Academy Island: Sports Facility, Day…
The second Sunday back from winter break saw Kai, Alexis, Jasmine, Sadie, Bastion, Jaden, and Dimitri at the sports facility for the day. Bastion and Greg were tutoring Mindy, Syrus, and Chumley at the library. Those at the sports facility were playing tennis as their first activity.
"Hah!"
Thwack.
"Hah!"
Thwack.
"Hah!"
Thwack.
Kai took a swig of water after sitting down, his prior match having just finished. He watched as Jaden and Dimitri engaged in a back-and-forth match with Topher serving as the ref. Alexis and Sadie were also having their own match with Jasmine serving as their ref.
The girls had gotten Ms. Fontaine's permission to use the courts, so the group were able to head right on in. Each of them were dressed in academy sports attire. The boys were dressed in a white and blue tracksuit while the girls wore a white variation of the same kit.
Over with Jaden and Dimitri, the match had been heating up to the point the latter smashed that ball with his racket. Engrossed in this rather back and forth match, Jaden met it by leaping into the air and smashing it himself. This sent the ball flying to another court.
In fact, it was heading right for Alexis, who wasn't watching due to being engrossed with her match against Saide. Kai cried out her name to warn her of the incoming projectile. She turned just in time to see it, but not with enough time to react.
Thankfully, before she could be hurt, somebody dashed in and used their racket to strike the ball out of the way. It flew harmlessly out of the court, landing on the other side of the field. Alexis' savior landed in a crouched position in front of her
"Alexis!"
"Are you alright?"
Jasmine and Sadie rushed over to the Obelisk Queen to check on her. At that moment, the newcomer turned and flashed the girls a charming smile, his pearly whites practically gleaming. He was tall and handsome. His long brown hair styled into a mullet.
By now, Jaden, Dimitri, Topher, and Kai had gathered around. Kai recognized this guy, Harrington Rosewood. He was a third year Obelisk who was a bit arrogant, woman crazy, and seemed to have quite the obsession with Alexis.
"Thanks for the save." Alexis said, giving Harrington a grateful smile. "I appreciate it."
"It was my pleasure." Harrigton flashed a smile. "After all, couldn't have anything happening to you. I'm just glad I came in for some solo training. I'm Harrington, Harrington Rosewood. If you're feeling a little lightheaded, I'll be more than happy to carry you to the nurse."
"Alexis isn't some fragile flower." Kai moved to stand beside the girls, just to make sure Harrington saw him. "Even if she was, you knocked the ball out of her path anyways."
"Listen bro, we were having a conversation." Harrigton tilted his head dismissively. "Could you step out of the way?"
"Have you been living under a rock?" Kai questioned, genuinely confused. "You are aware Alexis' friends consist of more than just Sadie, Jasmine, and Mindy, right?"
"You're one of her friends?" Harrington took a closer at him before smirking. "Wait, you're one of those first years that almost got expelled. A delinquent Obelisk like you couldn't possibly be friends with someone like…"
SMACK!
Kai would have expected Jasmine to slap the guy, and upon looking her way, she did have her hand raised. In the end, Alexis had beat her to it, slapping Harrington across the face. The third year was left in shock as he held the now burning red mark on his cheek.
"You have no right to insult anyone here." Alexis glared at him. "While I appreciate the save, you should leave my friends and I alone."
The third year looked from her to Kai, slack jawed. "Hey now, let's not be hasty. I'm sorry if I was rude. Sometimes my mouth gets the better of me. I'd love to join you guys." Clearly, he soured his first impression by the looks he received. "Or how about we have a duel? If I win, I get to stay. If you win, I'll leave and never bother you again."
"Why do we need to duel for that?" Jasmine asked, clearly frustrated with the guy. "Just leave before you embarrass yourself."
Harrington's features tightened as he looked ready to argue.
Then, Alexis spoke up. "If it means you actually leave, I'll take your challenge." Harrington seemed conflicted. "You either duel me, or you can leave right now."
"Alright." Harrington gave a charmingly uncertain smile. "I did pose the challenge; you were just the one with the backbone to take it."
The two of them got their duel disks and decks before moving to stand on either side of the tennis court closest to the group. Said group gathered at the sideline as the two of them shuffled their decks. When they were done, they activated their duel disks.
"I am just as skilled as the Kaiser, so I'll do my best not to be too rough with you Alexis." Harrington stated.
