AN: I know it's been a little bit, but here's a bigger than normal chapter to make up for it hopefully. A duel between Alex and Bastion is here and some revelations maybe happening.
Thanks for being patient! Hope you enjoy!
Thank you for every favorite, follow, comment!
Almost four weeks later and Alex was really no closer to figuring out any of the mysteries Duel Academy had. Sage had been quiet lately, frustrated with her own lack of progress on figuring out what they could do. She had theories, some more likely than others, that she wasn't sharing at the moment. What little he got out of her suggested she thought something was trying to use the duel energy on academy island.
He was doing good in classes at least, floating around top 5 in Ra Yellow for grades. His parents were proud of the grades and he was hoping to make them prouder with a promotion to Obelisk soon enough.
Jaden had surprised him that night of the Alexis duel when he saw Alex's duel spirits without reacting. Alex had finally gotten to talk to Jaden, alone, about a week after that shock. Jaden, apparently, had been able to see duel spirits since he was kid and thought nothing of the fact that Alex could too. Jaden just shrugged it off as if it wasn't a pretty big deal. Winged Kuriboh hadn't warned Jaden about anything weird going on either apparently. Whether, that was because the little fuzz ball hadn't actually sensed anything weird, or it was because he literally couldn't talk, Alex had no idea. Sage swore there was something more than meets the eye with Jaden.
Then, Alex gave up asking for more information when Jaden said that Yugi Muto had been the one to give him the card, because that was awesome. A card from the King Of Games himself? The subject changed to talk about Yugi and his deck after that. Although, he did wonder what were the chances they both ran in to Yugi the day of the test and that he helped both of them out. It brought back the words Sage had said.
'Maybe, this IS all connected.' Alex thought.
Alex had somehow gone the last month without dueling any other members of 'Akari's Little Duel Club' which he considered a mini miracle. That didn't mean he hadn't dueled at all since he beat Jasmine though. He dueled a few fellow Ra Yellows in and out of class. All wins too, which had him feeling good as he made his way to hang out with his friends.
Alex spent most of the month hanging out with some mixture of the group in the (not) duel club. Usually, the time was spent chatting and watching Akari duel which ever student she had goaded in to accepting a match that day. Alex and Bastion spent one afternoon debating if she'd end up dueling every single first year. There were around 200 kids in their year and near 270 days spent on the island, so she could definitely be on pace to do it.
The table they had their 'first club meeting' had become their unofficial meet up spot for everyone after classes were over. Usually, they weren't all there at the same time of course. They would come and go as they pleased due to other responsibilities. Today, seemed to be one of the few times they would all be there at the exact same time. In part because of a message from Akari asking them to be there for 'an official duel club meeting' as she put it.
"Alright, I'm here. I hope this one is more important than our first meeting." Alex greeted as he squeezed in next to Jasmine at the end of the table. She threw an arm around him in a quick hug and smiled at him in greeting as he sat down.
Bastion, Akari, and Jasmine were the three Alex had grown the closest to since the beginning of the year. Bastion being in a lot of the same classes and with dorms right next to each other, naturally pushed them together. Akari as the 'leader,' they let her think that, was always around to drag them in to watching her duel. Akari was closed off about exactly why she felt the need to prove herself so much in dueling, but Alex knew understood how important it was to her. While Alex hadn't gone as intense as she did to start the year, he related to her obvious desire to prove something. He knew why it was so important for himself and wished he knew what she was trying to prove so badly. Jasmine always came around for at least a little bit before she went to do something with Alexis or Mindy. Mindy usually only came if both Alexis and Jasmine were showing up. Those three were still close as can be, but they tried to set time to be around the rest as well.
Jaden and Syrus seemed to just show up randomly at the table when they wanted. Jaden seemed to go wherever the wind took him and if the breeze took him to the table, then he'd sit and ask about dueling someone. Somehow, that hadn't led to him and Akari dueling, but that was only a matter of time with how much they both loved dueling anyone they could.
'Maybe Mindy was right to complain about everyone we meet being obsessed with dueling.' Alex thought amused.
"Welcome to the second official meeting of Akari's Little Duel Club." Akari said as she banged an inflatable plastic gavel.
Everyone just looked amused at the squeaks the plastic gavel made against the table. Of course, not everyone could let the name or gavel go without comment, but before they could Akari interrupted.
"The names great! It IS a club! Yes, there's an actual serious topic! And no, I haven't ordered anyone to duel today using the gavel." Akari cut off all the comments she must've known were coming.
The table laughed as Jasmine and Alex glanced at each other amused before closing their mouths. They were definitely going to be the ones to say something.
"The reason I called the meeting is because promotion exams are coming up!" Akari exclaimed.
'It's actually a serious topic. Props to her. I can't believe it's already close to half the semester over.' Alex thought.
"Uh, what are promotion exams?" Syrus asked, timidly raising his hand.
"Our mid semester test. Instead of just a mid-term test, halfway through each semester, we have a test that can promote students to the next level in the dorm rankings if they do well enough. A written test followed by a duel against a fellow student in the same dorm as you. Ra gets their chance to go to Obelisk and Slifer can get in to Ra." Alexis took over and explained.
