Force of the Four

A boy with black hair stretched his arms as the sun broke through his window on a bright Monday morning, his hair a mess, he stepped out of bead and headed into his bathroom, hopping in the shower and letting the warm water wake him up. Stepping out he wrapped a towel around himself and dried his hair, combing it into perfect shape, messy, yet refined. He looked into his mirror, washing his face and putting his contacts onto his deep purple eyes, he blinked the excess fluids out and stepped into his room. Swinging his closet door open he picked out a pair of black jeans, a grey and black striped Volcom t-shirt, and grabbed his favorite pair of Nike SB’s from their box. After getting dressed he pulled open his top drawer, grabbing a box imbued with a purple skull. “Been a while since I used these boys.” he said with a smirk. Walking out of his room he grabbed his book bag and a black Volcom snapback. As he reached the bottom of the staircase he was met by his mom who was half happy and half sad. “What’s up mom?” he said, hopping down the last 2 steps.

“My baby’s starting his last year of high school!” she shouted, pulling him into a tight hug, squeezing the air out of the boy. He managed to push her off of him to get some breath

“Mom, I’ll be fine. I gotta go pick up the crew.” he replied with a smile, grabbing a slice of toast out of the toaster, waving as he walked out the door. He walked into his driveway and hopped into a black Jeep Grand Cherokee, rolling down his windows and turning up the music. A few minutes later he pulled into a 2 story house’s driveway, where a girl in skinny jeans, black t-shirt, jacket and a beanie was waiting in the driveway, she hopped into his passenger seat with a smile. “Morning Mark!” she shouted eagerly, “ready for Senior year!?”

“Mornin’ babe, and yeah, I am, for it to be over with.” replied Mark with a laugh and a kiss, pulling off to pick up the others. He stopped by another house not too far down the street, honking the horn as he put the car in park. “I swear these two take forever.” A few seconds later two boys walked out of the house, almost identical.

“Sup guys?” said one of the boys, getting in the car, the other just yawning. Caitlin rubbed her temple and Mark just sighed.

“You think you guys would be on time for the first day of school?” said Mark with a laugh. “Cullen, Jake, y’all packed and ready for the last placement test of high school?”

Jake looked over at Cullen in surprise, “We’re taking another test?”

“Yeah,” said Caitlin turning around, “Senior’s get a beginning of the year test to see if they can move up a class.”

“Hey, maybe you two can get out of Slifer?” laughed Mark, turning into a huge parking lot and finding a space near the bridge.

“Maybe you can finally stop slacking and get into Obelisk.” said Caitlin with a sneer.

“Hey, hey, hey, not all of us can be dueling geniuses like you.” replied Mark, getting out of the car and slinging his duffel bag of clothes over his shoulder, slipping his duel disk on his left arm.

“It’s not about being a genius, but the fact that none of here have ever been able to beat you or your zombies, why aren’t you in Obelisk?” replied Caitlin, grabbing her bag, realizing that she packed too much, falling down with the bag.

“That’s none of your business.” said Mark, grabbing her bag and slinging it over his shoulder with ease. The twins just looked at each other and knew Caitlin had hit a nerve with Mark. So they just followed in silence. They headed into a large auditorium filled with new and returning students alike. At one end of the hall, atop a large podium stood a man with no hair on his head, except for a beard. He overlooked all the students filing into the area. Caitlin saw some of her old friends and ran off to join them.

“See ya babe.” she said, giving Mark a kiss before she left. Him and the twins sat and talked about their summer vacations, Cullen and Jake went to Hawai’i with their family, Mark went with Caitlin to New York with her family.

“So dude, you’ve dated her since freshmen year, are you going to propose to her?” asked Jack, shuffling through his cards.

“I don’t know when honestly. It all depends how this year plays out. But I definitely will someday.” replied Mark, adjusting his hat, flipping it backwards.

“Well dude, if you want to be really romantic, do it at graduation.” said Cullen “That’ll get you MAJOR points.”

“Like I said, I don’t know. We’ll have to see how this year plays out.” replied Mark, “but you know what today means right?”

“Practice...” said Cullen, dropping his head. “Did you have to remind me?”

“Of course, I can’t let you get too happy.” said Mark, punching Cullen in the arm. “Besides, this should be a fun year, apparently we have new uniforms and everything. A new mascot even.”

“What is it?” replied Jack, popping his head up. “Colors?”

“Black, blue, and gold.” replied Mark. “And it the Black Wings”

“Figures.” said Jack with a chuckle, their conversation was interrupted with a crackle coming over the PA system.

