Die: LET THE SHADOW DUEL BEGIN!

Zane: *sigh* Hello there. Die's making a new story, one that is semi-canon.

Aster: However, she wanted to make a bunch of disclaimers right here. *pulls out sheet and begins to read aloud*

1. I have never seen the show or read the manga. Thus, the storyline may be completely messed up and the characters OOC. If anyone would like to try to correct my timeline, please PM me or something. If not, please just bear with me. In the meantime, just sort of picture this sometime after the Society of Light thing and Zane turning into Hell Kaiser but before the "Dark World" adventure with the Supreme King. It's also slightly AU (all right, it's almost all AU with the plot spin-off I'm doing), so if any developments I learn interfere with said AU, I will be forced to disregard it in favor of the plot at large.

2. A bunch of characters will not appear simply because I don't like them or don't know how to write them (see 1). Contrarily, some characters that should have died may also appear as well (like Professor Banner in his normal, Pharaoh-loving self). Some events never happened to some characters (ie Atticus never became Nightshroud) and some events did happen (I always have had a perchance for making Chazz's brother abuse him...). Don't get hung up over it, and again, for later characters if anyone would like to try to get some of the kinks worked out, PM me. (And no, just for the record, a romantic relationship with someone is NOT adequate fodder for being OOC in my book.)

3. My underlining and not-underlining card names is a little confusing. Thus, the explanation is simple: anything that's an actual card-card (Zane literally holding his Cyber Dragon and glaring daggers at it for making him almost lose a children's card game) and fully-named card (Atticus saying "Hey look, Red-Eyes Black Dragon appears to be attempting to eat Pharaoh!") are underlined while a spirit-card (Winged Kuriboh floating around Jaden's head telling him how to win a children's card game) and a reference-card where the entire name isn't used (ie Chazz saying "Armored Dragon, attack his life points directly!" especially if he has the level 10 version AND the level 3 version on the field) are not.

4. There will be OCs in this story and they will be paired with other canon characters. I will try not to make them "Mary-Sues" but with their temperments (one's more goth and stubborn, while the other is more cultured and refined), anything could go wrong. I may also include some other OCs who were old friends of the two OCs depending on how well the two go down. One last note on this subject is that if anyone would like to do fanart for the two OCs (Gail and Skylar), provided I get the address, I would not only judged it but also give you acknowledgment in the actual story! Power to the people with the ability to draw more than crappy stick-figures

5. This story is entirely yaoi. For those of you who don't know and haven't read the summary to this story, this means that one boy will be entering a romantic relationship with someone of the same gender. IN SHORT, THAT MEANS BOYS WILL BE KISSING AND HAVING SEX WITH OTHER BOYS! Thus, I will accept no flames over the fact and instead insist that any homophobes please hit the back button right now. Please, I understand you think being gay is wrong, but please, also respect that I have no such belief AND this story is something I poured a little bit of my heart and soul into. Don't knock it down unless you have a legitimate reason to do so that isn't mentioned in the disclaimer above.

Chazz: Boring! Can we get on with this?

Jaden: She's getting to that, Chazzy!

Atty: Okay, the final "canon" pairings for sure are Rivalshipping (ChazzxJaden) and Geniusshipping (ZanexBastion) and "non-canon" are SkylarxAster and AtticusxGale.

Bastion: *looks up from Die's Pre-Calculus book* Black Die does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.

Chapter One: The Hounds of Hell

The boy with the pin-straight almost-shoulder-length silver-streaked snowy white hair leaned against the worn railing of the pier, his ebony uniform jacket with its ivory trimmings pushing close to him in the short draft of sea breeze and protecting him from the sharp edges of the paint chips from the splintering wood. Underneath the waterproof fabric, a white collared polo dress shirt greeted the world, the flesh below the long short-sleeves covered in numerous artifacts of black leather and silver buckles, the hint of a black leather silver-studded choker just as visible as his single silver earclip in the top of his left earlobe. A swirl of chains hung from the leather belt of a pair of black cargo pants, more buckles adorning his lower legs before the sturdy pair of black combat boots. His belt buckle defied expectations, the coloring not silver as one would have expected but instead the ruby emblem of a sword with feathered wings on either side of the notched blade On his left arm sat a custom duel disk, all pristine white with two obsidian centerpieces—the one on the main disk had the strange scarlet seal again—which made the item's overall appearance rugged and sharp like its owner's.

