CHAPTER 3: A Bad Reputation

Wednesday

Time 7:30

After yesterday, Red Hat was still sleeping in his room. However, his sleep was interrupted by a voice that kept calling to him.

"Hey, come on man, you wanna wake up."

As he opened his sleep-closed eyes, it took him a while to focus. The image of the person who had woken him was Jaden. Red Hat I try to get up, albeit reluctantly. "Good morning Jaden. What's going on?"

"It's time for you to get up. It's already breakfast time. Hurry up or you won't find anything left to eat." he explained.

"Is there anything else?" he asked as he stood up.

"Today we would have class with Crowler. It's not the best thing to start the day with but we can't do anything about it."

"Fine. Then let's go to breakfast." Red Hat answered as he and Jaden left his room to go to the dormitory cafeteria, where they met Syrus and Chumley. Once they finished eating, they all went out together to go to class.

Time 9:00

In the class, Red Hat was seated a couple of seats above Jaden and the others. Red Hat regretted getting out of bed, not to go to class, but because Crowler was the director of the Blue Obelisk dorm, he wasted no time making the students in his dorm look like they were the best, humiliating others, for mostly just the guys from Slifer Red. He had to fight the urge to fall asleep in class, due to the fact that most of the things he explained he already knew. "It will be the longest three years of my life. But I have to put up with it if I want a Pro Duelist."

While Red Hat was lost in thought, Crowler was making a round of questions to the students about the various types of cards and their effects.

The first of the questions he addressed to the Obelisks, asking them very easy questions to make the students of whom he was the rector seem superior. After a round of questioning his favorite students, he passes on to the students in the lower ranks to look for his next victim for some fun.

"You, Syrus Truesdale." Crowler said pointing to the young Slifer smiling. "Tell me what is a field spell card?"

"Well, a field magic would be...." Syrus couldn't answer the question because he was too anxious.

"Incredible, I can't believe you aren't capable of answering such an easy question." Crowler teased the young Slifer, making even most of the Obelisks present laugh, Red Hat didn't know Syrus very well but at the teasing by the professor and the laughter of the Obelisks he began to get angry. Satisfied with this funny skit, Crowler began looking for a new target among the Slifer. He notices Red Hat is pointing at him now.

"You, with the red hat." Hearing himself called Red Hat, he stood up.

"Yes professor?"

"I want you to answer the question I asked to your mate earlier." Crowler asked as he was already starting to smile.

"Do you really think you're giving me a hard time like this? It's time I let you taste your own medicine." It was the thought of Red Hat. Crowler was preparing to make his students laugh again, but after a few seconds his smile disappeared.

"Field Spells can provide an advantage or a disadvantage to either player based on the conditions. They share a certain property with: the type or attribute of a card such as increasing a monster's attack points, such as the Skyscraper card which increases the attack points of Elemental Heroes when they attack a stronger monster. Some also allow you to perform a fusion summon such as Fusion Gate. There can only be one field enchantment card in play if a second is played the first is destroyed unless the activation is negated before it is played in which case the first remains in play." Red Hat explained with a smug look.

After the explanation, everyone stared at him with amazed looks. He had not only answered the question they had asked him, but he had managed to explain in detail some of the characteristics of these cards, explaining their functioning in the game. "Why are you so amazed? This is a basic question, I didn't win the noble prize." Red Hat thought as he chuckled at the face Crowler had made.

"Surprised that someone like me Slifer can answer you. He should try asking harder questions, otherwise maybe he should go back to school." said teasing Crowler.

"EXCUSE ME! HOW DARE YOU MAKE FUN OF ME AND MY WAY OF TEACHING!" shouted Crowler, Red Hat had to keep from laughing in front of everyone.

" Now I want to know at least five cards that allow you to destroy more monsters and how you can prevent it." Crowler asked. He may have had luck answering earlier. But in this question he not only had to explain the card he also had to find a way to prevent the effect. Crowler smiled thinking he had cornered him.

"You really think you screwed me over. Ok, let's get this over with." thought Red Hat.

