Chapter 50:
A comfortable warmth was the first thing Kami noticed when she awoke. The sheer contentment she felt was both uncommon and incredible. Her eyes fluttered open slowly, a quiet yawn escaping her lips before she tried to stretch only to find herself unable to. She blinked, her eyes focusing to take in her surroundings which turned out to be different from her usual bedroom. A spike of worry hit her, before she felt herself drawn back and embraced tightly into even more warmth.
Her hands traced the rough arm around her waist and the one looking out from underneath the pillow , the memories of the past night slowly coming back to her. Right, she wasn't in her own room, she nodded to herself while making herself comfortable. She went over to Blake's to explain herself after what had happened and then-
Just as she was about to close her eyes, she remembered what happened afterwards, causing her hands to shoot up and cover her face due to the embarrassment she felt. Did they really … was that why …
A yawn from behind her was followed by the arm around her loosening its grip before moving out of sight. After some grumbling, the arm returned, squeezing her tightly once more before relaxing.
"... mornin' …" Blake greeted groggily, stretching his legs underneath the cover and brushing against Kami's. When she didn't respond, his hand traced from her hip upwards, the feeling of that prompting Kami to register she wasn't wearing anything underneath the sheets.
Her hands stopped his just before he reached above her tummy while turning her body so she could make eye contact.
"... good morning …" She mumbled when their eyes met, the warmth in her cheeks only increasing when he smiled back at her.
"Had a good sleep, I hope?" Blake asked, a hint of mischief in his voice. "I for one had the best sleep of my life."
Kami huffed, crossing her arms which inadvertently caused Blake's eyes to dip for a moment. "Of course you did, you got to spend it with me afterall."
"Mmh, I'm sure it was just that." He teased, his hand playfully slapping her hip.
"Hey!"
"Jokes aside, this is really bad." Blake's voice almost sounded … sad?
"Huh?" Kami's eyes widened. There's no way he'd-
"Waking up next to you feels way too good." He lamented, his arm wrapping around her waist to pull her back into his embrace. "Just when we're gonna separate during the break."
Ah, that's what he meant. Silly her thinking he'd regret what happened, or worse. "Well, you're not wrong about that." She could grow used to it, really. She couldn't remember when she woke up with such comfort. "It's a real shame …"
They shared a look, then a kiss, then a heartfelt embrace which made her heartbeat spike, Blake reacting much the same. This was nice. She didn't want to get out of bed. For this to end.
"Are we gonna sneak around to keep this up until the break or would that make things worse?" Blake asked out loud.
"Tough decision …" Kami said while her finger drew circles on his back. "Messing with the cameras that much might just get found out."
"Messing with the-" Blake looked at her in confusion, his eyes widening only a bit later. "You didn't have Jinzo help you get in here unseen, did you?"
She looked to the side, unable to hide her embarrassment. "I-It would've been bad if anyone had seen me snuck in here. I'm a proper lady, after all."
Blake shot her a deadpan look. "Sure you are. That's why you broke curfew and school rules before going against your own 'we gotta wait with that until we're ready'. Besides, the noises you made were anything but proper."
Kami glared hotly at him. "As if you cared about breaking the rules nor stopping me."
"I plead innocent." He countered with a smirk. "I was bewitched by an evil siren and clearly not myself. How could I've been when faced with such beauty and love?"
"Oh? That means you're not up for seconds then, now that you're yourself again. What a shame." She playfully lamented before laughing when she saw his smirk drop. "But as much as I'd love to stay like this, we need to get up, and I need to shower."
"We could cut the time in half and-"
"- miss classes because we both know we wouldn't be able to keep our hands to ourselves? No chance." She brushed him off. There's no way she was ready for … that. Heck, she hadn't really been ready for last night either, but she felt over the moon for going through with it regardless.
She gave him another peck before sneaking out of their embrace, pulling the blanket alongside her to protect what was left of her dignity. "If you peek, I'll drown you."
"Wouldn't think of it."
"I wonder what's taking them so long …" Bastion mused while idly stirring his totally not overly suggared coffee. The missing two were usually the first ones up and about. He and the other Blue's boys along with Alexis and her friends were currently sitting together to have breakfast. Since the temperatures were higher now, a field between the two Obelisk dorms had been set up with tables, chairs, and benches, while not being too far from either dorm to grab whatever one needed.
"Maybe I should go wake up Blake-"
"Don't." The shaky voice of Syrus interrupted, all eyes turning towards him.
"Why not?" Bastion questioned, now noticing the dark rings under his friend's eyes.
"Trust me." The little guy looked like he'd seen a ghost when he sipped his drink. Well, they all did when he dueled and beat the Dark Magician Girl.
"Trust the guy who'd obviously been up all night after meeting his card crush and getting a kiss for beating her?" Chazz scoffed. "Hard pass."
