Chapter 11: Monkeying Around
Summary: They don't all have to be fancy titles, someone duels a monkey this chapter.
Entering Dr. Crowler's class, Chazz silently sits down in his normal seat. "I need to plan my next move; I can feel my influence start to fade ever since I lost to that punk Takashi." He's shaken out of his thoughts by another Obelisk Blue boy.
"Why are you sitting there Chazz?" Chazz looks up annoyed at having his thoughts interrupted by this peon.
"Why shouldn't I?" The Obelisk student looks at Chazz like a dumb kid.
"That isn't your seat anymore. Get out." Chazz is getting g more agitated.
"What are you talking about?" Chazz points to the name tag for the seat. "This seat has my name written…" As he looks at the name tag, he reads "Empty Seat" and is shocked. "Nowhere!" Looking smug the Obelisk Blue student points towards the Slifer and Ra students.
"Of course! We moved you over there." Chazz looks at him stunned.
"What? You changed my seat? And it's… In that corner? Dr. Crowler, what is the meaning of this? Why are you putting me in that seat?" Crowler looks at Chazz with a cruel smile.
"It is because you lost to a Slifer Red. And that is not all! Tomorrow, you must duel Bastion Misawa, of Ra Yellow, with your dorm placement on the line!" Chazz looks disgusted at this.
"A-Are you saying… If I lose, I'm downgraded to Ra Yellow? What about Taiyou!? He lost to a Slifer Red too." Taiyou looks angry at being called out while Crowler shakes his head.
"Really now, trying to shift focus to another student, how shameful. If you must know, while I am disappointed in his performance, I had much more faith in you than I did him. Therefore, I'm holding you to a higher standard." Taiyou sinks into his seat in shame at Crowler's comment while Chazz shakes in rage. Crowler continues.
"Now, now… Take your seat at once, in your proper place." Most of the class starts laughing at Chazz who quickly runs out of the room shouting.
"Downgraded!"
/RFSXPL/
Chazz is in his room later that night talking to his brothers, Slade and Jagger, via video-chat on his monitor. "You do understand, don't you?" Chazz sounds resigned as he talks to them.
"Yes." Slade speaks up.
"I've been busy with the election campaign, and Jagger with accounts at the bank, so we haven't had time to stay in touch." Jagger starts talking.
"But you are getting the top grades in your class, right, Chazz? Slade stands atop the political world, and I am at the top of the financial world. Chazz, our plan for the Princeton brothers to achieve world supremacy requires you to reign over the dueling world! You understand don't you Chazz?" Slade takes over.
"The Princeton family's future rests upon your shoulders." With that said the brothers ended the call, leaving Chazz to his thoughts.
"What can I do? Not only am I not at the top, but I'm also about to get downgraded. I can't tell my brothers about this." Chazz gets up from his couch and stares out the window. His solemn look turns into a glare. "This is all Takashi's fault! Him and Jaden, if they had just stayed in their place, I could have ruled the first years!" Looking towards the distance Chazz contemplates something.
/RFSXPL/
Takashi was tinkering with one of his Synchro decks when he heard a knock at his door. Getting up to answer it, he finds a grinning Jaden. "Hello Jaden, can I help you with something?" Jaden chuckles and pulls an amused Bastion from the side.
"Well not me, but you could help Bastion. He just had to repaint his room and needs a place to sleep tonight. He can bunk with us if you want but since you have the extra bunk, I figured we should ask you." Takashi chuckles at Jaden's usual excitement.
"That's fine." Takashi gives a small smile and steps back and out of the way, beckoning Bastion in. "Make yourself at home." Bastion bows before stepping in.
"I appreciate the hospitality; the paint should dry by tomorrow." Jaden elbows Bastion in the side playfully.
"This brainiac is actually going to duel Chazz tomorrow for a dorm swap test." Takashi lets out a hum at that.
"Congratulations Bastion! Though I am a little sad to hear your promotion will come at the cost of Chaz's stay in Obelisk Blue." Jaden blinks at that.
"Huh I guess I never thought of that, but Chazz is tough, he'll bounce back if Bastion wins!" Bastion rubs his chin in thought while Takashi gets a sad look.
