Roses are red. Violets are blue.
It was a peaceful morning at Duel Academy—
"WHOOHOO! YEAH!"
Jaden's voice shattered the quiet like a thunderclap as he tore down the dirt path at full speed, kicking up a trail of dust behind him.
…Goddammit, Jaden. You ruined the narration.
Jaden ran with a huge grin plastered across his face, laughing breathlessly as he sprinted. "Ha ha ha, Mash!" he shouted over his shoulder. "You challenged me to a race and collapsed five meters from the dorm! Guess that means I'm getting another free card from you! How sweet!"
He pumped his fist victoriously. "Ha ha ha ha!"
"HMM? Are you so sure, Shmaden Shmuki!?"
The smug voice echoed from behind him.
"MASH!? I thought you were-" Jaden glanced back mid-sprint.
His jaw nearly dislocated.
Behind him, Mash grinned like an unrepentant gremlin… while being carried princess-style in the arms of Lovely Labrynth, who sprinted beside Jaden with effortless, elegant strides. Even while running at full speed, she looked like she was casually strolling through a ballroom.
"OHOHOHO~!" Lovely laughed, her voice bright with mischief. "You must be so shocked seeing my darling catching up to you~!"
Jaden blinked once.
Then again.
His face went completely flat. "Honestly, I'm more shocked that 'your darling' has zero pride as a man."
"Ugh… critical hit…!" Mash clutched his chest dramatically as if struck by an invisible arrow, a single exaggerated tear forming in the corner of his eye.
He wiped it away with solemn dignity that lasted all of two seconds. "Either way, Jaden! You're not getting a new card from me that easily!" He pointed forward like a general issuing orders. "Isn't that right, Lovely?"
"HOHOHO~! Naturally, Darling~!" she declared proudly. "Prepare to eat dust~!"
"Ha ha ha! Of course!" Jaden smirked and picked up speed. "If it wasn't hard, it wouldn't be fun! Now get your Game On, Miss Labrynth!"
"You too, Jay~" Lovely replied sweetly. "If you win~"
"OHHHHHH!!!"
Both of them roared in unison as they launched forward, racing down the dirt road like two missiles.
"Go, go, Lovely!" Mash cheered enthusiastically from her arms, waving his duel disk in the air like a pom-pom.
As they raced uphill toward Duel Academy, they sped past Miss Dorothy, who was struggling to push her broken-down van up the incline.
"Hold on!" Jaden skidded to a sudden halt.
"Hm?" Mash glanced back from the comfort of Lovely's arms. "Lovely, stop!"
She halted instantly, stopping mid-sprint with graceful precision.
"What's the matter~?" she asked curiously.
Mash leaned forward with an excited grin. "Look, it's the scene from Episode 4! Y'know, where Jaden helps a poor old lady push her van up this exact hill."
"Ooooh~!" Lovely's eyes lit up in delight. "So we've already reached Episode 4~?"
"Yup." Mash nodded with a knowing smirk.
[Which means I get to watch the Jaden vs. Chazz duel in person.]
[Oh I am so not missing that.]
They turned their attention back to Jaden, who stood scratching his head while staring at Miss Dorothy's van.
"To be a gentleman… or to be on time and get a new card…" he muttered, deep in thought.
"Heh heh," Mash chuckled quietly, feeling like he'd just triggered a hidden dialogue option in a game he'd already beaten.
"Welp!" Jaden suddenly threw up his arms with a grin. "Since I'm never on time anyway and it's just a card...!"
"Never fear! Jaden's here!" he declared heroically as he dashed back to the van and planted his hands against it before he began pushing.
Lovely glanced down at Mash. "Should we~?"
"Yeah, we should."
Mash hopped down from her arms and jogged over beside Jaden. "Crashin' in, Mash is in!"
"Alright, Mash!" Jaden said, bracing himself. "Now... On the count of three…!"
He inhaled dramatically.
