FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Episode Four: The Start of Something...

Day two at Duel Academy and time for classes to begin. Ark had spent most of the free day getting to know what Tara was starting to refer to as 'The Crew'. It seemed most of them were striving for the same thing, a little recognition from their peers, except Quentin it seemed, the boy was an enigma... probably suffering from some sort of confidence issue. "Like you were any different at that age." Ark thought to himself, Duel Monsters was only just starting when he was Quentins age and that was one of the reasons Ark disliked the way the game was going, all the fond memories of exciting games were quickly being replaced by sheer competition, the fun seemed to have vanished along the line somewhere.

There were small classes this year but there was always one per day in which the entire year attended so he was going to be mixed with all the other first years from all the dorms, which meant he'd see his crew again at least once a day regardless of meeting up in free time. Maybe he could get Quentin to open up too, the kid needed some encouragement.

Ark had chosen an empty spot on the seating area about halfway up and had just got to his 'centred place' where he was able to focus when the noise began.

"S'up buddy." McKenzie said as he waltzed over and sat next to him,

"Things were going well, then this loud noise broke my special place." Ark joked,

"Well that sucks, guess we gotta keep an eye out for that huh." McKenzie grinned back,

"You might wanna scootch over." Ark said pointing behind him.

McKenzie turned to see the rest of them stood behind and Tara gave a sarcastic wave while wearing a huge grin. McKenzie moved along down the bench as the rest of them sat down along the line, Quentin was looking primarily at the floor with a look of sheer terror on his face.

"Whats up kid?" Ark asked him,

"You don't know who we have teaching us for todays class?" Quentin said quaking evident in his voice,

"No... but it can't be that bad can it? Besides teachers don't have it in for their students." Ark said trying to relax him,

"Good morning class, get out your text books." Dr Beckett said as she entered the room,

"I'm so boned." Ark said physically slumping in his seat.

The start of the class had gone without incident, either Beckett hadn't noticed him or she was hiding the fact that she had. He knew he shouldn't think that a teacher would hold a grudge over a student beating them if it was for an entrance exam... but he didn't know Dr Beckett well enough to form an opinion of her. It wasn't until he heard the anger in her voice directed at him that he might have to say she was still a little bitter about losing.

"You, McKnight... how do chains resolve?" She said pointing a finger at Ark,

"Simply put, chains are played first to last... but resolve last to first." Ark said, it wasn't even a hard question but he knew it was just poking him for a weakness,

"Very good, however what spell speed is faster than a counter trap?" She asked staring into his soul,

"Trick question, no spell speed is faster than a counter trap... it can only be countered by another counter trap... both spell speed three." Ark said leaning back in his seat,

"Good, now tell me which card allows you to force your opponent to discard everytime you do." Beckett said suddenly feeling irritated by a know it all,

"Forced Requisition... a trap card... continuous." Ark sighed.

This little back and forth continued for a good ten minutes in which Arks knowledge of retro cards was invaluable, he managed to defelct all of Dr Becketts attacks until she finally gave up and moved onto the next part of her lesson.

"Dude, you just totally schooled her." McKenzie whispered trying to stifle his amusement,

"It wasn't that hard, she's holding back... i dunno." Ark started before his trail of thought went off.

The lesson continued without much more hostility towards him but he still couldn't place the attack. He could sense anger in her tone but it wasn't the kind he was used to, like she was doing it to cover up what she actually felt like, he thought it might be she was actually impressed with his skill but had to remain objective in her role as an authority figure. If she let up on him other students would probably pick up on it and think they'd have an easy time. He was impressed by her efforts to remain objective in those circumstances, but would he have to put up with that kind of forced hostility all year... he hoped not because it would grate after a while.

Class let out at the end of the lesson and everyone seemed to be relieved to be getting out. Ark waited by the door for the others to finish packing their things. Beckett was still stood at the podium on the stage and was watching all the students leave.

