The orange sky was indication of the ending of the class and the start of the evening, showing how much dedication and effort every student would give to learn from Duel Academy. The quality of the classes was always the priority for the intellectual and physical development for all the students of the academy.
However, the first day of class was far more physical than it should have been.
The entire Slifer Red dormitory groaned in pain after their bodies became sore and exhausted after such tortuous class given by the most beautiful teacher from the Academy. One reminder about how beauty means pain for everyone.
The students from the Slifer Red were with their heads laying over their tables, unable to move freely without causing a terrible pain on their muscles. Some students were still using the minimum possible effort by slowly eating, doing their best to avoid triggering their muscular pain.
"Jaden, are you sure you are fine? You were in pain fifteen minutes ago." A voice from one of the students made the rest of the dormitory turn their heads to check, but immediately regretted it the next second as they groaned in pain again. But even so, their eyes went wide open after seeing Jaden being so cheerful while eating, considering he was still as pained as them minutes ago.
"Oh, this is nothing Chumley. I just received some awesome news, that's all! Alexis wants to have a duel with me in three hours, so I'm just going to eat well and prepare for the duel!" The Slifer duelist wasn't wary at all by the challenge, far from it, he looked very excited for the duel.
While the remaining students stared in disbelief at how Jaden seemingly had totally recovered just by getting a duel challenge, the wooden door slid wide open, a student with blue hair walking into the room. But for the outage of every Slifer Red student sans Jaden and Chumley, he didn't look sore, or even winded at all.
They watched the same student walk over the table and prepare his dinner plate.
"Syrus!" Jaden shouted calling the attention from all the students. "Why did you take so long? You almost missed dinner!"
"Yeah, my bad." Syrus sighed while he served dinner to himself, and looked around to all the students who kept groaning slightly while watching him. He stared back, an amused look on his face. Said look turned slightly smug, as he lightly chuckled before going taking his seat on the table.
"How?" Chumley said, a shocked expression on his face. He couldn't understand, he went through even more than the rest of them, yet he didn't even look bothered at all by it. "How are you not sore, Syrus?"
"Heh. Chumley, trust me. All that pain? I'm going to fully feel it tomorrow. It will suck, yes, but sometimes you got to accept it if you want results. Plus, who says I'm not in pain right now?" Syrus shook his head, speaking sincerely. The pain was there, and it probably would be worse after waking up tomorrow. However, he knew it was going to hurt, so he didn't think it was necessary to get overly worried about it. He just wanted to eat and then rest at the moment.
"Well, you told me Alexis is challenging me to a duel in three hours. How are we going to do this?" Without thinking twice, Jaden was already mentally deckbuilding, going through all his options for his upcoming duel, looking raring to go. He just needed one voluntary.
"Nothing too complicated, just come with me to the Obelisk Blue girl's dorm. Alexis must be looking forward to unleash her frustrations on you, considering I defeated her thirty minutes ago." Syrus explained, pausing to eat his sardines and rice, which he knew that would become a common sight for now, however Syrus was startled out of his thoughts by a loud slam, Jaden being responsible of the sound as he turned to Syrus in outrage.
"I missed the opportunity to see you dueling!? Man, how did that happen?" Jaden questioned, while Syrus simply ignored him and kept eating his dinner.
"I tried to call you both, but you both passed out on the gym's floor, so I just took the opportunity to go and take a shower. I was approached by Alexis and her friends, then dueled at the harbor, and the rest is history." Syrus explained, and then took a big gulp out of a water bottle, sighing contently with his eyes closed. He was pretty thirsty, and didn't had the chance fix that. After putting the water bottle on the table, he opened his eyes and turned to see Jaden actually pouting at him. Syrus just turned back to his almost finished meal, and started eating again. Seeing Jaden was still pouting, he turned back, pointed an utensil to him, and spoke with his mouth full. "You missed the chance, deal with it."
"Come on Syrus, you never accepted my duel requests, and now you just told me that you won against Alexis. I want to duel too, right here and right now!" Jaden tried to reach for Syrus' arm in order to pull him from his seat, but before he knew it, his hand was slapped. "Ow, why!?"
"Don't you think it's pretty rude to try and pull me off from the table when I'm still not done eating, Jaden?" Syrus stared at his friend who looked at the border of throwing a tantrum, like a petulant kid. Turning his head away in discouragement, Syrus sighed. "Why do you always choose the worst times to challenge me to a duel?"
"Well, because you never challenged me, and when I woke up you weren't at the bedroom." Jaden justified himself with an answer, but that didn't seem to be good enough for Syrus.
"That's because I woke up earlier than you. 6:45 A.M every day." Syrus could see the look of astonishment from Jaden. Chumley winced, as he already could see his friend ready to make another scene.
"6:45 of the morning… Every day!?" Jaden shouted, making all the other students groan in pain from the volume, from the loudest student of the dorm. Chumley covered his face with both his hands, the secondhand embarrassment strong on his expression.
"Is it just me or will this be a routine with you two around here?" Chumley looked ready to crawl into the covers of his bed. It was certainly a better prospect than staying around his two roommates and deal with more embarrassment.
"Well Chumley, if you really want to go to Obelisk Blue and eat food that would make the rice and sardines here look like… well… the cheap food it is, you better get used to us both. Trust me, it will get worse… or better, who knows?" Syrus replied knowing that while this thing would be annoying for both of them, it was for a good cause, since he knows that with the future Chumley would get accustomed to the racket. Probably.
Chumley opened his mouth to argue, however the rumble from his stomach betrayed him, as his own body felt the agony of a long and exhaustive day. Without any more options, Chumley could only sigh, defeated.
"Well Syrus, I understand. I probably would get mad if someone tried to interrupt me while I'm eating or while I sleep. Tomorrow, when you have free time and you are already done eating, we are dueling. Alright?" Jaden knew his own limitations. He loved his sleep, and someone taking that away was like taking the pleasure and fun from dueling from him. Both were a big no-no to him.
Syrus, noticing that Jaden was being serious, nodded, accepting the challenge. Syrus knew that while Jaden may be lazy, if not the laziest student, he held the biggest potential in the Academy, alongside Zane.
"Alright then, since both of you decided to duel tomorrow, why don't you explain to us the reason of the girls approached you, Syrus?" Chumley couldn't help but ask, after seeing Syrus finish his dinner.
