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

[Captain Cardboard]

Dahlia chased after Bix, but in her pursuit of the coach goblin she had forgotten about the close proximity of Braxer.
"What?" Dahlia said, when Braxer swung at her with his large club. It whacked her in the head with a loud 'bonk'.
"YEOUCH! Watch it, you jerk!" Dahlia yelled at Braxer, rubbing her head where she had been hit. "This is supposed to be an act!"

Dahlia angrily swung her prop sword at Braxer, attempting to hit the Giant Orc in the side.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

*Pink*

The sword his Braxer’s side, getting no visible reaction from his. He looked to her with a an almost dopey grin.

“That tickled.” That’s when he realized this was an act, he still had to play his part. “I mean...ouch...oh no...that hurt so so...badly?”

He shouldn’t quit his day job to become an actor, as his cringey performance continued until he fell to the ground. Bix stopped on the ground.

“Is that all the fight you had in you?!? Couldn’t you have hung on longer?!”

“Shhhh...I’m dead.”

“Urrrrrgh!”

Bix ruffled his air, aggravated at the giant Orc friend of his. It’s not until he saw the brandished sword of his foe once more did Bix gulp before shouting.

“I surrender! Uncle! Uncle!!”

It was hardly an epic match, but it was an amusing one. The judges instantly voted for the Not goblin candidate, and through unanimous decision, Bix and Braxer were eliminated.

“My, that was an...interesting match.” Is all that Ms. Dorothy could say. “But the Results are in! From all the matches displayed here, The two duelists selected to proceed to the final round are...”

She pulled out a card, the revealed who’s names were selected.

“...Tracy and Willow, for their stunning displays in this stage! The third place position goes to Dahlia, for her excellent performance as the mysterious warrior lady of the wasteland! Don’t worry if you didn’t pass, all of you did amazingly!”

“Except those two Idiots.”

There was a laughter amongst the obelisk Blues, Bix growling and pulling Braxer up back to his feet.

“Ya think we did good?” Braxer joked.

“Hush you!”

“Everyone, please follow me to the main dueling arena so we can give this finale a proper send off!”

With that, crowd began to migrate. The long awaited final duel for first place was sure to be interesting. Even for those that have failed, duel would be sure to be invigorating to all the students involved.

 

[Fructus]

His thoughts still with the duel he'd just performed against Willow, Kenny almost missed Dahlia crossing him. "Good luck to you too," he quickly replied in a hushed tone, though he wasn't sure whether the Obelisk Blue would have heard it due to his late response.

Her opponents were... Those two? Kenny couldn't help but wonder how they even made it past the first round to begin with. Comic relief was the best thing he could come up with. Sure enough, not long after he rejoined Goule, the duo had already lost. Moreso against themselves than against Dahlia, even. He sure hoped his performance had been a bit better.

Seemingly, it had been, but not by enough according to the judges. Kenny let out a sigh in disappointment. Sure, his costume wasn't too great. And just whacking someone with a lance over and over didn't make for a terrific spectacle. But he'd be lying if he said he wasn't salty about being ranked lower than someone who wasn't even interested in entering the competition in the first place. Granted, that person was Dahlia, so it wasn't too surprising, but still. "I guess today's not the day you get to see Gaia in his full glory," he said to Goule, referring to their conversation earlier that day.

 

[Godjacob]

Ruffians? That could mean anything from trouble making students to an attack by some foreign party, it did little to answer the question of just who these ruffians had been though she supposed that might have been beyond a student's ability to answer. She nodded all the same grateful for his pointers both on that and where her duel disc likely was as well as duel educate as she seemed to understand all that well enough.

"Not off the top of my head. Oh oh wait! I hear Duel Academy has these stadiums for duels that you can sit and watch in, can you direct me to where those are?" Bella asked as she seemed to have a slight touch excitement at that state of the art feature of the school as she figured that would be a frequent location of her choice to visit by. Either to just watch the other students in action or more importantly get in on the action herself but really she had a whole island to roam in outside of class hours.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“He he he...You’d be a fool to think arbitrary rankings of flawed humans are worth consideration.” Goule chuckled crookedly. “Nothing based on the judgment of peers means annnnything at all. What matters is if you felt you channeled Gaia the way you intended.”

Goule spoke from experience. After all, he had first hand knowledge about being judged harshly by others or removed from the groups of his peers. Looking to Kenny, he gave a withered gaze, turning his head in a perplexing manner.

“So did you?”

 

[Captain Cardboard]

The battled ended in a rather... unusual way, but Dahlia was just glad she could get off the stage quickly. As she made her way back over to Kenny and Goule, the winners were announced. She glared at the group of Obelisk Blues that jeered at Braxer and Bix's performance. Like hers was any better.

But to her surprise, evidently it was. Third place?! But what about the robot kid, or Kenny? Both of them had (at least in Dahlia's opinion) much better acts then she had. Who was judging this competition, Dr. Crowler?

The Obelisk Blue girl made her way back over to Goule and Kenny, feeling pretty awkward about this whole thing.
"Uh... Hey." Dahlia said sheepishly to Kenny. "I didn't really see that coming..."

