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

[Captain Cardboard]

Lance watched as Weasel walked away and frowned. Troubling. Rather troubling indeed.
"You did well, Bella. I'm quite interested to see how you will improve and grow, and what all you will get up to." Lance said. "I think I'm going to have a word with our friend. I'll be seeing you around."
With that, Lance began to follow after Weasel.

The third year approached Weasel as the newly-appointed Obelisk Blue finished their text. Lance leaned against a nearby tree, adjusting his glasses. He glanced around the area, making sure no one else was here.

"You've certainly been busy, haven't you?" Lance asked Weasel. "I didn't expect losing a duel like that would be enough to throw you off that much."

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

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. It's always difficult to change decks. I know the feeling. But this is a school, right? It's supposed to be the place where you figure out what things work best for you in Duel Monsters." Tracy said, trying to encourage Raikiri. "And if that ends up with you being knocked down to Slifer Red for a little bit, well, there's no shame in that. Whatever people may say."

"How many decks have you been using?" Tracy asked Raikiri.

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

Jira simply nodded along with what Willow was saying, giving his Ra Yellow friend a grin when he asked about a task or objective that needed to be completed.
"...Yes. Very important task. Accompanying us to class. Very important. Very necessary." Jira said to Tobias.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Weasel paused when he heard Lance’s voice. He grew a snicker rivaled only by Cheshire Cat, albeit hidden from Lance. Turning around, the snicker was quickly replaced with a smirk.

“Oh? That? It’s more so a wake up call, a wake up call not to get too comfortable. Or else the chaff will start to act out.”

Having a bit of bite to his words, the different tone of Weasel seemed to be at odds with his previous bubbly persona he displayed. Put a finger to his lips and narrowing his eyes, he continued.

“You see, I love a good game. ‘Catch the Prankster’, ‘Cat and Mouse,’ ‘King of the Castle,’ and I never want to see the fun to end. Bella wants to damper my fun, accusing me of being the prankster. Now how ludicrous is that ?”

He said those words with forced surprise, knowing fairly well That Lance already put together that he was the prankster in question.

“And nobody likes someone the ruins the game, now do we? Personally, I’d prefer if we were all to get along and play like good little pieces. But you can’t play a game of poker with a faulty deck of cards.”

Showing his teeth in a grin that grew wider, his eyes locked onto Lance’s.

“You play your game of duel monsters, I play my game of ‘life.’ Different games, similar rules. A good player has their traps in order, builds their play strong, and most importantly...never shows their hand.”


......

Tobias’s eyes fell flat on Jira as the kaiju loving fanatic explained his ‘urgent’ request. ...was he serious?

“...I sincerely hope that is not an attempt of mockery.” He stated. “But if it is your will for my presence to be amongst you, then I will oblige in respect these wishes you display.”

Tobias then was caught by the mention of history by his classmate, Willow. Naturally invested in the topic, he payed a close ear to her words, digesting them as they came in.

“...Yes. I am fairly book-read on the subject matter. It was to my understanding, that the emperor of rome simply used the colosseum for entertainment as well as execution, never going into the fray himself. And usually instead of full on gladiators, the common sight was sentencing warriors to redeem themselves and or executing dishonored people against ferocious animals. But if that is the take you would like, then the colosseum MUST be as similar as possible to their origins, as the respect those that devoted their lives to it’s construction.”

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Right on! The colosseum was used for executions and to keep the people of Rome entertained as to prevent an uprising. By giving the public free grain to bake bread and entertaining fights in the colosseum, the people were kept satisfied and subdued. This would later be known as panem et circenses. Most gladiators were indeed slaves condemned to the arena, but plenty of poor citizens and even people who were not citizens became gladiators as enrollment into a gladiator school offered a trade, regular food, housing and a chance for fame and fortune. They'd typically keep any prize money and gifts to themselves, which could easily rack up given the amount of betting that took place among the public. There are different types of gladiators though, so don't be too quick to declare all of them as sentenced to die. The noxii, the gladiators who were sentenced to die in the next fight, are not the same as the damnati, the slaves who were condemned but also had a slim chance of survival. During large festivals, the colosseum was first used for beast hunts or venationes with the bestiarii class of gladiators. After that, the noxii were put in the spotlight to die at the hand of a gladiator or in reenactments of ancient myths. The latter occured more often, as the crowd and the gladiators enjoyed the dignity of an even fight over an execution. The colosseum would also be used to reenact naval battles, so called naumachia."

Willow took a moment to catch her breath and to let her friends catch up on the info dump. "Eheheheh, sorry about that. I tend to ramble when talking about stuff like this. Of course, the colosseum would be as accurate as possible. I'd be annoyed if it wasn't. As for respect, I'll make sure that everyone will have respect for the people who lost their lives in the arena for the entertainment of others. Maybe I'll replace the emperor or empress with an experienced gladiator instead, relegating them to hand out prizes at the end. It would make for a more realistic approach. Oooh, maybe they can challenge the emperor for a double or nothing kinda deal? Double the prize money if you win or nothing if you lose. That could be fun." The Slifer Red's mind was going a mile a minute, spewing out new ideas about her passion project almost immediately after hearing imput from Tobias. She could only imagine what Jira was thinking if he wasn't up to speed on history.

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

Maya finished her breakfast and looked outside. Judging from the noise, there was a duel going on outside that just finished. Shame, she would've liked to watch. After all, it's been a while since she dueled, she was beginning to miss the shrill roar of Phantasm Spiral Dragon. Maybe she should be bold and just ask someone? What did she have to lose after all? It was pretty common knowledge that dueling occured at Duel Academy, and she had to stay sharp to stay in Obelisk Blue. Gazing across the room, her eyes fell on a girl that had an older brother in Obelisk Blue if she recalled correctly and yesterday she was dressed up as.....Warrior Lady of the Wasteland? Her time on stage was too short to truly leave an impression on her, but the name felt right. Cleaning up after herself, Maya made her way over to Dahlia. "Hi there, are you up for a duel later today?"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Lance returned Weasel's sinister grin with a small, polite smile.
"Yes, I'm well aware of the game of life." Lance said. The Obelisk Blue took a moment to clean his glasses, putting them back on. "You are an interesting one, Weasel. I consider myself pretty good at reading people. But you are remarkably good at hiding yourself. Even I was fooled at first. Not by your little detective act. See, my first impression was just mischievousness. So I was a bit of a fan with what you were doing. It was fun to watch, knowing things others didn't."

"But it's a little more than that, isn't it? We're past mischievousness now, into something darker. Maliciousness? Cruelty?" Lance said. "Don't worry. You can count on me being an unbiased observer. After all, if these new students can't beat you in a game of highschool drama, I doubt they're going to beat tougher opponents in high level duels."

Lance sort of smiled to himself at that comment.
"Well, perhaps a little biased. I can't help but to root for the heroes, which you most certainly aren't. Still, don't expect any grand acts of deus ex machina from me." Lance said. The Obelisk Blue adjusted his glasses, and for a moment his eyes seemed to glow. Or was that just the glare from sunlight bouncing off his lenses? He seemed to look to the air above and around Weasel. "Are you all really okay with what he's doing?"

Not waiting for a reaction from Weasel, Lance turned and disappeared into the forest.

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

"Sorry, uh... more of an attempt at humor." Jira said to Tobias. He nodded along with what Tobias was saying, and blinked in surprise at Willow's spiel on Gladiators. He wasn't too surprised, it seemed that Willow was as obsessed about gladiators as Jira was on kaiju. Gladiator kaiju, now THAT was a thought. He had a hint of that back when he had first dueled Willow, Heraklinos facing down Dogoran. Sure, the kaiju would probably wreck the coliseum in the process, but it would be a heck of a fight.

