It was the Duel Monsters Spirit Day. Many students enjoyed the two-day holiday where they got to dress up as their favorite monsters.
No one was enjoying today more than...
"Wilona," Syrus moaned. "How long do I have to keep waving this sign?"
The walkie-talkie on his hip beeped once. "Until the sun goes down, Truesdale."
"You're kidding, right!?" Syrus hoped that he heard her wrong.
It's a shame that Syrus never learned that in this isle, his prayers are never heard. "I am. Well, if I am, I can consider telling Huffington a joke about his lost toothbrush."
Correction: with how much evil occult stuff runs around the school, it's more likely demons heard Syrus' prayers. And one of them is scarier than even the likes of the Shadow Riders. "W-What!?"
"One must admit, it is quite hilarious that due to the lack of cleaning supplies in the Red Dorms, you thought that old toothbrush was a scrub for the toilet."
"How do you even know this!?"
"Next time, Truesdale, you need to keep your head down. That way, I won't see your hair passing through my window door in the middle of the night before Huffington complained about his lost toothbrush. Now, get to waving that sign like there is no tomorrow, or your tomorrow will end in the hands of a deathly, cheesy grip."
Syrus groaned before he waved the arrow sign. "Come one, come all, to the Slifer Duel-a-Thon." A toaster had more energy than him at that moment.
The Slifer Field had several chalk-written Duel fields set up with benches. All of the duel fields were filled with duelists.
There was a booth where Wilona smiled as she watched the duels going on. "Thank you again for letting me use a box of new card packs, Ms. Dorothy."
Ms. Dorothoy, who wore a Magician Girl outfit, smiled at her employee. "I can't take all the credit, dear. This miniature tournament you're running is a huge success despite being a Slifer Booth. I never thought of using just a single box as a prize."
Wilona kept a smile that didn't reach her eyes as several explosions happened behind her. "I thought there would be more incentive to give students a chance to earn free cards."
"Hey, Wilona!? Where do you want these gamb- I mean exchange tickets!?"
"Keep them with you for now, Grace!" The green-haired girl motioned the silver-haired twin away.
Before their conversation could continue further, the crowd started to cheer before a loud explosion engulfed the middle field. In that field, Jaden was dueling someone with a convincing Dark Magician Girl Cosplay.
"Hmmm," Dimitri, the Copy Cat duelist, continued to stare at Jaden Yuki's opponent.
"Dude, if there were laws on staring, I'm sure you'd be committing felonies right now." Damon, a former jungle man, ate a croissant eggwhich.
"Brooo," Belowski, a duelist born with the ability to put others to sleep, droned on. Despite everyone wearing a costume, Belowski wore a specialized suit designed to keep his powers of laziness in check. Funny enough, he was as normal as everyone else. "I think there are rules against staring at someone too long. Don't be a slave to your hormones, brah."
"It's not that!" Dimitri yelled at the two Obelisk Blues. "It's her costume! It's so good! I can't tell the difference between her and the card! I wonder what kind of make-up she uses or where she got her wig and those clothes?"
"Well, even if that's a little more innocent, you probably shouldn't stare at her for so long." Brier, the former mind of the Duel Gaint, relaxed into the bench he was sitting on.
Sora, an Obelisk Blue that looked like Syrus with a potentially mysterious side and a not-so-mysterious sweet tooth, spoke up. "His reason is probably better than the others." He motioned over to the cooing crowd of guys cheering hard whenever the Dark Magician Girl took the lead.
"So," Dimitri, tired of the conversation, asked, "What do you guys think of the Shadow Riders?"
It was an odd topic to bring up, but Wilona had informed everyone in the club what exactly was going on between the school and its most recent events. She believed making the Music Club relearn the events of the attacks would better prepare everyone for future encounters, especially after Bastion warned everyone that the last four Shadow Riders were people to be wary of.
"Their existence..." Sora removed his lollipop. "Is troubling. I thought that the school was being absurd when they first revealed it to us. But after recent events and a splitting headache, it's hard to say they were wrong." No one noticed how his eyes narrowed in no particular direction.
"Yeah, man, the harsh waves ain't being cosmically rippling craic, bro."
Dimitri looked to Damon for a translation. The former jungle man coughed into his hand. "It's wack."
"That's putting it lightly. But how the heck are guys like us supposed to help with supposedly living duel monsters?"
"I can't imagine facing any of them!" Beauregard, the gentle giant, shivered. "They're so dark and scary!"
