"Come one! Come all!"
Chazz saw the crowd around the impromptu booth. It took him a second to lift his head to see the sign: Educated Predictions.
"Alright! Anyone who got their tickets, kindly move out of the way, or I'll make you!" Chazz spotted a blonde girl scream through a plastic megaphone. Her threat was enough to make the crowd of students scatter before a proper line formed.
The Princeton child saw the crowd disperse with tickets in their hands. As the area cleared up, he spotted a familiar face managing the booth.
He scowled.
As he walked up to the front of the booth, his scowl met with a fake smile.
"Princeton."
"She-witch." Why was he not surprised? "What is this booth all about?"
"This she-witch is simply giving students the option to practice their critical thinking and analysis skills by guessing who will win the upcoming expulsion tag duel later this afternoon." Chazz despised the fact Wilona seemed to beam with pride at his attempt at insulting her. The Princeton boy also knew enough flowery language to find out what people hide underneath them.
"You set up a gambling ring? Isn't that illegal?" Chazz folded his arms.
Wilona gave a smile as genuine as conman about to scam an unsuspecting tourist. "Oh, Princeton. Sweet, naive, hideous, unintelligent, halfwit, floozy, porcupine-haired, sloth-like, Princeton."
"Hey!" The Obelisk Blue pointed at the girl who held her genuine smile. "You just insulted me!"
"What? I would never!" Chazz was this close to attacking her. Manners and social standing be damned! "But to answer your previous question, I already talked to Chancellor Sheppard about this. As long as 25 percent of the earnings go to the school, I'm allowed to host this. I must also enunciate that this is in no way similar to gambling, but a service to education." In other words, she was abusing legal loopholes, and the school was not only allowing her to do this but making a profit off it. Chazz wondered how this school worked sometimes.
"Hey, Prez, is that walking, pale mannequin bothering you?" Chazz looked up to two sets of glares boring into his skull.
Great, she found henchwomen.
"Ah!" The green-haired girl pointed a hand up. She smiled as sweet as honey over a bear trap. "Princeton, would you like to purchase a guess as to who would win the tag duel today?" As Wilona said this, she pushed a box towards him. Half of the box showed a near full batch of red lottery tickets; while the other side showed a nearly empty side of blue lottery tickets.
"Let me guess: the red for the slackers and blue for the mystery duelists Crowler's setting up." Chazz saw how much the fee was for a ticket. However, he became silent for a second before fishing for his pockets. "I bet fifty on the slackers."
The Obelisk Blue smiled when he saw Wilona's facade break. "You're be—choosing Yuki and Truesdale? I thought you hated them?"
The Obelisk Blue decided to ignore how she almost said bet. "I do," Chazz gave the transaction and took a red ticket. "But we have a score to settle, and I'll never forgive him if he drops out now."
Wilona blinked. "Huh, well, in that case, good guessing, Princeton."
The girls watched as Chazz left the area.
"Huh, that makes him the fifth person to go for Jaden and Syrus." Grace put a hand on her chin.
"Fifth?" Wilona looked to the silver-haired girl. "Who else bought a Slifer Ticket besides us four?" Besides Chazz, Wilona and the Tyler Sisters bought a ticket for the Slifer's victory.
"Right!" Grace made her hands motion a hammer hitting the head of a nail. "Sora came by when you were in the restroom and bought a Slifer Ticket for 100!"
"Sora? Your friend from Obelisk Blue?" Wilona tilted her head. "I find it curious that he came by the exact moment I left."
"Don't take it personally, Prez. He's sorta a lone-wolf kinda guy." Gloria dismissed. However, Wilona wondered if this Sora person was such a loner, why did the Tyler Sisters know him?
"Yo, Wilona!" The green-haired girl looked over to see the duo of the hour walking up to them along with Chumley.
"Yuki, Truesdale, Huffington."
Chumley seemed to flinch under Wilona's glare. "Why are you looking at me like that!?"
"Because I found out you're technically rich! Your father is a CEO of a company that makes Hot Sause and Booze!"
"I already told you I don't want to follow my dad's business! Don't you remember my duel with him?"
Wilona put a hand on her head. "I do." She sighed. "I did not expect you of all people to be technically rich."
"You never asked."
"A fair point." The green-haired girl conceded. "Forgive me; I'm a little more bothered by this than I cared to admit."
Jaden blinked. "Do you have something against rich people, Wilona?"
Everyone turned to see Wilona freeze for a second. She regained her composure and said, "I don't have a thing against them, but my history with money is a complex one."
Even the Slifer Reds could tell there was more to that than what Wilona said.
Jaden took a moment to look at the sign. "So, what's with those big words up there?"
Wilona went back to repeating what she said to Chazz.
"Well, I don't know much about gambling," Jaden either didn't care or didn't hear Wilona trying to correct him."But what are the votes?"
Wilona took out a sheet of paper then read off it. "As of right now, 217 students have bought tickets against you two while 5 bought tickets for your victory."
"Five against more than 200!?" Truesdale needed some form of relief, grabbing and pulling on his hair should not have been an option for him. "We're doomed, Jaden!"
"That's crazy talk, Syrus! We've been practicing non-stop for today's tag duel! Today we're going to win!" In a rare moment, Jaden's mind did the math. He looked to Wilona and asked, "Come to think of it, besides you three, who else voted for us? Was it Alexis and Bastion?"
"You'd be surprised," Gloria spoke up. "We didn't see those two yet, but the other two tickets came from Obelisk Blue Students. One of them was Chazz."
"Wait-What!? Chazz bet—"
"Educated guess!"
"Chazz Princeton, one of the most snobbish Obelisk Blue Duelists in the world, bet on Jaden and Syrus?" Chumley finished after Wilona interrupted. "Are you guys sure there's not a nicer Chazz on the island we've never met until now?"
"It was him," Wilona put her hands on the table and looked to Jaden. "He doesn't want you to lose, Yuki. He wants a rematch."
Jaden smirked. "And I'll definitely give it to him! Come on, Sy, let's beat our mystery opponents!"
[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains.]
