Private/Closed Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Duel Academy RP

[DarkHydraT]

"My turn, I draw. I equip Gladiator Beast's Battle Halberd onto Equeste." The centaur monster got gifted a large halberd as the AI commented on the move.

"Goddamn! A spell card has been activated!"

"Gladiator Beast Equeste! Attack her face down card!" The monster galloped towards the set card with halberd in hand. If they succeeded in attacking, they would also take care of the set spell or trap. Once the monster would be destroyed, Alexander would swoop in and lay down 2400 damage for Tracy to take. After that, it was an easy tag out for more power increases and powerful monsters. If she was lucky, maybe Willow could even get Heraklinos onto the field this match.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

"I activate Book of Moon!" Tracy announced.

"Goddamn, a spell card has been activated!" The AI announced. The first face-down card flipped up to reveal a spell card depicting a blue tome of some sort. A beam of energy shot from the tome towards the attacking Equeste.
"With the Book of Moon, I can change your Gladiator Beast Equeste to face-down defense position, canceling its attack!" Tracy said. The Ra Yellow bit her lip nervously. If Willow was able to counter that spell, Tracy would be in deep trouble.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Knew I should've attacked with Alexander instead." Equeste disappeared as the halberd broke, relying on its 1200 defense instead. "Your field is now wide open, let's go Alexander!" Gladiator Beast Alexander lunged forward, slashing at the set card. There was no way that Alexander would not destroy the card. It had 2400 attack and full immunity to spell cards, what could Tracy honestly hope to achieve? Use Cyber Jar? That was too far-fetched though, there was no way that she'd run that card. Heraklinos was still a possibility though, if only she stopped drawing spell cards. There really was no use for them at the moment.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

The face down card flipped up to reveal... another Nightmare Penguin!
"I activate the effect of Nightmare Penguin! Since he was flipped face-up, I can return a card on the field back to the hand. And that card I choose is your Alexander!" Tracy called out.
"Son of a bitch, an effect has been activated!" The AI called out. Alexander's claws slashed through the dapper penguin, reducing the monster to pixels, but at the same time a huge blast of water shot towards the Gladiator Beast and attempted to push the monster back!

 

[DarkHydraT]

Right, that is what she could do. With Alexander off the field, Willow could not let it tag out and replace it with a different monster. Thankfully Equeste was still on the field, but its defense was not something that would be considered incredible. "So your deck is reliant on bouncing monsters? Clever and annoying, that prevents me from tagging out. I end my turn." Suddenly, Heraklinos sounded like nothing more than the hopeful dreams of a fool. It needing three materials was generally not a hard task to accomplish, but it did not help that she had yet to draw Laquari.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy drew a card to start her turn. She had managed to buy herself some time, but it looked like her luck was beginning to run out. Very quickly.
"I summon Penguin Knight, in defense mode, and set one card." Tracy announced.

"Holy Shit, a monster has been summoned! Uh oh, that set card looks scary!" Out of a card appeared a small navy blue penguin, dressed with shoulder pauldrons and a small sword, crouching with its sword ready to block. Behind it, a face-down card appeared in Tracy's spell and Trap card zone.
"That's all I have." Tracy said.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"My turn, I draw." This was not what she needed, but it would have to make due. "I set one monster in face down position, flip summon Equeste and I don't like how empty my backrow is. I set one card face down."

"Holy Shit, a monster has been summoned! Uh oh, that set card looks scary! Uh oh, that set card looks scary!

"Alright Equeste, time to finish the job. Attack that face down card!" The centaur galloped towards Penguin Knight and was ready to stomp on the little bird. The set card was very likely a trap, but she really could not afford not to attack.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Once again, Tracy watched helplessly as her Penguin Knight was destroyed. The dice had fallen, and the situation hadn't lined up for her Trap Card's effect requirements. The Penguin Knight let out a cry as it was blown into pixels. Luckily Willow wouldn't be following up with a secondary attack, but at the rate things were going Tracy was beginning to run out of defenses. The Ra Yellow waited to see what monster Willow would call upon to tag out her attacking Gladiator Beast.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Equeste, tag out. Laquari, come in." Equeste flapped its wings and flew back into Willow's deck, soon getting replaced with a blazing pillar of fire that soon turned into a circle and revealed a bipedal tiger wielding the fire in its hands. "When Laquari is special summoned by a Gladiator Beast, its original attack becomes 2100. Add to that the 400 increase from the field spell and Laquari can tie with the legendary Dark Magician. I end my turn for now."

