In the middle of a black empty void, a lone figure sprinted through the darkness as if his life depended on it. His Obelisk Blue uniform flapped behind him, and his black hair stuck to his sweat-drenched forehead.
Chazz Princeton ran like hell.
A sharp whistle cut through the air and then THUNK! A silver battleaxe buried itself in the ground just inches from where Chazz had narrowly sidestepped.
"Get away from me!" Chazz shouted, panting, panic thick in his voice.
"Ho ho ho~" A sadistic laugh echo behind Chazz. "You'll never get away from me... CHAZZ PRINCETON~!"
From the darkness emerged a terrifying version of Lovely Labrynth, her face twisted into a wicked grin. Her once elegant dress was now stained with splashes of blood, alongside her bloodied silver battleaxe she wields in her hand while she is also running toward Chazz.
Chazz kept running. There was no direction, no exit just an endless void. His breath hitched. His legs tired. And then...
Thud.
He tripped over a conveniently placed rock in the middle of a goddamn void and crashed face-first onto the ground. "Argh!" he groaned.
As Chazz slowly opened his eyes, he froze. His neck and entire body was now shackled and locked against the cold metal of a silver guillotine. Standing beside it, with one hand on the lever, was the same monstrous version of Lovely Labrynth smiling sinisterly like death herself.
"Wait! Wait, wait, wait!" Chazz pleaded frantically. "Please! I'm sorry for insulting your boyfriend!"
"Apology denied~" she purred with a twisted smile and pulled the lever. "Die-die now~"
The blade came down with a sharp whoosh.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!"
Chazz bolted upright in his bed, screaming at the top of his lungs. Cold sweat clung to his skin, and his heart pounded like a war drum. His eyes darted to the digital clock by his bedside.
6:00 AM.
He groaned, dragged himself out of bed, and stumbled into the small kitchenette of his private Obelisk Blue dorm room.
He grabbed a glass, filled it with water, and downed the whole thing in one go. Then he leaned over the counter, breathing heavily, and his hands gripping the marble.
"DAMN IT!"
CRACK!
The glass shattered in his right hand, shards digging into his palm. Blood dripped onto the floor but Chazz didn't even flinch.
"That's the fifth nightmare this week," he growled. "And it's always the same… Me, running from Mash's psycho girlfriend!"
Still fuming, Chazz stormed over to his first aid kit. One by one, he pulled the shards from his right hand, hissing under his breath, then wrapped it tightly in bandages.
He let out a long sigh as the silence of early morning returned. And then...
Grrrrrgle…
His stomach growled.
[I should head to the cafeteria. I'm starving.]
Chazz stepped out of his private dorm room, the morning air still cool against his skin. The hallway was quiet, save for the distant hum of the Obelisk Blue's early risers. He shoved both hands into his pockets and began walking toward the cafeteria.
"Chazz!"
A voice called out from behind him. He glanced back to see Raizou and Taiyou, his usual lackeys, jogging up the hallway.
"Whoa, Chazz!" Taiyou said with a grin. "You're up early! That's rare!"
"Yeah," Raizou chimed in. "You're usually still snoring at seven!"
Chazz gave them a side glance and muttered, "So what if I'm up earlier than usual? What about you two? Why are you up so early?"
Taiyou rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Ah, well... I lost a bet. So now I have to run laps around the Obelisk Blue dorm with Raizou early morning. Look at me, I'm wet from sweat!"
"Bet?" Chazz raised a brow.
Raizou chuckled. "Yeah. Taiyou lost a bet on how long an upper-class Obelisk Blue would last against Mash and he-"
"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT NAME RIGHT NOW!"
Chazz's voice exploded through the corridor as he turned pointing a finger at Raizou with his right hand
Both lackeys flinched. Raizou's eyes dropped to Chazz's hand, wrapped tightly in fresh bandages. "Chazz... what happened to your-"
"SHUT UP!"
Chazz barked, then turned his back at them and walk away from them with angry and fast steps.
Raizou and Taiyou exchanged a worried glance. Then hurried after him.
---
Chazz sat at a corner table in the Obelisk Blue cafeteria, attacking a thick steak with the intensity of someone settling a personal vendetta. The knife scraped harshly against the plate as he sawed through the lobster meat. Across from him, Taiyou and Raizou picked cautiously at their food, moving with the careful restraint of men who had accidentally wandered into a lion's enclosure.
Raizou leaned a little toward Taiyou, lowering his voice. "Is he… in a bad mood again?"
Taiyou didn't even look up from his plate. "He's been in a bad mood for the past couple weeks, and I think the trigger is Mas-"
Chazz's head snapped up.
The glare he shot them could have cut steel.
Both boys stiffened instantly and looked back down at their plates like perfectly obedient statues, chewing in tense silence.
The air around their table felt like a minefield. Taiyou and Raizou moved slowly, carefully, like soldiers trying not to step on the wrong wire.
Then, from the next table over, two Obelisk Blue students shattered the fragile quiet.
"Mash's deck is way too powerful!"
Chazz froze mid-bite.
Across from him, Taiyou and Raizou gulped in perfect synchronization.
