Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter for Era of Spirits and Shadows! Another strange case is happening around Duel Academy. Someone has been caught breaking into the Card Shop and stealing from the Drawbread before the shop opens for the day. Who is this mysterious thief and why are they doing this? Seems like another good bit of training or practice for the group of Shadow Magic users! Will they perhaps get a reward for this too?
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So, without further delay, please enjoy.
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Chapter 23 – Master of the Draw
It was lunch break for Duel Academy and many of the students were heading for the Card Shop for the daily Drawbread and the chance to be the one to draw the Golden Eggwich. The large cart was set up in the usual place with Miss Sadie watching over it and over a dozen students were ‘practicing their drawing’ as they picked one of the random, unmarked sandwich bags in hopes of getting the coveted Golden Eggwich and the rare card that came with it.
“There’s no need to run, dude.” Drake said as he jogged after Jaden while his best friend rushed towards the Card Shop.
Jaden looked over his shoulder with a grin. “I haven’t nabbed the Golden Eggwich in almost a week! I’ve gotta get there before someone else draws it!”
The two stopped at the entrance to the Card Shop and entered normally—Miss Dorothy wasn’t appreciative of students stampeding into the shop and making a mess—Jaden immediately making his way to the Drawbread cart and paying the 100 DP for a chance to draw. Drake watched Jaden with an amused smile as he also paid Miss Sadie for a chance to draw a sandwich.
“Hmm…” Jaden looked over the dozens and dozens of wrapped sandwiches before seemingly grabbing one at random. “This one!” He tore open the wrapper and took his first bite of the sandwich within, confident that he’d finally drawn the Golden Eggwich again. “Urk!” He grimaced as he pulled the sandwich away from his mouth. “Spicy Chicken!” Jaden lamented not getting the Eggwich and at the sharp spicy heat on his tongue now.
“Six misses in a row.” Drake said with a chuckle as he reached into the Drawbread cart and pulled out a sandwich. “Let’s see if my luck is any better.” He tore open the wrapper of his sandwich and took a bite. “Nope.” He said after chewing and swallowing. “Not a bad BLT though.” He could enjoy the classic bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. “Let’s see the card.” He pulled the card from the wrapper and flipped it over.
Ballista of Rampart Smashing
Equip Spell
If the equipped monster attacks a face down Defense Position monster, it gains 1500 ATK during damage calculation only.
“Normal card for a normal sandwich, I guess.” Drake shrugged at not getting a card he’d use in his Deck. “What’d you get, Jaden?”
“A Trap card.” Jaden showed the card he’d pulled to his best friend.
Virus Cannon
Trap
Tribute any number of monsters, except Tokens; your opponent sends an equal number of Spells from their Deck to the graveyard (or all their Spells, if lower than the number of Tributes).
Drake hummed after reading the card. “Not something you’d use in a HERO Deck, huh?”
“No luck again, Jaden?” Alexis said as she approached the two with Mindy and Jasmine at her side.
“Not today.” Jaden said with a smile for his girlfriend. “I’ve never gone this long without drawing the Eggwich.” Which was true as Jaden held the record for drawing it the most times in a row this school year. “Did you three come to have lunch with us?”
Alexis returned his smile with her own. “Maybe we did…or maybe we’re just here to practice our draws.”
Mindy hugged Drake with a bright smile. “While those two flirt, I’m gonna try my luck!”
“Wait for me!” Jasmine kissed Drake’s cheek before following after their girlfriend.
“Let’s see if my drawing has improved.” Alexis had a little smile on her lips as she got in line behind Jasmine.
Mindy reached into the pile of unmarked wrapped sandwiches and pulled one out with confidence. “This one!” She unwrapped it and took a bite. “Darn it…” She cutely pouted as she chewed. “Chicken and Bacon.” Pulling the card from the wrapper, she looked at what she’d gotten.
Yosenju’s Sword Swing
Trap
If you control no monsters: Reveal up to 2 ‘Yosenju’ monsters with different names in your hand, the target the same number of face-up cards your opponent controls; then return them to the hand. You can only activate 1 ‘Yosenju’s Sword Swing’ per turn.
“I’m not familiar with this Archetype at all.” Mindy said as she took another bite of her sandwich. “Into the binder and hope for a trade later then.”
Jasmine looked over the pile of wrapped sandwiches for only a moment and then took one from near the top. “Come on…” She unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite. “Hm?” She chewed a bit before swallowing. “What kind of cheese is this?” It had a strong flavor, but wasn’t unpleasant by itself. “Why is it paired with onions?” The combo wasn’t sitting right with her palette, unfortunately. “Is the card any good?”
Aqua Jet
Spell
Target 1 face-up Fish, Sea Serpent, or Aqua Type monster you control; it gains 1000 ATK.
“Maybe a trade? There’s definitely people that play Water Decks around here.” Jasmine hummed thoughtfully as she showed her draw to her friends.
“My turn.” Alexis stepped up to the pile of sandwiches and looked them over from a moment. Her almost golden eyes sharpened and she took a wrapped sandwich from near the middle of the pile, barely visible due to being buried under other sandwiches. “Draw.” She said under her breath as if she was in a Duel. Unwrapping the sandwich she took a bite. “Mm!” It was good, but not the Golden Eggwich. “Grilled pork…the sauce is good too.” She wasn’t a chef and couldn’t identify the sauce for certain, but it had a savoriness that paired excellently with the pork and the other fillings, it was a very hearty sandwich. “Jaden…”
Jaden stepped closer with a smile. “Yeah?”
Alexis had pink on her cheeks as she held up the sandwich. “Aaah…”
“Aaah…” Jaden happily went along with it and took a bite from Alexis’s sandwich, right where she’d bitten before, sealing an indirect kiss. “Whoa! That’s good!” He exclaimed after swallowing the bite of sandwich.
“Right?” Alexis smiled warmly at Jaden before pulling the card from the wrapper. “And good sandwiches equal good cards.”
Merciful Machine Angel
Spell
Tribute 1 ‘Cyber Angel’ Ritual Monster from your hand or field; draw 2 cards, then place 1 card from your hand on the bottom of the Deck. For the rest of this turn after this card resolves, you cannot Special Summon monsters, except Ritual Monsters. You can only activate 1 ‘Merciful Machine Angel’ per turn.
“That’s a perfect draw for you, Lexi!” Mindy said with a bright smile.
“Talk about a ‘draw of fate’.” Jasmine agreed with a little laugh.
Drake looked the new Spell card over and thought about what he knew of Alexis’s Cyber Angel Deck. “That would combo well with Cyber Angel Natasha.”
Alexis nodded as she looked at her new card again. “As long as I have another Cyber Angel in the graveyard already, this would let me draw two on top of setting up Natasha’s graveyard effect.”
“Your Deck is getting better and better, Alexis.” Jaden’s grin was turning into a competitive smirk as his Duelist Spirit burned brightly in his brown eyes. “We should definitely have another Duel soon!”
“I’m ready any time, Jaden.” Alexis replied with a grin of her own, her eyes alight with challenge and mirroring Jaden’s intense Duelist Spirit.
