Duel Academy:Gym
Similarly to the entrance exams, everyone had to sit in seats lining the gym. When you received a message through your PDA, you were to head to your specific field to duel. While Kai had arrived with Bastion and Greg, he ended up sitting next to Jasmine. Not that he would complain.
Kai liked what he and Bastion had as friends, but he couldn't deny it being nice to sit with the harpie user. Over the last month, since their duel, things settled into a form of comfortable for the two of them. They exchanged acknowledgements and had good conversation.
"So, I hear you're up for promotion." Jasmine stated.
"Who told you?" Kai inquired.
He'd found out too soon to really bring it up with the Obelisk in time.
"Gossip spreads, especially about the person who went on a dueling tear to get there." Jasmine responded. "Personally, I'm hoping you succeed because it'd be nice having you closer."
"Chalk that up as another reason why I got to succeed then." Kai responded with a smile.
Even before she brought it up, Kai wouldn't deny the thought of being able to see Jasmine more hadn't crossed his thoughts should he be promoted. Still, the fact he said it did bring a genuine smile to the harpie user's face.
"She has a nice smile." Kai noted to himself, feeling it'd be improper to say it.
At that moment, Jasmine's PDA dinged. "Ah, looks like I'm up."
Kai nodded. "Good luck."
"Thanks." Jasmine stood. "You too."
With that, she was gone.
"That was nice while it lasted." Kai's mind then turned to the upcoming duel. "I wonder who my opponent will be?" At that moment, his PDA beeped, so he stood. "Looks like I won't have to wait long to find out."
Kai made my way down to the field and managed to catch sight of Jasmine's duel. While it was just getting started, she appeared to be dominating her opponent. Harpie Lady Sisters were out right alongside the archetype's field spell.
Across from her, he spotted Bastion against a fellow Ra, Beauregard. For this duel, he was utilizing his Evol deck. Kai soon reached his arena and awaited his opponent. Their duel proctor, Professor Sartyr, stood ready. When he saw Kai, the man smiled proudly.
After a moment, Kai spoke up. "Where's my opponent?"
"I'm right here." A familiar, stern voice declared.
He turned to see Dimitri walking towards the arena. Despite some minute differences, it wasn't hard to see who he was emulating. He wore his yellow blazer open to reveal the same outfit Kai wore. His normally spiky, gravity-defying hair was gelled down and styled exactly like his.
Dimitri took his place across from Kai. "I'm ready to go."
"Excellent." Sartyr stated. "Let the exam begin!"
Both duelists activated their duel disks.
(Kai 4000/Dimitri 4000)
"I'll go first." Dimitri drew. "I'll begin by summoning one of my favorites, Heroic Challenger – Double Lance(LV 4/1700/900)." A white, purple, and light blue armored warrior wielding two lances appeared. "For the Xyz summon a monster, this Challenger can act as two monsters.
I construct the overlay network with Double Lance. Xyz summon Heroic Champion – Gandiva(R 4/O 1/2100/1800)." A black and yellow armored warrior, atop an armored horse and wielding a bow, appeared. "I'll then set one card and call my turn good there."
"Dimitri…" Kai thought.
"Now, that's interesting." Bastion remarked as he returned to the stands.
When he returned to his seat, he found Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, and Greg waiting for him.
Jaden clapped Bastion on the back. "Hey, nice match."
"Why thank you." Bastion stated. "Are there any interesting games on?"
"You just missed Jasmine's" Syrus informed. "She got a quick, perfect win."
"Yeah, she seems tough." Jaden gave a competitive smile. "I wouldn't mind getting a duel with her."
"Hey Bastion, is that guy dueling Kai…" Greg began.
"It is Dimitri." Bastion informed. "It appears as though he decided to copy Kai for today."
"Dimitri, are you really copying my deck?" Kai asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"You're deck." Dimitri looked confused. "I spent years looking for a deck that fits me and spent the last month working to perfect it. Now, you should really make your move."
This just seemed cruel to Kai because Dimitri was his friend. After the countless losses his fellow Ra had suffered, he wanted the guy to get a win. It would do wonders for his confidence and might even help him get on the right track.
"No, I can't even contemplate losing." Kai chided himself. "That would be disrespectful. Even if it wasn't, losing to Dimitri now wouldn't be the right track. All it'd do is set him on my track, and he's not me."
Dimitri needed to be set on his own path forward, not attempt to take someone else's. If his friend won here, he'd never grow beyond utilizing other people's decks.
"My turn." Kai drew. "Firstly, I'm activating Forbidden Chalice.Now, I can target one monster and boost their ATK by 400 while negating their effects until the end of the turn. All you have is Gandiva."
Heroic Champion – Gandiva(R 4/O 1/2500/1800 effect)
"Quite the useful card." Dimitri nodded. "I have one of my own in my deck."
"My turn is still going." Kai just shook his head. "Since you control a monster, and I control none, I can special summon Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd(LV 4/1800/300)." A purple armored warrior, wielding a halberd, appeared.
"Hm, seems we are using similar cards." Dimitri noted. "A bit unoriginal if you ask me. You should try coming up with your own strategies."
"We'll see who's unoriginal by the conclusion of this duel." Kai stated. "I still have my normal summon, and I'll use it to bring out War Rock Wento(LV 4/1800/1800)." A green haired, female archer appeared. "Now, time to battle. I'll attack your Gandiva with Assault Halberd."
