The electric bolt hit Zane head on, but it was clear it didn't bother him at all. It lit up his face and the wind blew his hair away from his face as his life points dropped to 1600.
"You could at least kinda flinch… it was the same with Azure, what's with you top duellists? Oh well, maybe this face down will get to you later." Jaden exclaims. Only one face down and one monster defending? If Zane carries on from his last turn, I'd say Jaden's defence is pretty short.
"Nice moves kid. Of course, with my field now empty I can just throw out another cyber dragon." Zane continues, calm as ever. I'm not sure whether it's a front or not, as I do the same thing, but on the inside I'd definitely be panicking with 2400 life points taken out in one go.
"Or better yet two. I play monster reborn, and with just one monster in my graveyard, you can guess who's coming back." I watch as Zane's field suddenly has two strong cyber dragons on it, his recovery from Jaden's turn fast.
"But they won't be here for long, in present form." Zane shows a polymerisation card, the sequence of moves linking together. "Dragons unite! Now cyber twin dragon (2800/2100), emerge!"
"Uh? Twin dragon? One was bad enough!" Chumley exclaims, and I nod my head for Jaden.
"Now my dragon can attack twice in a round, which means, double the trouble for your monster, and your life points." Zane orders the attack, and I hope Jaden's ready.
"Not so fast! I've got a trap card out, a hero emerges! Now normally, you'd have to randomly pick one of the cards from my hand, and if it were a monster, I'd get to summon it. But since I only have one card in my hand let's just get right to it shall we?! Worughtweiler, in defence mode." Jaden explains as I observe the attack.
"You'll need him. Cyber twin dragon, double strident blast." Zane continues, and Jaden's field is wiped clean, him himself going down to 2500 life points.
"Glad you did that, cos when Wroughtweiler's destroyed his special ability activates! It brings one elemental hero, and one polymerisation back from the graveyard and into my hand. And just when you thought you could probably stop worrying about him huh Zane?" Jaden retaliates, and I'm impressed by the use of his special abilities.
"I don't worry." Zane replies shortly, and I can't help but smile. Jaden starts to laugh.
"Man you're chill! Not worrying, not even flinching?! You are good!" Jaden starts.
"You too, Jaden" Zane replies, and my lips part at his acknowledgment. This is a good duel. No matter the outcome, I'm sure Jaden, Zane, Syrus and everyone watching will have taken something useful from it.
"But where was I? Oh yeah, I was about to summon Elemental hero bubbleman in attack mode. And since bubbleman's the only monster out on my field, I can use his special ability to draw two more cards to my hand." Jaden draws his card, and Winged Kuriboh appears once more over his shoulder. Though I hate to say it, I doubt winged kuriboh will be of much help, apart from as a sacrifice.
"Alright Zane, I play Polymerisation, and fuse my elemental hero bubbleman with elemental hero clayman. Now elemental hero mudball man(1900/3000), rise in defence mode!" I'm impressed Jaden managed to pull out a monster with enough defence points to go against Zane's twin dragon, but I'm sure that won't stop him.
"Now give me your best shot Zane!" Jaden finishes.
"My best shot? You got it." He replies, and the capsule rises from the ground. "It's been two turns since I first activated different dimension capsule, and now I can take the card I first put into it and add it to my hand. You played well, but not well enough." All it takes is that line, and a look in his eyes, and I know the duel is over.
"Hey, give me what you got, I'm ready!"
"I'm sure you are, a good duellist is ready for anything, at that means not only knowing how to use all their cards, but knowing how to play them too, and you play your cards well Jaden." I smile stretches over my face. Is it alright for me to be proud of him? At first he wasn't even sure if he would duel Jaden, but now he's complimenting him.
"First I'll activate this de-fusion card that splits my monster back into two separate cyber dragons. Next, I'll activate the magic of power bond!" I see the card Syrus was holding back at that last duel, knowing the consequences. "With this spell card I'm allowed to summon a machine type fusion monster, and with another cyber dragon in my hand as well, I can now fuse three of them together to create, the cyber end dragon (4000/2800)." A magnificent metal dragon forms on the field, and my eyes widen at Zane's strongest monster.
"Plus, its attack points are doubled thanks to power bond's effect. And keep in mind, when cyber end dragon attacks, the difference between its attack points and your monster's defence points are dealt to you as damage."
"Just hang tight! If you can survive this attack you can win for sure because of power bond's nasty side effect!" Chumley yells to Jaden.
"Chumley's right, at the end of the turn power bond is used, the player who activated the card takes damage equal to the monster's original attack points." Alexis says, but I'm afraid Jaden has no way out for this, the exit is shut.
"Cyber end dragon, attack mudball man! Super strident blaze!" Zane says, and I watch as Jaden and his monster are destroyed. Duel over.
