Pop Goes the Duel

Syrus ran into the infirmary after Jaden's duel with Aster and found the others surrounding him.

Davis also rushed in as well.

"We heard Jaden's not able to duel anymore. Is that true?" Davis asked.

"I'm afraid so." Syrus said. "See for yourself."

Syrus handed him Jaden's deck, but after inspecting it, the cards looked fine.

"The cards themselves are not the issue. I can sense something happened to Jaden himself." Davis said. "Miss Fontaine, have you found anything?"

"No. I can't physically find out anything wrong." She shook her head.

"I don't think it's a physical issue." Ryan pulled his sleeve up. His Dragon Birthmark was glowing.

"Yeah we kinda established that." Tyson said. "The thing is, what are we gonna do?"

"Then perhaps we need something a bit more in the lines of spiritual means." Davis said.

He pulled out a pair of sunglasses before seeing a white aura surrounding Jaden.

"I was afraid of this."

"Davis, please tell me you didn't see what I think you saw." Kaoru said.

"I'm afraid so." Davis sighed. "The Light of Destruction has returned."

"What exactly are you talking?" Alexis asked.

"Long story short, the Light of Destruction is a dangerous enemy and an ancient form of energy and part of it clung to Jaden." Davis said. "The good news is that it hasn't taken hold completely, but the bad news is that until we remove it he cannot duel since he can't see his cards."

"In that case I'll hang on to these." Kaoru said, hanging on Jaden's deck. "Anyway, to cure Jaden we need to get him to life forms that can help. Arisa knows more."

"Well then, until he gets back we'll keep the Academy safe." Ryan said.

"And the Red Dorm in particular." Tyson added.

"Actually you can handle that as can Rumiko." Ryan replied.

"Be careful, Jaden." Alexis whispered.

"I'll be back as soon as possible." Jaden replied.

On cue Arisa arrived to take Jaden to where he needed to go.

"How is everyone else doing?" She asked.

Ryan filled her in on everything that had happened.

"I see. It's a good thing I came to visit my siblings. Now follow me Jaden."

Arisa led Jaden to the boat and then the two left.

"What are we going to do now?" Syrus asked.

"Prepare. The Light of Destruction needs to be dealt with."

"And we have a dorm to protect." Rumiko said. "With Jaden gone, Tyson is our best chance of keeping Bonaparte from tearing down the Slifer Dorm."

"Alright, let's get to work." Ryan declared.

They went to Chazz's room to discuss what to do next.

"With Jaden's absence, Bonaparte will attempt to tear the Red Dorm down."

"Good point, Bastion." Syrus acknowledged.

"We may be one man down, but we're six men strong. Well four men and two women. Either way, we have to fight."

"Have we forgotten that Bonaparte would be foolish to try unless he tries to get Crowler to promote me to Ra Yellow." Tyson reminded them.

Singing could then be heard outside the dorm.

"What now?" Rumiko asked.

They went outside and saw Atticus playing a guitar on a boat under the bridge.

"Hey sissy."

"Atticus?" Alexis asked.

"Who's he callin' a sissy?" Hassleberry demanded.

"Me. He's my brother." Alexis clarified.

"This is the guy who was the host for Nightshroud and used the Red-Eyes Black Dragon?" Rumiko asked. "At least he isn't acting like a typical elitist snob."

"That we can be thankful for." Kaoru said.

They head over to the river to ask him what he's doing.

"You know. Crowler's plan?"

"You can't be serious." Alexis stated.

"Really?" Davis asked. "How many times does Alexis have to say this. She's not interested."

"We have bigger concerns at the moment anyway." Ryan added.

"Yep so Atticus, I'm sorry but the answer is no." Kaoru said.

"Don't turn it down so quickly."

They turned to the side and saw Crowler emerge from the water in a wet suit with Atticus' boat strapped to his back.

"Do you even know how tough show business is?" Rumiko asked.

"Nice day for snorkeling. So Alexis, have you come to your senses yet?"

"What's that supposed to mean? She's not the one in a wet suit with a boat on her back." Kaoru snorted.

"That's very true." Davis said.

"Sis, can't you give my idea a chance? Please?" Atticus begged.

"What idea?" Syrus asked.

"He wants to turn Alexis into a pop star." Kaoru replied. "That's why I brought her here to the Slifer Red Dorm. Did you not see the outfit she wore? Personally, I think that would be better suited in a cafe."

"Kaoru's right." Alexis nodded.

"Yeah she'd look great in a cafe, but right now we have a situation here." Davis added.