Jira did his best to keep up with the conversation. He didn't really understand most of it, but what else was new?
"I think in a movie I saw, the emperor had like a chosen champion or something. Maybe... uh... that could be a thing? Was that even a thing back in the ancient days?" Jira asked. "The 'experienced gladiator' position could be the emperor's champion. Or the Empress' champion. So everyone would be vying for that position?"

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

Dahlia was just getting ready to leave when another student approached her, a fellow Obelisk Blue girl. She had tanned skin, and the hair on the side of her head appeared to be shaved. Dahlia had seen her around the dorm, but had never really interacted with her before. And now she was asking to duel? It didn't seem like she had a bone to pick with Dahlia, just a normal duel. Dahlia supposed it wasn't too out of the ordinary for a place like Duel Academy for things like this to happen.
"Uh... Yeah, sure." Dahlia said. The Obelisk Blue paused awkwardly. "I'm sorry, I don't think we've really met before. I'm Dahlia."
Dahlia held out her hand to shake Maya's.

 

[Inkachu1251]

"Several. Like three or four. None of the decks I use feel right, and the fact that I'm demolished using them just fuels the fire. I would feel like garbage making a new one, because it would probably go down like all the rest. I just don't feel motivated anymore, you know?" Raikiri tried to be as honest as possible, but it didn't feel quite right saying this kind of thing in front of someone else, especially a girl.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Willow cupped her chin as she mulled over Jira's words. "Hmmm, I don't think that they were an actual thing. Gladiators did have the public appeal of top athletes though, writing has been discovered that says 'Celadus makes the girls swoon'. As for the connection between emperors and gladiators, the closest thing I can think of at the top of my head is that one emperor who went down into the arena and beat all of his opponents in fixed matches, much to the chagrin of the audience. It's worth looking into though, the more material I can work with, the better."

"It's a shame a lot of Roman history is muddled with ideas from movies or even paintings. For example, the thumbs down pose that signals the death of a downed gladiator is controversial as to my knowledge, no sources that have been discovered state that the thumbs down position or pollice verso meant death. It could mean something entirely different, as the sources that we have simply state that it is a turn of the thumb, direction be damned. As for the saluting the emperor before gladitorial combat, that only happened in one instance and was done by naumachiarii instead of gladiators. It also does not do the scene any favors that when the group said 'Hail, Emperor! We who are about to die salute thee', the emperor replied with 'Or not'. This made them think that they didn't have to fight, until the emperor forced them to fight with threats and promises. It would've been funny to see though." The Slifer Red said as she chuckled at the thought.

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

At last, a duel opponent! Maya couldn't help but grin as she shook Dahlia's hand. "Awesome! My name is Maya, nice to meet you Dahlia. Sorry for asking you to duel out of the blue, but I really wanted to duel again and you were the first person I laid eyes upon. Hopefully I didn't scare you." The Obelisk Blue said as she scratched her cheek in embarrassment. "Don't feel pressured to be ready to duel right now, I am totally fine with like a duel without the duel disk when in the dorms. After all, I did kinda challenge you out of the blue. I guess you could say I used Sea Stealth Attack or something."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Never apologize for imparting knowledge of the ancient times into others.” Tobias replied sternly. “It is rare to find one with more knowledge in an aspect of history than I, in that I respect. But architecture is a large swath of the difficulty. For every single foot of the colosseum has been meticulously crafted to suit the reflection of their society, their gods, and the blessing/wishes thereupon. Surely one in such a disposition such as yourself would find value in such effort for the reflection it demands?”

Closing his eyes, he held a hand in front of him. He flexed his fingers and focused intently on them trying to envision something.

“...But let not the spirit be lost. The true nature of this feature is to draw the Vigor from the participants to fuel the needs of the spectators. The duelists relegated to ringleader hardly befits such a theme. No, the duelists should duel for real, with armaments befitting of the era thereof. THAT shall be most excellent.”

It seemed the humor of the situation deflected off of him as most social cues did. But his words rang true to his beliefs. Historical accuracy above all else.


......

Weasel chuckled, closing his eyes. Bingo. Not only Lance wouldn’t get in his way, but he didn’t need to hide any intentions from him either!

“Oh? But what is mischief? What is cruelty? After all, it’s all a part-“

"Are you all really okay with what he's doing?"

“...??”

Weasel stopped, opening his eyes. What had he just said? You...all? Before he could Pursue the line of thought any further, Lance made off with his own thoughts. Weasel arched a brow, swiftly turning around. He was met with the three lights, which upon closer inspection had small, salt shaker sized entities inside them. The Prank Kids. They looked concerned, wit escaping them for the moment. Weasel growled, balling up his fists.

“What are you gawking at?? You really believe that guy? Get your heads back in the game! He just want to put a damper on our fun!”

Turning around, Weasel stormed off to the cafeteria building, the hangry Weasel expecting them to follow. They turned to each other with concerned expressions before going into a football huddle. Chattering amongst the trio ensued, ending in them looking back at him. Fansies held up a finger, looking two the other two, lampsies and dropsies. They nodded up and down at the one finger, signifying ‘once chance’ before they vanished.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy listened to what Raikiri had to say. The fact that he didn't have many friends here at duel academy... It must make things so much worse. At least Tracy had Dahlia and Bob, and a few other friends, to help her along.
"I know... I know it's hard. When it feels like no matter how hard you try, you just keep getting beaten down. I know." Tracy said. "But you can't give up hope. Not while you're here at Duel Academy. While you're here, you still have chances."

Tracy sighed.
"I know we haven't exactly... hung out a lot. But when we dueled together for the doubles tournament, well... We may have lost, but you did well. I know you have potential. So believe you can make it through this." Tracy said.

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

Dahlia returned Maya's grin with a polite smile.
"Hey, it's alright. It's Duel Academy, it's not too unexpected that people would want to duel." Dahlia said. "I'm always ready to duel whenever and wherever. We can wait until later, but if you want to duel now we can do that too."
Dahlia put a hand on her deck, waiting for Maya's response. The girl had mentioned Sea Stealth Attack earlier... Interesting. An Umi deck? Looking closer at Maya's appearance, Dahlia couldn't detect any sign of water insignias. But it was an interesting thought... It should be an exciting duel.

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

When Tobias mentioned 'armaments befitting of the era thereof', Jira couldn't help but to think back to his friend's earlier Giant Soldier of Stone 'costume'. Jira sweat dropped.
"Uh..." Jira glanced over to Willow before just smiling.

"Well, it sounds like Tobias was the right guy to come to. Like I said, big history buff. Archeologist first, duelist second, right?" Jira said, smiling to his friend. "I may not be able to understand much of what you nerds are saying, but I think it sounds like a pretty fun concept Willow. I think you should go for it!"

 

[DarkHydraT]

Maya grinned, jackpot! "I'd love to, hopefully we can finish this before we gotta go to class! Where do you want to duel? As much fun as it would be to see the reactions of everyone here, the breakfast hall is not an optimal location. Maybe we can go outside?" She noticed that her opponent was sizing her up, maybe trying to find some hints on her deck. A respectable tactic, and Maya couldn't stop herself from doing the same. There was nothing that immediately caught her eye, but that would change the moment they'd duel. After all, Wyrm monsters were far from common and the amount of times people tried to use Dragon Capture Jar or other anti-Dragon tactics on her deck to no avail was more than she could remember. If Dahlia's cosplay was to be any information, the girl probably used Warriors. That could be interesting, Warriors had a lot of good support that they could use. But would the dragon slayers be able to slay the wyrms? Only time would tell.