"Now, you'll use Wento's effect by paying 800 of your own life points to give your battling monster an extra 800 ATK." Dimitri interrupted.
"Then, it should come as no surprise when Wento destroys Gandiva." Kai retorted as War Rock Wento(LV 4/2600/1800 effect) glowed green before shooting an arrow through Gandiva (Kai 3200/Dimitri 3900).
"I'll chain my face down Back to the Front." Dimitri declared. "I can now target 1 monster in my grave and special summon them in defense position. Welcome back Heroic Champion – Gandiva(R 4/O 0/2100/1800)."
"I'll just attack Gandiva with Halberd, who can deal piercing damage, and utilize Wento's effect once more." Kai declared as this time, Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd(LV 4/2600/300) glowed green as he slashed through Gandiva (Kai 2400/Dimitri 3100).
"I'd say I've come out of that exchange a little better than you." Dimitri commented.
"It's a matter of perspective." Kai voiced. "For instance, since Halberd dealt you battle damage, I can add any Heroic card I wish from my deck to my hand. Now, I construct the overlay network with my two level four monsters. I call forth the king of wishes. Xyz summon Number 39: Utopia(R 4/O 2/2500/2000)." A gold and white warrior appeared.
"That card really is one of a kind." Dimitri broke character, he'd spent ages looking for a way to secure a Number 39 of his own.
"That's one of the problems with how you've dueled up to this point Dimitri." Kai voiced. "You'll always run into problems finding the rarer cards. Want to copy Yugi? Good luck finding several of his cards. Seto Kaiba? All those Blue-Eyes are his alone."
Dimitri grunted at that but ultimately fell back into character. "Is that all you got?"
"Just this one set card." Kai sighed. "I end my turn there."
"Back to me!" Dimitri drew. "I summon Heroic Challenger – Spartan(LV 4/1600/1000)." A beige and gold spartan appeared. "Whenever an Earth Warrior-type monster is normal summoned to my field, I can special summon War Rock Gactos(LV 4/1900/1900)."
A man with two stone clubs appeared. "I now construct the overlay network with my two level 4 monsters. The most noble of knights is clad in lights! Xyz summon Heroic Champion – Excalibur(R 4/O 2/2000/2000)."
A red and silver armored warrior, wielding the blade, appeared. "By detaching 2 overlay units, Excalibur can double his attack until the end of your next turn." Heroic Champion – Excalibur(R 4/O 0/4000/2000 effect).
"Now, attack Utopia with Shock Sword Slash!" Excalibur held his sword aloft and collected electricity before surging forth. "Before you use Utopia, I activate my own Forbidden Chalice to negate his effect at the cost of giving him a little more ATK."
Number 39: Utopia(R 4/O 2/2900/2000 effect)
"While that's well and good, I activate my face down Breakthrough Skill." Kai countered. "Like Forbidden Chalice, this card negates the effects of one monster you control until the End of this turn, and comes with the added bonus of no ATK buff."
Heroic Champion – Excalibur(R 4/O 0/2000/2000) was parried before being destroyed in one fell slash (Kai 2400/Dimitri 2200).
"A clever counter." Dimitri declared. "I guess I'll end my turn with a face down."
"I think it's time I bring this to an end." Kai drew. "First, the card I added through Assault Halberd was my Heroic Challenger – Double Lance(LV 4/1700/900), and I'll summon him. Now, just as you did prior, I can special summon War Rock Gactos(LV 4/1900/1900).
I overlay Double Lance and Gactos to build the overlay network. I call upon the legendary sword of Japan. Xyz summon Heroic Champion – Kusanagi(R 4/O 2/2500/2400)." A red and orange warrior with a glowing orange blade appeared.
"No!" Dimitri cried, breaking character.
"I take it that means he was relying on that set trap and just hoped I couldn't bust out Kusanagi." Kai sighed."I'm sorry Dimitri. Utopia, attack Dimitri directly and end this duel."
Despite knowing it was over, Dimitri still tried. "I activate my set War Rock Generations. Since you obviously control more monsters than me during the Battle phase, I can special summon any War Rock monster I wish from my deck."
"I'll counter with Kusanagi's effect." Kai declared. "By detaching one of his overlay units, I can destroy any one trap you activate and bestow my monster with 500 extra ATK."
Heroic Champion – Kusanagi(R 4/O 1/3000/2400 effect) slashed out his sword, sending out an orange crescent of energy that struck and shattered the trap card.
"Now Utopia, end this with Rising Sun Slash!" Kai shouted.
Utopia drew one of his blades and lunged forward to slash through Dimitri, depleting what remained of his life points (Kai 2400/Dimitri 0).Despite what this win meant, Kai's stomach sank as his friend fell to his knees in absolute defeat.
"Even with a deck like yours, I can't…" Dimitri hung his head. "What's wrong with me? Why can't I ever win?"
"You haven't been winning or losing." Kai's words, as he approached, drew Dimitri's gaze. "You won't do either until you've put yourself out there, create your own deck. If you create your own deck, will you win or lose? No one can answer that for you.
What I can say is I genuinely think playing whatever deck you make will see you doing a lot better. Me personally, I believe whatever deck Dimitri makes, not Dimitri pretending to be someone else, will be a deck anyone would be glad to have gone up against."
