Formula for Success

It had been a few days since the expulsion duels and things were getting back to normal. Today in gym class it was a game of baseball with Slifers vs Ra's and Jaden was up to bat.

"Jay, keep your eye on the ball." Syrus said.

"That's gonna be tough after all, the ball's gonna be going over the rafters and then we'll have a 6-run lead." Jaden grins.

"Hold on! Time out!" Looking to the entrance they saw Bastion running in. "Sorry I was deep into some Attack Quantum Mechanics and lost track of time."

"Can you throw?" A Ra asks.

"Sure." Bastion nods.

"Well we need a fresh arm. Pitcher change." They announced as Bastion grabbed a glove and made his way onto the field.

"This isn't a written exam Bastion. I hope you know what you're doing." Jaden said.

"Trust me I've done all the calculations, now get ready for some heat Jaden. Because this one has some bite!" Bastion said throwing the ball and just like that Jaden struck out three times.

"Nuts!" Jaden groans.

Soon it was the Ra's up to bat and Jaden was on pitcher and Syrus was the catcher.

"Ball 4 take your base." The Umpire said.

"Time." Syrus said as he walked over to Jaden. "Jaden what's going on? You got two outs and now you walked the last three batters."

"Pretty slick huh?" Jaden smiles.

"Slick?" They all said confused.

"Yeah, how else would I get the chance to pitch Bastion?" Jaden asks.

"What? You walked all those guys just so you could get even with Bastion?" Syrus asks shocked.

"No, I want to get ahead. You hear that Bastion, you're going down!" Jaden declares.

"Down the baseline perhaps. Now give me your best Jaden, I don't want any excuses when I wallop it right out of the ballpark." Bastion said taking his position.

"Game on!" Jaden said with fire in his eyes.

"Game over, soon." Bastion smirks.

"Now here's some bite!" Jaden yells as he pitches.

Nearby Dr. Crowler was walking to his class.

"The Paradox Brothers couldn't be Jaden, Chazz couldn't beat Jaden, I need someone to beat—" Crowler never got to finish as a baseball hits him right in the eye.

"Uh heads up." Jaden said as he and Syrus ran over only to see the ball was still on Crowler's eye.

"Of course, it was you! Who else could cause me such intense pain?!" Crowler yells.

"Now that's keeping your eye on the ball." Syrus said impressed.

"Sorry it was—"

"My fault! I was the one who hit the ball." Bastion said running over.

"Bastion? Of course, here I was struggling to find a new accomplice and it smacks me right in the face. Well the eye, but that's beside the point." Crowler said.

"Dr. Crowler, please accept my apologies." Bastion said.

"Oh no, no, no, no. I've been meaning to have my contacts fitted for ages and now I have a perfect excuse. And a perfect new protégé." Crowler whispers that last part before turning around to see Jaden and Syrus trying to listen in. "Alright you two, you've caused enough trouble now go on! Shoo!"

"Alright, but that was foul Bastion." Jaden said running off.

Crowler takes the baseball off his face to reveal a black eye. "Never mind those Slifer Slackers it's time you started consorting with those more your class. It's time you started consorting with me." Crowler grins. "And maybe you can get along with Davis Shiba."

Meanwhile in the classroom Ryan was at his desk when he saw Chazz walk to his seat.

"Yo foot rub, iced tea, now." Chazz smirks.

"Get it yourself." An Obelisk said getting Chazz's attention.

"What did you say?" Chazz growls when another Obelisk walks over.

"Hey Chazz where do you think you're sitting?" He asks.

"My seat." Chazz said.

"Sorry but that's not your seat anymore." He said.

"What are you talking about? It says so right here." Chazz looks expecting a name tag but gasps to see it was gone.

"Sorry but you were moved way over there." He points to the lower seats near the Slifer and Ra areas.

"What?! Dr. Crowler tell them this is a mistake! Tell them I belong up here!" Chazz said as Dr. Crowler walked in.

"But you don't and you haven't since you lost that one duel to oh who was it? Oh yes Jaden Yuki, a Slifer! Which is why tomorrow you will duel Bastion Misawa and if you lose to him you two will switch dorms." Crowler said shocking Chazz.