Strangely, for Domino had not been a place of opposites since the retreat of the yamis, this male had an contrasting opposite in the boy sitting politely on the bench, his white dress pants complimenting his own black shirt with the same crimson insignia on the very edge of his upraised collar, the only indication of what lay underneath the buttoned-up ivory school jacket with its ebony trim, the mirror image of the one his snow-haired counterpart wore. His wild black hair, about chin-length for the main body with an inch or so difference for his bangs, was in a slightly messy disarray, but surprisingly, it made him look approachable versus the chilling aura given off by the other. Beside him on the smooth wood lay another custom duel disk, this one all black with two ivory centerpieces, the main orb also sporting the now-familiar vermilion design, the disk copying its user's refined aura.

If one was truly gifted, they would have been lucky enough to see the handsome white-furred dog-creature lazing on the ravenet's lap while a mid-sized person made of a mass of shifting air tugged at the whitet's arm in a childish attempt to redirect attention onto itself, making slight pattering noises with each pull. "Fine, fine," the whitet spoke finally, his voice a surprisingly smooth tenor even if it was hardened and pointed. "It's about time we left."

The ravenet looked up from petting of the creature in his lap. "I told you that about ten minutes ago, Michael," he murmured in reply, his voice richer and more like the hum of a brook. "At this rate, we'll be late for our entrance exams."

"Shut up Raphael," the goth snapped, heart-breaking dark emerald eyes narrowed. "We'll make it."

"You know, I almost wonder why Ariel chose you as my partner for this mission," he continued. "After all, impulsiveness will no doubt hinder our mission." At this, for some reason, the other male turned around and began striding away, his hands shoved in the pockets of his jacket. "Hey!" he protested, the suddenness of his exclamation causing the creature in his lap to raise its head curiously. "I wasn't finished talking to you!"

"Yeah, but I have an errand to run first. I'll just meet you there." The white-haired boy raised his hand in a motion rather similar to a wave, not bothering to turn around as he followed the mist-person.

Light green eyes fell to the creature in his lap as the ebony-haired boy carefully cradled it to his chest. "Stupid prick," he grumbled. "No doubt I'll be bailing him out with the exam proctors so that we can actually get in to Duel Academy."

The masked boy with the black-and-white-streaked hair and the tawny eyes dueled in near silence, not really explaining his each and every move to the woman he was dueling. The both of them had suffered life point damage to the delight of the crowd, the newcomer having only 2500 Life Points while his competitor had 7000, the missing thousand mainly attributed to the cost of some spell cards. Of course, with this new draw, the game was over.

"I activate Raigeki, which destroys all of the monsters on your side of the field!" the boy cried, his voice rough from his recent screams of pain. As he said that, the two bulked-up warriors on his opponent's side of the field all blew apart, their equip spells following. On the field, his own monsters, Sky Scourge Enrise and Sky Scourge Norleras along with a smaller Absorbing Kid From the Sky that had been equipped with a Mist Body and forced into attack mode with the trap Final Attack Orders, made little noises of rejoice, even though they were surrounded by the bright white lights of Swords of Revealing Light. "Next, I sacrifice my Absorbing Kid to summon Sky Scourge Invicil!"

The third strange creature appeared then, its little white-black wings fluffing out. "So?" his opponent, a woman he'd known only as Amazon, laughed. "The thing's weaker than either of your remaining monsters, and besides, Swords of Revealing Light is still in play."

"True," he conceded with a nod, "but there's one thing you hadn't counted on. Invicil's special ability kicks in, and since I used a Light fairy monster to summon it, all spells are negated." The two pre-existing angel-like creatures all made various stretching motions as the newcomer rearranged the swords so that they were of no use whatsoever. "Now, Sky Scourges, attack her Life Points directly!"

"NO!" she screamed, her yells echoing loudly as the electrodes kicked in, shocking her badly as he watched with a wince. He threw off his own, glaring up at the camera that had observed the entire event for a prolonged moment before he turned on his heel and strode away, his monsters lingering in the air for a long moment before they faded, the winning monster being the slowest the disappear. His role in the saga was done. Now it was time for his two companions to take over.

"I'm sorry, Mister diAngelo," the man said, not looking the least bit sorry at all, "but we only have the time for one more duel."

"Yes, but my schoolmate still has to come to the exams. He's just running a little behind schedule."