"Maybe…Maybe it is time I tried making my own deck." Dimitri stated.
"If you want to do that, you got to dig deep and declare it properly." Kai encouraged. "Resolve to make the change you want to see in yourself. Resolve to make your deck properly."
Dimitri looked down as he closed his eyes for a minute. When he next opened them, Kai could see the friend he met over a month ago now within those eyes.
"I'll make an awesome deck." Dimitri declared enthusiastically.
"There we go." Kai smiled as he held out his hand. "Now, let's get you off the ground."
Dimitri accepted the hand up. "Hey Kai?"
"What is it?" Kai asked.
"Even though I've shut myself off for a while there…" Dimitri looked away from his friend before gaining the resolve not to look away. "Even though you'll be in blue, and I'll be in red now, we're still friends, right?"
"Wait, what are…" Kai began.
"I did my best to not let it get out, but this was a demotion duel for me." Dimitri stated. "I'll be moving into the red dorm with this loss."
"Dimitri." Kai used his grip on his friend's hand to pull him into a one-armed hug. "Red, yellow, or blue, it doesn't matter. You and I, we're best friends my guy."
Dimitri one arm hugged him back. "After I have my deck, I'll put in the work and join you in Obelisk before you know it."
They parted with huge grins on their faces. Sartyr smiled proudly at both his Ras. Of course, they would each be heading to their respective new dorms no long after their promotion and demotion, respectively. Still, he could enjoy the moments that remained until then.
From there, more duels would happen with Syrus and Alexis being the next two to go. The former would eek out a win against his Slifer opponent while the Obelisk Alexis ended up dueling was taken down in a flawless victory.
Viewing Box
As Crowler left to keep up his end of the agreement, to ensure the match he was insistent on happened, Mokuba looked to Sheppard. "I think we should Cronotewler's present disposition towards Jaden Yuki."
"I'm listening." Sheppard voiced.
"I've looked into things associated with Crowler since arriving at the academy." Mokuba voiced. "By all accounts, the man seems to have taken his lose to the HERO user personally. Despite it being impossible by my brother's word, any other teacher would have advocated him in Obelisk.
When it came to Crowler, he had nothing to say about Jaden's performance in the practical. Now, he's advocated Jaden Yuki duels Chazz Princeton, which in turn forces our hand to randomize another Obelisk against another Slifer."
"What exactly do you think should be done?" Sheppard asked.
"Just noted down." Mokuba informed. "For now, Crowler has seemingly done nothing above creating obstacles. Given Jaden is one of the three my brother has put trust in…well, let's see what some adversity does to that diamond in the rough."
Duel Fields
Topher, after being paged, made his way to a duel field. There, he found Chumley waiting as his opponent while Crowler stood off to the side.
"What is this?" Topher asked, annoyed.
"Whether you believe me or not, the two of you were randomized to duel." Crowler crossed his arms. "It happened due to a duel which has been set creating an odd number of Slifers and Obelisk."
"Then, this is just for Chazz's precious duel against Jaden, the one you wanted." Topher scoffed. "Fine, I'll wrap this up quickly."
When an Obelisk wanted to get something over with, that was a bad match up. At least when they generally wanted to toy around with you, there was a chance any Slifer could last an extra turn or two, provided they were lucky.
"Maybe I should just forfeit and save myself the embarrassment." Chumley contemplated.
"Don't be down on yourself Chumley!" Jaden's voice rang out across the gym, drawing everyone's attention. "No duel is over until the last life point is gone."
"Win or lose, the worse you can do is give up without trying!" Greg added. "Play it out man. No matter the result, we'll celebrate it all the same!"
"Yeah!" Syrus was shy, yet he had the desire to support the guy like the other two. "Duel your best, and we can all have grilled cheeses with soda tonight!"
"Well, I can't exactly bow out with grilled cheese promised like that." Chumley did his best to look determined as he faced his opponent. "I'm ready."
"We'll see." Topher stated firmly.
"Let's Duel!"
(Chumley 4000/Topher 4000)
"As I said, I want this to end fast." Topher declared. "So, you're up first."
"Alright." Chumley drew. "I'll start by setting one monster and one card before ending my turn."
"Allow me to show you the difference between a Slifer and Obelisk." Topher drew. "I summon Armed Dragon, the Armored Dragon(LV 4/1900/1400)." A bipedal, brown dragon with red armor on appeared. "Then, I'll activate Stamping Destruction. Thanks to controlling a dragon-type monster, I can destroy that back row of yours and deal five hundred life points of damage."
Armed Dragon ascended before coming down and shattering the set card, which was revealed to be Michizure (Chumley 3500/Topher 4000).
"Totally not lichious." Chumley thought.
"Now, my dragon will destroy your set monster." Topher declared.
He ascended before swooping down and destroying the monster, which flipped up to reveal Des Kola(LV 4/1100/1500). The brown, large kola was shattered by the impact.
"The monster you just flipped was my Des Kola." Chumley declared. "While he is destroyed, his effect still activates to deal you 400 life points for every card in your hand. Between 4 cards, that's 1600 life points."
Topher was awash with an earthy, grassy energy that drained his life points (Chumley 3500/Topher 2400).
"Er, you're not the only one with an effect Slacker." Topher declared, peeved at taking such a potent hit like that. "Whenever Armed Dragon here destroys a monster, I'm allowed to special summon any one dragon from my hand or deck.