People flocked into the stadium to watch the tag duel. For a fair amount of students, they wanted the chance to win free money. A bunch of Slifer Reds, the lowest of the school, were going into an expulsion duel by opponents set by Crowler. To the students, this was the same as a social execution.
Jaden Yuki and Syrus Truesdale stood in one corner of the field, waiting for their opponents to show up. All the while, the crowd seemed to be against them, heckling them more than usual since money was now on the line.
In the stadium, most of the music club and Alexis sat as close together as possible. Alexis and Bastion looked to Wilona after seeing the crowd boo their two friends.
"Okay, okay, I messed up and turned the crowd against Yuki and Truesdale. I may have also made Truesdale even more nervous with people wanting them to lose." The two waited for a bit of time, but Wilona didn't continue.
They narrowed their eyes more.
"I'm sorry, alright!?" The green-haired girl quickly said. "I saw an opportunity to gain money and..." She trailed off as she realized her defense had no moral background at all.
Bastion sighed. "At this point, you remind me of a certain decapod crustacean that just so happens to be to the boss of a yellow phylum Porifera."
Everyone else looked confused at Bastion's big words. However, Wilona narrowed her eyes.
"Misawa, I take the same biology class as you. Are you comparing me to a cartoon crab from a famous sponge cartoon?"
"Well, you are red, and you aren't afraid to show off your obvious vice."
Wilona folded her arms then slunk into her seat. She didn't have a good argument against that.
"What's taking them so long?" Chumley asked. "It's been five minutes past the scheduled time."
"This might be a mind game," Gloria put a hand on her chin. "Making your opponents wait more tends to rattle people's nerves."
"They wouldn't do something like that to students," Bastion Misawa offered. "Would they?"
Grace pointed to the other end of the stadium. "Hey! There's Dr. Crolwer!"
More people than the club members heard her and saw Dr. Crolwer in the lead of two fully cloaked figures.
"Overkill much?" Seika, who watched over the top rails, raised her brow. However, from up there, she saw something under their hoods. "Hey, wait a minute."
Crowler stepped into the duel field. "Sorry for the delay! Allow me to introduce the opponents!"
"We can introduce ourselves!" The one who said this was short, maybe just a little taller than Syrus. Yet that was the only thing the two shared in common as he sounded more ruthless and arrogant as Syrus was meek and scared.
"I am Lumis!" To the surprise of many, the man had a white mask that covered half his face.
"And I am Umbra!" The second figure lifted his head up to reveal another mask. But it was black and covered the opposite half of the face than the white one.
"We made even gods cower before us! You two worms won't even scratch us!" Lumis proclaimed as he and Umbra activated their duel disks.
"Who are these guys? Why do their names sound familiar?" Jaden wondered out loud.
"Lumis? Umbra?" Reika looked over to Zane as he started speaking. "I heard stories of a pair of duelists during the Battle City Tournament that almost defeated both Seto Kaiba and Yugi Muto in a tag duel. Is that them?"
Zane did not get an answer to his question. On the other side of the stadium, a short Obelisk Blue hummed to himself. He took out his lollipop and said, "This school is so stupidly over the top to hire former Rare Hunters. But I love it!" This stranger looked over to Jaden in particular. "I also wanna see how well this Jaden fellow plays."
Back on the field, Syrus had many conflicting feelings. The prevalent one made his knees shiver. "Jaden! These guys look tough!"
"I know! This is gonna be a sweet duel!"
Up above, Jaden's friends happened to overhear what the Slifer Red said.
A deep sigh escaped WIlona's lips. "It speaks volumes that those two are not on the same wavelength."
"Indeed," Bastion folded his arms. "You'd imagine that tag duels require some form of compatibility."
"It's not a requirement; it's a necessity," Gloria added along.
Crowler's voice rang through the speakers. He signaled the beginning of the duel.
[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains]
"DUEL!"
Lumis and Umbra: 8000 LP
Jaden and Syrus: 8000 LP
"I'll start it off!" Jaden took the lead and drew his card first.
Turn 1: Jaden. Cards: 6.
"I'll summon Elemental Hero Clayman in defense mode!" The familiar earth giant appeared in the field. "Then, I'll put a facedown and end my turn!"
Turn 2.
"That was a pathetic turn!" Umbra took charge and drew his card next. "Allow me to show a true turn!" He looked to his hand before he took out three cards. "I summon Masked Slave in attack mode!"
When he called out the creature, a dark portal appeared before Umbra. A hand raised out and slammed into the floor, followed by another, and another until six hands hoisted up a twisted mannequin with an elaborate horned mask.
Masked Slave
[Type: Normal Monster/Sub-Type: Fiend/Attribute: Earth/Level: 4/ATK: 1850/DEF: 1100]
Text: A powerful wizard created its ultimate golem. It destroys whatever its current master wishes, including former masters.
"I'm not done! I play the Equip Spell: Mask of Brutality! This card allows a monster to gain 1000 extra attack points at the price of 1000 of its defense points!"
ATK: 1850 → 2850
DEF: 1100 → 100
"A monster with over 2500 attack points on the first turn!?" Grace cried out.
"Wait, Mask of Brutality has a trade-off. For every standby phase, the owner of the card must pay 1000 Life Points." Bastion added in. His words gave others some hope.
"Next, I play the continuous spell: Masked Doll!" Umbra quickly added. "As long as this card is up, it will take the curse of Mask Of Brutality, meaning we don't need to spend 1000 Life Points each Standby phase."
"I have a bloody feeling that we just tempted the universe with that." Wilona sighed as the situation got worse for Jaden and Syrus.
"Go, crush that pathetic monster!" Umbra shouted as Masked Slave rushed to Clayman. Even though the puppet was smaller than the hero, everyone watched in horror as the puppet's many arms grabbed the heavier hero and crushed him like paper.
"I reveal my facedown," Jaden cried out after one of his most defensive monsters fell like nothing. "Hero Signal! This card lets me special summon a level 4 or lower Elemental Hero from my deck or hand! I choose Elemental Hero Bubbleman in defense mode!"