"How dare he come to my class and breeze through it... my lessons were one of the hardest to pass, not to mention he managed to defeat me... Doctor Samantha Beckett PhD." She muttered to herself,

"Yes but how do you really feel?" Her inner voice replied,

"Grrr, quiet you..." She grumbled at her own head,

"You were impressed... by more than his skill..." Her inner voice poked at her again,

"He got lucky... that is all." She said as she gathered her notes off the desk,

"You want to totally hit that fine fluffy tail right?" Her inner voice teased,

"I'm not talking to you anymore." She said as she blushed and walked out of the lecture hall.

As she walked towards her campus apartment near the Blue girls dorm her inner voice continued to pester her.

"Just face it Sam, you're dying for a good..." Her inner voice began,

"NO!" She shouted, quickly composing herself before continuing, "I will get my own back on him that is all. No one makes a fool of me and escapes unscathed."

"You can keep telling yourself that, but i know what you're thinking... i am your mind after all." Her inner voice almost sighed,

"But what you should know is that i have a plan to get even... the Academy Botanical Gardens is a good place to lure my adversary." Beckett almost grinned,

"Ooooh, makeout point." Her inner voice cooed,

"Oh shut up..." Beckett grumbled as she carried on walking.

Ark and the crew were in the same place where they first met, deciding that it should be their official hang out... no one seemed to object, it seemed very retro like... kids meeting up in a soda joint for milkshakes or whatnot, Ark felt out of place yet at home at the same time, like the Fonz on Happy Days. He'd been going over some deck ideas and strategies with the others and telling them more about the world of tournament duelling.

"And all it takes is just one idea for things to start falling into place." Ark finished a little lesson of his own,

"And you've built how many decks so far?" Tara asked still surprised,

"Roughly about forty to fifty different ones myself, some are usually variations but with slight twist or even in atangent of their own." Ark said,

"And they all win right?" Quentin asked, he always seemed to break out of his shell when he heard inspiring stories... there was hope for the kid yet,

"Well... i wouldn't put it that way." Ark said rubbing the back of his neck.

Quentin seemed to sag in his chair at the thought of losing. Ark saw it straight away and jumped in with a pick me up.

"Tell you what kid take this for the evening, see if you can learn something about it's construction and pick up a few things you can use yourself from it." Ark said handing over his deck,

Quentin was as wide eyed as a kid at christmas, "Your deck, but won't you need it?"

"Doubt it, there's no field tests scheduled and i'm not planning any duelling until you give it back tomorrow." Ark grinned,

"Thanks Ark, i'll make sure to get it back to you straight away." Quentin said as he opened the box and took a peek inside,

"Speaking of which, better be getting back to our dorms..." Ark began before getting cut off,

"DORM FOOD!!!" McKenzie yelled, "Doesn't taste like chicken and you don't have to pay for it... well unless it's chicken..."

As they all headed out the door the sun was already setting, Ark hoped they had all learned something from what he had told them, about deck building, strategy and even tournament life. He knew he was going to pass the year, he just hoped he could help out a few others along the way. He waved goodbye to the others and headed back to the green dorm.

It was dark when he finally made it back and when he entered his room he threw his bag on the floor next to his bed, opened his card folder and went through his collection once again. He felt naked without his new deck, one he'd thought long and hard about using at the academy, but he saw potential in the little blue fox, seeing some of his past enthusiasm buried beneath an exterior of self doubt. He was going to fix that, his one true project at the academy... since his lessons would be a breeze anyway he needed a challenge to focus himself.

As he was mulling these thoughts over in his mind his PDA beeped to indicate incoming mail, he flipped it open and read the awaiting message.

'Meet me in the Academy's Botanical Gardens tonight at Midnight. Bring your cards.'

There was no name attached but he had an inkling of who it could be. Though it was poorly timed, his deck was still with Quentin until tomorrow... that never stopped him before, deck building was a hobby of his as much as duelling and he always had a few spare. He opened a drawer on his desk and saw the boxes which had his extra decks in, he hovered over one box in particular for what felt like forever before snatching up another one and closing the drawer.

He put the deck box in his side pack before grabbing his duel disk and heading out, one way or another the bitterness was going to end tonight.

he arrived at the Botanical Gardens on the north side of the island a little after eleven thirty, this place was supposed to be one of the nicer spots on the island and from what he had heard quite the romance spot as well. As he walked around the dimly lit foliage he came across th rear window which looked over the north bay, it was quite a sight to behold.

