Boy was this chapter hard to write compared to the others. I never knew trying to delve into Zane's psyche would be so hard. Hopefully, I did a good job though…
Anyway, thank you to bobmanv2.0, Guest, MagicalPrincess07, decode9, Darkpheniox343, EndlessNight025, The Police Of FanFiction 2016, Kamen Rider Necrom, Team5dsforever, KiritoKirigaya-SAO, JD98, Sorcerer of the Stories, and a1993 for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are awesome!
And, as usual, a huge thank you to EndlessNight025 for being an awesome beta-reader!
Bakura: must you shout?
Oh shut up, Bakura. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this chapter. You get two duels, get to know sUbSoNiCSoundwave's OC a bit more, hopefully get a few laughs at the highjinks said OC gets, and…yeah…I hope that you enjoy this chapter…
Bakura: you said that already, moron
Would you be quiet and just go blow something up or something?
Bakura: (grabs bazooka and goes off to blow up Pendragon)
…I'm not even going to ask and just say I don't own Code Geass again. Also, this is important, I've changed something from Celina's past. Instead of parents, she was abandoned by just her mother, which will be explored during the field trip arc, and if you find yourself confused during the conversation between Celina and Bakura, I just thought I would make that clear here and now. Now I will finish this with my usual reviews, as always, are much appreciated.
14
Enter the Underworld
Jaden was tired, hungry, tired, and really wanting to get back to Duel Academy. Oh and did he mention that he was tired? He had been wandering around the forest for what felt like weeks—Haou insisted it hadn't even been two days yet—and yet he still hadn't managed to find the Academy.
"I swear I think I'm going in circles," Jaden complained.
'You have, by far, the worst sense of direction,' Haou muttered.
"Not like you know how to get back, either," Jaden retorted. "I thought you explored the island when you were in control."
'I've never seen this area before so I don't think I came here,' Haou said.
"Man, how difficult can it be to find the Academy? This island isn't even that big," Jaden muttered. His stomach growled and he added, "And then there's the fact that I'm starving!"
'Maybe if you had paid attention to your mother rather than laughing at Raiden for dropping his tent on the fire, you wouldn't be in this predicament,' Haou said dryly.
"For one, stop looking through my memories, for another, it was funny," Jaden exclaimed.
'I didn't look through your memories. You were thinking about that incident yesterday,' Haou said.
Jaden didn't respond but then he spotted something in the distance. It was a hole filled with tied-up packages. "Hmm, what's this?" he said and wandered over to the hole to find that it was filled with stacks of old magazines called Duelist Weekly.
"Damn, I was hoping it was food," Jaden said.
'Why the hell would there be food in the middle of nowhere?'
"Hey, it could happen."
'You're an idiot.'
Jaden ignored him as he thought about his words. "That would be awesome! Especially if it was fried shrimp. Mmm, fried shrimp. Aw man, now I'm hungry for fried shrimp. This sucks!"
'…I stand by my statement.'
. . .
The Professional Dueling League was what everyone at Duel Academy strived to become part of, to join the ranks of the strongest duelists in the world. When Zane graduated, everyone knew he stood a chance at becoming one of the strongest duelists in the Pro League; that was until he lost to Aster. Ever since then, he had collapsed into a losing streak, unable to even make it into minor league tournaments.
Syrus was sure that it was only a temporary thing. His big brother was one of the best duelists around and he believed that Zane could come back but, as the days went on and the losses stacked up, that belief began to dwindle just a little.
"After having lost to Aster Phoenix, my big brother can't win," Syrus murmured to himself as he read the most recent magazine of the Pro Leagues in his hand. "He's failed to enter the underage league. The tenth failure since losing to Phoenix. The disappointing newcomer is blocked by the wall of a professional."
"I don't know what to say," Hassleberry said from the doorway as he watched Syrus with Bastion. Alexis, Kasumi, and Arina were seated at a table near the door while Raiden was leaning against the wall just inside the cafeteria.
"The influence of losing to Aster Phoenix is too big," Bastion admitted.
Chazz, clad in his white attire, made his appearance at that moment and laughed. "A common person like Zane becomes like this because he dueled with Aster Phoenix, who is appreciated by Master Sartorius."
Bastion and Hassleberry looked about ready to grab him and shut him up while Raiden's eye twitched a little. Chazz's new attitude was grating on the older Yuki's nerves but then, recently, a lot of things were making him irritable and snappish.
"But if he joins the Society of Light," Chazz went on, "it's not impossible for him to go back to the major league." He then glanced at Hassleberry and Bastion. "How about it? Guys, join the Society of Light."
Raiden pushed himself away from the wall and stalked out of the cafeteria. "Why don't you shut up, Chazz?" he snapped, irritation plain clear in his voice as he brushed past Chazz and headed back towards his temporary dorm room.
Alexis also walked up to Chazz and proceeded to flick him hard in the forehead, taking him by surprise and knocking him off his feet before she turned and walked away. Arina just shook her head sadly and followed Alexis.
Syrus sighed. "Big brother," he murmured.
Alexis, who had come up behind Syrus, took the magazine away from him, prompting the small Ra to turn to her. "It's okay. Zane will recover from it," she said. "Your brother is a proud man."
"Yeah, Syrus. How can we lose trust in Zane?" Bastion said.
"Exactly, I believe in him, too," Hassleberry said.
