A few days have passed since the goddess and her daughter returned to the academy with me from their world, and they have settled in quite well; both of them are exploring the island, observing the other students, and talking with the spirits in the Ra dorm and its surroundings, while currently avoiding Jaden and Chazz, who are the only other humans that can see them. "So, today marks the start of the tournament. Do you both want to watch it, or would you prefer to explore the island some more?" I asked, as i finished getting ready for the day. "We will watch, dear; it will be delightful to see how humans have grown stronger after so long, and it will give her a chance to gain inspiration for the type of spirits she will make contracts with in the future." The goddess said these words while petting her shadow dragon, and less than a minute later, her daughter returned to the room carrying ash from outside.
As we were getting ready to head to the auditorium, a flash of purple lights and Cosmo queen appeared in the room. "Oh, what a exhausting trip … Oh, you have a guest," she said, a little embarrassed. "You are fine; we where just getting ready to head to the tournament you can tell us about your trip on the way," i said
—- —- —- —
Arriving at the auditorium, I stand next to Bastion as everyone arrives a minute later, as Doctor Crowler and Director Sheppard appear on the stage in front of the dueling field. Then Crowler started to speak: "Ladies and gentlemen, students of Duel Academy—prepare yourselves for a dazzling display of dueling prowess and pure educational genius! It is my absolute honor—and burden—to announce the start of our Tournament of Mastery and Adaptation! In this special event, each of our duelists has been assigned an entirely unfamiliar deck type! They've had only one week to study and master it! This tournament will test not only skill and strategy but also adaptability and creative thinking!" then Sheppard spoke
"Well said, Doctor Crowler. This challenge is about learning how to grow outside your comfort zone. Victory isn't just about winning duels; it's about mastering change." "Yes, yes, Chancellor—though let's be honest, some of these students barely mastered breakfast." Crowler said with a smirk. Then he said, "Now, let's review our opening matchups!" he said with opened arms.
"Our first duel features none other than Jaden Yuki, our ever-energetic Slifer Red, against the Ra Yellow prodigy, Bastion Misawa! Passion versus precision! Instinct versus intellect! This will be a match to remember! Next, the ever-graceful Alexis Rhodes of Obelisk Blue will face the hardworking Syrus Truesdale of Slifer Red! Can determination overcome experience? Or will Syrus short-circuit under the pressure? Let's hope he doesn't freeze up on us, haha," he said with a loud laugh.
"And finally, the duel everyone's been waiting for! The pride of Obelisk Blue, Chazz Princeton, will face off against the Ra Yellow standout Jason Todd!" he said, waving his hand towards a bracket board on the wall. "Now let the tournament begin!" he said, while pyrotechnics flared to life and he waved for Jaden and Bastion to come up to the arena.
After both of them got in position in the arena. "Let's get our game on!" jaden said as he activated his duel disc "Indeed, I will go first," Bastion said as he activated his duel disc before playing his first card. "I will start by summoning the monster Eda the Sun Magician [Eda the Sun Magician atk 1,500 def 1,500] and activate their effect, allowing me to special summon one spellcaster monster to my field in face-down defense position," he said as Eda's staff glowed as the monster bastion selected appeared on the field "I will then activate the continuous spell Magician's Right Hand; this spell negates the first activation of spell cards during your turn. That will be all from me." Bastion said,
"Man, those were some sick cards, Bastion, but let me give you a positive shock with these new cards!" Jaden said as he drew his card for the turn.
"I will start by activating the spell Photon Lead, but it is negated by your Magician's Right Hand. However, I can now use spells normally. Next, I will activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards, and then I will normal summon Pahunder [Pahunder atk 1,300 def 600]. On the field, a flash of lightning appeared: a man in a green uniform with lightning for his hair and lightning coating his arms. "Now, because of his effect, I can Normal Summon 1 Level 4 LIGHT Thunder-Type monster from my hand, except for Pahunder. Therefore, I will Normal Summon Mahunder [Mahunder atk 1,400 def 700], which has the same effect. This allows me to Normal Summon another Level 4 Thunder monster, so I will also Normal Summon Lightning Rod Lord."
