She made it to class on time. The final bell had rung and the hallways were empty and silent mostly. Alice breathed a sigh of relief as she ran past the sliding glass doors to her history class. Phew! Made it. It was only the first day of school; she didn't want to leave a bad first impression. She entered a grand lecture hall with a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The wall behind the teacher's desk, which sat alone on a stage, was made of glass and stood over thirty feet tall, giving the students a panoramic view of the ocean and the volcano smoking on another island far off in the distance. There were glass display cases showing off ancient relics from all over the world and a suit of armor from France.
The professor wasn't in class yet, and most of the students were up and about chatting or trading cards or exchanging information. Again, Alice breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that she was not late for class this morning. She took a lacey sky blue handkerchief from the breast pocket of her blazer and wiped her sweaty forehead and neck. There was a group of students surrounding an Obelisk Blue student with a Kidmodo Dragon resting on his shoulder. The Solid Vision creature looked so real. The sunshine from the window reflected on its smooth pink scales and the student's duel disk even produced its odor, which was like incense in a church.
"They're called Duel Pets," he boasted to a girl standing next to him. "I got him at the card shop this morning. Ain't he cool?"
"Yeah, he sure is something," said another student. "How much are they?"
"Depends on which one you want. This guy cost me 150 DP. But you can get cooler ones, although their prices are pretty steep. Zane Truesdale got a Cyber Dragon Duel Pet yesterday for 20,000 DP."
Ooooooh! All the students said together.
"Duel Pet, huh?" Alice whispered to herself. "Cool. Like familiars in a magic school or something. I should consider getting one myself. Hopefully, they have a Mavelus or Crimson Sunbird."
She heard a loud snore coming from below. She grinned and shook her head when she spotted Jaden and Syrus sitting together in the front row. Syrus was flipping around through some note cards, while Jaden had his head down. He was sound asleep. Alice smiled and shook her head at him. "What a goof," she said. She then hurried up the fixed seats of the auditorium and found herself a place to sit where she could keep an eye on him. Hopefully, she could get her chance to speak to him before class ended, and maybe he could duel for her so she could get photos of his Elemental HEROs for her little brother to see.
Just as she set her backpack down, someone cast a shadow over her. "Ahem." She nervously looked over her shoulder and saw none other than Chazz Princeton with two of his friends, Raizou and Taiyou, standing behind him like loyal henchmen.
"You mind getting lost?" Chazz said sternly. His voice was raspy and cold; his eyes narrow and commanding. "This is our spot."
"Y-your spot?" Alice asked timidly.
Chazz angrily gripped the strap of his leather messenger bag as the sharp pang of the cringe he felt from her petiteness stabbed him in the chest. "What? Did I speak Chinese? Yes, this is our spot! Now get lost!"
"I didn't know, I'm sorry." Alice quickly gathered her things.
Raizou chuckled menacingly and pointed at her. "Hold on, Chazz, ain't she the girl who Boris claims wet her pants when he scared the piss out of her?"
"She sure is," Chazz replied, his eyes still locked onto Alice. "What a disgrace. And you call yourself an Obelisk? How can you let one of those Slifer Slackers push you around like that? You oughta be ashamed."
Someone slammed their book on their desk on the row of seats above. It was Alexis, her face red with fury. The morning sun shining through the glass wall made her eyes sparkle. "Come on, Alice. You can sit up here. There's an empty seat right by me."
Chazz turned to look at her. His face formed an ecstatic expression. He lowered his voice to sound suave. "Hey, Alexis. I didn't know you were in this class. It must be written in the stars to have us together like this."
"Or you could have bought your way in here just to be in the same room as me. Let the girl pass, sit your ass down, and shut up!"
"Heh. Whatever you say, Alexis."
Chazz scooted to the right to give Alice enough room to move aside. She nervously went by him like a child fearing an angry parent, fearing they were going to strike at any minute.
"You know, I'm honestly hurt, Alexis," said Chazz. "You shouldn't be defending all these scrubs and slackers. It's not good for a girl of your stature and skill. You'd be making a mistake making friends with these chumps. I can guarantee a promising future if you stick around with your fellow Obelisks, especially me."
Alexis frowned and narrowed her eyes. "I'm smart enough to figure out who the wrong kind of friends are, Chazz."
Chazz and his buddies scoffed and sat down. When they took their seats, Alexis slowly sat down and flapped her lips to expel her frustrations. "Sorry, you had to deal with that. That's Chazz Princeton, one of the best students from the prep school I went to. Quite possibly the single greatest waste of talent you'll ever have the displeasure of knowing. He thinks because he's got money and skills that he's the top dog around here."
"I'll stay out of his way for sure," said Alice.
Alexis's frown formed into a comforting smile. She reached over and fixed Alice's bow. "So, did you have trouble finding the place?" she asked, adjusting the bow until it was just right.
"Did I ever. This school is so big. Seems like a bit much to learn how to play Duel Monsters, isn't it?"
"Well, we don't just learn how to play Duel Monsters," said Alexis. "You want to try your hand at holographic technology, right? So obviously you're going to need classes in mathematics, engineering, programming, and things like that. Some of the kids here want to be artists designing cards for the game. Others, want to venture into other things, too. Take that guy down there, Logan (Duel Links). He loves the game and wants to get better, but he's also interested in becoming a banker at his father's place. And that girl down there with the glittery pink hair. Elyssia Delacroix. She hails from a wealthy noble family in France. She's interested in becoming a pro duelist like the rest of us, but she also has a mind for opening a shop selling naughty lingerie." Alexis raised her eyebrows twice in a mocking gesture making Alice giggle. "And that fellow down there. His name's Yuri. He's going to take over his father's megacorporation one day and is majoring in business. But learning a bit of Duel Monsters as a plan B couldn't help, right?"
"I suppose," said Alice.
A door to the side of the room opened. An elderly man in a bone-colored suit and red bowtie walked into the lecture hall carrying a very old leather briefcase.
"Good morning everyone," he said. "Please take your seats."
He went up the carpeted steps to the center of the stage and took off his hat, setting it on a polished wooden rack by his desk. He set down his briefcase on his desk, which was littered with old-fashioned archeological tools and newspapers. The teacher opened it and took out an assortment of items, but paused when he heard Jaden snoring. He tapped his cane on the desk, startling the boy.
