Well, here is the next update and I hope that you enjoy it. This is the last filler chapter for now before we get back to canon events and we get more Celina and Kira.
Speaking of Celina, I kind of forgot to put this in the last chapter but The Fresh Prince of BANANAS has done some fanart for this story, drawing my three OCs: Celina, Raiden and Kasumi. You can find the drawings on Tumblr, just look up xyz eggplant girl and you should find them.
Thank you to DarkZorua100, Numbuh24InsaneBrain, DisneyOUATgirl1437, a1993, decode9, Sorcerer of the Stories, KiritoKirigaya-SAO, callofduty1944, EndlessNight025, Team5dsforever, bobmanv2.0, Lightclaw's Shadow, iloveyugiohGX93 and Kamen Rider Dragon Knight for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are awesome.
And, as usual (though I believe I forgot to put this in the last chapter), thank you to EndlessNight025 for being an awesome beta-reader.
I hope that you enjoy this chapter, even though it is rather short, and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.
6
A Duel Between Freshmen
A day had gone by since the tag duel between the Bradford twins and Raven and Steven and classes were over for the day. Celina was wandering around campus, not sure exactly what to do. Kyle had gone back to the Ra Dorm, saying he wanted to get started on his homework and, while Celina was pretty good at getting her homework done on time, she decided to put it off and explore the island. She hadn't gotten the chance to do that when she had first arrived as she was too busy getting adjusted to everything.
She sighed, turning her gaze to the ocean as she came to a stop on the beach. She smiled; the ocean was just as beautiful as ever. Living in San Francisco with her foster mother and the other children before she left, Celina was used to seeing the ocean every day and she loved it. It was beautiful and serene.
She still missed her foster mother and the other children but she knew that this was an opportunity she just couldn't pass up and she wanted to do it. Leaving home still wasn't easy but, at least, Celina did keep in contact with her foster mother and the other children. They had all been very sad to see her go but, at least, Lisa understood why Celina wanted to do it. Renee, Gabriel and Natalie, not so much but they were only five so that made sense.
Celina started walking again, observing the people that were hanging out around the beach. She finally spotted someone, actually two people, she knew on the beach: Raiden and Atticus, the former of who was scowling and swimming out of the ocean, dragging a surfboard behind him while the latter was snickering.
"It's not funny! You make it look easy!" Raiden whined, glaring at Atticus.
"I've had more practice," Atticus said, still snickering.
Raiden pouted and then looked up. "Oh, hey, Celina," he greeted the white-haired girl with a wave. "What brings you here?"
"Yeah, I thought you were spending time with your boyfriend Kyle," Atticus said with a smirk.
Celina blushed. "He's not my boyfriend," she said quickly.
"Boy who's a friend, and who you like, whatever," the brown-haired Obelisk said dismissively.
Celina's blush deepened.
Raiden smacked Atticus upside the head. "You're annoying, Atticus," he said firmly.
"I know," Atticus said brightly and then studied Raiden. "You know I should probably start working on setting you up with someone again. Maybe that Kira girl?"
"Don't even think about it!" Raiden growled.
Celina chuckled, just as her phone rang and she glanced at it before answering it. "Hello?" she said.
"Hey, Celina!" three different voices sounded all at once and Celina removed the phone from her ear since they were all shouting.
"Renee! Gabriel! Natalie! What did I tell you?" Ms. Thomas's voice called in the background.
"Not to shout into the phone," all three children said at once.
"And yet that's exactly what you did."
"Sorry."
Celina chuckled as she put the phone back to her ear. "Hey, you guys, hey, Ms. Thomas," she said. Her foster mother had decided not to call that often because international phone calls were expensive but she did say that they would call every now and then.
"Hello, Celina, how are you liking Japan?" Ms. Thomas asked, once she got the phone away from the three children.
"Oh, it's beautiful here and the people are rather nice. Learning the language is still pretty hard but I've got a grasp on the basics. I'm thankful that the friends I made in Honolulu can speak English," Celina said, observing Atticus and Raiden, the latter of who had decided to give surfing another shot while the former was calling out encouragements.
"That's good. And how are things with Bakura?" Ms. Thomas asked.