Clearly, Harrington did not truly know Alexis if he were willing to say such a thing. To infer she needed anyone to go easy on her, safe to say he was only digging that hole deeper. Not that anyone in the group particularly cared enough to try and help him at this point.
"Let's Duel!"
(Alexis 4000/Harrington 4000)
"Service first." Harrington drew. "I'll begin by volleying a spell card known as Service Ace. I now pick one card from my hand before you choose whether it's a monster, spell or trap. Guess right, you're fine. Guess wrong, you're served a stinging 1500 life points of damage."
"On average, a typical starting hand tends to consist of more monsters than spells or traps." Alexis nodded. "You chose a monster."
"You sure?" Harrington asked. "You can still change your mind."
"Just reveal the card." Alexis stated firmly.
"Well, you were right." Harrington revealed he'd selected a monster. "That's no damage to you, and regardless of the result, the card I selected is removed from play. I'll place this card face down to finish the set. Your serve."
"I draw!" Alexis looked at what she had before nodding. "I'll start with Double Summon allowing me to conduct 2 normal summons this turn. The first will be used on Blade Skater(LV 4/1400/1500)." A female skater appeared. "Then, I'll summon Etoile Cyber(LV 4/1200/1600)." A female ballerina appeared. "Now, Blade Skater will attack you directly."
"Don't think so." Harrington declared. "I activate my face down Receive Ace which negates your attack and deals 1500 life points of damage to you." A vortex of wind rushed past the female Obelisk (Alexis 2500/Harrington 4000). "That's 15 luv. Though I now got to pay the three cards from the top of my deck for that."
"I assumed you'd utilize that trap on whatever monster seemed like the biggest threat." Alexis smiled. "Now, Etoile Cyber can launch her direct attack, and when she does, her ATK rises by 500 for the damage step alone."
Etoile Cyber(LV 4/1700/1600 effect) spun and kicked through Harrington (Alexis 2500/Harrington 2300).
Etoile Cyber(LV 4/1200/1600)
"Well, you know what they say." Harrington grinned. "You win some, you lose some. Sometimes you just got to take hits to give them."
"That is pretty cliché." Jaden commented.
Dimitri nodded. "Pretty sure he's saying it just to cover up for the fact he was outplayed."
"Talk all you want Harrington." Alexis stated. "During Main Phase 2, I'll activate Polymerization to fuse Etoile Cyber with Blade Skater. Fusion summon Cyber Blader(LV 7/2100/800)." A red and grey woman with a visor appeared. "I end my turn there."
"Here goes!" Harrington drew. "Nice!" He slipped the card into his hand. "I activate Smash Ace. Now, I flip the top card of my deck, and if it's a monster, you'll be swung at for 1000 life points of damage." He flipped the card. "It's a monster!"
A sphere of light ran through Alexis (Alexis 1500/Harrington 2300). "Regardless of what it was, the card I revealed is sent to my grave, but I'm by no means done. I summon The Big Server(LV 3/300/800)." A cyborg tennis player appeared.
"I'll take it further by equipping him with the spell, Giant Racket." A large racket appeared behind Harrington's monster, strapping itself to his back. "With this, once per round, my Big Server can't be destroyed by battle, and I'll take no damage from the battle.
Not to mention my Server can attack you directly!" From his pocket, The Big Server pulled out a large, metal ball and served it through Alexis (Alexis 1200/Harrington 2300). "When my monster deals damage, I add another Service Ace to my hand."
"Oh no, this means it's going to come down to what Alexis calls." Sadie stated worriedly.
"Don't worry, Alexis has this." Jaden stated.
"Through my monster's effect, you get to draw a card too." Harrington grinned. "Not that it'll matter as I'm serving you up the Service Ace I just added. Like before, I choose a card from my hand, and you guess its type. If you're right, you're fine."
"If I'm wrong, this duel is over." Alexis finished.
"So, what do you think?" Harrington asked.
"Harington hasn't been shy with letting me see the cards he's removed and sent to the grave." Alexis noted. "It's been a lot of monsters through spells, with only that one trap being used earlier. Additionally, the card he picked is the one he drew." She nodded. "It's a trap."
"You're right." Harrington sighed, revealing another copy of Receiving Ace which would was now banished. "It's a shame, but I can finish you off next turn."
"There won't be a next turn." Alexis drew. "Especially since I just drew into Mystical Space Typhoon which will destroy that equip card of yours."
Harrington's cocky smile faltered. "Well, unless you have another monster in your hand, I'll still have life points left."