“Easy, you two…” Jasmine teased her friends lightly. “You’re gonna get all riled up in front of everyone.”
Alexis’s eyes widened and her cheeks turned red. “Jazz!” She lightly swatted her friend’s shoulder for the lewd remark.
Mindy giggled brightly at seeing Alexis all cute and flustered. “It’s just how you two are…and it’s adorable.”
“If you two are done teasing Alexis…” Drake began.
“Never!” Jasmine and Mindy cut Drake off in almost perfect unison before bursting into a giggles.
Drake chuckled with a small shake of his head, adoring the playfulness of his girlfriends. “I was going to say, that it seems odd that no one has drawn the Golden Eggwich in a week now.”
“That’s true.” Alexis said, once more calm after Mindy and Jasmine’s playful teasing. “Everyone hears about who drew the Golden Eggwich each day. For no one to get it is impossible.”
Jasmine looked thoughtful for a moment. “Now that you mention it…that is weird. Didn’t Jaden draw the Golden Eggwich like seven or eight days in a row before?”
“Eight days is my record!” Jaden said with a big grin, thinking about the cards he’d gotten from so many wins at the Drawbread. Sure, a lot of them he couldn’t use himself, but they were in his binder and just waiting for the right trade to come along.
Miss Dorothy approached the five students with a worried look. “Actually…no one has drawn the Golden Eggwich for the last week. I think someone’s sneaking in and stealing it before the shop opens in the morning.”
“Stealing it?” Mindy blinked at such a theft. “How? All the sandwiches are unlabeled and wrapped up.”
“You’d have the shop locked up before opening too, right?” Drake questioned the owner of the Card Shop.
Dorothy nodded to both of them. “That’s right. But even still, someone manages to force the shutter door open and they always take the single Golden Eggwich. I’ve put padlocks on the shutter door, but the last three days I’ve found them broken on the floor.”
Jaden looked a mix of interested and annoyed. “So that’s why I’ve been on a losing streak with the Drawbread?! I thought I was just in a slump! We need to catch this thief!”
“I agree, if not for the same reason.” Alexis said, shooting a look at Jaden as he rubbed the back of his head. “Whether Jaden wins or not, everyone should have a fair shot at drawing the Golden Eggwich and the rare card that comes with it.”
Jasmine nodded her agreement as well. “That’s right! But it’s a little weird that they only take the single Golden Eggwich when they break in. You’d think they’d grab all the cards they could.”
“In and out.” Drake said after a moment to think. “They break in, grab the one sandwich they know is guaranteed a rare card, and then they bolt before they can be caught on the cameras or by one of the staff.”
“You’re probably right, young man.” Dorothy nodded before leaning in and lowering her voice. “We’ve checked the cameras and all we’ve managed to catch is a tall figure opening the shutter doors and bolting to the Drawbread cart and then back out. Based on the size of the person, we’re fairly certain it’s a man, and Campus Security is patrolling around the Card Shop even more at night trying to catch the thief, but they haven’t had any luck yet since the thefts only started a little while ago.”
Mindy smiled at Dorothy. “We’ll help out with catching the thief, Miss Dorothy!” She looked at her friends with ‘puppy dog eyes’. “Right? We’ll help her catch this thief.”
“How’re we supposed to resist that look?” Jasmine asked rhetorically, pulling her girlfriend into a hug.
Drake chuckled and wrapped his arms around both of his girlfriends. “You’re not playing fair, Mindy.” He pointed out with a grin.
Mindy had an adorable smug look on her face as she was hugged by her boyfriend and girlfriend.
Jaden nodded with a grin. “Time for a stakeout!”
“With your permission, Miss Dorothy, we’ll be happy to help out.” Alexis said with a polite smile.
“I’ll tell the Chancellor and Campus Security that you all are helping me out tonight and into the morning!” Dorothy agreed with a warm smile for the helpful students.
-Card Shop ~ Night-
Jaden, Alexis, Drake, Jasmine, and Mindy were all in the backroom of the Card Shop where the staff usually took their breaks. Alexis was reading a card catalogue, checking prices and availability of a cards that the Card Shop could order. Mindy and Jasmine were flipping through a Duelist magazine together; the newest issue featured the results of the latest national league tournament and celebrity events for the most well-known and popular professional Duelists. Jaden and Drake were playing cards, not Duel Monsters, but regular playing cards.
“Ready?” Jaden grinned as he reached towards the last two cards that Drake was holding. “Here it comes…”
Drake smirked right back at Jaden. “Time to put your drawing skills to the test, Jaden. Which one is it?” He had a joker and a four of diamonds left and he made sure to look straight at Jaden to not give away which was which. “If you mess up, you lose.”
Jaden looked at the back of the two cards in his best friend’s hand and focused. “This one!” He grabbed one and flipped it over. “Yeah!” He cheered when he saw the four of diamonds. “High card!”
“You got lucky.” Drake laughed as he dropped the joker card onto the table atop a pile of cards they’d gone through during their game.
“It’s totally skill!” Jaden shot back with a smile.
Alexis grinned at them both. “Fifty-fifty odds are actually pretty high, at least in Duel Monsters.”
Mindy looked up from the magazine that she was reading with Jasmine. “And there are ways to play around a Deck focused on drawing cards, like swarming the field and reducing the opponent’s Life Points to zero on your turn so that even if they draw cards, they don’t get a chance to play them.”
“Not that a good draw isn’t able to turn a Duel around, of course.” Jasmine said with a shrug. “I’ve won multiple Duels because I drew the right card at the right time.”
The door to the room opened and Miss Dorothy walked in with a tray of freshly made rice balls. “Who wants some stakeout snacks?” She set the tray down on the table. “Here, eat up!”
Drake smiled at the familiar food; his mother having made it with him probably a hundred times. “Nice. What fillings did you use?”
“Three kinds: apricot, salmon, and smoked tuna!” Dorothy said with a thankful smile for the five of them. “Let’s keep this hard work going! I’ll be staying up with you all night if we have to!”
“Which ones are salmon?” Mindy asked, looking at the rice balls for any clues.
Before Miss Dorothy could point out which were which, Jaden held up a hand to stop her.
“Wait! Let’s do a rice ball draw!” Jaden grinned at his friends. “I like salmon too…so let’s take turns and draw them!”
“But we can just share them, there’s plenty.” Jasmine pointed out the amount of rice balls on the tray.
Drake shrugged. “Could be interesting.”
Alexis playfully shook her head at Jaden’s antics. “Everything can be related to Dueling in one way or another…even abstractly, I suppose.”
Jaden laughed and looked over the rice balls. “My turn! Draw!” He picked up a rice ball at random and bit into it. “I summon…salmon!” He smiled as he enjoyed the rice ball.
“That was dumb luck and you know it.” Mindy declared with a grin as she reached for a rice ball of her own. “Draw!” Picking up one and taking a bite, she blinked and then smiled. “Salmon for me!”
“Draw!” Jasmine grabbed one and took a bite. “I got apricot.”
Drake looked at the rice balls and grabbed one. “Draw!” His first bite made him grin. “Smoked tuna! It’s good!” He complimented Miss Dorothy.
