Chapter 2: On a Cruise Ship to Academy Island
As luck would have it, Bryan and Matt both found acceptance letters from Duel Academy within eighty days. (Wouldn't have been much of a story if they weren't accepted, right?) Come mid-September, the boys completed the fourteen-hour flight to get from their home near the east coast of the United States to the port in Japan where they departed on a cruise ship bound for Academy Island. Two days after departure, the ship would dock at Academy Island, a private island owned by the founding Kaiba Corporation.
"You wonder why that girl said Yugi Mutou is just a legend?" asked Matt as he stretched out on the small, stateroom bed. "We're on a cruise ship owned by the Kaiba Corporation. If she's right, wouldn't that make Seto Kaiba just a legend, too?"
"I don't care, man. I need to move around." Now that he was done putting away his belongings into the stateroom closets, Bryan was feeling more restless than ever. Being stuck on a plane for so long was bad enough before he learned that cruise ship staterooms were so small. It was smaller than his bedroom back at home. If he paced around the room, he would complete the circuit in seven steps.
Looking at Matt, he asked, "How can you not feel stir crazy yet?"
"Not everyone can sleep on airplanes."
"I can sleep anywhere, so now I'm not tired. Let's go explore the ship."
"Why don't you go explore now, and I'll go explore in the morning when you're finally sleepy? That way, we'll know what's going on at all times."
"We've got an app for that. Literally the only app that works on this ship, too, unless we want to pay extra for Wi-Fi. And the app says there's something planned for every hour of the day except between 4AM and 7AM. Plenty of time for sleep later." With a single effort, he hoisted Matt off the bed and planted him upright on the floor.
Matt shook himself clear and looked down to realize what just happened. "Damn you for being the size of a bull moose."
"Good genes. It's why I played football."
"And now you're trading in the sports mantle for a card game. That ought to be a real winner with the ladies." He stepped out of the room ahead of Bryan, who struggled to come up with a pithy comeback. The window passed and so he was forced to let it drop and change the topic.
The ship corridors were narrow but brightly lit and very clean. Cleaner than Bryan's house had ever been, in fact. The colors were vibrant and gave the ship a surreal ambience. As the two walked to the nearest stairwell, Bryan noted several stateroom doors were thoroughly decorated with stickers, banners, and Fatheads depicting a fanatical appreciation for Yu-Gi-Oh! Gaming.
"Clearly I don't love this game enough," he muttered.
"I'm sure that will reflect on your grades," said Matt. See, that was pithy.
The cruise liner called Philyra sailed smoothly through the Pacific Ocean creating very little rocking on the deck. The ripples in the water reflected the light of the cruise ship in a greenish glow. Water wasn't normally that clean and clear where Bryan came from. It was also the first time he had ever been on a full-sized ship, and so he was compelled to stop for an "obligatory porthole selfie" the first time they passed by a porthole with an unobstructed view of the ocean. Matt joined him by calling upon his go-to look of silent disdain, which he wore for most selfies. It contrasted well with Bryan's overly-enthusiastic selfie grin.
"Where do we go first from here?" asked Matt, checking the cruise app on his phone. "Looks like there is a dance club on the third deck right next door to a karaoke room, some kind of art gallery-slash-souvenir shop on the fourth deck, a movie theater on the second deck—hey, they're showing Batman: The Final Origin Story!"
Bryan shook his head. "That movie was awesome, but the point is to move around, not to sit still for another two hours. Besides, you'll just sleep through the movie. Let's hit up the dance club."
"Because that's exactly my scene." Matt could not have been more sardonic if he wanted to. He hated being anywhere there would be a lot of people, particularly if he were doing something which involved social embarrassment. Dancing and karaoke were at the top of that list, and Bryan knew it. But Matt's disdain seemed to dissolve as soon as the two stepped foot into the dimly-lit club room. Three walls were lined with tables and chairs around the hardwood dance floor. Only three people were inside, all sitting at a table while talking and laughing with cups of water in front of them. "Never mind. This is exactly my kind of club scene," said Matt.
"I should have known it'd be abandoned since we're on a nerd boat."
"We're nerds, too, going to school for a card game. You want to dance?" Bryan glared at Matt, unamused by the joke. "Also, it's getting late and other people might be sleeping."
"Sleeping is for suckers."
