Kuro replied as he ate a dandelion bud nonchalantly, Chazz looked like he was going to pop a blood vessel, ready to take out Kuro at a moment's notice.
"You know what!? Since this Slifer Slacker here doesn't have his duel disk, and his friend will be not enough of a challenge, how about I duel you!" Chazz said with a loud and aggressive voice, Kuro silently smiled as he felt like things were going his way.
"Yeah! Take him out Chazz!" The glasses-wearing friend of Chazz said as he cheered Chazz on, the more stocky and stouter friend of Chazz also cheered him on, causing Chazz to laugh in delight as his friend stroked his ego's.
"Chazz, teach this guy that he's never going to be as his sister." Jasmine chimed in, Alexis sighed from Jasmine's unreasonable abrasive attitude towards Kuro, not even understanding why she's being so aggressive.
"Heh, with pleasure, get ready to get crushed Slifer Slacker!" Chazz said as his duel disk ready up, ready to crush said Slifer Slacker's skull.
"...Alright." Was all Kuro said as the duel began to start, the ruby on his borrowed duel disk began to flare up like a blazing fire as it activated, Syrus and Jaden due to being in the same dorm cheered Kuro on, Kuro was confused on why would they cheer him on, especially if he didn't know either of the two.
Duel Start!
Chazz Princeton vs. Kuro Helheim
Starting LP: 4000!
"Obelisk students goes first! I summon Chthonian Soldier (ATK: 1200, DEF: 1400) in attack mode!" Chazz said as a massive blade-wielding warrior clad in black armor appeared, he looked fearsome and aggressive, ready to cleave down some heads with its sword, despite the fact that its attack stat wasn't extremely impressing for Kuro.
"I end my turn with two cards face down, your turn Slifer Slacker!" Chazz said as Kuro drew a card from his deck, his stance formerly weak and unimposing, shifted to a stature of strength, something you would expect from someone that was over six feet tall and wasn't going to back down.
"Alright, time to serve up a five-star meal..." Kuro began as he drew a card from his hand, he looked at the card with a sense of contemplation before playing it.
"Stop adding food-terms! That was so annoying when you did it at the entrance exam!" Chazz called out, Kuro ignored him as he started his turn, making food puns kept him calmer than a still-lake, it was sort of like a defense mechanism.
'Its also hilarious.' a voice inside Kuro's head chimed in randomly.
"Lets start off with a nice beverage, Sushi Samurai: Sojutte Policeman!" A edo-period style policeman appeared, wearing a long robe and having a concealed single-pronged jutte tied against to the policeman's waist cloth, the face of the Policeman was covered by the shadow of his bowl-shaped helmet, the only thing that people could describe on the Policeman's face was a pair of alcohol-induced red hot cheeks.
The Drunken Policeman readied his Jutte, swinging it wildly like some kind of party animal before the policeman eventually calmed down to focus on the task at hand.
(Sushi Samurai: Sojutte Policeman, Earth, Warrior, Effect Monster LV: 4, ATK: 1300, DEK: 900)
"Isn't alcohol not allowed on Campus?" Syrus said in a honest tone, as the rest of the students in the Obelisk dueling arena were at the spectator seats, watching the duel unfold, Jaden laughed from Syrus's remark, thinking it was just a joke.
"Now, the offer of alcohol is always a enticing reward to jump into the party! So I use Sojutte's effect! if I discard a card from my hand, I can special another Level four or lower monster from my hand!"
"Two monsters in a single turn!?" Syrus said with surprise.
"Hmph, anyone in the Obelisk Blue dorm can do that." Jasmine hissed back in as she folded her arms in a unimpressed notion.
"By discarding my Sushi-Samurai: Onigiri Yokai, I can special summon a meal to one's drink! Go, Sushi Samurai: Komiso Monk! In defensive position!" the kettle-pot wearing monk nonchalantly walked in to Kuro's side of the battle field, his kettle-pot helmet was filled to the brim in a invigorating pool of miso soup , the monk blew a beautiful melody on its bamboo shoot-flute as its black clothes were boiled dark green seaweed, as its thick-sandals were made of white tofu.
(Sushi Samurai: Komiso Monk, Earth, Spellcaster, Effect Monster LV: 3, ATK: 0, DEF: 1500)
"A monster with zero attack! That puny thing doesn't even have enough defense to be an effective wall! What a useless card!" Chazz laughed as Kuro didn't respond to Chazz trash-talking his cards.