"THREE!"
The two boys shoved the van forward.
"Oh, thank you, boys!" Miss Dorothy beamed warmly. "Helping ol' Miss Dorothy like this, I'll remember it!"
"How about remembering your van's extended warranty too! Ha ha!" Jaden joked while pushing. "But seriously, it's our pleasure, Miss Dorothy! Besides, me and Mash can skip the gym today, right Mash?"
Mash, meanwhile, was already sweating like a broken faucet after only a few seconds.
"Yeah… pleasure…" he wheezed weakly.
"Ha ha ha! Is that so?" Miss Dorothy laughed. "Alright then! On the count of three we'll push together again! One, two… three!"
They all pushed in unison. Well, tried to.
Only Mash's face had turned bright red, his legs wobbling like overcooked noodles as he slowly began to collapse again.
Lovely watched him with mild pity. "Darling… I know you're helping… but you're not helping."
Mash groaned. "Ugh…"
She sighed dramatically. "This is why I told you to at least do some light exercise in the mornings, Darling~"
Raising her hand sweetly, she added, "Wanna switch~?"
"Yes."
Mash slapped her palm like a wrestler tagging out mid-match. Then he immediately collapsed onto the dirt and began slowly rolling back down the incline.
Without missing a beat, Lovely stepped forward and caught the van with one hand.
"Ho Ho Ho~! A new challenger has arrived~!" she announced triumphantly.
"Oh?" Miss Dorothy said pleasantly. "If it isn't Mash's pretty girlfriend! Lovely to see you, dear! But… what happened to Mash?"
"You could say he 'Mashed out!'" Jaden said with a laugh.
Lovely slowly turned her head and gave him a look so cold it could freeze lava.
"…Sorry."
Miss Dorothy cleared her throat politely. "Alright then. Let's try this again. On the count of three! One… two… three-!"
WHOOSH!
The van rocketed up the hill like it had just been launched by a rocket booster.
Jaden and Miss Dorothy were left behind in a cloud of dust as Lovely single-handedly shoved the entire vehicle uphill like it weighed nothing.
From the top of the hill, her voice rang out cheerfully. "Hey~! Should I just push this all the way to the Academy~?"
Jaden and Miss Dorothy stood there, completely flabbergasted.
Miss Dorothy leaned closer to Jaden and whispered, "How did Mash even get a girl like her?"
Jaden scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "I'd say it was luck…"
He glanced down the hill.
"…but that's not really Mash's strong stat."
Far below them, Mash was still slowly rolling down the slope like a very tired tumbleweed.
---
Meanwhile, inside the classroom, the atmosphere was the complete opposite of the chaotic sprint up the hill.
The room was silent.
Not the peaceful kind of silence either, this one was heavy, tense, filled with the scratching of pencils, the occasional frustrated sigh, and the quiet despair of students facing an exam they were very much not prepared for.
At the front of the room, Dr. Banner sat perched on the edge of his desk with his usual calm demeanor. Resting comfortably on his lap was Pharaoh, his famously chubby orange cat, who purred contentedly while Banner lazily brushed a hand through the cat's soft fur.
"You have forty-five minutes left to finish your test," Banner announced in a mild tone, as though the statement itself carried no emotional weight whatsoever.
For most of the class, however, those words sounded like a death sentence.
Meanwhile, Syrus sat hunched over his desk, staring at the test paper in front of him like it had personally betrayed him. His pencil hovered uselessly above the page, his leg bouncing anxiously under the desk.
"Ugh…" he groaned quietly, his voice thick with regret. "I should've studied for this exam… Why did I follow Mash when he said I didn't need to study?"
"Yeah, seriously. Why didn't you study even a little, Sy?"
The voice came from the seat beside him, which made Syrus flinched so hard his pencil nearly snapped in half.
He slowly turned his head.