"And people with less needy best friends," muttered Matt. When Bryan shot him a look, he quickly edited himself with, "What about introducing ourselves to our shipmates?"
"We'll find a room with some girls in it first," said Bryan as he turned around and exited the club room.
"Sound logic," agreed Matt.
The karaoke room was a slightly better haunt. The room was occupied by seven other kids plus an adult deejay. Five of the kids were female, or as Matt put it: "All of the girls at Duel Academy are here." Bryan smacked him on the chest and then ignored him, leading the way to introduce himself to the other students. Six of them were crowded around two copies of the karaoke songbook while the seventh was on the tiny stage singing How Far I'll Go from the Moana movie. Bryan took note of that as he approached the group.
He cleared his throat and everyone turned to look. Then he put on a big, toothy, charming smile and said, "Hi. How ya doin'?" Taking a look around the group, he took a quick analysis. Two of the girls and both guys were Asian with dark hair, one of the girls was white with crazy-long blonde hair, and the other girl plus the one onstage looked like Pacific Islanders. Coming from a small town in the Southeastern U.S., it was his first experience being in the ethnic minority. No one wore their standard Duel Academy uniforms yet, favoring comfortable clothes instead.
No one seemed particularly excited by his pickup line, but the seated Pacific girl made a face like she was trying to figure out the joke. Everyone else gave a general "hi" as a response.
"That's it?" he asked. "That was my best Eugene Fitzherbert."
"Tangled! Flynn Rider," said the Pacific girl. Bryan tapped his nose to indicate she had nailed it. "I knew that inflection was familiar. You do the face very well, too. Your hair is a good length for it."
"Thanks. Still waiting for my full goatee to grow in, though."
The blonde smirked. "It'll happen once you hit puberty." That earned her a laugh from the others and a high five from one of the guys.
Bryan laughed along. "Good one. I'm Bryan and this is Matt. Do you all mind if we join you?"
"Of course not. Pull up a seat." Bryan swung over a chair from another table and sat pressed up against the chair's back while Matt stood behind him. Going around the table, the Pacific girl introduced herself as Wikolia and her friends as Chika, Akira, Cary, Naoki, and Rikuto. Lei was onstage singing Moana.
"You guys must be first-years," said Wikolia. "I'd remember a couple of male Disney fanatics who look like you."
"You're also really hard to miss," said Rikuto, leaning away from Bryan like he was fighting a supernatural gravity. He obviously meant to say that Bryan was large. "Did you get held back or something?"
Wikolia smacked him on the arm while Chika and Akira hid their faces in shame. Bryan, however, just smiled. "No, nothing like that. I was kind of a fat kid, but then I started playing football in school and got in better shape. I'm still just fifteen and I don't really eat that much."
Matt muttered, "Most moose eat fifty pounds of food a day. He holds himself back to thirty-five."
"Smarty back here is Matt. Don't mind him if he starts spouting off random facts. He's full of useless trivia. That's how he scored Outstanding on the general knowledge test in the entrance exams."
"Impressive," Wikolia said. Just then, Lei's song wrapped up and she jumped off stage. The adult deejay announced that Naoki was next with his rendition of Shuffle by Masami Okui. It wasn't the first J-Pop song Bryan ever heard, but it was the first he ever heard sung live in flawless Japanese.
"Are you all upperclassmen?" asked Bryan.
Rikuto said, "Chika, Naoki, and I are seniors. Akira and Wikolia are juniors. Her little sister Lei and Jim Cary over there are freshies."
Bryan shot a curious look to Cary. "Jim Cary?" he asked.
"She make a lot of faces," said Chika with a soft giggle. "It's funny."
Cary rolled her eyes and produced an expressive look that implied, "That's the nickname I earned myself already. It only took five minutes for it to get old, but I'll probably be stuck with it all year." It was as if she could speak without opening her mouth.
Matt rapped Bryan's shoulder. "Since you found a babysitter, I'm going to head back and get some shuteye."
"You sure you don't want to hang out for a bit?"
"I'm sure." Matt offered a nod to the table and started for the door.
Defending Matt's behavior to the others, Bryan said, "Don't mind him. He's a hardcore introvert. Not too shy, but it takes a lot of effort for him to meet new people. Not to mention he didn't sleep at all on the plane ride to the port, so he's pretty tired."
