Chapter 25:

After they'd made fools out of the underground arena's organizers, Blake had been looking forward to a nice week off during which he could relax, work on further ideas for utilizing DE with Bastion, and probably getting called in as a bag carrier for Yuma's shopping trip. Katherine had told him that there'd likely be a rematch after the draw he'd forced, but that wasn't much of an issue, nor happening outside of a weekend. What was an issue, was the fact that things didn't go the way he wanted. Bastion was out of town until the weekend, since he's visiting some science fairs that were further away, while the girls had either already planned out their days or claimed 'girl time' when asked if they had free time. It surprised him that Yuma didn't follow up on her claim of making him her pack mule, but he could live without it. That left him with just Dimitri.

"- and with this I can summon my Ancient Gear Golem! Are you trembling yet, slacker? Because this next attack will-" Dimitri announced with his best impression of Doctor Crowler and only stopped when Blake's forehead hit the wooden table between them.

"Can you, for the love of Ra, stop the roleplay?" Blake grumbled without looking up. "This is the fourth impersonation in two days and I can't take it anymore."

"I have no idea what you're getting at, boy." His theatrical opponent responded. "Now, my golem, attack his face-down monster and end this duel!"

With no holograms to go with the announcement, Blake simply flipped up his card. "Blast Sphere; your attack stops before damage calc and it equips itself to your monster. When it's your turn it'll blow up your monster and deal enough damage to bring you to zero."

While he couldn't see it, he heard Dimitri choke momentarily, then rummage through the cards in his hands and field. "I … I'll pass …"

"Draw, pass, Blast Sphere, we're done." Blake said and raised his head from the table. "No offense, but maybe you should try sticking to a deck for more than half a day. Oh, and cut the other crap. It's bad enough to have one Crowler, nobody wants a second."

The other boy deflated in his chair with a loud sigh. "But if I want to play like them, I'll have to act like them."

"Why though?" he responded and leaned on his propped-up hand. "I get that you want to try out some rare cards other duelists have made their own, but simply copying everything won't do you any good."

"How should I win then?"

"Have you actually won a duel playing like this?"

"…"

"Thought so." Blake grabbed his drink and took a sip. "You know, if you want to win you yourself must play well. If you're just impersonating third-rate duelists with forth-rate decks, and play even worse yourself, that isn't gonna cut it."

Dimitri noisily drank through the straw of his own drink. "So, what should I do?"

"You mean other than thinking about going into acting rather than dueling? Same thing I told Bastion; find yourself some cards or a certain playstyle that you like and build around that till it works." He answered and crushed the empty can in his hand before throwing it over his shoulder where it landed on the edge of a trash bin only to fall on the floor. With an annoyed sigh, Blake got up and put it away properly. "See, just because I wanted the can to hit the trash doesn't mean it did. Likewise, just because you try and play like Yugi doesn't mean you'll succeed. So, think about what you, Dimitri … whatever your last name is, want to play and be known for. Certainly not as 'insert duelist name here'-knockoff."

"I guess not …" Dimitri responded with a slow nod. "I just don't know what I want."

"Well, we're on break, use that time to come up with something. Either do something original or make someone else's cards your own." Blake said and walked past him and back out onto the long hallway of the shopping center they're in. "At least that way you'll be more than just a copycat."

"More than just a copycat … copycat … Copycat …" Dimitri mumbled as he followed him. "By the way, you totally missed that throw by accident."

"Did not."

"Yeah, sure."

"Screw you."

His fellow Ra laughed at that, not noticing how he rolled his eyes in annoyance. He could imagine Yuma saying the exact same things. Instead, she was sitting down on a bench not far from them, all alone and with four bags full of clothes and other stuff around her, a bead of sweat running down her brow. She raised her head when Dimitri called out to her before he could stop him and gave them a look that switched from recognition, to surprise, and then to an uncomfortable one. The last one was directed at him.

With Dimitri already making his way over, Blake shrugged to himself and followed him, curious to why she reacted the way she did.