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

"Armaments befitting of the era thereof? You mean like weapons? I'd say the Gladiator Beasts have that covered. Besides, I don't want lawsuit after lawsuit from people getting stabbed by weapons. I guess I could have like fake weapons and armor for the children that don't duel, but that's neither here nor there. This plan will most likely just be starting 10 years after graduation, because I'm gonna need a hefty wallet for all this." Willow said beforr turning to Jira and flashing a grin.

"Calling us nerds when you were infodumping the entire time last night, you've got guts man. I appreciate your words though, it means a lot to me."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Tobias pointed a finger up, seeming bent on the subject of using real weapons, not quite ready to let that subject fade away into nothingness just yet.

“The romans had no need to fear lawsuits, there are ways around it. One must be sure to bring out the vigor from every competitor and monster, life or death battles. While lives won’t truly be on the line, it is the adrenaline that’s the prime purpose.”

Slightly amused, he didn’t turn to Jira, instead he closed his eyes and crossed his arms, preparing his response.

“Your words are sharp but the hilt is tattered. I gather you can name every Kaiju movie in order without hesitation. Even further I believe you can name each year they did debut.”






......


“Uh—Hey! ‘Cuse me!”

A blue hair student, a Slifer red by the looks of it came hustling up to Bella. His backwards cap and his somewhat unsure demeanor gave off the appearance of a rookie. The boy took a deep breath before continuing his line of thought.

“That was like...an amazing battle! I had no idea someone used heroes in this school, and stood for what was right too! It’s almost as if you actually were one!”

Clearly finding himself out of line in his fanboy posture, he shook his head quickly, snapping himself out of the trance. He then thrust his hand out to her with a nervous smile.

“Clef! That’s uh...me...heh.”

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Jira grinned sheepishly. They for sure had him pegged.
"Fair enough, guys." Jira said. The Slifer Red thought for a moment.

"Maybe it could also be kind of a cosplay contest? There's a lot more duel monsters in the game then just gladiators. Or have realistic armor, but blunted weapons? Or maybe a combination, like you have to wear the armor unless you're cosplaying as a different duel monster? Kinda like your matchup against that D.D. Warrior Lady girl at the end of the cosplay competition." Jira suggested.

~~~~~~~~~~

Seeing Maya get excited for the duel, Dahlia couldn't help but to get excited herself. She looked around the dining hall before grinning. As much as she wanted to duel in here, Maya was right. It would be fun, but it appeared that the fellow Obelisk Blue didn't want to duel in here.
"Sounds good enough for me!" Dahlia said.

The pair made their way outside the dining hall, and Dahlia turned to face Maya. She slid her duel disk onto her arm, activating it an inserting her deck.
"Since you challenged me, I think I'll go first." Dahlia said, drawing five cards.

"I draw!" Dahlia said, drawing dramatically. The Obelisk Blue girl inspected her hand carefully.

"First, I'll activate a spell card. Foolish Burial Goods! This card allows me to send one Spell or Trap Card from my deck to my Graveyard." Dahlia said. A Spell Card depicting a grave with a hand holding flowers rose out of the ground next to Dahlia. In front of the spell, a gravestone appeared. A hand sudden burst from the dirt, holding what appeared to be a small spider-like statue, before exploding into pixels. The spell faded away.

"And for the last part of my turn, I'll set three more cards face-down. That will be the end of my turn." Dahlia said. Three face-down cards appeared in front of Dahlia in her Spell and Trap Card zone, and Dahlia nodded to Maya. "You're up. Show me what you got!"

~~~~~~

Dahlia:
LP: 4000
Cards on Field: 3 face-downs in spell and trap card zone
Cards in Hand: 2
Cards in Grave: 2 (Foolish Burial Goods + card sent by Foolish Burial Goods)

 

[Godjacob]

Bella watched as Weasel seemed to move away, giving a bit of a cheeky comment about them working "closely" together before he departed as Bella could not help but watch him leave. She seemed to guess he was suspicious about her, or at the very least seemed to have a fascination after the duel was over but regardless of motive her own resolve only seemed to grow from this. She had bested Weasel today in a duel, but the real battle between the two had only just began.

There was little doubt in his mind Weasel was the prank master on campus, but while she knew this in her heart it meant nothing without proof. However her resolve was clear, she was not gonna lie down and let Weasel do as he pleased at the expense of the rest of the Academy, she would bring him to justice one way or another that much she swore to herself.

Bella waved goodbye to Lance who seemed to follow Weasel, well since their "meeting" ended abruptly she decided it was best to seek out the key figure to the testimony against Weasel; she made her way towards the Ra Dorm with the goal to try and find this student named Bobo.

However, another student a Slifer Red it seemed cut her off as he offered some sheepish praise of her duel as Bella was made to stop in her tracks. "Oh uh thanks, yeah my first duel on the island so wanted to make it a good one."

The boy seemed a bit shy, and offered a hand as he introduced himself. Bella smiled and shook it in kind as she tried to ease the nerves with a friendly smile. "Bella, a pleasure."

---------
Indeed this had been a concerning development, but as the student listened to Bob's warnings of Crowler, Obelisk students and this "detective" he seemed to shift from concern to a sly smirk as he nodded along though the fear he if at best momentarily had seemed to subside as he took this as a challenge more than anything else.

"I see. Well seems I need to watch where I step, but if that wanna-be theater dancer thinks he can make me stick my head in the sand and comply to his will no matter how absurd he has another thing coming." Zack chuckled, though this little "detective" had caught his interest as he had a sly smirk.

"This little bitch patrol member Crowler has, the "detective", do you happen to know who he is?" Zack asked, already thinking over how to use this info as if Crowler heard from a trusted source he was on his best behavior and complying to his regime even if it was merely a "persuaded" story to send to another I'd work to lower his guard around him and give him wiggle room.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"I can probably have like rubber armor and weapons for kids or something, I'll see. It's still a rough sketch so far, so who knows what I'll come up with?" Willow shrugged as she took in the advice of her friends. "When this whole thing is standing, you're gonna get invited. That's a Willow promise and I never break one of those." Giving her friends a thumbs up, she grinned at them. "Any of you got any future dreams?"

--------
Bob grimaced at Zack's question. "Oh, I know him alright. His name is Weasel the Kid, former Slifer Red who got promoted to Obelisk Blue because he is friends with Crowler after promising he would find the culprit behind a prank on Crowler that he pulled himself. Kid's got hair like a skunk, a bandanna, has a deck based around kid monsters, typically has two Slifers on his side, can't miss him. I've had my fair share of run-ins with him myself. Hell, I used to be on his side before he threw me under the bus. Be careful around him, he'll create evidence to use against you if he doesn't like you." The Ra Yellow warned the Slifer Red, he had a creeping suspicion that this kid would try and pull something.
--------

"Oh? No monsters? Interesting. My turn, I draw!" Maya grinned as she looked at her opening hand. Her most important card has already been drawn, now she could go wild. "I activate the field spell Pacifis, The Phantasm City!" The surrounding area transformed into an underwater ruin with an incredibly bright light on top of it. "I normal summon Megalosmasher X in attack position!" A large pliosaur was summoned to the field and let out a loud roar (2000 atk/0 def). "Because I only summoned one Normal monster this turn, Pacifis allows me to search out a Phantasm Spiral card from the deck and I choose Phantasm Spiral Wave!" The bright light flickered and fired off a ray at Maya's deck, extracting a card from the deck. "I equip Megalosmasher X with Phantasm Spiral Wave and I don't trust your cards. I activate Twin Twisters from my hand, allowing me to destroy two of your spell or trap cards if I discard one card."

