Arena
"Well done to all of you!" Bastion clapped Kai on the back. "You gave a fantastic show!"
Alexis, Jasmine, Mindy, Kai, Bastion, Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Greg, and Dimitri were standing to the side of the arena. By this point, they were the last people there. Everyone else had quickly left once the festivities had come to an end.
"Thanks, man." Jaden grinned as he put his arms behind his head. "That Mako and Rex were something else."
"No kidding." Dimitri shook his head. "You and Syrus had the absolute closest duel out of anyone today. No question."
"I'm just glad all the repercussions that came with going to the Abandoned Dorm can be behind us." Syrus voiced relieved.
"Come on Syrus." Greg nudged his shoulder. "Thanks to all this, you seems to be on a whole new level with that deck of yours."
"Oh yeah, you've really improved since all this began." Chumley agreed.
"I suppose you do have a point." Syrus sighed. "I just hope I don't need another event like this to grow more."
"I don't know." Jaden grinned. "If getting in trouble gets us some duels with pros…"
Jasmine lightly chopped the HERO user on the head. "If you want to get in trouble like this again intentionally, we'll have problems." She moved over to Kai. "Knowing this one, he'll step in, and I don't think the school with be lenient the next time something like this happens."
"I think you should all take that warning to heart." Mindy smirk mischievously. "I don't want to see Jasmine go without her man."
Jasmine's face went crimson at that as they haven't defined things between them nearly that far. "Mindy!"
Her friend just looked away slyly, leaving the harpie user to fume.
"You know, we should do something to celebrate." Jaden pumped his fist. "It's not every day we win a duel against pros."
"Like a party?" Syrus asked.
"Yeah!" Jaden declared. "It'd be great."
"Certainly, sounds interesting." Bastion nodded. "Would I be allowed to bring a guest?"
Sadie had to work today, even though practically the rest of the school was here, and she'd wanted to be here to. The Ra knew she'd enjoy a chance to celebrate the victories of those within this group.
"I think at this point you can just naturally assume she's invited Bastion." Kai commented. "Anyways, if we're talking a party, the male Obelisk dorm will do."
Provided the girls cleared out at 8, it'd be fine. Kai wouldn't deny the offer was a way to pick at some of the more uptight Obelisk as well.
"It's just turning two now, so why don't we meet up outside the blue dorm at three?" Dimitri offered.
Everyone agreed and parted way to get ready.
Obelisk Room: Topher's Room
Topher set his PDA down and just stared at the message on it.
Dear Mr. Toroma,
Due to recent losses, your place in the Obelisk Dorm is up for review. In two days, you will have a duel exam against Chazz Princeton of the Obelisk Dorm. In the event of your victory, you will remain in the halls of Obelisk. In the event of Mr. Princeton's victory, you will be demoted to Ra.
Please prepare your deck with care,
Dr. Crowler.
Topher had made improvements to his deck and worked to sharpen his skills. He's dueled plenty of students from all the dorms and technically has no losses against Slifers or Obelisks. Granted, there were people in both dorms he hasn't dueled, and Kai was now an Obelisk.
Still, that one duel with Kai had counted towards his record against Ras which was rather poor. Again, he hasn't dueled all Ra yellows, but of those he has dueled, three forth of them could beat him as he was. It was just another reason why he felt Kai had lept leagues beyond him now.
"Er, I'm not about to accept this." Topher shook his head. "I just need to improve my deck further and get past the hurdle." He clenched his fist. "I will not lose to Chazz."
Chazz's Room
"What kind of nonsense is this!?" Chazz growled, his grip firmly on his PDA.
Dear Mr. Princeton,
Due to recent losses, your place in the Obelisk Dorm is up for review. In two days, you will have a duel exam against Topher Toroma of the Obelisk Dorm. In the event of your victory, you will remain in the halls of Obelisk. In the event of Mr. Toroma's victory, you will be demoted to Ra.
Please prepare your deck with care,
Dr. Crowler.
