"Huh, so you're the youngest duelist participating. Well, that makes it easy for me to win! Oldest goes first-"
"I draw!" I say, drawing a card from my deck. In my hand I have some good monsters, Polymerisation and shadow swap. He stops halfway, and realises what I've done.
"Hey! You can't do that! I'm going first-" Oh, he's weaker than I thought, I better interrupt again.
"The first person to draw a card goes first. I've looked at the card, so it's my turn!" I say quietly, studying his reaction. He just stares dumbfounded.
"I summon level 4 Fire shadow hunter(1800/1200) in attack mode. When he is summoned to the field I am allowed to pick an equip spell of my choice and add it to my hand." I carry on, oblivious to his protests. I have to keep calm; no effect can come from his words, whether it's cockiness, or frightfulness. I quickly add Shadow cloak to my hand, and then carry on. "Then, I use polymerisation and two shadow thieves in my hand to summon, level 6 Shadow guardian (1800/2500) in defence mode! Then, I equip it with Shadow cloak which stops it from being destroyed in battle, and its ability allows it to be immune to spell and trap cards trying to destroy it. Lastly, I place one face down and end my turn." I finish my turn, and take a deep breath mentally, willing myself on.
Lucian manages to keep track of my move, and then looks at his cards momentarily stunned.
"You may have gotten away with stealing the first move, but you winning won't be the same! I draw! I summon big eye in attack mode (1200/1000). Now I use big eye's effect to look at the top 5 cards in my deck!" He pauses for a moment then grins evilly. "I'm also allowed to put them back in any order I wish. Now, big eye! Attack fire shadow hunter!" I frown, fire shadow hunter has more attack points then big eye-
"Oh no! Wait! Big eye stop your attack!" I look at Lucian sharply.
"Why the change of move?" I ask normally.
"May have misread your monster's attack points…" He grumbles sheepishly. Jeez. "I end my turn."
That was slightly unexpected. He ends his turn with only big eye to defend it? I'm guessing he has a strategy for his next turn.
"I draw!" I sharply take a card from my deck, and tilt it so I can only just see the card. Well, that draw wasn't what I wanted but, I'll just carry on. "First, I switch Shadow guardian to attack mode. Now Shadow guardian, attack big eye!" I wait, expecting a surprise but nothing comes. Lucian gets dealt 800 points of damage. "Now Fire Shadow hunter, attack Lucian directly!" Again, Lucian does nothing, and gets dealt 1800 points of damage, leaving him with 1600 life points. "I place one face down and end my turn."
"Wrong move little girl. You've done all the work for me! I don't even need to play any extra spells, only this beauty. I activate Slash draw!" Oh. How lovely. "Do you need me to explain it?" He asks, cocky with confidence.
"I know how it works, but you should enlighten those in the audience who don't." I answer in an expressionless tone. This was what he was waiting for. My heart starts to quiver. My heart beat just keeps on climbing. But I can't let it show.
"Certainly." He sneers. "I send cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard, equal to the number of cards on the field. Now, if the next card I draw is slash draw, it destroys every card on the field, dealing you 1000 points of damage for each one. And I count four." I have to say, this is creeping me out! He looked at the top 5 cards in his deck earlier, and I know the one he draws now will be slash draw! He put it that way! I stare empty onto the field at my shadow guardian. He draws. A white light slashes across the field, and I brace myself for the impact. The impact that doesn't come. Secretly, I smirk.
"What?... Why do you still have 4000 attack points?! I just destroyed you! Your monsters are gone!" Lucian stutters aimlessly.
"True… but thanks to my face down, Shadow return, all my cards with the word shadow in the title return to my hand. Which, was all of them." I say expressionless. "Have you finished your turn?" I ask in the same manor.
"I place one face down, and end my turn." He says painfully. This match is mine.
"I draw! I activate pot of greed and draw two more cards. I summon fire shadow hunter (1800/1200) in attack mode. I also summon level 3 shadow thief (1200/400) in attack mode. Now, shadow thief, attack Lucian directly!" I shout, knowing the face down is a trap.
"I activate graveyard protection, and bring back big eye with 600 more attack points to protect me from your attack!" He shouts. Shadow thief is destroyed. His big eye has the same number of attack points as my shadow hunter, but luckily I kept a spell card as backup.
"Nice trap, but I equip my Fire Shadow hunter with Shadow spear, giving it 1000 more attack points. Lastly, I activate the field spell Limbo." I place the card into the slot and watch the scene disappear and a white land become everywhere. "You see in Limbo, as there are no shadows, my shadow hunter becomes the hunter he used to be, giving him 1000 extra attack and defence points. Now, Fire Shadow Hunter, attack Big eye!" My fire shadow hunter shoots an arrow laced with fire at Big eye, and Lucian loses what life points he has left.
