(Pokes head out of bomb shelter) Uh, hey, it's been a while, hasn't it?
Mob: (readies pitchforks and torches) IT'S BEEN OVER THREE MONTHS!
Well, at least it hasn't been a year. Bakura! Take care of the author's note!
Bakura: tch, Host, take care of it (strides off)
Ryou: (sigh) Blaze is really, really, really, REALLY sorry about the long wait. She and her beta-reader (and now permanent co-author for this story) have been focusing on fixing Celina's backstory again and Blaze has also bee working on her other stories. She would also like to say that the lack of an update also came a little from lack of inspiration. She will NOT abandon this story (it may take her months if not years to finish it but she will NOT abandon it).
Jaden: yup. I'll go ahead and thank the reviewers. Thank you to Guest (all five of you), OneWhoCharms, Antony444, Fantasymaker76, Numbuh24InsaneBrain, EndlessNight025, CorrinetheAnime, decode9, a1993, JD98, Sinking into Ruined Shadows, ScarletBeetle, Kamen Rider Necrom, NickStriker, reven228, and ShadowSpirt020 for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are amazing!
Jesse: also, as usual, thank you to EndlessNight025 for being an awesome, and patient, beta-reader and official co-author to this story/series.
Jaden: also, she would like to say that she and her beta-reader/co-author made some changes to Celina's backstory, as Ryou said earlier, and changes have been made to chapter 3 of this story. Eventually, Blaze will get around to making the changes necessary to chapter 5 of Chained.
Ryou: this chapter may not be that long but, at least it looks like the Field Trip arc is going to be a bit longer than Blaze had anticipated with about four (she thinks) non-canon duels. She hopes that the next chapter won't take too long to post but she makes no promises that it will be up in less time than it took to post this chapter. Blaze hopes that you enjoy this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.
22
The Frog Princess
Chazz stood within the White Dorm with Kasumi and Alexis on either side of him as the cheering of the other Society members echoed around him. He knew that things were going to be a lot harder here on out but was determined to keep up the façade. Besides, with Sartorius here, then maybe…
"Welcome, and thank you for coming to Duel Academy," he said to Sartorius as the Society's leader walked toward them.
"Grant onto us your wise guidance, for we lack power, Master Sartorius," Kasumi said with an incline of her head.
Sartorius raised his hand. "No, it is not I that will guide you all," he said. "Destiny is what will guide you all. I am but a pupil, just as you all are. From now on, I will learn together with you all, and we will foster the prosperity of the Society of Light. This is destined to be."
The Society started chanting "destiny" and Sartorius watched them all, a small satisfied smile on his face.
. . .
Meanwhile, outside the dorm, Aster was listening to the chanting with a frown while, on the lakeside, Bastion, Syrus, Jaden, Hassleberry, and Raiden were all gathered together.
"Damn Sartorius, trying to transfer like that," Hassleberry said.
"What's he cooking up? There's so many more people with those white uniforms too," Syrus said.
"We must be careful, Jaden," Bastion said.
"We should try to figure out what's going on, though," Raiden said and glanced at Jaden, who hadn't said anything yet, his gaze fixed on the White Dorm.
"Sartorius..." he muttered to himself.
'TheLight is growing stronger with each new recruit that joins the Society of Light,' Haou murmured. 'Butwhat it is planning is what I cannot seem to figure out. It desires to destroy, that much is for certain, but just how does he plan on doing that by getting all these followers?'
'A distraction from its true objectives?' Yubel suggested. 'It might want everyone to see the Society itself as the problem so that they will be unprepared, and unable to stop, its true objective from being completed.'
'Perhaps and that could explain why we haven't got any inkling of what the Light is truly planning. This happened the last time as well. I did not know of what the Light's true plan was until it was nearly too late,' Haou said.
So what are we supposed to do? Jaden asked silently.
'Be observant. There is little else we can do. The Light is crafty and its puppet seems just as clever,' Haou murmured quietly and then fell silent.
. . .
"We're going to Italy," Crowler stated firmly, glaring at Bonaparte. "It's beautiful this time of year."
"No, no, we're going to France. They have the best food and sites to see in the whole world," Bonaparte retorted, glaring back at the Temporary Chancellor.
"Italy!"
"France!"
"Italy!"
"France!"
Tension was tangible in the air between Crowler and Bonaparte as they continued to argue in the Chancellor's office about where to go for the field trip that was coming up in a few days.