Alexis took one rice ball. “Draw.” She said with a little grin before taking her first bite. “Apricot too. It tastes great, Miss Dorothy.”
“You all enjoy them!” Dorothy encouraged them with a warm smile.
“Miss Dorothy, could I put in an order for some cards while we’re here?” Mindy asked politely after finishing off her first rice ball.
Dorothy nodded as it was something she could easily do while they waited for the thief to show up. “Just fill out the order form and I’ll handle the rest.”
Mindy handed over an already complete order form. “Ready to go!” She smiled brightly at the older woman.
“I’ll handle it then.” Dorothy laughed as she took the order form and looked it over. “Melffy cards, eh?”
“I wasn’t having much luck pulling them from packs, so I figured I’d just order them instead.” Mindy admitted with a half-smile, her lack of luck in finding any of Rabby’s archetype had been a bit of a bummer.
As Dorothy left the back room to go place Mindy’s order, the five students continued to enjoy the rice balls until the tray was empty.
“If we’re gonna stakeout all night, I think we should have a couple people awake and a couple asleep so that we don’t all stay up the entire time.” Drake suggested as they all sat around the back room while the night got later.
“That’s not a bad idea.” Jasmine said as she tossed a couple of cards onto the pile in the middle of the table and drew the same amount of cards for her hand.
Jaden looked over his hand and tossed one card and drew for another. “Who should sleep first?”
Alexis took two cards for her hand. “I’m good either way.”
“Lexi and Jaden can go first, if they want.” Mindy took three cards for her hand after tossing three onto the pile.
“We’ll cuddle up with Drake afterwards.” Jasmine said with a grin.
Drake grinned at his girlfriends. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
Jaden placed his hand down with a chuckle. “Two pair!”
“Three of a kind.” Drake put his hand on the table.
“Sorry guys.” Jasmine clearly wasn’t sorry in the least as she showed her hand. “Straight.” She had a six, seven, eight, nine, and ten of various suits.
Alexis put her hand down next. “Full House.” Making her the winner of the round so far.
“Heh!” Mindy happily spread her hand across the table. “Four of a kind!” She had every Jack in the deck plus a random three of hearts. “I win!”
Everyone gave her a little golf clap for her victory, making her giggle.
“Too bad Miss Dorothy is here…” Jasmine mentioned as the cards were gathered up and shuffled again. “We could’ve played strip poker~”
“That would’ve been nice.” Mindy agreed with a giggle as she shot a look at Drake. “The boys would be down to nothing but their pants by now.”
Drake rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, the luck isn’t with us tonight.”
Jaden shook his head. “We’ve won a few times. The girls would’ve had to take off their blazers at least.”
“I’m sure you’d like that, Jaden.” Alexis had a playful little smirk, even as her cheeks were slightly pink.
“I mean…yeah.” Jaden said with a grin.
“Don’t threaten us with a good time.” Drake chuckled as he shot a look at his girlfriends.
Mindy and Jasmine glanced at each other before looking back at Drake and then unbuttoning the top of their blazers. The dark blue section just below the neck came undone, but didn’t reveal anything beneath.
“Maybe just a few more hands?” Jasmine tempted with a little heat in her voice.
“You might win~” Mindy purred out; her eyes locked onto Drake’s.
Alexis rolled her eyes, though her cheeks got noticeably darker in color. “Down girls. Miss Dorothy is still here.”
Jaden nudged Drake with a grin. “Looks like you might have some plans after this.” He ribbed his buddy with a chuckle.
“I wouldn’t say no…” Drake shook his head once, shooting a look at his teasing girlfriends. Both Mindy and Jasmine smirked at him and left the top button of their blazers undone, a tease that showed nothing, but hinted at possibilities in the future.
After several more rounds of poker, Jaden and Alexis took the first sleep shift. Jasmine, Drake, and Mindy watched them from the table, the couple in the corner, Alexis had her head on Jaden’s shoulder as the two leaned into each other with Jaden’s golden Ra Dorm blazer over them both like a short blanket.
“Adorable.” Mindy cooed quietly in the dark room, only a single table lamp on for them to see by.
Jasmine held Mindy’s hand and smiled softly at Alexis clearly resting peacefully despite both her and Jaden leaning up against the wall. “I’m glad they found each other. Lexi was always ‘Duelist’ and never let herself be anything else, which I get…we all want to be taken seriously as Duelists no matter if we’re men or women. But no girl should go through her teen years never even considering a relationship.”
Drake was holding both Mindy and Jasmine’s free hands, his thumbs softly trailing over the backs of their hands. “They’re good for each other.” He said simply, looking over at his best friend and Alexis practically cuddled up together in the corner of the room.
Mindy smiled warmly at Drake. “And we’re good together too.”
“Absolutely.” Jasmine agreed as she leaned over to kiss Mindy’s cheek.
“You two are far too good to me.” Drake said with a warm smile as he kissed Jasmine’s lips softly for a moment and then captured Mindy’s lips in an equally loving kiss before pulling away.
“Drake…” Mindy giggled lightly before she turned her eyes on Jasmine. “Your turn~” She leaned in and kissed her girlfriend warmly.
Jasmine grinned as she pulled back from their kiss. “Mm, I think I like passing the time this way.”
-Later-
Jaden and Alexis were sitting at the table side-by-side. The couple were holding hands and using their free hands to look through the magazine that Mindy and Jasmine were reading earlier. It was a quiet moment of togetherness, regardless of the situation, and both of them were taking their time to enjoy it.
“When should we wake them up?” Jaden asked as they finished one of the articles in the magazine.
Alexis looked over and saw Drake leaned up against the wall, Mindy on his left and Jasmine on his right, her two friends laying their heads on Drake’s shoulders and both were pressed flush into his sides, each of them having one of their legs over one of Drake’s as they snuggled under Drake’s slightly oversized Ra Dorm blazer together. “Give them a few more minutes, I think.” She looked at the clock on the wall, seeing that it would be five in the morning soon. “The Drawbread sandwiches should be getting cooked and wrapped around now, so the cart will be out shortly before the shop opens at seven in the morning.”
Jaden agreed with a little smile. “They look happy where they are, huh?”
“They do.” Alexis grinned as she saw the little smiles on the faces of her friends. She wasn’t expecting the soft kiss on her cheek that Jaden gave her a moment later. “What was that for?” She asked him, her free hand gently touching her cheek.
“Wanted to.” Jaden answered simply with a smile.
Alexis giggled softly before pulling Jaen closer. “Come here.” She kissed him on the lips and gently squeezed his hand as she deepened the kiss, humming pleasantly when Jaden squeezed back.
-Before Dawn-
Clack
Drake, Mindy, Jasmine, Alexis, and Jaden all glanced at the door to the break room as they heard the metallic sound from the front of the shop. They turned off the light and opened the door just slightly so they could all peer out into the darkened card shop.
Rrrnneee
The metallic scraping of the shutter door being forced upward was heard as the thief partially lifted the metal door, just enough to slip under it in a crouch. The figure was a bit taller than Jaden and Drake and looked to have long wild hair as they approached the cart of Drawbread that had been wheeled out not even ten minutes ago.