"I think I know what he's talking about." Jaden said. "Didn't you guys hear those weird noises last night?"
"What're you talking about?" Bastion looked at him curiously. He had slept like a baby.
"Well, those noises!" Jaden exclaimed. "I don't know how to describe them, but they continued on for quite a while."
Syrus rolled his eyes before looking at Alexis. She blinked before exchanging looks with her friends.
"No way …" Her voice was but a whisper. Both Mindy and Jasmine took on a thinking pose before their eyes widened simultaneously.
"No way!"
"What's up with them?" Jaden asked, jabbing his thumb towards the girls' weird behaviour.
Bastion shrugged, while Chazz facepalmed.
"Ah, there they are." Bastion announced, waving at the missing two.
"'Sup." Blake greeted lazily and sat down next to him, putting a plate full of breakfast down.
"Good morning." Kami joined his side, sounding awfully chipper.
Something about them felt off, Bastion noted. The girls were whispering in hushed tones and Syrus had just moved further away from them for some reason. Even Chazz was staring at them.
"Yo Blake, you alright man?" Jaden asked innocently.
"Why shouldn't I be?" Blake returned, an uncharacteristic cheer in his voice.
"I'm sure you heard those loud noises too, right? And you even got some bruises on your neck." Jaden pointed out, which caused everyone around to collectively spit out their drinks.
Blake blinked at that before a smirk formed on his face. "No idea what you're talking about. I slept like a rock."
Seated next to him, Kami had a noticeable blush on her face which contrasted her smug look. After a few moments the other girls at the table stared at her with wide eyes, which only intensified Kami's attitude.
Bastion shot Blake a look which his best friend answered by wiggling his eyebrows. Huh … oooh.
Jaden just seemed confused. "Am I missing something?"
"Don't worry about it." Bastion cleared his throat, looking elsewhere. "We're talking about everyone's plans for the break."
Blake's and Kami's shoulders slumped ever so slightly.
"I for one will be spending most of my time interning with the illustrious Doctor Eisenstein."
"Sounds fun?" Blake replied with uncertainty. "Working during downtime … yeah, I just hope whatever I'm forced to do at Kaiba Corp won't bore me out too much." He received some incredulous looks for that, especially from Chazz.
"I'm quite certain my internship will be quite thought-provoking. And that's Kaiba Corp we're talking about, I can't imagine you getting bored there." Bastion reasoned. "Hopefully I'll get that chance in the future as well. I imagine most people would want that."
Everyone except Kami nodded along. "If it turns out to be too much for you, feel free to transfer over to Umino Corp, ohoho~" She laughed before shaking her head, pointedly ignoring Blake rolling his eyes at her laugh. "I'll be swamped with work and some special events to organize."
A loud 'ping'-noise caused Blake to pull his PDA out of his jacket's inner pocket. "... and apparently I'll be going to America for some time?"
"Why's that?" Kami asked, leaning onto his shoulder to look at the device as well. Then she frowned. "Didn't Mister Kaiba say that woman's supposed to stay out of your business? Now she wants to ship you off just like that?"
"They both do." Blake mused, swiping at the screen to show her a second message. "Guess I'll hear more about that later."
Kami loudly clicked her tongue and went back to her breakfast, picking it apart viciously.
"Man, tough luck you guys." Jaden said between bites. "I'll enjoy my time lazing around and traveling the country. Got some stuff to work out." He sounded off for a moment before he downed his drink in one go, swallowing loudly. "Oh, and I'll be visiting Mister Koyo with Miss Midori." A flinch from Chazz didn't go unnoticed. "Hey Chazz, wanna join in on that?"
"I …" Chazz stammered.
"I'm sure Miss Midori won't have anything against it." Jaden laughed happily.
"... alright." Chazz agreed eventually. "You'll need to tell me the date in advance, since I'll be going all around the country for tournaments."
"Sweet! Hey, maybe I'll join one when we're in the same region too!" Jaden exclaimed.
"Only if you're ready to lose." Chazz snarked.
Syrus fumbled with his cutlery, making enough noise to draw everyone's attention. "Ah, sorry … eh, me? I-I'll be … I don't know yet. But I think I'll try and help my brother for his pro-debut in any way I can."
"That's a good idea, I'll make sure Atticus keeps some time open for you guys." Alexis said, her brother being noticeably absent. "We've got some time to make up for, but that shouldn't take him away from Zane the whole break long."
Nodding along, Syrus's eyes turned away from her and met Blake's, causing the shorter boy to jolt in his seat.
"Please do." Blake sighed and Syrus did a double take. "Zane's gonna be in a lot of stress and some proper support could do him some good. I certainly won't have the time to beat his ass in shape." He mumbled some more but it was too quiet for anyone to pick up.