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

"I think I'll just be rooting for all of them. But it would be pretty funny if Bix and Braxer ended up fighting each other again." Tracy said. The fight was short, but not exactly sweet. In fact, it looked more like a bunch of students flailing about. Which is what it was, in truth. Tracy couldn't help but to giggle at the act.

It ended, and the first three places were announced. And Tracy was heading on to the finals! The Ra Yellow girl had mixed feelings. On one hand, she was excited that she had done so well in the competition. But on the other hand, she was about to duel. This would be her first time really showing off her new deck, ever since her last one was stolen. Bob had been helping her test it, but this would be the first big duel. In front of a large crowd, no less. Tracy swallowed nervously. If her opponent was anything to go off of, it was a good guess that she would be going up against Gladiator Beasts. Toughened warriors. Would her Penguins really be up to that? As the crowd made their way towards the main dueling arena, Tracy could feel herself panicking slightly. She had already lost embarrassingly to a Slifer Red. Was it about to happen again?

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

"Well, I think you did great. And I'm sure Tobias did too!" Jira said to Willow with a grin. The next match wasn't much in Jira's opinion, but then again it's not like his costume was much either. Ms. Dorothy announced the two that were moving on... and Willow was one of them.
"Hey, congrats!" Jira said to Willow. "It looks like all that work you put in paid off!"

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

Lance nodded.
"Of course. The main one's in the school, in its own separate part of the main building. There's a few smaller stadiums near the classrooms as well, and both the Obelisk Blue dorms have one to train in." Lance explained. The 3rd year student checked his watch before smiling. "Actually, I believe there should be a duel going on in the main stadium very soon. I'm going to make my way over there, and you're welcome to come along."

With that, Lance turned and began to make his way back to the school.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"It'll be a show alright." Bob commented dryly, and he was right. The show wasn't all too long or impressive, but it was a show nontheless. Dahlia wiped the floor with Braxer and Bix, unsuprisingly. At the reveal of the finalist, Bob let out a yell of enthousiasm and patted Tracy on her back. "You did it! You're in the finals! I told you that you'd do fine, I freaking told you!" After the initial excitement died down, the Ra realized that Tracy probably was incredibly nervous and his yelling was not exactly doing her any favors. "Keep your head up Trace, lest your crown falls. I've seen your deck, I know what it can accomplish with you. You're in Ra Yellow for a reason, that entrance exam was not a fluke. Remember to have fun though, at the end of the day it is still just a game. You've made it to the finals, no one can take that away from you. Now go out there and show them how deceiving looks can be! Y'know what? If you win, your next card pack is on me." Giving the girl a smile and a thumbs up, the Machine user encouraged his friend for the finals.

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

"I....I won? Oh my god, I did it! I made it to the finals!" In her ecstasy, Willow pulled Jira in for a hug as excitement and adrenaline coursed through her veins as water through a raging river. A Slifer Red made it to the finals, and her opponent was the person that she wanted to fight too! How could this day get any better? Well, she knew how, but she decided to stay away from hubris for now. She did not want to be another name in the list of victims of hubris, there were already too many on there. She wasn't quite a fan of the prospect of facing a banish deck, since Gladiator Beasts really did not like being anywhere other than the deck or field, but she had to make due. Letting go of Jira, she was ready to duel, still on her high of making it to the finals.

 

[Godjacob]

When Bella heard of a duel that was supposed to start soon at the main stadium she seemed to smile as already her mind had been made up and she followed Lance towards the area as she had been more than eager to see a Duel after a long and rather dull boat ride to the island as she had been curious to see just what her peers were capable of.

"Sure, I think I'd like that. Thank you, for everything." Bella said with a smile to Lance, as while being guided by another student had been unexpected she had been thankful as maybe she'd be able to make a first friend on the first day. But she'd wait to see how it'd play out organically first. For now, there was a duel to view.

 

[Fructus]

Kenny blinked. "The...entire point of this competition was kind of to see what people think?" he replied, puzzled. Though the more he thought about it, the more he could see Goule's point of view. After all, despite his loss, he did get to act like his favorite monster in front of the entire academy, and it wasn't even strange for him to do so.

"Maybe you're right, though," Kenny continued pensively, "Though I dunno if I really captured Gaia's essence that well. I didn't exactly lose against that Gladiator Beast, but I probably would've if I didn't go for mutual destruction. The real Gaia would never get backed into a corner by an opponent like that. Besides..." He lightly tapped his lance. "I don't think I was able to use this to the full extent of its power, as it's a weapon designed for mounted combat. But I guess I couldn't exactly bring a horse to the stage, never mind a dragon."

Then he noticed Dahlia return from the stage. The Gaia duelist forced himself to smile, even though losing to her still stung a bit. For one, she seemed to feel quite uncomfortable with the situation as well, judging by her expression. And secondly, they were friends...right? They'd only met the other day, but in that short span of time they'd both already helped each other out, and subsequently kind of hung out together. And it wouldn't really feel right to take out his frustration on a friend rather than congratulate them on their achievement. "Well, you did rout your opponents in record time. So, uh, congrats on that. And on your third place as well. Shame you didn't make it to the top two."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

The duelists gathered in the large dome-like arena, a large dome of dressed up duelists lined the stands as the momentous final match was about to begin. Ms.Dorothy was ready to address the audience whilst the two were to get ready to duel.

