The Hunters of Artemis Chronicles

by Wolf of the Black Rose

Along with Syrus and Bastion, thirteen girls with their own secrets enter Duel Academy. Is Duel Academy ready for them and what mayhem they could cause? There's also a girl with long brown hair that has a connection one of the teachers and their pro-duelist brother, and she has her own dark secrets to hide.

1. Chapter 1

Hi, guys! New fanfiction here and in this one we're going to have some major girl power! As well as cat girls, super spies, hunters, samurai, angels, ninjas, witches, vampires, magic, psychic powers, shadow magic, and so much more. Along with the usual insanity that that comes with Duel Academy.

Disclaimer: Wolf doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX, she only owns her characters and any cards she comes up with. Any OC cards she uses go to their owners. Should also mention Jaden's going to be a girl in this story and Koyo Hibiki is going to her step dad.

Let's do this! Enjoy!

Chapter 1: New Age of Duelists

Welcome to Domino City, home of some of the world's greatest duelists, including Seto Kaiba the CEO of Kaiba Corp., Joey Wheeler, a duelist with an extreme amount of good luck, and the King of Games himself: Yugi Muto. It's also home to the Kaiba Dome, where young duelists come to apply for the most famous dueling school in the country: Duel Academy.

In fact, one duelist was on her way there right now. Her name: Lizabeth Chaundler, most commonly known as Liz.

"Alright, girls, time to show this school the true meaning of the phrase 'girl power.'" Liz said as she looked over her deck and walked up the hill towards her destination.

She had mid-neck length chestnut brown hair with spiked ends and a small bit pulled up in a ponytail. She had dull pink eyes and tan skin. She was shorter than most fifteen year olds, but she was built for adventures. She was wearing a pair of blue cargo jeans, a sleeveless camo hooded shirt, black boots, a brown cowboy hat, and brown fingerless gloves.

As soon as she got there, she registered for the tests and had her deck checked for illegal cards. After a while, she was shown to the duel field where all students, new and old, were hanging out and checking out the competition.

Most of the students she noticed wore red, yellow, or blue uniforms. 'Must be Academy students.'

Down below, Liz noticed a duel going on between a boy about her age wearing a grayish-white uniform and a dueling proctor. On the field in front of the proctor were two defense position monsters known as Gear Golem the Moving Fortress (800/2200) and Big Shield Guardna (100/2600). The monster opposing the duel proctor was Vorse Raider (1900/1200) and there was also a face down spell/trap card.

"Alright, new guy," The proctor called to the boy. "Multiple choice; you have two monsters staring ya down, do you A: throw in the towel, B: beg for mercy, or C: run home to mama?"

"I'll go with D: none of the above!" The boy with dark hair announced before the face down flipped up.

"A trap!?" The proctor asked, shocked.

"Exactly," Bastion said with a smirk and then went on to explain. "You see, with Ring of Destruction I can destroy any monster on the field that's in attack position and we both take damage equal to its attack points."

A ring of red bombs appeared around Vorse Raider's neck and exploded on impact, dropping the boy's life points to 1300. while the proctor's dropped to zero ending the duel. The holograms disappeared and the proctor spoke.

"Clever move, applicant," He said. "Welcome to the academy."

The boy bowed and said, "Thank you, oh wise proctor."

'Nice one,' Liz thought. 'Not many duelists can sacrifice their monster's with the odds being completely in their favor like that.'

Up in the stands, she saw three boys wearing Obelisk Blue uniforms who also watched the boy's duel.

"Wow, that guy's pretty good don't cha think, Chazz?" The boy with blue hair, glasses, and a southern accent, named Taiyou Maki, said.

"Guess the rumors about him being some kind of whiz kid were true, huh Chazz, huh?" The boy with short, spiky brown hair, Raizou Goki, asked in a thick voice.

"He's a punk," The person they were talking to, a spiky, black haired kid named Chazz, said. "We went to Duel Prep School for the past three years, we're ready for the academy. These kids don't know what they're getting into, but they'll learn… the hard way, the Chazz Princeton way."

'Chazz Princeton, huh?' Liz thought, then smirked. 'No amount of prep schooling's gonna help you if you ever get into the arena with me.'

She looked across the room and saw a group of twelve girls sitting by the stairs down to the arena floors. She was going to call out to them, but decided to wait until after her duel.

"Lizabeth Chaundler please report to Dueling Field #2." A voice over the PA announced.

'My turn… ' She thought as she went to the field that was called.

Meanwhile, in another part of the dome, a short boy with sky blue hair and glasses, wearing a dark blue uniform, was also watching Bastion's duel along with a girl about his age.

She had a model's build, long brown hair that reached her mid-back with a light brown patch on top, and chocolate brown eyes. She was wearing a black jacket over a red halter top, blue jeans, black leather ankle boots, and a silver studded black belt. She also had red nail polish and light pink lip gloss.

"Wow, that last guy really tore it up." She said.

Syrus looked at her, blushing that a pretty girl was near him. "Yeah, Bastion Misawa. They said he got the highest score on the written exam out of all us applicants."

"Wow, I was just told I got a passing grade." The brunette said.

"I just barely passed. My name's Syrus by the way, nice to meet you," He said, before looking slightly depressed. "I kinda have this thing where I get test anxiety. I don't know how I won my match."