“Attention students, we will be boarding the trains to World Duel Academy in a few minutes. In the meantime, I would like to welcome you all to another year, Seniors, this is your last year, so enjoy it, don’t regret a day. Freshmen, learn from the Seniors, they know more about the Academy, and probably more about dueling than you do. Make sure to come to the stadium Friday nights, hopefully our Black Wings, can achieve their goal of the State Championship, which they fell 2 games short of last year. But never the less, let’s make sure to have a great school year! If you need anything, my name is Albert Bhed, if you can’t find me, then you can always find my second in command, Mr. Kimo. He is the assistant Dean of the school and the Head of the art department. You can come to either one of us if you have problems. With all that said, the trains are now boarding, you all know the drill, Seniors board first, then everyone else boards after. Have a safe and fun trip!” the system cut off after that, and the train doors opened, Mark and the twins boarded, Caitlin catching up with them. They found some cushioned seats in first class and grabbed them as soon as they found them.

“Finally first class!” shouted Jack stretching out his legs and relaxing. Cullen and Mark following suit. Caitlin leaned her head onto Mark’s shoulder, closing her eyes, he responded with a kiss to her forehead.

“Wake me up when we get there.” she muttered and snuggled in close to Mark, who just chuckled to himself. A bit later they got a knock on their door, from a familiar face.

“Hey guys, mind if I sit here with y’all?” said a girl with shoulder length black hair

“Digi!” shouted Jack, “come on in!”

“Glad to know I’m loved.” she laughed and sat next to Caitlin, across from Cullen. “So, you guys ready to dominate this year?”

“Of course!” said Cullen, “the twin receivers and the all-pro linebacker are in this cabin!” he said, getting high-fives from Jack and Mark. “So are y’all considering participating in the school tourney this year?”

“Is that a question? Of course!” said Mark, “I’ll definitely win!” he said with a smirk.

“Don’t be so sure!” said Jack, “You never know what can happen.” with that the train began to slow down as it reached its destination.

“Looks like we’re here guys.” said Mark, tapping Caitlin on the forehead. “Wake up babe, we’re here.”

“Well that was fast.” she said with a yawn, grabbing her bag and following the group out into the main arena. “I’m gonna skip the test guys, I’m in Obelisk already.” she said with a giggle and left of to the waiting area, her auburn hair flowing behind her. “Mark, make sure to take the test, you’re too good of a duelist to be stuck in Ra.”

“Why do I love this girl?” said Mark with a laugh. He slipped on his duel disk and stepped up onto the main arena. “Seniors first right?” he said with a smirk.

“Right you are Mr. Axle.” replied the tester, “I’m sure you’ll give me a good duel.” he drew his card. “Tester’s first in the duel though. I summon Jurrac Velo in attack mode! I’ll end my turn with that.”

“Should have done more with your turn!” said Mark with a smirk. “I’ll set 1 monster face down and set 2 cards face down. You’re up Mr. tester.”

“I was expecting more from someone like you.” He drew his card and directed Velo for an attack, destroying Mark’s facedown monster.

“Thanks man!” said Mark excitedly. “You destroyed Pyramid Turtle, now I get a zombie monster with 2000 or less defense, so, lets welcome Skull Flame!” A giant cloaked zombie with a burning skull appeared on his side of the field.

“Hmph... maybe you’ll get out of Ra yet. I’ll place two facedowns and end my turn.” said the Tester, noting he was in obvious danger.

“My turn, I draw.” said Mark, eyeing his hand, seeing what he could do. “I’m going to use Skull Flame’s effect to special summon Burning Skull Head from my hand!” A tiny skull started rotating around Skull Flame. “Now by Burning Skull Flame’s effect, you lose 1000 life points!” shouted Mark, as the small skull launched itself at the tester, inflicting 1000 points of damage. “I’ll then summon Plaguespreader Zombie! Tuning both the Burning Skull Head and Plaguespreader together, synchro summoning T.G. Hyper Librarian!” the mystical book keeper appeared next to Skull Flame, staring into his book. “I’ll end my turn with that.” he said aloud, allowing the tester to begin his turn. “This should be an interesting duel...” he thought.

Caitlin, Jack, and Cullen we’re sitting in the audience, watching Mark’s duel. Cullen was shuffling through his cards, Jack was texting and Caitlin was eyeing Mark’s hand. “He could win this easily.” she thought “Hyper Librarian, and Skull Flame?”

“Hey guys, long time no see!” said a boy with short black hair and a British accent. “How have you all been?”

“Alucard! What’s up man?” said Cullen, getting up and shaking Alucard’s hand, “Still don’t know why your parents gave you that name.”

“Me either, but its my name.” he said with a laugh, mind if me and Digi sit here?” replied Alucard, as the girl from the train walked up.

“Not at all!” said Caitlin with a huge smile. “The more the merrier!”

“You’re in a good mood.” said Jack, still staring at his screen, acknowledging Alucard and Digi.

“I know! Mark’s got this game down pact!” she said, excited as ever. She looked up at the jumbo monitor to see what Mark had on his field. Two Burning Skull Heads, and Skull Flame. “Huh? When did Hyper Librarian leave the field?”

“I thought you were paying attention? He attacked and was banished by Dimensional Prison.” said Jack, still staring at his phone.

“What are you even doing?” asked Caitlin, “You haven’t looked up from your phone screen all day.

“Shopping, probably.” said Cullen “I swear my brother is a girl.”