As soon as the girl discarded a card, two twisters were sent flying at the outer cards. "Hmmmm, sure. Why not? It's not like I'll regret it later. I activate the trap card Phantasm Spiral Battle, which requires me to control a face-up Normal monster. Since Pacifis gets treated as Umi, I can activate it from my hand!" A spectral Spiral Serpent was sent flying at the last trap card, ready to tear it to pieces. "Now, Megalosmasher X! Direct attack! Megalo Smash!" The dinosaur let out another roar before charging towards Dahlia, ready to chomp down on her.

~~~~

Maya:
LP: 4000
Cards on field: Megalosmasher X (2000 atk/0 def), Phantasm Spiral Wave, Pacifis, The Phantasm City.
Cards in hand: 1
Cards in grave: Phantasm Spiral Battle, Twin Twisters, one discarded card.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

At the activation of the field spell, Dahlia looked around and watched as they now appeared deep underwater, standing among ancient underwater ruins. Dahlia gritted her teeth as her face-down cards were destroyed by the Twin Twisters. The first one flipped up to reveal a Trap card depicting what appeared to be a stone tiki stature. The second one flipped up to reveal a trap card that depicted a But it seemed that luck was on her side. As the spectral dragon-like monster flew towards her last face-down card, Dahlia gestured to it.

"I'll activate a Trap Card of my own, Booby Trap E!" Dahlia said. Her remaining face-down flipped up to reveal a trap card depicting a floating letter 'E' above a well. A well with green steam appeared next to Dahlia.

"This card allows me to discard a card and set one Continuous Trap from my hand or Graveyard to my field." Dahlia said, discarding a card. A face-down duel monsters card descended into the well, and the letter E appeared above it. A face-down card appeared in Dahlia's spell and trap card zone.

As Megalosmasher X charged towards Dahlia, Dahlia gestured to her spell and Trap card zone once again.
"Booby Trap E also allows me to activate this card the turn I set it! I activate my face-down card, Statue of Anguish Pattern!" Dahlia said. Her face-down card flipped face-up to reveal a Trap Card depicting a spiderlike statue covered in a strange pattern. "It's effect allows it to summon itself as a monster, so I'll special summon it in defense mode!"

It emerged from the Trap Card with a groan, lumbering into a monster card zone. It took a defensive stance, its stats reading it as a Level 7 monster with 2500 DEF and 0 ATK. Dahlia grinned to Maya.

"So, you still going to attack?" Dahlia asked Maya.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Continous traps are your thing, huh? I don't back down out of decisions, so I will attack." Megalosmasher X bit down on the trap monster, the sound of breaking teeth filling the surrounding area as cartoon tears rolled down its cheeks. "I end my battle phase, which triggers the effect of Phantasm Spiral Wave. When the equipped monster battled, I can special summon a Phantasm Spiral Dragon from my hand, deck or grave!" The water around the two duelists concentrated next to Megalosmasher, creating a mealstrom that dispersed when Phantasm Spiral Dragon hit the field. It let out a shrill shriek akin to nails on a chalkboard, something that made Maya shudder both from discomfort and excitement. "Ooooooh baby, it's been a while since I've heard that shriek! Phantasm Spiral Wave equips itself onto Phantasm Spiral Dragon and you have to discard a card. After that, I set a card face down and end my turn." The creature that hit the field was hard to describe. It had horns, sharp teeth, two wings on its back and three on its sternum and two powerful legs. It looked like a Sea Serpent, but a Dragon was not too far fetched either. Just what was it?

~~~~~

Maya:
LP: 3500
Cards on field: Megalosmasher X (2000 atk/0 def), Phantasm Spiral Wave, Pacifis, The Phantasm City, Phantasm Spiral Dragon, set card
Cards in hand: 0
Cards in grave: Phantasm Spiral Battle, Twin Twisters, one discarded card.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Talk about a crazy first turn for her opponent. Two monsters with over 2000 attack on the field, plus one of them having 2900 attack. Plus one equipped with a card that would allow her to summon another one of those dragons(?), if she had another one. And Dahlia was assuming she had another. Plus her field spell that acted like Umi. And all Dahlia was left with was her Statue, which would not be able to last against that Phantasm Spiral Dragon.

"I draw!" Dahlia said. The Obelisk Blue girl kept a poker face as she looked down to her card.

"I'll set one card face-down, and end my turn!" Dahlia said. A face-down card appeared in the Spell and Trap card zone next to her.

Dahlia:
LP: 4000
Cards on field: Statue of Anguish Pattern (0 ATK/2500 DEF, defense mode), set card in Spell/Trap zone
Cards in Hand: 0
Cards in Grave: 7 (Foolish Burial Goods, discarded card, Wiretap, Tiki Curse, Booby Trap E, discard card, discarded card)

 

[DarkHydraT]

"You're not doing so hot there, Dahlia. Hopefully you can get out of this situation fast, or else this will be a very short match. My turn, I draw. I normal summon Mystery Shell Dragon in attack mode!" Another weird dragon hit the field, though it looked more like a squashed slug than a dragon. "Since I normal summoned only one Normal monster this turn, Pacifis allows me to search out a Phantasm Spiral card. I choose to add my Phantasm Spiral Crash and equip it to my Phantasm Spiral Dragon, granting it piercing damage. Now, Phantasm Spiral Dragon, attack Statue of Anguish Pattern! Phantasm Spiral Vortex!" The creature let out another shrill cry as it got lifted up in the air by a twister of water before slamming it down onto the trap monster. If the monster would get destroyed, it would soon be curtains for Dahlia. After all, Maya's field had a total of 6900 attack points which did not show any signs of stopping just yet.

~~~~~

Maya:
LP: 3500
Cards on field: Megalosmasher X (2000 atk/0 def) Mystery Shell Dragon (2000 atk/0 def), Phantasm Spiral Dragon (2900 atk/2900 def), Phantasm Spiral Wave, Pacifis, Phantasm Spiral Crash, set card, The Phantasm City,
Cards in hand: 0
Cards in grave: Phantasm Spiral Battle, Twin Twisters, one discarded card.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

The creature slammed down onto the Statue of Anguish Pattern, which let out a low moan before exploding into pixels. The attack slammed through Dahlia, reducing her life points to 3600. Dahlia looked back to Maya, her face not showing fear... Just irritation and disappointment. The Obelisk Blue girl just sighed and crossed her arms.

Dahlia:
LP: 3600
Cards on the field: 1 face-down spell/trap
Cards in hand: 0
Cards in grave: 8 (Foolish Burial Goods, discarded card, Wiretap, Tiki Curse, Booby Trap E, discard card, discarded card, Statue of Anguish Pattern)

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Since I inflicted battle damage with the equipped monster, Phantasm Spiral Crash activates. I get to bring out my second Phantasm Spiral Dragon and equip all Phantasm Spiral spells onto it!" Another monster hit the field, every bit as scary and ugly as the previous one. "Sorry hun, but you just got unlucky with me getting Pacifis out early. Phantasm Spiral Dragon, attack directly! Phantasm Spiral Vortex!" The second Phantasm Spiral Dragon sent a water twister straight at Dahlia, surely there was no way that her set card could weather the attack? Aside from like Metal Reflect Slime, she couldn't think of any cards that could survive such a powerful attack whilst being a trap monster. And once that trap was gone, Megalosmasher X and Mystery Shell Dragon could easily finish her off. Even if she had something like Mirror Force, she could survive atleast one turn. The only card that scared her would be a card that sent double the damage back that she would inflict, but what were the odds of that card being set? "You know what? I did say that I wanted this match to be over before we had to go to class. Megalosmasher X, Megalo Crush! Mystery Shell Dragon, Nerve Blast!" The remaining monsters lunged at Dahlia to crush her bones and fired off electric blasts to fry her nerves.

