The day went by like you'd expect it to. Some people practiced, some goofed off and others didn't even bother to sign up. Everyone had their own little thing they liked doing, but one thing's for certain: That was a lively day for the Duel Tower. One student in particular managed to smooth talk his way into something. Vincent had moved a few steps away from Transformer back towards the hub area of the dormitories, before spinning on his heel and challenging the walking hulk to a duel. Said walking hulk had accepted, too. Whether that was lucky or unlucky for the students, nobody would know for at least another week. Some shady characters witnessed them both go into an elevator and they went missing for a while, though nobody ever saw those two leave the academy. Time flew, for lack of a better term. A huge portion of the students were using the school's various recreational facilities more often in preparation for the big day.[hr][center][h1][color=#cd3d11][b]"IIIIIIIIIIIIT'S HERE!"[/b][/color][/h1][/center]
The students were being woken up in quite the unique manner that morning, though still with Melchior's excited voice being the first thing to grace their ears. [color=#cd3d11][b]"All students who have signed up for a contest, today is the day! Make your way over to the respective areas you signed up at, as for the rest, gather at the ground floor!"[/b][/color] The announcement ended as suddenly as it began, leaving the students to their devices. Everyone got ready for the day and made their way over to where they should be. Those who weren't in a contest had the pleasure of watching four wide monitors installed in the entrance hall, each broadcasting a separate contest. There were different headphones you could wear to listen to the audio of whatever you liked without being disturbed by the rest. Still, there wasn't any sign of Vincent in the crowd. He was missing still. Every show would happen at the same time, though some would be shorter than others.[hr]On floor seven was the Swimming contest, which a fair amount of people had signed up for. The goal was to speed through three laps as fast as possible, simple as that. To make things go faster they'd use all seven lanes for seven different students at the same time. The first few swimmers were alright, they didn't break any records but they tried their best. The second wave contained Megan and Hayate, who seemed to have some sort of psychic connection going on. They were on the complete opposite lanes, both sides of the pool, yet still looked at each other briefly. All five students who stood between those two could feel an electric shock surge through their bodies for the duration of it, and one guy even resigned on the spot after that. When they actually started to swim, Megan and Hayate made everyone else look like a sinking brick. Hayate's energy made her able to sprint longer without getting tired, but Megan had techniques down from years of practise. Whilst the others weren't even halfway yet, both of them finished the first lap and headed back. Megan had an easier time turning than Hayate did and quickly pulled in the lead, swimming ahead of the other girl by just an inch. By the time the third lap came around, Hayate suddenly managed to crank out an exact 20% increase in efficiency and managed to overtake Megan barely, though collapsed as soon as she climbed out the pool. It didn't take too long for the other swimmers to climb out after them, but everyone's face in the audience was dumbstruck.

Of course, it wasn't over yet. The next few rounds had some similarly impressive performances, but nobody had managed to beat Hayate's time. One guy called Moka came very close, though. After a few more less-than-stellar performances came the turn of Ben and Haas... though without Haas. The third lane had a noticeable lack of a certain boy. Right before the whistle went off for the swimmers to start... well, swimming, a certain boy burst through the door in his swimming trunks shouting he was late. Haas ran over to take his spot, got a bit of a scolding and braced himself. He hadn't seen the performance of Megan and Hayate, which might be for the best. He'd have probably gotten demotivated if he did. Ben and Haas had a friendly bit of banter before the race started and both dove in. Everyone in the room couldn't believe their eyes what they saw next. As if he were a dolphin, Haas kept jumping in and out of the water and somehow managed to speed past [i]everyone[/i] by a country mile. Nobody knew how or why it worked, and not even Haas seemed to realize what in the world he was doing. Somehow, though, he managed to finish all three laps before each of the swimmers even got done with their first, except for Ben whom was well into his second by that point. When Haas was asked to explain that technique after he'd climbed out of the water, the boy simply responded with having no clue as to how he did that or why it worked.[hr]Someone thought it was a bright idea to host the athletics competition in the bright, scorching hot sun. That person also thought it was a great way to describe a practical death course around the academy as 'a short parkour'. The first stage consisted of ramps, long jumps both horizontal and vertically, lots of wooden constructs that made for some incredibly tricky running and a rope swing for whatever reason. Most people failed at the rope swing. Not all of them did, just most of them. Joshua and Leander seemed to have cleared it with relative ease, but when it was Maisy's turn some stuff happened that nobody could predict. She started off alright, nothing too special. She was going through the course like most others before her did. When Maisy reached the rope swing, however, everything went wrong. She jumped, grasped onto it and landed... only for the [i]entire[/i] course to crash underneath her. Not just the part she was at, but the entire complex built along the outer wall of the Duel Tower. Luckily for the little reporter she managed to get out with only a scrape on the cheek, but the results for that one would have to be factored out of the final results for... obvious reasons.

The second part of the competition was a high jump with the aide of a trampoline and the bar was set quite high, though nothing impossible. About half the students managed to screw it up and one of them even managed to knock out the bar and come crashing down with it on the landing mat, leading to a disqualification. Leander did alright, clearing the jump as basic as possible. Joshua tried to show off and somehow managed to succeed in doing a front flip over it, but got scolded for it afterwards as he could've gotten stuck and came down on his neck. Then Maisy's turn came, again. This time she managed to not utterly wreck the entire construction, though there was a noticeable tear in the landing mat when she came down. As it would turn out, the last guy to jump sank through that tear and got stuck in it for a good five or so minutes before managing to be pulled out.

The last part of the competition was the race in the Action arena, with an action field being selected to suit the students' needs. The aptly named 'Planter Maze' was an overgrown garden full of vines, trees, tall hedges and weirdly shaped plants to give anyone trying to cross it a hard time. There was even a gigantic bouncy mushroom marking the midway point, which the participants needed to jump on to land on the head of whatever unlucky carnivorous plant they were faced with. Minute details aside, the students were given the signal to go and took off. Maisy had one of the trickier sets of obstacles, with lots of jumps and short sprints but nothing outlandish that'd put you at a clear disadvantage when it came to speed. Unluckily for the girl she managed to overshoot the jump from the mushroom and had to do a roll to recover on the floor, basically being screwed into a longer course because of it. Meanwhile Leander had a differently laid out course that was almost entirely consisting of sprinting, which made the boy very tired very quickly. Joshua, however, managed to surprise everyone by standing at the finish line way before any other student. He had apparently found a way to cheese the system by swinging up to a platform that was [i]above[/i] his course, using the leverage from one of the vines hanging from it, and managed to run the entire way to the end without any sort of further obstacle to slow him down. Leander's course at least still had some tricky jumps that broke up the sprinting, but Joshua's was one long dash through a combination of clever thinking, excellent abdomen muscles and being a bit of an ass for exploiting the field like that.[hr]The talent show was hosted in the same place as where you signed up for it; The music venue. All the desks had been cleared and the stage in front was extended to make room for more... intricate performances. In the back of the room was a jury consisting of the most boring teacher in the world, the nurse's assistant, Mr. Wilhelms and an empty seat. They say that seat belongs to Transformer, but he was still missing alongside Vincent. The performances were shown in a set order, one by one. The jury gave a opinion on them and jotted things down in their notes after the piece was over, just to not delay the next person. The opening act belonged to Nathan, who played a pretty simple piano piece to kick things off. He managed to keep the stage fright in check and didn't screw up in the middle of it, leaving the jury impressed. The next act was the four man band from a week ago, who delivered the same room-shaking symphony with a little more refinement.