The door suddenly slid open and Crowler and Bonaparte glanced up as one as Kasumi, Alexis, and Chazz strode in with a score of white-clad students following them.
"And what do you all want?" Crowler demanded.
"We are currently in the middle of an important meeting!" Bonaparte growled.
"You're deciding where to go for the field trip, right?" Kasumi guessed calmly, not at all phased by the teachers' bad attitudes.
"Yes, we are!" Crowler confirmed. "This is a heated discussion!"
"There's no need for one," Chazz insisted. "We've already had Master Sartorius foretell it to decide it."
"W-What did you say?" Crowler squawked.
"Master Sartorius?" Bonaparte questioned.
The crowd parted to allow the white-clad blue-haired form of Sartorius walk past them to stand in front of the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor. "Gentlemen, pardon the interruption of my young friends," he greeted them. "I did not mean to intrude, but I have perceived our fate by way of the Tarot."
"But what does such a thing..." Crowler attempted to argue, only to stop short after noticing the intense glares the Society members were shooting him.
"U-U-Uh...th-there is nothing we can do!" Bonaparte nervously sputtered out in an attempt to defuse the situation, knowing trouble where he saw it. "W-We shall follow Monsieur Sartorius on this one idea..."
"It is destiny," Sartorius clarified.
"H-However..." Crowler still tried to protest, but the Vice Chancellor was the one to stop him this time.
"This is quite awful," he whispered to him. "I can feel our danger in their eyes."
"So, we will have you announce the site chosen by our leader, Master Sartorius, for the field trip," Alexis proclaimed.
"Hold it right there!" The door slid open once again and Jaden calmly walked into the room, eyes trained on Sartorius while Syrus, Hassleberry, Bastion, and Raiden walked behind him. "I do believe we should get a say in this," he said.
"Why don't you take a hike, Slacker?" Chazz sneered.
"Yes. This isn't your decision," Kasumi said idly, studying her fingernails.
"You can't oppose fate, after all," Alexis added.
"That kinda sounds like a challenge," Jaden shot back with a defiant smirk. "If so, you know I'm always up for one of those!"
"I see... Then why don't we solve this matter the way all matters are solved at this school?" Sartorius suggested calmly, his eyes sharp and cold as Jaden met them with his own now golden orbs.
"A duel," he said. "Thought you'd never ask!"
"If you win, Jaden, you choose where we go on this field trip, but if you lose this duel then not only will I decide where we will go, but you will also join the Society of Light," Sartorius stated the terms.
"Jay, don't let him stir you up..." Syrus warned.
"What'll we do if youstart with all that confusing talk, too?" Hassleberry added.
"He's right, Jaden," Bastion agreed.
"Are youguys worrying about all that destiny and foretelling stuff, too?" sighed Jaden.
"That being said, I would like to refrain from dueling, for now," Sartorius spoke up again.
"What?"
"As a new student, I would rather not stand out much," he explained.
"You're not doing a very good job," Raiden noted bluntly.
Sartorius's eyes flickered toward him, but he didn't respond. "I will have you battle a duelist of my choosing. So, do we have a deal?"
"Yeah, we've got a deal," Jaden agreed.
"Then my duelist will meet you at the arena, Jaden."
. . .
Later that day, the gang was gathered in the main arena while Jaden was standing on the duel platform, waiting for his opponent to arrive, though it was taking quite some time, much to his annoyance.
In the stands, the gang were all in their seats, a few of them beginning to grow impatient as well.
"So, where's his opponent?" Syrus wondered.
"This is ridiculous!" Hassleberry grumbled. "If we have to wait a longer, I'mgonna duel him!"
"I hope it's not a trap..." Bastion muttered thoughtfully.
"As if that would be enough to stop Judai," Raiden pointed out.
Arina, Kyle, and Celina nodded in agreement just as something finally happened on the other side of the arena where the Society was gathered and a red carpet rolled out with two people in white running along it; one held a brass horn while the other had a white scroll in his hand. He unrolled it as they came to the edge of the main arena while the other man played a lively tune on his brass horn.
"People of Duel Academy, I give you Her Royal Highness, Princess Rose!" the one with the scroll declared.
A lovely young woman dressed in an ankle-length, long-sleeved royal blue ball gown stepped forward then. Her long champagne-silver hair was neatly styled into a bun, save for two long strands of fringe, which hung down past her shoulders and curled at the ends. Topping off her royal appearance was a silver tiara with a ruby at its center that rested atop her head.
