Chapter 39:
Once the golden light subsided, Blake and Kami exchanged looks for a moment before they pulled out their PDAs. But just as Blake was about to make a group call, he heard an annoyed huff from his side.
"No connection." Kami stated flatly. "At this point I'm not even surprised anymore."
She's right. A "no signal" notification he'd completely overlooked was at the top of the screen. "Urgh. I hate this place." Blake groaned.
"It's not surprising, honestly. If the chairman is the enemy, he likely has control over everything on the island." Kami said, pinching the bridges of her nose as she sat down. "So, what do we do?"
"You mean other than trying to somehow find out who's got hit by running all over the island?" Blake scoffed. "Narrow it down."
"Narrow it down how?" Kami questioned.
"I doubt anyone of us would lose to jokes like the Dark Scorpions." Blake answered. "That leaves three other potential threats, which we can cut down to two."
She nodded. "You said the pharaoh is weak and one of them is a vampire, as hard as that is to belief-"
"I actually have no idea what's less believable; spirits in the image of trading cards or vampires." Blake muttered.
".. both sound stupid, let's be honest." Kami said with a short laugh. "Not you guys specifically, more the whole idea of you existing." She quickly added, waving her hand in Blake's general direction. "But if that woman really is a vampire, then she shouldn't be able to come out during the day, correct?"
Blake nodded.
"So, it's either the amazon or Banner." Kami concluded.
"Most likely."
"Who would they target?" She continued while taking another can of soda while fanning herself some air.
Blake joined her on the opposite seat and grabbed one himself. With the early afternoon sun burning down on them, he too felt hot. Although the Shadow Duel likely stressed her out more than him, he too felt a sudden lack of energy. Unlike Kami, he wasn't sweating, however. She's fanning herself like crazy, it even ran down her-
His eyes snapped back up to hers ignoring the small smirk she gave him. "Well, Banner's most interested in Jaden, while the amazon looks for a strong man to be her husband. I sincerely doubt Jaden would lose, plus he should be with Zane, if he didn't get distracted." Blake reasoned.
"You think they're safe?" Kami asked.
Blake shook his hand in a so-so manner. "Zane's difficult given he wants to end this asap and would probably rush anyone he could with extreme prejudice."
"After what happened to the chancellor, I can see him do that." Kami muttered. "This leaves Bastion and Chazz."
'Bastion lost against Tanja originally, but he was both using a shit deck and was completely swooned by her. Can't see that happen now with his relationship with the girls and his crush on Alexis.' Blake thought. "I'd wager Chazz is more likely to lose."
Kami let out a soft snort. "Is that the confidence in your friend or your dislike of Chazz and Obelisk Blue in general speaking?"
"There are exactly four Obelisk Blue students that actually deserve their colors." Blake said flatly. "Five if I count Atticus, but we'll see about that."
He rolled his eyes at the incredibly smug look Kami gave him, all but asking him to count out who he meant. But he didn't. "After what happened, I doubt Chazz wouldn't try to get every duel he could. And while he may've beaten Bastion and got a strong ace monster, he's too easily goaded. He'd trigger every possible trap his opponent laid out for him." 'Although he seems more composed than I remember him. Must be coming from that dragon of his …'
"But he's also the furthest away from us …" Kami mused.
'If only I knew where Banner was. Rush him first and then wait till Camula comes out.' Blake thought to himself. 'Since neither Atticus nor Jaden got that weird amulet, it's doubtful she'd have that bullshit Spirit Gate to cheat her way through a duel. Without that, she's just a worse Bastion. Both their strategies take too long to not be crushed by an OTK, which is more feasible with my new Cyberdark cards … and the other two can be taken out by anyone. Even Syrus could beat that fake "unbeatable" pharaoh.'
The parasite of a Shadow Charm on his arm seemed to like his idea of rushing down his enemies as it fueled him with an increasing desire to do just that. He did try to take the Cyberdarks for exactly that reason too, so why not get things over with? "Let's go to the crossroad between the dorms and the academy. The others are most likely trying to meet up with the rest of us and that's the spot everyone can get to the fastest." He eventually said. 'Easiest way to get to the enemy too.'
"We really should've thought of a contingency plan." Kami said with a shake of her head. "But I don't have a better idea either, so let's do it."
They finished their drinks and got up before making way towards their destination.