Syrus smiled a little.
. . .
"Really?" Celina asked into her phone as she walked down the hallway of the main building.
"Yes," Bakura said. "She said that she will be in town in a couple of weeks and that, if you can, then you can meet up and talk. I told her I would talk to you to see if you can."
"Well, I don't know. I think that's the weekend that Chancellor Crowler said we would be going on a field trip, but I don't know where we're going," Celina admitted.
"If you would like, I can speak with Chancellor Crowler. Perhaps we can arrange to give you a day off so that you can speak with your mother," Bakura suggested.
"That's still a couple of weeks away, though. I think we should wait before we decide to do anything," Celina said, smiling softly at Kyle as he fell into step beside her. His cheeks reddened a little and he mumbled a timid "hello" in response.
"All right," Bakura said. "Marik! Would you be careful with that? It's expensive!"
"I was being careful with it," Marik's voice sounded in the background.
"Just don't drop it," Bakura said with a sigh. "Anyway, I should probably get going. Marik's got a duel in the major leagues to attend and he wanted me to come and watch."
"When's your next duel?" Celina asked.
"Tomorrow. I'd better go. If we don't leave now, we'll be late," Bakura said.
"All right. Thanks for keeping me informed about the situation with my mother," Celina said.
"No problem, Celina. Goodbye," Bakura said.
"Bye," Celina said and hung up before putting away her phone and turning to face Kyle. "Hey. What's up?"
"Nothing. Just…decided to take a walk," Kyle said softly.
"Mm."
Celina found Kyle's bashfulness cute but then she couldn't exactly deny that she was crushing on Kyle. He was handsome and so sweet but she just didn't know if he felt the same way and she was afraid of asking since she was afraid of Kyle's response.
"You okay?" Kyle asked.
"Hmm? Oh, I'm fine," Celina assured him as they walked. "So where are you going?"
"I thought I'd go and see big sis. Do you want to…um…come with?" Kyle suggested.
"Sure."
Kyle beamed and the two walked out of the main building. Unfortunately, no one noticed the bucket that was resting on top of the door. As soon as Kyle and Celina opened the door, the bucket fell, drenching Celina in water while splashing Kyle as a result.
"What the hell?" Celina exclaimed while Kyle blinked and then narrowed his eyes when he heard laughter. He and Celina turned to find the tall, dark-blue haired form of Dante Broaden, a freshman Ra Yellow student with blue eyes and tanned skin. He was dressed in an indigo blue shirt with his yellow blazer over it, black pants, and yellow shoes and a yellow Duel Academy hat on his head.
"That wasn't funny," Kyle said flatly.
"It kind of was," Dante said as he finished laughing. He then smirked and added, "The water certainly makes ya look hotter, Celina." His eyes roamed her body, lingering on her chest. "Though your assets ain't that big, I noticed."
"Grrr! Pervert!" Celina looked about ready to leap at Dante and slam his face into the concrete. Not that Kyle could blame her. He wrapped his arms around her to keep her from doing something that could get her into trouble and turned to Dante.
"You shouldn't talk to a lady like that," he said with a frown. His voice was as quiet as usual but there as an undercurrent of irritation that suggested he wasn't happy with Dante's perverted statement.
"Hey, hey, I meant no offense, Mr. Casanova," Dante said, holding up his hands. "Ya got yourself a smoking girlfriend there."
Kyle went red. "She's not my girlfriend!" he exclaimed.
Dante raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then why are ya holding her like that?" he asked.
Kyle glanced down and, noticing that he was still holding Celina, quickly let go, blushing while Celina's cheeks were red as well. "Uhh…"
"I gotta go get changed now, no thanks to this idiot," Celina huffed as her blush faded to be replaced by irritation, pointing at Dante who just bowed dramatically, not fazed at being called an idiot. "I'll stop by the Slifer Dorm when I finish."
Kyle nodded and Celina walked off.
"She sure is cute. If she ain't your girlfriend, maybe I should ask her out," Dante wondered.
Kyle did not like the idea of this friendly, but perverted, guy going out with Celina. He turned to face Dante. "I'm sure she wouldn't want to go out with you after that stunt you just pulled," he said.
"Aww, is someone getting jealous?"
"I'm not jealous," Kyle muttered.
"Sure, sure," Dante said airily. "Ya know what? Why don't we have a duel?"
"Why?" Kyle asked. "You're not going to put Celina up as a prize for that duel?" Alexis had told him about the time Harrington Rosewood had done that when he dueled Jaden the year before.
"Seriously? Which dumbass thought that was a good idea?" Dante said, rolling his eyes. "She ain't a prize to be won and whoever thinks girls, no matter how smoking hot they are, are prizes to be won is an idiot. Why would you ask that?"
"Just something that happened last year," Kyle said.
"What happened last year?"
Kyle explained the situation.
Dante shook his head. "Man, that's effed up," he said. "But, no, I didn't wanna duel you 'cause of Celina. I just haven't had a good challenge in a while."
Kyle shrugged. "All right," he said and went for his deck.
"You little pervert! How dare you sneak into the girl's locker room?!" a scream sounded and Dante paled, glancing over his shoulder.
"Damn security cameras. Let's put that duel off until later. Kay? Thanks!" Dante took off.
A moment later, a bunch of furious girls were chasing after him.
Kyle blinked, decided he didn't want to know, and headed toward the Slifer Red Dorm.