"Holy Shit, a monster has been summoned!" The AI was on its way to make that its most used line on Willow's turn, and it was getting old quite fast.

 

[Godjacob]

"A prank? I mean there is a prank and then there is this, how would a student be able to hax into this system anyway?" Bella asked, as she seemed a touch troubled by this bit of info from Lance. Pranks were that common that he could guess this had something to do with it, this seemed less like a prank and more like an exercise in aggravated torture. And it ruined what seemed to be a special prized duel between two rightful contest winners which just added salt to the wound.

If this was the result of what Lance suspected, Bella would keep it in the back of her mind. Something had to be done about this one way or another.

Regardless of that and other annoying voices from the duel, once she had taken her eyes off her belt as the feeling seemed to die down as she was oblivious to Lance's notice. The duel seemed to pick up steam as regardless of this weird Water focus from the seemingly D.D. girl she seemed to hold up well all things considered. Even as Gladiator Beasts swarmed the field she was able to keep them at bay to stave off the worst. This Penguin deck may not have been what Bella expected but it seemed to have some deceptive strength.

Though of course the Gladiator Beasts had been what she focused on. Especially as she had finally seen Contact Fusion which caused her eyes to widen, a result of that and also that feeling in her belt growing stronger as it surged back almost as if it responded to the Fusion summon as she reached for it and glanced at her deck. Maybe the sea ride there had her a bit ship lagged or something, was that even a thing? Regardless she could not help but glance at what seemed to be one of her own Fusion Cards as from Lance's POV he'd see a dark humanoid figure with a mask but her thumb covered the name and a card covered half its art.

Alright now you are beginning to go crazy Bella. Just relax and enjoy the duel. I am sure it was nothing.

Bella shuffled her deck and placed it back on her belt as she watched the action; seemed Contact Fusion not only came with the benefit of a fusion without polymerization but also allowed it to "tag out" to summon multiple beasts. Quite powerful, but her opponent seemed to hold her ground admirably enough.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy was sweating. Once again, she had managed to stave off attacks for another turn. But as of now, her hand was completely unusable. If she didn't draw something good for this turn, that would be it. She would be toast. In the past at this academy, reaching out to her deck hadn't worked. She hoped this time would be different.

Tracy drew from her deck and blinked. It... it had worked. It really had worked! The Ra Yellow let out a sigh of relief. Hopefully this would help.
"I activate Moray of Greed!" Tracy said, sticking a card into her duel disk.
"Goddamn, a spell card has been activated!" The AI yelled.
"This card lets me shuffle two water monster from my hand into my deck, then draw three cards!" Tracy said, putting the last two card into her deck and shuffling before drawing three. The duelist scanned her hand. Now these were cards she could work with.

"I set one monster face down and end my turn!" Tracy said, feeling more determined.
"Uh oh, that set card looks fucking scary!" The AI said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well, Duel Academy is an academy that is for the best of the best, and prepare students for a life of dueling. But not all students that go here are going to be great duelists. Some are going to be taking jobs at places like Industrial Illusions or KaibaCorp, utilizing artistic or programming skills for the game of Duel Monsters. So I don't find it too crazy that an exceptionally bright student was able to.... weasel their way into the school's computer system. Now the question if they're going to end up getting caught is the one we should be asking." Lance said with a small smile.

Bella moving slightly caught Lance's attention, and the third year student looked over to the new student as she was looking at one of her cards. A dark, masked, humanoid fusion monster. It was one that Lance had seen before, but couldn't quite place. Lance noticed Bella seemed to be rather uncomfortable for some reason. It wasn't the duel. Interesting.

"Is everything alright?" Lance asked Bella.

 

[Godjacob]

"O-oh no I am fine. Really, just uh...yeah trying to adjust to all of this. Lot to take in for a first day." Bella answered sheepishly as she realized her actions had likely come off as weird to her guide as she put her deck away to which she tried to assure her it was all fine. And really it should have been as that feeling had died down she swore seemed to "come" from her deck as she tried to shake the nonsensical notion. Really the info that mattered more to change topics was what he said earlier about a student who may have come for non-dueling reasons to "weasel" his way into the systems which caused Bella to raise an eyebrow.