The figure approached the Drawbread cart after looking around once and then swiftly rummaged through the wrapped sandwiches. “Ah!” The figure made a noise as they pulled one specific sandwich out of the pile.
“Stop right there!” Dorothy called out as she flicked on the lights from behind the counter.
“Huh?!” The figure was a muscular man in tattered shorts held up with a rope belt and long wild hair. He looked genuinely shocked at the lights being turned on so suddenly and being caught in the act.
“Jump him!” Drake yelled as he and Jaden threw open the back room door and rushed out with the girls following right behind them, all five using their Ba to increase their physicality a bit.
Drake grabbed the top of one of the shelves and vaulted over it, landing to one side of the Drawbread cart. Jaden skidded to a stop at the other end of the area between the cart and the partially opened shutter door. Alexis, Mindy, and Jasmine spread out to form an encirclement of the open area, the three girls taking measured steps forward to close in on the thief.
“There’s no where to run, thief!” Jaden had his arms wide to block the only escape route.
Miss Dorothy seemed shocked as she saw the face of the man. “You…?”
“AAAUUUAAAHHH!!!” The wild man let out a Tarzan-like bellow that made almost everyone wince from the sudden volume. Without a second of hesitation he grabbed the Drawbread cart and shoved it towards the shutter door, running behind it to pick up speed.
“Are you nuts?!” Jaden had to jump out of the way as the cart and the wild man smashed through the partially open metal shutter door, breaking it as the cart rolled out into the wide corridor.
Alexis was at Jaden’s side near instantly. “Are you okay?”
Jaden nodded, giving her a quick smile. “I’m fine. He’s getting away though!”
“Not for long!” Jasmine declared as she took off after the thief.
“We’ll catch him!” Mindy was on Jasmine’s heels as they rushed out of the card shop.
Drake rushed out in pursuit as well, his greater Ba and better control let him overtake his girlfriends in a short time. “Where’s he running? That way leads to a cliff!”
“Hold it!” Alexis yelled out to the fleeing thief.
Jaden sped up even more. “There’s nowhere left to run!”
The wild man stopped at the edge of the school building that was built into the cliff. Looking down into the forest below, he leapt suddenly, shocking everyone.
“Did he just jump?!” Jasmine cried out in shock.
“AAAUUUAAAHHH!!!” The wild man did another Tarzan yell as he caught a branch and then swung onto a vine that carried him into the darkened forest.
Mindy blinked at what they’d just seen. “That’s crazy!”
“Cut him off!” Jaden called out as Winged Kuriboh manifested and grew bigger than normal. Holding onto Jaden with its short four limbs, Kuriboh helped his partner glide down the cliff and into the forest.
“I’ll go with Jaden!” Alexis said as she manifested Cyber Angel Natasha and hopped onto the centaur spirit’s equine back. Natasha was barely a blur as she deftly navigated the rocky cliff face and then took off into the forest with Alexis on her back.
Drake manifested Red-Eyes as soon as he, Jasmine, and Mindy reached the stairs. Without a thought he leapt from the top of the stairs and onto his Ka’s back.
“Catch me!” Mindy had leapt from the top of the stairs as well. Drake caught her in his arms easily thanks to his Ba enhanced strength.
“Reeeaaahhh!” Harpie Girl cried out as she held Jasmine gently with her taloned feet and spread her pink-feathered wings wide, gliding down the length of the stairs alongside Red-Eyes.
The two Ka returned to incorporeal forms as soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs, letting the three humans start running again.
“Rabby!” Mindy partially manifested her Ka, the little pink rabbit already running beside her in its see-through form. “Lead us!”
Rabby took off like a shot, almost making it hard to keep up, even with Ba enhancement. Mindy, Drake, and Jasmine nearly sprinted after the rabbit Monster Spirit to not lose sight.
The Tarzan wannabe let go of the vine he was swinging on and leapt onto a branch. He was barely on it long enough for it to bend under his weight before he leapt off and grabbed another vine. ‘Are they still following me?!’ He thought in panic as he heard people behind him coming through the forest at a steady speed. Looking ahead as the edge of the forest came into view, the wild man gaped in shock as Jasmine, Mindy, and Drake slid to a stop in front of the treeline. “Gah!” He cried out as he barely managed to swing over a branch and flip once through the air before landing on the ground safely.
“That’s far enough!” Jaden called out from behind the wild man as he and Alexis emerged from the treeline.
“Guh…” The Tarzan-like man saw that he was surrounded and glanced towards the waterfall at one end of the clearing.
Drake saw the look and took a step forward. “Don’t do it.”
The wild man rushed towards the waterfall and leapt upward, grabbing onto a protruding rock and using it as a foothold to start climbing the waterfall. Only to look up and flinch in terror as (just for a brief instant) he saw a Red-Eyes Black Dragon looking down at him, its jaws filled with sharp fangs wide open as if to devour him. “GAAHHH!!!” He yelled in panic, losing his grip and falling into the pool of water at the base of the water fall. A moment later and the thief resurfaced, looking wildly up at the top of the waterfall, but seeing nothing there.
“We’ve got you now, you thief!” Mindy said while pointing at the wild man pulling himself out of the water.
“Hah…hah…” Miss Dorothy appeared running along the path that Jasmine, Mindy, and Drake had made through the forest. “You’re all…so fast…” She panted out as she came to a stop. “Damon…that’s really you, right?” She asked the wild man as he shook his long hair, throwing drops of water everywhere.
The man—apparently named Damon—looked at Miss Dorothy before nodding once. “It’s been a while, Miss Dorothy.”
“You know him, Miss Dorothy?” Jaden asked the older woman.
Dorothy nodded. “Yes, his name’s Damon. He was an Obelisk Blue last year that always loved trying the Drawbread each day. Unfortunately, he wasn’t very good at picking good sandwiches. He went missing about a year ago…we all thought he’d dropped out until his parents called the school after not hearing from their son in over a month. Campus Security searched the island but found no trace of him. We had no idea he was still on the island.”
Jaden cocked an eyebrow as he looked at Damon. “This guy wasn’t good at the Drawbread? But he’s stolen the Golden Eggwich six times in a row now.”
“Hahahaha!” Damon suddenly laughed. “Yes… You’re right. I have been reborn!” He declared, much to the confusion of the group. “I went away to the wilds for the last year to practice my drawing!”
“Without telling the Academy…or even your parents?” Jasmine looked at Damon like he was insane.
Damon seemed to ignore that, though their was a subtle flinch at the mention of his parents. “Every time their was a test, I always scored the highest in Obelisk Blue on the written portion…but the practical…” His mind was nearly flooded with all the times he’d drawn poorly and ended up losing his exam Duels. “While lamenting my defeat, I sat by the sea and begged to get better at drawing. But, hearing no answer, just the ebb and flow of the waves…I realized that the billion-year-old sound was unchanging, just like drawing! Drawing never changes! I thought the essence of drawing would lie in nature itself! So I left to train in nature…to learn from nature and become one with nature! I trained for this past year to improve my drawing!” He raised his fist in front of himself. “And to prove my training, I challenged the Drawbread that had always foiled me! And I managed to get it every time!” He teared up slightly. “I tried my hardest and it worked!”