. . .
After losing in the duel that was his last chance to enter the minor leagues, Zane found himself walking down the hallway of the dome. Ever since he had lost to Aster, he had been unable to get out of the losing streak he had unintentionally landed in. His manager told him that he was far from being the image of their company and so he was left without a manager.
He paused when he spotted someone emerging from the shadows in front of him. He was brown-haired with a top hat on his head and dressed in black with glasses on his face.
"I saw your duel," the man said.
"What did you think?" Zane asked.
"Boring match," the mysterious man replied. "I can't imagine that it's a duel from the man some call the Kaiser."
Zane narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"
"My job is to aid pros," the man said. "My name is Shroud." He held out a business card and added, "You're set in a weird trap."
"Weird? What do you mean?"
"Although I'm kind of rude, Mr. Truesdale, even if you can enter the minor league, you won't have any improvement in the coming matches." He took a step forward out of the shadows. "But it's pitiful to let your ability be buried like this. You should be able to get back your strength if chance permits. So you should stand in the battlefield now and then."
"Battlefield?"
"If a place in the light won't do, try the underground. There are duels underground. How about it? Would you entrust to me your ability? I want to provide you a new duel place."
"Sorry. I'm a pro league professional," Zane said, keeping his voice even. "I don't plan to transfer to other colleagues."
"The formal transaction has no use underground. The secret can be kept," Shroud replied. "What do you think? Won't you step onto the new battlefield with me?"
Zane was silent for a long moment but he ultimately knew what his decision was. If he could get out of the losing streak he was in, then he would do it.
. . .
It was sunset by the time they had arrived in the underground. The chamber that Zane had been guided to was large with tables covered in red cloth scattered around while people sat at them, wineglasses in hand, chattering with their companions. At the center of the room was a large steel cage.
The announcer began speaking. "From today on, the main matches are death matches," he declared. "The red side is the Guard of Hell no failure record in twenty duels: Mad Dog!" A large muscular man with scars on his shoulders and chest with spiked black hair and his duel resting on his arm entered the steel ring and shouted.
"On the blue side, our young challenger. Not very experienced here: the genius Hell Kaiser Zane Truesdale," the announcer added as Zane entered the steel ring, studying his opponent with a frown.
This is an underground duel, Zane thought. Although part of its function is to entertain, the duel itself is the same. He then noticed that some of the men were putting black collars on Mad Dog's biceps and neck. He quickly noticed that the same thing was happening to him.
"What's this?" he asked. He didn't know quite what to make of the items that were being placed around him but he had a bad feeling about them.
"Damage Amplifier," Shroud said from outside the cage. "Even small damage will fill your body with pain."
"What?!" The shock was clear in his voice stared at the manager that he had run into. This was not what I had signed up for, he thought.
"This is an underground duel. And before the duel ends, you can't get out of this cage. But even if it's over, you're not guaranteed to come out safely."
"Begin, loser in the Professional League," Mad Dog said, gesturing, mocking at Zane. "But nobody will care who you are."
"It's show time!" the announcer said.
Mad Dog and Zane activated their duel disk and drew their opening hands. I gotta do this, Zane thought as he scanned his opening hand and then faced Mad Dog. He didn't like it but he had to do it; this might his only chance to make it back into the pro leagues.
Mad Dog: 8000
Zane: 8000
"I go first. Draw," Mad Dog said, drawing a card. "I summon Acid Slime in Defense Mode."
A blue piece of slime appeared on the field, looking like a small, blue table appeared on the field (A: 800/D: 1000).
"I then place one card facedown and end my turn."
"My turn. Draw," Zane said, drawing a card and then inserting it into his duel disk. "I place one card facedown and then activate Different Dimension Capsule. This allows me to remove one card in my Deck from play. On my second Standby Phase after this card's activation, I can add that card to my hand. Next, I summon Cyber Dragon in Attack Mode."
The long machine-dragon appeared on the field with a roar (A: 2100/D: 1600).
"So Cyber Dragon is out," Mad Dog said.
By attacking Acid Slime, if it's destroyed, I'll take 800 points of damage, Zane thought.
"What's up? Scared?" Mad Dog asked. Zane narrowed his eyes at his opponent accusing him of being scared. He wasn't scared. He was simply analyzing the situation. "You've lost your way. Reveal, facedown: Last Machine Acid Virus!" The card flipped up. "I sacrifice one Water monster on my field." The Acid Slime vanished. "Then, on your field, in your hand, and the cards drawn for the next three turns, Machine monsters will be destroyed. Acidify, Cyber Dragon!"
Cyber Dragon rusted over as acid spread over it and then it shattered.
"Then, for every monster destroyed, you'll take 500 Life Points," Mad Dog added with a grin.
Zane cried out when the shock collars activated and gasped at the pain.
Mad Dog: 8000
Zane: 7500
"What's this pain?" he said. That hurt a hell of a lot more than I thought it would and I only lost five hundred life points! What. The. Hell?!
"In an underground duel, whenever your Life Points are reduced, you'll suffer real pain in accordance with the reduced points," Shroud said with a grin. "As its literal meaning, your life is calculated, too. So weak duelists won't stand up again."
Zane turned to gaze coolly at Shroud, keeping his anger out of his voice to the best of his ability, even if he was fuming on the inside. Shroud had never said that the duel would be anything like this. "This isn't a duel. You fooled me," he said.