"- adding all of their points up that's game. You can't use any traps and have no cards in hand either." Bastion calmly stated and watched his undead horde tear down his opponents last defenses and the rest of his lifepoints.
"Curses." The bespectacled man in front of him, better known as Dark Scorpion - Cliff the Trap Remover, grunted as his body vanished.
With the duel over, Bastion let out a sigh and deactivated his duel disk. Right after, the door to the classroom he's in opened and in came a worried Bright.
"Bastion, you're alright! The doors wouldn't open and I heard you battle ..."
"Nothing to worry about, it was just part of a … special event." Bastion lied. He didn't like to do that, but it was better than explaining what really happened.
"You sure? You look a bit roughed up." Bright said and checked him over as he came over.
"Oh this? I had to do some … unexpected parkour through the classroom." He replied awkwardly. "Guess I'm not as much in shape as I thought."
She stared at him while humming to herself for a while. "… alright. Just wanted to tell you that we got the other classrooms under control. I'll be out in the main hall to crack some skulls, just so you know."
"That's good to know. Just make sure you don't-" Bastion started but was interrupted by a sudden flash of golden light that shined through the windows for a few seconds.
"Wow! Those are some awesome special effects!" Bright noted with a hint of excitement.
'Oh no.' Was all Bastion could think. He pulled out his PDA, only to see that he had no connection.
"I wonder if it has anything to do with that weird colosseum Yuma told me about …" Bright mused.
"What colosseum?" Bastion couldn't help but ask. 'I don't remember anything like that existing on the island. And if it's similar to the ruins we went to then it can only be something bad.'
Bright then pulled out her own PDA and opened a picture that seemed like it was taken from the terrace atop the academy's main building. In the middle of the forest, a grand colosseum stood in what should've been an empty clearing. The Slifer Red dorms could partly be seen in the distance. "She sent me this earlier …" Bright began. "… and told me she'd go check it out. I don't even want to know how expensive the projectors for a hologram like that must be."
'Oh no …' Bastion thought with a sudden sense of dread setting in. Not only had another key be lost, now he couldn't reach out to the others and his friend was in imminent danger.
'The others are likely nearer to where the key has been lost. Blake's with Kami, so they're almost certainly fine. That leaves Zane, Chazz, and Jaden.' He went over his options. 'Zane is on Blake's level, so there's a miniscule chance of him losing. Jaden has only ever lost to the two of them, which leaves Chazz, who I'm not far away from. Then again, it's unlikely anyone else knows about this colosseum and Yuma is already heading there…'
He remembered what Blake had told them about the other Shadow Riders and quickly narrowed down which of them could be there. 'It's got to be either the pharaoh or the amazon, they're the only ones that fit in such a building. If they both run cards fitting their theme then I should have no problem with either. And didn't Blake say something about the pharaoh being a bad duelist?'
Bastion quickly ran some calculations in his head. The Amazon archetype had seen some public usage by Mai Valentine, although less than her primary Harpie one. She'd seen great success with it, but she was a top ranked duelist. Taking that into consideration, he evaluated how he'd fare against the basic strategies and cards he knew were employed in the deck and came to the conclusion that he was more likely to win than to lose. And while he had no idea which cards the pharaoh would run, it made sense to him that he'd use something either similar to the Gravekeeper archetype or some form of Zombie deck. Both of which he knew intimately by now.
'It doesn't matter which one I encounter; I'm prepared for both.' Bastion concluded. 'While the other Dark Scorpions could still be out there, I doubt they're any stronger than the one I defeated. Blake said other than Banner and him there's only a vampire left, and those can't come out during the day, if pop-culture is anything to go by. And there'd be no point in Banner revealing himself like that. It's time to pull my weight.'
With his mind set, he turned to Bright. "Say, can you and Dimitri take care of business here? I worry that Yuma might get in over her head going to that place all by herself."
"I guess we can, but why do you worry?" Bright asked, her glasses flashing as she adjusted them.
"Because she's alone and we both know how reckless she can be." Bastion countered.
She looked at him a few seconds longer before sighing. "You're probably right. Just don't take too long. I have no idea how many challengers will flood in here."
"I will be swift." Bastion replied and ran towards the entrance of the building.
Just before the last corner, he encountered Doctor Crowler. "Signore Misawa. I'm glad to see you're alright." The doctor said with a sigh of relief. "I trust you've seen the lights as well? Do you know what happened?"