"Wow, I thought girls and shopping was just a cliché. What did you do, raid a whole store?" Dimitri laughed, completely oblivious to the Yuma's nervous shifts and glances.

"Well, uh, I … needed some stuff for school, you know? It'll be some time till our next break …" She responded with a nervous chuckle.

"Looks like it would've been easier if you didn't have to carry everything yourself." Blake questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Unless you lost Bright in a bookstore or something."

Her eyes widened and she continued to look anywhere but at him. "You see, she had to leave early, family stuff and all that. So, I'm kinda on my own now, haha."

Before Blake could question her further, Dimitri unexpectedly called her out. "Really? I thought she's on her cousin's birthday today. That's why I called Blake if he got time instead." When he noticed both of them look at him, Yuma with a look of shock and Blake with a mildly amused 'what was that?' look, he continued with a cough. "It's not like you're my last choice, I just needed help with studying and it's not like I asked Yuma before you-"

Blake ignored the offended "Hey!" from Yuma. "You're my last choice, otherwise I'd been with miss 'I'm on girl time' here. So, I think we're even." He said nonchalantly, which made Dimitri's shoulders sag just a bit, before turning back to Yuma. "So, what's your deal? While I wouldn't say being pulled around and having to carry around your bags would've been necessarily enjoyable, I thought that's what you said of doing back on our way here." She shifted in her seat and tried to look up at him, but instead settled on arms before she looked away again. Just where his scars where hidden behind his sweatbands.

Then it clicked. "You're not actually trying to evade me because of what Bright's dad said, are you?"

"No, no, no, nothing like that!" Her response was way too hurried as she shook her head vehemently.

'Bullshit. But that idiot should only know about … wait.' "What did he tell you?" He asked, his angry tone causing her to flinch.

"Nothing! It's just …"

"Maybe we should all calm down and talk this out." Dimitri interjected. He shrunk under the glare he got from the taller boy in return.

"Doesn't seem like she wants to talk, just like she doesn't want company." Blake stated flatly, waiting, maybe even hoping for a reply to tell him otherwise. But when he got nothing at all in response, he simply clicked his tongue and tried to keep his voice down. "And that's why I didn't tell you." Yuma's hand tightened around her skirt, but she didn't look up.

With that said, he turned on his heel and walked off. Maybe he stormed off, but he was too angry to care. With whatever good mood he'd left earlier now gone, and knowing why he'd gotten those responses from the two girls, he left the center and went out for an enthusiastic walk to the nearby woods. 'She looked directly at the scars, but I only got those in my duel against Panik. There's no way that shithead of a cop should know more than what happened when my parents were alive … unless the police know what's going on and keep it to themselves. Really? First the fucking chairman of the fucking academy planning to sacrifice the world for his youth and now the police getting paid off for illegal bets and dueling? What's next, the fucking fast-food store poisoning its drinks?!' He hit a nearby tree in frustration and wondered why his hand suddenly felt wet.

When he looked over, the small tree – merely around double his size and thinner than him – had cracked and caved in where he'd hit it, while his hand was bleeding. To his surprise, the tree groaned before breaking off and falling away from him. 'That … felt surprisingly good.' He thought before he felt a sudden rush of exhaustion, but it also focused his anger towards more productive thoughts. 'Was that my DE? Can I really use it to fuck shit up like that?' The implications that came with this realization made him grin. 'But if it's DE then can I hit duel spirits too? Screw dueling, beating them up sounds way more fun.'

He heard his spirit partner chuckle darkly in the back of his minds. 'That's what I'm talking about. Exactly what your energy is best suited for; brutal beatdowns.'

'But can I hit you with hit?'

'Can you survive me hitting back if you do?'

'Tch, fine. I can visit that weird well back on the island, there should be lots of spirits around to try. And hey, if they get mad you can have the rest!'

'I like the sound of that!'