"And Obelisk gets the chance to be demoted." Jasmine pouted.
"Everyone gets the chance to be demoted. Ra can go down to Slifer too." Alexis corrected.
"Aw man! More tests? I still can't even get a good grade in Crowlers. I'm gonna be a Slifer forever!" Syrus cried out.
"Don't sweat it Sy! It's just dueling, we'll practice together and you'll be in Ra Yellow in no time if that's what you want. These ranks don't mean anything anyways." Jaden patted the smaller boy on the back.
Jaden was just as quick to comfort his friend as Syrus was to disparage himself. Jaden seemed immune to being worried about anything that went on, which confused Alex. How did someone so happy-go-lucky have that much of a duel presence? How would he handle whatever mess might be coming, if he was connected to all this?
"The rank might not mean anything to you, but the grade should! That's why I figured we should break off in to pairs and practice. We have 4 Obelisks, 2 Ra, and 2 Slifers, so we pair off by dorm perfectly. We can all duel a dorm mate in the next few days as practice for what we might face in a couple weeks!" Akari smiled, clearly proud of the plan she put together.
"Splendid idea Akari." Bastion praised. "Alexander and I can finally have that duel we've been putting off."
'We could just end up facing each other during the actual promotion exam, but the chances are pretty slim with how many students we have I guess, so this could be good practice.' Alex thought before replying.
"Yeah, that sounds good man."
"So, like, who's going to duel who for us girls?" Mindy asked looking between the four girls of the group.
"I'll handle that right now. Alexis, I challenge you to a duel!" Akari smirked confidently.
Alex whistled when Alexis accepted the challenge readily. Alexis was the top female student for first years in the school rankings and while Akari never really talked about her grades, her dueling prowess had to have her up near second. Both were in line to be at the top of the school for years to come.
"Wait, I definitely want to see that duel." Alex said, turning to Bastion who agreed.
"Good, cause I want to see yours too. I still have unfinished business with both of you. Need to know which one of you deserves to get beat by me next." Akari said.
"She says that, but hasn't beaten any of us yet." Alex mocked.
"Bastion pulled a fast one. And you have just been lucky I'm in such high demand. Next time our duel won't be interrupted." Akari sniffed dismissively.
"Well, how about we reserve the Obelisk duel arena and have all the duels there?" Alexis offered up.
"Yeah! We can ask Ms. Fontaine to reserve it for us. Maybe for the morning on the weekend coming up!" Jasmine enthusiastically agreed.
"That's our plan then! Maybe if it goes well, Ms. Fontaine will let us reserve it again to have a little tournament after promotions too. That way we'll have no interruptions and I'll claim my rightful number 1 spot as the leader of this duel club." Akari said with a challenging grin.
"When one of us beats her, do you think we get the inflatable gavel? As new leader, I'll make sure Akari can never be leader again and I'll make up a better name." Alex joked to the group.
"Oh, I like that idea. Jasmines Little Duel Club has a much better ring to it. I'll make all the boys wait on us. We can get them little butler suits. 4 butlers for us 4 girls." Jasmine smirked to Mindy, who looked happy with the suggestion.
'Akari as leader might be the lesser of two evils actually.' Alex thought, hearing some of the giggles coming from whispered plans Jasmine and Mindy were coming up with.
Alexis just rolled her eyes amused as her two friends tried to bring her in to their whispered conversation. Alex had noticed that Alexis seemed to be more serious minded than her two friends, but they fit well together. He had hoped to talk to her more about the abandoned dorm, but it seemed like a weird thing to bring up after seeing her initial reaction to telling the story.
"Alright! Tournament for being leader at a later date you critics. Jasmine or Alexis will PDA everyone our reservation and we'll meet up then. Akari's Little Duel Club dismissed!" Akari said rolling her eyes at the byplay and ending the meeting with another squeak of her gavel.
Jaden and Syrus had left rather quickly after, probably to help calm Syrus down about dueling in front of people. Even after a month, Syrus seemed to not be as comfortable around the group as everyone else had grown to be. At least he seemed to get on well enough when the subject wasn't dueling. Of course, the problem with that was the group of friends he got stuck with, literally had an (unofficial) duel club going.
Alex said his goodbyes the group that was left and made his leave as well. He wanted to get back to his dorm and continue brainstorming with Princess or Sage about getting to talk to Queen. Yugi had still not contacted him, not that it mattered much he guessed, he knew Mai was already a long shot that she could help. Potential shadow games and all these other mysteries, had made it so getting Queen in to his a deck a priority. Now, duels with the rest of the club were on the horizon and he wanted to be the best. He'd need an actual complete deck for that.
'A duel with Bastion is finally coming up. He'll be my toughest test yet no doubt.'
…
A couple days later and they were set to have their duels against each other in the Obelisk dueling arena. Jasmine had sent them all the information, apparently reserving the place for a couple hours early in the morning on Sunday.
Now, the morning of there practice duels were here and Alex had nervous energy in spades, as he walked over to the arena. He assumed it would just be their little "club" so he wasn't worried about embarrassing himself, but Bastion was a bar he set himself to surpass even back as kids and he hoped it would be accomplished here.