Mash and Jaden were suddenly sitting beside him like they had been there the entire time, both looking completely relaxed despite having arrived roughly thirty minutes late.
"M-Mash!? Jaden!?"
"You know, Sy." Jaden said cheerfully, leaning back in his chair, "even if you're gonna flunk, it wouldn't hurt to study a little. Just sayin'."
"Yeah," Mash added lazily, leaning back in his seat with his arms crossed behind his head. "Also, I never told you not to study."
Syrus's jaw dropped. "What!? But yesterday you literally said I didn't need to study because I had 'a decade of card knowledge' or something!"
Mash slowly leaned toward Jaden and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.
"See here, Jay," he murmured. "What he doesn't know is that I'm gaslighting him right now."
"You're trying to gaslight me!?" Syrus squeaked in disbelief. "I can hear you, you know!"
Mash gulped.
SLAM!
The desk behind them rattled violently as Chazz slammed both palms down on it, veins practically popping from his forehead.
"Hey!" he snapped angrily. "Can you three keep it down!? Some of us are actually planning on passing this exam!"
"Hey, I always plan to pass," Jaden replied casually without even turning around. "It just doesn't usually work out that way."
Mash stretched lazily in his chair. "Yeah, Chazz. Shut yo bi—"
"Mash! Jaden!"
Dr. Banner's stern voice cut through the classroom before Mash could finish that sentence.
Both boys froze.
"Come down here and collect your question sheets." Banner said, adjusting his glasses while Pharaoh continued purring peacefully in his lap. "There isn't much time left."
Jaden scratched the back of his head and gave an awkward grin. "Ha ha… right! Be right down, teach!"
He hopped out of his chair and jogged down the stairs toward the front of the classroom.
"Jay!" Mash called after him. "Grab one for me too!"
Syrus slowly turned his head and gave Mash a tired side glance. "You're unbelievably lazy… It's not like you're actually busy doing anything."
"Of course I'm busy." Mash replied calmly.
"What are you busy with?"
"Breathing."
Meanwhile, as Jaden reached the bottom of the steps to collect the test papers, several students looked up from their desks, none of them particularly happy about the interruption.
Alexis narrowed her eyes from across the room, watching the two Slifer Reds with clear disbelief.
[Thirty minutes late… and they're still joking around.]
[How can they possibly be this laid-back?]
Nearby, Bastion quietly pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and sighed.
[Two of the most talented duelists in the entire academy…]
[And yet neither of them seems to take anything seriously.]
A random Slifer Red student clenched his pen so tightly it nearly cracked.
[I understand how Mash beat Dr. Crowler with that insane deck of his…]
[But how did Jaden beat him too? That's just unbelievable!]
In less than ten seconds, Mash and Jaden had managed to irritate nearly the entire class.
Jaden jogged back up the stairs with two sheets of paper, casually tossing one onto Mash's desk before dropping back into his own seat.
Mash glanced down at the test paper.
Then sighed.
[Fucking grade-schooler level questions… Why the hell does everyone think this is hard?]
He turned his head slightly and noticed Syrus sitting beside him, still frozen in terror as he stared at his nearly blank exam sheet.
Mash sighed again.
Reaching over, he placed a hand on Syrus's shoulder.
When Syrus nervously turned to look at him, Mash leaned in slightly and whispered,
"You can look at my paper, Sy."
---
[30 Minutes later...]
Mash let out a slow, quiet sigh.
For the past half hour he had done absolutely nothing except sit there while the two people beside him Jaden on the left and Syrus on the right had completely surrendered to sleep.
Both of them had their heads slumped forward, breathing softly, pencils resting uselessly in their hands.
"Mash… thanks for the… answer…" Syrus mumbled in his sleep.
Mash glanced sideways at him and couldn't help the faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
[Cute.]
RRRRIIIIIIIIIINNNGGGGGGG!
The academy bell exploded through the classroom, jolting several students awake in their seats. (Except for these two.)