"Wow, a princess?" Syrus marveled, a deep blush on his cheeks.
"A real princess!" Hassleberry exclaimed, just as impressed.
"Now, now..." Bastion tried to calm them, though he was obviously affected in a similar manner.
Princess Rose walked swiftly down the red carpet and up the steps onto the main platform, her duel disk already on her arm.
"As per Master Satorius's orders, I would like to duel you," she greeted Jaden.
"Sure. Nice to meet you," he replied, not quite sure what to make of his opponent.
"'Dueling is beautiful' is my motto," Rose stated as she inserted her deck into her duel disk. "Let us have a beautiful duel."
"Whatever you say," Jaden shrugged as their duel disks whirred to life. "Best of luck to ya."
"You as well," Rose said politely as they drew their opening hands.
"Duel!" they declared.
Rose: 8000
Jaden: 8000
"I shall begin. I draw," Rose said and drew a card. "I shall summon Tradetoad in Defense Mode."
On the field appeared an odd little toad that was half pink with a white-feathered wing on its left side and half black with a bat-like wing on its right, giving it both an angelic and demonic appearance (A: 100/D: 2000).
"Wha?!" Syrus blanched upon seeing Rose's monster.
"That's not beautiful at all..." Hassleberry muttered under his breath, though Rose somehow managed to hear it anyway.
"Not beautiful?" she demanded, a near-visible aura of anger emanating from her.
Syrus began trembling from that. "I'm already..."
"...getting the chills," Hassleberry finished, shuddering as well.
"Still, with 2000 Defense Points, that toad makes for a pretty good barrier monster," Raiden noted.
"I shall now finish my turn by placing one card facedown," the princess concluded, an image of a card appearing at her feet.
"My turn then. I draw," Jaden said and drew a card before adding it to his hand and picking another card. "And I summon Elemental Hero Heat in Attack Mode."
The fiery red and silver armored hero materialized on the field in a burst of fire (A: 1600/D: 1200).
"And due to Heat's effect, he gains 200 Attack for each Elemental Hero I control," Jaden explained as Heat's fiery aura intensified (A: 1600-1800/D: 1200).
He then inserted another card into his duel disk. "Next, I activate Common Soul and target Heat for its effect. Now I can Special Summon Neo-Spacion Air Hummingbird in Attack Mode."
In a whirlwind of wind, the humanoid hummingbird flew onto the field (A: 800/D: 600).
"And due to Common Soul's second effect, Heat gains Attack Points equal to Air Hummingbird's Attack."
Hummingbird was suddenly covered in a green aura that soon traveled over to Heat, increasing his strength once again (A: 1800-2600).
"I now activate Air Hummingbird's effect!" the Hero duelist declared. "For every card in my opponent's hand, I'll regain 500 Life Points."
Five pink hibiscuses bloomed out of the four cards in Rose's hand and Air Hummingbird flew into the air before drinking from each flower.
Rose: 8000
Jaden: 10500
"Now, Heat, attack Tradetoad," Jaden ordered and Heat shot across the field, slamming a flaming fist into the toad, destroying it.
"Air Hummingbird, attack Rose directly!"
Air Hummingbird flew into the air and conjured up a powerful gust of wind that struck Rose.
Rose: 7200
Jaden: 10500
"My turn's ended!" Jaden finished, prompting Rose to start her turn.
She drew her next card, and after studying her hand with a slight frown, announced, "I activate my facedown card, Greed Pact, allowing both players to draw one card."
Rose and Jaden each drew a card due to the Trap's effect, and the princess smiled when she saw what hers was. "There you are!" she exclaimed happily before deciding to play it. "I activate the effect of Swap Frog in my hand, discarding one Water monster to Special Summon this card from my hand." She discarded T.A.D.P.O.L.E. and placed Swap Frog's card on a Monster Card Zone.
In a flash of light emerged a large, ogreish yellow frog with swirled red markings over its body (A: 1000/D: 500).
"Now then, Swap Frog's effect activates," Rose stated. "Since it was summon successfully, I can now send one Level 2 or lower Aqua-Type Water monster from my Deck to the Graveyard. I shall go with my T.A.D.P.O.L.E."
After picking out the designated card from her deck and placing it in her Graveyard, she added, "And now I tribute Swap Frog to summon Des Frog in Attack Mode."