~~~~~

Maya:
LP: 3500
Cards on field: Megalosmasher X (2000 atk/0 def) Mystery Shell Dragon (2000 atk/0 def), Phantasm Spiral Dragon (2900 atk/2900 def), Phantasm Spiral Dragon (2900 atk/2900 def), Phantasm Spiral Wave, Pacifis, Phantasm Spiral Crash, set card, The Phantasm City,
Cards in hand: 0
Cards in grave: Phantasm Spiral Battle, Twin Twisters, one discarded card.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Tobias looked off into the distance, his brain traveling further than feet could ever take someone. His scarf flew thematically in the wind and he poetically deck red his future.

“The understanding of all secret and hidden reliquaries of the old ones, leaving no stone unturned to discover every truth of the past. Upheaving our understanding of history and undertaking a journey to exploit the resources at our disposal... Or in short, become the Ultimate preserver of the history of the planet. THAT is my ambition.”


.....



Clef shook the hand with a little more enthusiasm than expected, his nerves flaming a bit as he felt Bella’s pulse beating with his. Letting go of the hand, he seemed to get sparkles in his eyes, balling both his fists up under his chin.

“So who’s your favorite hero?? You gotta have one right?? I bet it’s masked hero acid—no no, blast!”

 

[Captain Cardboard]

The three monsters slammed into Dahlia, one after the other. Dahlia simply stood with her arms crossed, with the same irritated and disappointed look on her face. The illusions passed through Dahlia, reducing her Life Points down to zero.

Well.

That was embarrassing. Dahlia mentally thanked her common sense for heading out of the dorm to duel. Losing that quickly was one thing, but to do so in front of the entire Obelisk Blue dorm? Close miss. Dahlia took a moment to compose herself, deactivating her duel disk and letting out a breath. The illusions from the duel began to fade. The girl ran a hand through her head before looking up to Maya sheepishly.

"It's certainly been a while since I got served that hard. I guess it just shows I've still got quite a ways to go here at Duel Academy." Dahlia said. She walked over to Maya, extending a hand and keeping her chin up. "Good game. Those were some incredible moves."

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

Jira returned Willow's thumbs up. As he listened to Tobias and Willow, his smile faded slighty.
"That's a pretty incredible goal, Tobias." Jira said. "I don't really know how I would be able to help with that, but if you could think of a way I'd be down to help."
The Slifer Red boy didn't really respond to Willow's question, instead looking up to the sky. His dreams. Did he even have any dreams? Besides that strange one he had last night, that was. He couldn't really say.

"I dunno. Getting a good job, I guess." Jira said. "Something stable and calm."

 

[Godjacob]

Zack only seemed to smirk at this, oh so there a mischievous lot on campus who used kiss my ass tactics to get ahead? How fascinating, and the kind of person he can "sway" to keep Crowler off his back for the time being. "Oh really? Well then as someone who was burned by this literal Weasel, got any insight into him? You know, something that should be noted about him or can work against him~" Zack asked with a sly smirk as the odds of bumping into someone familiar with this figure seemed small, but given he had found this window he aimed to take advantage of it however he could before he closed.

----------
Bella seemed to chuckle finding his passion for HEROs to be rather endearing, she felt a bit at ease around him least compared to someone like Weasel, when asked about her favorite HERO Bella smiled as she reached on her belt and pulled out a single copy of what seemed to be a Fusion HERO in an all black masked attire. "Masked HERO Dark Law."

"This is the soul of my deck, though each HERO has their value and contributes in their own way and I often need the whole gang." Bella said with a smile before she slipped Dark Law back into her deck. Though her attention shifted to Clef as she was curious about the Slifer Red who seemed to be friendly with her.

"And what about you, what's your fav monster in your deck?" Bella asked naturally curious.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

“Oh wow...I’ve never heard of that card before!” Clef marveled. “He must have some heck of a origin story, I would love to hear it sometime...”

He shook out of this was Bella unexpectedly asked a question in turn to him. He didn’t really seem to have a clear answer, rubbing his shoulder anxiously.

“I don’t really have one...still kinda developing my style. But hey, I really like that dark law guy. Can he be my favorite?”

He laughed half jokingly about this, loving the design of the masked Heros as they were in action. He could only postulate on what dark law could actually do when it would make its great debut, like waiting on a long anticipated character to appear in a comic.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Ah, I just got lucky with Twin Twisters being in my opening hand against your deck. That and my deck really enjoys having Pacifis on the field. You like trap monsters huh? That really does not like trap removal, sadly I didn't get to see your deck at its full strength. One of these days however, I will. Maybe you'll even win one day." Maya shook Dahlia's hand and grinned at her before using her free hand to grab her deck. "Although you could say that you just got 'decked'!" The Obelisk Blue attempted to tap her deck against Dahlia's forehead to really make the pun work.

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

"You might as well take a seat if I tell you about Weasel. He hates people criticizing him or his plans, will do anything for fun and is not above using foul tactics. In duels, he uses cards like Level Limit - Area B and DNA Surgery to take control of the field. He hates any spell removal though, so that could be used against him. It's better to just avoid him, he's nothing but bad news. He also has something called Kid Caches, little storage boxes with either food or prank materials. Just a little something to be aware of. Kid's a little shit that deserves to burn in hell for all eternity, he created fake 'evidence' to blackmail me and potentially expell me when he thinks I am a threat." Bob couldn't help but warn the Slifer about everything he knew about Weasel. Even though he thought about using this kid as fodder to save his own skin, but he would be no better than Weasel if he did and he didn't want to sink that low. He still had his pride and dignity, even though others would say otherwise.

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

"Nothing wrong with something calm and stable, it's probably the most achievable out of all of our goals. After all, there's nothing wrong with having a stable base for life." Willow supported Jira's decision before turning to Tobias. "Ambitious goal, but I can't think of anyone better to reach that goal. Keep at it Tobias, you can reach it. I know you can." The Slifer Red gave a thumbs up to the Ra Yellow before putting her hands behind her head.

 

[Godjacob]

"I am touched truly, I am sure Dark Law will be happy to know he has a fan, but as a duelist I think taking pride in one's own cards."

Bella smiled at Clef, she found him easy to speak with and as far as backstory of cards she'd be happy to share anytime with him, but she also tried to encourage to the Slifer Red to value the cards & deck he uses as one of the beautiful aspects of this game is finding cards that speak to you or are your favs to play and working to build a way to win with them. Something she hoped would flow onto him as she offered that bit of advice.

"I hope we can speak to each other again, but I have to go speak to someone about an important matter. New on campus trying to get my feet dry you know?" Bella said with a light chuckle though brought this to Clef's attention as much as she enjoyed the convo, she needed to find this Bob to speak with.