Seemed a bit too specific of a word choice to just be figure of speech, was weasel some sort of clue? Regardless that worked to segway to her next question that she had on the mind.

"If that is true, and this is more than a one time occurrence why has the school done nothing on it? Surely there'd be some sort of investigation or something in response?" Bella asked Lance though even as she did her eyes shifted focus to the duel as it seemed that the Ra Yellow was hanging on but just barley as she managed to fight off the Gladiator Beasts though something needed to change or she'd be in trouble least from her POV. And it seemed she least had drawing options as she used a Moray of Greed to get new cards to the hand and set something in defense.

Would it be more stalling, or could she have a plan. Either way she watched the duel with intrigued to see how it'd play out.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"My turn, I draw." Willow looked at her new card and grinned. "Let's run a little test, what do you say? I special summon Test Tiger from my hand using its effect!" A small tiger in armor was summoned to the field, though it was not nearly as scary as Laquari at 600 atk. "I normal summon Gladiator Beast Alexander by tributing my face down card." The set monster was revealed to be Charcoal Inpachi before it shattered into charcoal bits as Alexander punched through the monster. "I activate Test Tigers effect. By tributing it when I have a Gladiator Beast on the field, I can shuffle the Gladiator Beast into my deck and special summon a Gladiator Beast of my choosing. I choose Gladiator Beast Darius!" Test Tiger disappeared in bright particles as Alexander roared before getting replaced with a bipedal horse wielding a whip. "Not only does that increase the attack increase my Gladiator Beasts get, I also get to activate its effect. I can special summon one Gladiator Beast from my graveyard, but its effects are negated. Return, Secutor!"

Darius cracked his whip as the AI commented with the same enthousiasm as it did when it started commenting on every move, causing a bandaged Secutor to join them on the field. "Alright, I have three monsters on the field and one of them is Laquari. I activate a contact fusion! The Colosseum Conqueror, the Ruler of Beasts, the Undefeatable Ultimate Warrior! Come on out, Gladiator Beast Heraklinos!" The three monsters seemed to be afraid of something, but eventually they clanged their armor pieces together and returned to Willow's deck as soon as possible. Stomping rung through the colosseum, heavy breathing was heard and green eyes shone behind the largest gate in the colosseum. Something was coming, something big. Something powerful. The gate creaked as it was raised up, slowly revealing the monster behind it.

Gladiator Beast Heraklinos was an abomination of nature, though it seemed to have benefitted from its unholy origins. It had 3000 attack and 2800 defense without any boosts, and it gained an extra 500 from the field spell. Truly, this was a monster that was not to be taken lightly. "Heraklinos, vanquish your foes and show us your might! Chimera Cut!" The large monster roared so loudly that the AI was not audible over its war cry. The literal beast walked over towards the set card and grabbed its halberd with two hands, fully committing to the attack as it swung down with all of its force.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy gritted her teeth as Willow summoned what appeared to be the powerful boss monster of her deck. Or at the very least, one of her favorite monsters. It wasn't hard to tell with an introduction like that.
"Puny Penguin's effect activates!" Tracy said, pointing to her face down monster. The card flipped up to reveal a tiny, adorable looking penguin. It squeaked angrily at the massive Gladiator Beast, only to be instantly destroyed by the monster's powerful attack.

Ignoring the quip from the AI, Tracy continued.
"When it's destroyed after being flipped face up, it allows me to special summon a Penguin monster from my Graveyard in either attack position or face down defense position. Come on back, Penguin Soldier!" Tracy announced. Once more, a face-down card appeared in one of Tracy's monster card zones.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lance rubbed his chin.
"Well, I never said this was a more than one time occurrence. But to be fair, the school has been facing a run of pranks as of late. This is just the first time a prank has been on the dueling area through the school's system. Most of the time it's been like people's clothes being snatched then returned, or the food having laxatives put in it. Stuff like that." Lance said.

"I also never said the school wasn't looking into it. In fact, I believe that the principal has had a student looking into the events, investigating them and trying to figure out who's behind it. When I heard Dr. Crowler talking about it, I believe the student had narrowed down the suspects to someone in the Slifer Red dorm." Lance continued to explain.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Willow gritted her teeth, there was no way that Heraklinos would stay on the field for much longer. Unless she managed to draw Rejection, monster effects would always be a struggle to deal with. "I set one card and end my turn."