"Now, dispense some soju-induced justice against that soldier! Sojutte! Jutte striker!" The policeman hazily attacked the Chthonian soldier, drunkenly throwing his jutte and shattering the soldier clad in black armor, Chazz didn't even flinch as his lifepoints were barely scratched.
"Chthonian soldier's effect activates! You'll take the same amount of battle damage as my Chthonian soldier did!" Kuro winced slightly as his life points were slightly dwindled.
Kuro's Lifepoints: 3900
Chazz's Lifepoints: 3900
"A minor stain..." Kuro said, not intimidated from the effect, Chazz smiled wickedly as he continued to retaliate in against Kuro's attack.
"But that's not all! I use my trap card! Time Machine! Getting back my Chthonian soldier! Just like that!" Chazz revealed the card, causing a black-tinted steampunk-inspired time machine appeared out of gusts and spews of smoke, the time machine opened, revealing the same Chthonian soldier in the same attack position.
"Hahaha! But here's another card for you! Inferno Reckless Summon! Since I special summoned a monster with under 1500 attack, I can summon two more monsters that are the same card! So here comes the reinforcements!" Chazz shouted as he threw his hand up in the air, the single soldier was then accompanied by two other soldiers, they all raised their swords in valor, desiring the destruction of their enemies.
"Tch, I end my turn with a face down." Kuro finished with a noticeable bothered turn, Chazz smirked smugly drawing a card from his deck, Chazz smiled in response to the card he drew.
"I'll tribute my Chthonian soldier to summon Helpoemer! (LV: 5, ATK: 2000, DEF: 1400)" one soldier of Chthonia turned to dust as it was replaced by a blue-flayed demon with multiple gaping maws growling and moaning growing out of the demon's body.
"I then use Chthonian alliance! That means one of my Soldiers gets a boost of 1600 attack! (ATK: 2800)" One particular Chthonian soldier shield and sword was replaced with two larger weapons, a heavily serrated silver sword and a spike-protruding shield, both weapons were inhered with an aura of sapphire blue.
"Oh no! This could be the end!" Jaden said aloud, despite his words, he was clearly enjoying the duel unfold, watching the intensity between a Obelisk blue student, the highest status that a student can achieve, versus one of the low tier-students.
"Now destroy his stupid Sushi Samurai's! Helpoemer! Attack his Kumiso Monk, Chthonian soldier! Destroy that Sojutte wimp!" Kuro was silent as the two monsters charged forward.
"I won't let you do that, I use, Sushi Samurai Menu Change! I'll tribute my two Sushi Samurais to fusion summon a monster with a level lower than the tributed monsters!" Kuro said back with a glare on his face, revealing the trap card and causing Chazz's monsters to freeze in place.
"With the sacrifice of Rice and Soju, You get..."the two sushi samurai monsters disappeared into smoke as they used for the fusion summon.
"Aw yeah! Now we're talking!" Jaden cheered in a ecstatic tone, excited from what Kuro was going to do next.
"what he's gonna summon?" Syrus peeped, confused from the sight of the special cards that Kuro has.
"...Sushi Samurai Warlord: Rye-jin!" Kuro said as suddenly bellowing sounds of crashing storms began to be heard throughout the Obelisk blue arena, the whole arena began to dim slightly as the raging storm's sounds began to become more synchronized, almost as if the crashing of clouds became percussion beats.
"What in the world is happening!?" Chazz said in wonder as the skies cleared and what appeared was a tall, bulky, red-skinned demon with a chalk-white face, big bat-like ears, full-moon yellow eyes and set of long and sharp fangs between red lips, the demon wore a cloak made entirely out of rye wheat and tough linen, surrounding the demon of the storms and grain was four different circular drum-like containers, each of them filled with unthreshed pieces and crops of wheat, rye, barley and oats respectively.
In the red demon's hands were a pair of wooden heavy-ended clubs, the demon roared as he started beating on the four drum jars, threshing the grain with each slam of his clubs as well as causing thunder to crash and boom around him.
(Sushi Samurai Warlord: Rye-jin, Earth, Thunder, Fusion Effect Monster, Fusion Materials: 2 Sushi Samurai Monsters LV: 7, ATK: 2500, DEF: 1900)
"Hah! Its still weaker than my boosted Chthonian soldier! Go crush that bucket of oats!" Chazz ordered, Kuro smiled lightly as his Japanese God of thunder and grain was still beating his grain drums with a beastly vigor.
