Chapter 47:
Blake awakened like clockwork at the first rays of sunlight, though getting out of bed was a lot harder than he's used to.
After spending another night at the infirmary as he'd been instructed, he too moved into the lavish Obelisk Blue dorm. Quite a few of the Obelisk students had been aghast when he and the others got promoted so easily, and out of the usual promotion times to boot. The, plainly speaking, bad duelists had quivered in their boots when Kaiba himself had confirmed that the old ranking system would be put back into place, just how Kami and he had promised. To say he hadn't been pleased when he's told how Syrus had beaten and kicked out that tennis guy would be an understatement. The senior Ra students would be getting their chances next, since they're close to graduation, but he knew none of them, so it didn't matter much.
Pulling himself into a seating position on the softest bed he'd ever lied upon, Blake's eyes swept over the new accommodations he'd now be staying in for the rest of their first year. He had no doubt he'd remain in Blue until he's done with the academy, but the rooms and floors were split according to seniority. So, one floor higher next term.
The bed itself could easily fit another person comfortably, something they've been discouraged to do by both Crowler and Fontaine. Not like that'd ever stopped anyone determined enough. Its mattress was also heavenly, which had him seriously fight with himself to get up for his morning jog.
Next to a nightstand to the right stood a tall wardrobe while a small bookstand was placed on the left side of the bed, the windows just above it. The main space of the room was made up of a L-shaped couch with a fitting table alongside a flatscreen tv, as well as a wide desk with a notebook and writing supplies resting on top. But the kicker was the personal bathroom.
While the Ra dorms had their own small bathrooms, the ones here came with walk-in showers outfitted with rain shower heads, a ground-to-ceiling mirror, and underfloor heating – the later going for the whole dorm room. Considering it was Christmas Eve, the idea of staying in and enjoying the commodities was getting more attractive by the minute. Then again, who to spend the time with?
Bastion and Kami went home for Christmas to spend it with their families, which made sense, he supposed. Same thing with the Truesdale brothers and Rhodes siblings. Especially the later would likely be in for one hell of a party. Dimitri and the Ra girls were out too, though Bright seemed like she wanted to talk when he saw her leave with the others. Blake idly wondered if her dad has been laid off or not, given the raid on both the underground rings and the Domino Police Department.
His guardian Katherine hadn't objected to him staying, though she sounded a bit salty about Kaiba ordering him around. They hadn't celebrated Christmas … ever, so its not like he's missing out on anything. She'd told him they'd gotten a big payout for setting up the bad guys, which she'd be using to have a Christmas vacation in the United States. Something about meeting an old friend from school and future work plans. The fact Kagemaru had bitten the dust also seemed to greatly please her, which only left the topic of what Kaiba hinted at.
Apparently, the two had made a deal involving Blake. Something Kaiba had strictly ordered in said deal was Blake living on his own and attending therapy; mainly physical for his plethora of scars and injures, but also mental. The latter Blake wasn't happy about at all. He'd dealt with all the shit thrown at him by himself and needed no psychologist or therapist or whatever to poke at his brain. Living alone he was fine with, though it felt weird leaving the home he'd grown used to over the years. Then again, he couldn't have Bastion, or Ra prevail Kami, over at Katherine's.
Aside from that, he'd be interning the whole spring break when he wasn't busy with therapy, aside from the weekends. So much for a restful break.
After both Bastion and Kami had apologized for letting him stay on the island alone, Blake had told them a bit over the situation at home and how that'd apparently change. Both of them supported him living away from Katherine, which he didn't quite understand. He didn't remember ever talking bad about her, since all she's doing was keeping him fit with light housework and giving him chances to prove himself. His point about her being the reason he's even made it to the academy fell on flat ears too, though they had to board the ship before things got too heated.
Speaking of heated, his … relationship with Kami was in a bit of a curious spot since she wasn't quite comfortable with showing affection in front of others yet, except for Bastion who'd interrupted them. Save to say they hadn't gotten any more physical than that, though the tension was definitely there, something Dark Armed Dragon couldn't help but keep holding over his head. His best friend had congratulated him too, but the ill-timed run-in put Bastion at odds with Kami, causing the two to be a bit awkward with one another.
Now in his running gear, Blake reluctantly made his way to the dorms entrance only to run into Jaden and Chazz, who'd both opted to stay alongside him.
