"So, you are finally taking a break." A voice asked at a man in his mid 29s who has dressed in a black suit as he was drinking coffee and looking at something on his cellphone.
"Yeah, I'm almost at platinum right now, this Lunalight deck even after ban listed is still powerful, and the spider is what makes any easy win mostly of the time." The suited man said as he finished another win on his duel.
"Well, 4000 points and 3 slots is indeed really easy to finish a duel fast. You need to think fast to accomplish great duelists." The blonde man who was wearing black glasses and a black suit as well went to the coffee machine as he pressed to take another espresso.
"Yeah, but in comparison to many, we are just average. Even if we try to go pay to win, we will not be able to avoid the banlist forever." The black-haired sighed as he placed his cellphone back in his pocket.
"Well Simon, that's the life of duelists on our days, banlist will always find ways to possibly kill the meta, you know what they did with Aleister and Shiranui." The blond man said as Simon groaned and placed both his hands over his head.
"Oh God, why Konami have to go after Shiranui just one day after I started building the deck?" Simon lamented as the blond man chuckled from his reaction."Well Carlos, are you here just to make me sulk about my past mistakes? Because if you do, congratulations you are doing a great job."
"Nah, just here to say I translated the subtitles of Renan Sparrow, and this Pendrive has at least 20 videos of him." Carlos launched what would be a little envelope which made Simon look at his friend in disbelief. "It took me all my weekend, enjoy."
"Okay, forget what I said dude, I love you man." Simon shifted his mode to 180 degrees after knowing that his friend passed hours translating the videos for him.
"Yeah, yeah, I still don't get it why you didn't learn Portuguese Brazillian. It would have been far easier." Carlos said as his friend shrugged his shoulders.
"I wish I had time, but I have Jiu-Jitsu in the mornings, and I have other compromises as looking at the videos on youtube knowing about Master Duel and the current Meta, and I still have to pass on Gamepass and try to buy a new deck. I have just the night to actually go to work." Simon was serious about his time compromised, as both he and Carlos had to pass the night at their jobs, it was something that they knew full well how much time they had on the day.
"Yeah, but it gets annoying if I had to pass my entire day translating the videos for you." Carlos while knowing that the schedule of his friend had a point, he still didn't like to be the one wasting his time helping his friend.
"Come on Carlos, you are from São Paulo, you must know all the slangs from Brazil, and Renan Sparrow is their Yugioh Champion, and you explaining the slangs on the subs is what makes his videos funnier, I and the guys of game stop always laughed at the translation you did for us. But you are right, next time we will go to the GameStop I will buy you an entire box of boosters of whatever archetype you want." Simon smiled at how his friend grumbled before accepting.
"Okay, but I hope you have your wallet ready, I will not show mercy when we get there," Carlos said as both of them chuckled from how silly they were acting.
"Well, are you afraid of the new banlist?" Simon asked as he felt unsure of how he would react after knowing the TCG and DL were going to be affected on the banlist. "I swear if the skill list gets another nerf in Bandit Keith, I will lose my mind."
"Maybe, or maybe not... Maybe they are going to power up some skills which some are still lame... But I think your Despacito Deck is safe." Carlos smiled as he and Simon chuckled at the joke.
"When did we start to call him that anyway?"
"Well, since the song was that popular and 3 big Yugioh Tubers were nicknaming Desperado Like that. Who am I to be the difference? And I think Despacito would add more spice on the name of the deck itself, and not just the card." Simon smiled at how Renan Sparrow, Dkayed, and gunsblazing were the ones who nicknamed Desperado, it became a nickname stuck on Duel Links players.
"Well, they are indeed big, did you see Renan Sparrow won DL cup once again?" Carlos asked proudly as Simon nodded his head.
"Yeah, if I remember right he even cussed about how happy he was. It was a funny reaction. But using Melodious Diva to win the championship against Heavy Samurai was indeed surprising for me. Still, he is a great champion and deserved respect." Simon really respected a rogue champion which just a few would know his name. And Renan was one of them.
"You took the right words out of my mouth Simon, well, your break must be over. The boss's son is almost out of his nocturnal school, let's pick him up." Carlos said as he fixed his tie.
"Aye aye captain..." Was the last words he said before a boy with light blue hair opened his eyes as he glanced at the view from their airship as watched the ocean from the sky.
As the time has finally come, a group of students was flying straight over the seas in the direction of what would be a paradise island which was actually the school of many students who dreamed to learn about duel monsters.
The sound of the helicopter still being the loudest thing that most students would hear as they watched from the panoramic windows of the said helicopter, in many years of watching the anime itself and even vising some states of the country he lived. Syrus never had too much imagination about how breathtaking the Duel Academy would be.
An academy near a Volcano. Dangerous as heck it wasn't for the fact that remained dormant since who knows when.
"Attention new students of the Duel Academy, if you turn your heads to the window you will see your new lair far away from home." The voice of the pilot finally made himself known. As all the students looked and gasped amazed at the view. "I know that many of you are anxious, but don't turmoil, what a view right? That's the reason you should tight your belts, and turn your seats in the primary position, we are going to land. Next stop, Academy's island."
Syrus already prepared himself, since he knows how much these helicopters are used for the show when it lands and since all of the new students looked excited with the exception of the main character…
"Wow, he sleeps even with all his noise, maybe his biggest weakness is his own tiredness." Syrus looked at the boy who seemed to snore and wondered what kind of dreams he would be having. But later decided to shake his head and prepare himself.
After 5 minutes of landing, Syrus stretched himself, as he felt part of his body being rigid after flying.
"Man 4 hours of flying, just to appear on the island. I'm glad that I went to the bathroom before the fly." Syrus confessed as he cracked his neck, and noticed that many students were already taking their packages with them, and looking at the entrance of the academy, there were 3 proctors with what would be 3 kinds of uniforms behind them. "Oh, so this is how they will sort us out."
"Hey Sy, what are you talking about?" A voice came from on his side, which made Syrus raise his eyebrow surprised.
"Oh, so the hero finally had his rest. You slept the entire trip, did you not sleep well yesterday?" Syrus asked as he could see the brown-haired boy scratch the back of his head sheepishly.
"Yeah, I was so happy that I got in the Academy, that I didn't actually sleep much, but I just need just more than 30 minutes then I will be ready to go full energy in the entire day." Jaden smiled confidently with himself as Syrus couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle with him.
"Well it seems that they are sorting out the students by the color, my guess it will be the dorms where the students will live until they get promoted." Syrus had an objective in mind, he doesn't care if he would screw the timeline… but thinking about it… Syrus actually was an ear character, so not many things he could do would actually screw the timeline itself. "Well, since I forgot my glasses at home and didn't actually do the writing exam, and you barely managed to pass the written exam as well… It seems that we will be in the same dorm."
"Oh yeah, that's actually a good point. Hey Sy, you are pretty smart." Jaden complimented as Syrus smiled with himself.