"How could I lose… I'm on a winning streak! How could I lose to a little girl!" Lucian says in disbelief. The crowd cheers loudly, and I find myself looking at my shoes and hurrying of the stage as politely as possible after giving a small smile. Honestly, I would have been done for if it wasn't for shadow return. I guess this is why I love my deck. Even if I'm holding back, they'll always take care of it for me.
"Hey, Azure! Nice duel! Awesome actually!" I turn around in the corridor and see Jaden with Syrus and Bastian, coming up towards me.
"Thanks." I say modestly. "But I'm still shaking." I add, holding my quivering hand up.
"No worries, you were amazing! Defeating him like that, not losing a single life point!" Syrus says with his cute smile. I smile back nervously.
"Not to forget that Slash draw, I'm sure most wouldn't have survived it." Bastian says thoughtfully, and I smile at him.
"Well, I can't wait for your duel Bastian, and you were amazing Jaden, you had a great comeback from that loss of life points." I say honestly.
"Yeah, well I can't wait to duel you!" Jaden replies.
"I agree, I hope we get matched up, and if we don't, how about a match afterwards?" I ask shyly. I push the idea of a challenge in front of me, nervously nudging it with my hand. It isn't exactly a challenge, but it's the closest I've been to it for a while.
"Of course!" Jaden replies. I smile nervously, curious with how he manages to have that much confidence, yet have such a flawless comeback in his match. I walk with them up to the railing, watching the matches with them. And Lisa's comes next.
"She's a girl from East Academy, right? Do you know her Azure?" Jaden asks.
"Yeah, I suppose I do…" I trail off, looking away. I didn't lie, I do know her.
"She really plays with strategy, look at that combo she just pulled!" Syrus exclaims.
"Now, Grandsoil the Elemental Lord, attack his last monster and half his life points!" Lisa snarls. It's always eluded me, how she manages to snarl like that… yet still look like and be a complete girl.
"I suppose, but she's not playing with much heart is she? She's just yelling commands." Jaden says, watching the duel.
"If you say so Jaden, but the Traptrix deck is quite a hard one to understand." Bastian replies.
"I agree with Bastian, she definitely has some kind of skill with duel monsters." I say, chipping in quietly.
I look to the side and see Alexis standing next to Zane, making small comments on the duel. Syrus catches my gaze, and looks down at his feet. I watch him closely. He's acting nervous… which isn't exactly unusual for him, but… Oh, that's it! I remember hearing someone talking about him in the hallway earlier, not particularly nice, but it has something to it.
"Syrus… is Zane your brother?" I ask unsurely. He looks up at me startled, then looks down at his feet again and nods.
"Oh come on Sy, it's no big deal, you can be just as good as him!" Jaden says, catching Syrus' nerves. I catch on.
"Syrus, nothing can determine what you are except yourself. I don't know what your brother thinks of you, but I'm sure it's for you well being." I say confidently for Syrus, but with a wobble in my throat. I really should stop lying about my opinion. Actually I should just stop lying.
"Look, she's won." Bastian says, interrupting the awkward conversation. My eyes snap back to the stage, where Lisa's wearing her victory smile. My heart sinks. I wish she could get out soon. I don't know whether I'll be able to face her. I find a clench in my stomach, and pull my hand up and give a small wave to Bastian, slipping off before Jaden can pull me into another conversation.
I end up going to the port. The water calms me down… helps me think. Reminds me of… nevermind.
"You did well Azure." I look up and see Adynn looking at me, with a small smile on his face. Which is really a big thing with him. "You didn't react at all, you controlled it. And you came out with an excellent win."
"Only because of you. But then I guess we're the same person, aren't we Adynn?" I say, smiling back. As I stand up he disappears, and I go to the cafeteria to get some food before the next match.
After eating fast, I guess I should head to the library. They have more books here than at East Academy, I might as well make use of it. I turn the corner and **CRASH** bump into someone. I really need to get out of this habit. Please don't be Lisa. It isn't. I recognize the grip the person has on me as I don't fall to the floor, and slowly flick my eyes open to look at Zane Truesdale as I did yesterday.
"It seems, you like to bump into people a lot." He says, he face still expressionless.
"Sorry, I was just going to the Library to grab a book before the next match and I-" I stutter as he presses a finger to my lips. He puts a small tug on his lips, which could go into a smile.
"You don't need to explain. It was an accident." He says. I realise that we're still in the position he caught me in, half kneeling on the ground. I slowly stand up, and he starts to walk away.
But I catch his arm and he turns to face me.
"Um… before you go… what's up with you and Syrus? He seemed… nervous only 10m away from you." I ask nervously, knowing I'm creeping into his personal thoughts. But Syrus has become my friend. If that's what Jaden would call us, and I have to know. I look at my feet, but don't let go of my gentle yet firm hold on his arm. He hesitates slightly, then replies:
"Ask me again after you've seen him duel." He says in his usual tone. And walks off.