Yu-Gi-Oh! Gakuen D

[evilfusion]

David blinked at the dimensional rifts closed up as if they hadn't existed and he just stared at Shihiro for several stunned seconds. Then, slowly, he drew a card from his deck, casting it a glance. He had expected some sort of counter, but he hadn't expected something like that. He felt a dull sense of disappointment. The finale of the duel had not been anything like he had expected and hoped for. Not every game would have a fancy ending and it was only natural some cards on the field wouldn't be used. It didn't stop him from thinking that ending the duel simply by negating a counter was disturbingly anti-climactic for such a close, intense duel.

Infernity Archfiend shattered into steam and pixels with a groan and David winced.

LP: 0

The holograms of his three defending monsters faded away. David smiled a little and deactivated his disk, walking towards Shihiro and extending a hand. "Good game," he said.

[Takashi125]

Shihiro's monsters vanished from the field as his duel disk deactivated. He didn't feel satisfied having won the duel through such a means. He walks up to David and pats him on the shoulder. "Great duel... Though I regret using Dark Bribe honestly... I hate that card... It sound's so under-handed... but... what's done is done." He said.

"It was still a pleasure dueling you." He walks toward the benches and takes a seat. "Shall we watch the rest of the tests?" He offered.

[evilfusion]

"No big deal," David shrugged. "I'm curious, though. What was your other facedown card? I'm trying to decide if not using Infernity Break at the start of your turn was the reason for my loss or if I was doomed either way." He chuckled good naturedly. Had he activated Break right away, Shihiro may have used Dark Bribe, at which case he would draw, but still have Dimension Wall waiting in the wings, able to be activated because Break was negated. However, if the other card could counter Infernity Break or Dimension Wall as well as Bribe's defense, then the outcome was invariably Shihiro's victory.

He sat down to the side with the Samurai Duelist, silently agreeing that waiting was the best course of action.

[Takashi125]

Shihiro snapped his fingers. "Ah right, the other face-down..." He takes his deck and pulls out a trap card. "Backs to the Wall. Heh a pretty dangerous trap card considering the cost is reducing your life points to 100, but to be able to bring back as many Six Samurai monsters as I can is worth the risk I say." He puts the trap card back into his deck and turns his attention to the duels underway. Some were rather unique, others were generic. Either way they were entertaining to watch.

Just then a question he figured he'd ask David popes into his mind . "Hey David... several students including myself have been having strange dreams lately... have you had the same?"

[evilfusion]

[i]I knew it! Somehow I just knew he'd have Backs to the Wall![/i] David thought. [i]In that case, defeat was all but a certainty. He could have used it against Infernity Break to spare his Shogun, and then Dimension Wall would be sealed because of Shogun's effect.[/i]

The other student's question caught him by surprise. "Well, that's not a random, semi-personal question," he said, scratching the back of his head. "Depends, I suppose, as to what qualifies a dream as being strange. You can hardly say any dream you have is normal," he said thoughtfuly. "And a bunch of people having dreams is bound to happen one way or another."

[Takashi125]

Shihiro laughed "Yea that was a pretty vague question wasn't it? Well what I meant was... at least for me, the dream I had was so real it felt like it actually happened... I don't know... but what I do know is that something feels strange around here... would you laugh if I told you I don't know how I got this deck?" Shihiro asked holding up his deck. He was expecting full blown laughter. I mean even to him it sounded crazy. [i]"What am I doing...? I highly doubt even he'd understand anything..."[/i]

[Blackstone Dresden]

[color=orange]Rayos and his exam proctor, an Alchemy Duelist, both panted heavily as the smoke cleared from Helios Trice's attack on his Phoenix Enforcer, "My turn..." Rayos said, drawing, "I Activate my Woodsman's effect, adding one Polymerization to my hand from my Graveyard!" The green giant visibly winced as his effect activated, "Now, I'll activate Polymerization and fuse Woodsman with the Ocean in my hand!" Two loud, agonized screams echoed through the arena, as they did whenever Rayos summoned a Monster, "Come out, Elemental Hero Earth." The white giant appeared behind Rayos and held his skull in agony, his very existence causing unimaginable pain, "Now, my Spell Card, O - Oversoul activates, allowing me to Special Summon Elemental Hero Neos ." Another pained, sickening scream echoed as the golden minotaur appeared next to Earth, "Earth, euthanize Neos and take his power as your own." Neos was put out of his misery and Earth's body started glowing white, while two blades grew out of his forearms. "Destroy her Helios."[/Color]

Rayos LP: 1500
Hand: 0
Field: Earth ([b]5000[/b]/2000)
S/T: 0
Opponent LP: 0

Rahl's opponent, a Machina Duelist, studied his field. [i]Malicious Edge, three face-downs, and 1400 Life Points. My Cannon has 3200 points, so if I go for it now, I'll win. But, if he reflects my attack, I'll be down to nothing. He's still got a Life Point advantage over me, and I can't let him win.[/i] He drew his card, "I Activate Cold Wave, freezing all of our Spells and Traps until my next turn."