Chazz's anger had reached its tipping point. Jaden Yuki, Greg Evans, and Kai Delmar all got to duel and best pros while he was at risk of being demoted to Ra. It was all wrong. He should be the one at the top of the mountain. The one all other freshmen strove to be.
"What would Slade and Jagger say?" They hadn't contacted him yet, but he knew they would as soon as this news reached them. "Gah, I'll ground that traitorous Obelisk into the dirt."
He had to…
Suddenly, there was a sharp knocking on his door. "Great, what is it now?"
He stood up and moved to the door with every intention of telling whoever was in the hallway to beat it. Upon opening the door, his words caught in his throat as Seto Kaiba himself was standing there.
"Chazz Princeton, correct?" Kaiba asked, Chazz could only nod. "You'll follow me as I'd like to have a word."
Chazz wasn't exactly someone to follow a command, but this man was Seto Kaiba. The current union user wordlessly followed, just as soon as he closed his room's door.
Duel Academy Island: Evening…
"I'm going to keep this brief." Once they were away from the dorm, Seto addressed the Obelisk. "I've taken note of you, Princeton. Your time on Duel Academy Island has been marred by loss, even with an A-to-Z deck at your disposal."
That pressed Chazz enough to at least say something, with a little frustration. "Tell me something I don't know."
That gave the blue-eyes user a little amusement. "Perhaps what you don't know I'm also aware of that little message your head of house sent you." He produced a slip of paper before passing it to him. "If you end up backed into a corner, call my number."
Chazz stopped. "What?"
"I'm attempting to make an investment." Seto stopped without looking back at him. "I see a lot of who I once was within you. When the time is right, I think you know exactly what I'm saying, you will call that number. Then, I will cultivate your potential that has been squandered.
With that, Seto took his leave. "Now, it's time to get back to Domino City."
Almost immediately, the Obelisk felt incensed to the point he contemplated just dropping the slip of paper and using his boot to rub it into the ground. At the last second, he stopped and stared at it. With a reluctant sigh, he tucked it away on his person.
Kai's Room: Night…
Not long after the party, Kai ended up back in his room with Bastion and Jaden where they were just watching pro-duels. It had been a good party that drew looks from Obelisks. That was expected given their group. Five Obelisks, a Ra, and five Slifers were quite a sight.
Given the sheer size, it was a daunting task for any of them to want to come break things up. Soon enough, it got close to eight, and the girls had to leave. As time wore on, Kai was left with Jaden and Bastion. Rather than having them go home in the dark, he let them crash in his room.
As a duel came to an end, Bastion spoke up. "Hey Kai?"
"What's up Bastion?" Kai asked.
"Jaden and I talked over what you told us about your brother." Bastion stated. "We decided we're not going to go sharing your personal information around like that. What Seto Kaiba had to say aside, something like that should be up to you weather or not its shared with other people."
"Bastion and I know, can't change that now, so we'll be there if you go looking for trouble." Jaden smiled. "Above all else you had to say, it seems what you want most is not to end up in a hospital bed we'd all have to come visit, so we'll ensure that doesn't happen."
Kai was surprised before it transitioned into a genuine smile. "Seto Kaiba is a rather blunt person, but I can't say he was wrong. Eventually, I'll tell the others. In the meantime, thanks you two."
Some part of the war challengers user still didn't want to drag people into his problems, but that was being overshadowed by a sense of reason. Regardless of the truth, Varris seemed relatively alone in whatever he was involved in. Kai didn't want to traverse the same path.
All this is to say, he was left conflicted about who his older brother was, and it left him wishing he knew the man rather than what could be a façade. Still, his desire to learn the truth must mean he still cared about his brother on some level, right?
Card Shop: Morning…
Bastion had woken up that morning and returned to the Ra Dorm where he freshened up for a new day. After he was done, despite seeing her just yesterday, the Ra decided to visit Sadie at the card shop.
Much to his pleasure, one of his favorite people was already at the till. He refrained from going up to her as Topher Toroma was standing there with a large pile of booster packs. It looked like he was going on quite the spree.