He walked in to see that he was mostly right by thinking the kids who would be there watching would be his friends. Jaden and Syrus wasn't there yet, but everyone else was standing together chatting. There was one other person present though, standing away from the group of friends, arms crossed as he simply stared at the empty dueling field. He was tall, taller than either Alex or Bastion, with dark blue hair and dark blue eyes. Alex assumed he was an older Obelisk student.
"Morning friends!" Alex greeted as he walked up. "Oh, and Akari."
She stuck her tongue out at him childishly, as Jasmine gave him a quick hug and the rest nodded in welcome.
"About time slowpoke. Get in your positions! I want to duel Alexis right after I see which one of you is my biggest competition from the boys." Akari wasted no time in trying to get the duels started.
"Wait, who's the one man audience over there?" Alex asked nodding toward the older student.
"Zane Truesdale. 3rd year Obelisk. Number 1 student in the academy who has represented Duel Academy against North Academy two years straight. Both wins." Bastion supplied the information readily.
"And he decided to watch a bunch of first years duel? Wait… Truesdale?! As in Syrus?" Alex asked surprised.
"Syrus' brother." Alexis sighed out. "He's a family friend, I let him know what was going on."
Alex whistled at the information, thinking about how different the two brothers seemed to be just by accomplishments. It couldn't be easy being a Slifer Red first year while your brother was the best duelist in the school.
"Yes, yes, Zane's amazing. Let's hurry, we don't have all day." Akari pushed.
She was right, so Alex and Bastion nodded to each other, before making their way to their respective sides.
"Good luck boys!" Jasmine called out.
"I've studied your duels and archetype in preparation for this Alexander. The formula I've made for this duel won't fail me."
Alex took a deep breath as he stood on his side of the duel field, staring over at Bastion. He knew that Bastion would be his toughest opponent yet, proving his worth started with winning duels like this. Bastion opened up his duel jacket to reveal a vest containing six different deck holders, before picking one and sticking the deck inside it in to his duel disk.
'Of course he has six decks. One of his formulas just for me huh? Well then, let's do this.' Alex smiled, excited at challenge.
"Duel/Duel!" Both boys drew their opening hands. (Alex: 4000/Bastion: 4000)
"I'll start us off! Draw!" Alex drew to bring his hand to 6
"I'll set a monster face down and set one card in my back row." Alex said as the two cards came to life.
"I'll end my turn there. Go ahead!"
"A rather tame first turn for you Alexander! I draw!" Bastion drew to bring his hand to 6 cards.
"I'll start off with Graceful Charity! I'll draw three cards and have to discard two. A positive outcome." Bastion drew 3 cards and discarded 2 quickly, leaving him with a hand of 7
"Now, I'll play the field spell card Magnetic Field! That won't come in handy until I summon my Beta The Magnet Warrior! (1700/1600)"
The field transformed in to a lab you'd see out of a some futuristic comic book. Futuristic machines and computers were everywhere along floating mechanical body parts of different colors being suspended by some magnetic force machine. The parts from around the field whirled, coming together to form a taller, yellow mechanical looking being, that seemed to have magnets jutting from each body part.
'A lab… fitting even though Magnet Warriors are rocks… somehow. Magnet Warriors, just like when we were kids. Destroy them before they can make Valkyrion. Easy enough. Doesn't seem tailored to stop my deck though.' Alex wondered what Bastions strategy was with choosing this deck.
"Now, my field spell allows me to special summon a level 4 Magnet Warrior from my graveyard! I discarded one just a few seconds ago, come forth Gamma The Magnet Warrior! (1500/1800)"
The parts floating around came together again, this time in to a round, pink, metallic being with a magnet around its neck and metal wings came to life in front of Bastion.
"Now! Beta The Magnet Warrior attac-" Bastion started to declare his attack before an interruption.
"I activate my trap! Threatening Roar! It's effect means you can't declare an attack this turn!" Alex's set backrow card flipped face up with a deafening roar that caused the Magnet Warriors to shake.
"Hmph, so be it. I'll set two cards and end my turn." Bastion slid two cards in to his duel disk which appeared face down in his backrow.
"Good! I draw!" Alex drew and brought his hand up to 5
"First, I'll flip over my set monster in to attack mode! Show yourself D.D Warrior Lady! (1500/1600)"
A more average looking woman than Alex's Amazoness ladies appeared at the ready. Her blonde hair came down past her shoulders, covering the top of her black leather jacket. Her left elbow down to her left hand, where she held a sword at the ready, was metallic with red lines going up and down.
…
"D.D Warrior Lady? That's not an Amazoness. Think he's using a different deck?" Mindy commented to her friends on the sidelines.
"It is a woman warrior though. Muscular too. Think he has a fetish?" Jasmine giggled at her own suggestion.
"If he does, you better hit the gym or he'll never flirt back. Don't think your scrawny arms will impress him." Alexis teased her friend causing her to sputter and the other two girls to laugh.
"Arms are not scrawny." Jasmine grumbled, looking at her arms and pretended to flex as hard as she could, to the other's amusement.
