Sweet! I got 22 reviews on the last chapter too! That is awesome! As you can see, I am happy! ^_^
Anyway, thank you to Guest, crazywriter9, dragonrider90, GuardianOfTheUniverse, DisneyOUATgirl1437, DarkZorua100, Numbuh24InsaneBrain, StrawHatLuffy94, TRAINER RUSS, starchasersemerald, KiritoKirigaya-SAO, decode9, Misty Azalea Fairy, Team5dsforever, iloveyugiohGX93, Lightclaw's Shadow, James mcq 101 wawrinka fan, Sorcerer of the Stories, a1993, bobmanv2.0, EndlessNight025 and Kamen Rider Dragon Knight for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are awesome!
And, as usual, a huge thank you to EndlessNight025 for being an awesome beta-reader.
Well, this is the third chapter with two reviews. We get a little bit of Celina's perspective, learn more about Kira Ryuki and get two duels in one chapter. I hope that you enjoy this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.
EDIT March 5, 2016: Due to discovering a plot hole/crater in Celina's backstory, I had to rewrite the first part of this chapter in order to fill it. A note will be posted in the next posted chapter to let people know of this important change.
EDIT: January 20, 2016: Another edit has been made to Celina's backstory to make it more consistent. When I get the time to it, another slight addition will be added to chapter 5 of Chained when I get around to it. Another note will be posted in the next posted chapter to let people know of this important change.
3
Dinosaurs and Kamen Riders
A few days passed by since the school year began and Celina was gradually getting used to attending the school. She had to admit she liked Duel Academy; the people were nice, the teachers knew what they were talking about, even if some were boring like Professor Stein, and she definitely got to learn more about dueling. She had made the decision to attend Duel Academy when her mentor suggested it would be good for her and, so far, it looked like it was.
She was sitting cross-legged on her bed. It was early in the morning and Celina was looking through her deck and sorting through the new cards she had bought from the Academy's card store.
Her phone rang and she reached over to the nightstand and answered it, placing it on speaker mode and then placing it next to her cards. "Hey, Bakura," she said.
"Hello, Celina," her mentor—Ryou Bakura—said. "How are you?"
"I'm good."
"That's good. Settling in all right at the Academy?" Bakura asked.
"Yup. I'm really liking it here, Bakura. The teachers really know what they're talking about and I'm learning more from them than I ever did from those tutors the Princeton's hired," Celina admitted, picking out a Trap Card and replacing it with a Spell Card. "It's still different, though."
"I can imagine," Bakura said.
There was a crash in the background.
Bakura sighed. "Marik! What did you break?" he shouted.
"It wasn't my fault. I didn't see that vase there," a voice called back.
Celina chuckled. She knew that Bakura and Marik were very close friends, and had been since Marik moved to Domino City a few years earlier, and Marik had even helped Bakura mentor her during the summer after they left California following Mai and Joey's wedding and after Celina got her student visa.
A sigh sounded. "Well, clean it up, please?" Bakura said.
"Fine, fine."
"I should probably start getting ready for class," Celina said.
"I understand," Bakura said."But I actually have something important to tell you... The other day, a woman named Ren Kuroda contacted me... We can't be one hundred percent sure yet, but she thinks that she's—thatshe may be your mother."
Celina nearly fell off her bed upon hearing those words—she was that shocked. While she had wanted to one day see if she could try to track down her birth parents while she was in Japan, she never in a million years that one of them would try to find her. And why now, after all this time? Wasn't her mother the one who abandoned her in the first place? Because she wanted nothing to do with her? That's what she always had believed.
"Celina? Are you still there?"
The sound her mentor's voice broke the whitette broke her out of her stupor. "Yeah, I'm still here," she finally replied. "It's...just hard to believe... How did she even find me? What else did she tell you?"
"Well, when I asked her, she told me that she saw forage of you competing in the U.S. Championship Tournament and recognized you right away, and then decided to contact me when she read how you were coming to Japan to study under me and at Duel Academy. Apparently, she lives in Domino and says that she wants to meet you."
Again, Celina was stunned into silence for several moments. After sixteen long years, her mother finally decided that she wanted to meet her?
"...When?" she managed to choke out, trying to keep her voice even, still not really sure if she should feel excited or bitter about this news.
"She figured that you may need some time to think about it, so she said whenever you're ready. Perhaps during one of your breaks?"
Celina bit down on her lower lip a little. "I don't yet know when my breaks are, though, but I doubt they'll be soon seeing as the term just started, but keep that in mind. For now, I really got to start getting ready for class."
"I'll leave you to that, then. Good luck."
"Thanks. Bye. Talk to you later."
With that, Celina hung up and stared up at the ceiling for a few moments as she allowed everything to finally sink in, still surprised that one of her birth parents wanted to meet her after so many years. She wanted to feel nothing but happiness at news like that, but that small kernel of resentment she felt towards them for abandoning her made it pretty hard...
Deciding to push all those thoughts aside, least she be consumed by them, Celina gathered her cards together and put her focus on getting ready for class.
. . .
"How did I get into this mess?" Syrus groaned. He and Jaden were currently carrying backpacks filled with duel disks as they had been punished because Jaden had fallen asleep in class. Of course, Syrus was more concerned with why Jaden had fallen asleep. He had woken up that morning to find Jaden already awake, and looking as though he had been awake for hours, and, when Syrus asked, he only said, "nightmare" and left it at that. Syrus understood, and so hadn't pushed.
Jaden still looked tired but he did manage a small smile in Syrus's direction. "Well, I'm pretty sure it's because our dorm doesn't have enough duel disks in storage so we had to get some new ones," he said.
Syrus shook his head. "That was a rhetorical question. We both know we're in this mess because you fell asleep in class again," he said.
"Yeah, I know," Jaden murmured.
