Battle of the Monarchs Part 1
Unknown Location
Deep inside grassy mountains deep in a forest, a young woman with black hair and wearing Shinto priestess clothing, stood in front of burning lights. A frosty wind appeared behind her and a cloaked man was on a knee behind her while bowing. A small lightning bolt then came down and another cloaked man appeared on a knee while bowing.
"You have called for us, Master Sarina?" The first shaman with a snowflake symbol spoke up.
"So, you have arrived, Frost and Thunder. Jaden Yuki and the others will arrive to this city before long." Informed the woman, now named Sarina. "The two of you are to mobilize in an effort to lure Jaden to us."
"I don't mean to challenge your words, but I alone am not enough for such a task."
"That should be my line." The second shaman with a lightning bolt symbol added.
"I believe Master Sartorius has informed the two of you about their extraordinary power." Informed Sarina. "You must bear that in mind to ensure that you do not underestimate them."
"Yes!" The two-shaman replied.
"As for the devil that Master Sartorius has spoken about. Do not concern yourselves with him. The other lackeys' job is to weigh him down. Long enough to lure Jaden and the others to us." Sarina added.
"Understood."
Sarina placed her hand inside her priestess clothes and pulled out two envelopes. "These are for the both of you. Take those cards with you." The guys caught the envelopes that she tossed towards them. "Use those when your powers are not enough for them."
The guys looked at each other with uncertainty before bowing to the woman again and vanished in the same fashion they entered. Leaving behind was a frosty wind and a lightning bolt.
Sarina took out a card and smiled to herself. "Once they arrive, the seal of the Monarch shawl activate. None of you will leave once the Monarchs have sealed the city."
Not before long, five powerful spirits emerged all across the city beginning a chant as a barrier began to form.
Earlier this Morning
On the huge cruise ship, still sailing to make their way to Domino City. Red Hat, now wearing a new red blazer, was standing near the railing on the far end of the ship. Besides feeling the cool breeze on his face, he had a lot on his mind. What if this field trip turned out to be some sort of elaborate trap? If so, he'll have to reach his home to collect a few things first… alone. The last thing he wanted was for his friends to figure out where he lived and dragging even more danger upon them.
'I still don't understand why you're so reluctant to tell them about your problems? Do you not trust your friends? Or is this the lone wolf inside you speaking?' His spirit partner Aussa asked, sitting down next to him.
"I may trust Jaden and to lesser extent Bastion, but I don't wish to have them deal with my problems. This isn't something they can handle on a personal level." He replied, not even bothering to face her.
Aussa scowled at him. 'You know full well that's not true. Your friend has befriended the Neo Spacians, they know you've been branded. If anything, you should be teaming up with your friends more to help pacify the brand.'
"They also see me as a threat, do they not?" He wondered.
'They wouldn't harm an ally, let alone a friend. Perhaps speaking with them and your friend should help clear up matters.' Suggested Aussa.
"Maybe…"
After the two of them remained silent for a while, his thoughts would be interrupted by a familiar voice.
"There you are! Been wondering what happened to you after breakfast." Red Hat turned around and noticed Jaden approach him… alone.
"Jaden? Where are the others?"
"Syrus and Hassleberry are helping Bastion out a bit. He's not feeling too well."
This caught Red Hat by surprise. "I hope he's okay. The food wasn't even bad."
"Eh, he'll get over it soon." He looked to his left and noticed Red Hat's duel monster spirit friend. "Having a chat with your spirit friend there?"
"You can say that…" He turned around to face the sea waters again. "I'm not surprised you knew I had a spirit partner."
Jaden lightly chuckled. "Well, you're always so secretive about this. Why wouldn't you tell me you can see an befriend spirits! I'm sure we'd become great friends."
'I tell him that every day, yet he refuses to believe so.' Aussa pointed out with a smug look on her face.
"My situation with spirits is a bit more… complicated then you can imagine." Before he could further explain, Aquos appeared standing next to Jaden.
'You do realize, monster spirits can sense that brand mark of yours, correct? We knew from the beginning.' Aqua Dolphin explained.
"So, you knew…" Looking at Aussa, nodding in response, Red Hat slowly pulled up his sleeve to reveal the brand of left by the Dark Ruler. Its dark mist covered the brand, but noticed it had the symbol of the dark ruler. "This brand was something I was forced to wield. Hence some Society of Light members are calling me a devil. Not like I care what they say about me of course."
Jaden stared at the brand wide eyed. "What happened to you to have that?"
"On the night a day after you left the island. I was walking along the forest trying to find you until I slept outside for a bit. Then I was taken to the Duel Monster spirit realm by force." He looked at his brand remembering what he dealt with. "It was there I had an encounter with the Dark Ruler, as in, Dark Ruler Ha Des. He placed this brand on me, cursing me, and now I'm his unwilling pawn for his own games."
'Not only is he cursed, he has to constantly be pacified. If he gets angered, stressed out, that curse will slowly begin to take over, which would in turn, will cause him to go mad. Not necessarily rabid, but rather, turning malicious and evil.' Aussa further clarified. 'The Dark Ruler wants to use him so he can take over. He can't while the light is the dominate force.'
'Keeping him pacified is the first of priorities. There's no known way to remove such brands of darkness. For someone as chaotic as him, we should to kept an eye on.' Aquos suggested.
'There's a bit more too.' Hiita said, appearing next to Red Hat, which surprised Jaden a bit. 'That brand when he duels evil spirits or people and the light, the brand causes it to become a temporary duel of darkness. Don't think we have to explain do we.'
'There's no need to explain.' Interjected Aqous. 'We know what a duel of darkness does and how it's caused.'
"Hold on, you can create a shadow duel with that brand?" Jaden asked, further getting confused by the situation.
"I have no idea how to even control this thing, assuming there's a way to even control it in the first place." Red Hat said, covering his sleeve again. "It's why I don't duel often and most of my duels were from duel monster spirits or Sol members trying to take me down and failing."
"Hold on!" Jaden interrupted. "Some rumors were going around that some guys that were part of the society of light no longer are! Did you free them or something?"
Red Hat looked down for a bit before facing Jaden and the spirits. "The duel of darkness caused by this brand frees people from the light that's controlling them. Sartorius knows this and he's been trying to weigh me down ever since. He's been sending spirits corrupted by the light to destroy me or slow me down to prevent me from helping you guys."
Jaden's eyes widen as he heard that. "Hold on, if that's the case, why didn't you call for help? We could have helped you."
