Chapter Six: Friends and Foes
Harold couldn't believe it, his first day at duel academy and he had already lost a duel... and to a Slifer, no less! Chazz was going to wring his neck, he just knew it!
Jaden and Syrus ran over to Victor. "See Vic? We knew you could do it, you just had to get your game on!"
Victor nodded. "You've got a point, once I stopped doubting myself, I kicked ass!" Victor then walked over to a sad looking Harold. "I've gotta admit, that was a fun duel. Maybe we could duel again sometime, without the spiky haired prick?" Victor held out his hand, and...
Harold smiled and shook his hand. "Y-yeah, you're pretty good. Too bad Chazz is gonna kill me before we can duel again."
This statement confused Jaden. "Why? It's not like losing a duel is the end of the world or anything. Dueling is just fun!"
Harold shook his head. "Not to Chazz and the others. They see duels as serious contests of strength. And since I'm an Obelisk, they don't think I should ever lose to anyone from Ra or Slifer. I can't say I blame them entirely, my deck is full of super-rare and powerful cards, it's crazy that I lost. Um... no offense."
Victor smirked. "None taken, you just have to remember that it's not the cards that determine the winner of a duel, it's the duelist. Your cards are rarer than mine, true. But I built my power based deck to devastate most strategies. I've gotta say, your Rapid-Fire Magician and Dark Warlock spell damage strategy is pretty good. You've just gotta work on your defense, and you'll be able to deal more damage over time."
The bespectacled Obelisk smiled, he was grateful for his opponents kind words, he was sure to get a far harsher reception from Chazz and some of the snottier Obelisks.
"Thanks, maybe Chazz and the others have the wrong impression of Slifers. We should definitely duel again sometime. What was your name again?"
"Victor, Victor Quinn. And you're Harold, right?"
"Yep. I guess we'd better get going to our respective welcome dinners. They should be starting soon."
At the mention of food, Jaden got excited. "Oh, right, dinner! C'mon guys, lets go eat!" Jaden grabbed Syrus by the arm and dragged him away to the dorm, Syrus flailing all the while.
Victor waved goodbye to Harold and wished him best of luck with the other Obelisks. On his walk to the dorm, he used his PDA to message Jane and Pitt. He'd wondered if their first days on campus had been as eventful as his.
Group Chat: Victor, Jane and Pitt.
Victor: So, how are the Yellow and Blue dorms, any luxurious amenities?
Pitt: WE HAVE THREE PRIVATE DUEL ARENAS!!!
Jane: I see someone's been dueling all day.
Victor: Three? That would explain why we didn't run into eachother.
Pitt: Wdym?
Victor: Well, long story short: Jaden, Syrus and I wound up in one of the stadiums and I dueled an Obelisk. I won.
Jane:What??
Pitt: What??
Victor: Yeah, he had a Spellcaster deck with a burn strategy. He even had a Dark Magician.
Pitt: You got to see a Dark Magician?! SO JEALOUS!!
Jane: That's impressive, Victor. You should be proud of yourself.
Pitt: Yeah! I mean, I know you're a great duelist, but not many people can say they faced a Dark Magician and won! So, how did the poor guy take losing?
Victor: Actually, he seems cool. He's in with a bad crowd, but he's okay. He said he wants to duel again sometime. I think I'll take him up on it.
Jane: I'm gald you're having a good day. Ra Yellow campus is nice. We don't have three private stadiums, but we do have an outdoor duel court. I've heard horror stories about Red campus, are you doing alright over there, Victor?
Victor: It's cramped and run down, but it's livable. Definitely looking forward to going to Yellow, though.
Pitt: One word for Blue Campus... Fancy. It's nuts.
Victor: Sounds like Blue is definitely the place to be. Even if some of the blue students are snobby...
Jane: I'm sure they aren't all like that. Pitt can't possibly be the only nice Obelisk student in a dorm with that many people. Besides, you said the student you dueled seemed nice, didn't you?
Victor: Fair point. I'd love to keep talking, but I just made it to Slifer's welcome dinner.
Jane: Ra's Dinner is starting too. I'll talk to you both later.
Pitt: THERE'S SO MUCH FOOD!!
Victor: HA! Have fun Pitt. You too, Jane.