Syrus glanced at him. "Hey, it's okay, Jay. I mean, I know it's not your fault," he said quickly. He had also noticed, over the past few days, that Jaden was rather depressed at times. From what he had learned from Chazz—who, along with Raiden and Kasumi, knew the most about Jaden's depression—Jaden had been blaming himself for what happened with the psychopath Kaage Naka throughout that entire ordeal and that contributed to his bouts of depression.
"Yeah, I guess. So why is everyone losing their duel disks anyway?" Jaden asked, changing the subject.
Syrus gulped at the memory of what happened. "Well…" he began uncertainly.
Jaden glanced at him. "What? Do you know something, Sy?" he asked.
The little blue-haired Slifer sighed. "It's just a rumor. I heard that if he sees you, you have to duel him and when he wins, he takes your duel disk," he replied. "Or so I hear. And he'll do all sorts of nasty things to you."
Jaden frowned. "Is that what happened to you?" he asked, nodding to Syrus's bare arm.
"Yes! He took my duel disk and my lunch money, too," Syrus whined.
Jaden shook his head. "Sounds like a bully to me. Where is he?" he asked.
"The bridge over by the west river," Syrus said.
"Then that's where I'm going." Without another thought, Jaden headed toward the west river.
Syrus jogged after him. "Wait, I heard he gives you wedgies. So I heard," he shouted as he ran after his friend.
. . .
Kira leaned against the tree, watching the cloudless blue sky above her head and listening to music with a pair of headphones hanging around her neck. Classes were over for the day and Kira had nothing to do, other than homework, which she resolved to do when she got back to her dorm. She was bored, though, and couldn't find her roommate anywhere. She figured Hikari was hanging out with her sister.
Kira had become fast friends with Hikari. They were roommates, after all, and Kira was thankful that she got along so well with her roommate. She wasn't used to having friends, being rather anti-social since her parents were killed in a fire years earlier. Her only friends were her duel spirits, the spirits who inhabited the Kamen Rider cards that she had created for the create-an-archetype contest a few years earlier.
The contest had come about from an agreement made between KaibaCorp and Industrial Illusions to create five new archetypes and they could be based on anything. If they were based on copyrighted things like Kamen Rider, then the actual creators would get a percentage of the prophet. Six people won the competition and Kira was the fifth winner and she also wasn't the only one with Kamen Rider cards. However, she was the only one who could speak to the spirits within them, even though that took months to happen.
Speaking of that, Kit's duel spirit appeared before Kira.
"Hey, Kit," Kira greeted him, pausing the song she had been listening to. "Got bored?"
'That and Biogrezza is annoying Van again,' Kit said with a shake of his head.
"What did he do this time?"
'You don't want to know.'
Kira chuckled and stood up, deciding to head to her room.
As she walked away, she spotted the brown-haired form of Raiden Yuki talking with a duel spirit as he walked nearby. The duel spirit was a silver-haired girl dressed entirely in black.
Kira glanced at Dragon Knight, who was studying the other duel spirit. "Hey, do you think she's cute?" she asked, though she was marginally surprised that there was someone else who could see duel spirits.
'Uhh, maybe? Why?' Kit asked, confused.
Kira smiled and then walked over to join Raiden, leaving the confused duel spirit to float after her. "Hey, Raiden," she said.
Raiden glanced toward her. "Hi," he said and spotted Dragon Knight. "Hey, you got a duel spirit, too?"
"Yup. This is Kit, otherwise known as Kamen Rider Dragon Knight," Kira said. "And he thinks your duel spirit is cute."
Kit sputtered. 'I did not say that, Kira!'
Raiden raised an eyebrow, amusement in his eyes. "Hear that, Rogue? I think you've got yourself an admirer," he said.
The duel spirit, Rogue, blushed while Raiden laughed.
Kira smiled a little. Raiden had a nice laugh, she noted, and he was rather cute. She blushed a little when she realized she had just thought that.
Raiden turned to her as he got his laughter under control. "I've heard of the Kamen Rider cards that were created a few years ago," he said. "They seem really interesting. Hey, what do you say to a duel?"
"Really?" Kira asked.
"Sure, why not? I've got nothing better to do," Raiden said with a smile.
Kira smiled back. "Okay then," she said cheerfully, putting her headphones back on and unpausing the song that had been playing. She always liked to breakdance before she dueled and that was exactly what she did.
Raiden had to admit, he was amused by how Kira decided to get 'pumped', as she called it, for the duel. She was a good breakdancer, he had to admit, and he couldn't help but chuckle when she finished with, "Yeah, it's show time!"
"What?" she asked, confused, removing her headphones.
"Nothing, just never seen someone do that before a duel. It's different, but I liked it," Raiden said.
Kira grinned. "I just find it fun to do," she said as she inserted her deck into her duel disk as it whirred to life and Kit returned to her deck.
Raiden inserted his deck into his duel disk. "Ready?" he asked as his duel disk whirred to life.
"Ready."
"Duel!" they declared as they drew their opening hands.
Raiden: 8000
Kira: 8000
"I'll let you go first," Kira said.
Raiden nodded. "All right, I draw," he said and drew a card. "And I summon Shadow Reckoner Assassin in Defense Mode and then place this facedown and end my turn." A woman in a black bodysuit with black gloves wielding two daggers appeared and knelt down (A: 1000/D: 800).
"I draw," Kira said, drawing a card and then placing another one in her hand on her duel disk. "I summon Kamen Rider Dragon Knight in Attack Mode." Her dark-red armored duel spirit with the dragon gauntlet on his forearm appeared on the field (A: 1800/D: 1300).
'Want me to attack Assassin?' Kit asked, glancing at Kira who nodded.
"Dragon Knight, attack Assassin," she ordered and Kit jumped forward before landing a kick on Assassin, causing her to cry out and shatter into golden pixels.