Swap Frog vanished and was replaced by green frog with blue eyes (A: 1900/D: 0).
"Des Frog?" Jaden wondered.
"I am far from done at the moment," Rose revealed. "There are two T.A.D.P.O.L.E.s within my Graveyard."
As she said that, the shadow of two her tadpoles could be seen under her feet, the field rippling as if it were suddenly a pond.
"My T.A.D.P.O.L.E.s, show to us your strongly-grown forms," Rose implored, her eyes closed and her hands clasped together as noticeable changes began occurring in the little tadpoles. They instantly sprouted a pair of legs, followed by hands as their tails slowly retracted, soon turning into full-grown frogs. With their metamorphosis complete, they then exploded out of the water, hopping next to Rose's other monster and revealing themselves to be two more Des Frogs (A: 1900/D: 0 x2).
"Due to the effects of the Des Frog I summoned, I was able to call upon one Des Frog from my hand or deck for each T.A.D.P.O.L.E. in my Graveyard," Rose explained, her cheeks now rosy as she admired her three monsters.
"Whoa, awesome! Not too bad there, Princess," Jaden complemented.
Rose smiled. "What do you think? They are the princes that protect me."
Jaden raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Princes?"
"Yes, real princes!" Rose insisted. "I have heard from Master Sartorius that you are able to see the spirits of Duel Monsters. In that case, you cansee them, can you not? My princes?"
Deciding to humor her, Jaden stared at her three Des Frogs for a good minute, but no matter how hard he looked, he didn't see any princes. "Well...I keep looking at them, and I just see frogs..." he admitted, sweating.
"I don't believe you!" the Frog princess snapped, before suddenly calming down and regaining her composure. "I can see them, after all. They may be disguised as unsightly frogs at the moment, but even so, they will always protect me. My lovely princes..."
She stared lovingly at her three frogs yet again, apparently seeing something in them no one else could. "See? They arehere, aren't they?"
"What's she talking about?" Kyle asked no one in particular as he and the others continued to watch the duel unfold.
"Not sure, but it kind of sounds like that Princess and the Frog fairytale," Celina mused.
"The one where the princess marries a frog?" Arina wondered.
"It's not a fairytale! It's reality!" Rose argued vehemently, obviously having overheard the others in the stands. "And anyway, she doesn't marry the frog. She marries the prince who became the frog!"
'She says that like it's supposed to make her seem less crazy,' Haou scoffed.
'As if you're one to talk about crazy…' Yubel retorted.
'Come again?'
"At any rate, we shall resume the duel," Rose stated, her proclamation distracting Jaden from the mini argument now taking place between his guardian and other half in the back of his mind. She picked out another card from her hand. "I now activate the Spell Card, Des Croaking. When I have three Des Frogs gathered on my field, it destroys all cards that exists on my opponent's field."
The magic from Rose's Spell caused little pink and green specks of light to shower down upon her and her monsters.
"My Des Frogs, please sing for me!"
Upon their mistress's request, the three frogs began to harmoniously croak, soon creating loud devastating sound waves that obliterated the three cards on Jaden's field, leaving him defenseless.
"Bravo!" Rose smiled as she clapped her hands, praising her monsters for what she believed to be a lovely concert. "And now that he is wide open, attack Jaden directly!"
The frog trio unleashed another round of ear-deafening croaking, the sound waves slamming into Jaden as his Life Points took a major hit.
Rose: 7200
Jaden: 4800
The Society of Light members watching the duel cheered as Rose took the lead by a substantial amount, though Jaden's friends were anything but happy about the turnaround.
"Aw man, Jaden lost over half his Life Points in just one turn..." Syrus said in worry.
"That's a Frog deck for you..." Hassleberry muttered.
"My turn is not over as of yet," Rose announced as she switch over to her second Main Phase and played another card from her hand. "I activate Polymerization to fuse my three Des Frogs. Come forth, D.3.S. Frog!"
Once the three Des Frogs leapt into the swirling fusion vortex, a bright light enveloped the area, and a giant olive-green bullfrog with a beige underbelly, red eyes, and the character for 'ultimate' written on its slimy right arm appeared on the field behind the princess (A: 2500/D: 2000).
"Whoa! Talk about cool!" Jaden marveled, while his friends cringed at his choice of words and Haou made an off-handed comment about how that was only going to further delude that weirdo princess.