"What's the problem with that? The school gets free publicity, and you get a free dress. It's a win-win."

"Sounds good to me." Chazz said.

"A little help here." Alexis pleaded.

"Yeah Chazz. You know she can't carry a tune." Bastion joked.

"Oh man, he should not have said that." Tyson groaned.

Alexis then slapped him across the face, knocking him to the ground.

"You gotta know when to hold it soldier." Hassleberry added.

"Know when to hold them and when to fold them." Tyson said.

"I was only trying to help. Girls, so complex."

"Okay, how about we settle this with a duel?"

"Somehow I get the feeling this duel may be tougher for Alexis than she thinks." Kaoru said. "Arisa spent some time with Atticus to help him with his Red-Eyes deck."

"Fine. You win and I'll sing, but if I win, you drop it." Alexis agreed to duel.

"Alexis just remember all you learned." Tyson said.

Soon, the rest of the school went to the arena to watch the duel.

"I wish Jaden was here to watch this duel." Syrus sadly said.

"So do I." Kaoru added.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's show time!" Crowler announced.

*"This is your craziest idea yet."* Bonaparte thought.

Kathy and Rumiko thought the same thing.

"This is ridiculous." Kathy muttered.

"Utterly ridiculous." Rumiko added. "It's no wonder Alexis moved to my dorm."

Atticus dropped down from the ceiling on a wire harness, earning applause from the whole crowd.

"I gotta say, that fella knows how to make an entrance."

"I dedicate this duel to the ladies in the house. Now who loves ya girls?"

"He's like a one-man boy band." Bastion noted.

"Sounds lonely." Syrus said.

"Perhaps." Davis added.

"I doubt it." Bastion continued.

"Now for his opponent and sister, Alexis Rhodes! If Duel Academy was a goose, she would be the golden egg." Crowler announced.

"L to the E to the X to the I! Lexi rules and that's no lie."

"I can think of another nickname for Alexis, but I don't want to offend her." Tyson said.

"Before you know it sis, we'll have a platinum album, be in every teen magazine and have our own reality show."

"Slow down hotshot, you still have to win."

"He's getting ahead of himself." Kaoru said.

"At least Jerrica was never this cocky." Davis added. "And she's due for promotion."

"About our band name, I was thinking "Bro-Bro and Sissy", what do you think?"

"I definitely have no desire to lose now."

"That makes two of us." Kaoru said.

"If that's their band name, which one is he?" Hassleberry asked.

"That's a good question." Bastion replied.

"Forget the band, worry about Alexis." Tyson said.

"Game on." They said at the same time.

Alexis: 4000

Atticus: 4000

"Alright Sissy, Bro-Bro first. I summon Red-Eyes Wyvern in attack mode."

Red-Eyes Wyvern: 1800/1600

"Then I activate the field spell Dragon Ravine."

"Looks like your sister Arisa trained Atticus well." Ryan said to the Shiba siblings.

"She did." Kaoru nodded in agreement.

"Next I'll place one card face down and pass the mic to you."

"I'm sensing a theme here and to be honest, it's bugging me. I'm changing the scenery with my Ritual Sanctuary field spell. During each of my turns, I can discard a spell to add a ritual spell from my deck to my hand and that's just what I'm doing right now. I toss a card to add Machine Angel Ritual to my hand."

"She's about to ritual summon." Bastion said.

"This should be good." Tyson said.

"I hope you have a backup career in mind, because this pop star thing is over. I play Machine Angel Ritual to sacrifice Cyber Prima to summon Cyber Angel Idaten!"

Cyber Angel Idaten: 1600/2000

"That whole big production just for her? Talk about a letdown sis. That card's only got 1600 attack points."

"I guess somebody didn't study up on ritual monsters." Davis said.

"She's got a pretty good special ability. When summoned, I can add a spell from my grave back to my hand, like the Ritual Weapon I just discarded. And now I'll activate Ritual Weapon, increasing Idaten's attack by 1500."

"You're kidding me. Her strength is almost double."

"Now attack Red-Eyes Wyvern!"

"Not so fast. I activate Cursed Ring. When you attack, I can equip it to the attacking monster and as long as she's wearing the ring, she can't destroy monsters in battle."

"Your monster may not be destroyed, but you still take damage."

Idaten rushed forward and punched Atticus in the jaw.

Atticus: 2700

"No fair." Jasmine complained.

"He's too cute to lose." Mindy whined.

"Relax girls, that was a dress rehearsal."

"Alexis needs to find better friends." Kaoru muttered.