Elemental HERO Bubbleman
[Type: Effect Monster/Sub-Type: Warrior/Attribute: WATER/Level: 4/ATK: 800/DEF: 1200]
"Now because my field is empty, his ability activates!" Jaden gripped his fist. "I can draw two cards from my deck!"
"Licious!" Chumley smiled at the move. "When it comes back to Jaden, he'll be loaded!"
"Hmph!" Umbra watched the opponent before he relaxed. "I end my turn."
Turn 3: Syrus. Cards: 5.
"Come on, Truesdale!" Wilona whispered. However, because of how quiet it was, the others heard her. All of them were on the edge of their seats because truth be told: if it was Jaden alone, they were sure that the Slifer Ace could pull off a win. But Syrus was a different story altogether.
"I draw!" The smaller Slifer Red cried out as he looked at his hand. The boy swallowed his spit as he looked at the scary 2850 Attack Point monster. However, he shook his head and looked to Jaden, who gave him a thumbs up.
"I summon Jetroid in attack mode!" As he said this, a cartoon Jet flew and landed on to the field.
Jetroid
[Type: Effect Monster/Sub-Type: Machine/Attribute: WIND/Level: 4/ATK: 1600/DEF: 1800]
"Attack mode? That pitful hunk of metal stands no chance against my monster!" Umbra cried out.
Syrus felt a shiver up his spine, but he shook his head and focused back on the duel. "I play two cards face down and end my turn!"
Turn 4: Lumis. Cards: 5.
"Is this the best you can do? I've seen toothless puppies with more bite!" His voice was threatening and fearsome despite his appearance. As he drew his card, there was a shift in his emotions. Lumis gave a smile that chilled the air around the few people who saw a half of his face. "I place two cards face down!"
"They almost filled their trap and spell card zones!" Bastion pointed out the obvious, but he was right to feel panicked since the cloaked duo had a row filled with spells and traps.
"I activate the Equip Spell: Mask of Hysteria!" Lumis filled the last zone with the equip card. The hologram showed a card that had a horrifying and demonic mask attached to the face of several humanoid figures. The figures all desperately tried to remove their mask but to no avail.
Umbra laughed with enough force for the whole school to hear him after hearing the card's name. "You drew that card already?! This duel is as good as over!"
The two Slifer Reds and their friends felt their stomachs drop after hearing that.
Lumis shared a smile similar to Umbra's at the moment but continued his turn. "I can activate this card by discarding the rest of my hand. In exchange, I can equip this card to your Jetroid!"
The mask shot out of the card and locked itself to the face of Syrus' monster.
"No, Jetroid!" Syrus started to panic. He left Jetroid out because he thought if they attacked him, Syrus could easily counter with his effect. He wasn't expecting them to do this! "What did you do to him!?"
Lumis gave a snicker one would hear from a cartoon villain. "You're about to find out! I enter the battle phase!"
Syrus got ready. He hoped he could still activate Jetroid's effect and activate trap cards from his hand—
"Jetroid, attack Bubbleman!" No one could believe what their ears and brains registered. Lumis ordered Syrus' monster to attack Jaden's?
What was more outstanding was Jetroid obeying the enemy duelist! All people could do was watch as Jetroid barreled through Bubbleman like a bowling ball.
"What!?" Syrus screamed out. "J! I-I didn't mean to!"
Lumis cackled then pointed to Jetroid. "Under the Mask of Hysteria, the monster equipped with this card must attack every battle phase. But it only can attack monsters in the same field as it! Worse, if there are no monsters, your own monster will attack you directly!"
The revelation frightened even those who wanted Syrus and Jaden to lose. There was a card that turned your monster against you like this?
Lumis seemed to relish in the despair he saw on Syrus' face. "And with that, I'll end my turn!"
Turn 5: Jaden. Cards: 6.
"Hold on a tick," Bastion leaned in. "Why didn't he attack?"
"Yeah, they still had Masked Slave. That monster is stronger than Jetroid by more than 1000 points. So why didn't they use it to destroy Jetroid after he destroyed Bubbleman?" Alexis added along.
"Perhaps there is a potential weakness to that card? Those two blokes know it, but if they're playing like this," Wilona trailed off in silence as she came to the end of her comment. "Then doesn't that mean they're trying to avoid something?"
Gloria looked back to the field. "Let's hope Jaden and Syrus find it faster than us."
"I draw!" The one good thing about this was the fact Jaden now had a whopping seven cards in his hand. That had to mean a big play would come up. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon! I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field, and I choose Mask of Hysteria!"
As soon as Jaden played the card, a specialized tornado raced to the mask on Syrus' monster.
"I reveal my trap card, Dark Bribe! This card negates Mystical Space Typhoon and destroys it!" The trap card shot a beam out that dissipated the typhoon. "On the bright side, you may draw one more card!" Lumis chuckled after saying that last sentence in a mocking tone.
Jaden drew his next card and looked back to his hand. "No choice! I play Polymerization! I fuse Elemental Hero Woodsman and Ocean to bring out, Elemental Hero Terra Firma!"
Elemental HERO Terra Firma
[Type: Fusion/Effect Monster/Sub-Type: Warrior/Attribute: EARTH/Level: 8/ATK: 2500/DEF: 2000]
A majestic warrior appeared on to the field. Compared to Jaden's other heroes, Terra Firma always had this majestical presence whenever he entered into the field.
However, some people were staring at the monster for a different reason.
"Wait, Terra Firma!? How does Jaden have that!?" Gloria shouted while she and Grace looked in utter shock.
Alexis, Wilona, and Chumley looked over to the twins. "What? Is that card rare or something?"
"It's more than rare," Bastion spoke out, but he seemed just as surprised as the Tyler Sisters. "Until recently, there was only one copy of Elemental Hero Terra Firma. However, that only copy belonged to a former world champion, Koyo Hibiki."
Wilona and Chumley didn't recognize the name but were surprised at the fact the previous owner of that card was a world champion. But Alexis focused on something else. "Wait, didn't Koyo Hibiki vanish off the face of the earth? During his last tournament, a heart attack caused him to stop dueling, and the medics rushed him to the hospital." She put a hand on her chin, "I even heard rumors he died."