"It is, isn't it?" Rose agreed, blushing again as she beheld her monster in all its glory. "He's by far my favorite and most handsome prince! Lovely, isn't he?"
Jaden just smiled awkwardly as a sweat drop ran down the back of his head, still not able to see any sign of spirits within Rose's Frog monsters, let alone those of handsome princes.
Shortly after that, Rose finally ended her turn, prompting Jaden to begin his. He did so by drawing a card and then subsequently played it when he saw what it was. "I activate Dark Fusion to fuse the Elemental Heroes Clayman and Burstinatrix in my hand and summon Evil Hero Infernal Sniper in Defense Mode."
His clay warrior and his fiery heroine fused together, soon forming a black-haired she-demon clad in red battle armor and with a blaster on her arm (A: 2000/D: 2500).
"Now I'll active Infernal Sniper's effect," Jaden continued. "When she's in face-up Defense Position, I can inflict 1000 points of damage to the opponent, once per turn."
After taking aim, Infernal Sniper fired of a blast of dark energy from her blaster that slammed right into Rose, making her take an involuntary step back.
Rose: 6200
Jaden: 4800
"And since I now have at least two Level 4 or higher Elemental Heroes in my Graveyard, I can activate my Spell, Legacy of a HERO, letting me draw three cards." He did so before adding, "Finally, I'll set two cards face-down and end my turn!"
A pair of reverse cards appeared at the Slifer's feet.
"It's my turn. I draw," Rose said before holding up the card she just picked up. "I activate Spellbook Inside the Pot."
Jaden and Rose both drew three cards, due to the Spell's effect.
"Next, I will activate the Continuous Spell, Solidarity. Because all the monsters in my Graveyard are Aqua-Type, all monsters of the same Type that exist on my field shall gain 800 Attack Points."
D.3.S. Frog was suddenly surrounded by a light blue aura as its Attack jumped up (A: 2500-3300/2000).
"Oh no! Now that frog's Attack..." Celina started.
"It's higher than Infernal Sniper's Defense!" Arina concluded.
"D.3.S. Frog, please swallow that Infernal Sniper whole!" Rose ordered, and the giant frog obliged, darting out its long, slimy purple tongue, wrapping it around Jaden's monster before dragging her into its gaping mouth. As it swallowed, an explosion of light could be seen from within its throat, signaling the Evil Hero's destruction.
Syrus winced. "Gross..."
"Unfortunately for you, I am far from done," Rose declared as she inserted another card into her duel disk, still in the midst of her Battle Phase. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell, De-Fusion!"
"Wha?! That's not good!" Hassleberry exclaimed while everyone else let out a surprised gasp.
"Come back to me, my three Des Frogs!"
Thanks to her Spell's effect, Rose's Fusion Monster vanished in a bright light as it was returned to Extra Deck, and was soon replaced with her frog trio once more (A: 1900-2700/D: 0 x3).
"My princes, take down that evil sorcerer!" Rose cried out dramatically.
"Evil sorcerer?" Jaden echoed in bewilderment. Despite being somewhat distracted by Rose's statement, when one of the Des Frogs was about to attack, Jaden was ready for it and responded by pushing a button on his duel disk, causing one of his set cards to spring up. "I activate my Trap, Call of the Haunted to Special Summon Elemental Hero Clayman from my Graveyard!"
His large clay hero then appeared on the field in Attack Position (A: 800/D: 2000).
The appearance of Jaden's new monster forced a replay, but that wasn't enough to deter Rose. "It matters not. I will just have one of my Des Frogs get rid it instead, and then the remainder of your Life. Go! Death Recital!"
Getting ahead of themselves, the three frogs leapt into the air as they prepared to take out Jaden's monster and the rest of his Life Points, but he was ready for them. "I activate a Trap! Hero Ring!" he declared as a large red shield magically appeared in Clayman's hands. "This card turns into an Equip card on one Warrior-Type monster with 1500 or less Attack, and monsters with an Attack of 1900 or more can't attack it!"
Clayman held up the shield just as the Des Frog trio closed in, causing all three of them to slam into the hard metal and be thrown back to Rose's side of the field.
"Oh no! Jeffery! Roosevelt! Percival!" Rose gasped in concern.
"Your frogs have names?" Jaden gawked in exasperation as he and Clayman sweated uncomfortably.
