Era of Spirits and Shadows Chapter 4 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Era of Spirits and Shadows! Well now, it’s time to move a little further into the school year! As days pass, the students Duel and establish the rankings within both their own Dorms and the Academy as a whole. Now Jaden has to watch out for a certain someone’s scheming.

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So without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 4 – Schemes, Girls’ Dorm Duel

“If that drop out Slifer thinks he can go around mocking the Academy’s hierarchy then he has another thing coming!” Crowler grumbled as he sat at his desk in his private office. He wrote a letter for a while, smirking at his scheme. Once finished he placed it in an envelope and sealed it. “Now for the finishing touch.” He picked up a hand mirror and put on a light-red lipstick. He then kissed the back of the envelope to leave a kiss print on the paper.

-First Years’ Gym Class-

“Hello students, my name is Fonda Fontaine, from today onward I’ll be your Health and Physical Education Teacher. I look forward to working with all of you.” Fonda smiled at the gathered First Years in their Academy-issued track suits.

“Do you think it’s weird that the Gym uniform covers more than the standard uniform for the girls?” Drake whispered to Jaden as he looked over all of the track suits. Blue pants, a white front and back top with long, solid blue sleeves, and the Academy Logo over the left breast made up the Gym uniform.

“A little bit, yeah.” Jaden replied with a nod at the oddity.

In the locker room, Crowler snuck around opening lockers to look for the one that belonged to Jaden. After checking six lockers, the seventh proved to be the one he was looking for. In the bottom of the locker were boots with the name ‘Jaden’ on the label inside. A standard thing the Academy did to prevent clothing confusion among students that all wore the same uniforms. With a sinister grin, Crowler placed his fake letter on top of the boots and closed all of the lockers quickly before making his getaway.

A short time later, Syrus Truesdale came skidding into the locker room, a few minutes late for class. The blue-haired boy panicked as he ran to his locker and then tried to take off his boots before he even sat down. He stopped and stared in confusion when he opened the locker number he’d been assigned.

“Someone put their boots in my locker?” Syrus blinked for a moment. He knelt down to find out who they belonged to and then noticed the letter on top. “Wait, a letter in my locker? But…wouldn’t that be…could it be?” He picked up the letter and turned it over. Noticing the kiss print on the back in lipstick, Syrus’ face turned almost as red as his blazer. “A love letter?!”

Looking around, Syrus sat on the bench in front of his locker and opened the envelope. Reading over the confession inside, the bespectacled teen grew more and more excited. When he saw who the letter was from -one Alexis Roads- he nearly fell off the bench in shock!

“A-Alexis loves me?!” Syrus couldn’t keep the smile off of his face. He stashed the letter in his jacket without reading the last sentence below Alexis’ signature. He was already late for class and if he didn’t want to get into trouble then he had to change quickly. He’d talk to whoever had borrowed his locker after class.

-Practical Dueling Class-

“Time for my favorite class of the day!” Jaden grinned as the students all strapped their Duel Disks on their forearms.

“I thought that was lunch?” Drake raised an eyebrow at his buddy with a grin.

“Lunch isn’t a class, so I can’t choose it.” Jaden chuckled as they waited for the Professor.

The Practical Dueling Class was taught in rotation by various Professors of Duel Academy. Since each Professor specialized in different Deck Types and strategies, it was a good way to ensure that students were shown and taught by all of them. Students that played similarly to certain Professors could even go to the instructor in question for more in-depth help with their Dueling. Today it looked like Professor Black was teaching the class.

“Greetings, students, I know you’re all excited for this class, but please calm down.” Professor Black quieted the students. He was a rather tall man, easily matching Crowler’s two meter height, with long, wild, white hair flowing from his head and down his back with a semi-pale skin tone. He dressed in a modified Duel Blazer that was black with silver lining and accents. He looked like he wouldn’t be out of place at a fancy Dueling Tournament or Event. His electric-blue eyes swept over the class, doing a quick headcount to make sure everyone was there. “As I’m sure all of you know; I’m Donovan Black, Professor of Deck Construction here at Duel Academy. Today I’ll be instructing this Practical Dueling class.”

The students listened attentively as they were told how Professor Black would run the class. They’d be paired up at random and since they had the rest of the afternoon for this class, the Duels would take place one at a time. Professor Black smiled at how excited the students were before he pulled out a tablet and opened a randomizer app. He showed the screen to the students and hit the ‘Randomize’ button on the screen. The names of the students blurred as they were sorted through and two names popped up.