Sighing, Red Hat reluctantly explained. "I didn't want you guys to get involved with the problems I would cause. You saw what happened to the minor section of the forest. This is something I have to do on my own."
Aussa sighed, knowing that was his answer. 'Will you stop being a lone wolf for a while? He's trying to help.'
"Risking other people's lives because of some affair I can't fully control isn't something I want them to deal with." Red Hat replied with a scowl.
"Hey man, you don't have to deal with that alone." Jaden said as he patted his shoulder. "This isn't your fault. You never expected this to happen to you. We can help you out, man. You aren't alone in this."
Red Hat gave him a questionable look. "You sure you're willing to do that?"
'Our mission is to stop the imbalance of both light and darkness. You have the power to stop the light as well. Once the light is defeated, we'll try and figure out a way to free you from that brand.' Aquos further explained.
"You'd do that?"
"Hey, you never doubted me before, so why doubt me now. Together we can handle everything that comes our way." Jaden assured him.
Red Hat lightly chuckled at his response. "Guess you're right about that." The two of them high five in unison. Their spirits approved of their partnership. The Neo Spacians cheered the duo on alongside Aussa and Hiita.
Their time together was short lived as soon as they heard the horn of the ship. Signaling that they have arrived at Domino City.
"Looks like we made it. Jaden, if anything happens, we'll contact each other from our PDAs." Red Hat reminded. "So long as nothing suspicious happens, we should enjoy our time here."
Nodding, Jaden showed his PDA in response. "Yeah, after all. I'm the one who suggested we come here for our field trip." Jaden gave Red Hat his signature pose. "I'm going to make the most out of this trip."
"I'm sure you will."
Domino City Docks
Later that morning, close to the afternoon. The ferry carrying all the Duel Academy students, made its way near Domino City Docks. It took a few minutes, but all the students, but the students safely got off the ferry. First starting with Obelisk White students, organized by Crowler and Bonaparte. Next was Ra Yellow students and the few remaining Obelisk Blues organized by Professor Satyr, lastly the rest of Slifer Red and Jaden and Co.
Being the first of his friends to step on the grounds of Domino City, Jaden looked around with an excited look on his face. "We're here! Domino City! Y'know, I didn't have time to get in some sightseeing during the entrance exams."
Red Hat, staying close to him, merely chuckled. "I wouldn't know, since I transferred to Duel Academy only a couple of weeks later."
"Bastion, hang in there." Groaned Syrus as he and Hassleberry were helping Bastion off the ship by wrapping his arms around their shoulders for support.
"So, we're finally here?" Bastion asked, wheezing as he felt like throwing up.
Red Hat gave him a concerned look. "Sea sickness? You could have told us earlier and we would help you out."
'Oh, now you care?' Aussa teased.
"Shut it, Aussa…" He replied in a low voice. Aussa giggled at his expense as she disappeared again.
"I'll be fine, but thanks none de less." Bastion assured him.
They then looked towards Crowler and Bonaparte, with Bonaparte holding a megaphone. "Ah, yes, uh… Well, with that, we will now review our plans for today, everyone."
On the other hand, Sartorius walked past him. "My apologies, Vice Chancellor…" Bonaparte looked towards with a confused look. "I have important matters that I must now attend to. We will be acting at our own accord."
"Is that really so?" questioned Bonaparte.
Sartorius gave a slight bow. "On that note, we shawl take our leave." Sartorius leaves the docks along with the remaining members of the Society of Light.
Crowler looked at Jaden and his friends. "There is no point looking after just them, then, is there?"
"Yes, that is true…" Bonaparte agreed.
"You may use this day as to do as you see fit." Crowler began to walk away.
"Then, with such being the case." Bonaparte soon followed suit, following Crowler.
Satyr cleared his throat as he spoke up. "Attention everyone in Ra Yellow and the those in Obelisk Blue. We're heading for the hotel first to register before we begin sightseeing."
The remaining students all nodded and followed the professor to their destination.
"To think we're going to be staying with the Ra Yellows, huh?" Jamie asked, staying close to the few remaining Obelisks blues.
Syun chuckled. "It's not so bad. Besides…" Jamie and Syun sweat dropped as they saw Celia pull Dante and Rock's ears as she walked along. "Least we aren't with her. Poor bastards, Celia is very zealous on the deck attribute masters club."
"Yeah… don't remind me. It's best we don't get involved." The duo nodded and stayed close to the Ra Yellow and left over Obelisk Blue students. The Slifer Reds wen their own way as a Duel Proctor gave them directions where they will camp out.
"Seriously, what's going on with that Society of Light?" Bastion asked, wondering just what are they up to.
Hassleberry looked at him. "Well, this stuff's been going on for a while, soldier."
"Yeah, he's right." Jaden nodded and had a grin on his face. "Now I've got places I want to go to, so getting to do what we want gives us a warm welcome!"
"We'll it will be fun alright…" Red Hat with a faint smile. 'Though, I also live here. I'm not going to tell them where I live… Reason… starting in three… two… one…'
At that moment, Syrus took out a guide book. "Jaden, I'll give you the tour!"
Hassleberry then took out his own guide book. "Nah, I'll be the guide, Sarge!" The Ra duo began arguing about who will be Jaden's guide, much to Red Hat's annoyance.
Both Red Hat and Bastion noticed Aster coming up to them. "Aster, wouldn't you know what Sartorius has been planning? Sartorius is your manager, isn't he?" Bastion asked.
"Didn't you get the memo? He isn't my manager anymore." Aster replied flatly.
Flashback
Inside the Obelisk White dorm. Sartorius was at his room, sitting next to his table and he flipped over one of his tarot cards. He didn't even have to turn around to know Aster was standing by the entrance of his room.
"I had a thought that you would be coming here before long."
"Just what are you trying to do, Sartorius?" Aster asked with a glare.
"Aster, why is it that you have remained at the very academy that you so despise?" Sartorius asked with a hint of uncertainty.
"Because I thought I would see you here if I was." Answered Aster.
"That is not the true answer. It is because it has become your destiny." Sartorius clarified.
"Just what do you mean by, My Destiny?" Aster question, unamused by Sartorius vague explanation.
Sartorius began shuffling his tarot cards, as if an attempt to get a different reading. "My own reason for coming to this academy is the very same. Our stagnating destinies have begun to be swept up in a swirl of rapid change." Sartorius finished shuffling his card and stacked them together. "It was the one who overcame the fates I had predicted that brought a swirl forth within this academy."
"Are you talking about, Jaden Yuki and that kid in the red hat?"