"While I don't have a monster to summon, I don't need one." Alexis stated. "All I need is my Concentrating Current. Now, only the monster I target can attack this turn, but they'll gain ATK equal to their DEF in exchange."
Cyber Blader(LV 7/2900/800 effect)
"Hey, hang on Alexis." Harrington took a step back. "Let's talk this out. I know I was a bit of a jerk, but let's let bygone be bygones."
"You go starting all this nonsense, just to call it off when things don't go your way." Alexis crossed her arms. "You're nowhere near Zane's level, and after this sorry display, I don't want to hear you claiming as such any longer. Cyber Blader, destroy The Big Server!"
Cyber Blade spun forward and kicked the monster, destroying him (Alexis 1200/Harrington 0).
"This can't be." Harrington was shaking.
As the monsters faded, Alexis merely walked away without a word, and Harrington ran off in tears.
"Wow, that was a sweet match!" Jaden grinned. "Congrats Alexis!"
"Agreed, it was a well-earned victory." Topher stated.
"Anyways, we shouldn't let Harrington ruin out day." Sadie stated. "Now that he's gone, I say we get back to sports."
"Sounds good." Kai stated.
Over a Month…
Kai had dueled Bastion the day all students returned from Winter Break. He then spent that first week back in class, and the following day at the sports center, taking as much of a break from dueling as was possible. That essentially boiled down to only dueling as class required it.
The second the next day rolled around; Kai got busy. All his free time, class, grades, and keeping up with his friends excluded, was dedicated to his deck and skills. As he didn't want to go making his friends a statistic, win or lose, he kept his duels to the people outside the group.
That meant everyone else was fair game, and he took full advantage by going on an absolute spree. Slifers, Ras, and both genders of Obelisk, all, save the exceptions, were dueled. Kai racked up no losses during this time, seven digits worth of duel points, and priceless data.
With that data, every night, Kai would comb through every card in his deck and side deck. He would compare them to every card within his trunk and retooled his deck for the next day. By the end, aside from a few in the friend group and teachers, Kai had dueled everyone on the island.
He also came out the other side with a deck he felt was as perfected as it could get without somehow squeezing a third archetype in. While of course there was always more skill to gain, you never stopped growing in that department, he'd still garnered a great deal of it.
Lake: Night…
"In all this time we've been on Academy Island, you're one of the few people I haven't dueled, and you're someone who could push Jaden. I'm looking for a tough duel, so I'm hoping you'll agree to give me one out on the lake."
It's only been months since he dueled Jasmine on this lake, yet it felt like years with all the hard work Kai put in just to reach the level he was at now. With Alexis' agreement to this duel, it was finally time to put the culmination of everything, up to this point, to the test.
Soon enough, Kai was met by Alexis, Mindy, and Jasmine, aboard their own boat, at the center of the lake.
"I'm glad you're here Jasmine." Kai stated genuinely.
"If you're taking on Alexis, then I know it's down to you finally having finished all your training." Jasmine climbed over to his boat. "I want to see firsthand, rather than catching the odd duel across the island, just how strong you are now."
"That make two of us." Alexis smiled. "In fact, I've wanted to see how I match up to you for quite some time. Given you spent a month improving, I decided to hold off and do the same."
"You'll be the first to see just how far Alexis has come." Mindy added.
"I'll look forward to what she's capable of now." Kai stated.
They maneuvered their boat the right distance before facing off with their duel disks at the ready.
"Let's Duel!"
(Kai 4000/Alexis 4000)
"Alright, let's see!" Alexis drew. "I'll start by summoning D.D Assailant(LV 4/1700/1600)." A blond-haired warrior with a large blade appeared. "I'll then round out my turn by setting 1 card."
"My turn." Kai drew. "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. "Then, I'll summon War Rock Fortia(LV 4/1700/1700)."
A young man with white hair and leather armor appeared. "Now, Halberd destroys Assailant." Assault Halberd sliced Assailant down with one, fell swing of his halberd (Kai 4000/Alexis 3900). "When he deals battle damage, I can add any Heroic card from my deck to the hand."
"After damage calculation, I must banish this monster and the monster that destroyed it in battle." Alexis declared.
Both monsters were sucked into wormholes, removing them from the game.
"As impressive as that is, my earth attributed warrior still battled." Kai declared. "Now, I'm allowed to add any War Rock I wish from my deck to the hand as well, and War Rock Fortia(LV 4/1900/1700 effect) gains 200 ATK until the end of your turn. He'll attack you."