Dr. Banner calmly stood at the front of the room, Pharaoh the chubby orange cat now comfortably cradled in his arms while Banner absentmindedly continued petting him.
"Now then, class," Banner said serenely, as if the bell hadn't just deafened half the room. "Please place your test papers on the front desk. Time is up."
[Finally...!]
The previously silent classroom erupted into controlled chaos as chairs scraped and students hurried toward the front to turn in their exams.
Mash glanced left.
Jaden was still asleep.
He glanced right.
Syrus was still asleep.
Neither of them reacted in the slightest to the commotion around them.
Mash sighed, [Lazy-ass friends...]
With another resigned breath, he gathered all three test papers, stood up, and walked calmly down the steps toward the front of the room. He dropped the stack neatly onto the growing pile on Dr. Banner's desk.
"Alright, class," Banner announced calmly over the noise. "The written exam is now over. Please walk, do not run out of the classroom and hallways just because the new rare cards are here."
"Woah! The new cards are here!?"
That single sentence detonated the classroom.
Desks screeched violently as nearly the entire class stampeded for the door like a herd of panicked buffalo.
Mash watched the mass evacuation with a blank, unimpressed stare. [Stupid fools…]
He shoved his hands into his pockets and casually strolled back up the stairs.
[Well… can't blame them for not knowing. That the new rare cards from the new pack will all be bought by Dr. Crowler disguised as a student… And then he'll give those cards to Chazz for the upcoming duel against Jaden.]
A small smirk tugged at his lips.
[Which I will happily watch with some popcorn.]
When he reached his row again, he saw Bastion standing beside his desks. Jaden and Syrus were awake now, blinking groggily as they rubbed their eyes.
"Hey, Bastion," Mash called casually. "Thanks for waking the sleepyheads for me."
Bastion adjusted the collar of his uniform. "No problem."
"Aw, c'mon, Mash," Jaden said with a wide yawn, stretching his arms overhead. "We were just hibernating to pass the time."
Mash snorted and dropped onto the desk in front of them. "Pfft. What are you, a bear?"
Jaden laughed.
Mash laughed.
Syrus blinked in confusion and looked around the suddenly empty classroom.
"…Wait. Where is everybody?"
"That's exactly what I was about to tell you," Bastion replied calmly. "The new rare cards just arrived. Everyone's already at the card shop."
"What!?" Syrus jumped out of his seat. "New cards!? Why didn't anyone tell us!?"
"Because everyone wants the best cards for themselves," Bastion replied evenly. "Especially for the upcoming field test."
[The test that determines whether you get promoted to a higher dorm or not.] Mash added that quietly in his thoughts.
Syrus turned toward Bastion. "Then why aren't you going to get any?"
Bastion crossed his arms with quiet confidence. "Please. One flawed card could disrupt the delicate balance of my entire deck."
Jaden then looked toward Mash. "What about you? You're not going for any?"
Mash shook his head lazily. "Nah. My deck's already good enough to beat up everyone here. I don't need some overhyped cards messing up the build."
[Besides… I can make them anytime with my system.]
"Well mine wouldn't mind!" Syrus declared excitedly. "Let's go, Jay!"
"You got it!" Jaden grinned.
The two of them immediately bolted for the door, nearly tripping over each other as they sprinted out of the classroom. And just like that, the room fell quiet again.
Mash stretched his arms with a lazy groan. [Now that everyone's gone…]
He reached under his desk, pulled out his Duel Disk, strapped it onto his arm, and activated it. Then he carefully slotted in his favorite card as a soft shimmer of holographic light filled the room.
"Darling~!"
The melodic voice rang out as Lovely Labrynth materialized behind him in elegant brilliance.
Before he could even turn around, she wrapped her arms around him from behind and nuzzled into him affectionately.
"So," she purred softly beside his ear, "how was the test~?"
"Boring," Mash replied lazily, leaning his head back against her shoulder. "Easy as hell. Felt like doing a toddler's homework."