"I'll take all these." Topher declared.
"Will that be cash or duel points?" Sadie asked
Despite the losses that got him in this situation, Topher still had a rather large sum of duel points saved up from his time on the island. He pulled out his PDA to do the transfer, only to freeze before his head suddenly turned to a display case, like he was in a trance.
"Is everything alright?" Sadie asked.
"I've changed my mind." Topher pointed to the case. "I'll take your entire stock of those."
"Well, I have heard that stock has quite a bit of dragons and support for them in it." Sadie noted. "Sure, I'll just grab you the two boxes we have left."
She retrieved exactly that, and Topher paid for everything before hastily leaving the store with his haul.
"Well, that was certainly strange." Bastion noted as he approached the counter.
"Tell me about it." Sadie stated. "After the first month of school, Topher's been stopping in every day we get a fresh shipment. In all those times, I can't say he's reacted in that way. I'd say something's gotten under his skin."
After that bit of strangeness, Bastion moved onto to the topic of cards. Given her line of work, Saide generally had a few interesting ideas for the deck Seto had given him, and she knew of any new support for his six original decks that would be coming in.
Obelisk Dorm
After Bastion and Jaden took off, Kai went about cleaning his room and just finished when a certain silver eyed brunette called him through the PDA. "Hey Jasmine, what's going on?"
"Hey Kai, I'm calling because I don't want to wait to collect on what was promised." Jasmine voiced.
"Oh." Kai didn't expect her to want to collect this soon, but he certainly wasn't opposed to it. "Sure, did you have anything in mind?"
"I was thinking we could look around the academy." Jasmine stated. "See some of the cafes and stores together while sharing any favorite places we've found."
"Sure, sounds great." Kai stated. "You alright meeting up in an hour at the front of the academy?"
"Perfect." Jasmine answered happily. "I'll see you then."
Topher's Room
Topher raced into his room and put his haul on his desk. Despite falling out with Chazz, and the fact the union user's record wasn't looking hot, he was still one skilled duelist. Said union cards he used were powerful to the point the dragon user needed an edge.
Something to deal with those unionized fusions, their effects and relatively decent ATK. What he needed were dragons capable of ending the duel quickly. That was what had brought about his sudden shopping spree. After seeing what he got, Topher began his reconstruction.
ROWAHHH!
Topher stopped and looked around in shock. He stood and moved to his window, nothing. He opened the door to his room, nothing.
ROWAHHH!
It was louder this time, the monstrous and yet spectral roar coming from inside the room. From his desk. Cautiously, the dragon user approached the desk where his cards were fanned out. Slowly, he reached his hand to the cards he'd bought on instinct.
As he grasped one of the cards, a shock went through his system. He plucked the card from the desk. He again heard the roar, but it was gentler this time. Now, he could feel a sense of warmth, unlike anything he's felt before.
Chazz's Room
As Chazz was going over his deck, the phone connected to his custom TV began to ring. He already knew it was the call he had been dreading. Steeling himself, he got up from his desk and took a seat on the couch positioned directly in front of it.
He took a calming breath before accepting the call. The TV burst to life, and the screen split down the middle. On either side were two men who bore striking resemblance to Chazz. Both wore professional, tailored suits and stared at Chazz with smug smirks.
"Hey, little bro." The oldest sibling, Slade said.
He had a scruffy goatee on his chin and a mullet.
"It's been a long time." Jagger greeted.
He was the middle brother whose appearance was clean cut.
"It has." Chazz answered. "Is there something you need?"
"We've been keeping track of your time on Academy Island." Slade said.
"What do you think you are doing?" Jagger growled. "Losing to Slifers, letting your people talk back to you, and being upstaged in front of your dorm. Have you forgotten about our goal? Slade and I have held up our end. We are at the top of our fields in finance and politics respectively."
"The world is changing, Chazz." Slade continued. "Thanks to Kaiba Corp, this kids game that was once a flight of fancy is now one of the most popular games in the world. The people at the top of the dueling world control the latest trends, what people wear and buy."