"I'm afraid not, doctor." Bastion shook his head with a grimace. "I can neither call nor text with my PDA."
"I feared that. Communications are down even through the speakers." Crowler said with a scowl. "But where are you going?"
"The western forest. Some weird structure appeared there and has already attracted the attention from other students." Bastion explained.
Crowler clicked his tongue. "Then you best hurry. We can't let any more students get drawn into this." He looked down on his battle-ready duel disk. "I'd accompany you, but I cannot leave the Rhodes siblings unattended. Who knows what these dastardly Shadow Riders would do to them if given the chance."
"I understand." Bastion nodded with a pang of worry for the two, especially Alexis. "It's probably for the best if you stayed here regardless. If one of us had lost then they require both medical attention and safety."
"If only you're wrong about that." Crowler replied with a sigh that made him look a decade older. "The only good thing about this is that we're reaching the end of today's game. With a bit of luck, we can finish all of this tonight."
"I sincerely hope we will, doctor." Bastion agreed and took off to where he hoped Yuma would be fine.
'Little missy reacted to us during the duel. Think she can see us now?' DAD spoke up.
'She's addressed you earlier too. How about we find out?' Blake answered before turning to Kami. "Say; you saw my spirits earlier, right? That still working?"
Kami turned her head towards him, then squinted her eyes. "I'm not sure … maybe? I think I can make out the outlines of them, but that could just be the heat."
"Well, that's a start." He replied. "You'll get there eventually."
"That so? By the way; you said spirits search for partners similar to them, right?" She asked and waved to where she'd seen DAD's outlines. "So, is your Dark Armed Dragon like you? And where does Jinzo fit into this?"
"DAD is a tall, handsome, badass that can beat anyone he wants, yes." Blake said with a smirk while DAD flexed beside him. "And what about Jinzo? I'm not stupid."
Kami rolled her eyes. "You know what I meant. I for one could see someone like Jinzo more with the likes of Bastion. The inquisitive mind, you know? And what's it with guys and dragons?"
"Hmm … we both love to crush weaklings, search for strong opponents, and shit-talk the whole time. Does that answer your question?" Blake laughed. "We are similar, both in mind and in energy. You know, that DE stuff Bastion and I tried to explain to you? Same wavelength and all that. But now that you say it, Jinzo really would fit Bastion … what you say, big guy?"
'While we share similar interests that doesn't change the fact, I sought out you specifically.' Jinzo answered, showing up behind him. 'Your friend is smarter than most of you humans, but he lacks the resolve and strength of will I require.'
"Fair enough. I'm sure he'll get his own partner soon enough anyway." Blake said before crossing his arms behind his head as they walked on. "And what about dragons? They're dragons. Easy as that."
'Hell yeah.'
"… do you have any idea how weird it is seeing you talk to them like that?" Kami sighed with a shake of her head. "Just don't fetishize your dragon like Kaiba does. That man has a personal jet modeled after his Blue-Eyes, can you believe it?"
"Honestly, can you blame him at this point? He's Seto fucking Kaiba. I don't even know how much stupid shit I'd get up to when I had as much money and power as him." Blake told her. 'Both those things would be really nice to have. I wonder how much payout we'll get from telling on the underground arena and the police.'
"Men." She huffed in annoyance.
"What can I say? We're simple creatures." Blake shrugged. "I mean; what are you doing with the buttloads of money your family has?"
"Not spending it on ridiculous stuff like that for one." Kami answered with a smirk before she raised an eyebrow. "Are you just trying to pass the time or do you actually care about my personal life, though?"
"I'm not the one making fun of other's spending habits. Yet." He jabbed back, but the question gave him pause. "Don't you think it's only fair I get to know more about you? You know, since you probably had me searched thrice over?"
She cringed a bit at that. "Fair point. But there's a difference between telling you out of fairness and out of care. Honestly, it's more of a topic to talk about on a date."
"Really now?" Blake asked with a blank stare. "Are you being this infuriating on purpose?"
"Pot, meet kettle." Kami said with a giggle.
'She's got you there.' DAD added with a thunderous laugh of his own.
"Wow, screw you both." Blake grumbled while Jinzo simply fazed into the background.
Kami's giggle turned into full laughter. "Seems like I'm not alone with that stance."