"Forty-four!" Jaden cried out stupidly, to which his classmates started to laugh and chortle.
"Ahem! Ahem! Mr. Yuki! May I suggest a drink of water before we get started?"
He tossed him a bottle of water.
"Gee, thanks," Jaden said. He caught it effortlessly. "Sorry, teach."
"Of course. I know how hard it must be for you youngsters to get out of bed so early in the morning. If you require refreshments to help wake you up, please help yourselves to the table on the left side of the hall, but do so courteously if you please."
"Oh! He looks rather friendly," Alice whispered, to which Alexis smiled and nodded.
"Welcome everyone. Let's get you all up and at'em with some stretches. Come on, up, up, up."
The students did as they were told and stood. They followed his stretches to help get the sleep out of their bodies and get them ready for the day.
"Good, good. You may sit back down now. Welcome to the History and Appreciation of Duel Monsters. My name is Professor Arthur Hawkins."
Alice gasped. "Arthur?! I thought he looked familiar."
"You know him?" Alexis asked with a whisper as the professor spoke.
"My father worked with him on the quest for Atlantis. I haven't seen him since I was very little."
After an introduction and some background info on his past adventures through Egypt, India, and his discovery of the lost city of Atlantis that triggered the Leviathan Incident many years ago, he explained the origin of Duel Monsters. He said that monsters were taken from the soul of a person and sealed into cards to do battle from the giant stone tablets in which they were sealed.
"Man, imagine lugging a deck of stone tablets around!" said Syrus. "It must have been terrible."
Professor Hawkins laughed, but then broke into a cough. He sipped some herbal tea to calm it down.
"Ahem. Oh no, Mr. Truesdale. It is said the priests carried artifacts called DiaDhanks, which resembled modern-day Duel Disks. These magical devices were said to summon the stone from the ground or out of nowhere in some cases. But this is still just a myth and we have yet to find these DiaDhanks. But the myth of summoning monsters to do battle grew quite popular among the commoners. They made cards out of papyrus and painted monsters on them. I actually have some that I found with me right now. I'll let you pass them around so you call can see."
The students murmured with excitement as Professor Hawkins went for his briefcase and took out the items which were framed for preservation. He also had a few photos of the ruins displaying carvings on the wall with monsters that looked quite familiar.
Alice finally got the frame with the cards and looked at it with Alexis. "Amazing! Look at this one here. He's some kind of pink reptile or something."
"That's Anthrosaurus!" Alexis exclaimed. "Wow! Darkworld Plant. Bean Soldier. And that's Winged Dragon Guardian of the Fortress. Oh, Wretched Ghost of the Attic."
"Look at this photo he took in these ruins. That one right there on the column. That's Giant Soldier of Stone."
"Were the rules the same as they are today professor?" a student named Kami asked.
"Well, no. They were much simpler than what you kids have today. Oof, I have to constantly adjust my pacemaker every time I see you Xyz Summon, Link Summon, and Pendulum Summon. How can you read all that text on those things? I saw the effect of that Odd-Eyes Wing Dragon. It was like an essay!"
The students laughed.
"But the premise was just about the same. Players had a certain amount of Life Points and they used a wide array of monsters to try and get those points to 0. Field Spells gave them a five hundred point boost in power and they could gain another five hundred points in power if their Guardian Star was stronger than the other monsters' star."
"What's a Guardian Star?"
"I'm so glad you asked."
Professor Hawkins pressed a button on his desk and a holographic projection displayed the chart of the Guardian Stars for them to choose, which were based on the sun, the moon, and eight of the planets in the Solar System. Each monster had a choice of two stars that served a certain type of element, for example Mars was generally attributed to Fire monsters.
"Who would like to try and play the way the ancient Egyptians did?"
There was already a show of hands, except for Chazz who preferred to play with today's rules.
"Good, that will be your homework assignment. Inside your desks, you'll find a deck of cards with monsters that were used during Ancient Egypt. Study the monsters and their Guardian Stars very carefully. Our workshops will include dueling sessions with these decks. On Friday, we will have a friendly tournament to test what you have learned. The winner will get a great boost in their grade."
"Professor?" a girl said looking at the cards in her hand.
"Yes?"
"This card is Sinister Serpent. Isn't he supposed to be an effect monster?"
"Yeah," said another girl, "I've got the same problem here, Professor. Steel Scorpion is an effect monster. How come it's shown here as normal? Is this a misprint?"
"Calm down, ladies," Professor Hawkins said with a friendly chuckle. "There were no effect monsters during this time."
"WHAT!" everyone shouted.
"Nope. The only way to defeat a strong monster was to pray that your Guardian Star gave your monster enough power to defeat your opponent's, bolster their power with spells, or protect them with traps."
The bell rang.
"Well, that just about does it for us today,"
Awwww, groaned the students. They seemed to have grown to love Professor Hawkins' class. He was such a fun and charismatic teacher, and he told his stories so well.
"I know, I know. I'll see you all next time on Wednesday. Please do the assignment on chapter one of your textbooks. I want them on my desk next class, no excuses. Class dismissed. Oh, uh, Miss Fenix. Please, come down. I'd like to talk to you."
Alice looked at Alexis, who gave a nod. "We have another class together," she said. "I'll meet you there and save you a spot."
"That would be great," said Alice. "I don't want to piss off any more people today." She referenced Chazz who was marching out of the lecture hall with his friends.
Alexis rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about him. It's me he wants. I'll see you in a bit."
Alice gathered her things and walked to the professor's desk. "Hello, Arthur."
"Alice. My, how you've grown. You were just a little sprout when I last saw you. Um...I know this isn't right of me to ask but...how have you been holding up since the accident?"
Alice looked down at her feet, then Arthur's shiny leather shoes, then out the ocean. She wondered how to answer his question. It had been years since her father was killed in the secondary expedition to the lost city of Atlantis. But the memory of her mother getting the dreaded phone call and wailing like an Irish banshee was fresh in her mind as though it only happened yesterday. She finally took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. "It's been rough. Thanks for helping us out. If it wasn't for you, mom would never have gotten into Kaiba Corp."