Specifically, a level 5 or lower Wind attributed dragon. "I'll call on my Delta Flyer(LV 3/1500/900) from the deck." A small, dull gold dragon appeared. "Now, I'll pay you back for that effect damage of yours with a direct attack."
Delta Flyer flew through the opposing beast user (Chumley 2000/Topher 2400).
"With the battles concluded, Delta Flyer will give Armed Dragon, the Armored Dragon a tune up to synchro for 7. "Feel the crushing blow of victory. Synchro summon Exploder Dragonwing(LV 7/2400/1600)." A hulking black dragon with orange wings appeared.
"He was able to do all that…" Chumley thought stunned.
"I'll conclude my turn with one set cards." Topher declared. "You're move."
"What do I have that can compete with…" Chumley's thought stopped as he ended up drawing and seeing a game changer. "This is one of those cards I got from the pack Ms. Dorothy got me." He looked to the rest of his hand. "This…this could work!
All I need is a little luck." He nodded. "First, I reveal my Gallis the Star Beast. Now, I send the top card of my deck to the grave. If it's a monster, you take damage equal to 200 x its level and I can special summon Gallis."
"Like you'll be that lucky, Slacker." Topher scoffed.
"Normally, I'm inclined to agree; however, today seems to have been my lucky day." He put his hands on his deck. "Here goes." He drew and smiled. "This here is my Big Kola(LV 7) meaning you're about to take 1400 points of damage while the monster I revealed gets to appear."
Gallis the Star Beast(LV 3/800/800), a black furred, red armored gryphon appeared (Chumley 2000/Topher 1000).
"Alright, look at Chumley!" Jaden cheered.
Greg nodded with a smile. "He's going off right now."
"Since the total ATK of all monsters you control is more than that of the monsters I control, I'm allowed to special summon Alpha, the Master of Beast(LV 8/3000/2500)." Chumley declared. "This guy has a lichious ability.
Through him I can target any number of Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Winged Beast, return them to my hand, and then return an equal number of cards you control back to your hand. In return, Alpha just can't directly attack this turn."
"Huh, that card…" Topher went wide eyed as he did at least a little research in the cards arriving on the island. "How did you get your hands on one of the rare cards delivered today!? They were sold out!"
"I happened to be in the right place, at the right time." Chumley answered. "Now,
I use Alpha's effect on himself and Gallis to clear both fields." All monsters, and Topher's set cards vanished.
"Now, I still have my normal summon. I'll put it to good use on my Desmanian Devil(LV 4/1700/1400)." A small, black beast appeared. "Time to put an end to this. Desmanian Devil, attack Topher directly to finish this!"
"I will not lose here, not after everything I said to Chazz!" Topher took a card from his hand. "Since you've declared an attack, I'm free to special summon Checksum Dragon(LV 6/400/2400), and I do so in defense position." A black and red dragon appeared.
"Er, I won't reinitiate my attack." Chumley declared.
"Good; however, this effect isn't over yet." Topher declared. "When Checksum is special summoned through his effect, I gain life points equal to half his DEF (Chumley 2000/Topher 2200)."
"I have nothing more to play this turn." Chumley voiced. "Your move."
"Now, I'll end this!" Topher drew. "By paying half my life points, and targeting any level 6 or lower monster I control, Checksum Dragon, I can special summon Destrudo the Lost Dragon's Frisson(LV 7/1000/3000)." A skeletal dragon with some muscle and tissue on it appeared.
(Chumley 2000/Topher 1100)
"A Level 7 tuner!" Chumley exclaimed.
"That is how it starts; however, his level is reduced by the level of the monster targeting for his effect." Destrudo the Lost Dragon's Frisson(LV 1/1000/3000 effect). "That's all the better as now he can give Checksum a tune up to Synchro for 7 once more. I call upon the power of the dragon imbued with the blade.
Synchro summon Kuibelt the Blade Dragon(LV 7/2500/1900)." A white scaled dragon with golden blade wings appeared. "Destrudo, rather than going to the grave, is now placed at the bottom of my deck. As for Kuibelt, since he was Synchro summoned, I can destroy any one card you control. Go, Bladed Shrapnel!"
"Er, my Desmanin Devil!" Chumley exclaimed, as his monster was torn up by the blades.
"Now, my dragon ends this with a direct attack." Topher declared. "Go, Blade Wing!" Kuibelt rushed forward and slashed his wing through the beast user (Chumley 0/Topher 1100). "It's done."
Chumley wasn't saddened to have lost. "This was the closest I've come to beating any Obelisk."
Jaden, Syrus, Greg, Bastion, Dimitri, and Kai cheering for him made this defeat taste even less bitter than it already did.
Topher investigated the stands and managed to see Chazz, locking eyes at him. "See that Chazz, I don't need you anymore."
Chazz, as if he knew what the guy was thinking, visibly snarled. Satisfied, Topher turned on his heels and strolled off towards his original place within the stands. From there, more duels would naturally follow.
Mindy unfortunately lost her duel against a fellow Obelisk Female while Greg managed a rather swift victory against a fellow Slifer. While not up for promotion this time, this did catch the attention of several faculty members.
