It was a charter school offering education from the elementary level all the way to the high school level. The campus was rather sizable, containing many buildings that housed all the necessary facilities a school required. Students came and went, talking amongst themselves while traveling to their next class. All students wore a uniform, each wearing light blue collared shirts. The boys wore black jeans while the girls wore black pleated skirts of various lengths. It was the start of a new school year and everyone had an even distribution of excitement of nervousness.
Chuck and Karey met with the principal in his office. He was a dark skinned man with short black hair and ocean blue eyes. When they all met, the principal was quick to greet his two visitors with a smile.
"It's a pleasure to welcome you both to Winslow Academy. I'm Principal Benjamin Merrick."
"It's a pleasure to be here, Mr. Merrick," Karey greeted in a tone that suggested otherwise.
"Pleasure to meet you, Principal Merrick," Chuck greeted with a genuine smile.
"Please, Charles, call me Ben," he replied, extending his hand forward.
"In that case, just call me Chuck," the teen accepted Ben's gesture and shook his hand.
"Well, Chuck, I must say I'm a big fan of your work," Ben mentioned before pulling his arm back, "Your match against Johnny Well this morning was quite a decisive victory."
You might be one of my few fans, Chuck thought to himself, "I'm honored to hear you say that."
"I'm glad to have you here at the start of the new school year. Our new dueling course would surely benefit from a lecture detailing the rise of the best rookie duelist in America."
Yeah, with the script Karey prepared, it was filled with inaccuracies and flat out untrue information, but Karey insisted that embellishments were necessary. The conversation was interrupted when the door to Ben's office opened. A little red headed girl wearing the school uniform popped her head from the other side. Chuck nearly did a double take when he saw her, Hey, it's that little girl from yesterday. Sarah, was it?
Sarah widened her eyes when she saw Chuck, "I knew it, it's you. From yesterday."
"Chuck, do you know this student?" Ben asked.
"Huh? Uh, I don't know what you're talking about," Chuck waved his hands with a sheepish smile on his face. Chuck could feel Karey's stern stare weighing down on him as he spoke to Sarah, "You probably have me confused with someone else."
Karey rolled her eyes. Obviously, Chuck did a bad job hiding his true identity in public yesterday. She would have a talk with him later about this.
"Young lady, if you don't have anything to say, I must ask you to leave," Ben informed Sarah, "Besides, it's almost time for class."
"I'll make sure she gets there," Chuck offered.
"Umm, do you know where her class even is?" Ben asked in confusion.
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure she'll point me in the right direction," Chuck quickly replied before stepping out of the room and closing the door. Karey could feel her blood pressure rise as Chuck exited the room. He escorted the little girl past the hallway. Once Chuck figured he was out of ear shot, he knelt down to Sarah's level and whispered, "How did you know it was me? Better yet, how did you even know I was here?"
"I could hear the spirits of your cards," Sarah replied, "They were drawing me here," Chuck blinked in rapid succession, trying to process what he just heard. Suddenly, he remembered; he heard this exact thing only yesterday.
"Yeah, you said you could listen to what the cards were saying, right?" Sarah nodded her head in response. Chuck heard it before, but it was so hard to believe. Maybe a little test was in order. Chuck opened the pouch on his belt and brought out his deck. Without looking, Chuck pulled out a random card, "Okay, tell me what this card is thinking," he showed Sarah the Cyberse Synchron he fished out. The little girl eyed it critically.
"He's saying you're way too addicted to ramen," Sarah said. In utter shock, Chuck collapsed onto the floor in a pratfall.
"Hey, I can quit anytime I want!" Chuck defiantly retorted after getting back up. Then his eyes suddenly shot open, nearly popping out of his head, "Wait, how did you know that?!"
"Your Cyberse Synchron told me," Sarah said. Chuck could feel his brain turn into mush. Was it really true? Did Sarah really have the ability to read card spirits? Moreover, were there really card spirits? Chuck then realized something of the utmost importance: his cards were trash talking him.
"Is that that so, Cyberse Synchron?" He questioned his card with an annoyed expression, "Anything else you want to tell me?"
Sarah listened intently for the voice of the card. She let out a giggle as she interrupted what it said, "He says you should consider combing your hair more."
"What?!" Chuck went wide eyed. He brought out the rest of his deck and spouted, "Anything else someone wants to say?" the amount of strange looks he was getting from other passing students was staggering.
"That guy is just as weird as Sarah is," a judgmental girl muttered.