"That is correct. All of the pieces surrounding them have begun to come into place."
"Pieces? What do you mean?"
"Even I am but one piece before fate." Sartorius picked up a card, revealing to be The Wheel of Fortune in right-side up position. "As long as we are both pieces, the relationship between us must also be equivalent, Aster."
"Don't give all of that nonsense!" Aster snapped, but kept his composure. "I want to hear about the Society of Light! And why didn't you speak to me about it! Isn't that the kind of friendship we have?"
Setting down the card, Sartorius began to weep from his left eye. "Aster… If you do feel friendship towards me, then you must be silent for now and follow the guidance of fate. Your time is sure to come eventually…"
Aster looked down with a disappointed expression. "So, you're telling me that you can't explain anything to me." Turning around with a frown, Aster began to leave the room. "Fine then, Sartorius. For the time being, I'll be keeping an eye on what you do."
Sartorius remained seated, still weeping from his left eye while his right half was completely composed.
Flashback End
"Just what is Sartorius thinking?" asked Bastion.
"I'm sure a duelist of your caliber is incapable of understanding how it is that Sartorius thinks." Aster said with a smirk.
"What?" gasped Bastion. "I may look like this now, but I always had the skills to get to Obelisk…"
Aster chuckled as he looked away. "That doesn't really mean anything, does it? You aren't being targeted cause you hang with him. Sartorius said he would get every valuable duelist into the Society of Light, one by one. He has no use for you to be honest with you."
"What? Hey Jaden, jump in and say some…" He noticed that the trio was no longer there. Having long left him and Red Hat behind. Aster began to walk away, having nothing else to say. "Hey, Jaden, Syrus, Hassleberry!"
"Don't worry about what he said, Bastion. You're safe from them because of us. Besides, you're better than the majority of the Academy students." Red Hat complimented, attempting to give him support. "Don't ponder too much on what Aster said. You'll be okay."
"Thanks, but not exactly too encouraging." Bastion sighed. "Where should we go since Jaden and the others left us behind?"
"I know a place where we can go. Let's leave them alone. Besides…" Red Hat looks up at the sky for a bit. "I don't want to put up with the constant arguing between Syrus and Hassleberry."
"You know a place here? If so, then I'm very curious to where we're going." Bastion said, raising an eye brow.
Chuckling and rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, Red Hat took lead. "Alright then, follow me and we'll make it there in no time. Besides, we'll contact Jaden with our PDA's if anything goes wrong."
"Very well, then." The duo would walk along the pathway everyone else traveled in for a while. Oblivious to the fact Jaden and the others were still at the docks.
Meanwhile with Sartorius
Sartorius was currently in the back seat in a car with Chazz and Alexis outside awaiting further instructions. The rest of the Society of Light members went to their expensive hotel. Further awaiting further instructions.
"Well then, Chazz, you are to assist her." Sartorius ordered.
Chazz gave him a light bow. "Yes, leave it to me." He then walked away, heading to next objective.
Alexis walked up to the car. "How do you suggest we handle Jaden Yuki, Aster Phoenix and The Devil?"
"Let us leave Jaden and Aster be for the time being. She should handle the rest well." Sartorius said, lightly chuckling. "Don't concern yourself with The Devil. A set up for him is already set in place."
The car's window rose up, leaving Alexis confused and a bit stunned as Sartorius took off to reach his next destination.
Satellite District
Red Hat and Bastion have made their way deeper into Domino City. The deeper they went, the more unpleasant the place became. Bastion looked around feeling uneasy about this part of Domino City. Many buildings were vandalized and the occasional broken window. Some buildings were closed down, they could hear the screams of some people in the alleyways and the occasional homeless person living inside an alleyway.
"Is this still Domino City?" Bastion asked, feeling a bit uneasy with the sight of this part of the city.
"Yes… Welcome to the Satellite District, the poorer side of Domino City." Red Hat replied solemnly.
"I find it hard to believe this district is the same place as Domino City." Bastion said, wondering how such a place can even be part of Domino City.
"It's never advertised at all. The Satellite District is where the all the punks and the poor live. Most people living here would never dare admit they're from the Satellite District due to its reputation for gang violence, theft, and overall subpar living conditions compare to the rest of Domino City." Red Hat explained, refusing to glance at Bastion.
Something didn't sit well with Bastion. "How come you know all of this? Your knowledge of this place is questionable at best."
Knowing he would have to bite the bullet eventually. "That's because… I live here in the Satellite District. I grew up in this part of town."
Bastion's eyes widen as he heard what Red Hat just said. He actually lives in this kind of place. That would explain why he was so reluctant to explain where he lived, how he knew about the place, and why he was very cold to Obelisk Blues in his early days in the first years. Being raised in such an environment can do that to a person.
"If you live here, then why didn't you tell Jaden and the others? They could have come with us as I'm sure they would be more than happy to see where you live."
"It was to avoid causing them trouble as this area is not safe. Besides, it looked like they wanted to have their own fun, so I didn't to spoil their parade and field trip. This is meant to be fun." Red Hat explained with a faint smile.
"I wouldn't exactly call this fun, but this is an interesting experience." Bastion said.
The duo continued to walk around the unsafe areas of the Satellite District. Suddenly, the sky turned from clear sky to completely cloudy in a heat beat. The sudden change in weather confused Bastion, all the while Red Hat felt uneasy about the sudden change.
"What happened? It was just sunny a minute ago. There were no weather reports on it being a cloudy day." Bastion observed.
"Something is wrong here…" Red Hat took a look around and noticed something huge appear not too far from him. What he saw was very familiar to him. 'This that Thestalos? Wait…' He looked around and noticed four other huge beings around the city. 'Wait, is that the Monarchs?'
Aussa appeared next to Red Hat, glaring at the situation. 'It's the monarchs. Someone made a chant and activated the seal of the Monarchs.'
"Seal of the Monarchs? What do you mean by that?" He asked Aussa in a low voice.
'The monarchs have sealed the city inside a powerful barrier. Spirits like myself are unable to leave this barrier. You guys are also trapped here.' Aussa explained.
"Wait… so you can't leave this realm, and we can't leave this city?" He replied quietly.
'Correct… The only way to stop the seal is to beat the owners of the Monarchs part of the seal, or battle the Monarchs themselves.' Aussa adjusted her glasses and turns around to glare at Red Hat. 'Don't even think about trying to challenge a Monarch. Not only do you not stand a chance against a monarch's mighty power, they can level the city with ease.'
