Again, I don't own anything related to Yu-Gi-Oh! If I did, there would be more scenes with Atem and Mana.
Chapter Four: Fighting to Stay
Mana woke to the sound of pounding. "Come on, guys!" she groaned. "We just went to bed!" She staggered out of bed to the door. She paused to steady herself before opening it; she was still dizzy and exhausted from their adventures in the Abandoned Dorm the night before. She heard an unfamiliar voice as she opened her door.
"Open up!" a woman with shoulder-length black hair pounded on the guys' door. She was followed by several men dressed in black. "Open this door or we'll bust it down!" she continued to bang on the door. Mana guessed someone had said something—she guessed Jaden—and the woman identified herself and her men as the Disciplinary Action Squad.
Mana immediately had a bad feeling about this. "What's going on?" she asked.
She was ignored. Jaden opened his door, and the Squad immediately took him and Syrus away for interrogation. Mana quickly got dressed and grabbed Chumley to go see Chancellor Sheppard.
Sheppard was willing to meet with them. "Why are Jaden and Syrus being punished?" Mana got straight to the point.
"We got an anonymous letter confirming they trespassed at the Abandoned Dorm," Sheppard said. "Going there is a means of expulsion."
"But they weren't the only ones there," Mana argued.
Chumley took courage from Mana's gusto. "Yeah, we, we were there too."
"If someone says they saw Jaden and Syrus at the dorm, then they'd have had to have seen us too. When we left, I was walking with an arm around Jaden and Syrus. Whoever sent that letter isn't telling the whole story."
"Mana's right," Alexis walked into the room. "And they were there because they were helping me. So I should be the one punished."
"And the problem of that dorm shouldn't be ignored," Mana continued. "We were attacked by a phony shadow duelist there, but the duel became a real shadow game because of lingering magic there. Shadow magic doesn't just go away; something needs to be done about that place."
"And how do you know about shadow magic, Miss Gardner?" Sheppard asked.
"I grew up learning about the Shadow Games," she answered. "If the duelist who attacked us had won, you would have had another missing student to deal with." A wave of dizziness hit Mana, and she put her hands on the chancellor's desk to steady herself.
"Are you alright?" Sheppard asked.
"I'm fine," Mana said through gritted teeth. If she was this out of it being on the sidelines, she wondered how Atem felt since he had actually dueled the guy. "Do you believe us or not?"
"What you say about the Shadow Games concerns me," he answered. "Who was it that defeated this shadow duelist?"
Mana bit her lip. Part of her wanted to keep her brother out of this. I'm sorry, Atem. "Atem Muto," she answered. "He defeated the duelist."
"I see . . . ," Sheppard looked thoughtful for a minute before he turned his attention back to his visitors. "Look, I understand you want to help your friends, and I know the stakes are high, but the team-up has already been set. Syrus is Jaden's partner, and I'm sure that he'll do fine."
Mana wanted to argue more, but her head started to pound. "Mana, you don't look so good," Chumley said.
"I agree; you must go to the infirmary," Sheppard insisted. "You are excused from classes today."
"Fine," Mana relented. She turned to Alexis. "Find Atem," she said. "He might be able to help Jaden and Syrus more than we are." Alexis nodded, and Mana left the room.
She headed toward the infirmary but had to stop and steady herself every few minutes to steady herself. This really isn't good. At this rate she might not make it to the infirmary. Mana pushed on, and she bumped into an Obelisk student. "I'm sorry," she apologized as her head spun more. She barely had time to register his white jacket and navy hair before everything went black.
ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ
Atem saw his sister collapse in the hallway. An Obelisk with long navy hair had kept her from hitting the ground and knelt down to support her. Atem rushed over to them. Mana was pale and unconscious, and Atem knew it was because of what happened the previous night. She still hasn't recovered from whatever happened.
He turned his attention to the student who helped Mana and recognized his friend and rival Zane. "Atem?" Zane looked at him curiously. "Do you know her?"
Atem and Mana had agreed to keep their relationship secret, but Atem trusted Zane. They may not have spoken much lately, and they might not agree on everything, but Atem would trust Zane with his life, and he knew Zane felt the same way. "She's my sister," he admitted.
"Really?" Zane asked. "I thought there would be more gossip if another Muto was here."
"Mana enrolled under our mom's name," Atem explained. "She wanted to fly under the radar." His PDA rang before he could say more. It was a message from Chancellor Sheppard requesting his presence immediately.
Zane saw the message. "Go talk to Chancellor Sheppard," he said. "I'll take her to the infirmary." Carefully he picked up Mana and started walking in the direction of the infirmary. Atem thanked him and headed to the chancellor's office.
ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ
Zane had so many questions stemming from the girl he carried. He knew he and Atem hadn't talked much, but he didn't realize how much until the knowledge Mana had come to the school and Atem hadn't said a word. How did she even get into Slifer Red? At the same time, Zane hadn't said anything about his own little brother enrolling and also being in Slifer. He still wasn't sure Syrus should even be there.
He arrived at the infirmary to find it empty. Professor Fontaine was out and there were no other students. He set her on the nearest bed and looked around. He should head to class, but he wasn't sure about leaving Mana there alone, especially since he promised Atem he'd take care of her.
His dilemma was answered when she began to stir. Her blue-green eyes looked around confused as she sat up. She pressed a hand to her head and asked, "What happened? Where am I?"
Zane pulled a chair up next to the bed and sat down. "You collapsed in the hallway, and I brought you here, to the infirmary. How are you feeling?"
"Like I need to stop letting my friends talk me into things," she answered. "And that I still need to give Zane Truesdale a piece of my mind."
Oh? "Why do you need to do that?" he asked. She obviously has no idea who I am.