"I'm just worried his self worth is tied into being in Obelisk Blue, those are the vibes he gave me at least." Jaden looks like he's about to say something, but Bastion interjects.
"It might not matter either way honestly." Jaden looks at him curiously.
"What do you mean?" Bastion smiles at the two.
"While I plan to go through with the duel, I have no plans on accepting the promotion, so he might just get to keep his spot if I turn it down." Jaden looks a little confused.
"I know why me, and Takashi haven't accepted promotions, but I thought a go-getting genius like you would jump at the chance." Bastion raises his pointer finger.
"Takashi and I." Bastion corrects, before continuing. "Also, while I plan to one day accept a promotion into Obelisk Blue, I first want to test myself against the strongest first years, Chazz is one, but there is Alexis Rhodes, and you two as well." At the mention of their names among the best Jaden rubs his finger under his nose with a pleased grin while Takashi gets a small blush and scratches his cheek embarrassed.
"I am pretty good, aren't I?"
"I'm not that great." Bastion smiles at the two.
"I want to test myself against the best of the first years to see where I stack, before I move on from Ra. Only once I feel I have honed my skills to my satisfaction will I accept the promotion." Takashi gives him a small smile.
"That is an admirable goal, Bastion." Bastion gives a thankful look to Takashi as Jaden raises his arms above his head yawning.
"Well, this has been fun, but I think I'm going to bed, see you dudes in the morning!" With a wave Jaden leaves the room shutting the door behind him leaving the two boys alone. Takashi smiles and points to the top bunk.
"That is the free bed. If you want to use the workbench to go through your deck at some point, feel free, just be mindful of the tools I keep on there." Bastion takes a look around and notices the deck on the work area, seeing a white bordered card on top.
"Do you need to put that up. I'd hate for you to get in trouble with Mr. Pegasus by letting someone see them outside of duels." Takashi chuckles.
"It's fine. You can take a look at it if you want to. I trust you can keep a secret, and I would hate to have you walking on eggshells while you stay here." With permission given, Bastion eagerly walks over to look at the revealed Synchro Cards like a kid on Christmas. Looking at the two that are revealed.
"Psychic Lifetrancer and Magical Android, fascinating, they say they are Psychic-Type monsters as well as Synchros, so new summoning methods and cards aren't the only thing Industrial Illusions is releasing, brand new Monster-Types as well." Takashi nods.
"Yeah, there are even more types." He smiles teasingly at Bastion. "But you'll have to wait to see those in action." Bastion chuckles at that.
"I eagerly await the day I can see them all." They share a laugh before Takashi takes a more serious look.
"I should warn you before you get too comfortable, I often have nightmares about…" Takashi trails off looking at his arms and receives a look of understanding from Bastion. "So, if you think it will disturb you, I can offer you ear plugs, or you can still bunk with the others." Bastion gives a reassuring smile.
"I appreciate the concern, but I will be fine, and I'll be more than happy to lose a little sleep to help you if you need it." Takashi smiles gratefully.
"I appreciate that." Takashi starts putting his cards in the safe. "I'm going to start laying down myself. You can use the lamp on the bench if you need some light." Bastion shakes his head.
"I believe I will lay down for bed as well." With that the two exchange goodnights and settle in for sleep.
/RFSXPL/
Bastion is woken up to the sound of a crash. Looking over the edge of the bed he sees Takashi face planted on the ground and quickly climbs the ladder down to help him up. "Are you alright Takashi?!" Accepting the help back into his bed Takashi grunts.
"I'm fine, this was bound to happen sometime here." Bastion looks confused.
"What was bound to happen?" Takashi chuckles and lifts one of his prosthetic legs with his hand and let's go, the leg flops back down lifelessly.
"My legs need some maintenance. This happens every now and then." Bastion gains a look of understanding.
"I assume with prosthetics this advanced they haven't worked out all the bugs yet." Takashi scratches his cheek with a chuckle.
"Yeah, every time this happens, Mr. Pegasus says Mr. Kaiba yells at his tech guys." Bastion chuckles back.
"I have heard Mr. Kaiba can be a perfectionist." He takes on a concerned look. "Will you be alright?" Takashi gives Bastion a reassuring smile.