[Jasmine Makurada vs Finn Walter]

“Miss Makurada and Mr. Walter, please make your way to the Dueling field.” Professor Black instructed the two students. A boy from Ra Yellow quickly made his way to the field with his yellow-trimmed Duel Disk on his arm.

“Wish me luck.” Jasmine smiled at Mindy and Alexis as she headed out to the field.

“Good luck!” Mindy cheered with a smile of her own.

“Good luck, Jasmine.” Alexis gave a grin to her friend.

“So, we get to see what one of Alexis’ friends can do first, huh?” Jaden commented as the two students took their places on the field. “This’ll be sweet.”

“I wonder what kind of Deck she uses?” Drake watched on with interest as the Duel began.

“Ladies first,” Finn offered with a smile. Though there seemed to be an undertone to his show of politeness.

“Thanks,” Jasmine brushed it off and drew for her first turn.

Jasmine – 4000

Finn – 4000

“I’ll start by placing two face-downs and then I’ll summon Harpie Harpist in attack mode!” Jasmine slotted the two cards into her Spell/Trap Zones and then placed her first Monster card onto the field.

In a flash of light and a simulated gust of wind one of Monsters of the Harpie Archetype appeared on the field. She had orange-red hair flowing down her back, pointed ears, sharp green eyes, talons on her feet and hands, green-feathered wings were part of her arms too. Her attire was a skimpy, black tube top covering her chest, black short-shorts, and black thigh-high stockings on her legs. Just like the majority of the Harpie Monsters, she would be considered beautiful by most. In her clawed hands she held a harp as her name implied.

Harpie Harpist – WIND – Level 4 – Winged-Beast/Effect – 1700 ATK/600 DEF

“Now that I have a Harpie on the field, I’ll activate Elegant Egotist!” Jasmine slotted the Spell card and it appeared on the field as a Hologram. The card depicted a kaleidoscope-like effect and dozens of profiles of the original Harpie Lady Monster’s face. “With this I can special summon a Harpie Lady or Harpie Lady Sisters Monster from my hand or Deck!” Jasmine pulled her Deck from her blue-trimmed Duel Disk and searched for the Monster she wanted. She pulled out a copy and then set her Deck back into the Duel Disk to be auto-shuffled. The auburn-haired teen then placed the new Monster onto her field.

Another gust of simulated wind and three more Harpie’s appeared on the field together. All of them wore golden-colored armor over their torsos and brandished wicked claws and talons. One had long, flowing pink-purple hair, the second Harpie had shorter orange hair, and the third Harpie had spiky, blue hair. All three were fairly voluptuous given that their armor was molded to their forms.

Harpie Lady Sisters – WIND – Level 6 – Winged-Beast/Effect – 1950 ATK/2100 DEF

“With that, I’ll end my turn.” Jasmine nodded at her play. With two Monsters on the field and two face-down cards, she’d done well on her first turn.

“Draw!” Finn drew for his first turn and looked over his hand for a moment. “Alright, I’ll start by playing the Spell card Giant Trunade!” He slotted the card into his Duel Disk. The green card appeared as a hologram on the field, revealing the card art to be a face in the middle of a maelstrom of green and black wind. “This returns all Spell and Trap cards to the owner’s hand!”

“Sure,” Jasmine shrugged as she took her two face-down cards out of her Duel Disk and put them back into her hand.

“Now I’ll set three face-downs and end my turn.” Finn announced as he slotted three cards into his Duel Disk. Three holograms of face-down cards appeared in front of the Ra Yellow student.

“No Monsters?” Drake raised an eyebrow at the move.

“Did he not draw any, or is this part of his strategy?” Jaden wondered at the bold move to not summon a Monster to defend the player’s Life Points.

“I draw!” Jasmine drew for her turn.

“I activate my Trap card, Fairy Box!” Finn hit a button on his Duel Disk. The middle of his face-down hologram cards flipped upright and revealed itself. The card featured a box on it that looked like a whack-a-mole game. “With this card every time you declare an attack, we flip a coin. If I call it correctly the attacking Monster’s ATK becomes 0 for the rest of the turn.”

“Alright, that’ll be kind of annoying to be honest.” Jasmine admitted with a grimace. “I’ll set a face-down and then summon Harpie Perfumer!”

A cloud appeared and was blow away by a gust of wind. The Duel Disks even simulated the smell of perfume perfectly. The new Harpie had long, purple hair, pointed ears, purple eyes, her wings started with green feathers that faded into blue near the edge of the wings. She wore a skintight outfit with light-purple leggings, dark-purple shorts that covered her hips and thighs, two straps of the fabric reached up to her top and covered her chest from view while leaving her midriff completely bare. She brandished the same sharp claws and talons as the rest of her Harpie kin.