"So, you're in!" She exclaimed slapping Syrus on the back, startling him. "Congratulations, I'll be in too as soon as I win my duel."

"What, you haven't dueled yet?" Syrus asked, shocked at her naivety.

"Nope." The brunette replied, still excited about the last match.

"Then you might have a problem, there's one more duel after Bastion's and it's about to start." Syrus explained before turning his attention to the duel field where Liz's duel was about to happen.

Liz rose up on an elevated platform wearing her duel disk. In front of her was a man wearing the blue outfits of the dueling proctors. The man looked at Liz with an assessing gaze.

"Alright, applicant," He said in a tone of authority. "What is your name?"

"Lizabeth Chaundler, sir." Liz replied, respectfully.

"Well, you know the rules: you win, you're in." The proctor said, starting up his duel disc. "Lose, better luck next year."

"Oh, I'll be in this year," Liz said, starting up her duel disk. "You can count on it!"

"Duel!"

Proctor: 4000

Liz: 4000

"Ladies first." Liz said, starting her turn.

She looked over what she had and smiled. "I summon Amazoness Swordswoman in attack mode."

A muscular, tan woman wearing a blue loincloth and bra like top covered lined with teeth carrying a large sword appeared (1500/1600).

"Then I equip her with the Equip Spell Amazoness Heirloom!" A pendant that seemed to be carved from wood with a large emerald in the center appeared around her neck. "That'll do for now."

The proctor drew his card. "Not bad, my turn."

He looked at his card and then his opponent's field. 'Her Equip Spell will either keep her Amazoness from being destroyed or her face down will revive it when it's destroyed. But she's probably not seeing this coming.'

The proctor activated a spell. "I play Polymerization; fusing Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts and Berfomet to form… "

Images of two beast monsters, one was brown standing on all fours and a sharp horn on its head, the other a four armed, red beast with yellow horns, appeared briefly. They then swirled together in a vortex for a few seconds and then reappeared as a new monster. A two-headed monster with the faces of the monsters used to summon it, standing on all fours, with white wings and a tail that was a snake.

"... Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast (2100/1800)!"

"Wow, one of Yugi's monsters!" Liz said, awed and then smirked a bit. "This is going to be fun!"

"Let's see how much fun you're having after this; Chimera, attack!" The proctor commanded.

Chimera roared as it flew over to the Amazoness. Before it could attack, the Swordswoman raised her sword and slashed at the beast, throwing it back toward the opponent.

"What happened? Why didn't my attack go through?"

"It's because of my Amazoness Heirloom," Liz explained. "Once per turn, I can negate the destruction of the monster equipped with it. Now for my Amazoness Swordswoman's effect, any damage I would have taken goes to my opponent instead."

Proctor: 3400

Liz: 4000

"Clever move, applicant." The proctor praised. "I'll set a card face-down and end my turn."

"My go." Liz drew her card. "You may hate me for what I'm going to do next."

"Why's that?" The proctor asked.

"I play Mystical Space Typhoon and destroy your face down." A cyclone ripped through the face down.

"Next, I play Pot of Greed and draw two cards." Liz drew two more cards from her deck.

"Third, I play Double Summon, so I can summon Amazoness Paladin and Amazoness Archer."

After her Spell card was played, a tan woman wearing tan, ripped clothes with a hood over her blond hair carrying a sword and also had gold bands on her arms and legs (1700/300) and a pale woman with baggy brown clothes and wielding a bow and arrow (1400/1000) appeared.

"Finally, I play De-Fusion and split your monster back into its original pieces." Chimera flashed, and formed into two monsters; Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts (1500/1200) and Berfomet (1400/1800).

"Amazoness Paladin's ability gives her 100 extra attack points for every Amazoness monster I control." Paladin gained a white aura temporarily as her power increased (1700 - 1900/300).

"Amazoness Swordswoman, attack Berfomet!" The sword using Amazoness jumped over to the four armed beast and slashed with her sword, taking him out.

Proctor: 3300

Liz: 4000

"Next, Paladin attacks Gazelle!" The blond Amazoness charged forward and slayed the beast with a slice of her sword.

Proctor: 2900

Liz: 4000

"Now, Amazoness Archer, attack directly!" The pale skinned Amazoness loaded her bow and fired an arrow at the man.

Proctor: 1500

Liz: 4000

"Finally, I activate my Archer's special ability! By tributing two monsters on my field, I can deal 1200 points of direct damage to my opponent! So, I sacrifice Amazoness Swordswoman and Amazoness Paladin!"

The two warrior women disappeared and the archer loaded an arrow that was glowing white with the power of her sister. She fired it at the proctor, who grunted on impact.

Proctor: 300

Liz: 4000

"I end my turn." Liz concluded.

The crowd murmured about the play she just did. She managed to get her opponent's life points down to 300 in just one turn.

"Whoa, she managed to do so much in one move." Syrus said, staring at the Amazoness duelist.

"She uses her cards in ways you wouldn't expect," The browned girl added, and got a big smile on her face. "I wouldn't mind dueling that girl and her deck!"