"I activate my Trap, Crosscurrent," Raiden said, revealing his facedown. "Since a Shadow Reckoner monster was destroyed, this allows me to Special Summon one Level 4 or lower Shadow Reckoner monster from my deck and then return one Shadow Reckoner monster from my Graveyard to my hand. I'll Special Summon Shadow Reckoner Guardian in Defense Mode and then return Shadow Reckoner Assassin to my hand." He retrieved both cards and placed one on his duel disk. An armored man with a short sword in his hand appeared before kneeling down, placing the shield on its back in front of him (A: 1200/D: 2000).
Kira glanced at her hand. Not much I can do right now, she thought. "I end my turn," she said.
"My turn, I draw," Raiden said, drawing a card and pressing his lips together. "I set this monster in facedown Defense Mode and then place this facedown and that's it."
Kira drew a card and looked at it before glancing at her hand. This will work¸ she thought. "I summon Advent Beast Dragreder in Attack Mode," she said and a serpentine mechanical dragon appeared on the field (A: 1000/D: 200). "And then I equip him onto Kamen Rider Dragon Knight."
"Union monster," Raiden noted as Dragreder jumped into the air and coiled around Kit (A: 1800-2300).
"Yup. And when Dragreder is equipped onto Dragon Knight, he gains 500 Attack," Kira said cheerfully. "Now, take out Raiden's Guardian."
Kit nodded and, inserting a card into his gauntlet, he leapt into the air and Dragreder surrounded him before they shot towards Guardian like a flaming missile, crashing into him and causing him to shatter.
Raiden, shielding himself from the flyaway pixels, pressed a button on his duel disk. "I activate my Trap, Reckoner's Vengeance," he said, revealing his facedown. "When a Shadow Reckoner monster is destroyed by battle, its Defense is inflicted to you as damage." A powerful blast of energy shot from the trap and struck Kira, sending her skidding backwards.
Raiden: 8000
Kira: 6000
"Not bad, Raiden. I place this facedown and end my turn," Kira said, unfazed by the amount of Life Points she had lost.
Raiden smiled as he drew a card, glancing at it and then he pressed a button on his duel disk. "I'll start by Flip Summoning my Shadow Reckoner Rogue," he said and his silver haired duel spirit partner appeared on the field (A: 800/D: 1000).
Kira smirked at Kit. "Look, it's the girl you like," she teased.
'Kira!' Kit groaned.
Raiden chuckled while Rogue just blushed again. "When I Flip Summon Rogue, her effect activates, allowing me to add Shadow Reckoner Night Marauder and Fatal Alliance from my Deck to my hand." He retrieved said cards and added, "And next, I activate Fatal Alliance."
"I activate my Trap, Freeze Vent, and pay 500 Life Points to negate the activation of your Spell and destroy it," Kira said, revealing her facedown. A cold wave seemed to surge across the field and Raiden's card froze over before shattering.
Raiden: 8000
Kira: 5500
"All right, then I'll just tribute Rogue to summon Shadow Reckoner Ice Queen in Attack Mode. Sorry, Rogue," Raiden said, glancing at Rogue who nodded in understanding.
'It's all right, Raiden,' she assured him as she vanished in a column of ice and, out of the column, stepped a beautiful woman in a midnight blue dress with pale-blue hair wielding a wand in one hand (A: 2300/D: 1500).
'Ohh, he's cute,' Ice Queen gushed, looking at Kit who seemed to sweatdrop in confusion.
Raiden sighed. "Why must you be so flirtatious, Ice?" he complained.
'Ah, no one will ever replace you, sweetie, but men in armor sure are cute,' Ice Queen said brightly.
"Ice!" Raiden's cheeks reddened as he glared at her. "Just focus on the duel, all right? I activate Reckoner's Fury too and target Shadow Reckoner Ice Queen. Now, during this turn, only Ice Queen can attack and she can attack you directly, Kira."
"Oh boy," Kira said, bracing herself as a blast of powerful icy blue energy shot from Ice Queen's wand and slammed into her, sending her tumbling off her feet.
Raiden: 8000
Kira: 3200
"And then I place this facedown and end my turn," Raiden said, inserting another card into his duel disk as Kira got to her feet, dusting herself off."
"Nice move, Raiden. You really are good," she said, drawing a card. "And I start by activating Pot of Greed to draw two cards." She did so and then added, "And next, I summon Kamen Rider Sting in Attack Mode." A man in magenta armor with a magenta stingray shaped gauntlet on his forearm appeared on the field (A: 1500/D: 1200).
"And, thanks to Dragon Knight's effect, he gains 100 Attack and Defense for every other Kamen Rider on the field," Kira added as Kit was powered up a bit (A: 2300-2400/D: 1300-1400).
"Next, I activate Attack Vent and pay 1000 Life Points to Special Summon Advent Beast Evil Diver from my Deck in Defense Mode," Kira added, inserting the card into her duel disk as she was surrounded by a red light.
Raiden: 8000
Kira: 2200
Then a magenta stingray appeared on the field.
"I also equip Evil Diver onto Kamen Rider Sting, which allows Sting to attack you directly" Kira added as Sting leapt onto the back of the stingray and then shot across the field to slam into Raiden, sending him skidding back a foot.
Raiden: 6500
Kira: 2200
I probably shouldn't risk attack Ice Queen right now, Kira thought, studying Ice Queen. Kit may be more powerful now but she might have an effect. "I'll activate Swords of Revealing Light and end my turn with that," she said and glowing yellow swords appeared on Raiden's side of the field.
"My turn," Raiden said, drawing a card. I can't attack for three turns so I'll just play it safe for now, he thought. "I summon Shadow Reckoner Assassin in Defense Mode and end my turn with that." His black-suited assassin returned to the field and knelt down (A: 1000/D: 800) and one of the glowing swords around his monsters vanished, indicating that there were still two turns left before the spell wore off.
"My turn, I draw," Kira said, drawing a card. "During my Standby Phase, Sting gains 100 Attack." Sting was surrounded by a magenta light as his Attack increased (A: 1500-1600).