"It's the least I can do for what happened. Your father was a very good friend of mine. And I miss him. Did he ever tell you about that bracelet he sent you?"
Alice held it over her face. The glowing jewels projected hues of blue and turquoise over her soft cheeks. "Oh, this? It's a relic from Atlantis, right?"
"Yes, one of many brilliant artifacts we uncovered on the site."
Alice scoffed and waved her arm around, causing the glowing jewels to jingle against one another. "You know Mom called him stupid for that. It should go in a museum, not to me, she said. I kind of see her point. Aren't pieces like this priceless or something?"
"They are. I called him a fool for wanting to send it to you as a gift. But, I couldn't have found Atlantis without his help so I owed him this much, I suppose. I do hope he didn't fill your little head with stories about how you were going to be infused with ancient magical energies and awaken some long-lost power."
Alice laughed. "He did, actually. I believed it when I was little, but nowadays, I've come to terms that it's just a regular bracelet. Do you need it back, Professor? For the museum or for study or something?"
"No, my dear. That piece belongs to you. Your father gave it to you with lots of love. And that means a great deal more than monetary value. Have you grown accustomed to the academy?"
"I think it's wonderful. This whole place is just something else. I was quite surprised to see you."
"As was I. And I'm not just here to teach you, Alice. I'm here for you no matter how great or small the problem. Rest assured, I will do whatever I can to make up for what happened."
"Oh, Professor, you mustn't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault. It was an ancient ruin, God only knows how weak the supports for that chamber was."
Arthur folded his arms as he sat up on his desk. He sighed with grief and looked at the floor. "I know, I know. I admit, I got careless and dare I say arrogant in my discovery of Atlantis. I didn't lookout for the well-being of my men and one of them, who was dearest to me, paid the ultimate price. It's because of me that you don't have a father anymore, child." He stood up and bowed. "I am so, so, sorry for your loss. Forgive me."
Alice took a step forward and placed both her hands on his shoulders. "It's okay, Professor. Please, stop blaming yourself. My father died doing what he wanted to do his whole life. He knew the risks of delving into ancient ruins and so did you. So did I. There were times when I ignored him to try and get him to stay home and stop going to those places. But...I can't hold a grudge. It's just not in me. And I learned I can't stop someone from doing something they love."
Professor Hawkins smiled. "Your mother raised you well, child. I'm sure your father would have been very proud to see you where you are today. Oh, I've kept you long enough. Off you go then. If you have any questions about my assignments, my office is open through Thursday."
"Thank you, Professor. Bye."
Alice ran down the halls to get to her next class. She has some time left and went to one of the snack machines to buy a chocolate chip cookie. She stopped to marvel at an indoor waterfall that thundered from hundreds of floors above into a lake at the center of the atrium where some students were hanging out and watching a variety of aquatic life swimming about, including large creatures like whale sharks, who had a gorgeous environment in the floor below. Alice wished she could go down and see them, but the clock was ticking. Just as she made it up the stairs, she heard someone laughing at her.
Boris. He and his friends were goofing around in a sitting area harassing a helpless Ra Yellow student who was shielding his head with a large book. Once their attention was drifted to her, the boy got up from his seat and ran away.
Boris approached her slowly as his gang formed behind him. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Princess Pee."
Alice furiously scoffed, shaking her head. "Oh, wow, did you come up with that one all by yourself? You are such an imbecile, Boris."
"Hey, don't you go insulting my big bro," said Boris's younger brother, Zack. "That's hazardous to your health."
"Ooooh, I'm trembling in my boots. I don't have time to deal with you." She stuck her nose in the air. "Hmph!" She said, proceeding to march away. Before she took another step further, one of Boris' boys skateboarded in front of her and blocked the way.
"Excuse me, I need to get to class!"
Boris sniggered. "You can go to class, but there's still the matter of that toll you owe us. Yeah, did you honestly think because Enora came and saved your ass, we were gonna turn tail and run? No, we've got business to settle. Hand over the two rarest cards in your duelin' deck. Then, maybe, we'll let you go to class."
"Maybe? That's not very reassuring."
"Yeah, because if your two cards don't satisfy my tastes, I might have to ask for something else. Yeah, like your bracelet."
Alice yanked her sleeve over it to block it from Boris's view. "You are not getting my things, you big bully. Now let me through."
"No, I don't think so. Your two cards. Now."
"I'll duel you instead! How about that?"
"Huh? You serious? You're going to challenge me to a duel?"
"Yes, if you win, you can have my two rarest cards, Lose, and you leave me alone. Am I understood?"
Boris laughed. "Fine. But if I win, not only do I take your two rarest cards, but you also become part of my harem."
"Excuse me!"
"But you don't have a harem, boss."
"Not yet, but I will. And we're going to start with her. Who knows. Maybe I can add those two cuties, Kami and Wisteria. Or maybe even the Queen herself, Alexis Rhodes."
"Yeah!" The boys said, high-fiving one another.
"All the girls of this school belong to Boris!" shouted Zach.
"What's going on over there?" shouted a security guard. "Boris! Is that you again?"
'Uh oh, let's bounce, boys. As for you, my little sweetpea. I'm going to have a pretty busy afternoon, so let's have our match after school tomorrow. If you chicken out, that's a forfeit. See you then, Princess Pee! Oh, hold on, you've got something staining your tie."
"Huh?" Alice looked down to see the stain, but she was flicked in the nose. "Ouch!" she cried, holding her nose.
"Haha! Made ya look!" He and his gang sing-songed together and then sprinted down the halls and were gone.
"The nerve of that guy," Alice said adjusting her tie. She hurried upstairs to her next class.
The day flew by and classes had finished for the day. Evan was a no show for lunch because he claimed some ruffians from Ra Yellow grabbed him and stuffed him in a locker during gym class. So to make up for it, he and Alice had a small picnic on a hill overlooking the Dueling Fields where students were having friendly matches in front of roaring crowds. Vendors rolled their carts on the white-stone path around the green fields honking their wares such as sandwiches, turkey drumsticks, popcorn, and ice cream.
"Sounds like your day sucked," Alice said, pouring fruit punch from her flask into the cover, which doubled as a cup.