"For Ra's sake …" He motioned to the path before them. "It's a sunny day and we're taking a walk together. That's date-worthy enough for me, so let's make it one, I guess. Unless you need a chauffeur and a dress to make it work."
She actually stumbled at that, only barely able to stop herself from falling – which Blake wouldn't have thought of stopping if his life depended on it. "W-w-what?!" She sputtered out, eyes wide in horror.
"Wow." Blake said out loud as he looked in her face. "You sure you're not Slifer Red, princess?"
If she's blushing before, then now she's on fire. She quickly looked around to see if anyone was watching them, before she slapped his shoulder and buried her face in her hands. "What are you saying?! And stop calling me that already!"
"You're no queen yet, I fear, so princess it will be." He replied, a smirk returning to his face. "Though I have no doubt about that happening after you mopped the floor with the Dark Scorpions earlier."
She parted her fingers just enough so she could glare at him. "If that's supposed to be another stupid water-pun I swear I'll-"
Blake blinked. "Huh. Could be, now that you say it. But no, I meant that. Honestly, you didn't even need me in that duel." 'Not that I had the chance to do much in the first place. I wonder if I just had a bad hand or if the Cyberdarks are just that slow compared to what I was using before. Can't even get them with my favorite tomato, because they won't do shit like that…'
Kami took a deep breath and shook her head before taking her hands out of her face. Except for a faint blush remaining, she looked as cool as a cucumber. "Well, thank you. While I may not pursue a dueling career, I obviously take this just as seriously as I do everything else. Such is expected of me."
"Huh. Color me surprised." He replied. "I thought this was more of a stepping stone to you, since you have all that company stuff to worry about. But Duel Monsters isn't a worldwide phenomenon for nothing, I guess."
The Ra Yellow dorm was visible by now, with only few students to be seen moving or sitting around. A large cloud shielded all of them from the sun, casting a shadow over them.
"It's not." Kami said with a sudden seriousness. "While I had many hobbies in the past, wanted or not, this is one of the few that stuck to me. When I saw just how much joy it brought my father, I learned it by myself." She explained with a wistful expression. "Once he found out, he thought me with his own deck before he gifted it to me. What was a way to connect with him at first turned into something that brought me joy as well."
'That's … surprisingly wholesome.' Blake couldn't help but admit.
"Of course, he used it to teach me other things like reading my opponent and countering their plans as well." She continued. "Such things are vital for anyone doing business."
"Of course." He echoed. "Still waiting for the day Seto Kaiba makes it viable to just duel over any disputes and the winner being right. Your story's pretty cute, not gonna lie, but it sounds to me like you had a lot to deal with before you got here."
"C-cute?!" Kami sputtered. "Ahem, you aren't wrong about that. As my father's only child, learning how to take over the business is expected of me. And while I don't regret taking all these extra lessons, I'm thoroughly enjoying the free time I'm getting here. Even if it involves snarky know-it-alls."
Blake gasped in fake hurt. "And here I was, almost feeling bad for you. Kinda surprised there's no one else trying to snatch that company out from under you, though. No little sibling getting kidnapped to threaten you either."
"Small family." She shrugged. "While it benefits me, it's a shame I never got any siblings. A younger sister would've been nice. I wouldn't have been so lonely and I could have dressed her up."
"One of you is enough, thanks." Blake snorted.
"That's rich coming from you, mister. Another one of your kind and this school would already be in shambles." Kami poked back.
"Definitely." He replied before turning silent. 'Bad enough I had to live with this family. Might've snapped if I had to watch out for a sibling too.'
Various scenes of his less fortunate upbringing flashed in his mind one after the other. Each hit, each item thrown after him, every day spent hungry. The faces he'd tried to erase from his mind now that the people they belonged to were gone. In the past, it had scared him. Now? Now it only made him angry and disgusted. It was a good thing they're gone. Then again, if they were still around now … the things he could do utilizing his DE now … how would they react to a Shadow Duel filled with painful shocks?
'I really hope I find Banner soon.' Blake thought with malicious intent. 'His body is crumbling? Ha! I'm gonna turn him inside out before that happens.' He closed and opened his fists slowly, trying to get a feel for the energy flowing through them. 'If only I could materialize spirits like Jaden. Just sick DAD and the Cyberdarks at the remaining Shadow Riders and then Kagemaru. It'd be a mercy for the old fart. That'd fix so many problems, but all I can do is punch stuff harder …'
"You're frowning."