"I really am rather sorry, Mister diAngelo, but there really is nothing I can do-"

"Oh come on, Doctor Crowler, give the two a chance!"

The blond man paled, whirling around to see the man who had spoken. "Chancellor Sheppard! I thought you were staying at Duel Academy!"

The man smiled jovially. "Oh, Professors Banner and Satyr agreed to watch the place while I came to see some of the promising new students." He turned to the boy who stood there. "And what is your name?"

The boy bowed slightly, his handsome white school jacket creasing slightly with the movement before he subtly pulled it back into place. "I am Skylar diAngelo, and my friend who was supposed to be dueling with me is Gale Brighton."

"Are the two of you any good, Skylar?"

The ravenet nodded. "Oh yes! We were the top students in our school!"

He laughed. "I'm assuming you two are coming from Cross Academy judging by your uniform. You were in Night Class I take it?"

"Yes, and Gale was in the Day Class."

"Well, credentials or not, we do not have enough time for them both to duel!" Crowler protested.

"Actually, I would have no problem with dueling using a test deck for the latecomer."

Crowler and Skylar wheeled around to see the silver-haired boy standing behind them. "Aster!" Crowler yelped, "you're a pro-duelist, you shouldn't allot any of your precious time dueling a person who can't even bother to show up on time to his own assessment!"

The silveret chuckled dryly. "Actually, I think a challenge would be a welcome change, even if it'll be a shame I can't use my own deck."

"It's settled then!" Sheppard proclaimed. "Aster, you'll duel Gale when he arrives here, and if he wins but we've already left, you can bring him back to Duel Academy Island with you!" He turned to Crowler then. "Now come on, Doctor Crowler, I'd say it's about time we got back to the duel arena, wouldn't you?"

Skylar waited until both of the men had left before he addressed the pro-duelist. "Thank you," he murmured softly. "Gale wouldn't have made it into Duel Academy if you hadn't intervened."

Aster smiled back at him. "It was no trouble at all," he reassured. "I meant every word of what I said."

"Still," he insisted, "you have my gratitude."

"You're welcome," he replied. "Now you'd best go down to the field before they disqualify your entry."

Hell Kaiser sighed heavily as he opened his apartment door, closing it behind him and shedding his trademark black coat. His blue eyes narrowed when he saw the boy leaning on his crappy beat-up couch, combat boots brazenly propped up on the coffee table. "What are you doing here?" he growled, glaring balefully at the raven-haired boy.

"Simple," the boy answered. "I'm here to tell you to get up off your lazy ass and go back to the asinine school you were attending before you quit."

"And why should I?" Hell Kaiser was not in the mood for such games.

"Because you still need to prove that you're better than us."

Hell Kaiser smirked. "I already know I'm better than you and your lover."

The boy shrugged, getting to his feet and striding past the other. He paused when he was mostly past Hell Kaiser, turning his head to make sure the sound carried. "Of course, you've never proven that to be a fact, but who would I be to protest? I mean, Duel Academy is certainly beyond your concern."

The door closed behind him loudly, and he growled out a low curse as he threw his fist against the wall, barely avoiding breaking through the plaster. The only three challenges lurked at Duel Academy, so that was where he had to be. It was that simple.

"Hey," Jaden murmured, cocking his head to the side and completely interrupting Bastion's chain of thought, which just so happened to be him explaining the concept of a Unit Circle for the two brunets' sakes, "who's that getting ready to duel down there? I thought they were done for the day."

Atticus delighted in the excuse to stop thinking about his schoolwork and turned his attention downwards to the arena. "Oooh, he's cute!" he pronounced at the sight of the boy stepping out onto the dueling field. "Three stars for him!"

"And smart too," Bastion noted. "That's Cross Academy's prestigious Night Class uniform."

"YES!" the older brunet yelled, earning an odd look from Chazz who was a few seats diagonally. "It's the universal law that a boy who's both hot and smart can only be gay!"

"Or taken," the black Slifer interjected harshly.

"Aw, come on Chazzy!" the brunet Obelisk pouted, "you're ruining my dream!"

"Be quiet!" Jaden hissed at them. "The duel's about to start!"