"That lady is nuts..." Chazz grimaced as he and Kasumi continued to watch the duel from the railings atop the stands.
"Please don't tell me you're just now figuring that out," Kasumi scoffed. "But more importantly, what are you going to do about it?"
Grey eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
"What I mean is that despite her claiming to be able to see spirits, I haven't seen a single one from her deck since the duel started, and I'm guessing neither have you," she stated. "That means she obviously lied to Master Sartorius about her gifts. Don't you think you should do something about that, or do you want me to?"
Deciding that having Kasumi get involved was a disaster waiting to happen, Chazz just grumbled in compliance and began walking down towards the field.
At the same time, Rose was studying her cards and weighing her options. Though her Battle Phase was over, there was still more she could do. If it has come down to this, I will use all my Frogs... she decided, but first went ahead and played another Spell Card. "I activate Magic Reflector by targeting my Solidarity Spell. Now, one counter is placed onto it, and if it would ever be destroyed, the counter shall be removed instead."
The Continuous Spell was suddenly surrounded by a purple light.
"Next, I sacrifice my three Des Frogs to summon Amphibian Angel - Frog-Hael!"
The three Des Frogs vanished to be replaced by a large orange frog with angel-like wings jutting out of its back (A: 1400-2200/D: 800).
"Only 1400 in base Attack?" Jaden wondered.
"Frog-Hael's special effect is decided by the number of monsters I sacrificed," Rose explained. "In the event that three are sacrificed, all three of his effects are applied. First, you cannot target this card for an attack. Second, all Spell and Trap cards on the field are destroyed."
A powerful blast of water erupted from out of nowhere and onto the field, destroying Jaden's Hero Ring and Call of the Haunted, which also caused Clayman to be destroyed as well. Due to Magic Reflector's lingering effect, the counter placed on Solidarity was removed at that time, keeping the Spell safe from destruction.
"And, lastly, I can Special Summon as many 'Frog' monsters from my Graveyard as possible!"
Emerging from a pool of water that inexplicably appeared on the field were Rose's three Des Frogs (A: 1900-2700/D: 0) and Swap Frog (A: 1000-1800/D: 500).
"So many frogs..." Syrus's eyes bugged out upon seeing the frog-fest while everyone else made similar expressions.
"Man, they're so slimy..." Hassleberry cringed in disgust.
"Is this the end?" Bastion couldn't help but wonder.
"Impressive, right?" Rose said, seeming pleased that she was able to call upon so many of her beloved Frog monsters and gaining field advantage once again. "With this, I will finish my turn."
"Wait a second!"
Jaden and Rose turned their heads towards the direction of that sudden outburst and soon found Chazz approaching the dueling field. "Princess Rose will exit here, and I will take over the duel," he declared.
"What's the deal?" Jaden demanded. "We were justgetting to the good part... Don't butt in!"
"He's right! Please step back!" Rose seconded, but then suddenly turned back to Jaden, something about his words catching his attention. "Wait, the 'good' part?"
Jaden just grinned knowingly at her.
"Rose, I can see a lie in what you've been saying," Chazz accused. "You're unableto see the spirits of Duel Monsters!"
Rose genuinely seemed taken aback by that statement. "W-What are you saying?!"
"I'm saying that you lied to Master Sartorius about your abilities," he reiterated. "And I should know. After all, I've been seeing those annoying spirits, morning, noon, and night for the past year... That's why I'm much more suited to make Jaden see the Light over a poser like you!"
"I haven't lied or anything of the sort! I am able to see my princes!" Rose insisted passionately. "When I was a child, I would read the story about the Frog Prince, and the frog was always my prince, my friend! I was always alone, and it would protect me... And, when I came across this Frog deck, I was able to see them! My princes!"
"You're hallucinating!" Chazz reasoned.
"You're wrong," Jaden argued, coming to the princess's defense. "Spirits are inside the hearts that believe in them. No matter what shape it takes, a spirit's whatever inspires you to not be alone."
That statement seemed to make Chazz falter for a second.
Jaden then smiled at Rose. "Don't mind him. If you believe in them, I'll believe, too."
"Humph. Well, whatever," Chazz huffed, keeping his face impassive once again. "Regardless of your beliefs, the fate predicted by Master Sartorius will soon be revealed." With that, he stormed off towards the exit, running into Kasumi halfway there.
"Well, you gave up rather fast..." she chided.