"Who cares, Chumley? Syrus was challenged to a duel, he accepted and won, that is the only thing that matters. Now that Alexis dueled him, she wants to duel against me since I was almost got that victory against Chazz yesterday." Jaden used his index finger to scratch the bottom of his nose with pride, however his eyes grew wide when he remembered one simple detail. "Oh yeah, what if security looks for us on the girls campus?"
Syrus noticing the reason behind Jaden's question, waved his hand dismissing his worries.
"You don't need to worry about that. Professor Fontaine greenlighted this duel tonight. However just for tonight and in one specific part around their campus, we will be screwed if we are caught inside their mansion." Syrus had a hunch about the reason why Professor Fontaine said that, since she would be talking with principal Sheppard, to find the person who wrote that letter… which probably would make Crowler use a swimmer suit or such to not be recognized.
"Well, if you say so, then I guess it's fine. But Syrus, tell me how was your duel." Jaden asked, without being able to contain his excitement. Chumley stood and walked behind them slowly, still sore from the exercises.
Syrus couldn't help but smile to him.
"Oh? Trying to get information on Alexis' strategy? Wow, and here I thought you liked surprises, Jaden." Syrus felt satisfied with the food he already had, while it wasn't glamourous like he always wanted, it was good enough for him. For now.
"Come on Syrus, I just want to know the details of the duel. Don't leave me hanging over here… Syrus, wait! Don't leave me here!" Seeing that his friend was walking away silently, Jaden couldn't help but run after Syrus.
"Running again…? Why me…" Chumley groaned, shook his head and ran to catch up with his friends, trying to ignore the soreness of his body.
"Do you think they will come soon?" Jasmine asked, while her friends and her enjoyed a little picnic around the shore next to their dorm, admiring the night sky while waiting for the Slifer students.
"Syrus assured me, and he is Jaden's close friend. They will come." Alexis smiled slightly, but Jasmine and Mindy both could see the conflict in her expression.
"Still thinking about the duel with that boy Syrus?" Jasmine asked worried. Alexis gave a thoughtful look at the sandwich she was going to eat.
"Well, yes. His duel style and the way he dueled may be a bit weird, but it demonstrated his character." Alexis answered. Mindy offered her a juice bottle, which Alexis accepted gratefully. "Did you notice the way he behaved?"
"Well, from the way I saw it, he acted like a goof. Although he is a very good duelist, the things he said didn't make any sense to me. But I have to confess that some of his quotes were very interesting to hear." Jasmine confessed. However, she didn't expect her friend Mindy would appear behind her, smiling widely.
"BOOM, BAM BOP BADABOP BOOMP POW." Mindy quoted exactly the boy final phrase before summoning his ace monster at the field and finishing the duel once for all. "Where did he find inspiration for that awesome sequence of words?"
"I still don't get it. Why are you so excited for that wordplay? They didn't seem anything interesting to me." Jasmine gave a weirded look to her friend, who reacted in disbelief.
"Are you kidding, Jasmine? If was me, I would have given up at that point. You didn't see the potential of these words. Such words can destroy people's whole careers." Mindy waved her hands above her head, imagining the duel again, but with people cheering on Syrus after he said those words.
The duo of girls simply stopped paying attention to Mindy, who simply ignored their opinions. It would only lead to a major headache if they tried to deal with her while she was like that.
Alexis looked at her own deck, and then mentally went over the duel she had earlier. She could see every single movement made by Syrus. She could see his strategy was to flood his field with monsters as fast as possible, so if one of them was destroyed, he could special summon his ace monster without sacrificing anything, on her turn as well.
"Desperado Barrel Dragon. What a terrifying card, you never know when it will appear. And when it does, you can only trust your own luck if you want to keep your monsters." Alexis meditated as she sipped the juice.
Jasmine pouted, her expression sour as she remembered the last turn of that duel.
"Yes, he simply acted like there wasn't any need to continue the duel after he summoned his ace monster. He looked the type of duelist that wouldn't judge you if you gave up right there." Jasmine could notice the posture of the Slifer duelist during the final turn, he was indifferent if Alexis would quit or not, as if prolonging the duel would be a waste of his time.
"Well, Syrus said that one of the pro duelists created a combo so powerful that he didn't have any other choice than just give up after trying to use his third card. I guess he already knew that if he had a way to waste less time just by giving up, it would be the better option." Alexis voiced her thoughts as she imagined the little boy who looked so confident with himself become frustrated against a well prepared strategy from the opponent. She could feel the taste of such a feeling after he used Threatening Roar, which made Alexis unable to attack.
Alexis felt what would be a glimpse of how a professional would duel, and she couldn't deny the excitement of thinking in a few years Syrus would become even better, like the Brazilian duelist which he idolized.
"Zane looked really interested to know more about the duelist Syrus admires, Renan, I think Zane now has a one more motivation for him to go to the pro world now." Alexis closed her eyes and sighed, before getting startled after hearing her friends suddenly gasp. Looking at them, she saw them stare back in complete shock.
"That boy dueled against professional duelists?" Jasmine could never have imagined that little boy who seemed so confident actually had acquired experience to support his skills and his way of dueling.
"Wow, in addition of being cute, he has great skill and knows pro duelists? How come you never told us that, Alexis?" Mindy added, a blush on her face, while Jasmine and Alexis could see that the stars on her eyes.
Noticing that both of her friends knew Syrus' secret now, Alexis forced a smile while mentally slapping herself.
"Great job Alexis, now Syrus will be bothered for having knowledge about professionals, just because you simply couldn't keep your big mouth shut. And now you need to do damage control." Alexis felt the gaze of her friends, and she knew if she didn't act fast, everything would snowball into a disaster. "Err… girls, we need to maintain this as a secret. You all saw how Syrus became uncomfortable about what happened this morning, and the duel we had only showed his clear opinion that he didn't want to be known as Zane's brother, he wants to make a name for himself."
Both Jasmine and Mindy felt the serious words of Alexis douse any enthusiasm they had, as if cold water was splashed on their faces. They thought about the look he had in the physical education, a person who was tired of being caught in futile troubles when he had his goals set.
"You are right, Alexis. I won't say anything about this." Jasmine nodded in agreement, noticing that the little blue haired boy really seemed to not like being remembered as his brother's shadow, and he seemed very stressed to be involved in such problems related to both him and Alexis since the morning. "But do you think that person who made the false letter will come, though? Because at the moment we find them, they will pay dearly."
