Under the Sea: Sub
Chazz Princeton had reclined his seat back and was taking a nap as the sub he resided within moved ever onward towards wherever it was going. Seto Kaiba hadn't exactly been forthcoming on where he was meant to end up or what he'd be doing.
All the Blue-Eyes user would tell him was to roll with whatever happened. Before this point, Chazz had spent the time between his departure to now, after winter break, effectively being schooled by tutors to keep up with the curriculum of an academy.
Fat lot of good that would do him without his deck, which Seto had confiscated before he set foot inside this stinking sub. Just like his knowledge going forward, he'd been given no indication of when he'd get those back. All he knew is that he would get them back eventually.
"Hey...hey Boss, rise and shine!" Suddenly, a small glowing orb was floating around Chazz. "Up at at'em...hellooo?" The orb stopped bouncing and looked at Chazz, who only moved a bit. "Alright...guess I got to…"
Chazz held the glowing ball, irritated at the sudden light and annoying sound. He squeezed it until it popped into nothingness. Opening his eyes, the former academy student saw the familiar metal sub which has been his effective residence for days now.
"Good morning, young duelist." A new, quiet voice greeted.
Chazz sat up and turned to the source of the voice. It was a masked figure coming from the doorway behind him, which had been sealed ever since he entered this sub. Up until this point, he'd had no human interaction. The closest he got was some slot up ahead that gave him food.
"Who are you?" Chazz asked.
He took a closer look now that this person was closer. They had a large, bulky form covered by a heavy red goat, white gloves, and a yellow scarf which covered the lower half of its face while huge goggles covered the top half.
The figure chuckled. "All you need to know for now, is that I've been a fellow passenger aboard this sub, and I'm the one whose giving you this card."
Chazz was given a card which was of a monster with only 1000 DEF and no ATK. It had a horrible picture of a small yellow creature with eyestalks, and it was posing in a pair of red bikini briefs. The name was Ojama Yellow.
"I don't need this!" Chazz snarled, about to toss the card.
"Wait!" The figure cried. "That is the card which will change your life!"
Chazz looked at him, disbelievingly. "Gimme a break!"
"I'll give you something far better. A chance to potentially beat any one of the people who've beaten you on Academy Island."
"Did Kaiba tell you?"
"How he tells it, you lost quite a few duels." The figure replied simply.
Chazz scoffed. "They were all just lucky is all."
"Lucky?" The figure chuckled. "Do you often run away from mere luck?"
Chazz growled. "No one calls me a coward!"
"Talk is cheap, young duelist." The figure shot back. "As things stand, you must earn such a right if you can. That is precisely what we're going to find out. Good luck, young duelist."
As soon as he said those words, the room the two of them were in began to flood with saltwater. Chazz stuck the card into his blazer pocket as the figure waded through the rising water level.
"Remember to hold your nose."
The room soon filled completely with water, and just when Chazz thought it couldn't get any worse, a hole opened in the roof above. He shot through the water, and just as he was about to lose all his breath, he breached the water's surface.
Icy Wasteland: Day…
Chazz landed hard on something. "Crazy kook."
After he rose to his feet, Chazz was surprised at the location he was now at. The surrounding area was a huge field of ice. He thought he might have been sent to the far north or south. Off in the distance, a tall building stood proudly among the white wastelands.
"At least I'm back with civilization." Chazz made his way towards the building. "Though, what's Kaiba's big idea sending me here?"
The former Obelisk walked onward, his eyes set on the building. As he came closer, he noticed that the part he saw before was a huge wall, and in the middle of it, there was a very big wooden door. He stopped just a few feet from the door.
"I suppose this place could be worse." Chazz walked up to the door and pounded on it. "Open up! Let's go! Seto Kaiba sent me!"
"It doesn't matter who sent you, you'll need forty cards for them to let you in."
Startled, Chazz turned to see a man, sitting a few yards away, huddled near a low fire. The man was balding with tufts of brown hair in the back of his head, and a thin layer of stubble on his face. He wore tattered brown clothes and torn pants with a duel disk on his arm.