"I for one will be enjoying my time at the beach." Mindy announced. "Surely you'll find some time to join us, right, Lexi?"
"Don't forget the tag tournaments." Jasmine added. "They got just the prizes we need, so we'll show those guys who's boss."
"The beach does sound nice …" Alexis thought out loud. "Why not invite everyone? Not just for the beach but when we find time to do something nice? Most of us got a lifetime pass for Kaiba Land too, it would be a shame not to use it."
They all exchanged looks, nodding one after the other.
"Alright, then I'll open a new group chat and we'll see how our freetime matches up." Alexis announced happily.
"We do need a girls night out too." Jasmine added, sending a wary look towards Kami.
"As long as you're keeping it tasteful … I might just join in." Kami said, her look equally wary.
"That'll be nice." Mindy clapped her hands. "I for one have a few things to talk about in a no-boy-zone."
"Hey, we won't lose to that! Let's have some sort of boy-meet too!" Jaden challenged. "Right guys?"
Thus ideas for group activities were thrown around for the rest of the breakfast and their way over to their classes. But while the others were animatedly planning out their downtime, Blake kept his eyes on his PDA, thinking about his newest messages.
"Oyy!" Blake threw open the doors to the Abandoned Dorm's laboratory. As usual, both machinery and alchemic equipment were working to their fullest, with Jinzo and Banner working on their respective sides. Jaden being there wasn't all that common, however.
"Oh, hey Blake!" Jaden greeted him with a wave. "Whatcha doing here?"
"I could ask you the same." Blake replied, unsure what to think of the situation. He jabbed his thumb towards Jinzo, who's already making his way over. "Got some questions for the big guy."
"Looks like we're here for the same reasons then." Jaden laughed. "I wanted to get teach's insight on what happened during our duel."
"During your duel?" Blake repeated. "You mean …"
"My little out-of-body-experience, yes." Jaden looked … off.
Blake and Jinzo exchanged looks, before the former nodded towards his fellow student. "I'll get back to you on that, this won't take long."
"Sure thing!" Jaden grinned, though it didn't reach his eyes.
They left him with Banner, moving over to the other side where the machinery's noise drowned out whatever those two were talking about.
"I haven't made much progress in regards to your sudden creation of a new card and spirit." Jinzo stated. "Though I have a few ideas through which we could have you try to replicate that."
Blake blinked at the spirit before shaking his head. "Right, there's that. Not what I came for today but thanks for the update."
"What brought you here then?" Jinzo questioned, hacking into a ridiculously wide keyboard with way more symbols than Blake knowing to be on one.
"Work." Blake snorted. "The uninteresting stuff aside, Kaiba wants me to go to America."
Jinzo hummed loudly. "I assume you believe it's related to what I told you about the networks the academies build?"
Blake nodded, silently appreciating his insight. "He wants me to have a look around and while I can see him use me to rat out any underground dueling rings, the wording of his message made it clear to keep an eye on the academy's American branch."
"Depending on when you're bound to leave I could have my research in a state where we could comfortably enter the try-out phase." Jinzo replied. "As such, it'd be prudent to join you."
"That's about what I hoped for, yes." Blake agreed. While he had no doubts he could handle any challenge no matter how unsavory the kind, he was painfully aware of his lack of awareness. "Your appearance could make things difficult, though."
"Not to worry, Banner and I have made progress on a way to switch between corporeal and physical form." Jinzo reassured, gesturing towards a small chamber at the other end of the room. "I can join you in spirit as I have done before and switch back once we're done. The readings he got from your friend over there helped tremendously."
Blake nodded along. "I'd imagine so. Jaden can turn spirits physical all willy-nilly, though I don't think he's got a hang of it yet." He noticed a glint in Jinzo's eyes, so he moved back towards Jaden, waving the spirit along.
"You guys got a hot minute?" Blake asked, watching Jaden sitting with his legs crossed and trying to meditate, only to fall over on his side. Banner met his eyes and Blake could feel the deck box on his belt heat up noticeably.
"I think a break would do young Jaden some good." Banner nodded, currently not confined to the body of his pet cat.
Holding out his hand, Blake pulled up Jaden, who dusted himself off. "Man, that stuff's a lot harder than I thought."
"Comes with the territory. You'll get the hang of it eventually." Blake told him, hoping that Jaden's early progress would have a positive impact. But how much should he tell him? "It took Bastion and I weeks, if not months, to figure stuff out. Unlike us, you have two experts to help you, so don't worry about it."
"And the other stuff?" Jaden questioned.
"What other stuff?"
"Yubel and edgy-me." Jaden replied.
Blake blinked at that, unsure where to begin. "Uh … what do you know?"