Unfortunately for both those acts, nearly everyone had decided to settle on something musical. It was one piece after another, either sung or played and the act got stale very quickly. It didn't even matter how good you actually are, the jury was visibly bored at witnessing a concert instead of a talent show. Before anyone had known it they were on the last act, Hayato's act. The boy hadn't managed to convince Nathan to perform with him, so they decided to fall back on another plan. The first thing that was a fresh change of pace was Hayato placing two bowls of fruit on the jury's desk. Then the boy walked over on stage, put on an orange blindfold and had his back turned to the audience. Hayato instructed the teachers to just 'Throw something at him', and so they did. With lightning quick reflexes Hayato managed to cut an apple the boring teacher threw in half, revealing a hidden katana underneath his coat. For surprise factor the jury wasn't made aware of it, but Hayato was allowed a weapon for the show itself. The teachers tossed more and more fruit at him, sometimes larger and sometimes smaller, with the boy cutting through them almost effortlessly... Except for a grape he'd caught in his mouth instead. When the throwing stopped, Hayato raised up his blindfold to see the bowls of fruit being empty... and the entire stage being covered in juice. The janitors sure had their work cut out for them.[hr]The racing competition was a little different from all the others. For one, the students were all lined up on the road leading away from the Duel Tower. This wasn't part of the race, however. Instead, everyone was driving out of the school's reach into the open desert for a while, reaching a point where there was seemingly no more civilization in sight. It's a good thing the road was one straight line, otherwise the students might've had troubles coming back. The only signs of life in the area were the cameras lined up a fair distance away, and a helicopter coming down from the sky on the open sand. Out of it stepped a stylishly dressed woman with green hair in a braid, who explained some things about the race. First, it would take place in an alternative speed world that was developed with both the Duel Tower school and the Fudo Research and Advancement Company, which implements the same technology found in Action Duels to create a customisable course on any kind of terrain without issue. The second is that this race will be broadcasted world wide to show off both this new technology and the teachings of the Duel Tower, something that benefits both companies. Third is that it consisted of a total of fifty laps on a course of three kilometers, making the total race length only one-hundred fifty kilometers.

With the basics out of the way, the students noticed that their Duel Runners suddenly activated something called 'Speed World - Virtua' and found the area around them to change. The sky turned into a mix of neon green and blue lines forming rectangles on a black background, with a blindingly white road materializing. Various obstacles such as ramp jumps and higher platforms also appeared, with a grid-like cage appearing around the racers to protect the outsiders from any potential damage as well as keeping them confined for the duration. Everyone started to take their place, having been handed a number before the start to show where they were. Ignia had gotten lucky with a number seven, making her on the first row of racers. Camryn was on the third row, Angelo on the fifth but near the edge and Ethel was dead center. The holographic projection that signaled the start was a bit different from what people were used to, with an entirely new one having been designed to go along with Speed World Virtua. The same combination of black and green made up a background, on which ten arrows were placed on the upper half. One by one they flickered to life in a bright red color. When the final arrow was lit they all turned green with a white message underneath, reading 'ACCELERATE' as the horn signaled everyone's departure.

Mostly everyone got off to a good start, aside from some of the students in the back who ran into engine troubles and got left in the dust. The count went from a hundred people in the running down to maybe about ninety-two before it even really began, something that came as a boon to those who were careful enough... though one had to wonder how that reflected on the Duel Tower. Angelo showed off how much more practice he had compared to everyone else pretty fast, pulling from somewhere in the middle up to the first fourth pretty quickly. Camryn managed to nail a few boosters on the floor which accelerated her past a point of safe speeds, causing her to miss a few crucial ramps she probably should have hit. Ignia seemed to be surprisingly into it, landing on one of the heightened platforms pretty quickly and being the first to do so. The raised course was a shortcut compared to the lower one, but it had a lot more tricky obstacles and a few pitfalls. Ethel looked to be frustrated as she was being locked in by all the racers around her, constantly looking for her opening to break through.

The race went smoothly for the first few laps, but then some idiot in one of the more front rows crashed into someone else which sent quite a few Duel Runners flying off the track. Some more people also couldn't keep up with the general cluster or just never broke through and had fallen behind. In almost the blink of an eye, the amount of racers that had a shot at victory was cut in half. Ethel managed to get into the front rows eventually, but she was forced to watch those with an edge race around on the top platforms. Ignia managed to fall down into a pitfall, but was the lead racer on the ground floor due to the early shortcut. Up top Angelo had pulled ahead with little effort, looking to be the lead in the entire race. Camryn was close behind but had trouble getting into his slipstream, plus Angelo's tricky maneuvers were hard to replicate. 

This continued on for a little while, with Angelo managing to secure his spot as the first racer for the majority of the contest. At one point, Ethel had managed to catch up to the top platforms and forced both Angelo and herself down to the course below, wanting nothing to do with him. Unfortunately, she got the worse of the two falls and landed on an oil spill that nearly made her runner crash, giving Angelo the edge to pull ahead. Surprisingly enough, Ignia passed him by whilst he was distracted, claiming her spot as the first racer. Camryn got caught up in a small group of racers, who seemed hell-bent on keeping her out of the running by surrounding her and not letting her drive clearly. On the last few laps it was pretty clear who the ones were that stood a chance to get first place, with Angelo and Ignia racing head-to-head in the lead. Ethel was on a raised platform, but lagging behind. Camryn got so caught up with those racers that trapped her that she'd fallen far behind, with no realistic way to get first place. On the last lap it was almost guaranteed to be a toss-up between Ignia and Angelo, with Ignia driving in the lead. The boy didn't seem too worried though, his relaxed body posture could tell you as much whilst he was practically on her tail. Ethel got forced down from above and was in fifth place, only a few hundred meters away from the finish. Camryn had managed to pull up seventh, but it didn't look like she was going to make it. On the final few meters, Angelo's Duel Runner made a sudden jerk to the side, flew forwards with incredibly speeds and then neatly positioned itself in front of Ignia's runner, taking first place as the winner of the race.[hr]The excitement eventually settled down and the day was coming to a close, with one last ceremony being held for the victors of the competitions. Everyone found themselves outside, with the portable stage having been set there. Without Transformer around, it took considerably more effort to move and place it. At first it was the principal who gave another [i]very[/i] excited speech. They went on about how dueling was a fine thing to be invested in, but we never should lose sight of the other things that built the foundations of our society and the entertainment that came along with it. How each new era of man had a different skill they excelled at. After being rolled away with the nurse, the same green haired woman from the race took up the stage and thanked the Duel Tower for its co-operation with the company, as well as returning the favor with custom duel disks they made for them. They'd be one of a kind and a keepsake of the time the students spent here, long after they'd left. With the end of that, four particular students were called up on stage: Haas Mesman, Joshua Tamashii, Hayato Ray and Angelo Ortega. 