"I've got some stuff to think about after my duel with Banner. Stuff my parents wouldn't understand." Jaden had reasoned. "Well, that and Miss Midori forcing me to study up to improve my grades …"
"While it's true Alexis isn't staying over Christmas, I'd rather be here than at home. At least here I won't be alone." Had been Chazz's argument.
Both of them wore running gear too, making this their de-facto first outing together, just the three of them. For Blake it'd felt incredibly weird to see Jaden wearing blue, but something he'd have to get used to. Blake found Jaden's reasoning to stay in Slifer so he'd wear red just like his hero Koyo Hibiki was both kind of nice and stupid. Turned out Miss Hibiki agreed with Blake's take, thus extra study time for Jaden. Apparently, Koyo was a genius both dueling wise and academically, so taking after him should include good grades.
As the trio left the dorm, they waved at a bundled-up Doctor Crowler who's busy shoveling snow. Kaiba had given the man quite a bit of work to make up for his blunders, but at least he's still around. How was it snowing on an island with a semi-active volcano? Blake had no idea, but he wasn't going to put it past the Spirits of the island or even Kaiba to make it possible.
"So …" Jaden began as they left the premises of the Obelisk dorm in a comfortable speed. "You think we get a chance to see Santa?"
Blake and Chazz exchanged baffled looks.
"Are you for real?" Chazz asked.
"Santa isn't real, Jaden." Blake deadpanned. Something about a Saint Nicholas and the Coca Cola company, which didn't exist here. Kaiba Cola existed, for some Ra forsaken reason, though.
Jaden put his hand over his heart and shot them an incredulous look. "How could you say that?! If you think like that, you'll get nothing but coal this year!"
Chazz could only shake his head.
"I mean, that'd be more than nothing, like usual." Blake replied with a shrug.
"You can't be serious?!" Jaden exclaimed, overtaking them both and stopping in front of them. "You've never gotten a present?"
"No. I didn't celebrate it either for that matter." Blake frowned at him.
"Alright, that settles it!" Jaden took both Blake's and Chazz's arm. "Tonight, we'll go hunting for Santa and the true spirit of Christmas!"
"You want me to use my machines to locate … Santa Clause?" Jinzo repeated, an indignant touch to his voice.
"Yep!" Jaden confirmed with a large grin. "That way there's no way we won't find him. Don't you agree, teach?"
Out of the mouth of his tabby cat, Professor Banner appeared. First as a little ball of light, then in his usual appearance, though in translucent spirit form. "While I can't argue with the possible results …" The spirit professor turned to the other two boys in attendance, sweat dropping along the side of his face.
"We've tried." Blake said with a roll of his eyes.
"Several times." Chazz added with a frown.
Their morning jog had brought them to the Abandoned Dorm, which now served as the base of operations for Jinzo and Banner. They were currently in the deepest room in which Jaden had faced his former teacher. The alchemic equipment had been put on one side and the machinery brought in or possibly even built by Jinzo on the other. In the middle, a nice futon along with a large cat tree had been put up.
Banner then tried to dissuade Jaden from his plan, sounding like he wanted to spare the poor boy the heartbreak when he found out that Santa indeed wasn't real. With Chazz supporting Banner's notion, Blake took the chance and scooted over to Jinzo.
"So, mind telling me what's going on?" Blake raised an eyebrow at the spirit in physical form. "First you run off when things looked dire, then you come back to save Bastion and I from the Shadow Charm and now you're physical and working for Kaiba?"
"Aptly put." Jinzo nodded. "As you're well aware; I've been searching for a way to get that dark artifact off of you. Physical interference by ways of my psychic abilities were the most surefire way to guarantee success."
"Fair." Blake granted. "Doesn't explain you staying that way, though."
"We'll have to work on your short sightedness someday." Jinzo breathed loudly, but withered under the glare he got in response. "You know as well as I do, probably better, that things have been set in motion. Things we'd both rather keep an eye on." Blake waved at him to continue. "So, I decided I could best support you like this. With Banner taking interest in helping your Kuriboh-looking friend, we share a somewhat common goal while trying to unearth the other secrets of this island."
"I hate how you make sense …" Blake grumbled, for once happy Bastion wasn't here since he'd agree with Jinzo. "Wait, what do you mean 'other secrets'?"
"Have you not wondered what's up with this particular place?" Jinzo asked. "A well linked deeply to the Spirit World. The prison of the Sacred Beasts. A ruin fading in and out like a fata morgana housing a clan of Gravekeepers. The very building we're in is tainted with the deepest darkness known to me."