Evan let out a heavy sigh, relieved that the day was finally done. "Yeah, it was a blast. And boy was Dr. Crowler mean. He really has it in for us Reds."
"I have him first tomorrow morning," Alice sighed. "If what Sara said about Crowler was true, he is not a patient man, so I definitely don't want to run late. You know, I ran into him earlier today. He said he hopes I have what it takes to walk in my sister's footsteps. Seems like everybody, even the teachers, want me to be like her."
Evan sat back on the grass. "Oh, well, I'm sure you can do it, Alice. Hey, I noticed you have Link Summoning on your schedule. Do you have cards like those?"
"Yeah. My Nephthys deck got some sweet support. While Link Summoning in itself is not too difficult, I find it hard to come up with any strategies to use them. How will I know when to trigger them and stuff like that. I hope I don't run into a situation where I have to use them. I have my tryouts on Friday."
"Tryouts? Tryouts for what?"
"Enora invited me to join Duel Academy's all-female team."
Evan's eyes widened with wonder and his hands balled into fists with excitement. "You're going to join the Red Arrows? Wow, I wish you luck, Alice. Huh, an all-female team that represents the academy. Now that's something."
"Well, we can't have you guys have all the fun, can we?" She leaned back on her hands and looked at the sky.
Evan looked at the clouds as well, thoughts of making it big down the road rushed through his mind like a movie speeding by on fast forward. "Maybe I'll be good enough to join the Duel Academy team, too. That'll be great."
"You can do it if you try, Evan. Just set your fears aside and put your mind to it."
"So why did you join the Red Arrows, Alice? Trying to be a pro duelist like... Oh. Nevermind."
Alice sighed heavily and tore her gaze away from the sky. "Yeah, yeah, my sister is the great Sara Fenix, and everyone around here expects me to live up to her standards. Be like your sister, they say. You've got big shoes to fill, they say. I'm so tired of it. I just want to make Duel Monster holograms. Why is that so much to ask? Why does my whole life have to revolve around Sara's accomplishments? Anyway, enough about my sister. I brought you out here so we could practice, right?"
"Practice? Uh..."
"Come on. We'll have a simulation duel. My duel disk will lock us in a holographic room in a tag team match against AI duelists. I'll set them at level one for you."
"Uh, sure, I appreciate it. So will you be using your Sacred Phoenix cards?"
"No way, bud. A Level 1 AI is not worth my Sacred Phoenix's time. Besides, if I use them during our duel, I'll just make things too easy. I've got a practice deck that I'll be using from the Crystal Cloud Network for this exhibition."
"Sounds good." Evan waited for Alice to get ready. When she stuffed the practice deck into her duel disk a holographic screen projected over it. Alice keyed in her commands and then in the blink of an eye, Evan and Alice were transported into a whole new world. It was a dark room with walls lit up by cybernetic grid patterns and the floor resembled big data visualizations fading from white to sky blue.
"Neat! I had no idea duel disks could do this."
"Well, Generation 4 duel disks can. Yours can't, unfortunately, Slifers don't get the new models like we do. However, since this is my duel disk, I can get you a practice deck with holographic cards, too."
"What's wrong with my deck?"
"Oh, nothing short of everything. Stop whining and use the rental that's been given to you. I hate to say this but I think even it packs more of a punch than your current deck."
"What?"
"Are you going to practice or not?"
"Fine. I'll do this."
Alice typed in another command on her duel disk and out of thin air, Evan was given a translucent holographic duel disk.
"Wow, this is pretty cool!"
Alice put on the eyepiece that came with her duel disk. "Ready to play, Evan? Here come our opponents."
Two orbs appeared in front of them. Everyone's LP meter displayed 2000 since this was a practice match. The first dueling AI orb started the duel by summoning a Celtic Guardian in attack mode. The elf growled, brandishing a long sword of enchanted steel. His 1400 ATK was displayed on his left.
"Looks like our AI opponents are ready to rumble," said Alice.
Evan gasped and jumped backward when a window of data digitized in front of him, revealing blue holographic cards. "Oh man, this is gonna be fun! I'm so ready for this."
"Hey, pay attention here. I'm going to rely on you to win this practice match so think clearly and take this a little more seriously. All right, let's start off with the basics. Let's see that hand of yours.
"It's not good! My deck could have given me better cards than this. These monsters suck!"
"Not necessarily. You have a strategy that can repel an attack until your next turn."
"I do? How?" he whined.
Alice took a deep breath and snarled. "Read your cards, dummy! Maybe then you'll figure out what to do."
"Oh, right, sorry. Let's see here."
Evan looked at the monsters he drew. M-Warrior #2, Swordsman of Landstar, Tiger Axe. He started to shiver as Alice stood there looking at him with a stern glare, her green eyes flashing with impatience. It must have been so easy for her. She probably had a strategy in hand that could beat both of them with this junk hand he drew.
"Hmm," he thought to himself.
Castle Walls increases the DEF of one of my monsters by 500 points. Hold on! I think I know what to do. Stall just like Alice said. And that must mean building up my defenses. So, I just have to summon a monster from my hand who can take full advantage of the trap card's defensive bonus. Swordsman of Landstar has the highest DEF of all my monsters. Perfect!
"All right, here goes." He tapped on his Swordsman of Landstar. The little toy-like warrior jumped to the field. He knelt down and held up his little shield, his stats showing he had a DEF of 1200. "This rental deck better not hold me back, Alice!"
The second orb began its turn, casting the spell Ancient Rules to summon Garoozis without tribute.
"My turn!" said Alice. She tapped the top of her deck and her card was added to the window in front of her. She tapped on the second card she had in her hand. "I activate Polymerization, fusing together Tyhone and Wings of Wicked Flame. Come forth, Mavelus!" Flames resembling a lotus appeared in front of Alice. The lotus bloomed, releasing a swan-like phoenix with brilliant red and gold feathers.
ATK/1300
"Wow! A fusion summon!" breathed Evan.
Alice looked at Evan with a raised eyebrow. "My dude, it's not that hard."
"It is for me. I can never get the cards needed to make the monster. You know how hard it is to find Polymerization for a guy like me?"
