Chapter Twenty-One
21
An Unexpected Out Come
As the duel went on, Chazz watched with intensity. He gripped the camera so tightly his knuckles turned white and his hands began to shake.
I don't believe this...
He thought to himself.
Was she just toying with me all this time!?
His memories flashed in his mind, each one filling him with doubt and more irritation.
The time we spent at school...
The classses we took...
The games we played...
Was it all fake? A Big waste!?
NOTHING!?
Chazz's doubts piled on and he began grinding his teeth. He wanted to put an end to this match, he had the means to do so, but at the same time, he wanted to see just how far it would go...
It's that slacker's turn now...
Chazz thought to himself, tightening the grip he had on the camera.
Let's see what happens with this...
xxx
Jaden took a moment glancing through his hand, and slowly a smirk formed on his lips, which probed Connar's curiosity.
"I think I'll activate this spell card." He finally said as he pulled a card from his hand,"Graceful Charity! With this I can draw 3 cards, so long as I discard two." as he played for this action he grinned,"Yeah, sweet!"
But I'll wait for my next turn... I better play it safe so long as she has those face downs.
"Next up, I'll summon Elemental Hero Spark man!" He grinned,"Now I'll have him come at Curran!"
"Man, why you always gotta pick on Curran~!"
Connar twitched and let out a low growl.
Dammit I was hoping I wouldn't have to activate anymore of my face downs...they're important for my plan...!
She didn't have much time to think as the sparking hero came charging at her.
Dammit...!
"I activate Negate attack!" She called out flipping over her trap card.
"Darn it got me again!" Jaden huffed," I'll eventually take out your monsters!" he laughed, "But I guess since I can't continue my attack, I'll have to end my turn.
But my next move is sure to surprise you.
Connar winced, feeling slightly bitter having to be forced to activate one of her dace downs. She drew a card and began to re-think the strategy she was working on.
"Since it's my stand by phase, you know the drill." She giggled as the sparkling magic from Pikeru's white magic, increasing her life points by 600 while soon after Ebon brought Jaden's down.
Connar: 4600
Jaden: 1900
"Prepare yourself Jaden because here's a move you might have seen coming...since you've seen my deck!" she grinned and activated the two Trial of The Princesses spell cards. she was holding.
"Tch...I hoped it wouldn't come to that." he laughed disappointedly.
"You know what happens next!" She grinned as she proceeded to tribute her two magicians to special summon her two Princesses.
Princess Pikeru
ATK: 2000
DEF: 0
Princess Curran
ATK: 2000
DEF: 0
Jaden grinned.
"Smile whle you can Jaden because I assure you this duel will end differently!" said Connar as she sent her Princess Pikeru forward.
"Or so you think." Jaden grinned, "Until I meet you trap for trap once again."
"Negate attack again." Connar huffed as she was put back to the start. "Well then to end my turn I will set a monster in defense mode and place another facedown."
"That makes it my turn, and I'm about to bust some major moves!" Jaden grinned as he drew from his deck, "I'm gonna activate a sweet spell here called Miracle Fusion!"
"What does that do?"
"What that does, Connie, is allow me to summon a Fusion monster using materials from my graveyard!" Jaden grinned, "And the Monster I'm gonna bring out, is my Elemental Hero Flame Wing Man!"
Connar gasped softly with a confused expression.
"Wait, Materials from the grave?" Connar blinked, " I thought you only had one monster in the grave...how did you have the materials to make Flame Wingman?"
"See you thought I only had one monster in the grave, but remember when I activated Graceful Charity?"
Connar's eyes widened as the realization hit her.
"One of the cards I discarded due to its effect, happened to be My Elemental Hero Avian, which when combined with Burstinatrix, creates this bad boy~" He grinned as the beast took his stand on the field.
Flame Wingman
ATK: 2100
DEF: 1200
"And trust me Connie, he's more than just bad!" Jaden grinned as he sent his monster into attack, successfully destroying her Princess Curran.
"Ahh!" She huffed, holding her arms up in defense.
Connar: 4500
"Well...That's not too bad..." she said softly, "It's only a 100 point drop."
"Oh, it's more than that!" said Jaden, "See, when Flamewingman successfully destroys a monster, then that monster's attack points will be deducted straight out of your life points!"