"You mean Lizabeth Chaundler?" They both turned to see Bastion taking a seat in the row in front of them. "A smart yet strange individual, she was able to score one of the top ten best scores on the written exam."

"Wow, that is smart." Syrus said in awed.

"By the way, tight duel Bastion!" The mystery girl exclaimed.

"Thank you."

"From where I stand, you just might just be the second best duelist here!" She said, confusing Bastion.

"Guys, talk later!" Syrus jumped in, turning their attention back to the duel.

"My move!" The proctor drew his nest card. "I play Monster Reborn and revive Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts!"

The beast came back with a roar (1500/1200).

"Now, I sacrifice him, to summon Chaos Command Magician!" Gazelle disappeared and was replaced by a blue skinned spellcaster wearing dark green robes and hood with a scepter of the same color and a red spherical jewel (2400/1900).

"Chaos Command Magician, attack Archer with Chaos Magic!" The magician charged up power in his scepter and unleashed a bolt of red lightning at the Amazoness and destroyed her.

Proctor: 300

Liz: 3000

"I'll end my turn there!" The proctor stated.

"Alright, my turn!" Liz said, nervous.

She had no defense and no cards in her hand. This next draw was make or break time.

Liz drew her next card and smiled. 'Alright Archer, this one's for you, partner!'

"I play the Spell card Monster Reborn and bring back my Amazoness Swordswoman!" In a flash, the sword wielding Amazoness reappeared, ready to fight (1500/1600).

"Now, attack with Amazon Sword Slash!" The Amazoness obeyed and charged forward, but the spellcaster was too strong and countered her attack, destroying her.

But instead of Liz taking the damage, the proctor ended up taking the damage because of Amazoness Swordswoman's effect.

Proctor: 0

Liz: 3000

The proctor brushed off his blazer and smiled. "Well played, welcome to the academy!"

"Thank you!" Liz replied and bowed in respect, though inside she bouncing off the walls with excitement. She was then led down the elevator again.

Up in the stands, another couple of individuals from the very top were watching Liz's duel with interest. One was a girl with sandy blond hair that reached about her mid-back with hazel like eyes and wearing the Obelisk Blue girls uniform, and the other was a taller boy with blue hair that reached his shoulders and blue eyes, wearing the third year's uniform.

The girl was Alexis Rhodes, a first year student, and the boy was Zane Truesdale, a third year student and the top duelist at Duel Academy.

"I like this one, she'll make this year interesting." Alexis replied as the duel ended.

Zane just stayed silent not really giving his opinion.

Right below them, where the faculty was sitting, the teachers were talking about the duelists as Liz left the arena.

"Looks like we've got a pretty good crop this year."

"Yes, indeed."

Also next to them, another teacher sat there silent not paying much attention the teacher's talk.

He could easily be mistaken for woman, but never tell him that. He wore a blue blazer with gold accents and pink ruffles. He had long blond hair in a ponytail and purple lipstick.

This is Dr. Vellian Crowler, headmaster of the Obelisk Blue boys dorm. He was about to get up and leave when…

"I'm sorry to interrupt," A man in a dark suit came up to them. "But one last applicant has arrived to to take her exam, Mr. Crowler."

"Did you just call me, 'mister'?" Crowler asked with a slight scowl.

"I'm sorry," The man apologized. "I'm new here Miss…"

Before he could continue, Crowler interrupted him. "I have a PhD in dueling to earn the title 'doctor' thank you."

He then looked away. "Now, tell the truant that she'll have to come back next year."

The other teachers looked at him like he was a tyrant.

"Come on, Dr. Crowler, we have time for one more."

"Yes, let's give this duelist her shot." They pleaded with him, which got on Crowler's nerves.

Before he could snap, a female teacher with long black hair, brown eyes, and wearing the usual teacher's uniform came over to see what was going on.

"Crowler, what is going on?" She asked quite sternly.

Her name was Midori Hibiki, she handled the first year Slifer Red students and was also the older sister of Koyo Hibiki, a champion pro duelist.

"Oh, Ms. Hibiki, how nice of you to join us." Crowler said, putting on a pleasant tone, though he really didn't like her.

She knew the truth and wasn't fooled. "Just checking to make sure everything is running smoothly. We wouldn't want a repeat of the incident last year."

That made Crowler a bit nervous, especially when Midori started glaring at him pointedly.

"When you cut a third of the applicants for some ridiculous reason! What was it? Calling you 'mister' or 'misses'?" She just sighed after that, knowing time was of the essence. "Just make sure this student gets a fair chance and these are direct orders from the Chancellor"

She then walked away, toward another seat. No one but a few people who knew of her family life knew that she was taking a personal interest in this girl.

"Yes, of course. Little snitch!" Crowler muttered, scowling. 'Doesn't she and Sheppard know that there are enough talentless flunkies at this academy? But Sheppard's the boss, and if he wants to give this scrim shaker a duel… fine.'

He then got up from his seat. "Pardon me, gentlemen, I'll be right back."

But before he could leave, one of the teachers picked up a box of decks. "Wait, who will be the girl's dueling proctor and which exam deck shall we use?"

Crowler just huffed and walked away. "Leave that to me."

Back with Syrus, Bastion, and our mystery brunette, the third of the trio was totally pumped after seeing Liz duel. "Man, that was one sweet duel!"