Harpie Perfumer – WIND – Level 4 – Winged-Beast/Effect – 1400 ATK/1300 DEF

“I activate Harpie Perfumer’s effect!” Jasmine declared with a grin. “When she is Normal or Special Summoned, I can search my Deck for one Spell or Trap card that specifically lists ‘Harpie Lady Sisters’ in its card text and add it to my hand! But since I also control a Level 5 or higher Harpie Monster I can search two such cards as long as they both have different names and add both to my hand!” Jasmine explained as she pulled her Deck from her Duel Disk again and fanned the cards out. She picked two Spell cards with a smile and added them to her hand. She returned her Deck to the Duel Disk and let it shuffle the cards again.

“She’s playing that Harpie Deck pretty well.” Drake praised the Obelisk Blue girl.

“You think we’ll get to see the Dragon?” Jaden didn’t take his eyes off the Duel as he asked. “That would be sweet!” The bright smile on his face was infectious as Drake found himself grinning too.

“I activate Elegant Egotist!” Jasmine slotted the Spell card and it appeared as a hologram again. “That allows me to special summon a Harpie Lady 1 from my Deck this time!” Jasmine searched her Deck again and placed the new Monster onto the field.

In another simulated gust of wind, the retrained version of the original Harpie Lady Monster appeared on the field. Her long, pink-purple hair flowed down her back, her light-blue toned skin, the sharp purple eyes, clawed hands, talon feet, though the green wings were different from the original as was the clothing. Like all Harpie Monsters the clothing was skintight and revealing. Pink leggings with black accents run up to her waist. Two thin strips of black cloth ran up her bare torso and just covered her breasts enough to not be indecent while still showing off most of them. The two cloth strips met around her neck in the form of a choker.

Harpie Lady 1 – WIND – Level 4 – Winged-Beast/Effect – 1300 ATK/1400 DEF

“Now that Harpie Lady 1 is on the field, all WIND Attribute Monsters gain 300 ATK!” Jasmine had a smile on her face that matched the wicked grins of her Harpie Monsters as they were all powered up by the effect of Harpie Lady 1!

Harpie Harpist – WIND – Level 4 – Winged-Beast/Effect – 2000 ATK/600 DEF

Harpie Lady Sisters – WIND – Level 6 – Winged-Beast/Effect – 2250 ATK/2100 DEF

Harpie Perfumer – WIND – Level 4 – Winged-Beast/Effect – 1700 ATK/1300 DEF

Harpie Lady 1 – WIND – Level 4 – Winged-Beast/Effect – 1600 ATK/1400 DEF

“Now to wrap this up, I’ll play the Spell card Triangle Ecstasy Spark!” Jasmine slotted another card into her Duel Disk. The hologram appeared showing the Harpie Lady Sisters in a triangle formation with a ball of white light in their hands. Each sphere was connected to each other with a line of white and sparking with blue lightning. In the center of this formation was the letter ‘X’ firing a beam of energy towards an unseen foe. “With this, all Harpie Lady Sisters’ ATK become 2700 until the end of the turn!”

Harpie Lady Sisters – WIND – Level 6 – Winged-Beast/Effect – 2700 ATK/2100 DEF

“You also can’t activate Trap cards and all of your Trap effects currently on the field are negated!” Jasmine had an almost predatory smirk on her lips as Finn’s face paled in shock. “I enter Battle Phase! Harpie Lady 1 attacks you directly!”

The Harpie Lady 1 flew forward and slashed her claws across Finn’s body. The Ra Yellow jerked back from the hologram in fright.

Jasmine – 4000

Finn – 2400

“I attack you directly with Harpie Harpist!” Jasmine continued her assault on the defenseless Finn.

The Harpie Harpist ascended into the air and struck her harp with her claws. A blast of razor-sharp wind leapt from the harp and rained down on Finn who raised his arms as if to block the attack.

Jasmine – 4000

Finn – 400

“Now I attack for game with Harpie Lady Sisters!” Jasmine finished up and the three sisters formed the attack on the Triangle Ecstasy Spark Spell card before firing at the stunned Ra Yellow First Year. The beam of energy exploded when it struck Finn and simulated smoke and fire for a moment before the hologram explosion faded away.

Jasmine – 4000

Finn – 0

“I lost...completely…” Finn was clearly stunned at his loss and Jasmine’s flawless victory.

The class erupted into applause and cheers for the great Duel and the use of a famous Archetype. The holograms faded away as both Jasmine and Finn started walking back towards Professor Black and the rest of the students.