"His brother Syrus is one of my best friends, and he's going to have to fight to stay here," Mana answered. "Syrus told me about how Zane put him down and said he wasn't good enough to use the card Zane gave him when he made a mistake in a duel. Since then, Syrus has had no confidence in himself; Zane took that from him. That's not how a brother should treat his sibling. Siblings are supposed to help each other move past their faults and learn from their mistakes. The fact that Zane treats Syrus like he doesn't deserve to be a duelist makes him a jerk in my mind, and I won't stand for him putting my friend down. If my brother treated me like that I'd kick his butt into next week."
So she knows Syrus, and she's definitely developed an opinion of me. It was weird to hear someone say all this to his face, but he also suspected she would be more tactful if she knew who he was. At the same time, based on what Atem had once told him about his sister, she probably would just say what's on her mind, like right now. "You should probably worry about yourself before you go confronting other students," he said. "You can barely stand, let alone chase down a top duelist."
"You're probably right," Mana relented. She lied back down. "By the way, thank you," she said as she closed her eyes. Before Zane could respond, she was asleep. Seeing no sign of Professor Fontaine, he prepared himself for a long wait.
ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ
Atem hurried from the chancellor's office to the infirmary. He had been concerned about what Sheppard had wanted, but he was restless the whole meeting. His name had come up when Mana and the others had tried to spare Syrus and Jaden their punishment. Mana had confronted the chancellor about the shadow magic, and then she'd had to admit Atem had dealt with the shadow duelist. Alexis had also been looking for him to help change Syrus and Jaden's punishment. None of it worked.
Sheppard had noticed he was antsy the whole time and finally dismissed him. Now free, he rushed to go check on his sister. When he got there, Zane was sitting by the bed his sister slept on, and Professor Fontaine was examining her. "How is she?" he asked.
"She'll be fine," Fontaine answered. "She just needs to rest, and she'll be good as new. She's just fatigued. She should at least be able to return to her dorm when she wakes up."
"Thanks for helping her," Atem said, and he turned to Zane. "Thank you also for taking care of her, Zane," he added. "I guess I should have mentioned it earlier, but can you not mention what I told you earlier to anyone? You're the only one who knows."
Zane nodded and smirked, and for a moment it felt like old times, before Atticus disappeared. "You know she has some strong opinions of me?" he said. "Did any of those come from you?"
Oh what did she say this time? Was she even fully conscious for it? Atem tried to imagine what his sister would have the nerve to say out loud. Sometimes she had no filter. "I've barely said anything to her about us," he answered. "I know she hangs out with Syrus, and she tends to infer things. What did she say?"
"Well I don't think she knew it was me; she just said she had to give Zane Truesdale a piece of her mind. Apparently I'm a terrible brother, and if you behaved the way I have, she'd kick your butt into next week."
Atem was mortified, but not entirely surprised. It sounded exactly like what Mana would say. Zane stood up and started to leave the room. "I'm not mad at you or her, Atem," he said on his way out. "It just gives me a little perspective on things. Maybe she'll help Syrus prove if he has a place here. And maybe I need to do things a little differently."
Atem watched him go. When Mana woke up, she hugged Atem on sight. "I thought you weren't going to do that here," he said.
"No one's around, Prince," she said. "Besides, I was really worried about everything that happened last night."
"Me too," Atem answered. "Chancellor Sheppard talked to me about the Shadow Game I played."
"I'm sorry; it's my fault you got dragged into our trouble."
"It's fine, Mana," he said. "Something's up anyway. Why would someone only rat out Jaden and Syrus?"
"We seem to find a lot of trouble," Mana added, "or at least Jaden does."
"What do you mean? Actually, let's talk about this on the way back to your dorm."
They left the main building. The way to the Slifer dorm was completely void of students. "Okay, now what's all the trouble you've found? And please tell me you didn't start all of it."
"Hey! I haven't started anything yet!" Mana protested before turning serious. "There was the incident we had with the girls' dorm. Syrus got a fake love letter from Alexis telling him to go to the girls' dorm, but the letter was actually addressed to Jaden. Alexis told me about it afterward. And then Jaden was set to duel Chazz for exam day; all matters aside he should have been put against a Slifer. And now there's this whole Abandoned Dorm trouble."
"And whoever saw Jaden and Syrus should have seen us," Atem concluded.
"Yeah," Mana agreed. "Now that I think about it, I thought I saw a dark figure with a blonde ponytail in the water at the end of Jaden and Alexis's duel."
"And someone had bought all the rare cards from the card shop before any student could get there," Atem added. "I didn't think too much at the time, but that wasn't fair to the students. And then Princeton had a lot of rare cards for that field test. Cards he didn't have before."
"And then there was that duelist at the Abandoned Dorm," Mana continued. "Shadow magic aside, he seemed like he was there to scare us. Maybe someone had overheard us planning on going there and decided to hire someone to scare us away.
"Or at least Jaden, since he's the common link," Atem finished, "and when that didn't work, the person who hired that guy just decided to report Jaden for breaking school rules. Going to the dorm is a reason for expulsion, so if they want Jaden gone, that's a good way to do it."
"But why the tag duel?" Mana asked. "Why give Jaden a fighting chance to stay if the goal is to expel him?"
"If the culprit wants to humiliate him, he would," Atem answered. "If this person hates Jaden so much, he would want him completely humiliated before he was kicked out. I'm guessing the person has had his ego sorely hurt by Jaden, and so they're doing everything to stack the deck against Jaden. That's why the only other reported person was Syrus. No offense to Syrus, but unless he pulls himself together and duels with confidence, he's not going to be able to help Jaden much."