End of Group Chat.
Victor walked into the mess hall, and took his seat as he put his PDA away. He noticed Jaden and Syrus sitting at a table towards the front, and he was about to get up and join their table when a cat wandered into the room. Several students started griping about Slifer's living conditions, from the rooms, to the food, and somehow the cat got caught in the crossfire too. Victor groaned to himself in annoyance, while he agreed that Slifer was far from ideal, he didn't want to be reminded by everyone's constant complaining. The only person who wasn't complaining was Jaden, although wether that was due to his positive attitude, or due to him stuffing his face with food, Victor couldn't say. The others quieted down when a tall bespectacled man walked into the room. He was dressed in a button up shirt, work slacks, and wore a tie.
"Hello students, I am Proffessor Banner. During school hours I will be your History Teacher, however I am also the Slifer Red Dorm Head. Now I might not be a duelist, but I think you'll find me quite knowledgeable. Normally I would have the first year Red's each take turns talking about themselves. But since I sense some tension and frustration, I think it would be best if we started our dinner. Dig in, everyone!"
Victor quietly ate his food. He was surprised that the history teacher was the dorm head. He of course understood that Duel Academy would primarily focus on Dueling, but they were still a high school after all. It wasn't the fact that the man taught history that surprised him, it was the fact that he wasn't a duelist. He had heard that the Dorm Heads of Ra and Obelsik were great duelists, so to hear that Slifer's dorm head wasn't a duelist at all was surprising. Victor quickly and quietly ate his food, before returning to the dorm room he shared with Jaden and Syrus. He decided that it would be best if he got some sleep, the first day of classes was tomorrow and he should be rested. Victor changed into his pajamas, and climbed to the top bunk. He messaged his friends, telling them goodnight, before putting his PDA away and closing his eyes.
He quickly drifted off to sleep, unaware that not only would he miss his roommate's midnight duel with Chazz, he would also miss out on Pitt's duel with someone that he and his friends would come to know and loathe.
Obelisk Blue Campus, Common Area.
Pitt was sitting in what had to be the most comfortable chair on the planet, at least that's what it felt like to him. The amenities in Obelisk campus had to be the craziest and most luxurious things that Pitt had ever seen. He had spent his first day on campus exploring and dueling. He was proud to say that out of the ten duels he had today, he hadn't lost a single one. Although four of the duels were over quickly, it seemed as if his opponents for those duels only cared about summoning beat-stick monsters, and had no actual strategy. He hoped that Obelisk had more duelists who were there for their skills than for their connections.
His thoughts were interrupted when a male Obelisk approached him. He was tall and well put together. With combed black hair, and a steely look in his eyes. "You there, are you Pitt Toru?"
Pitt didn't respond vocally, rather he nodded lazily.
"Good, I'm glad I found you. My name is Lucien Briggs, and I want to duel you, right now."
Pitt shook his head. "Sorry, guy. Normally I would love to duel, but I'm tired from dueling all day, and I was gonna hit the hay. I'll tell you what, wanna duel tomorrow after classes?"
Lucien's demeanor didn't change. "I'm afraid this can't wait. I've heard other students talking about your entrance exam duel, that you won on your first turn. And according to your Win/Loss record, you've already won ten duels today. People are already saying that you're the strongest first-year duelist... and I can't have that."
This got the short brunette's attention. "Oh, why's that?"
Lucien scoffed "Because that title belongs to me, of course! Now again, I insist that we duel, this moment."
Pitt groaned. "Ugh! You won't take 'no' for an answer, will you? Fiiiiiine, let's get this over with." He got up from his chair and started walking towards one of the arena's."
The tall boy spoke. "Where are you going?"
"To the arena? So we can duel?" Pitt thought it was quite obvious, Lucien had been the one to insist on the duel, after all.
"You idiot, were you paying any attention during orientation? The arena's are closed after 8pm, we have to duel elsewhere." Lucien gestured for Pitt to follow him...
After some walking, Pitt and Lucien had made it to a nearby waterfall outside. It was about a ten minute walk from the Obelisk common room, but Lucien insisted that this was necessary for them to duel without getting caught. Pitt didn't see the point in all of this effort, he hoped that this guy was a good enough duelist to make this secrecy worth it. The two of them put on their Duel Disks, and just as Pitt was about to put his deck in, Lucien held up his hand.