"And I summon Kamen Rider Thrust in Attack Mode," she added. A man in silver armor appeared on the field with a metal visor on its shoulder (A: 1500/D: 1200). "And next, I activate Sword Vent, and target Thrust. Now, until the end of my turn, Thrust gains 1500 Attack." Thrust was suddenly wielding a weapon that was shaped like a horn (A: 1500-3000).
"3000?" Raiden said, pressing his lips together.
"Yup. Now I'll have Sting attack you directly," Kira said and Sting, on top of Evil Diver, shot across the field to slam into Raiden.
Raiden: 4900
Kira: 2200
"And next, Dragon Knight will attack Ice Queen," Kira said. I'm going to have to deal with Ice Queen's effect eventually, she thought as Kit and Dragreder shot together across the field, engulfed in flames.
"No worries, Ice. I activate Ice Queen's effect, negating Dragon Knight's attack and inflicting damage to you equal to half of his Attack," Raiden said and Ice Queen conjured up a wall of ice that Kit bounced off of.
Raiden: 4900
Kira: 950
"Pretty cool effect," Kira said. "But it can only be used once a turn, huh?"
Raiden nodded.
"Thought so. Thrust, attack Ice Queen," Kira ordered and Thrust shot forward before slamming the horn-like weapon into Ice Queen and she shattered.
Raiden: 4200
Kira: 950
"I activate my Trap," Raiden said, revealing his facedown. "Reckoner Apocalypse. This can only activate when a Spellcaster-type Shadow Reckoner monster controlled was destroyed by battle and it destroys every monster on the field."
Kira mentally apologized to Kit and the others. "That's why you weren't that fazed by Ice Queen being destroyed," she realized as a wave of red energy shot across the field and slammed into her monsters. Since they were being destroyed by a card effect, and not battle, Dragreder and Evil Diver did not take the fall for the monsters they were equipped too.
"I end my turn," Kira said. There really wasn't anything else she could do.
"My turn, I draw," Raiden said and drew a card. He glanced at it and then said, "Looks like this duel's over."
"Why do you say that?"
Raiden held out the card he just drew and then inserted it into his duel disk. "I activate Heavy Storm," he said and strong gusts of wind surged across the field, destroying Swords of Revealing Light.
"And next I activate Reckoner's Hope," Raiden added, holding up another card in his hand. "Since I have at least three Shadow Reckoner monsters in my Graveyard, I can banish up to three of them to Special Summon a Shadow Reckoner monster from my hand or Deck with a Level equal to the combined Levels of the monsters I banish. So I banish Shadow Reckoner Guardian and Shadow Reckoner Ice Queen in order to Special Summon my ace!" He pocketed the two cards and the retrieved another from his deck before he placed it on his duel disk.
"Come forth, Shadow Reckoner Silver Wyvern!" He declared as, with a roar, a beautiful silver wyvern with glowing crimson eyes appeared, wings outstretched as it hovered in the air above Raiden (A: 2500/D: 2500).
Kira whistled. "Nice monster," she said.
"Thanks. Now, Silver Wyvern, attack Kira directly with Silver Dark Stream," Raiden commanded and Silver Wyvern, with a roar, unleashed a blast of silver and black energy that swirled together before striking Kira, knocking her off her feet and taking out the rest of her Life Points.
Raiden: 4200 WINNER
Kira: 0
The holograms vanished and Kira pushed herself to her feet, black hair falling into her face. She brushed it aside and looked up when she saw a hand enter her field of vision. She took it and let Raiden pull her to her feet.
"You're good," she said with a smile. "No wonder you're in Obelisk."
Raiden smiled. "You're good, too," he said. "Those Kamen Riders of yours are really sweet monsters. They were tough to beat."
"Thanks. I want a rematch someday, Raiden," the silver-eyed girl said with a smile.
Raiden grinned. "Anytime, Kira, anytime."
. . .
Meanwhile, Jaden and Syrus reached the clearing next to the west river. There was a large yellow bridge arching over it and on it were six Ra Yellow students in sleeveless blazers. Standing at the center with some duel disks strapped to his back was standing at the center of the group also in a sleeveless yellow blazer with black dreadlocks.
"Hold it right there, civilians," he commanded. "Drop your duel disks and let's duel."
Jaden eyed the boy. "Fine then," he said, removing the backpack calmly.
"What?" The boy looked surprised. "You're not scared?"
"Very few things scare me," Jaden said. "And people like you are not among those. Now, let's duel."
"But I haven't even given my speech yet," the boy protested. "The name's Sergeant Hassleberry, code named Tyranno. And if you wanna duel then you'll have to wager your duel disk in combat."
"That's right. 'Cause we're Troop Tyranno," one of the other Ras shouted. "Now, sound off."
"Sarge Tyranno is the best…"
"He likes to wear his jacket as a vest. Sound off one, two."
"Sound off three, four, now let's go."
The fifth Ra suddenly looked at Syrus. "Wait, hold on, you look like the kid we beat the other day."
"Yeah, so what?" Syrus shouted.
Jaden raised an eyebrow but then turned back to Hassleberry. "So are we going to duel or not?" he asked.
Hassleberry studied Jaden. "Judging by the look of you, boy, you'll be easy prey," he said. "Four of your kind took me on yesterday at the same time and I whooped them and sent them back to your dorm in tears."
"If you're trying to intimidate us, it ain't working," Syrus replied. "So let's just get on with this duel already."
"Control your support," one of the troops commanded. "Or else, we will."
Syrus scowled.
A little bit later, Hassleberry's group and Syrus were on the bridge while Hassleberry and Jaden stood across from each other with the river separating them. Hassleberry's group suddenly pulled out several musical instruments and a crimson bullhorn.
"Now that my battalion is ready, we can begin this war," Hassleberry said as he slipped on his duel disk.
Jaden's whirred to life. "Ready when you are, Private. Get your game on," he said with a small smile.
Syrus smiled as well. At least he's still smiling, he thought.
"Are you mocking me, boy?" Hasslberry demanded. "I ain't no Private and this ain't no game. This is combat!" The two of them drew their opening hands.
