Chapter 16: Relight My Fire
"Try that one more time," Matt requested. "You say you dueled against someone who looks just like me?" Darius nodded and Ellie assured him of the story's accuracy. Matt seemed to take it well. "That might explain why Pr. Baker thinks I stole cards from Maikeru and Sean."
"That's why we accused you," Maikeru admitted. "I mean, this guy was really good. We could barely keep up, just like almost everyone who duels against you." Matt would normally jump at the chance to brag, but he was more concerned, right now, about his look-alike.
"He played a flux deck," Sean suggested, which drew a few befuddled looks. "It was like he couldn't make up his mind what rules he wanted to play, so he just kept changing them."
"That's actually a good description," Maikeru agreed. "He reminded me of a kid with an imaginary friend. I'm a little surprised Darius managed to beat him."
Ellie agreed. "Yeah. He almost didn't, but then he drew some magic, gold card. It let him change the field in order to take advantage of the other guy's cards."
"Any chance I can take a look?" Matt asked Darius.
Darius shook his head. "I am afraid that card is gone. It may have disappeared when the man called Ouroboros disappeared." Matt said that was a shame.
Ellie asked, "Are you sure you've never seen anyone who looks like you on campus? Has anyone even pointed someone out to you?"
"Just him." Matt pointed across the dorm room toward the door. On the back of the door of every dorm room was a mounted mirror. Matt's reflection pointed right back at everyone else. Matt sighed and wondered, Do I really have a brother?
The shop was a loud place during the day. Between the power lift, the spot welder, the dropping of tools, and discussions about who is more qualified for a particular repair, it was difficult to focus sometimes. Headsets were enough for some guys to drown out the noise, but Bryan just preferred to spend some time alone in the shop, even if it meant getting up at dawn. When the only sounds in the shop were his, it was easier for him to focus.
Attaching a Duel Disk to a motorcycle was easy enough, but Bryan was having difficulty with expanding the holographic technology. It didn't occur to him that a degree in engineering would make things easier; he read several books over the past weeks and was convinced he knew what he needed to know in order to make his machine successful. If he could just stop wrenching his thumb…
"Ow!" he cried and dropped the wrench on the floor.
Someone else was in the garage. A few soft footsteps taken by feet encased in leather boots preceded a woman's voice:
"I heard you were trying to merge a Duel Disk with a motorcycle. I didn't realize you were going to merge yourself with it, too."
Bryan paused for a moment as he computed the voice. He lifted his head over the seat of the motorcycle and looked into the garage to see the author of that wit. "How'd you get in here?" he asked. "The door was locked."
"It was closed—not locked," she argued. "I hope it's the same with you."
He made a face. "Geez, Erica. You take a few psych classes and now you're a therapist?"
Indeed, it was Erica Dawkins, master's candidate and adjunct faculty member at Duel Academy. She wore the usual attire of Academy faculty members; basically it was the same as a woman's uniform for the Blue Mansion, but her jacket had tails to symbolize her status. And given the time of year, she wore long pants in lieu of a skirt.
"Of course not," she chuckled. "Psychology has nothing to do with it. I learned that metaphor in a literature class."
"Well, good then. You can write an epic poem about me after I finish this Duel Runner. Off you go." If Erica were using psychology to read into his behavior, she might point out that he declined to hide from her when he urged her to leave, indicating he wanted to maintain eye contact.
"Duel Runner?"
He scoffed. "Well, I couldn't call it Duel Disk Attached to a Motorcycle; that would sound ridiculous and it's way too long to come up with a catchy jingle for it. I could go with Duel Bike or Holo-Wheel, but the former sounds too simple and the latter is too vague."
"And where did you get this flash of brilliance in the first place?"
Bryan could catch the derision in that question even if he didn't regularly practice his own. "Why are you here, Erica? Are you going to convince me that dueling while riding a motorcycle is absolute lunacy?"