Haas was complimented on his rather... unique way of swimming, and was given the Diver's Disk. It was light blue in color at the base, which was shaped like a triangle. It had a rectangular lifepoint counter which was raised from the middle, a dark green around the edges to simulate a diving board. The slot for the deck was built in on the edge of the triangle, which had it's tip cut in half to make room for it. There was an opening at the back of the disk for the graveyard, too. The bladed part was hidden inside of the base, and when pressing a button the disk would shoot open and launch it into the sky, after which the duelist needed to catch it with the base. The actual blade itself was a crescent shape, away from the duelist. He was also awarded with the 'Bubble Fiend' Pendulum monster.

Joshua got complimented on his incredible display of adapting quickly and thinking outside the box, subsequently being given the Technician's Disk. It was more circular compared to it's diver brother, and appeared very basic with its creamy color initially. There was a rectangle sticking out of the side for the deck and a small opening for the graveyard at the front, but the real trick lay in how it activated. Pressing down on the lifepoint counter had five card slots eject from the disk, who begin spinning around and ending with a mighty slam to make for a straight blade. He was also given the 'Adrenaline Rusher' Fusion Monster.

Hayato gained praise for his unique performance that stood out from the crowd, as well as his frightening proficiency with a blade. He was given the Performer's Disk, which seemed simple enough at first. It looked like a regular D-Pad with a simple screen and a few buttons in the front, nothing more. But the disk wasn't as simple as that. Each button unlocked a new exciting compartment. Pressing the first made the deck zone simply come out of the side at an angle, similar to a solid vision disk. The second button had the pad split in two with smoke bellowing out, making the graveyard accessible. The third would make the card slots shoot out one by one, forming a straight blade that sat at a bit of an upwards angle. The final few buttons were just for show, creating various sound effects and special effects to make a duel more exciting in the middle of one. He was also given the 'Spectacular Illusioner' Xyz Monster.

Angelo was given praise in the sense that you'd expect, a nice display of riding techniques. But he was also complimented, alongside all other racers, for a spectacular show and a heartpounding ending. He was given the Mechanic's Disk. True to its name, it was rather simple and had a homebrew feel to its design. Unlike the others it had no neat tricks upon activation, but it did hold one advantage over them; It was compatible with a Duel Runner. As such the blade is visible from the start, having a blade that starts at the base but extends across the user's entire forearm. It was a light gray in color, with the graveyard being placed at the back of the base to make it easier for Turbo Dueling. It also didn't have its own holder, instead relying on either a Duel Runner or a Wrist Dealer to be kept in place. Luckily for Angelo he was told to wear his, as to not be unable to hold the disk. There was no deck slot either, naturally. If Angelo were to connect it with his runner its base would be in front of the blade, which extends to the right so it wouldn't get in the way of his Wrist Dealer. He was also given the 'Slipstream Dragon' Synchro Monster.

After all the victors were given their prizes and the applause died down, the sun was rapidly setting and it seemed to be time to call it a day. All students returned to their dormitories, and soon, fell asleep.[hr]Ethel sat on her bed with her legs crossed around one of her plushies, hugging it tightly. She'd stormed off after having lost the race to not only Angelo, but also [i]Ignia[/i] and hadn't come out of her room. She'd ordered some new cards via her D-Ceiver and had them delivered to her, but that was Ethel's only interaction with the outside world for the rest of that day. The girl considered the Ignia be a friend, but Ethel was also convinced her own driving skills were vastly superior... and then she got showed up, which only made it so much worse. Night had long fallen and it was pitch black, but that couldn't help Ethel get any sleep. She was absolutely furious, every last bit of it directed at herself for having screwed it up. [i]She[/i] should have won that, [i]she[/i] had a reputation to keep and [i]she[/i] lost. Ethel was about to toss something across the room, but then heard something buzz. It seemed to be her D-Ceiver, laying atop her vanity dresser and lighting up. She was a tad confused on who would message her at this hour and got up without really thinking about it, walking over to pick it up. The light from the device stung in Ethel's eyes as she opened up a mesage of unknown origin. 
 
[color=9e0039]"Well, aren't you angry?"[/color] was all that it read. The teenage girl flinched, looking around her pitch-black room in a slight panic. There wasn't any sign of someone being in there, though. She then felt the device in her hands buzz again. [color=9e0039]"Oh, come on. I'm not actually in there."[/color] it read this time. Ethel was starting to feel creeped out, staggering and falling onto her bed. [color=9e0039]"Really now, don't be so scared. That'd be a shame."[/color] The messages continued, still from tat same unknown sender. The girl's eyes were glued to the screen, though. Something this freaky you'd normally only see in horror movies, or horribly out of place episodes of an action show. As Ethel's mind was starting to trail off, she felt the device buzz again. [color=9e0039]"How about [i]I[/i] help you prove your strength?"[/color]

With that last message, the girl's attention was firmly grasped. She raised one eyebrow, trying to think of what they meant. This lead to another message, naturally, because this mysterious contact seemed to be able to read her mind. [color=9e0039]"That's the question, right? What [i]do[/i] I mean? Well, [i]I[/i] certainly recognized your talent. How about you go outside of the tower and see for yourself? Oh, and don't think about bringing the academy staff along. I'll be gone, and so will these messages."[/color] Something was definitely fishy with all of this, but Ethel wasn't really thinking rationally. She's still shaken over having lost and [i]did[/i] feel like she had something to prove. So, she got up and dressed herself in her hoodie again. She'd see what the person wanted, even if the entire thing was shady. Once she was dressed up the girl took her deck and disk along with her, just in case and slipped out of her room without making a sound. Ethel snuck through the hallways, avoiding security and decided to take the stairs for once as to not gather attention. Quiet as a mouse, the girl got up to the ground floor. Normally the stairwell would be locked, but for some reason it wasn't. Through the glass doors in the front of the academy she could see a glimmer of a headlight, implying the mysterious contact was there. Without hesitation Ethel stepped towards the entrance, letting the doors slide open and allowing her outside.