"Oh no!" she let out a squeal as the Wingman's effect took place.
Connar: 2500
xxx
Damn that Jaden Yuki Slacker...
Chazz growled narrowing his eyes as he continued to watch the duel.
What will you do now, Connar?
Surely you won't allow yourself to be taken down so easily by that slacker after coming this far...?
"For now I'll go ahead and switch Sparkman to defense mode...and end my turn at that."
Elemental Hero Sparkman
ATK:1600
DEF: 1400
"That was a good come back Jaden..." she said softly," But I'm afraid this turn will end the game."
"We'll just see about that."
"Indeed we will." Connar smirked as she swiped a card from her deck. Her eyes flared now, with fierce determination. They were sharp, much like her father's eyes. That look alone sent a quick chill through Jaden, startling him as it wasn't a look he suspected to see on Connar's innocent face.
"First- I will start with the spell card Giant Trunade, with its effect, all spell and trap cards on the field will return to our hands!"
"Ah, no!" Jaden gasped as all his face downs returned to his hand now leaving his field open.
"Well even if the field is clear now, Flame Wingman is still the baddest guy on the field!"
"You're wrong about that!" Connar smirked," I'm holding the baddest guy on the field. At least he will be when I summon him!" She grinned as she threw down her favorite warrior, "Say Hello to Kaibaman!"
Kaibaman
ATK: 200
DEF: 700
"Kaibaman?" Jaden blinked, "He's cool and all, but I'm afraid he doesn't quite have the muscle in comparison." he chuckled as he notified the clear different in kaibaman's attack and Wingman's, "Sorry to disappoint you Connie, but I'm afraid I'm not gonna surrender to you- I play to win!"
"I wouldn't expect you to, Jaden." She giggled," And you're right, Kaibaman doesn't have the muscle...yet~" she grinned," First I will lay down the three face downs I originally had before, then I will activate a special spell card~." She smiled as she turned over her trump card to show Jaden.
"Mage power?" Jaden blinked.
"That's right...Mage Power." She smirked, "It's an equip spell card that grants the monster equipped with it 500 attack and defense points for every spell and trap card on my side of the field including itself."
"Wait...500...for every...?"
"And I count 4." she stated, "So by equiping it to Kaibaman, he will be granted 2000 attack and defense, bringing Kaibaman from 200, to 2200."
Kaibaman
ATK: 2200
DEF: 2700
"That's just enough to take down your Flame Wingman!"
"Yeesh...at least I still have Sparkman to protect me after..."
"No you don't." She snipped flipping over her set monster, "With the flip effect of my Old Vindictive Magician, I can destroy one monster on my opponent's side of the field- and I choose your defending Sparkman!"
"Ahhh!" Jaden called out as his defending warrior went up in smoke.
"Now Kaibaman, do your thing!" she called out, forcing the two warriors to do battle. The Difference may have been 100 points, but the the advantage was in Connar's favor, as she watched Jaden's flame Wingman, go up in flames.
Jaden: 1800
"Now all that's left is Princess Pikeru, and your life points."
"Haha...looks like you got me, Connie." Jaden chuckled and held his arms out, waiting for the final blow.
Meanwhile Chazz remained hidden in the shrubbery, watching the final scene at last.
I...don't believe it...
He thought to himself as a smile started to curve his lips.
Connar...is about to defeat that...slacker!
"It was a good game, Jaden."
"Yeah, Connie." Jaden grinned, "Good game!"
She returned her friend's smile and, readied her final attack.
"...Game over!"
Within the after math of the blast, Jaden's laughter could be heard echoing all around them
"Hahaha, and that's game!...A sweet one, at that!" Jaden winked and flashed her a grin.
xxx
She did it!
Chazz beamed and fist pumped excitedly.
Connar won! It's about time someone took down that slacker, and I have proof!
He waved his camera around. Through out the entire event since their arrival he had snapped candid photos to use as his proof to get them both expelled, and he was ready now to expose them. But something stopped him.
Flashbacks.
Past images of Connar's smiling face back when they used to duel together in Duel Prep School. A smile he used to share with her, when no one else was looking.
Is this...really how I want to handle things?
"Uh...say, Connie?" Jaden's voice could be heard over the shrubbery and Chazz glanced to listen, "Is that...sun?"