"That Yubel was the one hurting my friends when I lost duels back when I was a child." Jaden frowned. "As for edgy-me … not much other than he's a jerk?" His eyes flashed yellow for a moment. "He almost killed Professor Banner too."
They both looked over towards said professor.
"You don't say." Blake said, glaring at the man. "Lucky you. If I'd gotten my hands on you first you wouldn't be here anymore."
"Wha- Blake?!" Jaden blurted out, moving over to stand protectively in front of his former teacher.
"Now, now, please calm down, children." Banner patted Jaden's shoulder reassuringly. "Young Blake has every reason to be mad at me, although most of what happened was his own fault."
"It was." Blake reluctantly agreed. "You helping that waste of space steal my deck wasn't."
"A mistake for sure, but what would hindsight be if not a way to improve?" Banner replied, turning towards one of the tables and rummaging around. "But by the energy I sense from you you've reclaimed what you've lost, haven't you?"
"Yes, by the most out-of-pocket way imaginable." Blake huffed, not wanting to grant the Christmas encounter any thought.
Banner chuckled before he turned back to them, handing Blake a small envelope that felt like it held cards in them. "I'm sure Mister Pegasus would've done the same. And considering my projects are helping you as much as they're helping young Jaden, I'd wager I'm more helpful alive than dead."
Blake glared at the man, his hands curling into fists crackling with energy. Some of the surrounding gadgets began emitting warning sounds or started glowing. Jaden and Jinzo took a step back, while Banner looked at him with intrigue, the red in his eyes twinkling as Blake's DE sparked.
"... for now." Blake eventually forced out, reigning himself in. He side-eyed Jaden, who looked at him with wide eyes.
"Rest assured I'm rather attached to my ability to stay and work here." Banner said. "I gain nothing from picking a fight I know I cannot win."
"Then it'll be in your best interest to help Jaden as much as you can." Blake barked before turning to the person in question. "You said you're going traveling during our break?"
"Uh, yeah, why?" Jaden gulped.
"To figure things out?"
Jaden nodded.
"Good. A word of advice from me; those two got their reasons for behaving the way they do as much as you do." Blake told him. "The three of you should work together, not against each other."
"Easy to say for you. They don't exactly give me any comfort or reason to do so." Jaden huffed. "I mean, I know Yubel did it to protect me but …"
"But that's a start." Blake concluded. "Take your time, don't rush things, and try to see their perspective while making your own clear. All of you have to adapt; you are a team."
"... I didn't ask for any of this …" Jaden's shoulder slumped as he sat down on the nearest chair.
Both Blake's and Banner's hands patted his shoulders at the same time, they glanced at one another before focusing on him.
"Life is seldom going to plan, young Jaden. But fret not; I have every confidence you'll overcome your obstacles." Banner reassured.
"Yeah, what he said." Blake agreed. "We're tougher than what the world's throwing at us, regardless of how unfair it is. You fought through every Shadow Duel despite it being the complete opposite of what a duel represents for you."
"And it was horrible!" Jaden shouted, his fingers digging into his legs.
Blake and Banner exchanged a look again.
"Yeah, but there isn't much we can do about that other than winning." Blake shrugged. "Those won't be the last either, I'm sure. The best we can do is stomp anyone who tries to go after us or our friends into the ground. We're the strongest duelists here after all."
"That's what they said about Zane too …"
"Speaking of the big, bad Kaiser." Blake pulled Jaden up and threw an arm around over his shoulder. "You're his final challenger. After your first duel I'm sure you're excited to see how you compare after a whole year of improving, right?"
That had Jaden glow up immediately, just like Blake had planned. Seeing Jaden go back to his usual self was reassuring.
"Yeah!" Jaden grinned truthfully.
"Now, I know you like to go with the flow when you duel but surely you have some idea on how to not repeat what happened last time, right?" Blake off-handedly waved his goodbyes to Jinzo and Banner as he steered Jaden out of the building. After the earlier topic it was imperative to get Jaden back on track. Seeing him down and gloomy was way too reminiscent of his depressed canon self after the Spirit World debacle, and Blake wouldn't let that stand.
Jaden was fire and flame as he went about all the different combos he'd thought up as they left the premise. Once Bastion and Syrus found them and joined in, every trace of gloom and doom was gone from Jaden, replaced by excited ramblings and smiles.
"It's what you all have been waiting for: The Graduation Duel of none other than the one, the only, Kaiserrrrrr!" Dimitri shouted into a microphone in his hands. With the whole student body and staff present for this occasion, the cheers almost shook the building.
"I'm Dimitri Kagurazaka and I'll be your host for this monumental duel." He continued. "Tonight's duel features our top third-year student; Zane Truesdale! And he's chosen quite the odd pick for his opponent! Everyone, please give a big applause to Jaden Yuki!"