"For spell cards there are; Lightning Vortex for activate it you have to discard one card from your hand and you can destroy all face-up monster on yourn opponent field, Raigeki destroys opponent's monsters directly without paying any cost,Just like Black Hole which, unlike the first, destroys monsters on both sides although one way to protect your monsters against this card would be to play the White Hole trap card this way to only destroy the opposing monsters while your own are protected, Then there is Chaos End this card can only be activated if there are seven of your cards removed from the game and causes you to destroy all opposing monsters, another spell is Special Hurricane you discard a card and destroy all Special Summoned monsters on the field. For traps instead there are, Mirror Force which destroys all monsters in attack position of the opponent when he attacks, Torrential Tribute when a monster is summoned all monsters on the field are destroyed, There is also Crush Card Virus tribute one dark monster with 1000 or less Atk points all monsters he has on the field, in his hand, or that he draws for the next three turns are sent to the graveyard. There are some monsters too, such as Cyber Jar and Tribe-Infecting Virus. To prevent their effects you could use type Solemn Judgment paying half life points, Imperial Orderas long as it's on the field you can negate spell effects but to keep it you have to pay 700 life points during each of your standby phases so you can also destroy it if you don't want to keep it in play or Royal Decree which negates the effects of all traps on the field for traps and spells you can try using too Horus Black Flame Dragon LV8 and Silent Swordman LV7 both can negate the effect of spell and Jinzo can negate the trap card, you can use also Magic Jammer negate a spell discarding 1 card, Seven Tools of the Bandit negate a trap if you pay 1000 life points, for monsters you could nullify the effects with the counter trap Divine Wrath discardig 1 card from your hand you negate the effect of the monster and destroy it." Red Hat explained.

Crowler couldn't believe what he had heard, an even more astonished look had formed on his face than before. He couldn't believe this Slifer could answer such a question.

"How does it feel to be humiliated by a student from the same dormitory that you despise so much. Or is it worse that I managed to make you fall into the same trap as you." Red Hat said teasing Crowler.

Crowler's face turned red with anger. He seemed about to explode from all the embarrassment this student had given him in front of the whole class. "That's enough! Unless you want to risk being in trouble already, I suggest you go back to your place and shut up!" shouted Crowler at the top of his lungs.

Red Hat pulled himself together with a simple shrugged and said no more for the rest of the lesson. While everyone stared at him for his disrespect to a teacher. As well as the gaze of many Obelisks that seemed to pierce him. Not that he cared what the Blue Obelisks thought of him.

Everyone was whispering how bad a person he was. All except one person, Jaden Yuki.

"Wow, Syrus, you saw. Red Hat managed to beat Crowler at his own game." Jaden declared.

"Um, Jaden, not to offend you but I think Red Hat is in trouble right now after this. You don't think we should help him?" Syrus asked.

Upon hearing these words Jaden took a quick look at Red Hat to see that his expression was serene and not at all worried. "No I don't think so, he just proved he can handle an already difficult situation on his own." Jaden replied. "I can't wait to be able to duel with him." thinking about the idea of tackling Red Hat.

"Unless you two Slifer Slackers want to get in trouble too SHUT UP!" yelled Crowler at Jaden and a still angry Syrus.

Time 16:00

After the first day of class, Red Hat began pacing the corridors of the school as soon as he left the classroom. "Of course all that time in class it's boring as hell. I wish I couldn't go, but I have to do exams and tests for the next three years, so I have to put up with all this." thought Red Hat.

"I read on the PDA that even if I get a great score on the exams, I don't have to move up the ranks. Good, because I don't even want to think about hanging around those obnoxious Obelisk snobs." He thought back in his mind.

As he continued walking down the halls, he didn't notice that he had ended up in front of the school's card shop. "Here I can buy packs of cards with the duel points I get. Might as well take a look." I think as I enter the shop. Entering the shop he saw that it was very large inside as well as well stocked. There was also a basket with sandwiches in it that could be bought with duel points. Red Hat approached the counter seeing that there was a girl working. "Excuse me, is this where I can buy card packs?" the churches.

The girl turned to answer him. "Yes, that's right, by the way, I'm Sadie. I don't think I've ever seen you here. Are you new, by any chance?" she asked.

" Yes I'm new, I arrived the other day, my name is Red Hat. Although I'm already disappointed with Crowler who happened to me as a teacher. He tried to make fun of me, as I bet he did with most students from Slifer Red it was fun to humiliate him in front of the whole class." He explained what had happened today.