"Ohoho~ Is that so~?" she giggled.
Then she leaned closer, her lips nearly brushing his ear as she whispered mischievously,
"Then… Darling… shall we do our usual~?"
Mash chuckled. "Fu fu fu… sure."
His grin widened.
"Let's start doing our 'Lovely' business."
"Ohohoho~! Oh, Darling~!"
"Gyahoho…! Oh, Lovely~!"
"Ahem."
The sound sliced through the room like a knife.
Slowly… very slowly…
Mash and Lovely turned their heads toward the voice.
Bastion was still standing calmly near Mash desk with his arms crossed, watching them with a completely unamused expression.
One eyebrow lifted slightly. "…Did the two of you forget that I'm still here?"
Mash froze. [I forgot he was still here!]
"Why the hell are you still here?! Shouldn't you have left by now!?"
"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL HERE!?" Mash barked.
Bastion stood calmly. "Since the room was quiet, I thought I'd stay and review my strategies for the upcoming field test."
He raised his hand to his chin.
"But seeing her here…" His gaze shifted toward Lovely. "This is… fascinating."
Lovely slowly smirked. "Ho~?"
Mash immediately began sweating. [This is dangerous…]
"Oh! Really!?" Mash laughed nervously. "Well, sorry to interrupt your peaceful study time! So why don't you just continue reviewing your strategies, and we'll just… head out now!"
He grabbed Lovely's hand and started toward the door.
But Bastion calmly stepped in front of it. Blocking the exit.
"This... is a golden opportunity." Bastion said, pulling out a notebook and pen.
Click!
"To ask a few questions." Bastion smirked.
Mash scowled. "Sorry, but my Lovely isn't doing Q&A today."
Mash and Bastion has an intense stare down, as Bastion seemed to not budge one bit from the class door.
Behind Mash, Lovely's smile slowly faded into irritation.
"Darling…" she whispered sweetly into his ear. "Should I simply bash his head until his brains paint the floor~?"
"NO." Mash replied instantly.
Bastion sighed. "This isn't getting us anywhere…"
He tapped his pen against the notebook. "So how about this."
Mash narrowed his eyes. "Hm?"
"Three hundred DP. Per question."
Mash recoiled. "What!? Bastion, are you—"
"Four hundred DP."
"Are you seriously trying to bribe me!?"
"Five hundred DP."
Mash placed a hand on his chest in outrage. "I can't believe this, Bastion. My respect for you has officially hit rock bottom. Do you really think I'm the kind of guy who can be so easily bribed by—"
"One thousand DP."
"Deal."
---
A few minutes later, Bastion sat eagerly beside Lovely Labrynth, notebook open and pen in hand as he fires off questions after questions.
"Yes, I am a Duel Spirit~!" Lovely declared proudly, lifting her chin with regal flair as she struck an elegant pose. "And the spirit standing before you just so happens to be the most elegant of them all~!"
"Ooh! I knew Duel Spirits were real!" Bastion breathed, eyes lighting up as he immediately scribbled the revelation into his notes like a scientist documenting a breakthrough.
A seat away from them, Mash had already leaned back into his chair, legs stretched lazily beneath the desk while his eyes remained glued to his PDA screen. A soft notification blinked at the corner of it.
+1000 DP
Mash let out a low whistle. "Hehehe… easiest DP I've ever made."
A slow, satisfied grin spread across his face as he lifted the PDA like a victorious trophy.
"I'm rich!" he proclaimed triumphantly. "GYA HO HO HO HO!"
He threw his head back into an exaggerated villain laugh that echoed around the otherwise quiet classroom.
Lovely turned toward him with faint concern tugging at her elegant expression. "Uhm… Bastion… are you certain it's alright for you to throw away a thousand DP on such simple questions~?"