It was at that moment, the male members of the Music Club didn't notice Dark Magician Girl looking over in their direction.
"Meh, I don't think we need to worry about that too much," Brier spoke up. "I mean, so far? The others have beaten the Shadow Riders like four to one. And we've still got almost all our best duelists!"
"I think our classmates got this!"
[Tag Force: Heroes And Villains]
"It has come to my attention that when we're not dealing with a life-or-death crisis, we have to deal with utter bullocks." Wilona was sharp-tongued as usual. However, where she was being sharp-tongued was a new development: inside a cold and damp submarine. On one hand, she was glad this bizarre pirate man that challenged Jaden to a duel was not a Shadow Rider, but the realization that she and her friends boarded a dueling pirate's submarine simply because said pirate wants to start his own dueling school with Jaden as his prized student gave the club president a bit of a headache.
"Wait, you're tellin' me you guys do stuff like this almost every day!?" Jesse Anderson asked in shock. "Man, maybe I shoulda applied here instead!" He was wisely ignored after that statement.
Wilona, Jesse, Alexis, Bastion, and Chazz looked up to the screen as Jaden won his duel against a man calling himself The Admiral. Everyone started to cheer, but Wilona noticed one of The Admiral's men reaching for his ear and nodding his head several times. Wilona looked to the screen and swore she saw the Admiral smiling despite losing the duel.
"Okay," The man Wilona spotted walked up to them. "The Admiral told me to send you kids back to the boat. We'll return you to Duel Academy, and your friend will be there."
He shepherded everyone along until Wilona asked, "Can I use the restroom for a bit?"
"Huh? Oh, uh sure." The sailor agreed and told her that the restroom was on their way.
A little later, Jaden reached the main deck but didn't see any of his friends.
"What do you mean left?"
"They took the first and only dingy home!" The Admiral claimed to a surprised Jaden. "See for ye self!" As he claimed this, the screens showed a boat of Jaden's friends leaving for Duel Academy without him.
"W-What!?" It was then Jaden noticed that someone was missing from that video. However, before he could say anything more, the submarine started to descend into the sea.
"Now, we begin yar new life under the sea!" The Admiral laughed.
"Uh, hey, Admiral?" Jaden didn't want to interrupt the man's good mood, but something was bothering him. "I didn't see Wilona on that boat. Where's she?"
The Admiral stopped his laughing abruptly. "Repeat that again?"
"He's asking for where another friend of his went that wasn't home, Admiral." The two turned to see a rather smug Wilona walking through the door with an exasperated looking sailor behind her.
"Hey, Yuki." She smiled before walking beside him. "It seems they finally learned how to use a submarine well."
"Wilona!? I thought you guys left without me!?"
"Indeed!" The Admiral turned to the sailor with narrowing eyes. "Wasn't she supposed to be in the dingy?!"
"S-She took too long in the bathroom, sir!?"
"That, and I'm very interested in your offer, Mr. The Admiral." Wilona interrupted as the man as the leader looked over to the girl. As the green-haired, cap wearing girl walked forward, Jaden focused his sights on nothing but seemingly empty air. "May I help out in this new undersea duel academy of yours?"
The Admiral had to admit that he wasn't expecting this turn of events. "You're also interested? Who are ya?"
"I am Wilona Konami." The purple-eyed girl placed a hand across her chest. "You should know that despite Yuki's talents, the finer details and echelons of paperwork and official tedium elude him. I am petitioning to be a middlewoman of sorts to micromanage any politics thrown down the path."
"Wilona, speak English! No one can understand when you speak England words!" The Admiral and everyone looked at the brunette after the girl let loose a much bigger vocabulary than they were expecting.
The purple-eyed girl folded her arms and expectantly looked towards the admiral.
The pirate coughed into his hand. "I can see what yar offering. You're in." His smile returned as he realized something. "Haha! Two for the price of one!"
"Yes, yes. Now, may I have a word with my employee?" Wilona grabbed Jaden's shoulders and pushed him out the door to one of the hallways.
"You've got more Englandanian?!" The Slifer Ace complained about a non-existent word while Wilona continued pushing with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
When the coast was clear, Jaden turned to his friend. "Did you guys really leave me?"
"We were told we were going to meet you in the boat home. I lied and stayed behind because I suspected something off with the pirate after he lost to you." Wilona ran a hand behind her head to wipe her ponytail off her shoulders. "I loathe that it worked and loathe that I was right about my gut feeling."