Eventually, Jaden was paged, and upon arriving, he was ecstatic to see Chazz as potentially his opponent. "I not only get to duel an Obelisk, but the one I do get to duel is Chazz?"
"That's right Jaden." Crowler retorted. "Since you always talk such a big game, I've pulled some strings for you to get the challenge you deserve. So, congratulations. You'll be dueling one of the top-rank duelists in the school."
"This is great!" Jaden declared. "I've been itching to get a rematch after our last duel ended inconclusively."
"Yeah, right." Chazz scoffed. "It's clear I would have won had the duel continued."
"We'll just have to see about that." Jaden grinned. "Get your game on. We'll finish what we started over a month ago now."
"Whatever duel you're referring to clearly didn't happen in front of the whole school like this one." Crowler voiced.
"They can all watch as you get slammed by me." Chazz added.
They armed their duel disks while Dr. Crowler ran off to join the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor.
"DUEL!"
(Jaden 4000/Chazz 4000)
Jaden drew and heard Winged Kuriboh. "There you are my favorite furry friend." He added the card to his hand. "You can chill out here for a bit buddy." He grinned. "Alright, I'll start things off with my Graceful Charity.
Now, I'll get to draw three more cards before then having to discard two." He got everything sorted. "Alright, I'll round out this turn by setting one monster and one face down. That's all from me."
"Don't think for a second you actually got anything that intimidates me." Chazz drew. "Especially since I got the field spell Union Hanger." The arena transformed into a mechanized hanger with several slots showing different machines.
Viewing Box
Mokuba perked up upon seeing that card. "Is it possible the person who bought out all the rare cards did as such on Chazz's behalf?" He crossed his arms. "If he got them all, then this is the kind of adversity Seto would want any of those three to face."
Duel Field
"When I activate this, I can take any Light attributed Union monster from my Deck and add it to my hand." He added a card. "Then, I'll summon V-Tiger Jet(LV 4/1600/1800)." A blue and yellow machine tiger appeared.
"Now, I'll activate Frontline Base. Every turn, I can special summon any Level 4 or lower Union monster from my hand. I have just the one in W-Wing Catapult(LV 4/1300/1500)." A blue machine appeared.
"Due to Union Hanger, when a Light Union monster is summoned, I get to target it. Then, I take a second one from my deck that's different and equip it to the summoned monster. I target W-Wing Catapult and equip it with B-Buster Drake. Now gentlemen, start your engines!"
B-Buster Drake blew up as it was sent to the grave before the two remaining monsters on the field flew up to become on. "Fusion summon VW-Tiger Catapult(LV 6/2000/2100). Just wait, as he still has his special ability."
"Give me a break!" Syrus complained. "Is this guy's turn going to end sometime this century?"
"By sending one card from my hand to the grave, I can force one of your monsters to attack mode." Chazz continued which resulted in Wroughtweiler(LV 3/800/1200), a machine dog, being flipped up. "My Tiger Catapult will now destroy your monster with Heat Seaker Blitz!"
Wroughtweiler was bombarded before exploding (Jaden 2800/Chazz 4000).
Viewing Box
Crowler had arrived back with his higher ups and was glued to the match. "My goodness. Perhaps Jaden can't play with the big boys after all."
"Word of advice Crowler." Mokuba smirked. "Don't talk the talk if your insult's going to apply to you." The ancient gear user looked at the Vice Chancellor. "After all, if Jaden can't play with the big boys, what does that say about you?"
Crowler attempted to come up with a rebuttal; however, the fact of the matter is Jaden did beat him. That only made the Ancient Gear user silently seethe at being called out like this.
"Anyways, perhaps give the boy a chance to show what he's made of before writing him off." Mokuba stated.
Dueling Field
"Thanks for the assistance with my last turn." Jaden called out with a grin.
"What are you talking about Slacker?" Chazz questioned.
"What you just destroyed was my Wroughtweiler." Jaden explained. "Last turn, when I used Graceful Charity, the two cards I sent were 1 Elemental Hero and a Polymerization. By destroying Wroughtweiler, his sweet effect brings them back to my hand."
"Look at you, actually pulling of a combo." Chazz wasn't concerned. "Like he can do anything more."
"Hold on, that isn't all I got." Jaden declared. "The card I'd set is Hero Signal. You destroyed a monster by battle, so I can special summon any Level 4 or lower HERO from my deck. I choose Elemental HERO Stratos(LV 4/1800/300)." A blue suited warrior, with a wing pack, appeared.
"That's your option?" Chazz scoffed. "You might need to recheck that eye sight of yours since there isn't a set card anywhere on my field."
"Stratos can destroy any spell/trap; however, that isn't the effect I'm using here." Jaden grinned. "This HERO has a secondary effect I can activate to add any other HERO monster I wish from my deck to my hand."
"All that build up to make your hand seven cards strong." Chazz smirked, not bothered by such a maneuver. "I'll set my second to last card before then activating Card of Sanctity. Now, we'd both draw until there were six cards in our hand, but with your hand, this does nothing for you."
"This new deck of Chazz's managed to close the gap in card advantage." Syrus voiced.
"Not to mention, it looks like a serious upgrade from what he was using." Greg added.
"Whoa, Jaden's Heroes are keeping up with cards Seto Kaiba once used himself." Dimitri grinned as he turned to Kai. "You wouldn't happen to know of any other HERO archetypes out there, would you?"