"Oh, you don't need to remind me that Jasmine. The one who did this to me and to Syrus will regret it. Professor Fontaine will make sure that the person who wrote that fake letter will regret leaving their bed today." Alexis stared at her friends as she took her deck from her case. A frustrated look was on her face as she eyed the cards. "The worst part today however, was the fact I didn't have any of the cards needed to fuse my ace monster. Maybe I should start reworking my deck."
"Well, I'm sure that you will defeat that other Slifer Red boy, because he seemed to be a slacker. Even after defeating professor Crowler." Jasmine said with all her determination, although she just watched that boy duel once, she had full confidence on her friend. After all, Alexis was considered the best duelist of the girls side of Obelisk Blue.
"Well, I saw Jaden duel a few times. I can tell you this duel will be very interesting, and my victory is not guaranteed. It's possible that he can defeat me just like Syrus, so there's no point in worrying about that now." After her loss to Syrus, Alexis decided to be realistic, and simply enjoy the challenge. "I saw both boys dueling, and Jaden is a student who surprised has surprised many by defeating Professor Crowler, demonstrating instincts and wit capable of defeating a strong duelist. In short, he has great potential, and I'm curious about how well I can do against his strategies."
"Well, you just need to use what you learned from that boy Syrus today." After finishing one of her sandwiches, Mindy shared her opinion. "He has shown he's intelligent. And if he is like his brother, he be will be promoted quickly. But I'm still wondering… Why he is a Slifer Red? With his dueling skills, he could have started as a Ra Yellow at the least."
"Well, from what he told me yesterday, it's because…" Unable to hide anything from her friends, Alexis explained how the conversation with Syrus and Zane went, explaining how Syrus ended in what most people consider the worst group of the Academy. After explaining, she noticed something at the distance. "Ah, seems like they will arrive shortly. Let's go."
"We are almost there, guys." Jaden commented as Chumley and him rowed the boat, approaching the girl's dorm.
Syrus looked around to find any signals of the known suspect. However, it was too dark for him to see, and his glasses didn't help either, so he couldn't find the person that started all of this yet. Luckily, he already informed Professor Fontaine to keep an eye to any suspects swimming around on the waters or near the shore.
"Hold on!" Someone shouted, attracting the attention of the boys on the boat. It was a trio of girls approaching with another boat. "You are trespassing the territory of the girl's dormitory of Obelisk Blue. If you do not desist, you will be reported and hereby expulsed from the Academy!"
Jaden looked confused, meanwhile Chumley didn't have any idea of what was happening. But he paled after the warning was completed. Syrus just palmed his face.
"See? I told you this was a terrible idea, now we are going to be expelled for sure." Chumley placed both his hands on his face, dreading what would happen next.
Before Jaden could say anything, Syrus decided to waste no more time.
"Alexis, stop acting. You wanted Jaden to duel with you, and here he is." Syrus noticing that it was already past 10 P.M. It already was past curfew and he didn't want to waste any more time. "Jaden, do your best."
"Thanks Sy, and don't worry. This duel will end quickly." Jaden confident got his duel disk and stared at the trio of girls with pride and confidence.
Alexis stared Jaden with seriousness, and couldn't show anything else than coldness while she shuffled her deck. Jaden followed her example. Both of them then placed their decks on their duel disks.
"Are you ready?" Alexis stood ready, and put her hand close to the disk in order to draw her initial hand.
"You bet I am!" Jaden without thinking twice, followed suit before both of them shouted.
"Duel!" Both drew 5 cards from their disks, while their life points showed the same quantity of 4000.
Alexis: 4000 / Jaden: 4000
"Get your game on!" Jaden said his iconic quote while Alexis stared at her own hand. Mindy looked uncertain on how the duel would end, while Jasmine stared with coldness. Chumley looked at both duelist, not knowing the consequences of what this duel would cause. Syrus in other hand, remained with his back toward the duel which was going to happen, while holding the oars. He was not paying attention to the duel, because he had a different objective entirely.
"Let's goooo!" Syrus shouted, getting the attention from not just the duelists, but both girls and his friend who seemed surprised by the sudden shout. Both Jaden and Alexis suddenly smiled and stared at each other challengingly, a ferocious desire to win on their first official day of class.
"Alright, let's see." Alexis was the first to draw a card, looking over her hand. She switched one of her cards between her hand. And with that, she made her first move.
"Etoile Cyber. Arise." Alexis started the first turn, summoning one of her monsters. A ballerina which spun mid air before landing gracefully as she did her battle pose.
Etoile Cyber
Attribute: Earth
Type: Warrior/Effect
Level: 4
ATK/DEF: 1200/1600
If this card attacks your opponent directly, it gains 600 ATK during the Damage Step only.
"I will place one face down card. And end my turn." Alexis finished her turn as one of her cards was placed inside of her duel disk.
"Time to go down. First, I draw." Jaden drew one of his cards. And staring at his hand, he knew what to do. "I know what to do! I summon Elemental HERO Sparkman."
After Jaden placed his monster over the duel disk, on the field a shower of sparks appeared, before coalescing in a monster made of lighting, taking a battle stance.
Elemental HERO Sparkman
Attribute: Light
Type: Warrior/Normal
Level: 4
ATK/DEF: 1600/1400
"And now he will attack your Etoile Cyber with his Static Shockwave." Jaden raised his hand while his lightning warrior flew in the direction of the ballerina monster, using all his electricity on his hands to shot directly towards Etoile Cyber.
As the soon the lighting was in the direction of her monster, Alexis gritted her teeth, waiting for the right moment to use that card. However, with the attack almost upon her monster, she didn't have any choice but to use it.
"Not so fast! I activate my trap card, Doble Passe!" She flinched as the electricity swiftly passed through, ignoring her monster and hitting her instead. She took a step back. "Doble Passe changes the attack from your monster to a direct attack. And now my monster which was the target of the attack, will attack you directly as well."
Alexis: 2400 / Jaden: 4000
Doble Passe
Attribute: Trap
Type: Normal Trap
When an opponent's monster declares an attack on a face-up Attack Position monster you control: Make your opponent's attack a direct attack instead and inflict damage to your opponent equal to the ATK of the attack target you control. Also, that monster you control can attack your opponent directly during your next turn.