"Thanks, Jaden, I know for a fact that my brother was the smartest student in the academy, and maybe even the best, so I want to show him and the academy that we share the same genes, and I will be awesome as or even better than him." Syrus confidently smiled, as Jaden nodded his head in agreement.
"That's the spirit. The plan sounds pretty neat, sadly you will need to beat me to be the best of the academy." Jaden as a good main character, always liked a challenge, and Syrus felt the confidence from him, which even made him even more confident, but there is something that Syrus had and Jaden doesn't have yet.
"Okay, challenge 20 students and when you win them, you can ask me for a challenge. Until then, keep practicing." Syrus, remembered the times he played Duel Links, everyone could be King of Games, but one thing Syrus always liked to ask the other players… Be DL20 or has the potential to be one before asking him to 1x1.
"Oh, is that a challenge?" Jaden grinned as they both got in line to receive their uniforms.
"You hear that right." Syrus smiled as he walked and was 3 guys in front of him, suddenly he heard another familiar voice.
"That sounds an interesting challenge, mind if I participate?" Bastion Misawa said as he was literally on the line on their right, which made Syrus smile at him.
"The more the merrier," Syrus said as he was glad to finally be something that Syrus took most episodes to actually do… Challenge Jaden to a duel and not be ashamed if he loses or wins.
Syrus finally stepped in front of Proctor who seemed reading his clipboard.
"Name."
"Syrus Truesdale," Syrus replied as the proctor took the red uniform and grey pants and gave them to the student in front of him.
"Welcome to the academy. Change yourself before having the introductions on the main hall of duels." The proctor said as Syrus nodded his head, and went to a place to change himself. With so many students changing and focusing on their own uniforms. Syrus ignored their stares at each other since most of them could see the underwear they are using.
After a few minutes, Syrus could see himself in the mirror, before finally walking into the changing room.
"I should get a few pounds and grow up a bit. Maybe do more exercises. If I had this body on my last job, I would have been beaten up and being fired on the next day." Syrus noticed that mostly made himself dislike him a bit were 3 important things, his height, his hair, and his voice. "I wish puberty would have hitten me earlier, that way I could have been more than an adult right now."
Syrus couldn't help but lament to himself in a whisper and sigh in displeasure.
"Hey Sy, what's the matter?" Jaden finally appeared using his traditional red jacket which he uses in mostly all of the episodes, before becoming the Supreme King.
"Oh, it's nothing. It's just I think I need a haircut and maybe grow up a few inches, maybe this way I can be taken seriously like Zane." Syrus decided to give half-truths to Jaden since he himself wasn't the same person as the anime, which made Jaden wrap his arm around his neck.
"Oh, don't worry dude, I take you seriously, from what I know, you are the guy who is the most awesome around here. Everything is fine, we are in the academy, that's what is matter." Jaden using his optimistic attitude as always, was used as a weapon to make Syrus groan playfully.
"Man, you have the right words for everything. There is no way I can be mad at you near me." Syrus said as he chuckled with Jaden.
"So, that's it, we are the same dorm then." Jaden smiled, as Syrus nodded his head.
"Yep, we can talk about it later. Now we have to go to the dueling hall as the proctors said, now come on." Syrus actually was in a hurry, since most of the episode was something that he didn't care before. Syrus went ahead not after he heard someone shouting behind him.
"HEY SY, WAIT FOR ME," Jaden shouted as he started to rush as well.
As the group of students line up, they all awaited anxiously at the giant screen that appear above them with a DA on the screen waiting until the video started playing showing nobody less than chancellor Sheppard who smiled at the students.
"Good morning, and welcome students. I'm chancellor Sheppard, the director around here, and you are the best and the most brilliant duelist in the world. Now please go to your designed dorms, I believe you will all find them very comfortable… Depending on the classification of your ranking of course…"
Syrus chuckled at the joke Chancellor Sheppard said as he tightened his hands.
"Son of an Ember Abyss, well, it will be a few weeks of pure discomfort, but I think I can manage," Syrus murmured to himself, as he watched Jaden once again fall into a sleep, rolling his eyes, he saw the video was turned off, and the students were already leaving the dueling hall.
"I don't know about you Sy but it seems that we are going to the Slifer dorm," Jaden said as he checked the PDA he received from the Academy, which made Syrus check his own device which looked a bit fancier than the actual cellphone he had, but not something that powerful as his Samsung he had on the other world, the technology seemed too old for him, but he managed to adapt.
"Well that's the thing since we are the Slifer dorm, I bet that we aren't that great over the rank, but nothing than a few good grates and good duels couldn't fix it," Syrus said as he tried to think into a strategy. "My next step is going to be a yellow Mega Ultra Chicken."
"Pff…Bahahahahah." Jaden who was reading his PDA forgot the nicknames his friend gave to the dorms, which made Jaden laugh like a friend who seemed to look curious about the loud noise.
"Hey, guys, what's so funny?" Bastion said as he was walking beside them, but he frown as Jaden started to laugh even louder.
"Bastion you are one… HAHAHAHA. Oh my God, I can't breathe. HAHAHAHAH" Jaden laughed as Syrus chuckled from his reaction.
"Don't worry about him Bastion, Jaden is just getting used to the nicknames the Academy had over the dorms," Syrus said which made his friend raises his eyebrows.
"Oh really? Do you mind me telling me what Slifer dorm is called? I like to make notes on how people could try to trash-talk and I may need countermeasures in case I need to ignore." Bastion always found the idea of how people would use words to make the opponents lose their concentration the worst tactic, but it was for the best if he manages to know all the insults which would lead him to be mentally prepared for what he was going to hear. Oh, he wasn't prepared for what he was going to hear.
"Oh, we are from Slifer the executive producer," Syrus said in so a serious tone, that Bastion tried to remain with his blank face, but it struggle to actually let out a chuckle, and with Jaden laughing hard on their side it made it even worse to hold.
"Oh boy, it seems that Slifer students have a great future in the productions ahead." Bastion joked as the trio laughed from the nickname. "Oh, boy it's so creative, now I want to hear the name of Ra. Maybe is something about the big boss of the company."
"Mega Ultra Chicken." The Slifer duo didn't waste time as the duo said in unison, making Bastion's face froze and frown deeply.
"It's not funny." Bastion felt kinda insulted from imagining his proud title of smartest ha student, could be used as a yellow chicken that had a Mega Ultra. It's so offensive that he imagined how Ra would react to hearing such a stupid nickname.
"Oh come on Bastion, we laughed at our titles. Enjoy the joke, we already had a lot of work to do if we want to be executive producers, while the only problem you must need to be concerned about is in case you lay an egg." Jaden gave a joke which both he and Syrus laughed, as Bastion glared daggers at them.
"Okay, stop the joke… Well, I hope Obelisks nicknames could be even worse…" Bastion said as he prayed to that be the case, but the look on his face of Syrus proved to be the opposite.