Dimitri had a lot of knowledge of his own, but there were many archetypes even someone like himself wouldn't have researched yet.
"I've heard there are Destiny Heroes, but no one's really seen them." Kai voiced. "You'd be better suited looking into Masked or Vision Heroes."
"Masked or Vision…" Dimitri nodded. "Yeah, I'll be sure to do that."
"Despite the new hand, I'm fine with my field as is." Chazz smirked. "Your move, Slacker."
"Alright!" Jaden drew. "I'll activate Polymerization to combine Elemental HEROES Avian and Wildheart. Fusion summon Elemental HERO Wild Wingman(LV 8/1900/2300)." Wildheart with Avan's wings appeared.
"Ha, that overgrown chicken is one hundred points shy of even matching my machine." Chazz scoffed.
"I got just the card to sort that out; however, I'll first show you a little of my discard effects." Jaden declared. "By discarding one card from my hand, Wild Wingman can destroy any one spell/trap card you control.
I'll take out that set card of yours." Wingman lunched past Chazz's Fusion to destroy his back row, which was revealed to be Limiter Removal. "With that safely out of the way, I'll activate H – Heated Heart to grant my monster five hundred extra ATK this turn."
Elemental HERO Wild Wingman(LV 8/2400/2300 effect)
"VW-Tiger Jet's effect isn't just on my turn, Slacker." Chazz discarded a card of his own. "Now, your fusion will be going to defense position."
"Well then, looks like I got no choice but to throw down a couple of face downs." Jaden declared.
"My turn!" Chazz drew before smirking. "You're not the only one capable of setting up their grave, and I'd argue what I've done is better." He held up his arm with the duel disk. "Gentleman, start your engines once more!"
Transparent A-Assault Core, B-Buster Drake, and C-Crush Wyvern all appeared from within Chazz's grave. "A-Assault Core and C-Crush Wyvern were the two I sent through my Catapult Wing's effect while B-Buster Drake went when I first forged my fusion on the field.
Now, I banish all three from my grave to conduct another fusion. Fusion summon ABC-Dragon Buster(LV 8/3000/2800)." A-Assault Core is below with B-Buster Drake on it, and C-Crush Wyvern on its back with its cannons on the front.
Everyone reacted quite a bit to the summon of such a large monster, like the one Kaiba had used in Battle City. Most of them couldn't believe how easily Chazz managed to summon the thing. Despite his earlier loss to Greg, they began to speculate that he lived up to his reputation.
"How can Jaden win when Chazz's field just keeps getting worse?" Syrus asked nervously.
"I don't know if he can Syrus." Bastion answered. "Chazz is utilizing those union monsters to perfection."
"I'm hardly done." Chazz declared. "I summon X-Head Canon(LV 4/1800/1500)." A yellow and blue magazine appeared. "Then, I use Frontline Base to special summon Y-Dragon Head(LV 4/1500/1600)." A red machine dragon appeared.
"Once again, Union Hanger activates." Chazz declared. "I target Y-Dragon Head and equip it with Z-Metal Tank from my deck." A yellow tank machine dragon appeared behind Y-Dragon Head(LV 4/2100/2200 effect)
"No way…" Alexis whispered in disbelief seeing that.
"Start your engines again!" Chazz declared, resulting in X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, and Z-Metal Tank moving up before combining. "Fusion summon Xyz-Dragon Canon(LV 8/2800/2600)." They became a mobile tank with large cannons.
"Whoa!" Jaden was stunned as he stared down three fusions.
"Just wait Jaden because there's more!" Chazz smirked. "Well less to be more accurate. Sure, they say two is better than 1, but I happen to disagree." He pointed up as Dragon Cabnon and Tiger Catapult flew up before splitting apart and merging as one.
"Fusion summon VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon(LV 8/3000/2800)." Five monsters merged into one mech, which now stood alongside the prior three merged machine, had everyone stunned at what Chazz pulled off in a matter of two turns.
"Two absolute units!" Dimitri exclaimed in disbelief.
"Now, it's time to start picking your field apart." Chazz declared. "Dragon Catapult Cannon allows me to target and banish any one card on your field. I choose your face down on the right."
"You're targeting my Necro Fusion." Jaden declared. "By activating it, I banish any two materials from my grave and perform a fusion summon. I'll banish the water attributed Liquid Soldier and Avan. I call forth the ice HERO.
Fusion summon Elemental HERO Absolute Zero(LV 8/2500/2000) in defense mode." A warrior wearing white armor appeared. "Whenever Liquid soldier is used as fusion material and sent to the grave or banished, I draw two cards before then discarding 1."
"ABC-Dragon Buster has a similar effect to VWXYZ, though I got to discard to use it." Chazz declared. "It's also restricted to once per turn, unlike Tiger Catapult's effect." He discarded. "Still, it's worth it to wipe that last face down out. Go, Bombardment!"
Explosives rained down on Jaden's last set card, which was Negate Attack, before destroying it. "Unlucky for you, Slacker. Now, I enter the Battle Phase and have Dragon Catapult Canon attack Wild Wingman. When he initiates an attack, I can switch your monster's battle position."
Jaden went wide eyed as his Wild Wingman shifted to attack mode. "No, Wingman!"
Wingman was blasted to smithereens (Jaden 1700/Chazz 4000)
"Jaden!" Syrus cried seeing that.