"Nah, he's still using Amazoness I bet. He told me he use to run warriors with equip cards before. She's probably from there, but fits the Amazoness deck pretty well I'd say." Akari explained, getting the focus back on the duel.
"And Bastion? Like, why does your future boyfriend have 6 decks?" Mindy asked looking at Akari.
"Shut it! Bastion has a deck for every attribute. He's always talking about ways to counter people's decks. Probably made this specific one for this duel." Akari supplied, glaring at the boyfriend comment. Just because she blushed once at a comment Jasmine had made. Jeez.
"So, why Magnet Warriors for an Amazoness deck? Not exactly a counter." Alexis asked, more to herself as she focused on the duel.
"Aw man! They're already dueling! We're late!" Jaden made his presence known as he walked in to the arena with Syrus.
"Oh! Now here comes Alexis' boyfrie- oof." Mindy started with a grin before an elbow to her side from said girl shut her up.
"If hitting her was all it took…" Akari mumbled to her self.
"Hey girls! How's the duel? Did we miss anything?" Jaden walked up to the group with a smile as Syrus trailed behind him staring past the group at his brother.
"It just got started. Me and Akari are going next, but you and Syrus can duel after if you want." Alexis offered with a smile.
"Sweet! Hear that Sy? Sy? You alright?" Syrus looked shaken seeing his brother there watching the duel.
"Y-yeah sounds g-great." Syrus smiled weakly.
…
"Next, I'll use the spell card I just drew! I'm sure you know it, Mystical Space Typhoon! I'll use it on your field spell!" The storm whipped up from Alex's side of the field destroying all the machines that surrounded the field, bringing the arena back to normal.
"Then, I'll summon my Amazoness Sage (1400/700) in attack mode! Plus, I'll equip her with my spell card Amazoness Heirloom!"
Sage appeared on the field, eyes narrowed, staff trained at the machines they faced. A carved, ornate, wooden object with a big green gem at its center appeared in her other hand as the equip spell activated. Sage smiled as it shrunk and became a necklace that instantly floated in to place around her neck.
"Now, my Amazoness Sage can survive battle once a turn and when she attacks, she destroys the monster she faced, after damage calculation, no matter what! Which means Sage can destroy a monster and because of her effect, also destroy one of your spell or traps after she attacks!" Alex explained.
"She won't be destroying any of my spells or traps. I activate my trap card, Skill Drain! By paying 1000 life points, my trap makes it so all monster effects are negated while face up on the field!" Bastions first set card flipped face up to show the continuous trap card. (Alex: 4000/Bastion: 4000-3000)
'All my Amazoness have effects! Stops Warrior Lady too, tch. And I'm sure he's running all normal monsters… If he gets Valkyrion, there's no way I'll be able to get over it without some lucky draws. My spells will have to save me here.' Alex, eyes wide, looked at the field trying to think of what he should do with the new restriction on him.
"So be it, I'll still attack! Amazoness Sage, attack his Beta The Magnet Warrior!" As expected, when a weaker monster attacked a stronger one, the attack was reflected with a counter attack. The Amazoness Heirloom around Sage's neck glowed brightly and shielded her from the blowback of the counter attack. The heirloom's second effect took hold and destroyed the Magnet Warrior that Sage had battled with a green beam from its gem. (Alex: 4000-3700/Bastion: 3000)
"Now, D.D Warrior Lady! Crash in to his Gamma The Magnet Warrior!" The blonde warrior wasted no time in sprinting over to pink, metallic, magnet being, swinging her sword down. The two monsters shared the same attack, so the result was an explosion as soon as the sword made contact with the metal body, destroying both monsters.
"Gamma and Beta are in the graveyard, I'm not letting you get Valkyrion out! I'll end my turn!"
"They're exactly where they need to be, I draw!" Bastion said, drawing to bring his hand count to 4 cards.
"You only have one monster Alexander, it's not adding up to a good defense! I'll start with a monster card you know, another Beta The Magnet Warrior! (1700/1600)" another copy of the yellow magnet monster appeared ready to attack.
'He's running multiple copies of the Magnet Warriors… of course he'd draw them too. Is that why he was okay with the others being destroyed? How's he expecting to get all 3?' Alex was worried about Bastions strategy to somehow get Valkyrion out, looking down at his hand trying to figure out a plan. Running multiple copies of one card was gaining popularity fast, but most people couldn't afford, or weren't lucky enough, to actually own the cards that were worth running multiple of. Alex himself ran multiple copies of Amazoness Village, it was an important card for his deck to work.
"Just like you, I'll activate the spell I just drew! Magnet Induction! With Beta out on the field, I can summon a Magnet Warrior from my deck, Here's a new addition to my deck for you to see! Delta The Magnet Warrior! (1600/1400)" Alex was now staring down two magnet beings, both in an attack position focused on Sage. Delta, while still having magnets on every body part like the others, had a more sleek blue crystal like body.
'There's a Delta magnet warrior? It has an effect that he's disabling with his own card… ugh, now I have to figure that out too.' This duel was getting frustrating.