Cary put her drink down on the table. "Now that you mention it, I think I'll call it a night, too."
"Are you sure, Cary?" asked Lei. She was up next in karaoke.
"I'm too tired to sing it anyway. Maybe Bryan can take my turn for me."
Bryan was never one to back down from a challenge. "What's the song?"
Lei smiled at him expectantly. "Part of Your World."
"Hmm. The Little Mermaid. I'm sensing a theme among you folks. I'll handle it for you, Cary. You get some sleep."
Cary thanked him with a brief glance. Wikolia asked if she would be alright walking back to her room alone, to which Cary made a face that said, "Don't be ridiculous. We're on a cruise ship surrounded by card-playing nerds. I'm safer here than literally anywhere else." With that and a wave, she dismissed herself from the party.
"I hope I didn't run her off," said Bryan.
Wikolia shook her head. "Don't mind her. She's been a little testy all evening. Perfectly pleasant to talk to, but she's obviously tired. A good night's sleep is probably what she needs."
"Maybe she just need to get laid," said Rikuto. Chika and Akira both blushed and laughed. Chika playfully pushed him as punishment for his lewd joke.
"I like Cary. She's rough around the edges but sweet in the middle," said Lei.
Bryan asked, "Do you know each other outside of school?"
Lei pointed two fingers to Chika and Rikuto and then from Akira to Naoki onstage. "They are dating, and Wikolia is my sister. Otherwise, we just met up tonight on the boat as karaoke fans."
"We've had classes together, and the four of us all live in the girls' dorm. Rikuto and Naoki are blue, too," said Wikolia.
"Blue?"
"She means Obelisk Blue," said Rikuto. His expression turned cocky. "That means we're the best."
Akira added, "Rikuto leads Team OTK. They won school cup last year."
"What school cup?"
"The Academia Circuit is a league-style competition between the dueling teams at Duel Academy," said Wikolia. "Each of the dorms has a team, plus students can form a specialized team. Team OTK focuses on strategies that end the duel in one turn."
"One-turn-kill," said Rikuto slowly in case Bryan didn't figure out what OTK stood for. "You think you might join?"
Bryan shook his head. "Not sure my deck would be able to pull off a consistent OTK, although I might get lucky now and then. But my buddy Matt might be a good choice. His Dark Magician deck regularly wipes out the whole field before he just whales on your Life Points."
"A Dark Magician deck? I heard about that from Andy," said Wikolia. "It's kinda common for newbies to build a Dark Magician deck because they think it's cool to be like Yugi Mutou, but it's rare to see one actually get accepted into Duel Academy."
"If he's that good, maybe I'll check him out," said Rikuto. "Are you two in Ra?" Bryan recognized that as the name of the dormitory for mid-level students. The dorms were named for the three Egyptian God Monsters of legend, with Obelisk reigning as the highest rank a student could achieve. "Obviously your friend can't be in Obelisk. Only first-years with prep school backgrounds get there, and prep school would teach him not to rely on Dark Magician."
"Actually, we're both in Slifer," said Bryan. Though his voice was bold and he tried not to be ashamed of achieving the lowest rank, his body language betrayed his sheepish reaction.
"Don't worry about it," said Wikolia. "Most guys start out in Slifer. Even Andy did, and he's one of the top ten in the school now." Bryan assumed from the repeated mention of Andy that he must be her boyfriend. "Be proud that you scored well enough on your exams to get accepted at all. You have no idea how high the standards are for this school, so that alone is a huge achievement."
Her words encouraged Bryan to relax some. "Thanks."
"Now get up there and show us your best rendition of Part of Your World!"
At the conclusion of Bryan's song, the deejay called it quits on karaoke night and reminded everyone they could show up again tomorrow night for another round. After Wikolia announced she was ready to call it a night, everyone else at the table agreed with her assessment, leaving Bryan with the option of heading to bed in the tiny stateroom or wandering the ship alone at one o'clock in the morning. Even the guys who had closed down the club room were gone. Without another viable option, Bryan made his way back up to the sixth deck where his room was located.