~Down~in~the~Arena~Squiggle

Skylar looked down at the hand his duel disk bestowed upon him—Lightsworn Sabre; two copies of Ryko, Lightsworn Beast; Garoth, Lightsworn Warrior; and Blasting the Ruins, his ocean green giving nothing away even though one of his usual companions appeared at his side to solicit the attention that should have been directed towards the duel. He drew, another old friend appearing despite having no proper use for the card that was Wulf, Lightsworn Beast. Shrugging, he set the trap card and one of the Rykos facedown. "I end," he called, figuring that the less experienced he made himself out to be the better he could fight later.

~Up~in~the~Stands~Squiggle

"Only two facedowns and one of them a monster?" Chazz snorted. "He's screwed already."

"Not necessarily," Bastion pointed out. "The monster could be a flip effect, rather powerful, or have some kind of effect that would discourage attack if it were summoned in defense mode."

"Yeah!" Atticus defended. "I mean, I wouldn't attack your Masked Dragon if I knew it was on the field, but a facedown… that could be anything. I'd take the chance it's not that card instead one of your Ojamas over the certainty of the fact any day."

Chazz looked at him for a long moment. "You'd do anything for a crush, wouldn't you." he muttered sarcastically to himself.

"You betcha!"

Jaden hit them both upside the head. "I'm trying to watch the duel, you morons! Converse on your own time!"

The Princeton stared at his fellow Slifer for a long moment. "You actually know 'converse' and what it means?" he stated, eyes a little wider than normal out of shock. "I guess you really do learn something new every day."

Bastion glared at them. "You're missing the duel! The facedown Blasting the Ruins has already been destroyed, along with the facedown Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter!"

"What?" Atticus yelped, turning his attention back to the duel at hand. "My dear warrior is losing!"

~Down~in~the~Arena~Squiggle

Skylar didn't like Harpies' Hunting Ground or the Harpie Queen on the field, especially since the trap card he had would have been extremely useful in the long run, but considering that Ryko had been attacked, everything wasn't yet at a loss. The little beast turned towards him, awaiting the order to react. "Ryko," he murmured finally, "take out the field spell." The little hound let out a howl, springing forward to crash into the card and disappear along with it.

"Tch, beginner's luck," the proctor growled. "Your move."

Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner greeted him when he drew this time, joining the other cards in his hand. He smiled gently as he summoned the gentle woman, using her special ability to both discard and then summon back Wulf to the field, all because of the Ryko that was already in his Graveyard. He moved to equip Lightsworn Sabre to Lumina to prevent the poor monster from being destroyed, but sadly the facedown his opponent had placed, Magic Drain, destroyed the card. Still, he shrugged and moved on, attacking first Harpie Queen then his opponent's Life Point's directly, dropping those down to 6800.

~Up~in~the~Stands~Squiggle

"Yeah, that's my lover boy!" Atticus crowed.

"His name is Skylar diAngelo," Chazz answered, smirking. If they could manage to unload the perky Obelisk on someone else, then perhaps the horrible things that seemed to follow him around would happen to the poor ravenet newcomer rather than the rest of them.

"Skylar… that's a unique name," Atticus mused to himself.

"Yeah," Bastion stated, "and if my research is correct and memory serves me right, Skylar's one of the top students at his school, which is rather prestigious in parts for their students. In fact, before they turned their focus on the core subjects instead of dueling, they were a rival of both North and Duel Academy."

"Lightsworn decks are rather powerful, and with innovative cards like Blasting the Ruins in this one, and with the skill Sky-chan's showing, I'm surprised he's only one of the top students over there instead of the top duelist," the brunet Obelisk remarked.

"That's because the Night Class and the Day Class duelists never figured out where they ranked overall, just among their own classmates. The top duelist for the Day Class was a boy named Gale Brighton." Bastion's slate-gray eyes shone with quiet admiration as the proctor summoned out Harpie Lady 1 and destroyed the Lumina on the field, Skylar wincing as his Life Points dropped to 7300. "A right shame his equip card didn't stick, the two monsters simply would have destroyed each other."

~Down~in~the~Arena~Squiggle

Skylar wasn't worried when Lumina met her end. Sure, he would have preferred if the monster hadn't been destroyed, but with Wulf on the field and another couple monsters in his hand, he knew he had the game in the bag. He placed the Dimension Wall trap he'd just drew before summoning Garoth and attacking once more, dropping his opponent's Life Points down to 4450. Even if his spirit card never made it onto the field, he would be fine. He had no reason to worry, not with his two monster friends, Wulf and Ryko, there to support him. Besides, if he was in danger, his duel spirit would have come out of his deck to advise him.