----------
"Interesting. Seems like the easy thing here would be to out the kid, he screwed you over so in kind he'd have it coming if you presented the truth to things." Zack mused, as unlike Bob he had no shame in playing dirty with others as he offered his "advice" to him but inwardly he seemed quite pleased with this turn of events. This kid seemed to be a dangerous lot, but Zack had been able to get the heads up out of the gate about him and his style was one Zack had no issue exploiting.

So the kid likes to hold dirt over people to keep them in line, or to bury when he feels they are too dangerous. If I can use this knowledge of his "pranks" and his fault behind them to hold over his head, then the kid would have no choice but to speak kindly about me to Crowler

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Oh trust me, I'm working on exposing the jerk too." Bob crossed his arms before looking to the left and right to make sure no one was listening along. "Y'know what? You seem okay and anyone who dislikes Weasel or Crowler is on my side. If you're interested into exposing this pest, come to the card shop after class. You just might find something interesting." The Ra Yellow invited Zack, hoping to get the kid on his and Tracy's side. An extra pair of eyes and functioning brain cells could never be wrong and they did need more people on their cause.

Blowback Dragon floated behind Bob and let out its signature laugh. "Ohohohoh, are we planning some illegal actions? Recruiting more members? What's next, a secret hideout and matching suit? Make sure to involve me when it comes to a gang war, I've got a lot of ammunition that is just waiting to be fired off. Besides, I've got something to prove to Weasel myself. Let's see how he feels when on the opposite end of the barrel." The spirit let out another laugh as they swirled around Bob, as if they were a malevolent spirit about to possess him. "Of course, we can always skip the dueling part and just point a gun at the kid. That should work just as fine too."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

"Oof." Dahlia said as Maya poked her in the head with her Umi deck. The Obelisk Blue rubbed her forehead.
"Perhaps." Dahlia said. Was this girl patronizing her? She seemed sincere enough. Dahlia shook off those thoughts. She was just a little bitter from her loss.
"That's also quite a deck you got there. Beatdown and control is a very nasty combo, and not to mention even in those short turns yiu had a bunch of search options to get card advantage." Dahlia said. "I had a few counters, but but I wasn't even able to use them due to them getting discarded. Not that it would have stopped you, since you had already grabbed that Phantasm Spiral Dragon. Strangest Dragon I have ever seen. Was it a Sea Serpent Monster?"

As she was talking to Maya, Dahlia tried to go over how she could have done better in that duel. Perhaps Dimensional Reflector wasn't the best card to keep in her deck? It was more of a boss monster, and Dahlia already had enough with the powers of Mercury, Venus, and Uranus. Plus other cards like Metamorphortess and Krystal Avatar which aren't too easy to use. Then again, did she really want to get rid of Dimensional Reflector? It was a gift from Tracy... But a card she hadn't been able to use all that much. It just didn't flow incredibly well with her deck. Perhaps a spot in the side deck would be better for this card.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

"Yeah, yeah..."

Clef seemed somewhat dismissive of the suggestion, rather be in his own world, fantasizing of what those hero's could do in the real world and who the could save. Like right out a comic book, what better archetype was there other one that stood up for the weak and saved people with a flashy pose and a powerful attack?

His daydream bubble was popped however when he was informed Bella had other places to be. Wiping away the remnants of the fantasy, he half turned back, giving her a wave.

"Aw, well, I hope to see more of you! I got lots of ideas and questions! Let's totally meet up sometime!"

With that, he enthusiastically ran off. He needed to get back to his dorm, read up on the last twenty issues of 'The Hero' comic. He needed to be reminded of the atmosphere and what was expected of a hero, and thus, a hero deck. Every hero needed a sidekick or a man in a chair, so why wouldn't that be him? After all, he knew so much about hero's, he's the perfect choice!

 

[Godjacob]

"Damn it...seems Weasel ate up more time than I expected. Guess I'll have to speak to Bob after class..." Bella mused after she waved to Clef as she noted the time on her phone and sighed as she realized her next class was to begin soon. Thankfully she already packed up her supplies as she moved by her bag and walked over to the main Academy buildings ready for her first day of classes to begin.

----------
"Oh~? How interesting, forming this anti-Crowler coalition?" Zack asked as he seemed to have some interest in the offer, though inwardly he wasn't one who had been crazy about "exposing" this Weasel, if he could he'd rather hang this over his head to use Weasel to get a clean slate on his second venture into Duel Academy. But hey if there was a war going on an ultimately the kid sided with Crowler well then he only had one option to make when push came to shove. But there was no reason he had to announce his bed so early, least to all ears when he could possibly milk the informant to Crowler for himself. "Uh huh, and who else should I expect in this little "meeting" of yours?" Zack asked with the same tone that Bob adopted.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Maya grinned as she returned her deck, scratching her cheek with a single finger. "Eheheheh, thanks! I would've been in a much worse position without Pacifis though, it allows me to search any Phantasm Spiral card when I normal or special summon a Normal monster and if my opponent activates a card effect outside of the damage step, I get to summon a level 8 token with 2000 attack and defense if I don't already have one. My entire deck is built to bring out Phantasm Spiral Dragon as fast as possible, all of the Phantasm Spiral equip cards can only be equipped to a Normal monster and special summon Phantasm Spiral Dragon from anywhere. Sadly I only managed to get four total copies of all the equip spells, so I only really get 4 tries to special summon it. I've got Monster Reborn as a back-up, but I've got not a lot of protection for it once it hits the field." The Obelisk Blue decided to inform Dahlia about her main goal during duels and the weaknesses in her deck, for no other reason than to inform her new friend and give her a fighting chance.

"A Sea Serpent?" Maya snickered, before going into a chuckle and ending at a full-blown laughing fit. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAH! A Sea Serpent? Oh, that's a new one! I always get Dragon! No, Phantasm Spiral Dragon is a Wyrm type monster. It looks like a Dragon type, but it isn't. The amount of people who go for cards like Dragon Capture Jar and Sword of Dragon's Soul, only to lose when Phantasm Spiral Dragon does not care is way too big to recall. I don't even have Dragon monsters in my deck, it's all Dinosaurs and Wyrm types. They're a pretty rare type though, I've yet to meet someone who has a Wyrm monster. Heck, for all the packs I've bought, I only own two Phantasm Spiral Dragons. Not that I really need a third one, but it would be a huge flex. If you want, you can look through my deck to get a feel of it. After all, what fun is having a rival when they don't know what they are facing?"

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

Bob clenched his fist when Zack showed interest in showing up. One more potential ally, that would make five if he and Dahlia joined. "You'll be seeing another Ra Yellow whose name I will not say in case of eavesdroppers. They're going to try and rope in an Obelisk and a third party is on their way here. I'm not a fan of Crowler either. The last principal was not exactly the best, but he wasn't openly biased to one dorm in particular. I'll see if we can get him demoted somehow, but I can't promise anything. Oh, and this conversation never happened." With those words, Bob left Zack and made his way to class. This was high stakes, but the thrill of it all felt incredible. The knowledge that everything could fall away underneath him, but standing as if nothing was happening, it felt like a coin flip. No, it felt bigger than that. It felt like poker. It felt like roulette. It felt like blackjack. It felt like putting your life on the line and wanting to walk away better than before or not at all.

It felt like gambling.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Dahlia crossed her arms.
"Hey, I didn't think it was that bad of a guess! After all, I'm willing to bet that your Pacifis card also acts as Umi. One of the boss monsters of an Umi deck is Levia-Dragon - Daedalus, a Sea Serpent type monster. Didn't seem too far-fetched that your Phantasm was one as well, since it didn't quite look like a dragon." Dahlia said. "Still, Wyrm huh? That's an unusual one."