Jaden seemed to be getting angry at the thought of being tricked like that. "I can't believe that guy! We gotta escape!" Jaden then found a finger close to his mouth as Wilona also put a finger up her own mouth.
"Not so loud." She whispered before she and the boy turned to Honest as he materialized beside them with Winged Kuriboh. "Are there any cameras or sailors nearby?"
"I did not spot any." Winged Kuriboh winked and gave a thumbs up along with Honest's report.
The girl with a red hat sighed before turning back to her friend. "I concur. But we need to be careful, this guy has us both surrounded, and we're currently reaching 10,000 leagues under the sea. Escape right now is rather difficult. For now, we play along, and when there's a chance to escape, we take it."
Jaden gripped his fist. "You're right, Wilona! We're going to escape and get back to Sy and the others if it's the last thing we do!"
[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains]
"This is the coolest thing I've ever seen!" Jaden spoke with all the excitement of a child waking up on Christmas morning.
Wilona had to admit that while it was a far cry from what he declared not too long ago, she had to admit that she was undersold on the fact they were heading towards an underwater school. From the bow of the submarine where Jaden and The Admiral had their duel, the two Slifer Reds spotted what looked to be an underwater base straight out of Sci-Fi movies. It was comprised of several domes with branching pathways that had reinforced glass all over them. The usually bitter girl found herself in awe.
"And dar we be, mateys!" The Admiral had reached the two distracted teens and pointed to the underwater base. "Welcome to the Under Sea Academy!"
He laughed as he patted the two's shoulder. They had to admit the school looked amazing. He may have been a slithering snake, but he, without a doubt, knew how to make a building.
ᵢ ᴴᵃᵀᵉ ʸᵒᵘ
Jaden and Wilona looked around before they glanced at each other in confusion.
"Did you say something?" Jaden asked The Admiral.
"I said, Welcome To Under Sea Academy! The new greatest duel school in the world!"
However, that wasn't what the Slifer Ace meant by that question. When he turned to his friend, Wilona shrugged her shoulders as well. Later, the two were treated to quite the sight when they entered the underwater Duel Academy: as they walked down the glass pathways towards the main core, they witnessed many of the sea life on the seafloor. They saw the likes of fishes they never saw before, schools of fish, and there was a treat of seeing a school of Whales passing over them.
"This is the best kidnapping ever!" Jaden exclaimed as Wilona slapped her forehead.
However, the green-haired girl turned to The Admiral. "I am curious. How do you plan to attract more students to get here? I doubt you have access to that many submarines."
The pirate smirked. "You'd be an excellent lookout, lass. I admit, even for me, the funds to create all this would be too much. Luckily for me, the South Academy Chancellor is willing to lend us a friendly hand!"
That caught Wilona and even Jaden's attention: the South Academy Chancellor was in on this?
"In fact, we're on our way to meet him this instant!" The Admiral gave a memorable guffaw.
The two Slifers were interested in the fact they were about to meet the South Academy Chancellor. And to think, the two previously didn't care about the other schools besides North Academy.
As they passed several impressive facilities, The Admiral led his captive crew into what looked to be an aquatic preserve with seals and other animals separated from each other.
In the center was a man with his back facing those entering. It was a back that looked like it belonged to a world-class bodybuilder. He wore clothing of a Japanese fisherman, but his clothes were torn, old, worn, yet there was a mark about them that look tested and victorious. He wasn't wearing much, but even in this cold area, he didn't even seem bothered wearing nearly nothing. He had long, spiky purplish-blue hair that covered his back that looked like it could give even sharks pause at bitting this man.
"Jaden Yuki, and random girl," Wilona let that slide for now. "Meet the Chancellor of South Academy, Mako Tsunami!"
"WHHHHAAAATTT!?" Jaden screamed as the man turned around. "You mean THE Mako Tsunami from Battle City and Duelist Kingdom!? One of the world's best Water Monster Duelists!?"
Despite how battle-worn he looked, Mako had eyes as calm as the beach and a smile just as warm as one. "It's nice to be acknowledged like that! You must be one of the students that Mr. Anacis craved for." Wilona took note of the man's real name.
"No way! It's really him! Wilona, we're in the presence of a guy that was in both Duelist Kingdom and Battle City!" Jaden was hopping off his feet as he said this.