"That's just the way things work here at North Academy."
"North Academy, huh?" Chazz looked up at the wooden door before then making his way to the man. "So, this is Duel Academy's arch-rival."
"That's right." The man nodded, "Here, take a seat next to me. I could use some company." He moved over a few inches. "After all, I've been here for a long while."
"So, what's with the forty-card deal?" Chazz asked as he sat down.
"How it works is there are hidden cards all around in glacial crevasses and ice cliffs. It's sort like a test." He turned to Chazz, smiling slightly. "Find forty cards, and they'll let you in."
Chazz looked at the man's disk and was surprised to see a deck inside. "So, how many do you have?"
"Well, I've actually managed to find thirty-nine cards, but it took every ounce of strength I had to do so." The man glanced at his deck. "I'm too worn out to find that last card."
"Great, you don't need it." Chazz chuckled since he had one card. "Let me take them off you, and I'll give you Seto Kaiba's number. He might not like it, but he'll compensate you."
"No!" The man looked at him, horrified, as he held his deck close. "Besides this fire and these tattered clothes, this deck is all I have. These cards are priceless."
Disgusted, Chazz rose to his feet. "Fine, I'll find my own."
"Good luck, young duelist." The man watched as Chazz walked into the icy wilderness. "In this barren wasteland, you'll need it."
Over Hours…
Chazz searched the icy wastelands, looking for forty cards. He climbed in and out of the icy crevasses, pulled himself up tall cliffs, and swam through freezing cold water. Any card he saw within sight, he did not let escape him.
Icy Wasteland
Chazz walked back to the front door, where the man from before was still sitting. "I see you've been busy doing nothing,"
"You're back." Surprised, the man rose to his feet and walked over. "Did you find all forty cards?"
Smirking, Chazz held up his duel disk. "Of course."
"Good for you." The man nodded. "I suppose you'll be heading onto bigger and better things now." He lowered his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Don't worry about me. I'll be alright. Well, until winter comes anyways."
"Winter?" Chazz raised an eyebrow.
"These are the summer months." The man informed. "It's quite lovely during the summer, and the fall is rather nice, only about thirty below. After that it tends to get a bit nippy, but listen to me…" The man shook his head. "I'm sure you'll want to get on your way."
"Oh, quit your whining already Baldy." Chazz rolled his eyes before smiling slightly as he held up his deck. "I lied. I didn't find forty cards, I found forty-one." He tapped his deck. "An extra one so you can come in too."
The bald man gasped. "You mean I get to enter?"
"Just shut up and take your card before I change my mind." He plucked the card that person from before had given him. "Here."
He held it out, but as he did, Chazz's arm veered off to the left. Then, as he tried again, it veered off to the right.
The bald man looked at him, a little confused. "Are you going give it to me or not?"
"It's my hand!" Chazz gripped his wrist, the hand with the card moving around with a mind of its own. "It…won't let go!"
With a poof of smoke, Ojama Yellow appeared in front of his eyes as a Duel Spirit. "You can't get rid of me, Boss! We're pals, buds, best friends forever!"
Chazz, shocked at the creature, shook his head, "No, we're not!"
"What's going on?" The man asked.
"Don't you see it?!" Chazz hissed, looking at him.
"See what?"
The creature giggled and floated to Chazz, shaking its bikini clad butt in his face. "Aw Boss, you're the only one who can see me!"
Chazz looked at the little freak, not liking this at all, "Go away!"
"Sorry, Boss." The creature floated around to his other side. "If we're going to be partners, you got to stop being so uptight!"
"Get lost!" Chazz shoved the card into his deck, making the creature disappear. "Be quiet!" Noticing that 'Baldy' was staring at him, he plucked another card out of his deck and held it out. "Sorry, that was the wrong card. Take this"
"Uh, sure, thank you. Whatever you say." The man murmured, taking the card. "I really appreciate this Mr...?"