"Uh oh, that set card is fucking terrifying."

"Yeah yeah, and I am a girl. Are we going to keep pointing out this stuff or what?" Willow seemed to have resigned herself to the fact that her favorite monster was going back to the extra deck, which was not fun. If it was in the grave, atleast it could get revived.

 

[Godjacob]

"Who did the Principal pick to be in charge of looking into it? And uh, is the evidence against the Slifer Dorm credible or is it based on assumption? Cause uh no offense but just the way the dorms are made there seems to be a Slifer bias around here." Bella asked, careful to keep this talk hushed and between them as she was curious what else Lance had known about this.

Though as the duel continued she saw this imposing triple Contact Summon which was rather impressive, and yet the opponent once more was able to fend it off and even managed to secure a Penguin Soldier back in set position. This may not have been the D.D. deck she expected but it was clear she was good with it. Both of them were, and yet they were of the "lower" classes?

Seems quite the standard here at Duel Academy. She only hoped she could match it.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

"I draw!" Tracy said. Looking through her hand, she glanced back to the field.
"Let's do this. I'll Flip Summon Penguin Soldier, activating its effect!" Tracy announced.

"Son of a bitch-" Tracy couldn't take it anymore.
"Shut up! Oh my gosh, shut up!" Tracy said, yelling to the AI. The Ra Yellow took a moment to compose herself once again. She needed to keep a cool head, and the Ra Yellow pointed to Heraklinos.
"I'll use Penguin Soldier's effect to bounce both himself and Heraklinos back to the hand! Or in Heraklinos' case, the extra deck!" Tracy said. The Ra Yellow girl was beginning to find her rhythm with this deck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hmm... I believe it was a Slifer Student. Someone claiming to be a 'detective duelist'." Lance said. "I believe he said he had evidence, but I haven't really been keeping up with the whole investigation drama. So I don't know for certain."

Lance paused for a moment before continuing.
"You're right about there being a Slifer bias." Lance said. "Each dorm... is structured in a very purposeful way. The Obelisk Blue dorm is reserved for the best of the best, so of course it would have the best facilities and dining. Ras are average. Slifer, however... This academy created Slifer as a weed-out dorm. The facilities and food are the lowest quality of the three, for the purpose of motivating the students. Either they get better and move up to a better dorm, or they decide to leave."

Lance sighed.
"It's a rather cold system. But I can't say it doesn't work. After all, it worked for me. My first year here was as a Slifer Student." Lance said to Bella with a smile.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Willow chuckled. "It's annoying, isn't it? Guess we'll have to make this match end quickly, no hard feelings on either side?" Heraklinos sniffed the scent of fresh meat and lumbered back into the extra deck, leaving Willows field wide open. She suffered 1400 damage before, so she had 2600 LP left. It was not a lot, and by no means was it impossible to beat. She just hoped that the flexibility of her Gladiator Beasts would help her secure a win.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy nodded.
"Right. Uh... sorry about that outburst." Tracy said. "Anyway!"
The Ra Yellow looked through her hand again.
"Let's try this again. I'll activate another Moray of Greed!" Tracy said.
"Goddamn, a spell card has been activated!" The AI said. Shuffling two cards from her hand to her deck, Tracy drew three more. She grinned. Her deck was responding!"

"Next, I'll activate another Spell Card, Salvage! This lets me add two Water monsters with 1500 or less attack from my Graveyard to my hand!" Tracy announced.
"Goddamn, a spell card has been activated!" The AI said once again. A crane seemed to emerge from the spell card, dropping down into the water. A moment later, it pulled out two cards, a Mother Grizzly and a Nightmare Penguin.

"I'll summon Mother Grizzly, and have her attack your Life Points directly!" Tracy said, pointing to Willow. Once again, the navy blue bear emerged from its card and began to lumber towards Willow, slashing at the duelist with its paws.

 

[Godjacob]

Detective duelist? That was a curious name to give one self, did it tie into a deck theme or had it just been an off duel identify he or she gave themselves? Regardless it was a curious choice to leave this string of pranks in another student's hands but perhaps with the whole invader rumor going about they had their staff limited in time they could dedicate to this.