"Damn… but where do we find the ones that even hold the Monarchs? That will be like finding a needle in a haystack." Red Hat pointed out.
"Is something the matter, Red Hat? You seem to be staring off into thin air." Bastion said, finding it odd Red Hat was spacing out.
"Let's keep moving. I know a place where we can stay for a little while." Soon, Red Hat's PDA began ringing. Taking it out and opening it up, he saw it was a video call from Jaden.
'Hey, Red Hat, you seeing what I'm seeing?' Jaden asked, wondering if Red Hat was noticing the change in the scenery.
He nodded in response. "I've noticed. It's not just the weather either. I've noticed the giant monster spirits around the area."
"Yeah! Air Hummingbird told me they have created a barrier to prevent spirits from leaving!"
"There's more to it than that, Jaden!" Red Hat replied. "Aussa stated so long as that barrier is up, we can't leave this city at all. We have to track down the source. Anyway, where are you anyway?"
"I'm at main square of Domino City! You see, Syrus Hassleberry and I were having a tour around the city by Solom Moto, Yugi's grandfather!"
Red Hat interrupted him. "Wait! You actually got a tour from Solom Moto? Yugi's grampa? That's amazing Jaden. I'm more surprised he offered to show you around the city."
"Yeah, it was great! We wanted to see Yugi, but sadly he wasn't here. He left on a journey!" Jaden suddenly gave him a frown. "However, we lost Solom Moto and we split up to try and find him, then this happened. I also lost track of Syrus and Hassleberry! Where are you so we can meet up?"
Red Hat shook his head. "Sorry to say that won't be happening, I'm too far away from your current location. I'm at the other side of the city with Bastion by my side. We'll catch up later once this situation is resolved."
Jaden nodded. "Alright, just be careful out there! I'm already worried about Syrus and Hassleberry. I hope nothing bad happened to them." The footage was soon cut from the PDA's
"Looks like this field trip took a turn for the worse, don't you think? Jaden met someone special and now he's on a wild goose chase. Now, we also have other problems." Bastion pointed out, albeit somewhat confused as to what Jaden and Red Hat were referring to at times.
"I know a place that will keep us safe for a while. Let's hurry it up before we get more problems."
The duo began running around the Satellite District. It only took a while, but they were close to the destination to where Red Hat was taking Bastion to. Once they got closer and closer. Once the area was mostly clear. They were soon ambushed by a wall of flames and rocks coming out from the ground.
"What is going on here?" questioned Bastion.
"Trouble…"
Two cloaked figures emerged from the flames and the underneath the rocks as it both disappeared from sight.
"We found you! Time for you to disappear!" One of the cloaked figures proclaimed.
"Who are you two and what do you jokers want?!" Red Hat asked, reading his duel disk at the two as his brand began pulsating.
"Simple, we're here to take you down." The two cloaked figures readied their duel disks. "We have been ordered by our master to take you done."
"Who ordered that? Was it Sartorius that ordered you to stop me?" Red Hat asked, glaring at the cloaked duo.
"Not quite, but like we're going to tell you who gave us our orders!"
"Hey, what am I, chop liver? I'll assist him on this affair!" Bastion gasped, feeling offended that he was completely ignored.
The cloaked duo chuckled at his expense. "We have no quarrels with you! Get lost now, or we'll have to take you down too! Your choice."
"I'm not going anywhere! I'm not just going to abandon my friend alone to take the both of you done! I accept your challenge!" Bastion declared, reading his duel disk.
"It's your funeral then!" One of the cloaked figures got into position to face Bastion. "T-Bone, I'll handle this chump, you take down the guy with the red cap!"
The cloaked figure named T-Bone nodded. "Right on! I hope you hurt him real good, Blaze!"
The second cloaked figure, now named Blaze, chuckled. "Oh, I'll bring on the pain alright. Let's duel!"
"You'll regret ever challenging us! I'll crush you!" Red Hat barked back.
DUEL
Red Hat: 8000 LP
T-Bone: 8000 LP
Bastion: 8000 LP
Blaze: 8000 LP
"I'll start this duel off, dog! My turn, I draw!" T-Bone draws.
Hand 6
"I'll start by summoning this card known as Blockman in attack mode! (Atk: 1000 Def: 1500)" A blocky figure, which seemed to be made out of Legos emerged onto the field. "Next, I play the continuous spell card, Messenger of Peace! Now no monster can with 1500 or more attack points can declare an attack!"
"Tch, stalling, are you?" Red Hat said with a hint of distain. If there's one thing, he hated the most was duelists stalling and wasting his time.
"You have no idea what I'm setting for you dog! I'll end my turn here! Your move Yo!" T-Bone ends his turn.
Hand 4
"Funny, my turn, I draw!" Red Hat draws.
Hand 6
He looked at his hand and stared blankly at his hand. 'Damn… this is not a good hand. Most I can't use at the moment or at all. Guess it's time to clutch it again.' He thought as he continued his turn with a dead hand. "I set a monster and pass turn." Red Hat begrudgingly ends his turn.
Hand 5
"Is that all you got, Yo! Then you're about to get steam rolled real soon! My turn, I draw!" T-Bone draws.
Hand 5
"First, I'll pay the cost of Messenger of Peace! By paying 100 LP every standby phase of my turn, I can keep it on the field. If I don't then the card is destroyed!" T-Bone explained as he paid the cost of his card.
T-Bone: 8000 – 7900 LP
"I'll set a monster facedown, then I'll set one card facedown! Your move now, Yo!" T-Bone ends his turn. "Better do something or else I will!"
Hand 3
"Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do. My turn, I draw!" Red Hat draws.
Hand 6
"I flip summon Aussa the Earth Charmer! (Atk: 500 Def: 1500)" As the set card was flipped face up, Aussa emerged onto the field.
'You almost never summon me in base form, let alone flip summon.' Aussa pointed out.
"Well, I bricked and he's just stalling." He corrected as he continued. "Her effect allows me to take control of an earth monster! Your Blockman is mine!" Aussa began chanting, creating a brown aura around the block monster. The block monster then made it's why to Red Hat's field. "Now, I send Aussa and Blockman to the Graveyard to special this card from the deck! Appear, Familiar Possessed – Aussa! (Atk: 1850 Def: 1500)" Both monsters disappeared as a Aussa reappeared in her stronger form.
"So, what, dog? You still can't attack me because of Messenger of Peace!" T-Bone pointed out.
"I play the spell card, Dark World Dealings! We both draw 1 card then we discard 1 card!" Red Hat draws his card then discards a particular monster.