“Alright everyone! It’s the match you’ve all been waiting for!” She announced to the crowd. “Without future adieu, Our challengers will take to the arena, and let’s have the monsters do the talking!”

The crowd cheered, for there would be true monsters battling one another. Not students dressed up. Real monsters. The anticipation in the room rose and rose, Bix shouting out to add to it.

“Woooooooooo! Go Traaaaaaacy!!!” He beckoned his crush.

“If Raven were here, she’s smack you upside your head.”

“Shhhhhh!”

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy looked up to Bob as the fellow Ra Yellow encouraged her. She managed a smile and a nod.
"A pack on you? And I thought you were trying to save money." Tracy teased. Bob was right. She needed to focus, and not psych herself out of this. She could do this. She had to have confidence in her deck. It was a new deck, and a new opponent. Tracy expression softened.
"Thanks, Bob." Tracy said. The Ra Yellow girl took a deep breath and readied herself. Gladiator Beasts were an intense foe. She'd have to put away self doubt and show no fear if she wanted to prevail.
"Alright. Wish me luck!" Tracy said to Bix and Braxer. The costumed D.D. Warrior began to make her way towards the arena.

It didn't take Tracy long to make her way into the Stadium. Ms. Dorothy had announced the match, and now it was time to show. These people were probably expecting a D.D. deck, weren't they? But she didn't- Tracy shook her head and pushed down those thoughts. She needed to keep a clear head. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the arena and activated her duel disk. She could do this.

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

Jira's face turned a little red when Willow suddenly pulled him into a hug. He hadn't been expecting that. Jira grinned at Willow as she released him.
"Well, what are you doing waiting around here still?" Jira said. "Go show 'em who's boss! I'll be cheering for you."
He began to make his way towards the arena, giving Willow a thumbs up.

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

Dahlia stood awkwardly with Kenny and Goule as the students made their way towards the arena.
"Uh... Thanks." Dahlia said to Kenny. "I was only able to do that cause I... well, got upset and ignored the attack from the orc. In reality, the Warrior Lady of the Wasteland would have been totally smushed by that attack."
Dahlia paused for a moment before continuing. "If it's, uh... any consolation, I thought both of your performances were really good. Better than mine, definitely."

Sitting down in the stadium, Dahlia got ready to watch Tracy duel. This would be the first duel in a long while that Dahlia would be watching Tracy duel. Thinking back, Dahlia hadn't really seen Tracy duel since a little bit before the second raid, since the tournament. Strange... She wondered how much her friend had improved since then.

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

The pair of Obelisk Blue students made their way into the stadium and over to the Obelisk Blue seating. It appeared that they had managed to make it just before the duel was to start, rather lucky of them. It appeared to be... Tracy vs Willow. Lance remembered Willow. A second year Slifer Red student, going against one of Tracy's friends.

"Looks like we made it just in time." Lance said. "This duel should be interesting. The girl who is dressed as the Gladiator Beast Attorix is a second year Slifer Red student, while the girl dressed as D.D. Warrior Lady is a first year Ra Yellow student. It should be a good match to watch."

 

[Fructus]

Kenny shrugged. "I don't think either my performance or my costume weren't as good as they could have been. But that's what next year's for, right?" Taking a seat next to Dahlia, the Gaia duelist cursed his lance for the zillionth time for its unwieldiness. He'd grown quite attached to the prop, but he promised himself that next year he'd bring something new to the festival. As unique as it might be, the awkwardness that came with it really wasn't worth it.

"So," he continued, finally having put his lance in a position that didn't bother the other students nor himself, "You said your friend used a D.D. deck, right? I wonder how that will match up against the hit-and-run strategies Gladiator Beasts use." He didn't want to say it aloud, given Tracy was a friend of Dahlia's, but he secretly rooted for Willow. After all, she was the one who bested him- if she ended up losing this duel, it'd make him feel even worse about not making it to the finals.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Bob dismissed Tracy's joke with a wave. "I'm saving money if you lose. Besides, I didn't spend that much on the crane game. I'll make it to the end of the month, you just focus on the match. If you lose, I get the legal right to make fun of you." As Tracy entered the arena, the Ra Yellow began to think. Penguins would be a severe mood shift from the expected D.D. deck, which could very well work in her favor. On the other hand, penguins did not have a boss monster and that could very easily come back to bite her later. Not to mention it was very possible that his work had yet to be noticed, something about Tracy making it to the finals and hearing curses whenever she played a card just did not sit right with him. Lady Luck, I beg of you. Please be on Tracy's side for this duel.

-----------

"You got it! Time to show them what a real gladiator can do!" Returning the thumbs up Jira gave her, Willow flashed a grin and entered the arena. As she activated her duel disk, she looked Tracy straight in the eyes. "You've done well to get this far, the competition was stiff for sure. Let's make it a good, clean match and may the best duelist win! I'll go first, draw!" Drawing her first five cards, she smiled. "I activate Gladiator Beast's Respite! By shuffling two gladiator beast cards from my hand into my deck, I get to draw three cards." As the girl activated the spell card, the arena began to speak.