"The name is Chazz; don't you forget it." But after looking the guy over... "On second thought, do forget it. I'd rather people not associate me with you." He walked back to the campfire and sat down, arms behind his head. "Now get inside. The Chazz makes his own entrance."
"Yes of course!" The guy nodded. "Thanks again!"
"Thanks for nothing." As the guy passed through the doors, Chazz stared into the fire. "I really only found forty cards, so I'm short one now."
That's when he noticed something, a card called Chaos End was just inches away from his leg. Chazz had no idea how Baldy missed this, but he didn't really care. The former academy student snatched the card before heading towards the door.
"Alright, open up." He held his disk in the air. "I got your forty cards right here!"
Seconds passed until five beams of energy connected with his duel disk, as if scanning it. Then, Chazz's disk whirred to life, as if the power source was back on full battery. The giant doors creaked loudly as they slowly opened.
North Academy
Chazz had finally entered North Academy. There was only one street with rows of wooden buildings on either side. It sort of looked like one of those old American western movies he had seen before. Strange thing was, for a school, there didn't seem to be anyone here.
"This is North Academy?" Chazz looked from side to side as he made his way down the road. "What a dump."
As he walked, the sound of glass breaking made Chazz turn to see the bald guy being tossed out into the street.
Without a second thought, Chazz ran over to him. "Hey, you ok?"
Baldy groaned as he laid on his back. "Wha-what happened?"
"You got the North Academy welcome is what happened." A harsh, deep voice answered, followed by a laugh.
Chazz looked at the building where Baldy had been thrown out to see a group of rough-looking teenagers, in coats, wearing duel disks. He blinked and looked all around to see he and Baldy were surrounded by people in similar garb.
He looked back to the building and saw someone who fit the profile as the leader. Surrounded by a group of four other duelists, a large built young man in an orange and black vest sat on a rocking chair, duel disk on his arm. He had a cold look in his eyes and short hair.
"Now, it's your turn," The large man chuckled, pointing to Chazz. "Think you're up to the challenge, new guy?"
Chazz scowled. "Who are you?"
"I'm the third ranked duelist of North Academy, people call me the Czar." The teen stated. "With the two above me currently out, you could say I run things until they return. Your friend here just ran through our little hazing ritual: The 50-Man Duel Gauntlet."
"A 50-Man whatsit?" Chazz asked.
"Duel Gauntlet." Czar repeated. "It's how we rank students. Why don't you tell him how it works, boys?"
"See, you got to duel fifty students."
"You start off with the lowest rank and work your way up a chain of 49."
"When you lose, that's your rank."
"Unless you don't lose."
"Then, you duel me." Czar jerked a thumb to himself. "Number 50!"
"But everybody loses! Like your friend here who lost the first match he had!"
"He's still in, but he's on latrine duty now.
Chazz rose to his feet, smirking and looked at the group. "So, I just have to win fifty times?"
"Easier said than done, rookie!"
The former Obelisk glared at the one who said that. "The name is Chazz, remember it well because I'm the one who's about to dethrone your third ranked duelist, and don't think I'll stop there. I'll keep going to the top."
"Then, let's go!" Czar snapped his fingers.
45 Duels In…
No one at the school thought Chazz would win with a bunch of mismatched cards, but he proved them wrong as he bested 45 duelists with that very deck.
"So what?"
"Beating those amateurs doesn't prove a thing!"
"You still have to get through the four of us!"
"Only then can you duel the Czar."
"Duel each of you." Chazz cackled as he reshuffled his deck. "I've wasted my time long enough as is, so I'll take all four of you on right now."
The four duelists lined up, duel disks on and at the ready. "You're on!"
"Let's Duel!" The four of them and Chazz cried as the wind blew.
Vance: 4000
Kyle: 4000
Zack: 4000
Derek: 4000
Chazz: 4000
"Me first!" Vance drew. "Come on out Marauding Captain(LV 3/1200/400)." A warrior with a mop-style blonde hair and rusty suit of armor appeared. "I'm not done! When this monster is summoned, I'm allowed to summon another Warrior-Type monster, so I'll play another Marauding Captain(LV 3/1200/400)!"