“She wiped him out in two turns! That was a great Duel!” Jaden exclaimed as he applauded for Jasmine’s win.

“That was complete domination, a one-sided beatdown!” Drake was also clapping for the Obelisk Blue girl. “She’s a damn good Duelist.”

“An excellent Duel, Miss Makurada,” Professor Black praised the auburn-haired girl with a small smile and a nod. “Mr. Walter, I trust this has shown you that even if you have a strategy in mind, defending your Life Points with a Monster is still important.”

“Yes, sir.” Finn nodded to the instructor.

“That was awesome, Jasmine!” Mindy gushed as she pulled the other girl into a quick hug.

“Two turn swarm annihilation, that’s very familiar Jasmine.” Alexis smiled at her friend fondly.

“Thanks you two,” Jasmine preened a little under the praise of her friends and the applause she was getting.

A beep came from Jasmine’s PDA. She pulled the device from its holster on her hip and hit the button on the new notification. Her grey-eyes read the short message while a grin formed on her lips.

[Jasmine Makurada earns 500 DP for defeating a First Year Ra Yellow student]

“Now who is making money?” Alexis teased lightly as Mindy looked at the notification on the screen.

“Alright, let’s have the next pair,” Professor Black randomized the remaining student’s names. “Mr. Lind and Mr. Talos, you’re up next.” Two boys, one Slifer Red and the other Ra Yellow, headed towards the Duel field. This Duel lasted longer but had the Deck Construction Professor pinching the bridge of his nose.

‘I know they've only had one class with me so far...but seriously, they can't just throw a stack of cards together that they think are cool and expect any kind of Deck Synergy.’ Professor Black sighed quietly as he watched the two students struggle to make effective combos from their cards. The Duel was progressing, but if they’d had more synergy in their respective Decks, a few chain combos could have already ended the match entirely.

If anyone had been paying attention, then they might have noticed Syrus taking peeks at Alexis. This wouldn’t be strange though. Most of the male student population checked the girl out after all. Hell some of the females did too. But the normally shy boy wasn’t being nearly as subtle as he would normally be. It was almost as if he was hoping to catch her eye.

Unfortunately for Syrus, Alexis was entirely focused on the Duel going on and wasn’t paying him a single bit of attention.

-Night ~ Girls Dorm-

“I’m coming to see you, Alexis~” Syrus was almost skipping as he moved across the campus towards the Girls’ Dorm. He only had a bit of time to meet Alexis behind the dorm as it said in her letter. If they stayed together too long this evening then curfew would hit and they could both be in trouble. The short teen ran around the lake that separated the Girls’ Dorm from the other dorms. Only a small path led to the Obelisk Blue Dorms and taking the left path at the fork led to the Girls’ Dorm. Had he not been so excited, he might have thought about using one of the rowboats at the various docks around the edge of the lake. Instead he was rushing along the path that led to the dorm and the beautiful girl that had confessed to him via letter!

Syrus found a gate behind the dorm that looked almost like it had been purposefully left open. With a smile he decided it must have been Alexis making it easy for him to get inside and meet with her. He didn’t even notice the padlock and cut chain lying on the ground as he dashed through the gate. It wasn’t until he was behind the dorm that he started hearing voices from inside.

“Honestly, Alexis…I’m kinda jealous of how busty you are~” Mindy’s voice came from the building that Syrus was standing close to.

“Don’t stare like that, it’s embarrassing.” Alexis’ voice responded and Syrus felt his entire face flush a burning red.

“You got bigger too, didn’t you Mindy~” Jasmine’s teasing lilt joined in.

“Jazz, don’t touch~!” Mindy whined playfully.

“I’m behind the Girls’ Bath?!” Syrus nearly screamed before he clamped his hands over his mouth.

‘What is Truesdale doing here?!’ The hiding form of Crowler -dressed in a black full-body suit- questioned as he hid in the bushes with a camera. Where was Jaden Yuki?! How was he going to get an incriminating photo of the teen and expel him if he wasn’t here?!

“Is someone there?” An Obelisk Blue girl in her pajamas questioned after hearing the noise from outside. She turned her head and spotted Syrus -frozen in shock at where he was- and her eyes widened. “Pervert!”

A chorus of voices and cries rose up as the girls in the bath quickly sank lower into the water or covered themselves up with towels. Several girls that had been getting dressed or undressed in the changing area quickly pulled their clothes on. Anger was nearly palpable in the air as several teenage girls charged out of the building and towards the short boy. Syrus quickly found himself surrounded and subdued, forced to his knees while someone was told to get rope.