"Goddamn! A spell card has been activated!"

That.....was not what she expected. Thrown off from her game, Willow took a moment to get back on track. "Uhhh, right. I activate the field spell Colosseum - Cage of the Gladiator Beasts!" The arena around the two duelists transformed into a decrepit colosseum, all exits were closed off by metal linked together. There seemingly was no way out, nor was there an escape from the voice of the arena.

"A fucking field spell has been activated!"

"Who thought this was a good idea? I'm gonna have words with them!" Clearly annoyed, Willow huffed and continued on with her turn. "I set a monster and set a card, I end my turn." She was left with two cards in her hand and the annoying voice of the arena.

"Holy shit, a monster has been set! Uh oh, that set card is fucking scary!"

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

Alright, maybe I went a bit too far. Bob watched the match with mixed feelings. He was glad that his program worked, surprised no one noticed his handiwork, irritated at the annoying voice that played after almost every single thing that happened on the field and slightly saddened that Tracy had to duel with these conditions. "You better think that this is good enough, you damn vermin." The Ra Yellow muttered in contempt at Weasel, not quite sure where he was but certain that he was watching.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy nodded when Willow called out to her, readying her duel disk as well. Willow made the first move, which made Tracy frown. She supposed it was a polite thing to do, but Tracy's deck worked better going first instead of second. She'd have to make do with-

"Goddamn! A spell card has been activated!"

What.

As the Gladiator Beast girl continued her turn, Tracy watched as nearly every move was narrated by a voice full of curse words. At least Willow looked as surprised and thrown off as she was. Tracy just had to tune out the voice, just like how one would tune out the voice of the crowd. Willow ended her turn, and Tracy drew a card to start her own turn. The Ra Yellow scanned her hand. Not the best, but she would make due.

"Alright. I'll set a monster and another card, and end my turn as well." Tracy said. On her side of the field, a face-down card appeared in a monster zone and the spell and trap card zone.

"Holy shit, a monster has been set! Uh oh, that set card is fucking scary!" Tracy couldn't help but to wince as the voice called out once again. This was going to suck.

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

Dahlia thought for a moment.
"To be honest, I'm not too sure. With Tracy's deck, I think she should have a bit of advantage. After all, Gladiator Beasts can't tag out if they're banished. Tracy's deck also involves monsters that get much stronger the more cards are banished. I think with that combination, it should be enough to both disrupt and overpower the flow of a Gladiator Beast deck." Dahlia said, watching to duel carefully.

"Goddamn! A spell card has been activated!" Dahlia's eyes nearly popped out of her head when a voice on the stadium's speakers called out that phrase. At first, Dahlia thought some prankster had taken control of the speakers. But as the duel went on, it was clearly a pre recorded message programmed to the duel. The Obelisk Blue student gritted her teeth angrily. It was clearly a technical issue, so there wasn't anything she could do. Except sit and stew in her anger.

Wait. Maybe there was something she could do.

The Obelisk Blue student began to look around the stadium seating for Braxer and Bix. She was willing to bet her deck on them knowing something more about what was going on.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"This is getting annoying. Hello? Staff? Could we get someone to look at this?" Willow was not as successful in blocking out the voice, especially since her deck would summon lots of monsters over the course of the match. Of course, she'd have to attack to do so. "My turn, I draw. I set one card face down and normal summon Gladiator Beast Secutor."

"Holy shit! A monster has been summoned! Uh oh, that set card is fucking scary!"

"Will you knock it off?!" Willow snapped at the voice, even though it clearly wouldn't listen to her. "Urgh, this is awful. I attack with Gladiator Beast Secutor." Secutor, wearing a suit of armor that was clearly too big for it, slashed at the face down card. Secutor was arguably the least usable card to draw, so she could risk it getting banished.

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

Bob rubbed his hand on his face, letting out a heavy sigh. Trevor's gonna kill me once he finds out, please don't let this get recorded. Please, Lady Luck. I beg of you.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

The face-down monster flipped up to reveal a... penguin? One with red eyes dressed in a tuxedo and top hat. It easily repelled the Gladiator Beast's attack with its 1800 DEF, knocking the monster back with a wave of water.
"I'll activate the effect of Nightmare Penguin!" Tracy announced.
"Son of a bitch, an effect has been activated!" The voice announced. Tracy sighed internally.
"Look, just... send that Gladiator Beast back to your hand." Tracy said, pointing to Gladiator Beast Secutor

 

[DarkHydraT]

A penguin? That was odd, especially considering the girl was dressed as D.D. Warrior Lady. Maybe she liked the monster, but didn't have one yet. "This better not trigger a goddamn voice line." Willow returned the Gladiator Beast to her hand as she suffered 1400 damage. She listened carefully, but there was no voice filling the air. "That is good to hear. I can't do anything else, I end my turn." The duel by itself wasn't half bad, but the voice lines were a pain to deal with. Given a voice line activated whenever an effect activated, she would hear a lot of it once she got fusions going.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy drew a card to start her turn. Once again, not a great draw. She surveyed the field. A face-down monster, and a face-down card. Gladiators tagged out when they fought... If she was unable to destroy that face-down monster with an attack, it would just tag out and bring in a stronger card for Willow's turn. She made a decision.

