Darkness and Light, Into the Chaos!
"And underneath the full moon, I see a path to a cavern that seems abandoned." Syrus narrated.
"Whoa, really? Then what?" Jaden asked, completely entranced. Yubel stood nearby, moderately interested. Sora looked to be on the verge of sleep while Wynn kept close to her boyfriend in case this was too frightening for her.
Chumley looked bored as Syrus continued, "Then at the back of the cavern, I see a mysterious lake." The boys leaned in slightly. "So I go in to look very carefully, and under just the right angle of light, at the bottom of the lake, beyond my reflection, I see a rare and powerful card. Naturally I go to get it, but when I reach for it," Syrus takes on a slightly panicked tone as he says, "An arm shoots out, grabs me, and pulls me into the lake!" Wynn ducks her head into Sora's shoulder, who discreetly embraces her as Syrus shouts, "No, not the water, anything but the water!" as he strikes a ridiculous pose.
"Water's not so scary." Jaden chuckled.
"Dirty swamp water?" Syrus asked unconvincigly. 'Oh, you're right. Only a chump would be scared of that story." the short blunette sighed. Sora and Yubel chuckled at Chumley, who had not only had his back against the wall, but also looked seriously freaked.
"Still, good story." Jaden shrugged, picking up the card Syrus had drawn.
"Mid-level scares for a mid-level card." Sora agreed. The game was actually rather simple in design. The higher level monster you drew, the scarier your story had to be. "Anyway Jaden, I think it's your turn."
"Yeah, and I hope I get a high level!" Jaden declared, drawing Sinister Serpent. "Oh." he sighed at the level one monster.
"Wow, you barely have to put any effort into this one." Sora laughed while Chumley returned to his seat.
"You lucked out." Syrus sighed.
"Still, I got a story." Jaden replied. Well, more like a memory, but they don't know that. he thought. "Many years ago, a young prince who had never left his castle, snuck out one day."
"Isn't this?" Sora muttered.
"I think it is." Wynn replied. Both had heard this story before, and while it would be scary for an eight-year-old at the time, it was hardly anything to the teens at the table. "But Jaden never misses a chance to tell everyone how he met her during their first life."
Jaden smiled nostalgically as he recalled. "Once he was clear of the castle guards, he went into the surrounding city to see what the commonfolk lived like. To say he was surprised would be an understatement. He had never seen so many different people at once." Glancing to the side, the hero duelist saw his girlfriend with the same smile he wore. "But while he was wandering, suddenly he heard a call for help. Being a kind boy, naturally he came running. But when he turned the corner, instead of someone needing help, he saw another child holding a knife pointed straight at him." He could remember the purple-haired kid looking at him with dead eyes. "Of course, the prince didn't know what to do, so naturally he screamed and ran, but the kid was faster. Catching him, she demanded he hand over his money. When he asked why, she upset and just repeated her demand." Jaden chuckled. "It was obvious a second later when her stomach rumbled."
"So what happened next?" Syrus asked curiously.
"Well, the prince offered to buy the girl a meal." Jaden shrugged. "Though, she did keep the knife pointed at m-him through the whole thing. And when the castle guards came storming through the town, the girl just vanished from his side like she had never been there." Jaden finished. "And sorry to say, that's it."
"That wasn't scary at all!" Syrus complained.
A dark laugh echoed from behind the wind and hero duelists. "I want to join in on the fright fest!" Banner announced, startling everyone.
"You just did!" Jaden, Syrus, and Wynn all shouted.
"But since he's here, why not let him draw?" Sora suggested, still trying to wrack his brain for a scary story of any sort. I guess I could take a page from Jaden's book and recount a memory? Lord knows I have enough terrifying ones.
"Oh wow, that's a level twelve monster." Jaden gasped. Sora looked over to see Banner holding a Five-Headed Dragon.
Wait, who had that card? Sora wondered. Syrus used machines, Jaden didn't have any dragons in his hero deck, and Sora only used wind monsters, so Five-Headed wouldn't be in his deck even if he had the materials.
"I think I'm gonna go to bed now." Syrus declared nervously.
Banner laughed. "What is wrong? Don't you want to hear about the abandoned dorm at the end of the island?" he asked. Jaden and Sora were instantly attentive. One for pure curiosity, the other for a possible lead on the energy he had been sensing. ""No one talks about it, but there was a special dorm set at the edge of the forest." Banner explained. "It was shut down after several students mysteriously went missing."
"Where'd they all go?" Syrus gulped.
"Well, that's the mystery of it." Banner replied quickly, "But the rumor was it had something to do with Shadow Games." Sora, Jaden, and their girlfriends tenses at those two accursed words. They had been the cause of grief for many centuries for many people, all their past selves included. While Banner explained what Shadow Games were, he got to the "powerful mystical items."
"You mean the Millennium Items?" Sora asked. "But those have been gone for years." he pointed out.
Banner laughed. "Yes, that is true enough." he acknowledged. "But I find most stories, they generally have to come from somewhere." Phaoroh meowed in annoyance. "Well I think that's my cue to get back home." Banner declared, heading for the door.