Dahlia's watch chirped, and the Obelisk Blue girl glanced down to it before frowning.
"I gotta get to class. But we should definitely meet up later! We could give each other suggestions for improving our decks, and I've got to avenge myself. At least to show that I'm not usually a total pushover in duels." Dahlia said with a grin. The Obelisk Blue girl turned and started to jog towards the school.
"I'll see you around, Maya!" Dahlia called back to her rival.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"I can see your point of view, most Wyrms are pretty serpentine. I was just caught off-guard, which made me laugh. Pacifis sure does get treated as Umi, not that you really had a way of knowing it though. I've thought about using Daedalus myself, but I dropped the deck the minute I got my hands on the Phantasm Spiral cards. I'll see if I can find it somewhere, in case I need a back-up one day. Who knows, Phantasm Spiral might be too much for you to handle?" Maya couldn't help but taunt Dahlia a bit before her rival's watch chirped.

"Oh yeah, definitely. Can't wait to see you at your full strength! See ya!" Waving at her new friend, Maya grinned before stretching her arms above her head. It felt good to duel again, and she even got a rival out of it. Truly, today could not get much better. Whistling a tune to herself, the girl made her way to class as she thought of ways to make her deck even better. It was a shame that Wyrm monsters and support were so rare, or else she would've had a deck with more than 11 monsters. Lindbloom or Night Dragolich would be very useful, but they didn't mesh well with Phantasm Spiral which required Normal monsters for its full potential. She'd figure something out though, she was not particularly in a rush to be the best duelist around.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

As students made their way to their classes for the day, one couldn't help feel something different about this session. Perhaps the lighting? No that couldn't be it. It was more so the large stack of books on the front podium, perfume and wipes also seen resting on it. Did they have some famous female speaker this evening? Like Mai Valentine?

"Why Helloooooo everyone!"

Doctor...or rather PRINCIPLE Crowler took to the stands. He strutted into the center of the room, with many confused looks mixed with worried ones in the crowd.

"Now I know you must be wondering, why is your esteemed principle showing up in person to class like this? The answer? Because I, Vellian Crowler, shall be taking over educational duties for this semester!"

Many groans came from the crowd, greatly upsetting the effeminate man, shaking his fist at the complainers.

"Complain all you want you ungrateful brats, but you are going to get a QUALITY lecture. You should be thankful! Now! To get right into it, can someone explain to me what a chain is? Preferably not someone wearing the color red..."


...........


After a rather long lecture, the clock had begun to mercifully wind down. Minutes before the Bell, Crowler had walked back into the center of the room for what felt like the thousandth time.

"And THAT is why the very material that makes up these cards cannot easily be bootlegged or copied! ....except when it is. Now then, before you all go out to do whatever it is you do in your free time, I do have an announcement to make, so listen up!"


Doctor Crowler cleared his throat, putting a hand behind his back, keeping one finger hoisted up in front of him.

"You all know the Tournament that Seto Kaiba has established that's coming up, that is if your even cultured enough to be here anyway. Turns out something special is happening this year. Our founder has been gracious enough to allow a few open spots for students of this very school! But! His explicit instructions were that no weaklings are to be allowed! Only the best of the best! Now, we will announce who gets picked up by sponsors and popular peers who have admired your dueling skills in the next coming while. Although I'm pretty sure I know who's going to be accepted."

Giving an eye to Lance, Weasel, and the other obelisks who sat with the other Blues, Crowler snickered not so subtly. That's when the bell rang, several students not wasting any time in packing up their things and rushing out the door, more than enthused to leave the clown like professor.

"Wha- YOU FEW ARE NOT GETTING PICKED! I TELL YOH THAT MUCH! Everyone is dismissed! Augh... I need a spa day..."

Crowler then excused himself, waltzing off to who knows where, leaving the student body to mingle amongst themselves on what they had just heard.

 

[Inkachu1251]

"I-I can do this? It's a weird thing to say. I know it should be true but whenever I say something similar it just drags me down further. I'll try to say it more, though. I'll try."

 

[Godjacob]

Bella had been mindful to notice the open bias Crowler seemed proud to flaunt. First this guy was made Principal, not he was the head of lectures? She had heard things had been rocky here with the recent attacks but this just seemed like a misuse of authority and the fact the school let him have this power unchecked had been a touch concerning. The fact Crowler looked the way of those wearing Obelisk Blue such as herself only made her feel guilty, well she was resolved to be part of a solution around her rather than a problem.

Regardless, this new tournament caught her interest. She had no aspirations she'd be picked for it, there were other Obelisk Blues on campus who were there longer and deserved it more. She had but one duel, and it likely was not even an "official" one by school records, still she looked forward to see what her peers had in store and she'd be eager to build a rep for future opportunities.

Bella gathered her stuff and prepared to head out, her goal simply to meet up with Bob in the period after class. She needed to get him to be willing to speak against Weasel, if she was to have any chance to expose his crimes.

----------
Oh joy, give the lipstick fanatic with a stick up his ass literally ALL of the power, that is just lovely.

Zack had been in the back of the class as Crowler seemed almost gleeful to rub the news in the students faces, he could practically feel him rubbing his heel in their faces. Needless to say he picked the worst semester possible to return from suspension but as he sat in the back he seemed unconcerned. He figured he'd already be a non factor for the tournament as he had just returned to the island and Crowler would likely be caught dead giving a Slifer a fair chance especially him.

More important and what he had paid attention to, was how Crowler's gaze moved to certain students, the first one being who he presumed was Weasel. He was said to be a favorite and Crowler was not the most subtle in eyeing favs in class, with a sly smirk he would keep that in mind as the bell rang. Zack flung his backpack over the shoulder and had began to walk out when he passed by Weasel and decided to pass a comment.

"So, seems Crowler already has a class favorite." Zack mused, though really he merely wished to open up a "chat" with the infamous prankster even if he'd keep that knowledge to himself.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Weasel was well on his way to walk out, just like a lot of student had prepared to do. However, as fate would have it, someone had passed by him, giving him a comment about being the teacher's pet. Smirking, he turned around, and walked backwards, keeping up the pace with this talker, albeit in a rather inefficient manner.

"Oh yes, it's quite surprising what ego stroking can do." He spoke, very little signs of a veil over his true personality. "I would ask who you are, but I don't think you need any introduction. Your that no-good hooligan that punched doctor fish lips in the money maker."

It appeared he was going to accuse him of something, but instead, Weasel gave a laugh, resting his chin between his index finger and thumb.

"Takes cajones, if nothing else. Lucky for you I happen to like no-good hooligans." He then reached a hand out to him with a snicker on his face. "Weasel the Kid, pleasure to meet'cha."


.......



"Hm...how curious." Tobias blinked. "The Kaiba Corporation using this as a marketing campaign to promote their school...while also showing how effective they are against pros... a risky take at aggressive marketing, but the result has yet to reach it's verdict..."