The light dorm student noticed instantly that her Duel Runner was parked alongside the wall of the Duel Tower, which shouldn't have been the case. She also noticed another Duel Runner a bit further away with someone clearly riding it at the moment. The moonlight made it hard to tell, but they were driving something very long and drawn out with dark colors. Details were hard to make out, though. Their headlight was on, so that made it a bit more difficult to actually see the person driving it. [color=9e0039]"Yo! Glad you could make it,"[/color] they greeted with a wave. Ethel didn't look too happy, figuring she snuck out for nothing. [color=7ea7d8]"What do you want?"[/color] She demanded answers pretty quickly, to which the mysterious person just turned their Duel Runner away from Ethel. [color=9e0039]"You trust me that little? I said I'd give you a chance to prove yourself,"[/color] they said with a hint of mockery in their voice. This was the last straw. Ethel saw her helmet resting atop the back of her runner and put it on. [color=7ea7d8]"Fine!"[/color] The girl growled at the mysterious person as she slotted in her disk and deck, not even bothering to go and fetch her riding suit. 

Ethel briefly pondered on what she was doing, but those thoughts seemed to vanish almost as soon as they came. The only thing that mattered to her now was taking out her anger on someone and it seemed like this person was going to deliver. The long Duel Runner suddenly took off on the road, before Ethel got a chance to start up her engine. [color=7ea7d8]"Where do you think you're going?!"[/color] she shouted behind them, quickly revving up her own engine and driving after them. The other Duel Runner was surprisingly fast, and Ethel wasn't able to catch up. Not only that, both of them were driving on the road away from the Duel Tower. If they kept going in this direction, Ethel might not be able to find her way back. She looked over her dashboard and spotted a particular button - one to set Speed World Virtua. She brushed it aside, knowing that their opponent had no way to activate that program... or did they? Doubt began to creep up in Ethel's mind and was slowly being replaced by certainty, that they [i]did[/i] have some way to activate it. [color=7ea7d8]"Speed World Virtua - Set On!"[/color] Ethel shouted, and to her surprise the dome started to form. Artificial light started to shine around the two duelists as they were locked in a chamber of solid holograms, making the other duelist unable to stray too far. It was a long and flat course without any fancy obstacles like before, with an oval shape to not make things too complex.

This was it now, no escaping. She could see the opponent a lot more clearly now; They were driving a long and futuristic looking Duel Runner coloured in a very darkened shade of purple, with heavy chunks of metal covering the largest part of the wheels. The Ener-D generator was smack dab in the middle, right behind the legs and was the regular rainbow color. Ethel's opponent was a little too far away to make out any details, but they were definitely wearing a black motorcycle jacket with a half helm that had the same colour as their runner. The girl's disk started to light up, showing the duel mode was active. Wait, why was she going to duel again? Ethel couldn't quite remember. It wasn't of much importance though, she felt incredibly angry for some reason. She pulled up next to her opponent, who'd decided to wait for her at the finish line. They looked at her with a smirk, eyes hidden behind the darkened glass of their vizor. [color=9e0039]"Ready?"[/color] they asked, and Ethel could make out the voice as distinctly female. The girl nodded in response, after which the timer started to count down. Once it reached zero, both duelists took off and shouted in unison:

[b][color=9e0039]"Turbo Du[/color][color=7ea7d8]el Accelerate!"[/color][/b]

[hider=High Speed Duel! Ethel faces...?]
The lady on the long and purple Duel Runner gave no time for Ethel to make any mistakes, pulling ahead in the flash of an eye. She constantly rode in front of the girl, even when passing the first color. [color=9e0039]"First turn goes to me!"[/color] they cheerfully informed the blue-haired girl.

[b][i]Turn 1: Mysterious Turbo Duelist[/i][/b]
Mysterious Turbo Duelist: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand, 1 Speed Counter
Ethel: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand, 1 Speed Counter

[color=9e0039]"My turn."[/color] The female duelist started off by picking up a two cards from her wrist dealer and showing them to Ethel, who was still driving behind. [color=9e0039]"By Pahrasy Cimicae's effect, I can reveal it and one other 'Pahrasy' or 'Parasite' monster and Special Summon both,"[/color] the duelist explained. The other card in her hand was 'Parasite Paracide'. [color=9e0039]"Come, my little bugs~."[/color] The woman playfully beckoned the two bugs, whom both jumped out of a rainbow-colored vortex in the ground. One had a dark green body with red tentacles protruding from all sides and two sharp blades on its maw, whilst the other was a brown beetle-like creature. It had a hard shell from under which two blue eyes glowed, with two ludicrously long pincers sticking out of it.

[b]Pahrasy Cimicae:[/b] 200 ATK 700 DEF Level 2 EARTH Insect Tuner
[b]Parasite Paracide:[/b] 500 ATK 300 DEF Level 2 EARTH Insect

[color=9e0039]"I now tune my Level two Parasite Paracide to my Level two Pahrasy Cimicae!"[/color] The woman shouted and Pahrasy Cimicae burst into two green rings, which floated in the air to let Parasite Paracide jump in to turn into two glowing stars. Then, a beam of light engulfed the inside of the two rings. [b][color=9e0039]"Use the clustering stars as nutrition, make them afraid of their own body. Synchro Summon, Level 4! Pahrasy Lynde!"[/color][/b] After the chant, the flash of light disappeared to reveal a long, white worm-like creature with its maw turned away from Ethel. [color=9e0039]"I'll set one card, now it's your turn~!"[/color]

[b]Pahrasy Lynde:[/b] 1500 ATK 2000 DEF Level 4 EARTH Insect

[b][i]Turn 2: Ethel[/i][/b]
Mysterious Turbo Duelist: 4000 LP, 2 cards in hand, 1 monster, 1 S/T, 2 Speed Counters
Ethel: 4000 LP, 6 cards in hand, 2 Speed Counters

[color=7ea7d8]"Draw."[/color] Ethel was slowly reverting back to her calm, calculated self. She looked over to Speed World - Virtua. The Speed Counters seemed to work like normal, but the effect didn't stop there. She only needed a quick glance to decide on what to do. [color=7ea7d8]"Speed World - Virtua's effect. I'll discard one Speed Spell to gain one Speed Counter, and reduce yours."[/color] Ethel nonchalantly dumped her Half Seize into the graveyard and accelerated a tiny bit, slowly catching up to the other duelist who was slowing down. They were about a third around the track now, passing the second corner. [color=7ea7d8]"Summon: Raidraptor - Skull Eagle."[/color] Ethel continued on with her turn, a small bird with a red and white color scheme appeared out of a vortex spawning next to Ethel, spreading its wings.