"You don't need me to convince you," she assured him. "You already now how crazy you sound. I just want to know if you plan to come back to school or if I should tell the other professors to go ahead and fail you." He'd missed so many classes and a couple of tests, so failure was likely despite his earlier grades. And ever since Duel Academy became a premiere institute, failing more than two courses was grounds for immediate expulsion; Bryan was currently failing five courses.
"Why should I care? What's the real difference? If I'm a master duelist, why do I have to go to school to prove it?"
That didn't take long, Erica thought to herself. "Are you a master duelist? It seems to me that you lost a duel and suddenly stopped caring about anything else."
"I'm not the first champion to lose a duel once in a while," he countered defensively.
"That's true. You're not even the first potential champion to run away from Duel Academy after losing a duel."
"I wasn't running away!"
She scoffed. "Sure. You just decided it was a better career move to leave without telling your brother or your girlfriend to pursue what has to be the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard in the history of dueling."
Bryan scoffed, too, but he kept quiet for a moment before muttering, "She's that freshman's girlfriend now."
"You're such an idiot," Erica grumbled. "Do you really think Lucy wanted you to leave just because you lost one duel?"
"It's not a big island. If she wanted to find me, it wouldn't take a lot of effort."
"Oh, shut up! She thinks you won't come back just because she wants you to. She figures you're just having a massive mood swing and you'll come out of it when you're ready. It scares her that you haven't done so yet. Even Matt's starting to get worried."
"Matt has plenty to worry about with being king of the Academy."
Now I get it. Erica's voice softened as she asked, "Are you worried that Matt is getting too far ahead of you?" Bryan scoffed in reply, but he didn't have an immediate response. Erica continued, "Say all the stuff Matt's doing is making him become a stronger duelist even more quickly than you are. Do you really think dropping out and never dueling is really going to make you better? When was the last time you even touched your deck?"
Bryan just huffed. "Leave me alone. I'm fine."
"I really doubt that," Erica replied harshly. "People who are 'fine' don't just start giving away personal belongings and seeking personal attention by devising elaborate, hair-brained schemes. It doesn't take psychiatric training to know you are going through a spell of self-destructive behavior."
"I am not."
"Quitting school, giving away hundreds of dollars in dueling cards, and breaking up with someone who may have been the best person ever to invade your life are textbook self-destructive behaviors."
Bryan smirked. "I would have figured you'd say 'second best person.'"
"My self-esteem is sufficient enough for me to say I am not the best person for you," Erica told him clearly. "It was fun for a while, but you and Lucy have much better chemistry. You managed to pull her out of her shell, and she got you to calm down and focus your life more. Now you've pushed her aside because she does not idealize you, and you're trying to find people who will. I'm pretty sure that's why you started this crazy Duel Bike idea."
"You think I'm narcissistic?" Erica just raised an eyebrow. Bryan sighed and said, "Yeah, okay."
Erica stepped up and put her hand on his chin. "Matt will not leave you behind. He is as attached to this co-King of Games idea as you are. But you can't reduce the gap that currently separates you by sitting in a garage, breaking an old Duel Disk." She was right: Bryan was using an old Duel Academy model Duel Disk for his Duel Runner; he kept the one he got from Leona Moxley in his bag with his deck. "Grab your Duel Disk and come with me."
He groaned. "I don't feel like dueling."
"You don't right now, but you've spent too long doing nothing. A duel is the only way for you to remember how excited you used to get at the prospect of a challenge. I figure you need to know what you've been missing by betting on the 3T and not participating."
"You want me to do a Tag Team Duel?"
She grinned. "I need a partner, don't I?" He reluctantly agreed to grab his Duel Disk. As he grabbed one of his deck boxes, Erica suggested, "Don't bring that one. Use the other one."
"Why?"
She shrugged. "Maybe changing things up every once in a while will be good for you."
"Whatever."
Bryan didn't like being told what to do and so a large part of his brain resisted the idea of a duel and wanted to bolt, but there were two other parts of his brain keeping him beside Erica: One was still a little attracted to her and a little scared of what she would do if he eluded her; the other part was excited by the prospect of donning the Duel Disk once more and started mentally reassembling all the strategies in his deck.