"Beta The Magnet Warrior attack his Sage!" The magnet Warrior on the right floated quickly over to Sage throwing a jab out with his magnet hand. The attack was intercepted by a green shield coming from the Amazoness Heirloom still active. The green shield cracked and broke, but still left Sage standing on the field. (Alex: 3700-3400/Bastion: 3000)
"Now! My Delta The Magnet Warrior! Destroy his Amazoness Sage!" The second magnet warrior rushed forward and punched forward, unimpeded by the Amazoness equip spell like the first one was. Sage could do nothing, but take the hit and dissolve in to tiny hologram pieces. (Alex: 3400-3200/Bastion: 3000)
"I'll end my turn! You have zero cards on your field Alexander, it's not adding up to a victory."
"My life points still add up to more than yours right now though!" Alex shot back. "I draw!" Alex's hand now stood at 3 cards.
"I'll play the spell card Pot Of Greed!" Alex drew two more cards to bring his hand up to 4. "Now, I'll play the field spell, Amazoness Village! I think we're familiar with it by now." Alex slapped in the field spell in to the corresponding slot, watching as the field started to change. Before the full transformation of the field could be complete, it abruptly stopped.
"I told you this deck formula was calculated for yours Alexander! I play the trap card, Cursed Seal Of The Forbidden Spell! If I discard a spell card of my own, I can negate the activation of yours, destroy it, and you can't use that spell for the rest of the duel!" Bastion declared as the Amazoness huts that had started to pop up, immediately got torn down. Alex's eyes widened at the not just negation, but the added effect of not being able to use his other copies of the field spell either.
'Field spell, gone. Monster effects, gone. Bastion truly thought of how to counter me. Of course it'll be the time my starting hand was almost all monsters. He's pretty much made the duel about backrow and who can get the highest attack on the board. Good thing I put in a few of my equip cards before this duel... like this one.' Alex's mind raced.
"Your deck formula is giving me more of a headache than the actual formulas in class. You can't counter all my plays! I'll summon my Amazoness Paladin (1700/300) and I'll equip her with Lightning Blade!" (1700-2500/300)
Paladin appeared on the field at the ready, but the sword she usually appeared with was replaced by a bigger blade. An almost oversized two handed great sword that cackled with electricity as she held it up effortlessly. Her attack points raised along with the new weapon.
"My equip spells getting used vs your Magnet Warriors, just like when we were kids Bastion. I promised myself this time would have a different result. Attack his Beta The Magnet Warrior!" Paladin didn't need to rush forward, or even move from her spot, all she did was swipe her blade down vertically and a wave of electricity shot forward straight in to the yellow magnet being, destroying it in an explosion. (Alex: 3200/Bastion: 3000- 2200)
Alex ended his turn after the attack.
"You were certainly tougher to figure out with your Amazoness, but this duel has already been solved and it always equals your loss. I draw!" Bastion drew to bring his hand size up to 2.
"I'll go straight in to my battle phase! Delta The Magnet Warrior attack his Amazoness!" Alex's eyes widened as the magnet monster tried to send an attack at Paladin. She rebuffed it and quickly sent a counter attack that destroyed Bastions monster. (Alex: 3200/Bastion: 2200- 1300)
"Destroying your own monster? With your own Skill Drain active, whatever effect it had couldn't help you… unless" Alex came to the realization that Delta's effect must be one that doesn't need it to be on the field for.
"Unless it activates in the graveyard! I told you my magnet warriors were exactly where they needed to be." Bastion took over to finish Alex's thought. "Now I can banish any 3 level 4 magnet warriors, besides Delta, from my graveyard, but these 3 are the perfect choice. I banish my Beta The Magnet Warrior, my Gamma The Magnet Warrior, and my Alpha The Magnet Warrior!"
"V-Valkyrion… When did you put Alpha in the graveyard?!" Alex asked surprised. He knew what was coming when those three cards were the ones being used.
"Don't forget I had to discard TWO cards for Graceful Charity. With those three cards banished, I summon the perfect sum of their parts, Valkyrion The Magna Warrior! (3500/3850)"
The monster that was summoned was massive in comparison to the other magnet monsters. Its head and shoulder joints were yellow, obviously coming from Beta, while it had a bigger version of Gamma's pink wings attached to its back. Its whole body was shiny silver, while its sword and shield from Alpha.
"It's still my battle phase! Valkyrion The Magna Warrior, attack his Amazoness Paladin!" The combined magnet monster's wing spread wide as it rushed forward with its sword readied. It used its shield to deflect the paladins lighting coated blade to side as it struck with its own sword in to the Amazoness. (Alex: 3200- 2200/ Bastion: 1300)
"Valkyrion equals your defeat, just like at camp Alexander! I'll put two cards face down and end my turn!" Bastion set two backrow cards, next to his Skill Drain, emptying his hand.
"It's not over yet! My Amazoness have always fought til the end and this time won't be any different, I draw!" Alex looked down at the two cards in his hand.
"You've had just the right cards all duel and now it's my turn. I activate the spell card Amazoness Call! With it, I can choose any one Amazoness card from my deck to add to my hand. Which means that all I've got to do is choose the right one and I'll dismantle your Valkyrion." Alex taunted, looking through his deck, a little more out of nervousness than actual confidence.