Though her focus shifted to Lance's comment about the stacked system and the fact he rose from Slifer Red to Obelisk Blue which Bella had to admit she just presumed he enrolled as Obelisk Blue so this success story was a bit touching. Still, why did the system had to be in such a way? The classes are based on the signature cards of the King of Games and it was doubtful he considered one to be trash compared to the others. To pressure students to either "get good" or drop out because you make living and status conditions as such had caused her stomach to turn.

"I am happy for your promotion. But I still think this system is...well, it's ridiculous to be frank. There's more to a duelist or hell a person's worth than the color of a jacket you assign them." Bella said, as she seemed firmed in her resolution of that claim as she watched the duel continue to unfold.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Willow dismissed Tracy's apology with a wave. "Don't worry about it, this thing is getting onto everyone's nerves. If I can get mad at it, then so can you. I ain't holding double standards, Ra's are just as much human as Slifers." The girl had no ill feelings towards the Ra, even though she was a dorm above her there was no hostility aimed towards her at all. As Mother Grizzly prepared to attack Willow, she prepared for impact and her life points to drop. The attack of Mother Grizzly hurt, leaving her with only 1200 LP. One more attack of that bear and she was down for the count. "Looks like I got too cocky with Heraklinos, huh? Your penguins are surprisingly versatile, but will they be enough to save you?" All she needed was one monster, preferably a beast or beast-warrior. She was going to punish that bear for attacking her. Come on, Laquari. Be good to me, deck. I want this win just as much as you do, don't you want to inflict 2000 damage to that girl?

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy grinned at Willow.
"Save me? It looks like the one that needs saving here is you." Tracy said to Willow. While she was thrilled with the success her deck was having, Tracy knew she shouldn't get cocky. She needed to keep up the pressure. The Ra Yellow placed two cards down on her duel disk.
"Goddamn, a Spell card has been activated! Uh oh, that set card looks fucking scary!" The AI said. A set card appeared in Tracy's spell and trap card zone, as well as a Spell card depicting a mote of purple light with cracks of yellow energy bursting from it.
"I activate my Spell Card, Degenerate Circuit." Tracy said. "Now whenever a monster is returned from the field to the hand, its banished instead! And as our AI friend so nicely announced, I set a card as well. And that's all for my turn."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Lance looked over to Bella with an intrigued smile as she voiced her opinions of the system. One of these students. An Obelisk Blue with a fiery spirit usually reserved for students of the Slifer Red dorm.
"Care to explain? Because these dorms are sorted by skill level. So you're saying there's more to a duelist then how skilled they are at the game? And what would those traits be, if I may ask?" Lance asked Bella. He wasn't trying to make fun of the new student, he was simply legitimately curious as to what she thought.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Psh, as a Slifer Red I am used to being behind. My turn, I draw. I summon Gladiator Beast Dimacari and equip it with my face down trap card Horn of the Phantom Beast, increasing its attack by 800 points. In total, it has 2900 attack. How'd ya like that, huh?" The Cape Buffalo had the same red aura around them and a pair of flaming antlers on top of its horns.

"Holy shit! A monster has been summoned! Goddamn! A trap card has been activated!"

"Dimacari, attack Mother Grizzly! Buffalo Charge!" Dimacari exhaled loudly and shook its head as its foot scraped over the floor before charging straight at the bear. Should the attack go through, Tracy would take 1500 damage, Dimacari would get to tag out and Willow would get to draw an extra card. This turn was pivotal, failure would result in a lost match.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

"I activate my Trap Card, Begone, Knave!" Tracy exclaimed, flipping up a face-down card as the Gladiator Beast charged towards Mother Grizzly.
"Goddamn, a Trap card has been activated!" The AI said. The Gladiator Beast slammed Mother Grizzly, destroying the monster with a roar and reducing Tracy's Life Points to 2500. Tracy took a moment to shield herself from the attack, then pointed to Gladiator Beast Dimacari.

"The effect of Begone, Knave! activates! Since your Gladiator Beast inflicted battle damage to me, it is returned to the hand!" Tracy said. "And since it's a monster being returned from the field to the hand, that activates the effect of Degenerate Circuit and banishes him instead!"

Tracy took a breath and continued.
"Also, since Mother Grizzly was destroyed by battle, her effect activates as well! I can special summon a water monster with 1500 or less attack from my deck in face-up attack mode. So I'll use it to summon another Mother Grizzly! Looks like I get a tag-out of my own." Tracy said to Willow with a grin.