"I'll summon Mother Grizzly, in attack mode!" Tracy said.
"Holy Shit, a monster has been summoned!" The voice yelled. A card appeared on Tracy's side of the field, and rising out of it appeared a large bear with dark blue fur, standing on it's hind legs. Nightmare Penguin let out a cry, and a blue energy appeared around Mother Grizzly as it grew slightly larger.
"Thanks to my Nightmare Penguin's effect, all water monsters I control gain 200 ATK!" Tracy announced as Mother Grizzly's attack points grew to 1600.

Tracy pointed to the face-down monster.
"Now, Mother Grizzly! Attack that face-down!" Tracy commanded. The bear let out a roar as it charged towards the face-down monster, swinging at it with its powerful claws.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

The staff scrambled to their feet, trying to see what exactly was wrong. Ms.Dorothy put a hand over her mouth, Quickly rushing over to the side of the field, microphone in hand.

“Uhm, please excuse some technical difficulties everyone! The words spoken by the arena’s A.I. Does not reflect the true sport of this school in anyway! While we can’t halt the match, we will work to make sure it’s dealt with as quick as possible!”

Bix and Braxer busted out laughing as soon as the announcing voice spoke it’s Vulgar words. If their laughter wasn’t mixed in with everyone else’s, they would have easily been seen as the pranksters responsible.

“Hahahaha! I almost forgot about that! Nice one Bob!” Braxer snorted.

“I-I know! But hey, what’s gonna be even better is to see those monsters of hers I’ve heard so much about!”

As her first monster was flipped up, it was revealed to be a large, dapper looking penguin, squawking dangerously at the enemy.

“Nightmare...Penguin?”

Bix was disappointed. He thought she was all about those Different dimensions types?? At least she had to have lots of women monsters right?? He physically recoiled back when mother grizzly took the field.

“Augh!!” Bix’s expectations shattered along with the voice crack.

“Hehe...should lower your expectations a few.” Braxer responded. “Looks like it’s beast against beasties.

 

[Fructus]

Hearing the stadium spasm out certainly was some sort of consolation prize. At the very least he wouldn't have to dishonor Gaia's name by participating in...whatever in the world this farce could be referred to as. Distasteful joke, honestly.

And just as the stadium started...having trouble, Dahlia seemed to shift her attention from the duel to the spectators around her. He wondered whether she'd just grown annoyed with the duel, or whether she was looking for someone. Or maybe it was something else entirely. Whatever the reason, he could at least appreciate the sentiment. He too didn't feel too inclined to continue paying attention to the finals. The only reason he was still watching the duel was because he wanted to see how well Willow's skills translated into actual dueling. Thus far he was sorely unimpressed, as she seemed to be the first to take a big hit to her life points- against a penguin. A penguin! The duel had only just started, sure, but even so! "You better not get beat by posh penguin and his pet grizzly or god so help me," Kenny muttered under his breath.

What was the deal with those Water monsters, anyway? Wasn't Tracy supposed to play a banishment deck focused around D.D. monsters? It seemed to be working out for her in either case, but Kenny just thought it to be strange. He pondered over whether he'd ask Dahlia about it, but quickly changed his mind when he saw the angry expression on her face as she seemed to survey her surroundings. Yup. She wasn't happy about the state of the stadium either.

 

[Godjacob]

As Bella made her way to the stands with the other Obelisk Blues, it seemed that the area was packed and wow Bella was taken aback by the space of it. This was a school stadium!? She had heard that Duel Academy spared no expense when it came to their on campus facilities but this put it all into perspective.

It also put the sorry state of the Slifer dorm into even greater perspective.

Regardless she turned to Lance who offered an explanation at the duel about to take place and in specific the players and deck cosplay themes involved as one in particular seemed to catch her eye. "G-gladiator Beast? Are these costumes just aesthetic or a reflection of their decks?"

Accustomed to the HERO sub archetype, fusion was not a foreign concept to Bella though she had heard of certain cards that were able to fuse without the need for any type of fusion card. Contact Fusion, a concept she had been fascinated with and now perhaps had a chance to properly see in action. And indeed, as the duel began the first duelist seemed to show these Gladiator Beasts and even used a field spell which Bella was in aww with, though her opponent answered with what seemed a Water-themed animal deck. If she used D.D. it seemed she either had not drawn into one or merely planned to show them later.

Regardless, the action was good in the early going. Though it was somewhat hampered by this weird and annoying AI that seemed to scream out a shock to literally every move made, no matter how mundane. This issue seemed to annoy both duelists and rightly so as it had been a touch obnoxious. So much so that one of the teachers spoke an apology on the intercom as they promised to work on it during the duel which caused Bella to sweat drop as she turned to Lance.

"So, this school can afford stadium size duel arenas with full holographic projections, yet can't bother with any focus groups to test their tech?" Bella asked sheepishly, though as she had she felt this...odd sensation, some weird feeling she could not describe that shot from her hip which by pure coincidence was around her belt where she kept her decks strapped to. She paused for a moment to consider this, maybe it had just been her head but she swore she felt something almost from her belt just now...