"So you showed up, i like punctuality." Beckett said the anger in her voice not present from before,

"I don't stand people up, plus i never back away from a challenge." Ark said clenching a fist in front of him,

"Thats good too, because this time i will put you in your place Fluffy." Beckett grinned at her newly appointed pet name for him,

"Very well since we're off the clock, lets get this on shall we Sam!" Ark replied.

Both of them put their decks into their duel disks and stood at the ready, Life Points set to 8000 and they drew their starting hands.

"I know your strategy now, you won't get the best of me this time." Beckett said drawing her new card, "I play Batteryman D in defence mode, and back him up with this."

"Standard move for you Doc, my turn. And now for a little originality, i summon Axe Dragonute in attack mode." Ark said playing his monster down.

Axe Dragonute

Lv4 - Dark Attribute - Dragon/Effect - A:2000/D:1200

After this card attacks, change it to defence position at the end of the damage step.

"You didn't have that card in your deck before..." Beckett said the surprise evident on her face,

"You only saw a fraction of my deck before... but true, this is a different deck." Ark said knowing he'd just won another of her little games,

"Won't change a thing... i'll still beat you." Beckett shot back a little peeved she was done over again,

"Now where were we, oh yes of course my Dragonute was going to swing that axe of his, GO DRAGONUTE! ATTACK!" Ark commanded.

With a single swing of his axe the dragon cleaved the batteryman in half which was followed by an explosion as the monster left the field.

"Now my mosnter must switch to defense mode as part of his effect cost." Ark said as he laid a card on the back row, "Your turn i believe."

"You seem smug for someone who got off to a lucky start. My draw brings me one step closer to your defeat. I play Battery Charger, i pay a cost of a mere 500 life points to bring back one Batteryman monster in my graveyard, which i then sacrifice for my Batteryman Charger. And like last time he has an ability to call his friends from the deck for which i choose Batteryman AA." Beckett said finally gaining some control.

The two monsters appeared and stood ready for battle, Batteryman Charger was the first to attack gunning straight for the defending dragon and destroying it with little resistance. The small Batteryman AA was next up who jumped in to land a meager 1000 points of direct damage, it wasn't much but it was enough to give Beckett a sense of control.

"And with that attack i end my turn, but don't rest just yet, i'm not done riding you." Beckett said feeling content with her move,

"You wanna re-phrase that Doc." Ark grinned as he drew a card,

Beckett realising what she had said quickly shot back, "Quit being a smartass!."

"With my turn comes a turnabout, i summon up Alexandrite Dragon. His 2000 attack points are gonna toast your double A, go Dragon... recycle that Battery!" Ark called out to his beast.

Alexandrite Dragon

Lv4 - Light Attribute - Dragon/Normal - A:2000/D:100

The dragon glimmered with all manner of colours as the jewels adorning its scales glimmered in the light from the moon outside. It was a sight to behold as it swung a large clawed fist at the cowering batteryman. The resulting explosion made the other batteryman reel as it lost 300 attack points it gained from its bretherin.

"Now the game is on, your charger isn't quite the power source anymore huh." Ark teased,

"Still more powerful than your dragon, he's not down and out yet. And now it's my turn." Beckett almost snarled as she drew, she wasn't going to lose to him again, "I attack with my Batteryman Charger, time for your dragon to retire."

"Not before i drop this on the line, my Honest monster card is quite the show stopper." Ark said holding up a card in front of him.

Honest

Lv4 - Light Attribute - Angel/Effect - A:1100/D:1900

During your main phase you can return this card from the field to it's owners hand. During either players damage step, when a face up LIGHT monster you control battles, you can send this card to the graveyard to have that monster gain ATK equal to the ATK of the opponents monster it is battling until the end phase.

Alexandrite dragon quickly gained the 2100 attack points of the attacking Battery and made short work of its attack before rendering it asunder.

"Your a sneaky little bastard i'll give you that, but i won't take that lying down!" She snapped at him,

"So many promises..." Ark said still with a little smile,

"Enough with the innuendo fluffy... i'll play my portable battery pack to bring back two of my little friendsand also summon another Batteryman AA." She said trying to regain he composure.

