Anonymous Review: I don't know. I think Bastion did sorta have a chance in the manga, since Alexis' character wasn't the "I don't wanna man" like in the anime. She was more naive. She may've not had feelings for Bastion in the manga, but she did show that she considered him a friend, and it could've grown from there. Many relationships I've come across did start out being in the same boat as Alexis and Bastion in the manga. Whether or not Alexis and Bastion are cannon in the manga, I am including pairings that aren't cannon in either the manga or anime. I mean hell, I paired up Jaylin with Belowski, if that makes any sense.
Hey everyone! Now, we've finally reached the part where Jaylin duels against Zane. I was debating whether or not to have the duel be the same as the one in the anime. Then, I thought a little more, and realized that a duel like this needs to be a bit more epic than the one in the anime. So, here you go. Review please!
Jaylin checked over her deck for, what had to be, the hundredth time in a row. It was not that she was panicked or a perfectionist, but there were so many monsters, spells and traps that she wanted to use during her duel with Zane. Today was the duel between her and Zane, and Jaylin didn't want to duel with just her usual deck. On top of that, she knew Zane had calculated her strategies, just like she had also done to Zane.
As soon as Jaylin heard a knock at the door, she shoved her deck back into her deck pocket on her belt. She responded, "come in!"
Syrus appeared from behind the door, Jaylin turning her head while lying on her stomach on her bed. Syrus asked, "how're you feeling right now?"
"Energized, nervous, excited, take your pick."
"I can see that," Syrus chuckled in response.
"By the way, I feel hungry right now. Feel like going for a bite to eat?"
"That's actually why I came. Alexis wanted me to inform you that you, Ronda and Carl that you guys have an invite to the Obelisk Blue Cafe."
"Sweetness! I guess she wants to prepare me for the tournament."
"Zane's preparing too. He had me play a few rounds with him this morning."
"That's awesome! We're going to need all the practice we can get. I just hope I'm able to use some of my super cool awesome monsters."
"I'm sure any of your monsters will be impressive," Syrus assured with a bright smile. "Anyways, you best get going. Lunch will be starting in a few minutes."
"We've got time!" Jaylin assured offhandedly. She placed on her vest, which was lying on the floor, then walked out the door to make her way to the courtyard.
Today was the big day, the day Jaylin would finally get to duel Zane. It was big enough for Duel Academy to let the school have the day off for the two final duelists. This was mainly, because a lot of things always happened on this day, and not just the final duel of the two finalists. The teachers were also grading the students' work before the Semester Finals, the dance team and cheer squad were preparing for the Duelist Championship, and the Spirit Club, Student Council, Art Club, Drama Club and other clubs were preparing their stands for Spirit Day.
It was, because of this, that the duel took place right after lunch. It was a rule that no club was to prepare their stands for Spirit Day until after the duel. Compared to the other duels, all students were required to see the final duel, or study for their finals in the school library. Any student that wasn't in either of those areas were forced to go to the library, stay and study for the rest of the day.
Jaylin had dueled a few times against Alexis and Carl in a Royal Duel. She also used the rest of the time at lunch to arrange her deck, adding a few cards. Zane also dueled a few times against Syrus and Ronda, who decided to join since Jaylin was dueling against Alexis and Carl. Just like Jaylin, Zane arranged his deck for the rest of his lunchtime.
Finally, the time came. Jaylin and Zane made their way to the double doors of the dueling stage of the auditorium. Jaylin showed a sly smirk, looking at Zane from the corner of her eyes.
"Feel like a bet?" Jaylin asked as Zane stopped and faced her. "Winner gets to decide what the loser wears for Spirit Day."
"Deal," Zane smirked before the duo walked through the double doors, walking to their side of the stage.
"MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!?" Dr. Crowler announced to the students, waiting for them to quiet down. They all eventually settled down and listened. "IT IS NOW TIME FOR THE FINAL DUEL TO SEE WHICH OF THESE TWO STRONG DUELISTS WILL BE ABLE TO REPRESENT OUR SCHOOL IN THIS YEAR'S TOURNAMENT AGAINST OTHER SCHOOLS ALL ACROSS JAPAN!" The audience applauded loudly, practically screaming in excitement. "NOW, WITHOUT FARTHER ADO, LET'S GIVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE TO ZANE TRUESDALE AND JAYLIN YUKI! MAY THE BEST DUELIST WIN!" Everyone applauded loudly as Zane and Jaylin walked toward each other, shaking hands. Then, they played Rock-Paper-Scissors to decide who would go first. Zane was first, and Jaylin was second.
Jaylin and Zane stepped a good few feet from each other, then shuffled their deck. They drew five cards before Zane drew his first card. A smirk appeared across his face. This was the duel him and Jaylin have been waiting for, since the first day of school. It was time for a rematch from Jaylin's disqualification those years ago from injury during the Junior Grand Pix.
"I play Cyber Phoenix in attack mode," Zane declared as a huge robotic phoenix made of steel appeared on the field with mighty metal wings, orange at the bottom, appeared boldly in attack mode. "I place two cards face-down, and end my turn." The audience clapped for the end of Zane's turn.