He blinked and refocused his attention to what's outside his head. Kami was standing in front of him. He must've stopped walking at some point.
His partner asked, concern clear in her voice. "Did I … stir some bad memories?"
"Oh no, I was thinking of bunnies and how great pets they make." He said sarcastically before shaking his head. "Putting another child through all that I had to endure would've been … bad."
"I'm sorry." Kami said, gently touching his arm. "I know that you've been through a lot. More than anyone our age should."
'Tell that to Jaden once our time here's over …'
"It's not my place to know, even if I have a rough idea." She continued. "But if you ever want to talk about it; just say the word."
There it was again, that warm feeling. It's been the same with Bastion, back when they talked during that night. It felt good to know that someone was there to support him. It was only with these two he felt at ease. All that anger that had built up earlier slowly evaporated. He hadn't changed his mind about the plan going forward, but his mind was clearer now.
'As if I had the right to talk about Zane and Chazz rushing into fights when I'm like this.' He chastised himself.
His hand found Kami's, which was still resting on his arm. 'But do I even deserve their support? After what I've done? Being who I am right now?'
Her hand jolted slightly, but Kami didn't pull away. They just stood there for a while.
"Thanks … I will." He said eventually. "After we're done dealing with all this nonsense."
"I'm looking forward to it." She replied softly.
Only when a loud thud sounded from not far from them did they separate, as if caught with their hands in the cookie jar. They looked over to where it came from and saw a roughed-up Slifer Red student with his knees on the ground. He seemed barely able to hold himself up.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Kami called out and ran over.
'Maybe next time, chief.' DAD said with a hint of humor.
Blake shook his head and followed after her, his eyes caring rather little for the Slifer student at the moment.
The boy looked somewhat familiar to him, but he couldn't think of a name. Probably some schmuck he met around the dorm back when he's still living there.
"T-there's some weird arena thing in the forest …" The student wheezed out before hugging himself with a shiver. "I-It's hell over there. T-the others are dueling against one another … a-and everything felt so real …"
Blake and Kami exchanged knowing looks.
"Guess we have our target. Tell us where to go."
Here we go again. Mostly aftermath of what happened last time and direction for next time. Some more fluff between Blake and Kami too, guess they're warming up more to one another. Bastion took care of the third Dark Scorpion, so there's just two left. But is it really a good idea for him to head for the colosseum? We shall see. And what's up with others? Find out in the next episode!
Reviews!
Raidentenshou, Xenic, Peter Kim: There's certainly a surplus of DE spilling all over the island. Surely Blake remembers and it won't cause any trouble in the future, right?
demissedwaifu: Alexis is already down for the count. Would be fun kind of mean to have her lose *another* key.
Shooter321: Aww, don't be like that. Thanks though!
kamikaze24: Glad you enjoyed it! Cliffhangers are part of the experience ~
Guest: To be honest with you; I can't remember learning about the possessive apostrophe. I looked it up since last time, since my grammar check doesn't pick up on it (or I'm too stupid to set it up properly, probably that) and hopefully will have that annoyance fixed from now on. Thank you for pointing that out. As someone who hates seeing small mistakes like that myself, I understand your frustration with that. Switched to reading my stuff out loud too, so hopefully I pick up on little errors in the words as well.
Diesel Dude: Yeah, that little change makes the Cyberdarks so much more useful. But no, their best target is Hunter Dragon -. Nice idea of what happened, guess we'll have to find out if it's true. I'm going a bit slower now after I noticed I needed more time, so that's that. And what the Spiderman writers do to good ol' Peter is a damn crime. Not gonna go that far.
Guest (the other one): Jizmom is a nickname I hadn't expected to read. Took me longer than I dare to admit to get what you meant. I love it.
Peter Kim (again): No idea what you're talking about. Syrus clearly beat Banner. I mean, how couldn't he?
Guest2: Doubtful loyalty for sure. Hopefully they'll work with him properly in any duels to come. But I'm sure DAD and Jinzo wouldn't turn on him, or would they? And while Yubel *might* consider teaming up with Blake, there's no way she'd not be Jaden's partner, if anyone's.
Also one last thing I just saw when posting this chapter: This story got past 100.000 views, which is frankly absolutely amazing.
Thank you everyone for your continued support through this mess. See you next time!