"Sorry Bastion, but Obelisks doesn't have a bad nickname… It's called Obelisks the tormentor because he is a bully and every time he attacks people shout toooormeeeeennt… Maybe it was for the fact they created the insults, so they are still the blue Obelisks" Syrus said as he too felt disappointed from how Yugioh Abridged Series didn't actually find a way to insult Obelisk, it would have been so funny to see Kaiba angry from knowing how his ace monster and boner would be called.
"Oh, that's unjust." Bastion felt quite irate at the moment. "I usually am calm mind, but if an Obelisk decides to use this stupid nickname on me I will throw a fit, we must do something."
"What do you mean?" Syrus and Jaden asked as they looked confused at the yellow jacket student.
"We must create a nickname for Obelisks, in case they use this nickname on us. We must have mental weapons prepared, analyze all the statistics, and prepare for all trash talking as possible." Bastion Misawa may have been called by name names, but being called a Mega Ultra Chicken is by far the worst and most ridiculous thing he ever heard.
"All that because of Ra's nickname?" Jaden couldn't help but ask in disbelief, and Syrus remained quiet but thoughtful.
"Yes. It's an outrage and I cannot accept that the Obelisks could use these nicknames and don't suffer repercussions." Bastion said as he looked at both of them with a conviction in his heart. "With our 3 minds combined we can make a ridiculous nickname to Obelisk, that if someone dares to talk to us awfully, we can use that as our weapon and make them in check forever."
Jaden and Syrus once again let the silence answer for them, leaving Bastion to notice how absurd his request was as he saw the duo glancing at him weirdly.
"Please, it's awful to have this nickname, I want a bit of justice in the world." Bastion composed himself as he coughed into his hand, but still made the request.
Syrus and Jaden looked at each other before nodding together.
"Alright, we will help you," Jaden said as Syrus nodded in agreement.
"Wonderful." Bastion smiled as he glanced at the duo who was still sitting on the rock as they chilled. "Aren't you going to your dorm?"
"Why the hurry Bastion?" Jaden smiled as Syrus glanced at his P.D.A "Chilling a bit as we feel the breeze in the air is a good way to start our afternoon. But you are right, let's go Sy."
"Woobly duply doo." Syrus said as he didn't have any desire to go to his dorm, and his sarcasm was noticed by both his friends.
"Oh, don't be like that Sy. I know that you are still mad with the joke from the chancellor but have some faith in our dorm, maybe the chancellor was kidding and all the dorms are awesome… LET'S GO." Jaden decided to run in the direction of the dorm he looked over the map, and as he left Syrus's sighed, and Bastion looked amused by his excitement.
"I hope the view was indeed awesome like they say." Syrus waved the back of his hands as a sign of goodbye to the yellow Ra, leaving Bastion once again chuckling from the contrast between them.
"This here is our room..." Jaden turned the knob and opened the door to their room, Syrus watched Jaden going inside as he looked around…
"Damn you, creators of Yugioh, you actually managed to make the view a killer. At least something good to see while doing exercises or chilling while reading a book or reading." Syrus grumbled to himself as he walked into the dark bedroom. "Man, I hate dark rooms while there is a good natural light outside."
"Syrus you need to chill, this will make a sweet first year here, you need to look at the good side of things. We are roommates." Jaden smiled as he didn't give Syrus any room for his pessimism since he was still sore from the salt the chancellor said to them.
"You are lucky that you are that charismatic. It's difficult to be angry with you around." Syrus sighed as he glanced around, the structure looked exactly like the anime and the game described.
Inside the room was a two-seated desk along the left wall, a window straight across from the door, and a three-person bunk bed along the right wall. And n was a little stove with some cabinets beneath it. Kinda small, but they'll make due. It wasn't too bad.
"Let there be light!" Jaden walked on over to the curtain that was shut closed and opened it.
"Hey! Those were closed for a reason." A voice from seemingly nowhere came. Jaden quickly pushed the curtains closed.
"In the middle of the afternoon?" Syrus asked aloud as he knew the voice of the character who was in the bedroom, the third member of the trio, and one of his favorites from childhood. Syrus walked over to the curtains and open again revealing the light. "Sorry dude, but I like natural light."
"Who cares about what you think?" The voice said as he got up from the bed showing his bad humor. the covers pulled back revealing an angry, heavy-set boy with a face and hair similar to a koala. Making Jaden look apologetic, while Syrus raised his eyebrow. "What you two are doing in my room?"
"I'm Jaden Yuki, and this is Syrus." Jaden waved as Syrus raised his hand up.
"Yo." It was a short introduction but still solid.
"We are your new roommates."Jaden grinned as placed his arm around his neck over his shoulder he smiled at the boy who seemed grumpy at seeing them.
"You're new alright, so lemme tell you how things work," The grouchy boy muttered as he turned over to his side to try and get back into slumber-land.
"If you are going to talk about rules over the bathroom, I'm going to flip." Syrus deadpanned as he imagined how worse the dorm could be Jaden gave a glance to him, but the boy in front of them ignored him.
"Duh, like the whole color thing works. That's more important than anything..." the boy turned back over before he continued on. "There are three colored dorms here. One named after each of the Egyptian God cards. There are the Obelisk Blue students, the Ra Yellow students, and the Students. Now, the Obelisk Blue students are the highest rank. Most of them get into the school by really high grades while others get in by connections. T students are mostly younger students that have a lot of potential...and then there are us, the Red Wonders."
"Oh yeah, the wonders," Syrus asked as he nodded taking the attention to both of them. As the chubby coiled and flinched from the tone of his voice. "From I wonder when these lazy boys are going to stop making excuses and laying their sorry asses and start focusing on their studies to pass to Ra as soon as possible?"
The angry student closed his mouth, as he lowered his head down, unable to say something.
"Well, when you put on that way… it's close to home, but when the others say it sounds even worse. It's more in 'I wonder how rejects like us made it even this far'.A lot of people look d Slifers because we're the lowest ranking students on the island...nothing but the bottom of the barrel. I'm Chumley, by the way." Chumley said as he went over to the bed to sit. Leaving both boys in silence…
But at the moment Jaden got excited and was going to say something Syrus clapped both his hands loud enough to take the attention of both boys.
"Alright, since you both are going to be my roommates, there is an objective that I'm going to place on this year, no… Actually in a few months. We are going to pass to Ra." Syrus said as both of them glanced at him in disbelief. "I don't care how long you have been a Slifer, or how many times you suffered from this title. I'm going to Ra, and then I'm going to Obelisk, and by that, I'm going to study a lot, and if you think that I alone will be letting you both slack off, you can say your asses goodbye, because I'm not going to let anyone behind while I'm going to eat Lobster on Ra."
At the moment Syrus mentioned food, the sound of their stomachs grumbled as they gulped their saliva.
"Lobster?" Chumley said as he felt his stomach calling for food that he never thought he would dream about it.