"You mean…I'd become a Ra yellow?" Chazz said.

"Very good, now if only you could duel as well as you listen." Crowler said as everyone in the class laughed at Chazz as he stormed out of the room.

"I WON'T BE A RA!" Chazz declared.

After class, the Shiba's had a discussion.

"I know Crowler's looking for someone new to beat Jaden, but did he really have to humiliate Chazz in front of everyone?" Kaoru asked.

"You haven't been in Obelisk Blue very long Kaoru but you have to remember that the Blues may seem top class but as soon as they lose to a Slifer or Ra they'll turn on them." Davis said.

"And you Arisa, do you have nothing to add to this?" Kaoru asked.

"When you've been here for over 2 years you pretty much get used to it." Arisa spoke. "Remember I'm part of the reason the Slifer's and Ra's are finding their back bone thanks to my tutoring and teaching them to stand up to bullies with their dueling and that's the biggest reason the Obelisks who got in through money and connections hate me."

At the Ra dorm Jaden and Syrus were walking with Bastion back to his room.

"Okay so maybe it wasn't a foul ball." Jaden said.

"Jaden, over the center field usually isn't." Syrus said.

"Look I play like I duel, with formulas." Bastion said holding up his bat that had multiple formulas written on it. "You see I find that Science, Statistics, and Geometry play a role in everything we do in life."

"Wow, I never thought of it that way." Jaden said.

"Do you have a formula for everything?" Syrus asks.

Smiling Bastion led them to his bedroom. "And here we are."

"And what is here?" They ask seeing formulas written all over the walls.

"My workspace, my lab, my dorm room. That area is for traps, that area is for spells and that is…well you get it. Most of these I've memorized and as you can see I'm running out of room, so." Bastion said.

"So?" Jaden and Syrus asks as Bastion grabs some brushes and paint.

"So, mind helping?" He asks.

After they painted Bastion took them to the Ra cafeteria where he told them that Crowler offered him a chance to become an Obelisk and while Jaden and Syrus were extremely happy for him Bastion wasn't as happy as they were.

That night at the Obelisk dorm Chazz was talking with his older brothers Slade and Jagger on the video communication system on his flat screen.

"Got it Chazz?" Slade asks.

"Yeah." Chazz replied.

"We can't hear you." Jagger said.

"I said I get it!" Chazz snaps.

"Well you better understand. Your brother and I are going through with our ends of it." Slade threatened.

"And you better be following through with yours as well. Just think of it little brother, the world of politics, finance and Duel Monsters! If the Princeton family rises to the top of all of those we can control the world!" Jagger said.

"So be the best." Slade said.

"The future of the Princeton name depends on you." Jagger said as they hung up.

'Walking to the window Chazz looks to see Jaden, Syrus and Bastion. *'Be the best? How can I be the best with lucky punks like those guys around?'* Chazz thought as the three of them headed to the Slifer dorm. *'Looks like Bastion's heading to the Slifers for the night. Which means his dorm room will be empty.'* Chazz suddenly got an idea.

Meanwhile at the Slifer dorm Jaden and Bastion were sound asleep.

"Hey Syrus, what's a Ra doing here?" Chumley asks looking down from his bed.

"He had his room painted so we're letting him crash here for tonight." Syrus explained.

"But what if he wakes up and wants to make fun of us or even duel us?" Chumley asks.

"Bastion's cool Chumley, he even let us eat at the Ra dining hall." Syrus said.

"Oh…he can have my bed." Chumley said.

Nearby Davis heard everything as Kaoru volunteered to watch Bastion's old room for the night.

Later that evening Ryan had just come out of the shower in his bedroom and was wearing a black shirt and blue pajama pants.

"That was relaxing." He said.

Making his way to his desk by the window he noticed Chazz heading to the Ra dorm. *'Chazz. What is he heading to the Ra dorm for?'*

He put his duel disk on and slipped on his shoes.

As he made his way out he turned a corner and bumped into a figure.

"Oof." He said as he fell backwards. "My bad." He looks up to see Seika wearing a sleeveless light blue t-shirt and blue pajama shorts that really showed off her body. "Seika?"

"Why are you up so late Ryan?"