Sarah assured Chuck she knew which way she needed to go for class. With that, Chuck rejoined Karey and Ben, assuring them that the little girl was fine on her own. It was an awkward exchange. Not helping was Karey's disarming glare. With all that out of the way, Ben treated both Chuck and Karey to a tour of the school.
"And this here is our dueling arena," the principal showed Chuck and Karey an indoor dueling arena similar to the one in the stadium, only on a much smaller scale. There were no rising platforms or thousands of seats. There were only a fifth of the seats the stadium had. Sarah was sitting in the stands along with a few other students. In the middle of the arena was a man with a well tailored maroon suit, black spectacles, and well combed brown hair. His opponent was a teen student with grey eyes and rigid silver hair with five bangs over his forehead, three of them side-swept.
Dueling curriculum was very commonplace in modern schools. In fact, a school that didn't offer any kind of dueling course was the exception to the rule. Dedicated dueling schools were also quite common.
Chuck took a look at the students in the rafters. Among them, there was a teenage girl with chestnut hair and cloudy bangs. Chuck almost fell over in shock. That was Aella. She was wearing a school uniform instead of her flight gear. She looked so different with those clothes on. Next to her was a girl with lime green eyes and curly chocolate colored hair.
Back over to the duel, the well dressed man was in the middle of his turn. On his side of the field was a humanoid monster with a wicked grin and pale skin as white as snow. His entire body was pulsating with electricity with each movement he made, "Now PSY-Frame Driver, attack directly with Psychic Shockwave!" His monster held his palm out, firing electrical currents. The attack struck true, reducing the teen's lifepoints to zero and knocking him flat on the floor.
"And I win," the man announced smugly.
"Who's he?" Chuck asked Ben, gesturing to the winner of the duel.
"That's Professor Spencer, our new dueling instructor," the school principal explained, "He's a former professional who won many top tournaments in his day."
"A former professional," Chuck repeated. He certainly seemed to have the ego of a pro duelist, based on his arrogant expression.
"How do you expect to ever win with a deck such as that?," Professor Spencer taunted as the teen picked himself back up, "If you were even remotely smart, you would toss those cards in the trash where they belong!"
"But my parents gave me this deck," the teen feebly reasoned, "They were finally able to afford something useable for me. There's no way I can part with it."
Spencer snorted in response, "Here's a life lesson for you. Drop all of your sentimental nonsense. Your parents clearly have no idea what real dueling is if they gave you that pathetic excuse for a deck," the beaten teen looked to be on the verge of tears.
"What an elitist," Aella muttered under her breath, disgusted with Professor Spencer's attitude. She was just about to stand up and give the man a piece of her mind. However, someone else beat her to it.
"That's enough!" Chuck walked to the center of the arena as everyone's eyes focused on him.
"What was that?" Spencer narrowed his eyes at the pro duelist.
"Mr. Ikari," Karey breathed between gritted teeth, "What are you doing?" he was supposed to give a lecture, not start trouble.
"What gives you the right to treat your student like that?" Chuck interrogated, "Just because you beat him doesn't mean you can insult him."
"Don't stick you nose where it doesn't belong, Mr. Ikari," the professor threatened.
"You know who I am?" Chuck repeated matter of factly.
"Yes, I know of you. Charles Ikari, the so-called Rookie Superstar, winner of the West coast Dueling Association Regional Championship, the 'King of Synchro.' I've heard all about you," Spencer huffed haughtily, "What drivel. If you ask me, you're nothing more than a lucky rouge upstart."
Professor Spencer's insults didn't seem to faze Chuck in the slightest, "I have a proposition for you, Professor. Why don't you duel me?"
"Duel you?" Spencer repeated.
Karey rubbed her temples, "Mr. Ikari, we aren't here to—"
"I think that's a splendid idea," Ben interrupted, making Karey do a double take, "Our students can get to see how a real dueling professional plays rather than just listen to him talk."
Karey hung her mouth open, "But, sir…"
"Assuming it's okay with you, Professor Spencer?" Ben asked.
"Fine by me," Spencer agreed with a smug smile on his face, This way, I can put this fool in his place, "I'll just put away this test deck and grab my personal deck."
"Hold on," Chuck held his hand up, "I want to use the same decks used in the last duel. You use that same deck, and I'll use his," Chuck gestured to the fallen teen, whose eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"Say what?"
The rest of the students were just as surprised. Why would Chuck want to use the loser's deck? Shouldn't he use his own, professional deck?
Spencer laughed in response to this request, "Alright. If you want to lose that badly, then be my guest."