With that idea in mind, Blake settled back on his current cause of anger. 'Now, if the police are getting paid by the underground arena to be quiet, I can hit two birds with one stone when we expose them … or is it two harpies with a soldier of stone?'

As he was waiting for the final round to start, Bastion looked through the messages of their group chat once more.

Dimitri: "Hey guys, I finally have the date and time for the tournament my dad's shop hosts. It'll be this Saturday starting at 10 o'clock. The number of entries is limited, though, so if you can give me confirmation you're coming, I can get you a spot." – Wednesday, 17:32

Bastion: "I will be back on Friday, so you can count me in." – Wednesday, 20:00

Blake: "Gotta work, I'm out." – Thursday 16:20

Bright: "I think I should make it, depending on whether or not Yuma gets up in time." – Thursday, 18:00

Yuma: "Of course I'm in! And what do you mean if I can get up in time?!" – Thursday, 18:12

While Blake had told them a week ago that he didn't know if he would've time to participate, it struck him as odd that it'd taken him and the girls so long to respond. Since he's been away all week, he'd been chatting with his friends every now and then – something he'd never thought he'd be doing much, much less on a trip like that. Except for Blake not being available late at night, every one of them hadn't taken any longer than maybe half an hour to respond. He wouldn't put it past Bright and Yuma to be busy doing girl stuff – a topic that was still foreign to him and would require further inspection in the future – but even then, they should've seen the messages in the morning. Although there were enough possible explanations as to why they answered when they did, it felt weird to him. Maybe it had something to do with the strained smile Yuma had when they'd dueled earlier?

"And now for our final duel of the day we have a treat for you!" The announcer, Dimitri's father, blared through his microphone. "To round up this tournament, two students from Duel Academy will duke it out!"

Taking that as his cue, he got up and straightened his vest before checking that the duel disk and deck he'd been provided with were in order. After wearing the academy's uniform day in and day out, it felt unfamiliar to be just in his shirt and vest, especially since the later wasn't filled with different decks. This didn't seem to be the case for his opponent. Bright took her spot in the arena opposite of him, wearing a smart blue jacket over a green shirt and combined with a pair of faded jeans. From the front row came some cheers when they activated their duel disks, Dimitri and Yuma being the loudest of them. (Bastion 4000 / Bright 4000)

"I'll go first, if you don't mind." Bright announced and took the first turn. "For now, I'll take it easy and just set a monster and pass."

"Scouting out the opposition, I presume?" Bastion asked and drew for turn. Since the tournament had several duelists play at the same time, it was harder to get information on others. According to Dimitri, it was a deliberate decision to keep to duels more entertaining for the audience and cause greater effect when revealing cards.

"Well, let me show you what I got. I summon Strike Ninja in attack mode! Then I'll attack your set monster with it!" Bastion's black-clad ninja brandished two kunai (1700/1200) and surged forward. But when its target was revealed, Bright smiled.

"I fear your ninja won't be strong enough to beat my Chamberlain of the Six Samurai's 2000 defense points." The samurai used his mechanical arms to ward off the attack and Bastion's monster returned to his side of the field. (Bastion 3700 / Bright 4000)

A chuckle escaped Bastion's lips when he ended his turn with a set card. "Ninja versus Samurai, hm? Reminds me of middle school."

"It holds some irony, I presume. Yuma was in on that debate as well. Let me show you that the samurai reign superior." Bright adjusted her glasses. "First, I activate Six Samurai United! Now, whenever a Six Samurai monster is summoned, I place one counter on it up to a maximum of two. Then I can simply send it to the graveyard to draw as many cards as I had counters on it." A glowing round seal appeared behind her, with six dots in its middle but just two of them specifically outlined and empty.

"I summon The Six Samurai – Yaichi, and since he's a Six Samurai I get my first counter." A man with yellow-outlined dark armour and armed with a bow appeared (1300/800). Behind him, the seal gained a yellow-glowing counter. "Now I activate my new monster's effect. All of my samurai require another one of them present to activate them, but my chamberlain counts as one of them. So, once per turn I get to target and destroy 1 set Spell or Trap card in exchange for Yaichi not being allowed to attack for the rest of the turn. Yaichi, take aim!"