[color=navy]"I activate all three of my face-downs." Rahl countered, "Ultimate Flare, Lightning Fusion, and Dark Fusion." A spiked mine appeared next to Malicious Edge, "Ultimate Flare Special Summons one Level 10 Token, DARK Attribute, Fiend-type, no ATK or DEF whatsoever. Lightning Fusion is basically the Urgent Tuning of Fusion Summons, it allows me to treat one set Spell Card that Fusion Summons a Fusion Monster as if it were a Quick-Play Spell Card, and Dark Fusion is a set Spell Card of mine that Fusion Summons a Fusion Monster. Now, I'm Dark Fusing my Malicious Edge and Flare Token! Arise, Evil Hero Malicious Fiend!" As soon as his Ultimate Flare Token vanished, there was an explosion beneath the teacher's feet, dropping his Life Points to 0, "As soon as my Flare leaves the field, you lose 800 Life Points."[/color]

[Takashi125]

Before he could let David answer his bizarre question, two duels caught his eye. One duel had a student using Elemental Heroes was pitted against a proctor using an Alchemy deck while another student using Evil Heroes was against a proctor using Machines. "Elemental Heroes and Evil Heroes... heh they may be Twins, but their decks couldn't be more opposite." He said. He continued to observe them as they summoned their most powerful monsters and swiftly defeated their respected opponents. "Not bad... they're pretty good."

[evilfusion]

David's tone was kind, but somewhat critical. "I'm not even sure if they're in this class, and if they are...well, they just used Fusion Summons, so they get a lower grade despite victory. To need to win at all costs in a handicap match is dishonorable. It's why I chose not to Synchro in our duel." He paused. "I'm not even sure why the instructor didn't make Synchros and Fusions instant fails, or why we weren't allowed to modify our decks without instantly failing. To have to use our own deck with a handicap, but no warning, hardly seems like a good way to teach us not to rely on certain strategies."

At this point, he decided to respond to Shihiro's first question. "You don't know how you got your own deck?" he asked, chuckling quietly. "Well, you play with it very well for an unknown deck."

[Takashi125]

Shihiro chuckled. "I see... well the desire to win is potent in all of us. One can easily lose sight of true victory... fortunately for them they'll still pass"

His smirk turned to a frown when he answered the question he asked earlier. "Yea... I know every card in this deck like the back of my hand... but I just don't know where or how I got them..." Shihiro realized it was probably best that he stopped talking about it. "Well... I won't bother you with what you probably think is insanity." He chuckled.

"The tests should be done soon." He mentioned as he saw other students concluding their duels.

[Merci]

Minerva had long been engaged in dueling with an opponent. "You are so pathetic. I activate the effect of The Superior of the In-Between. By paying half my life points, it can attack all monsters on the field." And the cloaked man jumped to each of the monsters and, one by one, swiftly knocked them apart with its Ethereal Blades, before turning to the opponent itself. "And if it successfully destroys all monsters you control, it can attack once again...attack directly, that is." And then the Superior jumped towards the opponent, and with one swift stroke, brought him down with a slap of its blade, bringing the opponent's life points to zero. "No Synchro Summon, no Fusion Summon, and no Ritual Summon. A perfect hundred." Minerva said.

[Takashi125]

Shihiro's eyes widened as he saw one student's duel come to a destructive end. "The Superior of the In-Between... The ability to attack all monsters on the field at the cost of half your life points then attack directly... I better watch out for that card..." He said. Considering his deck focuses on swarming the field, he had every reason to be mindful of that card. Also he felt an uneasy feeling when he laid eyes on the duelist who possessed it. [i]"Who is that guy... and why do I feel freaked out when I see him...?"[/i] He thought. He shook the feeling off and turned his attention to another duel. [i]"I'll have to keep an eye out for him..."[/i]

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

Just then, a British voice declared "Ancient Gear Golem, attack her directly! Mechanized Melee!"
A giant mechanical monstrosity punched Itsu, sending her flying. (Itsu: 0 LP)
Itsu collapsed on the opposite side of the gym as Professor Jin called for the medics.

Bast was looking through the attendance to find that Ruby was missing. [color=#FF1493]"Well, I guess it's time to go find her and make sure she hasn't remembered anything."[/color] Bast ran off, trying to find the missing student.