"Where are we going?" he asked as Erica led him down Main Street past all the major shops. They weren't headed back to campus, either. It was more like they were headed for the square downtown. But why? Who would they duel out there?
Erica took him to a residence not far from the Wal-Mart. It was a nice, two-story house painted blue with a white roof. There was a garage, although it was disconnected from the house, and a big deck circled the corner of the house around back. It looked like a lot of other houses in the area. Bryan quickly learned who lived there.
"Wow," Bryan said when he saw Dr. Sasha Kerr. She was now eight months pregnant and on maternity leave, only doing some of the work she could do from home. Bryan didn't want to point out how large she had gotten, though, and so he asked the typical "guy" question: "Have you lost weight?"
Sasha made a face and said, "I've put on an additional fifteen pounds since you last saw me."
"You didn't let me finish," Bryan told her quickly. "I was going to ask: Have you lost weight in your ass and put it all in your belly?"
"Smooth," Erica replied, but Sasha just laughed.
Baker was also there, apparently bribed by some of Sasha's homemade pancakes. He finished eating while Sasha explained that she thought a duel would be a good idea to get Bryan back on track. Bryan didn't think it would be that simple, and so Baker set out an official challenge; he said that Bryan didn't have it in him anymore, and he'd never be able to beat a couple of professors even with Erica's help.
"Come on," Bryan groaned. "You think challenging my manliness is going to sucker me into a duel?"
Erica pointed out, "An inability to duel is akin to impotence."
Bryan just scoffed and quickly asked, "That's not true?" He meant it as a statement, but he wasn't sure. It almost made sense that losing interest in a passion could affect other aspects of focus. And Erica didn't help when her only response was to shrug coyly. Bryan sighed. "Fine. You must be eager to have me duel if you'd tell me such an outright lie. Where are we doing this?"
"Right here," Sasha said.
Bryan looked around the living room. There was a reasonable amount of floor space, but the room wasn't huge, there was a couch on one wall, a loveseat on another, a coffee table, and a big TV in the corner. "Are you sure? There's not a lot of room here."
Sasha laughed. "First of all, the monsters are holograms; they don't actually make a mess when they attack each other." Kind of a fair point. "Second of all," she said as she pointed toward the loveseat, "this is my pregnancy chair. This way I can sit down when I need to without having to stop the duel."
"All good points," Bryan admitted. He watched Baker and Erica don their Academy Duel Disks. Sasha activated her Duel Disk without actually putting it on; she put it on the coffee table to avoid the extra weight and just held her cards. Bryan put on the Duel Disk he obtained from participation in the Denkard Limitations Tournament and thought about how much heavier it felt than he remembered.
"I think Roger should take the first turn," Erica suggested.
Baker nodded. "Alright, then." He drew his first card and looked over his hand. "I'll summon Goblin Attack Force (4/2300/0) and set a card facedown." His single monster card was a collection of eight, green-skinned goblins armed with clubs.
Erica's turn was next. "I'll set a card and summon Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth (4/1700/1600)." Her monster was a woolly mammoth with gray fur, three tusks from each side of its mouth, and an amber gem embedded in its forehead.
"My turn," Sasha said. "I'll set a monster and two cards."
Bryan felt a little weird being thrust into a tag duel as his first challenging duel in weeks—he'd dueled other folks in the garage, but they weren't very good—but it still felt familiar. He remembered Erica's Crystal Beasts pretty well, but he never dueled against the other professors before. He knew that Baker played a beatdown deck, but Dr. Kerr was more conservative and strategic with her deck. Bryan was just going to have to do what comes naturally.
"I'll place a card facedown and summon Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin (3/600/800)." This blue Dolphin was a humanoid biped. He had fins protruding from his elbows and head and three gems on his chest. "Now, by discarding a card from my hand, I can take a look at…" He paused to consider the easier target. "Dr. Kerr's hand and select a monster card." She showed Bryan her hand, and the only monster she currently had was Fire Trooper. "Because there is a monster on my side of the field with more attack points, your monster is destroyed and you lose 500 LP."
