16 Punishments

The pained screams of Jinzo and the mauling sounds of the other duel spirits echoed throughout the abandoned dorm. Eventually the noises died down, signaling one of the opposing sides had won their battle.

The small army of duel spirits backed away from Jinzo's former position, revealing a glowing orb of white energy the size of a basket ball. It floated there, not moving an inch, as if it was waiting for something.

"Anotherverse, is that Jinzo's duel energy?" Clay looked at the floating, glowing orb with interest.

"Yes, if possible I would like you to allow me to absorb most of this energy." Anotherverse Dragon also looked at the orb, almost as if he was mesmerized by its beauty. "I will leave some of the energy to the rest of your spirits so they can grow stronger."

Clay thought about it for a moment but couldn't think of any reason to refuse his dragon so he nodded his head. At that signal Anotherverse drew closer to the orb, eyeing it with fascination.

He pressed his head against the orb and the orb glowed brighter for a moment. Now, coming off from the orb, smaller spheres of light could be seen flying into Anotherverse Dragons body, disappearing as they were absorbed.

The orb of energy shrank in size, now the size of a tennis ball, and Anotherverse Dragon moved away from the orb. He looked at Clay and nodded his head, signaling that he had absorbed his share of the energy.

"Alright, anyone else want some of the energy?" All of the spirits raised their hands, trying to desperately get some of the energy from Jinzo. "Hm, there are a lot of you and I don't know how much energy there is. Anotherverse, is it possible for you to split the energy in equal size and give it to everyone?"

"Yes, I can do that, give me a moment." The dragon placed his claw on the orb once again and closed his eyes. In the next moment the orb split into multiple smaller orbs and flew towards the other spirits.

"There we go, everyone gets a share!" The spirits cheered as they absorbed the energy from their orbs. In less a minute the last orb of light was absorbed by the spirits and their figures became more defined.

The spirits were less see through, clearly gaining some kind of mass, but still lacking a physical body. This wasn't a problem for the spirits though as they were happy just being able to gain some energy this way.

Clay smiled as he saw his spirits celebrate, clearly enjoying their new lives outside of the well they previously called home. He was happy to make a difference in someone else's life. However, when a noise came from behind him his smile vanished in an instant.

"Alexis Rhodes, Obelisk Blue dueling queen yet damsel in distress when one lone duelist invades the island and traps her. I must say, I'm rather disappointed in you Alexis." Clay spoke to Alexis without turning his back.

To Alexis his voice was condescending, as if he was looking down on her as a duelist and a person. She didn't really understand why Clay was acting this way but she knew that she didn't enjoy it.

"Is it wrong for a girl to call for help when a stranger attacks her?" Alexis needed to fight back, she wouldn't be looked down on.

"Is it wrong to put people in danger when you can fight yourself?" Clay answered with his own question, not wanting to discuss anything more with Alexis. "I'm gonna go now, I assume you know the way back to the dorms."

He began to walk away, heading towards the door of the room they were in, but stopped and turned around again. "I guess I should bring him with us."

Clay once again began walking, this time heading to the side of the room, to where Titan had been thrown. He was still hazy, not sure what was happening around him but aware enough to see a figure walking up to him.

"Sorry about that throw, but I need you to sleep for now." Clay flashed a big smile at Titan, showing off his pristine teeth and giving Titan a feeling that something was wrong. Before he could gain an understanding about what was happening a strong force hit him on his vagus nerve, knocking him out.

Clay grabbed the collar of Titan's trench coat and began to drag him out of the dorm. Now with no distractions he walked out after a couple of minutes, but something unexpected happened was waiting for him.

"Mr. Clay, Mrs. Rhodes, I am the chairman of the disciplinary action squad. You are both trespassing in the abandoned dorm, an area off limits to the students. Please come with me to the chancellors office."

"You've got to be kidding me."

***

Sitting in his chair, Chancellor Sheppard looked at the two promising students in front of him. Alexis was looking away, obviously ashamed at what was done, but Clay stood there unwavering and unflinching at the scenario.

"Chairman, is there anyway to wave away these charges?" He didn't want to lose these two students, not when they had such a promising future.

"Chancellor, they were trespassing in a forbidden area of the school. If we wave these charges then other students will think that it's fine to trespass in the abandoned dorm as well." The woman denied his proposal without any hesitation.

At that moment Dr. Crowler walked into the room. He had heard about the incident and was beyond furious.

"Chairman, what do you think you are doing? Don't you think that expulsion is too harsh of a punishment for this one mistake?" Clay was surprised that Crowler was standing up for them. He was aware that Crowler didn't like him, so he was thinking he would need to suggest the duel to stay in school.

"Dr. Crowler, as I said, if we show any weakness the other students will exploit that and we will lose even more promising students because of it." The Chairman still denied any leniency for the two students.

"Fine, but instead of just expelling them from the school I have a suggestion. This is a duel school, so we should let them duel to stay. If they lose then they will be expelled straight away, but if they win they can stay." Crowler finally gave the option that Clay was waiting for, now he just needed the others to agree.

"I see no reason to deny that request, is that fine with you Chairman?" Sheppard looked at the Chairman and could see her struggling to make that decision. Eventually she relented, allowing the two to remain, but they wouldn't be allowed to attend classes until and unless they won their duel.

With nothing left to discuss the head of the disciplinary action squad left the room, leaving the students, Dr. Crowler and Chancellor Sheppard in an awkward silence. No one wanted to start the conversation back up so they stood their in silence.

"Well, I guess you should discuss who our opponents are going to be for the duel." Clay finally broke the silence, causing the others to look in his direction. "I hope you find some good ones."

He turned to leave the room, wanting to go back to his room and discuss somethings with his spirits and edit his deck a bit. Before he could leave though Alexis called out to him.

"Wait, Clay, I want to say thank you for helping me." He continued to walk to the door but stopped before reaching for the handle.

"If you want any help editing your deck feel free to call me." With his piece said he continued and left the room.

"Dr. Crowler, I will leave finding the opponents for these two in your hands." As Chancellor Sheppard spoke those words, the others in his room bowed and left, following behind Clay.

Left with his own thoughts, Sheppard began to wonder about the future of the academy. What would happen if these two promising students were to be expelled from the school.

'I need them to win this duel, otherwise who will protect those cards.' With nothing else to do Sheppard looked over his desk and at the paper work he needed to do.