"Just a moment, I'd like to offer you a way to make this duel more interesting."
The short duelist raised an eyebrow at that. "How so?"
Lucien smiled confidently. "Have you heard of an ante duel?" Pitt nodded, so Lucien continued. "Well, instead of us each betting a single card, let's put our entire decks on the line, the winner of this duel gets the loser's deck!"
"Woah, hang on! I'm all for high stakes dueling, but there's no way I'm risking my deck on some stupid prize duel."
Lucien looked dissapointed, but that quickly changed to a mischievous sneer. "Well, that's too bad. You see, I was able to catch a glimpse of your last two duels, and your cards are quite impressive, too good for me to ignore in fact. I can't just let you slip away, so if you won't duel for a prize alone, maybe you need some more incentive." Lucien reached into his pocket and pulled out his PDA. After some fiddling with it, he showed it to Pitt. What he saw was footage of Obelsik Arena Three, and a Slifer whom he rcognized as Jaden was dueling a spiky-haired Obelisk. Pitt also noticed some bystanders, Syrus and an Obelisk girl were behind Jaden, while two obelisk boys were behind his opponent.
"That is live footage from Arena Three's stadium cameras. They're normally connected to a jumbo screen for the spectators in the stands to see, but I've rerouted the signal to my PDA."
Pitt was confused. "Why are you showing me this?"
"You see the Obelisk with the stupid hair? His name is Chazz Princeton, and those two behind him are his not-so-loyal stooges. I have those two morons in my pocket, and they're willing to do or say whatever I tell them to. So, I have proof that Princeton was breaking curfew by dueling a student after hours, which is an expellable offense. But, what if the Slifer he was dueling wasn't that brunette, but was instead... Victor Quinn?"
Pitt was shocked. "What?! How-"
Lucien interuppted. "Just before I left the entrance exam, I ran into a blue haired runt. Once I got him out of my way, I looked to see where he landed, only to see him with you and two others. And again I saw you with them today, outside the orientation buillding. It took just a bit of research and asking around to find out who they were. Jane Minta from Ra, and Victor Quinn from Slifer. The three of you seemed fairly close, and judging by your expression I'd say that assumption is correct. So here's the deal, if you agree to the duel, then we will play with the deck ante rules, and I'll delete my footage regardless of the outcome, keeping your friend safe. But if you refuse to duel me, then I'll have the two morons say that they saw Victor dueling Chazz, and I'll provide them with some slightly altered footage."
Pitt was enraged, how dare someone threaten his friend?! "No one will belive that's Victor, I have proof that he went to bed after Slifers welcome dinner!"
"And I have proof that Chazz owes him DP. Apparently he promised it to him for dueling another student and winning, and I overheard that Chazz has yet to pay. Who's to say he and Chazz didn't meet up to settle the score? Now, enough stalling, will you duel me or not?"
After a moment of silence, Pitt took a few steps away... before turning back to face Lucien and inserting his deck into his duel disk. Lucien was pleased with this answer.
"A wise choice. As I said, I shall delete the footage regardless of the outcome, even though I have no doubt that I'll win." Lucien wasted no more time, and inserted his deck into his duel disk. With both duelists ready, the disks activated. Lucien would have his duel, and Pitt was determined to win.
"DUEL!" "Let's Duel!"
Lucien LP: 4000
Pitt LP: 4000
"As a kind gesture, you may go first, Pitt." Lucien said in an anything but kind tone.
Pitt's response was deadpan. "Gee, how thoughtful of you."
Looking at his hand, Pitt carefully thought of his move. Normally he wasn't so tense during duels, but with Victor's future at Duel Academy having been threatened, and now with his deck on the line, Pitt was quite agitated.
"I summon Edge Imp Saw." Edge Imp Saw, Level 3,DARK, Fiend/Effect, ATK:500, DEF:1000. "It's ability is this: When It's normal summoned, By sending a 'Fluffal' monster from my hand to the graveyard, I draw two cards. Then I pick one card from my hand, and it goes either to the top of my deck, or to the bottom. I'll put this card on the bottom, since I dont need it." The card he placed was a spell he couldn't use right now, so it was the perfect choice to place at the bottom, rather than the top and drawing it again next turn. "Next, I activate my Magical Mallet spell.. This lets me shuffle any cards from my hand into my deck, and I draw the same amount I shuffled in. I put all three cards in my hand back, and draw an entire new hand."