"What are you saying? Please look at the audience," Shroud said. He gestured and Zane turned as Shroud went on, "They're watching every one of your movements in excitement. Nothing compares to a life-and-death match. This is entertainment. The professional league is like playing in warm water. Now, go on, Hell Kaiser."
"What are you doing?" one audience member called out.
"Don't waste time," shouted another.
"Hurry it up."
"Don't have a boring duel."
"Lose beautifully."
Zane gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the audience. "I end my turn," he said. He couldn't do much else.
"My turn, draw," Mad Dog said, drawing a card. "I activate the Spell Contingency Fee. You draw until you have six cards. And for every card you draw, I'll regain 1000 Life Points."
Zane drew three cards and Mad Dog's Life Points jumped up.
Mad Dog: 11000
Zane: 7500
"According to the effect of Last Machine Acid Virus, let me confirm the cards you draw," Mad Dog said and Zane showed him his cards.
"No Machine monsters," he said.
"Huh. Well then, I'll just activate another Spell: Card Destruction, activate," Mad Dog said, revealing the card. The both of them discarded their entire hand and then drew the same number of cards they had.
"Now show me," Mad Dog said.
Zane gritted his teeth again and showed the cards, revealing that there were four Machine monsters.
"According to the effect of Last Machine Acid Virus, I destroy four Machine monster cards," Mad Dog said and Zane's teeth gritted again as his four monsters were destroyed.
"Now, 2000 points of damage. Taste Hell!" Mad Dog shouted.
The shock collars went off again and Zane screamed in pain, barely able to remain on his feet as the collars stopped shocking him. He staggered and had to take a few deep breaths since his body was now aching and he felt frustration. Mad Dog was ahead of him in terms of life points and Zane hadn't even landed a single hit against him.
Mad Dog: 11000
Zane: 5500
"Incredible," one audience member said.
"Beautiful," another said.
Shroud smirked.
Zane swayed but managed to stay upright as Mad Dog held out another card. "I activate Pot of Greed." He then drew two cards and held up one. "I summon Clone Slime in Defense Mode."
A green slime in the shape of a humanoid appeared on the field (A: 0/D: 0).
"I set two cards facedown and end my turn," Mad Dog added, inserting the cards into his duel disk.
"My turn, I draw," Zane said, sounding out of breath, his body still shaking a bit from the electrical shocks. He drew a card and glanced at it. Last Machine Acid Virus' effect works on drawn cards, he thought. In that case, I should be able to get out Cyber End with this card.
"I activate Future Fusion. I put the Fusion material from my deck into my Graveyard and then Special Summon a Fusion monster."
"I won't let you do that," Mad Dog said. "I activate Jammer Slime. Now, by discarding a card whose name has 'Slime' in it, my opponents' Spell or Trap card is negated and destroyed." Future Fusion shattered. "Also, since the card I sent to the Graveyard was Draw Slime, I can draw a card." He did so.
Damn it! That frustration at not being able to even get any monsters on his field was bothering him. He took a deep breath to calm himself. He had to remain calm because he knew that he could turn this around if he just got the right cards on the field. Mad Dog was a good duelist though.
"If you want to summon a Machine-Type monster so badly, then I may think about it," Mad Dog added.
"What?" Zane frowned in confusion.
"I activate Despised Treaty," Mad Dog said, revealing his second facedown. "You can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from your deck, but if you do, I can draw two cards. If you don't, I'll take 1000 points of damage. So what will you choose?"
I have to make Cyber End and I think I know when to do that, Zane thought. "I choose to Special Summon Proto-Cyber Dragon."
The smaller machine-dragon appeared on the field (A: 1100/D: 600).
"This card can be treated as Cyber Dragon when face-up on the field."
"And I draw two cards," Mad Dog said, drawing.
"Proto-Cyber Dragon, attack Clone Slime," Zane ordered and Proto-Cyber Dragon launched itself toward the green slime.
"Too bad," Mad Dog said. "When Clone Slime becomes the target of an attack, it can switch with a Slime monster in the Grave. I exchange it with Acid Slime and the battle will continue."
Zane gritted his teeth as Proto-Cyber Dragon unleashed a blast of blue energy that crashed into Acid Slime, destroying it in a big explosion.
"You haven't forgotten Acid Slime's effect, have you?" Mad Dog asked. "When he's destroyed, you take 800 points of damage."
Zane screamed again as the shock collars activated and his Life Points dropped again.
Mad Dog: 11000
Zane: 4700
Gritting his teeth and struggling to remain upright, and trying to ignore the chuckles that could be heard behind him, Zane managed to get out, "Turn end." He could still hear them though and it was starting to get to him. Where's the respect? Sure I've lost quite a large sum of life points but I'm still in this duel, he thought.
"My turn, draw," Mad Dog said, drawing a card. "I'll have you continue with this dance of death. I activate the Spell Slime Base. I can Special Summon a Slime monster from my hand. I summon Multiple Slime in Attack Mode."
An orange slime in the shape of a beast appeared on the field (A: 1500/D: 2000).
"Multiple Slime, attack Proto-Cyber Dragon," Mad Dog ordered and Multiple Slime released a bullet of orange slime that slammed into Proto-Cyber Dragon, incasing it in slime before it shattered.
Zane screamed in agony again as his Life Points took another hit.