The warrior pulled back the string of his bow and fired at his target, but instead of the card shattering, Bastion's side of the field blew up in white smoke. Where once was a ninja clad in black now stood a giant black and grey bird, proud and strong (2700/1000). "I don't think so. In response to your effect, I activated my Trap card; Ninjitsu Art of Transformation. This lets me tribute one of my face-up ninjas to summon a Beast, Winged Beast, or Insect monster 3 levels higher than the ninja I used for it. Not only did it allow me to bring out a stronger monster, my Dark Simorgh also prevents you from setting any cards while he's on the field." The monster in question flapped its wings and shot out feathers towards Bright's side of the field, where they glowed dimly.

Bright was about to end her turn with a set card, before she shook her head and simply passed back to Bastion, although with a bit of banter. "Don't think that oversized chicken will be enough."

"I hope not, I want to see what your samurai can do, after all." He laughed in response. "Ah, just what I needed. I activate Reinforcement of the Army to add Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke to my hand! And then I play it attack position." The purplish-grey ninja appeared in a cloud of smoke and brandished its weapons, just like the last ninja he'd played (1800/1000). "Now the good thing about this ninja is that if he attacks any monster in face-up defense position it gets destroyed at the start of the Damage Step, no matter how strong it was. Sasuke, attack her chamberlain! Simorgh, the other one!"

His monsters burst into action and left Bright's side of the field bare, except for her Spell card. (Bastion 3700 / Bright 2600) "I end my turn with another set card."

"It looks like Bastion has made his claim on the battlefield! With such a strong monster and its effect to stop his opponent from laying down any traps, is there anything that can stop him?!" The announcer shouted in response to Bastion's turn, with many of the onlookers cheering loudly afterwards.

But Bright remained calm and continued. "First, I summon another monster; The Six Samurai – Kamon! This gives me another counter, which I'll use to send my card to the graveyard in order to draw two cards!" A new warrior appeared, his armor outfitted with rows of dynamite sticks and a fiery red color to it (1500/1000). The seal lit up with the corresponding color, before its form glowed up brightly only to vanish. "Like my other samurai, this one needs an ally to activate his effect. Luckily, I have just the card I need; since I control a Six Samurai monster, I can special summon Grandmaster of the Six Samurai from my hand!"

A gate made of wood and paper appeared and out strode an older samurai with long grey hair. He loudly banged the tip of his sheathed sword against the ground, which served as an order towards the other one (2100/800). "Now that I have another Six Samurai on the field, I use Kamon's effect to destroy your Art of Transformation!" A roll of dynamite flew through the air before detonating against the smoke that trailed behind Simorgh. The explosion not only dispersed the smoke, but also destroyed the giant bird attached to it.

"Now that that's out of the way; Grandmaster, attack his ninja!" The old man drew his blade and engaged into a short clash of blades, before his sword struck a large piece of wood instead of the ninja.

"Not so fast! I activate Ninjitsu Art of Decoy and target my Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke! While the decoy is on the field, he cannot be destroyed by battle!"

"But you still take damage." Bright responded smugly before she set two cards face down. (Bastion 3400 / Bright 2600)

Bastion drew and studies his cards. He didn't know if Bright had any traps set for him, or what they could be, but if he could bait her out … "Sasuke, attack her Kamon!" The opposing monster went out in a big explosion, with another chunk of Bright's lifepoints gone. (Bastion 3400 / Bright 2300) "I set a monster and a face-down. Now let's see if you can defeat my ninjas!"

"Gladly! First, I activate my own Reinforcement of the Army and add The Six Samurai – Zanji to my hand, then I summon him!" Another samurai in brown armor with orange hit the field, leaning on the naginata in his hand (1800/1300). Bright glanced warily at his set card but decided to go for it anyways. "Then I activate my first face-down; Return of the Six Samurai, which allows me to special summon one of my Six Samurai, but he'll be destroyed during my end phase. Return, Yaichi! Now I'll use it effect to destroy your set card!"