"What was the point of that, yo?" T-Bone questioned as he drew a card and discarded one card he didn't need.
"I discarded for a reason. Take a look at your field." T-Bone raised an eye brow until he saw a fiend with a green cape appeared on his side of the field and slashed his Messenger of Peace spell card, shattering into pixels. The fiend laughed at its opponent before disappearing.
"What happened? My Messenger of Peace was destroyed!"
"That was Gren, Tactician of Dark World's monster effect! When he's discarded from my hand by a card effect, he can destroy one spell or trap on the field. Now that it's gone, I can attack! Aussa, attack his facedown monster! When Aussa is special summoned by her effect, she does piercing damage!"
'Copy that.' Aussa did as she was told and conjured a brown energy orb from her staff and launched it at the facedown monster. As the monster was revealed, it took the attack and shown to be Mine Golem. (Atk: 1100 Def: 1900)
Red Hat: 8000 – 7950 LP
T-Bone laughed at his failure. "Nice try! Just because you destroyed my spell card doesn't mean you landed a hit! Mine Golem has more than enough defense points to stop you!"
"Tch, a rock-based deck huh? If your plan is just to cause deflect damage then you're out of your mind if you think that's happening again! I set one card facedown and end my turn!" Red Hat ends his turn.
Hand 4
Meanwhile with Bastion
Blaze stared down Bastion noticing he picked a certain deck. "Six decks? What kind of duelist are you anyway?"
Bastion smiled, knowing he caught his opponent off guard. "A duelist always comes prepared! I'll pick my water deck." Bastion stated as he inserted his deck into the deck slot.
Blaze lightly growled. "Water deck or not, I'll burn you with Fire! I'll start this duel! I draw!" Blaze draws.
Hand 6
"I summon UFO Turtle in attack mode! (Atk: 1400 Def: 1100)" A turtle with a UFO like shell appeared onto the field. "I set one card facedown and end my turn!" Blaze ends his turn.
Hand 4
"I figured out your strategy! My turn, I draw!" Bastion draws.
Hand 6
"Before you do, I play activate the continuous trap card, Backfire! Every time you destroy a fire attribute monster on my field and send it to the graveyard, you take 500 burn damage!" Blaze explained as he revealed his continuous trap card.
"That won't stop me. I summon Hydrogeddon in attack mode! (Atk: 1600 Def: 1000)" The brownish aquatic dinosaur emerged onto the field. "Battle, Hydrogeddon attack his UFO Turtle! Hydro Gust!" The brownish dinosaur let out a blast of water from its mouth and destroyed the UFO Turtle.
Blaze: 8000 – 7800 LP
"Did you forget? When a fire monster is destroyed you take 500 burn damage!" Blaze reminded him as an explosion was set of next to Bastion.
Bastion: 8000 – 7500 LP
"Not only that, but UFO Turtle when destroyed allow me to summon a fire attribute monster with 1500 or fewer attack points in attack mode. I'll summon another UFO turtle! (Atk: 1400 Def: 1000)" Another UFO Turtle took the place of the last one.
"Don't forget, Hydrogeddon has an effect to. When it destroys a monster in battle, I can summon another Hydrogeddon from my deck! Appear, the second, Hydrogeddon! (Atk: 1600 Def: 1000)" A second Hyrdrogeddon emerged onto the field. "Now, attack that UFO Turtle! Hydro Blast!" The second Hydrogeddon attacked the UFO Turtle with a blast of water from its mouth.
Blaze: 7800 – 7600 LP
"You take another 500-burn damage, and I get to summon another UFO Turtle! (Atk: 1400 Def 1100)" Another UFO Turtle appears as Bastion was blasted by another explosion.
Bastion: 7500 – 7000 LP
"I special summon the third Hydrogeddon from my deck! (Atk: 1600 Def: 1000)" The third Hydrogeddon emerges onto the field. "It's still the battle phase! Hydrogeddon attack the final UFO Turtle!" The third Hydrogeddon attacked the final UFO turtle with a blast of water from its mouth.
Blaze: 7600 – 7400 LP
"You still don't get it do you! You take another 500 poins of burn damage and now I summon this card, The Thing Inside the Crater! (Atk: 1000 Def: 1200)" A large crater appeared on the center of the field with a large pool of lava. A rocky being with blue eyes can be seen on the walls of the crater. Another explosion was blasted at Bastion.
Bastion: 7000 – 6500 LP
"I set one card facedown and end my turn." Bastion ends his turn.
Hand 4
"My turn, I draw!" Blaze draws.
Hand 5
He chuckles as what he drew. "Perfect, with this card, you'll be going down in flames! I tribute my The Thing Inside the Crater to tribute summon this card! Come out, Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch! (Atk: 2400 Def: 1000)" In a fiery blaze, the firestorm monarch emerged onto the field, letting loose his power. The monarch was covered in a white aura and its size was a lot more massive than normal.
"Thestalos? Wait, so you guys are the ones who have the monarchs?" Red Hat questioned, now that one of the monarchs were exposed to be part of the barrier.
"And what if we do? It won't change a thing once we defeat you!" T-Bone replied.
"Only further reason to destroy you two!"
"We'll see about that, dog. With our new power, you don't stand a chance." T-Bone declared, making a pose.
Blaze laughs manically as Thestalos prepares to launch a fireball. "Thestalos effect now activates, when tribute summoned, you have to discard a random card in your hand! If it's a monster card, you take 200 burn damage times its level! Thestalos, destroy one of his cards!"
The firestorm monarch launched its fireball at Bastion as the flame's hits one of his cards on the far right. A hologram of the card appeared above him as it was flipped over, revealing to be Bitelon.
"Ha! A level six monster! That means you take 1200 burn damage!" Thestalos launched a larger fireball at Bastion, causing him to scream in pain by the flames.
Bastion: 6500 – 5300 LP
"Don't think I'm done yet! Here's the spell card Graceful Charity! I don't have to tell you worthless school boys what it does do I?" Blaze quipped as he drew his cards and discards Little Chimera and Flame Cerberus. "I play the field spell, Molten Destruction!" As Blaze placed the card in the field spell zone on his duel disk. The field slowly changed to an active Volcano with a large pool of lava flowing out of the Volcano.