"Oh, they're great. Bakura is such an amazing mentor and is really nice," Celina said. "And Duel Academy is also pretty cool, though I've only been here a week."
"That's good. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," Ms. Thomas said.
Crash!
"She did it!" two voices shouted in the background.
Ms. Thomas sighed. "I should go. One of the girls just broke another vase. I'll talk to you later, Celina," she said.
"All right. Bye," Celina said and there was a click. Celina put her phone away and turned to the ocean, just in time to see Raiden fall off his surfboard and Atticus chuckle.
"It's not funny!" Raiden shouted once he surfaced, spitting out some water and glaring at Atticus.
Celina chuckled.
. . .
"So you want Celina White to go against Kira Ryuki?" Bonaparte said.
"Why not? Personally, I want to see her skills since I didn't watch the U.S. Duel Monsters Championship Tournament," Crowler replied with a shrug. "And if she's getting mentored by Ryou Bakura himself then she's bound to be good."
"But why a Slifer? Why not another Obelisk, or even a second year?"
Crowler shrugged. He didn't see the problem with it and a part of him still didn't agree with Bonaparte's decision to tear down the Slifer Red Dorm. "Why not?"
Bonaparte just sighed but said nothing.
. . .
Jaden was relaxing on his bed within his dormitory. The girls were all staying in Chazz's new addition and everyone was there, everyone except him, that was, but that was only because it was just one of those days where Jaden didn't want to be around anyone. He got like that at times; Dr. Nakamura said it was natural to want to avoid whatever was associated with the trauma and she was thankful that Jaden didn't do it often.
Yubel materialized beside Jaden's bed. 'Judai?' she said.
"Yeah?" Jaden said.
'Do you remember what Dr. Nakamura said?'
"Yeah."
'And yet you're not taking her advice.'
Jaden rolled onto his side and didn't respond. Dr. Nakamura had told him that whenever he felt like avoiding his friends and siblings to call her so that they could talk. Jaden knew it was only a precaution to make sure he didn't do anything to harm himself or others.
"I'm just not in the mood for hanging out with anyone today, Yubel. I don't need to call Dr. Nakamura every time I get like this," he said.
'But it does help you get through this. She is trained to help you,' Yubel said.
"Yubel, I don't need help every waking minute," Jaden said irritably. "I'm fine."
Yubel sighed but nodded her head. Before she could respond to that, Jaden's phone rang.
He blinked and reached toward it, wondering who was calling since very few people called while he was at school. Actually, Jaden knew there was only one person who would call while he was at school and he wasn't too keen on talking to that one person.
He glanced at the caller ID. Wonderful, it's him, he thought, glaring at the ID and resisting the urge to just toss his phone into the wall.
It kept on ringing.
Jaden growled and finally decided if he didn't answer, his dad would just keep on calling him until he did.
Eventually, that would get annoying.
Answering the phone, Jaden placed it to his ear. "What?" he said shortly.
"Hello, Jaden," Kaede Yuki said.
"What do you want?" Jaden said. He wasn't at all happy with his father and that was because of what he learned soon after he returned home after the events in Honolulu.
They were in their house. Jaden, Raiden and Kasumi had just finished giving Chazz a tour of the house and showed him to the guest room as their parents had agreed to let Chazz stay there since the Princetons didn't seem to want him back.
Izumi was in the kitchen, cooking dinner when the four of them descended the stairs and reentered the living room. Kaede was there, seated on the couch and gazing at nothing in particular.
"What's the matter, Dad?" Raiden asked, glancing at his dad in confusion since it was rare for Kaede to look that downtrodden and guilty.
Kaede sighed and stood up before standing up and walking over to join his children and Chazz. "I'm sorry," he said.
"What for?" Jaden asked. "None of this was your fault."
"Yeah, it was Kaage's," Kasumi said and then looked firmly at Jaden and added, "It was Kaage's!"
"I didn't say anything," Jaden protested.
That guilty look reappeared in Kaede's eyes. "That's…not entirely true," he said.
"What do you mean?" Raiden asked.
"You remember how I told you about your mother getting attacked while she was in Florence?" Kaede asked.