Miss Dorothy had small tears in the corners of her eyes. “Oh, Damon…”
“Until you stole the Golden Eggwich over and over again, I had a record of eight days.” Jaden said with a grin.
Damon perked up at that. “Hm?!”
Mindy stepped forward. “But you still lost to me in cards…”
“H-Hey…” Jaden looked at Mindy. “That was only…a few times…tonight.”
“Interesting…” Damon said, getting everyone’s attention. “I did want to test my new drawing prowess in a real Duel. I’ll challenge whichever of you has the best drawing skill!”
Drake took out his Deck and Jasmine pulled out hers. Both shuffled the cards swiftly and then held out their Decks, Jasmine to Mindy and Drake to Jaden.
“Declare what type of card you’ll draw and then draw the top card.” Drake explained the simple test.
“Totally fair since it’s different Decks.” Jasmine grinned at Mindy and Jaden.
Jaden reached for the top card of Drake’s Deck. “Monster!”
Mindy drew the top card from Jasmine’s Deck. “Trap!”
“Oh…” Jaden saw that he’d drawn Dragon Nails. “…a Spell.”
“Trap!” Mindy grinned as she showed everyone Harpie Lady Elegance. “Looks like it’s you and me, Damon!”
Damon went over to the waterfall and moved a large rock aside to reveal a bag that contained his Obelisk Blue Duel Disk. He slipped it on and turned to face Mindy. “My drawing skills are perfect! I can’t lose!”
Mindy slipped her Duel Disk on, thankful that they’d all remembered to grab theirs on the way out of the back room. “We’ll see about that!” She pulled her Deck out of her Deck Box, holding the twenty-five card ‘core’ of her main Deck before looking at the multiple sections of fifteen cards each that were in her Deck Box as her side deck options. “This one will work against someone that likes to draw cards.” She picked the fifteen cards in one section and slipped them into her Deck to make it forty cards and then put it into the Duel Disk to be auto-shuffled.
“DUEL!!!” Damon and Mindy called out as their Duel Disks activated.
Damon – 4000
Mindy – 4000
“Ladies first, right?” Mindy grinned as she drew for her first turn. “I’ll summon Chain Dog!” She placed the card onto the field and in a flash of light a white dog with a black spot over one eye, black ears, and a black tipped tail that was wrapped in bronze chains with a golden padlock acting as a tag on the front appeared on the field.
Chain Dog – Level 4 – EARTH – Beast/Effect – 1600 ATK/1100 DEF
The Chain Dog let out a bark as it looked across the field at Damon.
“Then I’ll set a face-down.” Mindy slip a card into her Spell/Trap zone, the hologram appearing behind Chain Dog. “And that’ll do it for this turn! Let’s see how good your drawing really is!”
“I’ll be showing you the fruits of my year of training! I draw!” Damon drew for his turn and smiled. “First, I set one card face-down!” He slid the card into his Duel Disk. “Then I summon the card I drew: Drawler!”
In a flare of light a towering golem-like monster with large steel wheels beneath its two huge hands and everything below its waist replaced with a massive steel roller appeared. It’s eye briefly glowed, though its expression was literally carved from stone.
Drawler – Level 3 – EARTH – Rock/Effect – 0 ATK/0 DEF
“A monster with zero attack points?” Jaden questioned the card he’d never seen before. “What kind of effect does it have?”
“Drawler’s ATK and DEF become five-hundred times the number of cards from my hand that I’ve sent back to my Deck!” Damon explained to everyone. “I’ll send back the four cards in my hand!” He placed his entire hand back on top of his Deck and let it be auto-shuffled.
Jasmine blinked in surprise. “His entire hand?”
Alexis narrowed her eyes slightly. “He’s confident that he can draw whatever he needs, when he needs it.”
Drawler glowed with an orange aura for a moment as its ATK and DEF increased.
Drawler – Level 3 – EARTH – Rock/Effect – 2000 ATK/2000 DEF
“That’s a problem.” Drake said as he looked between Chain Dog and Drawler.
“I attack Chain Dog with Drawler!” Damon declared and the massive golem rolled forward at speed.
Mindy smirked at the incoming attack. “I activate my Trap card: Spirit Barrier!” The hologram behind Chain Dog flipped face-up and revealed the card that she’d traded with Drake. “As long as I have a monster on the field, all Battle Damage becomes zero!”
Drawler crushed Chain Dog beneath its rollers and shattered it into pixels.
“And because damage calculation happens BEFORE destruction, Mindy takes no damage this turn.” Alexis said with a little smile.
Mindy tried to place Chain Dog into her graveyard, but the Duel Disk slot glowed red, signaling that she couldn’t. “Huh?”
“Drawler’s second effect is that when it destroys an opponent’s monster that’s in attack position, the card is sent to the bottom of the Deck, instead of the graveyard.” Damon explained why Mindy couldn’t put her card into the graveyard like normal. “You won’t be able to bring them back so easily!”
“Well, that’s annoying.” Mindy slid her card into the bottom of her Deck. ‘Several of the effects of my cards require my monsters to be destroyed by battle and go to the graveyard.’
“I end my turn there.” Damon had a confident look on his face now.
“My turn! Draw!” Mindy drew her card and grinned when she saw it. “I activate Graceful Charity!” The hologram appeared on the field depicting an angel holding a glowing white card. “I draw three and discard two!” She drew three more cards and her smile became a smirk. “I’ll send Milus Radiant and Lock Cat into the graveyard.” She slipped the two cards into the graveyard. “Now that I’ve got some Beast monsters in my graveyard, I’ll play Solidarity!” The Spell card appeared on the field and showed five of the Ojama monsters—yellow, green, black, blue, and red—all holding hands in a circle and cheering loudly.
Damon thought for a moment before recalling what that particular card did. “And as long as you only have one Type of monster in your graveyard, all other monsters of that Type on the field get an 800 ATK boost.”
Mindy nodded in agreement. “Yep!” She then set one monster face-down. “I set one monster and that’ll be it for me.”
“At your End Phase…” Damon hit a button on his Duel Disk. “I activate my Trap card: Miracle Draw!” The face-down card flipped up and showed a hand picking up the top card from a Deck as the card glowed with golden light. “It has me declare what card I’ll draw before my Draw Phase! If I’m right, my opponent loses 1000 Life Points!”
“Such a reckless strategy.” Drake commented on the play. “If he’s wrong, HE’LL take 1000 damage.”
Jasmine looked between Damon and Mindy. “There’s no way he can correctly guess his next draw, right? Cards like that are usually played AFTER you use a different card to ensure a specific card is on top of your Deck.”
Damon had a confident grin on his face. “I bet you think I won’t call it correctly.”
“I’m not sure if you will or not.” Mindy admitted, not letting his strategy get to her. “Why don’t you find out.”
“I will! I’ve realized what the essence of drawing is!” Damon declared strongly. He placed his fingers on the top card of his Deck and closed his eyes, focusing just as he’d done every day for the last year. In his mind’s eye he saw every card still in his Deck. “I’ll draw Pot of Greed!” Damon drew the card and showed it to everyone, the famous Spell card had, indeed, been drawn.