But why should he be? His opponent merely placed a monster facedown in defense mode. He snorted, drawing a card to see the handsome painting of one of his favorite cards—sadly, it wasn't one he had the duel spirit for—Judgment Dragon. Sighing forlornly at the lack of being able to summon the powerful monster, he instead brought to life his other Ryko and attacked once more, dropping his enemy's Life Points to a paltry but slightly respectable 2400. He was not one to gloat, he found it rather unbecoming, but he had to admit that the duel had already been won and that it was merely a formality for him to drop the other down to 0 Life Points.

~Up~in~the~Stands~Squiggle

For the first time, the proctor began to mock Skylar's monsters. "Aw, look at the little puppy-dog," he cooed condescendingly. "Sure, he may have actually bitten, but his bark is definitely worse."

Chazz had to agree with the man. "I mean, sure he got in another 200 damage, but why summon the monster when its effect clearly calls for it to be used as a facedown to be flipped only during an attack or directly before a sacrifice? Mediocre mistake."

Surprisingly, the monster in question started growling at the verbal bashing it was receiving, its fur bristling in a way that surely couldn't have been programmed into the duel disk's database. Even more startling, Winged Kuriboh appeared at Jaden's side, making little 'kuriii's and Ojama Yellow sat himself down on Chazz's shoulder. 'Who're we supporting this time?' the little yellow spirit asked. Winged Kuriboh glared at him, sprouting annoyed-sounding 'kuri's until he held up his hands defensively, mainly because his wielder looked about ready to throw him off his shoulder. 'Right, right, I know he's shy, but come on, I think Ryko's got this well and truly in hand!"

"Now, Cyber Harpie, attack his little puppy-dog!"

The little furry fiend glared daggers at his fellow spirit. "Maybe you have a point," he conceded.

The Cross Academy duelist didn't look the least bit concerned, not yet. He merely activated his facedown Dimension Wall to redirect the damage from his destroyed Ryko and attacking on his own turn with his Wulf. Unfortunately, the facedown card he hadn't noticed before turned out to be Rush Recklessly and powered up Cyber Harpie enough to send the monster to the Graveyard. Once again, he didn't even blink, instead Special Summoning his Judgment Dragon from his hand and using its special ability to clear the field at the cost of 1000 of his own Life Points before setting a card facedown and ending his turn.

'See, he doesn't need out help!' Ojama Yellow yelped, hiding from Winged Kuriboh behind Jaden's arm, having caught a glimpse of the magnificent beast on the field now.

~Down~in~the~Arena~Squiggle

Skylar ignored the antics of the other duel spirits that happened out of the very corner of his eye, deciding it wouldn't be a worthwhile talent to reveal that he could see duel spirits quite yet. Instead, he used Judgment Dragon's special ability again to destroy the facedown monster on the field and then attack, not the least bit upset he had no need to use his own facedown Dust Tornado or the drawn Lightsworn Barrier, turning his back on the duel arena and striding away. The duel was over. He was a student at Duel Academy.

~Up~in~the~Stands~Squiggle

Jaden was in shock. "He completely obliterated the guy!" he muttered in shock, chocolate eyes wide.

"Lightsworn decks usually do, Jaden," Bastion pointed out. "Of course, you run a lot of risk using one since there are only two or three separate 'powerful' monsters in there and you mill a lot of your deck out."

"Yeah, but he didn't have to completely destroy the guy like he did!"

"Yes he did!" Atticus protested hotly, "the man insulted his deck!"

Chazz cuffed the elder across the head, ignoring the whining from both his duel spirit ('How rude, that Skylar kid didn't even acknowledge me at all, and I just know he saw me!') and the impulsive brunet ("Chazzy, you're so cruel! I'm just defending the honor of my love and you hit me! I don't go around hitting you whenever you do the same for Lexi!") "Come on," the black Slifter said, getting to his feet, "the duels are done."

"Congratulations," Aster offered back in the tunnel, nodding to the boy with his pristine while jacket.

The ravenet nodded, pausing in where he had been mentally conversing with his duel spirit, the card clutched in his hand. "Thank you," he murmured, the feathery white dragon behind him not disappearing in the presence of company for once. Usually Gragonith was a shy creature, unlike his dear attention-seeking companion Ryko. In fact, the large creature let out a growling purr at the touch of a hand to his muzzle, though it was one belonging to another spirit.