"Now that you say it out loud …" Blake couldn't help but agree with his point. This island had a lot going on, especially considering how the whole thing would get transported in and out of the Spirit World for some time in the story. Something that hopefully wouldn't happen here, but …
"Thus, your former teacher and I have 'compared notes' as you humans say." Jinzo explained, leading him towards a blackboard set up in the middle of the two sides of the room. There were three maps attached to it: A world map of planet Earth, a map made up of a cluster of smaller maps, and a combined version with highlighted overlaps.
"From our findings we deducted a few points. First, this island is a nexus – a center of power created by several ley lines crossing."
Blake blinked several times. "Layman's terms, please. You're aware I'm not well-read."
Jinzo held a hand to his face and shook his head. "I'll give you some material to read up on your way out. Anyways, what I'm trying to tell you is: The locations for this and the other academies have been picked for a specific reason. Their arrangement forms a net connecting the several nexuses, thus making all of them more connected to the Spirit World as a whole, which mirrors this net. This is also why there're so many duelists with spirit partners and why it's easier for spirits to partner with duelists that attend these academies."
'Makes sense. Back then the only duelists with spirit partners were Yugi and Kaiba, maybe Rafael?' Blake thought. 'The academies were built after that and now we have all these guys with spirits around.' "But for what?" He asked out loud.
"That we're uncertain of as of yet." Jinzo lamented. "The White Dragon hasn't been very … talkative. All we know is the academy in America is disrupting this delicate net. Save to say there are duelists with spirits at the other schools, likely with their own secrets buried beneath."
"I bet Bastion would have a blast helping you with all that." Blake said eventually. 'And wasn't there some professor or doctor who helped with building a gate to bring back Jaden and Co at the end of season three? Someone Bastion worked with too?' With all the stress from what's being going on all year, Blake had felt his memories slip more and more. Though with how things had changed already, whatever he knew about the plot would only get derailed even further. Case and point being the Supreme King showing up this early and Jaden not having sent Yubel to space when he'd been a child.
"I'd also ask you to leave the card of your newest spirit partner with us when it fits you." Jinzo said, eyeing the ever-present deck box on Blake's belt. "I for one would like to know how it came to be, as I'm sure you'd too."
Blake pulled out the card of Dark Honest, staring at it for a few moments. He'd no idea how he'd managed to do that, but he's happy that he did. Not expecting to duel anytime soon, he handed it to Jinzo. "Please do. If we can work out how it works, maybe I can-"
"G-guys, we really need to get going now." Jaden interrupted, a look of dread on his face which absolutely didn't suit him.
"What's wrong?" Blake asked.
"I might've forgotten to look at the time and … I got tutoring with Miss Midori which started half an hour ago …"
Just then, the doors to the room swung open, hitting the nearby walls loudly and throwing up dust. In the doorway stood the prim and proper Professor Hibiki, her left eye twitching in annoyance.
"Jaden, there you are." Her voice was sweet but dripping with poison. "Mister Princeton and Moore are here too, perfect. They can help you with your homework."
Chazz was about to decline but shut his mouth when she glared at him. Blake wasn't that smart.
"I'm sure Jaden will be fine without us."
Her gaze turned to Blake, causing a shiver down his spine. "Mister Moore," the way she pronounced that name felt off too. Now that he thought about it, she and Katherine looked kind off similar. "Your grades were barely good enough to qualify for the Obelisk Blue promotion. While the curriculum was watered down, I might add."
'Why's everybody right in a way that's a nuisance to me today?' Blake sighed inwardly. The worst part; he didn't have anything better to do either and he could almost hear Kami telling him to use the time productively. She's been very clear in her opinion on him not dropping out of the Obelisk Dorm when he'd gotten promoted.
"Alright … I guess."
The three boys dropped down on a couple of chairs in the Obelisk Blue cafeteria, their heads simultaneously hitting the table between them. One after the other, they led out huge sighs.
"My brain's smoking …" Blake lamented.
"I don't even feel my brain anymore …" Jaden winced.
"Like you had one to begin with …" Chazz poked.
"Yeah, you're right- … hey!"
"Good work, gentleman." Miss Hibiki praised and put down a tray with hot chocolate and cookies in front of them. "If you keep this up until the break's over, I feel confident you'll do well with the updated curriculum."
All three of them raised their head and cried out. "For the whole break?!"
"You want to spend your time productively, don't you?" Their newest professor quipped happily. "More importantly keep those lavish dorm rooms."