“You won’t be getting away now, you little perv.” Jasmine glared death at the Slifer Red boy. Her body was hidden behind a large bath towel that covered her from neck to knees.

“Were you really so desperate to see, you pervert?!” Mindy growled at the restrained bespectacled boy. She was also covering her body with a similar long bath towel.

A few minutes later and Syrus found himself sitting in seiza with his wrists tied together with a rope that was being held in Jasmine’s left hand. All three girls had changed back into their uniforms already before they started questioning him. He had just explained that he’d been invited to the Girls’ Dorm by Alexis and even had the love letter to prove it. Seeing the confused look on Alexis face, he gave her a wink.

“You’re saying you got a love letter, from Alexis?” Jasmine clearly didn’t believe him at all.

“Why would Alexis send you -a boy she’s literally never met- a love letter?” Mindy questioned the kneeling boy.

“I swear it’s true!” Syrus looked between the three girls. “I have the letter in my pocket!” He used his tied together hands to fish out the letter from his blazer pocket. He held it out to the girls and Alexis took it from him.

“This definitely isn’t my handwriting,” Alexis noted instantly as she read over the sappy words. “They spelled my last name wrong too.”

“Your last name isn’t Roads?” Syrus blinked at her confused. He’d heard her full name multiple times, he was certain her last name was Roads.

“Not ‘Roads’ like what you drive on,” Alexis shook her head. “R-H-O-D-E-S, Rhodes, is my last name, Syrus.”

“Oh…oh crap…” Syrus realized he’d been tricked now and the thought of what his punishment would be was already making him nauseous. He was so going to get expelled!

“Um…this letter is also address to Jaden Yuki.” Mindy pointed to the last line just below the fake signature.

“It is?” Syrus slumped down even further at that. “I can’t even get a fake love letter…?”

“That’s kinda sad, to be honest.” Jasmine felt some of her anger cool off a bit.

“Look, this is obviously some kind of prank gone wrong, malicious or not,” Alexis placed her hand on her forehead for a second with a sigh. “I’ll call the only Slifers I actually know to come get him.” Alexis pulled out her PDA and looked through the listings of all the First Years. Once she found Jaden’s name she hit the ‘Call’ button.

-Slifer Dorm ~ Jaden and Drake’s Dorm Room-

The beeping of an incoming call was heard from Jaden’s PDA. Drake looked at it as Jaden reached over to pick it up off the desk. The two of them had been going over combos for their Decks and Side Decks. Jaden accepted the call and the screen switched over to show Alexis’ face.

“Alexis?” Jaden blinked at the unexpected call.

“Hey Jaden, we have a bit of a problem,” Alexis began and even Drake raised an eyebrow from the tone of her voice. “Someone was trying to play a dumb prank on you and Syrus Truesdale got caught up in it. It’s getting late and Camp Sec is going to start doing rounds as it gets closer to curfew. Not to mention Syrus can’t be seen leaving the Girls’ Dorm if he doesn’t want to get expelled. Can you come pick him up in one of the rowboats and take him back to the Slifer Dorm?”

“Someone was trying to prank me?” Jaden tilted his head confused. “Who would want to do that?”

“No idea, but we’d rather not have someone expelled for what seems to be an honest mistake.” Alexis stated with a gentle shake of her head.

“Alright, I’ll come get him as fast as I can.” Jaden agreed and the call was ended.

“Looks like we’re taking a boat ride, huh?” Drake chuckled as he grabbed his boots and started putting them on.

“Yeah, but I still wonder who was trying to pull a prank on me?” Jaden pulled on his boots too. The two were out the door even as Chumley shook his head from his bunk.

-Lake Edge ~ Girls’ Dorm-

“There’s the boat, looks like Jaden is coming.” Jasmine noted as she, Mindy, and Alexis waited with Syrus at the dock.

“Is he saying something?” Alexis wondered as a noise was heard. “I can’t tell.”

“Stroke! Stroke! Stroke!” Drake’s voice became clear as the rowboat drew closer and closer to the dock.

“You could help paddle, you know?” Jaden retorted and Mindy giggled at what was happening.

“I could, but I’d rather just motivate you instead.” Drake snarked with a grin, making Jasmine crack a smile this time.

“You’re totally paddling on the way back!” Jaden declared to his friend and dorm mate.

“We’ll see…” Drake shrugged nonchalantly.

“If you two are done with your comedy act?” Alexis shook her head at the pair.

“Hey Alexis,” Jaden waved at the blonde with a smile. “Thanks for not turning Syrus in. I’m not sure who was out to prank me, but I wouldn’t want anyone else to get in trouble for it.”