"Yeah, if we are at the bottom of the barrel, while we have the possibilities of promotion after studying a lot? Well, why not study and then pass the exams and go to the next Rank? We don't need to make something impossible, like defeat all the ranks or defeat all the teachers, we just need to study a lot pass the exams and defeat the next rank at least a few times, then we are going to enjoy our new food into a better place in no time." Syrus knew that both Jaden and Chumley were in fact not just Syrus's best friends, but for him… they were his favorite characters. Chumley was his favorite because of the dream Chumley had in the anime and the effort he did it to achieve was inspiring and awesome to many kids who watched Yugioh.
Jaden smiled sheepishly as he felt his stomach betraying him in agreement, and Chumley couldn't help but agree too.
"Yeah, for lobster. Maybe Ra's grilled cheese is even better." Chumley never thought his stomach created a desire to fight, a fire he thought it extinguished after 2 years of being reproved. But now his objective was other, it wasn't to survive like prey, no… his stomach wants prey like a predator.
"I bet they have grilled cheese with 4 or 5 types of cheese." Syrus sounded like a devil who tempted, even more, the stomaches over his roommates, and receiving a loud roar from their stomaches was enough to make him smile evilly. "Let's make a pact. We are all going to pass to Ra, even if we had to study our asses off for that, and defeat even 100 Obelisks for that, convince the grace of the teachers for that. We are going to pass in a few months. That's what I believe. Let's be like the 3 musketeers… No, wait, even better… the 3 legendary knights."
"3 legendary knights?"
"Timaeus, Critias, and Hermos," Syrus said as he remembered the Arc of Orachalcus, one of his favorite arcs from the entire first generation of Yugioh. "3 legendary dragons who were in fact knights, later I will tell their story."
The trio glanced at each other as Jaden placed his hand in front of them, and Syrus immediately placed it over his hand… Chumley looked hesitant, but his stomach was calling his name which made his eyes burn in fire once again. And the pact was sealed as they were focused on chasing their own dreams.
"Look! I found a duel arena!" Jaden called out to Syrus and Chumley.
True to his word, a dueling arena was stationed where Jaden was standing. The due a bunch of wires coming out of it with rows and rows of seats all around it. The entire academy can fit in here if everyone is lined up! Jaden grinned at the tho showing off his skills in front of everyone in this school.
"This is the best dueling arena I've ever seen!" He admired as his two companions came up next to turned to his friend, "Let's throwdown, Chumley!"
"I think I will pass, my deck isn't ready to duel for what would be another month. I suck on a duel."Chumley confessed as Jaden smiled at him.
"You may be with that attitude, you need more confidence in yourself. Hey Syrus you and my cards, a sweet duel. What do you think?" Jaden looked at his friend who was bored as he was looking around.
"Maybe another time, I'm too hungry to duel right now." Syrus waved his hand, as he looked at the PDA in his pocket. "Wasn't this place supposed to be closed until weekends?"
"Why do you say that?" Jaden asked curious, as he sighed disappointedly at the fact no one would be dueling him.
"Well because I heard that there would be tag duels on Saturdays and I think that's the reason why it gets closed mostly in the afternoons." Syrus who kept looking at the rules of the Academy, couldn't find any info about the schedule of Duel Arena.
"Really? Oh, that would be awesome, you plan on doing a tag duel Sy?" Jaden felt excitement about imagining how awesome would every Saturday he would duel strong students by tag duel.
"Yeah, sometimes, it's always good to duel with friends on your side," Syrus confessed, he loved to play Tag Force and went to mostly Saturdays at the tag duels on the Duel Arena, it always helped him to relax and appreciate a good NPC partner on his strategy, and developed a good way to turn his strategies adaptable. "But that needs confirmation. OIIIII. YOU TWO."
Syrus called at the duo of Obelisks who seemed to be in the middle of the Arena and then glanced at them in disbelief.
"I want to know if the Duel Arena is closed for the maintenance on Saturday, can either of you two confirm that?" Syrus asked in genuine curiosity, which surprised the duo, which immediately scoffed.
"What are you Slifer Slackers doing on our campus?" One of them scoffed as he looked at his friend who nodded to him. "This is a private place just for Obelisks."
At the moment Jaden was going to say something, Syrus's voice interrupted him which made him glance at his friend as well.
"...inside of the school?" Syrus remained in silence, as he raised one eyebrow which made the duo shut their mouths…"Dude, I just asked for the schedules of tag duels on Saturdays, if you didn't know the answer you could have just said so."
"And who do you think you are to judge us? You are the low bottom anyway." Then a voice-over of their backs made the trio turn around and see the most annoying characters as Obelisk and yet one of the most loved characters as Slifer, Chazz Princeton. "But for your information yes, this place is closed for most students, just Obelisk students have access over the Duel Arena after class, but for Saturdays is allowed for everyone to be part of Duel Tag."
At the answer to that question, not just Syrus who seemed satisfied with the answer but Jaden now looked even more excited.
"Oh that's awesome Sy, so we can just have to wait on Saturdays, and then we can come here and duel against everyone. Now I'm fired up, damn, I want to duel right now. Let's go duel outside Sy." Jaden seemed so excited that he actually grabbed Syrus by his sleeves and tried to pull him up.
"Woa, Jaden stop… I said I'm hungry." Syrus tried to not be pulled by his friend and he gave a plea look at the duo who watched him look at him surprised. But at the moment he knew that there was nothing he could do, he sighed. "Fine, but I'm warning you, I'm going to destroy you for making me duel hungry."
Something inside of Syrus's voice made Jaden suddenly release his grip and step back, as he looked sheepishly at him.
"Please Sy, just this once, for me, pleeeeeeaaaaseee?" Jaden for the first time showed something that Syrus never watched him do in the anime… Jaden gave a puppy look.
"Actually you both don't need to duel. If a coward like you are going to run away from a challenge, then let me step inside and help this slacker knows his place." Chazz walked downstairs as he gave a jab on Syrus, who merely rolled his eyes.
"Yellow Ojama, Green Ojama, Black Ojama," Syrus murmured as he saw Chazz raising his eyebrow at him.
"What the heck are you talking about?" Chazz heard the name of three useless monster cards, but from the way the boy was talking, it seemed that he was trying to calm himself.
"Just thinking of what would be the best day of my life." Syrus waved his hand, but from the tone of his voice, Chazz knew that the slacker was actually maybe cursing him into a bad omen.
"Whatever." Chazz glanced at the Slifer who seemed ready to duel, but suddenly a voice came from behind them.
"It seems that things are starting to fire up." A female voice came as the group looked at their side as the blond girl made known herself.
"Ah, Alexis, you finally came here to admire me defeat this Slifer slacker? Never knew you would like to confess your love to me like that." Chazz grinned as he thought he was going to be in love with the most beautiful girl from the prep school, as he ignored the eye roll from the same girl he thought was in love with him.
"Not a chance, I just came here to tell Obelisk meeting party is almost starting, and I was the one who had to call you 3.
"Okay, well it seems you were lucky slacker, but later we will resolver your disillusion of duel someone in a high rank like me." Chazz turned his back, as the duo who were his followers didn't even have the time to compliment or even provoke the Slifers, as they followed quickly the big dog who seemed to be Chazz. "Let's go boys."
