Duel Monster Saviors Ch. 4 – How to Make a Duel Runner Authored by TheAmariaShadow
The night was short from me and Onix’s duel with Dash. Even I could tell that none of us could sleep due to how excited we were: not me, not Onix. Heck, I am betting that even Mikey, Jesse, and Ben couldn’t sleep after everything that occurred last night. Of course, nothing could prepare us for what would happen in the morning….
The alarm clock on Mikey’s bedside dresser went off loudly. He stirred from his bed and sat straight up, yawning loudly. He crawled out of bed and walked over to the windows, pulling the curtains open wide for the sun to come in. “Another beautiful day!”, he exclaimed. He turned to me and Onix’s beds and said, “Wake up, you two! Time to get ready for class!”
“Ah, come on, Mikey…..five more minutes, please?”, Onix complained, hiding his head underneath a pillow. “No way, Onix! Have you forgotten what today is?”, Mikey replied, tearing the blankets away from Onix. Onix sat up on his bed and looked at Mikey with a grumpy face and said, “Is it Tuesday?” Mikey chuckled and said, “Yes it is. It is also the day that we have a class with Professors Fudo and Atlas! I can’t wait to find out what happens today! Come on, Onix! You too, Crystal! Wake up!” Onix grumbled as he tossed his pillow, bonking me in the head gently. I sat up in my bed and said, “Good morning to you too, silly.”
It took all three of us a few moments to get ready. After we had our breakfast and got fully dressed, we left our dorm room to see Jessie waiting for us by the elevator…
“Morning, everyone!”, Jessie said with a wide smile. “Morning, Jessie. You seem awfully excited, even for you.”, Mikey said with a laugh. “Well of course! Today’s class has me super excited!”, Jessie said as the elevator doors opened. We each walked in, Mikey pressing the button for the lobby immediately. “Why? What’s supposed to be happening?”, I asked. Jessie gasped loudly when I said that. “You didn’t read the PDA message, Crystal?”, she asked. “Message?”, I replied.
“Both Prof. Fudo and Prof. Atlas has a big surprise in store for their class today, so they want all of their students to head out to the Turbo Duel Arena today.”, Mikey stated, watching the counter on the roof count down the number of floors to the lobby. Onix raise an eyebrow and said, “I never got a message on that. My guess Crystal didn’t get one either.” Jessie giggled and said, “I wouldn’t be surprised. The message was sent during you two’s duel with Dash last night.”
Me & Onix looked at each other when she said that. We both laughed when we thought of the duel against Dash, still ecstatic over our victory last night. The sound of a small ding was heard when the elevator doors opened, allowing us to walk out into the lobby. We exited out of the front door and headed over to the Turbo Duel arena immediately. We smiled as we saw Prof. Fudo & Prof. Atlas standing at the front door. “Good morning, Professors!”, Mikey said with a smile.
“Good morning.”, Yusei replied. “Looks like you four are the first ones here.”, he continued, opening the door wide open for us. We thanked him as we stepped inside, the smell of rubber hitting our faces immediately. “So, do you four have a slight idea on what you will be doing today?”, he asked, walking behind us. Mikey looked back at him and said, “Well, perhaps learning the ins and outs of Turbo Dueling?”
Yusei laughed when he said that, opening up the door to the garage of the Arena. “You’re not that far off, but that is incorrect.”, he stated. He walked in and saw Jack standing at another entrance to the Arena, staring at someone riding around on a Duel Runner. “Whoa, look at that guy go! He’s pretty fast!”, Mikey said, running up to Jack to watch. We joined him as we heard someone walk up behind us. “That’s one of the new Ra Yellow students, striving to be the next Duel Racing prodigy. They made that Duel Runner with their own hands.”, a voice rang out. I looked back to see Jessie’s brother Ben with his usual smirk on his face.