Jaden: 8000
Hassleberry: 8000
Jaden shrugged. "Okay then, get your combat on then," he said as he drew his sixth card. "I'll start off by playing Double Summon to summon both Elemental Heroes Avian and Knospe to my field in Defense Mode."
A little plant monster with a permanent blush on her cheeks (A: 600/D: 1000) and a green-feathered winged warrior both appeared on the field (A: 1000/D: 1000).
"And Knospe cannot be targeted for an attack so long as there's another Elemental Hero on the field. And now I'll place this facedown and end my turn. Your move," Jaden added, inserting another card into his duel disk.
Syrus decided to show his support, even if it was only the first turn. "You're the best, Jay. Go, Troop Jaden!" he shouted.
Hassleberry's followers immediately started playing their instruments and waved around a yellow flag with a T-Rex on it.
"You call that a cheer. Then shout at the rear," they shouted.
"If that's all you got, then this'll be a short match," Hasslbeerry said, drawing a card.
'Yes, for you,' Haou sneered but Jaden just ignored him.
"Gilasaurus, front and center," Hassleberry said and a small brown dinosaur appeared on the field with a roar (A: 1400/D: 400).
"And that right there was a Special Summon," Hassleberry said. "And, had you any monsters in your Graveyard, you could have Special Summoned one as well. But you don't, though, which is too bad. Now I Normal Summon Sabersaurus in Attack Mode." A large red dinosaur with two saber-like horns jutting out of its head appeared on the field (A: 1900/D: 500).
"Now, Gilasaurus, attack Avian," Hassleberry ordered and the small brown dinosaur charged forward and crashed into Avian, destroying him.
"I play Hero Signal, which allows me to Special Summon Elemental Hero Heat to my field in Attack Mode," Jaden said, revealing his facedown and a bright light shot out of the Trap Card to create a glowing H in the sky. A moment later, a warrior in red-orange-and-silver armor appeared on the field (A: 1600-2000/D: 1200). "And he gains 200 Attack for every Elemental Hero on my field, including himself."
"Way to go, Jaden!" Syrus cheered.
Hassleberry, who couldn't attack now because none of his monsters were strong enough, said, "Fine then, I place this facedown and call it a turn."
Jaden drew a card and glanced at it. "I switch Knospe to Attack Mode." The plant Hero rose to her feet as Jaden added, "Now, Heat, attack Gilasaurus."
Heat leapt forward and slammed a flaming fist into the brown dinosaur, destroying it.
Jaden: 8000
Hassleberry: 7400
"And now I will activate Knospe's effect, which allows her to attack you directly," Jaden added and Knospe shot a few seeds at Hasslberry that bounced harmlessly off his duel disk.
Jaden: 8000
Hassleberry: 6800
"And now she gains 100 Attack but loses 100 Defense. And I end my turn with that." (Knospe A: 600-700/D: 1000-900).
Syrus grinned. "Now who's the best?" he said with a smirk at the Ras standing next to him.
"Game ain't over yet," one of the Ras snapped.
"My draw," Hassleberry said and drew a card and smiled when he saw what it was. "Now then, I activate Earthquake. This switches all monsters on the field to Defense Mode." The ground trembled violently and Heat and Knospe knelt down, as did Sabersaurus.
"And next I activate Living Fossil to bring back Gilasaurus, though he loses 1000 Attack and his effects," Hassleberry said and his small brown dinosaur returned to the field (A: 1400-400/D: 400).
"But he won't be here long as I now tribute Gilasaurus and Sabersaurus to call this monster to the frontlines. Dark Tyranno, front and center," Hassleberry declared as both of his dinosaurs vanished. In their place was a large dark-brown tyrannosaurus rex with gold markings on his body (A: 2600/D: 1800).
"Sweet monster," Jaden said.
"Hey, this is war. Don't give the enemy any props," Syrus shouted.
Jaden glanced at the spiky blue-haired Slifer in amusement.
"And Dark Tyranno has an effect as well," Hassleberry said. "If you control no monsters in Attack Mode, he can attack you directly. Dark Tyranno, charge!"
Dark Tyranno roared and charged forward and struck Jaden hard, sending him to the ground.
Jaden: 5400
Hassleberry: 6800
"At ease, private," Hassleberry said with a laugh as Dark Tyranno returned to his side of the field.
"Get up, son," the Ra sergeant taunted. "I'm not done wiping the floor with you."
"Way to go, sarge," the one with the flag shouted.
"Who's the best?" the Ra with the bullhorn shouted.
Syrus glared at them. "Troop Jaden. Turn it down a decibel, would ya?" He returned his attention to Jaden, who was slowly getting to his feet.
"Sorry, little man, but the sarge needs support." Syrus winced as the bullhorn was right next to his ear. "If you don't like it, you can leave."
Syrus ignored him.
Jaden got to his feet and turned his attention back to the Ra student. "All right, Corporal, my draw."
"It's Sergeant. Now play something!" Hassleberry exclaimed.
Jaden inserted a card into his duel disk. "Fine. I play Polymerization and fuse Elemental Heroes Knospe and Heat on my field in order to summon Elemental Hero Gaia in Attack Mode," he said quietly. His two monsters vanished in a swirling vortex and a large hero in metal armor and gauntlets with three blasters on it appeared on the field (A: 2200/D: 2600).
"And I activate my Trap, Hunting Instinct, this allows me to Special Summon one Dinosaur from my hand when you Special Summon a monster. Dark Driceratops, front and center," Hassleberry said, revealing his facedown. A large dark-green triceratops appeared on the field (A: 2400/D: 1500). "Your monster ain't strong enough to take on any of my soldiers. He'd be better for defending you."
"Gaia's effect activates when he's Fusion Summoned. He can cut the Attack of one of your monsters in half and then add that amount to his Attack, and I choose your Dark Tyranno," Jaden said indifferently. Dark Tyranno seemed to deflate in weakness while Gaia's power increased (Tyranno A: 2600-1300) (Gaia A: 2200-3500).