"I'll activate my face down Sakuretsu Armor." Alexis countered. "This targets your attacking monster and destroys it."
"Just like that, you've pretty much halted anything I could do further with monsters this turn." Kai smiled. "I'll set one card and turn things over to you."
"After the first round, Alexis managed to clear the field, but Kai rounded out with the exact same number of cards he started with." Jasmine noted. "Things are fairly even right now."
"My turn!" Alexis drew. "I'll start by activating Machine Angel Ritual. By tributing monsters who equal or exceed the level of a Ritual monster in my hand, I can call them forth. I'll tribute Cyber Prima(LV 6) as the cost."
"Ritual monsters, huh?" Kai thought. "A lot of people think they're outdated, yet Seto Kaiba and Yugi Muto still make great use of them even today."
"I Ritual summon Cyber Angel Idaten(LV 6/1600/2000)." A woman in a pink suit appeared. "Thanks to her effect, as she was Ritual summoned, I can add any 1 Ritual spell from my deck to the hand."
"Ritual monsters certainly have their place; however, their Achillies heel is the fact they need those spells." Kai declared. "By cutting the duelist off, it places limitations. I activate my set Breakthrough Skill to target your Idaten and negate her effects until the end of your turn."
"You managed to stop that, but Idaten can still launch a direct attack." Alexis' Ritual charged in, striking through the war challenger user (Kai 2400/Alexis 4000). "That's all for now, Kai."
"My draw!" Kai looked at what he got before smiling. "I control no monster, so I can normal summon War Rock Orpis(LV 5/2100/2100) without tribute." A lanky man whose battle stance was on all fours appeared.
"I'll then equip him with Megamorph. If my life points are lower than yours, this spell makes the equipped monster's ATK double his original ATK." War Rock Orpis(LV 5/4100/2100 effect). 'Now, I'll have him destroy you Idaten."
"If a light attributed monster I control would be destroyed by battle, I can banish Machine Angel Ritual from my grave instead." Alexis declared.
Orpis rushed forward and slashed into Idaten with his knife; however, the Ritual monster weathered the attack to remain on the field (Kai 2400/Alexis 1500).
War Rock Orpis(LV 5/1050/2100 effect)
"Megamorph is a bit of double-edged sword since it now makes my monster's ATK half its original due to my life points being lower." Kai stated. "In accordance with that, I'll set this one card to end my turn."
"Here goes." Alexis drew before smiling. "Well, looks like I didn't need Idaten to fetch me a ritual spell. I activate my second Machine Angel Ritual and offer Idaten as the full tribute. Ritual summon Cyber Angel Benten(LV 6/1800/1500)."
A woman in a one-piece light blue and black outfit appeared. "As Idaten was tributed, all Ritual monsters I control gain 1000 ATK/DEF for the remainder of time they are on the field. I'd say that'll be a big help in ending this."
Cyber Angel Benten(LV 6/2800/2500 effect)
"I'll admit that is impressive; however, this won't be the final turn." Kai stated. "I activate my set Damage Diet. For the remainder of this turn, all damage I take will be halved."
"That means, Benten's attack and following effect won't be enough to finish this alone!" Mindy thought, worriedly.
"That won't protect you." Alexis declared. "The last card in my hand is Concentrating Current. In exchange for only the monster I target being able to attack, that monster will gain ATK equal to its DEF. I only have the one monster." Cyber Angel Benten(LV 6/5300/2500 effect).
"Now, Benten will destroy Orpis." Benten produced a fan and used it to slice Orpis down (Kai 275/Alexis 1500). "Whenever Benten destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the grave, you take that monster's original DEF as damage. Even at half strength, you can't weather this."
"I can't weather it, but I am capable of negating it." Kai declared. "By banishing Breakthrough Skill from my grave, I can once again utilize its effect to negate any one monster you control until the end of the turn."
Benten sparked with red electricity and was grayed out.
"Heh, I have nothing further, so that's the end of my turn." Alexis stated with a smile.
Cyber Angel Benten(LV 6/2800/2500 effect)
Kai drew. "I'll summon Heroic Challenger – Spartan(LV 4/1600/1000)." A beige and gold spartan appeared. "I'll follow it up with Heroic Chance. In exchange for being unable to attack directly, I can target any Heroic monster I control, and their ATK doubles for the rest of the turn." Heroic Challenger – Spartan(LV 4/3200/1000 effect). "I'll attack your Benten to finish this!"