Blake and Jaden met eyes, both nodding at the thought of the sheer comfort they'd been provided with. Besides, maybe they'd get ahead of the others … sans Bastion. That was a fool's errant.
Miss Hibiki laughed at their interaction. "That's what I thought. Though it pains me that some of you students even stay over this time of the year …"
"Yeah, it's more people than last term. I was all alone during that." A sleepy voice interjected from the table next to them.
Turning their heads, they saw the small frame of a fellow Obelisk Blue student with a sleepy demeanor, looking like he'd just found the coziest chair in the whole wide world.
"Oh, hey Belowski!" Jaden greeted the boy neither of the others had seen before. "How's it hanging, my guy?"
"Ah, you know. Vibing." Belowski responded happily, making loud noises as he slurped his own hot chocolate through a straw. "You three look exhausted; wanna join my afternoon nap? I built a nice pillow fort since no one else's around."
"Sounds great, but I'm afraid we got work to do." Jaden replied. "You see, we're on the hunt for Santa so we can show our big dawg Blake here the true spirit of Christmas."
The smaller boy hummed at that. "That sounds pretty dope, but also like a lot of work."
"Imagine the kind of pillow you could get from Santa if we find him though." Jaden reasoned.
"Hmm … I can imagine quite a few kinds of pillows, now that you say it …"
"As long as it's not like those Syrus keeps hidden away …" Jaden sweat dropped. "Either way, we'd be happy to have you! The more the merrier, right?"
Chazz and Blake exchanged shrugs, opting to get some energy back in their tanks rather than engage in those twos exhausting conversation.
Eventually, Belowski nodded. "Then its settled! But where to look for him …" Jaden pondered, idly nibbling at a cookie the size of his face.
'Mo~' A drowsy voice erupted from above. Looking up, they saw the squishy, square form of Mokey Mokey floating adrift above them.
"You think so?" Belowski asked.
'Mo~'
"Awesome, thanks buddy." He nodded.
"What'd he say?" Jaden questioned, just as Winged Kuriboh too appeared, shaking hands with the outcast angel.
"Mokey Mokey believes that the highest place should give use the easiest time to see our target." Belowski explained.
"The highest place …" Jaden pondered. "Miss Midori, could we get up to the roof?"
"You know I got the keys to the arena up top, right?" Blake interrupted. It's been a while since he'd trained with Zane up there, a good while before the whole Shadow Rider stuff happened, actually. Now that he thought about it; with Zane leaving there'd have to be a new Kaiser, or rather King. He'd have to ask him about that, since Atticus was staying at the academy. It wouldn't do well for him to lose his title like that.
"You do? Great!" Jaden exclaimed happily.
"I'd rather you not go up there in this weather." Miss Hibiki said. "At least not alone."
"Well then-"
"And I have to finish my lesson plan for the rest of the year." She shot him down immediately.
"Now that you say it; what classes are you teaching?" Blake couldn't help but ask.
"I'll be taking over Duel Alchemy from Professor Banner, of course." Their teacher replied. "Tough in a less cryptic and a more digestible way."
"So, a proper deck-building subject to compliment Doctor Crowler's general duel studies?" Blake prodded further.
"That along with a deeper understanding of the game's mechanics, interactions between cards, and a focus on figuring out one's own and their opponents combos." She explained. "We're still busy adjusting the syllabus, but we're aiming for a seamless flow between our lessons."
Just then, Doctor Crowler entered the room with a large cup of coffee, sighing happily as he drank from it.
"Hey doc!" Jaden waved at the man, causing him to bristle at the sight of Jaden wearing blue. Blake could've sworn the doctor had a hip flask in his other hand moments ago too.
Seeing Miss Hibiki giving him the stink eye, Crowler reluctantly shuffled over. "What can I do for you, Signori?"
Blake jabbed his thumb at Hibiki. "Teach said we need supervision to go up to the roof arena."
Crowler and Hibiki exchanged what seemed like a silent conversation of heated looks which ended with the man reluctantly agreeing to join them. He did insist on taking a short break before going there, however, excusing himself to find something to eat.
Miss Hibiki was about to leave as well, before turning back to the boys once more. "You know, I've talked with Mister Kaiba and he's agreed to add the positions of guidance counselors for the students next term. I know all of you have your own circumstances on why you're here at this time of the year, so, feel free to come and talk to me if you have something that bothers you, alright?"
Every single one of them looked away shyly at that, before nodding at the woman.