Instead of stopping in, he went to the seventh deck—the highest deck on the ship reachable by the stairwell and the one where the 24-hour fountain drinks were available. He helped himself to a soda and looked around. There was an outdoor pool in the middle of the deck, but it was closed off for the night. Rows of chairs lined the end and the sides of the pool, all pointing toward a giant screen towering on the backside of the bridge. During the day, the screen played Yu-Gi-Oh!-themed movies that people could watch while they lounged. It sounded like fun, but watching movies in a noisy place wasn't Bryan's first choice. He walked around past the screen and found the Quiet Zone in the back. The pool here was shallow, maybe up to his ankles, almost impossible to drown in. More seats offered the chance to lounge in the shade or in the sun—during daytime, anyway.
Bryan almost missed it in the darkness, but standing by the railing at the stern was someone who appeared to be almost sulking. He had hoped to find another girl to flirt with, but no such luck as Duel Academy was densely male-populated. The mopey-looking guy was tall and lanky, only an inch or so shorter than Bryan and about fifty pounds lighter. He had blond hair that seemed to shine in the moonlight more than Bryan's did. The guy was a natural blond. His features appeared to be American, but Bryan couldn't be certain in the dark. The thought occurred to leave him alone, but he happened to glance back and see Bryan there, making it awkward if he tried to leave.
"What's going on?" Bryan asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Not much. Just felt like catching the ocean breeze before bed. I ended up with an interior stateroom."
"Same here. I didn't know there were exterior rooms on this ship."
"Yeah, most of the rooms have verandahs. They're more expensive, though, and they jack up the cost of tuition just to give you an ocean view on the way to school. Total rip-off when you can come up here for no additional charge."
Bryan nodded. "Not a bad option."
"Sorry if I creeped you out. I'm Jack Hansbury, first-year Slifer Red."
"I'm Bryan Knight, also first-year Slifer."
"Nice to meet you, Bryan Knight. You just out for an evening stroll?"
"I'm not really sleepy. I slept on the plane the whole way out here and now I just don't feel like I need to sleep. Plus, I was really hoping to meet some of the girls around here."
Jack smiled. "I know what you mean. The guy-to-girl ratio at this school is ridiculous. It's like five-to-one! That's why there's only one girl's dorm versus three guy's dorms. They get their own private everything whereas we have to earn better accommodations by getting a higher rank next time and earning Ra or Obelisk."
"Yeah, that's pretty messed up. But since we're both Slifers, do you mind if I ask what your scores were on your entrance exams?"
Jack hesitated. "Keep it between us?" Bryan nodded his assent. "For the duel knowledge exam I got Good, for the dueling practical assessment I got Satisfactory, and I also got Good on the general knowledge test. It sucks because I really thought I aced everything."
"You did better than I did. I had the same scores except my duel knowledge was only Satisfactory. My best friend slaughtered his opponent in the practical in only two turns and she never even touched his Life Points and he only scored a Good. I swear that assessment is rigged against all newcomers."
With a shrug, Jack said, "You're not wrong, about the practical being rigged, I think. Long-standing tradition is that anyone can get lucky but only the experienced duelists can prove their skill through consistency. That's why only prep school duelists have any shot of getting into Obelisk as freshmen. Their experiences so far outnumber ours."
"Give me a few weeks and I'll prove myself," said Bryan.
"Good for you. You sound like a confident guy. We'll both study hard, learn a few things, and show Duel Academy not to underestimate newbies."
"Alrighty then. Sounds like a plan."
Jack offered Bryan a fist bump. "If you're that wide awake, you feel up for a duel? I mean, the hologram equipment is disabled on this cruise to discourage us from bullying each other before school starts, but we can play the old-fashioned way on a tabletop by the bar."
Bryan remembered the bar. He was disappointed but not surprised to find out they only served non-alcoholic beverages.
"I'd have to go grab my deck but I'm up for that."
Jack stumbled in surprise. "You don't have your deck on you?"
"No. Is that weird?"
"Everyone at Duel Academy has a deck on them at all times." He pivoted enough to reveal the deck box clipped to his shorts waistband. "It's practically a sin not be armed, plus it gives anyone else the opportunity to sneak into your room and steal your deck or mess with it somehow."
Suddenly Bryan felt both guilty and nervous as his heart rate picked up. "I never thought of that. You okay to wait while I run and get it? My room is only one floor down." Hopefully not one deck down, he punned to himself, although he figured his deck had to be safe since Matt was in the room.