[Takashi125]

A loud mechanical crash reverberates throughout the gym. Shihiro saw Itsu's duel come to a rather explosive end. He watched wide eyed as she was struck by the fist of an Ancient Gear Golem and sent flying into the air. He flinched upon her impacting the ground. There were gasps and chatter from the students all over. "What the hell? We better see if she's OK..." Shihiro gets up from the bench and heads toward where she crashed.

[Blackstone Dresden]

[color=orange]Rayos overheard David's comments and chuckled, "What do I care about honor?" He asked, "The point of a Duel is to utterly decimate your opponent. To crush them to within an inch of their life. The only true victory in a Duel is to cause your opponent so much pain and anguish that their life loses all meaning. Victory without death is defeat. If I win, and my opponent's life continues, I've lost." He looked at the bruised and battered heap that was his opponent and chuckled, "I think I'll truly have won within a day and a half."[/color]

[color=navy]Rahl said nothing, but he looked over at his own opponent. The Machina Duelist was dizzied and his clothes were a mess, but otherwise he was unharmed, maybe a few bandages here and there, but nothing permanent or scarring. "Brother, come on. These pests aren't worth our time. Let's kill them later."[/color]

[color=red]Ruby, meanwhile, was dozing on the roof of the Academy, like her grandfathers before her. Her broken arm was in its sling, held in place by Carbuncle's tail wrapped around her body as the cat and Winged Kuriboh cuddled close to the girl. As usual, she was wearing a short skirt, a pink version of her grandfather Jesse's North Academy uniform, unzipped, like her grandfather Jaden wore it, with a black tanktop underneath it, a sharp contrast to the lighter color of her uniform.[/color]

[Takashi125]

Shihiro stopped when he heard the two twins talking to David. He was sickened by what he had heard. He resisted the urge to turn around and beat the crap out of them for it probably would have gotten him expelled. "Ignore those two, David, let's see if Itsu's OK." He said without looking back.

[i]"I'll have to keep an eye out for them too it seems..."[/i] He looks back and gave them a quick glare for a second then continued forward. Already a crowd had gathered around Itsu as medics came to check her out.

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

Itsu was carried away to the infirmary as Professor Jin reviewed over the duel. [color=#DAA520]"According to the records, Jenny used several combos involving Ancient Gear cards I have never seen before, driving Itsu into a corner. She eventually got out Tabris and Raphael, a Fusion Monster, but Jenny countered with Ancient Gear Golem and something called 'Ancient Gear Behemoth', eventually defeating Itsu. Itsu's TP went down to 65, meaning she flunked the test, while Jenny got a perfect 100."[/color]

Jenny, meanwhile, was celebrating, much to everyone else's chagrin.

Bast had jumped up onto the roof and was silently approaching her quarry and the furballs that accompanied her. She got on all fours and slowly slinked closer and closer to the trio, using the shadows to her advantage. Unless Ruby knew exactly what she was looking for, Bast was invisible.

[Merci]

"Wow, fell unconscious from holograms." Minerva said as he watched Itsu get carried away. But she probably fell unconscious from Jenny's power, whatever that was. Minerva noticed Jenny was celebrating, but that didn't matter much. Nor did Itsu. Only the cause of Itsu's collapsing and whatever Jenny did....or was. It might be related to everyone being an impostor, or it might not have been. "Some things aren't natural in this world, that's one thing I'm sure of in this world." [i]But[/i] only [i]in this world, not outside of it......[/i] And then Minerva pretended that had never happened, and just watched others as they concluded their duels.

[Blackstone Dresden]

[color=Red]Ruby, being out cold and snoring cutely, wasn't exactly looking for anything.[/color]

[color=violet]Amy[/color] and [color=gold]Topaz[/color], however, were well aware that there was a fifth feline on the roof and appeared in front of Bast, circling the black panther and growling. [color=gold]"Step away from Mistress Ruby and Carbuncle, or I will rip your throat out where you stand." The Tiger told her, barring his teeth in perfect synch with his mate.[/color]

[b]"And," The fourth feline stated, appearing between the two Crystal Beasts and the sleeping hybrid, "You better stay away from Winged Kuriboh too. He's one of us, and, no matter what the Crystals say, we're all one family now. Crystal Beasts. Neo Spacians. Kuribohs, Heh, even Honest. We're all going to rip you to shreds if you dare wake up Mistress Ruby."[/b]

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

Bast stood up and stepped back before giving a slight respectful bow to the Duel Monster Spirits. [color=#FF1493]"I apologize, but I merely wanted to inform you and your mistress that she is tardy, and has used up almost all of her excused absences. Furthermore, Itsu is not only worried about your mistress not being here, but she is in a critical condition due to losing a duel against an interloper into this universe named 'Jenny'. I'm sure you all remember Jenny, since, like me and Master Protheus, but unlike your mistress, you remember what REALLY happened."[/color]