Mad Dog: 11000
Zane: 4300
At least…I still have more than half my Life Points, Zane thought. The Damage Amplifier certainly did its job of making the duelist feel pain when one lost Life Points.
"I set two cards and end my turn," Mad Dog said, inserting two cards into his duel disk.
"Good reaction," Shroud said. "The expression of ignorance is like a picture."
Zane glanced sharply at Shroud.
"If you want to make up for your drop out in the pro league, you have to do this," Shroud said.
"I've never thought of making up for that with a duel to this extent," Zane said breathlessly and then turned to Shroud. "Let me out of here."
"If you want to get out, just win," Shroud said, lowering his head and closing his eyes. "It's a simple matter. Why don't you get it?"
Zane gritted his teeth but Shroud's words resonated in his head. Of course he wanted to win but surely going through such lengths just to win? Was that why he couldn't win after he lost to Aster? He glanced at his hand. "I have nothing in my hand that can help me. Our Life Points have a large gap between us. What can I do?" he murmured.
"Your nature begins to show," Shroud said with a laugh. "You give up once the situation disagrees with you. Haven't you ever thought about winning?"
"What?"
"If you don't choose victory, you can't survive. This is the nature of duels. Whatever method you use, you have to win."
"But…this isn't…" Zane began.
"Then lose," Shroud said with a shrug.
"Will I?" Zane murmured and then realized at that moment that he didn't want to lose. Shroud was right. Ever since he had first learned how to duel, he never really focused on winning, he simply focused on doing his best and hoping his opponents would do the same thing. He showed them respect and they, in turn, showed him respect. His duel with Jaden was one such example as was the one time he dueled Jaden's older brother Raiden; both of them had been respectful toward each other and had played their very best but Zane had always come out on top.
But, when faced with opponents that didn't show respect—Mad Dog and Aster—Zane had thought it wouldn't matter. That a duel didn't matter as long as respect still existed between the opponents.
"Draw the card, loser," Mad Dog said, picking at his ear.
Zane's lip twitched in fury. He wasn't a loser! No, he was, he realized. He had lost to Aster and to several others.
What was he doing wrong?
Why couldn't he win?!
Was Shroud right?
"Grr. My turn, draw," Zane exclaimed, yanking his next card out of his deck and glancing at it before adding it to his hand. "Different Dimension Capsule activates since it's the second Standby Phase and the card inside is added to my hand." He retrieved said card as the capsule appeared on the field, rising form the ground.
"Next, I activate Power Pond from my hand," Zane added, holding out the card. "And there is no need for cards on my field or in my hand. I also activate the Quick-Play Spell, Cybernetic Fusion Support. I pay half my Life Points and, using this card as a scapegoat, I Special Summon the Machine-Type Fusion monster. Come out, Cyber End Dragon!"
In a burst of orange light, the three-headed machine dragon appeared on the field with a roar (A: 4000/D: 2800).
Mad Dog: 11000
Zane: 2150
"And when Cyber End is summoned with Power Bond, its Attack is doubled," Zane added and Cyber End Dragon let out another roar as its power increased (A: 4000-8000). "At the end of my turn, I will take Cyber End's original Attack as damage but I plan on ending it this turn."
"I won't let you do that," Mad Dog said, revealing his face-down. "I activate Slime Ball, which activates when a monster is Special Summoned. This increases my Life Points by the Attack of Cyber End and then destroys it."
Mad Dog: 19000
Zane: 2150
And then Cyber End Dragon was surrounded by a red aura and shattered.
"So you've nothing left to do? Now your defeat is a certainty," Mad Dog said with a smirk and Zane glared, that frustration that he had been feeling this entire duel. From not being able to land a single hit on Mad Dog to experience painful shocks every time he lost life points, that frustration seemed to grow and he suddenly realized that he had it wrong the entire time.
What was the point of respecting your opponent when they didn't bother on respecting you as well?
What was the point of respecting your opponent when it would just lead to your defeat?
Zane didn't want to lose. He wasn't going to lose. Screw respecting his opponent. If he had to go the same route that Mad Dog has gone in order to win then he would do so. He would win! No matter what he had to do, he was hungry for victory and he would take it.
"No."
"No? What are you saying?"
"No! I don't want to lose!" Zane shouted.
Shroud smirked.
"I don't care how I do it. I want to win…and defeat you…" Zane said coolly.
"There's no way," Mad Dog said.
"I get it now," Zane said, one hand clenching, his head lowered, and his eyes closed as his mind went over everything he had been thinking since the duel began. "I finally get it. Since the fight against Aster, I've been in a state of confusion. 'Just respect my rival's duel. If only I can do this, the result doesn't matter.' But it's not the truth." He opened his eyes. "I'm hungering…thirsting, for victory." His eyes locked with Mad Dog who seemed surprised by the intensely determined look that he was receiving. "I'll survive even if I have to deprive you of your hunger! I activate my facedown: Call of the Haunted."
"What?"
"It lets me Special Summon one monster from my Graveyard in Attack Mode. I Special Summon Proto-Cyber Dragon."
The small machine dragon returned to the field (A: 1100/D: 600).
"Next, I activate Overload Fusion! I remove the Fusion material on my field or in my Grave to Special Summon a Machine-Type Fusion monster! I summon Chimeratech Overdragon!"
"Chimeratech Overdragon?!" Mad Dog exclaimed.