"Much better. I activate Polymerization! I fuse Edge Imp Saw with Fluffal Rabbit from my hand, to fusion summon Frightfur Leo!" Frightfur Leo, Level 7,DARK, Fiend/Fusion/Effect,ATK:2400, DEF:2000. "Finally, FLuffal Rabbit's effect activates. Since it was sent to the graveyard for a fusion summon, I can target add a 'Fluffal' monster that isn't itself to my hand from my graveyard. So, I add Fluffal Sheep to my hand. I end my turn."
Lucien drew a card, and didn't even hesitate to make his move. "I summon Kitchen Dragonmaid in defense mode." Kitchen Dragonmaid,Level 3,FIRE, Dragon/Effect,ATK:500,DEF:1700.
"Now, it's effect lets me add one 'Dragonmaid' monster with a different name to my hand from my deck, and then send one 'Dragonmaid' monster from my hand to the graveyard." Once Lucien had finished the effect of Kitchen Dragonmaid, he quickly continued his strategy. "I set two cards face-down, and begin my battle phase! Now, the other effect of Kitchen Dragonmaid activates. At the beginning of my battle phase, I can return it to my hand, and special summon one Level 8 Dragonmaid monster from my hand or my graveyard. From my graveyard, behold... Dragonmaid Tinkhec!"
The red-haired monster bowed her head, before a glowing light enveloped her. Pitt couldn't help but notice that she almost looked...sad? Once the light faded, in her place was a red dragon, which shared her horns and tail. Dragonmaid Tinkhec,Level 8,FIRE,Dragon/Effect,ATK:2700,DEF:1700.
"Now, attack Frighfur Leo! Burn it to nothing!' The red dragon unleashed a plume of fire that enveloped the sadistic stuffed lion, destroying it. Some of the flames brushed against Pitt, doing minor damage. Pitt LP:4000-3700
"Hmm... I sure hope you have more fight in you, Pitt. It would be a shame if my victory was a boring one. I end my turn."
Pitt drew a card, begining his turn. "Oh, don't you worry, I'm far from done. I summon Fluffal Dog in attack mode, and it's effect lets me add Edge Imp Sabres to my hand. Next, I activate my continuous spell, Frightfur Factory! By banishing a 'Polymerization' card from my graveyard, I can fusion summon using monsters from my hand or field. From my hand, I fuse Edge Imp Sabres with Fluffal Rabbit, and fusion summon Frightfur Tiger in attack mode!" Frightfur Tiger,Level 6,DARK,Fiend/Fusion/Effect,ATK:1900,DEF:1200.
"Now my Tiger's ability activates, and I can destroy one card on the field for each monster used as fusion material. Obviously I'll destroy your Dragonmaid, as for your facedowns...I choose the one on the right!." Frightfur Tiger's arms detached, launching like rockets and crashing intoo the targets, destroying them. "Frightfur Tiger, direct attack!"
Lucien chuckled. "You chose the wrong facedown, I activate my Magic Cylinder trap. This takes all of your Tiger's attack points, and deals you damage equal to that!"
Pitt LP:3700-1800
Pitt snarled in frustration. "Fine, but you cant save yourself from Fluffal Dog. Attack!!" This attack conected, dealing Lucien damage for the first time this duel, after Pitt had lost over half of his life points.
Lucien LP: 4000-2300
"Since Fluffal Rabbit was used for a fusion summon, it goes back to my hand. Your turn."
Lucien taunted him. "My, my, my. So angry, I thought you were supposed to be the mellow one in your friend group. I draw, and activate a Pot of Greed spell. With two more cards in my hand, I'm closer to winning this duel. By sending one Level 8 Dragon monster from my hand to my graveyard, I can special summon Hardened Armed Dragon from my hand."