"Sam Hill!" Hassleberry gasped.
"Gaia, attack Dark Tyranno," Jaden ordered and the hero nodded and shot forward, slamming a gauntlet-clad fist into the dark-brown dinosaur and destroying it, sending Hassleberry to the ground.
Jaden: 5400
Hassleberry: 4600
"And I place this facedown and end my turn, which means Gaia's attack returns to normal," Jaden added, inserting a card into his duel disk as Gaia returned to his side of the field (A: 3500-2200).
"Nice one, Jay," Syrus cheered and then grinned at Hassleberry's group. "I see you don't have a good comeback. Speechless, already?"
The Ras just looked at each other.
This civilian ain't half-bad, Hassleberry thought. But the sarge's got a few tactics up his sleeve. He turned toward his group and they quickly went back to their cheers. They try so hard, them boys. But I gotta show how even though we're not the top ranked dorm, we still can duel with the best.
Hassleberry remembered how he had gotten a high score on his entrance exam and won his duel and had thought he would be placed in Obelisk. However, when they gave him a yellow vest, he had been disappointed.
"But I made due and, like my daddy did, became a true leader. And I let it be known that Sergeant Tyranno Hassleberry is a giant among men. And I guard this bridge to prove that, no matter what, I won't stand down!"
Jaden smiled a little. "Are you done with your monologue? It's your turn," he said.
The Dinosaur-duelist gasped. "Was I thinking out loud again?"
His group nodded.
Jaden shook his head in amusement but said nothing.
Hassleberry, a bit embarrassed that that happened, drew a card and held it out. "I activate Spellbook Inside the Pot so that we each draw three cards," he said. He and Jaden drew three cards and then Hassleberry grinned. "Excellent. Terrain advantage. I activate the Field Spell Jurassic World!" The bridge and the river they were standing around suddenly changed to a forest filled with palm trees with volcanoes rising in the distance and the roars of beasts echoed around them.
"With this in play, all my Dinosaur and Winged Beast cards gain 300 Attack and Defense," Hassleberry explained as Dark Driceratops's Attack changed (A: 2400-2700/D: 1500-1800).
"And next, I'm calling Archeonys to the field in Attack Mode," Hassleberry added and a blue winged beast appeared on the field with a cry (A: 300-600/D: 1300-1600). "And Archeonys can attack my opponent directly. Archeonys, charge!"
With a cry, Archeonys shot forward and struck Jaden, sending him staggering back a foot.
Jaden: 4800
Hassleberry: 4600
"Now, Dark Driceratops, crush that hero, Flying Phantom Nosedive," Hassleberry ordered.
"I activate Hero Barrier. Thanks to this card, I can negate your attack since I have an Elemental Hero on the field," said Jaden, revealing his facedown and Dark Driceratops's attack stopped.
"Fine then, I play this card facedown and end my turn," said Hassleberry and a facedown appeared at his feet.
"My draw," Jaden said, drawing a card. "And I summon Elemental Hero Lady Heat in Defense Mode." His blonde fiery heroine appeared and knelt down on the field (A: 1300/D: 1000).
"Now, Gaia, attack Archeonys," Jaden ordered.
"I activate my Amber Pitfall Trap Card. This negates your monster's attack and forces him to start defending and he cannot switch his battle position," Hassleberry said, revealing his facedown.
"All right. I end my turn, which means Lady Heat's effect deals you 200 points of damage for every Elemental Hero on the field," Jaden added and Lady Heat conjured up two fireballs and tossed them at Hassleberry.
Jaden: 4800
Hassleberry: 4200
"My draw," Hassleberry said, drawing a card. "And I'm having Dark Driceratops attack your Lady Heat. This soldier can pierce your defenses. So attack Lady Heat, Flying Phantom Nosedive." The dark-green dinosaur flew towards Lady Heat and dove down toward her and she shattered into pixels.
Jaden: 3100
Hassleberry: 4200
"And now, Archeonys, attack him directly as well," Hassleberry ordered and the blue winged beast flew forward and struck Jaden with his beak.
Jaden: 2500
Hassleberry: 4200
Syrus winced. "Ah man, he's got the advantage," he groaned.
"You better believe it," Hassleberry said with a grin. "With just one more round to go and two monsters to your one, which is weaker than mine, you'll be extinct. Then your duel disks will be all ours, right, troops?" He glanced over at the Ras and nearly fell over for all of them were sitting on the ground, yawning.
"You guys were supposed to be cheering on that one," Hassleberry protested.
"Uh, sorry, sarge. We were moved internally. We'll have an outward expression next time," one Ra said.
"Uh, yeah, and we'll cheer, too," another Ra said.
Hassleberry groaned. "What am I gonna do with you guys?"
"I'd focus back on our duel, Specialist," Jaden said with a smile. He couldn't help but make fun of Hassleberry's 'title'; it was too easy to do so.
"For the last time, it's sergeant! Goodness gracious boy, get it right!" Hassleberry exclaimed.
Jaden drew a card. "Chill out, would ya? I play R-Righteous Justice. Now I can destroy a Spell or Trap card on the field up to the number of Elemental Heroes I control and I currently control one, so I'm destroying Jurassic World."
The forest and volcanoes around them all shattered and they were returned to the area around the river (Driceratops (A: 2700-2400/D: 1800-1500) (Archeonys A: 600-300/D: 1600-1300).
"And next, I play De-Fusion," he said, holding up another card. "And use it to split Gaia back into Knospe and Heat." Both his little plant monster (A: 600/D: 1000) and his fiery armored warrior (A: 1600-2000/D: 1200) appeared on the field.
"Why would you summon those wimps again?" Hassleberry wondered aloud.
"So I can tribute Elemental Hero Knospe and Special Summon Evil Hero Malicious Edge in Attack Mode," Jaden replied, placing the card on his duel disk. His vicious looking blue fiend that was covered in spikes appeared on the field (A: 2600/D: 1800) (Heat A: 2000-1800).