"To summon Chimeratech Overdragon, I need at least two Machine-Type monsters, including Cyber Dragon as material to sacrifice. I use these six sacrifices!"
The six monsters appeared behind him: Proto-Cyber Dragon, Cyber Laser Dragon, Cyber Barrier Dragon, Cyber Kirin, Cyber Phoenix, and Cyber End Dragon.
"This is my struggle for existence!" Zane shouted. "Rise! Chimeratech Overdragon!"
In a burst of bright light that enveloped the entire cage, a large, six-headed machine dragon appeared on the field with a roar (A: 4800/D: 4800).
"4800 Attack Points?!" Mad Dog exclaimed in terror.
"Chimeratech Overdragon, attack Multiple Slime!" Zane shouted and Chimeratech Overdragon roared and unleashed a powerful blast of energy that obliterated Multiple Slime.
Mad Dog: 15700
Zane: 2150
Mad Dog cried out as his Life Points fell and then glared at Zane. "That's nothing. When Multiple Slime is destroyed by battle, three Slime Tokens can be Special Summoned in Attack Mode."
Three slime tokens with faces appeared on the field (A: 500/D: 500) x3.
"Next, I activate Trap Trip. I add a Trap Card in my grave to my hand." He retrieved the card and grinned.
Zane let a devious smirk cross his face. "Last Machine Acid Virus? This thing has been giving me a very hard time during those three turns, so I won't let you activate it again."
"There are three Water monsters on my field. If only one is left, I can make it as the sacrifice and that'll be the end," Mad Dog said.
That devious smirk turned into a full-fledged grin. "Didn't I say? I'll end it this turn," he said. "I will win!"
"There's no way," Mad Dog said with a huff.
"That's impossible," Shroud said.
"Chimeratech Overdragon can attack as many times as the number of sacrifices," he said.
"What?!" Both Mad Dog and Shroud exclaimed as Chimeratech Overdragon roared, unleashing five powerful blasts of energy that surged forward and slammed into all three slime tokens, with two direct attacks landing against Mad Dog, taking every one of his Life Points. The explosion was massive, creating shockwaves that both put a hole in the cage, but also created a large gust that slammed into everyone. The result was clear when the gusts died down and the smoke went away; Mad Dog was lying on his back, out cold, while Zane stood triumphantly over him.
Mad Dog: 0
Zane: 2150 WINNER
"Hell Kaiser," Shroud whispered, eyes wide with shock and then excitement. "A monster born underground."
. . .
Earlier that day, at Duel Academy, Dante peeked around the corner and breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed that his female pursuers were nowhere to be seen. He really should have checked for security cameras before he went into the girl's locker room; while they weren't inside, they were outside and could show if someone who wasn't female entered the room. Dante mused that he really didn't learn his lesson after getting beat up by the girls at his old school. But then, he never did.
That reminded him; he would have to prank call Crowler sometime soon just for the heck of it but. For now, he would have to avoid as many girls as physically possible. Even if most of them were hot as hell, he did not want to get his ass beat by a group of girls. Girls were scary and practically deadly when they were furious.
Dante, as usual, learned that the hard way.
He shrugged and walked around the corner, deciding to track down that Kyle kid. He did want to duel him, but he had been a bit distracted the past hour trying to evade angry girls. As he was walking, he spotted the familiar black-haired form of Justin Ray, one of the new Slifers, and walked over to join him.
"Hey there," he greeted him.
"Hey," Justin replied. "Um, do you need something?"
"Actually, yeah. Can you take me to the Slifer Dorm? I was supposed to duel Kyle Rhodes and he said he was heading there, but I was running for my life with pissed off girls after me," Dante said with a shrug.
"So you're the one Kira was complaining about a few minutes ago," Justin mused.
"Kira…Kira…that the one who's always talks to herself. Gotta admit, she does have a nice figure, though I gotta admit, that Zoey chick has a bigger and better one," Dante mused and then noticed Justin's look, which was wide-eyed, and sighed. "Zoey's right behind me, isn't she?"
Justin nodded.
Needless to say, it was sometime before Dante, limping, managed to make it to the Slifer Red Dorm for his duel against Kyle.
"Why do I get this feeling that learning to keep my mouth shut might end up saving my life?" Dante wondered.
"Because it probably will," Justin said lightly.
"Girls are scary."
"Yes, yes they can be. At least you haven't seen Kasumi angry yet."
"You have?"
"Yeah, yesterday. Let's just say she has a rather...colorful choice of vocabulary and scared the crap out of a group of freshmen when some Obelisk guy would not stop flirting with her, and then had grabbed her. It was probably only because of Alexis that she didn't break that guy's jaw," Justin admitted.
"Whoa."
Justin and Dante entered the new addition to the Slifer Red Dorm. Kyle looked up from where he was relaxing on the couch next to Celina, with Alexis and Raiden on his other side. Syrus, Bastion, Hassleberry, Arina, Atticus, Jasmine, Mindy, and Kira were seated on the floor and they all looked up at the two of them.
Kira narrowed her eyes. "You're that guy," she said.
Dante rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. "Hey, Kyle, what do you say to our duel now?" he asked.
Kyle shrugged. "All right," he said softly and stood up.
"You know this guy, Kira?" Alexis asked.