"You think they'll hire a new teacher for that position too?" Blake said out loud, drawing the eyes of the others. "Because I can't see Crowler or Satyr fit for that position, and without sounding mean; there's topics us guys need another guy for."
Chazz and Belowski crossed their arms, nodding at that, while Jaden looked confused.
"I heard that, Signore Moore!"
Hours later, the four boys and Doctor Crowler sat together huddled up in warm jackets, looking out onto the island. The sun had set hours ago and the temperature had only gotten more freezing. Didn't stop Belowski from falling asleep, however.
"Signori, surely you can see that nothing will come out of this …" Crowler tried to reason, but just like Blake's and Chazz's words, they fell on deaf ears.
"Any moment now, you guys." Jaden was giddy enough for the rest of them, pacing across the roof to make sure he wouldn't miss anything.
Blake meanwhile was busy looking at his PDA. Just because his friends weren't all here, didn't mean they couldn't be in spirit. Their reactions to Jaden's antics had been fun to read for sure. Bastion gave a long-winded explanation how it wasn't mathematically possible for Santa to deliver so many presents in one night in their group chat to the point Kami muted him just so she could get a word in. She'd first taken their search for Santa as a joke before ranting about their foolishness, ending with telling Blake to suit up appropriately, as he'd only recently been discharged from the infirmary.
With that out of the way, they'd shared their experiences from the evening.
Bastion had been to a big family gathering with lots of food and people looking like textbook definitions of librarian, teacher, and scientist. Curiously, his best friend had been wearing glasses on a few of the group pictures, allegedly having been forced to wear them. While the particular pair he'd worn didn't fit him, Blake could see Bastion wearing glasses when he thought about it. "Professor Misawa, you misplaced your glasses" he texted him before his attention was demanded elsewhere. A twinge of jealousy from how happy Bastion looked celebrating with his family remained, however.
Kami had predictably been to a restaurant so prestigious Blake didn't even know how to call the food shown on her pictures. The premise looked so pristine and expensive it felt like another world. He'd successfully stumbled over his own words for half an hour when he'd tried to answer her question about how he'd liked her looks, as she'd dressed accordingly to the occasion. When she'd noted they could see when he was typing and had failed to send anything for so long, he'd almost thrown his PDA off the roof out of sheer embarrassment. Thankfully Jaden had paced around so much he'd caught it … with his face.
Once Blake had gotten it back, and apologized to Jaden, he'd left her on a "Can't find the words to do you justice" and quickly closed the chatroom. It was true, and now he wasn't sure how he'd react to seeing her wear a dress in front of him. Trying to distract himself, he looked up scheduled new card releases while ignoring Chazz's snickers.
"There!" Jaden shouted loud enough for everyone to drop what they'd been doing and even wake up Belowski.
"What are you talking about-" Chazz began, his eyes following Jaden's pointing hand, when they all saw a something moving about the sky with great speed. Red, yellow, and green lights were arranged in a way they perfectly fit a sled being pulled, but that couldn't be right, could it?
"I told you!" Jaden exclaimed.
"Uh, guys, its heading straight for us." Blake said as the lights grew bigger and brighter.
"Quick everybody; down on my pillows!" Belowski ordered, prompting all of them to dive to safety.
Moments later, something loudly touched down on the roof behind them. Once the thrown-up snow had settled, the group shared baffled looks at the sight in front of them. It was indeed a fully lighted-up sled with a burly man in a Santa costume and a fittingly long, white beard. The reindeer pulling the sled scrapped their hoofs against the ground, but were otherwise eerily silent. Taking his surroundings in, the man stood up from his seat, hurled a large linen sack over his shoulder and jumped out of his sled, landing right in front of them.
"Ho, ho, ho!"
"See, I told you he's real!" Jaden all but presented the man to the rest of them. "Heya, Santa!"
"Why hello, Jaden my boy." The man laughed heartily. "A merry Christmas to you and your friends."
"… this can't be real, someone pinch me." Chazz muttered and was promptly pinched by Belowski and Blake. "Argh! Crap, what was in those cookies?!"
"Now, now, no need to be confused everyone. After all, it's me: Santa Clause!" Santa introduced himself.
"Yeah, I call bs on that." Blake deadpanned with Chazz profusely nodding along. "Professor, how high's the chance someone tempered with the food?"
"It should be impossible, however …" Doctor Crowler was having none of it either.
"Wowzers, it's really Santa." Belowski marveled. "I'll never doubt you again, Jaden."