"It's fine." Bastion replied casually without even glancing up from his notes. "Most of that DP came from doing homework for Obelisk Blue students and some side hustles with my Ra friends. Honestly, I have more DP than I know what to do with."
"Hm~ Then ask away~!" Lovely replied cheerfully, giving a dramatic swirl of her hand like a queen granting permission.
"Alright, next question." Bastion flipped to a fresh page with focused enthusiasm. "How are you able to talk and move like this? Aren't you supposed to be just a hologram?"
"Ho ho ho~ Excellent question~!" Lovely chimed.
She placed a hand lightly against her cheek, clearly pleased by the curiosity.
"The simple answer is that I've 'possessed' the Duel Disk's hologram system and now use it like a costume so humans can see and interact with me. Most duel spirits do not do this, which is why they remain invisible to people who lack the affinity to perceive them."
Mash briefly glanced up from his PDA.
[In reality, most spirits just never realized it was even possible to possess the KaibaCorp hologram system.]
He smirked faintly.
[Lovely figured it out through sheer force of love for me.]
"Wait." Bastion suddenly paused mid-scribble, pen hovering above the page. "You need special affinity just to see Duel Spirits?"
Lovely nodded gracefully, brushing a strand of silver hair behind her ear. "Not just to see, dear~ To hear them, speak with them, touch them, sometimes even sense their emotions. Without that affinity… we might as well be nothing more than wind passing by~"
"Interesting… very interesting…" Bastion murmured while scribbling furiously again.
Mash leaned sideways in his chair and eyed him with amused curiosity. "You're really into this supernatural stuff, huh?"
"Who wouldn't be? Science and supernatural things always intrigue me!" Bastion replied without the slightest hint of embarrassment. "Because of that I joined the academy's Supernatural Duel Club."
Mash blinked. "...There's a club for that?"
"Of course!" Bastion continued matter-of-factly. "We study phenomena like Duel Spirits, Shadow Games, dimensional anomalies, that sort of thing. In fact, some members have even theorized that your ace monster might be a genuine Duel Spirit."
His pen scratched faster across the page.
"And now that I have direct confirmation…" Bastion pushed his glasses up slightly with a satisfied smile. "I can brag about it."
"Fu fu fu… is that so?" Mash chuckled.
[He reminds me of that one occult otaku who got his balls taken.]
For the next several minutes, Bastion continued peppering Lovely and occasionally Mash with question after question. What other Duel Spirits were like. How affinity between humans and spirits could grow stronger.
Whether bonds with cards could actually influence duel outcomes.
And several extremely niche theories about the metaphysical nature of Duel Monster cards.
Eventually, however…
BEEP.
Bastion's PDA gave a tragic little notification.
"…And that," Bastion said with a sheepish sigh while glancing at the screen, "appears to be all the DP I can currently afford."
He closed his notebook carefully. "But I will absolutely return with more questions."
"And more DP."
"Sure..." Mash grinned, wide and smug, as he checked the amount of DP in his PDA. "It's a pleasure doing business with you."
"Yeah! That was really fun~!" Lovely said with a cheerful smile towards Bastion.
Bastion blinked.
Then very slightly blushed.
But he quickly cleared his throat and composed himself. "Ahem. Well… I should probably get going now. I wouldn't want to interrupt whatever… private moment the two of you were about to have."
"Now good day, everyone." With a polite wave, Bastion slipped out of the classroom, leaving the door quietly swinging behind him.
Mash and Lovely turned toward each other as their eye locked to each other as if demanding something... exciting.
"Darling~ It's time, is it~♡" she purred.
Mash nodded slowly. "Yeah… Let's do it. Come closer, Lovely…"
She leaned toward him, lips curling into a smile as their body and lips creeps in closer and closer...
Then Mash suddenly pulled a pen and paper from inside his jacket pocket.
"Let's start our Trap Design session for your Silver Castle!"
"Yay~!" Lovely jumped with excitement, "So what devious traps do you have in mind, Darling~?"