[b]Ethel:[/b] Speed Counters 2 > 3
[b]Mysterious Turbo Duelist:[/b] Speed Counters 2 > 1
[b]Raidraptor - Skull Eagle:[/b] 1000 ATK 500 DEF Level 3 DARK Winged Beast

[color=9e0039]"Ooooh~? You like birds, hm? But you won't get over my Pahrasy Lynde with just 1000 ATK you know."[/color] The woman driving in front taunted, but Ethel paid her no mind. She knew that they had made a mistake by summoning that monster in Attack mode, and Ethel was going to take advantage of that. [color=7ea7d8]"Speed World - Virtua's effect. I target one monster on my field, remove Speed Counters equal to its level and Special Summon one monster from my hand with the same level."[/color] Ethel explained as Skull Eagle began to glow and she fell behind again. The bird split into two as another copy of it was played from Ethel's hand. [color=7ea7d8]"I'll overlay my level three Skull Eagles!"[/color] Ethel shouted out, a black hole opening up between the two duelists. Both eagles turned into purple streaks of light and jumped in, swirling together to create a bright explosion of light. [color=7ea7d8][b]"Torn Eagle, rise from your nest and spread your wings of pain. Xyz summon, Rank 3! Raidraptor - Fiend Eagle!"[/b][/color] From the vortex rose a black and red armored bird, sharp metal spikes adorning its wings.

[b]Ethel:[/b] Speed Counters 3 > 0
[b]Raidraptor - Fiend Eagle:[/b] 1000 ATK 0 DEF Rank 3 DARK Winged Beast / 2 Overlay Units

[color=7ea7d8]"Skull Eagle's effect increases Fiend Eagle's attack by 300. I've used two, so that becomes 600!"[/color] Ethel explained, with the two glowing orbs around Fiend Eagle starting to glow even brighter and the bird let out a mighty cry.

[b]Rairaptor - Fiend Eagle:[/b] 1000 > 1600 ATK

[color=7ea7d8]"I'll detach one Overlay Unit to activate Fiend Eagle's effect. Pahrasy Lynde's 1500 ATK becomes damage!"[/color] Ethel pointed at the long, tentacled creature as a purple orb splashed open on Fiend Eagle's chest. The bird let its battle cry be heard again and flapped its wings, sending a rain of light beams crashing down onto the duelist riding in front.

[b]Raidraptor - Fiend Eagle:[/b] Overlay Units 2 > 1
[b]Mysterious Turbo Duelist:[/b] LP 4000 > 2500

[color=9e0039]"Gnh-! Not bad, are you? But you're not ending it there, right?"[/color] The front runner looked back at Ethel to show their smirk, something that really grinded her gears. [color=7ea7d8]"You're right. Fiend Eagle, [i]kill[/i] Pahrasy Lynde!"[/color] Ethel commanded her monster fiercely, which started to dive down towards the gargantuan creature. [color=9e0039]"Continuous Trap activate, Pahrasy Infection!"[/color] The front runner retaliated, flipping up a card which showed a bunch of insects trying to nestle themselves into someone's hand. [color=9e0039]"While I control a Pahrasy or Parasite Monster, or by revealing one from my hand, I can target one monster my opponent controls and place one Pahrasy Counter on it!"[/color] A small, red bug planted itself on Fiend Eagle's head and rested there, unwilling to come off even when the bird shook its head. [color=9e0039]"And when Pahrasy Lynde is attacked by a monster with a Pahrasy Counter on them, it becomes an equip card!"[/color]

Suddenly, the large worm-like creature turned around to reveal a horrifying face. There weren't any visible eyes, but there was a giant gaping hole in the front with rotten teeth and flesh hanging loosely, with clear mucus dripping from it. The giant creature suddenly shrank down to the size of an ant and jumped into Fiend Eagle's beak. In the next few moments, white tentacles started growing out of Fiend Eagle's beak and wrapped themselves around the bird, restraining them. [color=9e0039]"While Pahrasy Lynde is equipped, your monster can't attack."[/color] The front runner looked back again, though didn't grin like before. [color=9e0039]"Is that your best? Disappointing."[/color] They mocked Ethel, who grimaced herself at the thought of having walked right into that.

Ethel looked back over her hand, scanning it for anything at all that could help her... to no avail. In defeat, she picked up two cards. [color=7ea7d8]"I'll set one card and end my turn."[/color] 

[b][i]Turn 3: Mysterious Turbo Duelist[/i][/b]
Mysterious Turbo Duelist: 2500 LP, 3 cards in hand, 1 S/T, 2 Speed Counters
Ethel: 4000 LP, 2 cards in hand, 1 monster, 1 S/T, 1 Speed Counter

[color=9e0039]"Draw."[/color] The mystery duelist drew another card, glanced at it briefly and then put it away. [color=9e0039]"During my Standby Phase, Pahrasy Infection removes one Pahrasy Counter from each of your monsters. Then, Pahrasy Lynde allows me to destroy Fiend Eagle and Special Summon it back to my field!"[/color] The one driving in front forced their Duel Runner onto its side, stretching out their hand as the tentacles around Fiend Eagle became tighter and tighter and eventually snapped the creature. From inside, Pahrasy Lynde crawled back over to the female duelist and grew in size again. [color=9e0039]"If a monster is destroyed this way, Lynde gains attack equal to the destroyed monster's attack."[/color]

[b]Pahrasy Lynde:[/b] 1500 > 3100 ATK

The purple Duel Runner faced back towards the road again, with its driver flatly stating [color=9e0039]"Pahrasy Lynde, attack that girl."[/color] with as little emotion as humanly possible. The worm-like creature launched forward and tried to wrap its large maw around Ethel, but a sudden rainbow-colored barrier surrounded her Duel Runner and prevented them from coming through. [color=7ea7d8]"As you destroyed Fiend Eagle, I activated Raidraptor - Readiness. Then I banished it to make all damage zero."[/color] Ethel was glad she was able to avoid such a huge hit, gaining a bit of confidence back. [color=7ea7d8]"You talk big, but I'm still in the lead."[/color] The girl happily retorted, to which the front runner hardly responded. [color=9e0039]"I'd like you to prove that. I'll set one card and end my turn."[/color]

