Chapter 12

-- A Few Days Later --

"Rook to g2," Bastian said with a smug grin on his face, "Check"

"*Growl* You know, you don't have to say every move you make, it makes you appear like a douche." I muttered as I place my King to the last row, knowing what is about to happen,

"Rook to h1," he puts down his rook to the last row and his grin gets ever so slightly larger "Check- Mate."

I sigh in defeat and shake my head "Good game," I said as I thought about what I could have done differently. Maybe I should have started with King's Gambit rather than Scotch Game, but that did not work last time.

"So what does that make, 14 to 0?" I ask him

"I believe so," he said with a smile. "But bravo, you manage to put on quite a show, you lasted 8 more moves this time,"

"Yeah- yeah," I waved him off, the guy was a terrific strategist, the only way I could beat him is if we played a game involving a little bit of chance, where he can't anticipate every fucking move, "Let's just play Duel Monsters,"

"As I said to you before, I need to revise my strategy against you. The way you defeated your ex-roommate showed me simple negation of tributes is not enough to deal with your new and improved Monarch Deck," he said once again

"Fine, whatever," I said before muttering "Tree, do it"

"Ribbit Ribbit!" My spirit partner got out of his card and flew next to Bastian's face and started peeing,

"Do- do you suddenly feel chill?" he asks me I shake my head, barely stopping myself from bursting out in laughter as when he talked some of the pee got into his mouth,

"Al- alright then, I think I'll call it a night," he said as he got up from his seat, and Tree finally stopped peeing on him. After placing the tiles back into their places I left for my room, once I got there, I saw 2 messages on my PDA, they were from… they were from Chumley?

This is the first time he had sent me a message, wonder what it is?

[Hey Konami, last night something totally awful happened. Jaden, Chumley, and I went to the Abandoned Dorm, a Forbidden Area of the Island. We found Alexis Rhodes there, and Jaden dueled some masked man, who had kidnapped her. Ah but that's not why I texted you! Jaden and I are in trouble now, we have to duel in a Tag Duel. If we win, all is well, but if we lose, they will expel us!] The message had reached the end, probably due to maximum word count (75), so I opened the second message, [Since you are the third best duelist I know, I was wondering if you could, maybe, I don't know- somehow take my place in the duel.]

So… the Abandon Dorm Duel happened, and Jaden managed to pull through his first Shadow Game. Good… he needs to see dueling in this world is not JUST for fun…

[I'll see what I can do, but I am sure you would do fine,] I text back to Syrus [And what do you mean third best duelist you know, you twat,]

I let go of the PDA, and went to take a giant shit before going to bed, tomorrow was gonna be a long day.

-- Next Morning, Chancellor Shephards Office --

"You wanted to see me, Konami?" Chancellor asks with a raised eyebrow

"Yes sir, it is about the Tag Duel that is being arranged for Jaden and Syrus," I clarified,

"Go on,"

"I believe I should replace Syrus in that duel, as I was the one who told Jaden about the Abandoned Dorm," I said despite knowing he would refuse, and I was only there to get some brownie points with the main cast.

At that moment, the Chancellor's dorm slides open, and out of it comes one of the most beautiful girls in the school

"Fat chance Konami," Alexis said, "They were there helping me, please let me be Jaden's partner," she said

"Well, I can see you two care about your friends, but the team-up has been set, Syrus is Jaden's partner, I am sure that he will do fine," he said with finality in his voice.

"..." Alexis and I were not so sure, we thanked him before leaving. Me despite having seen the show.

"This blows," she said

"Yeah, Syrus needs to get over his insecurities if they want to have a chance in that duel," I said as we walked down the main hall,

I got a glare from some Ra Yellows, and Slifer Reds because I was walking with the unofficial 'Queen of Duel Academy'. They were probably in her fan club too… *sigh* These simps need to get a life.

"So, last night was rough, huh?" I ask her, getting kidnapped can't be easy.

"How did you learn about it?" she asks me with a raised eyebrow

"Syrus sent me a text message, asking if I could replace him in the tag duel, and the twat called me the third best duelist he knows?! Can you believe that Syrus knows Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba!" I said and she laughed lightly, but her laugh came to a stop when my favorite purplette approached us,

"Hey Wis," I said with a smile but she ignored me,

"Rhodes," she said

"Senrigan," Alexis returned. I could swear I saw lightning flare between their eyes, after a few seconds Alexis excuses herself and walks in the direction of the Obelisk Blue Girls dorm.

"So… what is with all this tension between you two?" I asked her, I was avoiding this question for a while,

"Hmph, I just don't like how high and mighty she is," Wis said, and I barely stopped myself from saying: 'Hi pot, meet kettle'

"If you say so," I said with a shrug, I was not gonna get in between them. *grow* Damn my imagination and teenage hormones.