The audience didn't react quite as thunderous, but still overwhelmingly positive.
"Since this is such an important duel, I've invited some specialists to be my co-commentators and analysts for the spectacular duel we're about to have! Joining me today is the only person known to have beaten the Kaiser all year; our new and reigning titled King; Blake Moore! But that's not all! We're extra lucky as our resident deck guru Bastion Misawa joins in as well!"
"Is that really necessary?" Bastion questioned.
"No it isn't." Blake scoffed. "We all know the microphone is turned off."
"A bit more enthusiasm if you would. This is the final duel of our term!" Dimitri reasoned, putting away the mic after he'd gotten quite a few nasty looks from the surrounding student council.
"Agreed. This is a duel between some of the best duelists of the school, after all." Not-anymore-Chancellor Sheppard joined in, seated a few rows above them with the rest of the staff.
Chazz crossed his arms with a huff, his eyes narrowing at the two duelists in the arena, while the others mostly nodded.
"They do seem a bit off." Bastion noted as Jaden and Zane shook hands before exchanging decks to shuffle for one another.
Blake narrowed his eyes, failing to see anything. Shaking his head, he tried to read their energies instead, just like he'd read from one of the books Jinzo had given him. And while it took longer than both of them to finish and take their positions, he eventually caught some disturbance in their respective energy flows. They both shared the same uncertainty, if for different reasons.
"They are." He said eventually, leaning back in his seat with a huff and wiping away a single bead of sweat on his forehead. "Hopefully the duel helps them, otherwise they'll need some assistance before our next term starts."
His gaze wandered over the others. Syrus turned ramrod straight, determination burning in his eyes. Atticus nodded along, his prior cheer replaced by a seriousness he hadn't seen before. Sheppard met him with hard eyes before focusing back on his students. Oh Blake had some words for him before this was over, but that'd come later. For now, he too focused on the duel, uncertain how it would play out.
"Jaden's going second, huh? Good choice." Bastion nodded approvingly as the duel began. "He'll get the first attack then and will see what Zane got up his sleeve."
"More importantly he won't have to deal with an OTK right out of the gate." Blake noted, the choice falling in line with what he'd heard Jaden say about his plan for the duel. He noticed Zane not looking all too happy about his starting hand, however.
"I know Zane needs his opponent to have monsters on his field, but Proto Cyber Dragon and two face-downs …" Atticus mused, sharing a look with Sheppard.
"It is a bit unusual, but I feel he has a plan." Sheppard replied.
"I'd say he's planning to go into Cyber Barrier Dragon but I haven't seen him use it before." Blake added, ignoring their surprised looks in favor of focusing on Jaden. "Oh, that's neat."
"What is?" Kami asked with a frown, not nearly as knowledgeable about those two's cards.
"Unless Zane got a trap to get rid of that Stratos Jaden just played via Fake Hero it'll go back to his hand to be used for its effect again." Blake explained.
"And since it's a searcher, Jaden will be able to replenish his hand easily." Bastion finished.
Jaden for one picked three cards from his hand and raised them high above his head. "And now it's hero time! I activate Polymerization to fuse Elemental HERO Woodsman and Ocean in my hand to summon Elemental HERO Terra Firma!"
His monsters vanished in a swirl of magic before their fused form touched down in a perfect three-point landing.
Blake whistled appreciatively at that. "Going all out right from the gate, now that's unusual."
"Almost like they switched positions …" Alexis hummed from the back.
Just as the Fusion monster straightened itself, Zane's field was overtaken by a bunch of cranes and reflective metal sheets as his now flipped-up Attack Reflector Unit rebuilt his Proto Dragon into Cyber Barrier Dragon, which easily repelled Jaden's attack.
"Hah, called it." Blake said and fist-bumped with Bastion. "A Mirror Force would've done him more favors, but that would've been boring."
"How did you know?" Sheppard pressed him, to which Blake shrugged.
"I was the one dueling him the most this year, wasn't I?" Truth be told he hadn't seen Zane use either Cyber Barrier nor Cyber Laser Dragon, but he knew he'd have them, it'd be weird if he didn't.
"Nice save there, Zane. Guess I'll just throw down a face-down and give it back to you." Jaden announced cheerfully while his Stratos returned to his hand.
"But can he survive the counter attack?" Bastion asked at the edge of his seat.
Zane didn't disappoint.
"And here I thought I'd be the first to fusion summon. Allow me to pick up the slack." Zane stated, promptly summoning a Cyber Dragon Zwei and using its effect to make it count like a regular one. Against expectations, he summoned his Cyber End Dragon without any increases, though it was more than capable of blasting over Jaden's monster regardless. (Jaden 2500 / Zane 4000)
It turned Jaden's sole monster to ashes, which was followed by a bright Hero Signal in the air, summoning forth a new hero in Blazeman who let Jaden grab a new Polymerization to boot.