“Hi, Onii-chan! Good morning!”, Jessie said, running over to give her brother a big bear hug. “Did you sleep well last night?”, she asked. “Hardly. After last night’s events, I spent most of the night coming up with a new stratagem to defeat those two on the duel field.”, he replied, looking towards me and Onix. Onix laughed and said, “Well then, you better bring your A-game then! Me and Crystal don’t go easy, even for friends.” Ben smirked again as he saw the Duel Runner pass by again for another lap. “She really handles that quite well, doesn’t she, Prof. Atlas?”, he asked. “She?”, Jack replied with a confused tone. “Well, yes. That’s Leslie Von Krieg, isn’t it? She was one of the students that came here late.”, the Ra Yellow student replied. “Well….”, Jack was about to reply when his voice got cut off by the rest of the students piled in for class, followed by Prof. Hogan. “Sorry, time to start. Leslie, bring it in!”, Jack said into a microphone, the driver on the Duel Runner coming to a screeching halt. Leslie drove it back to the garage and parked it on the outside. The mysterious driver removed their helmet, revealing a young boy with long yellow hair and sky blue eyes and snow white skin. “Wait…Onii-chan, that’s a boy!”, Jessie said in shock, surprised that her brother didn’t notice that. “What!? But, that’s not possible!”, Ben replied. Leslie smiled softly and shushed them both. “It’s a secret. No one but the staff here knows the truth.”, he stated. He then looked over at me and my brother and said, “Hi there. Name’s Leslie Von Krieg and I am a Ra Yellow. You two must be the hotshot duelists that beat Prof. Kaiba at the Duel Academy entrée exams, am I right?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I’m Crystal Noroi, and this is my brother Onix Sairenji.”, I replied, hearing my brother acknowledge himself with a “Hi.” I looked at Leslie and said, “That was some impressive driving you were doing there, Leslie.” “Danke, verfehlen.”, he replied. Onix’s eyes widened when he said that. “Are you German, Leslie?”, he asked. “Oh, I am indeed. Anyway, the lesson is starting.”, he replied, walking over to a desk. “He’s right. Let’s go.”, I replied, sitting at a desk in the front, sitting right beside Mikey and my brother. Jessie went and sat beside another student who I guessed was Exodia Purple, due to the emblem on his t-shirt, while Ben sat right beside Leslie. A chill crept up on me and Onix for a strange reason, but I figured out why rather quickly: Dash was sitting in the far back, glaring directly at us. He was obviously still hot over his lose last night. My attention was caught when Prof. Fudo stood in front of us.
“Good morning, students. My name is Yusei Fudo, and I’ll be in charge of this class for today along with my associates, Jack Atlas and Crow Hogan. While you are here at Duel Academy, we will teach you the ins and outs of Turbo Dueling. Although, that is not what we will be going over today.”, Yusei stated. I could tell when he said that, everyone in the classroom was confused. It was when Mikey raised his hand that caught Yusei’s attention. “Yes, Mikey? You have a question?”, he asked.
“Yes, Professor. If we aren’t learning about Turbo Duels, what is today’s lesson on?”, he asked. Yusei chuckled and said, “Well then. I am going to let Prof. Hogan answer that question. Crow?”, Yusei said, looking over to the male with the ginger hair over by a toolbox. “Ok, guys! Today, we’re going to show you how to make your own Duel Runners. Right here, right now!”, Crow exclaimed. He pressed a button as one of the walls of the classroom raised from the ground, showing a Duel Runner workshop, completely stocked with every piece of equipment to make a Duel Runner. “Whoa, really?!”, Onix exclaimed in excitement. “Yes, that’s right. Now, I’d like each of you to reach under your chairs. You’ll find instruction manuals on how to create a Duel Runner there. Each Duel Runner is unique, but the building process for each one is the same. Now, go nuts!”, Yusei said.
I immediately reached under my chair and found the instruction manual that Prof. Fudo mentioned. I quickly skimmed through the manual, seeing all the important parts of a Duel Runner: it needed a frame, a CPU, wheels, and an engine. ‘Hmm, doesn’t seem like it is too difficult to create one. Apparently, each piece locks into place. It doesn’t matter what kind of frame you use, the major parts are always going to fit.’, I thought to myself. I stood from my chair and walked over to the workshop. I spotted a panel on the wall and tilted my head at it. “What is this?”, I said out loud. “This is a computer that is connected to the workshop. All you have to do is touch it, and it’ll show all the information of the equipment here.”, a voice rang out. I looked behind me to see Prof. Atlas standing behind me. “Each compartment of the Duel Runner Garage has one, for each class on the campus. That way, when you create one, it’ll have a safe place to stay.”, he continued. “Oh, ok! Thanks, Professor.”, I replied, touching the panel. Immediately, the panel lit up and showed all the equipment in the workshop. I went through every piece there was in there, starting my search for a frame. That’s when I came across one particular frame…
“Oooh, this one is beautiful! Onix, come check this out!”, I stated, seeing him working on a Duel Runner that looked similar to Prof. Fudo’s. “Coming!”, he replied, running over to me, bumping into Dash along the way who was carrying a heavy engine for his Duel Runner. “Watch it, Slifer slacker! I’m walking here!”, he yelled, practically about to drop the engine on his foot. “Sorry. Sheesh, no need to yell.”, Onix replied, walking up behind me. “What did you want to show me, sis?”, he asked.