Wilona blinked. "How'd you three recognize that? I don't see anyone else reacting besides looking like it's some rare monster, which it still is apparently."
Gloria wasn't quick enough to answer. Jaden continued his turn while Lumis and Umbra suddenly became quiet. "That's not all! I summon Elemental Hero Solid Soldier!"
Elemental HERO Solid Soldier
[Type: Effect Monster/Sub-Type: Warrior/Attribute: EARTH/Level: 4/ATK: 1300/DEF: 1100]
This new hero seemed strange in that he looked more like an armored soldier than a hero.
"He has an ability that allows me to special summon a level 4 or lower Elemental Hero from my hand!" Jaden took out another card. "I choose Elemental Hero Stratos!"
Elemental HERO Stratos
[Type: Effect Monster/Sub-Type: Warrior/Attribute: WIND/Level: 4/ATK: 1800/DEF: 300]
This time, a hero with propeller wings sped on to the field from the sky.
"Now let's try this again!" Jaden pointed. "When Stratos comes to the field, I can choose one of two abilities! One of those abilities allows me to destroy trap or spell cards equal to the number of Elemental Heroes on the field!"
Syrus lighted up as Jaden pointed. "That's three heroes, so say goodbye to three of those annoying mask cards!"
"Have you learned nothing!?" Lumis shouted before he activated his duel disk. "I reveal my second face down, Tumultuous Treaty! This continuous trap card will be destroyed six turns after it's activation. Until then, spell and trap cards cannot be or targeted or destroyed!"
"Again!?" Jaden clicked his tongue as Lumis stopped his attempt to destroy cards. "Well, I activate Terra Firma's special ability! He can gain attack points by sacrificing an Elemental Hero monster, and I choose Stratos!"
Stratos turned into energy before Terra Firma absorbed him.
ATK: 2500 → 4300
With the attack boost, Terra Firma became the strongest monster in the field. Jaden pointed towards the only monster on the side of the Rare Hunters. "It's time to battle!"
However, no one expected at that moment, Jetroid flared to life and attacked Terra Firma. To defend himself, the Elemental Hero summoned an energy blade and cut the monster in half. But then the explosion engulfed Syrus and Jaden.
Lumis and Umbra: 8000
Jaden and Syrus: 8000→ 5300
"W-What happened!?" Jaden cried out as both his and Syrus' life points went down.
Lumis chuckled and pointed. "Mask of Hysteria forces the monster it's equipped with to attack first at the beginning of the battle phase! It's random, but apparently, Jetroid attacked Terra Firma."
"Hey, this is good! Now the mask is no longer in play!" Chumley pointed to the field.
"No, something isn't right! The equip card is still on the field!" Everyone looked to the other side of the field where Bastion just screamed.
At that moment, both Jaden and Syrus cried out, forcing everyone to look back at the other side of the field. They couldn't believe it, but the Mask of Hysteria attached itself to the face of Elemental Hero Terra Firma!
"When a monster equipped with Mask of Hysteria is destroyed, the card transfer over to the one who destroyed it!" Lumis gave a booming cackle that betrayed his image. He pointed over to Terra Firma. "And now it's ability activates again! It will force your monster to attack an ally monster!"
Elemental Hero Terra Firma turned to Jaden's other monster and slashed it in half as well, causing it to shatter like dust.
Lumis and Umbra: 8000
Jaden and Syrus: 5300→ 2300
"They lost almost 6000 Life Points in their own turn!" Alexis screamed out.
"Not only that! One of the strongest monsters they have turned against them!" Grace added along.
"Of course!" Bastion shouted out. "That's why they didn't attack before! If they destroyed the monster, the mask would go over to their side of the field! They aren't attacking to keep the mask on Jaden and Syrus' side of the field and that it won't be used against them! That's the weakness of such a card!"
"How could that weakness even be exploited? If they don't summon a monster, Terra Firma will destroy them!" Alexis looked over to the duel with worry. The odds were pilling against the duo.
Meanwhile, Syrus started to panic. Jaden was the best duelist out of the two of them, and even though he made some amazing plays, their opponents completely shut him down! What chance did they have to win!?
"Man! Looks like I screwed up!" Syrus could only gape as he saw Jaden laugh as if he was winning. Jaden turned to Syrus. "Looks like it's up to you to win this for us, buddy!"
"What!? But Jaden, if you couldn't do it, what makes you think I can!?"
"Cause, Sy, I believe in you. All that training didn't go to waste, I know you can pull it off." With those words, Jaden turned back to Lumis and Umbra. "I end my turn with a face down!" Not only that, but Terra Firma's attack points went back to normal.
ATK: 4300 → 2500
Turn 6: Umbra. Cards: 3.
"Cheap talk! If your so-called best couldn't beat us, what makes you think you can?!" Umbra smiled as he drew his next card. "I play two cards face down. Now, here comes the Battle Phase! With Mask of Hysteria, I can order your Terra Firma to attack you directly!"
As Umbra claimed this, the Elemental Hero turned his mask towards the two Slifer Reds in a very inhumane manner. He then flew right for them with gathering energy in his hands.
"If that attack connects, it's all over!" Alexis shouted out loud.
Jaden acted fast. "I reveal my facedown, Negate Attack!" A fairly simple but effective card that negates an attack and ends the battle phase. A barrier stopped Jaden's monster from ending the duel right there.
Umbra grunted, obviously wanting to win there and then. "You're only delaying the inevitable!"
Turn 7: Syrus. Cards: 3.
"Huh? Besides trying to end us with Terra Firma, why did he just set cards down?" To Syrus, it didn't make a lick of sense! They talked big, but all they did was just set up a defense.
"Of course! Why didn't I see it sooner!?" Bastion cried out as he sat up straight. "That opposing duo is using a lockdown deck!"
"Lockdown?" Wilona asked in confusion. Chumley shared a similar look while the other Obelisk Blue females looked shocked.