Hardened Armed Dragon,Level 4,EARTH,Dragon/Effect,ATK:1500,DEF:800. "Now I activate the spell Dragon's Mirror. By banishing the materials needed from my graveyard, I can fusion summon a Dragon monster. I fusion summon House Dragonmaid!!" House Dragonmaid,Level 9,LIGHT,Dragon/Fusion/Effect,ATK:3000,DEF:2000. Pit was impressed with this monster's power, but yet again he noticed something that gave him pause. Like the earlier monster, House Dragonmaid looked sad. Usually monsters had looks of pride, or wrath, or happiness on their faces. That's just how the holograms were programmed, Industrial Illusions wanted duels to represent fun, so monsters only looked sad if they were designed that way specifically, like the monster 'Unhappy Maiden'. While it was possible this could just be a glitch in Lucien's duel disk, Pitt couldn't shake the feeling that something different was happening.
"Heh, maybe they don't like being wielded by him anymore than I like dueling him.' Pitt's inward thought was made in jest, but he had no idea just how right he was.
"Now, House Dragonmaid, destroy Fluffal Tiger!" With a sorrowful look oh her face, House Dragonmaid bowed her head, before charging at a lightning-fast speed, cutting through Frightfur Tiger. Pitt LP:1800-700. "Hardened Armed Dragon, End This with a direct attack!!"
Pitt reacted quickly, revealing a card from his hand. 'Hold It!! I activate the effect of Fluffal Whale from my hand! When I'm attacked directly and I have no other cards on the field, I can negate the attack, and then special summon it to the field. Then you take damage equal to the level of the monster you had attack me times 100." Fluffal Whale,Level 4,WATER,Fairy/Effect,ATK:500,DEF:1600. Lucien LP:2300-1900
Lucien scoffed. "Whatever, you've bought yourself a final turn with your cards, perhaps you can take this time to say goodbye. I end my turn."
Pitt was admitedly nervous, he needed to win on this turn, or it was over. He took a deep breath in order to calm himself, and then... "I draw! I activate my Plush of Greed spell. By sending a Fluffal monster from my hand to my graveyard, I can draw three cards from my deck." He sent his only remaining card, Fluffal Rabbit, to the graveyard, and hoped that the three cards he was about to draw would be the cards he needed to win...
Jackpot.
"I activate the spell Frightfur Reborn!! I revive my Frightfur Leo, and activate it's special ability, destroying one monster you control, and dealing you damage equal to it's attack!!"
The instant Frightfur Leo returned to the field, it's saw blades started spinning. Pitt pointed at Lucien's strongest monster. "Now I'll destroy House Dragonmaid, and you take 3000 points of damage, Go, Savage Saw Spirit!!" Frightfur Leo charged at House Dragonmaid, destroying it. Then, a phantom figure whose outline resembled the fallen monster appeared, and engulfed Lucien.
"No, No, NOOOOOOO!!!" Lucien LP:1900-0
Pitt took his cards and put them safely away, before walking over to the defeated Lucien. "It's over, I won. Now honor your end of the deal!"
Lucien was shocked, he was not at all expecting to lose. "I must say I didn't see that coming. But... I always honor my word." He showed Pitt the PDA, and Pitt saw him delete the footage of Chazz and Jaden dueling. Lucien then took his deck, and tried handed it over to Pitt.
Pitt instinctively wanted to tell Lucien to keep his deck, as he had no interest in a prize duel in the first place. But he remembered seeing how sad Luciens monsters looked, and something told him that they would be happier away from him. He took the deck from Lucien and safely stowed it away. "I hope you'll be able to explain not having a deck on day two of being a first-year, because if you even think about lying or saying I pressured you into this duel, I'll-"
Lucien interrupted by holding up a new deck of cards. "Oh enough with your dramatics. That wasn't my only deck, I have plenty of cards I can use. Now, while you won this duel, don't think this is over. All you've done is prove to me that you're a worthy opponent. And I will ensure that I defeat you."
Pitt gave him a steely look. "Fine, I'm more than happy to put you in your place again anytime. But from now on, if you want to duel me, then leave my friends out of it." Pitt then walked past him and went straight to his room, he'd had enough for today.
As Pitt drifted off to sleep, he felt a wave of calm overtake him, and had a peaceful nights rest. Little did he know, the Dragonmaid deck was emitting a gentle glow, the spirits of the cards thanking him for their rescue from a nasty soul like Lucien.