"Me too. See you guys tomorrow." Sora added, slipping a note over to Jaden.
"Later." The two Slifers replied.
"What did he hand you, Jay?" Syrus asked.
"Let me see." he muttered, opening the note. Chuckling, he put it in his pocket. "He wanted to remind me to get to sleep since its test day tomorrow."
Syrus looked skeptical, but decided not to push. "You have a point. Night." Syrus said, heading up for the dorm with Chumley in tow.
"So what did it really say?" Yubel asked dryly.
Jaden's care-free attitude vanished. "That he's gonna check out the dorm and let us know after tests what he found." he informed. "Yubel, if there really was something involving Shadow Games going on here,"
"Sora will find it and we'll wipe it out." Yubel assured. "Now come on, you have tests tomorrow and don't think I'm going to help you cheat."
"Oh come on, just this once?" Jaden whined.
...
Sora stood in front of the dorm, arms crossed and eyes closed as the wind blew through the trees. "Residual at best." he muttered. "It bears investigation, but we'll have to be careful." he muttered.
The next day(insert spongebob narrator voice here)
Tests went about how Sora expected. There were a few things he didn't remember, but he was sure he would get at least a B. Glancing to where Jaden and Syrus sat, he noticed the former was asleep, having already finished according to Wynn. Absently wondering if Yubel had caved into Jaden's pleading(doubtful) and helped him, he heard a nearby Ra mention that new cards had come in. Soon, the tests were over and most of the students evacuated the classroom in a mad dash for the card shop.
Sora chuckled at everyone's enthusiasm as he walked over to Jaden and Syrus, who were being roused by Basiton. "So what's the story with you getting here fifteen minutes late, Jay?" Sora asked jokingly.
"Just doing a good deed for the day." Jaden shrugged with a yawn.
"Yubel?" Sora asked dryly.
"He helped a lady push her van up the hill on the way here. You know how he is." the dragon girl replied, smirking.
"Yubel, you didn't need to tell him that!" Jaden said indignantly. "Anyway, where did everyone else go?"
"To get the rare cards I heard about most likely." Sora shrugged. "If you hurry, you may even get some."
"Wait, Sora I get, but why aren't you going, Bastion?" Syrus asked.
"Please," Bastion scoffed. "One Errant card would throw my deck's delicate balance off."
Well, getting the cards had been a bust. Apparently someone bought them all by the time the students had gotten there. Jaden's group wondered who had bought the whole shipment.
...
"Someone seriously bought up all the rare cards?" Chazz demanded.
"Sorry Chazz, we couldn't get even one." one of his goons replied.
"Not like it matters, no duelist in the Academy has even one card that can beat me." Chazz shrugged off arrongantly.
"Unless those duelists are Jaden Yuki and Sora Cliff." came a familiar voice. Chazz and his goons looked up to see a guy in a trench coat.
"That's the sticky-fingers who made off with all the rare cards!" Goon 2 gasped.
"Oh? You mean these?" The man asked, opening the trenchcoat to reveal it was Crowler with all the cards.
"You looked better covered up." Chazz quipped.
Twitching slightly, Crowler pressed on, "Well, I have a plan to make us both look better and make at least Jaden look like the fourth-rate duelist he truly is! I want you to be his opponent in the field test, and I want you to use these rare cards!" the twisted teacher explained.
"Um, I'm an Obelisk. I can't duel a Slifer, even if it is Jaden." Chazz pointed out.
"You leave that to me. Just do as I say and expose that slacker for the pitiful duelist he is." Crowler commanded.
...
"No evidence on who the Duel Giant may be." Sora muttered, watching the Slifer and Ra duels.
"SORA CLIFF, PLEASE REPORT TO FIELD FOUR. SORA CLIFF TO FIELD FOUR PLEASE." the voice on the PA system called.
"Guess that's our cue." Sora muttered, standing and offering a hand to Wynn. "Shall we my dear?"
"Let's." Wynn agreed.
Sora stood in front of a Ra he recognized as one Jaden had dueled the other day. "Drake, right?" Sora called.
"That's right, now pull out your disk and let's get this done!" Drake replied, activating his own disk.
Sora nodded, activating his disk and loading his deck. He uses some kind of Dragon Beatdown deck if I remember right. Sora thought.
"Duel!"
Sora:4000
Drake:4000
"I'll go first." Sora declared, drawing. "I summon this in defense mode and play three cards facedown to end my turn."
"Typical first move." Drake shrugged, drawing. "I summon Spear Dragon(ATK:1900). And get this, my Spear Dragon can do piercing damage." Drake smirked. "Spear Dragon attack!" Drake ordered, his dragon taking flight.
Sora grit his teeth as his Gusto Egul was revealed(DEF;400) before being impaled.
Sora:4000-2500
"Since you destroyed Gusto Egul, I can summon my Gusto Codor from my deck(ATK:1000)." Sora informed, another condor with a helmet and armor appearing in Egul's place.
"Well, my Spear Dragon switches to defense mode when it attacks(DEF:0), and I'll put a card facedown to end my turn." Drake finished.