Chuck ignored him and knelt down so he was eye level with the fallen teen, "Say, do you mind if I borrow your deck?"
"Uhh, sure?" the teen pulled his deck out of his duel disk and handed it to Chuck, who took a moment to look through what he was working with.
Once he was done, Chuck nodded his head, "Okay, let's see what I can do with this."
"You really want to use that weak deck?" Spencer mocked, "Please, not even Yugi Muto himself could make that pile of trash work."
With kindness in his eyes, Chuck glanced at the solemn teen, "Don't listen to him. I'll prove the strength of these cards," Chuck helped the teen to stand upright before turning to face his opponent. The other teen scurried off the field. As he joined the other students, Chuck's word's echoed in his head. The strength of his cards?
Aella watched this entire sequence of events play out with wide eyes. Of all the things she expected to see today, seeing a young pro duelist face off against her dueling teacher was not something she considered.
"Say, Aella, don't you think that Charles guy is cute?" her friend next to her asked, hands clasped together.
Aella stammered her response, "Uh, yeah… sure Ashley," she replied with a blush on her face. Ashley's impulsive behavior was a little too much at times.
Ben stood in the arena, acting as the referee, "Alright, both duelists prepare for battle!" Spencer and Chuck activated their duel disks as Ben leaped off the field and sat in the stands. He sat down next to Sarah.
"Let's duel!"
"The first turn goes to me," Spencer said, looking at his opening hand, "For my first move, I'll set a monster in defense mode. Then, I'll set three cards on the field and end my turn," after that move, Spencer only had one card left in his hand. Chuck furrowed his brow. From his experience, it was never a good sign when your opponent sets multiple cards in the back row. Although, now Spencer only had one card in hand. Maybe Chuck could use that to his advantage.
"My turn, I draw!" Chuck considered his options given his current hand. The trap card he had might come in handy later, "I'll set one card face down. Now I normal summon Mataza the Zapper," Mataza (Lv. 3, DARK, Warrior, Atk. 1300, Def. 800) was a samurai wearing green armor and a white headband. Now that he was on the field, Chuck activated a spell card, "Now I'll equip Mataza with Mage Power. This equip spell gives my warrior 500 attack and defense points for every spell and trap I control, including itself," due to there being two cards in Chuck's spell and trap zone, Mataza's stats rose to Atk. 2300 and Def. 1800, "Now Mataza, attack his face down monster!" Mataza rushed forward with his katana, poised to strike.
Spencer grinned widely as Chuck declared his attack, "You fool, I play my trap card, Paleozoic Canadia! When this is activated, I can change the position of your face up monster to face down defense," Canadia's flipped up card hologram emited a golden powder, stopping Mataza's attack and dissipating him into a face down card, "and since equip cards can't be applied to face down monsters, your Mage Power is destroyed," Mage Power's card hologram exploded, sending it to the graveyard.
Chuck gritted his teeth, "In that case, I'll just end my turn."
"Oh, Chuck walked right into that one," Sarah lamented.
Why would he attack? Aella thought. It was far too risky with the amount of set cards Spencer has on the field, so why?
"Very well," Professor Spencer drew his card to initiate his turn, "I play the field spell PSY-Frame Circuit," Spencer's side of the field turned into a digital world with pulsating yellow circuits, "With this card in play, whenever I special summon a PSY-Frame card, I'm allowed to immediately synchro summon using PSY-Frame monsters I control," that couldn't be the only thing it did. Spencer didn't have the requirements to activate that effect. That didn't stop him from making a devious smirk, "I think I'll let you off easy and end my turn here."
"Alright, my turn," Chuck drew his card, "Firstly I'll flip Mataza the Zapper back into attack mode," Chuck flipped Mataza's card back up, materializing him on the field, "Now I'll normal summon Comrade Swordsman of Landstar!" Comrade Swordsman of Landstar (Lv. 3, EARTH, Warrior/Tuner, Atk. 500, Def. 1200), a warrior monster with a cartoonishly bulbous head with two antenna, appeared next to Mataza, "When this little guy is out on the field, all warrior type monsters gain 400 extra attack points," Mataza and Landstar's attack strength rose to Atk. 1700 and Atk. 900 respectively, "But my soldiers wont be using those attacks points for long, because now their strength will be combined into one."
"What are you on about?" Spencer questioned.