[Blackstone Dresden]

[color=gold]"Mistress only has one good arm." Topaz reminded Bast, flicking his tail towards the cast Ruby wore, "She can't be expected to Duel with only one arm, and you know as well as I do that, no matter who she thinks she is, she's too damned stubborn to ask for help." The Tiger sighed as Amy and Dark Panther disappeared, "It's so frustrating to see through the lies and not be able to tell her. I've tried, once, in her dreams. She doesn't remember, of course, but she almost went mad. It took all of her Spirits to bring her back." He chuckled, once, "That's the only reason I didn't rip that smug alien a new one when he showed up. We've moved on, past our differences. I've forgiven him for hitting on my mate. Almost. I still wanna kick his ass."[/color]

[Takashi125]

Shihiro watched as they carried Itsu away on a stretcher. [i]"Only time will tell..."[/i] He thought as they left the gym. Having heard the details of the duel from Jin-Sensei, and being very aggravated by how emotionless he sounded, He turns his head and glares at Jenny who was celebrating despite what she had do. [i]"How could she do physical harm to someone with just holograms? There's something not right about that girl..."[/i] Shihiro decided to drop his discrete curiosity and turns to face David. "That was unpleasant..." he said.

[encapturer]

((I'm assuming Trixie lost, since she did say she was at a disadvantage in this duel))

Eria was able to summon her strongest monster, Lilina - Master Spellweaver with the effects of Spellweaver Golem and Spellweaver Assassin. Everything on the field was covered in a blue fog - symbolic of the many mana counters Eria was able to build up to fuel her abilities. All of this was due to the fact her opponent could not use her deck the normal way. Disappointing, yes, but the duel was won anyway.

After the duel, Eria thanked Trixie for the duel and went and got her grade. Since her deck did not rely on synchro or fusion summoning, she got a perfect grade. If one were to watch her, they would notice that Eria seemed much more lively now, and she didn't look as pale in the face. It was all due to the many duels taking place in close proximity to her.

In fact, a few times during her duel with Trixie, she did not act for a few moments because it was hard to focus, due to her feeling so good. Eria chalked it up to some mysterious energy the duels released that she absorbed. It was a good of a theory as any, though Eria had no idea how disturbingly close to the truth she was.

On the other side of the gymnasium, there was some commotion going on. Apparently another student - Itsu, the girl who dueled this morning, even - was being sent to the infirmary due to damage from a duel. It was bizarre, though something inside of her saw it as a normal occurrence. "I hope she'll be okay," Eria said to no one in particular.

On the way to her next class Eria happened to pass by the infirmary. Curiosity got the best of her, so she decided to stop in and check in on her injured classmate. She still had plenty of time before her next class, anyway.

[Red Ryu]

Ryu didn't have much trouble in his duel. He had Retrained Nin-Ken Dog attack his opponent directly and win thew duel for him. His life points were still at 4000, but he did have to work on protecting himself from the opponent quite a bit to keep his life points at base level like he did. He walked over to his opponent and offered a hand shake. "It was fun, don't sweat it, you did great." His opponent accepted the hand shake as the holograms disappeared. This was one of the few things Ryu liked about the acedemy, he got to do tests with hands on action instead of just test books all of the time.

~

Wendy lost her duel much to her dismay, she didn't have much of a chance to get off the ground and was forced into a corner, losing promptly. "My poor archfiends, my poor adorable fiends I hope they weren't hurt from our defeat" She said looking at her cards.

Ryu was listening to her speaking and thought, [i]"She thinks fiends if not archfiends are cute and adorable?!...well it's not the weirdest thing I've heard."[/i]

[evilfusion]

David scowled at the remarks. Such violent philosophies...how did people like them get into a school where they could harm others? Didn't they keep mental records or something, to make sure psychopaths didn't run free. He didn't respond to Shihiro's suggestion to ignore them, choosing to do so without comment. From the corner of his eye, he saw that yet another person, whose name escaped him at the moment, had been carried out on a stretcher.

"...I don't understand," he said slowly. "How could duels cause physical harm? I understand that hologram strength can be modified for more exhausting battles, but even at the maximum, it should never cause genuine harm, just more knockback or getting the wind knocked out of you. Yet three people got injured, two more severely than the third."

His gaze flicked back to the two Hero Duelists. They did seem to be related, but the one with the Evil Heroes hadn't done nearly as much damage to his opponent. Something was off about them both, and the warped philosophy of an Elemental Hero user was...ironic, to say the least.