"Indeed," Bastion said as he turned to look at the young lady. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Oh, it's…" But before she could finish, an announcement came on.

"Jaylen Yuki, please report to exam field four."

"Go time!" The girl, whose name was Jaylen, said as she got ready to go. "Wish me luck, guys."

"Wait," Bastion interrupted her. "About what you said earlier, if I'm second best, who's first?"

Jaylen smiled and pointed a thumb at herself. "Yours truly, it's what I'm best at."

She then walked down to the field with a confident stride.

"She's so sure of herself. I wonder if she's really that good." Syrus noticed.

"She's going to need to need to be," Bastion said, looking at the duel field in question. "Look who she's dueling…"

"Yeah…" Bastion and Syrus turned to see Liz looking down at the field from the top of the stairs. "Who's she?"

"He is Dr. Crowler, he's in charge of the exams and the head of the Duel Academy's top dorm." Bastion replied.

"That's a guy!" Liz shouted, making a few people look at her.

"Very. Also congratulations on winning your match." Bastion said.

"Thanks!" Liz replied. "I'm going over to sit with my friends. You two want to come?"

The boys nodded and they moved over to where the group of twelve girls were sitting. "What up, sisters?"

The twelve turned to look at the arrivals. There were five standing by the rail, three sitting in the seats in front of them, and four more sitting in the row in front of them.

The first was a really tall girl, about 6'1", with an athletic build. She had long brown hair in a ponytail with bangs framing light brown eyes, and lightly tanned skin. She was wearing an orange football player jacket over a lime green sports bra, ripped up jean shorts over thin black leggings, and brown biker boots. She was Julie Devlin, only daughter of Duke Devlin and his wife.

The next girl had waist length blond hair, tan skin, and dark brown eyes. She wore a bluish t-shirt, blue jeans, whitish grayish vans, and a white sweater around her waist. Her name was Ally Kaiba, the adopted daughter of Seto Kaiba.

Next to her was a girl with waist length black hair in a high ponytail, deep brown eyes, nicely tanned skin, and stood about 5'7". She was wearing a red hip length jacket with the collar upright and the sleeves rolled to her elbows over a black t-shirt, blue well-fitting pants, white shoes, a red bandanna around her neck, and black wristbands. Her name was May Muto, the adopted daughter of Yugi Muto and his husband Atem.

Next to May, was a 5'9" girl with pale skin, amber eyes, butt length silver hair, and a curvy, hourglass figure. She wore a dull black waist length jacket with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows with pitch black fur trim over a tight fitting black tank top, black short shorts with a black belt, short combat boots with zippers, black fingerless gloves with silver plates under the knuckles, and a red collar around her neck. Her name was Maxine Sheppard, known better as Max, and also the niece of the Chancellor.

At the end of the row was a girl with a very slim frame and a slight petite size. She was only about 5 ft tall, had light intermediate skin, knee length peachy tan hair, and periwinkle eyes. She had a heart shaped face with a thin mouth, giving her an innocent appearance. Her outfit was a simple silver sundress that reached her knees with a red sash around the middle and her shoes were the same color as the dress. Her name was Serena Wheeler, the oldest child of Joey Wheeler and his wife.

In the second row was a girl with short, curly auburn hair, bluish silver eyes, average skin, and an average height. She wore a blue t-shirt and black jeans with black vans. She was called Lilly Riveau.

Next to her was a girl with fair skin, cyan blue hair in two high ponytails with bat shaped clips that corkscrew at the ends, and red eyes. She was wearing a black tank top, a short black mini skirt, and smoky gray buckle platform boots. Her name was Kayla Masterson.

At the end of the second row was a girl with cropped short blond hair, blue eyes with gray flecks, and light tan skin. She was the shortest of the group at about 4'10" and a sleek feline like build. What made her stand out was that she had gray and black striped cat ears and tail. Her outfit consisted of a long sleeve gold shirt, a black thigh length skirt, white leggings, black moccasin boots, and reading glasses. Her name was Ziva Pegasus, the youngest child of Maximillion Pegasus and his second wife.

In the third row was a girl, about 5'6" with an athletic build, pale skin, purple shoulder length hair with spiked ends, and bright blue eyes. Her face was round with a porcelain glow to it. She wore a red tank top under a black short sleeve jacket with silver lining, black jeans, black biker boots, black fingerless gloves, a navy bracelet with silver studs on her right wrist, a black choker with silver studs, a skull charm on a piece of string, and a green cord like necklace with the Wadjet Eye and the Knot of Isis on it. This tough looking girl was Gina Bakura, the adopted daughter of Ryou Bakura and his husband Akefia.

Next to her was an athletic looking girl, about 5'6", with nicely tanned skin. Her eyes were bright hazel and red hair that falls past her shoulders. However, like Ziva, she had cat ears and a tail too, only hers were in more of a tiger striped pattern. She was dressed simply, with a gold hoodie, brown pants, and black shoes. She was Blossom Ishtar, the adopted daughter of Marik Ishtar and his husband Malik.