"This is what I'm on about. Level 3 Comrade Swordsman of Landstar tunes level 3 Mataza the Zapper," Swordsman of Landstar leaped into the air, focusing his energy to become three green rings. Mataza jumped in soon after, "When hopes and dreams come together, they form a power like no other! Now," a pillar of light shone down on the field, "Synchro summon! Come forth, Stardust Charge Warrior!" Appearing within the pillar of light was Stardust Charge Warrior (Lv. 6, WIND, Warrior/Synchro, Atk. 2000, Def. 1300), a warrior wearing shining silver armor similar in brilliance to Stardust Dragon itself. On his back were two low hung, bladed wings, "When this monster is successfully Synchro summoned, I draw one card from my deck," Chuck received his card from his loaned deck, "Now, Stardust Charge Warrior, attack that face down monster!" Stardust Charge Warrior rushed ahead, blades poised to strike.
"When will you learn?" Spencer mocked with a disapproving shake of his head, "I reveal my second trap card, Paleozoic Hallucigenia. When this card is played, I can half the attack and defense points of one monster you control. But before that, I'll chain the secondary effect of Paleozoic Canadia from my graveyard. Since a trap card was activated, I can special summon it back on the field as a monster."
"He can turn his trap card into a monster?" Sarah questioned. She never heard of that before.
"Rise, Canadia!" Spencer's trap card resurrected as a monster card. Paleozoic Canadia (Lv. 2, WATER, Aqua, Atk. 1200, Def. 0) had the appearance of a centipede with four vertically aligned eyes, "By the way, Canadia has a special effect of its own that makes it invulnerable to any monster effects. Now the effect of my Hallucigena comes into play, halving your monster's stats," Stardust Charge Warrior recoiled as he was bathed in a red glow, signifying his halved power to Atk. 1000 and Def. 650.
"I guess I have no choice," Chuck relented, "I'll call off my attack," because there was a change in the number of monsters on the field after Chuck declared an attack, a replay occurred. During a replay, a player could chose to follow through with the same or different target, or cancel the attack altogether. Chuck decided to end the attack. 1000 points was too low to attack into a set monster, "I'll just go and pass it off to you now."
Professor Spencer drew to initiate his turn, "Now then, I'll sacrifice my Canadia to tribute summon PSY-Fame Driver!" PSY-Frame Driver (Lv. 6, LIGHT, Psychic, Atk. 2500, Def. 0) was the monster that won Spencer his last duel, "Now that that's done, I think I'll finally flip over my set monster, Iron Chain Coil," Iron Chain Coil (Lv. 3, EARTH, Machine/Tuner, Atk. 1100, Def. 1600) was a robotic monster with a bulbous yellow head with arms made of chains. At the end of it's chain arms were large orange gloves, "Now, I'll activate Coil's effect. You see, once per turn, Coil can imbue an Iron Chain monster with 300 attack and defense points, and that includes itself," Atk. 1400 and Def. 1900," Now PSY-Frame Driver, attack Stardust Charge Warrior!" PSY Frame Driver lunged forward with electricity pulsing through his arm, poised to strike, "Oh, I forgot to mention something. Do you recall my field spell."
"Your field spell?" Chuck repeated before remembering, That's right, I almost forgot about PSY-Frame Circuit.
"Well, it has a secondary effect you'll just love. You see, when a PSY-Frame monster I control battles an opponent's monster, I can discard a PSY-Frame monster in my hand and transfer it's attack points over to my attacking monster."
"Is this what you were aiming for?" Chuck asked.
"Correct, so by sending PSY-Framegear Epsilon to the graveyard, I boost Driver's attack points to 4000!" Professor Spencer discarded his last card, raising Driver's to Atk. 4000, "Now, PSY-Frame Driver, destroy that silly warrior with Psychic Shockwave!" the attack rang true, reducing Stardust Charge Warrior to dust and Chuck's lifepoints to 6000, "Now, It's only right my Iron Chain Coil gets it's shot, yes? Coil, attack with constricting melee!" Coil's arms extended forward. It then wrapped both it's hands around Chuck and squeezed, forcing him to recoil. Chuck's lifepoints were now 4600, "I'll be ending my turn now."
Chuck gritted his teeth as his turn began, "Alright, here goes! I draw! First off, I'll summon Exiled Force," a group of grinning warriors wearing plate armor and wielding various medieval weapons appeared on the field, Exiled Force (Lv. 4, EARTH, Warrior, Atk. 1000, Def. 1000), "Then I'll equip them with this, Moon Mirror Shield," one of the soldiers now wielded a shield with a rounded, reflective golden surface, "Here's how it works. When the equipped monster battles an opponents monster, the first one's attack points become equal to the second one's highest stat plus 100."