[Lightning Rod Lord atk 1,800 def 100] This monster's effect prevents both players from activating spell cards during the first main phase. Now, Lightning Rod Lord attacks Bastion Eda, the sun magician, with a blast of blue lightning that immobilizes him and causes him to explode in a puff of smoke [Bastion LP: 8,000 -> 7,700]. "now Pahunder attack the face-down monster! " With a lag jump, he slammed a lightning fist into Mythical Beast Cerberus, destroying it. "Now Mahunder attack bastion directly! " Following Jaden's command, she formed a lightning bolt in her hand and launched it at Bastion. [Bastion LP; 7,700 -> 6,300] "I will set one card face down and end my turn." Jaden said with confidence and a large smile.
Bastion took a second to think up a strategy after drawing his cards for the turn. "Alright, I will start by normal summoning Maiden of Macabre." after the monster appeared, Jaden said, "I activate my trap card, Raigeki Break; by discarding a card, I can destroy your monster." After he discarded a card, a blast of lightning left the trap card, destroying the maiden.
With a small frown, Bastion continued. "I will move to my battle phase, then immediately end it and enter my second main phase and activate the spell pot of greed and draw two cards now i will activate the spell Dark Magic Veil by paying 1000 LP I can Special Summon 1 DARK Spellcaster-Type monster from your hand or Graveyard. I will special summon Rapid-Fire Magician." [Bastion LP; 6,300 -> 5,300]
"Now I activate the spell Monster Reborn and special summon back Maiden of Macabre with the effect of Rapid-Fire Magician, and it inflicts 400 damage on you for every normal spell that is activated." After he said this, one of the orbs floating around him lit up and launched a fireball at Jaden. [Jaden LP; 8,000 -> 7,600] "Now I will activate the last card in my hand, Card of Sanctity. The effect allows both of us to refill our hands with 6 cards, and you will take an additional 400 points of damage." Bastion said with a large smile. "Oh man, the situation is not good." Jaden crossed his arms while a fireball hit him for the second time. [Jaden LP; 7,600 -> 7,200]
After a few more minutes of Bastion spamming draw spells and recycling… [Jaden LP; 5,000]… "That is the end of my turn." "Bastion," he said, a little embarrassed as he realized how long his turn took. "Alright, bastion, that was impressive, but my turn is the end of the duel. I draw and tribute the Lightning Rod Lord for the summon of Zaborg the Thunder Monarch and use his effect to destroy your Rapid Fire Magician; then I will use the spell Photon Lead, which is negated, but now I can use spell cards. I activate the spell Raigeki, destroying all your monsters and finally I activate the equip spell United We Stand and equip it to Zaborg the Thunder Monarch." [Zaborg the Thunder Monarch atk 2,400 -> 4,200]
"Now all three of my monsters will attack you directly." Jaden said. With a swirl of thunderclouds, a powerful blast of lightning struck Bastion. [Bastion LP; 5,300 -> 0]
"Well, that is the end of a wonderful duel; the Slifer Slack managed to beat one of Ra Yellow's top students, so please give a round of applause for our winner!" Dr. Crowler announced the results after both duel disks had deactivated. After he finished, a thunderous applause rang out through the auditorium. "Man that was a great duel Bastion, your deck was wonderful. I can't wait to duel you with my normal deck when we are both at full strength." Jaden said as he reached his hand out to bastion. "You're right, Jaden; that was a successful duel. I look forward to dueling with our strongest decks, but I need to take some time to consider how this exercise can help strengthen my deck." Bastion said as he spoke with a small smile.
"Now we will move on to the second duel in 5 minutes. Duelists, prepare to enter the arena." Dr. Crowler said as he shooed both Bastion and Jaden off the field.
Bastion made his way into the waiting room where I was seated. "That was a good duel, Bastion, and your strategy was pretty good; I was going to guess that you were originally going to decrease Jaden's life points normally with some stronger monsters before finishing him with the rapid-fire magician?" I asked after he sat down. "Yes, that is correct. Jaden managed to surprise me with the way he could summon so many monsters, threw me through a loop and derailed my plans," bastion said a little dejectedly. After talking for a few minutes, we see that Syrus and Alexis are both walking onto the arena.