Sadie looked at Red Hat with a frown. "With your attitude you're lucky if they don't suspend you already, or worse with expulsion. If you continue like this I don't think you'll be able to move up the ranks in the dormitories."

Red Hat had to fight the urge to laugh at that last statement. " I don't care so much about moving up the ranks, I prefer to stay where I am at the Slifer, I also wish I couldn't go to class unless there are exams, the rest is about hearing things I already knew. Be that as it may Do you have any card packs?" He asked hoping to find something.

"I've never met anyone so arrogant, not even among the Obelisk boys." thought Sadie trying to ignore the boy's behavior. "Here's a new box we received, it contains some rare cards, the packs cost 300 duel points each, if you want to buy the whole box instead it's 3000. You can pay with duel points just give me your PDA. " she explained.

"Then I'll take the whole box. I want to see if anything comes out to boost my deck." Said Red Hat showing the PDA to the girl who was shocked to see how many points this guy had.

"How did you manage to have more than 8000 duel points? You're here alone one day how the hell did you do it? I've never seen a newcomer with so many points, mostly a Slifer."

" Yesterday I dueled against five Obelisks blue, it wasn't difficult at all, they didn't even manage to take a point away from me, none of them." He answered simply.

" You must be very strong if you managed to defeat five Obelisk blue." Sadie replied in disbelief at this story.

"It's not just whether I was strong or not, it's the fault of my opponents who thought they were invincible when they weren't." Red Hat simply replied.

"If you say so. Here, take it." Sadie answered handing him the box of cards.

"Thank you so much Sadie"

"Either he's a good guy, or he's trying to hide that he's a troublemaker."

Red Hat decided to go back to his dorm room to open the packs of cards.

Thursday

Time 8:00

Red Hat woke up late, having been up all night checking the cards that had come out to him. "Well, it doesn't matter that I go to class, I can just go to exams. Better to stay here and do something more constructive." He thought as he set to work modifying a deck he had put aside.

Some more useful cards that came out to him were Dandylion and Solemn Judgment. "I'll put these aside, I can help myself later."

Red Hat spent the whole day not only modifying the deck, but also creating others deck based on recipes he had brought with him.

Time 16:00

After finishing with the his deck, Red Hat left his room to go to the store again to buy a sandwich. As he walked past the cliff he saw in the street a woman pushing the van from behind. The woman was elderly with brown hair tied back in a braid, wore glasses, and wore the same uniform as Sadie. Red Hat thought for a few seconds of ignoring her and acting like nothing had happened, but something inside him told him he had to help her out.

So I approached her asking "Do you need help?"

"Oh, yes very kind, the van broke down and now I have to push it. I have to take it to the academy shop." The lady answered.

"Wait, she can't do it alone, I'll give her a hand." Red Hat offered and started pushing the van himself.

So Red Hat and Mrs. pushed the van all the way, arriving at its destination an hour later.

Once there, the lady turned to Red Hat with a slight bow and smiled at him. " Thanks for the help, I could never have done it without you."

"Don't worry, I just gave you a hand."

"By the way, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Doroty, I work at the Academy shop."

" I'm Red Hat instead, I just moved here."

" Thanks again for your help, you are the second student to help me in such a situation." Doroty said catching his attention.

" The second said?" He asked curious.

" Yes exactly, it's the second time this happens to me. The other time a first year Slifer red helped me. His name is Jaden Yuki." Doroty answered smiling and surprising Red Hat.

"Did Jaden say? I know him." he replied.

"Oh, I should have guessed, after all you have the same uniform too, above all you are both nice."

Hearing those words Red Hat lowered his hat to cover his face so as not to show that he was turning red with embarrassment. After a few minutes he remembered why he had come. "Ah, I almost forgot. Can I have a sandwich." he asked.

"Sure. Here you are." Doroty said handing Red Hat a sandwich. "This one is on the house instead." she said also handing him a pack of cards.

" No...I can't accept it. I can pay for it. The points are not a problem for me." counters Red Hat.

"I insist, it's my way of thanking you for today." Doroty insisted.