The professor suddenly grew worried, "Wait, that means you can effectively destroy any monster on my side of the field!"
"That's right. Because your Iron Chain Coil has higher defense points than attack points, Moon Mirror Shield's effect grants Exiled Force your monster's current 1900 defense points as attack points, plus another one hundred," Exiled Force's strength rose from Atk. 1000 to Atk. 2000 due to their equip card's effect, "Exiled Force, attack Iron Chain Coil! Guerrilla Warfare!" Exiled force ganged up on Chain Coil, tearing it to pieces before it dissipated. After damage calculation, Exiled Force's attack value went back to normal. Now professor Spencer had 7400 lifepoints, still far more than Chuck.
"Not bad, but next time, try destroying a stronger monster," Spencer mocked, "My PSY-Frame Driver is far stronger than your rusty barbarians."
"Sorry, but Driver wont be sticking around," Chuck smirked.
"Pardon?"
"See, Exiled Force has a very nifty effect of their own. If I tribute them, they'll take one of your monsters with them. Alright boys, you know what to do," Chuck put Exiled Force's card in the graveyard, also destroying Moon Mirror Shield in the process. In response, Exiled Force dog piled PSY-Frame Driver, tearing him apart.
"No, this can't be!" Spencer yelled before narrowing his eyes at his opponent, "You think you can beat me with that piece of trash you call a deck?! I'll show you, you upstart wannabe! Before my Driver is destroyed, I play my final trap card, Oasis of Dragon Souls!"
"What does that do?" Chuck asked.
"What it does is let me special summon a monster from my graveyard in defense mode, so long as it now becomes a Wyrm-type monster. I think I'll revive my PSY-Framegear Epsilon,"the earlier discarded monster, PSY-Framegear Epsilon (Lv. 2, LIGHT, Psychic/Tuner, Atk. 1500, Def. 0) appeared. It was a monster resembling a machine component with two spikes on each side of an orb. Due to the effect of Oasis of Dragon Souls, this monster was now considered a Wyrm type, "However, there's one more thing I can do. Since I activated a trap card, I can special summon the Paleozoic Hallucigena trap in my graveyard as a monster," now a mutant fish like monster with tubes running across it's body emerged, Spencer's second trap monster, Paleozoic Hallucigenia (Lv. 2, WATER, Aqua, Atk. 1200, Def. 0). Now that both effects resolved, both Exiled Force and PSY-Frame Driver were sent to the graveyard
Spencer silently cursed the fact he was using a test deck. Since he had special summoned Epsilon, he could use his field spell's effect to summon PSY-Framelord Omega, a very powerful card; however, this test deck didn't have it. Still, Spencer was perfectly confident, "You may have destroyed my Driver, but now you're completely defenseless with two monsters staring you down."
"I'm more than prepared for whatever you can throw at me. I activate Moon Mirror Shield's effect from the graveyard. You see, by paying 500 lifepoints, I can put my equip spell back on the top of my deck," Chuck payed the lifepoint price, dropping to 4100. Afterwards, he pulled Moon Mirror Shield out of the graveyard and placed it on the top of his deck.
"How sad, you put so much faith in that silly equip spell you would sacrifice your own lifepoints. I'll have you beat in no time."
"If you say so. I'll just set this card on the field and end my turn," Chuck's field now only consisted of two set cards.
"Aww, Chuck's completely defenseless," Sarah dreaded, "He's losing the duel."
"Not necessarily," Ben interjected, making the little girl confused.
"What do you mean?" she inquired.
"Chuck's playing smart," Ben explained, "Professor Spencer set three trap cards on his first turn. In response, Chuck created a strong monster so Spencer would have to react."
"Wait, do you mean Chuck wanted Professor Spencer to play his traps? But doesn't that hurt his chances of winning?"
"Not exactly. See, Chuck isn't trying to win right now. Right now, he's dwindling Spencer's resources."
"What do you mean?"
"There's an old saying in Duel Monsters: cards in hand wins you games. Take a look at both player's hands. Spencer doesn't have any cards left in his hand while Chuck still has two left. Plus he still has two set cards."
Sarah suddenly had an epiphany, "I understand now. He's making it so the teacher can't do anything."
"Exactly," Ben nodded, "Chuck is setting up a position where he'll have card advantage. That way, he can launch an unimpeded counter attack."
"My turn," Spencer drew his card, "I'll be setting a card on the field also. Now I'll have my monsters attack. Hallucigenia, attack Chuck's lifepoints directly!" the mutant fish lunged forward, intending to attack Chuck.