Sasha cocked an eyebrow. "Aqua Dolphin (600) is not stronger than Fire Trooper (1000)."
Bryan grinned. "The card doesn't say 'monster I control'; it says 'monster on my side of the field.'" He pointed to Amber Mammoth (1700). "Erica and I share a field right now, meaning we do have a bigger monster."
Sasha smiled as she discarded her monster. "And here I was worried you were going to struggle to remember the rules."
"It's like riding a bicycle," he told her. "That ends my turn."
Bryan and Erica 8000: Sasha and Baker 8000 – 500 = 7500.
Baker seemed pretty confident as he drew. But he didn't have his trump card just yet. "I'll attack your Aqua Dolphin (600) with Goblin Attack Force (2300)." The Goblins all jumped on top of the blue dolphin. As soon as the attack ended, the Goblins (0) all switched to defense mode. "I'll put a monster facedown and set a card."
Bryan and Erica 8000 – 1700 = 6300: Sasha and Baker 7500.
"I'll start my turn with summoning Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus (4/1800/1200)." The monster was a winged unicorn with sapphire studs in its wings and a sapphire horn on its head. "And doing so activates his effect of pulling Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle from my deck and putting it in my Spell zone." A blue, hexagonal gem appeared on her field in the same spot where the sapphire once stood. "Now I'll have Sapphire Pegasus (1800) attack Sasha's monster."
Sasha laughed when her UFO Turtle (4/1400/1200) flipped up and disappeared. "I'll activate Backfire." The destroyed UFO Turtle left behind a stream of fire that swarmed Erica's field. "Every time you destroy a fire monster, you take 500 points of damage. And destroying UFO Turtle allows me to summon Solar Flare Dragon (4/1500/1000)." This was a red, serpentine dragon with a flame spraying from its neck like a mane.
"I'll also attack with Amber Mammoth (1700)." The Mammoth gored the Flare Dragon with its tusks.
"I'll chain Call of the Haunted," Sasha said. An image of a Graveyard appeared on her field, and a rising mist brought her Solar Flare Dragon back to the field.
Erica chuckled. "You do love those dragons. My turn's done."
Bryan and Erica 6300 – 500 = 5800: Sasha and Baker 7500 - 200 = 7300.
"This will be fun," Sasha said as she drew. "I'll summon a second Solar Flare Dragon (1500) to the field." With two identical dragons, the fire grew more intense. "As long as I have another pyro monster, each dragon cannot be attacked. That means each dragon protects the other."
Bryan commented, "We actually knew that."
"I know," she replied with a big grin. "I'm just proud of that move. I'm done." Then each of her dragons pointed themselves toward Bryan and Erica and released a stream of fire from their throats. "Oh, yeah," she laughed. "During my End Phase, each dragon deals 500 points of damage to you."
"Great," Bryan moaned. He had to admit that it was amusing watching Sasha get excited so easily by relatively simple plays. He guessed the pregnancy was having a bit of an effect on her after all.
Bryan and Erica 5800 – 500 – 500 = 4800: Sasha and Baker 7300.
"I guess it's my turn again," Bryan remembered. "I'll activate Convert Contact; by sending Air Hummingbird in my hand and Flare Scarab in my deck to the Graveyard, I draw two cards." He checked his new cards. "I'll play Lightning Vortex; by discarding a card from my hand, I destroy all the monsters on Dr. Kerr's field." A bolt of lightning struck each of Sasha's dragons and destroyed them. Then a spray of fire hit Bryan's field.
"Backfire still takes effect," Sasha told him, "even if you destroy my fire monsters by a Spell Card effect."
"Yeah, yeah. Well, I discarded Cross Porter, and when he goes to the Graveyard, I can take a Neo-Spacian from my deck and put it in my hand. And I'll summon Neo-Spacian Grand Mole (3/900/300)." His monster was a plump mole with half of a drill bit as armor over its shoulders. "I'll attack Goblin Attack Force (0)."