[b][i]Turn 4: Ethel[/i][/b]
Mysterious Turbo Duelist: 2500 LP, 3 cards in hand, 1 Monster, 2 S/T, 3 Speed Counters
Ethel: 4000 LP, 3 cards in hand, 2 Speed Counters

Even though the girl dragged she was ahead, the situation looked dire for her. She had only a single card on the field, and currently, no way to get past Lynde. She breathed out, seeing a puff of hot steam flashing by her in the cold air. Ethel grit her teeth, trying to ignore the numbing feeling in her hands. It wasn't such a good idea to drive at high speeds without her suit after all. [color=7ea7d8]"Draw!"[/color] The girl had her usual stoic expression, but that was broken as soon as she saw the card she drew. Ethel's eyes widened as realization washed over her that this is [i]exactly[/i] what she needed. [color=7ea7d8]"Summon, Raidraptor - Sharp Lanius."[/color] The colorful bird rose from the floor next to Ethel, but she wasn't done yet. [color=7ea7d8]"From my hand: Raidraptor - Pain Lanius."[/color] Next to Sharp Lanius rose a smaller, younger bird. It had a green and white color plating and was about half of Sharp's size. Mimicry then flew over to Ethel and pecked her on the helmet. [color=7ea7d8]"Pain Lanius makes me take damage equal to Sharp Lanius' defense, but gains its level."[/color]

[b]Raidraptor - Sharp Lanius:[/b] 1700 ATK 1000 DEF Level 4 DARK Winged Beast
[b]Raidraptor - Pain Lanius:[/b] 100 ATK 100 DEF Level 1 DARK Winged Beast
[b]Ethel:[/b] LP 4000 > 3000
[b]Raidraptor - Pain Lanius:[/b] Level 1 > 4

[color=7ea7d8]"Using my level four Raidraptors, I overlay again."[/color] Ethel stretched out her left hand and the same black hole from before opened up in the middle, with Pain and Sharp Lanius turning into those familiar purple beams. They jumped in, swirled together and burst into an explosion of light. [color=7ea7d8][b]"Frozen maiden, spread your wings and chill them down to the bone. Xyz Summon, Rank 4! Ice Beast Zerofyne!"[/b][/color] Ethel's chant ended with a light-blue, humanoid figure rising from the ground with darker wings and a mask covering her mouth. Almost sapphire-like crystals shot out from her waist and acted like a skirt, with similarly colored ones covering her feet like heels. Two blue orbs orbited the woman, her overlay units.

[b]Ice Beast Zerofyne:[/b] 2000 ATK 2200 DEF Rank 4 WATER Winged Beast / 2 Overlay Units

The rider in front didn't seem to be getting any more amused. [color=9e0039]"That monster on their own won't take down Pahrasy Lynde."[/color] they flatly stated, looking back at the girl. [color=9e0039]"But you know that already, right?"[/color] The woman asked that rhetorically, trying to get a reaction from Ethel. The smaller girl felt insulted and mocked, a far cry from what was promised originally. Her face slowly started to twist into a grimace, obvious that the repeated talking down on her was starting to get to the girl. [color=7ea7d8]"I detach one Overlay Unit, negating all effects of your face-up cards."[/color] Ethel continued, to which the front runner briefly reached their hand out to the dashboard... then retracted. Ice beast Zerofyne had one of her Overlay Units splashed open on her chest and she started to glow, taking up into the air. From each of her wings came a jet of ice, launching themselves at both Pahrasy Lynde and Pahrasy Infection. [color=9e0039]"By Pahrasy Infection's effect, I'll place one Pahrasy Counter on your monster before it is negated."[/color] A small bug flew out of the card, similar to the one which was stuck to Fiend Eagle before. They managed to just escape as their card was being frozen, latching onto Ice Beast Zerofyne.

[b]Ice Beast Zerofyne:[/b] Overlay Units 2 > 1

Ethel didn't like how her opponent placed a counter on Zerofyne without any hesitation, getting the feeling they might be planning something. [color=7ea7d8]"Lynde returns to their original attack. Zerofyne gains attack depending on how many cards she negates."[/color] 

[b]Pahrasy Lynde:[/b] 3100 > 1500 ATK
[b]Ice Beast Zerofyne:[/b] 2000 > 2600 ATK

[color=7ea7d8]"Battle. Zerofyne, [i]kill[/i] Pahrasy Lynde!"[/color] Ethel commanded her monster, which reached out one hand. Icicles shot at Pahrasy Lynde and buried themselves into the worm's body, causing them to explode into small pixels and drop down the other's lifepoints. 

[b]Mysterious Turbo Duelist:[/b] LP 2500 > 1400

The one driving in front didn't even so much as flinch when Lynde left the field, mirrored in her Duel Runner which didn't shake, even though it should have. [color=9e0039]"When a Pahrasy monster leaves my field, and my opponent controls a monster with a Pahrasy counter, Pahrasy Wespe's effect activates,"[/color] the duelist droned. They tilted their head slightly towards Ethel who was still riding in the back and held out a card to show her, depicting a small ant-like creature on it. [color=9e0039]"By removing the Pahrasy Counter from Zerofyne and discarding it, I can Special Summon a second Lynde."[/color] From where the first died, another Lynde appears as if it was never gone. The small insect on Zerofyne exploded into pixels and disappeared. [color=7ea7d8]"Tch... Lynde on its own is useless. I set one card and end my turn."[/color]

[b][i]Turn 5: Mysterious Turbo Duelist[/i][/b]
Mysterious Turbo Duelist: 1400 LP, 3 cards in hand, 1 Monster, 2 S/T, 4 Speed Counters
Ethel: 3000 LP, 0 cards in hand, 1 Monster; 1 S/T, 3 Speed Counters

[color=9e0039]"My turn, then. Draw."[/color] The one riding in front sounded more and more bored the longer this went on, and even took a small break from playing anything to slow down and pull up next to Ethel. This made Ethel able to look at the woman's eyes a bit more clearly, showing a lighter color behind the dark vizors. [color=9e0039]"You're supposed to be one of the best of the best from the first year students here, right?"[/color] The woman asked Ethel, who looked like she was about to blow a gasket. [color=7ea7d8]"What about it?"[/color] The girl retorted with a scorn. The other duelist sighed.