"You already said that," Wilona fought the urge to sigh. Inwardly, she wondered how they were going to escape when the one kidnapped was enjoying his stay!? Wilona kept her calm and turned to the Admiral. "You're working with South Academy?"
"We're open to business," Despite how he looked, Mako Tsunami was far more articulate than a certain Slifer Ace. "His offer sounded worth investing for South Academy's future."
"And you will definitely not regret this decision, Mr. Tsunami!" Mr. Anacis turned to the Slifer Students, or more likely, the sailors following them. "You can show those two their rooms. The adults are going to handle this part!"
As the two left, Wilona spotted the two talking. Mako Tsunami glanced at her and winked once.
That was the last she saw of the two before the sliding door closed behind them.
[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains.]
Jaden missed the Red Dorms. He missed their crummy mattress, and he missed Syrus. Despite how luxurious his new room was, it didn't feel right.
"Oh, Sy, I'm sorry." He sighed to himself. Well, he could look on the bright side: the view was nice, and at least Wilona was with him.
It was then that he looked to his right to see Honest phasing through his wall. "Sir, Jaden."
"Honest, am I glad to see you! Honestly!" The Duel Spirit either didn't care or realized the pun Jaden tried to pull off. Instead, he took one of his feathers from his wings.
"Wilona originally asked me to be a messenger between the two of you. However, knowing certain linguistic barriers between you two..."
"Yeah, I'm sure it's hard to understand through her thick accent and Englandian words. Wait, what was that about a wall made of lasagna?"
Honest's point was silently proven. He continued. "I can empower two of my feathers as a direct form of communication. This is the first time I've ever done this, but it should not be too hard considering you two are not that far apart."
Jaden looked at the feather Honest offered him and took it. "Wilona?"
"Ah, Yuki." The feather shined in the same pattern as the speaker. "Good, this works. We'll meet up in the area between our rooms."
Jaden got excited as he put on his shoes. "We're escaping now?!"
"Don't be so excited, Yuki. Unless we can somehow man a submarine with two teenagers, we aren't escaping yet." The brunette deflated after hearing that. "We're going to do reconnaissance—" She abruptly stopped herself after the word. "We're going to sightsee while secretly looking for potential escape routes—areas." The girl sounded frustrated as she dumb-downed her vocabulary.
"Alright!" Jaden was restless, so he put on his blazer and went out. When he met with Wilona, he was surprised that she had her hair down, and she wasn't wearing her glasses. She then explained that she originally tried to sleep but couldn't. That's when she thought they could explore the area. She theorized that The Admiral still thinks Jaden is here of his free will, which is why they weren't being watched by guards too closely.
"If we aren't being watched, we should get out now!" Jaden started as the two walked in no particular direction under the glass wall that showed the sea outside.
"I told you why we can't." Wilona crossed her arms. "You're not usually this gung-ho. ... Is this about Truesdale?"
Jaden seemed to relax and sighed. "Well..."
Wilona didn't press. "When we get back, you are going to apologize to him."
"I know. I know!" Jaden sighed before he looked out the window. "I hope we're still friends after this."
"You do realize that I blackmailed you on our second day of school, right? And here I am letting myself get kidnapped to help you!? Trust me, Yuki, just apologize, and you two will be back together like fungus on a moldy sandwich."
Jaden laughed. "You're really weird, Wilona."
"I'm weird!?" The girl snapped back at him. Granted, she admitted to doing a lot of stupid things, but that was simply in retaliation for everything else! It's not her fault she has to resort to such stupid actions in the first place!
However, before Wilona could give him the ear-bending of a lifetime, Jaden went on, "Yeah, you go out of your way to make yourself look like a bully to everyone. But then you go do things like getting yourself kidnapped, going to another world for other people, and even rescuing others from their doom! No one even asks you to stick your neck out for someone else!" For someone so focused on dueling and nothing else, that was unusually observant of Jaden. "I think you're the weirdest but nicest person I know! You're like a hero too! And I love heroes!"
Wilona was caught off guard by what Jaden said. A flash of painful memories briefly filled her before they were drowned out by the memories of The Music Club performing all kinds of noise that wasn't instrument related. She was reflective at that moment. She even stared at her reflection in the window.
Was she doing these stupid and weird things because her friends were in danger?
Since when did she have friends worth doing that for?
And why didn't she realize she had made many close friends?
Before more could be said, the two were surprised to see a school of Jellyfish floating past them. Since it was so dark down there, it was like watching stars move in a motion picture.