"Come on you guys, this is the real deal!" Jaden reasoned.
"I fear your friends are in dire need of some proper Christmas spirit, my boy." Santa said.
"Oh, you have no idea …" Jaden sighed.
"In that case how about I show you I'm the real deal!" Santa threw out his hands, causing the snow around the duel arena to clear. "With a Christmas duel!" He set down his bag and pulled out a white, red, and green duel disk in the same motion, a deck already slotted in. It activated with the sound of bells ringing, causing the additional projectors of the arena to turn on and display a winter wonderland around them.
"Nope, I'm quite certain I'm having a stroke right now, so I'll just sit down and wait for this to end." Chazz said as he slowly sat back down on the pillows.
"Seems you're my opponent then, Blake my boy! Ho, ho, ho." Santa announced.
'This's one hell of a filler episode … but alright.' Blake thought with a shake of his head. "Fine. So, you're the real Santa Clause if you win. What when I win?"
"Then you're clearly above the spirit of Christmas itself!"
"… I guess?" Blake frowned and activated his duel disk, which too sounded like a ring of bells.
"By all means, go ahead." Santa offered and Blake obliged. (Blake 4000 / Santa 4000)
"Alright. First, I activate Allure of Darkness to draw two cards." Blake began. "For its cost, I banish Cyber Ouroboros, which in turn activates that card's own effect, letting me send one card from my hand to the graveyard to draw one more card."
"Next, I summon Cyberdark Horn and use its effect to equip the monster I just discarded to it; Rare Metal Dragon!" The dark machine appeared, though looking … appropriately different? It's wearing a red and white Santa cap and had Christmas balls attached to its horns and wings. Similarly, Rare Metal Dragon had been wrapped up like a gift as Horn was holding it (3200/800).
Blake gaped while Horn screeched at the weird things attached to it, before seemingly finding them fun to jingle around. "I … set three cards face-down and end my turn."
"Ho, ho, ho, quite the play, my boy!" Santa applauded. "I hope this old man can keep up with you. My turn!"
"First, I activate this: Gift Exchange! This lets both of us banish a card from our deck face-down. Then, during my End Phase, we add those cards to each other's hands!"
Blake looked puzzled at that. Seeing as he'd have no use for it, he chose Future Fusion.
"Next, I activate Starry Knight Ceremony, which-"
"I negate that with Magic Jammer!" Blake hastily interrupted, sending another card from his hand to his graveyard. 'Starry Knight, are you for real?!'
"Ho, ho, ho. A bit hasty, aren't we? In that case I activate Starry Knight Balefire! This allows me to add one Starry Knight monster or a level 7 Light Dragon monster from my deck to my hand. And since I control no monsters and you a Dark monster, I get to special summon a monster as well!" Santa put a hand on his large belly as he let out another hearty laugh. An arrow of fire shot into the night sky, before it was answered by a beautiful white dragon. The stars shone brighter as it touched down, looking positively radiant. "Thus, I summon Starry Night, Starry Dragon!" (2500/2300).
Blake cringed, both from the sheer radiance blinding him, and from the cards name. 'Why couldn't they just name it Radiant Seiyaryu? That'd be way better than making it a pseudo-Christmas archetype!'
Behind him, everyone else in attendance marveled at the monster.
"I've never heard of that card before!" Chazz exclaimed.
"Course not, it's Santas!" Jaden laughed. "But she sure is pretty, prettier even than Blue-Eyes if you ask me." The dragon blushed at that, waving Jaden off in embarrassment.
"Now, when my Starry Dragon is summoned, I get to destroy one card on the field! My dragon, show them what happens with naughty children!" Santa's dragon released a breath of white fire, incinerating Cyberdark Horn and the dragon it was holding onto, although neither seemed pained by it as they were destroyed.
"Since you're wide open now, I first summon Starry Knight Rayel!" A tall, female angel with pure white wings and form-fitting silver armor appeared to the side of the dragon (1800/700). "Her effect lets me add one Starry Knight Trap or Spell card from my deck to my hand! Then, I activate Gift of the Martyr! By sending Rayel to the graveyard, she lends her power to my Starry Dragon!" The angel turned translucent before embracing the dragon, giving away her power (4300/2300).
"Starry Dragon, direct attack!" Santa ordered and his dragon spread its wings.