"The political world controls the laws, the financial world controls the price of living, and the dueling world controls the people." Jagger proceeded. "Take all three, and you control everything. We sent you to that school, so you could become the best."
"I'm doing my best." Chazz retorted.
"Clearly, that couldn't be further from the truth." Slade declared. "You should be running that school. Instead, you're on the chopping block to be demoted to Ra Yellow. Should that happen, how much longer will it be until you're a Slifer? How must longer until your dropped?"
"With all your failures, we're going to make this simple." Jagger stated. "We'll be paying attention. If you don't win that duel tomorrow, you're disowned."
The TV cut off there before Chazz could respond. "If they think dueling is easy, why don't they do it?"
Ever since he got into duel prep, Chazz put everything into achieving their dream. He'd made sure to ace all his schoolwork, followed the latest trends in dueling, and regularly changed his deck to follow the meta. Would his brothers see that? No. It was all so frustrating!
Outside the Academy
Kai was standing near the academy entrance waiting for Jasmine. He'd simply forgone his blazer figuring his typical clothing underneath it was more than suitable for this. He checked his PDA, and it was nearing eleven.
"Hey, sorry to keep you waiting!"
Kai turned to see Jasmine approaching. She wore a light blue top underneath a white jacket and a matching skirt.
"Nah, I just got here a little early is all." He nodded. "You look great, by the way."
The harpie user giggled. "You don't look so bad yourself."
"Anyways, I suppose we should get started." Kai voiced. "I'm sure between the two of us, we've come to learn of some great spots on this island."
Duel Academy Island
Jasmine went first, taking Kai to a particular cliffside which gave a great view of the ocean. It also let the wind blow in unobstructed and the sun was clear above. With the way the harpie user described it, it seemed these three factors made this place one her favorite spots.
They stayed there for a while, listening to the crashing of the waves and seagulls while talking about their lives before the academy. Kai explained what it was like being Varris' brother and his attempt at winning a tournament. He did keep the serious topic concerning his brother hidden.
He did want to eventually tell the others about that, but a date was not the place for it. In return, Jasmine talked about her father and mother, who were a doctor and duel prep teacher respectively, as well as her admiration for Mai Valentine.
"I figured that's why you used harpies." Kai smiled. "Not sure how much of a name you'll be able to make for yourself though since she's still utilizing the deck herself."
"I know." Jasmine sighed. "It's just, seeing the way she dueled is what inspired me to learn, and I want to give back in some way."
"What about Amazoness?" Kai offered. "She utilized them for a short while during Battle City. While they don't have Xyz or Synchro options, they have a larger extra deck through their fusions."
"It's been a while since I saw those older matches." Jasmine thought about it. "Maybe that is the answer given she's dropped them, yet a good deal of support has come out in the last ten years. It'd certainly give me my own identity as a duelist."
Eventually, they headed out and continued visiting spots on the island the other had taken an interest in. Even if the other had been there, the one who brought them there still took time to talk about what the place meant to them.
As the cliff was one example of what Jasmine liked, Kai brought her to the hot springs center as to him it was a great place to unwind. All the while they talked and things were just as comfortable as they'd be those times they walked back to the Obelisk dorms.
Beach: Evening…
Eventually, as the sun began to set, Kai led them to café where they took their drinks to the outdoor seating. When the war challengers user came to Duel Academy, he didn't expect he'd end up dating anyone. He assumed his initial purposes would be all there was.
That he'd be too busy for this; however, such a notion was thrown out the window the moment he met Jasmine. To him, she was the kind of girl he wanted to make time for. Whereas their conversation at the cliff turned to duel monsters, here it didn't come up.
Nears the Obelisk Dorms: Late Evening…
Naturally, all things must come to an end, and as the light in the sky began to die, Kai took that as his cue. He went about walking Jasmine to the crossroads which led to each of their dorms.