"I'll have to put them in the diagnostics machine they gave me, once it identifies the problem, I'll be able to fix it probably. If it's something beyond my scope, I'll have to send it back to them to repair." Bastion looks at the folded wheelchair in the corner of the room.
"For now, i'm assuming you'll need your chair, I noticed you have two other sets of prosthetic arms but no legs." Takashi nods.
"The other arms are watered down versions of my main ones; they work to grab things, but they don't have anything built into them. These legs are the first set they got working that can function as actual legs. Mr. Pegasus asked Mr. Kaiba to make the legs and my main arms for me, but after seeing them on me, Mr. Kaiba now has a team dedicated to finding ways to mass produce them." Bastion looks awed.
"That is unusually thoughtful of Kaiba from what I heard, to want to help amputees like that." Takashi scratches his cheek nervously again.
"Well according to Mr. Pegasus, Mr. Kaiba just saw another market he could corner, and 'Further cement dueling as a way of life by putting a duel disk in all new prosthetic arms.' But I'm pretty sure deep-down, Mr. Kaiba also wants to help people with this." Bastion sweat drops at that. "But either way, I'm sorry I'm going to miss your duel, but this will take some time. If you could help me into my chair, I'll get started and cheer you on from here." Bastion just shakes his head fondly at him.
"I appreciate the apology, as unnecessary as it is." Bastion moves the wheelchair over and helps Takashi into it. While helping him get the legs off he says, "You just focus on getting these to work again, and we'll call it even on you missing the duel." Takashi smiles at that. After a few more pleasantries and a wish of good luck, Bastion leaves for his duel and Takashi puts his legs in the machine to run diagnostics.
/RFSXPL/
After having run the diagnostics and determining he could fix the problem, Takashi got to work. In the middle of fixing a circuit, he gets a call on his PDA from Jaden. Answering, he sees Jaden's panicked expression goes on alert.
"Takashi! Chazz never showed up for his duel with Bastion, and no one in Obelisk knows where he is!" Takashi's eyes widen.
"What?!" Jaden nods frantically.
"Me, Syrus, Bastion, Chumley, Alexis, and her two friends are checking the forest in for him! If you get your legs fixed soon, we could use your help!" Takashi gives a firm nod.
"I can maybe get it done in 30 minutes! Keep me posted!" Jaden agrees and hangs up while Takashi starts working faster. "Please don't let this be another Titan situation."
/RFSXPL/
Jaden and Syrus split off into their own group, Alexis and her friends another, and Bastion and Chumley as the last group. Alexis stops her group as she sees something in the bushes ahead of them. "There! Something moved!" The bushes rustle some more as they cautiously approach them. Suddenly a monkey wearing a high-tech head and chest piece, as well as a duel disk pops out of the bush screeching, freaking the girls out. The monkey runs up, and before they can blink, snatches Alexis's friend Jasmine and runs off.
"Help!" Alexis and Mindy start running after the monkey yelling.
"Come back here!"
"Give Jasmine back you stupid monkey!"
Catching up to it on one of the Island's cliffs the monkey places Jasmine on a small tree growing over the edge of the cliff causing her to panic more. "Nooooo! Don't let me fall!" Coming into the clearing also are some men in suits, one carrying a tranquilizer gun, with Jaden and Syrus hot on their heels. With Jaden yelling.
"Hey I said stop! Who are you guys?!" The tall, suited man in glasses calls out to the monkey as the one with the gun raises it to shoot.
"You can't escape now! If you don't want a shot from this tranquilizer gun, come down without a fight!" Jasmine calls for help seeing her friend come into the clearing.
"Help! Alexis!" The tall man with glasses narrows his eyes.
"That impudent monkey's taken a hostage!" Jaden speaks up.
"Again, just who are you people, anyway?" The short man in the brown suit responds.
"We're scientists, and that's no mere monkey that has your friend. We've been training it. It's a duelist monkey!" The kids behind him look shocked, Jaden asking.
"A duelist monkey?" The head scientist nods.
"Yes, his name is Super Animal Learning. S.A.L for short." The tall man looks at the shorter one concerned.