Bastion flipped up his card in response. "I activate my Trap card; Kunai with Chain! My grandmaster gets a boost of 500 to his attack points, and since my card is no longer set your effect won't destroy it!" His ninja caught the weapon and swung it menacingly at its side (2300/1000).

"Your ninja's sure are slippery, but that won't stop me. I activate my face-down; Swift Samurai Storm! Now all of my Six Samurai gain 300 attack points after the first of them attacked each turn. Grandmaster, strike down his set monster!" The old samurai did and sliced apart a ninja clad in red.

"Never underestimate a ninja's arsenal." Bastion replied. "When my Crimson Ninja gets flipped up, I get to target and destroy one Trap card on the field. Say goodbye to your Swift Samurai Storm!" Just as the ninja shattered, he threw his blade and took the trap with him.

"I'm not done yet, Zanji, attack his Sasuke!" Bastion was about to question that decision, but when her samurai lost the battle he thrusted his weapon once more and took the ninja with him. (Bastion 3400 / Bright 1800) "When Zanji attacks he destroys his target at the end of the Damage Step. With this I end my turn."

'The teamwork and different effects that all cover another set of cards is truly remarkable, what great design.' Bastion thought to himself. 'I don't have that many high attack monsters, but perhaps this will help….' "As you can see, just because you destroyed my grandmaster doesn't mean my Art of Decoy has vanished, which means I can use this; Magic Planter! It allows me to send one face-up Continuous Trap I control to the graveyard in order to draw two cards!" 'This might just be what I needed, but I need a stronger monster …' "I set a monster and end my turn."

Bright drew her card and smiled. "You might want to pick up the pace again, or this duel will be over. I summon The Six Samurai – Nisashi and then attack your set monster with my grandmaster!" Another samurai, this one wielding two green blades emerged (1400/700), his two swords starting to glow soon after. With Bastion's monster out of the way, Bastion adjusted her glasses once more, causing them to flash briefly. "Nisashi can attack twice when I control another Six Samurai monster; direct attack!" The samurai slashed twice and granted Bright the advantage in terms of lifepoints. (Bastion 600 / Bright 1800)

'Alright, this is it.' Bastion took a deep breath and drew. When he saw his new card, he grinned. "I activate The Warrior Returning Alive and return my Strike Ninja from the graveyard back to my hand. Then, since I have a Wind and Dark monster in my hand, I can banish them to bring back Dark Simorgh from the grave!" The black bird returned and primed its wings before it looked down on the opposition. "Take out her Nisashi!" Bastion's monster flapped its wings and released a burst of dark winds that ripped apart its target in seconds, which left him in the lead again. (Bastion 600 / Bright 500)

His opponent narrowed her eyes after he set his last card. "Those cards are getting on my nerves, is that how it feels to play against Blake and his myriad of traps?" She grumbled and activated her freshly drawn Pot of Greed. "No more traps; I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your set card!"

"Ninjas are masters of deception, you know. They'll get you right where they want you." Her spells effect hit Bastion's card, which in turn released a shuriken that surged at Bright. "When Fuhma Shuriken gets send to the graveyard it inflicts 700 points of damage to my opponent."

The weapon connected at reduced her lifepoints to zero, causing her to let out a sigh. "Defeated by a burn effect …" (Bastion 600 / Bright 0)

"And there we have it everyone; the age-old question has been answered! Ninjas beat samurai! A big applause for our two finalists!"

The two of them shook hands as applause deafened every other noise in the arena.

"Yeah, I saw your duel on tv. Nice job, Bastion." Blake congratulated his friend over the phone, lazing around in his bed while doing so. After he'd taken down Keith the night before for good, earning another stack of cash while doing so and only aggravating the arena runners more, he'd decided to relax for the remainder of his break. Since he didn't go to the tournament, he decided to watch it on tv instead.

