Chapter 90: Chazz's Revenge Blitz!

"Stayed up late adjusting his deck... well, that's understandable. As long as he makes it in time for the match."

Chancellor Sheppard's mouth twitched at Professor Banner's poorly concealed grin, then resigned himself to accepting the explanation at face value.

He didn't believe it for a second. Banner's entire expression gave the game away, and Sheppard had spent enough time around Rowan by now to have a reasonable grasp of his habits.

Staying up late to fine-tune a deck sounded nothing like him.

Being too unbothered to show up for a welcoming ceremony, on the other hand, sounded exactly like him.

But it was a minor thing. What mattered was the match, and the mysterious prize from Ms. Dorothy waiting at the end of it.

The moment that thought crossed his mind, Sheppard's eyes brightened noticeably.

Everyone else unconsciously took a small collective step backward.

Professor Crowler included.

...

A deep churning sound rolled across the water.

From beneath the surface just offshore, an enormous dark shape rose slowly through the blue, parting the waves as it emerged.

It took a moment before anyone could make it out clearly: not a whale, but a submarine built to look like one, a black deep-sea fortress in the shape of a massive cetacean, surfaces gleaming with seawater as the hull broke into open air.

A hatch opened. The front plate lowered into a boarding ramp extending to the dock's edge.

Figures began filing out one by one.

At the front was a middle-aged man in a khaki jacket, his head in direct competition with Chancellor Sheppard's for most reflective surface present.

What remained of his hair clung to the sides above his ears while his forehead caught the morning light with impressive clarity.

Below that, the shadow of a beard shaved close enough to leave a broad blue-grey tint across his jaw, lending him the weathered look of a seaside fisherman who had seen better decades.

"It's been a while, Principal Foster," Chancellor Sheppard said, stepping forward with a handshake.

"Appreciate you having us, Sheppard," the Mediterranean-headed principal laughed, gripping his hand.

In the instant their palms met, Alexis and everyone nearby caught something pass between them in the air. A flicker.

Invisible but unmistakable.

The spark of competition. The name of that competition: Ms. Dorothy.

"If Rowan were here he'd definitely have something to say about that," Alexis muttered, pressing a hand to her forehead.

Jasmine and Mindy nodded with complete sincerity.

...

With greetings exchanged, Chancellor Sheppard moved the group along, guiding Principal Foster and the North Academy students toward the dueling arena.

Among the visitors filing in behind the North Academy principal, Bastion was the first to react.

His expression shifted, recognition and something closer to surprise crossing his face as he spotted a conspicuously familiar figure in black.

"Is that..."

"Chazz!"

Not just Bastion. Alexis caught it next, then Professor Crowler, then several others: walking directly behind Principal Foster, in the most prominent position among all the visiting students, was Chazz Princeton.

"Mamma mia," Professor Crowler breathed. "Don't tell me Chazz is North Academy's mysterious first-year representative."

North Academy operated differently from Duel Academy. There were no dorm divisions, no Slifer Red or Obelisk Blue.

Everyone, first-years through third-years, competed on a single unified ranking ladder.

For Chazz to have come out on top of that system meant he'd fought his way past the entire student body to get there.

He'd genuinely gotten stronger over there.

Strong enough that a rematch with Jaden might not be the foregone conclusion it once seemed.

Whether Rowan, who had beaten Jaden, could still handle the current Chazz Princeton was a more open question than Crowler wanted to admit.

He absolutely still wanted to see Rowan eat a little humble pie.

But in a school versus school match, he didn't want to watch the Duel Academy representative lose either.

That contradiction sat in his chest unresolved as the group entered the arena.

...

"Chancellor Sheppard, allow me to introduce North Academy's first-year representative this year: Chazz Princeton, Lightning of Vengeance. And your representative would be...?"

Principal Foster gestured to Chazz at his side, then looked across at Sheppard, his gaze drifting over the Duel Academy students gathered nearby.

Most of them appeared to be second and third-years. Only one was wearing Ra Yellow.

"Please don't let it be Bastion," Chazz said, scanning the Duel Academy side and noticing immediately the absence of two specific faces.

He clenched his fist. "Whether it's Rowan or Jaden, it doesn't matter. Bring whoever you've got. Every last one of them is on my list."

He'd witnessed Rowan's match against Bastion before withdrawing from Duel Academy. He knew Bastion had already been comprehensively dismantled.

Whoever Duel Academy was fielding as representative, it wasn't going to be the Ra Yellow standing over there.

Among the first-years, the only candidates with the standing to represent the school were the infuriating Rowan, or Jaden, who had been running around with him.

"So it really is Chazz," Alexis said quietly, her expression growing more measured.

The others around her settled into similar stillness.

Clawing his way to the top of North Academy through sheer results was no small thing.

And the Chazz they remembered had already been one of the most dangerous duelists at Duel Academy before he left.

"Our representative this year is..."

Chancellor Sheppard drew himself up, expression turning suitably serious as he began to introduce Duel Academy's selection.

A familiar, unhurried voice drifted in through the arena entrance at exactly that moment.

"Sorry, sorry. Stayed up late on the deck last night, got in a little later than I meant to."