With no cards left in his hand and two monsters on the field, Zane ended his turn.
"He did." Bastion let out a sigh of relief.
"Because Zane didn't draw a Power Bond, that is." Blake corrected. "Nor is his remaining face-down a Limiter Removal, otherwise that would've been it."
"Another defensive option then?" Kami questioned. "Doesn't that go against his all-out offensive strategy?"
"Guess we'll see, since Jaden has enough cards to fuse again." Alexis chimed in, the two of them sharing a look.
Jaden continued with a classic Jaden move, using Graceful Charity to dump Necroshade and use its effect to summon Bladedge from his hand without tributes. He continued with sending Avian to the graveyard via Blazeman's effect before fusing it with the Stratos in his hand for Elemental HERO Great Tornado, who cut the power of Zane's monsters in half.
"Why'd he do that? Stratos would have sufficed as the Wind monster he needed for Great Tornado?" Syrus asked out loud, sharing his insight in Jaden's cards.
Bastion looked at Blake. "Cutting his deck and setting up his graveyard for another fusion?" His best friend nodded. "Huh, interesting."
With his monsters now stronger, Jaden went on the offensive. He let Bladedge attack first to take the negated attack from Cyber Barrier, before Great Tornado's harsh winds turned Cyber End into scrap metal, evening out the score a bit. (Jaden 2500 / Zane 3200)
A new face-down and Jaden passed it back with a two-finger salute.
Blake noted Zane looking a bit shaken when his ace was destroyed, but that look promptly vanished as he brought it back with a freshly top-decked Monster Reborn. "Let's see how many more times he'll summon that one. My bet's on four times total."
"Five bucks on three. I don't think my buddy needs a fourth." Atticus chimed in, having pulled out a hat out of nowhere with his money already in.
"We'll see about that." Blake chuckled and threw in his lot, as did Bastion, who supported his claim, and Syrus, who followed up on Atticus. The girls in attendance collectively shook their heads.
While that was going on, Zane had destroyed Bladeedge and ended his turn once more. (Jaden 1100 / Zane 3200)
"Man this is awesome!" Jaden cheered, though he still sounded a bit off. "But I need some more cards, so here comes the Card of Sanctity!"
Blake scoffed as both duelists replenished their hands to five cards. "Bullshit-ass top-deck right there."
"And that's a free drink for me." Bastion laughed, causing Blake to roll his eyes, starting to regret their personal bet on him calling out stuff like that.
"Only one thing will get me out of this; a miracle!" Jaden announced and activated Miracle Fusion, bringing out Elemental HERO Wildedge, which seemed oddly canonical if Blake remembered correctly.
"He must've sent Wildheart to the graveyard as the second card for Graceful Charity." Bastion noted.
"That won't help much." Kami pointed out.
"Just watch, Jaden's got a full hand after all." Blake reassured her.
And right he was. Skyscrapers surrounded the field and a H - Heated Heart, which fit Wildedge perfectly, put Jaden's monster at 4100 combined against Cyber End Dragon. Only after he'd attacked Cyber Barrier with Great Tornado to get rid of its attack-negation, of course. And since Wildedge could attack every monster once, Zane's field was cleared out except for the ominous face-down still waiting there. For a moment it seemed like Zane was about to activate it but held back for some reason.
The massive hit on Zane's lifepoints had the audience both cheer wildly and whisper around with uncertainty. Miss Hibiki for one seemed to have a lot of fun holding Jaden's success over Sheppard and Crowler. (Jaden 1100 / Zane 400)
Continuing to deplete and replenish his resources, Jaden pulled out another classic: Mirage of Nightmare and a face-down, which definitely wasn't Emergency Provisions or something along those lines.
Bastion looked at Blake, his face telling he's waiting for another comment on Jaden's luck, but he didn't get one. Not this time.
But with Zane getting a full hand as well, he didn't waste any time shooting back. A Pot of Avarice to shuffle back his Cyber Dragons and End Dragon later, he summoned out the silvery girafe-thingy and tributed it immediately to ward off effect damage.
"Huh, weird." Atticus pointed out. "He usually only does that after attacking with Power Bond and not finishing the duel."
"He got hit by one Magical Cylinder too many, so he learned to do that before attacking." Blake snickered with an evil grin.
As sure as the amen in the church, Zane used Power Bond to summon out Cyber End Dragon a third time, this time with twice the attack power.
"But why though?" Blake voiced his confusion.
"What do you mean?" Bastion asked.
"It's a bad move. He should've played it safe." Blake said.
"What do you mean?" The combined force of Bastion, Atticus, and Syrus turned towards Blake, who felt Sheppard's stare on the back of his head as well.