"It's a type of deck that specializes in preventing an opponent from activating their effects and disrupts their deck synergy!" Bastion slapped his head. "I should have seen it sooner the way they protected their own spell and trap cards! But I still didn't recognize it when they even turned Jaden's monsters against them!"
"So those cards they set up," Gloria looked down. "They're there to negate whatever cards they have just like before with Lumis!"
"What's worse, The Mask of Hysteria is still in play. If Syrus doesn't summon a monster, Terra Firma will attack Jaden and Syrus directly for the rest of their Life Points!"
"They gotta get rid of those cards!" Chumley gripped the handlebars as he looked to the field.
"Tumultuous Treaty is still on the field. It prevents trap cards and spell cards from being targetted or destroyed." Bastion looked over to the continuous trap card on Lumis' side. "They have to wait until turn 11 for it to wear off."
Back on the field, Syrus started to panic. What could he do? Whatever monster he would summon would be destroyed by Terra Firma. If he didn't summon a monster, Terra Firma will finish them off!
Syrus looked to Jaden. How was it that even in this situation, his friend still looked confident? If it was anyone else, they could have...
(Do you really not want to be Yuki's partner?)
Syrus blinked. He remembered that short conversation with Wilona he had.
(He is not the type of person to befriend people for their skills in dueling alone.)
When Jaden lost to Zane, Jaden still looked happy. In fact, he looked excited to find that there was someone so much better at dueling than him rather than being bummed he lost. Syrus looked to Jaden and really thought for a second.
Why was Jaden happy? All it takes to make him happy is dueling, so...
(If anything, Yuki is sad that you are sad, not because you're holding him back.)
"Is he happy because he's dueling... with me?" Syrus wondered to himself. Now that he thought about it, he did tell Wilona,
(Dueling was the one thing that I really enjoyed.)
"Hey! Will you hurry it up!? We don't have all day!" Umbra shouted and pointed over to Syrus.
Syrus looked to his deck and drew his card. As he looked at the card, his eyes widened.
"Now that I think about it, Duel Monsters really is the only thing Zane and me have in common." Syrus scanned the seats until he saw Zane looking down on him. As always, Zane looked stoic, almost uncaring. However, Syrus knew he wasn't always like that.
"I also have Duel Monsters with Jaden and the others. It's fun with them, and I don't want to get rid of that! I do like this school! I want to be here with others, even if the girls here are hot and scary!" Syrus stared back at Lumis and Umbra who glared mockingly at him. "I can do this! If not for me, for Jaden and the others!"
"I reveal my facedown: Scraproid! This Continous Trap card allows me to special summon a roid monster in my graveyard and equip this card to it! But if either card leaves the field, the other goes with it!" Syrus reached for his graveyard. "I bring back Jetroid in defense mode!"
The familiar creature appeared back into the field.
"Jaden, I need your help!" Syrus spoke up with light in his eyes that was never in the duel before.
Jaden looked at his friend before his smile grew even wider. "Go for it, Sy!"
That was all he needed to hear! "I sacrifice Jetroid and Elemental Hero Terra Firma, to tribute summon, Armoroid, in attack mode!"
Armoroid
[Type: Effect Monster/Sub-Type: Machine/Attribute: EARTH/Level: 8/ATK: 2700/DEF: 2000]
There was something about this card that was different from all of Syrus' other roid cards. Unlike the other Roid monsters, Armoroid did not look as silly as the other Roid Monsters. More importantly, when Armoroid came to the field, Syrus's demeanor seemed to change. It was as if this monster seemed to inspire Syrus by just being summoned.
Lumis pointed. "You think you can get rid of the Mask of Hysteria by tribute summoning it!? Wrong! The mask will now attach to your new monster! Worst of all, you already wasted your normal summon, so you can't defend yourself with another monster!" The shorter man cackled cruelly.
As he said this, the Mask of Hysteria, which originally fell off when Terra Firma disappeared, flew right for the face of Armoroid.
However, Syrus pointed fast. "When Armoroid is used for a tribute summon, and at least one Roid monster was used for it, I can banish all trap and spell cards on the field!"
"What!?" "But Tumultuous Treaty!?"
"This isn't a target or a destruction effect! I said to banish all cards, even our own! Go, Armoroid!" Syrus shouted as the robot grabbed on to mask before it could reach to the robot's face. Instead, Armoroid started to glow before it unleashed a powerful EMP that sent all magic and trap cards away from the field. This also meant that the sole monster on Lumis and Umbra's field lost its power boost.
ATK: 2850 → 1850
DEF: 100 → 1100
"Our cards!" Umbra shouted as he and Lumis looked at their near-empty field.
Ah, wait, Syrus wasn't done. "We can attack normally again! Armoroid, attack Masked Slave!" The giant robot jumped high and slammed his foot down on the only monster on the field.
Lumis and Umbra: 8000→ 7150 LP
Jaden and Syrus: 2300 LP
"And I'll put down a face down and end my turn!" Syrus had this proud smile on his face after completely clearing the enemy board.
"Great scot! Syrus did it!" Bastion cried out while the rest of Jaden and Syrus' friends cheered. Though they were the only ones as everyone else, especially Crowler, were stunned into silence.
Turn 8: Lumis. Cards: 0
However, even with the reversal, Lumis smiled and drew his card. "It seems we'll have to be serious about this."
"Just don't go overboard as you did ten years ago." Umbra let out in a gruff voice.
"Oh, Umbra, you and your memory." If one was sharp, they would have spotted Lumis rolling his eye on the uncovered side of his face.
"I put one monster face down in defense mode and end my turn!" Lumis exclaimed as he did so.
Turn 9: Jaden. Cards: 1
The Slifer Red looked pumped up. "Way to go, Sy!" He drew his card and looked at it.
"I summon Elemental Hero Voltic in attack mode!"
Elemental HERO Voltic
[Type: Effect Monster/Sub-Type: Thunder/Attribute: LIGHT/Level: 4/ATK: 1000/DEF: 1500]
A hero that looked similar to Sparkman appeared in the field.
"Now, I'll borrow Armoroid and attack that face down!" Jaden ordered Syrus' monster to crush the facedown monster. That left the field wide open. "Go, Voltic! Ionic Blast!"