[color=9e0039]"I can see why you lost that race, your skills are subpar. I was expecting more."[/color] With that the duelist pulled up and drove faster again, taking the lead once more. Ethel was fuming behind her. [color=9e0039]"I'll normal summon the Tuner Monster Pahrasy Cimicae once again."[/color] Once more, the small bug from before jumped onto the field and gave them a tuner. Ethel's eyes widened in realization at what they're about to do. [color=9e0039]"I tune my level four Pahrasy Lynde to my level two Pahrasy Cimicae!"[/color] The duelist shouted and raised their hand up in the air, Cimicae bursting into two rings and floating around Lynde. Lynde turned into stars and then came the flash of light. [color=9e0039][b]"Feed on the clustering stars, etch their taste into your memory. Crave for more as you suck out the life force of your enemies! Synchro Summon, Level six! Pahrasy Amearphy!"[/b][/color] 

From the light emerged a large, cream colored insect. Much like Wespe it looked ant-like, but with a few differences. The took up the majority of the body size, about eighty percent, with a huge stinger sticking out of the back. It also had eight legs compared to six. Their antenna were stuck into grooves in the head, right behind four sets of compound eyes. The mandibles were surprisingly small on first glance, though the insect had its mouth closed.

[b]Pahrasy Amearphy:[/b] 2700 ATK 1600 DEF Level 6 EARTH Insect

[color=9e0039]"Battle. Pahrasy Amearphy, destroy Ice Beast Zerophyne."[/color] The insect crawled forward on thin air and opened it's mouth to reveal a horrifying inside, comparable to that of Lynde. Only with Lynde there was more rotten parts and with Amearphy there were a lot of teeth. [color=7ea7d8]"Don't underestimate me! Trap, activate!"[/color] Ethel shouted, revealing her facedown Storming Mirror Force. [color=9e0039]"Funny. I've got one of my own, my Dark Bribe."[/color] The front rider snickered, behind her a card flipping up depicting a man slipping someone a card. [color=9e0039]"You get to draw a card and my Amearphy gets to attack, isn't that a nice deal?"[/color] Ethel grimaced as she drew her card, after which Zerofyne got devoured with incredible ease. The resulting winds shook her Duel Runner a bit, making her spin backwards before managing to regain her balance.

[b]Ethel:[/b] LP 3000 > 2300

[color=9e0039]"I'll set two cards."[/color] Two card backs appeared next to the purple Duel Runner, who suddenly turned around and started to drive backwards. [color=9e0039]"Let me let [i]you[/i] in on secret,"[/color] Ethel's opponent calmly said. [color=9e0039]"I don't care about you proving yourself or any of that nonsense. You were just used so I could get my hands on this field, so thanks for that."[/color] The front rider grinned, a soft glow starting to come from under her helmet where the left eye was supposed to be. [color=9e0039]"And if you're wondering why you, because you're an easy target... and I wanted to gauge just how good this academy's students [i]really[/i] are for myself."[/color] The duelist then turned around and drove normally again. [color=9e0039]"My turn is over."[/color]

[b][i]Turn 6: Ethel[/i][/b]
Mysterious Turbo Duelist: 1400 LP, 0 cards in hand, 1 Monster, 3 S/T, 5 Speed Counters
Ethel: 2300 LP, 2 cards in hand, 4 Speed Counters

Ethel couldn't just stay silent anymore. She knew that that woman was trying to get under her skin, and you know what? They succeeded. Ethel snapped like a twig. [color=7ea7d8]"Argh, Shut your mouth! Draw!"[/color] The light dorm student was now shouting in frustration, swiping the next card from her deck with fury. She gave it only a cursory sideway glance and immediately slammed it down onto the Duel Disk. [color=7ea7d8]"You want to see how good I am huh?! I summon my Raidraptor - Skull Eagle!"[/color] As Ethel shouted, a familiar bird came into view next to her.

[b]Raidraptor - Skull Eagle:[/b] 1000 ATK 500 DEF Level 3 DARK Winged Beast

[color=9e0039]"Another Xyz?"[/color] The duelist in front asked with a bored tone in her voice, looking back at Ethel with a raised eyebrow. [color=7ea7d8]"I said shut it! You don't know anything about how I duel!"[/color] Ethel screamed in response, getting really flared up all of a sudden. [color=7ea7d8]"I activate Speed World - Virtua's effect! I remove three Speed Counters and Special Summon my [i]own[/i] Tuner, Blackwing - Breeze the Zephyr!"[/color] Ethel slammed down the card in her hand onto the disk, after which an anthropomorphic bird flew out of a rainbow coloured vortex next to Ethel. The bird had a bright yellow body with very drawn out wings and, for some reason, a bright orange mane.

[b]Blackwing - Breeze the Zephyr:[/b] 1100 ATK 300 DEF Level 3 DARK Winged Beast Tuner

[color=7ea7d8]"I'll tune my Level three Skull Eagle to my Level three Breeze!"[/color] Much like before, Breeze slowly faded into three futuristic green rings that lined up to let Skull Eagle through. [color=7ea7d8][b]"Spread your jet-black wings and crush your opponent in night sky! Synchro Summon! Level 6, Blackwing - Nothung the Starlight!"[/b][/color] From the light emerged a heavily armored bird man, clutching a bastard sword in only one hand. Their shoulders were slumped and they looked down to the floor, as if slumbering. [color=7ea7d8]"Nothung's effect! When it's summoned, I'll deal 800 points of damage and reduce your Pahrasy Amearphy's attack by the same amount! [i]Black Shockwave[/i]!"[/color] Ethel shouted and Nothung swung once, sideways. The resulting shockwave was, as one might expect, quite massive. The winds hit the Duel Runner in the front hard and caused it to shake ever so slightly.

[b]Blackwing - Nothung the Starlight:[/b] 2400 ATK 1600 DEF Level 6 DARK Winged Beast
[b]Mysterious Turbo Duelist:[/b] LP 1400 > 600
[b]Pahrasy Amearphy:[/b] 2700 > 1900 ATK

For once, Ethel got a positive reaction from her opponent. They started to laugh, maniacally. [color=9e0039]"Ahaha! Ahahahaha! Synchro summoning! Of course you would!"[/color] They continued to laugh at her, with an almost demonic smirk coming across her face. [color=9e0039]"But you haven't even scratched its [i]surface[/i]."[/color] Ethel's opponent started mocking her again. [color=7ea7d8]"I told you to [i][b]SHUT UP[/b][/i]! Nothung, kill Amearphy!"[/color] Ethel commanded, but she was met with another laugh. [color=9e0039]"You're comedy gold, girly! I activate my Pahrasy Infection, placing another counter on your monster!"[/color] The red insect that infected both Fiend Eagle and Zerophyne not nestled itself into Nothung's neck, right as their blade crashed down and sliced Amearphy in half.