Alice sighed and slid her palm down her face. "Man, we've got a long way to go. All right. I summon Winged Dragon Guardian of the Fortress Number Two!" She summoned a dragon colored dark red with spikes going down its back.
ATK/1200
"Wait, two monsters? You were able to summon two monsters?"
"Well, yes. Since a fusion summon is considered a special summon, I'm allowed to make a normal summon. You can only make one normal summon per turn unless you had a card like Double Summon, which allows you to perform two."
"And are there limits to how many special summons I can make?"
"No, but sometimes, I wish there was because those elitist meta tryhards abuse it to no end. Anyways, I'll set two cards face-down and end my turn. All right, everyone's first turns have gone by. Now the two AI are going to attack. You ready, Evan?"
"Yeah."
The first AI commanded his Celtic Guardian to attack Evan's Swordsman of Landstar. The elf warrior grunted, holding up his steel sword. He charged across the field, the metal coins hanging on his leather chestplate jingled. He jumped, raising his sword over his head.
"I activate Castle Walls!" shouted Evan. This will raise my swordsman's defense by 500!"
Swordsman of Landstar chuckled as his shield grew bigger and stronger. Celtic Guardian's sword smashed into with, releasing a loud metal clang! Celtic Guardian growled and jumped back to his side of the field. The AI's Life Points were now at 1700.
Evan jumped and pumped up his fist. "Yes! Yes! Yes! I did it! Did you see that, Alice!?"
Alice pouted and crossed her arms. "I did, but don't let it get to your head. Complacency always leads to trouble. It's your turn now."
"Right." Evan tapped the top of the holographic duel disk and his card got added to his hand. Sogen.
"Nice!" said Alice. "That's a field spell called Sogen. It will increase the attack of all Warrior and Beast-Warrior monsters by 200 points. And since your rental deck consists of those two monsters, it will give definitely come in handy."
"Thanks, Alice! You're right! This is just what I needed! I activate Sogen."
"Evan, wait!" Alice called.
It was too late. Evan's spell covered the field with a huge patch of green grass. "Yes! Now all Warrior and Beast-Warrior monster gain a 200 ATK boost. And I summon, Tiger Axe!"
He called on a humanoid tiger carrying a giant double-bladed battle-axe. He snarled and his stats revealed 1300 ATK now 1500. Evan suddenly paused when he saw that Celtic Guardian and Garoozis also went up.
"Oh no! What happened? They got strong too!"
"Well, duh! ALL Warrior and Beast-Warrior monsters get the power bonus, including theirs! Now they're going to be even tougher to beat! Read the cards, will you!"
"Sorry, sorry. I will."
"Just who did you say you dueled back at home?"
"Well, just some kids who didn't like the complex rules of the game so we made up our own rules mostly. Heh, heh."
"Oh, dear. How did you make it to even be a Slifer Bronze?"
"Don't count me out! I can get out of this. I have something that will help. I place a card face-down and end my turn."
The Second AI attacked with its Garoozis, now at 2000 ATK. It soared towards Alice but she stopped it with Negate Attack. The monster slammed against the wall that protected her Mavelus and he was knocked back. Garoozis rolled back to his master's side of the field. He stood up and dusted himself off, snorting furiously at Alice.
Evan chortled with joy. "Wow! Nice, save, Alice. It's your turn, right?"
"I know, draw!" Her card was added to the window. "Oh, I'm liking this very much. I activate a field spell of my own. Rising Air Current!"
The wind began to blow around them. The long grass of Evan's Sogen card swayed back and forth.
"This spell will boost the ATK of wind-type monsters by 500 points but decreases their DEF by 500! A small price to pay."
"I guess I have to destroy my field spell, then," Evan whined.
"No. No, you don't."
"But aren't isn't there supposed to be one field spell card out?"
Alice slapped her palm over her eyes again. "Arrrgghhh! Wow. When you say you're old school they mean old school. Didn't you know the rules changed? Players can have their own field spells out at the same time."
"Wow, really? I guess that's good news."
"Yeah, but not so good for our AI opponents. I will sacrifice Winged Dragon #2 to summon Phoenix Beast Gairuda!" The dragon shattered, leaving behind a ball of fire, which expanded until it formed Alice's new monster, a phoenix made of gold.
ATK/2500 (3000) DEF/1200 (700)
"Wow!" Evan turned to admire Alice's monster. He then gazed at Alice, standing there looking determined and confident behind the heat haze created from the phoenix's wings, and the embers danced around her like magic. "Alice, that's an amazing monster. And you're so...so..."
Alice heard him and looked in his direction, grimacing at the clueless drooling expression he had. "You're creeping me out, Evan. Alright, now, I will attack and destroy Garoozis!"
Gairuda screeched and turned into a flaming streak. "And now Gairuda's effect activates! When it attacks a monster, it gains 300 extra ATK!" The flaming streak rocketed over the field and shot right through Garoozis's chest, shattering his armor. The AI lost 1300 LP from the battle.
"Way to go, Alice!"
"Don't cheer me on. I know what I'm doing. This is supposed to be practice for you. I end my turn."
"Wait. Why didn't you attack directly? You could have won?"
"I'm going to sit out for now and leave things to you. I'm not going to do all the work for you."
"But I thought we were in this together?"
"Yeah, but I have the strongest monsters on the field right now. You don't, so it's obvious both AI are going to gang up on you. Well, Evan, this is your moment to shine. Show me what you've got."
The First AI's turn began. It sacrificed Celtic Gaurdian for Cyber-Tech Alligator a monster with 2500 ATK. As soon as it was summoned, it attacked.
"Aaaaahhh, Alice!"
"Figure it out!" Alice snapped at him. "Come on!"
"My trap card! I almost forgot! Go, Shadow Spell!" Chains made of darkness turned to metal slithered out nowhere from all directions, wrapping themselves around Cyber-Tech Alligator. The monster hissed, struggling to get free. Its ATK was reduced to 1800. "Yes! Not only does this trap card stop your monster, but it will decrease its ATK by 700.
"Great!" Alice said, holding up her thumb. "You're getting the hang of traps now."
"Thanks. Now it's my turn! Draw!" He tapped the duel disk and drew a spell card. "Wow! Pot of Greed. Hey, wanna know what it does."