"Well the only two people I can think of would want to hurt Jaden like that are Chazz and Dr. Crowler," Mana added. "Jaden beat Dr. Crowler at the entrance exams, and he beat Chazz on exam day."
"But the love letter problem happened before exam day," Atem countered. "Plus Princeton wouldn't be able to buy all the rare cards before all the other students. And he doesn't have the authority to decide Jaden and Syrus's punishment for going to the Abandoned Dorm."
"That leaves Dr. Crowler," Mana concluded. "Man, I knew that guy was a sore loser! We should report him for all of this!"
"But we don't have any proof," Atem said. "Without proof, all we have are baseless accusations. Right now we need to keep this between us and keep our eyes open. You help your friends prepare for the tag duel, and I'll see if I can find out who their opponents are. If Dr. Crowler decides to use student duelists, there's a chance it could be me or Zane he chooses."
"Oh, that jerk?" Mana yelled. "If Crowler chooses him, it'll destroy Syrus."
"Did Zane really seem like that much like a jerk?" Atem asked, deciding to point out who had helped them. "He was nice enough to help you."
"What do you mean?"
"The guy who brought you to the infirmary was Zane," Atem answered. He struggled not to laugh as his sister's face turned bright red, though he wasn't sure if it was embarrassment or frustration. Probably both.
"No way!" she yelled. "That was him?"
Atem nodded, failing to keep his face stoic. Mana punched him hard. His grin turned into a grimace as he rubbed his arm. His sister could be mean when she wanted to be.
They passed by a cliff and saw Alexis and Chumley watching something at the bottom. Atem and Mana looked down to see Jaden and Syrus dueling. Syrus was staring at a card in his hand deep in thought. I bet that's Power Bond, Mana thought. No other card would cause him to make that face.
"Hey, are you all right there, Sy?" Jaden called to him.
Syrus shook his head as if to clear his thoughts and made his move. He played Polymerization to summon his Steam Gyroid and attack Avian. The move thrilled Jaden, who upped his game with his own fusion—Thunder Giant. Thunder Giant destroyed the Steam Gyroid with its effect. Alexis looked at the monster as a sign of bad news—understandable since Jaden did use it to defeat her. Jaden then summoned his Burstinatrix, and the two monsters wiped out the last of Syrus's LifePoints.
Jaden did his signature victory hand gesture. "That was a good duel there, Syrus."
"I don't know about that; I didn't put up too much of a fight," Syrus said sadly.
"What are you talking about?" Jaden asked. "Sure I pulled it out at the end, but you made some sweet moves. You ought to be proud."
Syrus just looked sadly at his cards. Jaden figured something was up and took his hand to see what his friend had. "Power Bond? Why didn't you use it?" Jaden asked. "You could have doubled Steam Gyroid's attack points. Though on second thought, for my sake I'm glad you didn't use it."
Syrus explained to Jaden what happened with his brother. He then ran off, convinced he wouldn't be able to help Jaden win the tag duel. Chumley quickly ran after him. "He really needs to work on believing in himself," Atem said.
"Was I ever that bad?" Mana whispered to him, careful to not let the others hear her.
"Not that you couldn't bounce back from," Atem answered. "You hit some low points, but you're too hyper to be depressed for very long."
"Hey!" she hissed.
The three of them went to the base of the cliff to talk with Jaden. The two Slifers had the same conversation they'd had multiple times already—why couldn't Syrus believe in himself? When Jaden vented about Zane telling Syrus not to use Power Bond, Alexis and Atem were shocked. Atem knew Zane bordered on "tough love," but he didn't realize Zane had taken it so far. Alexis explained who Zane was to Jaden. "He's the only person who really competes with me for the top spot," Atem added. "When it comes to how to play cards, he knows what he's talking about. The problem is he's never been the most encouraging person."
Jaden then decided the only option he had to pull Syrus out of his funk was to duel Zane himself. The other three tried to convince him it wasn't a good idea, but Jaden wasn't listening. The only thing he had to say was that when he finished dueling Zane, he wanted to duel Atem. Then he would know how he stacked up to the top two duelists of the school.
ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ
Mana went with Jaden the next day to fill out a duel request form to take on Zane. She stood next to him as he filled out the paperwork until Dr. Crowler came along. He saw Jaden was requesting to duel Zane, and once he heard Jaden's reason for the duel, he ripped apart the form. "You jerk!" Mana yelled as she lunged at the professor. She would have said more, but Jaden grabbed her and placed a hand over her mouth. Mana could tell he was frustrated too as Crowler listed all the specific requirements for the request form even though they were never written anywhere.
They left and grumbled their way back to the Slifer dorm until cards rained down on them. A look to overhanging tree revealed Chumley hanging onto the branch for dear life. "What are you doing, Chumley," Mana asked.
"I was reorganizing my deck," Chumley answered.
"There's like a zillion koala cards down here," Jaden said.
"Yeah, they're the best," Chumley said. "Want to have a pick-up duel against them?"
"Hey, a pick-up duel. Why didn't I think of that?" Jaden turned and ran in the opposite direction. Mana chased after him as he explained his idea to have a pick-up duel with Zane.
Their entrance was barred by two Obelisk students. They were the type to ridicule Slifers and said Zane wouldn't waste his time on them. They tossed a bucket on the two in red before heading back into their dorm.
As they tried to shake some of the water off, a familiar spikey-haired Obelisk left the building and saw them. "Let me guess," Atem said, "you came here looking to challenge Zane and ran into some of the less-friendly students here."
"Something like that," Mana said.
Atem sighed. This was a new one for his sister. "Look, I can talk to Zane if you want. He's still a friend, even if we haven't spoken much lately. If you're dead-set on dueling him for Syrus, I'll see what I can do. I can't make any promises though."