"Spartan only have 400 ATK more than Benten." Alexis reminded.
"I'd check again after I discard Rookie Warrior Lady." Kai declared. "When my monster clashes with the opponent, I can send her to the grave from my hand or field. Then, my opponent's monster looses ATK equal to their original ATK until the end of this turn!"
"That means…" Alexis began surprised.
"This duel is over!" Kai declared.
Cyber Angel Benten(LV 6/1000/2500 effect) dropped her fans as Spartan came in and cut her down (Kai 275/Alexis 0).
"I thought Alexis had this duel." Mindy thought, stunned.
"Kai didn't waste a single card and even set his grave up perfectly!" Jasmine thought.
With the duel over, they pulled their boats back up alongside one another and Jasmine got back in the girl's boat.
"Those ritual monsters of yours are tough Alexis." Kai nodded. "Also, I haven't really been prevented from Xyz summoning, but it's good to know my deck still has answers." He thought about it. "Though, it probably wouldn't hurt to look over my deck one last time from this."
"Well, that deck of yours really is something as well." Alexis stated.
"Kai." Jasmine stated, grabbing his attention. "The next time you're free, I want to duel you with my new Amazoness deck."
"It's a date." Kai smiled knowingly, which made the now Amazoness user smile back at him. "Anyways, later your three."
Kai supposed he could put off dueling Bastion once more for a little while longer. Besides, after looking his deck over for what should be the last time, it'd do him good to duel someone else. One last preparation before he attempted to beat one of two people who still had wins over him.
I continue the process of giving the extended cast duels, and that isn't necessarily slowing down any time soon. There's still a fair bit of these filler episodes to get through, plenty of opportunities for development and character showcases. As for Alexis getting the Cyber Angels now, it's not necessarily known if she already had them or got them around the time of the Shadow Riders. I think that's down to her not really getting any duels between that one with Jaden and those events.
I'd personally like to think they were an upgrade she got to combat the Shadow Riders, so in that frame of thought, this would be an earlier showcasing. Given Alexis here is surrounded by a lot more people, people who have in turn more skill than canon or weren't part of the group in canon, I think it makes sense Alexis would step her own game up. Especially if Jasmine switches up her own deck to something completely new.
Note: I do recognize this is kind of a shorter chapter, but I am trying to keep these filler episodes a theme. Character from the group duels the character of the day/Kai then duel someone from the group. Again, one or two of these may go to Jaden by the time I get to Central Academy's representative duel. That is still undetermined, just don't be surprised if it happens.
Good note, reviews seem to be working as the newer ones are all there now.
Vital Info (Ch. 22): Well, Jaden and Syrus did abandon the duel in the part of the episode I did take this from. That duel they were having was abandoned when Torrey came into the dorm in the canon events. All throughout Yugi, an abandonment of the duel is generally just ruled as a no result with no repercussions. As for the dorm, Kai might mention it, but I don't see too too much changing from that.
Might ensure its cleaner, but you basically get what you earn... Unless your Jaden who in canon frustrated Crolwer, or here Slifer was the opportunity you get, a chance Seto allows you to have even though you were late. In essenace, can't go making the Slifer dorm to good a dorm. Magikey is a great. way to give normal monsters new life.
The only divine monsters are Egyptian and Wicked Gods. Yugi R, where the Wicked Gods come from are questionable canon. Even if you consider that canon, they vanished at the end of that arc while the Egyptian gods are sealed away. In essence, a deck that utilizes every attribute is the only direction to really go for a seventh deck in my opinion.
Vital Info: Eh, such a beginning just seemed extraneous to me, but that is just my opinion. As for his ranking, well in canon he was the number 1 duelist they had after beating Czar. Honestly, putting him as third here is the lower ranking from canon. Lucien only goes downhill in season 2, but there'll at least be a mention to the certain card when I circle back around to Chazz.
3bodyjaa: Thank you.
Threebranch: We've already talked about this, and I think I can make it happen.
Isseidrago: Not sure what you're asking here. If you're asking whether I consider Jaden a Hero or not, I'd say he was one for the first two seasons, though it was a role he was pretty much forced into. Season 3, I don't think committing war crimes, granted as the Supreme King, makes him a Hero.
Daemon of Wrath: It's Jessie Anderson. While in the sub he doesn't hail from North Academy, the dub says that's where he's from, so that's where I'm putting him. We've already talked about your OC.