Leaving Alexis and the trio of Slifers alone.
"Sorry, Chazz has treated you like that. We of Obelisk are not like this. He is an idiot, principally with the Slifer's students." Alexis really felt ashamed after knowing how jerk the Princeton were from the prep school, but she tried to diminish the bad taste not just in her mouth but in the conflict between the 2 dorms.
"Oh, the irony," Syrus said as he sighed, which made Alexis, Chumley and Jaden look at him. "Well, there is just one way to make this guy behave… humiliation, much much humiliation."
The group had their eyes wide open, as they started at the boy murmuring with himself.
"Oh dammit, I said that aloud?" Syrus noticed the group was staring at him, and they nodded. But Jaden smiled as he thought about it.
"Well, let's forget this. I don't care about this type of guy, because I will defeat him in one turn." Jaden confidently smiled as he pointed himself as the big dog of a duelist.
"Jaden, I think it's not great to have such confidence in yourself." After a long time being in silence, Chumley used his elbow to poke Jaden and make him sheepishly change his mind.
"Okay, fine, two turns. Or two turns and half." Jaden said as Alexis, Syrus, and Chumley started to laugh from his exchange of tone on his confidence.
"5 turns Jaden, your deck has a lot of normal hero monsters, and to make such OTK in the first turn you would need at least 3 fusions on the field." Syrus' comment not just made Jaden turn his head to him surprised, but Alexis got curious as she approached them. "I mean, you are a very good duelist Jay, but you have to think about the back-row on how Chazz will go against you."
"Back-row?" The trio of listeners asked as Syrus facepalmed himself.
"The trap and magic zones." Syrus was starting to think that he could become a teacher at this school since most students from the prep don't even know such slang as how yugioh players know these days.
"Ahhhhhhhhh." The trio said as they understood the meaning of his words.
"Well, that's a pretty sweet nickname for the zone." Jaden smiled, as Alexis couldn't help but nod her head.
"Yeah, it's easier to explain as while saying there is something on the speel and trap zone on the field, it's really a mouthful of words. Did you create these nicknames?"
"Actually no." Syrus shook his head. "A group of professional duelists frequents where I go to buy new cards, and when they duel they always used this kind of slang and nicknames."
"WAIT, REALLY? YOU MEET PROFESSIONAL DUELISTS?" Jaden, Alexis, and Chumley shouted surprised as he cringed from such a loud screech.
"Ouch, yeah." Syrus decided to go with that lie, knowing how drastic the changes were made from being from another universe, why not explain that his idols were the ones who taught him all the slang and meanings of yugioh strategies. "I think they go there at least once per year. They have been doing that since last year."
"OH MY GOD." The group shouted in disbelief, as Syrus cringed once again.
"Are you guys trying to talk in stereo?" Syrus was getting tired of being hungry and the fact that people are making him explain things at the moment is making him get annoyed.
"The welcome dinner of the Slifer's dorm is almost ready to start, I think it's time for you to hurry back." Alexis smiled as the group nodded their heads, as the trio started to leave, Alexis remembered something. "Oh yeah, Syrus."
The trio stopped as the little boy turned his back to her.
"Yeah?" Syrus asked surprised as the group was actually jogging in the place.
"Zane told me to tell you, welcome to the Duel Academy." Alexis who always got annoyed by the fact that Zane wasn't actually the type of person who would personally congrats his own brother, had to be the messenger, but it seems that even this type of message, made Syrus smile with confidence.
"Oh look at that, Zane must be really proud. Okay thanks for the welcome, but now I'm hungry." Syrus walked as suddenly Jaden shouted.
"WAIT." Making him and Alexis look at him. Jaden looked at Alexis once again. "You didn't tell us your name."
"My name is Alexis Rhodes and what is yours?" Alexis smiled at the group as she open up.
"My name is Jaden Yuki." Jaden smiled as he was jogging on the spot.
"Mine is Chumley Huffington." Chumley who remained in his place was tired just from watching Jaden and Syrus jogging, there was no way that he would do exercise with them.
"Syrus Trusdale, but you already know. Now let's go guys." Syrus smiled one last time before departing as he finally was ready to take something to eat. His hunger was killing him.
As the trio left the Duel Stadium, Alexis couldn't help but about one thing.
"I'm curious about how Zane would react after knowing that Syrus meet professional players."
As the parties from Obelisk were a full fancy dinner party as the proud teacher Crowler smiled at his new students, the fanciest food was served with butlers and maidens around the hall, as they drink on their fancy cups. The Obelisks felt proud of their own services as they always felt the highest the rank.
The same could be said from the female dormitory since they were from the same hierarchy of the Obelisks, the girls were chattering as they discussed the class they will receive over the year as they ate the best things in the world.
Ra dormitory was a little less fancy, but still showed the best quality lobsters and a good banquet around for all the potential students over the academy, all Ra's students were happy as they partied with a good time to enjoy themselves before the classes start.
"This is our big fancy welcome dinner?" One Slifer student said to no one in particular.
Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley had made it back to the dorm just before the dinner started and saw what they rushed for. A small dish of rice, sardines, and chop some sauces.
Syrus knowing how bad the difference between ranks was, knew they need to improve their grades and catch the opportunities to have even better food on their stomaches. But his stomach was growling so much, that he couldn't help but prepare to eat. Jaden was ahead of him and was already with his plate in his hands.
"Forget the dinner, look at our headmaster! It's a cat!" Another said pointing at a brown and black striped cat that was taking a snooze at the Slifer dining hall. That thought was blown out of everyone's head when a tall and skinny-looking man with dark hair and a pair of glasses came out from the kitchen area.
He looked like a nice enough guy.
"Hello, children. I'm Professor Banner," he greeted them all in a light German accent. "Before we eat, I would like everyone to say some…"
Before he could continue he was interrupted by Jaden and Syrus.
"This is great!" Jaden had already begun to stuff his face with rice when he receive a slap on the back of his head. "Hey what's the big idea."
"You shouldn't talk loud while eating, we are trying to eat while the professor is doing the introduction, I don't want to be exposed." Syrus was eating the sardines with the rice, he hated to confess but it was indeed delicious, however, Syrus cannot show his heart to someone he knew would betray him in the future. So he remained calm as he was eating fast. But as he looked around and saw the entire class was looking at them. "Dammit. Well hello everyone. My name is Syrus Trusdale I have 14 years old, I like the color blue, but I'm getting used to the color red, I like to eat, duel, exercise, and practice martial arts and my philosophy is. "I'm a hypocrite, I like to do what I like to do, but I'm concerned about my friends doing what I do, so I say them to don't do it. It's silly but it works for me."
Jaden as he ate part of his dinner, couldn't help but know that everyone was staring at him as well he decided to smile and introduce himself as well.
"I'm Jaden Yuki, future king of games in potential, I have 14 years old, I like the color red, I like to eat, to duel, I hate studying but I like to duel, I like to sleep and my philosophy is. "Get your game on."
As the professor was looking at the duo who was introducing themselves, he couldn't help but smile kindly at them.