"Yeah!" the other student continued enthusiastically, blissfully unaware of the impending disaster. "Being able to summon {Lovely Labrynth of the Silver Castle} with the same ATK as Blue-Eyes off a trap card!? What kind of nonsense is that!?"
CLINK.
Chazz's fork scraped across the plate as his teeth ground together.
"And not only that, Mash's ace monster can destroy cards on the field or in your hand! That's completely broken! And her personality is… honestly terrifying."
Sweat began sliding down Taiyou and Raizou's temples like cold raindrops.
"Then there's {Lady Labrynth of the Silver Castle}! She's untargetable, basically indestructible, and she sets another trap whenever a trap card gets activated! And that's just the boss monsters! His smaller monsters are ridiculous too! {Arianna the Labrynth Servant} can search any Labrynth card the moment she's summoned!"
Across the table, Chazz's spoon slowly bent under the crushing pressure of his tightening grip.
"Pfft! And that's just the monsters! The traps in his deck are the real monsters. No matter what anyone does, they can't get through those damn traps! And even if you somehow manage to push past them, you still have to deal with a 3000 ATK monster that he summoned from a trap card! AND THIS ALL HAPPENS BY TURN TWO OR THREE!"
Taiyou and Raizou had completely stopped eating. They sat there motionless, hands clasped under the table, silently praying to whatever deity might be listening.
"Seriously," the other student groaned, "we're still normal summoning our Level 4 monsters while he's already special summoning his 2900 ATK {Lovely Labrynth of the Silver Castle} during our draw phase! And don't even get me started on that creepy walk she does when she activates her effect. You swear she's just staring straight into your soul before she destroys the most important card in your hand. And then that laugh 'Ho ho ho~' I swear I can still hear it!"
Chazz's hands slowly slid to the edge of the table.
His eye twitched.
His shoulders trembled.
"Mash is a—"
"ENOUGH WITH ALL THIS MASH!!"
With a furious roar, Chazz flipped the entire table.
Plates, steak, lobster, glasses, and silverware launched into the air like explosive shrapnel before raining down directly onto Taiyou and Raizou's stunned faces.
The cafeteria fell into absolute silence.
Every head turned.
Every eye locked onto Chazz.
At the neighboring table, the two Obelisk students had gone ghostly pale as the horrifying realization dawned on them that they had been the ones who pulled the pin.
Chazz stood there breathing hard, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles had turned white. His shoulders shook with barely restrained fury.
Then, without saying another word, he spun on his heel and stormed out of the cafeteria—one step away from breaking into a full sprint.
Behind him, Taiyou and Raizou remained frozen in their seats, drenched in lobster juice and steak sauce, silently reconsidering every life decision that had led them to becoming Chazz Princeton's friends.
---
Chazz stormed down the hallway. His fists were clenched, his face twisted with rage, and one name burned itself into every thought:
[Mash...!]
He slammed straight into another Obelisk student carrying a stack of papers. Sheets exploded into the air like confetti.
But Chazz didn't even slow down.
[It's always Mash...!]
Reaching his private dorm room, he slammed the door open so violently that it hits an unfortunate Obelisk student passing by in the hallway. Ignoring the pained yelp behind him, Chazz marched inside.
His eyes locked on a corner of the room specifically, a part of the wall hidden behind a sheet of cloth.
[I'm sick of hearing about all this Mash! which is why...!]
With a sharp yank, he tore the cloth away.
The wall behind it was pure madness.
Papers, sticky notes, and photographs covered every inch. Red strings stretched between them in a chaotic web, connecting dozens of scribbled theories and diagrams. Photos of Mash. Photos of {Lovely Labrynth of the Silver Castle}. Duel notes. Card interactions. Turn-by-turn breakdowns.
At the center of the conspiracy board was a single card.
Every string converged on it.
Like the eye of a storm.
[I've crafted a plan to counter you, Mash… and it all revolves around this card!]
Chazz threw his head back and burst into maniacal laughter.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
But the manic grin quickly faded. He leaned against the wall of madness, his expression tightening, his breath heavy.
"But… it's not enough," he muttered bitterly.
[Even with this single trump card, I still can't beat him. I know his deck inside and out now after weeks of... Observation]
He clenched his fists.
[His combos, his setups, every card he's got... I've memorized it all.]
[And yet—]
His eyes flicked to the card at the center.
[It's still not enough. That bastard summons his massive Labrynth monsters faster than I can breathe. Their high attack, high defense… I can't break through it with the cards that I have. DANG IT!]
With a snarl, Chazz punched the wall hard enough it dented.
[If only… if only I had an archetype that allows me to summon my boss monster as fast as possible has the attack to rival his silver devil. Then...]
Chazz suddenly picked up a pin and flung it straight at a photo of Mash on the wall, stabbing it right between the eyes.
[I'll be able to defeat him and end this nightmare!]
---
[Slifer Red Dorm – 8:00 AM]
"I'M LATE!"
Jaden shot upright in bed like a spring-loaded trap, eyes wide as he stared at the glowing numbers of his alarm clock.