Chazz, as well as the little yellow monster spirit that hovered above his shoulder, watched as the three other duelists summoned the same monster over and over until eight Marauding Captains stood shoulder to shoulder, swords at the ready.
"In case you forgot, Rookie, when there's two or more Marauding Captains on the field, you can't attack any of them." Derek grinned. "Or any other warrior monster that occupy the field along with them!"
Kyle laughed. "Nah, he can't forget because he probably never knew in the first place!"
"Good point, and now he'll suffer for it!" Zack sneered.
"Please, the only way you scrubs could make me suffer is if you all keep talking like you are now. My turn." Chazz drew. "I'll set one monster and back it up with two face downs."
"All you're throwing in is a set monster." Derek shook his head. "What a joke."
"Perhaps." Chazz chuckled. "After all, this deck here is full of weaker cards, ones the old Chazz never would've had in his deck, but I've learned something since I arrived here. I learned life deals you all kinds of cards, and sometimes you got to make the best with what you got."
"Aw that's so nice of you, Boss!" Ojama Yellow stated. "You're talking about me, aren't ya?"
"Actually, I wasn't!" Chazz swiped at the monster. "You're still as annoying, revolting, and non-existent as ever! Got it!?" His four opponents' faces turned to that of confusion. "You're a disgusting, little yellow gremlin. I don't like you, so quit bugging me!"
"Disgusting maybe, but yellow?" Alvin drew his card. "Get your eyes checked! Back to the duel! I play The A. Forces which grant all Warrior-Type monsters 200 ATK for each warrior-type monster on the field, which means all Marauding Captains(LV 3/2800/400) are now at 2800 ATK! Take out that face down!"
The first Captain ran in and split the face down monster down the middle to reveal Giant Rat(LV 4/1400/1450).
"He's defenseless, charge in men!" Kyle ordered.
The rest of the Captains rushed Chazz.
"Not so fast!" Chazz yelled. "I activate my Giant Rat's ability. It lets me summon an earth attribute monster with 1500 or fewer ATK from my deck. Come on out, Gyaku-Gire Panda(LV 3/800/1600)." A large, angry looking panda appeared.
"Aw, look at the big teddy bear!" Zack sneered. "It looks cuddly!"
"You may not think so after this…" Chazz shot back at him. "Gyaku-Gire Panda(LV 3/4800/1600) gains 500 ATK for every monster on my opponent's side of the field. Not so cuddly now, is he?
Then, I'll activate my face down Ring of Destruction!" A large ring of red grenades appeared around the Panda's neck. "This trap destroys one monster, and all players take damage equal to that monster's ATK!"
"But why?" Zack asked. "We'll all end up with zero life points!"
"Not me." Chazz declared. "I activate my second set card, the quick-play spell Ring of Defense. With this, I reduce the effect damage I'd take from this to 0. In other words, You…go…bye… bye!"
The Panda exploded as Ring of Defense spun to protect Chazz.
Vance: 0
Kyle: 0
Zack: 0
Derek: 0
Chazz: 4000
Chazz turned to Czar, who was waiting patiently in his chair. "Alright Granny, out of the rocker because you're up!"
Chuckling, Czar rose to his full height as he inserted his deck into his disk. "And you're going down because now it's the Czar against the Chazz. There is no way I'm going to get shoved out of third rank by you."
After a few moments, both Czar and Chazz stared each other down in the street, the defeated duelists watching from the sidelines.
"Duel!"
(Chazz 4000/Czar 4000)
"Me first." Czar drew. "I play two copies of the Spell, Fiend Sanctuary! Now, I get two Metal Fiend Token(LV 1/0/0)." The spells summoned two monsters made of silver ball bearings. "Like you, they won't be staying long. I sacrifice them both to summon Zoa(LV 7/2600/1900)!"