"Chazz is planning to do something. I just saw him headed to the Ra dorm."

"That's not good, we better go after him." Seika said as they headed to the Ra dorm.

By the time they arrived Chazz was heading for the docks, following him they looked to see Chazz toss something into the water.

"There's not gonna be any duel if Bastion doesn't have a deck, he might even get kicked out." Chazz grins.

"Don't you have any self-respect?" Turning around Chazz sees Takeru and Seika glaring at him.

"Hey nice PJ's you two." Chazz smirks.

"How could you do that to someone's deck?" Seika asks ignoring him.

"If you're willing to do something like this, you might as well drop out of the Academy."

"Nobody tells me what to do!"

Ryan activates his duel disk. "Let's go!"

Seeing this Chazz grins as he activates his Duel disk. "You don't know who you're dealing with."

"Duel!" Both of them said as they drew their cards.

Chazz: 4000

Ryan: 4000

"You know I've wanted to say this since I first time I saw you duel. You don't deserve to be in Obelisk Blue with me." Chazz said as he drew. "I activate the spell Cost Down! This card lets me send a monster from my hand to the graveyard so I can summon a stronger one easier. Say hello to Mefist the Infernal General!" Chazz said summoning a dark warrior on a horse.

Mefist: 1800/ 1700

"And I'll end my turn with a face down." Chazz said ending his turn.

"My turn." Ryan drew. "I summon Iron Knight Gearfried in defense mode."

Iron Knight Gearfried: 1800/1600

The rest of his hand was Negate Attack, Monster Reborn, Bazoo the Soul Eater, Sinister Serpent and Lightning Vortex.

*'I'm ready for anything Chazz throws my way.'* He thought.

"Then I place one card face down."

"Perfect now I activate my face down card, Call of the Haunted! And now I'll use it to summon Cthonian Emperor Dragon!" Chazz said a large dragon appeared on his side of the field.

Cthonian Emperor Dragon: 2400/1500

"A Gemini Monster huh?"

"That's right. And since I didn't summon this turn I can use my dragon's special effect to summon him again activating his ability. Which allows him to attack twice in one turn!" Chazz said causing Seika to gasp.

"If this connects he'll lose the duel."

"Go Chthonian Emperor Dragon!" Chazz said as his dragon was about to release a powerful fire attack.

"Not if Negate Attack has anything to say about it."

"Grr. Fine, next turn you're all mine." Chazz said ending his turn.

"You won't get the chance to finish me off."

"Please like you even have something like Exodia." Chazz scoffs.

"I have Lightning Vortex. Say goodbye to Mefist and Chthonian Emperor Dragon."

"Next I use Monster Reborn. Chthonian Emperor Dragon is coming to my side of the field."

"These two are more than enough to end this duel."

Chazz's eyes widen in horror to see he was about to lose.

"Gearfried! Chthonian Emperor Dragon attack!"

Chazz: 0000

Ryan: 4000

"He took Chazz down in a single turn. Impressive."

Chazz groaned as he picked himself up to see Seika and Ryan in front of him.

"You're a disgrace to that uniform."

Chazz growled before realizing he did what he came here to do, but first he needed to lose these two.

Moving quickly Chazz pushes Seika off the docks and into the water.

"Watch it Princeton!" He then easily pulls Seika out of the water.

"You alright." He asked as Seika shivered.

"C-Cold." She stuttered.

"I'll take you back to the Girl's dorm if you don't mind."

As they walked away Seika hugs Ryan pressing her chest against his. "Much better." She sighs.

Little did any of them know the spot they were dueling at was the favorite meeting spot of Alexis and Zane.

Arisa was also there as she wanted to speak with Zane about something.

Kaoru was present as well, but decided against interfering because she expected Bastion to have a backup plan.

Chazz had to pay for nearly killing one of his classmates.

In the morning Jaden, Syrus, Chumley and Bastion were woken up by the sound of a pounding on the door. "Jaden! Jaden!"

Opening the door they look to see it was Ms. Dorothy. "What is it Ms. Dorothy?" Jaden asks.

"I was unloading supplies from the docks when I saw them…cards tossed everywhere!" Dorothy said as the three gasped and made their way to the docks.