"You see them too?" the pro-duelist asked, gesturing to the surprised gaze of his companion.

Skylar nodded. "Every since I got Gragonith here, though it wasn't overly apparently until I acquired Ryko."

"Ryko?" the silveret parroted confusedly before he was tackled by the little white dog, the spirit licking his face with a wagging tail.

"No, down Ryko, bad dog," the ex-Cross student scolded, pulling the canine spirit into his arms. "I'm sorry, he just is so easily excited by guests, and I think it delighted him just knowing that someone would acknowledge him other than me."

"It's fine," Aster reassured him, giving an easy smile. "Dreadmaster has gotten me into my own share of troubles with his hero complex."

"Dreadmaster?" Skylar asked, cocking his head to one side unconsciously. "You mean as in Destiny Hero – Dreadmaster?"

"Just as much as your Gragonith is Gragonith, Lightsworn Dragon," he replied, looking at the way the dragon and the rugged hero were interacting just as warmly as their two wielders were. "It'd likely be for the best if you left," he murmured softly. "You don't want to miss your boat out to DAI do you?"

"Of course not," Skylar answered. "I don't want any exceptions to be made for me, and it would be rude to force the other students to wait on my behalf."

"Okay, who's the dumbass who's dueling me?" the white-haired boy asked in a shout, his shirt open and completely ignoring the lack of an audience for his explosive entrance into the main duel arena.

"That would be me," Aster answered, moving out from where he was sitting just off to the side of the duel fields. "Are you Gale Brighton?"

"I'm the only one here with a deck and an application to Duel Academy," he pointed out. He was glad he had told his duel spirits to hide because he didn't really want to explain why he had three rather exuberant monsters during his entrance exam duel, and he knew he would've had to judging by the Destiny Hero monster he saw standing behind the silver-haired duelist. "Let's just get this over with."

"All right," Aster agreed, his duel disk activating, "but let me assure you this is a test deck and not my own."

"Psh, like it would matter," the whitet declared boldly. "I would still mop the floor with you whether it was your own deck you used or not." He glanced down at his hand, delighted to see the makings of a good duel already with his old companion Cloudian – Nimbusman and a nice Cloudian – Cirrostratus to work with. He didn't bother to conceal the fact with his smirk, even if his draw of Fog Control left something to be desired. Cloudian Squall was the first card to hit the field, followed quickly by his Mother Grizzly and a facedown Raging Cloudian.

Aster put a couple of cards facedown before he made the mistake of attacking Gale's Mother Grizzly with his Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer, which allowed the whitet to pull out a Nimbusman from his deck. He ignored the Raging Cloudian he had drew along with the activation of the trap Robbin Goblin, instead summoning out Cirrostratus to gain a few counters and power up his Nimbusman in return. However, he decided he'd rather destroy Kycoo and moved to use Cirrostratus's special ability, only for the other trap card, Magical Dimension, to kick in, Special Summoning Toon Masked Sorcerer to the field in defense mode and destroying the Nimbusman on the field. "Okay, so you got a lucky shot in," the Cross student said, pretending he hadn't heard the cry of his Nimbusman asking him why he had been sacrificed. "I'll still kick your ass straight into next week!"

Aster smirked, summoning Toon Goblin Attack Force in attack mode. "I doubt it, Brighton."

Dark green eyes narrowed as he placed Natural Disaster he'd just drawn facedown on the field as well. "I'll recover," he promised, "just like my new Nimbusman!" The monster took the place of his Cirrostratus, looking rather like he was thankful to be there once more. "Now, Nimbusman, put the pretty-boy in his place! Destroy his Toon Goblin!"

Aster winced as he took the 200 point damage, setting a monster facedown in defense mode and ending his turn. Gale shook his head at the drawn card, Messenger of Peace, and instead turning over Natural Disaster and destroying the other Toon monster. "Getting repetitive, pretty-boy?" Gale sneered at the additional facedown monster and spell/trap cards, one of each, to the field. "I can understand that you're beginning to run out of ideas, but if you are, is it really so necessary to continue with this facade?"

"For the record, my name is Aster Phoenix," the silveret replied testily. "And I'd like to see you do any better with this deck, it's a piece of crap!"