"Feeling the heat yet? The field spell raises all fire type monsters attack points by 500 and lowers their defense by 400 points!" The intense heat of the area raised Thestalos attack power. (Atk: 2400 – 2900 Def: 1000 – 600) "Not done yet! I play the spell card Premature Burial! By paying 800 LP I can special summon a monster from my graveyard! I'll choose Little Chimera! (Atk: 600 – 1100 Def: 550 – 150)" A greyish-blue panther-like chimera emerged onto the field. It had dark green wings that appeared to be from a bird, a purple tail that appeared to be radiating flames.
Blaze: 7600 – 6800 LP
"Its effect gives all fire monsters 500 more attack points while lowering all water monsters by 400 attack points!" the chimera radiated its power decreasing Bastion's monsters power while boosting its own and Thestalos. (Atk: 1100 – 1600 Def: 150) (Atk: 2900 – 3400 Def: 500) (Atk: 1600 – 1200 Def: 1000 X3)
"Great scot! This isn't good!" Bastion panicked.
"Heh he, time to battle! Thestalos destroy the first Hydrogeddon!" The firestorm monarch launched a stream of flames from its palms as it destroyed the first Hydrogeddon.
Bastion: 5300 – 3100 LP
"Little Chimera attack the second Hydrogeddon!" The small chimera leaped forward and took a bite onto the second Hydrogeddon, causing it to explode.
Bastion: 3100 – 2700 LP
"Ha ha ha ha! Can you take the heat?! You'll finished in no time! I set this card facedown and end my turn." Blaze ends his turn. 'With this card, if he tries anything funny, he'll immediately regret it.'
Hand 2
"I won't be lead astray! My turn, I draw!" Bastion draws.
Hand 4
"I play the spell card, Pot of Greed!" Bastion draws his cards and lightly smiles. "First up, I play the spell card Monster Reborn to special summon Hydrogeddon back to my field! (Atk: 1600 – 1200 Def: 1000) The second Hydrogeddon came back to the field. "Now I summon Oxygeddon in attack mode! (Atk: 1800 Def: 800)" A Pteranodon made of green air appeared from an oxygen geyser.
"Summon as many monsters as you want, it won't change a thing. Even if you manage to make them stronger than Thestalos, Backfire is still on the field!" Blaze taunted. "You're doing more harm to yourself than you're inflicting!"
"Didn't they ever teach you to double check your work? You're about to find out your strategy isn't as flawless as you think! I play the spell card Bonding H20! I tribute two Hydrogeddon and one Oxygeddon to special summon Water Dragon from my deck!" The three monsters turned into geysers that combined to form a serpentine-dragon made of water that let out a cry as it appeared. (Atk: 2800 Def: 2600)
"Doesn't matter, my monster is still stronger!" Blaze smirked behind his mask.
Bastion lightly chuckled. "You really don't understand, do you?" Water created a tidal wave that crashed onto Thestalos and Little Chimera, washing away their strength. Thestalos kneeled onto a knee as his power was drained. (Atk: 3400 – 0 Def: 600) (Atk: 1600 – 0 Def: 150)
"What? This can't be! Their attack points are all gone?!" Blaze cried out.
"Indeed, that's Water Dragon's effect!" Bastion explained. "You see, when he's out on the field. The attack points of all Fire attribute and pyro type monsters are reduced to zero!"
"So what?! With Backfire still on my field, you'll be hurting yourself! Little Chimera still weakens your Water dragon by 400 points!" Blaze reminded with hint of venom. (Atk: 2800 – 2400 Def: 2600)
"I don't think so. I activate the continuous trap, Metal Reflect Slime! With this I special summon to my field in defense position! (Atk: 0 Def: 3000)" A large metallic slime emerged onto the field creating a wall. "But that's not what I'm using it for! I tribute the Metal Reflect Slime to special a special kind of monster! Behold, come forth, Plasma Warrior Eitom! (Atk: 3000 Def: 2500)" A large black and purple mech emerged onto the field. The mech contained blue core on its chest.
"What? What kind of monster is that?" Blazed questioned.
"This is a brand-new monster I obtained! It's time to battle! Plasma Warrior Eitom, attack his Little Chimera! Atomic Blast!" Eitom fired a laser from its chest core destroyed Little Chimera.
Blaze: 6800 – 3800 LP
"Now that your monster is gone, Water Dragon gets its attack points back!" Water Dragon let out a roar as its power return. Backfire's effect caused an explosion near Bastion's position. (Atk: 2400 – 2800 Def: 2600)
Bastion: 2700 – 2200 LP
"Water Dragon, attack his Thestalos! Tidal Blast!" The blue dragon fired a stream of water from its mouth, wiping out Thestalos and knocking Blaze off his feet and dousing the area. Bastion took damage from another explosion at his position.
Blaze: 3800 – 1000 LP
Bastion: 2200 – 1700 LP
Blaze gets back up, holding onto his mask. "So, what! I still have 1000 LP left! Next turn, you're going down!"
"There is no next turn." Bastion said with a smile. "I play the quick play spell Offerings to the Doom! I destroy one monster on the field, in exchange, I can't draw on my next turn!"
His move confused Blaze. "Did the heat get to you? Why would you destroy your own monster?!" Water Dragon was soon destroyed
Bastion chuckled at his response. "You really don't do your homework, do you? When Water Dragon is destroyed, I can special summon the material it was used to summon it! Come back, two Hydrogeddon and one Oxygeddon!" The three named monsters returned onto the field. (Atk: 1600 Def: 1000 X2) (Atk: 1800 Def: 800)
"No! this can't be!"
"End this duel! Oxygeddon attack him directly!" The wind dinosaur launched a blast of air at Blaze, knocking off his feet as his LP was depleted.
Blaze: 1000 – 0 LP
Earlier with Red Hat
'Okay, a monarch has been summoned. I assume he has one as well.' Red Hat thought as he was concerned for Bastion.
"You should be more concern about yourself, dog!" T-Bone taunted. "No matter what you do, we're taking you out!"
"Not happening! Make your move you wannabe rapper!"
"You'll regret saying that! My turn, dog! I draw!" T-Bone draws.
Hand 4
"I tribute my Mine Golem to tribute summon Granmarg the Rock Monarch! (Atk: 2400 Def: 1000)" Mine Golem disappeared and, in its place, the large rock monarch, covered in heavy armor and large hands emerged onto the field. The monarch appeared to be much larger than Red Hat remembered.
'Never thought I'd see the day I'd be battling Lord Granmarg…' Aussa muttered.
"Now isn't the time…" Red Hat said in a low voice.
"Granmarg effect now activates! When tribute summoned, I can blow up one face down card on the field! Your facedown card gets destroyed!" Granmarg lifted his fist and slammed it into the facedown card.