 

[DarkHydraT]

As Mother Grizzly attacked Willows facedown card, a man wielding a large sword was revealed before getting torn to shreds. "Iron Blacksmith Kotetsu's effect triggers whenever it gets flipped, allowing me to get an equip spell card from my deck."

"Son of a bitch, an effect has been activated!"

"Really considering throwing this match to get rid of this voice, but that wouldn't be a good show. I add Gladiator Beast's Battle Manica to my hand from my deck." The Slifer Red grabbed the card out her deck and let it get shuffled. Whilst she had no monsters capable of tagging out, she atleast could set up a defense until she did. That reckless attack with Secutor did not do her any favors, but that voice really riled her up.

"Anything else you'd like to do or is it my turn?"

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

Unlike his cohorts, Bob was not laughing. In fact, he seemed to be watching intently. "If I'm going to be a stereotypical Asian hacker, I might as well be a good stereotypical Asian hacker. So far, I've not reached that level yet. The prank could be better, I left too many traces. I'll need to keep that in mind next time. The voice lines are not edited, nor are they distorted. If anyone recognizes the voice, it will be a lead for them. You can bet that the Machine users will get interrogated, they are the most likely culprits for this act. If you two get asked questions about this, act like you know nothing. Basically, be like Bix is around women. That, and be careful with who you talk to. That's a worry for later though, let's just enjoy the match for now."

The Slifer Red that was dueling lost a lot of LP in one attack, which is probably why she was in Slifer Red in the first place. He would not feel bad for her, after all she attacked on her own. The only Slifers that he'd feel bad for would be the ones that he was talking to, and he doubted that he could handle any more Reds if they were all like Bix.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy frowned as a flip effect monster was activated. Could be trouble, but she didn't recognize the card that was added to the hand. Looks like she would have to wait a few turns to deal with it, if it was even still out for that long.
"I end my turn." Tracy said.

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

Lance was trying his best to keep a straight face as the stadium announced obscenity after obscenity. The Obelisk Blue took a moment to clean is glasses and regain his composure.
"Duel Academy is a good school. But I'd say that it's got a few flaws. Not to mention, I believe this is more likely to be a prank of some sort by another one of the students." Lance reassured Bella. "Having the duels messed with is far from a common occurrence."
As the duel went on, Lance watched with interest as Tracy began to summon water based monsters. Now that was something new. And not a good sign for the Ra Yellow. Now why would she have switch her decks for this?
"Anyway, as for your first question, they could be both." Lance explained. "Like I said, today was Duel Spirit Day. Part of the celebrations was having a cosplay contest, with the two winners dueling. These are those two winners."

As Lance explained, he couldn't help but to almost... sense something else from Bella? Was her deck reacting to what was going on? Very interesting...

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

Dahlia stopped scanning the audience the moment Tracy's first monster was flipped up. Nightmare Penguin? That wasn't right. Dahlia's anger turned to concern as she watched the duel continue to play out. What was Tracy playing at? A whole new deck? You didn't play a card like Mother Grizzly without having other cards for it to summon. Why had she changed out her deck?
"This is new..." Dahlia said to Kenny, concerned.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Thank you. My turn, I draw." Willow drew her card and looked at it. It was not a bad card per se, but she would have to wait a turn before being able to use it. "I summon Gladiator Beast Secutor in defense and equip it with Gladiator Beast's Battle Manica." The gladiator beast was summoned to the field and was kneeling, keeping one arm in front of them that had an unique piece of armor on it.

"Holy Shit, a monster has been summoned! Goddamn! A spell card has been activated!"

Repressing a sigh, Willow faced Tracy again. "I end my turn."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy drew a card to start her turn. This duel was beginning to wear on her. Tracy surveyed the field. The Spell card hadn't done anything to the monster's attack or defense points, so it must serve some other purpose. The way the monster was holding the equipment, it seemed like he was shielding himself. Some sort of effect that prevented destruction? One way to find out.

"Mother Grizzly, attack that Gladiator Beast!" Tracy ordered. Once again, the large bear lumbered across the field and swiped at the monster.

 

[Fructus]

So Dahlia was just as surprised as anyone, huh? Kenny didn't really understand why Tracy had decided to switch her deck out for this specific duel. I mean, she was dressed as the D.D. Warrior Lady, so it would only make sense for her to play a D.D. deck. On top of that was the added pressure of dueling for...well, pretty much the entire academy. No doubt anyone would bring their best deck to a duel like that. So why did she opt to play Water monsters and a penguin now?

"It's...definitely weird, yeah," Kenny replied after a short pause as he pondered over the Ra Yellow's decision to bring this deck. He briefly thought about the possibility that the Water deck was actually her strongest deck, but quickly dismissed that idea. There was no way a penguin could be the superior option compared to a banishment deck. "Does she maybe have a hybrid D.D./Water deck?" The idea was far-fetched, but it was the best he could come up with on the spot.

 

[DarkHydraT]

As Mother Grizzly lashed out against Secutor, the reptile held the manica up to block the attack. The bear's claws scratched the piece of armor, but it did not pierce through and Secutor was left standing. So far, so good. As long as Secutor could stay on the field, Willo could start tagging out. All she needed was for the weakest Gladiator to stay standing. Normally she'd use the combo when Secutor was special summoned, but she didn't have that luxury. "Phew, that should hold you for now."