Alice rolled her eyes. "At least you know that card well enough to joke about it. Yeah, keep an eye out for more cards like that. There are plenty of spells out there that let you draw extra cards. Traps and monsters have that effect too."
Evan laughed and drew his two cards. "This is so great! I think I'm getting a better understanding of this now. And check out what I drew! I sacrifice Swordsman of Landstar and Tiger Axe to summon Orgoth the Relentless!"
Evan summoned a giant blue warrior wearing purple armor and a giant sword as hard as a diamond. The monster bellowed a strange battle cry, waving its sword around until he shouldered it. His stats projected next to him, revealing 2800 ATK.
"Now his effect activates!" Evan stood there like a deer in the headlights. He looked at the text. It was so long and there were all these numbers on it. "Um, what exactly does he do."
"Read!"
"But..."
"READ!"
"All right, all right." Evan skimmed around until he had a nuanced understanding of how Orgoth's dice roll effect worked. "Ah, okay! Yes, I see now. All right. Three dice get thrown and Orgoth gains effects if I get two of the same results. Let's hope for something! Go, dice roll!" He winked at Alice. "I saw the Yugi vs Duke match on YouTube."
Giant regal-looking gold dice with rubies for dots dropped out of nowhere. They landed in front of Orgoth, rolling forward. To Evan's dismay, nothing was the same. But it didn't discourage him. "Wait till you see what I drew to power him up! United We Stand. Man, it really sucks that this card is just a holo from the Crystal Cloud Network. I could really use this in my deck."
"You could get it sooner than you think," said Alice with a wink.
"Oh, right. I equip Orgoth with United We Stand, which will increase his ATK by 800 for each monster on my side of the field. And since this is a tag team, match, Alice, your monsters count, too."
ATK/5400
"Wow! Wow, amazing! I didn't think I would ever make a monster this strong! I attack Cyber-Tech Alligator!"
Orgoth roared, raising his sword before he charged across the field. He sliced the alligator in half and reduced the AI's LP to 0, leaving the second one alone.
"I did it!" Evan cheered. "Wooo!"
"Nice work," said Alice. "Very nice work." She finished the second AI with Gairudo and the training room disappeared. Now they were back on the fields outside of Duel Academy.
Evan felt so pumped. "I've been going about this all wrong. For the longest time, all I've done was skim through monsters' effects and hope their high ATK would be enough to help me win the duel. But man, seeing what they can do when you fully utilize their special abilities can really be a game-changer."
"It sure can," Alice said. She fixed her bow before fishing through her backpack for a gift. "You said you've always wanted United We Stand, right?"
"Uh...you mean!? Is that?"
Alice tossed him the card. He captured it with two fingers and quickly brought it towards his face so he could see it closely. "Oh, man! Alice? Seriously? You're giving me your United We Stand card?"
"Meh, I have like five more. It's more than enough for a playset."
"I can't thank you enough, Alice. I really can't. So, uh...what are you doing this Friday?"
Alice's face suddenly flushed bright pink. She blinked her eyes twice in confusion. "Why do you ask?"
"Oh, uh...nothing. I just thought we could...maybe we could...I dunno. Uh..." He sighed. He may have mastered the basics of dueling, but he had a long way to go before he could master talking to girls. "I was wondering if we have another practice session. Of course, if you don't want to I completely understand."
"We can practice any time you want after school, you know. We don't have to wait till Friday. I'm here for you if you need any help, Evan. I don't like it when the other Blues pick on you. Why, if you put more thought into your dueling you could grow to be like Jaden or...Evan? Evan?"
She saw that he wasn't paying attention.
"Hey! You're not even listening, jerk?"
Evan snapped out of it. "I'm sorry, r-really, I am. I just got distracted by all those cool monsters down there. Check it out!"
Alice looked down at the fields. She had to agree, there was a very impressive array of monsters being played down there.
Evan whined. "Gosh, what I would do to have those kinds of monsters in my deck. Look at that over there. Fog King! So regal, so mysterious, so powerful. Wow, and Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Bane!"
"Bane?" Alice asked. "I think Enora runs one of those in her deck. Not that I blame her, Red Dragon Archfiend is a hit in the tournaments."
Evan still didn't listen. "Ooooh, man Dragoon of Red-Eyes! He's that fusion between Dark Magician and Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Oh, oh, oh! Salamangreat Blaze Dragon — so amazing! And that's Black Luster Soldier - Super Soldier! That girl over there by the willow tree! Is she using Soldier Gaia the Fierce Knight? Awww, cool! And look over there! That guy just summoned Borrelend Dragon! Look at the power on that thing! Look at the detail!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well sorry to disappoint you Evan, but in order to get cards like that, you need to have two very essential things. Skill and most importantly M-O-N-E-Y."
"I know, I know, I know. I have to work my butt off to get those cards and have the skill to use them. Wow, look there, someone just summoned...oh."
A Chaos Emperor, the Dragon of Armageddon was rendered on the field, spelling doom for the player who had to fight against it. Evan kicked dirt in its direction and flipped the bird.
"I hate that stupid thing!" Evan said, turning to look away from it. He crossed his arms and pouted.
"What?" Alice asked. "Is he not a card you want?"
"No. That card kicked my ass time and time again at family reunions."
"Family reunions? Hold on a minute."
Alice took a closer look at the duelist who summoned the dragon. The duelist was a tall girl with a fleece of shiny golden-blonde hair flowing down to her ankles. One eye was dark brown and the other was bright green. It took Alice a while to see them because they were concealed behind long bangs. Her skin was pale and she had a permanent scowl rumpling her pretty face. Her boots were black and wide-brimmed with two large pouches on each side and the excess laces hanging about here and there for display. A black choker was fastened around her slender neck.
"Elizabeth Blackburn? She's your sister? No way!"
"Yeah, and just like you, I'd rather not talk about her."
"I understand, but still. I can't believe you're related to Elizabeth Blackburn. The stories I heard about her are legendary."