"Wait, what?" Jaden asked surprised as he saw Etoile Cyber with all her elegance going into his own direction to inflict damage to him. "Oh, great."
"Oh yeah, now I remember, when Etoile Cyber attacks someone directly, her attack points are increased by 600!" Alexis smiled while her monster was spinning in the air to increase the potence of her kick.
ATK 1200 = 1800
"Oh crap." Jaden winced as he saw Etoile Cyber coming at him, delivering a kick that made his body tingle. "Ouch."
Alexis: 2400 / Jaden: 2200
"Jaden!" Chumley commented worried, while Syrus turned around surprised to see his friend flinching from the attack.
"Did it hurt that much?" Syrus raised his eyebrow, and noticed the corner of Jaden's mouth raising, making him facepalm. "Do you really needed to be this dramatic, Jaden? They are just holograms. They didn't place a pain sensor system on there, yet…"
"But that would take all the fun, Syrus. It's great to give yourself in the feelings of the moment, because it really feels like I'm literally dueling against someone." Jaden was having a lot of fun by using his imagination and trying to make everything as realistic as possible. Then he went back to stare at Alexis who seemed curious into how he was going to finish his turn. "But, I think Alexis is planning something after sacrificing her life points to get mine."
"Well, you need to think carefully Jaden. Alexis may be a rookie of the Academy, but she is treated as one of the best duelists from Obelisk Blue on the girls dorm." Chumley carefully observed his friend, who wasn't only focused on the duel, but was smiling excitedly at Alexis' strategy.
"Are you impressed?" Alexis smiled smugly, making Jaden's smile even wider.
"Impressed? I think I'm in love." Jaden answered and everyone could see that Alexis was enjoying every second of it.
"How cute, that's a pity I have to crush you." Alexis smirked, while Mindy and Jasmine looked at each and other, noticing what just happened.
"Wow, who would have though that Syrus was actually correct? She really likes to flirt that way." Mindy whispered to her friend who nodded in agree as she kept looking at the duo flirting in the middle of the duel.
"Yeah, it makes it even stranger." Jasmine agreed. They became silent again as her friend prepared to draw a card and start her turn.
"Where were we? Draw." Alexis drew a card, and in her hand came one key monster for her strategy. "I summon Blade Skater in attack position."
From the water appeared a beautiful lady who skated around the water and showing her battle pose with her blades around her arms.
Blade Skater
Attribute: Earth
Type: Warrior/Normal
Level: 4
ATK/DEF: 1400/1500
"And I activate the Spell card Polymerization to fusion my Etoile Cyber and my Blade Skater, and summon my ace monster Cyber Blader!" At the moment she used her Spell card, Alexis' monsters started to skate in synchronization until they created a tornado which height went over the sky. The moment it ceased, there was nothing more than a beautiful lady with long hair, giving an elegant pose over the water.
Cyber Blader
Attribute: Earth
Type: Warrior/Fusion/Effect
Level: 6
ATK/DEF: 2100/800
"Etoile Cyber" + "Blade Skater"
This card can only be fusion summoned with the above monsters. While your opponent controls only 1 monster, this card cannot be destroyed by battle. While your opponent controls only 2 monsters, double this card's ATK. While your opponent controls only 3 monsters, negate the effects of your opponent's Spell, Trap, and Effect Monsters.
"Hold on!" Syrus raised his voice, making both Alexis and Jaden turn their attention to him. "Did you just waste your normal summon to bring one of your monsters to the field, when you could have fused them from the hand?"
Alexis stopped, and looked at her Duel Disk. Then she looked at the cards on her hand and blushed nervously.
"Yes." Alexis admitted, feeling like an idiot, noticing that she could have made a fusion directly from her hand and used her extra summon to summon another monster in the field to finish the duel.
Syrus looked at Alexis, and then to Jaden who seemed to be surprised by his sudden question, so he decided to just shrug.
"Alright, just checking." Syrus didn't know if Alexis misplayed or if it was part of her strategy. Since Alexis was one of the smartest students from the Duel Academy, she should have a good reason for that, he supposed.
"Great job, Alexis." The female duelist from the girl's dorm was mentally berating herself due to the amateur mistake she made in the middle of the duel. But she decided to shake her head and go back to the duel. "Alright let's continue, Now Cyber Blader, attack Sparkman. Tornado Fury!"
And like a techno ballerina, Cyber Blader gave a spin in the air while making a tornado around her, and using her great speed, she gave a roundhouse kick to Sparkman, who was destroyed in tiny hologram particles. And the wind was so strong enough to make Jaden, Syrus and Chumley feel the pressure of the gust.
The trio groaned, as they held strongly on the boat, while Jaden felt his life points getting lower.
Alexis: 2400 / Jaden: 1700
"Well, this was too much for him. But I have to admit Lex, this was a great move." Jaden couldn't help it, he was loving the duel and he smiled widely to his opponent.
Receiving the compliment from her opponent, Alexis couldn't stop smiling. Although part of her was still annoyed because of the mistake she made. If she had set a Princess of Tsurugi or summoned another monster, she could have raised her chances of winning. And that's what Syrus wanted to tell her.
"Thanks, but don't wait for me to take it easy on you just because you liked this strategy." Alexis said, making Jaden even more excited.
"I wouldn't wish for anything else." Jaden was happy to have a rival strong enough for him to keep him on his toes. This day couldn't be any better to him. Now, he just needed to win in order to make this day fully perfect.
Meanwhile, Syrus observed around the river, trying to find what he was looking for, and after a while, he finally found it… a person wearing a diving suit with a blond pony-tail. Taking the opportunity Syrus decided to take his DPA and send a message to the teacher responsible of the girl's dorm of the Academy.
-Crazy person wearing diving suit, observing the duel between Jaden and Alexis. (Syrus Truesdale)
"Okay, it's my turn, draw." Jaden seeing in his draw one of his good cards, it was one field spell. And eyeing the empty field spell slot, he smirked. "Perfect. I activate the Field Spell: Fusion Gate. And now I can summon Fusion monsters without Polymerization! And I will summon this."
Fusion Gate
Attribute: Spell
Type: Field Spell
Fusion monsters can be special summoned without using 'Polymerization'. The fusion material monsters are not sent to the Graveyard, but removed from play instead.
And from his hand, Jaden took both Avian and Burstinatrix and together he fused both to make one of his ace monsters.
"Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!" Jaden called his monster, a warrior with a fist of a dragon and the wing of an angel, floating above the water, which left everyone watching in shock.
Elemental HERO Flame Wingman
Attribute: Wind
Type: Warrior/Fusion/Effect
Level: 7
ATK/DEF: 2100/1200
"Elemental HERO Avian" + "Elemental HERO Burstinatrix"
Must be Fusion Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. When this card destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard: Inflict damage to your opponent equal to the ATK of the destroyed monster in the Graveyard.
Alexis noticed that she may have committed a mistake which made her opponent summon one of his strongest monsters. However she decided to use another kind of strategy.
"Alright. It seems that it will be a fusion monster against another one, right Jaden? Well, that's fine by me." Alexis smiled while she commented when the clash was obvious.
"I'm glad you liked this idea." Jaden smiled. However, when Alexis shrugged dismissively, Jaden noticed he may have been missing something.
"Although… They have the same attack points, which means they will just destroy each other." Alexis made a very good point, however she noticed the reaction of Syrus who quickly turned his head to her and with his eyes open wide. Her smile became wider when she saw he was glaring at her, and she couldn't help but giggle.
"Oh, you sneaky little…" Syrus immediately looked at the duelist in front of him, and the best student of the girl's dorm, which made him understand the situation. The trap was set with just a simple bluff. Alexis smiled at him, while Jaden took one of his cards.
"Not after I play this card. I activate the Continuous Spell Kishido Spirit!" Jaden at the moment he activated his card, the field around him was covered to a blue wave. "Now my Flame Wingman can attack any monster with the same attack points and will not be destroyed!"
Kishido Spirit
Attribute: Spell
Type: Continuous Spell
Monsters on your side of the field cannot be destroyed in a battle if the monsters' ATK are equal.
"That way Flame Wingman will be able to use his effect to cause damage unimpeded! Jaden must have planned it from the beginning." Chumley couldn't help but get surprised with how the duel got tables turned in such interesting way.
"Yeah, but Kishido Spirit? That Spell is treated as a failed card." Syrus commented which not only made Chumley look at him surprised, but Jaden who activated the card.
"What do you mean Sy? To me this card is very good." Jaden looked at his friend confused, but after seeing Syrus palm his face and giving a deep breath he knew that he was going to receive an explanation about it.
"It would for some decks…" Syrus commented, however he looked at his friend curiously. "But the monsters above your attack points still can destroy yours. And you have many variations of attacks points in your monsters… from 1600 to lower, so you had that card sitting on your hand as a brick just for this moment?"
Jaden smiled confident of himself as he looked at Alexis, who seemed to be amused at the byplay.
"Yes, and it will make this victory all the sweeter! Now with the effect of Flame Wingman, once your Cyber Blader is destroyed, you will receive the final prejudice equal on her attack points." Jaden smiled while Alexis expression twitched. Jaden pointed the direction of her Cyber Blader. "Now Flame Wingman, attack Cyber Blader!"
The Elemental HERO flew in the direction of the skater warrior, while Syrus covered his face with his hands. And seeing Alexis looking at him, he decided to raise his hand, knowing that he gave up being reasonable.
"It seems that someone didn't do his homework." Alexis thought to herself while laughing internally. Syrus must have noticed her strategy and her bluff indeed worked more than she expected.
The hero using his blazing fist went straight to attack the monster whose used both her hands to stop the attack, making both monsters remain in the field.
Jaden had his eyes wide open in surprise. While suddenly he heard a cough from his friend behind him.
"Jaden." Syrus cough once again to bring his attention to him, while Chumley looked at the boy surprised as well. "Cyber Blader has effects depending on the amount of monsters on your side of the field… If you have one monster on your field, she cannot be destroyed by battle. If you have two monsters on the field, her attack points are doubled. And if you are unlucky enough to have three monsters on the field, she can negate any effects of monsters, spells and trap cards on the field."
Jaden's mouth opened so wide from shock that it would be possible for him to catch a fly, while Chumley paled after hearing the effect of Cyber Blader.
"Is that for real?" Jaden couldn't help but comment, while suddenly he heard someone laugh, like a hyena. "Did you hear a laugh?"
Seeing Jaden surprised and shocked, Alexis and her friends couldn't help but laugh a little, seeing how much of a dork the boy who defeated the professor was.
"Well, I think you got me. I end my turn." Jaden couldn't be anymore disappointed, he looked at Syrus for help, but the boy turned his head away, not wanting to help at all.
"Ah Jaden, when I get you. Believe me, you will know." Alexis said while she drew a card from her deck.
Chumley watched the duel nervously, he could see that everything was possible, even the defeat of his roommate. And Syrus looked relaxed independently of who would win or not.
"Is that for real? 4200 attack points and negate effects of spell, trap and effect monsters?" Chumley couldn't help but ask, knowing that card from Alexis looked very overpowered to him. However, Syrus shrugged.
"Yes, however just if Jaden had two or three monsters on his side of the field. Right now, Cyber Blader cannot be destroyed by battle. By battle, Jaden." Syrus remarked the warning of how a monster who couldn't be destroyed by battle, because he knew Jaden knows a strategy to deal with this kind of monster without the need of battling.
"Like right now, for example." Alexis showed her card she drew, making Syrus looked surprised at the equip card. "And I will equip my Equip Spell card, Fusion Weapon to my Cyber Blader."
Fusion Weapon
Attribute: Spell
Type: Equip Spell
Equip only to a Level 6 or lower Fusion Monster. It gains 1500 ATK/DEF.
And the moment the card was activated, Cyber Blader had her arm slowly morph into a claw that started releasing sparks.
Cyber Blader
Attribute: Earth
Type: Warrior/Effect
Level: 6
ATK/DEF: 2100/800 = 3600/2300
"Oh ho… It seems that things are going to get even more interesting, guys." Jaden looked excited, while Chumley could feel his stomach rumbling, and Syrus turned his back but remained holding himself strongly on the boat.
"Jaden, you know that at the moment she attacks you, you will only have 200 life points remaining right?" Chumley asked, deeply regretful of instantly leaving the dorm after dinner. This duel wasn't doing any favors to his stomach.
"It seems so Chumley. Now, hold on guys because this is going to be a big one." Jaden couldn't help but grin, as he saw Alexis gesturing her hand to declare an attack. "Here comes the attack!"