“It’s fine,” Alexis motioned for Syrus to get in the boat with the other Slifers. The short boy quickly did so and sighed in relief that he wasn’t going to be expelled. “But there is something you could do for me, Jaden.”

“What’s up?” Jaden asked the ‘Queen’ of Obelisk Blue.

“I’ve wanted to Duel with you since you beat Crowler and then Chazz,” Alexis admitted as Mindy brought out the Duel Disk she’d been hiding behind her back with a grin. Alexis took her blue-trimmed Duel Disk and slid it onto her left forearm. “How about we have a Duel right now in the middle of the lake? That way you boys aren’t trespassing and won’t get in trouble, as long as we finish before curfew actually hits.”

“A Duel, huh?” Jaden broke out into a grin at the challenge. “I’m game, let’s do it, Alexis!”

“Wow, aren’t you the eager one?” Jasmine face palmed at way Jaden had phrased his acceptance.

“At least he’s honest.” Mindy hid her mouth behind her hand as she giggled.

“What?” Jaden looked between the ravenette and the auburn-haired girls.

“Hush you two,” Alexis admonished her friends. “We should head for the middle of the lake.”

In short order Alexis, Mindy, and Jasmine were in their own boat and the six students headed for the middle of the lake. Once they were there, with both boats facing each other, Jaden slipped on his red-trimmed Duel Disk and activated it. Alexis activated her Duel Disk as well and the Duel began.

Alexis – 4000

Jaden – 4000

“I’ll go first, if you don’t mind?” Alexis asked with her hand hovering close to her Deck to draw.

“Sure thing,” Jaden agreed and Alexis drew for her first turn.

“I’ll summon Etoile Cyber,” Alexis placed the Monster card onto her Duel Disk. The Monster spun into existence from the summoning before slowing to a stop to face Jaden. It was a woman, with long orange-hair down her back, a skintight dancer’s outfit with some frills around the hips. One of her eyes was covered by a red eyepatch that matched her red and white outfit. She had a swirling cloth around each of her forearms as she stood ready for battle.

Etoile Cyber – EARTH – Level 4 – Warrior/Effect – 1200 ATK/1600 DEF

“I’ll place a card face-down as well and then end my turn.” Alexis slotted a card into the Spell/Trap zone and the face-down hologram appeared on the field.

“I draw,” Jaden drew for turn and smiled at his pull. “I’ll summon Elemental Hero Sparkman!” In a flash of electricity the electric themed Hero in the navy-blue body suit and golden armor appeared on the field.

Elemental Hero Sparkman – LIGHT – Level 4 – Warrior – 1600 ATK/1400 DEF

“Now let’s see what that face-down card is! Sparkman attack Etoile Cyber!” Jaden declared and Sparkman’s hands erupted into electricity before he launched a bolt at Alexis’ Monster.

“You’ll regret that decision, I’m afraid, Jaden.” Alexis hit a button on her Duel Disk. “I activate the Trap card Doble Passe!” The face-down hologram flipped face-up and showed a woman in magenta dancer’s dress with a spotlight shining down on her.

The electric attack heading for Etoile Cyber was dodged as the Monster spun to the side. The attack became a direct attack and struck Alexis instead. The golden-hazel eyes of Alexis barely flinched as the holographic electricity dances across her skin.

Alexis – 2400

Jaden – 4000

“It turns your attack on my Monster into a direct attack on me,” Alexis explained before she gained a smirk. “In exchange, I get to deal the ATK of the Monster you were targeting at your Life Points.” The Trap card glowed yellow before shooting at Jaden in a beam of energy. The Slifer grimaced at the attack as his Life Points dropped.

Alexis – 2400

Jaden – 2800

“Also, on my next turn, Etoile Cyber can attack you directly.” Alexis informed Jaden of the secondary effect of Doble Passé with a grin.

“She didn’t even hesitate to lose Life Points just to get at mine.” Jaden looked Alexis dead in the eye. “She even set up her next turn to be able to deal even more damage to me directly!”

“Impressed?” Alexis grinned at the Slifer teen.

“Impressed? I think I’m in love.” Jaden joked right back at the top First Year student.

“You’re sweet; too bad I’m going to have to beat you.” Alexis returned Jaden’s joke with one of her own.

“I’d ship it.” Drake nodded faux sagely from his seat behind Jaden in the boat.

“Thanks Drake,” Jaden turned to smile at his buddy.

“Oh my~” Mindy giggled from the other boat.

“Yeah right, rank up to Ra Yellow and maybe there would be something to talk about.” Jasmine dismissed the idea with a roll of her eyes.

Alexis just closed her eyes and shook her head gently, though there was a small grin on her lips.