'Skill Drain stops me from picking Swordswoman and letting him take the damage. Princess can't help me with her effect negated. Willpower would only bring back a monster with no effect too. I know he's seen this before, but this is my only play.' Alex picked his card and shuffled his deck.
"I'll choose Amazoness Spellcaster! You should know what it does by now! I summon my Amazoness Chainmaster (1500/1300) and activate the spell Amazoness Spellcaster!"
'Please don't have a counter. Please don't have a counter. Please don't have a counter.' Alex silently chanted as the spell card, which was the last card in his hand, started to take effect.
Chainmaster was an intimidating presence even amongst the other Amazoness. She had only blue striped fabric protecting her private parts, while her weapon of choice, a spiked chain, was long enough to wrap around both arms up to their elbows and have plenty of chain left. She twirled her chain as the spell card started to take effect and her attack power was swapped with Valkyrion.
"Now, my Chainmaster has 3500 attack and your Valkyrion has 1500! This duel is finished! Attack his Valkyrion!"
The Amazoness unwrapped the chain before sending it forward in a quick strike. The spike at the end of the chain clashed with the metal body of Valkyrion causing an explosion.
Alex smiled, relieved at the explosion. Valkyrion was destroyed. He won. It had to be over. At least, it should've been, but then he realized the holograms hadn't gone away like they would when a duel was over. As the smoke cleared, he saw why.
"It was a good effort, but like you've said, I've had the right cards all duel. My formula will not fail me! I activated both my Emergency Provisions and my Dimension Guardian! By sending my Skill Drain to the graveyard, my Emergency Provisions let me gain 1000 life points, right before your attack did its 2000 damage. While, my Dimension Guardian trap made sure my Valkyrion can't be destroyed by battle." Bastion explained the almost loss of his life points as Valkyrion stood tall. (Alex: 2200/Bastion: 1300- 2300- 300)
"It couldn't be that easy huh." Alex groaned.
Alex ended his turn and with it, Amazoness Chainmaster's (3500-1500/1300) stats returned back to normal.
"I draw!" Bastion drew, making his hand count 1.
"Valkyrion The Magna Warrior attack his Chainmaster!" Valkyrion wasted no time is slicing through the Amazoness, completely destroying it. (Alex: 2200- 200/Bastion: 300)
The blowback from the powerful attack nearly dropped Alex to his knees. Holograms or not, it sometimes felt real enough when the debris from a battle came toward you or when you lost a lot of life points at once. Or maybe it was the realization that the duel might be all but over. Alex would need to draw Swordswoman so that the battle damage was reflected on to Bastion and even then, Alex wouldn't put it past his one card being a counter somehow.
"Why couldn't the oversized magnet just die." Alex growled
"I'll set my one card face down and end my turn. One draw left Alexander, better make it count."
Alex knew what he drew as soon as he put his fingers on the card to pull it. Along with the spark he felt, the spirit of his closest friend appeared alongside of him with an apologetic expression, as if she was sorry to be the one drawn. Alex tried to smile reassuringly at his friend, hoping she'd understand it was never a bad thing for Alex to draw her and played the card without needing to look at it.
"I'll summon Amazoness Princess! (1200/900) Without your Skill Drain on the field, I can actually use her effect! She lets me choose any Amazoness spell or trap card and add it to my hand!" Princess appeared on the field with a twirl of her spear.
Alex looked through the choices and promptly came to the conclusion that he'd probably lost. Alex had used every Amazoness spell card he had besides Amazoness Fighting Spirit and an extra copy of Amazoness Village. Neither were of any help or could even be played in Village's case. His traps included Amazoness Archers and Amazoness Willpower, also no help, unless he wanted to lose by an 1800 difference instead of 2300 for some reason.
It left one trap left: Amazoness Shaminism was a card which allowed him to destroy Princess and summon a different Amazoness in defense. It might save him for a turn if Bastion didn't draw another monster and that was really his only hope left of surviving.
"I choose the trap card Amazoness Shaminism to add to my hand! Then, I'll set a face down. Bet you can't guess what it is." Alex joked trying to lighten his own mood.
"Truly a mystery." Bastion played along. "Sorry to say it won't matter. I'll activate my face down Magnet Conversion! It allows me to target up to 3 level 4 Magnet Warriors in my graveyard and return them to my hand! I'll bring Delta The Magnet Warrior and Beta The Magnet Warrior." Bastion grabbed the two cards, adding them to his hand of zero cards.
'So that's it. Next turn, he has enough attack no matter what I do. I… lost. Have I grown at all since being here? Will I ever be worthy of you, Queen?' Alex's thoughts turned discouraged as he went to resign, before he realized that Princess was running forward to attack Valkyrion.
Alex… didn't know monsters could attack without him giving an order for them to do it. He guessed it must have something to do with his cards obviously being different than normal duel monsters considering the whole they were actual real Amazons before hand thing. It still didn't explain why Princess was attacking, but he was going to lose anyways so, it didn't matter. He watched as the thrusts of her spear were blocked and deflected by Valkyrions shield, before its sword countered with a slash, destroying Princess. (Alex: 200- 0/Bastion: 300)
"I'll fight for you against all odds Alex. You're our partner… My partner. This doesn't change that." Princess said, appearing next to him with a soft smile and a thumbs up before returning in to the deck.