"That." Blake pointed towards the field, where Zane's boosted monster was warded off by Jaden's Hero Barrier, to which he chained the predicted Emergency Provisions to send both the trap card and his ticking Mirage of Nightmare to the graveyard for more lifepoints. (Jaden 3100 / Zane 400)
"Urgh!" Blake groaned and buried his face in his hands, shaking his head. "That idiot! If he makes stupid misplays like that there's no way he'll perform well enough in the pro circuit!"
He raised his head, his eyes meeting Zane's who might've just overheard him.
"Zane had no monsters on the field, so he could've brought out a Cyber Dragon for free, then Power Bond the remaining two into Cyber Twin Dragon." Blake stated, waiting on Bastion to finish.
And Bastion did. "Which would've given him three attacks, going past Hero Barrier, but it would've only pushed Jaden to 100 lifepoints. And if he summoned the lone Cyber Dragon in attack mode any attack would've given him a loss."
"True, but that depends on those two cards he just set." Blake pointed out. "If either of those would've raised his monsters attack-"
"It would've been a massive oversight." Bastion concluded.
Zane ended his turn, a small frown on his face as he once again missed the killing blow. Jaden wouldn't give him another chance, however.
"Phew, that was close! But since you copied me in fusing, I'll copy you in shuffling back some cards!" Jaden announced and used Fifth Hope, shuffling back his used Fusion monsters and some other heroes and went up to six cards in hand.
"Guess I'll need some bigger guns for that one, but I have just the idea!" He continued, using a second Miracle Fusion to bring out the previously shuffled-back Terra Firma again. Jaden then pulled out a new card: Dark Calling. With it, he fused Burstinatrix from his hand with the Avian he ditched at the start of the game to bring out Evil HERO Inferno Wing, though there was some noticeable pause before he activated the card.
"He really did set that one up so early." Bastion mused.
"Evil HERO?" Miss Hibiki pondered loudly, worry clearly in her voice.
The student body for one went ecstatic at the razor-sharp back-and-forth, with a lot of confused looks at Jaden's newest monster.
"I think I remember seeing that one …" Chazz mumbled.
"How? Jaden's never used it before, I'm sure." Alexis countered. "It doesn't fit him at all."
Blake kept his mouth shut at that.
"That Cyber End Dragon of yours sure is a hero-level threat. Good thing heroes fight together to overcome any obstacle!" Jaden shouted. "I activate Terra Firma's ability! By tributing another Elemental HERO monster, its power adds to that of Terra Firma until the end of the turn! And I can use it as many times as I want!"
Terra Firma proceeded to absorb both Great Tornado and Wildedge, putting it at a crisp 7900 attack points, just low enough for Skyscraper to boost it further and make it strong enough to beat Cyber End Dragon.
Inferno Wing looked over her shoulder at Jaden, crossing her arms.
"Sorry about that, I thought he could use any kind of HERO monster!" Jaden clapped his hands together apologetically, to which he only got a huff in response. "Next time, I promise."
His Evil HERO nodded at him before both focused back on the duel at hand.
"Now, Terra Firma attacks your Cyber End Dragon! And with Skyscraper still standing, he gets enough power to beat it too!" Jaden announced, striking his fist forward as he ordered the attack.
Everyone was at the edge of their seats now, even Doctor Crowler. Would Jaden win this after all?
"That it might, but it won't be enough for this!" Zane countered and revealed Battle Fusion, boosting his monster by Terra Firma's attack points, causing Cyber End to go up to 16900.
The crowd cheered, but one student wasn't so happy about that.
"Predictable my ass, Zane's way too focused on using Cyber End to get rid of every problem. He could've won the duel if he got his head out of his own ass. Make notes, boys, and pummel that fixation out of him!" Blake shot towards Atticus and Syrus before adding. "You better fix that fuck-up of yours, Sheppard."
The clash between the monsters changed from going favorably for Jaden to being in Zane's favor, creating even more commission from the onlookers. But Jaden wasn't done just yet.
"Hey, funny that; I have that one too!" Jaden revealed, using his own copy of Battle Fusion to change the tides once more, adding those 16900 onto Terra Firma's 8900.
Everyone's eyes snapped back to Zane. He still had two face-downs. But instead of confidently activating a Limiter Removal, Zane had a solemn, if not frustrated look on his face.
He activated the face-down which he'd set during his first turn: Final Fusion.
"Oh shit." Blake said. Jaden really did surpass Zane already. "How much damage is that?"
He and everyone around him looked at Bastion, whose brain was visibly calculating. "42700 points of damage."
Not a moment later the duel field exploded, the waves of the explosion ripping apart the floor and walls of the arena, throwing back most of the onlookers in their seats.