"Well, since we already have 2 guys introducing themselves, why not make this. Let's everyone eat and introduce themselves as we eat." Professor Banner accepted the style of the duo. "Let's just eat!"
"And that's how flip monsters are important, or even more important than monsters being summoned in defense position. You never know what kind of effects they can do or worse if it can have the effect to turn face down again to flip up and activate the effect once again." Syrus explained the concepts as Chumley was with his body lying on the bed as he was listening carefully to the tips.
"Seriously? I never thought Morphine Jar could be used like that. But now that I think about it… Maybe I have a lot of monsters with flip effects and I didn't use them properly." Chumley never bothered as he went into his pocket and checked every single of his beast cards… Surprisingly he found one, Des Koala. "Syrus, I have a question… if I use flip effect on Deskoala twice while my opponent has 5 cards on his hand… it could make me win the duel?"
"Yep," Syrus answered without thinking twice. "A good idea is you actually give even more cards to your opponent while he thinks he has the advantage… And at that moment he summons a weak monster and attacks you. Des Koala has a good defense for low-level monsters… But if you use a book of moon, then it's over, you could even win on the first turn." Syrus can see the reasoning in the mind of Chumley, something Chumley almost got against Professor Crowler was the fact that if he had 2 Des Koalas on the first turn… Professor Crowler could have lost.
Chumley looked at his own deck as he could see a good potential that he may have wasted during years at the academy. He always thought that having a strong monster with 2 tributes, some spell cards, and some beast monsters, he would be capable to win some duels… But he never thought that his ace on his sleeve was in fact a level 4 monster.
"I didn't imagine how powerful an effect of inflicting damage would be," Chumley confessed, as Syrus got up and took a kettle to prepare the tea.
"Most people never imagined how low-level monsters could be capable of not just countering but actually making dangerous comebacks that could make even teachers afraid of the students. What you have in hand is a flip/burn monster." Syrus poured the water, as he took a chair and looked at the man looking at the roof. "Usually people may think that having a deck with many strategies and surprising effects for different occasions… it's mostly a bad idea."
"Is it?" Chumley turned his head as he looked at Syrus who nodded his head to him.
"Yeah, because there are a lot of ways to make your deck brick on the first turn," Syrus answered what would be the most obvious question he had heard.
"Brick?" Chumley once again tried to understand the slang his roommate told and awaited carefully at what a brick would mean.
"Okay, I think that's fair to explain to you… How can I explain? Okay, ever had a bad hand, Chumley?" Syrus decided to give what would be a normal example. "Like the one you thought, dammit I will have to wait 4 turns to see if I can use my luck to find a useful card."
"Well, who doesn't? I mean, every duelist had the unluck to have a bad hand in a duel." Chumley shrugged as he had that type of problem mostly on his duels.
"Well, that's the term we use on this type of hand when your hand is so awful that you need to stall with just bluff and even luck to find a card to help you to flow your strategy," Syrus added the leaves inside the kettle as the water was creating steam.
"Ahhhh." Chumley understood the words the blue-haired boy said to him, as he raised one finger as looked at Chumley again.
"And the reason is simple, mostly duelists add so many different cards that it makes it difficult to use the strategy they wanted to have on that moment… How can I use a flip strategy if I have most trap cards attack directly? How can I use a strategy of the stall if the cards in my hand are mostly a combination of raising the attack of my monster, and monsters of 2 tributes at my hand?" Syrus shrugged his shoulders as he went back to the kettle which was whistling. "If you want to use just one type of strategy, make one deck focused on that type, if you need 2 types of strategies in one deck, try to make a deck which flows whenever strategy you need… But you need 2 strategies at maximum. Don't try to make your deck have all the strategies because it would create many misfortunes at the first turn."
The more Syrus talked, the more Chumley understood his words, he was at the school for 3 years, and it was just now that he understood the meaning of why other students had more than one deck. And surprisingly Syrus explained complex strategies in the simplest way. Making it so easy for Chumley to understand, that it seemed so obvious to know.
"Do you think all the other students know that?" Chumley couldn't help but ask aloud as Syrus looked at him with his eyebrow raised.
"Well… I think the smartest students know, but I cannot guarantee, but now that you know that… It seems you are smarter than most students now." Syrus joked as Chumley blushed as he scratched his head nervously.
Suddenly from a loud bang over the door, the duo watched what would be the most sham thing ever happening in front of their eyes, as Syrus couldn't believe why the anime didn't show a scene like that.
Jaden with his belly so full of food that it could be some kind of cartoonish animation, as he slams himself on the floor and gives a satisfied smile.
"Oh, I'm full," Jaden said to them as Syrus looked at the tea was ready, and poured at the cups for them to digest the good dinner they had. "I have to say, Professor Banner knows to cook really really well."
Syrus smiled sadly at that quote. As he remembered how shocked he was after knowing that someone so kind to Slifers was one of the antagonists of the first season, and without professor Banner, the Slifer dorm was fated to crumble without a good teacher to represent the dorm. In season 2, what Crowler wanted to do was in fact something that Syrus thought would be petty and even cruel…
"Yeah," Syrus confessed, he hated to confess the food wasn't bad, but it was in fact tasty and enjoyable.
"It was litious." Finally, Chumley said after getting up from his bed with his full stomach. But the sound of a fart was enough to make the trio snicker at his friend who blushed ashamed.
"Well, it seems your stomach agrees." Syrus joked as he looked at the duo smiling. "But guys, we need to maintain our pact. If we have the chance to go to another rank. Don't waste the opportunity. It will be great if all of us study hard and even the Slifer dorm do their best to promote themselves, but the quicker we raise our ranks, the better opportunities will come to us."
"Why do you mean by that?" Jaden asked his friend confused, as he didn't quite understand why Syrus wanted to avoid the Slifer dorm, since it looked like a great place to chill for years.
"Well Jaden, to be honest with you. I don't plan to become a professional duelist." Syrus confessed. And deep down inside of him he was right. "I want to have a job focused on the area. Like, I want to be a celebrity who duels, but not actually the king of games. I want to have a job in the area, like. Who knows? Maybe Kaiba will be hiring future teachers, and knowing how Kaiba is against Slifers, there was no way that he would hire me if I was still a Slifer."
Jaden's mouth dropped, and after a second he shut his mouth, for the first time, he didn't think about why the other students went over to the Academy. He thought all of the duelists were actually rivals that he would potentially grow stronger and then become king of games.
"I didn't know we had that option," Jaden confessed as he understood the reasoning of his friends. "And what about you Chumley, do you have a plan for the future?"
"Well…" Chumley became sheepishly as he scratched the side of his arm… "I've always dreamed to become a card designer from Illusions' company.
"Oh, that's awesome." Both Jaden and Syrus said at the same time.
"Yeah, but I'm afraid that I've been stuck in this dorm for 3 years, and if I fail one more time I will get expelled from the school." The Koala duelist sighed in disappointment as he suddenly felt a hand over his shoulder, and looking at the smiling Syrus at him, he felt the confidence he needed. "But I think now that there is food on the table, I'm going to study until I pass to Ra."