A huge, blue-skinned demon with powerful limbs and yellow fangs appeared. "Next, I'll place two cards facedown and end my turn." Czar smirked. "Already my field stacks. See how different it is with the Czar?"
"But it'll end the same. My turn." Chazz drew, only to face fault at what he got. "You again?"
"Nice to see you, too!" The little monster poked its head from the card. "Need me to fight a monster for ya? Let's do it!" The spirit turned its eyestalks around to see Zoa on the other side. "Oh…never mind."
Chazz looked from the creature to Zoa before smiling. "You know, I think I finally found a way to get rid of you!" He placed the card on his disk. "I set this monster and two cards facedown before calling it a turn."
"This will not serve you like it did last time." Czar drew. "I play the trap Metalmorph, and equip it to Zoa(LV 7/2900/2200 effect). Now, I'll sacrifice him while he's equipped with Metalmorph to summon something better from my deck.
The ferocious Metalzoa(LV 8/3000/2300)!" In Zoa's place, a huge monster with armor like that of a cyborg appeared. "Next, I'm going to activate another trap, Call of the Haunted. Now, I can bring back a monster from my grave.
I'll bring back regular Zoa(LV 7/2600/1900). You've dueled well, but you can't win because I've watched you duel 49 times. I know your deck, and I know you don't have one monster stronger than even my Zoa!"
"Maybe, but I know how to make the best of what I got." Chazz thought as he stared the two monsters down.
"Alright, Zoa attack!" Czar pointed to the face down monster. "Glimmer Strike!" The first Zoa bent down and fired off a glowing X mark which hit and flipped Ojama Yellow(LV 2/1000). "Now, Metalzoa, attack him directly with Hardened Glimmer Strike!"
Like its counterpart, Metalzoa fired off a glowing X mark that flew right into Chazz, taking off a huge chunk of Life Points (Chazz 1000/Czar 4000), and the man folded his arms. "The Chazz's place is at the heel of the Czar, and that is exactly where I'll put you."
"Don't bet on it." Chazz retorted. "You see, I was waiting for you to attack me so I can play Inferno Tempest. With this card, when I take 3000 or more points of damage, all monsters in our Graveyards and decks are taken out of play!"
"Why would you do that!?" Czar demanded. "What are you planning?"
"If you know my deck as well as you say you do, I'm sure you know." Chazz removed every monster in his deck and grave. "And you know your reign as Czar is coming to an end!"
"What are you talking about? I have two monsters out while you have none, and now you don't have any in your deck! You've lost!" Czar grinned confidently. "My reign isn't over, it's stronger than ever! You're about to lose!"
"Am I? We'll see!" Chazz drew his next card. "Alright Czar, now you're about to get royally crowned, and not in a good way! I play the spell, Chaos End!"
Czar watched in horror as both of his Zoa's were completely covered by long jagged cracks in their bodies. "What's going on!?"
"That's the magic of Chaos End." Chazz explained. "When seven or more monsters are removed from the game, this spell destroys every monster on your side of the field!"
Czar stared on in shock as his monsters were blown to pieces. "No way!"
"Now, I'll activate the trap Return from the Different Dimension." Chazz declared. "By paying half of my life points, every monster I removed from play are brought back to the field." (Chazz 500/Czar 4000). "Come on back..."
Disc Fighter(LV 4/1000/1000)
KA-2 Des Scissors(LV 4/1000/1000)
Gemini Imps(LV 4/1000/1000)
Skull Knight 2(LV 3/1000/1200)
Ojama Yellow(LV 2/0/1000)
"Grr... I didn't want you back!" Chazz snapped upon seeing the last monster.
Czar was shocked. "Wait!"
"Wait? I don't think so!" Chazz pointed to his opponent. "Give the Czar a clobbering, you guys!"
Every single monster, save Ojama Yellow, let loose their own attack on Czar, hacking away at his life points as he helplessly took the damage (Chazz 500/Czar 0). With his life points depleted, Czar collapsed to his knees as the monsters faded.