Tobias had kept a watchful eye on this subject. Graded by Sponsers? Popular peers? Hm. It practically encouraged social butterfly's and popularity contests. Not the play he would have done.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Wow, Crowler was not even trying to hide his bias." Willow had sat through an excruciatingly frustrating lesson and had multiple names in mind that would describe Crowler perfectly, with 'douchebag' being just of them. Even the mention of the tournament was a giant jab at the Slifer students who were just not going to get selected at all. Even though there was no way that she'd get selected, she wished she did. Winning was a nice side-benefit, mainly she just wanted to wipe Crowler's ugly smug grin from his ugly old face. Exhaling deeply through her nose, she swung her bag across her shoulder and made her way over to someone who was less infuriating. Not that such a bar was hard to reach, but she didn't really care. Dumping her bag on the floor next to Tobias, she let out a groan. God, I hope Crowler changes his attitude soon. Either that or I move up a class so I don't have to deal with his bias anymore. Even the tournament was filled with jabs at us."

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

Bob had listened carefully to Crowler's announcement. A tournament huh? That would be interesting, though it was a prime target for Weasel to pull a stunt. Oh well, he probably wasn't going to get selected anyway. His most impressive thing so far was the tag team tournament where Weasel disrupted everyone until he was ready to dish out damage. Not the best showing of his skill, but it was what he had. None of that mattered though, he had an appointment he had to go to. Grabbing his stuff, the Ra Yellow made his way over to the card shop.

----------

Maya wasn't blind to the bias Crowler had shown to the Slifers and although she did find it to be a bit excessive, she was sure that it was for a good cause. After all, wasn't it supposed to get the Slifer students to up their game? It was none of her business though, and neither was the tournament. Whilst she was by no means a weak duelist, she had nothing notable under her belt other than her rank and she didn't want to get in to a tournament with just that as a basis which prevented someone who deserved it more from joining. She had to prove herself before accepting any invitations, but at least she'd have solid entertainment.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy smiled to Raikiri.
"See? Keeping a positive mindset can be tough, but it's important to never lose hope in both a duel and real life. Things might come your way." Tracy said. Her phone chirped, and Tracy glanced down to it. "Oop! Class is almost starting, we better hurry or we'll be late!"

Later...

Tracy listened to the announcement from Crowler, finishing up taking notes from his lecture. It had been... well, not the most pleasant lecture to listen to. But from the times when he wasn't making not-so-subtle comments about the Obelisk Blue dorm and other dorms, he seemed rather skilled when it came to Duel Monsters. If she could just ignore the other comments, perhaps she could learn quite a bit from this.

Tracy put down her pencil and listened to the Professor. Doctor. Principal. Whatever. Yet another tournament? It sounded like this one would be a bit harder for her to enter than the cosplay competition. Yeah, with her record there was no way she was going to be selected for a tournament like this.

Hmm...

The gears in Tracy's head began to turn as she gave the announcement some more thought. Perhaps there was a way to use this event to their advantage.

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

The Kaiju-loving Slifer Red made his way over to his two friends, plopping down next to them.
"Yeah, that was pretty painful." Jira said with a sigh. "Still, it should be pretty fun to watch some professionals duel, see how our classmates might match up against them. Maybe they'll have some really big monsters!"

Jira glanced from Willow to Tobias.
"I know Crowler seemed pretty set on having Obelisk Blues in the tournament, but do you guys think any of us have a chance to make it in? I mean, if it's picked by our peers... lots of people saw you duel in the cosplay competition, Willow. You might have a pretty good chance." Jira said to Willow.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dahlia listened to the announcement with interested. That could be interesting, going toe-to-toe with actual duelists. An interesting change of pace, certainly. That was, if she was one that was picked. Dahlia hadn't exactly done much to stand out. She had tried to help people during the two raids, but that Ra Yellow with the sword had certainly gained more attention that way.

As she was packing up, a familiar face approached.
"Tracy!" Dahlia said. Tracy offered Dahlia a small but nervous smile.
"Hey Dahlia." Tracy said. The Ra Yellow girl rubbed her neck nervously. "I was wondering if you were doing anything right now? I kinda could use your help with something."
Dahlia blinked. The first time they were meeting up in a while, and Tracy needed help with something?
"Uh... yeah, sure." Dahlia said, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. "I'm sorry we haven't been able to hang out more lately."

The pair made their way over to the card shop.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Who knows? It is very plausible that we'll see some powerful monsters, maybe like a dedicated dinosaur deck. That's close to Kaiju, no? I think Dogoran at least is considered a dinosaur, either that or a dragon. It looks draconic at least, which is good enough for me." Willow said as she twirled a finger through her hair. She'd had those highlights for a while now and they were getting kinda dull, maybe she'd go for a different color like purple, she wasn't sure yet.

"I'd say Tobias has the highest chance just based on class, but I don't know if his deck would make for an exciting duel. No offense, but your deck is a bit slow and not super flashy. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that, but the audience might fall asleep halfway through the duel. As for me and Jira, ten against one that Crowler's just flat out gonna deny Slifers from joining, regardless of previous achievements. I did win the Spirit Week tournament which gives me some credibility, but I'm not sure if I can get in. If I do, awesome. If I don't, oh well. I really cannot be bothered to get mad after the fact, as long as we get some good fights." Leaning back in her chair, Willow looked at her friends. "What do you two think?"

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

As Bob arrived at the card shop, he resisted the urge to buy a card pack and sat down at a table. As he waited, the spirit of Blowback Dragon swirled around him, waiting for something interesting to happen. "So you've committed to ratting out Weasel, there's no going back now. I never took you for the type of guy who would turn on his friends, what's going to stop you from stabbing little old Tracy in the back? Or rather, shoot her in the back?"

The Ra Yellow dismissively waved his hand. "Kill the motor there, man. Weasel never was my friend and he betrayed me first. Push me too far and I strike back, the rattlesnake is a creature whose virtues we should respect and learn from after all. Let me tell you something, big man. The only thing that works in this world is that you treat others as they treat you. Those that have treated me with kindness, I will repay that kindness tenfold- And those, that treat me with injustice! That used me. That hunt me down. That hurt my FRIENDS... I shall repay that injustice a thousand times over." It was a dramatic quote and one that was probably not good to say out loud in a public area, but Miss Dorothy was not behind the counter and Bob had yet to forgive Weasel for the knife in his back that he was slowly twisting as he pleased.

Blowback Dragon chuckled as they began floating in front of them. "Eheheheh, those are big words. Especially from you, when did you gain that confidence? You better make sure that you repay that debt, or else no one will take you seriously."

"Hatred is an excellent motivator, and I have a myriad of that for him. I'll take him down, even if it is the last thing I'll do." It seemed that Tracy's pep talk last night hit target, though some would say it hit a bit too well. Taking out a six-sided die, the boy let it roll through his fingers. "Should I be at the end of my wits, should I be completely outmatched, I will leave it up to Lady Luck in a game of Liar's Dice. He doesn't have a single honest bone in his body, so it'll be right up his alley."

"Liar's Dice huh? Don't count your chickens before they've hatched, big man, or you're gonna bite the bullet. It'll be fun to see your little plan either come to fruition or go down in a blaze of glory. Don't disappoint me."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

"Potentially." Tobias spoke up. "But this is glorified popularity context. You do not have to be a competent duelist to have a shot. In fact, it's a minor part. It's a primarily how you show yourself to be, popularity via the view and judgment of our peers. And judging by how flawed those creatures are, it all comes out to if your charismatic or attractive. Perhaps 'cool'. If one doesn't devote themselves to being a social butterfly, then they shall never win."

Nodding in agreement to Willow's statement, they made a compelling argument.

"I do not expect to be accepted. I do not comply with primitive social conventions such as to 'mingle' or 'party', for there is little value in such things. So as a result, I most definitely shall not be chosen. As for the slifers...if one were truly devoted enough and stood out, perhaps even one of them would be allowed."