He practically dove out of bed, scrambling across the room while dragging on his Slifer Red jacket and fumbling with the sleeves. His hair was still a mess as he stumbled toward the door, trying and failing to tie his shoelaces at the same time.
"Man… why didn't Sy wake me up…?" he muttered under his breath, crouched awkwardly in front of the door while wrestling with a stubborn knot.
After a few seconds of fighting the laces, he gave up on questioning fate and yanked them tight.
"Oh well," he declared, standing up and throwing the door open. "Guess I just gotta go fast today!"
He stepped out into the hallway, already preparing to sprint toward the stairwell beside his dorm room.
Then he stopped.
"Huh?"
Something was lying on the floor right outside his door.
Jaden leaned down slightly, squinting at it. "A face-down card?"
He tilted his head. "Did someone drop this? Maybe it fell outta their deck…" His gaze drifted down the empty hallway before he shrugged.
"Eh. Finders keepers." Jaden reached down to pick it up.
But the card suddenly slid away just before his fingers touched it.
He blinked. "…Okay. Weird."
He stepped forward and reached again.
The card scooted to the left.
Jaden frowned and lunged for it a third time.
The card zipped to the right.
"What is going on with this card!?" he demanded. "Why does it keep moving on it's own!? Geez!"
He huffed and straightened up. "Fine! Guess I won't take you then! See ya!"
Turning dramatically on his heel, he began walking away with exaggerated dignity.
Then suddenly-
He jumped backward over his shoulder.
"Just kidding! Come here, card!"
The card darted forward, slipping neatly out of the way beneath him. "Huh!?"
Unfortunately, Jaden's leap had already committed him to a very unfortunate trajectory.
Straight toward the metal railing beside the stairs.
"WAAAAHHH!!!!"
BANG!
His forehead slammed directly into the railing.
A visible bump instantly formed as he slowly slid down to the floor.
"Ugh… ow… ow ow ow…"
From the corner near the stairwell, laughter exploded.
Jaden groaned and turned his head.
Standing there were Mash and Lovely Labrynth, both laughing like cartoon villains.
"GYA HO HO HO HO!" Mash howled, pointing at him. "Lovely, did you get that on camera!?"
Lovely held Mash's PDA high in one hand, still recording while shaking with laughter. "Of course I did~! Every single second~!" she giggled gleefully. "OHO HO HO HO~!"
The mysterious face down card fluttered across the floor toward them like a trained pet.
Mash pointed at Jaden dramatically. "GYA HO HO~! Shmaden, you leapt like a frog and faceplanted into a railing!"
Lovely spun the PDA in her fingers, still recording. "LMAOOO! OHO HO HO HO HO~!"
"DELETE THAT VIDEO!!" Jaden shouted, jumping to his feet and charging at them.
Lovely calmly raised the PDA above her head with a smug smile.
Even when Jaden jumped, his fingers barely reached her elbow.
"Feeling a little short today, Jaden~?" she teased sweetly. "HO HO HO HO~"
At nearly 190 centimeters tall, she towered effortlessly over Jaden's much shorter 165-centimeter frame.
Mash stepped in quickly, raising both hands. "Woah, woah, Jay! Chill out before you give yourself another concussion!"
"How am I supposed to chill when you just did me dirty like that, man!?" Jaden shot back.
"Okay, okay!" Mash said quickly. "How about… emotional compensation?"
He bent down and picked up the runaway card from the floor. Beneath it sat a thin silver disc barely noticeable which he casually flicked away before Jaden could see it.
Then he held the card out.
"Here."
Jaden hesitated. "…A card?"
He took it and flipped it over.
"{Elemental HERO Stratos}…?"
His voice cracked slightly as he began reading the effect aloud. "When this card is Normal or Special Summoned… you can destroy Spell or Trap cards depending on the number of HERO monsters you control… or add a HERO monster from your deck to your hand!?"
Jaden's eyes widened. "Mash… are you serious? You're giving this to me!?"
Mash shrugged casually, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Keep the card… and we keep the video."
"Take the card and DELETE the vid-"
"Wait wait wait!" Mash laughed nervously, waving his hands. "No need to be so hasty, Jay! Besides…" His grin sharpened slightly. "I only give cards like that to you because of someone you're gonna duel."
Jaden blinked. "Someone…?"
Mash winked.
"Oh, you'll see."
Jaden tilted his head slowly, suspicion creeping into his expression. "…What does that mean?"
Mash simply clapped him on the shoulder and started walking toward the stairs. "Anyway! We're late as hell for the exam! Let's bounce!"
"Wait!" Jaden shouted, pointing accusingly. "Mash! What about the video—!?"
Too late.
Mash and Lovely had already dashed down the stairs like mischievous gremlins.
Mash's voice echoed back up the stairwell. "Race ya, Jay! If you win, I'll give you another card!"
Jaden froze.
His eyes lit up instantly. "…Really!?"
He leaned over the railing, determination blazing in his face.
"Alright! You're on!"
And with that, he bolted down the stairs after them.
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Hey everyone IG here!
Really wanted to make this chapter longer but I still have Exam tomorow so I need to study. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this short chapter, Chiao!
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