"Uhm...yeah uh..." Connar gulped, "yeah I think it's dawn now...uh...did we ever sleep?"
"...Nope!"
"Ah...Right."
Suddenly they both let out a cry and Chazz snorted slightly and shook his head.
Idiots...
"We better make tracks!" said Jaden.
"Yeah...before we get tracked!"
"Hahaha, nice one!" Jaden laughed as he took off in a run back toward their dorm with Connar in tow, "I think I'm starting to rub off on you~!" he beamed followed by Connar's giggling.
Yeah...if only I were actually joking...
She thought to herself.
My father would send the coast guard if he disovered I was missing...
xxx
Oh God help us all if that's true...
Chazz sighed as he listened to their foot steps recede and glanced over to the rising sun.
Huh...nice sun rise...
He smiled.
"Wait...sun rise!?" he blinked as it finally hit him that day was breaking, "Those stupid slackers! Now my schedule is all out of wack!" He flailed and let out a battle cry that echoed so loudly it scared the birds from the trees," Those losers are gonna pay!" As he flailed his arms a familiar weight rested in his hand and he glanced at the camera in his grip.
"Oh...that's right...the camera." He sighed in a huff and brought it back down, holding it in his palm, "I have all the proof to ruin them right here in my hands..." he said softly and narrowed his eyes.
I wonder...Did I actually get pictures of the spirits that were talking about too?
A Silence lingered from him for a while as he starting shifting through the photos and a small gasp let out.
"I...I did..." he said softly, "I Got it..." he stared a while in silence...contemplating.
What could he do with this?
"Hmph...you know what?" He scoffed and crushed the camera in his hand into useless scrap, "No- I didn't see anything." he huffed," In fact, I'm in my bed right now." he stated as he made his way back to his own dorm. "And I'm gonna wake up to find that this was all just some wacked out dream."
Now that I know that Connar has a lot more to her...
I'd rather take her out my own way.
He smirked.
And I'll take out that slacker too!
xxx
All three of them slept in class that day. Syrus sighed trying to keep both Jaden and Connar awake. She blinked awake once she heard the clatter of the students leaving at the end of class. Her friends went off ahead to grab a bite while she stretched and squeaked herself to her feet, noticing that Chazz was still asleep a few rows up.
"Princeton?" she softly called to him as he slept peacefully at his desk,"Uhm...Princeton...excuse me?" She poked him lightly which disturbed his rest and he blinked his onyx eyes.
"Huh? Connar...?" He yawned and stretched as he took a glance around the empty class room, "Wait...what happened to class?"
"Uhm...You see, uh..." She blushed shyly, fidgeting nervously as she stood alone in front of Princeton, gripping tightly to a notebook in her hands,"You sort of...slept through it."
"I...What!?" he blinked and slumped into his desk, "I slept through the lesson!?"
"You must have been tired Princeton...I have never seen you sleep through a class before~" she said, giggling softly.
Though of course, so was I...
She thought to herself.
And...I slept through the lesson too.
Still...it's strange to see Princeton do it...I wonder what he was up to last night?
"U-Uhm, here!" she said, handing forward the notebook in her hands, "See I uh..fell asleep in class too but...I went ahead and read ahead in the lesson...so..."
Chazz blinked as he stared at the notebook in her hands. He reached for it slowly then stopped himself quickly turning his nose up.
"Hmph...I don't need your pity!" he scoffed.
"Uh..right, of course, then uhm..." She sighed and placed the notebook in front of him on the desk, "Just...return it later then." She gave an awkward smile and sighed, quickly turning on her heels to walk out quickly.
"Connar...wait!" he called to her, swiftly gripping her wrist in his hand.
"Huh?" she blinked and turned back to look at him, "Yes Princeton? What is it?"
There was a silence between them. He averted his gaze for a while, but his hold on her wrist was warm and remained gentle.
"Connar...I uh..." he struggled awkwardly with the words to say and let out a sigh, finally meeting her gaze with his, and giving her a rare and appreciative smile.
"...Thanks."
She blinked.
It was the first time in a long time since the two even met eyes with no malicious intent. From him, anyway. It was odd, but welcomed. She returned his smile, and acknowledged the grip of his hand with a gentle squeeze.
To Be Continued