Whilst Willow was safe from attacks, Battle Manica did not garuantee immunity to literally anything else. If this girl drew a banishment card, the match would be over. Come on, let me at least get this one out next turn!

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy frowned as the attack did nothing. A card that prevented destruction, at least from attacks. That was unfortunate. Glancing through her hand, there wasn't much Tracy could do about it right now.
"I'll just summon a monster in face-down defense position then." Tracy said. A face-down card appeared on Tracy's field next to Mother Grizzly.

"Uh oh, that set card is fucking scary!"

Tracy closed her eyes, almost lashing out at the voice. But she stopped herself, and looked back to Willow.
"That's the end of my turn. Its your move." Tracy said to Willow.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"My turn, I draw." Willow let out a shaky sigh. So far, so good. She had tribute fodder and that spell or trap Tracy set did not spring when Secutor attacked. Though that could just mean that she didn't want to use it, it could also mean that it was not a trap. "I tribute summon Gladiator Beast Alexander!" A large roar was heard as the floor beneath Secutor opened up, dropping the poor reptile to its demise as an armored bipedal lion lept out of the pit. At 2400 attack, it could beat both face up monsters. Sadly, it was not granted its extra ability as it was not special summoned.

"Holy Shit, a monster has been summoned!"

"I swear to god, I'm gonna kill the person who did this." The Slifer Red muttered underneath her breath. "I set one card face down."

"Uh oh, that set card is fucking scary!"

"Alright, that's it. Gladiator Beast Alexander! Attack Nightmare Penguin!" Alexander roared before getting down on all fours and running at Nightmare Penguin, lunging at the dapper bird and slashing at it with its claws.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

"I don't think so!" Tracy said when Willow summoned her new monster, gesturing to her face-down card.

"Goddamn! A trap card has been activated!" The voice announced as the card in Tracy's spell and trap card zone got flipped face up. It revealed a trap card revealing the monster Gagagigo standing with ice skates on an frozen palace as the Goblin Attack Force slips and slides in the background. Frozen cold energy shot from the Trap card, covering the field in ice.

"Thanks to Eisbahn, my trap card, whenever a monster with an attribute other than Water is summoned while control a water monster, that summoned monster is switched to face-up defense position!" Tracy announced.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Hmmm, clever, clever indeed." Gladiator Beast Alexander slipped on the ice, missing its attack and huddling down to stay standing. This was a bad situation, Alexander had a pitiful 600 defense. Her three set cards might be able to help her though. "In my main phase 2, I activate my set Gladiator Beast's Battle Archfiend Shield. This will keep Alexander alive." The mighty lion turned feeble prey attained a shield, holding it in front of them as a defense.

"Goddamn! A spell card has been activated!"

"Yes, we can all see that. Now shut up or I am going to spill some water on you." It was clear that Willow seemed to be fighting two battles at once, one against Tracy and one against the unrelenting voice that commented on almost everything that happened.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

"I draw." Tracy said, drawing a card to start her turn. She frowned. She would have preferred something more helpful, but she'd have to make do with her current strategy.
"I'll flip summon my face-down monster, activating their effect. Go, Penguin Soldier!" Tracy commanded. The face-down card flipped up to reveal a tiny penguin dressed in armor and carrying a very small sword. It let out an angry quack, pointing to the larger Gladiator Beast.

"Son of a bitch, an effect has been activated!" The voice said.

"When Penguin Soldier is flipped face up, it causes up to two monsters to be sent from the field back to the hand. And those two monsters I choose are your Gladiator Beast Alexander and my own Penguin Soldier!" Tracy commanded. A pillar of water seemed to form underneath Penguin Soldier and the Gladiator Beast Alexander, launching them back towards their duelist's hands.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Not today! I activate my trap card! Gladiator Beast War Chariot! If I control a face up Gladiator Beast monster and an effect monster uses its effect, I get to negate it and destroy that monster!" A golden war chariot with tusks was summoned to the field and made a beeline to Penguin Soldier. "That could've gone very bad if I didn't have that card, my god."

"Goddamn! A trap card has been activated!"

"Indeed it has, voice, Indeed it has."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy frowned as one of Willow's trap cards destroyed her Penguin Soldier. Not good. Once again, the card equipped to Willow's monster hadn't changed any of its stats. So what was the ability of this equip card?
"My Penguin Soldier may be gone, but that's not going to stop me! Mother Grizzly, attack that Gladiator Beast!" Tracy ordered. For the third time this duel, Mother Grizzly lumbered across the icy field and swiped at the Gladiator Beast with her claws.