"Well then thank you." He replied taking the cards and the sandwich giving it a bite to understand that what had happened to him was a chicken sandwich.

He ate the sandwich very quickly. When he was finished he was about to leave, but a moment ago he turned to Doroty. "Thanks so much for the gift."

"Don't worry, come back and buy more cards." Doroty said greeting him.

He waved his hand back and smiled at her

After a few moments Sadie arrived, who had been observing everything, she said to Doroty "We should be careful of that boy, in my opinion he is a troublemaker."

But Doroty didn't agree with her. "No, he's a good boy of that I'm sure." she replied.

Time 17:15

When Red Hat left the main building, he stopped at the entrance where the stone walls were. "Doroty's a nice person. She doesn't think I'm a troublemaker, though I bet she's heard the rumors by now about what I did in class." It was the thought of Red Hat, who had remained motionless the whole time in front of the entrance. He decided it was time to go back to his room.

"Here it is! It's him!" a voice yelled.

Soon Red Hat was faced with a group of blue Obelisks blocking his way.

"So you'd be the Slifer who dared to make fun of Dr Crowler and us Obelisk." yelled an angry Obelisk.

"How dare you fool us." said another Obelisk.

"You will pay here and now for your disrespect Slifer Scum." shouted a third.

At that point Red Hat found himself surrounded by numerous students from the Obelisk blue. He too didn't seem concerned at all by the situation, in fact he was rather calm. "Typical of you inflated balloons, Try to get the victory in any way even with the numerical advantage." Red Hat said to those present.

"Well, what did you expect. We deserve the glory of standing above everyone else. While people like you have to stay at the bottom like the losers you are. That's why we're the best here."

"But do me the favor, at best you are the best to have a huge ego." Red Hat responded by silencing him.

" What did you say?" asked the Obelisk furiously.

" You are hard of understanding. Very well, then I'll explain it to you in a very simple way. You think you are the best for your position of the rank that you don't even earn but you think you deserved it with your money, but when it comes to winning you would even resort to the most subtle methods to win. That's why to me you are nothing more than a pathetic excuse for a real duelist." Said Red Hat with venom in his words.

If before the Obelisks were just angry, now they have become furious at Red Hat's words.

"Listen now I don't want to waste time so leave while you can." he suggested to the Obelisks

"You still have the nerve to make fun of us, Slifer Slacker."

"No one can fool us Obelisk and think they can get away with it."

"You'll pay here and now for your insult." Said an Obelisk activating the duel disk.

Red Hat just laughed at all their threats. "The only thing I regret is wasting my time with you." he said activating his duel disk too.

At that point a large number of students begin to gather them. Not only from Obelisk blue, but also from Ra Yellow and Slifer red.

DUEL

Obelisk blue: 8000 LP

Red Hat: 8000 LP

" I'll go first. I draw!" Red Hat draw.

Hand 6

" I summon Sangan in attack position ( Atk: 1000 – Def: 600). I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

Hand 3

" That's all you can do Slifer Slacker. I Draw!" Obelisk blue draws.

Hand 6

"I start by activating Graceful Charity, so I can draw three cards and then discard two." The obelisk draws its cards and then discards two. "I summon Goblin Elite Attack Force." ( Atk: 2200 – Def: 1500).

As the horde of armored goblins appeared on the field, Red Hat smiled. " I activate a trap. Torrential Tribute! I can activate it because you summoned a monster, now all monsters on the field are destroyed!" A tide of water came out of the trap card and swept away all the monsters.

"Also, since Sangan ended up in the graveyard, its effect is activated. When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard i can add a monster with 1500 or less attack poins from deck to my hand. I choose Lord of D." Red Hat explained as he added the card to his hand.

" Damn! I set a card and end my turn." The Obelisk concluded.

Hand 4

" It's my turn. I Draw!"

Hand 5

"I Play Pot of Greed to draw two cards."

Before Red Hat drew his cards the Obleisk responded by playing his card face down. " I activate a trap. Call of the Haunted! With this I can special summon Manticore of Darkness whic i had discarded before."

Red Hat smiled without caring about his opponent's move. " I think you have memory problems. In fact you forgot the other card I had set. The Counter Trap Seven Tools of the Bandit! I pay 1000 life points I negate your trap and destroy it!"