"Yeah?" Kasumi said.
"Well, the attacker left a warning with your mother, telling her that he was coming after us next," Kaede said. "Your mother believed that the attacker, or whoever was behind the attack, was Kaage Naka. She warned me, but…I didn't believe her. Not only that, but…I knew that Kaage Naka was still alive and…and I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to worry because I didn't think he would find us and that's why I'm sorry."
There was a long moment of silence, then: "You knew?" Jaden repeated lowly, shock quickly giving way to anger. "You knew all along that Kaage Naka was alive! And that he was coming after us! Mom warned you and you didn't think it was important to tell us that we had a psychopath that was coming after us!" Jaden's eyes were blazing so much that it was a miracle they didn't turn to gold.
"I…" Kaede began.
"We could have prepared!" Jaden exclaimed, interrupting his dad. "We could have cut the trip short! Hell, we could have told the fucking police and let them handle matters before they escalated and ten people—ten innocent fucking people!—got hurt, two of who nearly died, because of that psychopath! But you didn't think it was important enough to tell us about this warning!"
"I…I didn't think it was real. I…I mean, what psychopath would warn their victims?" Kaede said, warily as he eyed his son who was practically shaking with fury. Even Kasumi, Raiden and Chazz were eyeing him uncertainly.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe a psychopath who likes to play fucking mind games with his fucking victims!" Jaden shouted angrily.
"Judai, calm down," Raiden began, placing a hand on his little brother's shoulder.
"Calm down? I won't calm down, Rai." Jaden jabbed a finger at his dad and hissed, "We could have all been saved a bunch of grief if he had thought to actually tell us, at least, that there was the fucking possibility that Kaage had been behind the attack on and warning given to Mom. Or, at the very least, he could have told us that the bastard was alive! But noooo. He didn't bother on telling us anything! I just don't understand why you would do something like this and put your own children in danger just because you didn't want to believe in the fucking possibility that the warning Mom received was right!"
Jaden had stormed off after that and spent the rest of the day isolated within his room, allowing only his siblings and Chazz inside. He hadn't spoken to his dad at all since that day, except occasionally, but that was only when he was being polite or asking for something as simple as "past the soy sauce" during dinner.
"I just wanted to call to check up on you," Kaede said, bringing Jaden back to the present.
"I'm fine. Bye," Jaden said and went to hang up.
"Wait!" Kaede called before Jaden could hang up. "Please, I'm sorry about everything that happened and for being such an idiot and not warning you."
"Saying sorry ain't gonna fix anything," Jaden snapped. "I was forced to watch as four people I was close to got hurt, two of which nearly died, because of that psychopath. And if what happened to Mom really was his fault then that makes five people I'm close to getting hurt because of him. And I nearly fucking drowned because of him."
"I…I know, Jaden, but…I want to try to make things right," Kaede said pleadingly.
"It's not that simple," said Jaden and then hung up before tossing his phone onto his desk. He stood up and left his room, deciding to go hang out with his friends mostly to avoid listening to the annoying ring of his phone since he was sure his dad was going to try calling him back.
He walked into the newer section of the Slifer Red Dorm. Kasumi and Hikari were talking with each other with their cards lying in front of them. Alexis was reading in an armchair. Kira was talking to a red-armored duel spirit that was floating by the couch she was seated on, and Chazz and Arina were also seated on the couch, the latter curled against the former. Even Justin was there, seated cross-legged on the ground and talking with Syrus and Hassleberry.
Kasumi was the first to notice him. "Hey, Jay, decided to join us?" she said.
Jaden shrugged, wandering over to the armchair Alexis was sitting on and curling his arms gently around her neck from behind. "Hello, beautiful," he said, kissing the top of her head.
She looked up at him and smiled. "Hey," she said, shifting around to look at him better.
Jaden gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and sat down on the armrest. "What're you reading?"
Alexis glanced down at the book and shrugged. "Kasumi suggested I read it, and it's not bad," she said, putting a bookmark in it and holding out the book for Jaden to take. He studied the cover and then flipped it open to read the summary quietly to himself.
"Sounds interesting," he said, handing the book back.