“Look at this frame! Doesn’t it look the one that Akiza Izinski drives?”, I asked. “Whoa, that is it! The Wicked Rose! I can’t believe that this frame is in here!”, Onix replied. “Of course it is in here! She works here, after all!”, Ben shouted from another garage. “She’s the fourth headmaster of Ra Yellow, but she came down with a flu today.”, Yusei stated right after, overhearing us. “Wow. Then it is settled. I’m going to choose this one!”, I stated, choosing that frame. After that, I chose some decent wheels. Then came the hard part: the CPU and the Engine. There was SO MANY to choose from: those that equally balance the Runner, or those that crank out the most speed. There was also a few that emphasized the handling of the ride, which was definitely important. Otherwise, there is the chance you could go crashing into a wall. “Hmm….best to go with one of each: a CPU that will give me the best type of handling, as well as an Engine that could crank out the fastest speed.”, I stated as a wall opened up beside me with the wheels, CPU, and Engine I chose. The frame was the last part to show up, which lowered itself from the ceiling.
“There we go. First, attach the wheels to the frame, so the wheels can’t roll away.”, I said to myself, lowering the frame down onto the two wheels. I walked over to the toolbox in the center of the room and reached for a wrench, only to see the same person that was sitting beside Jessie reach for it as well. “Oh, I’m sorry! Were you going to get this wrench?”, I asked. “Nah, I was only going to see if I needed it. I tend to carry tools of my own for this sort of thing.”, the person replied. I could tell they weren’t joking: they were wearing a tool belt around their waist. “I guess you’re right. My name’s Crystal Noroi. And, you are?”, I asked, taking the wrench that I needed. “Nice to meet ya, Crystal! Name’s Robin Okazuya, one of the newest students to be enrolled in Exodia Purple. I came here to learn everything I can on Duel Runners, since I want to be a Duel Runner mechanic one day.”, Robin stated.
“Really? Cool. Someday, you and I should have a duel, Robin.”, I said with a smile. Robin chuckled and said, “Maybe. But, right now, let’s worry about today.” He walked back over to his section, where I could see him working on a chopper-like Duel Runner. “Heh, he seems nice.”, I said to myself. I feel something brush up against me as I saw Jessie trying to reach up to a shelf of the toolbox to get something. “Come on, where is it?”, she frowned. She hopped up and down, trying to see into the shelf to no avail. I giggled as I lifted Jessie up and said, “Is this better?”
“Thank you, Onee-chan!”, she said with a smile, reaching for a screwdriver. “What are you planning on making, Jessie?”, I asked. “Uh-uh! No spoilers! I want it to be a secret!”, she said. She ran off to another section of the workshop, leaving me behind. I shrugged and walked back over to my section with the wrench. I immediately connected the wheels to the frame, then walked over the wall and grabbed the engine. Gently, I walked over to my Duel Runner and placed the engine into the frame. I walked back over to the toolbox and grabbed a screwdriver. Fortunately, connecting the engine wasn’t difficult. “Hmm….connect this wire here….and this one here…..and this one here…..this one connects to the brakes, and this one activates the turbo booster.”, I mumbled to myself, connecting each wire together. I looked over towards the classroom and saw Leslie looking over his Duel Runner. “Aren’t you going to work on yours, Leslie?”, I asked.
“No need, fräulein. Mine is fine as it is. I asked Prof. Fudo if I could help with the ones that are having trouble making their rides. And it looks like I found my student.”, Leslie said, motioning towards one section of the workshop, where I saw Ben struggling with his ride: a Duel Board. He walked over to the nekoboy and asked, “Do you need some help?”
“A little. Everything seems to be wired correctly, yet it doesn’t want to run.”, Ben said with a frustrated tone. Leslie smiled and patted the nekoboy right between his ears and said, “Let’s just see what you got wrong here. No need to get frustrated.” Leslie picked up the board and looked it over. He smiled as he said, “Well, here’s the problem. You have the wire that you would connect to your Duel Disk in the wrong slot. You have it plugged up in the slot where the energy converter would go. We just switch the wires around….and voila!” With a soft whirring noise, the Duel Board sprang to life. Leslie looked at Ben and said, “You did a good job.”