“I’m buying new cards, ass.” replied Jack, locking his phone and putting it in his pocket. “Anyways, we should start heading down, the duel will be over by the time we get down there.”

“What do you mean?” asked Caitlin, getting up and following the group down to the arena floor, only to see Mark entering his battle-phase armed with 3 heavy hitting monsters, Skull Flame, Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, and Archfiend Zombie Skull. “When did all this happen?” she exclaimed, running to the edge of the stage. “Mark, why haven’t I ever seen these cards?”

“Because I’ve never used them. This is my dads deck. He gave it to me for my Senior year.” replied Mark, giving a wink to his girlfriend. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I win.” he said as all three of his monsters attacked the tester, knocking his lifepoints to 0. “Fun duel!” he exclaimed, hopping off the stage and grabbing his report card. “Obby.” he said, flicking the corner of the page. “Looks like I get a new room.”

“Thats great and all, but we have practice in about an hour bro.” said Cullen, killing the mood of the whole group.

“Thanks dude... we can always count on you...” said Mark, slipping his fingers inbetween Caitlin’s and leading the group out to the practice fields. Jack took a deep breath as they stepped onto the grass.

“Ahh football!” he exclaimed, “Favorite sport of the year.” he said and rushed into the locker room.

“You gonna watch like usual babe?” asked Mark, turning towards Caitlin.

“Yeah, probably, Digi and Marj are on their way anyway.” replied the girl, giving Mark a kiss as he left. “Be careful.”

“Always am.” he said with a smile as he jogged into the locker room, changing out of his street clothes and into basketball shorts and a tank top. Old friends begun filing into the locker room, one by one, Mark greeted them by their nicknames. “Alucard, Bee, L-Man, CJ, Tyler, whats up guys?” he said, sitting by his locker. “How was y’alls summers?”

“Mine was good, went to L’s beachouse for about the whole summer. Yours?” replied Bee, putting on his Nike cleats.

“Traveled around with Caitlin’s family.” replied Mark, tieing up his shoes and stretching his legs.
“How are you two anyway?” asked Alucard, throwing a tanktop over his newly tattooed back.

“Better than ever actually... I’m thinking of proposing to her soon...” he said with a blush, the other laughed, but eagerly accepted the fact and begun fighting over best man, much to Mark’s amusement. “Come on guys, we got a tough schedule this year. I don’t plan on falling two games short of a ring this year.” he said, walking out of the locker room headed to the field, hitting the “Give it all” sign above the door. He was followed by the others, meeting the coach out by the field.

“Alright boys.” began the Coach, pacing back and forth. “WDA is not just a top ranked Academic school, we are, and will always be, an athletic powerhouse! We fell two games short of the State Championship game last year... Do any of you want to repeat that?”

“NO SIR!” shouted the entire squad loudly, grabbing the attention of the girls in the bleachers.

“They really are loud.” said Digi, taking a sip of her water, Caitlin and Marjorie agreed instantly.

“Are we planning on winning that championship!?” shouted the coach.

“YES SIR!” responded the team.

“Then lets get to work!” screamed the coach, who was interrupted by the quarterback, Alucard.

“Mind if I say a few words Coach Lou?” he asked.

“Not at all, the floor is yours.” replied the coach, taking a step back, Alucard stood up infront of the team, biting his lower lip.

“Who here remembers how it felt on the bus ride home from Duel Academy?” he asked, almost everyone raised their hands. “It sucked didn’t it? Having to go home after coming so close.... tails between our legs... The hurt and anguish we all felt, all our work that season... gone.... in an instant... I don’t like that feeling. I get sick whenever I think about it!” he shouted, “I never want to feel that again! Seniors! Do you want to go out like last years class!? As LOSERS!” his voice raised as the word left his mouth. “I sure as hell don’t! I hope you guys don’t!”

“Hell no!” shouted someone from the team.

“Then let’s work our asses of now! It’ll be that much sweeter when we lift that trophy in December!” he concluded, giving the floor back to the coach.

“Let’s get to work! Mark, take the Linebackers, you know your drills. Alucard, take the freshmen, teach him EVERYTHING you know. Jack and Cullen, you lead the recievers. Bee, take the DBs, and L-man, take the Defensive and Offensive lines! Lets go!” The practice that day went without a hitch, everything was perfect and the leaders we’re on point. In the locker room everyone was laughing and enjoying their time as they changed back into their street clothes. Mark had left early to pick up Caitlin from the bleachers. She had fallen asleep next to Digi. Mark smiled slightly and gently picked her up, carrying her bridal style until she woke up.

“How long have you been carrying me?” she asked in a blush.

“About 15 minutes.” he replied with a light laugh. “Come on. Lets get you back to your dorm.” he set her down and walked her to her front door. “Good night.” he said with a kiss. Caitlin walked inside the room and locked the door behind her. “This is gonna be a wild year...” hesaid to himself whistling his favorite songs as he walked back to his Ra dorm for the last time.