"I think it is," Alexis said, taking the book before placing it beside her on the chair and then resting her head on Jaden's leg.
He gently stroked her hair and looked around. "Where's Raiden?" he wondered.
"Said something about trying to learn how to surf again," Kasumi said with a shrug.
Jaden's lips quirked a little before the smile faded. He hadn't been in a good mood to begin with that day and that talk with his dad had only caused his mood to worsen.
"Are you okay?" Kasumi asked.
"Fine," Jaden said.
Kasumi didn't look convinced.
"You look upset," Syrus commented.
"I got a call from Dad," Jaden said bluntly.
"Ah," Kasumi said, nodding in understanding. "I understand."
Syrus still looked confused.
"Jaden and Dad aren't exactly…on good terms at the moment," Kasumi explained to Syrus.
"Hmph, that's an understatement," Chazz said, running his fingers through Arina's hair.
"What happened?" Syrus asked.
"I don't want to talk about it," Jaden said shortly.
Syrus eyed Jaden warily before nodding. "All right," he said, deciding against pushing.
"On a completely unrelated note, how long did it take Raiden to get that food coloring off his teeth yesterday?" Kasumi asked curiously.
"Not sure, but it did take a while," Chazz said.
Kasumi snickered.
"It wasn't funny," Raiden said with a scowl as he made his way into the dorm.
"Hi, Rai, how many times did you wipe out today?" Kasumi asked cheerfully.
Raiden glared at the Lightsworn duelist and strode off toward his room to get changed while Kasumi and Hikari snickered and Jaden let a little smile cross his lips.
. . .
Celina spotted Kyle near the Ra Dorm. "Hey, Kyle, what brings you here?" she asked as she fell into step beside Kyle.
"I just thought about visiting my friends at the Slifer Dorm. Want to come with?" Kyle asked timidly.
"Sure," Celina said with a smile.
"Ms. White?" a voice called and Celina turned to find Chancellor Crowler walking over to join her and Kyle.
"Um, yes, Dr. Crowler?" she said.
"I've scheduled a duel between you and another freshman by the name of Kira Ryuki," Crowler said. "It'll be in the main dueling arena in an hour."
"Well, okay, I'll let her know. I'm heading to the Slifer Dorm now anyway," Celina said.
Crowler nodded and walked away.
"Wonder why he wants me to duel Kira?" Celina said thoughtfully.
"Probably just to assess your skills. Maybe he wasn't present when you took your entrance exams," Kyle suggested.
"Maybe."
. . .
An hour later, the gang found themselves in the main dueling arena, seated near the bottom as the two duelists got ready for their duel down below. Crowler and Bonaparte were also seated near the bottom and talking quietly with each other while Conway, who was seated above them, observed them before turning his gaze to the dueling arena. He was there because Kira was in his dorm, for one, and because he wanted to assess the girl's skills as well, for another.
"What kind of deck does Kira run anyway?" Jaden asked his friends curiously.
"It's a Kamen Rider deck," Raiden said. "She was one of the winners of a create-an-archetype contest that was held a few years ago. I've dueled her before. She's not bad."
Down in the arena, Kira and Celina had met up with each other at the center of the platform. "Well, good luck, Kira," Celina said.
"Thanks," Kira said. On the inside, she was excited about dueling the runner-up of the U.S. Duel Monsters Championship Tournament; though she spent most of her time watching other shows, mainly Kamen Rider, she did watch the highlights of that tournament once they were aired in Japan.
"All right, the duel between Celina White of the Obelisk Blue dorm and Kira Ryuki of the Slifer Red dorm is about to begin," Crowler called as Celina and Kira separated and walked over to stand on opposite ends of the dueling platform and their duel disks whirred to life as they inserted their decks. Or, Celina did that anyway. Kira had started breakdancing on stage and then jumped up when she was done with a "Yeah, it's show time!"
"She did that before our duel, too," Raiden commented.
"She's cute and she's a dancer, aw, you two would make a great couple," Atticus said cheerfully and then winced when Raiden slapped him upside the head. "Ow!"
"Let's duel," Celina and Kira called as they drew their opening hands.
Celina: 8000
Kira: 8000
"You can go first, Celina," Kira said.