Jaden blinked at the correct guess. “No way…”
“Another draw card.” Alexis noticed, wondering what exactly Damon’s strategy was for his draw heavy Deck. ‘I doubt it’s Exodia. Those cards are still beyond rare and ridiculously expensive. But there’s plenty of cards that benefit from drawing a lot, whether that’s from increased hand size or number of cards tossed into the graveyard.’
“You take 1000 damage.” Damon said as Mindy’s Duel Disk let out hologram sparks and the crackle of electricity.
Damon – 4000
Mindy – 3000
Damon placed the Pot of Greed card into his Duel Disk. “I play Pot of Greed!” The wickedly smiling pot appeared on the field for a moment before vanishing as Damon drew two more cards. “I set one card face-down.” The hologram appeared on the field. “And then I’ll attack your set monster with Drawler!”
The massive golem rolled forward powerfully, the rumble of its weight perfectly simulated as it approached the face-down hologram. Mindy only grinned as her card glowed right as Drawler was about to run over it and then the golem stopped in its tracks. Even as its wheels and roller continued to spin, the large monster couldn’t move forward an inch.
“What?!” Damon gaped at his attack being stopped.
“Looks like your big golem can’t move my cute little bunny!” Mindy giggled as everyone saw Melffy Rabby holding back Drawler with his two little front paws.
Melffy Rabby – Level 2 – EARTH – Beast – 0 ATK/2100 DEF
The Solidarity card on Mindy’s field glowed and the same glow surrounded Rabby as his ATK was increased.
Melffy Rabby – Level 2 – EARTH – Beast – 800 ATK/2100 DEF
“Pyik!” Rabby cried out, his DEF exceeded Drawler’s 2000 ATK, before he shoved the golem backwards making it skid along the grass and dirt.
Damon – 3900
Mindy – 3000
“A small price to pay to reveal your hidden monster.” Damon said without much concern. “I’ll end my turn there.”
“I draw!” Mindy drew for her turn and immediately set another monster. “I set one monster!” The face down hologram appeared on the field next to Rabby.
Damon looked confused by Mindy’s play. ‘She keeps playing her monsters in defense. Is she trying to stall until she draws a monster more powerful than my Drawler? Or is she waiting for a specific Spell or Trap card to destroy my monsters? Whatever she’s planning, I’ll stop it before she can overcome my Drawler!’
“I’ll end my turn there.” Mindy grinned as she looked at Damon. “Think you can get lucky and guess your next draw again?”
“My training will not fail me!” Damon declared powerfully. He closed his eyes and focused, taking the card on top of his Deck between his index finger and thumb. “I will draw Card of Demise!” He pulled the card from his Deck and looked at it; with a grin, he showed it to everyone else. The Spell card had been drawn, just as Damon had predicted.
“Again?!” Jasmine couldn’t believe it.
Drake whistled at Damon’s luck. ‘At this point, maybe it really is skill.’
“That’s crazy drawing!” Jaden exclaimed at the correct call.
Mindy’s Duel Disk let out the blue-white sparks again, making her wince form the light.
Damon – 3900
Mindy – 2000
“Is that his strategy? Just draw cards accurately until his opponent is out of Life Points?” Alexis wondered, never having heard of such a tactic before.
“I play Card of Demise!” Damon put the card onto the field, the hologram depicting a man in a green robe, three cards falling from his hand in shock as he watched a miniature guillotine cut the rest of his Deck in two. “I draw three cards!” he took three more cards from his Deck. “I summon Avatar of the Pot!” He placed the card onto the field and in a glow of green light a muscular body with light green skin and a head that was the Pot of Greed appeared with a red and blue striped cloth around his hips and covering his groin, two golden bracelets on each wrist and two matching golden anklets on each ankle.
Avatar of the Pot – Level 3 – EARTH – Rock/Effect – 1200 ATK/1300 DEF
“That’s just weird…” Alexis, Jasmine, Drake, Jaden, and even Miss Dorothy said at the same time.
Damon didn’t react to the commentary on his monster. “And now Avatar of the Pot will attack your set monster!” He declared as his strange-looking monster charged forward and punched the face down card. “I doubt your new monster has the same DEF as your rabbit!”
The face-down card flipped over right as Avatar of the Pot punched it, revealing a huge, brown flying squirrel: Nimble Momonga. The flying squirrel shattered into pixels as Avatar of the Pot leapt backwards and landed back on Damon’s side of the field.
Mindy smiled brightly. “Thanks! By destroying my Nimble Momonga by battle, it’s effects activate! I get 1000 Life Points…”
Damon – 3900
Mindy – 3000
“…and I get to special summon as many Nimble Momonga from my Deck as possible!” She reached for her Deck, only for Damon to hold up his hand.
“I activate my Trap card: Mirror of Oaths!” Damon’s face-down card flipped up to show an old man in black robes standing before five mirrors, the mirrors on the left and right showed his reflection while the one in the center showed a swirling red vortex that emanated wispy black energy from within the mirror. “When you would special summon any number of monsters, they’re destroyed instead and I draw one card!”
The Trap card blasted a torrent of the wispy dark energy at Mindy, just as she pulled the two Nimble Momonga cards from her Deck. With a shrug, Mindy put them into the graveyard instead.
Damon drew a card and smiled when he saw it. “I can’t destroy your rabbit yet, but I only need to declare my draws correctly a few more times before you’re defeated, so attacking isn’t necessary! Instead, I’ll move to my Main Phase 2 and play Magical Stone Excavation!” The Spell card appeared on the field depicting a blue spiky crystal that shone with purple light. “Since I was able to draw another card thanks to my Mirror of Oaths, I had enough cards in my hand to play this one! I discard two cards and return one card from the graveyard to my hand!” He put his last two cards into the graveyard and then pulled Pot of Greed from the graveyard.
“You REALLY love drawing cards, huh?” Mindy said with a little grin.
“I do!” Damon said proudly. “That’s why I’m not going to activate Pot of Greed!” That got him confused looks from everyone. “Instead, I’ll use Avatar of the Pot’s effect!” The weird monster with a Pot of Greed for a head flexed and posed his muscular body like a professional bodybuilder as it glowed green. “I discard Pot of Greed from my hand to draw THREE cards!” Damon put Pot of Greed back into his graveyard and drew three new cards. “I activate Card Trader!” A Continuous Spell Card that depicted a man with half his face covered in a metal mask wearing a black cloak and black top hat while holding out a deck of cards with one white-gloved hand appeared. “Then I set the other two!” The two face-down holograms appeared behind Drawler and Avatar of the Pot.
Alexis hummed thoughtfully. “He got around the downside of using Card of Demise by doing that.” The downside of Card of Demise was having to discard your entire hand at the End Phase, but without a hand, Damon had no cards to discard and therefore the effect was moot.
“Mindy’s still got this.” Jasmine said with confidence.
“His strongest monster only has 2000 ATK and Mindy’s been setting up for a sweep. This should be good.” Drake had a grin on his face as he was fairly certain he knew what Mindy was about to do.