Jaden sinks to his knees, and Chumley shouts to him.
"I can't believe it, he lost." Alexis says, and I nod. Just as Syrus starts wailing for his friend, Jaden looks up.
"Thanks for a great duel Zane." Jaden smiles. Zane smirks, and turns on his hell before looking back. I see his eyes rake over Syrus next to Jaden, before moving on. As Alexis moves to Jaden, I follow after Zane.
"So what did you think?" I ask.
"I think Sy chose good friends." Zane answers, and I smile.
"You looked like you rather enjoyed that duel." I say, and he nods.
"Definitely a good opponent, though I'm still waiting to challenge the one who beat him." Zane replies. My brow furrows before I realise.
"What? No…. um… I don't…. I don't think…. Um…" I make a futile attempt to find a reply to discourage any kind of match between us.
"Azure relax." Zane tells me, looking over his shoulder briefly before curling his arm around my shoulders, bringing me closer. "Stop worrying. I didn't mean to make you panic."
"I… I just…" Words leave me as my brain frantically works to find a way to redeem my speech, failing miserably as usual.
"Azure." Zane mumbles quietly, and I turn to look up at him. His earlier intense gaze now looks down on me softly. "You're having marked duels tomorrow, do you think you're prepared?"
I nod softly, my eyes still wide, not being able to pull away from his gaze. "I just hope I'm not put up against Jaden. I don't think I'm in the mood to try and beat him. Speaking of which…" I mumble before taking in our close proximity. Before I can change my mind I press on to the top of my toes and kiss Zane lightly before retracting as fast as possible and facing away with a deep blush on my cheeks. "…well done for winning."
I don't turn round as he resumes walking, leading me along with him, but I can feel his smirk from here. What the hell did I just do? Argh I feel so weird, what the hell was I thinking? Okay perhaps I … no no no, it was stupid that was the girliest thing ever I hate myself!
I shake my head and look forward, and blink as I recognise the girl's dorm. We come to a stop in front of the drainpipe leading up to my window, and Zane turns me to him, smirk still on his lips.
"If I'm correct that was the first time you kissed me." He says smug, and a blush and scowl at the same time. But before I can start thinking of a reply, his fingers lift my chin into a comfortable kiss, my arms lifting to his shoulders. He breaks of, and smiles. "Get some sleep Azure. We can't have you falling asleep in your duel."
"Mmhmm. Goodnight, make sure you sleep as well." I reply, and climb up the drainpipe as modestly as possible in my skirt while Zane watches in case I fall.
My eyes flash open and I groan, for some reason my body chose this morning to feel the aftereffects of losing sleep. It's annoying really, I get about the same amount of sleep most nights, and average of six, yet I only feel especially tired during the day when I actually need to be awake. I step into the shower in a first attempt to wake myself up, before dressing and all the normal stuff. I tie my fringe up into a half-up half-down hairstyle to keep it out of my face while I duel. I never really noticed before, but it can sometimes get a little annoying.
I walk out of my dorm and down to the common room and straight to the coffee machine in a second attempt to wake up, and make myself a double expresso. I used to always have lattés, but on days like this which have been increasing of recent, I need the caffeine.
"How can you drink it that strong?" Alexis' voice comes towards me, and I wave in greetings.
"I like it, plus the caffeine always helps." I answer honestly, and she sits down next to me.
"I almost wish I liked it just so I could use the caffeine, just watching last night seemed to tire me out more than usual.
"Same. Why do you think I'm having this?" I reply. "Speaking of which, how was Sy after watching the duel? I mean, Jaden didn't win but it was one heck of a duel. Zane used power bond perfectly as well."
"Really quite good! When I left them they were in high spirits, rushing off to get food. Syrus definitely has at least a little confidence boost, or at least has the knowledge of how to play his cards better." Alexis replies, plopping a teabag into her mug of hot water.
"And speaking of which to you, how was Zane? I think he actually had to try in that duel!" Alexis asks in turn.
"Yeah, I think he really enjoyed it. Jaden is always a formidable opponent." I agree with her. "Well, I'd love to stay, but I've finished this coffee, and I wanted to go and speak with Hunter, before I run out of time and he leaves." I say dejectedly, and Alexis nods.
"Don't worry about it Azure, I'll see you at the marked duels."
I make my way to the obelisk blue boy's dorm, where my brother is staying, and politely ask a second year to tell Hunter I'm waiting for him. He appears from the double doors with two steaming cup of coffee in his hand.
"Coffee?" Hunter offers, and I accept happily. "So, what brings you here? Though I have no objection to quality sibling time, though I know we both wake up early doesn't mean we meet this early." I chuckle and shake my head.