"I'm glad we did this." Jasmine smiled. "Thanks for a great day."
"Anytime you want to do this again." Kai nodded. 'I'll be game."
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Jasmine blushed slightly before standing on her tippy toes and planting a kiss on her date's cheek. "Have a good night, Kai."
Kai was a bit stunned before he smiled. "Good night, Jasmine."
He watched as the harpie user walked down her path and only started for his own dorm when she wasn't visible any longer. Jasmine had certainly been an unexpected turn, but she was one Kai was glad to have bumped into all those weeks ago.
Duel Academy: Next Day, After School…
After such a great couple of days, the first day of classes seemed to fly by. Bastion was quick to ask Kai about his happy demeanor. While he left out personal details, he still informed enough about his time with Jasmine.
"Good to see your promise came through." Bastion was genuinely happy. "I was beginning to consider locking the two of you in a closest to make something happen."
"We can't all be quick on the draw, cowboy." Kai smirked. "Speaking of that, I'm certain you wouldn't have room to talk considering how you were upon seeing Sadie. I'd say compared to that, things are just fine with Jasmine and I."
"Touche." Bastion admitted. "Stil, I'm genuinely happy for you."
The war challengers' gaze was soon drawn to Topher and Chazz departing the classroom and making their way out the door. By now, the whole school knew what would be happening with those two. Kai was leaning on being there given he was interested in how Topher has progressed.
With how they'd started, it seemed only naturally the Obelisk wouldn't confide a thing in him, so this was the next best option in keeping up with the guy. Even before Chazz threatened his friends, Kai knew he'd likely still root for Topher in this duel. Now, it was a certainty.
Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, and Greg came up to the Ra and Obelisk duo.
"Hey, are you guys going to watch the match?" Jaden asked.
"I'd been leaning that way, but with you guys going, it's a certainty." Kai nodded as he pulled out his PDA. "I'll send a message Dimitri's way, and he'll likely join us on the way there."
"I actually am going to decline myself." Bastion stood. "You lot go ahead."
"Are you sure?" Greg asked.
"I've recently started on some new formulas, so just let me know the result." Bastion replied.
"Alright, see you around." Chumley stated.
Obelisk Arena
The girls already left class before the decision to watch this duel was made, and they denied an invite upon receiving a message, as did Sadie. With Dimitri, it went as Kai thought it would. The fifth Slifer of their group joined his fellow Slifers and the war challengers user on the way.
When the group of six entered the arena, they found Chazz and Topher already standing on stage, awaiting Crowler's arrival. While Chazz seemed like his usual self, which included sneering the groups way, there was a certain level of calmness to Topher.
The moment he spotted Kai, the Obelisk gave him a nod of genuine acknowledgement. That was a bit strange but not unwelcome. Perhaps separation from Chazz had done the Obelisk better than Kai ever thought it would. Soon enough, Crowler arrived.
"You're finally here." Chazz commented, clearly unhappy it took the good doctor this long. "That's good because it means we can finally get this over with." He pointed at Topher. "It's finally time I put you in your place, traitor."
"Can I betray someone who never cared for me to begin with?" Topher pushed his glasses up. "Someone who never earned loyalty but expected it due to the money, privilege, and power they flaunt?"
"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this." Chazz retorted.
"I see you are both ready." Crowler cleared his throat. "As such, let's not waste any time. This duel serves as a potential demotion exam for either duelist. The one who loses shall be demoted to Ra Yellow. Is that understood?"
"Yes." the two duelists answered in unison, both activating their duel disks.
"Then, begin."
"Let's Duel!"
(Topher 4000/Chazz 4000)
"I'm first, traitor." Chazz drew. "I activate the field spell Union Hanger." The arena transformed into a mechanized hanger with several slots showing different machines. "When I activate this, I can add any light attributed union monster from my Deck to my hand."
He added a card. "Then, I'll activate Frontline Base. Every turn, I can special summon any Level 4 or lower Union monster from my hand. I'll use that effect to summon A-Assault Core(LV 4/1900/200)." A compact, yellow tank appeared.