'Thank you… partner. If only the ones we need felt the same.'
…
Alex and Bastion had shook hands on their way to the group of onlookers. Bastion was humble in victory as he had always been, but Alex was a little more subdued than usual thinking on what he could've done differently.
"That was great boys!" Akari exclaimed excitedly as they approached getting agreements from the rest of the friends.
"I'm impressed… I know which two I want to duel in that little tournament we're going to have." Alexis complimented.
"Aw man that was sweet! Alex I definitely need to see how my heroes stack up. Bastion too. Your Magnet Warriors were fun to watch. I can't wait til our duel Sy." Jaden was also excited, mostly his default state, but he was extra animated now.
Syrus had stayed quiet the whole time, only looking at the floor. Alex wondered if he saw any of the duel. Before long, the conversation and compliments were over and the next duel, between Akari and Alexis was ready to start. His friend's kind words had helped his mood somewhat, but losing still left a sting. Especially after spending a month working on trying to be better than he had been, so he could solve all these problems the island had given him.
"Good job out there. You'll get him next time yeah?" Jasmine nudged him with her elbow as the duel started up.
Before he could respond, Syrus just ran out of the arena without a word.
"Sy! Where you going?!" Jaden tried to yell after him.
Alex looked over at Zane to see his reaction, but he didn't even glance over to where his brother had just run off. Instead he just started walking off in another direction. Cold.
"I'll help you find him." Alex said, one to be a good friend, but also to help clear his head after the loss. He'd make it up to Akari by watching the rest of her hundreds of duels this year.
…
Jaden and Alex had searched for the rest of the morning before calling it a search and going to lunch. Alex wondered just how much Zane had to with Syrus running off without a word. Syrus must've found a spot he knew would be secluded because Jaden didn't find him until he walked in to the Slifer dorm for dinner. Jaden was worried about him and messaged the friend group about it. That would definitely be something the group would need to have a meeting about and see how they could help their anxious friend.
Jasmine had messaged him to tell him Alexis had beat Akari in a close duel. Not as a close as Alex and Bastions, but Akari had put up a good fight before ultimately losing. Guess Alexis was the number one female first year for a reason. Alex knew Akari was like him and would let the loss get to her so he sent her a message to hopefully make her feel better.
A day or two later, Alex sat on his bed sat watching a video on his PDA, talking with Sage and Princess the same topic that came up every day for the last month: Trying to figure out how to talk to Amazoness Queen. Losing to Bastion had made it even more of an important task. Alex was watching a video of a tournament that Mai had participated in some years ago. This tournament was the first and only one where Mai had used a deck comprised of almost solely Amazoness cards. She didn't have enough of them for 40 cards, but the deck she used in this tournament was definitely focused on the ones she did have. She's known for using a pure Harpie Ladies deck now, but before she'd throw in only a few Amazoness cards depending on the duel apparently.
'Why was she able to use her? Is it the same one?' Alex's brow furrowed, staring intently at the screen as he watched Mai summon Amazoness Queen in the video.
"Mai Valentines a badass!" Princess exclaimed, excitedly watching the duel.
Alex rolled his eyes with a smile, his concentration leaving the screen to look at Princess. Princess had seen Mai duel before, when he first started trying to figure out who could help him figure out the mysteries of the deck. It was purely luck that apparently Mai did have experience with some of the Amazoness he now owned. Princess was not one of the cards who had ever been in Mai's deck… which brought up something Alex probably should've thought about way earlier.
"Why haven't we asked some of the cards that were in Mai's deck back then?" Alex asked aloud with a frown.
"Ask them what?" Princess asked, taking her focus away from the screen.
"I have." Sage interjected. "That tournament you're watching is the last time she used them. At least, according to them…"
Sage wasn't one of the cards that was in Mai's deck. At least Sage had never mentioned being apart of her deck. He knew from a website detailing all of Mai's duels, that were available online, she had never used an Amazoness Sage.
Alex looked at the date of the tournament and his eyes widened when he realized it was only about 6 months before he his deck at the camp.
"She stopped using them and 6 months later some woman is giving me a whole Amazoness deck with some of the cards coming straight from Mai according to Yugi. How? Yugi even said Mai had tried to get a full Amazoness deck herself." Alex got up and paced, trying to piece it all together
"And they don't know how that happened?" Princess frowned.
"Do you remember how we all ended up together?" Sage raised her brow in question.
Princess looked deep in thought for a moment before she realized that she didn't know. Alex thought about it too. He only knew he got the cards from the mysterious lady who was from Industrial Illusions. He didn't even ask any questions, he saw Princess floating there and was immediately amazed at seeing the duel spirit.
'How do I even know she was from Industrial Illusions? She didn't even give me the full Amazoness deck. I know I've seen a Baby Tiger and a fusion card in circulation. Along with another trap. Those must have actual counterparts like these.' Alex grabbed his deck and thumbed through the cards.