Chazz just shrugged. "You know that it's impossible to try to win an argument with idiots. And like I said, the outcome won't change the future that Master Sartorius saw, anyway."
"Huh... I guess that's true on both counts," Kasumi admitted dismissively and then the two of them took their leave.
Jaden watched them go through the corner of his eye before turning his attention back to Rose. "Anyway, the duel's back on!" he declared eagerly. "I'll take out all of those princes you like so much!"
"Jaden Yuki..." Rose smiled, seeming happy that someone else finally believed her about her princes.
"Here goes! My turn!" He drew a card and instantly inserting it into his duel disk. "And I'll start off by activating Miracle Fusion, banishing Elemental Hero Heat and Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird in my Graveyard in order to Fusion Summon Elemental Hero Great Tornado in Attack Mode."
Heat and Air Hummingbird appeared on the field and jumped into the swirling vortex. Out of the vortex came the green-yellow-and-black armored warrior with the torn black cloak hanging over one shoulder and (A: 2800/D: 2200).
"And when Great Tornado is summoned, it halves the Attack and Defense of all of monsters on your field."
Great Tornado unleashed a powerful gust of wind surged across the field, weakening all of Rose's monsters (Des Frog A: 2700-1350/D: 0 x3) (Amphibian Angel A: 2200-1100/D: 800-400) (Swap Frog A: 1800-900/D: 500-250).
"Next, to join Great Tornado, I'll Normal Summon Elemental Hero Sparkman, and active the Spell, O - Oversoul to Special Summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix from my Graveyard!"
The electric hero (A: 1600/D: 1400) and fiery heroine (A: 1200/D: 800). both appeared on the field in a surge of electricity and flames.
"Then, from my hand, I activate Power Charge and equip it to Great Tornado. Now, whenever he destroys a monster by battle, its Attack will increase by the Attack of the destroyed monster."
Rose gasped at that information as Great Tornado's right arm was magically outfitted with a cybernetic gauntlet.
"But wait, cause there's more," Jaden went on. "I also activate Hero Mask. Now, by sending Elemental Hero Avian from my Deck to my Graveyard, Great Tornado can be treated as Avian until the end of this turn." He retrieved the card from his Deck and placed it in his Graveyard slot, prompting Great Tornado to take on Avian's appearance.
"Finally, I activate Feather Shot. Now, Great Tornado, who is being treated as Avian, can attack as many times as the number of monsters on my field!"
"Wait..." Kyle started.
"So that means..." Celina continued.
"Jaden's got this duel won," Raiden concluded with a grin.
"Now, go! Great Tornado, attack those Des Frogs!" Jaden ordered, and the Wind warrior responded by shooting into the air and sending a powerful cyclone at one of the Des Frogs.
"No! Not Jeffery..." Rose wailed as said frog was thrown off the field and shattered.
Rose: 4750
Jaden: 4800
Due to the effect of Power Charger, Great Tornado's Attack increased by that of Des Frog's base power, jumping up to 4700 before he unleashed another powerful cyclone that struck another one of Rose's Frogs, causing her to whimper as poor "Roosevelt" was destroyed and her Life Points took another hit.
Rose: 1400
Jaden: 4800
Great Toronto's Attack went up by another 1900, bringing his strength to 6600 right as he sent another windstorm "Percival's" way, wiping out the last Des Frog along with the rest of Rose's Life Points, causing her to falter and collapse to her knees.
Rose: 0
Jaden 4800 WINNER
"And that's game!" Jaden celebrated as he deactivated his duel disk, but then took notice of the state the princess was in. "Whoops... I think I overdid it... You okay there, Rose?"
Rose huffed as she lifted her head to him. "My princes are more attractive than those Heroes!" she pouted childishly before picking herself off the ground and began storming off, but not before sticking her tongue out at Jaden as a parting shot.
As she made her exit, Jaden took notice of the spirit of a little frog dressed in regal clothing with a crown on its head floating besides her in a transparent green bubble. The small amphibian quickly bowed its head towards Jaden in gratitude before turning around and floating after the princess.
Yubel materialized. 'So she really did have a spirit after all...' she mused, stating what Jaden was thinking. 'Well, anyway, you won. This means that you get to decide where everyone is going for that field trip.'
"Oh, right. Got so caught up in the duel, I forgot about that," Jaden confessed as Crowler walked over to join him.