Chuck smirked in response, "Not so fast, I play my trap, Powerful Rebirth!" the card Chuck set last turn flipped over.
"What?"
"Here's how it works, I can special summon a level 4 or lower monster in my graveyard. Not only that, I can increase it's level by 1 and it's attack and defense points by 100. I bring back Mataza the Zapper!" Mataza slid out of the graveyard slot before Chuck placed him back on the field in attack mode, "And due to the effect of Powerful Rebirth, Mataza gains a boost to his stats," Mataza was now lv. 5, Atk. 1400, Def. 900.
Now it was the professor's turn to engage in a replay. Because Mataza had 100 more attack points than his monster, the choice was clear, "I call off my attack. My Hallucigenia may not be able to overpower your monster, but Epsilon is more than capable. Now PSY-Framegear Epsilon, attack with wavelength blast!" A blast of psychic energy shot forth and struck Mataza, destroying him and leaving Chuck's lifepoints at the halfway mark, 4000.
"My turn, I draw," Chuck drew Moon Mirror Shield due to him using its effect earlier, "I summon D.D. Warrior Lady," a woman with dirty blonde hair wearing leather armor and wielding a glowing saber appeared, D.D. Warrior Lady (Lv. 4, LIGHT, Warrior, Atk. 1500, Def. 1600). The D. D. in her name stood for Different Dimension.
After this summoning, Spencer responded, "I activate my set card, Oasis of Dragon Souls!"
"Again?" Chuck tilted his head.
"Yes again, you remember what it does, yes? I can summon a monster from my graveyard and put it into defense position. I'll be bringing back my iron chain coil," Iron Chain Coil resurrected from the graveyard, now being considered a Wyrm type.
"Now I'll equip Warrior Lady with Moon Mirror Shield. You remember how it works right? If not, then D.D. Warrior Lady will show you. Attack PSY-Framegear Epsilon with dimensional stab!" Due to the effect of Moon Mirror Shield, D.D. Warrior Lady rose from Atk. 1500 to Atk. 1600. She lunged forward with her saber, stabbing Epsilon in the center. Epsilon was sent to the graveyard, reducing Spencer's lifepoints to 7300. D.D Warrior Lady had an effect Chuck could have activated if he wanted to. After D.D. Warrior Lady does battle with an opponent's monster, she can banish herself and the monster she battled. He decided not to activate the effect, "I end my turn."
"My turn. I draw," Spencer drew his card and cursed to himself. This card was useless. Regardless, there was something he could do, "Now, I'll tune my level three Iron Chain Coil with my Hallucigenia," Iron Chain Coil vanished into three floating rings. Hallucigenia floated in not long after, becoming two glowing stars. A pillar of light shone down where both stars were.
"A synchro summon…" Chuck uttered.
Spencer laughed, "That's right. Did you think you were the only duelist who can perform a synchro summon? I'll now Synchro Summon Magical Android," appearing out of the pillar of light was an automaton with the appearance of a human woman with flowing red hair, wielding both a shield and a staff, Magical Android (Lv. 5, LIGHT, Psychic/Synchro, Atk. 2400, Def. 1700).
Chuck gave the biggest of smirks as soon as Spencer's monster appeared on the field, "Got you!"
"What?"
Chuck held his palm out as he revealed the card he set on his first turn, "I play my trap card, Time-Space Trap Hole!"
"Time Space Trap Hole?"
"Here's how it works. Whenever you summon a monster from your hand or extra deck, I can pay 1000 lifepoints and send it back where it came from!" Chuck's lifepoints now reached 3000 from his card's effect; but it was worth it. A swirl of cosmic energy appeared underneath Magical Android. In an instant it fell through, returning to the extra deck. Spencer went into a panic.
"No! You were waiting for me to special summon from the extra deck this entire time, weren't you?"
"Exactly," Chuck confirmed, "Extra deck monsters aren't easy to summon in the first place. Even if I destroy them, my opponent could just special summon them back from the graveyard. But if an extra deck monster is returned to the extra deck, you need to start from square one."
"Wow!" Sarah cried in astonishment.
"Incredible. Chuck is impressing with each turn," Ben uttered.
Aella watched this duel play out with baited interest, There's something about this guy. His demeanor is so familiar, Aella then gasped in shock. That guy from yesterday, he had the same level of confidence Chuck was currently displaying. Could they be one in the same?
"Wow, he's so cool!" Ashley gushed, her face turning red.
The teen whose deck Chuck is using watched this play with wide eyes. He never even once considered sending a monster back into the extra deck.