"Once pre turn that I've summoned a monster like A-Assault Core, Union Hanger allows me to target it. Then, I take a different one from my deck and equip it the one I targeted. I target A-Assault Core and equip it with B-Buster Drake.
With my normal summon, I'll bring out C-Crush Wyvern(LV 4/1200/2000)." A mechanical, purple wyvern appeared. "Now gentlemen, start your engines!" The three machines flew up and interlocked. "I banish all three to conduct 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. "That'll do for now. Your move."
"Dang, Chazz is not messing around." Jaden chuckled good naturedly.
"That's for sure." Dimitri agreed.
"My turn." Topher drew. "I'll begin with Painful Choice. Now, I select five cards from my deck, show them off, and you select one among them for me to add. The other four will be discarded to the grave. Let's see what you think of these!"
The five cards that appeared were: Destrudo the Lost Dragon's Frisson, Samsara Dragon, Light and Darkness Dragon, Influence Dragon, and Burning Dragon.
"Light and Darkness Dragon?" That was one dragon, among the 5, Chazz didn't recognize; however, he at least understood Lost Dragon's Frisson would be a boon regardless of where he put it. "Keep Destrudo and discard the rest."
"Thank you, Chazz." Topher pitched the four dragons who weren't chosen. "With that, I can now activate Return of the Dragon Lords to target any Level 7 or 8 dragon-type monster in my grave and special summon it. Come forth, Light and Darkness Dragon (LV 8/2800/2400)!"
The particles of light and dark coalesced around Topher to take on a physical form, becoming a western dragon with two tails. The dragon was one of spectacular duality. One half of its body was pure white with a large, feathered wing like that of an angel.
The other half was obsidian black with a demonic, leathery wing reminiscent of a demon. As it took to the field, it let out a screeching roar that was impossibly calming and downright terrifying.
"You got out a high-level monster, but it's useless as all I need to do is discard one card." Chazz declared, pitching one. "Then, ABC-Dragon Buster can banish that overgrown lizard."
"It's no use." Topher retorted. "Once per chain, my dragon negates any effect you activate at the cost of exactly 500 ATK and DEF." The light half of Light and Darkness Dragon (LV 8/2300/1900 effect) began to glow as Dragon Buster sparked with red lightning.
"It nullified my effect, just like that?" Chazz questioned shocked.
"That is what has happened." Topher informed. "Now, I've special summoned a dragon with a level higher than 4 which means I can special summon Knight Armed Dragon(LV 3/1400/1900)."
A bipedal red and silver armored dragon appeared. "That still leaves me with my normal summon which I'll use on Debris Dragon(LV 4/1000/2000)." A small, white dragon appeared. "With this, my field is set."
"He just summoned three dragons in one turn!" Syrus exclaimed.
"If he'd managed this in our duel during those exams, I don't think I'd have lasted a turn." Chumley stated.
"I don't think Chazz is going to last another turn either." Kai noted.
"Debris Dragon will give Knight Armed Dragon a tune up to Synchro for 7. 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 roaring.
"I activate ABC-Dragon Canon's other effect." Chazz tried in a panic. "By tributing this card, I can special summon 3 banished light attributed union monsters to my field."
"Once again, my dragon negates any effect you activate at the cost of 500 ATK and DEF!" Topher declared as the light half of Light and Darkness Dragon (LV 8/1800/1400 effect) began to glow, and Dragon Buster sparked with red lightning.
"Now, since Kuibelt was Synchro summoned, I can destroy any one card you control, and you only have the one monster Chazz. Go, Bladed Shrapnel!" Kuibelt pushed his wings forward, sending out golden blades that tore through the fusion.
"That's not the end. As Knight Armed Dragon was sent to the grave, I can target 1 dragon-type monster I control and grant them an extra 1000 ATK for as long as they're on the field. I'll refrain as I believe I don't need that for you. This is the end regardless of that."