Heat glanced at Malicious Edge. 'I think Sparkman's right. You really are a showoff,' he said.
'Shut up, you idiot. I am not as bad as Fiend,' Malicious Edge snapped back.
'Who are you calling an idiot?!'
'You, of course.'
'Cool it, you two,' Yubel snapped, materializing behind Jaden and glaring at the two bickering Duel Monsters.
Heat and Malicious Edge glared at each other but fell silent.
"Wait, that's a Level seven monster," Hassleberry said.
"Yeah, but I can tribute summon him with one tribute if you control a monster," Jaden replied and then pointed. "Now, Heat, attack Archeonys." Heat shot forward, slamming a flaming fist into Archeonys.
Jaden: 2500
Hassleberry: 2700
"Now, Malicious Edge, destroy Driceratops," Jaden added and Malicious Edge grinned and dashed forward, grabbing the dark-green dinosaur and ripping him in half.
Jaden: 2500
Hassleberry: 2500
"And I end my turn with that," Jaden added.
"All right, my turn now," Hassleberry said as he drew. "And I play Card of Sanctity so now we each draw until we're holding six cards." They each drew until they had a full hand.
"And next, I Normal Summon Element Saurus," he added, placing the card on his disk. A large dark-brown dinosaur with red spikes and blue eyes appeared with a roar (A: 1500-2000/D: 1200). "And since you control both a Fire monster and an Earth monster, not only does Element Saurus gain 500 Attack, but also the effect of an Effect Monster it destroys in battle is negated."
Hassleberry then held up another card. "And I also play Dino Blast, which inflicts damage to you equal to Element Saurus's Level times three hundred, which means you get dealt twelve hundred points of damage," he said and a blast of fire shot forward to strike Jaden.
Jaden: 1300
Hassleberry: 2500
"I also play Rush Recklessly, giving Element Saurus 700 extra Attack. Now, Element Saurus, destroy Heat," Hassleberry ordered and his dinosaur (A: 2000-2700) ran forward and crashed into Heat, destroying him, which seemed to amuse Malicious Edge, who snickered and completely ignored the irritated glare Yubel tossed at him.
Jaden: 400
Hassleberry: 2500
"And then I play this facedown and end my turn," Hassleberry said, placing a card on the field (Element Saurus A: 2700-1500).
Jaden smiled as he drew a card. "Sweet move," he said as he glanced at the card he just drew.
"Wait, he's smiling," one of the Ras said bewildered.
"Sure, Jaden always has a good time dueling," Syrus said. Well, most of the time, anyway. "Unlike the sarge!" He shouted out the last part and Hassleberry's troops laughed, which caused Hassleberry to glare at them.
Deserted again, he thought. Every time I find a group of loyal soldiers, they end up siding with the enemy.
"All right, I'm starting my turn by playing Dian Keto the Cure Master to regain 1000 Life Points," Jaden said and was surrounded by a white light as his Life Points increased.
Jaden: 1400
Hassleberry: 2500
"Next, I activate Dark Fusion and fuse Elemental Heroes Burstinatrix and Clayman in my hand in order to summon Evil Hero Infernal Sniper in Defense Mode," Jaden added and his fiery heroine and clay monster fused to create a large monster with red armor and a three-prong blaster on her hand (A: 2000/D: 2500) (Element Saurus A: 1500-2000).
"Why did he summon…?" one Ra began speaking into the bullhorn.
"Lose the bullhorn!" Syrus exclaimed, covering his ears.
"Sorry." The Ra lowered the megaphone. "Why did he summon that monster in Defense Mode?"
"Much better. Just don't question Jaden's moves. He's the best on the island for a reason," Syrus said.
"And when Infernal Sniper is on the field in Defense Mode, she can inflict 1000 damage to you once per turn," Jaden said.
"Sam Hill!" Hassleberry groaned as Infernal Sniper unleashed a blast of blue energy that slammed into him.
Jaden: 1400
Hassleberry: 1500
"Way to go. He's caught up," Syrus cheered.
The Ras cheered. "Sergeant Jaden is the best," they cheered as they realized that Jaden really did know what he was doing when he summoned that monster in Defense Mode.
Hassleberry lowered his head. "Deserted again," he groaned. "This always happens. I guess the only person I can trust is myself. I don't get it. I'm a great leader and I always win. I'm still in the lead now, after all. And I've beaten twelve other guys with almost all the same moves, yet no one's cheering."
Jaden titled his head to the side. "They could be bored," he suggested.
"Bored?" Hassleberry repeated.
"Well, yeah, using the same moves every single duel? They're bound to get bored, eventually."
"That's crazy talk."
"Think about it. You used the same cards, mostly you said, twelve duels in a row. Don't you think you should evolve?"
Hassleberry blinked. Maybe he's right, he thought.
"While you think on that. I'm finishing up my turn. Malicious Edge, attack Element Saurus," Jaden ordered.
"I activate my Negate Attack to stop your attack and end the Battle Phase," Hassleberry said quickly, revealing his facedown.
"All right then. I'll end my turn, then. Let's see what you got, Sergeant," Jaden said, deciding to use Hassleberry's actual title that time.
He smiled a little at that. "My draw," he said and drew a card. "Hey, I haven't used this card yet in those twelve duels. Well, let's go with this. I play Big Evolution Pill and tribute Element Saurus to activate it." Element Saurus vanished.
"And, because of this card, now I can Normal Summon a Dinosaur-Type monster without tributing, and so I'll summon Ultimate Tyranno."
A giant black tyrannosaurus rex with golden spikes and golden claws appeared on the field with a roar (A: 3000/D: 2200).
"And he'll get to all of your monsters since he gets to attack every single one of them," Hassleberry said. "Now go, Ultimate Tyranno, attack." The dinosaur roared as it charged forward and swiped its claws through Malicious Edge and Infernal Sniper and they shattered.