The drill bits shifted and covered the mole's head as it drove toward the Goblins. Because they were in defense mode, they were easy targets for any monster to destroy. Then Bryan ended his turn.
Bryan and Erica 4800 – 500 = 4300: Sasha and Baker 7300.
Baker smiled as he drew. "I'll summon Beast King Barbaros (8/-1900/1200)." This monster had the torso of a man bearing a lance and shield and the lower body of a panther. "His effect lets me summon him without Tributes as long as I decrease his attack points. And he's going to attack your Grand Mole (900)."
"That's fine," Bryan decided. "By my monster's effect, both monsters will get put back in our hands."
"That's why I'm activating Skill Drain. By paying 1000 Life Points, the effects of all monsters on the field are negated as long as this card stays on the field." Barbaros (+3000) almost doubled in size on the field. "Still plan to stop me?"
Bryan huffed. "Yes, but in a different way. I'll play Waboku." Three robed women appeared in front of Grand Mole and cast a spell; when Barbaros struck, Grand Mole simply bounced back up unharmed. "This card protects my monster and me from Battle Damage for this turn."
"Well played," Baker admitted.
Bryan and Erica 4300: Sasha and Baker 7300 – 1000 = 6300.
"Here we go," Erica said. "I'll play Graceful Charity so I can draw three cards and discard two." A robed woman similar to those who protected Bryan appeared on the field and offered cards to Erica in one hand, but demanded a return in the other hand. "Now I'll summon Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat (3/1200/400)." Her cat had purple fur and a gold crest with an amethyst gem on her chest. "By cutting her points in half, she can attack directly this turn." The Cat shrunk, dropped to the floor, and stalked across the field right past Barbaros and attacked Sasha directly. "One set card and I'm done."
Bryan and Erica 4300: Sasha and Baker 6300 – 600 = 5700.
Sasha drew. "I'll summon Abaki (4/1700/1000) to the field and set one card." Abaki was a top-heavy goblin with bulging muscles, a loincloth, and a spiked club. Bryan made a joke about how he looks very similar without a shirt on, except Bryan has a neck. "I'll let it attack your facedown monster."
Erica decided, "With his effect, Amber Mammoth (1700) can draw your attack to him instead." The pink goblin dragged his club toward the mammoth and managed to swing it over his head to slam it on top of the mammoth.
Bryan commented, "This would be a lot easier without that Skill Drain on the field."
"That's not a problem," Erica told him. She activated her facedown Trap. "Crystal Raigeki lets me send the Cobalt Eagle in my Spell zone to the Graveyard, and in exchange, I destroy a card on the field." The cobalt faded away, and then a bolt of lightning struck and destroyed Baker's Trap. "Is that better?"
"Much."
Erica added, "Without Skill Drain on the field, Amber Mammoth regains the ability to turn into a gem and stay in my Spell zone." An oval-shaped, yellow stone appeared on her field.
"Sorry, guys," Sasha said, "but destroying Abaki in battle means we all lose 500 Life Points." She kept grinning. "And don't forget about Backfire." A spray of fire crossed Erica's field. "I'm done now."
Bryan and Erica 4300 – 500 – 500 = 3300: Sasha and Baker 5700 – 500 = 5200.
Bryan drew. "I'll summon Elemental Hero Prisma (4/1700/1000)." A humanoid crystal appeared on the field; he was shaped like a man wearing armor and wings, but his entire body was made of reflective crystal. "By sending Elemental Hero Neos from my deck to the Graveyard, Prisma becomes Neos until the end of the turn." The crystal body turned white and reflected the image of the bladed Hero.
"This is a good time," Sasha said. "I'll activate Ceasefire. All monsters on the field flip face-up, and you guys lose 500 points for each effect monster." With Barbaros on Baker's field, Sapphire Pegasus and Amethyst Cat on Erica's field, and Prisma and Grand Mole on Bryan's field, that meant 2500 points of damage.
"Ouch," Erica commented.