"I did have something I wanted to talk to you about actually. Let's sit." I take my place on a bench a little away from the boys' dorm, away from prying ears.
"Late night? You look tired." Hunter notices. I shrug.
"Not much later than usual, but I was watching a duel between practically the best duellists in the school."
"And that doesn't include you?" Hunter replies, eyebrow raised teasingly. I chuckle once again and shake my head.
"It was just exhausting. So much was going on. A great duel though." I explain.
"Does it have anything to do with what you want to talk to me about? Did something happen and you need big brother's help?" Hunter teases once more.
"Hunter! Stop it, though you are slightly right, it's not like that." I tell him. "I already planned on talking to you about it."
"Okay then, spill." Hunter says relaxed, and I bite my lip as I start.
"Well… since coming to duel academy, I've enjoyed myself a lot. I've been able to relax around the people here, and I'm happy to say I've made friends." I start, trying to ease into it. "And… well, with that… um…" As my words stumble, Hunter just waits patiently as always.
"I've grown close to someone in particular." I conclude, wondering if that got the point across.
Hunter raises his eyebrows and stares at me.
"Someone in particular… is this someone a boy?" His voice is suspicious, and I cringe as he says the words. I nod anxiously, and he slowly nods his head. "So you've been seeing someone… wow, who would've thought it would actually be you who had their first relationship the youngest." Hunter jokes.
"Hunter, you know this isn't about that. I just wanted to tell you." I reply quietly.
"So do I know the guy? Does Thomas know him?" Hunter asks, his voice not giving away his thoughts.
"Well, you've seen him around the place." I answer.
"Does anyone else know you've been dating him?" He furthers his questions, and I blush slightly. I'd never really thought about it like that. I guess we are dating.
"No. It's not really something either of us want, the attention and all. I'm still getting used to being a tournament winner, yet alone dating the-" I break off, and my words tumble away from me once more.
"So, who is he?" Hunter asks, and I turn to him, my eyes slightly wide. "What, is he treating you well? Does he look after you? Is he a nice guy? Is he overstepping your boundaries? Come on, you've got to give me something! I can't leave without knowing I've left you with a perverted freak!"
My cheeks flame at his question, and I scowl at Hunter. "Um… he's not a perverted freak. And he's been treating me very well, and he's a gentleman, unlike someone I know."
"And his name is…?" Hunter pushes the answer out of me.
"Promise you won't tell anyone?" I ask worried, and he nods. "His name's Zane Truesdale, top duellist of duel academy."
Hunter's eyebrows raise even higher if possible, yet furrowing at the same time. "Zane Truesdale huh? I have seen him around, talked to him a fair few times with Chancellor Shepard. A little quiet if you ask me…" I bite my lip in anticipation."…but I guess it's your choice. He's an upperclassman isn't he… isn't he a little old for you?" Hunter says, irritation slightly evident in his speech.
"Yeah… it's only a few years… it's never really occurred to me." I reply.
"Are you sure he isn't taking advantage of your youthful innocence?" I blush wildly.
"Hunter! And no, he wouldn't do that! He never does anything I'm uncomfortable with. Nothing like that has ever come up." I answer, trying not to think of anything my dirty-minded brother is thinking of.
"Well, I guess I'll have to meet the guy to find out. And what exactly did he have to do with you staying up late last night?" Hunter asks yet again, and I hurry to put a stop to his suspicions.
"He was duelling Jaden Yuki. I went to watch. That was all." I snap at him, and he holds his hands up in defence.
"Alright, alright. You can't blame me for being worried about my baby little sister, can you? Plus, I have a few questions for him. Will he be watching the marked duels?" Hunter replies casually.
"Yes, I think so. Most students do I think. Good experience, learning new duel techniques from other, and duel cards and such." I answer thinking.
"Well then I'll have a nice little chat with him while you duel. See you later Az, I have to get going. Make sure you're not late to your duel!" Hunter tells me, walking away.
I sit on the bench in silence, biting my lip, my mind floating.
"Is there a reason you're sitting here?" I look up, and a boy with black hair with obelisk blue uniform stares down at me, and I stare back dumbfounded.
"Um… not really. I was just talking to my brother I-"
"Yeah yeah yeah, if you think you can just come around whenever you want, think again, this is my turf, and you aren't allowed around here." The boy tells me harshly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't-" I try to apologise, but he doesn't allow me.
"Didn't you hear me? People like you aren't-"
"Take a step back, Chazz."
Here's another chapter! In case everyone hasn't noticed, I haven't been able to and won't be able to upload regularly, as quite literally I have no idea when I'll have time. Who knows, it could be tomorrow, but this apllies to all my stories in that I'm sorry for not updating for a while, but I will try to write as soon as an opportunity arises, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. J