A Batteryman D and two Batteryman AA appeared on the field before her once again buffing her frontline enough to stem an attack.

"My two Double A's are at 2000 attack each, one more and you're through. I play this face down and end my turn."

"Back to me, i summon my Lancer Dragonute in attack mode and activate my spell card Draconic Tactics. With this spell i sacrifice two of my dragons on the fieldto summon a level eight dragon from my deck, and i choose my White Night Dragon." Ark said throwing his cards onto the field.

Lancer Dragonute

Lv4 - Dark Attribute - Dragon/Effect - A:1500/D:1800

When this monster attacks a monster in defence position excess damage is dealt to the opponent as damage.

White Night Dragon

Lv8 - Water Attribute - Dragon/Effect - A:3000/D:2500

During either players turn, whn a spell/trap card that targets this card is activated; Negate the activation and destroy it. When a face up monster you control is targeted for an attack; you can send 1 spell/trap card you control to the graveyard, change the attack target to this card.

"Now my White Night Dragon, take out that Batteryman D!' Ark commanded as the dragon flew at its designated target.

The dragon tore through the monsters attempt at defence and snet it in pieces to the graveyard.

"Thats one hell of a hit, hope it didn't hurt too much." Ark said smugly,

"Not one bit i'm afraid, i'm used to your shenanigans by now so i was prepared with this, my Dimension Wall trap card. When it's sprung my opponent takes all battle damage i would have taken instead." She said with a voice filled with glee,

"Touche. With this card i end my turn." Ark said quite impressed with the move,

"Now i have the lead, and i don't intend to lose it." Beckett said with a clenched fist, "First i draw. And the time has come to end this, i remove from play 2 monsters in my graveyard to summon my Batteryman Industrial Strength and my final card the dreaded Calculator!"

Batteryman Industrial Strength

Lv8 - Light Attribute - Thunder/Effect - A:2600/D:0

This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by removing from play 2 "Batteryman" monsters from your Graveyard. Once per turn, you can remove from play 1 Thunder-Type monster from your Graveyard to destroy 1 monster and 1 Spell or Trap Card on the field.

The Calculator

Lv2 - Light Attribute - Thunder/Effect - A:?/D:0

This cards ATK is equal to the number of levels of monsters on your field x300.

"Time to end this, and once again i will be on top." Beckett could hardly contain her excitement,

"If you'd have told me that before i would have let you, i prefer the bottom anyway." Ark grinned childishly,

"You're being an ass again... anyways his ends right here. Calculator attack White Night Dragon and bring me victory!" Beckett commanded feeling as nothing could go wrong.

As the Calculator charged his attack the face down card on Arks field popped up revealing a Ring of Destruction trap card, the ring latched onto the calculator and detonated hitting both players with the calculators attack points as damage. When the smoke cleared both duellists stood apart as both life point counters hit 0.

"You did that on purpose!" Beckett growled,

"It's the way the game goes, you win some you lose some." Ark shrugged,

"But i was supposed to beat you this time." Beckett said as she finally accepted her defeat again and slumped to the floor,

"Come on now it was a lot of fun, and i think we learned a lot." Ark said walking over to her,

"Yeah, that you're an ass." Beckett said scowling at him,

"You don't mean that." Ark said offering a hand to help her up.

She didn't mean it of course, she was arguing with the nagging voice in her head. It was that which had let the things out which Ark had quickly turned into little digs at her. She sighed and took his hand as he helped her off the floor, losing didn't seem so bad when she was this close to the source of her irritation... or what she tried to convince herself was irritation.

"You need to let go Doc, remember i've been in this game just as long as you have. We have about the same amount of experience, it's just a matter of perspective." Ark said looking out the window,

"You're right, i just haven't been challenged the way you did for a long time. Guess it'll take some getting used to." She said softly,

"You can always pick on the kids if you need a punching bag." He joked,

"You're sweet."

With the final words she gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked past him heading back to her apartment with a whole new perspective in her mind. Ark was just stood in the same spot for a moment he touched his cheek where she had kissed him.

"Didn't see that one coming." He muttered as he headed off as well.