"No kidding," Bryan agreed. "I can send Prisma and Grand Mole back to my deck in order to fuse them into Elemental Hero Grand Neos (7/2500/2000)." Grand Mole turned into a stream of energy and surrounded the image of Neos; as Neos absorbed the energy, his body became encased in a suit of brown armor and his right arm assumed the shape of a large drill head.
"That's a big monster," Baker admitted. "Mine's still bigger." He was right; the destruction of Skill Drain didn't change Barbaros's (3000) attack value.
"I don't care," Bryan replied. "When Grand Neos is summoned, one monster on your side of the field returns to your hand." The drill on Neos's hand began to spin rapidly; he lunged forward and thrust it into Beast King Barbaros, which sent the beast spinning off the field. "Now your field is wide open." Grand Neos leapt across the field and slashed with his drill hand.
"Don't forget about Neos's effect," Baker warned him. "Without my Skill Drain on the field, your monster will go back to the Extra Deck at the end of the turn."
Bryan scoffed. "I know. That's why I have Instant Neo Space; this Equip Spell prevents Grand Neos from going back to the deck. That's all."
Bryan and Erica 3300 – 2500 = 800: Sasha and Baker 5200 – 2500 = 2700.
Baker had a habit of showing very little emotion when he played. All he did was crack a grin when he decided, "I'll remove Beast King Barbaros and Machine Lord Ur from play to summon Beast Machine King Barbaros Ur (8/3800/1200)." His Beast King reappeared on the field, this time with purple skin and a thicker mane, and he was armed with pieces from a red machine monster.
"I shouldn't be scared of that monster," Bryan said, "because its effect says all Battle Damage becomes zero. Yet, I'm scared anyway."
"You should be. I'll add Forbidden Chalice." A silver chalice appeared on the field, and Barbaros Ur (+4200) drank from it. "This card negates the effects of my monster and gives him another 400 points until the End Phase."
"Ah. See? There it is."
Baker nodded. "Yes. There's the reason to fear my monster. He'll attack Grand Neos (2500) and end the duel." His monster lunged and prepared to slam his armored arms.
"I have another Trap," Erica announced. "Rainbow Path lets me send the Amber on my field to the Graveyard in order to negate your attack." Barbaros Ur stopped moving before he completed the attack. "As a bonus, I get to take Rainbow Dragon from my deck and put it in my hand."
"That's fine," Baker said. "It's your turn."
Erica smiled. "Good, because I have, between my field and my Graveyard, seven Crystal Beasts. That means I can summon Rainbow Dragon (10/4000/0)." The ultimate crystal beast was a white, serpentine dragon whose scales were studded with gems the color of the seven Crystal Beasts. And it brought with it the ability to grow even stronger.
"Now is when I will activate Royal Oppression," Baker announced. "I pay 800 Life Points to negate your Special Summoning. Your Dragon is destroyed before it is summoned."
Erica huffed. "Geez. I guess I'll switch Pegasus (1200) and Cat (400) to defense mode and end my turn."
Bryan and Erica 800: Sasha and Baker 2700 – 800 = 1900.
"Aw, man," Sasha laughed. "I can't end the duel yet. I can bring it close, though. I'll summon Volcanic Slicer (4/1800/1200)." This monster resembled a bipedal dinosaur encased entirely in a bronze shell. "If I skip my Battle Phase, Volcanic Slicer will automatically inflict 500 points of damage to you." The Slicer opened its jaws and spat a molten ball of fire at Erica. "I'm done."
Bryan and Erica 800 – 500 = 300: Sasha and Baker 1900.
Bryan had to start with "Pot of Greed lets me draw two more cards." A very common sight on duel fields was the image of a green jar with a goofy grin on the face; two cards spilled out of the jar before it disappeared. Bryan just laughed at his hand.
"I'll play Contact Out. That lets me send Grand Neos back to my Extra Deck in order to summon Grand Mole (900) and Neos (2500) from my deck."
"I'm definitely going to use Royal Oppression again," Baker declared. "For 800 Life Points, I don't have to worry about your using Grand Mole's effect because your Contact Out will be negated."