Mindy glanced at the two face-down cards on Damon’s field and wondered what they might be for a Duelist that was a drawing fanatic. “Well, it’s going to be dawn soon…and my beasts prefer to hunt at night.” She said to Damon, her expression predatory as she drew for her turn. “Draw!” Looking at her card her predatory grin only got fiercer, her normally soft brown eyes narrowing on Damon like a beast locking onto its prey. “Didn’t you wonder why I didn’t attack with my Nimble Momonga earlier? I have Spirit Barrier active, I wouldn’t have taken any damage by crashing into your Avatar of the Pot, I would’ve gained 1000 Life Points instead and special summoned my other two Nimble Momonga…well, except for your Trap card stopping that.” Mindy almost bared her teeth as Damon realized that she’d needlessly played defense. “Or why I sent two of my monsters to the graveyard when they don’t even have graveyard effects?”
“That was to activate Solidarity…wasn’t it?” Damon suddenly didn’t sound so sure of that fact.
“I only need ONE Beast Type monster in the graveyard for Solidarity to be in effect.” Mindy reminded him. “I didn’t have any problem with your trap sending my other two Nimble Momonga to the grave either…why do you think that is?” She placed a new monster card on the field. “I summon Hyena!” In a glow of light a grey hyena appeared, though it looked larger than its real-life counterpart, the almost cackling bark of the beast was heard as it stood next to Rabby, facing down Drawler and Avatar of the Pot.
Hyena – Level 3 – EARTH – Beast/Effect – 1000 ATK/300 DEF
Solidarity glowed and a matching aura surrounded Hyena as it’s attack rose.
Hyena – Level 3 – EARTH – Beast/Effect – 1800 ATK/300 DEF
“You can only destroy my Avatar of the Pot…I have more than enough Life Points to survive that.” Damon pointed out the obvious lack of ATK to take out his Drawler.
“And I still have Spirit Barrier.” Mindy said back, her eyes focused on Damon the same way that her Hyena’s eyes were focused on Avatar of the Pot and Drawler. “I switch Melffy Rabby into attack position.”
“Pyik!” Rabby hopped in place as he prepared to attack.
Mindy slid a card into her Duel Disk. “I play Pot of Avarice!” A Spell card appeared on the field showing a purple pot encrusted with gems, a running nose, its mouth open to reveal each of its teeth capped with a different shiny gem, and its long tongue sticking out. “I needed five monsters in the graveyard to activate it, and thanks to you and your Trap card, I have them. I shuffle back all five of my monsters and then draw two cards.” She moved Milus Radiant, Lock Cat, and all three Nimble Momonga to her Deck and let it auto-shuffle before drawing two new cards.
Solidarity stopped working as there were no monsters left in Mindy’s graveyard.
Hyena – Level 3 – EARTH – Beast/Effect – 1000 ATK/300 DEF
Melffy Rabby – Level 2 – EARTH – Beast – 0 ATK/2100 DEF
“Now neither of your monsters can destroy mine.” Damon pointed out as his monsters now practically towered over Mindy’s.
“You know, I’m pretty good at drawing cards too.” Mindy told Damon as she placed another Spell card onto her field, leaving just two cards left in her hand. “I play my second Solidarity!” The identical spell cared appeared next to the first and glowed for a second.
“But she doesn’t have any monsters in the graveyard.” Jaden looked curious about the play.
Jasmine had a smirk on her face. “She doesn’t have any monsters in the graveyard yet.”
“When hunting, predators will always prepare as much as possible to ensure a successful kill.” Mindy said as she put the second to last card in her hand onto the field. “I play Wild Nature’s Release!” The hologram appeared next to the Spirit Barrier and showed the monster known as Berserk Gorilla roaring loudly and creating shockwaves as beams of light shot from its eyes and electricity sparked off its body. “I target one Beast monster and its DEF is added to its ATK until the End Phase! I choose Melffy Rabby!”
The Spell card glowed a dark red before shooting towards Rabby and surrounding the cute, pink bunny in the fearsome aura, electricity crackling off the fur that now stood on end.
Melffy Rabby – Level 2 – EARTH – Beast – 2100 ATK/2100 DEF
“PYIK!!!” Rabby roared out, hackles raised and eyes glowing a terrifying red.
“The first strike…” Mindy said with the look of a predator about to pounce on it prey. “…is often a feint.” Damon actually backed up a step at the look Mindy was giving him. “I attack Avatar of the Pot with Hyena!” Hyena rushed forward, leaping into the air to snap at Avatar of the Pot’s jar of a head, only to be hit with a chop from the muscular monster and shatter into pixels.
Spirit Barrier glowed, reducing the Battle Damage to zero.
“When Hyena is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I can special summon any number of Hyena from my Deck.” She searched her Deck and quickly found the other two copies of the monster and placed them on her field in attack position.
Hyena – Level 3 – EARTH – Beast/Effect – 1000 ATK/300 DEF
Hyena – Level 3 – EARTH – Beast/Effect – 1000 ATK/300 DEF
With one Hyena in the graveyard, both copies of Solidarity activated again, the air filling with the cackling barks of the two new Hyena as their ATK rose.
Hyena – Level 3 – EARTH – Beast/Effect – 2600 ATK/300 DEF
Hyena – Level 3 – EARTH – Beast/Effect – 2600 ATK/300 DEF
“PYIK!” Rabby looked absolutely feral as his ATK increased.
Melffy Rabby – Level 2 – EARTH – Beast – 3700 ATK/2100 DEF
Damon quickly did the math in his head. “Oh no!”
“As I said…predators always prepare as best as possible to ensure the kill.” Mindy said with an almost hungry grin. “I attack Drawler with Melffy Rabby!”
Rabby was nothing more than a pink blur as he shot forward and Drawler’s entire body exploded into shards of rock and metal from the power of the blow. The debris exploded into pixels at the same time that Rabby bit into Damon’s face with his slavering little mouth.
“GAAAHHH!!!” Damon yelled in terror even as the hologram passed through him, a tingle of primal fear making his body shake.
Damon – 2200
Mindy – 3000
Rabby was back on Mindy’s side of the field in the same pink blur.
“Hyena attacks Avatar of the Pot!” Mindy’s eyes were gleaming just as much as her monster’s as the Hyena rushed forward and snapped its powerful jaws around the head of the odd monster, shattering its Pot of Greed head into fragments with ease.
Damon – 800
Mindy – 3000
“And then there was one.” Mindy almost growled. “Hyena attacks you for game!”
Damon raised both his hands in front of him as the Hyena blitzed towards him and lunged with its jaws wide open. “AAAHHH!!!” With the incredibly realistic technology of Kaiba Corp, Damon was able to see, hear, and even smell the jaws of the Hyena as they closed around his head and snapped shut. He fell to the ground on his ass and scrambled backwards even as the last of his Life Points vanished.
Damon – 0
Mindy – 3000
The holograms faded away with Mindy’s victory.
Before anyone could celebrate, Campus Security emerged from the treeline surrounding the clearing. The head of Campus Security herself was even present; her stern expression locked onto Damon.