 

[DarkHydraT]

As Mother Grizzly attacked Alexander, the lion raised up its shield to block the attack. Whilst Alexander remained untouched, the shield broke into splinters. "The shield protects my Gladiator Beasts from one attack, which just took place. Your Nightmare Penguin is in defense, so that should keep Alexander on the field for one more turn. Do you end your turn?" Come on, end your turn! I can tag out now! Willow desperately wanted Tracy to end her turn, that way she could get Alexander off the field, tag in with Bestiari to destroy Eisbahn and get a counter on the field spell. If she drew a monster next turn, she was set for life. If she didn't, then she probably lost the match. This was a match of control. If Willow didn't get control soon, then Tracy would keep it. There were two monsters and one face up trap card on her opponent's field, this was winnable.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

The shield shattered to pieces, and Mother Grizzly returned back to her side of the field. Tracy glanced through her hand. She still had her normal summon, but which one?
"I'll set a monster, then end my turn." Tracy said. This wasn't going to be good, but hopefully she'd be able to stop Willow's monsters before they really got the ball rolling on tagging out and activating effects.

"Uh oh, that set card is fucking scary!" The voice said as another face-down monster appeared next to Mother Grizzly.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"I declare Alexander's effect! Tag out, Alexander!" Finally her luck turned, now it didn't matter how bad her hand was. Alexander got up and leapt into Willow's deck, leaving the field empty before a screech was heard and Gladiator Beast Bestiari swooped in from above. A small reddish aura was surrounding it as it gained a small power boost of 100 from the field spell, though it took a defensive posture as the monster landed. "Due to Eisbahn, Bestiari goes into defense. That will be a one time thing though, as I use Bestiari's effect. Whenever it is special summoned by a Gladiator Beast, I get to destroy one spell or trap card on your field and I choose Eisbahn!" The Gladiator Beast fired off a wind bullet at the card, causing the ice on the floor to melt.

"Son of a bitch, an effect has been activated! Son of a bitch, an effect has been activated!" The audio looped, though Willow didn't seem to mind it this time. "My turn, draw!" Looking at the new card she drew, Willow got a grin on her face. "Awesome! This is exactly what I needed! And what a fitting card too, it's almost as if it was meant to be. I normal summon Gladiator Beast Attorix in attack position." The monster that Willow had dressed up as hit the field, though its stats showed that it should never win against Gaia The Fierce Knight.

"Holy Shit, a monster has been summoned!"

"Damn right it has, and there will be one more soon after! I activate a contact fusion! Gladiator Beast Bestiari and Gladiator Beast Attorix, bring out the ring leader of the skies! I contact fusion Gladiator Beast Gyzarus!" Bestiari and Attorix looked each other in the eyes before nodding and clashing forearms, causing the room to fill with a metal ringing as the monsters returned to the deck. A gust of wind meant that Gyzarus was arriving, and arrive it did. A twister appeared in the middle of the field before violently dispersing and revealing Gyzarus who by all intents and purposes looked like a bulkier Bestiari.

"Holy Shit, a monster has been summoned!"

"I declare Gyzarus' effect! Whenever it is special summoned, I get to destroy two cards on the field. I choose Mother Grizzly and your set monster!" Gyzarus flapped its wings and sent two twisters to destroy the designated cards.

"Son of a bitch, an effect has been activated!"

"Now, Gyzarus! Attack Nightmare Penguin! You have 2500 atk, this should be a cakewalk!" As the monster was commanded to attack, it flew up and was ready to dive bomb into Nightmare Penguin.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Card were exploding into pixels all around Tracy as Willow went through her turn, and there was nothing Tracy could do about it. Nightmare Penguin let out a surprised squawk as it was destroyed by Gyzarus. And just like that, Tracy's turn field was empty. The duel wasn't hopeless yet, as she still had all her lifepoints. But Willow still had her monster able to tag out and summon something more from the deck, powering them up even more. Willow had managed to gain a foothold and inertia, and for a moment Tracy felt like she was at the receiving end of a snowball rolling down a large cliff. It was going to get larger and larger.

She had to keep her focus, but the mocking voice of the AI certainly wasn't helping.
"That all?" Tracy asked.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Not yet, because Gyzarus has a second ability. It can tag out too, and it can summon two monsters instead of one. Tag out Gyzarus, let some other monsters hit the scene." Gyzarus flew up through the roof and entered the extra deck again, causing two grates to open as Gladiator Beast Equeste and Alexander hit the field. The red aura around Equeste was more prominent than that of Bestiari, a sign that their strength had increased more. Alexander notably didn't have that same aura, as if it was immune to the spell card's effect. "I also activate Equeste's effect, which allows me to add a Gladiator Beast card to the hand. I choose Gladiator Beast Battle Archfiend Shield!" The card was spit out of the graveyard as the AI tried to keep up with the different things happening. "I end my turn." With Alexander at 2400 and Equeste at 1900, Willow felt pretty safe. Even if a Penguin Soldier was used, she could just summon Equeste again to keep going. Who was going to stop her? Some penguins? Surely that was not going to happen. Willow managed to get a foothold and planned to break through the furry lines of defense with brute force. Heck, she would win if Tracy could not get anything on the field in time.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy drew a card for her turn, staring down the two large Gladiator Beasts. It looked like she would be the one going on the defensive for now. She'd have to buy some time until she could get something good.
"I'll set two cards face down, and end my turn." Tracy said. On her side of the field, one face-down monster appeared and another face-down card in her spell and trap card zone.

"Uh oh, that set card is fucking scary! Uh oh, that set card is fucking scary!" The AI looped.