"Now, I'll finish wiping out your field by having ABC-Dragon Buster destroy Absolute Zero." Chazz declared. "Go, Multi-Strike Barrage!"
Absolute Zero was bombarded and exploded.
Kai grinned. "Oh, Chazz made a mistake there."
Dimitri looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"Just watch." Kai voiced.
"I'll admit, you've had one sweet turn Chazz; however, Absolute Zero wasn't much of a fan of it." Jaden grinned. "In fact, he's not particularly fond of leaving the field at all, and any time he does, all the monsters you control are destroyed!"
"What!?" Chazz exclaimed before his monsters exploded. "Er, I don't have anything else I can play." He growled in frustration. "That'll be all this turn."
"My move!" Jaden drew. "Alright, I'll start by activating Pot of Greed to draw two cards." He drew twice more, with one of the cards being among those he got from his rare pack. "What do you think, Winged Kuriboh?"
His monster spoke up as he does. "Alright, let's go for it!" He took his buddy from his hand. "I summon Winged Kuriboh(LV 1/300/200)." The winged fuzzball appeared, getting all the girls to fawn over him. "I'll then throw down this face down before ending my turn."
"That's it?" Mindy questioned. "Has Jaden run out of moves?"
"Well, if Wing Kuriboh is attacked and would be destroyed, the owner no longer takes damage for the rest of the turn." Jasmine reasoned. "Maybe he's attempting to hold out until next turn."
"I hope Jaden knows what he's doing because if Chazz can fusion out another monster to destroy Winged Kuriboh without battling, this duel is over." Alexis thought worriedly.
"All done huh?" Chazz drew before smirking. "I already got these three monsters in my hand for my last major fusion, and I got nothing else in there that Union Hanger could help me set up. Still, it might worth it to make that Slacker think I am doing it all over again."
He grinned. "Glad you are because it now means I can cook that Kuriboh. First, I summon Z-Zillion Tank(LV 4/1500/1300)." A newer version of Metal Tank appeared. "Then, I use Frontline Base to special summon Y-Dragon Yearhead(LV 4/1500/1600)."
A new red machine dragon appeared. "Once again, when a Light Union monster is summoned, Union Hanger lets me target it. Then, I take a different union monster from my deck that's different and equip it to the summoned monster.
I target Y-Dragon Yearhead and equip it with another C-Crush Wyvern. To cap off utilizing cards from my hand for summons, since I control at least 1 Light Union monster, I can special summon X-Xross Canon(LV 4/1800/1600)." A new X-Head Canon appeared.
"Oh no, he just refilled his field with sleeker versions of the original three union monster!" Syrus exclaimed worriedly.
"That he did." Bastion nodded. "If I had to guess, I'd say they have a corresponding fusion to go with them."
"Once more, start your engines gentlemen!" Chazz declared as the three monsters flew up, C-Crush Wyvern being sent to the grave, and combined. "Fusion summon XYZ-Hyper Dragon Cannon(LV 8/3000/2800)." A sleeker XYZ-Dragon Cannon appeared.
"Man, Chazz got a serious deck upgrade!" Jaden thought excitedly.
"I'm about to wipe that grin off his face." Chazz took the last card in his hand. "I utilize one of my monster's effects. By discarding this card from my hand, I can destroy any one card on your field, and I'm targeting that puffball."
"I counter with Transcendent Wings." Jaden declared. "By sending Winged Kuriboh from my field and discarding two cards from my hand, I can special summon Winged Kuriboh LV10(LV 10/300/200) from my hand or deck."
A Winged Kuriboh with huge wings appeared before flying over and landing atop the fusion. "As a quick effect, I can tribute my newly evolved buddy to destroy all attack position monsters you control. Then, you take damage equal to their ATK."
XYZ-Hyper Dragon Cannon was destroyed in a powerful burst of blue energy (Jaden 1700/Chazz 1000).
"Er, I don't have a LV 8 fusion left within my extra deck, so I can't even use Hyper Dragon Canon's remaining effect!" Chazz thought while shaking in anger. "Lucky punk."
"Lucky?" Jaden grinned. "Nah, I just happen to have a soft spot for old ladies in need of help. Unfortunately, you're not one, and that's just too bad since all you got left is 1000 life points. That means all I need is the right monster."
He put his hand on his deck. "Here goes…something." He drew. "Yeah! Here comes Elemental HERO Voltic(LV 4/1000/1500)." A purple and gold HERO with lightning sparking all around him appeared. "Attack!"
Voltic fired off lightning at the Obelisk. "NOOOO!"
His cry did not stop the attack which depleted the remainder of his life points (Jaden 1700/Chazz 0).
The crowd went wild with cheers.
"Jaden did it!" Syrus/Chumley exclaimed.
"I've dueled Jaden before, but even I know that was impressive." Greg thought.
"That was awesome!" Dimitri cheered.
Kai smiled. "It was truly something else."
Viewing Box
Mokuba and Sheppard were clapping at such a fantastic duel while Crowler could only stare on in absolute shock. He'd given Chazz a deck of cards created from those once utilized by Seto Kaiba. How could that Slifer Slacker beat that?"
Mokuba smirked as he looked Crowler's way. "Seems someone was severely underestimating Jaden Yuki."
Sheppard gave a hearty laugh in agreement with that sentiment.