With a roar, yet another Mother Grizzly appeared on Tracy's field.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"I can live with that, as your special summon grants my gladiator beasts another 100 attack and defense points. The second effect of Horn Of The Phantom Beasts activates whenever the equipped monster destroys a monster, which Dimacari did. I get to draw a card." Willow was content with her turn, it was not perfect but it was better than nothing. Dimacari meanwhile kept charging after the attack, crashing into a wall and getting covered in the debris. "I set one card and end my turn."

"Uh oh, that set card is fucking terrifying."

Tracy had taken damage, which meant that she wouldn't get a flawless win. Begone, Knave was an annoying trap, but by no means unbeatable. She'd have to be careful though, since tagging out was out of the question. Somehow she had to destroy that trap, and she already had a plan. It was a plan that required some luck, but it was better than no plan.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

"I draw!" Tracy said. The Ra Yellow looked to her new card, then to the field. As she chose not to destroy Degenerate Circuit, her Life Points fell to 2000. Willow had a very intense backrow... But now was not the time to hesitate. If she did, it would just give her opponent the chance to get a foothold. And this time, Tracy wasn't as prepared to stop an intense onslaught like the one Willow had thrown at her earlier in the duel.

"Mother Grizzly, attack her Life Points directly!" Tracy ordered, pointing to Willow. The large bear let out a roar before charging towards Willow.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"I activate my trap card! Waboku! This turn, I cannot take battle damage and any potential monsters are not destroyed by battle. Nice try, but I am not out of the match yet!" As Mother Grizzly attacked Willow, a trio of blue-clad people appeared out of nowhere to shield the Slifer Red from the damage. "You're good, but I am no slouch either."

"Goddamn, a Trap Card has been activated!"

Degenerate Circuit required a pay of 500 LP to keep it on the field, that was an interesting detail to keep in mind. Maybe she should keep it around for a bit longer. After all, she couldn't get rid of both Begone and Circuit at once quite yet. But maybe, just maybe, she didn't need to. If she could draw Shooting Star Bow - Ceal, then all she needed was a powerful monster to inflict direct damage. The game was not lost quite yet.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy frowned as her attack was foiled. That certainly wasn't helping things. Willow had managed to last another turn, but with the combo of Degenerate Circuit and Begone, Knave! Tracy felt pretty confident in her ability to prevent the Gladiator Beasts from tagging out and removing them from the field. But how long could she keep Degenerate Circuit around? It was draining her LP pretty quickly, and even at half life points it was dangerously low for facing a deck like the Gladiator Beasts. Just Begone, Knave! would be enough to stop the beasts from being able to tag out...
"Okay then. I'll just set a monster and end my turn." Tracy said.

"Uh oh! That set card looks fucking scary!" The AI said. Next to Mother Grizzly, a set card appeared.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"My turn, I draw." Willow looked at the new card and grinned. "Alright! This should help me get things moving, though not on your side of the field. I activate Swords of Revealing Light! Your monsters can't attack for three of your turns and all your set monsters flip up. No nasty flip effects for you." Multiple swords made out of pure light fell from the sky in front of Tracy's monsters as the AI commented on the spell card, preventing them from attacking and flipping the set monsters face up. "After that, I end my turn."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy grimaced as her face-down monster was flipped up to reveal a Penguin Soldier. Tracy chose not to activate the effect. Another card wasted, lovely. Tracy drew a card to start her turn. Once again, she took 500 damage from Degenerate Circuit and her LP fell to 1500. At this rate, it was looking like Willow might win by Tracy's own card. Keeping calm, Tracy considered her options. With the Swords of Revealing Light on the field, she was unable to attack. She didn't have many cards that would be able to get rid of it... So it looked like Tracy was back to relying on her deck. So she supposed she would try to help it out.

"I'll tribute Penguin Soldier to summon The Great Emperor Penguin!" Tracy said. Penguin Soldier disappeared, and in its place rose a truly massive and fearsome looking Emperor Penguin.
"Next, I'll use its ability to tribute itself, and special summon two Penguin monsters from my deck. And I choose Nightmare Penguin and Nopenguin!" Tracy said. The Emperor Penguin let out a cry as it turned to ice, then shattered in. It its place appeared both the Nightmare Penguin, and a smaller chibi-looking penguin holding a small sign with a red x on it. Both were in defense mode.