“When did Camp Sec get here?” Jaden blinked at the sudden arrival of so many people.
“I called them when the thief broke through the shutter door in his escape.” Dorothy told the five students that had helped her keep watch throughout the night. “They must’ve surrounded the forest and made their way in from all sides so that the thief wouldn’t be able to get away.”
Drake noticed that the members of Campus Security were in a perfect circle around the clearing, so Miss Dorothy’s presumption of their actions was probably correct. “Not the fastest way to catch a thief, but it’s probably the most reliable.”
“Damon Taizan.” The Head of Campus Security called out to Damon before he could even pick himself up off the ground. “You’ll be coming with us, immediately.”
Damon didn’t resist as he was helped to his feet by one member of Campus Security and the group surrounded him. “I know I’ve broken quite a few rules…”
The Head of Campus Security’s expression got even sharper, if that was possible. “A few rules…” She stood right before Damon, somehow seeming bigger than the young man despite being shorter. “Your parents filed a missing person’s report when you disappeared and we couldn’t find you on the island. You cut classes suddenly around winter break last year and vanished. The faculty had to presume that you’d dropped out when you didn’t return at the end of the break. Your parents calling us a month later was the first we heard about you being missing. We scoured the island looking for you to no avail. This has gone far beyond the rules of the Academy. You’ve caused a legal issue between your parents and Duel Academy; on top of that, over this year you’ve been hiding out on the island, you’ve stolen from the school, destroyed school property, violated curfew hundreds of times, ditched all of your classes which resulted in failing all of them, and that means you’re expelled now that you’ve been found safe.”
Damon’s eyes were wide in shock as he finally realized what his sudden decision to train in the wild for the past year had caused. “M-My parents…?”
The group of Campus Security began to lead Damon away, following the thin path through the forest that Drake, Mindy, and Jasmine had made.
“We’ll be contacting your parents as soon as we get you to the nurse’s office to ensure that you’re well. Chancellor Sheppard, Dr. Crowler, and I will be questioning you about where you’ve been and why you did what you did as well. You’ll be shipped off the island tomorrow and escorted back to your parents…” The Head of Campus Security said; her voice growing fainter the further away the group of Campus Security members got until the rest couldn’t hear her anymore.
“Oh, Damon…” Miss Dorothy sighed as one of the students she liked had ended his future at the Academy…and potentially as a professional Duelist.
“I don’t think we’re going to be seeing Damon at school again.” Alexis said after a moment to process what had just happened.
Jaden nodded in agreement. “Yeah… It’s too bad. I wanted to Duel him too.”
“That was a great Duel, Mindy!” Jasmine praised her girlfriend while hugging her warmly.
“Even I wasn’t sure how far you were going to go on that last turn!” Drake chuckled as he wrapped Mindy in a hug as well, the ravenette sandwiched between him and Jasmine, much to her delight.
Mindy beamed at Drake and Jasmine as she wrapped one arm around each of their waists and hugged them back as best she could. “It was a fun Duel!” Inwardly she did wonder what Damon’s two face-down cards had been, but she’d probably never know. ‘But if I had to guess…probably Trap cards that let him draw more cards depending on certain circumstances.’ It would certainly fit with the draw fanatic’s Deck from what she’d seen of it.
“Well…” Miss Dorothy smiled at the five students. “As thanks for helping me out, why don’t you three come to the Card Shop and I’ll give you something for your trouble.”
“Thank you, Miss Dorothy!” All five of them chorused, making the kindly older woman laugh.
-Next Day ~ Lunch-
“Alright!” Jaden declared as he stood before the Drawbread cart again. “Without someone stealing the Golden Eggwich, it’s as good as mine!”
“Not if I get it first!” Drake said with a challenging grin.
Both of them nearly face faulted when they heard Alexis cheer.
“I got the Golden Eggwich!” Alexis exclaimed happily, raising the coveted sandwich high, a bite already taken out of it.
“Awesome, Lexi!” Mindy cheered brightly.
Jasmine grinned at Drake and Jaden from across the cart. “Better luck tomorrow, boys!”
Drake shrugged at missing out on the Golden Eggwich. “Ya win some, ya lose some. Right Jaden?” He looked at his best friend only to see Jaden smiling softly as he watched Alexis.
“I can’t bring myself to care when she smiles like that.” Jaden said warmly as he saw the absolutely gorgeous smile on Alexis’s face from winning the biggest prize of the Drawbread.
“Go congratulate her then dude.” Drake lightly pushed Jaden’s back.
Jaden walked over to Alexis as she took another bite from the most delicious sandwich of the lot. “Congrats, Alexis!” He smiled happily at her success. “What card did you get?”
“Thanks Jaden!” Alexis beamed at her boyfriend, accepting a hug from him as she pulled the card out from the wrapper.
Choju of the Trillion Hands – Level 6 – LIGHT – Fairy/Effect – 1400 ATK/1000 DEF
If this card is Summoned: You can add 1 Ritual Monster and 1 Ritual Spell from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of ‘Choju of the Trillion Hands’ once per turn.
“That’s almost tailor-made for your Deck…” Jaden blinked at the rare card.
“Yeah…” Alexis was thrilled and she smiled beautifully once the shock had worn off. “I suppose it’s technically perfect for just about any Ritual Deck, but it’s a great card. The only problem is that it’s a level six, so I’d have to tribute for it.”
Jaden smiled back at Alexis. “I’ll bet there’s a card that can get around the tribute summon.”
The two looked into each other’s eyes with affection and their Duelist Spirits burning bright.
Mindy and Jasmine were practically cooing off to the side as they watched.
Drake, however, had his attention caught by someone standing at the doorway to the Card Shop: Zane Truesdale. To be more precise, his attention had been intentionally caught by the see-through spirit hovering around Zane.
‘Even faster than I thought.’ Drake mused as he saw what had to be Zane’s new Ka: a Cyber Dragon Core. “Looks like we’ll be moving to the next lesson.”
-End Chapter-
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Another mystery of Duel Academy solved!
Damon’s rash idea to go train in the wilderness of the island for a year was VERY dumb! His parents have to file a missing person’s report, the school gets embroiled in a legal issue over a missing student (and they already have issues with the missing students from the Abandoned Dorm incident), it’s just a bad time for everyone.
Thankfully, now that Damon’s been found, his parents can have their son back and Duel Academy can explain the situation.
Alexis, Jaden, Jasmine, Mindy, and Drake all get a reward from Miss Dorothy for their help! I wonder what it could be?
Alexis pulls the Golden Eggwich the very next day and gets a rare card that’s perfect for Ritual Decks! The newest ‘upgrade’ of Senju of the Thousand Hands, going beyond Manju of the Ten-Thousand Hands, welcome the ultimate Ritual searcher: Choju of the Trillion Hands!
Jaden is completely in love with Alexis’s beautiful smile when she’s happy. So cute!
But, much to Drake’s surprise, Zane has already manifested his Ka! That didn’t even take the prodigy more than a week!
What comes next for Duel Academy and our Shadow Magic users?
Keep reading to find out!
Until I get your reviews, later!