"Not until I use his effect! During either's player turn, I can discard one card, from my hand..." Kuro was down to a single card as he discarded the lesser of two great card choices from his hand.
"I can halve the attack of your Chthonian!" Rye-jin began to scoop out bits and pieces of the threshed grain towards the alliance-boost Chthonian, demmoralizing the warrior and halving his attack from a strong 2800 to an average 1400, Chazz gasped in shock but then he flashed a smug grin.
"Then I'll just won't attack! I end my turn!" Chazz taunted before he laughed, Kuro frowned from such a thing, he know didn't you could just stop attacking...He didn't want to question Chazz's ruling, Kuro was in Slifer Red for a reason.
"Draw..." Kuro said as he drew the top card of his deck, it was a low-level Sushi Samurai, but it was going to have its use sooner or later.
"I will set a monster face down, now, Rye-jin, attack his weakened Soldier! Grain crusher!" Kuro ordered the God of Grain and thunder, the red-skinned god nodded as he began to beat his grain drums one-by-one, causing a bolt of lightning to strike down and vaporize the Chthonian soldier, both duelists winced as their lifepoints went down.
"Hah! Now you don't have any cards in your hand! So you can't do that stupid effect!" Chazz pointed out, Kuro was internally fazed but he masked his mistake with a stern expression.
'Oops...' was all Kuro thought to himself, believing that he may have just set himself up for failure.
Kuro Lifepoints: 2800
Chazz Lifepoints: 2800
"Turn end!" Kuro finished, standing tall towards the Obelisk student, who still wasn't fazed by Kuro's dueling skill.
"Heh, I guess we're pretty evenly matched, Slifer Slacker, lets change that, I play Share the pain! I'll sack my Chthonian to make you tribute a monster of your choice!" Kuro raised an eyebrow from such a pain.
"I obviously pick my set-card instead of my Rye-jin..." Kuro said aloud as the set monster, a Sushi Samurai Tuno Konojuchi was sent to the graveyard.
"Good job Slifer Slacker! For now, I summon my Infernal Incinerator! (LV: 6, ATK: 2800, DEF: 1800) by discarding a card from my hand and tributing my Helpoemer!" The six-legged beast appeared in Chazz's side of the field in a buffet of flames, the eyeless but nevertheless dangerous fire beast roared as its demonic handler bounded its mouth with a set of iron chains.
"His attack becomes 3000 since you have Rye-jin on the field! I attack your monster! Blast Burn!" the Incinerator roared, quickly breathing out a stream of flames, burning up the Sushi Samurai Warlord into ash.
Kuro Lifepoints: 2200
"Hahaha! This is just to easy! Your move Slifer Slacker!" Kuro scoffed loudly as he drew a card from his deck, he felt sweat coming down, which was odd for the Helheim Sibling, considering that the Obelisk Arena was rather conditioned, perhaps it was due to the duel? Kuro didn't know for sure.
"Alright...I believe this duel may be over..." Kuro started to speak, almost as if he was giving up, causing Chazz to smile in triumph.
"For you at least..." the Helheim Sibling finished with a small accomplished smile on his face.
"What!?" Chazz exclaimed, his face of smug victory quickly turning into a expression of shock and bewilderment.
"With a passion greater than the strongest cards of Duel Monsters...With a spirit that blazes hotter than the fires of the kitchen...I use my magic card..." Kuro paused for dramatic effect.
"PER-"
"Hey! Duel Academy Security is coming! Didn't you guys know that no one can duel during this time?" Alexis suddenly said to Chazz and Kuro, both the two duelists raised an eyebrow, quickly realizing that the lights of the Arena was starting to shut off and the people that were inside of the arena were already heading there way out of the building, Kuro only sighed in disbelief.
'Why didn't she say anything beforehand?' Was all Kuro thought to himself, questioning Alexis's logical reasoning.
"Tch, fine, we can end this duel, but don't think you had me on the ropes, Slifer slacker!" Chazz insulted once more before his duel disk deactivated, quickly walking away from the Helheim Sibling.
'Well that was anti-climatic...' Kuro said to himself as his own duel disk deactivated sighing as he did so, he had the perfect recipe spell card in his hand, he was going to use Wasanobi again and claim a victory.
'Eh, there's always bigger fish to fry...' the Helheim Sibling shrugged to himself, quietly chuckling to himself about his little pun, before sneaking out of the Obelisk Blue Arena building before he could get caught.