[X] Ask about Power Bond.
"That's a pretty rare card," you say, pointing at it, "it's even holographic and everything. Where'd you get it from?"
"Oh! Uh…" Syrus shuffles, looking uncomfortable, "It was… a gift from my brother. He gave it to me for my birthday after he came back from the Cyber Art dojo. He was so excited to give it to me, but – well, I've blundered with it more times than I can count. I keep it in my deck because it's good, but Zane…"
Syrus trails off, looking away. You can tell he's not happy about this topic. He definitely puts his brother on a pedestal, which leads to all sorts of questions. Was Syrus deathly afraid of disappointing his childhood hero? Did Zane get disappointed easily, or worse, flagrantly judgmental? You don't know, and you have the common sense to not prod any further – not when you've already caused trouble with Zane himself.
[ ] "I'm sure you'll be able to use it to its full potential. Just gotta keep your chin up and watch for a good opportunity."
[ ] "I mean, there's no way to learn other than to keep using it, right? It ain't gonna do you no good if it just sits there and gathers dust."
[ ] "I mean, if it were me, I'd put it away until I was 100% confident I could use it. Wouldn't want a dead draw in the heat of the moment, y'know?"
[ ] "Well, it's your card. You do what you want with it. Let's keep lookin' through these."
[X] You trade one copy of Inferno for Nanobreaker.
[X] You trade Earthshaker for Metalmorph, and add it to your deck, replacing Fire Darts.
The trades go by easily, and Syrus is happy to use the cards you've given him. He even has a few targets for Inferno already, like Rescueroid already in his deck or Robotic Knight in his binder. All-in-all, it goes well.
[X] Flip through your binder and double-check. Wait, you own Bombing Beast Fire Bomber? That'd be great, and it'd really solidify your bond with Syrus.
"Oh! Lemme check something. I'll give ya a gift too!"
Blaze Fenix's materials sent a shock of 'Oh right, I own this card!' through you. Flipping through your binder again, you manage to find Bombing Beast Fire Bomber and pull it out. You offer the FIRE Machine to Syrus, who blushes red-hot and makes a cute 'hweh!' noise.
"Here, now we're matching." You smile. "Not to make it weird, or whatever, right?"
"A-Ah, thank you so much! I gotta add some more Pyro monsters to my deck, and – ah, wait, I should read its effect – I'll treasure it always!" He bows deeply, making you laugh.
Man, what a flatterer, this guy.
[X] "Hey, Sy, wanna go bother them? We never did finish our tag duel." You chuckle. "Although, this time it'll be with opposite teammates…"
"Eh?! Against both Chazz and Jaden? I don't know if we can win!" Syrus stutters, and you look at him strangely.
"Well, we were never gonna have a perfect record here anyways," you shrug, "and part of learning is screwing up. This is detention, not a tournament. We gotta get our practical homework in somehow, y'know?"
"I…" Syrus nods, trying to psych himself up, "You're right. I've gotta try my best! Although, I still feel like I'll be a burden to Sunny…" He mutters to himself. Not quietly enough that you can't hear, though.
"Well, Sunny believes in Syrus, and Sunny wants to go duel the two stooges in the next room over, so Sunny's gonna go ahead and do what Sunny wants." Sunny – er, ahem, sorry, you give him a cheeky thumbs up before standing up and heading on over. Syrus follows behind you, watching as you activate your Duel Disk and draw your hand on the way to the door.
And then, you kick it open. Thankfully, it was already unlocked and not even fully closed, or else they'd be checking if hinges have warranties.
"Heeere's Sunny!" You cackle maniacally. "Are ya ready to duel, ya runty lil' twerps?!"
"Swansong?!" Chazz yelps, right as his LP goes to 0 from Elemental HERO Flame Wingman's effect. "What? Yuki, I was distracted! I want another rematch, best of eleven!"
"It can be best of infinity if you want, I'm having a great time. Hi, Sy and Sunny!" Jaden waves at you two affably. "Man, can you believe I get to duel all day after school and all I gotta do is write a paper at the end? This place is the best! You here to join in on, uh, homework?"
"Ah, Sunny wanted to get practice in for tag dueling," Syrus nods, veering away from Chazz by using you as a human shield, "so we came over."
"Hmph. I still owe you payback for our duel. And since Yuki's proved himself to be mildly competent, I suppose he'll do for now." Chazz smirks cruelly. You're pretty sure that's just how his natural smile looks. "Alright, you've got yourself a game."
"Now we're talking!" Jaden cheers, before jogging over to stand on the same side of the room as Chazz. Unlike the big lecture halls for the main classes, the side-rooms you four were assigned to are more like normal Japanese high school rooms. It looks like they've already cleared all the chairs and desks out from the middle, which is a funny visual if you imagine it.
"No antes this time, r-right guys?" Syrus hopes, activating his Duel Disk.
"Nah, this one's just practice. Us bombardiers are gonna pull through, ain't that right?" You try amping him up, referring to your shared Fusion Monsters as a team name.
"Yeah… Bombardiers for the win!" Syrus cheers, following your lead.
"Oh yeah? Well the, uh, Fishy Heroes are gonna score a win today!" Jaden hits a peace sign, and Chazz scoffs.
"Fishy Heroes?! What a lame name! We need to be the Abyssal Overlords!"
"How 'bout… Mermaid Guy and Super Dude?"
"No! We're the Ultimate Atlantean Marines!"
"You should probably just draw your hand, shorty," you side-talk to your partner, who sweatdrops, "this'll take a while."
Turn order is as follows: You, Jaden, Syrus, Chazz.
Two Large Hams (Jaden and Chazz) have 8000 LP. Both Large Hams have five cards in hand (six when their turn comes).
The Bombardiers (you and Syrus) have 8000 LP. Syrus has five cards in hand (six when his turn comes).
Your hand consists of Inpachi, Ultimate Baseball Homerun King, Metalmorph, Gogogo Umpire, Nanobreaker, and Polymerization.
[ ] SAFE ON FIRST. Play it safe and conserve resources for you to use later. Normal Summon Ultimate Baseball Homerun King and set Metalmorph to protect him if necessary. If he goes down, this lets you use Gogogo Umpire to revive him later and make a play. His effect goes off if Syrus hits something with him, too.
[ ] OUTFIELD HIT. Push for a strong board as soon as possible. Activate Polymerization, targeting Ultimate Baseball Homerun King and Nanobreaker, then set Metalmorph. This should get you in a strong spot with a monster above 2000 ATK, which is a huge boon this early in the game. Gogogo Umpire works in this scenario, too.
[ ] LEADOFF HIT. Try and generate as many resources as possible for Syrus to use. Set Inpachi, then set Metalmorph and Polymerization. It should be enough to weather whatever Jaden has as a first move, and Syrus can make use of three additional cards (one being a Machine) in addition to the six in his hand.
[ ] BASE LOADER. You're gonna try and hold onto resources to summon Blaze Fenix, the newest power player in your arsenal. Normal Summon Ultimate Baseball Homerun King, but conserve Metalmorph for later, planning to eke out your hand advantage as slow as necessary. You need to hold onto the Machines you've drawn until you can bust out your Polymerization in hand.
[ ] WRITE-IN!
A/N: There will be a one-hour moratorium.