Next to Blossom was a girl with sunny blond hair in a high braided ponytail that reaches her waist with bangs framing her hazel-brown eyes, fair skin, long legs and unlike her friends, was flat chested. She wore a black tube top under a green elbow length jacket, black gloves, green mini cargo shorts with black trim, and black sneakers. Her name was Shannon Taylor, the adopted daughter of Tristan Taylor, who was dating his old high school friend, Tea Gardner.

Finally, the last member of the group had long straight red hair in two braided pigtails, brown eyes, somewhat tan skin, and an average height and build. She was wearing a pink t-shirt with white lettering that says "Sweet as Candy", washed blue jeans, a black cropped basketball jacket, white toms, a silver fox necklace, and rimless glasses. Her name was Karen Walker, the daughter of Serenity Walker, formerly known as Serenity Wheeler, which makes her Serena's cousin.

After introductions were done, everyone settled down and waited for the duel to start.

Crowler was being prepped for the duel. His duel disk looked like it was attached to his uniform, at least the part that held the graveyard and deck did. The tray part was held in his hands like a guitar.

Soon, Jaylen rose up on a platform, looking around in awe at the place like a little kid.

"Alright, test time!" Crowler said looking at Jaylen with confidence. "So, dear, your name?"

Jaylen turned and focused her attention on the teacher. "Jaylen, Jaylen Yuki."

"Well, Jaylen Yuki, I'm Doctor Vellian Crowler, Department Chair and Techniques Professor here at Duel Academy." Crowler introduced himself with pride dripping from his voice.

"Oh, you're a teacher," Jaylen said, rubbing the back of her head with an embarrassed laugh. "From how you were dressed, I thought you were the school cheerleader."

Crowler just sweatdropped at that. Midori, who had been watching the duel, laughed at that, knowing Jaylen would be the only person innocent enough to say it out loud.

"Now that she mentions it…" Taiyou said.

"That girl's got some lip, huh Chazz?" asked Raizou.

Chazz was not pleased at what Jaylen was saying down there.

Crowler activated what he called his duel vest and drew his opening hand. Jaylen was amazed by the machinery, thinking it looked cool.

"That's some impressive gear you have there." Jaylen said with an awed smile.

"Well, thank you." Crowler said, though he really didn't mean it.

"Well, I'm ready! Time to throw down!" Jaylen said excitedly, activating her duel disk and drawing her opening hand.

"Duel!"

Crowler: 4000

Jaylen: 4000

"Here goes…" Jaylen said as she drew her first card. She looked over her hand and smiled.

"Sweet, I'm going to summon Elemental Hero Avian in defense mode!" A green bird man appeared and knelt down in a defense position (1000/1000).

"Then, I'll throw down a facedown." A facedown card appeared behind the monster.

"Nice, a Hero user!" Julie exclaimed.

"Huh?" asked Syrus.

"She's using the new Elemental Hero archetype that relies heavily on fusion strategies." Bastion explained.

"And it's hard to use that deck properly," Ally added. "The archetype came out a few years ago, and was made popular by an up and coming pro named Koyo Hibiki. I actually heard from my dad that Koyo actually has a relative that teaches here. Though quite recently, Koyo hasn't been in the spotlight at many tournaments."

The others looked at each other, wondering about that, before turning back to the duel.

Midori was watching the duel with a smile, remembering how Jaylen decided on using Elemental Heroes.

"Alright, Teach, get your game on!" Jaylen said excitedly.

"Yes, of course." Dr. Crowler said dismissively as he drew his card, "Don't tell me what to do,"

'After all, since I'm using my own personal deck rather than one of those puny test decks, I'll be calling all the shots. I'll fail this miserable little brat and send her home in no time.' He grinned when he saw the cards in his hand.

"I think I'll start out nice and easy, by playing the Spell card Confiscation!"

"Okay, so what's it do?" Jaylen asked, starting to get nervous

"What it does is allow me to pay 1000 life points to take a look at your hand and then send one of your cards to the graveyard." As he was explaining, Jaylen's hand glowed, startling her, and then holographic images of those cards appeared in front of Crowler. They were Monster Reborn, Polymerization, The Warrior Returning Alive, and Hero Signal.

"Ah yes, I remember some of these back from when I was a naive rookie." This comment caused Jaylen and Midori to growl, but Crowler didn't notice.

"Now which one shall I banish?" He looked at each card carefully before making a decision. "Monster Reborn to the graveyard!"

"Next, I'll set two cards face down," Two facedowns appeared in front of Crowler and then he held up one more card. "And last, but not least, I play Heavy Storm! This Spell destroys every other spell and trap card that's out on the field."

A heavy wind picked up and Jaylen's face down, Draining Shield, was destroyed along with Crowler's two face-downs.

"Whoopsie, did you forget that you had two cards on the field, too?" Jaylen asked teasingly.

"Now, now, you mustn't speak out-of-turn, young lady." Crowler countered. After that, dark clouds began to form around his side of the field.

"Hey, what's happening?" The brunette girl asked, nervously.

"Nothing's happening," Crowler said dismissively before adding, "Not yet!"

Just as he did, two gold dragon-worm-like creatures appeared on his side of the field. "But that's about to change."

The audience was amazed by the two creatures, but Syrus was confused. "Could someone tell me what's going on?"