"Thanks," Celina said, drawing a card and glancing at it and then picking another card from her hand. "I'll start with Ally of Justice Garadholg in Attack Mode."
An orange beast-like machine appeared on the field with a growl (A: 1600/D: 400).
"And then I play two cards facedown and end my turn," Celina added and two facedowns appeared at her feet.
"All right, my draw," Kira said brightly, drawing a card.
"I summon Kamen Rider Sting in Attack Mode," she said, placing the card on her duel disk.
A warrior in dark-pinkish-red armor with a gauntlet shaped like a stingray on his arm appeared on the field (A: 1500/D: 1200).
"And I activate my facedown, DNA Transplant, and I declare the Attribute as Light," Celina said as one of her facedowns flipped up. "And now all monsters on the field are treated as Light Attribute."
Kira nodded. "And next I activate Strike Vent to add 1000 Attack to Sting until the End Phase," she added and Sting was surrounded by an aura of light (A: 1500-2500/D: 1200).
"Now, Sting, attack Garadholg," Kira ordered.
"When Garadholg battles a Light monster, he gains 200 Attack during the Damage Step and DNA Transplant makes all monsters Light," Celina said, though she knew it wouldn't really matter. It would save her some damage, though.
Sting crashed into Garadholg and the other monster shattered.
Celina: 7300
Kira: 8000
"And I end my turn with that," Kira said (Sting (A: 2500-1500).
"My draw," Celina said, drawing a card and glancing at it before placing it on her duel disk. "And I summon Ally of Justice Searcher in Attack Mode."
A large green vehicle with lasers jutting out of its top appeared on the field (A: 1400/D: 100).
"And then I activate Ultimate Offering and pay 500 Life Points to summon Ally of Justice Core Destroyer in Attack Mode," Celina added as her second facedown flipped up and then a small black and white machine with four golden legs appeared on the field (A: 1200/D: 200).
Celina: 6800
Kira: 8000
"Ally of Justice Core Destroyer, attack Kamen Rider Sting," Celina ordered.
"Wait, but Sting is stronger," Kira said with a frown.
"Doesn't matter," Celina said. "Core Destroyer's effect makes it so that whenever it battles a Light monster, it's destroyed at the start of the Damage Step without applying damage calculation."
Kira swore as a blast of blue energy shot from the small machine that slammed into Sting and he shattered with a shout.
"Now, Searcher, attack Kira directly," Celina ordered and her machine blasted Kira with its lasers.
Celina: 6800
Kira: 6600
"And I end my turn with that," Celina added.
"All right, my move," Kira said, drawing a card and then looking at it before she held it up. "I activate the Field Spell, Mirror World."
She inserted the card into her Field Card slot. A moment later, the arena changed to an almost inverse of what it originally looked like and sparkled like sunlight on glass.
"When this card is active, all Kamen Riders gain 500 Attack and Defense."
"Next, I normal summon Kamen Rider Camo in Attack Mode," Kira added and a Kamen Rider with green, red and silver armor with a chameleon-like item on his left leg appeared (A: 1200-1700/D: 1300-1800).
"Attack Ally of Justice Searcher," Kira ordered.
'On it,' Camo said and jumped forward, slamming a fist into Searcher, causing the other monster to shatter and Celina shielded herself from the onslaught of golden pixels.
Celina: 6500
Kira: 6600
"And then I place this card facedown and end my turn. Looks like we're about even," Kira commented.
Celina nodded in agreement and drew a card. "I summon Ally of Justice Quarantine in Attack Mode."
A group of six small mechanical bugs maintaining a cube of red and black energy then appeared (A: 1700/D: 1200).
"Core Destroyer, attack Camo," she ordered.
"I activate my face-down, Negate Attack, which negates your attack and ends your Battle Phase," Kira said, revealing her face-down to stop Core Destroyer's attack.
Celina pressed her lips together. "I end my turn," she said.
"They're staying even right now," Raiden commented. "Haven't seen Kira use the Union monsters she has in her deck yet, though. She must not have drawn any."