"Not so fast!" Blake interrupted and revealed another of his set cards. "I activate Curse of Anubis! This changes all Effect monsters to defense position and makes their defense points 0 until the end of the turn!" A gold and black coffin with a statue of a jackal on top appeared in front of him, releasing dark miasma that forced the dragon back onto the ground.
"Ho, ho, ho, quite the save, my boy! I set two cards and end my turn, which activates the second part of my Gift Exchange!" Between them, two gift boxes were filled with the cards banished prior, before floating to their intended recipient.
'Gift Card?!' Blake grumbled inwardly. "Before it's my turn I activate my final face-down: Fires of Doomsday." Two wisps made of black smoke appeared in front of him, their singular blue eyes watching the dragon in front of them carefully (0/0).
"I see you don't fancy my gift as much as I had hoped, young one." Santa said. "Maybe you should relax a bit. Enjoy the day."
"What?" Blake glared at the man he refused to believe was in any way 'real Santa'.
"You're tense all over." The man pointed out.
Only then Blake noticed how tensed up his body truly was. Was he always like this?
"You have nothing to lose here, Blake. No one's going to hurt you or take away what's yours." Santa continued. "I of course know of your past, a tragedy, that is. But look around: You're surrounded by friends, playing a game with nothing at stake."
Blake narrowed his eyes, forcing himself to ignore the cheers of Jaden and Belowski, even Chazz and Crowler looked thrilled by their duel. "And let my guard down? Fat chance." 'Not when I know what's coming.'
"I see you're still burdened by what has and is bound to happen." Santa shook his head with a sad expression. "But you can't keep going on like this forever."
"Watch me." Blake growled, thinking of a way to deal with Santa's dragon, which of course couldn't be destroyed by his Dark monsters' attacks nor effects. As luck would have it, he drew just the card for it. "With Cyberdark Horn, Rare Metal Dragon, and the Infernal Dragon I discarded to negate your spell, I have the three Dark monsters I need to summon Dark Armed Dragon!"
Duelist and monster roared as they looked at their opponents defiantly. That was, until DAD turned towards Blake all of a sudden, a shy look on his face as his index claws touched.
'Eh, boss, might I … sit this one out?' Blake's partner asked innocently, completely ignoring the ridiculous Christmas getup he'd been forced to wear.
"What the fuck?" Blake said out loud.
'I can't fight such a cutie, boss!' The dragon argued, pointing at Starry Dragon. 'I mean look at her! She's stunning and powerful! I can't let this chance go to waste! Surely you understand-'
Blake sighed. "I activate Dark Mambele. Since I control three or more Dark monsters I get to target and banish one face-up card."
'Boss no! Don't make me do this, please!' DAD struggled, but was forced to comply. He hurled a pair of dark blades forward with great speed, aimed at the Starry Dragon's throat.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that. I activate Starry Knight Blast!" Santa countered. "I return my dragon back to my hand to negate your effect and destroy the card that caused it!"
At once, Starry Dragon took flight, narrowly dodging the incoming blades, before bathing Dark Armed Dragon in radiant flames.
'No! I'm sorry, please come back!' DAD shouted, his claw pointed upward as the other dragon vanished.
Blake buried his face in his hands in disbelief, a loud groan echoing through the arena.
"Now that was just rude." Santa chided. "They had such a touching moment."
"They can have it outside the duel." Blake replied, not looking up.
"Really now …" The man shook his head. "You should let yourself have some fun! Your spirits as well! If you don't have fun and enjoy your life, then what's the point of living it?"
Blake looked up, shooting the man a heated glare and about to answer when he realized he couldn't.
"Give it some thought. I'm sure your friends won't disagree with it. Not every duel has to be a fight for life and death."
"I … end my turn." Blake said eventually.
"I hope you take my words to heart, Blake." Santa said. "I activate Starry Knight Sky! With this I can summon one additional Starry Knight or Light dragon per turn." The sky above turned brighter; clusters of large golden stars appeared all over them and a faint northern light broke through the clouds. "Then I activate my face-down: Starry Knight Arrival! With this I can bring back my dragon!"
Once again, Starry Night, Starry Dragon appeared in all her glory, a sad thrill on her lips as she looked at Blake and DAD, before incinerating the later with her effect. DAD let out a blissful roar as he left.