Jack shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so." He pointed to a table barely in the light of the theater pool. "I'll meet you here in ten minutes? That'll give me time to hit the bathroom."
"Cool. See you in a bit."
Bryan rushed off to the nearest stairwell and nearly took a tumble because the stairs were so short and close together. Stupid ship construction and their attempts to save space… But he made it to his stateroom in one piece and without bruising. When he opened the door, he used his phone to help light the way to avoid waking Matt. To his surprise, the bed was unused.
"Matt?" He flipped on the light and looked around. No sign of Matt anywhere. Did he get sidetracked by something? Or maybe he got lost and couldn't remember which room was theirs. Hopefully he wasn't jumped and kidnapped while his deck was stolen. Bryan was pretty sure that last option was the paranoia talking. "He'll be fine. He's nearly a grown man," he decided.
Bryan's deck was exactly where he left it in his suitcase, which was a welcome relief to the conspiratorial concern Jack instilled in him. He began to wonder how many times someone actually stole a deck in Duel Academy's history. With his cards securely in hand, he left the room and made sure the door locked behind him. But by the time he got back to the deck, Jack Hansbury was nowhere to be found. Bryan found himself looking out onto an empty deck.
"I hope he didn't pass out in the pool."
"What was that?"
Bryan turned to see a woman in her late twenties wearing the full uniform of a Philyra cruise ship employee. "Ashley, right? From the karaoke room."
She peered through the moonlight to get a better look at Bryan. She had a pretty face, but the uniform prevented him from making other superficial judgments about her body. She walked gracefully, like a prim and proper lady, and she spoke with a slight British accent when she said, "That's right. I remember you but I don't know your name, unless it's really Cary."
He chuckled. "No, I just took her spot in the karaoke lineup. I'm Bryan Knight, brand new student at Duel Academy."
"I knew you were a freshman. Yours is an unfamiliar face, Bryan Knight."
"You've been to Duel Academy?"
"No, but I've worked on this ship for a few years. I've seen faces come and go every year so I'm pretty good about picking out the first-year students."
He nodded. "Well done. Your accent is pretty. It's not quite British."
"Good ear. I'm Australian."
"Alrighty then. That's why cruises in the Pacific are where you work."
"You've got it. Bryan, I don't mean to pry, but shouldn't you be in bed by now?"
He paused, unsure what kind of reaction was coming his way. As the adult in this situation and feasibly hired by Kaiba Corp, she could report him for being outside curfew or something—although he didn't remember hearing about a curfew. Was there a way to avoid trouble, or should he just be honest?
"Honestly," he started, "I'm just not tired yet. I came from the east coast of the U.S. and I slept on the entire plane ride over. Then we landed at the airport and took the bus here not even an hour later."
"That explains it," she said, a soft smile on her face. "You're young so I feel like I'm supposed to send you to bed, but there isn't officially a curfew on this cruise. One reason is like you said: People come from all over and we can't standardize their biological clocks instantaneously. This cruise is kind of your chance to do that yourself before you get to the island. Another reason is that you won't get a lot of vacation time while school is in session, so these two days are really meant to be relaxing for you."
"Good. I mean, I don't want to be a problem, but who can sleep when you're not tired? I'd just end up staring at the ceiling for hours and anxiously thinking about things in the past that could have gone differently." A mental image of his ex-girlfriend flashed through his mind. He quickly bit it back to avoid tearing up in front of the cruise ship lady.
Ashley nodded knowingly. "I understand what you mean. My shift is to cover nighttime events, so I tend to be a bit of a night owl, myself. So are you out here just to enjoy the night air?"
"Actually, I was going to duel with another guy. I had to run back to my room to grab my deck and apparently he disappeared in that amount of time. Maybe his impression of a night owl isn't as realistic as mine."
"That's too bad. But you know, you're really not supposed to duel the other students on this ship, anyway. The school administrators really want to emphasize the relaxation for this trip and not let everyone stress out about dueling all day long and ranking themselves when that's the whole point of attending Duel Academy in the first place."
With head hung low, Bryan balked. "I mean, we weren't bullying each other or anything. It was just going to be a friendly way to relax and get to know each other while we kill time. Maybe dueling would even tire me out enough to hit the sack afterward."
"I see your point. Still, the administrators press us to dissuade student dueling as much as we can without being outright rude about it. But you know what rules they lack? Nothing says that you and I can't duel it out."