"Whoa! I didn't even know that Jellyfish could be seen this low!? Isn't that cool, Wilona!?" As Jaden turned to his friend, he realized that she was staring at the sight of the sea of Jellyfish. Usually, he expected to see her being unflappable or even annoyed with how she usually operated. However, Wilona simply stared in silence as the Jellyfish almost floated along with the currents.
"It's so pretty," Wilona whispered in a soft tone Jaden never heard before.
"I know, right? You don't see this in an aquarium!"
"I've never been to an aquarium."
"You haven't?!"
"It's the same reason why I've never watched a movie before," Wilona put a hand on her head. "We're getting off-topic. We need to find another way out of here that doesn't involve stealing a submarine."
It was at that point, the Jellyfish scattered, diving down deeper into the cracks below. The air around the hallway suddenly dropped, and the two could see their breath coming out of their mouths.
ᵢ ᴴᵃᵀᵉ ʸᵒᵘ
Wilona and Jaden looked around but spotted no sign of anything capable of that voice.
"You hear that too?" Jaden saw Wilona nod her head. "So I wasn't imagining things when I heard a voice coming from the water."
It was at that moment that Honest appeared between the two. "That felt like a Duel Spirit, a powerful one."
"Wait, you mean like a Shadow Rider?! A real one!?" Jaden looked to his key and Wilona's Medallion, but both were still inactive.
"I do not believe it is a Shadow Rider, but there is something... angry... about this presence." It seemed like Honest himself was unsure of the word he used to describe this pressure. "The longer we stay here, the more we put ourselves at risk."
"So not only do we need to escape what's basically an underwater prison, but we must do so within a time limit lest we are killed off by a wrathful unknown? Yes, this is exactly what I expected to be doing when I signed up for boarding school." Wilona sighed deeply.
"Whoa," Jaden had his eyes widen. "When you put it like that, it sounds like a lot of fun!?"
"Weren't you just depressed about Truesdale!?"
Jaden deflated as he remembered. "Aww, Sy... We gotta escape! I'm so worried about him and the others!"
Wilona rubbed the bridge of her nose after the 1-80 switch in her friend's tone. "Yuki," Back on the surface of Duel Academy, Zane Truesdale was walking back to his dorm until one of his classmates called out to him while carrying a letter. The letter had a seal with the same symbol of Wilona's Medallion and Camula's Choker. It also had one symbol on the back: a number 3. "I'm sure we're worse off than the others."
[Tag Force: Heroes and Villains]
A/N: Does anyone remember this episode where Jaden gets kidnapped by pirates and is almost forced to be their star student of an underwater Duel Academy? I did. And I found out he escaped. Somehow, a teenager with no special abilities outside of dueling (yet) managed to escape pirates, an underwater duel academy, and look like he just got out of an action movie. Like, because my mind is weird: I hyperfocused on that more than a person really should have. And now here comes a mini-arc involving this one-off character that is potentially pivotal in this story.
Let me discuss some of the things I did. If one was paying attention, this is the same 'thing' that shipwrecked Chazz in this story by how I wrote its words. I was planning this mini-arc for some time, so It's exciting to see it start off.
One of the things I changed was Mako Tsunami is now the South Academy Chancellor. (He has certain reasons for this in my AU. I have an idea that's a little different for the Duel Monster Characters who are going to appear more than simply dueling.)
I'm sorry this chapter was a little lack luster, I was having a little trouble writing this. Still, I am excited to write this technically original arc. I'll see you guys soon. Happy Holidays and be safe out there, guys.
{Extra: It's pretty hot in here for a submarine.}
Unluckily for the two future escapees, a sailor happened to spot the two in the distance plotting despite having assistance from Duel Spirits. Luckily for them, he didn't think they were doing anything suspicious. Rather, he felt the need to make space for the two.
The sailor turned around and spotted The Admiral making his way.
"Where be the two!?"
The sailor shushed his Admiral before he pointed around the corner. Curious, the Admiral peeked the corner. His eyes widened, and he turned back and coughed nervously in his hand while his face was red. "I-I see. That explains why she stayed behind. Who am I to deny the one treasure in life that trumps all?" He said this with tears starting to form in his eyes.
Meanwhile, "Uhh, Wilona?" It was getting very cold around the area even though they were underwater. "W-Why are you glaring at me?"
"I don't know why." Her voice could make sharpened guillotine blades seem dull. "But I feel annoyed, and I know it's your bloody fault."