There they saw Dorothy's claims were correct, a bunch of cards were scattered in the water.

"That's Ring of Destruction!" Jaden gasps.

"And Vorse Raider!" Syrus spotted.

"Bastion, these are all your cards." Jaden said.

"It's my own fault. This deck was in the desk I moved to the hallway yesterday when we were painting." Bastion said.

"Who would do something like this?" Syrus asks.

"Someone who doesn't want you to be promoted to Obelisk Blue." Jaden said as Bastion bent down and picked up one of his soaked cards. "What are you going to do? Your promotion exam is in less than an hour." Jaden asks.

"Leave it to me." Bastion said.

At the main dueling arena Dr. Crowler and Chazz were waiting as Bastion, Syrus and Jaden came running in.

"Bastion, you made it. And I see you brought some friends." Crowler said frowning at the sight of Jaden.

"I hope you duel better than the company you keep." Chazz smirks.

"Wait a second, Chazz is your opponent? Bastion he must've been the one who tossed your cards." Jaden said.

"Pardon?" Crowler asks confused.

"I don't know what he's talking about Dr. Crowler. I didn't do a thing." Chazz denied.

"Oh is that so?"

"Oh is that so?" Everyone turned to see Alexis, Zane, Takeru and Seika walk in.
"I saw you Chazz, when Ryan and Seika chased you down to the docks and you tossed those cards into the water. I normally don't snitch, but you don't mess with someone's deck or push my friend into the sea to get away." Alexis said.
"That's low even for you." Jaden glared.

"Oh come on. Who's to say I wasn't throwing out some of my own cards? I guess Bastion and I just have similar decks." Chazz said.

"Stop lying!"

"We were there Chazz." Seika said.

"I beat you on my second turn." Ryan glared at him.

"You two dueled?" Jaden asks.

"Yep, we saw the whole thing. Chazz never stood a chance." Zane nods.

"Nobody calls me a liar and nobody calls me a thief and you have no proof that duel ever happened!" Chazz snapped.

"Fine, you're not and we don't. Let's just get on with our duel." Bastion said.

"But how?" Jaden asks.

"A good duelist always has a spare deck, or a few of them. You saw all the formulas in my room, well they were for all my different decks! One for each of the 6 attributes!" Bastion said unbuttoning his vest to reveal 6 deck cases.

Chazz cringed seeing his plan had failed. "Yeah well you can keep your 6 crummy decks as for me all I need is this one!" Chazz said grabbing his deck.

Bastion grabbed one of his decks and activated his duel disk. "You're just a problem to be solved Chazz, a code to be cracked, you're finished!" Bastion said.

"Bring it on!" Chazz said.

"Duel!"

Bastion: 4000

Chazz: 4000

"Get ready because here comes the hurt!" Chazz drew. "I summon Chtonian Soldier in attack mode!" Chazz said as the dark armored soldier appeared.

"Chthonian Soldier: 1200/1400

"And I'll place one card face down. That'll do for now." Chazz said.

"Oh will it now?" Bastion asks as he drew.

"Sounds like Bastion has a trick up his sleeve." Jaden said.

"He works quick." Alexis said.

"I summon Hydrogeddon in attack mode, rise Hydrogeddon!" Bastion said as muddy water took the shape of a gray and brown dinosaur.

Hydrogeddon: 1600/ 1000

"Now attack Chtonian Soldier with Hydro Gust!" Bastion said as Hydrogeddon let out a blast of water destroying the soldier.

Bastion: 4000

Chazz: 3600

"Thanks, you just activated my Soldier's special ability causing you to take the same amount of damage I do." Chazz smirks.

Bastion: 3600

Chazz: 3600

"Not bad." Zane said.

"Bastion sure walked right into that one." Jaden said.

"I have a special ability also. You see Chazz when Hydrogeddon destroys a monster in battle I can summon another one from my deck, rise Hydrogeddon!" Bastion said as a second Hydrogeddon appared. "And it's still my battle phase which means I can attack you directly, go Hydro Gust!"

Hydrogeddon blasts Chazz with a blast of water knocking him to the ground.

Bastion: 3600

Chazz: 2000

"Smart move if you ask me."