"She's not related to me anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, what can I say? We were split up a long time ago when our parents got divorced. Dad took Elizabeth. Mom was stuck with pitiful me. Dad always did like Elizabeth more. She was so good at everything. Ballet, singing, and of course dueling. Mom married a factory worker a few months after the divorce, and it was thanks to him that we were able to make ends meet. But while I was stuck in some crappy apartment in the slums, I saw Alice make the front page of the local paper, winning the annual Dragon Duel Tournament. She became something of a local hero. You should have seen the look on mom's face when she read that Elizabeth was going to the world-famous Duel Academy. Obelisk Blue and one of the best students in her class. Ha, but Kharma has a lovely way of showing herself. Last year, Elizabeth got wrecked in the Industrial Illusions Invitational Tournament. She would have made it to the top, but this hotshot named Aster Phoenix defeated her, no sweat. I was so glad when he did that. It sure showed she wasn't all that like dad said she was."
"I see."
"Yeah. Aren't we two peas in a pod? Both of us are trying to get away from the shadows of our sisters. Anyway, Mom and Goro, my stepdad, saved up all the money they could to get me to come here and be in Obelisk Blue. Sadly, I flunked the prep school they sent me to. I was just too stupid to learn all this stuff. Xyz Summon, Pendulum Summon, Synchro Summon, Link Summon. I mean why does the game need all this crap? Why can't it be like the old days during Battle City and Duelist Kingdom?
"The game has to evolve you know. Just learn to play and get the right cards."
"But you said I need money, and that's something I don't have."
"You know we can use DP to get cards, right? It's the academy's currency. Win enough duels and you'll get enough DP to get the good cards you want."
"But like you said. In order to get DP I need to win duels and I can't win duels with this deck." He looked back at the Dueling Field and saw all those cool and powerful monsters doing battle against one another. Evan scratched his head in frustration and growled. "Arrggh! Why? Why does it have to be so hard? I want those cards now!"
Alice stood up and placed both her knuckles on her hips.
"Now? What the hell is your deal, Evan? I want those cards now! Waaaa! Have some dignity for goodness sake! What do you think this is? Some self-insert power fantasy where you get all the cards you want and wow the whole school with your godly skills? Well, sorry to disappoint you but this is real life. Right now the ones mesmerizing the class are Jaden Yuki, yes, even Chazz Princeton, and that guy Zane. If you want to get to the top, you've got to earn it. Now stop sulking!"
Suddenly a Simorgh, Bird of Sovereignty rose out from behind the hill and swooped over them. The fierce wind caused Alice's skirt to lift and gave Evan a generous view.
His mouth fell wide open and a sickly look formed on his face. Whoa….Her...P-p-panties.
Alice was quick to notice this and slapped him across the face. "Why do I even bother!? Good luck to you, pervert!" She grabbed her things and stormed down the hill.
"Hey!" Evan called after her, rubbing his cheek. "Hey, where you going?"
"You're hopeless! Why did I even bother thinking I could help you? I'm leaving. Goodbye, Evan!"
"Hey, Alice! Come back! I didn't mean it! Alice!"
He heard someone laughing behind him. Chazz and his friends were there watching the whole thing.
"Well, looks like you're having some lady troubles there, you Slifer Slacker."
"What the hell do you care, Chazz!? What? You wanna go or something?"
"Please, I don't have time to waste on a pitiful excuse of a duelist like you. Get it through your head, you nasty perv. You don't belong here."
"Oh, yeah! Come on! I'm not afraid of you! I can take you on!"
Taiyou cackled at Evan's pathetic attempt to sound tough. "Watch it, slacker! You don't know who you're messing with!"
"I'm messing with a total punk who's too scared to take on a slacker as he calls me? What's wrong, Chazz? You scared or something?"
Chazz didn't tolerate that one bit. He unclipped the strap and let the bag fall off his shoulder where it landed on the ground with a thump. "All right, Slifer Slacker, you're done for." Chazz held up his wrist and activated a very fancy, futuristic Duel Disk.
Evan's mouth fell wide open and his eyes widened. "Whoa! Is that the new Duel Disk?"
"Yeah, yeah it is, chump! But you CAN'T have it! This work of art only goes to those who can afford it. Now, let's duel!"
Chazz 4000 LP
Evan 4000 LP
Turn 1
"I'm going to go first!" shouted Evan. "I summon Baby Dragon in attack mode!"
Turn 2
"Are you kidding me? You're not even gonna try and play this game? You're wasting my time slacker. Hmm. I set a monster face-down and end my turn."
Turn 3
"I draw! Ha, running scared Chazz? Don't have anything that can stand up to my Baby Dragon? I'll end my turn. You've got nothing, don't you?"
Turn 4
"Why don't you stop yapping and find out what I have in store for you, slacker! I set a card face-down and end my turn."
Turn 5
"Draw! Okay, Chazz, I summon Hero of the East in attack mode! Watch and learn!"
Evan summoned a samurai with green armor and a horned helmet. His bright yellow eyes pierced through the dark shadow his helmet cast over his face.
"And I'll equip him with this card! Wicked-Breaking Falmberg - Bou, which will increase his ATK by 500!"
(ATK 1100 → 1600)
Evan watched with excitement as his samurai's sword fused together with the flamberge, forming a very unique-looking weapon. "Yeah! This is perfect! All right, Chazz, it's time to meet your maker. Attack!"
"You amateur! I activate my face-down card. Offerings to the Doomed. It stops your monster from attacking and destroys it."
AAAAGGGGH! The samurai cried out and exploded.
"I've still got my Baby Dragon! Go, little buddy!"
Baby Dragon flapped his little wings and took to the air. It blew a spark of fire from its mouth, but it failed to do anything against Chazz's dragon, Flamvell Guard, who had 2000 DEF.
Chazz 4000 LP
Evan 3200 LP
Turn 6
"My move. However, I can't draw due to the effect of Offerings to the Doomed. But that's no biggie, cuz I've got all the cards I need in my hand. Now, I summon Gene-Warped Warwolf! Next, I use the spell card, Plus Star 123. This spell lets me increase my Flamvell Guard's level by up to three, but I think I'm just gonna adjust it by one. Now I can perform a Synchro Summon."
Evan gulped. The two monsters in front of him turned into orbs of light, which started to spin around and formed another creature. "Synchro Summon!"
"That's right. Say hello to Celestial Wolf Lord, Blue Sirius!"