"Yeah, he's the one that…"
"Ah, it's nothing; we just met briefly in class is all," Dante hurriedly interrupted Kira, not wanting to have a repeat of what happened earlier. Just because he was too honest for his own good, as in speaking his thoughts when he should probably keep them in his own head, and a pervert, he was not stupid. He did not want to annoy any more girls that were liable to get him put in the hospital, if not six feet under.
Kira raised an eyebrow but, apparently, decided to take pity on Dante and said nothing.
The two of them left the dorm after Kyle grabbed his duel disk and they stood across from each other while the rest of the gang sat or stood on the sidelines to watch.
"What kind of deck do you run anyway?" Kyle asked as he shuffled his deck.
"You'll see," Dante said, shuffling his deck and then inserting it into his duel disk.
Both of their duel disks whirred to life and they each drew their opening hands as they declared, "Game on!"
Dante: 8000
Kyle: 8000
"I'll go first," Dante said, drawing a card and glancing at it before picking another card from his hand. "And I'll go with Gladiator Beast Dimacari in Attack Mode."
A large purple bull in armor appeared on the field (A: 1600/D: 1200).
"And then three face-downs, and that's it for me. You're move."
"So you use Gladiator Beasts," Kyle noted. "I've seen 'em used before, during the duel tournament in Honolulu this summer."
"So you were able to go to that?" Dante asked.
Kyle nodded. "My brother won it," he admitted.
"Awesome. I would so love to win a tournament. Just think of all the hot babes who would flock to me if I won!"
Kyle raised an eyebrow but said nothing and drew his sixth card. "I'll start by activating Brain Control, paying 800 Life Points to take control of your Dimacari," he said.
Dante: 8000
Kyle: 7200
Dimacari resisted at first but, eventually, he reluctantly made his way over to Kyle's side of the field.
"Now, I tribute Dimacari to summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 in Attack Mode."
Dimacari was surrounded by black flames and then, in its place was the large metallic dragon with its wings in place of its arms (A: 2300/D: 1600).
"Horus, attack Dante directly."
Horus roared and unleashed a blast of black fire at Dante, who shielded himself with his duel disk. "Man, that's a huge dent in my Life Points," he said.
Dante: 5700
Kyle: 7200
"I'll place this facedown and turn things back over to you," Kyle said, inserting a card into his duel disk.
"Not bad, but this duel's just getting started," Dante said, drawing a card. "I activate Gladiator Beast's Respite. Now I can shuffle two Gladiator Beast cards into my deck to draw three cards." He did so and then added, "And now I activate Fire Formation – Tensu. And while this is on the field, during my Main Phase, I can Normal Summon one Beast-Warrior-Type monster in addition to my Normal Summon or Set. Also, all Beast-Warrior-Type monsters I control gain 100 Attack."
He then added, "Next, I summon Rescue Rabbit in Attack Mode and, due to Fire Formation – Tensu, I can also summon Gladiator Beast Darius also in Attack Mode."
The first monster to appear on the field was a cute little gray and white rabbit with a hard hat on his head and a walkie-talkie around its neck (A: 300/D: 100), while the second was a dark-purple horse in dark-orange armor (A: 1700-1800/D: 300)
Both Dante and Kyle heard the "aww, that's so cute!" that came from Jasmine and Mindy.
"Sorry, ladies but the rabbit's gonna have to go," Dante said. "I activate its effect, banishing it to Special Summon two Level 4 or lower Normal Monsters with the same name from my deck, so I'll Special Summon two copies of Gladiator Beast Andal in Attack Mode."
Rescue Rabbit vanished and Dante pocketed the card while Mindy and Jasmine pouted. In its place came two large black bear warriors in dark-blue armor (A: 1900-2000/D: 1500) x2.
"I also activate Gladiator Lash since I Special Summoned a Gladiator Beast. This forces you to discard a card of your choice," Dante added.
"Then I'll discard Volcanic Scattershot, which activates its effect, dealing you 500 points of damage," Kyle said, discarding the card and a blast of fire shot forward and slammed into Dante.
Dante: 5200
Kyle: 7200
"Ouch. Nice," Dante said. "Next, I shuffle my two Gladiator Beast Andals back into my Deck to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Essedarii from my Extra Deck in Attack Mode."
Both Andals vanished and were replaced by a large, armored black gorilla in a golden chariot with a spiked club and a shield in its paws (A: 2500/D: 1400).
"Essedarii, attack Horus," Dante ordered and Essedarii roared before charging forward.
"Go, Mirror Force," Kyle said, revealing his face-down.
"That's not gonna work 'cause I activate the Quick-Play Spell, My Body as a Shield. I pay 1500 Life Points to negate and destroy Mirror Force," Dante said, revealing his face-down. Mirror Force shattered as Dante's Life Points lowered. Essedarii continued its attack, crashing into the metallic black dragon, destroying it.
Dante: 3700
Kyle: 7000
"Darius, attack Kyle directly," Dante ordered. Darius bounded forward and headbutted Kyle in the gut.
Dante: 3700
Kyle: 5200
"Now that the Battle Phase is over, I'll activate Darius's effect, returning him to my deck to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Laquari," Dante added. Darius vanished and was replaced by an armored tiger with a ring of flame around it (A: 1800-1900/D: 400). "Also, when it's Special Summoned by the effect of a Gladiator Beast monster, its original Attack becomes 2100." Laquari's power increased as it growled (A: 1900-2200).