"Those two cards that Dr. Crowler had out were called Statue of the Wicked," Bastion explained as he observed the duel. "It's a special trap that creates a vicious monster token when it's destroyed by a card effect. That's why he played Heavy Storm."

"Speaking of Heavy Storm, I don't think that's a test deck." May deduced, suspiciously.

"Why's that?" Syrus asked.

"Of course! And that goes the same for a card like Confiscation; they're both rare cards that can change the tide of the battle without any serious costs!" Bastion realized.

"Meaning?" Max asked with a bored tone, wishing they would get to the chase without being overly dramatic.

"That's probably his real deck!" Serena answered, feeling worried for the applicant.

"Okay, I'm calling Dad." Ally said, reaching for her cell phone.

"Hold on," Max said, getting a dark smile on her face. "As much as I would like to call my uncle and inform him that Crowler is abusing his authority again, I say we let the newbie have her fun!"

"What do you mean, Max?" Serena asked, looking over at the black clad duelist.

The silverette flashed her a genuine smile, reserved only for her. "The Hero Girl looks like she's enjoying the challenge of flying blind, so let's see if she can handle this little match."

While unsure, Ally put her cellphone away and everyone went back to watching the duel.

Meanwhile, the girls weren't the only ones who came to the same conclusion about the deck Crowler was using.

"A card that strong couldn't be in the test decks, Crowler must be using his own!" Taiyou realized.

"Then this duel's over," Raizou said. "No one can beat the deck of an expert like Dr. Crowler."

"Yeah, it's impossible, don't ya think Chazz?"

"Yeah, what do you think, Chazz?"

Chazz grinned at this fact. "I think I'm going to enjoy watching Crowler wipe the floor with our mouthy little friend down there. I just wish he had treated all the other second-rate duelists that applied to the academy the same way."

"What an elitist snob," Alexis said. "Bullying some amateur with his very best cards."

"You're too soft, Alexis," Zane spoke up, causing her to look at him. "I just hope we get to see that legendary rare card Crowler has stashed away in that deck of his."

Meanwhile, Midori was not happy at what she was seeing. 'Why am I not surprised Crowler's using his real deck? But I can't do anything about it now that the duel has begun.'

She smiled slightly. 'Besides, I think Jaylen's enjoying the prospect of this duel.'

She laughed a bit at that. 'She's so much like Koyo, always looking for a strong opponent, and she enjoys every moment of those duels, no matter which direction they turn. Either way, Jaylen, good luck!'

"Ready for your next lesson?" Crowler called to Jaylen on the other side of the field.

"You bet!" She answered with excitement in her voice. "Take your best shot!"

Crowler regarded that negatively. "Very well."

His tokens started to glow and writhe in flames. "Now, I sacrifice my two Wicked Tokens to summon the Ancient Gear Golem!"

In place of Crowler's tokens stood a giant robotic creature with the working gears clearly seen. Once again the audience was amazed at the sight of the monster, more so than its stats (3000/3000).

"There it is! That's his legendary rare card!" Alexis gasped.

Even Zane's eyes widened a bit. "Now it looks like we're about to find out what makes it so legendary."

"Woah! A monster that could stand toe to toe with Blue-Eyes White Dragon?!" Lilly shouted.

The other girls were just as astounded as she was.

Midori remained stoic, but her eyes said she wasn't worried for Jaylen. She knew this girl well, she knew she could handle herself.

"Now, now, I hope you're not too scared of my legendary Ancient Gear Golem." Crowler said sarcastically toward Jaylen.

Jaylen, however, was having a blast! "No way! I've always wanted to take on a monster this strong!"

This shocked many people, including Syrus. "Either Jaylen's brave or she's nut!"

"Girl's got guts, I'll give her that!" Kayla said, just as shocked as Syrus.

"She's staring down that legendary rare monster like she doesn't have a care in the world," Zane said, incredulously. "I guess the youth and inexperience have their benefits."

"Give it a rest, Zane," Alexis said, getting tired of his attitude. "At least the kid's showing some backbone."

"There won't be much to show after this."

Dr. Crowler cackled as he ordered, "Golem attack! Mechanized Melee!"

His Ancient Gear Golem's single red eye glowed slightly before pulling back its fist and pounding Avian into pixels.

"Oh man, Jaylen's didn't stand a chance!" Syrus fretted as he watched the duel. "Its defense points were way too low. This doesn't look good."

"And it's about to get worse," Bastion said as he remembered what he knew about Ancient Gear Golem. "When Ancient Gear Golem attacks a monster in defense mode, the difference between its attack points and the opposing monster's defense points are dealt to the opponent as damage."

"But that would mean that Jaylen's life points are gonna take a hit!" Syrus cried as he realized what was going to happen.

Just as he said that, a transparent version of Ancient Gear Golem's fist slammed through Jaylen's body, causing her to fall to her knees.

Jaylen: 2000

Crowler: 3000

"Mrow, already down to half," Ziva said, wincing. "She's gotta step up her game if she wants to win."

Syrus looked at her weirdly for making some kind of cat noise, but turned back to the duel.

Midori was agreeing with Ziva's comment, even though she didn't hear it.

Crowler noticed Jaylen was shaking as she got up and laughed. "Now, now don't feel bad. Not everyone has what it takes to get into the top dueling school in the country…"

Crowler trailed off when he realized that Jaylen was laughing not crying.