The light then took the form of a three-headed wolf covered in spiky white armor and gold chains. When it roared, it sounded like a hundred dogs barking at once, causing Evan to stutter and fall. The wolf lord raised his two other heads, which acted like arms and all three of them roared.
Celestial Wolf Lord, Blue Sirus
ATK/2400 DEF/1500
Evan gulped and started quivering where he stood. The monster was so realistic. Even the light of the sun shined on its gleaming white armor and the blue fur on its body glistened. "He's so strong!" Evan babbled.
"Think he's strong now, Slifer Slacker? It's about to get worse. Because I equip him with Sword of Deep-Seated."
A sword with a wide purple gem for a blade fell from the sky and landed on the ground with a metallic twang. The wolf's left head picked it up with its mouth, clutching the handle tightly between its teeth.
"Perfect! Now it, too, gets the 500-point power boost, raising his attack power to 2900! Go, Blue Sirius! Snack on his Baby Dragon!"
Blue Sirius stabbed the dragon in the stomach with its sword. The dragon shrieked and shattered creating a small explosion. Evan held his arm up over his eyes and waited for the dust to settle.
Chazz 4000 LP
Evan 1500 LP
Turn 7
"Oh man, not good. Definitely not good. Come on, deck. I really need you to come through for me. I draw! Hey, it's Pot of Greed."
"Please, just activate it," groaned Chazz. "If I have to hear another dimwit explain what it does again, I'm going to go berserk."
"All right, I won't," Evan said. He drew his two cards. "I summon Ax Raider in attack mode! But that's not all, Chazz! I equip him with Ax of Despair! This will increase his attack by 1000! Yes, yes, yes! That's 2700 attack points."
Chazz scoffed. "Oh my God, you can add. Color me impressed." He was being sarcastic of course.
"Hope you can divide, too! I activate the spell, Shrink!"
"What!?"
"That's right. This spell will cut your monster's ATK in half!"
Blue Sirius snarled as it got smaller and smaller and its ATK points got reduced to 1450.
"Ax Raider charged and sliced Blue Sirius in half. Chazz stood through the explosion unphased and bearing a crooked grin.
Evan jumped up and down with joy. "I did it! I can't believe I did it! Wooo!"
"Are you sure about that, punk?" Chazz said pointing at Ax Raider's attack points.
They fell to 300, leaving Evan stunned. He looked around at the field, wondering what on earth happened to cause such a thing.
"When Blue Sirius is destroyed," said Chazz, "he can lower the attack points of one of your monsters by 2400 points. So much for your little miracle, you Slifer Slacker. It doesn't matter what you do. The Chazz is always one step ahead. Now, it's my turn!"
Turn 8
Chazz laughed when he laid eyes on the card he drew.
"Hey, what's so funny?" said Evan. "You know if Sword of Deep-Seated gets sent to the graveyard, it goes to the top of your deck, right?"
"Well, duh! But it doesn't matter. Because I have a monster in my hand who's gonna end this. I summon Dark Blade, Captain of the Evil World. And I'll equip him with my Sword of Deep-Seated. Now he's got enough ATK points to wipe you out! All right, my captain, take out that slacker and end this duel!"
Dark Blade's demonic black horse reared up on its hind legs and whinnied before galloping toward the weakened Ax Raider. Dark Blade raised his sword and cut off Ax Raider's head with one swipe. His body exploded and dealt the last dose of damage to Evan's Life Points.
"NO WAAAAAY!" Evan cried as he tried to keep himself anchored to the ground. But the explosion was too great, and it knocked him flat on his back. His Life Points fell to 0.
Raizou raised his fist and cheered. "Way to go, Chazz!"
"Yeah, that was so beast! Your Blue Sirius was sick, man!" Taiyou jeered.
Chazz's duel disk powered down and he picked up his bag, strapping it back over his shoulder. "Thanks. Just a little something I picked up when I was in Athens last summer."
"You went to Athens! Aw, cool! Why didn't you bring us along?"
"Family business," Chazz answered as he walked away.
"Well, we gotta plan a trip there sometime. We gotta go!"
Chazz scoffed and crossed his arms. "Are you kidding? I'm not going back there, man. The Greeks are assholes."
When they were gone Evan stood up and rubbed the back of his head. All of a sudden, it felt very cold. He saw someone standing on the hill where he and Alice had their picnic earlier. Elizabeth. She narrowed her eyes at him and shook her head before sauntering down the hill and out of sight.
"You don't need to say a thing to let me know how worthless I am," Evan said sadly, picking himself up. But then he grinned, reminiscing about the moment when Simorgh flew over the fields and caused that wind. "Orange panties, huh? Hmm, I sure learned a lot about you today, Alice Fenix."
Back at her dorm, Alice performed her evening routine and sat down in front of her desk to send her mother another email.
Dear Mom,
Well, the past couple of days have been interesting, to say the least. I met a few new friends, one of them is the captain of an all-girls Duel Monsters team called The Red Arrows. I've done my research on them, mama, and they have a very distinguished history here at the academy. Lots of trophies in the hallways were won because of them. I can't believe I might be one of them! Tryouts for the team are on Friday. Wish me luck!
You're not going to believe this, but Professor Arthur Hawkins, the man who daddy worked with, he's my history teacher. We're going to learn how to play Duel Monsters the way the Ancient Egyptians did 5000 years ago. I think it's so exciting.
I saw some really interesting matches. Yes, I saw the boy Jaden play. He's become something of the school celebrity. There's lots of talk surrounding him. Many of them praise his skills or are amazed by them. Others are just looking to take him down. I hope I can play like him with my Nephthys cards. Speaking of which, I think I've found someone I could consider my nemesis. Yeah, that's right mom. Someone made a fool out of me as I was getting settled in, and I'm going to make him pay.
Tomorrow, I'm going to find the punk who humiliated me and I'm gonna make him pay! After my phoenixes take care of him, there's gonna be nothing left of him, mark my words. Tell Sammy thanks for sending me that Sphere Kuriboh plushie! I just got it in the mail when I got back from school and it's adorable! I'm already starting to miss you guys. Take care and keep Sammy out of trouble.
Love Alice