Jayin drew her next card from her deck to her hand, peering at it. She smirked, "I summon Elemental Hero Ocean in attack mode!" Elemental HERO Ocean appeared boldly, twirling its wand, as the audience applauded for the summon of this monster. "He attacks your Phoenix!" Elemental HERO Ocean waved its wand, and a huge wave of holographic water hit Cyber Phoenix, bursting it from the field, then leaving Zane with 3700 life points remaining.
"I activate Phoenix's effect," Zane said, drawing one card from his deck to his hand.
"I throw down three face-downs and end my turn," Jaylin finished as the audience clapped for the end of her turn.
Zane drew his next card, then looked at his hand. He declared, "I special summon Cyber Dragon from my hand, due to its effect!" The cybernetic dragon appeared boldly onto the field as the audience applauded for its summon. Jaylin looked up with her eyebrows risen.
"Wow, it does look like Blue-Eyes up close," Jaylin realized.
"He also destroys your Ocean," Zane smirked as Cyber Dragon took a huge gulp of breath, then began to release a blast of electricity from its mouth until...
"Not so fast, I activate Swamp of the Fallen!" Jaylin replied as she activated her trap card. Suddenly, a swamp appeared under Cyber Dragon, sinking it slightly, and reducing its attack points to 1050. It then released its attack toward Elemental HERO Ocean. Zane smirked.
"Well, good thing I have a counter trap, huh?" Zane responded, activating his trap Trap Jammer. The swamp was instantly sucked into some sort of glowing magic circle on the ground as the attack from Cyber Dragon hit Elemental HERO Ocean, bursting it from the field. Jaylin was left with 3400 life points remaining. "With that, I play Pot of Greed, then end my turn." Zane drew two cards from his deck to his hand, and the audience clapped for the end of his turn.
Jaylin drew her next chard, peering at her hand. She looked up and declared, "I reveal my other trap Call of the Haunted to bring back Ocean!" Elemental HERO Ocean returned to the field with brilliance. "Then, I use Polymerization to fuse Ocean and Woodsman and bring out Terra Firma!" Elemental HERO Ocean fused with Elemental HERO Woodsman, from Jaylin's hand, into the light. The strong wooden and mossed Elemental HERO appeared onto the field as the audience loudly applauded, screaming and whistling. "With that, I will use Pot of Greed." Jaylin drew two cards from her deck to her hand. "I place Shadow Mist in defense mode, then end my turn." The audience clapped for the end of her turn, after summoning dark misty Elemental HERO.
Zane drew his next card, then declared, "I summon Cyber Kirin in defense mode." A small cybernetic creature, that looked like a mini dragon on four legs, appeared on the field in a defense position. "Then, I activate Machine Duplication to bring out another Cyber Kirin to the field in defense mode." Zane's face-down card activated as another Cyber Kirin appeared in the same position as the first.
"Damn, just like Multiply. Is it just me or is Pegasus running out of new ideas?" Jaylin asked, smiling sleepishly.
"I end my turn by placing one card face-down, then ending my turn," Zane declared as the audience applauded for the end of his turn.
"If you say so," Jaylin said, drawing her next card. She bit her bottom lip, thinking of what her next move would be. "Terra Firma attacks your Cyber Dragon!" Elemental HERO Terra Firma punched its fist into the ground, cracks forming and aiming for Cyber Dragon.
"I activate Negate Attack!" Zane declared as a swirling vortex appeared, stopping the cracks of the ground from reaching Cyber Dragon.
"Then, looks like I end my turn," Jaylin declared as the audience clapped for the end of her turn.
Zane drew his next card, then declared, "I sacrifice one of my Cyber Kirin's to bring out my second Cyber Dragon!" Another Cyber Dragon appeared boldly onto the field next to the first Cyber Dragon. "I activate Photon Generator Unite by sacrificing two of my Cyber Dragons to bring out Cyber Laser Dragon!" Two of Zane's Cyber Dragons disappeared, and were replaced by a snake-like dragon with a tail that showed razor-sharp blades circulating like a fan. The audience applauded, screaming and whistling loudly for the summon of Cyber Laser Dragon. "Using its effect, I can destroy your Terra Firma." Zane showed a dark smirk as Cyber Laser Dragon used its tail to attack Elemental HERO Terra Firma, obliterating it. "With that, I can destroy your Shadow Mist." Cyber Laser took in a big gulp of breath, then shot a blast of electricity from its mouth directly at Elemental HERO Shadow Mist, blasting it from the field. "I fold one card, then end my turn." The audience clapped for the end of Zane's turn.
Among the audience, Bastion began thinking deeply, wondering, "why didn't Jay have Terra Firma attack Cyber Dragon after summoning it?"
"You know how Jaylin is, she likes giving her opponents a chance to show their strongest monsters before she gives it her all. It annoyed me to no end during our first duel," Alexis replied, rolling her eyes.
"You'd think she'd start being a little more serious against Zane, knowing what he's capable of," Bastion smirked.
"HA! The day that happens is the day she skips breakfast."
"The real question is when this girl is going to start taking the game more seriously," Carl wondered, narrowing her eyebrows.
"Oh, it'll come. Though, this might take a little longer than with other duelists. This is the duel that Jaylin and Zane have been waiting for, so they're most likely going to be wanting this duel to last longer. If I'm correct, we're going to be here all day."
"Well, at least this will be an exciting duel," Bastion said as Alexis showed a smirk in response.