"Finally, I'll switch Mother Grizzly to defense mode, and set one card face-down." Tracy said as another face-down card appeared in her Spell and Trap card zone. During each of these parts, that annoying AI kept narrating.

"Your turn." Tracy said.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"One turn down, two to go. My turn, I draw." Willow drew her card and looked at it. "I normal summon Gladiator Beast Andal." A large bipedal bear with a missing eye was called to the field, roaring as the field gave it 600 more attack and defense. Not that it really needed the attack, given Andal had 1900 attack, but it was a nice boost.

"Holy Shit, a monster has been summoned!"

"I end my turn, I can't exactly do much to your field without getting banished. I want to get more mileage out of Andal, even if it is not an effect monster." Willow passed the turn to Tracy, stalling for time as she waited to draw one of several cards. She could only wait.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy drew a card to start her turn, and winced as Degenerate Circuit took another 500 LP from her. Her Life Points fell to 1000. No. This wasn't going to happen. This was not happening. She was so close. Tracy looked at the card she drew. Not the card she needed. If she wasn't stuck in this situation, it would have been a very helpful card.

"I activate a field spell, A Legendary Ocean!" Tracy said. The Coliseum began to crumble and collapse as water seemed to flood the dueling field, and it appeared the two duelists were standing at the bottom of the ocean among underwater ruins.

"And with that, I end my turn." Tracy said.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Clever, that weakens my monsters a lot. Colosseums are used to being flooded though, naval battles have taken place in colosseums after they have been flooded. Two turns have passed, and you're not looking too good. My turn, I draw." Willow drew the card and grimaced. This was a card better left in the deck, it was not worth the trouble. Still, it had more attack than Andal. If Tracy didn't have that set card, she probably would use Spartacus. It was too risky though, she could not afford it. "I end my turn, this match is coming to a close Warrior Lady. It has been an honor dueling against you, but one of us has to lose and I do not plan on doing so."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy said nothing in response to Willow, instead drawing a card from her deck. This was it. It was do or die, and it appeared... That the outcome was die. Tracy looked at the card she had drawn and sighed. The fighting spirit seemed to fade from her, and it was like she had gone from being the D.D. Warrior Lady back to plain Tracy. The Degenerate Circuit activated again, reducing her Life Points to 500.
"I... uh... Set one monster and end my turn." Tracy said.
"Uh oh, that set card looks fucking scary!" The AI chirped.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"The swords are gone, you can attack now. My turn, I draw." Willow looked at the card and began grinning. "Before I take you down, I would like to take a moment to tell you that you are a great duelist. I underestimated your penguin deck, you actually made me sweat a couple of times. Let's end this duel and get rid of that annoying voice once and for all. I tribute summon Gladiator Beast Spartacus!" Andal looked around before it got impaled by a halberd wielded by a tyrannosaur.

"Holy shit, a monster has been summoned!"

"I equip Spartacus with Shooting Star Bow - Ceal! I won't let you go down to something as silly as LP payment, you're going down fighting!" Spartacus' halberd got replaced with a bow and arrow and its attack dropped by 1000, leaving it with a measly 1200. "Goddamn! A spell card has been activated!"

"Gladiator Beast Spartacus! Take down our opponent, she has done a great job entertaining the audience! Shooting Star Shot!" The dinosaur pulled back its bow and arrow before letting the arrow soar through the sky and straight at Tracy. She really did well and would've won if Willow didn't draw Swords of Revealing Light. She thought about throwing the match at the end, but she felt like that would be an insult to the duelist. She'd make sure that Tracy would get the applause that she deserved, it was the least that she could do.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy watched as Andel was equipped with the equip spell, switched to attack mode. For a moment, Tracy considered activating her own Trap Card. But in the end, did it really matter? Either way she was going to lose. So Tracy just let the attack go through, the illusion of the arrow passing through Tracy and reducing her Life Points to zero. For Tracy, it really did feel like she was getting shot with an arrow to the heart. Was this losing streak she was on ever going to end?

Tracy came back to her senses as the illusions faded away. She didn't want her opponent, or the crowd, to see her in this state. So Tracy forced a smile, nodding to Willow.
"That was a really good duel. Congrats on the win!" Tracy called over to Willow. The Ra Yellow girl then turned and began to make her way out of the dueling area.