"Meh, I bet I could." He grimaced at the Marshmallon he'd just drawn but set it facedown anyway before he attacked one of the pro-duelist's facedowns, a Toon Cannon Soldier. He couldn't contain a chuckle as a newly-summoned Kycoo attacked the blob, reducing the silveret's Life Points down to 6800 before the handsome male set another facedown card. "Oh, life just loves me!" Gale crowed, playing the card he'd just drew, another Squall card to continue increasing his Nimbusman's attack to the ridiculous levels. As it was, attacking the Kycoo dropped Aster's Life Points another 2200 points.

Aster grit his teeth. He wished his deck had given him a card to properly teach the other boy a lesson in humility, but he merely played another facedown monster and left it at that. Gale rolled his eyes as his deck gave him yet another useless card. Sure, The Sanctuary in the Sky would have been useful in almost any other situation, but with such a powerful card on his field, he didn't want to take the chance that that Toon deck didn't have any Fairy-Type monsters in it. He shrugged and attacked the other facedown, a Toon Gemini Elf. Another facedown monster being set and a crappy draw of Fog Control later, he attacked the facedown, another Kycoo. Aster had to be running out of monsters at this point.

And indeed he was. Instead, the pro-duelist could only use Toon Table of Contents and end his turn. Bored, he said, "Hey, can we get on with this, I'd like to be able to sleep in a bed tonight," as he placed his draw, Ghost Fog, facedown on the field and sending Nimbusman to attack the last facedown, another Toon Sorcerer.

"I don't see why not," the gray-haired duelist sighed after he drew. "There isn't anything I could throw out to stop you that hasn't already been there before."

"Haha," Gale laughed, looking in amazement at the card he drew. "I think I'll summon this baby out since he's being rather affectionate today. Go, Nimbusman, take the place of my facedown and attack his Life Points directly!"

If Jaden had been shocked at the amount of Attack Points Judgment Dragon had in comparison to the opponent's Life Points, he would have had a spasm at the two Cloudians' 10,000 plus attack. To say that the duel was over was an understatement.

Jaden gasped at the sight of the dark man standing on the boat, his black traveling bag thrown over his shoulder and his blue eyes narrowed dangerously at the staring students. "I thought he dropped out," the stunned brunet murmured in an undertone.

"He did," Chazz answered from beside him.

"Zaney!" Atticus cried, looking up from where he was attempting to explain the rules of strip poker to Bastion and strutting over to the side of his old friend, "You're back!" He sidled up to the elder boy in the black trenchcoat, beaming brightly as he threw an arm around the Truesdale's shoulder.

"Please, Rhodes," he growled in response, coldly shrugging off the arm and stalking off. "This is a temporary thing and nothing more than that. I have better things to do with my time than learn how to be a 'better' duelist."

"But Zaney, I missed you!" the Obelisk called, his voice somehow managing to make the other boy stop right in his tracks to throw an inscrutable look over his shoulder.

"Well, you can keep missing him," he growled back, his voice a little rough around the edges, "because I'm Hell Kaiser now."

Zane: Okay, Die has some ending notes to make.

Aster: *nods* It's about ages, duel spirits, and some schooling info.

Atticus: Jaden, Gale, and Bastion are all 15; Skylar, Chazz, and Aster are 16; and Zane and I are 17.

Jaden: My duel spirit is Winged Kuriboh, Chazz has his Ojama Yellow though he can see all the little guys, Zane has Cyber Dragon and Cyberdark Dragon for when he's Hell Kaiser, Atticus has his Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Aster has his Destiny Hero Dreadmaster, Bastion has Water Dragon, Skylar's is Cloudian Storm Dragon even though Cloudian Eye of the Typhoon and Cloudian Nimbusman are rather friendly, and Gale's spirit is Gragonith Lightsworn Dragon even if Ryko Lightsworn Hunter and Wulf Lightsworn Beast often manifest themselves.

Baston: *sighs and looks up from book again* Oh yes, and the school system works so that we don't graduate until 18 (for those of you reading who have a different schooling system than the traditional American one). However, unlike normal American schooling, you can drop out at 16.

Chazz: So that we can get on with this and get rid of this stupid authoress, please review and keep reading even if the new chapter shouldn't be out for a while because this story takes a lot of effort per chapter (Nine pages on Word she wrote. NINE!) and Die's still working on a handful of other fics.

Die: *smiles at them for doing everything without her having to ask* Until my next Shadow Duel, dear readers!