"The deck worked better than I anticipated at first, although the Six Samurai deck does intrigue me more." Bastion replied with a slight chuckle. "Perhaps Bright will let me experiment a bit on it in exchange for the ninjas."

He snorted in response. "I'm sure she'll let you experiment on more than just her deck." When he got no response in return, he added. "But getting a full deck as a reward sure is nice, a shame I couldn't make it."

"It'll make a fine addition to my collection for sure. But you do know that the tournament was televised live, right? Did you have so little to do while working that you could watch it?"

'Shit, should've thought of that.' Blake thought while he facepalmed. "Well … I just saw the finale. You know, during my break."

"I know for a fact that you work in the evening, Blake." Bastion stated with an even voice. "What's going on, I thought you were looking forward to the tournament? Has it something to do with Yuma's weird behavior?"

"Perhaps."

"What, did you mess up your date or something?" Bastion laughed in good-naturedly, but when he got no answer, he asked again. "Has it something to do with what happened back at the docks?"

Blake responded, but had difficulties in keeping his voice down. "Well, apparently mister orderly cop somehow knew not only about my shitty homelife but also my less legal activities."

"… I see. It would've surprised me if what Bright's father said about your parents was the cause for this, as I don't think they'd take it as a negative to your person. If anything, I expected Yuma to stick to you even more in response to that." Bastion replied, and Blake could envision him sitting somewhere while rubbing his chin in thought as he so often did.

'Fat chance that'll come up again.' "I think that whole thing went down the drain. Couldn't even look me in the eyes."

"And just when everyone got along well …" Bastion sighed. "Do you have any idea how to resolve this?"

"You mean other than politically nuking the police department? No." Blake growled. He was about to hit his cushion when he noticed that his hand was glowing ominously, so he shook it off instead. He didn't want to find out what'd happen if he damaged anything in his room. "They don't want to talk about it and would rather continue to evade me, so I'll let them do just that."

Bastion hummed through the phone. "Maybe it would've been better to tell them yourself."

"What for?"

"To show that you trust them with such private information. While I don't believe it would've been any less of a shock, especially for Bright considering her father's job, I think it would've been better on the long run."

'Yeah, sure. It was a mistake to try and get close to anyone in the first place.' Blake rolled onto his side. 'I should just focus on the things that really matter; getting promoted, get paid a lot of cash for dueling weaklings, and try not to die while crazy shit goes down on the island.'

"Would it be alright for you if I tried to defuse the situation with them a bit?"

The concern in his friend's voice gave him some mixed feelings. He'd come to enjoy the other's company, although it had taken time and sometimes grated on his nerves. Besides, what would he do with his free time otherwise? There weren't that many students that dared to duel him anymore, and studying alone wasn't something he'd do either way. Just the thought of them treating him the way Syrus did, twisted his stomach. Unlike that guy, he couldn't just shout at and mock them. Then again, was it worth the effort if they just let him hanging the way they did?

Not knowing what to do and too tired to keep thinking about it, he replied with a simple "Knock yourself out" before he ended the call.

Break time's over and drama's afloat. While I'm not the biggest fan of it myself, it only makes sense and has its place in the story, as you'll see soon enough. Next chapter we'll enter the second half of season one, which means the Shadow Rider's aren't far off. Hopefully this chapter's duel was good enough, I originally wanted to use other decks but the card constriants kinda messed that up - no way to properly use Spirit or Gemini cards if you ask me.

Since FFnet has some issues with its stats, as to say I have no stats for views since mid-September other than Favs, Follows, and Reviews - most of the time at least - I can't say for certain but I'm sure we've made it past 50k views, maybe even more, which is amazing. Once again, thank y'all for reading and I hope you'll be back next time when shit goes down.

P.S. I've decided to crosspost this story to AO3, so if you'd rather read it there, be my guest.