"Go, Blader! Attack Elemental HERO Flame Wingman! Trident Shock!" Alexis shouted, making Blader use her new arm to release a discharge of energy, destroying Flame Wingman in a big explosion, with shockwaves big enough to shake both boats.
Jaden screamed, feeling his life points almost fully deplete. He turned his head to his friends who held themselves over the boat.
Alexis: 2400 / Jaden: 200
"Uh oh, it seems that your life points are pretty low. But now I will set one monster down and end my turn." Alexis smiled victoriously, making sure to avoid committing the same mistake twice, setting a face down monster over the field as a backup plan, leaving her with 2 monsters while Jaden had no monsters. "Well, Jaden it was a great duel. However, it seems that it's time to end this right here. If you don't have anything else on the next turn that would make this my victory."
Jaden looked at his own hand, and he couldn't get any more excited for the climax of the duel.
"It seems so, you are a great duelist Alexis." Jaden complimented, truthfully he had never felt any happier than he was right now, since he was dueling against a very strong opponent who kept holding him at the ropes.
Syrus observed the duo chitchatting once again, until he felt a vibration on his pocket. Checking his PDA he noticed a new message, and from the contents on it, he couldn't help but grin.
-Found who was the responsible for this. You have my gratitude for helping me to investigate. At the end of the duel I ask you, please to go back to your dormitory and prepare yourselves for the class tomorrow… (Professor Fontaine)
Syrus noticing that his mission has been accomplished, he looked at Alexis and gave her a thumbs up. Attracting the attention of both the duelist and her friends, he then pointed in the direction of behind his back and then moved his tomb and made a motion of his thumb over his neck and pressing like it was slicing his neck.
That made the trio of girls smile, the message pretty clear to them.
Jaden wasn't paying attention at the girls, since he was staring at his own deck, and Chumley wasn't paying attention to his surroundings either, too nervous to notice anything.
Until Jaden suddenly drew a new card on his turn. And from the card his eyes sparkled with excitement. With three cards on hand, it wouldn't be possible to pass through two monsters the obelisk girl has on the field.
"I activate Pot of Greed! Allowing me to draw two new cards." Jaden used the card which made a big green pot appear, allowing Jaden to take more cards from his deck.
Pot of Greed
Attribute: Spell
Type: Spell
Draw 2 cards.
"Perfect. Well, can't be destroyed by battle huh? Okay, I summon Elemental Hero Clayman." Jaden placed his card over the duel disk, which made the warrior made by stone appear on the field.
And the moment the card was activated, Cyber Blader had her warm transformed into red while it showed sparks of electricity.
Elemental HERO Clayman
Attribute: Earth
Type: Warrior/Normal
Level: 4
ATK/DEF: 800/2000
"And now I activate the Spell card Monster Reborn. Return to the fight, Elemental HERO Sparkman!" Jaden using his spell card, he could bring a monster from the graveyard, a monster which was essential for his strategy at the moment.
Monster Reborn
Attribute: Spell
Type: Spell
Target 1 monster in either player's Graveyard; Special Summon it.
Elemental Hero Sparkman
Attribute: Light
Type: Warrior/Normal
Level: 4
ATK/DEF: 1600/1400
"What difference will that do? My Cyber Blader has more attack points than him, Sparkman has no chances." Alexis smiled after seeing two monsters of the field being unable to defeat her monster. Both could see the Cyber Blader become even stronger with both monsters on the field now.
Cyber Blader
Attribute: Earth
Type: Warrior/Effect
Level: 6
ATK/DEF: 3600/2300 = 5700/2300
"Jaden, that's a bad idea! Look at her monster, it's already over 5000 attack points!" Chumley shouted in panic while Syrus could see Jaden has his unique confident smile once again.
"He doesn't have a chance… yet, but don't worry guys. With the effect of Fusion Gate, I can fuse him with Clayman to summon someone else. Rise, Elemental HERO Thunder Giant!" Jaden raised his card as his two monsters became rays of light that spun around each other before reaching the sky, for a lightning bolt to fall on the same spot the 2 monster were, making the water over the river make waves and the girls over the other boat trying to hold themselves as they saw the new HERO monster on the field.
Saying that the man was a giant was an understatement. His futuristic helmet with the golden yellow and white armor was enough to show that Jaden had more than one ace monster on his deck.
Elemental HERO Thunder Giant
Attribute: Light
Type: Warrior/Fusion/Effect
Level: 6
ATK/DEF: 2400/1500
"Elemental HERO Sparkman" + "Elemental HERO Clayman"
Must be Fusion Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. Once per turn: You can discard 1 card to target 1 face-up monster on the field with original ATK less than the ATK of this card; destroy that target.
"I hate to interrupt you, but your new monster is still unable to go over my Cyber Blader. Even with her boost gone, she still has 3600 attack points!" Alexis seeing that her Ace Monster of 5700 going back to 3600 she still seemed unfazed from the idea of the other student being so confident of using his monster of 2400 attack points against her.
"Yeah, I know that. But now I activate his special effect! By discarding one card, I can destroy a monster on the field whose original attack is lower than Thunder Giant." Jaden commented as Alexis realized the between lines meaning of the effect.
"Original Attack Points?" Alexis repeated as she understood what he meant by that, but Jaden wanted to make sure once more.
"That's right. Attack Points without counting any increases." Jaden smiled. Chumley looked confused and gave a quick glance at Syrus, who understood the silent question, sighed, and started explaining.
"Cyber Blader's original attack points were 2100, meaning that she's the perfect target for Thunder Giant's effect. By discarding a card from his hand, Jaden can destroy Cyber Blader by effect." Syrus explained at the chubby student who keep looking at his friend and finally gave in simple terms the explanation he was looking for.
"Ahh, but wait… Wouldn't that be impossible if Jaden had 3 monsters on the field?" Chumley asked, remembering the explanation about Cyber Blader's effect.
"Very good Chumley, and yes." Syrus complimented Chumley for paying attention on the game and the card effects. "Since Jaden had just one monster on the field, that wouldn't be the case. But that is not important now, the duel is about to reach its climax."
"Your monster is already destroyed!" Jaden shouted as he sent one of the cards on his hand to the Graveyard. Thunder Giant moved in front of the cyber ballerina and using his big hands, charged and released an electric pulse that turned Cyber Blader into holographic dust.