Jaden: 1000
Hassleberry: 1500
"And I will end with that," Hassleberry said. "Bring it on."
Jaden smiled again. "You want it? You got it," he said, drawing a card and then holding it out. "I play Miracle Fusion! With this, I remove Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix from my Graveyard from play in order to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman in Attack Mode." His trademark Elemental Hero fusion monster appeared on the field as he pocketed Burstinatrix and Avian's cards (A: 2100/D: 1200).
"It's still not strong enough to go against my Ultimate Tyranno," Hassleberry pointed out.
"Before this, that is. I play Skyscraper," Jaden said, placing the card in his Field Spell spot and the area was suddenly surrounded by tall skyscrapers with Flame Wingman resting on top of the tallest one. "This increases the Attack of an Elemental Hero by 1000 when it battles a monster that's stronger. Now go, Flame Wingman, attack Ultimate Tyranno, Skydive Scorcher!"
Flame Wingman leapt into the air and then dived down toward Ultimate Tyranno, obliterating him.
Jaden: 1000
Hassleberry: 1400
"And now Flame Wingman's effect will finish the job, dealing you damage equal to your monster's Attack," Jaden added as Flame Wingman appeared in front of Hassleberry.
Hassleberry smiled. "Jaden, you got spirit, soldier," he murmured to himself as his eyes changed into dinosaur-slit pupils and then he was bathed in flames and knocked to the ground.
Jaden: 1000 WINNER
Hassleberry: 0
"And that's game," Jaden said quietly.
Hassleberry smiled. "Yeah, you beat me fair and…" He forgot where he had been standing, though, and ended up stumbling straight into the river with a splash.
Jaden jumped at that, mind going back to when he nearly drowned and it took him a few moments to remember where he was. Yubel reminding him that he wasn't there anymore certainly helped.
Jaden moved to peer into the river once he had calmed down and looked down at Hassleberry, who was sitting in the water with a sheepish expression on his face. "I guess I owe you some duel disks," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.
Jaden smiled as well.
Syrus moved to his side. "You okay?" he asked, having seen Jaden jump.
"I'm okay, Sy," Jaden assured him.
. . .
Back at the Slifer Dorm, Chazz's construction crew were almost finished with fixing up the Slifer Red Dorm and Crowler and Bonaparte were spying on the work with binoculars.
"I see that the Red Drom is almost done with renovations," the temporary Chancellor said. "This should catch the eye of the paparazzi."
"We should be tearing down that dorm, not making it better," Bonaparte argued. "And how did that rich kid get approval anyway?"
Crowler said nothing, knowing full well Chazz only got permission because he was paying for it out of his own pocket.
Suddenly, their view was blocked by a large green bag carried by Hassleberry as he walked towards the Slifer Red Dorm, or to Jaden's and Syrus's room, actually.
. . .
Once inside, the Ra dropped his stuff in the middle of the room, revealing that it was mainly pots, pans, canteens and cups.
"Uh, Sarge? Any idea why you're dumping your stuff in here? You're not moving in, are you?" Syrus said; he was seated on the bottom bunk.
"Yeah, this place is cramped enough," Chazz said, lying on his side on the top bunk. "No need for freeloaders."
"My mind's made up," Hassleberry said. "Dueling Jaden showed me I have a lot to learn."
"Oh, no you don't," Syrus yelled. "Jaden already has a best friend."
"Besides, you should follow the Chazz for real help," Chazz said smugly.
"You're cockiness is showing again, Chazz," Jaden said with a smirk.
"Shut it, Slacker," Chazz retorted, glowering at his foster brother, who just smiled back at him.
The Ra stood up, ignoring Syrus's words and holding out a hand toward the E-Hero Duelist. "Hassleberry reporting for duty, Sergeant," he said.
"Call me Jaden," Jaden said, taking his hand. "And if you're staying here, there's something you should probably know."
"What's that?" Hassleberry asked.
"Are you sure you want to tell him, Jay?" Syrus asked.
"If he's really going to stay here, Sy, then he may as well know. Both you and Chazz know just how bad my nightmares can get," Jaden said.
"True."
"So what's this about, Sarge?" Hassleberry asked.
Jaden took a deep breath and slowly began to tell Hassleberry about what occurred over the course of the summer, leaving out quite a few details but telling Hassleberry enough so that he would understand why Jaden had nightmares as often as he did.
Hassleberry listened patiently throughout it all and then nodded when Jaden was finished. "Sounds to me like you might have PTSD," he said.
"PTSD?" Syrus repeated.
"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder," Jaden said. "And I do have it. But I'll be all right. I just thought I'd let ya know. Please don't tell anyone, though. I don't want anyone to know unless absolutely necessary."
"You have my word, Sarge. I won't tell anyone," Hassleberry said firmly.
"Thank you," Jaden said with a small smile.
. . .
A/n what do you think?
Blaze: and there you have it!
Bakura: (tossing flaming arrows at Slade and Jagger) eh, it was okay
Ryou: I rather liked it
Jaden: so did I
Chazz: it was all right
Bakura: (picks up flamethrower)
Jesse: what're you doing with that?
Bakura: got bored with tossing flaming arrows at the assholes so I'm going to go burn down their house again (walks off)
Blaze: well, at least he isn't torturing Viper anymore
Jaden: I thought you didn't like Viper
Blaze: I still don't but it is rather tragic what happened to him
Jesse: and yet you still don't like Slade and Jagger
Blaze: (shrugs)
Ryou: so what happens next?
Blaze: (looks at notes) let's see. Syrus versus Missy and Steven versus Raven along with some other things
Jesse: cool. Anything else you wanna tell us?
Blaze: well, I do have a poll up on my profile. It doesn't have anything to do with this story but it will help me figure out which of the four brand-new stories I'm working on I should post first. So...yeah...I'm gonna go get some ice cream. Ryou, please end the chapter (walks off to go get ice cream)
Ryou: all right. Blaze will post the next chapter sometime next week so please review because they were much appreciated.