"Thanks, Atem!" Jaden grinned. "You rock!"
"Perks of being an Obelisk," Atem smirked. "It's easy for me to talk to other Obelisks without getting all wet." He turned serious. "I'm guessing Zane will be at the lighthouse later tonight. Meet us there. And, Jaden," he looked to the Slifer, "bring everything you've got. Zane won't be like Dr. Crowler or Princeton. He won't be overconfident because you're a Slifer, and he definitely won't pull any punches." He turned to leave.
Mana and Jaden returned to the Slifer dorm to dry off and ran into Chumley. When they got to Jaden's room, they found Syrus gone and a note on Syrus's desk. Dear Jaden, I'm leaving Duel Academy. Don't try and stop me. It's for the best. I would only be holding you back if I stayed. Jaden grabbed the note and crumpled it up. "Sy's not going anywhere!" he promised.
"Yeah, let's go stop him after dinner," Chumley said.
"No, now," Jaden insisted.
"But it's grilled cheese day!" Chumley protested.
"After dinner will be too late," Mana said. "We have to stop him before he gets too far."
They ran around looking for Syrus with no luck. Mana was beginning to think they'd never find him when Jaden deck began to glow. Winged Kuriboh appeared transparent in front of them. Jaden recognized him and started to follow him. "You can trust him." Mana's deck glowed also, and Dark Magician Girl appeared before her. "He knows where your fiend has gone," she said.
"So hungry, starting to hear voices," Chumley panted.
Jaden turned back to his friends and saw Dark Magician Girl floating next to Mana. Okay, so Jaden can see her too, but Chumley doesn't. Wait, I can't worry about that now! Mana shook her head and followed the spirits. She hoped they weren't too late to stop Syrus from leaving. "Come on, Chumley!" she yelled.
"Aw, first no grilled cheese, and now I gotta run? Aw, why me?" Chumley panted as he chased after them.
ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ
Atem walked to the lighthouse. He saw Alexis and Zane talking and called a greeting to them. He could tell they were talking about Atticus. There was still nothing new—the only trace was the picture Jaden found in the Abandoned Dorm. Alexis shifted the conversation to Syrus and Zane. "What? Does Jaden want to scold me now too?" Zane asked. "I already got that from Mana Gardner."
"Really?" Alexis asked.
"Yeah, she didn't know it was Zane, and she was pretty out if it," Atem explained.
"Well, I think Jaden wants do duel you," Alexis continued.
"Yeah he does, and that's part of why I'm here," Atem said. "He and Mana came to the Obelisk dorm looking for you. I said I'd ask you, but made no promises."
"You want me to duel a Slifer? Why doesn't he want to duel you?" Zane asked.
"Because I'm not the one who shattered his tag-partner's confidence," Atem said. "Look, I'm not going to pretend to know what's going on between you and your brother, and I'm not trying to judge. All I know is Syrus has no confidence in himself, and he pulls that from what you said about that darn Power Bond card. Now Syrus and Jaden have to fight to even stay at the Academy, and unless Syrus is able to pull himself together, the two of them will be expelled." Zane didn't react to Atem's words. "Don't you care at all?"
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of yelling. "Stay back, Jaden!" They turned and saw Syrus with a wooden raft. Jaden jumped from the nearby path and landed on the raft, causing it to rock and sway dangerously. It tipped over, dumping the roommates into the water. "Help me! I can't swim!" Syrus yelled as he grabbed onto Jaden.
"And you were going to raft into the ocean?" Jaden yelled back. "That makes sense!" Their heads sank below the water.
"Oh, come on!" Mana yelled from the shore. "I just got my uniform dry!" Then she plunged in to help her friends. She popped up for air before being pulled back under.
"I'm coming!" Chumley screamed as he charged in, throwing his bag aside as he did. He jumped in and realized the water didn't even come to his waist. "It's shallow," he said.
The other three quickly stood up and caught their breath, looking around at their surroundings. Mana could have walked in and not even gotten her skirt wet. "Are you kidding me?" she yelled, her brown hair lying flat for once. "Why did I have to get soaked twice in the same day?"
"Why are you trying to stop me, Jaden?" Syrus asked. "I stink. Please just let me go. They'll assign you a new tag partner, and you'll have a much better shot at winning the match."
"Sy, that's your brother talking," Jaden insisted. "Come on, pal. You gotta believe in yourself."
"And they might just disqualify Jaden if you're not there," Mana added. "They could see that as a forfeit if the full team's not there."
"You gotta believe me," Syrus argued. "I'm a lost cause."
"He is right you know," Zane interrupted the Slifers. Atem and Alexis stood on either side of him. The Slifers stared at them in awe; it wasn't often to see the two top students together lately, especially around a group of Slifer freshman. "You dropping out?" Zane asked his brother.
"Well, yeah, kind of," Syrus muttered.
"Well it's about time," Zane said. Atem turned to his friend. This was excessive, even for Zane's belief in tough love. Syrus immediately turned around and began attempting to fix his wooden raft.
"He's wrong," Jaden said. Syrus didn't respond; he seemed like he was trying not to burst into tears. Frustrated, Jaden turned to Zane. "You're his big brother! How can you say that?" he yelled.
"Because I know him," Zane answered.
"You're supposed to be the one that supports him no matter what!" Mana added. Atem noticed she seemed wary, but it didn't stop her from confronting Zane.
"Yeah, I bet you think you know it all, but guess what," Jaden challenged him. "You don't. And I'm going to prove it right now. Let's duel."
"No, Jaden," Syrus pleaded.