"I-I end my turn," Spencer stammered.
"My turn," Chuck drew his card, his voice growing more confident by the second, "Now's the time to finally turn this duel around. I normal summon Comrade Swordsman of Landstar. Now all Warrior-type monsters gain an extra 400 attack points," Swordsman of Landstar and D.D. Warrior Lady's attack strength rose to Atk. 900 and Atk. 1900 respectively, "Alright everyone, show your strength! Attack!" Both of Chuck's monsters rushed forward, unimpeded as they struck Professor Spencer's lifepoints, leaving him with 4500 left, "I end my turn."
Spencer hazarded a glance at his opponent, Look at him with that smug smile on his face. I wont let him make a fool out of me! As angry as Spencer was, he was effectively in a top decking situation. The card in his hand was useless. If he didn't draw a good card come his next turn, then he'd be in real trouble.
"M-my turn…" Spencer announced nervously. As he drew his card, he shrieked in distress, "Unbelievable! I can't play this either!"
"What will you do?" Chuck asked.
Spencer gritted his teeth in frustration, "I pass this turn," all he could do was hope Chuck wouldn't reduce his lifepoints to zero this coming turn.
Chuck drew his card to initiate his turn, "Alright then! I summon Trident Warrior!" Trident Warrior (Lv. 4, LIGHT, Warrior, Atk. 1800, Def. 1200) was a bearded warrior wielding a golden trident and wearing green armor, "And Don't forget, Comrade Swodsman of Landstar increases Trident Warrior's attack points," his power rose from Atk. 1800 to Atk. 2200, "Now I'll have my forces wage a direct attack on your lifepoints!" all three of Chuck's monsters rushed forward with a total attack point value of 5000. First, D. D. Warrior Lady attacked, then Trident Warrior, then finally Comrade Swordsman of Landstar. The shockwave of all three attacks was enough to make Professor Spencer fall on his back, his lifepoints reaching zero.
"He won!" Sarah exclaimed with a wide smile on her face.
"Never doubted for a second," Ben assured with a nod.
There's no doubt about it, Aella thought, He's the one from yesterday. I actually dueled Charles Ikari.
"I think I'm in love…" Ashley dreamily droned, looking at Chuck with lovesick eyes.
"Good game," Chuck said as his duel disk deactivated.
Spencer sat back up as reality came crashing down on him, "No way… There's no way he could have beaten me!"
The students all rose from the bleachers and applauded. None cheered more so than the teen whose deck Chuck played.
"He did it! He actually did it!" he cheered, running off the bleachers to meet with Chuck in the arena, "That was awesome, Charles!"
"Call me Chuck," the victor requested, pulling the deck out of his duel disk before handing it over to the other teen, "By the way, what's your name?"
"It's Sid. Sid Newman," he answered, accepting the deck, "You know, I only got these cards last week. I never thought that they could win a duel."
"You said before that your parents gave you this deck, right?"
"Yeah," Sid suddenly grew solemn, "My family isn't that rich. We just barely scrape by. I always wanted to be a duelist, but cards are pretty expensive. My parents spent months saving up for a deck that was usable. I don't want to replace them."
"I think that's more than a good reason to keep using that deck," Chuck smiled.
"When Professor Spencer told me my deck was trash, I couldn't help but believe him. But then you showed up and beat him with it. I didn't know what you meant when you talked about the power of my cards, but now I think I understand. The strength of the cards comes from the duelist who uses them. I see that I have alot to learn. I'll work hard and master this deck."
"It is a good deck. That being said, I think there can be room for improvement," Chuck said, making Sid wide eyed.
"Wait, didn't you say that I had a good reason to keep this deck?"
"I didn't say replace it. I'm suggesting you upgrade it," Chuck opened the pouch on his belt to pull out his deck, "See, this was the first deck I ever owned. Over the years, I've upgraded and tweaked this deck to what it is now. You should always look to make your deck better. That make sense?"
"I guess so but…" Sid hesitated before responding, "There's no way I could afford it, and I can't ask my parents for more cards."
"Then let me help you get started," Chuck offered as he looked through his deck. Once he found the card he was looking for, "There we go," Chuck took it out of his deck and presented it to Sid.
"Reinforcement of the Army?" Sid read, "Add one level four or lower warrior monster from your deck to your hand."
"Go on, take it," Chuck said. Sid nearly did a double take when he heard that.
"No, there's no way I can accept this," Sid pulled back, "That's your card."