Mash tapped the pen against his chin. "hm... I was thinking of a trap where you get locked into a room where you need to play a dance dance machine and get perfect on it if you don't want to get crushed to death by the ceiling in the room."
"Ohohoho~! And while they're dancing for their life, random flaming arrows start flying from the walls! Oh, how perfectly twisted we are, Darling~!"
Lovely struck a smug villainous pose, "O HO HO HO HO HO~!"
Mash threw his head back, laughing with a matching villainous flair. "GYA HO HO HO HO HO!"
Meanwhile…
Just outside the slightly open classroom door…
Bastion quietly stood there, having returned for a moment out of curiosity. He watched the two of them cackling about death traps, while he sighed in disappointment.
[What a waste of time.]
---
Elsewhere on Duel Academy grounds, Chazz Princeton walked down the hallway with a dark scowl on his face. Followed by his lackeys, Taiyou and Raizou, who is struggling to walk his pace behind him.
"I swear, Chazz," Taiyou said, trying to catch his breath, "and there this guy that showed up and bought all the new cards!"
"Yeah," Raizou added, rubbing the back of his neck. " So we couldn't getcha single one for you. Sorry…"
"You know what sorry gets me?!" Chazz whipped around, eyes blazing. "NOTHING!"
Taiyou and Raizou flinched on instinct.
"Without those cards, I don't even stand a chance of beating him!"
"You're right. You don't have a chance of beating Jaden Yuki." A voice suddenly echoed from the nearby stairs
Chazz snapped his head toward the source, his eyes narrowing. A tall figure stood at the top of the stairs nearby, wearing a black gakuran and trench coat and a matching cap hid most of his face.
"Who are you?" Chazz scowled.
The figure chuckled. "Just someone who hates Jaden Yuki as much as you do."
Taiyou squinted. "Wait a sec… you're the guy who bought all the cards!"
"Cards? Oh? You mean... these CARDS!?" The stranger swept open his trench coat.
Inside, the entire collection of rare cards from the newest pack were neatly displayed in it, strapped across his trench coat like illegal contraband.
Chazz and his lackeys gasped in unison.
"W-Whoa…" Raizou whispered. "That's so cool..."
"Talk about having a card up your sleeve," Taiyou muttered.
The stranger laughed again "Ha ha ha ha ha! What's wrong, Chazz? Don't recognize me?" His hand shot up, grabbing the brim of his cap. "How about now!?"
With a flourish, he tossed aside both the cap and trench coat.
Beneath the disguise stood none other than the most heinous person in Duel Academy.
Chazz recoiled. "Dr. Crowler!?"
"Surprise to see me, Chazz?!" Crowler sang.
Chazz scowled. "You know, you looked way better covered up."
"Mamma mia!" Crowler flinched.
But he quickly composed himself. "Insult aside, I have a plan, Chazz Princeton. A plan that will make us all look better. Especially after we expose Jaden Yuki for the amateur duelist he truly is!"
He pointed dramatically at Chazz. "I want you to be his opponent in the upcoming field test. And I want you to crush him using these rare cards!"
Chazz blinked, then raised an eyebrow. "Wait... so you're giving me all the rare cards?"
Crowler nodded with an evil grin.
A slow chuckle bubbled from Chazz's throat then erupted into full-blown maniacal laughter. "HA HA HA HA HA! So I get to use them all for myself for the upcoming field test!? Heh… This is perfect!"
Crowler smirked. "So? Are you in?"
Chazz grinned sharply. "Oh, I'm in alright, Dr. Crowler. And in fact, I've got a little proposal of my own. Something like… killing two birds with one stone."
__________________________________________________
Hello everyone IG here.
Yeah... this chapter was just a nothingburger, but I hope you still enjoyed it!
Now all I need to do now is plan out the upcoming Duel between Jaden and Chazz so stay tuned! Chiao!
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