"Duel a Slifer?" Zane seemed to think about it. Part of Atem wanted Zane to accept the challenge, and another part wanted everyone to walk away. "Sure why not?" he answered. "After all, it's been a while since I went slumming."
Had Zane been this harsh when Atticus was around and Atem just didn't notice? Or had Atticus's disappearance pushed Zane to where he was now. Atem never associated much with the Slifers before now, but that was mainly because he didn't know any of them. He never felt the need to insult them as others did, mainly because his dad would kill him if he did. If someone wanted to talk to him, he treated them like anyone else. It was part of what started his friendship with Atticus and Zane. Or at least Atticus dragging Zane along. Atem never expected the rival he met at the national tournament to become one of his best friends. Atticus walked right up to him on the first day and introduced himself and Zane. Atticus never let anything get to him; he could make anyone have a good time. When Atem and Zane bickered, it was Atticus who smoothed everything out.
But now Atticus was gone, and Atem and Zane did have that middle man to make them see eye to eye anymore. Atem kept himself engaged with students and other friends, and Zane became the guy nobody messed with. Until now.
Jaden and Zane readied their duel disks to start. Atem knew to keep a close eye on both players. Last time, Zane beat me to participate in the School Duel. Atem's pride as a duelist made him want to beat Zane the next time, and he took this opportunity to watch Zane's strategies.
Zane took the lead quickly with his Cyber Dragon and cleared Jaden's field. Jaden made a comeback with his Thunder Giant's special ability, but Zane didn't even flinch at the direct attack. Even Atem couldn't keep a poker face against that kind of damage.
Jaden didn't keep his lead for long—Zane brought out another Cyber Dragon and resurrected his first to fusion summon Cyber Twin Dragon. The Cyber Twin Dragon took out the Thunder Giant and would have made a direct attack if not for Jaden's A Hero Emerges card.
"Man, you are good," Jaden complimented his opponent.
Zane smirked, "You too, Jaden."
I haven't seen that in a while. Atem tried to remember the last time Zane complimented his opponent during a duel. He was always so focused, only saying what was needed at the time. Atem was usually the only one to get any kind of commentary out of him during a game. Even then it was rare.
"Now where was I?" Jaden summoned his Bubbleman to the field and used the special ability to draw two cards. Atem saw Winged Kuriboh appear on Jaden's shoulder. I bet I know what at least one of those cards is. If Jaden could pull off the combo he used against Princeton on exam day, he might just win. Jaden fused his Bubbleman with his Clayman to summon Mudballman, which was strong enough to protect him from the Cyber Twin Dragon.
Zane's Different Dimension Capsule activated, and he added the mystery card to his hand. "You played well, but not well enough," Zane said.
"Hey, give me what you got; I'm ready," Jaden challenged him.
"I'm sure you are," Zane answered. "A good duelist is ready for anything, and that means not just knowing how to use all of their cards, but how to play them too. And you play your cards well, Jaden." It's been a while since I heard that speech as well. Atem thought Jaden might be bringing Zane out of his shell, even just a little bit.
It really was over for Jaden. Zane split the Cyber Twin Dragon back into two Cyber Dragons, and then used Power Bond to fuse the two on the field with the one in his hand to play Cyber End Dragon. There's Zane's best monster. Normally the dragon had 4000 attack points, but Power Bond doubled that. Combined with the Cyber End Dragon's piercing effect, Jaden took 5000 points of damage as Mudballman was destroyed.
He wasn't disappointed by his loss. "Thanks for a great duel, Zane," he congratulated his opponent. Zane turned away, but looked back at Jaden and Syrus before walking away.
Alexis and Atem went after him. "So, Zane, what do you think?" Alexis asked him.
"I think Sy chose good friends," he answered.
"I agree," Atem chimed in. Then he looked to his friend. "We should duel again sometime too. Settle the score?"
"We keep saying we'll settle the score, and we never really do," Zane answered him. "But I'm always willing to take you on."
"Same here," Atem smirked.
Back at the harbor, the gang of Slifers joked around as they discussed the duel. When they finished laughing, they decided to head back to the dorm. They were urged on by the rumbling of Chumley's stomach. "Well I could use a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches," he said. His statement reminded everyone that they were late for dinner, and Jaden challenged them to a race back to the dorm. "Aw, come on, we gotta run again?" Chumley panted as he ran behind them. "Seriously, can we just walk though?"
ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ
A week passed, and Mana wandered the main building looking for Zane. She finally found him talking to Atem in the hallway. She debated whether or not to interrupt them when Zane noticed her. "Mana," he greeted her.
Atem turned to face her. "Mana, did you need something?" he asked.
"No, I just needed to talk to Zane," she answered.
Zane raised an eyebrow to her. "What do you need to talk about?"
"I just want to apologize to you," she said. "I said some really terrible things to you when you were helping me, and I shouldn't have. I'm sorry."
"Would you have said them if you knew who I was?" he asked.
"I would have said things differently," she admitted. "I'll admit I wasn't happy with you at the time, but that doesn't excuse the way I acted. Especially since I hadn't known it was you; it's the same as gossiping."
"It's fine," Zane answered. He smiled just a little bit—Mana could see why some girls pined for him. He was actually attractive when he smiled. "I just wanted to gauge your attitude towards me. You had some strong opinions of me then. Have they changed?"
"A little," Mana grinned. "I really don't know you that well to say. But I don't think you're as bad as I originally thought." Syrus said he had finally understood what Zane had meant about Power Bond from that time. Besides, there had to be something good in him for Atem to put up with him. "Anyway, I need to go meet the guys. I'll see you two later." She waved to them before heading back to the Slifer dorm.