"How is that possible? Shouldn't you guys have been aware of everything going on around you? You've been aware of everything I've been through right?" Alex asked.
"No." Princess was the one who answered. "I don't remember ever materializing before that day I met you. Not in this world. I-I don't… I don't remember much before I felt you." Princess finished slowly and hesitant, almost like she was just realizing that fact.
"Materializing isn't as easy as we make it seem now, young partner. Before we met you, we all must've been… weak. With scattered memories of a long dead tribe, unable to materialize a spirit form, and only able to remember duels we took part in." Sage explained sadly.
"So, I must've never been used in a duel before Alex then…" Princess muttered unsure.
"Why only with me? Princess said it, Mai is badass. Why not be able to materialize with her?" Alex needed answers to all this.
"I wasn't with her, so I do not know. Maybe we needed to be together. You are our destiny after all and perhaps your energy is exactly what we needed."
"Maybe it's time I ask one that I know was there." Alex said as he held up Amazoness Paladin.
She appeared in the room, tensing as she looked around, before calming down at the sight of Sage, Princess and Alex. Paladin was the only other Amazoness who actually appeared to talk to him more than once before. Sage might be the wisest, but Paladin had seemed the most knowledgeable about each member of the archetype and was the first to talk about their destiny. Without Queen she had seemingly taken up a leadership position, but let Princess do the communicating after a while.
"Your grace." She pulled her hood off and kneeled to Princess. Her voice was rough and low.
"Ah, don't be so formal Paladin." Princess waved her hands in front of her, gesturing for Paladin to stand up.
"Partner, you needed me?" Paladin focused on Alex as she stood at attention.
"You were in the deck of Mai Valentine right?"
"Correct." Paladin answered immediately.
"Do you remember what happened? 6 months before I was gifted this deck, Mai was using you and a lot of the others in a tournament. How did you end up with me?" Alex asked.
Paladin looked pained at the question, convincing Alex she knew more than she let on. Convincing Sage as well, if the intense stare she was giving Paladin was any indication.
"We dueled again after that tournament. As soon as I was summoned I knew something didn't feel right. I remember being next to my Queen, she knew something was wrong." Paladin began.
"A shadow game? Who were you facing?" Alex interrupted.
"Something about it was dark, but it was no shadow game, I don't think. She was tall, Fighter tall, with just as many muscles. Tanned skin and long brown hair held up in a ponytail by a brown braid. She wore a black gauntlet on her hand that covered the whole field with something that sensed awful…" Paladin trailed off.
"You're describing someone who sounds like they belong in the deck…" Alex trailed, trying to let her continue off his thoughts.
"She looked like one of us." Paladin agreed. "S-she also beat us using an Amazoness deck of her own…" Paladin finished hesitant, voice barely a whisper.
Sage gasped softly at the information. Princess looked genuinely angry at the revelation and Alex worried he'd have to stop trying to get his own thoughts together, so he could somehow stop a fight between two duel spirits.
"You never told me any of this. I am your Princess and you kept quiet!" Princess was furious at the revelation.
"What else?" Sage demanded of Paladin.
"We were destroyed, we lost… and then… nothing, until you partner." Paladin added shamefully.
"And Amazoness Queen?" Alex asked.
"Right before we were destroyed she only told me… 'protect our destiny.' I, like you, haven't heard from her." Paladin admitted emotionally.
"Why not say something earlier?" Princess demanded.
"Tell of my greatest shame?! I failed my Queen! It was my sworn duty, OUR sworn duty, and WE failed her! Now, she won't speak to us!" Paladin yelled clearly distressed over it.
"You just failed ME!" Princess snapped back.
Alex looked over at Sage who seemed to have realized something. He silently pleaded with her to say whatever it was, so they could relax.
"Enough! Our Queen told you to protect our destiny before losing. She somehow knew she wouldn't be here for our partner. She hasn't spoken… because she can't. We can actually use this information to help." Sage explained with a blossoming smile. Everyone in the room understanding what she was implying.
'All this time, I've thought it might be a problem of my worthiness, but was it really something else? And if it was, how I do begin to undo it?' Alex didn't know whether to be relieved or angry at the information. The reason he couldn't use his partners to their full strength might not have anything to do with either of them.
Before the conversation continued, a chirping from Alex's PDA, signaling a message, grabbed their attention. Everyone floated behind him, eyes widening when he opened up the message.
From: Mai Valentine
Two weeks brat. Yugi swore it'd be worth it to visit that fancy daycare that Kaiba started up to meet you. So, you got two weeks before I get there and maybe we'll both get some answers.
"Well then."
AN: There it is. Alex loses his first duel and Bastion shows off Magnet Warriors. Not the ones from the anime because I've tried to keep most cards equal with their real life counterparts and those don't have one. He still has them though and the electromagnet cards, but idk when or if we'll see them. I haven't decided.
I know I keep teasing showing off some of the other friends dueling and not doing it, but don't worry they'll actually get some screen time coming up. Especially when Shadow Riders start getting more screen time. Obviously a hint towards that is in this chapter. Plus Mai is here… sort of. We'll see more of her next time.