Ignoring the surprise of the girls from the sudden effect, Jaden looked at the set down monster on the field.
"Now Thunder Giant, attack the set monster on the field." Jaden declared, happy to have dealt with the most dangerous monster in the field. The giant monster raised his thunderous punch over the card until showed a beautiful blond princess wearing robes. "Nice."
Jaden smiled as he saw that nothing more was protecting Alexis from his next attack on the next turn, but his excitement turned into unease when he saw Alexis smile sweetly at him.
"Thanks Jaden, you just attacked my Princess of Tsurugi." Alexis never felt so happy to have listened the advice of the boy on the other boat, her instincts were right about not making the same mistake twice. "You just made me win the duel."
"What do you mean by that?" Jaden sweat dropped while she just raised the card in front of him.
"Princess of Tsurugi's effect allows me to inflict 500 damage at my opponent for every Spell and Trap card on their side of the field." Alexis smiled, making Jaden stare at her in shock, Chumley paling in abject horror and Syrus snickered, all the while Jasmine and Mindy cheered.
Princess of Tsurugi
Attribute: Wind
Type: Warrior/Effect
Level: 3
ATK/DEF: 900/700
FLIP: Inflict 500 damage to your opponent for each Spell and Trap Card on your opponent's side of the field.
"What!?" Jaden couldn't help but suddenly look at his own field and notice that his Kishido Spirt was still on the field, and he realized that with just 200 life points, it would be over.
"Yeah, way to go Alexis!" Jasmine jumped in place while Mindy hugged her, victory for them in sight, as the trio watched the spirit of a princess emerge from the water and her hands was flaming ready to activate her effect.
"Oh no, I won't go down so easily after all of this! I activate my Quick Play Spell, Emergency Provisions!" Jaden seeing that he still had a good card on his hand, he decided to use as the last resort. "I send my Kishido Spirit to the Graveyard to gain 1000 life points, making Princess of Tsurugi unable to deal damage to me."
Emergency Provisions
Attribute: Spell
Type: Quick Play Spell
Send Spell or Trap cards from your side of the field to the Graveyard except this card. Increase your life points by 1000 for each card sent to the Graveyard.
Jaden was quick on his feet, and using his last remaining spell to dispel Kishido Spirit and recover his life points, watching as they went from 200 to 1200 quickly.
The trio of girls who were already celebrating the victory, looked at the boy in shock. Seeing the continuous spell being destroyed as cost for his last ditch effort, Jaden sighed in relief, until his eyes went wide open as said princess appeared in front of him, and proceeded to shoot flames at him.
"Ugh, but why!?" Jaden asked as he was sure that he didn't had any more cards on his spell and trap… "Oh, I forgot about Fusion Gate on the field. Well, I have to say that I got lucky. My bad…"
Jaden: 1200 = 700
The group of students who were watching as Jaden fooled himself into forgetting there was another card on his spell and trap zones, was enough that only Syrus, but Chumley and the trio of girls did the same gesture, raising a hand towards their faces.
A collective facepalm was enough to prove the point about how the Slifer Red duelist almost lost the duel just because of a silly mistake.
"Jaden, please, just end your turn. I need to wake up early tomorrow." Syrus knowing that his friend would never surrender, he just wanted his turn to end and give Alexis another chance to beat the duelist who seemed to be so lucky, and yet so stupid at the same time.
"Alright, sorry guys, I end my turn." Jaden, knowing there wasn't anything else he could do now, decided to end his turn, and give his new rival a good climax to their duel.
"Alexis, please, you cannot lose to someone who seems to be winning by dumb luck." Jasmine was feeling outraged, seeing such stupidity was enough for her. She just wanted to go back, take a bath and sleep. Staying around seemed like a waste of time.
"Yeah, I think I lost some braincells after that last turn." Mindy who usually was the nicest of their group, was disappointed by the lucky duelist, not in the mood to be there anymore.
"Well girls, I have to confess that I wish I had more chances. But I cannot say that, since I don't have anything good. But let's see how my luck holds in comparison. My turn, Draw!" Alexis tried to reassure her friends about the possibility of winning the duel, however, she must be realistic.
At the moment she drew a card, something appeared on her face, a smile.
"Alright Jaden, time to put some pressure on you. If you defeat my monster, then you win. However, you'll have to find how first! I summon D.D. Warrior Lady in attack position!" Alexis placed her blonde armored warrior on the field. Syrus was surprised, and Jaden was still looking at the card confusedly.
D.D. Warrior Lady
Attribute: Light
Type: Warrior/Effect
Level: 4
ATK/DEF: 1500/1600
After damage calculation, when this card battles an opponent's monster: You can banish that monster, also banish this card.
"Alexis, maybe you are not aware, but your monster is weaker than mine." Jaden didn't like the confidence Alexis was showing on that moment, and it only made him more uneasy.
"Oh, is that so? Maybe with this facedown card will help it out. I place this card face down and I end my turn." Alexis finished her turn as new facedown on the spell and trap row was enough to attract the attention of the students.
"Alright, my turn. Draw." Jaden knowing that it was his turn now, knew he needed to finish the duel quickly, but he didn't know how to. "That monster must have some wicked effect, but there isn't anything else I can do. Go, Thunder Giant! Attack D.D. Warrior Lady!"
The colossus hero was ready to finish off the lady warrior on the field, but everything changed when something else happened entirely.
Both D.D. Warrior Lady and the Thunder Giant ignored each other, as them both went towards each other's duelists.
"What the...!" It was the last thing Jaden said before Warrior Lady used her sword, cutting through whatever life points Jaden had left, turning them into 0. "I don't understand what happened…"
A loud explosion followed with the screams of the trio of girls after their boat was almost capsized by the waves. Jaden saw that his Elemental Hero went to Alexis and she herself had 2400 life points… that went to 0 instantly, just like him.
Alexis: 0 / Jaden:0
DRAW!
"What happened?" Chumley wasn't sure about what happened, until he turned towards a chuckling Syrus.
"Hahahahah, I can't believe it! So, you can use it to make a draw? Never thought it could be used that way…" Syrus shook his head as he pointed out the only trap card opened on the field. Jaden's eyes were as wide as platters and then he slapped himself, unable to notice himself falling for the same trick twice. "For someone that did not want to lose, this is a surprising turn of events indeed."
The same trap card used at the second turn of the duel.