When she got back to the dorm, she saw trouble yet again. All the Slifers were watching from the doorway of Professor Banner's room. Mana saw a muscular man chatting with Banner and laughing. Jaden and Syrus came up behind her and explained the man was Chumley's dad and came to make Chumley drop out of the Academy.
"Don't get me wrong, if Chumley were any good at dueling, it'd be one thing," Mana heard the man say, "but clearly he's not. He's wasting his time here." Mana bit her lip to keep herself from charging in and yelling at the man. "It's time for him to give up dueling and come back home."
"I see your point," Banner replied. "Chumley is a bit. . . ." Banner laughed nervously.
"He's a bit dense," the man finished. "You can say it. That's why I want him to come home and join the family business—the hot sauce business. Do you like hot sauce?"
"Oh yes," Banner answered. "I love it; I can't get enough of it."
"Loud and clear." The man placed a bottle of hot sauce bigger than Banner's head on the table. "Here, free sample!"
"Oh no, I really couldn't," Banner was trying to be polite, but Mana could see he was at a loss for how to deal with Mr. Huffington.
"Oh yes you could. Just think of it as a good-bye gift from me and Chumley."
"Not if I have any say in it," Mana whispered. She looked to her friends. "Let's find Chumley; he can't really want to leave." They nodded and went upstairs to the guys' room.
Chumley was packing when they got there. "Chumley, you can't leave!" Mana yelled.
Jaden pulled Chumley around, and they saw the tears in his eyes. "Oh, Chumley," Mana pulled him into a hug. "You don't have to leave if you don't want to," she said. "We can convince your dad to let you stay."
"Just leave me alone," Chumley pulled away. "It's not like I'm worth wasting your time on anyhow. At least according to my dad I'm not."
"That's not true," Mana insisted. "You're our friend; that makes anything to do with you worth it. My dad told me there were several times when he was growing up, he was sometimes asked to choose between victory and his friends, and he always chose his friends. He said it was because friendship was the most important thing; if you don't have people to share your victories with, then the victory is meaningless. So never ever say you aren't worth our time; you're always worth our time."
"Well my dad doesn't know everything," Chumley said. "I really could be a champion duelist 'cause I have a special power I haven't told anybody! Sometimes duel monsters talk to me."
"I believe you," Mana answered. She debated telling the guys she had talked with Dark Magician Girl, but decided to keep it general. "I've heard of that power; it's pretty rare."
"Did you tell this to your dad, Chumley?" Jaden asked.
"Of course not!" Chumley yelled. "Everything to him is just hot sauce, hot sauce, hot sauce!"
Jaden and Mana dragged Chumley to his feet and over to Chancellor Sheppard's office. There Jaden explained the whole Duel Spirit gift to Sheppard, Banner, and Mr. Huffington. Mr. Huffington didn't believe any of it though.
"You can't keep putting down your own son!" Mana finally snapped at the man. "He's telling the truth, and he has a gift for Duel Monsters! Maybe if you focused more on Chumley and less on your stupid hot sauce you would see it!"
"Miss Gardner!" Sheppard chastised her.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, "but I'm Chumley's friend, and I won't just stand by and let him be treated like this."
"I'm with Mana," Jaden said.
"Same," Syrus chimed in.
"Look, kids," Sheppard answered them, "I appreciate you sticking up for your friend here, but I'm afraid this is a personal matter. It's not your business."
Mr. Huffington smirked at them. "That's right. It's family business."
"But sir—" Jaden was cut off my Chumley's father.
"Which is why I propose a duel."
Huh?
"That's right, father versus son," Mr. Huffington gestured to himself and his son as he spoke. "If you have this special gift as your friends say, you should be able to beat me easy. And I'll let you stay at the Academy. But if you lose, then you come home."
Chumley straightened his posture as he accepted his father's challenge. They decided to duel the following morning.
Jaden was excited the on the walk back to the Slifer Dorm. He saw the duel as already won until Banner explained Mr. Huffington had been the state duel champion three years in a row. It was why he had pushed Chumley into Duel Academy in the first place. Banner's continued explanation of Mr. Huffington's deck intimidated, Jaden, Syrus, and Mana, but Chumley had a look of determination in his eyes. Mana often saw that same look in her dad and brother—the look of someone determined to win. They took that as a sign and went to help Chumley prepare for his duel.
They spent the evening in the guys' room working on Chumley's deck. His love of koalas was prevalent throughout the deck. Jaden and Syrus each gave him a card to help balance the deck. "You'll be sure to do great tomorrow," Mana encouraged him. "I know I don't have specific cards that go with your koalas, but take this." She handed him a copy of Swords of Revealing Light. "The Swords have saved me multiple times, and I know they'll help you out when you need them."
"You guys would just give me these powerful cards?" Chumley asked.
"Of course we would," Jaden answered. "We're buddies, and that's what buddies do for each other. Besides, you belong with us."
"Aw, guys!" Chumley wrapped the three of them in a bear hug. "You're the best!"
When Mana left to return to her own room, she saw Mr. Huffington standing outside the dorm. Was he listening to us? Mana knew they tended to get loud; it was possible he could hear them. But he looked more thoughtful than anything else.
The next morning the Slifer dining room was cleared of tables and chairs, and the Huffingtons faced each other. Banner reminded each participant of the stakes, and the duel began.
Banner encouraged the others watching to keep a close eye on the duel and learn from watching a champion. This guy may be a state champion, but he's got nothing on Dad! Mana couldn't help but think about how Mr. Huffington would stack against Yugi. She tended to think along those lines whenever someone claimed to be a champion, or when people thought she had never seen a champion duelist before. Sometime I should at least tell these guys the truth about me. They'd be totally surprised.