"So what were you doing with Rhodes?" she asks with a raised eyebrow

"You know Jaden and Syrus right?" she nods her head "They got into trouble and have to duel as a tag team to escape punishment, so, Alexis and I asked Chancellor to replace Syrus with either of us, because if they lose, they may get expelled,"

Her eyes widened for a second, "I see, alright then," she said with a nod and smile, "So did you manage to replace the blue haired boy?"

"Nah, Chancellor refused," I said with a shrug, "I half expected him to do that, so the best I can do now is help Syrus out a bit,"

"Why bother?" she asks, "They either fail, or rise up to the occasion, if they can't grow as duelists, they should not even be here."

"Well… Jaden is a friend," I told her,

"Well, I say friendship is not worth it," she said

-- Omake: 200 miles from the academy, a brunette stopped grinding on top of her multi-hair-coloured boyfriend, "Huh? What happened? Why did you stop? I was so close to losing my virginity! Oh no, someone said the F-Word" her boyfriend said with fear in his eyes, knowing a long ass speech about friendship was about to start--

-- Back in the Duel Academy --

"Nah, Jaden's cool, he makes the academy more interesting," I told her with a shrug "I should get going, talk to you later," I said before I made my way to the Slifer Red Dorm.

-- Slifer Red Dorm --

It has been a while since I last saw this place, it's even more run down then I remember.

I stood in front of Jaden's room, and knocked, and as soon as I did, the door opened, and a midget with glasses crashed into me.

"Ouch," I said as I looked at his crying figure,

"So did he say yes! Please tell me he said yes! If I am Jaden's partner I will get both of us expelled!" he shouted as he clinged onto me,

"Sorry Sye, I even lied to the Chancellor and said I told you guys about the Abandoned Dorm, but he wouldn't budge,"

"Oh well, at least you tried, he he" Jaden laughed it off but Syrus was not feeling like that

"Hey? Why aren't you worried Jay, aren't you worried I'm gonna get us kicked out?" Sye asks

"Nah, I wouldn't want any other partner," he said without a shred of sarcasm.

"What are you nuts?" Syrus asks what I was thinking

"Look Syrus, we are gonna go out there, duel our best, and win the match. Do you know why?" He asks Syrus shakes his head, " 'Cause you and I are gonna work out all our kinks right now, now go and grab your deck buddy, cause we are gonna duel Chumley and Konami,"

"WHAT?!" All three of us ask,

"The best way to prepare is with a Duel," he said with a nod, then turns to me "And I wanted to duel Konami for a while,"

"Sorry Jaden, don't have my Duel Disk,"

"You can borrow my old one," he said

I thought about it for a moment, it wouldn't register, and I wouldn't lose any money in case Chumley fucks up "Fine, lets duel, but I will not hold back" I said and he laughed

-- Clearing Outside Slifer Red Dorm --

"So everyone knows the rules of a tag duel right?" I ask,

"Yeah," Jaden says but the other two laugh it off

"How about you repeat it for us, ha ha," Chumley laughs, looking very nervous.

"Fine, we all start with 8000 Life Points, each team shares their field, life points and graveyard, however we are not allowed to use the cards in our partners hand." I said and they nodded "And this is very important, none of us can attack on our first turn (which is different from my old world), everyone has to wait until their second turn to attack, now then any questions?"

"Um, what happens if I want to give up? Can Jaden continue by himself?" Syrus asks, hopeful he found a way out, but I barely control the scowl forming on my face.

"No, if one of you loses, both of you lose, and Syrus, and you should never give up on a duel, a single card can make all the difference," I said with honesty. That wasn't the case in the 2022 Meta, but in the current format, one good draw can easily change the flow of the game.

"That's right Syrus," someone said from outside, we looked and it was Alexis,

"Hey Alexis," we greeted her before Jaden said,

"Okay then, let us start-"

"Wait for a second, Jaden. Chumley and I have to discuss a few things about strategy, I recommend you do the same with Syrus. Tag Duels are very different from a normal duel after all." I said but that wasn't the case. I just remember from the anime Chumley is a big dum dum when it comes to the card game. He is worse than Yuma was at the beginning of Zexal, which says all you need to know.

This dum dum runs three copies of Des Koalas, it is his favorite monster, yet, he doesn't know how to use it. Which is a shame considering it is a pretty powerful burn card.

"Look Chumley, I heard you run a Koala based deck, right?" I ask him after we went away from the others,

"Koala's are my favourite, duh!" he said, looking slightly offended by my declaration.

"Yeah, they are pretty cool, but I called you here to ask if you know the effect of Des Koala?" I ask him,

"Duh, of course I know that much," he said, not really sounding too sure

"I just asked, after all, if you set it first, before flipping it, it would give your opponent damage equal to the cards in your their hand times 400, and since this is a tag duel, that means A LOT of damage," I told him, which wasn't the case in my old world, but Tag Duel rules were slightly different here.

"Really?" He asks, "I mean duh!" he said,

"Alright then man, how about you start, and show them the true power of your Koalas." I managed to say without sounding sarcastic.

"Yeah, let's!" he said, with a new found confidence,