"Oh wow! Now I so want to get into this school!" Jaylen exclaimed getting up with fire burning in her eyes.

Midori just smiled, knowing where she got that spirit from.

This took Crowler by surprise before scowling angrily. 'Doesn't she get it? She will not be admitted into this school! And she will certainly not make a mockery of my deck!'

'Just look at him tremble,' Jaylen thought with a grin as she reached to draw a card from her deck. 'I must have him terrified of my skills!'

As she was about to draw her card, she heard a faint cooing sound. She paused for a second before drawing a card and taking a look at it. She smiled when she saw what it was.

It was the card she got from a very familiar man she ran into on the way there. She also remembered what he said about this card belonging to her. 'You know, I'm starting to believe that too.'

For a moment, she thought the card winked at her! She was shocked at first, but then made a decision. 'I'm gonna take that as a sign to play ya.'

"Okay, I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode!" She declared.

With that, a small, brown furry creature furry creature with green paws and white wings appeared in front of the brunette (300/200).

"Next, I play a card face-down. Not bad, huh Teach?" She finished as a card appeared behind the little fur ball.

"Looks like Super Girl's safe." Gina commented.

"What do you mean?" Blossom asked, all wide eyed and curious.

"Wait and see." Shannon said, in a sing-song voice.

May narrowed her eyes at the sight of the monster. 'That card…'

Midori was surprised at the sight of the little fairy monster. 'That's new. I wonder where she got that?'

Crowler laughed at the play. "Not bad, but I'm a master technician, you see. A Kuriboh is rather pedestrian to me; even one with wings you see. It's a textbook mistake, don't feel bad. Now let's proceed."

He drew his next card. "Now Ancient Gear Golem, attack that Kuriboh with Mechanized Melee!"

Again, the giant robot pulled back its' fist and punched the tiny creature to pieces.

Jaylen winced. 'Sorry, Winged Kuriboh.'

Dr. Crowler noticed that Jaylen's life point meter hadn't gone down. "Check your gear, your life points haven't changed."

Jaylen smirked lightly. "My gear's fine. On the turn Winged Kuriboh's destroyed, I take zero damage."

That got a surprise out of Crowler. Even some of the audience members were surprised by the turn of events.

"How 'bout that," Alexis stated almost sarcastically. "A technique the good doctor didn't know."

"No one can be expected to know every technique, Alexis," Zane argued in a scolding tone. "Especially one as obscure as that."

"Yeah, well that kid sure knew it." Alexis countered with a slight smile.

Karen giggled slightly at Crowler's reaction. "People really need to stop underestimating Kuribohs!"

"Amen to that, sister!" Liz said, grinning up a storm.

Midori smiled at Jaylen's game play, impressed by her tactic.

"Fine, fine, I guess your lame little monster saved you there." Crowler taunted as Jaylen put Winged Kuriboh in her graveyard.

"Woah, slow down there, teach!" She snapped. "Just because you beat him doesn't give you the right to call him lame!"

"Oh yes, I forgot how attached you new duelists get to your monsters," Crowler taunted again. "I'm sorry."

"Show a little respect, why don't ya?" Julie muttered.

"He's always like that," Ally sighed. "He's had his position for so long he forgot that he was once a beginner like us. When a duelist doesn't live up to his standard, which is near the level of my father, he looks down on them."

"So, how exactly was he hired?" May asked, skeptically.

"I have been asking my uncle that same question." Max noted, boredly.

Bastion and Syrus looked at her questioningly.

She sighed. "My uncle is the Chancellor. He was adopted into the family when my father was a kid."

She looked back down to the duel, muttering, "He's not one of us."

Luckily, no one heard that.

"Despite his attitude, he's a good teacher, according to my dad." Ally answered, though even she didn't believe it.

Midori was looking at Crowler with an 'oh brother' look since she knew there was one thing you didn't do when dueling Jaylen and that was mock her cards.

"You should be sorry," Jaylen said, "Because by attacking Winged Kuriboh you set off my trap! One of my favorites, too! Hero Signal!"

Her trap activated, causing a spotlight with a unique H to appear on the ceiling.

"This lets me bring out my second Elemental Hero," She grabbed a card from her deck and slapped on the duel tray. "My girl, Burstinatrix!"

Out of a column of flames, a gray-skinned woman in a red bodysuit appeared on the field with a twirl (1200/800).

As she landed, Jaylen drew her card, starting her turn. "My move!"

She looked at the cards in her hand and made a plan. 'Alright, Winged Kuriboh, this one's for you!'

She put the card she drew in her hand and selected another card to play. "First, I'll play the Spell card The Warrior Returning Alive. This allows me to bring back a Warrior monster from my deck to my hand and I choose Avian. And then I'll summon him to the field."

The card came out of the graveyard slot and Jaylen then brought the winged hero back to the field to stand next to Burstinatrix (1000/1000).

"Oh, I see, another amateurish mistake, but this is good, this is good. Now, would anyone like to tell me what our little friend did wrong here…" Crowler taunted, but was cut off by Jaylen again.

"Excuse me, I wasn't finished," She said. "Yes, I know my two monsters by themselves aren't enough to take down your behemoth, but together it's another story!"