"Really?"
"Sure. I know a few things about dueling. Anyone would learn a little bit being on a ship like this. But how about we go inside where it's a bit brighter and we can actually see our cards and we're less likely to lose them to the sea breeze?"
A few R-rated thoughts rolled through Bryan's mind until Ashley suggested going down to the fourth deck where they could sit in one of the alcove couches. They were plush, comfortable, and wide as a twin bed. Even with no table to support the cards, there was plenty of room for Ashley and Bryan to face one another on the couch and lay their cards in the middle.
"Okay, let's do this," said Ashley. Her smile grew in direct proportion to her excitement. For someone who didn't attend Duel Academy, she sure seemed happy to play. "Don't worry about holding back against me. I'm always excited to see how the Duel Academy students play so just do your thing. No ban lists, eight thousand points each, and I'm going first because I'm the one not on track to become a professional some day." She smirked at that last comment and shuffled Bryan's cards, offering her cards over for him to return the favor. "Just too bad we can't do this with holograms."
"A duel is plenty exciting without holograms," said Bryan, hoping that would cheer her up. Her tone made it sound as if she had few opportunities for high-level dueling. They each took back their decks and established their makeshift duel fields in the couch cushion.
"To start things off, I'll place three cards face-down and Botanical Lion (4: 1600|2000) face-up. It'll gain 300 points for each plant monster on my field, including itself, meaning it has 1900 attack points. That's it for my first turn."
Bryan contemplated his opening hand for a moment before deciding on a play. He wasn't sure what to expect from Ashley. She might only be a cruise ship worker, but if she had been on this cruise for multiple years, then she might also have some real dueling chops. It felt wise to give her a turn to prove her strategy before he risked his big monsters against three face-down cards.
"I'll also place something face-down and set one monster."
His opponent flipped over one of her face-down cards. "Before your turn ends, I play Swamp Mirrorer (4: 1800|1000). It becomes a monster for me, and I choose it to be a dark-attribute, plant-type monster."
"Because that way your Lion gets another 300 points, and it's not even your turn yet," said Bryan.
Ashley smiled. "Exactly. For my turn… I'll play Predaplant Moray Nepenthes (4: 1600|1000). And since this one has an effect that activates by destroying monsters, it'll be the one to attack your monster."
Bryan flipped over Burstinatrix with 800 defense points and sent her to the graveyard, positioned right in front of his deck. "You win that matchup."
"Great. Then your card actually comes over to my side of the field as a spell card equipped to Nepenthes." She slid his card out of his makeshift graveyard and placed it behind her monster's card. "Now I'll attack directly with Botanical Lion (+2500) and with Swamp Mirrorer (1800)."
Bryan 3700: Ashley 8000.
"For my second main phase, I'll destroy the card that's equipped to Nepenthes and gain Life Points equal to its attack points." She slid Burstinatrix back to Bryan and smiled. "That's 1200 more points for me. Now you can go."
Bryan 3700: Ashley 9200.
Ashley had already proven to be a faster attacker than Bryan had predicted. He always tried to be confident in his skills, but he took such a big hit so soon that he couldn't help doubting whether he would win this. What might happen if he lost a duel to the lady who ran karaoke on the ship? Was that grounds to kick him out of Duel Academy even before the school year started? What if they asked her to take his spot in the school registry?
He took a deep breath as he looked over his hand. He lacked a good balance at the moment, but he was going to have to make sure he didn't lose and risk himself.
"I use Raigeki to clear all your monsters off the field."
As Ashley swept her monsters aside, she admitted, "I'm not sure that's a card you'll be able to use once you get to school."
He remembered her mention of Academy ban lists. He was aware that sometimes cards were forbidden from play, but he hadn't seen any list yet from Duel Academy. When it came time to remove cards from his deck, he would have to put some serious thought into how to replace them.
Bryan shook his head, hoping to bring his focus back to the game in front of him. "I play Reinforcement of the Army to bring Elemental Hero Wildheart (4: 1500|1600) to my hand. And then I summon him to the field and attack you directly."
"I play Paleozoic Olenoides, which lets me destroy your face-down card."
She dropped her card in the graveyard and Bryan removed his trap, but Wildheart's attack was undeterred.