The other electrical hero fired a ball of plasma that exploded between the opposing two duelists.
Lumis and Umbra: 7150→ 6150
Jaden and Syrus: 2300
"I'll end my turn with one face down after that!" Jaden finished.
"Not so fast!" Everyone saw Lumis point back to the field. "That monster you destroyed has a special ability that activates during the End Phase! Artifact from the Broken Ruin, reveal yourself!"
Artifact from the Broken Ruin.
[Type: Effect Monster/Sub-Type: Fiend/Attribute: Dark/Level: 1/ATK: 0/DEF: 0]
"I can remove this card from my graveyard in order to special summon two monsters from my deck! And Those monsters are Grand Tiki Elder and Melchid the Four-Face Beast!"
Grand Tiki Elder
[Type: Normal Monster/Sub-Type: Fiend/Attribute: DARK/Level: 4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 800]
Melchid the Four-Face Beast
[Type: Normal Monster/Sub-Type: Fiend/Attribute: DARK/Level: 4/ATK: 1500/DEF: 1200]
Two more masked themed monsters appeared in the field.
"Jaden, something doesn't feel right!" Syrus took a step back, and for some reason, he began to feel nervous.
Up in the stands, Chazz narrowed his eyes. "They're bringing their best monster out, aren't they?"
Turn 10: Umbra. Cards: 1
Umbra smiled before he drew his card. "I sacrifice both Tiki Elder and Melchid the Four-Faced Beast to bring out a powerful creature!"
The two masked creatures seemed to freeze and convulse in pain before both creatures had their bodies forced into their masks. The remaining masks slammed together before splitting into three new masks. Those three masks formed a new, gigantic and horrific monster that gave off an inhuman roar as it stretched its new body.
Masked Beast Des Gardius
[Type: Effect Monster/Sub-Type: Fiend/Attribute: DARK/Level: 8/ATK: 3300/DEF: 2500]
Umbra looked at the other card in his hand, Fast Action: Double Attack. This quick-play spell card can double a monster's attack points during the battle phase. All he had to do was play it, and then these two brats would instantly lose as soon as Gardius attacked either monster.
Wait. Umbra saw there was one face down card that brunette kid had still. He could just play it and attack right now, but the way the brown haired brat stared him down...
It reminded him of another brown haired man he dueled ten years ago, who baited him into destroying his Blue-Eyes White Dragon and cost him and Lumis the duel.
This time, he'll play it safe. Besides, the brats only had 2300 Life Points left. Gardius had 3300 attack points, and lucky him there was a monster with exactly 1000 attack points.
"I place one card face down!" Umbra pointed to Voltic. "Now, Gardius! End this duel and destroy that pathetic monster!"
Gardius gave off another inhuman roar before he stabbed his right claw into the ground. He charged like a lion about to pounce and ripped the ground with his claw as if it was paper.
"If that attack connects, it's over!" Alexis shouted out loud.
"Come on, connect!" Dr. Crowler shouted from the side.
Jaden narrowed his eyes and shouted. "I reveal my face down: Hero Barrier! If I have an Elemental Hero out, I can negate one attack!"
A barrier surrounded over Elemental Hero Voltic. However, even with the barrier, Gardius didn't slow down. Gardius moved faster with an even louder scream before slamming his claw into the shield.
Everyone heard the weight of the attack hitting the barrier. The Trap card held, and a second later, it repelled the beast with the same momentum, causing it to fly back like a thrown rag doll.
However, even if it was thrown back, Gardius landed on his feet with a powerful slide. It slowly raised its head and gave a low, predatory growl.
"Hmph." Umbra smiled. "Good thing I didn't do that before attacking."
Lumis looked over to him and seemed to understand what his partner said. "So you've finally learned, huh?"
"Shut up, midget." Umbra shot to Lumis before shouting, "I end my turn!"
Turn 11: Syrus. Cards: 3.
Things weren't looking good. Syrus panicked at how the Gradius paced back and forth, almost waiting to attack them again. Should a monster be even able to do this!?
Syrus looked over to Jaden, who only gave him another thumbs-up and smile. He just had to draw his next card...
Power... Bond...?
Did he draw Power Bond?
Even up to now, what was the difference between knowing what a card does and knowing how to play it? He still didn't understand it!
"Sy!" The teal haired child looked over his brown haired classmate. "You've been doing great so far! And it's all thanks to you! Play it and show everyone, even yourself that you deserve to be here!"
Syrus lit up at his friend's words. He looked at Power Bond one more time and no longer did this card give him doubt. This card was the key to their victory!
"I play Power Bond!" Syrus shouted from the top of his lungs as he activated the card.
At that moment, Zane took a step forward. He would deny it to Seika many times later, but she would still say he looked invested at that moment.
The younger Truesdale continued. "I remove Elemental Hero Voltic and Armoroid to fusion summon a new monster!"
The two monsters jumped to the sky and both fused in the combining lights.
As the lights died down, a new mechanical creature descended from the ceiling. It was bigger than Armoroid for certain, but this new robotic creature had vibrant colors surrounding it and even... a long flowing cape?
Two glowing red eyes activated from its head. And then it... posed dramatically? Wait, where did those new lights and fireworks come from?
"That's so awesome!" Jaden and Syrus cried out.
Wilona noticed a large number of guys cheering with stars in their eyes. She looked to Gloria, Grace, and Alexis who just shrugged their shoulders.
Syrus shook his head and remembered that it was his monster. "Come on out, HEROroid!"
HEROroid
[Type: Fusion/Effect Monster/Sub-Type: Machine/Attribute: Light/Level: 10/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500]
"That's what you bring out? Gradius is still stronger than that!" Lumis shouted out loud.
"Oh yeah?" Syrus pointed out. "Power Bond can only be used on Machine Fusion monsters! The reason why is that it can double the attack points the turn they're summoned!"
HEROroid: ATK: 3000→ 6000
"6000 attack points?" Chazz leaned forward when he saw the powerful boost.
"Now, HEROroid, attack!" Syrus shouted as the new mechanical hero launched itself at the Masked Beast.