"I was afraid of that," Bryan muttered humorously. "I'll start by having Grand Neos (2500) attack Barbaros Ur (-3800)." Grand Neos lunged and slashed at Barbaros Ur, who retaliated by roaring and counterattacking strong enough to destroy Grand Neos. "Luckily, your monster's effect reduces all Battle Damage to zero, and I can now play Reverse of Neos to summon Elemental Hero Neos (7/+3500/2000) from my deck with 1000 extra points." Now instead of a distorted mirror image, Bryan showed the real thing: a tall, muscular hero dressed in white with large blades protruding from his elbows and head.
"I should negate that, too," Baker decided. "Another 800 Life Points activates Royal Oppression again and prevents the activation of Reverse of Neos."
Bryan grinned. "All I had to do was outlast you. Remember how I had Instant Neo Space equipped to Grand Neos? Well, when Grand Neos was removed from the field, Instant Neo Space started a chain to summon Elemental Hero Neos (2500) from my deck. I only played Reverse of Neos to make you spend your LP."
Baker knew Bryan was right; with only 500 Life Points left, he couldn't activate Royal Oppression again. At least Neos wasn't strong enough to beat Barbaros Ur (3800).
"I'll have Neos (2500) attack Volcanic Slicer (1800)." Bryan's Hero leapt across the field and landed a powerful punch to the bronze dinosaur. "And I believe my turn is done."
Bryan and Erica 300: Sasha and Baker 1900 – 800 – 800 – 700 = 0.
"I knew you still had it in you," Sasha told him as the holograms faded.
Bryan sighed, fighting back the urge to smile. "You went easy on me because you're pregnant." She assured him that was not true. "So what do I get for participating in this little exercise?"
"For participating? Nothing," Baker said. "For winning, we're offering you the opportunity to come back to Duel Academy and make up the work you missed." When Bryan started questioning the decision, Baker explained that all the professors would give him "incomplete" marks for the semester, and then he could stay at the Academy during the winter break and make up the work.
"Everyone?" Bryan repeated. "How are you going to convince a hard-ass like Dr. Lankford to agree to that?"
Sasha just smiled and ran her fingers across her belly. "What do you think Kevin's first reaction will be when he has a hysterical, hormonal, pregnant woman pitching a fit in his office?"
Bryan huffed. "He'll probably give you whatever you want just to shut you up." Erica smacked him in the chest for being so rude and tactless.
But Sasha wasn't offended. "That's exactly what I'm counting on."
Slowly, Bryan was coming to the conclusion that he should accept the offer and go back to Duel Academy. The one thing about this situation, though, that he still didn't understand was:
"Why would you make this deal for me? It can't be just because I'm your favorite student or you think I'm wasting my talents here."
Baker shook his head. "No. Let's just say you've got a guardian angel with connections high enough to convince even Dr. West of this strategy." He paused for a moment before adding, "I do have one question for you, though: What do you know about Matt having a brother?"
This duel was easier to write because I actually have a Crystal Beast and a Neo-Spacian deck. It still took a lot longer than I thought it would, though. I can't wait to be done with these tag duels. I have two more to do, and a least one of them may end up being a half duel; kind of a gyp, I know, but it's easier to do, it still covers the parts needed for the story, and I can cover more duels without everything feeling like filler material.
Credits:
Darius Mantzios...tiramisu19
Jason Maxim...Maxim and Knight
Nathan Zislaw...Mavrik Zero
Hillary Delaney...Nodqfan144
Lili Von...Happy2BMe
Carter Jade...Jaden2010
Mitsuro Itachu...Titanic X
Sean Bivins...DarkVestroia2
Naoto Kurotsuki...Kurotsuki Haru
Hayley Wilson...TeamRocketDiva
Maikeru Stone...onyxshade7
Victor Rocks & Abel Shinzou...Iron-Arm-V
Alister Kazama & Jessica Parks...ZaneKazama001
Synthia Spencer...Madly Chessur
Leila & Linear Lockhart...Windraider
Romulus Malligan...Maximus1
Everyone else so far...YamiRuss