"Doctor…" The head scientist gets a look of understanding.
"Oh, it seems I've said too much." Jaden steps forward about to say something before Alexis walks past him.
"If this monkey can duel then..." She points her finger at S.A.L. "Then I challenge you to a duel! If you win, I'll take Jasmine's place as your hostage and let you go! But if I win you give her back without a hostage exchange!" S.A.L nods at this and sets Jasmine down on the tree and with a shriek he hops on a rock in front of it to act as a platform. Jaden groans.
"Aww man, I wanted to duel the monkey." After a second, he perks back up. "But at least I get to watch a sweet duel between Alexis and the monkey!" Syrus chuckles at that.
"You really do bounce back quick, bro."
As they both stand across from each other and activate their duel disks, the man with the gun raises it and takes aim at S.A.L. "He released the hostage!" The head scientist stops him with a raised hand.
"Wait! We might get some interesting data from this. Testing an animal's ability to communicate with the spirits of cards in a real duel. Let them fight."
"Duel!"
Alexis's Hand- Doble Passe, Ritual Weapon, Monster Reborn, Etoile Cyber, Polymerization
S.A.L's Hand- Hyena, Poison Fangs, Berserk Gorilla, Acrobat Monkey, Gene-Warped Warwolf
The kids look stunned as a voice comes from S.A.L's helmet. The head scientist chuckles. "That helmet has been programmed with all duel-related vocabulary. Reading his thoughts and moves and then translating them through it." The kids watching are in awe after hearing that.
Alexis gives S.A.L a determined look. "I'll go first! Draw!" Alexis draws Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands. "First I'll summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands in attack mode!"
Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands Atk / Def: 1400 / 1000
"And when he's summoned, I can activate his effect and add a Ritual Spell or Monster to my hand!" Alexis adds Cyber Angel Idaten and sets Doble Passe. "I'll set one card and end my turn." She then looks S.A.L in the visor with a serious look.
"I can't imagine what they're doing to you to make you so desperate S.A.L, but if you won't give my friend back without a fight, I will defeat you!" Mindy cheers for Alexis while Syrus looks curious.
"You go Alexis! Show this Monkey why you're the Obelisk Queen!"
"She didn't use Ritual Monsters in her duel with bro. I wonder what they are?" Jaden grins.
"I can't wait to see them!"
The head scientist scoffs. "A decent start but S.A.L will quickly take control of this duel." S.A.L hops up and down on in a frenzy.
"My turn! My turn! Draw card!" S.A.L draws Wild Nature's Release. "I summon Berserk Gorilla in attack mode!"
Berserk Gorilla Atk / Def: 2000 / 1000
Jaden's eyes widen. "That's one angry monkey!"
"Now I activate Poison Fangs! When a Beast-Type monster inflicts damage, you take 500 extra points of damage! Now I'll attack! Berserk Gorilla attack Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands!" Berserk Gorilla runs up to Manju to punch it.
"Not so fast! I activate my Trap Card Doble Passe! With this I change your Berserk Gorilla's attack to a direct attack, and you take damage equal to the attack my monster that you targeted!"
Berserk Gorilla jumps over Manju and punches Alexis in the stomach. At the same time tall of Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands fists stretch out and punch S.A.L all over his body.
Alexis's LP: 8000-2000=6000
S.A.L's LP: 8000-1400=6600
"Now that Berserk Gorilla has dealt damage, Poison Fangs activates! You take 500 points of damage!" A large set of poisonous fangs appear in front of Alexis and bite into her.
Alexi's LP: 6000-500=5500
Syrus winces. "She managed to save her monster, but she took a big hit to her life points." Mindy shakes her head.
"Alexis will be fine, that's just how she plays, she tries to get as much out of her monsters as possible, even if she has to take a hit to do it."
"I end my turn!" Alexis draws Pot of Greed.
"I play Pot of Greed and draw two cards!" Alexis draws a second Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands and a second Ritual Weapon. "Now I'll play another Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands and activate their effect to add Machine Angel Ritual to my hand."
Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands Atk / Def: 1400 / 1000
"Which I'll play right away! I'll send both of my Manjus to the graveyard as tribute to Ritual Summon Cyber Angel Idaten!" Both Manjus turn into balls of fire and fly into a machine filled with coal, lighting it ablaze. The new, stronger fire rises up, and Cyber Angel Idaten emerges from it.
Cyber Angel Idaten Atk / Def: 1600 / 2000
The head scientist laughs. "All that work for a monster that still can't beat Berserk Gorilla!" Jaden grins at him.
"Don't count Alexis out yet!" Looking confident Alexis says.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence Jaden! Now first I'll activate Idaten's effect, when she's summoned, I can add a Ritual Spell from my deck or graveyard, and I'll add one from my deck." Alexis adds another Machine Angel Ritual to her hand. "Now Idaten is about to get an upgrade! I play my two copies of the Equip Spell card Ritual Weapon!" Two Egyptian crossbows attach themselves to her arms as lasers form the "strings and arrows". "When equipped to a level six or lower Ritual Monster they gain 1500 attack and defense points, with two my Idaten gains a boost of 3000!"
Cyber Angel Idaten Atk: 160015001500=4600
Cyber Angel Idaten Def: 200015001500=5000
Jaden grins at the head scientist teasingly. "What did I tell you old guy, Alexis has got this in the bag!" Mindy cheers for her friend.
"Yes! Alexis is getting fired up!" Syrus looks in awe.
"It's stronger than Zane's Cyber End Dragon." Alexis smiles hearing her friend's praise.
"See, you have nothing to worry about, Jasmine, I'm going get you out of this!" Jasmine looks relieved but after looking down at the ocean below for a second hugs the tree tighter in panic.
"Please hurry Alexis!"
"You bet! Now go, Idaten, destroy his Berserk Gorilla!" Idaten aims both crossbows at Berserk Gorilla both shooting laser arrows that pierce the gorilla's chest, destroying it.
S.A.L's LP: 6600-2600=4000
The head scientist tsks. "Be careful S.A.L, you know what happens when you fail." S.A.L stiffens in fear. At that Alexis, Mindy, and Syrus look worried while Jaden glares at the head scientist.
"What do you mean by that?!" The scientist on the heads left speaks up.
"Nothing you need to worry yourself with, boy." Jaden grits his teeth as Alexis ends her turn. S.A.L snaps out of his fear and draws another Berserk Gorilla. S.A.L grits his teeth and sets Hyena.
Hyena Atk / Def: 1000 / 300
"I set one monster facedown and end my turn." The head scientist looks on impassively as the kids look at S.A.L in concern. Alexis shakes herself out of it and draws Cyber Angel Dakini with a frown on her face.
"I'm sorry S.A.L but this duel is over. I activate Monster Reborn and bring one of my Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands back from the graveyard."
Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands Atk / Def: 1400 / 1000
"Then I'll activate another Machine Angel Ritual, by tributing my level four Manju on my field, and the level four Etoile Cyber in my hand to Ritual Summon level eight Cyber Angel Dakini!"
Cyber Angel Dakini Atk / Def: 2700 / 2400
"And when she's Ritual Summoned you have to pick one monster on your side of the field to send to the graveyard, and since you only have one..." Hyena is sent to the graveyard. "Now my angels attack his life points directly!" Dakini runs in and slashes S.A.L with her blades and then jumps out of the way as Idaten shoots S.A.L with her twin laser arrows. As S.A.L's life points hits zero he starts frantically trying to pull his duel disk off.
S.A.L's LP: 4000-2700-4600=0
Winner- Alexis Rhodes
Before anyone can anything S.A.L starts screeching as the duel disk starts shocking him. He drops to the ground convulsing and writhing, his screams only growing louder. The smell of burning flesh and fur fills the air as the kids stand frozen in horror.
So there is no duel between Bastion and Chazz this time around, Takashi is even more in Chazz's head than Jaden was in canon. Takashi's legs bug out, Alexis gets to duel the monkey this time around, because honestly she should have gotten to duel him to save her friend, or Syrus should have been kidnapped by the monkey. And right there at the end, the show implied they abused or "Punished" S.A.L but never got explicit for how, I have no qualms with showing it.