Sora drew, rolling his eyes. "I summon Winda, Priestess of Gusto(ATK:1000). First I'll have her destroy your Spear Dragon." Winda threw a wind gust, shattering the defending dragon. "Now Gusto Codor attack!" Sora ordered, his bird raking its talons across Drake.
Drake:4000-3000
"I'll end my turn for now." Sora finished, waiting for his next move.
"I summon Twin-headed Behemoth(ATK;1500)." Drake declared after drawing. "Then I'll play my facedown, Shrink. Now I can cut your Codor's attack in half(ATK:1000-500). Twin-Headed Behemoth, take out that bird!" Drake ordered.
"Activate trap, Magical Hats." Sora declared, his middle facedown rising. Now I can take my Gusto Codor and two spell/trap cards from my deck, put them on the field face-down, and shuffle them." he explained, his Codor vanishing under the giant hat with a question mark before two more appeared.
Drake groaned. "Fine then, Behemoth, target Winda instead!" The dragon reached for the priestess, grabbing her with one head before chomping down, destroying her.
Sora:2500-2000
"Sorry Winda." he muttered,"But now that you destroyed her, I can summon my Gusto Gulldo from my deck(DEF:400)." he called yet another bird appearing on the field as the hats vanished, revealing Codor(DEF:400).
Drake bit his tongue to keep himself from cursing. For every monster I destroy, another takes its place. Gonna have to come up with something else. he mentally complained. "I'll end my turn." he replied.
"My move then." Sora declared drawing. Alright, first order of business is getting rid of that Behemoth. I already have the cards I need, now let's see if I can make this work. "First, I'm switching Gusto Codor back into attack mode(ATK:1000)." Sora declared, his roosting condor stretching its wings. "Then I'll equip Codor with Metalmorph." he added, his left facedown raising. "Now my bird gets a new shiny coat, and three hundred attack points with it(ATK:1000-1300)." Codor screeched as its armor took on a new shine. "And not only that, it gains half the attack of the monster it battles. Codor, show that Behemoth who the real masters of the sky are! Iron Talon(ATK:1300-2050)!" Codor divebombed the Behemoth, destroying it easily.
Drake:3000-2450
"And just to disuade you from summoning anything with a high level, I play Burden of the Mighty." Sora added, activating one of his favorite spells. "Now your monsters lose 100 attack points for every level they have. I end my turn."
"And since you did, I can summon my Twin-Headed Behemoth back from my graveyard, though its attack is reduced by 500(ATK:1500-1000-700)." Drake informed, his monster appearing again, but heavily battered. "My move. I sacrifice my Behemoth to summon Luster Dragon Number 2(ATK:2400-1800)." Drake grit his teeth as his dragon shrunk. "Next, I think I'm gonna get rid of that little issue of your spell. I play Stamping Destruction! Now I can destroy your Burden of the Mighty since I have a Dragon monster on the field." Sora grit his teeth as Luster Dragon 2 stomped on his spell, destroying it ad sending a shockwave back into him.
Sora:2000-1500
"Now my Luster Dragon gets his attack points back(ATK:1900-2400)."
"Really annoying really quick." Sora muttered.
"Luster Dragon, destroy Gusto Codor!" Drake ordered, his dragon letting loose a breath attack to destroy the bird.
Sora:1500-400
"When my Codor is destroyed, I can summon a Psychic type monster from my deck with 1500 or less defense points. I summon Genetic Woman(ATK:1700)." Sora declared, his new blonde monster with a giant green gauntlet appearing.
"I end my turn, but it looks like you're done as well." Drake informed matter-of-factly.
"Don't be too sure." Sora replied, drawing Eatos. "Alright, I activate my trap, Blessings of Gusto. Now I can return my Codor and Egul to my deck, and special summon my Winda, Priestess of Gusto(ATK:1000). Now, since I have no monsters in my graveyard, I can summon Guardian Eatos(ATK:2500)."
"No way!" Drake gasped. If I hadn't destroyed Codor, I would have been fine. he realized. He let me destroy his Gustos just so he could activate his trap and meet the summoning conditions for Eatos.
"Eatos, clear the way! Go Guardian Fist!" Sora ordered, his heavy hitter destroying the dragon with a well-placed punch.
Drake:2450-2350
"Genetic Woman, Winda, direct attack!" Sora ordered, his monsters moving. Genetic Woman clawed at Drake with her gauntlet while Winda threw a gust of enchanted wind.
Drake:2350-650-0
"Game over." Sora declared, smirking. "Nice one, had I not drawn Eatos when I did, I would have lost."
"No, I'm sure you still had something up your sleeve even then." Drake replied. "I'll be calling for a rematch."
"Any time, any place." Sora replied with a smirk, stepping off the field so Jaden could take his place. "Let's see how old Jaden does here." he muttered, watching his friend take the stage.
And done! Well that happened. What did you guys think of my play with Eatos? Pretty clever, right? Anyway, thoughts? Good? Bad? Not enough? Leave a review and I'll see you all next time for Jaden and Chazz's duel!