"Now you know how it feels to get soaked." Seika grins.

"You'll pay for that." Chazz growled picking himself up. "I activate my trap card Call of the Haunted. With it I can bring back a monster from my graveyard and the monster I'm choosing is Chtonian Soldier!" Chazz said as his soldier made a comeback. "Next I'll activate the spell card Infernal Reckless Summon! It allows us to summon as many monsters from our hand, deck and graveyard that have the same name as whatever monsters we have on the field."

On Chazz's field two more Chtonian Soldiers appeared while another Hydrogeddon appeared on Bastion's side of the field.

"It doesn't matter how many of those things Chazz summons, they still can't beat those Hydrogeddons." Alexis said.

"Not by themselves they won't." Zane said.

"I activate the Equip spell card Chtonian Alliance! The monster equipped with this card gains 800 attack points for each monster on the field with the same name as him bringing his attack points to…well you're the math geek you figure it out." Chazz said as dark energy surrounded one his soldiers causing it to grow three times bigger.

"3600." Takeru groans realizing how strong it got.

"Attack one of those Hydrogeddons!" Chazz said as the super powered Chtonian solider slashes a Hydroggeddon destroying it and Bastion's lifepoints.

Bastion: 1600

Chazz: 2000

"Oh no." Seika gasps.

"Bastion's life points have gone down by more than half." Jaden said.

"He's losing the duel." Syrus said.

"Bravo, good show." Bastion said drawing a card not caring about the life point drop. "But it will be short-lived, go Oxygeddon!" A green Pteranodon like monster appeared from a gust of Oxygen.

"Oxygeddon: 1800/ 800

"Attack the 1200 Chtonian Solider with Vapor Stream!" Bastion said as it blasted one of the weaker soldiers.

Bastion: 1600

Chazz: 1400

"Forget? When my soldier is destroyed you take the same amount of damage I do." Chazz said.

Bastion: 1000

Chazz: 1400

"My turn's not done yet. Next my Hydrogeddon will attack your other solider." Bastion said as Hydrogeddon blasted his other 1200 point solider.

Bastion: 600

Chazz: 1000

"Aw man, why does Bastion keep attacking? He's only hurting himself." Syrus asks.

"He's fine." Jaden assured him.

"Bastion's playing smart. The Chthonian Soldier with the equip card has 3600 attack points. Bastion would have to summon an incredibly powerful monster to beat him. Unless however…" Zane hints as the large Chthonian Soldier shrunk down.

Chthonian Soldier: 2000/ 1400

"I get it. Bastion took out the weaker ones so he could lower the big one's attack points." Syrus realized.

"Got it in one. He's gotta lose life points in this situation."

"Lastly, I'll play a card face down. That'll do for now." Bastion said.

"Will it? I wouldn't be so sure Whiz Kid." Chazz drew. "I sacrifice Chtonian Solider and all the cards in my hand in order to summon Infernal Incinerator! Bet you didn't see that coming." Chazz laughs as a ball of flames surrounds Chazz's soldier causing everyone to gasp.

"Infernal Incinerator?" Bastion said as the flames explode revealing a giant fiend salamander with the upper body of Chthonian Solider.

Infernal Incinerator: 2800/ 1800

"Better break out your calculator because if you can't figure out a way to beat him this turn then you're through." Chazz said.

"Bastion's in trouble, one attack from that and he's done for." Seika said worried.

"Not necessarily." Ryan stared at his face down.

The Shiba siblings also came to watch the duel.

"Actually Bastion's got this duel already won." Arisa said. "Trust me on this."

"Face it Bastion, you have no chance against my Infernal Incinerator. Especially since it gains 200 attack points for every monster you have out on the field." Chazz said.

Infernal Incinerator: 3400/ 1800

"3400?" Jaden gasps.

"Attack with Firestorm Blast!" Chazz said as his monster breathed a large blast of fire.

"I activate my trap card Amorphic Barrier!" Bastion said as pillars of ice shot out of the ground blocking the attack. "When I have 3 or more monsters on my side of the field this trap negates your attack and ends the battle. But nice try."

"Big deal, one turn and then you're all mine." Chazz said.