"That's the spirit." Both Jaden and Syrus said in unison, as suddenly a beep was heard from one of their pockets.
"What the heck?" Syrus asked as Jaden took from his pocket what would be his DPA, showing a new message, a video email, showing nobody less than.
"Chazz?" Both Syrus and Jaden asked aloud as they heard for the first time the video recording.
"Hey Slifer Slacker, don't think that you got scot-free, we are going to duel tonight at midnight. And why not make this thing interesting? The one who wins takes the best card from the loser." The cocky face even from a video recording was something so usual for the character of Chazz Princeton, that Syrus rolled his own eyes.
"Seriously? He wants to use the ante rules from Battle City Tournament?" Syrus thought in disbelief. "Wait… GX had this kind of rule? Man, I must have forgotten a bunch of episodes on here. Okay, I just need to try to remember all of the episodes… Which will be a burden…"
"I knew the obelisks are going to make us trouble." Chumley got upset as he couldn't take a break after seeing another duelist dueling who would be the top dog in the school. But one thing that he forgot is… he was talking to Jaden. "Chazz always means trouble."
"Cool, I guess I will duel in that Arena anyway." Jaden smiled as he patted the head of his friend. "Don't sweat about it, Chumley. I will show that even if we are Slifers, this rank has nothing to do with us."
"Well, I agree with you Jaden, but you have to in mind one thing." Syrus recovered from his thoughts until he remembered one important thing. "There are rules over this school, and thinking about it… Chazz may have been doing this by breaking the rules… Don't look at me like that Jaden, I'm not saying for you to go, but you have in mind that if the guards and proctors discover about this, you are going to be in trouble, so my advice is… Do it quickly, you said you can do it in 1 turn, so it would be best if you do it."
Syrus as he was explaining the problems, Jaden's face became somber, but after hearing that he didn't want him to give up the challenge, but make an even more difficult challenge for him, his smile became wider.
"Don't have to worry about it Sy, I'm confident that this duel will be a lot of fun." Jaden smiled as he felt sure that the duel would end up with his victory.
"That's the only thing I ask," Syrus said as he finished his cup of tea. "Well, I wish you good luck."
"Wait. Aren't you going with me to see me duel?" Jaden looked at him in disbelief.
"Well, tomorrow will be the first day of school… and to be honest Professor Crowler hates you will all his might, and knowing that tomorrow we will be his first targets just because we sit next to you? Maybe is for the best if I check around the Academy and see what it has for me, and sleep early. I don't want to look stupid in the middle of class." Syrus thought about many answers he could give to Jaden, he really want to remember how it ended the episode, but knowing the outcomes of the next episodes, it was for the best if he just lives his life as a student.
"Well when you say like that, it makes me feel that I'm going into a trap made by Professor Crowller to expel me." Jaden carefully said as he tried to imagine the grudge his teacher had because he defeated him a few days ago using his elemental hero deck.
"Well I agree with Syrus, I'm with the idea of going to sleep early just to not feel bombarded by the questions of Crowller, since he is known as to make fool of Slifers for not knowing his questions," Chumley remembered how many Slifers had to grit their teeth as Crowller humiliated them for not knowing the basics of the cards.
"Well, Crowller has to swallow me, because I'm Slifer and I won against a duel with him using his own deck, if we as Sllifers are fools, what that would make him?" Jaden smiled proudly, as he understands why his friends weren't going to give him support, but he know that his friends would be with him, even in spirit. And that's what he needed.
Chumley's eyes went wide open, surprised by the fact of someone defeated Crowler, but Syrus smiled as he chuckled as well.
"You are right, that's why you are the biggest target Jaden, and while I doubt you are capable to deal with a written exam, in the practical duel you can ace just fine. That's Chazz's biggest mistake… he could have challenged you into a written exam." Syrus joked but looking at the pale face of his friend, he looked despaired.
"Please don't give him this idea," Jaden begged as that would lead to Syrus and Chumley laughing at such a display, of how someone so awesome as Jaden has such weakness as a written exam.
As the hours passed by, showing 9 p.m on the clock, Syrus appreciated walking around the Academy, he saw how big a difference the academy was from the view of the map from Tag Force. He could actually meet at least 3 sections of the academy in the first hours. He found where the physical education was done since there were baseball, basketball, soccer, and even volleyball fields around. And next to the fields there was a huge pool for swimmers around.
It was something that he never imagined before, it was indeed a school for fancy people, and after that, he went to the card store, it looked a bit bigger than the game, and that was great, it was a good place to see the cards around, but sadly the place was closed at 7 p.m so he couldn't get inside and see the cards.
Then he went around to see where else he could go and knowing it would be almost 9 p.m, Syrus decided to go to the only place he loves to go in the middle of the night on the Tag Force game.
The sound of waves, the dark over the sky, but a clear light from the lighthouse on his back, was indeed something he never thought it would have been 100 times better instead of the game. Seeing and feeling all the fiber of his body get the sea smell and the relaxing waves beating the rocks. It was so powerful how his mind felt at peace.
"It seems that we aren't alone here Zane." Suddenly a familiar voice came from behind of him, which lead Syrus to break from his thoughts as he looked around and see the duo that mostly were around together like salt and pepper. "Good evening Syrus."
"Night Syrus." Zane remained quiet but decided to follow her example.
Syrus actually was surprised by that, since he forgot if they actually would go to the lighthouse at 9 P.M on Tag Force, or it was after 11 P.M he doesn't remember. But that was a welcome surprise.
"Good Night Alexis, Zane," Syrus said as he went back to watch the waves from the ocean crash through the rocks.
"Relaxing isn't it?" Alexis asked as she went on his right, and Zane went on his left. And the trio watched the waves, and hear the silence is broken by the waves.
"You have no idea." Syrus smiled, as he felt at peace with himself, it was a good thing to do before going to sleep.
"Syrus, you are a Slifer?" Zane asked, not in disappointment, but in surprise.
"I forgot my glasses for the exam Zane, please don't push it." Syrus knowing that Zane firstly would be displeased with Syrus at the GX being so weak, that he wanted Syrus to leave the academy. This time Zane seemed to be a bit more smooth than he was in the anime.
"Ah, so that's how you became a Slifer." Alexis chuckled at how unlucky the Truesdale was after forgetting such an important accessory. "Well, it will take you a while to make you have a chance on becoming an Obelisk."
"Yeah, I know…"Syrus said in disappointment, which lead Alexis felt that he wasn't even pleased to be where he was.
"You're not enjoying staying at the Slifer's dorm?" Then Zane after seeing the face of his brother looked disappointed in the dorm he was in. "Next time you better bring your reading glasses for the next tests, if you study a lot and have many victories on the duels, I'm sure our teachers will find a way to make you promote faster."