Chumley got off to a rocky start by neglecting to take advantage of his Des Koala's special ability. Mr. Huffington summoned his Dizzy Tiger and took out the Des Koala. "You can do it Chumley!" Mana encouraged him.
He nodded and drew his card. Thanks to his Koala March, Chumley was able to summon a Des Koala from his hand and graveyard. Then he tributed them to summon Big Koala and took out the Dizzy Tiger. Mr. Huffington then summoned his Dizzy Angel and activated Flipping the Table, destroying Big Koala and launching a direct attack on Chumley, leaving him with only 1000 LifePoints.
"Stay strong, Chumley!" Mana refused to believe Chumley would lose. She couldn't imagine life at the Academy without her friend.
Chumley nodded and resurrected his Big Koala. He then fused it with the Des Kangaroo card Syrus gave him to summon Master of Oz—Jaden's card. Master of Oz destroyed the Dizzy Angel and knocked Mr. Huffington down to 700 LifePoints.
It was all for naught though—Mr. Huffington still had Flipping the Table out on the field. Combined with two copies of Hot Sauce Bottle, the effects knocked out the rest of Chumley's LifePoints. He sank to his knees in defeat.
They later found Chumley in the room packing. "Please tell me you're not really going," Mana pleaded with him.
"You don't really have to go, do you?" Syrus asked.
"Duh. I made a promise, and I have to keep it," Chumley answered with his back turned to them.
"Then this is really it?" Tears sprung from Syrus's eyes. Mana struggled not to cry as well.
"You're a good duelist, Chumley," Jaden extended a hand to his friend. "Good luck."
"Same to you," Chumley grabbed Jaden's hand with both of his.
Mana threw both of her arms around her friend in a hug. "We're going to miss you, Chumley."
They went to meet Mr. Huffington and see Chumley off. When they got there, the only person they saw was Banner. Chumley's dad had already left and had asked Banner to give Chumley a note. Chumley opened it and read: Dear Son, there's more to school than just your studies. And while you may not have made great grades there, you've made some great friends. That's reason enough for you to stay. Chumley raced to the shore and yelled out to sea and yelled to wherever his dad was. "I won't let you down! I won't let any of you down! From here on out, I'm going to make you proud of me! My family, and my friends!"
ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ
The morning of Jaden and Syrus's tag duel, Mana was hanging out in the guys' room as they prepared. They were surprisingly calm, and Mana worried about who Dr. Crowler would pick as their opponents. Atem hadn't been able to find much out; all he knew was that Crowler wasn't picking students. That meant he was going with professional duelists.
Mana's PDA rang as they made it to the arena. She quickly read the message Atem had sent—he heard a rumor Crowler had invited the Paradox Brothers to duel Jaden and Syrus. A chill went down Mana's spine. Her dad and uncle Joey had dueled them in Duelist Kingdom, and they didn't play fair. They had threatened to trap Yugi and the others in an underground labyrinth forever if they didn't win, and they even cheated on the door challenge. If it hadn't been for the cunning of Pharaoh Atem, they might not have escaped.
"Okay, guys, shut up and listen," she said. "I just got a message about whom you are dueling."
"Who?" Syrus asked nervously.
"If this rumor is right, Crowler brought in the Paradox Brothers," Mana answered. "They only participate in tag duels, and they almost defeated Yugi Muto and Joey Wheeler at Duelist Kingdom. They also use this legendary monster called the Gate Guardian."
"That's not good," Syrus shrank back. "Jaden, maybe you should see if Atem can be your partner."
"I said shut up and listen," Mana chastised him. "Yeah, they're tough. But so are you guys. And this is your chance to prove it to Dr. Crowler, Chazz, Zane, and everyone else who thinks you and anyone in Slifer Red is nothing but a loser. As long as you believe in yourselves, you'll be fine. Because I believe in you; so does Chumley, Alexis, and I bet even Atem believes in you. But that doesn't even matter; we can put all our belief in you and it won't do any good unless you believe in yourselves. That's what my brother told me right before I enrolled here."
"You have a brother?" Jaden asked.
Mana realized she may have said too much. "Yeah, I do," she admitted. "And he's the reason I've made it this far. I guess that's part of why Zane's attitude bothered me so much. But never mind that," she pushed them to the door to the main arena. "Go out there and kick some butt. And remember: the Gate Guardian needs three seven star monsters on the field to be summoned. Take out the pieces, and you won't even see the Gate Guardian."
The guys nodded and strode into the arena. Mana stood by the door to watch. No matter the result, she wanted to be the first greet them at the end. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Chumley burst in from the top audience entrance. I'm glad he made it. Every person on Jaden and Syrus's side in the audience was another reason for them to win. On the opposite side Mana saw Zane looking on coldly. Does he really want Syrus to be expelled? Or does he just not care? Mana thought she was starting to understand Zane a bit, but she still couldn't figure out what he was thinking. Syrus noticed Zane as well and quickly turned away. Don't let him shake you, Syrus.
"You know you could go sit down," a voice behind Mana said.
She jumped and punched the guy behind her. "Atem, would you stop doing that?"
Atem laughed. "But you always hide in places and jump out at me at home. Why can't I take opportunity to scare you when it comes up?"
Mana pouted at him as Crowler introduced the professional duelists; the rumor had been right—the Paradox Brothers performed acrobatic flips and tricks as they were announced. If it wasn't for the different colored outfits, Mana wouldn't have been able to tell the different between the bald twins. "I thought they were retired," she said.
"Apparently Dr. Crowler can be very persuasive," Atem muttered. "I've always known he didn't like Slifers—he barely puts up with the Ras—but I never thought he would go this far."
"What do you think their odds are?" Mana asked.