Bryan 3700: Ashley 7700.
"I'll put one more face-down and then you can go."
Ashley drew and took no time at all to consider her move. "I'll use Spiritual Beast Tamer Winda (4: 1600|1800)."
Bryan felt like he was in a tight spot considering her monster was strong enough to destroy Wildheart, but she was down to one face-down card left and only a single card in her hand. He decided that was worth the risk.
"I chain Solemn Warning. For 2000 of my Life Points, your monster is destroyed immediately."
Bryan 1700: Ashley 7700.
Ashley clicked her tongue as she moved her card to the graveyard pile. "Well that's a bit of a downer. I guess it's your turn again."
With his new card, things almost looked in Bryan's favor. "I summon Elemental Hero Prisma (4: 1700|1100)."
"I chain with Fiendish Chain," she said, grinning at the repeated word. "Your monster can't attack or use its effect. But I'll also chain my Paleozoic Olenoides (2: 1200|0). If played as part of a chain, I can summon it to my field as a monster."
"Not bad," said Bryan, though he was really thinking Goddammit. "I'll use Prisma's effect to show you Plasma Vice in my fusion deck and then send Sparkman from my deck to the grave to give Prisma his name and power."
Ashley made a face. "Excuse me, but Fiendish Chain prevents your monster's effect from activating."
Bryan looked at the field and pretended he hadn't noticed. "Oh, you're right. Then Prisma doesn't change, but sending Sparkman to the graveyard was the cost and not the effect, so that part can't be negated. But now he's where I need him to be because I use Miracle Fusion to combine Sparkman and Burstinatrix into Elemental Hero The Shining (8: 2600|2100). The best part is that Miracle Fusion banished my two fusion material monsters, and The Shining (+3200) gains 300 points for each banished Hero card. So Wildheart (1500) can crush your defensive trap bug (0), and Prisma is frozen, but The Shining (3200) can hit you directly."
Bryan 1700: Ashley 4500.
For the first time since the duel started, Bryan relaxed. The duel was far more in his favor for now. For good measure, he placed his last card face-down.
Ashley pursed her lips. "I'll set a monster card."
That's what Bryan was hoping for. He could take the lead as soon as he cleared only one monster.
"Wildheart attacks your monster."
Ashley guffawed. "Another Winda (4: 1600|1800). Her defense points are higher than your attack points, so now you lose even more Life Points."
Bryan 1400: Ashley 4500.
Not only that, but Bryan lost the chance for another direct attack. "Fine. The Shining destroys her this time."
"Then prepare yourself for Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio (10: 3200|2100)." Bryan could tell from the giddy look on her face that this monster was among Ashley's ace cards. He had something on the field to match it, but that would require forfeiting his strongest monster, and he would still struggle to take out the rest of her Life Points. Ashley was not the slouch he had considered her to be at first—a pretty face and the mind of a duelist.
If Bryan didn't end the duel quickly, then he might lose it after all. He had one card left to play, but what could he do with it? He tapped his fusion deck and thought through the cards he carried with him. What could he achieve by combining Wildheart and Prisma? Wildheart could only fuse into Wild Wingman, Wildedge, Necroid Shaman, and Gaia because of his Earth attribute…
Finally a grin crossed his face. "I play Flash Fusion. Wildheart and Prisma combine to form Elemental Hero Gaia (6: 2200|2600). When I summon this card, your monster loses half its attack points and gives them to Gaia (+3800). Now Gaia can destroy Ulti-Gaiapelio (-1600), and then The Shining (3200) can end the duel."
Bryan 1400: Ashley 0.
Ashley sighed, holding her smile but also looking at the cards with an expression of disappointment. "That was a good duel, Bryan Knight. For just a moment there I thought I might actually win, but it figures that anyone accepted into Duel Academy would be able to pull out a victory like that." She smiled a genuine smile, able to be simultaneously disappointed and happy. "Thank you for dueling with me. Now maybe you should consider heading to bed."
Although part of him wanted to ask her to join him, Ashley had been nothing but professional in her demeanor, betraying not a single signal that she would welcome an advance from an underage guy. Of course, he was only underage in the U.S. Japan's age of consent was lower, he had heard one time, like thirteen or so. What was it in Australia? Then again, there was probably a whole different rule about cruise employees not messing around with the guests, and she seemed too professional to break that rule.