Once the dust settled, Jaden and Zane were laying flat on their backs, the duel having concluded in a draw.
The arena was silent for a few moments before cheers and applause shook the whole room.
"So, about those five bucks …" Atticus rattled the hat with money.
"Mister Moore."
"Sheppard."
The two of them stared at each other, not far away from the docks as the ferry slowly made its way over. There was an almost visible tension between them, which no doubt had only intensified when Blake had called out Zane's misplay and not-so-subtely blamed Sheppard for it.
"While I'm glad to see the Cyberdarks didn't hurt you as they did their previous wielders, it's time for them to return home." Sheppard stated sternly.
"You know, I played with the thought of just keeping them or having you duel me for them." Blake snorted, his vicious smirk not eliciting any reaction from the man. "But then I would have to keep babysitting them, and as much fun as it has been to show them their place, it didn't really work out."
Sheppard let out a heavy sigh. "Not as bad as I feared but neither as good as I had hoped. Maybe they really are unusable."
"I wouldn't say that." Blake denied, pulling the deck box from his belt. "They are usable, just not tameable. A duelist with a strong enough spirit can use them without worrying for their health. Well, either that or they need someone completely different."
"Your predecessors sought to use them as tools for domination. The very thought of using them eliciting aggressiveness." Sheppard replied, holding out his hand.
"Sounds like an overdose of 'Power of Friendship' could prove different results. Or death of the user, who knows." Blake put the box in Sheppard's hand but didn't let go just yet. "But there's one tiny little thing."
"And what would that be?" The man narrowed his eyes on him.
Blake stepped forward, flexing his energy as he stared the man down, talking in a low voice. "If I see, hear, or in any way catch wind of Zane using them, I'll come back for them." Sheppard didn't look away, but swallowed loudly, his hand trembling ever so slightly. "And after I beat some sense into your prized student I'll make sure not even Kaiba can help you once I'm done with you."
"I have no intention of letting that happen." Sheppard stated resolutely despite the clear threat.
"I'd be in your best interest to adhere to that." With his piece said, Blake let go of the deck and let his energy disperse. "I don't know what you've planned for his training, but you better work with him on his mentality. Can't have him break when he inevitably loses at some point."
The former chancellor nodded at him, so Blake took his leave. Anything more he could do for Zane would come after his eventual clash with Aster, which he was sure would happen in the future. But with proper support from Sheppard, Atticus, and even Syrus this time around, along with everything that had happened up until now, maybe he wouldn't have to worry about Zane too much.
Down at the docks, he linked up with the others. The surprised and bewildered stares they're getting once Kami took his arm like he's escorting her would've made it hard to keep a straight face, if he had bothered to do so in the first place. Where there had only been rumors before, their relationship was pretty up in the open now, something that eased some of his worries about Kami's reluctance to show affection openly. She had ran away last time, after all.
The ride to Domino City was calm, as his girlfriend had been insistent on spending it together since they didn't know when they'd meet again. Thus they claimed a nice spot on the back of the deck and scared off any nuisances, just sitting together and just enjoying the view and each other's company.
It was nice while it lasted, as the first thing Blake saw when they got off the ferry was an all too familiar black car with a black-haired woman in front of it. He felt Kami's fingers digging into his arm the moment their eyes met.
And that -finally- wraps up year one, wohoo. Took way longer than intended, but there was simply too much to do before that. With the ship out in the open, Jaden on his way to deal with his bodily roommates, and a familiar yet different grad duel, we're going into the break. I can't say how long that'll take for sure, but I have some stuff planned for America and a few group scenes.
Reviews:
Raidentensho: Ah, that's what you meant. Well, Kami already pulled out Daedalus, so maybe she won't stick with only Fish?
D2268: The excursion in Domino might just go a bit different, yeah. Had some hypothesis for the future of the Cyberdarks; maybe this won't be the last time we've seen them. Spirits being too hard to control might just be something other might suffer in the future. As for a potential Hell Kaiser, who knows?
KlabOriz: And this one maybe even more ~ Which woman he'll put first I wonder …
uchiha-rune: And thank you for reading ~
DragonXDelinquent: Indeed it has, that effect might come in handy in the future. Not too keen on custom versions for Dark Blade's support cards, though it is a crime they're as bad as they are.
Peter Kim: Yeah, that would've bloated the chapter even more, but at least the little guy won. How will Blake handle the LoD and Sartorious indeed? His plan to handle the Shadow Riders the way he did on his own was quite the failure. Maybe he's learned from that and let's Jaden deal with Sartorious, maybe the guy will trigger him too hard and Blake will rush in regardless? Nightshroud has a backdoor too, maybe it'll even become a clash between Light and Darkness?
Guest: Yeah, cute … and perhaps a bit too much into it :D
That's it from me! Thanks for reading and see you next time!