“I’ll set a face-down and end my turn.” Jaden slotted a card into his Duel Disk and the hologram appeared on the field face-down.

“I draw,” Alexis looked at her newest card and nodded. “I’ll attack you directly with Etoile Cyber!” He Monster moved over the water of the lake as if she was gliding on it.

“Here comes another twelve hundred.” Jaden grit his teeth at the approaching Life Point loss.

“Oh no, Jaden, it’s much worse than that,” Alexis looked at him with a challenging fire in her eyes. “Etoile Cyber’s effect is that when she attacks an opponent directly, she gains 500 ATK during the Damage Step!”

Etoile Cyber – EARTH – Level 4 – Warrior/Effect – 1700 ATK/1600 DEF

“Oh…shit.” Jaden took the Monster’s kick to his collarbone and could have sworn that he almost felt the blow.

Alexis – 2400

Jaden – 1100

“But I’m not done just yet,” Alexis placed a card into the Spell/Trap slot of her Duel Disk. “I activate Polymerization to fuse the Etoile Cyber on my field with the Blade Skater in my hand!” The spell card appeared on the field and another Monster appeared briefly. Jaden noted the two-toned color scheme and the large blades on the Monster’s forearms before both of Alexis’ Monsters were drawn into the Spell card and in a flash of light a new Monster was on the field.

Cyber Blader – EARTH – Level 6 – Warrior/Fusion/Effect – 2100 ATK/800 DEF

“Now I play the Equip Spell card Fusion Weapon!” Alexis slid the card into her Duel Disk. Cyber Blader’s right arm morphed into a vaguely trident-shaped weapon that crackled with energy. “This card increases my Cyber Blader’s ATK and DEF by 1500 points each!”

Cyber Blader – EARTH – Level 6 – Warrior/Fusion/Effect – 3600 ATK/2300 DEF

“I’ll set one final face-down and with that I’ll end my turn.” Alexis finished her turn with confidence.

“Staring down a 3600 ATK Monster with only one Monster, a face down and 1100 Life Points left and it’s only the second turn.” Drake summarized the Duel from Jaden’s perspective. “You’re doing great, Jaden!”

“Ha ha!” Jaden fake laughed over his shoulder with a smile on his face. “This is getting good!”

“Well, at least he’s got a spine.” Jasmine gave the Slifer some credit.

“May not be much left of it after Alexis is done though.” Mindy shrugged with a small grin.

“I draw,” Jaden looked at the card and instantly slotted it into his Spell/Trap slot. “I activate Pot of Greed!” The Spell card with the widely smiling green and blue jar appeared and Jaden drew two more cards before the hologram faded away. “Sweet! Just what I needed to end this Duel before I get steamrolled! I activate a Polymerization of my own! I’ll fuse the Sparkman on my field with-”

“I don’t think so! I activate the Trap card Solemn Judgement!” Alexis declared as the face-down hologram card flipped face-up. “By paying half of my Life Points, I negate and destroy your Polymerization!”

Alexis – 1200

Jaden – 1100

“Well damn…” Jaden blinked as he placed his Polymerization into the graveyard.

“She read you like a book, huh?” Drake noted and Jaden felt the grin on his face erupt into a full-blown smile. “It looks like you’re on the back foot now.”

“This has got to be one of the best Duels I’ve had in a long time!” Jaden’s smile truly was infectious as Alexis smiled back at him. Her eyes were alight with excitement and challenge at the Duel that she and Jaden were having.

“I’m having fun too, Jaden.” Alexis admitted as she stared him down.

“Well, there’s more than one way to win a Duel!” Jaden took a different card from his hand and slotted it into his Duel Disk. “I activate the Spell card Twin Twisters!” The card appeared on the field showing two tornados destroying a tree, a Magical Hat, Scape Goat Tokens, and an Ancient Telescope. “I have to discard one card to do it but at this point I won’t win without it!” He discarded a card from his hand and two tornados appeared on Alexis’ side of the field and destroyed her Fusion Weapon Equip Spell card.

Cyber Blader – EARTH – Level 6 – Warrior/Fusion/Effect – 2100 ATK/800 DEF

“You can’t destroy my Cyber Blader by battle if you only have one Monster on the field!” Alexis informed Jaden after the twisters disappeared. “And if you summon a second Monster, her ATK doubles!”

“That’s fine! You lowered your Life Points enough by stopping me from using Polymerization!” Jaden grinned as he hit a button on his Duel Disk. “I activate the Spell card called Mask Change!” The face-down on Jaden’s field flipped up and showed a Hero putting on a mask covered in bright rays of light. “With this I send one Hero Monster on the field to the graveyard and in exchange I can special summon a Masked Hero Monster from my Fusion Deck!”