"My turn, I draw," Kira said, drawing a card. "I switch Camo to Defense Mode, which activates his effect: when he's switched from Attack Position to Defense, I can destroy one monster on your field, and I think I'll go with Core Destroyer." Camo knelt down and a chameleon shot across the field to slam into Core Destroyer, destroying it.
"And next I tribute Camo in order to summon Kamen Rider Strike in Attack Mode."
Camo vanished. He was replaced by another armored Kamen Rider; this one was in dark-blue and silver armor and wielded a blue staff topped with the head of a blue cobra (A: 2100-2600/D: 1700-2200).
"Now, Strike, attack Quarantine," Kira ordered.
Strike nodded and shot forward, slamming his staff into the machine and it shattered.
Celina:5600
Kira: 6600
"Now Strike's effect activates; when he destroys a monster by battle, he can also inflict damage to you equal to half the Attack of the destroyed monster," Kira said and Celina yelped as Strike struck her with his staff, nearly knocking her off her feet.
Celina:4750
Kira: 6600
"And with that, I end my turn," Kira said.
"Kira's doing pretty well," Conway mused.
Bonaparte frowned. "I thought you said that Celina was a pro who nearly won that tournament," he said to Crowler.
"I did. The duel has only just begun," Crowler said.
"Kira's doing pretty good," Jaden said quietly.
"Uh huh," Raiden said and nodded in agreement.
"My turn," Celina said, drawing a card and looking at it. Not much to work with, she thought and then looked at the other two cards in her hand. This could buy me some time. "I place this facedown and activate Fires of Doomsday to Special Summon two Doomsday Tokens and end my turn."
A facedown appeared along with two smoky one-eyed tokens (A: 0/D: 0).
Kira drew a card. "Strike, attack one of those tokens," she ordered.
"I play Negate Attack," Celina said, revealing her face-down and Strike's attack was stopped.
"She's probably setting up for summoning a powerful monster," Hikari said thoughtfully, leaning back in her seat.
"All right, I end my turn," Kira said, wondering what Celina was planning.
Celina drew a card and then picked up the other card in her hand. "I play Card of Sanctity so we each draw until we're holding six cards," she said and they each drew until they were holding six cards. Yes, she thought.
"Next, I tribute my Doomsday Tokens, which can only be tributed in order to summon a Dark monster, to summon Ally of Justice Thunder Armor in Attack Mode."
The tokens vanished to be replaced by a red and blue four-legged machine with twin canisters on his back appeared on the field (A: 2700/D: 2200).
"And then I pay 500 Life Points to summon Ally of Justice Unlimiter," Celina added.
Celina:4250
Kira: 6600
A bug-like machine appeared on the field (A: 600/D: 200).
"And next, I activate Unlimiter's effect and tribute it to double Thunder Armor's Attack until the end of this turn," Celina added.
"Wait, what?!" Kira exclaimed, watching as Unlimiter blasted Thunder Armor with a blast of blue energy and vanished as a blue aura surrounded it (A: 2700-5400).
"Now, Thunder Armor, attack Kamen Rider Strike," the whitenette ordered.
Thunder Armor fired off a few blasts of blue energy that surged forward and enveloped Strike. He cried out and then shattered and Kira was knocked off her feet at the impact.
Celina:4250
Kira: 3800
"And I end with that," Celina called as Thunder Armor's power returned to normal (A: 5400-2700).
Kira scrambled to her feet. She drew a card and then inserted it into her duel disk. "I play Monster Reborn to bring back Kamen Rider Sting."
The dark-reddish pink armored warrior returned to the field (A: 1500-2000/D: 1200-1700).
"And next, I play Attack Vent and pay 1000 Life Points to Special Summon Advent Beast Evil Diver to the field," Kira added, inserting another card into her duel disk.
Celina:4250
Kira: 2800
And a magenta mechanical stingray appeared on the field (A: 1000/D: 200).
"Now, I equip Evil Diver onto Kamen Rider Sting," Kira added and Sting leapt up to land on the stingray.
'I'm gonna attack,' Sting said firmly.
"Go ahead. When Evil Diver is equipped onto Sting, it enables him to attack you directly," Kira added.
Celina braced herself as Sting shot forward and both him and the stingray slammed into Celina, knocking her off her feet.