"Well the Paradox Brothers haven't officially dueled anyone since Dad and Uncle Joey, and they had the Labyrinth Wall and all those special rules," Atem answered. "The main thing they have going for them is the Gate Guardian, but it's not an easy monster to summon. Any of the three pieces would also give them an advantage."
"Jaden's Flame Wingman and Skyscraper?"
"That would help, but they'll need more if they want to get past Gate Guardian."
As Mana and Atem debated Jaden and Syrus's odds, the Paradox Brothers began rhyming their challenges to Jaden and Syrus, and Crowler explained the rules. Teams could not share strategies, advice, or cards not in play, but anything on the field was fair game for partners to use—minus monster attacks.
"Get your games on!" Jaden yelled as each player drew their hands.
Everyone summoned a monster on their first turn. Then Dox sacrificed Para's monster to special summon Kazejin. "There's the first piece," Mana said. Dox continued pushing for Gate Guardian by forcing Sanga of the Thunder into Para's hand.
"And there's the second," Atem furrowed his brows in thought. "If this keeps up, they'll be in trouble."
"Do they really have to rhyme everything they say?" Mana asked.
"According to Dad, yes."
Syrus took the initiative on his turn and fusion summoned his Steam Gyroid. He went in for a direct attack on Para, but Dox stopped the attack with Kazejin's effect. It wasn't good, but it wasn't the worst mistake they could make. Syrus finished with a face-down card. Mana suspected Para would summon Sanga on his turn, but he threw a curve-ball and special summoned Suijin before normal summoning Sanga by sacrificing Dox's Kaiser Sea Horse.
"There's the third piece," Atem and Mana said at the same time.
Para wasted no time in combining the pieces into Gate Guardian. "So much for what I told the guys," Mana said. "They weren't able to prevent its summoning."
"It doesn't matter," Atem insisted. "That monster is not indestructible; Dad proved it at Duelist Kingdom. Jaden and Syrus will prove it here."
The Gate Guardian wasted no time in destroying the Steam Gyroid and taking out a chunk of guys' LifePoints. Jaden fought back on his turn by fusion summoning his Rampart Blaster and used her special ability to attack the Brothers directly. The Brothers kept their advantage when Dox equipped Fairy Meteor Crush to Gate Guardian. Syrus tried to destroy it with Mystical Space Typhoon, but Para countered it with Judgement of Anubis, which destroyed the Typhoon and the Rampart Blaster and dealt Rampart Blaster's attack points as damage to the Slifers. Then Dox summoned Defense Wall to take any of their attacks.
Syrus tried to defend them with Cycloid, but it was no match for Gate Guardian, and the Fairy Meteor Crush dealt piercing damage to them. They were down to only 1700 LifePoints. The Brothers still had 7000. "Oh no," Mana gripped her brother's hand as she watched. "Atem, what do you think they can do?"
"They're not out yet, Mana," he answered. "As long as they have LifePoints and cards, they still have a chance."
As the Brothers made another rhyme, Mana asked, "Is bad that I want to duct-tape their mouths shut so they stop with the rhyming?"
"I'm pretty sure everyone they meet thinks the same thing," Atem smiled. "I think you're fine as long as you don't actually do it."
Jaden got a second wind and began their process of turning the duel around. He summoned Sparkman and equipped him with Spark Blaster. He then used Spark Blaster's effect to switch Gate Guardian into defense mode, and then finished with a face-down.
Mana could see Syrus was seriously beginning to doubt himself. "Stay strong, Syrus!" she called to him. "Remember to believe in yourself!"
Whether it was her words or Jaden's, Syrus made his draw. He seemed satisfied with his card and summoned Drilloid. Using Drilloid's effect, Syrus was able to destroy Defense Wall, though they took damage doing it. He kept up his combo by playing Shield Crush to destroy the defensive Gate Guardian.
The Brothers didn't stay down for long. Para activated his Dark Element spell and payed half of their LifePoints to special summon Dark Guardian from his deck. "That's new," Mana whispered, "and terrifying."
"Yeah, Dad and Uncle Joey never mentioned that."
Dark Guardian quickly went in to finish them off, but Jaden managed to stop it with Hero Barrier. Syrus shrunk back from the power of Dark Guardian. Don't give up yet, Syrus! Mana mentally pleaded with her friend. You guys can do this!
Jaden pulled out a combo to fusion summon his Tempest, and then he played Skyscraper to increase Tempest's attack points. He went in for the double destruction, but Dark Guardian couldn't be destroyed by battle. Jaden had to sacrifice Syrus's face-down card to keep Tempest on the field. Dox activated a trap on his turn that forced the two to battle again, and Jaden had to give up Skyscraper to save Tempest, resulting in them taking 1000 points of damage.
Syrus's turn was the last. He sacrificed his Drilloid to summon his UFOroid, and then he activated Power Bond to fuse the UFOroid and Tempest to summon UFOroid Fighter. He did it! He actually played Power Bond! Mana squealed in delight as UFOroid Fighter's attack points were doubled to a total of 8000. Dark Guardian survived the attack, but the Brothers did not.
"You guys did it!" Mana screamed as she ran up and threw her arms around her friends. "I'm so proud of you guys!" Syrus cried tears of joy as Sheppard announced they were allowed to stay. Jaden congratulated the Brothers on a great duel, and Sheppard then shifted the punishment for going to the Abandoned Dorm as a ten-page, single-spaced paper about what they learned dueling the Brothers. Jaden's victory high came crashing down.
As they left the arena, Mana looked to Atem still standing in the doorway. As they passed, he gave them a thumbs-up, looking so much like the King of Games himself.
Thank you for reading!