Red Hat: 8000 – 7000 LP

" You're joking." replied the Obelisk angry at the opponent's counter-move.

" I play the card Polymerization! With this i fuse Lord of D. and Divine Dragon Ragnarok to fusion summon King Dragun ( Atk: 2400 – Def: 1100)." From the fusion of the two monsters, a half-dragon and half-human monster appeared on the field. "I don't really like fusion summons, but I think it's still good against you Obelisks."

"You think that's enough to scare me." replied the Obelisk.

" King Dragun's effect allows me to special summon a dragon monster from my hand. I choose Luster Dragon ( Atk: 2400 – Def: 1400)." A large green dragon with emeralds on its skin appeared on Red Hat side of the field. " Now I attack you directly with my two dragons!" The two dragons attacked the Obelisk with fireballs causing a huge explosion.

Obelisk blue: 8000 – 5600 – 3200 LP

" I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Red Hat ends his turn.

Hand 0

" Now I'm gonna make you pay! I Draw!" The Obelisk draws.

Hand 5

"Now I destroy you. I play Foolish Burial to send Cyber-Tech Alligator from deck to the graveyard. Now I play Monster Reborn. to Special Summon Cyber-Tech Alligator from the graveyard."

"As if I let you do." Interrupted Red Hat. "Go Counter Trap Solemn Judgment! I pay half my life points to negate your card and destroy it!" A wave of light blasted Monster Reborn and destroyed.

Red Hat: 7000 – 3500 LP

"You really think you stopped me. I play Premature Burial! I pay 800 life points to special summon Cyber-Tech Alligator."

"You learned nothing then." Teased him Red Hat. " I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Premature Burial." a powerful typhoon destroyed the opposing card.

"I can't let you beat me. I put a monster face down and end my turn."

Hand 1

"It's my turn! I draw! " Red Hat draw

Hand 1

"This duel is over. I play Nobleman of Crossout! I destroy your face-down monster and remove from the game." An armored man appears, slashing the opposing face-down monster with his sword, which is revealed to be Bubonic Vermin.

"Oh no, I have no defenses now." the Obelisk was shaking because it knew what was about to happen.

"Now get ready, because my dragons attack you directly ending this duel." The two dragons hit the opponent with fireballs as before taking away all the remaining life points.

Obelisk blue: 3200 – 800 – 0 LP

"How is it possible that I lost against a Slifer?" Said the Obelisk angry and disappointed with the outcome of the duel.

Red Hat shrugged before answering the Obelisk's question. "It's not that hard to figure out why you lost. You Obelisk blues think you're the best, thinking you can look down on other duelists for your rank. Well, your rank doesn't mean a thing, you're just pathetic duelists, they think they're the best. But as long as they're here, I'll put people like you where they deserve." Hearing his speech, all the spectators of the duel were surprised by the kind of person they had in front of them. With that said Red Hat was about to leave, at least until the other Obelisks surrounded him.

"You just got lucky Slifer Slacker. Why don't you try us now!" another Obelisk retorted.

Red Hat wasn't surprised at how petty they were. "You are so petty that to save your reputation as the best duelists you attack me in group. Very well, if you are so keen on being humiliated, go ahead. Who wants to be first?" Red Hat shouted.

Meanwhile

Jaden was running in the hallway of the main building with his friends trying to keep up with him. " Come on guys they are dueling at the main gate i definitely want to see the duel." Jaden said enthusiastically.

" Jaden wait for us!" shouted Syrus

" I can't run anymore!" Chumley said exhaustedly.

Once they left the main building, they saw that there was a big crowd near the main gate, next to it was Bastion standing watching everything. Bastion noticed them. "It took you a while to arrive, the duel is already over." Bastion told the trio.

"Bastion, but who was dueling?" Jaden asked curiously.

"He was Red Hat, he dueled against all those Obelisks, he didn't lose a single duel. One strange thing though is that all his opponents were completely exhausted after the match, he was so aggressive against them." Bastion explained.

"Did he manage to defeat all those Obelisks? Wow, now I want to duel him more than before." Jaden was excited to be facing an opponent as strong as Red Hat.