She then showed one of the last two cards in her hand to Crowler. "And I have just the card to do that! Go Polymerization!"

The two heroes jumped up into the air and swirled together due to the effects of the card. After the two monsters were done, a new monster appeared that had the same color schemes as Avian and Burstinatrix. It also had one of Avian's wings. The only thing that either monster didn't have was the dragon like hand on the monster's right arm and a dragon like tail (2100/1200).

"Say 'hello' to Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! Hope your Golem's ready for a clash of the titans!"

"Looks like the duel's almost over." Serena said.

"If Jaylen has the right card in her hand, then the whole thing may just end right here!" Lilly added.

"So, Teach, what do think?" Jaylen asked with a smirk.

"I think you're dueling quite well for an ametur, but next time try summoning a monster that has more attack points than what's already out." Crowler said like he was disappointed, but he really didn't see the monster as a threat.

"What's he mean?" Syrus asked, looking at Jaylen's monster.

"He means that the Flame Wingman's atk points are too low to defeat the Ancient Gear Golem," Bastion answered. "A shame too, because that Elemental Hero has a powerful ability. Whenever it destroys a monster in battle, the controller of that monster receives the original attack points of that monster as damage."

"Oh man, that would have been the perfect way for Jaylen to turn this duel around." Syrus moaned.

"Relax, boys," Kayla said to them. "Super Girl's fine."

"Alright, young scholar," Crowler said, almost exasperated. "I don't mean to rush you but I am a busy man… are you done yet?"

"No way!" Jaylen replied. "And, of course I knew my Wingman had less attack points than your Golem…"

She then placed the last card in her hand into slot for Field Spells on her disk. "That's why I'm activating this, a Field Spell called Skyscraper!"

After she played that card, buildings you would see in big cities like New York literally started sprouting up on the field. In the middle of it, Crowler's Golem looked like a giant monster attacking the city. Jaylen's Wingman was perched on the highest buildings' lightning rod with its arms crossed.

The girls were anticipating her next move.

"Alright, Flame Wingman," Jaylen called out. "Time to show those heroics!"

She pointed at the ancient robot. "Attack that Ancient Gear Golem with Skydive Scorcher!"

Flame Wingman jumped from the building it was standing on and dove towards Crowler's monster, weaving in and out between buildings.

"Fine by me, bring him on," Crowler said like he wasn't worried. "This silly little Skyscraper field spell hasn't lowered my Golem's Atk by one point!"

Flame Wingman then landed on the ground in front of the Ancient Gear Golem before leaping up into the air again.

"You know, Teach, you're right," Jaylen revealed, slyly. "What it's done is raise my Hero's attack by a grand total of 1000!"

"Wait! Timeout!" Crowler cried, but it didn't stop Flame Wingman's attack as it launched itself at the Ancient Gear Golem, its body covered in flames (2100-3100/1200).

Crowler was freaking out as Jaylen's monster slammed into his, making it burst to pieces.

"No, it can't be! He was best card!" He cried before being hit in the head by a piece of debris.

"Oh, by the way, you should probably know about my Wingman's special ability," Jaylen said, her monster landing back in front of her. "When he destroys a monster in battle, the attack points of that monster gets dealt straight to your life points. Pretty cool, huh?"

"No way…" Crowler muttered.

Just as he said that, the remaining shell of Ancient Gear Golem fell on top of him, despite trying to get out of the way.

Jaylen: 2000

Crowler: 0

Jaylen pointed her index and middle fingers at Crowler in a sort of salute. "That's game! So, I guess I pass the test, huh Teach?"

As the holograms faded, a lot of people were stunned to see that Jaylen had beat a teacher, who was using his real deck, in a duel. Crowler was dumbfounded by the whole thing. He was beaten by an amateur who was also late.

"Impossible," He seethed. "There's no way that this delinquent could beat me!"

Up in the stands, Chazz and his flunkies were just as shocked.

"It must be dumb luck," Chazz muttered through clenched teeth. "No way Crowler would lose to some flunky!"

Alexis on the other hand was smiling at Jaylen's win. "This girl's got a future here."

Zane just huffed and walked away.

Syrus was cheering for Jaylen. "Yay! Way to play, Jay!"

"Wow! That was an amazing turn around win!" Ziva noted, excited.

"Hell yeah! Wish I had that kind of action during my duel!" Gina added.

"I am so jealous of her right now!" Blossom agreed with Gina.

'Nice,' Bastion thought as he watched Jaylen wave to the crowd. 'I could use the competition.'

Jaylen waved to the crowd some more, then took out her new Winged Kuriboh card. "We made it together. And from here on out, you and I will be partners."

Again, Jaylen could have sworn the card winked at her and she was starting to believe this card may be more special than she had originally believed.

She looked up and saw Midori looking at her from a corridor. She smiled and gave Jaylen a thumbs up, which Jaylen returned. 'See you at home, Midori.'

And that is that. I hope you readers suspect connection between Jaylen and the Hibiki siblings. I'd be insulted if you didn't. Anyway, read and review!

Should also say that in two weeks I'm going to be in Nashville for a week on a mission trip with my youth group from church. So, I'll write and post as much as I can before than. Write more soon.