"Ha!" Umbra shouted before he pressed a button on his duel disk. "I reveal my face down, Fast Action: Double Attack! This doubles our monster's attack points for this battle phase!"
Gradius: ATK: 3300→ 6600
The Masked Beast gave a fierce roar before rushing to meet against HEROroid. The mechanical creature reared it's fist and punched forward to Gradius. However, even though the fist was the size of Gradius, the Masked beast met it head-on in a powerful clash.
"Ha! Was that really the best you could do!?" Lumis shouted as slowly but surely, HEROroid was being pushed back. "We know what Power Bond does! In exchange for that power, you take damage equal to the summoned monster's original attack! That's more than your current life points even before this battle!"
"In other words, this duel is over!" Umbra shouted.
Crowler stood up from his seat with his hands raised. "Yes! Finally, I did it!"
"Not so fast, Crowler," Chancellor Sheppard said from beside him. "Look over there. Those two don't look like they've thrown in the towel yet!"
Crowler and the others did soon notice that Jaden and Syrus both looked calm.
"You're not wrong." Syrus gave a smile that was so different from his usual character. "This is over!"
He looked to Jaden fast. "I'm going to need your help again!"
"It's always been yours, buddy!" Jaden punched the air with one eye closed.
That was all Syrus needed as he shouted. "I activate HEROroid's ability! I can banish one HERO card from the Extra Deck and for the rest of this turn, HEROroid gains that monster's ability!"
Jaden stepped forward. "And the card we're banishing is Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman!" Jaden took that card out and placed it in his pocket. "For every Elemental Hero in our graveyard, HEROroid gains 300 attack points!" The see-through images of Elemental Heroes, Clayman, Bubbleman, Ocean, Woodsman, Terra Firma, Stratos, Soldier, and Voltic appeared behind Jaden.
"W-Wait a second! But there are eight of those monsters!"
Jaden gripped his fist. "Exactly! That means HEROroid gets a whopping 2400 extra attack points!"
HEROroid: ATK: 6000→ 8400
The eyes of HEROroid blazed before his rocket propellers ignited with even more power. His punch forced and scooped Gradius upward in a flash. As it went closer to the ceiling, the punch followed through and ignited Graidus to... explode in a needlessly overdramatic fashion.
Many of the boys were shouting in awe at the move while most of the girls just stared in disbelief.
Lumis and Umbra: 6150→ 4350
Jaden and Syrus: 2300
Umbra and Lumis shielded themselves from the shockwave.
"It's too late! That wasn't enough to beat us! At the end of your turn, Power Bond will deplete the rest of your life points!" Lumis shouted at the two Slifer Reds.
"Didn't you hear?" Jaden pointed up. "HEROroid has all of Shining Flare Wingman's abilities! That includes his other ability to inflict damage to our opponents equal to the attack of the monster he just destroyed!"
Lumis and Umbra stepped back.
"That's right!" Syrus spoke out before HEROroid descended and floated over Lumis and Umbra. "You take 6600 points in effect damage!"
The fusion machine raised his hand that started to glow red, before firing a powerful beam right down on the former Rare Hunters.
Lumis and Umbra: 4350→ 0
Jaden and Syrus: 2300 (WINNER!)
As the field faded, Jaden and Syrus shared a look. The two smiled before they both stepped forward and said, "That's game!" They even did the signature two-finger salute before they both high-fived for their victory.
The stadium burst into cheering as Jaden and Syrus won.
"They did it! They totally did it!" Grace shouted in happiness.
In one corner of the stadium, the mysterious Obelisk Blue smiled. "Whoo boy! I was even impressed with that wallflower beside that Jaden fellow."
Chancellor Sheppard laughed before patting Dr. Crowler's shoulder. "Well, Crowler, it seems everyone here enjoyed such a duel. Good job for setting it up!" The jolly man didn't notice Crowler's despondent look on his face.
Crowler sighed into his palm. "I knew I should have hired the Paradox Brothers..."
"Hey! Wait a second!" Everyone stopped their cheering as they turned to one random Ra Yellow. "I bet against the Slifer Slackers!"
Silence deafened the stadium.
"Uh, Jaden?" Syrus, no longer happy, looked to his braver friend for some advice. The reason he did this was that the cheers suddenly turned to dark glares.
However, to his dismay, even Jaden looked as spooked as Syrus would have. "I... think we should exit stage left, Sy."
"Those two cost us money!" "Get'em!"
The Music Club watched as an angry mob chased after Syrus and Jaden. The latter ended up screaming and running for their dear life.
After a few seconds, they all turned to glare at Wilona.
The green-haired, purple-eyed, glasses and cap-wearing girl coughed into her hand. "Soooo, did any of you bet on Truesdale and Yuki?"
On one end of the stadium, an Obelisk Blue did his best to hold in his laughter. He failed quite miserably but didn't seem to mind.
"Ooh! Ooh! That was the most fun I've had since I've got here! Maybe I'll take Grace and Gloria's offer after all."
On another, Seika laughed as she watched a certain club run after their friends. "So, when your brother played Power Bond—"
Zane already turned and walked away from his School President.
"Hey! Get back here and take your teasing like a man!" The dark-haired girl huffed and chased after her Vice President.
[Tag Force: Heroes and Villians]
After... a while... Chancellor Sheppard took this opportunity to teach his students the vices and dangers of gambling. He hoped they all learned a valuable lesson and would not repeat this.
Truly, gambling was wrong. That was why he didn't take his share from Wilona's earnings. There's no way that happened/can be proven.
But now was the time for a celebration! Syrus and Jaden were still in school!
"This is horrible!" Jaden Yuki slumped into his seat in defeat. "I have to write a ten-page essay for breaking the rules!?"
"Who cares!? I'm just glad you're both staying!" Chumley was so happy. Actually, while he was happy Syrus and Jaden would stay in Duel Academy, he was happier at the fact he had grilled cheese in his hands.
"Ah, Yuki, excellent in dueling but not academics." Wilona put a plate of grilled cheese in front of the sobbing Ace of Slifer Red. "Pick your head up; you're being more of a downer than Truesdale was before all this! This is supposed to be your victory party!"