'So much for my Mirror Force…' Red Hat thought with distain.
"I play the equip spell card, Premature Burial! By paying 800 LP I can bring back a monster! Come back, Mine Golem! (Atk: 1100 Def: 1900)" Mine Golem remerged onto the field.
T-Bone: 7900 – 7100 LP
"Not done yet yo! Now I play the quick play spell, Inferno Reckless Summon! Since I special summoned a monster with 1500 or less attack points, I can special summon as many monsters with the same name as the monster I special summoned! Come out, two more Mine Golems! (Atk: 1100 Def: 1900 X2)" Two more Mine Golems appeared one after the other next to Granmarg. "The card also allows you to special summon as many copies of your monster that I selected. Bring out more of her, yo!"
"I can't, I only have one copy of her."
"It's your funeral then! Granmarg attack that girly over there!" Granmarg readied its fist and attacked Aussa.
"Don't go down without a fight! Aussa strike back, hero dogma style!" Red Hat commanded.
'Fine then, I'll do as you say. I'll fight to the very end' Aussa leaped forward tried to attack Granmarg with her staff. Granmarg easily overpowered her and crushed her.
Red Hat: 7950 – 7300 LP
"Now, Mine Golems, attack him directly!" Each Mine Golem charged forward, each one landing a strong punch after another, knocking Red Hat off his feet.
Red Hat: 7300 – 6200 – 5100 – 4000 LP
Slowly standing back, groaning in pain, he glared at his opponent. 'Sometimes I wish my brand didn't keeping making duels like this painful…' He thought.
"Don't think you're out of the woods just yet! I activate my trap card, Minefield Eruption! You take 1000 burn damage for every Mine Golem on my field! That's three so you take 3000 burn damage! In exchange, it destroys each of my Mine Golems!" One of each Mine Golem approached Red Hat and self-destructed right next to him. Each one caused one explosion after another. The explosions knocked Red Hat back as the explosions caused actual pain.
Red Hat: 4000 – 1000 LP
Slowly standing up, Red Hat struggled to stand after all the damage he took from each attack. Heavy punches were one thing, but explosions were quite another. He didn't think he'd feel an actual explosion. Even if it wasn't technically a lethal one.
"I… won't let you… get away with this…" Red Hat shot back, now clutching his right arm.
T-Bone laughed at his face. "You and your friend will fall to the light brigade! Give up now and hand yourselves over!"
"I don't know what you creeps want, but taking us away is the last thing you'll be doing." Oblivious to everyone around him, Red Hat's brand began pulsating and glowing a small black mist. "You'll regret ever meeting us!"
"All bark and no bite is all I'm seeing, Yo! I set one card facedown and end my turn!" T-Bone ends his turn.
Hand 0
"No more games, lets finish this! Boku no turn!" Red Hat draws.
Hand 5
"I play the spell card Graceful Charity!" Red Hat draws his cards and discards two copies of Broww, Huntsman of Dark World. "Broww's effect activates! When he's discarded from my hand to the graveyard, I can draw 1 card! Since I discarded two copies of him, I get to draw 2 cards!" Red Hat showed the two monsters before placing them back in his graveyard, then, drawing two cards. "I play the spell card Dark World Lightning! I destroy a set card on the field, then if it was successful, I can discard one card! Your facedown is destroyed!" Goldd appeared and launched powerful purple lighting at the facedown before disappearing.
"You may have destroyed my face down, Yo. But that doesn't anything, I still have Granmarg on the field!"
"Know your place you wannabe rapper." Red Hat discarded his card and soon a fiendish monk appeared on T-Bone's field.
"Eh, why is this monster on my field?" Questioned T-Bone, confused as he never had this monster, nor did he know how it was on his field.
"That's the effect of Ceruli, Guru of Dark World! When he's discarded by a card effect, he gets special summoned to your field in defense position. When special summoned by the effect of a Dark World card, the opponent must discard 1 card."
Hold on, Yo! I don't have any cards in my hand, so you just wasted your time!" T-Bone tried to clarify, only for Red Hat to laugh at his face.
"Guess street punks are out of touch too? It's called a point of view effect. Since it's on your field, I'm the one who has to discard a card, not you!" Red Hat discarded a particular monster as his graveyard glowed with slight black mist. "Reborn! Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World! (Atk: 2500 Def: 1800)" The massive fiend emerged onto the field, letting out a loud roar.
"What is that thing?! I never seen that monster before!" T-Bone cried, confused at what was even happening.
"Reign-Beaux effect activates! When he's special summoned by his own effect, he can destroy either all spells and traps, or destroy all monsters on your side of the field! Reign-Beaux destroy all his monsters! Go, Light of Erasure, Hell's Ray!" Reign-Beaux launched a rainbow-colored beam from his chest armor and destroyed all of T-Bone's monsters.
T-Bone covered himself from the blast. "Granmarg, it can't be!" He cried out.
"I'm not through with you yet! I summon Zure, Knight of Dark World! (Atk: 1800 Def: 1500)" the Dark World knight emerged onto the field, reading his sword. "I play the equip spell Megamorph! I'll equip this to Reign-Beaux! Since my LP is lower than yours, his attack is doubled!" The Dark World Overlord grew in size until it became massive in size. (Atk: 2500 – 5000 Def: 1800)
"That's one huge monster you got there!"
"Battle! Zure attack him directly!" The fiendish knight charged forward and swung his sword at T-Bone. Unbeknownst to him, part of his cloak was ripped apart from the slash.
T-Bone: 7100 – 5400 LP
Red Hat noticed that bastion had already defeated T-Bone's partner in crime, Blaze. Wanting to end this immediately. "Reign-Beaux end this duel now!"
"But how? I'll still have 400 LP left!" T-Bone corrected.
"Life points don't mean anything! You have no hand, and even if you drew the out, you'd have no monster to protect you! Go, quick play spell, Rush Recklessly! This gives Reign-Beaux 700 additional attack points! It's over T-Bone! (Atk: 5000 – 5700 Def: 1800)" Reign-Beaux grew stronger as it launched a black lightning beam from his staff. The attack blew away T-Bone a couple meters away, Blaze being caught in the crossfire was knocked straight into one of the buildings walls.
T-Bone: 5400 – 0 LP
With the enemy duo now severely injured by Red Hat's assault. They slowly stood up, struggling to make a decent footing as they tried to keep their mask on. Not even bothering with their cloaks anymore as they've been damaged.
"This guy is nuts!" T-Bone wheezed as he tried to move away.