"I know Zane. Anyway, since when did you come here to watch the waves?" Syrus decided to change the subject, it was surprising that Zane was actually being the tough brother who wants to him give him his all and pass the exams and not make mistakes, and Syrus couldn't help but feel warm inside. Zane loves his brother… in his own way.
"I've always been here since the first year… It's Alexis's first time on here, the same way as you." Zane said which made Alexis glance at him.
"I don't need you to answer for me, but Zane is right, it's my first time here. And I have to confess, this place looks really peaceful."
"Yes, it is." Suddenly the Truesdale brothers said in unison, which made them glance at each other, Syrus snicked, as Zane remained quiet and looked away. But Alexis knew that Zane was smiling inside.
"How are mom and dad?" Zane asked as Syrus smiled at his question.
"They were waiting for you to call them, but they are fine, they are actually proud that I managed to ace the practical exam that they even made a pizza party at night." Syrus smiled as he saw a glimpse of the corner of the mouth of his brother raise up.
"Well, now it's proof of how good you are Syrus, now you are at the academy, and into a few years you are even going to become a professional, like the ones you meet at the game store." Alexis suddenly said as Syrus's eyes went wide open, and Zane gave a glimpse of his eyes as he looked at his younger brother.
"It was interesting news that Alexis said to me, I'm actually curious about the professionals you have met before," Zane said as Syrus gave a glance to Alexis who smiled proudly herself.
"S..ember abyss," Syrus mumbled as he didn't even look at his brother. "Well, to be honest Zane, yes. They are professionals, and by being with them, I learned many things, that I'm ready to face in the academy."
"Oh yeah? Like what?" Zane got interested in how it made sense since his brother had grown so much, that the meeting with the professionals was the reason for that, he wanted to know what made them do to make him become stronger than before.
"Well for starters, they take combos very seriously." Syrus shrugged as he could see the weird gaze coming from the faces of his friend Alexis, and a frown coming from the genius of the school. "Like, I don't know how, but they always had the best cards at the first turn, and they finish the game like in 3 or 4 turns at maximum, and they pass 5 to 10 whole minutes setting up the field."
"10 minutes into an entire turn?" Alexis couldn't help but ask in shock, and receiving a glance from Syrus who seemed solemn about what he said she could see the difference between what would be the pro-duelists and the newbie students.
"Yeah, there is one that he passed 10 minutes setting up the first turn… and he won at the next turn because the opponent couldn't even manage to play a spell card or even summon a monster." Syrus gave one of the most famous examples of how many duelists suffered from such strategy, that even the method he gave made Zane look at him with eyes wide open in surprise. "Trust me… I tried to play against him… I gave up at my third card and he just demolished like nothing."
"Wow, and there are many of them who were actually that good?" Alexis asked surprised by the new fact, which made Syrus nod his head.
"Yeah, they were international duelists, like some came from England, some from Egypt, and some from Brazil, there is one from Brazil who taught me a lot of stuff. He was awesome." Syrus couldn't help but share his inner fanboy as he remind himself of one of his favorite Yugioh tubers from the real world. "If you know someone called Renan Sparrow, then you must know that he is one of the champions from Brazil…"
"Oh yeah? Wow, he must be really awesome, and what is his deck?" Zane couldn't help but felt kind gratitude as he could see the way his brother still remain like he always was, he could see that his brother was becoming more serious when it comes to duels and even more confident, but seeing that he was still looking up for other duelists like he always did to him as a child, he could feel warm on his heart.
"Lava Golem and Melodious Diva." Syrus didn't think twice as he made Alexis and Zane look at him confused. "His specialty is burn effects, and stalling as using burn is what he does best."
"Burn?" Alexis couldn't help but ask in surprise.
"He means about damage effects," Zane answered as he remembered exactly what Lava Golem's effect was, but he never thought a monster like that could have an entire deck focused on him. "He seems that he wasn't a champion for nothing."
"Yep, he was so strong that the duel monster company decided to make a banlist after he became a champion. Just to make burn effects less powerful." Syrus said that proudly, as he remembered how many from the fandom of Yugioh became shocked on discovering how burn effects became so much nerfed after Renan Sparrow made such effect on Duel Links, that many treated that day as Konami anti-burn day.
Zane couldn't help but remain in silence, contemplating how big info Syrus had managed to say to him… Is a champion so powerful that they didn't have a choice but to create a banlist after the event just to make the effects of damage by effect weaker? That's what being a champion really means? Questions created inside of the mind of the best student of the school were making him feel something that he never thought he would feel since the first day at the Academy… The desire to accept the challenge and become an even better duelist.
Alexis on another hand, couldn't imagine a duelist so powerful like that, someone from another country being able to make such banlist exist? Well, she now felt that her abilities from the pre-school for duelists didn't actually make her improve so much as she was just accepted at the academy. Could she become a pro-duelist like the way Syrus has described her?
Syrus smiled at the silence them, meaning their questions were answered, and he could enjoy his time admiring the sounds of the waves once again hitting the rocks.
Zane felt comfortable with the silence as he watched the waves as well… As he touched the shoulder of his little brother and looked at the waves as creating a good peace inside their minds.
Alexis couldn't help but smile at the interaction of the duo, it seemed that both of them were similar to each other, both great genius duelists but with a secret inside of them, showing that they care for each other. Like her brother Atticus was with her, sighing sadly, she felt her heart the pain of how much she missed him, but she had a resolve, she will find him, and pass her time with him the same way she is seeing with the brothers in front of them.
One hour passed as the trio watched comfortably the waves. Until Syrus stretched his arms, as he looked at the clock.
"Okay 10 p.m, it's better I go to the Slifer dorm, tomorrow will be the first day of school, and I bet that since Jaden became the number one target from professor Crowler, it's best for me to be ready for all the questions he has for tomorrow." Syrus cleaned his clothes taking off the dust, as he explained to the duo who seemed to look at him in surprise. "And since Jaden was challenged by Chazz at midnight if you go to see the duel Alexis, can you do me a favor and say to him that I'm being there in spirit?"
"Huuuuu." Alexis actually was surprised by the sudden revelation and didn't even have time to answer.
"Awesome, thanks Lex, see you tomorrow at class. See yah Zane, it was good to pass time with you. Night." Syrus just waved and started to run away, leaving Alexis surprised at how sidetracked she was.
"Wait, what just happened?" Alexis asked surprised at her friend who seemed to be serious, but she could see the corner of his mouth rising up.
"Well, it seems that you are going to be a witness of a duel at midnight… later you can tell me how it went." Zane liked the cue his brother gave to him, as he himself felt tired and wanted to go to sleep as soon he get to his room because the first day of class would be tomorrow.
"WAIT, WHAT DO YOU MEAN. HEY, DON'T LEAVE ME HERE. WHY YOUUUU. TRUESDALE'S." Alexis suddenly felt betrayed by both brothers as she shouted aloud as to how both sneaky brothers managed to set her up to go to sleep late… If she knew, of course, she would go at the duel, but it would be by her own desire, not because of a favor that she was asked… Now she was obliged by the little sneaky brothers. "This will have a payback. I swear…"