“Masked Hero?” Alexis’ eyes widened at the information. She didn’t know that Jaden had a secondary type of Hero Monster in his Fusion Deck!

“Yep!” Jaden couldn’t remember the last time he’d smiled so much during a Duel. “As long as the two Monsters have the same Attribute, I can make the special summon! So Sparkman goes to the graveyard and I special summon Masked Hero Koga!”

Sparkman transformed as a glowing mask came from the Mask Change card behind him and attached to his head. The Monster that reappeared from the light was covered in a white jumpsuit with yellow trim. Golden armor covered the Monster’s knees, shoulders, and the back of his helmet. The blue visor that covered his eyes glowed and he raised his arms, showing off the two long golden blades attached to his forearms and hands.

Masked Hero Koga – LIGHT – Level 8 – Warrior/Fusion/Effect – 2500 ATK/1800 DEF

“But you can’t destroy Cyber Blader when you only have one Monster and yours only has 2500 ATK. I have enough Life Points to survive.” Alexis looked perplexed by Jaden’s strategy.

“Masked Hero Koga’s effect activates! He gains 500 ATK for every Monster you have on the field!” Jaden declared and his Monster’s ATK rose.

Masked Hero Koga – LIGHT – Level 8 – Warrior/Fusion/Effect – 3000 ATK/1800 DEF

“Then I activate his second effect!” Jaden was having so much fun he almost seemed to radiate more light than his Hero Monster! “I can banish one Hero Monster from the graveyard and your Monster loses ATK points equal to the banished Monster’s! So Sparkman is banished and Cyber Blader loses 1600 ATK!”

Cyber Blader – EARTH – Level 6 – Warrior/Fusion/Effect – 500 ATK/800 DEF

“No way…” Alexis looked shocked at the ATK difference between her Monster and Jaden’s. What Mindy and Jasmine noticed though, was the bright smile their friend had on her face.

“I attack Cyber Blader with Masked Hero Koga!” Jaden declared his attack and his Hero leapt forth. One of his golden blades lashed out at Cyber Blader, but the other Fusion Monster caught it. She wasn’t destroyed, but Alexis’ Life Points took 2500 points of damage.

Alexis – 0

Jaden – 1100

“That’s game!” Jaden smiled and Alexis was still smiling at him even as the holograms faded away. “You’re an awesome Duelist, Alexis! Let’s do this again!”

“I’d like that, Jaden,” Alexis nodded to the dual-toned brunette, her golden-hazel eyes alight with joy at the Duel she’d just had. “Whenever we have time, let’s have a rematch!”

“You got it Alexis!” Jaden agreed and the two shared a grin with each other.

“Alright, you boys better be heading back to your dorms, it’ll be curfew soon.” Alexis shook her head as she sat down in her boat with Jasmine and Mindy.

“Later, girls, if you three are all that strong I’m going to want to Duel all of you myself!” Drake smiled at the three Obelisk Blues.

“Bring it on,” Jasmine actually let out a warm, bubbly laughter. “Legendary Red-Eyes or not, I’ll take you on!” The excitement of a good Duel was clearly firing up all of the Duelists.

“Don’t be mad if I win~” Mindy teased as she waved to Drake with a pretty smile.

“Challenge accepted!” Drake grinned at the girls before grabbing the paddles and starting to row the boys’ boat back towards the shore closest to the Slifer Dorm.

“Goodnight Alexis!” Jaden called back to the blonde with a wave.

“Goodnight Jaden.” Alexis waved back, a satisfied smile on her face.

“Oh~” Mindy grinned as she leaned against Alexis. “Do I spy some interest in a boy?”

“Not like that.” Alexis shook her head as she nudged the other girl.

“Maybe if he advances to Ra, like I said.” Jasmine giggled as she and Mindy each took a paddle and rowed the girls back to their dorm.

“Oh hush, let me enjoy the Duel I just had~” Alexis let out a gentle laugh that brought smiles to her friends’ face too. It was nice to see Alexis so relaxed and happy.

-End Chapter-

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Practical Dueling Class is by far the favorite of most every student at Duel Academy!

Jasmine is a Harpie Archetype Player! You can probably guess who her Idol is!

The Duel between Jaden and Alexis went differently and Jaden had to reveal his Masked Heroes!

Alexis ain’t no push over!

Though she’s still adapting her own Deck and making it stronger too! That’s what Duel Academy is all about, right?

What’s next for our Duelist Students?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!