"So, Jaden, where are we going for this field trip? Please say Italy," Crowler said, holding out the microphone to Jaden, who took it.
"Nope. I've gotta something better in mind," Jaden said with a grin into the microphone. "For our field trip, we're going to the sacred dueling ground were the Yugi and Kaiba battled it out! Domino City!"
In the stands, Raiden smirked and leaned back in his seat. "Knew it," he said.
"We're going to the hometown of Yugi Mutou!" Syrus exclaimed.
While everyone else seemed excited about the destination Jaden had selected, Celina noticeably paled and clenched her hands into fists.
Kyle, noticing this, put a hand on her shoulder. "Celina, what's wrong?" he asked, concern in his voice.
"I..." she began, but then bit down hard on her lip. She had been prepared to come up with an excuse or insist that there was nothing wrong at all, but as she looked into Kyle's eyes, she realized she could trust him with the secret she had been keeping for a while now. He was her boyfriend, after all. There shouldn't be any secrets between them. "I'll tell you about it a little later, okay? At our usual spot?"
Kyle nodded in agreement. "Okay."
…
Later that evening, Kyle and Celina met at the beach, just as the whitenette had promised. She was currently sitting down on the sand, hugging her knees to her chest while Kyle quietly gazed up at the ever darkening evening sky, waiting for his girlfriend to break the silence.
"Do you think there may be something to all that fate stuff after all?" she finally spoke up after another minute.
Kyle stared down at her in confusion. "Huh? Why do you ask? Don't tell me you're starting to believe all that crazy talk Kasumi and the others keep preaching about."
"No, of course not," Celina insisted. "It's just, when Jaden chose Domino as our field trip destination, I couldn't help but wonder if the universe was trying to tell me something..."
"Like what?"
The blue-eyed girl hugged her knees a little tighter. "Well, I know I haven't told anyone about this yet, but Bakura... a few months ago, he told me that my birth mother contacted him. Apparently, she lives in Domino City and says she wants to meet me..."
"Really? Celina, that's amazing!" Kyle blurted out but, upon taking notice of Celina's troubled expression, added, "Or maybe not?"
"I still don't quite know how to feel about it, honestly..." she admitted, sighing. "I mean, part of me has always wanted to meet her so I could get some answers about why she didn't want me, but, at the same time, I'm nervous that the resentment I already have about that will only grow after I see her. I guess maybe that's why I've been putting off giving Bakura an answer about whether or not I want to go through with it..."
Kyle took a seat beside his girlfriend. "While I don't exactly believe in fate and stuff like that, I actually think that this trip to Domino might be exactly what you need right now," he said. "I know you're worried about some of the things that could happen if you go, but don't you think you might regret it even more later on if you don't?"
Celina thought long and hard about that before realizing that Kyle had a point. "Yeah, you're right," she admitted, now feeling much more confident than she had been before. "I'll do it, then. I'll tell Bakura that I'm finally ready to meet my mother."
Kyle smiled. "That's great. I'm really happy for you, Celina."
She smiled back. "Thanks. I'm still pretty nervous about it, though."
"Don't be. I'm sure it'll be fine," he assured her.
"I hope so."
. . .
A/n what do you think?
Blaze: and the first arc of this story has officially come to a close!
Jaden: what will happen next?
Blaze: the Field Trip arc. Misha (EndlessNight025) and I are working it out now, reordering it and the like so it may take a while. I'm actually going to go work on one of the duels that will occur during this arc, which I think I'm going to have fun with
Bakura: why, foolish mortal?
Blaze: because it's going to be my first time writing a duel involving my favorite original Yu-Gi-Oh! Character
Ryou: really? I will be dueling during the Field Trip arc?
Blaze: I did say that my favorite original YGO character would be playing a larger part in the plot, remember?
Ryou: oh, right.
Blaze: well, I'm gonna go work on that (attempts to stride off like a boss and trips and falls)
Bakura: (bursts into hysterical laughter)
Roger: nice going, idiot
Blaze: (eye twitches) Kanda...
Kanda: (draws Mugen)
Roger: (eyes Mugen and raises an eyebrow) you're listening to that little girl?
Blaze: I'm not little! (Is ignored)
Kanda: (shrugs) she said she'd get me an unlimited supply of soba if I took care of idiots she comes across (attacks Roger)
Roger: (screams in fear and takes off running)
Blaze: (chuckles) I don't own D Gray man by the way. I hope that you enjoy this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.