"And, with that, I end my turn. Your move, Kyle. You're actually doing pretty good," Dante commented.
"Thanks," Kyle said as he drew a card and glanced at it. He added it to his hand and then picked another card from it, placing it on the duel disk. "I summon Volcanic Slicer in Attack Mode."
The olive-green dinosaur appeared on the field (A: 1800/D: 1200).
"And I activate his effect, dealing you 500 damage."
A ball of fire shot toward Dante, slamming into his duel disk.
Dante: 3200
Kyle: 5200
"And then I activate Circle of the Fire Kings and target Volcanic Slicer on my field and Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 in my Graveyard. I destroy Volcanic Slicer and Special Summon Horus to my field in Attack Mode."
Volcanic Slicer shattered and was replaced by the large metallic dragon (A: 2300/D: 1600).
Kyle smiled, feeling confident as he held up another card. "I also activate Level Up!"
"Damn, that ain't good," Dante said, though he didn't sound worried. He was still smiling anyway as Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 evolved and was replaced by a large, bipedal metallic dragon with a falcon's head and a blue gem at the center of its head (A: 3000/D: 1800).
"Now, Horus, attack Laquari!" Kyle commanded.
"I ain't letting ya do that, Kyle," Dante said, pressing a button on his duel disk. "I activate Defensive Tactics. Now, for the rest of the turn, my monsters can't be destroyed by battle and I take no Battle Damage."
Kyle grimaced as Horus's attack did nothing.
"Now that your Battle Phase is over," Dante added, "I activate Laquari's effect, shuffling him back into my Deck to Special Summon Gladiator Beast Murmillo in Attack Mode.."
The familiar blue-skinned fish monster appeared on the field (A: 800/D: 400).
"Next, I activate Murmillo's effect can destroy one monster on the field since it was summoned by the effect of a Gladiator Beast. Say goodbye to your dragon," Dante said and, with that, a burst of water crashed into Horus, destroying him.
Kyle sighed. "Guess I got no choice but to end my turn," he said.
Dante drew a card and grinned. "It was a nice duel, Kyle, but I've got this duel won! I summon Gladiator Beast Andal."
The black bear warrior returned to the field (A: 1900-2000/D: 1500).
"Now, Andal, Essedarii, Murmillo, attack Kyle directly," Dante ordered and all three of his monsters attacked Kyle, knocking him off his feet with the force of their attacks.
Dante: 3200 WINNER
Kyle: 0
Dante shut down his duel disk and walked over to join Kyle, holding out a hand to him. Kyle took it and let the bluenet pull him to his feet. "Nice duel, Kyle," he said.
"Thanks; you too," Kyle said.
. . .
The entire gang was gathered in the new addition to the Slifer Red Dorm. A few days had gone by since Kyle's duel against Dante. While they didn't know much about Dante or Justin, those two had actually started hanging out together, which meant that Dante was around the Slifer Dorm a bit more than before; that meant most of the girls were keeping their eyes on him.
Anyway, Hassleberry, Syrus, Kyle, Celina, Kira, and Mindy were seated on the ground while Alexis, Mindy, Atticus and Arina were on the stairs and Bastion was leaning against the balcony's railing. All of them were watching the television.
"Amazing! Overwhelmingly strong. I haven't seen such power before," the announcer exclaimed as, on the television screen, a duelist was knocked out cold while Zane, now dressed in a black overcoat with white trimming and sharp edges, with an almost twisted smirk on his face, stood strong. "Strong, really strong! Zane Truesdale, who came back from Hell, revives here! Hell Kaiser Zane Truesdale's strength is the real thing!"
Syrus watched sadly. He knew that, one day, he would have to fight his own brother and that was one day he wasn't looking forward to.
Zane, what happened to you? he thought.
. . .
A/n what do you think?
Boom
Lelouch: not that I am complaining or anything but how many times has Bakura blown up Pendragon? And why does it keep getting rebuilt in seconds?
Marik: as I said told Suzaku, when it comes to Blaze, you're better off not questioning it
Blaze: (walks into computer room with flaming machete in hand and tosses it over her shoulder)
Unknown Person: OW!
Schneizel: (walks into computer room) I am not going to bother on questioning just how you managed to set a machete on fire, and keep the flames from dying, but you hit V.V. with it
Blaze: damn it! I was aiming for the Emperor
Lelouch: speaking of the Emperor… (lifts up bazooka)
Marik: okay, I know Bakura usually steals those but just how did you get your hands on one?
Lelouch: (grins, flashes the Geass symbol around his left eye, and darts out of the computer room)
Marik: …yeah, I don't wanna know. So who's ending the chapter?
Blaze: Suzaku, Jaden, and Jesse
Schneizel: and where are they?
Suzaku: (walks out of city-closet, dragging Jaden and Jesse behind him) they got lost again
Schneizel: (blinks at city-closet) I am not going to question that either (walks off)
Blaze: c'mon, Marik, let's go make sure Bakura doesn't blow up the Golden Gate Bridge again. Kaiba's not gonna be happy if he gets another bill for property damage
Marik: eh I've got nothing better to do (walks out of computer room with Blaze)
Jaden: well, that was chapter 14
Jesse: and Blaze hopes that you liked it
Suzaku: Chapter 15 will be posted, hopefully, Wednesday but she makes no promises and, as usual, reviews are much appreciated.