"And since I now control a Level 7 Light Dragon, I call upon Starry Knight Ciel, who'll return my dragon back to my hand!" A thin angel wielding a great halberd (1700/800) appeared, exchanging greetings with Starry dragon, then sending her back. "Next, I summon Starry Knight Astel!" Another angel clad in pure white and holding a winged staff joined the other. "Using Astel's effect, I tribute Ciel to bring back my dragon once more, and thus destroy one of your tokens!" The angels shook hands, before tagging out once more as one of Blake's shadowy wisps was washed away in the flames. "Before I enter the Battle Phase, I banish Starry Knight Rayel from my graveyard to activate her affect, bringing back Ciel!"
Blake cringed as he's left with an easy walked-over monster with Santa having lethal on him. 'No, this is stupid. I won't accept that loss.'
"Starry Dragon's effect activates." Santa explained as he called for his dragon to attack. "When it attacks a monster, she can banish it and attack once more! Radiant Blaze!"
Blake crossed his arms over his face as the blinding fire assailed him. It didn't hurt nor feel too hot. Instead, it felt more like a warm embrace. (Blake 1500 / Santa 4000)
"Ciel, finish it!" Similarly, the pristine halberd was like a heartfelt push, urging Blake to change something. (Blake 0 / Santa 4000)
Blake blinked, questioning if any of this had really happened.
"Man, that was one sweet duel!" Jaden clapped Blake on his back with a bright smile.
"Indeed, it was!" Santa laughed. "I hope my conviction reached you, Blake. But that said …" The man put away his duel disk and opened his large bag. "It'd be a waste not to hand you these when I have the chance! Once again, a merry Christmas!"
Blake watched on as Santa handed out gifts to everyone: A large pillow mirroring Mokey Mokey for Belowski, some kind of special wine for Crowler, a dashing coat for Chazz which neatly split into black and white halves befitting his ace monster, a large box with some kind of outfit for Jaden. Blake even saw Starry Dragon hand presents to the spirits, inluding a flute for Winged Kuriboh, reading glasses for LaD Dragon, chew toys for the Cyberdarks, a bible for Dark Honest, a sleep mask for Raviel, and a piece of coal for DAD, who's way too busy awkwardly flirting to notice the present. And lastly …
"Impossible …" Blake murmured as he's handed a black deck box with a silver top.
"One shouldn't let their past define them." Santa said softly. "But that doesn't mean you need to discard it."
Letting out one heavy sigh, Santa emptied the bottle of water in his hand in one go. Behind him, the automatic door opened with a low hiss.
"Good work, as always." His employer praised. "I've got one last delivery for you to make, however."
"This year as well, Mister Kaiba?" Santa sighed as he took the small package with a letter attached to it. "You know it always give me such a tingling feeling."
"I'm sure you can manage. You're on vacation for the rest of the year, after all." Kaiba snarked.
"Right you are, ho, ho, ho." Santa laughed, looking forward to his time on the beach. Nodding at the man who'd managed to grab hold of him years ago, he stepped into a small chamber. Above and below him, the machinery lit up in a bright blue, forcing him to close his eyes.
Moments later, he felt his boots sink into the soft ground below. Not wanting to keep anyone waiting, he made his pilgrimage.
As he's a recuring guest, there were no problems in reaching his final target for the night. During his first time, it'd been quite a bit of work, but now he's welcomed warmly.
Reaching the throne room, Santa took of his hat and bowed to the one sitting on top of the sandstone throne.
The man had an intrigued and amused look on his face as he accepted this year's gifts from Santa. "Again? Has it already been a year?"
"It has, Pharaoh Atem." Santa laughed. "As you can see, Mister Kaiba's been quite insistent again."
"That man never changes." Atem shook his head with a smile on his face. "I hope I'm not the only one receiving gifts from him again?"
"He's taken your input on the matter to heart. I've been working double time ever since." Santa replied.
"My apologies." Atem chuckled when he looked at Priest Seto, who hid his face in shame.
"Don't be, your majesty. I'm just glad I can spread the celebrations to everyone."
"Your efforts are appreciated as always, Saint Nicholas." Atem said. "Merry Christmas."
Merry Christmas everybody! Do not crucify me for the duel, it was fun and planting seeds for development!
Reviews:
D2268: There's madness to Kaiba's reason … no, the other way around. Explanations on that once it fits! Contract revealed, money taken, and Blake won't let himself get blue-balled like that :D
Mac: You and me both, brother.
The Black Kraven: I feel that. Especially with too many duels happening *cough*. Finding the balance is an effort for sure. Now we only have to hope no one sinks our beloved ship.
Vqrn3: 3
kazikamikaze24: Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the praise :D
Capito Celcior: There's your answer on that ~
That's it from me! See you next year!