 

[Godjacob]

Since Bella already opened up those can of worms, least she could do was explain herself when questioned as she sighed before she began to speak to her fellow Obelisk Blue. "Well for one thing, regardless of skill level we are all students of Duel Academy. Even the Slifer Reds were able to make enrollment which should count for a lot. Besides even if they are considered the least advanced branch that does not mean they deserve dirt treatment. A school should be a welcoming environment, one that strives to encourage us to improve at one's own pace. Not make it a place where you are compelled to jump ranks rapidly or drop out." Bella said, as she focused half on her convo and half on her duel and after a good back and fourth it seemed the Slifer Red Duelist had emerged victorious as Bella already seemed drawn to the dueling this island would provide for her.

"And as you just saw, sometimes an entrance exam only tells you so much." Bella said, as the Slifer Red matching moves with a Ra Yellow and even beating her seemed to show that skill did not necessarily correlate with the uniform they had on as she gave the two duelists a round of applause along with others in the stadium.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Hold it right there, girl. You think you can walk away without properly introducing yourself?" Willow walked over towards Tracy, a smile on her face and duel disk deactivated. "My name is Willow Bretton, second year Slifer. You did incredible, honestly. You're one of the few people out there who managed to stop my Gladiators from tagging out. You're Tracy right? I recall seeing your act on stage, you definitely deserved to be in the finals." A coy grin crept on her face as Willow attempted to grab Tracy's hand and raise it into the sky with hers.

"Ladies and gentleman of the audience!" The Gladiator Beast duelist yelled. "Can we get a thunderous applause for Tracy? She went face to face with large machines, fearsome gladiators and an absolutely scuffed AI system without any breaks in between, and she almost prevailed! I don't know about you all, but that is worthy of an applause to me!"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy tried to mumble that no, it was okay, thanks, and keep walking to get out of the limelight. But to the Ra Yellow's surprise, Willow grabbed her hand and raised it into the air, very similar to what would happen at the end of a boxing match. Or a gladiatorial combat. Tracy shouldn't have been surprised. After all, her opponent was dressed as a Gladiator with a gladiator deck. Of course she would do something like this.

It would be too awkward for Tracy to try to struggle out of Willow's grip, so Tracy merely stood there and took it, expecting at most some polite applause. But Tracy was surprised to find there was actually quite a bit of cheering and clapping for the duel that had occurred. Tracy's managed a small, soft smile, looking back to Willow.

"Thanks." Tracy said quietly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lance nodded along with what Bella was saying, smiling slightly at Bella's comment on the entrance exam. Lance clapped politely for the two duelists as their duel came to a close.
"Perhaps." Lance said. "I can agree with you a little bit. The Slifer Red dorm could use a bit of an update, both with its living conditions and food. And perhaps the entry exam could use a bit of refinement. But some would argue that the pressure on students is what helps them improve. At least, I believe that's the theory behind it."

"Duel Academy is an elite school, where the best and the brightest train. Even inside the school, it should have standards to hold their students to, and having rewards such as the Obelisk Blue dorm as something to strive for." Lance said. "But who knows? Perhaps you might be one to help make a change in how things are around here."

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Heh heh, no problem!" Willow grinned at Tracy. It was rude to force her into the spotlight, but she did so well during their duel that the Slifer could not resist it. "Next time we duel, I'm sure that you can win. My victory hinged on Swords of Revealing Light, get some backrow removal and I am sure that you can win. Who knows? If we both do well, we might even become dormmates!" Basking in the applause of the crowd, Willow finally let go of Tracy so she could be on her way. "It was fun dueling against you Tracy, may we meet again." With those words, Willow waved at Tracy before making her way to Jira, wiping her brow clear from sweat. She should not have won that match at all, but she was not going to complain. "Hiya there, would you say I lived up to the glory of gladiators?"

--------------------

"Alright Tracy! I'm proud of you!" Bob clapped and cheered for Tracy as the match came to an end, happy to see that she made it this far. "I gotta buy her that pack now to make up for the AI, and as a consolation price." The Ra Yellow didn't mind the Slifer winning, but it would be even better if Tracy won. Oh well, he didn't control fate. If he did, then his deck would be much better.