Beyond that, another part of him stayed his tongue by focusing on his ex-girlfriend and how nasty their breakup was. As comforting as it might be momentarily to fuck a hot, older woman, he couldn't imagine it being all that helpful in getting over his heartbreak. He merely shook her hand in a friendly yet professional manner and made his way back to his own stateroom.
When he opened the door this time, Matt was sprawled out over the bed. He stirred uncomfortably when Bryan flicked the lights on. "Dude, people are trying to sleep."
"People weren't here twenty minutes ago," retorted Bryan. "Where the hell were you?"
Matt was silent for a moment while he woke up enough to sit up. He had passed out so quickly he hadn't even changed clothes. "I didn't make it all the way back at first. I fell asleep on the third deck in one of those plush alcove couches."
"You're kidding me. I just dueled one of the cruise ladies on one of those couches. Except on Deck 4."
"Oh, yeah? Did you win?"
Bryan scoffed. "Please. Of course I did."
"Did you score?"
"Eight thousand Life Points."
Matt groaned. "Under the shirt, at least?"
"Sorry, dude, but we were both professionals about it."
"Lame. You're never going to get over Amber if you don't get out there. Make sex part of your duel ante. A one-time fling now and then can only help."
"Am I really getting sex advice from a virgin?"
"Who knows more about the healing power of sex than someone who's not having any?"
Bryan laughed. "Yeah, fair point."
Matt rolled over and yawned loudly with his eyes closed while Bryan changed into his pajamas. "You find out anything useful about our future opponents?" he asked mid-yawn.
"Only that the practical portion is rigged," he complained.
"I kicked that girl's ass in two turns and I only got a Good score," said Matt. "Not going to hear me argue that point."
"Yeah. What else are they looking for in these things? And how did you score higher than me on general knowledge?"
"I know more than you do. Just a side effect of being particularly awesome."
"And practically living in the library." He noticed the sharp look of annoyance Matt sent his way and promptly added, "Not that I blame you. I'm just saying that I should have gotten higher scores."
Matt put on a smirk. "Think about how high the acceptance standards are. On an island out in the middle of the ocean, they want to know the students have a basic ability to care for themselves and sort their own priorities. Doesn't matter how well you duel if you're a complete dumbass and kill yourself wandering the woods at night."
Bryan stopped to think about it, stroking the peach fuzz beard he cultivated on his chin. "You might be right. I'm smarter than the average teenage bear, but put me up against the people smart enough to attend Duel Academy and I look more average. Besides, I'm thinking that anyone can get lucky once in a duel, but only the experienced duelists can prove their skill through consistency. That's why only prep school duelists have any shot of getting into Obelisk as freshmen. Their experiences outnumber ours."
When his comment was met with silence, Bryan looked back to see Matt squinting at him. "Trying to figure out if you had a real moment of reflection or if you're claiming credit for someone else's critique."
A quick jab to the shoulder illustrated Bryan's appreciation for the sarcasm in that moment. "I'm smart, too, jackass. And at least I look good in red. Slifer Red is the dorm where they put the lowest-ranked students, right?"
"It is. They placed me there, too, so you still have to wonder how high the expectations are. On a brighter note, you and I essentially start with the same rank. Getting accepted was the hard part; now we get to earn our position once we manhandle a few of the good students."
"You think we can actually take any of them?"
Matt's smirk turned into a smile of total confidence. "Of course we can. We won't rest until we're running that place." He yawned again and rolled back over, this time pulling a pillow over his face to block out the lights. "Starting tomorrow."
Welcome back and thanks for reading through Chapter 2 of this obviously-not-sprinting-through-the-plot remake of my Yu-Gi-Oh! fic. I had considered keeping the entirety of this story short to make up for the fact I spent years writing several story arcs before, but I've decided to tell the story at the proper pace and focus on aspects that were missed last time to avoid too much repetition. Notice the profanity here? That's about the average you can expect, in case the rating worries you at all. Basic high school kid vulgarity...
Thank you to my readers who have already contributed OCs to attend Duel Academy. People will continue being introduced throughout the story, so never fear if you don't see your character right away. I still have room for plenty more if anyone else wishes to participate. Check my profile for the basic form or request the in-depth one if you want to share a character deeply thought-out.