Celina: 2250
Kira: 2800
"And with that, I end my turn," Kira asked.
Celina pushed herself to her feet and drew a card. "I activate Dian Keto the Cure Master to regain 1000 Life Points." She was surrounded by a white aura.
Celina:3250
Kira: 2800
"And now Thunder Armor, attack Kamen Rider Sting," Celina ordered and Thunder Armor released another blast of blue energy at Sting. Sting jumped off the stingray and the stingray shattered.
Celina:3250
Kira: 2100
"Evil Diver is destroyed instead of Sting," Kira said.
Celina nodded. "I place these three cards facedown and end my turn," she said.
Kira drew a card. During her Standby Phase, Sting's effect activated, increasing his Attack by 100 (A: 2000-2100). She then glanced at her hand before she pulled another card. "Sorry for this, Chris, but you'll be back before you know it," she said.
'Just do what you've gotta do,' Sting said.
"I play Dark Hole to destroy all monsters on the field," Kira said.
Wonder what she's planning to do now that she's destroyed all our monsters, Celina thought, shielding her face as a powerful whirlpool appeared in the ground and sucked in all of the monsters on the field and destroying them.
"Next, I play Return from the Advent Void," Kira added, holding up the card she just drew. "With this, as long as I pay half my Life Points, I can Special Summon as many Kamen Riders from my Graveyard to the field in Attack Mode as possible."
Celina:3250
Kira: 1050
Celina swore as Kamen Riders Sting (A: 1500-2000/D: 1200-1700), Camo (A: 1200-1700/D: 1300-1800) and Strike (A: 2100-2600/D: 1700-2200) appeared on the field.
She then quickly pressed a button on her duel disk. "I play Emergency Provisions and get rid of my other two face-downs as well as DNA Transplant and Ultimate Offering to regain 4000 Life Points," she said. Her two face-up Traps and her two facedown cards vanished and she was surrounded by a white aura.
Celina:7250
Kira: 1050
"You'll need those," Kira said with a grin. "Sting, attack Celina directly."
Celina braced herself as Sting launched himself forward and slammed a fist into Celina's stomach.
Celina:5250
Kira: 1050
"Camo, it's your turn now," Kira said and Camo nodded before launching his own attack.
Celina:3550
Kira: 1050
"And now Strike, you're turn," Kira said and Strike also attacked, striking Celina with his cobra-topped staff and knocking her down.
Celina:950
Kira: 1050
"Ouch," Celina groaned and pushed herself to her knees.
"That had to hurt," Raiden said with a wince.
Kyle nodded in agreement, looking faintly concerned.
"Sorry," Kira said, signaling the end of her turn.
Celina got to her feet and drew a card, glancing at it. "All right, I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards." She did so and then inserted another card into her duel disk. "Time to end this. I play Monster Reborn to bring back Searcher, but he won't be here long as I tribute him in order to summon Ally of Justice Clausolas in Attack Mode."
Her green wheeled machine appeared on the field momentarily and then was replaced by a metallic bronze and black bird (A: 2300/D: 1200).
"Not bad, but I'll still have Life Points left no matter which monster you attack that you can attack," Kira said.
"I know but I have this"—Celina held up a card—"and I activate it: Limiter Removal."
Dang it, Kira thought as Clausolas's attack power skyrocketed and it let out a screech (A: 2300-4600).
"Now, Clausolas, let's end this duel. Attack Camo," Celina ordered.
Clausolas shot into the air and then soared over to Kira's side of the field before diving downward, its talons sinking into Camo and ripping him in half.
Celina: 950 WINNER
Kira: 0
Kira shut off her duel disk and walked over to join Celina. "Good duel," she said.
"Thanks, you, too. You're a pretty strong duelist," Celina replied.
Kira smiled. "Thanks."
. . .
Later, back at the Slifer Dorm, the gang were all gathered in the lounge just relaxing and talking when a phone rang.
Raiden glanced at it. "That's mine," he said before he answered his phone. "Hello?"
There was a moment of silence, then: "I think he left it in his room."
Another moment of silence.
"Sure. Judai, Dad wants to talk to you," Raiden said, glancing at Jaden.