"I'm afraid there won't be a next turn." Bastion said drew. "I activate the spell card Bonding H2O. If I have two Hyrdrogeddons and one Oxygeddon then I can sacrifice them to summon…Water Dragon!" The three monster turn into a large geyser which creates a blue serpent like dragon made entirely of water.

Water Dragon: 2800/2600

"And since the number of monsters on my field have decreased so does your Infernal Incinerator."

Infernal Incinerator: 3000/1800

"Doesn't matter, my monster's attack points are still higher than yours." Chazz smirks.

"At the moment yes, but Water Dragon's effect is about to change that."

"Better double check your work because I've already done all the math." Bastion said shocking everyone.

"All the math?" Crowler gasps.

"You mean Bastion's had all this planned from the very start?" Jaden gasps.

The Water Dragon created a giant tidal wave which crashed into Infernal Incinerator draining all its power.

Infernal Incinerator: 0000/1800

"No, his attack points." Chazz said.

"Indeed, that's Water Dragon's special ability. When he's on the field the attack points of all fire attribute and pyro type monsters instantly becomes 0. Now attack, Tidal Blast!" Bastion said as his Water Dragon released a high pressure blast of water destroying Chazz's monster and dousing the whole arena.

Bastion: 600

Chazz: 0000

"Well played Chazz, but not well enough." Bastion said.

"Now this is what Obelisk Blue needs." Davis said. "Somebody wise and skilled enough to whip the dorm into shape."

"Obviously if Bastion had gone to prep school he would have been in the blue dorm already." Kaoru said. "Regardless Bastion is prepared for anything."

"Yep and if anyone deserves the promotion it's him." Arisa said. "I can think of plenty of Obelisk Blues that deserve to be demoted all the way back to Slifer Red."

"Pure luck. You drew a lucky card and stumbled into victory." Chazz said.

"Perhaps, but luck favors the prepared and I was prepared to defeat you with a half dozen other cards as well. Sorry but you would have lost. Deny it all you want, just like you denied throwing my deck into the ocean." Bastion said.

"Prove it." Chazz taunts.

"Very well." Bastion reached into his pocket and pulls out Vorse Raider, but he had a formula written on it. "A card I fished out with a formula I wrote on it. I suppose you could've written it, but the math would probably have been wrong, and it isn't. Chazz you stole, you lied, you cheated, you lost. You deserve to be demoted."

"This can't be happening to me!" Chazz screamed in anger.

"That reminds me." Seika suddenly said. "This is for pushing into the cold water last night."

She punched Chazz in the face.

Crowler was shocked to hear this.

"Say what?! Is it true Chazz assaulted you?" Crowler yelled, flabbergasted that Seika told him that she nearly froze to death when Chazz pushed her into the water.

"Yes, it is." Seika confirmed it.

"Chazz are you insane! Cheating by destroying Bastion's deck is one thing, but assaulting a student is another. No wonder why you are going to be demoted to...you know I think Ra Yellow is too nice. Perhaps you should be demoted to Slifer Red!"

"WHAT! NO!" Chazz then screamed in horror after realizing what this meant.

"Bastion Misawa, congratulations and welcome to Obelisk Blue." Crowler said walking up to him.

"Thank you, Dr. Crowler, but I must decline." Bastion said.

"What? But why?" Crowler asks.

"When I entered this academy, I made a promise that I would only enter Obelisk Blue when I become the number one student in the freshman class." Bastion said before turning to Jaden. "Jaden, out of all the new freshman I think that new student is you."

"Hey thanks, does that mean you want to settle this right here?" Jaden asks.

"Sorry but not now." Bastion said.

"Aw, why not?" Jaden asks.

"Because I have a lot of work to do, many formulas to write, theorems to solve, equations to crack. You're a good duelist and I want to be ready. Soon my dorm room will be filled with all new equations and we will have our duel. It'll be just like the baseball game, you know where I struck you out." Bastion smirks.

"Keep dreaming Bastion. Baseball's a past time but dueling is my life! Until then, pal." Jaden grins.

"Until then." Bastion grins.

"The thing is we better go train the lower ranks as usual." Davis said as the Shiba's left.