The music club held a victory party for the two. It consisted of the current members, Alexis, Professor Banner, Ms. Dorothy, and Chancellor Sheppard. Wilona and Ms. Dorothy set it up after the duo's exercise after their duel.
Oh, and Pharaoh as well.
"Yeah, J!" Grace was quick to throw up a hand and drink her glass of apple juice. "Come on, live a little! The food they brought here is great!"
"Aww, thanks for the compliment, hun!" Ms. Dorothy spoke up while giving a plate to Bastion.
"By the way, Jaden," Gloria came up to the still miserable Ace of Slifer Red. "How do you have Elemental Hero Terra Firma?"
It was such a simple question. However, it seemed to freeze the easy-going mood of the party.
"Oh, that card?" Jaden raised his head, already distracted from his essay. "Mr. Hibiki gave it to me."
His simple answer caused the silence to last longer.
Wilona was the only one who managed to respond to him. "Mr. Hibiki, as in Koyo Hibiki, a former world champion?"
"Yeah."
Wilona pinched the bridge of her nose because of how bad Jaden was at reading the atmosphere he just created. "Yuki, how exactly do you know a World Champion casually?"
"I broke my leg once when I was playing soccer, and the hospital I healed in had him there too! We played a lot of Duel Monsters and he inspired me to play Elemental Heroes!" Jaden had this huge smile on his face as he talked more about Koyo Hibiki not as a champion, but more like an older brother.
"I'm surprised he gave you Terra Firma! I heard rumors that it's one of the last cards by one of Industrial Illusions' best card designer before he was mugged." Many turned over to Gloria as she said this. "That means you have a card that no one else in the world has!"
"Mr. Hibiki gave me this card..." Jaden's smile slowly faded. That was odd. Why couldn't he remember how Mr. Hibiki gave it to him? The more he thought about it, the more he saw these flashes of two heterochromia eyes.
"Alright, that's enough of that." Wilona clapped her hands, snapping Jaden out of his trance. "So apparently, Yuki here has the luck of the devil. That would explain why it's suddenly so bloody hard to gain membership for a simple music club!"
Grace pointed a hand up. "I don't think it helps that some of the people today think you swindled them."
"I told them it was simply an educated guess! It's not my fault their analytical skills are subpar." The con-woman tried to defend herself even though her hands were as red as her jacket.
"I may be academically gifted, but Ms. Konami here is as cunning as she is ambitious." Bastion whispered under his breath.
"What was that, Misawa?"
The Ra Yellow gulped as he saw the only female Slifer turn her head towards him with a glare. S-She heard him!?
"I-I am simply wondering what makes this grilled cheese so crunchy yet savory!?"
Wilona scoffed before her glare faded. She gave a soft laugh before the others all relaxed and laughed along with her.
Jaden, on the other hand, watched Wilona. Did she change the subject when he started to daze off? Why did he daze off? Ugh, and he still had an essay to do too! Could it get any worse!?
The Slifer Ace blinked. Jaden was distracted again as he looked over to his friends laughing.
Ah well, it was a party! Might as well enjoy the food before Chumley scarfs it all down!
A/N: And Done! So as you can all see, instead of the Paradox Brothers, I dusted off Lumis and Umbra for Syrus and Jaden's opponents. Now, I know that their ending in Battle City was far more extreme than that of the Paradox bros, but I really thought those two would make interesting opponents for Jaden and Syrus.
I don't even know why I did this. This changes nothing important from canon, just a slightly new take on the duel part. Syrus still learns to become a better person and Jaden and Syrus make a good team. I think I just did a lot of work for almost nothing.
Ugh. What am I doing?
On the plus side, things might pick up soon. I'm not going to do all the filler, but that doesn't mean I'm not acknowledging it. There's a duel I want to get to quickly and it's going to be a little while with how far it is in the first season. I can't wait for when we catch up with the Shadow Riders Arc, I'm doing something super fun for it that's different than most takes on it.
Now, because I've given up on trying to be accurate as possible since it's very limiting to me and finding the right cards can be nightmarish, I'm going to put a list of the cards I made up. These will list all the cards I made up as to not distract you, readers, from the story every time you see an asterisk.
And with that, I'd like to say thank you for all the favorites and follows! I was surprised this small fic got like 7 faves and follows after one chapter! I hope you all enjoyed the story, I am having fun with these characters and I hope you're enjoying them too.
Before I sign off and give you guys the cards, I wanna say something about the shipping in this story.
For the sake of this story, I can't say something about the plot of this story. However, I will say that the reason why I've never given up on this story despite its several failures is that I genuinely want to make a romance story that people enjoy.
I mostly write adventure comedy, but Romance is something I have no experience at all. So this story is helping expand my skills as a writer: can I make a good story with romance as one of the main themes?
I hope so.
Anyway, I hope this story finds you all well. Peace!
[List of made up/altered cards.]
-Masked Slave: A made-up monster.
-Masked Doll: From the Anime. It's supposed to stop the payment of Mask of Brutality.
-Mask of Hysteria: Looking in the anime in how Lumis and Umbra cards always attached to their opponent, I thought I could add a little more to that. I based this on the idea that could turn monsters against their allies and owners.
-Scraproid: just a Roid version of those cards that summon a monster from the graveyard and equip themselves to the monster. Nothing really groundbreaking.
-Tumultuous Treaty: this card was made up to protect spell and trap cards. But not from something like Giant Truenade or something.
-Artifact from the Broken Ruin: since I've been playing a lot of Duel Links, this card is especially inspired by a card that's a staple in the Blue Eyes deck. It's based on the white stone of legend or something.
-"Fast Action: Double Attack" is based on the Action cards scattered around ARC-V. This one is a quick play card that doubles a monster's attack points.
-HEROroid: This card is the fusion of Armoroid and a "Hero" monster. I loved Jaden and Syrus' tag duel, but their final boss monster was just Tempest on a glorified segway. I thought about giving them a (Gundam) with superhero colors and over the top things.