Coughing for a bit, Blaze took hold of one of his shoulders. "Mission is a failure. He's too strong! Let's get out of here!"
"Get back here!" Red Hat lunged forward only for Blaze to created a wave of fire close by, before disappearing. The flames died down the moment the duo disappeared into thin air. Red Hat's brand stopped pulsating as the glow died off. Sighing, he slapped his face to calm himself down for a bit.
"Are you doing, okay? You snapped back there for a second." Bastion asked worryingly.
"I'll be fine… but thanks." Red Hat assured him, slowly standing back up. "Let's get out of here and head to a safe place."
Bastion stopped him and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Just where exactly are we going?"
He turned around and gave him a faint smile. "My house of course. We'll be safe there for the time being."
Red Hat-s Home
The duo continued to walk around the Satellite district, until they finally reached their destination. Red Hat's home looked less than impressive from Bastion's point of view. Not only did it look like any run down house hold. He could tell the paint was slowly falling off and the windows were covered by black curtains. The house was much smaller than he anticipated.
Bastion had many questions. How could Red Hat live like this? Was this the reason he preferred to stay in the Slifer Red dorm? Because it remined him of his home? If so, that would explain why would he doesn't want to move up. It was a rather questionable decision. Wouldn't one want to improve their living arrangements? Sometimes it felt like he doesn't understand Red Hat. Then again, there were time he doesn't understand Jaden either.
"This is where you live?" Bastion asked.
Red Hat nodded. "This is where I live. I know it doesn't look like much, but still a nice place to live." He said as he approached his home. He turned the door knob and of course it was locked, cause why wouldn't it be. "I'm a minimalist so a small home like this is more than good enough for me."
Bastion raised an eye brow at his statement. There's being a minimalist and just living in poor conditions. Guess there's some things he'll never truly understand. "How do you suggest we enter your home if the door is locked?"
Red Hat smiled at him. "Simple really." Red Hat walked to the far side of his home until he reached the side where the bricks were revealed. Bastion took notice on what he was doing. He noticed Red Hat took out one of the bricks and saw that he took a key from there. Red Hat placed the key in his pocket and placed the brick back where it belonged.
Bastion had many questions and yet he couldn't seem to find any. Why would he hide a key inside the wall? Was it beneficial in anyway? Wouldn't it actually make it easier for his home to be robbed because of this? He decided to wait for a while before he would ask him.
"Got the key, time to get in!" Red Hat then took his key and inserted it into the lock. He turned it counter clockwise and heard a click. He then entered his home as he put the key into his pocket for safe keeping, Bastion following him inside.
As he closed his door, he took a look around the house and noticed not much has changed since his last visit. Bastion took notice of the interior of the house. The living room had a small couch, a coffee table, and a classic antenna TV placed at an out of place small desk, in front of the coffee tale. The kitchen was very small, barely enough room to hold a fridge and a small stove. Red Hat merely sat down at the couch and placed his duel disk on the coffee table, Bastion following suit.
"Old Man, are you home?" Red Hat called out. When he got no response, he knew the answer. "Of course not, he's busy at work again."
Sitting down comfortably, Bastion now decided to fully question Red Hat. "I have a lot of questions I want to ask you. I hope you don't mind me asking."
"I don't mind. Ask away…" Red Hat responded as he stood up to look out from one of the windows to see if anyone was around.
"Have you always lived here? If so, is this place the reason you enjoy living at the Slifer Red dorm?"
"I was raised here when I was a kid yes, but wasn't born here." He simply replied, still looking through the window. "As for the living in the red dorm. I like the simplicity of it. I'm not a fan of those super fancy places and housing for pretentious rich snobs."
"I would have thought you would at least enjoy better living conditions, but I guess not." Bastion said. "Did you always found a distain for say the rich folk?"
"I hate the rich, just not for the reasons you think. I rather not talk about it." He replied in a cold tone. Not wanting to be reminded of that day. "Anything else you wanted to ask?"
"You mentioned old man earlier. I assume your father lives with you correct, or am I mistaken?"
Red Hat nodded in response. "I live alone here with the old man, aka my father. Since he works a lot, he's rarely home. He ties to support me the best he can. Was taught how to handle situations and how to apricate being a minimalist when it comes to living. It's how I was able to live on my own for a long time. Granted I'm not good with dealing with situations."
"I can tell by the fact you didn't exactly make a good impression in the early days of the first year. Your response was dueling very aggressively."
"That's one way of putting it." He replied, not denying anything Bastion said. "That room over there to the right. That's my room… You can rest there if you like… I'd keep an eye over for the time being."
"You sure I can? I don't mean to intrude or anything."
Red Hat nodded and gave him a small smile. "Go ahead, I don't mind."
Bastion stood up and made his way to Red Hat's room. Once he entered, he closed the door and laid back on his bed, leaving Red Hat alone in the living room with his thoughts.
'I'm well aware you aren't just going to hide here, right?' Aussa stated as she appeared next to him. 'You felt it too, right?'
"Yes… the barrier weakened when T-Bone and Blaze were defeated." He said as took a look outside his house. He noticed the solute of Thestalos and Granmarg slowly fading, but were still there. Mobius and Zaborg remained in their place still going strong. "I still don't know who has Mobius and Zaborg though. If Jaden encounters them, I don't have to worry too much."
'Don't you find it a bit strange, though?' Aussa questioned, adjusting her glasses. 'They targeted you knowing full well they couldn't defeat you. Your friend, Bastion was just caught in the crossfire.'
"My guess is they were trying to distract me. Jaden has got this though." He thought with a smile. "That's two monarchs down, just two more."
With a sigh of relief, Red Hat went back inside his home. Figuring the cost was clear, he had nothing more to worry about for the time being and decided to rest on the couch for a little while. At least, until Jaden and the other contacted him in case there was any trouble. He believed with the exception of their encounter, everything will be alright.
Unbeknownst to him, one more Monarch had yet to fully reveal himself in the center of Domino City.
A/N: This took far longer than expected. One of those reasons was just timing, irl stuff getting the better of me and overall drama elsewhere which I won't be talking about.
I decided to begin with the first, both being separate duels. Since Blaze in the anime never dueled once which was a disappointment. I was never a fan of the monarch duels in the show, since they didn't do much with the concept. I also never liked how they played hyper specific cards because theme took priority. Wanted to expand up it even if by just a little. Also to give some more attention to Bastion as he was just left behind.
Next time we'll see the remaining monarchs do battle and some more exploring.