“Thank you, Leslie.”, Ben replied. Leslie smiled and walked away to other students that may need help. I took my attention back to my own Duel Runner and placed the CPU in it, then turned the throttle onto it, hearing a rather loud roar of the engine. I whistled softly as I thought to myself: ‘This one has some serious power behind it. It’s perfect.’
Crow whistled loudly, catching the attention of all the students. “Alright, class! Gather around!”, he said, standing at the entrance of the track. All the students gathered around him, Onix finding his way beside me once again. “Ok, for the final moments of today’s class, we are going to test-run your rides! You got to do one entire lap under 2 minutes! So, place your finishing touches onto your rides and move them out!”, he said. Onix chuckled and said, “With my Duel Runner, I’m going to finish the lap in 50 seconds!”
“Ha! Don’t flatter yourself! You really think you can do that?! Impossible!”, Dash sneered, already wearing his helmet. Onix frowned and then looked over to Crow and said, “Sir, can I go first?” Crow raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Well, someone is eager. Go on ahead, Onix! Let’s see what you can do!”, Crow replied. Onix smiled and walked over to his Duel Runner and placed his helmet on his head. He pushed the bike out onto the track and hopped onto it, strapping his Duel Disk to it, hearing it roar to life. “Hey, Slifer slacker! TRY TO CRASH!”, Dash said coldly. Onix rolled his eyes as he watched the lights drop from red to green. With a twist of the throttle, he shot down the track, moving rather quickly.
“Whoa, intense speed! Easy, Onix! You could crash at that pace!”, I exclaimed. Onix just smirked when he heard me say that in the microphone. He leaned slightly and went around the sharp curve quickly. He kept his eyes on the clock as he barreled down towards the second curve, coming to a screeching halt in front of the class. He removed his helmet as he looked over towards Crow and said, “Well, Professor? What’s my time?”
Crow’s eyes went wide as he looked at a stopwatch and said, “47.5 seconds….a new campus record.” Onix whistled and said, “Wow. Shattered the campus record. Even I was expecting more than that.” He looked over at Dash and smirked at him as he pushed his Duel Runner back to the garage. Dash frowned and growled angrily, knowing that Onix did that to prove a point. Onix laughed as he came out of the garage, getting a slight glimpse of someone that looked like they were staring directly at him. “Huh? What is that woman doing?”, he said, looking right at her. “Isn’t that…..nah, it couldn’t be.”, he said to himself, walking back over to the others.
From that point, each student took a lap on the track. Dash stormed out of class due to the fact he was the slowest out of the entire class. Me, Onix, and the others left together and headed to the cafeteria for dinner when I saw Leslie and Ben walk the other direction to their dorms, hand in hand. Seems like those two are getting close. Me and the others laughed and talked about things outside of the Academy as we ate our dinner, which was meat lovers’ pizza that night. We even saw my new friend Robin again. Come to find out, he was actually a SHE. Of course, she wanted us to keep her true gender a secret. After dinner, we all returned to our dorms. Meanwhile, in another dorm on the other side of the campus….
“Did you see them today?”, Yami said, sipping a cup of tea while nomming some cake. He looked over towards the window, where the Headmaster of Exodia Purple stood. “I did. They are improving in their skills rather quickly. It’s only a matter of time before they face me in the arena.”, the wolf said. “Don’t rush it, Sanji. They are only new students. They still have quite a journey to go on before they get to you.”, Yami replied. Sanji nodded and said, “True. Anyway, if you will excuse me, I shall retire to my room for the night.” Yami nodded, and with a puff of smoke, Sanji disappeared.
Back at the Slifer Red dorm…
Mikey was sitting at his bed, watching the weather report for the night. “Ew, looks like it’s going to be a cold one tonight, guys.”, he said, looking over to me and Onix. “It’s alright, Mikey. We already turned on the heater, and we got extra blankets, just in case.”, I replied to him. I yawned as I said, “I’m calling it a night. See you all in the morning.” I crawled underneath my blankets and snuggled my pillow, dozing off quickly. Onix and Mikey looked at each other and nodded to each other, thinking it would be best to go to sleep as well. With a clap of his hands, Mikey turned off the lights to the room, and with a few short minutes, they were captured by the world of sleep.
Another day gone, another day comes. Things are going rather well for me and Onix at the Academy so far. Although, what happens tomorrow, we really do not expect at all. To be continued…..