"Don't worry, I have a spare," Chuck assured, "Besides, it's worth it to help an aspiring duelist."
Sid seemed hesitant, but he eventually accepted the card, "Thanks, Chuck. I promise I'll take good care of it."
"I'm sure you will. Just remember Sid, a true duelist plays with respect and honor. Hold onto that, and you'll go far."
"Ugh, gag!" spoke a repulsed voice. Both teens turned to see a recovered Professor Spencer, who did not look happy, "You're wasting your time, Ikari. This sod is a lost cause. He won't know how to play that card to it's full potential."
"Aren't you supposed to be a teacher?" Chuck asked, "Your job is to build up beginning players into stronger duelists."
"Don't you dare try to lecture me you rogue upstart!" Spencer yelled, "I don't have time for filthy casuals in my class! You can't just 'grow stronger' in an industry like this. You think you can get better with superficial nonsense like friendship or 'honor'? Only the most braindead of idiots believe in that, especially in this age of dueling!"
"Yeah, right!" a random student yelled, "You're just salty because Chuck beat you."
"Shut the hell up!" Spencer snapped, "Put that deck up against real cards and see what happens!"
"Professor Spencer," Chuck declared, catching the teacher's attention, "You say you lost because you had bad cards. The true reason you lost was because of your overconfidence. Don't make excuses."
"Don't patronize me!" Spencer snarled, "Let's use our real decks. You wont be so cocky when I destroy you!"
"I have nothing to prove to you," Chuck replied, "Besides, I'm not the one you should be worried about."
"What?!" Spencer yelled. He was about to continue on his tirade, but a very loud 'Ahem!' made him freeze over. Spencer's face suddenly became worried when he turned his head behind him. His blood ran cold when he saw who it was, "Oh, Principal Merrick… H-how long have you been here?"
"The entire time," Ben answered, his arms crossed and his face stern, "That reminds me, I'd like to speak to you—in my office."
"Ugghhh…" Spencer relented as he slumped out of the arena in shame.
"Well now what?" a student thought out loud. How were they supposed to proceed with class without a teacher?
"Hey, here's an idea," Chuck spoke up, "Let's have a tournament."
"A tournament?" Sid repeated.
"Yeah, no better teacher than experience," Chuck reasoned, "So, how 'bout it?"
"Hey, that sounds fun."
"Yeah, I'm game."
"Let's do it."
"Say, Chuck, you think you can stay?" Sid requested, "Maybe act as the referee?"
Chuck rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Sorry, Sid, but I don't know if my schedule will allow it."
"Oh, you needn't worry about that, Mr. Ikari," Karey said, shocking both teens. Where did she come from?
"Wait, you mean you cancelled that meeting with the director?" Chuck asked hopefully.
"No," Karey spitefully replied, "You won't need to worry about your schedule anymore, because I quit!"
Chuck did a double take, "What? Why?"
Karey felt a vein burst in her head when Chuck asked that, "Why? Because you are the most uncooperative, idiotic, most impossible client I've ever had. You blatantly ignore my advice, half-ass every sponsorship I hand over to you, sleep through every strategy meeting. You're nothing but a lost cause!"
"Look, I'm sorry, but what else am I supposed to do when you try to paint a false image of me? The things you want me to do just aren't who I am."
"I'm trying to help you, Ikari. You think you can just get by with your lofty ideas of honor? The modern are of dueling doesn't care about your honor! This industry eats naïve kids like you alive! But no! You decided to blow off my brilliant ideas for your 'honor!' Good luck trying to survive in the pro scene without me!" With that, Karey stormed off in a huff, leaving both teens dazed. Chuck especially felt a hole in his stomach as Karey forced her way out the door. Without a manager to handle all the complicated stuff, he might not be able to compete for a while. However, Chuck did have a sense of relief knowing Karey won't try to dictate his life again.
Sid was at a loss for words. He wanted to say something, but the words weren't coming to him. But as it turned out, he didn't need to say anything as Chuck was the one who broke the ice.
"Looks like I can be referee after all," he said with a slight smile.
Sid rubbed the back of his head, the awkward tension in the air was growing thicker by the second, "Ugh, Chuck… what are you gonna do now? Without a manager, I mean..?"
Chuck put his hands in his coat pockets as he contemplated. Only one idea seemed ideal at the moment.
"Go home I guess."
And that's another chapter done. The duel featured in this chapter was one I played in Master Duel's N/R festival a few months back. The N/R meaning that duelists were only allowed to use N and R rarity cards. That's why some of the card choices may seem strange.