"NOOO!" Chazz yelled in disbelief
"Light and Darkness Dragon and Kuibelt the Blade Dragon, direct attack!" Topher declared. "Bladed Duality!"
Light and Darkness Dragon breathed a white glowing darkness on Kuibelt's blades before he surged forth and his blades phased through Chazz (Topher 4000/Chazz 0). The union user fell to his knees as Topher's dragons faded.
"Even with a demotion on the line, you underestimated me Chazz, and it led to your downfall." Topher declared.
"You just got lucky." Chazz retorted frustrated.
"Luck is the cards your deck gives you while skill is one's capability to utilize them." Topher retorted before walking off the arena and approaching the war challengers user. "Kai Delmar, I would first like to apologize for my behavior that first day we met."
"Water under the bridge if you'll duel me again." Kai offered. "I want to see just what this new deck of yours is really capable of."
"I was already planning on it; however, our match will have to wait." Topher looked at his deck. "There are still cards I must understand, but we will duel soon." He held out a hand. "Beyond the apology, thank you for that first duel as it opened my eyes and I now stand here."
Kai shook the offered hand with a smile.
Then, Jaden came in and threw an arm around the dragon user. "Alright, looks like our group got a new member."
Dimitri came to the guy's other side and threw his arm around him as well. "I second that!"
Topher was stunned while Chumley, Syrus, and Greg just looked on unsure what would happen.
Before the Obelisk could speak up, Kai gave a faux sigh, smirked, and shook his head. "You two can't just go adopting a stray."
"Who are you calling a stray, Delmar?" Topher retorted, offended by such a remark.
"Ah, you're right." Kai grinned. "I couldn't possibly be referring to the stray dragon across from me. My mistake."
That only riled Topher up more as the two began to bicker, though it was good natured. As those two went at it, the five Slifers smiled. This was the confirmation. Topher was officially counted among their little group.
Poll on my profile is the following:
Which deck should Chazz end up with? (Vote on the poll)
Regardless of the Seto involvement, Chazz is still ending up at North Academy. What this potentially impacts is what deck he uses. Does he stick with the mishmash of Union/Ojama/Armed Dragon, or does Seto Kaiba's involvement end with hims receiving a deck in line with his own? This following point is just to state the facts, it is not to sway opinion. That said, the second option I've listed will mean that far down the road the Kite I use will utilize Galaxy/Photon instead of Cipher.
I am aware Light and Darkness Dragon was used by Chazz in the manga, and it's common to give the fanfiction versions of Chazz this card. I don't blame them because it's a great card; however, I don't want to deal with a forth deck element should the mishmash deck option win. Three elements are more than enough. Topher can have Light and Darkness Dragon. No, this isn't a duel spirit sort of situation. This is more in line with a connection similar to Seto Kaiba's.
No, not in that Topher has a former life where he met a girl that could use this card and fell in love with her. Honestly, it may not even end up being all that important to this story, but it is important character wise in rounding out Topher's development. The bond he felt to this card was the missing piece to his puzzle which leads to the group adopting the stray dragon into their ranks. Anyways, Abandoned Dorm arc is officially over.
Threebranch: You don't know what you had until it's at risk of being taken away. If that were his last moments as a teacher, Crowler was going to utilize them. Fortunately, he gets to continue on.
Vital Info: I just personally don't think Bakura would have the capability to detect dark magic like that, not do I think the school would have told those arriving the full story. I know I've changed a fair bit; however, the secrecy of just what happened at the Abandoned Dorm is still something the general public isn't made aware of. In canon, that meant people like Yugi weren't made aware of this aspect. If Kaiba won't tell Yugi, I don't see Mokuba telling Bakura about it.
When it comes to the DM era characters, some of them have just made it fairly well in this new era of dueling while others have fallen off. That said, I'm not too certain at least one of those names I mentioned is willing to just lie down given prior ways...Anyways, as for Alexis, I did at least play it down from the dub material. If you go back there, she was just downright vicious to Bastion. Practically any time he raised a point, she would smack it down.