"I'll be in my office!" Crowler exclaimed as he stormed off.
Duel Field
"That's game." Jaden grinned at Chazz. "I mean, unless you want to duel again."
"Oh, we will duel again Jaden." Chazz declared with a firm glare.
He moved to leave, only for his eyes to lock with a smirking Topher. Chazz growled in anger as he adverted his gaze and stormed out of the arena. At this point, Kai, Dimitri, Bastion, Syrus. Chumley, Greg, Mindy, Jasmine, and Alexis all headed over to the Slifer.
"That was remarkable." Greg voiced.
"Totally lichious." Chumley agreed.
"Yeah, you were insane out there." Dimitri added.
"I only went as far as I did because Chazz really pushed me." Jaden laughed. "He is one tough opponent."
"Still, it was amazing." Alexis stated.
"Especially with that combo you had with Winged Kuriboh." Syrus added.
"Fantastic duel, Jaden." Kai voiced.
"Jaden Yuki, for that incredible display of dueling talent and skill against an overwhelming opponent, I am honored to officially promote you to the rank of Ra Yellow. Congratulations." Sheppard called out over the speaker system.
"Let me be the first to welcome you to Ra Yellow." Bastion said with a smile, offering a hand.
Jaden stared before he smiled and shook it. "Thanks."
Slifer Red Dorm: Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley's Room, Later…
"I guess it'll soon just be us, huh Chumley?" Syrus asked.
"Yeah." Chumley nodded with a sigh. "Things will be weird. Think Greg would want to come room with us?"
The door opened as Jaden stepped in. "If he wants to room in here, he'll have to duel to take it."
"Jaden?" Syrus asked.
"I appreciated the offer, but Ra Yellow wouldn't have been the same without the two of you there." Jaden explained with a grin.
Syrus blinked before tearing up as he jumped at Jaden, hugging him close. Chumley just smiled happily, glad they'd get to continue as they were.
You guys do not know how many duels I wanted to cover here; however, that was tempered by the fact not every duel, I feel, would be promotion/demotion duels. Topher vs Chumley, for instance, was the example I settled on as your standard exam duel, more or less. Sure, it was a Slifer vs Obelisk, but neither were up for promotion/demotion. As such, I settled on the rule of three for these duels.
Next Chapter: I'm not going to jump into having Kai going straight into Obelisk next chapter. That's theoretically the chapter after depending on how long the next chapter is. I actually have something fun for the group that's been developing to experiance; however, that won't be all of the chapter. A good portion of the next chapter will be dedicated to something set up roughly a month ago. The next chapter might take a minute as I am crafting up four people's decks.
Guest (Ch. 1): Potencialmente en esos fanfictions. ¿En cuanto a dónde está el próximo capítulo de la historia? Estoy pensando en algún momento después de que me haya mudado el próximo mes... quizás
The Duelist of Dawn (Ch. 2): Crowler is still the petty man we know, but the choice he made to use that deck was simply taken out of his hands. As for Bastion, if I plan for him to have an upgraded role, then his prior deck wouldn't cut it. I'm glad you still see him as Seto who's simply changed and matured from those events rather than too OOC.
The Duelist of Dawn (Ch. 3): No problem on the quick reviews, I appreciate them all. Greg is a fun character I was given from another use; someone I've enjoyed writing for. As for Chazz's lacky's, I think it depends. Topher simply presented a good avenue to explore, so I upgraded his role.
The Duelist of Dawn (Ch. 4): Bastion still have four of his orginal decks to showcase as well as the deck he acquired from Seto Kaiba. That said, I'm not going to be rushing to show them all off or evne worry about showing them all off before getting back around to a prior deck. I'll take it at its own pace and showoff the remaining five decks he has eventually. As for Arc-V stuff, I am planting the seeds.
The Duelist of Dawn (Ch. 5): Seto here is more involved in Duel Academy than canon, so he's just covering his bases. As for the Alexis thing, I don't disagree with you. It's just in the context of GX fanfiction that I typically see people pairing their OC with Alexis. To be clear, there's nothing wrong with that. I've read so many stories, and enjoyed them, regardless of pairing. I just wanted to take a different route.
The Duelist of Dawn (Ch. 6): What I love about how I ended up framing this chapter is that it's totally in character for Crowler in the early seasons. Just as it always tends to happen, he just does not get his way. When it came to Jaden and Alexis' duel, just having Alexis play the same as he did in their first canon duel would have been boring. Might as well have her actually showcase some good moves to push Jaden.
The Duelist of Dawn (Ch. 7): Ah, that was a really good episode of Static Shock. With this chapter, Kai does not see the mountain face before him, and it's all about the climb now.
Vital Info: Plus, Kai's been alone up to this point. Yeah, he could go out and hang with people, but he just hasn't really had people close to him for well over a year now. As such, it's unintentionally taught him to shoulder things on his own. If he didn't think it'd have improved his chances of getting Zan to mentor him, he'd have had nothing to say on the matter.
As for why Dimitri isn't opening up to people, that's the more common teenage angst angel. As for Chazz's lackey's, despite not a lot being known about them and thusly being able to insert a lot into their characters, I'm still having more fun with them as characters than I thought I would. Chazz this time around had a great deal more power in his deck, but it was ultimately canceled out by the fact Jaden does to.