"I don't want to talk to him," Jaden said shortly.
Alexis lifted her head off Jaden's shoulder. "Are you willing to talk about why you and your dad aren't on good terms right now?" she asked.
"Not on good terms with him is an understatement, like Chazz said. I'm still pissed at him," Jaden said.
"Why, Sarge?" Hassleberry asked.
Jaden said nothing, glancing toward Kira, Justin, and Hikari.
Kasumi, catching the look, turned to Hikari. "Hey, do you think we could have some privacy?" she asked.
"I got ya," Hikari said nodding and then getting to her feet. "Why don't we head over to the cafeteria and see if Professor Conway has started dinner yet?"
"Okay," Kira said and Justin shrugged before they stood up and followed Hikari out of the lounge area.
Once they were gone, everyone turned their attention to Jaden while Raiden was still holding his phone to his ear.
"So why aren't you happy with your dad?" Syrus asked.
"Because he knew," Jaden said, glaring at the phone. "He knew Kaage Naka was still alive. Mom had warned him that Kaage was possibly behind the attack on her and was possibly going after us and yet he did nothing. He didn't even tell us that Kaage was still alive."
"He did?" Alexis said, shocked.
Jaden nodded. "He didn't believe Mom's warning, thinking that no psychopath would ever warn their victims," he said mockingly, practically echoing his dad's own words. "Of course, he failed to realize that some psychopaths, like Kaage, liked to play fucking mind games." He folded his arms across his chest and glared at the ground.
Alexis drew Jaden close to her and began rubbing his back. He slowly relaxed and curled close to her, resting his head on her shoulder as she continued to rub his back.
"Wow, that's just…wow," Syrus said.
"Can't believe he wouldn't tell you something like that, Sarge," Hassleberry said, shocked.
"He made a mistake…" Raiden began.
"Doesn't excuse what happened, Rai," Jaden said.
Raiden listened on his phone and then said, "He said that he wants to make it up to you somehow."
"Unless he can go back in time and make sure none of this happened, which he can't, there's nothing he can do," Jaden said stiffly. "Let's just drop the subject, okay?"
The others seemed to have realized that he didn't want to talk about it anymore and so said nothing more on the subject. Raiden turned to his phone. "All right, Dad. Okay. Bye," he said and then hung up.
Jaden rested his head on Alexis's shoulder and closed his eyes and Alexis glanced at him before smiling and gently running her hand through his hair. "So what did you think about Zane's duel against Max Drau?" she asked, changing the subject and turning her gaze to the rest of the group.
"A good duel," Syrus said.
"Yeah, though Max was a good duelist in his own right," Kasumi said.
And then they started talking about the pro league duel between Zane and Max Drau, a pro simply known as the Fairy Professor, while Jaden relaxed against Alexis, dozing off.
. . .
A/n what do you think?
Blaze: and that was chapter 6! YAY! (Bounces off walls happily)
Bakura: all right, which idiot out there gave Blaze candy?
Yugi: (looks at Marik)
Marik: what? That was my yami!
Yami Marik: (hides pixie sticks behind his back) no it wasn't!
Bakura: (glares at Yami Marik) thanks a lot, Melvin, now we gotta deal with a hyper Blaze!
Yami Marik: don't call me Melvin, Florence!
Bakura: don't call me Florence!
Yami Marik: or what?
Bakura: (pulls out bazooka)
Yami Marik: (pulls out bazooka)
Ryou: if you two are going to try to blow each other up, please don't do it in Blaze's computer room. She won't be too happy if she has to pay to get the room fixed again!
Yami Marik and Bakura: (rush outside)
Jesse: well, okay then. Should we end this chapter since Blaze is obviously too hyper to do so? (Watches as Blaze happily runs around the room)
Jaden: yeah, think that would be best.
Boom!
Kaiba: who the hell blew up Kaiba Corp Headquarters again?!
Yami Marik and Bakura: (points at the other) he did!
Everyone Else: (sighs and sweatdrops)
Jaden: Blaze hopes that you enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter will be out, hopefully, sometime next week but she makes no promises. As usual, reviews are much appreciated.