Doble Passe
Attribute: Trap
Type: Normal Trap
When an opponent's monster declares an attack on a face-up Attack Position monster you control: Make your opponent's attack a direct attack instead and inflict damage to your opponent equal to the ATK of the attack target you control. Also, that monster you control can attack your opponent directly during your next turn.
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Syrus said as he looked at his friend who seemed to be thinking at the same thing. "Well, I think this works well enough. Nobody loses, even though nobody wins either."
Jaden felt a bit dejected, but after giving a sigh and shaking his head, he started to laugh.
"Hahahah, damn... That was a great duel, Alexis. That's game, I suppose." Jaden had to give it to Alexis, he never expected to finish his duel with a draw, but what was he expecting in the first place? It was the first day of class, and today he learned lots of new things.
"Nice work boys, you almost got me in the ropes, but I won't lose twice the same day." Alexis said as she and her friends used the boat to approach the boys, and together the group went to the shore.
"Yep, I don't know why, but this wasn't how I envisioned it." Syrus didn't remember the episode ending this way, but then he shrugged it off. Since it was a duel between main characters, he didn't mind seeing them improving and learning from their duels.
"Well, I have to say that I did some mistakes on this duel, and your remarks made me want to crawl back to the dorm in shame." Alexis said sheepishly as she looked away.
"What do you mean?" Syrus answered, confused. Jasmine could only roll her eyes while Mindy giggled at the seemingly oblivious boy.
"Well… Never mind. I was thinking about a rematch. You and me, tomorrow. A duel. That loss is still bothering me." Alexis smiled as the duo of girls behind her rolled her eyes.
Before Syrus even open his mouth to answer, Jaden quickly positioned between their line of sight, ready to interrupt.
"Oh no, no skipping the line! You already dueled him. I'm going to duel him tomorrow. Isn't that right, Sy?" Jaden turned to his friend and did his best impression of puppy eyes.
Syrus was about to answer both of them, until he got a message on his PDA. And at the moment he opened to check it… His eyes went widen open.
"I'll answer you both tomorrow. Jaden, Chumley, we got to go! Now! Professor Fontaine said if we stay here any longer, she will make us run 30 laps before class." Syrus clearly saw the menacing message from the teacher, and at the moment he said that, both of them went as white as sheets.
"30 laps!? Let's get out of here!" Jaden and Chumley decided to run for their lives, and Syrus gave a glance to the trio one last time.
"I will think about the offer. But from what I saw, both Jaden and you made some misplays. If you want to know more about today's duel, we can talk another time. Now, good night!" Syrus decided to give a small smile as he left the trio of girls who seemed to be smiling at the blue haired boy.
"Well, look at them go…" Jasmine said as she walked together with her duo of friends. "Did he just say misplay? What kind of word is that?"
"He probably meant the mistakes both Alexis and that boy Jaiden made during their duel." Mindy said as she walked backwards, not caring to look behind, as she talked to her friends face to face.
"I mean, I felt like an idiot for doing some amateur mistakes on this duel. And Jaden danced on the palm of my hands as well. Did you see his face when he got tricked thrice by me?" Alexis giggled, committing to remember that moment forever. It was priceless.
Jasmine and Mindy followed behind her friend, laughing together. Despite how surprising the ending of that duel was, and the frustrating moments it had, it was enjoyable for all of them.
After swimming to his dorm, the mysterious swimmer walked over the corridors in the direction of his bedroom to take off his diving suit and rest after the failure of a day he had.
"I can't believe it, it seems that when I want to expel someone, the entire universe turns against me." Crowler's furious steps resounded as he walked toward his room. Entering it, he closed the door with a slam, but without looking inside. Not knowing that behind him was a woman who seemed to be waiting on a chair, sitting patiently.
"A nice night for a swim, isn't that right Crowler?" A voice was enough to make the entire dorsal spine of the professor shiver, as Crowler felt his entire body be covered in cold sweat.
Turning around slowly, the professor could see clearly the person waiting. Crossed arms and a glare showing nothing more than pure coldness, she waited for the professor walk at the middle of his bedroom.
"Professor Fontaine." Crowler almost gagged after seeing the cold glare of the teacher and overseer of the girl's dorm. "What a surprise, I would like to know the reason of why you are in my room at this time of the night. Or how did you get in, even?"
Fontaine looking at the professor who seemed to be feigning ignorance, she decided to be in front of the door, and probably the only escape for the representant of the Obelisk's Blue. She took something from her pocket, and showed it to him. A familiar envelope. Crowler went as white as the paper of that envelope. His sweat started to flow like rivers of pure terror.
"Oh nothing too much, just this love letter one of my students probably didn't write. Someone probably wrote this letter in her name, meanwhile used a lipstick of color red cherry 32 from Botfue. And the key? I got it with the permission of the chancellor." Fontaine decided to be friendly as she mentioned to explain the details of the letter, which Crowler could feel his entire body freeze, and looking at his own balcony, there was the lipstick of said color from the brand she mentioned. And from nowhere, he heard a click, which was enough to make his entire body lock in terror. The nurse, Professor of Physical Education and Aikido Black Belt has locked his door. Eliminating his only way out. "I would like to know if your swim was very good, since you went to my propriety and spied on my students… So, what is your explanation?"
"Let's not take any rash conclusions Professor Fontaine, it can be one of the students has placed the fault in me, making it look it was me who did it." Crowler could feel his panic increasing, because he could hear the fingers on her fists cracking, and the fact she was cracking her own neck, he gulped dry the fact that he was seeing his life flash in front of his eyes.
"Well, they must be very good, because I just looked at your notes of your projects and plans for the classes, and your writing seems to be clearly the exactly of the writing I have in the letter in my hands." And just like that, the last nail was hammered into Crowler's coffin, Fontaine walked slowly at the direction of the scared teacher who just noticed how screwed he was.
"Professor Fontaine please, we can talk about this… Wait, no! Aaaaaaahhhh!
The students of Obelisk Blue woke up from the terrifying screams and shouts of pain, objects being broken from the direction which seemed to be the bedroom of their own representant and teacher.
Some were watching movies, however the painful and astonishing screams was enough for them to feel pity for the poor idiot who just provoked the wrath of someone. They couldn't do anything else than just turn up the volume of their television or try to drown the sounds with their pillows, and ignore the painful screams begging for forgiveness.