[b]Mysterious Turbo Duelist:[/b] LP 600 > 100

Nothung returned to Ethel's field and the girl was smiling. [color=7ea7d8]"For all your trashtalk, you put up surprisingly little of a fight."[/color] Ethel sneered at her opponent, who was still laughing. [color=9e0039]"Ahahahaha! You think you've won! This is great!"[/color] The opponent continued, looking back at Ethel. Even from under their helmet it was clear now, their eye was glowing a bright cyan. Not only that, but their pupil was V-shaped. [color=9e0039]"Pahrasy Amearphy's effect. When it is destroyed by a monster with a Pahrasy counter, I take control of that monster!"[/color] Ethel's face went pale as she realized what just happened, the large insect from before suddenly rising up from behind Nothung. It shrank everywhere except for the legs, which it wrapped all eight of around the poor Blackwing. Not only that, but they injected their stinger into Nothung's back and bit into their helmet, causing a very monotone scream to erupt from the man. It was forced to fly over to the other field, leaving Ethel wide open. [color=9e0039]"Oh don't worry, Nothung can't attack you directly. Just end your turn, I've got something [i]much[/i] worse in store for you."[/color] 

Ethel could barely reply. She got shown up, [i]again[/i]. [color=7ea7d8]"Turn... end."[/color]

[b][i]Turn 7: Mysterious Turbo Duelist[/i][/b]
Mysterious Turbo Duelist: 100 LP, 1 card in hand, 1 Monster, 3 S/T, 6 Speed Counters
Ethel: 2300 LP, 0 cards in hand, 2 Speed Counters

[color=9e0039]"Then it's my turn."[/color] If the air wasn't chilly enough already, it got even colder now. It was practically freezing. The card the older woman drew got seemingly ignored as the two cards on her field flipped face-up. One depicted a graveyard with purple smoke rising from it and the other was a nest of ants next to a picnic basket. [color=9e0039]"Call of the Haunted brings back Pahrasy Lynde from te graveyard. My other trap card, Insect tuning, allows me to target one Synchro monster I control. It's type becomes Insect... and [i]Tuner[/i]."[/color] A sinister shadow loomed over the purple Duel Runner as Lynde revived itself from the grave and Ethel breaking into a cold sweat. [color=7ea7d8]"Syncrho... Tuner?"[/color] She muttered in disbelief, watching her Nothung suffer.

[b]Pahrasy Lynde:[/b] 1500 ATK 2000 DEF Level 4 EARTH Insect

The duelist riding in front suddenly swiped one card from a compartment in the side of their Duel Runner, which looked completely blank. [color=9e0039]"I tune my level four Pahrasy Lynde to my Level six Blackwing - Nothung the Starlight,"[/color] they started, affirming Ethel's worst fears. That woman was tuning [i]synchro monsters together[/i]. Nothung burst into progressively smaller rings that lined out on the track in front of the two and the front runner suddenly accelerated massively, shouting [color=9e0039][b][i]"ACCEL SYNCHROOOO!"[/i][/b][/color] as she passed through them... and vanished. Ethel looked startled, wondering where in the hell she went. Then the girl heard a sonic boom from behind her, turning her head and seeing a shadow loom overhead. Ethel looked in fear at what she saw.
[h3][b][color=7ea7d8]"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"[/color][/b][/h3]
[h3]WINNER: MYSTERIOUS TURBO DUELIST[/h3]
[/hider][hr]The next morning, passing students found Ethel lying unconsciously next to her Duel Runner, which was busted. She had major bruises all over her body and even had a slight trickle of blood running down her forehead, which made it a miracle she didn't bleed out through the night. Ignia was about as worried as a parent would get over their child, constantly trying to get into the infirmary every chance she got to check up on Ethel. The girl was unconscious for a few days, which led to rumors on how that could have happened. Some people suspected gangsters leading her out and beating her up, others claimed it was her fault because she sought out illegal duels... without any proof, naturally. Whatever the origin or nature of a rumor, they were quickly spreading to even the lesser reputable of students. Some of them couldn't help but sneer at the entire light dorm, seeing as one of the most standout students got herself into that situation. Still, nobody could figure out what happened. There wasn't any evidence of a duel, or at least none that was recoverable after they found the girl unconscious. Vincent was still missing too, coupled with Transformer, though the occasional localized earthquake or two in the building suggested that the latter was definitely still around. A lot of the students started raising concerns with the school, but the staff could only affirm that 'Nothing was out of the ordinary and everything was alright', even though most students called them out on the seemingly terrorist attack only a few weeks back. Strange thigns were starting to happen to the school, but strangely, it seemed only first years were being targeted.

A small crew of people found themselves in the cafeteria, called there by Haas. He'd gathered just about anyone he knew, including possible family or close friends. He'd tried to get Ignia to come too, since she was always by Ethel's side, but she always refused in order to be closer to the wounded girl. Haas looked over the posse of people he'd gathered. The ray twins were there, some of the first people he met. Nathaniel, Megan and Camryn too, who Haas had gotten friendly with after the tag duels. Andre was there, who was Haas' first opponent. Haas managed to convince his brother, Ben to come who in turn managed to drag along Andre. Joshua was there, who hung out with Michelle quite a bit. Haas didn't really know Leander, but the guy was so friendly that he got along with everyone so there wasn't any harm. He brought along Amelia too, so that's a bonus. Angelo knew Ethel slightly, so Haas managed to lure him out too. Maisy overheard him by chance and wanted to know what was up, so she was in there too. Lastly there was a new face among them, Brooklyn. Haas had met the girl a day or two ago and got along pretty well, so he invited her over because it couldn't hurt. 

Haas surprised himself when he thought about how many people he'd gathered... it was quite impressive. He cleared his throat. [b][color=aba000]"Alright! You're all probably confused why you're here. Kinda. I am too, don't worry."[/color][/b] [i][color=aba000]"Smooth going, Haas, next you're going to tell them this was a waste of time."[/color][/i] The boy thought to himself, trying to push aside the jokes. [b][color=aba000]"It's no secret that some weird stuff is happening at the academy. So, I came up with an idea!"[/color][/b] The boy proudly puffed out his chest. If you looked closely, you could see his nose even grew a little. [b][color=aba000]"With the advent of the Dark Dorm forming some weird gang system, I thought I'd do the same. Only, we're not fighting for some hierarchy to find the strongest duelists. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gathered people from different courses and dorms. No, we're going to get to the bottom of what is up with the recent events, and solve them! Who's with me?"[/color][/b] Haas asked the room, raising up his fist in the air.

Dead silence. Nobody said a word. Maybe that could've gone over a little better. [b][color=aba000]"Er-Erm... We'd start by investigating why so many people are landing in the Dark Dorm recently. It's gotta have some connection, right?"[/color][/b] Haas asked again, hoping to get a response this time. It'd be pretty embarrassing if everyone just suddenly walked out of the room and left him there.