They saw that Red Hat had finished another duel. "Well, is that all you Obelisk blues can do? You are such a disappointment, you talk so much about being the best because of your rank that you don't even earn yourself. While I'm around I'll show you what is true skill putting yourself back in your place!" After this speech Red Hat decided to go, returning to the dormitory too exhausted from the duels he had had. He wanted to leave as soon as more Obelisks arrived to challenge him. All the Obelisks he had defeated were whispering about how scared and angry they were at him. He glanced at his PDA for a moment to see that he had accumulated over 10,000 duel points. Before Red Hat left, Jaden walked up to him.

"Hey, Red Hat wait!" Jaden yelled before joining him with the others. "You beat all those Obelisks without losing. You can duel me now?"

Red Hat laughed at his friend's enthusiasm. " Guess you'll have to wait for Jaden. Now I'm too tired."

"But how did you manage to beat them? The Obelisks are the strongest in the academy." asked Syrus.

Red Hat bristled at Syrus' last comment. "They're not even that strong. I didn't even need to use my real deck against them."

"Your real deck?" he asked confused.

"Yes, that's right. Against them I used test decks that I had created. I didn't see the need to use my real deck against them." Red Hat explained.

"So what you used wasn't your real deck. Ah, I can't wait to duel against you." Jaden said.

At that point Bastion intervened. " You know, you should stop with that attitude you find yourself. After what you said to the professor today it's already a fortune if they let you stay."

"You're Bastion, right? Thanks for the concern, but I'm able to handle the problems I get myself into."

"How do you know who I am?" Bastion asked curiously.

"Jaden told me a lot about you. Anyone who is Jaden's friend can consider himself my friend."

"Thanks for considering me a friend. Although I think you shouldn't be so angry with everyone while you're at the academy."

" Did you think I was angry? No you're wrong, I was just annoyed by the behavior of the Obelisks who think they are the best, I thought they would give me the duel I was looking for, instead they were a disappointment and I put them back in the place they deserve." Red Hat explained.

"Well, I could say that I'd like to get to know someone with your skills better, I'd be sorry if they sent you away. You can try to calm down at least." Bastion asked.

"I can't promise you such a thing, but I'll try. Now I'm tired, I'm going to rest." He answered as he walked back to the dormitory.

Time 21:00

"Do you think Red Hat will be okay after today Jaden?" Syrus asked.

"That boy is a fury, you saw how he reduced the Obelisks." continued Chumley.

"Rest assured, Red Hat just needs to have a good time. I saw it in his eyes that's what he wants too. Maybe if I duel with him he might calm down." Jaden explained his idea.

"Are you seriously going to challenge him? Have you seen how he duels?" It reminded him of Syrus.

"Yes, I know how strong he can be, but I don't back down, on the contrary it makes me want to challenge him. And then you know me, I never back down from a challenge." Jaden said smiling before being followed by his friends who also smiled at their friend.

"Well, if you're sure Jaden, then show him what you're capable of." Encouraged Syrus.

"Show him who you are." Chumley continued.

"Ha ha, I knew you'd understand me. Well, now it's time to go to sleep. Although I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep with the urge to duel that found me again." Jaden said before going to sleep to be followed by Syrus and Chumley.

What they didn't know though was that Red Hat was outside their room door, listening to all of their talk.

"I too can't wait to duel with you Jaden. Maybe with you I can use my true strength." thought Red Hat as he tipped his hat to hide a smile of enthusiasm as he walked back to his room.

Hello everyone. Here is the new chapter. Thanks for the help in the comments you gave me with the Duel Spirits problem I think I have a little clearer ideas on what to do, but I can't guarantee it yet. I thought to put the meeting with Doroty so there was someone other than Jaden who thought Red Hat wasn't all bad. I haven't used the deck chosen for Red Hat yet. First I wanted to prove once again how terrible Obelisk Blue were by including Crowler who is their teacher, we know how mean he is to the Slifer especially Jaden. So I included a part of the story where I humiliated him in class at his own game. In addition to the part where the Obelisk students were mean by attacking Red Hat as a group losing to him while he was using a test deck. But speaking of other things I want to give you a little preview. In the next chapter you will see the deck I have chosen for Red Hat. I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think in the comments below. As I said the first time, if you have any suggestions let me know.