"You go bye bye!" Chazz cackled.
"This is a far cry from the person I last saw on my island." Seto's voice rang out.
"Your assessment of him was well founded, Mr. Kaiba."
Chazz turned to see Seto, holding a case, walking up to him alongside that guy who had been on the sub with him. The same guy who wore the heavy red coat, the big goggles, and the yellow scarf.
"Seto Kaiba getting into this academy, I can understand, but how did you manage it?" Chazz asked, staring pointedly at the man.
The man chuckled as he reached for his scarf and goggles. "You let me in."
The former Obelisk watched on in surprise as the goggles and scarf were removed to reveal Baldy's face. "You're the bald guy from the entrance?"
"This bald guy is Chancellor of North Academy, Foster." Seto stated. "Everything, from the moment you set foot on that sub to now, was meant to prepare you."
"Prepare me?" Chazz asked. "For what?"
"I told you that day on Academy Island." Seto stated. "You remind me of my old self, which means you have bad habits that need to be kick. Here, you've already taken several steps towards that goal."
"The next step is to prepare yourself." Foster adjusted his glasses. "As things stand, you're in the running to be North Academy's Tag Team representative for the coming School Duel. If you want the solo spot, you'll need to beat the second and first ranked duelists to claim it."
"Regardless, I'm going to be going up against someone from Duel Academy?" Chazz questioned.
"Well, you won't be doing it with that deck you scrounged up on the ice." Seto held out the case and opened it to reveal three sets of cards. "As you are now, I believe you'll be able to master something beyond the union monsters alone.
Within the case are those very cards confiscated from you, An Armed Dragon which I have provided, and this school's top deck of the Ojamas. Three distinct decks that can go together and function properly provided they have a duelist capable of wielding them."
"Take these decks and begin training at once to master your own style." Foster declared. "Our two top duelists won't be gone forever, and while you shall not duel them upon their arrival, you will still have to duel them sometime before the School Duel to secure your spot."
Chazz stared at the case before looking at Seto. "Is reminding you of yourself all there is to this?"
"For the most part." Seto admitted. "To put it simply, I think you have the capacity to deliver duels the likes of which Yugi and I have gotten up to over the years. All you need is a push in the right direction."
Upon hearing that, Chazz smirked as he accepted the case. "In that case, I'll beat whoever stands in my way."
This is essentially the plot of 'The New Chazz'; however, I'm conserving that tittle for the next time I return to him. To explain why these events happened here rather than their original placement, it's simply down to Chazz not being shipwrecked. Instead of going who knows where from Academy Island, he went from Academy Island straight to Domino City. Then, from Domino City to North Academy's sub, which took him to North Academy.
As for the two duelists above Czar? One of them, the current top ranked student, is a certain Crystal Beast user, who at least in the dub is from North Academy. The second is an OC belonging to Vital Info. Just to point it, the Crystal Beast user isn't making an early trip to Academy Island, at least not this early. If he beats Chazz, he'll still turn down the role as his school's representative.
The deck situation: The unions have effectively become Chazz's while having Seto Kaib involved would make it a no brainer he'd be behind the Armed Dragons. This leaves the Ojama's, which I think are actually a better representation of North Academy than the Armed Dragons were. Now, Chazz is going to combine his cards, cards from Seto, and cards from North Academy to construct his ultimate deck.
On the topic of reviews, is seeming a little iffy again; however, I've received three emails with review. I'll answer what I have in full while save the longest one, as gmail refuses to show off truly long reviews. Not to worry, I'll be sure to address that long review, as well as any long ones I get going forward, within the next chapter it's fixed.
barryc10: It is important to note that while the Armed Dragons encompass a large pool, not everyone of them will find a place in this deck. Armed Dragons themselves, A-to-Z unions, and Oajamas have no dark type monster to fully utilize Dark Armed Dragon. As such, that is a piece of support left out as all it'd do is bog down the deck.
Charmander17: Yep, they won.